Brrrrrrrr......

It was almost 70 degrees on Friday. I ate my Bikers Jim Gourmet Dog outside with a short sleeve shirt on. It was weird to do that in the middle of January in Colorado, but it was quite warm. Today, however, is a major change. I heard on the radio this morning that it was going to be a 70 degree temperature change between today and last Friday. When I woke up and looked at the outside temp, it was 29 degrees....but it got colder as the sun rose and the day went on. It is now 9 degrees outside and snowing pretty heavily. We should get around 3 to 6 inches from this storm. Plus, it's very windy. The National Weather Service says that the wind chill factor is -20 to -30 degrees. That's below zero, people! Yikes. Tomorrow is going to be a high of 4. That's right... four. But then, just like Colorado, it's going to be 50 degrees by Friday again. Just in time for my weekly trip to Biker Jim's for an Elk Jalapeno Cheddar Dog or a Reindeer Sausage. I love this state! It's never a dull moment here.

80's New Wave: The Good Ol' Days of Music

I used to come home from Junior High or High School and watch a show on KCAL Channel 9 called "Video One" with Richard Blade. It was a 30 minute show that highlighted some of the best New Wave music videos of the time. Ah...the good ol' days! Here are some of my favorite music vids from that time. These are the ones I would get really excited about when they made the show! I'm sure there are others, but you get the idea.

Change of Environment = Change of Attititude

When I lived in California and worked at Azusa Pacific University, I used to get really grumpy if I couldn't get a parking place in the lot that was closest to my office. In fact, when I got a parking place in that lot, I was only a few yards away from my office (a 30 second walk). If I didn't get a spot, it would ruin my whole day because I had to walk from the North Parking lot, which was seriously not even a city block away from my office. It's amazing how lazy I was. Then we moved to Colorado. I'm not sure what happened, but walking wasn't as big of a deal anymore. In fact, from the light rail station to my office, it's the equivalent of three or four city blocks (mind you, this is just walking from one side of the Auraria Campus to the other - It's stinkin' huge!). When I take the bus to Civic Center Station (which is right across the street from the gold-domed capital building), I walk even further. There are 15 city blocks separating me from my office when I get off the bus. The good news is that I can take the 16th Street Free Mall Ride for about 10 of those blocks. But, there are still about five blocks to walk to get to my office. This would have completely ruined my day in California, but here I'm completely fine with it. In fact, I enjoy the walk. It's fun to walk in downtown and see the historical buildings and interesting people/shops. It's good exercise and my attitude about walking that far is a positive one. It's amazing what a change of environment can do. And...I'm 25 pounds lighter than I was in California. Coincidence? I think not!

Here's a map of my walk from the Civic Center Station to my office (part of it is on the Free Mall Ride, though).

Dead Beavers Aren't Much Fun

Yesterday, I took my boys on a hike to the "nature park" across the street from our house. In actuality, it's the Bear Creek Green Belt, but my boys call it the "nature park". It has loads of wild animals, trails, two ponds, a creek that runs through it, trees, and lots of areas for boys to be boys. Our hike was fairly uneventful at first. We took the usual trails and saw the usual sites...a frozen pond, lots of animal tracks, some animal scat...normal things. We decided to veer off the trail and explore some new areas, which eventually took us to Bear Creek. After a couple of stops to throw rocks into the stream, we found a beach and on that beach was something big and furry. Upon closer examination, it was an animal. A dead animal. It was huge. Now, we're boys. Boys have to investigate further when they find dead things. Upon closer, closer examination...we found it was a beaver. We had been wondering what was eating the trees around the water ways and was causing them to topple over into the ponds. Other than the tree "bites", I had never seen any other evidence of beavers. No beaver dens, no sign of anything remotely resembling a beaver. But, today, we found our evidence in the form of a giant lump of dead beaver flesh. After talking my boys out of touching it with hands and/or sticks and giving them reasons why we couldn't bring it home with us, I decided to take a couple of pics with my cell phone to prove that we had been here and found a dead animal. Here are the pics. Ultimately, dead beavers aren't much fun, but it the boys did enjoy their encounter with death and wildlife.

Cry for Mercy Music Video

My Mom put together a music video using a song from our 1994 recording and video footage from our 1991 recording session for our first release (the white tape). She threw in some dramatic footage and a couple of photos of my sister to illustrate the lyrics to "Doll House." She's been practicing video editing, so it was nice to be one of her experiments and get some content for the Cry for Mercy Facebook page. Thanks, Mom. You rock!

