Kettering Council part two
Posted on January 26, 2009
Hey friends, family and other interested folks, I wanted to share some news with you. I have decided to not run for Kettering Council. As many of you recall, I ran in 2005 and had a great time. That race was my introduction to local politics and was a super experience.
This year’s incumbents and challengers are all well qualified, experienced community leaders. There is no need for me to jump into the fray. More time for work, volunteering, church and family will be available without a costly and all consuming campaign to worry about.
I continue to volunteer and serve Kettering as a member of the Parks and Recreation Board. A great way to serve with some really cool people. I will keep you informed as to my work.
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25 things
Posted on January 22, 2009
1. I am the son of a truck driver and a nurse.
2. I sleep on my stomach with two really flat pillows.
3. I didn’t know how poor we were until we weren’t poor anymore.
4. My first car was a ‘77 Chevy van, with one large sliding door and curtains in the windows. Green gingham, my mom made them.
5. That van had an eight track player.
6. I had 8 track cassettes that I played.
7. I was a Cub Scout and Boy Scout and raced BMX bikes.
8. In fifth grade the cool kids outed me for wearing generic knock off Reeboks. I now own over 25 pairs of shoes and could easily find 25 more pair that I like.
9. I once worked as a child abuse investigator.
10. My favorite comfort food is warm cornbread in cold buttermilk.
11. I have fallen asleep while driving two times.
12. I once sat at Senator Ford’s desk and ate some of his M&M’s to the dismay of this aides. I still remember his display of cigars, cigarettes, dip and snuf.
13. I didn’t meet my half sister until I was 16.
14. I have carried a pocket knife since 4th grade.
15. Jimmy Buffett is perhaps my favorite musical artist, have seen him 5 times.
16. I dont do wine.
17. I enjoy greasy spoons as much as a nice steak house. $5 for a burger or $50 steak. Its all good.
18. I have been to Cuba three times. Yes their cigars are better.
19. My dog is a soft coated wheaten terrier, he is pretty, but stupid.
20. My dad was 100% Alabama. You can take the boy from Alabama, but you take the Bama from the boy.
21. I can cook, I like to cook, and do it well, southern and cajun are my specialties.
22. I have fly fished for trout in Montana, shrimped in Florida, catfished in Alabama, fished for bass in Kentucky and caught my dinner in the Boundary Waters of Canada.
23. I was the first in my family to earn a bachelors degree. 16 aunts and uncles, 30 sumthing cousins, only two of us have 4 year degrees.
24. I got my first gun on my 6th birthday.
25. I once ran a half marathon. 13.1 miles.
Book Club
Posted on January 22, 2009
In an effort to grow up, I joined a book club. I have some friends, mostly women over 50, that are in book clubs. Apparently groups of people come together over wine and snacks and discuss what they are reading. One time back before Christmas my son Caleb and I interupted a book club at the book store at the mall. People discussing a book. This is what cultured mature folks do apparently in the suburbs.
I read a lot. This is a gift from my mom. My dad read more during his later years, but mom was always reading. She read paperback novels, but she also read diligently when she went to college during my high school years. Admittedly I didn’t read much in college but soon after I found an entire world out there in print. I soaked up the classics that I neglected in school, swallowed Twain and Hemingway to the last drop, traveled the world with them both. Got lost in far off tales by Jimmy Buffett and lived vicariously through Grisham’s lawyers.
Recently politics have captured my attention and I re-read what de Tocqueville had to say about our young democracy, what Lincoln had to say about politics 150 years ago, what Rove says now, and what Obama says our politics will look like. Cuba has my interest right now while I work through a comprehensive history of that little Caribbean gem.
The book club. That is how we started this discussion. Earlier today I gathered with 7 other gentlemen to discuss a book that has been on my radar for sometime. The Pact. This book is a narrative about the real lives of three boys, now men, who decided that they would stick together to reach their goals. These men came from broken homes in neighborhoods where sucess was defined by instant wealth and thug life fame.
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Selfish
Posted on January 18, 2009
Today was tough. Tougher for her than me.
I have some friends, friends that are really compassionate. Moreso than I. Often I am reminded about my lack of compassion. I grew up poor. Food stamp poor. Not homeless poor. But check to check, foodstamp, government cheese poor. Those years were few. 4 or less as I remember, but the four of us lived in a 900 square foot home that was rented for 15 years. Over half those years our landlord was my father’s employer. More than most of my peers, I know the direct correlation between work and sustinance. My dad would have died working if it meant putting food on the table, or caring for my mom or us boys.
Today I was face to face with poor. My nostrels full of the stench that is homelessness. Forced to check my preconceived notions at the door and man up to help someone. In the end I am not sure how I helped. I felt more co-conspirator or enabler than helper. Those compassionate friends I mentioned above. They met a lady in downtown Dayton that lives in a park. In the shadows of law firms, bank buildings and million dollar sporting complexes, she lives outside.
My job today, bring her back to her spot from a hotel. She had sought refuge from the sub zero temps for two days in a cheap hotel south of town. No big deal. I can check my notions and emotions and provide some friendly transport. God I wish it had been that easy.
Just thinking
Posted on January 10, 2009
This morning, for the second time ever, I yelled to the children and told them they could get up and watch t.v. For most American families this is the norm. We have avoided the t.v. babysitter for 8 plus years. It seems over and over again, Melissa and I need, want, desire, or require more sleep. The funny part is that our kids seem to need less and less sleep. They get up at 6:55 a.m. and start a racket that is unbelievable. It is quieter for them to watch t.v. in the living room than destroy the wall between our rooms.
Isn’t it funny that when we get older, over 40 or 45 say, we need less and less sleep. My grandmother, who is just a few days older than 90 only sleeps 5 hours a night. Why? When we are up at 6:00 a.m. about 8 years from now, our kids will be sleeping til noon on the weekends. That seems all wrong. Empty nesters are up before the rooster, doing puzzles, drinking Sanka, reading the paper in a house that has no children making noise. That just isn’t right.
Just thinking….