quoting

There have been a lot of things going on in my life which has left little time for oringal thought on this blog. There was a comment on Postsecret that I read today and it seemed to sum up some of my thoughts fairly well. Enjoy...

"You know that point in your life when you realize that the house that you grew up in isn't really your home anymore? All of the sudden even though you have some place where you can put your stuff that idea of home is gone. You'll see when you move out it just sort of happens one day and it's just gone. And you can never get it back. It's like you get homesick for a place that doesn't exist. I mean it's like this rite of passage, you know. You won't have this feeling again until you create a new idea of home for yourself, you know, for you kids, for the family you start, it's like a cycle or something. I miss the idea of it. Maybe that's all family really is. A group of people who miss the same imaginary place." -Garden State

chew on this...

My sister sent me this link today. It happens to involve two things that I hate: rats and KFC.

take a break

I've noticed an unsettling trend with mp3 players. More and more people are wearing them while they are with others. I saw a dad walking with his family while listening to his iPod. Then last week I saw a couple holding hands while the boy was contently listening to music. A guy that wants to hold my hand is also going to be courteous enough to take a break from music. Seriously people, you can't just enjoy conversation? I love my shuffle when jogging or skiing but when I'm with people, I want to enjoy people. Take the buds out and try to just enjoy life... and people.

choices

Babies don't choose who they are born to. They don't choose if they are dressed in Gap or Wal-mart brand. They don't choose if they are breast fed or formula fed. They don't choose if they wear Pampers or Huggies. Girl babies certainly don't choose if their parent pastes little bows to identify the hairless wonder as a girl.
All of these choiceless acts are relatively harmless (except perhaps the family they were born in to and formula feeding). What irks me though is the choice of parents to pierce their little daughter's ears. I witnessed two baby girls in two different stores being traumatized over it. I recognize that piercing only hurts for a short time but there was plenty wailing and gnashing of teeth going on. The suckers barely soothed them. They looked frightened and distressed, and I had to wonder if it was really worth it. I wanted to cry for them. I thought the mother's must have felt slightly horrified as they held their girl's head tightly. Is it that important that everyone knows they are a girl at 6 months old or that their pierced ears will look so darling? I think kids are already growing up too fast. I see high heeled shoes in the kid section, mid-riff tops for pre-teens and hooped earrings on toddlers. I suppose it's a personal decision for each parent but it's not one that I support. Why not wait until they are begging you for pierced ears? They will promise to take care of them and clean their ears every single day. Then they'll regret the choice several months later when they have a massive infection from not cleaning them. The earrings will be stuck to their ears and it will be excruciatingly painful to remove the earrings. My mom can attest to my own process of ear neglect at the age of six. I don't think I re-pierced them until I was a teen. I don't even wear earrings now. Go figure.

avoidance

There were several subjects I avoided like the plague in university: math and hard science. I also managed to get two degrees without any business or economic classes which I now somewhat regret. Every day I hear about the NASDAQ and Dow Jones Industrial Average without any clue of what that actually means. I am assuming that when they are up, that's a good thing. Why? I have no idea. Today I even did a little reading on Wikipedia to help me understand it. I only got through the first paragraph before I felt like sleeping. I know that the NASDAQ is an electronic stock exchange but I don't comprehend why one would want it up. I'd like to feel smart when the news reports the NASDAQ is up or the Dow is down. But in all reality, how many average news viewers actually grasp the importance of the fluctuating markets?

Perhaps in my next life I will be a business maverick but until then, I will be hopelessly clueless.

cars

I wonder why emission and safety inspections are required to register your car in Utah. Who does this ultimately benefit? Do mechanics put a lot of money in to politician's coffers? I wonder why I typically wait till the last day to get my emission test and registration. Can I blame my procrastination on undiagnosed ADHD? And if I do, does that require me to start making changes? I wonder why another customer continued to sing out loud despite the close quarters and my unfriendly looks. While I admire his confidence to enjoy his music, does he really think the rest of us wanted to be subjected to it? Can't he recognize that we are already enduring a fuzzy radio station and a woman talking loudly on her cell? I wonder why I declined to pay an extra $10 fee to complete my registration there, as I had to wait another 20 minutes at town hall. I know I can be cheap but at what point do I value my time more than my money? Sometimes owning a vehicle can be a pain.