Milestones!

Everyone has milestones at some point in their life. We all have our first one when we are born. We all have only one birthday. It is only one birthday yet we celebrate it every year. Some of us get to celebrate it more often than others.

Many of you have had milestones like graduating from high school, college, graduate school, marriages, and some of you know what it is like to have milestones from your starter marriages! You may also know what it was like when your first child was born, and some of you may also add that second, third or even more children's births. It is those kinds of milestones that mark our lives.

I had a milestone last week that in the grand scheme of things is no big deal; however, I celebrated reaching 1,000 Friends on Facebook! I have not posted it until now because I spent a significant amount of time between then and now lying down trying to let my bedsores get some time to heal. By the way, I see that number is now up to 1002.
 
I know there are many people on Facebook who have many more than 1,000 Friends; but it was the first chance I got to put a comma in my number of Friends. That made it a milestone for me on Facebook The significance of that is I have Facebook friends literally all over the world from New Zealand to Scotland to Greece to Canada to pretty much every state in the union from Alaska to Florida to Maine to California and almost every state in between.

I list all of these, not because I am bragging, but rather I am trying to demonstrate how significantly small our world has become through social media! A few weeks ago, I put up a post about my discussion with my friend in New Zealand, Di Niven. I commented on how I would probably never hear her voice and wondered what her accent is like. Whereupon, she promptly through a voice recognition program spoke and I heard her voice and accent. I have also given my website with my voice on a television interview and video of the speech I gave several years ago; so, several people all over the world know what kind of an accent I have including another Mike Patrick in Scotland.

It is absolutely amazing to me how Facebook has brought the world together in a way that I do not think Mark Zuckerberg and his pals had any idea the scope of what they were doing!

I would like to add an interesting side note about the number of people on Facebook worldwide. According to statistics I've read there are 1.2 billion people on Facebook. If you were to take those numbers and make them a country it would make the second largest country in the world only behind China's 1.3 billion people! That is amazing to me!

I have had this cartoon for quite a while and want to share it with you:

Click on the image to make it larger:

I find some dark humor in this image and just how wide a scope Facebook extends!

It reminds me of the quote, "If you don't come to my funeral, I won't go to yours."

I did a little experiment several years ago after one Mike Patrick asked to friend me on Facebook. Of course, I did and decided to see how many Mike Patricks I could find who would friend me. I had thirty-five Mike or Michael Patricks from five countries and three continents aged from eighteen to seventy! Several of them have since unfriended me, but there are still at least a dozen from all over the world who often Comment or Like something I post. It will be interesting to see if any of them like this post.

I have doctors, lawyers, engineers, school administrators, teachers, retired folks and students who have heard me speak and wanted to be my friend after my presentation listed as Friends on my Friends List!

I have friends listed from many of the the towns we lived in growing up to the three colleges I attended and everywhere I have lived since graduating from the University of Minnesota in 1980. I have several friends listed from my short time in Berkeley in 1974 and '75. At least one of them from Berkeley is listed on my blog list. She knows who she is and Karen often will make comments from my blog posts.

One of my doctor Facebook friends will often comment on Facebook. He is a cardiac surgeon; and when I spoke at his twenty-five year high school class reunion several years ago, he had a hard time believing I had a pacemaker. I invited him up to feel the pacemaker in my chest and he finally believed I have one. In fact, he gave me some advice about the surgeon who installed my last one and gave his approval when I told him the name of the surgeon who installed my pacemaker. Thank you for that endorsement Dr. Tom!

I have known Dr. Tom Johnson since he was in high school and am good friends with his two older brothers Mike and Steve! Another one of my doctor friends, David Bisbee was a track teammate in high school and was my live-in attendant for a short time when we were both at the University of Minnesota. He now runs a very successful practice in New Hampshire.

It is fun to watch where my Facebook friends have gone with their careers, families and lives since I knew them when they were as young as first and second grades living on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in 1960 to 1963! Yes, I have a Facebook friend who I have known since I was five years old!

I could go on about several of my virtual relationships, but I think you get my point about how I believe social media is keeping our world a small place and connecting lives over an extended period of time.

As always, I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike
 

Tim Conway And Harvey Korman (Redo)

I am going to do something today I have never done, and that is repost one of my first and favorite posts from October 2007. I have my reasons for doing this so please let me explain. 

First of all, the 1960s was an era of the variety show. Laugh-In, The Dean Martin Show, The Carol Burnett Show, Sonny and Cher, The Andy Williams Show, The Red Skelton Show to name just a few were watched by millions on the only three stations available ABC, CBS and NBC.

I should also list the granddaddy of them all which introduced us to the Beatles and countless other acts that went on to great success in the entertainment business because Ed Sullivan gave them a start on his weekly variety show.

