How do fashion trends actually start? I think one disadvantage to living in Tennessee is that we're always a little behind the curve on trends in general...especially fashion. For instance, let's say that a current fashion trend is wearing jeans that are torn. My question is...who was the first person to do that on purpose? Did that kid get laughed at? Where did it happen? How long did it take before 100 people were doing it? Then 1000? Then 10000? Another example might be the big New Era style backwards caps that cost $50.00. I see them all over the place. Again, who wore that for the first time? Where? When? How long did it take until kids in TN were wearing them too? This fascinates me.
Subdivisions are getting out of hand. They are literally everywhere. And everywhere there's not one, there's one being built. And they all have such great names like, "Walker's Point", "Pleasant Valley", "Mountain Ridge", and "Lakeside Manor". Maybe it's because I grew up in the country, but I've always thought it would be much nicer to own (for example) a $120,000 home that sits on 2 acres of land than to have a $200,000 home that sits 8 feet from the homes on either side of it. Problem is, with the massive amount of subdivisions out there, you almost can't find a home to purchase anymore that's NOT in a subdivision. You have no choice. It's as if Microsoft took over the real estate market. You either buy a home in a subdivision, or you have to wait (sadly) for an elderly family member to pass away and leave their long-held property to you in their will. Or you somehow acquire $100,000 extra dollars to actually buy a piece of property. Then of course you have to build a home to live there. It's very sad.
Finally, for golf fans. The President's Cup is taking place right now. And does anybody really care? The entire golf world gets totally siked up about The Ryder Cup, which takes place on even numbered years and pits the US against Europe in head-to-head golf matches. It's crazy, fans are wild, they yell, both sides just want to kick the crap out of the other. It's almost like a soccer match in golf. But The President's Cup is more of a friendly engagement. A nice competition between the best golfers in the US and "the rest of the world" (aka, not Europe). Their jovial, coureous, and everybody wants the matches to be of good spirit and one accord. Very weird. Regardless, Tiger kicked some tail yesterday, which is all I really care about. He's only 4 months older than me, about $500,000,000 richer, and I've been following his career since he was about 13 years old. Amazing. Hope to get to see him play someday. If I'm lucky, maybe in the cosmic scheme of things, my son and his daughter could end up together. Sam Alexis Woods-Edelen...has a good ring to it.
more random thoughts
uncle jason
Last night I became an uncle for the first time. My sister Kari Jo delivered a 7lb 12oz baby boy - Grayson Carter Booe - at about 8:58pm. For any of you Bible College people out there, both I, my sister, and her husband Rodney graduated from KCC...now KCU. KCU is located in Grayson, Ky, which is in Carter county. Hence, Grayson Carter. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures yet. I'm really excited to have the chance to be that "cool uncle" that we all remember from when we were kids. If you didn't get to have a cool uncle growing up, I'm sorry, but you really missed out.
I'm 4 1/2 years older than my sister...I also have another younger sister and a younger brother. I have some pretty good memories of Kari Jo when she was about 2-3 years old. I can remember some pretty major fights we had when we were roughly 12 and 8 years old. I recall founding the first FCA at my high school when I was a senior, and thinking it was awesome that my sister and some of her 8th grade friends were members of it. I remember one night at church camp around 1995 or 1996 when she and I hugged and cried for a really long time. I remember the summer of 1998 when she made sort of a last minute decision to attend college at KCC, and thinking what a bummer it was that we wouldn't be able to be students there at the same time, since I had just graduated. Her husband and I lived on the same floor of the same dorm for a while. I don't think he thought much of me at that time. We're better friends now. =)
I remember participating in her wedding, and not feeling weird about the fact that she was married before I was. I felt very proud not too many months ago when she completed her Master's degree in education. She's certainly proven to be an excellent daughter, wife, teacher, younger sister, older sister, and an awesome aunt to our son Eli. And she'll certainly be an incredible mother.
church signs from hell
I love - and hate - the signs you find in front of most churches in the south. Maybe in the north and west too, but I haven't seen enough of them to know. Here's one I just found that made me laugh.
I just don't understand the motivation behind church signs. Very rarely have I encountered one that genuinely captured my interest in a way that made me think, "I think it might be enjoyable to visit that church one day." They mostly make me think, "what jerks", or "how stupid", or "I want to throw eggs at that sign".
Maybe the funniest one I ever read - right here in Knoxville - said "Church parking lot is for church members only. Violaters will be baptized." Pretty awesome, huh?
Do you have any favorite church signs that you've seen?
bad night of sleep in a campus house
It's 7:20am in Johnson City, TN. I'm sitting at an open computer on the 3rd floor of an old student fellowship campus house on the campus of ETSU. 7 of us arrived here last night after playing 18 holes of disc golf in Knoxville. In about 30 minutes, we're headed out to try and play 4 different 18 hole courses by the end of the day today.
We went to "bed" around midnight. Bed meaning really really old couches spread throughout the 3 floors of the house. I finally fell asleep around 2:30am. Woke up around 6:45am. I'm really exhausted, but ready to hit the courses!
