My Mom’s the luckiest person in the world because she’s got a great son ….me! I kid you not, I’m pretty great as far as son’s go. Although I often forget Mother’s Day and have to be reminded by my sisters, when I do remember I often send her gifts and things. Sometimes I don’t even send her anything and just call instead …when I remember that is. She likes to work around her house on Mother’s Day just like every other day really, so if I’m ever there during this special time, I simply let her go about her business – you know, a great son never interferes with his Mom’s work! This Mother’s Day I not only remembered to get a card, but I actually sent it ….and on top of that I threw in a bunch of Dutch candies that I know she likes – how great is that for a son! I know, right!! By not remembering Mother’s Day all the time you keep your mother guessing as to whether or not she’s going to get anything, and this is great because when she does get something she feels even more special! In conclusion, I’d like to suggest that you too occasionally forget your Mom’s special day. In the end, by virtue of your sporadic gift giving, you can become a great son like me!
Happy Mother’s Day Mom :)
Signed,
Me!
*great son*
Here she is when she was a little girl in the bustling metropolis of Rotterdam.
Having been ripped from civilization as a teen, she was thrown into the bleak, Canadian wilderness known as Saskatchewan.
Eventually she found the man of her dreams! …not forgetting that dreams do change of course.
She was then blessed with three wonderful offspring and a plastic doll. Notice the great son btw! (looking a little sleepy I might add)
Finally, here she is with one of her four, wonderful grandkids. It should also be noted that her great son’s sperm has yet to bear fruit. Don’t give up on me yet Mom, fruit may be just around the corner!! *pfft, it could happen*
Having a choice is a good thing. Having more choices is better. Sometimes it may work against you though as not everyone is inclined nor has the time to get reasonably informed; that is, what good is a choice when you have no idea what you’re choosing. As far as I noticed, I thought the media did a wonderful job of letting us know about the candidates involved, and I especially enjoyed the little write-ups in the local papers that gave a brief review (education, family backgrounds etc.) of those in the different ridings. This helps because it not only gives you a better understanding of where they’re coming from, but how they might view the issues that are important to you as well. Assuming of course you’re not bothered by those pesky little annoyances like where you’re sleeping tonight…
It seems our dictatorship-ish in length majority government rule by the Progressive Conservatives (over 40 years) is in jeopardy. Kinda. Apparently this government has been drifting more and more toward center on many issues and the Alberta populous is looking for a move back to the right. The faaaaar right. Texas-style right some might say. So far right in fact that kinda-homophobia, somewhat-climate-denile and boarderline-racism are looking for a piece of the pie. Yea us ;) If that’s not exciting enough for you, it seems our illustrious Federal leader of the past is proposing a merger between the NDP Party and the beleaguered Liberal Party (that since his absence has been floundering something fierce) which means we may yet match our American cousins in terms of options when it comes to federal politics. Yup, two choices …one or the other.
The thing I hate about politics (aside from politics) is the bickering that goes on between the regular-type people just before election time. It’s as if the world is going to end when power shifts. From my meager life as an adult however, I’ve never noticed this. Things shift of course, but gradually, and the doom and gloom most exclaim doesn’t really materialize as doom and gloom. It’s instead a slow simmer. And even then, before any actions are taken by the new party in rule, there’s the whole ‘gauging of public opinion’ – which dilutes much of the new governments implementations as they generally make small concessions to appease everyone as best they can …I mean, they want to be popular right? The net result is that the people still rule in the end. Most people that is. The ‘majority of most people’ might be a better way to put it. And if you’re not one of them you can always leave, make do, or try to effect change from within. If you’re gonna go the latter route, try to be nice about things.
While out for lunch today with some friends, we got onto the topic of tv shows …and it seems I may be the anomaly in that I didn’t watch anything with any regularity. Sure I saw things or at least heard about different shows, characters and such, but I never routinely viewed anything. I don’t remember ever having to be in front of the tv at a certain time on a certain day. I know I’d occasionally spend a lot of time (say a saturday morning of cartoons) glued to the boob-tube way-back-when, but I didn’t ever schedule myself to be there, and I never became so immersed in a show to the point of having to tune in to next week’s episode. I just wasn’t in front of the idiot box that much – as a kid or as an adult.
