Dear, Case Keenum.

You mean a lot to many people in Minnesota, and if people don’t understand then they don’t know it yet because they are oblivious to it.

For certain, I am not your biggest fan, but I am your biggest believer. The minute after the first half ended against Tampa Bay, with each and every second that passed within that minute, I wanted you to be our quarterback.

You have a special intangible about yourself that most people don’t have. You were a great talent in college that no one cared for in the NFL. Everywhere that you have gone in your NFL career, no one ever really wanted you and you were treated like a pawn in the bigger scheme of the chess match.

Who cares about size, arm strength and your other doubted abilities that you have heard during your career? The answer to that is you. Case Keenum does not care. The only thing that you care about is the next game.

Six foot, nothing. Two hundred, nothing. Do not tell me that you represent the small guy because you are playing like a mighty Viking Warrior. You’re not Joe Montana or John Elway, but you have the core qualities of a great quarterback.

You are the unlikely hero of Viking Nation.

Resonating with many, you represent all of the late bloomers that shine brightly when given the right opportunity, being the right talent in the right structure. You give everything that you have and despite your circumstances, you believe in yourself. You have taught me that one can overcome because if we keep persevering and believe, that we will eventually get our chance to shine because we all have greatness threshed upon us.

Now, you are blossoming, and people still don’t want you. Still, you are treated like a pawn. You do not represent the “little guy” but, the person who is always put in the back seat of the car by your buddies when you’re the only one who knows how to get to the destination. Then, you’re put in the front seat with the responsibility to drive all of your friends after being lost for a few hours, and they are all breathing down your neck questioning your every move while trying to make you change the music. But, you know how to steer the car in the right direction because you are the conductor who orchestrates the music in the car ride to victory.

Everyone is waiting for you to mess up, but I am waiting for you to be victorious. That is the difference between me and most people which is my level of optimism, which I see in you during every snap of the ball.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t belong somewhere. Who cares if no one ever wanted you. Forget anyone who ever doubted your abilities. What kept you through all of this to get yourself to the point where you’re at is faith and belief. Having faith in yourself is one of the greatest powers that a person can have.

This is why you resonate with me. For the oblivious Minnesotans that don’t know that you mean a lot to them, this is the reason why.

Hold on to this moment and never let go for the rest of your career.

Skol Vikings.

Remember, “The Zos Knows”. 

-David Zosel

If you want to support my writing and for me to be able to create more content you can make a donation to either of these links:

Venmo or Patreon

I will give 10% of the proceeds to ONETREEPLANTED, a charity that plant trees to restore life to degraded lands all over the world. For every dollar donated there will be one tree planted. 

Pessimism is a detriment to anyone’s aura because it is the greatest disability in life. Making excuses and blaming bad situations on others/circumstances rather owning up to your actions and trying to control the hardships to the best of our abilities with a positive attitude. We need to know that despite our struggles and bad luck that we (you) are the common denominator. Yes, that is right because we are the dependent variable that will always be there in every situation. Kurt Vonnegut has an amazing philosophy towards this point in which we complain and dramatize our pain and adversities in our lives in “Slaughterhouse Five”. Back then, my high school athletic director didn’t care about my hazardous relationship with this “moronical” maniac. On the contrary, the fact that we all are victims of our problems isn’t true. This ideology makes us realize that we are the reason for the downfall and that it is irrelevant to point your fingers at anything else. In order to prevent and overcome, we need to have acceptance and march forward with a strategically positive attitude.

Looking back, playing hockey for a powerhouse program, and with that competitive environment, there were major problems. Since I did not know how to handle this older kid who was giving me a plethora of problems, let’s call him Moron, parents were concerned for me which lead to them bringing it up with the athletic director. This moron actually would never leave me alone because he was my oppressor. It was that bad. The worst part was that the AD did not care because I remember sitting in his office and he said that everything was my fault and whatever I was doing to attract this attention was all on me.

The AD told me to figure it out and then to get out of his office, offering no advice on how to deal with it. How does a 17-year-old figure that out? I was the common denominator in this scenario for three years. Now when I look back on that situation, I pity Moron because it is so unfortunate that someone could be that insecure to treat another person that way. It is quite pathetic.

I am so much stronger now because the journey brings a joy that outweighs the pain.

Continuing on this idea, author Kurt Vonnegut writes in “Slaughterhouse Five” in one of his most famous illustrations in his novels writes, “Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt” on a gravestone. Goodness, doesn’t that strike a chord with you? We spend all of our lives complaining and dramatizing all of our problems, and when our lives end we come to peace if we are lucky, realizing how we got that opportunity to live and experience all of the heartbreak, struggle, and pain. The only thing in life that is guaranteed is death. But, it is extremely difficult to stop complaining about your issues or anything in life, but it is good to know that all of the pain is quite a dubiously beautiful thing because one day it will all go away and it won’t hurt anymore.