Don't forget to go to the CFM Facebook Page and "like" it and RSVP for our reunion concert on July 8th on the event page.

Random Thoughts on Life

A storm is coming. I'm at work and the wind has really picked up. I almost blew away when I crossed the breezeway between the building where my office resides and the building where Financial Aid proper resides. It's getting colder, too. It is supposed to snow tonight. Not much. Just 1-3 inches. But, I'll take it. When I look out the vision obscuring glass bricks that line the suite outside my office, I can see that it's getting darker and it is only mid-day. So, it must be pretty cloudy outside. I like storms. I like the way Colorado has a warning system in place before storms roll in. It almost always gets windy first. Then dark. Then BAM.....rain, snow, hail, whatever. I live in a beautiful place.

Joi took our boys to the dentist today. We found out that Garrison is needing orthodontic work immediately. I didn't realize that they provided braces for kids before they reached 12-16 years old. He's still got some baby-teeth, for heaven's sake. But, I guess his teeth situation requires some work almost immediately. I'm very nervous about what that means financially for us right now. Not a good time. We have a California trip coming up that will cost us a fortune. Plus, we have been toying with the idea of getting a used vehicle. Something that fits more than 5 people. Our Taurus is getting cramped. And we can't go anywhere when people come in to visit us, or when we are watching our nephews. We need a mini-van or an SUV. Something that fits more than 5 people. But, now Garrison needs braces. Plus, I found out that I have some cracking silver fillings that need to be replaced (luckily with some tooth colored filings, which will be nice). Garrison had a cavity that needs filling. Gage had a cavity, but they wanted to wait for the tooth to come in fully before filling it. Joi will be seeing the dentist this Friday. We need to get these things taken care of, but it feels like the dream of getting a larger vehicle is just crumbling before our eyes. Oh well....life is full of little setbacks. It's how you handle them that counts. I'm praying that God will continue to meet all of our needs and also some of our desires.

I just walked outside my office and the storm is here. A consistent snow is blowing wildly to the ground. I'm excited about my walk through downtown from UC Denver to the Civic Center Station to catch a bus. It will be chilly with the wind blowing that hard and snow falling at the same time. Should be fun!

A Re-Calling

I probably can't explain it very well. Also, I don't intend for any of this to sound like I'm blowing my own horn or making me look "holier than thou". Believe me, like Paul, I am the chief of sinners. I am just trying to journal it out and make sense of it all.

I really feel like God is calling me to a deeper communion with Him. I have a deep-down yearning to cultivate a love for God's word and a prayer life that never ceases. When I was a new Christian (1990-91), I had a love for God's word that I've lost somewhere along the way. I used to carry a pocket New Testament around with me and I would read it any chance I got. In fact, I used to sneak away into the furniture warehouse when I worked for the Covina Trading Post, hide behind a large dresser, and pour through the scriptures with great enthusiasm. Okay, in retrospect, I should have been working and not reading the bible during work hours....but I loved God's word. It was like a drug and I couldn't get enough. Also, I used to pray all the time. I loved talking with God about anything and everything. I'd tell him my struggles, my desires, my everyday thoughts. I'd pray for hurting people around me. I'd pray for friends and loved-one's who needed help, support, or encouragement. I'd pray while driving, showering, working, eating, and spending time with friends. It was a great time for me. Despite the fact that I still struggled with huge sins and temptations, I really felt like I was communing with God. Somewhere along the line, I lost that. It's probably because I let myself give in to too many temptations and I lost that softness for God and became calloused. Maybe it was because I had a simpler faith then and didn't really know the church teachings that make you doubt yourself and clog up the communication line between us and God. Jesus said that we need to come to Him "like a child" and that's what I was. A child. Simple faith. No rules, laws, or regulations except for the truth that I needed to be a man "after God's own heart." I desperately miss those days.

Lately, I have felt an inner tugging on my heart. A desire to dig deeper. To plunge head first into God's deep ocean. For instance, I do pretty well with having a consistent quiet time in the morning after I wake up. However, where I fail is that I will most often read Christian books like "The Measure of a Man" or "Tender Warrior" or "How to Raise a Modern Day Knight". All good books. All books that teach me how to be a Godly man, husband, or father. But, it still feels empty. I need God's word. I am realizing that reading Christian books without really spending time in the Bible is like eating Sushi without the fish. The rice is good, but without the fish on top...it's missing something. It leaves me feeling empty. So, I finished a book two days ago and decided that I need to get back into bible reading. I don't know why, but I started with 1 Samuel. It felt like a good place to start. If I want to be a man after God's own heart, I should probably start with the beginning of David's story.

