My handwriting was bad when I was in school. I wrote fast because I was a note-taker, wanting to capture everything I could in case it was on the test or I never heard it again. But when I looked back at my notes I had trouble deciphering what I had written.
In college I thought that my handwriting was so bad because I was rushing through writing words that repeated over and over. This is this way BECAUSE of that, this number is BETWEEN this and that, and other words.
I read about shorthand and after several attempts to learn it on my own gave up. I would look at it every few years, try a few strokes, then put it away again. The whole concept of writing phonetic symbols still boggles my mind! I probably will not be able to learn Arabic or any of the other phonetic written languages, we'll see.
Anyways, in an effort to speed up my handwriting I came up with some of my own abbriviations of words. I thought that if I could use these abbreviations it would give me more time and I could slow down and write more legibly.
Here are some of the abbreviations I came up with:
w/ = with
b/ = because
b// = between
backwards 3 with line above and below = and
square = a task or todo
I looked at and tried some of the official logic symbols like the three dot triangle that stand for "therefore" but never could stick with it. I even tried the delta triangle symbol to capture the change of things but it never looked right to me and made me think too much. I've tried arrows through a square to show a task was rescheduled; that one looks great in the articles I read but never worked for me.
After using a Handspring Visor/Palm Pilot device for a couple of years I even tried writing the digital "grafitti" alphabet it used on paper. Because I was drawing each character it slowed me down and was legible but just looked weird in the real world. But it was so fun I still use it when I want to bring attention to something!
The best thing I did to improve my handwriting was to switch to my left hand. Now I write almost all the time with my left hand and most of what I write is legible. The other best thing I did was to type things. And with our mobile devices that's been an easy transition. But it doesn't work the same was in my brain as handwriting does.
My abbreviations and shortcuts have helped a lot over the years. I sometimes use them when I type, but not a lot.
It's fun to try new things!
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Monday, May 25, 2026
Thursday, May 21, 2026
Not into Hollywood stuff ~
I'm not into learning about actors and actresses lives. The entertainment industry works so hard to add depth and interviews and all those things with actors and actresses. But I've been disappointed many times when I've learned things about people that I really didn't want to know and it really kind of turned me off of the shows that they were in when I learned it.
What am I talking about? Secret homosexuality, secret pedophilia, drugs, etc. One major one was when Michael Jackson, of all people, died from the sedative overdose that he had a doctor administer to him supposedly so that he could sleep.
It's just sad and wrong. On top of all the other things that came out about him, it was very disappointing.
People glorify sports stars while they're on the field or court, but then call them chumps when they're 10 years older and broke or worse so deep in debt because they were living large and spent everything that they had ever been given and more.
I guess it's like lottery winners. I've read stories about how people who win the lottery usually end up messed up and broke soon after.
But I don't really want to get into actors and actresses and their personal lives and all that stuff.
I've watched people like the guy that was in the Eagle Eye movie and the Transformers movie just go completely over the edge. Heath Ledger is another one. Best Joker representation in my opinion. Gone way too young to overindulgence.
I don't need to know that stuff because it makes me sad. It makes me not want to watch anything that they were in.
And the cheating! It boggles my mind that these guys that are married to the some of the most beautiful women in entertainment cheat on their woman or take advantage of the help like some do.
When I watch entertainment I just want to be entertained! I don't want to have to think about all that stuff.
I've had songs ruined when I've learned things about the artist, songs that I really liked, that had really good meaning until I learned what the artist meant by it. And then I'm out.
I'm careful what I let in and even then I'm concerned. I don't want to be steeped and stewed in so much drama that I begin to create drama like I see on the screen. I've see enough people fall for that.
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What am I talking about? Secret homosexuality, secret pedophilia, drugs, etc. One major one was when Michael Jackson, of all people, died from the sedative overdose that he had a doctor administer to him supposedly so that he could sleep.
It's just sad and wrong. On top of all the other things that came out about him, it was very disappointing.
People glorify sports stars while they're on the field or court, but then call them chumps when they're 10 years older and broke or worse so deep in debt because they were living large and spent everything that they had ever been given and more.
I guess it's like lottery winners. I've read stories about how people who win the lottery usually end up messed up and broke soon after.
