A confession long overdue.

It was ninth grade, and like most ninth graders I was not very interested in being in school. I was even less interested in being in Mr. Morseys earth science class.
Not that I have anything against this teacher, or the class for that matter, at least I don't have anything against them now. But like I said, "It was ninth grade."
In this class I had a friend named Willie. Willie was a great guy but he wasn't the greatest of students. It wasn't a matter of him being dumb, he was just less interested in school then I was.
One day, in earth science class, Mr. Morsey returned the graded test we had taken a few days before. The grades were pretty much the same as usual. Gary and Joe got A's, Brett and I got B's, Doug got a C and Willie of course didn't do very well. Of course Willie blamed the teacher for not liking him for the bad grade. Never would it cross our minds that maybe the grade was due to the fact that Willie never studied for the test.
Anyhow, Willie was mad and wanted to get some sort of revenge on Mr. Morsey.
This is where the confession part of this blog comes in.
Mr. Morsey had a fish tank, nothing real exciting, just a ten gallon with some goldfish.
Anyway, in this classroom there were all kinds of chemicals, especially acids. I made the suggestion that maybe Willie could put some of the acid in the fish tank, and though I was pretty much joking, Willie thought it was a decent idea.
He gets up out of his seat and walks over to the chemicals, and slowly pours a little acid into the fish tank. Not to be out done Brett and Doug decide to follow Willies lead.
After about fifteen minutes, the whole time the three boys taking turns at adding chemicals to the water, something strange began to happen.
The three fish began to swim slowly, and their scale started to turn white. After a few more minutes all three were doing the backstroke at the top of the tank.
Of course, to a group of ninth grade juvenile delinquent boys, this episode was all the bit funny. Not so much though to Mr. Morsey, who didn't bring anymore goldfish to the room.
But what can I say, it was Ninth grade.

older then what?

Well here I am, nine days to my 38th b-day. Now I am handleing it pretty well, not being one of those people who worry about getting older. I do however, have to admit that there was something said that did make me think for a moment "I am old." What was this little phrase that made me stop for that one moment? "Oh my God, you are older then Sesame Street." These words were spoken to me by my wife, oh the pity she has on me.
Yes it's true, I am older than Sesame Street by about six and a half months. I mean it has been quite a while since I have watched the show, at least ten years since my daughter was little, and even then she didn't care for it.
I don't see what is so darn funny about it, I mean there are millions of people who are older then this show, I don't see them getting harrassed about it.
So I have grown with Kermit, Grover, and of course the Cookie Monster. It could be worse..., ok ok so it can't be.
I shouldn't think much about it, and after the 23rd I won't think about it again. At least not until my wife reminds me again next year.

Another religious rant.... go figure

As I sat on my lunch break today I got a good look at the Bible thumper group that graces the area I work in. They were deep in prayer/scripture reading, or what ever it is they do as a group. I thought to myself that maybe, just maybe, I should cut them some slack. I mean they don't talk to me about what they discuss, so I should just let them be. But as I continued to watch them, I couldn't help but think, what a bunch of hypocritical asses they really are.
One of them looks at as much porn as he reads the bible. Two others base their politics solely on what their church tells them (not the do onto others part, but the I don't care what they stand for as long as they are anti-abortion.) One guy won't talk to anyone that isn't in his group. Most of them try to hurry through a door so they won't have to hold it open for any one, and try to get them to say thanks for anything and you might fall over dead first.
They wear their "Jesus" shirts for all to see. Always putting it in peoples faces. Now I know I shouldn't care, but let me try to wear a Anti-Christian shirt and lets see how fast I am in the bosses office.
I really really want to let things be. Let them to their existence, and just try to live mine apart from their insanity. Yet I can't.
All I ever hear nowadays is how the poor Christian church is being persecuted. How their beliefs are being challenged at every turn, and how they have to keep to themselves in their churches because people don't want their load of crap shoved down their throats. Well in my opinion that's too damn bad that they feel that way.
I'm sick and tired of their crap being shoved down my throat.
I don't know if it is my problem, or theirs. Of course it's theirs, what am I thinking.
At least that is what God told me.

