Father's Day--An Emotional Day

I am forty-eight years old this year and blessed with two gorgeous biological daughters, and three exemplary step-children. The greatest benefit of being a man is being a dad. Dads will nurture, embrace, and protect their offspring in a way that women won't or can't understand. Yes, mothers are protective, but dads are willing to put their lives on the line for everything that is their children and family. We are conditioned to be that strong person that our kids want to emulate, and this conditioning is right and should be without question.

Mother's Day is a day of earth, beginnings, life, and love. Father's Day is a day of sun, toughness, and light. It's a day to celebrate one half of life-giving and compassion. Father's Day is a gloriously quiet holiday celebrated by families everywhere via grilling, beer, and laughter.

I have (as of Sunday) spent twenty-five Father's Days without my dad, but never a day goes by that I don't smile when thinking of him or some silly thing he said. My Pops wasn't the best carpenter in the world, didn't know everything about politics that others may have understood, nor was he man without flaws. He was, above all else, a human being struggling to make his way through life like we all do.

One dream my Dad always shared with me was to own his own business. He grew weary of working for someone else and doing what others told him to do. Dad was a dreamer, an American, a patriot, and a veteran. He embodied everything about a poor man trying to lift himself out of poverty on his own and without the help of anyone else. Dad was proud and made sure that hard work and a "never say die" attitude was emblazoned in his son's minds.

This Father's Day is a melancholy one for me. It's one that makes me happy to be a Dad...to be one who not only aided in creating life, but in shaping and melding my kids into good, productive members of society. They are what my Dad wanted his boys to be.

So, pardon me if I shed a tear while I think about my Dad and wish he was here to talk to me and see what has become of his grandchildren. I have no doubt about how proud he would be or how often he would tell his friends about their accomplishments. My kids are products of his teachings, however short they were, and I look forward to sharing time and stories with him once again.

Back on Track (I Think I Can, I Think I Can)

I am blessed that I do not suffer from writer's block, nor have I ever. Ideas for books, magazine articles, or my blogs come relatively easy for me. Like I said, I am blessed--this isn't intended as bragging. In some regards it's almost debilitating, as there is so much I want to share and find myself lacking focus on one project then jumping to the next.


I rationalize it like this, "I've got to get these ideas into my computer before they slip from my memory. If I do that, I can always come back to the previous ones and finish them."


Well, I have begun the last and final project until I finish the previous ones. There are four or five active titles that I have started and not pushed through to completion, but I have refocused and rededicated myself to getting those done!


One of the larger issues I face, and many, many other do as well, is having enough time to work on our written projects (or music, or gardens, or motorcycles, etc.). While writing my first two novels, I approached them in a businesslike manner: I would force myself to write "x" number of words per week. If I slacked off one day, I pushed myself the next to make up for the previous. In doing so, I managed to complete the second novel (rough draft) in a matter of months, go through the editing process, and watch the finished product be born.


So, I am back to approaching my writing as both a love and a business. I love to write, but discipline must drive the project. From a practical standpoint, dedicating a proscribed amount of time each day to write is the best way to finish projects. Now that I am forcing myself back on that path, I hope to complete at least one project by the end of the year. Another one that I began almost two years ago keeps nagging at me to finish--that will be next up. After those, I will return to the world of Bill Evers, bringing him and his adventures back to life. How I have missed writing about Bill, Buddy, and the gang!


There you have it--I'm back on this writing thing. The fire is reignited and burning hot. Okay, that's probably an exaggeration, but I am busy at the keyboard once again. :)

Forever Lasting

Once in a while there are iconoclastic events or movements that forever impact and change how humans think, perceive, or interact. When a bawdy William Shakespeare wrote and published his infamous Taming of the Shrew he could not have known the lasting impact it would have on future plays, movies (of course he wouldn't have known this), or the English language. There would have been zero chance that Shakespeare would have an idea that his comedic play about a man attempting to "tame" his would-be wife by starving her and depriving her of drink would be debated by scholars centuries later as to whether it was misogynistic or not. After all, while he may have wanted to drive home a point, there would have been no way ole William could have possibly known of the plays lasting impact!


Notably, other writers have created a substantial uproar with things they have written, but none, in my opinion, have gotten close to striking nerves, inflecting changes in language, or impacting the human race (purely from an artistic perspective) like William Shakespeare. His comedies, tragedies, and dramas are without comparison or competition. In fact, many movies and stories written today are based on those he created five hundred years ago.

