Patrice O'Neal---his battle with diabetes and what it means to me.

I had a lot of items to write about saved up in my browser's favorites for today, but something happened yesterday that struck me and hit me hard, so I'm going to be a little selfish today.  Patrice O'Neal died last night.  He was 41 years old.  Hang with me, you'll soon know how I fit in.  Patrice was a comedian if you don't know the name.  I first learned of him when he worked on WebJunk 20 for VH1.  It was basically Tosh.0 before Tosh.0.  It was ahead of its time.  Well if you are a reader of my blog, you'd remember me writing about him when the Charlie Sheen Roast first aired.  That was the last time I saw the guy and he didn't look healthy and people were taking low blow shots at him about this disease he had.  I felt so bad for the guy.  They kept saying it was going to kill him and they made fun of his weight.  He went off at the roast, I think not even following what he had written down.  The disease he had was diabetes.  He didn't take very good care of himself, saying doing all of the work isn't worth it.  I would know because for those of you who don't know I am a juvenile diabetic.  I was 12 years old when I was first diagnosed.  I started having to go to the bathroom a little more.  Driving home from school one day, my mom was like "you may have diabetes."  That's a scary word for any age much less a 12 year old.  I shook it off and said, "No, I'm just a little sick." It kept getting worse and worse.  My mouth began to dry up instantly.  I had to have something to drink at all times.  I began to get really weak.  I used to love playing Sega. My sisters were taking turns playing me in this game, but I was so weak that I couldn't push the button in on the controller.  All I ever wanted to do was sleep.  I lost 10 pounds in a week.  The morning I was diagnosed, I remember being able to peel an entire layer of skin off of my tongue.  I tried going to school...In hindsight, I had no business being there.  My mom taught at the school, so about an hour in, I went to the nurse and she sent me to my mother.  She got me a drink from the faculty lounge, and had my aunt pick me up.  She thought it was a good idea to spread out my drinks.  I remember being miserable the whole day there because she would only let me have a drink once an hour.  After school, my mom had scheduled me a doctor's appointment.  I was a walking zombie by this time.  We stopped at this store near the office and I ordered the largest blue slushie they had.  It was gone in seconds.  I went in and the doctor checked my blood immediately.  Their meter read, "HI." I didn't really know what it meant, but the doctor said, "He has diabetes," to the nurse and I burst into tears.  It was the hardest news I've ever gotten.  They took me to a back room to wait to get a ride to the hospital.  During that time I remember throwing up my entire slushie.  Blue was everywhere.  At the hospital I was in this wheelchair as I was getting registered with not much ability to move and my sister Sarah, 6 at the time, pushed me around like a maniac.  They did a bunch more tests on me which I learned that my blood sugar was around 1000 which is unheard of.  Doctors couldn't believe I wasn't in a coma.  I stayed in the hospital for a week to learn to live with diabetes and of course to get me healthy again.  I met with nurse practitioners, dietitians, doctors, counselors, and nurses.  I learned how to give myself shots, what has carbs and what doesn't, how to measure food, how to check my blood, what I should drink (all diet- I tried Diet Faygo everything, orange, purple, and Barque's Red Cream Soda which I loved so much I got burnt out on it and never have drank it since those early days...I remember it was right when Surge first came out and I loved it.  I only got to enjoy it for maybe a week), and so on. I learned there were two types of diabetes.  I had type I (juvenile diabetes).  My pancreas chose to stop working entirely.  Type I is a birth thing.  No matter how you live your life it was going to happen.  Type II is like people who are overweight, or have diabetes run in their family, or just aren't healthy.  Their pancreas would still work if they have a healthy diet and exercise regularly.  They can take pills and aren't insulin dependent like type I.  The average person doesn't know the difference between type I and type II, so there's your lesson for the day.  I always joke and say I'm racist against type II because they give us all a bad name.  I think I'm really just jealous of them, because they have the opportunity to get out of this life.  I don't.  I wish I had that chance.  I always say I am a fan of all diabetics, celebrity or otherwise unless your name is David Carr, Adam Morrison, the Jonas brother with diabetes, or Jay Cutler.  I know their pain.  I know what they go through.  It's a lot of work and you can see it as a person without diabetes but you don't live it.  You have to pay attention to it everyday or you will be sick.  You could get low and potentially have a life threatening seizure, short term effect or run hi and have long term problems like Patrice O'Neal.  He died from a stroke brought on from complications due to diabetes. He didn't take care of himself.  He basically said it wasn't worth it and allowed himself to die at 41.  41. I'm 26 years old now and I have been pretty lazy with taking care of myself.  Patrice O'Neal dying hit me.  It made me realize if I keep living like this, I may not see my 40th birthday.  I may not get there.  It's a reality check.  It motivates me to get healthy again.  I don't want to die at 40.  I want to die an old man...with both legs.  I loved Patrice's comedy and even though he was black I saw myself in him.  We have similar comedic styles and senses of humor.  When he passed, I said to myself that could be me.  I can't let that happen.  This is my request to you.  You guys are my friends.  When I'm around you and I don't cooperate about my diabetes, stay on me.  Be my support system.  Make me check my blood.  Make me count my food.  I have a tendency to get mean about it because I don't like talking about it, I'm surprised I'm writing about it in a public forum, but keep hounding me.  I want to see 41.  I want to see 50.  I want to see 75.  I want to die an old man.  I will add this note, it's expensive too.  The pharmacists are crooks.  They know how much you need insulin, like you literally can't live without it so they charge a ton, even with insurance.   


