"I Don't Need No..."

Steenkin' New Year's Resolutions...

Happy New Year to all of you...

I can't believe that 

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

2014

is gone.

Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin'...

Into the future...

What is it about the past that we each remember so?

Are the memories of good and wonderful things?

... or do we remain haunted by what went amiss?

... things that just didn't turn out the way we wanted?

Is there some form of 'Pre-destination' 

that we follow through Life???

Or, are our Lives and our ultimate ends/destinations 

more determined by Karma??

Are the events that we experience directly related

to how we have lived our lives and treated others?

Is there really a difference between the two?

I wonder why I selected 'Calvin and Hobbes'cartoons for a post that asks rather serious questions?

What makes a good cartoon be a 'good cartoon?'

I always have enjoyed the messages from comic strips like 'Calvin and Hobbes,' or 'The Far Side'...  Some of the creators of such strips have such a wonderful insight into the  psyches of our souls, it seems. They seem to capture those fleeting moments and thoughts that we have all experienced...

A counselor that I was seeing after the death of my Dad and during my divorce suggested that I hide a great deal of hurt and pain behind humor... I do suppose that there is a great deal of truth to such a statement.

I fear that my direction has been determined

by the method indicated in the cartoon above...

... that I have just let things happen and I've drifted along with the flow.

Like clouds in the sky...

Like a limb in the river...

Like a fart in a whirl wind...

In 2014, I would like to be more direct in what I desire for the rest of my Life.

I will be more pro-active.

I need to get out and see my friends...

I will take some of my own  advice that I talked about at the 

commencement address I gave in December, 2012...

__________

2014 was a great deal like the beginning of the 'Tale of Two Cities'...

"It was the best of times... it was the worst of times..."

My friend, Scooter died...

I made a trip out West to scatter his ashes as per his request.

I didn't have a choice... he was my friend.

In April of 2014, I received the 

College of Business 'Bell South' Award for being the 

Outstanding Professor in the College of Business.

In November of 2014, I was told by the same people that 

congratulated me for receiving the teaching award... 

that I was no longer needed.

In the next few months, I will decide what

changes I am going to allow to happen in my life career-wise.

I did NOT like...

I did NOT appreciate...

the manner in which this was handled by the administration.

Having said that, I am going to be pro-active on when I leave.

It is possible that I could be teaching at

a different university in the Fall...

I would be open to that.

I have had health issues.

It's not like I haven't seen them coming,

I hadn't felt well for some time.

I've had conflicting diagnoses... 

I have finally crossed paths with a doctor with whom 

I have great confidence.  We will see what progresses.

There are going to be some great changes in my Life over the next 12 months.

In so many ways...

In so many areas...

So...

What are your goals, desires, aims for

the upcoming

2015?

I love these guys...

Happy New Year!!!

~Jim~

"Christmas, 2014..."

We, Three Kings Of Orient Are...

I think my favorite Christmas Story is that of the Christmas Star and the Three Wise Men...  at least that's what we called them back then... today we know them as the Magi...

According to the Gospel of Matthew, The Three Wise Men found the Baby Jesus by following A Star...  whch later became known as the Star of Bethlehem...

History makes allowances for many names for the Magi, but Western Christianity recognizes them as being Balthazar, from Arabia, Melchior, from Persia, and Gaspar, from India.

Each of the Magi brought a gift for the Baby Jesus... Gold, frankincense, and myrrh...
Myrrh was the most ominous of the gifts... Myrrh was an embalming lotion and was symbolic of Death.

Luke 2:10-14

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

By no stretch of the imagination do I profess to be a very religious person, but this Bible passage, for some reason, gives me great hope...

Merry Christmas to All...

And to All a Good Night!!!

~shoes~

"Get Back, Loretta..."

If you know me, you are aware that I have always been a huge fan of this band...

They have been the sound track of my Life... and I have made my kids listen exposed my kids to their music...

Back in February, the 50th anniversary of their initial appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show was celebrated...  The fact that their music is still relevant and sounds good today is amazing.

They had gone separate ways by the time I got to where I could possibly have seen them in concert... but my memory is that they had stopped touring in 1966.... their very last concert on tour was August 29, 1966... just a bit over two years after making it big.

The Beatles

Candlestick Park

San Francisco

August 29, 1966

Anyway...  50 years and eight months after they initially came to the United States, I got to see and hear Paul McCartney perform this past weekend (10/11/14) in New Orleans...  The performance was amazing...