These old campus houses are amazing. There's probably 3000 square feet of space in here. Room to sleep 30-40 if they wanted. Old, crooked, creaky hardwood floors. Huge back deck. Old tired walls filled with event flyers and student's favorite scripture verses written in Sharpie marker. Two kitchens, a wide open gathering room on the main floor. A dingy smelling basement with a warped floor and an old Nintendo 64 with some cool games like hockey and Mortal Combat 4. And it works. But there's only one full bathroom. And the toilet in it barely flushes. Definitely not a real livable house. But I don't think anyone actually lives in here, so I guess it doesn't really matter. Even so, as I sit here and type, it's almost like I can feel the ghost of a frustrated college student breathing on my neck, as if he thinks I'm writing an important term paper than he can copy verbatim and turn in to the professor before I do. Kind of gives me the old Blair Witch Project goose bumps. I think I'll go ahead and stop before an exorcism become necessary.
a reminder on how to live
On my friend Mark's blog, he's reminded us that it's been 10 years since the death of Rich Mullins. What a loss. This reminder has been bringing the homeless/poor community to the forefront of my mind. My wife recently - and probably for the first time ever - was compelled to help a homeless man she encountered. She bought him food from a drive-in and gave him some money. When she gave this to him, he simply yelled out something like "alright!" and took off running. She wasn't sure what to think about his reaction.
I recently got on the interstate when leaving work, and there was about a 25 year old guy on the exit. Looked more like a cross country hitcher than actually homeless. But he was holding one of those classic cardboard signs. Except his said, in really big letters, "I'm Nice".
Here's what I'm eventually trying to get to with this thought. I can't count how many times in my life I've thought how great it would be to live a life like Rich's life. Very few possessions, traveling the country, commonly befriending people in bars, choosing to live at times among the poorest of people. I'd always heard that Rich never really knew how much money he truly earned. Everything he earned went straight to his home church. Then, he instructed them to pay him as a salary each year the equivalent of what the median income of a single-income wage earner was in the US....which, in the 1990's, I remember hearing was about $25,000 yearly. He chose to live on $25,000 a year, simply so he could resist the pride, ego, and temptation that come with money. And so he could better identify with the common man.
I always thought that was incredible. For a long time, I really felt drawn toward a life of minimalism. Possibly the mission field in a poor area. Maybe working with some type of organization in poor areas of the US. The few times in my life that I've actually done something to truly serve the poor, it was so very gratifying.
I'm saddened of how things have changed. By how important money has become in my life...in my family's life. How Erin and I squabble about it, sometimes needlessly, mostly because of my issues. How I sometimes feel poor simply because the people I'm around at church or at work have nicer homes or more expensive vehicles than we do. It's so stupid and petty. Thinking about Rich's life and what his life meant to me has really got me thinking about how lucky and truly blessed I am. But also how I've done little to help those less fortunate. And that must change.
i'm a little behind
Sorry I haven't said much in the last week. I've been pretty good at posting regularly. However, I've been totally swamped. I've got more to do at work than I can even stomach thinking about. On top of that, I started getting sick on Monday. I worked late Monday, and 3 times before I left work, I was hugging the toilet trying to puke. When I'm sick, I usually feel better if I puke. But nothing...just a bunch of dry heaving. The whole way driving home I was praying that I wouldn't have to pull over to the side of the road. Thanks God. Missed work yesterday sick. Did nothing but lay in bed and on the couch from 7:00pm Monday night until 4:00pm Tuesday afternoon. Now back at work....and even more behind. Hence the lack of posting. And the lack of constructive thought.
Tomorrow after work, I'm heading out with some guys from church on a little 2 day disc golf trip through east Tennessee. I'm siked up, but I'm already preparing for the fact that my arm might practically fall off before we get back. I'm definitely packing lots of Ibuprofen. Wish me luck.
i'm confused
Do you, like me, get confused about consumer pricing? We're sort of taught to believe that as "technology" improves, the prices of things that technology is applied to goes down. TV's are a good example. New, advanced TV model comes out, and the TV is $5000.00. Technology improves, that same tv is $3000.00 a year later. More technology, and soon the TV is available for $1500.00.
Same thing with cell phones, right? Except that when NEW phones come out, they continually are higher in price than previous new models. Soon after that they're cheaper than the phone you bought 7 years ago that felt like a big remote control. So are they cheaper, or more expensive? Or both? My first nice cell phone in 2000 cost me about $125.00. The phone I have now is much nicer and only cost $50.00, but that's because it was on some sort of closeout special. The phone I liked would have cost about $50.00 IF I was a new subscriber, but was about $150.00 since I was only a renewing subscriber. That seems confusing too. Isn't it better to offer things to KEEP your subscribers, rather than to tick them off?
Technology has certainly improved the way automobiles have been built over the years. Countless workers are laid off because machines do the jobs they used to do. But auto prices keep going up each and every year. My first car - a 1987 Ford Escort - cost me $2300, had 60,000 miles when I bought it, and last me over 4 years. There's not a car out there for $2300 now that I would trust to drive across the street to Weigles. But doesn't the advances in factory technology make cars cheaper and faster to build?
And how is it that CD's are pretty much the same price they were 12 years ago? Or maybe even more expensive in some cases? Are the artists just making a ton more money off of CD sales than they used to, or does it really cost the same to make a CD as it did in 1992, when I picked up my first DC Talk cd..."Free at Last", for about $15.00?
I really just get the sense that it's all about greed. Apple charges $599 for a new phone, not because that's its true market value, but just because they can. My wife loves finding shirts on sale for $7.00 when they were originally $42.00. Doesn't that make you wonder about the actual value of a $42.00 shirt? When you go to that store in the mall and buy the $35.00 jeans, do you ever stop to think about the time 6 months ago when they were on sale for $18.00, and realize you might be getting jipped? Do you really wear them that much longer than you would a $14.00 pair of Wranglers from Walmart? And are they really made that differently to justify a 150% higher price?