We as human beings need to come to face the actualization that the individual is the common denominator and that the oppression comes from the independent variable. Your actions will cause an equal or greater reaction to any situation. You are the master of your own domain and the captain of your own ship. So be quick, wise, and make your next move to set yourself up to steer the ship in order to prosper the day.

Remember, “The Zos Knows”. 

-David Zosel

If you want to support my writing and for me to be able to create more content you can make a donation to either of these links:

Venmo or Patreon

I will give 10% of the proceeds to ONETREEPLANTED, a charity that plant trees to restore life to degraded lands all over the world. For every dollar donated there will be one tree planted. 

Schrute

adjective
1. one who brings others down for personal gain; specifically when one is on the downfall.
his schrute intentions were carried out; the coach was schrute as he benched his star player knowing that he was going to be fired.

This word will be submitted to the Oxford English in order to cement it in the English language. There is no exact word for a person who commits actions like this and it is about time in the history of the world’s most common language that there is a single word that describes this very demeaning, petulant, and Machiavellian action.

After seeing future Hall of Fame quarterback Eli Manning benched after 200 plus starts for one week, then being named as the starter after Ben McAdoo was fired in the following week, one can only speculate that there was a spiteful hidden agenda that McAdoo had. Why would you bench your Hall of Fame quarterback when you have no prospects in your pipeline? This may be a bias opinion but, one can speculate that there was something going on sub rosa.

Due to his inability to win football games, Ben McAdoo knew that he was going to be fired eventually during the year. There was no doubt about it. We do not know the motive behind the benching of his quarterback, but it seems that McAdoo was dragging Eli Manning down with him. A selfish act only to get his last gasp of New York City publicity in order to set himself up for a small market or well-paying college football job, as he looked powerful and intelligent for benching a hall of fame quarterback, which snapped his consecutive start streak.

Ben McAdoo was schrute towards Eli Manning due to the Giants losing record.

It is hard to form sentences with this new word, but it is still in its infancy, having vast potential.

The etymology of this word comes from the hit show, “The Office”, from everyone’s favorite character Dwight Schrute, who is the personification of this adjective. Throughout the ten year run of the show, he is on the ultimate conquest to become the regional manager, along with many other pursuits, taking down anyone down with him for his personal gain. But the thought-provoking inspiration in which the word stems from is from what happened between McAdoo, Eli Manning, and The New York Giants.

In order to prevent ourselves from being “schrute”, we all need to be on a quest of becoming universally benevolent, a philosophy that we all should practice anyway because it is good will.

Mo Tzu has a major impact on this philosophy on universal love, which bleeds heavily into the branch of universal benevolence. He emphasizes that if you are not universally benevolent then you are selfish seeking your own advantage, hence being schrute. When you are benevolent, you are are not selfish. When you are being schrute, you are being selfish, in which Mo Tzu believes that selfishness leads to theft, war, and injustice.

We need to really take to heart what the Chinese philosopher believes because love is the fundamental basis for living a benevolent life. In conclusion to this ideology, universal love is meant where there are no distinctions made between family, friends, and foes. It is only through love that you can get justice, and if we can find the love in our hearts to be a better people to all, then we can get justice towards the schrute.

Remember, “The Zos Knows”. 

-David Zosel

If you want to support my writing and for me to be able to create more content you can make a donation to either of these links:

Venmo or Patreon

I will give 10% of the proceeds to ONETREEPLANTED, a charity that plant trees to restore life to degraded lands all over the world. For every dollar donated there will be one tree planted. 

This ideology that I am sharing with you comes on the basis of what attracts me to filmmaking; the beautiful combination of executing music and moving images. Many filmmakers love working with music to enhance their films, whereas a lot of music lovers enjoy fantasizing images to the music that they love through dreams and memories. Artistic and aesthetically speaking there is nothing more appealing to the eyes and ears when music and images are perfectly put together.

For instance, have you ever heard of “Dark Side of the Rainbow”, where Pink Floyd sync’s up “Dark Side of the Moon” with “The Wizard of Oz”? Yes, that conspiracy of the combinations of two masterpieces is too close to a gem to ever pass up viewing. If you enjoy that concept of music and imagery like this one, wait till you get a hold of this one.

I present to you, “Planet Hip Hop”.

Here is what you need to do to find the next greatest modern day music-cinematic masterpiece. Use your Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, or your preferred streaming platform and make a 30 song hip-hop playlist of all of your favorite songs. It is okay to add more songs to this playlist as you think of more songs. Next, proceed to watch the “Planet Earth” series by BBC. Hit shuffle on that playlist and while you watch the beautiful documentary series you will have a wonderful time. The key to this is to have the TV on mute while you have your Blue Tooth wireless speaker blasting your playlist. Seriously, if you want to be productive or relax while having something on the television with your favorite hip-hop music going along with it, then this is the absolute ticket.

