He sings funny, but he is a worth a listen...
I would write more, but Friday would be left better to Budsy and her Friday martini...
(I am just posting to break the one month record.)
Friday, March 28, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
Politics only gets more confusing
God help me – I think I’m becoming a Republican.
All my life I’ve taken a bit of pride in my liberalism, but lately the party I gravitated toward in my youth is rubbing against my grain more often than not.
I have never wanted to be a Republican, I guess I still don’t. But I find myself more in line with the basics of Republican political philosophy more often than I align with the Democrats. I tend to believe that people need to take some responsibility for themselves before the government gets involved. People need to be a little more self sufficient than Democrats would have them.
You need to understand that this is a painful process for me. Not that the philosophical part of it all is bothering me. I don’t mind that at all. It is that most of the individuals that I have known who claimed to be of the right wing persuasion, always seemed to have a tendency to also be slick and oily. You know, on the shady side. They always scared me because they were so willing to give away everyone’s constitutional rights in order to expedite an issue.
The Religious Right frightens the hell out of me. They have no room for compromise, they are right and everyone who doesn’t subscribe to their thinking is damned. They want to trash the Bill of Rights because it allows people to harbor beliefs contrary to their own.
Here’s another scary group - I spent a few years working in law enforcement. Ask any cop, game warden, FBI agent or any other form of law enforcement officer where his political views lie, it is certainly not with the pinko, commie horde of liberals (their description, not mine) that I called colleagues. No matter, I could live with the philosophical differences, but I was always greatly outnumbered in any debates. In fact I usually stood alone.
What I really find difficult to accept is people with badges are the same people who advocate trashing the Bill of Rights because it makes their job cumbersome. They do not want to be bothered with things like warrants, Miranda Rights, Habeas Corpus and the like.
The Republicans I know spit out the word “Liberal” as if it were a venereal disease. They have no use for a difference of opinion nor will they tolerate anything that resembles one. “Liberals” tend to be a little more lenient in that regard. I was never ashamed of being a Liberal as they suggest I should be.
Nope! I don’t really think I am becoming a Republican (thank God!).
I just need to check some other parties, like Dane’s Libertarians.
All my life I’ve taken a bit of pride in my liberalism, but lately the party I gravitated toward in my youth is rubbing against my grain more often than not.
I have never wanted to be a Republican, I guess I still don’t. But I find myself more in line with the basics of Republican political philosophy more often than I align with the Democrats. I tend to believe that people need to take some responsibility for themselves before the government gets involved. People need to be a little more self sufficient than Democrats would have them.
You need to understand that this is a painful process for me. Not that the philosophical part of it all is bothering me. I don’t mind that at all. It is that most of the individuals that I have known who claimed to be of the right wing persuasion, always seemed to have a tendency to also be slick and oily. You know, on the shady side. They always scared me because they were so willing to give away everyone’s constitutional rights in order to expedite an issue.
The Religious Right frightens the hell out of me. They have no room for compromise, they are right and everyone who doesn’t subscribe to their thinking is damned. They want to trash the Bill of Rights because it allows people to harbor beliefs contrary to their own.
Here’s another scary group - I spent a few years working in law enforcement. Ask any cop, game warden, FBI agent or any other form of law enforcement officer where his political views lie, it is certainly not with the pinko, commie horde of liberals (their description, not mine) that I called colleagues. No matter, I could live with the philosophical differences, but I was always greatly outnumbered in any debates. In fact I usually stood alone.
What I really find difficult to accept is people with badges are the same people who advocate trashing the Bill of Rights because it makes their job cumbersome. They do not want to be bothered with things like warrants, Miranda Rights, Habeas Corpus and the like.
The Republicans I know spit out the word “Liberal” as if it were a venereal disease. They have no use for a difference of opinion nor will they tolerate anything that resembles one. “Liberals” tend to be a little more lenient in that regard. I was never ashamed of being a Liberal as they suggest I should be.
Nope! I don’t really think I am becoming a Republican (thank God!).
I just need to check some other parties, like Dane’s Libertarians.
Double Baked
I already have a crispy coating from a weekend outside washing the car and fixing the pool. I haven't been to the gym in two weeks, but I figure that can wait until hotter days. Today, it is way too nice to work, so I am sneaking out to get in one last Spring Training game before the season is over.
