Finished a book... at 3 in the morning

So... I just finished reading Watership Down. Em describes it as, "Lord of the Rings... but with rabbits." While there is no One Carrot, the rabbits do set off into the unknown into securing a better life for themselves, surviving on their wits, and in some cases their ability to kick some Peter Cottontail. This is a book you can steal from to tell bed-time stories to your kids, and at the same time keeping your eyes firmly affixed to the pages, not wanting to blink for fear the suspense will drive you crazy.

Aren't books wonderful? There's a reason people say that a movie was good... but not as good as the book.

That's all I really have to say for the moment... Good night!

What's been on my mind

So much has been on my mind lately. Em, school, work, sports, politics... all these things have been fighting for space in my mind. So why not throw them out in the open, starting from the end.

So Al Sharpton found out that even he is just one phrase away from being a bigot. Maybe we should organize a picket line in front of his place of work and call for him to be fired after saying such inflammatory remarks. "Those who really believe in God" my ass. He could've said the same things about Jews or Muslims without batting an eye. "Freudian Slips" don't always have to be about sex. Anyways, that'll blow over in a week.

As for sports. Arsenal looks to be sealing up the 4th spot in the Premiership and will have to go through a qualifying stage before being able to go through to the group stages for next season's Champions League. Liverpool and AC Milan are in a savory Champions League Final in a rematch from 2 years ago. ManU and Chelski face off in the FA Cup final, as Manchester goes for the double.

If you understood that, wonderful.

Oh yeah, and the World Champion Cardinals are sucking it up so far this year.

Come to think about it, I don't want to talk about work.

School's out for summer...yay!

And now for Em. She pregnant and that's wonderful. She gets evening sickness and is really tired. She's about 12 weeks along and is due in November. I am becoming more and more excited everyday as the prospect of becoming a father creeps closer to reality.

And that's what I've been thinking about the most. Fatherhood. My dad, my grand-dads (I am lucky enough to have grown up with both of them in my life), and God-dad have all been on my mind. What do I need to learn from them? The older I get, the more I like my dad. He has come a long way himself. Looking back at my life, I feel that what he did was mainly influenced by his love for his children and wife. I think his only true indugence was going to do his Coast Guard weekend, once a month. Now, I'm not saying he was perfect. Far from it (I love you, Dad.) He had a temper, and I've seen him very mad several times in my life. Love is a wonderful and terrible thing. It allows for some extreme emotions. Looking back, I feel that my dad acted with love since I was born.

And now on to God-dad (I'm going to leave the grand-dads out for now.) I've been thinking about Our Heavenly Father in much more concrete terms. I've been trying to think of him more as my father than just God, some guy in the sky how knows what's going on. This has helped strengthed my testimony of the "Plan of Salvation." I think my dad (Joe the Older, not God) wants me to be the best I can possibly be, even to the extent of passing him up on many levels. I think any good father would want the same. So, why wouldn't God want the same?

I like the Mormon teachings on God much more than other religions. Having him literally be my spirit's Father and having Jesus literally as my brother, helps me to feel a closeness that I can't see as being possible as when viewed in the Trinity. I think there's plenty of love and closeness felt, like one might feel for the President, but not the same love and closeness that can be found in a family.

...and now for something completely different!

I dig Monte Python. Maybe not as much as your local high school band member, but at least enough to have the words to the first couple of seasons sitting on the toilet tank. It has classics such as "Dead Parrot," "The Lumberjack Song," and "Upper class twit of the year." And every once-in-a-while I catch it on PBS, late on a Saturday/Sunday night. You must admit, in a world full of Supermen, Bicycle Repairman is the true hero.



I also can't get enough of The Office. It's so good, I wish it was on twice a week. For the first time I understand how people used to look forward to Seinfeld and Friends. It's too bad it plays against the big ABC shows that women force there men to watch (for no reason at all, I hate everything that is Grey's Anatomy.) I wish it a long run, and wonder when/if Michael will get fired and when/if Pam and Jim will get together. Plus, Dwight is freaking hilarious.



Just a couple of things that make me laugh. I also dig Scrubs, 30 Rock and Boston Legal. Even SNL can bring it. There isn't enough good comedy out there, and if it can do it without being overtly sexual or without swearing it's even better. (I know these have a bit of the former.)

