Conspiracy in the sky

Saturday as I was driving down the highway, I noticed these clouds.



Now, one might assess that they are contrails from aircraft as I was near the busiest airport in the world. But who are we kidding, we all know they are chemtrails.

[cue coast to coast intro]

Song of the week

I love this song.

Guy Forsyth's If I was sick

A day in West Virginia

This past Sunday I was traveling back from Ohio with my girlfriend. Our travel took us through West Virginia. Not being in a rush, we spent a few additional hours exploring the state. Our first stop, Charleston to see the Capitol.

We parked to the east of the capitol and both my companion and I needed to use the facilities. A public building like the capitol seemed as good as any place to find a restroom.

Parking on the side of the building, we came first to the side entrance.



The side entrance to the capitol was locked.

We followed the sidewalk around to the front. We found a statue of General Stonewall Jackson along the way.



At last we came to the front of the building and the statue, Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight.



All the doors to the capitol were secured and we had to go to the Exxon nearby to find a restroom.

Our next stop was the New River Gorge Bridge. We took US 60 and WV 16 to get there. It was a beautiful drive.

Arriving at US 19, we turned north to cross the gorge.

The bridge doesn't seem too exciting from the car.



You would have no idea you are driving over this.



We pulled into the Visitor Center and checked out the exhibits, as well as the observation decks. They have one by the Center for looking down the gorge, as well as a walkway leading to great views of the bridge.





The bridge replaced the Fayette Station Bridge which is visible down in the gorge.



Speaking of Fayette, did you know Fayetteville, WV is the coolest small town? It says so on the sign!



Of course driving through West Virginia, we sang some John Denver!

I forgive you

It is rare that we say the words, "I forgive you." We are certainly familiar with the words, but how often do we use them? When someone wrongs us, sometimes they apologize for their actions. Our usual response is "it's OK." No it isn't! It isn't OK! If it was OK there would have been no need for them to apologize! They are apologizing because they wronged us and when we says "it's OK," or "no worries," we are acting as if they never wronged us in the first place.

Try to say "I forgive you" the next time someone apologizes. The meaning behind it is much different. We aren't excusing the actions, we are acknowledging the actions, accepting the offender's apology, and no longer holding the action against them. We are forgiving, not excusing.

Try it!

Love and sorrow in Pensacola

I was in Pensacola, Florida for the night last night. The highlight of my visit was getting to go to Whataburger for breakfast. Living in a state that doesn't have Whataburger, it is a big deal to get to go to one when the opportunity arises. That opportunity was this morning.

I had a Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit for breakfast. I cried tears of joys.

I read the ketchup package that said "MFG for Whataburger San Antonio, Texas." I cried tears of sorrow.

My love of Whataburger was slightly tarnished when they left Corpus Christi and moved the headquarters to San Antonio. But the shine returned as I bit into the HBCB, with honey butter dripping off my chin and oozing off my fingers. Oh the goodness of Whataburger.

Momentous Moments

I missed two momentous moments in my life the other day. One, my truck turned 90,000 miles. Two, I turned 10,000 days. How could I have missed such important milestones?

Time Machine

The Internet Archive has a program called the Wayback Machine. Using the Wayback Machine, you can view how websites looked in the past when the machine cataloged the pages. I find the news websites to be the most interesting, to see what the headlines were on a specific day, especially since I know how the story turns out.

Today I was looking for a file on my computer when I came across an old profile that was setup on my computer when I first got it. When I first got my computer, it had Windows XP home addition. I had bought Windows XP Professional for the computer I had prior to this one so I thought I would just upgrade it. It seemed like an easy process until I executed it. I put the CD in the computer and said "upgrade." The computer said that since the version already installed was newer than the "upgrade" it would have to erase the OS and reinstall the new one. I said, sure! What's the worst that can happen?

Well, the worst that could happen was the OS was deleted and all my drivers were gone for my computer. The computer didn't come with restore CD's, instead it recommended using Windows Restore. Well, that doesn't work well when you erased the OS! Dell offered to fix the problem for a subscription fee of around $100 and Microsoft left me on hold for over an hour. I almost gave up hope until a friend recommended the Help Desk at school.

They did it! Not only did they diagnosis the problem in minutes, they even offered to download all the needed drivers from the internet and burn them onto a CD for me, all for free!

I thought I had lost everything, that my files were lost forever. Little did I know that lurking on my computer was that profile from the first few months of my laptop.

One of the files I found was a drawing a friend of mine made of his girlfriend. He had met a girl and started dating her and since I was out of the state for the summer I asked him to send a picture. Not having any pictures, he made a drawing. Spitting image!

They don't teach this in school

In school they teach things like reading, writing, and arithmetic, but why is it up to the Cesspool Brothers to teach children to not play with dead things?

Render to politics what is politics

In Sunday school we are studying 1 Thessalonians. Today in our discussion, the question came up of how the people of Thessalonica were able to chase Paul off when he was in other towns. What kind of jobs did they have that they could take time off and leave? The pastor immediately responded, "They were democrats."

Diversity?

