During my recent travels to North Carolina, I caught myself snoozing on my flight. I rudely claimed the last available aisle seat and slept the entire flight. In fact, my eyes were closed before I hit my seat.

I am one of those people … Read more

I often wonder why humans continue on a downward spiral towards stupidity and laziness. I have a new theory on why this is happening.

Setting the scene …

Advances in technology and medicine are making humans live longer at diminished levels of health (and intelligence). As a result, the rest of the population is having to work harder and sacrifice to keep these people alive longer. The healthy are dealing with higher costs for gas, taxes, health care, food (not to mention chemically grown food to provide for more mouths), education, clothing, shelter, etc. Read more

Are fanny packs back in style? Were they ever in style? These are the questions I keep asking myself as I attempt to study for an Anatomy and Physiology test. Read more

I made it through the first week of school. The feelings of doubt carry over into the second, but I talked myself out of dropping all of my classes. Read more

Not everyone should be allowed to reproduce …

We should require all human beings to take a mandatory IQ test before they reach parenting age. This IQ test can be part of a routine doctor’s visit for children 10 years and older. Afterall, adults are required to get a tube stuck up their butts when they turn 50, so why not ask our children a few questions to find out if they are eligible candidates for procreation? Read more

Everyone knows a one upper …

This is that annoying girl at work who insists that her life is more important than yours. She attempts to top any experience or problem you have with one of her own. Suddenly, your successes are yanked from the pedastal and tossed aimlessly into the trash bin beneath your desk. Read more

People painted across a vast landscape of stores, restaurants and planes …

The airport may not be the most picturesque place to watch people, but the fluorescent lights definitely illuminate the many lives that walk past the numbering system that we all have grown to associate with flying.

The Atlanta Airport is the melting pot of civilization. Every state and nearly every country is represented.

Read more

Now playing in VHS …

Three people sit in a dark room laughing hysterically at a TV screen. Next to them is a box of video tapes. Each is labeled with a name to identify the life playing out on the screen.

You watch as one person picks out a new tape.  “Can we watch this one again? I do not think that I have ever laughed as hard.”

Read more

“If there is anything the non-conformist hates worse than a conformist, it’s another non-conformist who doesn’t conform to the prevailing standard of non-conformity.” 
- Bill Vaughn 

Traveling to different places and countries only makes us realize how little we know and understand about people, communication and relationships. While many things are very similar, we can safely conclude that we in the States are the non-conformists. Every other country seems to have similar political and social standards, but we make up our own.

Why is it so important to us over here to be an individual? Sometimes it is not bad to blend in to keep world peace.

“Why do you have to be a non-conformist like everybody else?” 
- James Thurber

Americans are the definition of “conformity.” We are all after the same goal. Each of us seeks “individuality” and by doing so we find ourselves falling into cliques that share our same beliefs and outlooks on life.

To become similar in form, nature or character = conformity. 

“Non-conformists travel as a rule in bunches. You rarely find a non-conformist who goes it alone. And woe to him inside a non-conformist clique who does not conform with non-conformity.”  
- Eric Hoffer quotes

Since I love to quote “Northern Exposure,” I am going to run with one of my favorite lines …

“There’s a dark side to each and every human soul. We wish we were Obi-Wan Kenobi, and for the most part we are, but there’s a little Darth Vadar in all of us. Thing is, this ain’t no either/or proposition. We’re talking about dialectics, the good and the bad merging into us. You can run but you can’t hide. My experience? Face the darkness, stare it down. Own it. As brother Nietzsche said, being human is a complicated gig. Give that old dark night of the soul a hug. Howl the eternal yes!”

As humans, we have created such complicated lives for ourselves. We are an “advanced” species (this is still up for debate) that thrives on power, money, sex and time. As a result, we find ourselves in a web of greed forever seeking “happiness.”

What is this happiness?

Read more