Wine Nostalgia

Wine Nostalgia

Wine talks; ask anyone. The oracle at the street corner; the uninvited guest at thewedding feast; the holy fool. It ventriloquizes. It has a million voices. It unleashes the tongue, teasing out secrets you never meant to tell, secrets you never even knew. It shouts, rants, whispers. It speaks of great plans, tragic loves and terrible betrayals. It screams with laughter. It chuckles softly to itself. It weeps in front of its own reflection. It revives summers long past and memories best forgotten. Every bottle a whiff of other times, other places, every one-from the commonest Liebfraumllch to the imperious Veuve Clicquot-a humble miracle. Everyday magic, Joe had called it. The transformation of base matter into the stuff of dreams. Layman’s alchemy.

Blackberry Wine by Joanne Harris

Shameful B’O’R in the mud!

boar [bôr]
noun
1. A tusked Eurasian wild pig from which domestic pigs are descended.
2. an un-castrated domestic pig.


Lately I have been thinking alot about criticizing, in particular my criticism of the starlets in LaLaLand. I thought more about this whole Rosie/Trump romper room brattiness and then today I caught O’reilly talking about mudslinging in the media. (on the fox news XM station, not television).
As if that guy is an authority on mudslinging. Well come to think of it.

Am I right to call people out? Am I just like these entertainment shows for bringing light to these sad mishaps that are filling up our society with unneeded negativity.
Tonight I made sure to listen to XM to see what Mr. O’reilly had to say about mudslinging. We all know Mr. O’Reilly is an expert at making mud pies.
Anyway, the program first started out talking about Cindy Sheehan who has been at Guantanamo Bay during its 5th anniversary bringing light to the abuse that has gone on there in recent past. She and the other peace keepers were chanting:

"Gitmo prison is a source of shame, no more torture in our name"

O’reilly was talking with some “expert” regarding Sheehan’s “un-patriotism” per Reilly’s words. He then proceeded to call Sheehan an “America hater” that she should look at the people in Cuban prisons because their treatment is much worse than at the U.S. owned prison in Guantanamo. Huh? What? I am sure there are prisons where people are treated worse but his argument doesn’t make any sense.
That’s like saying. “Yes Johnny you may have lost your arm in the war but Timmy here lost both his legs so really you have nothing to complain about. Suck it up Buttercup!”

So is O’reilly saying that it is ok to treat the prisoners at Guantamo badly just as long as its not as bad as the Cuban’s prison? Or, should we skip the Guantanamo bay altogether because there are Cubans down the road suffering under there government regime more?
O’reilly proceeded to call Sheehan a hypocrite. Huh?

Hypocrite:

1 : a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion
2 : a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings

It sounds like Sheehan is doing just the opposite of that definition.

Next on O’Reilly’s program: Mudslinging on television.

BOR: ”What are we a bunch of sado’s?”
EXPERT: “YEs said the expert we all are born with a small gene of sadomasochism.”
BOR:”I don't’ understand why people like this stuff. But, this name calling and mudslinging makes the ratings go up.”
EXPERT: “That’s because we identify with the bully on the school yard and we want to see who will cry first.” (Rosy or Trump)
BOR: But then Rosy got into Trumps appearance. Whatever. What about SImon Cowle. Here we have Trump and Rosy who can defend themselves via the media with their power but then we have these poor kids on American Idol who can’t defend themselves. (I don’t see Sheehan being able to defend herself Mr. BOR)
EXPERT: ”Well we love to see people try at careers we dream of trying and then we think to ourselves ‘oh good thing I didn’t do it cause Simon Cowell would have called me names too.’ We as humans are sadomasochistic by nature.”
BOR: “It’s ridiculous said O’Mudly. Thank you for coming on.”

& then I remembered this.