This polymerization of music and imagery is dazzling, engaging and after at least an episode you will start to believe that 2 Chainz, 2Pac, and Lil Wayne produced their music to sync perfectly with BBC’s “Planet Earth”. Personally, for me as a writer, I need a lot of distractions in my environment to keep me focused, and this discovery that I made is the perfect source of media to have on TV. One time, “X Gon Give It To Ya” by DMX came on while the infamous wolf chase was going on while I was writing. The possibilities are endless of what discoveries could be made between the two genres across the combination of these artistic mediums.

For the next time that you have a get together at your house, and you are playing music, put on “Planet Earth” from Netflix because it is a great white noise distraction in the background. This concept never provides a dull moment because of the engaging content that it provides. Imagine Kanye West’s “FML” playing while the polar bear is struggling to swim to shore. Not everything sync’s with perfect content that applies but, it makes for a leisurely white noise entertainment platform in the background that is astonishingly enjoyable.

Remember, “The Zos Knows”. 

-David Zosel

If you want to support my writing and for me to be able to create more content you can make a donation to either of these links:

Venmo or Patreon

I will give 10% of the proceeds to ONETREEPLANTED, a charity that plant trees to restore life to degraded lands all over the world. For every dollar donated there will be one tree planted. 

With Old Man Winter lurking around the corner, this means multiple things for many other Minnesotans; snow, cold, hockey, and seasonal affective disorder.

One could argue that during the Fall, the human race naturally prepares for the winter. Planning good times, companionship (I just got a kitten), vacations, and creating an environment of survival are all things that can get you through the dreaded winters in northern climates.

I always have prepared for winter this way, but here are some helpful nuggets to help us prepare for the season that brings us five to six hours of sunlight a day.

Seasonal Affective Disorder is a major issue that downsizes our moods, optimism, and our willingness to be social with our neighbors. Purchasing a SAD lamp has been a key part of my success and I recommend that everyone should get one due to the lack of sunlight. Vitamin D tablets also help boost your energy levels that also replace the lack of sun as well. This combination that replaces sunlight will provide a good substitute for the natural energy that is lost during the winter, further boosting your mood and optimism.

Every year, I purchase a new jacket and a pair of boots that will combat the icy climate. You really have to go to war with the -40 weather, and this is like purchasing armor. You do not necessarily have to purchase those two things, but if you do something similar it will make you feel prepared and ready to take on that force head on, boosting your confidence for the long months ahead. Treating yourself to something like this always makes one feel good about themselves as well.

In November, around Black Friday and Cyber Monday week, watch the airline tickets like stocks on Wall Street. Find a destination and start planning a trip to go on in January. Go someplace warm for a week or a weekend. It is always good to look forward to something in the future. With work, school, and or other daily activities that we must be dutiful in this weather, it is always good to take a break so that we can sharpen the saw in order to work even more efficiently.

Now to bring up the topic of heat. It is imperative to insulate your windows, cutting down your heating bill and keeping that windchill out of your house. Next, get an automatic car starter installed in your car because it will cut down your commute time and your time that you need to get ready in the morning to go to work. No one likes to sit in their freezing car for those agonizing five minutes, waiting for their car to warm up. Last invest in a space heater for your bathroom so you can eliminate the fear of stepping out of the shower.

Stock up on hot cocoa, tea, cider, and soup. Seriously, it is always good to have soup and tea in your cabinet to obtain that quick warm-up fix. Avoid whiskey because although it makes your skin warmer, it is deceptive due to the fact that it takes away from your core body temperature.

Winters make us who we are: goofy and tough. The native northern climate population naturally knows how to endure these winters. But, for people who are transplanted foreigners to this type of climate, this strategy will help you survive and thrive during your experience with winter.

Remember, “The Zos Knows”. 

-David Zosel

If you want to support my writing and for me to be able to create more content you can make a donation to either of these links:

Venmo or Patreon

I will give 10% of the proceeds to ONETREEPLANTED, a charity that plant trees to restore life to degraded lands all over the world. For every dollar donated there will be one tree planted. 

With this year’s Thanksgiving in the books, there were a few discoveries that we should be making at this point in time. Questions have always been posed towards what we are thankful for. In many foreign countries, the idea of gathering with all of your friends, family, and neighbors happens almost every day. So, why do we have this behemoth get together maybe once or twice a year? Sometimes not even ever. With a new perspective, there may be some things that the westernized American culture is missing during the times of these consumeristic capitalism holidays ensuing the hellish bedlams that we either loathe or love. With that, how should we be thankful?

Many of us are thankful for our family, friends, vocations, opportunities, possessions, health and on and on soever the per usual of what we say at the table. Here is a notion that is a revelation that is worth discovering on your own beautiful odyssey.

