The Bosque

...if you're one of those people that just has to buy a Christmas item for someone...and you were planning on spending a lot of money on me...could I please have this?

Exclusive to Amazon.com, Columbia/Legacy presents Miles Davis: The Complete Columbia Album Collection, a deluxe, limited edition retrospective of the iconic music Miles Davis created during his 30 years with Columbia Records. This exquisite package, comprised of 70 CDs and 1 DVD, contains all 52 of Miles’ Columbia recordings in Japanese-styled mini LP jackets and includes a 250-page book with a biography, a fully annotated discography, a complete song index, and rare photos.

Appearing on DVD for the first time in this box is Live in Europe ’67, shot in Stockholm and Karlsruhe during the Miles Davis Quintet’s European tour of 1967. Completely remastered from the original broadcast tapes, these performances feature Miles with Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams. In addition to the DVD, there will be a first-time audio release of the full performance from the 1970 Isle of Wight festival. Bonus tracks and other rarities that have been added to the CD reissues of individual albums in past years are also included.

At under $400, it is a fantastic deal! And I've been a good Sycamore this year!

Part of the current front page of Fox News' website:



Oh sure...Obama doesn't seem to like Fox. And Fox doesn't seem to like any Democrat or liberal. But I think these two definitely have a thing for each other. And I think they should just be honest with their true feelings. You don't want to miss an opportunity for love, after all.

Cancer is a son of a bitch, as we all know. And it seems to love both sides of my family, as well as April's.

My Aunt Marilyn has been battling it off and on for a year now. Recently, she finished chemo for ovarian cancer. Unfortunately, a new mass has been found in her stomach. Apparently, surgery will help ease the pain, but she's decided against chemo. She's 78 and has had a good life...I don't blame her. The situation is serious enough that my cousin Lisa (her daughter) has come home from Colorado to help take care of her.

Then there is Kathy. My Uncle Jim has 4 kids...Jimmy is the oldest. He married Kathy, got his college degree and joined the Air Force. He was last stationed in Colorado, near my cousin Lisa (who served 20 years in the Air Force, mostly at the Academy).

Jimmy was diagnosed with lymphoma in '02, I think. We thought he licked it, but it returned in '03. He died in the fall of that year, leaving behind Kathy and 4 kids. Did I mention that my Aunt Joan (his mom) suddenly died earlier in '03, while in Colorado helping Jim and Kathy? Oh, and I did mention that Jim and Kathy lost one of their children shortly after he was born? Yeah...the Lord decided to give them some serious tests.

Kathy was apparently rushed to the hospital Sunday morning...apparently, she had a brain bleed. Turns out that she has a cancerous tumor. My cousin Johanna (one of my Uncle Jim's daughters) is headed to Colorado today to help Kathy and the kids.

Needless to say, things are really fucked up right now. So my family needs prayers and thoughts...a whole lotta them! It would be greatly appreciated, and we'll be sure to return the favor.

Thank you.

I was just looking through the dusty tomes here at The Bosque, and can't believe that I've barely mentioned Elmo. Only once, when my mother-in-law was having cancer surgery in '06.

So...this is Elmo:





Elmo is the family dog, a pure-bred Cocker Spaniel. He was a gift to May (my SIL) when she was a child, but he's a total mama's boy...he's usually stuck to my MIL's side when she's at home.

Elmo is either 13 or 14 now. He's been blind at least as long as April & I have been together (4 years), has gone almost totally deaf in the past year and he's had a lot of skin issues since we've lived here. In spite of all that, he's actually pretty healthy.

And he's a tough hombre...I guess you have to be when you're blind and deaf. If you touch a sensitive spot, he makes sure you know by trying to bite you. He's loud...whether he wants food or wants to go out or come in. He loves human food...he barks incessantly when we're eating. And if you try to get him out of the way, he'll start wailing.

Taking him for walks can be an adventure. He always wants to go full-tilt, and he generally walks you. His sniffer is all he has left, and he makes good use of it. Unfortunately, it's battle-scarred, after numerous run-ins with concrete, doors and walls.

But yesterday, he proved how bad-ass he really is.

Early yesterday morning, I woke up to use the bathroom. While I was in the bathroom, he came into our bedroom. When I got back to the bedroom, I couldn't see very well, and wound up tripping over him. He was standing between my bed and the dresser, and I wound up falling down and knocking him aside. So basically, he got hip-checked into a dresser by a 400-pound object moving at a decent velocity.

He started crying right away, and April jumped up and hit the lights. He appeared to be okay, though he was limping, and I was pretty much doing the same. I wound up moving him out of the bedroom and went back to bed a short time later.

Yesterday, he was definitely not himself. He had a hard time getting into one of his beds and could barely jump on the couch. He was more sensitive than usual too, snarling at April two times in quick succession.

Needless to say, I was pretty worried about him, and felt really bad. Of course it was an accident, but still...the poor dog is blind and deaf, and he got the shit beat out of him!

