25 Random Things About Me

I was tagged in one of those Facebook notes that asks you to share 25 things about yourself. Well, I decided that might be a good blog entry and I will just link to it on Facebook in case anyone actually wants to take the time to read over it. Here are 25 random things about me:

1. I do not have an ACL in my right knee, and there is a possibility that I do not have one in my left knee as well. My ACL is not there, and there is no scar tissue to suggest that it was ever there. This means I cannot ski, and my knee dislocates from time to time.

2. I coach a little league basketball team of third and fourth graders.

3. Related to the one above, at one of the practices, I made several left hand layups in a row wearing stillettos. Upon realizing I was in stillettos and did not have an ACL in the knee of the leg that I jump from, I came to the conclusion that I am not a very smart person.

4. I make my basketball kids say "it's nice to be nice" at least three times if they make fun of someone, including the refs.

5. I despise most Christian music. Just because it is not as bad as most popular music does not mean that it is good. For Christian music to be good, it has to have theologically sound, God-centered lyrics. This means that I pretty much only listen to Chris Tomlin as far as mainstream Christian music is concerned.

6. I do like Christian hip-hop so long as the lyrics are theologically sound/God-centered and the rap and beats do not sound second rate. My current favorite is Flame.

7. If House were on TV for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, that is quite possibly all that I would watch on TV.

8. The only exception to number 7 would probably be Wednesday nights, which are Tyler Perry nights on TBS. I get physically violent with anyone who changes the channel from a Tyler Perry show unless it is a commercial break.

9. I prefer to watch The Office online or on DVD because I think that 2-1/2 minute commercials make the show a whole lot less funny.

10. I am ADD when it comes to reading. I cannot stand to read a book for more than three nights in a row. Therefore, I usually have between 4-8 books going at a time so that I do not get bored with a story. Currently being read - The Man in the Iron Mask; Young, Restless, Reformed; The Freedom and Power of Forgivness; Culture Shift; John Adams; and Christian Theology. All of these are within reach of my bed right now.

11. Even if I go on a weekend or overnight trip, I usually take 4-8 books with me because I never know which one I want to read on a given night.

12. The only book I can stand to read for more than three nights in a row is the Bible. However, I usually read that in the morning.

13. I hate to talk on the phone. I bothers me to talk to someone that I cannot see. If I am in the same town as the person on the other end, I can only talk 2 minutes at the most. If the person on the other end is out of town, I can talk for hours if I have not seen them in a while.

14. As long as I remember, I have wanted to be a lawyer.

15. I love to babysit. Even though I am a lawyer, I love to babysit periodically because I love being around children. My favorite age to be around is between birth and three. I guess I am a glutton for punishment!

16. Between July 2008 and June 2009, I will have bought gifts for thirteen babies at the last count. I know others having babies, but I think I would go broke if I bought for everyone I know having a baby.

17. I think I have been to NOLA around thirty times in the past 8 years. Quite frankly I lost count somewhere around 17.

18. I always wait to fill up my gas tank until my car has been dinging at me for quite a while to tell me I am out. I know I have 40 miles from the first ding.

19. My car has been saying "change oil soon" since August. Since that time, I have changed my oil twice, the most recent time being in December. However, the people at the oil change place keep forgetting to push the reset button.

20. My favorite breakfast is oatmeal and applesauce mixed together. I do not like oatmeal without applesauce or applesauce without oatmeal, but when you mix the two together and heat it up, I love it.

21. I love jazz music.

22. I think music on records sounds better than music on CDs. Plus you can get old jazz records for pretty cheap.

23. I currently am in possession of a vast supply of Southern gospel records. My grandparents were apparently huge southern gospel fans, and kept their records in near mint condition. When I got my record player for Christmas, I decided to bring their record collection back with me, which included mostly Southern gospel.

24. I like to play one of my grandparents' records just to bother my dog. I have a record that is put out by "the world's greatest whistler" and his whistling rendition of Precious Memories drives my dog crazy!

25. I think I am allergic to my office. I do just fine until I get into the office in the morning, at which time I proceed to sneeze and use up tissue like crazy. This does not happen when I go to court instead of to the office in the morning. Very strange.

