Week the Second: Fandoms

 It's Wednesday, time for another vintage topic on the old Introvert Social Hour.

 Fandoms, huh? This topic is both easy and hard for me. It's easy because I like lots of things but hard because I like so many things that few of them stand out from the crowd. This will be interesting.

I grew up in a home where we were exposed to many different things. We were seriously poor, but my parents worked hard, did a lot of bartering, and spent a lot of time at thrift stores, flea markets, and auctions to provide us with a diverse, interesting lifestyle. We didn't watch a lot of tv -- it's not really a convenient hobby when you only get 4 channels, and that only from 6 am to midnight -- but we did watch a few select shows. We had friends who owned a drive in theatre so we saw a lot of movies from all sorts of genres. Our house was filled with books and every single person in my family is a voracious reader. We always had music in our house and it was almost every kind of music you can imagine. We traveled literally all over the United States -- I've been to almost every state -- and saw as much as my parents could possibly provide a way for us to see. I say all of this to explain that I was raised to appreciate a wide array of things and not particularly fixate on one specific area. Therefore, it took me a while to develop an enthusiasm for something that could be considered a fandom.

I guess one of my first fandoms was Billy Joel. I discovered him when my cousin loaned me a cassette of his 52^nd Street album in 1979 and I was a goner almost from the very first note. Since then, I've bought pretty much everything he's ever done and accumulated probably years of time listening to his music. For nearly thirty years I dreamed of seeing him in concert and I finally lived that dream in 2008. I can't even tell you how happy that made me. I paid a lot of money to get very, very good seats, and just seeing him right there in front of me brought tears to my eyes. I know how dumb that sounds, but it's true. His voice isn't perfect but something in it resonates with me, and his lyrics say almost perfectly what I feel. I just love him.

The next thing that I remember catching my eye in a big way is Star Trek: The Next Generation. I had seen some of the original series but only bits and pieces because we didn't watch it when it was in its first run. But when TNG started I did watch it and loved it. After that I started watching TOS at every opportunity and I've now seen most of the episodes. I watched a good bit of Deep Space Nine as well, but never finished that series. I've seen all of the films except the most recent one and I'll see that one as soon as I can. People always talk about Star Trek vs. Star Wars and, while I like the Star Wars series a lot, I must admit that I'm a Star Trek girl at heart and TNG is my favorite of all. (On a related note, Galaxy Quest is one of my favorite movies and I always say that it's the best Star Trek movie ever made. If you haven't seen it, you really should. It's great!)

Maybe/maybe not the BEST Doctor, but definitely the PRETTIEST <3

From there I suppose the next thing would be Doctor Who. I was aware of Doctor Who as a kid and had watched it some, but at that time I wasn't as interested in science fiction as I would be later so it didn't stick with me. Then, shortly after the new series started I met a person who had been a huge fan since he was a small child in the '70s. He's an American but he had seen every available episode by the time I met him. We became good friends and one of the first things he asked was whether I watched Doctor Who. I said that I had seen the old series but not the new and he said "Oh man, you have to see it!" Shortly after that he started catching me up on the new series as well as showing me old episodes every chance he got. I was hooked almost from the first moment and I've watched every episode from that time on, and I can't talk about Doctor Who without mentioning my niece and nephew who are also huge fans. Like many people, I've been disappointed in the past few seasons, but I keep holding on to my hope that it will eventually bounce back. Oh please oh please oh please...

The next thing that comes to mind is, collectively, the AMC Sunday night lineup. It started quietly with Mad Men, exploded with Breaking Bad, and has slithered over into The Walking Dead. TWD is easily my least favorite of the three but I do enjoy it very much. Mad Men and Breaking Bad, on the other hand... that would be like choosing between your two children.

