New Addition to the Family

We have sold the Birds to one of Cathy's Co-Workers who has other Cockatiels and loves them, we were "given" them by Olivia's Grandma in Missouri. Yes, this Woman gave them to my Step-Daughter without calling and asking us if it was okay. Liv showed up at my In-Law's house with two birds in tow. It's better for the Boys as they are in a home where they get paid attention to. With the money from the sale, Liv decided she wanted a Hamster. She picked out the smalles and nicest one out of the bunch and "Flara" the Hamster has a cool cage with climbing tubes, etc. The Cat is still puzzled as to what this little thing is......I hope she doesn't figure out it's prey and try to get into the cage.....

Turkey-The Morning After!!

We went to the In-Laws for Turkey Day and it was a wonderous feast. I miss being with my own Family this year as they were gathered in one of the two usual places: My Cousin Maria's house or my Aunt Sudie's house. Aunt Sudie (Rosaria is her actual name) is my Mom's older sister. They are very close. I practically grew up with my Cousin's Maria and Ron. Maria is married to Todd and they have two boys, Drake and Dominic. Todd, Ron and I would always warm up pre-feast by playing football, etc. Then there would be the obligatory Football games which we would all watch together. Then there would be Todd's Grandpa and his stories. Dominic DiMaggio passed away a few years ago so there are no more stories. That's right, DiMaggio. He was the cousin of Jolting Joe DiMaggio and played Baseball as well. Dominic played on the Oakland Oaks, then on the San Francisco Seals. He would also tell us of his days in the Army back in WWII playing Baseball on the base when he was Stationed in Italy. History Channel has nothing on hearing the first hand account. At the In-Laws house was the usual crowd: Ruby and Doyle (my InLaws), Amanda (the oldest Step-Daughter), Jaylin (the Grandson), Drew (Amanda's Guy), Kevin (my Step-Son) and his Girl Sarah, Bonnie (Cathy's Step-Sister), her boys Shane and Tony, Jennifer Shane's Wife and their Daughter Courtney, Tony's Wife Matea and their Son Braden weren't there as she had to take her Elderly Mother to the Mother's Sister's House, Don (Cathy's Step-Brother whom she isn't overly fond of) his Wife Lisa and their Sons Matt and Mark. Lots of Turkey and Dressing (we Californians call it Stove Top Stuffing, but it's home made out here), mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, green beans, corn casserole (oh my God that crap is good...it's like a corn souflee), yeast roles and pumpkin pie. Whew!!! Good stuff. Yesterday I had to shampoo the rug since we are having our first Christmas Party at the house on the 2nd. Today the rug is drying and Panther (the Cat) is having a field day running around the living room devoid of furniture (she is confused as to where the big blue couch thing is....). Tomorrow we pick up the youngest Step-Child, Olivia, who has been off to Mississippi with her Father. I promised her we would do our own Thanksgiving dinner as a Family (Cathy, her and I) next week sometime.

Some people are idiots

So last Friday Sony finally released the PS3. Of course Microsoft released their XBox 360 a year ago and it is slowly eroding Sony's market, but they don't seem to care. Just like when the 360 came out, there were a bunch of folks with no lives who were camped out to purchase one. Now this is the first model of this machine, there are bound to be bugs that no one has discovered yet. There are only 5 games out for it, and if you really want to get your money's worth, you need an HD TV. A good portion of these morons paid 500-600 bucks for one of these things so they could turn around and sell it on ebay for thousands of dollars to bigger idiots willing to pay double or triple for something that will be in stores by the dozens come January. Morons!! The real morons though are the idiots who will pay some ebay guy 9K for one of these things!!!! I think I will wait a few years when they get down to 200 bucks.....the 360 will probably go there first.

