Thanksgiving Redux

The idea of giving thanks originated with our very first president, George Washington and incubated throughout the years until 1863 when another president, Mr. Abraham Lincoln, formally decreed that the last Thursday in November shall be set aside for the purpose of being thankful.

In his most eloquent remarks he stated,

“The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come…...........

The Population has steadily increased, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God…........

It has seemed to me, fit and proper, that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American People.

I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens…and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.”

I find the remarks of Abraham Lincoln, (who wrote all of his own material!) to be amazing and inspirational and quite frankly, just enlightened beyond his mortal circumstances.

I also find that in the last paragraph, there is an eternal truth that we so often overlook in our lives. I'll let you figure out what in that last paragraph is so amazing to me and ask that you let me know what you think.

My wife calls me idealistic and says my head is in the clouds. But I am daily reminded from time to time that life doesn't operate the way I think it does. But I do firmly believe in the unseen things that make our lives so rich and colorful and I truly do give thanks for so many of the blessings of life that I enjoy.

And I pray that others can find what I have known for a long time.

For the path to happiness involves letting go of lots of stuff that we think we hold dear and a big dose of realizing that we don't have to be right. It involves a firm belief that we can take what is presented to us and make something wonderful from it, no matter where it comes from or what form it takes. We must let go of control in order to enjoy the randomness of life - because if we don't, we will be driven to distraction by things interupting our schedules and plans.

So on this Thanksgiving, while you are obsessing about all the relatives and in-laws that are intruding into your lives, just take a moment (and a deep breath) and enjoy the chaos that will inevitably be swirling around you.

May you and yours have a very thankful Thanksgiving.

And love everyone.

And believe in peace.

And know that there is a God and that you are loved.

And that I love you.

Peace!

Happy Thanksgiving

I had planned an opus of a Thanksgiving post for today. But alas, I find myself with a fever, as sore throat, infected sinuses and the desire to curl up in a ball and go to sleep for a week.

So unless things improve drastically this will have to do:

Happy Thanksgiving and please rejoice in what you have. Be attentive to the relationships that mean the most in your life and take nothing for granted. We are all blessed beyond what we deserve and we owe it to ourselves to recognize that as often as possible.

So on this Thanksgiving Day, tell those that are important to you the truth about how you feel.

God Bless.

Peace.

I'm Back and Utterly Exhausted!

We had a great trip to Ft. Lauderdale with a few exceptions.

Exception #1. It was a record for cold weather in sunny south florida...........
Exception #2. The convertible top on my rental car wouldn't convert down.

But since exception #1 was in play, exception #2 didn't matter so much.

We got to see the Miami Dolphins beat the Oakland Raiders from right there on the field. I hated looking through the cheerleaders out to the football field but I was willing to give it a shot!

We went on a cruise on a big ole yacht.

We did unspeakable things when it was late at night.............

Yep, it was a great trip.

But I'm glad to be home. I missed my chillin's. Plus I hated the 473 e-mails I came back to because my damn blackberry would not work down there!!!

Peace.

I Love America!

You CAN Fix Stupid.........

I don't know how many of you are as tired as me of going to Debi's blog and finding the same post over and over again.

So I say enough is enough. Everyone go here http://www.doobiewah.typepad.com/ and we'll bug her until she does fix stupid.

Needer Times Three

I'm going to Florida and you're not...........Needer Needer Needer!!!

That's right - 5 days in Ft. Lauderdale with the woman of my dreams and nobody around to interupt us. Well, except for the meetings I'll have to attend.

She'll get to lay in bed all day and read and nap and think of all kinds of devilish things to do to me and for me when I show back up!!!

Oh yea, I love getting away.

But you can't come.

But I'll betcha that I do!!!!!

(I'm so funny)

Peace

11/11

The Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month.

The day that hope returned to the world.

The day, celebrated for generations, that remembered when the shooting stopped in what was called the GREAT WAR.

I don’t think that we today can even imagine the horrors of that war but we can see the geo-political ramifications that resulted.

We can because we have the luxury of looking back through history – which always makes it much easier to see the patterns of behavior that led to the beginning as well as the ending of the war.

The entire world also learned what it meant to put your foot on the neck of the conquered and stand on it with all your might.

Nazi Germany was a direct result of us being very poor winners. And by us, I don’t mean the good ole U.S. of A. us. What I mean is that everyone that was involved wanted their own pound of flesh.
They wanted to make Germany pay for what they had started. And I do mean literally pay for it. Which caused an economic shitstorm.

