First Off

First off,
"first off" is a very peculiar way to begin a list. First off of what? I'm curious as to the origins of that phrase.

Secondly,
I just happened to notice that I blogged 11 times in November. Take a moment to soak in this unplanned awesomeness. 11 posts in the month of 11 in the year of '11.

Third,
yes, this list is breaking the grammatical law of parallelism. To those who noticed: have you ever heard that variety is the spice of life? To those who didn't notice: don't worry 'bout it.

Finally,

if you have never visited thedoghousediaries.com, you should. 
http://thedoghousediaries.com/2632


P.S.
Charles Bukowski's poem "Be Kind" was not at all what I expected it to be, based on the title. But I liked it.


"we are always asked
to understand the other person's
viewpoint
no matter how
out-dated
foolish or
obnoxious.


one is asked
to view
their total error
their life-waste
with
kindliness,
especially if they are
aged.


but age is the total
of our doing.
they have aged badly
because they have
lived 
out of focus,
they have refused to
see.


not their fault?


whose fault?
mine?


I am asked to hide
my viewpoint
from them
for fear of their
fear.


age is no crime


but the shame
of a deliberately
wasted life


among so many
deliberately
wasted
lives


is."


Wow, eh? 
(Tangent: sometimes people age badly for other reason than living their lives out of focus. Alzheimer's is what came to my mind.)
I think...hmmm. I think if we take this poem and use it as an excuse to judge others, we're no better off.
But it was a good reminder to me that, while we should try to respect other people and where they are coming from, that does not give us an excuse to stop striving to align ourselves with high ideals and morals.


:)