Can You Live Without…

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Bear Grylls, BlackFriday, Blogs, Can You Live Without..., Cell Phones, Discovery Channel, Lost in a Drunken Banquet of Static, Man vs. Wild, no internet, Tim L O'Brien

What can you live without?  More specifically, what are you willing to live without?

Today’s world changes in a nano second.  We are caught up in a race that is never-ending, and yet, we continue to run the race.  Technology changes so fast.  We are able to keep abreast of the latest scandal or late breaking news with nothing more than a cell phone in our hand.  With social media we know where are friends are eating and what they are thinking.

Everywhere you go, people are walking the streets like obsessed robots, eyes transfixed to the latest device being held tightly in our hand.  We try to walk and read at the same time.  We text and drive at the same time.  Our minds so wrapped into the hand-held device we miss conversations directed towards us.  We bump into each other.  We are all so intrigued with the little world we hold in our hands that we are missing the real world around us.

Numerous times I have been at a restaurant and noticed a parent completely ignoring their child.  Why?  The cell phone.  Reading messages.  Sending texts.  Meanwhile, little Johnny tosses his mac n cheese dinner on the floor, trying to get the parent’s attention.  Soon the plate is empty, and everywhere, parents are handing out clean plate awards.  Johnny remains hungry and fussy.  The parent sends a text to someone more important than their child, that Johnny must be going through a growth spurt.

I witnessed a parent at a little league baseball game this past summer bring his laptop to the game.  He sat in the bleachers the entire game with the device open, never once looking up to watch his son with a bat in his hand. True story.  I came oh so close to slamming the computer shut on his hands and slapping the dad up side the head.  I didn’t do it, but I sure wanted to.

What can you really live without?

Can you live without food or water?  Can you live without the mall or shopping?  How long can you go without your wine or other favorite adult beverage?  Can you live without your Kindle or iPad?

Would your world come to an end if you had no cell phone reception for six days?  Would the apocalypse be declared if you were unable to get access to the internet for six days?  Could you survive without a cell phone and internet for six days?

Could Bear Grylls, a seasoned adventurer, and star of the Discovery Channel’s show Man vs. Wild, survive under such extreme conditions?

What in the world would we do with so much free time?

Over the duration of the Thanksgiving holidays, that is what 16 members of our family were forced to find out.  We had gathered in South Texas, in a remote area along the Rio Grande, with Mexico visible on the horizon.  We knew in advance that cell phone reception would be very, very limited.  We were given no warning that the internet would be out.  The children were not mentally prepared for such sacrifice.  But guess what?

For six days, we all survived just fine.  No cell phones.  No internet.

No one went into detox.  Medications were never dispersed for tremors.  None of the children were found balled up in the fetal position.  The night sweats never came.

It probably went unnoticed, but we spent more time together in the giant living room.  We held long conversations with each other.  Many family members had books open and read for hours.  We were active outside all day.  We stayed at the large dining table long after the meals were completed.  Stories were told.  Laughter echoed throughout the house.

For six days, mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, aunts and uncles, cousins, and grandparents spent the holidays old school style – acting like a real family!

And no one complained.  Not once did I hear or see a teenager throwing a fit out of frustration.  There were no freak outs.  We simply just shared our time together.

No one got pepper-sprayed fighting over a Black Friday discount item.  No one was assaulted or shot in a Walmart parking lot.  The social media IV that is permanently hooked into our vein was unplugged.  And for six glorious days we didn’t care, or need to know

About the worse thing to come of it all were the 187 emails in my inbox.  I am behind in my writing, and have 51 blogs to read while I was away.

Such small sacrifices to make.

What about you?  Can you make it six days without a cell phone or internet?  Would we need to call an intervention?  Would you need to pack a straight jacket just in case the withdrawals got too far out of hand?

Reasons to Read – Your Childhood Favorite

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Bears on Hemlock Mountain, Blog, Children, childrens literature, Courage of Sarah Noble, Jon Scieszka, Julie Hedlund, Lost in a Drunken Banquet of Static, Tim L O'Brien

Time to play the Book that Made a Difference game.

