Hello. The other night I was confronted by one of my brothers from the pond of RATSO. He made this comment during a club "gathering" with most of the pond scum present. He pointed out that I had been accepted into the club without meeting all of the financial requirements. This apparently has been bothering him for a while. It was extremely refreshing to hear a friend say this to my face and in front of my brothers instead of behind my back. He feared I would feel angry or dejected. NOT AT ALL! I thanked him for his honesty and we hugged. He earned a great deal of my respect.

We are human. We make mistakes. Things happen in our lives that we may not be proud of, but we go on. I have been subject to several people expressing their feelings about me behind my back. They whisper lies or ugly truths to people without ever confronting me. This makes me angry! None of us have earned the right to throw stones. I respect a person who makes a mistake and tries to atone for it a lot more than a person who judges others while hiding his own transgressions.

I read Tiger Woods' apology this morning. He did the right thing. He admitted to his failures. Now people should leave him and his family alone. This is between them. We think because we watch him golf on the weekends and buy Nike products, we have a say in his personal life. NO! These types of things make a person take a closer look at themselves. It makes you realize who you really are. If you don't like the person in the mirror, you better change him. I became a little more of a fan this morning.

I'm still getting acquainted with the man in the mirror. Some days he is a complete stranger.

Hello. The weather seems to be getting to everyone I'm in contact with. This will surely go down in history as one of the worst, and longest, winters in Sioux Town. I'm hoping that spring will bring fresh attitudes and smiling faces. Apparently the hearty souls of this small Midwest town are not ready for long, cold, snowy winters. April, is that you in the distance waving in the warm breeze. Oh, how I long to be together again.

A good friend of ours was whisky-talking the other night about the dislike for each other her and her mate have shared lately. She commented on 29 years of being together...along with too many nights "trapped" in the house by old man winter. It made me think. Is it logical for two people to spend 30, 40, 50 or more years together? Can they stay happy? Many couples have. Well, they've stayed together. Humans are one of the only species to mate for life...and Canadian geese. Honk!

The human ego is an ugly monster. We all battle this demon, unfortunately some can't control him...or her. Being in the live entertainment promotion business I have dealt with some evil egos. I guess it takes a big ego to get on stage and perform. Some of these entertainers forget to hide their ego when they step off the stage. Hey buddy, no one is paying attention to you...get over your self. None of us should take ourselves too seriously. I remind myself of this daily.

Hello. A guy walked into the bar last night and said, "This place is really hard to find." I laughed and replied, "It's actually easy, once you know what you're looking for." The comment is clouded with smoke, but as I thought about it, life is kind of that way. Once we know what we're looking for, it's easy to find. The tough part is figuring out what we're looking for. Or maybe it's understanding what it is we're looking for. Even though we think we know what we want, many people are chasing a life portrayed by society. The people around us paint a picture of what we think we need. We're back to the saying..."Perception is 100% of reality."

I wish a person could erase memories from their mind. You would think that as the head fills with new memories they would push the old ones out. Obviously that is not the case. As I get older, distant memories are becoming more clear. I have been recalling events from my childhood that haven't popped into my head in decades. It's kind of weird. The old bean must have an unlimited storage capacity. Damn this perfect system called a human.

A friend of mine suggests that we have no control over the ultimate outcome of our lives. This may be true, but I hate to think that nothing we do matters. I think how we live our lives determines the paths we follow. However, some think that how we live is even pre-determined. Some of us are "programmed" for good and some for evil? And of course the people who are neither just float along in the middle. I want to rise...not float, and definitely not sink.