Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Birthday Ponderings...

Aren't birthdays fun? When you are 4, you can't wait to be 5. When you are 5, you can't wait to be 6. Then there are the milestone birthdays everyone is excited for - the entire Hispanic community waiting for a young lady's Quinceanera... 
Turning 16 and getting a drivers license...
Turning 18 and being able to vote, turning 21 and drinking yourself int oblivion...

There are presents, cake, making a wish and blowing out candles, maybe even a surprise party. Everyone is excited to celebrate with you, and you enjoy all the fuss. As Buddy The Elf might say, it's like having your very own Christmas! Parties were the best. I remember being out with my Nana & Pop-Pop one night close to my birthday, and when they brought me home, my entire family was there with a cake. And having my entire 4th grade class come to a party at McDonald's. They all had on blue paper McDonald's hats, and kept calling me "manager". I had no idea that my hat was different, but indeed, it was orange, and said manager. 
I also had no idea how prophetic that would be! I later filled that job not only at McDonald's, but Wendy's and Burger King as well!

But then you get older, and birthdays take on a different feel. Like turning 25, and you realize, I'm a quarter century old! Then the numbers keep adding up, and it's fun to track your age in Roman Numerals, like the Super Bowl. Instead of 38, I was XXVIII. But when they got to 50, it was just Super Bowl 50, not Super Bowl L. How boring! (except that Peyton Manning made being old look cool). Surrounding yourself with friends, because most of your family is either gone or too far away... laughing at your parents when they send a card that says "We're too young to have a son as old as you!" Not because it's funny, so much as them doing it 2 years in a row. 

Then there is Facebook. Isn't Facebook wonderful? Even as little as 10 years ago, I could count on a birthday card from my parents, maybe a few others, but as for anyone else even knowing it was my birthday? Only if I told them. So as I said, Facebook is wonderful. Where else can I get 62 birthday greetings before 11 AM? Yes, today is my birthday. Yes, I qualify for membership in AARP. Yes, we will probably go out to eat, and (insert Buddy The Elf joke) I might be able to say "I'm in a restaurant and they're singing!" No, there will not be a forest fire on top of my cake. We quit doing that about 20 years ago! 

Monday, January 30, 2017

Fake News

Fake news is all the rage these days. PolitiFact described fake news as fabricated content designed to fool readers and subsequently made viral through the Internet to crowds that increase its dissemination. Subsequent to the 2016 election, the issue of fake news turned into a political weapon, with supporters of left-wing politics saying those on the opposite side of the spectrum spread falsehoods, and supporters of right-wing politics contending such accusations were merely a way to censor conservative views.
Where do you get your news from?
 Is it a trusted source? Is it reliable? Do you research all sides of an issue before deciding where you stand? Depending on your answers to these questions, you yourself could be part of the problem.  Don't fall into the trap of saying "It must be true, I read it on the Internet!"



Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Who Can Turn The World On With Her Smile?

“Who can turn the world on with her smile? Who can take a nothing day, and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile?”  Every time my wife's cell phone rings, this song plays, and brings memories of the Mary Tyler Moore show. But today it's ringing brings sadness, as we learn of Mary Tyler Moore's passing at age 80. 
None of the celebrity passings in 2016 (and there were many) affected me as much as this one. I grew up watching the Mary Tyler Moore show with my grandparents, and later, thanks to Nick At Nite, fell in love with Mary all over again in black and white, as I watched her beside Dick Van Dyke playing his on-screen wife, Laura Petrie.
To call her timeless would be an understatement. She was known as America's Sweetheart, and even that may not be a big enough term to define exactly what Mary Tyler Moore meant to us. 
Who can turn the world on with her smile? Who can take a nothing day, and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile? Well it's you girl, and you should know it. With each glance and every little movement you show it! Love is all around, no need to waste it. You can have a town, why don't you take it? You're gonna make it after all! 

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Moving Pictures

Making the rounds on Facebook lately has been a post where you list your Top Ten albums from when you were a teenager, those you could listen to over and over and never get tired of... For me, my list would be as follows, in no particular order, except for #1, which will always be #1. Note not all of them were released when I was a teen, but these were the most influential to me. 

