Okay... I know it's been forever.

Yeah... I haven't blogged in almost 8 months. I almost can't believe it's been that long. But I've been preparing something. It's going to be a pretty long one. But it's just something that I've been trying to work out on paper first. Maybe it's just an example of the way my brain works. But stay tuned. It'll be quite long, very thought-provoking, and very, very different than most of my other posts

A somewhat negative beginning to Thanksgiving?

OK, I've been planning on writing about this for a couple days now, except I just haven't had the time to sit down and do it. It just bugged me and I wanted to tell people about it. So let me go ahead and get started...

'Twas the night before Thanksgiving

I was at my parents' house hanging out with family, nothing too exciting. Mom was doing what she called "getting started on Thanksgiving dinner"... (All she did was bake a few store-bought pies and make some dressing, which in her mind was an ordeal of epic proportions) Out of my brothers who were there, and my father for that matter, none of them could ever really be any help to her in the kitchen unless she was just planning on throwing something into the microwave. So I offered to help. She was fine, didn't need anything. The night progresses and she goes on and on about having to "cook everything alone" each Thanksgiving. I offered to help again and it was declined. Seriously, how much help do you need to check on something that is baking? I mean, unless she thought she needed a second opinion as to if it was done of not, which would be ridiculous. Didn't the damn box tell her how long to bake it for? After this saga is over, everything seems to get back to normal. Except for her usual complaining about something (anything she can think of) as if her life is just terrible. I ended up deciding to walk to the grocery store to get a few things (mainly I went to get a couple beers) and I asked her if she needed anything. If she could think of anything that she forgot at the store a few hours earlier that she may have overlooked. She said no. And as usual, I go and ask everybody there if the want or need anything while I was at the store. My youngest brother who is in Lincoln this week home from college said he wanted some certain type of plain bubble gum that he chews while working out (he's a college wrestler for Concordia), and then while I'm down the stairs at the door and ready to leave, I call up to her at the kitchen where she and Tyler (my twin brother) were talking and ask again if she needs anything. No, she didn't. But then she says "Tyler says he wants vanilla ice cream." Now when you are out of work as I am, and trying to make ends meet on unemployment, you don't want to spend money on something that doesn't have a valid level of necessity. So I say back "You just bought vanilla ice cream. I put your groceries away that you got earlier, it's in the freezer."

..... the plot thickens....

She says back to me "He can't eat any of that. That's for my pies for tomorrow." (Damn those pies. Nobody eats the pies that she bakes anyways)

Whatever... I decide that I'll go get some more. Then she says "And he wants chopped pecans and chocolate Magic Shell." (You know, that junk that you pour on your ice cream and it turns into a hard shell, which I find disgusting anyways)

My response to that is: "Dammit mom, he doesn't want that shit. You know that you are the only one that eats your ice cream with that stuff." (Yeah, I do talk to my parents very informally, I speak to them as I would to any of my friends)

So by then, I realize it's her that wants me to get more ice cream and all that other stuff to go with it, not my brother. Now, for that matter, I didn't want any ice cream. I almost never eat it. But I figured that I'd get it because she wanted some. And of course, she didn't offer to come out of the pocket for any of the money I was about to spend on it. So I head to the store, I find the gum that Jordan wanted, and the chopped pecans and the chocolate junk that my mom wanted for her ice cream, and then I start to look at the ice cream. Now, in my eyes, ice cream is ice cream. Screw the brand, so I looked for the best deal since I'm broke.

I leave the store thinking that I did her a "favor", and she would be happy. It's the least I could do for my mom since I knew that she'd be up early the next morning spending a lot of time cooking for the family.

I get back to my parents' house and put all of the stuff I got for her on the kitchen table and she wasn't in sight. And go to the basement family room to hang with Tyler and the first thing I say to him is "If she took her ass to bed, I'm gonna go in there and yank her out of it and make her eat that ice cream she wanted so badly."