I remember growing up in Minnesota, waiting for the first forty degree day so we could put on shorts and a t-shirt. Spring fever still exists, only now that forty degree day has been upped to eighty-five.
Hopefully next year, I can talk some of you northerners into experiencing the Arizona version of spring fever and you will head down for Spring Training 2009.
For today, it is sunshine, sunflower seeds, beer, and the San Diego Padres versus the Los Angeles Angels.
-Dane
I remember growing up in Minnesota, waiting for the first forty degree day so we could put on shorts and a t-shirt. Spring fever still exists, only now that forty degree day has been upped to eighty-five.
Hopefully next year, I can talk some of you northerners into experiencing the Arizona version of spring fever and you will head down for Spring Training 2009.
For today, it is sunshine, sunflower seeds, beer, and the San Diego Padres versus the Los Angeles Angels.
-Dane
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Punkgrass?
My brother Bubba would be proud that I keep an open mind when it comes to politics. (My wife is a Republican, which makes her right, half the time--I am a Libertarian, so I go both ways, politically, at least.)
When I moved to Arizona, one of the last things he said was something about "don't turn into one of those Barry Goldwater types." (more on that later...)
One of the cool things about working where I work, though, is how unbelievably creative the people are. Case in point, this guy named Marc. He is easily the greatest graphic artist I have ever met. (Actually, his official title is bigger than that, but that is really the area he dominates.) I have worked with a couple thousand, so I should know. Typical of most artists, he multi-talented.
I was watching a profile on PBS a couple of weeks ago on Pete Seeger. I couldn't help but think how we were overdue for a folk-type revival. The political pendulum swings, and we are due for that come back. (...more on that later, too.)
Typical of great artists (which I am not) Marc is again ahead of the curve. Check this out:
Black and Blue Revue
I can't stop listening to it. The punk-influenced folk is driving me to consider getting a union card...
When I moved to Arizona, one of the last things he said was something about "don't turn into one of those Barry Goldwater types." (more on that later...)
One of the cool things about working where I work, though, is how unbelievably creative the people are. Case in point, this guy named Marc. He is easily the greatest graphic artist I have ever met. (Actually, his official title is bigger than that, but that is really the area he dominates.) I have worked with a couple thousand, so I should know. Typical of most artists, he multi-talented.
I was watching a profile on PBS a couple of weeks ago on Pete Seeger. I couldn't help but think how we were overdue for a folk-type revival. The political pendulum swings, and we are due for that come back. (...more on that later, too.)
Typical of great artists (which I am not) Marc is again ahead of the curve. Check this out:
Black and Blue Revue
I can't stop listening to it. The punk-influenced folk is driving me to consider getting a union card...
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Ah, The Memories
A couple of weeks ago, I attended a funeral for the wife of my cousin, Doug Holmstrom. While generally unpleasant, funerals do sometimes become family reunions, of sorts, and I got to visit with Doug’s brother, Darwin Holmstrom, who I haven’t seen for about 25+ years.
I was much closer to Doug than to Darwin. Darwin ran with a different crowd than I did, and he always seemed ‘darker’ and more aloof than Doug. I was not attracted to that.
Anyway, it was very nice to catch up and view a person’s life experience through the eyes of an adult. We talked about our lives and experiences. It was really nice. His wife is really interesting. I wish I could have spent more time speaking with them.
Darwin’s grandmother, Elsie, (she is my aunt) is in the Karlstad nursing home, as is my father, so we talked about that. We also talked about how interesting elderly people really are, and how memories from long ago are so much clearer to Elsie and my dad than are current memories. My dad spends a lot of time talking about what happened to him when he was young, and the stories are varied and vidid.
I asked Darwin if our memories of younger years are clearer to us as we age, what are we going to be remembering and talking about when we are old? Based on the look that he gave me, I think I horrified him.
Hopefully we won’t be terrorizing our caretakers. Kind of a scary thought, huh!
I was much closer to Doug than to Darwin. Darwin ran with a different crowd than I did, and he always seemed ‘darker’ and more aloof than Doug. I was not attracted to that.
Anyway, it was very nice to catch up and view a person’s life experience through the eyes of an adult. We talked about our lives and experiences. It was really nice. His wife is really interesting. I wish I could have spent more time speaking with them.
