Jason Sardi

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Ev'rywhere you go;
Take a look in the five and ten glistening once again
With dreams and nostaligia aglow.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...
knocks on your very door
But the prettiest sight to see is the holly that will be
when you happen upon your core.

A pair of shit-kicking boots and a lobbyist that shoots
Is the wish of the NRA now and then;
We would love to talk and live the walk,
but we ain't Charlton Heston!!!

And Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Ev'rywhere you go;
There's a tree in the Americus Hotel, one in Philly as well,
The sturdy kind that doesn't mind the snow. Yet there rests the afterglow.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas;
Soon the bells will start,
And the thing that will make them ring is the carol that you sing
Right within your heart.

And I can't argue with that last part.

But I can add my parting shot.

A Reality we're not ... but it beats the streets with every show:

Good Evening,

I was originally going to title this post "Silent Saturday" and let the picture do the talking. But me being the verbose and anti-parsimonious bastard that I am, that obviously can't happen. Instead, I came away from tonight's inspiration for words with a deeper understanding of our current economic woes.

It is not unsavory practices in spending that have gotten our collective bank accounts in a bunch. It isn't even the daily dose of which Political Party is in Power. Nope, there's a simpler version to the truth of it all. Remember Fred Savage in "The Wonder Years"? I do. I also recall the episode where Ben Stein played his teacher and said something to the affect of, "Every question contains its own answer."

And the following picture contains it:

Before going into the Luxury Condominium Business, maybe a stint in the Porta Potty Biz would have been the more natural thing to do. Life is one step at a time. Getting Rich Quick, even if you actually do it, probably results in long-term failure.

One of the perks of not having to sell anything in these parts is it allows me to write about anything. As is if that ever stopped me before.

The political arena started becoming interesting for me in my latter years of high school, when dimples were replaced by the cynical zits of the inevitable Real World. I took interest in the intellectual, philosophical, & eye-opening debates of one supposed truth vs. another. In a quiet sort of way, I was hooked.

In more recent years, I'm fairly disgusted on a regular basis. In my short experience period, I thought Conservative principles were better adept at economic & foreign policy. I thought more Liberal principles were the ones that allowed a better understanding and implementation of helping rid of us racism, bigger government control that wasis frankly none of their business in our everyday lives and intellectual growth that would grow, rather than foster like a mushroom growing under Cow Dung. But maybe that's just me.

And then I see things like this, which I thought was a bit funny ... until I realized some folks take it seriously. I'm not a One-World Guy. I love competition, free enterprise, the humanity of the arts, the fact that dissension is inevitable and disagreement can be quite healthy. And I'm pretty certain that life is unfair and I certainly don't advocate winning a trophy for coming in second to Rush in the Talk Show Ratings. Well, I've pontificated enough... here's my retort, for what it is worth:

DIVORCE AGREEMENT

American conservatives, righties, tea baggers, constitutionalists, Reagan humpers and anyone who voted for either Bush since Rove wouldn't run ... Fox News has made me realize that perhaps I want a divorce. Besides, the only thing that costs more ... is falling in love. Think about that;)

I know we each came full brunt with our version of the truth and we've taken our turns trading spaces with running this country. We'll never agree, that's granted. Extremes tend to beckon such a reaction. Or maybe you are still pissed off because I'm carrying Fonda's purse as Ted makes a mint making a reality show out of my one-time lip lock with Barney Frank.

Here is a model separation agreement:

Let's say we divide the Country. It can be kind of like the Civil War. That's mature, right? Let me guess, you want to play Abe Lincoln? Okay, cool. It's yours. We'll play the South this time around.

We don't like folks who spout about big government but then want to legislate personal choices. And nobody likes taxes, besides those IRS people. I'm for a consumption tax, myself. You can have the wars and guns if you want; we'll take the God & Jesus route on that one. Frankly, visualizing Christ with a M-16 isn't in my particular book of prayer. And about those celebrities, as a fair trade-off, you get to keep Chuck "I counted to infinity twice" Norris and Meatloaf.

You can have your beloved Mr. Beck, Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, & whatever gal that is deemed hot & smart (aligned with your wave of logic). We'll keep the hot Alaskan hockey mom (I always kind of liked Todd), intellectual wonder & ever-growing thought process. You can keep the Anarchist's Cookbook and we'll give you talk radio and a prime-time spot on Larry King if you can actually make a plausible argument. Please continue to provide China with more ass than u can shake Gordon Geiko's last one-night stand at. Somewhere Daryl Hannah will be smiling.

Scientology? WTF? Cruise was gone in our book after his role in The Outsiders. We don't want him either:) You can also have the U.N.. but we will no longer be playing dumb when someone wants to attack us because we want to shoot rockets out our ass for shits and grins. Keep those SUVs, pickup trucks and over-sized luxury cars. I'll walk to keep our insurance rates down.

