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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 7, 2011)
t t street roots 14 Jan. 7, 2011 Looking back, looking forward, sometimes it’s all the same ell, o f friend, another year has come and gone. We are all another year older and if you are like me just a little grumpier because of it. A couple of things I remember from 2010 were the Haiti earthquake which killed 230,000 people and I remember the great oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. As 1 was writing this, more THE than 190 million DUBIOUS gallons had leaked into the Gulf. On the brighter side, By A rt Garcia Betty White hosted Saturday Night Live.. On our local update, we here at Street Roots had a really good year. This paper just keeps getting better. On a sadder note, we did lose a couple vendors who passed away: Daphne Andrews and Bob Durning, R.I.P. Getting back to the present, how many out there have made a New Year’s resolution? Oh yes, remember our old nemesis from the past. The one constant that comes every year, hoping to make a b etter or different person of us. I don’t know how many years you have gone through this, ol’friend, but I can’t count the times I tried and failed. However, I want you all to know I haven’t quit. I don’t know if that is good or bad. Maybe I should make a resolution to never make another resolution. I bet if we all did that, our self esteem would go way up. I know mine would. Can any of you fine folks out there remember the first New Year’s resolution • you made? Well I can. I believe I was going into the fourth grade and I decided I would W A r t Garcia is a Vietnam W ar veteran who returned hom e to a d u b io u s life involving so m e colorful incarcerations. H e is the a u th o r o f “M em oirs o f a V ietnam V et,"a collection o f h is colum ns p u blished in Street Roots. never, ever use profanity again. The funny thing about this is, I think I only knew two cuss words. There was never such language used in our house, nor did I hear it on television. That reminds me of the movie I watched last week where a boy used the “f” word in front of his father and was next seen sucking on a bar of soap. He said he had so many stuck in his mouth that he actually had a couple he sort of enjoyed. Well, I never had that pleasure, because like I mentioned, I didn’t really even know how to use the bad words. Needless to say, as I got older I learned them and was quite prolific in their use. There have been dozens of failed resolutions after that first one. It became easier to break them as time went on. That first one really hurt when I just couldn’t keep those dirty little words out of my mouth. Like I said it became easier. I don’t even know why I continued to lie to myself and think I could quit smoking just because I made a New Year’s resolution to quit. That was about 25 years ago. See, still smoking. Moving along w ith th e New Year’s resolutions, I can’t seem to grasp the idea of why people a t new years make a resolution never to drink again while they are suffering from a hangover. Another one of my favorites is to learn something new. Well, o f friend, how are you going to stop yourself from learning something new just by living? On the other hand, it seems to me like I get dumber every year because I realize more things that I don’t know. I believe a lot of people make the resolution to spend more time with their families. Then on the flip side of that, there are a lot of people who wish they didn’t have DoUghNation since 2002 to spend so much time with their families. Of course here’s the classic, people who want to go on that diet. However, don’t punish yourself by eating more when you found out you couldn’t keep to the program. Just start again. Hey, they can’t call you a failure if you are always trying. Another resolution I find fault with is to enjoy life more. Come on. Do you really My advice to a ll my friends out there is to enjoy this next year whether yon want to or not. Don't start the year off by putting an obstacle in your way like having to obey your resolution. have to remind yourself to enjoy life? The only reason I might not enjoy every minute of my life is because some unforeseen obstacle or incident was put in my lifecycle. I didn’t put it there. If I did, it was when I was younger. Like getting DWI or speeding tickets or one of my trips to prison. Believe it or not, I enjoyed those days too. I guess I’m just a happy-go-lucky kind of guy. My advice to all my friends out there is to enjoy this next year whether you want to or not. Don’t start the year off by putting an obstacle in your way like having to obey your resolution. Just say I will try and do this o r not do this, I mean, that’s all we can do anyway, isn’t it? So in closing, I wish you all a happy new year, not just this one but all the rest! Semper fi! Happy New Year by Metin Good Karma, Lower Taxes 503.320.8213 LOOKING FOR AN AFFORDABLE PLACE TO RENT? Your o n lin e housing search ju st g o t easier. & Thousands o f listings • Free service Includes special needs housing EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY Call 2-1-1 or 503-802-8562 Office Cat Rooty gives a high five to the great readers who supported vendors during the rainy holidays. Thank you! There was a pigeon who would spend her entire life on my shoulder, close to the heart. At times I looked like a bronze statue in a park covered with white-green bird s - - 1. The animal shelter I called wanted to put her to sleep, “Because,” they would say, “she’s not native.” And I would ask, “Are you?” We would end up spending three months together. H er name is Angel. She’s the sum of all teachers. And she’s what teaching points to. Angel would stick her beak in my ear and scream things I wouldn’t understand. That caused a ringing in my ears. Now, when my ears ring my mind falls into silence. And through silence appear the words. “Happy New Year, Angel.” “You as well.” “What now?” “Let’s celebrate it.” “What about tomorrow?” “Tomorrow we may be dead.” “What if we die today?” “Then we should have celebrated it yesterday.” “We’re alive now.” “Then let’s celebrate the now.”