What I have learned today..

What I have learned today is that there is so much I need to learn.
I use to know quite a bit. I was one of those kids who would take the encyclopedia into the bathroom. I couldn't tell anyone about any sports stats, but I could tell you the history of world, and recite Shakespeare.
When I was twelve I was given a test and was told I had an IQ of at least 146.
That is considered to be very superior in comparison to most of the population.
However, today I feel as though a little more of what I have left, is slowly seeping from my skull.
I look at my children and I see some of the wonderment that I use to have for learning.
It is not that I don't want to learn, it is just that after working all day, I just don't have the energy to do so.
In talking to co-workers, I realize that I have forgotten more knowledge than most of them have ever learned, and yet here we are in the same place in life.
There are times, many times, when my hands and head are hurting, that I wish I had taken a different career path. I laugh because I don't have a career, I have a job. A career is something you wake up to every morning and are happy to greet it.
I get up every morning and head off to my job, because I didn't think when it was needed.
I do my best to at least place my children on the right course.
To get it into their heads that a higher education gives you at least a better chance at doing something you want to do in life.
I'm not bitter, really I'm not. I have made my choices, and I have learned to live with them.
However, sometimes I wish I could talk to that little boy, the one with that over sized IQ, and help him give himself better opportunities.

I believe....

I believe in America. I believe in the Constitution, and in the Freedoms it provides.

I believe in holding my country up to a higher standard, showing the world what it is like to be truly free.

I believe in speaking softly and carrying a big stick.

I believe in tolerance for others, even if they believe something other than I do.

I believe that just because you don't agree with someones lifestyle, as long as no one is getting hurt or being forced against their will to participate, you should mind your own business.

I believe that America is great, but if she is wrong that we should make her right.

I believe that God made us all different not only because he likes variety, but also to see if we could get along with one another.

I believe that just because you're the biggest kid on the playground it doesn't give you the right to push others around.

I believe that you don't start the fight, but you make sure you finish it.

I believe that we must help our own people, before we can tell others how to live.

And I believe that if anyone, for whatever reason, tries to take our freedoms away, they should be held accountable for their actions. This is true even if they are our very own leaders.

Fields of green.

This is for Shawn, Jason, Mark, Nicole, Joey, Hannah, and to all of those for whom it stopped long before it ever truly started. May you all rest in peace.


What lies beyond?
The fields of green,
A winding path
To a world unknown.

On higher ground I stand
But can only see,
A thinly veiled wall
Of mist and fog.

A group walks past
Their faces known,
I speak, but
They do not hear.

How is it I see them
And they not me,
As I stand beside
The steps they take.

I stand with them
But cannot move,
I try
But cannot go forward.

I want to see the other side
To know what is beyond,
Yet I know it is not my time
So I can only watch from where I am.

One by one
They step and move ahead,
Transforming from what once was real
To that of lucid memory.

One by one they turn and wave
One last smile then vanish into the mist,
Like beacons of a distant star
They shine then fade away.

Not trying to make anyone mad, but

Empress Bee (of the High Sea) said...
what do you suppose the terrorists are thinking when they commit their acts of death and violence in the name of their god? i often wonder this....

