The Handbook

Foreword

This handbook is intended as a light hearted approach to the journey of males and females as they pursue their best self and a mate.  The focus of this handbook is on heterosexual relationships, not by exclusivity, but the limits of the authors in their practical experiences and sexual preferences.  The authors for the record, have 7 glorious children (6 of them girls) and 50 years combined of monogamous and monotonous dating then marriage.  They are centered on their wives and children. But both felt a burden and a calling to share their life experiences regarding female wants and male desires. And we both were really bored with our jobs. Our hope is a better understanding and relationship prosperity for the readers.  It is a handbook, to be read and reread, as you navigate the complexities of a relationship in today’s difficult world.  Ironically, the wants of women and the desires of men have remained the same over the years, despite a world who changes its hairstyle every day.  To protect the guilty, we will refer to actual characters as The Gal and as The Guy. Throughout the handbook we have highlighted in bold some Key Points for quick reference. We hope you will laugh, learn, reflect and find it useful. One of our goals as authors of this handbook is to make other people really uncomfortable with themselves and others. Then you will be ready to begin your successful journey!

James Judson & William Scofeld III

 

Struggle is the essence of being human 

To avoid the struggle, is to avoid the humanity

– James Judson

About the Title

Each of us perhaps has someone, something or an ideology that defines us and we hope to embody as a person. A Knight’s Tale site is based on a personal admiration for a fictional character the Dark Knight as portrayed by Christian Bale.  For the first time, the Dark Knight series made the concept of a Super Hero somewhat plausible in the real world.  The Dark Knight:

• Sought to remain hidden and do rightful deeds without an audience or fanfare
• Was willing to be blamed for misdeeds not of his creation
• Was humanly vulnerable,  lost many battles yet continued to persist
• Was willing to do the right thing, even when no one was watching
• Fought for a better future for everyone
• Despite the painful loss of love, resolved love and support from others
• Had a strong commitment to his community

The Dark Knight was an elusive force, always protecting, never seeking an audience or gratitude and was willing to accede the undeserved blame from those he cared for so much.

Introduction

Thank you for viewing my site.  I recognize everyone believes they can write, sing, act or be entertaining.   I have no such misgivings.  However, I do at times medicate myself through the power of observation, thought and writing.  It has been my escape route most of my life.

My first four blogs are an observation piece on Millennials and the world they live in, a light hearted co-authored Handbook on navigating today’s single life and dating, an two observation posts on a recent trip to New York City and a solo camping trip.   I hope they make you think and laugh.

-James Judson

 

Election Sunset Maple

Red leaves cling to their branches

Their fate is doomed

They miss the early days

Spring’s first bloom

But now they must fall

And decay from below

How we got so Red

Nobody knows

Tik Tok, Are we in Overtime Yet?

Let’s establish a user profile.  I am a Gen X male.  Happily married, have 3 amazing adult children and assume the content of this article lands me between creepy man and creepy old man.  I accept your critique based on our modern world.  But I am not creepy to my knowledge. Regardless, I recently watched a Tik Tok video recommended by a friend.  At first glance this particular video was an amateur dance routine performed to boom boom beats I actually listen to and enjoy without all the visual hype.  As is true with any social media session, I got a short list of recommend Tik Tok users to follow.   I obliged. Apparently, I was the only one in North America who had never heard of Charli D’Amelio. I unknowingly and innocently watched a young lady dance to hip hop while various imaging effects sparkled her act.  To be honest, she was an extremely good dancer (I later found out she is indeed an accomplished dancer and has been dancing her entire young life). Her routine was done very tastefully.  This young lady has 85 million followers, more than Bernie Sanders I think.  I may be wrong.  I also learned that young, wealthy, attractive, teenagers group-rent very expensive homes in very nice places and produce daily Tik Tok videos to outmatch and outperform the rest of the Tik Tok community. The currency is Likes and Followers. It is hardly back breaking work, but perhaps does take lots of time between Starbucks and smoothies (also recorded on Tik Tok during slow creative moments). The house generally falls apart and everyone moves back with their parents like a bad summer camp.

