Geezerville USA is a ghost town - a haiku

What happened here my friends?

Dust, weeds, blowing through the town.

Geezerville, farewell?

... and on day 2, the crows came

Here is a post from my personal blog -- I thought I would share it here, as well, since I haven't been around for a long time.

So we have a new pope. While I am not a member of the Roman Catholic Church, I still find the whole thing sort of exciting.

It intrigues me how much secrecy goes into electing a new pope. It's definitely much better than the volleyball of slander and insult that is flung around in a presidential election but still seems odd. Then again, if the process were public, undue influence might be put on the cardinals performing the election. On that note, it is certainly better to keep it behind closed doors and away from public scrutiny.

It still cracks me up how much the liberal media is freaking out about this. Yes, the cardinals elected yet another right-wing conservative pope. Yes, he will still oppose abortion and homosexual marriage. No, he won't bend to the will of the fanatical left like some of the other candidates might.

Leftist commentators have said, "The church just refuses to modernize." 'Modernize'?!?! What they mean is, "The church refuses to deny thousands of years of church doctrine because it makes us uncomfortable." Completely ridiculous. The church, whether Catholic or Christian, is going to be a right-winged entity. They are not going to change Biblical doctrine just because a bunch of leftist fanatics are uncomfortable with it. The Bible says what it says... that's it... to deny it would not only be heresy, but it would be completely self-defeating. Then again, that's just what the liberals want -- the fall of Christianity. Many will deny it, but that's what it comes down to.

To end on a happier note, it's my wife's birthday today. A nice surprise sushi dinner is in order, I believe. :) Happy Wednesday, people... I'm outta here.

Did I Kill Geezerville USA?

No one has posted here in awhile, so I don't know if my post killed this place or not.

Spongebob, Tinky Winky, And Other Liberal Sinners

I already posted this in my emergent journal, but thought you guys would like it here too:

I know that the original story is a little old, but when I was leafing through Entertainment Weekly today, I saw a hilarious article on it.

If you haven't heard what happened a few months ago, I'm sorry to have to personally inform you. Both Dr. James Dobson and the American Family Association came out and lambasted Spongebob Squarepants because he was included in a video that promoted tolerance. This led Dobson and the AFA to declare that Spongebob was gay.

No, not gay as in stupid. Gay as in gay.

I'm not making this up. Really.

So, the Tony and Grammy award winning team of Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman wrote a song about other cartoon characters and what might be wrong with them too. Unfortunately, it didn't make the Oscars, but it should have. I am giving you the song in its entirety because I'm beginning to despise Dobson's insistence in leaving his comfortable Christian area of promoting families and whatnot, and going into what should be for him the unfamiliar and awkward ground of Christianity marrying politics. Enjoy.

Pinocchio's had his nose done
Sleeping Beauty is popping pills
The Three Little Pigs ain't kosher
Betty Boop works Beverly Hills

Superman is on steroids
Tinky Winky is in the pink
Dammit to hell, wake up and smell
The stink beneath the ink!

Chip n' Dale both are strippers
Scrooge McDuck is really tight
Bugs Bunny is a sexaholic
And Snow White has been up all night!

There's something fishy 'bout Nemo
Batman and Robin share a sink
Winnie the Pooh, we know what he's into
The stink beneath the ink!

Fred Flintstone is dyslexic
Jessica Rabbit is really a man
Olive Oyl is anorexic
And Casper is in the Ku Klux Klan

Cinderella's into identity theft
Pocahontas is addicted to craps
Dumbo's an overeater
Josie and the Pussycats dance on laps

It's clear the Road Runner's hooked on speed
Charlie Brown is seeing a shrink
People of America, take a whiff
Smokey the Bear just lit a spliff!
Tom and Jerry are dating 'N Sync

Oh the stink...
Beneath the ink! (Don't blink)
The ink! (The kink!)
The stink beneath the ink!

And those of us who are trying to live out what Jesus is actually calling us to do just continue to hunch down, shrug our shoulders, and wish that moronic Christians would stop making it harder and harder for unchurched people to take us seriously.

Absurd reality...

After watching a program about the Empire State Building the other day, a thought occurred to me:

Why do people pay to go up tall buildings and then put money in binoculars to look at things on the ground?

