… ARE YOU MAD?

Being a writer, I constantly overuse “…” in my drafts in order to get across a point about the dialogue of a scene. This, of course, extends into my emailing, texting and social posts. It wasn’t until one of my daughters responded to an ellipsis and asked if I was mad at her did I realize that she had a completely different meaning for the punctuation mark.

To younger generations, “…” means that you are… ANGRY!!!

… MAD! Not crazy mad, but angry, Angry Bird angry, pissed off or just plain upset. Never in a million years would this have crossed my mind but, hey, I’m getting old. What’s worse is that I’ve also found out that the symbol has been in use for over ten years now. Now all the “…” in Donald Trump’s tweets make sense. Even he knew!

My first instinct was to refrain from using the symbol at all, but now I’m considering a more productive alternative. I could throw them into every email to my boss because he won’t know what they mean, yet anyone else copied on the email that’s under 30 would get the joke. You know, a nice subversive way of sticking it to the “The Man”. Or I could start writing an angry political column focused on younger adults and use an ellipsis in every sentence. Who knows, maybe it will start a whole new movement, or maybe even…

There I go again. Oh well, I think I’ll just keep using them everywhere in order to keep the younger generation on their… toes.

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“That’s An Excellent Question.”

Is it really?

Of course, it’s not. This phrase is one of the most overused remark in the English language, just under, “I know, right?”

Most of the time, they are really stupid questions but people still use this phrase. I’m guessing it was first introduced in some kind of communications seminar in a dingy Holiday Inn hotel or maybe one of those Kumbaya self-help seminars where everyone sits in a circle and holds hands. Wherever it came from, it needs to crawl back into its rabbit hole and disappear.

So, what are we to do the next time we hear it and cringe? You could just walk away and scream. That would work, but what if you had a really good come back line to throw in the speaker’s face and make them lose concentration. Now that would be golden. Maybe something like “How is that an excellent question?” or “Is it also a good question?” or “Do you say that to all the people you sleep with?” or “Is your butt jealous of all the shit that comes out of your mouth?”

I’m sure you can come up with a few of your own, but whatever you do, the next time you even remotely think about saying those four dreadful words, DON’T.

Three Roomates, Two Rooms… Asking For A Friend

Really, asking for a friend. I am fine.

A friend of mine lives in a 2 bedroom apartment with a couple. The rent is split $750 for one and $1200 for the couple. Utilities are split 3 ways. There are two parking spots. Now, the couple is asking for more access to the parking spots instead of splitting them one per room. Even worse, they want it to be first come, first serve. This would be horrible for the single person as they work long hours and would never be home in time to use a parking spot.

How do you resolve this problem? Please help as I’ve never encountered this situation and am not sure what is standard protocol.

Another Funny Coronavirus from my neighbor… Moe Howard from the Three Stooges.

Funny Coronavirus PSA… by my neighbor!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xQ2RvRTsBo

Why We Are A Divided Nation

Today, you have the right wing blaming the Democrats for the government shutdown and the left wing blaming the President. We are a nation dangerously divided along party lines, within families, and amongst friends to the point where it’s easier to just “unfriend” someone as oppose to read another one of their annoying posts.

So, how did this come about? It wasn’t like this in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Yes, there were disagreements, but nothing at the levels we see now. The advent of the Internet did play an important role, but the real answer lies in the Fairness Act of 1949.

Title of my Next Book

The name of my next book is “The Zero Sum Conclusion”. I’d love to hear what you think that means. Think 50 years into the future

Religious “NONES” Need To Organize!!!

How do you organize a group of people who shun organizations but need representation? In other words, how do you herd cats? Any ideas?

This is a great article on the rise of the religious “nones” or those without religious affiliation.

Religious Nones Need To Organize – L.A. Times

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