Giants & the rest of us.........

Part & parcel of growing older is coming to grips with your own mortality.....Now, that ain’t a big thing as it comes to everyone sooner or later.......the trick is that a lot of us live as tho’ we want it come sooner when the truth ackshully is the later the better..........still, since it’s something that we mostly have no control over, it’s a moot point.......that said; the older you get, the more attention you pay to the obits.....you sort’a start by looking for friends, y’know, the ones you grew up with, went to school with, basically the people you identify with......I think for many of us, that starts with the ‘big reunion’......y’know, the one where you wear a nametag & thank god for the nametags worn by people who were once very close to you ‘cause sure as God eats little green apples, you ain’t gonna know them now......And one of the shocking things about that first reunion is the list of people who managed to cross over without you being aware of it........& then as reunions come ‘n go, that list gets longer while the list of attendees grows shorter.....
Somewhere along in there is when you began to pay more attention to the ‘obituary’ column. And you notice how many people your own age manage to get themselves listed........& then you notice how many people younger than yourself.....Mortality! Comes to us all & it’s inevitable....whoa! hold the salt!......Somewhere ‘round about there is when you began to pay p’ticlar attention to the celebs of your life; the athletes, the movie stars, the teevee personalities, & the occasional giant. Surprisingly, how few giants inhabit our lives. Rare indeed is the person who actually gets a chance to meet & rub shoulders with a giant. More often, we know them only from their deeds, and then only from a distance.
One of those giants in my life has just passed. I never read all his books or articles; never met him at all but, what I saw of him, what I heard of him, what I knew of the man convinced me that he was a man among men, a giant during my lifetime & the world needs giants.
‘Course, the world needs the rest of us as well...A giant in a world of giants is just us.....Justin Other Smith

Grampa Fuzz.......

The California poppies are in bloom....also, the almond trees & flow’ring plum.....lotta green t’day, under sunny skies streaked with clouds.....bright yellow watchamacallits all over my yard.....went swimming t’day..
didn’t count the laps but I did about a dozen, give or take....whatever exercise I do, I only do ‘til I get tired..
that translates to......oh, about 15 mins here & there ‘til I figger I have an hour in....then I give up ‘n go home......
gonna tell da gurlz to start calllin’ me ‘Grampa Fuzz’..... I’m sprouting what looks like white fuzz all over my dome......’Course, I can’t really judge what color it is but I suspect white.....I don ‘t care.....s’long as I get some hair out of it........
I’m sitting here at the ‘puter with the door wide open.....
1st time in a long time that the furnace hasn ‘t been running.....I’m looking fwd to the day when I c’n turn it off ‘n get out from under PG&E.....wish’t I c’ud do sumthin’ about SMUD as well.....
On the campaign front, someone floated a pic of B.Obama in the guise of a Kenyan elder (?)...I think Kenyan youngers dress in t-shirts & sneakers but I don’t know.....I’m not sure if that pic is s’pozed to hurt him or help him but he doesn’t look any more ridiculous than any other politician that’s got themselves all spiffed up in foreign garb........Heck! If’n he’d put on a big ol’ hat down in Texas, he would’ve looked just as silly.
And Millyrose pointed out that since one of the worst things a Muslim can do is become Christian, if Obama wuz t’ be elected Prez, how’n the world is he s’pozed to negotiate with Muslims????? “T’is a puzzlement.”
As is the world in general. Justin Other Smith

A boggled brain........

The storm has passed. Over the mountains & ‘cross the plains to Brother John. Maybe it won’t be so bad when it gets back there....Well, it could’a been worse here..... On the positive side, it dumped from 2 to 4 feet of snow on the mountain & that’s a good thing......They may have skiing in June altho’ with the southern bound economy, the price of fuel may keep the schlussers at a minimum..
campers also.....snow camping ain’t for sissies......
Are we seeing the dying gasp of the Clintons? The pundits seem to think so & they put a lot of the blame on Bill.....Almost all the pundits seem to think that Barack or Obama (whichever name you like) is a shoo-in for Prez & they’re all taking flying leaps at the bandwagon.....if we go by the accuracy of their predictions this year, BO has gotta self-destruct.....Maybe we’ll have a Huckabee or Nader for Prez....I wonder who the NY Times is betting on......A couple years ago, when we goofy Californians kicked out Gray Davis & elected Ah-nold as Guvenator, the rest of the country made lots of jeering noises.....I ain’t sayin’ Arnold is the best Govenor we ever had but he’s a long way from the worst & his centrist stance seems the logical way to go.....prob’ly a good thing he can’t run for Prez....I bet if he did, Teddy would have apoplexy....(sumtimes, ya gotta look for the silver lining).
I can’t help wondering about my friend, Pig Phillips....as you might know, or guess, Pig is a bred in the bone, 100% Union-made, lifetime Democrat. Not p’tick’ly unusual in Greenup County, Kentucky.......now Pig has any number of endearing qualities which I won’t comment on at this time but what I’ve really been wondering about is his vote in the general election.....I don’t think Pig has ever voted anything but a straight Democratic ticket & it appears that he may be facing a difficult choice......
Obama or Clinton.......well, Greenup County ain’t New Hampshire or South Carolina....still, pondering such a problem c’n boggle an already boggled brain..........
2:30 in the AM on a Monday morn....Justin Other Smith

Waitin’ for the big one........

