Hey- I’m pooping here!

Pretty much says it all, don’t it?

This lovely little chalk message scratched onto the concrete path that winds behind our home is one of many from some extremely concerned parents.  There are similar chalk messages with “shit” changed to “crap”, a thank you message to someone they call “asshole”, and a couple notifications that it’s against the law.

What I like is they are concerned that their kids will be contaminated by dog poo, but not by the language their kids will most likely see once they commence playing in the wash and desert that runs parallel to the path.  It was easier for them to spend who-knows-how-long to scribble these highly motivational messages onto the concrete rather than pick up or move the offending fecal material.  I recommend hitting the old, dried poo into the desert with an old 7-iron, it’s the easiest club to hit and will provide just enough loft to make the poop projectile fly far enough to be out of their pristine children’s eyesight.

Of course, you could always have your kids play in your own yard.  Just a thought…

The path is often used by older youngsters to race their dirt bikes and scooters.  They also race their bicycles up and down the path. Other motorized vehicles use the  path and wash legally and illegally.  Oh, and let’s not forget our neighborhood’s text-messaging, early morning junkie who likes to shoot-up after a brisk set of push-ups and a few indiscriminate screams.  He doesn’t seem to mind the poop.  If he did, maybe there’d be a chalk written message that says:

“Pick up your dog shit.  I shoot up out here!”

The Holiday Season has begun!

For most, the signal the holiday season has begun is the first snowfall, the Christmas decorations in the store windows, the smell of wood burning fireplaces in the cool fall air, the glorious colors of the changing leaves, the gathering of family and friends around a table overflowing and bountiful with food and drink.

I was standing at my patio door gazing out into my backyard when that moment hit me.

Sitting on the edge of the flower bed was my father-in-law, dressed in his shorts and a t-shirt–clipping his toenails.

Let the holiday frivolity and joy begin for Santa will soon be here!

Can’t Sleep

The house has a chill at four in the morning, much like it did Thursday night.

I’ve been up since three, lingering in bed with our little yellow lab securely plastered to my back.  It’s her sleeping ritual–she must be touching one of us during the night. As soon as one of us moves, she makes her patented barrel roll maneuver to plaster herself up against the other one.  Of course, she can’t sleep with her head towards us which means the other end is our companion.  She is a professional sleeper.  K says that’s because she’s up in her years. You’d be able to see her white hair if she wasn’t so blonde already.

So I lay there, emailing my father from my iPhone.  He lives ten minutes away, and he too is not sleeping.  However, it’s a pretty good bet he’ll be up at anytime during the night/morning since his sleeping patterns are more erratic that colony of ants on Ritalin. Even at this hour he finds ways to torment me by telling me I should be practicing my Tiger Woods video golf game so I can become more of a challenge for him. Ah, parental devotion.

It’s 4:12 AM and I’m sitting in my squeaky black office chair.  On the Tivoli Audio satellite radio is channel 118: Radio Classics.  The show “Our Miss Brooks” is on now, and at 4:30 AM The Jack Benny Show will be broadcast.  I’m wearing an old sweatshirt and jeans, my moose-hair slippers, my flannel lined ball cap with the leather brim, an old Brophy College Prep sweatshirt (Dad also had to mention that “Brophy got beat last night by the Mormons.”  I’m often amazed I turned out semi-normal).

On my desk, just below my iMac screen is a section the Arizona Republic from November 15 Sunday Living section. The Republic has a writing contest they are sponsoring.  It has to be a “warm-hearted holiday-related tale that would be suitable for reading to kids.”  I’m thinking about entering the contest, but there is one small problem: warmhearted holiday-tale. I have to come up with something that’s not a trite cliche` and is also suitable for kids. Sounds easy, right?  Wrong!

Also on my desk is my to-do list. It looks formidable. A lot of work stuff to do, and plenty of home/honey-do items.  I’m just waiting for the spark of inspiration to get me going on it. Here are ten random items:

1. Install the new mailbox.
2. Update sales calls and expense report
3. Measure the front and back yards- draw up templates for landscape design
4. Take my 12-String Fender Santa Maria in for maintenance and re-stringing
5. Return stuff to Home Depot
6. Go over Power Point presentation for Monday’s conference call
7. Update daily work/personal schedule
8. Clean house
9. Clean out storage room
10. Clean out closets for Goodwill etc.

