What I learned in 2014

It is my opinion that we should all start change on our own schedule, not the one imposed upon us by random chance or the roll of the dice. Some things we can't control, and there will be some hard moments. But those things we can control, those we need to take a firm grasp upon and bend to our will. When I went back to school at the age when some of my contemporaries were trying to figure out how to send their progeny for the first time, I started a process of change. It's hasn't been a bed of roses, but now on the far side the daylight looks brighter than the sunshine I left behind.

Last year I begged you to go do something, so let me tell you what I did. I went out and
passed the Georgia bar. I started a book. (Okay, another book... seriously, I'm gonna finish one of these I swear. ) Went to a restaurant I read about. Upgraded some gear. Turned on the step counter on my phone. Saw someone I care a lot about that hadn't seen in a few years and had a good meal. I did a few things. Some small, some large. But it's not enough. Or rather, just doing a few things and stopping isn't enough. Small victories count to, and add up. It's about the accomplishment. Getting in the habit.

This year, like last, I ask you do something. Even if it feels unrelated to your ultimate goal. This is the
getting ready, the getting your mind right part of the success equation. Getting used to doing things. So do something. Read a book by a new author. Read a classic book. Cook something you've never tried. Take an spin class. Take a dance class. Go to a community meeting. Visit a museum. Eat only veggies for a week. Start saving for your dream trip. Start a workout program. Try a new style. Mix it up. Because far too often we get stuck in our comfort zone, not realizing that there is an even more comfortable spot just over the horizon. Don't just have a life, go live your life.

Remember what I said last year "It won't be easy. Change never is. And what you choose might not even be worth it. But it will be something, and if you start with something, then getting your thing just becomes a matter of redirecting your focus."

What did I learn in 2014?

All of reality is interpretation, just because it's your interpretation doesn't make it the definitive truth.

A job is great, but a job is not just a job.

I am in a desperate tortured love affair with sugar, and we need to break up.

Just because it's what I want doesn't mean that it's the best possible option.

Natural light can change your attitude about the world.

It need not be perfect, just take the shot and see what happens.

Conversations with myself need to be longer or shorter. The current length is unacceptable.

Comfort food doesn't take away the problem. Except bacon. This does not apply to bacon.

Try not to be just a supporting character in the story of your own life. 

Hanging on by the skin of your teeth is still hanging on.

Wisdom comes from experience, not age. Try to listen to people who've been where you are.

The things I treasure in life - love and affection - can't be earned.

Nothing motivates like ending up doing something you've got no business doing.

Family is family. Always respect that.

Use the stuff you were saving for a special occasion. Make the occasion, don't wait for it.

Life would be so much simpler if we all knew each others definition of love.

Weekend Recap

Ramblings Post #278
In respecting our elders, we listen to their stories and learn about a past that we have not been privy to, but whose existence shaped our lives. No, I'm not talking about real relevant history - civil rights marches and life in the long long ago, I'm talking about them "back in the day" stories where things got a little out of control and if the fence had been two inches higher you might not be here. And I recently realized I'm now telling those stories. 

Although I was figuring I would be home all weekend, people kept hitting me up screaming I need to roll out. So I put on my good shoes - the knit fabric ones with the slippery bottoms - and my going out uniform, the black mock turtleneck and suit jacket - and headed out. Thus, these occurred...

#1 - I went to a Christmas party, which now that I say it out loud is kinda sad. This shouldn't qualify as an announcement. I used to go to lots of Christmas parties, but I've been out of circulation for a minute and so my invite list is shorter than it used to be. Still, I saw some folks I haven't seen a minute and touched a few hands I needed to touch. I've begun my social life recovery may be a better way to put it.

#2 - The Cowboys win, and finally, it's not a win or go home situation at the end of the season. It's been a long hard road, many years of frustration, teeth gnashing and howls of disappointment. But even now, I can't really rest easy, because to get the monkey off our back the 'Boys need to win at least one playoff game. As it is, we can still win a bye for the first round, which is like an automatic playoff win. Whatever, I'm just glad we finally won. And yes, I said we. 

#3 - House parties have gotten smaller since last time I looked. Okay, admittedly, the house parties I used to attend had a few hundred folks, and most of the people didn't have children so the hang out was on maximum, so my opinion might be a little biased. But the house party I attended was in a one bedroom condo, half the size of the living room of my brother's house. Like tiny. Nice though, but tiny. Less than twenty people, five of whom were my group.

