We're going down the wrong road.

Recent headlines...

*A Miami mom was arrested and charged with trying to sell her 8-month-old son for $7,000.

*Police are looking for a woman who used pepper spray to keep rival shoppers away from merchandise she wanted.

*A donation-collecting volunteer jingled all the way to jail Saturday after police arrested him for allegedly stealing hundreds of dollars from Salvation Army kettles.

*A Detroit man was arrested for allowing his 9-year-old daughter to drive him around while he was drunk.

*Another "mysterious" flash mob of youths struck a Philadelphia Sears Store on Thursday afternoon stealing thousands of dollars of merchandise in a matter of minutes.

And these types of incidents are not limited to urban areas.  We've seen headlines announcing all manner of terrible things right here in our own small cities and towns.   So what's going on?  Bad things have happened throughout history, and there will always be bad people doing bad things. But, doesn't it seem that there is an overwhelming amount of awful news these days?  Is it because society tolerates it?  Are we becoming immune? Or, is it because so many more children are growing up without being taught simple basic values and responsibility?  It seems that I encounter more people in various situations that are just...angry.  Have you noticed that?  What are they mad at?  Do you wonder what happened in their lives to make so many people so unhappy?  

I know what makes me mad these days...politics.  Not enough to make me go out and pepper spray somebody at Walmart or organize a flash mob, but pretty mad just the same.  It's especially bad at the federal level.  You would think that with three-and-half million people in this country we could find a couple hundred of them capable of running the country efficiently, decently and honestly.  But, as John Belushi used to so eloquently say "....nooooo!"  Some of you will argue "But not my guy.  He's the good one."  Well I have news for you.  He's not.  If he was we wouldn't be in this mess.  They're all bums, and we should throw them all out and start over while there's still time.  Need some evidence?  Here's another headline...

*Congress has ignored efficiency recommendations from the Department of Health and Human Services that would save $9 billion annually.  

And it's not just the elected officials.  Too many federal employees are stealing our money also.  Example...

*A recent audit revealed that employees of the Department of Agriculture diverted millions of dollars to personal purchases through their government-issued credit cards.

Maybe it's because they see their senator or congressman/woman getting away with it so they want a piece of the action.  Whatever the reason, I think we can all agree that it's getting out of control.

I've tried to avoid politics in these posts.  But I just couldn't hold it in any longer.  

Whew! I feel better.  Guess I'll call off that flash mob.  For now anyway.



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Slippery Roads Ahead

Okay, I'm glad it happened.  It should have happened sooner.  I've been waiting for a long time for it to happen.  I didn't want it to happen, but it was inevitable.  And now...finally...a snowstorm.  It's actually a relief to me that winter has arrived in all it's glory. Even as Mother Nature was teasing me and I was enjoying the warm weather that lingered so late in the season, I knew that winter was coming.  It was like an upcoming dentist appointment.  I tried not to think about it, but knew the day would arrive.  The feeling of pending doom would not go away.  But now there's a foot of snow on the ground and the roads are icy. So the tooth has been pulled and the cavity filled, but I'll still be a little sore for a while.  And even though I don't like winter, I don't really feel all that bad.  With all of the cold and dreary days and nights ahead, there is still beauty to be found.  Even in the bleakest of landscapes it's there. We just need to look for it.

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Halloween Highway

Someone posted a comment recently on facebook regarding the "shennanigans" that take place around Halloween, and a reply followed that said "Halloween is for kids to dress up and collect candy. Period." That's like saying the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is only for bikers.  But, as anyone who attends the rally knows, there are a lot of non-bikers dressing up (or down as the case may be) for an event that comes around only once a year.  It's the same thing for many adults on Halloween.  A chance to be someone or some THING different for a change.  Like a pirate, zombie, witch, vampire or Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz.  Or a sexy pirate, sexy zombie, sexy witch, sexy vampire, or sexy Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz.  Are you seeing a trend here?  When did it become the rule, rather than the exception, for women to see who can come up with the sexiest costume?  Not that I'm complaining, but it sure seems there have been a lot more women in recent years dressing in very skimpy or suggestive costumes.  And I'm ok with that, IF they don't go too far, and don't try to wear something that...well...umm...doesn't quite fit their body type, if you know what I mean.  What I'm not ok with is the guys that DO go too far when they waer costumes depicting various exaggerated body parts.  I really don't want to see that lumbering down the street at 11 o'clock at night.  Although, the 7 year old boy inside me does let out a snicker or two occasionally.