Another tugging I have had is to develop a conversational prayer life. Where I can come freely to God and share my heart, as if talking to a friend. I want to pray without ceasing. I want it to be so natural that I bring all my thoughts, concerns, worry, and triumphs directly to God immediately. But, by conversational I mean that I want to leave time for God to speak to me. For too many years my prayer life has been me talking non-stop about myself and then saying Amen. A few years back, Joi brought to my attention that I tended to do that with friends or family. I'd start talking about myself and I never let anyone else get a word in edgewise. I corrected that because that is not how I want to be. But, I continued to do that with God. "God, I want this!" "God, help me with this!" "God, take care of me and this concern." But, I never stopped to ask God what He wants to tell me. This obviously needs to change. I realized that I distract myself a lot. During times when I could be praying and chatting with God, I distract myself. My iPod becomes more interesting. Or that book that I'm reading. But, I'm working on noticing those times when I have free-time to talk with God. This morning, I spent the ride on the light-rail in to work chatting with God. Okay, I did a lot of talking and not a lot of listening. But, at least I started somewhere. This is a time that I'd normally bury my face in a book or pop in those iPod ear-buds. So, I made some progress. I really feel like God is on the move and He is asking me to come along. Where? I don't know. But, I am thankful for this yearning to grow....to change. I have a lot of growing to do. As I said before, I am not a very good person. I am thankful that God loves me anyway.

G is for Basketball

First, I wanted to give you a little update about how basketball went with Garrison. He looked very cute out there running the floor and defending. He even got to take a shot, which unfortunately didn't hit the rim because he was too far away from the basket. A rule in this league is that all defending players need to stay in the key (the box between the rim and the free-throw line) until the offense has made two passes and a shot. They are allowed to defend if an offensive player gets near the key, though. But, this means that most shots are being taken from outside because the key is always clogged up with people. Unfortunately, about half of the team can't reach the basket because they are too small or don't have enough strength to reach the 10 foot rim. Sadly, Garrison falls into this category. I am hoping that he'll build up his courage and strength and will get an opportunity to make a basket or two. But, Garrison is very content defending and making passes. He did a great job and I am very proud of him. As a coach, I think I got the hang of it pretty quickly. I was in charge of making sure everyone had equal playing time, which is hard because there were 12 players. I could feel the icy stares of some of the parents when I didn't put their child in. It made me self-conscious. But, they will have to deal with my decisions since they didn't volunteer to be coaches. We have practice again on Thursday. I am hoping that we can begin to work on some areas that need improvement, like sharing the ball and making sure someone new gets an opportunity to shoot the ball each time. Joi took some pictures and video. I'm hoping to get those posted soon. By the way, in case you were wondering...Garrison's team lost by one basket. It was a very close game!

B-Ball, G Dogg, and Coaching

My oldest son, Garrison (who we affectionately call G-Dogg or G) will be starting his first stint in organized sports tonight. When his brothers opted to play soccer last summer, Garrison decided to wait until Basketball season. Tonight begins the practices for his basketball team and his first game will be on Saturday. He is excited and started practicing dribbling a few weeks ago until the snow and cold weather put an end to that. It's funny, I'm not sure if he is as excited about playing basketball as he is about his new team jersey. But, either way, he'll get to experience both in just a few short hours. In addition to it being Garrison's first time playing sports, it will be my first time coaching sports. I decided to volunteer to coach his team, if they were short coaches. It turns out they are short, so I'll be an assistant coach for G's team. Should be interesting. The coaches, also, referee the game. So I'll be performing a dual role of coach and ref. I asked Garrison how he felt about me coaching him, because I didn't want to put him in an awkward position. He seemed fine with it, so we'll both be venturing into new territory tonight. Garrison will be playing in the 3rd-4th grade level and they will be using the 10 foot regulation hoop height. I'm hoping our boys and girls will be able to reach the hoop. I guess we shall see tonight. I'm looking forward to it and I know G is looking forward to it, as well. I'll post pictures and perhaps video later when we have some. Wish us God's good graces!

