Better in the Morning

Well, here I am, two hours and some change away from a new year. I always try to stay up and watch the ball drop in Times Square. Why? You got me....but it's something I've done since I was in my late teens. I've got some new year's resolutions - exercise more, eat healthier, try to put the past further behind me, find a good woman to share my life with, etc. The same sort of resolutions that, I'm sure, millions of people make. My son, Darrien, was sick tonight. He literally vomited a dozen times. Every time he'd ask for a drink of water, it came back up ten minutes later. I took the gamble of getting barfed on and laid with him in his bed until he fell asleep. Hopefully, he'll be better in the morning. That's the title of this blog- better in the morning. I've spent the last week reflecting back on the past year and made some decisions regarding certain things. I won't allow them to carry on into the new year. I have symbolically taken a shovel and buried those thing in the past. I will remember them, of course, but I will do my best in the coming year to not let them govern me as they did in 2008. 2009 is a new year. I'm trying to look at it like an artist would. It's a canvas, and I can either paint a beautiful picture on it, or something ugly. I prefer to paint the beauty that life has to offer. The ugliness will still be there, of course. You'll never get completely away from it. But, there truly is a lot of beauty in life. There's pain and strife, but everyone has that. Push it aside and embrace the good things that life has to offer.

That, ultimately, is my new year's resolution....see more beauty in life.

Not a bad resolution, if I don't say so myself.

Here's hoping everyone sees the beauty in 2009.

Christmas and the Hope that Things will be better in the New Year

Well, here it is, a handful of days from Christmas, and I'm reflecting back on the year. It's been a year of strife and toil and transition. The old Chinese curse "may you live in interesting times" has certainly held true for me. It could be argued that a lot of the strife over the past year has been self-induced. I'm not going to argue that. I was, however, quite honest about my needs and feelings over the past year. Perhaps I was a mite forceful in my delivery about those feelings, but sometimes you gotta shout to be heard. Sometimes, people just won't listen anyway, so you're better off saving your breath on them. But, now, at Christmas time, I have to sit back and look at the good things I have in life. I have children who love me (two of them are sitting on the couch ten feet from me, laughing and happy). I have a roof over my head and my health. A good woman in my arms would be nice, but hard to keep these days. It'll happen when it happens, I reckon. Anyway, I just want to wish ANYONE reading this (even those who read it with a malicious eye) a Merry Christmas. Life is a journey, my friends. Don't sit on the sidelines and watch it pass you by. Love someone if you can. Try to trust them and have faith in them. I know from personal experience that it's hard, but life is an awfully lonely place without someone at your side.

Merry Xmas

Rod and the Way Things Are

Well, our old governor Rod final got his come-uppance. Sounds like he'll be fitted with a striped suit and a boyfriend named Bubba very, very soon. It's sad that Illinois is known for its criminally active governors. I saw on the news that our president-elect was distancing himself from the man. Smart. Of course, I doubt Obama would have gotten far in Illinois politics without smoozing up to Rod but, now that he's President, he's forsaken the man. Which brings me to the topic of this blog— who can you trust? Our Governor thought he had a friend, but he was wrong. He had someone who was using him just as much as he was using the friend. The friend got in a pinch with the Feds and ratted Rod out without a second thought. Of course, one could argue that it was inevitable. Our Governor was as crooked as a dog's hind leg and he's single-handedly destroyed Illinois. The corruption within his administration is legendary. He deserves a date (sans soap-on-a-rope) with Bubba in the prison shower. Of course, that'll never happen. He'll be sent off to some cushiony resort-like prison with satellite TV, Wii players to while away the hours, and conjugal visits from the Mrs. It'll be a lot like going on a vacation. And, as young as he is, he'll make new friends in prison who'll set him up for the rest of his life. Or, he'll write a book about his escapades and make millions. It could be the best thing that ever happened to him. Certainly the best thing to happen to the state of Illinois in a long, long time. Or, at least, everyone here hopes so.

The picture attached to this post is of Manly Wade Wellman's WHO FEARS THE DEVIL? It is a classic collection of southern stories about Silver John and his battle against evil. In the cinematic version of the book, THE LEGEND OF HILLBILLY JOHN, the movie ends with Silver John walking toward the White House to do battle with evil. Let's hope the people who think Obama is the anti-christ are wrong.

Food for thought.