Are you quiet or vocal when watching television, a movie, or a film? Can you sit there with others and watch silently, or are you filled with oohs, ahhs, and other gesture forms?
Surprise! I am extremely vocal. LOL I most often watch movies and TV alone or with only one or two people who do the same. I realize that doing so is rude in mixed company, so I refrain from being vocal when that situation happens, but my enjoyment becomes limited if I need to be silent.
How many rolls of toilet paper does your household use monthly on average?
I’ve never counted. While I offered childcare in my home, the volume was larger than most households. I bought cheaper brands with lower ply counts during my daycare years to avoid plugged plumbing from kids using it too generously.
Do you believe that if a person takes a life, they destroy a part of themselves – what are your views on this?
What a loaded question! Cutting down a tree and murdering one’s neighbor each fit the description of “taking a life”. If someone has no conscience, the taking of a life wouldn’t matter to him. If the ‘taking of life’ was not foreseen or planned by the ‘destroyer’ (an accident), it might not be diminishing to that person, but people often blame themselves for events that they have no power to change so it’s a personal choice. The human capacity for ‘guilt’ drives many positive and negative outcomes. That ‘feeling’ destroys life as often as it saves it. Exploring human guilt would take volumes. Extremely interesting but too time consuming in this format.
Write a piece of prose that incorporates the given set of words and they have to come in exactly the order given, but you may break it up with punctuation.
The maximum number of words is 144 (which is a gross) including the given line. Many try to hit that mark exactly, but it’s not mandatory. “It is a moon wrapped in brown paper“
As I looked on, the butcher wrapped the raw heart in waxed paper… then into a brown paper bag. There was more than the usual blood about, so the burly man grabbed a mop and scoured the area under furious pressure. He growled through clenched teeth, “I promised you the moon, Gladys? It is a moon wrapped in brown paper, now! Tell me again how you should have given your heart to that sailor, Darling. What? At a loss for words once in your life! TELL ME!”
All I could do was watch.
The butcher tossed his tools in a closet then scrubbed his crimson hands.
I raced toward the bright-lighted exit as the room got all fuzzy, then heard the slamming freezer and my husband screaming.
” Gladys!!! How ’bout I give ‘sailor boy’ YOUR damn cold frozen heart on-Valentine’s Day?! He’ll love THAT!”
Without hesitationshe threw her body between the child and the oncoming speeding car. The young officer was brushed aside, as the vehicle screeched to a halt, sustaining a cut to her forehead from the sideview mirror. A possible tragic scene was altered to a ‘near miss‘ because of her quick reflexes. The facts that led her to be at this place at an exact moment to save a life would surely wake her up in the night for weeks. A call about a possible rabid raccoon -out during the day- in the area had her roaming the quiet neighborhood alone and on foot. She’d raced to the sound of frantically barking dogs and the rest was history. After sending the child on her way, the officer cautiously approached the driver’s side window of the errant vehicle. Perhaps the recent rain downpour had been a factor for the swerving or was the driver texting? The window squeaked as it slowly lowered. Immediately smells of marijuana and alcohol assaulted the officer. She knew she’d be nailing this guy for something! After wiping blood from the still leaking laceration, away from her right eye, she drew her revolver and shouted to the driver, “Get out of the vehicle with your hands where I can see them!”. Suddenly her body was vibrating! As she dropped toward the pavement, she saw the flashes from the gun but never heard the shots. The officer was dead before she hit the ground. The car and occupants raced away. Before the ambulance arrived, a female raccoon rushed from nearby bushes with her rescued lost baby and disappeared down a storm drain.
The alligator rose as slowly as the moon. At first, only a few bubbles gave away his presence, then a sucking sound, followed by rings that grew larger-pulsating- as they spread until the ragged twenty foot log of a monster emerged on the river’s silver mirrored surface. Two lifeless eyes glowed as the beast effortlessly moved toward the lantern signaling a meal. Diana was used to the ritual but inaudibly gasped as she sat hypnotized by the gargantuan reptile easing toward her. Her chore had become mundane but this prehistoric crescendo never ceased to excite her. This one had been a bit difficult. A married man, totally sloshed, who ran around showing off photos of his six kids. What the hell was he doing at that place? That convention didn’t usually appeal to ‘family men’. But Briggs had nodded at him sealing his fate. She lured him into the alley and the ‘boys’ did the rest. This time, she hadn’t watched. Briggs handed her the envelope containing her fee, stuffed four trash bags in her pick-up, then slapped the tailgate saying,” Tell the Big Guy, thanks again.”.
They’d just met on a tour of the local most haunted property. It was the place where a jealous man named Darren Jacobs had stabbed his adulterous wife to death and then, in utter despair, had thrown himself off of the building’s roof.
Claire had appeared beside him in the ticket line and their shared interest in the occult tied the knot. But, the ‘getting acquainted’ playful chatter started to annoy the others who were there for the ‘story’, and hopefully a glimpse of an apparition, so he slipped her his address with an invitation to prepare her a home cooked meal that evening. She nodded in acceptance and they ducked away never finishing the whole event. Ralph, feeling like a giddy teenager, went straight away to the market and collected ingredients for the perfect meal including a crown rib roast.
Precisely at seven, there was a knock at his door and there stood Claire with the prettiest smile and the deepest brown eyes he’d ever seen. She sipped on wine as he set the table listing his own impressive ghostly encounters. He was certain his departed wife was hiding the TV control in his couch, on a regular basis, and making his keys hard to find! The meal was a great success and after three glasses of wine set the mood for his romantic advances, he reached across the table taking her hand. Ralph was trying the tacky ‘line’ that her eyes ‘touched his soul’ when the carving knife stood up on its tip spinning furiously! Only seconds passed before it sailed forcefully at Claire’s chest sticking deeply into the back of the wooden dining chair. Claire had vanished! Just before Ralph fainted from fright, he thought he heard Claire shouting, “Darren! Why must you follow me EVERYWHERE?!”.