Last Monday’s blog discussed the importance of parents reading to their children.  The blog was a reminder to us all – whether we are a mom, dad, aunt, uncle, brother, sister or grandparent – that it is our job collectively, and not the school systems, to get children to read.  I mentioned best-selling author James Paterson’s superb site: www.readkiddoread.com

Since last Monday’s blog, children’s book author, Julie Hedlund, brought another fantastic web site to my attention.  I mentioned the difficulties of trying to get my son interested in books, and she recommended Jon Scieszka’s site:  www.guysread.com.  The web site is a wonderful resource to use and is full of book titles, broken into many categories, such as Classics that Actually Hold Up; Mysterious Occurrences; Dragons and of course, Sports.

Through Julie’s fabulous blog site – Write Up My Life – I also discovered two other terrific sites to use:  www.bookdads.com and www.the childrensbookreview.com

While browsing through these websites, I thought back to the books I enjoyed reading as a child.  There is no way to remember everything our parents read to us, but one book in particular, truly stands out in my memory – The Bears on Hemlock Mountain by Alice Dalgliesch.  Two of her works of historical fiction, The Courage of Sarah Noble (1954) and The Bears on Hemlock Mountain (1952) won Newberry honors.  I have since bought the book several more times and have read it to my children.  Despite its 1952 publishing date, the story still holds up well, and all my children have thoroughly enjoyed the tale.

Is there  a book from your childhood that you can pinpoint as pivotal to opening the gates of reading joy?  Have you passed that book on to your children, as well?  Was there a particular book that your children read that opened the flood gates and brought your child into the world of words?

Happy Thanksgiving!!

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blogging, Blogs, Happy Thanksgiving, Tim L O'Brien, Tim O'Brien

Ladies, Good Luck Finding the TV Remote This Weekend

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blogging, Blogs, College Football, Dallas Cowboys, Good Luck Finding the TV Remote this Weekend, Green Bay Packers, Ladies, Thanksgiving Football TV Schedule, Tim L O'Brien

Thanksgiving is more than turkey and dressing.

The holiday is much, much more than a day of giving thanks.

While family gatherings are fun (for a limited time), full stomachs even better, nothing can top a four-day weekend like non-stop football.  The only thing possibly better would be a large flat screen TV with surround sound next to the dinning room table, to keep the chatty mother-in-law tuned out.

Four straight days of college and professional football.  From sun up to well past sun down!  All across the country, men will take control of, and, if necessary, hide the remote.  Hey, enough of the parades, give us the channel switcher.

So here is your ultimate viewing guide for all football lovers.

(All times listed are ET)

Thursday, November 24

#25 Texas @ Texas A&M  This day is usually set aside for traditional college rivalries and three professional games.  I spent many afternoons watching Oklahoma and Nebraska battle it out, but they no longer play each other, which is a shame and travesty for college football traditions.  Instead, for one last year, the featured college game of the day will be the Texas Longhorns traveling to College Station, Texas to take on heated, and hated, rival the Texas A&M Aggies.  Game starts at 7 pm. on ESPN.  This should be a heck of a game to watch.  The Aggies are leaving the conference they have shared for so long with the Longhorns.  The state’s two largest schools will no longer play after this season.  Shame on both schools for acting like two grade school children fighting in the sandbox.  Expect a great deal of hostilities on the field.  Skip the leftovers during this game, anything may happen.

Green Bay Packers @ Detroit Lions  12:30  Fox   The first of three NFL games on Thursday.  For years, we have had to watch the pathetic Lions play on turkey day.  Now, they finally have a talented team, a team many would label as dirty, as they host the defending Super Bowl champs.  Key match up: Lions DT Ndamukong Suh vs. Packer QB Aaron Rogers.

Miami Dolphins @ Dallas Cowboys  4:15  CBS  Since 1966 the Cowboys have played on Thanksgiving day every year but two.  This year finds the Cowboys on a surge, in part thanks to rookie running back DeMarco Murray’s breakout performances.  America’s Team should continue their late season push against a Miami team that lost its first seven games.  NAP ALERT: This game should be a yawner by halftime and may be a good time to take a break.

