Apparently Xanga has a new Featured Question um... feature.  I suppose it is designed for bad bloggers like me who never post.  Ironically, I was going to post something just now but I'll write about this instead.  How easily I am distracted.

I'm not sure if I can pinpoint a "favorite" childhood memory, but I figured I could at least share with you what my childhood was like.  I was born in Florida and lived there until I was five.  When I was in kindergarten my family moved to PA, and I've been here for the past twenty years.  The earliest years of my childhood were the strangest, so I'll just stick with those.

Here's what I remember most about living in Florida:  my dog, never wearing shoes, playing in the yard with minimal supervision, crab grass, a honeysuckle bush, and Disney World.  I grew up in Melbourne, which is on the east coast about 45 minutes south of Orlando.  Before I was born my parents owned a doberman pinscher (who had a Great Dane grandfather) named Schwartz.  That dog was my constant companion until I was 8 years old.  When my family tells stories about Little Hannah, Schwartz is almost always featured prominently.  And I remember playing with her more than any children.  That probably explains why I was such a strange, strange child.

I'm sure that this will not come as any sort of surprise, but I had something of a hyperactive imagination.  I enjoyed playing with dolls (Barbie, Strawberry Shortcake, My Little Ponies, and Rainbow Brite especially) or imaginary friends.  As much as I loved Schwartz, she wasn't very good at talking to me.  So I talked to myself.  (I was never very interested in my younger brother.  My parents had promised me a sister, but didn't deliver on it -- pun intended.  I don't think I started really paying any attention to Jeremiah until we started playing WoW together.  Last year.)  I doubt this is 100% accurate, but I feel like I spent most of my time playing in my yard.  Not with any toys, mind you.  I was content to pick the bark off of our paper birch, gather plant parts for "cooking", and talk to my dog and myself.  One day when I was peeling bark off of the birch I found a cockroach.  That was the end of that pastime.  I had no qualms about catching the lizards I'd find on our chainlink fence.  In fact, my father even took to calling me Lizzie Lizard.

I can also recall frequent trips to Disney World.  My family would stay at the campgrounds in our pop-up trailer.  Good god, how I hate that thing in retrospect.  The campground features sing-alongs and S'Mores.  I also remember Chip and Dale being there.  Of the parks, I can remember only somewhat.  A few months ago I posted the footage from the old Figment ride in EPCOT.  That is certainly my most vivid Disney memory.  I also remember my father training me to be the world's fiercest roller coaster enthusiast.  He used some strange trick of reverse psychology to get me to love them.  And I really did love roller coasters for a long time.  Now I'm old and enjoy them less because they mess with my equilibrium.  Anyway, for some people, going to Disney World is a huge deal.  For me, it was just about as standard as a trip to Piggly Wiggly.

I like being able to say that I grew up in the South, even if I have been a Yankee for most of my life.  Whenever I visit Florida, I can't help but see the flora and fauna (and various retail chains) that were unique to my childhood.  There really are a lot of differences between the North and the South, and I can't help but feel at home when I am in the latter.

What?  You want an actual memory?  Fine.  So, I can remember one day my mom told me we were going to go voting.  This was a new word for me, so I decided it was the same thing as boating.  (We had friends with a sailboat and went out on it fairly often.)  Imagine my surprise when we drove to the local elementary school to stand in a line.  We went into what looked like a dressing room, and my mom set to this voting thing.  I assumed that she was playing some sort of boating arcade game, because I still didn't see any boats.  Then I got yelled at for peeking under the partitions at the other "boaters."

I just answered this Featured Question, you can answer it too!

Google Maps is a wonderful tool.  It appreciates my skills as a creative navigator, which is why it allows me to chart my own course.

Most online mapping tools ask you for Point A and Point B.  They then give you what they deem to be the most efficient route (least amount of time and distance traveled -- usually this involves highways).  But I know that I don't usually follow their directions to get to the nearby highways.  No, no.  I have secret backroads.

Google Maps now lets me take their sage advice and sully it with my own experience as a driver.  I merely take the blue line which shows their route, and drop it onto the road I would take.  The Google Maps recalculates the journey (route, time, distance) using that path.

