The JackB

"When you're in jail, a good friend will be trying to bail you out. A best friend will be in the cell next to you saying, 'Damn, that was fun'." Groucho Marx

Archives for June 2010

A Song For You

by Leave a Comment

“I love you in a place where there’s no space or time
I’ve loved you for my life, yes, you’re a friend of mine
And when my life is over, remember when we were together
We were alone and I was singin’ my song for you, yes
We were alone and I was singin’ this song for you, baby
We were alone and I was singin’ my song,
Singin’ my song, singin’ my song, singin’ my song
Singin’ my song”
A Song For You- Ray Charles

The end of the work week was almost at hand. Wouldn’t be long before Johnny heard the proverbial bell in his head signaling the beginning of another weekend. Another weekend in which he would live his life alone and apart from his heart.

It had been more than a little while since he and June had spoken. More than a little while since they had shared a moment in time. More than a little while since they had been able to sit back and enjoy each other without regard or concern for the hurdles that life had placed in front of them.

Johnny sighed deeply and pictured his girl in his mind, wondered if she was cooking dinner and what she was making. A broad smile crossed his face. He couldn’t help it, just thinking about June made him smile. It wasn’t like there were moments when he wasn’t frustrated by the distance or sad because he couldn’t get to her. Sometimes he felt those things. There were hard moments in which life felt like he was living out a scene from Les Miserables.

And still I dream he’d come to me
That we would live the years together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms we cannot weather

I had a dream my life would be
So different from the hell I’m living
So different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed “
I Dreamed A Dream

It is not easy to be apart from the person you feel completes you. Not easy to be separated from someone who understands you and gives you unconditional love, even when they don’t want to. But life isn’t fair and love isn’t rational.

Johnny sighed again and pictured June walking, saw an image of grace and dark soulful eyes and he smiled again. The harder moments seemed to be less frequent than they had been. The dark places less forbidding than before. It wasn’t because he missed her any less or no longer loved her either. It was more of an adjustment that he had made because it was what had to happen.

He couldn’t live like that. Couldn’t spend so much time worrying about what might be or what might not happen. So he didn’t. He figured out how to see it differently, figured out how view it from a different angle. It was just one giant adventure that he and June were on.

A time during which they would have to be separated so that they could take care of the things that were preventing them from moving ahead. It made him giggle a little bit. June liked to say that she didn’t believe in fate or destiny. Math and science were realities that she could follow. They had rules that made sense. If he tried to convince her differently she would roll her eyes.

But Johnny knew better. He understood that she wanted to be his queen and that she secretly hoped that fate would work in their favor and destiny would be served. It was part of why they worked so well together. They had personalities that complemented each other.

And so he smiled again because he knew that they had a special connection. As a writer he had become relatively adept at writing stories that everyone could relate to, but he always included messages to June. Messages that she would find because in their secret world of words she always knew what was for her and what was not.

If nothing else it helped to make for an interesting life. Just one more reminder that you never knew what could happen.

Flotilla Fools- Crocodile Tears

by Leave a Comment

“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.” Abraham Lincoln

And so we leave daddy blogging for a moment to revisit the Flotilla of Fools. You remember them, the fine freedom fighters who intentionally provoked a sovereign nation in the hopes of dying as martyrs. The jackass above is Kenneth O’Keefe. Sorry, I really shouldn’t call him a jackass or suggest that he is both a fool and a liar, but the video makes that almost impossible.

Because if you have the stomach to sit through it you will hear him describe those who died as martyrs. You will hear him talk about disarming two commandos. You will hear him say that he took the sidearm away from one. He’ll claim that the removed the ammunition from said weapon.

And to that I respond as I have in the past. If you try to take a weapon from a cop or soldier of any nation you will receive a very severe response, especially if they hadn’t drawn their weapon. But let’s set that aside for a moment.

Because moments later he talks about having three commandos under control or should I use his term, in “our possession.” Mind you that he says that there were 100 or maybe 200 people watching over them.

It is almost comical his recounting of this tale. Really, you almost have to laugh at such a ridiculous story, but you can’t. You can’t because he and his flunkies are responsible for the deaths of their colleagues. You can’t because he and his colleagues did their best to spark a bonfire. A fire that would most assuredly lead to more death.

So I wonder if he is a polished liar who can say these things knowing full well they aren’t true or if he so dumb that he believes the lies he spews.

It is the typical contradiction. In one breath they describe a mighty war machine and then in the next they somehow over power said war machine. Honestly, it is just too much. If you told me that he cracked open an eggplant and smeared it over his face I’d believe you.

