Let me start out this way... for the last decade I have been a Red Sox fan. I am not from Boston nor am I from New York. I embraced the rivalry like a family member or an additional appendage. I love my Boston Red Sox and I hate the New York Yankees but my hatred for that particular ball team does not reflect how I feel about the Stadium that has hosted the "evil empire" for the past 85 years. If anything the loss of Yankee Stadium is almost another reason to dislike the Yankees.
As a Boston Red Sox fan I hate, yes, Hate to see Yankee Stadium Go.
Yankee Stadium started it all. It redefined the ball park in every single way. From the design to the capacity and even the name. When the stadium was built in the early 20's many baseball teams played their home games in a ball park or a field, like Fenway Park or Wriggley Field. Yankee Stadium was the first to be recognized as a stadium. While parks and fields traditionally held 30,000 plus fans, Yankee Stadium was built with a capacity doubling any competing ball park. It was the first three-tiered sports facility in the country and one of the first to incorporate an electronic scoreboard.
Yankee Stadium was the first of it's kind. The United States may have little to claim when it comes to ingenuity and greatness in the field of architecture but for some Yankee Stadium might create as much awe and allure as the Roman Coliseum.
Yankee Stadium is the home to quite possibly the greatest sports franchise in the modern era. If you measure greatness by success and in America, most people often do then the Yankees are the cream of the crop. The Yankees have have won 37 of their 39 American league pennants in Yankee Stadium. They have hosted the World Series 37 times and at 26 have more titles than any other team, both numbers more than double their closest competition in Major League Baseball. Over thirty hall of fame baseball players have called Yankee Stadium their home and the pin-stripes their uniform. Some of the greatest if not the greatest ball players like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Whitey Ford and Mickey Mantle have worn the Yankee pin-stripes.
Outside of baseball, Yankee Stadium has been a host to boxing matches, soccer, professional and college football games, religious ceremonies and concerts.
the famous, "win one for the Gipper" speech was given in Yankee Stadium in 1928 during half time of the Army-Notre Dame football game. The "Greatest Game Ever Played" between the New York Giants and Baltimore Colts was held in Yankee Stadium. A game in which the Colts took home the championship and Johnny Unitas cemented his legacy and helped reinvent the quarterback position. During the 70's Yankee Stadium was home to the New York Cosmos which suited soccer's most memorable name and figure, Pele. Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson, Rocky Marciano and Muhammad Ali have all fought inside the boxing ring in the center of Yankee Stadium. When the Brown Bomber Joe Louis fought Max Schmeling in 1938 more than boxing and championships were at battle but ideologies and social politics were at odds.
Three popes have held mass in Yankee Stadium. After his release from prison Nelson Mandela held a rally for New Yorkers, Americans and those in need of inspiration to overcome great odds. Musical acts ranging from the Isley Brothers to U2, Paul Simon to Pink Floyd have performed in the house that Ruth Built.
What happens next? Yankee Stadium will eventually be no more. The Yankees next year will have a new home, right next door to their existing one but it is impossible to suggest that any future stadium can replace or even compare to Yankee Stadium. Yankee Stadium was not made famous by Babe Ruth or by the Yankees. It was not made famous by Bono or Roger Waters. It was not made famous by Knute Rockne or Joe Louis. Yankee Stadium was made famous by the American People. Yankee Stadium holds a legacy like few people, few places and few things in United States of America. Baseball, America's past time has no greater venue than Yankee Stadium and we are at loss by its closing.