It's gotten me to the point that I have little joy in buying things when, really, there used to be joy in the obtaining of something new. I can't stop wondering if it's worth it, and if it's 30% cheaper at the next store down the street. Problem is I don't want to take the time to drive down there and see. So I buy something I need just hoping it will last and praying I don't walk in a store 2 days later and see the same thing for less.
I'm going now. I want a hamburger. I just can't decide whether to get the $1.00 Double Cheeseburger, the $2.59 Single, the $3.39 Whopper with bacon, or just buy 4 patties from Krogers for $3.00 and actually invest the time and effort to cook them. Almost makes me not hungry anymore.
moving on...
Moving On. Our vacation was great. It was the first time since 2000 that either Erin or I had been to the ocean. We look forward to taking Eli on our next beach trip. Every time we saw other couples with kids on the beach, we missed him that much more.
Charleston, SC is a great place to go if you want to go to the beach, but don't really want to spend all day there. Downtown "historic" Charleston is basically a place you can walk around for 2-3 hours and get a glimpse of what colonial city living looked like 250 years ago. Some of the homes have literally existed that long. A downtown church that was commissioned in the 1750's actually has a cemetary in which two original signers of the Declaration of Independence were buried...and the original tombstones are still there. The folks who live in Charleston seem committed to keeping their city historic and beatifully asthetic.
Although the beach was great, I'm really still more of an outdoors/nature type of person. I hope in the years to come to visit Yellowstone, Alaska, Canada, Grand Canyon, Montana, Vermont in the fall, Niagra, etc. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
going dark...
I'm going dark for about 10 days. Vacation time.
You can read one of my very first posts for more details. I'm going to miss blogging while we're gone. I don't have a laptop, or web access on my phone, or an I-Phone, or enough desire to find some local Charleston library where I can log in and feed my blog addiction. So no new posts.
Please feel free to take this time to read all the old (well, all of 8 weeks old) stuff on here. If you haven't yet, you'll definitely get to know me better. Good thing? We'll see. Have a great labor day...and I'll see you on the 10th.
wanna see something a wii bit funny?
This trips me out. What you see here is my brother (forefront, long hair) and my brother-in-law (background, short hair) duking it out in a boxing match on the Nintendo Wii. This was the very first time I'd ever seen the Wii in action. It was hard to take the pictures because of how hard I was laughing. Once they got started, it was like no one else was even in the room. Don't even think about walking by them to get to the kitchen, or you were likely to get popped with a left hook. What an invention.
Oh, for the days of Frogger, 1942, Pong, and Mario Brothers. Wait. The Wii actually has Mario Brothers available. Except you actually have to "run" and "jump".
I'm breaking a sweat just typing about it. That's simply way too much work. Give me two buttons, an arrow pad, and some awesome-cool Zelda music anyday.
(oh yeah. these pictures were posted without permission. haha.)
the ridiculous english language
Seriously. Do you ever think (like I do) that sometimes the English language is just completely ridiculous? That we could eliminate half the words in the dictionary and no one would know the difference in everyday life?
Let me give you an example. Do you have any idea how many different terms there are to distinguish "groups of animals"? Because I only have so much time and so much space, let me just share a few.
Herd of Antelopes
Colony of Ants
Troop of Apes
Flutter of Butterflies
Caravan of Camels
Pack of Dogs
School of Fish
Stand of Flamingos (that one's funny)
Gaggle of Geese
Swarm of Gnats
Cloud of Grasshoppers
Bloat of Hippos (haha)
Stable of Horses
Exaltation of Larks (wonder what God thinks of that?)
Pride of Lions
Parliament of Owls (what?)
Team of Oxen
Bevy of Quail
Flock of Sheep
Flight of Swallows
Pod of Walruses
Wisdom of Wombats
You think I'm making this up, don't you? A wisdom of wombats? Yeah, right. Personally, I've never associated the wombat as being a wise creature. Could we not refer to all land living creates as herds? All flying creatures as flights? All water creatures as schools? Does it really have to be this complicated?
For those who still don't believe these are all true...Check out my source. It actually comes directly from the San Diego Zoo website. Prepare to be mesmerized.
elemental
Simply stated...I love the Honda Element. Love it. It's sporty, stylish, fairly fuel efficient, incredibly versatile, unique, different. I've gotten inside one and moved all the seats, pushed the buttons, opened the doors, run my hand along the rubber floor, salivated (accidentally, I promise) on the passenger seat. Say what you want about the looks...it is simply an amazing vehicle. Hopefully will be my next vehicle. Both back seats can be removed. Eli and I can go camping and not even sleep on the ground! Interior can be sprayed clean with a water hose!
Alas, times are hard. Money's tight. 3 year old sons love going to Dollywood, and mom/dad simply can't seem to avoid the temptation to eat dinner out at least twice a week.
Until then, I'll scoot along in my nice, cute, dependable 2002 Mazda Protege. LX model. Sunroof and alloy wheels. 5 speed manual. 79,586 miles. Been a good'in.
What vehicle would you like to be your next?
erin & i love to dance
Erin & I love to dance. Mostly spontaneously around the living room....and well, mostly just me. However, on a recent trip to Mexico, we learned to do the cucaracha. What a blast that was! Thought you guys might like to see us in action. Enjoy.
who says disc golf is a sissy sport?
