MUSINGS

Gotta keep a wound clean in order for it to heal.... Let me paint a picture: A young woman meets a young man.  They hit it off, he's funny, she's a little weird but they seem to work.  She doesn't mind hanging out with him but it's not exactly what she was looking for.  She follows her heart anyway and falls for the line "every girl wants a guy like me but never me."  Then the red flags start.  Accusations thrown at him by old friends, nothing formal is ever addressed...it's just a messy fight between what used to be friends.  He swears his innocence and she believes him.   Later on as they became serious and began discussing living arrangements, she is informed of a white collar-esque minor crime for which the interesting young man was found guilty.  His probation would be in effect for a long while affecting her should they move in together.  Yet another red flag ignored.  They move in together and soon marry, his burdens become he...

So, yeah, I've had enough. There's this little video clip that's gone all viral on the interwebs.  It's a portion of a speech made by our illustrious leader a few days ago.  In this clip he dares to mention atrocities that were committed hundreds of years ago...*gasp* by Christians.  The statement he made has caused a huge stir, inciting remarks about history itself and why he'd bring up such a thing.  (DISCLAIMER:  I am not a fan of, nor do I support our current governmental regime in any of it's capacity!!)   Now.  The comments that have been filtering around social media have all been to the extent of "why is he bringing up something so old", or "the Christians didn't persecute the Muslims, they defended themselves".  (these are not exact quotes, if you want to read them, head over to Walton & Johnson on Facebook) Reiterating my disclaimer one more time, so there is no misunderstanding:   I didn't vote for this cat......

There have been a lot of articles flying around me this last week or so.  Ferguson, abortion, the cops, the media, fraudulent companies...things varying in nature and weight.  There seemed to be a theme among most of what I read.  I tend to read the comments below the articles simply because I find more useful information there than the article itself.  The conclusion I came to has been quite interesting to me. I've always tried to maintain a mental air of neutrality.  Yes, I have opinions and occasionally I'll lean more toward one side than another, but I try hard to see both for what it is.  The thing that resonates with me on heavy topics is that people find a side and vehemently defend it, regardless of common sense, evidence, or empathy.  I don't have that ability.  Well, at least not without a certain amount of listening, reading, observing, and thinking.  I can't take anything on face value, I never could.  Not that I don't ...

Attrition by Merriam-Webster : Full Definition of ATTRITION 1 [Middle English  attricioun,  from Medieval Latin  attrition-, attritio,  from Latin]  :  sorrow for one's sins that arises from a motive  other than that of the love of God 2 :  the act of rubbing together :   friction ;  also  :  the act of wearing or grinding down by friction 3 :  the act of weakening or  exhausting  by constant harassment, abuse, or attack  <a war of  attrition > 4 :  a reduction in numbers usually as a result of resignation, retirement, or death  <a company with a high rate of attrition > There was a war going on in my life for years.  There was an attempt to wear me down and weaken me.  There were days I couldn't look in the mirror, not because I'd gained too much weight or started to age, but because I hated who looked back at me.  I didn'...

When you think about the South what comes to mind?  Pretty women in fluffy dresses sitting out on big porches drinking mint juleps?  Cotillion parties, Civil War reenactments, Southern gentlemen opening doors for ladies and children.  Or maybe, it's backward hangups on race, breeding, and family ties.  Well, all of that plays a part in our culture in some way or another. Having been raised in a diverse community, I've seen both sides of the Southern coin.  I know families who wouldn't allow their son or daughter to date outside of their class or community standing.  I'm not talking about the classic father moment, "no boy is good enough for my baby girl".  No, I mean, "well honey, his daddy is a 10th degree Mason and his grandaddy owned half the parish, I reckon he can take you out for a coke."  There have been plenty of unions over the decades where a son marries the local white trash daughter and the family is shamed beyond repair.  They ...

When someone comes into your life that has a shady past yet refuses to acknowledge it, it kind of grinds on a body.  Maybe I'm just jaded, or maybe I'm just too old for bullshit.  I'm sure it's a mix of the two.  It's no secret that I have no love for seemingly privileged folk, or those who believe themselves to be more than the truly are.  Mine is a constant effort to be exactly what I am, nothing more, nothing less.  Others are not so inclined.  There are women in this world who have taken steps to entrap men, use them, and then toss them aside.  They get their panties in a twist when their plans get messed up by said man.  Maybe that man wasn't so easy to shake, or maybe he put up a fight for that baby she trapped him with.  Either way, when one is faced with ones daemons, folks need to sit back, take their medicine, and remember:  You're just another speck on the great Earth of ours, no one owes you anything you didn't earn. I was...

People often remark that I don't talk about my time in the Corps.  Most folks know, at least within either the initial introduction or the first few talks that I served.  My Honey brought it up a few times after we'd been together for a while that he knew nothing of my experiences when I was overseas.  He got one or two snipits about Japan here and there and that was about it.  Basically what everyone gets, the "safe" stories.  There are things best left in the past.  That being said, I am here to bare the soul a bit and offer up a story or two, names shall be changed to protect the not-so-innocent and maintain the status quo.  Grab a beer, it might get interesting. Many moons ago there was a young woman who was a new mom, a new wife and incredibly poor.  She drank far too much and spent too much time running behind a certain best friend who was the gunpowder to her lead.  She was adjusting to life as much as she could, broke, miserable, an...