San Francisco 49ers @ Baltimore Ravens  8:20  NFL Network  Of the three NFL games today, this game gives me the least amount of excitement.  The surprising 49ers lead the NFC West and travel to take on the unpredictable Ravens.  How will 49er quarterback Alex Smith perform against the Ray Lewis led Raven defense.  Fellas, if you have to spend time with the family, or help put the leftovers away, this would be a decent game to show what a congenial family man you are around the house.

Friday. November 25

There are quite a few college games today, but only two televised games featuring ranked teams.

Iowa @ #21 Nebraska  12 noon  ABC   Nebraska is coming off an embarrassing loss to Michigan.  Iowa and the Cornhuskers are currently tied for third in the Legends division of the conference.  If your football viewing hours are in limbo, forcing you to pick and choose games carefully today, skip this one and lobby for the next.

#3 Arkansas at #1 LSU  2:30  CBS  The top-ranked Tigers vaunted defense will finally face a team with an offense.  National title hopes are on the line in this SEC game.  With three Top 5 teams falling this past weekend, Arkansas is in the middle of national championship discussions.  With a stout defense and home field advantage, don’t look for LSU to fall out of the top spot.

Saturday, November 26

Six games featuring ranked teams will be today.

Iowa State @ #9 Oklahoma  12  FX  

#2 Alabama @ #24 Auburn  3:30  CBS

Oregon State @ #10 Oregon  3:30  ABC

#17 Clemson @ #12 South Carolina  7:45  ESPN

Notre Dame @ #6 Stanford  8  ABC

On Sunday, the regular NFL schedule resumes with 12 games followed by the Monday Night Football telecast.

Enjoy the Thanksgiving holidays.  May your refrigerator and cupboards be stocked full, may there be plenty of turkey for left over sandwiches, may you have plenty of cool whip for the pies, and may you enjoy your time spent with family but, please don’t come looking for the remote.

Reasons To Read: Advice From a Best Selling Author

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Al Roker, Alex Cross, blogging, Blogs, Children's Books, James Patterson, Lost in a Drunken Banquet of Static, Reasons to Read, Tim L O'Brien, Tim O'Brien, Today Show, www.readkiddoread.com

“It’s our job to find books for our kids to read.  It’s not the school’s.” – Best Selling Author James Patterson

Welcome to the third installment of Reasons to Read.  In the first two weeks, we discussed Getting in Touch With Your Inner Casting Director and Reasons to Read – Time Travel, Bad Tv & Sex Tapes.

I love to read.  My parents taught me at an early age the joys of reading.  My two oldest children love to read, and it is just as important for me to show my two youngest children the joys of opening a terrific book and letting the writer take you on a journey, and into a world, that before now, you were unable to enter.

Unfortunately, many, many parents don’t spend that quality time with their children.

This past Wednesday I happened to walk past the television while the Today Show was on.  Al Roker was interviewing best-selling author James Patterson when the topic changed from promoting his latest Alex Cross novel to a cause Patterson has championed – getting children to read.

“We know we are supposed to teach the child how to ride a bike, or how to throw a baseball, but we don’t think, we have to go out and find books for them.”

Wow!  Right there on national television a mega-selling author stated it best.

Why do we as parents think it is the public schools system to teach our children?  Why is the most significant responsibility of parenting – the teaching of our children – delegated to someone else?  I don’t know about you, but I don’t want my children’s future determined by how well they are taught by someone else.  Nothing against teachers – my Mom was one.

We spend time teaching our kids to ride bikes, roller-skate, throw baseball’s and footballs, yet it escapes our thinking that perhaps we should spend just as much time at the library or bookstore picking out notable books for them to read.  We spend time picking out video games for our children.  For the cost of one video came we could buy four or five books instead.

My youngest daughter loves to read.  My son, well, not so much.  I have struggled to come up books that he might find appealing.  Books, other than Diary of a Wimpy Kid, are hard to find, and hold his interest.

Watching the interview with Patterson led me to a startling revelation.  Seems that while not writing the next best-seller, Patterson has started a website specifically designed to solve this problem.

