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Downton Abbey

  The U.K. Version   There's a moment in every episode of Downton Abbey where one of the characters say something that reveals something profound about themselves. For example, from the very first episode Carson, the butler, is talking with the head housekeeper, Mrs Hughes. They talk about how the owners of the estate in which they live and work, are under threat, and their exchange goes like this: MRS HUGHES You mustn't take it personally. MR CARSON Oh, I do take it personally, Mrs Hughes. I can't stand by and watch our family threatened with the loss of all they hold dear. MRS HUGHES (chuckles) They're not our family. MR CARSON Well, they're all the family I've got. [Mrs Hughes is surprised and humbled by his sharp sincerity.] MR CARSON ( Apologetically ) I beg your pardon. MRS HUGHES Do you...ever wish you'd...gone another way? [Carson looks up sharply.] MRS HUGHES continues... Worked in a shop or a factory? Had a wife and children? MR CARSON Do you? MRS
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Song of Single Parents

We get ready for school The time gets closer and closer for us to leave I start rushing, then I tell myself to stop rushing, and repeat We drive to school Will they remember this? Which day on our way to school will they remember? The one where we are happy? The one where I was upset? They ask me how many days until they return We get out of the car and walk My little one gives me her hand to hold My eldest sees her friend, she rushes ahead with her book bag flopping on her back My little one and I continue our steady pace At the front steps I let her hand go, kiss her forehead and pat her back with a smile It’s the last time that I’ll see them I tell them that I love them They’re going to stay with their mom for a few days They walk into the hall and others start to block my view A child, a teacher  In a matter of moments they disappear into the crowd, and I walk away I try not to go through this every week, but I worry Well, at least my worry all comes out in those moments I send out

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day To all of you who break your back for your family Anguish, so real to you You shield it from your loved ones Like a duck, your feet flap furiously beneath the water Meanwhile above, your little ones only see a smooth ride Happy Father's Day to those of you who lost in court That sacrificed everything, who you are, the path that you were on Tolerating and enduring an awful relationship To make for your children, a more enjoyable life And all to often, only to come out the other end at a deficit In the eyes of the court, simply because you are a man Happy Father's Day to the fathers in history Whom either from ignorance or pride, went off to war to protect their family Especially to those who were drafted While others complained back home About anything that was back home They were taken, by force And were left no choice but to go up and over the trench Into an onslaught of gunfire, and at gunpoint behind If they came home, they came home from a place wh

2018 Roundup

Best Podcast Episodes: Jaron Lanier on Sam Harris: https://samharris.org/podcasts/136-digital-humanism/ Yuval Noah Harari: https://samharris.org/podcasts/138-edge-humanity/ something on Sam Harris Robin Hanson talks about people's hidden motives: https://samharris.org/podcasts/119-hidden-motives/ Robert Green talks about "Laws of Human Nature": https://lewishowes.com/podcast/master-the-laws-of-human-nature-with-robert-greene/ Eric Winestein's talks about the fabric of our existence, quantum mechanics, and calculus: http://podcasts.joerogan.net/podcasts/eric-weinstein-2 Bill Burr's 6th Joe Rogan appearance, funny guy.: http://podcasts.joerogan.net/podcasts/bill-burr-6 Sir Roger Penrose talks about quantum mechanics and physics: http://podcasts.joerogan.net/podcasts/sir-roger-penrose David Goggins 2nd Joe Rogan appearance: http://podcasts.joerogan.net/podcasts/david-goggins-2 Jordan Peterson's 5th appearance on Joe R

I Can't Be The Only One - Clothes

This is unedited. Return sometime later to see how my edited writing looks compared to the initial vomiting.     I’m not a cheapskate. I’ve splurged on meaningful things. I bought a nice set of congas, an expensive riqq drum, a hand made custon lefthanded flamenco guitar. For my kids I got a Burley bicycle trailer, an Osprey Poco child backpack carrier that looks like a fucking astronaut backpack with my kid in it.     This is all nice shit. So… What happened with my clothes? The nicest suit I have is my Mariachi outfit. But right now I’m wearing a tshirt that says Daytona on it, and it’s color is what I can only call neon peach. I don’t give a shit about Daytona (don’t have anything against it either). My ex mother in law gave it to me. I’m also wearing pair of shorts that she gave me.     A lot of my clothes I don’t even know how they got there. I remember buying some of them. Once at Khols and Dilards like 8 years ago. The rest is from Costco. Sometimes I go into Costco

My Life Story

    This isn’t a story about a man who was defeated by the daily challenges of life. This is a story about a man who fought with everything he had to maintain his family, and to give his children the best life that he could. This is a story about a man who ventured to use his critical thinking when making decisions, and despite any demoralizing opposition, maintained the courage to do what he (to the best of his ability) thought was right. This is also the story of a man who willingly accepted accountability and responsibility for any bad decisions, and was more than willing to rectify them.     This is a story of triumph despite the pain, and a story that – ultimately – ends like all others, except this one assuredly ends while walking an honorable path. Perhaps facing doubt, and not necessarily without fear, but most assuredly with courage.     This, I give you my word on. (And can only hope the same for you, to my little ones.)

Not Everything Scales

    One of the greatest misconceptions that I’ve had, and continue to see others hold is that anything can scale. Take Communism for example, I like my household as communist as you can get. I think a communist household is a loving household and a pleasant, nurturing place to live. However to scale communism to include the nation seems a guaranteed disaster.      Now coming from the opposite trajectory. Capitalism may work in several ways when applied to a nation, but to scale down the same predatory ideology into a household? Well, living in a home where the dominant philosophy is a zero sum game doesn’t sound like a desirable place to live.      So people still think that because something works at one scale, that it could be applied everywhere, not realizing that merely scaling something, larger or smaller, changes what it is. This seems to be a law of physics. A fly can smack into a windowpane unharmed because of its density and mass, and its density and mass compared to the