Monday, August 25, 2014

A Few Things ...

It's been a while since I did one of my "ten things" lists, and things have been really shitty and bleak in the world for the past few weeks, so I thought it would be appropriate to put some good energy out there. Here goes nothing ...

1. Sometimes it's good to put your mind in a dog's head space, where you don't give a damn who smells your farts, or whether you look stupid carrying an old sock in your mouth, or that it's rude to bury your face in your food, or whether or not it's "cool" to sprawl on your back and beg for a belly rub.

2. Speaking of which, a sleeping dog curled up against you is the best cure for insomnia.

3. If you go outside just after sunrise and close your eyes and breathe deeply, even though it's August and humid and kinda warm, you can smell a hint of autumn.

4. It's silly, because it's always bills, junk mail, or something from the IRS, but I still get a tiny bit of anticipatory excitement when the mail comes.

5. A couple of weeks ago, my daughter Gabby auditioned for "The Sound of Music", and I happened to be at the back of the theater when she started singing, and this startlingly full, rich sound came out of her, and I was simultaneously proud and a little sad ... proud because she is becoming a beautiful young woman, and sad because she will never again be the tiny little thing that falls asleep on my shoulder before I tuck her into bed.

6. Sleep = good.

7. I am actually running for governor of freaking Pennsylvania. Granted, it's a write-in campaign, and it's a million-to-one shot, but still ... who'd'a thunk it? (Oh, and tell all your friends and neighbors! Had to get a plug in there ...)

8. I was out mowing the lawn a while back, and I had shut off the mower to put more gas in it, and I heard a hawk scream overhead. It sounded just like in the movies. Way cool.

9. I will challenge anyone to put the Allman Brothers' "Jessica" on their car stereo, turn it up to "omigod that's freaking loud", and NOT get a speeding ticket by the second chorus.

10. Once thing that's happened as my 50th birthday approaches: in the past, when my friends would talk about some cool accomplishment of theirs, I would feel a twinge of jealousy that they were someplace in their life that I thought I should also be. Now, nothing but proud of them. And my life is pretty damned awesome, too.

And, just as a bonus for making it this far ...

11. A man's wealth is not measured by the things he possesses, but by the company he keeps. By that standard, with the friends I have, I am filthy rich, and Donald Trump can go jump.

So there 'tis, my List O' Random Stuff. And now, because it is almost midnight, I gotta lie down.

Come At Me, Bro

So the latest stunt from Ron DeSantis and the Floriduh GOP -- and that's all they are is stunts -- is SB 1316, a particularly odious and...