From this title you're probably assuming the recently discovered Ponzi scheme run by Bernard Madoff. However, that's not the case. Since family is visiting there really is only one topic of conversation in my house to bring about holiday cheer: Politics. So, as much as I desire a reprieve from all things political until Obama's inaugaration, I find myself lured into the political realm. I still enjoy reading about business happenings as well, so this is how my thought process evolved last night.
Me, "Wow, what a scam Madoff pulled. How did people not notice? Sure, he was one consistently deemed one of the top Wall Street investors, but someone (*cough* SEC *cough*) must have noticed something."
Me, "It's craziness I tell you, craziness... which is why I will always tightly manage any portfolio I have regardless of size."
Family, "So, government... blah blah blah... Obama is savior... blah blah blah... Palin is the biggest idiot every nominated/no she's not... blah blah blah... what do you think about the Caroline Kennedy pursuit of the New York Senate seat?... blah blah blah...there's on way civilized people will let stupid people starve to death... But there's no way Social Security is going to be fixed with this economic debacle..."
Husband, "You know that social security 'investments' only average a return rate of about 1-2%... whereas even the most conservative funds in the market over time average..."
Me, "Well, of course we can't manage our own social security money, that's not the point... Wait a minute - "
*Lightbulb flash*
"Social security is the biggest Ponzi scheme EVER!!!"
*Shake my head until I'm dizzy*
Husband, "You're right!"
Me, "Good grief... I'm just like those last investors... paying in to support those ahead of me only for the fund to go bust when it's my turn... thanks American government 'safety net'!"
"Does that mean I get to sue the government when there are no social security funds left and I reach retirement?"
If only...
The perks of being a member of Generation Y.
*Update* I realized after re-reading this post that it might look as if I don't actually understand fully what a Ponzi scheme is (as I related it to Social Security.) Therefore, I would like to clarify by saying that many working Americans view Social Security to be an investment of sorts for their future... you contribute now to support the generations above you, but believe likewise that the next generation will support you. Some people also don't understand that their Social Security contributions are not in fact put into an investment fund where a certain portion is set aside specifically for them. This is where the problem lies for the Gen Yers and maybe even some Gen Xers... we're paying in thousands of dollars over our lifetime and will most likely get nothing in return. At least with other taxes you can argue that we benefit from the public works, institutions of law and justice, etc. Not so much with Social Security. And it's mandotory... Your choice as a taxpayer: Ponzi Scheme where you're the loser or a hefty fine and potentially jail time. Even Madoff points out that people sought him out to manage their investments and he's looking to be one of the biggest crooks of our time.
All this to say, we need to reform Social Security [immediately] and unfortunately that's less likely to happen than the complete revitalization of Detroit in the first quarter of 2009.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Microsoft Word Irritants of the Day
I must admit that I have spent and probably continue to spend far too much time typing away in Word. In college, I didn't value papers on page length or word count alone. No, typing time was far too important to be ignored... and for different reasons depending on the situation.
Some examples:
"What, you wrote a 20 page paper in 12.2 hours? Including research and citations? No way!"
Conversely, "I spent 2 solid weeks of 4 hours a day working on this paper and received the same grade as 12.2 hour person over there. Life is so unfair."
Or, better yet, "I spent 8 hours just typing quotes to use in my paper... how about you? What, only two hours. No way are you going to make a good grade with that kind of laziness. Actually, who cares about grades... you will never be as pretentious as me so just shut up and go home."
I no longer have to worry about lengthy term papers that no one will ever care about thank God, but I write constantly. In ways, more than I did in college and my writing is now used to help companies make money. Not a bad gig. However, since my relationship with Word has continued into the professional realm, I have noticed some things that irritate me beyond belief.
For example, I was looking up synonyms for the word "estimate" the other day. What did the Word thesaurus spit out at me? Guesstimate. That's right, the word used exclusively by 3rd grade teachers and cheesy high school counselors. Maybe the occasional adult leadership conference speaker. Needless to say, I just stuck with estimate since my other options included "ballpark guess, good guess, close guest or estimate..." You get the idea.