Hold all graces, afar, right here.

Keep them in your heart. All of the fertile furtive feelings, love, lost evenings, lust, and last minutes; hold on to them for dear life. If there is a star amongst your moons that you long for, that is indeed a gift. Virtuously so, if we have not obtained that moon buried and lost beyond our wildest dreams, then we should most imperatively be thankful for the fact that we have something so real, beautiful, and unobtainable in our lives that keep us moving along in life.

The chase, time spent, and honeymoon phase of the pursuit of the moon is great. But, that is not the best part of it despite its glory due to the emotional content that comes with it. If we view this from the idea that the moon may disappear at a moments notice, then all is lost. If all anticipation, desire, and lust towards that metaphor of the moon are lost and forgotten; that is the bad part. When you forget about your own “personal” moon, life will become a shanty. Even if you lose it, then find another one. Have the hope to find another one to search for. Believe in one’s self that once your moon is gone that you miss it because the heartbreak is the absolute best part. If you think the best part is of your finger pointing to the moon is the most enjoyable part then you are missing all of its glory because when it becomes lost then you are missing the point of emotional content.

No, the best part is the heartbreak; missing, yearning, and following your path. Once you forget, it becomes bad because your heart will stop beating for it.

The feeling of your body being connected to your own spiritual life force is the energy of creation. This is the conclusion to this point of what we should be thankful for. Holding all graces, afar, right here in our hearts. This poetic justice falls under the idea as emotional content, in which will help you become a human being from a fleeting moment to another. Once emotional content is created by the self, it enables you to produce openness, receptivity, and awareness to your natural surroundings. With channeling your inner emotional content, you can finally be in a state of connectivity rather than isolation because you can relate to what your environment that shapes, flows and crashes like a river.

Be thankful that you can hold all of your gifts (Graces), from a distance of hope (afar) in your heart right now in your life.

As Bruce Lee once said, “Emotional content. It’s like a finger pointing to the moon. Don’t concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory.”

Be grateful rather than thankful that we can all hold all graces, afar, right here; in our hearts.

This is a notion that all of the mankind has had ever since we were able to make fire. This idea falls under so many aspects of our lives that we tend to be oblivious towards and we should take into consideration of how we should be thankful for it.

Remember, “The Zos Knows”. 

-David Zosel

If you want to support my writing and for me to be able to create more content you can make a donation to either of these links:

Venmo or Patreon

I will give 10% of the proceeds to ONETREEPLANTED, a charity that plant trees to restore life to degraded lands all over the world. For every dollar donated there will be one tree planted. 

An impending plane crash may or may not happen this season with the Minnesota Vikings this year. In a position to win the NFC North, the Vikings are in a hunt to win the big game this year. This is it. If you ever meet a Vikings fan, look at their forearms because you will see scars from all of the heartbreak, and history of bad luck. But things are about to change for the better.

Since Teddy Bridgewater’s possible career-ending injury, I have heavily researched reasons for the franchise’s bad luck. After long hours of research, I have come up with a few strong reasons for our misery. With that, I have come up with partial and full proof solutions to the “The Curse of Thor’s Missing Mjollinar”.

Why did the Vikings, a powerful group of scavenging seafarers disappear? The answer stems from Christianity conversion eliminating raiding and without this, Viking culture does not exist. The Minnesota Vikings play football, representing the Norse-rooted Christian state of Minnesota. It is quite the oxymoron because the Viking’s were the most powerful people in the world until their christening. Our football team wears kryptonite rung around their necks, which is represented by Christian culture.

Is it a coincidence that we lost to the Saints in the NFC Championship game in 2009?

The last time the Vikings won a championship was in Minnesota in 1969. The Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy was awarded to the Vikings during the last year the NFL championship was played. Like the Stanley Cup, it stays with the team. No one knows where trophy’s whereabouts are, losing our credibility as champions.

The sole championship trophy doesn’t exist in our trophy case. This is unbeknownst to as the Ed Thorp Memorial Curse making it one of the most oblivious but now relevant curses in sports.

Hence why I am rebranding this curse as the missing trophy represents Thor’s stolen hammer. Don’t you see? “Thor-p”. Thor’s name is right there! In Viking folklore, “Thor’s Stolen Hammer” is a popular tale. In its mythology, there is a conflict between the Vikings and the Giants. Thor was hailed as the Giant destroyer. His mjollinar was stolen by a Giant, refusing to return it. Thor then rides into Giantland, seizing the hammer himself and destroys the Giant with a single blow.

The 2000 NFC Championship loss to the Giants parallels this perfectly. We need to get our hammer back because, without it, Thor and the Vikings are nothing. This is the reason why we have not been able to win a title because we do not have that trophy/mjollinar anymore. But Thor retrieved it so, what can we do to break this curse? Well, there are two ways that Vikings fans can go about this.