Of course, our Great Depression of 1929 didn’t help things in Europe. The speculative nature of the world – just like we have seen for the last 8 years – led directly to the entire “bubble” that burst then. Kind of like right now………….

Al Capone’s most famous line – “Them guys on wall street, they’re the real crooks, I’m just providing a service at a fair price”.

Did we learn anything from history?

Well, unfortunately we’ll have to wait and see – again, back through history – if we can do it right this time.

And if we can’t…………….what will be left in the wake?

I didn’t mean for this to turn into a political post or even an historical post. What I meant to do was to let everyone know that today is the day that we have set aside as a society to acknowledge and honor our veterans.

Without the brave men and women who sacrificed so much for us, we certainly would not be in the position where we can argue about stupid things like politics and religion.

There are no capitalist or communists on the battlefield, only people. There are certainly no atheists in a foxhole. Everyone believes in God when the bombs are dropping.

After the terror that was the First World War (and ain’t it a shame that we have to label them by numbers………….) we should have learned something about why not to line up and throw things at each other.

I supposed the fact that we did “outlaw” poisonous gas and other atrocities used in that war was a good thing. But the hope at the time and the vow of the entire world was NEVER AGAIN.

But that didn’t happen did it?

So please, honor a veteran today.

Thank them.

Say prayers for those that have gone before and those that are serving today.

No matter what your opinions are on wars or conflicts or police actions or special operations – the soldier that serves is always to be honored and set apart from all others.

And hell yea, it’s because they deserve it.

Peace.

Week 2 - The Antichrist Cometh

Well, we're in the second week of the non-administration and the world hasn't ended yet!

But after listening to the doom and gloom at church yesterday you'd have thought so!

Actually, I'd say our church was split about 50/50 on the election which is better than most places around here. But the 50% that was disappointed was REALLY DISAPPOINTED!

I'm holding my breath still and I'm just going to wait and see what happens.

I'm buying ammunition as quickly as I can but I'm still very hopeful!!!

Peace

West Wing and Red Boots

OK, OK, I get it.

Nobody likes the idea of me getting red boots.

But I thought maybe this topic would get my beautiful wife to finally comment on my blog.

Alas. No, no, no. No on all counts!

So what do y'all think - Will Keith be more or less likely to get the red boots since everyone else doesn't think he should..................???

Yea, I thought so! Red boots here I come.

And speaking of West Wing - did you see where Rahm Emmanuel, the Congressman from Illinois took the Chief of Staff Job from Obama? This is the guy that the Josh Lyman character on my favorite show ever "The West Wing" was based on.

That's pretty damned cool.

Plus his brother Ari was the inspriation for the Ari Gold character on "Entourage".

Now how many families get two television characters based on them?

These guys are some tough jews and they'll hit you in the mouth.

I see where our President-Elect is busy appointing Republicans to his transition team. More great stuff that the Republican Committee has no idea what to say about it.

I have a feeling when we get a true sense of bipartisanship, we're going to be at that place where the Republicans have the opportunity to undo all the evil that has occurred in the past 14 years or they will reject it and continue along the us vs. them trail that has led us to where we are in the world today.

Sure, the Russians hate us. How would we feel if they came over to Ontario, Canada and put in a bank of 280 missles pointed at us and called it a "shield" to protect the arctic circle.

So many of our decisions in the international realm have brought us to the place where we have no respect from anyone. Some of that has always been jealousy - but some of it is just plain stupidity on our part.

I think Obama is going to keep Robert Gates as the Secretary of Defense. That would be a good thing. I wonder if Colin Powell would consider coming back as Secretary of State?

Yep, these are exciting times.

I hope you're excited too.

Peace

Need Fashion Help

OK, I need some help.

And I can do without the smart-ass thoughts running through your head right now.................like "oh yea, he really needs help" and other assorted goodies from all my "fans".

Here's the scoop:

My motorcycle being painted in a black and white checkerboard pattern with some red skulls thrown in tastefully by the artist that is producing my bike. Red 40-fat-spoke radial wheels with gangsta white wall tires.

Got it?

If you're not familar with a wide range of custom motorcycles and specifically old school bobbers then you may have trouble with the mental picture.

So I'll wait for you to close your eyes and imagine what I described.

I'm waiting patiently.................

OK - times up!

Now don't you think I would look very cool with my black leathers on and some red boots?

My wife is now officially begging me to not even think about it. But I just can't help it.

Red Boots...............wow.

So what do you think???

Tiger and Obama........

I was very confident that Obama would win - but there is always that nagging doubt that when faced with voting for someone so different that people would take the safe bet and vote for the old white guy instead of the young, smart, charismatic mixed race boy. Things sometimes change inside the voting booth.