For those of you younger than the Baby Boomer age bracket, you may not remember a time before cable, hundreds of channels and remote controls! I am reposting this skit because I showed it to my 41-year-old attendant the other day and she had never heard of the names in my post nor any of the shows I mentioned.

Another reason I want to post this skit again is because I think it is just plain funny!  It is a classic example of two grown men making you laugh out loud without saying a thing! It is so funny in the beginning as Harvey Korman tries to stay in character and not laugh at the bungling of his dentist, Tim Conway.

The last reason I am posting this is I have more subscribers today than I did in 2007 and I would like to introduce them to a time gone by.

This type of television would never make it today and illustrates how much is shown on hundreds of channels of violence, sex, illicit drug use, language and adult oriented behavior during prime time when children have access to thousands of murders, rapes and other violent acts before they are eighteen, it is a wonder they are able to understand the difference between right and wrong when they are raised in front of a television. I guess we can include video games in that genre as well.

Click on this URL to see my post and watch a short video of The Dentist's skit:

http://iamnotdoneyet.blogspot.com/2007/10/tim-conway-harvey-kormans-comedy.html

I will end this post with a Test Pattern the way every network ended its viewing day every night:

 

Do you remember this?

As always, I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

Jon Stewart Is Quitting The Daily Show

In a very heartfelt statement at the end of last night's Daily Show, Jon Stewart announced he was going to be leaving the show after seventeen years! I could not believe my ears or eyes as he held back the tears and talked of his affinity for the show, the people involved in putting on the show and bringing a well scripted and extremely well researched show that made fun of not only politics, but current events, history and other topics too numerous to mention.

It is a sad day today at Comedy Central after Stewart made his unscripted announcement. It is a sad day for me because I always look forward to his humorous look at the events of the day from a perspective I admire.

I like the way he puts a humorous twist on very serious subjects from all over the world. He has not decided when he will leave for good, but it will be sometime this year.

As always, click on the image to make it larger:

On occasion, I stay up to watch The Daily Show; but usually I watch it the next day while I eat breakfast. It is always a great way to start my day. I will miss that. I have sometimes gotten material for speeches from his commentary or information from his guests.

Whatever he does, you know it is well researched and well written. Whenever I talk or listen to a comedian they will tell you comedy is the most difficult form of entertainment to write and perform. He does it incredibly well with a staff of writers who put on an incredible show!

A few years ago he was named the most trusted man in America. Walter Cronkite used to be that person for those of you old enough to remember when he did the nightly news. I found it incredible when that survey came out and a comedian was the most trusted anchor on television!

I also record David Letterman and watch his brand of extraordinary comedy. It will be interesting to see how Stephen Colbert fills his shoes. His shtick was getting a little old for me the last couple years and it will be interesting to see how he changes to fill an hour-long show five nights a week.

I do not pretend to understand entertainment contracts and getting in and out of them and have no idea how or when John Oliver has his contract set up, but I think he will probably be the heir apparent to Jon Stewart on The Daily Show. He did an excellent job for the several months Stewart was directing a movie. It is just my hunch, but I believe he would be a great successor to the show.

There is a whole generation today that believes Jay Leno was always the host of The Tonight Show. They have never even seen any episodes of Johnny Carson's show. Johnny Carson was the epitome of a late-night talk show host as was Jack Parr and Steve Allen before Johnny. He used to do a ninety-minute show and introduced us to many comedians including Jay Leno.

Whenever John Stewart leaves, he will leave with large shoes to fill.

I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

Robin Williams Was Demanding

Artists can be very demanding in their requirements of the venue where they perform. Many well-known performers demand certain things be just right before they step on stage. Indeed, it is well known people like Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, the Rolling Stones, to name just a few require certain types of foods, bottled water, alcohol and other staples be just right whenever they perform.

Robin Williams had certain demands written into his contracts that not many people know about. The other day, I found this piece on my Facebook friend Amie from Plano, Texas page that reads like this:

A Little Known Robin Williams Story:

“Years ago I learned a very cool thing about Robin Williams, and I couldn’t watch a movie of his afterward without thinking of it. I never actually booked Robin Williams for an event, but I came close enough that his office sent over his rider.

For those outside of the entertainment industry, a rider lists out an artist’s specific personal and technical needs for hosting them for an event- anything from bottled water and their green room to sound and lighting requirements. You can learn a lot about a person from their rider. This is where rocks bands list their requirement for green M&Ms (which is actually a surprisingly smart thing to do).

This is also where a famous environmentalist requires a large gas-guzzling private jet to fly to the event city, but then requires an electric or hybrid car to take said environmentalist to the event venue when in view of the public.