Some of you who've read my recent disc golf addiction post are probably thinking, "wow you go out in a field and throw a frisbee, big deal". How wrong you are. There are many terrifying dangers in disc golf. Thorn bushes, throws across water, mosquitos, being embarrassed by far more talented teenage players, and (as you can see above) getting your disc stuck in a tree. In the last week, I've experienced all of these dangers, and I have the bruised ego and annoying scratches to prove it. A sissy sport? Yeah, right. Let's see Peyton Manning try it.
pumped about church
For the first time in years, I'm totally pumped up about going to church. I've either served at or regularly attended 8 churches in my lifetime. For the first time ever, I'm in a place where it's clear that the entire group of core members are all experiencing and chasing after the same God-inspired vision. And it's been amazing to see the results God has produced from this assembly of common purpose. The smiles, stories, tears, growth, hard work, sweat, worship, and teaching have all been infused and fleshed out with this purpose - "Helping People Find Their Way Back to God."
I'm excited to be a contributing member of an incredible team of servants. I'm thrilled that Eli loves to be there and began remembering his awesome teacher by name after only 2 visits. I'm proud of the growth and openness I've seen in Erin, and I'm so glad to know that she's going to be able to develop deep friendships and bonds with other amazing women.
Thank you God for inspiring a vision that became Crossings. And thank you Crossings for inspiring me.
disc golf addiction
I'm addicted to disc golf ... again. Took up the "sport" in 1999 as a complete novice, loved it, and played it ALL the time. Was pretty good, I guess. Got burned out, life changed, yada yada.
Went out again this past Sunday for the first time in years, and was embarrassed by some friends from church. They were good. I stunk it up. But it rekindled the flame. Bought 3 new discs on Monday, played Tuesday during lunch, played today during lunch. Already my old skills are coming back to me. It's awesome! Maybe Erin (my lovely wife) will let me play after work...and then maybe again this weekend. If I'm lucky, maybe she'll start using it as a way to shoo me away if she's mad at me for some reason..."I'm mad at you right now. Why don't you just go play disc golf or something!" On second thought, that may not be good logic.
Interested in playing? Check out this database of courses. I'm sure it's not 100% complete, but it lists over 2400 courses, so maybe there's one near you! In a way, it's kind of like tennis....all you'll need to do is invest about $30.00 in 3-4 discs, and go play as much as you want. It's great. (yeah, right) Seriously, go find some discs. You'll thank me. (you do realize all it is..) Yes, I know it consists of throwing weird, hard plastic discs at chain linked baskets. If you haven't tried it, you just don't understand. (yeah, just like I don't understand soccer or hockey or Big Brother 8 on CBS) Fine. I get your point.
flip flops, birkenstocks, and Jesus sandals
On Friday night I was visiting my wife at the store where she works part time. It's in a mini-mall shopping center. Right next door to the store is a higher-priced Mexican restaurant. It didn't open until 7:00pm. At about 6:45pm, there were 30 people gathered outside the restaurant, and they were divided up into about 4-5 different social groups. Not a big deal, really. Friday night. Popular restaurant. People ready to eat. Some in their 20's, 30's, 40's and 50's. So why did it catch my eye?
Because every single person was wearing flip flops or sandals.
There wasn't a sock in the group. All 300 toes were visible. There were cheap plastic flip flops, leather flip flops, Teva sandals, Birkenstocks, flip flops (think American Eagle) that looked ratted and torn, buckle strap sandals, velcro strap sandals, you name it. Now, I'm sure at least one of these patrons was suspicious of me as I stood behind the storefront glass window and creepily counted people while starting at their feet. But that's the cost of trying to come up with good blog ideas.
Remember growing up when having cool sneakers was a big deal? Today, EVERYONE is wearing flip flops and sandals practically all the time. Toddlers, teens, young adults, you name it. They're worn in the workplace, at church, in restaurants, at amusement parks.
I did a little research to find out how long this trend has been around. After Googling long and hard, I found some amazing results........They've been worn since the beginning of time. Yep. Adam, Eve, Moses, Abraham, David, Isaac, Solomon. All flip flop and sandal wearers. Something about the desert and sand. Apparently fashion colored leather and matching shoestrings were a little hard to come by back then. I think Jesus wore sandals too.
So really, when you boil it down, I guess we're all just being responsible, biblically-minded individuals when we slide our beautiful feet into those $3.00 Old Navy flip flops. I wonder if it makes Jesus smile to know that we've all walked a mile in His shoes?
the evolution of my weight
I'm 5'10" tall and roughly 185lbs. I'm not technically overweight. I just feel like it. My back has started bothering me over the last couple of years. I have little stamina. I'm tired of buying larger sizes of pants and shorts. Truth be told, I'm actually at the upper end of the "normal" weight for someone of my height. But consider this:
- When I graduated high school in 1994, I weighed about 130 lbs.
- When I graduated college in 1998, I weighed about 150 lbs.
- In 2001, I weighed about 160 lbs.
- In 2005, I weighed about 170 lbs.
- Today, I typically weigh in anywhere from 182 - 188 lbs.
I would desperately like to hover around 165. There are a few problems. First, since I was 4 years old my dad has worked for Keebler (Yes, that Ernie the Elf. And yes, a long time ago my dad actually had a Ernie the Elf costume. The head on that thing was huge.). So my ENTIRE life growing up I ate free cookies - especially Soft Batch cookies. So I really enjoy snacking on sweets. Second, for as long as I can remember, I've enjoyed drinking Coke, Mountain Dew, Mellow Yellow, Dr Pepper, etc. And I cannot stand the taste of Diet drinks. Third, I've never really enjoyed exercising. Running to me is incredibly boring. I've only had a gym membership for about 6 months in my life. I have little will power to do push ups and sit ups at home.
