Chill

Quiet time is so important, and we get so little of it. There are moments when I thrive on adrenaline and chaos, accomplishing more when I'm busy, but if you live your entire life a lightspeed, you never have time for reflection. How do you know you are on the right path if you never take the time to listen to that "still, small voice" within?

At this, the traditional time for reviewing the year that has gone before, and preparing our plans (resolutions, if you will) for next year, I'm taking the time to decide what is really important to me, and what I want to achieve. There are some changes in store, but I believe that every aspect of my life will be better as a result.

Bus Etiquette

Observations from the front lines of American culture: Walt Disney World during Christmas break....riding the bus.

Rule #1: If there is a female passenger on the bus between the ages of 0 and 113, and you are a male over the age of 10, your butt should not be in a seat while the lady stands. If you are sitting, I am going to assume you are being (or were) raised by barnyard animals.

Rule #2: If someone else is a gentleman, and rises to give his seat to your wife and child, this does not mean that you plop your (male) butt into the seat. You idiot.

Rule #3: Just because you have paid for a theme park ticket or a meal for your toddler, when they are on a crowded bus they do not NEED a seat to themselves. You could hold them on your lap so that another adult could sit down. Do you not like your child well enough to hold them on your lap? And your child certainly does not need to be walking around into other people's seats while the bus is moving....

Common courtesy people...has it gone out of fashion? And why are so many men happy to let me (a lady) be the gentleman for them? Three times this week I've been the one to give up my seat so an older lady or child could sit down, while men stayed in their seats. Yep, barnyard animals. Somewhere Rhett and Ashley are turning over in their graves.

Spelling Snob...

Am I a spelling snob? I find myself becoming increasingly frustrated by the misspelled words I find in the newspaper, in papers turned in by students, and even in books that I am reading. How does that happen? Are proofreaders bored? Are they lulled into a sense of complacency by the presence of spellcheck on their computers?

There will be more to say on this topic I am sure...

Reading...

I don't think it matters much what you read...I never have thought that actually. The important thing is THAT you read. I seem to be on a romance kick lately - someone actually told me that what I was reading was "mind candy." Interesting, that one would choose to be a snob in regards to someone else's choice of reading material. Do I need to be reading Hemingway and Tolstoy in order to live up to someone else's standards?

I don't necessarily disagree that what I'm reading is mind candy, you understand, only that I am perfectly entitled to indulge in it as I see fit. (The Twilight Series, if anyone is interested, and I devoured all four books in 3 days). Now I am re-reading some Johanna Lindsey and Rebecca Brandewyne. I do love a great historical romance, and these ladies know how to write them.

I could expand this argument further to say that censorship, in any form, is wrong. Even my very conservative parents never censored my reading material as a child. I find that quite intriguing now, actually...I wonder why?

By the way...the same person who scoffed at my reading of Twilight also finds the Harry Potter series to be juvenile....c'est la vie. Her loss.

Politics Aside

Regardless of your political views, I think most people would agree that Rev. Jeremiah Wright has become something of a footnote to history at this point. His sermon on Sunday seems to prove this point...he seeks to use a bully pulpit against targets that are out of his reach. If President-Elect Obama were targeting these individuals or organizations, they would be concerned, but I'm sure that Hannity and O'Reilly woke up on Monday morning, watched the news and said, "Hmm, Come and get some." It's an unequal battle, and Reverend Wright is on the losing end.