I scream-U scream at the Corner Cone and Cafe

Nothin' says lovin' like somethin' from the oven-OR the freezer! I'm not picky!

Right in the heart of uptown and downtown Beaverdam sits the mecca of decadent pleasure in our humble hood:  the Corner Cone and Cafe!

A little slice of Americana right under our noses.

Another thing right under our noses is Hudsonville Ice Cream!! I am obsessed with Cake Batter! My all-time fav is Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. And then there's the classic Turtle Sundae. Which is what Trevor and I were after on this occaision! Good to the last pecan!

One of life's simple pleasures around here in the summer. I'm proud of myself for resisting so long...here it is, almost the end of June and this is my first visit of the season. Of course, once the seal of Pandora's Box is broken, I'm afraid we've unleashed the ice cream genie...now we are slaves for the rest of the summer!

Oh, well, support the local economy and all. Hey, what's another fat roll?? Sometimes this is the best meeting place around and certainly the best location to observe what cars are traveling up and down 72nd Avenue on any given evening-the big pastime in Beaverdam! As you can see there's curbside seating for your viewing pleasure. No need for call ahead and no reservations required-come as you are!

Imitation cussing

Imitation cussing...

Like Imitation Crab, there's just something fishy about it! A guy friend of mine recently asked me why a beautiful, articulate, intelligent woman like myself would find it necessary to use swear words when I can express myself so eloquently without resorting to the lowest form of communication(in his opinion)-swearing.

Sidebar: Why is it that when someone wants you to stop doing something or start something they always couch it in a backhanded compliment? Sometimes I think "nice" is the worst form of manipulation out there! What the Hank Williams can you do with "nice"??
Truth of the matter is I have tried to stop.

I was not successful. I have certainly become more aware. I have cut down. I have even tried to invent alternative cuss words but somehow they just didn't pack the punch of the genuine article. Let's face it, when you drop a food service size can of pork and beans on your toe, some rudy-poo, foo-foo expression just isn't going to capture the intensity of the moment! For instance, calling someone a lying, cheating bass-head just gets you a puzzled look, a chuckle and absolutely no respect! The real B word is imperative under such circumstances.What if you called someone a J-hole(because it rhymes with the real term and therefore, they should be able to figure out what you mean). Same thing...they'll just think," what a rotten speller", they'll think it was funny, and totally disregarded the spirit in which it was offered! And then there's the questionable ones. Stuff like hell and dumbass. Are those real swear words? Hell could be considered a place. That is especially true if you live in Michigan because there is such a place and guess what? Sometimes it does freeze over! What about George Wilson in Denis the Menace when he bellered out, "Martha, where'd you put the GD garden lamps?" Because he abbreviated the swear word does that make it innocuous or is it still a swear word? What about friggin', freakin', and frickin? If you use one of those instead of the F bomb is that more socially acceptable or is it still as much of a travesty?

Are there actual treatment programs for this?

I guess I'm not the only one with a problem. Somebody wrote a book on the subject:

On the other hand, apparently there are at least as many people in favor as there are opposed or else groups like this and reference materials and even custom plates would not exist:

I have decided that I will work on modifying my colorful phraseology and set the goal of being rated PG13. I cannot make a 100% guarantee. Under specific circumstances, I may have to go full-blown R for a moment or two before returning to the regularly scheduled programming!

Blog Hopping-will you see this event in Beijing?

