Sports as Metaphor
Current mood: thankful
Category: Life
Watching Tiger Woods do one miraculous thing after another in the U.S. Open yesterday, on one friggin' leg, I was reminded how similar golf can be to life. Aptitude and ability matter, a lot, but while they're necessary they are definitely not sufficient. Real success is to be found, when and where it can be found, through belief in self and persistence in the face of unfortunate circumstances and/or daunting odds.
Humans are capable of doing incredible, unexplainable things when we both refuse to accept that we can't, AND develop a rational, well-thought plan that makes it possible for the improbable to occur. That's a truth that I've always had to struggle to believe in for my own life, but I think I can claim to apply it better now than in the past.
It's Father's Day, and my father isn't here. I know I'm not alone in that circumstance - my heart goes out to all of you who have lost. The best, really the only thing I can do now to honor my dad is to try to live my life by the high standard he set. He and mom have given me a damn fine set of tools - it's up to me to strive to put them to the best possible use. Thanks daddy, I'm going to do my best to live up to your example.
Currently
listening
:
Nobody's Darlings
By
Lucero
Release date: 2005-05-24
The Games People Play
Current mood: romantic
Category: Life
So you thought you were gonna get a real blog post, eh? Well, I got nothin. Except this thing Suzi posted - I figure if she can do this stuff with a new baby on her hands, I should be able to handle it. Plus, I'm not expecting to get a jillion responses.
and, GO!
Leave your name in my blog comments.
Once you do that, this is what I'll do .....
1. I'll respond with something random about you. 2. I'll tell you which song or movie you remind me of. 3. I'll pick a kind of alcoholic beverage to share with you. 4. I'll say something that only makes sense to you and me. (if possible. if not, I'll say something that only makes sense to me.) 5. I'll tell you my first memory of you. 6. I'll tell you what animal you remind me of. 7. I'll ask you something I've always wondered about you. 8. If you play, you MUST post this on your blog.
Currently
listening
:
Funky Kingston
By
Toots & the Maytals
Release date: 1990-10-25
I still get ideas for blog entries from time to time, but these days it always seems that there’s not enough time to actually sit down and write something semi-coherent. There was a story in the news today about the increasing use of brain-enhancing drugs among professionals in science-related fields that would make perfect blog fodder, but I don’t think it’s going to happen tonight. I do intend to fire up a new blog site on Wordpress one of these days, if I ever get a little breathing room.
I’m going to go see Bruce Springsteen in Dallas on Sunday. I had known the show was happening for quite a while, but by the time I checked on tickets, the floor was sold out. I’m a fairly big E-Street fan and I’ve seen them several times, but always from distant seats in a big arena or stadium. I wasn’t that thrilled about the prospect of another seat in the nosebleed section, so I had decided to stay home. But today I got an email stating that some additional seats were available. I checked and sure enough, a floor ticket was there for the taking, albeit at a fairly steep price compared to most of the shows I attend. I hesitated for a moment, but E-Street Band shows are absolute celebrations of the joy that can be found in rock & roll. I decided it’s worth the trouble and expense to see one from the floor, at least once. :-)
My dad, Hubert Houston Ramsey, passed away earlier this evening. I can't say much now, both because words aren't coming easily and because I have to get mom home. I'll just repeat that he was the most good, loving, fundamentally decent man I've ever known. Virtually everything I know about being a man in this world, I learned from him. He was cantankerous and stubborn as all get-out, but it almost always came with a big grin. We argued more times than I could possibly count, but at the end of the day there was nobody in this world I respected more than him. I love you and I'll never stop missing you, daddy.
EDIT
Thanks everyone. It's rough, no way for it to not be. But we're hanging in there and doing our best not to dwell on it. I forgot to mention that my dad despised the name Hubert - he always went by Hugh.
Things haven't been going very well for my dad - he's still in CCU, with no apparent improvement and no communication. The doctors are going to try another procedure in the morning. It could help, but it could just as easily make things worse. But the status quo is just no good, so they have to try something. We're trying to remain hopeful - no matter what, tomorrow is bound to be a hard day...
I'd been meaning to write something like this anyway, after being brought to tears by the PBS special on Elvis' early years the other night, but the death of Heath Ledger helps bring the point home in a more contemporary setting. It's becoming less and less fathomable to me how we, as a society, seem to feel no culpability or even any sense of shame for what we do to celebrities over and over and over again. There are a handful of people who somehow manage to handle 24x7 x-ray scrutiny without eventually being torn asunder, but they are extremely few and far between.