Random Thought #25

I have weird eating habits. Example – my breakfast this morning was oatmeal, applesauce, and a ding dong (thanks to someone in the office bringing a box of ding dongs to work). I heated the ding dong for 8 seconds, making it taste similar to those desserts that you pay almost $2 for and just add water. At least I am washing my breakfast down with water instead of hot chocolate, iced tea, or Dr. Pepper.

StumbleUpon

I decided to start using StumbleUpon to find some unusual websites, as if I do not already waste enough time reading blogs on the Internet. Today was a particularly random, and yet thoroughly amusing, article on unusual deaths. Here are some of my favorites:

207 BC: Chrysippus, a Greek stoic philosopher, is believed to have died of laughter after watching his drunk donkey attempt to eat figs.

1478: George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence, was executed by drowning in a barrel of Malmsey wine at his own request.

1556: Humayun, a Mughal emperor, was descending from the roof of his library after observing Venus, when he heard the mu'azaan, or call to prayer. Humayun's practice was to bow his knee when he heard the azaan, and when he did his foot caught the folds of his garment, causing him to fall down several flights. He died 3 days later of the injuries at the age of 47.

1649: Sir Arthur Aston, Royalist commander of the garrison during the Siege of Drogheda, was beaten to death with his own wooden leg, which the Parliamentarian soldiers thought concealed golden coins.

1673: Molière, the French actor and playwright, died after being seized by a violent coughing fit, while playing the title role in his play Le Malade imaginaire (The Hypochondriac or The Imaginary Invalid).

1862: Jim Creighton, baseball player, died when he swung a bat too hard and ruptured his bladder.

1912: Franz Reichelt, tailor, fell to his death off the first deck of the Eiffel Tower while testing his invention, the coat parachute. It was his first ever attempt with the parachute and he had told the authorities in advance he would test it first with a dummy.

Maybe StumbleUpon will make my blogs more interesting, or at least more random!

Random Thought #24

Why do boys (including grown men) think it is ok to go to the bathroom without washing their hands? It is not ok for anyone to go to the bathroom without washing their hands. Ever. Period. It grosses me out to think that others do not share my same opinions.

Whew!

I was smart to put a question mark after ice storm yesterday because we really did not have an ice storm. Ice? Yes, but not as the type that coats each individual pine needle causing the trees to snap all over town. Instead we had a lot of rain, and then the temperature dropped down to 25 freezing all the rain on the roads. Since drainage is not so bad in most parts of town, the bridges were the only things completely iced over. I did have to drive on a few ice patches to get to work, but no slipping and sliding for me. However, I did feel nervous a few times because people were braking like crazy, making me wonder about whether it is safe to drive on iced over roads with other people around.

Ice storm?

I officially hate preparing for an ice storm. Fortunately I have a friend that wants me to stay at her house (with a garage and no trees!) so I do not have to worry about my car. With a fireplace and a grill, we should be set should the storm be as bad as they are predicting. Hopefully the electric company is more prepared this time than what anyone was in 2000 when the huge ice storm hit and the town was shut down for several days, and many homes were without electricity for several weeks. Should we be without electricity for any length of time, New Orleans, here I come! It is supposed to be above freezing though by tomorrow afternoon, so maybe the electric company will be able to get to work earlier than I hear they did in 2000.

Random!!

On Saturday, while eating at McAlister's with Sky and Clint, I noticed three guys sit down at a table nearby. One of the guys looked VERY familiar, but I couldn't place him. He even sounded familiar. I kept glancing over at him periodically trying to place him. Eventually I figured out that the guy looked exactly like one of the summer missionaries who had been at the Carver Center during the summer of 2004, and then quickly decided it could not be him but must be someone who looked like him. Mystery solved, so I continued to eat my lunch without staring anymore.

