Tragedy

So there will be commentary all around and of every kind.  Gun control, lock the schools down, home school our kids, Christian, atheist Mayan prophecy.  In the end, there is one true thing that is at the core of tragedies like we experienced today:  the true danger and fright that lives with us day in and day out is not that our society is going to crap, not that guns are killing people, not that non Christians are filling the world, not that fanatic Muslims are attacking conservative Muslims and others: it’s that any one of us is a physical being that can have whatever the break point is in our brains that will cause us to do something out of our control and it can happen at any time.

It’s the same thing with suicide.  Everyone says I could never do that.  Guess what, till the time comes to your breaking point you don’t know.  Till the time comes to when you are no longer in control of your faculties YOU DON’T KNOW!  

Given that, what is it we can do that can keep our children safe?  There are precautions.  But there is an underlying thing associated with man that we see mirrored in our closest friends to us and it is to their fault.  I may seem rambling here but I have thought this way all of my life.  The dog.  A dog trusts us to no end and even when it is beaten down and been scared to death perpetually over time, it still has hope that this man that has treated it so woefully all these years is this time, going to be nice.  That heart that looks for the inner peace that is in every being.  Yet the problem still exist that we are physical human beings with the possibility of having a physical ailment that will cloud our judgment to whatever extremes our minds can imagine.

So do we shelter our children and ourselves so we don’t enjoy the world that is around us?  Do we coddle and hold them in and ban all forms of weaponry and begin using only sporks in our homes where the sale of a sharpened instrument is illegal?  OF COURSE NOT.

Yet a tragedy like this brings out the protector and astonished fervent human looking to make anything better than it is right now and safer!  

So I ask you, whether you believe in God, Allah, Buddha or no one, do these events demand of us a dedication to the things we cherish and some times take for granted?  I think they do.  I don’t condone nor do I enable or encourage any activity of a violent nature for any reason.  I only seek to understand and there is no understanding save looking to a higher power to try and reason away the unexplainable.  Because the adverse is scarier than any demonic possession that can harm my friends and family.  To think a person is just a physical being capable of anything given the right circumstances?  That’s what I feel the case is unfortunately.  But I do find solace in the writings of all the faiths toward one sentiment and that is best spoke by Jesus “And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.  But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” Matthew 5 – 6

I am extremely sadden today.  This weighs heavy on me and makes all the little petty things I worry over diminish to nothing.  I don’t want to rationalize it. I don’t want to understand it as much as I think I would.  I just want to send all the positive thoughts, energy and prayer and whatever else I can muster to those poor children that will have to remember this the rest of their lives: to the poor families that have to bear the anguish of losing their child; to the family of the person responsible who have to go the rest of their lives remembering the atrocity perpetuated by their blood.

Religion, faith, supernatural mumbo jumbo whatever, I believe there is an energy when a catastrophe or atrocity has occurred and people are of one accord in HELPING get through a situation, that manifests itself in some way, call it what ever you want: miracle, whatever, that can heal and move a person along. In the end, all these lives touched someone positively somewhere.  We will hear remarkable things about each one in the days to come and how they were the light of someone’s life.  Of course they were.

But one thing holds true, RIGHT NOW, wherever you are, there are people bringing those moments to you and you are not recognizing them for it.  TELL THEM!  THEY NEED TO KNOW.  It does them no good at a funeral when they cant hear it and enjoy the wonderful love and emotion they brought into your life making your world a better place. 

There is a quotation I read last night actually a story in Colin Powell’s book.  He said “Always show more kindness than seems necessary, ­because the person receiving it needs it more than you will ever know.”   This was from a visiting priest at his church when he was younger and has stayed with him all his life.  He went further to say, As the old saying goes, “To the world, you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.”