I quickly went to the web site:  http://www.readkiddoread.com

On the home page, it states, “Something told you the only way to get kids to read was to give them great books, cool books, books they would absolutely, positively love.  I believe we have gathered the crème de la crème of such reading right here.  These are very special books that kids will gobble up and ask for more.  If your kids get a few of these books under their belts they’ll be well on their way to becoming readers for life.  I promise you.”

Reading lists are broken up into four categories:

0-8  Great Illustrated Books          6 & Up  Great Transitional Books          8 & Up  Great Pageturners          10 & Up  Great Advanced Reads

Within each category are four subcategories broken down into genres and more defined age groups with each category containing at least twenty-five books titles.

I spent quite a bit of time at the web site, scanning over book tiles and descriptions.  You could get lost in time.  My prayers were answered.  I have an entire arsenal of books to expose to my children.  I even see numerous options that might, just might, turn my son into a reader.

If you are a parent, aunt, uncle, grandparent, or mentor to a child, check out the web site.  Let others in your circle of friends know about it.

After all, it is our job, and not the schools system, to teach our children well.

The Last Dance…High Anxiety

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blogging, High School Dance, Last Dance, Led Zeppelin, Lost in a Drunken Banquet of Static, Slow Dance, Stairway to Heaven, Tim L O'Brien, Tim O'Brien

We huddled together like a group of over-anxious teenage boys, which is exactly what we were, and waited for that one song.

We knew it would be the last song of the night.  All night long we each kept close track of her – the one girl who made our hearts race.

If we each played our cards right, and paid careful attention to the opening strums of the song we could swoop in and get the dance.

We hadn’t danced to one song all night.  A silent protest against the ballroom dance lessons.  We waited till the very end for our big moment.  With our heads down, staring a hole in the dance floor, we stayed near.  We each had a crush on a different girl. We wished each other luck.

The dance rocked into the late night, our time was soon, we were all strategically spread out, getting as close to our intended dance mate without seeming to obvious to our intent.

The acoustic guitar introduction began.  Like a hawk circling the skies above, we all soared in, and soon were on the dance floor, holding our dance partners tight to the slow rhythms of the song.

“There’s a lady who’s sure all that glitters is gold

And she’s buying a stairway to heaven.

When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed

With a word she can get what she came for.

Ooh, Ooh, and she’s buying the stairway to heaven.”

The song lasted eight minutes, long for a song, but not long enough for us.  We were all in our own “heaven” as we slowly stepped, moving in a tight little circle, arms wrapped around each other.

A quick glance around the dance floor to make sure we had all reached our mark.

We held tight never wanting to let go.  Until…

Until that part in the song when our “slow dance” song turns into a high tempo hard rock song.  We had to think quickly.  One of three things was going to happen:

1.  If you were one of the lucky ones you remained slow dancing despite the increased tempo of the song.  This was the preferred choice, and it meant your dancer partner wanted to remain close to you, as well.

2.  Like everyone else, you broke apart and began to “fast dance” to the song.  This was not preferred, fast dancing scared the crap out of us, and no one wanted to look like a fool, but at least you were still dancing with your dream girl, which in itself might mean something.

3.  The unthinkable happens.  The confusion concerning the proper way to dance to the tempo change sends your partner walking off the dance floor with you following behind like a scolded little puppy.  Half the dance floor would always clear out after the tempo up-tick, meaning half of us hawks had transformed into sparrows, or some other sort of chi-chi bird.

It’s hard to believe that 40 years ago this month Led Zeppelin released its fourth album.  The album had no title on the cover and was always referred to as IV.

The song Stairway to Heaven went on to become the most played song on FM radio in the ’70’s.

Total sales for the album have reached 32 million, 23 million in the US alone, making it the third best-selling album (behind Michael Jackson’s Thriller and the Eagles Greatest Hits) of all time.

And for 32 million teenagers Stairway to Heaven was the most anticipated song of the dance.

Can you remember your high school dances?  Was there that one song that sent you searching the crowd for a dance partner?  Did the song Stairway to Heaven give you fits on the dance floor, or was there another song that made you look clueless on the dance floor ?  Or were you the Staying Alive era John Travolta of your class?

