The Original Blog

One of the potential rewards for a contest we are having at work is the chance to "dress down" at work for a weekend, meaning wear jeans, etc. to work. When did we as a society become so lazy and such slobs that showing up to work looking like a bum became a reward?  I mean, when you're at work, have some pride, some professionalism, and dress accordingly.  When you're at home, you may dress like the fat, lazy slobs that you are. That option was thrown out at a meeting at work as a reward and I quickly nipped it in the bud.  No staff of mine will ever show up in anything less than their required uniforms, which I feel are way too casual anyway. This whole trend is just another glaring example of how far this society has fallen.  Its scary to think of just how bad we are getting. I don't have time right now to get into one of my favorite rants (obese=lazy and stupid), but I will jump into that one soon...

Walker It was appropriate that I got the call at the restaurant. It was there that I had spent almost every day for the past four years, developing and nurturing my addiction while working 12 to 14 hour shifts. The restaurant was my life and my addiction had become my life. It only made sense that the call that would change my life would happen there. Mom called in the middle of a busy summer lunch shift to tell me that Walker had died. She didn’t need to tell me how. I knew. I knew because it was the same thing that was going to kill me any day. I was wrestling with the same demon that had now taken Walker’s life. The shrink I talked to the next day immediately said I needed to go to rehab. He said that my friends would be hearing the same news about me very soon. This was not the counseling I was wanting to hear and I wondered how I would tell my parents. I was wondering how my life would end up, having done a four month stint in rehab. I was wondering how the restaurant w...

As a UNC Tarheel fan, I have been hating Mike Krzyzewski all my life. As I was learning to read and write, I was also learning to hate Duke. At first this hatred was isolated to just North Carolinians. Now that Duke is a household name, though, the love and hate of this man has spread throughout the country. It would be hard to find someone who had not at least heard the name “Coach K.” This fact draws a definite line in the sand. Those that love him think that he is flat out the best college basketball coach of all time. They don’t just think this- they know this. Fans will spout stats and figures, honors and accolades, all backing up the central claim that Coach K is the absolute best. Critics of this man (and I’m happy to say this group is growing) have uncovered of wealth of data that shines a disparaging light on some of Coach K’s many accomplishments. These areas include graduation rates, coaching style, player development and overall personality. Fans and critics alik...

Addiction is a bitch! That’s the long of it, the short of it, the cliche, the joke and the cop-out. Addiction doesn’t come up, politely introduce itself and ask if you want to be friends. No, it just shows up unannounced and moves right in. It makes itself at home and starts running the show. Forget how you want things to be. Addiction has its own set of house rules, its own list of chores. And its damn hard to kick it out. Once its comfortable, addiction feels like its here to stay. I always thought I was better and smarter than to get hooked on anything. Lesser people than me were doing it all the time, but I had a complete handle on it. Sure I was using almost every day, but that is because I wanted to, not because I needed to. What a joke! These little lies only work for so long. Denying the truth only sustains for a little while. Walker died on my little sister’s 30th birthday. He too had just turned 30. He died of the very same drug that was soon going to kill me. ...

I was raised a dog person.   The family dog when I was growing up was a Golden Retriever... Manfred.  Freddy.  A great dog.  Then we switched to Shar Pei's.  We've had many.  They die easily.  And when I got to college, I started getting my own dogs.  My first college dog, Sleep Ray Floyd, the world's best Bassett Hound, died spring '07.  My next two dogs, Barley, an 11-year-old Chocolate Lab, and Sammy, an 11-year-old Golden Retriever, are still alive and living with my parents in the country outside of Chapel Hill. I now have cats.  Two cats.  A brother and sister I rescued from PetsMart.  Dweezil and Moon.  They are without a doubt the two coolest little animals on the planet.  And they are teaching me so much about life with cats.  And I'm starting to realize that I am very much a cat person. For one, they are small.  They are clean.  They don't smell.  They are quiet.  They are smart.  They are very affectionate.  They are not needy.  They have their little...

For those who spent time in the military; for those that believe in our military; and, for those that support the men and women of our military, read on............. John Glenn (DEMOCRAT) said this ----- It should make you think a little: There were 39 combat related killings in Iraq in January. In the fair city of Detroit there were 35 murders in the month of January. That's just one American city, about as deadly as the entire war-torn country of Iraq. When some claim that President Bush shouldn't have started this war, state the following: FDR (DEMOCRAT) led us into World War II. Germany never attacked us; Japan did. From 1941-1945, 450,000 lives were lost ... an average of 112,500 per year. Truman (DEMOCRAT) finished that war and started one in Korea. North Korea never attacked us. From 1950-1953, 55,000 lives were lost ... an average of 18,334 per year. John F. Kennedy (DEMOCRAT) started the Vietnam conflict in 1962. Vietnam never attacked us. Johnson (DEMOCRAT) turned ...

