Thursday, August 11, 2011

Lost in Another World

I have been pretty much a bum the last few days. I can admit it. It was for the greater good though. After purchasing several books on my Kindle for the last few months and intending on reading them, I decided to finally get around to reading. I am not one of those people who can just read a chapter here and there. If the book is worth reading, I get so involved in the characters and plot that I almost refuse to put it down. I have always said that the world I enter in books is so much more interesting than anything I live daily. Now, if I could only get my kids to see reading the way I do. How do you really get someone to love reading? I know plenty of people who refuse to read because they know the movie is coming out soon and they will just watch that. I don't know if I have ever left a movie saying "that was SO much better than the book". If I am wrong, feel free to correct me. It isn't often that I get the chance to see new movies anymore. Our town has a small, two-screen theater. If the movie isn't one of the "big" releases or a kid-friendly flick, then we don't even get it. Sure, I can go to Boise, but I have to really want to see the movie. A movie in Boise would include the hiring of a sitter since it wouldn't be a family movie and then driving an hour just to sit in a theater and come home because you have to relieve the sitter. Most movies aren't worth it. In the meantime, I will continue to get lost in the books as long as my family can handle the occasional bumming days with my nose buried into my Kindle. If I am lucky, some of it will rub off on my kids.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Kennels of Irritation

I once posted on my Facebook that I don't have pet peeves, I have entire kennels of irritation. Lots of people found it amusing, but I don't think they realize exactly how true that statement is. Something is guaranteed to irritate me each day. Sometimes big; sometimes small. Yesterday, it was the checkout counter at the Commissary. I had been there earlier to buy my groceries. I thought I had a pretty complete list, but I got home and realized there was one thing I had forgotten. No big deal. I will just run up and grab it before they close, which is at 5pm and that is a whole different irritation. Anyway, I go right to the item, grab it and head to the checkout. Since they have put in self-checkouts, there is no Express Lane. So I waited behind the people with at least 50 items to check themselves out. It never fails that there is some idiot who apparently can't read or who moves as slow as Christmas who is in that line. If you aren't capable of operating the machine, then you need to go through the checkout counter where there are people who are paid to do that for you. Don't make people with a couple of items stand in line waiting for you to figure out that tomato is spelled with a T. Ignorance in general irritates me. Daily I read people's posts on Facebook and I automatically start correcting grammar. It is really annoying when someone has a strong opinion about something and they are making a really good point, but its impact is lessened by horrible spelling and grammar. With school starting back, the people who are choosing to home school their kids never fails to fascinate me. I respect the majority of those who feel strongly and are more than capable of teaching their children; however, there never fails to be those people who can barely put two sentences together and surely were not scholars even in their time, but they truly believe that they can do a better job of teaching their children than those who are professionally trained to do so. I can't wait to see how that turns out. Guess that will be all for the day. I could go on about ignorant people forever and I wouldn't want to bore anyone.