I told my MIL what happened when she got home from work yesterday...surprisingly, she didn't wake up during the chaos. When she went to try and pet him, he wouldn't raise his head as he normally does...he finally did so after some coaxing. After a bit of petting and rubbing, he seemed to improve. He continued to improve during the evening, and by this morning, he was back to his old self.

See...total mama's boy!

But I wanted to give Elmo his props. He can be ornery...and annoying...and silly. Last night, he got himself caught in the bathroom and started whining for help. But he's a motherfucking beast...he takes a licking and keeps ticking.

Elmo rocks! :)

Last week, I submitted my resume for a Call Center Supervisor position at a gun manufacturer in Columbia, MO.

(Wolf, are you reading this, dear? Don't faint...I know it sounds crazy, but yup...Midway USA.)

Anyway, apparently they're setting up a new call center and I would be leading the team. After I submitted my resume, I got an e-mail from the HR department right away, asking me some interview questions. Here are some of the questions:

What specific skills do you possess that make you the right applicant for this job?

What is the biggest professional mistake you have ever made and how did you resolve it?

Please summarize your knowledge and experience in each of the following areas:
a. Shooting
b. Reloading
c. Gunsmithing
d. Hunting

I thought I gave some great answers...this is like the 2nd or 3rd time during this job hunt that I've had to do something like this. Granted, I don't have a lot of gun experience beyond target shooting at Scout Camp, but this just sounded like a really cool opportunity.

Sadly, I got a rejection e-mail from HR yesterday...I rarely get bummed out anymore about job rejections, but this one stung a little. But for some reason, I felt a need to respond to this e-mail...I've never responded to a rejection letter before. So I did.

Here's their e-mail:

We appreciate your interest in our company. We are unable to advance you in the interview process for our Customer Service/Call Center Supervisor position at this time. We will keep the information you provided us in our active file for six months.

Again, we appreciate your interest MidwayUSA and wish you the best in finding a rewarding position where your talents can be fully utilized.

So I responded with:

I'm sorry to hear this, as I thought this would be a unique and great opportunity for both myself and the company. However, I understand, as there are a lot of great candidates out there, especially given the current economy.

Should another position fit my skill set and profile, please keep me in mind for consideration. I wish your company the best of success in its future.

Can't hurt, right?

I have 2 conservative friends now that have tried to use the '05 State of the Union address as a "They started it!" argument in regards to "disrespecting" the President.

That argument seems so silly to me. Joe Wilson took the perfect moment to yell at the President...and his argument was a moot point to begin with. Booing and grumbling and jeering aren't cool, but not such a big deal because it's a group of people quickly making their feelings known.

Can people just accept when they're wrong? I mean, seriously...several GOP members said it was wrong, and Wilson basically had to apologize.

That really should have been the end of it. But no...we have to go back to the library and say, "Oh yeah! Well you did it too!" And the Dems do it too...no doubt. But there seems to be a lot of self-fulfilling prophecy bullshit going on. "ACORN's bad! Look what they did in the elections! And Baltimore! And DC!" Yeah, let's just fucking forget about all the good they've done.

If we're gonna take that rationale, then you have to agree with, "All cops are pieces of shit." Because a few cops do shitty things. Or, "All women that have pre-marital sex are whores." Because a few women and men like to get it on a lot.

Can we just shut the fuck up, agree to disagree and fight on the principles? Thank you.

8 years ago, on a cool but sunny Tuesday morning in New York City, all hell broke loose. It seems so long ago, yet I can remember sitting at my office in Philadelphia, wondering what the fuck was going on. Peons didn't have internet access at their desks, so I didn't find out the true scope of the day's events until I got home that evening.

With our forces bogged down in Afghanistan right now, we need to make sure that they get the support and assistance they need so that they can make Afghanistan safe, rid them of the Taleban and find Osama bin Laden. This is a battle worth fighting, and we have to finish the job. Now if Pakistan would be a little more helpful...

We can never forget that 3000 people lost their lives to some fucking nuts hell bent on destroying us. And we can't stop fighting for them...and for us.

I've talked about this before, but it's been awhile...and I think it was on the old forum, not this here blog. But I want to put it out there to the masses again. I'm not asking for sympathy...I just want to make this debate as personal as possible, and I want people to really think about health care reform. Maybe you have friends or loved ones in a similar situation.

In early 2005, I was diagnosed with idiopathic cardiomyopathy. This means I have an enlarged heart, and we have no clue how it happened. When I was first diagnosed, my ejection fraction was 35%. Normal is 55%, and heart transplant concern is 30%. Fortunately, through diet, exercise and medication, my heart has functioned normally since last fall. Some of you know that this diagnosis led to dramatic and profound changes in my life, and is probably the best thing to ever happen to me.

Last fall, April lost her job, and we couldn't afford COBRA...so we have been without insurance since. Fortunately, I go to a clinic here in St. Louis. Anyone can go there, but if you are without insurance, you get put on a sliding scale. Though I have had a few issues with them, they have been godsends...without the clinic, I would not be able to afford my medicines or doctors visits. And luckily, April has had no major health problems recently.

