can you count?

Can you count the piercings?

I'm hearing this may be the new look for "contemporary" worship leaders in the next 7-10 years.

the many faces of eli

Our son turned 4 years old this week.

He's a great kid. Funny, smart, moody, caring, curious, engaging.


And a total goof ball.

poor easter bunny

Poor Easter bunny. He/she just doesn't get the kinda love that Santa does. No letters from kids. No movies about him. No cookies and milk waiting by the fireplace. No sitting in his lap asking for certain things...why would you, when you already know he's just gonna give you candy.

Of course, who doesn't wanna get em some candy?

what's your voting criteria?

This picture was taken at a Batesville, Mississippi muffler shop:

So, what criteria do you use in determining who you vote for?

you tube addiction

Have you given thought to what we would do....we, the blogging, internet dependent nation of clones...if You Tube had never come along?

What would we laugh about? Would our senses of humor have ceased to evolve? How many posts could we possibly come up with on our own? How would we watch things - like the slam dunk contest or a series of Tiger Wood's Top 10 shots - that we either don't have access to or are not able/willing to pay for? What would we do when we get bored at work? Have we forgotten that there was once a time when people truly worked at least 8 hours each day?

I love reading things like, "I was doing some research the other day, and I came across this video on You Tube." Isn't that at least a little like saying, "I needed some insight on America's unhealthly love of sports, so I spent the day playing basketball on my X-Box."

Don't get me wrong. I'm guilty too. But it almost feels like I took a nap and woke up and suddenly You Tube ruled the world. And we're all willing servants in its widespread rule.

"practice?"

Remember this? It's still hilarious 6 years later.

the turn or burn truck

I work in west Knoxville. Once you get off the interstate, you turn right onto Lovell Road, go about 100 yards, then turn right again onto the road on which my place of work is located - Lexington Drive.

For about 2-3 months now, for various periods of 3-4 days at a time, the "Turn or Burn" truck has been parked in a vacant lot on the corner of Lovell and Lexington. This morning, I finally took pictures of it. I wanted to share it with you.

This is what you see when you make the turn onto Lexington:

Then, if you're coming from Lexington back to Lovell, here is what you see:

Let's point out some interesting things. First, do you see the 4 images of the little frowning dude burning in hell? That's sad. Second, who among you has ever though of Jesus as standing in flames, holding what looks to be a bottle of ketchup, with a blacked out face and huge white hands? Also, on the bottom right corner of the truck in the first image, it pretty much insists that I read Matthew - Revelations TODAY. I'm sorry, I love God, I'm a pretty good reader, and am trying to read the Bible more often, but I'm not sure if I can possibly read all of that in one day. I simply just cannot read that much in one sitting. Who took the time and spent the money to make this truck a reality? Do they believe they're doing good? Do they truly believe it will save the lives of those who read it? It's much more likely to cause a traffic accident (it's at a busy intersection with a traffic light) than to save a soul. But is it better than doing nothing at all, which is what I too often do? I just don't know.

dissed by my sis...

Kaly - my 16 year old sister - just dissed me. On this blog. A couple of weeks ago, I offered this post. It was a challenge to think, if someone said, "That's just (your name) being (your name)" ... what would that entail about you? I offered some thoughts of what it might mean if someone were to say, "That's just Jason being Jason."

Yesterday, my loving sister commented on this. Here were her thoughts....about me.

"He's just congratulated me on a new album, or tried to convince me that i look like avril lavigne"
"He's just given you all the information you could ever want on a topic"
"He's just thrown a frisbee on grandma's roof"
"He's just decided to give brandon (our 19 yr old brother) an n'sync calendar for christmas, or maybe even a cardboard cutout of michael jackson"

hahaha yeahhh...

Ok, I get it. Very funny. Veerryy funny.

Yes, I do weird things sometimes. I did give my brother an n'sync calendar for Christmas once, when he was about 17. It was funny. Kaly laughed, if I remember.

Yes, I do randomly send them postcards with Missouri landscapes and write messages that say things like, "I saw the trees on this postcard, the way they stood there, round and brown and still and perfectly spaced apart, and they reminded me of you. Love, Jason". Is that so odd?