10 - Back In Black AC/DC
  9 - Led Zeppelin IV
  8 - Love Gun - Kiss
  7 - Have Arrived - The Oak Ridge Boys
  6 - At Folsom Prison - Johnny Cash
  5 - Greatest Hits, Volume One - Johnny Cash
  4 - Country Road - Blue Ridge Quartet
  3 - Energy - Blue Ridge Quartet
  2 - Chronicle, Volume 1 - Creedence Clearwater Revival
  1 - Moving Pictures - Rush

Rush's album, "Moving Pictures", 36 years after it's release, is still my all-time favorite. Flashback 1981: It was after midnight, and I was listening to my clock radio when I heard "Tom Sawyer" for the first time. Even playing on that tiny mono speaker, I heard the power of those drums and the intensity of the band, Rush. Things would never be the same for me. By the age of 4, my son Phil was able to answer 2 questions - "Who's the lead singer for Rush?", and "Who's the best drummer in the world?" Of course, his answers were Geddy Lee, and Neal Peart.

Working On A Building

You know those trials and struggles you are going through? The pain you sometimes feel? When bad things happen to good people? You ask God for help, but he doesn't seem to listen? Well, here is an interesting perspective from C.S. Lewis... 
Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of — throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.

Monday, January 23, 2017

Not My Super Bowl

This is hilarious!  Stealing a theme from the 2016 Presidential election, we now have people saying this isn't their Super Bowl. If it's true that Bernie Sanders could've beat Trump, and in the minds of some, that makes him President... then hey, why not the Dallas Cowboys in the Super Bowl, after all, they could've beat the Falcons. But folks, the problem is - it just doesn't work that way!
Just like Bernie lost in the Primaries, the Cowboys lost to the Packers, ending their season. And just like Hillary didn't get to move into the White House, the Steelers, Packers, and Cowboys will all be watching from home.