 They're both amazing and compelling and I can't tear myself away from them and I don't want to! I love them SO MUCH. Every Sunday night that one of those three shows is on, I spend the hour from 9 pm to 10 pm Central Time almost not even breathing.  If you watch them, I don't have to explain the tension, and if you don't, I don't know how to explain it. If all tv were as well made and gripping as MM and BB are, I don't think I'd ever turn the tv off. They're just. That. Good.

I'm not sure whether my last two count as fandoms, but they're things that I love so I'm including them. First is DFTBA Records. I don't love all of their products but I love a large percentage of them, and I own a large percentage of those. And I want to own the rest. I love it also as a business model. I don't think it's a fit for every artist but I think they provide a great service for those who do want to operate independently but need a good distributor to take that burden off their hands. I'm so glad it's a thing that exists in the world. Some day I'm going to be independently wealthy and buy one of everything.

 

And finally, a thing that has been a lifelong fandom but I didn't want to mention it at the beginning lest anyone be under the misconception that it has faded. You may all hate me for it and think I'm stupid or childish, but I don't care. Here is my secret: I love Mr. Rogers. I loved him as a child, I loved him as a teenager, I loved him as a young adult, I cried many tears when he died, and I love him still today. I think he was one of the most quietly influential human beings who has ever lived. I was fortunate enough to have a happy childhood in a family where I felt safe and loved, and even with those advantages it meant a lot to me when Mr. Rogers said that I was special and he liked me just the way I was. And as an adult I think about that and I think if it meant that much to me -- a happy, loved, well-adjusted kid -- just imagine what it must have meant to kids who didn't feel that kind of love in their lives every day. I regret that I never wrote to him, but my brother did once and Mr. Rogers responded with a very personal letter, responding to specific things my brother had said. That made a deep impression on me. He is the person that I want to be when I grow up. Every video I see of him, every story I read about him just confirms over and over that the world will be very lucky if it ever sees another person like Mr. Rogers. And if it does, I hope with all my heart that I'm there to see it.

I think that's about it. I apologize for posting so late but it's been a crazy, crazy day and I didn't even get to sit down at my desk until a little over an hour ago. I'll try hard to do better in the future.

In the meantime, if you have questions or comments please feel free to leave them below. I'd love to hear from you! And if you're interested in such things you can also find me on Twitter.

Thanks again for reading! If you've somehow landed here from some other source and haven't seen the videos that go along with this post, they are: 

Jill, Kristina, Frieda & Amy 

And that's it from me on this Wednesday. Best wishes! <3

Influenster Review: Sugar 'n Spice VoxBox

It's time once again for a review of the products in my latest VoxBox from Influenster! I received all of these products absolutely free of charge in exchange only for my honest review of them. If you're jealous, keep reading and learn how you too can be a part of the program.

This VoxBox was called Sugar 'n Spice and it was filled with a collection of products designed to create a feeling of luxury. Let's dive right in.

l'll start with the few things that I didn't like, all of which were part of the same family of products. I received Colgate Optic White toothpaste and mouthwash and a Colgate 360° Optic White toothbrush. The toothbrush is fine, though my mouth honestly don't feel as clean after I've used it as it does with a regular toothbrush. I think it's because the shape and softness of the bristles makes me feel like it doesn't make good contact with my teeth. I'm not sure whether that's an accurate perception or an illusion so I'm willing to ignore it for now, but when it's time to replace it I'll definitely go back to a regular toothbrush.

The truly bad part, though, is the toothpaste and mouthwash. The mouthwash tastes so terrible that I can barely stand to have it in my mouth, but I could live with it if that were the only problem. The biggest problem is that both the toothpaste and the mouthwash burn my mouth so badly that it brings tears to my eyes and even if I only use the toothpaste it will burn for as much as 20 minutes afterward. The mouthwash is much worse and I can only stand to hold it in my mouth a few seconds, not nearly as long as is recommended. Clearly I haven't used the products well enough to see any whitening effect, so I can't comment on that.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I don't want to scare people off of these products entirely! I strongly suspect that this problem is just a sensitivity to some ingredient that wouldn't affect others, so if you're interested I'd suggest getting a sample size and giving it a try. My husband used the products too so I would have at least some information for my review and, while he can stand to use it, he says that both products definitely have a significant burn and an unpleasant taste. He hasn't seen any whitening effect either, but he had his teeth professionally whitened several months ago so his teeth are already pretty white. I regret that I can't review the product better but I can only tell you what we experienced.