Until next time...One more...

LOTR and Moroni

To begin with, WoW is World of Warcraft and is the bane of wives across the world. (As Paul says, "Wife aggro.") It is the best (and most addictive) video game ever. That's all I'll say.

Em and I just finished watching the greatest movie ever last night, which concluded the entire LOTR series that we started a week ago. And due to the recent demise of our TV and DVD player, we now get some digital channels (don't even need cable for them) and we now have surround sound. Let me gush a moment about surround sound mixed with LOTR. It rocks! Our floor shook, arrows flew by our heads and Nazgul screeched from all around us. For a couple who likes movies, it was a long time coming and I love Emily for agreeing to get it (and for many other reasons, too).

So, while watching LOTR, my mind wandered a bit. Where is our Theoden, Gandalf or Aragorn? Would I succumb to the Ring? Am I as loyal as Sam? I then got stuck thinking about 1st question and thought, "We sure have a lot of Wormtongues, Denethors and Gollums." Now, I don't want to make this into some kind of pro-war/anti-war thing, but it's hard not to when we, ourselves, are caught in a war of good and evil. Which leads me to something I've been thinking about lately...

We need Moroni.

We need someone to lead. The same short-sightedness that got us into the war, is same as the one that is trying to get us out. Unfortunately, we're run by politicians and not leaders. Pulling out of Iraq will not bring peace, just like going in didn't uncover what we were hoping for. And it's sad to think that if we do pull out, Iraq could probably turn into Darfur. And we'd probably forget about it just as easily. Just like we've forgotten that sick feeling on 9/11 (the first thing said on the radio when I hopped in my car was, "Today is a day you'll remember exactly where you were when you heard this news.")

The Book of Mormon was written for us. And I think we're at the bad end of the "Pride Cycle." If you haven't read it, do. There's a pretty great story mixed in with the religious stuff with great characters facing impossible odds.

Well, there's me getting a little preachy. Until next time...

I can smell summer coming

I feeling much better. There's something about the return of warmth that helps make life a bit easier. The past several months haven't been my best, but I'll learn and move on. Work is ever changing, several nurses are moving on and several techs are becoming nurses (not neccesarily on this floor). I'm looking forward to no more Mason dinners, so work will stop conflicting with them. (Let's face it, how often do you have managers that give you the hours you asked for, but to their credit, they do have lots of people to deal with...)

That's all I have to say at the moment. Pictures and links will be making their way back to the page soon!

Why my life is wonderful

My wife Em is my lifeblood and the sunshine in my currently overcast life

Baseball just started

Eventhough it's a bit cold, the sunshine makes it look like spring

MLS just started and I now have a team to support, the Colorado Rapids. (mainly because they have business connections with Arsenal)

I gave in to WoW

Casino Royale

Almost done with the semester, and the fresh start that comes with it

Just buying Season 9 of The Simpsons, bringing the total of seasons I own to 5

My wife's creativeness and drive to make our lives beautiful

The word "Funner"

That's it for now....

Fireflies

I didn't discover fireflies until I moved to St. Louis. There is no memory bubble in my head that has an attachment from childhood to the luminous bugs. I suppose the closest thing I have are the fake fireflies at the beginning of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride at Disneyland, where you go through the bayou in the beginning. Needless to say, I thought that the tiny glowing lights floating around the creole hut were just something that came out of cartoons.

I'm not quite sure how to describe my reaction to my first lighting bug. To put it the best way...."HOLY $#*%!"

I believe I've lost the sense of awe I once had. Maybe it's something to do with the innumerable amounts of crap I clean up at work. I used to love looking up just to see stars. Now I just don't have the time.

I think this is the reason why I feel like I'm losing it. Or at least one of the reasons. I think constant discovery is important. And not just learning new things for work or because you have to, but because you want to.

Discovery for it's own sake has a certain beauty to it. I've stopped learning things because I want to, and now feel suffocated by the things that are being forced at me.

So here's another thing that I need to incorporate into my life, and that's to actively discover things again. And this especially pertains to the things that I have to learn.