#4 - Changing a tire in the rain at three a.m. is just as bad an experience as you might imagine it is. And it wasn't even my tire. I got up out of my bed, drove a few miles and under the lights in a gas station parking lot (at least it wasn't on the side of the road) did a friend a favor because that's what friends do. In theory. I'm fairly certain if I asked for ruling I'd get granted an exception, but whatever.

#5 - Damn Steam sale. I wasn't even going to buy anything, until I clicked through and saw one of the games I've wanted for forever on sale for NINETY percent off! I don't even think the computer I have can play it. Who cares, it was NINETY percent off! I don't have a lot of mad money, but I'll just eat a candy bar for lunch one day next week, that's how cheap it was. Now, if I could just get Steam to sell cars and houses in Atlanta.

Next year, when the cotton is high, the living is easy and I've found a job that let's me use my new degree, I'll complete my transition back to the real world. But until then, I got chickens to pluck. Oh them chickens. I like to think that it won't be long now. I may have force myself to go a few steps further before things get better, but I've come this far so let's just roll the dice.

Barkeep, a tall ice water and lemon. But pour it low, I got a reputation.

About the Cowboys in December

Ramblings Post #277
Sport is visceral. You can apply with and wisdom to it, study it and dissect it, review and parse it out in the pieces which you imagine can be improved, but then you will miss the entire point. We feel sport. It can, for a distinct instant, focus the minds of millions on a single thought. Turn the meek into raging beasts. It is sport. And it is good.   

I have reached that point in the Cowboys season where my nerves get bad. Where I find myself yelling at the TV, wailing in agony at missed opportunities and sometimes turning the game off in frustration, only to turn it back on again a few minutes later and start the whole process over again. I can't eat, and definitely don't drink. It is something I am not proud of. It's why I prefer to watch the game alone, not even with other Cowboy fans.

And in the those situations where the Boys lose? I think by now even my mother has figured out to wait a few days before calling. And that the last few seasons have been marred by last game failures, I'm almost certain that my blood pressure could be fifteen to twenty points lower with a few more run calls.

So last night.

I'm supposed to have an earlier bedtime, so I'll use that as an excuse as to why I didn't watch the ending, but why I couldn't watch the start is another story.  I toyed around with the idea of actually watching the beginning, mildly superstitious and just a little scared of what might happen. This isn't the Cowboys of old, and by old I mean last season, but a new more balanced Cowboy attack. But still, after Thanksgiving I was wary. And I'm not one for excuses, extremely short week and immobile quarterback whatever.

So when I tuned in right before half and saw my Boys leading I was pleasantly surprised. And nervous enough to turn the TV right back off lest I jinx them. No, it makes no damn sense whatsoever, now shut up. And when I clicked the ESPN link...because I wasn't going to sit in the room with the TV and NOT watch, and saw that they were down, well, my heart sank.

I woke up this morning honestly, ready to read about how they couldn't quite pull it off. Oh, they'd get a drive in the closing minutes, start looking like world beaters, moving, grooving, flexing and all that, then just as the momentum was starting to peak, it would crumble. Think about the last three seasons before you wonder about my faith. 

But now, we just have to win out. Against an Indy team (sorry Sporty) that doesn't have much to play for and Washington team that with luck will play for a draft pick. And then the monkey that is the playoffs. I just need one win, but I'd prefer a SuperBowl.

Barkeep. You know what time it is.

Odd Quotes

Art from Mattahan

 "A soulmate is an ongoing connection with another individual that the soul picks up again in various times and places over lifetimes. We are attracted to another person at a soul level not because that person is our unique complement, but because by being with that individual, we are somehow provided with an impetus to become whole ourselves."
~ Edgar Cayce

Bucket List

Ramblings Post #275
First you gotta have a plan. A goal, a direction, a pathway, a notion of the destination. Populate it with milestones lest you get lost...or bored. Then start moving. Take a few minutes to enjoy the view and the journey. Don't be afraid to wander, but always get back to task in the end. And if you meet someone and it feels right, don't be afraid to make a new plan.

In Concert, boo-yah!

