The African American Thing

A co-worker and I were talking about the term African-American the other day. Its one of those “politically correct” term (which is not too politically correct by the way) that I just can’t stand. I would much rather put down my ethnic origin as black.

<getting up on my soap box>
And, but the way it is an ethnic origin—it is not a race. We all belong to the HUMAN race. Skin color does not denote race. So the other term branded term: Racial Equality—is totally incorrect as well.
</getting off of my soap box>

With me skin color has never been an issue. After all, if you peel off the skin we all look exactly the same under it! Same color blood, same build of blood vessels. Same organ, and ll the same colors. All by God’s design.

My dad use to say that we were colored! Well in actuality, I guess that’s closer than black. But by that reckoning then every human is colored! Try that one out sometime! It seems that there a lot of people that have not noticed that “black” people are not black; “white” people are not white; Asian people are really NOT yellow and so on. At least if I hold up a white crayon to my wife or anyone on her side of the family, I don’t see any striking similarities to them and the crayon color. Similarly, I hold up a black crayon to my self or my side of the family I don’t see any striking similarities there. I can believe that when the slaves were brought from Africa, they were black. I’ve seen some really dark people (and for me, that’s saying something!) but since being brought over to this land and the inevitable mix between ethnic groups, what they call black now is not black any more. Many different shades of brown–yes, but black–no!

And “white” people, come in all different shades as well–None of them even remotely close to the color white. Which is why Crayola was smart enough to come out with a FLESH colored crayon (much closer to pink or peach). At least they’ve been paying attention. Hmmmmmmm.

My whole point is—I was born an American. I’ll always be an American. God willing, I won’t be going to Africa and will not be changing my citizenship to there. I’m proud to be an American and living in the land of the free and the home of the brave. And I can do that without having to be Black, or White, or Red White and Blue! I wrote a poem on the subject once when I was a very young teenager. I’ll have to add it to my post later. Just wanted to throw my thoughts out there.

Oh!  One last thing before I close this post out.  I didn’t tell you about what started the whole issue!  We were talking about an individual from South Africa who came to the United States and became a citizen.  When he was applying for a job and put down on a form that he was African-American they wouldn’t let him and told him he had to change it.  A lot of people don’t realize it, but South Africa is primarily white–as was this man.  But he truly is an African-American.  So, at least in this one instance we can see that  the “politically correct” term just didn’t fit….especially since, it was clear here, that the difference was ethnicity/skin color.  The world we live in!

Please comment, I’d like to know what YOU think.

Shed another Pound

Well, as long as I weigh myself at the right time of the day (which is early in the morning before I’ve had anything to eat and I don’t have the extras weight from my clothes and things) I’m down another pound! Woo Hoo! So I’ve updated the weight status on the right. If my weight starts to go the other direction, then I’ll probably wait before posting an update! 🙂 I was also inspired by one of the Lockhorns comic strips that I read:

If that doesn’t inspire you then what will? 🙂

Made in the shade!

Here I sit at work. Looking cool as can be. So what do I do for living you ask? Well I test computer software. Yes, unlike most people who go to work to fix things; I go to work so that I can break things. I’m told I’m quite good at it too! Now you may be asking yourself….OK, blogmaster, so what’s so cool about that? Good question! I thought you’d never ask. The answer to your question: Nothing! 🙂 It just so happens that today is one of those days that occurs every so often that something happens and throws off my routine and I forget something. Well the something that I forgot today was my eye glasses. Lucky for me that God blessed me with all around blindness so my sunglasses are prescription as well. Now I bet you’re getting the picture. Here I sit at my desk working (well, OK, blogging at the moment) inside—-not outside—- with my prescription sunglasses on because I would not be able to see otherwise. I’m getting my work done (which means, yes, I’m breaking things) and I just look so cool sitting here while I do it. I get the occasional jibe form my co-workers as they pass by and see that I forgot my eyeglasses, but thats OK. I look cool—they don’t!. Things tend to be a little darker, but it sure does cut down on the glare! Go figure. The things one must endure to make it through the work day! I could have just gone home, but figured it didn’t make sense use a day of leave.