Who knows, maybe someone had the opportunity to give this shooter just one thank you with a smile and he could have felt the meaningful gift of appreciation and this would have never happened.  It may seem silly but there are stories after story where someone has said I was on the verge of doing something drastic and this person just said Hi!  With a smile and true sentiment was behind it.  Maybe it is all in the mental attitude of the person LOOKING for the validation or concern and they see what they need to, to keep them at bay.  But isn’t that enough to prolong the disaster that could happen even if it is just a suicidal mindset?  Point is, its cheap, it will make you feel wonderful and its contagious.  

We don’t know but this type of appreciation is imperative to let the people we love know we care.  Let the people we like know we care and the people we don’t like, know that we value them and don’t take them for granted.  We can always build on any relationship that way.

Don’t let this moron as with any other moron that has been out there showing their sick problems to the world as he did, steal your world away.  Steal your family’s value to you, force you into a place that is more scared than appreciative and looking forward to the life you and your family deserve.

I just ask that we quickly make it through our anger and sadness to remember those lost here, remember the families and begin to do what is necessary of our great nation to support them through this horrific event and not focus on a political maneuver for gun control or school policies or any thing stupid like that.  Any law made can be broken and will or there wouldn’t need to be a law in the first place.

So as I finish my ramble, I say as I have often said, let people know you love them, care about them and are glad they are around.  One day you will not have the chance and wish you had.  But also, you might be the world to that person that day.

XO ILY YM

Had a minute, thought I'd write

I spent most of my weekend in Azeroth. It was good to spend a lot of time on a mindless or let me say pointless use of my faculties. I don’t think its mindless as there is a lot of brain work that h as to go on figuring out what to do, when to do it and other strategies. I cleaned up my character list a little and deleted all my characters except one: a Dwarf I made about a week ago and have him to level 30 already. Given there wasn’t any football that interested me, basketball hasn’t started for real yet, and baseball I am just not into as the White Sox didn’t make it in after all their efforts. We did most of our shopping on Friday and my wife took the little devil with her on some mini errands on Saturday so I got to splurge in self indulgent crap for two days.


Aside from our diet this weekend, I think we had a fairly decent time. The meals we had were not that grand. I spilled the seasoning I planned to use on my stew and had to improvise and it didn’t turn out as I wished. I made bread sticks minus a key ingredient and that had the entire house, dogs included, bound up for a day or so since they were so heavy. Here’s to next weekend being better in the culinary realm.

I have a big meeting this week with U.S. Cellular®. It’s our annual meeting to discover how well we are doing on the culture and what we need to focus on that will move us forward on how we do business. That takes up some time and for the first time isn’t occurring on the weekend. This is nice save that I am missing my regular Anthropology class but my professor has me coming in on Wednesday to be able to stay on schedule with my lectures, which is cool. Another exam, the second of the term, is scheduled the following week. Yippee.

Fantasy football stinks this year: not because I am not winning. I am 4 and 1 in one league, 3 and 2 in two others and 2 and three in one league. Its just so frikin’ inconsistent and annoying: And this year, it doesn’t make watching anymore fun. If I do it next year, I may just do one team because this year is definitely not fun at all. I am always conflicted because I don’t have the same players on every team so sometimes I am playing against a player I need to win in another league. Stinks, I won’t be doing that again. And of course UT has fallen down a cesspool and fell apart AGAIN. I’m starting to wonder if they will bounce back in my lifetime given my age and the rate of change being so slow at that university as well as the damage done by ignorant Lane Kiffin.

And off I go. Meetings with leaders from around the company today as they are all in town for the meeting this week. So I get to see lots of friends from all over the company.

XO ILY YM

Not for Obama, but against crap...

So, I understand the thoughts behind many opposing Obama. Most is political. Some is founded in disconnect with their beliefs on the direction for the country and that is a valid and ALWAYS relevant concern in any election.


I see statements also more harsh in terms of his performance, focus and what he plans to do: some based in fact, others in lose conjecture as well as opposing the belief structure of said opposition. Again, these are valid concerns and definitely not above criticism.