Being the curious person that I am (and it hasn't killed me yet) I ran a Google search for the most popular current Halloween costumes.  Here they are in no particular order:

Lady Gaga.

Pirates.

Snookie. (Snookie? Really?)

Charlie Sheen.

Smurfs.

Zombies.

Vampires.

It's good to see pirates, zombies and vampires still on the list.  There's something to be said for tradition. Most likely the reason they are still so popular is because they can be male or female, and the variations are limitless.  

On a side note - One thing I look forward to every year is a visit from my friendas at the local newspaper.  They come up with the craziest, most clever and outlandish costumes ever!  And they did not disappoint this year:

And, one final thing - A trubute to some of the worst costumes ever...courtesy of our friends at cheezburger.com :

                                                Not good.  Do not attempt these.  Please.

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Haunted Highway

It's coming soon, and if you want to make sure you have enough time to watch all of your favorite great scary movies again before Halloween you should get started right now.  For me, and most likely for you also, it has become somewhat of a tradition every year toward the middle to end of October to start watching those old (and some not so old)  spooky-gory-awful movies that we've come to love over the years.  For some of you, those old movies may bring back fun and fond memories of younger days and simpler times when movie watching seemed to be more of an event than it is now, and required perhaps a little more imagination than today's features where the gross-out factor runs pretty high. 

And speaking of "features," does anybody remember CREATURE FEATURES?  Now wait a minute.  Don't answer too quickly, because I'm talking about the original Creature Features broadcast Saturday nights at 9:30 on cable tv from WGN out of Chicago.  If you were born after 1970, you likely missed the first and still the best spook show series ever to appear on television.  I still clearly remember those Saturday nights in 1971 & 1972 gathering with a few of my friends in Louie's attic-slash-bedroom to watch shows like The Mummy, The Wolfman, and Creature From the Black Lagoon.  I couldn't wait for the new TV Guide to arrive in the mail each week so I could throw it open and check what was coming up that weekend.

So as a public service, I offer this list of movies guaranteed to fill your nights leading up to Halloween with chills, thrills and frights galore! 

The Wolfman.  Just be sure it's the original 1940s version starring Lon Chaney.  You might find yourself actually feeling sorry for him by the end of the movie.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.  The two best versions are the Disney animated version from the late 50s...but we're not talking Mickey Mouse here folks...and the late 90s movie with Johnny Depp.  Can't go wrong with that one either...I mean c'mon...it's Johnny Depp as Ichabod Crane.

Night of The Living Dead.  60s black and white original. Very disturbing. Very scary. 

Invasion of the Body Snatchers.  This time I recommend the remake over the original.  Donald Sutherland was the best pod person ever!

King Kong.  The 1933 original for sure.  If you aren't rooting for the ape during the final 20 minutes of this movie you are one cold-hearted human.

The 'burbs.  Okay, so this is not really a "scary" movie but that scene with Art and Ray in the basement is classic.  (chanting) "I wanna kill...every one..."

The Sixth Sense.  I was one of the apparently very few who didn't figure out the ending in advance.  Did not see that coming at all.

Ghostbusters.  Again, not scary but it has "ghost" in the title and so many great lines.  "He slimed me."

Cat People.  From the early 80s, I think.  Some Russsian chick turns into a leopard and goes on a rampage.  Hey, it could happen.

It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.  Proving once again that you're never too old.  

One more thing.  The Charlie Brown movie contains some good advice from Lucy.....

"A person's Halloween costume should always be in direct contrast to their personality."

                                                                           boo.

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Random Road

Too cold to ride.  Too windy to golf.  Too lazy to mow.  It turned out to be one of those days off when doing nothing seemed like the right thing to do.  I had time to think about some things, though.  Nothing in particular.  Just some random thoughts and observations that came to mind and then wouldn't go away.  Kind of like those times when you get a song stuck in your head and you can't get it out.  The only way to clear my brain today seemed to be to write some stuff down.  So that's what I did.........

* Librarians are not very friendly people, at least while they are working.  They scowl and frown a lot.  I'm not sure if it's because they aren't very happy or maybe I just catch them on a bad day.  I can't ever seem to engage them in any form of conversation or get them to crack even a hint of a smile.  I'm usually pretty good at that.  I intend to investigate this theory more thoroughly in the future.