I went upstairs to look for her and find her laying on the bed in the guest room watching TV. (Now she tells my dad that he watches stupid channels, but for some reason she ALWAYS is watching the damn Lifetime channel, which I always call "Television for idiots" when I mention it to her) So I tell her to come get her ice cream because I bought her ice cream and the stuff she wanted to go with it. She said that she would in just a second at the commercial break. Fine with me. I went back downstairs to hang with Tyler. About 5 minutes later I go back up to the kitchen as she is walking towards it to get her ice cream. So I show her what pecans I got her and made sure the magic shell stuff I got for her is the right kind. She was alright with what I had bought...

Until...

Just when you think you have seen all the nerve that the person who brought you into this world could have, don't take anything for granted. There is always a way for them to surprise you.

She had the nerve... and I'll repeat... SHE HAD THE NERVE to say to me "Oh, I know you didn't get 'Best Choice' brand ice cream."

ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? ("Collateral" - Julie will understand the reference)

I was kinda bent over it. But oh well. Ice cream is ice cream, right? I went back downstairs and played some Goldeneye on the N-64 with Tyler. I came back upstairs and was kinda elevated to the level of "pissed" instead of just "kinda bent" at what I deemed to be a certain level of ungratefulness by my mom.

She says to me "I just decided to have some of the ice cream that I already had. I just couldn't eat the kind you bought."

Again..... ARE YOU KIDDING ME????????

So I was upset. I didn't say anything to her. But I wouldn't have bought it nor the other stuff for her if she was so specific about what brand of ice cream she could handle eating. Like I said, I didn't want any of it, I bought it for her. Who cares? I mean, I'm sure that the "Best Choice" brand tasted the same as her "Blue Bunny" brand. So I was just kinda mad with her about it. But I didn't let her know...

...Until the next day when we were having Thanksgiving dinner...

I had kinda let it go. I was just feeling a bit disappointed about her attitude the night before. So here we were at the dinner table. And then I notice something. Something that really kinda made me feel mad again. Yeah, it was the whole "normal" Thanksgiving-type of an array of food. Nothing out of the ordinary... UNTIL... I happened to take notice of the dinner rolls she had bought. And then I realize what the brand was...

Yep, you guessed it. They were "Best Choice".

I was mad. So of course I try not to miss an opportunity to make a comment. So I say to her "Mom, I can't eat any of your dinner rolls. They're Best Choice brand. They probably won't taste good."

Ugh... I didn't know how to feel. I couldn't tell if I had a valid reason to be upset, or if I was making a big deal out of something that wasn't a big deal. It was the principle of the idea.

So still... I'm kinda upset. Not sure if I'm being overly sensitive about it. But I still think that if this whole issue was enough to make me blog about it, then I must have been/still kinda be a bit upset about it.


-T

My Thoughts On Joe Lieberman (I-CT) - And his threat to filibuster Health Care Reform

Joe Lieberman raises too much money from insurance companies to help Health Care Reform....

Joe Lieberman is a complete waste of political energy. All he wants to do is stay in the media since he lost the last amount of attention he gained when he supported the last Republican Presidential ticket. Out of the two Independents in the Senate, he knows that Independents are rare in both houses of Congress, and they don't get much media coverage, and they are somewhat marginalized when people gauge importance. He wants as much publicity as he can get. He wants to make as much of his own "earned media" as possible by being controversial. The ability to make his own news, instead of paying the sums to make his ads declaring his merits. And most of all, name-recognition, which is the "Holy-Grail" of politicians. And as he has stated, he feels "relevant". He joined the Democratic ticket in 2000. He supported the Republican ticket in 2008, and then he was whining when he was about to be kicked out of the Democratic caucus in the Senate afterwards. And if he wants to campaign for GOP candidates in 2010, I hope he does. I'd be only glad to have him take off his mask permanently and just defect to the GOP. I guess he figures that if he can't beat them, he might as well join them. And I hope he makes a mistake and drinks alot of water before he attempts to filibuster. Since under Senate rules, you can blow your smoke as long as you want. You can even read off the recipe for your grandmother's lasagna if you so wish, but you can't sit down, and can't leave to use the restroom. I hope his prostate is up to par. I'm sure if the votes don't come in for cloture to shut him up, the serious lawmakers will wait him out. Good luck Joe. (Not really)

There used to be a different Joe...
When it came to insurance company antitrust concerns, Joe Lieberman boasted of his bona fides: As Connecticut attorney general in the 1980s, he sued the industry.