What I love most about this new sport called blog-hopping is that it requires absolutely no discernible level of fitness or physical prowess of any sort!I've been training for that for several decades! Finally, my time has come...I, too, can be a star! I'm not sure what the events would be like. Maybe you could win a gold, silver or bronze medal for the longest period of non-stop blogging, or perhaps the most number of posts in the shortest amount of time, or maybe even for reading the most blogs and posting the largest number of comments in a specified period of time or for having the largest blogroll of blog buddies. Perhaps we could compete in categories like most offensive post, most politically correct post, funniest, most poetic, best music, best video, best photography, most readers, most profile views, the weirdest, the most disgusting, revolting, putrid, etc, etc.The possibilities are endless! We could have our own association or federation or something-just like the other Olympic athletes do! I wonder if we'd be tested for drugs, alcohol or steroid use? Hey, why not. A person has to keep their wits about them to spend such vast periods of time slaving away at the computer-we bloggers must practice safe computing!There has to be standards and these standards must be strictly enforced! We must have blog police or some such thing to make sure all bloggers are competing fairly and not plagerising or some damn thing like that. There needs to be some kind of security so that the Tanya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan kind of deal cannot happen-like someone breaks into your house and smashes your computer because your blog is too good and they're afraid you might win!Also some kind of way to make sure other less-cleaver bloggers don't come along and steal your post ideas. Yeah, that's right!

Well, the sport of blog-hopping must have been going on for quite some time unbeknownst to me because, about a month ago, two really great people blog-hopped my humble site here at Compass Pointe. I can't even get some of my own friends and family to read it!  They read my posts and left very supportive, encouraging comments. As you know, us bloggers live for comments. No comments=no love. No comments=I SUCK! No comments mean you're talkin' to yourself, dude, nobody cares, nobody's listening,bro... So, that was especially meaningful for me that two complete strangers would even care about my obscure little blog. I discovered that one of the bloggers who generously stopped by was a very nice gal from The Philippines. Her blog is called euthymic. She is a fellow animal lover and has a big heart for family and friends. As you can see, those three things are priorities in my life, too. I am going to drop in on her blog as often as possible because I enjoy learning how things are on her side of the world. The world of blogs puts us all a lot closer to one another and relationships that would never have occurred without this technology can blossom. A whole new world of understanding.

Then there's PawPaDog. He's got two blogs: PawPaDog's e-den and The Independent Nation of Barbequia. There are some interesting links on his. Well, we both have the same wack sense of humor and PawPaDog lives in Portland, Oregon which is my home state and about 15 miles from my place of birth! We are both Geminis and share some common beliefs. He has a cute little house named Simon and a cute little family to match. He's somewhat of a mad-scientist, however, but anyone who is so passionate about family, food and gardening is alright in my book and is entitled to as much weird science as he can handle. Whatever trips your trigger there, PawPaDog! Point is, I really enjoyed connecting with these people and looking at their blogs.

So, I decided to venture out and do a little blog hopping of my own. First time out, I went to the blogger sign-in site and clicked on every blog that was currently updating. Here's what I discovered. About half of the blogs contained porno! How naive am I ?? For some reason it never occurred to me that such things would turn up on blogs. I thought that stuff was all out on websites with nasty names which betrayed their sordid content. Uh, NO! So, beware. If you decide to try this...you could get an eyefull of people's junk and their trunk and other things that rhyme with unk! Then there's all the commercials and blogs that are aimed at selling you things. Can't get away from it no matter where you go...there are billboards, there are advertisements on the backs of the stall doors in restrooms, the TV, radio, and even movie theaters are just full of commercials and sales pitches. Well, there are blogs out there like that, too! Then you've got the REAL blogs. The ones that belong to other citizens of the world. Believe me, they come from every corner of the globe. There are the generic family blogs, blogs about TV shows, soap operas, specific hobbies, travel, sexual preferences, music, movies, books, religious beliefs, blogs dedicated to biking, hiking, camping, drinking, pot smoking, deer hunting, anything you can imagine....

