Pizza Break

The natural gas flame flickers blue amidst the fake fire.  The tree, a mess from a 2-year old’s desire.  A piece of a chewed-up decoration appears underneath,  the chair covered in fur, and what’s this, a skewed piece of wreath?  The smell of broccoli and eggs fills the air,  As a child is screaming “Uh, no, not over there.” A wife trying to get in a few exchanges on a SIMS game  While dad stands awaiting the latest TV fame.  A lower-middle class all snug in their house,  while visions on Food Network dance all about.  Mom in her gym pants and me wearing shorts  have just settled in from a work day of sorts.  The feeling is rest, but no rest will be had,  The child is upset and dare I say it, being bad?  What can this family do but appreciate the time,  all that is left is an hour till 9.  Bed is at 8:30 and the night lingers on,  it’s hard to appreciate, but when we do...

Our minds are this wonderland of compensation. OK, let me start over, my mind is a wonderland of over compensation. OK, that seems more appropriate. Initially we all start as good. We are beings brought into this world outside of our choosing, given a purpose of some sort and all is well until we self-actualize. Once we realize what we are doing, what others think of us, how our actions affect others, or, more critically, how others judge or perceive us. Ah, there it is. How others perceive us and define us by some characteristic. It makes perfectly logical sense that we devote a bunch of energy to this and rather than focus on self improvement, such as self-growth and development, we deviate a little. Rather than reading to expand our minds, something not too popular as a youth, or it wasn't for me at least, we hang out with friends and engage in a little risky behavior. Maybe instead of eating the vegetables we know benefit us, we go to McDonalds. Instead of exercise, we wa...

Christmas time is here. Full of joy and cheer. After all, being inundated with Christmas everything, forces the cheer, or at least, the expectation of it. Cheer is a funny thing. It’s defined as  a shout of encouragement, approval, congratulation, etc. So, this time of year means a lot of shouting encouraging words.    “Hey, you are doing a good job at whatever you do with your time!”    Though, if we all receive the same compliment, then aren’t we all equal and therefore nobody is doing better than anyone else? Therefore the worst worker and the best worker are essentially doing the same quality?    Ouch.    Instead of cheer, how about Merriment. Merriment is defined as gaiety and fun. OK, now this word I can get down with. To be Merry is to be fun, which improves life all around. If strong enough you have the power to turn a dull time of year into the magical one. You might be the one catalyst that takes a mundane office holiday sea...

Back in the day (who knows when, just seems appropriate to set the stage) ornaments used to be things like candy, cakes, and little toys. “Shiny” things weren’t really a thing until mass production of items and therefore a need to make things shiny came into existence. Now, almost all Christmas decorations have some shine to them. Some glitter, sparkle, glimmer, gloss, all give way to an image of the commercialized, Christmas experience. I make sure to say commercialized, for the original Christmas was anything but shiny. In fact, it was opposite of shiny. I wasn’t there, but mangers and horse stables tend to hold a weathered-wood image in my head. What makes Christmas so great is unique to each one of us. Some people like the excuse to over eat. Some people like their perception of more cheer, more love, and more giving. Some people are more nostalgic and this time of year reminds them of being a child which could be some of your best memories. Others might find this time of yea...

"It's too early." Said my friend Jordan as I was texting him about Christmas decor.  It is only October 20th, but I love this time of year. I love the next even more. To me, Christmas time should be a last-quarter-of-the-year event. The time of Jesus's birth should be most of the year, but I have limits. Also, as much fun as Jordan makes fun of me, I counted, and there are only 66 days until Christmas.  Everybody wants to wait, yet then they all talk about how much scrambling they end up doing at the end. Why not take advantage of the nice days and unpack the Christmas stuff now? Of course, I am not going to turn them on, just unpack, make an inventory of what I need. After all, the stores already have their Christmas stuff up, so why not us?  As I notice a break in our conversation, I put my phone in my pocket and continue exploring the goods. I unpack some garland, some Christmas pillows, even a random stocking. As I piled the stuff on the side, I wondered...