Mental "Junk Drawer": Mistresses, Armpits, Dumb Americans, Facebook "Creepers", Etc

I can’t find a topic I want to exclusively blog about this week, at least not one that I’ve focused on so as to be able to think cohesively and intelligently about.  I do have a couple of “odds and ends” just floating around in my brain. I just need to stop long enough to reflect on how they may be relevant to me or why I’m wasting brain cell space keeping them in my cranium. Here's a peek at my mental "junk drawer":

1. Multi-millionaires are participating in the economic recession. I read an "old" article from the Wall Street Journal about a survey indicating that America’s multi-millionaires are dealing with economic hardships by cutting down on gifts and allowances to their mistresses. The article was from August last year but was recently talked about on some radio program I was listening to during my commute to work. I was fascinated so I had to google it. The mistress-question was part of a survey about private jet ownership.

Hmmm, I was thinking the question they didn’t ask, but they should have, was if a multi-millionaire had to choose between his private jet and his kept-woman, which one would he pick. And if a mistress gets "fired" or "laid-off" can she collect unemployment? Times must be hard when it has an impact even on adultery.

2. Who died and made magazines in charge of a town's self-image? A week or so ago Stockton, California was named Forbes Magazine’s “Most Miserable City”. They say it’s because it’s not only “ground zero” for the country’s housing melt-down, but it also ranked-high on other misery indices. It’s only about 82 miles from where I live, so I have actually driven through Stockton a few times and although it's not exactly a pretty city, it didn't look "miserable" to me. The city where I reside, on the other hand, was named by Family Circle Magazine in 2008 as one of the "10 Best Towns for Families in America". It was the only California city on the list and residents were pretty proud of that. Two cities, 82 miles apart, 2 different stories.

But---I wonder if “misery” is contagious, and spreads outward like a seismic ripple. I wonder if all the things that make Stockton miserable will eventually, in this times of economic chaos, find it’s way to where I live.

I also wonder if the residents of Battle Mountain, Nevada, designated by the Washington Post in 2001 as the “Armpit of America”, feel good they didn’t make the "miserable city" list. It couldn’t be good for Battle Mountain to be on this other notorious list. How would you feel if your town is thought of as miserable and needs deodorant? Yikes!

3. Are we getting dumber? My daughter and I just had this discussion recently: America is going through a devolution. Devolution -the process of declining from a higher to a lower level of effective power or vitality or essential quality. In the past only the smartest, strongest and best of the species survive. But medical break-throughs have changed that. Now, the weak and the -um, not so smart and the genetically defective survive as well, thanks to advances in science, medicine and technology. Add to that the phenomenon that smart Americans are choosing to have less or no children while the not so smart Americans are churning out babies. Case in point: the Angelina Jolie-wanna-be Octuplets-Mom! I'm sure she has good qualities, and I'm sure there are reasons that I should be more sympathetic than judgmental of this poor creature. But let's face it, she is one mentally disturbed woman with an apparently fertile womb. If disturbed people like that continue to be allowed to prolifically reproduce, in a few years the not so smart will outnumber the smart ones. 

Hey, sort of like the United States congress! It happened already!

4. When did I become "old"? Recently a friend invited me to be on Facebook. Apparently that's where the "cool people" hang out. Do I want to be cool and keep abreast of technology and pop culture? Maybe. But why would I take "cool tips" from another suburban Mom with teen-age kids? Why not ask my resident-cool people (son and daughter) if being on FaceBook is cool? So I asked: Should I be on FaceBook? Answer: "Gasp! Mom maybe you should not be on Facebook. Some old people who are on FaceBook are creepers!" HEY! First, who says I'm old? AND when did the universe decide that old people cannot partake in "cool new things? Well, my daughter told me it's okay if I'm on Facebook as long as I don't stalk young people like some of these old people. 

So guess who's on Facebook?  And guess what  the headline was on the local paper Thursday?

If you think these thoughts are just plain foolish--- well, what do you expect? I told you they are incohesive, undigested odds and ends from the junk drawer of my mind. So be nice with your comments, okay?