Baby, Don't You Know Your Dress Is Too Short?

This weekend, I kicked myself for having left off one very important aggravation from the "not awesome" list. And the omission really is a mystery to me, for I talk about this one particular thing to the point that a former student once said during the last week of school, "I may not remember many social studies facts, but I will always remember to [do the thing I'm getting ready to discuss after dramatic dot build up]..."

NOT AWESOME: People who refuse to return their buggies to cart collection bins. PARTICULARLY NOT AWESOME: People who will take the initiative to pop a wheelie and ramp it onto grassy medians, yet, will not walk it 20 ft. to the designated areas at the store front or in the parking lot.

I never claimed that guilting 14 year olds into citizenship was of less concern to me than SS-HS 1.3.4.
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The title for today's post could definitely fall into the "things that annoy me but that I forgot to mention on Friday's blog" category as well. But alas, I will leave hemlines and unawesomeness alone. Who am I to judge? Class, sophistication, style, and taste are all relative, right? (I don't really mean that one bit, but it seems like the right thing to say). Instead, it actually comes from a dear friend's request to use that exact question as a Pillow Book title. And because it makes me laugh, because I secretly hope that you do in fact spend a few minutes reflecting on and criticizing people who wear tacky clothes, and because I absolutely love receiving comments and questions about the blog entries, the title seems perfect.

So, in an oddly inappropriate sense, the title is a symbolic "thank you." Thank you for reading my random thoughts three days/week, thank you for offering new perspectives and personal stories, thank you for the wit and humor you all so masterfully incorporate, thank you for making me smile, and laugh, and occasionally cry, thank you for reminding me how interestingly solid long distance friendship can inevitably be, thank you for hilarious facebook comments, thank you for unknowingly suggesting future blog entries, and thank you for showing me those bits and pieces of yourself that might be accessible only through writing. I have said all along that this blog is a practice of discipline for me - and it still is to some extent - but it is also becoming a foundation of both an intellectual community and personal inspiration. It is your role in this blog that creates meaning, not my random, and occasionally unintelligible, musings.

I close today with a video that I hope you enjoy and that happens to be featured on a website (suggested by a Pillow Book follower) that I think you'll find intriguing.
Bobby McFerrin hacks your brain with music | Video on TED.com