When I got Robin Williams’ rider, I was very surprised by what I found. He actually had a requirement that for every single event or film he did, the company hiring him also had to hire a certain number of homeless people and put them to work.

I never watched a Robin Williams movie the same way after that. I’m sure that on his own time and with his own money, he was working with these people in need, but he’d also decided to use his clout as an entertainer to make sure that production companies and event planners also learned the value of giving people a chance to work their way back.

I wonder how many production companies continued the practice into their next non-Robin Williams project, as well as how many people got a chance at a job and the pride of earning an income, even temporarily, from his actions.

He was a great multiplier of his impact. Let’s hope that impact lives on without him. Thanks, Robin Williams- not just for laughs, but also for a cool example.”

Reposted with permission from brianlord.org

We have all heard of Robin Williams mental health issues and his dealing with depression these last few weeks since his death. We have also heard of many of the philanthropic things he did and how close he was to Christopher Reeve. They went way back to being classmates at Juilliard.

When we think of Robin Williams, we think of an unbelievable talent who made us laugh out loud because we never knew what was coming next. His improvisational skills will never be repeated.

I was fortunate to see him in concert twice. It was a nonstop, energy filled ninety-minute exhibition of sheer comic genius. From start to finish he was going one hundred miles an hour. We did not know what had been written and what he was improvising. He was a true talent in front of an audience. 

I wanted to post this piece to show you another side of a very complex individual. Can you imagine what some people had to go through to step out of their comfort zone and hire homeless people to work for their companies?

The thing is he has been doing extraordinary things for other people his entire life. I recorded The Late Show with David Letterman on August 18th to see Bruce Willis and what antics he was going to pull. I just watched it the other day and Letterman did a tribute to Robin Williams before he brought Bruce Willis out. You could see how difficult it was for David letterman attimes when talking about his good friend of roughly four decades.

Robin Williams appeared as a guest on Dave's shows fifty times! Letterman said the fun thing about having Robin Williams on as a guest was he (Letterman) knew he did not have to do anything that night. He would just introduce Robin Williams, and Williams would take it from there. Letterman would just sit back and watch a comic genius do his thing.

At one point, Letterman showed this picture and made humorous comments about how all of the starving comedians back in the early days were trying to do their routines and how awestruck they were when Robin Williams took the stage.

Richard Pryor was already well established and he came to the Comedy Store to hone his skills every once in a while. Mitzi Shore ran the club. David Letterman was a young comedian making his way and then there was Robin Williams doing the same thing.

David Letterman said Robin Williams was in the same boat as all the rest of those comedians at that stage of their careers trying to become better and get discovered. He made one comment something like, we all stunk and after watching Williams do his bit Letterman said we all felt even worse about ourselves because we were comparing ourselves to the improvisational comic genius of Robin Williams. The tribute was very fitting and touching. It was interesting as you could tell Dave was fighting off the tears by the end.

Click on this image to make it larger:

Hopefully, if anything good can come out of Robin Williams' suicide, it will be an increased awareness and action to properly address depression and mental health issues in our healthcare system.

R.I.P. funny man. 

As always, I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all of my Irish family and friends, and those that wish they were Irish! Growing up with a name like Michael Arlin Patrick, I was always told there are two types of people in the world. They are the Irish and the people that wish they were Irish!

Click on the image to make it larger:

I have no reason to believe any differently, especially today! I have had more fun over the years playing with that quote then you can imagine. Most of us know the story of St. Patrick, so I will not take up your time with retelling it again. Besides, there is always GOOGLE!

Most everyone knows the stereotype of the drunken Irishman or woman and how he or she likes to drink their Guinness. On St. Patrick's Day much of that Guinness and other beers are turned green in honor of this unique holiday. The irony in that stereotype and the author of this post is I have never drank a beer in my life, green or otherwise!

I have only had two drinks in my life and can honestly say, "I just do not like the taste of alcohol in any form."

I remember back in the mid-70s and early 80s when I was coming of age and asked if I wanted a beer at a party or in a bar, I politely replied, "No thank you." Then, someone would ask me if I was a recovering alcoholic? When I told them, "No, I just don't like the taste." They would always tell me you have to acquire the taste.

Before my accident, I never would have drunk because it would have been breaking training regulations. I was not about to do that! After my accident, I never imagined doing any more damage to my body than had already been done. It was an easy choice. Plus, there was the issue of how would I be able to handle my van getting home from wherever I was? It was an easy decision to make, and still is.

The main reason I never drank, smoked marijuana or did any kind of illicit drug before my accident was I did not want to let my parents down by breaking training rules that would make me ineligible to play whatever sport was in season.

