Arthritic Articulations

...On Bacon, Teenagers, and MP3 Players

2009-01-30T21:28:00.002-06:00

My goodness it's been a long time since I posted! I'm not even going to bother with excuses. I have lots going on but so does everyone and we make time for the things we want to make time for. So...I'm baaaaaack!

The Bacon Explosion

Oh my! This may be the greatest culinary concoction I've ever seen. Way to rich and unhealthy to be had more than once in a great while, but worth every bite when that great while rolls around. I'll link it in a sec, but just let me tell you that it's a pound of chopped bacon wrapped in two pounds of sausage which is wrapped in another pound of bacon strips. The whole thing is smoked on a grill and then slathered with BBQ sauce. WOOHOO!!!!!

http://www.bbqaddicts.com/bacon-explosion.html

Teenagers

If you have teenagers at your house, I feel your pain and your pride. If you have kids who aren't teenagers yet, you have no idea at all what you are in store for in a few years. If you have no kids at all, you may not get what I'm going to tell you but just roll with me.

We have two of the little buggers, Zach is about to turn 15 and Rachel is a solid 12. Their father is an electronics junky so they both have just about every electronic device known to man. Zach games a lot on his Xbox 360. Rachel texts half of the free world on her cell phone while listening to music. They are both really solid kids and Suzanne and I are really proud to claim each of them.

But having teenagers reached a new level this month. You see, my son met his first girlfriend. Now, this girl isn't technically allowed to have boyfriends so they haven't talked on the phone much but text frequently. And this all happened in the weeks leading up to the winter formal at their high school. Soooo...Wednesday Zach and I got to go and rent him his first tux for the big dance. Seeing my boy, who is becoming more grown up by the second, trying on tuxedo jackets and picking shoes was a TRIP! Tomorrow night is the big night and I think his Mom and I have been more excited about it than he has been (or at least shown). So today when I get a call after school that this girl has (reluctantly, I understand) dumped him and going to the dance is off I was heart-broken for him. I guess the first tux/date/dance will have to wait a bit longer.

Such is a week in the life of a high schooler I suppose...

MP3 Players

If you don't have one, you need one. If you do have one and it's an Apple, you need to seek Jesus and get a Zune! Nah, just kidding...

I asked for, and got, a 16 GB Zune for Christmas and I absolutely love it. Mine came with the FM transmitter car pack so I even get to listen to it in my truck which has no CD player. I knew I'd like listening to music on it and using the FM receiver in it to catch the sports talk station when I'm not near a stereo, but far and away my favorite feature of this thing is listening to podcasts. I had heard of podcasts but never paid much attention. I now know that I was missing out.

I subscribe to a Bible podcast, a daily devotional, and messages from three different churches (one in Australia). And there is a ton more out there! There are podcasts for every occasion and are of interest. Very cool stuff!

Alright, I suppose that's enough rambling for my first post in eons. Take care and I'll check in again very soon.

Yet Another Place To Point The Blame

2006-08-14T17:06:00.000-05:00

If you've read through my blog or know me at all, you already know that I am not one to accept anyone placing blame where it doesn't belong and particularly not when it belongs on themselves. Try, if you will, to imagine my disgust today when I read an article in the Daily Oklahoman titled "Many Adults Suffer ADD Problems". Excuse me?

The article claims that 17 million American adults suffer from ADD. How do they know? How do you pin that number down? Judging by their criteria which includes:

Inattentiveness
Easily Distracted
Disorganized
Aggressive

....

I'm sorry, what was I saying?

That list of criteria goes on and on, but if you take even those four I listed then I'd say they seriously lowballed their number! How many people do you know (including yourself) who regularly exhibit at least a couple of those? Yeah, pretty much everyone.

The basis for this article is a book titled "Healing ADD: The Breakthrough Program That Allows You To See and Heal the 6 Types of ADD" by Daniel Amen, M.D. The problem, of course, is that since your already inattentive if you are ADD you will never get to the end of the title much less have the attention span required to read it!!!

I just don't buy it. I say that so many people exhibit these traits because it's the kind of society we have built for ourselves. We're constantly pulled in several directions at once. We are bombarded with information at such a rate I don't think it's possible to keep up with it all. The machine is raging out of control and noone knows who's driving. It's yet another label to put on it to give people an out. Can you see the possibilities here? "I am a severely ADD adult so I can't help it if I don't remember to pay my bills." "I can't help it that I shot the guy in the other car. I'm ADD and he was pissing me off!" Need I go on???

There are exceptions to every rule. I am not naive enough to think that there aren't people out there who truly do suffer to the point that they cannot participate in society without help. I would also be shocked if that number were 17 million. What I fear is that articles like this will only fuel the phenomenon in today's society where we seek to find any other place to put the blame for our behavior and actions than where it should be resting...on ourselves. People who really need help are most likely either going to see a doctor on their own or have a friend or loved one take them. The doctor should be the one to direct a course of treatment, not a book recommended by a newspaper reporter.

I'm inattentive at times. I've certainly been known to blow my top at people on the roads. There are times, and not always rare ones, that I exhibit pretty much every behavioral trait mentioned in that column. Let me assure you that I am NOT ADD anymore than I'm from China. I accept the responsibility for my actions and face the consequences, both good and bad, that come from my choices. My hope is that, someday, society will have a change of heart and stop accepting the placing of blame for personal behavior on things like ADD.

Time For Blast Off!

2006-05-07T11:54:00.000-05:00

A month or so ago, I received an e-mail at work informing me that I could order tickets early to a show called "Blast". Having seen Blast before on TV, I decided to see about getting some tickets. Though they are fairly expensive, I ponied up for four so we could go and take the kids too.

For those of you who may not know what Blast is, it's a live performance show that utilizes elements from marching band, flag corps, drum corps, and dance. The end result is an incredible blend of sight and sound that takes you away from your cares for a couple of hours. Sometimes mellow, mostly upbeat, often funny, the show is unique and extremely entertaining.

I bought the tickets about a month in advance and told the kids about it. The response I got was pretty tame. They seemed happy about it but with no real idea about the show, they weren't what I would call excited. Over the next 30 days or so, not much was ever again said about it.

Then, Friday came and it was time to get dressed and go to dinner before heading downtown to the Civic Center for the show. The kids were starting to get excited, but mainly because it wouldn't be another "boring" Friday at home with Mom and Dad! Suzanne had to check her watch every five minutes during dinner in response to the kid's questioning when it was time to go to the theater. As we walked out of the restaurant and to the car, Rachel exclaimed "We are going to be late Daddy!"

The excitement that reached a peak as we were ushered into the theater to our seats quickly declined as the minutes waned leading up to show time. You see, we had gotten there about 20 minutes early! We were bordering on having a total meltdown with Rachel as the MC walked onto the stage. Showtime had arrived!

Blast opened with a rousing version of Bolero that gave us goosebumps and went on through a couple of additional numbers before coming to the number of the night...Battery Battle. Wow! The number starts with one drummer making us all laugh and showing off his skills, and what skills they were! It was a several minutes drumroll that consisted of him using both ends of his drumsticks, each of his fingers in turn, his elbow, his shoulder, and his ear! He even used the stand during one point.

As good as that was, then a second drummer came out and they proceeded to move all over stage faking a real fight and trading drumrolls the whole time. The kids were 100% into the program and we were all having a great time!

After intermission came the highlight of the night, though. I'm not sure what the the name of the number was, but it started with only one instrument and slowly built until the stage was so full of cast members that they spilled into the audience! To the time of a very upbeat tune, the cast went all around the crowd playing their instruments, high fiving, and shaking hands with the crowd. Rachel even got into the act dancing around and slapping fives with the cast members that came by!!!

After they finished the finale and bowed to the crowd, the entire drumline headed up the aisles, out of the theater, and into the concourse where they proceeded to usher the crowd out with a steady beating of their drums. They ended up playing another 5 minutes or so to the gathered crowd and then stayed to sign autographs and in general soak up the atmosphere.

As we exited the theater to pouring down, cold rain, nothing was going to soak our spirits. We had truly had a Blast!

