August 17, 2005
Food_for_Thought
Hey things are looking up.
The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and I'm off to visit Mom, Dad and the bees...
I think I freaked out a day ago because my Daddy, my Superman, lost his cape for a moment. Turns out it was at the drycleaners.
We still don't know what the test results are, but, as awittykitty pointed out to me, we are in an age technicologically and medically speaking where we can find out just about anything there is to know.
Plus, the fucker (and I say that with love) went and played 18 holes of golf yesterday. So why the heck did I worry?
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The ole birthday's coming up, where I'll officially be right smack dab in the middle of my thirties. I don't say this for any kudos or birthday wishes. I said it because of this:
I'm working my parents HARDCORE for a laptop. Can you imagine the joy on my face when I'll actually get a chance to browse all my heros diaries without trying to slam through them all on my lunch hour?
Can you imagine the glee that I'll feel when I can take the time to download those darn honey extraction photos into a computer that's ALL MINE?
I sure can! Boy...I've been dreaming about this for months.
I've also been dreaming about the day that I can afford that kind of thing on my very own and not have to dream about a birthday or special event coming up where I can expect good things as a present from others. Boy, that might make me feel like a grown up, though. Not really sure if I'm fully ready for that.
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I had a really good Diaryland reading experience today. I was checking out Smoog'sexcellent entry. If you haven't already read it today, I highly recommend it. Go ahead, I'll wait right here. While you're at it, I recommend also reading the comments section...
I don't honestly believe that I'm a bigot in the matter that Smoog's referring to, but it DID give me pause. Why is it that we as human beings (I say that instead of "as a society" because I don't believe this is something that's bred into us by the people and cultures that surround us) are so visually dependent? Why must we form opinions and ideas instantly from what we see?
I used to pride myself that I am the kind of person who will wiegh several different bits of data I've gathered about an individual before I form a complete opinion. I still believe that's true, but maybe as a result of some ancient genetic trait that is so deeply embedded in all of us from our hunting and gathering years, it's part of our make up to instantly assess what we see. {2 things wrong with that sentence. #1, it's too long and jumbled, and #2, did I just say "assess" as in "more than 2 butt cheeks" or "assess" as in "2 or more donkeys"? I hope you know what I was saying there}
Point is, what happened exactly where we were also instantly judging what is "too_________"? As in "too fat", "too ugly", "too skinny", "too stupid", "too weird"? Those aren't judgements that will instantly affect life or death situations. Instead of being visually reliant so we're not killed by dinosaurs or wild animals, our brains have somehow decided to use our visual data to make snap judgements about people we don't even know.
Is it because we're too cushy these days, with roofs over our heads, cars in the driveway, and supermarkets to shop at that we have processed these once necessary for survival senses into some kind of ongoing reality makeover TV episode?
In this regard, I am a bigot in a way. It's next to impossible to prevent an instantaneous judgment when seeing someone or something. The fact that my judgements do not seem to me to be harsh or mean does not exempt it from being a judgement, a label that I put on something, a category that I place it in.
Haven't we learned anything enough to know that as human beings we are a complex species, and that one glance won't tell the entire story?
These are all just thoughts that I've had in the past few hours from reading Smoog's entry. These thoughts are no where near as articulated as I'd like them to be, and I hope no other entry I write will ever come out quite as sloppy (heck, we all wish that, don't we?) but I just couldn't hold them in.
Seriously, if you don't go and check this one out, I believe that you're really missing something.
Have a great evening.
~Toodles~
clipchick at 5:27 p.m.
All thoughts, ideas, and musings are � Clipchick. Please don't snipe my stuff!
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