My favorite blogs were just regular blogs of regular people. Like mine. Like euthymic. Like PawPaDog. I will tell you what, I will never feel funny again about anything I write in my blog! There's every kind of opinion out there. There are swear words I've never even heard of and have no idea what they mean-and I'm nearly 50! So, if nothing else, this experience has freed me up to become more fully myself-NO APOLOGIES! Some of the blogs, even of the "common garden variety", were so creative and colorful and the writing is just fantastic. There are people out there that I could never hold a candle to-but the great thing is, there's room and a place for all of us out in the world of blogging! We all have a niche. We all have something to contribute. Boy, are there ever a lot of folks out there doing just that. Isn't it amazing that anyone can set up a blog in five minutes or less and immediately become a published writer?! Think of all the frustrated writers of yesteryear who could have been spared such angst! God only knows what Hemming way or Steinbeck or J.D. Salinger or Mark Twain and a host of others would have come up with had blogging existed back in the day. What about Andy Warhol? What do you think his blog would have been like? Or Pablo Picasso? It's just crazy to think about!!
So, if you have a little time to spare, go to google homepage and click on blogs. You can choose whatever topic or word you want and pull up blogs of every description! Or try the blogger sign-in page. I'm telling you, though, it's addictive. There are some very great blogs out there to be experienced!

In addition to the ones I've mentioned, check out my blog buddies on the sidebar of Compass Pointe. I found some others that I really liked too: Sweet Pea Wanderings, Living the Inspired Life, Seagus, Magicians Merger, Lobster Squad, Crunchy Chicken and tons of others. Once you get going you'll be hooked! By the way, if you don't have a blog yet, by all means, join us! If you do have a blog already, please feel free to leave your blogspot address in a comment and I will check it out! See all you blog-hoppers in Beijing!KEEP ON BLOGGIN' IN THE FREE WORLD!

Political Grouse Loose in da House!

Ready, aim, FIRE...

YUM-YUM! Here's another heaping helping of political grouse served up nice and rare!

In order to make politics a career, you'd have to be comfortable with the following:

1. Stretching and/or spinning the truth. I don't want to call it outright lying BUT it does make one think that possibly the phrase, "hell-bent for election" was coined by someone who knows where liars eventually wind up and how that correlates to the political world!

2. Playing "the game". By that I mean the old "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" kind of thing. For instance, catering to special interests, doing favors for those in your network of supporters, and furthering the views and concerns of large contributors. This has and will always exist in politics.

Lets face it, nobody would get elected or re-elected if they were absolutely truthful OR altruistic. In fact, if a political figure acted in a manor that was too highly noble, I would fear for their safety both inside and outside the political circle. We have seen this result before with others who stepped out to REALLY change the world for the better and not just gather power, prestige and money for their own purposes. Think of those who have been assassinated in the past because they tried to do something "too good".

3. I have also observed that it helps your career in politics if you write at least one book...

4. Then go bowling.

 5. Possibly knock down a shot or two of whiskey with the locals...

6. Be satirized on Saturday Night Live and appear on the late-night talk shows-OY!

What these folks are willing to do to get into a job that nobody in their right minds would want!
7. Another prerequisite:  A GREAT sense of humor!
If stuff like this was circulating the globe about you, would you be able to laugh?

I enjoy poking some fun at Hillary, Barack and John,  but actually, there are things I like about all of them. As for Hillary, I am proud that a woman candidate was taken so seriously and managed to get so far- and that she hung in there and fought a good fight even while the pressure to give up was enormous. I was excited to have a woman presidential candidate and was looking forward to the possibility of having a woman president. She proved that a woman can take the heat and can handle herself as well as anyone. It is not meant to be this time around but we're definitely getting closer. Hillary is a pioneer. Others will no doubt follow but she was the first woman to wage a viable candidacy for the top job.  A feather in her cap!I didn't even mind the pantsuits...Now she is being a gracious team player by helping to unify the Democratic party-Kudos, Hill!
I am thrilled that Barack Obama is breaking down racial barriers and generating interest in political activism among the younger 20's and 30's voters. He is certainly doing his part to combat apathy and to promote participation. He has an articulate and charismatic presentation. His message is one of hope and optimism at a time when this country desperately needs such a vision. Even if Obama doesn't win I say he has done America a great service by just getting so many people back into the loop of caring about what happens in this country.
I think John McCain has lived an extraordinary life. I am grateful for his military service, I am inspired by his conduct during his POW years, and I think his example of continuing to pursue his dreams and ambitions, even when others would try to make age an issue for him, is admirable. He makes a good case for the fact that older persons are, in many cases, just getting a good head of steam built up in their later years! That's an encouraging message to all of us!He is also a man of great faith. I feel warmly about him as a person. I do not feel comfortable about the striking similarities between his views and those held by current administration. We'll see if that gets sufficiently addressed between now and election day.
I am still unclear about who I am going to vote for this presidential election. There is a lot of research and soul-searching to be done between now and November. A lot can happen yet... I am determined to make the best choice possible by educating myself on the issues and where the candidates stand on them. Factoring in, of course, that they WILL spin and stretch the truth and they WILL brown-nose like mofo's. Aww, heck,  I think I'll wait and see who The Daily Show endorses and take my political cues from there...hey, there's more than one way to  get your grouse on!~