Dear Kenny, the Palestinian/Irish man whose desire is to create more hate and distrust among people- you deserve a more serious punishment than deportation. I haven’t any sympathy for you.

School Went Too Quickly- I Didn’t Learn Enough

by Leave a Comment

Today was the last day of school for my children. Summer break has begun.

As a child the end of the school year was something that I anxiously awaited. I loved everything about summer and couldn’t wait for it to begin. It was always a time of magic and mystery filled with moments that stay with me to this very day.

It is a different sort of experience for a parent. If you ignore the moans and groans some of us give about the work involved in trying to keep the kids entertained you end up in a place where the more sentimental of us wonder if time must always move so quickly. For the end of summer means that our children are one step closer to being big people and we are one step closer to being in unfamiliar territory.

Today was more than a little surreal. The dark haired beauty finished kindergarten and took a giant step towards her future. I suppose that sounds a little melodramatic, but it is what I saw. When I walked into her classroom I thought about the little girl that had walked in last August.

That girl didn’t read. She knew all the letters in the alphabet and recognized a word or two, but she didn’t read. And now, she is a monster that devours books, consumers them whole. She reads beautifully and knows so many different things that I can’t help but be amazed.

And her brother, the boy former third grader who started preschool last week blew me away.  He walked up to me and handed over an envelope. He had lost a tooth, but what caught my attention was his comment. He said that he was angry because the school year had ended too quickly. He said that it wasn’t fair because he hadn’t learned enough.

I told him that it wasn’t true and he barked at me that it was. I got down on a knee and listened while he told me that he had lost everything he had learned. Kindergarten, first and second grades were gone and he was certain that within a short time 3rd grade would be as well.

And then seventy five pounds of boy slammed into me. He is in that funny place where he really wants to be affectionate but is cautious about much he is willing to show in public. So I wrapped my arms around him and gently shook him. For a moment we pretended to wrestle. It is a charade I am willing to conduct for him. He needs the hug and I want him to get it without him feeling like he has compromised his cool factor or whatever it is that he doesn’t want to lose in front of the other kids.

I told him that he was wrong about losing knowledge. I told him that education was just like building a tower with blocks. I reminded him that we couldn’t build a pyramid without a foundation and explained that every grade before was part of that foundation.

And then I promised to help him see his friends over the summer. It was enough to make him relax and I even saw the hint of a smile appear on his lips. It was a special moment we shared and something that I am grateful for.

Because what this did was reaffirm everything that I believe about this school. It confirmed that he has been part of something special, meaningful and worthwhile. How many kids complain about not having enough time to learn. How many wish that the school year would be extended just a little while longer.

Well, mine did and does. And that means the world to me.

Children Need Boundaries- Just Say No

by Leave a Comment

A responsible parent understands that sometimes you need to say no to your child. It is not indicative of being mean or strict. Rather it is indicative of great love and care for your child. No is one of the best tools you have access to.

It is not always easy to do. There are numerous occasions that arise in which you want to say yes but in good conscience must say no. I mention this in relationship to Abby Sunderland. Sunderland is a 16 year old girl who is attempting to circumnavigate the world by herself.

“Abby Sunderland’s family is scrambling to persuade any government with an aircraft in the area to help find the 16-year-old sailor, family spokesman Christian Pinkston told CNN.

The California teen’s sailboat was in the Indian Ocean, about 2,000 miles east of Madagascar and 2,000 miles west of Australia, when distress signals started coming from the boat Thursday morning California time, Pinkston said. No one has been able to contact Sunderland since then.

Sunderland began her journey from Marina del Rey, California, on January 23 with the goal of sailing her 40-foot boat around the world solo and without stopping. Mechanical troubles forced her to make two stops for repairs, including in Cape Town, South Africa, in early May.”

I hope that they find her in good health. I hope that she is safe, but I cannot condone her parent’s actions in allowing her to take this journey. It is the once in a lifetime kind of adventure that I would like to do. It sounds incredible and at 16 I would have been happy to try.

But, it is a major undertaking for any person. A major adventure for an adult and she is most certainly not an adult. I would have said no.

I don’t view this in the same light as Jordan Romero, the 13 year old who climbed Mount Everest. He was joined on his adventure by his father and step mother. There was adult supervision, makes a big difference to me.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t wish anything bad to happen to Abby Sunderland. I hope that they find her and then present her parents with the bill. This didn’t have to be like this. Sometimes the best way to love your child is to say no.