The really cool thing is the looks that I got at my 10:00 meeting today (I just love meetings! —NOT!). Of course, with everybody’s busy schedule, nobody is prompt to the meetings any more–except for me. I usually sit in a room and meet with the empty chairs long before anyone shows up (that’s usually more productive than the actual meeting!). But this lack of promptness causes each new late person to come in and ask one of two questions:

1) Why are you wearing sunglasses or

2) Did you know you were wearing sunglasses? (<—They ought to be fired)

I feel like answering: REALLY? Whew! Glad you told me. It was kind of dark in here and I just thought the sun had gone down early!

And then I have to go through the entire story all over again until the last person arrives. By that time I usually have help from several other meeting invitees in telling my story for the 10th or 11th time. So here I sit with the shades on, glasses at home on my dresser; but getting the job done!

Oh….and by the way, the Pocket PC (my electronic brain–which I am literally lost without…) is sitting at home in the charger because, of course, I don’t get that until after I get my glasses on! 🙂 Gotta love us creatures of habit.

Weight Loss

Well, I’m not making any resolutions or anything like that I’m just going to do it. I’ve needed to drop a pound or too (what an understatement) for some time now and I have just decided that I’m going to do it. Wouldn’t hurt my cholesterol problem either. So I have decided to set a goal of losing an avg. of 5 pounds a month (which I am told is very ambitious) for 5 months with the goal of keeping at least 20 of the 25 pounds off permanently! Woe unto you who cook big dinners and invite me over to your houses during the holidays! I have personally exempted any of my wife’s baking and Black and White bakery cookies from the list of things to avoid. I’m sure those things are helpful to my diet.

At some point, with all of the greenery that I will be eating to help accomplish this task, I am sure that I will start feeling like a rabbit. But I will persevere! You can keep track of my progress whenever you check back. I have a widget over on the sidebar —->

that I will continue to update—Both with favorable and unfavorable results. Your encouragement and support will be most helpful. And when I lose the 25 pounds….lets go and pig out to celebrate! 🙂

Another Recruit!

Looks like we’re going to have one more person to add to the blogroll! My sister came down to visit us (well she REALLY came down to visit the kids, but that’s neither here nor there) this past weekend and when she heard that my wife had a blog, she just had to have one too! She is in the process of setting it up, but has not finished her “design phase” yet. When she’s ready to release it, I’ll edit this post so that the blog name and link will be here. I anticipate that she’ll probably go through another theme or two before she’s done. I’ve already been privileged to see some of her work, and she’s figuring things out quite rapidly by herself. Its been four days and so far she’s only called me with one question.

When she “opens her blog doors” try stop by and encourage her. Hmmmmm , I wonder if wordpress gives blogger benefits for finding recruits!

….more to come!

UPDATE:  Well she finished it early and her blog is out there now!  go and check out Dadiva’s Street and leave your comments to welcome my sister to the WordPress world.

Are we there yet?

I work in the Washington, DC area and I commute to work from Northern VA every day. The commute is generally not bad as I have a nice routine. I get on the bus and take out my pocket PC. Pull up my Bible and do my daily Bible reading for the day. If there is any time left between the time I finish my Bible reading and the time we leave the last commuter parking lot for the highway trip north, I pull out whatever book I happen to be reading and read until I read a chapter or until I begin falling asleep—- the sleep usually comes first. Not to be one to prevent my body for getting the nap it is accustomed to, I then pack my trash and nap until we reach the Pentagon. —No I don’t work there, so you can continue reading this and I don’t have to kill you when you’re done. 🙂

The big issue this past Tuesday ( 3 days ago) had nothing to do with the trip in, but had EVERYTHING to do with the trip home. My home routine is much shorter. I get on the bus, get the current book out, read a chapter, talk to Carl (a federal Gov’t employee who works in my building on floor under me) and then we both stop talking once we get to Pentagon (there goes that mysterious shroud again— you may keep on reading without worrying about any threat on your life) because we both cherish that nap on the way home.