Well, not exactly. As an adult I do remember getting hooked on a few shows back in the 90′s. I made a habit of checking out the early ER’s. Clooney and ‘Goose‘ were my guys …ditto for NYPD Blue (in reruns though) at least until that idiot Ricky came along. There was also a few seasons of North of 60 that I went through too …also in reruns. In hindsight though, some of this viewing was because the room mate(s) liked to watch things …so by virtue of social-ness we all would end up watching. In general though, I’ve never been big on tv …especially as a kid.
And that may be why I hardly watch anything now. I do when I have to eat however (or at least read something) and I’ll start at the highest channel I get (119 – news) and work my way down. If all goes well I’ll settle on something until I’m finished eating, and if not then I’ll have surfed downward through 50+ channels only to start again at the top. Occasionally I’ll come across an old movie that’s somewhat interesting, or a show that turns out to be newsworthy and keeps me glued past my meal time. It’s rare that I finish eating and find myself still there though.
Part of what annoys me with some of these modern offerings (when I do happen to catch them) is the quickness in dialog. Animated comedies (although not exclusively) are some of the worst. A great test for this is to try listening to the show without actually watching it …you’ll quickly see (hear) what I mean. I suppose our attention spans are shorter these days too – that and more space is required for tv advertisers (in competition with the internets) and perhaps script writing has taken precedent over actual acting …wasn’t timing a required part of the delivery in terms of effective acting at one time? I don’t watch reality shows and ditto for CSI’s/Crime/Police dramas, Ice-road-extreme-gardening etc., most comedy bits and in particular those Idol/Dancer/No-Talent thingys. I disdain advertising (on tv, the internet or on commutes through the city and/or scenic countrysides as was painfully evident on my trip through BC) and I’d be the first to jump on board if there was ever a push to go the anti-advertising route of Sao Paulo, Brazil …yes, advertising bothers me that much.
Nope, tv’s never been my cup of tea. I’ll watch it, but I don’t need to watch it. Other people will say the same thing of course (saying that you have to watch tv is tantamount to admitting you have a weakness …and no one would admit to that) but take them away from their ‘stories’ and see what kind of mood they’re in. Of course tv shows become part of our culture, and in terms of fitting in we don’t mind setting routines around them. We love routines it seems …and if they help us become part of the crowd then all the better. I’ve never been in with the crowd though, and in hindsight my not watching a lot of tv as a kid may have been the reason I seemed to get into trouble. I’d have to check with my Mom to be certain of course. If I was a kid these days I’m sure she’d have me on some flavor of hyperactivity drug.
In my blog reader today (which always gives me much to consider …often too much!) I came across a few wonderful posts that collectively work together on illuminating some of our social behaviors. The idea of ‘doing the right thing’ seems so simple, and yet…. To set things up, here’s a few snippets from Ethan Zukerman’s post on the complexity of the Kony video/campaign:
“We are asked to join the campaign against Kony literally by being spoken to as a five year old. It’s not surprising that a five year old vision of a problem – a single bad guy, a single threat to eliminate – leads to an unworkable solution. Nor is it a surprise that this extremely simple narrative is compelling and easily disseminated. — The video has a profound “story of self” that makes it possible for individuals to connect with and relate to. And Invisible Children constructs a narrative where we can help, and where we’re shirking our responsibility as fellow human beings if we don’t help. — The problem, of course, is that this narrative is too simple.”
Danah Boyd’s blog discusses the way social media was organized around the video (or rather how we organized it I suppose) as well as the effectiveness of our desires to ‘do good’ when approached from a seemingly simple and altruistic standpoint:
“I’m not surprised by the presence of religious language in the accounts of those who tweeted this message. I very much suspect that a lot of what made this pop has to do with strong pre-existing Christian networks. I’m always surprised at how often people in the tech community regularly underestimate the power of religious networks.— I’m glad that NPR and a few other news organizations have sought out Ugandan/African perspectives, but none of those perspectives have broken through the tornado of chaos that has followed this event. So I can’t help but wonder… with the rise of attention philanthropy, are we going to see a new type of attention colonialism?“
Finally, this new TedTalk by Jonathan Haidt posits that our need to ‘do good’ is more than a simple, unselfish desire that brings us together through action. Instead, through this unity we in essence create what we’ve come to define as spirituality. As he quotes from Émile Durkheim… “Anything that unites us takes on an air of sacredness.” He goes on later in his talk to discuss the possibility of religion being an evolutionary process.
