Phones are Evil

            I’ve never liked phones – calling or answering them. I admit that they are a convenient method of communication, but other than that they’re a nuisance and downright rude.

            Not many people think about it – because we were brought up with them – but phones are an invasive force we allow into our lives. We string them throughout our homes and, these days, carry them with us everywhere we go. This wouldn't be a problem if they were only used for emergencies, but having a phone is so natural that people don’t even think before picking one up to call someone.

            So, let’s go over the basics. The average person works a 9-5 job, so calling them between those times is a bad idea. You might think you can call them before that, catch them before they go to work, but if you think that you truly haven’t thought it through. You see, what the average person is doing at that time is their morning routine – involving getting ready for work, eating breakfast and transporting themselves to work. Interrupting them during any of that is not only rude, but it could slow them down and make them late for work. Any earlier and they’re sleeping.

            Okay, so calling in the morning and during the day is out, what about in the evening? I’d like you to pause your reading for a moment and turn to the person beside you (be they imaginary or not) and ask them at what time they and/or their family eats dinner (or supper, or whatever you feel like calling your evening meal. Assuming you eat). The answer will most likely range from 5 to 7 (depending on how long it takes to get home from work). Now, if we allow for an hour to eat, that pushes us back to 8:00. 5-8 involves coming home from work (Don’t get me started on talking on the phone while driving. Admittedly not everyone drives, but do you really want to be talking on the phone in a public area where anyone and everyone can eavesdrop on you? You might think other people don’t listen, but they do), preparing food and eating it. Calling then is, once again, rude and can delay meals or other plans.

            Yes, yes, so from the time the alarm goes off in the morning (let’s say 6am) to the time people are certain to be done eating (8pm) people are too busy to be receiving a call. What about later than that? How about you turn to that (possibly invisible) person beside you and ask them what they do in the evening after dinner. Social plans? Movie? TV? Playing a video game to relax? Reading a book? Getting caught up on favourite blogs? The point is, the next two to three hours are the only time during the day that Mr or Ms Average has to spend on them self. How rude do you have to be to call them and interrupt them during that time?

            Now, depending on a few variables, that is 6am-10pm that is unavailable for calling if you don’t want to rudely interrupt something important. Any later (or earlier) than that and you’re messing with bedtimes and waking people up. Thus, there is no appropriate time to make a phone call, simply because you have no idea what you are interrupting.

            That’s just the calling side, though! As someone answering the phone, have you ever stopped to think about how often the call has interrupted something you were doing? The worst part is always that you don’t know who’s calling (well, okay, call display solves that for some people) or how long the call will take. Not that it matters, because you’re obligated to answer – it’s rude to ignore the phone when it rings.

            Have I missed anything? Probably, but that’ll have to do for now; I have to go answer my phone.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Introversion

            I’ve known since I learned the word that I was an introvert. Quiet, shy, reticent... if anyone who knows me were to try and describe me, one (if not all) of those words would be sure to come up – although customers who have met me while I was on the other side of a counter might argue.
            When I started taking drama in high school, I learned what I consider to be the best definition of introverts and extraverts. On the first day, we were going around the circle and introducing and sharing some information about ourselves. When it was my turn, the best piece of information I could think of was, “I’m an extreme introvert”.

            What I didn’t expect was that no one else in the class would know what an introvert was. So the teacher gave the following definition: At a party, both introverts and extraverts can have a great time – to a point where you can’t always tell them apart. When they leave the party, however, extraverts will be pumped with energy, maybe even ready for another party, while introverts will be completely exhausted and want nothing more than to go home and spend some time alone.

            After hearing that description, it confirmed for me that I was what I had said; an extreme introvert. I get exhausted just thinking of going to a party (consequently, I tend not to go).

            It really is as simple as that. An introvert is someone who needs to have some time alone to “recharge” their energy levels. They also tend to be people who spend a lot of time looking inwards, thinking and dreaming, which is why they come across as quiet and shy. Or antisocial, in extreme cases.

            That’s also why you’ll find that a lot of authors are introverts. When you live inside your head more than out in the world, your mind becomes full of ideas – eventually those ideas can be written down. There is also plenty of time to write them down during “recharging” times. With no one else around, there’s often nothing better to do.

            Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go find a cave to hide in; my batteries need recharging.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Give and Tolerate

            I've been thinking lately that there are only two things causing all the problems in the world: greed and a lack of tolerance for people who are different. It seemed strange to me that, with so many issues in the world, there isn't one that couldn't be solved by eliminating these two things from our lives, but I've yet to find a problem that they aren't at the heart of.

            I think lack of tolerance speaks for itself. Whether it be out of fear of the different or some belief, there are far too many people in the world who want everyone to do what they do and believe what they believe. It causes wars, bullying, terrorism, political debates (as well as providing politicians with an ideal weapon for manipulation) and, more than anything, it breeds hate.

            What good does it do? I suppose, if the people who want everyone to be the same got what they wanted, it would provide security. It will never happen, of course, because the world is so diverse that the only solution would be to save the people with your ideals in a bomb shelter while you nuke the planet. Even if that happened, it wouldn't last – diversity is part of human nature; eventually those unwanted “different” qualities would bounce back.

            On the other hand, if everyone were to simply allow everyone else to believe what they want to believe and do what they want to do, where is the room for problems? Where does hate fit in? I admit that this sounds a bit like the opposite extreme – asking everyone to be the same by accepting those who are different – but all I'm asking is that everyone tolerate people different from themselves. I doesn't matter what you look like, do or believe, just so long as you allow everyone else look like, do or believe as they choose.