Saturday, January 21, 2017

God Bless America, Again

It is sad, that the people who needed to hear this speech the most, are the ones who refused to tune in because he's "not their President."  We don't live in the DSA (Divided States of America), but it sure feels like it. May God bless us, and President Trump, to make us United again! 
Chief Justice Roberts, President Carter, President Clinton, President Bush, President Obama, fellow Americans, and people of the world: thank you.
We, the citizens of America, are now joined in a great national effort to rebuild our country and to restore its promise for all of our people.
Together, we will determine the course of America and the world for years to come.
We will face challenges. We will confront hardships. But we will get the job done. Every four years, we gather on these steps to carry out the orderly and peaceful transfer of power, and we are grateful to President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama for their gracious aid throughout this transition. They have been magnificent.
Today’s ceremony, however, has very special meaning. Because today we are not merely transferring power from one Administration to another, or from one party to another – but we are transferring power from Washington, D.C. and giving it back to you, the American People.
For too long, a small group in our nation’s Capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost.
Washington flourished – but the people did not share in its wealth. Politicians prospered – but the jobs left, and the factories closed.
The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country. Their victories have not been your victories; their triumphs have not been your triumphs; and while they celebrated in our nation’s Capital, there was little to celebrate for struggling families all across our land.
That all changes – starting right here, and right now, because this moment is your moment: it belongs to you! It belongs to everyone gathered here today and everyone watching all across America. This is your day. This is your celebration. And this, the United States of America, is your country.
What truly matters is not which party controls our government, but whether our government is controlled by the people. January 20th 2017, will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again.
 The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer.
Everyone is listening to you now. You came by the tens of millions to become part of a historic movement the likes of which the world has never seen before. At the center of this movement is a crucial conviction: that a nation exists to serve its citizens.
Americans want great schools for their children, safe neighborhoods for their families, and good jobs for themselves.
These are the just and reasonable demands of a righteous public. But for too many of our citizens, a different reality exists: Mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities; rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation; an education system, flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of knowledge; and the crime and gangs and drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential.
This American carnage stops RIGHT HERE and stops RIGHT NOW. We are one nation – and their pain is our pain. Their dreams are our dreams; and their success will be our success. We share one heart, one home, and one glorious destiny.
The oath of office I take today is an oath of allegiance to all Americans. For many decades, we’ve enriched foreign industry at the expense of American industry;
Subsidized the armies of other countries while allowing for the very sad depletion of our military; We've defended other nation’s borders while refusing to defend our own;
And spent trillions of dollars overseas while America's infrastructure has fallen into disrepair and decay.
We’ve made other countries rich while the wealth, strength, and confidence of our country has disappeared over the horizon.
One by one, the factories shuttered and left our shores, with not even a thought about the millions upon millions of American workers left behind.
The wealth of our middle class has been ripped from their homes and then redistributed across the entire world.
But that is the past. And now we are looking only to the future.
We assembled here today are issuing a new decree to be heard in every city, in every foreign capital, and in every hall of power.
From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land.
From this moment on, it’s going to be America First. Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs, will be made to benefit American workers and American families. We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our products, stealing our companies, and destroying our jobs. Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength.
I will fight for you with every breath in my body – and I will never, ever let you down.
America will start winning again, winning like never before. We will bring back our jobs. We will bring back our borders. We will bring back our wealth. And we will bring back our dreams.
We will build new roads, and highways, and bridges, and airports, and tunnels, and railways all across our wonderful nation.
We will get our people off of welfare and back to work – rebuilding our country with American hands and American labor.
We will follow two simple rules: Buy American and Hire American.
We will seek friendship and goodwill with the nations of the world – but we do so with the understanding that it is the right of all nations to put their own interests first.
We do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone, but rather to let it shine as an example for everyone to follow.
We will reinforce old alliances and form new ones – and unite the civilized world against Radical Islamic Terrorism, which we will eradicate completely from the face of the Earth.
At the bedrock of our politics will be a total allegiance to the United States of America, and through our loyalty to our country, we will rediscover our loyalty to each other.
When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice.
The Bible tells us, “how good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity.”
We must speak our minds openly, debate our disagreements honestly, but always pursue solidarity. When America is united, America is totally unstoppable. There should be no fear – we are protected, and we will always be protected.
We will be protected by the great men and women of our military and law enforcement and, most importantly, we are protected by God.
Finally, we must think big and dream even bigger. In America, we understand that a nation is only living as long as it is striving.
We will no longer accept politicians who are all talk and no action – constantly complaining but never doing anything about it.
The time for empty talk is over. Now arrives the hour of action.
Do not let anyone tell you it cannot be done. No challenge can match the heart and fight and spirit of America.
We will not fail. Our country will thrive and prosper again. We stand at the birth of a new millennium, ready to unlock the mysteries of space, to free the Earth from the miseries of disease, and to harness the energies, industries and technologies of tomorrow.
A new national pride will stir our souls, lift our sights, and heal our divisions. It is time to remember that old wisdom our soldiers will never forget: that whether we are black or brown or white, we all bleed the same red blood of patriots, we all enjoy the same glorious freedoms, and we all salute the same great American Flag. And whether a child is born in the urban sprawl of Detroit or the windswept plains of Nebraska, they look up at the same night sky, they fill their heart with the same dreams, and they are infused with the breath of life by the same almighty Creator.
So to all Americans, in every city near and far, small and large, from mountain to mountain, and from ocean to ocean, hear these words: You will never be ignored again. Your voice, your hopes, and your dreams, will define our American destiny. And your courage and goodness and love will forever guide us along the way.
Together, We Will Make America Strong Again. We Will Make America Wealthy Again.
We Will Make America Proud Again.
We Will Make America Safe Again....
and Yes, Together, We Will Make America Great Again. Thank you, God Bless You, And God Bless America.
Donald J. Trump
45th President of the United States

Friday, January 6, 2017

Epiphany

Epiphany is January 6th - the celebration of the three wise men's arrival. In many Hispanic communities, a "Rosca de reyes" (King's cake) is served. In the cake, a plastic figure of the baby Jesus is hidden, representing the flight of Jesus, fleeing from King Herod's evil plan to kill all babies that could be the prophesied messiah. Whoever finds the baby Jesus figurine is blessed and must take the figurine to the nearest church on February 2, and In the Mexican culture, this person also has to throw a party and provide tamales.