Maybe by now everyone has heard of the “secret Santa” in Kansas City? Every Christmas he, anonymously, hands out $100 bills to poor folks. What a stroke of genius to have the police hand them out instead this year.

I picked up soccer (along with my daughter, Alexandra) while teaching in Bogota, Colombia in the 70’s. Came back and coached my twin daughters, Adriann and Erin, (born right after we adopted Alex – two to five in a year!), and several other young ladies for 11 years on a club team. 

I was at a writers’ conference last weekend in Grand Marais and was in a group critiquing a memoir, “Mirrorings” by Lucy Grealey. She had had to have a tumor removed from the side of her face, leaving her terribly disfigured. One of the crosses she had had to bear, she had written, were sexual comments from guys. 

When my granddaughter, Mae, graduated from 8th grade at Notre Dame Academy, she, along with all the graduates, were assigned the task of writing thank you notes to their parents. I saw several. T

My wife and I had just gotten married. Since our first date had included canoeing on Mpls city lakes…Calhoun, Isles, and Cedar…I (witlessly) assumed Mary would enjoy a week-long paddle into the Boundary Waters. I was only 18 and, so, young and self-centered, and apparently had missed some cues (although not all as 50 years later it has worked out) on that first date. 

OK, I hope by now, if you’re reading this, that you’re well aware I think it’s a great big a-hole thing to do to use your knowledge, not to help people, but to take advantage of them. The Dalai Lama, who is pretty tough to argue with, said: “Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.” 

I’ve been told to be briefer. Maybe not Twitter-brief, but Facebook-brief.  Reporters, Inc. a non-profit publishing house whose mission is social justice, are picking up my Angels and Assholes (brief-ed to A-holes to offend fewer people). 

I have been “off the grid” for two weeks attending a mountain-top wedding above Steamboat Springs, Colorado. (I’m sure no one lost any sleep over no post last week.) On the “angel” angle I’d like to give a nod to adventurous young love 21st century style.

Is it presumptuous and/or judgmental to come right out and call someone (or an entire culture) an a-hole? Could we be wrong? Misunderstand his/her/their motivation? 

I am a Committee Advisor and Writer for The Reporters Inc., which I have mentioned in the past. Their mission is to promote social awareness, encourage social change, and champion social justice through powerful multimedia storytelling. Hard to argue with that mission?

“Human use, population, and technology have reached that certain stage where Mother Earth no longer accepts our presence with silence.” (Dalai Lama XIV.) Do you believe the Dalai Lama’s statement might be true? What if it is? Fires, violent storms, droughts, earth quakes, volcanos…yikes! More to come and worse we’re warned.

My favorite Dalai Lama quote: “An eye for an eye…we are all blind.” One of his drier aphorisms. Probably one that Kurds, Shiites, Sunnis, and other tribal cultures would find little humor in, unfortunately. But you can’t blame the Dalai Lama for trying. 

Hate to go back to the auto industry for an a-hole culture, but I have, potentially, skin in this one…and I just don’t get how they get away with it: I’ve owned a couple Toyota vans in the past and really liked and even promoted them to friends. 

This is, I’m aware, not politically correct (but my hero is Donald…NOT), but, in my humble opinion, if a guy drinks til he loses his wife and kids, maybe his entire family, I’d call him an a-hole. BUT, fixable. 

For me high school reunions are a blast. Number one: I’m a people-person. I just like people (pets are good, but people first, please). When actually in high school, I’d hear people talk about classmates like they were a-holes. I honestly don’t remember any, but when young and insecure I’m sure there were some a-hole moments in there. 

Since last week’s “Littlest Angel” was a little on the sappy side (a little sap is sweet and good for the soul—no?), this week it’s a-hole time, again…continuing with a-hole bosses and do nice or a-holes finish first?

A brief but bright Angel #8: one of the trade-offs of living 'up north' on a lake is our kids and grandkids (now totalling 11) do not. Although we have a cabin for each of the kids to encourage them to come frequently and stay for a while, life is busy and we don't see them enough.

It seems a fair analogy to compare a sports team to a high school staff.You got the coach (principal) and the players (teachers). If a baseball player is batting .300+, hitting 40 homeruns, driving in 120+ runs, a coach probably shouldn’t mess with his swing. If a quarterback has a rating of 120 and completing 60%+ of his passes, probably best not to mess with his delivery. 

Do nice guys (angels – either male or female) finish first or last? The answer to this question is undoubtedly going to involve cultures, once again. Corporate vs. non-corporate, for example. But, before we get into that.