I have a bucket list. It's seventy five items long and I wrote it when I was in my early twenties I think. At least that's what the font looks like. 

More than a few of them seem silly now, the product of young mind who hadn't seen the world or really done anything. Others are strangely prescient of someone looking to experience all he could. Quite a few are existential. Some dangerous. And sadly, most of them are undone. This a sampling, I guess, of what I hope to achieve. I still got time. 

2. Publish a novel.

This one I'm closest to actually doing. My brother has published a collection of short stories that I still haven't read in their final form, but was privy to and occasional proofread for content before he put it out there. I on the other hand am determined to publish a novel...start, story arc, end. It need not be epic, or the great American story, but it needs to be complete. Like many things I get the impression that once I've finished the first one the others will be, well, the term easy is wrong, but just say less hard. I hope.

13. Learn to sail

Considering I'm not that big a fan of the water, that I actually want to learn to sail - or wanted to learn to sail at one time - is kind of amazing. Maybe it's that my life plan includes yachting, and I just don't want to get caught out there with no skills. I would blame it on my penchant for pirate movies, but this is way before my fascination with the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Still, want to sail.

31. Spend a week at the Smithsonian

I went to the Smithsonian as a child, and I remember getting there late and having to rush through the
exhibits. Back then I as enthralled by models - ship models, building models, etc, and I remember a few great ones flashing by. But this time when I go back, I want time. Lots of time, with like a little carry foot stool so if I spot something really good I can just sit down and gaze. And I figure the kind of attention I'm trying give could be squeezed into a week. Well, ten days really.

48. Be in concert

Now, I don't expect to play Wembley Stadium, or Radio City Music Hall, or even the County Fair, to be honest, but my goal is to be in concert somewhere, doing something. A comedy routine or actually learn an instrument I'm not sure, but true performance. Maybe I'll dance. I want to sell tickets, maybe golden tickets with holograms...maybe 20 and then have my show. Multimedia maybe. And One night only, like the Blues Brothers Rhythm and Blues Revue.

73. Drive across America

Not travel across America, DRIVE across America. And not one of those California turnaround empty highway at 3am doing praying the car stays in one piece situations either. I mean a long slow, meandering drive across the states, stopping at diners and dives, and roadside attractions and pulling over beside just gaze at the open countryside. The goal is to see America, not just pass it as I'm trying to get to my destination. Yes, it sounds old fashioned, but is that so wrong?

My advice? If you don't have a Bucket List, I suggest you make one. Let's just say that if I made one now, it would give me focus, if not clear out my thinking of all the trivial things and get my mind right for the future. What you feel you must do in this lifetime says a lot about you.

Barkeep, I don't have any drinks on my Bucket List I must try, so a sweet tea with lemon. Thanks.

Odd Quotes

One of the problems of being a dreamer, is that dreams rarely come true. One of the other problems with being a dreamer is that you just can't stop.
~ Me

A very good dog

Spice was a good dog.

She could run further than me. On a three mile run...well, run slash jog, um, slash walk and occasional stagger, she complained not at all, eager to get out in the sun. She was always happy to see me, and knew I was good for a spot right behind the ears rub. She had soulful eyes, that told a story and made one believe there was more to her than just a dog. I sat her more than few times, her and her friend and even when her master moved West, and then North, I had hoped to see her again. But, she was fifteen, which is up there in dog years.

Spice was good dog.

Odd Quotes

"One day she finally grasped that unexpected things were always going to happen in life. And with that she realized the only control she had was how she chose to handle them. So she made the decision to survive using courage, humor and grace. She was the queen of her own life, and the choice was hers."
~ Somewhere on the internet

The Black Panther....finally.

Ramblings Post #274
As a black nerd, yes they exist, I have learned a lot about how people view other people through fiction. Although derided as fantasy, the truth is when you put your imagination on display in a comic book or novel, you reveal a lot about yourself...and the society that you're holding a mirror up to. 

After years of speculation, er, hoping by black nerds everywhere, Marvel finally went ahead and made it official: The Black Panther is getting his own movie. It's a few years away, the end of 2017 - but I can go ahead and put it on my calender now. I also like how they're going to work him into the next Captain America movie...and provided I see the last one before then (come on, HBO!) and evaluate it properly I might have to increase my movie collection. But they'll need to show me something before I can add it alongside my James Bond, Pirates of the Caribbean or Cosby/Potiter collections.

