Fight the Flu (And Healthcare Costs) With Nature's Finest Anti-biotics

   Getting sick sucks, and ask my wife—when I get sick, I act like a little bitch. I take it personally; how dare nature question my immortality. In any case, I try to avoid the drugs unless it's a last resort—I'd rather at least try to give nature's best a shot to work their magic. I won't get in depth about the curative properties of each ingredient—they are easy to look up, and if you have the motivation to use them, I trust you'll do the work yourself.
  This is just one way, one recipe, to pack in as much of these natural powerhouses to aid you in your illness. I have other recipes, but this is a comfort food night; let's make a curry!
  General ingredients: Chicken(I used boneless skinless breasts. I prefer skin-on, but I'm sick, and they're quick.)
  Potatoes(I diced a russet),Onion(1 diced),green onion(it's a sexy, healthy garnish), 3bulbs of diced garlic(don't be a puss, one bulb won't do it.), Carrots(2 peeled and diced), one cup chicken broth, one tbsp. extra-vir olive oil.
  Magic ingredients: Dr. Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar, organic oregano, turmeric, organic honey. These are four of nature's most powerful anti-biotics, anti-septics, anti-inflammatory, anti-trip to the doctor, ingredients. Look them up, learn, love, and benefit from them all!
  The vinegar will go into a little salad with a few squeezes of honey, and a couple dashes of evoo(ex-virgin olive oil). I did a cucumber, radish, and carrot salad, but it's just a dressing so get creative!
  For the curry, saute the onions and garlic in evoo until soft. Add the carrots next. Between the garlic, onion, and carrots, you are also creating a powerhouse dish of nature's best detoxifiers, and anti-oxidizers...rust never sleeps man, Neil Young said so!
  Now add the chicken, and saute until it is no longer pink. Any time after this point add your oregano, and turmeric, salt, pepper, I like a little cayenne(also super-healthy). After adding the potatoes, pour in the broth. Cover and reduce heat low to simmer, no boiling! If you gotta have a thick curry, feel free to add a pat of butter and flour before you add the carrots, this is more of a brothy dish. I finished this creation with a hard boiled egg, and served over white rice...now it's time for bed...enjoy in good health!

Thank You Mr. President!

   In the halls of American history, no president will be spared the spectrum of opinions, on the success, or failure of their policies. The land of the melting pot has as many thoughts and feelings, as we do variety in our cultural landscape—from sea, to shining sea baby! But that's politics, and I'm more of a communications guy. I view the world through the lens of how we communicate, and the methods we employ. Other than an election year, I pay loose attention to how the top dog implements their agenda—I just always hope it's the people's agenda. So politics aside, I want to ask the country to join me in a collective round of applause, as president Obama makes his farewell tour.
  The post election back and forth, is what I call a "mostly" healthy discourse, that is ultimately a collective demonstration of our first amendment rights. But let's not let our agreeing to dis-agree, bury the last few days we have to salute the historic impact this man has had, and will have, in those hallowed halls of history. If you have any inkling of the last two hundred years of American history, you know it's been a protracted struggle that still ensues, to ensure equality for all. Considering that, it was high time for our first African-American president to sit in the oval office and call the shots. Our generations to come will look at this man's appointment to the top job in the land, and they will be able to believe in the symbolism of the statue of liberty, and the flag itself.
  "United we stand, divided we fall.", it's that simple, and it will be that simple after all talk fails, succeeds, dies down, or rises up...once again—I'm fine with that, it's the American way. But let's be united on this one. Thank you Barack Obama, you have meant, and will continue to mean a lot to this country!

