The Wacky World of Chris Knight

The word of the year? You be the decider! | Oddly Enough | Reuters.com
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Will “landslide” win by a landslide? Will “sectarian,” “vendetta” or “decider” be named 2006’s word of the year?

Merriam-Webster Inc., publisher of a leading U.S. dictionary, is asking visitors to its Web site — http://www.merriam-webster.com/info/06words.htm — to pick the “one single word that sums up 2006.”

The voting began November 20 and concludes on December 4, Arthur Bicknell, a spokesman for the Springfield, Massachusetts-based company, said in a telephone interview.

“We’ve been getting literally thousands of submissions,” he said.

There is only one word that defines 2006: Truthiness

Please, vote for it. We have to be the Decider on this.

-Chris

California Sea Lions Attack Humans
Now a series of sea-lion attacks on people in recent months has led experts to warn that the animals are not as cute and cuddly as they appear.

“People should understand these animals are out there not to attack people or humans. But they’re out there to survive for themselves,” said Jim Oswald, a spokesman for the Marine Mammal Center across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco.

The article goes on to explain several theories about why the sea lions are attacking. Nobody mentions my favorite theory: They are finally tired of sharing space with us. Humans are a greedy, selfish, abusive species; and I can’t say I’d blame them.

-Chris

I’ve always thought that one of the defining points of being human is the ability to change not just the world around you, but yourself as well. Personalities develop, evolve and grow. If this were not the case the world would be full of full grown whining babies. (Hmmm… Gotta reconsider that point.) I know that I am not the person I was in high school, or college, or even five years ago. Having recently come back into contact with a group of friends I hadn’t seen in ten years I can say that they were similar, and recognizable, but obviously not the same people I knew back then. Change is part of life, and it is part of being human; and I have always believed that very deeply. I can’t understand someone who doesn’t like who they are, but believes so deeply that they can’t change themselves that they choose to use it as an excuse instead.

What are we if we can’t choose who we want to be?