I also have misgivings about his performance in terms of the focus I closely identified with and deem as the HIGHEST of importance of gaining better teamwork with a Congress that has really fallen apart and turned into a retirement home for the nation’s political leaders. This needs to change and little has been done to address it based on the visibility we see through the media (Which is yet another bone of contention for our constituency.) I have enough misgivings I am looking for alternative representatives to vote for in this election that lie closer with my concerns and view point.

But as of late and more frequently, I see not only Mr. Obama, but many, many other leaders and figures being blamed for things that first they had nothing to do with and second, really? Are you that mad and feel that much hatred toward one human being that you want to saddle them with every problem you deem a problem?

Case in point, it was recently reported that since 2007, the amount of Americans that do not claim a religious affiliation, i.e., catholic, protestant etc…has risen to 19%: a growth from near 14% in 2007. So in come the rants against Obama for driving everyone away from religion. Really? An ongoing trend of I don’t know how many years and you blame a man that has been President for not even four of them yet to have caused a rise in people not claiming a religious affiliation? Not only that, but you take that number to mean that, “Atheists are on the rise in America! It must be that damn Muslim in the White House!” Because that’s his true mission. Not to make a good name for himself by helping America become prosperous or doing his part to try and help unite parties in one accord (both very ambitious dreams for ANYONE) but he wants to drive the populous towards atheism and reduce protestants so he can take over the MUSLIM WORLD! FREAKS OF NATURE!

First off, why does it matter WHAT denomination he is anyway, even though he isn’t Muslim? If he was, so what?! We cant be voting on the notion of denomination because NONE OF US WANT TO BE TOLD WHAT TO DO OR HOW TO WORSHIP BY ANOTHER DOCTRINE WE DON’T BELIEVE IN!!!!! THAT’S WHAT THE COUNTRY WAS TRULY ESTABLISH FOR: RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE! Yes Christian Principles were used to develop the country but if you check Maryland and Pennsylvania back in the 1600’s, they were the most tolerant society for religious worship by far and had Muslim and Jewish communicates with Quakers, shakers and Anglicans which was what George Washington was. The original Church of England we were being persecuted by.

My main point here is that I see nothing but hate being spouted in all directions. Erroneous facts being slung in every media not only by the candidates and parties but by friends.

A report was just released today that the housing market is showing the lowest foreclosure rate in 5 years. So, this downward trend is attributed to????? Cant be Obama cause he sucks and honestly, the only reason the trend is down is because most of the homes are already through the foreclosure process and has nothing to do with him. Any explanation to not give credit or to blame him for things that occur on a regular basis because we allow our officials to take liberties without calling them to the carpet.

I’m just really tired of the hate and focus on a mans faith, birth certificate or tax returns instead of what they PLAN to do and what they DIDN’T do.

I firmly believe, EVERY politician goes into office with the intent of doing good and the system is so messed up and large now they cant. And we are left with the media circus that distorts it even further so they the politicians cant focus on their jobs. No names, no parties, just the system and its abuse is the problem. It didn’t cause atheism which should be allowed as a principal to justify the belief of your deity even stronger.

We suck as a species when it comes to this nature of things. We are many years away from being self reliant and moralistically thoughtful to each other without trying to impose what we believe is RIGHT on another person by means of political laws and regulations. The reason we discuss, the separation of church and state is that it IS such a personal decision it should NOT infringe on the rights of another person. If we refuse to get out of the homes religious practices, we will never be free and never provide the level of respect we are asking for in each election.

XO ILY YM

Zynga

I just want to go on record AGAIN and say anything Zynga touches frikin' sucks.  They can screw up a two car funeral on a four lane highway!

Jigging, Fishing and Getting a Meantal Break

“Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882)


I was thinking about this today and I began to think about all the easy things we can do or begin that affect our and other’s lives so much. One of the simplest things I have read about came to mind related to fishing. A Duke, and I can’t remember which one, was fishing on his pond in England. Since he wasn’t catching any fish, he took a break to have lunch and opened up his pack. In it, he had a silver spoon to use with his lunch. While opening his pack the spoon fell overboard and fluttered down in the water. As it spun its way towards the bottom of the pond, the light hit it and reflected alternately to his view off the spoon. As it tumbled, he saw a large trout lunge and take the spoon in its mouth from behind the spoon portion of the utensil.