No Inspiration

2006-05-03T10:25:00.000-05:00

Wanted to post and make sure you all knew I hadn't forgotten to make a new column or anything. I just really haven't found the inspiration for a good post this week. I've started a couple and it was really more about me reaching for something humorous to post instead of really having something to say.

Rest assured, inspiration will surely hit soon and I'll have something relevant to post here. Sit tight!

I See Weird People

2006-04-24T10:20:00.001-05:00

I feel a little bit like that kid from the movie "The Sixth Sense", except I'm seeing weird people instead of dead people.

Now, this is nothing new I know and I'm quite sure I'm not the only one seeing them...and I can only hope (futile I'm sure) that someone isn't looking at me and saying the same thing! It's just that the people who are celebrities for whatever reason and the people that get interviewed on the evening news or on news magazine shows just seem to get weirder and weirder. No concept of "normal", no perception of what reality is to most of us.

Driving in to work this morning, I hear on the radio that Tom Cruise is planning on eating the placenta from the recent birth of his baby. What?!?!?!?! A caller to the show went on to point out that this is common practice in many cultures around the world and is, in fact, a delicacy! You have GOT to be kidding me. I simply have no basis for wrapping my brain around this. What good is supposed to come of that? Why on earth would you want to eat that thing? It isn't food...it's a reproductive organ! Don't even get me started on Scientology...there is so much room for the discussion of weirdness there that I might overrun my word allotment for one post. Let me just try and sum it up by saying that it wouldn't surprise me if I heard one day that Scientologists were planning a moonlight party comprising of a healthy dose of arsenic laced Kool-Aid while waiting for the galactic warlords to come and and take them away while raining down their destruction on all of us non-believers.

What is it about becoming famous that you completely lose touch with reality? Is there nothing anymore that shocks us or repulses us? Have we come to an age where everything is acceptable if that's what it takes to avoid pissing anyone else in the world off? You have people doing things today that would have gotten them the gas chamber 30 years ago...and they get away with it! You have criminals who can now get away with claiming temporary insanity? Isn't murder, rape, or a variety of other abominable acts by definition insane???

Are people like me, who find the way people act anymore completely off the weird scale, the minorty now...making us the weird ones? Here are just a few more examples of things I find weird...see if you agree!

Why is it that after a tornado, hurricane, or some other natural phenomenon blows through town, the only people that the news reporters can find to interview are the ones with dirty shirts and no teeth?

Why is it that star athletes can get away with doing things that would put the rest of us in a cell next to a big man named Bubba for a very long time...but they get nothing more than a slap on the wrist and a start in their team's next game?

Why is that 99% of all "reality" shows on television have so little to do with reality as to render the entire genre ironic?

I suppose weirdnes is just a part of life and that what is weird to some will always be perfectly acceptable to others. Maybe it's just me...maybe it isn't getting worse. What do you think?

To Be Free Or Not To Be Free...

2006-04-17T17:07:00.000-05:00

That is today's question.

We have nearly limitless freedoms in this country. Sometimes I think we may have too much freedom in some areas, but that's a more serious discussion than I intend to have today. What I'm specifically concerned with today are the personal freedom's athletes and celebrities are allowed to have and whether or not that's a good thing...and me being a sports nut, specifically personal freedoms in team sports.

Being a celebrity or athlete grants you something few of us normal people ever get to experience. They are afforded ample opportunities to air their thoughts and feelings in settings where many, many people will hear them. My question to you is...is this really a good thing? Now the immediate argument in favor would state that we normal people have just as much freedom to tune them out as we do to actually listen to what they have to say. Something akin to a jury being told to disregard something they've seen or heard in a courtroom. They are told they have a duty to disregard it, but do you think that ever really happens? I don't think it does and I don't see how I could not take that information into account when trying to form a verdict. So when a famous person stands in front of a camera with a microphone and starts pushing a personal agenda, doesn't it stand to reason that it will have at least a degree of impact on a good number of us?

Will there be people who just tune it out or disregard it? Sure. Will there be even more who consider it gospel simply because of the source? Most definitely. Finally, as information flows more and more freely, doesn't it stand to reason that more of us are thinking much less often for ourselves and instead allow famous people whom we don't even know to dictate our beliefs to us?

Alright, so now that I've gotten the serious stuff out of the way and maybe given you food for thought there...let's move on to the athletes and their culture.

Most athletes don't live in the real world. They make more money in a year than some of us will in our lifetimes. Their existence is on a completely different plane from most of us. They have huge homes, fancy cars, and a set of problems completely different from the rest of us. So, when athletes do something outside of normal gameplay to distinguish themselves, is that a good thing or a bad thing?

When Terrell Owens once upon a time scored a touchdown in Dallas and proceeded to run to midfield and start celebrating on the big star, was that harmless fun, juvenile showboating, just plain wrong, or all of the above? When the first basketball player started the throat slashing gesture or extremely loud yell after a dunk, was that spur of the moment jubilation that was poorly executed or maliciously exclaming thier superiority? When a baseball player hits what he knows is a homerun and stands at homeplate eyeballing the pitcher and soaking it all in, is that reveling in the moment or making themselves look good at someone else's expense?

When does it all get to be too much? When does personal freedom go to far?

The NFL is cracking down again on celebrations because they've turned into planned happenings complete with props and non-team member participants. The NBA long ago outlawed the throat slash because it's just plain wrong (shame the players didn't understand that for themselves, isn't it?), and has even determined that players are not allowed to wear tights on court because it singles them out against the other players. Are these measures too harsh? Is it harmless fun or is it crossing moral and/or societal lines?

Personally, I don't think you should go out of your way to call attention to yourself when playing a team game. I don't think you should ever single yourself out over someone else in a way that is hurtful or malicious. I think it's great to celebrate when you do something worth celebrating (ie. hitting the winning shot or scoring the touchdown to put your team in the playoffs). I also think it's pretty cool when megastars like Barry Sanders or Marvin Harrison simply toss the ball to the official. I think it's neat when the fans are allowed to be a part of the celebration like the do with the Lambeau Leap in Green Bay. To me, you cross the line when you celebrate in the face of your opponent, call attention to their failure, or go out of your way to show the world how special you think you are.

I want to hear what you think...which side of the line do you fall on? Am I right on the money or am I just too old school and set in my ways when it comes to matters of personal freedom?

So What If I Don't Want To Make Lemonade???

2006-03-31T18:30:00.000-06:00

You've all heard the saying and most of you have probably even uttered it at some point in your life...

"When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!"

Hell, I'm guilty of using it in the past. Today however, it sounds like the biggest bunch of cheery-assed bullshit I've ever heard. I'm not a happy person. I know usually I have some sort of positive message to throw out there, but today you get to hear my bitch (though I'm sure there is a silver lining there somewhere).

You see, the past 24 hours of my life has sucked. To ensure that you know that I am keeping this in perspective, I do realize that there are more layers of suck than there are in an onion and my current suck level is nowhere near as bad as it could be. Truly, I still have so much in life to celebrate and be thankful for but I also believe that clearing the air is a worthwhile endeavor from time to time. If nothing else, it helps you get it all out and get back to a place where you can start appreciating the good things again. And now for my story...

It all started last night. I was hanging with my buds on Xbox Live and just chilling out in preparation for bedtime. As I'm sitting there having a nice conversation, a hear a very loud pop immediately followed by my TV and laptop both blinking off. Now, before I go further you need to know that they are on completely seperate plugs on opposite sides of the room and also that the Xbox and stereo receiver are on the same strip as the TV but never even flinched. So as this freak power surge or whatever it was left it's mark, my TV slowly started to come back on and eventually the tube returned to it's regular state. My laptop however looked to be quite fried. It wouldn't power up at all and I couldn't get the battery out of it either. Long story short, I finally got it to power back up only to smell that horrible smell signifying burning electronics and my mouse (plugged in USB) decided not to work. Today, the smell is gone and the laptop seems mostly OK albeit not pushed at all just yet, but I have no USB at all...it's fried. Not good considering I use USB for my mouse, my backups, and my movie capture card. I'm basically screwed there for the time being until I can figure out if and how it might be repaired.

So that was bad, but not end of the world and not nearly enough to have me this pissed, right? Right.