* All...not some...ALL career politicians are self-serving, conceited, controlling, clueless, arrogant, pompous phonies who care more about keeping their job and being cool than doing the right thing.  Two words: term limits.

* I wish I could write like this:

"I’d come from a long ways off and had started a long ways down. But now destiny was about to manifest itself.  I felt like it was looking right at me and nobody else."
Bob Dylan - Chronicles, Volume I

"Time is but the stream I go fishing in. I drink at it, but while I drink I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is. It's thin current slides away, but eternity remains."
-- Henry David Thoreau

"I awoke today and found the frost perched on the town
It hovered in a frozen sky, then it gobbled summer down"
Joni Mitchell

"I didn't know the full dimensions of forever, but I knew it was longer than waiting for Christmas to come." 
Richard Brautigan


* Sometimes your best friends are the ones you don't see every day, or every week, or even longer.  It doesn't matter if they are in another town or even a thousand miles away, when they really are a true and trusted friend you just know somehow that they are thinking of you at the same time you are thinking of them. 
  

* It would be nice to still get a letter in the mail once in awhile.  Not an email or a text, but a real letter. Hand written on actual paper and placed in an envelope.  I keep promising myself I am going to write a letter to a few old friends, but then I wonder if they will think there's some underlying message or hidden motive, or just question my mental state.  So I don't. Maybe I'm overthinking it and should just go with my impulse.  But, I probably won't.

* The year 2012 will not be the end of the world.  But I do believe the winds of change are blowing strong. 

* The Geico TV commercial about people doing dumb things with smart phones is pretty funny, and sadly quite true.

There, that's enough for today.  I feel better now. 

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Remembrance Road

Several days ago I was flipping through the tv channels during a pause in what was obviously not a very busy day, and noticed that on nearly every station someone was talking about the upcoming anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.  Everywhere were the horrific photos from that terrible day.  As I put down the remote and walked away I remember saying out loud to no one there "...this is too much. We need to get over it."   Now, after attending events honoring the 3,000 people that lost their lives on September 11, 2001,  I feel guilty about my thoughts of a few days ago.  I am really that shallow?  I understand now that we don't need "to get over it." We need to remember it every day of our lives.  We need to remember those that died that day, as well as their families and friends whose lives were forever changed.

One of the first things I noticed at the registration and line-up for the Remembrance Ride yesterday was the diversity of the group.  In attendance were men and women from all walks of life...young professionals to old hippies.  Plus clubs and organizations representing many interests and lifestyles...Hamsters to Sons of Armegeddon.  We all came to together in a common cause.

In a world filled with so much violence and hate, we need events like this to bring us together to remember, honor, hope, and pray that something like this will never happen again. That change will come. And that the world will be a better place.  Some day.

Sanctuary Road

Sometimes you just need to take a break. Get away.  Find a place to be quiet. To be still. To be thoughtful. My place for this is Pathways Spiritual Sanctuary in the Black Hills between Lead and Rochford.  You don't have to be religious or spiritual to visit.  In fact, you don't have to be anything except yourself.
I offer this short - and very amateur - video as what I hope will be an inspiration for you to visit this wonderful place.  And, I hope you find it magical, educational, interesting, inspiring, or any other word that may describe the experience in a way that will make it meaningful to you.
Before you begin your visit via the the following link,  there is a brief anecdote I would like to share.  As one travels along the paths there are benches placed at various intervals with notebooks, pens, pencils and crayons for anyone wishing to add a note, comment or illustration describing their personal thoughts.  One entry caught my eye and gave me hope that, in a world where sometimes you feel like your are being overwhelmed by terrible events and bad people, there is always a glimmer of hope for the future.  On this day that glimmer was provided to me by Heidi, age 5.  I took a picture of her entry in the journal but decided not to use it here out of respect for her privacy.  Besides, there was no way I could capture the pure honesty and sincerity of her comment in a photograph.  She had used the crayons to draw a rather fuzzy picture of the Earth, and right above the drawing, in a child's uneven handwriting, were the words "the world is neat."  It doesn't translate well in this context.  I guess you had to be there.  But if you ever are, look in the notebook located in the plastic container on the bench near the angel and child sculpture.  You'll see what I mean.