Modern Day Nonsense 2

Hello again, I have another installment for the Modern Day Nonsense series.
I've decided to just write about 3 topics at one time; so I don't go off on too many tangents =p

Lost Skills:

If you read my previous post about Modern Day Nonsense; then you'll recall how I mentioned that we have become overly dependent on convenience and how we seem to be using less and less of our own brain power. I bring this up because these are 3 of major things that I talk about whenever it's about the difference between generations. 

Cursive Writing-

Remember doing these writing drills?

I would have to do some hard research to pinpoint when the cursive skills plummeted, but it was first brought to my attention; when I was in one of my language courses and I was writing down something in cursive and one of my classmates was astonished 'Whoaaa, you still know how to write in cursive?! I've forgotten how to do that.' Another one of my classmates chimed in and said 'Yeah, me too.' Up until that moment; I wouldn't have thought that it would ever be some sort of issue or even a topic, but it is now. 

I remember all of the lessons that we learned in elementary about printing and cursive. Although my penmanship can sometimes be a bit sloppy; if I'm writing too quickly, I know that I still have the skills to write in cursive. There are some cursive capital letters that I often omit for a large print character, but for the most part; I do find it quicker to write in cursive. I'm fairly sure that these skills are still taught in school though and I hope that it's not going to become an endangered art. Typing is much easier and more legible, but it doesn't share the same intimacy and meaning as a true written sentence, letter etc. 

Telling time the Analog way-

I bet you're thinking 'Hey that looks like the clock from Beauty and the Beast.'  =p

Most people today don't actually use analog clocks; some people just wear watches to accessorize or have grandfather clocks in their houses strictly for décor purposes. I know that some may find analog clocks cumbersome and unnecessary, but you cannot deny the history and the craftsmanship. We've become so accustomed to checking the time on the desktop of our computers/laptops, cell phone faces; that we've lost the skill to read an analog clock. I know that digital clocks tend to be more accurate, but think about the idea of not relying on electricity. If we lose everything digital; you might as well have one skill to give you a leg up. I know that it can be confusing to read an analog watch especially; if it's getting close to the next hour or if your watch doesn't distinguish between AM and PM, but keep on trying. =)

Basic Gardening-

Thank you girls, for giving me hope =)

Prior to the industrial revolution, the world was an agrarian society. We lived off of and worked with the land in order to support and sustain ourselves. Even though there is a resurgence of urban farming and interest in fresh produce markets; we still have a long way to go, until everybody regains the gardening skills of our ancestors. During times of war, the governments would often encourage people to raise gardens and conserve all that they possibly could, but when everything was more stable; people would often abandon them. I always appreciate it when I see people gardening; especially when I see people of the younger generation. It gives me a great hope that the spirit lives on. 

I think that most people who've tasted homegrown produce versus some mass produced crop for the supermarket; would agree that there is no contest in flavor and the homegrown always beats the overpriced market stuff. I mean no offense to the farmers, but when you're trying to mass produce it's obviously a game of quantity over quality. You don't have the same flavor profiles because most of the produce cannot be vine ripened or ripened naturally. They cannot do that because they need to ship it from point A to point B. So most of the produce is artificially ripened, it doesn't get the same tender loving care as a homegrown plant.

Gardening is not an easy thing, but it's also not an insurmountable task either. You just need to start with some basics and you'll soon discover that it's not only fun, but also very rewarding. You may even find that your stress level goes down considerably. We all need a moment to relax and get out of the high-speed lane that we're always on everyday.

I hope that all generations will take time to rediscover some of these skills and really remember why they were and still are important. 

Have a happy and healthful day!

Love,

Jessica

Modern Day Nonsense

Hello again everybody, I hope that you're all doing well.

I started to write another entry a few weeks ago, but had to stop because it was going on and on and seemingly without an end. I may end up publishing it at a later time, but as separate installments. I think this may turn into a series; that may incorporate some of the info from that unpublished essay that I was working on. Anyway, here we go.

Modern everyday life is so backwards sometimes.

We rely heavily on digital technology to communicate with people because we want to stay connected to them, but are rarely communicating face to face. I cannot count how many times that when I've been out somewhere and I've seen people constantly checking their phones even while in conversation with people.There are people that I've seen, who have walked into a store on their cell phones and never gotten off of it for one second, even during checkout. Ughhh.... I do check my phone, but I would never do that while I was in conversation with somebody or shopping; that is just rude.It seems like people don't remember basic etiquette and common respect. Please don't talk or drive while you're on your cell phone. It's just dangerous and unnecessary. Whatever it is; it can wait. We need to work on our patience skills; so that we don't lose it if a page doesn't load within a few seconds or if somebody doesn't text us back straight away.One of the things that I miss most is receiving real cards and letters in the mail. It seems like it's a dying art and it saddens me. I know how quickly we can send emails or texts, but when somebody takes the time to write you personally; it means so much more.  We want to connect to disconnect?

This looks like an exhibit that will be in a museum in the future... yikes!

We buy bottled water out of convenience? People buy it because they think it's the healthier choice over soda or other drinks, but the truth of it is that most bottled water is no better or safer than the regular tap water.There were a bunch of companies that admitted that their so called 'spring water' or 'naturally sourced water' was just regular old tap water. There is so much money, water and energy wasted on producing 1 single bottle of water versus a person using a reusable drinking canister/container. Why do we like wasting so much money and ignore the fact that it is counterproductive both for us and our environment? It's true that we can recycle the bottles, but a lot of people just throw those straight into the regular trash and even with recycling; that still expends a lot of energy in itself. If we all just took the time to use reusable canisters/containers; think of how much we would save and how little waste we would create.

The same idea of reusing applies to shopping bags, the love affair with plastic and disposable has to stop. People are so used to the idea of convenience that they take so many things for granted. If you can reuse something; you should. One of my friends who is here visiting from Brazil, was telling me how she thought it was ridiculous that the general consensus from U.S. environmentalists (according to her and she knows that she would like to do more research about it) in whether to use plastic or paper; is that paper would be the better choice. Paper is better than using plastic, but she said that depending on the instance such as for eating, that it would be better to use reusable items. It's true using a 'disposable' option really should be the very last resort. I told her about how they now sell reusable cutlery made out of highly sustainable bamboo (which would hopefully replace the idea of using plastic knives and forks etc. Short of buying a set of the reusable bamboo cutlery they do sell cutlery made out of plant starch which are compostable. The same goes for some types of plates and bowls which can be made out of plant starch or bagasse; which are the leftover sugar cane fibers from sugar production. Bottom line: waste not, want not.

As I was proofreading this entry, I was reminded of Andy Rooney who spoke his mind in a very unique way. I'd like to think that I do not come off as curmudgeonly as him though =)

Thanks for taking the time to visit and read with me. I always appreciate it.

Wishing you all another day full of goodness!


Love,
Jessica