I was doing a decent job of moving on from that when my cell phone rang at 8:10 this morning. It was my wife and she never calls then so I knew it was something bad. Turns out our dog...our 10 year old dog who's been with us the entire time we've lived in our house and is almost as old as our daughter...had decided that he didn't WANT to come inside this morning when it was time for her to go to work and, in fact, decided that it was worth it to him to turn around and bit the shit out of her. Bit both of her hands which of course scared the crap out of her. NOW I was pissed. He's been a great dog and we all love him very much, but he's old and has gotten progressively grumpy with our little dogs over the past few months. Still, he never showed his teeth to anyone in the family but me, and that was only in times when he was in trouble and felt scared (he never liked being yelled at much). So I come rushing home to find him, well, the only word for it is crazed. Out of control. Not good.

After checking on Suzanne's hands and making sure they weren't broken and that she was fine, we got him inside and calmed down but there is no way in hell I'm letting him be around my kids or anyone else's like that. No way at all. No choice but to have him put down.

Ready for the clincher?

We get to do this on the same fucking day that my son is having a birthday sleepover party with his friends from school. We get to not only deal with losing a much loved pet...no, member of the family. Nah, that just isn't enough pain, right? No. We have to bring our children home from school and break the news that their dog has to be killed. Yeah, take that lemonade and shove it right up your ass!

So here I sit, writing this and trying to find the room in my head to let my faith regain control and start to remember the positives again...and it just isn't working. I want to beat the crap out of something. I want to go drink myself under a table somewhere. I want to cry. Sure, I could handle it on my own. I could probably even help manage Suzanne's grief together with her. But having to tell my children something like this and help them put it into perspective for them and then somehow get my son to flip a switch and have a good time, well that might just be asking too much. While he's acting like he's having a good time, he mentions the fact that his dog is dying tonight regularly and I know the smile is only a cover. Me? I'm left to sit and stew with it. Lemonade? Not tonight I'm afraid.

Maybe tomorrow...

Perception Is 9/10 Of The Law

2006-03-25T12:36:00.000-06:00

Have you ever been to magic show or seen one on TV? When the magician makes the pretty girl disappear or cuts her in half or any of a number of other illusions it seems real, doesn't it? I mean, you have the knowledge that it's an illusion so you know that it didn't really happen like you saw it and that's what makes it so much fun...the art of trying to figure out how you were deceived, right?

How often have you been told something that ended up really not being the truth at all? I'm betting that 99% of the time, the person who gave you the bad information believed it as truth. And the person that told them believed it as truth. What happens is sometimes we don't listen very closely when we're told something or we don't remember it quite right. We then relay what we think is accurate information to the next person, and on and on it goes. That is how things get warped so far out of shape that noone knows what the original story really was anymore. Pastor Craig at Lifechurch has a saying that I really love. "A lie believed as truth will affect you as though it were true", he says. It's a profound and powerful, well, truth! I have taken that and come up with my own little saying...Perception is nine tenths of the law. In other words, what you perceive to be true will have the exact impact of a solid truth on your life whether it is true or not.

Of course, it never will realistically happen that we never get a story wrong...so this problem will never go away. How on earth to deal with it then?

Don't Believe Everything You Hear
Often with a little bit of thought and common sense, you can get to the real truth. Sometimes it means going back to the source of a conversation for clarification. Sometimes it means doing a little independant research of your own to make the determination. The point is, even when it comes from a trustworthy source, it is important to remember how easily things get twisted around and to always try and make sure it's right before you act on it or store it away as truth and pass it along.

Fall Back On Your Faith
If you happen to be a person without any faith, this is a real problem. I would humbly and firmly suggest that you give it an honest try. For the rest of us, use your faith!!! Most of you reading this are going to be Christians, but even if you aren't, your faith in a higher power by whatever name you give it will work. Use the truth that is found there to determine how likely the things you see and hear each day are actual truths. My faith in God allows me the freedom to examine everything and see if it falls in line with that faith. Constant examination of your world will leave far less room for the lies to sneak through.

Temper Your Words
This one probably has the most potential to do the most good. By being careful about what you let come out of your mouth (or hands), you can at least be sure that anything that comes to you in a twisted fashion doesn't move any further down the line. So before you give advice, tell a story, or otherwise pass things along to others, take a minute and make sure that your information is correct that your motives for what you are doing are pure.

Remember, the world will do it's damnedest to pull the wool over your eyes...and it will come from the people you know and trust more often than not, the people in your innermost circle. They don't even realize they are doing it. Don't believe everything you hear, fall back on your faith, and temper your words, and you will find that the perception you carry of your world will change in significant ways.

The Nature Of Learning

2006-03-18T10:25:00.000-06:00

As promised in my last entry, I'm going to go more in depth about my son, his grades, and what I've come to believe about how we learn.

Zach is about to turn 12 and he is as sharp as a tack. He's such a cool kid to sit down and talk to! He has an opinion about pretty much everything and it's usually at least a somewhat informed one. He's good at math, loves science, and can play hammer out tunes by ear on the harmonica, piano, or guitar...and this despite never having a formal lesson on any of them. Sounds like an intelligent kid, right? So how on earth could a kid like Zach be failing sixth grade? When I say failing, I don't mean that he just isn't doing well. No, I mean failing. He currently owns four F's out of six classes, including math and science!

Again, how on earth could this kid be failing so miserably at school???

First A Little Background

Zach having grade trouble first started showing itself in 3rd grade. He had a particularly demanding teacher that year and regularly had work missing or not 100% completed. We sent him to school with a full set of supplies only to hear that, less than 30 days into the school year, he had lost all of his pencils. His desk was just crammed full of old kleenex, wadded up papers, and lots of other things. His teacher hinted that we should have him tested for ADD or ADHD. Now, anyone who's ever spent 30 minutes with my son will tell you that there has never been a clearer cut case of a child not being either of those things. We rejected that immediately and, instead, focused on his organizational skills.

Throughout third grade, fourth grade, and the beginning of fifth grade we had more of the same. We tried everything to get him more organized and to be responsible for himself. We begged his teachers to not let him just make missing work up with no penalty. For the whole time, we could always sit down and talk with him about what they were learning in class and without fail he could talk intelligently about it. His grades always came out alright despite these problems because his teachers have always cared about him and loved having him in their classes. Basically, they cut him breaks all of this time because he's such a good kid. It was like watching a train barreling down the tracks straight at us...we knew sooner or later it was going to run us over.

And Then Came Sixth Grade

When we went to middle school orientation for sixth grade parents, we were told up front that it was going to be a different experience. We were told that our children would struggle through the first part of the year as they would now be having to migrate from class to class every hour, would no longer be allowed to carry a backpack or any type of bag with them, and would basically be responsible for themselves. In other words, the hand-holding was about to stop.

What we didn't realize was that the school staff was going to go completely to the opposite extreme from what the elementary staff had done. It's almost like they don't really care at times. Friends of Zach's who have always been straight A students are now C students. Others who have always done decent but not great (like Zach) are now failing or close to it. It hasn't gotten better as promised in the orientation and the staff doesn't seem likely to ease up on them at all.

We recently called for a meeting with the principal and all of Zach's teachers. We wanted to talk more about why his grades are still just as poor and see what we can do about it. What we got from them was that Zach is a well behaved boy who mostly pays attention in class but sometimes has trouble remembering to put his name on his papers. Apparently, this is something the entire sixth grade has trouble with which results in their poor grades as the teachers just count a zero and toss the nameless papers aside. I'm the first one to say that these kids should know to put their name on their papers, but they've been reminded and babied along about it in elementary school so isn't this to be expected? Couldn't the sixth graders be weened off of that without just failing them?

The Nature Of Learning

I've come to change my thinking about how we learn. I know it isn't an earth shattering revelation or anything, but I never realized before how many different ways there are in which people learn things. I never understood how much impact a child's environment has on their ability to learn. Some kids are very independant and will learn just about anything simply by reading a book. Others do well if you sit down in a one on one environment and explain things to them where they are free to ask questions. Others do better in a group where they can just sit back and listen to other's questions. Yet others only truly learn by experience (ie. failure).

