Sometimes Everything is Odd

There are times when everything just seems odd.  Everything.  And yes, there are times, especially when I think of Baby Samuel, that I would like to ask God, "WHY DID YOU DO THAT?"

Under My Thumb

I think these lyrics are odd.  Mick Jagger said, "It's a bit of a jokey number, really. It's not really an anti-feminist song any more than any of the others..."

Under my thumb
The girl who once had me down
Under my thumb
The girl who once pushed me around

Its down to me
The difference in the clothes she wears
Down to me, the change has come,
Shes under my thumb

Aint it the truth babe?

Under my thumb
The squirmin dog whos just had her day
Under my thumb
A girl who has just changed her ways

Its down to me, yes it is
The way she does just what shes told
Down to me, the change has come
Shes under my thumb
Ah, ah, say its alright

Tickling

I think it's strange that a person is unable to tickle himself, or herself.

Hack

I'm such a hack, and I know it, and I don't care but I do care.

WHY DID YOU DO THAT?

Evan knocked over some of Nathan's toy soldiers this morning before school, and Nathan hollered, "WHY DID YOU DO THAT?"  He was furious at the injustice, of course.  But, oddly enough, even though my nerves were a bit strained, I liked him saying, "WHY DID YOU DO THAT?"  And I thought how I never ask that, and certainly not with that kind of force, even though there are so many things that people do in this world and to each other in which such a question is surely justified.  And there are so many things that I do in which I should also ask, "WHY DID YOU DO THAT?"

DVD Rewinder

I saw a photo of a DVD Rewinder.  It must have a joke.

Baby Samuel

It's very odd how a baby just three weeks old that I've never met can impact my heart more than almost any preacher, theologian, inspirational speaker, or author I've ever heard or read.  He's such a tough little kid.  But mostly I pray a lot because Samuel needs prayer and so I spend lots of time with God and feel really close to Him. 

Hot Air

Mundane, sitting in traffic, again and again and again, day after day after day, the same route, again and again and again, work, work, work, again and again and again, you get the picture, and so I'm sitting there, Monday morning, in a long line of cars at the stop sign, when from behind the trees rose a hot-air balloon, and it moved toward me, the balloon a patchwork of colored squares, and it seemed so majestic and peaceful...I loved that balloon.

Legends of the Dull

I find it odd that even when I go to bed late, my body refuses to sleep in.  Get up, get up, it says, right at 6 ET, even if I'm in Central Time, and to make it worse, I went to bed late watching an awful movie called Legends of the Fall (1994).  You'd think a movie with Anthony Hopkins and Brad Pitt would have some merit, but, noooo, not this one. 

Even Vacations are Odd

I know, I know, I need to lighten up, but I have to say that the sense of things becomes rather odd when a large group of affluent people gather to vacation. Yes, the beach is beautiful. Yes, the time of leisure is nice. The pastel-painted condos, the white-picket fences, the palm trees, the restaurants, yes, yes, yes, all of that is wonderful, but there's something about the collective laziness and absence of industry that leaves me with a kind of sick feeling in my stomach, like when you eat too much of your favorite candy. Everybody's on vacation, so just relax, right? It's hard to relax because right there with the affluence are qualities I don't like to be around for very long: arrogance, a sense that "we pulled this off," laziness, a lack of good stewardship, a sense of privilege, materialism... My buddy says that everyone here wants to be a millionaire. Not just those visiting, but those running businesses, right down to the parking valet and the waitress. Everyone wants a piece of this action.

But hey, you say, whoa, what about you, Mr. Long-Weekend-in-Seagrove-Dude? You're right there with them, right? You're such the hypocrite! You're enjoying the leisure...others are probably looking at YOU and saying, all these rich people, they make me sick!

Well now, I would have to respectfully disagree. They would look at ME and say, hey, there's a righteous dude whose priorities are right on track! Look at him! I can tell he hasn't given into the dark side of affluence, he's down here for a short period of rest and relaxation. He's recharging his batteries. He's not one of us. Let's be more like him, God love him!

No Lists Today

I don't have a list today and that's odd for me. I'm just here at the beach with a lot of time on my hands, even if it's just for two days.