Red Wagons & BB Guns – Favorite Birthday Presents

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Best Childhood Birthday Gifts, blogging, Blogs, Cassette Tape Recorder, Led Zeppelin, Lost in a Drunken Banquet of Static, Tim L O'Brien, Whole Lotta Love

Was it a little red wagon or maybe a brand new bicycle?  Perhaps it was an Easy Bake Oven or a b-b gun.

Can you remember that one birthday present, the end all of all end all presents?  It was the one gift that was the crowning moment of the entire year.

Christmas no longer mattered.  You had it.  You clutched it in your arms vowing never to let go.  The gift you had begged and pleaded for, the gift that caught your eye every time you walked past it, and spotted it in the display window.  The gift that made your insides hurt you wanted it so bad.

The first bicycle is always a memorable moment.  For my brothers and sister, bicycle’s only arrived under a Christmas tree.  Too lofty a gift for a parent to waste on a birthday.

Maybe it was a black light poster or a groovy lava lamp.  Maybe it was a stereo, or a new television for your room.  If you were hanging with the Trump’s maybe it was a shiny new car.

I doubt it was a cassette tape recorder.

Stop laughing.

That magical tape recorder could do things, and took me places like no other gift.  I think I was eleven-years-old.  I remember that big silver and black recorder was the neatest thing ever created.

I lifted the plastic lid and inserted the cassette tape and raced over to the old Zenith radio I had in my room.  I placed the recorder in front of the speaker and turned the radio on.  I spun the radio dial and found a rock-n-roll station – KLOL in Houston – and waited for the next song.  I had the play and record buttons pushed along with the pause button.  All I had to do was wait for the next song.

My finger tapped the pause button in anticipation.  The d-jay came out of the commercial break, said a few words, and wham.  The big moment!  I released the pause button and watched the two little wheels begin to spin as the tape circled and recorded the song.  I had never heard this song before.  My joy quickly turned to confusion.  What is this music?  It was scary.  It was violent.  It was…really good.

I played that song over and over. Rewind. Play. Rewind. Play.

The more I listened to it a new world began to unfold.  It was dark and seductive.  The pounding beats and guitar were spooky, but my feet seemed to like it as they tapped the ground trying to keep rhythm.  Somewhere in the song the lead singer’s voice would echo before he actually sang the next line.  Creepy stuff.  The magical powers of this music placed me in a trance.  I was mesmerized.  I watched the little wheels continue to spin out this mysterious music.

It was the greatest birthday gift ever.  I ended up filling both sides of that cassette tape with songs from the radio.  Me and that tape recorder had many enjoyable times together.  I can still hear Curt Gowdy’s play-by-play call when Johnny Bench homered in the 1973 All-Star game.  I stayed up late on a Saturday night in September to record the University of Oklahoma vs. USC game in California.  It was a night game.  The difference in time zones presented problems.  I hit record and fell asleep.  Of course, I only got one side of the tape recorded.

On a side note, my prized possession rode in the car with me one Sunday morning on our way to church.  Sometime between the kneeling, the standing, and the sitting, some jackass broke into my father’s white Chevy Impala company car and stole my little cassette recorder.  At church of all places!

Can you remember that one memorable gift from your childhood that stands out against all others?  The one gift that brought so much joy you will always treasure that particular birthday?  I would love to hear what it was…

Oh, the song that I recorded that day was “Whole Lotta Love” by Led Zeppelin, and every time I hear it played on the radio it takes me back to that birthday.

Solving the World’s Problems – One Campfire at a Time

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blogging, Blogs, Lost in a Drunken Banquet of Static, Rio Grande, South Texas, Tim L O'Brien, Tim O'Brien, turning 50

Funny how life can be summarized around a campfire.

We had all gathered for a long and relaxing weekend.  Each of us had traveled far to reach our point of destination; from different directions we all arrived taking a different path, brought together to celebrate a birthday.  A member of the group had reached the half-century mark.

We stood around the campfire ring, huddled close to its warmth as the cold, nighttime air surrounded us.  We were an odd collection of individuals.  Two of us had been married several times.  One was married and currently divorced.  Two members of the group had yet to marry.  Sadly, only one of us had found success in marriage, and they just celebrated their 25th anniversary.