Quote of the Day: "Life is not over because you have diabetes. Make the most of what you have, be grateful."-Dale Evans 

Fads from the 90's compared to now...Pogs to Pretty Pretty Princess, and a 100-2 basketball game.

It amazes me how fads come and go.  I was talking about pogs the other day.  Remember those things?  They were these half-dollar sized cardboard pieces with designs on one end or occasionally both.  When I was in grade school man, every kid had them.  Claw machines were filled with the things and it was intense when you played.  You could trade your pogs but that wasn't as fun.  You'd stack your pogs up with someone else's set of pogs.  You'd both have a slammer and you'd take turns slamming the stack and you went home with the one's you knocked out.  The slammer was an important accessory if you wanted to be atop the pog social ladder.  They were also designed and were heavy.  

There have been plenty of fads over the years from rocking a bowl cut which I am unfortunately guilty of to Tomogotchi pets.  Tomogotchi's were knocked off so many times, but it kept girls occupied while their little boyfriends were slamming pogs.  The 90's alone are guilty of so many fads like sporting a Trapper Keeper.  

That was a statement people made back then.  When you walked the halls with a Trapper, people knew you meant business. Beanie Babies were another fad.  Occasionally I will run into someone who still collects them.    The boys of the block got into Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter back in the 90's.  The girls were playing with Polly Pockets.  If they wanted to be active, they went out and played the skip-it.

I am guilty of trying the thing out a few times.  I was pretty good too.  You'd skip over this thing that counts your jumps.  I don't see it in stores anymore but it kept kids active.  I'm remembering the Nite Brite thing now too.  I was jealous of anyone who had one because I didn't.  I did play Pretty Pretty Princess as a child. 

I admit it, but my cousin Mikey and I would beast it up against the girl, so needless to say we were rocking lots of jewelry.  The Discman was big along with the high top fade. Pokemon was something I never got into but for some reason people did.  I was a Power Rangers guy, though.  I ate my push pops while watching American Gladiators.  I remember Tickle Me Elmo being a big deal at once too.  And I was big into Pro Wrestling.  I was too young for a pager but boy were they sweet.  MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice were big time fads.

Now I must bring up how lame we are.  Our fads now are not even cool, well except for the Throwback Jersey fad.  I absolutely hate planking.  It looks stupid and I do not get it at all.  Four Loko's were a fad but then because the young people couldn't handle them they ruined it for all of us.

Myspace was another fad that people realized was more like a playground for pedophiles rather than a social network.  Men would get on there and have a background full of butterflies, list that their favorite books are anything by Nikolas Sparks, they'd love to meet Jesus and Justin Timberlake, and their heroes were their mother and God.  Then they'd rape you.  Another fad is Justin Bieber.  His voice changed. Game over.  How about Youtube videos?  Another fad.  It remains to be seen if facebook is one.  It dies in popularity from time to time then somehow picks up steam again.  Napster, Limewire, and Kazaa....fad, fad, gay.  

The use of OMG and JK while talking online but even worse, in person.  Good God.  Livestrong bracelets are a recent fad...Hey everyone let's support an obvious steroid user who denies everything...Barry Bonds is sitting somewhere laughing at Lance Armstrong... Endzone celebrations of flamboyant wide receivers is another.  And who could forget Big Mouth Billy Bass?  