Maybe I shouldn't have been so lazy that I needed to use a thesaurus that day, so I moved on from my guesstimate irritation.
Today, I was typing an email and was having a hard time thinking of a closing sentence. I decided to type "The End." Obviously, this was not a permanent fixture to the email, but it was mildly entertaining to me in the moment. Until Word yelled at me with its squiggly little green lines telling me that it was an improper sentence fragment. I understand that components of a proper sentence, believe me. However, I was pretty sure the last time I checked that "The End" is a completely appropriate use of grammar. Maybe not under the laws of formal English language, but certainly if "guesstimate" is included in the thesaurus then "The End" should be considered grammatically correct.
Maybe I'll write Bill Gates a letter of grievance while I'm into all my holiday complaining...
Some examples:
"What, you wrote a 20 page paper in 12.2 hours? Including research and citations? No way!"
Conversely, "I spent 2 solid weeks of 4 hours a day working on this paper and received the same grade as 12.2 hour person over there. Life is so unfair."
Or, better yet, "I spent 8 hours just typing quotes to use in my paper... how about you? What, only two hours. No way are you going to make a good grade with that kind of laziness. Actually, who cares about grades... you will never be as pretentious as me so just shut up and go home."
I no longer have to worry about lengthy term papers that no one will ever care about thank God, but I write constantly. In ways, more than I did in college and my writing is now used to help companies make money. Not a bad gig. However, since my relationship with Word has continued into the professional realm, I have noticed some things that irritate me beyond belief.
For example, I was looking up synonyms for the word "estimate" the other day. What did the Word thesaurus spit out at me? Guesstimate. That's right, the word used exclusively by 3rd grade teachers and cheesy high school counselors. Maybe the occasional adult leadership conference speaker. Needless to say, I just stuck with estimate since my other options included "ballpark guess, good guess, close guest or estimate..." You get the idea.
Maybe I shouldn't have been so lazy that I needed to use a thesaurus that day, so I moved on from my guesstimate irritation.
Today, I was typing an email and was having a hard time thinking of a closing sentence. I decided to type "The End." Obviously, this was not a permanent fixture to the email, but it was mildly entertaining to me in the moment. Until Word yelled at me with its squiggly little green lines telling me that it was an improper sentence fragment. I understand that components of a proper sentence, believe me. However, I was pretty sure the last time I checked that "The End" is a completely appropriate use of grammar. Maybe not under the laws of formal English language, but certainly if "guesstimate" is included in the thesaurus then "The End" should be considered grammatically correct.
Maybe I'll write Bill Gates a letter of grievance while I'm into all my holiday complaining...
Holiday Rant
(I'm in a ranting kind of mood... and feel like airing my holiday season grievances. Unfortunately, the best forum at the moment is here. Oh well... better to blog than to throw a frozen turkey across the room, right?)
Here they are in nice list form:
1. Shopping... especially in malls or discount places like Wal-Mart. I mean, a person was actually trampled trying to get into Wal-Mart on Black Friday. No thanks. I'll employ the internet and pre-Thanksgiving shopping hours as much as possible to minimize the chance of death/injury by stampede or shopping cart.
2. Bad food. I'm not talking about "bad-for-you food" like cookies, candy, and other tasty Christmas cuisine with way too much fat and sugar. I'm talking about bad food - food that is not well-prepared, is made with poor ingredients, or is leftover from Thanksgiving and served after being frozen for a month. Yuck. Even more than Thanksgiving, I feel like Christmas dinner should be a special meal that took many heart-felt hours to prepare. If a host is unwilling to put forth this effort, or allow others to do it in their stead, then go to a Chinese Restaurant (I can never in good conscience recommend Denny's and Chinese restaurants are typically open on Christmas day.) Better yet, order dinner from the Honey-Baked Ham store... or even Boston Market. If you don't care, be honest and embrace it. Don't make your family members suffer.