If Healthcare is a luxury, I'll entertain that. I've read a bunch of you and I have one question. How many of you are collecting Social Security of any kind? Really? Cause if you are, the argument debate goes a bit deeper than maybe you'd like. And if you are not, we'll keep Springsteen and Foster. You can have Cash (hate to let that one go) and Snoop Dog ... just cause I like to irritate the irritable.

And our economy is quite simple. We exchange hash brownies and feverish smiles. Or, we think about things. Hard work, smart work, combined ... are a hell of a way to be.

Sincerely,

Jason M. Sardi, Provider of sweat on a 100 Degree Day, & man of few words, rarely.

P.S. Also, please take Malkin, anyone in charge in Arizona, and My Uncle Bob. I like Uncle Bob, yet he's out of touch. Hard worker, good man, but out of touch. And I firmly believe that him being a good man will garner enough understanding that his suspenders will be in touch before his time wears out.

P. S. S. And we won't have to press 1 for English. We'll press 2 for Latin, because your English isn't so good. Take a class, folks.

To the top...

... and I promise not to "like" this post.

~ In an effort to create an outlet for any brain activity, I chose a craft I would never pursue for monetary reward. It's one thing to be able to articulate a train a thought and quite another to tell the story in 180 pages or less. ~

-Gunther Moses-

The story is simple, as most are. A twenty-four year old boy enters an industry that makes him a man. That industry experiences a "redefining period" that hadn't been known since the late seventies, when Carter was in office. If you want to get political, that's not part of the story just yet ...

I'll never regret how I was trained (or not) nor the personal demons that made eight years of my life more difficult than they should have been. Then I ran across some folks who make the old cliche about hindsight ... a wise cliche. I was surrounded by incompetence and became such. I always cared but that wasn't enough.

Walking into a forum being somewhat blinded by some of the professionalism was kind of new. I liked that, still do.

I realize that I hold on my shoulder a bit of disdainment for the industry to an extent, but moreso my experience within it. Karma is what karma is, where I was ... no longer is. And the others have proved themselves totally incompetent. Eventually, I'll out those others ... not because of that disdainment, but because I don't want anybody dealing with that type of bullshit. Doing anything with your home (buying, refinancing, making improvements, etc) is an important gig and deserves a bit more than a call back that you never receive.

Wait, I need clip-art to make this post more readable...

There you go.

When I got a different gig, I wondered if I would be good at it. Turns out, I just may be. And as the corners turn and the folds of ridulousness wrap around my neck, I think it is time to lose all matters of critique. Maybe it's time to focus on what is right, comment on what may be wrong, but assure my time in the industry was well-spent. No sense in swallowing shit ...

This story will end, self-destruct, and be yet another example of being righteous when the turn allows. Don't get me wrong though, we allow every turn.

Ironic, this post is and will be anything but Parsimonious.

So I've got this Uncle and for years he worked at our local college in Clarion. I suppose if you were to chalk up hard work over ones lifetime, he'd be cemented in the annals as one those guys. I always knew he was one of those guys, yet he was and is a bit more special to me than work ethic alone.

When I approached the often times trying years of teenage zits and pubic hair unaccompanied by the wisdom that should grow with it, I felt awkward and often times alone. While fine with the latter, every family get together made me smile because I got to look into my Uncle Ed's eyes.

In those eyes, I saw a man, an imperfect one, like myself, who probably used too many commas in his sentences as well. And in those eyes, I took comfort. His sense of humor was one of the few that actually made me LOL, before LOL was the proverbial catchphrase in the forum you may now be reading. I'm not sure about you, but I don't "LOL" nearly much as I may lead on. But Uncle Ed affected me in that way.

It's difficult to try to write anything about a man you would just rather hug, cause I probably didn't do it the last time I was there. At least, not enough. Don't get me wrong, I shouldn't be humping his leg or anything ... but mad props go out to a guy I'm pretty fond of. I think part of my fondness for Uncle Ed is our similarities ... I've never saw him cry but am damn sure he does it as passionately as he laughs. And he legitimately cares about people ... which I would dare say is more common than not with most, but I experienced first-hand that type of care when my cousin helped give birth to his first grandchild. I walked into the room seeing my Uncle Ed cupping that young buck in his arms as they fell into dreams.

Sometimes, you just know ...

My Uncle Ed retired from Clarion College and the work-force as we know it just recently. When I heard the news, I automatically traced my synapses to ensure what I was feeling was genuine ... and it was ... and is. The guy is a legend in my mind. And while that may not mean squat to some, Uncle Ed means the world to me.

Happy Retirement, Sir. And remind Sue that if she flies, I dance. However we can get together, let's freaking do it!