A Weird Day

Yesterday was a weird day. It could have been classified as just plain bad luck, or a bad day...but I had a pretty good attitude about it all, so I'll just say it was weird. I stayed home from work yesterday due to contracting a case of pink eye from my boys. I had only been taking the drops for less than a day and the doctor says that you need to be taking it for 24 hours before you are non-contagious. So, I stayed home as to not infect my coworkers. The morning was pretty good. I helped watch Morgan (the little girl that Joi baby-sits) and helped Joi do school for the kids. The weirdness happened when I left at 2pm to run some errands and go to an optometry appointment. I had just pulled out of my driveway and was waiting at a red light to turn right. I was watching the cross traffic pass and waiting for a opening to turn when I heard a slam and was pushed forward. It took me a minute to realize that I had just been rear-ended. The 8 inches of snow that we got all day Sunday had left the streets a little slippery. Apparently the driver behind me had trouble stopping and slammed into my rear bumper. It felt like she was going pretty fast, though based on the sound and the feel of the impact. Plus, I could see in the snow where my tires moved three feet forward from the impact. I got out of the car and surveyed the damage to both cars. My bumper is cracked/broken in several places, my left tail-light is shattered, and there is a dent in my trunk door. Not pretty. The older lady who hit me had a shattered bumper as well. Why are these things made of plastic anyway? It seems like bumpers should be made out of Nerf material or silly putty. Something spongy and more resilient. Anyway...we exchanged info and I called my insurance to find out if there is anything else that needed to be done. She spoke to me and the other driver and got everything squared away pretty neatly. The other lady was nice enough and apologetic. It was an unfortunate accident. When I left the scene, the lady who had just hit me drove a little fast and tailgated me until we turned onto another street when she sped around me at twice the speed limit. No wonder she hit me so hard. She wasn't being careful at all. It scared me a little. Having spent 1/2 an hour on the street dealing with the accident made it so that I couldn't run errands before my exam, so I went straight to my optometry appointment and to pick up some prescriptions for my boys' pink eye. The appointment went well. They were very nice and it didn't take too long. However, they asked if they could dilate my pupils as part of the exam. I asked if it would impair my driving at all, since I've already been in an accident today and didn't want to be in any more. They assured me it wouldn't. So, they dilated my eyes (the first time I had ever had that done to me). It was weird. Within 15 minutes, I went blurry and couldn't read anything. I could make out shapes, but I couldn't read my phone, the contract they made me sign, or even the payment pad where I ran my check card. It would have been a perfect opportunity to abuse me and charge me hundreds of dollars, since I couldn't see it at all and had to take their word for it. After the appointment, I had to drive home. I was already shaky and cautious because of the accident and now I couldn't see and was driving in ice and slush. Also, I decided to run my errands (maybe not a wise choice). So, I went to King Sooper for some fresh French Bread for dinner and then to Office Max to look for a chord I needed. I had to have the Office Max guy read to me the chord names, since I couldn't see them at all. After that, I decided I had better get home. I spent the rest of the evening wearing sun glasses indoors, since I was very sensitive to light. Joi and the boys said that my pupils were as big as the colored part of my eye. Since I couldn't see it, I had her take a picture so that I could see it later. Joi took good care of me and let me rest in my daddy-chair since I was a little sore from the accident and partially blind due to the exam. It was a weird day! But, I survived. The good news is that since I am not at fault for the accident and we shouldn't have to pay for anything. I just need to get the car to the body shop and get a rental car. Not too bad. It could have been a lot worse.

John Williams is the Man!

I saw this the other day and instantly "favorited" it. It's awesome. A one man, four part harmony A capella video with John Williams movie scores as the music and Star Wars lines and references as the lyrics. Pretty freakin' awesome! Besides Danny Elfman, John Williams is definitely my favorite film music composer. Enjoy the video...and your weekend.

CFM Reunion: It's On!

After much discussion (and a 20 year hiatus), my old band, Cry for Mercy, will be staging a 20 Year Reunion concert with all three original members. I'll be in California for a week in July and between visiting friends and family, going to Disneyland, and attending family reunion activities...we will hold the concert. At this time, it looks like it will be on July 8th. The time and venue still has to be decided, so I'll provide more details at a later time. But, I just wanted to get it out there that it looks like it will happen and a date has been decided upon. The fun part of this is that we will be practicing individually from three different locations over the next six months: Colorado, Southern California, and The Bay Area. It looks like we'll have one evening practice together to pull it all into a reasonable chaos and then it's time to rock! Should be fun! I hope all of the old CFM fans will come out and see us perform. It looks like we'll be doing a retrospective show that will include many of our early songs and some of the later songs that we used to play in clubs. And perhaps a cover or two. Put it on your calendars. CFM 20 Year Reunion Concert in Southern California: July 8th, 2011. It's time to rock! Or at least...roll.