Billy Mays was big, along with that other guy who did the Sham-Wow ads who ended up biting a prostitute's tongue and getting arrested for it.  His fate is still better than Billy's.  The 90's were way cooler than our most recent decade.  I wish the Snoop Dogg speak was still going large though...FaShizzle Dizzle.  And the Snuggie....why?  I have to add this because it's the stupidest idea...I'm gonna buy a fleece blanket and pretend I'm awesome by calling it a Snuggie...now they have this product called Forever Lazy...basically a onzie for adults with a hood.

Winner of the Day: Pikeville Middle School in Kentucky.  They beat some team 100-2 in a tournament.  Now they are considering cancelling their entire season for lack of sportsmanship.  The problem is not them in my opinion.  These teams shouldn't be playing each other in the first place.  The coach told his team to stop playing defense and when your last stringers are still routing a team that's a problem with scheduling not sportsmanship.  What are you supposed to do?  They are middle schoolers.  Hey kids, don't play hard when all you preach is give your best?  I don't get why the school board is mad at the team.  Read Here.

Loser of the Day: The State of Idaho.  Besides sucking anyway, they are losing movie star Bruce Willis who is selling his home.  Poor state.  Read.

Quote of the Day: "Love makes you do crazy things, insane things. Things in a million years you'd never see yourself do" -Wicker Park (2004)

Song of the Day: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John

Villians of the Day: The foot clan.  The army of evil against the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Vinyl Records, Speed Limits, Tim Tebow, and clowns getting arrested

Good morning to all of your smiling faces today.  I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and Black Friday.  Mine went very well except for getting lost in Lexington.  I was however able to watch the Kentucky football team beat Tennessee for the first time in my lifetime, which for those of you counting is 26 years.  I love driving to Lexington, especially after you get past the congestion of Florence.  The speed limit is 70 almost the whole way down and it's a straight shot.  I understand that we live near a large city and it would be hard to add an extra 5 miles an hour, but it truly does make traffic flow much better.  Did any of you all go Black Friday shopping?  I did a little, but I'm not the type to camp out and wait for some free crappy camera if you're one of the first 15 people in the store.  I'd rather sleep and get what I want and get out.  I went to K-Mart of all places. I finally bought what those of you close to me know I've been wanting for a while: a vinyl record player.  I bought the bad boy on sale for $80.00 which is a good deal for a 3 speed turntable, cd player, and mp3 player all in one. I also like the old school look to the thing.

I can't believe how cheap records are either.  I got some from Half Price Books and others from Phil's Records.  The most I paid is $5.00 and that was for an unopened G-Unit album.  


Can you believe that Tim Tebow won again this Sunday?  I truly don't get it.    Boomer Esiason said that it is basically Peyton Hillis playing quarterback and I can't disagree.  The guy looks like a righty throwing left handed passes all day.  I can't explain how he wins games in the NFL.  He clearly is the worst passer in the league.  Third stringers are better than him.  The guy keeps winning though and it amazes me.  Some things are just explainable.  It is true that he gets way more chances than black quarterbacks with run-first mentalities.  Look at Vince Young.  He is very similar in style to Tebow with a better arm.  He got forced out of Tennessee.  He just doesn't praise God in all of his interviews.  I hate the black card, but in this situation I have to say Tebow is getting more chances than black counterparts. 

 
Winner of the Day: Cesar Sanchez.  He was wanted for battery charges, and for some unexplained reason he was dressed as a clown during his arrest.  He wins for this mugshot! (The Story)

Loser of the Day: Michael Omeara.  He apparently beat up his aunt and stole her car.  He was caught, however because he did it in front of a bunch of witnesses.  The Story.


Quote of the Day: "To forget easily is a gift. Let go of your past mistakes. Make a fresh start." -A Moment to Remember (2004)


Song of the Day: My Old Kentucky Home by Stephen Foster

Gay looking photo of the Day: Coach K and Bobby Knight.

Response to poopsoup, what I'm Thankful for, Cement Butt, and garbage trucks

Good morning to the lovely readers of David's Brain, the V.I.P. Section.  Today is Thanksgiving Eve.  I've already done some of the things I'm Thankful for but today I will do a few more...but first I must respond to this comment left by a regular reader yesterday...


poopsoup said...

You put your family on blast with the hairy soap talk. Also, this blog makes me realize that deep down you probably really hate me.