It just struck me so plainly while I was watching that Elvis show. I've never really been a fan of Elvis, always championed Chuck Berry and Little Richard and Buddy Holly as far more talented and authentic. But as I watched his early life unfold before me, I realized that it's always been what Elvis became that I felt such disdain for. The truth is, he was a very talented, charismatic, beautiful boy. Seeing all that so plainly and then reflecting on the sorry fate that awaited him - the fate we gave him - I was taken aback.
If something that tragic never even gave us a moment's pause, as our continued, overamplified celebrity obsessions clearly indicate, what does that say about our culture? Are we all in reality so obsessed with ourselves that we just don't care what happens to anyone else, or what things of beauty we may destroy as we feed our insatiable need for instant gratification? I'm not going to claim to be holier than thou - virtually all of us have participated in celebrity obsessions in some form or fashion. Ever watch anything on TV about the OJ trial?
Where I'm making my stand is that it is both wrong and harmful, to everyone concerned. It's time we stop watching that crap, and start shaming the folks who produce it. It's not that people who excel at popular activities shouldn't be well-known - it's that none of us have any need to know what they were wearing when they opened the door to their house at 6:00 AM. Private lives should become private once again - we should all go back to minding our own damn business and anyone who refuses to do so should be seen as a troubled individual.
I realize I'm merely shouting in the wind here, but standing idly by doesn't seem like a very honorable option at this point...
Currently
listening
:
Heartsickle
By
The Unlovables
Release date: 17 April, 2007
Yesterday was pretty rough. Dad seemed more or less the same when I got there in the morning, not normal but he did at least recognize me and was speaking somewhat coherently. The kidney doctor came in and said his kidneys weren't picking back up their function like they should, plus he just wasn't looking very good, so she wanted to go ahead and give him some dialysis to get the toxins out of his system (that could also be causing the disorientation). I went home to get mom, and by the time we got back up there, about an hour later, he was a lot more disoriented - definitely the worst he's been since the original procedure. They went ahead and started getting him ready for the dialysis and at some point during that process, he stopped breathing. They called a code blue and got him breathing again, then took him down to CCU. Once he was down there they got his vitals back up to pretty good levels - he's on a breathing machine tonight but they'll try to take him off that in the morning.
We still don't know for sure what's causing the problem - the heart doctor says his heart is working OK. It could have something to do with his kidneys, or I guess it's possible that some of the plaque that got dislodged when they cleaned out his artery could have lodged somewhere bad. I don't think they have much of a clue at this point. The nurse said they're planning to do a CAT scan of his brain in the morning, before they attempt any dialysis.
There's nothing we can do but wait and see at this point. Mom and I are both fairly well worn out - just have to hope today is a better day.
My dad's been hospitalized since Friday. He went to the doctor's office for a test, they found some problems, sent him straight to the ER - it's been a rough few days. It's not an easy thing to see someone you love, who's been a pillar of strength your whole life, lying helpless in a hospital bed. We're hopeful that things took a turn for the better today; there's not much to be done but to wait and see what tomorrow brings. I realize nobody lives forever but I love my parents so much... Maybe I'll never be ready to say goodbye; all I know for sure is I'm not ready right now.
Eyeliners Message Board!
Current mood: hopeful
Category: Music
OK, I know there are some fans of The Eyeliners in my friends list. I wanted to get the word out that the band's old message board is back in service. Technically it never went away - they were just using a different one for a while. Anyway, with the band's blessing, here's the link:
Please stop by, if you're a fan or just curious. They're a truly awesome band I've been nuts about for many years. The old board was a really fun place with some great characters. For anyone who had an account on this board, it should still be there. If you've forgotten your password, there's a Forgotten Password link that should email it to you. Hope to see some of you over there soon!
Currently
listening
:
Here Comes Trouble
By
The Eyeliners
Release date: 30 January, 2007
Eat Your Heart Out, Bing
Current mood: ditzy
Category: Music
I love this - it's my favorite rock & roll Christmas song. Couldn't find a performance video - sadly, there probably isn't one in existence. But this song is so good, it doesn't matter. That's Bill Pinkney on the first (bass) lead, and the immortal Clyde McPhatter on the second. What's not widely known is that this version was patterned after an earlier one recorded by the seminal R&B group - The Ravens. The Ravens recording is great too, but Clyde & Co. take it to a whole new level - one that's never been approached since. Hope everyone's holiday rocks - here it is boy and girls, the REAL White Christmas...
thankful
romantic
rushed
numb
worried
scared
hopeful
ditzy