My Prayer for America

  As our country moves forward today, I think the most important thing to remember—regardless of whether your candidate won or lost—is that a quarter of a million people cower in fear in the city of Aleppo as we speak. They are being bombed and ruthlessly exterminated by Assad. Coalition forces close in on the city of Mosul...the closer they get, the more mass graves of decapitated people they find. Inside the city, brainwashed teenagers with automatic weapons continue to torture and kill.
  In the city of Chicago the death toll mounts as gangs solve their differences with bullets. In Mexican border towns, from California to Texas, families patrol their own communities with guns. They have instructed their own children to shoot the drug cartel members, because their government, and for way too long, our government, has turned a blind eye to their struggles. They don't want their towns over-run by drug lords, they don't have anyone else to turn too.
  In Africa, the terrorist organization Boko Haram, rides into villages on motorcycles, shooting men raping women, stealing children...have you heard of them?
  All through-out south and central- America, children and their mothers embark on a treacherous journey—they are coming north to America, fleeing their oppressive regimes, only to die in the Mexican desert. The wind blows across the bones and skulls of these lost voices. They all wanted what we have, and they died trying for it.
  It is my hope, that moving forward, we can set our differences aside and turn our attention to those who really need us to do it the most. Today I love my country more than I ever have. The joy I take in this victory is the hope that we will help each other heal, we won't turn our backs anymore, we will pick each other up and get this "human race" back on course. Thank you for lending me your ears, can we all smoke the peace pipe now? It's LEGAL!     

Musician's Manifesto

  My best advice for all you lazy young aspiring musician's, who sleep until noon, dreaming of being a rockstar one day...sleep in a little later, take it a little easier, and don't feel an ounce of bad for doing it. A time will come soon enough when life's demands have you running on empty and searching for the will power to stay the course. Long hours at work, sleepless nights with kids will happen, and you're going to need the extra rest that you won't get then. Aspiring, doctors, lawyers, etc. sacrifice countless hours of sleep, and social life to secure their future's in their chosen professions. This is not you, but when life happens, and you need to put your game face on and take the stage at less than one hundred percent, your fans won't be your fans very long if you can't find a way to get it done son. The world needs talented, hardworking, dedicated musicians. The world doesn't need musicians who can only be possessed by their egos instead of the drumbeat and thumping bass. When all those doctors, lawyers, etc. finally get a break to get out and spend their hard earned money on a cool band they heard about, playing at a local club, this is your chance rock them so hard they won't ever fucking forget it, this is how your success is measured, and maybe sell a few cd's. So rest up, dream big, then work hard and be ready...we're all counting on you!

 

The Lego Solution

  Managing multiples throughout the day is a true juggling act. Often the balls come crashing down and the circus tent with it. Working harder is a given, working smarter is a must.
  As the twins have graduated to smaller legos, and the collection builds to insane proportions, I've found myself getting swallowed up in hours worth of building, teaching how to follow the instructions, and eventually just telling them to look at the pictures. This is the age of questions for my twins, and I mean a lot of questions. Kids, just like adults are visual learners. Out of one of my 'question induced headaches', I finally started working smarter toward a solution that will allow dad to get a break from the lego tractor beam(cuz I do love me some legos). Hopefully this can help any of you in a similar lego boat. It took all of ten minutes to make, hopefully you haven't thrown out those boxes with the cool pictures! So far it's worked, maybe one day we'll graduate to the hardcover edition!

The Daily Californian

  So April is over and you can all go back to eating red meat! Thanks for your support, I bet we shut down an In and Out for, well...okay even I cheated. I was in Minnesota, and I always eat a big greasy breakfast with corned beef hash when I go home,so that doesn't count, but I also ate some braised tri-tip I made for Tj-jr. I didn't want it to go to waste. The point being, everyone knows by now the insanity of the drought facing California and if you did any investigating, you would know how ridiculous it is. So again thanks for any support, I'm setting more realistic goals and taking the last two weeks of May off from red meat, instead of the whole month. I'll leave you with this fun fact.

  20% of California's water goes to Alfalfa production. The majority of which is shipped off to...anyone? You guessed it! China!

Uncle John's Band

                      "It's the same story the crow told me, it's the only one he knows,
                        like the morning sun you come, like the wind you go,
                        ain't no time to hate, barely time to wait,
                        oh oh, all I want to know, where does the time go?"
                                                                                    - "Uncle John's Band" Grateful Dead.