A memorial of Norse God’s outside of US Bank Stadium will pay homage to our Viking roots. Imagine seeing Thor, Oden, and Loki as bronze statues, wearing Tarkenton, Allen, and Moss jerseys.

Picture a beautiful bronze hammer stuck in the ground which is surrounded by the statues. This could be a rebranded replica of the missing trophy.

This could pay tribute to the Norse God’s that the Viking people once worshiped, in order to free us from the curse and to win a Super Bowl.

The only way to break a curse is to overcome. Making shamanistic offerings, finding a missing hammer, connecting historical and folklore dots is all fun and games, but this a year of must needed capitalization. The last time we won was when the championship was in Minnesota. Granted the Super Bowl was held in the Metrodome, that stadium was shared with two other teams. US Bank Stadium is ours and we need to defend our homeland. Rest assure because our dominating defensive is in its prime, along with an offense with vast potential. In order to break the “Curse of Thor’s Stolen Mjollnir”, we need to hammer home a Super Bowl when the game is played in our home.

When we are victorious, remember who told you first:

Me.

If you would like to read the 3000 word satirical essay version of this reduct, click on this link.

Remember, “The Zos Knows”. 

-David Zosel

If you want to support my writing and for me to be able to create more content you can make a donation to either of these links:

Venmo or Patreon

I will give 10% of the proceeds to ONETREEPLANTED, a charity that plant trees to restore life to degraded lands all over the world. For every dollar donated there will be one tree planted. 

Ever since the Neanderthals faced off against humans thousands of years ago, Robots vs Humans could be the next and greatest rivalry of mankind. The AI Hollywood blockbusters are slowly becoming a reality ever since the film “Metropolis” portrayed the first ever robot on screen who unleashed chaos amongst its fictitious city workers. This may be one of the most relevant films in cinematic history because of all of its futuristic themes that have predicted modern day issues back in 1926 when it was released.

Here they are and they are here to stay.

The human race is facing an oblivion due to the laziness of mankind which has stemmed from us perpetually creating tools to cut down the world’s process utilization time for human advancement. This progression is exponentially growing to the point where software, technology, and robots could replace everything that humans do; leaving us blowing in the dust and wind.

The reality is that robots cost less than an average salary of a human worker. This caused a major dilemma for Charlie in the film, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” when his father was replaced by a robot who put on toothpaste caps more efficiently.

Automation anxiety is a major developing economic issue that we as humans are slowly becoming aware of. This issue amongst humanity is not only because of robots but also due to the major advancements in artificial intelligence

Historically due to these developments, economies have grown and standards of living have been raised. For example, when horses replaced cars, it provided people to become more mobile, in turn also the ability to find more forms of work. With an ever-growing world population, there have been developments from the plow, tractor and aerial fertilizing machines that have helped supply food for the planet. If we were to have never come up with these technological advancements, the world’s economy, the standard of living and or population would have never have grown, survived, and flourished the way that it has.

But, now everything is changing for the better or worse. Here is a simple prompt to think about: Do you love your local barista and or bartender who makes your drink just ever so the way you like it? The reality is that robots now remember who people are and even know how you like your coffee and cocktails. The pink collar service industry slowly will become automated, run by a one person in the kitchen and front of the house, lead by AI robots who serve you with a push of a button. Now, we even have robots like Baxter, a general purpose robot who can bring the food or drink to you. With that, picture the number of jobs that will slowly be decimated.

The self-driven car could drastically change insurance premiums and that entire industry which heavily relies on misfortunate events. This is because AI robotic self-driven cars are now learning how to drive without error. The world could have no traffic, speeding tickets, accidents, and road rage ever again. Many industries will change drastically with these new advancements in the same way that this one will.

Lawyers, doctors, and programmers are humans that get tired, make mistakes, and cannot work 24/7 and robots can do quite the opposite. Computer programmers have created AI systems that can develop upon itself, perpetually program, and find more solutions to issues like cancer at a higher rate than any human can. Look at IBM’s Watson right now, as it is discovering many groundbreaking ventures that humans have longed for.

The worst case scenario that if all jobs are eliminated by AI robots, we can resort to another renaissance era of music and art. But there is no such economy that can be built around the concept “music-poem- and-painting” due to these industries being built upon popularity. Oh and yes, robots are writing music, newspapers, designing images, taking photos and one robot is even editing this article right now.

Thank you, Grammarly!

Another question that is if we should worry about the income of vast labor markets. This is called automation anxiety, causing a major campaign for social unrest, which is an organized rebellion against a changing society.

Technology has historically destroyed jobs but we actually have never really run out of work because automation creates higher human productivity. This is because labor-saving inventions cause companies to do more with less and can expand.

