There Just Aren't Enough

Good Rainy Afternoon, Everyone. It's a cloudy, rainy, snowy, and in general : slow day in Colorado. I had a short day at work today, which was a wonderful fateful thing, because today I needed a short work day: for my sanity. After work, I had the pleasure of sitting down at the bookstore and enjoying a large cup of mint tea with one of the few women that I value her opinion. At one point we just sat drinking tea and observing our surroundings, she pointed out to me the "girlfriend stance." A teen girl and her boyfriend were waiting in the cafe line and represented the issue being addressed. The "stance" is the entitled girl standing at the side and slightly in front of her boyfriend, one knee bent, hip cocked, face gazing up with god-like adoration with the hint of "cuteness." I have to admit that while we both were revolted by the sight of the doting girl on the cocky youth, we both realize we have done it ourselves. It's easy to develop a crush on someone and forget that there is life beyond that attraction. Until of course you get over that attraction, and then life moves on.

I never had enough flighty impulses to entertain myself with a constant string of boyfriends. Friends, yes. Boyfriends, no. To me, the word boyfriend suggests something childish. I actually think that people that use the names "girlfriend/boyfriend" (on some level) are more obsessed with having the relationship rather than having the person. And if they are more concerned about the the title of "being in a relationship," that indicates they are insecure and need closure to feel like they are on a safe foundation. People waste too much time worried about what something "is" rather than being preoccupied with the individual they are involved with. People rush things, they don't realize that something that can't wait for tomorrow isn't worth having. (You're probably thinking I'm suggesting waiting for sex, etc. And I am, partly, but I'm talking about everything that deals with a relationship.)

We Need to Get Motivated

I got myself up early this morning and went out to explore. I stumbled across a book that basically points out all our short comings. Out of all the economic issues, and the political problems, what stood out the most to me was American's education. The hours the average high school student spends in school and after school doing homework falls drastically short in comparison to other countries across the globe. Young adults in Europe spend from ten to thirty more hours in school and on homework, than we do here. This worries me. We are setting ourselves up to be lazy and this doesn't bode well on the horizon.

Wandering around the bookstore further, a table with "Idiot's Guide" books caught my eye. I thought to myself, "well, no wonder we aren't smart. We rely on books titled for idiots." I thumbed through a few, and yes, they are informational, but seriously abridged for easy reading. Now, being a former home schooled high school student I am not being prejudiced against the public school system. There are smart students that emerge, and thinking about it, I don't believe any system can decide whether you are intelligent or not. It is all individual.

So, what am I trying to say....

There is a world of education awaiting us. It shouldn't matter who studies the most, or who emerges with the most marks. What matters is that individually we want and try to educate ourselves and strive for intelligence. This is what matters. Use your methods, and go for it.