The other day I caught Riley talking with some gal whilst flipping through the stations, I heard him say the following. BOR: “I rarely call anyone an idiot.” Some woman laughed. “There are horrible human beings like Sean Penn, disgusting and Clooney, can’t stand that guy.”
Whelp, I got disgusted with Billy Boy so I turned the station. Imagine I used to watch that guy. Well, before his ego grew larger than planet Earth. Anyway...
How does Riley know these people enough to call them disgusting.
Who is the hypocrite Mr. O’Reilly? Cindy Sheehan is exercising her right as an American to freedom of speech. How is she an America hater if she is pointing out wrongful treatment by our own country. Perhaps she wants a good country with morals.
What about mudslinging Mr. O’reilly? You have slung so much mud during your reign that you could have filled in the Grand Canyon by now.
Who is the hypocrite Mr. O’reilly?

Surely Fox News doesn’t even know the meaning of hypocrisy with this slogan.

We report You decide.
I decide? You report I decide? But didn’t you already decide that Sheehan hates America and Sean Penn is a disgusting human being? How do you define hypocrisy Mr. Oooo'Reilly?

PS. If you are coming over to my house with your slingshot after reading this Mr. O’reilly I have some serious spit wads with your name on them.

P.P.S.S. Heard in the news today that Tiger punched some kid at Disneyland. What is this country coming to?
After reviewing Tiger punching kid it is obvious that Tiger was losing his balance and grabbed kids arm to stabilize but unscrupulous parents saw dollar signs and the rest is history.

Sadomasochistic.

sa·do·mas·o·chism (sd-ms-kzm, sd-)
n.
The combination of sadism and masochism, in particular the deriving of pleasure, especially sexual gratification, from inflicting or submitting to physical or emotional abuse.
Pronunciation: 'hi-p&-"krit
Hypocrisy is the act of pretending or claiming to have beliefs, feelings, morals or virtues that one does not truly possess or practice
NOUN
1 : a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion
2 : a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings
- hypocrite adjective

Freedom Fries?? Idiot Morons!!!!

FREEDOM FRIES? IDIOT MORONS!!!

I know I am behind on the whole Freedom Fries/French Fries thing as it occurred in 2003 but after doing my intenet research I came across more and more articles in 2007 referring to this major faux pas (pardon my french) in history. I guess when I arrive in Paris this Autumn I will have to pretend I am from yet another country (I was from Spain when I lived in Italy) so as to not accrue embarrassment. C’est doomage!

Alas here is my blog. Oh and below I have put snippets of articles in, in case some of you have missed out on the whole Freedom Toast incident.

Okay, so I was watching a show on Paris via iTunes.
Am I cheating? It’s research because I am going to Paris.
Anyway, in the show the man is in a taxi and over the radio there was an announcement that said the US decided not to change Freedom FrieS back to French Fries.
What the F--k!?
What are we a bunch of kids?!! How embarrassing!! How f--king embarrassing!!!

I didn’t even know we switched from French Fries to Freedom Fries. That is the Dorkiest thing I have ever heard!!!! What a bunch of 4th grade dorks.
What the hell are we teaching the rest of the world.

WE DON’T LIKE YOU NA, NA, NANA BOOBOO!!

Amazingly stupid. Stupide! Imbécile!

When is our government going to respect other countries!!!????? They have a different history!! Different cultures!!!!!! We need people in office who have lived a year abroad. Perhaps, just perhaps the French have witnessed war, really witnessed war in WWI and WWII! DUH! Perhaps the French realize that war sucks. It is easy for us to create war as long as it doesn't reach home, isn't it Mr. President.

We can disagree with the french but to change french toast to freedom toast is in a word Ridicule!!

How are we ever going to get along with the french???
I love the french!! Bravo to them for standing up for what they believe in.
If I ever see in a restaurant the change from french fries to freedom fries I am walking.

BTW idiot legislatures. The word french isn’t in the French language its english you morons!
Croissant is a french word. Baguette is french word but french is francais en francais.
Essentially you chaned an english word into another english world. Bloody Brilliant of you!
Je suis tres content!! Soo thrilled to know we have some brillance running our country.
Mmmm, why is education faltering in this country? Mmmm, will blod education quite soon.

C’est doomage! Quel Idiot!!

Here is a list of foods that we will have to change when we have grade school temper tantrums with other countries.

