Tom Hummel

Job: 9; 27; “If I say “I will forget my complaint; I will change my expression and smile.”

It’s interesting to remember that in the beginning there was a warm and welcoming smile.

It was one that didn’t judge, but welcomed in full of joy.

An acceptance of at first being kind in return, and experiencing a fun loving environment, held together by the notion that all was right under his household.

A lover of the Outdoors; Humor; Picnics; Baseball; Scouts; God.

Early in life, afternoons were spent in the home of my best friend, Ben Hummel. Under the watchful eye of Lynn, or Gigi as she was known to us kids, we would play outside, or attempt to reach high scores on this new awesome game called brick-out and wait for someone to pick us up after school. We would enjoy cook-outs by Tom and the backyard grill, and Scotty frolicking around from an unseen and unbreakable bond. (Later on, the mantle would be picked up by Goldie.)

When venturing to King Soopers, it was not so uncommon to see Tom in the deli department, whereupon he would take time to visit and even when busy would give a smile and a wave. Sometimes, I would go to the store and just chat with him – he had that welcoming soul, and kind heart.

When a traumatic event happened to me in high school, my family and I moved to the other side of town. I eventually lost touch with Ben, as when his senior year had ended, he unbeknownst to me also moved to the other side of town to his grandmother’s ranch home.

Having been in a dark place after my event, there weren’t too many people I wanted to be around.

I had the idea to drive by Ben’s old Aurora home in search of reconnecting; alas I found an empty house.

I drove to the old King Soopers in search of that familiar warm greeting – also not to be found.

When my life had got back on track, how odd and at the same time a relief it was to see at the local King Soopers in my new and unfamiliar surroundings across town the warm smile I had been searching for.

It was Tom. Stocking the deli shelves, just as I had ever known him to do. And with him, his trademark smile as if no time had passed at all. A little grayer, but so was I. But a good, kind-hearted smile never fades.

I was able to reconnect with my childhood friend.

If it hadn’t been for the guiding light that was Tom, Ben would not have been my Best Man at my wedding.

But what really constitutes a Best Man?

The measure of a Best Man are the morals and ethics by which he lives: True, kind, selfless, giving, self-sacrificing, genuine, forgiving, accepting – these are attributes of a Best Man; the qualities of which have been passed down to Tom’s sons Ben, Dan, Tommy, Ted, and Chris, all of whom I have considered brothers.

The last time I saw Tom, he was in a nursing home of sorts while his internal suffering was increasing.

What amazed me the most is that without complaint, he beamed his smile to me as if no time had passed at all; no fear, no pain – a smile to carry on, and a memory to hold.

This is Tom Hummel.

Respect is taken, when respect is given...

Namaste and Slainte
~BG~

Emotion Motion

The past few days have been a whirlwind of emotional highs and lows. I don't think I've ever had quite this many all at one time! Strangely honorific, in the sense that I had the pleasure to experience them all at once!

My best friend Ben I have known since I was six, and since first grade. We've been running around together ever since! I call him my best friend, because we're so oddly different in almost every ideology. That doesn't seem to matter since we always seem to have a good time in each other's company. We know what not to talk about, it seems, out of respect for what the other might believe - but that leaves so much more to just babble and reminisce - it's a great emotion of compassion and sentimentality knowing I have a friend as great as he...

The end of one of the best summers yet, and the beginning of the work week. This summer break has been awesome, in that I got to see so many Kansas family members, and met a few new ones that are a wonderful edition to have been able to get to know! New places with a new great group of people (Stop it now I mean it! Anybody have a peanut? lol), have been exciting! Roswell and Estes Park were supremely grand getaways! And the beginning of another awesome year at a job I love, brings emotions of anticipation and optimism to fruition...

A small furry friend passed away, and it was disheartening to say the least. He meant so much to so many, that he was not just a pet, but a member of a clan - an extensive clan comprised and compiled of many well-to-do good people, that I shared in their loss with sadness, grief, and sorrow ...

