Friday, April 04, 2025
ARTICLE - AUNT LULA'S JUNK GIFTS
BY DONOVAN BALDWIN
I have an old beat-up Zane Grey novel, Wild Horse Mesa. When I was a young boy, my widowed great aunt Lula (my father's mother's sister) sent me a gift on my birthday and at Christmas, addressed in the manner of the time, to "Master Donnie Baldwin".
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| My Great Aunt Lula With My Dad At Stone Mountain |
It was always stupid stuff, and the book WAS falling apart.
I asked my mom why Aunt Lula just sent me junk.
Labels: donovan baldwin, gifts, Zane Grey
Thursday, April 03, 2025
COMMENT - STUFF - APOLOGIES TO GEORGE CARLIN
I am retired now, but, for years, I was responsible for stuff, in charge of stuff, and had to stay on top of stuff.
There's a lot of 'stuff' in life, isn't there?
While doing all that stuff with stuff has purpose, I wonder if sometimes we don't lose sight of some important stuff in our lives because we are 'staying on top of stuff'. Up there, on top, that is, it can become hard to see some of the seemingly less important stuff, such as fun, laughter, playing with kids, showing somebody you love them.
Yeah. Maybe sometimes all that 'stuff' we think we're on top of is really in our way...blocking our view.
So, look around at all the stuff you think you have to deal with and concentrate on the stuff that really matters.
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Labels: comment, donovan baldwin
Wednesday, April 02, 2025
POEM - A TIME TO DIE
BY DONOVAN BALDWIN
"The notary was present, and he said that he'd never read in any book of chivalry that a knight errant had died in his bed so calmly, and in such a Christian way as don Quixote, who, amidst pity and tears of those surrounding him, gave up the ghost; that is, he died."
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| Don Quixote On His Deeathbed |
"The notary was present, and he said that he'd never read in any book of chivalry that a knight errant had died in his bed so calmly, and in such a Christian way as don Quixote, who, amidst pity and tears of those surrounding him, gave up the ghost; that is, he died."
- 'Don Quixote' by Miguel de Cervantes
A Time To Die
Call when morning's blossom
Lingers still before my eyes,
Or when I've touched my neighbor;
At that time let me die.
Show me roses in a garden, or
Fields stretched beneath the snow,
Catch me dreaming, maybe singing,
I'll be prepared to go.
Don't come when hate surrounds me, or
Simply take me as I sleep.
At the moment of my leaving,
Give me one fine thing to keep.
Copyright: Donovan Baldwin
A Time To Die
Call when morning's blossom
Lingers still before my eyes,
Or when I've touched my neighbor;
At that time let me die.
Show me roses in a garden, or
Fields stretched beneath the snow,
Catch me dreaming, maybe singing,
I'll be prepared to go.
Don't come when hate surrounds me, or
Simply take me as I sleep.
At the moment of my leaving,
Give me one fine thing to keep.
Copyright: Donovan Baldwin
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Labels: death, Don Quixote, donovan baldwin, Miguel de Cervantes, poem, poem about death, poetry
Monday, March 31, 2025
ARTICLE - PAYING TAXES
BY DONOVAN BALDWIN
Rich or poor, we all pay taxes just about every day.
Think income taxes (federal, state, and local) are the only tax you have to worry about? Have you thought about:
Payroll taxes - employees AND EMPLOYERS pay Social Security tax and Medicare tax on employee earnings.
Sales taxes - we pay sales taxes on goods and services for everyday items like groceries, dry cleaning, office supplies, and car maintenance.
Excise taxes - we pay excise taxes if we buy specific goods, like beer and gasoline. Your gasoline, by the way, includes state AND federal tax in its purchase price. A Pennsylvania resident pays over 50 cents per gallon in taxes, while an Oklahome resident pays about 17 cents per gallon.There are even taxes on your CELLPHONE BILL.
Property taxes - we pay taxes on our homes, vehicles, or other real estate.
Estate taxes - Americans (who have paid taxes on what they've earned their entire lives) pay taxes again on what they leave behind to their children.
