Oxymoron 2.1 version

Oxymoron 2.1 version

In updating my blog labels, I ran across this old blog.

Folks - it's worth revisiting.

Truisms never go out of style. So, relive the truth from 2009.

"We are a people who spend money we don't have on things we don't want to impress people we don't like."

Okay, that is a seriously great line . . . especially with the ring of truism in it.

I'd like to take credit, goodness knows, I like good writing. I'd even like to give credit where it's due; however, this piece of wisdom belongs to the man who wrote, Why is God laughing?. Sorry, I didn't catch the gentleman's name during his Good Morning, America interview. The gentleman who did remind me quite a bit of Mahatma Gandhi, sans the big nose, spoke eloquently about the oxymora (or our common plural version - oxymorons) in our lives.

For those who need the dictionary lesson: Oxymoron
a figure of speech by which a locution produces an incongruous, seemingly self-contradictory effect, as in “cruel kindness” or “to make haste slowly."

Sometimes, an oxymoron is more than a figure of speech. Sometimes, it's life in action.

Case in point . . .

My husband, smart guy that he is, related another just a few days after I'd been turned on to this thought. While walking our dog -- sometimes it's more the dog walks us than we walk the dog -- but dog and hubby were getting along down the bike trail when my hubby dearest noted a guy out tilling his garden for spring planting. The oxymoron was the hacking and coughing up one lung this old boy was doing while puffing away on a ciggy for the other lung. Even more of an oxymoron is that this guy will be planting a garden, fruits and veggies one must assume -- as in the healthy stuff -- yet he's polluting his lungs at a rate far faster than the fruits and veggies can save. Yep, Gardener Man was definitely a life in action oxymoron.

Okay, don't get on the collective soap boxes and lecture me about smoking and the rights of smokers everywhere. I'm a reformed smoker so I get to point and laugh. However, the point is the oxymoron.

But there's more . . .

What about the folks who crave children, and then leave them to be raised by daycare and nannies? Okay, I understand that sometimes both parents have to work to make all the ends meet and right now the ends might not be meeting at all. But if honesty won out, many folks could live in a smaller house, drive less expensive cars, take less grand vacations and make the budget balance on one salary.

Watch that soap box . . . I'm simply pointing out the oxymoron. If raising kids was the the most important thing, why would it be left to strangers?

That same tangent could be eloquently stated for our current educational system. How can we, collectively, claim that education is the most important thing when we, collectively, don't lobby -- forget lobbying, how about storming the capitol -- and demand that teachers' salaries match the job we lay on them? Our oxymoron, collectively, is that we'll pay exorbitant prices to go watch athletes run around a field, high-powered cars drive in circles, etc. Point should be made, collectively speaking.

So perhaps Oxymora are a way of life.

For a 2017 update: Is your life filled with an oxymoron or two? A negative that needs to be turned into a positive? Chaos that reigns over focus of life? Are you spending money/time/energy on minutiae that you can ill afford/don't need/won't use to impress people who in the long run should never have the opportunity to 'run' your life? That's a weighty thought for Motivational Monday. Give it the serious attention that it deserves.

Do drop by the porch again.

Xue SHEN Hongbo ZHAO Cup of China 2009 SP

Where you watching last night? Figure skating? The first pair of Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao? Then you missed a treat.

The You Tube video is the same routine, however, as the Olympics closely guards their videos for release, this one is of the Chinese pair during the 2009 Cup of China.

If you'll watch through the end of the video, there is a Russian (I'm assuming -- as this sounds like Russian to me) commentator who reviews the routine. Don't worry about the words. Simply watch the slow motion of the couple.

For all of us who write, the expression of absolute trust on her face and complete confidence on his face is what we dream of existing between our protagonists. Watch the beginning -- the grasp of his hand around her fragile wrist -- firm, secure -- keep watching and in a few moments, he grasp again, but then with the slightest brush of her fingers, he releases. When he lifts her, spinning across the ice, she balances on his two thin blades, the palm of his hand, and his strength, yet not for one instant do we, the viewers, believe he doesn't hold her securely and safely.

