Very true and jarring

Saw this on one of my blogs I read today. As someone who dealt with being made fun of growing up, this picture is incredibly dead on…

Gonna make it

It’s been a rough six days.

Last Thursday I woke up and felt this pain all over my shoulders and back. I thought my bed was just finally done and I needed to go purchase a new one. That night, I went and got some medicine, went to bed and figured that was it. Not so much. By Friday, my entire body ached, I had no energy, and I was hurting. Badly. That night, I had a horrific fever. I had three layers of clothes on, went to bed late and woke up for an early morning airport run. I was a sweaty mess, but I was happy, cause I knew that meant my body was fighting something.

I still was in pain, though, but had zero appetite and zero energy. I was sapped.

Over the next 24 hours there was this see-saw action of spiking fevers, and breaking them. I slept a lot, sweat like a water buffalo, ate very little and tried to stay patient with myself. After all, there was work to get done.

I was real frustrated but in the back of my mind, I knew one thing. You’re gonna make it. You’re gonna make it.

By Monday, I finally turned the corner and was able to get out and go get some paychecks across town. I promised myself to just rest that night and went to bed without any medicine. I had no fever either, which was a plus. I still was drained, though. Things finally turned yesterday, I was regaining my appetite and still had no fever.

I’m still resting a lot this week. I certainly can’t over-do it, but it’s nice to know I’ll have my health and strength back to 100 percent very soon.

Count me a Phillip Phillips fan

I’m not an American Idol fanatic.
I always just tune in at the start for the bloopers and oddballs who think they’ve got a shot. But last night, I was pleasantly surprised by this kid. Here’s hoping Phillip Phillips runs the table and wins this thing.
The kid is talented, the kid does have a gift.

A PR Lesson for Justin Bieber

The Biebs seems like a decent kid.

Not the biggest fan of his music. And now, I’m kind of questioning his thinking and whether or not his manager/parents/agent has pulled him aside and talked to him about bad comparisons. See, I was reading a quick piece on another blog, which had an excerpt from Justin Bieber’s interview with V magazine.

In it he compares himself to boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather. He says:

“Yeah, I mean, when I was coming up, trying to get to where I am now, people were so happy [for me]. They were rooting for me. Now that I’m on top, everyone wants to bring me down. Everyone’s trying to tug at me and take my spot. And that’s how it always is, everyone wants you to be on top, and as soon as you’re there — like Floyd Mayweather, he’s the best boxer in the world. Now he is a champion. Every time he goes to a fight now, people are like, ‘He’s going to lose this time,’ and then he wins. And the next time they say, ‘He’s going to lose,’ again; ‘he’s undefeated, he’s getting old, he’s going to fight Ortiz, who’s younger, and he’s going to lose.’ Every time he wins. And people aren’t ever going to know that he’s a champ.”

Ummmm….. I get what he was aiming at. But when you’re a pop icon, and beloved by millions of tweener girls and their moms, you may want to avoid any and all references to an athlete who’s about to serve a 90-day jail sentence for domestic battery.

Oh, and I don’t think you want to adopt his attitude either.

The worst kind of robbery

I try not to dwell much on my brother being gone.
Nothing positive comes from it.
But there’s so many experiences and opportunities that I can’t share with him now.
Sure, some of them are minor. I miss being able to sleep in their guest room and wake up and have breakfast and coffee. But I also am incredibly sad we can’t watch our kids grown up together, and take trips together. I miss our spiritual debates and our chance to just have beers.
Satan attacked my family over two years ago. Yes, I was robbed of my brother and my best friend.
But it went way beyond that too.

Another chance to do what I love

So if you’ve payed attention, you probably saw me linking up to another site.
Yup, I’m getting to do two things I love. Write. And talk politics.
I got the idea recently and decided to explore it a little more. The more I flushed it out, the more I dug, the more I thought about it, I knew I had to do it.
So here’s my new, fun project I’m working on in my spare time. It’s called “The Crossroads” because I think as a nation we’re at a crossroads in this upcoming election.
Why am I doing this? Well, for one I’ve been given a gift to write and I want to keep developing those talents and I also have always believed no one’s going to hand you anything. I also believe if I steward my talents and do the best with what I’ve been given, then God will reward that and other opportunities will emerge. I’m confident of it.
So if you love politics, follow along.
Let’s see where this takes me.

Tim Tebow Protestors Converge in Tiny Texas Town

CORNHOLE, Texas – The old journalist in me couldn’t resist.

I was sifting through my stack of emails yesterday and came across an invitation from an email I didn’t recognize. All the address said was “tebowhaters@gmail.com.” Of course that got my interest, and I continued reading. I was being invited to a gathering of people, about 25 strong I was told, who all shared one thing in common: Their contempt for Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow. They were gathering out in the tiny town of Cornhole, and I would also get the privilege to meet their leader. The man’s name: Chief Smurfkiwifruit.

No joke.

So I hopped in my car, headed west about 150 miles and arrived there in the lovely town of Cornhole, home to about 950 folks. It’s the type of town where you swear there are dueling banjos you could hear off in the distance. I followed the instructions, took a right then parked outside a small building with a blinking neon green sign that read Holga’s House of Wax. Surely this wasn’t the place. I had my gun tucked in the back of my jeans just in case.