And now on to happier things! The next two products were related to skin care, a topic near and dear to my heart. The first was VaselineSpray and Go lotion. It's an amazing new product that basically is exactly what the name says: a lotion that sprays onto your skin as a slightly foamy mist. Because it's so light, it takes mere seconds to rub in, and then you're done, but you get the same moisturizing level as with regular lotion that takes forever to rub in. It leaves no more residue than regular lotion, and I really think it probably leaves less.

I. LOVE. This product. There are three formulations, containing oat extract, aloe, or cocoa butter, and I received the oat extract version. That made me happy because I'm a big fan of oat-based moisturizers. I have very dry skin so I'm always looking for a great lotion, and I think I've definitely found it here. It's honestly not any better quality than any really good oat-based lotion, but for people who moisturize large portions of their bodies on a regular basis, the savings in time and effort are well worth switching, in my opinion. Definitely check this one out if you struggle with dry skin.

The other skin care product was Dickinson's Original WitchHazel wipes, and this was another big win for me. If you're not familiar with witch hazel, it's sort of an old-school astringent, which is a type of skin care product sort of like Sea Breeze or Clean & Clear. It has a beautiful, clean scent that's simultaneously calming and refreshing. It's also great for treating other skin issues, such as reducing oiliness or sweating; to reduce the itching of conditions like insect bites, poison oak/poison ivy, psoriasis, or eczema; and even to reduce inflammation such as hemorrhoids or bags under the eyes, but none of these are the intended uses of these wipes, as far as I can tell. In any case, it's a fantastic substance that's too often ignored in modern products.

Dickinson's has become a wonderful exception to that rule. The wipes and their packaging have a pleasant, modern appearance and the individual wrapping makes them easy to keep handy even with a super busy schedule. The wipes themselves are thick and well moistened (though they could be somewhat softer in my opinion) and the witch hazel is just as healing and soothing as always. As a person with multiple skin issues, I deeply appreciate having this gentle yet versatile product at my disposal. I will absolutely continue buying it, and I recommend others to give it a look. I think you'll love it just as much as I do.

The last two products in the box were foods. One was (sadly) one single serving of delicious BelVita Breakfast Biscuits. I'd never even heard of this company before, much less this specific product, but I became a fan with the first bite. Each packet contains four biscuits and I wasn't sure whether that would be filling enough to get me through the morning, but it definitely was. (Full disclosure: I'm used to a fairly light breakfast, usually a cup of yogurt or, at most, a bowl of oatmeal, so it's possible that the BelVita biscuits wouldn't be enough for everyone. It would be simple enough to add a piece of fruit or some yogurt or something, though, and I think the biscuits would be a delicious addition to any breakfast.)

Five flavors are available -- Golden Oat, Blueberry, Apple Cinnamon, Cinnamon Brown Sugar, and Chocolate -- and I received the Golden Oat. To me it tasted a lot like a granola bar, but without the gum-punishing hard texture. Instead, the texture was very much like a crisp, light cookie, similar to a shortbread cookie. I enjoyed the oat flavor very much (though I suppose that was an easy sell since oatmeal cookies are my favorite and the flavor was somewhat similar to those) but I want very much to taste the Apple Cinnamon and the Cinnamon Brown Sugar flavors too. BelVita Breakfast Biscuits are almost certain to become an important part of my morning routine.