Darwin’s grandmother, Elsie, (she is my aunt) is in the Karlstad nursing home, as is my father, so we talked about that. We also talked about how interesting elderly people really are, and how memories from long ago are so much clearer to Elsie and my dad than are current memories. My dad spends a lot of time talking about what happened to him when he was young, and the stories are varied and vidid.
I asked Darwin if our memories of younger years are clearer to us as we age, what are we going to be remembering and talking about when we are old? Based on the look that he gave me, I think I horrified him.
Hopefully we won’t be terrorizing our caretakers. Kind of a scary thought, huh!
Pandora
It is not too uncommon for me to spend half of my waking hours each week in front of a computer and most of that time, I am listening to music. Even with thirty gigs packed on my iTunes, it doesn't take long to get bored with listening to the same things over and over again.
Thankfully, I can turn to Pandora.com. It is a website that allows you to build your own commercial-free radio stations. You pick the bands, it will play them and anything it's Music Genome Project deems similar.
You can create different "stations". For instance, you may want a blues station. Add Buddy Guy, Leadbelly, and B.B. King, and the station will randomly play songs by them, while adding similar selections from say, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker and Eric Clapton.
You get bored with blues? Create a new station. I currently have six different stations, and am continually altering them to fit my mood. You can add or delete songs or groups any time you want. Want to hear that new group you heard about? Add them in. Sick of hearing Boy George? Vote him off your radio station.
Fun stuff. Check it out.
Thankfully, I can turn to Pandora.com. It is a website that allows you to build your own commercial-free radio stations. You pick the bands, it will play them and anything it's Music Genome Project deems similar.
You can create different "stations". For instance, you may want a blues station. Add Buddy Guy, Leadbelly, and B.B. King, and the station will randomly play songs by them, while adding similar selections from say, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker and Eric Clapton.
You get bored with blues? Create a new station. I currently have six different stations, and am continually altering them to fit my mood. You can add or delete songs or groups any time you want. Want to hear that new group you heard about? Add them in. Sick of hearing Boy George? Vote him off your radio station.
Fun stuff. Check it out.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Audible Sigh
So, I love to golf. Unfortunately, I live in Minnesota and only have about 6 months out of the year that I can golf close to home. This time of year, what began as a golf itch in December, has now become a full-fledged rash.
Overall, I’m not a great golfer. I’ve gotten a little better in the past three years since I joined a ladies golf league at Eagles Landing Golf Course, located at Fort Ripley, MN. My golf partner is darn near scratch, so she carries my sorry butt most of the time. I always ask her why she wants me as a partner. She just smiles at me. I think it is because I like to have a couple of Mich Golden Lights, just like her, and I’ve agreed not to call her “Mommy” or tug on her pants leg and ask for a juice box.
She can almost drive the greens on some of the par 4 holes from the Ladies Tees. She actually should be playing from the White Tees, and does when she plays a round with her husband, who is in the Minnesota Amateur Golf Tournament every year. (He is pretty good, too.)
Our league is not terribly competitive or cutthroat. You will get no grand reward for winning. But, you will have had a great time over the year. Our league consists of women of all ages, and, surprisingly, most are pretty good or, like me, can at least hold their own.
When not golfing in my golf league, I almost always golf with men, and learned how to golf from my husband, who is pretty good in his own right. We got our friend, LeRoy, hooked on golf two years ago. He is 50 years old, and wishes he had started playing golf much earlier. It is a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
We have our annual golf extravaganza in August, this year the second week. We golf various courses in the beautiful Brainerd Lakes Area on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday during that week. We used to golf two 18-hole courses on each day. As we have aged, we have backed down slightly, golfing 18 holes on Wednesday, 36 holes on Thursday, and, depending upon how we feel, 18 or 36 holes on Friday. We generally have enough people to fill two tee times at each course, but have an open invitation to anyone who would like to join us. Just let us know in advance so we can adjust tee times as necessary.
We always take a few days off and golf some of the beautiful northern Minnesota courses (the Giant’s Ridge courses and The Wilderness at Fortune Bay) in the fall with our friend, Pryce. This year we might golf Superior National in Lutsen, Minnesota.
Pryce also wants us to go to the Ryder Cup in Kentucky this fall. We are considering it. I’ve been to the PGA Championship when it was in Minnesota a few years ago and had a great time.
Tiger Woods just won his 5th golf tournament in a row. Simply amazing.
As I look out the window, it is snowing, and we are expected to get between 4 to 6 inches of snow today. (Audible sigh.)