Concerts

I love concerts. No... I mean I REALLY LOVE concerts! I always have. I recall when I was about ten years old, my parents took me to my first concert. The circumstances of it were quite interesting... let me elaborate. It was the final show of the Joy To The World tour of Three Dog Night. You know where they played their last show?! Idaho Falls High School auditorium in Idaho Falls, ID. Still, to this day, amazes me. I recall being completely taken by all of the lights, the volume, the sheer spectacle of it all. My father bought me a shirt from the show... I still have it. It has a singing frog on the front and says, "Joy To The World Tour". Afterwards, my dad found out that the band was going to be signing autographs out back and anyone could come and get one. Of course I jumped at the opportunity and got my shirt signed by Cory Wells and Gary Moon. I was mesmerized and have made every attempt to attend concerts of bands I enjoy ever since.

Shortly after, I remember my parents taking me to see Eddie Rabbit, The Judds, Diamond Rio (my parents liked country... if you couldn't guess!)... even Donny Osmond! Although I didn't like that style of music, the very essence of seeing those bands live made it completely enjoyable! My musical tastes have changed over the years... here's a list of my top ten concerts I have attended.

1) Van Halen - For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge tour - Honolulu, HI
2) Bush/No Doubt - Boise, ID
3) Scorpions/Motley Crue - Nampa, ID
4) Van Halen - Balance Tour - Boise, ID
5) Queensryche - Boise, ID
6) 311/Sugar Ray/Incubus - Boise, ID (although Sugar Ray was nothing to write home about)
7) Coal Chamber/Anthrax/Pantera - Boise, ID -- Met Scott Ian and all of Pantera backstage
8) Poison - Flesh & Blood Tour - Honolulu, HI
9) Festival Con Dios - Boise, ID -- Audio Adrenaline and Mercy Me were amazing!
10) Metallica (I know, I know...) - Load tour - Boise, ID

So yeah... fairly eclectic list... these are by far my faves and bring back the fondest concert memories, however.

The pitfalls of weight loss

So last September, my wife and I decided to go on Weight Watchers together. She wanted to lose the left-over baby weight from being pregnant and I needed to drop some weight for health reasons. My wife hit her goal of 40lbs about a month ago. That's losing 40lbs, not that she's down to that weight! :)

As of two weeks ago, I, too have lost 40lbs. I weigh less now than I did when I got married. I still have about 20lbs to go but it's nice to be more than half-way there. The feeling of accomplishing this is simply amazing, not to mention the high levels of energy I have now. Also... my last four shirts I purchased were size 'Medium'. Do you have any idea when the last time I wore a medium shirt is? I think it was around my freshman-sophomore year in high school! :D

I am learning, however, that there are some pitfalls to such drastic weight loss. First of all, I began to run out of clothes to wear. I had to go and purchase clothes so that I had something which fit properly and didn't make me look like a slob. This is fine and dandy but I was still in the process of losing weight... so what happened? Two to three weeks after buying new pants, they started to become too big! Again, exciting, but painful on the pocketbook! At the present time, I am down to about six shirts and two pairs of pants which fit... but the pants are becoming questionably large.

The second, and more drastic pitfall, regards my wedding ring. I never thought that losing weight would cause my fingers to get smaller. Apparently I had fat fingers! My wedding ring finger has dropped a full number size. Even the jeweller was surprised at this. She said that it is common with people in my situation to lose a half or quarter size... but not a full size! What's really bad about it is that when I am cold, my fingers get even smaller. Where my knuckle would usually hold my loose ring on, it falls right off from the simple force of gravity if I am out in the cold.

Last night we went out for ice cream (this really cool stuff called 'Glace' which is non-fat, non-dairy, and has zero sugar. There is only 40 calories per 4oz serving... and it is heavenly!) and after leaving, I was halfway down the road when I realized my ring was gone. Cassandra and I both thought it was gone for sure. We went back to the ice cream shop and lo and behold it was on the floor under the chair I was sitting in. Praise God!!

The pitfall regarding the ring is this: unfortunately the jeweller we purchased the ring from is out of business and did some things in making the ring which were shortcuts and not done right. Due to this fact, it cannot be sized down. Now I will have to get a new ring. Although I can trade the one I have in toward a new one, I don't like the idea of replacing the original ring my wife gave me on our wedding day. I don't think I have much choice in the matter this time, though... we can't afford a new one outright and I don't like to walk around without one. Until then, it resides on my middle finger. :)

I refer to these issues as pitfalls, partially in jest. I am very happy that I have been able to discipline myself and lose the weight. It has drastically improved my health and my ability to be there for my family in the long-term. The week before we decided to do it, I had a dream in which I had a heart attack at the age of 30 and my son watched me die. Yeah... if that doesn't get you to change a lifestyle, nothing will!

This is a long post... hehe... I am done now! :D