My Rhythm Isn't

I can't seem to hit the stride I want. When I hit it, I can accomplish so much. But when it's not there I stumble from task to task and at the end of the day wonder what on earth I've done all day.

I really wanted a prompt write, but spent way to much time looking for one that suited me. I suppose that's my problem. That control issue thing again. I should just make myself take the first thing handed me and go with it, right? Sounds too much like school, though.

Maybe I just need to read and tomorrow will be better. Then again if my creativity has forgotten how to play, because I haven't been providing the outlet, then I just need to push through the resistance.

The day is a pretty one. The blue of the sky is quite brilliant, though I miss the colors of the leaves against it. Everything is turning brown, except, strangely enough, a few purple petunias on the front porch who refuse to give up. I'm wondering if I should just mulch the pots good and leave them for next spring. Would be easier on the wallet, for sure.

I'm going to go check the word for today.... I've quit reading them. I'm sure they're stacked up in my inbox. Yep. 129 of them. :-P Good grief. No wonder the computer's slow! Oh good heavens. LOL! Here we go....

Danegeld (DAYN-geld) noun, also Danegelt

1. An annual tax imposed on English landholders (c. 10-12th century)
to buy off Danish invaders, continuing later under the name tallage.

2. Protection money, or some other coercive payment.

[From Middle English, from Dane + geld (payment, tribute), from Old English.]

But it's one of the examples that spurs the fighter in me (this time in agreement rather than disagreement):

"What's unfair is that we make it tough for young people to get a job unless they pay danegeld to a four-year college to get a certificate that says it's okay to employ them." James Michaels; Truth in Packaging; Forbes Magazine (New York); Dec 28, 1998.

How many college educated people have you met that made you scratch your head and wonder exactly what they did those four years? How can book learning ever equal experience in the real world? I know people who didn't even graduate high school that had wisdom that was profound and a sense of satisfaction with life that few today possess. Money means comfort. Not satisfaction, not happiness. And if a person is content with less, that is not a bad thing. However, society would have you think otherwise. You can't possibly be "successful" if you aren't experiencing a higher means of living than your parents. If you aren't in debt--first for a college education--then for the house, the car, the boat, or whatever else your job demands--what kind of loser are you? A smart one, I would say.

People should do what they love. If they need years and years of education to accomplish that (want to be a doctor or an engineer, for example) then by all means, they should put the time into that, because they'll enjoy every minute. Well, that's stretching it I know, but the work doesn't seem as fruitless when it's going toward something you know you'll do and enjoy.

My ds is a terrific example. He is one of these personalities that doesn't need information that he doesn't have a use for. Algebra was like pulling teeth because he could not see himself in a situation in which he would use it. The same was true with auto mechanics. His dad tried again and again and again to get him out in the garage and under the hood of a car, but it wasn't the right time. Now he's driving and the information is relevant and important to him and he's picking it up without a problem. Put him in a situation where he needs to apply Algebra and the same would be true. But guess what. The likelihood that he will find himself in a profession that applies algebra is slim to none. "Well, it teaches them how to think and solve problems." Phooey. That implies that anyone who's never had Algebra--including past generations--were unable to think logically.

So instead of cramming math classes down his throat, give him the information he needs to do what he wants to do for a living. Which is why he's going for an Associates degree. It's driving some of his relatives up a wall--they want to see him go on to get a Bachelors--but I understand it completely. Not only is it a waste of his time, it's a waste of a lot of money. Danegeld.

I think this is a bit scattered to make a lot of sense but it's today's words. As they flow...