Tuesday, November 23, 2010

franklin pierce day.


Franklin Pierce, 14th President of the United States
Known as "Handsome Frank."
Also, a bit of a rebel rouser.
God love Him.


It's no official holiday, but it should be...today would have been Franklin Pierce's 206th birthday.

Pierce, our country's 14th President, gets very little praise and almost no credit for anything he accomplished in office. Admittedly, he did very little to further the country along on any positive note, but, I mean...he was President and he was very, very good looking.

I could list tens of reasons as to why this man is great, but I'll spare you the details. However, seeing as how Franky P. was a bit of a drunk, it's only appropriate that we all have a few dozen cold ones in his honor today!

The author of this very web log frolicking on the front lawn of the Pierce Manse in Concord, New Hampshire.

Franklin Pierce lover meets Franky P. statue in front of New Hampshire State House.

Four of about 200 Franklin Pierce fans gathered together in his name.

Franklin Pierce's ACTUAL shaving kit!



Monday, November 22, 2010

giving of thanks.

I have to be honest: Thanksgiving has never been my favorite holiday. Always seemed like a lot of build-up for a meal. That's probably because I used to only eat the turkey, the potatoes and the bread. But, lately...the holiday has much more meaning to me. I have so much to be thankful for. I live a life of incredible fortune and the truth of the matter is that I don't celebrate that enough.

First and foremost, I'm thankful for the Grace of the Lord and that He sent his son, Jesus Christ, to save me and redeem me. He's placed a calling on my life that is matchless and promised me life through Him. It's such an easy thing to forget for some reason and it makes no sense to me-- I mean, THE LORD CHOSE ME, He has given me a hope beyond myself and I forget that? What an idiot move.

I'm thankful for Ryan Mallett and his right arm.

I'm thankful for pizza and that more often than not, people will bring it to my door and I don't even have to leave my house to eat it.

I'm thankful for Elizabeth A. Garton (she is so good at doing the dishes).

I'm thankful for the iPhone 4.0 and Talking Tom.

I'm thankful for the InternetS.

I'm thankful for DVR and really thankful for reality tv.

I'm thankful for friends who let me get away with very little.

I'm thankful for friends who encourage me.

I'm thankful for Harper Pardue.

I'm thankful for g-chat.

I'm thankful for the ability to memorize a lot of shit.

I'm thankful that I have a washing machine in my apartment.

I'm thankful for my church.

I'm thankful for my job.

I'm thankful for Facebook.

I'm thankful for watches.

I'm thankful for Chi hair products.

I'm thankful for happy hour.

I'm thankful for my family.

I'm thankful for Franklin Pierce.

I'm sure I left a lot of things off of this list, but that's alright...because we should choose to be thankful all the time, not just the last Thursday in November.




Friday, November 19, 2010

thankful: dallas.

Years ago when the parental unit packed me up and moved me to Dallas I didn't really know what the hell I was doing. I knew I already had a pretty good friend-base in place, but without a job and very little to my name, I signed a short lease and always kind of saw myself in Dallas on a "trial" basis. Over four years later I still think I'll end up somewhere else and I always seem to be focused on the "have-nots" rather than the "haves" and therein lies my problem. It's a problem when someone chooses, continually, to not celebrate how fortunate they are.

I feel like I owe Dallas an apology. I want to kiss Dallas and give it a fruit basket for Thanksgiving, because really, truly, Dallas ain't been that bad.

So, in no particular order (with the major likelihood that I will leave something or someone off) here are all the things I'm thankful for (Dallas-wise):

  • The music scene. I like concerts and I've seen some good ones lately.
  • Southwest Airlines and their direct flights, everyday to Little Rock.
  • My friends: I'm so fortunate to have people here that love me and love me well.
  • The food. It's better here than most places I go. The grocery stores are better, too.
  • It's not Houston. Or Lubbock.
  • My job. They pay me and a lot of days I enjoy it.
  • The shopping is decent. You wouldn't know it by looking at my wardrobe though.
  • No state income tax.
  • Not a swing state, but still a player on the national political scene.
So, yeah, it's not so bad being here. Maybe I miss my family and 24/7 talk of the Arkansas Razorbacks, not to mention the local news here is nothing compared to Little Rock, but...I like it here. Maybe, I'll finally unpack my office supplies.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

pauline (epistles).