I suppose this especially struck a chord with me considering it happened on Valentine's Day . . . that most outrageous of suppositions that love needs to be celebrated on ONE DAY! Watch that video again. The love between this couple is captured in every move between them, their expressions, and the absolute certainty they place in each other. Real love isn't celebrated on a SINGLE day, any ONE day, but EVERY day.

I'm really routing for this couple. I don't care about their nationality, or religion, or even that Olympic Gold is the one skating dream, which has eluded their grasp. Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao represent to me the pinnacle of a true couple . . . they are a pair, each whole on their own, but so much stronger, so much sweeter because the existence of the other.

The back porch is visible again. Snow in Texas is like good sippin' whiskey: comes down smooth and then doesn't linger long enough to leave an after taste.

However, it was lovely while it lasted.

Until then
~Sandra

ABC news is following my lead . . .

Okay, if any of you caught the 5:30 news tonight -- you know the one time slot where all the pharmaceutical companies advertise? Don't understand? See my previous post on Why? Why? Why? -- then you heard about the frightening epidemic of adult illiteracy.

According to ABC sources, 7 million Americans are considered functionally illiterate and 30 million Americans CANNOT read a simple sentence.

Here in America, we're supposed to be 'not-one-of-the-third-world countries, and yet 30 million of our fellow country men and women can't read well enough to fill out a job application, a medical consent form, can't research any subject on the Internet or at their public library, can't vote . . . some can't even read health warnings on any labels.

How scary!
How heart-rending!

I so glad that Romance Writers of America supports adult literacy and that each year at the national convention a massive book-signing (often with over 400 authors in attendence) is held with all the proceeds benefiting literacy.

Is there something more that can be done?

Go to ABC News for a list of national options regarding illiteracy. Also, if you're a parent, click on Reading Is Fundamental for great tips in motivating children to read.

There are lots of reason why people can't or don't read. Sometimes, they require the assistance of a specialist to overcome learning challenges. Sometimes, it takes motivated volunteers. If you want to assist on a local level, try your nearest library for any programs they might have in place.

What else can you do?

READ!

Join my reading challenge. One book per week for 2008. Busy isn't an excuse -- it's a cop-out.

Read on!

Until next time
~Sandra

Famous people . . . or not so famous

Today, President Bush honored a 92-year old with a Congressional Gold Medal.

No, the purpose of this blog isn’t to highlight ABC News coverage of President Bush, or even the sanctity of the Gold Medal, but the man who deserved this distinctive recognition.

Norman Borlaug, a scientist, is credited with saving a billion people from famine. That’s right, billion with a 'B'. A million millions owe their life to this one man.

Why? Because he taught the world to farm.

He launched his revolutionary crop-growing techniques in Mexico when many, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands were starving. He developed a sturdy, shorter form of wheat that withstood harsher conditions and devastation from pests. But he didn’t stop; he kept pushing forward and developed new types of seeds and fertilizer for 3rd world countries.

In 1970, Norman Borlaug was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his extraordinary achievements; his efforts termed The Green Revolution.

At 92, he claims to still have work to finish, people to teach to farm, new techniques to develop.

During the presentation, he stood at the Presidential podium, almost ram-rod straight, shoulders only slightly stooped with nine decades of age, white air gleaming in the brilliance of camera lights. Not seemingly awed by the influential audience or the political power-brokers in attendance, he briefly glanced at the Congressional Gold Medal, as though the award held little merit. I suppose when you’ve saved a Billion from starving, there is no reward larger than the accomplishment itself.

Norman Borlaug is a man I would love to trail behind, listening to his casual statements and throw-away words, knowing that what he considered nothing more than common conversation would very likely be the wisest thing I might ever hear. I am enthralled to know how his mind sees a problem on the magnitude of world-wide starvation then breaks it down into manageable and accomplishable bits. Yep, of all those folks taking up space on our planet, Norman would be top on my list to meet.

Who would you most like to meet? Why?