Wow, who couldn’t get excited about that menagerie of riveting items?

Selfish Post

Before Thanksgiving comes and goes and we take time to thank the Great Spirit  for all we are blessed with, I’m going to list out what I like and what I don’t like…(to update as I see fit)

LIKE: (coming out in stream of consciousness)
Writing
Reading good books
Dogs
Blue Eyes
Red Hair
Old Radio Shows
Stormy Days/Dark Clouds and Wind
Dive Watches
Good Pens
Hand Written Letters
Jeeps
Good Wine
Nights of Wine and Conversation with Friends
Coffee
My Pipe
Listening to Recorded Books While Going to Sleep
Nachos
Smithwicks
Stella Artois
NYC at Christmas
Bungalow Homes
Original Art
The Metropolitan Museum
Playing My Guitar
Things of my Dad’s and Grandfather’s Generations
Dia De Los Muertos
Making Out
Painting
John D. MacDonald
Ernest Hemingway
Randy Wayne White
John Updike
Real Popcorn
Old Movies- Casablanca
Science Fiction (Star Wars)
Scuba Diving
Alaska
Night
Friendship
Mountain Homes
Fire in the Fireplace
Hot Tea
Big Families
The Holidays
Irish Pubs
Discovery & History Channel
Mattering
Hotel Del
Memories of My Mom
30 Rock

DON’T LIKE:
Flying (not fear,the  inconvenience)
Organized Religion and the idea that one religion is the “true” religion.
Animal Abuse

Indecision
Michael Moore
Being Wrong
Buying a car
Haggling
Nagging
Crowds
Me
AZ Summers
The Battery on my Mac Book Pro (Too Hot)
Christmas Starting in September in Retail Stores
Racial Political Correctness
Use of Racial Epithets
Traffic
Crappin in Public Restrooms and in airplane lavatories
Meetings
Poor Parenting
Nose Hair
Teenagers Wearing Their Hats Askew
White Kids from Rich Families Acting Inner-City (see poor parenting)
Yard work
Clutter
Guys who treat their wives/girlfriends like possession
Immaturity

1990

It’s a historic time.

The House of Representatives on November 7th passed a sweeping health care bill by an overwhelming majority vote of 220-215.  Is that too much sarcasm?

It’s 1990 pages that provides a general blueprint for Congress.  It’s the key that opened the door to healthcare reform. Don’t bother reading all of it, unless you need some assistance in falling asleep.

The Senate has 3 basic options.  They need to be voted on, then sent along to the full Senate so they can be filled with amendments then voted on again.  After that vote, there will be a reconciliation period in committee for both the House and Senate… nothing will probably happen until mid 2010 at the earliest.  There is no way to know what will be shoved down our… I mean… what we will have to abide by as an individual.  The only way we can put our input in is to let our Senators and Representatives know what we think.

Areas that pop out to me personally are:  1) malpractice reform- 2) elective terminations paid for by taxpayer money- 3) universal coverage- 4) incentivizing preventative care, nutrition counseling, and primary care- 5) not putting small business out of business- 6) the effect on Big Pharma and their ability to operate in a free market.

I’ve asked many colleagues and friends about their thoughts on this reform. One thread that seems to keep appearing is “Socialized Medicine”.  Those two words conjure up many different ideas and thoughts. Mostly, I hear comparisons to France and Canada and other countries with true socialized medical care.  This is somewhat disingenuous as those governments are strongly based in socialism, but I also feel the anxiety people are experiencing because they think this is the first step to true socialism in the United States.  I strongly feel this will never happen.  There are too many checks and balances in place to keep democracy and our free market economy thriving–the strongest being the American people.

If healthcare is going to be socialized in some form, then WE THE PEOPLE need to determine what WE will pay for.  It is OUR money that will be paying for all this grand reform and good-deeds legislation.  WE need to figure out what is going to be cost-effective for ALL of us.  Preventative healthcare paradigms including vaccinations, prenatal care, cancer screenings, the general physical exam and labs are probably cost effective items that we could pay for and could lower healthcare costs in the long run.

