Well I never thought I’d be so excited to see college football come to the end of the season like I am this year. Being a lifelong Michigan fan I’ve been so fortunate to have enjoy years and years of successful winning football. (more…)

Its been a while since we took a look at the stars and their lives…so lets stumble down the walk of fame.

Kevin Federlne said ex-wife Brittney Spears was like a roller coaster.
Once you climbed off, you wanted to throw up. (Alright, I might have made that up.)

Lindsay Lohan says she isn’t gay…but her girfriend is.  (I did not make that one up.)

I watched an episode of the Housewives of Atlanta.  That group should be sued by the NAACP, NOW, and any woman that has character.  What a bunch of gold digging, nasty street trash.

Twlight, a movie about love and vampires came out this weekend.  Twisted Todd, can’t get a steady date……but  a bloodsucking VAMPIRE has women flocking to the theater. (sorry Todd, it was too easy not to.)

What the hell has happened to CMT?
It used to be Country Music Television.  Now its movies with Sandra Bullock, guys working on trucks, weddings, and assorted crap.  Where the hell is the MUSIC?

And this just in…….Angelina Jolie says she may retire from acting.  Who will notice? More importantly…who will care?

Have a nice Thanksgiving. Be thankful for those with you, and remember those no longer here. 

I’m in!

It’s been a month since my mom passed away. 

The year 2008 has been the worst I can remember. 
For some this year has been bad because of the economy, or the election, or their job and I guess I can relate to some of those same things.

For me though, 2008 started with my one of my sisters suddenly dying in early January.

That was followed the next week with my mom being diagnosed with stage four lung cancer.  They gave her six to nine months.  She finally lost the battle in mid October.  Now, as bad as it was to lose my sister, it was unexpected and very quick.  With mom, it occurred over a nine month period.  Sudden death is bad, watching someone who always had been very strong just decay in front of your eyes is far, far worse.

Toward the end, she asked me to forgive her for her mistakes. 
The woman that took care of a daughter with developmental issues, the woman who had to contend with a husband that drank himself to death over a long period of time, the woman who cared for yet another daughter with debilitating arthritis, apologizing to me, a son that could have and should have been there more and better when he was there. 
Pay attention to this.  Nothing can prepare you for that. NOTHING.

She sacrificed for her entire family.  Put up with constant disappointments, coupled with the realization that while none of her dreams would come true, she was dedicated to ensure all of ours were. 
She could stretch a dollar further than anyone I’ve ever seen and worked longer hours than everyone I’ve ever known.  We had nothing growing up. Nothing except a true southern lady that put her family ahead of all those things she wanted and deserved.  I’m sure the few that will read this feel the same way about their mother.  If they don’t….shame on them.

At the end….and in the weeks since then, I have come to realize a couple of things.

Don’t take anything too seriously.

Don’t take yourself too seriously.

Don’t take life for granted.

Don’t take from those you love, without giving back.

I did ALL of things. 
I made ALL those mistakes. 
I have to get up each day knowing ALL of that.

I’ve been told time will make all of this better. 
Somehow I don’t think there is enough time left for that to happen.  I’m not looking for, nor do I expect sympathy for a loss we all have to bear at some point in our lives.  Trust me when I tell you, it will change you. 
Change you in ways you won’t expect and to degrees you thought weren’t possible.

Damn. I cannot wait for this year to end.

Audentes Fortuna Juvat

Thank You!

Stoneman

For all you history buffs, this bridge use to cross over the river in Clemson and has been submerged since Lake Hartwell was flooded.  Due to the level of the lake is can now be seen.  It’s located between the highway 123 bridge and the 93 bridge.  Nan Underwood who works here and her husband Gene actually pulled the pontoon boat up to it and got off and walked on it. 

If you have any cool pics, e-mail them to jdstone@entercom.com  and I’ll post them.

The population of this country is 300 million.

160 million are retired.
That leaves 140 million to do the work.
There are 85 million in school.

Which leaves 55 million to do the work.
Of this there are 35 million employed by the federal government.

Leaving 15 million to do the work.

2.8 million are in the armed forces preoccupied with killing Osama
Bin-Laden.  Which leaves 12.2 million to do the work.

Take from that total the 10.8 million people who work for state and city
Governments. And that leaves 1.4 million to do the work.

 At any given time there are 188,000 people in hospitals.
Leaving 1,212,000 to do the work.

Now, there are 1,211,998 people in prisons.
That leaves just two people to do the work.

You and me.

And there you are,

Sitting on your behind,

At your computer, reading this.

Nice. Real nice.

  It’s a new day  and a big change has come. Something I never thought I would see in my life time. Something that I’m not sure how to feel about yet.I’m one of those people who likes to stay with the tried and true things. I’ve never been a big fan of radical change; I get a lot of anxiety when I have to go through major changes in my life. But I’ve spent a lot of time analyzing this big shift in America and after struggling with the idea of relenting and going with the movement that so many have seemed to embrace in our country today. After weighing all the pro’s and con’s and knowing that if I did make this radical shift, there was no going back, I’d be stuck with my decision for the foreseeable future. I took the leap of faith. I entered that magical place where I would make my choice; where I would make this most difficult decision a reality. My hands shook as I began to make my choice; I could feel the excitement and fear battle within me as I went to complete this transition in my life. I suddenly wondered what my friends would think of me after being informed of what was such a major change for me and my lifelong belief. But I looked around at all these other people all over the country who also made the same choice for change that I had just done. So many, who had made this change long before I did, And so now I’m happy and feel confident that my life change was the right choice. Going from conservative to progressive/liberal, and changing colors of choice was not so bad.      Yes I’m proud to say that I finally bought a new pair of Adidas and they were Black! Yes not the same old predictable, boring, conservative white ones I’ve been known for all these years. NO, I made the choice for change too! How bout that! What that? What were you thinking I was talking about? GEEEEEZZZZZ!      

Fifty two percent to forty six percent for the popular vote nationwide, but the surprising thing was the electoral vote, 338 to 163, a very decisive win for Barack Obama.  The popular vote was alot closer than I thought it was going to be, even here in the red state of South Carolina it was close,  John McCain 963,456 or 54%, and Obama 796,483 or 45%.  It shows that ALOT of the people wanted change.

Change, there is a lot of it to do.  It’s NOT going to be as bad as some of the negative seem to think it’s going to be,  I tell you one thing, I wouldn’t want that job, but you definatly have to hand it to John McCain for his very classy consession speech.  The man is a real patriot and a hero to many.  So instead of critisizing what could happen, let’s relax and see what really happens..  It can’t get much worse.

One thing is for sure though, ANYONE can do what ever they want, if they have the drive, and put their mind to it!