CouchSurfing

"CouchSurfing is a worldwide network for making connections between travelers and the local communities they visit."

A Crab Suddenly

Logan and I were looking for shells along shore's edge at the Gulf, had been doing so for a while, when I nearly stepped on a crab which scuttled away very quickly.  That was unexpected, and it was odd.

Distressing Furniture

'Distressing Furniture in the decorative arts is the activity of making a piece of furniture or object appear aged and older, and there are many methods to produce an appearance of age and wear. Distressing is viewed as a refinishing technique although it is the opposite of finishing in a traditional sense. In distressing, the object's finish is intentionally destroyed or manipulated to look less than perfect, such as with sandpaper or paint stripper. For example, the artisan often removes some but not all of the paint, leaving proof of several layers of paint speckled over wood grain underneath. This becomes the "finished" piece.'

Gregor

"One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin."

Tom Brady

Lifted from founders ministries blog, circa 2007.

Tom Brady, the 3-time Super Bowl champion quarterback of the New England Patriots was featured the week in a 60 Minutes interview with Steve Kroft on CBS. Brady is already a sports legend in one of the citadels of professional sports in America, Boston. His current team is 15-0 and is poised to finish the season undefeated, something that hasn't been done in the NFL in 35 years. He has won the Super Bowl MVP twice and been named to the Pro Bowl 4 times. He also was recently named the Associated Press' "Male Athlete of the Year."

He has dated actresses and supermodels and makes millions of dollars a year. He has been called America's most eligible bachelor. By most popular standards, he has it all. That is why I was struck by hearing him make the following statement during the interview:

"Why do I have three Super Bowl rings and still think there's something greater out there for me? I mean, maybe a lot of people would say, 'Hey man, this is what is.' I reached my goal, my dream, my life. Me, I think, 'God, it's got to be more than this.' I mean this isn't, this can't be what it's all cracked up to be."

When Kroft asked him, "What's the answer?" Brady responded, "I wish I knew. I wish I knew. I love playing football and I love being quarterback for this team. But at the same time, I think there are a lot of other parts about me that I'm trying to find."

A Letter From Mom

I went looking for a few books in a box and found letters from my mother and father while I was in army training.  Here's an excerpt from one of my mother's letters, dated 9/10/84, about 25 years ago:

"I must tell you, Jim -- I really admire you -- for everything you are doing and accomplishing -- I will do everything in my power to help you in any way I can.  I think you are a very special person and I love you very much.  Don't ever forget that, OK?"

Hair On My Ears, In My Ears

Speaking of hair, since when did tending to the hair in my ear(s) and on my ear(s) become a necessary part of my personal hygiene?  Sometimes I catch a hair growing a centimeter or two off the outer edge of one my ears, disguised by the hair on my head and suddenly exposed by a haircut.  Nobody mentioned that I'd have to be concerned with this as I grew older.

A Little Something for Thinning Hair

My haircutter suggested, unbidden, a little something for "thinning air" as she was cutting my hair.

Groom Dies on Wedding Day

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/crime/2009/09/13/wral.nc.groom.killed.wral

Apple Jacks

On the side of the box of Apple Jacks, it says in a large typeface:  "Family life is better when your kids are healthy."  There are so many things I dislike about this, it's hard to know where to start.  How about here:  And what does eating Apple Jacks have to do with having healthy kids?  And: Why are you morons stating the obvious?  And:  Are you trying to make us feel guilty if our kids aren't healthy?  And:  What about the parents who have kids struggling with ongoing or chronic health issues, how do you suppose they feel when they read this?  "Our family is not as good as it could be! Well, we've got to get you healthy, Mary Jane, so we can have a better family life!  Let's go, Honey!"  And:  How does a kid who is ill feel when he or she reads this, you morons!  "Our family life is not good because I am not healthy.  It's my fault Mom and Dad scream at each other."  Your marketing department ought to be fired.  

Introduction to the Glib

Glib, I well know, is not a noun.  It's an adjective, and it's one of those words that you kind of know what it means but if someone pressed you for a definition right now you would be a little challenged perhaps to provide a precise definition, and that's kind of frustrating, at least for me, because I love precise definitions.  Glib describes someone (or perhaps the way someone talks or writes) in which the person has a lot to say and it flows pretty easily but there isn't much depth.  It's insincere.  Glib can come in the form of an adverb (glibly, as in you write glibly, which is awkward I think) and in the form of a noun (glibness, the speech was full of glibness, which is also awkward).  Glib comes from the Dutch glibberig, meaning 'slippery," and from the German glibberig, meaning 'slimy,' and I guess those are not very positive connotations.  At any rate, I know well what glib is, because...well, I am glib.

A Diamond Ring in the Bathroom at the Movies

Cheryl found a diamond ring, at least it looked a lot like a diamond, in the bathroom at the movie theater.  The question is, obviously, why would somebody take off a diamond ring in the bathroom at the movies?

Kentucky in Spanish

Evan:  "How do you say 'Kentucky' in Spanish?"
Me: "Kentucky."
Evan:  "How do you say it in real life?"
Me: "Kentucky."

Ants

My son likes to eat ants.

An Incredible Guy

I saw an incredible thing yesterday, and yes incredible things are odd things.  I saw Samuel's father get up and speak at his son's funeral service, and I realized that there really are heroes in this world and not just in the movies, though they are so much more rare in life.  When he started walking to the front of the gathering, I thought, NO WAY, no way is this guy going to say something, but he did, and not only that he spoke of his hope and comfort in Christ, and of the difficult journey they've been on, and it was amazing.  Bryan, you are my hero, my friend. 

Stopped in Traffic

It's awkward a little bit when traffic slows or stops in both directions on a two-lane road and you're suddenly looking into the eyes of oncoming drivers.  You're looking around out of boredom, looking at other drivers, and when you make eye contact of course you look away, not sure of what kind of road etiquette is called for.

Samuel's Mom

Life is odd for Samuel's mother:

"As I faced another day without Samuel, I was struck with how life goes on around me as though nothing has changed. I know this is a universal experience in hard times -- when we feel like time has stopped and nothing will ever be the same, we notice how everyone around us just carries on. Bills and catalogs still arrive in the mail, phone solicitors still call, people still post trivial tidbits as their status updates on facebook, and people still complain about the small stuff as though it was monumental. But for me and for Bryan and for those closest to us, life is forever altered."

Quiet

It's odd to me that I'm so quiet when I'm around people I don't know well.  I feel like somebody has stolen my words.

Here's what others say about quiet people, though I don't necessarily endorse these opinions:

They are thinking, "What's up with loud and obnoxious people? Why are they talking?"

“Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools talk because they have to say something.”  --Benjamin Franklin

I sit among a group of people who I don’t know too well or I am new to and I analyze. I wonder who is more frequently the center of attention, who is always getting picked on or shamed, who speaks in quality over quantity, who has my sense of humor and who doesn’t, who is judging my being quiet, who I might have the most in common with, what my place or role be in this group, etc.

I am quiet in general. I choose my words carefully in the beginning, but once I feel comfortable I open up and end my quietness until someone new shows up. People who can just start up a conversation with a total stranger as if he has spoken to him/her before amaze me. I don’t like that they do that though. You never know if they’re speakin with a quiet person.

And they're annnoyed by the fools in the next cubicle over who keep arguing on about utter nonsense such as which footbowl player scored the most home runs last season, and so on... 

(I don't know if that last person was being funny or not.) 

Samuel Died

Samuel died and I don't know what to say about that.