Saturday, January 12, 2008

Happy Introvert Day...it's not so bad being one.

I have often suspected I am an introvert. The kind of loner who really likes people, loves to talk to them, but doesn't especially have concern about needing to be around them a lot. It's not a bad way to be at all. Not if one recognizes it.

I really have been socially active up to a point, then I want my own time for me. I have seen that in my son all his life. He is very successful, likes people, but also just enjoys being his own company. He toured Europe alone and just loved every minute. Haven't seen so much of that in other family members.

I read this article with a lot of appreciation. Introverts are different, and they are often misunderstood. Most like people, but they don't feel the need for them all the time.

From the CS Monitor:

Happy Introvert Day: Finally – a breather for those who prefer the company of one.

Ahh, Jan. 2. The day that introverts get to breathe a sigh of relief. We can come out of hiding; it's safe to answer the phone, and to stop pretending we're under the weather. Hip Hip Hooray! The holidays are over.

Yes, from mid-December through New Year's Day, those of us with an introverted nature live in a state of perpetual dread. The weeks of office parties, neighborhood potlucks, and open houses drain all our energy. But today we can relax; we made it through.

I speak from experience. My name is Diane, and I am an introvert. It surprises most people because I'm outgoing and friendly and, in fact, very far from shy, but I prefer one person and one conversation at a time. I fought this for years, always trying to be someone else. I made myself go to parties; I tried to fix what I thought was "wrong" with me. It didn't help that other people would press, "But you're so good with people," as if being introverted meant living on the dark side. But I finally got it.

This is also one of the blessings of maturity, a wisdom that brings a "What you see is what you get" self-acceptance, or perhaps for introverts it's, "Who you don't see is what you get." It is a great relief to stop trying to be who you're not.

But it's no wonder that we introverts are sometimes defensive. Up to 75 percent of the population is considered extroverted, so we're outnumbered three-to-one. American culture tends to reward extroversion, while being disdainful and suspicious of reflection and solitude. I've learned to spot my like-minded peers, though. We're the folks walking toward a festive house saying, "How long do we have to stay?" Or we're the ones in the center of the room assessing others' interactions, and slowly backing toward the door. Introverts crave meaning, so party chitchat feels like sandpaper to our psyche.
The author talks about presidents she believes were introverted, and made excellent presidents. Then she talks about children who are pressured to be more outgoing. As a retired teacher I know that children are pressured. They are pressured by parents, by other children, and it gets painful.

Some of my favorite kids were introverts. We related to each other quite well.

Introverted children are pressured to "speak up" and "make friends" – or told they're not leaders. Introverted adults are hounded to "be more outgoing" and tortured with invitations that begin, "Why don't we all..." No thanks, we don't want to do anything that involves "we" and "all"; we prefer to visit you, just you, and not a dozen other people.

The 17th-century French philosopher Blaise Pascal wrote, "The sole cause of man's unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay quietly in his room." Introverts do.
I remember that until high school I would rather curl up with a really good book by Lois Lenski or Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings than go out a lot. I had a lot of friends anyway, and they tolerated it.

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Open Thread




Haloscan comment thread

Friday, January 11, 2008

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Open Thread

I question the general assumption that felines are inherently deficient in the area of grammar and sentence structure

Click the image above for more random funny pictures.

Update: Thank you floridagal for this link...

Dean and DNC members help paint school in Denver today.



Haloscan comment thread

Stuck in Florida, figuring how to vote.

We know it won't count toward delegates. We know that the ones who pushed this whole primary deal here in Florida are really quite proud of themselves.

It doesn't bother them that the people of Florida don't get a real choice, they only care that the media will cover our state because it is big. It makes it harder here to really care. Besides we know how they tried to discredit the DNC over the primary.

Hubby and I were talking tonight with some friends who were Dean supporters here last primary. They agreed with us how hard it is this time. We were talking about some of the things Howard Dean used to say...and probably will again sometime. Here are a few that impressed me so much.

"Since the time of Thomas Paine and John Adams, our founders implored that we were not to be the new Rome. We are not to conquer and suppress other nations to submit to our will. We were to inspire them. The idea of America using its power solely for its own ends is not consistent with the idealistic moral force the world has known for over two centuries."
Howard Dean

"Every American President must and will take up arms in the defense of our nation. It is a solemn oath that cannot -- and will not -- be compromised.
But there is a fundamental difference between the defense of our nation and the doctrine of preemptive war espoused by this administration. The President's group of narrow-minded ideological advisors are undermining our nation's greatness in the world. They have embraced a form of unilateralism that is even more dangerous than isolationism."
Howard Dean

"At every turn when there has been an imbalance of power, the truth questioned, or our beliefs and values distorted, the change required to restore our nation has always come from the bottom up from our people. "
Howard Dean

