Ohh the times they are a changing or Those damned kids!

 Wow, according to the posts record, I haven't actually posted a new blog in this Blog. Been so busy being snarky, mean and insulting on my other blog ( blatant plug) that I kind of forgot to post anything from here. I'd like to claim that I was just too busy to do more than one blog or that some horrible life-altering event happened to distract me, but really it is because I have the attention span of a gnat. The only reason I actually remembered this blog is because I happened to click the blog name button at the top of the Blogger site and saw a couple more pop down. So, since I am making a concerted effort to do more writing and be more productive, I am back writing this little puff blog. I am sure all of the people who get notified when a new blog is posted are going to be more than a tad surprised after 3 years.

So the original goal of this blog was just to comment on the odd or interesting things I had seen or done during the day. I have commented on birthdays, parking, churches and oh so many other topics. I just wanted a place to talk about things that made me stop and go “Hmmmm.” It was never meant as a deep, meaningful source. My only goal with this blog was to make you smile and laugh or at the least go, “WTF?!” With that in mind, let me tell you about my most recent WTF moment and see if it amuses you. (Keep in mind, that even if it doesn't amuse you, I will keep rambling on and on and on so you are warned that I will not shut up any time soon.)

As a little background, I am from LA (that's Lower Alabama) and spent most of my life in areas so rural that little towns of 500 or so people was deemed a major metropolis. The first house I remember living in had no running run, heating or air and no electricity. We had a truly fancy outhouse with three holes and fresh water came from a well where you lowered a bucket down 60 feet. Even after all of these many years away from there, I am still very much a product of that kind of life.

So day before yesterday, I was reading a rather interesting piece in Scientific American online talking about how much 4G communications had spread and was also discussing the next generation of the Internet which would be able to access it. After I read the article, I (as I always do) scrolled through the comments section for my own amusement and one comment from a very young looking fellow read as follows.

“If I couldn't access the internet anytime I wanted to, I would just die. No one could ever survive without it.”

Now, folks, I LOVE the Interwebz and I happily admit that I am constantly using my smartphone and tablet to access everything from Facebook to YouTube no matter where I am. I check my emails and text various friends and family more often than a hyperactive teenager with five hands. I would feel severely inconvenienced if I couldn't do these things when I wanted and where I wanted. Don't even get me started on all the mobile games that I waste time and money on. That being said, I can state plainly without hesitation that I COULD very easily survive without it. Hells, I survived 30 odd years without the Interwebz and 40 odd years without a smartphone or tablet. My first couple of decades, we ALL had tablets and you wrote in them with a pencil. My first experience with meeting with others with a computer was a dial-up connection to Electronic Bulletin Boards. My first use of the internet was more dial-up and America Online. Apps were short for Appetizers and had nothing to do with games or chatting.

Now that I have established just how old I am, let's focus on the poor soul's comment again. Now some of you would prolly call him/her/it? a spoiled and entitled brat and you might be right, but the funny thing is you might be wrong too. I remember back when I was starting college and started to hang out with people slightly higher up the food chain. I told them about how I had lived growing up and they would say, “No lights? No running water? My God, I would die if I had to live like that.” (As a side note here, I have to add that once I had begun living in an apartment with said lights, water and an air conditioner/heater that I wasn't really sure how I had survived it either.)

So, to me it is funny watching each “older” generation talking about the “spoiled and coddled” new generation because dollars to donuts if you could magically travel back in time, you would hear their parents saying pretty much the same thing about them. The whole idea behind learning and developing ourselves and our world is that the next generation won't have to lack the things that the previous one did. Even now, we have a generation growing up that has never been without smartphones, ones and high speed internet and you can bet there are plenty of people out there who had to deal with flip phones and hitting the same key three times to make “S” looking at them and thinking, “You know back in my day.”

In the 56 years, I have been on this planet, I have seen what was literally Science Fantasy become fact. I have seen inventions that even the brightest and more talented genius from the 1970s would have deemed beyond impossible. I sit at my touch screen reversible laptop/tablet combo while posting this blog over my high speed internet while checking my emails on my smart phone with the inch screen and 4G access and my mind boggles. I personally cannot wait to see WTF is coming next. Until then, however, YOU KIDS GET OFF OF MY LAWN AND GET A JOB! OH YEAR AND HAIRCUT!

Nuff said or ISN"T MY NIECE AWESOME?!

 Her dad is one of the brightest men I have ever met.  Her mom is one of the kindest women that ever lived.  Her brother is fun loving, caring and one of the happiest souls ever.  Her Uncle is pretty awesome too.  (That's me btw)  I could add some wordage of my own but I feel it is unnecessary.  Read and be amazed.

