Lost in Time

Posted on Jan 20, 2009 in Health | 0 comments

I feel lost.

Like it or not, we’re creatures of habit. The details day-to-day details may change a bit, but in general our days, weeks, months and years follow a loose pattern. Upsetting this pattern can make us feel lost in our own lives.

Since Thursday night my life has been off kilter. Friday, Saturday & Sunday were lost to a combination of violent headaches and the haze of medication. Monday I took off work to recover from the hangover of the weekend. Then today we had an unexpected snow day.

I know for those of you who live with snow on a regular basis, 6 inches of fluff is no big deal, but for a city with only and handful of plows, and no snow tires anywhere, it doesn’t take much to shut a city down for a day.

All of this has amounted to 5 days—so far—completely out of my routine.

And it’s got me feeling a bit…off.

Can't Enjoy the Cold Weather

Posted on Jan 16, 2009 in Health | 9 comments

Tonight promises to be the coldest night of the season so far—10°, and 0° with the wind chill. That may not seem like much to you northerners, but it’s fairly cold for Raleigh.

I love the cold weather. I grew up in Miami, where winter consisted of one cold night, where everyone broke out the sweaters and parkas they’d been given as gifts. Then by noon the next day it was back to 70°. So once I left Miami, I was happy to have actual seasons.

So normally the coming sub-freezing weekend would have me jazzed. But right now I’m a prisoner in my own skin. Two days ago I started a cycle of cluster headaches. And for anywhere from a few days to a couple of months I can expect a series of crippling headaches each day.

Even if we get snow Sunday night, as they’re predicting, I won’t get to enjoy it.

Muse Flash: I Collect…

Posted on Jan 13, 2009 in General Silliness | 1 comment

What do you collect, just for yourself? We all collect things. Many of these collections are common—coins, stamps, shot glasses—proudly displayed to show our membership in an unofficial fraternity of enthusiasts. Others are more private. Not secret, mind you—just a collection that’s a more organic collection, growing by chance and happenstance, without the support of a group of enthusiasts to learn from. Maybe it’s the corks from the bottles of champagne you’ve had in celebration, or the license plates from every car you’ve gotten rid of. Often this casual collection says much more about us than the collections we cultivate.

Answer this question on your own blog, then leave a comment with your answer and a link to your post.

I collect spam subject lines. You’ve all gotten spam in your inbox where the subject or the text is just a random string of words, or a snippet of words taken from some larger text. Nearly all of the time, they’re nonsense, sometimes they’re offensive or suggestive, but once in a while there’s something worth keeping. Not for their own merit, but sometimes they are great fodder for brainstorming.

Some examples:

Winter is surrounded by icy women

cough syrup requires assistance

the alchemist procrastinates

marvelous machinery, and quiet vassily

I have found that my almost unused Gmail account produces far more spam, and hence more keepers, than does my primary Yahoo! account.

In some ways this is the internet equivalent of browsing garage sales looking for hidden treasures, but I prefer to think of it as a manifestation of the “a million monkeys at a million typewriters” adage. With all the trash these leeches put out it’s funny that by sheer accident they have produced something of worth.

There are websites devoted to Spam Poetry, where artists write poems of the flotsam skimmed from subject lines, but to me this is a perversion of the purer form of keeping each line in its original state.

Now it’s your turn. Answer this question on your own blog, then leave a comment with your answer and a link to your post.

Muse Flash is a new feature, where I’ll give you a topic for your own blog. I’m going to try it for a few posts and see if it has legs.

My Kids Will Never Leave Home

Posted on Jan 8, 2009 in Brats, Family | 2 comments

How does a parent teach common sense? This is not a rhetorical question. I need to know the answer. Or my kids will never leave home.

This has been on my mind of late, as my oldest has wandered aimlessly into her teen years.

I listen to a radio talk show on the way into work, and yesterday one of the hosts related a story about his kid who just went away to college. For his mother’s birthday he sent home a card. It arrived with a 1¢ stamp and 41¢ postage due. When he asked his son why he bought only a 1¢ stamp he replied that he thought it made sense to buy the cheapest one they sold.

After some well-deserved teasing of his son, the host asked if this indicated a fundamental lapse in his parenting. His co-host responded, correctly in my opinion, that eventually people have to take the responsibility to ask questions, and that it’s not possible for a parent to know everything his child still needs to learn.

This anecdote gives me some comfort that my kids are not unique in their inability to question and learn from everyday life. But it does little for my hope that they will one day evolve to the point where they can safely leave home.

I mean, at 13, Claudia should understand why it’s important to take the pots and pans out of the oven before preheating it. And if she forgets to do it, she understand the reason she should use a potholder to correct the problem.

At 11, Gabe should understand that he should close the door before letting the dog off the leash.

They should know this, right?

I remember asking questions when I was young. And not just the why is the sky blue variety. Why do we pay sales tax? Why do we need immunizations? How do you mail a letter?

Sure my kids ask why, but it’s more a way to question authority than in a quest for understanding. Why do I have to clear the dishes. Why do I have to go to bed now?

All this makes me wonder if—both in our own home, and in society as a whole—we are nurturing a generation of people who desperately want control, but who are wildly unprepared to get that control.