Tag Archive "mark-pavilons"

Dishing out failing grades to start the year

My cheeks, squirrel-like with an overabundance of cheese balls, marked my feelings ushering in the new year – tasty at first, yet ultimately unsatisfying. Attached to the couch, I searched for pearls of wisdom from old sit-coms like Frasier, The Big Bang Theory and Last Man Standing. Modern-day sages to be sure. Yet, my grasping at such TV snippet straws proved fruitless.

Internet habits reveal humankind’s weaknesses

It’s been said for generations that you are what you eat. Unfortunately, our North American diet is sadly lacking in nutrition and is laden with chemicals and substances not found on the periodic table. We’ve known about this for some time and in the last decade, there’s been a bit of a revolt, or resurgence in a more balanced diet and lifestyle. But of course, that comes with a cost and since most of us are keenly aware of the rising costs of food, our perfect choices may have to be curtailed.

Curiosity is one of our best qualities

Our lives are filled with questions yet ultimately, few answers. Sure, we make it through our lives the hard way – by making mistakes and discovering the answers ourselves. Few are given to us in advance. There are seldom any shortcuts, cheats or hacks along the way. And writing notes on your arm won’t do in this test of life.

We have to combine resources and eliminate hate

Of all the beautiful emotions and reactions that our species is capable of, hatred reigns. It has been with us, like some unshakable callous, for millennia. It may very well be our undoing. Despite cries from prophets, seers and leaders of all shapes and sizes, this one aspect of humankind is most disturbing. And it seems it’s always there, like a dark shadow, right behind us.

Customer ‘disservice’ quickly getting old

In commerce, it was once believed that the “customer was always right.” To an extend that holds true today. Of course, customers are not always right, but to ensure good relations, customers are given the benefit of the doubt. They are treated well, to ensure a return visit. In most cases at retail and fast food outlets, customer complaints are quickly dealt with. I have witnessed many over the years, but few have ever escalated to full-scale shouting matches. That’s something we all want to avoid.

Gizmos cause us a multitude of frustrations

Things that are annoying usually stay that way. If you think about it, almost all of the frustrating gizmos, contraptions, machines and items have inherent weaknesses. They are prone to failure, just like us. We modern-day consumers believe that when we plunk down our money on a new gizmo, it should serve us for years to come. Alas, feeble humans, we are doomed by our own creations.

New words spoiling the language

There are more than one million distinct words in the English language. Most of use only 25,000 words on a regular basis. And yet, we keep adding to the list and making our trusty dictionaries that much larger. There are a few that make me cringe, every time I hear or read them.

Can we ever really ‘get it right’ in our lives?

After all these years, I still don’t know if I’ve gotten it right. I shed tears instead of burdens. Behind my smiles and smirks are other things, dark things, nagging things. Last week I received some positive news about my health, but surprisingly, I didn’t know what to do with that information. Should I celebrate? Should I be relieved? I almost felt lost, without such a burden hanging over me. Now what do I do?

Let’s spread the concept of long-living ‘blue zones’

The key to longevity, according to Carl Reiner, is to interact with other people. Turns out he was right. And comedian George Burns, who made it to 100, once said the key to longevity is avoiding stress, worry and tension. Turns out he was right, too.

Home ownership requires a certain handiness

t’s been said that if your man isn’t handsome, he better be handy! Our species has succeeded and evolved, largely because we have hands, fingers and a decent-sized brain. We can conceptualize, design, build and create. It remains our strength over our fellow mammals on this planet. Imagine if our simian cousins could build structures and tools? That’s definitely a new Planet of the Apes movie to be sure.

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