The bottom line I think is this...you are only going to learn something when you are interested in learning it. Thinking back to my school days, there was much that I memorized long enough to take a test on it only to forget it shortly thereafter. Then there were the things that really interested me that I truly learned and carry with me to this day.

The challenge in public schools to effectively teach rooms full of kids that are all going to learn things differently. Is this really a recipe for success? Could this be a contributing factor to why more and more kids are being home schooled or sent to private schools?

We are seriously considering home schooling Zach. Some initial research into it on the internet has returned a wealth of information. There are literally hundreds of support groups, sites with curriculums and information, and forums dealing with all things home school.

Given that our kids are increasingly exposed to the worst that the world has to offer, that we have no control over what they are exposed to while they are at school, and that there are so many varieties of methods of learning, it seems reasonable to me that this is a legitimate and viable alternative to public school for kids who aren't learning well at school and whose parents can't afford a private school where kids can get more individualized teaching.

State of the GSZR

2006-03-07T17:08:00.000-06:00

Yeah, I know...I KNOW. It's been about three full weeks since my last post. I apologize, really I do! I have good reasons if you will let me just explain, k?

Things have been sort of hectic and very much up in the air at the Wild house lately. I finally have my wife mostly recovered from her surgery and back at work so things are actually almost back to routine there. Beyond that, stability is a precious commodity. Check it out:

Work. I'm in the middle of a very large project that when finally completed will have spanned more than a calendar year. Where I am right now I am trying to finish up some tasks with a pretty hard deadline, having to work on testing all of my stuff for a new back-end system release, preparing for some required hardware and software upgrades that include a radical reconfiguration of our environment, and I'm getting hammered by our business units for some minor fixes here and there that must be scheduled around everything else. Nothing I can't handle, just makes me very busy and eats into what had become my normal blog posting time on my morning breaks.
My son's grades. I will write much more about this soon (maybe tomorrow) but for now, just understand that his grades suck, we aren't real sure how much support we're getting from his teachers to get him help, and we are seriously considering home schooling him indefinitely after this year.
Church. While I'm extremely excited about what God is doing in my and my family's lives right now, it's still a little stressful. I have taken on a role in which I get to help lead some small group bible study leaders. It's not too terribly time consuming and I enjoy it, but when you add that to the fact that our church is starting a new campus soon and that Suzanne and I feel called to go and help out in getting it started, well, it requires some definite time to give thought to it.
Finances. We have been fighting hard to get ourselves debt free. It takes time, effort, and discipline...all things I've been known to lack! Well, I'm happy to report we've just managed to knock a serious friggin' hole in it...our bills are about to go from 12 to 3. We will be able to accelerate everything, including paying off our house about 3 years ahead of schedule.

So, you see...there are good reasons why I just haven't found the energy to post more regularly. It wouldn't be fair to you, my readers, for me to be spitting out a bunch of crap just for the sake of posting. I wouldn't feel good about not posting something entertaining or thought provoking, so I just haven't posted at all. All of the things I mentioned will be settling down to some degree now, so I anticipate being much more regular with my posts. I would expect to find something to talk about at least a couple of times per week. Thank you for being patient and for replying when you've read something worthwhile and be sure to keep checking back regularly!

Truth Behind The Lies

2006-02-13T14:20:00.000-06:00

Listening to our local sports talk radio station one morning last week, I heard some excerpts from the NBA's All-Star Selection Show that aired on TNT the night before. What I heard briefly had me irritated. It bloomed into full anger for a very short time, and then I decided that it was probably all in good fun and that I hadn't heard the full story. Turns out I was right, but not everyone here took it as good naturedly as I did. That brings me to today's topic...Isn't there often some truth behind the lies that people tell? Isn't there usually a reason for you to get aggravated at someone who is spouting off?

Now for a little background...

The excerpts that I heard to start this little chain reaction were from an interview conducted by the TNT crew (including Reggie Miller and Charles Barkley). The focus of their interview was the New Orleans/OKC Hornets rookie sensation, Chris Paul. He was left off the all-star roster and they wanted to talk to him about it. As is his usual course of action, Sir Charles took to ribbing Paul during the interview. He asked Paul if there were cows and chickens in his yard. He wanted to know if there was anything to do in Oklahoma. He called my beautiful state a vast wasteland and went on to say (after the interview was over) that he wasn't sure the state was safe for black people, unless you are an Oklahoma Sooner or Hornets player.

What I heard on the radio was several small pieces of that individually. When taken as a whole and in the context of the interview, it was obviously Barkley being Barkely...funny and out on a limb. Now that is a round-a-bout way for me to get to the point, but my point is this.

There is truth to some of what he said.

You come to Oklahoma, you will find MANY a yard with cows or chickens...or both, in it! Like any state in the union, I'm sure there are places black people don't wanna go...just as there are places I know that white people don't go. You get the idea.

But there are people here who can't see through the schtick. They can't laugh it off and admit there is some truth there.

So why is that? Why is it that we tend towards the defensive and towards anger when someone calls us out instead of just fessing up to it and moving on?

I could cite countless instances of this happening. It's around you every day. Is it our nature? Are we ashamed of anything anyone else chooses to poke fun about? I'm really stumped here.

Aren't stereotypes at least a little bit true more often than not? Isn't that why they are stereotypes? I mean, sure there are exceptions and the stereotype doesn't usually tell anywhere close to the whole truth. But, there had to be a little truth there somehwere for it to have gotten started in the first place, right?

A story I heard later that day on that same radio station really summed it up nicely and really made me grin. The caller stated he was African-American and that he had been forced to move here a few years back. He stated that he had heard and, in fact, believed many of the stereotypes he'd heard about Oklahoma. Specifically, he had the notion that we all ride horses and that there aren't many roads. So the guy flies in here from wherever he came from and our airport is out in the middle of nowhere. Nothing but fields around it. As he gets in the car to drive away, he keeps seeing people on horseback! He said, "Oh no! It's really true!!!!"

Turns out that guy was calling in to tell us that he considers himself an Oklahoman for life now and couldn't imagine living anywhere else. He wanted to offer Barkley a weekend tour of our fair city.

I don't know why we get so upset over things others say. If it's true, fess up and move on. If it isn't, say it isn't and move on. But it seems to me that getting upset and angry about it and NOt letting it go only serves to feed the belief that what was said just might be true.

Sir Charles...you need to come check us out sometime, chickens and all. You will find it to be as safe as anywhere else, whether you are black, white, or purple. You will see how good the people here are, and if you come to a Hornets game, you will see what a real basketball crazed crowd is all about.

Silence The Squeaky Wheel!

2006-02-02T08:26:00.000-06:00

I want to know why it is that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. I mean, where is our grease? Do we just not need grease? Are our wheels running smoothly?

Watching the news over the past few days, it seems as though everyone has some kind of bitch and quite a few of them have absolutely no inhibitions when it comes to voicing them. It's like we're in the perpetual shouting match. This person is trying to say something but has to talk over another...then a third person decides that they need to be heard too so they start talking even louder. It rapidly gets to a point where the noise is more deafening than a crowded school lunchroom.

I want very much to figure out a way to silence the squeaky wheel. Have none of these people ever heard the phrase "When life gives you lemons...make lemonade"? We, and when I say we I'm really talking about society as a whole, are far more content to point a finger and scream at the top of our lungs that it's someone else's fault we're in whatever predicament we find ourselves in. For example:

The government, despite messing up right after Katrina, has given more than 85 BILLION dollars to relief efforts. This is in addition to other relief efforts as well as continued work on rebuilding affected areas. Yet, all I'm hearing on the news is how pissed these people are that the government hasn't already come and rebuilt their house. Where I come from, you make sure you have insurance when you buy a house. If you buy a house in a flood prone area or a hurricane zone, maybe you should pay extra to be insured or move elsewhere. But please stop whining that MY tax dollars should build you a new house!

Gas prices. Yeah, they are high almost beyond belief. Yeah, it hurts everytime I go to the gas station...and I don't even own a gas guzzling SUV. Despite this fact, people are still driving cars that can't even dream about 20 miles per gallon. We aren't driving ANY less than we were a year ago. If you don't like the gas prices....drive less, carpool, buy a more efficient car...but I don't wanna hear anymore about how you can't afford to drive to the dadgummed mall! Energy companies will continue to make record profits as long as we continue to follow old habits.