I began doing more research on this Tik Tok phenom.  To me there are 4 kinds of Tik Tok “employees”:

1. Accomplished dancers that spend a lot of time each day on their craft and do it with class and grace.  Some of these people can really dance. This is rare.
2. Less accomplished dancers that spend less time on their craft and do it with little class. And often make sure their dance challenged friends are in the video also. Falling down at some point is a standard.
3. Emotionally distraught (not much dancing really) people who use the platform to share every event in their life from, boyfriend/girlfriend jabs, lost graduation ceremonies or their rabbit dying.  No offense, although all tragic, no one cares.
4. Showoffs modeling a prized body part (s) or workout attire

I was blessed to live and date in a time where my only brand was the face, body and personality standing awkwardly in front of you trying to see if we had any real connection.  I was fortunate it worked well most the time.  Today, I would be too exhausted to create my brands via Facebook Snapchat, Instagram, Tik Tok and probably numerous dating apps.  Most of them are TV commercials for a product that rarely lives up to the hype or promise in person.

Co Vivid

A million lay beside you, ruthless in your ways. Nothing is the same, desperation every day. You’ve divided us in ways we never could foresee. Shackles disguised as masks, yearning to be free. You unveiled our inequities, they haves and haves less. Each one of us different now, if we return is just a guess.

Some will see you and know of your plight. Others ignore the realities often in plain sight.  Awareness becomes fear, fear becomes despair. It’s uncertainty everywhere, a burden we all share.

The Birth of Fire

Categorize this one as another “James goes camping” adventure, learns something neato and then has to narrate it. But regardless of the circumstances, I did witness and participate in an amazing process.

I went camping with my son for an overnight trip in a semi rustic tent site. The site was magnificent. A tunnel of native trees provided substantial shade, we were secluded from others, and 2 trees were perfectly spaced allies for our hammock. We were blessed with a cool breeze all day long masking the 90 plus temperatures. Our view was the portrait of Kansas; prairie grass fields, distant rolling hills with scattered trees, all supervised by cloudy dark blue skies above. It had to be what our Kansas pioneer ancestors witnessed every day.

One of the items on my son’s bucket list was to build fire with a magnesium fire starter using the natural kindling of the habitat. Admittedly, my fires are started with man made aids and the whole event takes about 15 seconds. However, this time I brought with us the fire starter and full disclosure, 6 cotton balls and some tiny twigs.

To be clear this was his effort. This was his idea. This was his bucket list. I was 4 beers in and was past any ambitions beyond the scenic view and the next round. Meanwhile over the course of an hour, my son gathered area leaves, twigs, and handfuls of dead prairie grass as conspirators for the fire.

As I watched him patiently, deliberately and intellectually create an environment conducive to fire, I observed many things I have never contemplated in 40 years of campfires.

The title of this article is not to be clever. I did witness a birth:

1. There is a lot of blowing
2. Each heating element, each contraction builds on its predecessor
3. It takes a really long time, with many starts and stops
4. It helps to have a good coach
5. To be successful there is only one outcome and it is non-negotiable
6. If all goes well there is joy and celebration

Over the course of an hour, with numerous trials with different kindling, slowly fire revealed itself. Fire is not the end but the beginning of a strata of heat that must be created and maintained as the next stage is initiated. Dried prairie grass is highly flammable. It burns readily and quickly. And if the goal is to have a short lived fire, it is easily accomplished and we had several. What makes the flame endure is creating heat and slowly and methodically adding players to the mix each with the next level of flame and heat retention. Over time, these layers gain substance and ultimately a small piece of firewood can become the final installment. During this entire process, you must blow on the mixture constantly to create the heat. To make the point again, the constant blowing actually puts out the flame temporarily, but fuels the heat. If successful, heat triumphs and a fire is born.

To be fair, my son has his PhD in Theoretical Physics and I am certain his tenacity, intellectual curiosity and perseverance was the only reason I can proudly say I witnessed and participated in the birth of fire. Regardless, it was amazing.

Women’s Lives Matter

There is a credible, powerful untapped force in our society capable of significant social change. It is not the President, Congress or the Supreme Court. It is a large, diverse, semi-united group of people, many occupying the highest offices in private and public service (albeit disproportionately). They are the only minority in our society that can credibly protest without being labeled racist, illegal immigrants or other profiling by society to disarm their cause. They are Women.

The plight of women is historically a catastrophe in most societies and regions of our world. Even today, the physical, mental and emotional anguish endured by women every day is prolific. I am not a woman. I have a living mother, a wife and 2 daughters. I was raised to believe all men, women, colors, religions, races and orientations have a place in this world and everyone fundamentally should be treated as a human being first. This foundation plus my selfish interest in the propensity of my loved ones is enough cause for me to be concerned.

