Kindly Sharing the Hodgepodge

Ok, President's Day is over and we're back at school. That means putting my head down and plowing through to Spring Break! 6 weeks. SIX. LONG. WEEKS. After that, head down again and plow through to the end! I might as well plow through. I've finally given up on winter. It has let me down again this year. Not one bit of snow or frozen anything which means not one single day off for winter related weather.  That's ok. Soon enough, I'll have all my days off! WooHoo! 

Y'all know what helps get me through the school year and is never a disappointment? The Hodgepodge! Come on, y'all, join us! 

1. February 17th is National Random Acts of Kindness Day. It lands on the calendar one day after National Do Something for a Grouch Day (February 16) which somehow feels related. Perhaps the 16th inspired the 17th?

Tell about a time you performed a random act of kindness or were the recipient of one. I prefer not to draw attention to random acts of kindness as I feel that makes the motivation behind the act seem selfish.  Will you make an effort to perform a random act of kindness on the 17th? No,  and not just because there's a day set aside for it. The random part prevents me from planning ahead. Ha! Share details if you're so inclined, and if you have something specific in mind. Ok, ok. A backyard neighbor has installed a tall light in his backyard that he doesn't turn off so it shines into my bedroom. Would it be a random act of kindness to shoot the light out? No? I didn't think so. Obviously, my mind is not on the National Random Acts of Kindness Day. 

2.What's the most uplifting or encouraging thing you see happening in the world right now? You may have to dig deep for this one. I love the videos posted here and there of people saving mistreated/lost/abandon/whatever animals. And then I want to go out and be allowed to deal with the ones who did the damage. I won't go into details of what I'd like to do to them because it's not nice. 

3. Black olives, black currants, black grapes, black beans, blackberries, Oreos...your favorite food the color of night? I don't eat any of those things but I used to eat Oreos so I'll claim those as the favorite. Your least favorite on the list? All of them are equal in the least favorite category with the exception of the Oreos. 

4. A while back I read (here) a list of twelve things you should do before you turn 50. They were-

travel when you have the chance, take care of your skin, learn a foreign language, make exercise a habit, leave a toxic situation, stop caring what others think about you, stop worrying, volunteer, spend time with your grandparents, pledge to work less, learn to cook an amazing dish, and seize an opportunity as it arises

What do you think of the list? Meh.What would you add or remove and why? I might add, lose the weight if you need to because it's worse later. If you're over 50, have you done all 12? Nope. If you're not yet 50, have you done any at all? What's on the list that you haven't done, but would like to do? Leave a toxic relationship. 

5. Besides the classic Christmas flicks, what's your favorite film where winter plays a part in the setting?  FARGO tops the list. THE SHINING is great too. And MYSTIC RIVER. Wasn't that one set in winter? Fantastic movie. 

6.When did you last feel helpless, and what did you do about it? Just a few days ago when a friend from work lost his significant other. She passed away Friday night and we were all feeling pretty helpless. There wasn't much to be done about feeling helpless. Though my friend turned, as much as he could, to humor and positivity. He posted this on Facebook:

7. Share a favorite proverb. In honor of random acts of kindness day, I'll go with this one:

"Do not think lightly of good, that nothing will come of it. A whole water pot will fill up from dripping drops of water." - Buddha.

8. Insert your own random thought here. I'm fighting off some sort of allergy/sinus/respiratory gunk. I felt awful yesterday but went to school anyway. I felt the need to cough on all the student computers. Payback and all. 

Meanwhile, on Grammy related news, DD3's DrummerBoy's band won Artists of Tomorrow and were streamed in the afternoon. Stupid YouTube won't let me get the video so the link is right HERE. If you go and watch (and, please do. The boys would be very appreciative), yes, DrummerBoy's (Ben) shirt is inside out. There is a story- something about a logo on the front but what I don't get is why the lovely person who insisted he turn the shirt inside out didn't cut the freaking tags off. Really, managerial type people, step up your game. Meanwhile, my lovely daughter will be taking said drummer boyfriend shopping and making sure he has spare shirts from now on. Regardless, exposure is everything and they got it! Congrats, boys! You are deserving! 

The link, once again, is HERE. 



Have a great rest of the week, y'all! 

The Technology Balance

I'm not sure that technology has factored into the area of balancing my work and private life or not. It has certainly helped as far as communication goes at work and in life. It has been helpful when I reach out to encourage and uplift others. It helps every day when I try to post something on Facebook that will make others laugh or feel good. I certainly use technology both at work and in life. But, does it help me with the balance of the two? I don't see it if it does. 


Technology helps and hinders both at work and in life. I just don't believe it either helps or hinders when it comes to the balance between the two. It helps that I can keep in touch with work-related communication when I am at home, and it helps me communicate with home when I'm at work. But that seems to be the end of the assistance. This is a good thing in that it keeps me from being surprised when I get to work and it keeps me from worrying about things at home while I'm at work. Of course, it goes the other way, too. It can stress me out over what I have to face at work the next day and it can increase my worry about what is going on at home while I'm at work. A double-edged sword I suppose. Or, the good with the bad. Something like that.

Technology can be a hindrance in just about anything we do. It keeps us from talking face-to-face as much. It keeps us inside in front of artificial light. It ruins our eyesight and our attention span. It messes with our social skills and keeps us inactive. We are constantly distracted by our devices and we exhibit rude behavior in the company of others. It has made it easier for us to bully others and to have our lives stolen by thieves. We were so impressed by technology, that we got all caught up in the web and we can't find our way out. Not only that, but we don't seem that interested in an escape. We all seem to be on the fast track to being overtaken by those who are so technology savvy, that they can do so. Could it be that believeing our society needs to be the way it was decades ago is naive? Considering the way society is changing in the ways of technolgy, yes. If we don't evolve with the changes, we're sunk.  

Communication via techology can be viewed as another step in the evolution of communication. Yes, our eyes are on our digital devices almost constantly anymore, but we are communicating. And we're doing so on a much larger scale in this world of ever advancing technology. The desire to communicate has stayed the same, the stage and equipment have changed and this has opened up the world to us. Think about commuters, back in the day, who read books or the newspaper on their daily excursions. The difference now is that we read those books and newspapers on digital devices. We are still interacting with objects instead of people. Only the objects have changed. And, in some cases, we are communicating with our friends and family instead of reading books and newspapers because the technology makes it possible for us to do so even while we are traveling and they are not with us. 

Yes, there are negative effects from using digital devices, especially as much as we do. But the benefits are still ahead of the negatives. Yes, there are bad people out there who are going to try and use technology to steal our identity or get close to our children  and so on, but we don't have to make this easy for them. The world of technology is advancing rapidly and it is fascinating. Armed with education and protection, this can be quite exciting. 

It's a cunumdrum, this rapidly advancing technological world. How do you find a balance?