Insight

LOL, I've just realized the previous 2 posts show precisely why I am a professional fence straddler. It's fairly rare for me to make such a strong stand but when I do, I always have to qualify it with understanding the other side.

Actually, I joke about being a professional fence straddler, but in truth I am glad to be able to see more than one side of an issue. Doesn't mean I'll agree with the other side, but I usually can see or understand their points of view. Doesn't make for a great debater, though I do enjoy stirring up issues.

Addendum

I feel I need to add a note to my previous post. It's not necessarily that I think poorly of philanthropy. Some great organizations and causes are supported by and depend upon philanthropy. I suppose one could argue that greater good comes from philanthropy than "giving" simply because of the typically large difference in dollars. Course, "greater good" could be debated in such a statement but that is another blog. Philanthropy often works out well for everyone involved, the philanthropist and the receiver. I guess what it comes down to, is I have issue with the two concepts being interchangable. While in some instances, giving and philanthropy may be one and the same, for the vast majority, the two concepts are not the same. Philanthropy is a state of its own, and giving, well, giving has a heart of its own.

Philanthropy vs. "Giving"

Philanthropy. I don't really care much for that term. I was involved in a conversation a bit ago wherein someone described themselves as a Philanthropist. I can't spell my response. It was more of a sound, something like "eh-he", or a skepitical "uh-huh".

I was playing a game with friends a while back where we had to submit our response to a given question. The one that came up was "If I were to be known to the world, I would like to be known as the world's greatest _____". Several answers came up such as friend, and millionaire (which I thought of myself). My answer was giver. One person then had to guess who had given which response. The guesser stated he thought "Ally" gave the response "giver" because she was "so into philanthropy" and a "philanthropist". My feelings are in no way a reflection on Ally, but I consider the two concepts - giving and philanthropy - worlds apart.

To me, giving is something personal, with attatchments of caring, maybe even sacrifice of some sort, be it money that you don't have in abundance, time, which is valuable. With philanthropy, I think of tax deduction. Or bell ringing/horn tooting ie.."I'm giving to a cause, everyone one notice me giving to a cause now".

Actually, when I look up philanthropy in the wikipedia, it states "By the conventional definition of philanthropy, only a wealthy person can be a philanthropist. Many non-wealthy individuals have dedicated – thus, donated – their lives to charitable causes but are not described as philanthropists". I guess that really states what I mean. Most people, catholic or not, would consider Mother Theresa one of the worlds greatest givers. But probably no one would consider her the worlds greatest philanthropist. The name almost detracts from what she did.

So, if a "giver" is not really a philanthropist, is a philanthropist really a "giver"? In my opinion, no. A philanthropist may give, but is not a "giver". Now, does anybody really care about this? Probably not. It just didn't sit well with me to have what I think of as being a great giver being considered philanthropy and I guess I needed to blog about it.

It's Good To Be Well

Wow. I was sick for so many days in a row I forgot what it was like to be well. My sinus infection got so bad it was giving me migraines. Plus when I have a fever, I just don't function. Some things I can function through but a fever is not one of them. My kids got sick just as I was getting better. Then I got sick with what they had. One big never ending circle. Today I woke up and I felt HUMAN! What a great feeling the absence of illness is. A little reminder to give a little extra to those who are chronically ill.

Disgusting and Disturbed

Dateline aired a show earlier in the week and I just haven't been able to get it off my mind. It was about internet predetors. Dateline teamed up with a group called Perverted-Justice to bring awareness to the problem and to help get some pedophiles off the streets.

Perverted-Justice is a group of volunteers who set up profiles portraying themselves as 12 or 13 year old kids, then place themselves in chat rooms where children of this age typically hang out. They then wait (a frighteningly short period of time) to be approached by a pedophile. They engage in conversation with adults stating to be 18 or older who express an interest in conversing with 12 or 13 year olds. They weed out those looking for cyber sex and focus on the ones who actually want to MEET the child for sexual purposes.

