These are the flip flops my youngest son Skylar designed last August that won a company wide contest sponsored by his employer OLD NAVY and were voted as the best male shoe design by fellow employees of OLD NAVY, THE GAP and THE BANANA REPUBLIC. It had been narrowed down to the top ten and his came out on top. They just arrived in stores this past week and are constructed of 100% recycled materials and sell for $5.00 a pair. Congratulations SKY!!! Now if only the company would acknowledge his contribution with an in store promotion or some of the profits or a bonus or a thank you or... ANYTHING! Makes my cynicism about corporations all the more justified when NO ONE in management or the design department or ANYWHERE else even called to tell him they would be arriving...... Pathetic. Am I biased about this? You bet. Too bad it just mirrors all the other impersonal behavior exhibited by too many large companies. Anyhow... if you stop by Old Navy, please pick up a pair for his sake...As for the ladies, a female employee won the female design, so help her out too...thanks

Kenny playing the trumpet in a jazz concert at the high school last week...At fourteen years old he sings,plays the trumpet,guitar,drums,a little piano and probably whatever else he applies himself to. Hendrix to Haydn...he's a natural ham who enjoys being onstage, and as he goes through puberty will likely end up a baritone. The arts scene in Warren is surprisingly rich for a small community, with the theater and some local clubs playing an integral part in promoting talent. If Kenny eventually can make money for doing what he loves (...beyond door receipts he has already earned for playing drums)-all the better. But it's a tough way to make a living anywhere, so at the least his goal is to develop his talents for both pleasure and personal growth.

Suzuki DR70's

Bought his and hers mini trail bikes to play with in the mountains this summer, figuring that there are hundreds if not a thousand miles of old paths and roads to explore. I chose little bikes for their fun, un-threatening character and the ease with which we will be able to fit them into an a van or onto a small hitch carrier when we eventually travel the country. Our mountain bikes will fit onto the same platform, although sometimes distances both here and in the deserts will be too far for bicycles and the dirt bikes will enable us to explore further-at least so long as our backs hold up. At 80-100 mpg and with plenty of power to climb hills, the most essential accessory was higher handlebars to make them more comfortable for our adult proportions. I decided a few years ago that I was finished with road riding due to slowing reaction times, and the manufacturers no longer produce dual purpose motorcycles smaller than 200-250cc- which weigh 260-270 pounds fully gassed. Anything over 220 pounds is too heavy for the dirt in my experience, so these small bikes at 120 pounds seemed like the right compromise between comfort and portability. At any rate, adults race these things so there is a huge market of aftermarket accessories such as stiffer shocks and all that, but I think we'll be fine for slow trail riding.
POSTSCRIPT: 4/9/10 - Had fun riding them over the weekend with no problems. Plenty of power and comfortable enough with the high bars for at least several hours. Stiffer rear shocks/springs would help the bottoming due to our adult weight, but that can wait until the stock shocks wear out. With proper maintenance I expect these machines to last the rest of our lives, because being Japanese they reflect one of the few remaining examples of quality left on the planet. Honda also makes good machines, as does Yamaha, but I noticed that small Kawasakis are now made in Thailand, and the Chinese motorcycles(Pep Boys)are thus far mostly junk, with a terrible parts and service network.

Disney

Beth and I spent ten days in Florida last month, mostly at Disney World but also with a visit to Cape Canaveral, where a scheduled shuttle launch was canceled minutes before liftoff due to weather. Florida was a mixed bag, for although we were happy to be out of the Warren winter gloom and into the warmer and mostly clearer southern air, by weeks end the parks became a 'been there, done that' affair, and we will henceforth visit other places. Generallyit was great simply being away from winter, relaxing on the most comfortable bed we had ever experienced-a Simmons Beauty rest in the Comfort Inn in Lake Buena Vista- and meandering around the area at a personal pace. As tourists we concluded that the food and other essentials-in and out of the park- were too expensive-even in so called supermarkets-and service was fair at best. Florida had been hit hard by the recession so competition for business seemed desperate, but that was not reflected in prices. Our few complaints about Disney World included some rude employees and a monorail that reeked of urine, but two favorites were the Mt. Everest ride in Animal Kingdom and the Mexican restaurant in Epcot. Honestly, the most fun we had was setting up pictures on our camera with the ten second timer and concealing our ( too fat? ) bodies behind objects. Laughter does not describe the craziness... Many of the park visitors were from other countries,so we joked with a Chinese couple that they probably were surprised by how overweight everyone was-regardless of place of origin. Obesity definitely is a world wide pandemic,at least among middle class people who can afford Orlando area vacations. Our rental car was a Hyundai Accent, which seemed to be a decent if not exciting small vehicle, and we flew on Allegiant airlines out of Elmira, NY, which is a regional carrier that provides non stop economical package deals to major tourist attractions. They were on time and friendly coming and going, and the smaller airports were hassle free for both crowds and security wait times.

