Dignity / humanity

We are born with human dignity, which only we can give up. But we are not born with humanity, which only we can earn.

Depression

A leaden shroud

Constricting blackness

Deep sleep that's longed for but never comes

A dirty trick of brain chemistry

Darkness soaking the soul

Unrelenting psychic pain

A scream with no sound

A poisoning of self worth

A relentless war on the joy in life

A steel wedge driven between you and yourself

A black hole sucking out your life energy

A formidable enemy within your own self

Brace yourself.

Brace yourself. We are entering the seemingly endless entertainment industry awards season. All media will celebrate celebrity in the effort to boost public adulation and ticket sales. The red carpet will be rolled out, rolled up, rolled out and rolled up again many times.

We are offered cloying self-congratulatory speeches, emotional thank you's to mom, wife, kids, God and colleagues, a little humor here and there, lavish sets, celebrity gift bags ($$$), beautiful hosts and hostesses reading mush from teleprompters, all in the name of "art."

So get out those expensive designer gowns, those glistening jewels, those spike heels, those funky male tuxes. Call the make up artists, the hair stylists, the cosmetic surgeons, the agents, the publicists, the escorts. Get them all here now.

Total up the costs of clothing, food, venues, PR, production and staging, support staff, limos, odds and ends, and we probably have the GDP of a small third world country.

Ten signs that you are aging with grace

1.     The world is bigger than you ever imagined, and you want more of it.

2.     You have wisdom you’re compelled to inflict on others.

3.     You’ve forgiven yourself for being a flawed human being.

4.     You understand what compassion is.

5.     You realize that accumulating things is not really living.

6.     You see that spirit is more important than the body.

7.     You realize that it’s the children that count.

8.     Generosity is really fun.

9.     You realize that you never got anywhere just by yourself.

10. You still have something to contribute.

Imagine

Imagine a group of Syrian refugees asking for a tour of Trump Tower.

Imagine a group of American Muslim clerics taking a tour of the Trump White House.

Imagine a Russian fighter jet bombing a Trump hotel.

Imagine Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin wearing matching suits and red ties.

Imagine a Trump cabinet meeting where all the time is spent talking about who has the most money and the biggest hands.

Imagine "The Art of the Deal" strategies being applied to nuclear negotiations and the future of Social Security.

Imagine Donald Trump sleeping in the Lincoln bedroom.

Imagine Melania Trump starting her campaign against bullying by asking her husband's advice.

Imagine the Trump son just giving money to help the sick children he so loves without having to be the center of attention at a lavish fund raising event.

Imagine Donald Trump putting all of his financial interests and lawsuits and deals out of his mind for 4 years so he can address the real needs of the American people.

Doubt

Doubt is prayer.

Faith needs doubt to test it.

Prayer asks for the courage to doubt.

Doubt is prayer.

Just for today

Just for today. Throw the honey baked ham, the stuffed turkey, the electronic gadgets and the designer clothing out of the manger. Make room for baby Jesus. If you look up and see Fedex drones instead of stars, shoot them down. If elves show up dressed as shepherds (you can tell by the ears), kick them out. If the wise men come bringing NBA tickets, Rolex watches and men’s fragrances, they’re not legit. Store music is definitely not choirs of angels. Just the manger. Just the baby. Just a cold starry night. Just for today.

Holiday expose

Sources close to the North Pole have learned that Santa's elves are grossly overworked, poorly compensated, are required to have ear enhancement surgery and are given drugs to prevent puberty.

Happy holidays!

Contemporary art made simple

Contemporary art configures itself in the interstices of the fatigue of postmodernist surreality in a way that confounds its own tragicomic proclivity, resulting in a stance that is both preclusive and frankly post-apochalyptic.  This, of course, implies that the artist-viewer dialogue contorts into a false dilemma pitting the white cube against the transient and ever-expanding practice space of the activist political and social agenda. So contemporary art exerts itself as the savior of the present chaotic world, even as it struggles aimlessly to free itself from its elitist and capitalistic bondage.