   It's been a fear I've dragged around for years that one day my extended family would need my help, at a time when I couldn't give it.
  A few days ago my brother called and broke the news that our uncle John passed away from a heart attack at the age of forty-eight years old. A rock formed in my throat and the tears rushed up immediately. Growing up in Minnesota my uncle John was a central figure in my life and I can't imagine a kid having had a cooler guy for a playmate, sitter, big brother, etc...
  Jon was into models, Star Trek, Star Wars, classic cars, you name it and he built a model of it. I used to sneak into his bedroom at Grandma and Grandpa's house when he was gone and play with Corvettes and fly the Enterprise around the room, until something broke. Then I would set it down and leave, but instead of getting in trouble when he found out, he would always just repair it and nothing else came of it. Jon was eleven years older than me and as he started growing into more grown up stuff, I marveled at how cool everything was that he was discovering. I remember after he got his first car, he purchased a siren that attached magnetically to the roof of the car. He took me along with him for a ride and before I knew it, the siren was blaring and we were scaring the shit out of kids all over South St. Paul. Then came the first fuzz buster I had ever seen, and now that I think back, everything in that car was like a new treasure to me. Not only did I hear my first Guns 'n' Roses and Beastie Boys cassettes in that car, but the very stereo systems and speakers they were played on became a new discovery. Jon was an electronics guy and he was constantly ripping out one system and replacing it with something different. The wires would be hanging out and I would hold the tape decks and examine all the parts.
  When John enrolled in the military and left for Virginia, I lost my childhood hero and was pretty bummed. When he returned I was excited but things, as they always do, had changed. John had grown and found a relationship. Our lives often intermingled as I also grew and changed, and we still enjoyed each other's company. John had a big loving heart and never had anything but a smile to greet me with. When he was working as a security guard in the early nineties he brought home a big baby German Shepard one day. He was an intimidating looking guard dog except when he tried to bark all that would come out was a bunch of little squeaks. The security firm couldn't train him to play the role of mean doggie and from that day on, John and "Squeaks" were the epitome of man and his best friend. 
  As I grew and left home for college and eventually California, John and I saw each other only a few times, but as I think back, all I can remember was his smile and a hug before we said goodbye. Now that I no longer have you to hug uncle John, I'm left with some regret that I didn't see you more.
  As I mentioned earlier, I've been dragging around a bag of fears for years that a time would come when my family would need my help, and I wouldn't be in a position to do so. That time has come. Uncle John and his big heart extended to his family, he cared for his sister, my aunt Anita. Without his support, the future is uncertain, and suddenly a fire was lit under my ass to do something about it.
  For the last fifteen years I've been a struggling musician in so-cal. I'm in a band and I have a couple of albums out there in the world, but as of yet, it hasn't exactly brought home the bacon. I've written prolifically over the years and the notebooks of songs to-be-recorded have piled up in the garage, wondering if they will ever see the light. A few months ago I finally began typing up everything I thought worthy, in an attempt to create some organization in my music life. After I received the sad news, and the tears had finally subsided, I began, finally, dealing with the fear.
  You have been a true angel in my life uncle John, and I'm sure it was your inspiration that sat me down at the keyboard and put my hands to work. In the last few days I've been typing, editing, and formatting, while my sons not-so-patiently for dad to pay attention to them. Seventy songs later, I'm happy and relieved to announce that I have published my first volume of songs in a book format. I need to step up and pick up where John left off and in an effort to do so, I'm donating a portion of every book sale to help care for my family. Here is the link, it is available on amazon and kindle. http://www.amazon.com/Tristan-Songs-Sad-Child-Luhrs-ebook/dp/B00WA8SGLA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1429297689&sr=8-1&keywords=tristan+songs+of+the+sad
  Thank you for the support. John, you've been a true angel in my life, rest always in peace, the world is a better place for having had you in it!