Where did that Joe go?

Joe Lieberman needs to figure out who his friends are, instead of the people he can earn as friends when it's convenient. When you can't make up your mind enough to show your identity, you will probably end up with no friends in the end.

-T

The Man That I Owe My Life To

Ok, I posted a message about this on Facebook early this morning, and everybody took it way to left-field when it came to about whom I was speaking. When I said "The Man I Owe My Life To" I was talking about former Husker player Lynn Finney. He's been at the top, and he's been at the bottom. They have been running a special story on him in the Lincoln Journal - They called him "The Man Who Stole From Osborne"... Which to me seems somewhat biased since most of Nebraska sees Tom Osborne as some type of Messiah. (No offense Tom) They say Lynn seems to have a knack for getting into trouble. But hey, drugs change people. And his story is one example of how an addiction can take a person who could reach the sky to a person who seems to have a hard time staying off the ground. He was recently in the news because he just got in trouble for allegedly using empty envelopes at a local ATM to make fake deposits and withdraw money from the ATM one night. Reportedly totaling around $1,600... Hell, I didn't even know you could do such a thing. Maybe that shouldn't have been in the news, because I know ALOT of people had the thought "Damn... that's a good idea"... But anyways, back to my point. Now when I say that I "owe" my life to this man, let me explain. So here's the story:

One day, one day WAAAAY back in the day... I'm guessing 1972 by math, there were two sisters at home and their parents were out of town for the weekend and the older of the two had decided they were going to have a party. The older sister had one of her girlfriends over for the party, and had invited a friend over, and told him to bring a couple friends to meet her girlfriend and stuff so there wasn't just a couple people there. The older sister and her friend told the younger sister they were taking a walk, and that a couple people were supposed to come over, so to let them in if they didn't get back by the time they showed up. I'm sure they all had a decent time. I mean, whatever they/y'all did in the 70's. The younger sister was making food, cleaning up, trying to be a good hostess even though she didn't invite the company. The next morning, she was cleaning up before their parents came home. The guy's friend that came to meet the older sister's girlfriend was still awake. He startled her. Mind you, this was back in 1972, and they lived in Waverly, NE. So imagine being a 17 year-old white girl, and you run into a 19 year-old Black man from Lincoln, NE who you have never met before the previous night's party checking out your father's gun collection... They talked for a bit. While she was finishing up cleaning he told her "You know, you're going to make somebody a good wife someday." Turns out that the man who came to the party that the older sister had invited was Lynn Finney. And his friend who came to meet the older sister's friend didn't like her friend that much. He had his eye on the younger sister. That was 37 years ago... And to this day, the "friend" and the "younger sister" are still together and married. They are Danny and Mona Brooks. My parents. So when I say that I "owe" my life to Lynn Finney, I mean it. If he hadn't came to this party, or brought the same friend that he brought, my parents most likely wouldn't have met and wouldn't be together. So Lynn Finney, I thank you. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have been born.

And today Lynn Finney isn't doing so well. Had an operation to remove part of his liver a little while back. But he is still fighting colon cancer. And as I've said, he's had his up's and down's, but no matter what he has done, or what trouble he has been in, or who he has hurt in his life, there is one thing that he is responsible for that nobody could EVER repay. He, in an unintentional manner, united two people for life... And as a result, they have a family, children, and a home together. And because of that day, I am sitting here writing this blog.

I wish you all the best Lynn Finney. Keep your head up. Regain your dignity. Nobody is immune to the trials and tribulations of life.

And as I always say:

There's never a testimony without a test


-T

I guess this is overdue

It's been a few days since I have written anything. I don't have much to talk about lately I guess. So maybe I'll just go off the cuff and talk randomly. Umm.... I just watched a really boring episode of "The Simpsons".... Thanks to the network, they are about to upstage that tragedy with an episode of "Family Guy". I got an email from AT&T today. I can get a free phone with free shipping if I add a third line on my account. I have two already, one is a phone that I got and pay for for my little cousin. She's 16. We share 1400 minutes a month, and come on now, as I said, she's 16. I bet she eats up minutes like crazy. But who knows, I don't actually check them, the balance comes and I pay it. I just might get one just because it's free. It will add $10 a month to my bill, and I can just have a different phone. That might be kinda cool. My phone was "new" and "cool" and all that when I got it. But that was about a year ago. And nowadays phones can be "outdated" in a week. There's always something more new, better, faster, etc...