The only other troubling part I had was the favorite for the role - Idris Elba - already exists in another role in the Marvel Movie Universe. Seriously, we fans have considered everyone for the role, including Will Smith, Morris Chestnut, Donald Glover and even Vin Diesel for some reason. And although I would have gone with Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 years a slave), Dijmon Hounsou or maybe even Colin Salmon (though he might be a bit old now), the selection of Chadwick Boseman isn't horrible. I would have preferred an English accent, but Boseman seems to be a flexible enough performer, but I think he'll need to put on some muscle and add some gravitas to play T'Challa. Here's to hoping they write the character as a multidimensional person with his own concerns and not just a caricature or an African version of Tony Stark. 

T'Challa:   And who do you think you are to give me ultimatums?
Tony Stark:   Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.
T'Challa:   *smirks* Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, legendary warrior and king of the most powerful and technologically advanced nation on earth.
Tony Stark:   . . .

It's become clearly evident that the Marvel Movie Universe is going to be drastically different than the Marvel Comic Universe, but then that's okay. Over at DC you have to remind yourself which Earth you on, so this is no biggie. Hopefully they'll also use Wakanda as the backdrop, and show it not as mud huts but just as it is in the comics.

Now, Marvel, when is Luke Cage getting his movie? Oh, he's an Avenger now, and Avengers get movies. And yes, ya'll done started something.

Barkeep. Champagne all around. The good stuff too, not that soda water.

And the Winner, by unanmious decision..

Let's just say here at the end, I'll appreciate what I've achieved because of the struggle it took to get here.

Ali. Victorious.

Yesterday at noon, my RP called and told me to check my damn score. He was a lot more interested in it than I was, me being more than content to wait until the list emerged at 4:30pm. Okay honestly I lacked confidence, after all I've been here before. But he was insistent, so I logged into the GA Bar Admissions website mentally prepared for bad news and already figuring out my finances to take the test yet again next summer.

Boom.

Passed. I think he hollered louder than I did. It's good to have folks who really care about you, and I had to fight to get off the phone so I could call my folks. Then I hit up Sporty, and then Spanky and the rest of my people.

Yesterday was a very good day. 

Things I meant to comment on...

Ramblings Post #273
I've been busy. Kinda busy. I have been working on things and but probably need to refine my schedule a great deal. In any case blog posts take time to craft. Sometimes days. These are still raw when I thin about it. But life keeps moving and I've been see-sawing between really busy...and really lazy. Job hunt, work on the novel, wash some clothes, nap, job hunt, etc,. But the world hasn't stopped for me, and I need to say a thing or two. Or five.

Canada

People are shooting in Canada now?  Do you even realize how wrong that even sounds? That it was a militant Islamist is even more disturbing. Quick note to the rest of Islam, the concept of "not snitching" or standing passively by while others wreck the very idea of what you stand for isn't a good look. I realize militants don't represent all of Islam, but the longer this festers the more this becomes...not a good look. On the upside, the Canadian press is glorifying the rescuers, not the attackers. Which may be the first time a national press has done it right. Take notes people.

Ebola

Since I didn't really plan on touching the bodily fluids of any other folks, I really wasn't too worried about catching this disease. AND, since most of the folks in the US who have caught the disease have pulled through, same sentiment. That we don't want to acknowledge the very real threat of climate change we see clear evidence of but will accept the hyperbole regarding a disease you have to be practically on top of someone to catch speaks volumes about perceptions. Volumes. 

Ferguson, MO

Considering that there is some validity to the old cliche that a district attorney could get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich, that idea that there are now emerging stories that all the eyewitnesses who've appeared agree with the officer's version is entirely believable. Baffles me, but I believe it. What truly amazes me about this are the lengths the local police force is going through to avoid a trial where both parties interests are represented. All that overtime for officers, equipment, grand jury time, etc. It would have been cheaper to just take him into custody, let him post bond and have an actual trial. Much cheaper. Especially since according to many we'd get the same result. Or would we?

Senate Races

I live in Georgia, and the insanity that I have seen makes me wonder what it's like in swing states. I weep for those people.

