My Dad

This is a picture of my Dad when he was about 18 or 20 something.  It was taken in the  50s. He was a lifeguard.

He’s now 72.

How to Treat the Dying(Living)

There is a man at my work, an incredibly nice man, an attractive, manly, older man, a man who I would say would be my picture of Jesus, if he had lived to be in his sixties. This man was diagnosed with cancer a couple days ago .

The staff got together at 10:30 this morning to pray for him. Almost the entire office showed up. It was a humbling, peaceful, and yet somehow, there was joy there. I was humbled as I remembered this man’s kindness to me on my first week on the job, and I was humbled as I sat with great men and women of faith in this mini concert of prayer, and I was humbled as I realized we were in the presence of God, presenting our requests to Him, and thanking Him for all He has done.

The tone was a one of quiet assurance; faith in a good God, that listens. There were jokes thrown about beforehand and afterwards. It was like everyone knew why they were there, but we also knew who to turn to. We weren’t hopeless, or fearful, but appreciative.

Later, I was in the lunchroom toasting a bagel when this kind man came in. I smiled, I was polite, but I didn’t initiate conversation. His aforementioned kindness to me was actually in a very similar situation, where he initiated an introduction in the lunchroom, since we hadn’t previously been introduced. Today again, I made a few comments about my toast, as did he, but it was barely even small talk.

I felt conflicted.

I began justifying my actions, “I don’t know him very well. Maybe I can just get away with him thinking I’m quiet. Which is true, when I don’t know someone very well.”

But then my conscience asked, “Well, shouldn’t you step out of your comfort zone? After all, he could probably use some kindness, his life is extra precious right now – we don’t know how long it’ll last! And you want him to feel appreciated, right?”

Well, then, of course, C. S. Lewis, or the Holy Spirit, or something, prompted me to ask the question, “Aren’t we all dying? Aren’t all our lives unforeseeably short? Shouldn’t I treat him with the kindness I think he deserves, and carry that one to the next individual I meet as well?”

Can you imagine what kind of paradigm shift that would be? If I treated people with the compassion that comes with assuming their life is short? Or if I believed I could actually change someone’s life by being kind, or outgoing, or just talking with them?

I would like to see myself become that person. Tomorrow would be nice.

“Yea, I’m Autistic, got a problem with that?”

Title of this post is from an article of the same name in the March 2008 edition of Wired magazine, by David Wolman. But here is the quote that I liked:

We’re here. We’re weird. Get used to it.

(Amanda Baggs, a woman with Austism, parallels the gay-pride revolution to the overcoming of ignorance about Autism. Click here to watch the YouTube video which made her famous.)

The Best Accents in the World

1. Jamaican
2. Irish

’cause it sounds like they’re singing when they talk!

This American Life

I found this little cartoon and fell in love with its documentary-style narration, minimalistic animation, and message.

So I thought I’d share. Forgive the ad at the beginning.

The Birds

I like them. As Spring is springing, more of them are chirping, and making appearances on my way to work. Today a flock of Canadian geese were echoing their early morning honks throughout the industrial park. As I walked on I saw that, low and behold, they were on top of my workplace. There ended up being only four but they were a noisy bunch nonetheless. The roof being only one story above me, they peered down at me from their rather privileged position, as curious about me as I was about them (or so I like to think). I stared at them a while. I don’t think they were threatened, though they did lose the staring match and fly off. Their tongues are pink. I noticed that when they honked their goodbyes. :P <– it sticks it’s tongue out!

The Comet Galaxy

Hint: I took these pictures with a point and shoot.

Alls I’m saying is I am quite the artistic domestic.

(Can’t figure out what it is? Click here.)

Looks like someone’s got a case of the Mondays!

A run-through in unnecessarily short sentences.

Made tea. In the dark. Spilled loose leaf tea on dusty, cat-hairy stovetop. Made a sad face. Scooped tea back. Made mental note not to use loose leaf tea for guests. Too lazy to write it on the packet. Will probably forget.

Stir fried bok choy for the first time. Nasty results. Will feed to Dad later for dinner.

Ate peanut butter off a butter knife.

Tidied bedroom. Cleaned bathroom. Cleaned kitchen. Vacuumed. House smells like pink Lysol. Cat poop odour successfully eradicated.

Laid on floor of bedroom in a sunny spot for half an hour.

Showered.

Watched Enchanted with Will. Felt sorry for Will.

Sighed contentedly. Slept.

G1

I keep buying alcohol, and going out for drinks, and yet I haven’t gotten carded since I got my license.

This is frustrating for me because for the longest time I have been using my passport as ID, which, according to some, is embarrassing.

Now I finally have a driver’s license and no one will card me.

Serves me right, I suppose, for waiting until I was 21 to get it. I must look ancient.

Joel Osteen rhymes with Woe El Philistine. Sort of.

Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who hunger now,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when men hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.
Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.
But woe to you who are rich,
for you have already received your comfort.
Woe to you who are well fed now,
for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will mourn and weep.
Woe to you when all men speak well of you,
for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.
- Jesus (emphasis mine)

My thesaurus has unenlightened, commercial, materialist, & ignorant as options for Philistine, generally, though, it means “uncultured.” Although, I think his problem is he is too cultured, in American culture, that is.

Other fun things to do with Joel Osteen’s name:

• “Awe”some and Chri”stine” combined say “Osteen”
• Joel Osteen: Preen preen preen.
• Joel Osteen: Hole in Doctrine (the size of Texas, where he’s from)
• Joel Osteen: Joel See Not (it’s an anagram)

… and now I’m done.