3. Drivers. In a way, I mean traffic, but would like to assign the horrendous traffic blame to the responsible parties - drivers who are in a rush to get to the mall, grocery store, work, present wrapping kiosk, Grandma's house, pictures with Santa, whatever. I know everyone is in a rush which causes courtesy to go out the window. However, it shouldn't. That isn't in the spirit of the holidays. And it's dangerous to you and your kin.
4. Making assumptions about other people's schedules. Generally, assume that people are busy. This isn't a bad thing, but don't get upset if someone can't re-arrange their schedule to go to a party or family gathering. Try to be understanding and see if you can maybe get together after the holidays when things calm down a bit.
5. Inappropriately addressed Christmas cards. This is more personal than general, but certainly irks me. I decided to keep my maiden name when I got married - not because I don't love my husband or don't plan to stay married for the rest of my life. I kept my last name because I really love it and it means a lot to me, so I did not feel like I could just get rid of it to take on a name with no significance to me personally. This is not that uncommon these days. Back to the point, some people don't know that I didn't change my name. That's fine, I don't mind having things addressed to "Mrs. ******" when they genuinely don't know any better. However, I do not go by Mrs. Afterall, I am only 25 and am my own person, not simply the "other half" of my husband and certainly not his property. One day if I have children, I will go by Mrs. Not until then. So, why is this a problem with Christmas cards? Because certain people insist on addressing me as Mrs. And not just "Mrs. *****," but actually as "Mrs. [My husband's first and last name.]" ARGH!!!!!!!! This is not 1956. I am an ardent feminist. Certainly family members know this and choose to ignore it which is more maddening than I can even begin to express.
6. Family drama. I could write a lengthy book about this. But, really people... spending time with your loved-ones is one of the fundamental precepts of the Christmas celebration. Don't use the holidays as an excuse to advance a family feud. Or to make a family member feel guilty for not seeing you more often. Or to cause a new rift because aunt so-and-so's ugly Christmas sweater offends you. If you have a problem with someone, by all means have a Festivus party the week before Christmas to air all your grievances and MOVE ON. Or, if you don't feel like having it out with the family that annoys you so, be considerate enough to keep it to yourself and not make passive-aggressive stabs at others because it makes all parties present either angry or at the least incredibly uncomfortable.
Alright, there's my rant. I'm doing my very best to make this Christmas an enjoyable one. If it's not, at least I can honestly say that I tried my best.
Here they are in nice list form:
1. Shopping... especially in malls or discount places like Wal-Mart. I mean, a person was actually trampled trying to get into Wal-Mart on Black Friday. No thanks. I'll employ the internet and pre-Thanksgiving shopping hours as much as possible to minimize the chance of death/injury by stampede or shopping cart.
2. Bad food. I'm not talking about "bad-for-you food" like cookies, candy, and other tasty Christmas cuisine with way too much fat and sugar. I'm talking about bad food - food that is not well-prepared, is made with poor ingredients, or is leftover from Thanksgiving and served after being frozen for a month. Yuck. Even more than Thanksgiving, I feel like Christmas dinner should be a special meal that took many heart-felt hours to prepare. If a host is unwilling to put forth this effort, or allow others to do it in their stead, then go to a Chinese Restaurant (I can never in good conscience recommend Denny's and Chinese restaurants are typically open on Christmas day.) Better yet, order dinner from the Honey-Baked Ham store... or even Boston Market. If you don't care, be honest and embrace it. Don't make your family members suffer.
3. Drivers. In a way, I mean traffic, but would like to assign the horrendous traffic blame to the responsible parties - drivers who are in a rush to get to the mall, grocery store, work, present wrapping kiosk, Grandma's house, pictures with Santa, whatever. I know everyone is in a rush which causes courtesy to go out the window. However, it shouldn't. That isn't in the spirit of the holidays. And it's dangerous to you and your kin.
4. Making assumptions about other people's schedules. Generally, assume that people are busy. This isn't a bad thing, but don't get upset if someone can't re-arrange their schedule to go to a party or family gathering. Try to be understanding and see if you can maybe get together after the holidays when things calm down a bit.
