Birthday Blahs

 Well, another birthday has come and gone. Celebrated a milestone birthday the other day. Had as much fun as I could, even though I didn't particularly start the week feeling like celebrating.

The week began like normal. Early on, I had a family issue that left me in a negative frame of mind. It was something that was out of my control, but of course it had to happen during my birthday week. I tried not to let it affect me too much, but it wasn't something that I could easily ignore, either.

I tried to keep the person in question out of mind as much as possible. When the birthday rolled around, I went out to lunch with Mom at one of our favorite restaurants. I was pleased to see some wonderful birthday greetings from friends and relatives on my social media pages. I went to a big league ball game that evening, and even though my team lost and didn't play well, I still enjoyed going to a game on a nice night. I also bought myself a few souvenirs while I was there.

Yesterday, I was looking forward to going to lunch with a few friends. I think that I invited about 40 friends via social media to a low-key lunch. I had never created a social media invite for anything before. A few people let me know that they weren't going to be able to attend, and I was fine with that. I didn't invite a lot of people, and I didn't invite anyone from out of state. I also knew that a few people already had plans that weekend, which I understood as well and I didn't invite them for that reason.  If I didn't have the family thing going on at the time, I probably would have followed up with people who said that they were interested or didn't reply to the invite. I'm sure that there were people that I forgot to invite, but I did share the event a few times, so that anyone who wanted to go would be welcome to do so. 

When it was time for lunch, only one friend showed up. I was disappointed, but tried not to let that show. I had a great conversation with my friend, and I feel like our friendship got stronger. I'm glad that we've gotten to know each other much better than we did when we went to school together. I'm very happy that we make an effort to be in each other's lives.

Afterwards, I ran an errand and treated myself to a movie. I turned down an invite by a friend who couldn't make lunch to listen to live music last night because I just wasn't feeling up to it. I was kind of worn down from the week, and I was tired too. I started feeling tired during the movie, but I apologized to my friend and offered to go out to lunch with them at another time.

I know now that it's fairly common nowadays for people to bail on birthdays and other special events. I've read several articles and blog posts where this has happened. This surprised me at first, because it's contrary to how I was raised. When I was little, being invited to and attending someone's birthday party was a big deal. You were expected to attend and bring a gift. It seems like birthdays kind of get progressively worse when you get older.

I still had a good birthday in spite of all that happened. I took the weekend off from work and I'm going to reevaluate my associations with the friends who didn't respond to the birthday invite. I'm also learning to show more appreciation for the people who did reach out to wish me well and put a smile on my face. Maybe I need to concentrate on the quality, not quantity, of the friends that I have. I don't think that I'm going to plan any more get-togethers, unless it's a meal with family which is something that I do for all of my birthdays. I'll also probably be less likely to attend or respond to events from people who ignored my invite. Some of them may need to be downgraded from friends to acquaintances. 

I'll still concentrate on following my dreams and doing more of what I want to do. I have a few concerts on tap, and I'm looking forward to seeing a few friends from other states there and some of my favorite bands. It'll take a few days to forget about the negative and focus on the positive. The family stuff will sort itself out over time. 

Well, that's all for now. Time to do more reading, writing and enjoying my favorite entertainment programs. Until next time, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another. 

Bucky's Rant - Summer 2022

 Hi everyone,

It's been a while since I've had time to write in my personal blog. Been busy with freelance articles and trying to find a good full-time job. A lot has happened since my last post. Thought I'd take a few minutes to rant about what's been going on lately. Here we go!

1. We have a gun problem in America. The tragic mass shooting on July 4th in Highland Park, IL was the 309th mass shooting in the U.S. and the 95th mass shooting since the incident in Uvalde, TX back in May. We've already had more than 1,500 mass shootings in this country since 2020 began. 

Other countries have gun ownership, violent video games, people with drug and alcohol issues, mental health concerns and other issues. Yet we consistently have to deal with mass shootings every week. People are scared to go out in public for this very reason.

We also have more guns than people in America. We have politicians who refuse to do anything to introduce or support gun reform laws because they've received significant campaign contributions from the National Rifle Association and other pro-gun groups. It's interesting reading posts made by politicians who blame everything BUT guns for mass shootings. They really let you know where their own personal interests lie.

It's beyond time to take gun violence seriously in the United States. No civilian should own a weapon that is capable of carrying bullets that can rip through bone, tissue and internal organs. These weapons are not intended for anything but seriously wounding or killing intended targets. Many avid hunters that I know are wondering why anyone would need this kind of gun anyway. It's time to ban assault weapons and require that gun owners pass a safety course and background check and take out liability insurance. If a gun that they own is used to wound or kill someone, they should be held responsible, whether they pulled the trigger or not. 