I talked at length with a friend about emotion Monday night, and how it might play tricks at times, or maybe it is the real thing each time an occurance that resembles that emotion presents itself. I'd like to think that emotions never change, they are always true, but the people and places within them are the only things that change. This is a friend that we share oddly similar views on almost everything. Emotions of zest, contentment, cheerfulness, pride, passion, exhilleration, enthrallment and the list can go on and on, is what this friend has given to me all at once- but most of all, I give this friend my utmost respect...

So my several part question is can emotion be controlled, should it be controlled, or it should be left alone to soak in all that humanity has to offer? (Even if it does come all at once ;-)

Respect is taken, when respect is given ...

Namaste and Slainte
~BG~

Respectful Rewards

"As long as you're trying to be somebody else, the best you can ever hope for is second best. If you're genuine and consistent even those that disagree with you will be respectful of you." ~ Paul Harvey

And that's why Paul Harvey will be missed. His story telling ability was spot on each and every time, able to spin a yarn into something believable and unbiased. But, unfortunately, this isn't about Paul Harvey. This is almost in continuation of the Assistive Rewards post.

The world is full of questions, and the answers are rarely sought out. Politicians are exceptional at spinning a question into another question, as if that is itself the answer. So we are left questioning, and second-guessing our choices all the time. We ask "what if" too much, and not accept things as they are, in my opinion.

Can you really argue that trying to be like someone else, or what someone else wants you to be is beneficial to anyone? Sounds more like superficial.

Isn’t being genuine a sure fire way of grabbing someone’s attention? Everyone has what others will perceive as faults, that’s a given, and usually only on the outside and upfront. But isn’t that what can grow a healthy discussion, is taking those faults, accepting them, and maybe realizing that there is always more than one way to look at something?

There should always be some modicum of leaving some subjects alone, because you know that you will agree to disagree to which you leave it be, and that’s where civility comes into play. In the end, I’ve garnered respect for folk that have been able to logically convey their thoughts and feelings toward a particular subject, than haphazardly throwing something out there just because the feeling that that is the end all of everything.

The back-story leads into the whole story – if only what’s on top is taken, and nothing underneath is perused through, then you’ll never know … the rest of the story.

I always end my blogs and posts in one simple line:

Respect is taken, when respect is given …

Namaste and Slainte
~BG~

Assistive Rewards

Assistive Rewards

Is there a reward for doing something that comes second nature? If a person does something that is a reward in someone’s eyes, does the one helping actually see it that way, or is it without thought?

What is it when someone helps on a grand scale, but seeks a reward – how is it different than helping one person, but seek nothing in return? How is reward defined? Is a reward a given in any situation no matter what happens?

Have you ever been the one that helps someone, only to feel a sense of let-down when nothing happened after the fact? Have you ever worked in a group of people, no matter the size, where you felt good about the deed that was done, but there was no reward, so to speak? Isn’t completion of the deed in itself the reward?

What if by proxy of a mandate of effort you are given an award that you didn’t necessarily do anything to deserve? How does doing nothing constitute being rewarded?

In our blue ribbon society, everybody is supposed to win – but what about the people actually putting forth effort to achieve something greater than being rewarded …

Respect is given, when respect is taken …

Namaste and Slainte
~BG~

Internet Stimulus

What people want to hear …

What people want to believe …

Somewhere in between …

And then there’s the truth.

Be aware of the machine; fight against the machine; realize that surveillance can be avoided by how much personal information is available to the machine.

Live off-grid as much as possible.

Net Neutrality was a huge issue in the recent stimulus package. Net Neutrality makes it impossible for the big phone and cable companies to tax us for faster speed and broader access to the Internet – which is supposed to be free, in a long list of failing freedoms of choice. It is a choice for us to use, not a choice for them to control. Ever wonder how the sites of the big phone and Internet providers have faster load times; or even the sites associated with these companies?

Since their primary objective is money, they self-proclaim as the “Internet Gatekeepers”.

February 7th, 2009, marked a start time where Limbaugh, Dobbs and other Republican cronies, lobbied for McCain to strip the “Internet Freedom Preservation Act 2008 (HR5353)” (co-written in bi-partisan form) from the recent stimulus package, thereby stripping thousands of jobs from middle class workers, spoiling technology in the classroom; crawling education, banking, health and human services to a standstill; and every single company that uses the internet for their business would have to comply with the wishes of one controlling entity. I shudder to think of what will happen to all the small business owners that rely on the internet for that one small piece of free competitive market; what will happen when they can’t afford the entry cost?

