I am CuTRis

I'm strangely calm in spite of all the bad luck lately. Like something great is going to happen.

I just had my first preliminary phone interview with an AI "personality." This "ship" just got real...

Final Goodbyes to my aunt Donna (Curtis) Emerson.

There were just four of us for Thanksgiving. I cooked, and my turkey took longer than expected. My mom thought it was the addition of all those Brussels Sprouts I added halfway through. I suspect that contributed to the delay. But dinner was good, and we had a toast to those friends and family we lost. There were five since July. One of the two cousins just two weeks ago, my wife's aunt in Sheboygan, my friend Kaikaik in July and my dad in October. It was a tough year. My job is an unknown, so 2025 will be interesting as well. May we weather the lies, tariffs and hate mongering to come. My wish is that we learn to tolerate differences, trust science, and consider the welfare of others in the future. -KJC

Last evening, I had a message waiting for me from my aunt Sharon. It was a link to an obituary for my younger cousin. He passed earlier in the week. I have to admit, that sometimes I'm bombarded with so many messages that it's hard to get through all of them. And the Facebook posts that are shares and resends get to be too much and eventually I turn them off. But this message was important. And it kind of brought a few things back into perspective. I've been dealing with an upcoming job change that has been forced upon me. I didn't realize that when I saw my cousin Jason last month at my dad's funeral, that that would be the last time I would talk to him. How would any of us know that he would die unexpectedly a month later? But yet it happened. In between all of that, we had an election and another outcome that will thrust change upon us. We live in a high-paced, ever-changing world. And it seems as though people are growing meaner and more impatient. Perhaps when...

I stopped to talk to Grace at the memory care my dad was at all summer, after my TV job tonight. I thanked her for caring for dad. She said they "clicked," and she thought of him like her dad. The other woman who works evenings said he was a good guy and funny. I'm glad I did that. There was closure in it. Definitely for me, but maybe for all of us. Maybe for dad too. Tomorrow is one month since he died.

Recently at my dad's funeral, I was reunited with some second cousins who I played with frequently when I was very young. Our families would get together sometimes. I haven't seen them since we were kids. I haven't thought much about them over time. But when I saw them again, a deep-seated memory arose inside of me. I can remember being at their house, in their neighborhood, when an older kid started picking on me. Instead of helping me or telling this other kid to stop, all of them joined together to laugh at my misfortune and call me names! I remember I felt quite alone and helpless and wasn't sure what to do at my young age. So as I said, I haven't thought about this for decades. But the memory arose shortly after I saw these two people. Apparently it was quite traumatic and stuck with me all these years even though it was buried. So if you think that bullying doesn't matter, I believe it does. I believe that calling people names, and vilifying certain groups...

George Washington "Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for 'tis better to be alone than in bad company." Thomas Jefferson "Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude." James Monroe "It is by a thorough knowledge of the whole subject that [people] are enabled to judge correctly of the past and to give a proper direction to the future." Andrew Jackson “An man worth his salt will stick up for what he believes right, but it takes a slightly better man to acknowledge instantly and without reservation that he is in error.” John Tyler “I can never consent to being dictated to.” Millard Fillmore "An honorable defeat is better than a dishonorable victory." Franklin Pierce "While men inhabiting different parts of this vast continent cannot be expected to hold the same opinions, they c...

I've noticed that a favorite tactic of people who are being unreasonable, is to turn the situation back on you and blame you for it. I've also noticed that even if it's unfair and illogical, if you address those things that they keep attributing to you, eventually you become a better and better person and there are less things for them to wrongfully accuse you of.

If you think that having lots of fancy possessions will make you happy, I feel sorry for you.

Almost 25 years ago, after previously working at Hennepin County Library, which I found to be the most corrupt place I had ever worked at, I interviewed and transferred to the Hennepin County Chemical Health Division. While I soon learned that corruption and bad managers also existed at the new job, I was destined to receive an education about poverty, addiction, good and evil, and even a bit of the supernatural—within the walls of 1800 Chicago Avenue in Minneapolis. At that time, there were a lot of accusations about racism, and it was a card being used to win, over truth and logic. That’s why I’m not surprised to see people still using it now; because true or not, it usually worked. Regardless of the stress, violence and heartbreak I witnessed there, I made some great friends, and a couple of nemeses. But the friends, were special. Occasionally, someone might make a friend at a job who they stay in touch with. But most often, the friendship dies when one or the other leaves the empl...

For years I knew age was catching up to my friend and former supervisor, Beverly Welch. Now I know why I don't see her "likes" on my posts anymore. Rest easy my friend. 👍

Kaikaik... My heart hurts for the loss, yet it is glad because you were my brother. The love, friendship and respect... that, will last.