Depression is a Thing, and it Makes Sense

    I have known poeple that have suffered in it. From it. With it.

    

    Being sad and forlorn, as it were.

    

    There can be many reasons. I think about people like Nicholas Baranovic. I think he may well have died from it. It did not kill my mom, though she had some long bouts and struggles. Thanks cancer, for that grace, I suppose.

   Sad to say, but true, I think.

    Donald Trump should cite some U Penn professors. Has he?

    He never gets down, at least not that we know. Right?

    A guy in Bloomington, maybe an opera and voice guy Roy, could not understand my mom's depression. Or maybe it was more Brother Johnson. I cannot think of his first name...

    Wow. He forgot about Bloomington after 50 years of living there.

    He was an astronomer, renouned in (reknowned?) in Denmark.

    Hollis. Hollis and Greta, who made it through World War II and the German nationalists.

    Some somewhat depressing times, after the Great Depression.

    It all makes sense, but at times none of it.

    Like me, like you.

    We are wonderfully made, says the scriptures.

    True.

    Adam and Eve fell, that we might be. Jesus paid for all of us.

    Not too depressing. But given the facts and the hostory, I can see the meloncholie and the sadness.

    Melancholy.

    Yes, it's a thing.

    So cheer up and get some rest, and keep going.

    Sadness no more, or checked by balance.

    And love. Hope.

 The Three Person Culture Hypothesis, Explained

    I have this thought that all cultures, be they political, historical, national, linguistic, professional, social, have three top people that define that them and give them meaning.

    For example, in the United States of America culture, I could go with George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King. Between those three personas, we have the rudiments of what or who our culture as Americans is. Not to slight Canada or Mexico or Brazil as Americans, too. We are all North and South Americans.

    Each culture. Who are the three? China: Confucious, another pivatol leader or thinker, maybe Dao, and Mao Zedong.

    American football, or baseball, or basketball. Jazz. All the Ken Burns topics in documentaries. Art. Movies. Wars. Space travel. All the James Michener stories. 

    Religions. Music. Literature. Business. Economy.

    Terrorism. Communism. Rebellion. Protest. Make up. Telecommunications. 

    On and on.

    The three can change over time.

    Artificial intelligence.

    Engineering.

    Nuclear technology.

    Did I say religion? Philosophy?

    Dance. Architecture.

    You name it. 

    Teaching.

    Who are your three? What are your cultures?

I Have Not Spent a Month in South Carolina, All Told

    I thought this would be part of my bragging rights. What does it matter, in the end? In the three or so weeks that I have been there, did I make a difference in my life or in those of others?

    Maybe. I influenced a few people that I was with before being rocked for being five pounds overweight. Yeah, there were a few good moments in that week or so. I have memories of some of them. The two guys from Chicago. The cyber guys, kind of geeks. Was it the law enforcement personnel?

    The women, maybe five of them or so. The immediate guys in my room, and the guys next door. The riddles, the comraderie. Not bad.

    The week in 1998 with my college friends. John, Rhea, Chris, Jim, Kristin. Jared Asay. His former girlfriend.

    The community of Saints, we are.

    My own family. Eating at Waffle House, playing mini-golf. I got mad. I needed patience, I was learning. The beaches. The cruise. Leaving the stuffed tiger behind, getting it later.

    South Carolina. The propaganda.

    The annoying song that I heard and repeated (somewhat regretably) to others...

    Yeah.

    Thanks Steve Colbert and Air Force guy PM. Friend of Elizabeth Bailey.

    Great times.

 College Football Analysis - 2026

    The power conferences are bigger than ever. They span the entire USA, coast to coast in a few cases.

    The Atlantic Coast Conference has 17 teams. The Big Ten 18. There are schools on both coasts in both these power conferences. Even smaller conferences are spanning both coasts, like the Mid- American. It has the Massachisetts Minutemen and the Sacramento State Hornets. The Hornets?

    The South East Conference now dips into Texas and Oklahoma.

    Some argue that the mega big conferences will creat their own elite league, like the top 64 or 68 or so. However, the intermediate conferences still have some stakes in the whole thing. Like the new PAC-12. The smaller conferences are adding new programs, too, like North Dakota State, Sacramento State, Kennesaw State. These schools bring money, revenue.

    James Madison, for example.

    Or Texas State and Texas San Antonio.

    The PAC 12 shows upward mobility for smaller schools.

    This just football. Then there is basketball.