My Diet

I know I'm fat again. But there have been too many things in flux, too many uncertainties, and the comfort of chili dogs and french fries or Krispy Kreme doughnuts fills a void like no other. I got to get back on the horse, but now....we eat. 

Avengers Trailer

Still haven't seen the first one. Seriously. Why it can't pop up on HBO, or Showtime, or even FX which is where I saw Thor for the first time I have no idea. I realize it made a lot of money so it's final distribution channel was delayed, but it's been years now people. Years. Distribution to third or fourth markets cannot be problem now, can it? This, this right here, is why piracy exists.

Steve Nash

We who have passed the milestone know that 40 is not that old, but it's a little old to playing pro basketball. And since you hurt your back carrying luggage... *smh*. Dude, the term is broadcast booth, announcer, front office. You were a legend in your time. Your time has passed. Let it go. I'm still down for my Lakers though.

Barkeep, I need a Cosmopolitan. I used make them years ago, and it's been so long.

Spel-House Yeah!

Ramblings Post #272
So many glorious nights, so many beautiful faces, so many experiences that fill the book of life and make moments of memory the sweetest part of living. Or, you could live in Atlanta and you don't have time for memories, because it's just on like that.

As you may or may not know, I did not attend Morehouse University. And I guess it goes without saying I did not attend Spelman University. I think I visited once, but that's not important. With the annual FAMU game no longer a thing, the "one big party" thing that used to happen in Atlanta for what are normally considered "middle class" black people was relegated to just this affair: The Morehouse/Spelman homecoming. Maybe one other thing too, I've been out of the loop for a minute.

Note that I did not wake up on Saturday and go out there. Too much going on for me, poor old bones, wooo, a little pear tea before I get the vapors.

One of the great traditions of HBCUs are the homecoming events, which typically are affairs where the actual game is more a ritual than the main event and the majority of the alumni attendees treating it like a class reunion. You show up, catch up with old friends, go home. Or in the modern era, make plans on FB, show up, show off, go home, remove old friends from friends list. I didn't have the inclination to do that, because I really only kinda know them folks. But, since grown folks now tend to throw better parties, I was up for a little hangout on Friday night.

My RP hipped me a little drop in at a spot called the Negril Village a few blocks south of the Fox theater. The name through me, because most Jamaican eating spots are low-key affairs, and this weekend was supposed to be high tone. I was pleasantly surprised. Very upscale, all brick and dark wood with  a great looking bar area and what looked like comfy booths. The upstairs event space, where the function I was attending took place was nice as well, with it's own private bars. And it turned into a real get funky, sweat dripping, shake your booty party.

All the way turned up. All. The. Way.

At some point, perhaps unable to grab a drink, my fellow revelers decided to head north to Buckhead, and ended up at the Rose bar, which I remember as an old piano bar that was sitting right in the middle of everything but an odd place to end up. Well now, everyone's found it and it was jumping. I think they added a deck on the front - or maybe it's been there a while - and they took out the piano but it's still the little hideaway it's always been, now just turned up to 100. Very nice.

After playing Uber and dropping my folk off, I ended up at this place called Delia's Chicken Sausage Stand.  Please note, that until I walked in, I had never noticed the word "sausage" in the name. I usually pass it on North Ave headed someplace else, but instead of the long ride out to a Waffle House then back home, I decided to give it a go. They had a crowd, and if I can find something on the menu I like I'm going to drop in one night and just hang out, but the link chicken sausage wrapped in egg on a hoagie roll just didn't do it for me. Maybe I should have tried the sauce, or looked at something besides breakfast. It was interesting though.

And after my first night out in... I seriously have no idea, but it has to have been months, I kept in Saturday. I would have made biscuits, but something is wrong with my stove so I got to get that checked. In any case, it's nice to know that even as I've dropped below the radar that Atlanta is still out there, having a good time.

Barkeep, a nice glass of Chablis. And do you know if the drug store carries hair dye? No reason. For a friend.   

The House I Want (Part Three)

Planning for the Future Post #3
First you dream. Then you plan. Then you execute. Then repeat.

The kind of place you can pitch a tent...just because.

I want a big backyard. And God knows I never wanted to the cut grass when my folks used to make me - an all day job involving two hills, long thick grass that couldn't just be cut but required an angle technique, patience and repetition, in a space with a dearth of trees that under a South Carolina sun that brought back genetic memories of less than pleasant times. I'm sorry, I just had a flashback.