This day was different. Not long after I got on the bus, there was a broadcast message to all drivers to let them know that I-395 south was being shut down in the main lines. (Time now 3:35 PM) Well that was no problem for me. I felt sorry for the poor guys in the main line lanes, but, hey, what could I do about it. Before we got to the highway there was another broadcast message to all drivers. Yes, you guessed it, this one effected me. The were closing down I-395 south HOV lanes as well. The problem was that the weather forecasters had misjudged an ice storm (imagine that) an it hit us quicker and with more force that was expected. The “feeder ramps” at the Springfield Interchange that merge I-495 and I-395 into I-95 traffic were freezing over at an alarmingly fast rate. The roads had not been treated (because they weren’t expecting the ice) accidents were happening left and right and the situation was very dangerous. Although they knew that problems that it would cause with the traffic backup the decision was to close the road to a) deal with the accidents and b) get the roads and ramps treated for safety. (Time now 3:50 PM)

The buses were instructed to get off at the Edsall Road exit and take the back roads until we got past the Springfield Interchange. Problem: The traffic was already backed u so badly that we could not get anywhere near the Edsall Road exit and if we could, there was no way we were going to be able to get into the now already congested main line traffic lanes to get off! So….. we sat! (Time now 4:00).

I figured this would all be over with soon, so I did what I normally did. I packed my trash, sat back and tried to take nap. Because the bus was not moving, sleep did not come easy, but I finally did get to sleep after about fifteen minutes. Unfortunately it only lasted for about 15 minutes. Time to think of something else. (Time now: 4:30 PM)

I still figured this could not last too long (WRONG!) so I opted not to call my wife just yet. I took out my book and started reading. Wouldn’t you know it. I only had seven pages left to read and I didn’t have the next book with me! Bummer! So plan A didn’t work, I went with Plan B. I took out my new MP3 player (which just recently arrived from Hong Kong —and E-Bay special that I got brand new for a very low price tag!) and started listening to music. The first CD the I was listening to had completed, the bus had not moved one inch. I looked at my watch (Time now: 5:07 PM) and decided, I better give my wife a call.

Good thing I called! My wife had not heard about any of what was going on. She immediately got on the Computer (She’s such a techie!) to see what she could see. What did she see? Traffic cameras that showed now moving traffic. Well, I could confirm that (You can read her version of this on her blog)! We waited and we sat. There wasn’t much else to do. All around us people had turned off their cars and opened their windows. Another commuter bus has pulled up next to us and the driver got off so that she could smoke a cigarette. Seeing the driver was a lady, one of the lady passengers on my bus got up an asked the driver to let her off! She had to go to the bathroom. She had been on the bus for 2 hours and it wasn’t going to wait! She went over to the other commuter bus (the driver had re-boarded by this time) and began knocking on the door. The driver opened the door, they had a brief exchange, and the driver let her board! (Time now 5:30)

When she returned and reported her success and very obvious comfort level, another female passenger decided she would capitalize on the opportunity. She too gained access to the bus. But when she returned, she reached into her bag and pulled out a bag of cookies, returned to the other commuter bus and gave them to the bus driver. She then re-boarded our bus. One more happy commuter. But as I am fond of reading the Cat in the Hat (a Dr. Seuss Book) “That is not all! Oh no, that is not all.”

Jason, one of our daily riders, who also happens to be wheelchair bound (see Hold the Traffic) decided her would take out his portable DVD player and start playing movies. At any other time people would have been bothered by the disturbance. At this point we had people flocking to Jason so that they could see the tiny screen. I had no desire to see whatever may have been playing and set the MP3 player to start playing a sermon series from when evangelist Mike Pellitier was at my church for a four day (6 sermon) session. (Time now: 5:56 PM)

I have to admit, we could not have had a better crowd on the bus. The people were not complaining all that much and were very good natured. “The Urge” hit one more time on our bus and the driver had to let one more lady off. She too gained access. The difference this time is that traffic started moving! I wondered how this one was going to play out. Well, it was very short lived. Although we had moved farther than we had at any other point in the last 2.5 hours, the distance was only about 30 feet. Then we were stopped dead again. Our, now relieved, passenger made it back to our bus and her belongings safely, but indicated she didn’t care about he stuff or where the other bus was going as much as she cared about going to the bathroom!