Italy

1. Pizza=freedom pie
2. Pasta=freedom dough
3. espresso=liberty elixir
4. cafe latte= liberty elixir with milk
5. cappuccino=liberty elixir with milky foam
5. gnocchi=freedom dough balls
6. linguine-stripes of dough forever

French
1. croissant = for the people puffy bread
2. baguette=staff o’freedom bread
3. FRENCH bread=Free me bread
4. French dip=liberation meat sandwich with juice o’freedom
5. French door=door of independence
6. French dressing=Flag dressing
7. French horn=horn o’ liberty
8. French Kiss=By the people kiss
9. French manicure=For the fingers
10. French onion soup=Of the soup
11. French poodle=Freedom Star Poodle
12. French roast coffee=elixir of freedom (It will make you appear free)
13. French vanilla=The good vanilla
14. Pardon my FRENCH!=Pardon my insert foreign language here.


Japan

1. Sushi=freedom fish
2. Sake=war drink


I have a headache...
Here are some clips:
Merci beaucoup!!


       

RELATED
Restaurant serves 'freedom fries' 
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The cafeteria menus in the three House office buildings changed the name of "french fries" to "freedom fries," in a culinary rebuke of France stemming from anger over the country's refusal to support the U.S. position on Iraq.
Ditto for "french toast," which will be known as "freedom toast."
The name changes were spearheaded by two Republican lawmakers who held a news conference Tuesday to make the name changes official on the menus.
Across the country, some private restaurants have done the same.

Rawstory.com

'Freedom Fries' Congressman calls for halt on Iran strike

Jones became prominent in 2003 when he pushed Congress to require that cafeterias in the House of Representative office buildings change the name of french fries to "freedom fries." In the time since this act, Jones has become a critic of the Iraq War. This change of heart appears to inform Jones' current policy.
The North Carolina Republican who coined the term "freedom fries" will lead a press conference today on a bill to put the brakes on any US military strike against Iran, RAW STORY has learned.

Nairland, Nairland not a hair in sight land.

Aside from the fact that it is Christmastime/New Years and I should be writing about candy canes, legos and stomach pains from all the food I think I need to address something that also gave me stomach pains this past holiday season. The culprit of my pains would be Miss Spears bald headed-ness peaking out beneath what could only be deemed a long shirt.

I was messing around on MySpace when a video popped up of some guy singing about the past year’s events. When the man got to “And we saw Britney Spears Vagina” I had to take a double take. Huh? Did she pose for Playboy? Huh? Being without television and having friends now who really do not watch television I have been out of the loop and gratefully so. VERY GRATEFULLY SO! Yet, curiosity got the better of me and I googled the words. “Britney Spears Vagina.” Whelp, I definitely got an eyeful of what that myspace dude wa singing about. There it was in full bloom in all its rashness. C’mon that's a rash! Grow some hair for God’s sake you are a grown woman!!! I sure hope she tips her waxer big time cause that woman left nothing to the imagination. Unless Miss Spears is using Nair, in which case a rash would surely develop.

What the hell is wrong with YOU! I felt sorry for her and yes now I kinda want to cry for her. She must be amazingly screwed up beyond anything I have ever seen in life. This is way beyond any kind of manic depression (bipolar) or borderline disorder this is just plain NUTS! In all honesty she is showing the worst kind of self esteem problem that could ever be witnessed. Problem is we have witnessed “it” as well as many teenage girls who haven’t developed enough self respect to realize that showing your vagina to the world is amazingly slutty and sad, not cool, just plain sad. There are gonna be many a razor and nair mishaps out there.

Responsibility? Many of these stars say they are not a role model and not to look up to them. What happened to your own Moral code? What happened to ethics?
You ARE responsible! You as a human being must have ethics.
Time and time again I have said we are obviously evolved from animals. Look how long it is taking to evolve! It seems we are going backwards in society not forwards. It doesn’t even seem like we should use the word society.

Imagine if our towns had bike trails along every road. Imagine if there were walkways over busy streets and all streets were lined with trees. Imagine if television was used to educate. Imagine if it was a happy place that reported happy news. What if television also reported sad news but with a solution. What if television promoted healthy food. What if television talked about peoples problems without judgment. What if there was respect for one another? What if there was tolerance. What if we learned about all faiths, all races & all backgrounds. What if television taught empathy.
I am not sure that anyone in the Hollywood party crowd even knows what empathy means. What if they learned the definition of empathy through television?