Nothing great lasts anymore and with the closing and eventual destruction of Yankee Stadium I worry that along with its legacy so goes the history held within its field, stands and concrete walls. The United States of America does not have castles or very many ancient ruins to celebrate. With a history less than 3 centuries old the U.S.A. has few buildings that capture the memories and imagination like Yankee Stadium. What does it say about our society today that we unlike many societies before us choose to tear down our history for something new, flashier, possibly better and more economically sound? I hate to see Yankee Stadium go. I hate that I will never be able to take my children or grandchildren to a game. Maybe I am simply selfish but when a huge part of American history is destroyed I think we should be upset and should contemplate how we are all missing out by Yankee Stadium's destruction. I suppose the only thing to hope for is that the next Stadium that houses the Yankees or whatever team or sport played within its boundaries can create such a legacy as notable as the one existing in Yankee Stadium.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
oh MTV... what happened?
So… apparently the MTV VMA awards were a week or so ago. I didn’t watch them, did you? I don’t care if you did but for some reason several of my friends have asked me if I had viewed the so-called award show wondering what my take was. With this in mind I still refuse to watch the VMA’s because it is an insult to my intelligence and a waste of my time. I’d much rather watch reruns of the Dog Whisperer or Iron Chef America. There is a great deal of things I would rather watch than the VMA’s like paint dry, babies crying, another (not funny) Dane Cook comedy special or C-Span.
By the by, doesn’t a video award show on MTV kind of seem like a joke? The only times I have seen videos on MTV is when flipping thru channels and catching a video on MTV classic or MTV rock or MTV hip hop. Videos are no longer part of the programming except for the occasion ninety second clip on the hopelessly annoying TRL. MTV should no longer be associated with music television but be renamed media television or teenagers and young adults desperate for fame television.
If this blog seems at all bitter it is because MTV at one point was the trend setter. It was the mode, the beacon, the signifier, the bar for what was cool when I was growing up. When I was a little boy till about my teenage years I wanted to be on MTV because you met cool artists, went to awesome concerts, needed little talent to be a VJ and partied like a rock star. Back in the early 90’s it was a channel not obsessed with reality TV but created cutting edge shows and annimation. It revolutionized music as well as spring break, the x-games, fashion and even politics. It might be wrong of me to insist that MTV could have held onto its influence forever because nothing ever really does but I do believe that MTV could at least be relevant. It was once the voice of a generation and now is nothing more than a sad state of affairs with dating games for teenage rejects, dating games for celebrity losers, kiss ass commentary and the promotion of bland musical acts.
But maybe this is not the cable giant’s fault. Maybe bad television or reality television and a lack of music videos is now the voice of this generation. Why play music video’s when there is YouTube or why create television when you can exploit the youth of
Am I being a bit dramatic here, quite possibly but understand this MTV became popular during a very critical time in many people’s lives. The dream of the 80’s was dying and for some it was never really a dream at all. The 90’s were upon us with Generation X not only looking for jobs or definition but a place in history as well. I cannot compare which was a worse time in history for some Americans, then or now but now is certainly a time when the youth of
Maybe I believe too strongly in the power of music. That music can be the voice of the people, educate and promote ideas not widely expressed by other forms of media. Music can be a powerful thing and at this moment, well for the past decade or so, music has lost one of its greatest outlets and that is MTV. If the music industry wants to save itself maybe it shouldn’t blame the internet or teenagers for illegally downloading music but should blame MTV for failing to promote musical acts.
Now I could care less about the VMA’s. I don’t care if Britney Spears makes a comeback of if she has lost some weight. I don’t care if some video which is never played on MTV wins 7 awards that have no value other than self promotion. And I am not stupid enough to think that if you do watch MTV or the VMA’s that you are shallow or could care less about things that really matter. It is not one way or the other. You are not an idiot if you watch MTV and you are not a better person if you ignore it, even though I like to think that I am a better person by not watching. Entertainment is key to a thriving metropolis. Entertainment is vastly important but maybe entertainment should do more than just put a smile on our face, a shake in our rump and fever in our hearts but also put a spark in our brain. MTV at one point provoked discussion even if it was simply about music and discussion leads to debate and that provokes thought and intellect.
In the end, MTV was once pretty awesome but unfortunately is now nothing more than a constant string of product placement and celebrities lacking personality. MTV was on the cutting edge because it informed the youth of
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
HealthCare - There Must Be A Better Way.