5. Inappropriately addressed Christmas cards. This is more personal than general, but certainly irks me. I decided to keep my maiden name when I got married - not because I don't love my husband or don't plan to stay married for the rest of my life. I kept my last name because I really love it and it means a lot to me, so I did not feel like I could just get rid of it to take on a name with no significance to me personally. This is not that uncommon these days. Back to the point, some people don't know that I didn't change my name. That's fine, I don't mind having things addressed to "Mrs. ******" when they genuinely don't know any better. However, I do not go by Mrs. Afterall, I am only 25 and am my own person, not simply the "other half" of my husband and certainly not his property. One day if I have children, I will go by Mrs. Not until then. So, why is this a problem with Christmas cards? Because certain people insist on addressing me as Mrs. And not just "Mrs. *****," but actually as "Mrs. [My husband's first and last name.]" ARGH!!!!!!!! This is not 1956. I am an ardent feminist. Certainly family members know this and choose to ignore it which is more maddening than I can even begin to express.
6. Family drama. I could write a lengthy book about this. But, really people... spending time with your loved-ones is one of the fundamental precepts of the Christmas celebration. Don't use the holidays as an excuse to advance a family feud. Or to make a family member feel guilty for not seeing you more often. Or to cause a new rift because aunt so-and-so's ugly Christmas sweater offends you. If you have a problem with someone, by all means have a Festivus party the week before Christmas to air all your grievances and MOVE ON. Or, if you don't feel like having it out with the family that annoys you so, be considerate enough to keep it to yourself and not make passive-aggressive stabs at others because it makes all parties present either angry or at the least incredibly uncomfortable.
Alright, there's my rant. I'm doing my very best to make this Christmas an enjoyable one. If it's not, at least I can honestly say that I tried my best.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
The [American] Car Czar
I can't even make this stuff up... the auto industry bailout will be overseen by a... no joke... "car czar." The said czar will decide who gets loans and can force the companies to file for bankruptcy (Is there even a question?) if they don't make enough progress.
So, basically the tax payers are going to pay a few billion more dollars, institute a new bureaucracy, and eventually have the auto industry file for bankruptcy anyway... potentially only a month after Obama's inauguration and the new Congressional term.
Thanks Congress, as always, for your wisdom and guidance.
So, basically the tax payers are going to pay a few billion more dollars, institute a new bureaucracy, and eventually have the auto industry file for bankruptcy anyway... potentially only a month after Obama's inauguration and the new Congressional term.
Thanks Congress, as always, for your wisdom and guidance.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Etiquette and Common Sense
I absolutely love etiquette - complete with all the seemingly ridiculous rules and observances. When Judith Martin, AKA Miss Manners, received the National Humanities Medal in 2005 I was ecstatic. (It helped that my internship for that summer was directly involved in the process of choosing the medal recipients... not that I had anything to do with the actual choice, but I got to see the process unfold first-hand which made it all the more interesting.) I was glad that the President of the United States wanted to recognize the role that etiquette has... or at least should have... in society.
The rules of etiquette are designed to help foster appropriate societal relationships between people who otherwise come from disparate locations, backgrounds (including gender, culture, religion), and professions. And, while etiquette is often viewed to be only used by "upper classes" to further sequester themselves from the masses (or old stodgy people), there is no reason for that to be the case. Rules of etiquette, if espoused and followed properly, create a wonderful environment for people to converse, conduct business, and attend social or professional functions. Why? Because those rules tell you how to behave. It's shocking how many people just do not understand basic social graces. I'm not saying I'm anywhere near perfect in this area because I certainly make blunders on a regular basis, but there remain many rules of etiquette that are simply common sense. Most modern rules of etiquette (including those for the internet, email, and social media) follow this model.
