We went to a party on Election Night. Billed as a prelude that was supposed to linger into the night,  we barely got through cocktails. The writing was on the wall. And one women who seemed who seemed a touch closer to a suicide watch than  others exclaimed,”this is the end of the world as we know it.” That was pretty heavy duty and of course yours truly saw this as perfect fodder for cogitating.

Our world and for the moment let’s call it our United States, is being turned topsy turvy.YES WE ARE CHANGING. Get over the melancholy and yearning for yesteryear. We white folk are going to be a minority soon. The country may vote for legalization of marijuana, same sex marriages, gays in the military etc. We may be a dependent mommy nation or maybe this idea of entitlement is starting to run its course when the masses realize the taxation of the rich cannot begin to approach solvency.I don’t like it all. Yet I  know that pendulum just swings so far and starts coming back the other way. That in itself is change. And our nation and world keeps moving forward.

The Renaissance, Protestant Reformation, Industrial Revolution, WWII, 9/11, cyberspace are to name a few of sometimes violent turnings this way or that. What about Sandy and war torn veterans?I think about creche scenes disappearing and Black Friday that will soon become Grey Thursday and then Blood Wednesday and it bugs me. But I also think of people around the planet who are voting for the first time. Seeing their brackish drinking water turn clear. Maybe just maybe those barren fields are turning a pale shade of green for sustenance and maybe the slightest glimmer of profit. Over four billon of the citizens of earth make less that $300 a day. Do you think they want change? Wouldn’t you?

 My first take is if you like the staus quo you are agin it and if you for some reason aren’t getting the most out of things you can’t wait for the next revolution. We change physically, mentally, morally, politically and whatever. But is there any way to stop it? Should we? More on that later.

Let’s face it. Predicatability is like a pair of old loafers. Just slip them on and you don’t have a care. I am in my own little world and it fits just fine. We are raised to be ordinary and conforming. Don’t rock the boat. Why? Because we have always done it that way you fool. Wear the same clothes, think the same thoughts. Yeah every so often some one comes along with a new concept but before you know it we are all doing it and then it is not change but merely altering targets of life. Feel better, don’t you?

You are talking to the wrong dude here. I was fat dumb and happy on Wall Street when I came home one night to announce to my wife I was going to build post and beam houses in a 15% mortgage rate market. A couple of years later and feeling my Wheaties, we moved to Colorado to get into the computer business. Worked great until I was flat ass broke and had to come back to New York because I had three kids to educate. In our almost 42 years of marriage between our personal residences and investment properties we have had over 35 real estate closings.

Now some of you think I am a little out there for our relative instability. You may be right but I am not going to the insanity defense just yet. Kathy might. With each turn of the dial or departure from the norm two things have happened. There is an exhilaration that happens when you roll the dice. Not so much a rush but a breath of fresh air. Any thing and everything seems possible. We worry about the process and not necessarily the outcomes. And it has been great.

Secondly, we have grown incredibly. We have lived in new neighborhoods and states. We have had to get off our duff to learn new ideas and customs. We have experienced both good and bad but moreover we have found new instincts to rely on and ground rules to play by. Every so often Kathy pronounces after a stay somewhere,”Ted, I think it is time to grow.” She has been a little silent over the last few years. I think she wants to stay this time.

Our world is in flux or turmoil depending how you look at things. You can fight it or embrace it. If you hate Obama and it makes you feel better, just go right on doing it. If you think the world is crazy for cutting your entitlements be my guest. But if you really are a citizen you will get up and see how you can affect change yourself. You know a lot of you went crazy at the election results but how many of you manned phone banks for your candidate? How many went to a rally? Did you have a sign in your front yard or drive someone to vote? Hmmm, I thought so.

Change embodies creativity. Breaking the mold. Questioning and trying to look to the stars. If everyone sat on their tails over millenia maybe we would still be in the Dark Ages. We wouldn’t have computers,IPhones, color TV’s and of course thanks to Al Gore the internet. Easy gang, that is a joke. Point being that change is good on average. But most of all it is a force of life. Yes it may be the end of the world as we know it. But you know if somehow we put our hearts andsouls into it, it may just bring a new and better day.

As Always

Ted The Great

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
― Margaret Mead

Writers Note…

Greetings. I am sitting down at the keyboard once again. I have been on a bit of a journey. A good friend said I had to figure out what I wanted to write about and what medium I should use to transport my myriad of thoughts and comments to paper or whatever. I can’t play the piano and I am a lousy artist. So here I am.

