The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

Like every holiday season, it was hectic and draining this year. Many presents were opened. A lot of food was eaten. A number of people called for the family to do shots. Movies and football were watched. Music was played. Laughs were had. There was one moment, however, which stood out from the rest this past Christmas season. A family member of mine had alienated himself from the rest of the family for the past 10-15 years. I hadn't seen this individual for roughly 8 or 9 years. After hearing about an awful accident this person was involved in, I wondered to myself if we'd ever see each other and interact again. I thought, "Was it really worth it? The grudge(s) which prevented you from spending time with the family?" That's one thing that's always struck me about grudges. None of us know full well when our time will come in this life, so if tragedy strikes either us or an individual to whom we've given the silent treatment for years, how much regret wi...

Just a week or so ago, I was informed that an uncle of mine had been involved in a serious motorcycle accident. Broken bones, deep bruises, staples in the skull and all, it sounds as though he'll be okay when all is said and done. Sadly, I had to hear about this news through the grapevine, as this very uncle of mine has kind of alienated himself from the rest of the family over the past decade (or so). I always worried about something like this happening - that he or another family member would get seriously injured or, worse yet, killed, and he'd be forever left with guilt, allowing grudges to be thicker than blood. For as awful as this incident had to be, I sincerely hope it was a wake-up call to him and that the family can be united once again due to it. Regardless, I wish him a full and speedy recovery. Trust me, no matter how awful the disagreement may have been, it's never worth sacrificing your entire history, relationship over said grudge. Life is short. We ne...

After its first week, I gave The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore a B+ grade. While I didn't think the show appeared to be perfect by any stretch of the imagination, I also liked the Daily Show  meets Politically Incorrect vibe I got from it, and thought, with the proper adjustments, the show would indeed provide a great fill-in for The Colbert Report . In the show's succeeding weeks, however, I've been less impressed by it and think that if it doesn't make certain adjustments, it could be in jeopardy of losing many long-time viewers of the show's time slot. One major issue I think the show's had to this point is a lack of direction. It's been unable to decide whether it wants to be a comedy show with serious conversation sprinkled in or a serious show with comedy sprinkled in. It's almost as if the show's writers want to give The Nightly Show a Real Time with Bill Maher feel. The problem with that idea or format is the fact Real Time is an hour lon...

Republican presidential candidate and second-coming of Joseph Smith, Newt Gingrich, held an event in Oskaloosa, Iowa recently and when asked by a gay man, Scott Arnold, how he would represent the gay community, Gingrich responded with, "Vote for Obama." Yeah... If you don't believe me, the article can be read here-  http://caucuses.desmoinesregister.com/2011/12/20/gingrich-to-gay-iowan-vote-for-obama/ Really? That's it? He won't spend ANY time attempting to lure the gay community over to his side, even a minority of it? Granted, the majority of the gay community would vote for Obama regardless, however, not 100% of it. Gingrich is completely alienating a certain demographic, saying that their votes don't matter to him. To me, that's pretty selfish, arrogant and ignorant. Gingrich has stated that he supports adding an amendment to the Constitution which bans gay marriage. I find this to be mildly amusing since The Newt has been married three times, two ...