#205 - A Nation Divided, Part 1

"A house divided against itself cannot stand." - Abraham Lincoln

First, a disclaimer. I pay little attention to the news these days, not because of the "distortion" and "fabrication" of stories in the "liberal media" (sorry, but when a small group of corporations controls nearly all mass media outlets, there is nothing "liberal" about it), but because, after spending more than a decade in broadcast journalism, I no longer need or desire the aggravation, stress, or depressing thoughts that come from watching or reading the news on a regular basis.

I do occasionally scan the headlines, and I read with utter amazement some of the things a handful of my Facebook friends post. As a result, I have come to the conclusion (suggested once before on this blog) that this nation, in its present form, is not long for this world.

We've reduced positions and arguments to their lowest common denominator (perhaps we always have). Serious discussion followed by consensus or compromise no longer exists, and we reduce issues and views to a black and white battle between two opposing sides when, in fact, there are likely a multitude of views and positions between those two polar extremes. Each extreme pushes back against the middle, further polarizing the other and driving the margins further apart.

I was told once by a former friend that as I got older I would become more conservative. That has not happened. Because of what I described in the previous paragraph, I have, if anything, become more progressive or liberal in my views.

For instance, I support Bernie Sanders' call to make college tuition free. Not because I want a lot of "free stuff" (as critics deride this stand) or believe I am "entitled" (another argument used against young people and certain classes of society, neither of which applies to me), but because I believe it is an investment in the future of this nation.

We need more scientists and engineers and doctors and philosophers, and the best way to get them is to make college affordable and available to those who are academically and intellectually able to attend without requiring those students to all but mortgage their futures in order to do so. I believe this country's decision to deregulate student loans (thereby allowing banks to charge higher interest rates and make the ultimate cost of college that much more expensive) was a huge mistake.

I believe affordable access to health care is a basic human right. By this, I don't simply mean access to hospital emergency rooms. I mean maintenance and preventative health care. One way to make and keep health care affordable it to make sure symptoms are treated before they become serious problems and require a hospital visit. A healthy people is a productive people, and I don't believe funneling the sick and the poor into and through overworked and overcrowded hospital emergency rooms is the best solution or the best use of health care resources.

I also believe that everyone working deserves to be paid a living wage. Conservatives will argue that some people work harder and deserve more or that those who want to succeed can. I don't disagree with the first part of that argument but believe the second part becomes less true every day (if it ever was true).

Not everyone can be a millionaire/billionaire and not everyone can own his/her own business. We will always need people to collect our garbage, to serve us in stores and restaurants, to clean in our businesses. Have we decided that these people are less worthwhile, less deserving because of what they do?

We complain about illegal immigration while making certain jobs so low-paying that only illegal immigrants can afford to take them. We believe certain jobs are not worth more than minimum wage and then complain about the service we receive from those workers. We complain about the quality of our education system while at the same time we pull our children out of public schools and put them into private or charter schools.

The very first phrase of the U.S. Constitution reads "We the people of the United States." It doesn't read "some of the people" or "only the people who are like us" or "those people who think like us." To me, "we the people" means all of us, which I believe means we have to do certain things and provide certain services for all of us, not simply those who can afford them. From where I sit, that means access to affordable and quality education and health care.

I've written all of this and realized I did not even touch on the one thing that inspired or provoked this post. I'll save that for another time.

#204 - Walk a Mile

"Hey, before you abuse, criticize, and accuse, walk a mile in my shoes." - Joe South

In the aftermath of what some have called one of the worst played and most boring Super Bowls ever, I have read with interest and a touch of dismay the steady torrent of criticism and abuse leveled at Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton. I have a very slight vested interest because my wife went to Auburn and has converted me into an Auburn Tiger and, in the process, a Cam Newton fan.

This post is not going to be a defense of Cam Newton or attempt to explain what he did or didn't do or say pre, mid, or post-Super Bowl. Instead, I want to discuss this from the angle of being a symptom of a bigger issue.

At first, I jumped in and attempted to stand up for Newton, not that he needs me or anyone else to do so. This morning, though, I had a bit of an epiphany and realized that this situation illustrates a problem we as human being have and had have, perhaps since Adam and Eve walked around in the Garden of Eden.

We as a species are quick to attack, disparage, deny, criticize, and otherwise denigrate that which is different from us or that which we do not understand. Cam Newton's behaviors and reactions are just one example. Other examples include climate change, same-sex marriage, Islam, and in my case, the continuing popularity of Justin Bieber. (Let's not even get into the political arena. We could be here for days.)

Some, perhaps even most of this is no doubt cultural. We grew up white or Southern Baptist or in the 1960s and therefore can't understand the popularity of hip-hop. In some cases, it may be because that thing we speak out against stands in the way of something we support. In the case of Cam Newton, part of that would be because the Carolina Panthers are not your team or they beat your team.

Part of this is perhaps also due to age. Most of the negative comments I've seen regarding Cam Newton seem to come from a certain demographic, the over-40 crowd. As a member of this crowd myself, I can certainly understand. As we age, many of us become even more resistant to change and to that which is different from us.

Yes, there are those of us who seek out new adventures and experiences as we get older, but many of us prefer the familiar or at least seek to filter those new adventures and experiences through something familiar. (An example of this might be finally deciding to travel but going on a cruise or a tour so as to be with other people like you and in somewhat familiar surroundings.)

I don't know that there is an answer or solution short of genetic engineering to make everyone the same in future generations. I also know some reading this will be quick to point out a line later in Joe South's song, so let me save you the trouble:

Now your whole world you see around you is just a reflection, and the law of Karma says you're gonna reap just what you sow.

Those people will say Cam Newton is getting just what he deserves. Perhaps they should read the very next line of the song:

So unless you've live a life of total perfection, you'd better be careful of every stone that you should throw.

Now back to our regularly scheduled stone throwing.