Overall, I’m not a great golfer. I’ve gotten a little better in the past three years since I joined a ladies golf league at Eagles Landing Golf Course, located at Fort Ripley, MN. My golf partner is darn near scratch, so she carries my sorry butt most of the time. I always ask her why she wants me as a partner. She just smiles at me. I think it is because I like to have a couple of Mich Golden Lights, just like her, and I’ve agreed not to call her “Mommy” or tug on her pants leg and ask for a juice box.
She can almost drive the greens on some of the par 4 holes from the Ladies Tees. She actually should be playing from the White Tees, and does when she plays a round with her husband, who is in the Minnesota Amateur Golf Tournament every year. (He is pretty good, too.)
Our league is not terribly competitive or cutthroat. You will get no grand reward for winning. But, you will have had a great time over the year. Our league consists of women of all ages, and, surprisingly, most are pretty good or, like me, can at least hold their own.
When not golfing in my golf league, I almost always golf with men, and learned how to golf from my husband, who is pretty good in his own right. We got our friend, LeRoy, hooked on golf two years ago. He is 50 years old, and wishes he had started playing golf much earlier. It is a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
We have our annual golf extravaganza in August, this year the second week. We golf various courses in the beautiful Brainerd Lakes Area on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday during that week. We used to golf two 18-hole courses on each day. As we have aged, we have backed down slightly, golfing 18 holes on Wednesday, 36 holes on Thursday, and, depending upon how we feel, 18 or 36 holes on Friday. We generally have enough people to fill two tee times at each course, but have an open invitation to anyone who would like to join us. Just let us know in advance so we can adjust tee times as necessary.
We always take a few days off and golf some of the beautiful northern Minnesota courses (the Giant’s Ridge courses and The Wilderness at Fortune Bay) in the fall with our friend, Pryce. This year we might golf Superior National in Lutsen, Minnesota.
Pryce also wants us to go to the Ryder Cup in Kentucky this fall. We are considering it. I’ve been to the PGA Championship when it was in Minnesota a few years ago and had a great time.
Tiger Woods just won his 5th golf tournament in a row. Simply amazing.
As I look out the window, it is snowing, and we are expected to get between 4 to 6 inches of snow today. (Audible sigh.)
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Stress (part 2)
I love the Seinfeld episode where George is acting like he is all upset and mad while going through his work day with the Yankees. He then explains to his friends that when you act mad, people just assume you are really busy dealing with difficult issues and they tend to leave you alone. Perception becomes reality, basically.
It reminded me of a lesson I learned while playing basketball in 11th grade. (I beg forgiveness on the sports analogy, but I am doing it anyway.) We were playing Crookston, a school five times bigger than us, and they were killing us with their full-court press defense. We couldn't get the ball up the court.
I was a forward at the time, so I had little to do with bringing the ball up the court. Out of frustration, I asked the coach to let me try playing guard. I was nowhere near the ball handler as half our team, but I had an idea. I was going to get the inbound pass, have all my teammates clear the court, and deal with my defender one-on-one.
I took the first inbound pass, pivoted into my defender, facing him directly, calmly pausing with a dead-pan, calm look on my face, and slowly dribbled my way up the court. He had no idea how fast my heart was racing in utter panic. I looked calm, but I was faking it.
It worked. Although I was pretty convinced he could have stolen the ball away from me anytime he wanted, after three of four times up the floor, he was convinced I knew what I was doing. He backed off and every time up the floor gave me more and more room to handle the ball.
That may be the only lesson I ever learned playing basketball, but it has stuck with me and I always refer to it when I am in a stressful situation. Stay calm, take a breath (as Ming and Marna pointed out in the comments to the last post), and essentially, fake it.
Although most stress is self-generated, no matter what you do, it will always exist. As a kid working my first job at the newspaper, my brother Bubba explained to me how he loved the stress of meeting a deadline. He thrived on it. Stress happens, but how we deal with it is completely in our control.
It reminded me of a lesson I learned while playing basketball in 11th grade. (I beg forgiveness on the sports analogy, but I am doing it anyway.) We were playing Crookston, a school five times bigger than us, and they were killing us with their full-court press defense. We couldn't get the ball up the court.
