FIVE THINGS I’M GRATEFUL FOR THIS SUNDAY

1. Sleeping In
2. Spooning
3. Rainy Mornings
4. Mellow Music Mixes
5. Frosted Flakes

LOST: ONE HARD DRIVE, GAINED: A BETTER PERSPECTIVE

I’ve got a mid-term tomorrow, so once again, my time here is limited. I’m sure I’ll do just fine on it, but stressing out beforehand is just my way…

I wrote this little essay for class that I wanted to post, but my hard drive crashed this week and all my photos, writing, paper creations, and work stuff is gone. My husband tried to salvage some things, but apparently once your hard drive starts sparking, it’s pretty much a goner. At least my music files were on a separate drive. And I have hard copies of most of the major stuff, like my resume and children’s plays. The photos and work stuff will be sorely missed, though.

My husband was expecting a major melt down when he told me that everything was gone. But after hearing that an acquaintance’s husband died last week, my lost hard drive didn’t even seem worth wasting a second thought on. It’s just stuff. The things that really matter are right in front of me and my energy is better spent appreciating them while they are still here.

So please go hug someone you love. And if you have time, back up your files too! (I will from now on, trust me…)

I’m off to enjoy a slow, snuggly Sunday and hope you do the same!

- A.

I got on a rant and almost forgot my Friday Things...

FIVE THINGS I’M GRATEFUL FOR THIS FRIDAY

1. Guacamole
2. Overtime
3. Balloon Animals
4. Quantum Leap Reruns
5. Afternoon Naps (I think I remember what those are…)

Have a fabulous weekend, fellow bloggers!

- A.

Friday, June 16, 2006

CELEBRATING DEATH

I had a discussion with my husband the other day that left a really bad taste in my mouth. I’m not sure what bothered me more—the actual issue or the feeling that I am totally out of sync with most of my fellow Americans. I always thought of myself as optimistic and patriotic but now I’m beginning to wonder… Am I really the bleeding heart liberal that he claims I am? Am I unpatriotic, clueless, and out of touch with reality? Sometimes I think maybe I am…

It all started because my husband had the news on while we were getting ready for work. He knows better than to turn the news on in the mornings, because I invariably get anxious, annoyed or terribly sad. If he’s lucky, I’ll just be a little melancholy. If he’s unlucky, I’ll go off on some kind of philosophical rant that he knows we’ll have opposite opinions about. This was one of the latter days…

The newscaster was talking about the president’s speech. It seemed to me that the speech in question, the newscaster, and the president were all happily bragging about the death of a top terrorist. I said to my husband, “Don’t you think it’s in poor taste for the leader of a country to celebrate the fact that he was responsible for another human being’s death?”

My husband emphatically disagreed. “The man was an enemy of the United States, he deserved to die, and it was the president’s JOB to make that happen,” he responded.

First of all, I question whether we, as human beings, should feel entitled to decide whether any other human being should live or die. However, I do live in the real world (most of the time), and I know that no matter what I think, wars happen and people die. I don’t understand why we had to bomb the crap out of a whole town, endangering countless others, to kill one man, but we’ve already established the fact that I’m clueless.

So for the sake of this argument, let’s say that this was a man that had to be killed in order to save many other lives. That man was still a human being. If he had nothing else, I’ve got to believe that he at least had a mother or someone else out there that cared about him. Maybe he did evil, unconscionable things in his life. But he was still a living creature, and to celebrate the death of any living being seems wrong to me.

What kind of a message are we sending to our children about the sanctity of human life? That it’s okay to kill certain humans, in fact, it’s encouraged? When it’s okay to celebrate the death of a “monster,” how long will it be before that definition of “monster” broadens and changes to include our own loved ones? I know I may be in the minority for saying this, but I just think it’s scary and in poor taste to brag about killing anyone or anything, even if it was a “justifiable” death.

The irony of this situation is not lost on me. I realize that countless Americans have died so that I could sit here safe and secure on my couch, free from fear and able to exercise my right to freedom of speech, my right to speculate on the “morality” of celebrating the death of the “enemy”—the same enemy that has killed so many of the people that fought for my right to write this.

But I just can’t seem to wrap my head around it, no matter how hard I try. To me, any untimely death is a sad, solemn occasion, regardless, and sometimes because of, how that life was spent.

- A.

