The Alphabet Game!

Liz over at Eternal Lizdom is "organizing" a fun blog game. She assigns a letter to each player, and we get to come up with ten things we like that start with that letter.

My assignment is, as you may have guessed, the letter "C." Oh yeah; this'll be fun!

1. In spite of our good friend's admonition above, I am going to broaden our first item to CHOCOLATE! Cakes, Cookies, hot or cold, this certainly belongs at the top of my list.

2. COMEDY comes next. I couldn't live life without laughter. Not only does it herald the most joyous times of life, but it is, for me, the first tool in dealing with stress and even sadness. It may not be uniquely human, but it is universally so.

3. CANINES have to be ranked pretty darn high on my list, of course. We've had a family dog since I was two years old. I didn't like Buffy at first, since she stole my gingerbread doll, but I got over that rocky beginning. Now my dog is my family.

4. CENTRAL A/C is the only thing that makes it possible for me to enjoy living south of the Mason-Dixon line. Cut the power lines, and this is one Yankee that'll be hightailing back to the snowbelt!

5. CARDIOLOGY Not really something I like; more like grateful for. If it weren't for amazing advances in research, surgery and care, my father wouldn't be here, and my own life expectency would probably be markedly shorter. Thanks, Dr. Yip.

6. COMPUTERS Well, duh! First of all, computers put food on our table and sent me to college. Now the warm glow of the interwebs keeps me company and answers all my weird questions. Plus, Miss Flartus would never ever get her taxes done if it weren't for PC power. On the other hand, would the government be able to create such a complicated tax code without computers? Hmmm....

7. COCA COLA Yes, in spite of my ongoing personal battle against processed food and the overwhelming presence of corn (syrup) in every aspect of our lives...nothing can beat an ice cold Coc'Cola. Pepsi? Pah! Sugar water.

8. CHEESE, glorious cheese! A lot of food items on my list here...well, when people asked me why I was so passionate about studying French, this was a big part of my answer. Yeah, #5 on this list shouldn't be a big surprise! Mmmm...Brie, Camemebert, St. André, Emmantaler....droool...

9. CREATIVITY, both my own and others'. Linked to my appreciation of humor, I love anything that makes new and unique links between things we already know, or takes a completely novel approach to an old question. This is also one of the things that makes our American culture truly unique.

10.COMMUNICATION has been the focus of my life, in many ways. I think most of our social ills could be eased if people truly communicated with each other. Unfortunately, we tend to forget about the listening half of communication. How often do you "discuss" an idea with someone of a different viewpoint, and actually allow yourself to change your mind? And how often do you simply wait for them to shut their mouth so you can tell them the next rebuttal?

The hardest homework assignment I ever had was to go through an entire week without interrupting anyone. Try it; even if you don't succeed, it will surely raise your awareness.