This question was asked to me because a previous post of mine. My religious view.
So what do I suppose the terrorist are thinking? It doesn’t matter what they think. They are just the brained washed right wing of their religion. They are born and raised in a religious system that tells them they are right, that they have the one and only Gods blessings. That they are defending their way of life. They know nothing of other cultures. Their leaders forbid the teaching of other religions as blasphemy, and are willing to burn books in order to protect their way of thinking.
Does this sound like any religious groups we might know? Catholics, Presbyterians, SOUTHERN BAPTIST... We could keep going.
I will admit that the majority of terrorist groups belong to the Islamic faith, but please remember that there are groups within the Christian community that also can be placed in the group. We just have to look at such groups as the Army of God, which has targeted abortion clinics in bombings, and the Ku Klux Klan, which has been performing terrorist acts for decades.
It seems strange to me that people are willing to say how others have performed “acts of violence in the name of God” when the majority of “Terrorist” acts in this country have been committed by what could be described as white Anglo-Saxon protestant males.
I will admit I do have a small fear of an Islamic attack. I live within ten miles of the largest Arab community outside the Middle-East, and I would be a fool to think that there is no one in that community working in support of the Islamic terrorist. Just as it is foolish to think there are no Irish-Americans in Boston, who support the Irish Republican Army, or no one in the Jewish community in New York, who would like the Jewish Defense League to return to its strong arm tactics.
I also however have a strong fear of the beer swigging, gun totting, confederate flag waving “red necks”. These are the “good Christians” that I am sure will start attacking the Hispanic communities, as they have done to the African-Americans, that are springing up all over the country. That is when and if their hangovers kick in.
Some may call these guys patriots, but I call them the reason the rest of the world hates us. It takes more then a gun, and a willingness to go kill people in other countries, to be called a patriot.
Sometimes you have to really look at a situation, to fully understand it.
If you are being a “Patriot“, willing to act blindly on the words of your leader, willing to kill others (whether or not they are responsible for your problems), and help create a situation that is ultimately worse now then when you first showed up, are you any better then the idiot who straps on a bomb and walks into a café.
I wonder about that…

professional driver, closed course

I just don’t understand these commercials. A car is racing along somewhere, a winding road on the side of the mountain, on a frozen lake, through a deserted city in the middle of the night. Places that clearly they shouldn’t be speeding along on.
But here’s the catch. The small print at the bottom of the screen always says: Professional driver, close course, do not attempt.
Now this would clearly tell you that this activity is dangerous and shouldn’t be tried. Yet there has to be a disclaimer stating DON’T DO THIS. (This must be for those who don’t really qualify to be saved by evolutions selective process.)
Anyway, my question would have to be… If this activity is so dangerous then WHY show it? Why make a car that can race at 100+ mph, and then give a person the idea to drive it that fast everywhere? I mean the highest speed limit on any highway I believe is 80mph. Curves on a mountain are to be taken at what about 45mph, and it is never a good idea to speed along on an “iced over” lake.
I get it. The car company’s are just trying to show the power of their products, but please, what is the sense of showing the car move in a way in which it can’t legally be driven.

Ninja Warriors step forward

Lately I have been having memories from my childhood that would probably scare most parents. When we were younger my friends and I thought we could be ninja warriors. Now we weren’t deep into any particular martial art, but we all wanted to be Bruce Lee. We wanted to jump backwards into trees, like they did on Kung Fu theater, and we wanted to run around in the night like the shadow warriors.
We ran around the apartment complex that we lived in with Bo sticks, clubbing one another. We jumped down from trees and the second floor laundry room windows in the attempts to ambush each other.
We punched, kicked, and wrestled like we thought ninjas would, though I will admit we didn’t resemble them in any way, shape, or form.
The one thing that we did enjoy was practicing with throwing knives, and Shuriken stars. No we didn’t use them on each other, we used them on the walls of the apartment buildings. Looking back I guess that wasn’t a very smart thing to do. Especially if the management would have seen what we were doing and made our parents pay for the damage.
Some of us even got pretty good at swinging the Nun Chucks, even though today there is no way I would let my kids even touch them without proper training and oh yeah a black belt.
Why would these memories come up after all this time? Well it is simple, my children are now paying a lot of attention to such shows as Yu Gi Oh, and Shuriken School. Their curiosity it sparked, and my son wants to start learning Karate.
It reminds me of how I use to think, but some how I think that both my kids, especially my son, have a better understanding of it then I did.

Did someone say "shock me?"

Everyone knows this problem. You have a television on in one room, a fan going in the next and the coffeemaker on in the kitchen. Everything seems to be going Ok, but then someone turns on the blow dryer in the bathroom and suddenly everything goes black. This has got to be one of the most annoying things about owning a home.