What I wish more people understood is that we all have far more control over our destinies than we have been led to believe. To get a result you've never gotten, you have to do something you've never done. That starts with taking personal responsibility and continues with giving thought to what we can all do to better our own situations. I don't see where that's possible for many people when they are too busy blaming their plight on someone else.

Quicktakes...Issue 2

2006-01-16T10:49:00.000-06:00

Military Intelligence???
On the news this morning, I hear that we've bombed the hell out of a couple of huts in Pakistan because the head terrorist was going to be there for a holiday meal. Turns out he most likely wasn't there. Why? Because our military had recon planes circling the place for a few days prior to the attack. Now I'm not the brightest person on the planet for sure, but how many brain cells does it take to figure out that if you fly over the place scouting it out that maybe, just maybe, someone is going to alert your target that he shouldn't come? I am proud of our troops for doing their job. I have family members who have fought over there. But somewhere up the chain of command someone needs to sneeze and come across a clue once in a while.

Offically Mistaken
Way back in November, I had to watch as my beloved Oklahoma Sooners got supremely jobbed in Lubbock Texas. It wasn't at the hands of Texas Tech but at a herd of zebras hell bent on handing the Red Raiders a victory and thus assuring their safe passage out of town. I have historically been fairly critical of officials. They have so much technology at their disposal now it seems to me that it should be rare thing for a call to end up wrong. Imagine my displeasure as I watched the college bowl season which say poorly called games too numerous to mention and then on into the NFL playoffs which have been so badly messed up that even the site commentators AND the studio hosts have felt the need to comment on it...something usually regarded as taboo. Are the officials all getting too old? Is there some kind of under the table code where we don't want to overturn the field officials too often, making them look bad? I don't know the answer, but in a day and age where we have an abundance of cameras available and the technology of instant replay I don't see why 99% of the calls can't be the correct ones.

How Much Is Too Much?
I don't know how much play this has gotten outside of Oklahoma...last week an Oklahoma State alumnus, Boone Pickens, gave a financial gift to the OSU Athletic Department that totaled $165 million dollars. It's the largest single gift to a university in history. This isn't the first gift he's given and he's said it won't be the last. I think the quote I read was "This is only the beginning". Pickens is in the oil business, and has had a very good couple of years. He can afford it. My question is...when is it too much? How much has he given to his alma mater's cultural facilities or to acedemic endeavors? Did those contributions even compare? I will grant you that OSU athletics needs help. They have a wonderful basketball arena but are otherwise well behind the other Big 12 teams in almost every sport. They need help. But it bothers me that this man is trying to do it all on his own. I would have preferred to see him give more money to causes that will further humanity. Help cure a disease, help kids who otherwise would be unable to get teh enjoyment of learning to play a musical instrument. Pickens isn't a bad guy at all and I admire him for wanting to help his school. I just hope he pays as much attention to those other areas of need as he does to sports.

Hallmark Holidays
We are still a month out, but the biggest Hallmark Holiday of them all will quickly be upon us. No matter the origin, Valentine's Day has been comercialized to death. Here, go get a bunch of cards to tell the people you love how you feel when you should have been doing that all year long. Hey, go buy some roses for your lady...sure you'll spend about 4 times the usual amount on them, but you are supposed to do so! Get a reservation to an overcrowded restaurant to eat mediocre food and pay half a week's wages for it. Suzanne and I agreed a long time ago that we wouldn't do these things. When I buy her roses, it's on a Tuesday in August or a Monday in May...out of the blue and when she least expects it. I tell her I love her every day. I don't need a card to do it for me. Don't get me wrong, we always make sure and hug and kiss a little bit longer on February 14th. We may order chinese delivery or go eat somewhere casual with our kids that night, but we just don't get caught up in it. I challenge you to do something for your loved ones now. Do things for them later. Make a point to call them more often and tell them how you feel about them. Valentine's Day is a good time to do any of those things...just make sure it isn't the only time.

Disregard

2006-01-15T09:19:00.001-06:00

I hit the publish button by mistake...move along, nothing to see here!

Chronicles Of A (Near)Teenage Diva...Part 1

2006-01-15T09:19:00.000-06:00

For those of you who didn't know, I have two kids. My son is 11 and my daughter...The Diva...is 9 going on 22. They are a constant source of entertainment in my life and I find myself consistently having the broadest range of emotions imaginable concerning them. Now, a son is an entirely different creature than a daughter. His room smells, he makes the full array of nasty noises, and he's very logical and down-to-earth in his approach to things. But I didn't come here today to speak about him. What follows is the first in what will likely be a long series of posts chronicling one little girls evolution from childhood to being a teenage diva.

I think the thing I have the most trouble adapting to is her wanting to look and act like a grown-up already. I mean, when I was 9 I don't remember the girls seeming so mature. Hell, I don't remember thinking about girls until 12 or so! I think it's natural for every one of us Dad's out there to want our little girls to remain little girls indefinitely. It's tough knowing that the days of her sitting on my lap and giving me a big hug are numbered. The inevitibility of me not being the first man in her life chills me to the core.

Exhibit A. We got the kids a cell phone for Christmas...something they could take with them on sleepovers or when they have activities. It's turned into Rachel's social line. It would be easier for me to count the minutes in the day that she isn't talking on it than it would to count the time she is. Whether she's playing a game, watching TV, whatever...you can bet she has the headset plugged in and is talking to a friend on it. My little girl now spends more time on the phone than she does talking to her family. Ugh...

Exhibit B. She finally talked her mother into curling her hair. I sat and watched as they worked the curling stuff into her hair, rolled it into curlers, installed a shower cap over it, and sent her to bed. Yes, my daughter...my little girl...slept in curlers! As we were getting ready for church yesterday, they took the curlers out and brushed her hair out. Lord help me, she comes walking out of the bathroom easily looking 5 years older than she did the day before. Don't get me wrong, it looked really good! It's just that she's not supposed to look 14 yet. Ugh again...

Exhibit C. Dressing up. When she was 5, to dress up meant taking some of her Mother's old ballet outfits, putting them on, and dancing about the house. Now it means something entirely different. I was first made aware of this phenomenon the last time I went to buy her clothes. The things I was picking out just weren't cutting it. She has become very fashion conscious and completely passed her old man by. Jeans with designs on them, colorful belts, pretty shirts, soemthing other than tennis shoes, and...(*gasp*) TRAINING BRAS. What happened to my little tomboy??? Her hair has to be done, she has to be looking good to leave the house. I feel that heartburn coming back now...and I KNOW I have less hair than I did when I started writing this post.

My little girl is starting to turn into a young lady and it just doesn't sit well with me. I know it's going to happen no matter how much I want it not to, and I will love her unconditionally throughout. I know we've raised our kids right. They have the right values, they have great heads on their shoulders. But with each passing day, I yearn to have my little girl hang around just a little bit longer.

How Not To Fail

2005-12-30T12:28:00.000-06:00

Alright, I admit that the headline there was really to get your attention. Truth is, we all fail at something on a pretty consistent basis. It's as inevitable as death and taxes so you might as well stop pretending it's ever going to stop and start trying to figure out ways to minimize!

While I have never been a real proponent of making a bunch of New Year's Resolutions, I do tend to be in a constant state of self-evaluation and re-evaluation (just ask my wife!). Chances are that pretty much all of us spend some amount of time taking a look at ourselves, wondering how to lose 20 more pounds or wanting to keep a cleaner house or figuring out how to make more money. Take a minute and be brutally honest, are you setting yourself up for success when you do this or are you planning grand schemes in your head that deep down you know you are never going to attain? To answer that question, answer this one. Have you ever made these types of comments to yourself and/or your loved ones:

"I'm going to ____________."
"I want ____________."
"I need to _____________."

Fill in the blanks. It could be anything really. Stopping addictions, losing weight, less stress...you know all of the common ones. I submit that when you make the kinds of statements I listed, you are not setting yourself up to accomplish anything at all.

