Billy Joel Had It Pegged Down

We are halfway done with the 1^st year of our new president and man has it been rough. Nothing he is doing seems to be on par with what needs to be done. Prices are up, moral is down, and the country in total just seems to be a more miserable place. People I know say that it is the worst it has ever been. Then like a beacon of reasoning, I heard the Billy Joel song, “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” and it got me thinking. If you really listen to the lyrics of that song, it has been really bad before now. The entire song is a grocery list of all the things over the years that were just not what the world needed. However, with a list that large, if we added to it, I don’t think it really would make a blip on the radar. In fact, I would say that among all the other “fires” he mentions in the song, the current run of the world would be a very small part of what is, and was, wrong. Not that I am saying we need to continue on the path we are on, but I am saying that our parents and their parents survived Billy’s song and lived to sing along to what are, for them, memories. It gives me hope that maybe one day the song will be covered by another artist who adds their own lyrics and this generation can reminisce as we sing along. But that is just one man’s opinion. Thanks for listening to me ramble. I appreciate it. See you next time.

Birthdays Don't Hit the Same

It is that time of year again. I grow another year older and everyone makes it seem like a big deal. Almost like one year makes me somehow completely debilitated and incapacitated to do anything for the next year. It wasn’t always like that though. In my youth, birthdays were a time to invite friends and family to celebrate you in a special way. You got to hang out with your cousins that you only saw at Christmas. Balloons, party hats, and cake, but as you get older, it becomes more a razz on how old you are getting. The cake gives you heartburn, the balloons are crazy expensive, and the party hats don’t fit your dome. It is better to almost ignore your birthday and just try to relax most of the day. Although if you work, usually your friends at the office must make a big deal of it so that doesn’t work on those birthdays. Don’t get me wrong, I am by no means complaining. I still enjoy being above ground and look forward to the next year and what it will bring, but I imagine by another 30 or so years, birthdays will have been a dime a dozen, and I will care even less that I am aging like soured milk instead of fine wine. But that is just one man’s opinion. Thanks for listening to me ramble. I appreciate it. See you next time.

The Butterfly Isn't Effecting

We seem to be losing celebrities at a fast pace these days. For one reason or another, the people we know and love on the big screen are leaving us for a different plane. The tragedy is then further exacerbated when we find out that they were secretly battling cancer, ALS, or some other sickness or disease that they did not want everyone to know about. However, the light comes when we find out that a large portion of their estate gets donated to a cause they believed in, usually a cure for what ailed them. Then, usually within a few years, the organization behind a cure for the ailment makes progress. So, the question begins to develop in my head, if celebrities did not die, would we make as quick as progress on curing sickness as we have? In other words, is there a Butterfly Effect between people with a chunk of money and fixing human problems? I know this is probably an oversimplification, but it stands to reason: a celebrity gets sick and then cures for their sickness gets pushed. Alex Trebek passed a few years ago from pancreatic cancer. Patrick Swayze was before him. Donations for research for the particular form of cancer have poured in, and, recently, they have made progress on cures for the disease. It does not just affect dying celebrities though. Look at all the work Michael J. Fox has done for Parkinson’s Disease. I don’t think the research on that disease would have progressed near as far with Mr. Fox’s contributions. Moreover, I think if celebrities, with all their reach, did not put it out there that you can, in fact, donate to help with the research, that any progress would be made. Least of all, with the word of how dangerous these ailments are, we understand that cures need to be found. I am not saying that all celebrities need to take a platform on one disease or another, but if losing our beloved Tinseltown residents leads to cures for most cancers and things like diabetes, then at least the universe is trying to balance a scale. Maybe if we all worked a little harder at pushing the cure agenda, maybe we would not lose our loved ones even if they do play on the big screen. But that is just one man’s opinion. Thanks for listening to me ramble. I appreciate it. See you next time.