The final product that I received was Nectresse, a new artificial sweetener from the makers of Splenda. I'm a loooooong time user of artificial sweeteners, starting with saccharine tablets in the 1960s, so I'm kind of a connoisseur and Nectresse definitely makes the grade. It's delicious, better than any artificial sweetener I've ever used. I don't quite know how to describe the difference except to say that its flavor is rich and well rounded, not just sweet. It almost (but not quite) tastes like brown sugar or very slightly caramelized sugar. I used it only in coffee and once on some mixed fruit so that I could get a taste of it in a more pure state, and it literally made both things taste better than they do with other sweeteners. I haven't looked for Nectresse in stores so I'm not sure what the availability situation is, but if I can get my hands on it regularly I guarantee I have a new go-to sweetener. Amazing stuff.

So that's it for the Sugar 'n Spice VoxBox. It was an excellent one even considering my issues with a couple of the products. Thanks once again to Influenster for providing it.

If you'd like to receive products to review, contact me for more information.

Until next time: Best wishes! <3

Week the First: New Year's Resolutions

That's right, you heard me. New Year's Resolutions. Get ready for a blast from the past!

Well, it's only my second blog for Internet Social Hour and it looks like I'm already going to twist things up. I had planned for the Saturday topic to be the current week's topic, but because this week's topic is more or less a sequel to a previous one, it seems odd to do it. So I'm going to go back and do another old one and wait until next Saturday to do a new one. Deal with it, kids.

The first week of actual topics was New Year's Resolutions and this is actually something that I've needed for some time to write about. I have a long-standing tradition regarding this and I didn't do it this year because of some things that happened and I feel like I should explain and rectify that as much as I can. I can't tell the whole story because part of it isn't my story to tell, but I'll tell what I can and it will be enough.

 

I've never done NYRs, exactly, but most of my adult life I've used that time of year to set goals for the coming year. It may sound like a fine line, but to me there's a big difference between saying "I resolve to..." and "This is the goal that I plan to achieve." One is about looking to the past and trying to do better through sheer will power; the other is about looking to the future and working to do good things through careful planning and thoughtful action. It's also different from what most people do because I make pretty specific statements rather than nebulous ideas. This isn't currently one of my goals, but for example, rather than say "I want to lose weight" I would say something like "I plan to lose at least x pounds". Both the planning and the specificity just work a lot better for me than the normal kind of resolutions.

The second thing I've done differently for many years is the timing of my goals. I used to do them at the beginning of the year just like most people, but I don't anymore. In 2006 I met a person who was to become a good friend. He's a very private person so I won't say much about him except to say that he had completely turned his life around a few years earlier, and the anniversary of his change was February 1. His story was extremely inspiring to me so, in order to honor it and him, I started making my new goals on that date too. I've done that ever since.

For several years, I published a blog post every February 1 giving a progress report on my previous year's goals and outlining my goals for the coming year. It's become such a tradition for me that several people will ask me about it during January, and this year was no exception. But I didn't do it this year.

It wasn't because I forgot or procrastinated or got lazy or gave up on it or anything like that. Believe me, I felt that day come and go and I thought about my goals a lot, but I just couldn't bring myself to publish a post. The reason was that I hadn't talked to my friend for several months and I missed him and it hurt too much to write the thing. There were several reasons that we hadn't talked, none of which had anything to do with any bad feelings between us. Some of the reasons were on my end and some were on his end, but the one that made it the most painful for me was that he was suffering through a bout of depression so deep that he couldn't even bring himself to communicate with anyone beyond the absolute necessity.

Fortunately, he finally found his way out of the worst of it, at least far enough that he can see a little light now, and we're talking again. But by the time that happened, February 1 had long since come and gone, so I figured it was too late for a post on this year's goals. I did intend to write a post explaining what had happened, but I haven't gotten around to it until now. So this is serving double duty. In addition to being my second post for the Introvert Social Hour, it's also an explanation to my friends about what happened this February. I hope you can all understand my feelings about it.

