I think it’s hilarious! Call me awful - it won’t be the first time! - but I adore sarcastic commercials dripping with irony. Dripping all over that kind of people, that is. Remember that wonderful commercial for Zazoo condoms? I laugh out loud every time I think about it. Sometimes I think we’ve become so politically correct, we’ve forgotten how to laugh at things that are truly funny! We’re so afraid somebody somewhere will be somehow offended, we’ve shut ourselves off from a lot of genuine laughter.

My heart is always right. I’ve always listened to it even when my head screamed “NO! STOP! DON’T DO THAT! ARE YOU CRAZY?” My heart’s advice has gotten me in serious trouble, lost jobs, ruined my reputation… but in the end, it was always the best advice.

Beautiful music makes me cry, too. Perhaps it’s because it’s about as close to “perfection” as the human body will ever attain, and perfect things are supposed to fill us with such awe, we simply must have some kind of outlet for our response to it or we’ll implode from the emotion. The tears could also be not only the joy of it, but also the sadness that we, too, can’t create beauty of such magnitude. I think the appreciation of it is also an art; many people are not capable of genuine appreciation.

This semester, my husband and I have such diverse schedules that we seldom see each other except on weekends and late at night. However, I love the occasional solitude, and I love having lunch with my friends. Being good company for yourself is just as important as being good company for others! I love to be around people, and he’s quite the loner. I was raised in a houseful of siblings and he was an only child - and don’t think THAT didn’t require some de-programming when we got married! That’s a whole ‘nuther topic, though. When I’m alone in the house, I crank the music - MY music - up really loud, and I read and surf the net and write ahead for my clients and I get some serious essay-grading done. I can’t work in silence and my husband LOVES the silence. “Peace and quiet” are not my friends. The many hours of solitude we’ve both had this semester have suited us well. There’s always the weekend and the late-night antics for the “togetherness” thing. :) Then again, is anyone with three cats ever really alone?

My parents lived in a tiny apartment for the first two years of their marriage; when Mom was pregnant with me, they bought a house for $3,000 and lived there for 24 years. Then, they bought another house, in which I lived for only one year because I got married. My husband and I lived in a tiny stone house for 12 years; both our children were born when we lived there. Finally, we were able to build a larger house - just across the field from the little house - and we still live there. In other words, I haven’t moved much. The rolling hills of southern Indiana have been my home all my life, and I haven’t ever had the money to travel. If I ever win the lottery, I would love to go to Greece to feed my obsession with classical mythology.

When someone dies because a business major at an insurance company would not approve a medication prescribed by a licensed physician, then I believe that business major’s full legal name should be written on the patient’s death certificate under “Cause of death.” I’m not kidding.

“Ingathering,” by Zenna Henderson. I re-read it every Spring.

… all around the campus, carrying a very tall candle, singing “Peace Will Come.” I had no idea why we were there. A professor said “Do it” and I did it.

AFRAID!

Sucking up to a country like China is further proof that in the United States, money talks and integrity walks.

I would guess that men know as much about women as women know about men. SOME men are pigs, and SOME women are bitches. The media is full of generalities and stereotypes, but real life is full of human beings, and in almost any group of 100 people, 95 of them are lovely and decent and caring. We seldom hear about them because that remaining 5% sucks all the oxygen out of any room, uses far more than their fair share of everything, and pretty much ruins everything for the nice people.

The skin one is born in was actually pretty fine, but since I’ve been in charge of it, I’ve put on weight that is entirely my fault and about which I am horrifically ashamed.

The poll still isn’t working.

Seven more deadly sins, for I don’t think the original seven should be eliminated: racism, entitlement, stupidity, indifference, illiteracy, apathy, and selfishness. And, if I may add two more: both tolerance AND intolerance, for each is used in ways neither was ever intended. Society tends to tolerate shameful things, and shows intolerance for many things that are honorable.

I wear the kind of dowdy nightwear now that I used to swear would NEVER touch my body. Not me. I was too cool for old-lady-nightwear. How the mighty have fallen. Other things have fallen, too. Sigh.