It's Fact Tuesday!

Saying an opinion with especial conviction doesn't turn it into a fact!

Hiya, Friends!  As you know, today is Fact Tuesday, the day in which we really pay attention to our sources and get our facts straight in preparation for tomorrow, which is Ask Wednesday. 

I'll deal with Ask Wednesday tomorrow.  Today, I have a fact I would like to discuss.

A fact is something that can be proven.  That in itself is a fact.

Some facts are concrete.  You can search and find out just why a fact is a fact.  For instance, it is a fact that the planet we live upon is called Earth, and it's round like a ball, not flat like a pizza.  We know this is a fact, because even before the astronauts blasted off into space to gain a little perspective on our world, it could be mathematically proven that the world is round, not flat.  Smart people takin' measurements and usin' science, Big People.  If you try to argue against this, you're either yankin' everybody's chain, tryin' to start a fight, or you're delusional.

Now, "The world is a wonderful place" is an opinion.  You can't mathematically prove it.  From where I sit, yes, the world is a wonderful place.  I love people, people love me, and generally, things work out for the best in my life.  Someone else might live a life of ashes and see the world as pretty much the worst.  Neither of us is right, and both of us is right.

Sometimes, an opinion so close to bein' Right, and so many people agree with it appears to be a fact.  I caught myself on this one, whilst writing a draft of today's post.  My fact for Fact Tuesday is that the Texas Hot in Downtown Wellsville is just a GREAT place to eat!  Everybody I know seems to love the Texas Hot.  But when I tried my statement against scientific proof, it turns out that only part of my statement is fact, and the other part is opinion.  Further research proves that factually, I am correct in stating that the Texas Hot is in Downtown Wellsville.  Its street address, geographic coordinates, elevation above sea level, and very presence prove this to be true.  But it being just a GREAT place to eat, alas, is just a widely-held and highly-regarded opinion, because as unlikely as it may seem, there are a few people here-n-there who do not like the Texas Hot.  It's sad, but they're entitled to their opinion, and that means that there's more Texas Hot for the rest of us.

Happy Fact Tuesday, Big People.  Go out and seek some facts and identify opinions, mmmkay?  I love ya lots, which is a FACT!  I'll see ya tomorrow!  Muah!

Reunited and it Feels So Good

I don't know if Ike likes my bike, but Fonzie likes my bike!  AAAAAAAAAA!

Hey, there, Big People!  Happy Monday to you!

Well, ya know, you might not have heard about this, because I've only talked about it over on the dang ol' Facebook Picture Show I have, but there's news about me and my bike.  Yes, the one I rode off the couch, resulting in my very first trip to the emergency room and my very first broken bone!

After that incident, Mommy figured that my bike is a bad influence on me and that my bike and I need to be separated.  And she succeeded in this dastardly plan for many, many months, until I accompanied her to the basement to sort the recycling, and there I saw it- My Bike!  Now, bein's as how I'm a Take Charge Kinda Gal, I grabbed that bike up and declared "I'm bringing this bike back upstairs!"  And because Mommy was sortin' recyclables, I got away with the bike before she could tell me no, and commenced riding it from one end of the house to the other, over and over again. 

It was great to be reunited with My Bike.  I'd forgotten how much fun it is just to ride it.  So I promised Mommy that I will NOT ride the bike off any furniture or counters or stairs, and she's lettin' me keep it, at least until Spring, when there's a possibility that I might get an actual bike with a chain and pedals and gears and everything.  We'll just hafta stay tuned. 

In the meantime, I'll enjoy bein' reunited with My Bike.  It feels so good, there oughtta be a song about it!  I love ya lots, and I'll see ya tomorrow!  Muah!

Pizza Comes In Logs Now!

Someday, I hope to live in a cabin made of pizza logs!

Hiya, Big People!  How are you on this wonderful Sunday?  I'm GREAT!

Well, ya know, recently, I had the opportunity to taste a delight called a "pizza log."  I ordered it off a kids menu at Duff's Restaurant.

Friends, I thought pizza was the ultimate in tastiness, but when ya roll up pizza toppings in a spring roll wrapper, deep fry it, and serve it with a side of fries and extra pizza sauce, you really have a winner.

It got me to thinkin' about how someday, it'd be fun to live in a cabin made of pizza logs, with oregano and basil growing for a yard, and a marinara pond with a breadstick deck on it.

I wouldn't wanna contract salmonella or any other food-borne hoobie-joobies from eating my pizza log cabin or the marinara pond, so I'd hafta rig it all up to be under some kinda heat lamp, maybe have some kind of steam table underneath the marinara sauce pond.  That all sounds really complicated, though.  And if the heat lamp is warm enough to keep the hoobie-joobies away from my pizza log cabin and marinara sauce pond, it would probably render staying there very uncomfortable.

Not to worry, though.  I have a solution!

I'm going to play my "fantasy card" now.  A pizza-log cabin with a basil and oregano lawn and a big, marinara sauce pond and breadstick deck is definitely seated within the realm of complete and utter fantasy.  Just like my flying cupcakemobile I like to make up stories about.  Existable only in my imagination.  And as it turns out, food-borne pathogens just do not exist in the imaginary world in which I go to visit.  How about that?!

I still really like pizza logs, though, Friends.  They're DELICIOUS! 

I love you more, so I'll see ya tomorrow, mmmkay?  Muah!