I did set my goals for 2013, though, even though I didn't post them, and I imagine you're probably curious to know what they were. That's understandable. I'll list them with minimal commentary for now, and then tell you more when I make my official goals post in February 2014. I hope everyone will stick around for that! With no further ado:

1. Get back to the Wellness Center (my local gym) regularly -- Not overly successful yet but there are pretty good reasons for it. Soon to be more successful if all goes according to plan.

2. 90% passing on TAKS, 70% on EOC -- This is state testing stuff. I had 100% pass last year, which is PHENOMENAL and just never happens, so I want to do at least reasonably well this year. The EOC is significantly harder than the TAKS. I won't know the results of either for several weeks.

3. Get the house deep down super clean -- It's reasonably clean but the plan was always to do the deep down stuff in the summer, so that hasn't happened yet.

4. Write at least 25 blog posts this year -- This one wasn't looking too good (though I was planning on writing a lot more during the summer to make it happen) but with this new project it'll be easy. At two per week for ISH plus all the normal ones I do, this will easily happen.

And that's about it. We'll see how it goes for the rest of the year!

For now, if you have questions or comments please feel free to leave them below. I'd love to hear from you! And if you're interested in such things you can also find me on Twitter.

Thanks again for reading! If you've somehow landed here from some other source and haven't seen the videos that go along with this post, they are:

Jill, Kristina, Cat (who's no longer on the channel), Frieda & Amy

And that's it from me on this Saturday. Best wishes! <3

Introvert Social Hour, An Introduction

tl;dr: Check the bold print.

 

Hi! Thanks for coming by to read my contribution to the Introvert Social Hour. You're probably wondering why I'm not making videos like the others. Unfortunately, I don't own a video camera and don't foresee getting one any time soon. But I enjoy the channel a lot and wanted to join in on the conversation, so Jill, Kristina, Frieda, and Amy were kind enough to let me try this unconventional "collab" method. We'll see how it goes!

Not only am I going to be participating in the channel, but I also wanted to go back and put in my two cents on all of the topics that have been discussed from the very beginning. So for now I'm going to be doing an old topic every Wednesday and the current topic every Saturday until I catch up. At that time, I'll continue doing the Saturday blogs and drop the Wednesday ones. That means that today's topic is the very first one that the group discussed at the beginning of the project: Introductions. This will be long because I want to give a well-rounded picture of who I am, but I'll try to keep it moving so it's not too boring.

So here we go!

 

My name is Edi and I live in a town of about 2000 people in the West Texas desert. The area where I live looks very much like something you would see in an old western movie: cactus, tumbleweed, sand, rattlesnakes, buzzards, cattle, oil wells, pickup trucks, and even bona fide cowboys in boots, hats, and giant belt buckles. My town's population actually hovered around 1500 for several years but the oil business is doing very well right now – we call that a "boom", or say that oil is "booming" – so lots of people are moving into the area to take advantage of the prosperous conditions and the town has grown by about 30% just in the past year or two.

I'm married but don't have any kids or pets. I live a pretty quiet life and am a very, very quiet person. I'm also very shy and it takes me quite a while to warm up to new people and situations. Once I know a person well and feel comfortable, I loosen up considerably, but even then I'm rarely what you'd normally call "talkative".

 I do talk all day at work, though, because I don't have a choice about it. I'm a high school science teacher. At the moment I'm only teaching chemistry and physics, but that's because we're switching chemistry from 11^th grade to 10^th, so I have all of both years, which doesn't leave much room in the schedule to teach anything else. I've taught both of those classes for many years, and I normally have others as well. Over the years I've taught biology, human anatomy and physiology, AP chemistry, an enrichment class for gifted students, and a science remediation class. I expect at minimum to have chemistry, AP chemistry, and physics from next year and on into the foreseeable future, and possibly some other stuff as well.