Some things I saw on the beach

I saw a lot of sandcrab holes, I saw sand pyramids and sand castles, I saw people walking, I saw sea gulls of course, I saw a pineapple wash up on the shore, I saw a pelican then I saw a pelican bob for fish, I saw a lot of rental condos in pastel colors, I saw a yellow flag, I saw a cigarette butt, I saw dark clouds, I saw lightening, I heard thunder in the distance then I heard thunder that sounded like someone hitting the outside shell of the sky with a big rubber mallet, and then I heard long thunder and I remembered the phrase "thunder rumbled in the sky," and I saw the sun come out from the dark clouds in a brilliant way that looked like religious imagery, I saw a crumpled Miller Lite beer can, I saw a guy setting up chairs and umbrellas, I saw it written in the sand that Brad loves Katie, I saw a tiny sandcrab, I saw sand that was lots of different shades of white, charcoal, beige, and I saw a lot of beach steps.

Tasers in Alabama

My buddy and I stopped at an Applebee's just inside the Alabama border for lunch. A guy at the bar volunteered a story. He wore an Alabama hat. He announced to the bartender and anyone else within earshot, which unfortunately included me and my buddy, how he got into a fight yesterday.

He explained how there was this man at a gas station who was bullying his wife. He said to the bully, hey you ought to pick on somebody your own size, so the bully punched this guy at the bar and knocked his tooth out, and he showed the bartender the spot where his tooth used to be.

Then the man at the bar described matter 0f factly how he then tasered the bully. "Yeah, I tasered him," he said. The police came, he said, but everything was caught on video because there were cameras running at the gas station. The bully was charged, but the man in the Alabama hat was not. "Look," he said, and he showed us where his tooth had been, but I didn't look because he was so anxious to tell everyone what a hero he was which didn't make him a hero to me at all. In fact I'm guessing he wanted the bully to hit him, that he just waits for that kind of thing. I looked everywhere but at this guy. "Yeah," he said again, "I tasered him."

Lists

I create lists all the time. I create a list each day at work of all the things I need to do and even the things I know I won't be able to do that day. I don't want to forget about anything, so I carry items over from one day to the next sometimes for weeks. I even make a list for my days off because there's so much I want to get done at home. I prioritize everything and check off items when I complete them.

I'm not alone.

Turbulence

I think it's strange how, as A. Stanley pointed out, that a few minutes of rough turbulence on a plane and suddenly you:

• Are very forgiving
• Love everyone
• Don't worry about your job
• Cannot be tempted
• Don't have to be told to pray

Designer Toilet Lids

http://www.artdetoilette.com

Average

It's odd to me how incredibly average I am. I help support the Bell curve. I help define normal. I exist so that you may stand out.

Bite Size is Not for Me

We have these little packs of bite-size cookie bags, Oreos, Chips Ahoys, and so on, and these bags are frustrating for me because there's never quite enough cookies in a bag. I don't like a limited supply. I like to gorge myself, and to do this I have to open several bags.

An Odd Thing I Don't Like

Baby Samuel was born with a heart defect and lung problems...that is odd, and it's sad, and I don't like it at all.

Sprinklers

It was raining really hard when I left work today, and the sprinklers were running.

Odd Things

I like the odd things.

Mendelssohn

I listened at the concert to Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor, Opus 64, last night, and I realized that no matter how beautiful and how inspiring a piece of music is, I don't let myself be inspired and I haven't for a long time. There's a protective coating around my heart. I put it there. Of course, beyond the fact that I remembered it was Mendelssohn, I didn't remember which piece it was; I referenced the program I brought home so I could provide that bit of detail here. I am incapable of remembering those kind of details; I thought it would lend a bit of weight to this entry. I also thought of calling this entry, "How Mendelssohn Broke My Heart," but that sounded a bit affected and even more pretentious than the title I chose. And it would be ironic because he didn't break my heart in the traditional sense, he broke my heart in that for a moment I remembered what it was like to really dream again, or rather he broke the shell that has encased my heart; well, maybe not broke it, just cracked it a bit.

Maglite

It was an odd sound when the Maglite hit my son's front tooth, the accidental clink of aluminum alloy and enamel.

The Simple Life

I've noticed how difficult it is to keep things simple.

Larry

Larry was scheduled for gall bladder surgery today. He felt fine, so he canceled surgery. We played tennis instead. He won.

Squirrels

The squirrel that hangs upside down each day on the birdfeeder to get at the birdseed.