Edited and corrected for your good neighbors.

HAPPY SATURDAY!!! They used to be more exciting to me before I also had a weekend job, some say I only work weekends, but I try not to interfere when people are being an ignoramus or just a smart-ass. I love the later, there is an affinity but slightly shake my head at the former. They get a gentle touch of Tommy smart-assery usually. OH?!??! Hi Phamily, Dawn Patrol and the whole lot of you good souls haunting these halls.

Community - people - cooperation - sharing. You know the good stuff Sesame Street used to teach show after show in the 70's. That show did more to advance community and commonality among people than most shows of its day, and did it naturally, not forced, not based on the accusations of the past, the shaming of the present to break down "barriers" to build a new future based on DIVSION. BUILD based on DIVISION??? "Take me out coach, I'm winded." This ain't the same game of reality I was raised to know.

Sesame Street - White guy, Black guy, Hispanic lady, Old guy and a whole cast of unique Muppets, few who looked identical if any did. There was accepted diversity without all the division. There was a cross blending of personalities and attitudes that worked together to make the "street" a place of joy and discovery for children and appreciation for adults. Ok they missed the whole sex thing, but do we want to introduce sexual identity or attraction to a 6 year old? I don't think so, they will come in due time with the raging of the hormones.

Sesame Street - My life lessons

I don't care about your complexion - it may hold my attention momentarily, but it is only skin deep.

I don't care about your age - Each age has its owns gifts and challenges that it brings to the table. Your mind, heart & soul matter far more than the body it possesses.

I don't care about your sex - male or female has great import on your future, but what hangs between your legs does no determine your character or person. (I do subscribe to fundamental differences in the genders and their typical emotional and mental make-up, but also know there are exceptions and a lot of "cross-fertilization" of typology these days.)

I don't care who you sleep with consensually - It is none of my business. Kids watching Sesame Street knew nothing of sex and were much MUCH happier than so many of the f-ed up adults quagmired in the mess of it. I know there are people with happy sexual lives and the relationships that may or may not flow from them. what do you think the percentage honestly is? I'd say under 50%. That is just an observation from listening to people in a variety of settings open up about their lives and disappointments.

I care about you - the person in front of me or with me in a group discussion. If you're a stranger, I hope you are worth getting to know, discover and appreciate, if you are familiar I am so thankful we are getting to know each other better and appreciate the similarities and differences without letting the later become DIVISION. And if you are a friend, I love you. There just aren't enough of them in life and as we age they become less through attrition. You don't need many, but a few genuinely caring souls makes the journey easier and the path more pleasant. I know the limits of this medium makes friendships formed here fragile unless you seek out the person behind the @ or beyond their window of posting and commenting. I have, and I have been blessed so much.

I supposes there are other lessons, but reading that much for me sounds often sermon-ie and I try to walk among you first as Tom and then as the Friar, but I can never escape or leave behind the what-ness of my life transforming the who-ness of my person. Love you all and if you read all that - thanks for the time - it is precious and sacred to me. Happy Saturday! And on to the quote - don't know who said it but I like it. Love you PHAM!