Monday, November 12, 2007
Dayton .Net Developer’s Group Membership Drive
Okay, okay, so I’m a hypocrite. I haven’t been to a meeting in over 6 months. But that doesn’t mean I don’t care. And I have officially turned over a new leaf. I’m committing to attend regularly. And you should to. You know…if you’re into .Net development, I mean. There’s a membership drive going on right now, so there’s no better time. You can find out more at www.daytondevgroup.net.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Life is not Like the Movies
It’s been 4 years and I’ve never been more acutely aware of the fact that life is nothing like the movies. In the movies you run into a few mishaps with humorous overtones, have a few chance encounters, and by then end you’ve found the love of your life and live happily ever after. Or on those occasions when you do lose the love of your life, it’s specifically because it has to happen for you to end up with the real love of your life. And usually, the trip there is filled with wit and clever comments and loads of snappy dialog.
But life isn’t really like that. In real life you can lose the love of your life and there’s no good reason for it at all. You just have to live with it. You can find out that you aren’t the love of her life anymore – maybe never were – and there’s nothing you can do about it. And it’s not for someone better or for a better life or better circumstances or better anything else. It just happens and you have to deal with it however you can deal with it. And if it hurts for a long long time, then that’s just how it is.
When you get right down to it, the only thing about life that really is like the movies is the snappy dialog, the wit and the clever comments. And – for me at lease – those are sometimes only to cover up the hurt; to make it bearable even if it doesn’t make it better. They’re to make you forget, at least for a little while, that things don’t always go the way you hope. Or to keep you from spending too much time remembering how wonderful things could be and that it can all be taken away from you for some stupid, asinine, foolishness you have no control over and never will. And at least for a while, that’s what life becomes, a series of events that periodically help you forget for a while.
But I guess that’s what makes movies so appealing. It’s an escape that offers just a little bit of hope. More forgetting for a while. At least when they’re not reminding you of what you lost.
4 years seems like a long time to take to get over something, I know. But I guess the snappy dialog, wit and clever comments only go so far.
Habakkuk 3
17 Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
19 God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer's;
he makes me tread on my high places.
But life isn’t really like that. In real life you can lose the love of your life and there’s no good reason for it at all. You just have to live with it. You can find out that you aren’t the love of her life anymore – maybe never were – and there’s nothing you can do about it. And it’s not for someone better or for a better life or better circumstances or better anything else. It just happens and you have to deal with it however you can deal with it. And if it hurts for a long long time, then that’s just how it is.
When you get right down to it, the only thing about life that really is like the movies is the snappy dialog, the wit and the clever comments. And – for me at lease – those are sometimes only to cover up the hurt; to make it bearable even if it doesn’t make it better. They’re to make you forget, at least for a little while, that things don’t always go the way you hope. Or to keep you from spending too much time remembering how wonderful things could be and that it can all be taken away from you for some stupid, asinine, foolishness you have no control over and never will. And at least for a while, that’s what life becomes, a series of events that periodically help you forget for a while.
But I guess that’s what makes movies so appealing. It’s an escape that offers just a little bit of hope. More forgetting for a while. At least when they’re not reminding you of what you lost.
4 years seems like a long time to take to get over something, I know. But I guess the snappy dialog, wit and clever comments only go so far.
Habakkuk 3
17 Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
19 God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer's;
he makes me tread on my high places.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
October 6, 2007 – Poor Kid
No less than 5 people over the last few months have told me how my newest nephew Silas “looks exactly like you when you were a baby.” Not remembering what I looked like that many dozen years ago (and apparently not having taken note of pictures I’ve been shown over the years) I couldn’t really speak to whether it was true or not. Honest to goodness, I love the kid to pieces, so I was really holding out hope for him. The second time I was told this, just to be on the safe side, I told him straight up, whatever the case, to make sure when he grows up to act like his Dad, not his Uncle Tim.
Tonight, though, I was looking through some old pictures of my Dad when he was in the Air Force and shortly thereafter when he had this amazingly long beard, and then others when he was the “great white hunter” carrying the .357 I’ve coveted for so many years. I went through pictures of Mom around the time she and Dad got married, when she was going through her long hair 60s phase when she was stylin’ like a true-to-life hipster. Mom and Dad were pretty hip in their younger days. Then more of her from shortly after I was born.