2. Donald Trump is not a nice guy. As the January 6th committee hearings have continued, it's become increasingly obvious that the self-proclaimed stable genius is nothing more than a sore loser. He tried to have the election results overturned and attempted to incite an insurrection, which resulted in injuries to 140 U.S. Capitol police officers. He also established a phony election defense fund that earned him about $250 million from his gullible followers. I'm still amazed that anyone still supports this awful excuse for a human being. 

3. The U.S. Supreme Court is anything but impartial nowadays. The recent Roe v. Wade reversal showed us that the current Supreme Court doesn't really care about what the majority of Americans want. I'm against the decision, because I've always felt that a woman's reproductive rights were her own business. It reverted abortion to individual state laws. A ten year old girl in Ohio was raped recently, and denied an abortion in her state. Her parents took her to Indiana to have an abortion, but that state is also making reforms which may make abortion illegal there before long.

For ectopic pregnancies and certain types of miscarriages, abortion is the only way to save the mother. Allowing abortion in cases of rape or incest is also being disallowed in certain states, which makes it easier for men to take advantage of women who are under age or not able to fend off their abusers. I'm also concerned that the Roe v. Wade reversal also sets a bad precedent for other cases. Justice Clarence Thomas has also suggested that rulings regarding contraception, same-sex relationships and same-sex marriages be reevaluated as well. This could lead to those decisions being reversed, which would set our country back even further than ever.

4. Inflation is a global problem. I have to laugh whenever I see someone blaming President Biden for inflation, when prices and inflation are up all over the world. There are many reasons for this, some of which solely fall in corporations' laps. Many companies are raising prices and making record profits while individuals and families struggle to make ends meet. 

Presidents have very little influence on prices or inflation, yet they always seem to be blamed for inflation anyway. This is nothing new. It's very frustrating to see one party propose legislation to combat inflation, only to have the other party criticize those measures and vote against them. I'm very tired of the us versus them ideology in American politics. I'm not Democrat or Republican. I vote for candidates based on their record. I want to see results instead of just opponent bashing. It's time to put aside petty political differences and work together to solve problems constructively. 

5. Separation of church and state matter. Contrary to what Lauren Boebert and certain others may believe, the United States was founded on secular values. Our founding fathers realized the importance of separating church and state. They didn't want one particular religion to have an unfair influence on government.

Unfortunately, it seems like there are too many people that feel like we need God in our schools and our government. I grew up Catholic, but I'm not devout or anything like that. I feel that it's important to believe in something, and that something will probably be different for everyone. You can't impose a certain religion or belief on someone else. Churches and religions should not be allowed to influence Supreme Court decisions or any other laws or rules. 

6. The world is still full of hate. I'm thankful every day that I grew up in a family of people from different races, religions and sexual orientations. It taught me to appreciate others for who they are as human beings. I always felt bad when I saw someone being picked on or made fun of just because they were different. We're all different. If we were all the same, life would be rather boring.

Sadly, racism, sexism and homophobia are still running rampant. I've read threads where people denigrate trans people who want to compete in sports. When I was a kid, we let anyone play who wanted to. We didn't care about race, sex or anything else like that. That's how things should be. Break the barriers and remove the categories and classifications. In my opinion, there should be leagues that let men, women and trans people all compete at the same level if they have the interest and ability to do so. May the best athletes prevail. 

Two years ago, my state endured one of the worst tragedies in our nation's history. George Floyd was no hero, but no one deserved to die like he did. I still find it hard to believe that there are people who think that Floyd died solely from fentanyl poisoning or that the cops did nothing wrong. I'm also struggling with the fact that a black man in Ohio resisted arrest and was shot more than 60 times by police officers. That same week, Highland Park shooting suspect, Robert E. Crimo III, a white man, also resisted arrest and was captured peacefully. There are too many incidents where white suspects are treated better than people of color by law enforcement, which leads me to believe that racism is still alive and well. It seems like we've forgotten or ignored many of the lessons of the past. 

Well, it's time for me to hop off of my soapbox. Some people will agree with what I've had to say, and others will dispute or refute it. They may be angry. That's fine. I'm all for civil debate. I draw the line at insults or degradation. You can make your point without trying to bring someone else down. Until next time, have a good week and don't forget to be kind to one another.