To Conservative Republican Friends

I'd like to send a message to my conservative Republican friends. You know who you are. If you could refrain from posting pictures of "beautiful 20-week-old, unborn children," then I won't have to post photos of 9 and 10-year-old children who are dead and full of holes from an AR-15 Assault Rifle. Your desire to protect the unborn, is overshadowed by your desire for guns that kill the living. Thanks for your understanding.

Grilled Chicken Legs, Potatoes, Sweet Potato & Brussels Sprouts

Memorial Day 2022

Grilled Salmon, Petite Steaks, Zucchini Medley & Tots

Me Tarzan! Ants Attack!

I put Preen in the rocks, then I sprayed Round-up on things sprouting in the rocks and now I am on my knees pulling weeds out of the rocks. I hate landscaping with rocks. But, I inherited a landscape with rocks.

My wife, Neng, is going to pick up our son, Grayson from golf class. She always calls him boy. "Going to pick up boy." It makes me think of Tarzan. So I texted her this...

"Tarzan piss off ants living under rocks! Ants start to swarm! Try to get under Tarzan's loincloth! Want to bite Tarzan's privates!"

BTW the "ants thing" is a true story...

The Broken 2-Party System

In the United States, the liberals have vilified police and in many cases removed police liaison officers from schools as a misguided way to combat racism. At the same time, conservatives say there is nothing more that can be done to combat mass shootings; the numbers of which outpace the number of days in the year. The police have become the scapegoat for one party that has decimated race relations. And the other party, is only concerned about their guns, controlling personal freedoms and wrapping it up in a flag with a Bible on top. And the worst news is, we only have these two parties.

We Can Do Better America

Seven years ago a guy having a road rage attack, chased my car for several miles while pointing a gun at me. Had I pulled into a dead-end alley rather than a police station parking lot, I might be dead. When the police caught up to the guy, they found the Glock 9mm I had described on the seat of the truck. It had a high-capacity clip. There was also a filet knife in the door of his truck. He told the officer that I was (his words written in the police report) a "raghead from Pakistan." He also had a small amount of marijuana. They released him because he had a permit to carry a gun; and he said he never pulled the gun out.

Last year I needed to see a medical specialist. It took two months to get in. After a scan, it took two more months to get in for the follow-up. Fortunately, the doctor said I was okay. But it took four months to find that out. I've been told that we can't have national health insurance in the U.S. because in countries where they do have it, it takes too long to get an appointment.

Most of what we are told to keep things the same is a load of crap. It's time to vote the crap spreaders out of office. You may have heard the elections are rigged. That is what the people who are afraid of being voted out for lying want you to believe.

We can do better. We have to do better.

No More Shooting.

15 Dead in Texas School Shooting

Here in the USA, children are important before they're born. Once they are breathing and alive, guns are more important than they are. Does anyone see how incredibly illogical and dysfunctional our society has become?

Grilled Potatoes, Pork Chops & Microwaved Squash

Fishing!

That's Cold Man...

I'm more used to covering the garden on the backside of the season than the front. But the plants are smaller.

Mechanical Roof!

I want a mechanical roof!

Oh Hail!

The Truth in Business

A company, or a person, who is more concerned about how things look, than how things really are, is ultimately living a lie. This deception will dominate the internal culture, and affect the well-being of the organization and people. Positive change happens organically and holistically. It is not just painted on a sign or talked about and scripted by a carefully selected spokesperson. When it is real, the need to flaunt it is not really necessary.

His Last Wish

His kidneys were dead. Then his arteries were clogged. The operation went fine, but the recovery did not. The dialysis that kept him alive for over a decade, was now too much stress. In fact, the thing keeping him alive, was now killing him.

There was no getting better. Death was closing on him. His final wish was to go home to die.

He fought hard to stay alive. That final weekend, death waited close by. The reality was, he might not survive the trip home. But his toughness and resolve belied his broken body. On Monday he was moved into his house and he looked at the walls--recognizing the pictures and the familiarity. A few hours later he gave up his valiant battle to stay alive. He died in his bedroom, as was his final wish.

His family shed tears of sadness, but they were also relieved that his wish had been fulfilled; and his pain and the struggle was now over.

-KJC
20220516

Charcoal Grilled

The Reentry

The quiet of the morning
The trauma in the mind
The storm without warning
I search but do not find

The grass has gotten greener
Life has complicated
The world has gotten meaner
As I anticipated

I run for the cover
Of a piece of wilderness
My refuge to recover
From the things I sorely miss

I emerge from that cocoon
With new resolve and shtick
I howl up at the Moon
And pull off an ugly tick

-Kevin J Curtis
20220513

The Long Month

When A Month is Too Long

A month passes in the blink of an eye
Unless someone you love is going to die
When life continues,
And “better” has gone,
When “the same” is as good as it gets.
From night until dawn
Decisions are made,
Second guesses spawn.
And you can only scream and cry
Because the month lasts so long,
When they’re waiting to die.

-Kevin J. Curtis
20220510

What the Hail?

No Screen Food

My son was doing the "no screen" week challenge at school. He had a sheet full of things to accomplish instead of being on a computer or phone. One was to bake something with an adult. So, we made Banana/Strawberry Bread. He was also supposed to help cook dinner. I got him to wash and wrap the potatoes in foil, but he lost interest in parting, preparing and grilling the chicken. He did eat it. My favorite was that he procrastinated the two mile hike all week--and so he did it today on the exercise bike. I wanted a picture of him lying on the floor afterward (for his teacher), but he found the strength to run away before I could take one.

Grilled Ham

COVID-19 Surge

I'm watching the news, and apparently covid isn't over! In fact, there is a surge in new cases. So, even though me and my family are some of the last holdouts to keep wearing masks, I guess we're not stupid after all...

The Right Political Flaws

I see a flaw in a political position that protects the rights of the unborn, and simultaneously promotes guns while gun violence destroys the living. I find it ironic that the same political views that say they promote freedom, are simultaneously working to restrict personal choices of health and lifestyle.

The reason the truth is being altered, is because the arguments simply aren't logical on their own merit.

Hard Day, Hard Truth

My cousin died. And I just had to explain to my son, who is in 4th grade, that his grandfather may not survive. And sometimes dying isn't the worst thing that can happen. Because sometimes life kicks you in the ass. And sometimes it keeps kicking you for days and weeks and months. But this is how life works. Sometimes it's wonderful. And sometimes it hurts.

Political Dominos

I was reading some speculation that if the abortion rights gets overturned, that we should be ready for other things like interracial marriage (and gay marriage) to potentially follow suit. So if interracial marriage rights were repealed, would that mean that me and my wife are not married anymore? It seems a bit unlikely; but so did the Capitol insurrection--until it happened...

It might be, that there are more important issues to consider in the upcoming elections than just making sure that you can fill your house with guns and walk around with one hanging under your armpit.

Pork Vegetable Fried Rice

My Mask is My Business

The guy at the grocery store was clearly upset that I was wearing a mask (since he wasn't). I could tell when he looked at me and shook his head. Later, he checked out in front of me; and after he was done arguing with the cashier, I let him know that his cheese had fallen on the floor-before he pushed his cart away and left it behind...

14th Anniversary Hike

Taylors Falls