I was a forward at the time, so I had little to do with bringing the ball up the court. Out of frustration, I asked the coach to let me try playing guard. I was nowhere near the ball handler as half our team, but I had an idea. I was going to get the inbound pass, have all my teammates clear the court, and deal with my defender one-on-one.
I took the first inbound pass, pivoted into my defender, facing him directly, calmly pausing with a dead-pan, calm look on my face, and slowly dribbled my way up the court. He had no idea how fast my heart was racing in utter panic. I looked calm, but I was faking it.
It worked. Although I was pretty convinced he could have stolen the ball away from me anytime he wanted, after three of four times up the floor, he was convinced I knew what I was doing. He backed off and every time up the floor gave me more and more room to handle the ball.
That may be the only lesson I ever learned playing basketball, but it has stuck with me and I always refer to it when I am in a stressful situation. Stay calm, take a breath (as Ming and Marna pointed out in the comments to the last post), and essentially, fake it.
Although most stress is self-generated, no matter what you do, it will always exist. As a kid working my first job at the newspaper, my brother Bubba explained to me how he loved the stress of meeting a deadline. He thrived on it. Stress happens, but how we deal with it is completely in our control.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Stress (part one)
I define stress as the overwhelming desire to regulate a situation that is beyond the realm of your control.
All my life, I have been a stresser. I think it is just something I inherited from my dad. Whenever I went with him somewhere and he was driving, he always stressed about where he was going to park when he got there. It makes no sense, but after over twenty years living in a city, I still do the same thing. Ask my wife. Sometimes it makes her laugh so hard, she can't control herself. Worse yet, when we get there, I usually end up parking three spots from the front door.
Somewhere along the line, though, I picked up some good advice. Actually, they are just three questions:
One, will anyone die?
Two, will the people who matter still love you?
And three, does it really matter to anyone other than you anyway?
These questions have made finding a parking spot seem pretty irrelevant, but they really apply well to work related issues. Unless you actually have someone's life in your hands, stressing about anything is really pretty silly. Keep life simple and don't place undue importance on things that just don't really matter. Most of all, no matter how good you are, accept the fact that you will occasionally fail and just do the best you can.
-dane
All my life, I have been a stresser. I think it is just something I inherited from my dad. Whenever I went with him somewhere and he was driving, he always stressed about where he was going to park when he got there. It makes no sense, but after over twenty years living in a city, I still do the same thing. Ask my wife. Sometimes it makes her laugh so hard, she can't control herself. Worse yet, when we get there, I usually end up parking three spots from the front door.
Somewhere along the line, though, I picked up some good advice. Actually, they are just three questions:
One, will anyone die?
Two, will the people who matter still love you?
And three, does it really matter to anyone other than you anyway?
These questions have made finding a parking spot seem pretty irrelevant, but they really apply well to work related issues. Unless you actually have someone's life in your hands, stressing about anything is really pretty silly. Keep life simple and don't place undue importance on things that just don't really matter. Most of all, no matter how good you are, accept the fact that you will occasionally fail and just do the best you can.
-dane
Monday, March 10, 2008
The End of a Season - Beginning of a Thaw
So, I’m somewhat unlike most females I know. I’ll happily go out in public in jogging pants, no makeup, and uncombed hair. I don’t really talk about what are typically considered female topics very often, although I have the capacity to speak about most. I really don’t like to shop much. I’ve never had the maternal urge to have children. I strongly dislike soap operas, daytime television, and romance novels. I do like watching Oprah, however.
I love hockey and baseball. I REALLY love football. I play fantasy football and have my own team. I am the person who got my husband interested in fantasy football. I can talk pretty in-depth about the current mediocrity of the Minnesota Wild, or the Minnesota Vikings’ need of a starting defensive end, and not so much about breast pumps, the latest fashions, or the latest Hollywood gossip. I love muscle cars!
I also love to fish. I REALLY love to ice fish. And, I REALLY, REALLY love to ice fish for crappies.
When our permanent ice-fishing house goes out on the lake every year there is great rejoicing in Whoville. Both Jeff and I both believe that our fish house was one of the best pieces of recreational equipment that we ever purchased, and will never be without one. It is easy to put out on the lake and easy to take back in again.
It has many of the comforts of home – at least a home on the ice. We spend many hours each winter sitting in the house, heater at full tilt, Ipod playing our favorite music, and our beverages of choice, which changes based upon the day of the week. (Coffee during the week nights - we generally don’t drink alcohol during the week, but on the weekends, we’ll have an alcoholic beverage or two.) We have great conversations, and it is our little respite from the world. Even if no fish are caught, a day in the fish house is still a great day.
