random observations
stuff I see and think at any given time.
tumblr category: creative writing
tumblr category: creative writing
For New Year 2010, I made a list of ten attainable resolutions and decided that every year thereafter, I would add one more to the bunch. So to recap, here are the original ten plus the yearly addenda:
1. Spread the NICE.
2. Accentuate the positive…
3. I’ll take the high road…
4. Encourage and support.
5. Celebrate others.
6. BE the solution.
7. Get that boom, boom, boom.
8. Listen—really.
9. Love deeply/hug tightly.
10: APPLY (generously), DISTRIBUTE (evenly), REPEAT (annually).
Plus:
2011 - Commit “Senseless Acts of Random Kindness”
2012 - BE: the person you want to know; the friend you want to be; the neighbor you want to have.
2013 - Read the wrong, then right it.
Who you are is reflected in the people you encounter. You get what you give. Some call it karma. I call it the right thing to do.
Happy New Year!
This unpacking thing seems to be never-ending. There’s a certain comfort having a place that CAN NOT fit all of your stuff—stuff that, by necessity must remain stored away, out of sight, out of mind, until which time there is ample space to put it.
Jump to today. We are in that place with ample space. HOW THE HELL did we accumulate so much that the process of revealing it all is taking longer than the packing and moving combined??? It will be months before we have everything unpacked and put away.
I see many yard sales and trips to Good Will in our future. There will be pots and pans that are now redundant dust collectors. There will be tools with the same status. There will be things that befuddle me, making me wonder why I ever bought them in the first place. And there will be clothes that somehow (I don’t know how) shrunk in the two and a half years they have been packed in boxes—many of which were used as padding for some of those befuddling items.
Yet strangely enough, we are also finding that we are lacking in certain items. We had to buy a new sofa and end tables. We still need a pair of night stands. An additional occasional table or two may be helpful as well. Oh how nice it would be if we could trade in the five extra staplers, three extra tape measures and that myriad of befuddlers for the things we ACTUALLY need!
Anyone wanna trade?
Recently Dan Cathy, CEO of Chik-Fil-A came out to say that he and his company live by the Bible and stand against the rights of certain law abiding citizens—rights which are supposed to be unalienably granted to all. As a protest some others chose to call for a boycott. Suddenly sides were chosen.
On one side are homosexuals along with heterosexuals who support same sex marriage among other civil rights. On the other, are Christian conservatives. Supporters of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) issues are the boycotters. Christians and conservatives make up the opposition claiming the LGBT and advocates are treading on their first amendment rights of freedom of speech and freedom of religion.
First of all, that standpoint is absurd. The call to boycott a business is in itself the exercise of one’s constitutional freedoms just as it is for Christians to participate in an “Appreciation Day.” Both sides were and are well within their rights to those opposing (lawful) actions. NO ONE argues that point. From the beginning, though, the boycott was never about suppression of freedoms.
Nevertheless, the “Chik-Fil-A Appreciation Day” drew huge anti-gay crowds thinking they were supporting the first amendment and the continued ban on same sex marriage. It was so important to some, that they cried as they spoke to TV reporters about their convictions. ”Those gays have no right to ridicule this good Christian company with their unAmerican protest.” The conservative event was a huge success.
Now, some are saying that just because they disagree with a life style doesn’t mean they hate gays or that they fear them. No, not at all. They are only standing up for their own beliefs. They’re not hurting anyone. But they would be WRONG.
Chik-Fil-A supports three conservative anti-gay/anti same sex marriage groups with over $5 million in contributions. These three groups endeavor to not only deny rights to gays, but also to take away any rights they currently have. ”Appreciators” claim that it is their right to oppose things that are contrary to their teachings as written in the Bible. It’s not anti anything. But what these groups do goes way beyond that.
When you “appreciate” Chik-Fil-A with your dollars, here’s what you’re really doing. You’re supporting organizations that want to criminalize the lifestyle of my friends and members of my family. You are saying your convictions can make them convicts, that they are lower than second class citizens and in some cases subject to exile, imprisonment.
You appreciate a company who gives some of YOUR money to an organization who supports Uganda’s “Kill the Gays” bill that would literally make homosexuality punishable by death.
You appreciate enjoying your marriage that is somehow untarnished by your neighbors’ infidelities, yet ruined by a long-term, loving, committed relationship between two people who happen to be the same gender.
You appreciate the extermination of people who are in every OTHER way, exactly like you, except:
While you fight to deny rights, they fight for EVERYONE’s equality (including yours).
While you may be at your spouse’s side in his/her hours of need or death, they must risk sitting alone, wondering about the well being of their loved ones.
While you enjoy ALL constitutional protections, they must go without many.
While you so proudly pose with your chicken sandwiches and waffle fries, they must fear your monetary contribution to those who would strive take away their very lives.
I don’t know how you can really appreciate that.
Let me suggest that we all learn our US Constitution before we spout it out to justify hate and oppression.
…and while we’re at it, none of us were there. No one knows the founding fathers personally, so, don’t go all “yeah, but that’s what they meant.”
“You don’t scare me. I was taught by Nuns.”
There are some things that I just can’t remember—like October birthdays or the exact location along a particular street the tire place is located. It’s not a big deal though. I just go along until they come into view. Sometimes I have to turn around and go back the other way, but it’s no big deal. That’s fine, really, but I’ve come to realize that other lessons are well worth learning.
For instance, always shake the mustard bottle before using, otherwise you’re going to soak your hot dog bun in mustard water. The same goes for ketchup. I hate when that happens. The thing with Ketchup, though, is that for some strange reason, pressure builds in that store-upside-down, plastic hinged-lid bottle. Maybe the tomatoes release gasses over time that get trapped in the empty parts of the container just waiting to escape. I don’t know, but I do know it’s going to happen. Still, I always seem to forget to hold the bottle away from me so it doesn’t squirt all over me. Even as I’m shaking the bottle, I’m thinking, “Hold it away. Hold it away.” Sure enough, next thing I know, I’m licking ketchup off my shirt.
