People

The five dumbest dad bloggers is the sort of headline that sounds like linkbait but it is not. I am not trying to be clever or controversial. I haven’t ever thought about who the five smartest, dumbest or funniest are.

What I have thought about is how it has become increasingly popular for women to make comments about how dumb their husbands/boyfriends are. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard some woman talk about how their man isn’t measuring up in one way or another.

There are more than a handful of posts that I could point to that help promote the men are dumb/lazy/stupid or less than whatever it is we should be as well. I won’t be linking to any of those.  They don’t need to receive any traffic from yours truly.

But I’ll ask a few questions that puzzle me.

1. If he is so dumb why are you with him?
2. What does it say about your judgment?
3. What would you do if he spoke about you like that?

Just curious.

Children Are Important

I have been wrestling with whether to air out some dirty laundry here. It is not a simple decision because the consequences of my actions may not be borne solely by me. That is part of what makes the boundaries of blogging more challenging.

So I decided to speak in general terms. Children are not as dumb as some people might think. You can’t buy their love by seeing them once a year and presenting them with a big gift. Children want time with you. They deserve it.

Since I am the “mean” uncle I would be more than happy to tell you that you are an ungrateful putz who needs an attitude adjustment. If I believed that kicking your ass might accomplish something I might consider it. Not because it might be kind of fun but because the “mean” uncle doesn’t like it when our niece asks why you never show up for family events and leave early when you do.

You and I aren’t related by blood…that is good. That makes me happier because I might lose it if one of my siblings was like you. We were raised better than that and Ma & Pa Steiner shouldn’t be shamed in this fashion.

People Remember How You Make Them Feel

People remember how you make them feel. If you want to be popular and successful in most things you need to learn how to make people feel good. It is obviously not the sole requirement but it is significant.

One of the easiest ways for a business to distinguish itself from its competitors is to focus on people. Provide superior customer service and you will earn the gratitude and support of your customers.

As a father I try to be very aware of how I speak to my children because I know that my words hold more power. I know that the wrong words may stay with my children for years if not life. I don’t want them to be hurtful. I don’t want them to carry those around or to feel the sting unnecessarily.

Bloggers and People

I don’t know if I really want to write bloggers and people or if I shouldn’t say Bloggers are People. The latter is probably better than the former but it is so damn obvious it irks me.

Maybe what I should say/write is that once we post these words they last forever. We can edit and or delete them but you never know how many people see them before you make those changes. Once you click publish you lose control of these words and who knows where they go and what they are used for.

Got to get some shut eye, but before I go let me share this video with you. It is one that I have watched many times. It is a reminder to me about mental toughness. I think I need to work on that a bit, teach myself how to hold my tongue a little bit longer than I have.

And from an entirely different perspective it is a reminder that if I really try to do this I need to work much harder to get into the kind of shape it will take to qualify and complete it.

I am not the sort of person who is star struck, but I might be if I met Bruce Springsteen. He wouldn’t be the first star that I have met nor seen in person. Fact is that I have encountered many, but for me Springsteen is a different sort of animal. I have been a fan of his music for years but within the past five something changed inside me.

A switch was flipped and I realized that one of my dreams is to be like Bruce, not Bruce but like Bruce. The world already has one Springsteen and a million aspiring artists who want to be him. Not me, I want something a little bit different. I want to be able to take my words and turn them into music. I want to take the songs that I hear in my head and convert it into something that I can play. I want it to move from fantasy into reality.

I listen to music all day long. It is a constant companion and a trusted confidante. My favorite music does more than tell a story, it touches you in places you don’t always know exist. Sometimes it brings you joy and sometimes sadness. Music is the touchstone of our hearts and I wish that I could call upon it in the same manner that Springsteen does.

He has bigger fans than I and people who know his songs, stories and music far better. All I have are my observations. He strikes me as a force of nature with exceptional energy and insight. And he seems to be someone who looks inward and thinks about what he feels and why.

These things resonate with me. There are songs and moments that I never get tired of. I can listen to the entire Tunnel of Love album all day long and never get tired of it. I want to meet Springsteen and hang out with him. I don’t just want to shake his hand, but that would be cool.

I want to hang out with him because I want to have time to ask questions and to listen. I want to see what I can learn from him. I want to find out more about how he writes and see if it is consistent with what I think. I suspect that he just hears/sees the words and then lays them down upon paper. That is how I do it. Maybe it is a bit egotistical to think that he writes like I do, but why not. Either way I would be curious to learn more.

For those who are curious here is a smattering of lyrics from his music that I like:

It ought to be easy ought to be simple enough
Man meets woman and they fall in love
But the house is haunted and the ride gets rough
And youve got to learn to live with what you can’t rise above if you want to ride on down in through this tunnel of love

Tunnel of Love

And though this world is filled
With the grace and beauty of God’s hand
Oh I wish I were blind
When I see you with your man