#203 - Movie Night

Tonight at the dinner table, my wife proclaimed that tonight was going to be movie night, and that the three of us were going to be in the same room together and watch a movie. Together.

Now that doesn't sound all that revolutionary or radical. Until, that is, you realize she is often asleep (either in bed or on the couch) by 8 p.m., and our son is a teenager who, I suspect, would sometimes be happier to not admit to having parents that to actually spend time with them. In fact, his first reaction to her pronouncement was to say "I'm not sure I'm up to that."

Nevertheless, the three of us adjourned after dinner to the family room, turned on the television, fired up the Roku, launched Netflix, and promptly stalled trying to decide what to watch. But she was not to be deterred.

Since our son has on occasion voiced an interest in making videos (which more often than not actually means he was to make a video of himself playing a video game as opposed to making an actual movie), my wife decided to launch an episode of Hollywood's Greatest Film Directors featuring Barry Levinson, director of Diner, Bugsy, and Rain Man, amongst others.

We also made it through that episode (which I found very interesting), so we decided to push our luck and try an actual movie. She chose a documentary about young magicians preparing to compete for the title of Teen Champion during the World Magic Seminar in Las Vegas.

Part way through Make Believe (2010), we lost one of the three viewers as my wife dozed off. That is not a commentary on the quality of the film, though. I found it very interesting, and the young magician I was most rooting for actually won.

When you watch a movie on Netflix, after it ends the service provides three other recommendations, one of which usually makes no sense based on the film you've just seen. (I believe in the case of Make Believe, two of the recommendations were other documentaries while the third was for a horror film. Go figure.)

At this point, I guess you could say that our movie night had officially come to an end, as my wife woke long enough to move from the chair in which she had fallen asleep to the couch, where she promptly went back to sleep. Our son decided that was enough togetherness for one night and adjourned to his room to resume his usual routine of playing video games and watching videos about playing video games.

I decided to watch another movie and chose one about one of my all-time favorite comics, Don Rickles. Mr Warmth: The Don Rickles Project (2007) was directed by John Landis (National Lampoon's Animal House, The Blues Brothers, Beverly Hills Cop III, among others) and intersperses pieces of Rickles' Las Vegas act (and other performances) with interview clips from Rickles along with a number of celebrities who know or admire the man: Clint Eastwood, Martin Scorsese, Bob Newhart, Robin Williams, Chris Rock. Hilarious.

While the film didn't really discuss specifics, afterward I realized Rickles was in his 30s before he had any real success as a comic and nearly 40 before he really became a star. As he nears 90, he is still performing.

I hope I have something that continues to fire me up and interests me if I should reach that age.

#202 - Just Like Herding Cats

For months (maybe even years) Teresa and I have talked about doing various home improvement projects or having them done. Last month, we finally moved from the talking to the doing stage.

We decided to start with our family room and have a gas fireplace installed. Boise is prone to inversions during prime fireplace weather, and during an inversion there is often a ban on wood burning. Hence the decision to go with gas.

We went shopping and found a fireplace we liked. Someone from the dealer was to visit the house before we made the purchase just to check our situation and ensure the model we had chosen would actually work. He never showed up.

That turned out to be a good thing. We had our contractor open up the wall where the fireplace was to go so he and his crew could build the platform for supporting the fireplace. Upon opening the wall, his exact words to me were "the plot thickens."

Here is what the area looked like before the work began. The middle section juts out about eight inches from the two wall areas where the shelves are on either side. When we bought the house in 2003, we were told the house had been "plumbed" for a fireplace but that one had not been installed. We later found a fireplace door in the storage area above the garage. Because of that, we had no reason to suspect that the reality was any different.

However, after the contractor and his crew opened up the wall, we found out the situation was much different. Hence the reason for the ominous statement about the plot thickening.

It turns out there had been a wood-burning fireplace present all the time. Not only that, but at one time the fireplace had been used at least occasionally before the previous (original) owners of the house decided in their infinite wisdom to simply wall over the fireplace. They also decided not to mention it when selling the house. Either through experience of simple dumb luck, the contractor's crew chose the perfect place to cut into the sheet rock if we had decided to stay with the wood fireplace.

Once the existing fireplace was revealed, we decided against a gas fireplace and went with its cousin, a gas fireplace insert that could be installed in the existing fireplace. We placed the order for that on December 8. We then had gas line installed, had that work inspected, and waited for the insert and the special-order surround to arrive.

We are still waiting. When I called the dealer yesterday, I was told the insert and surround had finally arrived, and we set up an appointment to have it installed tomorrow. Maybe.

The workers who put in the gas line also connected a test valve to test pressure in the line. Once the line passed inspection, someone was supposed to come back, remove the valve, and turn on the gas supply to the line. We are still waiting for that as well.

In the meantime, we are also trying to coordinate all of this with having some wiring done so we can place the television above the fireplace (cliché, I know, but it's really the only place in the room the TV works) and having wires run to be able to connect speakers and other entertainment peripherals yet not see all of the wires. Which means running them behind walls or through the ceiling.

We also want to replace the shelves with something more built-in looking, though the options we got for actual built-in cabinets and shelves were not that compelling. They were plenty pricey, though.

We have, I think, decided on some DIY entertainment centers from IKEA for each side topped with bookcases of the same width. The plan is to secure the bookcases to the walls for added stability. Given the way various parts of the house were constructed, it could be as expensive as built-ins once framing and supports are added. We'll see.

The challenge for us is trying to coordinate everything, figuring out what comes next, scheduling, ordering, etc. We've never hired out home improvement before, so what could have been a one-week or two-week job if we'd been able to do it ourselves has now stretched out a month (most of that with no work being done as we wait for various parts, tests, etc.) with more to come.

