Do you know this terrorist?

I have a weed that has invested my flower beds now for a few years. I call it "pop weed" for lack of its real name due to its ability to make little spring loaded coiled seeds that fly in all directions when you touch it once it gets to maturity.
I fight it on every front, thinking if I get every last one each spring there will be no "hosts" left to reproduce and I will rid myself of it. When it warms up enough, I spray with toxic sprays that give me headaches for the next 6 hours, yet it reappears in my flowers every spring.
I just return from walking the dog and realized that even though it is not yet officially spring and the air still has a definite winter bite, this weed is already going to seed in my soggy, frigid, flower beds. I search for it on my walks in other beds around the neighborhood to no avail. Even the most unkempt beds seem to be spared this curse....I walk by and look on with wonder that no one else seems to be fighting this crusade!

One of the most fascinating facts about my nemesis however is that the poorer the soil the quicker it matures and reproduces. Instead of being 3 -5 inches tall and lush, it might go to seed at only 1.5 inches in a matter of what seems like only hours. As I despaired today to see this already happening in the winter, I wondered if a similar phenomenon occurs in humans who live for several generations under impoverished, harsh conditions. Do the women start maturing earlier in order to reproduce themselves before the harshness of their environment takes it toll on them and they succumb to malnutrition and disease? Hmmm.

What is your second language?

Rod and I finished up a new endeavor this year, teaching English as a second language (ESL).
Our class consisted of a Latino couple we have insured at our business and two Asian ladies from the nail salon I use.
We started in October and finished on March 15th.
This has to be one of the craziest endeavors that Rod ever talked me into but it worked! We were taking Spanish ourselves, preparing for a quick week trip to Guadalajara Mexico when our teacher asked us if we would be interested in "tutoring" some Latinos in English in exchange for some help from them with our Spanish.

Well, Rod gets very enthusiastic about these things and begin to invite everyone we came in contact with that looked like they could use a little help with English. When I would express my concern he would assure me that "We can do this". Thanks to my background in teaching phonics we were able to put together some pretty good material and I can say now that I am quite proud of the progress these wonderful people made this year.
I was inspired by these new friends and their ability to navigate our culture. They are so far ahead of me in that they already speak TWO languages, just need a little help with the second one, some more than others.

Sometimes you hear "natives" making derogatory remarks about these new comers. I don't think I have ever known any of these "commentators" that could speak another language yet somehow they feel that having been passively pushed out of the womb into a free country like ours makes them above these others.
Many internationals seem to be bringing a lot more to our country than some of their critics. We readily hire and use these people to do our nails, roof our houses, and clean up after us but "tsk, tsk" about the jobs they are taking when in our own little clicks.

I have had some experiences that made me resent immigration but in each case I was viewing them from outside their circle, unable to understand their language or cultural ways. Meeting with non natives every week puts a "face and personality" to these foreigners and you soon see how much like you and I they are. Loving parents, struggling bread winners.....

Rod and I are finishing the book, "Infidel. The author talks about the prejudice between different blacks within the the same regions of Africa who may have slightly different shapes of noses, hair curliness, or shade of black skin color, etc. It is chilling to hear how these "different" people are characterized with the same characteristics we commonly hear people use to describe "different" people here; lazy, dirty, immoral, dishonest, etc. You could close your eyes and be in a cafe somewhere in America and hear the same generalizations. To know how this can turn into raw hatred and mass murder should get our attention.
Prejudice is a common human problem the world over. Does it make you wonder what the root of the problem is that drives us to need someone to look down on? Are we all prejudice in some way?
I have opinions about "groups" of people that may be considered prejudice. There are statistical differences is cultures but how do we process and explain those differences? Have you had a close relationship with someone from another culture? Have you formed your opinions without such a relationship?
Do you think there were family influences that affect how you perceive these people? Do you think your religion is strong enough to stand along side these other faiths that are coming in?
I would enjoy your thoughts/questions, please comment even if you don't agree with me.

That which we call a rose...

That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet." (from Romeo and Juliet)

Do you ever ponder your name? Seems like every school girl at some time thinks of a name she would like to be called in her daydream fantasies.

I remember hating the name Vicky simply because two of the meanest and most obnoxious girls in my life for a few years were both named Vicky. At that time in my life that name was synonymous with unrelenting evil. (Since then, I have met some wonderful Vickies!)

One of the Asian students in the ESL class I have been teaching this year told me her name means "virgin" in Vietnamese. In her attempt to convey this concept to me with her limited English, I witnessed what some might say was a graphic sign language answer to my inquiry. I have learned to keep an open mind in these situations but sometimes I must suppress a blush.

My alter ego is named Lily. She lives in a Victorian era, has poofy, pinned up hair, high buttoned shoes, a parasol, and white bustled dress . She wears cotton gloves in public, carries a lace hankie, and is careful not to damage her porcelain skin with too much direct sun, but gets "down and dirty" when it comes to social justice and humanitarian causes.

If you could have named yourself would you have chosen a different name and why?
Do you have an alter ego?