Where's the politeness?

Something that I have a really had time understanding is our society today and how people act. It seems as if every time I leave the house, whether it's to go to work, the grocery store or a restaurant, I am guaranteed to run into rude, self-absorbed and entitled people. Where is the respect? Where is the politeness? It don't seem to exist anymore.

I was inspired to write about politeness because of a book I'm reading called Talk to the Hand by a British author named Lynne Truss. It's a book about rudeness in today's society. In her book she lists 20 reasons to show special politeness to other people (I feel this goes for children as well as adults). The reasons are:

1. they are older

2. they know more than you do

3. they know less than you do

4. they got here first

5. they have educational qualifications in the subject under discussion

6. you are in their home

7. they once helped you financially

8. they have been good to you all your life

9.. they are less fortunate than you

10. they have achieved status in the wider world

11. you are serving them in a shop

12. they are in the right

13. they are your boss

14. they work for you

15. they are a policeman/teacher/doctor/judge

16. they are in need

17. they are doing you a favor

18 they paid for the ticket

19. you phoned them, not the other way around

20 they have a menial job.

Really, how hard is it to be polite?

Good Intentions

When it comes to writing, I always have really good intentions. It's just that sometimes they don't come to be. Every Monday I start out thinking that ever day this week I will get some writing in. I think that from the time I get home from work to the time I go to bed I should be able to write for at least one hour. But a lot of times that doesn't happen.

Why? Well the biggest reason is that I have a full time job that right now is very frustrating and I come home exhausted. Once I get home booksm, television and the Internet keep me from writing and the fact that I'm exhausted. I could write on the weekends and sometimes I do but I don't want my writing to become work (which, I guess in reality it is - you definitely have to work at it) and, for me, the hardest thing is to find the time. And did I mention I come home from work exhausted?

And right now, I'm writing this blog instead of working on my book. I also plan to visit a couple more Web sites before calling it quits for the night (I've already visited a couple before I started writing this blog). Plus, at some point I'm going to have to cook dinner and I have to do all this before The Big Bang Theory and CSI comes on (I've got about an hour now).

In my defense, I did do some writing today during my lunch. I actually got the "skeleton" of my book finished. But it's still no where near being completely done. At 30 chapter and just under 50,000 words, I still have a lot of writing to do and the flash drive is right next to me on the desk, waiting to be plugged in.

Well, it's Thursday and it's been a long week and another Monday is right around the corner.

Strange Neighbors

Yesterday a sign, of sorts, appeared on the wall outside the sliding doors of my first floor neighbor. It's a hand made sign from a piece of white notebook paper, the message written with a blue ball point pen and there is a lots of scotch tape attaching it the wall. The think it says something like: This porch is now under surveillance. Violators will be shot and killed.

Nice, huh?

I don't know exactly what prompted such a sign but it might have been due to cigarette buts. Over the last several months, at various times, there have been an excess of cigarette buts (I'm talking over two dozen) all over that patio. It's a first floor patio and all the resident in this part of the building have walk past it every day. It was rather disgusting. I'm not really sure who lives there (I think it's a disabled person who has a care giver) but I have seen a man in his mid-20s sitting in the beat up old swivel office chair on the patio smoking cigarettes.

Apparently the complex management doesn't know or doesn't care that one of it's tenants has posted a sign threatening people.

I would have taken a photograph of the sign for you but I didn't want to get shot and killed.

I See London, I See France...

I was just sitting a my computer, catching up on some blog reading and folding my clean socks and underwear (multi-tasking) when I had idea for my blog - underwear.

First, I keep my underwear in the top drawer of my dresser. Is this where most people keep their underthings? If so, why is that drawer the smallest? I used to keep bras, underwear and socks all in that drawer but a few years ago I had to move all my socks to an separate bin in my closest. Why? Because I guess I have to0 much underwear.

I rank my underwear:

Level 1 Underwear - The perfect pair. It fits perfect and it's still in good shape because it's still fairly new.

Level 2 Underwear - Still fits but is starting to show a little wear and tear.

Level 3 Underwear - There are two kinds in this category. There are the ones that fit perfectly but now might have a little hole or some of the elastic is starting to get wanky. And then there is the underwear that is still in great condition, almost new, but is so because it's just one size too small or were really cute in the store but didn't really fit right when I got them home. The too small ones were bought during a euphoric time when a couple of pounds had been shed and there was a sense of hopefulness that, I have to admit, didn't last. I don't throw out Level 3 Underwear as often as I should because this is what I wear when I have no more clean Level 1 or Level 2 Underwear (it happens sometimes). I know I should take stock of my underwear more often but really, who wants to spend time doing that?

BTW - I have the same ranking system for bras.

Anyway, I have been known to go out and buy new underwear instead of doing laundry (in my defence I don't own a washer/dryer and have to leave my home to do laundry). I know, it's kind of shameful but sometimes it's easier to just go to Target than the Laundromat.

The Year of the Novel

Another year has come and gone. I don't make New Year Resolutions but I do have a goal for this year: finish the current novel that I'm writing. I finished a novel last year but haven't found representation yet (and I'm losing hope that I will) so I've moved on to working on another novel that I started a couple of years ago.

Then I went to an agent's blog and saw this video posted:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9fc-crEFDw

It's hilarious and also brutally honest. I laughed at some parts and wanted to cry at others. If you don't already know, the writing industry kind of sucks. It's REALLY, REALLY hard to break into. While you see hundred and hundreds of books in a book store it's very difficult to get published (unless you have a couple of thousands of dollars to self-published but there is a whole lot more to that than meets the eye). And although the new technology of Kindle and Nook may sound really cool not much has been worked out in regards to the writers part in this new technology. What I'm trying to say is that this new technology is really screwing writers over.

But I will keep writing and keep trying to get published as long as there are people out there who want to read I have some hope. So get the real deal and buy books!