In this exact day and age versus even 20 years ago, it hard to visualize the jobs that come next in this ever so fast-changing technological world. So should we be worried about this predicament that we are facing? No, because if we focus on things that we can’t control then we risk neglecting things that we can.

What we should be worried about is the human advantage in the intangibles of our emotions, in which robots do not have. The fact that we are competitive, drove out the Neanderthals. Since we love and care about one another, the human race has been able to develop because of the emotional content that we brought to the world. This is something that robots do not have… yet.

Now, we must ask ourselves these pertaining questions. Why did we develop feelings, emotions, and ethics? What about our biology and survival depended on these traits? Do robots have a hierarchy of needs that they will strive to fulfill at a cost to others? Isn’t that why we have ethics and morals; to ensure our base instincts that don’t rule us? Will self-aware systems fear death? Is there death in their world? I can build a new robot and download the program to it and it is the same robot, minus the time since the last backup.

If they have motivations, there is a strong chance that it will be based on an entirely different set of criteria. But, if they developed the same emotional content as humans have, we may have the reality of a Hollywood blockbuster on our hands. Not like “Her”, but more so a horror-psychological-thriller film.

As said before, if we focus on things that we can’t control then we risk neglecting things that we can. What we can control is the pace of development and the coexistence between technology and man that can positively ensure our development and survival. Moreover, there are so many other issues that we can focus on and control rather than worry about the irrational fear of robots taking over the world.

Remember, “The Zos Knows”. 

-David Zosel

If you want to support my writing and for me to be able to create more content you can make a donation to either of these links:

Venmo or Patreon

I will give 10% of the proceeds to ONETREEPLANTED, a charity that plant trees to restore life to degraded lands all over the world. For every dollar donated there will be one tree planted. 

Let’s begin at the beginning.
She was the seventh of eleven.
Smack dab between five boys and six girls.
She didn’t know that she would make a splash in the western world.

Always good at mathematics,
but never good on her “grammatic’s.”
Riding buses, boats, and failing drivers classes
to have a perfect record in this story we call love.

Her son was an overly ambitious eccentric who’s slowly finding Phi,
despite finding constant heartbreaks and failures all he does is try.
His sister is a winner, who wins on perpetual lucky happenstantial happy accidents.

She works over 100 hours a week, just to play her part. Dreaming about her passions of growing a culinary revolution from a Kingfield neighborhood wine bar. The concept was unexpected but she made it bloom and grow.

Cooking for all with a dream.
Her Mother’s cuisine saved her from long bus rides in dark cold weather; all before she met the man who she called Teacher Mike.

Then her reign began at King’s when she became queen.

Andrew is the glue who holds the big black shoe.

David is her son, a young man with a sense of duty and honor. Then there was Griffin B. who was in the same search of manhood. At 17 and 24, little did they know that they were identical different reincarnations.

John is our Saint Vincent and Quinn writes ballads the same as Paul engineers and sets the tone.

Simon slaps you in the face with four claws, and Hakim is the safest sax that’s blown the baritone.

Griffin T. screams Oasis and Ogden jump’s over some dirt mountains that we’ve never seen.

Aaron is the spiraling robot quarterback in the history of all football’s that ever been thrown.

Jay slays dishes like she wants him to clone. Brianni is the big sister that we all wish we had known.

Brigitta is her daughter whose the light in all our lives that is a flickering.

Chi is our drama queen with Tim, the man of her dreams as they sit and drink a bottle of Angeline.

Mike turns tablecloths into yoga mats that we never knew we will never own.

But, that is my Father and don’t forget that.

Shane smiles at strangers and Lesa is the most dangerous gal I’ve ever known, with yoga lessons and wine flights, she’s the neighborhood diva with all the hindsight.

Frankie seems to be James Dean’s reincarnated ghost, but Max may be the only help we ever need.

Life is about rolling eggrolls, folding wontons, and slaving over hot stoves. Mentoring molded young minds to have great skills for the future shows. Being on center stage, making miracles happen from minimum wage. The burning of our tongues from too many jalapenos and being cured of hangovers by drinking the fresh, light and healthy broth.

All my Mom knows is how to run a restaurant and the only thing left to do is to eat some pho.

And the only thing left to do is get some wine at nine.

Epilogue:

This is my family’s restaurant and everyone who works for my parents is my family too.

My family provides hopes and dreams for people. We are supporting many teenager’s ambitions of becoming musicians. My Mom and Dad are helping someone purchase a house, a car, and for me to be my best self that I can ever be. This my extended family that is filled with little brothers that I always wished I had, brought me closer to my little sister, gave me a big brother and sister, a crazy auntie and none of this would be possible if my Mom didn’t have a dream to share her food with the world. This is why we have stayed as a running operation because we are one big family. This is what makes my Mom so special.

The best part is that she doesn’t even know it. She deserves to get more credit and appreciation for what she does every day. This is why I wrote this poem about her and all of the lives that she has touched at Kings Wine Bar. 

