"Life is a Fatal Disease"

We've all heard that the only thing certain in life is death and taxes, right? Well, you may be able to avoid taxes, I suppose, but as of now there is no way to avoid death. It comes for us all.


Yes, this sounds like a fun post, doesn't it?


Well, it's not as morbid as it may sound. This all comes from a line in a song by one of my favorite artists, Nuno Bettencourt. The song is "Swollen Princess" and it was written, from what I've heard, as he was contemplating his child's birth. It seems he was thinking about what could be going through the child's mind at that moment and the terror that a birth must instill.

And if I tell you all the truth
Would you promise not to cry
I prefer it back inside
It's nothin' that you did or said
I'm just kinda scared
I've just heard life is a fatal disease

Something with this song resonated with me. It was written in 1997, 11 years before the birth of my own "Swollen Princess", Shannon. Yet that last line, especially, connected with me when I first heard it. Not as a pessimistic view but as a slight dark, slightly comical take on reality. But even more so as a reason to make the most of life. From the day we are born, we're counting down til the end.


So don't act as the newborn in the song wishes to... don't hide from life; don't let the fear drive your decisions. Go out, leave your comfort zone from time time. Try something new and experience your life. I don't always (or often?) take that advice, I'll admit. But I'm trying to do so more often. And you know? I'm finding that I often like the results.


The day we are born, a doctor would be able to diagnose us, unfortunately, with that ultimately incurable disease, life. But so what? It's your life, make the most of it!

Trumped!

I wasn't going to dive right into this topic.   I thought I would do some lighter posts first before I came around to the President but not a day goes by that he doesn't do something idiotic so here we are.

I still am dumbfounded by the fact that this unqualified, ignorant, disrespectful, failure managed to lock down the Republican nomination much less the Presidency of the United States of America.  I know there are many reasons people voted for him.  They wanted change.  They thought electing someone who was not a politician might bring the change they wanted.  They thought running America like a business would be a good thing.  Some voted for him simply because they were Republicans and he was their candidate.  And yes, I am convinced that some liked his less appealing qualities.  He objectifies women.  He is a racist.  He's a moron.  You may not agree with all of these, but I am confident they are all true (and disgusting behavior for anyone, let alone a president).

I can forgive people who elected him the first time around, but if you still feel he is worthy of that position and plan on voting for him again... I just don't know what to say.  How could you?  Why would you?  Is it just because you like how he "owns the libs"  Seriously.  We've seen that he doesn't know what he is doing in any arena.  He cozies up to Russia and refuses to take action against them.  He is trying to make Kim and South Korea his bestest friend.  He's not likely to succeed in his trade war with China, he can't be bothered to keep up on the weather and forces others in his administration to lie when he gives out incorrect information on a hurricane, when primary challengers arise to run against him he shuts down primary elections in several states, he calls the press his primary opponent and constantly accuses them of lying even when it is easily proved they are not, he lies about his crowd sizes over and over,  he feeds visitors to the White House fast food, he constantly spreads rumors from conspiracy theorists while at the same time saying his own intelligence agencies are lying to make him look bad, while he is shown evidence again and again that foreign nations are trying to influence our elections, he refuses to do anything to counter the influence, and lets not forget that he has (on multiple occasions) stated that he wants to expand gun control, only to back down each time after meeting with the NRA. 

The list goes on and on.  Pretty much any one of these issues would have destroyed another candidate.  How is it that so many people, apparently at least about one third of the American public, DO NOT CARE?  When did we decide that party Trumps country?  I don't expect that he will be able to win re-election.  But then again, I didn't expect that he had a chance of even winning his parties nomination and here we are.  For the sake of our nation, I hope sanity prevails.  I sincerely hope we are not Trumped again.

It lives!

Time.

Passes.

Too.

Quickly.



I don't know where it has all gone!  I suppose that is what happens as your life grows.  Kids.  Family issues.  Job issues.  They all take time away from your previous interests.   I never imagined that I would allow this blog to sit idle for nearly a decade, but here we are.  Not that I haven't spent time online and kept sharing some of my life in one manner or another.  Technology has changed and the face of social media has as well in this decade.  Microblogging via posts on twitter and facebook have become much more the norm than full blogs on sites such as this.  Smartphones and tablets have replaced laptops for many of us.  And face it, the keyboards on those devices just aren't conductive to lengthy posts.  Besides, who has time to read paragraphs or pages of stories from friends.  It's a new era.  But I miss this format.  So I'm considering ways for me to re-approach it.

My kids are growing.  Six and ten.  They don't need my constant attention anymore.  So yes, IT LIVES!