SSS,the year in review.

January started well;new year,new hope.Endless possibilities and all that jazz.......my old man died 8 days after my birthday,a communist was sworn in as president,it's cold(despite global warming)and I feel old and give out,but,the Steelers win the Super Bowl and my mother is cancer-free.Many beers were drank.
February is often thought of as the lover's month........please now.I will remember it more for out-of-town birthday parties,unreached goals,mean women,misleading weather reports,breathtaking photos and more cold weather.Boo Hiss.Still,beers were drank.
March,ahh Spring is near.My baby played softball for the first time,loved it.I wasn't much on her cheering,hated the practices so much.But I so enjoyed softball,shagging flyballs for my angel?Hell Yeah.Attention was finally paid to the older part of the building at work.Hurricanes were mild though the weather warmed and yes,cold beers went down.
All I remember about April,other than I seemed to be on the phone alot,was my cousin got into and trapped within a yet to be opened hotel some 2 miles from where we were staying in Atlanta.C'mon Dave,anybody can get home from a gentlemen's club,I did.April was good though,cuz life is funny when it happens to other people.That's beer-drinking funny right there.
May is somewhat of a blur,I seem to remember an anniversary in there and maybe some beer drinking.Plus,a communist was still president.And I may have gotten a tattoo,not sure,what with all the beer drinking.
June,a late memorial service/reunion for my Dad,saw many people I loved,made peace.Seems like I went to a funeral.Not much else of note,cept beer drinking,maybe some foul language and off-color jokes but seems like there was something else..............Lemme see,work sucked,money was tight as a tick,I didn't get any better looking.....guess it was nothing.
July was a fabulous month.My baby got to see NYC,and she loved it.I stayed at home alot.Spent some time at an "an overpriced pool".A friend said the kindest words to me I had ever heard,that's what friends do;show up when you don't know you need'em.Visited an old dirt road from my youth,love Scenic.I think a beer or two may have been imbibed this month,don't know for sure.Fireworks may have been shot,sorry Monte Vista.
Despite the heat,August was wonderful.Bama ball was getting ready to start,beer was drank,I gained 7 pounds,I slept well,I rediscovered that I loved Wendy's hamburgers,the girls ar Gridiron started wearing shorter shorts,people my age started saying "chillaxing" and for some odd reason,I spent more time in Attalla.
September brought FOOTBALL;college,pro and high school.There was a feeling that Bama might have a good year.I think I drank a beer or two.I may have gained twelve pounds or so.I learned that the word "whore" is something women can call each other(we men have to say the "w" word).I did without,but I did.I dreamed alot,but I could find no wise man to tell me what they meant.
October was,what can I say?How bout "the lost month".I did however find time to wear overalls,reconnect with old friends and..........no,not drink beer,silly.October starts whiskey season.Bama continues to look good,life is quiet and hopes are high.October wasn't all bad.
November was a pile of anal discharge,can't say it any nicer.You ever heard someone say "I'd hate to be that guy"?Well in November,I was that guy.I did learn that for an old fat guy,I can still fight.I earned a new nickname(thanks Sprout),I made some money gambling(not enough to cover my yearly losses),Bama won the SEC west,I realized I'm getting dumber in my old age & made peace with it,I became a little more humble and yes,I drank a little.
December brought an SEC championship for my Tide,a mature understanding of what I cannot change,an ability to love without returns,respect for those I took for granted,a return of my self reliance,a new appreciation of what one person can do(thanks Nelly) and a sincere love of my fellow man.The month is only half over,I can't wait to see what's in store.

Hope a great year is in store,
SSS

Now I aint no bible-thumper,but........

I love this time of year.I'm a child at Christmas;optomistic,hopeful and blissfully unaware.I love this time of year.Now,let's be straight.I hate shopping.I hate buying cards.I hate rushing from one party to the next.I hate hearing other people talk about how much "the season" means to them.With the exception of the ones sang by Dean,Frank & Bing,I hate carols.If not for my child,the love of my life,I doubt I would even put up a tree(No,not even a sad "Charlie Brown" version.).
I'm not against the commercial aspects of Christmas alltogether,I'm not that deep.I love time with my family and if I was single I'd probably spend Christmas eve on my mother's couch.And I love seeing someone I care for open a gift,knowing that in some small way I have made them happy.I love Christmas lights,the simple minded are amused by bright & shiny things.I have numerous memories of Christmas that are wholly and selfishly about me and my loved ones.But for the most part,the things that many people associate with this time of year do nothing for me.
But I love Christmas.I don't mean to seem pretentious,but I love it for the most basic of reasons.I love thinking that with all my faults,my sins in word,thought and deed,my innability to unselfishly love,my jealousy,my pride,my works done and undone............someone without fault suffered for me,willingly.Loved the unlovable and gave to the unworthy.Paul walked 2,000 miles to die for Christ,I have done nothing.Yet,I am as loved.
Merry Christmas.

The failure of human design,it's innevitable.Everything we touch,we contaminate.The best laid plans fall to pieces due to our selfishness,our greed and our shortsighted will to control.We don't seem to evolve so much as dissolve,constantly reminding ourselves,"I'll do it different next time".We're always going to learn our lesson.We're smarter now.....................

The U.S. Postal Service has been in the red every year since it's inception(look it up),Social Security is going broke,our defecit is now in the trillions,Medicare is failing;badly,you can't get a car tag in less than an hour,LBJ's Great Society hasn't been all that great,the hyper-activity of the federal government in our schools has produced graduates who can't work the till at McDonalds,Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac=horseshit economics,overtaxing the ones who create jobs is still considered a great idea,the trade defecit is staggering......................................

