A SOCIETY WITHOUT MONEY? It Could Happen!

THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL: I've wondered about this topic once in a while. There's a whole lotta plastic cards out there these days, and I've often thought that one of these days, there might be no more Paper Money (and coins, for that matter), because it won't be needed. And the Debit card is mighty, mighty handy. I fell into a sort of rhythm the last couple of weeks, paying bills, buying stuff, going to restaurants and just living life. I've had no cash in my possession for the last two weeks now. Swipe the card here, swipe the card there, heck, swipe yer way through life, for that matter. Why I've not used the card for all my purchases before, I don't know. I'm not saying I'm going to keep doing this, but who knows?

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It's been said before, in forums much more educational than this one, that Money is the source of Germs. Look at that $10-dollar-bill you've got there. YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE IT'S BEEN! And does that make you feel kinda queasy when dealing with Paper Money? There's a new one for the compulsive-obsessors. Dinerophobia (fear of currency). Or, it could turn into a new mental crisis. Just think: Something Else to get uptight over. One day, you'll need actual money for something! Noooooo! I don't want to handle Dirty Money!  Soon, we'll have a world with no more tills! No more making change! No more coin slots in newspaper machines. No more dropped pennies to be found in Parking Lots or anywhere else. No more coins ending up in the washing machine! "Buddy, Can You Spare A Dime?" "Huh...? What's a dime?" (obviously that last one won't happen for decades, but ya never know...) Perhaps someone's grandkid will one day ask you, "gee, you actually remember when people used to use Real Money?"

                                                                                                                                                                                                           ? SHOULD WE HAVE SEEN THIS COMING? Whitney Houston, gone just like that? Whoa. There are a whole lot of female singers today, who over-emote, have no sense of dynamics (loud vs. soft), and who'll sing anything they're given, because after all, looks and image are most important these days, and all these female singers have to do is YELL, as long as it's in key. It's a HIT! Maybe that's not so important though, because modern technology has come up with a device that can raise or lower the singer's key without cutting into the amount of time the singer happens to hold that particular note. Instant Repair for being off-key! Okay, I'm not really that ignorant. It takes talent to hit the charts, and sometimes it takes more energy to keep it all together once Fame is Achieved.

I'll admit I didn't see this one coming. There were drugs. Parties. Relationship problems. And maybe she'd been out of the spotlight for so long that perhaps she was forgotten about, what with new chanteuses popping up weekly, perhaps daily. A whole lot of female singers in the plastic world of electro-pop should humble themselves and give thanks that Whitney Houston blazed the trail for them all. She had a great voice...sometimes too great (ouch, my ears), and pretty much sang dumb songs, one of which contained this over-the-top yearning: "I Wanna Dance With Someone Who Loves Me" Huh??? Are you KIDDING? How does one know in advance if the person "Loves" them enough to dance with them?  Of course, I may be reading this all wrong, but it's not like every couple who dances falls in love with each other! But I suppose society works differently these days. I'm a social dud, what can I say...lookin' for love on the Dance Floor? And how sad is that?

Back to Whitney's dance song, I used to play that record on the radio, and it was a good tune, in that it was upbeat, and it was easy to tell she was having a good time singing it even if the idea behind the lyrics fell out of the starting gate. Not all songwriters are geniuses, obviously. Her voice had power; she could out-siren a fire truck! Trouble is, on that song, she sang Full-Speed-Ahead without any concern for dynamics. (To keep listeners from thinking, "Gee, this is dumb song?") I keep going back to her first big song, "Savin' All My Love For You", and there she was, singin' and croonin' that song with results on a level comparable with the best of any female singer over the last few generations. She sings softly...then she asserts herself and bites into a phrase here and there...alternating her phrasing, loudly, softly, loudly, softly...thaaat's how it's done. She had pure, raw talent. It's always sad to see someone flame out too soon. She coulda been one of the greats. Maybe she already was.

Finally, I want to congratulate BLOGGER.COM  for having come up with an ultra-complicated photo tool that enables a person put a photo/photos into their blog. It doesn't take long to type one of these dumb entries; it's wrestling with the photos that takes up time here! I can easily double my posting time if I'm using photos in my blog. Come on, you "blogger-dot-com" people. Get with it! Make this thing easier to use! Is that too much to ask? You might've noticed all the copy in the first part of this post turned out "centered". Another blogger-dot-com screwup.