But I don't really want to get into actors and actresses and their personal lives and all that stuff.
I've watched people like the guy that was in the Eagle Eye movie and the Transformers movie just go completely over the edge. Heath Ledger is another one. Best Joker representation in my opinion. Gone way too young to overindulgence.
I don't need to know that stuff because it makes me sad. It makes me not want to watch anything that they were in.
And the cheating! It boggles my mind that these guys that are married to the some of the most beautiful women in entertainment cheat on their woman or take advantage of the help like some do.
When I watch entertainment I just want to be entertained! I don't want to have to think about all that stuff.
I've had songs ruined when I've learned things about the artist, songs that I really liked, that had really good meaning until I learned what the artist meant by it. And then I'm out.
I'm careful what I let in and even then I'm concerned. I don't want to be steeped and stewed in so much drama that I begin to create drama like I see on the screen. I've see enough people fall for that.
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Sunday, May 17, 2026
Those people ~
One of the things I was told as I was raised, and even as an adult, was that "those people" have a different culture. Those people think differently. That's not what those people do. They do it differently.
I always found it fascinating because it was usually in reference to someone of another race. It's black people, oriental people, even Indian people. I tried not to teach that to our children, but they picked it up anyways.
I've been told that certain groups don't care how they look in a bathing suit or just in general. I've found that to be very untrue. What I've learned over the years is that people are just people. Yes, they have different attitudes shaped by who they were raised with and what environment they lived in, but all in all, people are people and they have different drivers and different decision-making processes, and yes, different cultures.
But I don't believe that it's racial. It seems racial because that's what we see with our eyes. But then we see a white guy dressing as a rap artist and trying to talk like he's from the Bronx in New York, when he's actually from southern Georgia.
It's a choice that he's making, and people that want to change their lives are choosing either to change or not to change based on difficulty and availability and all that. I just think it's sad that so many people buy into the separation of us as different cultures and races.
We're all just people, people trying to make it.
People loved by God.
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I always found it fascinating because it was usually in reference to someone of another race. It's black people, oriental people, even Indian people. I tried not to teach that to our children, but they picked it up anyways.
I've been told that certain groups don't care how they look in a bathing suit or just in general. I've found that to be very untrue. What I've learned over the years is that people are just people. Yes, they have different attitudes shaped by who they were raised with and what environment they lived in, but all in all, people are people and they have different drivers and different decision-making processes, and yes, different cultures.
But I don't believe that it's racial. It seems racial because that's what we see with our eyes. But then we see a white guy dressing as a rap artist and trying to talk like he's from the Bronx in New York, when he's actually from southern Georgia.
It's a choice that he's making, and people that want to change their lives are choosing either to change or not to change based on difficulty and availability and all that. I just think it's sad that so many people buy into the separation of us as different cultures and races.
We're all just people, people trying to make it.
People loved by God.
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Wednesday, May 13, 2026
Blue USPS boxes ~
A blue US Postal Service mailbox had to be removed from a shopping center near my home. Last year they had a standard US Postal Service mailbox there and it was convenient when we needed to mail something and didn't want to leave it in the mailbox at the house.
But someone began to mess with the mail inside the box and then vandalize the box trying to break it open. The Postal Service did an investigation and then replaced it with a more modern and more secure blue mailbox.
The new one had a narrower slot to insert mail in and it had chains to help deter people from trying to fish stuff out of the mailbox through the slot. It seemed pretty secure, but it was vandalized also. Rather than continue to offer the service the Postal Service pulled the box and removed it completely.
When I see the blue mailboxes at other places all I can think is that apparently some people are growing up without the training that messing with a post office mailbox is a felony with the federal government and if caught can lead to large fines and jail time.
I guess that's what happens when communities become made up or people with different priorities than upholding the law and being a fine, upstanding member of your community. Or the pervasive "no one's watching so I did it" mentality.
Or when a community becomes filled with transients because of all the apartments and rental homes.
It just makes me sad.
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But someone began to mess with the mail inside the box and then vandalize the box trying to break it open. The Postal Service did an investigation and then replaced it with a more modern and more secure blue mailbox.
The new one had a narrower slot to insert mail in and it had chains to help deter people from trying to fish stuff out of the mailbox through the slot. It seemed pretty secure, but it was vandalized also. Rather than continue to offer the service the Postal Service pulled the box and removed it completely.
