Category: questions

LYING Question

I ALMOST started watching this TV show called Lie To Me this season; if I didn’t have so much recorded but unwatched, I might have. Since it’s been renewed, i still may. The premise is that the “world’s leading deception expert who studies facial expressions and involuntary body language to discover not only if someone is lying, but why.”

Some people are just lousy liars and even a layperson can tell. But think of the Bernie Madoffs or other seemingly responsible people; they lied through their teeth daily but almost no one caught on until it was too late.

The singular thing I learned from Ronald Reagan was “trust but verify”.

I used to be lied to in relationships, which makes finding someone who is pretty much incapable of telling a lie a pretty sweet deal.

So how do you think your lie-detector radar is?
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Why people lie — and how to tell if they are
How To Tell if Your Spouse is Lying



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Roger. Uncommonly Made, Uncommonly Good.


ROG

ROG

Is affluenza over QUESTIONS

The one thing I eworry about in terms of thee “economic recovery” is that I hope the assummptions are not that people are going to spend like they did a year or two ago. It’s been oft cited that consumer spending makes up 65% to 70% of the American economy. But with people paying off credit card debt and, of all things, saving money, it does not appear to be much room for spending, certainly not the spending we saw not so long ago. Add to this environmental concerns about overpackaging, and unreliable items, many from China, and we may see a new generation not unlike the Depression generation.

Last month, Pew Research did a survey of what items Americans considered luxuries as opposed to necessities. This article shows that there are a large number of items more Americans believe they can do without from clothes driers to dishwashers and from microwaves to home air conditioners

Certainly I could do without all of those things as well as a cell phone; don’t even have a flat screen TV or an iPod. I might get a flat-screen TV someday, but the 1987 19″ set has to die first. Some people say, “You don’t know what it’s like” to have stereo, high def TV and this is true, but since I don’t have it, I don’t miss it.

But my slowdown in acquiring is fueled less by the economy and more by limitations of both space and an ability to use “stuff”. If I have 1600 CDs, and I listen to them five hours a day, it might take over half a year just to hear them each disc once.

1. What items on the Pew list could you live without?
2. Are you buying more or less than three years ago? If less, is it because of economics, being satiated, some other reasons, or some combination?
ROG

ROG

Being Alone QUESTION

My wife has this book called “The Daily Spark: 180 easy-to-use lessons and class activities!” They are journal writing warm-up activities. I was leafing through it when I came to an entry called “All Alone”:

“Mark Twain once said, ‘The worst loneliness is not to be comfortable with oneself.’
“What do you think he meant by this? Does this idea apply to your own life?
Conclude your entry by explaining how you feel about being alone. Do you dread it, or do you enjoy having time to yourself?”

I think people have always thought of me as a social being. Yet, even as a child, I always enjoyed the comfort of my own room. It wasn’t the room itself, which was tiny. It was what the room represented, which was (relative) solitude. I’d read there, or create imaginary baseball games or look at my postage stamp and coin collections – where IS my postage stamp collection anyway?

I suspect that some of the difficulty I’ve had in relationships in the past is that my desire for alone time was perceived as some sort of rejection of the other.

These days, I try very hard to take off one day per month, usually a Monday. I can play racquetball a little longer than usual. Then I’ll come home, eat, read, watch TV, blog, whatever I want, in my own house. It’s the only time I can be in my own home by myself, especially since the child arrived. I used to go to the movies to see a film my wife didn’t want to see, but lately the desire for that has been outweighed by other needs. if it’s nice, though, I might trek to a park and read there for a while, if it’s quiet.

So do you have an inner Greta Garbo or an outer Ashton Kutcher?

ROG

ROG

Why do you comment QUESTION

I have pretty much purloined this from Rose, who wrote:
“Bloggers love comments. Comments tell us that our readership is actually interested in what we blog about. If you like someone’s blog, you leave a comment. It’s that simple.”

I find it trickier, though. In my comments to Rose, I wrote: “Some sites require you to register to comment, and I have if I’m likely to return. Some have word verification, and some work better than others – if I have to work at it, never mind. Some open another window that take too long to open and I’ll bail.”

Then there are folks who just KNOW I’m checking out their sites by my frequent comments, but I may not have anything to say about that particular post. Scott, for instance, is a really swell guy. He’s actually snail mailed me something out of the blue. When he writes about music or his son, I often comment. When he tells about Aussie Rules Fantasy Football, though, I’ve got nothing to add, but I’ll still come back the next time.

I’d particular like to hear from the lurkers out there who read but never write.

One of the things that I’ve opted to do here is to try to make it easy to reply. One does not have to join Blogger to answer, just pick anonymous or your own URL. I don’t even have word verification or comment moderation; I do, however, get comments e-mailed to me, and I can delete spam after the fact.
ROG

ROG

CRYING Question

What makes you cry?

Certainly, sad news of a personal nature, but I’m thinking of what else makes your eyes moist?

For me, it’s usually music. It might be a certain recollection; Harvest Moon by Neil Young and Stay with Me by Lorraine Ellison, for two, remind me of lost love. There’s an adagio by Albinoni that recalls a late friend.

Then there are other pieces that move me: many Requiems, the Barber Adagio. Johnny Cash’s Hurt does when I see the video, but it’s the Mercy Seat that gets me when I’m just listening.

The hymn that always gets to me this time of year is Ah, Holy Jesus, specifically the second verse:
Who was the guilty? Who brought this upon Thee?
Alas, my treason, Jesus, hath undone Thee.
’Twas I, Lord, Jesus, I it was denied Thee!
I crucified Thee.

There are also the occasional movie or television show that move me to tears. The last one I recall was an episode of Scrubs. I don’t remember the particulars, but it featured a number of Muppets.

How about you?

ROG

ROG
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