Miss me last Sunday? I tried! It was beautiful. It was one of my best rants. I was ranting about the right to vote and the new voter suppression laws some states are passing. You know how it is with rants. I was logical, eloquent and absolutely right! I went on for close to 300 words and when I was spent the computer decided to glitch out. Oh no! I did the right thing I pressed "save" throughout my rant and went back to my blog with confidence. But as fate would have it, it was still gone. After yelling at my Charrier Rosie (good thing she doesn't speak English) in copious amounts of profanity about the virtues of using a computer, I calmed down and walked away from it all. I just reached back into the ancient philosophies of Asia, Native American mysticism and primitivisim and meditated my over active adrenaline back into it's Confucius state of mind. So.....To summarize(which of course doesn't do it justice) I want to leave you with two points about participating in our style of democracy: If you don't vote I believe you have no right to complain and remember when you do vote, we get what we deserve. I wish I could take credit for those thoughts but in the name of the new buzz word "transparency" my college freshman speech class instructor was the first time I heard those thoughts. Obviously she had a profound influence on those early years. For that I want to thank her.
I am going to watch the Republican National Convention this week as it is the greatest resource for late night comedians. I on the other hand will have to go to my nearest Target store and buy a lot amount of Nerf toys to through at my expensive Japanese made flat screen tv. It will be somewhat to watching a NASCAR race for the crashes. Listening to the speeches that no one listens to while delegates party on the floor, watching idea log pundits pontificate their partisan views about one person, policy or political outcome and have it interspersed with commercials for Viagra and feminine hygiene products. It should be great fun as I do my bit to participate in this process buy abusing inanimate objects in my house. Good thing there is a gap until the Democratic Convention so I can build up my strength to do it all over again!
One last thing. Rest in piece Neil Armstrong. It is a shame most people do not appreciate how much the space program has contributed to our daily lives and that he was our "Christopher Columbus" and we seem to have forgotten that we need to continue to explore the Universe as a necessity to our survival economically, scientifically and culturally. Going backwards to the 50's and beyond is not an option.
Until next time, have a good week. Remember, school has started, so, slow down and watch out for the little ones.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Sunday, August 19, 2012
I'm angry and disappointed in my fellow Americans. Oh sure, there are those who I would normally be upset with. Those that carry signs "Get the Government out of my Medicare" or "God hates this or that" or the group of people who piclet funerals of fallen soldiers or victims of foul play that costs people their lives. No, I'm angry with a lot of other people h should know better. Let me start with what happened a few days ago.
I was browsing the internet via my facebook account and came upon a site that proposed to wish happy birthday to our President of the United States. Somthing simple, "Happy Birthday Mr. President" like Marilyn Monroe did to JFK. as I was going through the well wishers or what I thought would BE the well wishers I found the most vitrolic diatribes railing against Barak Obama as a person and certainly as th duely elected head of our nation.. And, I thought, how horrible for a man wh has a family with young children, a wife thea he is not afraid to smooch at a sports event or sing to in public, a human being with feelings, hopes and dreams, fears and trepidations, compassion and fearlessness, all those qualities that make us human. I thought, on the one day of the year that we all celebrate our birth, even those that don't like us at work sign that card that our colleagues who do put on the counter. They all wish us a good day, at least for that day anyway. But, no, not for some. Too many people took that opportunity to demonize the man, charge him with heinous crimes against society, question his patriotism and birth and faith. In the name of free speech I can see where there might be a place for that, but, not on his birthday card. Howwould they like it if on their birthday card people told them how terrible a person they were? Doesn't the right wing quote passages from the Judeao/Christian Bible that "Do unto others as you would have done unto you"? Would the like some of what they said on our President's Birthday card said about them?
Unfortunately made a comment sayinguch the same thing to the list of contributers. I also added tha even if you dissagreed with Obama and his policies he deserves ONE day that is free of critisism. One day out of the year that he can enjoy the messages of good will and celebrate his existance on this planet.
It is just to bad that so many of us fail in our ability to follow the teachings of those we profess to love and cherish; treating others like we would like to be treated, If you don't have anything nice to say about someone don't say it, loving thy neighbor, all those goals that everyone seems to say they want but fall far from getting.
So let me be one of the seemingly few that on the celebration of the day he entered this world, Happy Birthday Mr. President. I hope you have a great day because you deserve it.
I also want to congratulate all the athelets that are repesenting our nation during the Olympics in London on doing a terrific job. Whether you win gold or not I still think we are proud of all of you!
