What key do I press to delete cookies?

The gg has been on a semblance of a diet since January 1. I do it every year and it usually lasts about a month, but this year I had made an honest vow to stay on it until I lost at least 20 pounds. I was well on my way until the doorbell at the gg's home rang last Saturday. I opened the door and standing there was the cutest and most beautiful female I had ever seen. She must have been all of 8 years old, standing there on the porch trembling and holding onto her mother's hand. After the mother introduced themselves, the precious little thing looked up shyly and stammered "Would you like to buy some Girl Scout cookies?" Cookies, I immediately thought--those are anathema to my diet. The gg's typical reaction would have been to send the interloper on his or her way, but this precious little girl had already pierced the veneer of my personal security system with her big blue eyes and curly hair. After learning that her favorite subject in school was math, I answered "three" when she finally asked me how many boxes I wanted to buy. I chose 2peanut butter and one shortbread, just as I do every year. I gave her a $10 bill and after I told her to keep the 50 cents in change, I watched her little face turn into the biggest grin I'd ever seen. She thanked me, then turned and skipped away,still holding onto her mother's hand, unaware that she had ruined the new year's diet of yet one more grouchy geezer. I think I have about one and a half boxes left; the rest are floating around somewhere in my veins and arteries waiting to burrow their way into the tissue surrounding my mid-section where they will join up with the Girl Scout cookies I bought and ate last year. The gg would favor a constitutional amendment if that's what it takes to ban the sale of Girl Scout cookies.

Goodbye to a Dear Friend

The gg lost a good friend yesterday. My cat of 13 years was put to sleep. She suffered from diabetes and related ailments. I never knew cats could have diabetes, but the more I learned about cats every day, the more I knew that physically they are not much different than us humans. Physically, yes, but in all other respects, no. A cat is nothing like a human. Cats are capable of loving unconditionally. They will even love a grouch. They ask nothing in return. Oh, to be sure they like to be fed and to be scratched under their chin and all the rest, but they will love you just the same regardless. A cat’s love comes in its purest form, the kind that the Creator intended. The kind of love that Jesus taught. The kind that poet Browning talked about. Love for its own sake. I loved Prissy Sue, but I know she loved me even more. It’s easy for even a grouch to love and be loved by a cat.

gg

If God's on my side, who's on yours?

There have been many players on the national stage who have caught my fancy over the past few months, but none more so that Rick Perry and Tim Tebow. And for the same reasons. What's that you say, gg? You're thinking: What possibly could Rick Perry and Tim Tebow share that could command the gg's attention, other than the fact that they must both have done something to make him grouchy. Well, let me explain. I understand that both Perry and Tebow are persons of great accomplishment and I take nothing from them in that regard. But what sends the grouch meter into near-earth orbit is the fact that both are so wont to attribute their achievments to the personal intervention of the Almighty on their behalf at the expense of others. One of the first things out of Perry's mouth when he first announced he was entering the GOP primary race was that God had asked him to do it. Compare that to Tebow's now famous one knee-bowed head "Great Thinker" pose that he slides so publicly into following a Denver Broncos victory, the ostensible purpose of which is to thank the Creator (the same creator that made the Pittsburgh Steeler players, coaches and fans) for arranging for the Broncos victory and for his own personal stardom. The gg is especially fond of Tim Tebow for his character and competitiveness--I only wish he would grow to understand that God has more important work to do in the world than to advance the particular fortunes of the Denver Broncos and Tim Tebow. So enough already with the Tebow slide, okay Tim? Or maybe save it for the locker room. As for Rick, I only wish he would grow to understand that his God is a loving God who would never allow the likes of him to be foisted on the American people. So drop the "God is on my side" rhetoric, okay Rick? Until these guys heed my advice, their antics will continue to make me a very grouchy geezer.