WHO INSPIRES YOU TO WRITE?

I write something everyday, and sometimes I do that without inspiration from anyone or anything.  I just do it because pecking out words on a keyboard makes me happy.  It's not an ego thing, not something I do to exorcise demons or impress anyone or anything like that.  Call me crazy, but I even talk to myself, and I don't like the sound of my own voice.  I'm not even particularly interested in anything I have to say either.  The only thing good that comes from talking to yourself is that sometimes what you say strikes you as stupid or off base - something you wouldn't want to say to anyone else.  Writing to yourself sometimes comes across the same way, and that's why they put the delete key on a keyboard . . . for people like me . . . and I  use it a lot.

Nobody in particular has ever really inspired me to write, but several authors have sure inspired me to read.  One of those authors is Dan Jenkins, a sportswriter and novelist.  Funny man, and fun to read.  And, he's a fellow Texan.  I loved his Baja Oklahoma story, partly because I lived in Oklahoma for a long time.  I loved Dead Solid Perfect, and several other novels he wrote.  I can't remember reading a single Sports Illustrated article by him, but I liked his books.  And even though you don't get much inspiration from reading other authors, there's no denying that what you read somehow turns up in what your write.  Many years ago, back in the 1980s, I read a rejection letter from a major publisher back east and was delighted when the editor compared my writing to that of Dan Jenkins . . . said I reminded her of him.  I took that as a compliment, even though I can't see much similarity between what I write and what Jenkins has written.

This is my 100th blog, and I'm writing it completely without inspiration and with little to say.  Just wanted to see the number roll up, I guess.  I'll probably write more, and I'll do so without caring where the words fly off to when I hit the publish button.  You never know when what you peck out will be the last thing you write, especially at my age.  I don't even care about that.  Writing blogs is like working out to stay in shape.  Before long, I'll finish several more novels and get them in print.  It's different with a book.  They're going to be around a long time after I'm gone.  I don't know where, but they'll be out there somewhere, and something I did in this life will still be alive.  And even if they die away in time, they still will have outlasted me.  I like that.

TAKING A BITE OUT OF APPLE

I just took a bit out of Apple and came up with an I-Mac.  At this point, I'm not sure Apple didn't take a big bite out of me . . . and come out of it on top.  For one thing, I've got some pieces missing now, especially out of my bank account.  When I went shopping for a new desktop a few days ago, I found the cupboard bare . . . or almost bare.  "So, where's the desktops?" I asked.  "Er, well, they're right there," the guy a Best Buy said.  I looked and only saw three desktops - HP, Gateway, and some name I'd never heard of.  "Desktops are on the way out," the guy says.  "Want to look at a notebook?"  I shook my head and headed for the front door, and that's when I passed the Apple section.  Hold on!   That thing looks almost like a real computer.  After about 30 minutes discussion with a salesperson, a very informative young lady, I bought it . . . a new I-Mac.

Ok, so all's well at the home camp.  Shitty old computers out, fancy new Mac in.  Then reality sets in. Someone like me owning a fancy high tech machine like my new I-Mac is somewhat akin to giving a corvette to a monkey.  I can jump up and down on it, lovingly admire it, sit and piddle with it . . . but I can't drive it.  That's gonna take a while, partly 'cause I don't know a thing about Apple computers, and partly 'cause I'm a techno retard.  I feel like a dump truck driver who just joined the country club.  I'm not afraid to hang out with just about anybody, but I can't read this country club menu.  I don't play golf, and I'm no good at sipping booze from a glass with a long stem.  Put plainly, this new machine might be out of my class.

And then I go to dinner, being as how Best Buy is close to a Golden Corral, and that's where I get some hope.  Sitting outside the restaurant is a kid wearing baggy pants, maybe twelve years old, and looking pretty grubby . . . and he's holding a fancy Apple I-phone, apparently playing games on it 'cause he's plenty amused.  That does it.  If that kid can make something like that work, then so can I.  I'm not about to be outdone by a seventh grader.

And now, I'm on day three at home alone with my new I-Mac, and I'm fighting off the impulse to go across the street and inviting over a seventh grader.  He's a smart kid, and I'm sure he'll have this thing ready to roll in no time at all.  The only thing holding me back is pride, but I'll probably break down and ask for help.  It's either the kid across the street, or my wife . . . and damn, I sure do hate to ask her to do everything for me when it comes to computers.  I'll wait until she's gone for a while, invite the kid over, and then act like I figured it all out on my own when she gets home.  You see, I'm not so dumb after all.