And these people,these same fucking people,say,"let us be in charge of your health,we promise to take good care of you".

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

I had a long,over-worded blog written for tonight,then I figured;to hell with it.I worry about too many things that don't matter,sooooooooooooooo instead I've decided to give a shoutout to those mother-daughter teams in the tampon commercials.Way to bring your lack of freshness home to millions.Thanks girls,we couldn't have achieved what we have without ya.We,as young males,were lost to this notion of stank.Stay real and stay fresh......................SSS

A Forgotten Friend

Life is hectic,it is fast and somewhat unforgiving.It is easy to lose sight of things that are in the open.To have cries for help drowned out in a never-ending buzz of background noise.To mistake a curse as an answer to your prayers.Such is life;it's cruel,it's harsh,it's blind and it's tireless.It beats us beyond sound thinking.It lays open all our mortal faults for the world to see.Moreover,it makes us suseptible to ourselves.Convinces us that we know what is best and can somehow outsmart the machine.We can't;our choices are to (A.) grow bitter,selfish and hard.Become what we fear (B.) fight a hopeless battle thinking we can change the world.Growing more and more discouraged daily or (C.) live in a fantasy world that doesn't allow reality past the picket fence.

I've been an option C man for quite a while.It hasn't been heaven,but it kept me rolling.Easy rewards and instant gratification.Day to day,no long range outlook and no plan for the worst case scenario.I'm kinda slow that way.However,while I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer,I sure as hell ain't a spoon.Eventually,the sun shines on even the dimmest.

I heard from a friend recently,a friend I took for granted,who reminded me that I was once an idealist.Not a full-fledged dreamer,mind you,but an idealist.Someone who stood up for what he believed in regardless of the concequences.A man who took his lumps but moved heaven and earth to make sure the lumps were evenly distributed.A fighter.....

I have been stupid,selfish,needy,weak,used,base and easily misled.I apologize to myself and my friends.I think I'm gonna give option B a shot again.I don't know if I'm capable of true idealism anymore,but the negativity eats you up from the inside....man,it kills ya.

So,to all those I gave up on,quit,stopped believing in and called bullshit on..................this is your reprieve.My bad,seems I was a tad premature in my judgement.Not my first miscalculation,won't be the last.There but for the grace of God go I.

~SSS

The Inescapable Fact that I am Semi-Retarded

I was passing along some of my less-than-stellar advice to my daughter today,in an attempt to,apparrantly,keep her swimming in misinformation.Her question concerned errors,the pitfalls of life we should avoid.She has such an active mind,always processing.She has no idle and she won't rest until there is a definitive and scientifically proven answer.'Because I said so' simply won't do.Her question was,"How do grown-ups make mistakes?Ya'll are 'sposed to know everything"."Everyone makes mistakes,my rosy cheeked child."I replied,"What you learn as you get older is to never make the same mistake twice".
I paused for what seemed like an eternity...........I had just told my daughter a whale of a lie.My life is a how-to manual on repeating acts of utter incompetence.I'm the idiot who uses both hands to see if the stove's hot.I revel in poor decisions,I am the patron saint of screwups,I am......semi-retarded.
Been that way all my life,but sadly,it's a gene that grows more aggressive with age.I am,I regret to say,a broken shell of a man.Stupidity has crept up my spine and nested somewhere near my brain stem.Today,I shit you not,I licked my fingers before twisting the strands on a live wire.It was an electric bed,could've just unplugged it.No..........that aint how I roll these days.I'm what they call "wait & watch dumb".
Not that it matters,but I blame women.Damned venomous hellspawn.Think about it,we were all fairly bright until the age of 12 or so.Oh not atom-splitting smart,but competent at least.Then..............THEY developed.I have charted my rise in stupidity and it starts when an unnamed classmate,we'll call her Katie Mae Quickngood,first developed breasts.It spiked in high school and has been on a steady rise since.Only our friends in the gay community are immune,and I'm sure they have issues of their own.
Anyway,to make a short story long,I distracted her with mexican food and told her I was a genius.Apparantly,we're put here to lie to our kids.....................she'll be okay,by the way,cuz she's a she.

Kiss 'Em Good,Love 'Em Much,
SSS

My Perfect Angel

My daughter is asleep;perfect and innocent rest.Guiltless and without sin,she is unaware and unafraid of the world around her.She cannot conceive of anything but the very best in people.She doesn't see color,wealth,status or creed.She doesn't know the difference between incidental and malicious.She understands the basic concept of greed,but not how it consumes you.She believes in a God ready,at any time,to protect the good and smite the bad.She knows no wrong.
My child would swear that the people she loves are flawless.She would contend that her father is perfect.A child's judgement,without life's experience to draw from.All smoke and mirrors,the view from an idealist looking through tinted glass.An uneducated guess.............and so very wrong.
I know that it's selfish and small,as well as a product of my insecurities,but ...I dread the day that she realizes the full extent of my shortcomings.She's six,it won't be long.Until then,I'll love the fact that she's wrong.I'll rejoice in being the apple of her eye.I've no regrets about misleading her in regards to my uber-intellect.Who am I to tell her that I make errors in judgement(every day)?If she thinks I'm sweet............who am I to argue?
I guess the point is;enjoy today,cuz(like my angel),it's perfect.