‘Doing good’ …it’s so simple in intention yet complex in practice.
Or should that be the other way around?
Plastic surgery shaves 9 years off your age (click), at least according to this recent study. I had to emphasize the word study because it seems only one plastic surgeon did the procedures, three people were on the research team and, unremarkably, one of the researchers is a medical consultant for Allergan Canada …a health care company that specializes in, you guessed it – facial aesthetics, breast implants and obesity treatments. But it’s not really surprising. Advertising ‘youth’ is big money …money that we don’t seem to mind spending.
We’re a society largely preoccupied with being younger than we are. I understand the urge to be young, it’s natural, but to go to the extremes many of us do is borderline psychotic. It’s almost a curse to be old in society, or at least to look old, and we’re unashamed in admitting this. We skew photographs, live on a constant diet, obsess over fashion and surrender ourselves to the knife, botox and liposuction treatments. And why? Well …because young isn’t old. Old is, I guess, washed up or something. Young is new and fresh. Old is sooo yesterday, and in the modern world full of technology and whatnot, the future is where it’s at, not yesterday. And who doesn’t want to be where it’s at! I mean, if you’re not there …where are you?
I’m here. Although I suppose, from what others tell me at least, I’m lucky that I look somewhat younger than I am. I sure don’t feel it though. Not lately at least. But it is disheartening though, to marginalize a large group of people because they’ve simply grown old. It’s almost as if we care less as to what’s inside people than what’s on the outside. Almost. Isn’t that the important stuff though …the stuff that’s on the inside? Of course we’ll say things like ‘what’s on the inside truly matters’ …but I think that’s more lip-service than anything else at times. It seems to be at least. Some too might say it’s a celebrity thing, but then aren’t we the ones deciding who gets to be a celebrity?
I caught a glimpse a while back of an interview with Dolly Parton. I was sad. No …maybe not sad, but perhaps more let down. Here’s a wonderful person who has given wonderful things to the world through her wonderful music – but it’s as if that wasn’t enough. It was like we demanded more from her. In this interview she made the comment “If I see something sagging, bagging, and dragging, I’m going to nip it, suck it and tuck it.” which is a testament of sorts to her journey through cosmetic surgery, and I guess this is the part that, yes, did make me sad; that when a great song like ‘Coat of Many Colors’ (which is an inspiring song about being who you are, being proud of yourself no matter what your situation, and not being caught up in what other people say about you) can come from such a warm and thoughtful individual …how is it that we as a society could have forced this wonderful lady into looking like something else? Being more than what she naturally is? How did we let her down, and where did we go wrong?
Of course Dolly has image issues, and who wouldn’t being in that spotlight she always is …but we share part of the blame, and it bothers me that someone so honest and caring is pushed into feeling that being herself ‘physically’ is never good enough. That being and growing old isn’t an acceptable thing.
One is only old only if you choose to be.
—–
Coat Of Many Colors – Dolly Parton
Back through the years
I go wonderin’ once again
Back to the seasons of my youth
And I recall a box of rags that someone gave us
And how my momma put the rags to use
There were rags of many colors
Every piece was small
And I didn’t have a coat
And it was way down in the fall
Momma sewed the rags together
Sewin’ every piece with love
She made my coat of many colors
That I was so proud of.
As while she sewed, she told a story
From the bible, she had read
About a coat of many colors
Joseph wore and then she said
I hope this coat will bring you
Good luck and happiness
And I just couldn’t wait to wear it
And momma blessed it with a kiss
My coat of many colors
That my momma made for me
Made only from rags
But I wore it so proudly
Although we had no money
I was rich as I could be
In my coat of many colors
Momma made for me
So with patches on my britches
Holes in both my shoes
In my coat of many colors
I hurried off to school
Just to find the others laughing
And making fun of me
And my coat of many colors
That momma made for me
And oh I couldn’t understand that
Cause I thought I was rich
And then I told them of the love
My momma sewed in every stitch
And then I told them all the story that
Momma told me while she sewed
And why my coat of many colors
Was worth more than all their clothes
They didn’t understand it
And I tried to make them see
One is only poor
Only if you choose to be
It is true we had no money
But I was rich as I could be
In my coat of many colors
Momma made for me
Made just for me