 

 

Susan Baker

God provides everything we will ever need and more. It's our choice to distribute it evenly.
That includes the gifts and talents you have, the food and shelter you earn, the love and compassion you allow yourself to waste.
And don't ever belittle something that you've been gifted with.
It is a gift to listen to and help others. Just because it seems everyone else can do it does not mean it's not special.
The reason it's so common is because it's in such high demand.
We are selfish enough to keep it to ourselves because we have the mentality that someone else can give or someone else can do.
It's not God's fault that world hunger is so dominate, it's our fault that it even exist.
We should never blame God for lost people when we are the ones leading them astray or scratch that-not leading at all.

Brew Long and Prosper

A long hard road, but worth it.

     I often hear people talk about Shelter Animals and Rescue Animals are "damaged" or "unadoptable" like they are somehow less worthy of love and devotion than Pet Shop animals.  It bothers me because 1000s of animals every year are put to death while people go to expensive Puppy Mill Breeders to adopt the perfect pets.  It also saddens me because of the deplorable conditions many of these animals live in because Breeders are more interested in money than taking care of the animals.
    

     This is Trellis.  She and her Sister (Who passed away recently) are probably animals the anti-Shelter people would use as their poster children.  We adopted them both 11 years ago from a wonderful Rescue Group.  I was told they they were going to be put down because they were too timid and fearful to be adopted.  At the time I had a massive fenced in back yard and I would be damned before I'd let animals be put to death because they were frightened.   We were told that the pups had been horribly abused as puppies with beatings and being imprisoned in cages too small for them to move around in.  We were told that they might never interact with us or trust us.  We adopted them anyway.
     Thus began an 11 year exercise in frustration and pain.  No matter how well we treated them and no matter what we tried, it seemed like the dogs would ever trust us.  They hid in the dog run whenever we came out the back door and don't even get me started on how difficult it was to get them to the vets once a year for their shots and checkups.  (Actually towards the end of our time in Georgia, we had given up on that and arranged for a mobile Vet company to come by once a year to do what needed to be done.
     I think most people would have given up and even sent the dogs away.  I am not proud to admit there were a couple of times I thought of doing it myself.  Still, I never gave up and towards the end of her entirely to short time with us, Trina actually started to warm up to us.  Trellis stayed fearful and refused to interact with us any more than she had to.
     Fast forward a year or so after our big migration to the DC area.  Trellis now is a completely different dog.  She hangs out upstairs with the family.  We go for long walks and she gets lots and lots of attention.  She is still a little fearful, but she is growing braver every single day.  After 11 long years, I finally get to have her be a willing member of the family.  It wasn't easy, but this long journey is finally starting to crest the top of the hill.
     What people seem to mean when they say Shelter/Rescue animals are damaged and cannot be adopted is "I don't have the time or willingness to help them move through whatever horrors they might have been exposed to."  I can understand the feeling.  Adopting a new puppy or kitten who won't have those problems is a lot easier.  However, I can promise you that every time I now cuddle with my dog or go for a walk in the sunshine with her, all of the pain, frustration and effort was worth it.  The next time you are thinking about adopting, think about a dog or cat stuck in a cage somewhere frightened and yearning for a home.  Take a chance.  Trust me, it is worth it.

Brew Long and Prosper

Forget the Flag, save the ones who defended it.

Forget the flag, save the vets who defended it.

Help the homeless US Vets

Friendship, the Next Generation (tm)

      I am a man blessed with many friends.  Some I have known for far too many years to count and others I have met only recently.  I have a very few friends that are as close to me as family and I have others that I am still learning about.  So because I have been so blessed, today I find myself pondering exactly how much the very way we judge friendship has changed in such a very short period of time. 
     Let me categorize three sets of friends as an example.  First are the friends that I made decades ago.  They are a unusual and dare I say (Dare dare) strange group of people.  In some cases, we spent most of our college career seeing just how much trouble we could get into.  In some cases I have literally fought alongside and bled with them.  (Look up the SCA and don't be fooled, Rattan wrapped in duct tape HURTS!)  I don't always agree with them and sometimes I question their sanity, but I love them all dearly (Yes even you, TC)
     The second set  is drawn from that same group, but the bonds go much deeper.  I have friends that are my family that I would gladly give my life for. People like my brother in all but blood, BB and his amazing wife SCB (I'd call her my sister, but that might sound a little odd since she married my Brother.)  It wasn't that long ago, we reconnected after decades not seeing each other through the miracle of the Interwebz?  The first day we met in person, it was like we had never been apart.  BB, Shag, PP and others are still my family after all these years.
     Then there is the third set.  I think I shall call them "Friends, the Next Generation(tm)"  Through the miracle of the Inerwebz, I connected with a huge number of people that now share my life.  I read about their lives, joys and sorrows every day.  I share their losses and their triumphs.  Now most of these people are only loosely defined as friends.   I enjoy seeing their comments and laugh at their posts, but it is only a tenuos connection.  This doesn't mean I don't care about them, just that our bond isn't as strong.
     Of this group, there are a couple that I have never met that I feel the same sort of friendship or kinship that I do with the first groups I mentioned.  People that seem to know me so well and that I know just as well.   People like the larconic and often times silly Kevin or the insanely creative and funny Ken W. make my day brighter and I appreciate every single one of them.
     Long ago, Penpals were a popular thing.  People would write and connect with other people around the world.  Later on, Ham Radios added voices to the words.  I am certain if you were to speak to the people who did these things, they would probably tell you that they felt a connection to these faceless people that they would probably never meet.  The modern Interwebz is a technological extension of those early versions of social media and things like Facebook, Twitter and others are changing the very way we define friendship.
     In the end, what exactly does it mean to be a friend?  If you speak to someone every day and share each others lives, does it really matter if you do it physically or online?  I think, as time moves on, we will come to understand that friendship and even love is spiritual not physical and that how we experience that friendship is completely unimportant.

