Health Care

Time to get political...but how do we go about it? Demonstrate? (there's not too much going on in Springfield to demonstrate...)Write letters to Congress? (already have...but never get an answer).
The reason I ask these questions is I'm so tired of seeing all the negative press that Obama's health care reform bill(s) get...can't people just take a minute, have an open mind and give it an objective POV before chastising? What is wrong with America to where no matter how hard someone tries, everything they do is met with immediate cynicism? I was reading an article yesterday on past POTUSs that got things done when they needed done. When we needed rubber, steel etc. for WWII, it didn't take a year of red tape to get the supplies, it happened overnight. When we decided to go to the moon, it only took 8 years! Sure, that's 2 terms, but to go from an idea like that, of travelling that far, and making it happen in 8 years!
We have tried health care reform before and it's been shut down. Universal health care would completely change the American landscape and culture for the better. Insurance companies would be forced to compete, which would bring prices down. Everyone would have access to health care, so lives would be saved. On the flip side, with competition, it would help distribute the wealth (part of Obama's plan) more evenly as the insurance companies wouldn't be insanely wealthy because their prices would have competition. There are more points than this, but I just wanted to point out a few that make sense and cover the big picture. And you know what, if universal health care means I have to pay an extra .05% of my income to taxes, then so be it. Right now, around 5% of my monthly income goes to insurance/copays/medicine....to shrink it down to .05%-1% would be fantastic!
Anyway, enough of my rant. I had to get it out as I didn't know where else to go. I only hope someone reads this and gleans something from it...in favor or health care reform!

What a Labor Day

You can read my last post about the plans for this past Labor Day weekend. All went as planned, except for the fact that a close friend of mine OD'd on methadone and died for a moment. The EMT's were able to resuscitate him, but he inhaled his own vomit and that didn't help things. We've all made stupid decisions in our lives, but this guy has made several and has had lots of chances to turn things around. I believe this was his final wake-up call. All of the people that truly care about him visited him in the hospital, and everyone finally said what has needed to be said to him for a while. With any luck, and hopefully power of attorney taken by him mother, he'll be in rehab for a while, get cleaned, maybe move out of the state for a bit, and come back as the person he really is: a very funny individual that loves life and is one of the best DJ's I've had the honor of playing alongside. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed.

Rookie is back in full effect!

So, one of my best friends is back in town for the weekend. His name is Rookie. Well, that's not his real name, but that's the nickname that's stuck. We're gonna party like it's 1909. That means there will be lots of typhoid fever and sloe gin. But I digress. He moved to Delaware back in May and haven't seen him since then, so I'm looking forward to it. This evening, we'll be going to dinner at 5 Spice China Grill (absolutely delicious), then going to Ming's for a little bit of house music and dancing. Also coming into town from KC is our friend LC, so it will be a homecoming event for sure! Rookie is going to try to fly here with a 6-pack of Dog Fish Head IPA, which isn't available in Missouri, so we'll see what happens & if they let him do it. The last time I saw this guy in the airport was our trip back from Vegas in May. I proposed to Monica on the last day, Sunday, and after dinner we went to club Moon and listened to the Hed Kandi DJ's until almost 4AM, then had to jet back to the hotel to catch our flight that left at 630AM IN THE MORNING! They almost didn't let my fiance and Rookie get their boarding passes, let alone through security, as they were still wicked drunk...good times!
Tomorrow, my fiance and I are supposed to be headed to Table Rock lake for a day of boating, dinner, then partying at Ahoy's, followed by breakfast at Cantina Laredo. Her boss is being very gracious and is renting a large 15-person pontoon boat and a condo for all her employees/significant others to stay in. She is such a sweet person and is always committing selfless acts. It will be nice to hang out with all of Monica's co-workers and get to know them a bit better. Many of them I'm already close to, but it's always nice to solidify current bonds and make new ones, you know?
Sunday we'll be back in time to throw a little house party/bbq for Rookie. I'm hoping to get enough people interested for a game of backyard washers, maybe some Pass the Pigs, some poker, drinking and lord knows what else. I guess we'll see.
Anyway, this was just a ramble post as I wasn't busy and had nothing else to do, so I'll leave it at this and get back on here after the weekend and post something of substance!

New tattoo

I'm beginning to really value the 'real estate' that we call skin on our bodies. My new outlook is that I would like to save the rest of my real estate for tattoos by respected artists. Not that I have any that are from idiots or bad artists, but after hanging with Ethen (Ethen Jackson, tattoo artist & owner of Hearts of Fire Tattoos in Springfield, MO) and talking with him, he's really made me understand the value of a great tattoo from a respected & talented artist.
Last week Ethen's friend Jason Stubblefield, from Trader Bob's tattoo shop in STL was in as a guest artist. He does traditional style, which I've been looking at a lot lately and I decided that I would like for him to take a stab at a piece on me (pun intended). On Saturday, I came in with my ideas and he drew up something that was great in about an hour or so. We started about 2:30 & were done by 5. I got it on the underside of my right bicep, opposite a half sleeve that Ethen did...let me tell you that this location is tender, but also, it's awkward to tattoo and the way I had to sit for those 2.5 hours made my arm feel like it would never work properly again. However, when it was done, it looked gorgeous! He did two large traditional roses and a small skull protruding from behind them. The roses signify my fiance, Monica Rose Hopper, and the skull signifies the fact that death is always near. Not that it's a bad thing, it's there to remind me to live life to the fullest every day as you never know when you'll be gone.
It's still healing, but it's really a beautiful tattoo and I think I'm going to have him fill in the rest and make it a complete half sleeve that goes all around the arm next time he's in town. When I get a decent picture of it, I'll post it back on this entry.
That's all for now. Hopefully I can get back on this blog train and keep it consistent!