The Next Generation

"Hey, Dad, do you wear aftershave?"

"Yeah. After I shave."

If you ever were curious where I learned how to give smartypants answers to questions, there ya go.

My mom walked into the living room carrying a rocking chair. She plopped it down and took a seat. I glanced at the fabric, noting a disturbingly vibrant green with spatters of floral and amoeba floating across it. I made a face.

"What, you don't like it? I got it for $25 at Goodwill."

"Why?"

"Because it was there. And so I could re-cover it to match our other one."

If you have ever been curious about my quirkyness and general unique approach to life and objects, here ya go.

I love both qualities and find it endlessly humorous when I see where I learned it all.

We truly are our parents' children. We carry on not only what they teach us purposefully but also that which we learn through osmosis. I find the latter much more entertaining, even the bad traits you may pick up, because it's carrying on the legacy of your father's snarky and clever responses to simple questions. It's seeing something unusual or different and finding humor or love for it just because it's there at this moment and in my life. It's my mother's optimism and my father's realism.

It's the creation of my future and it's fascinating.

Next time you're around your parents or think about them, pay attention to their little habits and quirks and then think about how many times you've made your coffee just like them, put the pantry in just the same order, or even sit or stand exactly the same. It's hilarious!

We are all mini-me's of our parents not only through genetics but through our behavior, too.

Revelation

I had two revelations this morning.

1) Because I am not stimulating my mental faculties from 8AM to 8PM daily nor am I in constant motion of some kind: singing, talking, laughing, walking, Starbucksing (yes, all done at work), I seem to only need 7 hours of sleep a night. Or less.

This led me to my second revelation.

2) This makes for a very...

very...

very long day.

Gone Postal

Inspired by my recent influx of snail mail, I did a little look-see into the United States Postal Service. It isn’t too fascinating, nothing riveting or spell-bounding. The only thing that anyone really recognizes about the USPS is how to “go postal.” Yeah, that old phrase. Coined in the mid-90’s due to several postal employees going on shooting spree’s at their respective workplaces. Very sad, but they have just as much likelihood of going mental as any other workplace. I don’t want to dog on my peeps. They deliver my snail mail I love so much.

On that note, I love snail mail. Can't say it enough. I’ve been a fan from day one. Walking home from school, driving home from work, seeing a pile of letters on the counter and noting that not all of them are bills is fun. It’s uplifting. It puts a smile on your face. As lame as some people may think postal mail is, you’re wrong. So wrong. And I’m right. And it really isn’t all that snail like for life occurrences that deserve a handwritten note. It may be 2 seconds to deliver an e-mail, but it’s only (roughly) 2 days to deliver a card! That’s a pretty fast snail, all things considered. Just saying.

I’ve gotten a slew of get well cards and notes and I appreciate all of them. It shows that someone took the time to handwrite me (and just me, no mass text or email with bcc:’s) a note with something personal to go with it: a story, news, a joke, anything. It’s a lost art, that of notewriting. My Grandmother’s penmanship is precise with its loops and curls whereas mine is scattered loops + a curl here and a block letter there. It’s all over the place and hers is in a straight line. It’s beautiful to see her script splayed out at the heart of a card. I know her hands touched it and now mine are. When I look at these letters 10, 20, 50 years down the line I’ll remember that feeling of receiving it, of opening it the first time.

Right, so the history of the USPS. It’s incarnation was in Philadelphia by Ben Franklin in the year 1775. Since then it was authorized in the Constitution when that came about, and reorganized a time or two until its final life as what you see today, an independent organization run separate from the Government. Sadly though, due to the plummet in usage of snail mail, they’ve gone into deficit and are struggling to stay above it all. Help them out? Check yes here.

Cool though: They have the largest civilian fleet of vehicles and employ the second largest group of civilians as well. Want to ponder a guess as to who beats them?

Nope, not the Federal Government (not considered civilians, eh?).

Try Walmart. Not all that surprising, right?

The USPS is obligated to serve all Americans no matter the geography. So when I move to Australia next year, guess who’ll be helping deliver my snail mail? Yeap, you get the idea.

And no, I’m not moving to Australia, though that would be awesome. Food for thought…

Addendum to 1607

I wanted to add a few things to my post about Virginia:

1) Virginia was named for the "Virgin" Queen Elizabeth. Hence why I find the slogan "Virginia is for lovers" humorous.

2) Where the presidents were born is how I'm placing them into categories by State where they hailed from. This is why even though Bush, the Father, and Bush, the Son, are so closely associated with Texas, they don't hail from here. Bush the First was born in Massachusetts and Bush the Second was born in Connecticut.