About two weeks ago, by regulation, we had to take our fish house off of the lake. Now, normally, this annual ritual is generally full of sadness. For me, it marks the end of the ‘fun’ time of winter, and the beginning of the time between winter and spring where I really can’t do much of anything except dodge sloppy, muddy puddles caused by the melting snow, and wash my car a couple of times a week to keep off the coating of salt.
This year, however, I’m not as sad as I usually am. For those of you who live in Minnesota/North Dakota, you know how categorically unpleasant this winter has been; very cold, very windy (like my blog), and not so much snow. We had –25 degree nights even as late as last week. The regular high during the day is supposed to be 32 degrees. Last week, it didn’t even get to 0 some days.
So, my heart wasn’t quite as heavy as I watched Jeff back the fish house down the driveway and park it next to the garage. It is supposed to be in the upper 20’s to lower 30’s this weekend, which is ideal for sitting on the ice and fishing for the elusive crappie without the need of a fish house. I’ll have to put on some sunscreen or my face will likely get sunburned.
Keep your chins up, northern people. Warmer weather is just around the corner.
I love hockey and baseball. I REALLY love football. I play fantasy football and have my own team. I am the person who got my husband interested in fantasy football. I can talk pretty in-depth about the current mediocrity of the Minnesota Wild, or the Minnesota Vikings’ need of a starting defensive end, and not so much about breast pumps, the latest fashions, or the latest Hollywood gossip. I love muscle cars!
I also love to fish. I REALLY love to ice fish. And, I REALLY, REALLY love to ice fish for crappies.
When our permanent ice-fishing house goes out on the lake every year there is great rejoicing in Whoville. Both Jeff and I both believe that our fish house was one of the best pieces of recreational equipment that we ever purchased, and will never be without one. It is easy to put out on the lake and easy to take back in again.
It has many of the comforts of home – at least a home on the ice. We spend many hours each winter sitting in the house, heater at full tilt, Ipod playing our favorite music, and our beverages of choice, which changes based upon the day of the week. (Coffee during the week nights - we generally don’t drink alcohol during the week, but on the weekends, we’ll have an alcoholic beverage or two.) We have great conversations, and it is our little respite from the world. Even if no fish are caught, a day in the fish house is still a great day.
About two weeks ago, by regulation, we had to take our fish house off of the lake. Now, normally, this annual ritual is generally full of sadness. For me, it marks the end of the ‘fun’ time of winter, and the beginning of the time between winter and spring where I really can’t do much of anything except dodge sloppy, muddy puddles caused by the melting snow, and wash my car a couple of times a week to keep off the coating of salt.
This year, however, I’m not as sad as I usually am. For those of you who live in Minnesota/North Dakota, you know how categorically unpleasant this winter has been; very cold, very windy (like my blog), and not so much snow. We had –25 degree nights even as late as last week. The regular high during the day is supposed to be 32 degrees. Last week, it didn’t even get to 0 some days.
So, my heart wasn’t quite as heavy as I watched Jeff back the fish house down the driveway and park it next to the garage. It is supposed to be in the upper 20’s to lower 30’s this weekend, which is ideal for sitting on the ice and fishing for the elusive crappie without the need of a fish house. I’ll have to put on some sunscreen or my face will likely get sunburned.
Keep your chins up, northern people. Warmer weather is just around the corner.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Love is all around us, but then so is death.....
Or is that love, too? Dane has asked me to be a guest blogger in a week of people passing into their next phase of life, or as we call it, death. Our dear friend, Joan, lost her dad at the end of February. Growing up, I spent a ton of time at their house, going with their family to Lake of the Woods to fish or to visit relatives in Grafton. Elmer was my first boss at the gas station he owned in Karlstad. It was unexpected and especially tragic since her mom died only 7 months before. The funeral was last Saturday and it was good to be there to hug Joan and to celebrate Elmer's life.
This Saturday we will say good-bye to another friend. This time someone so much younger and so much before her time. Karleen was married to our friend Doug. She had a zest for life and didn't hesitate to tell you about it or show it off. Coming from a family of 13 siblings, I think you need to do something to get a little attention. Doug has been a rock throughout her illness and he will be a rock going forward for their young kids. Through it all he kept his sense of humor and his wits about him. Something I admire in people under that kind of stress.
