Should I laugh? Or be scared? ...

This is the funniest and one of the scariest things I've ever read. It was published today on the Times online, UK version.

"He ventured forth to bring light to the world" by Gerard Baker.

Just for some reference for you. I have nothing personal against Obama. It's just hard to forget the brainwashing from my youth. My dad was a pentecostal preacher/evangelist, and in my home as a child I remember when my parents would read the paper and then turn to each other and say, yep! "Nixon is the antichrist" or then it would change to "Gorbachev is the antichrist". I grew up terrified that I'd end up with a "666" on my forehead ... I wonder what my parent's would be saying now if they were still around. Either way, I'm glad that I'm not so caught up in the whole "end times" drama of my youth.

I'm laughing about it for now. We'll see what happens come November.

Fence Hopping ...

I recently read an interview in the NY Times with Dr. Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa, so I decided to do some research on him. He is a neurosurgeon who teaches oncology and neurosurgery, directs a neurosurgery clinic and heads a laboratory studying brain tumors. Oh, and most interesting ... he is a Mexican fence-hopper.


Here's a video of him telling a bit of his story. Good stuff!

Happy Anniversary Jon!

WOW! We've been married for 20 years, and I've got to say I wouldn't trade one single minute. I love you more than ever.

I found this wonderful rendition by Allison Crowe of one of my favorite Beatle's songs. It perfectly sums up what I feel today ... so very happy and fortunate.

Once you are real, you can't be ugly ...

This is a wonderful excerpt from the Velveteen Rabbit. I can't believe the wisdom here. Sometimes getting real is messy, but the payoff is huge!

What is REAL?” asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. “Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?”

“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.”

“Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit.

“Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.”

“Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,” he asked, “or bit by bit?”

“It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”

The Story of Stuff ...

This is just a teaser, but the longer 20 min version at http://www.storyofstuff.com is a must see for the whole family.

What you can't say at church ...

I found an interesting blog that took on this "taboo" subject. The question was asked; "What is something you feel you can’t say in church, or around other Christians?"

For example … mine would be;

I don't enjoy traditional worship music. I don't like the new "let's wear a name tag" idea.

Here's a sampling of the one's that I enjoyed reading. I love the honesty!

I like this country club. The membership dues are cheaper than the ones with the golf courses.

I always look to see what everyone else is wearing at church and then feel happy when I am dressed prettier than my friends.

That sometimes when there is a dramatic pause in my message, and I look like I’m waiting on God to give me something really powerful to say, I’m not. In reality I’m just wondering if I zipped up my zipper before I went up on stage.

And one that I find so sincere;

I feel suffocatingly alone, almost all the time. I am politically apathetic, and can’t stand almost any true republican I meet. I am a pacifist. I don’t like Christian music. I don’t want to convert anyone. My greatest fear is dying. I love saying the word shit. I think women are absolutely equal to men. I don’t see anything resembling our modern church in the New Testament. I don’t think tithing (even though it pays our salaries) is a New Testament principle. I kinda think televangelists could be some sort of sub-human race. I think you can be Christian and gay. I am becoming increasingly irritated at God for how invisible He is. Sometimes the only thing that soothes this ache is a night drinking with friends. I wish we could quit the ministry and never look back, because maybe there is a church out there that I could love and that could love me and maybe we could figure this life thing out together.

Immigration Humor ...