3) I had originally said that Mel Gibson played Patrick Henry in The Patriot. Not so. I took that out. His character was based on Francis Marion, or the “Swamp Fox”, a protagonist for you to cheer behind as he went about killing the redcoats.

4) By 1610, more than half the original settlers to Jamestown had perished when John Rolfe showed up. I’m currently watching a series called “America: The Story of Us.” Completely captivating, utterly fascinating, and I’ve only just finished the Revolution and Declaration of Independence from Britain.

Gotta keep my mind sharp, you see? Can’t have it go all mush on me like it did back in high school between the end of the school year and the beginning of hell week complete with two-a-days (for band nerds, yes, we called it that, too).

While I was sleeping...

Here are a few newsworthy items that I missed because I was a bit lackluster and slept 20 hours of every 24 hour stretch (exaggeration, but bear with me, it truly felt like I was disconnected from the modern world…and don’t get me started on my trippy dreams).

1) The oil cap didn’t work. Rats. I had high hopes for that one. I wonder how great of an idea it is to now use old shredded tires and golf ball trash. Instead of just having people throw that mess in the ocean without organization, they’ll have them come drop it off somewhere in the vicinity of the oil spill. Put those Duke Nukem’s and Hoggish Greedly’s powers to proper use. Where is Captain Planet when you need him most?

2) The DOW Jones dropped more than 1,000 points due to a clerical error. Who could have thought that with all this innovation and computerization of actions that something like this could occur? What a domino effect! That would have been exhilarating to watch all the talking heads just staring at the boards not being able to financially interpret what the heck just happened and who done it? It was a veritable Clues board with everyone a prime suspect from the trader to the traded. Glad it shifted itself out though, could have been a much bigger to-do if it hadn’t!

3) There’s a $1 trillion rescue fund being put into motion for struggling European Union countries. Let’s see what the long-running implications of that action will be. The Euro will gain strength against the dollar, no doubt. People around the world will hold more financial faith in the Euro and in the countries that were formerly failing due to overwhelming debt.

Pain

Recuperating is a full-time job.


Can I quit now?

1607

Did you know Virginia is for lovers? I find that ironic and funny considering how the state was named.

The state bird is the Cardinal of which there weren't that many. Texas has the Mockingbird and those beasts are everywhere! Therefore, subsequently, Texas deemed superior.

Fun facts:
1) 8 U.S. Presidents came from Virginia. Four of the first five, in fact. Granted, there weren't all that many states to hail from in the early days so this fact is skewed. Texas has two (Eisenhower and Johnson). But we aren't 400 years old, now are we?

2) The capitol is Richmond. It's hilly, and residential with cobblestone streets and a canal that used to run ships in and out and is now used as a tourist trip (it was not as grand as I anticipated, but the information was still fascinating). The capitol building itself looks like the White House to me.



3) Richmond was the "Capital of the South" for the Confederacy. The city was partially burned as retreating Confederate soldiers fled the city, setting it ablaze as they ran, after the surrender at Appomattox by Robert E. Lee on, survey says, April 9, 1865.

4) Patrick Henry gave his "Give me liberty or give me death" speech at St. John's church in the heart of downtown Richmond. His was the voice of the beginning of the American Revolution. Bold man.



5) In Richmond, there is a minor league Double A baseball team associated with the San Francisco Giants that goes by the moniker Flying Squirrels. I do not jest. The emblem emblazoned on their paraphernalia is that of said flying squirrel, but it's shaped so that if you get real imaginative and stretch your mind you can see the state of Virginia. Again, not kidding.

6) The first permanent settlement in the New World was Jamestown in 1607. They have reconstructed what the Fort and nearby Indian Village of the Powhatan tribe looked like and you can walk on replicas of the original ships bearing the first people to the settlement.



Question: Did you know it was not John White but rather John Rolfe who married Pocahontas? Her baptized Christian name was Rebecca (great name) and they were married in April 1614.

Despite Disney's best efforts (they worked so hard, I'm sure), the true story of Pocahontas is quite different from theirs (but good gracious the music is great). She probably did marry Kocoum (so there goes Just Around the Riverbend) and certainly saved John Smith's life when he was captured. But there was no love, no marriage between them and while she did eventually go to England to live (and die in her early 20's) it was as Rebecca Rolfe, not Pocahontas Smith as Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World would have you believe. And the music wasn't even any good in that one. Shame, shame Disney.

7) There's a university that spreads throughout the entire city with numerous campuses and buildings set far apart. It was actually pretty cool. Dorms on one street, History class on another, gym across the way...VCU was the city, it seemed.

8) There are two Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives in Richmond: The Village Cafe and Dot's Back Inn. Do it.





The visit was spectacular, the sights unique. It's thrilling to be in a place filled with so much history. I nerded out. You should too sometime.