But I still want a yard. A big flat one, like billiard table flat. And a deck overlooking it. Where I can cook-out and have friends over. Where I put a garden, have sculptures and other things people might not believe I enjoy. Where I can sit on the back deck, with a cool drink on a summer's night and look up at the universe. And breathe. 

In my wildest imagination it's a city townhouse, I can buy the building behind it, tear it down and make myself a yard. But you know what would be really cool? Have a town-home, buy and tear down the building behind it. Build a bridge over the next street back, buy that townhouse and tear it down too. The backyard would be elevated, so I could have a two cool sub-basements on the back. Now that's how you dream!

I want a yard.

Getting out in the AM

Ramblings Post #270
It is said that you can't keep a true player down. When he falls off in one spot he just pops back again somewhere else, with brand new game and does it all over again. That might be Iceberg Slim or a seventies blaxplotation movie, I'm not sure. Or maybe a urban interpretation of Kipling. But since I consider myself a true player, FROM THE HIMALAYA, it's time for me to pop back somewhere with a new hustle.

I took this with phone. So attribution to me. Sucka!

This is not an ad for Starbucks, or an endorsement, but as a method of "re-acclimating myself with society" after accidentally turning myself into a hermit I've taken up residence at the local coffee establishment. And let me tell you, putting on pants daily is a wild experience! I'm kidding. But this does get me out of the house, up the street and into the company of other people trying to get their hustle on. After many, many years in a strictly office environment, the number of folks who have the freedom to wander in and pay four dollars for a cup of coffee in the middle of the morning is astounding. I shouldn't knock the hustle, but wow!

At 10:30 am the joint is packed, every table being used, every seat full, people standing at the counter, the drive thru humming. Yes, I realize most of you already know this happens, but I'm not a big coffee drinker. I actually use my coffee maker at home to make tea twice week. If I don't have a cuppa in the morning, I only lament wasting the coffee I've already purchased, scared it might grow stale. But my brother swears by Starbucks. I was considering getting a library card (and I still intend to get one) but this is more lively I must admit.

It is an interesting cross section of people. I've seen job interviews, business presentations and proposals, group meetings and seen people studying. One guy in the back has his own porcelain mug. The way one guy bobs his head in his headphones, I think he's mixing music, while others are just sitting and chatting or just checking email, folks reading the paper and maybe even plotting a coup in a unnamed Central American country. Or they could have been discussing a charity event, I'm not sure, it kinda loud in here. Young and old, sweater vest or baseball hat tipped to the side it seems like everyone comes to Starbucks. Maybe the library would have been better.

So, what's the point of this post? None, really. I haven't been posting in a minute, and since I'm now a "regular" I thought this would be nice filler. I do try to switch it up - some days morning, others its the afternoon. Sometimes a different Starbucks... and for the love of Georgia do not get their Sweet Tea. I just remembered that. They know coffee. Think about that for a minute.

They do play some nice jazz though.

Barkeep, no I don't want a double half caffeinated mocha latte frappa-whatever with a shot. Can I get just a coffee? Plain coffee.

He had a certain dignity. A certain bearing.

As the Mysterious Baron Samedi...

You have to be a certain age to appreciate he who was Geoffrey Holder. A tall imposing figure of a man, he sprang into existence in the greater cultural conscious as Baron Samedi in the classic James Bond film "Live and Let Die". He is actually the first movie henchman to not be killed, predating the legendary character Jaws by almost four years. I was mystified watching as the credits rolled and his very much alive figure straddled the front of the train that carried a triumphant Bond sped into the night...after Bond had supposedly killed him. Twice. 

Or if you're a bit younger you might remember him as the libertine art director in Eddie Murphy's also now classic opus to love "Boomerang." Holder's distinctive deep baritone voice, his interpretation of the words on paper to create the character of Nelson. The man in a few screen moments managed to portray an odd, educated yet wickedly perverse person, whom you knew you wanted to hang out with just ONE time so you could say you did it. Think about all the other characters in the film, wouldn't Nelson have been someone to follow into the night for drinks...just to see what would happen?
 

Geoffrey Holder - Actor.