I would like to leave you with a poem that I came across, the author is unknown...


To live a successful life
Does not require
Money, fame, power, prestige
Or status symbols...
It's more a matter of
Being true to your own beliefs and principles,
Doing your best,
Even in the smallest of things,
And never taking for granted
The simple joys in life--
Such as laughter, a perfect day,
Or a loyal friend.

For all the money in the world
Can't buy self-esteem, character,
Contentment, love or happiness--
And these are the very things
That make life
Worth living.

Family Judgment:Hell for the holidays.

Since its the holiday season I thought I would address an issue that all of us have encountered over the last 4 weeks. FAMILY!

What’s up with family? Why all the issues? Why is it that our family can treat us like crap and then expect us to stick around. They seem to think it will never effect the relationship and we will never ever go away because we are “family”. We put up with crap that we wouldn’t let anyone other than family get away with. Guess what?! Not me, I am putting my foot down. I am finally tired of all the family drama. Why should children treat their parents with respect if we in return to do not receive it. I deserve respect and not to be treated like a doormat that my family wipes their issues on.

I caught the tale end of a question and answer session with a Doc/psych radio show on XM yesterday. No, not television, radio. (she writes with a smile) Anyway, someone had called in wondering why their children didn’t come around to visit anymore. The Doc said “Normally we would blame the children but perhaps its something you are doing wrong. Are you interested in their lives? Do you ask the right questions? Do you judge?”

In my family and my man’s family judging is a way of life. If you don’t do it their way tis’ the wrong way. What's wrong with you!? My family doesn’t have a clue as to what I do in my life. They take no real interest.
Perhaps because I am not performing like I used to so there is nothing to brag about. Perhaps its because I have had some work published and my mother, who has written wonderful stories, just sits in front of “LifetIme, television for women” all day and does nothing. I have encouraged her countless times to persue writing. Yet, does anyone encourage me? No. My father, the eternal self proclaimed pessimist always seeks to destroy any idea I have. Anything that brings about a negative taste in his mouth a morbid curiosity will arise. If I choose not do go through with something I get the inevitable “Why NoooOoooT?” When I give an answer that is satisfactory to either my mother or my father I get no response. No feedback. Nothing. Not a “good for you.” Not a “sounds like a plan.” Nothing. No response. Dead silence. Why did they want to know in the first place? Why? to satisfy their own curiosity in my life and once that is quenched it’s onto the next issue for them. Issue for them, not me. I get nothing. No response, dead silence. nothing.

My man’s family hurts my heart just as much. Christmas morning I decide to say hi to my Man’s father. Well its Christmas right? This is what I got.
“Oh your ankle hurts? Be prepared you will probably never walk right again. How are you? -Good I replied.-”Good?! Well you have your guy with you. That’s something!!”
He probably wanted to say. “You have my son with you”
We are 3,000 miles from them and my guy had to work Christmas Eve so there was no traveling “home for the holidays” this year.

Oh and in the “shooting down” department. I told my guy’s father about an idea I had regarding a recording that I was doing. We were on the way to the airport, just him and me. Whelp. He shot the idea down. If he had had a missile launcher I wouldn’t be here.
My heart sank. Tears welled up. I was a failure. I held my chin up not letting him know that I was hurt. I dropped him off & I went to a coffee shop crying. Crying to my guy. I saw an expensive pair of pajamas in the window of a store. I bought ass-expensive pj’s that I couldn’t truly afford. They felt soo soft and I was so dizzy. I went home.

I am older now. I am finally tired of hearing the same stories, putting up with the same family drama. I am changing and they are not. Do I respect them? I would if they respected me.
I told my mother that I was only going to be answering emails once a week because I need to concentrate and having emails constantly interrupting me tends to make me lose my train of thought. I am getting bogged down with questions from my mother that could be answered by gee my father, my little brother or the instructions. For instance. “Does Bose Ipod system work with nano?” Look on the box!!! Ask my father!!!!!
Also, I never know when a negative comment is lurking in my mailbox and the negative comments take me down for hours.