A couple of weeks ago I was assisting in an operation that would allow air conditioning to cool my house. In with the new furnace and out with the old but the old furnace is rusty and heavy. Three large and burly men lift this old and rusty furnace to the back of a truck and in the process, I, this large and burly man (ha… ha) was cut and scratched. A tetanus shot was now needed. It had been years since my previous shot. I went to the local emergency room because I was not entirely sure of how to handle this situation because I did not have a tetanus shot on my person at the time.
So I go to the emergency room and they do the normal check up routine. My weight, height, blood pressure as they try to discover if anything else is ailing me. They ask for my degree of pain, from 1 to 10. I feel that a score of 2 is appropriate. I sit in a chair for a while. The nurse cleans my wounds and puts an antibiotic cream to prevent infection. The doctor would then administer the shot and then tell me that the emergency room trip was a little drastic because there is about a three day window from getting cut to needing a tetanus shot. Was I supposed to know this? Annoyed slightly, not by my lack of knowledge but by the condescending tone of my doctor. So other than my doctor being a prick, a professional that feels a tetanus shot is somehow beneath him, my rush with death or lockjaw was not horrible. I did not have to wait horribly long to get treatment. The nurse was friendly and polite and I did not have a co-pay. Yay.
In the end the clerk took my insurance card. Yes, I have insurance now. Six months ago this would have been a rough situation. She took my insurance as well as other information and I was good to go. No muss, no fuss.
Wait, not so easy. This week I got the bill. I thought I was fine. My insurance company sent me a notice suggesting that the matter was all cleared up. A portion of my insurance was taken out to cover the medical expense. Yes, the portion of my insurance covered 10% of the medical bill. The bill for one tetanus shot, a little bit of antibiotic cream and my blood pressure measurement costs just as much as three insurance payments.
So, the bill was $350. Yes, for a sad little part time retail employee this is a lot of money. I pay $110 monthly for my insurance plan. This is an insurance plan that was recommended to me in case of a serious accident or emergency. You never know what can happen this day and age. My insurance plan was also recommended for the scope of coverage and it’s low cost. If you are like me then you are thinking – I got screwed. To be honest I cannot really afford a better insurance plan. I cannot really afford to get more tetanus shots. Thank goodness this last shot will last me five more years. If you want to think of it this way… $70 per year to protect me from tetanus but that doesn’t make my wallet feel better or thicker.
Now, I might have had strep throat and because of this possibility, I reside between a rock and a hard place. Since visiting the doctor was so expensive I might find a better answer for my illness at Wal-Mart than a hospital. Is that right? Is it right that Wal-Mart might take better care of me than a hospital? 9 months ago I was ill with sore throat, body aches, fatigue and a fever. I was lacking health insurance and I had heard rumors of how well the clinic inside Wal-Marts benefit those who are ill. A visit to a Wal-Mart medical center cost me $28.
I am not saying that we need government or national healthcare even though maybe we do need government regulated health care. I am not saying that we need to completely retool or rework the healthcare system even though maybe we should. And I am not saying that health insurance is worthless even though I am. Something has to change.
When discussing the issue of national healthcare or government healthcare most people who don’t need it seem to scoff or believe that such a proposition is either absurd or a waste of time. “National healthcare doesn’t work,” they say. Why do people think this way? Why cannot health care be a careful balance between private and government insurance, aid and care? Why aren’t we doing all we can to improve a system that is clearly flawed? Next time you laugh at the proposal of national healthcare think about the millions of people that have it far worse than I do. I want you to laugh or ignore the 47 million without healthcare along with the many helpless children than cannot fight infection or disease. Laugh and scoff at those who do have healthcare but are suffering through more serious illness than a tetanus scare or strep throat and cannot afford constant care, prescription drugs or major surgery.