I tell a great story in my book about how during one of my many hospitalizations I was prescribed a muscle relaxer called Marinol whose active ingredient is THC. Yes, That's right, the same THC found in marijuana. My doctor gave me a five-milligram dose, and I laid there and laughed and laughed and laughed!

Friends and family would come to visit me or tell me over the phone I should have tried marijuana way back in college when they were all doing it and having such a good time. They told me now I knew what I was missing!

The irony in me getting that Marinol was it happened roughly six months after Dad died in 2006. I have often wondered how he would have reacted to see me lying there giggling uncontrollably!

Like many stereotypes, there is someone that breaks the mold about the Irish and how much they like to drink. I am one of those people that break that mold. I would be remiss if I did not tell you I am proud to wear that moniker! 

As I grow older, more and more people are telling me I am getting more sarcastic. I know that is true. However, I have developed a sarcastic wit about me a long time ago and also wear that quite proudly! I have some good mentors that have taught me that skill over these last many years. I have a feeling you know you are. Thank you for that gift! 

Here is another picture I would like to include in this post in honor of all my sarcastic mentors out there:

 Click on the image to make it larger:

If you are going out tonight and having some of that green beer, please make sure you have a designated driver so everyone gets home safely. Enjoy your evening.

As always, I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

Talk About A Great Christmas Story

It was almost a year ago already when Owen Groesser was featured on SportsCenter, but the story does not seem to go away. They played it again today and it seems to be a story that keeps on giving and giving.

If you have not heard the story about young Owen and his heroics on the basketball court last January, it is a heartwarming story of not only a boy with Down syndrome, but a story of sportsmanship, teamwork, hard work, dedication and the love of my favorite sport, basketball. It is also about the power of Twitter and how powerful that medium has become in a fairly short time.

In fact, the Twitter # (hashtag) became so popular it caught the attention of Scott Van Pelt who put the story on his SportsCenter Top 10 Stories of the Day at Number 10. The next night, it was the Number 1 Story! I do not have a Twitter account yet, but I am thinking it may be time to get one!

I was not able to download the SportsCenter original video, but I have a video from the local TV station in Rochester Hills, Michigan I believe you will appreciate:

Just click here:

If that does not bring up the story, try this link: http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/sports/eighth-grader-with-down-syndrome-hits-memorable-three-pointer-in-first-game

Once you watch the expression on this boy's face, you will be hooked! He was in another world, and it was wonderful to see how excited he got as he was interviewed with his father. In one interview I watched as the mother and father were interviewed. I do not know who was more excited, young Owen or his parents? Describing the games brought both parents to tears.

It is wonderful stories like this that make me excited to do this blog. I have often said, "I never know where my inspiration will come from to put up a post." I certainly did not expect to be posting this story on Christmas Eve.

I want to close by wishing all of my Christian friends a Merry Christmas tomorrow. I would like to leave you with my favorite Christmas lights display. Enjoy because a lot of effort went into this person's expression of the holiday spirit:

Click on the image to make it larger:

As always, I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike 

P.S. When did the pound sign become a hashtag? And, what is it for?

A Little Friday The 13th Humor

Granted, this has nothing to do with the general theme of my blog. Unless, you want to consider some of my posts have used good, clean humor in making a point. I have no point in posting this other than to make you laugh a little and poke fun of this superstitious unlucky day.

As I have often said, "I never know where my inspiration will come from to decide what to write about." This humorous video was sent to me this morning by a longtime friend who has sent me many things over the years I have turned into posts on this blog. Sometimes, they are meant to be humorous and I can turn them around and make them educational. Other times, they spark an idea I feel might appeal to a particular audience like the disability community, (although, this video does give new meaning to the term "service dog") among other groups like teachers.

I know this will not get to my subscribers until a few minutes after 7 PM Central Time when my post is published, hopefully you made it through your unlucky Friday the 13th uneventfully; or if you had something bad happen today, this ninety-second piece will brighten your day.

You may want to watch it more than once because the looks on the people's faces are priceless. I have watched it several times already and continue to laugh out loud each time! I love the people's expressions when they see the park worker talk to the driver.

Enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?feature=player_detailpage&v=fybch3DX8c8

Please let me know if this does not play on your browser. The first time I played it, I just got sound and no picture. I have played it several more times after that initial failure, and it has worked every time. Maybe you just need to play it more than once? I never said I understand computers!

Later,

Mike

Happy Thanksgiving!

As we all know, Thanksgiving is a time to stop, reflect and give thanks for everything we have been given this last year. I cannot express the good things that happened to me this last year without stopping to take a moment and think about the things I have lost as well.