I have to wonder sometimes about how people wire their homes.

Mine has got to be up there as one of the worst. I swear whoever was the one to wire this house must have been in a rush. When one circuit in particular flicks off we lose power in the living room, a couple of outlets in the kitchen, the outlet in the bathroom, half of the computer room in the basement, and a few outlets in two of the bedrooms.

My wife seems to think it was the people that built the house, but the house was built in the 1940’s, and most of the wires look relatively newer.

I blame it on the people who lived here before us. As electricians they were good painters (ok so looking at their paint job of the house they might not be good at that either)

It really doesn’t matter who did the wiring, all that matters is that I am the one that will have to fix it. And that might be the scariest thing of all.

Another Flip Flopper

When John Kerry ran for the Presidency in 2004 he was considered the flip flop king of the world. Well I just have to say that the changing of the kingship has taken place, and the new king of the flip flop is (drum roll please) Senator John McCain.
That’s right Senator McCain has recently been showing that he will do whatever it takes to become the President. Even if it means “changing” his mind on where he stands.

Let us take a look at some of the things he has been flip flopping on:

1.Donald Rumsfeld- When the former Sec. of Defense resigned in apparent disgrace John McCain was one of the first people to mention how well of a job he had done. Now McCain is stating that Rumsfeld will be considered one of the worst Sec. of defense in history. I have to agree with the statement, however Mr. McCain, how does someone go from doing well to being the worst in only a couple of months?

2. Ethanol-"Ethanol is a product that would not exist if Congress didn't create an artificial market for it. No one would be willing to buy it," This is what McCain said in 2003, and it has been the way he has thought about it since its conception. Now since McCain has to go to Iowa this is what he says about it "I support ethanol and I think it is a vital, a vital alternative energy source not only because of our dependency on foreign oil but its greenhouse gas reduction effects.” Wow Senator do we like it or not?

3.Roe v. Wade- “certainly in the short term, or even the long term, I would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade, which would then force X number of women in America to [undergo] illegal and dangerous operations.” This is what McCain said in 1999, but just this past weekend he has said, “I believe that we would be better off by having Roe v. Wade return to the states. And I don’t believe the Supreme Court should be legislating in the way that they did on Roe v. Wade.”

4. Tax cuts- Up until recently McCain has been against President Bush’s tax cuts calling them “unfair” but now he has embraced the Bush tax cuts. Finding that it isn’t the Tax cuts for the rich that are a problem, but the spending on entitlements that are the wrong things to do.

5. The Christian right- He once called Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell "agents of intolerance," He didn’t worry much about what the Christian right has said, but now he has been doing everything in his power to gain the support that Bush has so successfully controlled, however the only problem is that Bush has been Right Wing Christian for a long time, McCain on the other has not.
These are five flip flops of McCain’s. We could probably go on and on but what would be the use.

McCain is a man who wants to act like he is a balls out fire starter, but he is beginning to show that he is a desperate man that is starting to realize he will never be the President of the United States.

I have to admit that I am also a flip flopper. I used to like Senator McCain, but now I think he is just a sad excuse for a man.

Enlightenment.

There is a Buddhist saying: 'Before enlightenment he gathered wood and carried water; after enlightenment he gathered wood and carried water.'

Enlightenment- can we really find it?
Is there really a moment where we wake up and see everything anew? Everything fresh?
Is there the moment when the world finally makes sense, and we can say “now I understand?”
This is something I have always wondered.
At times I have thought that I have had such moments.
That all in the world had, for a mere second, become real and known.
It is then the moment slips away.
Is there true Enlightenment?
And if I find it will I still have to work in a factory afterwards?

I demand justice.

