Truth In Advertising

As we wind down another action-packed work week, take a few moments to reflect.  Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out...  Ah, don't you feel better now?  I know that I do (breathing ALWAYS makes me feel better than NOT breathing). 


Looking at the calendar I notice that I have been actively posting on this blog for almost three months.  Sometimes it seems like more, but most times it seems like I just started a couple of weeks ago. 


During this period only one thing has remained consistent:  I have NO idea how many folks (other than the regulars who I can shout out by name) who are stopping by to read my scribbles on a regular (or perhaps, 'semi-regular') basis. 


Do my readers suffer from 'irregularity'?  No!  'Moos' blog readers clean their colons (refer back to Monday's post)!  Well, I know that Middle Relief in Rochester does.  He has to -- he writes a lot of 'political' stuff.  And if that doesn't keep things 'moving' down there, well, nothing else will. 


So another week wraps up and I'm here at my desk looking at an ad for a T-shirt that pretty much sums up how I feel at the end of most days. 

You'll know it when you see it...



This shirt, along with many other really cool (and admittedly sometimes 'negative' in a 'funny kind of way') T-shirts and other 'De-Motivators' are available from a website called "Despair.com".  I've had them listed under the 'Blog Roll' on the blog home page since its inception (but yeah, I don't know if anyone's ever seen THAT either...).


Sigh.


Remember the 'Successories' stores and catalogs that flourished with corporate America through the Roaring 90's?  Well, Despair.com is the Y2k+ answer to the unbridled (and mostly un-founded) zealousness which was rampant during Nasdaq run-ups, Dow jumps, and the DotCom boom.  Well, guess what, look around you... 


Do you see many (any) Successories stores in your neighborhood today?  I wonder why that is?  Hmm, could it be the constant NEGATIVE news on TV, Radio, Online, and in Print?  Has the 'Pursuit of Happiness' in the Declaration of Independence been replaced with the phrase, 'Pursuit of Survival'?  Folks, we've all got to lighten up a bit (okay, even me).  


I wanted to post these scribblings because I hoped to give folks something other than 'Bad News' to read.  And, if the news IS bad, I try to put a lighter spin on it.  Kind of the like the guy who went to the Doctor and was told, "Sid, I have some news for you.  We've gotten your lab work back."


Sid asks, "Yeah, so what's the news?"


Doctor says, "Well, according to this blood work you have six months to live."


Sid sits back, looks down at his hands and speaks quietly, "Six months, well, there's a lot I can do in six months - I'll need make the most of the time I have."


The doctor sits next to him looking at the clipboard with the test results, "Sid, that's the thing, these are the test results from the blood work in November.  There was a mix-up at the lab.  You should have been dead two weeks ago."


"Oh."


Bad news CAN be funny, and who knows, by learning stuff in advance of its happening, perhaps you, me, (US), can change the outcome if we know about it early enough.  Stuff in the news today will mess up your day if you watch it constantly.  Be aware of what's going on locally, regionally, and nationally, otherwise this fragile Republic may 'perish from this Earth'. 

Four words come to mind:  "Not on my watch."  


Okay, so I'm not changing the World here, but I'm not going out of my way to mess up anyone's day either.  I want everyone reading this to realize that they have a pulse - and while that pulse remains?  Get involved. 


Seek truth, justice, the American way (sorry, had to do it) because, "All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing." -- Edmund Burke


That's it, nothing more to see here, let's moo-ve on.   


So, tongue firmly in cheek, let's take a glance at the future of motivation.  The folks at Despair.com call it "De-Motivation" (Hey, I'm not making this up, they have a very complete line of 'De-Motivators'). 


Here are a just a couple from the T-Shirt line:



I've known some very consistent people in my day and THEY know who they are...





This one above, the 'Wishes' T-Shirt, I vote for as the official T-Shirt of most news outlets across the nation.  I believe that this is the message that most media broadcasts that I've seen, heard, or read over the past 18 months has been broadcasting.  And folks, I don't know about you, but I'm getting a little bleary-eyed from it.  It's wearing me thin.


So, truth in advertising time:
I will always be truthful to you and to myself.  If I get something wrong, well, I get it wrong - 'Sorry' in advance.  I (having been reminded by one during an exchange with a guy in FaceBook) am NOT a scholar - he apparently WAS a scholar (good for him!).  I do not write thesis-like documents for people in darkened lecture halls with PowerPoint presentations and cool whiz-bang projection equipment.  I write because I enjoy it, and I'm hoping that someone else will too. 


I'm a guy with a family, a job, a blog, and a deepening respect for our country.  Yeah, this pretty much covers it. 


I work with a lady who reads my posts from time to time.  I was walking past her after I posted a critical post about on-going spending increases by the Federal Government - she looked at me and said, "Oh, you're a Republican?"


"Well, actually more of a Conservative than a Republican - but I'm never going to be a Democrat." I said.


"Oh."  And then she was gone. 


Some will get it, some won't, so what? 


On to the next...



Between now and the next time we sit down again, I'll be here.  I'll keep the MoosRoom nice and warm for you whenever you want to come back to visit.  All I ask is that every now and then when you visit that you say 'Hi' via a Comment if you actually 'enjoyed' reading it.   PLUS, it's the only way that I'll know that you were here other than that counter-thingie over on the right side of the page. 


Oh yeah, and while I'm getting all 'deep'; call your parents and thank them for being there for you for all those years.  And if your folks aren't around, call your kids and thank them for being there (wherever they are - whether across the hall, or across the country).  


No kids?  Help a neighbor carry their trash to the street, or invite them over for a Barbeque this weekend.  It's easy and it'll make a difference. 


A small positive difference every day?  It makes all the difference in the World. 


Have a great weekend!