"You know, to listen to Senator Lieberman, Senator Kerry, Representative Gephardt, I'm anti-Israel, I'm anti-trade, I'm anti-Medicare and I'm anti-Social Security. I wonder how I ended up in the Democratic Party. I'm not a new entrant to the Democratic Party. I've been here a long time."
Howard Dean

"The State of the Union may look rosy from the White House balcony or the suites of George Bush's wealthiest donors. But hardworking Americans will see through this president's efforts to wrap his radical agenda with a compassionate ribbon. "
Howard Dean

"People have said I'm the candidate of anger. Well, we have a right to be angry. We lost 3 million jobs. We lost our place as the moral leader of the world. "
Howard Dean

"Look, I'm not a perfect person. I have my warts. I sometimes say things that get me in trouble. I wear suits that are cheap. But I say what I think and I believe what I say, and I'm willing to say things that are not popular but ordinary people know are right."
Howard Dean


Amen, Howard Dean. Here's a Howardly for you. Thanks for all your hard work.



Haloscan Comment Thread

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Open Thread

We can has new thread.



Haloscan comment thread

New Hampshire Results Open Thread

Thank you to listener for providing this link so that we can keep track of the New Hampshire primary results as they come in.

Haloscan comment thread

Carville and Matalin love pink and red.

That's about all I have to say tonight. Except that someone on on CNN said Carville might be leading Hillary's campaign with Penn in a secondary role. Not confirmed. Heard on Anderson Cooper. If confirmed no vote for her at all. Not after what he did to Howard Dean

Some things can not be forgiven.

This really is their living room. This is a picture from Architectural Digest. I don't like to ridicule other people's living rooms, so that is all I will say.



Now I will follow directions about putting up the comments link. If not up in 10 minutes...help!

Haloscan comment thread

Monday, January 07, 2008

Making comment threads

I posted this in the comments a few days ago, but thought I should put it on the front page so that it could be found easily, what with the new quarter starting for me.

I've made comment threads for the next few days.

For anyone who posts to the front page and isn't familiar with the process, it's like this... Say you were going to publish a post on January 9. Click on the January 9 link on this page

http://shadowbfa.blogspot.com

and you will be taken to an empty comment page. If you select and copy the url in the address bar, you get this

http://www.haloscan.com/comments/howardempowered/777975458224512881

That's the page you will want to point your comment link to.

Hope that made sense.

Update: Cat and puddle shared some information about the "how to's" of posting in this thread. I will be sure to make sure I've always got comment threads prepared for the next few days. At this point, I'm not sure when I'll be able to do any posting--whether it be posting my own content or a contribution that is sent to me.

Haloscan comment thread

Sunday, January 06, 2008

Colby Cosh on Obama's victory: 'Howard Dean, thou art avenged'

This is an interesting article from a Canadian blogger. He points out that in Iowa last time the experienced folks ruled the caucuses, and the enthusiastic young people for Dean were lost because of the lack of experience in how to caucus. This is a pretty decent post.

Colby Cosh on Obama's victory: 'Howard Dean, thou art avenged'

I had thought of this aspect myself, but not sure how to word it.

"While the gray-headed members of other candidates' voting blocs wheedled with each other and struggled for county delegates, the Obama kids massed soberly in their corners and waited for the results. They came to the polls in astonishing numbers, helping to nearly double the old record for statewide Democratic caucus turnout.

It was impossible not to notice these young people, and very hard not to see them as the regretful ghosts of the missing insurgents who had failed to match the pre-caucus polling numbers for Howard Dean in the state in 2004. "Dr. Dean," their presence almost seemed to be saying, "thou art avenged." Back then, Dean was the Democrats' energizing, inspiring outsider candidate with the gift of gab. But the greater organizing ability of the other teams ruled the day in the trial by ordeal that is the Iowa caucuses. They are nothing like an ordinary election, and can barely even be described as democratic. To support a candidate for presidential nomination in Iowa, one needs to be willing to brave winter roads and spend an hour or more milling about and being counted and courted in a stockyard-like environment, listening to grannies talk about jam recipes and measles outbreaks. It is not an exercise for the shallow or the weak."

The blogger is right in some ways. Dean started it all, the rest of the story is not told. If you missed his speech last night go to this link at C-Span.

C-Span recent programs.

Look for the New Hampshire Dinner under recent programs, and go about one hour and 3 minutes in.

He visited the final state of the 50 this last month, Hawaii. His travel miles have been enormous in number.

Howard Dean's 528,468-Mile Journey

Happy birthday, Cat!

Hope it's a happy one, Cat!



Yes, that's the graphic jc created for Cat's last birthday. *sniff* She's still with us.

Haloscan comment thread