            Greed, on the other hand, is an even greater problem. People who crave vast amounts of power or money start wars and cause problems for everyone who just want to live their lives. Can you imagine a world without greed?

            For one thing, we’d be able to feed the world. We already can – we produce enough food, most of it just gets thrown away because those of us living in first world countries want our conveniences such as fast food and having just about anything we can imagine available for us in grocery stores.

            We’d also have less power struggles in the corporate world. Products would be made with quality as the goal rather than making as many as possible as cheaply as possible so they can be sold for as much as possible as many times as possible (because they break easily and need to be replaced). That, right there, just ended the majority of the world’s financial problems. Oh, you could argue that there would be less jobs available because not as many products would need producing, but my reply would be that the products being produced would be worth producing and as a result would take longer to make, giving more people jobs. The price of the individual item would go up, but you’d only have to buy it once. This is assuming, of course, money still exists in a greed-free world.

            Let’s not forget politics. Take the greed out of politics and what do you have? People who actually want the best for their country running the show. Think about all the possibilities! No more of these campaigns to slander the opponents, no more taxes paying for things that no one wants (such as government officials’ new summer retreats) – just people who want to do some good being in a position where they can do so.

            Obviously it is a dream to entirely eliminate greed and lack of tolerance from our world, but it would be nice if people would at least try. Let people who are different than you make you smile because you know they've found something they enjoy. Rather than focusing on making yourself happy, try to make others happy instead. I know it sounds counter-productive but here’s my math on this: if you try to make yourself happy, you have one person making you happy. If everyone tries to make everyone around them happy, then there are a lot more people trying to make you happy.

            Doesn't that sound like a happier world to live in? All you have to do is give and tolerate and teach those around you to give and tolerate. Who knows? Maybe someday all the world’s problems will go away.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Spider Assassins Want Me Dead

            The first spider that tried to kill me did so when I was around eight years old. I was about to leave the bathroom when I saw this large spider sitting on the doorframe. I quickly opened the door and found myself leaping back and screaming like a little girl (I can honestly say that it was the only time in my life when I’ve really screamed. I also dislike the term “scream like a little girl”, but it is really the only apt description). The diabolical spider had stung a thread across the door so that it would go flying straight at my unsuspecting face when the door was opened!

            Well, it didn’t get me and I recovered from the trauma. I was okay for about a week until I pulled a Kleenex out of a box and a different spider came out with it, lunging at me! It was at that point that I knew that the spiders had it in for me. The more I watched, the more I became convinced that my parents’ house had a division of specially trained, licensed to kill, secret agent spiders.

            I even considered writing a book about them. From the perspective of the spider agents, of course – a series of short stories about each spider’s attempt to kill a targeted human, all ending abruptly as the human’s protector (my mom) put an end to their attempts.

            I must say, though, that I have to admire the spiders for their skills. Why, this one spider was running along the top of a doorframe when, out of the blue, it fastened a web, dropped down into the doorway and let its weight and momentum carry it back up to the doorframe where it continued running as if nothing had happened.

            Incidentally, that ninja spider would have landed right on my head had I not noticed it and stopped walking through the door.

            What’s that? You’re a bit skeptical about all these spiders trying to kill me? Well, let me tell you... When I wasn’t living at my parents’ house, there were no spider problems. My wife and I even had a gigantic spider (we named it Peter) living outside our window and it never troubled us. Now that we’re back at my parents’ house, there have been a number of weak attempts – that is, weak compared to this really good one.

            This spider was very clever (past tense because my wife recently managed to dispatch it). It made its home between our mattress and the box-spring – the two piece box-spring. If we lifted the mattress to get it, it could just scurry down the crack and be lost before we could get at it.

            For months it lived there, coming out only at night to feed on me – or, perhaps to inject me with venom that would kill me once it reached a great enough concentration. I’m glad it was slain when it was, otherwise who knows what could have happened. I might have dropped dead at any moment and nev

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Reviewing Worlds Apart - Leah

            Worlds Apart - Leah is a difficult book for me to review, not because of the book’s quality, but because of my own aversion to books written in first person perspective. I couldn't tell you why it is – after all, when I was younger I both read and wrote in first person – but something about that perspective is difficult for me to focus on and read.

            Having said that, the fact that I finished it should tell you that this book is quite good. After all, had it not been, there was no way I would have made it to the end.

            Worlds Apart – Leah is a tale of Leah, a nineteen-year-old girl who has just relocated to a new city before going to school. Bad dreams have plagued her since her mother’s death five years earlier, but she and her father are managing to live their lives. Then Ben shows up. From then on, Leah’s world changes. She begins to question if the people she knows are really who she thinks they are and, eventually, she even ends up wondering if her past happened the way she remembered. Who is she to trust while her nightmares slowly become her reality?

            I can’t say that I liked this book from the beginning – in fact, I was a hairsbreadth from disliking it – but by the end of the book I loved it. My feeling towards the book probably stemmed from my difficulty with first person combined with the fact that the fantasy elements aren't entirely present in the beginning – it reads like a book about someone living in the real world and having bad dreams. Which if fine for some people, but not my cup of tea.

            Regardless of my initial impression, there was something about the story that caught my curiosity and dragged me forwards. The whole time I was reading, I knew there was much more happening than was apparent. I even managed to piece most of it together, but as the end of the book approached and all the pieces fell into place I was delighted to see just how much was hidden throughout the narrative.

            While there were sections that I wanted to know a bit more about – and other parts I wanted to know a bit less about – overall I consider this to be a fantastic book. All the little hidden details revealed in the end paint a very well built world that left me wanting to know just a little bit more.

            You can find Worlds Apart - Leah here and you can find out more about the author, Andrea Baker, here.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.