I was tagged this past weekend. I'd almost forgotten about it. So as I recall, I need to write 5 things that were said to me that I will never forget. I hope that's correct because here I go:

1. You're a smart cookie...

My mom always used to say that to me. I can hear her voice saying it in my memory.

2. For the love of Mike, can't you do anything right?

My dad was landscaping the backyard in our new house. I was about 7. I was holding a string taut so he could mark where stepping stones should go. I accidentally let go of the string as he pulled it tight.

3. Is there alcohol in this?

My older son said this, at age 3 or 4, in a Burger King, as he was holding his orange soda. We never did much drinking of alcohol around the house so I was surprised when I heard this. The place was quiet, around 11:45 a.m., and a few other moms sitting around with their kids cracked up.

4. Mommy, what was I in the other life; the one before this one?

My younger son asked me this when he was about 2-1/2. This was also out of left field because we did not talk about reincarnation around him - I thought it was too early for him to understand it.

5. You have no artistic talent whatsoever, and you may as well stop taking art classes.

My old, gray-haired art teached told me this in 9th grade. The whole class heard it. I stopped taking art classes. I love to draw and paint but hearing those words shook my fragile self-esteem enough to take the joy out of it. I thought she was right for a long time. She wasn't right. This was a big part of the reason I was very picky as far as schools for my children would go.

It's funny the way I've lived for 50 plus years hearing things people have said. When I was tagged, it was hard to come up with these things.

Blessings,

Lulublue

I am an American. My ancestors fought in the Revolutionary War for the ideals I now hold dear. I love this country but I dislike the behavior associated with being an American.

I rarely watch TV any longer because the commercials make "us" look stupid, selfish, and definitely in need of a mental health professional. Of course, we see this because the big corporate advertisers want us to feel that we don't measure up if we don't have a big screen TV, a brand new gas-guzzler, and Ipods or video games up to here.

I had noticed that Gene Simmons and his wife, Shannon, would be in a new TV show. Last night, while looking for the Dodger game, I came across Gene, Shannon, and their family show. I watched it for a few minutes and had to turn it off. The condescension and arrogance, which I would hope some writers told the Simmons family to use, were sickening. It reminded me of a time I went out with a real estate broker who treated the restaurant employees with such heartless, seething superiority that I asked him to take me home.

Before Bush was selected president by his dad's buddies, I didn't feel this strongly about American arrogance and the way "we" are portrayed. After 9-11, Katrina, and the Middle East blunders, it is no surprise that the rest of the world associates us with the behavior displayed by Bush, Cheney, and Condi Rice.

It's time for the image of the heartless, rich, selfish American to die out. There are a large number of us who are caring, giving, and have no great drive to have more of everything than anyone else. There are also many of us who have been blessed with material wealth but do not fit into the "ugly American" mold. It's time for a change and it is happening.

Instead of being perceived as self-absorbed, gluttonous malcontents, let's speak up as helpful, capable problem-solvers.