You see, we haven't actually order the cabinetry yet, and that will likely take several weeks to arrive. On the other hand, we now have a nice pull-down door with ladder access to the storage area above the garage, something we had not even planned on doing at this time. However, since it is thus far the only completed job of this project, it does give us something to feel good about and a reason to think there might be light at the end of the tunnel. Of course, it could simply be an oncoming train.

#201 - Random Thoughts

Hope everyone has recovered from the festivities surrounding the ringing out of 2015 and the ringing in of the new year. I wonder whether the ringing referred to is actually ringing in the ears caused by the fireworks some people insist on setting off to mark the beginning of the year. I do know my dog doesn't care for that tradition in the least.

This weekend, I watched the documentary "Best of Enemies" on Netflix. The film documents the use by ABC News of conservative pundit/commentator/publisher William F. Buckley, Jr. and liberal author/commentator Gore Vidal to help it make its mark during coverage of the 1968 Republican and Democratic Presidential conventions.

"Best of Enemies" does a good job of making the case that ABC's daring decision forever changed the way in which political conventions are covered while also serving as a harbinger for the future of television news and what has come to pass for debate. It goes on to also make the arguement that much of the foundation for today's sharp political divide and the resulting "culture wars" was laid during the 1968 election. Very interesting film.

I also finished reading "Unfaithful Music and Disappearing Ink," the compelling memoir of my favorite singer and songwriter, Elvis Costello. A few people have complained that the book is rambling and indulges itself too much in name-dropping, but I found the book fascinating and the "roaming" style perfectly lent itself to the conversational style of the writing, much in the same way that something said in a conversation might trigger the memory of something else.

In the book, Elvis does not let himself off the hook easily for mistakes made, although he does gloss over a bit the events that led to the demise of his backing band The Attractions and his falling out with original bassist Bruce Thomas. Perhaps that history is covered elsewhere, but hearing it from Elvis' own lips would have been welcome.

Now that the warm glow of holiday joy and half-hearted wishes for peace and love has subsided, I see that Facebook has returned to its usual stream of political bashing, snide remarks, and sophomoric insults that passes for civil discourse and debate in our 21st-century electronic society. I get the sense that some people feel their point is best made by a steady stream of similar posts that bombard the senses rather that a single, well-chosen, articulate post making their point. Debate by sledgehammer, I call it.

While finishing that last paragraph, I happened to glance up at my 2016 Grumpy Cat desk calendar. As is often the case, Grumpy Cat had what seemed to me the perfect way to punctuate my feelings about Facebook these days. From today's calendar entry: "I thought I couldn't be more disappointed. You proved me wrong." Funny, sad, and true all at the same time. You are wise beyond your years, O Grumpy One.

#200 - Turn The Page

First, let me be the 912th person to wish you a Happy New Year. Okay, that's out of the way.

2016 is here and, as is the case with every year, it promises to be filled with ups and downs. New faces will become part of the landscape while familiar names will fade from the scene.

2016 brings with it another Presidential election, and some who are prone to exaggeration and hyperbole are sure the fate of our nation is at stake. For some, the election shapes up as a choice between caring for all of our citizens or caring for the select few. For others, the election is a chance to take back our country from the government and put it back in the hands of its citizenry. The truth, I suspect, is somewhere in-between.

As always, the start of a new year also means a chance for new beginnings. New Year's resolutions will be made - and broken and perhaps re-made and broken again. For years, I religiously made ten resolutions for the coming year. For years, I religiously broke every single one of them. Although I suppose now that is no longer strictly true.

For a number of years, I resolved to do something with and/or about my music. This past year, I finally did. So I guess you can say I'm batting one for 150 or thereabout.

This year, I've decided to make one, all-encompassing resolution. I resolve to do the best I can, to be the best person I can be, to be as happy as I can be on any single given day. I further resolve to worry about tomorrow tomorrow.

Whatever you may resolve for the coming year, I wish you success. Should you stumble and fall, try not to be too hard on yourself. Like me, you're only human.

If your list has room for one more resolution, let it be this. Resolve to be good to yourself in 2016. For if you are not good to yourself, you cannot be good to or be good for others. Happy New Year!

#199 - One To Go

The title of this entry has a dual meaning. The first, perhaps more obvious meaning. refers to the fact that I write this on the last day of 2015. Hence the "one to go."

The other meaning refers to the number given this entry and the fact that I need one more post to reach 200 on this blog. Given that I began this blog in 2009, that is not a great deal of entries, especially when I intended several times to post more frequently.

However, those intentions never came to pass, either because I didn't have anything to say or because I didn't feel like it or I was simply too lazy. I've no illusions that will suddenly change in the coming year, but you never know.

2015 turned out to be a more eventful and event-filled years than someone of my advancing years might have any right or reason to expect. The year was a watershed for me musically as I got the opportunity to perform my songs publicly for the first time anywhere ouside of a couple of weddings more than 20 years earlier.

That came about thanks to the help of my talented wife Teresa, without whom my songs would simply be bad poems. With her help, I also recorded my first CD to send out to friends and family. (I say that as if there will be many more instead of it being perhaps my only CD, but who knows?) I still have roughly 50 copies if anyone wants to buy one.

In 2015, we also bought our first motorhome, a 2005 model that quickly became a home on wheels for us and something we hope to use even more in the coming year. Once the weather warms, that is.

Perhaps the biggest event of 2015 was our trip to Washington, DC with our son to celebrate his recognition as one of eight national winners of a playwriting competition sponsored by a division of the Kennedy Center. It was a whirlwind weekend that yielded material for a couple of songs, a couple of proud parents, and a lifetime of memories.

One of my Facebooks friends (and a former colleague/boss from my television days) shared a post that 2016 is going to be an amazing year. I hope it is, but it will have to go some to come close to, let alone top the amazing year that was 2015.

#198 - A Merry Christmas Wish

Just a short post as I know most of us are busy with last-minute Christmas preparations.