MOSES KITTIES: HOW TO KILL RATS

I'm not talking specifically about fuzzy rats, the kind that live in sewers or your basement.  I'm talking about the rats that infest our government, businesses, states, towns, counties, or about anywhere that offers them a chance to feed off the system.   Yeah, rats, and we've got lots of them running around in this country . . . and they're eating us out of house and home.  Literally.  If this is starting to sound like an attack on our give-away entitlements programs, forget it.  That's just chickenfeed compared to what the biggest rats are eating up.  I'm talking bloated government, top heavy administrations, greedy corporations, wasteful national defense programs, duplication of function, and even Congress itself.  Want to kill the rats?  Yeah, let's do a wholescale extermination of them all.  And just how would we do this?

Let's look at our government as the managers of the house we live in, and that would be our country and the society within it.  It's a big house, room for lots of rats, and they've moved in big time.  Even though it's not our biggest problem, entitlements are part of the rat problem.  Big business is part of the rat problem, and a big segment of our population is part of the problem.  Something like one in four Americans work for government one way or another, and that's a rat problem.  As caretakers of this big house, our landlords so to speak, the government has done as shitty job of controling the rat population.  I'd be more critical of them, but you can't put a ratty proprietor in charge of getting rid of rats in the house.  That's like hiring Jesse James as a bank guard.  Even if the house finally gets so eaten away that it falls down, the rats won't be exterminated.  Should the house catch fire and burn to the ground, the rats won't burn with it.  They'll just pull back and wait on a new house to go up, and they'll move right back in.  That's the way it is with rats.  They're hard to kill.

You've heard the expression that rats will abandon a sinking ship, but that's not quite true.  Some experts, those people in the know about things like this, are saying that we're already a sinking ship, but the rats and still here.  If the ship finally sinks, the rats will abandon it . . . but not in time.  The best place to abandon a sinking ship is in port, not out to sea.  Rats can swim, but they can't swim forever, and a ship sinking in a big ocean means the rats will all perish.  The problem with that is: the ship is lost, as is almost everyone aboard it.  We haven't been smart enough to build a ship with lots of life rafts, so if the ship goes down, so do we.  Well, maybe.  Like with all ships that sink, there's usually some survivors.  These will be the people who build a new ship, one with lots of cats on it. 

Our house is still a fairly solid structure, despite the claims of some experts who think it's too far gone to save.  But the folks who like to tear down the old house and build a new one neglect the fact that rats will still be out there, waiting on a new and better place to feed off of.  You have to kill the rats to make a new house work, or you'll be building a new one every so often to keep the rats happy.  Want a rat free house, or one with so few rats that they're not much of a problem?  We need cats, baby . . . lots of cats.  You can call the cats "Moses kitties," 'cause they led us out of the wilderness by freeing us of a plague of rats.  The cats will also clean up most of the snakes, an added benefit.  And all will be well for a while . . . 'cause cats do eat birds too, you know.

SELLING GLOOM AND DOOM

So, are we facing a major global economic depression?  Are zombies going to break down your door and eat you?  Will there be a nuclear holocost?  World War III?  Another ice age?  It's all out there, you know - those predictions about gloom and doom - and I'm not buying any of it.  And that's exactly what the sellers of goom and doom want because it is for sale, and they make big bucks from it.  Selling it is profitable because there's a lot of negative thought out there, and for good reason.  I'm not fully aware of what's going on elsewhere, but here in America, there's some cause for alarm when it comes to some of the gloom and doom prophecies.  Forget the zombies, nuclear war, solar flareups, floods or any other catastrophe that wipes out entire nations.  That ain't gonna happen.  But all of us should worry some about what could happen, and a severe economic downturn is a distinct possibility.

I'm not likely to take to heart a book predicting a major economic depression written by someone who's likely to profit from it.  But there's still food for thought there, especially the criticisms of how our government handles the economy.  So I read articles in Forbes that says all the gloom and doom stuff is off base, that it's just not worth consideration, and they cite all the statistics to the contrary.  And most of those statistics are produced by government agencies eager to sell their fix to the problem of a sagging economy, and we all know that government is often a poor source for that because they've been known to "cook the books" a little.  All this leaves the interested bystanders like me wondering just who can be believed . . . if anyone.  It makes you wonder if anyone involved in managing the economy knows what they're doing.  Don't look to big businesses for the answer because they're notorious for mismanaging their own companies.  Can you believe the top economists?  If you read that stuff, look for the books written by real scholars, not hacks.

