I Got Nuthin'

What do fish, pigs, vegetables, and people have in common?

Fish have fins, veggies have roots, pigs and people have legs.  Pigs squeal, well so do girls (ok, gay men...and my brother-in-law).   Sort of a reach though...isn't it?  Pigs and people are more alike than fish... and all of the aforementioned are even less like veggies.

Honestly, who cares?  Ok, scientists care...farmers care...food distributors care...gardeners probably care.  This is going nowhere.

What the heck was my point, anyway?

My point was.... school might help pigs more than kids.  I thought I had a cool metaphor coming.

Moving along.

It is really hard trying to articulate nuances. I digress.

 This whole thing sounded a lot better in my head than it does on paper.  I am going to chalk this blog up to....SUMMER BREAK!!!!!

"Teach Your Children Well"

"78 percent of respondents in a recent international Monster.com poll reported experiencing the so-called "Sunday Night Blues." And a whopping 47 percent said they get it "really bad." In the U.S., that number jumps to 59 percent."

Reported by: Huffington Post, The Third Metric

If you stop and think about the number of people who are suffering on Sunday night...59%...it is really startling.  The article, that reported the results of this poll, goes on to give advice on how people can cope with their weekly bout with the blues.  What the article doesn't address, in any real deep sense, is why people have the blues.  

Oh sure, the obvious answer is that work is not as fun as play. Work involves stress. Work involves...well work. I am going to take a "Gladwellian" stab at illuminating the "why" of this conundrum.  

People don't choose professions based on what they love to do. People choose professions for economic reasons.  

After a few years in the workforce, Americans realize that they are unsatisfied with what they are doing. All the while, their family has developed an appetite for expensive toys, homes, and all of the accouterments of the American lifestyle.  From this cycle of mega-materialism, the Sunday Night Blues are born.  

There is another way, of course.  It takes guts to get there. It takes a willingness to make changes and sacrifices.  In the end, however, your children will thank you and respect you, and there is a good chance that they will escape the Sunday Blues.

"What Kind of Human am I?"

"What kind of human am I?" Turner asked.

Uhhhhh...quick, quick...right answer....uhhhhh, "A boy?" I responded with an upward lilt to my voice.

 "No.  I mean, am I a Native American!?" he stated with emphasis.  Driving down the road,  this is when I stop craning my neck to get a good look at my 9 year old son.

My son will break hearts one day.  He will break my heart!!! He is a beautiful blond-haired, fair-skinned, lanky young boy.  So, with a giggle and smile quickly squelched, I peer at him with mustered seriousness, in the rearview mirror, and respond, "Uh no, you are not a Native American...you are a German, Irish, Englishman."

"Oh", he says, as if this is now settled.

There is absolutely NOTHING more refreshing than a conversation with a child.