I was browsing the internet via my facebook account and came upon a site that proposed to wish happy birthday to our President of the United States. Somthing simple, "Happy Birthday Mr. President" like Marilyn Monroe did to JFK. as I was going through the well wishers or what I thought would BE the well wishers I found the most vitrolic diatribes railing against Barak Obama as a person and certainly as th duely elected head of our nation.. And, I thought, how horrible for a man wh has a family with young children, a wife thea he is not afraid to smooch at a sports event or sing to in public, a human being with feelings, hopes and dreams, fears and trepidations, compassion and fearlessness, all those qualities that make us human. I thought, on the one day of the year that we all celebrate our birth, even those that don't like us at work sign that card that our colleagues who do put on the counter. They all wish us a good day, at least for that day anyway. But, no, not for some. Too many people took that opportunity to demonize the man, charge him with heinous crimes against society, question his patriotism and birth and faith. In the name of free speech I can see where there might be a place for that, but, not on his birthday card. Howwould they like it if on their birthday card people told them how terrible a person they were? Doesn't the right wing quote passages from the Judeao/Christian Bible that "Do unto others as you would have done unto you"? Would the like some of what they said on our President's Birthday card said about them?
Unfortunately made a comment sayinguch the same thing to the list of contributers. I also added tha even if you dissagreed with Obama and his policies he deserves ONE day that is free of critisism. One day out of the year that he can enjoy the messages of good will and celebrate his existance on this planet.
It is just to bad that so many of us fail in our ability to follow the teachings of those we profess to love and cherish; treating others like we would like to be treated, If you don't have anything nice to say about someone don't say it, loving thy neighbor, all those goals that everyone seems to say they want but fall far from getting.
So let me be one of the seemingly few that on the celebration of the day he entered this world, Happy Birthday Mr. President. I hope you have a great day because you deserve it.
I also want to congratulate all the athelets that are repesenting our nation during the Olympics in London on doing a terrific job. Whether you win gold or not I still think we are proud of all of you!
Sunday, August 12, 2012
What Will I Do Now?
Sorry Blog Fans. got busy this morning and only got to this this evening. I am watching the closing ceremonies of the Summer Olympics and at this point enjoying the review of the highlights prior to seeing the replay of the closing. It all went too fast for me. I watched on my TV, Phone, my sons ipad and my wife's Nook. Listened on the radio and got continuous alerts as events finished and heats were completed. I heard interviews and special interest stories on the Today Show in the morning and suffered through spoiler alerts on the evening news. But, with all that I am sorry it's over. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the events unfold. Even Trampoline, Ribbon Gymnastics and Open Water Swimming had its exciting moments for me. The Olympics forced me to put "Call Me Maybe" on my ipod. Don't fret I will uncheck it after a few days, but, let it bring back those fun times watching Beach Volleyball and 100 meter fly and Dressage during these past 16 days for awhile.
Now, after the "games" are over what do I do? My hometown baseball team is fighting its' way to the cellar, reruns of Survivor Java doesn't interest me, CSI marathons have been so frequent that I have the dialog memorized for the last umpteen seasons as I watch the actors age from hairstyle to hairstyle, thin to heavy to thin again. Because I have polished my car so much the paint is rubbing off and even my cats and dog are tired of having me around. Target and Starbucks" entire staff greet me by my first name due to the frequency of my patronage. I've got 3 books started all at the same time, which is very confusing by the way, and the phrase "What are we going to have for dinner?" has been a phrase that neither my wife nor I want to explore even though it takes about a half hour to decide. McDonalds or jack in the Box, Rubios or Pick Up Stix, Corner Backery or Red Robin? All good places to eat, but even cooking at home, chicken or fish, turkey or, or, or. Chick-fil-la is a definite no and Ruth Chris as well.
With 8 days left of my vacation and work starting on August 20th I think I know what I will fill my time with. Anxiety, fret, planning, teaching, exhilaration, the madness of pushing teenagers to live up to their potential. To extolling the virtues of participating in the Arts and specifically Music on how it makes us human, increases our intelligence and keeps us engaged in our culture, the cultures of others and the history of the past while experimenting in the future. I will be filling my time thinking of ways to get teenagers to be creative, think outside "the Box" and be responsible citizens of our society. I will impress upon children to think of others and be compassionate hard working individuals and believe in themselves and their peers. I think that's some of what I will be doing and I think my wife will be glad just to get me out of the house.
And I was worried.
Now, after the "games" are over what do I do? My hometown baseball team is fighting its' way to the cellar, reruns of Survivor Java doesn't interest me, CSI marathons have been so frequent that I have the dialog memorized for the last umpteen seasons as I watch the actors age from hairstyle to hairstyle, thin to heavy to thin again. Because I have polished my car so much the paint is rubbing off and even my cats and dog are tired of having me around. Target and Starbucks" entire staff greet me by my first name due to the frequency of my patronage. I've got 3 books started all at the same time, which is very confusing by the way, and the phrase "What are we going to have for dinner?" has been a phrase that neither my wife nor I want to explore even though it takes about a half hour to decide. McDonalds or jack in the Box, Rubios or Pick Up Stix, Corner Backery or Red Robin? All good places to eat, but even cooking at home, chicken or fish, turkey or, or, or. Chick-fil-la is a definite no and Ruth Chris as well.