I knew the owner of Kings Wine Bar before she was famous because before that, she was and will always be my Mother; the most amazing woman that I will ever know.

Remember, “The Zos Knows”. 

-David Zosel

If you want to support my writing and for me to be able to create more content you can make a donation to either of these links:

Venmo or Patreon

I will give 10% of the proceeds to ONETREEPLANTED, a charity that plant trees to restore life to degraded lands all over the world. For every dollar donated there will be one tree planted. 

Being spiteful, having hate in your heart, and seeking major redemption upon others in your past could possibly be one of the worst qualities of any human being. It isn’t good for anyone’s aura, the energy of the world, and for your own self. Planning your life around bringing others down of whom may have severely wronged you in your past is a waste of time. There are more productive ways to use your time wisely.

Even if that isn’t the case, it is important to try your best not to let those things bother you. A great piece of advice to let that frustration go is the to “offer it up to the world”. Let it go and do not sweat the small stuff.

This an easy notion, but a hard action.

If anger fills your heart from past situations then you won’t have any room for the love and joy that it deserves. For those of you who struggle with this predicament and have been for a majority of your life, think of this approach;

Don’t hate, pity.

Hate is a strong word and we should never use it because the power of it has can alter the energies in the world in a negative light. Replace this word with despise, dislike, loathe, or hostility. This four letter word can be replaced with another; love. It is much easier to hate than to love. But, never hate because it is better to pity.

Raise a glass and toast to this.

“Here is to all the vultures, losers, fools, and the ignorant ones who have rubbed us the wrong way. Destroyed our confidence, trust, optimism and who have prevented us from becoming our best selves. But, not anymore because all of you hellions are just now pitied fools that were shaped by rusty tools. We will never hate you or what you did to us because we just feel bad for your insecurities. For now, we are better and have risen stronger and harder. Here’s to us, pitying you and becoming glorious with a newfound trust.”

Cheers.

Remember, “The Zos Knows”. 

-David Zosel

If you want to support my writing and for me to be able to create more content you can make a donation to either of these links:

Venmo or Patreon

I will give 10% of the proceeds to ONETREEPLANTED, a charity that plant trees to restore life to degraded lands all over the world. For every dollar donated there will be one tree planted. 

As winter is coming in the Midwest and specifically, Minnesota daylight hours dwindle down at four o’clock in the afternoon. With minimal sunlight hours and lack of a natural source of Vitamin D, the human energy level is gravely different from our summertime counterparts. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is lurking amongst many, preventing most to stay productive as our summertime maniacal energies begin to diminish. Most importantly in Minnesota, our attitudes and lifestyles change drastically. Putting that aside, if you are suffering from depression or if you are just down and out about any hardship ridden circumstance, there is a concept that needs to be emphasized not only for winter time but in day-to-day life in general.

It is absolutely imperative that you can recognize the small “W’s” in your daily routine. Celebrate them with honor.

Every time you create a small “win” situation, give yourself a high-five, fist pump, bust a dance move out, or dab. If you’re too embarrassed to do those things then simulate them in your mind. Think of the acronym ACE, “Always Celebrate Everything”.

Mental health may be a part of it or not, but if you are suffering from daily lethargicness, a key is to salvation is find “W’s” towards the little things in life. For instance, make your bed, do your dishes, take out the trash, or delete all of your junk emails. Doing laundry while working on something productive is a major win-win situation for a stimulating brain boosting momentum.

This is just the mental side of things but on the physical end it is important that you get exercise, take vitamins, eat healthily, and most of all use a SAD lamp to provide a natural energy boost for yourself.

It is absolutely imperative that you can recognize the small “W’s” in your daily routine, rather than being oblivious to them.

Celebrate them with honor, pride, and integrity.

This will provide copious amounts of energy and momentum for your day, further setting up the opportunity to win the week. Treat every week as if it were a seven-game playoff series. If you can four out of seven days during the week then you are on to the next playoff round; next week. If you lose the week, well, then you still get to play the game of life in the following week. But the secret is to absolutely dominate the week by winning Monday through Thursday because it will enable you to enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Celebrating your little “W’s” boosts mental health stimulation, morale, and can get your wheels turning to provide the daily confidence during your week. Make your bed, breakfast and brush your teeth because it is time to win the day.

Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day-in, and day-out through accomplishing the little deed; this is the exact morale boost that we need.

Remember, “The Zos Knows”. 

-David Zosel

If you want to support my writing and for me to be able to create more content you can make a donation to either of these links:

Venmo or Patreon

I will give 10% of the proceeds to ONETREEPLANTED, a charity that plant trees to restore life to degraded lands all over the world. For every dollar donated there will be one tree planted. 