Of course, there is nothing I would like more than to have a full-time job that offers benefits...benefits that include health insurance that I can pay for for both April and me. I've been trying hard to get a job, even going into overdrive recently...but as many of you know, the economy kinda sucks right now.

And I can't get my own health insurance, due to my pre-existing condition. The last time I tried, I actually got laughed at. I don't think he was trying to be mean...he was just being realistic.

So here I am...I have a pre-ex through no fault of my own. I'm willing to pay for health insurance. I'm willing to pay a bit more for health insurance than a healthy person. But I can't get it. And as of now, none of my conservative friends seem to have a good answer for me. If anyone has ideas or suggestions, I would seriously appreciate it.

Obviously, I'm not the only one with this problem. And I'm sure most folks that can still work would be willing to do the same as I would. I think I'll have a job by the time this potential plan kicks in. And hopefully I won't need to take all the meds I do now in a few years. But this could easily happen to anyone else out there...and I could be in this situation again down the road.

Lately, I've been trying to tell anyone that's willing to listen to me to just chill the fuck out, regardless of what side you're on. My favorite quote as of late--by MLK--is, "We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline." I know this is an emotional situation, because this is a big game-changing event. But we gotta step back and really look at this without getting so amped up.

I think we've waited long enough to enact such a bill. I have no doubt that it will cost us some $$$, but there is definitely some fat we can trim and other things we can do so that it is as cost-effective as possible. It's easy to spin this either way...there are plenty of stats out there to do it. So in the end, I think you have to go with what seems right to you.

I think this health care reform plan is the right thing to do. We need to keep our nation healthy, happy and productive. I think our current system desperately needs fixing, and I think the points the president mentioned last night are good things to do. I think the cost is a small price to pay for doing so. We already require certain insurances as it is...I think health care should be one of them. And I think the president finally laid out as much detail as he could at this point. I was excited as hell last night, much as others were probably throwing shit at their TVs. But I'm down from that high now, and the plan still sounds like a winner to me. I think we should do it.

So there you have it, and there you are. Thank you for your time.

This is the text of President Obama's speech to schoolkids tomorrow:

Hello everyone - how’s everybody doing today? I’m here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we’ve got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I’m glad you all could join us today.

I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it’s your first day in a new school, so it’s understandable if you’re a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you’re in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could’ve stayed in bed just a little longer this morning.

I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday - at 4:30 in the morning.

Now I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I’d complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, "This is no picnic for me either, buster."

So I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I’m here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I’m here because I want to talk with you about your education and what’s expected of all of you in this new school year.

Now I’ve given a lot of speeches about education. And I’ve talked a lot about responsibility.

I’ve talked about your teachers’ responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn.

I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don’t spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox.

I’ve talked a lot about your government’s responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren’t working where students aren’t getting the opportunities they deserve.

But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world - and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.

And that’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.
Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide.

Maybe you could be a good writer - maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper - but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor - maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine - but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.

And no matter what you want to do with your life - I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.

And this isn’t just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.

You’ll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You’ll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.

We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don’t do that - if you quit on school - you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country.

Now I know it’s not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.

I get it. I know what that’s like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn’t always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn’t fit in.

So I wasn’t always as focused as I should have been. I did some things I’m not proud of, and got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.

But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams. My wife, our First Lady Michelle Obama, has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn’t have much. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.

Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don’t have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there’s not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don’t feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren’t right.

But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life - what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home - that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying.

Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.

That’s what young people like you are doing every day, all across America.

Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn’t speak English when she first started school. Hardly anyone in her hometown went to college, and neither of her parents had gone either. But she worked hard, earned good grades, got a scholarship to Brown University, and is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to being Dr. Jazmin Perez.

I’m thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who’s fought brain cancer since he was three. He’s endured all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer - hundreds of extra hours - to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind, and he’s headed to college this fall.

And then there’s Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods, she managed to get a job at a local health center; start a program to keep young people out of gangs; and she’s on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.

Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell aren’t any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same.

That’s why today, I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education - and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book. Maybe you’ll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you’ll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you’ll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, I hope you’ll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don’t feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.

Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it.

I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work -- that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you’re not going to be any of those things.

But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won’t love every subject you study. You won’t click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won’t necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.

That’s OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures. JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, "I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

These people succeeded because they understand that you can’t let your failures define you - you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn’t mean you’re a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn’t mean you’re stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.

No one’s born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work. You’re not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don’t hit every note the first time you sing a song. You’ve got to practice. It’s the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before it’s good enough to hand in.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don’t know something, and to learn something new. So find an adult you trust - a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor - and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.

And even when you’re struggling, even when you’re discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you - don’t ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.

The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It’s about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.

It’s the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.

So today, I want to ask you, what’s your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country?

Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you’ve got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us down - don’t let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.

Happy birthday, Rhoda! By now, you have probably jumped ahead or beat the hell out of anyone in front of you to get to Michael. And not the one that just died..."Off the Wall"-era...your favorite.

Rhoda would have turned 40 today.