5 Words to eliminate from your vocabulary in 2016

Life is one beautiful trip

My work as a writer and editor causes me to read a sizable amount of content on a daily basis. Massive volume, really. News, social media, web content, curriculum, fiction. In the process of consuming such large amounts of information, there are words that surface frequently that are misused, overused, and generally misunderstood. It was quite a challenge limiting this list to just five items, which is why there are nine. Below is my suggestion, as the well-read, erudite, startlingly modest word generator that I am, for elimination from the 2016 English lexicon.

hack–Life hack. Cooking hack. Parenting hack is the absolute worst. Hack traditionally means to cut something up rather savagely. Eviscerate it. It is a hostile word. Replace it with the word “skill,” “shortcut,” or even “trick.” And for goodness sake, quite chopping up perfectly good cupcakes.

pivot–used in business. “We decided to pivot,” means we screwed up, had no idea what we were doing and realized we better try something else. “Strategic pivot,” means we really blew a lot of money before we discovered we had made a huge mistake.

curate–No. Pulling something off the metal hangar in your closet does not mean that you are “curating” your wardrobe. Curate is being used to describe republishing somebody else’s content and not creating any of your own, This is not a skill or talent, unless you work in a museum.

hbd–Oh my gosh, what an insult. If someone can’t take the nano-second required to type out Happy Birthday, then how sincere are they? Why have they even bothered? Not one of my friends has ever sent me an HBD, which out of context, sounds a lot like a disease.

Bitch-Quit calling each other Bitch. It is not a compliment. It is vulgar. It does not reflect feminine solidarity. If we don’t respect each other, how can we expect pay equity?

foodie– Oh yippee, you have enough disposable income to eat out a lot and buy organic produce that you probably don’t know how to cook. You use knowledge of food trends as a social status. You spend more time photographing your food than eating it.

hashtag–actually speaking the word in a sentence – “Oh, I hashtag love it. Hashtag incredible. Hashtag, the cutest. In a society in which we reduce entire sentences to a few letters, adding meaningless, unnecessary syllables lacks all logic.

bandwidth–“Maggie, I know your department’s bandwidth is really stretched right now, but do you think you can help us out with this?” The true meaning of bandwidth is transmission capacity. It does not refer to human beings. People. And by “stretching my bandwidth,” I know you really mean that you would like the already overworked, underpaid humans to work even more overtime to meet your unreasonable deadline.

American– What you really are trying to describe is a resident of the United States. It is self-centered, to constantly speak for Canada, Mexico, and Costa Rica. North America is made up of 23 countries. South America is comprised of 12 countries. Central America, 7 countries. Politicians are especially guilty of this. Donald Trump’s ubiquitous trucker hat is emblazoned with “Make America Great Again.” If you really wanted to make America great, you probably wouldn’t build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico, thereby dividing two American countries.

Bad ham and iffy cheese. What I am learning on the road

Life is one beautiful trip

Aside from the touristy experience of traveling, there are lessons learned, personal revelations, spiritual awakenings, and a bunch of other warm and fuzzy stuff. I've held on to this post for several weeks, waiting to see if I would add or edit anything. My most recent excursions have been local, but no less fascinating. What is a block away from your own home, is a world away from someone's else and an exciting destination. At least it is when you live in Charleston, SC, my new hometown.

Traveling with a good friend is a gift. How rare it is to get along so well with another human being that you can spend every minute of an entire week together and not get on each other's nerves? Joelle and I didn't turn on the radio once. We talked for a week straight without even realizing it. Experiences are enhanced when shared with another person. 

Out take

Give up the control issues. Screw the spreadsheets. The entire cross-country excursion made without one reservation. There were some things we didn't do (like get a really great tent spot in Sedona), but without reservations, you are given the opportunity to try something new. We wound up in a hotel with a breathtaking sunrise view and 24 hour coffee. Access to coffee is a very big deal to me.

