Blank Canvas

Artists are said to look at a blank canvas as they begin to create a masterpiece.  With a flick on the brush they add color with flare as the painting comes together.

This is my blank canvas:

It's the interface for Blogger.  This is where I put this blog together in preparation to publish it to the internet for you to read.

It's blank when I log in, and like the artist, I must flick the keys to create my artwork.

More and more I'm struggling with the creative process. It takes time and I need to be in the mood.  Early morning is my best writing time zone.

It's 5:05 am, I've been up for over an hour and here I am at the keyboard, filling the canvas to create my masterpiece.

BareNakedBill.blogspot.com

Politics Everywhere

I'm immersed in political craziness this weekend.

Inaugural hysteria is over and I thought, that at least for a few years, I wouldn't have to put up with the chaos of politics.

A weekend away in Toronto has found me smack dab in the middle of the Ontario Liberal Party's Leadership Convention.

These people are nuts.

Think of it as U.S. Democrats/Republicans holding a convention to elect their party leader. Or as they call the position, Premier.

This is an important decision, from what I can gather, since the Liberal Party is in power in Ontario.  That means that the choice this group makes this weekend, will have a position in Canada's government to represent the Liberal Party.

I used to do the party convention thing as a Republican Delegate for Huron County Michigan.  That was n the day before the party lost their minds and allowed the far right to run the show.

But I digress.

I'm trying to find a way inside the convention to watch the madness as it unfolds.  I'm always interested in how other countries run their show.  I'm told I need to be a voting member or alternate to get inside.  Maybe I can pass myself off as a media man writing a lowly blog about international politics.

Nah, I don't care that much about the Ontario Liberal Party.

Party is the key word here.  There was plenty of that going on last night into the wee hours of the morning.

Maybe I can join them for to celebrate tonight.

BareNakedBill.blogspot.com

Another Adventure!

From the movie,
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventury

As you read this, I hope I am fast asleep in a warm and cozy bed on another adventure!

Life is never dull.

More to come.

Peace!

BareNakedBill.blogspot.com

Key to Keeping Warm

It's cold.

That's really an understatement.  Yesterday the bank clock down the street from my workplace read -1F when I was arriving just before 7 am.

Add in the "wind chill factor," and it was more like -20.

That's cold.

Key to warmth.

I could feel the wind freezing my legs through my thin polyester pants during my short stroll from car to the office back door.

Brrr. It's cold in my bedroom too.  When I checked the last two mornings, it was 62 degrees up on the second floor.  That's another reason I find myself warm and cozy, wrapped in a handmade blanket, on the couch.

My house is heated by a hot water boiler that circulates the warmth through radiators scattered around the house.

I've noticed the bedroom radiator was pretty much cold as ice.  I figured the circulating pump wasn't doing it's job.  Just another of the many necessary, but sometime unaffordable, repairs my nearly 110 year old home needs.

As I made my way up the stairs this morning, my modern techno world jumped into old world common sense.

I remembered when I bought the house that the previous owner had given me several keys and other things necessary to, according to him, maintain the house.

One of those things was a radiator key.

It's a little wrench type key that opens a small valve on the top of a radiator to bleed out any air trapped in the lines.  I've bled the lines in years past and only got water in return.

Today was different.

I opened the value on my bedroom radiator with a whoosh of air that continued for several minutes.  As this air was flowing out of the radiator, I placed my hand near the bottom and could feel the heat of the boiler's water entering to share it's warmth with the room.

A simple metal key.

The key to keeping warm in an old house.

BareNakedBill.blogspot.com

Tie that Binds

One day last week, while at the grocery store, I ran into a woman I've known for sometime, but don't see very often. She looked great and I told her so.  We chatted a bit about diets and eating and our "new lives."

She, too, had gastic bypass surgery several years ago. I got to know her when she called me at the urging of her family doctor.  She was struggling with the adjustments to a new way of eating. Her doctor knew I had been successful with the surgery asked me if she could call.

Gastric bypass surgery is how I know this woman.  It's what we have in common.  The tie that binds us together.  It's one of those things that comes to mind when I see her.

We all have those ties to people. That connection that gives us common ground upon which we live.

Think about all the ties to others. School and church. Clubs and organizations. Being left-handed or having blue eyes. There is something that ties you to others.

Of course, we're all human. The first groups, tied together, are male and female. Then young and old.

As you read this, you're tied to others who read blogs.

I could makes list that go on and on.  But you get the idea.

We're all bound together, one way or another, with the tie that binds.

BareNakedBill.blogspot.com

I want to be THE BIGGEST LOSER!

Last Monday, 27 of my roughly 130 coworkers started a weight loss competition. We're calling it The Biggest Loser: Agri-Valley Edition.

Original name huh?

At any rate, today is our first weigh in and I just got off the scale.

By simply cutting out snacking between meals; eating smaller, more sensible portions for my meals; drinking more water; and making wise food choices, I've manged to drop 5.4 lbs. the first week!

Now, before I get too excited, I have to tell myself that men lose much more easily than women and first week weigh loss is always decent if you're doing the right things.

For now, I'll be happy that my shirts and pants already fit a little better and be thankful if I drop about two or three pounds by this time next week.

An added incentive is the Biggest Loser in our group wins $185!

That will buy a lot of chocolate cheesecake!

BareNakedBill.blogspot.com

The Death of Common Sense Advice

Several years ago I read a book entitled: "The Death of Common Sense." It focus on how laws are killing our county.

It was the title of the book that caught my eye and drove me to read it.

Common sense is dead.  Long live common sense!

Yesterday, Pauline Friedman Phillips passed away at age 94.  She was known to many for handing out witty, common sense advice to millions of people worldwide.

You would know her as Abigail Van Buren -- Dear Abby.

For years she wrote a syndicated newspaper advice column that often had some bite. She seemed like the kind of woman who didn't put up with non-sense.  Her advice wasn't that "make you feel all warm and fuzzy even when you're wrong" advice of today's politically correct world.

I didn't grow up reading Dear Abby. The newspapers I read carried another advice column written by Esther Friedman Lederer, more commonly known as Ann Landers.

She, too, offered pointed and sensible advice very similar to that of Abby's. Perhaps that's because Pauline and Esther -- Abby and Ann -- were twin sisters who grew up in Sioux City, Iowa.

Esther/Ann died in 2002.

Back in 1981, a reader wrote to Abby about two men had recently bought a house together in San Francisco, and the neighbors were annoyed. The men were entertaining "a very suspicious mixture of people," the neighbors wrote, asking: "How can we improve the neighborhood?"

Short and to the point, Dear Abby replied: "You could move."

Yeah, common sense advice died yesterday. But the legacy left by these two woman will last forever.

BareNakedBill.blogspot.com