November 22, 2011 8:50 PM 

To respond to this I first must say this:  I was taught never to hate anyone. If you ever need someone to talk to I'm here but it's hard with the little information you give me about yourself in the blogs.  If you know me, I'm willing to talk to anyone if need be, but hiding behind a mask doesn't help.  I don't judge.  I joke about people but I do not judge.  Also if you know me, you'd know that I don't believe in pity.  Deep down I hate no one.  You can ask anyone I talk to.  I hate no soul on this Earth and I've repeated it to people several times.  I have no reason to hate anyone and even if I did have reason I am a forgiving person. I'm not going to hate on anyone for any reason.  If people choose not to like me, that's on them.  I change for no one.  I am who I am and I'm sticking to it.  Also, I do not pity.  Don't take this the wrong way poopsoup, but I don't feel sorry for people when they are looking for pity.   Saying I probably hate you is putting words into my mouth that I guarantee I've never said about you so that hurts a little and I won't feel bad for someone because of the no one loves them attitude.  My mother always says, "Life is what you make it."  If you sit at home and feel pity for yourself that's cool.  It's what you choose to do and it's your business.  I don't question why people do things, it's their life, but I'm not going to feel sorry for someone who fails to try and do anything about it.  I wish I knew who you were so we can legitimately talk about this.  I do know you are most likely female and you knew of Ron, meaning you've been to my house or you've talked to me or someone in my family about him.  You are intelligent and also out there with many of your thoughts.  You are unique and very good at not giving up who you are.  I most likely know you from Bellevue or NKU and you have low self confidence which is a shame because you have very fun thoughts.  That's all I know because you haven't given much else.  I have responded to every person who comments whether I know their name or not so whatever makes you think I'd stop after I know who you are is ridiculous.  Please help me out, because I truly have no idea who you are, but I do know that I don't hate you.

Anyway now that poopsoup has their own personal segment here is my Thankful section of the blog.  I am thankful for David McDaniel for being my first best friend.  I met you at a very young age and we clicked because of our first names.  We both had sisters we loved to pick on and of course we bonded over video games.  I remember I borrowed Madden '95 from you and of course overnight it was stolen from my house.  You were very upset but thankfully you were a good enough friend to forgive and my parents bought you a new one.  I am thankful for for the guy at Discovery Zone years ago.  If it weren't for you getting the bases loaded in that baseball quarter game, I wouldn't have hit the jackpot which was so large, DZ ran out of tickets for me to take and gave me anything that I wanted which for some reason all I took was a DZ baseball.  I still own it to this day.  I am thankful for living in the Greater Cincinnati area.  I don't know where I'd be without tasting Skyline, Gold Star, Dixie Chili, and goetta. 

 I live in the land where pigs fly and we name our baseball team after a color.  I live where we bleed blue which is the color of our grass and 15 minutes south is the country and 10 minutes north is the city.  You can't get any better than that. 

 I am thankful for The Marianne.  I miss those days.  Three dollars would get you this massive bucket of popcorn and $1 would get you into a movie so what if it was out for two months.  Everyone who is anyone from Bellevue was there on a Friday.  I remember getting that popcorn one time watching Anaconda.  My mouth was watering from getting ready to eat it (the popcorn not the Anaconda...no that's what she said please) and the salt shaker fell in.  It was the saltiest popcorn I've ever eaten.  I was with Earl Willis he can confirm that we ate the entire thing anyway.  

I am thankful for Ashleigh Linnemann.  Yeah she's my ex but she helped me learn how to love, and how to be in a relationship.  I am thankful for Bob McCoy for naming a wiffleball trophy after me.  I am thankful for the family I was born into and living near a White Castle.  I am thankful for the gift of humor God gave me and the ability to make people smile.  I am thankful for the loyalty I was born with and my volleyball team (two time champs).  I am thankful for my lack of ability to tan.  I have no reason to let harmful rays enter my skin.  I'm thankful for Mindy Merritt and Mitch Hammond for teaching me this job.  I am thankful I get to share my thoughts every day.  I am thankful you are reading this.  

Winner of the Day: This dude named Oneal Ron Morris.  He's a fake plastic surgeon who is in trouble for injecting some man who lives as a woman with cement to make his/her butt bigger.  Now the it is having all kinds of health problems with it's mammoth behind.  The thing is people hate sitting on cement anyway.  This thing has to do it every day.  Brings new meaning to the term "hard ass." Why does he win the winner of the day...because of his innovative thinking of course.  I believe he also used tire inflation. Read this creepy article.

Loser of the Day: The driver of this garbage truck.  He hit and killed someone while on his route.  She is connected to politics so she is well-known. Read this.

Quote of the Day: "Thanksgiving, man.  Not a good day to be my pants."-Kevin James

Song of the Day: What makes the Red Man Red? from Disney's Peter Pan

Survivor thought of the day: Last year, we were going to try to have our third backyard Survivor, titled Pilgrims and Indians.  It didn't happen but here is the logo I made for it.  