For example, saying thank you, avoiding contentious political discussions in environments not intended to be combative or argumentative, giving your seat to an elderly person on mass transit, not chewing with your mouth open, or restraining your loud or misbehaving child in public. These examples may not tell you how to properly set a table for a formal dinner, address a wedding invitation, or what is an appropriate season to wear a particular color, but when performed they clearly provide a sense of respect and dignity to both issuers and the recipients.
This a topic upon which many volumes are written. Emily Post's writings are wonderful and span all ages and sub-categories of etiquette (I include not just the original writings, but anything that is affiliated with her.) I am seriously considering gifting her (or her affiliates') books for future baby shower or wedding gifts. (Not to everyone... I know plenty of people that have wonderful registries because they followed both registry etiquette guides and made prudent decisions regarding their needs and wants. Props to them!) However, lately I have noticed a terrible trend in both baby and wedding registries: Registering for personal items. How personal you might ask? About as personal as one can get... nursing pads, toilet bowl brushes (not the decorative cans one might place one in, but the actual brushes themselves), medications... I could make some lewd comments, but will refrain.
Why does this bother me so much that I've decided to write a blog entry about it?
Because it exemplifies how far removed so many people are from appropriate behavior. Granted, weddings/commitment ceremonies, births, house warming parties, and birthdays are all personal events. They are in fact some of the few occasions when it is warranted to actually be selfish. However, that selfishness should never spill over to a gift registry itself. A rule of thumb: If you would be embarrassed to open the gift in front of all your family and friends (or maybe more importantly if they would be embarrassed to watch you open in), then DO NOT REGISTER FOR IT. And, if those personal items are what you truly need the most, then discretely request gift cards to a store that carries them. No one will know what you spend that gift card on, and even if you don't get enough gift cards and cash to cover the difference, then bring back a more superfluous item. You can't tell me that your baby needs the frilly little $30-$50 dress that will only be ruined within the hour of dressing her. Or that all will be lost if you don't have 3 chips and dip trays for all the parties you plan to host but will never get around to anyway in the first 6 months you're married because you're too busy learning how to live with someone else and get your life organized.
Personally, I struggle with Thank You notes probably the most out of any common etiquette item. It's not that I'm not thankful... very much the opposite. It's that I feel like thank you notes are often shallow and disconnected from the true feelings of gratitude I have despite my best efforts to communicate them. I am incredibly thankful for the One Year Rule (stating that you have 1 year following a major event to write the thank you notes.) That time frame still makes me nervous, but I'm glad I'm not yet black-listed because I have not sent out all my June wedding thank you notes yet (although I remain determined to have them done by December 31.)
And, while I understand that most people are not going to devote their coveted personal time writing to Miss Manners or reading Emily Post, there are certain general etiquette rules to live by. They typically revolve around being courteous and respectful (of people, situations, and objects.) This can be easier said than done, which is why patience is always a virtue and why good intentions do still matter although certainly don't ever eclipse actual words or actions. Yet, if seriously entertained will make life more pleasant and will show people that you do truly care about them and their lives (even if mistakes do still occur.)
So, even if common sense and its accompanying etiquette no longer rules the day, it should in many circumstances. And please don't ask me (or anyone else for that matter) to buy your personal products for you... unless you want an etiquette guide instead.
The rules of etiquette are designed to help foster appropriate societal relationships between people who otherwise come from disparate locations, backgrounds (including gender, culture, religion), and professions. And, while etiquette is often viewed to be only used by "upper classes" to further sequester themselves from the masses (or old stodgy people), there is no reason for that to be the case. Rules of etiquette, if espoused and followed properly, create a wonderful environment for people to converse, conduct business, and attend social or professional functions. Why? Because those rules tell you how to behave. It's shocking how many people just do not understand basic social graces. I'm not saying I'm anywhere near perfect in this area because I certainly make blunders on a regular basis, but there remain many rules of etiquette that are simply common sense. Most modern rules of etiquette (including those for the internet, email, and social media) follow this model.