When P-J teamed up with Dateline, they went ahead and scheduled a meeting with the pedophiles (who again, think they are meeting a 12 or 13 year old boy or girl). They used a house and told the person they were home alone. When the person showed up, Dateline confronted them in the kitchen and when the person then left, the police were waiting outside. Can you believe that in 3 days, 50 men showed up?!! They'd sent these "kids" nude photos and disgustingliy sexually expicit chats. And 50 is just the number that actually had the nerve to show up. I can't imagine how many they talked to. Also, that is just one area, not 50 from the US population - 50 from the area. One guy was a science teacher, one a rabbi, and one worked for the government in Homeland Security! Some were convicted sex offenders, some where still on probation. Unbelievable!

It was incredibly frightening. I'm glad my kids aren't old enough to be able to chat online. I will share a site though for anyone who reads this whose kids are online. The chat lingo has gotten so advanced that kids can communicate without getting caught up in any safety software a parent may have set up. Ever seen your kid type something about paw or pos? They're telling their fellow chatter that "parents are watching" or "parent over shoulder". This website is a chat lingo dictionary. www.noslang.com It's very interesting.

Anyway, it was quite a disturbing episode. I simply can't do the magnitude of it justice in this blog.

Things I Love About My Spouse

One thing is for sure. Marriage is work. Truly my husband is a great guy. So why do I sometimes want to throttle him? LOL It is odd that to me that love doesn't take care of itself. I guess something so potentially powerful shouldn't be so easy to maintain. One thing that I think puts strains on love is taking things for granted. So this is my Valentine to my husband. I shall take a moment to appreciate some of the things I normally take for granted about my husband.

1. Loyal. My husband is very loyal. Both to me and our children. While sometimes he slips, he generally keeps us in the forefront of his mind.

2. Faithful. I sincerely believe my husband to be faithful to me. Not only that, but I don't worry about this when he goes out without me.

3. He takes his turn helping with the kids. If I were to ask him to wash the kids' hair, he would do it. He is a full parenting partner.

4. He lets me go out. Sometimes my friend will want to meet for dinner. I can drop all family dinner plans and go. He'll take care of things at home. I'm careful not to exploit this.

5. He helps take care of me when I need it. He's even washed my hair when pain kept me from doing it. He's tied my shoes. Put's on my socks. Drops me off at the door when we go somewhere.

6. He helps with chores when I ask.

7. He is generous.

8. He does things he doesn't want to do because I want to do them.

This really barely scratches the surface. We have our troubles but in truth he is more than I could have ever asked for. It's good sometimes to remember that.

What Type Of Soul Are You?

You Are a Prophet Soul

You are a gentle soul, with good intentions toward everyone.Selfless and kind, you have great faith in people.Sometimes this faith can lead to disappoinment in the long run.No matter what, you deal with everything in a calm and balanced way. You are a good interpreter, very sensitive, intuitive, caring, and gentle.Concerned about the world, you are good at predicting people's feelings.A seeker of wisdom, you are a life long learner looking for purpose and meaning.You are a great thinker and communicator, but not necessarily a doer. Souls you are most compatible with: Bright Star Soul and Dreaming Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

Like A Bad Egg....

....I just keep turning up. It's been a long time. The holiday's just obliterated my free time. But alas, I am back. And I am ready to blog. Thanks to all who checked after me during my absence.

So today is Super Bowl Sunday in the States. I'm not much into football. Pro at least that is. I pretty much root for the team with the colors that I like or the underdogs or something of the like. I also root for the team playing against someone who's mascot I don't like.

Our city high school has a terrible mascot. They are the Blue Devils. The high school I grew up in was the Tigers. I loved being a Tiger. We had tiger paws on our faces, streets leading to the school, purses with tiger paws stitched on them, tiger print pillows and blankets, all kinds of stuff. What am I supposed to do with a devil? Carry a purse with pitchforks stitched on it? A blanket displaying the pits of hell? There is nothing cute or inspiring about a devil. From a Christian point of view, does it really make that much of a difference that the devil is blue? I just can't find any pride in being a devil. The symbol they use to depict the blue devil is a demonic/satanic face. I just can't get into it. I'd much rather be an animal of some sort. Like a mustang. Or lions. Something. Something I can root for.

Well, that's my rip for the day. Now I have some blogs to catch up on!