The following comments have been edited for length.

Comment to Julie Morgenstern’s Listen Up Blog
By L. C. on 07/09/2009 10:02 am

I look forward to reading every article.
I’ve been downsizing for the past two years. Meaning I’ve donated nearly  all of my furniture with the exception of three or four pieces. This includes living-room, dining-room and bedroom to the Salvation Army. I’ve cleared my closets and bookshelves. What a liberating experience!
I’m determined to live a more holistic and simplistic lifestyle. I own only those things I use. My business affairs and papers are in order. If I die today or tomorrow my family will not have to pull their hair out searching for important documents. They already know where the bodies are buried.
I prefer to spend my time living instead of drowning in a sea of things and paper. Now, that I’ve downsized I’m not able to focus on those things that interest me, those things that pull  at my soul.

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Comment to A White Woman’s Conversation With a Black Woman About Race and Hair
By Midwest Mom on 07/08/2009 9:47 am

Thank you for this article.  I have always found it interesting how black women handle their hair, but am afraid that I will sound ignorant if I ask about it.  A few years ago my daughter was taking swimming classes at the local "Y" and there was a little black girl a class that got out just before my daughter.  I would have my little blond jump in the shower & once she got out we would brush her hair & be on our way.  While mine was in the shower I would watch this other mom carefully tending her daughters hair.  I couldn’t help but think how unfair it was.  I remember the little girl would get antsy (she was maybe 6) - I would talk to her & try to entertain her a little.  It reminded me of a friend that told me once that she had to have her kids behave when they left the house - it was a matter of life & death.  Eyebrows shot up & she said, look a misbehaving white boy may get in trouble - a misbehaving black boy could get shot & I am not going to let that happen to my kids.   This was a well educated middle class working mom.  Sadly she was absolutely correct. The sad fact is that things just are not fair. 

I guess my job as a mom is to make sure that my kids grow up understanding that their reality is not the reality that others experience.  We talk often about how other people see situations.  Sometimes when people disagree it isn’t because someone is right & the other is wrong - sometimes they are just seeing things from different views.

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Comment to an Interview With Anne Kreamer, the Author of Going Gray
By Chris Broersma on 07/09/2009 12:43 pm

I stopped coloring when I found out that people had been lying to me…I’d been told that no one would hire, "a grayed haired old lady!"  Over the past few years I found out that it made no difference whether my hair was gray or red!  Today I’m a happy white headed old lady and I’m much happier as my real self.

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Comment to Liz Peek’s Wall Street Weekly
By Maggie W on 07/04/2009 11:13 am

Today’s Houston Chronicle has another take on education.  In Texas, more than 80% of all jobs do not require a bachelor’s degree, and 44% of those jobs pay above average income for the state.  Texas currently is in need of welders and other skilled technicians.  My cousin is in the cattle business and frequently hires free lance cowboys and pays them well. 

I agree that education should be on the front burner , regardless of the person in the Oval Office.  A hunk of that stimulus money is going to education; the President also favors a longer school year and school day, and better trained teachers. 

All schools should place more emphasis on math and science, so those students not going on to college will be better prepared to apply their skills in industry and technical training.  There is a great need in those fields.  When my young nephew was laid off from his job, he took a job with one of the oil companies, inspecting pipe.  His  marketing degree from the university was not useful there. 

When your car breaks down, you want a mechanic not the guy with the bachelor or master’s degree.  When you flip the switch and there is no light, you call an electrician. No one ever argues with a plumber’s fee when the toilet is backed up. 

One size doesn’t fit all.  Kids not wired for college level need to be shown new and important career choices, or that drop out rate will just climb higher.  For far too long, tactile learning has been pushed aside  and undervalued.  The diversity of student needs must be addressed and the time is now.  Our schools have wasted too many kids.  It’s shameful.

An aside… a round of applause for Bill and Melinda Gates who advocate and finance smaller high schools where students are more apt to get more attention from their teachers.