Do You Believe In Magic

Do You Believe In Magic

As a young boy my father took me to a magic store twice a month. I loved magic and loved even more getting my friends and the elders to laugh and applaud when I did a trick. The magic tricks we could afford never cost more than a few dollars, but the principles of the most basic magic tricks are used today in places like Las Vegas when a magician makes a truck disappear.

Real magic is sleight of hand magic. It takes many years of hard work and training to be able to fool a group of people who are looking straight at you from just a few feet away. Magic using props are physical tricks created by some of the brightest and creative people you'll ever meet.

The thing I find so funny are the people who believe magic is real. I love those people because they are true believers. They want so hard to believe they become putty in the hands of the magician. The problem is these same people become putty in the hands of con artists, pick pockets, crooks and even religious charlatans.

A great salesman once told me that the easiest person to sell something to is another salesperson. Why, because to sell the crap they're selling they have to become true believers.  

True believers fall in love easily. They fall in love with a car that looks great even though Consumer Reports says the car is a disaster (can you spell FIAT - we used to call it Fix It Again Tony).  They fall in love with anything that is bright and shiny. Put a too much money fake diamond watch in their hands and they go GA-GA.

The worst thing about true believers is they fall in love with the wrong people. One date and they're in love. One encounter with someone of authority and they're in love. They too easily fall in step with a group of other believers (can you spell Jim Jones). Drinking the poison Cool Aid is not a problem for them.

Believing they are going to a better place when they die is their mantra. Believing we are being watched and inspected by aliens from another planet is something they worry about. Sadly, they more often believe in negative things than positive things. They absolutely believed the world, as we know it, was going to end at the end of century (2000). It just didn't happen, but it didn't stop them from believing the end is still coming.

It's not all bad being a true believer. Believing in people can be a good thing. Believing people can make a positive impact on this world is a good thing. Believing the future will get even better and better, is a good thing. Being positive about what happens to us after we die might or might not be right, but believing puts a smile on your face while you're living.

And yes, believing in friendly aliens who are here to make life better for us can be a good thing. The point is that magic is a trick, but even so:

I Believe In Magic

Sports And Happiness

Sports And Happiness

Baseball is happening now. Football is upon us. Basketball is coming in October. For those of you that don't give a shit, think again. Major league sports can be a slice of your happiness. You don't have to play sports. You don't even have to understand the game. However, just getting involved will give you an extra piece of happiness you don't have now.

If you like ice skating or gymnastics, you'll love major league sports. The main reason you like ice skating and/or gymnastics is because they are beautiful to watch. The men and women doing those sports are great athletes.  They move so gracefully you want to see them do things us mere mortals can't ever do. 

Well, guess what, major league sports men and women are just as athletic. Take football for instance. For those who don't know what to look for, it seems like they are a bunch of big guys smashing into one another. It couldn't be further from the truth. These athletes do things that are both graceful and beautiful. You just have to know what to look for. Seeing some of the athletic things happening on the field is unbelievable.

Also, the competition between two teams is so intense, you get a real sense of the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Getting involved in that competition will give you that thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Watching my wife screaming happiness when her team makes a great play makes me happy. Watching my wife cursing at the TV when her team does something stupid makes me happy. 

The bottom line is that her energy level shows me she has forgotten all the negative things going on in her life for the three plus hours she is watching her team. She gets even more intense when there's money on the line. It may be only a five dollar bet with me or the chance to win hundreds of dollars with the betting pool she's in. The money is not the issue - it's the winning that floats her happiness boat.

Sooo, don't just watch mind numbing TV when you could be watching a beautiful, graceful and competitive major league sport. It's a great way to get closer to your spouse or friend(s). It's a lot of fun being at a bar or in a stadium when everyone is screaming bullshit when their team sucks or cheering when their team is doing great. 

Remember, you don't have to know what's going on. 

All you need to know is that you're having fun and the people around you are having fun.

WMD - Weapons of Mass Destruction

WMD - Weapons of Mass Destruction

You probably think this blog is about all the insanity that's going on in the world today. Well, guess what, you're wrong. The WMDs I'm talking about are women and men. We have been mass destructing each other since the day the first humans appeared on this earth.

In the past there was a hierarchy. Men dominated women. Men chose women who could push a plow and have babies. Women chose men who could protect them and provide for the family. Men abused women and there was nothing they could do about it - mass destruction.

In the last fifty years all that has changed. Women decided this hierarchy idea was bullshit. Women decided that they were as equal as men. Women decided what kind of man they wanted and men decided what kind of woman they wanted. This was the start of using WMDs.

BTW, just to be clear, this blog is not just about men with women. Everything said goes for men with men, women with women and whatever floats your boat.

Women decided they wanted a man with a great body and big hands. Women made up this idea that big hands meant big junk in the trunk. Women made up they phrase, "size matters." Men didn't make that up because 99% of men think they're not big enough and would like to be bigger. Therefore, men made up the phrase, "it's not how big you are it's how you use it." Men decided they wanted women with a great body and big boobs. 

To get the handsome, muscular, big hand man, women made their breasts bigger and started wearing less and less clothes. To look good in a bikini or a thong, women removed their hair down under. Some of the women decided removing all of their hair was not a good idea because the big hunk they desired was so stupid they left a landing strip so the hunk would know where to go.

By choosing a partner based upon physical attributes made those attributes Weapons of Mass Description (WMDs). Once the eye got its fill, men and women realized this was not what they really wanted. This realization created bad break-ups, divorce, anger and frustration - mass destruction.

How many times have you destroyed a relationship? How many times have your relationship been destroyed by the other person? How many times have you divorced or been divorced? Even if you haven't done any of those things, how many of you are happy with each other? To be optimistic, I say 50%. To be realistic, I say only 25% are happy with each other.

The morel to this story is, don't choose your partner based upon physical attributes (WMDs) unless you're only interested in a one night stand. Choose the one who you think will make the best friend. After choosing, never stay in a relationship that's not working. 

You Deserve Better.