'Tis the day before Christmas; the shopping is done.
The meal is in progress; the cooking's begun.
The family is gathered; they're all of good cheer.
Joyful and laughing now Christmas is here.
The presents are ready; the stockings are filled
The spirits are ready; the bubbly is chilled
All finished braving the crowds at the mall
One thing to say - Merry Christmas to all!

May your Christmas be filled with light and love and peace. Merry Christmas!

#197 - Another Year In The Books

"St. Peter, don't you call me 'cause I can't go. I owe my soul to the company store."
Tennessee Ernie Ford, "Sixteen Tons"

Fortunately, as I prepare to turn the calendar on another year, I do not owe my soul to the company store or to any other store for that matter. I might owe myself an apology, though.

As I prepare to celebrate another year, I realize that in many ways my life is more fulfilling than ever. I am writing songs I am proud of and actually getting to share some of them with the outside world instead of keeping them hidden away. I only wish I'd done so sooner.

I've written songs now in five different decades. However, for most of that time, I lacked the courage and self-confidence to try to do anything with them. The up side is that I wrote most of my horrendous songs before I ever had the nerve to publicly share anything. The down side is that I let a lot of years go by before doing so.

On the other hand, I am finally sharing some of my songs, and the songs I am sharing are some of the best I've ever written. While I could wish I'd started sooner so as to maybe have a larger audience, the fact that any of my songs have had any audience at all is still very gratifying.

I think I'm learning that my time frames and my pace of life and doing things don't necessarily match up with how the rest of the world operates. Then again, I suspect I've really known that all along.

I am also coming to terms with and learning to accept the fact that I will never be mistaken for a bodybuilder or someone like Jack LaLanne. I like to eat; I like to drink; I don't like to exercise. I think that combination pretty much guarantees that I will look more like Mr. Potato Head than Mr. Universe.

It has taken a while, but I am learning that I have little power over the prejudice, the shortsightedness, or the narrow-mindedness of others. Nor do my shortcomings in various areas help to balance the scales.

I have learned that Facebook is not the place for serious discussion of issues. Nor is it the place to change minds or sway opinions. People will share what they believe and block what they don't, and seldom do the opposing views interact in any meaningful or civilized way.

In conjunction with that, I have learned that "social media," while sounding like a platform for people all over the world to come together and share thoughts, opinions, and ideas, is basically only a place for people to say hello, share recipes, post cat pictures, and express political half-truths. Once I realized these things, I became less frustrated with social media.

There is one other thing I've learned. In spite of the events of the past year, I remain an optimist and an idealist where the world is concerned. As John Lennon once sang, "You might say I'm a dreamer." Some might call me naive and foolish. So be it. I'd rather be naive and foolish and believe in the prospects for a better and more united world than to accept the alternative.

The way I see it, as look as I'm still dreaming, I'm still living. I've learned in the past year that dreams can come true even if not quite in the way originally imagined. So I'll keep on dreaming. Because every once in a while, the dream becomes reality. I hope you keep on dreaming as well.

#196 - And The Beat Goes On

Those of you under a certain age likely won't recognize the title of this post as the title of a big 1960s hit by husband and wife singing duo Sonny and Cher. Some of a certain age may remember Cher from some of her music videos in the 1980s and 1990s where she seemed determined to find out just how few clothes she could get away with not wearing. Fewer still may remember that Sonny later went on to become mayor of Palm Springs, California and a conservative Republican Congressman. (I'm still not sure where he took a wrong turn.)

Although all of that is, perhaps, mildly informative, it has nothing to do with the subject of this post. (Aren't you glad you read this far? I know I am.) In a sense, this blog post is really about nothing. Which also means it is about everything.

If you are anything like me (and for your sake, I hope you aren't), you might reasonably expect that once you reach a certain age, life might begin to slow down a bit, and you can finally take time to stop and smell the roses. Except that life really hasn't slowed down much, if at all.

Even though our son is now 19 and could, perhaps, be expected to be out on his own or at least fend for himself a bit more, it seems we are busier than ever with him. And when we aren't, we're busy with our own activities. He always has something going on. Or we do.

The fact that our son is autistic necessitates some of our involvement, even as he resists and struggles to assert his independence, a very normal step to take once you turn 19. For us, the challenge is trying to allow him to assert that independence while also trying to teach him and guide him so that he can be more independent even as we try to direct him. It's all very catch-22.

At the same time, I am entering almost a personal Golden Age of lyric writing, writing some of the best things I've ever written at an age when many songwriters are either resting on their laurels or struggling to find things to write about. (Since I have no laurels to rest on, that is not an issue.)

On Saturday, I move another year closer to traditional rocking chair age. Yet in many ways, I'm probably more alive than I've ever been. With my wife's help, I've been able to take some of my songs from simply lyrics and a melody destined to be lost (because I don't actually write/annotate music) to actual song status and then performed them for live audiences. It has been both nerve wracking and perhaps the greatest thrill of my life.

While I may never be like Mel Brooks and be able to say "It's good to be the king," I can say it's a good time to be alive, despite all the craziness around the world. Desperate people resort to desperate acts. I choose not to reward or respond to their desperation. Despite their efforts, despite their anger, despite their desperation, life goes on for me. I hope it goes on for you as well and that you can find little things in which to anchor your piece (and peace) of the world.

#195 - I Got Nothing

In the aftermath of the Paris attacks, I've read a number of posts on Facebook that strike me personally as prejudiced, bigoted, hate-filled, and simply misguided. I thought to respond to those posts, but I have come to realize and accept that my words would make no difference, would convince no one, would cause no one to reconsider their views.

In trying to respond on a post-by-post basis, I feel the lump developing in the pit of my stomach, a lump of despair for humanity. It weighs me down and wears me down and nearly brings me to tears. As I close in on another birthday, I've decided I can't do it anymore. I'm too old and too tired to tilt as these ideological windmills any longer.