Diversity is constantly harped on in education, the media, the work place, and from our government. Last week on the news, I heard that Georgia Tech's incoming freshmen class would be the most diverse ever. They then listed the stats the prove it. The stats were based on race and gender. Is this really all diversity is? How we look? Why not our backgrounds, how we think, our personalities, our traits, our characteristics, our abilities? Things that really make us different, not just how we look. Sometimes I truly wonder how far we have come since Dr. King said he had a dream. Reports like this make me think not very far.

Float On

I'm pretty content with my life as it is. If the rest of my life continued as it is today, I would do just fine. I would lack for nothing. Even when things go wrong they work out OK. But what if I changed a few things. Would it make it better? Would I later regret it or would I think how could I have done before without this? Would I just be content with the future no matter what?

Kayne's Right

Kayne West may be right, this may just be what I need in my life.



It's the best one yet.

Love in the hot afternoon

Couple of timber rattlers decided to make love in my backyard this afternoon.

The girlfriend waiting for her lover.



Here comes the boyfriend




Him saying sweet nothings to her




The following are not for children to see!







Couple of voyeurs

Song for the week

I have unfortunately only seen Sam Bush perform once, but what an amazing performance it was! He played with Lyle Lovett and his Large Band at Bass Music Hall in Fort Worth. During the performance Lyle had him perform this song.



What an amazing song.

I use to be, but once was enough

I use to have a very Type A personality. I was always in a hurry to get things done, always looking for a fight, and always wanting to take an authoritarian lead.

I thought I was pretty good at this. I could pick fights with customer service representatives and even once got an order for a t-shirt for free that had been back-ordered indefinitely. I was always read to argue with the teacher or anyone else who I knew was wrong. However, I found this method often left bridges burned that didn't need to be burned. In a desire to be tough and bring the hammer down I sometimes dealt with others in a way that ostracized them from me instead of addressing the actual issue. The Type A techniques tended to attack the individual instead of the issue. I burned bridges with people and had to deal with issues on my own instead of just working with them to solve the issue.

Now, I take a different approach. It is certainly not a Type B personality, but a mixture. I am more authoritative in my leadership and dealings with others. I am more deliberate in my dealings with others and issues. I also try to keep the focus on the issue and deal with things in a way that doesn't attack the person. Instead of getting mad at the customer representative on the phone, I express my thoughts and concerns about the actual issue. This seems to actually solve the issue better than just yelling on the phone. It also makes things much less stressful. There is still the time when one must draw the line and be willing to cut loose on a relationship or business contract, but those times must be deliberate and appropriate. Not just because you want to be tough. I think I may have had an easier time dealing with people under a type A personality, it is easy to be a jerk, but I enjoy being around people much more now.

Once was enough.

Time Won't Let Me

In 1966 The Outsiders saw their single Time Won't Let Me hit #5 in the charts.




The key line in the chorus is "time won't let me wait that long."

Someday I will probably have to make some decisions about things I have been putting off. It isn't that I am afraid to make a choice, I just never felt that it was time. I may have to make choices soon, I can't wait forever, time won't let me wait that long. But then again, I just might let myself do so.

I might not know, but who will know?

Terri Hendrix has a song called Be Willing. You can hear it on her myspace page.

It is a simple song that talks about being willing to go out and seek answers in life. To be willing to have an open mind to the world around you. To be willing to admit that you can be strong enough to know you don't know everything. Several lines stick out, the chorus especially, with the line "you're old enough to know nothing at all."

I agree with her. There is a certain peace in admitting that you know nothing at all. To always be seeking out answers.

I might have some ideas that I have learned along the way. I know they might not be the correct answer but I will share them with you. But that doesn't mean that you know the answer. I may not accept your answer, but I will listen. Yet, I will also continue to seek out the answer. Sometimes I might just be seeking the person who will tell me that my answer is indeed correct.

Will you accept my answer if it is correct, even if it is just for me?

At least we can laugh at it

I found a blog today, Stuff Christian Like. I enjoyed Post #550, Surviving Church as a Single. I would like to share a few of the 40 things that happen to singles in the church.

1. Your church doesn’t have a singles ministry. = + 1 point

2. Your church has a singles ministry but it’s combined with the college ministry which creates opportunities for conversations like this:
Student: “My roommate bought a microwave for our dorm room. I love being a Freshman!”
Single: “My 401K is underperforming.” = +2 points

3. Your church has a singles ministry but it’s a triad that combines college, single adults and divorce recovery. = + 3 points

4. Your church has a singles ministry but it’s the dreaded quad, combining college, single adults, divorce recovery and retired widowers that refuse to move to Florida. = +4 points

How true is this one! The church I currently go to has a singles ministry. I went for a few months but me and one other person were the youngest by 30 years and the only ones who had never been married. And this is a church of 2,000 people!

7. At church, people give you weird looks if you refuse to sit in the “singles” section of the sanctuary. = +1 point

We don't have one of these. I just get looked at funny for sitting by myself no matter where I am!

11. People are constantly volunteering you for things because, “you’re single, you’ve got so much free time.” = +1 point

I almost got in a fight over this one once, but at work! I was in charge of a meeting and had made a handout for it. As I was passing out the handout a co-worker said "figures you are single since you had time to make a handout!"