As the table of guys got up to leave, the one who looked familiar walked over to our table. My first thought was "did I stare so much that this guy is trying to figure out who the crazy staring lady is?" However, when he walked up and asked me my name, I figured out that it had to be someone I knew. Sure enough it was that missionary. The last I had heard of him he was in Alabama in school. Four and a half years later, here he was in Texarkana. Of course, then we entered the awkward conversation that you typically enter into when you see someone for the first time in over four years, and you were really that close to begin with. Turns out he is now in Colorado and was in Texarkana for a conference of some sort with his pastor and the other guy. What are the odds?!?!

If you work with teenagers ...

... there is a new book coming out that is supposed to provide guidance for biblical counsel to angry teenagers. The best news is that for a limited time, the book is less than $5. It ends up being around $8 with shipping. I think the price is only good for the first 1,000 or until January 24, so I thought I would pass the information along even before I have a chance to read the book and fully recommend it.

UPDATE: The book is sold out at the under $5 price, although you can still get it 30% off of the list price.

Random Thought #23

I just realized that a well played jazz song can actually bring a tear to my eye. I think that is possibly the first time that has ever happened. Now I am off to learn more about Al Cohn, the man behind the song.

Different Perspective

I thought I would share one last post about Obama for a while. I do not like to get too caught up in politics, and I do not like to share my political opinions. One thing that I think that me as a white person has a hard time comprehending is how big of a day the inauguration was for African-Americans. I know that people I know keep saying things like that he isn't fully black, or he isn't descended from slaves, or that he isn't even African-American, but the reality is that many African-Americans in this nation see that someone who looks like them, has a wife like them, has children that look like them is the leader of this nation.

One of these people is a man who is solid in his theology, and therefore does not agree with all of Obama's policies because of Obama's stance on abortion. Yet this man cannot help but feel a sense of pride and accomplishment for people who look like him because of the fact that Obama is in the White House. Therefore, I encourage you to take a look at the poem that he wrote on the morning after the inauguration so that you can begin to see how important this moment is for those of African descent. You can find it here.

Stealing my co-worker's humor ...

When Obama misused Scripture, he said it was time to put aside childish things. Apparently his chief of staff did not get the memo!

Inauguration Thoughts

Although these probably qualify as random thoughts, I am having them because of the inauguration, so they are labeled accordingly.

1. How fortunate we are as a nation that the transition of power is peaceful! Even though I did not vote for the incoming president, I am not planning any revolts or riots. Most people like me are not either. For that, we as a nation should be thankful!
   
2. The CNN/Facebook live coverage thing is very cool since I do not have a TV in my office … yet.
   
3. I am thinking it might be nearing the time when I should consider investing in a TV for my office. I have the cable hook-up, so all that is lacking is the TV. It would come in handy during football season and March Madness … and history making moments such as today.
   
4. I am re-thinking some of my wishes to be in politics … mainly because it looks really cold to go stand/sit to watch the inauguration.
   
5. President Clinton looks really old and has a bald spot on the back of his head … and I am sure he is going to enjoy the next few years given that Hillary accepted an appointment that is going to keep her away on business for extended periods. On the other hand, Hillary looks so young that she must have had some work done … unnaturally young.
   
6. I probably should be working away, but I cannot help but watch the coverage. Looks like I will be working through lunch instead.
   
7. I am so glad that my kids in New Orleans will never have to think ever again that they cannot be president just because of the color of their skin.
   
8. First President Bush has a House cane – pretty cool.
   
9. When the presidents started coming in, I completely gave up on work for a while … then I resized my other windows so that I can pretend to do work while watching.
   
10. Does a former president get to hear "Hail to the Chief" once he is no longer the chief? I guess not since that would not make sense when he is no longer chief.
    
11. Obama's girls are precious!
    
12. I like the introduction to the whole ceremonies better than the inaugural address.
    
13. I felt a sense of pride when I listened to the oath of office. It is amazing to watch history happen.
    
14. I did not like the inaugural address. It sounded too socialist (subtly of course) at times, and it did not give a nod to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I think that a slight little nod in King's direction was necessary to make a good speech great. Thank you coordinator of ceremonies for doing what the president did not have the courage to do.
    
15. Sometimes I wonder about all of the mentions of God that occur and whether we are taking God's name in vain. I am glad that Rick Warran was courageous enough to pray in Jesus' name.
    