... but as the evening progressed... there was something that became noticeable...

Paul talked a great deal about George Harrison...

George

... and he played...

THIS...

(Click on 'THIS'...)

He spoke so dearly of George... several times... whatever rifts had developed, they must have healed...  prior to the beginning of the concert, there were many different photos shown... quite a few of them were of George.

He also spoke of John Lennon...

John

Paul played a song that he claimed to have written after John's death... and I can't remember the name of it... but he also played this song of John's...

click

HERE...

I think that he and John were in the process of healing their split as well... but I didn't sense/feel the same kind of warmth that Paul expressed towards George...

What was missing... and didn't happen...

was any mention of this guy...

Ringo

Zilch...

Nada...

Nothing...

I found an interesting quote that Ringo made a few years ago about the relationship between he and Paul... 

He said...

"We are as close as we want to be. 

We're the only two remaining Beatles, 

although he likes to think he's the only one."

Ringo seems to be fine with it all...

But... 

it seems he could have acknowledged him somehow...

Anyway... 

My favorite song of the night was this one...

CLICK

For a few hours...

I was a kid again...

"What? Me Worry???"

Alfred E. Neuman

"Jim...

... you worry too much... most of the things you worry about will never ever happen... Those that do, you will handle just fine..."  

~Mom~

Mom

Yesterday, October 8, was Mom's birthday... If she were alive today, she would be 102...  As odd as it may sound to you, I talk to Mom daily... She never says anything that I immediately get, but I sense that she offers directions to me... 

This had started out to be a somewhat humorous post...

... but evidently, I hijacked my own writing.

Imagine that.

Oddly enough...

These all sound like things my Mom would have said to me...

I love you, and miss you...

Each and Every day...

"KP..."

A handful of years ago, I came to work on morning... and saw that a colleague's car was hemorrhaging...  I was glad that it wasn't my car...  the vehicle belonged to my good friend, KP... those former students who remember KP probably still recoil in fear of his Finance classes, and even scarier... Finance exams...

KP is from India... and was the bane of anyone who had to take and pass Business Finance...

Anyway... KP's car was bleeding out... transmission fluid... and when I got up to my office, my good friend, Craig, came by to tell me about KP's car... we all look out for each other... (somewhat...)

... so we were discussing the fate of KP and his vehicle... whether or not his car would be reincarnated... and if so, in what form it might return.

At that point, Craig offers up. "I bet KP has to get a new car..."

Me:   "I bet he does as well!!"

Craig:  "I bet he gets an SUV..."

... to which I reply...  "I bet KP's version of an SUV is a camel..."

Now.... I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know

I KNOW!!!!!

... that was wrong of me, but if you know me well, you know I do and say things like that.

So, the last time I see Craig, he's walking out my office door... and I am trying to get to work... and I look up... and KP is standing in my door... looking at me...

KP:  "Jim... where did you study geography?"

Me:  "Hell, KP... I don't know... it's been so many years ago... why??"

KP:  "We don't have camels in India... we have elephants... therefore, my version of an SUV would be an elephant... not a camel..."

... and he turns around and walks away...  damn... I was SURE that there were camels in India...

I am not sure I have ever laughed as hard at anything as I did of his delivery of that line without his ever breaking a grin...

A few years later, KP went back home to India for the summer to visit family... and when he would return from these trips, he would bring us each some small trinket back...

KP brought this back for me...

... and he told me...

"... this is to remind you that we don't have camels in India..."

A few years ago, KP retired and returned home to India...

I think he had suffered enough...

One of the last things he told me before he left was...

"Jim... I was kidding about there not being camels in India...

We DO have some..."

Same deadpan expression...

So... I found this image of an Indian Camel... 

and I am back to Square One... would KP's SUV be a camel or an elephant?

Hell, I don't know any more...

But that one  above is really decked out...

I am not sure if that qualifies as a 'G Ride' or as a 'Hooptie'

... but it sure is tricked out!!!

So...

What prompted this memory of KP?

That rascal strolled into my office earlier this afternoon...

Talk about totally unexpected...

Totally Surprised!!!!!

It was SO good to see him!!!

"Sensitivity Training..."

Or...

KISS MY ASS!!!!

A friend of mine at work has told me that she thinks I need sensitivity training... that I can be a bit gruff and crude from time to time. 

