Friday, December 28, 2012

The electronic apple


 

 

 
Back at the beginning of time there were two; Adam and Eve. 
The story goes (obviously written down by a man) like this:  Eve was beguiled by a beautiful snake.  The creature glistened in the sun light, slithered sensuously around her and hissed its message in her ear.
 

“Eat of the Tree of Life and you shall know the truth.  You will have the knowledge of good and evil, you will know all the things that God does not want you to know.  Eat….eat,” the snake whispered.

 
 
Now Eve, being the curious creature she was designed to be, is reported to have fallen for this.  I have a suspicion she may have been the worlds first blonde.  Anyway, she ate the apple and the veil of innocence fell from her eyes.  Realizing she was completely naked, and not in the best shape, she grabbed some leaves and strategically placed them for cover.  Then she set out to find her mate…..and you know the rest of that story.

 
Last night I sat watching the news.  It's something I do infrequently because, no matter what channel I watch, I am aware it is biased and self-serving to the ownership.  The truth is there is very little truth in news….get over it.

Sitting there I had an epiphany; TV is the modern day version of that snake in the Garden of Eden.  'Eat from this fruit and you will know the truth'.  The unblinking eye is jam packed with all the things a kind and caring deity would not want you subjected to.  Not because you should live in ignorance, but because some things are just better left alone or taken in very small doses. 

Each broadcast is a display case for human misery, ignorance and insanity.  The formula is simple.  Lead with the bloodiest, follow up with the saddest, end with a chuckle about the local sports team.  It is predictable, insensitive and lucrative.   How many times do we need to see a microphone shoved into the face of a grieving parent or a hurricane survivor? 

The coverage of the latest mass murder has raised the killer to cult worship status.  To fill airtime this event will be broadcast year after year on the anniversary of the tragedy; thus giving every nut-case a time frame to construct his/her own nightmare.

The worst thing that ever happened to television is the 24 hour news channel, because you have to fill 24 hours with something.   Over and over the horror of these events is driven home with the ratings jackhammer.

You’re probably thinking, “Yes, but if we didn’t know about things like the tsunami how could we raise money for aid?”  Good question…and my rebuttal is, “How much money did you send to tsunami victims and how many hours, days, weeks of the death and destruction and horror did you see?”  In truth I think watching hours and hours of this kind of coverage may be making us immune to the pain and suffering of others.   Perhaps it is easier to step around a homeless beggar when you’ve seen a whole country suffering.

I am fully aware that I will sound out of touch to a lot of people.  I'm not promoting ignorance, and I am aware people need to know what is going on.  But you must remember that television is a business.   Because networks are dedicated to winning ratings wars we must have enough common sense to turn it off at some point. I am simply suggesting we should all be as particular about what we watch (and how much we watch) on television as we are about anything else that takes up time in our lives.
We can dress it up and call it anything we want but the truth is at best every sitcom, every news cast and every talk show is simply an advertising delivery system.  The programming is ‘flavoring’ to make the message go down more easily.  Since human beings realized the crowd would throw coins at dancers in the town square, or hand pennies to the town crier, money has been the motivating factor in entertainment and news.

                                                     Do not be beguiled by the snake…

                                                                Life is Good

 

Monday, December 24, 2012

The Night Before Christmas







Here we are on another Christmas Eve.  The gifts are wrapped, the food prepared and waiting for tomorrow’s big dinner with the family.  I’m on the grownup end of the holidays; but I still love Christmas.   

This was always a magical night when I was a child; I remember my grandfather holding me as we watched out the window for a shadow that might mean Santa was passing overhead.   Then it was off to bed to try and sleep; Santa doesn’t really come till he knows you’re sleeping.

As an adult it seems I can no longer achieve that peaceful sleep I knew as a child; that was a time before I knew about sickness, the homeless, death, the hungry and the broken.   Now celebration is tempered with the understanding of other people’s pain; the real definition of growing up.

So many of the presents I received as a child have disappeared into the blackness of my memory; the gifts received as a by-product of growing older will stay with me forever.  I'd like to share a few of those gifts with you: 

      Never wait for the misfortune of others to make you appreciate what you have right now.
            Never pass up a chance to be kind…it is much more important than being right.
                                        Take nothing for granted….nothing.
Look for the beauty around you to fill the spaces that can just as easily be inhabited by ugliness.
                         Be grateful for everything; the world owes you nothing.
                          Nothing lasts forever....nothing good and nothing bad.
 

                Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!!!!

                                                                    Life is Good

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Looking for Christmas Cheer



I think there is a very good chance that I may be an ill-mannered Neanderthal.   I say that as a person who was born before ‘political correctness’ came into vogue…and refuses to bend to this tyrannical trend. 

While joining the throng trying to exit a store this week an elderly woman held the door for me as I followed her.  I stepped up my pace so she wouldn’t have to just stand there and, as I cleared the door, I said, “Thank you and Merry Christmas to you.”    With no facial expression whatsoever she looked at me and said, “We don’t celebrate Christmas.”

That stopped me in my tracks; as we hesitated for a moment in front of the store I said to her, “My wish to you came from a happy heart.  You do not have to observe Christmas to receive my well wishes for a joyous season, no matter what you do or do not celebrate.”

The woman was as short and grey as her hair-do.  She chewed the inside of her cheek, looked up at the overcast sky, then at me, and finally said, “Okay, I get that.”

