Perfection is Unattainable...

This whole blogging thing is hard. As the two people (NOTE: The recent posting droughts may have driven those two people away...) that read here have probably noticed, I'm more about long posts than little blurbs about how my day went. Problem is, long posts take time. Time I don't have. I have these grand visions of posts on various topics. I flesh out the issues; I issue my opinions; I stand on my soapbox and espouse great words of wisdom (OK, maybe not the last one). But I don't get around to posting them. I've got two posts started on paper (Technically, electronic media is the proper term, but "paper" sounds better) and a dozen more swirling in my head. I just haven't got around to them. So I figured in the meantime, I'd throw out a stop gap. Nothing earth-shattering here, just a couple quick things. As a more long term solution, I may put up a paypal button and all of my flocks of loyal readers can contribute money to me to allow me to eliminate extraneous things in my life like work and lawn care. I can guarantee that my blogging quantity, if not quality, would improve. Let me know if you're interested and I'll post an estimated amount needed.

Christmas:
It's about that time of year again. I got the lights up on Friday night, along with the lighted "garland" that says "MERRY CHRISTMAS" and the animated (Their heads move) reindeer (matched pair, 1 buck, 1 doe). The deer and the Merry Christmas are new additions for the year. I wanted one of the big snow globes, but the wife said no... No snow globe. If anyone's in the holiday spirit, you can get me one of these. Post here and I'll get you my shipping address. Anyway, got the lights up, we put the tree up last night and I'm listening to Christmas music as we speak. All's well. It really is a great time of year, you know. I feel bad for all you people buried in the snow, but the weather's even great here. It's been in the 70's most days. And as we reach this time of year, let's take the time to remember those less fortunate than ourselves. Most places seem to have some sort of program buying toys for kids in bad family situations. While you're out shopping for yourself and your family, buy a couple of things for someone else too. Better yet, those of you with kids, take your kids out and let them buy something for someone else. If you can't do that, do something. Just remember, Christmas means more than presents and lights, or even snow globes... So, I'm sure I'll say it again, but for now, "Merry Christmas".

Charity:
Speaking of thinking of others. I ran across this article the other day and I found it very interesting. Americans are often criticized for being stingy or cheap and yet that appears to be untrue. It appears that unlike other nations, we give out of our own pockets instead of waiting on the government to give. It's a different approach than most of the world and one that most of your celebrities (Bono, Former President Carter, Angelina Jolie were all quoted in the referenced article) and other world organizations fail to recognize. Perhaps they fail to see it's much more effective than government programs that are rife with corruption and waste.

On Success:
Another article I ran across in "the layoff". It's about a man named Chris Gardner, who you may have heard about since he's been making the media rounds lately about a new movie with Will Smith along with his book, The Pursuit of Happyness. Chris Gardner is a man who came from a broken and abusive home and whose life was turned around by a chance encounter with a man driving a ferrari. Read the article, it's great. To paraphrase a line from Jerry Maguire, "I was inspired. And I'm an engineer." It really does go to show that you can have anything in this country if you'll set your mind to it and work to achieve it. Several years ago, I was reading a book of George H.W. Bush's letters and I had something of an ongoing discussion with a friend several years ago about what makes a man (to be PC, "or woman") "great", as opposed to "ordinary". A few months after we determined that we didn't know, I had an encounter with someone in a small town in the middle of Kentucky. This guy was full of a vision and ideas and he was alive. He knew what he wanted and you could tell he was committed to achieving it. From that I determined that two things are necessary for "greatness": Vision and Determination. I guess I always knew that, but you expect there to be something more. Anyway, the friend I was discussing this with said, "But how do you do this when you come from a broken home or a disadvantaged background?" Ask Chris Gardner. I'm sure it's not easy, but it can obviously be done.

Now all we've got to do is go out and find that vision...