sans regard

Happy Easter

oh faithless generation

Increasing the Volume: 033113

mewithYou: January 1979

video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtxxGnOoctw&sns=em

Lyrics
 
January 1979, saw a terrible crash
And it couldn’t help but laugh
My ear pressed against the past
Like a glass on a wall of a hospital photograph
My forehead no longer sweet
With holy kisses worthy of your fiery lips
I was floating in a peaceful sea
Rescued by a sinking ship

If I could become the servant of all
No lower place to fall
(I could be your servant)
If I could become the servant of all
No lower place to fall
(If I could be your servant)
If I could become the servant of all
No lower place to fall
(I could be your servant)
If I could become the servant of all
No lower place to fall
(If I could be your servant)

You watch me like a ten car highway wreck
With detached, vulgar curiosity
Us looking down on the tops of the hats
Of us passersby from your seventh floor balcony
And from such a height you missed
Creatures too small for sight
Carry on covert conversation as the misguided insects
Crown me their grasshopper king with a dance of celebration

After years with their crown on my head
I’ve grown overfed, unconcerned and comfortably numb
Kept busy indulging in the pleasures of the wealthy
Oh, someone make me afraid of what I’ve become!
At the first sign of possible sorrow I’ll turn my heel and run
Oh, I’ll never learn
My life’s become the sugar I’ve borrowed before
Time and again and forgot to return

It was a matter of time
I always said I could see, but now I'm going blind
It was a matter of miserable time
But i heard somewhere, there was a cure for useless eyes
________________________________
January 1979" is a song themed around Aaron Weiss's failure as a human in life. He and former bassist, Daniel Pishock, were both born in January 1979. The "crash" Aaron explains refers to his birth.
Aaron wrote this song discussing his frustration surrounding his "overfed, unconcerned, and comfortably numb" existence. Realizing his failure, he sings of becoming a servant of all, a reference to Matthew 23:11. Becoming the lowest would imply that there would no longer be any possibility of failing more. While he remarks that his eyes have become useless, the song ends with hope of a cure.
His concept about grasshoppers may reference to Numbers 13:33, or Isaiah 40:22.
The line "My ear pressed against the past / like a glass on the wall of a house in a photograph" closely resembles a line in Richard Brautigan's novel So the Wind Won't Blow It All Away.

Take the L out of Lover

and it's Over?

Then take the M out of Mover, and it's still over, but...

put a K in Bacon, and it's Back On!

a warning

The new Android system update wants to be your e parent.

So far it has decided for me:

1. Switch to wifi automatically.
2. How loud my music should be.
3. What my settings should be as far as equalization for my music.
4. Removed 3 (maybe more) programs it apparently thinks I no longer need.

That's just what I've found so far.

Other than taking over my freewill, it's much better.

The Monkey On My Back

See this little scrap of paper?

I can't seem to throw memories like this away.

Yet things of monetary value?
No problem.

My wife suffers the same affliction.

Consequently, I have resigned myself to the fact that my life will always be filled with more memories than money, and more chaos than cash.

It's worth it.
There will always be more money...

Good Vibrations

How polite.

Everyone in the room has turned their phone on vibrate.

Now when one phone goes off it will sound just like every other phone sounds when it's on vibrate

            ...and now everybody in the room will have to check their phones, not just the person whose phone actually went off.

That's so much less disruptive...

How very, very polite.

Who Am I

Who Am I?
by Deitrich Bonhoeffer

Who am I? They often tell me
I stepped from my cell’s confinement
Calmly, cheerfully, firmly,
Like a Squire from his country house.

Who am I? They often tell me
I used to speak to my warders
Freely and friendly and clearly,
As thought it were mine to command.

Who am I? They also tell me
I bore the days of misfortune
Equably, smilingly, proudly,
like one accustomed to win.

Am I then really that which other men tell of?
Or am I only what I myself know of myself?
Restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage,
Struggling for breath, as though hands were compressing my throat,
Yearning for colors, for flowers, for the voices of birds,
Thirsting for words of kindness, for neighborliness,
Tossing in expectations of great events,
Powerlessly trembling for friends at an infinite distance,
Weary and empty at praying, at thinking, at making,
Faint, and ready to say farewell to it all.

Who am I? This or the Other?
Am I one person today and tomorrow another?
Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others,
And before myself a contemptible woebegone weakling?
Or is something within me still like a beaten army
Fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved?

Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine.
Whoever I am, Thou knowest, O God, I am thine!

Who Was Deitrich Bonhoeffer?

http://www.dbonhoeffer.org/who-was-db2.htm

Holy crap, this again?

Some food for thought:

Two life long friends. Not gay, but they live together. They love each other, but not sexually.

Eventually they realize they probably aren't going to find the women of their dreams. That's fine they are enough company for each other.

It is a shame though because both of them love children. They look into it but they can't adopt because they're two men. The system would rather keep kids in the system than allow two people of the same gender to raise them. They can however take on foster children, but that's not the same at all.

Eventually one of them becomes ill and losses his insurance. The savings accounts dwindle quickly, but they can't share insurance to offset the cost, only married people can do that. Only married men and women can do that.

The one who's sick has no immediate family, and eventually decisions of life and death arise. They fall into the hands of state insurance and doctors. When the money outweighs the life they will let him die.

The state doesn't recognize their life long partnership as legally worthy of regarding. If they were a man and a woman they would though.

If they were single because they were priests, the world would view them differently too, but they are single together, which legally makes them single alone.

Does this make any sense at all? Do we deny these them things in the name of God? That's an awfully big name on that claim.

Forget for a second about who's sticking what where, and let's just think about gay people as those poor unfortunate unenlightened people, like we used to be, before we made God in our image.

Would that change anything?

And let's be real, men and women do that too, but we ignore that, don't we? (sodomy)

We don't ask married people if they're practicing sodomy before extending them rights. But if our bias is Biblically based, and not just the gay people but all of our sexual lifestyles are open for scrutiny, well them maybe we should start asking, EVERYONE.

We should also ask then if all discharge is by virtue of physical union or self gratification, because we are to spill no seed on the ground. That means no pulling out, no condoms, no masturbation. We need to ask that as well.

So what is the issue? The object of our affection? What we put where in the bedroom? What offends our sense of decency? Or is it really what offends God? Because I'll bet there's a lot of things done in God's name without his approval that he probably finds just as offensive. In fact I'm sure of it. But we look the other way on those.

The get to lead churches and hold telethons.

And where is a formal marriage first mentioned in the Bible? And then where is it aligned as being the same as a state recognized marriage?

We can't really put our head in the sand about this. That would leave our ass in the air and who knows what might happen then?

Imagine if Jesus had said," You've sinned, and you're going to do it again, so I here by deny you." There would be no hope for any of us.

Love cannot be the message when apathy is the medium.

A Joke From Maddy

Looks like you have a pet fly and he's depressed?

Why?

Your fly is down.

Judge Not

Increasing the Volume: 032313

Watch "Trentemøller: Moan (Official music video)" on YouTube

Thinking about you

Constantly thinking about you

I've been thinking too much about you
See the sunset with no sleep at all
Constantly thinking about you
And I can't get through this at all

I've been thinking too much about you
I've been staring at the floor
I've listened to all the tunes i love
But made me feel quite blue

Decreasing enthusiasm

Smile, Nod and say I Love You

When I first started with Rhino, I worked with a guy who was complaining about client changes, etc. when a passer by, much wiser than myself remarked...

"If people really had their "stuff" together, they might not need us at all."

As it is with so much parenting, we just smile and nod and tell the kids we love them.

Staring at the Sea

Patiently standing on the beach is the only way to see the tides turn.

People will come and go, as people do.

Many as they pass will remark at your apparent idleness.

However, if you are interning on seeing the tide turn, don't be swayed into thinking that you might change the timing of it.

Wait for it.
It will come.
It always does.

I have seen the tide turn a few times.

I have watched as great strengths become great weaknesses, and great weakness become the greatest of strengths.

We must wait, watch, and learn.

Failure to recognize the power in the waves of change that come, will cause many to resist and drown.

As the ocean is, it will not always be.

Meeting the waves of change and diving into them head on, that is how we will continue to swim.

The waves will come, and watching them, learning how to approach each one, that is the only way you will face them and survive.

d(-_-)b

Increasing the Volume: 032113

Watch "Ministry - So What" on YouTube

"You have had all that money can give you, but that wasn't enough. You became a thrill-seeker. Kill for the thrill. (assassin) This thrill-seeking became the one great thing in your life, planning one thrill on another until the murder. Kill for the love of killing. (guilty) Kill for the thrill. The thrill-seeker comes from all walks of life. He comes from the home, a home where the parents are to busy to treat their children with respect."

"Kill for the thrill. (assassin) Some people think newspapers exaggerate juvenile crime. All that is defined mostly to the large cities, juvenile delinquency is underlined. Thus parents think something is going wrong with the environment. Adults create the world, children live it. Juvenile delinquency is always rooted in adult delinquency. And in this process, parents play the key role when children grow up among adults who refuse to recognize anything that is fine and good, or worthy of respect."

Drum Near End

I was thinking today that I see drumming, which was once a huge party of my life, as anything that will be a party of my life in the foreseeable future.

Then the photo copier at work sent me this inspirational little message...

Thinking

I will not be what I thought I would be.
I am what I never thought I would be.

Not a bad deal.

The Greenest Grass

Today as I pulled the weeds in the front yard, as usual, I did a lot of thinking.

Recently the question of who you would talk to if you could choose anyone living or dead came upon a Facebook post.

Unlike many people, I didn't even consider Jesus as a response. Perhaps a sad statement about my faith, but  what would he tell me that he didn't tell the guys he hung out with for years?

Nope, I instantly thought of my Grandfather.

He told me a lot of things as a kid, the depth of which I could not have fathomed without the benefit of life experience.

He was a simple man, a grounds keeper for a cemetery that he and my grandmother are buried in. Like many of the people whose lives the world least regards, his life exemplified many of the truths and principles that make a life in this world worth regarding.

There is a certain depth of understanding spiritual truths, that a complicated person with a complicated life will simply never grasp. They don't afford themselves the luxury of just being.

I loved working with my grandfather in his yard, which might be the reason I enjoy working and thinking in the yard now. Today I though about him, and all the times he told me the importance of pulling weeds by their roots.

As I pulled the weeds from my own yard, I noticed that my yard gradually went from a luscious continuous green to a mostly green yard with brown patches. It was a bit of a bummer.

It certainly would have been easier on my back and hands, as well as far less time consuming to simply mow over them. My yard would have looked much better in the end that's for sure, at least for a little while.

I suppose if my only concern were for appearances, rather than a healthy lawn, I could have gone that route. But weeds have thorns, and eventually they have a way of choking out the other life in the yard. I was tired from my usual long work week. As much as much I really didn't want to, I knew I'd have to deal with them at some point, and sooner would be better than later.

I'm not really a big fan of yard work, but I've found that a lot of my thinking comes simply by picking up a tool, and setting to work.

As I continued to think about the benefit of life experiences, it lead to the awareness of a couple of things:

1) Doing what we don't want to do now is often the preparation that enables us to do what we actually want to do later.
2) That as the years go on, the consideration of my own thoughts and feelings are a decreasing factor in those things which I do and do not do. This is especially true with regard to those people I care about, and for.

As the yard gradually became more brown than green, I looked at my neighbor's lovey yard. I though of the expression regarding the greenness of ones own lawn in contrast to that of others'. I began to consider that the greater greenness of another's lawn from a distance might only appear so because they have chosen to mow over their weeds instead of taking the time to remove them at their root and that they might look much different when viewed more closely.

A good looking but unhealthy approach that many of us take in our own lives. It is far easier to ignore the weeds of our lives than it is to get our hands dirty and deal with them at their root. Most of us, if we could afford to would rather pay someone else to deal with those problems. I know a guy who makes his whole living that way.

I'm pretty sure my grandfather didn't mean all that at the time, I can't say, but that's where it took me.

I suppose, like going back in time to talk to Jesus, I can't imagine what my grandparents would say. Honestly what they would have to say to me wouldn't be the purpose behind wanting to see them.

If I could see them again my only real desire in doing so would be to thank them for all they had done for me and taught me in my younger days. To tell them that their presence in my past has made all the difference in my future. To perhaps tell them I loved them more than I had ever realized, and simply hug them one last time.

Death.

It is a milestone we'll all face at one point or another, regardless of how we've lived, or how ever have or haven't prepared for it. We know that having been given life also means we have been sentenced to death as well. Even though we all know it, death still has a certain unexpected way of profoundly impacting us. For a good number of reasons I suppose.

When someone close to us leaves us, they take with them an irreplaceable part of us as well. It is a painful experience.

When I think about the loss someone else may be experiencing, I always think back to the loss of my own grandparents in relating.

Recently, sadly, I had such occasion.

For some reason people (me too) try to put on a brave face in these difficult times, but I know from experience that the game face will inevitably come off at one point or another.

It never happens when we expect that it should...

As it has with me, it might happen when we are alone and left to our own thoughts, or perhaps when one day we stumble across some (otherwise insignificant) piece of something that to us suddenly conjures up the fondness of their memory and solidifies their absence from us ever more in this life. This is when the pain floods into and out of us.

In times like these though I also think of Jesus, that he too wept at the loss of a family's loved one. He didn't weep for the one who gone on, but for the ones they had left behind.

So it's ok to cry.
Even Jesus did that.

My grandparents didn't pass away last year, or last decade, they passed almost three decades ago and the sting still of their absence hasn't left me yet.

There are certain things we just don't get over, things that will hurt a lifetime I imagine. All I really know is they haven't stopped yet, and I don't see them stopping soon.

While it's true that the frequency of our thoughts regarding them may decrease as time passes, the intensity of those feelings never seems to. Not for me at least, not yet.

So for my friends, the Bertrams, I'm sorry. Truly I am.

I don't care what they say love, real love, isn't free, and this is only part of its huge price. It hurts sometimes and sometimes it hurts for a very long time.
That it isn't easy however doesn't mean at all that it's bad, it only means that it isn't easy. One is not the other and for the believer, there isn't bad, there is only difficult and less difficult, but it is all good.

When I consider my own death as I too often do, it really isn't my death that concerns me all that much. My truest concern is for those I will leave behind I'm doing so.

The thought that one day they will look for me, they will want to turn to me, ask me for something, maybe just smile at me and not by my choice I simply won't be there. THAT is what hurts me deeply, to the core.

In my mid thirties I wrestled with this though over and over. It is a thought that has brought me to tears more than once.

But God has a way of speaking to us in a voice unique to each off us. It sounds to us like as it needs it to at the time of our need to best address our needs.

He spoke quite clearly to me twice during this period. (That's a story for another time.) Although the thoughts still linger, there is at least a peace about them now as well. I rest easier knowing that God will provide for them, just as he is and has always provided for me and my family...

Abrupt ending with no real summary. Poor writing I know.

But that's it, all I had to say.

Honestly, I'm not sure why I told you all this. It's probably more than you needed. Maybe it will be just what you needed. Whatever it is to you, I hope it helps you, now or at some point.

Solo Cristo Salva.

d(-_-)b

Sum Times

Sometimes giving up isn't the worst thing you could possibly do, in fact depending on how and why you do it, giving up might just be the very best thing you can do.

Its kind of empowering, liberating you might say.

You Can't Handle The Trooth

As I tell my kids  believing that I'm right will be far less painful than the experience they will have in learning beyond a doubt that I am.

Now I know I'm not always right. Nobody is.
I'm just a guy who's had some experiences which have taught me certain things are generally the case.

With that in mind, I also understand that there are certain fundamental truths in life that will (or should) be arrived at no matter the path we take in arriving at them. So,I try not to judge others, or tell them what they should do, but I do try to help them to understand what I have found to be the case in certain instances. However, allowing people the chance to make the right choices also means allowing them to make the wrong ones as well. It's part of the process.

For people like me, sadly it's the most effective method of learning, and the path I most often take. So, if you can benefit my experiences by all means do. It would be nice to think that my stupidity might be a means to your wisdom.

All of this simply to say, if you don't already have a personal awareness of this, here's what I have found to be  true without exception: 

Toothpaste applied to teeth is minty and refreshing, however it is quite the opposite experience when applied to the eye.

So, I will tell you, as I tell my kids  believe that I'm right and I will be far less painful than the experience you  will have in learning beyond a doubt that I am.

inspiration from unlikely sources

Crappy Facebook Post + Mindless Re-post = Facebook Composting!

Put away your studies, talk to people you never see...Let's call it Facebook.

Dumb as a post...Facebook made it literal.

On Facebook you can be whoever you want to be! Sadly however most people are content with simply being themselves.

Fakebook: Be whatever you want with a click.

The friends that mater most are not found on our lists but on our hearts.

Click Click Click

2 terabytes of music gone, just like that...

Ace Holes

Well my computer is on the way home after being hinge for a few weeks.
I never received notification that it was received. So a week and a half after I sent it I called them. When I called they couldn't tell me what was being repaired or if anything was, only that it was received as their English speaking abilities went telling me that much was a struggle.

So I received this in my email this morning. Still no mention of what was or wasn't fixed only a link in case I'm interested in buying a new computer...so that doesn't sound too positive.
_____________________________________
Acer America Inc. Service Repair Center

Dear Acer Customer,

You are receiving this notification to inform you that your Acer product on the above Case ID and Serial Number has been shipped back to you from our Acer Repair Facility. To better assist you in tracking this shipment visit http://www.fedex.com/tracking and enter the tracking number listed above.

We appreciate your business. If you are interested in purchasing a new Acer system or accessories, please visit http://store.acer.com/store/acerna/en_US/home/.

Please note that this is an Auto Generated email and replies to this email address are not monitored.

For further assistance, please contact our Customer Service Department at (800) 816-2237 or visit our Website at http://www.acersupport.com

Thank you for choosing Acer.

One or a million

 

Well...on the positive side we're pretty dog-gone efficient! 
That was my original comment to this post on face book. (Since I'm doing this on my phone you'll have to scroll to the bottom of the page to see what is being tasked about here. Sorry, I'd fix it if I could.)
But then a deeper conversation happened, and so I thought I would share this response with you.
Here's what I'm responding to:
I'm sure I've done this too many times myself, but often these little pithy posts ignore too much and people go "yeah that makes sense" without thinking it through. If you use a car, if you use paper, if you live in a house, well, then you are participating in the society that takes from the earth.
A lot of popular thinking derives from the romantic idea that people should live "simply" and in tune with the environment, as the noble savages do. The problem with that is the savages are not noble, they are savage. Have you been any place where people live on subsistence? I have. Now, they may want to live that way, and they may be maintaining their culture and heritage, but subsistence is not capable of sustaining the population of human beings.
The classic Christian view, much slandered by today's worshippers of Gaia (I.e. pagans), is that God put human beings on the earth to subdue it and to be fruitful and multiply. The apostle Paul told us He (God) has given us all things to enjoy. I think the earth is a wonderful place, full of richness which God placed there in creation, unlike any other planet (the number now known is over 1000 and increasing practically daily). At the same time we are not owners, we are managers, who care for Earth (or ought) as a trust from God.
....................................
Now don't misunderstand me, there are some great points in here.
My objective here isn't to disagree but simply to lend perspective.
So here it is....
....................................
Certainly any life form requires resources to exist, however unintentionally though, most of them also give back, while taking only those resources they require to live.
Perhaps if our usage (as humans) of resources was more proportionally in line with a mere need rather than that of comfort and convenience, we might not need to be so concerned about the availability or replenishing of them.
However this isn't at all the case.
Americans as a minority of the world's populous use a majority of the world's resources.
While I agree with Paul about man's enjoyment of the Earth, certainly the enjoyment he mentions  can not be equated with the sort of gluttony we have forced the Earth to provide for us in the name of consumerism and progress.
As I have always said, enough is enough, but too much is never enough. All sin has an every increasing appetite that will not be satisfied until it has realized its full potential for destruction.
As far as man subduing the Earth (Genesis), Subdue, as I'm sure you must know was never intended (as many wrongfully interpret) to be equated with conquering. So that the Earth is to serve man.
In fact until its translation into English I'm not sure it was ever read that way. The original intention was rather to emphasize man's obligation to maintain and care for the Earth just as with the garden.
The Earth is just as much God's creation as man is however I've never read that the Earth is responsible for taking care of us, only that we are to care for it.
That we personally, individually do no harm may be fine and dandy, but it isn't nearly the sort of hand washing it once was in days gone by when we provided for ourselves. Since we now live in a culture where everything is done for us (and we do for everyone else).
The greatest impact then, that we can make is through intentionally directing where our money goes as spending it with one company or another, at one store or another, in one way or another is tantamount to a vote in favor of whatever practices are being used to provide them.
Whether that impacts either a resource or a culture, we should consider what message we are sending with our consumer habits as a very real part of the value of our purchase. Because undeniably we are sending a message and there is no profit where there is no market.
There is on the horizon, (so it would seem) an approaching point of no return for certain ecological things to be corrected if they can at all even be corrected.
So if, as I believe, our first ministry is to our families (specifically here children since they will bare the brunt of our actions) and our fellow man, then the manner in which we have utilized and maintained these resources thus far indicates we are sorely failing in this area.
College, careers, and creature comforts will have little to no meaning to our children if there is no source of non toxic air and food.
If it is a result of a natural occurrence then so be it, but let it not be so simply because our generation was wasteful and greedy, or failed to make right what they could while they could.
That's not very Christ like at all.
Not the Christ I know at least.
Solo Cristo Salva

 

Old Fashioned Values

Oh sure there were increasingly difficult obstacles mounting, lots of them. It wouldn't have been easy,  but I think we could have done it.

But now?

Well, any scrap of hope for the possibility of re-instilling the values of delayed gratification to a modern generation, were completely crushed with high speed internet on cell phones.

Experience will be a bitch of a teacher.
That's progress.

Collecting Cheese Labels

That's called "tyrosemiophilia".

Don't eat anything Blythe cooks for you

She cooks with microbe waves.

Frienemies

Hi! I'm the wrapper that came with your frozen pot pie.

I'm here for your convenience and I'll make sure your food cooks just like it would if you had used convection heating instead of radiation.

I'm really pretty handy, not to mention convenient. You like me right now, While your food is still frozen, I'm pretty easy to deal with.

But in about four minutes I'll also be the reason you burn your fingers as  you try to pry me off of your food while I cling to the top of it as though life itself depended on it.

You haven't even considered that yet, have you?

Anyway, good luck with that.

Too bad you don't have more than four minutes to heat your food...you could totally avoid me.

Increasing the Volume: 031213

Video here: The Alarm: Spirit of 76

Lyrics Here:

Well I find myself in reverie 'Bout what we might have had And what might have been We had something going once That was such a long, long time ago

It was way back in '76 Our friendship formed of pure innocence We first met in Mathew Street Where we heard something that would set us free A sign stands over a door, it says "Four lads who shook the world" In the depths of those heady nights We would dream of those bright lights Oh my friend, Oh my friend, Oh my friend

And my friend John, he went away He made some mistakes Spent time in Walton jail And now when I see him we still talk But there's no light shining in his eyes

And Susie, she was seventeen And more beauty in this world I swear you'll never see I was gonna be king And she was gonna be queen But now all she does is hide behind the tears

If there was more sense in this world And work wasn't so hard to find You would not be going your way I would not be going mine Oh my friend, Oh my friend, Oh my friend

Somewhere tonight out on the street Somewhere beneath this city's heat In the eyes of strangers who pass me by Life is cruel and so unkind Oh, Oh the SPIRIT OF '76

And Pete has seen his dreams come true But that don't make him no hero He's just one of the lucky few If a man can't change the world these days I still believe a man can change his own destiny

But the price is high that has got to be paid For everyone who survives there are many who fail I've seen my friends caught out in that crossfire All their dreams and hopes smashed on the funeral pyre

I will never give in until the day I die Get myself some independence Carve out a future with my two bare hands Oh my friend, Oh my friend, Oh my friend

Somewhere tonight out on the street Somewhere beneath this city's heat In the eyes of strangers who pass me by Life is cruel and so unkind Oh, Oh the SPIRIT OF '76

Mersey lights shine in the distance Same as they did for us then Mersey lights shine bright in the distance Where are you now my friend?

You see some nights when I can't sleep I still think of you

And all the promises,all our dreams we shared I know those lights still call to you I can hear them now I can hear them now

(Still shining for us) (Let em shine)

(Can you hear them) (Can you hear them)

(Lights are still shining)

Somewhere tonight out on the street Somewhere beneath this city's heat In the eyes of strangers who pass me by Life is cruel and so unkind Oh- Oh Where's it gone The SPIRIT OF '76

Everyday ends in whY

There's no such thing as a random event.

Do you believe that?

If you do, tell someone.
Not just someone, but someone you don't know.

Less see what happens.

My Apologies to Paul

As a father I consider that God has also assumed this title.

So, as I consider the nature of my relationship with my children, I must say that I have learned far greater things about God, in both magnitude and depth, than any Bible study has or ever could ever hope to impart.

It is something that must be experienced to be understood.

No disrespect.

Well Done

A lot of people only see the negative in others, but there's usually some good in everyone if you just look for it.

For instance cannibals, they get a bad rap but they aren't all bad. After all, you'll never meet a cannibal that's self consumed.

In fact they're usually more concerned with how well you are.

Soup is Good Food

Every good recipe is tested, and any chef will tell you, to produce anything worth consuming, every kitchen requires someone willing to stir the pot or even the best recipes will burn.

One of Those Days

Well, it's been a rough morning right out of the gate. I woke up and had to watch several episodes of Shaun the Sheep with Maddy. A little later I was forced to have home made crepes with home made whipped cream, fresh strawberries and raspberries.  Then strong coffee with a splash of half and half...I've just stepped outside to be greeted by lovely weather! What's next!? Will a blue bird land on my shoulder?! Woe is me.

Increasing the Volume: 030913

Video Here:
Bob Mould: If I Can't Change Your Mind

Lyrics Here:
Tears fill up my eyes
I'm washed away with sorrow
And somewhere in my mind
I know there's no tomorrow
I see you're leaving soon
I guess you've had your fill
But if I can't change your mind
Then no one will

And all throughout the years
I've never strayed from you my dear
But you suspect I'm somewhere else
You're feeling sorry for yourself
Leaving with a broken heart I love you even still
But if I can't change your mind
Then no one will

Even though my heart keeps breaking
Don't you know that I'll be waiting
Here for you
Then when you return
When will you return
I hope you see I'm dedicated
Look how long that I have waited
If you come back then you will find
A different person If you change your mind

How can I explain away
Something that I haven't done
And if you can't trust me now
You'll never trust in anyone
With all the crazy doubts you've got
I love you even still
But if I can't change your mind
Then no one will

Someday you'll see
I've been true
I' ll stay that way until
But if I can't change your mind
Then no one will

And one more:
Bob Mould - Brasilia Crossed With Trenton

Blahg, blahg, blahg

That's it.
That's the whole post.

Scene 150: The Life of a Stagehand

If you're in the biz, then you probably only vaguely tell people what you do for work, when they ask.

Of course, they generally reply with the mistaken notion how glamorous and exciting it must be. They ask about all those shows you must see, all those people you must meet. Pretty glamorous isn't it?

Given all that, I think a good number of you will appreciate the quote below. (Of course reading it can't replace the unexpected spontaneous laughter I just experienced from watching this  scene, but I couldn't find a video clip...)

So without further adieu,  Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you:

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind:
Scene 150 1:15:04-1:16:17

Dialogue between Sam Rockwell & Drew Barrymore

Background: This conversation takes place during a dinner date.

Sam Rockwell (an undercover CIA agent) has just found out an associate of his (also an undercover CIA agent as well) has been killed.

He's clearly distraught, but obviously can't tell her why.

Here's how it plays out...
___________________________________
(DB) (singing)

Happy birthday
Dear Chuckie
Happy birthday
To you

Is that right?

(SR)Yeah. That's real good.
That's real good.

(DB)So what's wrong, Chuck?
Are you OK?

(SR) Yeah, I'm OK.
A guy I know killed himself last night...
A guy I know killed himself.

(DB) Who was he?

(SR) You don't know him.

(SR) He's a stagehand.

(DB) Why did he do it?

(SR) He didn't like his work anymore.

(DB) Is being a stagehand really, really bad?

(SR) Yeah, it's pretty bad.
___________________________________

From: http://www.cswap.com/2002/Confessions_of_a_Dangerous_Mind/cap/en/25fps/a/01_15#play

Get Out Your No 2 Pencil

You know how many people can be number one?

One...out of I don't know how many, and it doesn't matter,

One.
That's it.

Lot's of people really seem to think they're going to be that one though. Correction, they know they will.

This, in spite of the fact that most of us have spent our whole lives not being number one. Even if we have been fortunate enough to have had those experiences, the glory and status are  usually short lived.

So the ratio between the number of those  who will place number one to those who will place in every following number should be a clear indicator about the reality of the situation we are likely to face.

Strangely though, we expend an inversely proportionate amount of effort toward for the unlikely position of number one  so that when we experience any of the other following numbers, we find ourselves ill-prepared to cope.

Good character is the result of intentional effort, not unintentional osmosis. In putting more of our focus on ensuring that we are persons of good character, we are more likely to be prepared for any circumstance.

Who we are is key in directing what we are, stabilizing our perspective so we can act rationally, even in irrational company.

In putting the quality and depth of our character to the test, success is just as likely as failure (if not more so) to have devastating consequences

Good character is stable in unstable times, poor character unstable at all times.

Thinking that you'll deal with it when it comes up, is a lot like saying you'll train for a marathon when you step up to the starting line for the race, and the starting gun goes off.

By then it's too late.
The race had already been lost.

Solo Cristo Salva

d(-_-)b

Tre' Si'

This picture bearly resembles Gene Simmons but I thought you'd like it.

You're Reality

Imagine you are a soldier at war.
A war in which neutrality is not an option.

You are fighting a powerful and ruthless enemy. Who's tactics are almost flawless, and their ability to blend in to the landscape makes them virtually unrecognizable until it's too late to escape them.

You have found yourself hopelessly and irretrievably trapped. Lost deep behind enemy lines, you know there will be no rescue party coming for you.

You are alone as you have never been before.

If there is escape to be found at all, you know it will be up to you to navigate your way to safety, but deep down you are certain that escape will be impossible except by death.

You've heard the tales of the those who have been captured, so you know that if you're captured as you inevitably will be, your enemy will not be content with simply killing you. You are sure to live a good long time desperately wishing  for the pleasant escape mere death would afford you.

You're scared, but luckily you're not alone for long, as you find that a much higher ranking officer has come looking for you, to help you.

You are overjoyed at seeing them. When you ask however they confirm your worst fears. As you suspected there will be no rescue to bring you to safety and you will not find your way out of enemy territory.

There is no escape, not in this lifetime. Your days will be spent living among your enemy. But they also assure you they can show you how to not only survive but flourish as much as one could hope to in such hostile territory.

They know the tactics, the weapons, and the traps of the enemy, where they hide, and what they look like even when they're disguised. You could not possibly have hoped for better company given the circumstance and for the first time in a long time you have hope that somehow you might just escape the clutches of the enemy, a slow inevitable death and you may even do well given the circumstances.

Your new companion warns you with great seriousness that this enemy has a mighty power and an unimaginable presence, so great that you could not possibly understand either. They fight as you never have with weapons you've never known. Their numbers are great and they are everywhere.

You must be ever on your guard if you are to survive.

You are told that your enemy's tactics are not foremost that of killing as much as that of leading those that would oppose them into a subtle and slow descent into insanity, so unrecognizable that people rarely realize the death they will willingly walk into until it's too late.

As you begin your survival training you are asked to do things which seem to have no logical application to survival. Naturally, you ask. The response you are given it's that while most of what they will instruct you to do will probably make perfect sense, there will be times that what they instruct you to do will make almost no sense to you but you must trust them if you are to survive.

It is made clear that you will need go against your natural instincts, pay attention to their instruction,  trusting and following them to the letter.

Of course, you agree.

You do what you're told and things go well for a while. For the most part nothing seems too out of the ordinary about what you're instructed to do.

You trust them fully for you have survived for sometime and gradually your confidence in them increases as you watch your own skills improving.

With a slowly increasing frequency though you notice that more and more tasks make no sense to you. That which you once enthusiastically did, now seem somewhat pointless.

Over the course of time you start to notice that whether or not you do them nothing seems to be affected. You question their purpose and point of them. When you ask, there is no definitive reasoning except to emphasize your need to trust.

Eventually though, you don't do them at all, and it doesn't seem to matter because you see no effect as a result.

You still believe that you trust your companion though...you tell yourself this and you tell your companion this as well.

But do you? or has your ease caused you to be complacent?

Do you trust the only one who could truly save you? The one who sought you out?

Really?

The Fighting Fish

Oh, poor you, you've got such a stressful life...

So what, you think we wanted to spend out whole lives down here in betta mode?!

We're not exactly living the dream just waiting to see if we make the cut...day after day with no answer.

No finality...

We don't enjoy fighting but you gotta realize, that kind of uncertainty can really take a toll on a fish.

So, please, forgive us if we're a little hostile sometimes.

Favoritism

SERIOUSLY, you ought to do yourself a REAL favor, and stop doing yourself SO MANY favors, because REALLY it's not doing you ANY favors, seriously.

Thunder Blunder

Thunder...

It's a powerful reminder, that no matter how confident you may feel to the contrary, ultimately...

 YOU are NOT in control!

Nobody thinks it's your fault

It's ok...

Be hypercritical.

Be hypersensitive.

Have unrealistic expectations of people but don't tell them what they are. Make sure they know how disappointed  you are when they don't meet them.

Focus on everything that isn't going your way.

Dwell on the misfortunes of your past and the failures of other people's pasts...continually.

If that's not enough, complain about things that don't really affect you and you really have no control over anyway.

And by all means make sure you look at the lives of others to gain perspective on your own.

Go ahead, you deserve it.

After all, if you're going to be unhappy anyway, there's really no logical reason to let the people around you be happy.

d(-_-)b

Increasing the Volume: 031813

(Click link below for video)

 

 Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi: 
Two Against One 

 

 (Click link above for video)

 

Lyrics:

 

Make no mistake I don't do anything for free and
I keep my enemies closer than my mirror ever gets to me
And if you think that there is shelter in this attitude
Where do you feel the warmth of my gratitude

Ah I get the feeling that it's two against one
Ah I'm already fighting me so what's another one?
The mirror is a trigger and your mouths a gun
Ah Lucky for me I'm not the only one

And if it looks to me like you and your reflection
For them to add your own fight to this dimension
Then tell it that this ain't no free for all to see
There's only three
It's just you and me against me

Ah I get the feeling that it's two against one
Ah I'm already fighting me so what's another one?
The mirror is a trigger and your mouths a gun
Ah Lucky for me I'm not the only one
Lucky for me I'm not the only one

And if your foot soldiers, syncophants and yes man
For them to break into the middle of this little plan
Then they should plan to hear me say that I wont play around
But wait anyway I planned a plan to drown them

Ah I get the feeling that it's two against one
Ah I'm already fighting me so what's another one?
The mirror is a trigger and your mouths a gun
Ah Lucky for me I'm not the only one
Lucky for me I'm not the only one

Watch Danger Mouse videos on MTV.com

 

The Following Message

There are no rules that you do not choose to follow, or guilt that isn't willingly assumed.

Heartyheart heart

Well, well. isn't that special?

Everyone's a critic. It's what you expose yourself to with public self expression, especially in the arts.

Interpretation is relative, the appreciation of the piece subjective, but everyone based on no particular qualification to do so, is free to criticize, with the personal assumption that their thoughts are equally if not more valid than the artists.

Inarticulate, Inconcise and Verbose...
that's me in a nutshell to some, but I've found that often the appreciation of a writing style is largely dependent on ones reading style.

So, if you don't like my writing style, perhaps,  before you choose to enlighten me about my shortcomings,  you should consider the extremely unlikely possibility of shortcomings in your reading style as well.

It seems we're both only trying to help each other out.

Well, well, isn't that special?

Gutter Brain

1)  If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with.

2) Always assume the missionary position.

Kill Will

Who is Will?

What has he done that would cause so many people with guns the desire to fire them at him?

My Spiritual Gift

It's never worth the energy and effort it takes to go out of your way simply to be a jerk. Then again, sometimes it's not worth the energy or effort it takes to avoid being a jerk either.

Increasing the Volume: 030613

Video link here:
Wax Tailor: I Own You

Lyrics here:

Yes! I'm your house I got all the mod-cons that you wanted

Granted for the price of a job you hate Too bad it's too late To forget where you're at You have to admit, I own you Yeah that's true

Hee! Hee! I'm your TV You pay good cash just to see me Suck up your time with the lives of others Mash up your brain to a frozen to a frozen dinner From lap to lips subliminal clips Engrave the words on your soul, I own you, I own you

Hey I own you You know that's true Oh I own you And you know that's true

Ha! Ha! I'm your car Where ever I go is where ever you are I move at the touch of your toes Your pride and joy and everyone knows You're keeping up appearances For you don't dare to let it show, I own you

Ho! Ho! I'm your phone You push all my buttons we're never alone It kills you to leave me at home Or think of the drivel you'd miss Without the tender kiss of my tones That moan and moan and moan and moan... I own you

Yes I own you And you know that's true And I own you And you know that's true

He! He! I'm your PC You're all upgraded second reality Online, I realize I'm helping escape a life benign Porn and pointless emails to faceless strangers Now that's a sign, I own you

Hmm I own you Yeah you know that's true Oh I own you And you know that's true, oh

(Merci à Cha :) pour cettes paroles)

Red Brain Blue Brain

Here's a link to an article that was enlightening:

Red Brain, Blue Brain: Evaluative Processes Differ in Democrats and Republicans

Inhale Exhale

The natural act of simply breathing becomes an oddly unnatural feeling when we are instructed to do so, we suddenly become aware of an action we perform all day, everyday, without thought or regard, simply as a matter of living.

It should be the same for us when we do what is good and right especially if doing so is supposed to be the result of a transforming faith.

The extension of grace, kindness, mercy, and all of the traits that Jesus embodied, should be practiced by Christians so routinely that they become an unnoticed natural routine, part of everyday living, as natural as breathing.

As people we rarely notice or regard things when they are going as they should. It is only when things go wrong that we stop to consider the mechanics of what we once took for granted.

It seems in part as a subculture, the church as a body is experiencing a spiritual asthma.

That we notice when we have done good, means that somewhere at some point in our thought process doing otherwise was to some degree considered an option.

Perhaps then it is worthy to consider how rarely we might be routinely practicing  these things since they are clearly not coming easily and naturally to us, and begin to consider how we might correct our manner of everyday living.

Thinking that our right actions should be, for some reason worthy of recognition by ourselves or others should be to us as absurd as asking to be congratulated for inhaling and exhaling.

The life that it gives is the reward.

If we are born again, or new creations in Christ, then let embodying his character be as air to us...

...and doing otherwise a spiritual flatulence.

Think about it.

Solo Cristo Salva
d(-_-)b

Funerals

In such times it is a comfort to me to note that when the Bible tells that Jesus wept, it also goes on to say that his tears weren't shed for the one who had left, but for the those he had left.

The Rhino Chase

It does not take a good deal of time to do a good deal of living, however that we have simply  not chosen to die does not at all indicate that we have chosen to live.

While I've not lived a great number of years I have lived a great deal of life. Among many other things I have learned to pay attention and ask questions .

Believing there is a purpose and a plan orchestrating this mess we call life, I also believe that there is a far bigger picture that we are not afforded a full understanding of from our vantage point. However we may choose to do it, we do it none the less.

So when life takes unexpected turns, as it often will, I have found great value in asking,"What does this mean? " and "What does it matter?" as things matter to some degree if we are meant to get anything out of them at all.

That life does not often go as planned, is not uncommon, and often times it is for the better, which is not to say easier. However, these are the times we will later refer to as memories, and these are the times which both define and refine our character.

This being the case,  it is a mistaken notion to perceive the life of adversity as being bad and the life of prosperity as being good. Often it is the unavoidable consequence of leading a good life that we face many of life's greatest difficulties. So, if there is any personal tragedy in our lives to be found it is not the result of our trials and adversities, but more often the result of our responses to them.

A mere acceptance of what we cannot change does not afford the depth and nature of  introspection and growth required in honestly facing and changing those things, which were always there but deep within ourselves .

However, if  we choose to not merely to accept those things that we cannot change, but  instead choose to embrace them as our catalyst to  change for the better, we might then find the blessing in the curse and watch certain failure turn into unimaginable success.

Between blessings and curses, successes and failures the difference is most often found in the lenses by which they are seen, for this is the  reality which will shape our response and determine our path. 

Faith makes all the difference...

Solo Cristo Salva
d(-_-)b

Forget What They've Told You

Void of discretion, tact,  and the motivation of love, the virtues of self control and silence far exceed that of honesty as a best policy.