I am now 59, and have lived through what I thought was the end of my normal existence. I can't say this is over, but what is normal now, is better than anything I could have hoped for. I have many reasons and purposes for putting my problems behind me and focusing on the greater need I can give to my family. As long as I have a reason to keep going, I view this experience as just a bump in the road. You can do this too, if you choose to.
Fortunately,or unfortunately, I now view the world with a different kind of wonder, compassion, and realization, but also with a touch of intolerance and skepticism. Some of this negativity comes from knowing that people don't know what they don't know. They are unwilling to change and look for the good they can do for others, or accept that they are not the center of the universe. It doesn't have to be in a big way at all, but we all have opportunities to affect the world around us, even if it's just to show we care about more than our own little existence.
Maybe this comes from living as long as I have. Anyone this age has seen the same stuff, and different people doing the same stuff (thinking it is an original idea), over and over again. The technology has changed, but the ideas, and the words, and the resulting actions, are just a repackaging and delivery of things repeated again and again. Maybe that's why guys my age get grumpy.
The names and the people may change, but the things they do haven't, since the beginning of time... world leaders behave like children; religious fanatics are out to destroy what they do not understand; rude and selfish behavior to other people on the highway will buy you that extra 5 seconds you need; governments spend more than they have; politicians are corrupt at every level of power; addictions... whether they be to drugs, money, food, power, technology, sex, work, or to other people, are the great equalizers; and theft and murder are the ultimate problem solvers.
Is it just me, or is this just another Groundhog Day?
I am actually very happy with my life.
I just wish everyone else would just smile, be happy, and play nice.
Now I'm glad I got that off my chest, and we can return you to your regularly scheduled program... and I can go watch some football.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Who we lost in the last 6 months of 2009
It seems that we lost a great many people in the first six months of 2009. There were many notable people you have heard of, and many you have not. I'm finishing up what I started with a few people we lost in the last six months of 2009. It's amazing how many I knew and lost track of in the crush of getting myself through the year. A few of these surprised me by their passing.
As you read through the list, see how many you know. I recommend that you look up some of the ones you don't . They were all special in some way. Some of them were only known to a few, but they made this list because they made a difference to someone. Get to know them. Their names may not pass this way again.
July 2009
======
Mollie Sugden, 86, British actress (Are You Being Served?), natural causes.
Karl Malden, 97, American Academy Award winning actor (A Streetcar Named Desire), natural causes.
John Keel, 79, American ufologist and writer (The Mothman Prophecies), heart failure.
Steve McNair, 36, American football player (Tennessee Titans, Baltimore Ravens), shot.
Drake Levin, 62, American guitarist (Paul Revere & the Raiders), cancer.
John Bachar, 52, American rock climber, fall.
Waldo McBurney, 106, American beekeeper, oldest worker in the United States.
Dallas McKennon, 89, American voice actor (Gumby, Buzz Buzzard, Archie Andrews), natural causes.
Gordon Waller, 64, British singer (Peter and Gordon), cardiac arrest.
Walter Cronkite, 92, American television news anchor, cerebrovascular disease.
Gidget, 15, American chihuahua, Taco Bell mascot, stroke.
August 2009
========
Corazon Aquino, 76, Filipino politician, first female President (1986–1992), colon cancer.
Charles Gaylord, 72, American martial arts grandmaster (Kajukenbo).
Riccardo Cassin, 100, Italian mountaineer.
Andy Kessler, 48, American skateboarder, cardiac arrest following wasp sting.
Les Paul, 94, American guitarist and inventor, complications from pneumonia.
Kim Dae-jung, 83, South Korean politician, President (1998–2003), Nobel Peace Prize recipient, heart failure.
Ted Kennedy, 77, American politician, Senator from Massachusetts (1962–2009), brain cancer.
September 2009
==========
Erich Kunzel, 74, American conductor (Cincinnati Pops Orchestra), cancer.
Lou Bender, 99, American basketball pioneer who popularized the sport in New York City, cancer.
Larry Gelbart, 81, American comedy writer (M*A*S*H) and blogger (The Huffington Post), cancer.
Paul Burke, 83, American actor (Naked City), leukemia.
Patrick Swayze, 57, American actor (Dirty Dancing, Ghost), pancreatic cancer.
Henry Gibson, 73, American actor (Laugh-In, Boston Legal), cancer.
Mary Travers, 72, American singer (Peter, Paul and Mary), leukemia.
Lucy Vodden, 46, British inspiration for The Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", lupus.
October 2009
=========
Günther Rall, 91, German Luftwaffe flying ace during WWII, heart attack.
René Sommer, 58, Swiss co-inventor of the computer mouse.
Dickie Peterson, 63, American rock singer (Blue Cheer), liver cancer.
Al Martino, 82, American singer and actor (The Godfather), first person to top the UK Singles Chart.
Cullen Bryant, 58, American football player (Los Angeles Rams), natural causes.
Willard Varnell Oliver, 88, American Navajo code talker.
Soupy Sales, 83, American comedian and television host, cancer.
Shiloh Pepin, 10, American girl with rare sirenomelia condition, pneumonia.
November 2009
==========
Daul Kim, 20, South Korean fashion model, suicide by hanging.
Lester Shubin, 84, American developer of the bulletproof Kevlar vest, heart attack.
Lino Lacedelli, 83, Italian mountaineer, first man to reach the summit of K2.
Ron Sproat, 77, American television writer (Dark Shadows), heart attack.
December 2009
==========
Gene Barry, 90, American actor (Burke's Law, Bat Masterson), heart failure.