As part of New Years and my new found freedom of non-television watching I used this as an excuse to only email once a week. Instead of receiving a response that says. Great, sounds like you are on a role. I get this response. “Gheesh, next you will be giving up the phone........guess if someone wants to tell you something, it will have to wait............a week.”

Um, there is a phone. The phone is sitting next to me. The thing is she won’t pick up the phone to see if the Bose system works with a Nano.
She probably already knows the answer. & its not important. She uses these emails to have a connection with me. Any connection. Has she ever thought about asking how my day was going? No. Has she ever written Have a good week. I s’pose television gets more attention than I do.
My Mother has Borderline personality disorder so perhaps I am not being fair. Yet, what are the others excuses?

DO I sound mean about my parental units? The thing is I know I am gossiped about by my own family and I am not getting any support from my parents. One could say but “they are your parents” True. But, I didn’t ask to be brought into this world and parents receive a lot from their children and should give much in return.

I will leave you with this poem that was read by Audrey Hepburn to her children.
Time-Tested Beauty Tips
For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. 
For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. 
For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. 
For beautiful hair, let a child run his fingers through it once a day. 
For poise, walk with the knowledge you'll never walk alone ... 

People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived,
reclaimed and redeemed and redeemed and redeemed. Never throw out anybody. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm. As you grow older you will discover that you have two hands. One for helping yourself, the other for helping others.

Sam Levenson

P.S. Don’t buy expensive pj’s they are not worth it. Mine were poorly made. Victoria’s Secrets pj’s are great. By the way, the project that I brought up to the Dad that he shot down. The project worked.

May everyone find peace with their families and within themselves in this new year.

Answer/Girl/Star/Gossip/Santa

Whelp its 2007 and I have been tv free since August 13th!
That’s almost 21 weeks and I am loving it!!
Honestly, I can not wait for the day that I will no longer recognize the “stars” that are mentioned on the radio.
Speaking of radio, today I decided to listen to E on xm and caught E news and then I listened to part of that horrible high school gossipy show
Something about Ten, oh The Daily Ten.
Then I popped over to iTunes where you can catch shows like
Answer Bitch (classy)
Party Girl (sad)
and E red carpet stuff.
There was more from people magazine but my head started to spin.
Then I popped over to some crappy website that was filled with more and more “star” gossip to see what the latest news was. Here is a list of what I have been missing. Interestingly enough its the same people that I left behind in August.

1. Spears. Her vagina (have a separate blog on that class act) Spears’ partying and Spears’ divorcing.
Having this knowledge helps me in my life how?

2. Paris Hilton. Seriously join a charity and get a really good psychiatrist. First get the psychiatrist and then seek out charity work. Sad. Sad. When Southpark does an episode where they repeatedly sing Paris Hilton is a whore that is a signal to change your ways.

3. Linsday Lohan. hospital once again. Yawn.

4. Rosie O’Donald and Donald TRump acting like the civilized adults that they are. Sad. What are we teaching our children? SOmeone should have bowed out and said nothing. That one person would have garnered respect, some respect now both are disappointing. Although, I am scared to write anything about either for fear that a masked man will appear at my door with a BB gun and a mud pie to shove in my mouth. Children.

5. JT, Diaz and women. Same, Same and same.

6. Jessica SImpson and John Mayer. Why John? Why?
Oddly his songs are introspective and yet he runs around acting like a little boy. Guess he is following in Sting’s footsteps. (Sting is opening a stripclub) Great idea Sting! I am sure your wife and children will be proud.
Perhaps your daughter will dance there when she grows up.

7. Oprah. True a lot of Oprah but I think people need to leave her alone now, she built a school. She could be hanging out doing nothing.

8. TomKat. Apparently the Kat is shopping. ooooo

9. Beyonce again

10. Pit, Jolie, Aniston etc. Bradgenlina, Vaughniston.

That’s enough gossip for the moment.
I don’t miss any of it. I am cured. I think the shows are getting meaner and meaner and we as a society are growing children that are going to be disrespectful non-reading little assholes if you ask me.

