I'm always trying to keep my blog up to date.
But it's gotten tough over the past few months.

I don't know what it is. And I've been a little concerned about it. That's why I paid a visit to Dr. Bob Hartley, professional tv psychologist.

Dr. Hartley: So, Mr. Tuckgraph...

Me: Call me TG. Or Jesse. I don't care. I'll call you Bob.

Bob: Okay, Jesse. Why did you come here today?

Me: I can't blog like I used to.

Bob: Is that, is that something you want?

Me: Yeah, wouldn't you blog as much as you can if you could?

Bob: Well, I don't, don't blog myself (looks down at pad).

Me: Nobody blogs for themselves, Bob. They blog for others. You should try it.

Bob: I don't think that's, you know, really necessary (tries to write on pad).

Me: That's because you never tried it. Two words: Hi Bob!

Bob: I'll take that, take it under consideration. Back to your situation.

Me: My situation? Oh yeah. I don't blog like I used to. I used to blog two or three times a week. Then over time, I became happy to just blog once a week.

Now, it's almost like work to perform once a week. Doesn't matter whether I'm inspired and really want it or not. I don't feel adequate. You ever have any problems like that?

Bob: (cough) Well, no. No, I mean, I can't think of anything... symbolic, or comparable to... (shifts in seat) you know, anything. Nothing. Anything.

Me: That's a shame. I was thinking, if I could just have a pill that could make me blog more. Anytime I get the inspiration, I'm on it. Something that could just turn me into a blog machine! I could blog on as long as I want, and satisfy anyone. Even myself!

Bob: Mr. T, I mean G, Mr. Jesse. It looks like our time is up for today... Carol!

I've always been a big fan of The Bob Newhart Show.

Oh Well...
I missed House again tonight. Worked a little late again. I'll tell you what's tough. When you get home in time to watch the last 15 minutes. Do you watch it? You know you won't know what the heck's going on! But what might you get to see? A couple of choice lines of dialogue, House's epiphany that solves the case, and a musical montage that serves as a bow to wrap up the episode! Sigh. Did I really miss anything?

I've got some other stuff to cover, but I'm tired tonight. I need a prescription! Here's a sunset pic I took last night.

TG

I debated with myself about doing this blog. I decided I had to do it, because that pumpkin was starting to stink up the joint!

I voted for Barack Hussein Obama.

This isn't a political rant! In my opinion. I wanted to write a bit about my experiences leading up to last Tuesday. I've always had a rule. I don't tell people who I'm voting for. Unless they ask. But now it's past tense, so I don't have a problem with it. Split those hairs!

Friends and Family
Early on I decided who I was voting for, barring something that would change my mind. My older bro was the first to ask me about my vote. At the time, he and my sister-in-law were voting for Hillary Clinton. In addition to supporting Senator Clinton, they were concerned that people supporting Obama might divide the party. A valid concern!

But I wasn't concerned about that. I thought he had a shot to win. Above the charisma factor, above the history making "First Black President" hysteria, he articulated his ideas better. And that's important. The demeanor thing, not attacking his opponents, all good. And I liked his ideas! Bro respected that. We're family!

So there were a couple of other times, when someone asked me who I was voting for. My best friend kind of expected my answer. He's about as conservative as you can get! It's something special when you can have a best friend who is polar opposite from yourself politically. We get after it from time to time, but keep it in perspective. We're best friends!

And I had a coworker who kind of confronted me. She asked, "Are you an Obama Supporter?" "No." "Are you voting for Obama?" "Yes, because I think he's the best choice we have right now." She walked away from my desk and out the front door! That was interesting, because a few people were watching or listening to our conversation. After that, a few coworkers stopped talking with me as much! They eventually warmed back up.

We Have So Much Not In Common!
But nothing adversarial. This is the Deep South! Lynching is so out of fashion! Racism is such a difficult word. As is this blog! I grew up with it, and I think everyone does to some extent. Fortunately, my parents raised me right. Racism is the "black sheep" of the prejudice family. It can be religion, geography, fat people, baldies (losing hair, not shaved heads. that's different), physically or mentally handicapped, or anything that is wrong with whoever kept you from being what you wanted to be.