***note***Due to the holiday tomorrow, I will unfortunately not be blogging tomorrow or Friday.  Look forward to writing Monday.

Pet Peeves, McDonald's Menu Change, DeAngelo Fall, and Drugs and Caregiving

I apologize for the lack of blogging yesterday.  I was attending a funeral for the late, great, legendary Ron Losey.  Click this link if you'd like to read my personal obituary: http://davidbrooks1985.blogspot.com/2011/11/heaven-landed-hell-of-man-last-night.html.  Now on to today's blog... one of my biggest pet peeves is heavy rain while waiting for the bus.  Now I love rain, well not rain really, more like thunderstorms.  I like to sit out on my back deck (covered) and watch the rain fall, but I hate it in the mornings. I wait for the bus daily, which already sucks but when it rains, it adds to the already cold wait.  I am not one who likes umbrellas but I had to use one today.  I used to wear a hood or hat, but my hair has begun to look absolutely ridiculous after putting something on my head.  There isn't much hair left so the stringiness of whats left flings all over the place so I have to improvise and lug around this massive umbrella.  Another one of my pet peeves is hair on the soap when I shower.  As far as I know it is not healthy for one to wash their hair with soap.  We use Dove which isn't really soap but more of a moisturizer but it's like butter and margarine, you still call margarine butter.Anyway, sometimes when I shower there are long, stringy hairs on the soap.  I don't get it.  Where do they come from?  Other pet peeves include people who wear pajamas out,

 women who fart, when people make ridiculous noises when they chew gum, cicadas, grown black men who don't have mustaches, 

babies who do not wear onezies, the word onezies, people who always try to get attention, wasp nests, cartoon remakes of live action movies, men who take their shirt off even when a situation is not warranted, people who shorten words like, "I'm going to smoke a cig." or "Could you hand me a chicken nug?," the amount of commercials in an NFL game, the fad of talking animal movies,

 Jerry Sandusky's interview with Bob Costas, people who still wear Tommy Hilfiger,

 the actual range of walkie talkies, people who attempt to grow facial hair and have no ability, the messiness of chicken wings, people on welfare who don't deserve it, horror movies that rip off other horror movies, horror movie franchises (i.e. Saw), Christmas music before Thanksgiving, Ru Paul, B list celebrities, Black Friday, improper grammar in facebook posts, people who look for pity parties on facebook, cross-eyed people,

 people who posts several photos of themselves in a row in the same picture on facebook, people who post pictures of babies over and over on facebook, people who use hashtags on facebook, and there are so many more but I have got to get to work so I must wrap this up.  That previous sentence may have been the longest sentence I have ever typed.  


Winner of the Day: Peggy Ballinger.  Who is she?  She somehow managed to be a careworker who fooled people and stole and used drugs.  The red flag for me would be the way she looks *The Story.*

Loser of the Day: DeAngelo Hall.  Remember him?  The guy Chad Johnson called DeAngelo Fall and had a couple good years in Atlanta and maybe a comeback year last year?  Well he told the Redskins to cut him because he's not worth his salary.  And I have to keep the old addage true... quitters never win. The Read.

Quote of the Day: "If you are afraid of failure you don't deserve to be successful."-Charles Barkley


Song of the Day: Tom Sawyer by Rush

Crazy McDonald's customer of the Day: Shanaya Edgell.  Here is an excerpt from the article which you can read here...

When Shanaya Edgell arrived early yesterday morning at a McDonald’s in Janesville, Wisconsin, she was expecting to order from the fast food joint’s regular menu--Big Macs, french fries, Chicken McNuggets, and the like.

Except it was around 3 AM and the restaurant had already switched over to its breakfast menu--hash browns, Egg McMuffins, hotcakes, and the like.

This enraged Edgell, according to Janesville Police Department officers, since she wanted a cheeseburger.

The 22-year-old--for some unexplained reason--turned on her boyfriend, biting him on the arm and tearing off his shirt. Darrell Page, 40, explained to a cop that Edgell “wanted a burger from McDonald’s,” so they drove to the restaurant--only to discover at the drive-thru window that the eatery “had stopped serving hamburgers and was now only serving breakfast.” Edgell, he added, “got upset because she did not want breakfast and only wanted a cheeseburger.”

She kind of looks like a mix of that Olympic chick who was busted for steroids, Marion Jones and Alicia Keyes.

Relationship Advice Column Edition 8: Best Friends

Today is relationship advice day, so here is some real life advice I was asked to give...