Shows like Answer Bitch and Party Girl? What is that?
What’s up with these teenage magazines too?
Elle for girls etc. Crap.
Its awful. Oral sex is in it. When I was in high school I didn’t read about oral sex.
Just watch the SouthPark episode about Miss Hilton and you will see the lovely effects these “stars” are having on society. If you do not believe me then go to any small town in the midwest and look around, there are 15 year old prostitutes everywhere.


I stopped believing in Santa Claus when my mother took me to see him in a department store, and he asked for my autograph.
Shirley Temple.

“If you come to fame not understanding who you are, it will define who you are.”
Oprah

Happy New Year 2007!!!

Happy New Year 2007!!

What have I been up to. I can not believe its been this long since I have written a blog. I have been thinking about blogs and have started some but.... Perhaps Christmas took over. Presents. Food. Family.
I can tell you that I have not missed television, not once. Well perhaps once when I pined for the sounds of ‘It’s a wonderful Life” floating in the background as I wrapped presents. Instead I listened to a ton of music. A lot of music.
I got out more Even today I sat outside at a coffee place and watched birds fly around.
My senses are heightened. I listen more. I listen to music more. I am more eager to seek out friends. I go on walks everyday. I have lost five pounds, perhaps more. I go to yoga now.
I am organizing my office more and more. I laugh more. I am constantly laughing. I laugh at a funny line in a book, something I have never done. I am happier. My man and I are more in love. We sit at the dinner table together every night and talk about our day. We laugh. I cook more. I plan meals more and yet I eat less.
I am not on the internet as much. I play with my dog more.
I am thrilled. I am not as sad. I used to get sad in the mornings after watching the news.
Now, I read the news and choose what I want to read.
I received a letter from a friend recently that said we live in a sad world. At that moment, the moment that I was reading that letter I thought to myself what’s so sad. I don’t think anything is sad. Sure people will always be in need and we have war but people are helping people and there is always hope of a better tomorrow. You see, I do not watch the news I have created my own way of receiving the news and my own way of thinking about the world. Instead of feeling helpless like the world will end tomorrow or I will die from eating too many eggs or too much broccoli I am hopeful. I am more tolerant of annoying people that I see on my outings. I say hi to strangers with a smile. Today someone asked if they could come over and pet my dog. He then proceeded to tell me that he had lost his dog recently and how sad he was. We talked. I said that I knew it was hard. The old me would have hid under my headphones & the new me took off my headphones.
I am creating my own world to live in. Television has lost its power over me.
Happy New Year and may you find peace and fulfillment in 2007!

Secret P Society?

A year without television!!
← Back to Dashboard ? Help x Sign Out
Posting
Settings
Template
View Blog
Create
Edit posts
Moderate comments
Status
Are you sure you want to delete this post?
SecretPSociety

Why do Women spend soooo much time in bathrooms?
I am forever straining my bladder because I do not want to stand in a line that is 50 people long. I glance over and there isn’t a line for the mens Loo. WHY? When I use the facilities I have no desire to hang out in there and I go as fast or even faster than most any man.
Here’s my technique:
I walk in. (5 seconds)
I open the door. (2 seconds)
I open my drawers. (2 seconds)
I go. (between 20 and 30 seconds depending on size of beverage)
I flush (2 seconds or possibly none since the invention of autmatic flushers)
I open the door, which doesn’t need to be closed and thus saves time. (2)
I do not hold it open for the next guest becuase, well its not exactly a cafe.
I walk to the sink. (5)
I wash my hands. (20)
I dry said hands. (5)
I leave. (2)
Now that equals a minute and 20 seconds.
So why when I was at the whole Foods the other day with a bladder that was about to explode did I watch 5 men go in and out of the bathroom while I sat and waited and waited and waited?!!?? finally a woman appeared as calm as could be. What the heck?
I do not understand this. Why are ya’ll doing in there?
Did you notice a stray eyebrow hair that desperately needed tweezingI
s your lipstick at Whole Foods that important?
Yet, the stalls at the airports are soo occupied as well.
What are you possibly doing in the stalls?
It can not possibly take that long to wipe can it?
It does not not require a Doctorate to accomplish all of the bathroom necessaties in less than 2 minutes.
Please, send letters regarding what exactly it is that you are doing in the bathroom. Is there a secret P society that I am unaware of? Are you sending code via flushes? Please help me to understand.
Imagine if televisions were installed on the back of bathroom doors. I’d have to invent the portable take anywhere toilette.
Delete It Cancel

Religion, who the hell cares?

