When It Feels So Right, But Is So Wrong

We begin to understand the indignity of denial. When we continue abrasive, cruel prejudices in denial of the truth we diminish our humanity. It appears that some people enjoy their prejudice. It only appears so. Those people live in fear. They fear opening Pandora’s Box. They fear the evil that will surely befall them if they abandon their sacred values. The real indignity is in holding on to those values which are negative, hurtful, and unjustified.

Letting Go

Anyone following this trail of essays on mental health might find themselves feeling sorry for this old fool.  That is not my intention.  About ninety-eight percent of my troubles have been the consequences of my own decisions.  Does that make them less painful?  No.  Becoming aware of consequences directly related to one’s own decisions relieves […]

The Individual, Mental Health, and Maturity

Previous posts have explored my personal mental health from both nature and nurture.  Clearly it is difficult to sort out cause and effect.  How might we look at any adult and determine cause of poor behavior?  Individual humans throw a curve ball at stereotypes.  We do not know why two soldiers experiencing the same trauma […]

Chemical Changes To Behavior

Mental health is a concern to many.  In our modern world we see acts of unstable mental wellness often.  These episodes come in the form of mass shootings, the killing of innocent children, tent cities of homeless people along river banks, road rage, and other acts of humanity that are less than humane.  Even so, […]

Baseball Rebellion

I did not play baseball as a child.  I hardly knew such a thing existed.  One Spring day, long ago, I was wandering the St. Joseph, Missouri, streets with my brothers.  As we passed the Noyes Baseball Field I noticed several of my school mates dressed in uniform and playing baseball on the well manicured […]

The Homosexual Paradigm – Personal Experience

(Originally posted May 1, 2012.  Re-posted out of a sense of need for the current discussion). There is no universal homosexual paradigm – but there are strong paradigms that drive our society.   Previous generations of Americans often ignored the Gay community – you stay in your closet, I’ll stay in mine.  Today we find the […]

Older Brothers and Pranks

Whether I come by my fascination with pranks honestly or not is sometimes irrelevant. I say ‘honestly’ because I come from a family of pranksters.  And my two older brothers often tested their pranks on me. What was I to do, I passed the pranks on to my younger siblings. Like the time when I […]

The “Shoulds” of Life Have Me Down

I have been a responsible man for most of my life.  Some would challenge that point – because my failures have stood out like atomic bombs.  As a Senior Citizen I don’t face too many life changing events or decisions.  But I do have some responsibilities and those become the burrs under my saddle – […]

When Sadness Overwhelms Us

All of us experience grief.  As children we see our grand parents pass.  We lose our pets, great aunts and uncles.  We lose games of school sports.  We fail to make the team.  These are the experiences that help prepare us for the more grave loss of parents, siblings, spouses.  Sadly some of lose our […]

Advice From Farmer John

Farmer John and I do not always agree on politics – but he does have some simple but wise thoughts about life.  I found this posted on facebook: Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong. Keep skunks and bankers at a distance. Life is simpler when you plow around the stump. A bumble […]

“Let It Begin With Me”

Occasionally we hear quotes, slogans, sayings, something that seems innocuous on the surface, but resonates with wisdom upon further inspection.  Al-Anon, a program for the families and friends of Alcoholics, has official slogans which are raised to the level of proverb, of wisdom, of scripture in the program.  One such saying is “Let It Begin […]

Just One More Alcoholic Story

Note from Ohg Tone – I am just passing this story along.  I changed the names to protect all. By-line: Tommy C. Last January we started a new Al-Ann group at our Alano Club in St. Joseph, Missouri.  We have just finished restoring the room. http://alanostjoe.com/2014/08/09/new-hope-al-anon-has-a-fresh-look/ About a month ago, while working on that room, […]

The Irony of Ohg Rea Tone – the Conflict of Ideology

Ohg Rea Tone struggles, like others who believe wholeheartedly in their own point of view.  The simple twist of fate put Mr. Tone on the left side of most issues. Had the shoe of the other foot fallen a few millimeters to the right, Mr. Tone would sound the same, look the same, feel the […]

Preparing For The Emotional Downtime of Winter

I am a sunshine guy.  I much prefer hot weather to cold.  With St. Joseph, Missouri, as my hometown my weather experience is of all extremes.  Northwest Missouri is like that – the joke is this:  If you don’t like Missouri weather wait a day and it will change.  Being a sunshine guy does not […]

Alcohol is Not a Truth Serum

My volunteer work takes me to the front lines of the war on addiction.  Yesterday I was quietly minding my own business, in a place known for alcoholism traffic, when a staggering drunk passed by.  Ron was a happy drunk.  He laughed when he told the obvious, “I’m pretty drunk”.  Personally, I don’t believe anyone […]

The Oddities of Genius

Have you ever known a genius?  Genius is usually a word used to describe certain traits of intelligence.  We might say a genius has a passion for learning and has unique processing capabilities.  They generally show a creativity and intelligence beyond their peers.  Some definitions are more fixed or measurable, like the score on an […]

Birds Nesting Around My Home

I like birds.  Yes, I like chicken and turkey and quail and pheasant, but I also like the birds that never visit on Thanksgiving.  St. Joseph, Missouri, is located on the migratory trail of many of the mid west traveling birds.  My home is particularly inviting to summer nesting.  There are many varieties of plants […]

The Cruel Hoax of Fanatics

Our dog is something of a rescue dog – she was turned over to a veterinary clinic with a gash on her head and one eye-ball literally hanging out.  We took responsibility for the dog ($800 over two years).  We do not know her age.  Obviously we know she suffered some trauma in her life.  […]

The Conumdrum of the 2nd Amendment in the Post Modern Era

We humans have crossed a threshold, a military threshold.  When the Constitution and Bill of Rights were written there was an equality of arms between a ‘militia’ and any government.  Governments of that era did have canons – but these were of limited mobility and accuracy.  Most militia men living along the Potomac did not […]

Choosing the Right Coffee House

To get started in finding the right experience with coffee, you have to choose a coffee house. This is important because there are a lot of coffee houses out there that are expensive and cushy, but do not fall into the “micro-brew” coffee house category. Micro-brew coffee shops will roast their own coffees on the […]

Choosing the right coffee drink

The owner of the coffee shop where I worked was a stickler for quality, and I worked with him for over two years. There were customers in our store that came to our location because I was working, trusting that my skill with steamed milk and my knowledge of espresso would come together in a […]

Retired? How Do You Know?

I live in Missouri, northern Missouri.  I tell people that I am one generation removed from hillbillies – which means my parents were most likely rednecks, and it follows that I am a redneck too.  Or was.  I went to college and the rednecks disqualified me.  Anyway, I know some hillbillies, rednecks, and the watered […]

Grand Canyon 2012 Winter Expedition II

The Stuppy & Clark Expeditionary Force

Bryan Stuppy, LISW, LADAC, a leading psychologist in New Mexico, has asked me to join him on an Expeditionary Force to study the effects of primal living in a nomadic tribal environment.  The ruse has been established.  The ‘tribe’ thinks they are to study the effects of man-made flooding in the Grand Canyon.  In reality […]

Who Am I? Searching for the Modern Identity

I am liberal, angry, Aries, impatient, intolerant, loving, forceful, kind, intense, educated, brother, son, father, grandfather, friend, forgiving, humble, proud.  Which defines me?  Any?  All?  Am I modern?  Post-modern?  And who are you?  To whom do I answer?  What philosophy?  Religion? Country? Club?  We live in a complex world, a fast world requiring quick judgement […]