To break the monotony, more than anything else, because we were going nowhere fast, one of the passengers on my bus suddenly yelled out: “Are we there yet!” Everybody on the bus busted out in laughter. What else could we do. (Time now: 6:30 PM).

Between the sermons and the all of the other activity on the bus (yes, on my normally quiet and sedate bus EVERYBODY was having a conversation with somebody else by this time) time began to pass at a much quicker rate. I couldn’t believe it when I looked at my watch. The time now was 7:30! Where did that last hour go. We still sat. Still going nowhere.

(Time now 8:00 ) we began moving intermittently for longer distances. Praise the Lord, something was happening. I had now been on the bus for 4.5 hours. About 8:30 traffic began to flow freely! Woo Hoo! My driver saw an opening and was able to get over to the main line traffic, which was moving faster, and we were cruising. When we got to the commuter parking lot, IT WAS STILL FULL OF CARS!!! All of those drivers were still out there either on commuter buses or slugging with other drivers/carpools.

(Time now 9:00 PM) Finally I got to my bus stop and I was able to get off the bus. My back was killing me, my shoulders were stiff. I was walking slower than I do when I get home at 5PM! I had just three thoughts: 1) Give my wife a hug, 2) Eat, 3) Get a message and got to sleep.

(Time now 9:29 PM) I sent my sister a text message to let her know I was home and she replied: Cool! Throughout the whole trip I had been on my cell phone on and off with my wife (as was everyone else —-Not with my wife, but with their own contacts! 🙂 ) and sending text messages back and forth with my sister.

(Time: 9:30!) HOME! I walked in the door. Shed my coat, dropped my bag and went upstairs with my wife who made sure I was well fed! I couldn’t eat all that she put on my plate because of how late it was, but I ate most of it. Then we went to bed. The night was gone and it was time to got sleep so that I could get up and do it all over again. Normally I’m a night person and stay up and do my writing (you can find excerpts here) or work on websites or every now and then play a game or watch a movie. Not tonight. I brushed my teeth, shed the clothes and climbed into bed. (Time now: around 10:00 or shortly after).

So, all in all, I was on the bus for 5.5 hours and got to my house after a total of 6 hours! God’s in control and I’m sure everything went according to his plan. And I can’t complain too much because I’ve been hearing about people who did not get home until after 11:00 PM! I just wished I had some forewarning so that I could have either a) Stayed at the office and worked later b) planned a different route out and bypassed the traffic area or c) brought my laptop. Six hours of undisturbed writing would have been great….. well by batteries would have only lasted for 4, but still!

Well just thought I’d let you know about my ride. 🙂

An Unjustifiable Attack

 <<This Post has been closed to any further comments>>

There is a situation that I feel that I need to address that in regard to Bryan Davis Book: “Eye of the Oracle.” A young lady (Colleen) that I know began reading the series that this book is included in. She read the first two books and was impressed by them. She and her parents liked them enough that she read them out loud to her younger brothers. Upon reading the third book, she was unable to complete it because of problems that the Holy Spirit was trying to protect her from in regard to the content and biblical legitimacy. She recorded a post on her blog (which has since been removed) and her mom recorded a post on her blog (Ginger’s Blog post) as well. What ensued was an attack by the author (which to me shows some real insecurity) on a 14 year old and the enlistment of his loyal reading fans to do the same.

I have waited while I thought and prayed about this before actually making a post. I wanted to make sure that my response to the responses (this is starting to sound like a State of the Union critique) was done in the right vane.