From the Reader: 

• My best friend Javier and I have had some issues in the past with me liking him and him liking me when the other didn't have the same feelings. I think we both got caught up in thinking that it's perfect for best friends, like we are meant to fall in love.
• Well in the past year he and I have gotten much closer, like he is seriously the best guy friend I've ever had. We just grew up a lot together. But the biggest thing that makes him so important to me is that "he saw me when no one else did"
• I've changed a lot physically, lost a ton of weight and stuff...suddenly guys look at me differently, which is flattering but also ticks me off because only my exterior changed, my personality is about the same.
• He was my best friend all along, he liked me when I weighed 40 pounds more and he likes me the same now. He looks at me the same way he did before, which means a lot to me. He was a true friend all along, liking me for me.
  Anyway, now that you've got our history...the problem is that since the summer everyone has kinda been hinting that he and I are perfect together, we should give it another shot, bla bla bla. But I'm 100% comfortable with where we are, I picture him coming over to my house 10 years from now and my kids calling him "Uncle Javy" not Dada!
• He and I can talk about anything, so I brought it up. 
• He was understanding and agreed he and I are just 
• friends. But then his cousin tells me that I'm all 
• he talks about and that he sees a future for us, 
• he just needs to give me time.  After hearing this, I 
• had to make my intentions clear again. So we 
• talked again, this time he was short with me, 
• seemed irritated. I was very sensitive to his 
• feelings, and just kinda stated that I didn't want 
• to lead him on.  The thing is, he is the first one that 
• I talk to in the morning and the last one at night. I have 
• like 5 different (lengthy) conversations with him each day. 
• He ended our "talk" with "well maybe we shouldn't talk 
• so much anymore, goodnight"...
• Then we didn't speak for almost 2 days. I couldn't stop thinking about him the entire time. Kept waiting for him to call or text me, wondering if i hurt him or if we just needed space...I realized I am waaaay dependent on him. It was like we had broken up. We've resolved things...kinda. But I'm struggling with understanding my heart. Did my heart hurt because I thought I lost my best friend? Or because I was scared to lose more than just a "friend"?
  
  
  My Advice:
  My first question is if either of them got a girlfriend or boyfriend would things begin to change?  I'd have to believe that is the case in this situation.  You never really know but if you get a significant other, that cuts into your friends' time male or female.  The issue with this case is this...they once were attracted to each other in that way and chose to bury the feelings.  The reader states that when they get in arguments, it almost feels like a breakup.  It sounds to me that Javier was hoping for a relationship all along and hid his feelings and allowed a friendship to blossom which it did.  She can't force the feelings though.  If they aren't present you can't date Javier just because he gave you an ultimatum.  After the final talk, their friendship is definitely tested, probably more so than ever before.  Javier seems to have fallen for the reader but she obviously sees him as a friend.  He did see her when no one else did, but that isn't reason enough to date someone.  In order to date someone, your entire heart has to be into it.  You can't go 98% of the way.  You have to give your all and be willing to give your entire heart to the person.  You can't have any doubts.  O-Town said it best, "Is it all or nothing at all?"  Dating a best friend is tricky.  It's doable and a lot of successful relationships bloom out of friendships, but both parties have to be willing to commit and jeopardize a long friendship.  If things get shaky after and they break up, who is the reader going to go to about it?  Because Javier would normally be that person.  Their friendship may end up healing after some time and should with as close as they are, but it depends on the circumstances of the breakup.  There is a chance, they'd never break up, and with as important he is to her this would be a strong possibility.  He seems to have planned out a future with this girl but the girl cannot date someone she sees as an uncle.  That has to go away before any of this happens.  There is also the case of jealousy if they remain best friends like I mentioned in the open.  Can one friend absolutely accept and fairly judge the other's significant other?  Javier may have a lot of trouble if it came to that, but as a true friend I think he could, but it would be really hard to give a fair shake to any guy the reader dates.  And to answer her question about her heart? That is something only she can answer...from all the evidence it seems like she missed her best friend.  Her friend said something hurtful and male or female it stings.  She had to be honest with him upfront so he didn't get the wrong idea.  It's only fair to him.  It will hurt him here in the short term but in the long run, I could see the friendship mending unless he was mascarading as a friend the whole time to be with which I don't believe is the case.  Her heart would be hurt either way, but I could also see her realizing at any moment, like a Eureka kind of moment, "Wow, I really am into him." I've seen that happen in relationships before and it just comes out of nowhere.  If that happens I'd hope he'd be willing to give it another shot.  Life's about taking chances, however.  She has to make a decision, keep things the way they are, or give it a shot.  Yeah she can grow to like him, but it's not fair to him if she dates him and nothing grows out of it and she stays in it because they are such good friends.  My advice would be to at least hold off until your heart is all the way in it.  It's not fair to either party if you don't.  And if you feel the don't know what you got 'til it's gone feelings, then revisit where your friendship/relationship is at that point and re evaluate.  The reader's heart doesn't seem into it yet.  She could get there but right now if she dated him, it would be because of his feelings and not her own.  She has to respect herself enough to hold back.

