Facie’s Ramblings

At this very moment in my life, I feel okay. Overall, I am a pretty positive, optimistic person. When I get down, it rarely last more than a couple of hours. Even when someone does me wrong, depending on the person, I am usually over it within an hour (my kid) or a few hours or a half a day (the hubby) or a day or so (coworker or friend). I used to hold grudges much longer. But life is short, and I have learned to let things go. But lately, I have these days, sometimes fortunately only half days, where I feel overcome. This usually happens to me as I am lying awake at night, fretting about something. Mostly it is my kid and various things around that, not the least of which is her going to high school in the fall a bit of a distance from our house. I fret about my job, which is not stable. I fret about the husband's unemployment. After more than a half year without work, he finally starts a job in two weeks, but that brings with it some different anxieties. I fret about my variou...

For not the first, second, or third time, I have started a blog post and never finished it. In fact, since I have started this blog, I have begun 42 blog posts that I never completed. Probably half of them were pretty well formed, but either I could not pull the trigger (I felt I was sharing too much) or I just could not bring myself to finish it, for various reasons, including time, forgetfulness, or boredom with the subject. This will not be draft 43! As I have lamented here a couple of times in the past few years, I miss writing a regular blog post. It was therapeutic to get things out there, because I am fond of myself (mostly), I like sharing my opinion, and it was (or will be) great for my less-than-stellar memory. But I just don't have too many worthwhile things to say anymore. Mostly because I lead a pretty boring life. But also because I vacillate about too many things, which comes from being a liberal republican, if there is such a thing. A few things have been weig...

Every year I've had this blog, I've written a 9/11 post around that day. This year is no exception, though I have a slightly different angle. After having watched a lot of 9/11 programs the past week, I was struck by some things I had forgotten about or had never considered to begin with. As tragic as the great loss of life was, it could have been exponentially worse. I cannot say for certain how many people worked in the WTC buildings, but according to replays of coverage from that day, it was anywhere between 30,000 and 50,000. Yet thanks to the time of day and the heroic efforts of many, the casualties were under 3,000. That is something to be grateful for. Ten year ago, I remember people complaining the Bush waited too long to speak to the nation. However, according to the some of the replays, Bush spoke soon after the second plane hit the WTC, but before the third plane hit the Pentagon. That does not seem like a long time. But then again, maybe I am not remembering...

So Osama bin Laden (or Usama, if you are Fox News) was apparently taken out by the Navy Seals. I was quite surprised to wake up to that news when I turned on the TV yesterday morning. After I let it sink in for a minute and listened to the news people talk, my eyes welled up with tears. But the thing is I was not sure why I was crying. When I think of the thousands of tears I cried on 9/11 and off and on (mostly on) for weeks after, the few tears that rolled down my cheek seemed to pale in comparison. I am pro life. In pretty much every imaginable way. I know plenty of people who are pro-life when it comes to abortion, but they support capital punishment. I don't fault people for that view. In fact, it seems less contradictory than the views of people who support women's right to choose yet are against capital punishment. But this post is not to argue or even quibble about that. And if you know me at all, then you should realize I really, truly try to respect and even under...

Although I am so very glad I won't have to suffer through dozens of political ads for at least a little while, it looks as if I will be listening to, watching, and reading the strong opinions of friends, relatives, bloggers, the media, etc., for the foreseeable future. So many people think their way is the only way. But is it possible there is not just one right way? I can see the beauty of gray, so why can't others? Why must so many refer to those on the opposite side as crazy, extreme, out of touch, socialist, racist, greedy, idiots, morally bankrupt, gun-toting, stupid, lazy, uncaring, religiously fanatical, and smelly? I am only partly kidding about that last adjective, but I do find it sad that conservative and liberal have become "bad" words for many people. I am neither all-knowing nor able to predict the future, so I have no idea how this will turn out. I do find it a little sad that a lot of young people who were so jazzed about the 2008 election did not ...

If I am not reading about another shooting right here in the Burgh, I am inundated with tragic headlines about teenage suicide. Or, at the very least, I see road rage on an almost-daily basis as well as kids being mean in the Catholic school where I regularly substitute. Sigh. Have we become this appalling of a society? This self-centered, unfeeling, uncaring, and just plain mean? And worse, of course. I am afraid the answer is yes. But it does not have to be this way. Two of my favorite classes in college were psychology and sociology. I am very interested in human behavior and the whole nature-versus-nurture debate (full disclosure: I have not read much about this theory since college 17 years ago). I tend to lean on the side of nurture; if you grow up surrounded by hate, you will probably continue down that same path. I don't remember kids being so mean to each other (and disrespectful to authority) when I was a kid. Sure, some would make fun of others (I was much m...