Brew Long and Prosper

MAY 15th OR BUST!

Everyone has some special day or time. You know, where something amazing happened that makes the day truly stand out from all of the others you have been through. The most common ones I can think of are the birth of a child or finding the person you want to spend the rest of your life with. You remember these times and you think, “Holy Cow, did that really happen to me?” They make you give thanks to a kind and generous Universe for the gift it has given you.

May 15^th, 2000 at around Noonish time is that day for me. On that day, the most amazing woman who has ever lived finally (after many years of begging) stood beside me in a simple room surrounded by friends and family and said, “I do.” In slightly less than a month, we will celebrate our 14^th Anniversary and it is my goal to do several blogs to explain the impossible miracle that occurred when the woman who would become my Wife lost her bloody mind and decided she actually liked me enough to marry me.

My wife is 13 years younger than me, much more intelligent and has much better tastes so it always boggles my mind that she ever decided to be my friend. The idea that she somehow got it into her mind that she could possibly love a broken down old guy like myself still amazes me. There are many hilarious stories surrounding our friendship, my frustrations and our eventual courtship and if you are very lucky I might go into them during one or two of these little pieces.

I can honestly say that there are many people who see the two of us together and ponder out loud, “What could she possibly see in him?” To tell the truth, I sometimes look in the mirror and wonder the same thing. I can never really understand how she fell in love with me in the first place and really don't understand how she has managed to stay with me all of these years through all of the trials and tribulations we have been through.

So over the next few weeks, I am going to ramble on and on about all of the amazing things that make up my wonderful wife and all of the impossible situations we have been through together. If you don't want to read post after post of how incredible the woman I married is, please feel free to skip to posts starting after May 15^th. If you want to hear about how even the most broken down old reprobate can find love and happiness against all odds, please feel free to keep reading as the days go on. I promise you won't be bored or disappointed.

Brew long and prosper

I'm just saying...

Help the Animals and Get a Book!

Help the Animals and get a Book!

     I am working on a new project designed to help the numerous groups that help rescue and take care of all the animals that cannot take care of themselves and that have no home to call their own.  All proceeds from the sales of the books will be distributed to various animal rescue organizations around the world to help them do more to help.  Your help and support is always appreciated.

OH NOSE, CUTE KITTEN VIDEOS!

     Cute and Fuzzy VS Wet and Snowy!

     So since we moved to the DC area it has snowed quite a bit and the fuzzy critter you see in the video has done her level best to get out to see exactly what the heck was going on.  Today we had a rather unexpectedly heavy snowfall and I was snapping pictures of it when Lantanna managed to squeeze past me and get onto our upper deck.  Needless to say her reaction to snow for the first time was more than a wee bit amusing.  Since I was lucky enough to catch it on video, I decided to upload it to my YouTube page.  I include the link and the story behind it here for your amusement.  Please feel free to enjoy the video and even tell your friends.

Thank you, all of you for your Service both Past and Present.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgYLr_LfhLo

My Grandfather proudly served during WWI alongside his best friend Jay Worthington. They served during some of the bloodiest and dirtiest trench warfare and Jay lost his right foot and part of his leg to a landmine during this time. Both men served with honor and dignity coming home alive when so many didn't. After having done this, they could have easily rested on their laurels and never had to worry about serving our country again.

However, the story goes that right after the attack on Pearl Harbor, both of them and Jay's wooden leg marched right down to the local recruitment office. They were told by the Recruiter that they were too old to reenlist and supposedly the officer made a not to gentle comment about Jay only having one leg. My Grandfather swore till the day he died that Jay was so incensed by not being allowed to serve again that he threatened to take his leg off and beat the man with it.

