Doctor, My Eyes Or Why I Haven't Been Posting

Some of you who look at this site every so often have noticed that I haven't been posting very often. So why is that? Part of the answer is that I've been busy reading, going to concerts, volunteering, etc. This leads to a bigger part of the answer: that at the end of the work day, my eyes just can't take it. My job requires using a computer, and after staring at that screen, the last thing I want to do most days is come home, and continue it. I don't even watch much television, beyond a few minutes of news, sports, and weather, or Lost and 24.

So keep checking on me, I'll try to do better!

Are You Asking Me Or Telling Me?

There are a lot of silly things that people do or say that annoy me. Drivers not using turn signals when they should is a big one. I'm also bothered when people casually use profanity in a public place, like a bank, or supermarket . Another practice that's been getting on my nerves lately is the habit some people have of ending every sentence in a conversation in a question. This probably sounds familiar: "And then I stopped at CVS to buy Advil? And I remembered I had to call and get my prescription filled?" As it turns out, there's a name to his special kind of pain: uptalking. In the Urban Dictionary, it's defined as:

verb and noun
n. uptalker; n and adj. uptalking

1. A way of speaking that puts an upward inflection on the last word of a statement that makes it sound like a question when it's not. (Common among teens and surfers.)
2. (grammar) speak with high-rise terminals (HRT).
Examples:

An uptalker would say "I've bought a new camera?" as though it were a question.

To say "Have a nice day" in uptalk, raise the last syllable as though you are asking a question: "Have a nice day?"

I'm convinced some people talk this way because they lack enough confidence, even when making a statement of fact. Or they're looking for approval from others. I know I've read about this before, I just have to remember where.

To 2007: May The Music Not Be Forgotten

"When The Music's Not Forgotten" is a moving song by Steven & Sherilynn Collins, the husband-and-wife duo known as Deadman. It got some airplay in 2005, probably because it was recorded on the day Johnny Cash died, and was inspired by gret musicians like Cash and Ray Charles.

Please come close, for I long for you to hear, Hear the sound that will rid you of your fears. In a land where no water can be found, In a place where there is no fertile ground. Longing for, yearning not to be forgotten; In an age when the music is forgotten, In an age when the music is forgotten.

And the truth (and the truth) speaks of great and mighty things, Teaching us (teaching us) what the peace of Heaven brings; We must give (we must give), we must give to all the others, Those in need (those in need) who we fear to call our brothers; Reaching out (reaching out) so that we are not forgotten. In a time (in a time) when the music is forgotten, In a time (in a time) when the music is forgotten.

If we stand on a hill and do not touch, How can we do good? If we wash our hands of all our friends, What change can really come? If we hide our fears and don't draw near, Have we really lived? Or are we all just standing here, Hoping there is grace?

In a dream (in a dream) that I had not long ago, Visions of (visions of) a city made of gold; And a sound (and a sound) that I'd never heard before, such a sound (such a sound), saturating to the core; such a sound(such a sound)! One that cannot be forgotten. In a time (in a time) when the music's not forgotten, in a time (in a time) when the music's not forgotten.

Amen to that.

Deadman's Official Website