So, I'm prayerfully trying to consider what to do to get in better shape. I know I need to drink more water and less soda. I'm trying. I sort of like water. But when it starts to warm to room temperature, it tastes worse and worse. I can definitely start eating smaller portions at meals. Surely I can cut out some of the snacking.
But I'm open to ideas. I'm definitely not interested in Atkins, South Beach, Nutri System, Weight Watchers, or any other "program". I will not take any type of diet pills. But in the way of exercise, accountability options, meal ideas, and so forth, I'm more than willing to give some ideas a shot. I want to lose weight, but I want to do it sensibly. Any suggestions?
the communion table
This past weekend in Kentucky, we attended the church where my brother-in-law serves as the Associate Minister / Youth Minister. It's in a town of about 12,000 people. Growing church, looks like they have about 350 in attendance each week. Good worship, different instruments, family life center, working on renovating the sanctuary (which definitely gives you that old-time feel). It was great getting to attend.
outta here...
I'm outta here for 2 days...heading to Nashville for a national promotional products show. Seminars, networking, and checking out 1000's of new products available to the industry.
Has everyone seen this x-games skateboard fall from last week? Unreal. The guy freakin walked away. Wow.
take me out to the ballgame
Last night Eli & I went to a Tennessee Smokies baseball game (AA affiliate for the Cubs). Eli actually got to throw out one of the first pitches - although the friend from work using my camera didn't get a shot of the actual throw. Eli actually threw the ball from about 10 feet in the front of the pitchers mound, and it made it all the way to the catcher on a straight line, about half in the air and half way on the ground. It's really a fantastic ballpark for a AA team. We left after the 6th inning, although we probably only watched about 1 inning of actual baseball. Sort of a slow game for a 3 year old to focus on, I guess.
soon to be an uncle
I'm an oldest child. I'm 31. I have a 26 year old sister, an 18 (19 in 3 weeks) year old brother, and a 16 year old sister. In about 6 weeks, I'll be an uncle for the first time...and thankfully, not because of the 18 or the 16 year old sibling! My sister Kari and her husband Rodney are due with their first child in September...quite possibly on the same day as her own birthday.
if only i had $400.00...
I miss Conan. I've gone to bed so early for the last 3 years, I never watch him anymore.
you should rent this...
Anyone have Blockbuster online? It's fantastic. For about $16.00 a month, we get 2 online rentals out at a time. Then, when done with those, we turn them in at the store and exchange them for new releases. The store mails the online dvd's back to the warehouse. Once it's back at the warehouse, they send out the next one on my list. We end up receiving roughly 10 movies a month...and that's just because we don't have enough time to watch any more than that. Mainly because we're both entrenched in adult/parenthood and go to bed by about 10:00 every night. But, since we don't have cable tv (yes, there are people who exist without cable), this is actually a decent alternative at 1/3 the price.
Anyway, my online queue is currently loaded with stand up comedy dvd's, which you simply can't find in the stores. You should check out this Jim Gaffagin dvd if you can. I've linked it to the Blockbuster online page if you're a member. It's an hour long, really really funny, clean, and part of his routine at the end is about Jesus and could be cut and used in a church service.
This is way off subject, but does anyone else seem to go through MASSIVE amounts of toilet paper at home and not understand how or why? It seems like we buy a mega 24 roll pack every 4 weeks...and it always seems like it should last about 3-4 months. Am I really that wasteful?
Random Thoughts & Questions
I think about things way too much. I'm very analyitcal, and usually too critical. I find it difficult to just be "in the moment" at any time or any situation. When I'm in public, I feel like I'm some CIA operative, always looking around, checking out the surroundings, casing the other people, looking for things out of place, stuff like that. I ask lots of questions (in my mind, not too often aloud) about how things work, why things are the way they are, how something came to be over time. There are ways in which this trait helps me in life, ways in which it hinders. Because of that, I'll probably post the occasional blog that just gets some weird thoughts off my mind. Here's a few things brewing in there recently:
In the last few weeks at a theme park in Louisville, a 13 year old girl's feet were sliced off by a loose cord on one of those "free fall" rides. Within a few days of that incident, a rollercoaster in Dollywood just stopped with people stuck on a hill in the middle of the ride for about 3 hours. Last year (or maybe 2 years ago) on a ride in Pigeon Forge, someone died when they fell from the ride. These kinds of things happen pretty much every year at theme parks across America, yet it seems to phase no one. People still flood the parks, wait in long lines, and ride the rides again and again. Yet, if 3 people get sick somewhere because of something in a jar of peanut butter, every jar is pulled from the shelves nationwide and no one will buy that brand again.
Lexus just introduced a car that parallel parks for you. Is this for real? If the car makes a mistake and runs into another car, who's at fault? Will Lexus pick up the insurance bill? I actually have a good idea for them. Why not put a button inside the car that causes all four tires to turn 90 degrees in one direction. Another button would indicate the direction of travel. It would only function if the car was first placed in park. Upon switching the gear to drive, you could then drive your car sideways in one direction. Then you just line up to the open space, turn the wheels sideways, and ease in. Pretty soon there'll be cars that sense you're coming and swing the door open for you automatically. Personally, I'd like to own one with robotic cleaning arms that drop from the ceiling every time Eli decides to spill his food or drink all over the seat.
