As soon as I can figure out how to do so, I will change the name of this blog from grassfed55 to grassfedjoe; this at the suggestion of my son-in-law who thinks the change will make the blog easier for readers to find and remember.
I finally got two days in a row off from work and have been sick the whole time. Damnit all.
I’ve got concerns about Ted Williams, the homeless man with the golden voice. I would be thrilled if the whole saga turns out to be the ultimate feel-good story but I don’t expect that it will. He says he’s been clean and sober for two years and I hope that is true, but addicts often make such claims while panhandling. If he has been clean for two years why is he still homeless and working the sign? What this man needs is a mentor and some coaching to bring him back into society so that he can use his God-given gift. What he doesn’t need is all the publicity he’s been receiving for the past two days. Let’s keep him in our prayers and hope that he’s the one to beat the odds. At least one good thing has already come of this story: Williams was reunited with his 90-year-old mother in New York yesterday. See his mother and listen to The Voice a http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rPFvLUWkzs.
The “company casserole” recipe in the Detroit News sounded good to me: http://detnews.com/article/20110106/LIFESTYLE05/101060315/1463/LIFESTYLE05/Meals-that-HEAL. I’ll make it tonight – using grassfed beef, of course – and also substituting whole wheat noodles, low-fat sour cream/cottage cheese, and canola spread for the butter. Actually, I may not be able to make the last substitution when the time to do so actually arrives; I’ll see.
lengthofthegrand.com 
Quick beef note before commenting on the Golden Voice Guy: I bought some “ground sirloin” rather than my usual ground chuck. I made burgers. They tasted good, but they were crumbly. They did not hold together well enough. Ground beef needs a certain amount of fat to hold together. And it does not turn out greasy with ground chuck, just juicy and cohesive.
Now, Joe (apparently that is your name – that’s good name)… Do not be so judgmental on this Golden Voice Guy. Two ways to look at this:
1. Many talented, nice, hard-working people never “make it.” People who are decades clean and sober never cash in, never even get a square deal. That’s life; that’s the USA; that’s how it goes.
AND…
2. Many alcoholics and dope fiends DO make it. I know people who are rich stars who have injected heroin and drunk lakes of vodka, and have got away with it and got rich, and stayed comfortable. Again, that happens; that’s life; that’s America.
This Golden Voice Guy seems to be lucky. That’s okay. Do not envy him. Do not judge or speculate. You do not know. Do not presume to understand. Just wish him luck.
Indeed, I did wish him luck. I simply don’t think you can take someone from homeless and “working the sign on a corner” to celebrity without a great deal of turmoil. Witness the hillbillies who win the lotto and are broke within a year. There are six recent mugshots of this guy on the smoking gun. I want him to succeed, but it’s going to take extraordinary luck for him to do so. I wish him extraordinary luck.
Hey! Thanks for the quick response. You are a champ.
Question: Did you used to have more responses on some of your posts? Did some of them go away?
It just dawned on me: One big reason this Ted Williams Golden Voice Homeless Bum Guy is so popular is that he looks a lot like Barack Obama. Take a look. Think it over.
Today, we find out he is NOT sober, and that he is heading into rehab. Oy. I hope he gets out of rehab and gets a good gig before the next presidential election. Before Barack’s celebrity fades.