However, I don’t think the taxpayers should pay for other’s lifestyle choices like smoking, excessive drinking, obesity, utilization of pregnancy termination as birth control, etc., etc.  However, a person should be able to get any type of healthcare they want if THEY are willing to pay for it. In all of this, there is also the responsibility to teach individuals, perhaps the future generations are the ones who would benefit, when to use medical services.  Americans tend to overuse the healthcare system as it is today.  We know we will get seen and “won’t have to pay” if we go to the ER.  Patients don’t like to leave a doctor’s office without a prescription–even if they don’t need one.

So many things must be worked out, evaluated and left flexible for change as this legislation moves along.  Basic care for all is a great idea, but let’s not go nuts with the feel-good aspect of this by thinking the government must take care of us from cradle to grave. That’s not realistic and the way Americans think (read: entitlement) a socialized, full, universal, we’ll take care of everything plan would bankrupt America.

Remember that healthcare providers are in this business for many reasons, and one of them is making money.  If government limits what the healthcare provider can make, then, in general, the quality of healthcare providers will drop.  Think about industries where the private sector and the government compete.  Would you rather go to the group in the private sector or would you prefer to go to the government run agency.

Dreamin’

The overnight movie show-

Your brain’s natural defragmenting program-

We sleep, our eyes dart back and forth, the stage is set from the normal or mundane to the fantastic and impossible. The time of the actual dream is usually less than half an hour, but often our perception is it lasted all night- and for some… they remember nothing.

Personally, I sometimes have very strange dreams, and sometimes I have dreams so realistic I wake up feeling strong emotions, and usually strong disappointment. Some of those dreams cause tears–especially when I dream about my mom.  Those dreams usually entail my mom being cured from Alzheimer’s and living at home again.

Friends have told me I have an incredible memory for dreams and K tells me I have the weirdest dreams she’s ever heard tell.  It’s almost impossible for me to describe a dream as if it were a story since locations change at will, time means nothing, and the characters may remain the same, but they are portrayed by different people at regular intervals.

What do our dreams tell us?

There are books, and websites that try to offer up explanations to the meanings of these dark-time vignettes. I tend to hold very little if nothing in the meanings attached to dream symbolism.

I received my BS in Psychology, and even during my studies I thought dream interpretation was more subjective than the opinions of both sides of Congress. I was required to keep a dream journal.  I remember waking up at al hours of the night and jotting down as much as I could remember in a little notebook I kept on my nightstand.

Some dreams I have been able to remember for decades: the miniature moose wrestling contest in my apartment, the trip across the Hoover Dam where a family member fell off, the dream of having the perfect family-perfect house-perfect job…

This week’s dream of record was a jumble: hotel rooms, cars, waking up in the wrong hotel room, going to my room to find out it was now a gift shop, waiting in line in my PJs at the front desk–in SOMOLIA.  WTF?

Recurring dreams or themes are pretty common.  For me it involves going back to Brophy as an adult to get a second high school diploma, flying at will, getting into elevators that don’t work quite right or travel at impossible angles.

Every now and then I’ll know I’m dreaming while in the dream.  I usually will fly around in that situation…

Well, I just thought I’d write about dreams…

Namaste`

 

“I honor the place in you in which the entire Universe dwells, I honor the place in you which is of Love, of Integrity, of Wisdom and of Peace. When you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me, we are One.”

Take your time.  You only have it once.

Morning Cafe

Sitting in my backyard this morning-

Drinking piping hot coffee with a hint of chocolate-

The clouds look like cream swirling in a blue colored beverage above-

All around, a great many birds are singing like so many people at the La Grand Orange cafe having their own personal conversations to a background of eclectic music. This mixture creates a peace that allows me to focus and concentrate on the beauty surrounding me.

My feet are snuggled into my old moose-fur slippers, competently staving off the 60 degree chill of the morning-

How can I bottle this moment?

