20100424

My Game

Every time I go to Burger King I play this little game with myself. It's called 'get the straw wrapper off the straw in one long piece'. If you can't tell by the name, the object of the game it to twist the wrapper off the straw so it become one long piece of straw paper. I'm pretty successful at this game. Except for the last two times. I could swear that Birger King is making their straw wrappers flimsier. I've failed miserablly the past two times. I'm going to blame them for my losing this accomplished game.
Maybe I'm just losing the game because Arsenal's been doing so poorly. 3 losses and a draw the past 4 games. Only one of those losses is okay in my eyes because it was to Barcelona and they're pretty cool and they have Henry and Messi. It may be the superstition im me, but sometimes when Arsenal does bad I feel it is because of something I did or didn't do. But I think that's something every sports fan feels at one time or another.

20100417

Perspective Check

Sometimes you just need a little perspective check. Arsenal’s Wednesday loss really did a number on me. It sounds stupid to be so upset over a league game loss, but all Thursday I was pretty depressed.


Pain like that usually lessens with time, and it has. But I’ve also had a bit of a perspective check that has reminded me that while I have a pretty big love affair with Arsenal, I have an even bigger one with the game they play; football (soccer).

I was in Borders for my family to get something when a clearance book caught my eye. The Thinking Fan’s Guide to the World Cup. It’s about the 2006 World Cup, but that doesn’t mean the book is a piece of junk. It’s 32 essays about the 32 teams that qualified for the 2006 World Cup. Essays put together by a guy who got a lot of prominent writers to write for this. I only recognized two, Nick Hornby and Franklin Foer of course, but the credits to a lot of the others names make it good. I’m only a couple chapters in, but it’s interesting, engaging, and exactly the kind of thing I like to read.

I love the game. I can get goose bumps just looking at a picture of a wonderful pitch. The book I got has reminded me that it is bigger than just Arsenal. I can remember the 2006 final. Italy v. France. I didn’t get to watch it, but I tracked it online. I remember the rage I felt at Zidane for his head butt. And I remember my excitement even then for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. I love soccer. And sometimes I need a perspective check to say that while some things may be bad, it’s not the most important thing out there.

20100415

My Gut

Yesterday, my gut was trying to tell me something. Across an ocean and four time zones, it was trying to tell me something horrible had happened. The timing was correct, about 5 pm my time, and I should have known what it was about. That would have been about when the game ended. We lost. Arsenal lost. To Tottenham. NOT COOL!!!


That loss would explain what my gut was trying to tell me. That loss would explain why I watched the results show of American Idol. That loss would explain why I had trouble sleeping last night. That loss would explain why I’m not going on the Arsenal board for a few days, or at least until I can’t stand to not go on anymore. That loss was a crushing blow. It will just be a little bit before I get over it.

20100409

Stormfront

I guess it was just one of those nights.....
I came home and Stormfront was playing. Stromfront only plays when it's 'one of those Fridays when a little revving up is needed'. Billy Joel was most likely the first artist I learned to recognized. His album Stormfront holds a special place in my heart. I can sing almost all the words to every song and there are several that get stuck in my head frequently.
'That's Not her Style' -what a great wya to open an album
'We Didn't Start the Fire' -one of the best 20th century history lessons
'The Downeaster "Alexa"' -brooding and gets stuck in my head
'I Go to Extremes' and 'Shameless' -fun to rock out to
'Storm Front' - you just have to sing your heart out on this one
'Leningrad' -kinda slow, but so sweet
'State of Grace'- probably the song I like the least
'When in Rome' -LOVE this one. It's given me a fascination with the 'when in Rome' phrase and I probably use it more than the average person
'And So It Goes' -another slow one, but a good way to end

It's just one of those Fridays. 'Have a Coke and a smile' I'm gonna drink some Coke and you can smile!

20100405

Hop Hop

Captain Obvious in  me would like to state that yesterday was Easter. The Easter bunny brought me possibly the second best gift and best real gift that could have possible been brought. Doritos and Gatorade. And I got to eat jellybeans!

Although that is a great gift, the Easter bunny has been one-upped on the gift side. God giving Jesus life again was way better. It's so weird to think that Jesus was dead, but now he's not dead. It's life changing.

This weeekend was so beautiful and busy and just really great. Saturday, I got to attend the funeral of some friends grandma. It was sad, but nice because we all know that we will see her again someday in heaven. It was a little rough for me because I was reminded of my grandpa's funeral 8 years ago about this time. But it was good.
When I got home I spent 3.5 hours washing and waxing our two cars. Hard work, but fun. Then we went out to Dickson City and we had Burger King for dinner and went to Wal Mart and the mall. Do you have any clue what the meat-mayo-ketchup-tomato combo of a whopper does to me?? It's beautiful. At the mall I couldn't not go into FYE. And going into FYE almost always means I get a CD. This time it was a used copy of *NSYNC's No Strings Attached. Cheesy, yes. But I'd run out of Backstreet Boys CDs to get.

20100401

Integrity

Integrity is a word I've been hearing a lot the past few weeks. It's one of the army values and SSG Jenkins likes to remind us of it when we do PT. Integrity counts there because if you're not being honest and doing your best, you're hurting everbody. You hurt you becaue you're not giving your best and getting the full workout. You're hurting your teammates because while you're slacking, they aren't.

I've had a few situations in the past week or so where I could have had the chance to maybe get away with something. But that would mean that I didn't have integrity. Integrity is something I want to have. It may be hard to do, but it can make life easier in the long run.

I was doing God-time the other night and my plan had me in Proverbs for the day. What a great reminder there is in Proverbs 10:9. NLT puts it great, I think.

"People with integrity have firm footing, but those who follow crooked paths will slip and fall."

Do you have integrity?