Unknown Boy

I guy I know has the first name of UB. I asked him if his first name was Ulysses. He said no and that UB stood for Unknown Boy. He told me the story about his great-grandfather who was a slave in the south and it was fairly common at that time that black boys and girls who were split from their families and sold to another slave owner didn't come with their birth names and the owners simply wrote their names down as UB or UG. His great-grandfather's name was passed down to the UB I know.

Lyrics by William Chatterton Dix "What Child Is This?" set to the tune of "Greensleeves" written in 1580 possibly by King Henry VIII. Performed by the Moody Blues.

We went to Kroger last night so wife could pick up a few last minute things for Christmas. I was sitting in the car waiting and I saw this guy getting out of his car WEARING A HOODY, BOXER SHORTS, AND FLIP-FLOPS! It's 35 degrees outside and he's dressed like it's the middle of Summer.

A little while later this same guy comes walking back out of the grocery store with nothing....he didn't buy a thing.

What's up with that?

Eyeing My Back

She drew a lttle sketch for me, how she would cut it out, holding her pen like a scalpel. I imagined the blade slicing around the iris/scab left over from the biopsy, making it look like the green eye atop a dollar bill pyramid.

She told me to lie on my "tummy" like I was ten years old. I felt the pin pricks for for the numbing medicine. I thought of asking for a shot in my brain, it being election season.

I was a little kid again at my Grandparents pool in Florida, the sun beating down on my shoulders. I remember the rest of the evening being miserable, my back and shoulders had blistered from too much sun. My sister paid the ulimate price from cumulative sunshine.

I was at the doc's a few weeks ago and he stethoscoped my breathing, and said I had a suspicious looking spot on my back. The dermatologist biopsied it and said it wasn't a melanoma but wanted to carve out a perimeter just to be safe. I was suprised how much tissue they took.

It looked like a small uncooked Chicken McNugget.

Drive Home

Driving home from work, listening to the radio and Wilco's "Impossible Germany" came on. It's such a great song, great melody, great guitar solo and it's been awhile since I've heard it. I may have posted the live version a few months ago. This is the studio version. You don't have to listen to it..but I'd advise it.

Wilco "Impossible Germany" 2007.

Peace and Dignity

The peace and dignity of the Commonwealth of Kentucky was served today by the inauguration of our second term governor and therefore I was off work governing inmates that commited crimes against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Wife and I brought our 2011 Christmas Tree home. We decorated. There are three ornaments on it that were from 1931. They're the most ordinary but, I think, the classiest ornaments on the tree.

The Tip of My Tongue

We went to Hailee's Christmas chorus at church. We came early and once inside there were a couple of girls at a piano, one playing and the other singing. The piano tune sounded very familiar. It was driving me crazy trying to think of who it was. When the other girl started singing I knew who it was.


Adele "Someone Like You" 2011.

Let It Roll

I was reading and the TV was on some inane show and then I hear a song in the background that sounded familiar. It hit me...what a strange song to put on this idiot TV show.

Most everyone I knew had this three LP album "All Things Must Pass" by George Harrison. This was the first triple album released by a solo artist and in regards to the album's size, Harrison stated "I didn't have many tunes on Beatles records, so doing an album like "All Things Must Pass" was like going to the bathroom and letting it all out."

George Harrison "Let It Roll" 1970.

A Downer Post

It's getting so I brace myself whenever watching the news. The killings, pedophilia, burglaries, and thefts wear me down. In most of these crimes the root cause is methamphetimine, oxycontin, alcohol...take your pick of drugs which are grinding up innocent affected families and communities across the country.

Working at the prison a large part of my day is spent reading the crime narratives of the inmate's offenses. Some of the stories are horrible and sickening. Truth is always stranger than fiction. When I talk to the inmates, most are like anyone you'd see outside the prison fence. They don't have horns growing out of their heads or three eyes blinking at you.

When you're out in the world doing your business there are more people than you think who are looking for a chance to get something for nothing and could possibly use violence to get it. Never think it couldn't happen to you. Sad but true.