Beauty

Beauty without mystery is a shallow beauty.

New additions to the DT Inaugural Gala

Kanye West will join Justin Bieber on stage with costumes by Kim K.
and
There will be a puppet show starring Rick Perry, Ben Carson and Rudy Giuliani.

Entertainers announced for Donald Trump's Inauguration

Entertainer list:

The cast of Duck Dynasty

The NY Runway Model's Glee Club

The Novgorsk Women's Tractor Factory Chorus

The Bashar al Assad Royal Dance Troop

Justin Bieber

The Billionaire Trophy Wives Fashion Show

Donald Trump's Top Ten Miss Universe Contestants

A special appearance by Alec Baldwin

The ex-chorus girls from the bankrupt Trump Casinos

Special guest host: Chris Christie

Christian family values

What really irks many white Christians is that the very best example of their Christian family values is the Obamas.

The true meaning of Christmas

So what is the true meaning of Christmas?

First we must dig ourselves out of the muck of jingle bells, in-store carols, office parties, over indulging in eat and drink, Hallmark sentimentality, Rudolph, colored lights on houses and trees, eggnog, Christmas pageants. You get it. All of that stuff.

Keep on digging out of the muck of relentless and savage marketing wrapped up in Christmas cheer, warm and cozy calls to buy stuff because we deserve it, retailers all dressed up in Christmas to suck money out of us to meet their bottom lines, shelves stuffed with stuff that will be forgotten before New Year. Yep, you know exactly what I mean.

Dig some more to get out of the muck of magic Christmas relationships where love falls on everyone like snowflakes, dysfunctional families heal themselves and Christmas is the fuzzyfest that makes the whole world comes right. You know that world that will soon be great again.

The true meaning of Christmas? We’re almost there.

Look at the child in the manger. That is where we start to find it. But not simply that child in that place in that time, for He is only the child for Christians. Mythologies through space and time have needed a savior, a special child of special birth.

This is not the child born in time for some, but the timeless child-symbol for all.

This child is the symbol of hope and love; but not of flabby hope and love.

But of hope to face down hopelessness and love to teach forgiveness, always born anew and always ahead of us to be attained to.

This is the true meaning of Christmas.

Artists, again

Of course, artists seem strange. They refuse to accept the reality that others make for them.
They want to create realities of their own.

The Constitution

America isn't built on the Constitution written by educated white men for educated white men. America is built on the spirit and interpretation of that Constitution, emerging through rebellion, devastating wars, the fight for equality and persistent moral courage.

Artists

Remember: It's artists who visualize God. Their images are in our books, on our walls, in our churches, in our heads.

7 day to-do list

Day 1: Have an original thought.

Day 2: Have a creative thought.

Day 3: Have a poetic thought.

Day 4: Have a thought that questions your worldview.

Day 5: Have a thought that won't go away.

Day 6: Have a thought that changes someone's life.

Day 7: Have a profound thought.

Confession

I'm guilty of all the things I warn about. But how else do you find wisdom?

American dictator

He has a dangerous ego.

He’s filling his cabinet with persons who will be yes-men.

He’s bringing the military into the cabinet.

No amount of money is enough for him.

He’s empty and uncharitable.

He surrounds himself with his family as political operatives.

His financial interests are ripe for corruption.

He dismisses the agencies he will run because he is smart.

He reaches certainly with no reading or research.

He doesn’t give speeches, he gives dictums.

Sounds to me like the first American dictator.

New books for Christmas giving

The Queen's Libido by Cedric Bedrick

Donald Trump: Collected Tweets by The New Twitter Library of Modern Classics

Making America Great Again, One Billionaire at a Time by Ivanka Trump

Vladimir Putin: A Man with Mediocre Pectorals by Ivan Tchelovoisitachky

Bashsar al Assad: Inhuman Master of Rubble

Donald Trump

Donald Trump will soon be our President. But he will never be a decent human being. And the worst thing is he probably even care.