It’s coming up on the end of Yule and I’ve spent most of it with parts of my family, which is one of the best ways to spend it, only exceeded by having the entirety of the family and my friends all in the same place. So when Yule’s over, that means only one thing: the New Year is here. 2008. And it’s now official: I’m old. Not only have I had a heart attack (that makes ya feel like an old man, let me tell ya) and my own personal odometer will click over once more a few days into January (which is lucky for me, considering the aforementioned heart attack), but I found myself standing in a toy store buying Legos for my nephew and saying to myself, “Man, they don’t make Legos like they used to.” That’s old. Seriously…they don’t. They’re so specifically cut for the model on the box cover that reusing them for any other kind of model is near impossible. And they don’t carry tubs of generic Lego pieces…that’s where you could just pull a pile of Legos and build something that vaguely resembled the object in your mind. It’s crazy, I tells ya! Oh well, if feeling old is the worst thing that happens to me in 2008 I’ll consider myself quite lucky. Anyway, just a quick note from my holiday gatherings to wish everyone a happy New Year.

I done busted it but good. Yep, I had me a heart attack about two weeks ago or so. As many others have done before me and many others will do after me, I ignored the symptoms with what my mother has been overheard terming “Yankee stoicism” and went about my business…for about five days. This including riding my motorcycle North to visit family. It was there that I discovered that I couldn’t really walk more than five steps or so before I would become short-of-breath and my chest would start burning. By the way: if anyone out there has some strange chest constrictions in conjunction with an aching jaw and/or aching teeth (as I did), go to the hospital. I had no idea that jaw and teeth aches were heart-attack-related symptoms, but they are. (more…)

Spent the last week in a house on Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, which is right next to Wilmington. I guess I should mention that the house has a two-level back deck with views of the ocean. Oh, and the lower level of the deck leads to a nice path out into the yard area. Oh, and that path continues through the yard (which should probably be termed “sand dunes”) right down to the beach. It was not a bad place to spend a week. What’s interesting, though, is that I spent the entire week with my family. (more…)

It’s good to get back to the basics. For me, that was visiting family in Vermont. I spent my Friday-night through Sunday-afternoon at my sister’s place hanging out with her and her husband. My brother and his family, who live about 20 minutes away, stopped by on Saturday and Sunday to have meals and hang out. It was a nice weekend for a visit and I think my presence might have provided a nice excuse for a distraction from chores. Of course, my brother is not so easily distracted and was mowing my sister’s lawn when I left (not because she’d asked him to or because of any obligation, simply because he felt like doing so). Of course, he and his family had also climbed Camel’s Hump (which is part of the incredible view from my sister’s house’s front deck) on Saturday morning and hit about 7 miles of trails Sunday morning (well before I’d woken up either day, I might mention). Did I mention that we played Kubb? (more…)

Another Memorial Day has arrived and I want to urge all my American friends (and for all my friends from other countries, the same sentiments hold true for your own national days of remembrance) to take a few moments today to remember the meaning and the purpose of this day. We all have strong opinions about the politics behind the wars for which we ask our soldiers to fight, but today let the politics slide and remember the simple truth that our soldiers have always risen to the call and fought for our country when asked. This day is for them and not for politics. There are many, very simple ways to do this and given what we are acknowledging, a few moments from our day in remembrance and thanks is no hardship. As I’ve written before on this blog, I take some time read aloud two poems that I think capture the essence of Memorial Day. One is Walt Whitman’s “Song of the Banner at Daybreak” which espouses true patriotism. The second is Wilfred Owen’s “Soldier’s Dream” which, in its brief two stanzas, captures the horror of war (Wilfred Owen was killed while serving in World War I). My thanks, as inconsequential as they are, to those from all generations and all walks of life who have fought and died for our country.

Author Kurt Vonnegut died last night; he was 84. He was hospitalized after suffering injuries from a fall several weeks back. Take a moment to remember him and pick up one of his books and give it a read. If you have a chance, track down some of his many essays. He traveled all over giving lectures and talks about the state of the world and his Humanist philosophy. I was lucky enough to attend one of his lectures at my University back when I was in school, and I’ve been a fan of his writing for years.

Wow…some people are just plain twisted and evil.

Let me make it clear once again: I support immigration. This country was built upon the labor of immigrants and those very same immigrants who once dealt with incredible racism have since become some of the staunchest lovers of America. I think we, as a country, need to work out a way to make legal immigration into our country feasible for those who want to come while, at the same time, weeding out the worst of the criminals and potential terrorists. It’s a tall order, but one I believe we need to all get involved in (all communities) in order to better build our country for the future. However, while I truly believe all I’ve just written, I also believe that illegal immigration is a drain on our country. My prime concerns regarding illegals are lost taxes (if I’ve got to pay them, then so do you) and the abuse of our health care system (which itself needs a makeover). So when it comes to a contest that a private company holds where the rules plainly state that the winner must be a legal citizen, I don’t understand why there’s even the slightest controversy that a person gets disqualified because of the fact that they are illegal immigrants and, therefore, non-citizens. (more…)

The irony is thick…sorry, change that to idiocy. Massachusetts is a liberal, Democrat-friendly state. The Democrats have had majority control of the State House for as long as I can remember. Usually the people vote in a Republican governor to offset the Democrat’s stranglehold on local politics. Not so this year. Deval Patrick, that smoothest of orators from Chicago, is now Governor of Massachusetts by a wide margin. That’s fine. Most people in this state think former Governor Romney was some kind of monster, but he got this state with a massive deficit and he’s leaving it with a massive surplus…let’s see where we are when Patrick gets done spending. I will concede that Romney was only half-here most of his term, because he decided the Oval Office was his next goal, but he’d done a lot of work and had to fight against a State House that would attack just to attack because he was Republican. I’d get tired of that BS too. But what’s most idiotic (or ironic) is that so many Massachusetts citizens over the last several years have been cry-cry-crying their eyes out over the fact that we have had single-party rule at the Federal level. Hell, I am also virulently anti-single party rule and have derided the way the Fed Government has been run for years. So what’s the idiocy? Massachusetts is now SINGLE PARTY RULE! 87% majority Democrat State House, Democrat Governor, Democrat AG, Treasurer, etc., etc., etc. I guess it’s OK when it’s your party in charge of everything. I need to leave the ghetto and move out of state, because I can no longer handle the hypocrisy…that and my taxes are about to go through the roof, I’m sure. Oh, and my Second Amendment rights are about to get shit upon. Yay! Single-party rule! …Assholes.

I’d vote for him in a hearbeat because of stances like this…unfortunately, the Governor’s office has no power against a State House bought and sold by one party.