To succeed where so many have failed, you have to plan. Have you ever heard the saying "Fail to plan, plan to fail"? Me saying "I need to get myself into better shape" isn't a plan. It's more of a long-term goal. To get into better shape, I need a plan. Great plans are always made up of smaller and more easily attainable goals. So if my overall goal is to get in shape, then I need to have smaller goals that, joined together, help me accomplish my larger goal. For instance, I might say that step one is to commit to a 3-day per week exercise plan. I might also say that I'm going to cut out sodas or dessert every other day. That can all fit into a goal to lose 20 pounds. From there, I might move onto slightly larger things like running a 10 mile race in an hour. Could be anyything really. The point is to spend time thinking about my overall goal, how I can break it into manageable pieces, and then coming up with a plan of attack.

So now you have a plan. If you are like 99% of us, you have made countless plans. Many of them were probably sound, yet you still failed. Why is that? In a word...Accountability. Even the most easily attained goals or plans can fail quickly if you aren't accountable to someone other than yourself. Let's face it...we can rationalize ourselves to death. What you need is a person you can trust. Someone you can lay out your plans and goals for that will lovingly (key word!) keep you on track. We all need someone to keep us going when we don't feel like it. Someone to encourage us when things get rough and praise us when we do well.

Whether you make New Year's Resolutions or just generally have things you want to accomplish, if you find a trusted person to be accountable to and then make a plan with goals that you know you can accomplish, you will find that your degree of success will rise. I wish you luck and a very Happy New Year!

Monday Will Never Be The Same

2005-12-27T11:03:00.000-06:00

Monday Night Football has been a staple on ABC for a long, long time. It's been aired on a free network for that entire time. That's all about to change. ABC broadcasted it's last (for now) MNF game last night. MNF will now move over to ESPN. If you want a free prime-time football game, you will have to tune into NBC to watch Sunday Night Football from here on out, as that broadcast moves over from ESPN.

I'm a little sad about this. Not because there are 12 people somewhere in the USA that don't have satellite or cable. No, sad because it's the end of an institution that I grew up watching. Over the past few seasons, MNF's ratings have been sub-par but they surely won't improve just because it switches networks. No, the ratings are down because the games are bad. The games are bad because that schedule is set before the season begins and in these days of parity across the NFL, you have no idea which teams will succeed and which will fail (usually). Until the NFL wakes up and sets those games no more than a couple of weeks in advance, I fear that they games (and thus, the ratings) will continue to plummet.

Growing up, I would be glued to the TV each Monday. The games seemed to always be exciting...you could count on a great finish. Even games that weren't very competitive were made fun by the assortment of commentators that got to share time in the booth. From Cosell to Gifford to Meredith to Michaels to Madden, you were guaranteed to see and hear things on Monday night to keep you smiling or drop your jaw open, saying "Wow!". I was there when Marino and the Dolphins upset the '85 Bears. I was there when the training staff had to pratically take Kellen Winslow off the field on a stretcher after a big win over Miami in which almost 100 combined points were scored. I was there when Brett Favre threw for almost 400 yards and 4 touchdowns the same week that he lost his father (and I shed a tear listening to him talk about it too). I was there when Dorsett went 99 yards for a touchdown against the Vikings. You get the point...so many memories over so many years.

I know there will still be a game on Monday night. But it won't be the same. I'm sorry...as good as Mike Patrick is, Joe Theismann and Paul MacGuire are more than bad enough to make it a terrible broadcast. The broadcast team combined with the continued league parity probably means that my days of watching MNF are mostly over. Sure, I'll watch if it's a really good matchup or if my Cowboys are playing...but who really wants to tune into a game between two bad teams who were out of playoff contention when training camp started? My time is worth more than that.

I invite you to share your memories of MNF...and we can even call them the "good old days" if you want! Let me know what you remember most, what you liked, what you didn't like. How do you feel about the move to ESPN?

A Retro Gaming Buffet That Warms The Soul

2005-12-20T08:42:00.000-06:00

Sitting on the couch with my daughter curled up in my lap one evening last week, a commercial came on TV. Understand, we are Tivo happy at my house and commercials are a rare thing unless I'm watching a ball game. This commercial comes on the TV, and it's a series of small clips from my gaming past. You know...Galaga, Virtua Fighter, Joust, etc. Playing in the background this whole time is the Bee Gees' Stayin' Alive (don't EVEN snicker, you know you secretly sing along to the Bee Gees too!). Fellow fans of retro gaming, I give you

www.gametap.com

I don't know who the people are that thought this up, but I wish it had been me. You will be hard pressed to find a more complete collection of gaming history anywhere else. I believe the current collection is over 300 games, including the original Pong! They have games from pretty much every system that preceeded the first Playstation, along with arcade, DOS, and Windows games. It's all put together with a very smooth interface that's easy to navigate. Total retro gaming bliss I tell you!

So anyway, back to my story. I'm sitting there with my daughter and the commercial ends by telling us it's Gametap and she looks up at me and says "Daddy, we have to get that!". Agreed, princess. Agreed.

There are literally so many games on there that you could spend an entire day, never play the same game twice, and you'd probably skip lunch and dinner and just chow that bag of Wavy Lays before going straight to bed...at 3 AM. It all runs very smoothly, most of the games load quickly, and if they don't the interface gives you the opportunity to load in the background while you play something else.

You get at two week free trial and then it's $15 a month. You get 7 total accounts and can install on multiple computers. If you ever played an arcade or early console game that you loved, you should check it out. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Merry Christmas to me!!!

Quicktakes, Issue 1

2005-12-16T08:50:00.000-06:00

There are times when I don't really have what I feel is enough to make a full column about any one subject, but enough to write something about several different ones. Today is just such a day, so I give you the first ever Quicktakes...enjoy!

Have You Gone To Parris?
There is a revolution underway in college basketball. It hasn't gotten an abundance of attention just yet, but it's coming. The Parris twins have the potential to be to women's college basketball what Micheal Jordan was to the NBA. They are both talented, very well spoken, humble young ladies. They were raised right. Courtney is 6'4" and is built like and moves like Shaq. Ashley is 6'1", thinner but also extremely athletic. Together, they are putting up about 65% of OU's point and over half of the team's rebounds...and they are true freshmen. Next year, the team gets Hakeem Olajuwon's daughter who promises more of the same. Yes, a revolution is coming...if you get the chance, make sure you check it out.

McNabb the Goat
I still don't understand it. Donovan McNabb was heralded as a new generation QB coming out of Syracuse. He was black and could run AND throw. What a concept! In his early years in the NFL with the Eagles, he ran much more than he does today and was great at it. But the fans and media complained that he needed to develop more as a passer. So he did. Now, he's an accomplished drop back passer who can still scramble when needed, and those exact same people have decided that he needs to run more. Understand, these people are complaining because the Eagles haven't won a Super Bowl. You know, all they've done is go to four straight NFC Championship games and one Super Bowl...and they couldn't have done without both of McNabb's abilities. To the fans and media in Philly, I warn you now to shut your holes before your QB decides to go find work elsewhere and you learn the hard way just how good he is.

King of the Box Office????
What is it these days that when we set out to make a blockbuster movie...it somehow has to end up being 3 hours long? The story I'm hearing on King Kong is that it has really good action (and sometimes too much of it) and is well made, but that there are obvious parts of it that could, and should, have been cut out to shorten the film. Was Peter Jackson trying to outdo his work from the Lord of the Ring films? Is there some unwritten rule in Hollywood these days that a blockbuster must break the 3 hour mark? Are they trying to give us more film for our dollar? I'm sure we will go check it out, but here is betting that Narnia is twice the film for less than 3 hours of your movie watching time.

