With all due respect, sir, you’re beginning to bore the hell out of me. — Heartbreak Ridge

My kids, when they’re listening to cues, know that when my voice drops an octave and I speak slowly and precisely, that’s the warning growl and whatever it is they’re doing needs to stop, right bloody now.

If only adults could learn to take cues.  It’s amazing how blunt I have to be with grown people in order to either get my point across or get them off my back.

There was a time that I would have wished you dead but your shame shall be your torture and your torture will be your life! I wish it to be long.  — Seven Years in Tibet

Shame should be the ultimate negative reenforcement.  When I do something stupid at the range, and it happens to everyone, the looks from the other people there tell me more than any correction from the safety officer.  Knowing that I’ve let my friends or family down hurts worse than any discomfort or embarrassment.

If only that were true with more people.  There are entire generations of Americans that have little to no sense of shame.  Every bad thing that happens to them is because of someone else.  Every bad act on their part is justified by a overinflated sense of entitlement and self-importance.

Luckily, there are still some people who have the good graces to at least feel bad when they mess up and try to make amends.  If only there were more of them.

John Gustafson: You’re supposed to be smoking filter cigarettes.
Grandpa Gustafson: I’m 94 years old. What the hell do I care?

— Grumpy Old Men

There is a happy medium between living on bird seed and spring water and shoveling lard and flour into your mouth and washing it down with gallons of beer.  I should eat better, but I also need to have food that I enjoy.

But once you’ve achieved a certain age or stage of life, there’s no shame in saying “Screw it!”.  Enjoy a good smoke.  Have that extra beer with a dish of rich ice cream.  Once nobody depends on you, enjoy life in all of its glory.

 Batman… Batman… Can somebody tell me what kind of a world we live in, where a man dressed up as a *bat* gets all of my press? This town needs an enema!  — Batman

Ever notice that it’s never the reasoned, sensible people who make the news?  It’s not the responsible gun owner that gets press, it’s the wild-eyed crazy who happens to have picked a gun for his tool of insanity.  The average police officer who does her job and respects the people she serves is outshined by the jackbooted enforcer.  City folk are always represented by the worst criminal, while country folk are represented by the closet KKK member.  And the list goes on and on.

We are coming to the point where the most abrasive example of any side of an argument is the only voice that is heard in the public square  The moderates are squeezed out by the zealots, and talking and discussion is replaced by shrieking and insults.  Of course, calm discourse rarely gets anyone a Pulitzer or a larger share of ratings, so that should surprise no-one.

We have to find a better way.  We have to find a way to take the glory from the bad actors and give it to those who deserve it.  We have to find a way to talk about what is right and wrong with our country and our society, even though we may stubbornly defend our positions, without resorting to invective.

The alternative is for things to continue to circle the drain, and for rhetoric to eventually give way to violence.  If you think things are bad now, wait until we go from making the retail psychopath an instant celebrity to glorifying the psychopath who dishes out crazy wholesale.

 It’s amazing how quickly things can go from bad to total shit storm.  — Zombieland

It can always get worse.  It’s amazing how many times in my life the bottom of the well has turned out to be a flimsy false floor.  Where we will be judged is in how we handle it and how we work to make things better.  We have enough people who either freeze or flip out when the sky falls in.  We need people who will scramble to survive and thrive.

You’ll meet someone. Someone very special. Someone who won’t press charges. — Addams Family Values

As I got home last night, I realized just how lucky I am.  You see, after wrangling a six year old all weekend, Irish Woman met me at the door with a smile, twice. The first time was when Girlie Bear and I got home from the NRA Annual Meeting.  The second time was six hours later when I came home from going into work for a few hours.  She had no complaints about Boo or how the weekend had gone, although she made sure to inform me as to the behavior of Crash, who apparently had been feeling his Siameseness at a very deep level all weekend.

I think I’m at my best as a husband when I realize that I don’t deserve such a woman, and she certainly deserves better than me.

We didn’t come here to fight monsters, we’re not equipped for it. — Creature From The Black Lagoon

As Girlie Bear and I left the hotel to go to dinner this evening, we both did a quick check to make sure we had everything we needed.  My list was room key, cell phone, wallet, car keys, pistol, and reload.   I try to do something similar every morning when I leave the house, usually with help from Irish Woman.  It always helps to start the day off with what you will need the rest of the day.

We can’t predict how things are going to go, but being prepared and having your resources with you definitely makes things easier.  The thing you leave at home, be it a notebook, extra cash, or a weapon are no good to you when you need them.

I ask for so little. Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave. — Labrynth

It’s not difficult to get those who wish to rule over you to do what you want.  All it takes is total subordination of your will and your freedom to their whim.  After you do that, they will make sure you have everything you need in order to follow their orders.

That’s why freedom is so hard.  Very few people are going to help you out unless there is something to be gained from it.  Doing for yourself and jealously guarding your rights means you have to stand on your own, always.  Putting yourself in debt to someone else for what you need or want makes them your master.

He’s whittlin’ on a piece of wood. I’ve got a feeling when he stops whittlin’… Somethin’s gonna happen.  — Once Upon A Time In The West

“Sleep on it” is some of the best advice I’ve ever heard.  It’s always better to take a step back, take a deep breath, think for a while, then come to an important decision.  If you’re angry, take a breather before acting.  If you’re still angry after a few minutes or a few hours, then feel free to raise the black flag and take no prisoners.

 If you could change something in your life, anything at all, what would it be?  — The Sixth Sense

Honestly, if given the choice to go back and change my life, I wouldn’t.  My life’s not perfect, but it has some perfect aspects.

Let’s say I could go back to Christmastime 1990 and stop myself from getting involved with my first wife.  That little detail alone would have saved me over two decades of trouble.  But she led to my oldest, and her absence led to my second wife, who came with Little Bear and Girlie Bear.  Missing out on them would have meant I never would have moved to Kentucky, which means no Irish Woman or Boo.

No amount of missed grief is worth losing the best parts of my life.

I used to have thoughts of how much easier life would be had x not happened or y happened differently.  But to dwell on the past is to miss out on today.  It can also poison your future.  A lot of people I know who have thrown away their families talk about how they were trapped into them or cheated of a good life.  Yeah, my life isn’t perfect, but it’s worth remembering just how good I have it.