When I see the blue mailboxes at other places all I can think is that apparently some people are growing up without the training that messing with a post office mailbox is a felony with the federal government and if caught can lead to large fines and jail time.
I guess that's what happens when communities become made up or people with different priorities than upholding the law and being a fine, upstanding member of your community. Or the pervasive "no one's watching so I did it" mentality.
Or when a community becomes filled with transients because of all the apartments and rental homes.
It just makes me sad.
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Saturday, May 9, 2026
Fun with a kids club ~
I had a good time at a kids club I help with recently. Our church runs a club at one of the elementary schools. I started helping out and find that I really enjoy it! Reminds me of when our children where in Cub Scouts and I was a den leader.
On one day I was asked to share about some of the big things that God made. The examples they gave in the lesson plan were redwood trees, whales, and stars. I liked their write-up about them but didn't like the idea of just sitting in the classroom and talking about these things.
So when the day came I went and helped the other adults set up the room. I brought my 100-foot tape measure with me in my backpack and pulled it out just before the kids got to the room. No one had any idea of what I was going to use it for.
When it was my turn I asked the kids to tell me what was big in the room. They pointed out the dry-erase board, the cabinets, the window, etc. I then showed them a picture of a redwood tree and talked about how wide they are. Then I had them come out in the hall for a demonstration.
I gave the end of my tape measure to one of the kids and had the group walk down the hall until I said stop, right around 14 feet away. I told them that's how wide redwood trees can grow. Their eyes got really big! Then I gave the end of the tape to one of the kids and asked her to start walking further down the hall while we waited with the other kids. She walked and walked and walked. When she got 80 feet away I had her stop and explained that this is how long a small whale is, and that there are whales that are much bigger than 80 feet long! Everybody oohed an aahed.
What was neat was that the tape measure was now stretched across the entry area of the school. My hope is that the next few days when they come in to the school they'll remember how big a whale and redwood tree is in comparison to the entrance and will remember the lesson about how much God loves them.
It's fun to do this kind of thing!
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On one day I was asked to share about some of the big things that God made. The examples they gave in the lesson plan were redwood trees, whales, and stars. I liked their write-up about them but didn't like the idea of just sitting in the classroom and talking about these things.
So when the day came I went and helped the other adults set up the room. I brought my 100-foot tape measure with me in my backpack and pulled it out just before the kids got to the room. No one had any idea of what I was going to use it for.
When it was my turn I asked the kids to tell me what was big in the room. They pointed out the dry-erase board, the cabinets, the window, etc. I then showed them a picture of a redwood tree and talked about how wide they are. Then I had them come out in the hall for a demonstration.
I gave the end of my tape measure to one of the kids and had the group walk down the hall until I said stop, right around 14 feet away. I told them that's how wide redwood trees can grow. Their eyes got really big! Then I gave the end of the tape to one of the kids and asked her to start walking further down the hall while we waited with the other kids. She walked and walked and walked. When she got 80 feet away I had her stop and explained that this is how long a small whale is, and that there are whales that are much bigger than 80 feet long! Everybody oohed an aahed.
What was neat was that the tape measure was now stretched across the entry area of the school. My hope is that the next few days when they come in to the school they'll remember how big a whale and redwood tree is in comparison to the entrance and will remember the lesson about how much God loves them.
It's fun to do this kind of thing!
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Tuesday, May 5, 2026
Paying attention ~
One of the challenging things that I deal with in myself is that I actually watch and listen when people talk. I think about what they say and what they do, and then I act accordingly. If someone says they don't like a certain thing, then I try not to do that thing.
If someone says they feel left out, I do what I can to include them more and more. I like to help, and that gets me in trouble too because a lot of people don't want my help. Often, people will say things in passing and I pick up on it and I react to it and I plan and act accordingly.
And then they act surprised. And they say, that's not what I meant at all. And I have to explain, it's what you said. You were very clear and very adamant. To me, actually paying attention by listening and watching is respect.
I don't see a lot of respect from other people nowadays toward me or towards anyone around them. I was told recently and I've read in a couple of places that in our society our attention span has fallen below the attention span of a goldfish.