45

The Moon from Arby’s

My view from my 45th birthday dinner… alone in an Arby’s in Yuma, AZ coming home from a business trip to SD

Kerry planned a nice weekend since I’d be on the road Monday, the day I turned 45.

iTunes right now:

“The Ocean” by Led Zeppelin.

Five more years and I’ll be 50. That’s the thought that’s been foremost in my mind.

It’s just a number. I’ve been told that by friends and family. My brother-in-law tells me it’s only halfway to 90, I like that.

So, what’s next? I have no idea. It’s not like there was an epiphany suddenly at 12:01 AM on the 2nd. It would have been nice, but nay, I woke up feeling the same as I did the day before that, and the day before that, and so on, and so on…

My mind still feels like it’s the first day of high school–but with an “I don’t give a fuck what people think of me” attitude… I suppose that’s the maturity and wisdom that comes with the years.

Cars: Candy-O

I was not a campus stud. Hell, I was 6ft and 160 pounds at graduation and was barely bigger than that after I graduated from ASU in ’86. My high school years were composed of me playing guitar in my room, making dungeons for D & D, listening to Rush, playing Star Wars over and over in my mind (no VHSs or DVDs then) waiting for the next installment…

Billy Joel: “Movin Out”

…writing my little stories and poems, dealing with an alcoholic father, handling crushes on Xavier girls I’d never ask out, reading books like Dune, A Separate Peace, Catch-22, All Creatures Great and Small, the Conan series…

The Pogues: “Lullaby of London”

…and I’d draw pictures, and fantasize myself as something better than I was; a hero, the guy who got the girl and saved the day. Not the most exciting life, I admit, but I wasn’t shunned. I think because of my ability to recite Monty Python sketches with inexplicable accuracy, as well as my novel fashion sense for a 1980’s high school kid: I wore cardigan sweaters and carried a pipe and Michelob mug to the football games (people actually asked if I had beer in said mug)…

The Doobie Bros.: “Takin it the Streets”

…And it’s not like I was an exemplary student either. I struggled. Algebra was tough… just not analytical I guess. If I went to math and science prison, I’d immediately have become someone’s cigarette bitch for the duration. I was placed in Honors English and continued that through senior year, although I never thought I deserved it. Socially, well… let’s just say on Monday morning while everyone else was talking about the parties and dances, I would be waiting for someone to ask me about the Love Boat/Fantasy Island episodes, and wether or not my popcorn and Dr. Pepper were up to snuff.

“I found the Love Boat episode to be quite erudite with Doc and Isaac being able to demonstrate the proper technique to reconcile vitriolic geriatric lovers. Sadly, the popcorn was past its prime and did not provide satisfactory snacking enjoyment.”

Flogging Molly: “Laura”

Some of the same high school angst and issues still pop up today, self-serving as they may be. How do I look? That seems to be the most prevalent thought. No one actually gives a shit whether or not my pants may be skating nanometers towards the high-water label, but in my still unrealized potential I focus on that minor discrepancy to my overall look. I mean really… but there it is…

Elvis Costello: “Ship of Fools”

…I see a mirror and the judgment gland begins to secrete its evil juice into my bloodstream causing self esteem gland to begin a negative self-feedback loop . Getting lost in a movie, a book, or music seems to be the only way to escape it and discontinue the loop…

Lyle Lovett: : “Flyswatter/Icewater Blues”

…so, I got that going for me. But, let me say that it’s not as bad as it used to be. It used to feel like I’d get the Spanish Inquisition every time I left the house.

Dropkick Murphy’s: “The Burden”

“No one expects the Spanish Inquisition! Our chief weapon is surprise…surprise and fear…fear and surprise…. Our two weapons are fear and surprise…and ruthless efficiency…. Our *three* weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency…and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope…. Our *four*…no… *Amongst* our weapons…. Amongst our weaponry…are such elements as fear, surprise…. I’ll come in again.”

Flogging Molly: “Tomorrow Comes A Day Too Soon”

“NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition! Amongst our weaponry are such diverse elements as: fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope, and nice red uniforms – Oh damn!” (Monty Python)

The Boss: “Jersey Girl”

So what does all this have to do with turning 45?

Plus ça change. Plus c’est la même chose.