Hop's Thoughts

I'm not a journalist, but God knows if I was, I'd show more guts than they've shown in holding the current president accountable. Their fear of his halting access is reminiscent of another dark time in world history. It was only Wednesday yesterday, and while liberals, even socialists, cheered the primary win of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, they failed to recognize that this new wave of unknowns will receive little free press from major news outlets. The irony of course is, the same "liberal" news networks who elected Donald Trump won't want to be accused of bias, now labeled with a hashtag. Even after this primary, the liberal stalwart, The New York Times asked: "Who is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez?" This is where we are, and again, it's reminiscent of so many other regimes, which we must recall, ended badly. But the real blow came yesterday, one day after they backed Mr. Trump's Muslim Ban, a ban, even his Vice President called an atrocity. Of c...

When I was a young child, there was never a kid's table. If there was, I surely wasn't seated at it. I enjoyed the adult conversation, listening, learning, and on occasion, adding my childish perspective. As a teen, I shunned the adult table and surrounded myself with my peers, but always felt as though I was out of place. As if I were in some maturity limbo. I felt I knew more than my teachers, more than my friends and much less than those I aspired to surround myself with. I then started working full-time after high school and felt like an old soul. My friends were stressing about a grade, while I was thinking about buying a car, a house, and more. Fast-forward thirty years. I work with people the same age I was in the last scenario. They have their entire lives ahead of them, albeit, many of them with an Ivy league degree. They talk about trips, volunteer work in other countries, craft beers, and school. Tests, papers, and projects. I envy them. I have little to offer them...

Hey Parents, Most of you will buy your kid's teachers a gift. A small token of your appreciation. It will be warmly received, albeit with a bit of embarrassment from most. While these mostly minimal costs add up, please don't forget the custodial staff. All those wonderful performances, projects, rehearsals, functions, etc are prepped, set up, taken down, and cleaned by these men and women (on top of their already difficult and long hours). Many times problems you and your children never know about are handled because of a 4 AM phone call. These people aren't only cleaning the school, but are an extra set of eyes, who care and protect your kids, when others are not. They are almost always forgotten by those who benefit most from their work. The smallest gesture makes a bigger difference to them than to those who have come to anticipate, if not expect it.

I am completely fine with people not being polite. Politeness is a learned behavior. Being inconsiderate of others is another thing entirely. Politeness is something you do because you feel you should, maybe even have to, to avoid scrutiny. Being considerate shows you truly care and that you're being polite, not out of habit or some forced social contract, but because you feel your minor act will enhance or ease another's life. It's quite simple. Being polite, holding doors, saying your please and thank yous and giving the old lady on the bus your seat, are all nice things to do, but why are you doing them? Is it because you rant and rave on social media and around your sewing circle when it's not done for you or are you doing it because you feel you're bettering someone else's life? So many times, the only reason we do polite things is for us. If you work with kids, you'd understand where I'm coming from. Being considerate is not a societal norm. Thin...

Last month, I celebrated two years of being vegan and 30 months of being vegetarian. I've been taking multivitamins, calcium with D-3 and been more active than I have in years past, although I've still avoided the working out I know I need. Due to recent weight gain, I've decided to give intermittent fasting a try. I've read a lot about the benefits, but I'm not quite ready to jump into a one day a week 24 hour fast, so I'm taking baby steps. I guess you could say I'm fasting slow. Starting last week, I've been making sure not to eat for at least 12 hours after my last meal.  Over the course of the first seven days, my shortest fast was 12 hours and 10 minutes, while my longest was 14 hours and 30 minutes. My goal is to shrink my eating hours, so I'll stick to the 12-hour scheme for another week, take the average fasting time and make that my new goal. The end goal is to get to where I am eating during a six to eight-hour window. While this sound...