Here t’is, the lull before the storm.....barely a breeze, cloudy & overcast, nervous chickens.....those feral fowl of Fair Oaks get noisy when they get nervous & they seem to know that a storm is coming even if they can’t read.....Now the truth of the matter is that I don’t know whether they can read or not....I’ve never seen any of them perusing a magazine or newspaper, let alone a book, I just assume that they can’t read.....Maybe they can but just prefer to spend their time raping and pillaging.....Quite often, however, I’ll spot a big rooster seemingly frozen in reverie, oblivious to the world around him & if he’s unlucky enuff to be in the middle of the street, hopefully run down by some uncaring motorist.....”I have a dream.....”
Anyway, I haven’t had the telly on this morning but the Bumbling Bee was warning readers this morning that we shouldn’t drive in the midst of the storm that’s s’pozed to hit us this afternoon.....heavy rain & high wind is unsafe, (they say).....and we should be stocked up on food, water, batteries, books & dvds....altho’ if the power goes out, books & dvds might be a no-go......
I wonder how many people read the paper & tho’t...oops, better run out & buy sumthin’......be prepared for the storm & help the economy at the same time.........
“Everytime it rains, it rains sunshine & flowers......”
.....unless, of course, you happen to be homeless, in which case, you’re gonna get wet......Justin Other Smith

TGIF..........

Here t’is, winter again......cold & rain & snow on the mountain....major storm warnings in the paper & on the telly.....wind & rain to come.....street flooding & falling branches & trees......situation normal here in norCal..... Well, we need the rain & snow....we’ve been in drought mode for a long time & if we don’t get water, how’re we s’pozed to give it to el lay to wash their autos, driveways & sidewalks.....y’know, if soCal had to live on their own water supply, they’d have to lose 99% of their population.......& where d’ya spoze they’d all go......prob’ly here & nobody wants that so we grit our teeth (all that dust, y’know) & send ‘em water......’n if water gets any more expensive, we’ll find it cheaper to send ‘em wine...
a loaf of bread, a jug of wine to keep the Hollywood Liberal Elite at bay.....& prob’ly worth the cost to keep ‘em all corralled in LaLaLand.....on permanent strike.
S’funny how the only people who seem concerned about the so-called writers strike are the media folk (gives ‘em sumthin to yak about)......if H’wood folk ever figure out where they really stand in relation to real life (as opposed to reel life) they might collectively stew in their own ego juice......on that proverbial other hand, if you’re a bigshot actor being upstaged by a twangy, guitar-playing Huckleberry frum the grate state of R-kansas who is himself being upstaged by the cardboard cutouts of ‘clintonobamamccain’, y’might just as well fire your publicist & go for another facelift........
Wot the heck? Winter weather depresses me......
At least, it’s Friday.......Justin Other Smith

Rainy day soapbox......

(SIGHH!) It appears our faux Spring is over.....we have cloudy skies again albeit without the nonstop rain that blanketed us all day yesterday & all thru the nite. And yeah, I know we need it & more snow in the sierra, the more the merrier. I looove seeing the teevee personalities from Ch. 3 standing waist-deep in the snow at Blue Canyon (well, tall man Teselle standing knee-deep) prattling on & on how they love the snow (or sleet, rain, wind, etc)....TVP’s must all be wanna-be actors who will do abso anything just to be on camera....which brings me to Michelle Obama (wife of Brackobama) who evidently couldn’t stay in the background any longer & just had to express herself on camera....(for the 1st time in her 45 year life, she wasn’t ashamed of being an American, godhelpher) I just wonder why, if she was so ashamed of her citizenship, she didn’t walk away years ago.....I mean, it’s pretty much a free country & she could’ve gone to Darfur or Zimbabwe or France....I don’t think anyone here would’ve missed her & maybe someone else might have benefitted from from all the opportunities she had here in the bad ol’ US of A......
But, let’s be fair...she and Brackie-boy are both ethnically-deprived, having been denied the oppty of growing up in a ghetto......why, I s’pect they’ve had to learn Black English from a textbook or reruns of ‘Good Times’.......(sorry, I know that wuz mean)........
Ak’shully....they are, both of ‘em, attractive, articulate, well-educated, charming (sounds like Cary Grant, don’t it) people who are the antithesis of the popular view of American Blacks and much closer to the real-life middle class African Americans as portrayed by the Cosby family (Huxtables, for the teevee impaired).......
I expect I’ve been on the soapbox too long this morning, blame it on the weather......later, Justin Other Smith

Of polls & pundits.......

Mid February & no news doesn't mean the media shuts up.........

It’s been a long, lazy Sunday.....sunshiny & warmish, a fine faux Spring day before a holiday...George’s B’day tomorrow......s’pect there’ll be sales galore for Prez Day but I intend to miss all of them......(it’s the economy, stupid).....not really but if sales don’t live up to dreams, that’s what the media will say.......
‘Course, the media also say that Obama’s got the election all sewed up & is bound to be our next Prez....
Coupl’a months ago, that’s what they were saying about Hillary....& their excuse is.....”that’s what the polls are saying.”.....and we all know how accurate the polls have been this year.
According to the pundits, Geo Bush has been so bad as Prez that the Repubs will likely not survive as a party at all......it’s gonna be Dems all the way.....and the world will be a better place..(is that a song lyric?)
Can it be that since the pollsters have it all wrong this year that the pundits may also have it all wrong.AND (GASP!) could the media be wrong as well......might we indeed have another republican presidency hard on the heels of one of the most reviled Presidents since A. Lincoln?
You heard me. Our most revered President, Abraham Lincoln, was one of the most reviled politicians of that turbulent era. The media despised him and took every opportunity to mock and dismiss him. Cartoonists of the day showed him as an ugly, ungainly apeman, a barely literate, uncouth and boorish backwoodsman lacking in wit, charm & education that should never have been allowed at the same podium with his more distinguished opponents. (Quick! Name Lincolns opponents).........
Now, I’m not saying that George Bush will go down in history as one of our better Presidents but I’m not at all sure that history will be any kinder to any of his opponents. Fortunately for most of us, history is pretty dismissive of us all. And none more deserving, I suppose. Justin Other Smith