Thanksgiving

A truly American Holiday. In the late 1600's a group of Puritanical Brits were angered at the only choice of religions to practice was the Church of England. Hmmm....a Government forcing one kind of religion on it's people.....hmmmm sounds a bit familiar doesn't it???? So these disgruntled Prudes hopped a ship called the Mayflower and set sail West. They landed on Plymouth Rock (Plymouth Rock didn't land on them....) and started a colony (the precursor to the Original 13). The local natives brought them food and helped feed these pale skinned people throughout the Winter. How did they thank them?? By stealing their land and eventually inviting more white people over to steal more land. How do we commemorate this event?? We gather at our Families houses and gorge ourselves on Turkey (BTW, the domestic Turkey is the stupidest animal known to man and deserves to be killed and eaten. Just saying.) but before that we watch a Parade sponsored by a Department Store with giant balloons, then watch football, then comes the eating. After eating, we usually pass out on the couch, unbutton the top button of one's pants, and slip into the bliss of a food coma. Then the next day we wake up at the butt crack of dawn and go shopping. We really don't need to do this, but yet we do. I simply refuse to go to a retail establishment on that day because I have no desire to deal with shoppers turned into agressive, infantile, rude jerks. This would be a day I got arrested for pummeling the crap out of some idiot. Ah the Holidays!!!

Open Letter to the Democratic Party

Now that you have gained control of the House, and it looks like you may have the Senate (at the writing of this, the Montana Dem just won, and the Virginia one is still up in the air but looks like the Dem will win there) please, please don't SCREW IT UP!!!!! Stop being the extreme, lefist whiners that you tend to be. Speaker Pelosi, stop the bickering and learn to get along. And for the love of all that is Holy, please, please tell the following Senators to Shut the Hell Up: Hillary Clinton, John Kerry and Ted Kennedy. Better yet, just gag them now and forbid them to speak ever. Also, if you hope to ever see the Presidency again, DO NOT I repeat DO NOT give Hillary Clinton the nomination. You might have actually won the last time if you had made it the Edwards/Kerry Ticket instead of the other way around. You need to push the Borac Obama/Edwards Ticket, and big time. Or perhaps the Edwards/Clark Ticket. Keep Hillary away from the DNC...for the love of God please!!!!! Take a lesson from Obama and Harold Ford Jr; stop being liberal, and learn to be a Centrist. If you are someone that doesn't just pull out your Democratic Party Reply Flash Cards then you will do well.

Commitment to Sucking....

Yes. I am a Raiders fan. I have been for a very long time. They are my team and I stick by them through thick and thin, but this year.....oh Man!!!! Can we say "Suck"????? I blame Al Davis. He's one of the worst owners in Football (Jerry Jones of the Cowboys is right there with him....). He thinks that all the stuff he knew about Football in the 70's still applies today. WRONG!!!!!! Unfortunately the people close to him who should be telling him to sit down and shut up and just count his cash, don't. They are afraid to. So these "Yes" people sit around and blow sunshine up his butt and he thinks he knows what he's doing. The Raiders average age of their players is like the Giants....Old guys. The Raiders had a chance to get Vince Young from the Longhorns or Jay Cutler from Vanderbilt and opted to get Aarron Brooks. Huh??????? No wonder why they are losing. The Offensive line is made up of Ushers, not Linemen. Every down is like "hey come on in...the QB is right over there...". 9 Sacks or something like that the last game!?!?!?! I made it to the 4th Quarter when it was Whatever to 0 and that was it. I'm hoping they get their heads out of their butts next season.

