1 in 5 Kids Can't read Analog Watch

A report from kfor.com says that a study shows that 80% of Oklahoma City students can't read an analog watch. Of course, some are upset by this.

Contrarian that I am, this bothers me not one little bit. Why should this bother anyone?

The analog system of telling time is obsolete. The old school watch face evolved from the sun dial and it was once a logical step in knowing the time of day.
But, in the 21st century, with cell phones, and watches using digital displays, what's the point?

Being able to read an analog clock is about as useless as being able to change horseshoes - something cool to talk about, but of no real value in the real world.

Tennessee Williams Would Be Proud

My son and I had just arrived home when he pointed out these cats across the road from our apartment building. Having my camera handy, I couldn't resist taking two quick photos. As I said, Tennessee Williams would be proud.

Dream a Little Dream.

I heard, or read somewhere or other, that we all dream every night and that those who say they don't dream simply don't recall the dreams upon waking. Who I am to argue?

From my own perspective, for many years I've awoken from sleep having forgotten my dreams, but it seems that during the past six more or so, I've awoken with memories of very bizarre dreams. I won't go into the details of the dreams, but they've always been disturbing.

I've never cared for dreaming or the "dream state". As long as I can remember, my dreams have been unpleasant. To me, the words "dream" and "nightmare" are synonyms.

These dreams or nightmares don't have monsters and things that go bump in the night. I think it is the fact that the dreams are so illogical and so not down to earth that makes me so anxious.

In wikipedia, some of the possible effects of frequent nightmares is that those of us who suffer "experienced abnormal sleep architecture and that the results of having a nightmare during the night were very similar to those of people who suffer from insomnia. This means that, like insomniacs, people who suffer from nightmares do not get as much rest as those who do not suffer from chronic nightmares. Therefore, they experience a lesser quality of sleep than others."

I can say that I certainly don't get enough rest from sleep.

One website I came across while looking into dreaming, gives "15 Interesting Facts about Dreaming. Note - not all 15 are very interesting, but I digress.

#7 on the list is "Emotions. The most common emotion experienced in dreams is anxiety. Negative emotions are more common than positive ones."

OK, but that doesn't make me feel better.

#6 "Dreams are Symbolic. If you dream about some particular subject it is not often that the dream is about that. Dreams speak in a deeply symbolic language. Whatever symbol your dream picks on it is most unlikely to be a symbol for itself."

Well, if my dreams are telling me needs working on in my life, well, it'd be nice if the dreams were a bit clearer and easier to interpret.

The Vote in Scotland.

Thanks to my PC being connected to a VPN, I can access the BBC website without fear of being geoblocked. As I write this,it's 4:45AM in London and the top story is the vote in Scotland concerning whether or not Scotland leaves the U.K.. The results are not yet complete, but right now, the "no" vote is ahead; "yes" being a vote to leave the U.K., with "no" being a vote against Scottish independence.

As they say where I'm from,I don't have a dog in this hunt. What happens in the U.K. affects me not one bit. I have no idea which result would be better for the Scots. It makes no difference to me.

That being said, I am glued to my PC, awaiting results.

The only such vote which might affect me would be a vote for particular States in the U.S. to leave the Union, but that issue was settled over one hundred years ago. Scotland may be allowed to vote on whether or not to stay in the U.K., but the folks in Georgia, or New York, or California, don't have that option in regards to leaving the United States.

It's 5:17AM in London, and the BBC is declaring a victory for the "no" votes.