On the Radar

Dying Young

It seems as if this year has ushered in the untimely deaths of many young people – and we are only two months into the year…

My life like many others has been touched by the death of family members all too early it seems. It’s can be extremely difficult to digest and come to terms with these types of tragedies.

It is practically impossible to prepare oneself for these extreme anomalies. The best that one can do is try to celebrate the less than expected time we had with them and try to enhance memories that will help one to come to terms with the devastation.

Yesterday Corey Haim died at thirty-eight years young. May his soul rest in peace along with all the others who passed this year all too early…

Where in the World is Hillary?

After the down and dirty fight that Hillary Clinton put up in the democratic presidential primary, one might be forgiven for thinking that the “hatchet” may not be well and truly buried…

So when she was appointed Secretary of State, I was surprised and a little perturbed. Then I realized that it made perfect sense for Hillary to take the job. After all, all opportunists are bottom-feeders to an extent.

When I compare Hillary’s image as Secretary of State with that of, say Condoleezza Rice, I can only say that Rice had a tenacity and seriousness about the role that I liked. Clinton doesn’t seem to have the same bite or ruthlessness I had come to expect from her. She has lost her edge, in my opinion.

So where is Hillary? The US Department of State website states that a scheduled visit to Washington D.C. has been postponed due to the inclement weather. Metaphorically the same question could be answered; keeping herself as far away from Obama and his current problems as is humanly possible.

Oh-My-Bama!

Life is very interesting…

It’s interesting how people in general live blinkered lives only to remove these blinkers when involved in an emergent situation. Yesterday I listened to a radio host spit fiery words about President Obama and how he had failed miserably in his capacity as president.

You see, according to this host President Obama had made so many promises to the American people and had fallen short. I kind of let out a small eek and had to suppress my disbelief at how insular and narrow-minded many people seem to be.

My question to these so-called “real American people” is, how much have you accomplished in the last three hundred and sixty five days? Running the biggest government in the world efficiently and trying to appease over three hundred million people at the same time is no small feat.

In my view, it’s time that all inhabitants of America take a close look at what is happening around the world and not just what’s outside their front door. It’s easy to pick and complain about our own situation but compared to the majority of the world we still have it good.

Count your blessings and be patient.

Unusual Weather

The UK and much of Europe has been hit by the coldest and snowiest weather seen in decades – much to their chagrin! Having lived in the North East of America for several years I am almost accustomed to the snow and bone-chilling temperatures.

In the UK everything ground to a halt – trains, buses, airports – the whole lot. Emergency crews were overwhelmed and everything that could shut down was shut down.

When I was very young I remember a snowstorm in the UK that crippled the entire transportation system and gave all of us kids several days off school. When we woke up and saw several feet of blanketed snow outside just ready for us to dive into and rumple, we could hardly contain ourselves. I had ever before seen so much snow in England before that and never since.

I thought it funny when several callers in to a TV station at the height of the storm, enquired whether or not global warming was the culprit for this type of weather anomaly. I was pleasantly comforted when the weather reporter insisted that these types of weather variances have been happening for centuries. It’s just that it hasn’t occurred in the UK for such a long time, we had almost forgotten. Well I haven’t forgotten and like the majority of things in life I am certain that we have not seen the last of unusual weather activity.

2009 Farewells

Goodbye 2009! Farewell! For 2010 promises to fulfill all of my earthly desires!

I thought that I would compile this little list of items, ideas, thoughts and circumstances that will hopefully die with 2009 and be buried forever, never again to see the light of day: -

1. Twitter and all the micro-blogging nonsense associated with it
2. Media stories about unfaithful husbands
3. Snuggies – (actually I quite like the doggy ones so…)
4. Rude customers in the queue behind you at the local CVS shop
5. Rude customers in the queue behind you at the local CVS shop who exclaim quite loudly to the cashier as you leave, “I’m glad that you noticed my frustration and hurried up”.
6. Belly fat and the silly belly fat adverts that continually remind of us of our, ahem, let’s call them “love handles”.
7. Chopped. Let’s hope this Food Network show gets the chop!
8. Unnecessary shows about food and real estate, such as Real Estate Intervention. Who’s ever heard of such a thing? Can HGTV stoop any lower?
9. Bernard Madoff
10. Insincerity

Please feel free to add to my list or comment on the ones already recorded. I’ll just add that 2009 was good year for me. I consider myself extremely blessed and I am certain that there are others out there who are feeling equally fortunate for escaping a lot of the horrors of 2009. Let’s just hope that 2010 anecdotes will bring joy to more people rather than less.

So This is Christmas

After the hurtling of snow we got earlier this week, it at least feels like Christmas this year. The snow hurried in the brutally cold weather which has somewhat curtailed our daily walks and deterred many from the local wind swept boardwalk.

As someone who was brought up never celebrating Christmas, I am uncertain as to why I would feel a little left out this year. In fact it isn’t a celebration that I have wholeheartedly embraced because of my upbringing, but it is also not something I detest completely.

In my view Christmas is all about family and my family is not here. They are miles away and will more than likely get together and have some sort of family gathering. Trouble is that when I lived in the UK I hated these family get-togethers. They were boring for a teenager who just wanted to hang out with their mates or go down the pub. How times have changed!

So I have presumed that my desire to go to one of these sometimes war some gatherings is due to old age. Never thought I would get to this point but don’t we all confuse youth with reality? This is reality. It’s the desire to be with family and the need to feel that connection with people who have known you all your life. By moving to the USA I attempted to steal youth and keep it hostage…Sigh…

So this is Christmas…