The Best Show on TV
It isn't my favorite show, it isn't the most entertaining, it doesn't have the most action...it isn't the best at any one particular thing. So how is it that Extreme Makeover Home Edition gets my vote for the best show on TV? Because it's big corporations going above and beyond to help people in need. If you aren't familiar with it, here's what happens:
Families everywhere send in tapes to ABC, who has teamed up with Sears and with homebuilders all over the country to build new houses for these families. Often on the show there will be a single parent who's spouse has passed away, families who have special needs (handicaps, diseases), they renovated a camp for special needs kids once (and the owner's house). The team comes in, meets the family, and finds out more about their situation. The family then goes on vacation while the team demolishes the old house and builds a brand new one. They will also go above and beyond by getting the community and, sometimes, celebrities involved to help raise money for a cause. The builders will pitch in and give the family money to pay their utilities or send the kids to college. Sure, the network wouldn't do this if it didn't make them money, but they are helping people who need help and it's refreshing to see something like this on TV. Something you actually don't mind watching with your kids. Something that serves to remind that there are far more good people in the world than bad.

That's all I have for now...have a great weekend everybody. Be careful out there if you brave the stores to finish up your Xmas shopping!

The Stress Of It All

2005-12-13T12:17:00.000-06:00

As we move ever closer to Christmas, it's nearly impossible for each and every one of us not to feel the stresses that go along with it. So many things to get done, so many people to think about, so many places to try and be...and seemingly all at the same time. Throw a little family stress on top of it and you have nothing less than the king of all stress banana splits with a generous helping of tired and a couple of smatterings of guilt right up on top.

The biggest of all of these can be, and I am betting usually is, financial stress. Sure, we get through it by kidding ourselves that we can just "do what needs to be done right now" and then worry about it later. Those credit card bills will still be there in January, right? We are prompted at every turn...advertising, peer pressure, kid pressure, perceived pressure...to spend generously and have a jolly old month of December. Those ads never show you the poor saps sitting around their home office opening those bills they decided to not worry about, do they?

BAH!

Enough is enough I say. Time to put the foot down. By learning the key phrases "No thank you", "We really can't afford it this year", and "Sorry, we already have plans" and combining that with the mindset that you absolutely will NOT be able to succeed to keeping everyone happy who thinks they are depending on you for that, you will find that there is plenty of room to reduce your stress level and have a more enjoyable holiday season.

Finances have you all bound up? Simple. Tell your friends and family the truth...you really can't afford to get them gifts this year. Two different parts of your family planning events at the same time? No way someone doesn't come out of that pissed. Your only recourse is to attempt to get one to reschedule. Barring that, you are seeing one when they want to see you and the other when you can. You can't fix it for everybody, so why stress out over it?

Not that I'm advocating we all become Scrooges. I'm simply suggesting that you remember to take time out for yourself and your family over the holidays...give yourselves a chance to recharge. Also remember to do something, anything, to help those less fortunate. After all, it's Jesus' birthday and that's what he wants his gift to be every year. Be as festive as you want to be, go to parties, buy gifts. Just remember to do all that with a bit of conservatism in mind.

I'm sure I'll say this again between now and then, but I hope that you are well and that life is good as you read this. I hope you and your family have a blessed holiday season, that you manage to get through without anti-stress medication, that you receive much and give more, and that you do it all safely.

Merry Christmas and God bless!

My Tribute To Richard...

2005-12-12T12:36:00.000-06:00

I was very saddened to hear of Richard Pryor's death over the weekend. People like him, Eddie Murphy, Robin Williams, and Bill Cosby are why I value humor so much today.

Richard Pryor was like all of us. He made many mistakes in his life. He eventually hit bottom when he basically set himself on fire, and then managed to turn his life around from there. I'll miss him terribly as I'm sure many others will. There will never be another like him.

What I remember most about Richard was his no holds barred, in your face approach to his comedy. He was always funny and pretty much always in a very straight-forward manner. I probably started watching him at too young an age, because he taught me words I didn't know existed! Richard Pryor Live On The Sunset Strip is, to this day, one of my favorite comedy routines of all time. Another thing that stands out for me is how influencial he was with other comedians. Eddie Murphy doing an imitation of Richard Pryor giving him advice on how to handle Bill Cosby (who was upset about Eddie's language) was so spot on that you never had a doubt the conversation took place! If you've ever seen a movie Richard and Eddie Murphy, Gene Wilder, or Jackie Gleason did together, you have missed out. Sure, they weren't great movies...Roger Ebert wouldn't dare give them the "thumbs up", but I would still laugh just as hard to go home and watch them today as the first time I saw them. The Toy is one of my all-time favorites.

In the new age of political correctness and everyone generally trying their best to not piss anyone off, thinking of Richard Pryor takes me back to a time when you could say what you mean and mean what you say...and if you were being funny about it, there wasn't a second thought about it. I dare say you won't see comedy like that again anytime soon, if ever. So if you've never had the chance to check out any of his work and you need a laugh someday, do yourself a favor and go rent some of it, grab yourself a drink and bag of popcorn, sit back, and laugh your butt off!

Giving Life Meaning

2005-12-10T10:08:00.000-06:00

Watching a several week old episode of 60 Minutes this morning, my wife and I came across a story about U2, the rock band. I've always been a big fan of the band and of their open display of their faith in their music and in their actions. But even I didn't realize the depth of Bono's committment to his faith.

You can read the transcript of the story at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/11/17/60minutes/main1053542.shtml. There should also be a section on the right side of the page for video where you can watch it. The piece is called "Making The Music".

We are given a simple sounding yet quite difficult mission in life. By whatever name you call your God, the message is the same...Love one another. That's it. Should be easy, right? So why is it so hard sometimes?

Because it's more involved than simply telling someone you love them. You have to show it. Your actions must speak louder than any words you might utter. They are rock musicians through and through, but the thing they've done is given meaning to their existence. They make a difference.

Their past experiences (growing up in war savaged Ireland) led them to music and their music made them famous. Their fame has allowed them to travel avenues and open doors that would be difficult for us normal people to open. Where most famous people will simply state their idealisms and leave it to others to do something about it, U2 has decided to set an example for the rest of us to follow. They don't get lost in their politics. They make their politics work for their causes. Bono has helped get medications to over 200,000 people in Africa that have AIDS. He managed not only to meet with the G8 leaders this year but got them to forgive the debts of many third world contries, allowing those countries instead to beginning building an infrastructure that can educate and improve the lives of it's citizens. They have taken that simple yet complex life mission...love one another...and turned it into their life's work. Their music preaches that mission, they even have a section of their concerts dedicated to uniting religions of the world (you have to watch the video to truly appreciate that). They didn't get stuck in their idealisms. Instead, they set attainable goals and go about changing the things they have the power to change.

So how you can you fulfill your mission? What are the things that you can do to make the world a better place? The trick is to do life by feel. When you feel compelled to help someone or send a charity money, when you feel strongly about something...that's your calling! Don't ignore it. Don't brush it off, say that you are just too busy to help, and leave it for someone else to do. Most of us are never going to be able to affect the large scale change that people like Bono and U2 can, but there are things we can do. Find an organization in your community that helps those in need and donate your time and/or your money. Be there for the people in your life when they need a hand or an ear.

Sometimes it's the simplest of things...a smile, a hug, a kind word, a few extra bucks donated to your local food bank...these are the things that you can do. They don't take much of your time or really much of your money, but they do give meaning to your life.

Reminiscence

2005-12-09T11:18:00.000-06:00

Let's take a walk back through the "good old days" of gaming, shall we? How many of you out there remember your first video game love affair? C'mon! Let's see a show of hands.

Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. How could you ever forget it? Just like a real life first love, it's nearly impossible to forget the first time you became enamored with a video game to the exclusion of all else. Your hands sweat, you can't stop thinking about it, and all you want to do is get back to that oh-so-happy place and enjoy yourself. Oh sure, you may have dabbled around elsewhere, but in the end you came running back to the one you loved.

Then something happened. You had settled nicely into this relationship and had pretty well mastered it's intricacies when something incredible happened. You found your attentions being drawn away from your love and towards the latest and greatest...the new sexy model. It had things your first love didn't, held your attention in ways you had forgotten it could be held. Then you noticed another, and another. Soon you found yourself dabbling in anything that caught your eye. It was an arcade orgy that never stopped...not that you would have wanted it to!

That was all fine and good for a while, but then you got a little older and maybe, just maybe, a wee bit wiser. You decided that the party life wasn't for you anymore. You were ready to settle down and take one of these lovely ladies home. You wanted stability, security, something you didn't have to feed money all the time for it to keep you happy.

