A Day in the Life of Chaos

The Boudoir Divas This week I ventured to Las Vegas with my wife on very different terms than usual.  Typically I am meeting one or both of my best friends here for a few days of hiking, escape and exploration.  We usually stay in a cheap hotel in old downtown Las Vegas and for the most part eschew the glitzy glamor for a more pedestrian side of the city.  We quest for cheap craps, contact with locals and the discovery of the degenerate side of the city that provides endless colors for blogs. Trips to Las Vegas with my wife are on very different terms.  They focus on the glitzy side of Las Vegas and don't involve gambling.  They tend to involve a lot of culinary experience far distant from the $3.95 steak dinners and roadside burritos I eat with my friends.  Oh yes, and there is the shopping. Shopping for three men is a quick in and out.  For a woman it is hours of strolling.   I guess each experience has it's own pluses and minus' and should be taken on it's own t

Since South Carolina was an early Republican primary state the roadsides are still littered with campaign signs.  Many are for candidates no longer in the race.  Among all the rubble is one sign that stands out.  It is for a man running for County Coroner.  Perhaps I am missing something but there just seems like there is something wrong with his campaign message.

One thing that never ceases to amaze any parent is the perspective of age when seen through the eyes of a child. This morning I was eating my microwave oatmeal and watching CNN.  A story came on about the latest revelation of John F Kennedy's affairs.   Nearly 50 years since his death we still learn tales of his voracious sexual appetite.  Oh those were the days for a president.  The male club that surrounded him was sure to keep all his indiscretions close to their belts as most were engaged in similar ones.  Of course it is a phenomenon  not unique to males as Eleanor Roosevelt had her own lesbian and or bisexual lover.  Something about JFK entrances us though.  He was so damn good looking.  I commented to my son how much JFK did love the ladies.  He in turn asked me if I remembered JFK's presidency? "Son, I wasn't even born." I answered.  "His brother was assassinated when I was gurgling and blowing boogers out of my nose at the tender age of one."

A different face but the same school in spirit There are few professions I admire more in life than one of the most under paid ones, the teacher.  Perhaps the fact that both my parents were teachers has augmented my understanding and sympathy.  My father was a professor at the university level and my mother taught those that no one else wanted to teach.  I guess it was a tribute to her dedication that she would actually take up the mantle and give a final shot to those whom mainstream education had cast aside.  She worked for a program called S.A.V.E. that acted as a kind of last chance for many kids to get a diploma.  Each student was filled with a litany of problems.  Difficulties in life that made education seem like an unneeded add on.  On the other hand, education was the one element that provided any structure to their lives.  I am sure that the social studies teacher/gym teacher/part time counselor and sympathetic ear my mother was definitely must have helped. Hardly a day