Trying to act like a gentleman (e.g. holding the door, carrying the load, following the etiquette rules) has always been a subconscious aim. I do it naturally. Whenever someone comments upon it, I joke "My momma done raised me right" or something to that effect. This morning I realized that it was no joke -- she did. I remember grumbling every time she and I would eat at some fast food restaurant and she would expect me, at the end of the meal, to carry her tray to the garbage. "Your arms broken, ma?" (never out loud, of course.) Time after time of that, and things like that, and it was ingrained into my head that that's the way to be....
...and this ties into this year's Nano (and therefore this blog) with the idea of order v. chaos because, well, somehow that part of the nurture didn't carry through. Maybe I moved out of her house before she could get to those life lessons (because G certainly learned them -- he owns multiple label makers) or maybe I somehow missed those genes (though seriously, how could I have? They're all over the family tree). I once went to my mother in tears (age 6? 7?) as she was filing things, expressing my fear of becoming an adult (at age 6 or 7? oh, how I wish I could travel back in time and reassure that little kid that at age 34, adulthood was still nowhere in sight -- it's going to be ok, little buddy!) because I was worried that I would never be as organized as she. All those files and papers! I would never be able to keep track of them. (Thank goodness I've discovered there's really no need....)
Mom never truly embraced the organizational aspects of technology. Had iPhoto been around when she was taking hundreds of photos, I'm sure she would have loved it, once G or I taught her the basics of using it. And she would likely have used it much better than I can now. But, I suppose these things just came along too late in her life for her to really get on board. But here I am, having grown up with this technology, having spent entire summers in the basement teaching myself how to type, how to use computers, and every computer I have trying to offer me ways to keep my entire life organized, tagged, labeled and safe, and I have no idea how to begin..... There are too many options, too many possible schemes, too much invested in multiple outlets.
....can't even keep a simple damn blog entry straight here.... This is why I could never write papers in school, so tough to keep to topic, keep it organized. The first paper I ever wrote -- a report on Washington state written back in first grade -- garnered me a C (I think). One of its fatal flaws? In the midst of a discussion on Washington's lumber output I offered the (almost) complete non-sequitur "Washington never had any children of his own." Thanks for that tidbit about George Washington, genius....
Ok, let's chalk this up to a little training run here -- just stretching the writing legs in prep for Nov 1. These runs are erratic, embarrassing, but necessary....
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