21. When friends invite you to their church they start the invite by listing both the quantity and hotness of the singles that go there. = +1 point

I've been told they are in Baptist and Non-denominational churches.

25. The person that leads the singles ministry at your church got married in 1964. = +10 points for each decade they’ve been married.

"Me and my wife lead the singles sunday school class. Would you like to join us?" At least he asked me if I was single and not if I was married.

30. Your best friend of 15 years gets married and then suddenly acts like a magical gap has opened up between you and decides that until you get married too you can’t be close again because you just don’t understand each other anymore. = +3 points

I was told by a friend of mine that it would be very hard for him and I to remain friends since he was married and I was single.

31. To justify giving a four week marriage sermon series to a congregation that is 60% single, the pastor throws out one blanket statement like this at the beginning of the series, “And you single people listen up to this too, this well serve you well when you get married too.” = +2 points

I run out of fingers to count on when I think about the number of times I've heard this comment.

39. You’ve developed highly sensitive, “They’re about to throw the bouquet” radar and know exactly when to leave a wedding. = +2 points

I do this for the garter toss.

We may be single but we still can laugh together!

Enough already! I'll buy your music!

I gave in to Ross King and bought his music today. I didn't buy Rhymes with Orange but the pretty good one that isn't for children, Perhaps I've Said to Much.



I am buying this CD on the heels of receiving another CD of his, Big Quiet Truth.



Now, I first bought Big Quiet Truth in High School when it was brand spankin' new. Somewhere since then it was lost/stolen/misplaced/sold, whatever. I didn't have it anymore but still remembered several of the songs on it.

The main songs I remembered were As Much for Me and Foolish to You, both great songs. As Much for Me is a song about how God's grace is just as needed by Ross as it is by those who have committed horrendous crimes. It can be easy to be like the Pharisees and raise our noses and say "at least I didn't kill anyone!" Yet God still holds our sins against us. A forgiven sinner gets into Heaven while the unrepentant proud good guy gets left outside. Foolish to You is based on 1 Corinthians 1:18-29 and John 14:6.

As soon as I got the CD I threw it into the player and played those two songs. I then let the rest of the CD play and a flush of memories raced back as I heard the songs that I knew in my youth.

I first met Ross when I was in High School. He was the worship leader one summer for the summer camp my church had. Being on the worship team I worked with him in planning evening worship. Several years later I attended Community Church in College Station. The first Sunday I walked in, Ross was sitting at a table in the back of the hall by the door. At the time Community Church met in the Hilton. As I walked in, Ross welcomed me then said that I looked familiar. I told him where we had met before, but as I walked away I told my friend who was with me that there was no way Ross recognized me from that. You know what, maybe he did.

As I listened to the CD one song in particularly hit me, Long and Lonely Fall. This song is great on so many levels. First, it just a good song to listen to. It is a simple guitar and mandolin with a drum and tambourine, but it is pleasant to the ears. Second, the poetry! Now, anyone who has read my blog knows that my taste in poetry is pry lacking, but I think Ross has some good lines in the song. Check out this one, "I wonder how Columbus felt when he landed on the show and knelt to pray/ think about it/ he had found America/ but he didn't know that India was so far away/ has my journey ended hopelessly?/ or have I made some great discover?/ all I know is/ even though there's peace my stomach say's I'm not OK." Maybe it isn't poetry, but it is a great line. Finally, the message of the song is amazing and hits me exactly where I am in life today.

The song is based on three pieces of Scripture, Psalm 43, 1 John 4:18, and Job 23:10.

Vindicate me, O God,
and plead my cause against an ungodly nation;
rescue me from deceitful and wicked men.

You are God my stronghold.
Why have you rejected me?
Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?

Send forth your light and your truth,
let them guide me;
let them bring me to your holy mountain,
to the place where you dwell.

Then will I go to the altar of God,
to God, my joy and my delight.
I will praise you with the harp,
O God, my God.

Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.

Psalm 43

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

1 John 4:18

But He knows the way I take; when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

Job 23:10

A while back I wrote about another Ross King song in my post, Not seeing is believing. In the post I wrote about how I might have spent my life planning for something that may never happen. I have come to the realization that this may be true. The plans I have been making for years have not been carried out the way I planned. I know I am better for the plans I made, but I am not where I planned to be. But through out it, these words ring true, "I don't want to put too much weight on this thing/ but sometimes it's a bit disheartening/ so I will trust You for the ending/ cause there's no use in pretending that I know/ oh Lord I need You so."

I do not know the ending, I only know where I am right now. I planned on one thing but ended up elsewhere. I continue to trust in God and this experience has only made my trust greater. I may feel down because my plans didn't pan out, and they were good plans!, but I have stayed faithful to God and I know that he remains faithful to me.

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

What does it mean?

I once went to the Bahrain National Museum.



The museum included several art exhibits in addition to the cultural and historical exhibits.

I usually take time to look at art work, though I rarely understand what it means. If it has any abstractness to it I am usually at a loss for meaning. When the art is only shapes and colors with no discernible objects, I might as well be staring at a wall. I even saw one exhibit yesterday that I couldn't decide if it was art or if they had a blank spot on the wall and just stuck a blank canvas up to cover the spot!

