Ah, facebook. hmmm. Okay I gave facebook a shot. Maybe I'm crazy but I don't really get it. It seems like a place to prove you know a lot of people. The unfortunate thing is, the people I know well and like a lot aren't really out there. (Well, some...) Is the only goal to that site to get a long list of friends? Is that real? I'm thinking come to my house, sit and have a drink. Let's have a long chat about everything and that's what a friend is. I'm just not too sure about these photographs that hang out in cyberland talking about what we're all doing right now. Especially since everyone is doing the same thing, really. They're typing stupid stuff on their computer.

Enough about facebook.

Just a little blurb about Christmas. It's definitely commercial but I think that's okay. If you watch "A Charlie Brown Christmas" they were worried about commercialism in the late 60's. I find it comforting that we're still worrying about it. My niece doesn't want any gifts. She didn't want to participate in an exchange. She's very green. She's a young adult without kids so I think her stand makes sense. But I'm thinking that the gift giving thing might be good for the economy. What's good and bad is a very fine line. Is it okay that I received piles of presents when I was a kid but now since it's my kid's turn I can go all green and refuse to participate? Seems mean spirited.

I do wish we could find a way to do away with all the packaging and wrappings. This is where the real waste is.

Being from Massachusetts is a gift. I grew up in a state where everyone believes (and I do as well) that they have the best of everything. It's comforting to believe that you live in a state with the best city, the best sports teams, the best vacation area, funniest comedians, the best colleges, and the best medical facilities (I'd like to add in here that Massachusetts really does have the very best clam chowder). I'm not writing about this so that I can argue and defend the position. I'm from Massachusetts and I don't need to defend this because I believe (as do all of us) that it is all very true.

Problem is, I don't live there anymore.

I carry with me my convictions even though I've been out of the state for 25 years. What I found truly amusing was during some medical issues a couple of years ago I wanted to be referred to Boston. The doctors around me were adamant that they could do better than anyone in Boston. Every doctor I approached had the same conviction. I learned pretty fast that the rest of the world doesn't know about Massachusetts' superiority. Ha.

Some quick facts, though. The Chinese food in Massachusetts leaves a little to be desired and the RI beaches can't be beat. (Lovely landscapes in CT, shopping in NY, and of course the lakes in Maine)...But if anyone can figure out a way I can move back there...

Ah des gustibus non disputatum est (spelling??) Remember that one, Jo Ann? [Pretty much this is all tongue in cheek,...I like it almost everywhere...and no place like home]

A lot of kids these days are kept very very busy. Just about every kid I know is signed up for something. Some are in karate or gymnastics or fencing etc. I find myself wondering what this is all about? Do we think they're going to cease to exist at some point? I mean, most of the things I'm interested in I chose myself as an adult. I came home after school and mostly watched tv. Okay, not necessarily what you want for your kids, but maybe it's not as bad as the perfect people think. You know the perfect people, they're the ones who don't invite you over unless the house is perfect (which translates to once or twice a year). Their kids are perfect and their lives are perfect. They have more house than they can afford and they lease a new car every three years. They wear makeup to the grocery store and basically make the rest of us miserable.

My problem is, because all the kids are kept so busy, there are never any around to play with my kids. My kids play outside at our house. Don't get me wrong, there are always extra kids here, but a lot of the kids that would be around are spending their days playing travel soccer; every weekend, a lot of weekday nights. Too bad.

How fun it must be for those perfect people to spend all of their nights at soccer practice and every weekend at soccer games. Ugh.

I'm not sure what we're all going for, but my kids are pretty good so far.

More about the perfect people in the future, I'm sure.

One time my friend Mary and I went to a Carly Simon concert. It was pretty much as you'd expect but at one point I looked around the hall and noticed something. There wasn't a natural head of hair in the house. The place was full of women with various shades of strange colored hair. My own hair at the time the very non-color of barnboard. Now it's a shade bordering on light orange with barnboard and gray roots. All I want is my hair to be brown. Nothing spectacular just a regular old mousy brown. Like it used to be. I've colored it again and again. it starts off great but inevitably the orange sets in.



What really cracks me up is there's a woman at work who's in her early thirties. She used to have blonde hair but the other day she came in with the ideal shade of brown. I'm thinking, "You've got to be kidding." This person doesn't need that hair color. She's young enough to wear her own color. (not quite sure what that is...) I need that hair color. Doesn't she realize she should wear her own color proudly for as long as humanly possible? Oh my. Well, she'll find out soon enough.

I had a terrific social studies teacher in the eighth grade. Everyone loved him. A friend of mine definitely held him in high regard. She was an artsy person who loved music, art class, and theater. She was also pretty intelligent and got good grades. One day, the social studies teacher says to her, "...But you're a jack of all trades, master at none."

She was devastated.

I've carried this with me ever since and I don't forget it. I've decided to wear it as a badge of honor instead of a scathing insult. I held her in high regard and decided that if that's what she is, than so must I be. Thus began my foray into every subject that I became even remotely interested in. I've learned a fair amount about a lot of things. I still feel a little unemployable but I suppose that comes with the territory. I can bake a darn good cheesecake and locate certain M objects through a telescope (no one pays me for either, though). I could go on and on but I picture my husband's eyes rolling up into his head. Here we go....

Now, about my friend, I wish we still kept in touch. I've heard, though, that she has settled on one occupation and has had a lot of success.

I think the teacher's comment changed us both, a little.

I'm the oldest person out here in blogland, I'm sure. My question today is "When, exactly, did work stop being kind of fun?" Everyone is so stressed out these days that they forget to drink Bailey's in their coffee around the holidays. Also, don't people ever leave their buildings for lunch anymore? Bad enough to work in a cubicle but to eat leftovers in the same cubicle. Ugh. It's no wonder everyone's on anti-depressants. I think people are depressed because their lives kind of suck. What needs to change is this, everyone should speak their mind. I don't mean they should shout at one another. I mean, if they think things should change in their workplace they should say so. Sometimes people look at me like I'm crazy because I say what I think at work. It's unheard of, these days, for anyone to ever express an opinion. Are things so futile that nothing can change? Ever?

So, tomorrow, go in to work and tell just one person what you really think. I'm not suggesting that you say something mean. I'm suggesting that you express your real opinion about something at work. For example, if you think the software you use could be better if just this one thing would work, tell someone who has the power to fix it. If you wish the woman in the next cube would lay off the perfume, nicely tell her. Let's all stop tiptoeing around each other and let's get involved in our jobs. Why should all the muckety mucks have all the fun?

Nobody likes a "Yes" man.