Like most good nerds, I'm very much into reading. I stick mostly with literary fiction and a little young adult fiction but I also get pretty strong doses of sci-fi/fantasy and nonfiction along the way, too. I also write a lot, and editing is the love of my life. There's a fair bit of my work on this blog, plus I have three books in the works (but not ready any time soon, so don't get too excited!), I stay busy with contracted freelance projects, and I'm also a writer/editor for the Crash Course channel on YouTube.

Speaking of YouTube, I'm a proud Nerdfighter since mid-2007 and my badge of honor is that John Green once called me a "hardcore Nerdfighter". Sadly, I was far too shy to interact with the community until early 2008 so I watched a lot of the early fun from the sidelines rather than getting involved, but since I finally opened up and started getting to know people it's been an even richer experience. The community has changed drastically in the past six years, and I'm unhappy about a lot of things that I see happening, but I still believe that the core ideas are good and right and I want to spend my life decreasing worldsuck and not forgetting to be awesome.

I love movies but because the nearest theatre or rental outlet of any kind is about 60 miles from me, and I don't have Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime, or any other such service, I don't see nearly as many as I'd like. (To be honest, I don't really have time to watch many movies, which is why I don't have Netflix, etc. I don't want to pay for something I won't use, and if I use it as much as I'd like I'd never get any work done.) I mostly love comedies and romantic comedies, but there are a lot of great dramas too. I don't like westerns or military/government/spy kind of stuff very much as a general rule, but other than that I'm not overly picky. I just like movies.

I rarely watch tv but I do watch AMC on most Sunday nights at 9 pm Central US time because that's when Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and The Walking Dead are on and I love love love those shows. The only other thing that I would watch if I could is Doctor Who, but I don't get BBC America so I have to watch that online. (Sorry, BBC. I'd pay for it if I could but I'm not gonna skip it just because I have no way to access it legally!) If I happen to turn on the tv at any other time, it'll almost always be for a movie or a comedy of some kind.

Music, oh man. I love music. I'm a rocker at heart but I love many styles of music, depending on my mood. You name it, I probably listen to it at one time or another, and the harder the beat the more likely I am to enjoy it most days. Just about the only style that I don't ever like much is modern country. I love country music from the 1920s through about the 1960s or so, including bluegrass, and even a little bit in the '70s and '80s was still good. But most of what's come out after the early '70s isn't even country, in my opinion. I always say it's just pop music with a steel guitar and a twangy voice thrown in, and these days I don't think they even bother with the steel guitar most of the time. It's not bad music; more power to you if you like it! It's just not my personal cup of tea.

I'm not an exercise-y kind of person at all, unfortunately. I hate to sweat and my philosophy is that if outside were really so great human society wouldn't have spent thousands of years perfecting inside. I love my air conditioner and I won't give it up without a fight! I do, however, LOVE to swim. That's the one place that I'll exercise until I'm exhausted and won't mind it a bit. I love everything about water -- drinking it, rain, swimming, boating, the sound and smell of the ocean, even showering -- you name it, if there's water involved, I'm in. And fortunately there's a very nice indoor pool at the (beautiful, grant-funded) Wellness Center in my town, so I spend a lot of time there.

I'm not an overly creative type but I do enjoy photography and drawing, and I flatter myself to think that I'm pretty good at both. I'm often told that I have a good eye for interior design and decoration, but I think that's all just a matter of taste. My style is "the sort of thing you'll like if you like that sort of thing".

I think that covers all the main bases about me for now. You'll obviously get to know me better as I write about more of the weekly topics, but if you have questions or comments please feel free to leave them below. I'd love to hear from you! And if you're interested in such things you can also find me on Twitter.

Thanks again for reading! If you've somehow landed here from some other source and haven't seen the videos that go along with this post, they can be found at:

Jill                    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4vCmgWP1h8

Kristina          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xKFp8O1Ksw

Cat, who's no longer on the channel       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8HXk6g8q5w
And Frieda     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8HXk6g8q5w

And that's it from me on this Wednesday. Best wishes! <3

How to Stop Whining and Learn Teens Are the Bomb

For several years, and especially since the publication of The Fault in Our Stars, author John Green has discussed over and over and over (to cite just a few examples) the failure of most adults to appreciate the intelligence and insight of teenagers. I agree wholeheartedly. Adults who do value teenagers' thoughts, ideas, and activities are clearly -- and unfortunately -- not the norm.