So I’ve seen this commercial, maybe you’ve seen it too. It has to do with a kid doing the rubix cube blindfolded. Now I don’t know if the commercial is real or computer designed, but I have a sneaking suspicion that my rubix cube must have been dysfunctional. I don’t think I was able to get more than two sides completed at one time, and that was using both eyes. Now I know it couldn’t have been me, I am a fairly intelligent human being, with pretty good logic skills, but I couldn’t figure that block out. Yes I know I could have gone the drastic route and pulled the pieces off, and rearranged them, or even worse tried to remove the stickers, (that might get my butt kicked) but I didn’t. I should write the rubix cube company and demand some satisfaction. I should be able to get my money back, only twenty years later. They at least could replace mine with one that works. To think, had they not come up with that commercial, I never would have realized that my cube was broken. I demand justice.

My letter to CNN

I wrote this because I am tired of hearing about this story. A story that everyone I have spoken with agrees is not worth the coverage it is getting.

"I have a complaint about your excess coverage of the Anna Nicole Smith story. There are many things going on in the world, and most of them are more important then the wall to wall coverage you are giving to this story. It is a tragedy when anyone suddenly dies, but we are talking about a person that only became famous because of the outlandish behavior she was willing to go through for being in the limelight.
I was disgusted with the fact that your cameras were in the room when the attorneys were acting like asses over where she should be buried. It was then I turned your station off.
I feel bad for Ms. Smith, as well as for her daughter, who will have to one day endure all the stories about her mother.
I would hope, for the sake of Ms. Smith’s memory, as well as for the rest of us, that you would finally let this story die with her in peace."

My religious view.

I’m not what you would call a very religious person. I am in fact a pretty anti-religious man. Don’t get me wrong I do have a very strong belief in God, the Great Spirit, a higher power, or whatever you might want to call it. I prefer to use the word God.
Some think that my problem with religion stems from being raised Catholic, but I think it goes way deeper then that. My problem with religions and religious people is that most of them are hypercritical.
Most religious people claim to be tolerant, and giving, but what they forget to say is that they are that way only with those that are like themselves.
Most of them have no tolerance for others of different faiths, and they certainly have no tolerance for anyone who may question any of their teachings.
They claim to be giving, just out of the goodness of their hearts, but they seem to give only when they are given the chance to convert people to their faith.
They use God when it is convenient. They praise his name, yet many of them do things that seem to be against what they are supposed to believe in.
Can a person be religious and still watch pornos? Can a person claim to be religious and still inflict pain upon others? Can a person say they are worthy of Gods grace and forgiveness when all they seem to do is break his rules, and treat his treasures with disrespect, and cruelness.
Religious people use their faith not to further what is best for the world, they use it to try and change the world into what they want it to be.
That is what I have a problem with. If people are suppose to be a certain way then have the strength to live that way. If you claim to follow the teachings of what is good, then live those teachings, don’t just pretend.
I think that if God wanted every one to be the same, he/she would have made everyone the same.

One of my first memories.

One of the first memories I have as a child is being on a family trip to Mexico. My mother’s family is Mexican and as a child we would travel to Mexico almost every year to visit family. This particular trip we were visiting my Great-grandmother. She was my Grandfathers stepmother, but since his real mother had died when he was very small, she was his mother.
She lived in a little town, a town of which the name escapes me at this moment. I remember her as being very old, not just the “old” that a child would see someone as, but the kind of old that even after all these years the vision is clear. She was tiny, as many of the women in my mother’s family are, but she had a big smile.
I remember the house. It was small and dark, from the lack of lighting. This would have been in the early seventies so I am sure the need for wall to wall lighting wasn’t a necessity, especially in a small town in Mexico. I remember the main color of the house to be a pale shade of blue, but my memory may be affected because of the lack of lighting.
There was this little black and white kitten, I believed it belonged to my Great-grandmother, and it quickly became the object of my attention. I would chase it around the house, and it would hide under the sofa, and everyone was laughing.
I remember sitting on the front porch, petting the kitten that my Grandfathers brother had finally grabbed for me. I didn’t understand a word that was being said that day, but I do know that there was plenty of love around me, and for that I remember a good day.

This is what we want.. Now to just get it.

This is what we would like to get, an Eclectus Parrot(female preferred. Which is the red one.) All we have to do now is get it. Yes we know we have rather high standards, but hey you have to admit these are beautiful birds.