How much longer until hard currency (pennies, nickels, dollar bills, checks) are no longer in existence? Cards have been in use for years. Thumbprint payment is right around the corner. Not far down the road is retina recognition, so you'll just walk in a store, get what you need, walk out, and the computers do the calculating for you. The disappearance of currency will be sad. I'll no longer have change weighing my pockets down and driving me crazy. My wallet (normally full of nothing but ones and lots of grocery discount cards) may actually fit in my back pocket without stretching it.
But then I won't have anything to hide in my fingers and "magically" pull out of my son's ear. No worries though. By that time, he'll be riding virtual reality roller coasters that are even better then real ones, and driving hover-cars powered by outlawed peanut butter.
The old "quarter in the ear" trick probably won't be as impressive.
Sicko - An Angry Review
Last Friday night my wife and I saw the movie Sicko, by filmmaker Michael Moore. I really did not know what to expect from this movie. I only know that I really enjoyed Bowling for Columbine and Farenheit 9/11, and was willing to see whatever new movie he released. In fact, from the billboards and the title, I really thought this movie would be another "Bush Bashing" or "Administration Bashing" type of movie.
I was surprised to see it really focuses on an incredibly important issue...healthcare. The movie is not about Republicans or Democrats, nor does it delve deeply into who's to blame for our nation's healthcare debacle. It simply makes a very strong point...many other countries in our world provide FREE, universal healthcare to ALL of it's citizens. Why can't we?
I don't care if you personally don't like Michael Moore. This is one documentary you need to see. It's gotten consistently strong reviews as a movie. You can check out this one from Rolling Stone magazine, or this one from EOnline, or this one from the Boston Globe. What you'll find in most reviews are people saying this is probably Moore's best overall movie to date. He tones down the political rhetoric and really focuses on the issue at hand. Sure, he over-emotionalizes a little, and stretches a point or two a little to far. But the movie is funny, maddening, serious, emotional, and somtimes truly unbelievable.
Here's the hard part. The movie really, really has got me ticked off. I don't want to give up too much subject matter, because you need to see it for yourself. But here's the kicker: Canada - FREE healthcare for everyone. Great Britain - FREE healthcare for everyone. France - FREE healthcare for everyone. Cuba - FREE healthcare for everyone. Moore shatters some preconceived notions that Americans have about the universal systems. "Doctor's make little money in universal healthcare" (wrong). "The quality of care is just not as good" (wrong). "You have to wait forever to get anything taken care of" (wrong).
In probably the most talked about part of the movie, Moore actually takes a group of sick Americans - some of whom are suffering because of their involvement in the 9/11 clean up and rescue missions - to Cuba. While there, these people receive totally free healthcare services and free prescription medications. One women breaks down crying when she receives several boxes of a respiratory medicine for free....the same medicine she has to pay $100's of dollars for in America.
So why am I ticked off? (I hope no one from some secret government search engine reads this) I'm ticked off because this movie has really added to my dislike of the country in which I live. I've begun to wonder (and not only because of Sicko) whether America is really the nation in which we are expected to believe it is. It's the "land of the free", but there are many free industrialized nations in our world now. Is America really that much better of a place to live than Canada, England, France, Italy, or Australia? Would it not be a stetch to say that in many industrialized nations, people probably actually have MORE freedoms than we do?
Capitalism used to be a term that would invoke pride in Americans. We all have the opportunity to do well in life because of the opportunities capitalism provides. But isn't capitalism now polarizing and in some ways destroying our nation? Every year, the majority of Americans who declare bankruptcy do so because they cannot pay their medical bills.
In Sicko, Moore goes to a pharmacy in Great Britain. In Great Britain, at every pharmacy, no matter what medicine you purchase, it costs 6 pounds, or roughly $10.00. ANY medicine. Doesn't matter if it's 30 pills or 90 pills, ibuprofen, viagra, or amoxicillin, the prescription costs $10.00. A heart medicine that would cost a senior citizen $200.00 to buy here....$10.00 there. How's that for capitalism? Here's a country we consider to be an ally, possibly even a contemporary. And if you live there, you pay NO medicals costs (ever), and any prescription you need costs $10.00. Here, hundreds of thousands of people go bankrupt each year because of these same needs.
As you can see, I'm mad. I often joke with my wife about moving to Canada. I'm always half-joking and half-serious. Of course, it would be difficult to do, since ALL of our family are in the Kentucky/Tennessee area, and we would have no jobs lined up. But there are so many times when I wish we had the courage to just do it. It seems to me that America has devolved into a place controlled by egotistical power, political polarization, greed, money, fear, endless laws, and even manipulative suppression. It's where I live. I'm pretty confident it's where I'll always live. But it's become almost impossible for me to take pride in that fact, and Sicko is just a small part of it.
Freedom Weekend
My weekend...
Friday night: Went out to eat with Erin at Chili's. She ordered me some type of Jamaican drink that was okay. I got a little buzz from one drink, and I was done. Went to see the Michael Moore movie Sicko. Sometime this week I'll probably expand more on this movie. For now, let me just say that I believe you should all go see it. It's incredibly eye-opening. Got home around 1:00am.
Saturday: Erin had to work. Took Eli to Big Ridge State Park and played in the sand, on the playground, and drove around looking at the camping areas. Next we went to Norris Dam state park and walked in a creek and did some sightseeing. After returning home and napping, we met mom and went to Chuck E Cheese for dinner...what a crazy, hectic place! Then, before it was dark, we went to Victor Ashe park and had some more playground fun.
