More December

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This is supposed to have been written by an 83 year old women to her friend. Sounds like something from “Chicken Soup For The Soul” but I like it… I even aspire to it

I'm reading more and dusting less.  I'm sitting in the yard and admiring the view without fussing about the weeds in the garden.  I'm spending more time with my family and friends and less time working.  Whenever possible, life should be a pattern of experiences to savor, not to endure.  I'm trying to recognize these moments now and cherish them.  

I'm not "saving" anything; we use our good china and crystal for every special event such as losing a pound, getting the sink unstopped, or the first Amaryllis blossom.  I wear my good blazer to the market.  My theory is if I look prosperous, I can shell out $28.49 for one small bag of groceries.  I'm not saving my good perfume for special parties, but wearing it for clerks in the hardware store and tellers at the bank. "Someday" and "one of these days" are losing their grip on my vocabulary.  If it's worth seeing or hearing or doing, I want to see and hear and do it now.  

I'm not sure what others would've done had they known that they wouldn't be here for the tomorrow that we all take for granted.  I think they would have called family members and a few close friends.  They might have called a few former friends to apologize and mend fences for past squabbles.  I like to think they would have gone out for a Chinese dinner, or for whatever their favorite food was.  I'm guessing; I'll never know.  

It's those little things left undone that would make me angry if I knew my hours were limited.  Angry because I hadn't written certain letters that I intended to write one of these days. Angry and sorry that I didn't tell my husband and parents often enough how much I truly love them.  I'm trying very hard not to put off, hold back, or save anything that would add laughter and luster to our lives.  And every morning when I open my eyes, tell myself that it is special.  Every day, every minute, every breath truly is a gift from God.

 May you wake up on January 1^st, finding that the world has not come to an end, the lights work, the water faucets flow, and the sky has not fallen.

 May you go to the bank on Monday, January 3rd and find your account is in order, your money is still there and any mistakes are in your favor.

May you have the strength to endure 11 months of the presidential campaign. 

May you believe at least half of what the candidates propose, and may those elected fulfill at least half of what they promise.

 May you be awe struck by God's sense of humor as you wrestle with the concept that a professional wrestler could actually become president of the United States.

I was having a chat with cousin Charlotte last night and we got to talking about y2k and other millennium hype. I am curious what all of you think is going to happen on 1/1/00.

Personally, I suspect the millennium is going to bring the loonies out of the woodwork… I am prepared for more Jonestown type craziness. I was reading in the Symantec Site (Norton Antivirus) that they are finding quite a few “time-bomb” viruses scheduled to activate on 1/1/00 so be sure you update your anti-virus database and run the program at least once a week.

I think everything will be almost fine, I expect to get some screwy bills, I expect the DMV will crash, I expect some inconvenience, but not Armageddon.

Charlotte mentioned that she read that unsavory types were gearing up for a looting rampage in Las Vegas when Y2K bugs turn the lights out on New Years Eve. She said her little town has an emergency plan to block the road at ether end of the town of town. (I asked if that was to keep people out or in, I can occasionally be witty).

I do get nervous around the Militia types, KKK and other pathetic Inbred White Power Idiots, Rush Limbaugh Ditto Brains, Alien Abductees, Politicians (that I’m not related to), Lawyers (that I’m not related to), and Chicago Cops, and just in general, people who know what’s good for me and have taken it upon themselves to set me straight. I am most afraid of the media induced paranoia that I see and hear everywhere. I think it is unconscionable for the media to reinforce an already paranoid public fear with sensationalist stories about predictions of anarchy and impending doom. Media prophecies have a way of coming true because they are practically invitations to the loony-toon’s to go out and have a riot The Rodney King Riot was totally incited and choreographed by the media, they could have carried sign’s saying Produced and Directed by CBS News.

Violent crime is down, murders are down youth crime is down 30% from 1993 but to listen to the media you would think that 3 out of every 5 teenagers is a homicidal maniac. When more children are going to church than ever before, every talk show pundit is shaking his/her head in dismay and disgust at the state of morals in America. I guess there is no money to be made broadcasting good news. I will cling a the definition of News I heard from Charles Kuralt, I will have to paraphrase because I can’t remember it exactly:

Reporting News is reporting on the exception and unusual, when you stop hearing about murder and mayhem, then it’s time to worry.

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 Did anyone listen to the political “debate” in New Hampshire? Poor Georgie Jr. how can anyone say “he held his own”. The poor bastard managed to memorize some “key phrases” and was incapable of answering any questions. I really liked McCain, seems like a straight shooter to me, I listened to a reporter today say “He’s a cool dude” In High School he smoked cigarettes, raised hell, chased girls, got into fistfights… Clinton was on the Student Council and played a saxophone in the marching band. I would like to see another Trumanesque tough guy in the Whitehouse. A man who doesn’t have to prove how tough and smart he is… yup. I think I’ll have to be a McCain supporter for the time being… (My brothers-in-law just fell out of their chairs). Imagine me voting for an Arizona Republican… hard for me to rationalize too.

 Why should I vote for person just because he can convince me he thinks like I do… If I thought the country needed a man who thought like me I would run for office. The country it doesn’t need a ditz like me, I’m too soft, I haven’t got a clue what sort of man we need in the White House.

 I guess it’s silly to ponder this sort of thing. We will get what we deserve I guess… something to ponder...

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I do want the government out of the Net-Police business, I want to give ISP’s the mandate to hunt down and kill SPAMers, Virus Makers and Pornographers that solicit business with e-mail. 

 Seems like some folks on the Net confuse anonymity with privacy. I am totally against anonymity, I want to know who is sending my children porn, I want to know who is SPAMing me, and I want to know who is trying to sell me stuff I don’t want.