Standing around the campfire that night was a longhaired defense attorney, a Lieutenant in the Constables office and an 18-year veteran of serving and protecting the citizens of Houston, Texas.  There was an environment demolition specialist, a Project Manager for large companies, a sports photographer, a nursing home administrator and an observer of life, me, the writer.  For our chosen professions, we had absolutely nothing in common.  Yet, our time together has exceeded three decades.  Two of us went back to grade school.

The moon was full on the first night of our gathering, as we stood mesmerized by the orange dancing flames.  The tales told on that first of three nights were just as full.  The cold beers and whiskey flowed effortlessly that night.  The later the hour – the taller the tales.

The comedian in the group – the defense attorney – sent the woman scrambling into the house following a rather descriptive and crude joke that had the rest of us shedding tears as we laughed.  It wasn’t long before our comedian began to boast of the vasectomy of all vasectomy stories.

For three nights and four days this continued.

We gave updates on our lives, about our kids and the what-was-happening-now in our work careers.  We shared joyous tales of personal triumphs along with a few about the tragedies that life can throw you.

We shared more than a few jokes, told plenty of tall tales about the shenanigans of our youth.  It was hard to believe we ever got away with those things, and somehow, we were never caught.  We sure weren’t smart enough back then to get away with it.  We were lucky, I guess.

We had gathered on a ranch in South Texas.  There was a lot of history on the place.  When the ranch owner was a young boy, he came to the United States by ocean liner following World War II.  He fell in love with South Texas and dreamed of becoming a cowboy and owning a ranch.  Through his hard work and high-risk profession, he achieved his goal, and it was there we had come together.

On the second evening of the trip, we all stood on a wooden deck built on a bluff overlooking the Rio Grande River and Mexico.  It was known as the “Happy Hour” deck.  With cold beers and drinks in our hands, we watched a beautiful sunset.  We all had much to be thankful for, but silently we gave thanks for standing on this side of the river.

With more than a few grey hairs and wrinkles across our faces, we shared our time together.

At dinner, we all sat at the large table, treated to food fit for kings.  The conversations continued and soon we were back outside by the fire ring another mesquite smoke-filled night awaiting us.

And so on into the night we went.

The hour drew late as the remainder of our time together drew short.  More logs were added to the fire as the tales continued.  The ice chests grew empty, the trash cans grew full.  There, we all stood, listening to each other swap stories about life.  We were surrounded by 17,000 acres.  A ranch that came together by a man’s childhood dream.  For as Father Time reminds us that life is worth living, dreams can come true, and you are never too old to stop dreaming.

And on that last night we all stumbled away from the campfire trying to find our way for a place to lay down.

Life can be so easily explained sometimes.

Old Age & Treachery – Turning 50

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blogging, Blogs, growing old, Kris Kristofferson, the Big 50, Tim L O'Brien, Tim O'Brien, turning 50, writer

I’ve spent quite a bit of time lately thinking about age.  About getting older.  Dealing with my own mortality.  Not a particularly sunny topic to think about.  Four days from now I will take my turn at blowing out the 50 candles.  I honestly don’t know what to think or how to feel about that.

Life as you have lived it is more than likely half over.  That’s a weird thing to wrap your mind around.  My time here is half over.  More than half really.  Maybe I have 20 more years, hopefully 30.  I can still see myself playing baseball in the street with my childhood buddies.  Hell, that was over 35 years ago, yet feels like yesterday.  Thirty-five years from now?  I hope it doesn’t go by as fast as the last thirty-five.

If the glass is half empty, then life is half over.  If the glass is half full, then well, just be happy to still be here.  I used to look in the mirror and cuss every new grey hair on my head.  Now, I’m thankful that I still have grey hairs growing and I still have all my hair.

So many thing race through your mind as you get older.  Conflicting thoughts.  Some happy, some sad.  We spend our entire life racing to get to the top of the mountain.  If you are lucky enough to get there you stop and look back at the paths that you took, the choices you made, the lasting impressions you’ve left behind.

