Notes to Self--or--Manifesto! The Pre-August Mini-Edition

Every now and then I enjoy doing my own brand of manifesto. Here's last year's version from September of 2009, To Thine Own Self Be True. I still absolutely stand behind my positions of nearly a year ago, right down to the dark nails, my undying love for Barbour, and my Champagne of choice. That said, some additions are definitely in order, so here goes:

1. Frenemies need not apply. If you think that I'm a dreadful correspondent and feel the need to flog me ceaselessly and snarkily, you are not my friend. And if you take zero interest in my endeavors and pout petulantly when the world doesn't revolve around you? Still not my friend. And as for the intimation that my best years are behind me, they are not. I'm nowhere near the halfway point and quite honestly, I'm only getting started, so any "nattering nabobs of negativism" please get out of my way.

2. Never underestimate the amount of joy to be found by eating some of your favorite simple summer meals...Maid-Rite sandwiches, watermelon-feta salad, root-beer floats, Wally coolattas, fresh buttery sweetcorn, and let's not forget, BERRIES.

3. 3-D isn't going to make a poorly written movie any more entertaining. And if the movie is already good, 3-D could quite possibly ruin it. Been there, done that, worn the silly glasses. *next*

4. If you haven't made plans to go to a racetrack near you, well why haven't you? Saratoga is mecca this time of year as are Monmouth and Del Mar, but why not a trip to Suffolk, Arlington, Canterbury? Pick a track that's close and go. Enjoy the horses, play funny hunch bets and people watch--you won't be sorry! Unless, of course you try for the boxed trifecta (as someone I know does...) when you really should have stuck with the simple exacta.

5. In life, proper attire is a must. If you are running, you wear athletic attire. If you are dining out, you remove your baseball cap, if you are (UGH) still wearing it. If you are at the beach, you wear either a bathing costume or other summer appropriate wear. In short, skivvies and foundation garments are NOT--I repeat, NOT--appropriate at the beach. That goes for men and women alike and yes, this comes from a truly shudder-inducing beach experience. Aside from being unsanitary, it's just GROSS. 

6. It is a pretty backward world we live in when Martha Stewart and Lindsay Lohan are such threats to humanity that they have to be jailed, but the villains from BP who have forever altered the eco-system of the Gulf of Mexico are going to yacht races on the Isle of Wight. 

7. And finally, building a mosque near the former WTC site is important. Yup, I went there and said that. No more dumbing down or hiding our lights under bushel baskets. We are the country people fled TO because of religious persecution in their homelands, the beacon of freedom to practice whatever religion you'd like or to practice none at all. How about we all, with a gallic shrug and an exaggerated eye-roll for Alaska's favorite daughter, stand up for what America's ideals really are? That means we show the entire world how strongly we believe in our ideals. We believe so strongly, in fact, that we uphold them even when it makes us a little uncomfortable. We show the world by what we do and how we treat people, we lead by example. Just like writing a book, showing is much more important than telling: show the world we mean what we say, don't simply tell other countries glibly to be more like us. Standing up and pointing out the utter irrationality of her views is not likely to sway the aforementioned former governor, but it might just cause others to take notice. We've missed a number of opportunities in the past 18 or so months to lead by example and put our money where our collective and proverbial mouth is, let's not let this one get away too. 

There you have it, my Pre-August Mini-Manifesto, here's to enjoying the last few days of July!