Their goal would have seen that all the major players in the mobile and on-line arena station a tax for each level of speed per node of access. This would have seen uncontrolled measures of price gouging, with absolutely no means to go by.

Even the Christian Coalition is FOR the (HR5353) bill, because they understand all too well the power of Freedom of Speech.

We are not animals in a zoo to be controlled by power and money hungry trolls.

Save the Internet; save a freedom …

Respect is taken, when respect is given …

Namaste and Slainte
~BG~

http://www.savetheinternet.com/

http://epic.org/

http://www.democraticmedia.org/

Wintry Overlook

The winter months oddly seem the time to reflect on the past, and usually an atonement is gathered in the thoughts of those that memory loss tried to claim. But there is always one little spark of something left undone or unspoken that requires a New Years resolution. Sometimes it's an inane thought of improving the physical self. Sometimes it's a thought of a past thread that should try to be mended and woven into the fabric of the present state of affairs.

For me, it's been eight years of something of the latter - a mental spark of trying to find someone and piece together those frayed threads of misunderstanding and ignorance.

Every year a thought - like a dream on a teetering edge of a rocky cliff, that a whisper on the breeze might send over the side - goes through my mind to follow up, and to a certain extent I have; just not far enough. For whatever reason, it remained out of my grasp.

That reason, however, was made clear recently. I hadn't the strength to do something when I should have, and now that atonement will remain unfulfilled in my mind forever.

I'm afraid of it, and brave it at the same time; afraid that it will claim someone that I care about deeply, but embrace it knowing that I've done the best I can with what I've been given.

PFS - I was jealous that it seemed your life was finally coming together, at a time where mine was uncertain. Death is a fickle bitch. It doesn't care the means of how, who, when, where, or why, but it cares in the end. You were teased by it, tormented by it; you made it a part of you.

In death, I hope you have found the peace that eluded you in life...

Respect is taken, when respect is given ...

Namaste and Slainte
~BG~

Letter To My Government

To those it may concern,

I thought long and hard if I should say something or not, because, really, who would listen and who would care in the long scheme of things? But, after some consideration, and time to cool off, I decided that something must be said and sent to people that should be made aware. I may very well be the only one upset and disappointed enough to. But, it’s only because of my life experience in the Arapahoe Democratic Party, (Aurora, CO), that I feel I have to.

I started my political jaunt, if one can call it that, when I was about six or seven pulling my little red wagon filled with brochures for a man I still consider a friend, Steve Ruddick. I’ve volunteered for Gary Hart’s campaign, Michael Dukakis’ campaign, Bill Clinton’s campaigns, Ben Nighthorse Campbell’s campaigns, and intermittent Ruddick and Weddig campaigns. Twenty-some years later, I have never seen a political gathering run so poorly, ever, as in HD39.

House District 39 was the very last district to make up its mind on delegates for Clinton to the state convention, the day of the County Assembly, March 8th, 2008. It was one thing after another, and given the circumstances of there being so many people abound at something that is usually more controllable, I give a tad leeway.

It wasn’t bad enough I was bottle-necked at the bottom of the stage in the Hinkley High School auditorium, (amidst the swarm of Obama supporters), that I couldn’t get to the top of the auditorium in time to sign my name on an apparent list for furthering my Clinton delegate status. It wasn’t bad enough that someone, a woman whose name I never did catch, was elected interim chair. Is that even possible? I thought the actual HD chair was supposed to be present? And if this woman was she, then it was one of the worst jobs of control from a “group leader” I have quite possibly ever seen.

Not only did we move into the hall from the auditorium, where upon hearing the delegate list had been closed for further signing, it took almost two hours to decide that the people that had put in the most time campaigning for Clinton would be the ones to go to the state and congressional conventions. The alternates’ cards were then pulled from a box. I’ve never heard of such a thing! Campaign time is completely subjective, and who is to say that calling from home is less important and holds less clout than someone who had volunteered at the main Clinton headquarters!