I have yet to reach the mountaintop.  Don’t know if I honestly care that much about it anymore. But, as I look back at the past fifty years, I truly don’t like what I see.  The paths I have chosen aren’t filled with glorious triumphs and thrilling achievements.  I haven’t accumulated immense wealth, nor have I made the cover of Rolling Stone.  I look back and see a path of destruction left behind in my wake. I’ve made more than a few messes.  Made some poor choices.  Some not so proud moments flicker on the screen.

Does your past define who you are as a person today?  For the sake of sanity, I sure as hell hope not.

“Why do I do the things that I do?

Was I born this way or am I a self-made fool?

I shoot the lights and curse the dark.

I need your love but I break your heart….

I had to work to become the jerk I’ve come to be.

It ain’t easy being me.” 

—  Songwriter Chris Knight

My past hasn’t been entirely bad.  I am the father to four terrific children, which I hope, will become the lasting memory of what I accomplished.  My oldest daughter is in her first year of law school. Another daughter married this past summer to an upstanding young man.  He is a United States Marine, and they are currently living in California.  He will deploy for the second time this December.  I pray for the two of them every night.

I have a son who just turned ten years old and another daughter who will turn nine in a few more weeks.  My son’s first day of Kindergarten was also my oldest daughter’s first day of college.  Quite a gap in there.  The joys of fatherhood and being a proud parent are the most rewarding things life has to offer.  But the joy just as quickly turns to guilt.  I was an older dad when my last two children were born.  My father is still living.  So is my mother. And man, there is not a day that goes by that I don’t feel blessed to still have them.  Yet, I have cheated my two youngest children of ever feeling that same joy.  When they turn fifty…well…I probably won’t see it.  I have to cram as many memories of life with me into their little minds as possible.  Time is not on our side.

The joys conflicting with the guilt.

I still have much I want to accomplish, and much to teach my children.  I just don’t have as much time to get it all done.  Life was a marathon.  Now it’s a race – a sprint.  The hourglass is tipped over.  I have so much to do, and so little time.   There is not a day to waste.

As the next four days inch closer and closer I have concluded many things.  Despite the grey hairs, I refuse to give in to Father Time.  Just because, I need reading glasses and my hearing sucks, doesn’t mean I have to act like an old man.  I will remain young at heart.  I will still do the silly dance with my children in public and not give a damn what others may think.  I will still make up my own words to songs and sing in the shower.  I will play catch with a football or baseball for as long as my son wants to.  I will download new music onto my computer but still prefer the sound of a record playing on my early 1950’s record player.  I will never believe in political correctness.  I will always believe that “old school” is still way cool.  Faded Levi’s and a t-shirt are better than a coat and tie.  I will always prefer to sit around a campfire with close friends drinking cold beers than sitting around a conference table in a boardroom with a bunch of robots wearing suits.  I will always play my music loud and if you don’t like it then buy me hearing aides.

“He’s a walking contradiction

Partly truth, partly fiction

Taking every wrong direction

On his lonely walk back home”

—  Kris Kristofferson

My perspective on life may have changed with age, but that doesn’t mean my attitude has to.  I’m old enough to know better, but I’m still young enough to do it again.  Or in the immortal words of Billy Joe Shaver, “The devil made me do it the fist time, the second time I done it on my own.”

Reasons to Read – Time Travel, Bad TV & Sex Tapes

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America's Next Top Model, American Idol, Bad TV, Bad TV & Sex Tapes, Berlin, blogging, Blogs, Bonanza, Cold War, Come Monday, Cormac McCarthy, CSI, D.D. Warren, Dancing with the Stars, Gorky Park, Harry Potter, Jack Kerouac, James Rollins, Jersey Shore, John Le Carre, Kim Kardashian, Larry McMurtry, Lisa Gardner, Lonesome Dove, Lost in a Drunken Banquet of Static, Love You More, Martin Cruz Smith, Moscow, On the Road, Reasons to Read, Reasons to Read - Time Travel, SE HInton, Shakespeare, Soviet Union, Survivor, Suzanne Collins, Texas Rangers, The Biggest Loser, The Devil Colony, The Great Gatsby, The Hunger Games, The Outsiders, The Road, The Things They Carried, TheSpy Who Came in From the Cold, Tim L O'Brien, Tim O'Brien, Twilight series, writer, X Factor

Have I ever told you my tale of riding with two former Texas Rangers in the late 19th century?  I rode along with them on a cattle drive from Texas to Montana.