Dear God how I love it!  I have wasted hours trying to compare Google's directions to my own methods.  I am happy to report that the backroads do save time.  However, when I went to play with the directions from the U.S. to Ireland (which had you swim from Massachusetts to France) I found that Google finally fixed that little "bug".  A damn shame too, because I was itching to swim directly to Ireland rather than detouring through the Continent.  Oh well.

Anyway, I actually have an update on my life too.  I turned in my notice of resignation and my last day as a corporate drone (hopefully forever) will be July 27.  I feel like I don't really have any plans for what comes after that date, but when I tell people that I want to take some time to figure out what I'd prefer to be doing they all think that is a great plan.  How sad is it that people envy my decision to just pick up and leave, with no prospects to follow?  I'd like to question why they'd stay if they are also so unhappy, but I know that it is difficult to walk away from the trappings to stability.  Especially if you have a house or family.

But I suppose I'll find out whether this "plan" is a colossal mistake soon enough.  It'll be fun.

You may have heard that a group wants to have video game addiction classified as a psychiatric disorder.  Now, I don't mean to make light of what may be a serious medical condition, but I read the following AP article on MSNBC and am having a hard time swallowing this.  A few thoughts occurred to me when I read the article:

1.  Whoa, those kids are playing a Playstation.  Is life really that different in Des Plaines, IL?

2.  Some of the "telltale" signs of an addiction listed in the article and accompanying video (which is an awful piece of journalism and therefore begs to be viewed) seem like teens behaving badly to me.  If a teenager becomes angry when you take away his video game, it isn't necessarily an addiction.  Remember how as a toddler he pitched a fit when you confiscated his toys?  Well, he's doing it again now.

3.  WoW has become the new D&D -- on so many levels.

4.  One mother states that her son's behavior towards video games reminded her of her alcoholic father.  To me, this would indicate that they family is inclined towards addictive behaviors and that the substance of choice is not the culprit.

5.  Internal debate:
How is a video game addiction different from alcoholism or an addiction to nicotine?
Alcohol and nicotine affect chemical changes in the body.
Well, maybe the video games are doing the same thing here.  Perhaps these players are addicted to the rush they get from the game.
But if we say that people can be addicted to video games, where then do we draw the line?  I have pulled all-nighters reading books.  Am I addicted to books?  Can I be diagnosed with a reading addiction.
Yes, you probably could.  I've seen how you read.
Could I use this to my advantage?  Can I go home sick with reading addiction?

6.  Where the hell are these parents?  One mother has sent her son to an expensive boarding school because she was convinced her son was addicted to video games.  Why waste all that money?  Just take away, or limit, his game usage at home.  He swears at you?  Well then, you might consider something we call "discipline."

One young boy plays video games for long periods of time -- so why don't his parents stop him?  (Incidentally, I don't think that playing video games for 12 hours straight is that awful.  But... maybe that says something about me.)

Other patients hadn't showered or done their homework.  Again... where are the parents?  Sure, even teens need to have some accountability and should know to bathe.  But if they neglect this, then maybe the 'rents should step in and talk about hygiene.

7.  Which comes first?  The excessive video gaming, or the depression?  Is this child depressed and considering suicide because WoW has isolated him from human interaction?  Or is he trying to escape his personal suffering by delving (perhaps too deeply) in an engrossing fantasy world?

8.  This bears repeating:  If we start with video games, then where will this end?  Will we start telling young girls that they are addicted to texting?  What about television and music?  Should addictions to those also be classified?  I won't rule out the possibility that individuals may have "addictive personalities" and might abuse video games.  But I think that an official video game addiction diagnosis would be an incredible waste of time of the medical community -- and it might deprive others of the medical attention they need.  Instead, parents need to become more aware of the habits of their children.  They need to teach their children that all things must be taken in moderation.

But, what do I know?  Those are just my gut reactions to the article and video I watched.  Seriously, though:  That video is awful.

I wear many hats at work.  I proofread, I lead meetings, I negotiate with clients.  And I have to wear my best friend and daughter hats while I'm at work too.  Therefore, this morning I was also consulted about upcoming MMO's (about which I know nothing, quite sadly) and local Chinese buffets (about which I know too much, quite sadly).

Clearly, I need to work "go-to" person into my resume.