Neologisms: punbits

Rapid-fire or staccato puns or one-liners, ideally expressed by a cross between a pundit and a standup comedian.

Email: Grumbling vs. change [EH]

Moses put up with 40 years of grumbling, so I guess [one year i]s still progress, right? Seriously, no one wants to be around a grumbler -- friends and acquaintances just drift away rather than continue with such toxic behavior. Grumbling is different from people who have constructive criticisms and who do something to solve a problem. Grumbling means always complaining, only complaining, and never doing anything to change or make one's life better. Change is the key to a healthy attitude and a happy life. The moment when anyone stops being open to change [for the better] is the moment their life begins a long downhill slide.

Email: Consider the lilies [EH]

My point is not that you shouldn't have feelings, however, to have intense feelings in reaction to things never said, or needless reactions to things that could be seen in a less tragic or hopeless way -- there is a better way. There is always hope. (Jesus said [so].) There are options. It is your choice what to believe and how to act -- but if two people are in the same circumstances and one is happier (more well-adjusted) than the other, perhaps the latter can learn something by considering the path of the former -- as what one believes and how one acts is vital to one's happiness.

Email: In retrospect [EH]

I first heard the shell [beachcombing] metaphor at a Catholic prayer meeting 30 years ago and it has stuck with me ever since. Every woman who does not marry the first man she meets (never a good idea anyway) gets set down again [and men get set down by women too]! Most people will get set down many dozens of times before they are selected, for a date or anything, much less marriage. So you would rather never be considered for love, much less never have loved, than to have loved and lost even once? Bottom line: It is best to draw life lessons reflectively not emotionally, and always positively rather than negatively -- in response rather than in reaction.

Email: Charismatic Catholics [EH]

The grassroots Catholic charismatic movement is all right but some end up using it to be divisive, believing their "full Gospel" (as the Assemblies of God people call Pentecostalism) or "spirit-filled" approach to be better than conventional churchgoing as the rest of Christianity knows it.

Email: Fake cheese [EH]

[Besides blue-box mac-and-cheese mix, isn't Velveeta] all chemicals too? I've made Pace and Velveeta dip from a recipe but I can't stomach the stuff, it's too much like (OK, it is) tasteless sludge (compared to real cheese or queso and fresh ingredients anyway).

Email: Real vs. virtual [EH]

No profession of love should be believed from a guy who has never met you. (In fact, that would be a sure sign he is a whack job.) Think about how long it takes to develop a real and true relationship in person, then use that to discern what is real or not real in a virtual acquaintance.