Respect, a Thing of the Past

Have you ever noticed how the hate mongers, whether they be a Republican, a Democrat, or simply someone who feels slighted can get center stage and totally ruin a perfectly good discussion with their over flowing angry rhetoric?

I've enjoyed being on many online sites but there are always one or two who can ruin the experience with their personal rants about almost anything, or anyone. That's the thing that really bothers me about politics as well. So many politicians act like they have the ONLY answer and the rest of us have no right to believe the way we do, or worse that we're totally wrong and don't know it.

I'm not an arguer - I simply want the respect I give those same people when I give their point of view a chance to be heard. Good discussions can be had by sharing ideas. There aren't necessarily changes made in positions by either side but there certainly can be a respect for our differences if a good discussion is had over any issue.

Civility use to be important in our society, since those who would rather name call have made their presence known on TV and radio (and in other places as well) we've lost that sense of respect for the individual and replaced it with getting more press coverage for our own personal views.

It's a sad time in our country when solid debates on the issues are pushed aside for name calling and posturing.

Working for those Never Ending Bills

Bills. They totally drive our lives these days. We work to pay them off, and often worry about how we'll pay them. Paying bills has been around for centuries (Think bills for the ancient Egyptians in hieroglyphics!) but today we have fine tuned the receiving and paying of these monthly pains. In fact they're often considered a purveyor of our own personal monthly doom.

The bill paying syndrome has gone from the postal service bill delivery which gave us those printed pieces of paper that told what was owed in page after page of excruciating details. When received they were often paid on the first or the fifteenth of every month twelve times every year. The quote by Benjamin Franklin really tells it all for many of us; "In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes and bills!!" (My interpretation!)

So what's new for those of us dealing with those ever present bills in this age of everything digital? If you haven't begun to pay them through your bank's online service you are really missing out on a great, immediate gratification tool! Just go to your bank's online web page, sign up and the money simply disappears with out checks or stamps to get it on its way to that destination of payment. This makes the bill days much easier - but the act of payment can still be quite financially depressing.

With the progression of our bill paying evolution do you ever wonder what will be that new way to empty our checkbooks....no, probably you don't want to know anymore than me how they will discover new ways to empty our bank accounts! Personally, I think I'd like to pretend, even if only for a moment that the money in my account today is really all mine!

The Analog Boom...or Bust

We who have lived with rabbit ear antennas, or roof antennas are truly in for an upheaval when everything changes from the analog signal we've known for years. When we actually get to that new digital age many of us will end up losing the channel signals because of weaker signals. This change won't stop just because of the loss of those signals that we've had for years because they will be needed for the public service signal. This change will totally affect television as we know it, and those changes will especially affect those who receive that television signal by that antenna alone.

For many of us the digital age will mean a change over to cable or satellite TV, but for others who have lived well with that old fashioned standard the aerial antenna it may mean finally turning off that little picture box for the last time. Moving ahead is an important step, but trying to drag a nation into the digital age, especially one so mired in today's economic problems could end end up creating a real catch 22 situation.

The choice could be simple - spend more money to receive decent television reception, or decide to try to remain in the analog era. The converter box at least makes receiving the signal possible, but the reception can be iffy at best in bad weather.

I remember a time when we would discuss at school who got our favorite TV programs with the least amount of "snow!" That's a term that today we see described as pixilating images - I call it that digital cloud which takes over that program you really want to watch.
Much thought has been given to the need for more public service stations, but I question how much has given to this dilemma that many now face because of that need for this new technology?

There seems to be a great many questions about the coming transition to HDTV, with very few easy answers.

Why Not Devour A Poem?

What is a poem? Is it lines in meter, or rhyming words? There are so many things a poem is - and isn't. Words can be wonderful prose, but in my opinion, without a soul of its own a poem simply isn't.

For me a poem can touch the heart or can give us thought for up to the next week! One such worker of words is Wilfred Owen. His poem DULCE ET DECORUM EST, (a Latin phrase from a poem by Homer) written during World War I is graphic and poetic at the same time. He experienced the gruesomeness of that war first hand as a soldier and died as the war ended. Though uncomfortable, it puts you right in that place that many soldiers live while at war.

But why get stuck there? The light poems also give images that can give me pause. One such poem is small and descriptive. Carl Sandberg was a Chicago native with a love of his city and of nature. My favorite poem of his is centered on a weather phenomenon that many of us see but seldom envision as an animal. His poem Fog fits the silence and mystery that a cloud seeping through any city is like a curious cat that sits watching, and then walks on to somewhere else.

Small or large, visionary or grisly these words we call poems can organize into huge thoughts of a few precise words that can take someone to another part of town, or to a totally different world. For me they often give a sense of escape or of getting to know someone new - but that's why I love to devour them!

The Prickly Green of Life

The green is itching to get out, I can feel it. And yet the snow remains and the cold envelopes like a hair shirt that we cannot shake. This season of ice has been painful and the roads have hurt so badly with the sores of empty asphalt and sometimes bottomless and they can devour a car or truck with one gulp.

So here we all sit watching out the window for that ride out of this cage of frigid life which holds us captive many moments of every year of our lives. Most January to Decembers hold winters that mystify and invigorate, but when they out stay their welcome a hate builds up inside and a need burns to move on and make the warmer world home.

But warm will turn to hot, humid and sticky like a wet shirt that won’t come off our hard breathing bodies. Even our breath on those days is hard to deal with as the tears of our bodies come in droves from our foreheads rather our now dry eyes.

Wishing away life to find that comfortable home can be fun in the imagination – but rarely is so in real life.

© Christi Broersma - 2009

RDS and How to Survive It

RDS - it will drive you crazy! I know because I've experienced it almost every day since these terribly icy cold days have kept us all imprisoned indoors.

What is RDS? Restless dog syndrome of course! My two fuzzy buddies are not usually outdoor creatures - at least not totally. But with these cold winter days they cannot be out in their run happily howling and barking at neighbors, birds and anything that floats in the air past their wired home they really enjoy driving us crazy.

They totally relish driving us to distraction by barking at the snow blowers in the neighborhood clearing their drives; trucks going past; or anyone who comes near the back door. And when they're not barking they are wrestling, or sliding down the hall and ending up peeking from under the beds. When their faces come out from under the comforters you cannot tell me they're not smiling!

This madness usually begin when our little guy wakes and begins his tail thumping. He's not much for mornings and remains in his bed as long as he can, but if you call his name he will begin thumping his tail hard at the edge of his pillow on the wood floor of our bedroom. (His name is Mac, but in winter we call him thumper!) Foxy our older pup begins with a soft, agitated and excited bark that grows as they wake the house and those of us who are trying to sleep.

This is a daily occurrence and can make for a frustrated beginning of any given day, and though I am usually a lover of the winter season, I am now really ready for the warmer temps to get my own personal Restless Dogs outside!