Maybe all this is my fault. My fault because I do not have a decent job that pays me well to afford quality healthcare. It is my fault because I do not have a job that offers me healthcare coverage. It is my fault because I don’t wash my hands enough or drink enough orange juice. It is my fault because I am not immune to every sickness or disease.
If all this is my fault because I squander opportunity then please tell that to the millions of Americans who squander their chances for better jobs and medical coverage. After all a majority of Americans have healthcare, the 1 out of 6 Americans struggling should take more responsibility for themselves by getting better jobs and accepting the flawed system that is currently in place. I am not that heartless though and I think a better system must be put in place.
So… in the end, can you look me in the eye and tell me that this system works or can there be something better? I think we can do better.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Is Michael Phelps the greatest Olympian of All Time?
The Answer is – Probably. In his last two Olympics he has won 14 Gold medals, five more than the closest competition. At the age of 23 he has 16 medals combined, just three shy of the Olympic record for medals won. If hardware is the criteria for greatness than Phelps can easily be considered the top of the mountain, pick of the litter or (more appropriately) the crème de la crème.
Michael Phelps is the greatest Olympian ever!
Wait one minute, let me be the devil’s advocate here.
Michael Phelps is the greatest Olympic Swimmer ever!
How can one compare what someone does in the swimming pool to what another does on the tennis table or court, or the basketball court, the gymnasium or above water as opposed to in water. To swim in the Olympics allows multiple opportunities to win medals of any kind, as well as gymnastics and track and field. A basketball player or futbol player, fencer, sailor, weight lifter, etc and etc. does not have the gold medal chances that an elite swimmer has.
Aladar Gerevich was a member of the Hungarian sabre team that won gold in six straight Olympics. (1932, 1936, 1948, 1952, 1956 and 1960) A feat that could have been much more astonishing if the Second World War had not put the Olympics on pause in 1940 and 1944. Gerevich had also won an individual gold in 1948 for sabre. With the six Olympics that Gerevich participated, despite winning 10 medals had only the opportunity to win 18 medals. It is very possible to think that he was denied two if not three and maybe even four gold medals. Something also must be said for consistency. 28 years, Gerevich served as a member of a team that dominated the sport of fencing. In 1960, at the age of 50 he was considered by his own team too old to compete in the Rome Olympics but he challenged each member of the Hungarian squad to individual matches and defeated all of them. In 1960 he was defeated by one single touch, keeping him away from his second individual gold.
Birgit Fischer-Scmidt won 8 gold medals spanning from 1980 to 2004. First as representative for East Germany in the 1980 and 1988 Olympics then as a representative for a united Germany in 1992 thru 2004. Fischer won her 8 gold medals in 6 different canoeing events. It is possible to suggest that if the East Germans had not boycotted the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles Birgit might have won three more gold medals. She is the youngest canoeing champion at 18 as well as the oldest at the young age of 42.
Alfred Oerter won 4 straight gold medals in this discus throw. He along with Carl Lewis and Paul Elvstrom are the only athletes to compete in an event and win in four consecutive Olympics. Lewis won in the long jump and Elvstrom in sailing. Oerter, consistently plagued by injuries was never a favorite to win any of his medals. He competed in an Olympics shortly after an involvement in a car crash that nearly killed him. In 1968, at the top of his sport he stepped away only to return 12 years later just shy of qualifying for the Olympics. Oerter once said of the Olympics that, “The Olympics are unique. There is no job, no amount of power, no money to approach the meaning of the Olympic experience.”
There are 28 people that have won more than 10 medals at the Olympics. Some athletes like Jesse Owens were robbed of winning more medals than they were capable of earning because of politics or other circumstances beyond their individual power.
Michael Phelps is still young and might go down as the greatest Olympian ever but before such a mark is set, it might be important to acknowledge the splendor of the hundreds and thousands of athletes that have done there their part to make Olympic history.
