Thanks to Juliet at Carson’s Grille, my parents, my mother in-law, Ingle’s, Bimbo Fireworks and gas station…

Where did I leave off while talking to myself the last time?  Hmm…

Oh yeah.  Growing up in Colonial Heights.

I’ve never been a member of the Southern Baptist Church.

Not that the church is a bad place, but I never felt the need, like schoolmates and their parents, to belong to an organisation that prided itself on its exclusivity – “we’re the only true believers,” “we have the most missionaries,” etc.

Every one of us is motivated to overcome entropy with our states of energy in different ways.

Some people want…well, like my sister in-law, who is a member of the Southern Baptist Church, told me, “I’m not the adventurous kind of person…  I’ve raised two great kids.  I work for the church as a bookkeeper, which doesn’t pay a lot, but it’s a steady job.”

In other words, her subculture – her church – provides her the social web of protection that lets her sleep soundly at night while dreaming of grandchildren.

Some prefer chaos and anarchy.

Some prefer no large social web.

And yet, here we are, all seven billion of us sharing this planet interconnectedly.

A friend told me about her antibucket list – her, if you’ll pardon my non child-friendly phrase, fuhket or fuhketaboutit list.

• Item no. 1 – no more making food for church socials – she was tired of preparing casseroles or other dishes for people she rarely hung out with or who didn’t appreciate her gourmet taste.  Artichoke-and-anchovy dishes were for family gatherings from now on.
• Item no. 2 – no traveling with strangers who have no sense of direction or desire for adventure – she’d just completed a trip to the Big Apple and, although it provided many funny moments to talk about, the minidisasters along the way almost overran the few good times she had.
• Item no. 2 – she didn’t have to make a long list, just start the list and let the rest of the world add to it.