Gift taxes - we pay taxes when we receive a cash gift from a loved one.
Travel taxes - There isn't really a travel tax, but, hotels and motels have extra taxes that they must add on to your bill. And, we won't repeat the part about taxes on the gasoline, or, the fact that companies who provide boat, train and plane services include some of the taxes that THEY have to pay in the price of your ticket.
BOTTOM LINE: Although it varies by income level and commercial activity, of course, the average American spends ABOUT 28% of what each American earns goes to taxes of one form or another, and, like the travel example above, most businesses, when pricing their goods and services, have to take into consideration the taxes that THEY will have to pay before they will see a profit.
In other words, if I want to make $100 off of some service or good I provide you, I have to charge you $128. Of course, other factors go into pricing of goods and services, but, rest assured that when you pay for goods and services, you are paying for some ot THEIR taxes.
And, it's not just big business. Daniel, who cut my lawn for several years at $35 a pop, had to figure taxes into what he charged me, even if I paid him cash, which I did, and he didn't report it, which I don't know.
He had to pay taxes when he bought his equipment and gasoline to run it and, he had to pay taxes on the gas in his truck that he used to get to his job. If he had not had to pay taxes, I might have got my lawn cut for only $30, and Daniel would have made the same profit.
Think income taxes (federal, state, and local) are the only tax you have to worry about? Have you thought about:
Payroll taxes - employees AND EMPLOYERS pay Social Security tax and Medicare tax on employee earnings.
Sales taxes - we pay sales taxes on goods and services for everyday items like groceries, dry cleaning, office supplies, and car maintenance.
Excise taxes - we pay excise taxes if we buy specific goods, like beer and gasoline. Your gasoline, by the way, includes state AND federal tax in its purchase price. A Pennsylvania resident pays over 50 cents per gallon in taxes, while an Oklahome resident pays about 17 cents per gallon.There are even taxes on your CELLPHONE BILL.
Property taxes - we pay taxes on our homes, vehicles, or other real estate.
Estate taxes - Americans (who have paid taxes on what they've earned their entire lives) pay taxes again on what they leave behind to their children.
Gift taxes - we pay taxes when we receive a cash gift from a loved one.
Travel taxes - There isn't really a travel tax, but, hotels and motels have extra taxes that they must add on to your bill. And, we won't repeat the part about taxes on the gasoline, or, the fact that companies who provide boat, train and plane services include some of the taxes that THEY have to pay in the price of your ticket.
BOTTOM LINE: Although it varies by income level and commercial activity, of course, the average American spends ABOUT 28% of what each American earns goes to taxes of one form or another, and, like the travel example above, most businesses, when pricing their goods and services, have to take into consideration the taxes that THEY will have to pay before they will see a profit.
In other words, if I want to make $100 off of some service or good I provide you, I have to charge you $128. Of course, other factors go into pricing of goods and services, but, rest assured that when you pay for goods and services, you are paying for some ot THEIR taxes.
And, it's not just big business. Daniel, who cut my lawn for several years at $35 a pop, had to figure taxes into what he charged me, even if I paid him cash, which I did, and he didn't report it, which I don't know.
He had to pay taxes when he bought his equipment and gasoline to run it and, he had to pay taxes on the gas in his truck that he used to get to his job. If he had not had to pay taxes, I might have got my lawn cut for only $30, and Daniel would have made the same profit.
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Labels: donovan baldwin, income tax, paying taxes, taxes
Sunday, March 30, 2025
POEM - FREEDOM AT FORTY-EIGHT, THOUGHTS OF A NEWLY DIVORCED MAN
BY DONOVAN BALDWIN
I've been reborn, sweet woman.
Returned to a state
I never thought to see again.
I can safely look at you with hope and desire,
Now I've been set free,
But, it's too late for me.
Body and face have aged, though my soul
Has returned to days of wishes and of dreams,
From twenty years ago.
All those I could have, should have, loved,
Are far away and aged now like the man,
I try not to see in the mirror.