But in reality he was a actor. A stage actor. Live theater. No retakes, just talent. Winner of Tonys. Revolutionary is how people have referred to him. And most of us were just amazed by the little we did see. Imagine had we been privy to it all. Mr. Holder, I wish there had been an opportunity to see more of your magic. But thanks just the same, for I am grateful for what I did receive. 

Odd Quotes

Photo from Somewhere. I wish I give it the proper credit.

 “Self-acceptance comes from meeting life's challenges vigorously. Don't numb yourself to your trials and difficulties, nor build mental walls to exclude pain from your life. You will find peace not by trying to escape your problems, but by confronting them courageously. You will find peace not in denial, but in victory.”
~ Swami Sivananda

Things I don't want to comment on

Ramblings Post #269
These topics keep either popping back up or begged for attention in the moment I just couldn't get to them. No matter how many times I nailed that door shut. By the way, me cleaning up my junk room was NOT one of the reasons I couldn't get to these, although it should have been. I'm coming for you room! I don't want to comment, but I am. Because sometimes you just need to mumble a bit and then stumble your way the bar and pretend you just arrived.

Sometimes, the hair on the back of your neck stands up, the sensation of uneasy fills in the bottom of your gut, your feet itch, a familiar sound or the movie cliche of decade - You've just got a bad feeling about this. None of your five senses registers it, but your brain suddenly suggests you probably should be somewhere else like, now. That's what my literary skills are doing right.

In between studying for another test to take I had been working on a project, a story that sprang up after a writing exercise, and then erroneously got into a online conversation with a black feminist which is a whole different story in and of itself, and so now I'm behind in my own personal schedule. But these are front page items that demand I say something. Well, not demand, more insist. And I am reluctantly. Even though I got a bad feeling about this.

ISIS (or whatever the new designation is)
My personal feeling is that we should leave it the Middle East constituency to handle this threat, the latest in a seemingly endless line of threats. Only our foreign policy has historically neutered all our allies except Israel, which is a whole other set of comments I have not desire to make. Has any one just tried offer them some pizza? I mean like real, real good pizza. Or nachos?

Ferguson, MO
I don't want to speak on Ferguson again because by now I thought it would be over. They arrested Zimmerman after a month, I mean really. And now because the Prosecutor has essentially told the grand jury to figure it out for yourselves, making no recommendation for a charge, this will only continue to get ugly. One can only hope at this point the Feds step in before this just gets too blatant. So, which rap star concerned citizen is going to stand out there for the voter registration drive?

Stuff Involving Celebrities or them being pregnant.
This isn't worth the time it took me to write this sentence.

Joan Rivers
She could be a bitter old lady, contentious and at times extremely nasty. But she paved the way for a whole lot of women comics to come behind her. While Lucy was family friendly and goofy, Joan let the ladies behind her talk about sex and sexuality, and stood shoulder to shoulder with her male contemporaries, true comic heavyweights. She might not have shared your views on the topics you deemed important, like feminism, so now after death you want to demonize her? Is that who we've become? Where some talk about being a feminist, she actually was one.

Ray Rice
As currently the only one acceptable way to talk about this issue is in trying to decide if Rice is evil personified, the personfication of evil or maybe a person of evilfication; and which NFL officer should commit hari-kari first for lying; or how the NFL now needs to give all it's profits to women in restitution, means I'm not going to discuss it here. I'm not going to defend Rice, what he did was wrong plain and simple, but there are too many other lessons here that the collective rage is missing and doesn't want to talk about because it provide less time to call Rice evil. Which is kinda sad. 

Barkeep. It's been a minute, hasn't it. A bourbon and sprite for old times sake. Three cubes.

The House I Want (Part Two)

Planning for the Future Post #2 

I couldn't find a picture of the room I'm describing, but I like this...

The house I want will have a library. Not just a bookshelf or two, but a library. A whole room dedicated to the idea of reading. I've gone to people's homes...people who have children...and seen nary a book or bookshelf. There are so many things wrong with that. Books allow hear the voices and ideas of those beyond our time, or to learn the thoughts of people on the other side of the world.  To not read,  ugh.

I'd like it to be a good sized room, with natural light if possible, with lots of wood in a burnished dark brown. Floor to ceiling bookshelves. A comfortable leather chair or two, with ottomans. Chairs big enough to curl up in and get lost in an adventure, or fall asleep in with book resting on your chest. A small book table or two. A little art. If there is room, maybe a bookshelf that hides a secret door that leads to a little room where I keep acrylic models of spaceships and 3D maps of places.  