But thinking back to yesterday I was stuck by the fact that really, hasn't Tiger Woods already desensitized us to all this stuff?

Can't we all agree that a mixed race boy can be the deliverance of at least two old white men institutions?

And what greater old white man institutions are there besides these two: The country club and the white house?

Tiger Woods, just a few years ago kicked down the doors of the country club with skills and nerves and performances that completely rewrote the rules of the game. A little black, Thai, son of a green beret that my green beret daddy used to play golf with in Bankok. Now crowned as the greatest golfer that not only ever lived but the greatest that may ever live.

Now this.

I'm very proud of the American people for beliveing in something bigger than all of us. Daring to hope that we can change the course of our way in this world. Belief in Hope that we can make our society better for the working man so once again, the workers in our factories can live in a house and not have to depend on government programs just to be able to keep their heads above water.

Socialist talk?

Bullshit.

That's good old fashioned Christian talk.

When my son was born in 1985 it costs $2000 which was a lot of money back then but nothing like the $20,000 it costs today. In 1985 you got 3 days in the hospital and today for 10 times more money you get one night.

Dependent insurance used to cost me $28 per week. Now it's $550 a month.

Is it a wonder that someone making $12 an hour can't make ends meet?

Is it a wonder that no small business can afford to provide insurance for their employees?

Is it too much to ask that we have a health care system that works for everyone?

I don't know the answers - but I know the questions..............

And for the first time, I heard someone asking those questions in an honest forum with a hopeful attitude. I heard him remind us how hard it would be and how some problems may not be solvable in a manner we would like. But I also heard him say that the effort is worth it. The exercise of pulling our country up from the depths is a noble thing and it is WORTH IT!

I'm tired of this attitude of fear of loss, which is where we've been for so long now.

We are so scared that we're going to lose "something" that we're able to rationalize "anything".

We want to be in control so much that we're willing to take our ball and go home if everyone doesn't do what WE want them to do...........

We must wake up and recall that respect is earned and never given just because. It is earned and we have not earned any in quite a while.

I'm tired of the partisan bullshit - the us vs. them attitude that permeates the hate-mongering right wing radio programs.

John McCain was extrememly eloquent last night in his concession speech asking everyone to move forward and let's rebuild America in our own image - all the while people were booing because they are truly filled with hatred for Obama.

I can't figure it out. I missed something somewhere. What's wrong with giving it your very best and then when it's over - realize that you freakin' lost and you lost for a reason. You lost big. Really big. And the reason is that we need to be different than we were yesterday.

I just pray that our new president will be given the mandate to make some changes and that the partisanship that has endured since the republican revolution of 1994 will be put in the closet where it belongs.

I pray that we can get back to the place where you truly can reach across the aisle and shake hands and mean it when we say that we came to the best compromise we could and everyone is satisfied and moving towards the common good instead of pointing fingers and calling names.

So I'm not ashamed to admit that I had tears streaming down my face this morning as I drove to work. I feel like the world has caught up with me for a change and that all that surrounds me can be healed as I was healed by the love of an amazing woman.

So hope is abundant in my heart.

And if you want to take pot shots at me today, come on - I can take it!

Yea, I'm pretty damned happy.

Peace.

Zombie Woof

"There will be an election, followed by rioting, the complete unraveling of society, and, I assume, a zombie problem."

"And everyone will agree it’s an improvement."

-Dilbert

Please Go Vote.................

Cowgirls Rock!

You thought I was kidding about her being a hot cowgirl?

If the cowskin skirt don't do it for you, then you need some help!!!

Forty Seventh Halloween

I have no excuse. I knew what I was getting into. I was taken hostage by a cowgirl dressed in pink. I was tied up, tortured and well, that's just all I'm going to say about that.

We had a good Halloween season this year. We attended several parties and sure, both of us may have had too many drinks a time or two - but never at the same time!!! We're good at spacing it out.

My wife was so hot in her cowgirl outfit. Seriously.

I'm a lucky boy................

First Halloween

I'm not sure what the little ones think on their first Halloween - but it's just got to be weird. I mean, seriously, all they can do is observe life and try to imitate what goes on around them and gradually learn what to do, how to talk/walk and all that good stuff.

But WTF - I wonder what they think about being dressed up and then going to see all the other people dressed like they have never seen before.

There may be some scarring done to their self-view.

But who really cares, they're so darned cute.

So go ahead, tell the proud grandpaw how cute the baby is.

I can take it!!!