A Friendly Reminder!

Twelve minus two is ten!

Well, hiya there, Good Lookin's!  How's your Saturday turnin' out for ya?

I'm doin' great, because once again, the Twenty-Fifth of the Month has rolled around again, and it's time for my Zoe's Monthly Status Report.  Just in case you don't own a calendar or have access to one you can look at and reference.

Christmas is a mere ten months away, so I suggest that you start lookin' in the catalogues that arrive in your mailbox, and perhaps begin a color-coded referencing system for all the presents you wanna buy your loved ones. You can also cross-reference your markings on the World Wide Web, in case you go on a de-cluttering tear, long about June, and send those tabbed and color-coded catalogues to the recycling center.

It's never too early to start getting prepared for Christmas, Friends!  It truly isn't!  As for me, I'm gonna be spending today in intelligence briefings, so I can stay a stepper two ahead of the Elves on Shelves.  I have had a solid six Christmases in which I have managed to avoid Elf on Shelf infiltration of my home, and I aim to ensure that Christmas Twenty-Seventeen is no exception, and this is gonna be a biggun as far as challenges go, because I go to school in the fall.  I've heard when a kid goes to school, there's an uptick in spy-elf activity at their house. 

Be vigilant, Friends.  Be smart.  Be here tomorrow for more of my wisdom.  I'd charge for all this wiseness, but I love ya too much, Big People!  Muah!

To Find Yourself in the Best Light...

...Sometimes you gotta bring your own!

Hiya, Friends!  Happy Friday to you!

Well, ya know, we all wanna be painted in the best possible light.  When you're painted in the best possible light, you look good and you feel good, especially if you're talkin' about the figurative kind of light.

The best way to make sure you're in the best possible light is to bring your own, whether it's a flashlight or a ring-light or a whole stage setup, or...

Well, frankly, a great attitude and respect for others.

That right there is the best way to find yourself in the best possible light.  Be kind. Be respectful.  Think before ya speak.  Be helpful.  Treat others the way you'd like to be treated.

Friends, the person who's ultimately responsible for paintin' ya in the best light is you.

I love ya lots, Friends!  And I'll see ya tomorrow!  Muah!

When Your Day Tries To Take Away Your Sparkle!

Double-down on the sparkle, and grab yourself a Tootsie Pop!

Hiya, Big People!  Happy Thursday to you!

Well, ya know, sometimes, you'll be cruisin' along, according to plan, when all of a sudden, WHAM!!! your day just backhands you so hard across the face it wakes up your ancestors!

And boy are the ancestors ever cranky, gettin' woken up like that!

So what do you do when a day does that to you?  What do I do when that happens?  When my sparkle threatens to be dulled?

I'll tell ya what, Friends!  I put on my rainbow pants, my rhinestone-studded top, and I grab a Tootsie Pop.  Nothing can touch my sparkle then!

The Tootsie Pop is the thing that makes a real difference, you know. 

So, Friends, now that you know, you'll be able to ward off the sparkle-dulling!  You double down on your sparkle!

I love ya lots, Friends!  I'll be seein' ya tomorrow!  Muah!

Keep Trying!

Anything new will feel awkward at first, but you gotta keep tryin', and you'll get better!

Hiya, Friends! 

Well, ya know, sometimes, I hafta learn new things.  Most of the time, I like to learn new things, because I'm good at learning new things, and I pick up on things fast.

Other times, though, the new thing is kinda awkward, and I don't get it right away.  That makes me very frusterated and angry!  I like to pride myself on bein' a quick study!

Thing of it is, when I step back away from myself for a little minute, I realize that learning the new thing is worth the struggle I incur in the pursuit of a new skill.  My life is FULL of evidence supporting this conclusion.

Well, for instance, I wasn't born knowing how to eat solid food!  I had to get used to it.  And lookin' back, at first, it was really weird for me to hafta sit up and eat off a spoon, insteadda gettin' to lounge around and drink from a bottle.  But once I got hooked into eatin' solid foods, I was off to the buffet and I haven't looked back!

I had a devil of a time, learnin' to walk.  Friends, I was the bee's knees at rolling over from back to front and front to back.  I could flip like a Mexican Jumping Bean Pancake!  I sure could.  And crawling?  Forget about it!  I mastered crawling and creeping, right out of the box.  But walking... that was a tricky one, and all I can say is that it was a good thing I still wore nice and fluffy diapers, to cushion my bottom, because I fell down a LOT!

Most recently, it's been learning how to use chopsticks.  I think it's a good skill to have, no matter what.  Using conventional chopsticks is still out of my range, but thanks to my training chopsticks, my learning process has been simplified. 

It's a process, Big People, and it's important even for you Big People to keep learning something new.  Remember that nobody expects you to be excellent at the new thing, right off the bat.  It all takes practice and patience!  Before you get all mad at yourself for not picking up on the new thing you've gotta learn, think about how you'd talk to your pal Zoe, if I were trying to learn the new thing.  So long as you aren't yellin' at me, try talking to yourself with that same patience.  You might find out that getting a handle on the new thing you hafta do isn't so hard, when you give yourself a break and respect the learning process.

So, Friends, be kind to yourself and KEEP TRYING the something new!  You'll get it all hammered out!  I love ya lots, and I'll see ya tomorrow!  Muah!