Religion, who the hell cares?

Recently, I was told that kids were no longer allowed to sing Christmas carols in school. I had a feeling that our schools were getting nuttier, but this?
Seriously, what? Who cares? Why do parents care soooo much?
Were they not kids themselves once? DId they remember being brainwashed by “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” Did “What child is This?” cause them to pray for hours on end in the 3rd grade? Or, were they perhaps like myself and had no clue what we were REALLY singing about but simply enjoyed the songs for the melody and the way the lyrics flowed from our mouths?
I seriously don’t understand why some people treat anything remotely religious likes its the plague. What’s wrong with learning about Jesus? He doesn’t seem all that bad. We could even look at the Bible as history if you want. What if the kids learn about morals? Who cares how they learn morals? What’s the big deal. Jesus seemed like a really cool guy, that’s the impression that I received as a child.

When I was in public school on Thursdays we were bussed to church school. We called it Thursday school. How odd is that? A public School bussing kids to church during school hours? Nowadays, that would give parents heart attacks. We were divided into 2 groups, the catholics were bussed to the catholic church and the protestants to the protestant church. Guess what, I wasn’t brain washed, no one was. In fact, we had a blast. All I remember is singing and making crafts and hanging out with kids from other schools. At Christmastime we would do little shows. We ate brownies and cookies and drank punch. (Another thing that has been banned from school, the eating of treats)

I really don’t see what the big deal is. Of course, there is the other side to religion. There are the religious fanatics. C’mon, do you honestly think that your 4th grade son is going to be recruited into some giant cult like church for singing “Away in a Manger” at Christmas?

What’s wrong with learning about Jesus? He has some really great stories. He can teach you about kindness.
What about Gandhi? Can we not learn about Gandhi? Gandhi is religious. Gandhi was kind too. What about Mother Theresa? She was catholic, should her life story be banned from school?
Where is the Christmas tree now? Are we allowed a tree? Is Santa banned? Where has the magic of Christmas gone?

Are we depriving our youth of what we grew up on due to our own ignorance and fears regarding religion as adults?
Because religion didn’t help us in our own adult lives we think it won’t help our kids. Isn’t it their decision to make? We keep them from learning about religion like its a plague. They are kids, children. All they care about is the next fun thing. Perhaps the parents are too damn lazy to help their children understand that religion exists so instead of helping them learn about it they simply take it away and plop them in front of the television to learn if Sponge Bob lost his Square pants.

But, what if its just the one parent with the one kid in class? This I don’t understand. There is one atheist in class and now no one can sing Christmas carols? Why can’t the atheist learn about Christmas carols as historical pieces of music? Why can’t the parent tell their atheist kid (who by the way didn’t choose to be atheist yet cause he is just a kid) their belief and that there is more than one view of the world. What about a Jewish child? Can’t we sing the dradle song and learn about Judaism? Kwanzaa, teach me about Kwanzaa.

Okay, so what if the atheist kid sings “O little Town of Bethlehem.”
I have a feeling the kid won’t lose it. In fact, he might learn some pretty song that he probably won’t understand but when he grows older he would have been exposed to something and have fond memories of singing this carol. Perhaps he learns about the Dradle song and Hanukkah, perhaps Kwanzaa. Perhaps, we will end up with a kid in our society that is well informed & fulfilled because he got to sing “O little Town” and the "dradle" song. He’ll be nostalgic when he hears those pieces. He’ll have memories. Right now all anyone is doing is robbing children of good memories. I remember the Christmas our class sang “O little town of Bethlehem” will he?

hello & still sans TV!!

No I have not retreated into TV land I have been writing an article for a magzine, my first one and currently have 3 blogs in the making & just need to spell check and finish up. They will be coming later this week!
Am still thriving and loving life sans TV!!
Take care!!