Politics

My new policy henceforth will be to vote against any incumbent in every election regardless of party...I do not see any other way to break the influence of lobbyists, although if the elections themselves are rigged even that may not help... A second jobless recovery/expansion seems to be occurring, similar to the last ten years... Big business does not care because their money will be made overseas, and politicians do not care because it is all one big happy,exclusive and wealthy club. This accelerating corruption between government and big business makes me thankful that the average person still owns guns-which is an unexpected thing for a pacifist to admit. Not sure where this will all lead, because most of us are still getting fat, but surely the excesses and disparities between the rich and powerful and the average person cannot be healthy for a democracy?

Figured I'd babble about Chelsea the dog, since I have not written here for awhile...She is a little over 3 years old, a terrier dachshund mix, and the first little dog ( Beth's ) I've ever been associated with...My last dog was a German Shepherd, and although the shepherd was a wonderful dog, intelligent and dignified, I am slowly believing that this little creature is the best animal I have ever known. There is more willingness to please in the small breeds I think-or a self awareness of the limitations of their small size- so she is obedient now that she knows what is expected of her, and shows admirable intelligence. I have not trained her to sit and other trivial commands-which are unimportant to me- yet I can open the door to let her into the yard, then tell her to wait while I go back in for several minutes, and she will be lying calmly near the door when I get back. Her patience is humbling as she stares at us while we fumble for the keys or tie our shoes or do all the other things humans do to delay themselves, then we take her to the woods where she runs full speed for 12 miles or more, never getting further away than what a few minutes and whistles can bring back. All the while she chases chip monks and squirrels and deer-which she never catches-hopping like a doe and clamoring over logs that challenge even me. At night she sleeps affectionately beneath the covers at our feet. Unlike many dogs she has no hesitancy to look us in the eye, rather seems to possess genuine cognitive understanding of certain things-at least to the extent that dogs can figure things out. And of course she is just cute, and charms everyone she meets, with the exception of tall men with baseball caps-a possible negative memory she retains from her puppy hood. She ended up in a rescue shelter where Beth adpoted her at around five months old. So... Chelsea...great little dog who is curled up on the bed beside me as I type...patiently waiting for me to get my arse back out side where she can run free!
POSTSCRIPT 12/26/09: She stepped into a leg hold trap about a week ago as we were walking along some railroad tracks. It had been set to capture a fox I suspect, and caused to her to scream in pain and shock and anger for the minute it took me to reach her and maneuver around her agitation in order to step on the release tabs at each end. Although I feared that it had cut right through and shattered her bone, by the time I had carried her the mile back to the car she was able to put some weight on that paw. Fortunately a quick check over by a vet-who told me that pets in traps were a common occurrence around here- confirmed that there were no serious injuries, so she was running full speed three days later. As for trapping, I see no real justification these days, although proponents will claim that it keeps populations in check. I suspect that habitat loss and highways have long replaced deliberate human culling as a necessity, and there are many alternatives to animal fur for clothing. Probably I would be less resistant to the practice if years ago I had not witnessed the chewed off leg of a raccoon which had maimed itself in order to escape a leg hold trap. Generally the trapped animals struggle awhile then settle down until the trapper-who is supposed to check his or her traps every 24 hours- arrives and shoots them in the head. I am no Disney idealist regarding nature, but the few dollars received for the fur makes what is a somewhat barbaric and inhumane activity questionable. I suppose that there are live catch traps available, but I doubt many trappers use them, and it still requires killing a wild animal for no good reason.

Where's the Beef?

This is a picture of my mom and Beth's fourteen year old son Kenny, following a performance of Titanic at the local theater. He has a solo singing part within a cast of talented adult performers, and shows remarkable poise for such a young kid. The dark glasses are a joke-they are 3D glasses given to us at a movie theater, but the old lady looks like the old Wendys commercial, eh?... Mom has begun to deteriorate noticeably in the past year, meaning that the good days are fewer and her general malaise has increased. She has been sleeping with oxygen since May and occasionally needs it during the day, and her ability to process conversation is definitely less than it was-never mind the hearing loss. She claims to not be afraid of death but thinks the dying process is not all that hot...There is always another infirmity slowing her down and recovery takes longer, although in her actions and willpower the balance must still be worth it, because she feels well enough most days to yet want to live. When you are 85 your life becomes talking about your latest illness and comparing doctor visits with your peers, and to my sister and I it seems a little pointless sometimes, as if there is an unspoken competition among old people to see who can live the longest, even if life is only sitting on the couch watching television or short excursions in the car. There seems to be an unwillingness among some of them to accept that one of these illnesses will be the last, and that there will be nothing more the doctor can do, and that maybe all the pills and money could be better spent. So far there have only been a few days when my mother felt bad enough that she said she wanted to die, so I guess that when those days become more numerous she will make up her mind to let go. As long as she can still do her crossword puzzles, and occasionally get out to work or to play bridge, then meandering around the house and falling asleep on the couch is life enough. She has never been a woman of deep religious nor spiritual faith, so does not see life and death in those terms, but was the primary caretaker of my ailing father, so has practical experience with end of life issues, just not her own. She says that she appreciates my attention and patience, but there is really not much I can do to help, for she is simply old, and as Jackson Browne wrote "In the end there is one dance you'll do alone" ...