Saturday, June 30, 2007

The Curse of Cussing

After I posted my last blog entry, it was as if the heavens either conspired against me or decided to test my resolve. I just got slammed with things to do! I had a house guest for two weeks, had a few nights of overtime at work, was asked to create some little origami flowers as gifts for the new members of my women's club and I was elected to the position of Vice President of Education in my Toastmaster's club.

The problem with being self-deluded is that you believe you can accomplish 30 hours worth of stuff in the 24 hour day!

So, I finally got back to blogging and I really enjoyed following the links left by the people who commented on my posts. I love the comments and I really enjoyed the blogs! And anytime I start reading blogs, I follow interesting links from one blog to another and find my way through a maze of topics and interests. It is like heaven for someone with a short attention span!

As I read along, I became aware of a trend that is not unique to blogging. The occasional sometimes frequent use of the "F" word. I'm sure that some people will think that I am very conservative or hyper-religious or whatever. Think what you may. I do not like that word! I hear it more and more in movies, in music on the street. To me it is "fingernails on the chalkboard". It represents all the horrible types of sexual intercourse; abuse, rape, incest, etc. So when someone says "FU" it is like they are wishing all those horrible things on the other person.

I just don't understand why people want to use such a disgusting word. In most cases, it isn't necessary. It doesn't help the story line, or make the point. In my opinion it detracts. It degrades the person who uses it.

I certainly am not perfect when it comes to cussing. I've been known to occasionally use the less offensive four-letter words. I'm trying to stop use them all together. When I was very young, I learned at least one swear word from my dad who used them on occasion when the cows just weren't cooperating. Over the years he replaced the four-letter words with more creative expression to please my mother who really disliked any foul language.

I think I'll start using those expressions ...

Grab all Friday!
Great Caesar's Ghost!
Cotton Pickin'!

Then there was my grandmother's ... Fooey! (different inflections of the voice while saying this expletive created different meanings)

And my mother's ... Fiddle Sticks!

Perhaps I'll make up my own ...

What a pile of nibbily bits!
Goofy and Mickey!

Or quote cartoon characters like Sylvester the Cat ... Suffering Succotash!

I guess my point is that cussing is really not necessary and having a funny cuss word to say really relieves tension much better than an actual cuss word. It would also get everyone to smile!

**UPDATE 8-6-14 - It is interesting how my opinions have changed.  I have lived such a sheltered life that I rarely interacted with people that didn't share my same beliefs or more correctly the beliefs I'd been raised with.  When I have been put in situations to interact with people who were different from me, I quickly dropped my prejudices as I came to see that they were generally good people.  I'd literally been brainwashed to think that anyone who didn't conform to the beliefs I was taught as a child was evil.  That included myself which explains why I've always struggled with guilt and a feeling that I was evil.  Pretty fucked up in my opinion.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Do I have time to Blog?

Here I am, it's 10:00 pm and really time for me to be in bed because I have to go to work in the morning. I've been thinking about a post I wanted to make for the last four days and just haven't gotten around to it. Too many things in my real life to be done.

So tonight, I sit down at the computer to look at what is left on my ever expanding "to do" list and since that is kind of discouraging I easily get distracted checking my email. In one email the title of an article catches my eye: "Five Sensible Tips for Achieving Work-Life Balance" Could this article contain the precious nugget of knowledge that will make all my dreams come true?

Unfortunately not. It is not that the suggestions weren't good. Almost all of them made sense to me, except for the one from a woman who only sleeps 6 hours a night. I am one of those strange people that really does need 8 hours of sleep! As with any realistic plan for improvement it requires changing habits. An extremely difficult thing for any one to do, myself included.

So as much as I would like to spend each evening practicing my writing skills on this blog, the demands of my work and personal life have to be meet. On the blogs that I visit regularly, I am impressed with how often those bloggers post. How do they make the time? Am I just a slacker that I can't do it all?

How do you manage it? Comments any one?

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Delusions vs. Daydreams

The other day my husband asked me why I call this site Self Delusions and I told him it was because it sounded more interesting than Daydreams. After all, people who have delusions of being important use important sounding words. The same day I logged onto the Internet as was greeted by the following quote:

"Nothing causes self-delusion quite so readily as power."
Liu Binyan

Truth is I really don't have much power so that couldn't be the cause of my delusions or daydreams. After doing a bit more searching I found this quote which is closer to my situation:

"Delusions may be the only things which render life tolerable, and, as such, are jealously defended against all the assaults of reason."
Anthony Storr

My most jealously defended delusion is that something I have to say may be helpful to another human being. I've always thought this was proof that I am genuinely a good person. While listening to a radio program, I learned that many altruistic actions are really quite selfish. Perhaps the person doesn't want to feel guilty or wants others to see them as a good person. I think I fall into both categories. So, now I wonder if anyone does anything for unselfish reasons? Maybe we are all self-delusional?

Truth is I have thought about writing a book (or books) for years now. My thoughts have bounced around several topics. However, this small venture into writing a blog didn't start until one day I read the following quote:

"We can think a thought to death but only when we move upon the thought do we bless human lives."
Thomas S. Monson

Suddenly, I was feeling guilty that someone out there in that great big world needed my wisdom and I was selfishly keeping it to myself out of pure laziness!

Let the delusions continue!

**UPDATE 8-6-2014 - I now have a different and not very positive opinion about Thomas S. Monson who is the current president of the LDS religion.  Once I found the LDS religion to be based upon a fraud, I tend to consider the higher-up leaders to be nothing more than very successful con-artists.

Friday, June 1, 2007

Blog Browsing

As I move past the dark mood that overtook me during the Memorial Day weekend, I am looking for insights on what makes a good blog. After all, if I am to achieve the self-delusion of people actually reading what I write I have to let my future readers know that I am here.

Is it appropriate to blog about my journey through blog world? What the heck I'm going to do it anyway.

Upon reaching the blogger login page, I notice their most recent addition to Blogs of Note: Once Upon a Feast I love food so I had to check it out. The pictures of the food were awesome and really made me hungry for some good Italian pasta. Then I noticed that the site had been nominated for Best Food Blog by Blogger's Choice Awards. What's that?? I had to check that out at: Blogger's Choice Awards They have lots of categories to chose from and because I am a sucker for cute animal pictures I checked out the Best Animal Blogger Cute Overload Definitely, a fun site for cute animal pictures. That didn't hold my interest too long and I returned to check out the Best Blog about Blogging. Only I didn't actually look at any of the blogs because I knew that I would stay for a while and I really just wanted to make a quick post before going back to my real life. Then I saw the category for Best Photography Blog and I had to see what was there. My husband sometimes thinks about quiting his day job and going professional with his photography and so I like to check out the competition. I looked at a couple of sites but the one I really enjoyed was The Pioneer Woman. I do think her pictures are nice but my loyalty must remain with my dear husband. What I liked was the stories she told. Perhaps because they remind me of my early years growing up on a farm. Her descriptions of her husband were right on target; she could have been describing one of my cowboy brothers.

After several hours, I realized that I still hadn't posted to my blog and I'd spent much more time than I had intended. Blog browsing can be very time consuming and quite addictive. So, perhaps on another journey through the blog world I'll actually learn how to publicize my site.