Sunday: Church in the morning at Crossings. While loading up the trailers after the service, some type of block of wood fell off of a cart and popped me on the top of my head. The wound BLED LIKE CRAZY. My face looked like some guy at the end of an Ultimate Fighting Championship match. The whole left side of my face was covered in blood, my hands were completely red, there are droplets all over the sidewalk outside of the theater where we meet. It was unbelievable. Thanks to Dustin, Stephanie, Betsy, and anyone else I didn't get to see who immediately rushed to help me. I'm okay now, although there's a pretty good "boo boo" on my head. My son has been so concerned with my boo boo, it almost makes me cry. Anyways...later that afternoon I took him to another park/playground close to where we live. Watched the movie Shooter. Decent movie.
Watch later this week for my Sicko review.
My Chains Are Gone
Just over 7 years ago I committed a criminal offense. I did it. It was horrible, wrong, shameful, terrible, hideous, etc. I've never denied my guilt. Just under 7 years ago I was placed under arrest at about 11:30pm after having driven from Detroit, Michigan all the way to Knoxville to meet with police personnel. I spent the night in jail. My good friend bailed me out around 9:00am the next morning.
Exactly 6 years ago, I was sentenced to 6 years of enhanced probation with the state of TN. Today, that sentence has expired. The words that keep popping in my head are the refrain of Chris Tomlin's new version of Amazing Grace..."my chains are gone, I've been set free, my God my Savior, has ransomed me."
Ultimately, sin is sin. Lying...sin. Stealing...sin. Envy...sin. Pornography...sin. Mistreatment of others...sin. Lust...sin. All sin has a cost. Some more than others. Some may cost more here on earth, all will cost us in eternity. We will account for our sin. We will be rewarded because of our righteousness.
This is going to be pretty "rough", because I don't have much time....but I'd like to give a brief overview of what my criminal act of sin has cost me in the last 7 years. Here it goes:
- Approximately $16,000 in fines, misc fees, and legal fees.
- Approximately $30,000 in lost wages.
- Completed 576 hours of fairly grueling community service work.
- Attended about 175 group counseling sessions, totalling about 250-300 hours.
- Submitted to 9 polygraph tests over 5 years.
- For the first 19 months of my son's life, I was not allowed to care for him by myself.
- For the next 12 months of his life, I was only allowed to care for him by myself while my wife was at work.
- Almost all of my immediate family live in Kentucky, about 3 hours away. In the last 5 years, because of travel restrictions, I've been to Kentucky a grand total of 1 time.
- Because of the above restriction, my parents (and brother/sisters) have probably driven to Knoxville at least 12-15 times in the last 3 years to visit, often spending the night on our living room floor and spending who knows how much in gas and food money.
- Summer of 2004 - was forced to move residences within 1 weeks time.
- Numerous lost friendships and relationships.
- Until today, I have not worn shorts in public in almost 2 years. This because I've had to wear a "box" on my belt and a bracelet on my ankle since September 2005.
- Went through a significant period of time when I wondered if I would ever attend a church again.
I'm sure there's more I could add to this list. But you get the point. You do bad things, you suffer bad consequences. Thank God for watching over me all this time. Thank God for my wife who's loved me throughout. Thank God for my family (including in-laws) that have supported me and done whatever needed when we were in a pickle. Thank God for some of you reading this who've remained loyal friends. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I hope this helps shed some light on the name of my blog...Life Recaptured.
4 Days To Freedom
Hell Week is almost half way over. Yesterday, I arrived at Crossings at 7:00am to help set up for the service. We were set up by about 9:30am. Stayed for about half the service - which was great. I really love hearing how loud and joyous the people there worship. It's such a rush. Left halfway through to go to Sea Ray. Was there with 4 other co-workers setting up our merchandise room until 7:00pm. LONG day.
Good news is I'm only 4 days away from freedom...in more ways than one. I'll explain more in a few days.
Until then, I'm off to begin another 12 hour work day.
Be Good (Rich Mullins once signed a hat for me with those words...I miss him).
Hell Week
I'm in the middle of Hell Week at work. Barely time to think or breathe. Major headache when I went home yesterday. From yesterday (Wednesday) through next Friday, I'll probably be working about 90 hours. Hard to explain....our company does tons of merchandising for Sea Ray boats. I run a retail website for Sea Ray merchandise. You can check it out at www.searaywearables.com. In the next week, there are 3 major events at Sea Ray's corporate location - including 2 days in which every Sea Ray dealership owner/president in the entire world will converge in Knoxville. We're running full-blown merchandise displays and selling stuff at all 3 events.
So, I'll be (already am) spending a tremendous amount of time prepping product, doing price tags, creating orders, loading a giant truck with tons of display equipment and product. We'll set up a display Friday night, run it Saturday, tear it down. Re set up an even larger product display on Sunday, run it Monday and Tuesday, then tear it down. Then set up yet another one on Wednesday, run it on Thurdsday, then tear it down. Then everything comes back to our main location on Friday, at which point we have to unload the entire truck, put everything back in trailers, count every single merchandise item back into inventory, etc, etc, etc.
Anywho. Let's just say I'm stressed out, and the week is just beginning. In the words of one of most classic and cherished Michael W. Smith songs...so incredible that it made his 1st decade best of album..."Pray For Me".
Surprised By Bob Dylan
My friend Greg has been a Bob Dylan fan for a long time. I'm pretty sure he has every single album Dylan ever made. I remember about 8 years ago borrowing a CD from him, cuz I don't think I'd ever listened to Dylan before in my life.