I looked through picture of Tony when he was a trendy teen, and when he was famous for being the child prodigy who had three albums out by the time he was 12. And pictures of Tammy when she was singing in concerts with him, and playing with Josh, and finding herself as a freshman in college (excuse me, freshperson).
Then there were the great pictures of Josh growing up. And the pictures of relationships years and years past, that shall not be named. And of me at 105 pounds diving head first into a successful Air Force career. And yes, pictures of me when I was Silas’s age.
As it turns out, the poor kid does look like me when I was a baby. Now don’t get me wrong, I had a few years there where I was pretty daggone good looking. I’m not bragging, I’m just being honest. For a good many years I got a lot of attention from the ladies. But it’s the awkward years I’m concerned about. The kid’s got a pretty heavy burden to carry for quite a few years of his life if the trend continues.
It could be worse, though. This is his Dad.
If you're mad, Tony, I'll take it down.
 |
 |
Tonight, though, I was looking through some old pictures of my Dad when he was in the Air Force and shortly thereafter when he had this amazingly long beard, and then others when he was the “great white hunter” carrying the .357 I’ve coveted for so many years. I went through pictures of Mom around the time she and Dad got married, when she was going through her long hair 60s phase when she was stylin’ like a true-to-life hipster. Mom and Dad were pretty hip in their younger days. Then more of her from shortly after I was born.
I looked through picture of Tony when he was a trendy teen, and when he was famous for being the child prodigy who had three albums out by the time he was 12. And pictures of Tammy when she was singing in concerts with him, and playing with Josh, and finding herself as a freshman in college (excuse me, freshperson).
Then there were the great pictures of Josh growing up. And the pictures of relationships years and years past, that shall not be named. And of me at 105 pounds diving head first into a successful Air Force career. And yes, pictures of me when I was Silas’s age.
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
As it turns out, the poor kid does look like me when I was a baby. Now don’t get me wrong, I had a few years there where I was pretty daggone good looking. I’m not bragging, I’m just being honest. For a good many years I got a lot of attention from the ladies. But it’s the awkward years I’m concerned about. The kid’s got a pretty heavy burden to carry for quite a few years of his life if the trend continues.
 |  |
It could be worse, though. This is his Dad.
If you're mad, Tony, I'll take it down.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
A civil war is coming (or "A Dark New Look at the Future of Our Country)
Another civil war is coming. Not since the days of slavery has our country been so passionately divided politically. Not since half of our country wanted to secede from the union of states has there been so much anger and highly charged debate over political topics. And the biased media is making it worse. Watch a weekend of news and see how many extremists – for one party or the other – the media throws on screen to prove or disprove their case or make one side look like a truck bed full of tools.
I believe this civil war will be divided between the red and the blue. By that I mean what the media means when they use the terms "red states" and "blue states." Conservative (red states) vs. Liberal (blue states – because they're sad?). But I don't think the media has a clue when they start breaking things down by red-state/blue-state. The only time I think those terms are appropriate is when talking about the electoral college. When talking about the division of the country, which I've heard the media do a lot lately as red-states/blue-states, they're forgetting that even in a "blue-state" the rural areas are still predominantly conservative. It's the same in the "red-states." The urban areas – larger cities – are primarily liberal.
This puts a whole new spin on the civil war scenario. With the "battle lines" so obviously blurred, it will be a much more volatile situation. But I don't think the war will be fought with people taking up arms against one another, right off the mark. I believe it will start with a war of information – which I believe is already happening. Then it will slowly progress into one "side" keeping the other side from getting essentials they need to survive. And then the other side will retaliate in kind, and so on.
