This is Trish's Blog: 06/01/2007

No doubt you have heard or read about the mysterious disappearance of honey bees in the U.S.

While, picnickers may cheer their demise, some websites speculate that this may be due to the increased use of cell phones and the corresponding electromagnetic pollution.

As most of you know, I recently disconnected my land line to go all cellular. But anyone who has tried to talk to me while I am at my house can attest, that was a HUGE mistake, as there is NO CELL SERVICE in my neighborhood.

That may explain this:

When I came home tonight after being gone all day long, my cul-de-sac was blocked off with cones, signs and yellow tape along with a huge sign in the street that said "Killer Bee's!"

As I slowed to read the various signs, a man walked up to me and told me I could go home, but I ought to put the roof up on my car before I drove past the area. Firemen had been here most of the afternoon doing whatever they do to disperse a huge swarm of bees that had descended on our street. And, tonight there were 2 white trucks, working in the dark until after 10PM with men on ladders, wearing white suits. What the hell? I feel like I am in a movie.

The bees (killer or otherwise) have apparently found the only safe-haven from that debilitating condition known as, ahhh, bee membrane sensitivity syndrome. Or.... Tom, have you been chucking basketballs at the bee balls again?

Click here to view the spread of killer bees in the U.S.

Blog this Mom has tagged me for a thing called “meme”. The object of meme is to blog eight random facts about myself and then pass it on. I Googled meme and found a website that explained a meme like this: Memes are contagious ideas, all competing for a share of our mind in a kind of Darwinian selection. As memes evolve, they become better and better at distracting and diverting us from whatever we'd really like to be doing with our lives. They are a kind of Drug of the Mind. Kind of like blogging.

I am not sure anyone will find MY memes worthy of being considered a drug of the mind (more like diarrhea of the mouth) but since I have been tagged... here goes ... (she made me do it)

The rules:

1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules.
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Fact #1. Cue the Sun!

My childhood was a constructed reality show. The very 1st Truman Show. No, the very 1st Survivor. Without going into the Mommy Dearest detail, I was adopted by a women who did not like children. I suspect she adopted so she could have little personal servants. My adopted brother and I were the family Cinderella's. We did all the chores, made and served cocktails and entertained the guests, painted the house, took care of the 7 1/2 acres of lawn and the 6000 sq. ft. house we grew up in. When we went out or had company over, she would dress us alike, so as to appear like a cute little matchy, matchy family set. My mom, my sister (her biological child) and I, all had several matching outfits, complete with matching scarves we tied under our chins. It was really creepy.

Our "reward" for a perfect performance, was a beautiful home with a sparkling swimming pool, clay tennis courts, a basketball court, a volleyball court, a trampoline, several boats and a private plane. Oh and a good education at a private, all girls school.

I always felt like there had been a big cosmic mistake made. This life was not real. This was not MY life. Somebody accidentally switched me at birth. Right? Then at a mere 6 or 7 years of age, I made a conscious decision to pretend that I was an actor in a television show or movie. My every drama being documented and filmed. I decided that all I had to do was be the best performer in my "Truman Show" and I would be released with an award for Best Child Actor in a Reality Show and I would be able to go live my REAL life. I was 6 or 7, jumping on the trampoline when I got this bright idea. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was totally convinced that this was the answer. I have since learned that this is a survival technique. We don't have to accept the reality of the world with which we are presented, but we usually do.

Fact #2 Kiss me I am IRISH.

When I was 30, I searched for and found my biological family. I could easily write way more than 8 cool facts about that, but I will just tell this one for now. When I finally found and met my biological father, he gave me the best gift an adopted kid could EVER receive. The most incredible unimaginably fantastic gift; he presented me with a beautiful 312 page leather bound book that traced my genealogy back to 1657 with solid facts, photos and documents, and back to the savage tribes of Ireland to about 570 BC. Yes I said B.C.!

Geneological records were preserved among the early Irish with unusual care, and the achievements of ancient heroes were handed down from generation to generation much like Homer's Iliad among the Greeks. The chronology is very uncertain but a Father Murphy of Kildare Country (from 1896-9) attempted to trace the ancestry back to Ugaine, who is alleged to have died in 570 B.C. after being head King of Ireland for 40 years. The stories in this book are incredible and my father even dog-eared and underlined names in the book connecting me as far back as great-great-great grandparents. Mine. The adopted kid who had 30 years of not knowing anything about my biology, suddenly knew more than I could have ever dreamed! Probably more that most people know. I HAVE ROOTS! Me. OK, where are the cameras?

Fact #3 I need a 12 Step-Program
I am hopelessly hooked on mashed potatoes and Natural Thick Cut Sea Salted potato chips. I eat them all the time (especially for breakfast). I have had to admit to a power higher than myself, that I am powerless over potatoes. I must be IRISH or something.
Oh, wait... see Fact #2.

Fact #4 There is a little bit of Broadway in everyone.

I love drama. Though I have had plenty of it in my life, its not the life drama that I like so much. It is the theater. And I especially LOVE musicals. I was in heaven last night eating potato chips and watching the Tony's. They made me want to learn to dance and sing, then grab Henry and run off to New York/Broadway. That leads me to Fact # 5.

Fact #5 I might be an elf or a hobbit

I suppose most people love to travel or go on vacation anyway, but I really have a deep wanderlust spirit. Wanderlust is a term used in a series of book I have never read, that describes a genetic process that a race called "Kender" (Which are akin to wood elves or hobbits) go through, during which they are overpowered by an insatiable urge to leave behind any permanent location for residence and simply explore. I have that, and would think nothing of picking up and moving on a whim (and I have many times.)

But, I have finally put down some roots and have a real home base. This is the longest I have stayed in one place. But it doesn't stop me from bumming around when I can. My passport currently has 27 or 28 stamps in it. I want to go somewhere I have never been, every year and now I am going to start to take Henry with me. Poor little bug-a-lug. He won't have much choice. I will continue to travel until I can't do it anymore but at least I have somewhere stable to call home and I will never again, come home with a new husband.

Fact # 6. I could use a companion this year

After not dating for 5 years or so, I might be ready to venture out this year. I need to find a boyfriend who:
- Doesn't ever want to get married
- Is kind to kids and animals
- Is sensitive, perceptive, intuitive, creative and loving
- Is a brilliant conversationalist
- Is adventuresome and loves to travel
- Is a theater lover more than a sports fan
- Is as smart as Steve Jobs and as funny as Steve Martin
- Has emotional and physical strength but will not mind if I am forgetful or gain a few pounds and won't mind if I eat potato chips in bed

What do you suppose are my chances?

Fact # 7 Me and Jim Morrison are kindred spirits

No, I don't get totally hammered and dangle off hotel room balconies. But Jim did have a habit which I rather like. I think he must have hated doing laundry as much as I do. He would go buy a new outfit every day and leave the dirty one behind in the dressing room. He shed his skin like a snake and never looked back.

If I were rich, instead of doing laundry when my clothes got dirty, I'd go buy a whole new wardrobe. Then I'd put all the dirty clothes in the bin, and go buy more new clothes.

Fact # 8 and a list of new meme recipients coming soon. (I only know one other person that blogs)