Teri's next question for me:

If you could do one thing to change the world, what would it be?

I'd hammer in the morning
I'd hammer in the evening
All over this worrrrrrldddd....

Kidding! Just throwing in a little levity here, because I'm feeling so goofy tonight from all the stress I've been dealing with in my life lately.

Anyhoo...I just read a very profound quote the other day, attributed to Anonymous (that clever person!), about this very topic.

Everyone talks about changing the world, but nobody talks about changing themselves.

Too true!

It's so easy, not to mention much less painful, for us to focus on external problems.

So if I could do one thing to change the world, I would work on changing my attitude. That's the only thing I can control. If I change my attitude, I could change my behavior, and hopefully be a positive influence on the people around me.

In other words, lead by example.

Simple, but not easy, huh?

Labels: deep thoughts

Teri's next question for me:

If the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World were still around, which one would you most like to see?

This one is a no-brainer for me! The only "ancient wonder" that is still in existence is the Great Pyramid at Giza, and that is definitely what I want to visit!

I've been interested in Egyptology since I was young. NERD ALERT!! From grades three through seven, I took part in a special supplementary program at school called ATP (Academically Talented Program...geez, wasn't I just SO SPECIAL? Not.). Once a week during the school day, I would get on a bus with three or four of my classmates and spend a few hours at the school district's Intermediate Unit.

ATP was so freaking cool. We got to do all kinds of stuff that we never would've had the chance to do in our "real" classes. In fourth grade, we spent half the year learning about the Milky Way. The final project required us to learn how to write a music program in Basic on the computer and to write a poem that tied into the specific planet of our choosing. I picked a piece from Gustav Holst's "The Planets" and somehow managed to write a Basic program on my little Radio Shack Tandy PC that synchronized my poem to the music.

Anyway, in fifth grade, we studied ancient Egyptian life and culture in ATP. Part of our studies included learning how to read and write basic hieroglyphics. It was unbelievably fun! Here's a site where you can see your name in hieroglyphics. One of these days, I'm going to get myself a little gold cartouche charm with my name in hieroglyphics.

Later, when I was 18, the second tattoo I got (of the five that I have) was a blue Egyptian ankh...the symbol for life and immortality. It's on my left shoulder blade.

My friend PJ has actually been to the Pyramids and I must admit I am incredibly envious of her for that reason! Someday I hope to make it there myself. The closest I've ever been to the Pyramid is when my mom and I stayed at the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas in 2003! Not quite the same thing, though...

Hope everyone's well! And apologies to Teri for my serious slacking-off!

Labels: childhood, deep thoughts, friends, memories, tattoos