Today, the man inside sees lovely women passing,
Who smile and warm his heart, as they think,
"He looks like my dad."
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Back story. In 1985, in Copperas Cove, Texas, after several years of trying to hold a broken marriage together (foolish choice), I went to the field at Fort Hood for a military exercise lasting about two weeks. Upon returning "home", I found that my wife had stripped the house, and disappeared, taking our daughter with her, leaving a note that she had begun divorce proceedings. I never felt such a huge sense of relief.
This poem was writer, as I had dinner at the local diner, watching one of the waitresses, Carmen, who had been especially nice to me as I ate dinner alone.
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Labels: divorce poem, donovan baldwin, flirtation, poem, poetry
Saturday, March 29, 2025
ESSAY - AN OPINON ON OPINIONS
But, there are a couple of other reasons.
I have an opinion. It may not be yours. That doesn't mean I don't like, or, even love you. It just means we disagree on something.
Sure, it's bigger stuff than which side of the plate the fork goes on, but, still, our 'opinions' are not necessarily 'facts', and, you generally need facts to form solutions to real problems, and opinions on HOW something can or should be done are not solutions.
You need facts about the problem to come up with a solution. and then you need facts about what can be done, and what the results will be when you create the solution.
People with different opinions, about the problem, about the solution, or both, can be "wrong", or at each others' throats, even if they agree on the facts.
The problem is that the facts, as the Porter Wagoner song says, "The Cold Hard Facts Of Life", are very seldom known to us...the opinionated public.
I have worked for four governmental agencies, often being made aware of real facts that the public did not know...sometimes because they were classified, sometimes because it would have taken some formal training sessions to bring 'the public' up to speed where they actually knew what was going on.
I have worked for and with some businesses, where I heard loud, long, and violent complaints from competitors, customers, and parties who didn't even have skin in the game about these organizations' motives, actions, and goals. Most of these complaints originated out of ignorance of what the organization actually intended to do, and/or actually did.
You and I are free to have and voice our opinions about the problem and the solution. In most cases, these thoughts will NOT be based on facts, at least not the real facts.
I used to do a lot of 'due diligence' tracking down the 'facts' on what people posted about political and economic issues. I gave up. Many times, the 'facts' were completely wrong. Sometimes they were twisted or misunderstood. But, in most instances, liberal or conservative, if you must have labels, there was no way of knowing all the facts.
All one could do was form an opinion...and, perhaps, state it.
It's not worth getting in a fight over opinions.
That's my opinion, and, it's not worth getting in a fight over either.
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Labels: donovan baldwin, essay, opinions
Monday, March 24, 2025
ESSAY - READING INTERESTING BOOKS
Earlier, I was reading one of my favorite books, The Art of Thinking (1928) by Abbé Ernest Dimnet. 
The Art of Thinking (1928)
by Abbé Ernest Dimnet
He told a story to illustrate this:
He met a young girl from a French farm family, who was excited at reading "The History of Rome" for the umpteenth time, comparing it, as a tale of adventure, to other, dry, factual books that were available to her.
I thought of my own bonding to poetry.
We moved to an old house in 1949, and there, on the bookshelves for many years of my youth, was a leather bound book of poetry.
One day, in my teens, the soft leather binding caused me to pick it up, and browse through it, in a typical bored-teenager fashion, rejecting poem after poem.
Suddenly I came upon one which excited my young, adventure-craving mind, molded by the tales of Robert Louis Stevenson.
Having read that poem, and having experienced an epiphany of sorts, I searched the book for others. There, hidden, among love poems (anathema to a teenage boy); and idyllic, again, to a teenage boy, laughable descriptions of nature, I found more high adventure. I read one after another of these stories in rhyme, presented in short form, more powerful for the intensity packed into the few carefully chosen words, and images created in my mind by the poets.
I was hooked. Lost that book for a few years, but recovered it recently, thanks to the efforts and keen eye of my sister.
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Labels: Abbé Ernest Dimnet, donovan baldwin, essay, History of Rome, poetry, the art of thinking