Of course, I immediately called 'bullshit' on that!!!

I researched the issue and found a manual on sensitivity-speak... somewhat of a code book for saying something else that has yet another meaning.

There is one chapter titled, "Try Saying"... and it has suggested comments that might allow for properr exchange of ideas and information can continue in an effective manner.

Some of these sayings include:

TRY SAYING: Perhaps I can work late.

INSTEAD OF: And when the fuck do you expect me to do this?

TRY SAYING: I'm certain that isn't feasible.

INSTEAD OF: No fucking way.

TRY SAYING: Really?

INSTEAD OF: You've got to be shitting me!

TRY SAYING: Perhaps you should check with...

INSTEAD OF: Tell someone who gives a shit.

TRY SAYING: I wasn't involved in the project.

INSTEAD OF: It's not my fucking problem.

TRY SAYING: That's interesting.

INSTEAD OF: What the fuck?

TRY SAYING: I'm not sure this can be implemented.

INSTEAD OF: This shit won't work.

TRY SAYING: I'll try to schedule that.

INSTEAD OF: Why the hell didn't you tell me sooner?

TRY SAYING: He's not familiar with the issues.

INSTEAD OF: He's got his head up his ass.

TRY SAYING: Excuse me, sir?

INSTEAD OF: Eat shit and die.

TRY SAYING: So you weren't happy with it?

INSTEAD OF: Kiss my ass.

TRY SAYING: I'm a bit overloaded at the moment.

INSTEAD OF: fuck it, I'm going to Guadalajara for a margarita.

TRY SAYING: I don't think you understand.

INSTEAD OF: Shove it up your ass.

TRY SAYING: I love a challenge.

INSTEAD OF: This job sucks.

TRY SAYING: You want me to take care of that?

INSTEAD OF: Who the hell died and made you boss?

TRY SAYING: I see.

INSTEAD OF: Blow me.

TRY SAYING: He's somewhat insensitive.

INSTEAD OF: He's a fucking prick.

TRY SAYING: I think you could use more training.

INSTEAD OF: You don't know what the fuck you're doing.

I think this approach would work... don't you??

I dont think I am THAT bad...

But maybe I am...

"Red Shoes..."

Shoes

I teach at a small regional university in the Mississippi Delta. Over the years that I have taught here, I have noticed some ‘professors’ that, in my opinion,  took themselves WAY too seriously… as a means of reminding myself to not do the same, I started wearing Red Converse Chuck Taylor tennis shoes on my teaching days… I refer to them as my “teaching shoes.”

Profs should be allowed some leeway in their teaching methods… do what they need to do (within reason) to reach the students. Since we didn’t have a dress code, I thought this would be a great way for me to accomplish my objective…

Somewhere down through the years, I managed to get a letter of reprimand for wearing them...   but then I received a reprieve... and it became OK to wear them again...

Back one Spring, I was driving home from a trip to Madison, MS when I came upon a highway patrol roadblock. After a quick mental inventory, I knew that I had my Drivers License, that my inspection sticker and tag were current, and that I had my insurance card. I handed the patrolman the DL… he looked at it, handed it back to me… told me to be careful… and then he said… “wait a minute… let me see that again…”

Ferque!!!!! My DL was expired… he told me to pull off to the side of the road.. GRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…..

That patrolman walked over to a group of others patrolmen who were standing around talking… and he handed my DL to one of the officers… he took my DL, looked at it, and started writing the ticket… he walked behind my vehicle to get the tag number, and then went to sit in his cruiser while he finished the ticket… I was ready to go… I was unhappy with myself for not checking my expiration on my license… I look to see what he’s doing… he’s on his cell phone… dammit man, come on!!! I’m ready to get home!!!

He finally gets out of his car… does the highway patrolman strut over to my car… and says to me… “I have one more question for you… Are you wearing your red shoes today?”

“WTF?!?!?!?!” I looked at him and asked…”WHAT?!?!?!”

He said… “I need to know if you are wearing your red shoes???”

I tell him no, and then ask… how do you know about my red shoes???

He started laughing… said he recognized my name, and saw the university decal on the back of my vehicle… and told me that his wife had taken several of my classes… that all he ever heard about was some teacher with red shoes and how much fun they had in class…

He said he had called his wife to see what I looked like... to make sure, I guess...

Anyway...

Its amazing how stories follow us around…