As I walked up, the door burst open.

“OHHHHH, GREETINGS, GREETINGS Earthling,” a busty lady said. She was wearing rainbow stockings, and had a Rainbow Brite pendant around her neck.

“Is that…”

“Why yes, yes, welcome,” she said. “We are so glad to have you here. My name is Lady Sunshine, and we are here fighting a war against Evil, and upholding all that is beautiful with our Queen Rainbow Brite.”

I bit my lip, and exhaled. These same Tebow haters worship Rainbow Brite. Go figure.

***

I was led in, and got to shake hands with several members of this Tebow Hater group. The ones who greeted me seemed pretty friendly. They motioned me to their snack bar, with one bowl full of Frosted Lucky Charms. Another container had some OREO double-stuff cookies (ok, this was normal) and there was another bowl full of Cornnuts.

Then there was this one fella who was up at a podium, screaming violently about Tebow and burning his jersey while others shook violently. At first, I thought they were seizing. Then I thought they were just Pentecostals. But the more I watched I realized they were doing the Stanky Leg.

Finally, a smiley, toothy man walked over and introduced himself. This was Chief Smurfkiwifruit. Picture your typical hippy, in skinny jeans, moccasins and an army jacket. We sat down to chat. He motioned over one of his followers, who asked if I wanted a beer, some Kool Aid, or some of their “special potion.” I took a beer and thanked the good Chief for the invite.

“So what’s your beef?” I asked. “What’s with all the hate? Has Tebow harmed any of you? Do you just hate Christians? Are you anti-sports?”

“NOOOOOOOO, my good sir,” he said.

Ummm, why do I feel like I’m at a medieval fair?

“We are a collection of secularists and moral relativists, all combating the Evil Tebow,” Chief continued. “You know he could take down our country, don’t you?”

“Come again…”

“Yes, he’s not human,” Chief said matter-of-factly. “He’s really an alien. The government has been covering up this secret ever since he went to Florida.”

***

We kept chatting for another 90 minutes. Finally, I told them I had to leave and thanked them for their hospitality.

The smell of burned jerseys and Tebow posters was overpowering. Several protestors invited me to take a roady with them to Denver. “We’re gonna go defend our country,” one of them said. “Ain’t gonna’ let some Jesus lovin’ alien take over my country.”

I finally had to ask. “So what problem do you all have with Tebowing?” I ask.

“He’s not praying. That’s just a fact,” Lady Sunshine said. “He’s signaling the attack. You media just won’t report the truth.”

Tebow hating, Rainbow Brite worshipers just put me in my place.

Happy New Year to me. Time to head home and prepare for the invasion.

###

(This is entirely satirical and meant for comical purposes only.)

Timely reminder, No. 5,467

So I’m sitting here multi-tasking, listening to John Maxwell on one of my podcasts and he tells the story about traveling from Sydney to Brisbane with Nabi Saleh, owner of Gloria Jeans Coffee.

He then tells about a conversation they had and something Saleh shared with him. Let’s just call this my New Year’s timely piece of encouragement:

“Too many people when they sow the seed, they lose sight of the seed when it goes underground and too many times they go dig the seed up the next day and say, ‘Well, nothing’s happening, I sowed this thing yesterday. It’s not sprouting, it’s not coming out of the ground.’”

“Anybody that sows seed understands that there’s a period when you see no growth, there’s a period where you don’t see any results at all, but you know because you sowed the seed that growth’s happening, you just have to have the patience, the confidence, the trust that it’s going to evolve.

“No one’s ever grown anything successfully that didn’t have the patience to let that which they can not see germinate, take root and grow.”

Christmas, Dean Martin and NBA tearjerkers

So another Christmas has come and gone.
A few things I observed this time around…

Never, ever go to Wal-Mart two days before Christmas. I learned the hard way. Besides having to dodge other cars, park way out, rent a Sherpa to reach the front door and then deal with shoppers on their Sunday stroll, I also quickly discovered that every single toy aisle is clogged and congested. Which is a nightmare when you’re claustrophobic like I am…

…That picture up above? Yes, it’s me sitting there cutting through 657 plastic cords holding in my nephew’s car toy in that box. It’s a toy, not Steve Jobs’ personal notes on the Iphone 6. …

…I anxiously look forward to my mom’s pigs-n-a blanket she makes every year for our family get togethers. This year she made six dozen. By the end of the night, they’d pretty much been devoured by everyone on my stepdad’s side of the family. If there’s such a thing as culinary scoreboarding, I give you example A (and yes, in case you read this mom, I know you weren’t intentionally meaning to do this, but it just naturally happens. This is outta your control). …

…The most special present I got? Hands down, some artwork from my nephew…

…My favorite Christmas music? This one’s easy. His Christmas CD is one of my all-time favs…

…Best Christmas sports story: So the Oklahoma City Thunder open up against Orlando at home on Christmas Day. At halftime, they bring some families of troops out to the court. Up on the jumbotron, they get to see their husbands/daddies wishing them a Merry Christmas from overseas. Well, the PA announcer says the team mascot then wants to get a group picture together, and yes… Out walks those actual troops to surprise their families.

Awesome.

 

Making Aretha Franklin proud

This boy’s dancing skills are incredible. Love how joyful and happy my nephew is…