As she stomped away I questioned my response and wondered from whence it had come.   Eventually I realized that Christmas combines all my happy childhood memories, the love for my family and just a general gratitude about being alive.  If it is rude to share that with a complete stranger I make no apologies.

And so, if you should encounter someone who seems to be offended by your well wishes, so be it.                                           Frankly I will accept all the happy feelings you might be able to spare.   In today’s world we all need all the help we can get.

                                                      Merry Christmas

                                                          Life is Good  

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Don't Make Eye Contact With the Animals




For years now I’ve listened to my internal dialogue becoming more and more judgmental.  I honestly struggle to keep my mind open and my opinions to myself but I fail a minimum of ten times every single day.  Now I fear I’ve completely lost all interest in being “fair and balanced”….all because of a late lunch.

Larry picked me up at the office last week to sign some papers and enjoy a late lunch together.  When we’re operating on a tight timeline we often hit a buffet; easy to get in and out and no waiting for food.  My favorite food is Chinese; he tolerates it well, and so we stopped for lunch.

We were sitting in a booth talking when our attention was drawn to the table across the aisle from us.  A group of eight was being seated.  They were loud and boisterous and (here I go) looked as if they’d come from central casting for the movie Easy Rider.  Wrapped heads, tattoos and large purple sucker bites seemed to be their dress code.  They took their seats and managed to hold the attention of everyone in the place as they loudly decided who was going to hit the food bar first.

As I sat watching this group of unkempt exhibitionists I was glad we were finishing up because I sensed the entertainment factor with this bunch was going to tank quickly.  After filling plates they returned to their seats to hurl four letter words and insults at one another as they stuffed food into their mouths.   It might have been their version of good natured banter…but it could just as easily have been the set up for a knife fight.

One extremely obnoxious fellow wearing a cowboy hat summoned a waitress by snapping his fingers and calling loudly, “Hey you, girl!  Over here, now!”   

Just as we finished our desserts one of the men laughed and loudly called out “fart fight”!  This was followed by a loud noise that led me to understand he was not joking.  Their entire table erupted in laughter, hoots and clapping of hands.  Then a second man loudly announced, “You ain’t heard nothing yet,” and he proudly became the obvious trophy winner.  

We grabbed our bill and headed out.  I didn’t take time to look around and see if anyone else was leaving to escape this bunch of louts.  I really felt sorry for the servers who had to deal with them until they decided they had offended enough people and moved on to a fresh audience.

I have never witnessed such dreadful behavior in a restaurant in my life.  In an effort to avoid that, I will not set foot in that particular restaurant again for fear that bunch might be regulars.  The thought of following one of those people through a food line makes me cringe.

It’s hard enough to understand how some people leave home looking like an unmade bed; it is another thing to figure out what they say to themselves to make this kind of behavior acceptable.

My internal dialogue tells me it’s not right to judge people; my common sense tells me some people make that nearly impossible with their behavior. 

                                                            Life is Good

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Nothing to wear....


From the start little girls want to imitate their mothers.  I remember watching my own Mom putting on make-up, fixing her hair, choosing what she would wear.  I simply could not wait to grow up so I could wear high heels and primp in the bathroom mirror.

This past weekend my husband and I got (what is for us) an early start on our Christmas shopping.  My history as a working woman has been to do the shopping at the last minute; I’ve spent many a Christmas Eve racing through my local Walgreens, frantically searching for something that even remotely resembles a gift.  I confess to standing in the “as seen on TV” aisle trying to come up with an idea….wondering if a years’ supply of fiber wafers might brand me as an uncaring friend. Now that I work a more leisurely schedule I will have gifts on time…..it’s an idea whose time has come.

Our shopping day eventually took us to a popular store for young girls; two of our granddaughters are big fans of this particular shop.  And so it was that Larry and I found ourselves standing in the middle of a store that looked to be a cross between a Las Vegas showgirl’s dressing room and a biker bar.   Denim meets marabou feathers and beyond.

Looking through the racks of “sophisticated” clothes the sizes seem to range from five year old girls to ten years old girls, or thereabouts. A long line of little girls seemed headed to the back of the store to try on sparkling shirts and jeans; one little gal who looked to be about seven or eight stumbled toward a dressing room with an armload of clothes…her three inch sequined heels impeding her progress.

Mesh tops, sequined sweaters, jeans with strategically placed holes?  Where are the patent leather shoes, the little plaid jumpers and the tights with ruffled fannies hiding?  I don’t have the heart to buy my granddaughters an outfit that looks as if RuPaul designed it for the opening scenes of Drag Race!

As a nation our little girls are mimicking Miley Cyrus, in love with Justin Bieber and listening to the lyrics of music that could make a (1960’s) sailor blush.   How do we get off this merry go round? I think one way is to pay more attention to how our kids dress.  You can’t expect a little girl to act like a seven year old if you allow her to dress like a stripper.  TV, music, movies…many parents pay attention to those things; but take a careful look at your daughter and ask yourself if what she’s wearing is really age appropriate. That may sound simplistic, but we have to start somewhere, right?

Technically bowing to the wishes of my young ones I bought the most modest, the least offensive shirts and jeans I could find.  I hope my little dolls are still too young to realize I didn’t buy the feather boa that went with ‘just everything’. 

                                  Let’s not let our little girls grow old before they grow up.

                                                                   Life is Good