For a few minutes I was ashamed to call myself a Democrat. It was deplorable, at best. The old were turned away, and the supposed non-volunteer need not to have applied.

I was excited, when I arrived – perma-grin on my face – thrilled that I was at something that my grandparents had done before me. I wanted to continue my family tradition of being elected to a state convention, but was thrashed away by the inept ability of a “group leader” to control a situation.

I give testament to why I voted for Clinton in the first place, which may sound contradictory in comments below. I voted for Clinton because my Nana was proud to know that there was finally the possibility of a woman candidate. Women have been slighted since the beginning of human existence, if you follow what it says in the bible; Adam tried to control Lilith, but she would have nothing to do with him. She left Eden and in her anger mated with the Devil; she then proceeded to kill off Eve to get back at Adam, hence the saying ‘hell hath no fury like a woman scorned’. Ever since then, women have been second. For the first time ever, there was a chance to see a woman in charge of this biased country, putting to rest some of what our moms, and especially Nana, had to go through in their life time of bigotry – and continue to do so presently. Having a female Republican VP that was mayor of an Alaskan town of 700, is a lot different than being the wife of a president and two-term U.S. Senator from NY.

I guess it’s time for me to jump on the bandwagon and root for change. It is my firm belief that two things need to change: Rules reform and/or proper guidance on handling delegate selection with CLEAR rules and regulations, and, the removal of the HD39 chair, Mary Ellen Wolf – whom I am still uncertain was present or not, at any point in time. She may very well have been with the Obama supporters, while leaving the Clinton supporters to fend for themselves.

If something like this scenario has happened in at least one place, it’s almost a sure bet that it happened in other places across the country as well. Citizens, no matter the political affiliation, should not be treated in such a manner. This is a breach in trust within a government sworn to uphold civility.

Was this all because we got swept away in the grand scheme of having something new grace our lives, such as great historical political fervor? Possibly. Or, was this all because proper guidance was not given to parties involved? Possible, still.

Just as Wallstreet has effectively been able to broker away the commercial aspect of the USA, I am ashamed to note that in the course of making history, both the Republic and Democratic parties have effectively been able to broker away the American psyche, by polarizing the American public into a frenzy of religion, race, gender, and creed. The delegates and superdelegates of the DNC are just as much to blame as the whole of the RNC; power away from the people.

It’s myopic absolutism that the Democrats would elect a black man, and not a woman, juxtaposed with the Republicans offering McCain with a woman VP. Is this what our government has come down to? One-upping each other in terms of votes, rather than what we’re voting for?

I’m tired of the lofty political folderol of who has the more tainted past, as opposed to what the person can bring to the core of the table. We’ve all done a thing that seemed right at the time, but maybe looking back on, wasn’t. We try to redeem ourselves by doing what we feel is right, but get slapped around as being wishy-washy and a turn-coat.

This is not what the founding father’s had in mind when they set up this country, and this is not what I had in mind when I, by defacto of American birthright, gave tacit consent to those elected to run it. You should all be ashamed of how things are run, as I am ashamed of being a part of it.

As of completion of this letter, my vote still hangs in the balance on wanting to vote, or not - ever. After repeated slaps in the face to me and my family, based on a governments’ moral ineptitude, why should I?

Respect is taken, when respect is given ...

