Mary Shelley Would Be Proud

Medical advancements have really come a long way in the past century. Procedures and prescriptions that only 20 years ago were meant for science fiction are now becoming reality. However, a question starts to arise. How far is too far? In other words, is there a point in medicine where it is actually unnatural to use said medicine or technological advancement? This question was first posed when using life support and many do find it unnatural to have no brain function and yet the heart keeps beating. Honestly, I think it takes a person well-studied in ethics to fully answer this, but I personally never want to reach a Futurama world where we keep our severed heads in a jar and the jar keeps our brains working. Sure, it would be interesting if our famous people of yesteryear never died but how would they feel about it? Also, how long would it then be before a Frankenstein situation occurred where we are lifting our dead relatives into a thunderstorm to shock their neck bolts? Monkey’s paw anyone? There was a reason the genie didn’t like to bring people back from the dead. But that is just one man’s opinion. Thanks for listening to me ramble. I appreciate it. See you next time.

My Hobby, My Business

In this short life of ours, we inevitably pick up one hobby or another. Whether it be collecting coins, crochet, or woodworking, we all need something to do in our off time so that we can relax and do something that brings us joy. However, there are many people who find a way to make their hobby into a business. With websites like Etsy and Amazon, this modern age has made it incredibly easy to make money, if only on the side, practicing a hobby that we love. After all, the old saying goes, “Do something you love and you will never work a day in your life.” But what if I told you that was a false statement. It is known in the world of hobby businesses that turning your “fun” hobby into a business can ruin the fun altogether. Because when it is truly a hobby that you do to unwind, it is a leisure activity. There is no deadline for knitting your nephew that scarf. As long as you have it done before the snow is on the ground, you’re good. There is also no hurry if you are making your family a table out of an old piece of oak you found at a scrap yard. They still have a table to eat off of in the meantime. However, when you have an order of 25 scarves due in a month, or a client that is moving into their new home and want that table in less than 6 weeks, those hobbies become a grind to push through and for some it can ruin the leisure of the activity altogether. So perhaps keeping the idea of work as a slightly depressing thing with a hobby to look forward to is the best option. Although, if your hobby is making money, then separation is impossible and probably unwanted. So enjoy the green and find a new more fun hobby to waste a little of it. But that is just one man’s opinion. Thanks for listening to me ramble. I appreciate it. See you next time.

I Don't Have an Accent, You Do

“I’m sorry, I cannot understand you through your thick accent.” It is something I have heard my entire life from different people I have met. The only problem is, where I am from, everyone can understand me perfectly. When I ask for a glass of water at a local establishment, I am never questioned about what “wadder” is from the waiter. When I talk about one subject or another – usually rambling – everyone understands and is able to converse back because we don’t actually have accents. What people hear as accents is the cadence of speaking that a particular region has. We hear that way of speaking and then develop our speech with what we have already heard previously. It is the same concept as someone who has only read a word and never actually heard it spoken. They mispronounce the word because they have never actually heard it said out loud before. Words like Linux or acai come to mind. Your parents say words a certain way and then you say those words the same way because it is all you have ever heard. Oftentimes you will find people with more muddled accents when their households contain more than one nationality of people. That person hears their grandparent’s foreign accent, one of their parent’s more Americanized accent, and then their other parent’s fully Americanized accent. This person will then not be so influenced by one sound or the other. They sound “normal” and everyone only hears slight variations in their speech. And don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that hearing an accent is a bad thing. If the person you are talking to asks where you are from because they heard an accent, it is a conversation starter and can help connect more people. The problem arises when derision is in the listener’s voice. It always tickles my ribs when I hear someone poke fun at someone else’s accent because even when the accent is really noticeable like someone from Australia or Ireland, they are just talking in the manner they know to talk. In fact, it is kind of dumb to make fun of anyone’s “accent” because if the person poking fun was in the accented person’s home country or home region, that person wouldn’t be laughing when they were the one with the accent. I bet they would really enjoy their glass of water with that extra hard “T” if they were the butt of the joke. But that is just one man’s opinion. Thanks for listening to me ramble. I appreciate it. See you next time.