Ms. Cheyenne Hobbes in Georgia

I hope I have spelled her name correctly. She was a student in one of my classes at STC. She died in a one-car accident on a rural road in Effingham County. She was a young Mother; she was a vibrant, strong, opinionated young Southern woman; she wore cowboy boots and had a Georgia drawl as wide as a parking lot. But she was an excellent learner. And she did not deserve to die so young.

And her children certainly didn't deserve to lose their loving caretaker, their "tiger Mom," their inspiration. Cheyenne had come back to school to become a dental hygienist and make her own living.

She talked, in private and in public, of wanting to make her marriage work -- but relying on herself if she had to. She spoke with compassion and a burgeoning understanding of life and love. She always wanted the best for her children, even well beyond her own desires. She did not deserve to die so young, and so unexpectedly. And I mourn her loss, not for myself, but for her children.

And I continue to resist!

Crude, Prude, Lewd

The heading of this blog is Trump -- the consummate country club businessman. He cracks the off color jokes, he is prudish about his family (though sometimes not with his daughter during her modeling days), and always leering and sexual with anyone more beautiful than he is (which is nearly everyone). Trump is a pig -- who tries to pretend that he lives above the wallow -- when actually his brain is the wallow.

As a sexual deviant Trump is shy/sly -- especially because he can't force a "confidentiality clause" on the entire nation. We have seen this "pig" in action -- as a crass television celebrity; during radio interviews in NYC and elsewhere; and it the business community at large. Someday his payoffs and crooked behavior will surface and America will wonder why we, for god's sake, hired him to be our President. His behavior and lack of consistent normalcy is the reason we must all:

Resist!

Thankful

I am sincerely and profoundly thankful: that I am not dead; that America is still America in spite of "the Donald;" that my sister Linda is winning her war against cellulitis; that my family is still my family (foibles and all); that #metoo will not ruin ALL relationships and flirtations between men and women; that Churches in America cannot inflict their own peculiar and often hypocritical brands of morality on all of the rest of us; that God is still God wherever she/he lives; that children are still children and resist the constant temptations to slide down the path of "always dumb" as many of their parents have; that the world and life itself doesn't "care" about me -- which makes that "care" my responsibility and my hope; that love still exists.

I am always thankful -- and I continue to resist.

LaVar Ball: It Takes One to Know One

There is currently a "tabloid level" twitter war going on between two egotistical maniacs. One of them is  the Father of an NBA rookie phenom, and the other is the "idiot President" of these United States. Trump has been trading twitter remarks for the past three days, instead of doing his real job, trying to govern.

Not without President in the Trump era, these tiny twitter wars: with Rosie O'Donnell, Mr. Ball, the leader of North Korea, and anyone else who comes into Trump's "ego-hurt zone" -- are not only demeaning to the US of A, but shatter rules of morality, good taste, decorum, and even common sense.

Again and again Trump shows himself to be an egotistical autocrat -- sans sense, sans compassion, sans understand. Yes, we in America "own him;" and must do our best to survive him and his vast insipid remarks and whining. He is a bully-boy whose bully pulpit is long gone. He is a consummate moron, and possible a dangerous one. He is a fool

Resist him and his party too. 

Celebration ... in spite of ... Trump

Thank you -- that we are all still alive. Thank you -- that Trump has not yet caused a nuclear conflagration. Thank you -- that we are still love. Thank you that -- we are still free. Thank you -- that most of Trump's plans have been deflected, held up to scorn, or simply failed. Thank you -- for America's system of "checks and balances." Thank you for -- the judicial branch of government.

Thank you -- that Trump is mostly disappointed in his destructive path through the Presidency. Thank you that -- we can still stand tall as a nation and ...

Resist!

The Nub

Coming to the end in a career in  full-time teaching, I am now also coming down to the "nub" of why I do what I do. There is no clever, quick, or even simple answer -- one that can be turned into a meme, or a bumper sticker, or a viral moment.

The answer is much more complex. Someone teaches -- for themself, because it gives them fresh eyes, new viewpoints, new perspectives. One also teaches for  -- their students; because they are worth sharing with, because they "need to know" as much as the one sharing "needs to share;" because the whole process is a kind of " wholly holy genetic transfer" of information and process, but now borne by the 4th genetic dimension of time.

Why teach? To learn. Why learn? To live. Why live? Because it is right and correct to do so. Why is it right and correct? Because to do anything else is to die -- and death, though necessary ultimately is not a goal but a circumstance of life.  And so I will continue to teach, and learn, and live, and do so rightly and correctly -- to outlast death if I can.

And RESIST!!!

Donald J. Trump, our Philandering Cad

Ever the moral beacon on America -- Trump now declares that Sen. Al Franken should resign for being a nebbish comedian and forcing kisses on an actress during a USO tour rehearsal (an apparently staged-for-humor photograph further thickens the stew). About future losing Senatorial candidate Roy Moore, Donald says nothing. About his own personal philandering (concealed by hidden tax forms, confidentiality agreements, financial payoffs, etc.) he says absolutely nothing.

If we are going to "morally re-litigate" the Bill Clinton era, we need to "litigate" the Donald J. Trump era -- take away those monetary payoff's and show Trump for what he really is -- a morally repugnant former NYC playboy with no scruples, who continually and consistently lies -- and pretends to be Jesus Christ reborn.

Trump needs to be exposed for what he is: verbally challenged, stupid about most things, incapable of making a decent or honest moral decision, a loser, and a cad!

Resist Trumpism for what it is --- idiocracy!