The terrorists have won. They have succeeded in filling the minds of millions of people with hate for all that is different or other. In the face of all of that, I got nothing.

#194 - Let's Play A Game Of Musical Chairs

I don't know whether it is a shared restless spirit or spirit of adventure or simply a function of human nature, but every so often we decide to change things up a bit in our house. Of course, sometimes these changes arise out of necessity, such as painting the exterior or putting on a new roof. At other times, it might happen simply because one or both of us gets a burr in our behind.

Such was the case this weekend when my wife and I decided to swap offices — again. We live with one child in a four-bedroom house. Because we have so few visitors (perhaps a half-dozen in the 12-plus years we've lived here) we decided to convert two of the bedrooms into personal offices.

During our time in this house, each of the three non-master bedrooms has been utilized as an office. This time, rather than involve our son in this musical chairs routine, we simply flip-flopped the two existing offices.

Fortunately, we decided to swap desks as well, which made the switch a little easier. Still, changing offices is a chore. There are seemingly hundreds of bits and pieces to move, not to mention a dog who likes to be in the thick of the action. I'm sure he thinks he's supervising.

Each time we attempt something like this, we try to look at it as an opportunity to weed out things and papers we no longer need or want. It is also a good opportunity for cleaning and dusting, two activities I'm sure rank high on most people's lists of things to do.

Needless to say, when you have two independent thinking people going through the same bits and pieces, finding agreement is sometimes easier said than done. Emotional attachments, fear of being audited, a certainty that one of us will use that thingamajig one day. All of these come into play.

As I write this, I'd estimate the level of completion at somewhere between 60 and 70-percent. The computers and desk chairs have been swapped, along with most pictures and a few of the knick-knacks. Papers and assorted bits and bobs remain to be moved, plus there is still the process of getting things organized, put away, set up, thrown away, given away, etc.

Right now, we have things organized enough for us to each use our computers, which is a sort of moral victory in and of itself. I suspect the rest of the process will take longer, simply because there are so many little things to move and deal with but also because next up on the project list is organizing our son's bedroom, a task I would not wish on my worst enemy.

#193 - Something Else That Starts Much Too Soon

In my last blog post, I wrote in response to my local newspaper's posing of the question "What are your thoughts about whether the Christmas/Holiday Season starts too early these days?" My answer was, as I suspect it is for anyone over 30 or 35, "Yes." In fact, the only other thing I can think of that starts much too soon is the Presidential campaign we must endure every four (or perhaps it's now only two) years.

By the time the 2016 race for the White House ends, we will have been subjected to more than 18 months of half-truths, innuendos, accusations, bold promises, temper tantrums, ego-stroking, and braggadocio. And that's all from one candidate. (I'll let you guess which one.)

I'll make no secret of the fact that I support Bernie Sanders for President. Opponents ridicule his ideas for expanding Medicare and offering free college tuition as giveaways. I prefer to think of them as investments in the true infrastructure of America, its people.

However, this is not a post about Sanders or any other specific candidate. It is, instead, about the interminable length of the Presidential race, the duration of which makes it impossible for anyone without access to tens of millions (likely to so be hundreds of millions) to run for the office. From where I sit, this seems to ensure that the political process will continue to be controlled by the wealthiest of Americans for decades to come.

Regardless of which candidate you support (please tell me it isn't Mike Huckabee), I think most of us - with the possible exception of comedians and late night talk show hosts who benefit from months of material without really having to work hard for it - can agree that the process starts much too soon and lasts much too long.

I'm not entirely convinced that this is simply due to the evolution of or the complexity of the political process. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I think this is some sort of insidious plot by those who wish to control the process.

Somewhere in some smoke-filled room (cliche, I know, but isn't that where these kinds of things get done?) someone or some group of people came up with the idea of extending the Presidential election process to the point where it becomes almost like "white noise" and gets tuned out by the majority of the electorate. How else would you explain the continuing decline in voter turnout in many areas? (I'm sorry, but quality of candidates is too easy an answer.)

The added benefit for these puppet masters is that this "white noise" filters down below the Presidential level to state and local races, reducing voter interest and turnout, making it easier for the candidates they support to win election and re-election time and again. For me, at least, this is the only way I can explain poor people in Kentucky voting to elect a governor who openly promised to end the one program that gave them access to affordable health insurance. (Your mileage may vary.)

The political process has reached the point where the joke is that a newly elected official must begin work toward getting reelected the day after getting elected in the first place. Running for election is all but a full-time job in and of itself. I think it is safe to say that the only thing with a longer shelf life than the electoral process is fruitcake, and I'm not sure we want anything competing with that.

#192 - Yes, The Holiday Season Starts Much Too Soon

As is my custom, upon getting up in the morning, I make my wife's lunch, put on a pot of coffee, check e-mail, and quickly peruse some of the posts on my Facebook feed. This morning, I came across a question posed by my local newspaper.

The paper asks the question: "What are your thoughts about whether the Christmas/Holiday Season starts too early these days?" To me, the fact that the paper feels the need to even ask this question indicates that we have a problem.

It is said that the first step toward recovery is admitting you have a problem. For me, the problem became clear when we began giving names to specific shopping days. The day after Thanksgiving was no longer a satisfactory identifier; we now call it Black Friday.

On the other hand, I suppose Black Friday is an apt moniker for this day as it shows the blackest, most base aspects of human nature. On what other day of the year could someone get trampled to death or beaten to a pulp all because of the competition for a $199 television or some $50 toy just out in time for Christmas and have the reaction almost be one of "Ho-hum, another typical Black Friday?"

Of course, online retailers don't want to get left out of this madness, so they have their own day. Cyber Monday sounds likes some sort of organized online protest or day-long computer code writing event, but no, it's simply another day with a name aimed at getting people to buy stuff for a few dollars less than they can get it for any other day of the year.