But the ultimate beginning of this civil war will be rooted in the coming year's election. Whichever candidate wins, democrat or republican, people are going to be angry. If the Democrats win – especially if we give away the House and Senate to try to inspire the American people to elect a Republican President to keep balance, which, by the way, there has been some talk of lately – they'll make some decisions that will not sit well with the rest of us; decisions that we will take as devastating to our way of life and our livelihood. Say they were to give all the illegal immigrants in this country amnesty and allow them to become citizens with no reprisal for breaking our laws by entering the country illegally. That's a remarkably passionate issue with most of the conservative community. And there are many out there that will likely be mad enough to "take matters into their own hands," especially if it costs them their job when it is given to someone who'd pay rate is cheaper. The conflict that issue alone could insight is vast. And don't even get me started on what's going to happen when they try to put us under gun control. If we foolishly allow the House and Senate elections to go to the Democrats, they'll have the power to do more than we can imagine to our way of life. Think about the government having free license to put their fingers in every piece of American pie. It won't be pretty.
And by the same token, if the Republicans win the election, they'll infuriate the liberals in just the same way. They'll, hopefully, decide we want to make sure we keep the war on terror outside of our own country and continue to pursue our continued right to live free from terrorist attack on our homeland. They may even send more troops over to aid the heroes currently risking their lives to bless us with that freedom. The egos and passion over this situation has already incited demonstrations and violence – though how it's logical for our own citizens to oppose the war on terror by bringing violence about inside our own country, I will never understand. I realize the incidents of violent protests have been fairly limited, thus far, but the war of words will get so hot, should we send more troops, there will certainly be more violent protests in the future.
But I don't think the violence is where the problem will lie, at first anyway. It will be with the cities making it difficult for the rural areas to get what they need. And, in turn, the rural not providing what the urban areas need. And that's where the violence will start, blurring the "battle lines" even more. Neighbors (especially in huge cities where most people are bottomholes already) will be wanting what neighbors have. And the neighbors who still have guns will be using them to keep their stuff theirs and make other people's stuff theirs, as well. By this, I mean if the liberals succeed in passing their gun control laws, the law abiding citizens who acquired their guns legally – and for no other reason than to protect their families and themselves – will be left defenseless at the hands of the criminals. When the next community over finds out your town has gas powered generators and the gas to fuel them, they "invade" and "occupy" your town, making the gas powered generators and gas to fuel then the spoils of war.
Another twist to this scenario will be the fact that 65% of the black citizens in this country are registered/voting democrats, while only 6% are registered/voting republicans. Likewise, 40% of Hispanic people are democrats and 20% are republican. With the majority of many ethnic groups being democrats, I can think of several scenarios that could make the coming civil war look like a race war and there are undoubtedly plenty of groups that would use it to promote that type of agenda. So on top of having to defend your gasoline, food and water, you now have to worry about being attacked based on the color of your skin, no matter how you, personally, feel about races other than your own.
Take a look, also, at who controls what, too. The media – the information – is controlled primarily by the liberals. A civil war in this day and age would rely on non-media controlled lines of information to get any kind of accurate communication about the state of the union. They also control the schools – including lower education, colleges and universities – and many of the technology companies.
The conservatives, on the other hand, control the military. The liberals can't wait to give their guns away. So it should be pretty easy for the conservatives to take them away.
But if you look at the big picture – at what's going on in this country right now – you can see there are a lot of problems that can only be resolved by some type of restructuring of society. The welfare system, for example, or the way our economy is based so highly on credit that most people can't even afford to pay. Another civil war would certainly serve to resolve these kinds of issues.
Whatever the case, there's not a whole lot we can do about it, either way. Have a nice day.
I believe this civil war will be divided between the red and the blue. By that I mean what the media means when they use the terms "red states" and "blue states." Conservative (red states) vs. Liberal (blue states – because they're sad?). But I don't think the media has a clue when they start breaking things down by red-state/blue-state. The only time I think those terms are appropriate is when talking about the electoral college. When talking about the division of the country, which I've heard the media do a lot lately as red-states/blue-states, they're forgetting that even in a "blue-state" the rural areas are still predominantly conservative. It's the same in the "red-states." The urban areas – larger cities – are primarily liberal.
This puts a whole new spin on the civil war scenario. With the "battle lines" so obviously blurred, it will be a much more volatile situation. But I don't think the war will be fought with people taking up arms against one another, right off the mark. I believe it will start with a war of information – which I believe is already happening. Then it will slowly progress into one "side" keeping the other side from getting essentials they need to survive. And then the other side will retaliate in kind, and so on.
