Miscellaneous Things of Varying Importance

* I voted today. Boo and I stood in line for an hour this morning at 8:00. Not too bad, considering the record turnout everywhere for this election. Boo was remarkably patient during the entire wait, too. Anyway, while waiting in line the person behind me happened to be a close stander. Let me back up and explain that I am one of those people that kind of likes a decent personal space radius. I’m not even much of a hugger except with people I know, though I’ve gotten much better about that. But when standing in a line or standing in a crowd I usually leave a little bit of space between myself and the next person if I can. Not so with the guy behind me in line today. I kept feeling the toes of his boots on the heel of my shoe and he kept bumping into my back. I know the line was long and all, but there wasn’t a need to be quite so close. There was lots of space for the line to stretch back while we were outside the polling place. And every time we moved forward, he kept that same non-distance. I kept wondering if I turned around suddenly if we’d be nose to nose and why exactly that was necessary? Kind of like the ‘close talker’ from Seinfeld. Remember that episode?

* How was that last paragraph for a frivolous commentary on this very important election? Please don't take that to mean I'm being flippant about the election. I have been following the issues closely and am praying for our country. I'll still be praying tomorrow, regardless of the outcome tonight. (Excellent thought here, by the way.) I have to tell you that I've been hearing very disturbing things about how people vote and why (for just one example look here - HT: Deo Volente). Please be informed and know the issues involved. Our form of government relies on an educated, informed electorate, and sometimes I fear that many of us are willfully uneducated and uninformed. That's all I'm saying there.

* I’m thinking of taking a semi-blog break. In fact I’m only writing this post right now because I feel like I’ve neglected the blog for so long I don’t want to leave the impression I’m quitting. I’m not quitting, but I am slowing down. Want to know why? Several reasons. One, major idea block at the moment – too much to do and not enough time to think about blog posts. Two, we’re moving next month – part of the reason for number one. Three, I had a major burst of imagination regarding the book I want to eventually write and I think I want to take some time to brainstorm it – I started this thing back in high school and it has sat on the back burner for lo, these many years, and I finally am wanting to get back to it. Whether or not anything will ever come of it, I don’t know, but I want to try to at least get it written. I need time to think through the plot line and characters and develop the hook it still needs, but to do that, I need to take a slow down with the blog. I’m hoping that by writing this little aspiration out publicly I will really knuckle down and get to work on my story instead of just talk about getting around to it eventually like I have done for so long. My husband says it’s about time – he’s been encouraging me to get writing for a long time. It's nice to know he has so much confidence in my meager writing ability.

* My brother forwarded a message to me the other day from someone I went to high school with. She had found him on Facebook, a place I have not ventured to understand yet, and wondered if he was my brother. Turns out our 20th high school reunion is being planned for next summer. No way am I old enough to be having a 20 year reunion yet. That just cannot be. Clearly I am in denial. Anyway, I need to send her a message and let her know I got the info. I checked out the website they have set up and there’s a place where classmates are writing little blurbs and putting up pictures. It is just plain WEIRD seeing people that I last saw when we were 18 as adults, married, with children – or not, but adults, anyway. I don’t know why it is so weird, but I guess when you don’t see someone for years they seem to stay the same age in your mind even though you are aging and married with children. It’s kind of depressing reading some of the stories, too – lots of divorces and sad tales along with those who claim (some just a little too enthusiastically methinks) that they are ‘living the dream!!!!’ And lots of people who are still living from party to party, just like they were way back in school. Those are the saddest to me, I think. I don’t think I’ll be going to “Party Like It’s 1989.” Depressing. Most depressing are the entries from people who seem to wish we were still there in 1989. Not me. I told Drew that I think that the best part of my life has happened since high school, and I don’t really want to relive those memories, many of which weren’t all that great the first time around with people I wasn’t really friends with then. Most of my friends were in different classes, not in ‘The Class With No Class,’ which was our unofficial class motto, no kidding. I did go to our 10 year reunion, and I think I’ll just pass this time, though there are a few people I would like to catch up with. None of them came to the 10 year, however, but a couple have posted on the website. Maybe I’ll just post a little blurb and then get on with living in the now. The ‘then’ isn’t really where I want to be anymore. It’s really, really strange to think that I’ve been out of school now longer than I was in. I don’t usually feel old……I also don’t feel old enough to be this old. Anyhoo….

* Well, that last paragraph came out sounding kind of like a real downer. Maybe I need to be taking a blog break. I seem to be complaining a lot. I really don’t feel critical all the time, regardless of the tone of recent posts. Anyway, I’ll just plan on posting when an idea hits and not pressure myself to keep up daily, which I’d kind of realized a while back, too. I’m trying to keep up with blog reading, but, due to our recent vacation there are almost 200 unread posts in my Google reader. So, sorry for not commenting much recently. I’ll get back to blogoville soon, I hope. I am really excited about getting back to my writing. I hope to let you know how it’s going soon, if anyone is interested or even still reading. Sorry there hasn’t been much of substance on here in so long.