It can be genuine hatred, or just laughing at people who are different. If you can laugh at people with someone else, you're participating in an ancient form of bonding. This is a good place to point out, if you don't like Obama, I don't think you're a racist! I personally hate everyone equally! Seriously, I don't care much for Wesley Snipes. Don't hold it against me!

So election day at the office was really cool. We had a cookout! Mostly hot dogs, fully dressed, and chips. Everyone loved the polish sausages I brought! I received the Best Weiner Award Honors! Or the BWAH! The best thing was, nobody talked politics. We talked the weather, sports, whatever. We were celebrating Election Day, and a moment in history.

We spend our lives working around the imperfections in ourselves and others. But that day was special. To put it all aside, and appreciate what we do have.

Words Are Important
The night before, Monday night, my bro checked in with me before going to bed. We talked about the vote coming the next day, and then about some even more trivial, family stuff. As he left, he stopped at the door, looked back at me and said, "You were right." Then just walked out. Of course, I thought of that House quote in Son of A Coma Guy:

The patient, who is about to kill himself so his son can have his heart and can't think of what to tell his son, asks House, "If you could hear one thing from your father, what would it be?"

"I'd want him to say, 'you were right, you did the right thing.'"

I never understood why House would think hearing that was important. But I do appreciate it a little more.


TG

Happy Halloween Everybody! I made my Jack O' Lantern a couple of days ago. Here it is!



Ain't that a motley mug?

I tried to make the smile like those smiley grins. I only know how to do one smiley face. But that's okay, I like it that way! The eyes and nose are Alice Cooper. Like I need to tell you that!

Other Kinds of Scary
Scary is a matter of perspective! Here's a few pics of the "Northern Lights," also known as the aurora borealis.

I got these in an email. Aren't they beautiful? But if you were out camping up there in Northern Light country, and had never heard of them, they could be scary! Especially if you lived in a cave a while back, killed with spears, and "Ugh" was not only a noun and verb, but an adjective! Scary stuff!

Fear Drives Home
Went golfing today. First time I've gone by myself, and it was really nice. I was All By Myself! (cue music) It was so quiet, nobody else was out there. Just the ball and me. It was really different than playing in a group. Here's the news: I made par! Happened on the second hole.

It's a three par, meaning you're supposed to put it in the hole by the time you hit the ball three times. I did it! First. Time. Ever. Naturally I was alone. I just grinned, started jumping up and down, celebrating amongst myself. That's when I noticed some guy had started playing behind me. He was patiently waiting while I danced around the flag, making yet another fool of myself. How embaressing. Oh well.

I drove home at sunset. Perhaps you've done this before. You find yourself driving right into the sun, and it blinds your eyes to the point where you can't see the traffic ahead!

Now that's scary. Maybe it's not that bad for most people, but I've got funky vision. So I'm cruising towards the sun, hitting the breaks as might be needed, when I notice this little guy dancing across my windshield:

And I can't tell if he's on the inside or outside of the glass! I'm watching this eight legged beast tap dance over my lap, while squinting my way down mainstreet! Now THAT'S Scary! But I did manage to get a pic of the spider and sunset. Spider dude eventually climbed to the top of the windshield and I lost him. Then it felt like something was crawling on my leg. YIKES! But a vehicular collision was scarier. No distractions. Sorry little dude.

Finally...
I have a fear of being an idiot. That's why I don't play chess. And why, a long time ago, I stopped playing tic-tac-toe. I always felt intimidated by the game. It seems so simple, and it's that deception that haunted me. It's not that simple, but it is.

The scary part comes in with this chicken.

Not the actual chicken. Or is it?

There's this chicken who beats everybody in that boxy game. The chicken is legend. He's mostly a casino promotion. Of course, it's more than one chicken. Most chickens can beat humans in tic-tac-toe. Try it. Or Google it, which ever's easier. But be afraid. Be very afraid.

Fortunately, my older bro shared with me the TTT Secret. It's all about symmetry. You have three plays, the middle, a side, or a corner. I didn't catch on at first. But he showed me this website, and it shows how to win every time. You play a game, and it shows your mistakes. Made it look simple!

How To Win At TicTacToe

Thought I would leave on a positive note. Here's hoping everyone enjoys the kickoff to the Holiday Season!

TG

Word of Caution: Long Blog Ahead! My birthday was last Thursday.

As birthdays accumulate, I try to downplay their significance. Unfortunately, I have a cadre of friends who make sure that doesn't happen!

