The 27 Club

I never knew about this club before. Well, I didn’t know it had a name. But I knew it existed. And it’s sad, very sad, that we have one. The “27” Club just got a new member: Amy Winehouse. For those of you who don’t know, she’s the 27 year old singer who was found dead last week.

Yes, 27 years old. Which makes her part of the “27 Club.” Along with a few others, such as Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, and Kurt Cobain. All musicians, all incredibly talented, all incredibly troubled, and all dead at the age of 27. Those are just the famous ones of course. My own “favorite,” if that is the right word, would be Pete Ham, lead singer and writer of the group Badfinger. 

Pete Ham is certainly not as well-known as the others, but somehow this one really hits me. For you non-Badfinger fans, you might remember some of their biggies: Day After Day and Baby Blue. And almost all of you remember “Without You,” written and originally performed by Badfinger, but covered with huge success by Nilsson. Badfinger was ”discovered” by the Beatles, and the band was sometimes confused with them. (Listen to the guitar solos in “Day After Day.” Definitely George Harrison influenced.) Anyway, to make a long story short, they had lots of success, and were cheated out of most of their money by their manager. Eventually, penniless and despondent, Ham hanged himself after drinking 10 shots of whisky, when he was 27, one month before the birth of his only child. Just for icing on the cake, Tom Evans, his writing partner and best friend in the band, never got over his loss, and eight years later, hung himself as well. Somehow, it’s harder to listen to those songs, knowing that both co-writers met such an end.

Most of these deaths are drug and alcohol related. Maybe not directly, but drugs seem to play a role in all of them. I’m sure a psychiatrist could probably give me a decent answer, but I do wonder what makes people with such talent, so much to live for, so much to offer decide to go this route? Is it a result of fame, and a way to deal with it? Or is it just another way to get a high when the rush of stardom wears off? Obviously, there’s not just one right answer, because there is not just one story. Amy Winhouse’s life and death were not at all like Pete Ham’s, except they both came to a premature closing.

I think I’ll listen to “Day After Day” one more time right now. Maybe you should too. It really is a great song.

Republicans, really?

(Republican friends, you won’t like this one. Move along, there’s nothing to see here!)

First of all, I have to say: I hate these partisan posts. I really do. I have friends on both sides, and I don't like offending half of them. I really don't. But they usually have no problem saying what they think, so I guess I have the right as well. Still, I don't like it. But sometimes it just gets crazy.

I am a republican. At least I was. I’m registered that way.  But honestly, right now I just don't understand that party. Mind you, I don’t think the democrats are exactly always the wisest and best either, but right now at least, the republicans are just crazy.  I’m not sure how else to describe them.

The “debt crisis.” Really? During the Bush administration, with republican congresses, the debt limit was raised seven times—SEVEN. With no fanfare, and almost no notice. (Do YOU remember those votes? Probably not.) It was a bookkeeping item. But now, when a democrat is the president, the congress has essentially wasted an entire summer fighting over what is normally a routine vote. What legislation has congress passed in the last three months? Basically nothing.

But that’s not the worst part of it. Even though the debt went from a surplus (yes I said surplus) at the end of the Clinton administration to record debts at the end of the Bush administration, somehow now “spending is out of control.” Why didn't they say that 5 years ago? In reality, spending has increased of course, but what has made the record surpluses is the lack of tax revenue due to a dead economy. When people aren't working, they aren't paying taxes. And while you can argue all day about whose fault it is that the economy hasn't recovered, we all know it went south during the last republican administration.

But that’s not the worst part of it either. When Reagan, the god of the conservatives, had a debt crisis early in his term, you know what he did? He raised taxes. Yes, really. He raised them. Many times. He cut spending as much as he could, but when the government couldn't afford what they were spending, he raised taxes. Remember Bush 1? When he had a debt problem, he raised taxes. So why can’t we do that now? Because now any tax increase is a “job-killing” tax increase. Even though before Bush 2 made his tax cuts, we had the best economy anyone can remember, somehow going back to those tax rates will be “job killing.” That makes no sense.

But that’s still not the worst of it. No, what’s the worst of it is, Obama is being vilified and belittled by his own party because he’s trying to give away so much. Recommending huge cuts which the democrats hate, to get very tiny tax increases.  If the republicans had accepted Obama’s proposal, they would have won almost everything they wanted, and the democrats would have lost almost everything. But Boehner said no. Because he knows the crazies in his party won't support any tax increases, of any kind, on anybody.

I think it’s pretty simple. The republicans will do anything to make Obama look bad. They probably do care what happens to the country, but not as much as they care about defeating Obama in 2012. And they’ll destroy everything to accomplish that.

This isn't a football game. It’s not about who wins. It’s about what’s right.

And don’t even get me started about the republican governors.

Sometimes We Just Want to Complain

Today I was running with some of my Cross Country kids. They routinely run about a mile, then stop to stretch. Well, one of the girls was sitting in the street doing her stretches. Yes, she could have used the grass or the sidewalk, but she chose the edge of the street. Probably not the best choice, but she was right at a 4-way stop, so the few cars that came by were traveling very slowly. And there was plenty of room for those cars to get by. I watched as two cars passed, the drivers smiling at her, apparently getting a chuckle at the incident. But when the third car came, this driver was not amused. A very sour look was on her face, and I could tell she was mumbling something at this girl. This girl was not in her way, and she didn’t affect this driver in any way, but still she complained.

Yesterday I was in church. Before the service started, one man came in, and was moving up to his seat in the front, where he has sat every single week for at least twenty years. He noticed there were some ropes along the back pews, and asked me what they were doing there. I replied “I don’t think they want you to sit there.” (The ropes were put there to try to bring the congregants a little closer, trying to make a slightly more “together” atmosphere.) He looked at me, with basically the same look as the driver from this morning, and said “Now they’re telling me where I can SIT!” Keep in mind that this man NEVER sits in those pews. It didn’t affect him in any way, but still he complained.

To be fair, to keep this from becoming a rant against all those complainers, I have to admit that I sometimes fall into this category as well. Which brings me to my point; sometimes we just like to complain.

In fact, there are times, I hate to admit, when deep down inside I think I actually want things to go wrong, just so I can complain about them. Does that make any sense at all? Of course not. Yet it is so. And these are not my proudest moments!

I think we’re all this way, just to different extents. The best and most positive among us hope for the best, and live with what happens. On the other extreme, some of us expect the worse, then complain nonstop about it. But as in most things in life, none of us are either extreme. We’re all somewhere in the middle. The best we can do is try to be as much toward the positive end as possible.

But my question is, what makes us this way? Why can some of deal easily with things that don’t really inconvenience us, while others feel it’s necessary to make a big deal and tell everybody how horrible things are.

All I know is, I don’t like those people. Nobody needs them, and they're not helping. Anything. In any way. No matter how important and justified they feel.

And I really don’t like myself when I am one.