If no one is going to step up to the plate and come forth as God, then it might as well be Kanye West. I’m kidding. But, I don’t believe that he is God by any means. Polytheistically speaking, he may be the “God of Creativity”, that may be a stretch, but he is certainly not a God himself. In my personal opinion, Kanye West is a creative genius and he uses his art to promote the word of God in his special way. I want to focus on the fundamental basis of how God want’s us to live our lives and compare them to what Kanye West is trying to accomplish as a self-proclaimed “God” by using his short film, Runaway, as an example because the two have very similar beliefs. God wants us to live a glorious life, love with all of your heart, and to show forgiveness for all of the sinners. Most importantly he wants you to be able to have patience, promote, praise, promise and to have provisions. These principles are shared by Kanye West and God. So, doesn’t that make them the same person? Absolutely, not. He is not the only human being to proclaim himself as “God”, but I believe that he is the only relevant, non-threatening person who is trying to do right by the world since maybe Mother Theresa. That is why I have devoted my faith to the Hip Hop Cathedral of Kanye West. Again, I am just pulling your chain. Let’s entertain the idea that his purpose in life is to just make meaningful art that promotes a good message because right now he is going through a tough time and everyone is giving him a lot of grief that he doesn’t need. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is Kanye’s magnum opus album. Most fans of this album have not even seen his short film Runaway that he directed for the album. This man is a creative genius and has every right to say that he is. Kanye West takes a basic love story and makes it so inhuman to us that it makes us realize our mankind’s potential. Instead of the story of a male and a female, it is set between a half-phoenix-half woman and a man. Kanye wants you to meet a companion that is completely different from you, hence bringing different people together and opening up your mind to new worlds. In the film, Griffin, played by West, saves her/this creature after crash landing on earth. Kanye wants you to be your own savior. The only person who can save you is yourself. How can you save anyone if you can’t save your own self? As she wakes up for the first time in the film, she comes into contact with human objects and becomes intrigued by the television screen showing the news. Griffin then tells her that the first thing you need to know in the world is to never pay attention to anything on the news. The lesson being taught here is that Kanye only wants you to listen to yourself, not what anyone else tells you. Another notable scene is where Griffin begins to create, playing a remix version of POWER, where the Phoenix begins to dance. Kanye wants you to have the power to tame your inner beast, the power to create your own destiny. If you can accomplish this then nothing can stop you. That is what Kanye wants us to realize; that anything is possible. If you were to spend a day with Kanye, this short film is the perfect example of what it would be like. Now, if you were to be a woman on a date with Kanye he would throw a parade for you with a marching band, fireworks, and paper mache floats of Michael Jackson. That’d be a first date that I’d like to take a girl on. Why? This is because Kanye wants you to only give the best things and an opportunity to the people that you care about. Most importantly, I need to touch on the dinner party scene. Griffin enters his dining room full of people of all cultures that are dressed the same. He and the Phoenix are the only ones who look different, showing their ability to be original free-thinking, non-conformist individuals. Despite being gossiped about at his own dinner party in his own house, Griffin/Kanye West wants you to be your own person. Not what other people want you to be. Every day of my life I just want to walk away from a group of conformists and go up to a piano and start pounding it. Every day I resonate with this moment in the film because it is hard to run or break away from a group to openly free think to be your own self that you want to express to the world. As he pounds the keys on the piano, playing the opening riff to Runaway, he summons ballerinas as his dinner party entertainment. This is Kanye summoning his inner peace and that is what he wants you to do in this life; find inner enlightenment. If you cannot do these things, then how can you be able to be your own individual and follow your dreams? Here is the key point’s that Kanye is trying to make in this short film that coincides with God: 1. Love yourself, be your own savior so that you are able to have salvation for others. (Love and Forgiveness) 2. Only listen to what comes from your heart. Listen to yourself, not others. (Praise) 3. Tame your inner beast in order to create your destiny. If you can do this, anything is possible. The only one stopping you from your dreams is yourself and it takes some time to become one with the self.  (Patience)  4. Only provide the absolute best love and care for the people that matter in your life. Give your best to the people of the world. (Provision) 5. Be a free-thinking individual because you are original. Don’t conform. Don’t be a copy, be yourself.  (Promote) 6. Find inner peace with yourself. Enlightenment will find you at your best. If you are at your best then you can pursue your dreams and be the best fit to obtain the life that you want. (Promise) These are all the same principles that God’s from most religions big and small preach.  Does this make Kanye a God or disciple of Jesus Christ himself? That is up to you to decide after you watch this short film with my idea’s and thoughts in mind. Remember, “The Zos Knows”.  -David Zosel If you want to support my writing and for me to be able to create more content you can make a donation to either of these links: Venmo or Patreon I will give 10% of the proceeds to ONETREEPLANTED, a charity that plant trees to restore life to degraded lands all over the world. For every dollar donated there will be one tree planted.