No computer...that's a separate room, no stereo, just books. A place where you could sit down with a good book and get lost in your own mind.

Odd Quotes

Is the good life really that good?

 "Sometimes when people get what they want, they realize how limited their goals were."
~ Internet

How should the Simpsons end?

Ramblings Post #268
This question was posed to a group I write in/read/pretend I'm a part of, and the whole thing got me thinking. I gave a trite answer then, but I've put a little thought into after sitting through some old episodes during the FXX marathon which is over 10 days long. That's a lot of TV. One person in my group said when he started watching the Simpson's he was Bart's age, and now he's Homer's age. It's a cultural milestone, whether we like it on not. So, I put a little thought into it.  

From Fox, Hulu, the Internet and now FXX

Does, what has become the longest running scripted program on TV, finish out its days with a whimper or a bang? Is a Seinfeld ending, a MASH ending or a Sopranos ending? I stopped really watching the Simpson's ages ago, even before I went back to school in middle age. But they're still chugging along, episode after episode, adding breadth to the sad South Park truism "Simpsons did it!" to every idea that can be adapted to a visual medium and minting money as they go. Why end it? Why ever? Not until you absolutely have to.  

If it were up to me, it wouldn't cop out like Dexter or the extremely disappointing How I Met Your Mother finale/last season (so bad I can't even watch the reruns now), but would actually do something the show hasn't done yet...let the characters grow older. I think it should flash forward 15 years...and then they should do a whole last season at that point in time. It's just far enough in the future for things to have changed, but close enough for it to not to be that much. 

A new opening sequence based on the original should set the tone for the season in the first show, all the familiar characters who have evolved. Bart at community college, still writing on the chalk board before skateboarding home. Lisa in a Springfield U college group, listening to jazz on her phone before dancing away. Marge with Maggie at the supermarket, only now Maggie is grown with her own ear buds in.  Consider what new products they might put on the conveyor - which could worked in during the season. Finally Homer, still at the power plant, moving a bit slower. It all continues as normal with the couch gag, only now someone always falls off because the couch is now too small.

The season proceeds as normal, only everyone aged up. It's the near future, no flying cars or Mars colonies or aliens, just slightly more advance technology, except Mr. Burns who is still alive through the miracle of technology.

The characters are older, some fatter, some fitter, all having followed natural arcs. Moe finally found someone, but now wants to return to being single. Apu's kids now run the various Kwik-e-marts around town. Wiggum is still Police Chief, but now Ralph Wiggum is a deputy. Mayor Quimby is still mayor, just older, more corrupt, with Nelson as his young aide. Milhouse is at Springfield U, but still hangs out with Bart at the community college.  

And so it's different, but a closer look and it seems like nothing has changed - Homer is still the comic everyman wrestling with the same problems of being a good father, Bart is still a prankster and now slacker, Lisa still can't make friends even in college (she found out Springfield diplomas aren't really accepted anywhere), and Marge still frets about everyone. Throughout the season Maggie gets the classic just off-screen character treatment - the other characters talk about stuff Maggie has said or quote Maggie, but the audience never hears her speak, and extension of the joke from other in the future episodes.

During the last season, you have two or three episodes that are essentially repeats - copies of the old episodes word-for-word with the characters older, reacting slightly differently (or in Bart's case exactly the same showing that he hasn't grown up). Someone might even mention that the whole thing feels familiar. But now we get to experience the world with Lisa the frustrated intellectual in teenage/young adult situations, Bart a little edgier but still as silly. Maybe a whole episode of just missing hearing Maggie speak, or maybe even a whole episode in silence. The shift opens a whole new set of stories to complete and round out the characters. And as we get down the last ten or so shows, we wrap the lives of the prominent side characters.  

At the start of the last episode, the person who falls off gets up and suggests they get a new couch.

In the last episode Homer retires, Lisa gets engaged to Milhouse. Bart finds out his girlfriend is pregnant and finally feels he has to grow up, and just as Maggie walks into the kitchen and takes a deep breath to speak...the screen cuts to black. 

Okay, so I went with the Soprano's ending. Sue me.