WOULDN'T IT BE GREAT TO TURN ON THE TV AND HEAR ANY U.S.PRESIDENT, DEMOCRAT OR REPUBLICAN GIVE THE FOLLOWING SPEECH? My Fellow Americans: As you all know, the defeat of the Iraq regime has been completed. Since congress does not want to spend any more money on this war, our mission in Iraq is complete. This morning I gave the order for a complete removal of all American forces from Iraq. This action will be complete within 30 days. It is now time to begin the reckoning. Before me, I have two lists. One list contains the names of countries which have stood by our side during the Iraq conflict. This list is short. The United Kingdom , Spain , Bulgaria , Australia , and Poland are some of the countries listed there. The other list contains everyone not on the first list. Most of the world's nations are on that list. My press secretary will be distributing copies of both lists later this evening. Let me start by saying that effective immediately, foreign aid to those nations on Lis...

So I thought I'd enter some selected journal entries here on my blog.  One reason is so the blog itself will have some substance.  Another reason is that I'm thinking of making a shift from writing in the journal to writing on the blog site.  I'm pretty sure that no one will read either one, so it comes down to whether I want to write or type.  And while its not a traditionalist view, I kinda like typing better than writing.. at least sometimes. So this is an entry from 1-28-08 Nature hates a void.  Nature hates a vacuum.  Yes, these are some sayings passed on to me on certain various occasions.  They were spoken to me in relation to my habits and vices.  Now that I no longer smoke or drink, what will take their place?  And does something have to take their place?  What if they were like junk boxes that I threw out?  Do I have to replace them with other junk boxes? I feel like my life for last little while has been cluttered.  I have been living recklessly.  And I don...

What is it about a cup of tea that seems so spiritual?  I always feel like I should sit still with quiet music and reflect when I drink tea.  Very therapeutic. Thoughts all over the place.  Quiet naps with the Cowboy Junkies.  Rainy days.  Chilly Days.  Fall days. That is one of the only things I miss about a girlfriend: naps.  There is something so peaceful about taking a nap with a girl.  On top of the covers, but under a blanket.  Fully clothed and snuggling.  Soft music.  Van Morrison's "Astral Weeks."  That CD will always be Alice Burruss's. I heard "Sweet Thing" the other night and I thought to myself how I hadn't felt love that powerful in a long time (maybe ever). And I think about how much I'd like to enjoy a cup of tea on the porch of my beach house as I watched the sun set over the water.  Jimmy Buffett playing.  That would be nice........

The kind of blue that you see just before night leaves the sky: a dark blue, a masculine blue, but not an impossible blue.  Rather, a safe feeling, again, as if the dark places are about to be bathed in warm light.  Traces of green that remind you of fall.  Feelings of crackling leaves and pumpkins and spooky, sinister things hiding around every corner.  The smells of the season's first chimney smoke.  Pumpkin pies and turkey and stuffing and pigskin on Saturdays.  Yellows and purples and oranges that were once vibrant, like the colors of youthful summers running and playing and swimming in the surf.  Days when life was grand and possible and exciting.  When everything was fun and funny and wonderful.  The colors swirl and dance, like girls in long skirts dancing to music.  Seductive and inviting.  Graceful and magical.  Familiar chords being strum, summoning us all to places in our memories.  Laughter with friends and nights that won't end.  All that is spiritual between kindr...

I'm sitting here with my two wonderful cats chewing on cold pizza and listening to some wonderful classical music.   It is shaping up to be a nice, lazy Sunday night. I looked thru the want adds again today.  I always look forward to the Sunday edition of the classifieds, in hopes that maybe they'll have a job for me.  And the thought of new jobs always strays towards the dreams of what could have been... I wonder what I'd be like if... I hadn't met Tina?  Or Angie?  Or if I'd stayed at College of Charleston?  Or if I'd kept any of my previous jobs?  Or if I never moved from Beaufort? So many what ifs.  And as I ponder my life, I am forced to accept the fact that I am a complete nobody.  That, friends and neighbors, is a tough lesson to learn. For the longest time I held on to a belief that things would somehow work themselves out and I'd end up on top.  That's not to say that I'm down and out.  It is to say that this is not where I thought I'd ...

Sitting here enjoying a morning cup of coffee.  Or at least I was until the neighbor's puppy started howling.  Funny.  Appropriate.  The same stupid girls that leave a bag of trash outside their door for nearly two weeks before taking it to the dumpster. Reading Susan Jacoby's "The Age of American Unreason."  I think this scenario would play into the book somehow.  I bet the girls would probably think that Europe was a country! Anyways... the reason that I even thought about doing this blog thing was because Jacoby was listing blogs as an example of how we as Americans have stopped having conversations with each other.  Its true if you look around.  No one talks to each other anymore.  We talk AT each other a lot, but not TO each other.  I don't mind so much because I think people are stupid and speaking to them is a waste of my time.  But they are getting more and more stupid because they are not engaging in conversation.   And they are not reading.  I shudder to...