Again in my opinion, there are creative, artistic visionaries who come along once every two or three centuries that have an influence over so many others; they make or do something that changes how future artists conduct themselves. It is with that that I proclaim The Beatles "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" as the musical equivalent of William Shakespeare's plays.

Fifty years ago this album was released and remains one of the most listened to musical ensembles of all time. This album has single handedly influenced musicians for three generations and will likely continue to do so for several more. Those four hippies from Great Britain managed to write music that was beyond meaningful--it resonates with the soul and stirs the human psyche. Some will argue their "White Album" was their greatest, but much of it was about marketing and branding The Beatles' image. Sgt. Pepper's was/is deeply moving, thought provoking, melodic, and entrancing.

Hits like "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "With a Little Help From My Friends" are known by most who listen to any music, but songs like "When I'm 64" and "Lovely Rita" should give anyone pause in appreciation of The Beatles musical genius.

Happy fiftieth birthday Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band! We are all so much better off with you in our lives.

If You Think You're Oppressed, You Should Unplug From The Internet

I am simultaneously amazed and appalled at the ludicrous "feelings" of oppression I read on social media. Women are oppressed, men are oppressed, blacks are oppressed, whites are oppressed, Asians are oppressed, Native Americans are oppressed, animals are oppressed, Indians are oppressed, Muslims are oppressed, illegal aliens are oppressed--ENOUGH ALREADY!


If you live in a western nation I have news for you--you are not oppressed, and most likely have no idea what the word means. In fact, if you have ever typed, spoken, or felt oppressed, you have no idea what the definition of the word is. If you have the freedom to type the word "oppressed" and you feel as though you are, you should consider some psychiatric help for whatever ails you.


You are not oppressed, nor have you ever been such. Perhaps things have not gone your way in life ('cause, I mean, it's life after all), and you have blamed others (IE. groups, genders, et al.) for your situation, then you should take a few moments and reflect on the true and very real reason you are where you are. Maybe you made a bad decision, or the situation changed and you had little or no control over its outcome. This is not oppression; this is merely a situation, and situations change in the blink of an eye.


So, here I am, a white male lecturing you, the oppressed, on how you are not being held down by "the man." Evidence that no one has their old, rich, white foot on your neck is all around you, but you refuse to accept responsibility for your own decisions, actions, or lack of both. I cannot count the number of successful (insert the minority, whatever that means today, here) people I encounter on a daily basis that are not old white men. Salud to you, my non-white male successful friends! Guess who is happy and ecstatic you are where you are in life? This old white guy, that's who.


There was a time, when I was growing up, that kids played with each other regardless of skin color, financial status (kids have no financial status by the way, their parents do), the bikes we rode, or the shoes we wore. The only sense of entitlement we had was who got to run down a trail in the woods first or who got to be on offense during the first dodge ball game of the day.


Social media and the internet are fabulous tools, but I fear it has become a detriment to society as a whole. Only on social media can you surround yourself with likeminded individuals without recourse, restraint, or recrimination. This is a shame, my friends. Having real face-to-face conversations is a lost art today. Putting your phone or laptop away long enough to listen (that thing you do with those two satellite dishes on the side of your head) to someone else's perspective is fading into the past like the sun at twilight. We have allowed people like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg to control us, to take away our humanity and replace it with a keyboard and the ability to "block" anyone so retarded as to not respect or understand our personal point of view. Yes, yes, I realize I used the word "retarded" and it is not politically correct, is probably offensive, and will likely lead to someone feeling repressed or oppressed, but what the heck--the word is still in Webster's dictionary, so it is free game in my opinion.


I cannot recommend enough turning away from our electronic lifestyle long enough to talk to another human being. Go outside and talk to your neighbor. Do you even know your neighbor's name/s? Mow your lawn, burn a burger on the grill, but for God's sake--put the phone down and talk.


Note: Howard Upton loves the internet, voicing his opinion on various subjects, taking walks on sandy beaches, is a Capricorn, and a hugger. He is known to point and laugh when others trip and fall, but is quickly angered when others point and laugh at him when he does the same. You can reach him on his cell phone for a real conversation if you have his number, but you shouldn't get your feelings hurt when he is curt when responding to a text, because he despises texting and believes it is one of the downfalls of mankind.