16. I do not want "our common humanity" to "reveal itself" – humans are corrupt by nature, and a common humanity would accentuate that corruptness even more than it already is. I want God's common grace to reveal itself as a restraint upon our common humanity.
    
17. Last criticism of Obama's speech – misuse of Scripture. I cannot stand it when anyone misuses Scripture. Another thing that makes the speech not great.
    
18. I don't think I like poetry.
    
19. Although the CNN feed started out good, it ended up bad. At least there is something for them to work on in the next few years.
    
20. At least today is a reminder of how much and how often we should be praying for our leaders, and not just on inauguration day.

Update: I had one last thought that I forgot to post. I want Scalia's hat. That is the most awesome fashion accessory of the whole day. I am probably in a small minority on that one.

Jesus Messiah

I have this song stuck in my head today ...



At least it is not a bad song to have playing in your head all day!!!

Random Thought #22

I got more excited last night when I saw Marvin "Word" Day, one of my favorite waiters at Camellia Grill in New Orleans both before and after Katrina, on TV (When Weather Changed something program on the weather channel) than I did about meeting Mike Huckabee at the local Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting that our firm sponsors (thus the privilege of meeting Huckabee). I am weird.

Random Thought #21

A failure to adequately prepare/think through my Bible lesson on Daniel 1 and a third grader's lack of understanding of metaphors led to this recap of the previous week's little league basketball devotion:

"Daniel and his friends could not eat the gumbo because it might have fish in it."

Really Random Thought #20

While on a conference call today at work, I made a "toy" out of a paperclip and a bullet, which I proceeded to roll all over my desk. I think I have ADD.

Computer Update

I have one of the newest computers in the office. Yet my computer decided that it would conspire against me with the tech people, and now is having to have its memory completely erased and reloaded. Who knows how long that will take, so I am continuing to work on my laptop. While working on my laptop, I have noticed that just a slight change in routine, such as working from a laptop instead of a desktop, can affect motivation to work. Fortunately, I am starting to get used to the laptop and even feeling motivated to work from it. Of course this means that I will have some of the same issues when I get my desktop back after adapting to my laptop.

Merfield's

I am always looking for good lunch places, but one of the problems in Texarkana has been that the good lunch places are not conveniently located near my office. Fortunately, that has now changed!

Across from the federal courthouse that sits in both Texas and Arkansas, and is the location of the photo opportunity that many people take advantage of on the stateline, is a new little place called Merfield's. This shop has had the name in the window with "Coming Soon" painted under it almost as long as I have lived back in Texarkana (3 years now). Obviously it did not come very soon, but it is amazing!! Part of the delay has been obtaining grants because the building is part of downtown, and there is funding available for revitalizing downtown. However, it takes forever to obtain the grant money.

In Waco, I enjoyed going to two little sandwich shops that were downtown. One was cute, the other was not about appearances, but I have often said, "I wish we had a ____________ in downtown Texarkana." Now I do not have to say "I wish" anymore. Merfield's has all sorts of fun little sandwiches with different spreads and things on them, like what you would find in the French Quarter, just less spicy. The atmosphere is very fun, with classic fixtures, but a modern look. The best part is that it is just a few blocks from the office. It is nice enough that we can take out of town clients to a nice lunch close to the office without the lunch having to be a heavy Mexican food or Italian lunch, or at the always appetizing, but not always aesthetically pleasing hamburger joint or home cooking joint downtown. So if you come to Texarkana, and want to eat at a fun place downtown, call me up and I will meet you at Merfield's!

2008: God of this City

It seems like that for the past few years, there are certain songs that stand out almost as my theme song for the year. In 2005 and 2006, it was Casting Crowns "Praise You in This Storm" because of Hurricane Katrina.


In 2007, it was the classic hymn "It is Well" because of deaths that occurred that year. It is a great testimony to God's love and the hope that we have in Him when we are able to say, in the midst of crisis, that it is well.