Saturday, June 10, 2006

FIVE THINGS I’M GRATEFUL FOR THIS SATURDAY

1. Lightning Bugs
2. Yo-Yo Ma
3. Butterfingers
4. Pink Highlighters
5. Buttercream Yankee Candles

Sorry I haven’t been around much lately. It’s been killing me not being able to check on all my favorite blogs! But I knew that I couldn’t spend just five minutes online, and five minutes is about all the free time I’ve had lately. Hopefully I’ll settle into some sort of routine very soon and then I can schedule some “blogging” time into my week.

I'm gonna' keep this brief so I can go catch up on some blog reading now. Then I have to start studying for a Language and Linguistics test that I have on Monday. Wish me luck!

Meanwhile, here’s a little something to make you smile—the latest additions to my family in Texas. I miss them terribly, but thankfully I have a great long distance plan and my mom sends me tons of pictures.

Have a fabulous weekend!

- A.

Friday, June 02, 2006

FIVE THINGS I’M GRATEFUL FOR THIS FRIDAY

1. The kindness of strangers (And acquaintances that offer to give you a ride home when your car breaks down for the millionth time)
2. Tennessee Williams (I quote him all the time but rarely give him credit)
3. Ernest Hemmingway (I recently checked out “Old Man and the Sea” for a student and read it first before I passed it on. I’ve always loved Hemmingway, but for some reason never read this one. Better late than never!)
4. Mel Brooks (History of the World Part I was on the TV when I got home today. It still makes me laugh my butt off, even after all these years!)
5. Air conditioning (Did I mention my piece of crap car that breaks down all the time no longer has functioning air conditioning?)

MONEY, CARS AND LAUNDRY—LET’S CHUCK THEM ALL!

I’m so tired that I can barely read the blurred screen as I type. But it’s a good tired. Earned from happily burning the candle at both ends, doing what I enjoy—running around like a chicken with its head cut off.

Summer classes started this week. My summer reading program is off to a great start. I’ve gone full time at work effective this week. I’m working on a big project for one of my professors and a little project for another professor. And I’m coordinating my grandmother’s 80th birthday party that will take place in September.

Honestly, though, I like being that busy. I’ve always been that way. I need down time every now and then, but too much free time is a bad thing for me. I thrive on variety and I’m truly only happy when I’m very busy and don’t have time to ask if I’m truly happy. Hmm…I’m not sure if that’s healthy or not. But it works for me…

And while I enjoy writing this blog too, I haven’t had extra time to do it lately. I’m going to try in the future to update about once a week, probably on Fridays, but that’s the best I can do right now. So please be patient with me. I’ll be back to do some blog reading on Sunday. (Gotta’ work Saturday, too.) I promise I haven’t forgotten everybody!

But like I said, I’m enjoying all this busy craziness. I actually like going into work each day, and you can’t ask for much more than that. (Well, I could ask for more money, but I wouldn’t get it unless I wanted to go back to something else, like my previous, soul-sucking profession.)

I can’t express in words the joy I feel when I see students getting excited about books. And working with other teachers that feel the same way I do—it’s so cool. I know I’m still a newbie to all this and maybe a little zealous, but I don’t care. I’m going to enjoy all this enthusiasm while I can because it’s such a wonderful rush…

I had originally planned to do only part time jobs while I was in school. But things are so busy at work, they really need someone full time and I really need the money for tuition in the fall and to get my crappy car fixed…so there you go.

Did I mention that I hate money and I absolutely despise my car? If I could create the perfect world, the first thing I’d do is get rid of money, cars and laundry. (Oh yeah, I hate laundry, too.)

In my perfect world, money would be obsolete. Everyone would contribute to society in the ways that they were able, and in return, basic needs would be met automatically. (I don’t know how it will work, but in my world there will be smarter people than me to figure it all out.)

Cars in my perfect world would be for recreation only. Transportation would be easy, quick and accessible for everyone. (I’m planning on my think tank gang to figure this one out, too. I’m hoping for something like a transporter but I’ll leave that up to them. I don’t want to inhibit their creativity by demanding something specific.)

And while I’m at it, I’d make laundry a thing of the past. The growing Mt. Washmore in my laundry room would just disappear. All of our clothes would be disposable and recyclable. I don’t care much for fashion, I’d be happy in sweats, but for those of you that do care about that sort of thing, I’d have the think tank folks make them fashionable as well as functional.

If you were willing to join me, we could make this world a reality! So come on everybody, be brave. Take a deep breath and just do it….

Money, cars, and laundry—let’s chuck them all! Oh, and let’s throw out those dirty dishes too…

Have a great week!

- A.