For example, saying thank you, avoiding contentious political discussions in environments not intended to be combative or argumentative, giving your seat to an elderly person on mass transit, not chewing with your mouth open, or restraining your loud or misbehaving child in public. These examples may not tell you how to properly set a table for a formal dinner, address a wedding invitation, or what is an appropriate season to wear a particular color, but when performed they clearly provide a sense of respect and dignity to both issuers and the recipients.
This a topic upon which many volumes are written. Emily Post's writings are wonderful and span all ages and sub-categories of etiquette (I include not just the original writings, but anything that is affiliated with her.) I am seriously considering gifting her (or her affiliates') books for future baby shower or wedding gifts. (Not to everyone... I know plenty of people that have wonderful registries because they followed both registry etiquette guides and made prudent decisions regarding their needs and wants. Props to them!) However, lately I have noticed a terrible trend in both baby and wedding registries: Registering for personal items. How personal you might ask? About as personal as one can get... nursing pads, toilet bowl brushes (not the decorative cans one might place one in, but the actual brushes themselves), medications... I could make some lewd comments, but will refrain.
Why does this bother me so much that I've decided to write a blog entry about it?
Because it exemplifies how far removed so many people are from appropriate behavior. Granted, weddings/commitment ceremonies, births, house warming parties, and birthdays are all personal events. They are in fact some of the few occasions when it is warranted to actually be selfish. However, that selfishness should never spill over to a gift registry itself. A rule of thumb: If you would be embarrassed to open the gift in front of all your family and friends (or maybe more importantly if they would be embarrassed to watch you open in), then DO NOT REGISTER FOR IT. And, if those personal items are what you truly need the most, then discretely request gift cards to a store that carries them. No one will know what you spend that gift card on, and even if you don't get enough gift cards and cash to cover the difference, then bring back a more superfluous item. You can't tell me that your baby needs the frilly little $30-$50 dress that will only be ruined within the hour of dressing her. Or that all will be lost if you don't have 3 chips and dip trays for all the parties you plan to host but will never get around to anyway in the first 6 months you're married because you're too busy learning how to live with someone else and get your life organized.
Personally, I struggle with Thank You notes probably the most out of any common etiquette item. It's not that I'm not thankful... very much the opposite. It's that I feel like thank you notes are often shallow and disconnected from the true feelings of gratitude I have despite my best efforts to communicate them. I am incredibly thankful for the One Year Rule (stating that you have 1 year following a major event to write the thank you notes.) That time frame still makes me nervous, but I'm glad I'm not yet black-listed because I have not sent out all my June wedding thank you notes yet (although I remain determined to have them done by December 31.)
And, while I understand that most people are not going to devote their coveted personal time writing to Miss Manners or reading Emily Post, there are certain general etiquette rules to live by. They typically revolve around being courteous and respectful (of people, situations, and objects.) This can be easier said than done, which is why patience is always a virtue and why good intentions do still matter although certainly don't ever eclipse actual words or actions. Yet, if seriously entertained will make life more pleasant and will show people that you do truly care about them and their lives (even if mistakes do still occur.)
So, even if common sense and its accompanying etiquette no longer rules the day, it should in many circumstances. And please don't ask me (or anyone else for that matter) to buy your personal products for you... unless you want an etiquette guide instead.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Long Time, No Post
First, I must chastise myself for not posting sooner. I try to post fairly regularly because I don't necessarily see the point of blogging if it only occurs once a month. Yet, there has not seemed to be anything worth commenting on compared to real life events (and by real life, I mean things that actually affect me or the people I love. Not that other things aren't "real," but they don't matter as much to me. Adam Smith explains this reaction well in The Theory of Moral Sentiments. ) And, those real life events are too tragic and deserve too much respect to flippantly write about here.
So, I'll post some random thoughts to get the writing juices flowing again.
1. The Mumbai terrorist attack. How awful. I had vaguely heard about it over Thanksgiving, but didn't actually read a newspaper until today. Reading about it just made me sick. There are enough ills in the world without attacking innocent people. Also, people somehow blaming this - in any way - on America is utterly preposterous. Maybe it will incite the Indian government to implement some much needed reforms... or to gain some more legitimacy in governing period.
