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WITandWISDOM(tm) - January 6, 2000 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: "Teaching should be such that what is offered is perceived as a valuable gift and not as a hard duty." - Albert Einstein (E-zine: THE FUNNIES Mailto:andychaps_the-funnies-subscribe@egroups.com) ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: - Author Unknown I am hereby officially tendering my resignation as an adult, in order to accept the responsibilities of a 6 year old. The tax base is lower. I want to be six again. I want to go to McDonald's and think it's the best place in the world to eat. I want to sail sticks across a fresh mud puddle and make waves with rocks. I want to think M&Ms are better than money, because you can eat them. I want to play kickball during recess and stay up on Christmas Eve waiting to hear Santa and Rudolph on the roof. I want to be six again. I long for the days when life was simple. When all you knew were your colors, the addition tables and simple nursery rhymes, but it didn't bother you, because you didn't know what you didn't know, and you didn't care. I want to go to school and have snack time, recess, gym and field trips. I want to be happy, because I don't know what should make me upset. I want to think the world is fair and everyone in it is honest and good. I want to be six again. I want to believe that anything is possible. Sometime, while I was maturing, I learned too much. I learned of nuclear weapons, prejudice, starving and abused kids, lies, unhappy marriages, illness, pain and mortality. I want to think that everyone, including myself, will live forever, because I don't know the concept of death. I want to be oblivious to the complexity of life and be overly excited by the little things again. I want television to be something I watch for fun, not something used for escape from the things I should be doing. I want to live knowing the little things that I find exciting will always make me as happy as when I first learned them. I want to be six again. I remember not seeing the world as a whole, but rather being aware of only the things that directly concerned me. I want to be naive enough to think that if I'm happy, so is everyone else. I want to walk down the beach and think only of the sand beneath my feet and the possibility of finding that blue piece of sea glass I'm looking for. I want to spend my afternoons climbing trees and riding my bike, letting the grownups worry about time, the dentist, and how to find the money to fix the car. I want to wonder what I'll do when I grow up and what I'll be, who I'll be and not worry about what I'll do if this doesn't work out. I want that time back. I want to be six again. I want to use it now as an escape, so that when my computer crashes, or I have a mountain of paperwork, or two depressed friends, or a fight with my spouse, or bittersweet memories of times gone by, or second thoughts about so many things, I can travel back and build a snowman, without thinking about anything except whether the snow sticks together and what I can possibly use for the snowman's mouth. I want to be six again. A graphics versions of this can be found at http://www.geocities.com/jmerz2000/where_do_i_sign_up.html Submitted by: Brian Johnson, Hannelore Dill, Scott and Lynda North ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: THE EDGE INDEX Ratio of people to TVs in the world: 6 to 1 Percentage of the world's TVs that are in China: 34 Ratio of people living in China who own TVs to those who have hot running water: 84 to 1 Percentage of all violence on TV that occurs in cartoons: 46 Percentage of people who admit they sometimes shout at their TV screens: 35 Percentage lower the body metabolism falls when one is watching TV vs. Sleeping: 15 Percentage of North Americans who would not give up watching TV for a million dollars: 25 - The Oregonian, April 28, 1999 (Barbara Henry) ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: One morning grandma was over at the doc's house when her daughter called. The daughter was sort of frantic. The her grandson had swallowed a penny. The daughter-in-law wanted her to ask the doctor if she should bring the boy in to be seen. When she asked the doc, he calmly replied, "I don't think it's necessary, just watch him closely for any change. (E- zine: THE FUNNIES Mailto:andychaps_the-funnies- subscribe@egroups.com) ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: Why is evading punishment getting off scot-free? . . . The reference is to a medieval tax or fine called the scot, once pronounced "shot." The expression getting off scot-free came into use around the 16th century to mean someone who was excused from making such a payment. Today it's most often used to describe one who evades punishment or "paying" for a crime. Source: THE OXFORD DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH ETYMOLOGY (E-zine: MAILBITS.COM http://www.MailBits.com/Trivia ) |