I am proud to come from a family that has a strong Military history. As far as I know, a member of my family has served in every major and most lesser conflicts that our country has been involved in. My Father fought in WWII. Many of my other relatives served in Korea, Vietnam and my brother recently did a rotation in the Middle East even though he is well into his middle years. He said, “The Army has helped pay my bills for 30 years so it was only fair that I pay a little of it back.”

It feels that the US is forgetting just how much we owe our Military Personnel. In a way I can understand the feelings. After over a decade of fighting and the loss of so many with what seems to be very little results, it is easy to become angry or disillusioned. We see the Middle East slipping back into the anarchy and chaos that it was before we invaded and we shake our heads. We hear the hateful rhetoric coming from people who are supposed to be our allies and we weep. Being Human we need a target to vent our frustrations on and so we hit the most obvious targets.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2L3skZ7FEw

Vietnam was one of the most strife filled periods in American History. We were fighting a war that most Americans wanted no part in. Our enemy wasn't some incredible colossus that threatened the entire world and the conflict wasn't played out on the Global Theater. Our forces were fighting a type of enemy they had never fought before in an environment that was unlike anything most had ever experienced. Public sentiment was against the War and the actions of a few painted the rest of the Armed Forces in a horrible light. The treatment these men and women received when they came home from Hell was shameful to say the least and dishonorable to say more. It wasn't until much later that they finally received some thanks for their service.

Having lived through that era, I can see some signs of the same sort of resentment and reactions floating around today. Our nation has spent literally Trillions of dollars fighting two wars that cost us far too many American Lives with no signs of true success. People need a place to vent their anger and frustration and as is human nature, they tend to vent it at the most visible targets. Sure we blame our elected officials, but they are distant. Men and Women proudly wearing their uniforms are much easier targets.

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying we have or even will reach the Vietnam Era levels of hate and resentment. I don't think our soldiers will have garbage or worse thrown at them. I am afraid that people will not give those who served their just due. It is far too easy to simply forget. As we grow more and more weary of war and all of its costs, it is easy to forget and gloss over the events. We forget because remembering is too painful. As we forget, anything that reminds us can become a target for our pain.

No matter how painful it is. No matter how much we want to forget the rage and frustration, we must never forget either the conflicts or the people who served in them. If we forget the first, we are doomed to forever repeat them and if we forget the second, we will have lost our humanity. Never forget.

Brew Long and Prosper

Aged wisdom from One so young or Strikin Confusion into the Geezers!

     "I have been reading some of the things that MA and BB posts about religion and atheism including the post about how Bill Nye shouldn't debate the Creationism Man and I was thinking that maybe the problem isn't God VS Science, but maybe it is Creationism VS Evolution. People are always saying that believing in God is dumb because Creationism is "debunked" by Evolution. I think this kind of makes sense because a lot of the stuff in any Creation Story does sound kind of like people made up stories to explain what was happening kind of like the way a caveman would make up some story if he ever saw a light bulb come on. Early people didn't have the science to understand all of the things that were happening to them so they answered it the best they could. So Creationism and Evolution are dumb comparisons.
      Atheists keep saying that Science has proven that God doesn't exist, but that is not really true. Science has proven how things happened and even when they happened, but proving that the Universe was created a Zillion years ago by some particles getting really excited to be around each other doesn't prove that God isn't real. It just kind of proves that something went BANG a long time ago. Religious people could argue that Science hasn't proven that God doesn't exist, just that Scientists haven't looking in the right places yet.
    RSM calls me a Kid and I am not very old or very smart. I think if I understand it all right I am probably a Deist because I don't follow any religion. I love science especially space science and really really want to go there one day. I think that one day, Scientists are finally ask the right questions and when they find the answers to those questions, someone is going to be waiting for them."
     These words of wisdom came from my very young but incredibly wise friend who we have given the nickname  Ma©T.  Her innocent but impossibly insightful comment sparked yet another brilliant discussion/conversation among my Geezer friends.  One of them happens to be a devout Atheist (Sorry couldn't resist) and the other happens to be an Ordained Minister, so you can imagine some of the commentary that ensued.  As is the norm for my friends, the discussions were polite and friendly.  They were also entertaining and informative.
     I leave you with her words of wisdom with very little commentary.  I hope they inspire in you the same amazement and thoughts it did with us.

Circles of kindness and ROAKs

http://www.wimp.com/kindnessboomerang/

I have seen the above video link posted and reposted a dozen times and every time I watch the video, I just grin and feel better about myself and the world around me. Sure the video is a staged production done by at least semi-professional actors and actresses and does not show a scene in what most people would consider the real world. However, that little fact doesn't matter in the least because it is quite literally the thoughts and emotions behind the video that are important.