Who does this guy think he is?

Australia's P.M. Rips On Barack Obama

Australian Prime Minister John Howard found it necessary to take a shot at Senator Obama shortly after he made his announcement that he was running for President of the United States. I understand that The Prime Minister is a very good buddy of President Bush, and as far to the right side of the spectrum, as they come. What I don’t understand is why he has attacked Senator Obama, and hasn’t said a thing about any of the other candidates. Of all the candidates running for the nation’s highest position only Senator Obama has firmly stood by his views and not flip flopped on the issues. He is also the only one that seems willing to work with BOTH parties to do what is best for this nation.
Mr. Prime Minister, why are you attacking Senator Obama for his views? Everyone else that is apart of the Iraqi Coalition seems to be pulling out, and you aren’t attacking them on the news. Do you think that only Americans should put their necks on the line, or maybe it is that you just have a problem with Mr. Obama? I would hope that a leader of a free nation such as Australia wouldn’t have a problem with a man that is partially of African decent. Or maybe I am wrong about that, I mean I’m not sure how Aborigines are treated in Australia.
Well I do have one thing I am sure of. This only strengthens my resolve to help the good Senator, not only win the Democratic nomination for President, but also to win the Presidency. How dare a man who has his own problems getting re-elected, start attacking a man who has done nothing but spoke his heart, and told the truth especially in a world where standing by ones views is political suicide.

My letter to Senator Obama.

Senator Obama,
Thank you for making your announcement that you intend to run for President. My wife and I have been waiting for someone to jump into the race that we would feel good about voting for. My wife tends to vote Democratic, but I usually vote third party because of the lack of worthy candidates within the two major parties. This nation has been failing in many ways for a long time. We believe that you not only have the ability to make the American people feel good about themselves again, but also the talent to inspire them to want to do more for this nation.
We admire you for the stances that you take on the many issues, and that you seem to genuinely wish to help all Americans, and not just those that can afford to attend the fancy dinners.
Thank you again sir for making this move. As fellow Americans it is our hope to be able to follow your lead in moving towards a better America, and a better world.
Sam Reams

There will be many people who will question my decision to support Senator Obama, but it is my belief that in the current field of candidates he clearly is the best of the bunch. He has what it takes to lead us into this new period in our nations young existence. I only hope that others will see this, and also decide to support the good Senator.

Why I love Michigan.

I love living in Michigan, I have lived here most of my life. I was born in New Jersey, but Michigan is my home. The weather is unpredictable, and it drives my sinuses crazy.
The summers are muggy, and mosquitoes are plentiful, but we are nearly surrounded by water making the beach experience great. I’m 1 hour from both Lakes Huron, and Erie, and about 3 hours from Lake Michigan. Lake Superior on the other hand is nearly 7 hours away, so getting there is not easily accessible.
The winters are cold, and even though I can’t stand most winter activates, I do like watching many of them. My favorite of course is hockey, and I have to admit that snow boarding is pretty interesting. Don’t get me started about Curling.
The best thing about Michigan winters is the contrast of the harsh beauty that Michigan presents. The beauty of snow falling in the middle of the woods compared to the large mounds of snow that form along the Lake Michigan shoreline (with the lighthouses as the back drop is totally amazing)
One of my favorite activities is called GeoCaching (A high tech search and find activity that allows me and my family to spend time in much of Michigan’s woodlands. Check out www.geocaching.com)
I live near Detroit which puts me about 35mins from the Canadian border, which is a great thing except that now I have to buy passports for the family to get across the border. It seems that we in Michigan have more in common with our Canadian family then we do with people in Ohio.
One great thing about Michigan is that we are shaped like a mitten. So whenever we have to show someone where something is in Michigan, we can point to our right hands and show them.
There is another reason that I like the shape of Michigan. It reminds me of when fresh concrete is poured, and you can place you hand in it. I like to think that when God finished making the earth he placed his hand print in it to show he was done, and that print is Michigan.
These are just some of the things I love about Michigan.