Mishmash Musings

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Have you heard about the latest smoking ban that will take effect in California next year? According to this AP article, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger just signed a bill that will “make it an infraction to smoke in a vehicle if someone under age 18 is present.” Motorists could face fines of up to $100 if caught doing this, but they can only be cited for smoking if they’re stopped because of a different traffic violation (speeding, etc.) first.

Are you kidding me? What in the hell is going on in this country? I hate cigarette smoking as much as the next non-smoker and believe that it does pose a major health risk, but ordinances like this go way too far. I mean, what’s next? Are they going to completely ban smoking in public? In a couple years, will people only be able to light up in their own homes?

This is dumb!

I was looking up some car insurance stuff a bit earlier today when I started clicking a bunch of links and eventually ended up on CNN.com. I had arrived at an article they posted a little while ago about the top 10 states for auto-deer collisions. I was surprised to see Illinois sitting at No.3 on the list, because I hardly ever see any deer around here. Maybe they’re talking about downstate or something.

Anyway, Pennsylvania was tops on the list, followed by Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Georgia, Minnesota, Virginia, Indiana, Texas, and Wisconsin. I bet the truck accident lawyers in those states have a much higher caseload than anywhere else in the country! Maybe I should find a good attorney for myself and put his or her number on speed dial just in case something goes awry this winter!

While I was surfing through BE this afternoon, I came across a site that had a meme about learning to let go. I thought I had bookmarked the site, but when I went to check, I couldn’t find it again. That means I can’t give proper credit and a link here, so I apologize for that.

At any rate, here are three things that I need to learn to let go of.

1. My high school/college years. No, this doesn’t mean I’m partying ’til I puke every weekend or anything like that! It just means that I made a ton of mistakes during those years, and continue to beat myself up over those missteps even now (15 years later). I need to realize that there’s nothing I can do to change the past, that everyone does stupid things between the ages of 16-22, and that I just need to look at where I am now and be grateful that things have worked out so well.

2. My former friend Molly. This sort of ties in with the above, but also goes beyond that, so I’m giving it a number of its own. Molly was my best friend in high school and my roommate in college. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out so well for us when we were away at school. We ended up drifting apart, and though we reconnected a couple of times after college, I haven’t heard anything from her in over five years.

The problem is, I’m having a hard time accepting that all ties should be severed. We went through so much together and she was such a huge part of my life at the time that I can’t believe we simply don’t have anything to do with each other now. We both know how to get in touch with each other, so the fact that we haven’t done so in years ought to be enough to signal that I need to move on. But I can’t do it, and am planning to email her again sometime soon. Sigh.

3. Trying to impress people all the time. I went to school with a bunch of rich kids, and did my damnedest trying to keep up with them in terms of brand name clothes and all that stuff. Of course, I couldn’t compete when everyone else got BMWs and Saabs for their birthdays while I was still hoofing it to school.

These days I still try to impress people by buying expensive name-brand items that I don’t need. From my Prada shoes to Gucci handbag and Cartier watch, I own a bunch of crap that I hardly ever use and never should have bought in the first place. I need to quit caring about what other people think and just be myself for a change.

Whew, I feel better for having gotten this stuff out in the open! Now, if only I can actually make these changes stick…!

One thing my husband absolutely hates is when clothing manufacturers splash their logos all over the garments they produce. He’s one of those people who considers it free advertising, so he tries to stick with clothes that don’t have any telltale markings on them. Sure, he still buys shirts from the Gap or Old Navy, but that’s only because those companies don’t label every single shirt or pair of pants they make — unlike, say, Polo or A&F.

I’m going to tell my husband to start buying Port Authority clothing since he hates labels so much. Port Authority clothing is durable, comfortable, and affordable, and won’t make you look like a “walking billboard” for the company. In other words, it’s perfect for my husband!

I had my monthly orthodontist appointment today. My doctor seems to be pleased with the way my teeth are moving at this point. I’m coming up on my one-year anniversary of getting braces on again and am happy to report that the whole process has been relatively smooth. There have been significant changes in my overbite and tooth alignment already, and I’m completely convinced that getting braces again was the right decision. I’m just about halfway through my treatment now, which means it’s almost time to begin counting down the days until removal.

Anyway, the only adjustment my ortho made today was binding my four upper front teeth together with wire instead of elastic. If you remember my post from last month, the purpose of binding these teeth together is to force them to move as one unit. Well, I guess the elastic wasn’t doing to trick, so he went with only wire this time. I can already feel the extra pressure, which likely means there will be more noticeable changes on the way. Sweet!!

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So I guess the RIAA is still suing regular people for downloading and/or sharing copyrighted music. I just read an article that said a Minnesota woman was found guilty of illegal file sharing activities and will have to pay damages of $220,000. The jury decided that Jammie Thomas would have to pay $9,250 (each) for 24 songs that she was found guilty of sharing.

First of all, what kind of people were sitting on that jury? I’m 33 years old, and almost all of my peers have illegally downloaded copyrighted material at one point or another. Not only songs but also TV shows, movies, games, computer software, etc. I mean, a significant portion of the Internet-using public has done this at least once, correct? So again, where did they find enough people to sit on that jury and produce a guilty verdict?

I know I would never vote in favor of the RIAA — nor would any of the people I talk to.

Second, it seems that Thomas was busted for sharing songs, not actually downloading them. So what does this mean for the general public? Downloading is wrong, but you won’t get prosecuted unless you turn around and share that content? I don’t get it.

Anyway, I wish the friggin’ RIAA would stop fighting consumers like this and instead just come up with a solution similar to iTunes so people can download legally. iTunes shows that millions of people are willing to PAY for downloads, so why not embrace this trend? The days of being able to charge $18 for a crappy CD with just one or two good songs are pretty much over. Time to roll with the changes here.