I have mentioned a E-Friend who played on the once excellent website, NeoPets with me and my wife who's main Avatar was known as Grannyweatherwax. She also went under the heading of ROAK which stood for Random Acts Of Kindness and once a month or so, she would randomly pick the names of other players and do some good deed for them. It might be helping them get an item they needed for a quest or buying them some really expensive (Neopoints not dollars) gift from the Neo Market. All she did was do her best to make other peoples' days a little bit brighter. When I asked her about, she told me that all you ever hear about are RAOV (or Random Acts Of Violence.) She said you hardly ever heard about the people who are kind to others. She told me that ROAK was her way of making sure people understood that there were good people out there.

Ever since that talk, I have really tried to my best to live up that idea. I really don't believe that doing something nice for some random person on the street will change the world or even be noticed by any number of people. However I do believe that one single random act of kindness may change Someone's world, even if it is only briefly. I also don't believe that every kind act you do will be returned to in some way other than feeling better about yourself, but as the video illustrates, it might just come back to you in ways you can never imagine.

As anyone who knows me will tell you (Oftentimes in very loud words) I am a bit of a jerk and a bunch of an Ass. I speak my mind and tell what I feel no matter who it might annoy or peeve off. I have made a career spanning 30 years of being “that Guy” who always stirs the hornets nest. I am the guy most “normal” people hate.

That being said, I have always been a firm believer that it is the small acts of kindness that cost us little that make the biggest differences. You don't have to spend thousands of dollars to make a person's life a little bit better. You don't have to give everything you have to brighten one person's day. Maybe if we all did a few Random Acts Of Kindness, then there might be just a few less RAOVs. What could it hurt to find out? A few seconds of your time? A few pennies out of your pocket? A little sweat off your brow? Give it a try, you might be surprised.

Brew Long and Prosper

Ohh fly like an eagle...to the sea!

(Author's note: Some of my readers might take this blog as some sort of commentary about the “Nanny State System” that many people claim exists and is perpetuated in many nations wherein the Government assumes responsibility for all forms of peoples' lives to keep them in a form of perpetual slavery or at least serfdom. WAVES AT TC! But this little missive has nothing to do with any of those controversial subjects, it is just a thought I recently had concerning man and nature. Don't try and read too much into it, kay? Anyways, onward and downward!)

So I recently had a seasonal job working at a Mall Kiosk in Fairfax, VA. Our kiosk was situated directly in the center of the mall on the main floor. From the booth you could literally see 80% of the mall. For a people watcher like me it was an incredible opportunity to observe dozens of different cultures and beliefs all interacting with each other by the hundreds. I observed enough to keep me in blogs for months. However, one of the things that amazed and inspired me the most were dozens of little birds that apparently live inside the mall.

In the past I have observed very large stores and such that occasionally have one or two birds flitting around them that have made their way inside from open doors or loading docks. However the mall I was working at had dozens of birds of at least two different species happily living in the light fixtures, roof ledges and signage. I am no avid birder, but I am certain there were at least two different types of birds in at least two separate flocks. Judging from the wide differences in size I would suspect there were multiple generations living there which means this has been going on for years at the very least.

Now this got me pondering these birds and their existence. You would imagine that the first few birds that made it inside and never left missed the wide open skies and the freedom to fly where ever they wished. They probably enjoyed the easy and continuous food offerings left on the food court tables or in the trash cans, but sure they missed being outside? It is in their very nature to fly free and far.

Now fast forward several generations to a new group of birds who have never seen the open sky or been free to fly for dozens of miles whenever they wish. All they have known is the (admittedly vast) open areas of the mall. They have never felt rain or snow and they have never had to dig in the dirt for their dinner. All they have ever known is the constant climate controlled environment of the mall and the leftovers on tables and in trash cans.

If behaviorists are to believed, most animals have within them a sort of genetic or “racial memory” that gives them certain abilities on a instinctual level. So if that is true, on some level these new birds “remember” the way things should be. Like their parents and grandparent, they know they are meant to fly the open skies unobstructed by walls and windows. Of course they also remember freezing cold, nasty storms and desperately trying to find food.

So you have to wonder, if they actually “remember” it all? More importantly, If they do remember, DO THEY MISS IT? Do they long from wide open spaces filled with bad weather and spotty food supply or do they look back on the things their folks suffered through while munching on a stale pretzel in a comfy 70 degrees and chuckle to themselves. Do they wish to experience the worlds of their ancestors or just nod quietly to the tales of ice and cold worms while giving thanks to Horus that they were born in a more enlightened age?

Hey if you were looking for some deep insightful musing to tie this all together, then I will have to disappoint you. Just something that tracked through my mind at 9am while trying to sell pears and apples to people. Does kind of make you wonder exactly what determines being “free” though. Keep em flying folks!

