John Scalzi's Weekend Assignment #114: Things You Like Now But Not Then

"Life is one grand, sweet song, so start the music."

-Ronald Reagan

Weekend Assignment #114: Name a thing you like today, that your younger self would probably roll his or her eyes at. People, places, things, ideas, philosophies... all of it is up for consideration.

Extra Credit: Name something you didn't like then that you still don't like now.

-John Scalzi (By The Way... )

This may come as a bit of a shock, I was once, for a brief time, a republican. LOL. Yes, I Carly had taken a walk on the conservative side. When I look back at that time in my life, and I try to figure out why I would do such a thing, the only possibility that comes to mind is that I was dating a minister at the time, and he had some influence on how I looked at the world. Well, my relationship with him didn't last that long, because I didn't belong being a republican, and he didn't belong being a minister. Sheesh... what the heck was I thinking?

I was, and still am a democrat. Period. So, in my youth, I was not super thrilled with Ronald Reagan as a president. In my frustration, I didn't particularly care for the man personally. I didn't really see that the man, the ideas, the philosophies, and the politics aren't necessarily the same. It also hadn't occurred to me, just how much Ronald Reagan really did love his country. Now, years later, I have more information to go on, and while I still don't think I would vote for him as president, I believe in my heart that he made decisions in office out of a genuine love for his country... he was a less selfish president then some. Just for a moment, put aside your feelings either way, while I share a few quotes I looked up tonight. Quotes that reflect his personal philosophies...

"We must not look to government to solve our problems, Government is the problem."

"Middle age is when you're faced with two temptations and you choose the one that will get you home by nine o' clock."

"Excellence does not begin in Washington."

"Peace is more than just the absence of war. True peace is justice, true peace is freedom. And true peace dictates the recognition of human rights."

"Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means."

"Today, if you invent a better mousetrap. The government comes along with a better mouse."

"To sit back hoping that someday, some way, someone will make things eight is to go on feeding the crocodile, hoping he will eat you last... but eat you he will."

"There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect."

"I've always believed that a lot of trouble in the world would disappear if we were talking to each other instead of about each other."

"I've often wondered, what if all of us in the world discovered that we were threatened by a greater power from outer space from another planet... wouldn't we all of a sudden find that we didn't have any differences between us at all?"

So, I guess you could say that I have a whole new respect for President Reagan today, and I appreciate him more now, then I did in my youth.

Extra Credit: Calamari...NEVER liked it...NEVER will! :)

-OndineMonet
"Presidential Beans"
Jelly Belly Jelly Bean Factory
Fairfield, California
Spring, 2005
Afternoon