(pause for a break)

Mom just called. I guess my uncle had an interview on the radio because he's about to be inducted into the hall of fame for playing football for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. He was good, he even played for the Minnesota Vikings in the NFL, the way it sounds to me is that he even gave a shout-out to my aunt while they were interviewing him. I think his career ended with one of those "bad knee" issues. Which happens to alot of athletes. Maybe that's why I don't do sports. But he's an awesome guy. And he has an great career now. I probably wouldn't like him if he was my mom's brother, but he's married to her sister, so that's okay. For some reason I've never liked much of my mom's family. Well, except that one sister that he's married to (Love you Marcia!). Lots of them just seem too smug. I've just always felt more comfortable with my dad's side of the family. They don't judge. They encourage. They don't feel that they are better than you. Things like that. But I think it's time to get out of the house. I'm gonna head to my parents' house to make sure they aren't about to choke each other. They have that "love-hate" type of relationship. I mean, when you've been with someone for 35+ years, you just can't help but to be annoyed by almost everything the other does. But they're my parents. I love them. They're the reason that I have a life. Some people make the statement "I wish I was never born"..... Yeah, but then what would you have? Life may get tough at times, sometimes you might want to give up. But the way I see it, you shouldn't have anything to complain about if you woke up today.


-T

Sad Saturday

Well, I woke up today just coming out of a dream. And as strange as it seems, it had to do with me being at work. I was at work... trying to fix the damn carwash. And initially when I woke up, I had one thought come into my head. "You have to be at work!".... But that was not the case. In the cloudiness of my juse awoken brain, I actually thought I was going to be late for work. But just in case anybody out there doesn't know, I lost my job last Thursday. But oh well, I was working there for about 6 years and it was time to change course. This was long overdue. I mean, I will miss the customers, and maybe the work just a little bit, but not the fact that I am alot more smart than what the job affords me recognition for. I mean, it wasn't challenging. It was basically, "keep this place straightened up, and ring up customers and count change" all day. I mean, a 9 year-old could be trained to do the task with enough training. But oh well. I mean, I did learn alot about the business, and did get alot of experience, but that's not the kind of work that I want to do. So it didn't really "help" me for the future. My future. It will not be in the same industry, for sure. But it's just time to start a new course. But to do that, I have to imagine where I want to be in the future. The course will lead there. I'm not sure where I want to end up just yet. But maybe I'll think about a huge house. A ton of people working for me. Maybe security. Maybe I'll shoot for the stars.... I GOT IT! Now I know which house exactly I'm talking about. It's really big, and it's white. I think you know also

Sarah, Sarah, Sarah....

Ok, this is just one thing that I want to get off my chest.... Would people (the media mainly) just lay off for a bit? I'm tired of people jumping all over Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) for everything. I mean, when it comes down to it, she is quite possibly now one of the most well-known female politicians in the country, and around the world. But I still say Hillary Clinton is the most well-known around the world. Now when I say to lay off of her, I mean people need to stop making a big deal about everything she supposedly does, or supposedly doesn't do. I mean, it's come to a point that if somebody in Alaska slips on a banana peel, her name comes up in the media like it's her fault. Some people in the Republican party even try to say that she cost Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) the Presidential election. I do not think this is true. John McCain is more of a moderate Republican, Sarah Palin is more of a conservative. She helped breathe life back into the Republican base during the campaign. And everybody jumped all over the fact that she may have had a few bad interviews, and they made fun of her and called her stupid. But when you are not prepared for a national race, and are suddenly tapped for the second highest governmental position in the country, you can't be expected to be a "perfect" candidate. Nobody is perfect. But I will say, she became an instant superstar in the political world. And when you get that much attention, people start gunning for you. And it's not always coming from the other side, it comes from your side as well. So what if she wasn't familiar with "the Bush doctrine" during an interview.... I never even was aware that there was such a thing. I mean, she stood her ground at the Vice Presidential candidates' debate against Joe Biden! Now that takes guts because Joe Biden is a fire-breather, and for some reason talks a bit too much, and I admired her for that. Now don't get me wrong... I am a staunch Democrat, and if you even want to throw the label of being a "Liberal" at my feet, I will pick it up and wear that label as a badge of honor, but let me be clear with saying one thing: Republicans (including Sarah Palin) have certain social policy views that make you want to scream, certain ideas that might make you want to pull your hair out, comments about the Democratic agenda that might make you want to choke somebody, BUT, Sarah Palin is a fierce American. She is a patriot, loyal to her country, she is smart, hardworking, and dependable. And I respect her. So I wish everybody would stop attacking her.