Yes, I did mail Kaly a cutout picture of a model from a Marie Claire catalog (that did look like her - and Avril Lavigne) and congratulated her on her new modeling career, expressed confusion as to why she didn't tell me about it, and wished her good luck. Humorous, right?

Yes, I used to collect barf bags from airplanes, and mail them to people I knew when they were sick with notes inside that said, "thought you could use this...hope you get better."

You can actually mail a barf bag just like it is....as long as you tape up the open end. You can also mail McDonald's french fry boxes...put a note in the open end, fold over the arched top, tape it up, write address on the box, apply a stamp...and it mails just fine. Done this several times.

So, to my wonderful sister, who could actually pass as Avril's little sister...and who is capable of temper fits that rival any hollywood celebrity...and who likes dating boys with car names (Bentley, Tacoma, and 525i to name a few)...and who used to run out to my car excitedly when I used to come home from college to visit...and who is anxious to pursue a career in dermatology, where she is destined to invent a creme that makes freckles disappear, unless applied unevenly, which would then cause them to turn purple...I say "nice dis".

a case of blogger's block

I don't really know what to write about. When I entered the blogosphere, I sort of made a commitment to myself that I would be honest, free my mind, and try my hardest not to go more than 3-4 days without a new post....the exceptions coming when I'm out of town and have no computer access.

But I'm starting to find it more difficult to come up with interesting things to write about. Almost like all my best thoughts and ideas have already spilled out, and there's nothing left, which leaves me feeling much less introspective and insightful than I thought that I was.

Sometimes I'm not sure whether to blog about things going on in my life, or stick more to random thoughts/questions that I have about life, religion, people, the universe, etc. I don't really want this blog to be a "diary", but when I have nothing deeper to offer, it's just easier to talk about going to the bounce house or taking a vacation.

So please hang with me as I attempt to think harder, delve deeper, search my soul, and continue to offer new posts, even if they're not all terribly funny and thought provoking (not that they all were to begin with).

In the meantime, check out this meaningless, but funny, picture:

being a dad

There's nothing like being a dad. For the longest time, I really thought I would never have children. I pretty much thought I'd live life as a bachelor, doing what I wanted, traveling, etc. And granted, Eli was not actually planned. But neither was I. And I'm glad I'm alive.

I never slept as little as I did his first 2 weeks of life. It was horrible. Erin was not able to do much after a c-section, and every night, every 2 hours, it was me and Eli on the rocking chair in the living room, me singing make believe songs in his ear, with lyrics like, "please go to sleep and daddy will spoil you forever", and "God loves it when we sleep".

It wasn't too long before he started to be fun! Learning to talk, crawling and walking, realizing when he did things that were funny and then doing them again. Eating on his own, recognizing things like animals, cars, and balls. It was amazing. As a parent, you pretty much think you're child is the only one in the world learning these things at such a young age. It's so fulfilling.

It wasn't too long before he started getting an attitude. Refusing to do things. Saying no all the time. Not eating something he didn't like. Laying on the floor and pouting. Fake crying. Not wanting to go to bed. I'm not sure where "Terrible Two's" came from, but it's not entirely true. Our 3rd year has been the rough one. He's too smart now. He knows how to manipulate. He understands emotions. He's stubborn and sometimes refuses to give in, regardless of the punishment. He's pretty much been poddy trained for about 6 months, but still gives in sometimes, even though he knows it's yucky and will make mom and dad upset. We've had to start an "Eli Bank" just to start rewarding him again for successful pooping, because he was having a really rough stretch for about a month.

But I can't wait to see him every morning. And each evening. Going to do things together is so much fun....Dollywood, hayrides at the corn maze, Happy meals, shopping at Walmart, the bounce house, playgrounds. He's learning to ride a big wheel...his legs are finally long enough. He's so much fun, he's becoming more thoughtful and polite, he learns things every day that I often don't even realize until he springs them on me days later. His vocabulary continues to grow. His bad days are pretty bad, but the good days are so so so so good.

Like I said, there's nothing like being a dad. And I thank God everyday that I got to be one.

And, yes, I'm aware that his shirt is on backwards in the picture. But he likes to put it on "by himself." Who am I to stop him?