City vs. Country

Now from my last couple of rants, you may think I just flat out hate all Country folk. Far from it. What I hate is stupidity, closed mindeness and intolerance. That's what I hate. I was born in San Francisco, but only lived there until I was 2. My folks moved to a Suburb called South San Francisco about 25 minutes South. We lived there until I was 4 because Mom was pregnant with my Sis and we needed a house and not an apartment. So we moved to San Bruno, the City directly South of South San Francisco. Now I will admit, I'm a City boy. But not really. I grew up in the 'Burbs. Cookie cutter houses with little sections of greenery called Lawns, sidewalk in front of the house, big back yard, and lots of fences. Each house also had these wonderful little Hedge rows that seperated your house from your neighbors. Everyone knew everyone else, and it was the perfect Nuclear Family community. People went to church, but not the same churches, and no one went around spouting Bible verses all day with every other word coming out of their mouths being "God" or "Jesus". There were lots of cars, and the only wildlife was cats and dogs and the occasional chicken (we had some Latino neighbors). There was a shopping mall about a 10 minute walk from the house. We had a public library and several schools. It was a very blue collar town. No we had our share of morons and idiots, just like everyone else. Yes, life was simple. Now some would say, "But Steve you grew up in a City with lots of advantages....". Sure I did. I grew up in San Bruno. The rich folk lived in the hills and only cared about their part of the City. I lived on "the wrong side of the tracks" as they say. Literally as there were two rail lines that ran past our house. The industrial area of San Bruno was a 5 minute walk from the house, and I lived in the flight path of SFO. Our neighborhood eventually became a ghetto (I moved out as did my folks long before that happened). Now I've always liked living with people next to me. I've always liked having a fence between me and my neighbors. I believe in the adage "good fences make good neighbors." Would I love a lot of land? Of course, but I would landscape the crap out of it, and build a huge house on it. It wouldn't just sit there. Could I live in the country? Not really. In the country, if you aren't raising your own food, you have to go get it from somewhere. This usually means making a trek to the next town (a trek of a good long distance) to shop. Now I know all Country folks aren't slack jawed yokels. They live simple lives; much like I did in the Burbs that I grew up in. There are sterotypes, that unfortunately are truly represented in both areas. Take my buddy Ricky Bobby from Algood. I equated Algood and Cookeville with San Bruno. Both are Cities (even though those that live in the County section of town sometimes think it's the Country) where there are schools and a University. Yet there are slews of people like Ricky Bobby. He went to school, he had every opportunity to become someone, yet he chose to be lazy and not bother to pay attention in class, etc. Hey chose to become a Southern Stereotype. My Wife grew up in Algood....she is intelligent, a much more creative writer than I will ever be, is a wonderful artist, has a great eye for artistic things (you should see her photography and scrapbooking layouts....). She went to the same schools as Ricky Bobby, grew up with some of the same people, yet turned out to be a Cultured Human Being. You should meet her Mom. My Mother-in-Law is an intelligent, Cultured Human Being as well. That's the other Southern Stereotype; the honorable, cultured types. They chose to be Civilized. They know how to use punctuation when typing; and use good grammar as well. The people like RB who choose to become dumb hicks are the people I honestly feel sorry for. You could have risen above it all, but you chose not too. I could have followed in my Father's footsteps and become a Teamster; I didn't. Not that there was anything wrong with being a Teamster, I just wanted to do something else. We as Human Beings have freewill. Our destiny is not set by God or economic status. We decided who we are going to become. Just because you grow up in the Ghetto doesn't mean you have to become a Gang Banger........it's a hard choice not to go that route, but it's a choice you can make.

I love when people prove me right....

So this is a comment on my blog entry on my year living in the State of Tennessee.....Please note the lack of punctuation, horrible spelling and the fact that this Backwards Hick has me mistaken for someone else.........Now you know why I'm glad we moved from Algood.......allow me to deconstruct and translate for you....