Human, Elf, or Dwarf

I am about to reveal some of my hidden geek to you. I am a people watcher. When I am on the bus or the light rail, and when I am not reading, I sometimes play a game. I look at people and classify them. If I was a director casting for a Lord of the Rings type movie, would I cast them as a human, an elf, or a dwarf? It's amazing how people have natural features that put them into those categories. The elves are slender, have high cheek bones, and subtle, beautiful/handsome features. While the dwarfs have rounder faces, are often hairier, have squinty eyes, and powerful eyebrows. The humans don't fit into either category and have normal features that make them look...well...more human. It's amazing how many people you can find on a bus or train trip that fit into these classifications. Sometimes you'll even find a good wizard, hobbit, or orc lookalike. It's a fun game to occupy yourself while in public places...especially when you're bored. Try it and report back to me.

Ah...Thank you!

My family and nephews watched the Marx Brothers film "A Day at the Races" the other day and there was a scene that struck us all as funny. I'm not sure it was even in the script or if it was supposed to steal the scene like it did, but Groucho did this bit where every time a girl he is trying to woo says "Thank you" he repeats it back in a mocking, sarcastic tone and it just cracked us up every time he said it (which he does at least a dozen times in this scene). Now, whenever one of us says "Thank you" around the house, someone is bound to repeat back "Ah...thank you!" Here is the scene for your own enjoyment.

The Lakers and Rocky III: A Comparison

In Rocky III, our hero is a champion. He coasts through most fights without issue, but when faced with a real challenge, his trainer tells him that he can't win because he "ain't been hungry since you won that belt". While watching the Lakers get pummeled again last night with blow-out score board results, I began thinking of this comparison. The Lakers are Rocky in the first half of the movie Rocky III. Coasting along. Happy to be two-time Champs. They have enough talent to coast through most games without bringing up a sweat. But, then Clubber Lang comes along. Clubber Lang is hungry. He's got the "eye of the tiger"! He destroys Rocky and takes the Championship from him. Rocky is distracted, complacent, content. Clubber is hungry and aggressive. Right now, the Lakers are Rocky....distracted, complacent, and content resting on their laurels. Every one else seems to be Clubber...hungry and aggressive. I can't understand why a team like the Memphis Grizzlies can beat the Lakers by 19 points. The Lakers need to find their Apollo Creed who can reignite the fire within their souls. They need the eye of the tiger again. They need to get hungry...collectively. Otherwise, they will be destroyed and some other team will take the championship from them. Who will be Clubber? Miami? Boston? San Antonio? Heck, right now, even teams like the Bucks and the Grizzlies are Clubber to the Lakers. If they don't find some sort of urgency, aggressiveness, and hunger...then it will be all over. Are the Lakers content with a back-to-back or do they want a three-peat? Time will tell.

My New Year's Baby

Today is the 35th birthday of my beautiful wife (yes, I robbed the cradle). To celebrate her, we let choose the events and the meals of the day. As usual, my wife is pretty easy to please. She wanted peanut butter toast for breakfast, left-overs for lunch, and my Homemade Chicken and Noodles for dinner. I started making the Chicken and Noodles early today by boiling the chicken and cutting onions. Joi and Gage helped me roll out and cut the homemade noodles. This morning, unfortunately, I went to draw a bath for Joi and we found that the faucet had broken and only ran scalding hot water. While I like change, I do not like unexpected bad change...so it took me a while to recover from that. But, once I adjusted my attitude, it was a better day. The owner came over later and fixed the shower. We were thankful. Joi opened gifts this morning from the boys and I. Also, she was given her "big gift" which was a new laptop that lots of friends and family pitched in for. She needs a laptop to help in her writing career. With one book being published and with Joi writing the second book of the trilogy, she needed a laptop for writing while in her usual "on the go" Mommy lifestyle. So, everyone was very generous and provided plenty of money to purchase the laptop, plus buy her a wireless mouse and a case. Also, she's got some money leftover to purchase a couple of outfits. She was very thankful. Here are a couple of pictures of Joi with her laptop.

Joi also received the hoodie she is wearing in the picture, a new robe, a couple of Wii fitness games, some earrings, and a couple of other things...but these all failed in comparison to her new writing tool. Thanks to everyone who pitched in for her gift. It will be a huge help to her writing career and a blessing to Joi. All in all, I think she had a good birthday. The Ferris family joined us for dinner and we watched "Knight and Day". Plus, we had ice cream and we placed a candle in Joi's Slow Churned French Silk Ice Cream and sang Happy Birthday to her. I love my wife very much and she deserved the best birthday in the world. She is a gift to me every day and I pray that this next year will be a huge blessing and marked with lots of success, love, laughter, and memories.