I have lost a couple good friends to the dreaded "C" word, cancer. It seems the more time goes on, the more we experience different forms of grief in our lives. We have all been there and we will all be there again when we need to mourn the loss of someone dear to us for any one of a number of reasons. As the saying goes, "Time marches on." How true that is! For instance, it is hard for me to believe my father has been gone for more than six years already. I miss him every day.

I have run into several people this year who ask what my dad is up to these days. When my reply is, "He died of mesothelioma July 23, 2006." The usual reaction is one of shock and wanting to know how we got his cancer. That happened several times in September when I was in Worthington for my fortieth high school class reunion and the annual Turkey Day celebration. It also happens when I go to Gopher basketball games and someone who knew him will ask me how he is doing. It happened the first game of the season as I ran into a newly retired man who played basketball for my dad in college.

I also found out one of my friends from Worthington lost his life, as did two extended family members.

That is enough of the sad news.

Some good things happened this year I would like to mention. The first, and biggest news I would like to share is my little brother; Chad got his Drum Wallet patented on April 2, 2013. That was exciting news and his prospects are growing exponentially as sales are picking up and the word is spreading worldwide about this exciting drum accessory. If you are interested in learning more about the Drum Wallet click here. If you cannot get there with that link, click on this site: thedrumwallet.com. If you are a regular reader of my site, you know I have written about Chad and the Drum Wallet before. I am his biggest fan and very proud big brother to see all of his hard work start to pay off in getting the patent approved. 

I have also seen a steady rise in book sales of my book entitled "I Still Believe In Tomorrow" which is available on my website at patcom.com. FYI: they make great gifts for the upcoming holiday season if you happen to be interested. If you order them through me, I will make a personal signing to the intended recipient.

Some of you know of my Mom's brother Bob who is renovating the barn on the home place where mom and her nine siblings were raised. The barn was built in 1901 and for the last six years Bob has been commuting at least twice a year to do work on his man cave/hunting lodge to the point where now it is livable and every November he comes up from Louisiana and other family members come from as far away as Alaska to hunt pheasants and work on Bob's barn.

This year, he brought his wife, Linda and her grandson, Matt and his wife, Felicia. Whenever the barn is full of people, it is difficult to concentrate on any one conversation. However, Matt managed to read a good book in the middle of all the chaos with a conversation going on right behind him. Here is a picture of him focusing intently on his read:

Click on the image to make it larger: 

It was the first time in several years I have been able to make it up to the farm for a weekend of listening to stories and watching memories be made. It is always a great deal of fun listening to family members share memories of growing up in a different time when the barn was used for milking cows, feeding calves and housing horses. Of course, after a hunt, there are always stories of the day that sometimes are debated quite loudly about how someone actually shot or missed a coveted ringneck pheasant! Whenever I take someone with me who has never witnessed time at the Robert Michael Smith Private Game Preserve, they come away stunned and not quite sure of what just happened. However, they always want to go back another time. It is a unique experience!

I am very thankful to my uncle Bob for his commitment, and dogged determination to bring the barn back to life for its new purpose. It is truly a labor of love for him and we all appreciate it greatly! 

I am also thankful for my siblings, their children and my mom for the Thanksgiving celebration we will have tomorrow at Mom's house. All of my siblings will be there except for Tammy. Fortunately, she was just in town for a few days and got to spend a weekend in the barn.

Before I leave I want to share with you a joke I have had for many years and posted it on my Facebook page last year. I hope you enjoy the humor in my cartoon:

Who said turkeys are stupid?

I hope you all travel safely, eat too much good food, enjoy your company, get in at least one tryptophan induced nap and have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.

As always, I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

March Madness Is In Full Swing!

For college basketball fans, these last four days were all about doing nothing but watching game after game after game, grabbing the remote to switch and see how your teams were doing on one of the four channels covering all thirty-two games this weekend! They were CBS, TNT, TBS and TruTV.

March Madness is living up to its name this year. So far, there have been plenty of upsets, brackets busted, and the field is almost completely narrowed down to the Sweet 16.

Personally, I still have my eventual winner in the Sweet 16, and a couple other possible point producing teams, but my bracket fell on hard times yesterday and today. With eighty-six people in our pool after day one, I was only one point out of the lead. Day two, just two points out.

Then Saturday and Sunday brought carnage and yours truly now finds himself about fifteen points out of the lead! I am still in the upper half, but that is not saying much.

Friends of mine run the pool I enter every year, and it seems to be getting larger and larger every year. This year is the largest number of participants they have had, although I think some people enter more than one time.

For instance, there is one participant whose name is Reggie Bird, who happens to be a cockatiel. I know he does not fill out the brackets, so one of two humans must be doing it for him. One of my goals is to make sure I beat that damn bird every year!

