Gilda Radner developed a very funny character named Rosanne Roseannadanna. She would go off on ridiculous tangents (not unlike this space on occasion) and then defend herself to colleague Jane Curtain. “Well Jane, it just goes to show you, it’s always something!” Yesterday was one of those “it’s always something” days. The day started with the unexpected and untimely demise of my computer’s hard drive. I spent my morning trying to revive it. That was a lovely start to the day. Last night my beloved Ohio State Buckeyes lost (again) in the BCS National Championship game. Earlier in my life journey those two events would have sent me into a multiple day funk of bad moods and bad manners. This morning I am not depressed. I wish my hard drive had lived a longer life. It would have been fun if Ohio State had won. But this season of my life is shaped by one very big word. Perspective. One
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My sons gave me a wonderful Christmas blessing, gift and challenge this year. I yield my space to my sons as I share their Christmas letter with you. They have a challenge for you, my tens of readers. As usual, I will have the last word at the end. Blessings, Dave Our dad is a little odd at times.  His self-deprecating nature, honest candor, and repetitious jokes all make for some entertaining moments throughout our growing up years.   He is occasionally witty and poignant in his “daily ramblings” while attempting to enter pop culture despite the increase in grey hair on the goatee.  He rarely misses an opportunity to toss out a dad joke or sports opinion while serving up a daily menu of dadisms.  Although these are the characteristics that come and go while adding to the quirkiness of our family, one thing about dad has never changed…his heart for a cause.  Granted, the causes have changed over the years. 
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This series was well received last year. You may view this as a repeat. I prefer to think of it as regifting. Here is Part 2 of the series. Blessings and Merry Christmas!    Dave As a public service I am providing a shopping guide for things you can give to Jesus on His upcoming birthday. Let’s be honest…giving the King of Kings and Lord of Lords a unique gift is really tough. Yesterday’s post examined the gifts brought to the young Christ child over 2,000 years by the three wise men, I had hoped that examining what the Magi brought might jump start our gift giving ideas.  By the way, there is a plaque that is available in catalogs this year with the title “What if They Had Been 3 Wise Women?” Here is the conclusion…. They would have asked directions. Brought practical gifts Made a casserole Cleaned the stable‘ Changed the baby And there would be peace on earth. Alert readers from yesterday remember that the first gift was gold. That is always a lovely
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My nomination for the most obvious lyric ever written is awarded to the Beach Boys.  In their tune “Little Saint Nick” the boys let us know this incredibly helpful piece of information. Christmas comes this time each year! (To be faithful to the text I will show it in context) It’s the little Saint Nick Ooooo, little Saint Nick It’s the little Saint Nick Ooooo, little Saint Nick Ahhhhhh Oooooooo Merry Christmas Saint Nick Christmas comes this time each year So if the Christmas holiday has been sneaking up on you perhaps you haven’t noticed that Christmas comes at this time every single year! Thanks to the Beach Boys for that amazing insight.  But when I did a little research on the original Saint Nick I found out that perhaps the song lyrics should have included a reference to his other side. Slap Nick. First, a little background on his “saint” side. The fourth-century bishop of Myra (present-day Turkey) was the role model for our
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This series was well received last year. You may view this as a repeat. I prefer to think of it as regifting. Blessings and Merry Christmas!    Dave We are less than a week from the hardest day of the year for most men. Many of us men give gifts to our significant others with fear and trembling. Humor writer Dave Barry relates the confusion most men deal with when giving a gift to their wife. He could tell by her reaction to the gift that she had not been dreaming of getting an auto emergency kit, even though it was the deluxe model with booster cables and an air compressor. Clearly, this violated an important rule, but the man had idea what the rule was, and his wife was too upset to tell him. Barry continues his thoughtful treatise… So why is the Christmas season so difficult for men? There are many complex reasons, by which I mean: women. The problem goes back to the
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Singer and song writer Dan Fogelberg died Sunday. His music impacted my life and I am sad that he is dead after only fifty-six years. Fogelberg is probably best known for the song “Same Old Lang Syne” that details his emotions after running into his old love on Christmas Eve many years later. And running out of things to say She gave a kiss to me as I got out and I watched her drive away Just for a moment I was back at school And felt that old familiar pain And as I turned to make my way back home The snow turned in to rain… Having felt a fair amount of pain in high school those lyrics made me melancholy whenever I heard them. But the song that I will remember Dan Fogelberg most for is his song written about his dad called “Leader of the Band”. His father was a musician and he passed that talent down to
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A couple of years ago I posted a story about the decision by a Wisconsin elementary school to rewrite the lyrics of “Silent Night” to make it acceptable for the “winter program”. The unfortunate choice for a new title was “Cold in the Night”. And the new lyrics went something like this. Cold in the night, no one in sight, winter winds whirl and bite, how I wish I were happy and warm, safe with my family out of the storm. That is wrong on so many levels. Why not just have the kids sing “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer” and go on home. Some things just shouldn’t be done. It is like the old Jim Croce song…”you don’t tug on Superman’s cape, you don’t spit into the wind, you don’t pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger, and you don’t rewrite Silent Night” (New Revised Version). Re-reading that post brought to mind a legend I had heard all of my life involving the
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