We all remember the old adage about apples and avoiding the doctor and personally, this ideal does seem to hold true, even though I think my true aversion to the doctor lies in just being a guy and being too stubborn to go when it is necessary. What about avoiding the blues or minimizing stress, though? There is little in the way of food that is a sure fire cure for the common day to day psychological or emotional challenges that many of us face. Women may contend that chocolate is a good start, while us guys might favor a nice cold beer, but I think these really just mask the issue at hand. Why not humor as the antidote for the blues? I can honestly say that a good joke is always a good way to suppress those down feelings, bringing credence to the 'Laughter is the best medicine' adage that one may also hear from time to time. If I'm feeling down, I just need to pop in one of my favorite comedy CD's or check out the assortment of free jokes available online and a smile quickly replaces whatever less savory facial expression had preceded it. Humor is not just a good tonic for you own personal sanity. Try it out on friends, loved ones, or even someone you're trying to get to know a little better. In fact, I'm going to offer you the Chameleon approach to curing the blues. Not patented, not copyrighted, but effective all the same. Step One is to identify your target, someone who, in your opinion, needs a little cheer. Step Two is to send that person a joke a day for an entire week. Use either your own personal library of humor or feel free to look elsewhere if you don't know a lot of jokes. The key is to be consistent. Step Three is to talk to that person after the week is up and just see if they don't feel a little better about things. Equal parts humor and just knowing that someone is thinking about them on a daily basis can make a huge difference in someone's life and I encourage you to try it. It may not work in the long haul or permanently fix someone's problems but it may be all you can do at any given moment and that's a pretty good start. Just a humble urban redneck's two cents worth and until next time..... 

I'm happy to announce the launch of my new affiliated website: www.cosmoredneck.com. This site is designed to promote networking between and to provide valuable insight for good people with country roots who now live in or near larger American cities. Of course, the site has a bit of a humorous undertone and is therefore also intended to provide entertainment to its viewers. I encourage visitors to this site to also check out www.cosmoredneck.com and to stay tuned for some of the exciting information it will feature, both now and over the coming months.

First things first...to all who may read my posts, I hope you had the best of holidays, a very Happy New Year, and best wishes for 2007...

What is it about sports that can bring together complete strangers? I recently had the good fortune of attending an away game for my favorite sports team (Go Seahawks!) and found there to be an uncanny amount of good will between my companion and I and the other scattered fans of my team in attendance at the game. Was it the pursuit of a common goal in victory or does it run deeper than that? I find the camaraderie among fans of a common sports team to be similar to that among fellow citizens of a common country. I've been on several cruises in my day and I've seen how fellow countrymen unite in friendship with only their nationalities in common. The same can be said for sports fans. Why else would complete strangers be able to unite, take pictures together, and otherwise act like they'd known each other for years? Certainly, a little basic good nature helps. Beyond that, it is an issue of loyalty. Loyalty to a common cause, heritage, or to a sports team can create powerful emotions that can unite even the most different of people. So America, I know we have a national heritage in common but consider, even for just a moment, the additional value and the uniting effect of allegiance to a cause or to a sports team. There are so many distractions in today's day and age that remove us from the power of positive interpersonal interactions and most of us would benefit from having more in common with our fellow human beings. Being American is a very broad identifier so I encourage you to try sports or some other means of uniting with other people. Those of us who embrace a cause or a sports team know what I am talking about and trust me when I say it's a lot of fun. Just an urban country boy's two cents worth and until next time...

PS   For those readers who especially enjoy my blog posts that contain a certain rustic or even, shall we say, redneck point of view, stay tuned and bookmark the site www.cosmoredneck.com. It is one that I am working on currently and that will contain much more on that theme. I'm looking forward to its completion and I know that you will enjoy it.