Colleen and her parents are my friends and I have known them for just about all of Colleen’s life. I say that for those who will think I have some personal bias that I feel I need to hide. That is not the case.

I think that the first thing that should be noted— before even going into any type of response to the plethora of posts that have been launched on Collen’s blog— is that it is a BLOG. It is not a FORUM. That is Colleen’s space to put down her thoughts and to share what she feels, and in this case what God has impressed on her heart. With that in mind:

1) Mr. Davis was wrong to launch his attack here—particularly on a 14 year old—and his solicitation of his your loyal fans to join you in the attack was another huge blunder on his part. I do not feel that he handled this in the least in a Christian manner and I think that he has, by his choice of tactics, belittled the Christian that he professes to be.

2) It should be noted, that Mr. Davis is indeed a quite capable writer and I am not condemning his talent and abilities which God has given him.

3) To Mr. Davis’ loyal fans…..of course you’re not going to agree with what Colleen has to say (just by virtue of the fact that you are coming from the forum) and she is not expecting you too. In fact, I think it is safe to say that she was not writing to you. Many of your comments could have and SHOULD have been made in a much more respectful way. Your comments and rants and so on should also have been limited to the forum from which you came—with references back to Colleen’s post if you felt it was necessary. I do appreciate Tippie’s apology and restatement of Tippie’s comments on Ginger’s blog. That in itself shows a lot of character and deserves some individual recognition.

4) To others who have attacked Colleen’s stand as a Christian and have tried to refute her biblical arguments (solely because she has spoken out against one of your chosen forms of entertainment): God impresses us all in different ways. I am overjoyed that there are some who God has affected in such a way through Mr. Davis’ writings that it was actually beneficial to their lives and helpful in their path to salvation. But we all have to realize that Mr. Davis has also been used of God in this case to help a young lady see some things in a different light in her life than we see them when she holds them up to her biblical magnifying glass! We cannot argue how God has impressed one of us differently than another. The same happens with sermons and Bible reading. God sometimes speaks to many of us in different ways, although we hear and read the exact same thing. If we can accept that, then I think we can also accept Colleen’s interpretations of what she read.

I admit that I have not read any of Mr. Davis’ books. Because of that I cannot offer any review of his material one way or that other. But I feel that I can comment on the manner in which all of this has been handled. It is unacceptable to launch an attack just because someone posted their personal feelings on their personal blog in a personal way. Is that not one of the major purposes of the blog?

Colleen I think you have done an excellent job, as so many others have also pointed out. Your stand is one that is not easy for any 14 year old—or adult– to take and I, personally, am very proud of your for taking it. I applaud your parents for being level headed and not lashing out at all those who have inappropriately attacked your stand and for making you consider your response before letting you post it. I pray that God will continue to enlighten you and that you will continue to express your feelings in hopes that what you say can be a help to those God intends it to be a help to. For those of you who are not in agreement, perhaps you need to use your own medium to make your expressions or just figure out how to ignore it and move on.

All I wanted was a Pop-Tart

<Ported from my “When it Rains it Pours” blog —now being consolidated in this blog>

 

Have you ever gotten a burn while taking a pop-tart out of the toaster. I mean getting burned by the pop-tart—not the toaster! Well today is the first (and hopefully last) time it happened to me. I’ve eaten, literally, thousands of pop-tarts in my lifetime, why a burn all of a sudden? Its right on my left thumb. Until the burn I didn’t realize home much that thumb actually gets used throughout the day.

A burn on not a burn? The normal blister that you get from a burn that just struts right out to the surface is not what I have. This one is a “burn wannabe.” It wants to jut out to the surface, but its like there’s something holding it back! It all adds up to just being uncomfortable. If I were like much of the rest of the world, I would in my lawyer’s office right now trying to figure out if I should sue Kellogg’s (the product manufacturer), My company (owners of the toaster), or the toaster manufacturer (and I have no idea who that is!). Well, I guess all three have lucked out in this case. I had my pop-tarts and they were good. Just what I needed to go with my coffee while I got caught up on my Bible reading! Guess I’ll go home now and cry to my wife about it.

If Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus, how did we get to Earth?

Have you ever heard the saying:  “Men are from Mars, Woman are from Venus?” It is all stems from a book of the same title by Dr. John Gray.  He even has a his own website that is supposedly devoted to helping men and women with their differences.  It is a very worldly view and often used crutch to explain why men and women don’t get along when they don’t.  My wife and I are different, but I personally don’t think that I’m married to a Venuvian (is that the correct term, perhaps I should ask a woman.  Not being from Venus would she even know?)

The world is willing to lean on this crutch and use it just sweep things under the carpet.  Or they try to make a subtle inference to it and just say well that’s how women are, or that’s how men are!   There is not doubt that God made men and women different (Praise the Lord!  I’m so glad He knows what He’s doing!)  But in that way we can compliment each other.   Oh, by the way men, no matter how “strong” your wife is, do not neglect the fact that the Bible specifically states that she is the WEAKER vessel.   I have a hard time remembering that one myself sometimes!

So instead of using the what I will call the “Planetary Crutch”and sweeping things under the carpet…….wouldn’t it be easier (and by the way I’m not perfect at this— not by a long shot) if we just DEALT with them?  Did anybody happen to notice that in the Biblical creation, God never mentioned Venus or Mars, but it was on earth that he CREATED man.  Hmmmmmm now there’s something to think about.    Maybe I’ll write a new book:  Men are Eden, Women are from Eden!   No then somebody will try to come along and say, “well men are from west Eden, and women are from eastEden.  Yeah that explains it!” 

Adam said of Eve:  “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”  So we can at least assume (and yes, I know that’s dangerous) that they were on the same planet.  One thing is certain, we are not an accidental junction of amino acids which bled off of some rock an met in a pool only to evolve over billions of years (on an earth that is only about  10,00 years old!) into what we are now.
OK so to wrap it all up,  why don’t we deal with the problems and get off of the “Planetary Crutch?”

Drenched to the Bone!

<Ported from my “When it Rains it Pours” blog —now being consolidated in this blog>

Well, here’s my Gripe for the day! It’s raining today. Right now it has turned into your every day moderate to light rain. However, for the 20 minutes I had to walk in it to get to my bus stop this morning, I’m talking torrential downpour. And NO, that is not an exaggeration! I may as well have had my umbrella down save for the fact that my head and face were kept relatively dry. The rest of me was drenched!

My coat was soggy (Got my own seat on the bus! Nobody else wanted to get wet!), My pants were drenched, my sneakers were drenched, My socks were drenched and soggy (and sitll are) and I was chilled to the bone. My shirt was only a tad damp! As I type this to you now, I am only slightly damp, as my body heat has helped to dry everthing else off. Hasn’t done much for he chills though. I had to throw on a sweater.

When I was younger I used to like walking in the rain with my (then) girlfriend, (now) wife, with no umbrella. It was fun, it was romantic. It was time spent with her and the elements didn’t matter. That was then. Today I would still love spending the time with her, but that regardless of the elements part has gone out the window!

And why do go out in weather like this when it would be so easy (and I admit I was tempted this morning to just stay home)? Because of the obvious benefits. My employer gives me a bi-weekly reminder that he really appreciates me coming to work every day. When I worked for the government (I don’t know what got into me) it was appropriately termed a bi-weekly insult. Since I came to my senses almost 14 years ago and almost doubled my salary when I walked into the door at my current job (Praise the Lord!) I haven’t looked back since.

So, now, here I sit. No longer drenched, but in my place as I’m supposed to be. And to top it off, with not a thing to do except get paid for writing this blog entry at the moment. But most of what I get paid for (during these slow times) is to be here just in case. So, neither rain, nor snow (mmmmmm that’s not true) nor gloom of night (OK, I won’t go that far either!) will keep me from my appointed rounds……uh paycheck!