Inappropriate Conversations

I can recall times in my life when I would have said that breast reduction surgery is always a bad thing.  I wish I could say that I was "just a teenager" back then, which would make the thought both prurient and obvious.  No, that point of view survived more than 10 years after high school.  In fact, it only matured in very recent years.

Different Drummer: Elisabeth Shue

I can recall times in my life when I would have said that breast reduction surgery is always a bad thing.  I wish I could say that I was "just a teenager" back then, which would make the thought both prurient and obvious.  No, that point of view survived more than 10 years after high school.  In fact, it only matured in very recent years.

Different Drummer: Elisabeth Shue

Time to respond to feedback, formally, for the second time.  The P's and Q's are your points and questions: excellent ideas for me to consider ... hopefully with adequate answers.  Thanks!

Different Drummer: Teri Garr

Do Ask Do Tell - "Religion"

Most emphasis on "the good old days" is about comparing the current state of society to a time when moral values were stronger and centered on the traditional family structure.  The problem is that those longing looks to the past are full of self-deception.  Even The Puritans, who are often held up as an extreme example, were not what society has said they were.  Premarital pregnancy, open discussions in church meetings about sexual behavior, and even second-trimester abortion were not at all out of place then.  I'll bet you didn't learn that in American History class.

Different Drummer: Thomas Paine

I shared my perspective about "9/11" on September 12, 2004, before a church congregation.  I wanted to make note of three particular ideas because I could already see them fading from popular thought.  Immediately following the terrorist attacks in 2001, it was easy to infer a consensus around these notions: evil exists, people are intrinsically valuable, and truth is not relative.  Now, 7 years after that speech and 10 years after the attacks, it's clear that I was right to worry.  We don't remember what we believed about those ideas in September 2001, and we can't satisfactorily explain why.

Different Drummer: Indigo Girls

Our goal as parents cannot be making the world safe for kids.  That is irresponsible because it cannot be accomplished and won't serve them well as adults.  Instead, the goal must be to keep our kids safe from the world until they have been prepared to face its challenges on their own.  For many of my conservative friends, this sounds like a dangerous and radical concept.  It's also true.

Different Drummer: Jim Henson

One major generational shift from when I was growing up until now: the role of imagination in childhood.  When I was young, toys didn't often come with a story.  You made up the story using toys or even household objects.  Now, effort is required to provide similar opportunities for our young, future storytellers.  Has an entire generation of "imaginary friends" been left, abandoned and alone?

Different Drummer: Jerrold Freedman

Springfield (left) and Frank (right)

While I'm playing music on my MP3 player, it is almost always set to shuffle.  I believe in variety and unexpected combinations, and radio stations have not provided that at any time in my memory.  When you hear "your station for variety" or other taglines, it never refers to a combination of rock, country, jazz, classical, spoken word, and other genre.  Why not?  A format with that challenging combination might never lead the market, but a program like that might prove to be the second choice for a very large set of listeners.

Different Drummer: Francis Picabia

Easily the best argument against television is that it's not very good.  I believe that I would only watch a couple of programs a week if it weren't for sports and the power of recording.  DVR makes it possible to screen what I see.  A better tool would let me replace the current TV offerings with the older programs they are referencing.  Surely, all these imitators of "I Love Lucy" have some explaining to do!

Different Drummer: Jay Bulworth

The way we use products as customers is a significant, and less acknowledged, pressure on the environment.  Even merchandise that we expect to last for years has become much more disposable.  Unfortunately, there is no easy way to backtrack from society's investment in lower prices, with lower quality.  We need to be wary, though, of what else we're tossing out when we dispose of old and worn things.

Different Drummer: Jerry Mander