Regards,

Greg Wohler

Namaste and Slainte
~BG~

Xeno Paradox of Life

""The Tortoise challenged Achilles to a race, claiming that he would win as long as Achilles gave him a small head start. Achilles laughed at this, for of course he was a mighty warrior and swift of foot, whereas the Tortoise was heavy and slow.
"How big a head start do you need?" he asked the Tortoise with a smile.
"Ten meters," the latter replied.
Achilles laughed louder than ever. "You will surely lose, my friend, in that case," he told the Tortoise, "but let us race, if you wish it."
"On the contrary," said the Tortoise, "I will win, and I can prove it to you by a simple argument."
"Go on then," Achilles replied, with less confidence than he felt before. He knew he was the superior athlete, but he also knew the Tortoise had the sharper wits, and he had lost many a bewildering argument with him before this.
"Suppose," began the Tortoise, "that you give me a 10-meter head start. Would you say that you could cover that 10 meters between us very quickly?"
"Very quickly," Achilles affirmed.
"And in that time, how far should I have gone, do you think?"
"Perhaps a meter – no more," said Achilles after a moment's thought.
"Very well," replied the Tortoise, "so now there is a meter between us. And you would catch up that distance very quickly?"
"Very quickly indeed!"
"And yet, in that time I shall have gone a little way farther, so that now you must catch that distance up, yes?"
"Ye-es," said Achilles slowly.
"And while you are doing so, I shall have gone a little way farther, so that you must then catch up the new distance," the Tortoise continued smoothly.
Achilles said nothing.
"And so you see, in each moment you must be catching up the distance between us, and yet I – at the same time – will be adding a new distance, however small, for you to catch up again."
"Indeed, it must be so," said Achilles wearily.
"And so you can never catch up," the Tortoise concluded sympathetically.
"You are right, as always," said Achilles sadly – and conceded the race.""

One could say that life is just like this race. Everytime we feel like we get caught up on something, something else comes along and puts us back a little bit farther. There is no way to catch up to where we need or want to be, thus stays the paradox.

While the calculus method of handling infinite sequences may solve the distance problem, and quantum physics solves the mark between two points, there is the philosophical answer to the paradox: keep going, try something new, and never give up.

I've tried to fill my life with as many eclectic paths as possible. I travel down each one for a short bit of time, until I catch up as much as I can, and turn toward a different direction. This helps keep the mind free and open. My gambit is the possibility of sacrificing certain aspects that some people may find offensive, in that not enough time is spent in one area, and too much in another.

My life "To-Do List: is as follows:

*To write a Letter of Intent to a high-powered political official
*To finish and publish the 9 books I've started
*To continue to write: poetry, blogs, stories, notes, scribbles, ideas
*To re-build a compressed air engine, and build and adapt a Tesla turbine using recycled compressed air, with gyroscopic encasements/compartments
*To re-build an electric engine using Xenon and a friction based power source
*To continue to sit on the board of The Thomas Foundation
*To finish work on my un-named community non-profit endowment
*To continue to be culturally open-minded, and non-biased
*To travel to other countries
*To immerse myself in my educational career
*To make people happy with my small business of jewlery making
*To learn as much as possible about psychology and philosophy
*To continue to enjoy my outdoor activities; hiking and camping
*To reduce my meat intake to 15%, and increase vegetarianism to 85%
*To continue to learn and play percussion, tin whistles, and guitar
*To play the song I wrote for my grandma in public
*To continue to meet and greet new people
*To love my two best friends as the real and genuine people that they are
*To continue to protest things that I feel are wrong, and promote things I feel are right
*To continue to love my family, and all the eccentricities we entail
*To be a life partner with the right woman, and have children together
*To continue to learn things I do not know, but want to
*To never lose sight of who I truly am

All of the above I have started, and will continue to work on until the end - but one never truly stops being ones' self, if one passes on knowledge to another ...

I'm a strong believer that all lists should be long, so that everything can be garnered an achievement if tried. I heard it said once "Do or Do Not, There is No Try" - but, if we don't try, nothing can be done ... to try, is to do - to do nothing, is to not try ...

Respect is taken, when respect is given ...

Namaste and Slainte
~BG~

2nd Amendment

The 2nd Amendment.

If you believe in the 2nd Amendment as a right for the commonwealth, rather than the sole of the military, you've never been on the receiving end of a gun - if you had, your views would change from the wanton need to kill if a gun was handy via means of "protection", to savoring life when it is about to be shot out from underneath. The Constitution was written under the pretense of war, at a time where wartime measures required guns to fight a gun-toting invading force. In my faith and beliefs, killing is not necessary EVER.

What benefit is there to give everyone a gun? If no one had a gun, what reason would there be for protection? It is ONLY through escalation that guns are needed. If weaponry didn't exist, what would fuel the fervent warrior? The fact that there is EASY access to harmful machines, only fuels those bent on harm. Take away the access, and there will be a decrease in harmful situations penned on an outside source, being guns. There will always be something else to take its place, but shouldn’t there also be a choice of whether or not to take up such a violent act?