It bothers me that in my lifetime besides all the enduring racism, sexism, religious intolerance, gay bashing and polarization of our society, men and women are not getting along like they used to. I get it. Women are often underpaid, underrepresented in high office, victims of a government that uses their body choices for political candidates and pundits, and many have been sexual abused institutionally and privately. We now know of these occurrences because it is finally being revealed, chapter by chapter and it is certainly not a story anyone likes to tell or hear. Most stories of struggle either partner triumph with an enduring sense of empowerment, or it leaves the victim weakened, defeated, and perhaps angry at the outcome. This anger fuels the division of people and will determine the future outcomes of society and women’s roles. These defeats, absent enduring anger can foster a constructive path forward and can reshape the world with powerful force.

Game (Over) of Thrones

8 long seasons, it finally concluded
Bootlegging HBO, hidden and secluded
Dragon Queen dead, Jon back to the Snow
Bran and his stare, is all we will know

Tyrion sits as the hand of the throne
Brienne a Knight, no Jamie, alone
Sansa a victor has the North as her own
Arya hits the seas, tiny sword in her loin

So many parents regret their name choices
Daenerys a murderer, say now all the voices
The story ends, the new reign begins
Perhaps no more murder, Drogon and sins

The Departed

A coworker laid off with 25 years of service sent this note the last day of employment.

Please indulge me one last time.

Last night I had a dream. I was on a business trip with coworkers. We conducted our business meetings and started to depart for home. For some reason we took a train home (budget constraints)? We were all on the train but I decided to get off for a few minutes to get some souvenirs for my family. When I returned, the train had left. I was devastated and felt embarrassed, ashamed and irresponsible. It turns out the train departed a little early that day, an oversight by the Engineer. I sat there silent, very much alone, staring at my wireless phone realizing I had no one to call. They were all on the train going home.
A person I never met before who was watching me, caringly approached and said, “There is another train that leaves in a few hours. Just get on that one, you’ll be fine.”

Probably a lot of layers in that story, but most importantly how people come into your life, sometimes just briefly, but can make a significant difference. At one point you and I were strangers, and I am grateful I developed a friendship with you. Thank you for your friendship, kindness and laughs. I wish you all the best personally and professionally.

Learning Curve

I’ve learned that sometimes very bad people do very well in this world. Being a good person does not always ensure success, only that you are a good person. And we need good people.

I have learned that my race and gender frame the view I have of the world and will make me blind to my surroundings if I don’t look around.

I’ve learned that societies where women, children, minorities and the disadvantage prosper, often leads to prosperity for all.

I’ve learned that raising children is like a relay race and all you can do is do your best leg, successfully pass the baton and then bear witness to the finish knowing others must advance the cause never looking back.

I’ve learned wealth is like alcohol. Just enough can keep us satisfied, but too much makes everything become disoriented.

I’ve learned The Boomers are the last generation to live better than their parents, right before they took their parent’s legacy of a massive inheritance.

I’ve learned that many people who are successful do so with average abilities and above average drive, support and sponsorship.

I’ve learned that people are attracted to who they are attracted to. I’ve learned we spend more time and money trying to prohibit this, than prosecute those who violated the men, women and children under criminal or religious indiscretions.

I’ve learned that planning one’s course is often a luxury of those who are not faced with getting pass the immediate terrain.

I’ve learned that people who present themselves as a Hero, violate the character of heroism.

I’ve learned that I like people who like animals.

I’ve learned than some politicians enter the chambers as genuine public servants and exit serving themselves and a powerful few.

I’ve learned that in developed affluent nations, the elderly are isolated in their old age.

I’ve learned that people who do the right thing rarely talk about it and those who don’t, talk all the time.

For Evergreen

The winter of 2019 in the Midwest has been brutal. I was fortunate that despite the record breaking snowfall and temperatures, the only mishap so far has been to my evergreens. I recently read a very (unintentionally) insightful article regarding the upkeep and care of evergreens during the winter months.
The evergreens in my front yard have been damaged and suffered an afflicting event beyond their control. Their only contribution to this was a mere existence in this world, in this area of ice and heavy snowfall. The article provided these guidelines:

– Evergreens are resilient and flexible
– The damage is probably not permanent
– A tie rope can be used to temporarily support the evergreens during the season
– Any support system after the season actually hampers the trees ability to support itself and becomes an obstacle for its continued growth

Sometimes we experience things in life that we either contributed to or not. Some individuals under extreme hardship and duress, demonstrate an astonishing will to survive. Sometimes we may need a support system either through family, friends or our governing agencies. And finally at some point, we all must unharness ourselves from those support systems if we want to continue to grow and maintain our freedoms.

Perhaps local, state and federal politicians and our society could learn a lot from these evergreens.

Solve for X

Little Bitches for the Boomers
+
Support System for the ailing Millennials
=
Generation X