There’s a scary lack of humility plaguing posts about the “evils of not wearing masks” including claims of fellow citizens ‘murdering’ others or having a nonchalant intention to ‘murder’ others. First, most authors claiming that ‘anti-maskers’ (cute label) are primary spreaders and therefore primary ‘killers’ aren’t scientists or even paying attention, IMO. They’re borderline hysterical. No courtroom trial could prove what they’re charging others with, yet, they deem themselves judges and juries at a time we ought to be united. Try answering these questions, then decide whether the charge of murder holds up beyond a reasonable doubt. [That is still the standard for such a vile charge, isn’t it?] 1. Did the scientists first encountering this virus wear masks? Was it still able to spread? 2. Did nursing home staff, where the majority of lethal cases centered, wear masks? 3. Can the small size of this virus pass through the ‘everyday’ masks of ‘maskers’? (Hint: Yes.) 4. Are masks universally expected to stop the spread? How about people who keep adjusting their masks with bare hands or ones wearing bandanas? Are bandanas anti-masks or masks? 5. Does the virus infect people through the eyes or in ways yet to be detected? (some totally house bound people have gotten it and many unmasked people haven’t, in documented cases) 6. Are frequent hand washing and ‘social distancing’ more or less effective than masks? If more, then does a frequently hand washing, socially distant, person serve as less of a risk than a masked person not observing those measures? Who really knows how careful others are about exposure, cleanliness, or the reusing of dirty masks? Might masks just be visible signals not foolproof protections? 7. Are these ‘anti-masker spreaders’ helping expedite herd immunity which will keep everyone safer? Far more people, who have gotten the virus, have lived than died. 8. Once vaccinated, people are asked to still wear masks. Why? Who are they protecting in that case? I don’t directly know the answers to any of those questions and could ask dozens more without reaching a guilty verdict of murder for anyone. Two choices available… We can take precautions that we deem best for ourselves and leave others to the freedom of choosing theirs. We can stop the constant labeling of our fellow citizens as stupid, or worse, evil, when we don’t agree and have some humility about what we don’t actual know, Or, we can keep posting about ‘murders’ in our midst who are not wearing masks thus exposing more about the lack of humility of those accusers than any credible evidence to convict those accused.
The link above is to the recent news article about the tragic killing of an Australian young man by some “punks” who were reportedly bored. The news media has offered many reasons for this atrocity. To name a few:
The US gun culture…
A racial hate crime…
Violence inspired by game playing…
I believe that I stumbled upon the real deeper cause when I commented in a reaction to this horror … “We need a “war on punks”!”
A punk, in my mind, is a young male who is striving for manhood by means of intimidation and violence.
Sadly, and dangerously, our society has lost the traditional definition of manhood.
Some of the reasons are economic but many stem from a “watering down” of the roles men play. Confused? So are our sons.
Back in the day, men were the providers of protection and the essentials for family survival. Since caveman times, the males had a clear role and spent (testosterone inspired) energy to fill that position.
Enter the women’s movement, government assistance, modern conveniences, absentee fathers and unemployment and you have idle time in the hands of males without direction.
Remember, to every action comes an equal and opposite reaction?
The women’s movement was a GOOD thing. This is not a puritanical conservative documentary, in the least. It is, however, a thoughtful wondering about the male experience in an attempt to shed light on a grave predicament in our culture.
“What makes a man?”
Punks seem to believe it is an adrenaline rush inspired by a dangerous act.
How did that happen?
First, we have taken the pointed scissors away from kids. That’s right. This cushioned, ultra-safety oriented, society has had a hand in making boys into sissies. Their confidence and male bravado has no inspiration.
I asked a 10-year-old to help me with lawn mowing, the other day. He said he’d never been asked. There must be a warning label, somewhere, which claims that my suggestion was illegal! (ATVs have labels too. “No one under twelve can operate them.” Funny though, the youth-sized ones are generally too small for most twelve-year-olds.)
Secondly, fatherhood is a duty not a choice. Modern society has lost sight of that in a nutshell. Boys need quality men to show them how to become men of quality.
Thirdly, Idle time and video game playing are not allowing for physical exertion. Scientifically, the lack of physical exertion MUST have an adverse effect upon testosterone fueled adolescents! I’m sure there is a study somewhere which would verify that adrenaline is a necessary drug in a young man’s life.
There must be a way to counteract the poisonous conditions of our sons’ environments.
Sports teams are one way. But many have not the means, nor interest, to take part in sports.
May I suggest, that in dealing with boys who have been expelled from or have dropped out of school, who have had scrapes with the police or are members of gangs, that we seriously entertain a type of boot camp. (Yes, those who have no pre-existing disability, only.)
Of course, the boot camp would be the bottom line but they could be exempt from going if they entered a mentor program or volunteered in community service opportunities.
NOW, the race card would be thrown at this idea. The chances are, the black community would be in high attendance. (Unemployment and absentee fathers the catalyst.) BUT, instead of thinking this was an effort to marginalize minorities…why wouldn’t we consider it helping where the help is most needed?
These are just infant ideas for a possible cause and solution for a deep problem that just won’t be going away. What do you think?
Mensen maken de samenleving en nemen daarin een positie in. Deze website geeft toegang tot een diversiteit aan artikelen die gaan over 'samenleven', belicht vanuit verschillende perspectieven. De artikelen hebben gemeen dat er gezocht wordt naar wat 'mensen bindt, in plaats van wat hen scheidt'.
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