Photography, paintings that illustrate a person or event, I can understand these. But abstract art or sculptures, I am usually at a loss. But this one, even I could understand the meaning beyond Bureaucracy.


Bureaucracy at the Bahrain National Museum

Let us not forsake one great commandment for another

When the lawyer asked Jesus, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”he responded with two commandments, love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind and love your neighbor as yourself. He then says that upon these two commandments hang all the laws and prophets. Clearly these are fundamental in determining how we should behave as Christians.

Before Christ ascended into the heavens, he told the Disciples go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to observe all things that he commanded them.

I have several friends who are currently in the mission field. Now, granted all Christians are “in the mission field,” but when I say they are in the mission field, I mean that they are out acting with the sole intention of spreading the word of God. Now this should be a goal of all Christians, but many of us do this in conjunction with our daily jobs or lives. We wouldn’t call our jobs mission work, it is just something we do in life where we have the opportunity to spread the Word. For many this is in subtle ways, such as lifestyles or actions, though the occasional opportunity arises where one can have a talk with someone else about the Gospel. But for missionaries, they are “doing God’s work” so to speak.

When many people think of or talk about missionaries in the mission field it seems that there are two types. One group is made up of people who are like preachers whose job is only to convert people to Jesus. The other group is made up of people who do medical work or construction work, who do good things for people but never actually speak the word.

My friends who are missionaries have shown me through their lives that while the avenues of spreading the Gospel may be different, both commandments can be fulfilled. One may use the love of neighbor as a way of expressing the love of God to someone or to create the opportunity to spread the Gospel. The other uses the Gospel as a way of getting close to someone to love them as themselves.

In our daily lives one should not forsake one commandment for the other. Love of God and love of neighbor are both commandments that we are to live by. They are not exclusive of each other, but must both be done. We love others because God first loved us. If we love God but not our neighbor, we accomplish nothing. If we love others but do not share the love of God, we are doing it for our own glory.

Too Cool To Wear

Whenever Steve Coffman would announce a Lucinda Williams song on the radio, he would refer to her as "the sweet, sweet Lucinda Williams." Here is the sweet sweet Lucinda Williams singing 2 Cool 2 Be Forgotten.



Back in the 90's when I was in high school, a buddy of mine gave me a pair of Umbro shorts that were too small for him. This worked perfect as I had a pair that were too small for me.



I still have these shorts as they still fit.

I wore them the other day to go to the gym to work out. My buddy who was going with me laughed and said "the 1990's called and they want their shorts back!" My friend, please, how can a pair of free shorts ever be too cool to wear?

Wandering in the sky

I flew yesterday on a Airbus 330-200 owned by KLM. In the headrest in front of me was a screen. The screen allowed me to access music, movies, television shows, games, and a flight tracker. Between this, a letter I was writing, and a book I was reading kept for occupied for the 15 hours I was in the air. Now, most important to me is the music. In perusing the music selection, I found some Johnny Cash. Now, I know a ton of his music and own several albums, but one song managed to have slipped from me. Luckily KLM had it in their selection. The U2/Johnny Cash song, The Wanderer. I really enjoyed the song and listened to it several times to try to determine what it meant. I got nothing.

Not seeing is believing

In Ross King's song Better Days Await, he sings "Give to me the chance to see the thing that I am gonna be and I will trust in You. If it were that easy right now I'd be fine. But faith is more than living for the things that we can see in store and look so forward to. So maybe I'll just have to wait upon Your perfect time."

What if I spend my entire life counting on something to happen that never happens? Now, counting on it means that I have been preparing for it and doing what I can to see that it happens, but I cannot control it. I cannot make it happen. It may never happen.

Is this bad? I think I am better for it. I think the preparations have made me a better person. But what if my preparing for one thing causes me to miss another?

How easy it would be if God would just tell me what will happen in the future. I could then make the correct preparations and not miss the opportunity. Instead, He has told me to have faith and to trust Him.

The chorus of the song is "And I'll be fine, life is great. Better times await"

I'll be fine, life is great. Better times await. I trust in the Lord.

Should Christians remember Jewish holy days?

Most Christians do not celebrate the Jewish holy days and festivals, much less even know what they are. Should this be the case?

With Passover, we know that Jesus remembered the Passover every year and that the early Church celebrated it as well. God says to Moses in Exodus 12, "This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance." and "You shall observe the festival of unleavened bread, for on this very day I brought your companies out of the land of Egypt: you shall observe this day throughout your generations as a perpetual ordinance." Moses relays this message to the elders of Israel. And as we know, the Jews continue this ordinance even until today.

Now, as Christians, most of us are not biological descendants of Israel but are Gentiles, yet Paul writes that we are grafted into the same tree. In Romans 11, he writes "If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you."

So these ordinances of God should be for us as well. Now, Paul does excuse Gentiles from portions of the law, such as the food requirements, because we are of a different culture. (Personally, I think this could/should be seen as John Wesley viewed sin, that it should not be a stumbling block to God's grace. That God's grace is so great that we must bring everyone to it and we can worry about the other stuff later. That receiving the grace of God is not dependent on following the commands of God, but one who receives the grace of God should follow the commands of God.) But I do not think that this would carry over to us not remembering the festival of Passover.

