\u2022\u00a0 Although this seems to come naturally to every dog-walker on the planet, I shouldn’t have to befriend your dog in order to make friends with you.\u00a0 (That goes double for your cats.)\u00a0 We’re human beings.\u00a0 We evolved larynxes and language.\u00a0 We shouldn’t have to rely on voiceless four-legged intermediaries to help us strike up conversations.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0 My spouse thinks our country needs a Robert Kennedy and that Biden is “too ho-hum.”\u00a0 While I wouldn’t argue, I say we liberals can’t afford to eat our own at this point.\u00a0 Biden did exactly what we needed him to do, which was to get Trump out of office.\u00a0 That alone will satisfy me for a lifetime.\u00a0 I cried with joy watching Trump’s plane take off for Florida.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0 I enjoy the satirist-commenter Bill Maher.\u00a0 I like his observations and the way he crafts his jokes, even if his tone often misses my mark.\u00a0 (Too many sex\/scatological references — I don’t do that world.)\u00a0 Thing is, whenever I mention Bill Maher, I always feel like I need to add a disclaimer about not agreeing with everything he says.\u00a0 Probably because he once hosted a show called “Politically Incorrect” and is known to depart from the liberal line.\u00a0 Nonetheless, Maher did an excellent piece the other night on how U.S. citizens’ lives are really<\/em> improved — not by mobs wearing Guy Fawkes masks<\/a> and wielding spray paint but by dedicated people who spend thousands of hours working on and within the system.\u00a0 This totally-unexpected display of patriotism<\/a> on his show almost brought me to tears.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 My spouse bought us a ticket for the $730 million Powerball Lottery, but it was won by someone in Maryland.\u00a0 That’s OK.\u00a0 Swearing in two new Democratic U.S. Senators from Georgia and having a Democratic voting majority in the Senate feels like I already won.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 When this song<\/a> by Daft Punk (remember it? remember them?) was played on the radio way back when, I thought sure (and I’m not alone<\/a>) that its title was “Mexican Monkey” and wondered what the hell that was all about.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 It’s February.\u00a0 Can you believe it?\u00a0 A year ago at this time, Trump was being impeached.\u00a0 No one was wearing masks.\u00a0 The nation was divided.\u00a0 Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow, signaling an early Spring.\u00a0 450,000 U.S. citizens had not died yet.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Headwear as signifiers of good, evil and authority.\u00a0 Compare and contrast:<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Not to embarrass my spouse (I would not dare do that, with Valentine’s Day coming up and all) but I appreciate her more every day.\u00a0 We have been getting along better than ever,\u00a0 even in these confined quarters.\u00a0 For my part, I have been trying to be more aware of when I’m being a pill so I can stop being so.\u00a0 For her part, as far as I know, she hasn’t had to be anything other than who she always is and d0 what she always does.\u00a0 What hasn’t killed us has made us lovers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u2022\u00a0 Say you have a couple of years of extraordinary medical expenses, enough to surpass the 7.5% income threshold that lets you deduct some of them on your U.S. income tax return.\u00a0 Then the next year or two, your medical … Continue reading ![\"People](\"http:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-content\/uploads\/hatz2.jpg\" "\\"Headwear")
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