just thinkin'

   Sometimes you wonder how things can be going so good, yet you feel like everything is all wrong.  Wonderful things are happening at an accelerated rate.  The Great plan is coming together, but something is not quite right.  I have not been this excited and happy in a long time, yet my feeling of underlying sadness overwhelms me.  I want to shout out my joy to the world, but the echo of my voice would be hard to bear.  Somehow, over time I have found myself alone.  Oh, I don't mean alone and single.  I am married to the most wonderful man in the world.  I don't know how I managed to get so lucky.  He is a very large part of my joy, the joy that I can't share with anyone.  The reason for this is because their is no one there to share with.  I know that a large part of this is my own fault.  I have drifted apart from people through the years, letting time and distance get between us.  Some of my really old friends are probably remembering me as the troubled party animal I was when I was younger.  God, was I screwed up. I had a lot of fun but....jeeez!  I am sure that they have matured in their outlook the same as I have yet, they must think that I haven't.  Lord!   I'm 55 years old now and have no illusions about it.
  But, I digress.   Somewhere, out there in this cyber world that we have created; my friends are typing and texting and generally just staying in touch with their loved ones.  I hope that some of you remember that at one time, you considered me one of them.


I must make it be known that this only pertains to some specific people, they will know who they are.

just sayin'

I've always heard that stupidity is a state of mind.....not much can be done for this mental impairment....just show compassion and try to be kind in the face of it. But, lately I have noticed a frightening trend. Stupidity seems to be evolving from a state of mind to other states .....states like Wisconsin, Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Maine and many more. I fear we may have a pandemic developing on our hands that could spread swiftly and with devestating consequences. It seems to attack mostly republicans and especially those who indulge in tea (must be an ingredient in tea that makes them more vulnerable to stupidity than others ). If you have any loved ones or family members who are exhibiting any signs of this illness, keep them warm, dry and quiet. Do not expose them to people like Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly, Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin or any of the other known carriers of this horrible disease. Right now there is no cure, but with your help we can fight it and with luck keep it at bay. Please help.

       I am having a hard time understanding how the republican legislature in Wisconsin can justify cutting the pay of teachers in their state. They have somehow convinced themselves that teachers are overpaid, greedy, lazy leeches that are breaking the backs of taxpayers. These people should be ashamed of themselves. Teachers are underpaid and overworked. They have to deal with the spoiled children of people just like the ones who claim that they are living lavish lifestyles on the pitiful salaries that they get paid after years of college. Many teachers pay for supplies for their students out of their own pockets because of a lack of school funding. They arrive at work early and leave late and stay up way past most peoples bedtime grading papers. They do a thankless job and alot of them get the blame when a child whose parents are to busy to get involved in their own childs education wont accept the responsiblity of the rearing of their own children. Just think where we all would be today if each one of us had never met that one teacher that sparked our interest in one subject or other.

Unfortunately the idiots who are in charge now in Wisconsin have passed this infection on to other parts of the country. Not only are teachers under attack but now state workers are facing the same firing squad.  In Alabama for instance state employees have not had a pay raise in over 2 years.  Yet the newly elected legislature's first day in session voted themselves a pay raise.  Then in order to pay for this they decide the best thing to do is to almost triple the premiums that state employees pay for their health insurance.  They also suggested that employees have 2 furlough days a month which in effect means they are required to work those 2 days without pay. I know it is a commonly held belief that state employees are paid high salaries and do very little work and in some cases this is probably true ( see earlier comment about state legislature ) but many of these people are not making much more than minimum wage, it was the benefits that made the job lucrative.  But if the republicans have their way many of these people will be actually working for less than minimum wage.

 Robert Bentley, the new governor of Alabama ran on the platform that if elected he would not take a paycheck until the state was back on its feet again.  Apparently he has decided that along with him the more vulnerable of his employees shouldnt get one either. 

Heartburn by S. Constance Farris

by Sharon Farris Busby on Saturday, April 9, 2011 at 10:52pm

Sometimes at night when silence runs deep

When the rest of the world is snug in its sleep

Then thats when the shadows come creeping your way

With echoes of laughter from some bygone day.

They stir up the memories of days long past

Of friendships and lovers that you thought would last

Buried deep in your heart always to stay

They rush to the surface  with the force of a blast.

The walls that you built to keep the pain at bay

Crumble and fall like so much soft clay

Revealing a soul all naked and scarred

Alone on the stage of your life's long play.

You think of the loved ones who have come and gone

And how they are doing since time has moved on

If the hurts that you caused them have left its mark

If they ever think of you when alone in the dark.

To those I have loved who I may have shattered

Whose heart that I may have thoughtlessly battered

Forgive me for every pain that I may have caused

For in my life every one of you mattered.

And as my youth finally comes to its end

Time marches relentlessy around another bend

I would give anything to see you all again

To say I have loved you and call you my friend.