How many of us remember the Sabbath and keep it holy? "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." I know that I do not, I regularly work either at work or at home on the Sabbath, whether it is celebrated on the Jewish Sabbath or on Sunday.

Christians are often the strongest proponents of displaying the 10 Commandments, yet how many even make an attempt at following them?

Perhaps someone could help me with understanding Yom Kippur. I know that it is the Day of Atonement, as ordained in Leviticus 16. It talks about that the people will be atoned for their sins, so I am not sure if it would continue into Christianity as we celebrate (should) our atonement whenever we gather with the partaking of the Lord's Supper. However, in Acts 27:9, we see that it was still done by the early Church.

With Hanukkah, I believe we see that Jesus celebrated it as described in John 10:22. (The festival of Dedication is Hanukkah, correct?) But I guess it is no surprise that a Jew celebrates a Jewish holiday. But are those who are grafted in exempt?

We see a very important reason in keeping these festivals and holy days, God says that we are to do it to remember what He has done. Could we remember it by another way? Sure, but God has told us how He wants us to remember them. When you go through the Bible, we see the words remember over and over and over. God remembers us and His promises and tells us to remember what He has done. Christians are not exempt.

It was just a joke

This morning at church, the worship leader was pandering to the crowd as he got ready to lead singing. He announced "Happy mother's day!" The keyboardist said "same to you." Mr. Keyboardist, I was the only one, but I got it. I loled.

In Sunday school, I was teaching and opened up with the following quote from a study. "Interviews with young adults suggest that they want their initial marriage to last, but are not particularly optimistic about that possibility. There is also evidence that many young people are moving toward embracing the idea of serial marriage, in which a person gets married two or three times, seeking a different partner for each phase of their adult life." After saying how jacked up that was I announced "I think I'll just stay single." I wasn't the only one, they got it. They loled.

It's on the internet so it must be true...

It must be true that North Korea attacked the Deepwater Horizon in order to force President Obama to use the only known method to stop the oil spill, detonating a B83 (Mk-83) strategic thermonuclear bomb in the middle of a UN nuclear conference, because I read it on the internet.

US Orders Blackout Over North Korean Torpedoing Of Gulf Of Mexico Oil Rig

Daddy's Little Fatty

In 1946 Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys recorded Fred Rose's Roly Poly.



Today I had KFC's Double Down.



This thing doesn't even look edible.



But don't let that fool you, I'm gonna be a man someday.

Where's my wifi?

I am currently between ISP's. It is quite sad. I'll have the internets again next week, but until then, think about this. Is there wifi in Heaven?

When in Houston

This weekend I was in Houston, Texas. I had a rental car and found 106.9, The Point on the radio. It was an 80's station and had a decent selection. One song that it played that I hadn't heard in ages was When In Rome's The Promise.




The chorus of the song is:

I'm sorry, but I'm just thinking of the right words to say. (I promise)
I know they don't sound the way I planned them to be. (I promise)
But if you'll wait around a while, I'll make you fall for me,
I promise, I promise you I will.

I have often expressed that I am quite poor at verbal communication. Given enough time I think I might find the right words to say, but chances are I'll probably just mess them up anyway.

Why not?

A few weeks ago I was in Xania, Crete. We made friends with a waiter at a nearby restaurant and regularly ate there. He would bring us extra food and beverages even when we didn't request them. He always comped them, but sometimes I would tell him "nothing for me." He would respond, "More food, more beverage, why not? why not!" I didn't have an answer so I partook.

So why not more music now instead of waiting until Friday? I lack a response.

This band is Five Iron Frenzy. A friend of mine introduced me to then about 5 years ago. I loved their music then and my love has only grown. Here is Oh Canada and Banner Year.

Shaver in the Court

In a news story that is only fitting for a country song, Billy Joe Shaver was acquitted in a Waco court today after testifying that he shot a man in the face outside a bar while acting in self defense. Willie Nelson and Robert Duvall went to support their friend. His attorney was the same attorney that represented David Koresh.

Steven Krytak tweeted from the courtroom and provides a very interesting take. You can read his tweets on his twitter. It includes great tidbits like "He may be a honky tonk hero and he may have written a lot of wonderful songs... but on that day, he was a honky tonk bully," Toben said or Toben asked if Shaver was jealous Wanda was talking to Coker. "I get more women than a passenger train can haul, I’m not jealous," Shaver said and Prosecutor Beth Toben is questioning Shaver. Asked him if he had broken his neck in a barroom brawl. Shaver said it was a friendly thing.

Here is Billy Joe Shaver and his son Eddy.

Breaking Free

The church I currently attend is named after the founder of the religion, John Wesley. However, my church has seemed to decided that we will no longer follow the methodical practices that Wesley taught in the Methodist Societies, though we will keep the name Wesley.

