Have I trained myself to be dissatisfied with what I have? Finding the balance between ambition(growth) and static decline is hard. If you aren’t growing you are dying but happiness is understanding that a journey is required every flipping day. Taking things for granted is the way to lose.

I said Omicron 3 times. I’m still not afraid. I admit that I am getting tired of so many that are. You know how to protect yourself. Do it and stop pretending that there is science to back up mandatory masking and lockdowns and mandates of every variant. Move on America. Yes we can.

Trust in the Lord… none of us is promised tomorrow. That is a fact. Straight talk reality check.

A brilliant light has left this world. The world remains blessed because of his execution and legacy.

“Having just the vision's no solution, everything depends on execution.”
- Stephen Sondheim

“Bit by bit, putting it together...
Piece by piece, only way to make a work of art.
Every moment makes a contribution,
Every little detail plays a part.
Having just the vision's no solution,
Everything depends on execution,
Putting it together, that's what counts.”
- Stephen Sondheim

“It's not so much do what you like as it is that you like what you do.”
- Stephen Sondheim

“Anything you do, let it come from you. Then it will be new. Give us more to see...”
- Stephen Sondheim

“I chose and my world was shaken, so what? The choice may have been mistaken, the choosing was not.”
- Stephen Sondheim

All from Sunday in the Park with George

I am thankful for an end to this year and another day tomorrow.
I am thankful for the lessons I have learned.
I am thankful for my children’s transition to adulthood.
I am thankful that I have a place to be me.
​I am thankful for my job and the opportunities it provides.
I am thankful that I live in the greatest country in the world.
I am thankful for my health and prosperity.
I am thankful that I can sing.
I am thankful for the examples around me, showing me who I do not want to be.
I am thankful for connections and community.
I am thankful for my brothers : the Brandon Bacon Bunch
i am thankful for the engineers and technology tools enabling me.
I am thankful that God loves me in spite of me. It is amazing.
I am thankful for warm fires, cool pools, fields to work in, and the ability and desire to work and provide for others.
I am thankful for the abundance of food and drink in my life, including bacon.
I am thankful for the freedom provided to me by the sacrifice and service of so many before me.

Media mania is a thing. It is dangerous and debilitating and has intense impact on the poorly educated and unaware. Protesting a trial outcome where rules of evidence and law were enforced based on a media narrative is pathetic. The jury had the burden to decide if the prosecutor proved the case as charged. This narrow function is by design. This equivocation emotional cancel victimization environment is destroying us because too many don’t understand the law.

Rule of law must stand. Constitution must stand.

I am pleased with the RIttenhouse verdict but my criticism would apply equally if he had been convicted.

Our system is not perfect. It is however the BEST system in the world. Public safety is best protected by an informed and armed population along with respect for the police and military.

Trying to quantify my disappointment in the public schools is seemingly impossible. Just when I think they can’t do any worse, another dysfunctional decision and approach is made clear. The equation seems to be designed to continue checking the existence box regardless of any measurable success criteria. Parents MUST retake control of their children’s education at all costs.
I recognize that a lot of those teachers are doing the very best that they can. It is simply NOT good enough.

Sunday dinner was never about pressure. It was about priority. We go to grandma’s house because family and time is precious. Of course the food is important. Yes it is nice to watch football and maybe even have a fire. Ultimately it is about making people the priority in your life and showing respect for that blessing. Every week isn’t required. Grandma understands. It is the ritual of prioritizing and choosing to spend the rare and precious time of a blessed day with people that matter that matters most of all.
Each of us chooses our example and making the effort in spite of the constant challenges and obstacles is what this whole life thing is all about. Be. Love. Serve. Repeat.

Willful ignorance, intentional elevation of buffoonish behavior, unchecked doublespeak, bottomless hypocrisy, laughing it off but not changing anything — signs of #idiotsincharge that make me insane and wake me up in middle of night

These “metrics” are prevalent In failing institutions everywhere, from churches, to schools, to governments, to families. The outcome is always the same. Failure.

Too many church communities have no courage. They seek popularity and “members” above all. Like most of us, trust is placed in skills, in govt leaders, and things of the world. The problem is that we live in the world but are not of the world. Cowards are irrelevant to the courageous. This is hard. Churches in 2021 are almost universally soft. #mustchange

Allow parents choice with their education funds. Open Charter schools. Teachers have choices for where they want to teach. Existing system, which obviously isn't all that great will be reborn with competition. Advanced degrees, remediation opportunities, grade accelerations...

Best schools win. Best teachers win. Students and parents win.

We know for sure that putting more money into public schools hasn't fixed them. What is wrong with doing something new and different? Nothing I say. Nothing. When you can't fix something in place, best plan is to build another option in parallel and evolve everything, decommissioning what doesn't pass muster.

Lots of friends seem to be little confused. Here is what I mean when I say it.

1. Joe Biden is a bumbling failure as POTUS.  We should Elect Republicans Everywhere.
2. No more lockdowns, EVER.  No more mandatory masks, EVER.  I won't be giving up ANY guns.
3. The liberal media is utterly corrupt and useless. The constant defense of the #idiotsincharge by altering the “news” is toxic. Doublespeak is real.
4. Biden policies are destroying more lives than the Republicans would have if they were in power. I am very bitter that the moochers in DC are in control of my livelihood.  I'm already working to change that.
5. Government needs to stay the hell out of my life.
6. Covid pandemic is OVER. My respect for the federal government is at an all time low… and that is saying something because it was pretty low before all of this mess.
7. The current meltdown in Va schools is a tragedy.  I blame BOTH Biden and Lord Northam of the blackface clan. 
8. The constitution restrains the government, not the citizenry.  In particular, the federal government is limited by design, and needs to be whack smacked down to size. 
9. I would run for office and do a better job than these corruptoCrats but I can’t get elected because I’m honest and write things like this.
10. Big government is the problem, not the solution. Period.

It can only be truly defined by the artist. Art is A creative construct which exceeds and connects perspectives. Across time, culture and status.

If the things I think and say shock you, you don’t know me.

Musing Monday on my day off for me. Tenors set the tone. Power and lines. Nail the high notes and minimize the low. Never be afraid of the bombastic. Embrace the sublime.

Mixing, matching, making… manahmanah. Doo do ba doo doo manahmanah.

There are people that want to have eliminate advanced diplomas, lower standards to accommodate more at the expense of the few, and teach that success and livelihood is based on your race. They need choices.

Ban Critical Race Theory. Open charter schools now. Kids Lives Matter.

Va must vote for hope and change. Vote for Glenn Youngkin for Governor.