Failing Up

Hate is not natural.  It has been taught for centuries.    I know this is not some great revelation  on my part, but it takes a while to for things to hit me.  Actually, love is natural and unlike hate love takes work.  Hate is a reaction, a tool for manipulation, it takes no thought.   It serves an ugly purpose for few, but costs many lives.

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What's wrong with kids today?  A question asked for generations. Well, the answer usually lies with the adults.  Kids mirror or react to what is being presented.  I grew up in an era of artistic and musical and political evolution like no other.  The influences of that period were immense, and in most cases positive but in some negative. So, when we live in a time when lying, bullying, mocking and violence are being promoted as acceptable tools of persuasion the impact/influence will be generational. 
What wrong with Kids today?  Adults!! 

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April 8th 2024 is the date of the total eclipse on the sun.  People are flocking to the regions that are in line with the eclipse.  Parties are being planned, hotels are sold out, traffic will be jammed, fish will talk, pigs will fly, the world will flip out for those 3 minutes.  How many eclipse babies will be conceived and born?  This is a big time event!  And!  you are suppose to look at with a pair of approved paper glasses that look like the ones you wear at a 3D movie.  Eclipse on 4/8/24, Ophthalmologist on 4/9/24.  

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March 17th Saint Patrick's Day American style.  A holiday known for parades, "kiss me I'm Irish buttons",  shamrocks painted on faces, lots and lots of green beer.  A day when everyone is Irish.  I was on the phone with my cousin in Dublin many years ago and he said: "are you drinking any of that green beer Tim?"  In Ireland they were just starting to celebrate American style for the tourist's sake, to make money.  Don't get me wrong back in the day I could drink green beer, sing the first verse of Danny Boy, hum the second, and throw up for the third.  American Irish we call ourselves Irish, to the Irish we are American.  The history and the great writings, music and performance, from a beautiful people who are survivors, story tellers, a creative and political force in many way deserves better.  I have fond memories of family functions with my parents and their friends singing away, I have been blessed to meet my linage and history and still amazed by the journey of the Irish.  Nothing wrong with raising a glass, ( water in my case) but it is the history that needs to be celebrated, not the caricatures and drunken Irish for a day.  

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The month of March is a collision month of two major elements of my growing up and who I remain today. One being Irish American and influenced by my heritage and culture, and the other being Catholic with all the rituals.  This makes me Irish Catholic which is like a political party and has tremendous cultural implications that are imbedded in me.  One being that during Lent, I must eat fish on Friday.  If I eat fish on Friday no matter what else unfolded during the week, I still have shot a the Pearly Gates.  If I eat a baloney sandwich on Friday well, I'm off to Hell. 

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February 3, 1959 , Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the " Big Bopper died in a plane crash on a  cold night in Clear Lake Iowa.   Buddy was one of the main figures in the beginning of rock and roll.  He wrote his own songs was influenced by gospel, country, blues and had is own look with his glasses. He died on that cold night, but paved the way for the British Invasion.  February 9, 1964 the Beatles a band influenced by Holly and led by a singer song writer who wore glasses appeared on the Ed Sullivan show, and the invasion was on.  Followed by the Dave Clark Five in March, the Rolling Stones, Hermits Hermits, Paul Revere and the Raiders, The WHO, Kinks,  and more all influenced by Holly. 

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On February 7, 1964 Beatlemania  arrived on Pan Am Flight 101 from London, landing at Kennedy airport. Music, pop culture, and politics would change for ever.  Youth were breaking the barriers of the 1950's and music became a big part of their voice.  Two days later the Beatles performed on the Ed Sullivan show and the British invasion' was on.  I has just turned 5yrs, my parents bought us their album , my grandmother got me a Beatle wig, ( which I could use today) and it was game on.  Their music still holds up today. 

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Since August of 1954 the iconic covers of Sports Illustrated graced our mailboxes, libraries and stores.   It became a constant friend to those of us who loved sports.  Yet it was more.  It was fantastic photography, an eye into the times, it covered our culture.  It was published the same year Elvis stared his career and television was taking off.  Sports Illustrated, rock and roll and television would grow together and shape our perspectives through war,  tragedy like the 1972 in Munich Olympics, and the enticement of every boy juggling puberty with the annual swimsuit edition.  From bedrooms plastered with its pictures to articles that went beyond sports.  It was one of key players in the consummation of sports, news, entertainment and pop culture.  I will miss you my dear friend.  I have saved some your fantastic covers to keep your memory alive.  

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Up here in the northeastern part of the United States, the temperatures and the sun drop at a rapid rate this time of year.   There is nothing better on a cold winter's night than some comfort food.  Food that coats the lining of our stomach and stirs memories that wrap around our hearts like a warm blanket.  Comfort food is not this healthy air sealed stuff that comes to our door in a box. In my case, (and we all have our favorites) it comes in the form of a hot chicken pot pie, a nice stew, meatloaf, the classic grilled cheese, and again in my case fish sticks, the hotdogs of seafood.  Comfort food is not always healthy that's why you only want to partake for a month or so, but it stirs a place that it can only touch!

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It seems talk has become a consent in our society. Not talk among individuals, we text, but talk from so called experts, pundits, politicians, sports  shows, they all seem to be talking at us!  There are a millions podcasts that cover any topic you can think of, except for this one, we just ramble on.  All this talking at us comes in the form of screaming, interrupting, and the throwing truth to the wayside to drive ratings, poll numbers or followers.  This can't be good.  You are what you eat.  You are what you listen to and consistently  expose yourself you.  

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