Ordinary things are often taken for granted. Governments do not commission studies about them, museums are not erected in their honor and people rarely put up a fight when an ordinary thing is in danger of being lost.

This is the vexation and the virtue of the ordinary thing -- which is all the more reason to save them in the next millennium.

• It's the most convenient way to stay in contact.
• It doesn't have to be all or nothing. Limit the use.
• It can help your child build & maintain friendships. Like it or not, other kids have cell phone and rely on them to communicate.
• It has free long-distance. Kids can keep in touch with faraway friends and relatives without racking up long distance charges on your landline.
• It offers a chance to teach responsiblity. Assign kids the task of keeping track of the minutes they use - or chipping in for the service.

• It can lead to huge bills... Extra minutes & features like text messaging and cool ringtones can break the bank.
• It can be a distraction in the classroom... In fact, many schools have banned the use of cell-phones during class.
• It's yet more screen time. Think your child already spends too much time in front of the TV, computer & playing video games? A cell phone is another electronic gadget that could add to the problem.
• It's easily misplaced or broken and it is expensive to replace or repair.

The 33rd Annual
World Hello Day

November 21st, 2005
Greet Ten People for Peace

November 21, 2005 is the 33rd annual World Hello Day. Anyone can participate in World Hello Day simply by greeting ten people. This demonstrates the importance of personal communication for preserving peace.

World Hello Day was begun in response to the conflict between Egypt and Israel in the Fall of 1973. Since then, World Hello Day has been observed by people in 180 countries.

People around the world use the occasion of World Hello Day as an opportunity to express their concern for world peace. Beginning with a simple greeting on World Hello Day, their activities send a message to leaders, encouraging them to use communication rather than force to settle conflicts.

As a global event World Hello Day joins local participation in a global expression of peace. The World Hello Day web site address is http://www.worldhelloday.org.

31 winners of the Nobel Peace Prize are among the people who have realized World Hello Day's value as an instrument for preserving peace and as an occasion that makes it possible for anyone in the world to contribute to the process of creating peace.

Brian McCormack, a Ph.D. graduate of Arizona State University, and Michael McCormack, a graduate of Harvard University, work together to promote this annual global event.

I have always been one to observe quietly before gathering together my thoughts and offering up an opinion... and there is something that has been eating away at my brain for over a week or so, something that I can no longer keep inside, something I must share with others... You have probably heard that again and again, but I don't write about things that have no value to anyone... I write with insight and desire for a better life for all of us. Not just for me.

okay my opinion... When things go wrong in my life, I think "Oh My God", what is wrong with me? It seems that everything that can go wrong always does in my life (Murphy's Law)... but even that you think can't be all fate. Then I thought about the people who were made homeless by Katrina, and the people in Japan who died in the tornados, and in India all those people left homeless, and so far from anywhere - it took months to get them tents, and I go... well my problems aren't that bad at all.

Here I am complaining about a headache, or a rip in my jeans, or the fact that we have no peanut butter left... and I realize I am so self-centered that it makes me almost sick, no it does make me sick, I feel nauseaus now just writing about it. How dare we, who have not been through a horrific event, an event so terrible it has taken away your loved ones, your children... even though they have become children of God in heaven - I can't even imagine the pain and suffering those left feel... I can imagine that they feel like saying: "Why didn't you take me?", "What did my daughter/son do that was so bad that God Took him/her away from me?" - We all know that nobody had anything to do with the fact that nature came down in such a force that it destroyed anything in it's path... that's what the earth does. We go in cycles. Sometimes many many years go by without a single incident, then they seem to come in 10's & 20's - all happening at the same time.

And even if this did happen to you, or to a loved one, or someone from school, or work - you didn't do anything to make it worse for them... in many cases most of us - reached out to help those get through the early days of desolation and despair, yet we feel guilty because it didn't happen to us.

I am so ashamed that in the past month, I complained about not having my favorite food to eat, when others had no food at all... or when I complained my clothes weren't washed and folded, but wrinkled in the bottom of the laundry basket - when others have been wearing the same clothes for months, and some are walking around wearing sheets and no shoes.

I am ashamed that I was brought up to complain over the littlest things, things that some people live with everyday, and don't even bat an eye.

I too have gone through a life-changing experience... just by observing and listening and watching and learning that I am just a tiny piece of the world...and there are so many more important things I should be concerned about... not world peace (that may never happen)... but concern for our fellow americans whether at home, or the soldiers who are defending our honor in a war that shouldn't be our problem. and concern for those hurt by the tornadoes, hurricanes, blizards that sometimes vanquish whole cities...

I need to have compassion for others, and lay down my armor that keeps my heart surrounded by walls - so I don't feel... I need to feel, I need to listen, I need to help others... I don't know how I can help them, but maybe by my changing my perception of the world, and the people who live in it - I have taken a step forward in understanding and getting along with all people, not just people like me.

I never thought I was predjudice, but in a way I was... I believed that to live in America - you should speak english at all times, and use your own language in your home only... but I found out that many of those people who came here fleeing their countries because they were scared, didn't have time to learn our language while the bombs were going off... and they are trying to learn it now.

I always used to say, that if I went to their country no one would hire me, because I can't speak their language and it's true - no one would... What is hurting the american economy is those people who come from other countries with no skills and even less english but I am not putting those people down, I am just expressing my opinion as to why all of a sudden jobs don't pay as well as they used to. I believe the reason for that is because, those people who come from other countries are willing to work for any amount, even if it makes them live below the poverty level... and the companies are more then happy to hire them, saving millions of dollars a year on salaries alone, and those people are also willing to work without health insurance, and other perks the american people will not live without.

I hope that someday the economy comes back, but I know as long as there are people willing to work long hours & many days without breaks, or benefits - we will continue to struggle with trying to make ends meet in this place of the free, this place place called america.

Do You Feel This Way Too?

"Hey you guys!"

We're gonna turn it on

We're gonna bring you the power

We're gonna light up the dark of night/Like the brightest day/In a whole new way

We're gonna turn it on

We're gonna bring you the power

We're gonna tell you the truest word/That you ever heard/Anybody say

We're gonna turn it on

We're gonna turn it on

We're gonna turn it on

We're gonna open the book

And read every word that we see

We're gonna get us the power to learn about anything

And the power's gonna get us free

Power's gonna get us free

We're gonna turn it on

We're gonna bring you the power

We're coming down the line/Strong as we can be/Through the courtesy

Of the Electric Companyyyy

The Electric Companyyyy

The Electric Company

Here are the lyrics from the final two original seasons of the show:

Rita Moreno: Hey You Guys!

The Short Circus:

Moving out in a new way

Moving out in a new way

We're gonna turn it on

We're gonna bring you the power

We're gonna light up the dark of night

Like the brightest day in a whole new way

We're gonna turn it on

We're gonna bring you the power

We're gonna tell you the truest word that you ever heard anybody say

Moving out in a new way

Moving out in a new way

We're gonna turn it on

We're gonna bring you the power

We're coming down on the line strong as we can be

Through the courtesy of The Electric Company

�Theme From The Electric Company by Joe Raposo (c) 1971 Jonico Music

I Grew Up Watching The Electric Company, Zoom, Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers & Captain Kangaroo... what were your favorite shows?