Anyone who knows me will tell you my younger sister is the world to me. Nary a moment goes by where I’m not recanting all the wonderous things about Lesli or pimpin’ her live gigs & CDs. Nobody impresses me more or pushes me to be a better person than her. It’s odd to think of considering I’m the older sibling and I should be the one blazing a trail of greatness.

That’s never really been the case. Sure I’m good, but Lesli is DAMN good. Which is why I was pissed as hell to find out several months ago she had contracted Multiple Sclerosis. You may recall I asked for petition help releasing a new MS drug back in April. At the time I did not expand upon the issue because Lesli was keeping it private. She told me she didn’t want to be known as the “Musician with MS”, thinking her illness would overshadow her talent. Well, I was the first to tell her nothing can overshadow her rock star coolness.

The worst thing about my sister’s MS is that it affects her hands. Can you imagine that? Sometimes she can walk, but she’s unable to use her hands. I pray every night for her. I pray that enough people will have a chance to witness her God given musical talent before it’s stolen from her. I would trade places with her in a second if I could.

Lesli recently made public her fight with the disease. I never doubted for a moment that my sister would make some sort of impact on the world. This current challenge only strengthens my belief in her.

And then there are the moments that I appreciate the comfort of strangers…

Thanks to the folks leaving positive trinkets at my blog door. More thanks to Jer for sending acolytes of Happy Happy Joy Joy my way. You’ll be glad to know that the past couple of days perked up (or it was simply an attitude adjustment by yours truly).

However, since it is Thursday, which is not quite Friday nor the weekend, I had to log in some confrontation time as I’ve been lax lately. You might recall the last time I flipped a nut on someone.

Anyways… At lunch I was walking out to the parking lot when I noticed this guy pull up next to my car on the driver’s side. As I got closer I noticed he had parked right up beside my car so I wouldn’t be able to open the driver’s door. As he stepped out of his car I mentioned his minor parking infraction and asked him if he could kindly move his vehicle. Without missing a beat he tells me I shouldn’t have parked like a dumbass and proceeds to walk past me.

I’m the dumbass? There were plenty of empty spaces all around my car. I asked a second time with authority and I got a huffed “I’m in a hurry, not my problem reply”.

Needless to say it didn’t take me too long to let the air out of ALL of his tires…

Ten years ago I would have put sugar in that schmuck’s gas tank, but then I was a star pupil during my anger-management classes.

Heh, sure is dusty around this old website. I was going to rant about women, but then I caught Oprah followed by Dr. Phil and the energy was sapped right outta me. Actually, I have something else on the brain atm. It was a few months back when things were crazy busy – oh wait, things ARE STILL crazy busy – so yeah, whatever, one month ago I’m talkin’ to my good buddy Ron. He was explainin’ to me that as I approach my mid-life crisis I should take into account that risks are no longer part of the picture. Now is the time for me to be more responsible than ever because as I’ve been reminded of quite a bit recently I seem to be getting older. Next year I’ll cross over that threshold where I’m no longer in the 18-34 age bracket that can ogle Britney’s boobs without being consider a dirty old man. More to the point, age inherently brings about the idea of less risk.

Yup, I’ll admit I’m pretty stubborn. Been chasing after something I can’t get my hands on since as long as I can remember. Longtime readers know that my life hasn’t changed course since the market fell back in 2000. Each small step forward has been followed by huge setbacks, most of them financial. Add my most recent woes with identity theft and it would appear I’m not only on the Short Bus™, but I’m the damn driver.

BUT if there’s one thing I can’t stand is when people decide it’s in your best interest to get The Lecture™ as if that’s a great way to motivate a person.

“You’d be foolish to start a business at your age. How will you ever square away your debts?”

“Pretty soon you’ll have to realize that it’s time to set aside those dreams of yours and concentrate on making some real income.”

“It’s nice that you like your job, but if it’s not paying the bills then something’s got to change.”

Well yeah, I hear ya, but quit naggin’ me so I can figure it out alright. People seem to forget that for all their good intentions IT’S MY LIFE. And YES, I know the teaching gig sucks for money, but hardly anyone has noticed that yours truly has just a little less stress on the brain these days. Forget the fact that I actually enjoy my job for once. Forget the fact that I seem to be pretty good at it. Sure I’m hoping that I can pull in some extra cash, but I don’t need to be constantly reminded of all the other things I could (or should) be doing. I don’t need to be reminded of all the things that are financially out of my league. Nobody knows more than me the current drama, real or otherwise exaggerated, the happiness, the dreams, the sadness.

And it sucks that on an otherwise really good day people seem to go out of their way to put you in a really bad mood.

Hope everyone has something fun planned for the weekend. I’m using my day off today to catch up on all the errands I should have been doing last month. Going to see if my jetski can actually be fixed this weekend. That bit of joy might lead to some new lake pictures with yours truly actually in the photos for a change. Of course, the jetski only needs a complete engine rebuild.

Here’s a bit of patriotism I lifted from the guys over at Spitcircle who copied it from an e-mail:

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An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani, or Afghan. An American may also be a Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole or one of the many other tribes known as native Americans.

An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim. In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them chooses.

An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.

An American is from the most prosperous land in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence, which recognizes the God given right of each person the pursuit of happiness.

An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need. When Afghanistan was overrun by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country!

As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan.

Americans welcome the best, the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best athletes. But they also welcome the least. The national symbol of America, The Statue of Liberty, welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest tossed.

These in fact are the people who built America. Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September 11, 2001 earning a better life for their families. The World Trade Center victims were from at least 30 other countries, cultures, and first languages, including those that aided and abetted the terrorists.

Americans are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American.

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Have a safe & happy weekend all!