Needles to say, I am very happy for Michael Phelps and look forward to the London Olympics in 2012.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
I use a lot of oil... you use a lot of oil... america uses a lot of oil... i am not stopping, are you?
according to the USA Today of a few days ago America, meaning the United States of America (founded in 1776) has only 5% of the world's population but is using about 25% of the world's oil, daily.
Yes, we are number 1!
so with this fact in mind I became bold and overconfident and I will continue to use oil. Yes, i carpool when the opportunity allows. Yes, i am thinking about purchasing a scooter, vespa or moped with the hopes that 60+ mpg will not only help the environment but my wallet.
I use oil and I use a lot of it. I believe in central air and heating, as well as other forms of accommodation. As an american, a member of the great superpower (or evil) am I not bestowed with the right to purchase oil thus using as much oil for my benefit. Yes, i do! I pay for gasoline to fuel my car and heat my house. I buy products made by oil and similar fuel resources. If I pay for it, should I feel guilty that I only leave 95% of the world with only 75% of the oil available? Am I being selfish? maybe. Am I being heartless? possibly. Am I wrong? megh.
I don't mind how much oil I use or how much OIL the United States of America (founded in 1776) uses, what I do mind is that we don't read about alternative fuels used. Maybe if Americans discovered that we only use 2% of the wind power available compared to (let's say) Egypt which uses 14% of the world's wind then maybe we would try harder at developing wind power. After all, America can not come third, second or fourth best to Egypt or any other country. Random thought - I want a statistic stating how much wind power exists if at all possible.
I don't know about you but I love statistics. I once read that 66% of statistics are made up and that could be true but when I read any statistic about oil consumption, baseball batting averages or Cosmo sex survey, I feel miles smarter.
I want to read a statistic stating how much of the energy used is provided by nuclear, wind, solar or pure sweat. (sweat = manual labor) Reading a statistic about how greedy we are doesn't do anything for my guilt reflex. USA Today should put a picture of poor children without shelter, without warm water on a broken bicycle next to the statistic if they want real guilt.
Maybe if people stopped reading about the amounts of oil used and start reading about the benefits of alternative fuel sources then the hesitation to use wind, solar, nuclear or manual labor might dissipate. I want more statistics. I want to read that of all the energy used in this country 2% of it is powered by wind, 8% by nuclear, 9% by coal and .5% by solar.
the United States is a greedy country that consumes more and more and more with no stop in sight. Tell me something I don't know. I do know is that the fair amount of comfort I have is brought on by the consumption of fuel and as much as I can do to conserve or promote green living is not going to change what I read in the papers or how many mpg my car allows.
I am not suggesting that green living is bad but there is a bias. People are resistant to change, naturally and we all must do our part to convince one another that the world must behave more properly and green is more proper. But how? I think once we start to focus on what we should be doing and what we aren't doing instead of all the bad that goes unnoticed then we can start making some changes. You aren't going to convince people to conserve or learn more about alternative fuel by telling them how much oil they use. It is like telling a hunter to stop hunting because he/she has killed too many animals when all you have done is state how much of an accomplished hunter he/she is.
but heck what do i know, i could be wrong but i might be right.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Extinction - I am not talking dinosaurs but more important things like Honeybees... and yellow pages.
I was online checking my email (on AOL) and I was caught by one of their headlines, which was 25 Things That Won’t Exist.
In the near future there are 25 things (at least) that will no longer be part of the American imagination. Some of these things don’t really matter like pit toilets and the yellow pages. I think as a nation we would want people to have indoor plumbing and have little problems with the amount of trees and recycled paper used to make phone books. These days you can easily look up phone numbers online or use a magic three-digit number, 411. Along with phone books other forms of paper materials are vanishing such as want ads, news magazines, checks and hand written letters. I think the best thing to do is blame the Internet. The Internet is killing the use of paper and killing social interaction. Yes, I can pay my bills electronically. Yes, I can read the want adds online or use Monster.com. Yes, I can read CNN, ESPN and the countless blogs without having to pay 50 cents per day or yell at the delivery kid that cannot throw the paper on my front porch. Yes, I can write an email or a facebook message and not worry about stamps, mail delays and incompetent mail employees. Yes, I can live my whole life and never leave my house because of the Internet.