Naturally, this was astonishing as it is the first time he had witnessed this behavior yet it intrigued him. He went back home and destroyed a few of his spoons, taking the handles off and attaching hooks to it until he finally got the right invention: the jigging spoon. Simulating a bait fish dying or being in the throes of dying or injured, attracts any number of fish, as it is easy prey and provides high protein benefits. And so, the jigging spoon was born out of discovery of a simple error.

What does that mean here? Nothing more than I was thinking about how easy some things are just through happenstance. It is a favorite lure of mine to use in many different ways and not just by jigging. Swimming the lure makes it look like a minnow swimming to catch up to its school so it is the lone prey outside of protection. So many ways to use it, and we have taken it even farther by adding spoons and spinners to jig type baits creating spinner baits of all sizes to look like groups of small minnows swimming together. They can fall in the water and flutter, fly across the top water or dip and dive through the dark weeds like they are trying to escape another fish which intrigues the larger fish to strike out of aggravation.

Really, this is about me wanting to go fish and itching to get active in that venture again. I need only take the time and schedule it. SO GET ON IT!

XO ILY YM

American Crap!

JUST SO I HIT THE SEARCH STRINGS: Jennifer Lopez, Steven Tyler, Randy Jackson


I haven’t posted in a long time but I feel the need to rant about American Idol again. The display put on last night when AMERICA, as it is AMERICAN Idol, a show that AMERICA is supposed to vote for whom THEY would like to see as the idol, not who the show wants to see, not necessarily the BEST, as if that were the case, it would be left up to the judges, right?

Since the Americans vote, I would think using my marketing mind, is a teller of how successful an act would be in the eyes of the target audience of American Idol: THE FRIKIN’ CONSUMER: The guy or gal that will BUY the frikin’ record! So for three judges, former musicians in the industry of different stature, some still practicing, to say American got it wrong, is well…LUDICROUS! WE ARE THE CONSUMER! How did WE get it wrong? If we don’t want those bums in the top then they are in the bottom for a reason.

Judges, what are you going to do next week when you have to get rid of her butt and the other guy as well. All you did was delay the inevitable. We are tired of you pushing these kids down our throat while telling just as talented kids they suck and aren’t as good. We are tired of the over praise and elation that occurs each time one of them sets foot on stage and stinks it up like a 5 day old mackerel.

On the other part of this mockery of stupidity that has ensued here, all season long we have watched you tell in an overly consistent manner how ON they have been and how they NAILED it when it truly stunk! And I say this about ones I liked and didn’t like. The feed back you have given has been confusing and berating to these poor kids and no wonder they mess up and feel like idiots since they don’t know what to follow. Tell then the truth and give them some frikin honest growing feed back!

Pitchy and I didn’t like the song for you IS NOT FEEDE BACK! That is your opinion of why you didn’t like it. Maybe tell them in context of the song what could have been done to improve it or why this didn’t rise to the occasion. Also, a person not meeting your expectations you had on a performance should be met with the accolades of what you thought they were capable of and how they can get there next time. THAT’S POSITIVE ENFORCEMENT SHEDDING LIGHT ON A HELD TALENT AND STRENGTH ATTEMTPTING TOP MAKE IT STRONGER! Not telling them the song wasn’t for them and it just didn’t do it for me.

Now, I have given you detailed feed back on how crappy your judging has been in regards to providing these kids with guidance. I can go further in explaining what you have done well but does it matter. You don’t care. You have the seats and only you think you know right. Good thing AMERICA still gets to vote cause you guys stink! The voting should start earlier so we can see more of the people we WANT to see instead of waiting for you to tell us who we SHOULD see. G’day DAWG!

XO ILY YM

"Don't Know Much About..."