-T

What a Sunday.......

Well, here I am. Off of my regular schedule. Usually my days off are Sunday and Monday. But I have to work at 5pm today. And just like I said before (check previous blog posts) North Korea fired off missiles yesterday. I said that it was going to happen. Everybody knew it, he NEEDS attention. But one thing I don't understand is that he fires off his missile tests into the Sea of Japan... Aren't those Japanese territorial waters? Then technically wouldn't he be attacking Japan in a way? Maybe Japan should do some "tests" right into the water around his country (if you want to even call it a country. It's basically just a huge military base) to show him what it's like. He says that if the U.S. tries to stop any of the ships coming into his ports that we would be declaring war. Intelligence (and I use that term lightly in regards to what it has done for us before) says that there might be nuclear weapons, weapons-grade material, enriched uranium, etc. on board. And by all regards, we don't have U.N. "permission" to stop any of these ships, but when it comes down to it, I don't understand how it would be declaring war... North Korea has been provoking other countries for a long time. He wants a response. But in my opinion, and as far as my knowledge, we are still "at war" with them. The Korean War was never ended with a treaty. So, by international standards, we are still at war, just not active war. Who knows how this situation will play out. Oh yeah, and the President Ahmadenijad of Iran (and again, I use that term lightly due to the recent unrest over the elections) invited our President Obama to talks with him. Yeah right... do you think he's going to go deal with that guy? That task will be sent down to our Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. Hopefully she'll do what she does best when it comes to confronting other leaders in the world, and tell him what America wants her to say: "Don't start any shit"

-T

Another Day

Well, here we go, another day of this "life"... I find it harder to wake up in the mornings. Well, scratch that, I never wake up in the morning. It's usually around noon. Probably because I don't want to go to work. My job sucks. But only because I hate the fact that I've put my goals on "hold" and settled for a job that at least gave me a steady paycheck. Steady in the sense that it comes every two weeks, but doesn't provide a steady lifestyle. I usually make about $800 a month (if I'm lucky) and it's hard for anyone to live on that. I don't live above my means in any sense, besides the fact that I pay around $200 a month on my phone bill. I mean, hell, I can't even afford car insurance. It's time to give college a second try I guess. Then at least I'll have an excuse to be broke. Who hasn't heard of a broke college student? Well, except the ones who have mommy or daddy's credit card and a bottomless amount of money to spend. Why couldn't my parents have been rich? Maybe my dad should have stayed in college playing basketball. Then maybe he could have been drafted to the NBA or something. He was good. But he quit school to spend more time with my mom... Now if that wasn't a nutty thing to do I don't know what would be (but I guess I probably wouldn't be here if he hadn't made that decision). But anyways, time to jet. Gotta get to work. See you later!

-T

So not ready to go to work

I do not want to go to work today. I got out at 1:30am last night, and have to be back at 1:00pm today... I hate that place sometimes. Well, honestly, most of the time. Actually, to be fully honest, ALL OF THE TIME. It might not be so bad if the A/C didn't quit working EVERY summer. Plus, I'm still at a point of depression over the loss of Michael Jackson. The entire entertainment industry will never be the same. Nobody could perform like him. Yeah, he may have gotten a little "strange" in the past decade (or two) but he was still Mike. Nobody in history could slay the audience like he could.