...rather be forgotten...

i'm in the midst of doing my bi-weekly radio show, when "summerholidays vs punkroutine" by refused starts to play. (thanks, spence, for introducing me to it.) it's one of my favorite tunes off their album "the shape of punk to come...", which is why i chose to play it.

the chorus to this song goes "i'd rather be forgotten, than remembered for giving in". and i think to myself, isn't that what real integrity is? truely holding on to your beliefs, your values, what you stand for, what you say, the promises you make. even to the point of preferring to be just another piece of sand on the beach than being known as the one who played benedict arnold to your value system.

it's a tall, tough order. it's something i'm struggling with. after living for 31 years as a bachelor and being able to wait to make decisions until the last minute, i now need to take julie into consideration in those decisions. not just about what we do on a given evening, but things that affect our jobs, meals, chores, how our individual value systems reflect on us as a couple, etc. it comes down to honestly being who you are. it's deeper & more layered than i originally fathomed.

so as julie & i travel through this new journey in our lives, i pray for strength to stand up & be the man God put me on this planet to be.

P.S. > it's awesome when music inpires you
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Now playing: Refused - Summerholidays Vs. Punkroutine
via FoxyTunes

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yes, it's 2008 & it still exists

1st, i just want to say "amen" to julie's "zimbabwe" post. it breaks my heart when i read/hear about events like that. forcing people to choose between voting and eating? how little we americans really understand about the varied cultures around this planet.

on to what i came to write about.

last monday was our friend chad's birthday. so julie & i, along with chad's roommate jonathan, met for ice cream. we arrived just before the store closed, so we sat outside to enjoy our tasty treats. as we chatted about various topics, we noticed people would go to the door, notice the store was closed, and walk away. 2 particular instances of this caught our eyes. the 1st one involved a family of 5 as they walked up, looked in the establishment to confirm it was closed, and walk away. about 10 minutes later, this same situation happened with a high school couple. this time, the employees of the store unlocked the door for them & let them in.

what's the difference between these 2 occurrences? the family of 5 was of Mid-Eastern descent, while the high school couple was Caucasian. this left us nothing shy of shocked at this display of racism. the only consolation that i can think of is at least the family of 5 didn't see this sudden change in ice cream availability due to skin color. it scares me to think that we were tho only ones who noticed what happened. racism is not only a black/white thing, it exists between any 2 ethnicities, and all of it needs to stop. i simply hope that this event opens at least my eyes more to how i treat people who are not like me.

Zimbabwe

It's very sad to me to see the political violence that is occurring in the country of Zimbabwe as they are facing a political election.  When people fear their lives and when food is with-held as manipulation for votes, it's injust.  It only multiplies the hardship that the country already faces. Many children and those with HIV/AIDS are impacted most.  It makes me wonder what, if anything, I  - living in this north american democratic society - can impact transformation and healing for their country.  It annoys me that we don't hear about this much on our biased, tunnel-vision news stations.  Please pray for the strife to end.

some hope for corporatedom

I was at work today, doing one of my normal duties of calling insurance companies. This afternoon I called Blue Cross in Indiana. I was then put on hold, and I braced myself to be forced to listen to Michael Bolton, muzak or some other similar form of music that makes my ears bleed. What did I hear instead? None other than Sufjan Stevens' song "Chicago". What a wonderful surprise. Thank you, Blue Cross of Indiana, for having decent taste in music, and for making my ears smile.

Summer, summer, summer time. Summertime.

This is my favorite time of year.  Partly because Arizona summers are in my blood.  I love them.

I love that they chase away all of the snowbirds.

I love that it's a dry heat. (I miss Arizona.)

I love summer because it means wearing tank tops and fun dresses and flip flops.

I love summer because things like watermelon, strawberries, blueberries, and sweet corn are in season.

I love summer because I like saying "summer solstice".

I love summer because it brings fond memories of swimming in Grandma and Grandpa O's pool and eating frozen grapes and frozen strawberries sprinkled with sugar.

I love swimming (but I hate the way sunscreen feels on my skin.)

ASU Baseball

And... the ASU Sun Devils baseball team is playing Fresno State this weekend in the Super Regionals. Wouldn't it be cool if ASU swept this series too???

a wonderful moment in sports

This week has been a great one for Julie & I, at least in the world of sports and the teams we follow. Julie's beloved alma mater, Arizona State University, won the National Championship in the College Softball World Series! This is the 1st time they've won that trophy in their history. The men's baseball team at ASU is playing for their respective championship title tomorrow. Go Sun Devils! And, as I'm sure some of you witnessed, the Detroit Red Wings won the Stanley Cup last night when they defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2. This was the 4th time in 11 seasons they've accomplished this. In the words of Bill & Ted, "Most triumphant!"