2. The holiday of Thanksgiving. I understand why Thanksgiving can be a person's favorite holiday; however, I've always struggled with it. First, growing up we only celebrated it when my birthday fell on Thanksgiving day (this happened twice I think.) The reason being that people were "deer hunting" which obviously took precedence to family time and giving thanks. Also, while I am deeply thankful for many things in my life, I have hard time recognizing the good without first examining the bad. Unfortunately, this year happened to have much loss in it - much of which was unexpected. So, while I jubilantly try to celebrate other holidays, Thanksgiving is always tough especially in a year that was eclipsed by many sorrows.
3. Road rage. My husband and I had to carpool to work today. As a result, he experienced first-hand my morning ranting (in all its pre-coffee, Atlanta stop-and-go traffic glory.) His comment was that they could create a TV show solely based off of my comments during the morning commute because I am essentially a younger, female version of Lewis Black. This morning was entitled "I'm Cancelling Christmas." Why? Because I saw the maintenance workers in front of the Governor's mansion hanging garlands and wreaths while disdainfully muttering that I'm not celebrating Christmas this year and continued to mutter how stupid they were for hanging the wreaths. If you know me at all, this is an utterly preposterous statement since Christmas is my favorite time of year and I try to extend it fully from the end of October to MLK or Valentine's Day. It fully illustrates my morning moods though. Maybe I'll start a segment of weekly statements issued by me in traffic. Let's just say it would not be G-rated.
So, if there are any readers out there, I apologize for failing to post for so long and for the poor quality of this entry. Hopefully it will get the gears working again though and I'll be back to my normal cynical, dry-humored self this week.
Did I mention that my Christmas tree is a black (and silver) theme... I guess my personality creeps through in even the most festive occasions lest anyone worry too much.
So, I'll post some random thoughts to get the writing juices flowing again.
1. The Mumbai terrorist attack. How awful. I had vaguely heard about it over Thanksgiving, but didn't actually read a newspaper until today. Reading about it just made me sick. There are enough ills in the world without attacking innocent people. Also, people somehow blaming this - in any way - on America is utterly preposterous. Maybe it will incite the Indian government to implement some much needed reforms... or to gain some more legitimacy in governing period.
2. The holiday of Thanksgiving. I understand why Thanksgiving can be a person's favorite holiday; however, I've always struggled with it. First, growing up we only celebrated it when my birthday fell on Thanksgiving day (this happened twice I think.) The reason being that people were "deer hunting" which obviously took precedence to family time and giving thanks. Also, while I am deeply thankful for many things in my life, I have hard time recognizing the good without first examining the bad. Unfortunately, this year happened to have much loss in it - much of which was unexpected. So, while I jubilantly try to celebrate other holidays, Thanksgiving is always tough especially in a year that was eclipsed by many sorrows.
3. Road rage. My husband and I had to carpool to work today. As a result, he experienced first-hand my morning ranting (in all its pre-coffee, Atlanta stop-and-go traffic glory.) His comment was that they could create a TV show solely based off of my comments during the morning commute because I am essentially a younger, female version of Lewis Black. This morning was entitled "I'm Cancelling Christmas." Why? Because I saw the maintenance workers in front of the Governor's mansion hanging garlands and wreaths while disdainfully muttering that I'm not celebrating Christmas this year and continued to mutter how stupid they were for hanging the wreaths. If you know me at all, this is an utterly preposterous statement since Christmas is my favorite time of year and I try to extend it fully from the end of October to MLK or Valentine's Day. It fully illustrates my morning moods though. Maybe I'll start a segment of weekly statements issued by me in traffic. Let's just say it would not be G-rated.
So, if there are any readers out there, I apologize for failing to post for so long and for the poor quality of this entry. Hopefully it will get the gears working again though and I'll be back to my normal cynical, dry-humored self this week.
Did I mention that my Christmas tree is a black (and silver) theme... I guess my personality creeps through in even the most festive occasions lest anyone worry too much.
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