Things I’ve learned since we last spoke–

1. On caffeine

Yesterday after blogging I got caught up in an episode of Bull. My friends Anne and Andy were watching it. Then, about two in the morning, I went to bed and read a book. When I turned the light off about three, I couldn’t fall asleep. I finally realized it was because I’d been drinking green tea all night. This used to happen when I drank coffee, which I’m currently on hiatus from. (The break is sort of wonderful, sort of wretched.) Anyway, I forgot caffeine isn’t just in coffee and sodas; it’s in tea too.

Lesson learned.

2. On worrying about one’s health

Last night I read in Drop Dead Healthy by AJ Jacobs that it’s better to worry about your health (a little) than not worry about it at all. “Overoptimism is probably harmful,” he says. ” You have to be neurotic and realistic enough to go for regular checkups and take your meds.” For support he cites a ninety-year longevity study that found “a low but persistent level of worry” correlates to living longer. This is great news for a hypochondriac like me. Sure, I personally experience a high but persistent level of worry when it comes to my health, but hey–I’ve got the persistent part down!

3. On simple pleasures

This afternoon I strolled up and down Commercial Street here in Springfield. Talk about a darling place–there’s a wonderful used book store and even a steampunk shop where you can buy a leather corset if you’re into that sort of thing. Anyway, I was “oot and aboot” (that’s how Canadians say “out and about,” Mom) for two hours, and–believe it or not–didn’t buy a thing. And yet I still had a fabulous time–walking around (knees are great), seeing the sights, discovering.

4. On the Twist

Currently it’s five in the evening, and tonight’s sock hop starts in two hours. I’m blogging earlier than normal so I can enjoy the dance, visit with friends, and stay up late without worrying about writing. (Let’s hear it for advanced planning.) Anyway, last night Anne and Andy asked me to judge tonight’s Twist contest, so earlier I watched a bunch of videos on YouTube to see how people “Twisted” when the song/dance first came out. Talk about fun. I can’t wait to get my knees and hips moving like that again.

While researching, I came across a quote by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on the Twist. Get this shit, y’all. He said, “I have no objection to the Twist as such. But it does represent some kind of change in our standards. What has happened to our concepts of beauty and decency and morality?”

Wow. If he thought the Twist was indecent, imagine what he would have thought about leather corsets. Personally, I think it’s fabulous, that dances and all manner of things come along to challenge our ideas about what’s acceptable and decent in the world. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately–what are those things we choose to be offended about? I say choose because I don’t think anything in life is inherently offensive. Granted, there are some pretty grotesque things that happen on this planet, but nothing comes stamped with a label that says, “Be disgusted when you look at me.” Even if something did, or even if everyone in the world said, “Yep, that is awful,” we as individual thinkers would still have the power to decide our personal attitude about that so-called awful thing. This is good news, that only we can decide whether or not we get our knickers in–well–a twist about something.