So you found one you liked and you brought it home to Mom and Dad. They were maybe not as happy about it as you were, but they accepted the new relationship none the less. You had truly found your happy place. There was never a dull moment and your new love was happy enough for you to spend all of your time at home. You had found true happiness!

But wait...one relationship just wasn't going to be good enough. After all, there were other choices and they all had desirable attributes. Plus, everyone else had more than one...so why not you? So you delved in and got into as many different relationships as possible. Noone seemed to mind. You had finally reached true nirvana.

It turned into a never ending progression, it just kept getting better. With every new thing that came along, it was sweeter looking and did things the others just couldn't do. So now as you have attained true adulthood, you still manage to lose yourself in the moment and continually get to experience that feeling of puppy love that you thought you had lost long ago.

For me, my first true love was Asteriods. I would be a rich man had I saved all of those quarters (or even half of them!) for a rainy day. I played it non-stop...dropped every spare bit of money I had into it. Then I found Galaga. Then the Atari 2600 was introduced and I had to have one to play at home. No more quarters! I still remember the heartbreak when I was told I wasn't getting Ms. Pac-Man on the 2600 for my birthday. I saved my money and bought it myself at the ripe old age of 11. It was the first in a long line of purchases.

I moved from there into a nice Sega Genesis and then on to the first Nintendo. I dabbled with the Sega CD system. I've owned virtually every game console ever produced until the Xbox was introduced. I bought my Xbox for the sole reason that it had a hard drive in it. I was picking out a couple of games and a guy shopping at Best Buy (I still maintain he was an angel sent from heaven) strongly encouraged me to buy Halo. I didn't do it.

Now that you've recovered from that shock...it was a temporary setback. My neice brought her copy over shortly thereafter and following an 8 hour coop campaign session, I was hooked. I then got my very good friend Jeff (Pro356 for those of you in the Senior Citizens) to get a box and Halo and he and his wife proceeded to play Zan and I over XBConnect nearly nightly for almost a year.

Then Halo2 hit, I found the Senior Citizens clan and have never looked back. I cannot fathom cheating on Bill Gates and ever getting a Playstation. I don't have my 360 yet, but will. I will be playing Halo3 at launch. I have found my home. I have found my family with the SC's, and I can't imagine being anywhere else.

What I want from you all is to share your memories here. What was your first love? What was the journey like that brought you to where you are today? Isn't reminiscing wonderful?

Shhhhhh...The Spartans Are Sleeping!

2005-12-08T10:36:00.000-06:00

As we roll right up to the end of 2005 and the beginning of 2006, I can't help but notice that things are extremely quiet on the Halo2 front these days. Clan participation across the board seems to be down and MM games seem to be taking longer to start because it is taking longer to put together a room full of players. Why is that? Several reasons all help to contribute to the Great Halo Slowdown Of '05...let's take a look at it.

It's the holiday season. Activity seemed to by spiking again back on November 9th of this year. The one year anniversary brought people back to Halo goodness who hadn't played for a while. But after that, as Thanksgiving rolled around and we are now smack in the middle of the Christmas rush, people just have less time available to play. I myself have gone from a minimum of 4 to 5 nights a week down to about 2. Christmas parties, family functions, the EOY work crunch, school activities for our kids...it quickly adds up to far less leisure time than we'd like to have.
The Xbox 360 launch. As with any new console, the launch of the 360 has definitely torn some of Halo's slightly less hardcore players away. If you are lucky enough to have gotten the new system (see Q's posts on that subject), you have no doubt been experiencing all kinds of new goodness that has further dwindled your amount of time for Halo.
It's an old game now. Let's face facts. For a game to continue to be the most popular and often played game out there for over a year is something special. It just doesn't happen that often. Halo2 has been going strong since launch. There are simply going to be a section of players who...*gasp*...just get bored with it.

All of these things have contributed to the slowdown, I don't think there is any disputing it. So the thing to ponder...the question that can only be answered by Father Time is this:

"Is Halo2's dominance really coming to an end or is the slowdown merely a temporary setback due to the circumstances outlined above?"

I don't believe that it's ever going to be as popular as it was. I don't see how it can be. People get bored. They want something new. They turn their attentions elsewhere. That said, I anticipate that the turn of the new year will bring a resurgence in playtime. The holidays will pass, those same people who got bored with Halo and are right now playing Call of Duty or PGR3 will get bored with those and pick the Master Chief back up for another spin. Then, as soon as Bungie lets the worst kept secret EVER out of the bag and announces Halo3, even more people will pick the game back up and get interested again. We may never see the record number of games played that Bungie has reported in the past, but I don't think any of us hardcore folks are going to have trouble finding a room to join anytime soon.

The Great Farce

2005-12-07T10:27:00.000-06:00

Listening to my local sports talk station this morning, I heard a discussion about the Heisman trophy and specifically about some of the votes that have already been tallied. The jist of the talk on the air was about some pretty questionable votes. After hearing more about some of the voters, where they are from, and how they voted, I couldn't help but write about it.

The Heisman Trophy is the second biggest joke in college football. Second only to the BCS.

The Heisman is coveted as the top individual trophy in college football and is supposed to be awarded to "the outstanding college football player in the United States". Now, I'm no English major or anything but I didn't see the words "offensive player" or "quarterback" in that sentence. Did you? The award should go to the best overall player, but the only way a defensive player even gets consideration is if he returns kicks and/or plays offense too. Sure, people will shrug that off and say that there are many awards for individual players that are given by position. That is entirely correct, except these people conveniently forget that there is an award for running backs and multiple awards for quarterbacks.

So the question is...when did the Heisman become an award for offensive skill positions and why do they still advertise it as the award for the most outstanding player?

Now, about those questionable votes. These merely add to the deception of the Heisman. Did you know that there are over 900 voters and that there is no process for restricting their vote? They can literally put anyone on their ballot that they choose. They don't have to vote for first, second, and third either. I did my research at a site called http://www.stiffarmtrophy.com where they actually do the unthinkable and contact as many voters as possible to track the race for the trophy. They are very good at what they do.

Reviewing their results, you will find that pretty much all of the past Heisman winners from USC have voted solely for USC players. Lindell White is on most of them. Dwayne Jarrett is on some. You won't find Vince Young on ANY of them. Now, if you truly voting your conscience...and completely removing my argument that defensive players should be considered...how in the world can you NOT include Vince Young as one of the three best players in college football this year? In order to help insure that your guy takes the trophy, that's how. All of the USC guys I mentioned have Bush first and Young is nowhere to be found.

But it doesn't begin and end with those guys. One of my very own guys...a true Sooner has done something similar. Billy Sims has voted Vince Young first and not voted for anyone else. For me, this is no better than what the USC guys have done. It doesn't stop there. You'll see quite a few extremely questionable votes in that list. Guys getting voted on that really have no business in a discussion about the "most outstanding player".

What ought to be a celebration of the best in college football has turned into a narrowly focused look at the two or three offensive skill position players from some of the powerhouse programs in the NCAA. Outrageously biased voting by past winners and media members who vote only for the guys in their region have further diluted the greatness of what should be the best trophy in college football.

Saying Hello

2005-12-06T17:09:00.000-06:00

A good friend of mine has recently started posting here, and it got me to thinking that maybe I have some things to say as well. So, with every post my sincere thanks go to my good friend Q!

What exactly are Arthritic Articulations you ask? The title stems from my Xbox Live Gamertag...WildGSZR. I'm frequently (and, I hope, affectionately) called GSZR, or geezer if you like. I stumbled on that nickname purely by accident. It happens to be the first letters of my families' first names. I was asked early on how old I was since I had GSZR in my online name, and it's stuck. So Arthritic Articulations is my way of being funny about being a "geezer".

Now that isn't to say that I'll always be funny when I post here. I mean life happens fast and it just isn't always very funny, right? But hopefully you'll smile aplenty and maybe, just maybe, I'll manage to give you something to think about while I'm at it. Being a geezer, my mind will surely wander from subject to subject, but among my favorite topics are family, gaming, sports, and faith. I'm sure I'll deviate from these when the events of the world compel me to speak about them, but mostly it's those topics for me.

Until next time...