Traveling with a dog is a loving experience. Yes, there are a number of places that don't allow dogs – some hotels and restaurants, national park cabins, and oddly enough the Church of St. Francis of Assisi. Mostly, traveling with Scooter is a golden key into pretty much everywhere. People oohed and ahhed and invited us in. Businesses are becoming more dog friendly and many restaurants have outdoor seating and welcome pets, even cater to them. Wait staff is always helpful, bringing Scooter a bowl of water and doggie treats. 

A dog is a conversation starter. We rarely walked more than a block's distance without someone stopping to talk to Scooter, ask his breed, and most importantly, share their own dog stories. I especially enjoy talking with senior citizens. Many of them can no longer care for pets, and a few minutes petting Scooter makes them happy and gives them an opportunity to reminisce about the dogs they have loved. 

A dog is a safety measure. I was not fearful for one moment during the trip. Scooter, even at 6 pounds is one great guard dog. He alerts me to other animals (no sign of bears of rattlesnakes) when we are hiking/camping. He also alerts me to anyone outside of a hotel room door, or our car when parked. 

Plus, Scooter is a great listener!

Being outside reminds you of what is real. Feeling the sun, the wind, cool air blowing over your face, and the warmth of the earth radiating through the bottom of the tent. Laying on top of a mountain, catching site of a roadrunner, seeing your first tumbleweed. The earth is Mother Nature's theme park and cathedral. There is no piece of art, no man-made attraction that will ever come close to the exquisite beauty and perfection of nature. 

Mother Nature, the first Impressionist

Camping is not spontaneous. But it's worth the hassle. I am very picky about where I choose to sleep. A number of places that advertise camping sites are crowded with giant RVs, close to the road, and in very unattractive areas. Those places are worse than a cheap motel. Plus, they don't feel very safe. I like to arrive while there is still plenty of light to check out the available spots ahead of time. My criteria for a good location is to wake up in a beautiful, peaceful place. Come prepared with everything you need. One night we opted out of camping for this reason. Joelle asked if we should cruise the campground, and I asked what food we had left in the cooler. Her response was, "some bad ham and iffy cheese." We didn't have enough daylight left to restock.

Peeing in the woods is really no big deal.

Reading other people's blogs is inspiring and helpful. This is a good way to discover cool places to visit and beautiful spots to hike and camp. Look at the photos others have taken. They are so much more honest than any advertising. 

Being alone isn't the worst thing in the world. But it isn't always easy. There are times when I wish I could turn to someone and say, "Did you see that?" Being alone gives you the opportunity to discern the difference between your own thoughts and the opinions of others. The most frequently asked question I receive about traveling alone is, "were you afraid?"

No, I was not afraid at any point, even the night the stranger called my room. Not even the night I was pretty sure there was a bear nearby. 

The best coffee in the world comes from my red percolator, made on top of the camp stove, and drunk outside as the sun rises.

Steamy goodness

Wandering down alleys

Life is one beautiful trip

My sidekick (Scooter, who else?) and I took off this morning in search of Christmas decorations. Very few were to be found. Wrong neighborhoods? Stick in the mud homeowners? No idea. But in my never-ending quest to take all interesting turns, down every possible side street, we found these glorious images. 

Who took so much time to paint the walls in alleys?

On the outside, looking out

What do they mean?  



This is art at its best, no one telling us about the Freudian symbolism or how we are supposed to interpret the juxtaposition, or if the model was the artist's mistress. 



When we don't know, have no preconceived notions, we can project any meaning we like. We can look at the images over and over, see and feel something different every time. It's not at all like watching a repeat of a sitcom, with a built-in laugh track, and we know the outcome.
















Today's trip made me so happy. I really needed color and silliness and rampant creativity. 

Today's tune
I've been dancing in the kitchen to this. Hope the neighbors can't see through the windows.

Shiny, happy people – R.E.M.



Today's Gratitude

my lack of maturity
my tiny feet
lower gas prices
Griffin, always