Thursday Thirteen

1. It is an election year, so I anticipated a long time ago that gas prices would rise in 2012. The problem is not the price of barrels, but politics. Wall Street speculators are the real reason the prices at the pumps are so high. That's the one percent getting a little more of your hard-earned dollars. You can thank the previous political administration and the party of the right for this perversion; however, the lack of challenge to the issue puts the blame back on the current administration. So blame them all when you swipe your credit card. You will not be wrong, whomever you curse.

2. My dreams lately have been rather flagrant, highly memorable, and a little scary. Last night I woke up yelling that someone was after me, along with choking and not being able to breathe. I have dreamed of fellow bloggers (whom I have never met in person, even!) and of aliens, too. The medical establishment might say I'm too tired, or it's because I'm really not breathing well (which is possible with the asthma). Others might say I'm a little touched or psychic. But I have always had times of vivid dreams, even when I was a child. I sleepwalk sometimes, too, though not as much now as I once did.

3. Speaking of dreams, I have a dream of a harmonic convergence taking place this year, not the end of the world (Mayan calendar thing). Actually this harmonic convergence thing has already supposedly happened, in 1987, and this year is the culmination of that, or something. At any rate, I am looking for good changes to happen this year, not bad, although it certainly seems like the bad is routing and trying to score many points before it all changes over to good.

4. At any rate, I don't see any harm in everyone praying, however, they pray, for good things. And by that I don't mean a lottery win, I mean for goodness for everyone in the world. I hope people actually pray for that. I do.

5. A lot of people see nothing wrong with pollution, apparently, since they opposed to the EPA and regulations, but I do. I personally like clean air. So it really doesn't matter to me if regulations are put in place because of global warming or climate change, just so long as the air is clean. I actually care about having soot in my lungs, since they are rather delicate, and so I applaud anything that will allow me to breathe. Just a point - I have noticed that my asthma symptoms have increased along the same time frame as a nearby industry went along with lowered regulations from the EPA, allowing them to put more particles of stuff in the air. Coincidence?

6. On my desk I have Blogging for Dummies, MS Office 2007 for Dummies, and Building Web Sites for Dummies. On my book shelf I have the Idiot's Guide to Creative Writing, the Idiot's Guide to Journaling, and the Idiot's Guide to Genealogy. Am I seeing a trend here?

7. Clean water is another issue that will be the talk of the town in the 21st century. Or maybe the issue will be having enough water. Either way, the wet stuff matters and is important.

8. Maybe I am smarter than the average bear. Or maybe not. Sometimes I think I am too smart for my own good. I am definitely book smart but the ways of the world tend to elude me. My mother used to say I lacked common sense. Me and a lot of other people, I would say.

9. Also on my desk: Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (2 volumes), Roget's Desk Thesaurus, The American Heritage Dictionary, and The Basic Book of Synonyms and Antonyms.

10. Last week I spent a great deal of time redoing my office. I cleaned it up and tossed out many items. I bought a second desk and a new chair. It looks a lot better and productivity is up. Sometimes I guess you need a spiff-up.

11. Cell phone use has changed the way students relate to one another at college. In 2002, when I started working on my master's degree, students didn't have smart phones and texting wasn't such a big thing. During breaks, students stood around and talked. Some of us even became friends. In 2011, during breaks students went to a private corner and checked their messages, texted, or looked at Facebook. They did not chat with one another or become friends. I find it rather sad. (I don't have a smart phone, so I mostly went to the bathroom and returned to my desk and watched everyone else in their little solitary bubble, though I did manage to make conversation with one person during the fall semester. And several are now my Facebook friends. If that counts. I guess it sort of does. It's the new reality.)

12. This Thursday Thirteen has absolutely no rhyme or reason about it. I had no ideas for a topic today. Can you tell?

13. I finished my thesis. I received an A. A professor who reviewed it called it a "first rate and moving piece of work." I am pretty happy about that.

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 231st time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.