Drama Camp and More

This is the first week of the Summer Drama Camp at the Winnsboro Center for the arts, and since I am in charge of theatre events there, that means I will be there every day for the next two weeks. That won't leave much time for blogging, so I will schedule a few posts in advance, but otherwise I'll be taking a blogging break.

Before I go, however, I have to rant just a bit at Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboy Franchise for how they have responded to Josh Brent, who is charged with killing a teammate, Jerry Brown Jr. Brent, who is now in jail after failing two drug tests, is still on the Cowboy roster and still receiving his salary. How many ways is that wrong? 

Too many.

On the other side of the news coin is something good for fighting cancer. Since the introduction of the vaccine for human papillomavirus, there has been a 50% drop in infection rates among girls and young women in the U.S. The virus is a major contributor to the incidence of cervical cancer, so this is good news indeed.

The vaccine has been made available to women and young girls in Africa, thanks to the Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon initiative sponsored by a collaboration among the Susan G. Komen foundation, the George W. Bush Institute, the U.N. Programme on HIV/AIDS and the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS relief. The initiative has provided life-saving treatment for more that 5 million women in developing countries.

How many ways is that right?

Now I will leave you with a joke.

Little girl:  "Why does your son say, 'Cluck, cluck, cluck?'"
Mother:    "Because he thinks he's a chicken."
Little girl:  "Why don't you tell him he's not a chicken?"
Mother:    "Because we need the eggs."

Book Review - "A Cowboy's Guide to Growing up Right" by Slim Randles

Today I am a guest at Buried Under Books  with a fun piece about a cat. I have shared several stories at that blog about my cats, and this one is about  my son's cat, who swears she was held captive here. Hop over to the blog if you get a chance and see what Stache had to say about the experience of living here for a while.

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming....

There's something about a cowboy. Fans of some romance novels find a guy in tight jeans and a Stetson the sexiest thing alive, and I will admit a nice tush is... well, a nice tush. What I like most about a cowboy, though, is character. The kind of character that Slim Randles describes in his book, encouraging people to adopt some of the cowboy ways, like honesty, integrity, hard work, and an appreciation for the land and the animals.

He opens his book with this, "Every cowboy knows there is a great deal more to being a grown up than getting tall and inheriting the ability to reproduce." Then he goes on to offer advice on how to grow up with character in this little book from Rio Grande Books.

In just sixty-three pages, Randles offers such sage advice as "Do the right thing, even when no one's looking" He also encourages readers to be passionate about their work. Don't just work for money, or fame, or power. Find something in your life that gives you a reason to get out of bed everyday with a sense of excitement. If it isn't your job, then find a new one, or find a hobby that brings joy and satisfaction to your life.

He also extolls the benefits of finding a mentor, whether that be someone in your workplace, or someone who is an expert at something you do for fun, like playing guitar. "It's easier walking through deep snow when you follow someone else's trail."

That quote ends the chapter on mentors, and each chapter ends with a little quote to cement the lesson. The chapters open with a quote, as well, and those quotes are well worth reading, even if you don't read the whole book word for word. Although I do recommend that you do.

A Cowboy's Guide to Growing up Right is a quick read, but it is also something that you might want to go back to often for the encouragement and sage advice. On top of that, it is classic Randles writing that is often funny, poignant, and cuts to the heart of the matter. No wasted words with this cowboy.

~~~~~~~~~~
FTC Disclaimer:  The author sent me this book in the hopes that I would review it. But he knows me well enough to understand that I only review work I think is well-written. This one is. I did not benefit monetarily from this arrangement, although I do hope that he does by selling a few copies of his book. And since the one he sent me is signed, it will go on my shelf of autographed books, so I won't even make a dime by reselling it.

Friday's Odds and Ends

Talk about absurd. 
Dez Bryant of the Dallas Cowboys took the team out to dinner at an upscale restaurant recently, and the players ordered everything on the menu. They also took home expensive bottles of wine. The dinner check? Are you sitting down?  $54,896. An editorial writer for The Dallas Morning News made this comment, "Look, we're used to athletes making millions, but they don't need to rub their fans' noses in it."

Amen, amen.

A note to Texas voters.
The Green Party is now on the ballot for the November elections, but there is some question about who paid the $532,000 cost of a professional peitition gathering company. Apparently the Green Party was having a hard time coming up with enough signed petitions until this unknown benefactor stepped forward. There is some indication that the Republican party supported this effort, but nobody is talking, including the Green Party.

Transparency, people, transparency.


Our tax dollars at work.
The Military planned to buy all 10,000 copies of the memoir written by Army Reserve Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer because it allegedly disclosed military secrets. Shaffer said Operation Dark Heart did not contain any information that threatened national security, but Pentagon officials said it did. According to a report in The Excavator, "They read the manuscript with the eyes of "guardians of the knowledge". Their censorship is reflective of the discredited attitude that National Security concerns are more important than exposing the truth and holding government officials accountable."

So, our government considered spending $259,900 to keep us in the dark?

Some time after the original release date was canceled, Shaffer, St. Martin's and the Pentagon reached an agreement to revise the manuscript according to changes required by the government.