Have I told you about the time I was a British Agent in Cold War Berlin?  Or traveled to Moscow before the collapse of the Soviet Union and found three corpses frozen in the snow, faces and fingers missing?  If I failed to mention these exploits, I probably failed to mention that I served in Vietnam and walked with a father and son in the post-apocalyptic future.

I don’t have any sort of super powers over the universe.  I have no extraordinary abilities, but yet, I am able to travel in time and go places that others can only dream of.  The cost of my adventures?  Next to nothing!  I have traveled the world over ten times for what most of us pay for cable television each month.

Before you say I am full of more sh*t than a Christmas turkey, or place the call to have me committed, remember we all have the ability to visit far away places of intrigue, adventure and romance.

Sadly, most of us never will.

In last weeks post “Reasons to Read – Getting in Touch With Your Inner Casting Director I mentioned that one-third of high school graduates never read another book, and 42% of college graduates will never read another book after college. The numbers are shocking!

Of course, I have never been on a cattle drive with two Texas Rangers.  But, I have read Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove.  I have never been to Berlin or Moscow, but I have read The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John Le Carre and Martin Cruz Smith’s Gorky Park.  I never served in the military, but traveled with Tim O’Brien as I read his outstanding book The Things They Carried.  I can’t predict the next hour, much less travel into the future, but Cormac McCarthy’s The Road took me there.                             

So why don’t more people read?

Was it the classics we were forced to read in high school, that at the time, seemed like the driest, dullest stories in the world?  If our teachers hadn’t forced Shakespeare or The Great Gatsby upon us, but instead choose Jack Kerouac’s On the Road or even SE Hinton’s The Outsiders, would more people read today?  Maybe with the popularity of the Harry Potter novels and the Twilight series the reading numbers will improve.  It is hard to deny the book marketing directed towards today’s youth.  I don’t recall my generation or generations thereafter being targeted with anything as popular and mass appealing as we are seeing today.

People don’t read because they would rather be entertained by the television.  They would rather sit back on the couch and watch Dancing with the Stars.  This is a show where I haven’t even heard of the so-called stars.  Watch dancing?  Are you serious?  I was forced to take ballroom dancing in 8th grade with “Mr. Al.”  Hated it then and don’t watch it now.

Do I really need to know or care about which rather large person can lose the most weight on The Biggest Loser?  Am I supposed to be entertained by a network show that concludes with obese people standing on a weight scale?

I don’t get the X Factor, Survivor, American Idol or America’s Next Top Model.  Don’t even get me started with Jersey Shore.  Someone please, give me one, just one, valid reason to watch such numbingly bad television.  I don’t even understand the popularity of CSI, the show that is as fake as the backdrops were on Bonanza.

What about the greatest sham pulled on the American public this year?  How many millions and millions of misguided fools watched and continue to follow the Kim Kardashian marriage saga?  Why am I supposed to be enthralled about the life of a wanna-be celebrity?  A woman made famous by a sex tape, gets married and 72 days later wants a divorce.  What a joke, and the punch line is on the ever-caring public as she laughs all the way to the bank.

Turn it off.  Tune it out.

Instead, take a trip to the not to distant future with Suzanne Collins in The Hunger Games or help D.D. Warren solve the case in Lisa Gardner’s Love You More.  

I’m not taking calls right now I’m on another journey, this time with James Rollins in The Devil Colony.

Come Monday:  Here at Lost in a Drunken Banquet of Static we celebrate the survival of another weekend!  And if it’s Monday, it’s time to start reading a new book.  On this day, we will go to the bookstore, the digital library and even dust off a few books on the bookshelf.  We will not only explore reasons to read, but also discuss other topics including book v. the movie.  Together we will also revisit some classics and look at how they are holding up with time, discuss our favorites, etc.

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