Relax!

There are times in one's life when the stress seems unbearable and simply placing one foot in front of the other seems almost impossible. The next time that happens,  click on these, close your eyes and sit back and relax.







Feel better??? It worked for me..

Most over rated artist

This weeks less than thrilling topic comes via - drum roll please - me. Oh well.

It's pretty simple to me - any celebrity that comes from the reality TV world - the duck dumbasses, the real housewives from anywhere and do on are vastly overrated.  Most if the stuff is scripted so it's as fake as the stars.  But the queen of all IMHO is that fabulously bubble-butted bimbo Kim Kardashian.

Her so-called career is based on a homemade porn tape.  For a time she was in competition with an heir to the Hilton fortune  but little Kimmy has pulled away from Paris and the pack.  Much to the chagrin of her sister Khloe and the Queen Mother Kris Jenner and rising hopeful Kendell. What an amazing family.  OJ's ex-lawyer is probably turning over in his grave.

In a somewhat more serious turn, I personally think  the authors of the so-called classics in literature are somewhat over rated. Not for the quality or lack thereof of their work but because of the attitudes of their fandom.  I suspect they ( their fanboys & fangirls) even resent being called fans  since they undoubtedly feel superior to the rest of the reading world.  Those authors spoke to and about their own times and culture. I prefer reading about those more relevant to my time. I'd much rather read about the goings on on the Busted Flush, tooling around Florida in miss Agnes or consulting with Milan Jacovich on good places to eat in Cleveland. And Kate Shugak has great tales of  life in Alaska and Tres Navarre really knows the Texas hill country. Walt Longmire is the best lawman around.  I do confess though to really enjoying a SherlocK Holmes tale or two along with Jules Verne.  See - it's all relative.

On a final note, even a great artist can lay an egg.  Can there be a more pretentious peace of musical crap than Imagine by John Lennon? Well - possibly Hey Jude, written to John's son Julian by hjis erstwhile bandmate Sir Paul..  They both make me cringe when I hear them played for the bazillionth time.

That's a quick shack-take on today's admittedly lightweight topic. Time to see what the others think. It might be interesting.

Expectations.

Todays topic  comes from Ramana. I wonder what his expectations for the topic may be.
Mine? Today has begun as a typical Friday here in Shackland.

Woke up. Got out of bed, dragged a comb across my head, Hm - where have I heard that before? :-) My expectations were simple - let the dog out, make some toast and coffee and sit down at the computer.  Check Ramana's blog for todays topic, ponder said topic for a minute or two and begin writing. Fairly simple, routine stuff. No task too difficult.

Tasks though - those are the things that give expectations some meat. The greater the task the greater the expectation for success or failure. Failing at a dask when expectations of success were very high can be extremely depressing. Expectations often need to be managed - the temptation to be over confident should be resisted at all cost.  Sounds good but we've all suffered at some point when our results have not met our expectations.

My expectations? Of my friends I expect honesty and a degree of loyalty. Of my work? At this point in time I expect nothing more than a paycheck and a fair amount of tsuris. Of life in general?  Since February not much if any.



So that's a quick shack-take on this weeks topic.  Now I'll see what the others have to say.

Blame

This weeks topic comes from the sage of Pune, India  - Ramana and Maxi from Florida so it's not my fault if you don't like it.

Blame.  Is it sheer irony that Ramana chose it as the weekly topic the same week as the great American blame game known as a national election? Arms are in agony across this land from waving fingers in disapproval and blame over the state of the nation. Things haven't been this ugly since the days of John Adams. And it is the other guy's fault.  The other party's fault. A collective breath of fresh air known as acceptance of responsibility is long over due. Why are things like this?



Really now people.  Everything in life we do not like simply cannot be the fault of someone else.  How about  the things we do that may not make sense??



To many people it's simply easier to pass the blame than to take responsibility for their actions.Admit it dear reader - you're no saint. Neither am I - I confess to have passed the buck a time or twoo over the years.  That doesn't make it right. Not when doing it right includes - and is especially true - when no one is watching.  Do the right thing - in spite of the influences of others. Right is right. Unless it's wrong.  Ahem.



By now I assume you've figured out the theme of this little ditty. Be tresponsible for your actions. There's always a choice.  The options may not be wholly attractive but there are choices to be made none the less. Make the choice. Don't blame someone or something else for the bad ones and don't give credit where it's not due forthe good ones - you did the work, put forth the effort and made it happen - often with the help and support of others.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I'm shackman and I approve this message. Check out what the other LBC folk have to say on the matter.