Cartoons Teach Lessons

 I am a full-grown adult. As such, I bet it is not on anyone’s bingo card for me that I enjoy cartoons. If they still showed them on local networks, my Saturday mornings would probably still be full of cereal and animated fun. However, as an adult, I also see things in reruns of cartoons and even some newer cartoons that I did not care about as a child. It is the fact that cartoons can be a learning device, not just random colorful television shows. They show us friendship, sharing, perseverance, strength, and even history, science, and general knowledge lessons. I am not just talking about children’s cartoons designed to do this. I personally learned what a didgeridoo was by watching Spongebob. I mean don’t get me wrong, I am not saying every cartoon, or even every episode of every cartoon, is this type of entertainment, but there are many episodes of many cartoons that fit this bill. One would be very surprised at how much we can learn from the names of the Pokemon, silly as some of them may sound. However, this is the point. It is not that we should never enjoy something just because. It is also not the case where just because something is nonsensical that it should be avoided because kids will not gain anything from it but a little mindless brainrot. Instead, we should take every opportunity to learn from anything we see, even if it is an odd television program about a walking, talking kitchen sponge and all of his friends. But that is just one man’s opinion. Thanks for listening to me ramble. I appreciate it. See you next time.

Reading Because I Want To

This past year, I started reading for fun again. I felt the need to read books instead of just watching the movies. Mostly because I think the movies leave a lot to be desired in the art of storytelling. I have to admit, it took me a while to get back into a habit of reading as an extracurricular activity. Most of the time, reading is something that I only do for my job or to read the ingredient label on a new food, when I have to watch out for some allergen. So is the way of society as we live. We do not get to read for fun. Picking out books of interest with stories that we can get behind; or reading documentaries about people in history that we want to learn about. In our fast-paced, don’t-get-left-behind race to our inevitable finish line, we read what we must to get through and move on. Which I feel is why most people have no urge to read. They don’t think about reading something to enjoy, it is all about reading because we have to. There are also those people that think listening to books via audio is the same as reading, but I won’t get into that since it is probably another ramble where I talk about if it actually compares. No for me, I have to actually read it, slowly as I may do, since I am clearly out of practice. It is not so much speed reading as reading at an even pace without missing story plot. I have gotten quicker throughout the year though. My goal was 10 books by the end of it. I am at 7, and quicker at reading, so hopefully, the next few months will be smooth sailing (with slightly shorter books to meet my goal). However, if I am reading to get to a goal of a certain number of books, does that mean I am then reading because I have to? It is probably a question for someone else to answer. Moreover, I don’t want to discuss that question in this post because then I will be making you read because you have to get to the end of my rambling. It is more words than sense. But that is just one man’s opinion. Thanks for listening to me ramble. I appreciate it. See you next time.

Karen-itis

We see them everywhere. They are all over the internet and television being filmed for their craziness. We probably know one personally. No, I am not talking about dermatologists; I am talking about Karens (and Karls). Those nosy, know-it-all, less than desirable to society people that make a day of making everyone else’s life a little more miserable. However, I have a hot take. Karens are needed! I know it seems like an insane statement to make. Why on Earth are Karens actually needed in our lives? They seem to only detract from what would be a productive day. They are mildly racist. They throw unnecessary shade and overall judge us for even the littlest of things. However, if we really think about it, many of the things that Karens attack are things that we should be careful about anyway. In other words, Karens keep us on our toes. They make us think about everything we do so that we are productive members of society in order that these crazies are unable to judge us. If nothing else, they make us see just how bad people can be so we choose to do better. I have literally heard the statement, “I may not be the best person in the world, but at least I am not like her (meaning our local Karen).” It is all relative. If we see Karens as demons walking among us, then we can choose to do the opposite of whatever they are doing, but, for most people, it is an out of sight, out of mind kind of mindset. If we do not see any Karens, then we never have to accidentally compare ourselves to them, so we can feel good about ourselves whether we are actually good or not. Personally, I like to know where all the black cats are so I can avoid one crossing my path, while still knowing what they represent. But that is just one man’s opinion. Thanks for listening to me ramble. I appreciate it. See you next time.