The Next Great Idea

I don't waste my time with reality, I'm a dreamer. Some of my friends think my head is in a cloud. It's actually above the clouds where the sun is shining. While some dwell on the idea that my "Boomer" generation is the last great gift to the world I'd like to remind them that no one thought the "Greatest Generation" could be equalled either, but it's been done.

Now it's up to the next generation to leave us in the dust. I've heard the predictions that our children will be the first generation to be worth less than their parents. That's hogwash, give them a few years, they'll catch up and pass us with ease.

A few thousand years ago someone invented the wheel. Now you have to buy four of them or your car won't go anywhere.

Sorry for the big leap but in 1887 Heinrich Hertz was the first to detect radio waves by causing a spark to leap across a gap that generated electromagnetic waves.

Guglielmo Marconi took it a step further when he invented the spark transmitter with antenna
in 1894.

He started the world first radio factory four years later and five years after that General Electric made a voice broadcast ove the North Atlantic. The first coast to coast radio program was "The Dodge Victory Hour" starring Will Rogers and Al Jolson in 1928. Radio golden age was from 1935-50 but it still thrives today.

GE began a regular television broadcast in 1928 and the rest is history. When we least expect greatness someone proves us wrong.

NASA started the Mercury Space Program in 1959 with seven original astronauts and in 1961 Alan Sheppard became the first American in space. John Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth in 1962 and Neil Armstrong the first on the moon in 1969.

We've always found a way to create something new and exciting, something that baffles the mind and makes us say, "why didn't I think of that."

Dr. Martin Cooper took early cellular phone technology and invented the first hand held cell phone in 1973.

Thanks to German scientist Konrad Ruse' invention of the first programmable computer in 1939, Bill Gates and Paul Allen were able to found Microsoft in 1975 and take the idea of personal computing to a whole different level.

For every one who worries about the future, predicts woeful things around the next corner or collects canned food in a closet there's someone else with a vision, an idea, a dream that will lift us all above the clouds where the sun is shining.

We Need Government

If I hear one more person say government is too big, government cannot tell me what to do, government should not be mixed up in our lives, I'm going to scream. This poses a problem for me because I've never screamed before in my life. I may have to hire a government official to scream for me, after all there are so many of them just doing nothing but scheming different ways to take our money. At least that's the opinion of the "tea party" movement which seems obsessed with whining about paying taxes for any reason whatsoever.

One day a long time ago our founding fathers decided to break away from an oppressive British government because we were being unfairly taxed without representation. We staged something called the American Revolution and formed out own government around something called the constitution of the United States.

Today the only document mis quoted more than the Bible is the U.S. Constitution and by many of the same people.

To all of those who believe our current administration is trying to take away our rights I say this. Where were you when the "Patriots Act" was crammed down our thoats by President Bush and company. Where were you when we invaded Iraq against the wishes of most of the American people. Where were you when the deficit was run up out of control long before the Obama administration took office.

I know many people in local, state and national government. Every one of them is decicated to making their neghborhood, region, state or country a better place in which to live. I know hundreds of people who are government workers including fire fighters, policeman and women, teachers, secretaries, accountants, maintenance workers and elected officials.

The fact is we need more policeman, more fire fighters, more teachers and more good people to run the agencies that hold our country together. Government is not the enemy, ignorance is the enemy. Americans should spend their energy being involved in the process not whining about others who are.

Our system of government is not flawless but it is the best system ever devised. It invites debate, new ideas and innovation. It is a system that must keep improving itself and that can only be done with the support of all the people.

We dont all have to agree on what ideas will help us move forward but we should at least agree that moving forward and getting better as a people is what we need to do.

Childish Behavior

Am I the only one who noticed the childish behavior of most of the Republican members of Congress during the president's State of the Union speech Wednesday night. In all fairness the minority party never has led the cheering in any of the State of the union speeches I've seen since the JFK years but now it's geeting down right childish.

It's geeting so bad that the president's writers have to work passages into his speeches that force the opposition to show they at least have a pulse. President Obama is brilliant at this. He slips enough conservative fodder into his speeches to force the Republican minority to get off their hands and applaud at least for a few seconds.

The whole mood of the "opposition" whether they be Democrat of Republican makes me want to remove everyone from Congress and start over again.Aren't these people elected to work together to actually get something done on health care, the economy, education, national defense? Is this a class of 3rd graders or just a group of people acting like 3rd graders? Don't they realize how foolish they look when they refuse to acknowledge the president of the United States just because they're afraid of looking weak to their party leadership? I'm sick of it and I hope you are too.

Opposition Response

And one more thing. Can we please save four minutes of valuable television time by eliminating the "opposition's response" to the president. Or at least get someone who has a pulse and one or two hairs out of place.