But first, I went golfing last Monday with older bro, and received an early b-day present: a free round of golf! I walked up to the counter, and told the elderly lady that we wanted two with a cart for nine holes. Meanwhile, older bro went to get some beer. I tell her I'm going to get some gatorade. I don't drink beer while playing golf. It's not like bowling!

When I get back, bro is paying for his green fees and beer. When I go to pay, she only charges me for my gatorade! I figured bro had paid my green fees. Nice gesture. After the game I thanked him. Long silence. Then he said, "She tried to charge me for your fees, and I told her you had already paid!" He thought I paid when I first walked up to the counter. God Bless the elderly. Here's a pic from Dogwood Hills.

That's the sixth hole. Isn't that a gorgeous fairway? That's also a shot of me teeing off, with a most unflattering view of my back nine!

We had b-day dinner at The Shed, a barbecue and blues house with impeccable credentials. I've still got leftovers in the fridge! A few close friends made it, some I hadn't seen in quite a while. Received some nice gifts and cards. The big surprise was, I got a card from Miss Prissy! She couldn't make it, but sent her sentiments.

When I got back home, MP acted like she didn't know what I was talking about!

Special Treats
I had a couple of other treats on my b-day. One was a video by Ron Howard. No, he didn't make it for me! In this video, he makes his endorsement for president in the upcoming election. If you like vintage tv sitcoms, and can set aside politics for a moment, I highly recommend watching this. Ron visits his Andy Griffith and Happy Days past. The spot with Andy, Mr. Griffith so much reminded me of my dad, brought tears to my eyes. Good tears. I hope this link works!

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/cc65ed650d

I also bought myself a b-day present! Who else better suited to buy you a present than yourself? And this has been a long time coming. For many months, I've been shopping for a new set of cookware. My tendencies have swung between "Look for a bargain!" and "You get what you pay for!" I came across this 16 piece set from Magefesa. Never heard of them. But the set looked nice:


Amazon said it normally sells for $237, but they had four sets left for $86! I investigated a little more. They're a Spanish manufacturer, mostly known for their pressure cookers. Forty years in business. I checked other websites, and they were indeed selling for around $250! After investigating, I went back to Amazon, and there were only two sets left! So I pulled the trigger. I'll know more when they arrive next week, but I feel good about it. I've just got to figure out where to put it all!

A Little Introspection...
We had several beers at The Shed! Not good when you work the next day. But I made it! I finally felt my age! Stayed home Friday night. Went to sleep around 1AM, while trying to watch a movie on TCM called "The King of Sin." I think. It was a cult film about an insurance agent who gets fired, then tries to create a new cult. Really weird. Frank Zappa did the soundtrack! But I drifted off before too long... (writer's embellishment ahead!)

In the early morning, before sunlight, I momentarily awoken to the dialogue of a film. Not a foreign film, but an oldie 40's flick whose pace and cadence lent itself to another time and place. Perhaps not so long ago, and not that far away. The film drew me back to slumber, to a dream where I was the artist I've only dreamt of in real life.

There, I painted a bird, struggling on the ground to take flight, beneath the weight of a thousand leaves. Struggling to release itself from the consequence of a lifetime of dormancy. Craning its head towards the sun, to raise its wings through the damp roughage. To lift, to rise, to aspire to what might be better. To catch the wind that scoffs at failure, to rise into the sky, and dance amongst the inspirations borne through the lofts of ambition without inhibition. In the dream, I reminded myself I wasn't the bird, but the one painting the bird.

How weird is that? Though the painting took what seemed a lifetime, the dream took only a few minutes. I awoke back to the movie, "The Picture of Dorian Gray." Never heard of it, but I liked the title. I hadn't the energy or patience that early morning to watch it. But I looked it up later. The movie is an adaptation of an Oscar Wilde novel, and the subject matter a bit ironic.

It was about a guy, Dorian Gray, who had a portrait made of him. He became so enamored with the portrait, and his youthful good looks, he wished that he would never age. He wished the portrait would age for him. And it did! Throughout the story he maintained his youthful good looks, but had to watch the image in the portrait age as his true self. And it haunted him.

Spooky City! (cue Twilight Zone theme) The last snippet of dialogue I remember before falling back to sleep was, "I cannot repeat an emotion. No one can." I don't know why that stuck with me!


TG