Category: Rev. Joe Dirt’s Ramblings

The unsolicited, unreasoned, uninformed, unapologetic opinions of Rev. Joe Dirt

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Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #2,921

yeah I know you did not ask!

You should so be blessed – well cursed at times actually – with a mind such as mine, making all these weird connections between my rumored neurons. Just be thankful that I do not share all of my random thoughts.

There are folks whose mission in life is to travel, experiencing as many different roller-coasters in the various amusement parks across the nation and for that matter, around the world, as they can.  I found several names for them, but coaster geeks was my favorite.

I bring this up as the other day I was texting back and forth with a friend.  In a wise-ass response to one of her texts I remarked, “Marriage: The Ultimate Roller-Coaster.”

These enthusiasts could save a lot of travel expense and time with a couple gold rings and a bag or two of rice.

Just saying.

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Chopping wood, folding t-shirts…

Recently I experienced my 26,298 rotation of this planet we call home.  This triggered the lever that counts the number of orbits around the star we refer to as The Sun, setting it at 48 (in hexadecimal) total revolutions, beginning the 49th.

All these largish numbers put me in a reflective mood, a pensive frame of mind, going over what has transpired in all those rotations and orbits.  All I could come up with is that it all has been rather pointless.

I then remembered a well known Zen koan:

“The novice says to the master, ‘What does one do before enlightenment?’
‘Chop wood. Carry water,’ replies the master.
The novice asks, ‘What, then, does one do after enlightenment?’
‘Chop wood. Carry water.”

Except in my case, having never chopped wood or carried water in the pioneer sense of the word, or even in the woodchuck sense…if a woodchuck could chuck wood, I say fold t-shirts, wash the dishes.

Enlightenment will, in all likelihood, have to wait until all the counters have been reset to zero, and I might get another shot at it… or not.

In the meantime, I am folding t-shirts and washing dishes.

Om mani padme hum

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National Siblings Day – April 10, 2024

For the sake of truth in advertising, I kept looking for an image of brothers going at each other, fighting tooth and nail.  All I could find were horribly saccharine, the one above being the less  mawkish of the bunch.

My take… the greeting card industry is at it, again.

However, it does have a touching back story.  Read about it here: National Siblings Day

And so it goes.

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Hopefully my Spanish sounds better

The other day while speaking with one of my long term Spanish tutors via Skype I made the comment that my Spanish was too poor to have been studying the language for as long as I have.

A few days later he sent me his video.  The comment basically translates as “imagine you have been studying English for 5 years and you ended up speaking like this guy.”

Of course he sounds like every other good old boy I have ever known in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Texas or Missouri.  One of my self-deprecating jokes is that I speak Spanish with a Southern accent, and it is not from the south of Spain.

Years ago I wrote a blog posting My Chinese Nightmare that was a take on this theme.

And so it goes.

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Vietnam Veterans Day – March 29th

Today is a day to remember those who served in this war.

Many of those who served were drafted into the war, and many others did so out of a sense of patriotism.  All served our country… whether you agreed with the war or not.

And so it was back in the day.

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St. Louis Metropolitan Area- A Mixed Bag

The St. Louis metropolitan area is such a mixed bag. I bring this up due to a recent study that listed two St. Louis suburbs among best places to live in the US.

It placed the St. Louis suburb we live in, Chesterfield, as 19th on their list, and another St. Louis suburb, Brentwood, which is closer to the actual city of St. Louis, as 18th on their list.

Chesterfield is undoubtedly a nice place to live. We have a school system with one of the better reputations in the state, the crime rate is reasonably low, all the conveniences are within easy driving distance. The city authorities are striving for growth, but they are doing so in a fashion that does not impact the quality of life here.  In fact they are doing many projects that Continue reading “St. Louis Metropolitan Area- A Mixed Bag”

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I Have Been Demoted

I have been demoted, but then again, it most likely depends on your measuring rod.

During my middle age years, I would occasionally get the question, “Do you know who you look like?” While this did not happen frequently, it happened often enough I knew the answer.  It almost always was Sam Elliott. I remember one incident at a Quik Trip in Tulsa when a complete stranger came up to me and asked me that question. I have never, ever, once seen the resemblance, but I generally took it as a compliment, being the path of most generosity.

I could almost understand it if someone had heard my voice, it being deep like Elliott’s.  However, I do not  have the melodious tones that have made Elliott so rich. Sigh.

I will admit to having a bit of moustache envy when Continue reading “I Have Been Demoted”

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Southern Accents

Y’all just thunk I had me one of them thar accents… I guessed all the accents except the very last one.

And then there is this story wherein I mention a friend of Señora who is the only reason we got together… My Chinese Nightmare

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Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #1,637

yeah I know you did not ask!

You should so be blessed – well cursed at times actually – with a mind such as mine, making all these weird connections between my rumored neurons. Just be thankful that I do not share all of my random thoughts.

“A picture is worth a thousand words” is an adage in multiple languages implying that a single picture could simplify what might be very complex and lengthy to put across in words.

To update for our times this adage might need to read, “A PhotoShopped or AI generated picture is worth a thousand lies.”

All to often, with increasing frequency, it is hard to tell what is true or what is someone pushing a particular vision… or something worst, far worst.

The times we live in.

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