• Quote of the Day: "Attraction is not a choice."-David DeAngelo
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• Song of the Day: Got Whatever it Is by the Zac Brown Band

Dating Cartoon of the Day:

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Heaven landed a Hell of a Man Last Night

I first moved into my current house in 8th grade.  Next door was this house with a couple of beat up old trucks, and a bearded man.  This guy looked like one of those axe murderers out of a horror movie.  He was quiet but always outside.  As a youngster, I'd be scared to go into his yard because he seemed like a don't come in my yard type of dude.  It was kind of like Home Alone though.  You have to lose the intimidation factor and just talk to the guy.  He ended up being a really cool guy.  I went on several fishing trips with the man, and began to get to know him.  The first one was with my friend Robert.  We stayed up all night, and he wasn't lying when he said he'd be ready at 5.  Usually people say a time early in the morning but it always ends up being an hour later.  He was in the front of his house in a rusty Bronco with a tent on the side.  Complete redneck style...he had dogs humping each other in silver on the sides of it which was quite humorous.  He made us eat at Hardee's and would never eat anywhere else.  He then took us to this place called the 'hole in the wall' down on the river and all he did was make fun of us for the way we fished.  Robert and I were definitely not experts like he was.  Robert finally reeled in something.  Ron came up to net it and it ended up being a boot.  I swear it kept a smile on his face for a week, on how ridiculous he thought that was.  My dad ended up becoming best friends with him.  My dad saw him as a fatherly figure.  The guy would drink hooch regularly and he had nicknames for anyone that moved.  He didn't believe in cursing in front of women and he always put Ms. in front of their names.  He had a mouth like a sailor though; don't let it fool you.  He enjoyed horseshoes, darts, cornhole, fishing, and basically anything else manly.  He always had wing nights on Tuesdays and participated in Thirsty Thursdays.  And by golly the man could fix anything.  One of the last things he did with me was laugh at me for running out of gas, but that's how he was.  He'd pick on you.  Sometimes it was teasing and sometimes it wasn't. He's fixed so many projects around the house and it was funny because he'd stare at an item for like an hour before he'd decide the exact place for it to go or what to do with it.  My dad and him did everything from the laundry chute in the bathroom to refinishing that table outside on my back deck.  And he was as stubborn as they came.  The doctors told him there was a problem with his heart a few years ago and said if he didn't stop smoking like a chimney and drinking hooch daily that he would die within a year.  Well they were wrong.  He stayed true to himself, and went out doing what he enjoyed 3 years after.  He hated wearing shirts, and I'm guessing he'd wear nothing if the law allowed it.  He always had the coolest facial hair and he does have the coolest grandson.  He made these baked beans called f*cked up beans that are the best tasting thing I've ever had as a side dish.  He never revealed his secret ingredients, and frankly we never wanted to know.  He was the protector of our street.  If people were suspicious, he'd scare them off.  He's kicked my own friends out of our pool because he didn't think they had permission.  There are so many great stories and things about him I'm missing in this blog so it won't do him justice, but I wouldn't be the man I am today if it weren't for him.  He had a I don't care what you think of me attitude, and he lived by it.  If Jesus has a swimming pool up in Heaven, he has someone to make sure no one's going to get in there why he's out performing miracles.  My neighbor is up there leaning against some beat up Ford Bronco, with his shirt off, blowing smoke into the air reunited with his son, Russell who he lost too soon.  They are chatting about man things, and waiting for the rest of their buddies and family to throw a wing night.  Heaven landed one hell of a man last night.  Rest in peace Ron Losey.

Ron Losey

   

News is Stupid, More on Andre Davis, What I'm thankful for, and a snake through a nose

You know what is annoying about the news?  They blow everything way out of proportion.  Like remember the swine flu?  They were saying that 50% of the country would contract it and it could be devastating to the human race...a couple months later, you don't hear anything about it.  Some other story captivates and everyone just moves on.  Take the weather for instance.  If there is going to be rain, the meteorologists make it out to be the storm of the century.  A little snow, they want all of the roads to be closed and conditions are undriveable. 