What Wonderous Love is This

Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). Here they crucified him, and with him two others--one on each side and Jesus in the middle. Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, "Do not write 'The King of the Jews,' but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews." Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written." When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. "Let's not tear it," they said to one another. "Let's decide by lot who will get it." This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said, "They divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing." So this is what the soldiers did. Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son," and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Oh Sudoku, how I love thee

On a long flight the other day I decided to do one of the "Very Hard" labeled Sudoku puzzles in my Sudoku puzzle book. This isn't just any Sudoku book, this is The Original Sudoku book by Nikoli Publishing.



They say that not only are these puzzle all hand made with the designer planning your every move, they also encourage you to admire and appreciate the beauty in the symmetrical layout of each puzzle.

OK, that's good and all, I just want to do the puzzle. Now, it took me a while to do this very hard puzzle, a little over an hour, and I can only attribute that to my being distracted by the beauty of the puzzle. Toward the end of the puzzle I hit what I thought was an impasse. I even went as far as writing the possible numbers in the corner of the box which I try to normally not do. Even after doing this I could not figure out the next move. I was about to quit and mail the puzzle back to the publishers, telling them I found the puzzle to be impossible, but then I saw it, the move that the book calls "Master Pattern 2." As I chuckled to myself for having missed such an easy pattern I realized that the guy who wrote this puzzle was also chuckling at me. Nikoli, you really did anticipate my every move.

North Country Map

The creak of the cabin door opening woke me from my sleep. It was another beautiful cool morning in the North Country with the clear skies brilliant with stars. I asked the other Rayado Ranger who was opening the door what time it was. 4:30 AM. It was time to get the Rowdies up. While standing up on the porch of French Henry Camp, I accidentally stepped on a Rowdy who was sleeping under the bench I had been sleeping on. He woke up and said “Are you trying to leave?” I responded “No, it’s 4:30, and it’s time for you to get up!” We got the rest of the crew up and left French.

I had the privilege of being a Rayado Ranger during first session Rayado in 2004 for crew Rayado Men 3, RM3. The crew consisted of 7 Scouts from all across the country. Rayado, a descendent of the Kit Carson program, is a 3 week special trek which teaches youth, called Rowdies, advance backpacking skills, teamwork, and leadership, by challenging them physically, mentally, and spiritually. It was my second summer to work at Philmont Scout Ranch, having also been a Ranger the previous summer. We had hiked to French the day before and had originally planned to camp at the Aztec Mine; however, a rainstorm caused us to change our plans and instead crashed on the porch of the cabin. The Rowdies were sleeping on the porch while Will and I slept on the benches. They had bedded down expecting a good long sleep. Little did they know, today was going to be a long day.Leaving French Henry in the dark at about 5:00 AM, we made our way to Copper Park and took the old Greenwood Canyon Trail. Will and I had taken the trail earlier in the summer during Ranger Training when we hauled supplies up for the new repeater tower. The 25% slope trail wasn’t bad with just a pack on compared to hauling concrete in packs and batteries strapped to litters for the tower up. We stopped for breakfast on the ridge and Will informed the crew that our first destination was Baldy.

Breakfast on the ridge above Copper Park

After failing to impress our Rowdies with the repeater tower, we followed the ridge to the top of Baldy. As the day progressed, several thunder storms began to move into the area. We took in the beauty of the approaching storms from the exposed ridge top as we climbed up to the peak. On the peak, the scouts took pictures and took in the scenery while I took a nice Ranger Nap. After being woken up by my Rowdies, we left the peak just before the storms rolled in. We ended up dodging thunderstorms and hail all day. We had lunch on the saddle while the first storm began to roll over the peak. We were lucky enough to miss the 3 thunderstorms which rolled across the North Country that afternoon.

Storms from Baldy Saddle

Baldy Summit

Touch-me-Not from Baldy

After lunch, we let the Rowdies know that our next objective was to climb Touch-Me-Not. Our Rowdies loved the opportunity to bushwhack the mountain. After successfully climbing the peak, they enjoyed more scenery and took group shot on top of the peak.

RM 3 on Touch-me-Not

It was about 5PM when we headed down from Touch-Me-Not to begin going to Maxwell Camp, our camp for the night. The scouts had been talking about wanting to go to Baldy Town all day, so we gave them the option of taking the trail to Baldy Town or ‘shwacking to Maxwell. Much to our surprise, they decided to ‘shwack. We followed a creek that looked like it would be an easy 5-6 kilometer hike to Maxwell. About an hour later we had dinner in a nice meadow and continued our hiking. The Rowdies were enjoying the hike and one of our Rowdies, Scott, gave his usual response to everything on Rayado, that “it was amazing.” Darkness soon began to set in and we were forced to climb over deadfall and make probably a thousand stream crossings with only the aid of 4 working flashlights for the 9 of us. It was quite an adventurous hike, climbing over logs, under dead fall, and wading through the creek, all while trying to find a trail that crossed the creek. At about 11PM, we finally found the log bridge that crossed the creek for the trail which went into Maxwell. So much for the short 5-6 km hike! We got into camp shortly after and attempted to find the bear cables. Our Rowdies had been level-no-trace camping or crashing porches every night so far (including what I believe to be the first crew to camp in Mountain Lion Canyon) and had only used LNT bear rope techniques. After a 10 minute unsuccessful search, our Rowdies hung their bear rope between two trees and called it a night. They remained in good spirits and Scott as usual said “it was amazing.” After I took off my pack I realized that I had lost my North Country map.