Sure I could care less about losing dial up Internet connections or Analog TV. Losing the VCR means nothing to me as long as the DVD transfer is of high quality. Blockbuster and other video rental places are fading as well. Sure that means the loss of thousands of jobs but you can rent as many movies as you want for just 5 bucks using Netflix – hot dam! Sure you might not have a job but maybe you can spare 5 bucks a month for some awesome entertainment and if that doesn’t make you feel better about losing the minimum wage job helping you stay afloat or so you can save to buy your first car then I don’t know what will.
A lot of things on this list (kind of) don’t matter. Sure some of them have a tremendous amount of nostalgia such as drive-in movie theaters and hand written letters. The drive-in lost a lot of appeal after cars switch to individual seats over bench seats and when huge multiplexes with air conditioning and heating were created. I blame the lack of bench seats in automobiles because the best part of a drive-in isn’t the just the movie but the blanket and the company you share underneath it. And a hand written letter, stamped and delivered is more personal, romantic and/or unique than an email will ever be.
Who needs landline phones when everyone on the planet has a cell phone? I am concerned about the loss of the HAM radio. I am concerned because what will the world do when aliens attack and we lose all control of satellite and digital communication or when zombies walk the earth and vampires appear in daylight? Soon there will be no more answering machines, cameras that use film or incandescent light bulbs. The loss of much of these things could be seen miles and miles away by any reasonably intelligent person.
When reading this list I actually become concerned about five things. First, the Chesapeake Bay Blue Crabs. The sustainable population is about 200 million and the existing population falls short by 40%. Who is to blame for the vanishing population of this delicious treat? We are, not me, but I mean society. Over fishing, global warming and invasive species is killing this industry. Good eats, fisherman and restaurant owners should fear this downfall.
Second is the Ash tree. In the late 1990’s a species of beetle, known as the emerald ash borer snuck into North America via ash wood products imported from eastern Asia. Since its larvae has killed millions of trees in the Midwest and nothing seems to be stopping the ecological destruction. The loss of a native species like the Ash tree can be seen as nothing short of an environmental disaster with far-reaching effects on the entire ecosystem. The emerald ash borer is not just causing havoc in parks and forests but it is also having a significant economic and industrial effect. In the U.S. Ash is a strong and highly resilient hardwood. It is used for guitars, tool handles, sports equipment and office furniture.
Third, wild horses are vanishing from the American plains. I may not have grown up in during the wild, wild west or when the western was one of the dominant art forms on the silver screen but the cowboy on his trusty steed roaming the country proud and free is an image that should never be removed from the American picture book. In the early 20th century it was estimated that around two million horses roamed the United States but as of 2001 the National Geographic News suggested about 50,000 horses remain.
The numbers according to the National Horse and Burro Advisory are much worse estimating that there are only 32,000 wild horses remaining. So yes, the wild horses are vanishing. Isn’t it sad? Yes of course it is sad? But the United States government is not sad, as the Bureau of Land Management is seeking to limit the number of wild horses roaming the country to 27,000. The government, using euthanasia to control the wild horse population is afraid of the overpopulation of wild horses on public lands. Believe it or not, millions of dollars is spent on controlling the population of wild horses by keeping them in holding facilities. Doesn’t reading all of this make the story much sadder? Yes, of course it sadder. The U.S. government can claim this dark victory over Mother Nature. If any of this makes sense to you then feel free to explain it to me because I cannot see the harm of wild horses running free except for the occasional driver not being careful on a dark highway road. I don’t know, hopefully horses are smarter than deer.
