GIGO

GIGO

 I used to say this to my kids all the time. Garbage In, Garbage Out. 

 A steady diet of SpongeBob can turn your brain to mush.

My brain, somedays....

But somewhere along the way, the kids grew up and I've pretty much given up on trying to monitor what they watch/read/etc. I mean, 2 out of 3 of them are legally adults and the third one certainly thinks she  is an adult.  There is just so much  monitoring I can do. 

And maybe I've let my own habits slide.   Seems recently I have been overdosing on Hallmark movies. First a solid month of Christmas movies, followed by another month of Valentine's movies. Mindless nirvana! 

And my reading habits, while being voracious, have centered around "cozy mysteries" and basic "chick lit". 

What I'm getting at is none of this challenges me.

So one of my favorite bloggers, Hollywood Housewife, has challenged herself  and her readers to read some classics this year. I've made a deal with myself. For every cozy mystery I read, I get to read a classic. 

Here's HH's list of classics that she will be reading and discussing this year.

(1813) PRIDE & PREJUDICE by Jane Austen (279 pages)
(1818) FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Shelley (273 pages)
(1847) JANE EYRE by Charlotte Bronte (500 pages)
(1864) NOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND by Fyodor Dostoevsky (138 pages)
(1899) THE AWAKENING by Kate Chopin (195 pages)
(1937) THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD by Zora Neale Hurston (256 pages)
(1939) THE GRAPES OF WRATH by John Steinbeck (496 pages)
(1954) LORD OF THE FLIES by William Golding (182 pages)
(1957) ON THE ROAD by Jack Kerouac (307 pages)
(1960) TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee (324 pages)


I just read Pride and Prejudice a couple of years ago along with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, so I felt like I had covered that classic sufficiently. Skip.

Many of these books are available on your Kindle for free or at least less than $5.00.  I downloaded the entire list.

And I've started on Frankenstein, the second book on her reading list.

I read it when I was much younger (a teenager!?). When I started it today I was surprised. I don't remember it starting this way. And yes, it challenges me. I can't just zip along. I have to actually read and think. And that's the point. 

 A little less garbage in. 

Join me? 

Do You Hear What I Hear????

Do You Hear What I Hear ????  
An Exercise in Listening


One of my favorite blogs, Hollywood Housewife, has been on a challenge a month for 2014. Each month she challenges herself to really do ONE thing and do it well. It's a concept I like. Haven't tried it, but I like it in theory.

The Hollywood Housewife. 

She's originally from Oklahoma which makes me wonder.

What is it about Oklahoma that breeds these great bloggers? 

Anyway, her November challenge to herself was to listen. Just listen. That's all. Not throw in her perspective. Not share what happened to her. Just listen. It's a hard thing for most of us to do. We want to share. We want to hear ourselves talk. We want to throw in how the same thing happened to us.

And of course she found it hard (that's why it's called a challenge) but overall it was worth it and enlightening and all those good things that should come from completing a challenge.

Which got me to thinking about Bunny and her new job. She is a waitress at a sports bar and she told me one night that a guy came in and mentioned his cat had died. This was right after our Maxy Cat had passed away and I asked if she had shared that with him. She said No. In training they were taught to not share. People don't want to hear about her, they want to be heard. Which is very true and also probably why she does very well in tips. And why the chain she works for is very successful.

Sweet Maxy Cat.

May he rest in peace.

And then I started my new job which also came with the same policy. Listen.  No need to share, outdo, or one up the customer. Please don't share opinions on religion, the government, politics of any kind, or anything else beyond the weather.

Of course, people ask questions and conversations get started but I'm working hard at remembering to listen, not talk.

It's a challenge but it is also great training.

Because part of my job is being a barista.

And if you walk into Starbucks or wherever you regularly get your caffeine fix, what do you do? Probably the same thing I do.
Rattle off your request mindlessly in one breath.
"A largenonfatvanillalattewithsoymilk, please."
Or something along those lines.
So I am learning to really concentrate on the response to "what can I get you?"
Because honestly, the first few times I asked that, I was still on "large" while the customer was getting out their money and looking expectantly at me for their drink.

All those coffee options...

please order slowly. 

Thanks.

Listen.
Can you hear what I hear?