I know this guy whats up steve you sure acted like you liked us sorry you felt that way i know you have a bad coccain habbit and we didnt want you around us while you were high is that why you hate us so bad see drugs do mess you up and i hope you find a place in your heart for god we know you and your family needs you to get clean i moved here from out of state to algood like you and i feel that algood is the home i never had i like having my church and the good people that go to church with me and my family ive got friends that i trust not people like you that judge us for how we live what do you want me to be sorry for saying i like this good ole boy system i wont i havnt met anyone that i havnt liked in algood yet and that little police department that closes at 10 does its job just fine it serves and protect its just to bad they didnt get you with a little coke on you and then you could have got the rehab you needed and as far as that goes how about those nights where you were so high that you beat your girlfriend up whos the good ole boy she still got that scar on her kneck

So Ricky Bobby here thinks I'm someone who hung out with a bunch of Hillbillies in Algood and was high on "cocain" all the time. (There's an e at the end of that RB.....Cocaine...see). Now Ricky Bobby here thinks I "hate" them. Such a strong word. I hate Hitler. I hate Kim Jong Il. I don't hate backwards, Hillbilly, Rednecks. I feel sorry for them actually. There is so much more to life than Budweiser and Nascar and The Vols......I've met my share of "simple" Country folks who are intelligent and can carry on a conversation; not a lot, but some. Now I feel sorry for Ricky Bobby here if he thinks Algood is the "home he never had"......Wow...you like your City being run by Cronyism??? I sure don't. Oh and Ricky Bobby, yes I'm going to judge you for how you live.....you and people like you have been judging me and my Home State and my Home Town for years. Hurts when the shoes on the other foot doesn't it? I lived in the SF Bay Area for 40 years and because of a vocal and visual minority I've been judged by every out of Stater I have ever spoken with (my Wife and a few others are exceptions to this of course.). I don't give a rats ass about whether you apologize for the way you live or not Ricky Bobby; if you had read my whole post you would have realized I don't try and change the way people are, I just tolerate you for your differences and leave you be. There's this thing called the First Amendment which says I can say whatever I want about who, what or where. Just like you did. Hell, I've even given your opinions a public showing so they could be heard. See, the First Amendment at work. Nice huh? Oh and Ricky Bobby, I have a Wife.....not a Girlfriend. If you had read the entire post you'd have known that. BTW (that's short for by the way...just to help you out there Ricky Bobby) I've never touched Cocaine (notice the e again...) or any illegal controlled substance in my life. Oh, I don't know if you've notice either Ricky Bobby, all these little commas and periods and use of Capital letters to start sentences; that's called PUNCTUATION......use it. It's your friend.

