Free Range Chicks

Hello, Cyber-Universe! Long time, no write!

At this very moment, I am being naughty. I am supposed to be working on my monthly newsletter for my business; the Magic Idea Fairy has yet to sprinkle me with Brilliance Dust so I thought I'd do this instead. I am currently listening to my iPod playlist "Loud" which includes groups System of a Down, White Stripes, Korn, Bad Brains, Beastie Boys, Butthole Surfers, TV on the Radio... so I'm forced to take the occasional Rockin' Break. Even it's just rocking it out sitting at the computer, I do consider it exercise and therefore, multi-tasking. So... here's the 411 on current events:

Mutual Meltdowns
Now I know I am living with another woman (my daughter...duh!) This week was one of those rare times when we got to be, in polite terms, hormonally in-sync. Yippee. Two teary, over- reactive sensitized females trying to make sense of each other. Argh. Luckily, these things pass and all is back to reasonable.

One thing I did discover is that she is, in some ways, living in a universe parallel to my own: she's been dealing with girls who have nothing better to do than offer unsolicited feedback on her friends especially the male ones. It's so emotionally distracting but, like me, it just doesn't work in the long run. Why?

As I pointed out to my girl, we are Free Range Chicks. (She's not too keen on my term...TS it's my blog!) The Pack-O-Girls aka The Cooped Hens, when they get a chance, love nothing more than to peck away at us. And who can blame them? Who likes being cooped up? It's not so much jealousy on their part as much as frustration. Hasn't anyone told them that they could be Free Range Chicks, too? Sure, we may not get fed at feeding time with the rest of the hens but we always manage to find stuff around; we're creative like that.

So here's to Free Range Chicks everywhere.... don't let the Cooped Hens get at you. It's not their fault. We can't expect them to know those things they may not have seen or have been told about. Try to be kind but know when it's time to leave them to it. That's when we get into trouble.

The Ultimate Free Range Chick: Janis Joplin
While I was thinking about this stuff, I happened to catch a documentary about her. Seeing Janis perform and listening to her talk took me back to my childhood. At age 6 or 7, I was more upset when I found out she was dead than my own mother who passed away November 1970 in a car accident. In my imagination, Janis was my Fairy Godmother Of Being Different.

At 43, I feel very fortunate to have passed through my 20's, 30's alive and pretty okay. Janis and my mother never had that chance. Somewhere along the line, besides being lucky, I guess I was willing to set aside my Free Range Chick ways long enough to survive or at least learn a few skills.

I'm hoping the next generation Free Range Chicks are even luckier and more skillful.

Good Luck, Gals. You're going to need it. Guys... hold onto your hats and stay out of their way...please. XO-DMC

PS Why didn't anyone tell me that the previous image didn't post? Or maybe it's just this computer...? Someone please let me know. Thanks and Namaste.