Less than a week after Halloween, the holidays ads have already begun, beginning with more general ads (such as the one I saw last night for Toys "R" Us) and ramping up toward more specific product ads as we approach Christmas. The Black Friday ads appealing to the inhumanity and insanity of shoppers should start hitting radio and television airwaves within a couple of weeks.

Of course, many of these ads are aimed at the youngest consumers, who have yet to learn that with the accumulation of stuff comes the need for a place in which to store said stuff. The more stuff we accumulate, the larger the place we need for storing those items.

As I write this, it occurs to me that shopping "holidays" such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday, while perhaps essential to the bottom lines of most retailers, have enabled and even encouraged many of us to become pack rats, as last year's hot item gets pushed into a dark corner of a closet to be replaced with this year's must-have new gadget.

I have noticed this in our own home. My son, has a robotic toy dog that he asked for and got for Christmas several years ago. He hasn't played with it for at least five years, except on those rare occasions when we come across it while trying to clean out his closet.

Our two-car garage is crammed so full of stuff we don't use (and don't need) that we can only park one car in it. That actually puts us ahead of many people who can't even get one car in their two or three-car garage. In the future, I suspect real estate listings will not mention garages at all. Instead, they will be featured as a "large on-site storage facility."

As I wrote earlier in this post, the first step toward recovery is admitting you have a problem. So let me be the first. I have a problem. I have too much stuff. What I am not sure of is the next step in the recovery process.

#191 - Falling Deep Into Autumn

Now that we are into the home stretch of October, fall has hit the area like a sledgehammer. A few weeks ago, temperatures pushed into the mid-80s; as I write this on a Friday morning, the temperature outside is a balmy 35-degrees.

If I have to pick a favorite season, I suppose fall/autumn is it, at least until it gets closer to the start of winter. Daytime temperatures are usually comfortable, mid to upper-70s, allowing a wide ranging of clothing options, while mornings are crisp but not frigid.

In addition, the color palette chosen by the Master Artist for autumn is, to me, the most vibrant of that used in any of the four seasons. Reds and golds and greens and browns all compete for place of prominence on the earthly canvas, while the skies above stake their claim with a mixture of vibrant blues and dazzling whites, mixed with the occasional gray tones.

Autumn is also in many ways the most complete season in terms of the cycle of life. Even as leaves give up their tenuous hold on life and flutter noiselessly to the ground, new life begins its uncertain journey as seeds fall and blow on the capricious wind to who knows where, and those amongst us with green thumbs plant fall bulbs in hopes of seeing springtime flowers.

Fall has it all, life and death, endings and new beginnings, a microcosm of existence played out upon this natural stage. Mother Earth gives and she takes back, autumn being the season of tallying and re-balancing the eternal equation.

This, even more than the traditional travel season of summer, is the time of year when I most think about being on the road. Autumn is when the nomadic pull in me is strongest. I long to be on the road to somewhere, anywhere, to see new things, new people, new places. This is the time of year I think about places like New Mexico, Arizona, southwest Texas, Maine, the Carolinas. This really is the time of year when I am going to Carolina in my mind (apologies to James Taylor).

Of course, the trade-off to the richness of the autumnal color palette is, as Dylan Thomas might put it, the dying of the light, as days get shorter. Soon, many of us will settle in for our long winter's naps, going through the motions of getting through each winter's day in a form of semi-hibernation, as we wait for the coming of spring and the beginning of another cycle, another chance to dance.

What is your favorite season and why? Please leave me a comment below.

#190 - Football, Flag Waving, and Facebook

A discussion on Facebook with a family member about Monday night's football game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Detroit Lions got me to thinking, and that thought process led to this post. (Warning: Some may feel insulted or slighted by this post. That is not my intent. I am merely sharing my own imperfect observations.)

The vast majority of my family are devout, even fanatic Seahawk fans. Based on some of their Facebook posts, I suspect they think every announcer and every referee is biased against their team. I know of no empirical evidence to support or refute such a stand, but based on my game day Facebook News Feed, I have to conclude that is the general consensus of at least my more vocal family members.

The discussion about Monday night's game centered on the announcers post-game discussion of a controversial non-call near the end of the game. (The level of controversy no doubt depends on whether you are a Seahawks fan, a Lions fan, or a somewhat neutral observer.) The non-call centered around the apparent batting out of the football out of the back of the end zone by a Seahawk after it had been knocked loose from a Lions receiver.

According to the rules, deliberately batting the ball out of the end zone is supposed to be penalized, in this case by giving the ball back to the Lions and penalizing the Seahawks half the distance to the goal. That was not done, even though the NFL's own Vice-President of Officiating later said it should have been.

Because the announcers (with the help of a former NFL official) discussed the rule and the non-call, they were seen by some in my family as biased. However, being a fan by definition means that you are biased, so I suspect that filter would affect any interpretation of views being expressed (i.e., an announcer biased in favor of your team might be interpreted as being non-biased, and so on).

Our discussion (and the flavor of a political discussion it began to take on) got me to thinking again about Facebook in general. As I always have, I continue to have mixed feelings about Facebook.

On one hand, I think Facebook has been one of the great technological developments of the last 25 years. It has allowed me to stay in touch with family, find kindred spirits (in terms of my views), and reconnect with many of the people who have been a part of my life throughout the years (people I worked with and went to school with who are now scattered across the country). In this respect, Facebook has been a Godsend and perhaps even a life saver.

On the other hand, I think Facebook has been one of the worst or most dangerous technological developments of the last 25 years. It has made it even easier for us to speak without consideration or thought and, based on some of the hateful posts I've read, say things we likely would never have said in the days before Facebook to another person's face.