Living Without the Cell

Have you ever thought about tossing your cell phone into a drawer for a week just to see if you can function without it? The answer is probably no since so many people do so many things with their phones. The advertising should say, "oh by the way you can also make a call on this thing too." It's suddenly the least important function of today's phones. People are so busy googling, sending videos, texting and checking email they hardly have time to actually call anyone anymore. All the more reason to toss the thing into a closet and forget about it for a week. What would you do? Would you resort to actually meeting with people in person. An interesting concept but dangerous since you actually have to think about what you say when the guy is right there in front of you.

I did something odd the other day, I wrote a letter. That's where you take a piece of paper and a pen and write actual words onto the paper that someone else gets to read in a few days. The concept is lost on most people under 35 years old. Receiving a letter creates a real connection between people especially if it's written out and not typed on a key board.

I received an evite to a holiday party recently and decided not to go because the whole thing was so impersonal. Silly, I know but that's how I feel. You mean to say someone couldn't have taken the time to write out a few invitations and put them in the mail. Next year I'll probably get a letter from that person asking me not to come to their party. I'll text them this message, "Thanks, I'll be there."

Where's Johnny When You Need Him

The fued between Conan O'Brien and Jay Leon is comical. It's the only thing about those guys that is comical. Okay so I'm starting to sound like a grouchy old man who thinks everything from the past is better than anything in the present. Not true. I think today's television sets are much better than the clunker I had in the 60s when Johnny Carson started on the "Tonight Show." The sets are better but the shows are much worse and no one ever really came up to the standards set by Johnny Carson who hosted the show from 1962-1992. From "Carnac the Magnificent" to "Aunt Blabby" to "Art Fern and The Tea Time Movie," Carson was just plain funny. So in the raging debate over whether Leno or O'Brien should have the better time slot I suggest NBC re-run Carson for the next ten years. They'll save money and the humor will be better.

McGwire Comes Clean

While I'm on this cranky kick let me get in a word about Mark McGwire's admission that he took steroids and he's sorry about it. I'm glad he came clean and I wish him well as hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals. Now here's the shocker, I think he deserves a chance to be voted into the Hall of Fame. If and when he does make it I would only ask that his bust be made the exact size of his head during the performasnce enhancement years. Big head, big bust, it's only fair.

Bowl Season

I can't believe the college bowl season is over already. It seems like only six months ago it was just getting started.

A Book A Month

I've set a goal the last few years to read one book per month. I picked up the idea from Mark Twain who once said, "The man who does not read books has no advantage over the man who can't read."

January is "Yogi Berra" month for me. February is George Carlin month and March is set aside for Warren Buffit. In my quest to read at least one book per month I've laid out my first three for 2010. Two years ago I set a goal of reading 12 books and read 16. Last year I fell short of my goal by two books, finishing the year with only 10.

Every educator tells you how important it is to read to children and to have them learn to read to themselves. Well it's just as important to keep reading as an adult. To be successful you need to turn off all electronic devices: phones, I-Pods, TV sets, chips implanted in your brain. Turn them off, tune them out and start reading. Soon you'll find that you're more interesting and more interested. Your curiosity will grow, your vocabulary will be increased and you'll feel like you accomplished something.

To keep it interesting I try to read a biography, followed by a motivational book, followed by a novel. The challenge for me is staying awake longer then 15 minutes after I start reading. If I'm the least bit tired I will fall sleep with the book in my hands after a few pages. I've also found that reading in bed is not a good way to get a full night's sleep. It's best to read on a chair in a room other than the bedroom. Experts say the bedroom should be used for only two things, sleeping and sex. I'm no expert in either one so I'll just say this. Enjoy a good book today, it'll make you smarter and you'll sleep better. As far as the sex goes there's another blog out there somewhere dealing with that topic.

Enjoy a book this month

Twenty-Ten

I'm happy to report I've made the successful transition from 2009 to 20-ten. I've only written a couple of checks this year so far and I've avoided having to cross out 2009 each time. As far as what to call the new year I'm going with 20-ten because it rolls off the tongue easier. Two thousand ten takes too long to say.

A few days before January 1 I made a short list of resolutions for the new year. If I share them with you now it'll put pressure on me to actually achieve the goals I've set for myself.

Every year I set a goal to read one book a month and I'm doing that again. In the interest of honesty I can say I did not succeed with my lits in 2009. I ended up reading 10 news book in 2009 and now the 12 I'd hoped for. This year I'm going for 15. My first book this year is the story of Yankees Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra. As soon as I finish that I'll start on a book about the late comedian George Carlin.

My second goal this year is to learn Spanish. Many of the players on the SoundersFC soccer team speak Spanish and I'd love to be able to have a conversation with them without an interpreter.

My third goal is to get back to my running again. I used to run marathons and train 50 or 60 miles a week. I don't need to get back to that level but I would like to run between 15-20. I think my knees can take it. We'll see.

Goal setting is fun and rewarding. Start slowly so you don't get overwhelmed. List one of two achieveable goals, get started, achieve them and go from there. With each new success you'll find yourself moving to the next level with more ease and confidence.