Brew Long and Prosper

Best Christmas Ever!

Coolest book EVER!

Many many moons ago, when we were just starting to date, the amazing woman who would become my wife learned that for pretty much my entire life all I wanted was a genuine Solid Leather Authentic Bomber Jacket complete with the removable fleece lining. I had never owned one because traditionally the real leather classic design jackets ran somewhere between $300-$500 and I had never had that sort of money. So one Christmas Day, I opened a large package and found the EXACT jacket that I had always dreamed of owning. She had somehow found the jacket on a massive sale and purchased it for me. To this day, it remains the greatest Christmas Gift I have ever received. Although for the record I still deny crying when I opened the package.

(As a side note I can add this. Several years ago, the zippers busted on both the jacket and the fleece lining inside so I couldn't zip up the jacket which made it impractical in really cold weather. Once we moved to VA, I actually found a talented tailor who repaired both zippers just this last week so it was kind of like getting my cool jacket for Christmas all over again.)

Okay, now for some background information. I have been lucky enough to become friends with some amazing and talented people who have become household names in the worlds of Fantasy Fiction and Fantasy Artwork. I could name drop names that would boggle the minds of most people who follow such things and proudly claim them as true friends whom I have known for the better part of three decades. I am a modest man (Waiting for lightning bolt to strike me dead for lies.) so I will limit the names to just one,

Larry Elmore is one of the greatest Fantasy Artists of all times. If you ever read books like the Dragonlance Series or played games like Dungeons and Dragons, you have seen his art work a 1000 times. He is beloved by millions around the world.

A while back, Larry announced that he was going to use Kickstarter to do the art book that he had ALWAYS dreamed of doing, but could never do because none of his publishers ever felt that the book would sell. Using Kickstarter, he asked his fans for contributions to help him make this dream come true.

(Now at this point, I could spend pages on amusing stories stemming from this venture. Like how Larry seriously felt like not a lot of people would contribute so he set his goals very low and how the donations blew past those goals on the first day or so. Or how as more and more fans donated more and more funds, he had to scramble and brainstorm to come up with new rewards to give to people.)

Okay so you are prolly wondering what all this has to do with Xmas right? Well, back when Larry was starting his KS campaign, I really wanted to contribute as much as could, not just because I wanted the book but because I wanted to help my friend achieve his dream. Problem was, times were tough and money was short. I was feeling really down so my wife assured me that she had made a tiny contribution of $25.00 just so I could say that I had helped. I was sad that I couldn't do more but at least I felt that I had helped Larry.

Now fast forward to Christmas Day, 2013. After opening a bunch of cool presents, I open my last package and what do I see? The full sized, hard bound copy of the book that Larry Elmore had always dreamed of making. Signed by my friend and even has our names in the dedication in the back. Needless to say, I was beyond blissed out by my wonderful wife's gift.

Now having said that, I am also mildly annoyed at my buddy, Larry Elmore. Several times I have apologized to him over not being able to contribute more money to his dream book. Every single time, he has assured me that he understands and that he appreciated the tiny contribution we had made. See for over a year, my friend has been lying to me AND probably snickering behind his rather substantial beard. ANNOYING! LOL

Still, my minor annoyance is easily offset by the fact that, once again, my amazing wife has managed to totally blow my mind when it comes to gifts AND managed to give me a gift that I didn't think I would ever get. Just shows I married the right woman. Not that I actually needed any real proof of course.

Brew long and Prosper

Greatfulls 2013

For a long time, I had a yearly tradition that I started long before the advent of Blogs, Facebook Posts and Tweets where I took a minute or three to write down all of the things that I was grateful from the previous years. I called the list my Great-Full List and even kept them in a small metal box for decades. Of course, over the course of 30 or so years, that box has long since vanished from 1000s of miles of travel and many different life changes. I recall that I did do one Great-Full a few years back on one of my blogs, but have long since fallen out of the habit of doing it.

Part of that, especially in recent years, is due to the fact that things have not been the greatest and I oftentimes felt that I had very little to be actually grateful for. Another part is sheer laziness. Between writing books and short stories and three very popular blogs, I have really felt that I didn't have the time or the energy to mess with this once yearly tradition that I followed for so long. Well, with all that has happened to me in such a short period of time, I feel that this is an excellent time to bring an old tradition back. I have so much to be grateful for so here is the first Great-Fulls list of a brand new tradition. Hope you like it.

I am grateful for my amazing Wife. She has stuck with me through hard times and good times while putting up with my insanity and oddness. She has loved me and supported me for over a decade and I simply cannot imagine life without her. Actually that is a lie, I have a very good imagination and can imagine my life without her, but it isn't a world I would want to have to live in. Thank you, Paula for being crazy enough to marry me and dedicated enough to stay with me.

