The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

Following the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend, which resulted in 3 deaths and several injuries, while President Donald Trump has remained relatively silent regarding the event and tragedy, several Republicans condemned the acts, even going so far as to say, "This is not us." For as much as I'd hate to disagree, I have to call a spade a spade - Charlottesville is what the modern-day Republican Party has become, and unless moderates fight to retain control of the GOP, this is what the party will be in the future. Of course, when making such a claim, many self-described Republicans will say: "These are fringe extremists! They're not actually Republicans!," "That'd be like saying all Democrats are like the hate group Black Lives Matter!," and "Trump had nothing to do with this!" First off, these "fringe extremists" were referred to as "Unite the Right." That's not to say they...

I don't typically post about this kind of thing, but thought it may aid at least one person out there who may be in a relationship and uncertain if he/she wants things to continue. Due to an awful relationship from what seems like my distant past, the moving transition from Nebraska to Ohio that took place 4+ years ago, and a mysterious two-year illness I battled, it took an extremely long time for me to date again or even get interested in it. After I began feeling well again in early 2011, I suddenly felt a new-found sense of joy, aspiration, hope, and appreciation I hadn't felt before. I felt a drastic change in myself following my healing from the ailment. I can only imagine what others saw. Prior to my recovering from the illness, I had always been extremely shy and insecure around women I liked. I feared rejection if I were to ask them out. I feared making things awkward if they said no, and wondering if we'd be able to maintain a friendship. I feared getting my f...

To reject a person? Is there ever a nice way one can go about it? Or are they all equally as harsh? How much can a person euphemize or sugar-coat things surrounding the word so that it'll make the other person walk away in smiles, as opposed to tears? I ask this, because just a few days ago, I was told about a similar situation. A guy asked a gal out sometime and she responded with, "Although I'm flattered by what you have said, I'm not interested in dating you or anyone else right now. You're a very nice guy, very easy to talk to, but more in the friend sense. I'm sorry if you're disappointed, but this is how I honestly feel. I hope that this won't stop you from ever talking to me again." Supposedly, this gal has a history for dating, well, jerks and allegedly, she told a friend of her's a few months back that she had an interest in this young fellow. So, it indeed came as a big shock to him when she told him all of this. So, this young ma...

No offense to anyone whom speaks Chinese, but I don't know the first thing about how to read or speak the language. So, given that fact and the comparison I made in the title, one can only imagine how well it is that I read women. I finally opened up (somewhat) to someone I've had feelings for the past year or so. Her response was very quick, positive and gave me a very good vibe. When I asked a female friend to interpret certain portions from a woman's perspective, she basically said, "Well, it sounds very good, but women are extremely difficult to read." Ah, even a fellow woman sees that. Very interesting... If some women can't read each other at all, how do they expect men to read them? Us guys, we're like cavemen. We need the ladies to keep things simple. Just give us the caveman's version of sign language, point to us, smile, put your hand over your heart before extending that hand forward or blow a kiss or make some strange sounds and then ...

Sometimes I don't care what numbers tell me, logic can seemingly defy those very numbers. Other times, they work well hand-in-hand. When my family and I traveled to San Diego a few years ago, I checked out the weather forecast, told my family what to expect and my mom thought we should bring long-sleeve shirts and jeans. I asked why and she responded that it'd be cooler than we were used to in Nebraska. So, I tried explaining things a bit. The lowest it was supposed to get temperature wise in San Diego was 69 degrees. It was 68 degrees in Omaha just a night prior. I asked my mom what she thought of the weather that last previous night and she said, "It was nice." I then said, "Okay then, it was 68 and did you need a long-sleeve shirt or jeans then?" She responded with a no. I went one step forward and said, "Okay, and the lowest it's supposed to get there is 69, which is warmer than it was here last night, in which case you said you didn...