    The College Football Playoff is new and seems to work. More games, more money, more happy customors. The smaller bowls still afford some pride and success; customers are happy.

    Except for brain injuries, college football is alive and well.

    Go IU, go BYU, and may the best teams win.

 Money Does Note Solve Everything -Helpful When Used Right

    Some people have a lot of money and power because of their purchasing and investing resources. However, that does not mean that they are bettwer than the other people who have less means.

    I have discussed Elon Musk. No matter how much he has and has gained, it does not take away from facts that he has been responsible for the awful pain and deaths that he has caused on thousands of people. Hopefully not millions. I am positive that he would count the millions of lives that he has improved through his influence and innovations. No one is perfect. It is a mixed bag. With his wealth there is heavy juju.

    Cutting programs domestically and abroad, with the alacrity that it occurred, had some dire consequences, which some choose to ignore, and some applaud.

    Jeffrey Epstein had millions, but things did not go well for him. He left terrible results in his wake.

    What a shame. 

    Sam Bankman-Fried. He never let anyone wallow and die. Never abused or molested a soul, right? He mismanaged a lot of money and cost a lot of folks hearthache about their funds. Perhaps some misallocated life savings.

    Unfortunate. Some mega wealthy know how to be philanthropical.

    Good for them. Bill Gates, George Soros.

    What has The Donald done? I guess people can argue it many ways.

    Hunter Biden? How much has he earned? How much heroin did he buy?

    How much heroin purchased ends up killing someone in the illicit drug industry? What is the death ratio?

    Use the money right. Use the drugs correctly. 

    Brother Atkinson from the stake spoke of the looks and the teacher of Warren Beaty.

    Use your talents and don't abuse God's natural gifts.

    Easy for me to say.

Aging Father Bequeaths Wisdom

 My aging dad told me last year that a man or person proves himself by age 50. After that he does not have to prove anything (more).

Not true.

I have a lot to prove.

I am turning 56 soon enough.

A lot more to prove.

Maybe he just made that up.

BYU Football Versus the World: Who to Beat Next?

    Brigham Young University has been playing football since 1922. They did not play very competitively until the 1970s. The Cougars have played 122 diffferent teams in that 104 year time span. Overall, they have a winning record, beginning the season this next week historically with 643 total wins, 448 total losses, and 28 ties. Ties stopped back in 1997. Overtimes are the thing now.

    The website that chronicles the all-time matchups seems to have stopped aroun 2018, which is weird. It is 2026. They have not maintained it. BYU only has like 571 wins in it. 417 losses and 26 ties. Go figure. Cannot figure out the discrepancy of the two less ties.

    Anyway, I will identify in this blog post a few teams that they need to play in order to reduce the deficit of the win/loss ratio, but in many cases the teams are too small or do not exist anymore.

    I will do this in reverse alphabetical order. Also, due to the lazy latency of the website, it is possible  that they played some new programs, like Coastal Carolina in the COVID season. What a time that was. And the Chanticleers ruled the night. Still hurts a little..

    So here goes:

    Wichita State: BYU lost in 1950, and is 0-1. Do the Shockers have a team in 2026?

    West Texas State: BYU lost the one time in 1961, record is 0-1. Is that UTEP now? If so, I feel like BYU beat them... Maybe they are Texas State now? Mysteries... That match up could happen.

    Above: Nope, BYU clearly has a positive winning record against the Miners of El Paso. 29-7-1.

    Oh, man, the U.S. Marines. 0-1. Played in 1931. That is not make-up-uppable, because I am pretty sure that the Teufelhunden do not have an intercollegiate football team. They are really into fighting wars and stuff like that.

    San Francisco, 0-2. 1931 and 1941. I think this will be really hard to make a rematch. Oh, the Bay Area Killers!

    Portland took the Cougars twice in 1937-1938. We beat Portland State in 2017 (I was there in Provo!), but I do not think Portland is on the docket soon... 0-2, against the Portland... Pilots? Not looking good to get these rematches.

    Pacific Fleet. 0-2. 1948 and 1949. 

    Pacific. 0-1. Wow. Both those teams are hard to hook up with again. Maybe both do not have teams anymore. Far from the decades of millions in the armed forces after World War II.

    Made it to the Ps. This is getting onerous. More later, we hope.

    A lot of teams seem to not exist anymore. And they have overall wins over BYU.

    No chances for redemption. That is the way the cookies crumbles.