I am grateful for my Family, both blood relations and the ones I have been fortunate enough to find as the years passed by. Being the oddball that I am, I have not always gotten along well with my blood kin, but I still love them and am proud to call them my family. Through the magic of the Interwebz, I have rediscovered several people who are not my family by blood, but by choice. Men and women who are just as much my brothers and sisters as my biological ones. Phil, Ben, Shag, Mary and so many more make me a better person and make my life better.

I am grateful for my newly rediscovered faith. Times right now are especially hard and I oftentimes wonder if things will work out. The love and support of amazing people that I had never even known half a year ago have given me a strength that keeps me going. I still have my doubts and fears, but I also believe that things will work out in the end.

I am grateful that, for the first time in 5 years, I have a job. Admittedly it is only a seasonal job which will end at the end of December, but it is employment bringing in some much needed income. I also have a chance at a job that I really wanted and that gives me hope for the future.

I am grateful that my health still continues to be well. As a Diabetic, I live in terror of the many complications that can arise from the disease, but so far in the four years I have been ill, none of the horrors one reads about have happened. I work hard to keep myself healthy and I am grateful that so far my efforts have worked.

I think that everyone has their own Great-Fulls and I hope most people see them even when things get hard and dark. What kind of Great-Fulls do you have? Do you recognize them? Do you appreciate them?

Brew Long and Prosper

My Three Moms

I have a friend that I prolly talk to much about whom we call MacT who always talks about her two moms, Mom1 and Mom2. Her mother divorced her father and wound up getting together with another lady so MacT wound up with twice the moms. Doubling up on Mommage must be magical because she is easily one of the most intelligent and insightful young people I have ever met who is constantly making old Fogies like me go “Huh?” To quote my Brother Ben Baker, “Occam's got nothing on MacT.” (Occam...razor...meh look it up.)

So this past day or so, I was given a reminder that I have also been incredibly privildged to have more than my fair share of Moms. Each one of these amazing ladies has helped shape me and teach me while doing their level best to keep me alive and healthy. My Mother in law who I have called “Ma” or “Mom” for about as a long as I have known her knew I was sick as a dog and that we were returning to GA for some house cleaning. So she fixed me a massive container of some of the best chicken/veggie noodle soup ever just so I could have something nummy and healthy to eat. Not only that, she got up at 0 Dark thirty the next morning to fix us a real breakfast so that we would have something to eat before we left to return home to VA. This inspired me so I am going to do my best to describe these amazing women who have allowed me to call them Mother.

Betty Sue MacLeod was my Biological Mother and one of the most amazing Women I have ever had the honor of knowing. She raised three kids while working 12 hours a day 5 days a week at the local Shirt Factory. She did her very best to teach me the differences between right and wrong and never let me doubt that she loved me. She continued to care and look after long after I was grown and moved out. Sadly she passed away a few years ago and I still miss her every single day.

Now the next mother needs a little back information. While I attended college, I was friends with a rather drunken reprobate named Ben Baker and his not so drunken but just as Bated Brother Bryan. Ben was (I kid you not) voted the man most likely to go to prison three years running. (Oddly enough, 20+ years later, he is a ordained minister and devoted family man. Go figure.) While hanging with the Baker Boys, I had the privildge of meeting their mother, Suzy. (As an amusing personal note, she still retains the fame of being the first person to call me an Ass. I wear that title with pride, Thanks Ma!)

I can't even remember when she went from being Mrs. Baker to “Ma.” Today decaded later, it seems like I always called her that even though I am certain I didn't. Even the first time we met again after 20 years of separation, she was still Ma. From pretty much the first day I met her, she seemed to automatically adopt me as the 3rd Baker Boy. She fed me, she cared for me and she gave me prodigious amounts of love. I am a richer better man for having her in my life and words cannot begin to describe how happy I am that she is back in my life again. Did I mention she was the first person to call me an Ass?

Last but certainly not least, there is my amazing 3rd Mother, Janet. This lady has made me feel loved and welcome since the first day she met although she did tell me once that she liked me well enough but she didn't like me dating her daughter. Luckily she got over that.

I am allergic to onions and when she found out about this back before my wife and I were even officially dating, on holidays she always made (still does) a small extra pan of dressing because she knew that I LOVE dressing and can never eat it because of the onions. She knows I love her pound cake so every holiday and my birthday she always makes sure to make an EXTRA cake just for me. I could fill up two or three blogs with all of the amazing things she does for me all of the time.

So like I said, I have been blessed with the love of three Amazing Mothers and I just wanted to give a shout out to them and let the world know just how lucky I am. Hope the rest of you are half as lucky as I am.

Brew long and prosper.

WHOO HOO!!!!

