Yellow Blog Journalism

My Self-Imposed Gag Order

Jenn has requested that I not talk about a particular candidate quite so much while at home. The problem is that I don't know if I can. He infuriates me to no end, not because I hate the man, I think he is incredibly gifted and likable, but because he has no place being in this presidential race. He is patently unqualified with questionable associations at every single corner and his political philosophy is abhorrent.

That being said, the rest of the world loves him. The media has deified him and I am amazed that they didn't erect an altar to him at the Minority Journalists Convention this morning. If you want to see what public religion looks like, watch the news.

The world loves this man. Send him to the UN. In a few years he will undoubtedly be made secretary general. Please, take him. Let us get back to real political discourse.

My Kid Friendly Post II

Hat Tip: Fr. Z

My Kid Friendly Post

Via Ironic Catholic

My Morning Radio

I was out the door a bit early this morning and caught this sermon (remember my curious radio preacher addiction?) by Andy Stanley. Unfortunately I only had about 12 minutes of listening time before I was out of the broadcast area of the station (maybe I drive too fast) but caught one big pearl that I've been chewing on for the last two hours. The problem isn't that we need better schedules. The problem isn't that we need better discipline (though it couldn't hurt). The problem is that we need more time in the day. We need to do less and do it better. Something is going to have to be left undone. Someone is going to have to be cheated.

I know that I have this problem. In fact, I've always had this problem. I used to cheat everything else in my life for work. Now I'm better at dividing up the cheating. I work less and give more at home, but I also cheat my wife to focus on my son, cheat my son to fucus on my wife, cheat them both to fool around on the internet. Chores get done occasionally and get done well less often. But someone and usually everyone is going to get cheated because I do too much. I can't add hours into the day so attacking the problem from that angle is not my solution. My solution has to be priorities. When work is calling, the baby is crying and it's my turn to cook dinner, what do I choose?

Of course priorities is never one thing to the exclusion of the other, but things do take precidence. And things interact. I have to bring home a pay check. If I don't, it will rock my world and my wife's for many reasons. I can't let the baby cry even though Jenn and I are trying to have some quiet time. Unfortunately, Jenn seems to be the one that will get cheated more often than not. What makes this worse than the initial gut punch of realizing that I am cheating my wife for so many lesser reasons is the fact that she is the person that I am tied to with a sacramental bond. Closer than blood, it's a bond that is tied up in both of our redemptions. And I cheat that bond for a paycheck. Damn.

But is there an answer?

I don't think that there is a perfect answer. I can make progress, but all along the way we are going to need to forgive eachother for alot of cheating. Not infidelity of intimacy, but of attention. I need to learn to cheat everything else more than her.

Edit: I just found out there is a book. Apparently 'He who listens to the whole pod-cast gains enlightenment'.

My Crazy Van Sighting

I have no idea why there are pictures of chickens on the back windows...

or why the picture is hazy

My Rental Search Continues

Sunday I began a short list of things not to look for in a rental house

• Crack-house
• near mortuary
• bullet casings in drive way
• next door to fast food

Lets add one more thing to the list...

My Childhood, Acapella (but not Rockapella)

My Moment of "Huh?"

Guess which office I didn't go to.   

My Ghetto Rental Search

Yesterday afternoon, between appointments with Aimee and Mass, Jenn and I decided to go looking for a new place to live. It's not entirely random, we have to give our notice to Post Bismark...err Briarcliff by the 15th of next month and be out by October. So I scoured the internet, we loaded up the car and headed off toward what I thought would be nice normal neighborhoods.

And they were ... within sight of nice normal neighborhoods. But we were squarely in the middle of Crack-town USA

I should have listened to my gut and just pulled out and driven over to East Atlanta, which is more our speed But I didn't.

I just kept going.

And one house was neighbors with a Supreme fish Delight.

I don't have to be psychic to tell you that this isn't what my father-in-law meant when he told me to take good care of his daughter. It certainly wasn't what I meant when I suggested that we go look at houses. Thankfully Jenn saved me from dragging us further into urban decay with dinner at Raging Burrito.

My Three Favorite Charities and a Fourth

It was about a week ago that Jenn started collecting money for the CFF again by way of the Shimmy-A-Thon. Almost a month has passed since I added the Compassion International widget to the side bar over on the right. And it's been even longer since I posted about Compassioninja International and their efforts to save the young ninjas ravaged in the wild.

Recently I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with one of the members of Shevet Achim. Our conversation touched on quite a few themes central to authentic charity; sacrifice, reconciliation, loving neighbors and enemies alike. Shevet Achim is a group of Jewish Surgeons and Cardiologists administered by Christians who serve children in Muslim nations, giving them access to life saving interventions Their budget is paper thin, but they do amazing work pulling together government agencies in otherwise adversarial nations to save the lives of children in need.

Go to their website, read some of the stories. It's worth your time. In fact all of those charities are... with the exception of the ninja one.