Facebook has helped to enable and embolden us to say things and express thoughts we would have previously kept to ourselves. Some might say Facebook has allowed people to be more honest and true to themselves, which may be true. At the same time, I believe it has allowed and even encouraged us to say things without thinking them through, things we might not even believe once we really examine them. It then all but forces us to defend those thoughts once someone responds.

So, football got me to thinking about Facebook, which got me to thinking about the political discussions, stories, posts, and feeble attempts at humor I see on Facebook. I think what I find particularly insulting is what I call "flag-waving" (so-called patriotic posts) from my conservative friends that insult moderates, liberals, and progressives and seem to imply that only conservatives are patriotic and that anyone else is a communist who hates America.

A number of these posts and shares involves some Internet meme that later turns out to be false, but because one person posted it and others shared it, it takes on the power of fact. It reminds me of the quote toward the end of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence, when the newspaper editor says to the Jimmy Stewart character, "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." One of the good and bad things about technology is that, once something is said, once it is out there, it is out there forever and cannot be unsaid.

Some time ago, I made the argument that Facebook is not the place for serious, thoughtful discussion. I find that still to be true. Although I have seen and been able to take part in some serious and thoughtful political discussions on Facebook, for the most part, I find the conversation to be more often than not talking at one another at best and talking past one another at worst.

Insults and name-calling seems to be the norm rather than the exception, and as we get closer to 2016, I suspect it is going to get worse. Our nation is devolving into one of extremes. As the extreme right gets louder, it pushes many others further to the left. The middle, once squeezed out by the two ends of the political spectrum, now seems somewhat vacant (much like the vanishing middle class). The result is a black or white divide where no gray area is allowed to exist.

One area where this divide is most evident is in the controversial arena of gun control. Calls for stronger background checks and better regulation of gun shows are interpreted as the government coming to take one's guns. People who own guns (or at least who own more than one) are increasingly seen by some as fanatical and dangerous.

I am somewhere in the middle on gun control, as I suspect most Americans are. If we could remove the National Rifle Association's hype machine from the equation, I suspect most Americans could have a rational conversation about guns and regulation. I do believe stronger background checks are needed, and I don't believe gun shows should get a pass. I believe private sales should be reported so that some kind of check might be possible. On the other hand, while I don't always understand the need or desire to own guns (especially more than one or two), I have no desire to outlaw gun ownership entirely. I do question the need to own certain types of guns, but I believe that is and should be a separate discussion to background checks.

One thing I do find ludicrous is the continuing argument from some conservative gun owners that regulating guns means that only criminals will have guns. By that logic, we should eliminate speeding laws and speed limits, auto insurance requirements, driver's licensing, and building regulations. None of these things prevents bad or even criminal behavior, but they increase the possibility that only qualified people are allowed to participate in these activities. They are there for protection and guidance as well as prevention, and while they are not 100% effective, I do think they beat total anarchy, which is the alternative.

My own conclusion based on what I see and read on the Internet? Where we were once a nation where two sides compromised to get things done, we are now a nation where two extremes prevent things from getting done. As the right has moved further right and become more strident, I have moved further left. Others, I suspect, refuse to be aligned with either side and have dropped out altogether. Based on what I sometimes read on Facebook, it is tempting to join them.

#189 - Looking Back, Looking Forward

On this day, 22 years ago, my wife Teresa became my wife. I remember it was a warm, sunny day, with only a smattering of clouds in the skies above the church in Madison, Alabama. Though there have been clouds from time to time, I'd like to think our 22 years have been mostly sunny.

We were married on a day which almost straddled the end of summer and the beginning of autumn. Just as one season was preparing to transition into another, so were the two of us preparing to transition from one way of life into another.

Looking back, the scattered clouds dotting the sunny skies above us that day seem appropriate as indicators that not everything would go smoothly. We both entered marriage after the age of 30, meaning we'd had plenty of time to develop bad habits and become used to certain ways of living and of doing things.

We also had to learn to merge two different ways of thinking and of approaching things. Teresa is often more of a planner. I joke that the she has a spreadsheet for everything, even a spreadsheet to list all of her spreadsheets. She doesn't like to be caught off-guard or unprepared.

Me, I tend to be a bit more spur of the moment. An idea pops into my head, and I instantly want to act on it. It is the way I write, and it tends to carry over into other aspects of my life. The problem comes when I act without saying anything to Teresa. When that happens, our two approaches clash, and clouds form overhead.

Over time, I think a little of my approach has rubbed off on Teresa, and vice versa. We still have our moments, often caused by what the Strother Martin character in Cool Hand Luke would call "a failure to communicate." Our marriage (and I suspect most others) is nothing like what you would observe in a Lifetime Movie or a Harlequin romance, but it has been life changing. And life affirming.

When we were planning our wedding way back in the spring of 1993, we jokingly (I think) agreed that we would try out being married to one another for 40 years, after which we could call it off. Now that we are more than half way through our "trial" marriage, I am hopeful that once those 40 years are up Teresa will decide to renew the option for another 40 years.

While I suspect there are times when she might think I've made her life a living hell or at least more difficult than it needed to be, I can say that Teresa has made life for me possible. Although I can't say I've accomplished a great deal in my life, I can say I would have accomplished even less without her encouragement and stubborn insistence. For that, I say thank you.

The song itself is not fitting of the situation, but the opening lines of the Little River Band song seem appropriate: "Happy anniversary, baby. Got you on my mind."

#188 - Is Stupid Stamped on My Forehead?

It's been a while between posts, but life has a habit of getting in the way. It has been a very busy summer working with our son, working around the house, running errands. You know, living.

Recently, though, I had a few episodes that got me to wondering about the state of the world we live in and helped me, perhaps, to understand some of the stereotypes we as Americans, generally speaking, tend to use to describe people from other nations and other cultures.

First, let me explain that I am of an age (albeit still at the lower end of that age range) that puts me in a group susceptible to "unscrupulous" people seeking to separate me from my money. Yes, I am a member of the AARP crowd.

