I've thought over the years that I should write my own personal manifesto.  A statement of what I believe.  Why not put it on a blog, see if anyone else out there agrees -- or cares!  I have lots of opinions.  Some are about important things, some aren't.  And I reserve the right to change my mind as time goes on.  Actually, that's something I believe in!  So here goes:

• I believe in moderation in most things.  Now I realize that is a pretty subjective thing, but there is a lot of extreme stuff going on in this world today, and I do my best to try to avoid it.  For instance, I like cats, but I don't have 23 of them.
• A corollary to the previous belief is that I really don't like to spend money that I don't have.  I realize that this makes me quite unfashionable these days.  Don't get me wrong, a mortgage or a car payment is not a bad thing.  You can hardly live the American dream these days without these kinds of loans (assuming you haven't fallen into the sub-prime trap), but I'm talking about running up charge accounts for everyday stuff.  I'm glad I'm not in a position where I don't have to do that, and I don't plan on putting myself in one.  My question is why does our government think that is such a hot idea?  Cut income (tax revenue) and increase spending.  If the everyday consumer does that, they end up in bankruptcy court.  So the politicians fight over stem cells, the war, and gay marriage - while they continue to spend money they don't have.  Does this make sense?
• The previous discussion reminds me that I definitely believe in comfort food.  Preferably macaroni and cheese.  Not necessarily in moderation.  I recommend Trader Joe's frozen variety.
• As I previously alluded to, I believe in the right to change my opinion on any matter at any time.  Also, I respect the right of anyone else to change their opinion.  However, there are limits to this.  Don't be flopping back and forth from day to day on me.  What I'm talking about is changing your mind after gathering more information and becoming better informed about a topic, thus coming to a different conclusion.  What I don't like are people who make up their minds and simply can't change even when new information is presented that obviously discredits their previous point of view.  Makes me crazy.
• I guess this can also be a statement of what I don't believe in.  I don't have a particular religious belief.  And I would appreciate it if you would keep yours to yourself.  I believe we all have a right to believe whatever we want, but let's all play nicely together and live and let live.  I'm amazed at how many people are hurt and outright killed in the name of religion.  I have to admit I am fascinated by various religions and have studied many of them, but don't practice any.  I've tried a few, but wasn't any good at them and gave them up for Lent.

That's all I can think of right now, but I think this will get larger as time goes on.  Until then...