Another one of my goals is to make sure I finish ahead of two longtime friends who have been entering in the tournament pool now for many years. We have an ongoing battle between the three of us, and I consider it a successful year when I finish about those two! Right now, I am ahead of both of them. However, one of them has a pretty good-looking bracket yet and may overtake me next weekend in the Sweet 16. The other one is done as his pick to win it all has already lost.

Many years ago, when a friend from high school worked at the local CBS affiliate, WCCO, he asked me if I would enter their pool. This was back before the Internet and email, so I picked up the brackets, filled them out and took them back down to the WCCO building.

Lo and behold, I won the tournament both years! The funny thing was, the third-year Dave told me the sportscasters would not let me enter the tournament that year because I was not an employee. It seems I had crushed their fragile egos and beaten the so-called sports experts! I loved it. One of them is still there, and I am sure he would not remember that if we were to ask him about it today.

I have also won the tournament I am in now one time. But that was a long time ago, and I know I am in the hole if you add up all of my entry fees compared to what I have won. When I send in my ten-dollar check every year, I just write Donation in the memo of the check.


Now it is time to check my brackets and see how I have fared so far today. If you are in a pool somewhere and are doing well, Congratulations! If you are not doing well, just remember, there is always next year. -->
 
I just know it is a fun way to follow the tournament and feel like I am a part of it. I always like it when I beat the high paid prognosticators. We all need to remember, “In the end, only one team goes home a winner!”

On another note, I just heard the University of Minnesota Women's Hockey Team just won their second straight National Championship! Congratulations to them as they have their own version of March Madness!


Now it is time to check my brackets and see how I have fared so far today. If you are in a pool somewhere and are doing well, Congratulations! If you are not doing well, just remember, there is always next year.

As always, I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

You Turn Away For A Second ...

When I was young, my parents would take me to my mother's parents farm. Grandpa raised pigs. I have two pictures when I was about two years old of me chasing grandpa's piglets. I was not supposed to be doing it; but, as so many times when one of my siblings or I got into trouble, mother would have to take a picture or two of the offending party before she stopped the behavior or cleaned up the mess!

Parenting is a hard business! When parents have a young one, the child can do something in a heartbeat that changes the entire situation. If you are a parent you know exactly what I am talking about! Hopefully, the incident in question does not result in a tragedy of any sort.

My mother took pictures of all of us in situations we should not have been in. But, like I said, she would have to document the situation before cleaning us up. In a lifetime of taking pictures and collecting over seventy photo albums of not only our lives, but of the lives of the people around us. She is currently going through all of these albums and taking out favorites to give to her brothers, sisters, my siblings and her grandchildren. What a wonderful gift!

In early 2006, for some unknown reason, she and I were looking through some of these old photograph albums. We started picking out photos we wanted to keep, and scan to make an online family album. There was no particular reason for it, we just decided to do it. Little did I know the reason for us to do it would appear a couple months later when my father was diagnosed with mesothelioma.

I designed the program for his memorial services and made a collage of some of the pictures we had started scanning just a few months earlier. It appeared on the back cover of his program. Since then, I have made several collages for members of my family to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and one other life. They were fun to do, therapeutic and enabled me to express my artistic side in another way. I have had several people tell me they look at their collage every once in a while and see a picture they have not noticed before! That is fun. They have also told me other people have commented favorably on their collage.

I wonder what the situation was that allowed this young boy to kiss the snout of this pig? And then, have the wherewithal to snap the photo while the boy was making a new friend?

I have seen this photograph before several years ago. In fact, I use it in a slide show for the opening of conferences. I wonder if the family knows their cute little boy is all over the Internet being used as fodder for adults to laugh at?

As always, I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!

I have had this cartoon for several years, and use it in slideshows for openings of conferences when I keynote in a ballroom. I just found it the other day and cannot help but share it with you. It is a classic example of clean humor and creative problem-solving.

Who says, Turkeys are stupid!?

Enjoy your tryptophan nap tomorrow as you try to watch your favorite game or other show through your eyelids!

I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

Tuesday Was A Good Day

Tuesday was a good day for me. It actually started on Monday, as I had to run a few errands that got my trip started late. I put my watch on and quickly realized it was only correct twice a day, so that was one stop I needed to make.

My doctor's office called with two prescriptions I needed to start taking right away for yet another infection I had growing in one of my wounds. Since I was already taking two antibiotics for different bacteria growing in my urine and another wound, that brought the total to four antibiotics I will be taking for an extended period of time. It seems there are several different bacteria trying to take over my body and they are tough to kill.

It took several hours and numerous phone calls to get the nurse and the pharmacy hooked up, so by the time we finally got on the road it was 2:00 p.m. The good news is the antibiotics are winning, I am feeling better and my watch is correct all the time!