But what can be worse than ash trees, crabs and wild horses? The honeybee! In the past few years 50 - 90 percent of honeybee colonies have collapsed. Why? It is called CCD or as bee people like myself refer to it as Colony Collapse Disorder. If you have seen the ecological thriller/comedy starring Jerry Seinfeld, Bee Movie, you would have learned that bees are not only essential to making honey but are also essential to fruit and flower pollination. Plus, what else is going to roast my Cheerios?
Last but not least and in all actuality the most problematic one is the loss of the Family Farm. Since the 1930’s family farms have been on the decline. The USDA estimates that in the 50’s, 5.3 million farms dotted the American landscape but according to numbers published in 2003 that number has been reduced by over 3 million. Much has been written about the plight of the American family farmer. Best selling novels and even a music festival create opportunities to spread the word about the deprivation of a truly noble profession. With some stories reporting that 330 farm workers along with their families are put on the street weekly and that can be seem as nothing but tragic and problematic.
How do we solve these problems, I don’t know but I wish I did and could solve them. Oh well so goes life and so goes any amount of humanity.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
a personal note - marriage and my best wishes.
This weekend a child hood friend is getting married, for the first and hopefully the only time. My friend, who I have known for over 20 years, is about to take the great step of devotion. It is also a great step of love and maturity but for some reason I choose to put devotion first instead of love.
As time passes I wonder if marriage is in the cards for me. Something I rarely thought about at the age of 20 but now at the age of 25 I find myself for some reason thinking about marriage and a family life more often. At 20 years old I was not ready for marriage and much could be said about me at my current age.
Am I thinking about marriage because many of my childhood, high school and college friends are making the big step towards a life I so desire? There is also a growing population of friends who are married and have been married for quite some time. Yes, I am single and I have single friends and enjoy my life but I have never let go of the illusion and the possible reality that marriage, a happy marriage is true bliss. To find someone that believes in you, pushes you, wants you, needs and cares for you is a gift unlike any other. I have my own ideas of what a true and wonderful wife would be like and some might share these sentiments while others not. I simply long for a good friend, the best of friends. I have been accused of being a romantic but failing to live up to the title and I still believe in many if not all of the romantic ideals of marriage.
A year ago, I thought I would be taking steps towards marriage and a life I so desperately wanted. I had, who I thought was the right girl. I had my life in order, more so than it had ever been and did I mention I had the right girl? In the end it is who you marry that truly matters and why you choose to marry. Things were lining up for ol’ Alejo Ramirez. But time passes and the right girl was not the right girl at all and marriage hopes and proposals became nothing more than a fantasy and the realities of other friends, enemies, and former lovers. I even wrote a rough draft of wedding vows before the notion of marriage had even been muttered. Sad - yeah, kind of.
It is amazing how life changes. Those unexpected turns down the road of life and the jabs life throws at you. I am man that is willing to wait till the time is right, the girl is right and until I am ready for marriage but that doesn’t mean that my heart isn’t filled with a small dose of jealousy or a gigantic ocean of it.
In a day and age when many marriages end in divorce, something like 57% I can do nothing but admire anyone who decides that one person is the person for the rest of their life. They do not make that decision once or twice, as in the day of the proposal or the day of their vows but they will make that decision (hopefully) every day for the rest of their lives.
I cannot give advice about what makes a good marriage because I am not married and as clichéd as this might sound, maybe each marriage is like an individual snowflake or the drops of rain that fall on your bare skin. Marriage is quite simply, unique.
I wish my friend the best. My buddy Dave is a truly good person. I think we tend to throw out too many different adjectives at the people we know and like… funny, sweet, ridiculous, intelligent, sexy, whatever. I simply want to say that my friend is a good man. Dave is a good man in a day and age when good, truly good people are hard to find. I don’t know if I need to say anything else except truly emphasize good in a day and age when any positive comes at a premium.
Goodluck Dave and Jennifer.
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