That Old Time Religion

In my last post I mentioned "my attitudes" on Religion. I will expand upon that comment and explain just what those attitudes are. To simplify, I am more Spiritual than I am Religious; there is a difference. As a Spiritual person I believe in God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Heaven and Hell and all the rest that goes with it. I believe there is a hierarchy in both realms with Guardians who watch over us. Most of my Guardians are in Heaven.....there was some Mafioso in my Family background, and they may or may not be in Heaven. I've mentioned before about "Dead Italian Relatives" who I know watch out for me. I feel their prescence in as much as anyone can. I believe that what you send out, you get back in return. Essentially the Eastern aspect of Karma. (My Karma just ran over my Dogma....) I've always tried to treat people the way I've wanted to be treated. I take folks at face value, and do not try and change their lives or opinions. I don't force my moral values on others either. I may not understand certain lifestyles: Homosexual, swingers, open marriages, polyamory....but I don't try and change these people's way of life. If it works for them, and both parties involved (or all parties in the case of some) are okay with it, then who am I to tell them they are wrong? I wouldn't want anyone telling me my relationship with my Wife is wrong now would I? I also believe in keeping my Spirituality out of politics. Church and State do not have any business being bedfellows. Period. My problems with organized Religion stem from this very statement. Our President ran a campaign based on "Faith".......knowing he would get the Midwest and Southern vote. It has backfired now because alot of those folks are feeling duped. I was raised Catholic (hey I'm Sicillian it's a requirement) and my issues with organized Religion began there. No, I wasn't molested by some perverted Priest or anything; actually the Priests at St. Brunos Church were very Spiritual and devoutly Religious men. I've always believed God doesn't want us to bother him with our problems. He made this place for us, gave us the gifts of Reason and Free Will and is leaving us to our own devices. He gave us 10 guidelines to live life by and he will be waiting for us when our time here is done. I honestly don't think he cares if you go to some building on Sunday and sing songs and say prayers.....I also don't think He cares about all those prayers either. It's a matter of His wanting us to live a good life, be good to others, tolerate those who don't see things they way we do, and generally just enjoy the time you have on this round hunk of rock. Too many people sway too many others in His name (and that "name" runs the gambit from Allah to Buddha to Jehovah to God). Look at the Middle East for example. A "Religious" leader told 19 other people to hijack 4 airplanes and fly them into buildings. He told them that Allah (God) had said that this was the righteous thing to do and that if they sacrificed themselves this way they would go to Heaven. These people (Human Beings with Reason and Free Will) let someone else do their thinking for them to the point of killing innocent people. That's what's wrong with Religion. There are Christians who believe that being Gay is fixable. It's not...it's a choice and a frame of mind. They believe that you send people to camps where they get Commando Prayer and they will be "saved". Yeah, after having food and drink withheld and being locked in a closet I will say I'm saved too. Father Junipero Serra did that with the California Indians way back when. He would beat and torture them if they didn't accept God. After a bit of this, they accepted God. There are Baptist Preachers who get up in the pulpit and instead of preaching the Word, they preach their agenda. One example is the Harry Potter books. Now these are wonderful stories of Good vs. Evil with Good triumphing in the end. They are also books about coming of age and being different. The one thing I really like about them; Kids actually sit down and....are you ready for this....READ!!!!!!! Wait....you mean they actually turn off the TV and Video Games to READ A BOOK!!!!!!!!! Yes they do. According to some Baptist Preachers though, these books should be burned and banned because they are about "Evil Witches and Warlocks" who want to make our Children turn to the occult and the Devil!!! No, these idiots haven't read the books. No, they haven't talked to the author to find out what her intentions were. All they did was read the synopsis of the story and go from there. There's a guy who's last name is Chick that draws and publishes little Fundamentalist Christian Comics telling you what is "Evil" and what is not. One of his most famous ones is "Dark Dungeons". Google it and read it, you will laugh. It's a comic that tells the tale of an "Evil" game called "Dungeons and Dragons". Ah yes, that Evil game I used to play for long hours on end with my good friends every Friday night in High School. A game that was supposed to be a guide to the occult and a "Gateway Drug" to a life as a pawn of Satan. Yeah right!!! This Chick dude never played the game, nor did he ever read any of the source material or interview any players. It was like "Hey there are Wizards and Warrior Priests and Demons and Spells to be cast...therefore it must be the Work of SATAN!!!!" This Chick guy had to eat his words recently because years ago he had said that the "Chronicles of Narnia" was an Evil book too. Having seen the movie, and researched the books I can tell you that it is blatantly a Christian inspired movie. It even has a "Christ like" character who is killed and resurrected. Even my own Religion the Catholics have had their bad times. Latinos are traditionally Catholic. Very devout Catholic...to the point of abiding by all of the rules and regulations of the Church. The Catholic Church says that premarital sex is a sin. To further scare you away from having intimate relations before you are married they also throw in the rule that birth control is also a sin. They figured that unwanted pregnancies will scare you into celibacy. Wrong. Have you seen a small Latino Family???? It's not just Latinos, there are some Caucasian Catholics that believe the same thing. These people become burdens on society because they have too many kids than they can afford to raise so the taxpayers have to take up the slack for their lack of self control.

So now you know what I mean by my attitude on Religion. I have nothing against someone having Faith, but I do have something against people who let their minds be closed because of it. Here are some perfect song lyrics that describe what I have said perfectly.

Band: Tool
Album: 10,000 Days
Song: Right in Two

Angels on the sidelines. Baffled and confused.
Father blessed them all with reason.
This is what they choose.
Monkey killing monkey killing monkey over pieces of the ground.
Silly Monkies given thumbs they make a club and beat their brother down.