But the ultimate beginning of this civil war will be rooted in the coming year's election. Whichever candidate wins, democrat or republican, people are going to be angry. If the Democrats win – especially if we give away the House and Senate to try to inspire the American people to elect a Republican President to keep balance, which, by the way, there has been some talk of lately – they'll make some decisions that will not sit well with the rest of us; decisions that we will take as devastating to our way of life and our livelihood. Say they were to give all the illegal immigrants in this country amnesty and allow them to become citizens with no reprisal for breaking our laws by entering the country illegally. That's a remarkably passionate issue with most of the conservative community. And there are many out there that will likely be mad enough to "take matters into their own hands," especially if it costs them their job when it is given to someone who'd pay rate is cheaper. The conflict that issue alone could insight is vast. And don't even get me started on what's going to happen when they try to put us under gun control. If we foolishly allow the House and Senate elections to go to the Democrats, they'll have the power to do more than we can imagine to our way of life. Think about the government having free license to put their fingers in every piece of American pie. It won't be pretty.
And by the same token, if the Republicans win the election, they'll infuriate the liberals in just the same way. They'll, hopefully, decide we want to make sure we keep the war on terror outside of our own country and continue to pursue our continued right to live free from terrorist attack on our homeland. They may even send more troops over to aid the heroes currently risking their lives to bless us with that freedom. The egos and passion over this situation has already incited demonstrations and violence – though how it's logical for our own citizens to oppose the war on terror by bringing violence about inside our own country, I will never understand. I realize the incidents of violent protests have been fairly limited, thus far, but the war of words will get so hot, should we send more troops, there will certainly be more violent protests in the future.
But I don't think the violence is where the problem will lie, at first anyway. It will be with the cities making it difficult for the rural areas to get what they need. And, in turn, the rural not providing what the urban areas need. And that's where the violence will start, blurring the "battle lines" even more. Neighbors (especially in huge cities where most people are bottomholes already) will be wanting what neighbors have. And the neighbors who still have guns will be using them to keep their stuff theirs and make other people's stuff theirs, as well. By this, I mean if the liberals succeed in passing their gun control laws, the law abiding citizens who acquired their guns legally – and for no other reason than to protect their families and themselves – will be left defenseless at the hands of the criminals. When the next community over finds out your town has gas powered generators and the gas to fuel them, they "invade" and "occupy" your town, making the gas powered generators and gas to fuel then the spoils of war.
Another twist to this scenario will be the fact that 65% of the black citizens in this country are registered/voting democrats, while only 6% are registered/voting republicans. Likewise, 40% of Hispanic people are democrats and 20% are republican. With the majority of many ethnic groups being democrats, I can think of several scenarios that could make the coming civil war look like a race war and there are undoubtedly plenty of groups that would use it to promote that type of agenda. So on top of having to defend your gasoline, food and water, you now have to worry about being attacked based on the color of your skin, no matter how you, personally, feel about races other than your own.
Take a look, also, at who controls what, too. The media – the information – is controlled primarily by the liberals. A civil war in this day and age would rely on non-media controlled lines of information to get any kind of accurate communication about the state of the union. They also control the schools – including lower education, colleges and universities – and many of the technology companies.
The conservatives, on the other hand, control the military. The liberals can't wait to give their guns away. So it should be pretty easy for the conservatives to take them away.
But if you look at the big picture – at what's going on in this country right now – you can see there are a lot of problems that can only be resolved by some type of restructuring of society. The welfare system, for example, or the way our economy is based so highly on credit that most people can't even afford to pay. Another civil war would certainly serve to resolve these kinds of issues.
Whatever the case, there's not a whole lot we can do about it, either way. Have a nice day.
Friday, June 15, 2007
June 15, 2007 – Well, what do you know about that?
Surprisingly, Tammy did not respond the way I had anticipate. I had become completely comfortable with the idea that I would have to replace the pics with the text “unfortunately, the images have been removed at the request of the victim (but eMail me and I’ll send you some better ones),” but she really threw me a curve. She just laughed it off. What a trooper.
