What People (Including Myself) Don't Understand About Me

   Well, in the spirit of fairness, I'm going to poke a little fun at myself since I bothered men last week.  Perhaps I'll do a post on women in general later.  It's sure to be longer than the post about men, I'm sure.  Anyway, here are a few things about myself that no one understands.

1. I Default to British Spellings-  I have no idea why I do this.  I instantly think of several words in their European versions.  Favourite, harbour, manoeuvre, grey, colour... this is how I spell all of these words.  I have difficulty remembering that we do not use "our" in words such as armour.  The "se" versus "ze" difference really messes with me.  I will write "realise" and  then replace it with "realize" and not remember which one is correct. Don't even ask me if it's "defence" or "defense".  I only know when the little red squiggly line appears under the word. I have to train myself to remember which is which.  Perhaps this is because I read books by English authors, such as Black Beauty, when I was a child.  I have no idea why I still try to spell this way, though.

2.  I Pronounce Things Differently-  I've noticed this recently.  Speciality is not "speh-shul-tee" to me.  It is "speh-she-al-ih-tee".  Dynasty is "din-usty" and I pronounce privacy with a short i as well.  I'm sure I do this with other words, but these are the ones I notice frequently.  It's odd.

3.  I Don't Get Bored-  Maybe it's because I'm an only child, or perhaps because my brain is always puzzling something or another, but I am never bored.  I suppose that is a good thing.

4.  Paper Versus Word Processor-  Whenever I need to write something, I jot it down on paper before I type it.  I think better this way.

5.  I Usually Control What I Dream-  I don't often start my dreams in control, but usually I realize (realise?) I'm dreaming and then I do whatever I want.  It's almost freaky, but sort of cool.

6.  Singing-  When I'm by myself, I'll often narrate what I'm doing in the most ridiculously goofy songs.  I blame Belle from Beauty and the Beast.

7.  I Want To Teach Jr. High Students-  I'm pretty sure no one understands this.

Well, there you have it.  

What I Don't Understand About Men

   Well, a couple of my friends unknowingly chose this topic for my first legitimate blog post.  It is much more lighthearted than some other things I would like to discuss, but it's always good to have some fun.  Men, feel free to explain these things, and women, you can add to the list!

Things I don't Understand About Men:


1.  Channel Surfing
     My dad does this.  If Channel Surfing were an Olympic event, my father would be in London right now.  This man can watch four or five different television programs at one time.  Whenever a commercial pops up, he's off exercising his thumb at a thousand clicks a minute.  He doesn't even pause to see what's on.  He just clicks away.  But he's always back to the correct channel the exact second his program comes back on.  Usually he does this during NASCAR.  It must be a ritual or something.  Even better is when a guy channel surfs through all 500 channels to find something to watch and then settles on a movie he's already seen a thousand times.  Braveheart?  Yes!  And it started an hour ago?  Perfect!

2.  Remotes
     While we're on the subject of television, here's another thing I don't understand about men...  Why on earth would anyone need TWENTY SEVEN remotes for ONE television?  I might be exaggerating slightly, but seriously?  I think our living room television has one remote to turn it on, another to control volume, another that does absolutely nothing, one to change the channel, and another to work the DVD player.  Let's not forget a Wii or PS3 controller to work Netflix.  Men, why do you need all of these?  I just get up and walk to my television.  I think it's much easier to push buttons than to try to remember which remote does what.  Keeping track of all of those remotes and their limited functions must be a great memory exercise.

3.  The Way Men Sit
     You know what I'm talking about: plopped down on the couch, feet spread about two feet apart, body slightly reclined, and hand on the inseam of the pants, just below the zipper.  Why sit like that?  Are you making sure everything is still there?  What's up with this?

4.  Male Bonding
     From my careful observations, unless men go out and actually do something together, the average male get-together involves nothing more than setting on the couch, watching the final hour of Braveheart, and everyone checking facebook on their phones.  What's appealing about that?   "Hey, come over and watch the last half of Braveheart! I finally found the right remote and we can watch it while we all play on our phones and don't talk to each other!"  I don't understand this at all.

Meet the Blogger

   First of all, I'm the bluntly honest, "say it as I see it" type of person. I have opinions and I'll state them.  I mean, what else are you supposed to do with a blog besides slather your own views all across the internet?  I'm not going to say what people want to hear. I can do that.  I'm very good at that. But I choose not to do that. I will offend people and I will step on some toes. I probably won't care about it one bit. With the disclaimer out of the way, I'm generally a genial person.  I certainly don't go out of my way to bother anyone.
 
   I'm a student at ASU studying Middle Level Education.  I'll do my student teaching this semester, then it will be off to the real world and hopefully the daily grind of a fulfilling career.  I've thoroughly enjoyed my college education and I've even picked up an unnecessary minor in History, simply for the fun of it.  Perhaps I'll get a master's in Public History and aspire to more lofty educational goals.  However I further my education, be certain that I will.  I can never remain mentally idle for very long at a time.

   I work well off of lists, so here's a short and not at all comprehensive list of things to know about me before reading my blog which may or may not be interesting at all.

  1.  I'm a follower of Christ. I am this before I am any denomination of faith.  I strive to follow the example and teachings of Christ moreso than I strive to appease any church body or church member.
  2.  I am a self-proclaimed Grammar Nazi.  I invite you to comment and discuss on my blog, but if I have to spend an hour deciphering the hideous misspellings and syntax snafus of your post, I will judge you. I will judge you harshly.
  3.  I have a myriad of interests. It's quite possible I might elaborate on any of them or none of them at all.
  4.  I enjoy a healthy discussion.  I do not enjoy when people do not read the rest of the discussion before posting.  It's very evident when people do this.  I also fail to see the appeal in spouting verbatim from Google (or Bing).  So you can use the internet?  Good for you. Form an opinion for yourself and then get on with it.
   5.  I'm verbose, if you haven't noticed.
   6.  I am often sarcastic. It makes for good fun for those that understand.
   7.  I can and will talk about anything.  Got a topic?  Suggest away.
   8.  I don't get uncomfortable.  Whether that's a good or a bad thing, I've yet to decide.
 
  Well, that's all I can think of for the moment.  I'll post some legitimate blog posts shortly.  Thanks for reading.