2008 was an interesting year for me personally. In 2007, I had paid little attention to the people in New Orleans that I had come to love so much because I had things going on at home that prevented me from going to New Orleans for at least two trips that I had tentatively planned. In fact, 2008 started the same way. I didn't make it to New Orleans when one of the boys was murdered. However, I finally took time to go in April and I am so glad that I did. Although I was never really close to Guy, his murder really is the thing that I think will always stick out about 2008. I am so glad that I had just been to New Orleans and had just seen him when it happened. My relationship with so many people in New Orleans has forever been changed by this event. Other things happened as well, but this seems to be the one event where I could have easily decided to quit doing what I was doing and give up. Instead, there was a song that kept playing over and over in my mind. In fact, the morning after Guy died, I went out and bought the CD that had this song on it, and I played that song over and over again reminding myself of God's promises. Here is my song of 2008:

Chris Tomlin's "God of this City" is one of those songs that is a musical reminder of these verses in Galatians 6:9-10: "And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith." (ESV) This year I have had a chance to continue to do good to those who are of the household of faith. In the process, I have had the opportunity to share the gospel with others. Through it all, I have grown as a person. "Greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in this city."

Gervais Nicholas - died 01/12/2008


Guy McEwen - died 04/17/2008

Computers - Necessary Evil

I hate my work computer. It does not matter that they bought a brand new one a few months ago, my computer at work seems to have the same problems as the old one. My computer never likes to log on to the server, which is unfortunate since everything is on our server. Yesterday, my computer decided it was a good idea to let some malicious software attach to it, and conveniently it is software that does not want to be removed. Therefore, my computer had to be taken today to the tech people's office (small firms are too small to hire tech guys full time), and it is unknown when I will see my machine again. Fortunately I purchased a laptop not long ago that is able to connect wirelessly to our server. Unfortunately, my server address does not like any computer, and I have been able to write an entire blog while waiting for it to long on ... and it is still going with no indication of connecting anytime soon. Now there is just more work for me to make up!!!

Can you see the resemblence?

Like father ...

... like son!

Even cousins tend to look similar ...


... when they are not getting their way!

Random Thought #20

I lost about 30 minutes of productivity this morning because someone found a rat drowned in the toilet that we do not use in the office. Apparently it was a sewer rat that got swept away by the rain and decided to crawl up our pipe and drown with his nose centimeters away from the surface. That is all hearsay because I decided not to inspect our rodent corpse. It did cause quite the commotion in our office though as almost everyone else did inspect our unfortunate rat.

Grocery Shopping in the Big Easy

I have tried to find different items in local stores here in Txk so that I can cook spicier and more cajun like dishes, but I have been unsuccessful. Therefore, I decided this trip to shop in NOLA for different items that I cannot find locally. Some of these include:

* anduille sausage - it tastes different from a Texas hotlink so I want the real thing
* Cajun Land seasonings - the best that I have tasted
* cane sugar Abita Root Beer - I really wanted Big Shot, but could not find any. Big Shot is awesome, cheap flavored soda that people love to drink when they come over to my house. However, they are going to have to survive on the cane sugar root beer until March.
* bread machine bread mixes - for some reason I can only find white bread here in Txk. However, in New Orleans there was a better variety, and I decided to try several different types.

Now I can cook sausage and rice casserole and even make some red beans and rice with sausage in the coming days. Top that off with a side of bread and Abita root beer, and I will have a meal!

It's raining, its pouring!

It has been raining for 5-1/2 hours straight here in New Orleans. Not a light sprinkle either, but pouring down buckets. In a city that is below sea level and that has drainage systems that have been neglected for more important projects such as the levees, this much rain means you need a boat to get around. I thought I was going to wait to come back the Center from seeing the baby until it stopped raining, but gave up two hours in. Glad I did!

Random Thoughts #18 and 19

Tonight is a two for one.

First, if you happened to catch the Sugar Bowl and saw one of the blimp shots, I might have been one of the cars passing by. I think I made three trips past the Superdome tonight. The first time I wondered why the lights were on because I forgot the Sugar Bowl was tonight. Apparently so did Alabama.

Second, I love the smell of babies! I love how the smell lingers on your clothes too! Of course I am referring to the good smell, not the stinky ones.