As a reward for being such a good sport, here’s an embarrassing pic of me from around the same time, a silly school photo, and another of my adorable little hiney. You’re welcome.
And here’s a few more of Tammy, in all her awesome cuteness, including a very rare, seldom seen, photo of Tammy with her very first boyfriend. Adorable, isn’t she?
And here’s a gratuitous photo of Josh (from well before the p@nts fiasco) (ain't he button?).
Hopefully, Tony’s not sitting around worrying that he’s next.
As a reward for being such a good sport, here’s an embarrassing pic of me from around the same time, a silly school photo, and another of my adorable little hiney. You’re welcome.
And here’s a few more of Tammy, in all her awesome cuteness, including a very rare, seldom seen, photo of Tammy with her very first boyfriend. Adorable, isn’t she?
And here’s a gratuitous photo of Josh (from well before the p@nts fiasco) (ain't he button?).
Hopefully, Tony’s not sitting around worrying that he’s next.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
June 14, 2007 – Ah…those were the days…
I’ve been feeling a little nostalgic lately. I’m staying at my parents’ for a week and I’ve been looking through some old pictures from “back in the day.” I’ve been feeling that way for a while. Looking at these pictures was a real eye opener. I got to look back and see myself when I was in shape and easier on the eye. I even found a few pictures of me when I only weighed a buck o’five…and I was 21 years old. And there were quite a few from when I was in the Air Force, back when I was a real stud.
More fun than any of them were the hundreds of pictures of Josh when he was a baby, a cute little toddler making everything seem fun, and a little kid finding fascination just about everywhere he looked. I must have spent 5 hours looking through all these pictures. What a great day.
But I was surprised to realize that my sister, Tammy, has been having that same feelings of nostalgia, too. Now, I’m sure she wouldn’t admit it if you asked her, but I know what I know.
This isn’t to say that she’s not happy with her life or that she’s regretting any decisions. She’s very happy and, as far as I know, she wouldn’t change a thing. But recently she and her husband bought a pool. They’ve put in a lot of time and effort to make it just right. I know this doesn’t seem like a big deal, but there are signs; signs that she’s really reaching for something in her past. I’m her big brother. I can pick up on the signals when no one else can.
Like most people, our childhoods had some good and some bad. And sometimes we hold onto those good times so tightly, we just have to do whatever it takes to relive them. I think everyone reading this can relate, in some way, don’t you?
Cute as a button, wasn't she?
More fun than any of them were the hundreds of pictures of Josh when he was a baby, a cute little toddler making everything seem fun, and a little kid finding fascination just about everywhere he looked. I must have spent 5 hours looking through all these pictures. What a great day.
But I was surprised to realize that my sister, Tammy, has been having that same feelings of nostalgia, too. Now, I’m sure she wouldn’t admit it if you asked her, but I know what I know.
This isn’t to say that she’s not happy with her life or that she’s regretting any decisions. She’s very happy and, as far as I know, she wouldn’t change a thing. But recently she and her husband bought a pool. They’ve put in a lot of time and effort to make it just right. I know this doesn’t seem like a big deal, but there are signs; signs that she’s really reaching for something in her past. I’m her big brother. I can pick up on the signals when no one else can.
Like most people, our childhoods had some good and some bad. And sometimes we hold onto those good times so tightly, we just have to do whatever it takes to relive them. I think everyone reading this can relate, in some way, don’t you?
Cute as a button, wasn't she?
Monday, June 11, 2007
June 11, 2007 – Uh…when did THAT happen?
I had a pretty big epiphany this week. Josh is staying with me for the next 3 weeks and I picked him up on Saturday. He was wearing these…you know…p@nts. I can only describe them as… goth, or something. Now, I guess this seems cool to the kids these days and I totally get that. But so is selfishness and narcissism. And I get that too, but I think it’s a highly inappropriate way to live your life. As are these p@nts. I’m pretty sure I’m going to use them to light the grill sometime this week when we’re grilling out. When I mentioned that, Josh was like, “What?! These p@nts are awesome! They’re…like…totally cool.”
As I’m writing this I’ve been thinking about the pros and cons.