Within the space of a few days, I had not one, not two, but three different calls from "agencies" calling me to discuss my "problem," with which they were familiar. All three calls came from people who were either calling from India (or that general region) or were originally from that part of the world.

The first call was from a "pharmaceutical" company calling about my medications. Fair enough, except for the fact that I do not take any medications outside of an over-the-counter allergy pill. Click.

The second call was from a "help desk" calling me about the problems I was having with Windows on my computer. Just one problem. I do not use Windows on my computer; I use Linux. Another click.

The third call in as many days came from "(inaudible) Home Security." While I want my home to be at least as secure as the next person's, I also prefer to be the one to initiate any inquiry into home security systems. Needless to say, I hadn't. So my only response was "No" followed by hanging up yet again. Third click.

While I know anyone can be duped by a scam that seems straightforward and legitimate at the onset, it seems that scammers have a lower opinion of the over-50 crowd than they do of other age groups. Either that, or they think I'm even older than I am. Or maybe they simply think I'm stupid.

I also know I am not the only person ever to receive such calls, but it seems with every year that I age, the number of such calls I receive increases exponentially. Oddly enough, they nearly all seem to come people with an accent resembling that of someone from India.

I say oddly enough because my admittedly limited knowledge of that part of the world includes an understanding that elders in general and the elderly in particular are revered and cared for. Perhaps these people never learned that. Perhaps their elders are long gone. Or perhaps it is simply that they figure since America tends not to revere its elders the way other cultures do those people are "fair game."

Maybe someone saw my wife and I out while she was wearing an "I'm With Stupid -----> T-shirt. Who knows? All I know is that the word stupid is not stamped on my forehead. At least it wasn't the last time I checked. Perhaps I'd better take another look.

#187 - Blood, Sweat, and Fears

It is said that blood is thicker than water. Having seen both, I would agree. What blood does not appear to be thicker than is politics and emotions.

I recently returned from a family gathering from which a number of family members were missing. I don't know and don't care to know the particulars, but it is safe to say that something got said and some feelings got hurt, to the point that said family members decided not to attend an even that has been going on for seven years now.

I won't speak for the host, but I will say I missed their presence, although no enough to keep me from having a good time. If anything, I would argue they were the ones who missed out. But that is neither here nor there. I have not been asked to take sides and at this point don't plan to. (For some reason, I am suddenly reminded of the old adage, "be careful what you wish for.")

Perhaps it is because I live a fair distance from most of my family, but I have never caused or been the recipient of that level of animosity where family members are concerned. Perhaps it's because I haven't cared enough or worried enough about what they thought.

Until I was almost 12 years of age, I didn't even know I had aunts, uncles, and cousins. We became close for a time, drifted apart for a time, and then came back together to some extent. Perhaps that puts me in a good place as far as balancing family goes. I don't know.

I do know that I have received some push back from family on occasion because of my political views, which admittedly do not line up with the majority of my family. Said push back has, in my case, been temporary. I suspect that my family, being what it is, will find some way to come back together before this time next year. Unless it doesn't. We are, as those who know us will attest, a proud and stubborn clan.

What is interesting to me these days is that the people I felt closest to in my teens are people I sometimes am not really sure I know. At least they are people I don't often talk with, while a cousin I hardly knew growing up has been the family member I perhaps most relate to and have the most in common with.

It's funny sometimes how life works out.

#186 - Marriage, God, and the Supreme Court

As I type this, pundits, analysts, naysayers, and average citizens are discussing the 5-to-4 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court legalizing gay marriage. My only regret about this decision is that the vote was not unanimously in favor.

As I see it, this issue was and is a matter of civil rights an equality under the law, not a religious, spiritual, or moral issue, even though many have tried to paint it using those colors. However, if the constitution precludes the establishment of a national religion, as it does, then it must also preclude using religion when making such a ruling.

A number of the posts opposing this ruling have used God and God's Word as a justification for their opposition. I assume many of them are using the King James Bible as their moral foundation. But who decided that version (or even any version of the Bible) should be the "official" word of God?

Every version of the Bible with which I am familiar is a translation. Or, more accurately, a translation of a translation of perhaps yet another translation. I am assuming that most people do not have access to the original Hebrew and Greek texts, and even those were written down mostly by people who were told something by someone else who may or may not have been around at the time the events were said to have occurred.

Also, many versions of the Bible are translated in such a way as to support and reinforce the philosophy of the church for which the version is being produced. For instance, the King James Bible was produced based on instructions from King James that the translation uphold the theology of the Church of England, which placed the monarch at the head of the church, unlike the Catholic Church, where the Pope is the head.

In addition, there are many who would argue that nearly all (if not all) translations were produced in such a way as to support the power structure of the church in place at the time (ordained clergy, the placement of men in positions of theological power, the subordination of women, etc.). Perhaps even the original scriptures were written in this way.

People are wont to cite the Word of God whenever stating an opinion on something they seem as a moral issue, forgetting that all of these texts were actually written by men. Humans are not perfect beings and are sometimes prone to error, misinterpretation, and even willful disregard of the truth. I think it is highly likely that at least some writers of the Bible were trying to cement their positions within the then fledgling church and wrote their sections in such a way as to do so.

I think those who wish to use their version of the Bible as moral guide to how they should live should be perfectly free to do so - as long as they recognize that other deeply spiritual people may not agree with their views or interpretation of God's Word.

Personally, the God I believe in is much bigger and much greater than any book purporting to be God's Word can represent. The God I believe in is one of love, not of judgment. If, as 1 John 4:18 states: "God is love," how could God be opposed to the Supreme Court ruling or, for that matter, anything that furthers the cause and the expression of love?

The Supreme Court decision will not end the debate, but I believe it is a step in the right direction. To quote from an old Pablo Cruise song, "love will find a way." Today, it did.