Vain and Bitter

Are you a glass half full kind of person, or half empty; or do you see the glass shattering and sending shards into your eyes? Maybe before it's too late, you should stop looking at glasses.

This thought was occasioned by Kay Fanning's Alaska Story that I started last night. She was the publisher of the Anchorage Daily News in the 60's and 70's. She died before finishing her memoir, but her daughter Katherine Field Stephan solicited personal stories from people who knew her well to round out the book. I attended high school with Kathy, as we knew her then. Her older brother, Ted, was there as well. In my mind today, I made a table (it was easier in my mind because I didn't have to use HTML). It looked something like this.

Kathy	Me
Inducted Into Honor Society at East High	Attended East High
Attended Smith College	Dropped out of Anchorage Community College
Grew Up in Prestigious College Village Subdivision	Deliver Mail in Prestigious College Village Subdivision

In my mind it was a little longer, funnier and had a pale yellow background.

Anyway, dwelling on someone else's talent and success is not particularly healthy
As the Desiderata (a poem cheesy enough to have been written by Rod Mckuen) says

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

So, just a final thought here, mostly because I can't make the block quote end without it; no, wait, that was all.