Con: You could never out run the cops in these p@nts (a point Michael made), and I’m betting at lease 87.6% of the people who wear them need to at some point.
Pro: If you ever get lost in the wilderness overnight you can use one of the legs as a sleeping bag and the other as a tent.
Con: : I’d imagine these babies greatly limit the number and kind of ch!cks who’d be interested in you.
Pro: You’d never be accused of being a narc at a Korn concert.
Con: Your job opportunities would be severely limited wearing these p@nts. (“Would you like fries with that?”) No way you could show up to a job interview wearing them if you wanted to get the job.
Pro: How sweet would it be to watch someone show up for a job interview wearing those p@nts.
Con: People in public places would just assume you were a punk and stay away from you.
Pro: People in public places would stay away from you.
Con: Your dad would hate them.
Pro: It’s great blog fodder, if your kid shows up wearing them.
But back to my epiphany. When I was Josh’s age I had this thing for heavy metal t-shirts. (I still do, I guess. I’m told my collection of t-shirts is abnormally extensive these days.) But my Dad, a Southern Baptist Preacher…man, he hated them. I remember this one time he said something like, “I’m pretty sure I’m going to use that shirt to light the grill this week when we’re grilling out.” And I was like, “What?! This shirt is awesome! It’s…like…totally cool.” I mean, seriously. I have NO idea why he wanted to burn my shirts. They were awesome and totally cool. But these p@nts...that’s a completely different situation.
Okay, okay, I really do get it. (And props to my Dad for all those years I never understood.) The adults just can’t understand the teenage generation and their ridiculous trends. Dad hated my shirts, I hate Josh’s p@nts, and Josh will hate his kid’s…I don’t know…chin piercing that links to his nipples, ears, elbows and ankle piercings (I mean seriously, it’s gonna have to be weee…eeeeird to top what’s hip with teens today). Well, let’s not kid ourselves…if he’s wearing these pants all the time, he may not even have to worry about little Johnny’s piercings. I mean who’s gonna get close enough to those p@nts to procreate? Then again…the one chick he dated with the hot-pink hair…
As I’m writing this I’ve been thinking about the pros and cons.
Con: You could never out run the cops in these p@nts (a point Michael made), and I’m betting at lease 87.6% of the people who wear them need to at some point.
Pro: If you ever get lost in the wilderness overnight you can use one of the legs as a sleeping bag and the other as a tent.
Con: : I’d imagine these babies greatly limit the number and kind of ch!cks who’d be interested in you.
Pro: You’d never be accused of being a narc at a Korn concert.
Con: Your job opportunities would be severely limited wearing these p@nts. (“Would you like fries with that?”) No way you could show up to a job interview wearing them if you wanted to get the job.
Pro: How sweet would it be to watch someone show up for a job interview wearing those p@nts.
Con: People in public places would just assume you were a punk and stay away from you.
Pro: People in public places would stay away from you.
Con: Your dad would hate them.
Pro: It’s great blog fodder, if your kid shows up wearing them.
But back to my epiphany. When I was Josh’s age I had this thing for heavy metal t-shirts. (I still do, I guess. I’m told my collection of t-shirts is abnormally extensive these days.) But my Dad, a Southern Baptist Preacher…man, he hated them. I remember this one time he said something like, “I’m pretty sure I’m going to use that shirt to light the grill this week when we’re grilling out.” And I was like, “What?! This shirt is awesome! It’s…like…totally cool.” I mean, seriously. I have NO idea why he wanted to burn my shirts. They were awesome and totally cool. But these p@nts...that’s a completely different situation.
Okay, okay, I really do get it. (And props to my Dad for all those years I never understood.) The adults just can’t understand the teenage generation and their ridiculous trends. Dad hated my shirts, I hate Josh’s p@nts, and Josh will hate his kid’s…I don’t know…chin piercing that links to his nipples, ears, elbows and ankle piercings (I mean seriously, it’s gonna have to be weee…eeeeird to top what’s hip with teens today). Well, let’s not kid ourselves…if he’s wearing these pants all the time, he may not even have to worry about little Johnny’s piercings. I mean who’s gonna get close enough to those p@nts to procreate? Then again…the one chick he dated with the hot-pink hair…
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