Monday Melee

I really shouldn't be this late for my first one! Sorry, Fracas. It's been a wild week.

1. The Misanthropic: Name something (about humanity) you absolutely hate.

Well, hate is a little strong, but...the tendency to always try to 'improve on things'. Tinkering with Mother Nature. Excluding/discouraging varieties of things (bees, for instance) in favor of the strongest and best. Then, when the eggs-all-in-one-basket favored one develops an evolutionary weakness, or its natural predator has a good year, we're in hot water like we are now. Could say the same thing for wheat. We used to have many varieties. Now, we have one. And a lot of us are allergic to it. This world needs variety to be its best, even if some are just chugging along.

2. The Meretricious: Expose something or someone that's phony, fraudulent or bogus.

That's easy: Air fresheners. To begin with, see #1. Hey, there's nothing like fresh air, just the way it comes from the atmospheric box. 90-95% of all fragrances are petroleum based. Evil. Someone put a plug-in freshener in our church nursery. Took me a while to find it. After it was slam dunked into the garbage bin, the nursery still retained the scent -- for at least a month. Why? Because it uses heated petroleum-based fragrance to disperse and persist in the environment. Picture that coating a child's - or anyone's - lungs. Yuk.

3. The Malcontent: Name something you're unhappy with.

Aging. Well, some parts of aging, which shall remain unnamed.

4. The Meritorious: Give someone credit for something and name it if you can.

The tendency to improve on things...in a good way. Like what Jimmy Carter does. And naturopathic medicine and organic foods and free hugs.

5. The Mirror: See something good about yourself and name it.

That's hard. Really. Hmmm...I care.

6. The Make-Believe: Name something you wish for.

For children to have idyllic existences at least until adulthood...never to be kidnapped, victimized, frightened, abused and possibly murdered. This one's for Madeleine. I would like to think I would give up my life today if it would bring her back to her parents' arms, unscathed.