So what happens when we die? Where do we really go? Who and what do we see there? My inate understanding has always been that we go to heaven and it's beautiful and it's peaceful and we see our loved ones and they welcome us with open arms. I still believe that, however, I also believe that we can have heaven on earth, too. I'm just beginning my journey of understanding how. Some of it may seem new age, some of it may seem wacky, but I really believe that all of it is inside us -- our love of ourselves translates into our love of God. We were born joyful and we should do all we can to be joyful throughout our lives. Joy will translate to health, wealth and peace. And, when our bodies are worn out and pass into the next phase, we will live on in joy. I still don't know what happens after that, but maybe by the time I'm ready to go, I will.
As always, remember to have fun and appreciate your life in each and every moment.
This Saturday we will say good-bye to another friend. This time someone so much younger and so much before her time. Karleen was married to our friend Doug. She had a zest for life and didn't hesitate to tell you about it or show it off. Coming from a family of 13 siblings, I think you need to do something to get a little attention. Doug has been a rock throughout her illness and he will be a rock going forward for their young kids. Through it all he kept his sense of humor and his wits about him. Something I admire in people under that kind of stress.
So what happens when we die? Where do we really go? Who and what do we see there? My inate understanding has always been that we go to heaven and it's beautiful and it's peaceful and we see our loved ones and they welcome us with open arms. I still believe that, however, I also believe that we can have heaven on earth, too. I'm just beginning my journey of understanding how. Some of it may seem new age, some of it may seem wacky, but I really believe that all of it is inside us -- our love of ourselves translates into our love of God. We were born joyful and we should do all we can to be joyful throughout our lives. Joy will translate to health, wealth and peace. And, when our bodies are worn out and pass into the next phase, we will live on in joy. I still don't know what happens after that, but maybe by the time I'm ready to go, I will.
As always, remember to have fun and appreciate your life in each and every moment.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Unfortunately, No Bad Teeth
I have a decision to make. One, I can go to Wisconsin next week. Two, I can have my molars yanked out with rusty pliers. Or, three, I can have my privates shaved by a 400 pound East German gorilla named Helga. It is a tough choice, I know, but I am going to have to think about it.
Unfortunately for me, I don't have any more molars left to pull and East Germany no longer exists. I guess I am stuck with Wisconsin.
For some bizarre reason, I always seem to travel more in the winter when it is nicest here in Arizona. It makes no sense. Now granted, most of my travel the last several months has been work related, so I didn't have much control over timing, but bring on the heat already. I have seen more snow in the last four months than I have in the last twenty years combined. And, sadly, I am not exaggerating. (Which I do occasionally do.)
When I get back from Wisco, I am going to soak up some sun (and beer) at a few more Spring Training games. Spring Training is only a month long and it will be half over when I get back. Sadly, I have only been to one game so far. It is going to be hard to get skin cancer at this rate.
With my stint of work travel coming to an end, I am looking forward to some fun travel, like being poolside again in Vegas with my bud Budsy next month. There are also rumours of a possible Mexico trip with my AZ friends. But most of all, I can't wait for Lin and Carolyn's 3-Day (Almost) Naked By-The-Pool Event in June.
Summer. You've got to love it.
Unfortunately for me, I don't have any more molars left to pull and East Germany no longer exists. I guess I am stuck with Wisconsin.
For some bizarre reason, I always seem to travel more in the winter when it is nicest here in Arizona. It makes no sense. Now granted, most of my travel the last several months has been work related, so I didn't have much control over timing, but bring on the heat already. I have seen more snow in the last four months than I have in the last twenty years combined. And, sadly, I am not exaggerating. (Which I do occasionally do.)
When I get back from Wisco, I am going to soak up some sun (and beer) at a few more Spring Training games. Spring Training is only a month long and it will be half over when I get back. Sadly, I have only been to one game so far. It is going to be hard to get skin cancer at this rate.
With my stint of work travel coming to an end, I am looking forward to some fun travel, like being poolside again in Vegas with my bud Budsy next month. There are also rumours of a possible Mexico trip with my AZ friends. But most of all, I can't wait for Lin and Carolyn's 3-Day (Almost) Naked By-The-Pool Event in June.
Summer. You've got to love it.
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