What’s up with lemonade?

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

I’m sure you’ve heard the expression, “when life hands you lemons, make lemonade.”

Why?

I mean, I get it — turn something sour or bitter into something sweet — but why lemonade? Why not lemon meringue pie? Or lemon ice box pie? Or Kool-Aid for that matter, if liquidity is essential?

Lemonade is okay. Not my favorite beverage, but if someone fixes it I’ll drink it, if it doesn’t have a pound of sugar in it. But, what possessed whoever first spouted that phrase to use lemonade as a metaphor for turning hardship into a piece of cake or bad luck into good fortune.

And, while we’re on this topic, what’s with using the phrase “it’s a piece of cake” to describe something that’s easy to do? Why not just come right out and say it’s easy?

Are we so enamored, as a species, of our literary capabilities that we can’t just call a spade a spade?

Oops, there’s another one!

A Versatile Blogger Award !?!

Posted by goodoldgirl

I logged into my blog a day or so ago and discovered much to my surprise that another, obviously discerning, blogger had nominated me for a versatile blogger award.

Now, I didn’t have a clue what this is all about. Never heard of it. Not sure I want to be a recipient of any kind of award in the first place.

But … thought I should check it out — just in case it involves a trophy, or a plaque, or maybe even money.

No such luck. Here’s the deal:

Rules of accepting versatile blogger nomination:

Thank the person who nominated me (Below)
Include a link to his/her blog (Also below)
Nominate fifteen blogs I enjoy and follow (Belower)
Inform said bloggers about their nominations (That took awhile!)
Share seven things about me (Belowest)

So, thank you Ellen Peterson, wherever you are. You’re a peach!
(http://ellepeterson.wordpress.com/)

The fifteen blogs I’ve nominated:

Preacherswifeintheknow

broadside

Running Naked with Scissors

Diary of a Mad College Girl

Heather Christina Schmidt

From Nonsense to Momsense

Rob Slaven Photography

Katie is a Teacher

In My Opinion

Seven things (you never wanted to know) about me:

I was a hippie. (Sort of.)
My guilty pleasure is reading chick-lit, especially British chick-lit. (Do not tell anyone about this.)
I’m claustrophobic and afraid of heights. (Yes, tall buildings are a problem.)
I believe in angels.
I married a guy with the same last name as mine. Both start with a Mc and when I got divorced, I petitioned the court to let me take my name back. You see, I put two little lines under the “c” and he doesn’t. (Yes, that’s important.)
I didn’t learn how to ride a bike until I was 16 years old. (Not my fault I wasn’t gifted with balance and coordination.)
I like Star Trek Next Generation better than the original Star Trek. (Sorry, Capt. Kirk.)

Well now, all done.

So, should I be having visions of pyramids and somebody named Ponzi?

Hmmm.

To learn more about the Versatile Blogger Award, go to — http://versatilebloggeraward.wordpress.com/

So what exactly are the willies?

Posted by goodoldgirl

I wonder, do we use “the willies” instead of just coming right out and saying something makes us queasy? Why would “the willies” be more acceptable than queasy? What does “the willies” mean exactly?

To find out, we do what every good old girl with an Internet connection does — we Google it!

Here’s what we found:

a movie from IMDb:
a definition from Dictionary.com;
a record album from Answers.com;
an opportunity to buy the record album from Amazon.com;
an alternative, folk rock, indie band named The Willies from My Space (I listened to a few songs, not too shabby);
a folk tale from the Brothers Grimm via aaronshep.com about, you guessed it, the willies; and
of course, a definition from Wikipedia.

The definition from Wiki is about the record album so let’s take a peek at the def from Dictionary.com:

wil·lies

[wil-eez] Noun ( used with a plural verb ) Informal. nervousness or fright; jitters; creeps (usually preceded by the ): That horror movie gave me the willies.

Origin:
1895–1900, Americanism ; origin obscure; compare -s³

Well. I guess that pretty much sums it up!