BECAUSE I SAID SO!

     Every once in awhile~maybe more than I like to think~I have an urge to say things exactly as I want to, without worrying about whether or not they are politically correct. Not everything I think is controversial. Some topics are quite bland. Whichever the case may be, I believe what I say is accurate. Why? Because I said so!

Snow: Too many people complain about winter. "It's too cold." "I hate it." "You try shoveling X amount of inches or feet of the snow off your driveway and see how you like it." Blah, blah, blah. I have heard ALL of those things said and certainly plenty more. It gets cold where I live, I drive in the snow, I shovel it, and there is no escaping it. I get all four seasons here. And yet I think the winter is the most alive time of all the seasons. Uh huh, I do. Maybe the flowers are not in bloom, the grass is not growing, rich colors are not in abundance, but big deal. How can you ignore the positives of winter? Are you so set on hating it that you cannot see the beauty of ice-covered tree branches literally sparkling from the sun's rays touching them? Can you not see the gentle journey of the snowflakes as they travel toward the ground? Do you not realize there is a quiet outside unlike any other time of year? Have you never made snow angels? I would like to see the winter haters make some summer angels. Good luck there. Go to a ski resort. Watch people laughing and carrying on while using the snow as a means for great fun. Go outside and see your breath pour out of your mouth like smoke. Feel your skin get all chilled and tingly. Hurl a snowball at someone and run like hell. Then, come inside and get a fire going in the fireplace. Watch the flames moving in a sensual dance. Wow. It is an awesome time of year. And for those who are going to talk about the dangers of driving in the snow, I already know about it. It is scary. But no scarier than those summer travelers who hit the highways at about a bazillion miles per hour in their haste to arrive at their vacation destinations. And, yep, people freeze to death in the winter. Just like people die from the heat in summer. See, you are not going to win any argument with me on this topic! So, quit bitching about the cold and learn to enjoy it. Learn to experience it in a cup is half full kind of way. Why? Because I said so.

Books: Regardless of the ease with which we can access information via the Internet (thanks to Al Gore ::snicker::), nothing can replace the pure pleasure of reading a book. Fiction, nonfiction...doesn't matter. A book is a treasure. Here are two books I think are outstanding. This first one is an old book (1983) by Taylor Caldwell called Captains and the Kings. In a nutshell, the woman wrote a riveting and thought-provoking fictional story (even though it probably should be considered nonfiction) about a handful of Europeans who control the power and money around the world. And here we thought the United States was controlled by the Dems and GOP. Pffft. That society exists just as sure as I am sitting here. Read the book, and you will see why. As for newish books, a great read is Mrs. Kennedy by Barbara Leaming, written in 2001. She has a fascinating take on events in Jackie's life that shaped who she became. There are the juicy tidbits about John's penchant for womanizing any female who moved, but also some incredible insights into his behavior. The bonus is very little brouhaha was made by the Kennedy clan about this book. That pretty much tells you what was stated was on the money. Why? Because I said so.

Face Transplants: So, the French took a badly disfigured woman whose face had been partially torn off by the family Labrador, and they transplanted a portion of a brain-dead woman's face onto the scarred woman. Not just skin...but muscles, too. If all goes well, this woman may actually be able to chew for the first time since the dog mauled her. She now has a nose, too. And, of course, there are the big mouths screaming about how unethical the procedure was. Okay, you try to live in a society that puts a premium on appearance with only half a face. See how well you are greeted. Cripe, people are ostracized for far less in this world. Or let it be one of your loved ones who loses part of his/her face and watch how repulsed every single person is who comes into contact with him/her. Watch your loved one shrink from society due to not just the injuries but also due to a demolished sense of self-worth. Bah! If there is no hope for the standard reconstructive plastic surgery to work, why not give the person an opportunity to live the most normal life possible? Why? Because I said so. (And be thankful I did not start on the stem cell controversy, or you would be in this journal for months reading how I think the most outrageous opponents of it would be the first in line to receive those stem cells to cure them if they were victims of a terrible disease and a stem cell cure was available.)

Commercialism of Christmas: Just because some people buy Christmas presents out the wazoo each year does not mean they have lost the meaning of Christmas. The REAL meaning. It simply means they love the idea of giving gifts...and, yes, receiving them, too. It means the priceless gift we all received 2000+ years ago has not been forgotten, and this time of year brings out the desire to make others happy with heartfelt, well-chosen gifts. It does not mean they have not secretly found a very poor family to create an entire Christmas for, complete with a mass of gifts and food. Nor that they have not donated to worthwhile charities, and that they have not supported a church's wishes for help for the homeless or destitute. Why? Because I said so.

Which brings me to my last thought. God: You do not have to regularly attend a church to be a good person (::chuckle:: we tithe at our church, so I am not a church hater by any means...more a liberal thinker in regard to religion). You do not have to take every single word in the Bible as the definitive truth. You can embrace snippets of many religions and still be a great person. One God loves. And you know what? I do not even think you HAVE to believe in Him at all to go to Heaven. My God sees all of us as His children, and I think we all get a chance after we die to join Him there. Atheist, agnostic, Jew, etc. It does not matter. ::pointing to my heart:: It is what is in there that counts. Why? Geez, because I said so!

   "If you resist reading what you disagree with, how will you ever acquire deeper insights into what you believe? The things most worth reading are precisely those that challenge our convictions." ~Unknown