I had recently bought a new iPod but did not know how to hook it up to the stereo, so it was another trip to the Superstore where I bought it, and a sales representative came out, got it running and we were finally on the road.

I was taking a new attendant who had no idea what the next twenty-four hours were going to be like. Robert has not stopped talking about how much he enjoyed every aspect of the trip. He has not done a transfer on his own yet, so my good friend, Joel Krekelberg, better known as Krek, came by our room and transferred me into bed that night and into my chair in the morning. He saved the trip!

Now, let me get to the point of this post. Terry Morrison hired me to do a two-and-a-half hour workshop for one hundred sixty social service professionals from agencies all over Southwestern Minnesota. They worked at all levels of those agencies from direct service professionals to agency directors. Terry gave me free range to cover the issues I wanted. He just told me it was their seventh annual feel good fall meeting.

So, I had fun with my opening hour, took a nine-minute break and spent the remaining time doing exercises I had put together specifically for this group. Here was page 1: Click on it to make it larger:

There were several things that made the experience fun. Here are just a few:

• having at least one audience member who was at the game when I got hurt
• several people who remembered that time and followed me through articles in the Worthington Daily Globe
• one woman told me she listened to the game on her tractor radio while she was working in the field
• many people told me they could relate to my story
• reading the Evaluations and Comments on my presentation — there were many good ones

As part of the contract, everyone got a signed copy of my book, and several people bought more for gifts after my workshop.

After a long drive home, I was exhausted. Yes, Tuesday was a good day!

I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

Attitude

We have all heard the phrase Attitude is everything. I believe that statement and try to have a good attitude every day. Unfortunately, there are days when we get tested and we wonder how our attitude is going to get us through that particular situation. At least, I do.

It happened to me again the other day. I had received orders for several books, gotten an email from a new school who was inquiring about me coming to spend a day and had a good day started. Then, my attitude got tested. 

My personal care attendant did not show up because we had a miscommunication about scheduling, my chair developed an intermittent electrical short, my computer crashed, my power door would not lock, so I did not want to leave my apartment. Plus, I was starting to get hungry. It seemed like I was getting attacked from all directions! My attitude was starting to get tested.

Well, four hours later my technical support representative in India, finally got my computer running; although my website is back, it does not have the current version showing. My attendant showed up and fixed me dinner. My power door magically started working again, and once again Mike's World was functioning at a workable pace!

The quote, Don't sweat the small stuff, was in full force. As you may know, there is a second part to that quote that reads, it's all small stuff! I had to remember that quote the other day.

I love a quote by the late George Carlin, on his perspective of optimism and pessimism. He was a realist. This is a paraphrase, but the gist of his quote was: The optimist says the glass is half full. The pessimist says the glass is half empty. I'm a realist. The glass is twice as big as it needs to be!

I put myself in that realist group. The example I often use in speeches is no matter how optimistic I can be about walking again someday, I am realistic enough to know it will not happen tomorrow.

Then, I spotted this diagram and it blew the whole analogy out of the water. (Please pardon the pun.) It shows the glass as always being full! Now, what am I going to do?

As always, I welcome your comments.

Later,

Mike

I Needed A Little Humor

I was going through my Inbox trying to cull it down from over five hundred emails to a more manageable number, when I came across this humorous video. I have seen it before, laughed at it then and after watching and laughing my way through it a few more times, decided to share it with you.

See what you think of this Ray Stevens' classic?

I try to follow his logic and he seems to have it correct. Do you have any problem with his logic?

This is the shortest post I have ever put up. I am practicing for my three hundred word eulogy of Jeff on June tenth. At least, I think that is the date. I cannot believe it, this whole post and I only wrote one hundred fifty-six words, and one video! Maybe I better work on making the next one a little longer.

I look for your comments.

Later,

Mike

Happy Easter!

To all my Christian friends, I wish you a Happy Easter. It celebrates the day when Jesus was resurrected from his tomb and came back to life. Today, it has a special meaning to me since my friend, Jeff, whom I blogged about last week, is still with us and at the hospital. He has not moved to hospice and I am making plans to go to visit him again on Tuesday! It truly is a day to be thankful!

In that vein, and with tongue firmly planted in cheek, I want to share a very famous picture with you I am sure you have all seen before. In this Leonardo da Vinci painting of The Last Supper, I want to tell you what Jesus is saying.

Now, you need to know I do not have verification of the authenticity of this quote, but I found it on the Internet, and we all know, if it is on the Internet, it must be true, correct?

According to my source, Jesus is saying, Everyone who wants to be in the picture, come on this side of the table.

Click on the image to make it larger:

I know I called it a picture and it is really a painting, but cut me some slack, okay? After all, it is my blog! I know cameras were not invented until the nineteenth century and da Vinci painted this in the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century. He lived from 1452 to 1519, but I got carried away.