     For the first time in 5 years I have a job.  Admittedly it is only season work for 8 weeks, but it is a sign to me that things are finally starting to turn around for my family.  I just wanted to share the good news with all of my readers.

Brew Long and Prosper

Taking a chance

http://gma.yahoo.com/florida-orphan-davion-only-family-162656776--abc-news-topstories.html?=vp1

Imagine you are a child who has never had a family of your own. Never a place to truly call Home. Imagine that you finally become so lonely and so desperate that you stand in front of a large group of people and abandon any pride you might have to literally beg someone, anyone to bring you into their family. Can you imagine the courage it must have taken to do this knowing that there was a good chance you would be ridiculed or even worse, refused?

Not long ago, one young man did exactly that. Davion Only appeared in front of his church congregation in a borrowed suit and literally begged. "I'll take anyone," Davion said. "Old or young, dad or mom, black, white, purple. I don't care. And I would be really appreciative. The best I could be." He took a massive chance knowing that the odds were against him. If that isn't courage then I don't know what is.

Well, despite the potential for backlash or rejection, it looks like this young man has a very good chance to finally get the home he has always dreamed of. After his story was told, literally 1000s of people inquired about possibly adopting him. Many of them have already been through the long and difficult vetting process that states require to adopt children and many others are in the process right now.

Even more amazing and wonderful is the fact that many of the people inquiring have voiced interest in adopting other children besides Only. So a brave young man's plea might not just give him a chance at a new home, but also might give other adoptable kids the same chance.

You are always hearing about how horrible people are in the news. Shock stories sell more Ad time than happy stories do. That is why you will never see a story about “Man saves truckload of kittens” in big banner type on the front page of most papers but can see “Man arrested with truckload of kittens destined to be bait animals in dog fights.” So it is always nice from time to time to find stories with no bad guys that actually say something positive about the Human Animal.

Only may not get adopted. Only the days to come will tell that story. However, he had the courage to stand up and ask, “Won't anyone love me?” He made people think and that is a good thing.

Brew Long and Prosper

The best offensive is a good book.

Stern Penguin Disapproves!

 

http://gigaom.com/2013/10/15/in-furor-over-rape-and-incest-porn-ebook-retailers-arent-the-only-ones-to-blame/

I realize given the title and nature of the above link, that this blog seems more appropriate to my Sometimes Its Okay To Be An Ass blog, but I think it is a little more suited for this everyday philosophy blog. I'm not trying to call anyone out or peeve anyone off with this blog. I am just trying to ponder exactly where a person's freedom of expression begins and ends. To what extent can a much larger group (Say a Government) determine what individuals should be able to read or watch? Exactly where does protection end and Censorship begin.

Pornography has always been a tricky and sensitive issue with people lined up a thousand deep on either side of the argument. One side claims “This is filth and should be stopped” while the other side touts Freedom of Speech as their right to produce anything they wish. The subject gets even trickier when one transitions from Visual productions such as Movies and Television to the written and drawn productions.

I find it funny in an unsettling sort of way that most people are alright with the oftentimes graphic depiction of such things as rape in movies and television, but cry foul when the same subjects are presented in book form. Pick any 10 or so movies released at any given time and you will more than likely find at least one where someone somewhere is physically assaulted. These movies make billions of dollars and 90% of the world doesn't even say Boo! However, put out a book that depicts the same sort of acts and suddenly people are screaming about PORN!

The thing I find most confuzzling about this mindset is that written fiction doesn't even involve real people. X may do horrible things to Y in “Evil X does Y” but the characters aren't real and the actors only exist inside the heads of the people reading the book. In video productions, you have real people acting out the plots in real time also not real life but could possibly be argued to be more graphic.

50 Shades of Whey

I'm not here to argue FOR rape and incest pornography or even porn in general. Rape is always wrong no matter what and should never be a subject that arouses someone. If it does, than that person should seek immediate mental health. My argument is that good old Slippery Slope. Some insanely popular works (50 Shades anyone) definitely fall under the heading of Porn. Hells, for the time, some of RAH's works could have been considered porn and particularly perverted porn at that. (Friday comes to mind. Believe me folks, that book had everything in it besides the two subjects listed above.)

Once we start letting a larger group decide what can and cannot be published, it opens the doors wide for full blown censorship. Suddenly the forces that be can decide that certain religious works can't be published and shown or certain works of fiction cannot be shown for the sake of the “public good.” Don't laugh it can and has happened here in the US. Do a search for banned books and you will see lists that include Catcher in the Rye, pretty much anything by Milton and loads of others. We so love our censorship here in the US.

Sue me, I like Penguins!

Here is a simple rule of thumb. If you don't like the subject, don't read it. If a movie contains things you find offensive, don't watch it. It is really that simple. In the end, it is all fiction and fiction has never harmed anyone.

Brew long and Prosper