If one is given a gun, there is no choice - only one action. If one were to say "I have a gun, but choose not to use it - except only in defence..."; defence of what? Shooting or be shot? The choice becomes kill or be killed? There is death on someone's hands no matter how you view it. Why would anyone choose death, over life? There is always another underlying factor involved, for the use of a weapon. Root out the evil beneath the folds of weaponry, and one will find solace in knowing that there even lies a choice without guns and subsequent killing.

I’ve been mugged because someone wanted my coat. And because I chose to use my mind as a means to fend off the attacker, I was shot because of it. I regret nothing - I have no blood on my hands.

I’ve seen someone shoot themselves, with alcohol and other drugs involved. Had there not been a gun around, he’d still be with us today. Maybe he would have died from a drug overdose, but at least his brains wouldn’t be on the wall of his basement. His nickname was “Brooklyn”.

Thomas Jefferson, one of the greatest minds ever to grace American soil, was pro-gun. He is quoted in his Commonplace Book as saying the following:

"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms ... disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes ... Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man."

Except Jefferson only copied it from an Italian man named Cesare, Marquis of Beccaria-Bonesana, who is considered one of the founding pioneers in the field of criminology, and a philosphical/politician contempory of Jefferson, and author of a treatise of one of the basis of our Constitution, “On Crimes and Punishments”. There is one great difference between the two men: Jefferson used the quote as an end to the means, meaning he was for everyone having a gun so that everyone would be equal in the face of danger. Bonesana actually meant it as a means to and end, as he was fervently opposed to torture and an advocate of criminal reform.

I, much like Bonesana, tend to side with humanism on this subject in that there is now more than ever a sense of urgency at unjust suffering. Utilitarianism works to a point, then the argument begins on which state of moral happiness is best for the greater good – I tend to side with the happiness that is not blowing someone’s brains out, simply because one has access to a gun and is happy about using it at any given point, for any given reason.

I can only say that you will value life to the fullest, knowing that it can be taken in an instant. Diseases can leave a person withering years after diagnosed. Even though I've had my share of medical unfortunates, I cannot speak of that. However, I can speak of being on the receiving end of cowardice ...

Respect is taken, when respect is given ...

Namaste and Slainte
~BG~

Moral Provocation

""PROVOCATION - The act of inciting another to do something.""


Recently, it's been brought to my attention that I may have contradicted some of my beliefs, and I feel some sort of explanation might be in order. Someone I met over the weekend prompted me to write this blog ...

It's easy for me to say that it goes against my beliefs or my convictions to say that something is "none of my business" or that "I don't care" - it's not that I don't care about a person or what they are having to go through, but I don't care enough to have issues taken upon whatever problem it may be. The issue then becomes something else entirely at that point - that point being, if something is continuously brought up then I take it upon myself to oblige a stand on moral grounding.

Keeping in mind, of course, that the other individual is telling something that doesn't need to be said - oft times repeatedly. Things that should be kept private should never be told to anyone.

The only example of this I can give is that when someone is publicly defaming another individual, I feel it my moral obligation to say something. It oft times does nothing to sway the other persons self-delusional mindset, however, another voice combating ill spoken words is morally justified, in that it shows that more than one person thinks what they are saying is wrong.

Still, oft times more than the before mentioned, it is no one in the direct parties that are making voices heard - rather, the voices of those around the parties involved that continue to lash out upon old wounds.

So, to reiterate to the beginning of this blog:

I don't care, until it becomes apparent that myself or one my friends is in direct need of logical reasoning rhetoric, that would otherwise inhibit said friend or self from moving past whatever the circumstance.

It's none of my business, until it is apparent that sides have to be chosen, and boundry lines drawn.

Morality, Civility, and Ethics are not taught in school anymore - they should be. One has to live moral convictions, not just read a book about them ...

There is a fine line between right and wrong, however, the line is thick between intelligence and wisdom ...

That being said, in all my years of learning and living a thought process based on convictions I hold as true moral, civil, and ethical grounding, I have contradicted nothing ...

Respect is taken, when respect is given ...

Namaste and Slainte