The other day while spending time on WasteBook--I mean, Facebook, I realized all I was doing was scrolling mindlessly, looking at beautiful photos and wishing I could see something like that, and watching videos that were tidbits of nothing (unless they were of family). And I had to ask myself:

Where would you like to live? In the virtual world* or in the real one? If you lived in the real one, what kind of real fun could you have? What kind of real people could you meet or help or enjoy? What real dawns and sunsets would you see vs. other people’s pictures? If you take yourself out of the virtual world, what could you really accomplish?**

*Virtual world by definition would be UNREAL. That would not be a good place to live.
**I love books and I don't find that reading them is a waste of time but time well-spent, even though the books may be fiction.

I blogged about when not to use cell phones (gasp! Horrors! Not use cell phones! As if!) here. But I was reminded yesterday of another place in which one should not answer a cell phones:
THE LIBRARY. Yeah, don't answer it there. Please remember that it's okay to call someone back later and not be interrupted by every "ding" that goes off.
And don't answer it in a FUNERAL HOME either, unless it's a family member or special friend who's on their way.

Speaking of the interminable *ding* of cell phones, it reminds me of the little bells that the masters would ring for their servants, and the servants would have to DROP EVERYTHING, including emotions, just to respond to the *ding*. I suppose the bell sound could have been *ringalingaling*. Midnight and the Lord  and Lady of the manor just returned home? *Ding* Come get the horses, stable boy. *Ringalingaling* Bring me a petit-four, cook. *Ding* You may take my jacket, shoes, socks, hat and tie, valet.
*ding. Ding. DING. Ringalingaling! dingdingdingdingding!*
Or perhaps it works as a better example this way (I know my kid can relate to this):
MOM/ME: Have you taken care of the dogs?
MOM: Have you finished your school work?
MOM: Unload the dishwasher.
MOM: Load the dishwasher
MOM: Set the table. Do your laundry. Make your bed. Get a job. Finish your classwork. Pick up your shoes. Did you return the library book? Have you called the manager back? What are you doing?

Annoying, isn't it? Whether it's Lord and Lady Smith--Ding--or Mom--"did you...", it's constant interruption. Kind of like the notifications on cell phones, eh?

Funny stories are funnier when they're true:
A department store employee was helping frantic customers on Thanksgiving Day (Black Friday came on a Thursday this year). One upset woman confronted him.
"You shouldn't be open on Thanksgiving Day!"
Um, thinks employee.
"If you weren't open I wouldn't have to be here!"
Um.
"I could be at home, having dinner with my family!"

Um, wonders this writer. 

It never occurred to me that people believe that Black Friday Events must be attended. Is it because of that kind of mindset that many people think Christmas is so commercial? Um. Just in case this changes anyone--YOU HAVE THE POWER IN YOU! Yes, indeed. You can CHOOSE not to go to sales events. You can CHOOSE to have a simpler Christmas. We do, have for years. Anyone have some tips for a less-commercialized Christmas? Share them!

Does children's theater deserve less regard than real theater? I think I need to define and get more specific:
~When I say "deserves less regard," I mean less respect or less attention from the audience. Basically, does the audience get to ignore or, perhaps, make fun of performers if it's just a children's show? Is it alright if the audience becomes disruptive - such as yelling out to the performers, talking out loud or even whispering - if it's a children's show?
~When I say "real theater" I'm talking about going to a building that's got a stage and lights and props and costumes and there's an admissions charge.
~Now to get specific about the show:
What if the show is a group of children who are performing in the living room for their family?
What if the show is a group of children performing in a classroom?
What if the show is a group of children performing in front of their whole school and parents?
Does it matter if they're performing on the floor or on a stage? Should it matter?
What if the costumes or the set aren't fancy?
What if it's an adult troupe performing on the gym floor at a school?
What if it's an adult troupe performing on the grass at a park?
What if it's an adult troupe performing a children's show on a stage in a building that seats 500?

Here's what I think: The quality of the shows are definitely going to change but the quality of the audience behavior should not. I have seen the lack of regard by families who are attending a school production. "It's just the kids," they seem to think as they answer or play with cell phones or allow their younger children to run around. I have seen teachers stand in the back of the gym and carry on not-as-quiet-as-they-think conversations during a children's show put on by adults. For some reason, we've gotten the idea that it's okay to act differently if we're watching just a children's play than if we are dressed up and paying for a seat at the the-uh-tah. It's not okay. Audience members: act like you're dressed up; act like you paid a pretty penny to be able to watch a children's play, no matter where it's being performed or by whom.

I have a quotes collection. When I find a quote I love, I create a baseball-card size of it in my document program, complete with a background graphic and print it out on cardstock. After cutting it out, I put it in my quotes notebook which is a folder of those plastic baseball card holders.
But I have to say, with Facebook and Google +, I'm starting to HATE QUOTES. There's just an overabundance of them. Some of them are funny; some are deep; some are just there. But, gadzooks, must we post every single one we ever see? And, I must add, are any of those quotes making a difference in our own lives; as in, are we acting on them? If I post a quote about creativity, it better because I'm out to be more creative. If I post a quote about being kinder, I would hope it's because I'm going to try to be just that. If I'm reading or posting even just a handful everyday, what on earth do I still have time for?  It seems like the theme of many quotes is living life well and to the fullest and with the people you love. If I'm constantly reading quotes, I won't be doing any of that. So today, I'll do and be and love, without all the quotes.

If you're just a semi-perfectionist, do you only drive yourself semi-crazy? But isn't semi-perfectionism an oxymoron? I suppose "semi-crazy" is an oxymoron, too. But if you're a perfectionist about one thing but not another, aren't you still a perfectionist in that one thing? Or does that lean into the OCD category?

When I answer an email and I'm short on time, I'll still look it over several times before sending it. I made myself a small purse and I didn't want to create a pattern, no, I just got the design in my head and eyeballed my cuts. But one of the pieces didn't look straight at the bottom so I trimmed it...and trimmed it just a little more but I had to stop before I trimmed it down to nothing. If I know only one part of a song and my husband happens to pick that one part out of that one song to sing, I'll correct him if he gets a word or note wrong. Good grief.

The biggest problem is there isn't a word for what I am! If there were, I'd feel much better but I'm not really a perfectionist or I would have started all over on my sewing project. I'm not really OCD, that I know of. I just have these moments of...weirdness.

Maybe I'm just human.
(and because I want to get back to what I was doing before I so rudely interrupted myself to write this post, I didn't take the time to proofread it. Wait a minute. Am I ADD?)

I don't know what it is about me and check off lists but I usually have them--"them," yes, I have multiple lists. It keeps me organized, I suppose. I have my writer's list - the things I want to write, edit, or market. I have my daily list - you know, like get up, exercise, take a shower, eat breakfast. I feel like that keeps me on task if my mind wanders (such as back to the book I'm reading). I used to have the home-school list - "Children, you will do something in each of these subject areas each day, before doing anything else at all, whatsoever." (those poor children). I have the decluttering list, the house fix-up list, the bucket list, finish-these-projects list, and right now the Christmas gifts list (things to make or things already done). Many of these lists get updated - improved, if you will - to be better, more efficient, sometimes more realistic. Well, as organized as they might keep me, those lists always get thrown away at the end of the day. Or at least the ones that have that day's must-do's. The other ones don't necessarily get thrown away but they tend to be put away where they can be properly ignored...until I realize it's time to get back on track. [Okay! I'm done with this blog entry. On to the next item!]