Several Examples of "CAN"

My nephew Ray Walser had one hell of a football game.

"High school sophomores can't start varsity games, and if they do they can't lead a team of older team mates to a difficult victory".

Really? Go read this article: Ray's Game

Lately I've made some choices in my life that other's are having a difficult time understanding; I quit a long term steady job to pursue a freelance writing endeavor, I've decided to sell my home and move out of the state where I've lived my entire life and into a community where I literally know nobody. Honestly, I don't understand everything I'm doing either, I just know that a voice inside me tells me this is what I should do, and for the first time in a really long time I feel inspired.

Over the course of my long train of decisions, ideas, endeavors I've noticed more and more how I hear what I can't do, why I shouldn't attempt this or that, how I haven't considered what could go wrong in enough depth. I CAN'T sell my house in this stagnant market, "nothing can be done", I CAN'T write a book manuscript about the homeless because it's been done too many times before and nobody will want to read it, I CAN'T move into another state and expect to find a job that will support me in the manner I have visualized because my college education and pending MBA isn't going to make that big of a difference. I CAN'T believe that at 40 I still have time or a chance to experience a lifelong love I've always known was there for me but wasn't quite ready for previously. The people want to know, "Where's my proof?" The only proof I have is a feeling deep down inside.

Since I have no personal doubts about what I'm doing I've been trying to muscle through and keep the faith with myself. The problem is it recently occurred to me that I'm not sure where the folks are who tell me, "You CAN, and you WILL...anything is possible if you want it badly enough". Once upon a time those people seemed to be everywhere, but as of late they've been virtually non-existent. And honestly I will have to admit that many cannots really CAN make things much harder than they need to be.

So from there I pondered, do I tell people what they can't do? Actually....no. I listen to what they tell me they'd like to do, I weigh how much research it sounds like they have put into it, and then I wish them the best. No, I'm not a saint by any measure, but I am NOT a "cannot"...that I can say. So, the thing for folks reading this to consider is, "Are YOU a cannot?" If you are, then you should attempt to contemplate why that is? Why are you telling others what they can't do when it would take the same amount of time to tell them what they can? Is it because you attempted the same thing and it didn't work out for you, therefore you figure it won't work for anybody? Or is it because they are attempting things you wish you had the courage to try so you subconsciously (or consciously) shoot them down to make yourself feel less stagnated? Is what Ray accomplished likely? No. That's not the point, the point is that it's fairly apparent that the part Ray left behind that night are all the reasons why he "cannot" do things, and look what happened.

To end this impromptu sermon by Denise, here's another link about what CAN be done if you don't listen to what everybody else tells you is possible. A friend of mine sent this to me and after reading it I became inspired to make this post. Sports Illustrated Article.

In these times more than ever, everybody can tell themselves in their heads what they doubt they can do, or what they can't; we all seem to be pretty good at that. I believe the kindest thing we can do for each other is to make a point to ENCOURAGE each other, rather than shoot down, and help people do better rather than hold them back via your own worries.

Edge the Cat's Bad Day

This is Edgy "The Edge"....Edgy has had a tough week...I'd been gone at my folk's for a week and left Edge with the sitter. When I came home he had an impressive case of the squirts that he was getting everywhere in my house I'm trying to keep clean and fresh for prospective buyers...So, Edge spent the first night in the puppy's carrier in which he yowled all night. I eventually scooted him into the laundry room where I couldn't hear him yowl. He not only yowled, he dumped his water in the litter box, which created kitty litter paste and then he rolled in it...Edgy was not looking good (or smelling good). I realize I should have kept him in, but I couldn't take it, so he went outside to hopefully clean himself up while he remembered how to make solid terds, not squirts. LOL! Well, every time Edge came in he didn't really look any cleaner...he did leave a terd in the litter box, so that got him off quarantine, but he still looked and smelled terrible. About the 5th time I was watching TV, smelled this horrible smell (again) and realized it was because Edge had walked over to me and wanted to sit in my lap, well, Edge went in the bathtub. To be subtle about it? That is not how Edge was planning on spending his day....He threw a rather impressive fit. I've been at this long enough that no, he didn't win, but I will say he thru an impressive stink, and without scratching or biting me once....he may not smell his best or be very good at hygiene, but when you get right down to it, he is a pretty well mannered guy.

So, this picture is Edge post bathtub...I'm not sure, but I think he's giving me the kitty finger with merely a dirty look...What do you think? (I call that, "The Claw" since kitties don't have fingers....)

Top 10 Things That Make Me Angry

10. WWF. How fucking stupid is it, and even worse, how stupid are the people who watch it? I had to watch 5 minutes while I was waiting for B.G. on the SciFi channel, and this list came to mind. While we are at it, what does WWF even have to DO with SciFi geeks? Seems to me they would be intellectual, scrawny guys who don’t get laid much. Why would they be into wrestling? Extreme Strip Poker, okay…but not wrestling. Made no sense.

9. Coupons in the grocery store line. Okay, coupons are fine, but people who will haggle for 5 or 10 minutes over a nickel REALLY piss me off.

8. Mini van drivers who load up the van with everybody they know and then order food in the drive- thru lane. Not only do I get to wait for them to all decide what they want to eat, but then I get to wait for them to collect the money at the paying window, and I get to wait again for all the food to be gathered up and bagged and handed off. (Mini vans may appear in this countdown several times…) Added bonus? Van full of really FAT people, because then I can assume they are ordering an insane amount of food and the reason they are in the drive thru is because they are too fucking lazy to get out and go inside. Yes, I said FAT, but it’s like the N word and being black, I am one, so I can say it…if you aren’t, you can’t.

7. Businesses that don’t call me back in a reasonable amount of time. Any business I e-mail or contact by phone who doesn’t respond within a few days really chaps my ass.

6. Bad customer service. Period.

5. People who are apparently unaware that the far left lane of the freeway is for passing only. The guy who will sit there oblivious and create a huge backup of traffic really pisses me off. The crème de la crème of this group is the person who will STILL sit there after people manage to pass him one after the other in the center lane…get a CLUE! Oftentimes these drivers are in mini-vans.

4. People who text people from the movies with their annoying glowing LED lights on REALLY chap my ass.

3. People who will talk during concerts…just because the music is loud and they can’t hear themselves doesn’t mean that their constant yammering behind me doesn’t annoy the piss out of me.

2. People who smoke in doorways. In Washington you are technically not supposed to smoke within 25 feet of a public building…not so in Oregon. Once you walk thru the smoke then it sticks to your clothes and YOU smell like smoke. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I used to smoke, but you know what? I don’t now and I REALLY have no desire to smell anybody else’s.

1. And the Number 1 thing that chaps my ass? Hummers and Escalades (and any other insanely large SUV). To me when I see that with 2 people in it, it says, “I have a lot of money, therefore I don’t care what things cost, nor do I feel I have to worry about conserving resources….fuck the war...they'll find more oil somewhere else".