Paul, the Apostle, has long been my favorite Biblical character (hero?). The list of reasons is extensive, but mainly because it's his story that best tells the story of grace and redemption that Jesus freely gives to those who wish to receive it. I mean, Paul was a legitimate asshole, to put it in layman's terms. Actually, he was worse than asshole. He was just tUrrible.

In spite of Paul's history of being an asshole (maybe not even in spite, maybe for that exact reason, really) the Lord transformed Paul into His servant. Which led to Paul becoming a missionary, a martyr and the author of the majority of the New Testament. Paul's life was a total 180-degree turnaround.

My favorite thing about the Pauline Epistles (besides the name obviously, I mean Pauline) is the passion with which Paul(ine) writes. This is a passionate guy hoping to convey one message-- the Gospel. He gets real passionate at times making it super hard to understand him (Romans, anyone?) but you cannot ignore the zeal he possess in every word he puts on the page.

The other thing that gets me about these letters is the personality that seems to seep through. [Go check out Galatians 6:11, it's my personal favorite.] Paul had to have been quite the dude and it shows when he writes. I especially love the personal touches to them. He writes a lot of them like he is BFF with these people, when really, he wasn't. And he's not afraid to tell people to get their shit together. Love that.

But, seriously, what I really love is the way he closes out each letter. He always throws out a personal SHOUT OUT (something, I am obviously a HUGE fan of) and usually slips in one last "to-do" list for those reading. This is incredible because, if Paul closed out his letters with a Willfully His, Confidently His, His, LYLAS/B, Cheers! or Deuces his whole message would be worthless. I mean, say I read all of First Corinthians and I'm really digging it and I'm about to expel the "immoral brother" and Paul says to me, Y'all go get 'em! Lovies! I'm probably not going to take him seriously.

So, really my point in all of this is-- get serious. You should end your conversations, be they via e-mail, actual letters or phone calls with the same amount of passion and zeal that you started the conversation with. Stay with your message. Nothing loses an audience faster than an ill-advised Cheers!

Grace and Peace be with each of you who wish for the second coming! Woe to those who don't fear the Lord! Lovies! -lc

Friday, November 5, 2010

mass chaos.

When I was in high school my friends and I down at the ole Methodist church decided we should revive the women's softball team. It had been defunct since the early '90s and since we all had a lot of experience playing slow-pitch softball we thought we might be able to bring a championship home for John Wesley.

We played two seasons and I'm sad to report that a championship trophy was not brought back to the church. And, in reality that was probably best. We weren't the most humble group. Which was just one of many lessons learned over the course of those two seasons. And since this web log exists to serve the greater good of the internetS, I want to share some of those other lessons with each and every (nine) of you.

1. Church secretaries are not as close to the Deity as one typically believes. This is probably not the case for most church secretaries, but in this case-- totally the case. Now, I know Methodist churches are usually a little more "free" and "liberal" than other denominations, but...one game the church secretary was playing short stop and I was pitching and I ended up walking somewhere around seven or eight batters in a row. Naturally, I tried to hand the pitching duties off to someone else. When she failed miserably as well, the secretary gave me back the ball and in no uncertain terms told me to, "get my shit together and ****ing pitch." Yes, she said the dreaded "F" word. To me. The 17-year-old youth group executive member. That was one of my first lessons in depravity.

1b. There is very little Jesus involved in church league softball. Like, one prayer before the game and then, all hell breaks loose. I have a strong feeling that the Lord does not like being a sponsor of most softball leagues he ends up being associated with by default.

2. Sometimes transgender-ish people play on women's church league softball teams. And sometimes they really do have uni-sex names. And mostly, they suck at softball. Which is probably why the men's team wouldn't let this person play for them.

Maybe, I really didn't learn all that much, but I did learn for sure that it really clouts your ability to share Jesus with others when instead of praying for your poor pitching skills, they cuss you out. Not very Barnabus-like, eh?

Monday, November 1, 2010

vote.

Damn it, this is America.

And in America, we're afforded the LIBERTY to vote freely in elections. So, do it.

Liberty taking on the definition: freedom from control, interference, obligation, restriction, hampering conditions, etc.; power or right of doing, thinking, speaking, etc., according to choice.

One of my favorite things about this country is that it's not perfect. It never has been. But, constantly, since the beginning of these great United States, its government has been correcting itself and its laws in order to make this place great. For everyone. Yes, it's taken a while on some fronts and more often than not it seems like government is holding us back rather than moving us forward, but still...this ain't Maldives. Or even France. This is AMERICA.

You not only have the option to vote, but you have the option to NOT vote. How cool is that?


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