The news covers kids getting too fat in school, and the latest murder in the ghetto... Life isn't all that bad guys.  Walk outside.  A bolder isn't going to immediately fall on you.  The news teases you to scare you and makes you want to come back for more....or else they wouldn't wait to bring you the latest headlines right after the commercial break.  It's sad really.  We live in a world where entertainment news is more important than hard news.  Where Tom Cruise dined yesterday is more important to people than who is going to run this country in 2012.  Barak Obama crossed over into popular culture which helped propel him to get elected in my opinion.  Anyway, the news is pointless to watch and take seriously.  The only day the news was pure in my lifetime was 9-11.  No commercials. No leads.  It was just people covering what we needed to know and see.  Thank God for Ron Burgandy.

I say this in wake of the Andre Davis case.  He's the guy in trouble for not disclosing he had HIV to a bunch of chicks.  I have learned that a few of my friends know him personally.  Not like that, but they know him.  I learned that what he did is being blown way out of proportion by the media, and he is a really nice person.  He was a wrestler and quit to protect people from the disease. He always used a condom and honestly didn't know the rules of disclosure.  He is guilty of being dumb, but it would be nice to have some balanced and fair news.  I'd like to hear the other side.  

So has Black Friday become a bigger holiday than Thanksgiving?  I am sitting here at work and all people are talking about is sales and stuff.  Let's not forget about THANKSgiving.  Give thanks. Be thankful.  You know it's that day before you all go out and act like maniacs in the wee hours of the morning.  It's a celebration of thanks.  Eat some turkey and dressing and forget about all those sales.  There are some things more important in life than a few sales.  Here are a few things I am thankful for... my family.  If you know me, you are aware we are a tight nit group and no matter what stupid things I do, they always have my back even if all I do is tease Laura and Sarah hates my facial hair.  My dad is as cool as they come and my mother is as nice.  I'd like to think I am a reflection of both of them in the way I live.  Without my mother helping me through some of the roughest times of my life, I would've given up and I wouldn't be typing this blog for you today. 

 I am also thankful for my friends.  Nicolette, April, Stuart, Mindy, Brittney, Jill, Mallory, Robert and so many more... without you all I wouldn't have experienced some of the best times of my life.  I have spotlighted April and Mindy in previous blogs, so now it is Nicolette's turn.  I will get to all of you eventually.  I mean writing 5 days a week is going to give me plenty of time to give shout outs to all of my friends.  She has helped me through a lot this weekend during a rough patch I had.  She drops everything just to make me feel better.  Our friendship began in a strange way, but once we realized what the relationship was, it all made sense.  She takes care of me and I take care of her.  I look over her and protect her as she does me.  She has the same sense of humor as me and she can make me laugh as much as I make her and it's hard for me to admit that because I believe myself to be the funniest person alive.  The first time we hung out, I said if I could make her laugh, she'd have to hang out again and of course I took care of that in the first five minutes.  For some reason she said she wanted an eye patch and I being blonder than Sarah in this moment said, "What's that some sort of new Apple product?"  I heard it as IPatch.  But thanks Nicolette for being there for me.  I know you have my back in any situation and no matter if everyone turns on me you will still be in your corner, and I will be in yours wiping off the blood and sweat with my trainer's robe on.  

I must also say I am thankful for my health.  Yeah I complain a lot about being diabetic and all that jazz, but there are much worse problems.  Andre Davis and his alleged victims have HIV.  I can't imagine what they go through.  And cancer.  Gosh cancer.  I have seen it take way too many lives and Satan must be present on this earth some days with what I've seen people go through. I lost my grandmother to cancer after she had beaten 3 different types before.  I lost my uncle to cancer, and it broke my heart to see my cousins at the funeral.  My prayers go out to anyone that has bad health.  No one has done anything bad enough to deserve the torment that these people go through.


Winner of the Day: A 9-year old North Carolina girl.  After being in a car crash that killed her father, this girl survived on Gatorade and Pop Tarts for two days.... Read the Story Here.


Loser of the Day: This mother (Kimberly Woods) who prepared coke and heroin in front of her kids.  She obviously prepared a lot of double cheeseburgers as well. Read Here.

Quote of the Day: "Before someone's tomorrow has been taken away, cherish those you love, appreciate them today." -Michelle C. Ustaszeski


Song of the Day: Soul Tattoo by Plus One

Stupid human trick of the Day: Snake through the ol' nose.