As I drove in this morning, I heard Sam Cook “Cupid”, and began thinking about how my mother influenced my politics, music and just over all growth. Normally I think about some initiatives, their impact and time frames of implementation while building a message inspiring ownership and enthusiasm because of the growth it will create in the team and hopefully extend innovative thinking in the team. Boring right? Not for me.


But today I rested my mind enjoying the oldies I have begun to listen to lately and Sam Cook has always been one of my favorites. The smoothness of his melodies and the voice that just sounds like a golden tone out of an old Philco dashboard radio surrounded by miles of metal dashboard and yellow AM lights. It warms up the mind and reminds me of times when I was around five and my mother began introducing me to music. She would play me records from Bread and David Gates or she’d let me stay up and watch the Midnight Special and see Tina Turner and Janis Joplin, the Rolling Stones and then there was Wolfman Jack introducing Manfred Mann Earth Band or Earth Wind and Fire. Sly and the Family Stone. All these songs and lyrics would spin around and fill the room with such warmth and energy and you couldn’t help but be happy and alive listening and watching these wonderful musicians share there experiences and talents with us.

So Sam Cook plays and I think of that influence and how one day, after hearing him, the Beatles, Stones and such and really liking them, I finally heard Elvis and was sold. This was the end. He provided me at age 5, with a full voice and nice melody and gave me an eagerness to get home and fire up the record player after school. Nothing else would do. I didn’t want to hear the radio and no one but Elvis mattered.

But then in second grade, I stumbled onto Kiss. And my life started over! Theatrics, danger, controversy, satanic worship rumors. All the things a shock rock band is known for and more. This was followed with David Bowie, Mark Bolin and Sweet. Jimi Hendrix, Led Zepplin when I found out I was partially named for Jimmy Page.

My whole trip this morning started with a sound. Science says more memory retention and reaction comes from smell but I challenge you to not have a memory pop up when a song comes on the radio, good or bad, that doesn’t remind you of a key point in time that will make you smile and remember that time. When I hear 70’s music my first thought is summer and the 4th of July, movie theaters and carnivals. I saw Saturday Night Fever 20 times if once and Grease I cant even think of how many times I saw that. Just the music that played as you waited for the feature to come on reminds me of sitting in the faded curtained auditorium as the curtains parted and that Paramount screen showed up warning us the movie was starting.

Getting on a skateboard and riding through the park as the geese and ducks run to the pond when you fly by and in the back ground someone has Jerry Rafferty playing or Styx.

Anyway, I must get to work now. I have reviews to write and thought I would get my mind going as well as write something not work related to loosen my brain.

XO ILY YM

Shut Up Jimmy Ray. You got yours...Cherish it!

I have problems. I have issue at work. I have concerns about my kids. I worry about my oldest kids and their approach and way in life. I worry about supporting my family and our retirement. Then I see a little 5 year old boy that finds out after being treated for allergies he has an incurable brain cancer.


I will stress over the things I mentioned no doubt. Every now and then however, God says, “Everett, you don’t know crap. Shut up! “

Message received sir! This is me praying you step in and give this boy a life he can enjoy and not have to deal with sickness the whole time he is breathing and love the family he was given as well as touch that life waiting to be touched by his laughter and smile.

And on a side note, on the way out to Pennsylvania last month, we saw sign after sign about Sandusky, OH
and this was during all the crap with Penn State and Sandusky the coach, so we got tired of sseeing it.  And wouldnt you know it, this boy is near Sandusky, TX.  Just a stupid connection I made that means nothing but I draw attention to it for my own sake.

A quick post from his father on his facebook page nearly crippled me:
So just some interesting tidbits to share!


Fri 13 1982 I had open heart surgery, defied the odds that I wouldn't even make it out of surgery and 30 years later I'm still here!

Fri 13 2011 Brayden found out he had cancer and was given an average of 12 months to live. Given his last MRI results I don't think he's going with those predictions either!

Daddy loves you big guy:)


Now, I have to dry my tears and get back to work.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/PrayersforBrayden?sk=wall