I believe reasonable amount of common sense and caution in choosing who you do business with on the Net is all that is needed. If you want something from a company you know, there is no problem. If you don’t know who you’re dealing with, drop of the Net and call them on the phone, if they don’t post an address and phone number, then they are either crooks or stupid, and you don’t want to deal with them in either case, move to someplace that does.

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Rules for writing good

1. Put the apostroph’e where its needed.
2. Never let a colon separate: the main parts of the sentence.
3. Avoid, overuse, of commas.
4. Reserve the dash - which is often overused - for emphasis.
5. Avoid un-necessary hyphens; divide words only between sy-llables.
6. Use a semicolon where needed, use it properly; and never where not called for.
7. Avoid run-on sentences they seem to go on forever and there is nothing worse than to belabor a thought and take it to extremes well past the pont at which people have begun to forget why you were writing it in the first place.
8. In gen., don't abbrev.
9. Have a GOOD reason for Capitalizing a word.
10. In formal writing, don't use contractions.
11. Consult a dictionery for correct spelling.
12. Observe the rule that verbs has to agree with their subjects.
13. Make each subject and pronoun agree in their number, too.
14. Use parallel construction in writing sentences, forming paragraphs, and to emphasize a point.
15. After studying these rules, dangling modifiers will be easy to correct.
16. Omit unnecessary, excess words that aren't needed.
17. Generally, writing should be in the active voice.
18. Don't use trendy words whose parameters are not viable.
19. Avoid verbing a noun.
20. The careful writer avoids bias in his words.
21. Watch out for irregular verbs that have crope into your language.
22. Eschew archaic words.
23. Proofread carefully in case you any words out.
24. When a writer has chosen a point of view, you should stick to it.
25. Mixing metaphors can be a real stroke of lightning.
26. No matter how hard you try, typos often silp by.
27. No double negatives are seldom inappropriate.
28. Remember to never split an infinitive.
29. The passive voice should never be used.
30. Do not put statements in the negative form.
31. Verbs have to agree with their subjects.
32. Proofread carefully to see if you words out.
33. If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.
34. A writer must not shift your point of view.
35. And don't start a sentence with a conjunction.
36. Don't overuse exclamation marks!!
37. Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of 10 or more words, to their antecedents.
38. Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided.
39. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
40. Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors.
41. Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
42. Everyone should be careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in their writing.
43. Always pick on the correct idiom.
44. The adverb always follows the verb.
45. Last but not least, avoid clichés like the plague; seek viable alternatives.
46. Never use a preposition to end a sentence with.
47. Avoid annoying alliteration.
48. Don't verb nouns.
49. Don't use no double negatives.
50. Make each pronoun agree with their antecedent.
51. When dangling, watch your participles.
52. Don't use commas, which aren't necessary.
53. Verbs has to agree with their subjects.
54. About those sentence fragments.
55. Try to not ever split infinitives.
56. Its important to use apostrophe's correctly.
57. Always read what you have written to see if you've any words out.
58. Correct spelling is esential.
59. Proofread you writing.
60. Between you and I, case is important.
61. Verbs has to agree with their antecedents.

There’s a difference between a philosophy and a bumper sticker.

-- Charles M. Schultz --

 I want to do something …large… but what… I used to want to do things… now it seems all I do is get through the day… even the crisis’s that come up around here daily are getting Ho Hum. I gotta get my fat butt in gear and get interested in something.. I used to be fanatical about camping, motorcycles, building things… maybe I need to get another motorcycle.

I wish I was upset about something, I have an urge to write a flamer of a rant but can’t seem to get myself agitated enough about anything… well there is one thing that tic’s me off:

GOOD THOUGHTS

-PAUL HARVEY-

(Thanks Jim)

Ahhh...the good ol' days...

 We tried so hard to make things better for our kids that we made them worse.  For my grandchildren, I'd like better.  I'd really like for them to know about hand-me down clothes and homemade ice cream and leftover meat loaf sandwiches.  I really would.

 I hope you learn humility by being humiliated, and that you learn honesty by being cheated.  I hope you learn to make your bed and mow the lawn and wash the car.  And I really hope nobody gives you a brand new car when you are sixteen.  It will be good if at least one time you can see puppies born and your old dog put to sleep.

 I hope you get a black eye fighting for something you believe in.  I hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother.  And it's all right if you have to draw a line down the middle of the room, but when he wants to crawl under the covers with you because he's scared, I hope you let him.  When you want to see a movie and your little brother wants to tag along, hope you'll let him. I hope you have to walk uphill to school with your friends and that you live in a town where you can do it safely.  On rainy days when you have to catch a ride, I hope you don't ask your driver to drop you two blocks away so you won't be seen riding with someone as uncool as your Mom.

 If you want a slingshot, I hope your Dad teaches you how to make one instead of buying one.

 I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read books.  When you learn to use computers, I hope you also learn to add and subtract in your head.

 I hope you get teased by your friends when you have your first crush on a girl, and when you talk back to your mother that you learn what Ivory soap tastes like.

 May you skin your knee climbing a mountain, burn your hand on a stove and stick your tongue on a frozen flagpole.  I don't care if you try a beer once, but I hope you don't like it.  And if a friend offers you dope or a joint, I hope you realize he is not your friend.

 I sure hope you make time to sit on a porch with your Grandpa and go fishing with your Uncle.  May you feel sorrow at a funeral and joy during the holidays.  I hope your Mother punishes you when you throw a baseball through a neighbor's window and that she hugs you and kisses you at Christmas time when you give her a plaster mold of your hand.

 These things I wish for you - tough times and disappointment, hard work and happiness.  To me, it's the only way to appreciate life.

 Amen (Pete)