Robert G. Heft, 67, American designer of the 50-star American flag.
Oral Roberts, 91, American evangelist, founder of Oral Roberts University, complications from pneumonia.
Dame Victoire Bennett, Lady Ridsdale, 88, British politician, World War II intelligence agent, inspiration for Miss Moneypenny.
Roy E. Disney, 79, American entertainment executive (The Walt Disney Company), nephew of Walt Disney, stomach cancer.
Chris Henry, 26, American football player (Cincinnati Bengals), blunt force trauma after fall from vehicle.
Alaina Reed Hall, 63, American actress (Sesame Street, 227), breast cancer.
Arnold Stang, 91, American actor (Top Cat, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World), pneumonia.
Brittany Murphy, 32, American actress (Clueless, King of the Hill, 8 Mile), cardiac arrest.
James Gurley, 69, American guitarist (Big Brother and the Holding Company), heart attack.
Robert L. Howard, 70, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (1971), pancreatic cancer.
As you read through the list, see how many you know. I recommend that you look up some of the ones you don't . They were all special in some way. Some of them were only known to a few, but they made this list because they made a difference to someone. Get to know them. Their names may not pass this way again.
July 2009
======
Mollie Sugden, 86, British actress (Are You Being Served?), natural causes.
Karl Malden, 97, American Academy Award winning actor (A Streetcar Named Desire), natural causes.
John Keel, 79, American ufologist and writer (The Mothman Prophecies), heart failure.
Steve McNair, 36, American football player (Tennessee Titans, Baltimore Ravens), shot.
Drake Levin, 62, American guitarist (Paul Revere & the Raiders), cancer.
John Bachar, 52, American rock climber, fall.
Waldo McBurney, 106, American beekeeper, oldest worker in the United States.
Dallas McKennon, 89, American voice actor (Gumby, Buzz Buzzard, Archie Andrews), natural causes.
Gordon Waller, 64, British singer (Peter and Gordon), cardiac arrest.
Walter Cronkite, 92, American television news anchor, cerebrovascular disease.
Gidget, 15, American chihuahua, Taco Bell mascot, stroke.
August 2009
========
Corazon Aquino, 76, Filipino politician, first female President (1986–1992), colon cancer.
Charles Gaylord, 72, American martial arts grandmaster (Kajukenbo).
Riccardo Cassin, 100, Italian mountaineer.
Andy Kessler, 48, American skateboarder, cardiac arrest following wasp sting.
Les Paul, 94, American guitarist and inventor, complications from pneumonia.
Kim Dae-jung, 83, South Korean politician, President (1998–2003), Nobel Peace Prize recipient, heart failure.
Ted Kennedy, 77, American politician, Senator from Massachusetts (1962–2009), brain cancer.
September 2009
==========
Erich Kunzel, 74, American conductor (Cincinnati Pops Orchestra), cancer.
Lou Bender, 99, American basketball pioneer who popularized the sport in New York City, cancer.
Larry Gelbart, 81, American comedy writer (M*A*S*H) and blogger (The Huffington Post), cancer.
Paul Burke, 83, American actor (Naked City), leukemia.
Patrick Swayze, 57, American actor (Dirty Dancing, Ghost), pancreatic cancer.
Henry Gibson, 73, American actor (Laugh-In, Boston Legal), cancer.
Mary Travers, 72, American singer (Peter, Paul and Mary), leukemia.
Lucy Vodden, 46, British inspiration for The Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", lupus.
October 2009
=========
Günther Rall, 91, German Luftwaffe flying ace during WWII, heart attack.
René Sommer, 58, Swiss co-inventor of the computer mouse.
Dickie Peterson, 63, American rock singer (Blue Cheer), liver cancer.
Al Martino, 82, American singer and actor (The Godfather), first person to top the UK Singles Chart.
Cullen Bryant, 58, American football player (Los Angeles Rams), natural causes.
Willard Varnell Oliver, 88, American Navajo code talker.
Soupy Sales, 83, American comedian and television host, cancer.
Shiloh Pepin, 10, American girl with rare sirenomelia condition, pneumonia.
November 2009
==========
Daul Kim, 20, South Korean fashion model, suicide by hanging.
Lester Shubin, 84, American developer of the bulletproof Kevlar vest, heart attack.
Lino Lacedelli, 83, Italian mountaineer, first man to reach the summit of K2.
Ron Sproat, 77, American television writer (Dark Shadows), heart attack.
December 2009
==========
Gene Barry, 90, American actor (Burke's Law, Bat Masterson), heart failure.
Robert G. Heft, 67, American designer of the 50-star American flag.
Oral Roberts, 91, American evangelist, founder of Oral Roberts University, complications from pneumonia.
Dame Victoire Bennett, Lady Ridsdale, 88, British politician, World War II intelligence agent, inspiration for Miss Moneypenny.
Roy E. Disney, 79, American entertainment executive (The Walt Disney Company), nephew of Walt Disney, stomach cancer.
Chris Henry, 26, American football player (Cincinnati Bengals), blunt force trauma after fall from vehicle.
Alaina Reed Hall, 63, American actress (Sesame Street, 227), breast cancer.
Arnold Stang, 91, American actor (Top Cat, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World), pneumonia.
Brittany Murphy, 32, American actress (Clueless, King of the Hill, 8 Mile), cardiac arrest.
James Gurley, 69, American guitarist (Big Brother and the Holding Company), heart attack.
Robert L. Howard, 70, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (1971), pancreatic cancer.
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