When I hiked, I normally kept my map tucked into the hip belt of my pack for easy access. I had been using it on the shwack to read the topography of the creek to estimate our location. Somewhere along the hike, it slipped out. I figured I would never see the map again and felt somewhat guilty for breaking the Wilderness Pledge. Luckily we were headed for Sawmill the next day, and then continued south through the ranch so I would not need my North Country map. I borrowed an extra map from a fellow ranger upon my return to base camp and used it for the rest of the summer.

Later that summer, I had a crew from Fort Worth, TX. It was a great crew with a Ute Springs - Devil’s Wash Basin itinerary. Several of the scouts talked about how they wanted to come back and work on staff. One of those scouts, Keith, returned to Philmont as a Rayado participant in 2005 and made his dream a reality, becoming a ranger in 2006.

In fall 2006, I received a letter in the mail from Keith. He wrote about a hike-in that summer he had with another ranger. They had dropped off crews at Pueblano, hiked Wilson Mesa, crossed over to French Henry, ascended Baldy and went over to Touch-Me-Not. On their way down from Touch-Me-Not, they thought a nice ‘shwack was in order and followed a creek that flowed down to Maxwell. As I read the letter, I could see all of the places he talked about, because I had hiked those same paths, including the creek down Touch-Me-Not.

The letter that Keith sent me came in a large envelope. On the back on the envelope was written “I think you dropped this…” In the package with the letter, was the map. Keith had found the map while hiking the creek where I had lost my map 2 years earlier. The map was still is fair condition, considering that it had spent 2 years exposed to the elements. It was slightly faded where the sun had shined on it, and the ends were chewed on. My marks were still visible on the map where I had marked wells, meadow crash sites, and Stony Point. Also still clearly visible was where I had written “Clinton Woods, Ranger 2003.”

I Wanna Go Back to Philmont…

Happy at Home

The title of this translates as "I am very happy because I am finally back home."



Perhaps something is lost in the translation, but this is still strangely appealing and entertaining.

How to impress people

A few years ago, I was put in charge of a committee to determine the new mission statement for the school I was a teacher at. The first thing I did was read a text book from college that had a chapter dedicated to writing school mission statements. In the chapter it recommended using the phrase "prepare students to be ethical global citizens." The main justification for using the phrase was that administrators would be impressed with it. I included the statement with my proposal to the group and was able to preserve it until the draft was presented to the principal. The principal wrote back to the group that she liked the proposal, but really really liked the line "become ethical global citizens." When the proposal was sent out to the entire school faculty, the biggest response was to remove the line about global citizens as it didn't make much sense. The book was correct, the administrators were impressed, however it failed to mention that the statement was worthless.

There are lots of ways to impress people without actually having to be productive. I'll share a few of these.

First, when you give a presentation, use a pie chart. Your presentation doesn't need to require the pie chart, but including it will impress people. A friend of mine was giving a presentation and gave me a rough draft. I recommended that he add a pie chart. He said he didn't need it, which I agreed with. However, he conceded when I told him that people would like it. He added a pie chart that was quite meaningless and added nothing to the presentation. When he gave the presentation the feedback included the statement "great pie chart."

Second, make spreadsheets. People are impressed with Excel. Spreadsheets can be intimidating and therefore demand respect, so when you are able to use Excel, you are clearly one who must be listened to. It is highly recommended that when you prepare the spreadsheet that you do not organize the working portion of the spreadsheet. Leave that part messy and confusing. It adds to the intimidating aspect of spreadsheets. But make a highly organized, really neat box at the bottom with the results. They will also be impressed if you can insert inputs into the spreadsheet and have all the numbers change at once. It makes for a great show. If you find that the spreadsheet is not very necessary, add color to it. Everyone loves color. I created a pretty simple spreadsheet once that calculated how many teachers were needed to teach a subject based on the number of students taking the course. I could have just used a piece of paper to divide the number of students taking the class by the number of students allowed per teacher by the state, but instead I made a complex looking spreadsheet with an input and output box with some colored arrows decorating the blank spaces. The department head was so impressed with the Excel sheet that he recommended that I take over his position.

Finally, add Macros to your Excel and Word documents. The Macros needn't be necessary, they will be highly impressive for the very fact that they are Macros. If you don't know how to write Macros, find a document that already contains the desired Macro and cut and paste it. That is already more than most people can do, so you will be able to impress people despite your inability to create Macros. I once made a cover sheet that included a Macro that would determine the length of the underscored line in the "From:" line based on the length of the originator's name. This could have been done by using ctrl+u, but I used a Macro that I copied and pasted from another document I found. My boss was so impressed with the Macro on the cover sheet that she mandated that everyone had to use my cover sheet.

Utilizing these three easy methods will insure that you impress people without having to do anything productive.

Questions to Ponder

This past week I met with a pastor. He asked me questions that no pastor had ever asked me before, yet are questions that my pastor should ask me.

Where are you in your walk with God?

What do you struggle with?

What can the church do for you?

Perhaps another question might be, why hasn't your pastor asked you these before?