Scientists have studied goldfish and through their observations concluded that goldfish have an attention span of about nine seconds. With our devices and our screens and other distractions all around us scientists have determined that humans in our society can only pay attention for about 8.4 seconds. Less than a goldfish.
I'm not a goldfish and I'm not going to let a goldfish be better at paying attention than me.
https://time.com/3858309/attention-spans-goldfish/
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If someone says they feel left out, I do what I can to include them more and more. I like to help, and that gets me in trouble too because a lot of people don't want my help. Often, people will say things in passing and I pick up on it and I react to it and I plan and act accordingly.
And then they act surprised. And they say, that's not what I meant at all. And I have to explain, it's what you said. You were very clear and very adamant. To me, actually paying attention by listening and watching is respect.
I don't see a lot of respect from other people nowadays toward me or towards anyone around them. I was told recently and I've read in a couple of places that in our society our attention span has fallen below the attention span of a goldfish.
Scientists have studied goldfish and through their observations concluded that goldfish have an attention span of about nine seconds. With our devices and our screens and other distractions all around us scientists have determined that humans in our society can only pay attention for about 8.4 seconds. Less than a goldfish.
I'm not a goldfish and I'm not going to let a goldfish be better at paying attention than me.
https://time.com/3858309/attention-spans-goldfish/
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Friday, May 1, 2026
Music tastes have changed ~
As I have gotten older my music tastes have changed. I like a lot more instrumental music. I like a lot more relaxing music. And I don't really like a whole lot of words,
Once I got away from a lot of the songs that I listened to when I was younger, and then I went back to them, I realized how sad so many of them were. They told about sex, or chasing a woman, or losing a woman, or drinking alcohol. But so many sad songs. Great beats, great riffs, sad lyrics.
One of the things I've been trying to do is change the way that I think away from the negative to the positive. It's challenging, because I'm a "what could happen" kind of guy, and I think of lots of scenarios, including the bad ones.
I still enjoy my music, but I tend to listen to instrumental stuff a whole lot more now, just so I can get away from those words programming my brain that my wife is going to leave me for somebody else, or I need to have a drink of alcohol, or I need to do this or that.
It's kind of like with advertising, I've gotten to where my bubble is pretty well defined and I don't let in a whole lot of advertising. When I end up in a situation where I see commercials on a screen, I love the ones on TV if it's really TV but the ones on YouTube I've eliminated through a subscription and I really don't like having everything interrupted.
Social media has gotten to a point where it's almost every other thing that you scroll through is an ad. I don't like that so I've tuned out a lot of social media.
But the lyrics of the songs just get me now when I pay attention and really listen to those songs that I loved. I still listen to some of them. I have a jams playlist that I play when I'm mowing. I enjoy putting on rock and roll when I'm driving around in my car. But I really don't like letting those thoughts in.
I've come so far I don't want to jeopardize the progress that I've made.
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Once I got away from a lot of the songs that I listened to when I was younger, and then I went back to them, I realized how sad so many of them were. They told about sex, or chasing a woman, or losing a woman, or drinking alcohol. But so many sad songs. Great beats, great riffs, sad lyrics.
One of the things I've been trying to do is change the way that I think away from the negative to the positive. It's challenging, because I'm a "what could happen" kind of guy, and I think of lots of scenarios, including the bad ones.
I still enjoy my music, but I tend to listen to instrumental stuff a whole lot more now, just so I can get away from those words programming my brain that my wife is going to leave me for somebody else, or I need to have a drink of alcohol, or I need to do this or that.
It's kind of like with advertising, I've gotten to where my bubble is pretty well defined and I don't let in a whole lot of advertising. When I end up in a situation where I see commercials on a screen, I love the ones on TV if it's really TV but the ones on YouTube I've eliminated through a subscription and I really don't like having everything interrupted.
Social media has gotten to a point where it's almost every other thing that you scroll through is an ad. I don't like that so I've tuned out a lot of social media.
But the lyrics of the songs just get me now when I pay attention and really listen to those songs that I loved. I still listen to some of them. I have a jams playlist that I play when I'm mowing. I enjoy putting on rock and roll when I'm driving around in my car. But I really don't like letting those thoughts in.
I've come so far I don't want to jeopardize the progress that I've made.
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