Forward or Delete?

Are you one of those people who love forwards? Or do you delete? Those of you who know me well, know that I LOVE getting forwards! I love sending forwards! Even the stupid ones...even the dirty ones...even the ones I've seen a dozen times before and even the ones that are pure bullshit and don't have a shred of truth to them...in which case my pal, polysyllabicspree, SNOPES it for me so that I will realize that it's a complete fabrication. I even love the ones that ARE totally factually inaccurate-if they are entertaining or amusing.! I love that, even if just for a split second, someone was thinking of me and clicks on my name to send me something. That's affirming! Better than being forgotten about! Yes, I know it can get annoying when they all pile up...but then there is DELETE for just such occasions. Yes, I realize that sometimes you see the same damn forward a million times! Of course, I understand that we're all so DOGGONE BUSY that forwards can seem like a time and energy suck-just one more thing...But, truth is, someone cared enough about you to send it to you in the first place. For some of us ultra-busy types, all this computering is part of our social life. Pathetic as that is! I remember back over the last few years, while some heavy shit has been going down in my life, every morning before work I'd check my emails and,  sure enough, my good friends had sent a few things to brighten my day, make me think, make me smile, make me laugh and know that I was being thought about. That helped me make it through those tough, dark days. Now that life is sweeter and things are going so much better, I still love hearing from the people in my life via forwards. And I love sending on the ones that added something to my life in hopes of passing that little bit of good will along to the next person. Next time you start to get irritated about too many forwards, just remember that a forward represents someone who considered you worthwhile enough to reach out to. A nice thought! You can also think of it this way: Forwarding isn't just a computer term we see on a toolbar in Outlook. It's a way of forwarding one another in our lives.A way to show you care. That you are thinking of someone. That you value them . That you know they need a laugh or a prayer for their day. It's a touchstone that keeps people connected at a time when we're all moving at a pace too fast to accommodate a lot of face-to-face interaction. Don't know if all this resonates with you or not but this is kinda what popped into my head as I was reading my funny forwards from my friends this morning. Hey, thanks to all of you who include me in your lives. I consider that a privilege and an honor. And if all else fails....DELETE!

Pony up!

Friday night at Teusink's Pony Farm! This farm was established in 1897 and has been run by the Teusink family for over 110 years! In addition to the authentic farm, the Teusinks host a number of activities for family fun: pony ring rides, feeding the goats, sheep, and ducks, fishing, trail rides, surrey rides, a barn where the animals can be visited and petted. There are rabbits, chickens, a pig, a cow, some baby chicks in incubators, and a baby lamb. You can also go on a hayride and there is a hay maze.

First stop, feed the goats and sheep.

Visit the newborn lamb in the barn...

Beautiful, gentle and affectionate, this horse enjoyed visiting with Jayden.

Jayden was a natural at riding the ponies-his ponies were named Cinnamon and Blaze


Then onto the hayride. Jayden loved the big tractor that pulled the wagon. The wagon was filled with straw and buckets of bunnies that the kids could hold and pet.



Many of the parents and grandparents we visited with had come to Teusink's Pony Farm when they were children and are now passing this tradition on to the future generations. It is another one of Holland's fine family-friendly activities. We are blessed to have such a family-oriented community with so many wonderful experiences for the little ones to enjoy. Check out the website for Teusinks on the sidebar of this blog for further information.