And that makes me wonder: Why do some see it when others don't? Why do a few adults respect and enjoy the teen mind while most see it, at best, as immature and vapid, and, at worst, as willfully ignorant or even malevolent? Maybe it comes naturally to a few, but most of us who value teens highly have been led to this vantage point largely by two factors.

First, we simply spend a lot of time with teens. John's work -- in his writing, on YouTube, and elsewhere -- more or less revolves around teens and their world and, as a high school teacher and a highly involved aunt of several teenagers, mine does too. We're both constantly surrounded by and communicating with teens. We not only hear about their ideas and stories, relationships and solitude, dreams and fears, joys and frustrations, loves and hates, creations and mistakes, triumphs and disappointments, but we are in actual, meaningful contact with those events.

This constant interaction allows us to see them at their worst, it's true, but it also showcases them at their best. We get to know them as a whole -- a beautiful, variegated, complex, sometimes frustrating but always exciting mass of humanity -- and, if we are very lucky, get to know a few of them as individuals too. We have the privilege of seeing both the diversity of the group and the individuality that is inherent to all of us. Only a person with an utterly closed mind could experience that kind of interaction day after day and not ultimately recognize the depth and beauty of the teen mind.

I would be both remiss and dishonest if I didn't concede that teenagers, on average, do and say stupid things more often than adults do. Of course they do! Certainly even the most intelligent teenager still has a lot to learn.  But we don't disparage all adults based on the immaturity or ignorance of some, or on the bad decisions of which all of us are occasionally guilty. Exposure to the sheer volume of teen interaction that people like John and I get makes it much harder to ignore the bright spark of adolescent intelligence simply because the dark side gets more press.

The second factor that's vital to appreciating teens is caring deeply and sincerely about them. Unfortunately, merely caring isn't enough to make us appreciate teens as we should. Many adults truly care about teens but don't fully understand them, causing the adult to view teenagers with more concern than admiration. Caring deeply and sincerely about teens can easily coexist with an attitude that brands them as dull, lazy, immoral, unethical, unintelligent, troublemakers who just need to be rescued from their own ignorance and lack of integrity. And yes, certainly some teens need to be rescued from various situations. But many others are smart, industrious, and motivated and it's disheartening when adults are blind to that fact.

In the end, the two factors affect us most strongly when they are hand in hand. If we interact frequently with teens but don't really care about them, we'll tend to fall back on stereotypes rather than take the time to see their true potential. And if we care about teens but don't have enough meaningful interaction with them to learn who they really are, our concern may take us only in negative directions. But if we truly care, and if we allow that to motivate us to spend lots of time getting to know the teens in our lives and interacting with them in ways that allow them to be who they really are, their value will become not only obvious but vitally important to us.

I'm fortunate enough to have teens in my life even outside of my work. My 19 year old niece has been one of my best and deepest friends for several years, and I'm very close to several of my nephews too. I also talk online to several teenagers and young adults that I've met through the Nerdfighter community and various extensions thereof. I am constantly amazed at the intelligence, insight, creativity, humor, kindness, generosity, and otherwise strong minds and characters that I see in the teens everywhere around me. I'm thankful for the opportunity to know so many wonderful teens and I feel sorry for people who either don't get that opportunity or don't care enough to take advantage of it.

Teenagers, take heart. Yes, many of us don't appreciate you as we should and I apologize on behalf of all adults for that lapse. But some of us know what you are and, more importantly, what you can be and we're cheering for you. You have our respect, our support, and our love. And as for you adults, get on the ball and start paying more attention to the teens around you! I can promise you won't regret it.