I took the CD home. Listened to about 4 songs. Hated it....brought it back. Boring music. Annoying voice. Harsh harmonica sounds. Hated it.
For the last several months, I've been listening almost exclusively to either worship music or talk radio when driving. That's pretty much it. There's really been no music otherwise that has really pulled me in or interested me in any way. I find that sad, so I've been considering trying listening to some "classic" type stuff....Lynard Skynard, Beatles, Steely Dan, Eric Clapton, The Who, Pink Floyd, Eagles, Paula Abdul, you get the point....just to see what I maybe have been missing out on my whole life.
Well, yesterday my family and I were at McKay's - the greatest used book/dvd/cd store probably in existence - and I decided for some reason to buy a scratched Bob Dylan greatest hits CD for about $5.00. Listened to the whole thing yesterday in my car.....and absolutely loved it. I can't explain it. Makes no sense. I can hardly understand a lot of what he's singing. The harmonica sounds out of tune. Some songs are nothing more than guitar and a tamborine. But it's raw, real, emotional, and the lyrics I can decipher have deep meaning and texture to them. I loved it. Listened to it almost all the way through again on my way to work today.
So, if anyone's actually reading my blog (all 3 of you?), maybe you can suggest to me some music that I should try. I can usually find things at McKay's pretty cheap, even if not on the first try. I'm definitely not looking for weird, enigmatic, new age type of stuff. It can be from the 60', 70's, 80's, 90's, this year....whatever. My cd's at home have been collecting dust, and I simply need a new outlook on music. It's either that, or I stick with talk radio.
Planet Earth
The only time I've ever had cable tv in my life was in college...and that's because my roomate's mom paid for it. Never had it before, never since. We currently enjoy "10 channel cable" at our home, which costs about $11.00 a month. As such, I miss out on some great stuff like the History Channel, FX, ESPN, and The Discovery Channel. Lucky for us, Erin's mom was enthralled with the recent "Planet Earth" series on Discovery Channel, and bought the entire DVD set.
Last night, we watched the first two episodes, entitled "Pole to Pole" and "Mountains."
Freaking Amazing.
Seriously - somebody should use these DVD's as an evangelistic outreach tool. The Earth is truly unbelievable. The hand of God created it. The Bible even says that if you have seen creation, you have seen God and have full evidence to believe in Him.
We still have roughly 9 hours of watching left to do, and I cannot begin to describe how awestruck I was at what we saw. The perfection of the Earth's location in relation to the Sun. Mating habits of rare tropical birds. African hunting dogs that show incredible tactical abilities in hunting their prey. The northern lights. More than 1 million caribou migrating in a single herd across northern Canada.
If you can, you must see this series. Your faith will be strengthened. If you have doubts about God and His power, your eyes may be opened.
Vacations and Sparklers
I just found out this week that I'll be going on my first actual vacation in over 7 years. Truly exciting! This is not to say I haven't had "vacation days" to enjoy in that time, just that I've not actually taken a full week of vacation and gone somewhere special since 2000. Crazy, huh?
My wife and I have both taken off the week of Labor Day in September. We're going to Folly Island (about 20 minutes from Charleston, SC) for about 5 days and using her dad's Holiday Inn reward points to stay for FREE. Her parents will be keeping Eli for us. This will actually be Erin and mine's first actual trip together of any kind (other than Gatlinburg ... which doesn't count) since we were married....call it our belated honeymoon if you will. I'm pretty pumped up. The rest of our days off that week will be spent doing stuff with Eli - we'll probably go to Dollywood, IMAX in Chattanooga, the Zoo, stuff like that.
Eli held a lighted sparkler last night for the first time and totally loved it. You know, when you're 3 years old and about 38" tall, a flaming sparkler can be pretty darn scary, ya know? I'm not even crazy about holding them at 31 yrs and 70" tall. Those stupid sparks always land on my arm and freak me out. That's a reasonable price for celebrating freedom, I guess.
Is There Anybody Out There?
Does anyone still listen to the band Burlap to Cashmere? To my knowledge, they released one full length album about 8 years ago, and that's it. The album was great! I actually got to see them live in Nashville at a convention....incredible live performance!!
Then, they were gone. I haven't heard about them since. One of their hit songs off this lone album was entitled "Is There Anybody Out There?". It's pretty self explanatory. They ask is anyone out there? Can anybody see? Is there really someone looking over someone like me?
Well, this is my first blog entry ever. The first time I even began reading other people's blogs was about 1 month ago. I'm definitely a newbie. But man is it addictive! Everyone is connected to everyone else. You keep going from blog to blog to blog and an hour has gone by before you know it. I'm actually wondering right now whether anyone out there will even read this entry. The idea of blogging seems pretty cool, and possibly quite therapeutic, but I fully realize the possiblity that this could end up being more of a diary than a real blog. We'll see. I'll try to be faithful nonetheless.
In regards to my blogspot title....I've been through a time in my life where all seemed lost. Down the road, I may expand more on this. But for now, let me just say that a few short years ago I experienced a time in my life that felt much like "hell on earth." I wondered what life could possibly have to offer in the future. I never once considered taking my life, but I did consider the possiblity of packing my suitcase and taking off to who knows where and trying to disappear. Thankfully, God has seen me through. I am now beginning to experience "Life Recaptured", and it's great. I'm actually excited again to see where the road ahead may lead. If I'm lucky, maybe a few of you out there will be able to experience it with me.