Listening to Classic Literature

A few years ago I first heard this song Odysseus by Brian Keane.



Now I have never read read Homer's Odyssey, but thanks to Brian I am familiar with the story. Listening to this song might be as good as reading the Cliff notes on the book. The moral of the story is the same whether you read the book or listen to the song, Homer's Odyssey is jacked up.

Reliving War

Today I went to my first civil war reenactment, the Battle of Aiken.



The Battle of Aiken took place in February 1865 during Sherman's March to the Sea. General Kilpatrick led his troops into South Carolina and sought to take and then destroy Aiken, followed by moving in on Augusta, Georgia. However, the Confederate troops, led by General Wheeler, stopped Kilpatrick at Aiken.

The reenactment today staged the Rebels and Yankees on the battle field.






As expected for the area, the crowd cheered when the Confederates advanced and were able to take advantage on the battlefield. Confederate flags and uniforms abounded in the crowd. But in a way that may only be understood by Southerners, cheered loudly for both the Yankees and Rebels as they made their final passes to thank the crowd. Proud to be American and proud to be Southern.

Besides the reenactment, the reenactors had exhibits set up to talk about their craft, the life of a civil war soldier, and the weapons of war.



There were also some exhibits of more modern American warfare.



The gentleman on the right is wearing a WWI-era wool army uniform. At the exhibit, he showed up the gas masks used by soldiers in WWI and WWII.

I also spent some time talking to a Confederate Chaplain.



We talked about the life of a civil war chaplain, life in Antebellum South, and a book he is writing involving a plantation called Wexford.

It was very enjoyable and educational. Certainly a sad time in American history as brother fought brother, but let us never forget our past and the bravery exhibited by those seeking to ensure their rights and those fighting for their country.

Letters in the Mail

Bill Carlisle and Bobby Gregory wrote a famous song called No Letter in the Mail. Here it is performed by some Canucks, the Spinney Brothers.



I got a letter in the mail today. It was a very nice letter, a length correspondence from a friend of mine. This is the first personal correspondence I have received in the mail in a month. Now, I probably have received personal correspondences in the mail at a greater frequency in the past, but certainly never more than once every two weeks. Two summers I worked in a place that did not have regular internet access and I didn't have regular access to mail. There, I received hand delivered personal correspondence on almost a daily basis.

What is it about a physical letter that is so special? I receive personal correspondences in emails on almost a daily basis. I enjoy them and get excited when I see I have an email waiting for me from certain people, but not like when I get a letter in the mail. Emails may stay in my email inbox for a few days, possibly even months, but will soon be deleted. Currently in my inbox, the oldest personal correspondence is only 6 months old and will probably be deleted soon. But of letters that have been mailed to me, I have some dating back to 2003 and have no desire to ever throw them away. Why are they different?

The internet is great, it connects me to people, information, and allows me to do things that in the past would have required more time. Some of the people I am connected to are friends who are separated by distance, one of which is 6600 miles away and that is going over the pole. Even though we might talk about the exact same thing in an email, I value the physical letter that I get in my mailbox. The email will be read, probably several times, but soon deleted. The letter will be read multiple times, then placed in a box where I will every so often retrieve it and reread. Why the difference? Could it be that though the internet keeps me connected to those who I can not be physically with, I still value physical proximity? Could it be the physical letter brings me closer to the person than a virtual email could do? Could I just be old fashioned?

Everything's Round

Several years ago, I heard a song on the radio called "Hey Woodie Guthrie." The song was by a band called Leftover Salmon. Reading more about the band, I learned that the song was unique for them as they usually didn't go into such politic realms in their music. The great thing about the band though was that since they made up their own genre, Polyethnic Cajun Slamgrass, they can do whatever they want.

I picked up their album Leftover Salmon and loved every song. One of them was Everything's round, written by Vince Herman, a member of the band.

Here, Vince performs Everything's Round and Mountain Top, both most excellent songs.

When all else fails, think!

I just finished reading a book called Aircraft Down! Evading Capture in WWII Europe by General Philip Caine. The book is a collection of 6 true stories of Allied pilots and aircrew that went down in occupied Europe or Italy and evaded capture and made it back to friendly forces. It does a great job depicting the loneliness they felt, their heart-felt thankfulness to the Europeans who risked everything to aid them, and describing their journey from the beginning of their final flight to their ultimate return home.

In the final chapter of the book, General Caine writes about what made the evaders successful. The success comes down to a few common traits, to will to survive, trust, patience, ability to adjust, confidence, perseverance, positive attitude, good judgment, and thinking. His assessment is very similar to the assessment in the National Geographic Adventure article, Terrorists at the Tea Party. The ability to think and control one's mind and body is vital in emergency situations.

I like to think that I have many of these characteristics, but it is hard to know until one is tested by fire. If anything, I at least acknowledge the need to have these skills and characteristics. Now I just have to wait until all else fails and see if I can think.

Thinking without knowledge

I found these statistics from England interesting.

33% of school children think their teacher is an alien
75% of school children think aliens exist
72% of school children think aliens are friendly
< 10% of school children can name all 8 planets in the solar system

They are thinking, but do they have knowledge?