Random Thoughts 5
A very happy Independence Day to everyone! Some of my thoughts are related to the holiday.
I don't have a problem with patriotism. Patriotism is important. I do have a problem with jingoism. If you don't know the difference, then I have a problem with you.
I don't care if you are outraged. I still oppose the forced recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in schools (or anywhere). Why? Because in a free society, allegiance should be assumed and not demanded.
Last night I was doing the laundry and one of my neighbors had left his or her stuff in the dryer and never came back to claim it. Since I needed to use the dryer, I removed it myself. Inside the dyer were at least 20 small white towels. As I reached into the dryer to empty it, I kept pulling out white towel after white towel. The towels were piled up so high they could barely fit inside the temporary holding basket they keep in the laundry room for occasions like this. Did this person just go to a going out of business sale for a cheap hotel? What was with all of those towels? I wondered if anyone was keeping count of them because I was thinking it might be useful to have a couple of them...
If the revolution had been fought with TV shows, we would still be a colony. The US would never have Father Ted.
What is it about breakfast that we feel we can only eat certain foods? For example, why are people so weirded out about chocolate at breakfast time? They will eat all kinds of sugary doughnuts and muffins, drown sweet pancakes and waffles in syrup and pie-filling-like fruit toppings, and eat bowlfuls of sugary cereals. Yet somehow chocolate is wrong? No chocolate muffins or chocolate doughnuts? No Nutella-stuffed French toast? No pain au chocolat? What about a bowl of Cocoa Pebbles? Am omelet stuffed with cheese and ham is fine, but you can't stomach a cup of hot chocolate in the morning? What is up with that? Foods like pain au chocolat and Nutella spread on bread are not uncommon in Europe. It seems Americans are the ones who have problems with morning chocolate. I guess I'm just less patriotic than I thought I was.
It's not just chocolate though. Why is it people can't eat dinner for breakfast? People will eat breakfast for dinner and act like it's the most exciting meal in the world (which I don't get because I find traditional heavy, starchy, breakfast foods to be overrated). "I just can't stomach that kind of food in the morning." Why not? At breakfast we have just gone anywhere from 8-12 hours without food. We should be craving a nice filling dinner in the morning. Throughout the world many cultures eat strong and savory breakfasts to help jump start the day. I suppose my desire to branch outside the traditional also makes me rather un-American. Oh well.
I don't have much interest in seeing the Lone Ranger movie, but even if I were interested, I think I would avoid it. Have you seen those movie posters? I don't know if Johnny Depp looks like that throughout the entire movie, but if he does, I am not sure I can stomach it. He looks really scary in that makeup. I'm not sure I could handle sitting through that movie for two hours and not have nightmares that night. If Native Americans had all worn weird makeup and dead crows on their heads right from the start, I think they would have scared off the Europeans and they would now all be thriving in their own land. Fortunately (or rather unfortunately) for them, they have better taste than that.
I don't have a problem with patriotism. Patriotism is important. I do have a problem with jingoism. If you don't know the difference, then I have a problem with you.
I don't care if you are outraged. I still oppose the forced recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in schools (or anywhere). Why? Because in a free society, allegiance should be assumed and not demanded.
Last night I was doing the laundry and one of my neighbors had left his or her stuff in the dryer and never came back to claim it. Since I needed to use the dryer, I removed it myself. Inside the dyer were at least 20 small white towels. As I reached into the dryer to empty it, I kept pulling out white towel after white towel. The towels were piled up so high they could barely fit inside the temporary holding basket they keep in the laundry room for occasions like this. Did this person just go to a going out of business sale for a cheap hotel? What was with all of those towels? I wondered if anyone was keeping count of them because I was thinking it might be useful to have a couple of them...
If the revolution had been fought with TV shows, we would still be a colony. The US would never have Father Ted.
What is it about breakfast that we feel we can only eat certain foods? For example, why are people so weirded out about chocolate at breakfast time? They will eat all kinds of sugary doughnuts and muffins, drown sweet pancakes and waffles in syrup and pie-filling-like fruit toppings, and eat bowlfuls of sugary cereals. Yet somehow chocolate is wrong? No chocolate muffins or chocolate doughnuts? No Nutella-stuffed French toast? No pain au chocolat? What about a bowl of Cocoa Pebbles? Am omelet stuffed with cheese and ham is fine, but you can't stomach a cup of hot chocolate in the morning? What is up with that? Foods like pain au chocolat and Nutella spread on bread are not uncommon in Europe. It seems Americans are the ones who have problems with morning chocolate. I guess I'm just less patriotic than I thought I was.
It's not just chocolate though. Why is it people can't eat dinner for breakfast? People will eat breakfast for dinner and act like it's the most exciting meal in the world (which I don't get because I find traditional heavy, starchy, breakfast foods to be overrated). "I just can't stomach that kind of food in the morning." Why not? At breakfast we have just gone anywhere from 8-12 hours without food. We should be craving a nice filling dinner in the morning. Throughout the world many cultures eat strong and savory breakfasts to help jump start the day. I suppose my desire to branch outside the traditional also makes me rather un-American. Oh well.
I don't have much interest in seeing the Lone Ranger movie, but even if I were interested, I think I would avoid it. Have you seen those movie posters? I don't know if Johnny Depp looks like that throughout the entire movie, but if he does, I am not sure I can stomach it. He looks really scary in that makeup. I'm not sure I could handle sitting through that movie for two hours and not have nightmares that night. If Native Americans had all worn weird makeup and dead crows on their heads right from the start, I think they would have scared off the Europeans and they would now all be thriving in their own land. Fortunately (or rather unfortunately) for them, they have better taste than that.
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