With all the misinformation out there about the economy and what's the best course of action to take, there's at least a few things normal people can do to prepare for the future.  Government and business concerns are going to keep pumping you full of crapola intended to get you to spend.  If you don't spend, they don't prosper, and so a certain amount of spending is good for all of us.  My plan is to keep spending because I must in order to survive, but I plan to spend wisely.  If you're going to buy books about gloom and doom, buy the ones that offer some reasonable suggestions about how to survive during hard times.  Some of them might be worth reading.  And if you really believe what you read, do something about it.  Preparation is always a smart thing.

CLINT EASTWOOD IS A BIG GUY

On my way to Montana for the College Rodeo National Finals, I stopped off in Jackson Hole, Wyoming just to relax and mess around some.  I'd hitched a ride with one of my team members, and they were out doing the town like young cowboys are known to do . . . and I was hanging out at a bar and dancehall listening to the music.  The place was crowded, so I was standing near the back door, leaning agains a railing and watching the band perform.  I never would've seen him unless someone close by recognized him and said, "Look!  There's Clint Eastwood."  I looked around, and sure enough, he was standing a few feet away from me looking like just any other patron.  Well, almost.  The guy was big, and I'm not just talking tall.  He was dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt, and he had big arms like a weightlifter.  People started crowding in around us then, and I took my leave as quickly as possible.

I'm not a groupie in any way shape form or fashion.  In fact, I wouldn't walk across the street to see a famous face or get an autograph from a movie star.  But I've been lucky over the years in getting to see some of these people, and close up.  I've even met them, and under unusual circumstances.  I've by chance bumped into well known politicians, even presidential candidates, from time to time.  I've met a number of well known singers at various functions.  I've known some top professional athletes, especially rodeo athletes.  But seeing Clint Eastwood impressed me.  I've always loved his work as an actor, hardly ever miss one of his movies.  He's a big man regardless of his physical size.  And now he's 83 years old.  Wow!  83 and still going, still working, still a big man.  And I'm 72.  Atta boy, Clint.  You're older and bigger, and we all need somebody to look up to.

I think back on that incident in Jackson Hole with only one regret.  I wish I'd taken the time to at least shake hands with him.  Damn!

WHO'S THE BIGGEST LIAR?

Right wingers say that politifact, a project run by the Tampa Bay Times, is bogus.  They claim it's biased in favor of a liberal agenda.  They point to factcheck.org as the best fact check outfit, but liberals say that it's a right wing proaganda machine.  Is there a good fact checker out there?  Probably not, if you're looking for something that absolutely, one hundred percent on the nose when it comes to checking for truth.  But even though fact checkers may be somewhat biased, some of the things they point out need to be taken seriously.

Politifact recently did some checking of Republican party comments and found them severely lacking.  Democrats did better in their estimate, but still not good.  According to them, Democrats are truthful about 22 percent of the time while Republicans are truthful only 11 percent of the time.  Even if you switched those stats, there's still a distressing thing about them . . . which is that our professional politicians are most usually liars.  Your chances are not better than one in five of getting the truth out of them, or it could be as bad as one time in ten.  Perhaps a fact check on something else is in order, and that would be determining exactly what constitutes a lie.  Do politicians just outright lie, or do they manipulate statistics to fit their agenda?  Is there a difference beween lying and misleading?  Those are questions that could be argued back and forth for a long time, but the bottom line is that politicans rarely tell the outright truth. 

Another fact check group did some research on those email that circulate - you know, the ones about how Obama isn't qualified to be President because his birth records are questionable.  A recent email from right wingers states that both the president and his wife have lost their law licenses because of some murky illegal dealings on their parts.  All bullshit, so says the checkers.  In fact, they offered the opinion that almost all such emails are nothing but lies . . . no mismanagement of states here, just made up falsehoods.  These things don't come straight from politicans but rather from their various supporters.  Now we've broadened the spectrum of lying to the public.  We can't trust our political parties to tell the truth, and we most certainly can't trust their supporters and backers. 

Should any of this surprise us?  Well, it shouldn't.  Perhaps that old joke is really more truth than just humor.  You know, the one that asks the question, "Do you know how to tell when a politician is lying?" Answer, "When his lips are moving."