I have missed all of you. It’s lonely in here at Ted’s Head…Centcom. I was thinking about finding a mistress like all the other big wigs but I fear the bald guy might have a hard time attracting one. Besides, Kathy said I couldn’t afford it. Lowrey AFB is closed. Socialites in Denver? Not really.   So here I am, warts and all.

As always it will be a variety of topics. At my age it might mean losing track. So please be patient. I feel passionate as always. I feel humble you would take the time to listen. Man, life is good.

One final note. There is a lot to be said about this communication thing. I now have a smart phone and it is interesting but I still like the face to face. The Donald has taught us all to think before you write. What is that idiot really thinking? Is it Ready,Fire Aim?

TTG

Nature Versus Man…..

We have all been stunned by the power of a gal(or was it a guy?) named Sandy. Let’s assume it was a she. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. It fit’s the narrative. You say the inhabitants of Breezy Point and Beach Haven did nothing to Mother Nature to deserve such a fate. As in so many cases the grunts and the rank and file absorb the brunt and pay for the follies of all.

As we have traveled I marvel not at the glitz and gauche outcroppings of steel and glass but at the absolute beauty of the land and the sea. I have been in places so quiet and still you can hear nothing but your breath. I have seen villages and ways of life that have survived centuries or war, turmoil and probably at one time fiscal cliffs. And with all this roiling there is just one constant and it is Mother Earth.

Let’s not argue whether it was creation or evolution. The fact remains that somehow, some way this place came to be. If you study the planet you realize it has come through a lot. Asteroid bombardments, ice ages, floods and yes, probably man. But in the past it was taken as a growing process. Right now I think we are treading far too close to a destroying process.

We assume as the most intelligent form of life that we know what is best. We are not only going to live in the world we are going to control it. You see it is ours to use as we wish. We own resources. We own the flora and fauna. The sea is there for our edification and plunder. And now we come into that surreal stage of knowledge where we figure we can recreate anything we want. Wow. We are God.

Maladies of all sorts. Cancer. Plagues. Old age. We are going to beat them all. Step right up and order what kind of child you want. Blue eyed. Brown haired. Boy. Girl. Artistic or scientific. Just fill out the application. The creator will be with you in just a few moments. What? You don’t want to wait nine months? We will get you a surrogate. Hold it. You changed your mind? That’s okay we will shitcan that baby until it is a better time for you. Boy it is great being God.

There is an arrogance afloat that flirts with disaster. We thumb our noses at so many things with the rather flimsy notion that we are the greatest people in the greatest nation on earth. Don’t put us down TTG. What bummer you are. We will just put it off until tomorrow and before you know it, a 3.3% growth rate will cure everything. Don’t doubt a thing because the computer modeled it and they are always right. Just ask Karl Rove.

We have reduced everything to categories, percentages and projections. Let me see the odds of the world destroying itself are 10 to 1 if the following variables over the next fifty years hold true. We have to balance the budget by 2030 and stop throwing crap in the atmosphere at the rate of 27 zillion tons per day and find a way to supply food and water for billions of people. Lead pipe cinch.

I guess I am a bit overwhelmed by the pace and lack of empathy in today’s society. As we grow in the world we become more and more anonymous. It all about me. And by the way if me can’t get it done then you have to provide for me. I don’t care how you do it. Just get it done and spare me the details. I am reminded of the musical, “Stop the World I Want To Get Off”. The hit song was “What Kind Of Fool Am I?”

Look I am not tree hugging or maybe I am? I know we need to frack and frick. I know there is a logic that feels we must grow. But as we grow do we have to blow everything off along the way? Mine is not so much a feeling of conservation but responsible stewardship. We are into “things” like never before. I own this or that. It is mine. I earned it and no one is going to take it away. I will treasure it. The world is my oyster and whether I serve it raw or fried or in a stew it is mine to eat. And no one is going to get in my way.

I want people to grow. I want the world to be a better place. I want to make advances in science. But not at the expense of our fellow travelers and our beautiful earth. I want people to stop just for a moment and see how far we have come. To see what we have. To see what we are leaving for those coming after. Just a brief pause. And then maybe we will understand we are not God. That we have been given so much. And maybe humble pie should be served on Thanksgiving instead of minced meat.

And on that note I think that is how I will end my first day back.

Happy Thanksgiving

As always

Ted The Great.

PS: Haven’t figured out what to do with factoids or what day of the week I will publish. So for now bear with me.