I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

Some Boys Never Grow Up

I have always said I get some of my inspiration for my posts from friends who send me material. Their material may be serious and educational, or so funny I cannot stop laughing, like this one. He sent me three videos. Two of them were with Tim Conway. I made one of my first posts of him and Harvey Korman in a scene from The Carol Burnett Show. Very few words were spoken and they did not need to say anything. The physical comedy of Tim Conway remains some of the funniest comedy I have ever seen. 

Very few of you were subscribers to this blog and can see the dentist sketch I wrote about on October 23, 2007 by clicking here.

This piece is from The Tonight Show back in the 1960's. I have seen it before and yet had to watch it several times again before I could stop laughing long enough to type. I like Johnny Carson's scarf and Bob Hope's golf club. Just watch what Dean Martin does repeatedly to George Gobel's drink, apparently, without him having any knowledge of what was happening. Bob Hope is laughing so hard, he is crying. You see him wipe away tears a couple of times. Thanks, Lew!



I have always contended humor can be funny and clean at the same time. Like most jokes, someone has to be the butt of the joke, and Dean Martin definitely gets George Gobel in this skit. They are all gone now, but I will bet their spirits are often smiling over the fact well more than one million people continue to enjoy a laugh with them every so often.

I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

P.S. Once again to my Facebook friends who want to see the videos, just go to my blog by clicking here. While you are there, please subscribe to it in the upper right hand corner, follow the directions, and make sure you reply to the Feedburner Subscriber Verification email you will receive right after you subscribe to get you fully subscribed. You will receive an email every time I post, and you can check out some of my old posts. You will find some of them educational, entertaining and occasionally even humorous, like this one. Thank you.

Poking Fun Of Our Canadian Neighbors

I believe it is important to laugh as often as we can and lately, I have not had a lot to laugh about. Maybe that is why I find this so funny. Check out this short video a friend just sent me and see if you agree with me:

Canadian Police Chase (haseeb) - Click here for the funniest movie of the week

Do you agree? Do you think this is as funny as I do?

Maybe I just needed a break from discussing my health issues? By the way, according to the nurse today, one sore is looking better and one is not.

I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

Jack Rushton Rocks!

I often do a considerable amount of research to find material for a post, and other times, friends simply send me things from which I get ideas to expand upon that I think you will appreciate and hopefully even learn something. This is one from the latter category.

Five years ago, I met a young man at the Virginia Youth Leadership Forum by the name of Matthew Deans. He has an incomplete spinal cord injury and functions at a very high level. I saw him every year when I went to speak at YLF and we have developed a great friendship.

So, as one of my Facebook friends, he sent me this video several days ago with a note that simply read, "Saw this and thought of you." I want to share this video with you, and see if anyone thinks of me while watching it:

I love Jack's self-depricating humor! I appreciate his attitude and his outlook on life. I found this great article on Jack and how twenty years of living as a ventilator-dependant quadriplegic has affected his life and the lives of the people around him. I cannot relate to the ventilator part, but I certainly relate to the rest! You can read it by clicking here.

From what I can find, his health has not been very good recently. If you would like to read some of his interesting and often humorous observations, go to his blog by clicking here.

Jack certainly is correct when he says, "It's good to be alive."

My dad always used to add to that statement by saying, "It beats the alternative."

I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

The Longevity Game

I thought I would end the first half of 2009 with a fun, little post.

I came across this game the other day and decided to put it up so everyone can try it. It's done by an insurance company, so take it for what it's worth. You know what they say about getting what you pay for. Some of you may like the results, and, obviously, some of you may not.

Personally, I liked the results. But, I know my results are going to be a bit skewed since I don't think they have made any allowance for spinal cord injuries and all of the health issues I've had to deal with. However, they do have a disclaimer on pre-existing conditions before you play the game.


You can take The Longevity Game by clicking here.

Remember, if you don't like the results, don't get mad at me. I didn't live your life and answer the test for you. I'm just the messenger!

As always, I welcome your comments.

Later,

Mike

Wanda Sykes View Of The Bailout

I finally got out of the hospital on Monday, and I'm slowly getting my strength and stamina back. 48 days in a hospital tends to take it out of me. The older I get, the longer it takes to recover from a setback. I'm sure some of you can relate. :-)

I'm feeling better and decided it's time to put up a new post. I thought I would start with showing you a humorous video with Wanda Sykes talking to Jay Leno on The Tonight Show. Agree with her or not, she delivers her routine with great comic genius. Check it out by clicking here. My favorite line is, "I want receipts, dammit!"

I will get serious again with my next post. It's good to be back in the saddle.

I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike