time out for fun

Q) How old was Jesus?

A) 4 and he can hear you.

Tonight's SAG Awards

Tonight's SAG Awards are not doing at all for my body image, what their name implies they should.

I don't feel any better at all.

Damn Aged

I saw the Damned back in high school at the Celebrity Theater.

It was a raucous night to say the least.

I'll bet we were called "those dammed kids" by old folks, and that night it would have been more accurate than they could have realized.

db

My life with the thrill kill cult

I have to wonder, if someone is willing to kill for their stuff, what is it they wouldn't kill for? That seems to set the bar pretty low.

Follow that line of logic and you'll find that mentality falls in line with that of many abortions.

So what difference does a few shitty years make?

We love our stuff, don't we?

Guns don't kill people...but suction tubes and saline solution do?

Is that what we're saying?

Justify it however you want...

Global Swarming

Seems to me that anyone with half a brain in real estate should be able to make a bundle by selectively playing the whole global warming card.

Duh!

Ted

...in a month, my life could be your life. A cushy, $38,000 a year branch manager who is personal friends with Tom Skeritt? Not a bad life, is it?

Second in Solitaire

You might see all the cards and you might make all the right moves, yet in spite of it all you still might wind up losing.

It's just a fact.

Time Out For Fun

Going to the Golden State
to make a living on my back.
Crashed in downtown Phoenix,
at a place named just for that.

Where did I stay?

The Invisible Thread

The lady at the store said they were out but that a lot of people like this better.

Ok I said. I'll give it a shot...

... and that's why I don't trust a lot of people.

The First Day of the Rest of Your Lie

Tomorrow will be the second day of the rest of my life so I guess yesterday was the last day of the past of my life.

I don't have any idea what all that is supposed to mean or inspire, but I have found this, no matter what day it is, at the end of everyday is a "y" and usually a "why?" as well.

I was just reading a Brennan Manning book in which he recalls a time when he asked a man if he could summarize Christianity in a single sentence.

The man replied without hesitation stating that he could do so in a single word:

trust

Think about it.
I am

Either or Neither

It is far better to err on the side of kindness than of cruelty, for both ourselves and others.

I'll admit it, I've been both, kind and cruel,  at one time or another to people who probably warranted either or neither, and sadly I'm certain those days aren't over yet.

Most of the time when I've been frustrated, or impatient (that's me just being nice to myself there) with someone it's usually due to some sort of misunderstanding, perhaps some poor communications, or (the worst situation in my opinion) some extenuating circumstance, of which I was simply unaware.

Perception...what we perceive of others, and how we are perceived by others, it makes a vast difference. It can turn lovely to ugly pretty fast.

For the most part though being nice, even at my own expense, has left me regretting far less, in both number of occasions and in level of regret, than being nasty. It's also a very different kind of regret that has some built in self-comfort factors for having done what seemed to be the right thing.

There's no comfort in being a dick and especially when later you find out you were totally in the wrong for being so.

I generally try to keep in mind, going into it, that I may regret either choice, or I may regret neither one.
History has shown me that the regret for being nice is far easier for me to endure than the regret I have had from just being a straight up asshole...and that comes all too easily...believe me.  If ever I'm not, then glory be to God, because believe me it's there whether I show it or not.

So really, be good to yourself, but far more important, be good to each other, because a lot of times they are one and the same.

db

Son Control

Jesus used violence to save people.

So, shouldn't we?
It appears a lot of people, Jesus loving people are stocking up under the premise of doing the same.

But its not the same at all.
So sad.

Think about it.
d(-_-)b

Out of the blue, into the black

The likely-hood of experiencing a random occurrence is largely dependent on the ignorance level of the observer regarding the circumstances surrounding it.

My Karma Ran Over My Dogma.

“The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty and we must rise – with the occasion. As our case is new so we must think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves and then we shall save our country.”
                                - Abraham Lincoln 1862

It Can Be Done With A Little Work

Beautiful, brainy, and totally hard coral.

John 1:1

Word...

Word from the Father.
Word to my brothers.

A List

There's always a really good reason not to do the things we say we will, or know we should.

I've actually put together a list of some of the best reasons I've found to put things off until it's just too late.

Well, I was going to...

And then bolt

Everyone's From Somewhere

Lots of people will tell you how proud they are of where they're from.

They'll tell you stories, show you pictures, you know.

But, when you think about it, I don't think anyone can be all that proud of where they're REALLY from.

And, when you think about it a little more, that's probably better.

No one want to hear stories about it and they sure don't want to see any pictures.

PS Tell your Mom I said Hi.

Sometimes It's Easier to Love a Stranger

I'm tired...

I post a lot, and I'll keep blogging long after you get bored of reading. I don't write for you, I write for me. What you find here are parts of me, but not all of me. (Not many can endure that.) So don't mistake liking this, for liking me.

For me it's right now or write never. You'll know this is true by all the incomplete thoughts, leaps in logic, partial sentences, typos, revisions, and in my general disregard for any offense I may cause. Whatev...I should probably care more than I do about that.

Heck, I should care about a good number of other things too I suppose. But I don't...and decreasingly so as the years go by. I used to, but I'm not really sure why I did. It made sense once, I think.

Anyway, no one comments, (3 in the last month) and I get it. No one wants to put it all out there, I didn't either at first.

Sure, the lack of commentary can be a bit discouraging in one sense, but it's really somewhat liberating in another.

It's like the room is empty. No one is looking. So I'm dancing and singing my heart out while no one is looking, because I couldn't do either with an audience. I can just do my thing with no matter to me about how stupid I might look or feel if I knew someone actually saw me.

That's denial though...because to paraphrase Fat Boy Slim: I see you baby, checking my stats. What they tell me is that a lot of people (3,000 in the last month) read this. I'm not sure why anyone would care. I'm not really anyone whose thoughts are worthy of that sort of consideration. History has shown me this much, maybe history doesn't always have to repeat.

So yes, sometimes it really is easier to love a stranger.

They let you be yourself.
You let them be themselves.

In rare cases we each get to see that true self, that ugly self, in each other and for some reason that freedom doesn't end.

That's when strangers become friends, when you can dance and sing terribly, and feel like it's ok.

Solo Cristo Salva
db

Dancing with Mr. D

You know urine trouble if you've got kidney stones.

Hello Lover

"Love means never having to say you're sorry."

Isn't that nice?
Lots of people think so...

But not me.
I think that's a bunch of shit.

I think what love means is that we extend forgiveness without ever needing to hear the words, "I'm sorry." to do so.

It's letting go, and not using the past as a weapon in the future.

It also means making sure that a "sorry" is sincerely extended by us.

Because apologies aren't always about wrong or right as much as they might be about preserving the relationship at the expense of our pride.

Love means giving our best, doing our best, always assuming, trusting, hoping that the other person is as well. Whatever that best may be on any given day.

It's also helping others to realize their best for themselves, when they cannot find it within themselves.

Love is about extending the benefit of the doubt and love...really, it's about a lot of things.

But love certainly does not mean never having to say ,"I'm sorry".

To the contrary, it means always having to say, "I'm sorry", even and especially when it really sucks.

Miss Perception

To miss something and to simply not be present for it are two very different things.

For example:

I rarely miss work.

I make sure I don't miss it when there's work to be had.

I surely don't miss it when there's none.

d(-_-)b

FTS

The final front ear

The experience of speaking to some people is probably in a sense, what it must feel like to be in space.

Blah, blah, blah...

I've never been in space but I imagine that stepping outside the capsule for a breath of fresh air is about the emotional and mental equivalent of those conversations.

To God Be The Glory

I have the spiritual gift of offense.

If I'm every not a dick, it's only because God had spared both me and you from form that which comes so naturally to me.

So, maybe next time we don't get so lucky, huh?

As far as God

You could surrender everything to God, but if you haven't surrendered your own will to pursue God's, you've surrendered nothing that wasn't God's anyway.

Do your best

A dog is a dog and you can't kick a dog for being a dog. They're really just doing the best they can, and they are after all dogs.

Still, even knowing that doesn't make it a whole lot easier to endure those times when it's dark and I step in their shit, or when they continually bark at nothing...

all...

night...

long...

PS, this isn't at all about dogs.
Know what I mean?

Tie One On

In Taiwan, there's a lot of Taipei personalities.

HOpiate for the Masses

Hope, it's the only thing stronger than fear.

A little hope is effective, but a lot of hope is dangerous.

A spark is fine, as long as it's contained. 

-The Hunger Games

And that's how it works.

Berfday

Soon to celebrate 45 years of fucking up.
So glad to have the reminder....

Grow a Pair

Inspiration from Above

In giving our all, doing what's right, and in doing our best, there is found a resulting inner contentment. Whatever the result of those efforts may be,  there is reward to be found simply because we know what we have done and how we have done it.

At work, at home or abroad, in living and giving this way, we will grow, and will find the strength to continue doing them in even greater quantity and quality.

The world will be a better place for our having done so and that in itself is the greatest reward to be found, and reason enough for us to continue living in this way through every aspect of our lives and in every environment.

Take time to think about these things and remember them before you open your paycheck.

Thank You,
Management

Mercy over Justice

If you are in the position to offer mercy over justice, and compassion over condemnation or criticism, DO SO!

Be good to yourselves, but more importantly, be good to each other.
d(-_-)b

Puzzler

It's easy to make the pieces of the puzzle fit anywhere you'd like if you only use a few.

He's got a personality

It's funny to think that my age, and looking the way that I do, I can still drive the girls crazy!
Don't believe me?
Just ask my daughters or my wife. They'll confirm it.

A Good Number

I've experienced a good number of things which were not good, learned a good deal of lessons which were not good, all through a good number of people who were not good, but none of it was, in the end, bad...It simply was.

For someone you love, just in case

Insurance companies are the mafia of morals, and the extortionists of love. The smell of fear is money to them.

Fear and money they smell the same

Between fear and love, it is fear that generates the greater profit margin.

If your desire is only to generate great profit margins, with little actual return or accountability, appeal to the culture of fear.

Good Health

Its a fact, maintaining good health means maintaining a balanced diet. As the saying goes garbage in, garbage out.

If we have a diet of only those things of which bring us pleasure, we may find down the road that it had left us with certain deficiencies whose thefts may be difficult if not impossible to recover from.

Unfortunately, this means that on occasion we have to eat things we don't enjoy, simply because they are good for us, and we know we should.

Certain things will never taste good, their taste makes them difficult to even swallow.

No matter how well seasoned, or how they're prepared, or how nicer the presentation, pleasure in consuming them will never be found.

And so it is on occasion with our words too.

Nothing

Today is the last day of the past of your life.

Nothing takes the past away like the future.

Choose this day

The legality of an action is not the determining factor in regard to the morality of it.

Enough is enough

When it comes to good decision making having an overwhelming amount of information can be equally as detrimental as having too little information.

Relevant information is the key element in making good decisions.

SHC-2 out of 3

In the past 300 years almost 200 people have died from documented cases of SHC (spontaneous human combustion).

That's 2 people every 3 years! You probably know someone, who knows someone, who's heard of someone that's been affected by SHC.

Let's not wait for another 300 years and 200 more unnecessary tragedies.

No one should have to spontaneously combust.

At the end of the day

I've hardly every heard anyone say that about the actual end of the day.

Snow banks are great and all

but don't get too exited or you may find yourself having drift wood.

Right or Wrong

You can't make anyone feel or think what they are not to by their own conviction and will.

You may change their mind, but never their heart.

Van Gough was Ear Responsible

There really aren't too many situations in which the blame for it couldn't be assigned as the result of irresponsibility, some other character defect, or just flat out sin.

When that can't be done, well then, self preservation is always a perfectly reasonable and legitimate reason not to do the right thing.

So, I wouldn't worry really about it too much.

Just turn up the music, look the other way, or think about some other good deed you've done in the past to console yourself.

The guilt will pass.
It's not your fault.

Know your right?

Then know your rights.

Increasing the Volume: PSA

This is a public service announcement (with guitars)

1. You have the right not to be killed. Murder is a crime, unless it is done by a policeman, or an aristocrat.

2. You have the right to food money, providing of course, you don't mind a little investigation, humiliation, and, if you cross your fingers, rehabilitation.

3. The right to free speech (as long as you're not dumb enough to actually try it)

Know your rights
These are your rights
All three of 'em

Note, it has been suggested
In some quarters
that this is not enough!
Well..............................

Get off the streets
Get off the streets
Run
You don't have a home to go to?
Tough

Finally then I will read you your rights

You have the right to remain silent
You are warned that anything you say
Can and will be taken down
And used as evidence against you

Listen to this...

Run

Every morning I down load the main frame, and then log off after finishing the required paper work.

FFF

Faith, family, friends, in that order, everything else is just filler. Be good to yourselves, but more importantly, be good to each other.

1 Corinthians 11:24

....this is my body, which is (in this case, literally) broken for you.

Increasing the Volume: 011313

Often misunderstood, Devo was in fact a band that had quite a bit to say about the nature of people in their lyrics.

Here's just a couple of examples, both songs by the way are fantastic musically, as is with most of Devo's music.

Look around, you'll find that you're listening to Mark Mothersbaugh (singer/sing writer of Devo) a lot more than you may realize.

Enjoy or don't, whatev...
d(-_-)b

Devo: Freedom of Choice

a victim of collision on the open sea nobody ever said that life was free sank, swam, go down with the ship but use your freedom of choice

I'll say it again in the land of the free use your freedom of choice your freedom of choice

In ancient Rome there was a poem about a dog who found two bones he picked at one he licked the other he went in circles he dropped dead

freedom of choice is what you got freedom of choice!

then if you got it you don't want it seems to be the rule of thumb don't be tricked by what you see you got two ways to go

I'll say it again in the land of the free use your freedom of choice freedom of choice

freedom of choice is what you got freedom of choice!

In ancient Rome there was a poem about a dog who found two bones he picked at one he licked the other he went in circles he dropped dead

freedom of choice is what you got freedom from choice is what you want

freedom of choice is what you got freedom from choice is what you want

Devo: Enough Said

none of you would help me when i baked my bread now all of you would help me eat it i can see that you are very well fed this indicates that you don't need it

enough said enough said stop and let me tell you what tomorrow holds for you stop and let me tell you 'bout a plan i have for you

take all the leaders from around the world put them together in a great big ring televise it as the lowest show on earth and let them fight like hell to see who's king

gather up the pieces when the fight is done then you'll find out living really can be fun

the next thing i say to you will be true the last thing i said was false remember to do nothing when you don't know what to do

you wanted a world you could figure out but something happened while you were asleep you wanted a good life you could brag about too bad they took the parts you wanted to keep

enough said enough said stop and let me tell you what tomorrow holds for you stop and let me tell you 'bout a plan i have for you

take all the leaders from around the world put them together in a great big ring televise it as the lowest show on earth and let them fight like hell to see who's king

gather up the pieces when the fight is done then you'll find out living really can be fun

enough said

SpoCo

Remember, every day that you don't wind up spontaneously combusting...silently and helplessly smouldering to death, well that's a day that really could have been a lot worse...

...just a little perspective.

A Conservative Approach

It is important not to forget, but...as long as you remember to spin the chamber each time, before putting the gun in your mouth and pulling the trigger, simply loading a bullet, or even two, and pulling the trigger does NOT automatically mean that you're going to get shot...even if you do there's a chance that you still might not die.

Drill, spill & kill for the till...if money doesn't ease your conscience...that's why we make these pills.

Second Amendment Violation

A well armed militia army is posed to violate the second amendment rights of this bear.

Fire Arms

I support your right to have fire arms, I just don't understand why you want them.

Some say Blogger

I say Blumberjack!

We are the Chumpions

Certainly that which doesn't kill us may in deed make us stronger in certain ways.

That is one option...

Another very real option however, is that which does not kill us might, in the end, just leave us really fucked up, and wishing it had just finished job.

Nothing takes the past away like the future.

The Passed

I never used to think about the past so much, but then again I never used to have so much past to think about either.

Your time is now

Time is the one resource we are afforded in very finite and unknown quantity, and yet we treat it as though we knew ours was infinite.

If time were truly money, would we spend it the same way?

Every moment is a gift from God

It is often a need to be absent that brings to light the need to be present.

The Ugly

It's not about the good and bad it's about the why and how.

X

Moderation in all things is simply the extremism of one thing.

All things in moderation is the means to mediocrity.

Unless you are content with mediocrity in all things, you must be extreme in at least some of them.

Piece Out

Some are afraid of dying, some of living. Some fear both, and some neither. Some have their certainties, and some their doubts. But we all have our reasons...

We did not get the choice to live and so we will have no choice but to die, but we have many choices in between that will greatly affect how, and why we do either.

Preach It

Love Hurts (Nazareth)
You telling me? (Jesus of Nazareth)

I say goodbye

A tidal wave is the ocean's way of saying goodbye and a title wave is a repo man's way of saying goodbye.

1 out of 2

One of two things needs to happen:

A) Amendment 2.1 The Culture of Fear Act

or

B) A well regulated citizen's militia army needs to be established.

Because that's the only reason that the right of gun ownership is established under.

QuestionAble

All of us it seems, in spite of our own perceived differences, for some reason or another, at some point or another will ask ourselves questions, common questions, which may be very difficult and yet very important.

We may be unwillingly compelled, we may simply be curious, or we may seek to fill some void within ourselves.

Whatever the case, generally speaking it seems that somehow we instinctively know that in seeking these answers we might then know our origin and thus our destination. Consequently then we might too find purpose, clarity and ultimately peace for our lives.

In my experience, if these questions could be categorized by their answers, there are really only three kinds:

1) Those questions for whom a simple provision the answer is sufficient for us.

2) Those questions for whom no answer will ever be sufficient for us.

3) Those questions whose answers will not be sufficiently understood or applied, without our own experience and/or discovery of them. Answers that require patience and test our desire. We must work and wait.

For the last category it seems that merely handing us those sorts of answers is a disservice to the inquirer, as we tend to discredit certain things by virtue of our vanity, and the certainty that our own experiences have afforded us a sufficient perspective for understanding those things we have not experienced.

Although collectively we may ask the very same questions for which there are the very same answers, I believe it is the nature of our inquiry and the condition of our hearts that will determine which category our questions will fall into.

Just thinking...
db

2 Questions for You

Hear me out. I'm not judging, but I am asking a couple of serious questions here.

I'm not against gun ownership although I don't think I'll ever own one because of my own moral conflicts, but that's my issue and not yours.

It seems to me, according my understanding, that there are really very few arguments that a Christian can make for gun ownership without a certain compromise of faith.

That said the arguments that could be made outside of a religious context are actually very strong very strong in deed. (Which is part of my inner conflict in this.) I just rarely hear the strongest of them being used.

I don't know anyone that has to hunt for food. (actually I do know one family). Many may choose to but they don't have to. That's probably particular to my geographic region though.

So the next best argument it seems is also the one people use in the worst possible way. The Second Amendment.

Why is it that gun owners never, at least to my recollection never, site the Second Amendment verbatim when using it as their defense for owning a gun? They simply say "the second amendment" like they've never read it or even understand it. They then go on to say all sorts of reasons that aren't at all covered under the second amendment, basically it's insurance in a fear based culture. What if this, what if that.

It's actually pretty short, and simple. It wouldn't be all that hard to memorize.

They could simply say that they're preparing to be part of a citizen's militia army to defend the state should such a time come and the second amendment states they should do so, which why they have this freedom in the first place. Who could argue that?

But they don't say that.
I don't know why, so I won't speculate.

So here are my two questions:

1) From the American pov. If you read this and advocate gun ownership as an American right (which it is) maybe you could help me out here. Why not use the verbiage of the second amendment as part of the defense? Seems like a solid argument.

2) From the religious pov. If there is a case to be made from a Christian stance about gun (weapons of defense) ownership I'd like to hear that too.
Doesn't matter which side of the issue to me, just one side or the other. What does your conviction of faith say?
(Please don't try to tie in patriotism with faith it's really too inconsistent. Strictly faith based please.)

People read this stuff and never comment, but it doesn't hurt to ask I suppose.

I'm not trying to argue with anyone, just asking.

db

Consistent C***

"I'm simply preparing to take part in a 

"well regulated militia, to the security of a free state." " 

Boy if I had a nickel for every time someone used that to tell me why they have a gun and why I should too, well then I still wouldn't have a nickel to my name. 

Guns are not the problem

Ideal: 

Removing the object of temptation, 

does not remove the origin of temptation.

Reality: 

If the object of that temptation is poised to kill me, 

then by all means please do remove it.

Ideal:
I'm concerned about the level of gun violence.

Reality:
Hand guns and sniper rifles are awesome!
More guns please.

Ideal:
I'm simply preparing to take part of "A well regulated militia, to the security of a free state." It's my Second Amendment right.

Reality:
Fuck with my shit and I'll shoot you dead.

American by Birth

OK, here's my response to the following article:

The Human Identity Bridge: Section Seven The Vision Problem

(http://www.theidentitybridge.com/identity-fountain-of-american-freedom/vision/)

Increasing the Volume: 010813

Let me start by saying that this band has managed to remain one of my favorites for many years. Sure their sound may be a bit dated but they ask all the right questions..Sometimes they find answers I happen to agree with and sometimes not, but they're never PC or a band that beats around bush with subtle inferences to avoid offense it's simply not who they are.

Next, let me say that this song in particular has always touched me deeply. It speaks to my heart. It's mood and lyrics are quite moving, oddly comforting and yet somehow a little unsettling as well.

To anyone who has every known the loss of someone close, take a listen. I sincerely hope it is of some comfort to you as well and helps to ease the pain of the difficult questions we naturally tend to ask ourselves as those sobering times.

However, none of that is what I started out to say here. To spare you the boredom, I've put the point of this all at the end. You don't have to check it out, but I hope you manage to get that far.

Enjoy or don't, whatevs...db

___________________________________________________________________

You can hear / watch it by clicking below: 

the The - Love Is Stronger Than Death

Lyrics:

Love, love, love 

Love, love, love

Me and my friend were walking 

In the cold light of mourning. 

Tears may blind the eyes but the soul is not deceived 

In this world even winter ain't what it seems.

Here come the blue skies here comes springtime. 

When the rivers run high and the tears run dry. 

When everything that dies...shall rise.

Love, love, love is stronger than death. 

Love, love, love is stronger than death.

In our lives we hunger for those we cannot touch. 

All the thoughts unuttered and all the feelings unexpressed 

Play upon our hearts like the mist upon our breath. 

But, awoken by grief, our spirits speak 

How could you believe that the life within the seed 

That grew arms that reached 

And a heart that beat. 

And lips that smiled 

And eyes that cried. 

Could ever die?

Here come the blue skies here comes springtime. 

When the rivers run high and  the tears run dry. 

When everything that dies shall rise.

Love, love, love is stronger than death. 

Love, love, love is stronger than death.

Shall rise. shall rise. 

Shall rise. shall rise.

___________________________________________________________________

Now here's what I really wanted to say...

Recently a good friend and I were discussing a question of great importance. A difficult question that many people, over many years have struggled unsuccessfully to answer. The answers I've heard seem to be ones without firm resolve, or at least not presented so convincingly as to cause me to feel with any certainty that they are right.

The question? "When does life actually begin?"
It is a question that I too, as with my friend, have struggled with for years.

As I've found is often the case, many of life's most crucial answers aren't simply handed to us. Which is good considering the nature of people, as doing so often serves to undermine the value and importance of it. We tend to take to heart those answers we find through effort over time more deeply than those we are given. We understand them because we've reasoned through them.

Tonight, as I listened to this song, the answer struck me. All my pondering paid off and I had a revelation of sorts. It was one of those moments when an answer that feels in retrospect like it should have been obvious all along suddenly reveals itself.

Most often we search for the answer to this question from a biological perspective, as though biology alone were the only factor, or the only important factor at least to consider. I don't believe that it is, and it seems many people seem to agree. 

In my experience though, a lot of those well meaning people who believe there is more to life than the beginning and end of it here in this world (the biology of it) try to approach the question the same way and tend to site somewhat vague biblical verses to support their stance. 

Anyone who's read the Bible seriously knows the Bible isn't at all meant to be a science text, though it may offer that sort of insight, it is incidental and not the point of it.

As I sang these lyrics tonight, loudly and quite badly, it occurred to me if there is in deed more to life than what we see, then we've been approaching this question all wrong. I no longer believe that the biological approach is the one to take since the question isn't a biological question.

So the answer I found? Life begins when it is loved.
Yep, I said it, life begins when it is loved, and God loves all of His creation. If it is life at all, it is loved, and as is true with all of creation that alone is enough to to give it value. 

Consider this text from what is unanimously agreed as being a non-Christian document: 
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

What is it that equalizes all men? That gives them value and thus unalienable rights? That's right, their Creator...with a capital "C". I think this non-Christian document says it quite clearly.

That our Creator loves it gives it value, shouldn't we too then? To take it one step further then, if all life has  said Creator shouldn't the taking of that life then be reserved for its Creator as well?

Feel free to disagree, as I'm sure many will.
I'd love to hear your thoughts, but at least think about it, like something very big depended on it, because it does.

peace,
db

The Fault Lines

Disappointment is the result of unmet expectation.

So if we find ourselves being disappointed, perhaps the first, and best thing we can do is to ask ourselves what it is we actually expected.

The next best question is then is what we did or didn't do to make that happen.

There's no better way to be disappointed that to have expectations that are unexpressed and thus unmet.
Doing so is destructive, self-destructive and in the end it's really not fair to anyone.

Sharing is caring...

INFINITY

Come on, you've already asked yourself that question about the birds. 

How long will you continue to ask yourself the same question? 

It's no wonder you never move on. 

You keep staring at these birds, pondering these trite, unanswerable questions over and over.

Perhaps what you meant to say was,

"Then I ask the same question of myself." 

Forget everything you used to know

This is now the reality of communication.

A Large Well Requires Many Shovels

Individual cases can be used to represent any stance on any issue.
And while individual cases make up the overall situation, one should not be mistaken as being accurately indicative about the nature of the other in any way.

Just as all is not representative of one, neither is one representative of all.
Consideration of the overall situation provides a more accurate basis for a well thought out opinion.

The collective whole is made up of the individual parts, one cannot hope to be the other.
That said whole must include all of its individual parts if it is ever to be considered a collective and complete representation of those parts.

This is especially true when the issue is one who's answer is one that will be applied to the collective whole.

And Now for Something Completely Different

Below is my attempt at writing for a consulting company.
Doesn't look like that's going to happen, but it doesn't make this any less true.
Enjoy, or don't, whatevs...

Welcome to 2013!

It doesn't appear the world is going to end soon. Thanks to the internet and social media though, the world is changing drastically everyday, especially the business world. By now many business owners seem to recognize the benefits of a web presence, but it appears a good number of businesses have failed to understand the what that web presence means and just how much of an impact their on line presence has.

Studies show that about 80% of business and commerce is done on line, and 78% of consumers do their product research on the internet. So what does that mean to you? Combined with social media, the increased use of the internet means that yesterday's emphasis on interpersonal contact is a decreasing factor when consumers are deciding how and where they will spend their money. The internet has moved from a means of advertising and simply passing along information to a means and method of doing business. Instead of a customer service representative as the face that represent your company, your web presence has now become your most valuable means of telling people who it is they are doing business with...or not.

The internet is now your businesses lobby, showroom and market presence all in one. While you wouldn't want a shoddy showroom or lobby, hire a bad sales rep or exemplify a disregard for your clients in today's culture that's exactly what you're doing if you have a web site that is static and boring. To the modern consumer, the failure to update your site with fresh content, making it difficult for the average user to navigate, and broken links virtually amounts to a company that doesn't take their reputation, customer satisfaction, and perhaps their product seriously. It's just bad business.

Good internet representation doesn't have to be expensive if you're a little tech savvy  resourceful, and are able to put the time in to it in order to do it right. Of course you could hire someone as well. Either way, it pays to remember that to most people the quality of your web presence is wholly indicative of the quality of your business so if you're going to do it, you should do it right or perhaps not do it at all.

The internet...if you're not getting business and making money there, you're as much as giving it to someone else.

Beyond the Black and White

Life, the experiences of it, and the wisdom of age, well let's just say that it's a lot like the pixels on this screen.

Throw Your Hands Up

If I were ever in a situation, where for some reason I was forced to consume my own hands, I imagine that shortly there after my stomach would uncontrollably and forcibly reject them.

It might be projectile, and so I just might throw them up in the air, but not heave them like I didn't care...I use those things everyday.

They, Them, We

If we repeat what "they" say, do "we" then become "them"?

A Holy Man in a Funny Hat

The Laziest Pharisee

Just read this on a christian web site:

"In the end, 
if abortion was such a grievous sin 
Jesus would have mentioned it. 
He said nothing."

...on a christian web site.

Consider this: 

Oh, the humanity!

And this is just one branch of their military.

Our Successful Failures

What is failure? 
For that matter what is success? 

Even Better if I Were a Pirate

If my last name were Steele, I would have to name one of my kids Robin.

If I were a pirate, that would have to be my assumed name.

Stepping Up or Stepping Out

Providing for the welfare of individuals... 
well that's the church's job, not the government's. 

Scarlet Letters

Favorite 80's guilty pleasure band(s)? (Emphasis on GUILTY pleasures)

South Bound 51

Not too long ago I had a Honda. 

It was actually a pretty nice car.

One day I got in a car wreck. 

A pretty bad one in fact.

Really messed up the car.

Really messed me up too.

I recovered.

The car didn't.

Volumes 2

It's never good when the women start talking quietly.

Volumes 1

10 times otherwise quite things become very loud:

Living On A Prayer

I think I have half of an eating disorder.
(no purging)

You may say I'm a dreamer

I just had a dream in which I told someone I had Disassosiative Disease.

A disease in which no symptom had relation to any other symptom.

That was weird.

Money, It's a Hit

Money has a funny way of moving from an issue to the issue when people get it in their head that there is chance they might somehow get some of it. 

Spare Me

Inspired by a recent viewing of a documentary on Dietrich Bonhoeffer I've posted a couple of quotes that might help you to see why I found him so inspirational.

Enjoy or don't, whatevs.

d(-_-)b