With 8 days left of my vacation and work starting on August 20th I think I know what I will fill my time with. Anxiety, fret, planning, teaching, exhilaration, the madness of pushing teenagers to live up to their potential. To extolling the virtues of participating in the Arts and specifically Music on how it makes us human, increases our intelligence and keeps us engaged in our culture, the cultures of others and the history of the past while experimenting in the future. I will be filling my time thinking of ways to get teenagers to be creative, think outside "the Box" and be responsible citizens of our society. I will impress upon children to think of others and be compassionate hard working individuals and believe in themselves and their peers. I think that's some of what I will be doing and I think my wife will be glad just to get me out of the house.
And I was worried.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
On The Lighter Side
This morning I thought about all the serious subjects I could write about. All those things I see on TV that could make me angry, the stuff on Facebook that seems petty and stupid. So, I started writing and as luck would have it my computer glitched out and I lost it all. I don't want to blame the programers who run this blog for problems, so I will take the heat myself for not pressing "save" throughout my thoughts.
Rather than re-write what I was saying that was earth shattering of course, I decided to broach another subject; my dog. Yes, Blog fans, this one is about my dog, Rosita. For those of you that do not have pets, you don't know what you are missing. Those early morning walks in freezing temperatures cheering on you dog to do its business so you can go back to bed or off to work on time. Those rainy days that your dog refuses to go out in and the hot concrete in the Summer that can burn the its pads so you must carry her/him to that special place only they know is perfect for that dribble of urine to leave or you know what else. I am lucky, our house has 3 cats and a chihuahua rat terrier mixe. I call her chirerrier. Her days are filled with 3 things, eat, sleep and harassing the cats. She rules our house with an iron fist, barking out orders(couldn't help the pun) like a drill Sargent with a southern accent. Leaving us with hours of confusion as to what she is trying to say; "feed me", "I want to play", "I need to go out", and "where are yo going?". I have to say after destroying our carpet(many of you know how hard it is to train a chihuahua), having to spend more money on doctor bills than I would on myself(she's allergic to everything), I wouldn't have it any other way.
What I get out of this is unconditional love, I get to have something so dependant on me that it enhances my sense of responsibility, I get to come home to someone so happy to see me that they are beside themselves and I get a protector who will alert me every time someone walks by my home, especially when I'm taking a nap as us old people tend to do. What I also get is a good listener when times are tough, an agreement on how to solve the problems of the world and someone who comforts me when I am sick. In fact she does all the things to both my wife and I. Neither of us can understand how some people could mistreat a creature like this. Research shows that those with pets are happier, live longer and are healthier. I guess I am going to live a long life. Rosita and her gang of cats are certainly making us happy. That's all I have to say.
Rather than re-write what I was saying that was earth shattering of course, I decided to broach another subject; my dog. Yes, Blog fans, this one is about my dog, Rosita. For those of you that do not have pets, you don't know what you are missing. Those early morning walks in freezing temperatures cheering on you dog to do its business so you can go back to bed or off to work on time. Those rainy days that your dog refuses to go out in and the hot concrete in the Summer that can burn the its pads so you must carry her/him to that special place only they know is perfect for that dribble of urine to leave or you know what else. I am lucky, our house has 3 cats and a chihuahua rat terrier mixe. I call her chirerrier. Her days are filled with 3 things, eat, sleep and harassing the cats. She rules our house with an iron fist, barking out orders(couldn't help the pun) like a drill Sargent with a southern accent. Leaving us with hours of confusion as to what she is trying to say; "feed me", "I want to play", "I need to go out", and "where are yo going?". I have to say after destroying our carpet(many of you know how hard it is to train a chihuahua), having to spend more money on doctor bills than I would on myself(she's allergic to everything), I wouldn't have it any other way.
What I get out of this is unconditional love, I get to have something so dependant on me that it enhances my sense of responsibility, I get to come home to someone so happy to see me that they are beside themselves and I get a protector who will alert me every time someone walks by my home, especially when I'm taking a nap as us old people tend to do. What I also get is a good listener when times are tough, an agreement on how to solve the problems of the world and someone who comforts me when I am sick. In fact she does all the things to both my wife and I. Neither of us can understand how some people could mistreat a creature like this. Research shows that those with pets are happier, live longer and are healthier. I guess I am going to live a long life. Rosita and her gang of cats are certainly making us happy. That's all I have to say.
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