Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Well, that's what we taught the Cub and Boy Scouts as part of environmental awareness.

Recently, my good friend Todd the Blogger posted about finding a new use for the wedding dress that had been unceremoniously left behind when his wife walked out on their marriage.  Knowing from personal experience what a raw wound divorce can be, I wouldn't be posting this unless he had already opened the door on the subject.

Now I find there's a whole blog devoted to creative re-uses for those supposedly once worn dresses.

As they say, sometimes we laugh to keep from crying. 

BTW, may I offer heartfelt encouragement to a mutual friend as he works to save his marriage and family.  Godspeed, Shay.

h/t: Geeding

The World's Gone NVTS - Nuts!

Comes now word from the Fort Worth Startlegram that a 20 year old Grapevine boy-man has been arrested for placing his 13 month old son's mouth on his marijuana smoking bong, apparently while his shack-up old lady, the child's mother, aged 19, watched.

I am a sinner.  But you can call me a cranky old curmudgeon when I read about stuff like this.

Are we happy with all the hippie-dippie "we shouldn't judge" mentality that took root in the '60s?  We're reaping what was sown, I suppose.

I pray, and hope you will too, for the little guy.  And his parents.

Finally!

In 1977, I was working at a Braum's Ice Cream store in Grand Prairie, Texas - my first after-school part-time job.  Yeah, I was a soda jerk.

Through some connections with a former neighbor who was a regional executive for Warner-Elektra-Atlantic records, I had tickets available to me for The Eagles.  The Eagles!  Only my favorite band at that time (and possibly still), on the Hotel California tour, no less!

Unfortunately, I was scheduled to grill burgers and make banana splits that evening.  Couldn't find anyone to take my shift.  Lots of folks since then have asked: "Why didn't you call in sick?", but my parents had instilled in me the work ethic that if you are sick, you stay home, and if you're not sick, you work if scheduled.  So no go.

A month ago a friend of mine for the past nearly 40 years called and invited me to the Eagles show at the AAC.  So thanks to his and his wife's generosity (not to mention swimming and a delicious pre-concert dinner at their home), I finally got to enjoy that show I'd missed over three decades earlier.

Except that this one was probably better than the '77 show, when they had five studio LPs in their repertoire.  Now, with 2-1/2 CDs of new material, plus Don Henley's solo work, they were able to put on a nearly three hour show and still leave the audience wanting more.  Befitting a show before a hometown crowd, Henley had more turns on lead vocals than the others.  Of course, that could just be because he's one of the best singers in the business, sharpest writers, and, as well, attended NTSU (about a dozen years before I did).

Despite the notion that this band has always been dogged by interpersonal conflicts, I got the impression that at an average age of 63, they're in their prime and with the wisdom that follows maturity, comfortable with one another playing a set that, by my unofficial count, included about 33 songs.

Saturday night's show was pretty much flawless - an ensemble cast of consummate professionals.  I listened to a Redbeard interview over the weekend in which Henley spoke of his commitment to giving fans their money's worth, whether on his CDs or in concerts.  It's clear he practices what he preaches.  Even if I'd had to buy my own ticket, I'd have gotten my money's worth.

And my clothes didn't smell like I'd been riding around with Cheech and Chong...

Doogie gets married

Over the weekend, I learned from the intertubes that Doogie Howser, J.D. got married.



Now, I thought I was gonna be all clever and stuff, and say that now that Doogie's married someone else, maybe Winnie Cooper is available.

Danica McKellar a/k/a Winnie Cooper

Until, that is, I remembered that she was from The Wonder Years, another show altogether.  [All: "Another show..."]

And found out she got married last year anyway.


Pre-emptive edit: Yes, I know there are racier pictures of Ms. McKellar, but I'm running a family-responsible blog here...

Oh...and congratulations to Mr. & Mrs. Howser...

Building the Perfect Feast

Lambert's song speaks to that memory of place that I think we all carry forward from our childhoods. For me, it may not be just one place - three or four come to mind - places not only in geography, but in time. 

One of my favorites was in my grandparents' town park in Kansas.  There was a steel corkscrew slide, probably put there in the '30s or '40s, but could've been earlier.  It wasn't one of these modern resin slides, but honest-to-goodness American iron and steel.  The inside was polished smooth from thousands and thousands of kids joyfully riding it. It was built for kids, and served its purpose well.

I haven't been back to that town in a few years now, and have no idea if it's still there, but it'll always be in my memory, my soul.  I know I would be dismayed, saddened to find it'd gone to the scrap heap, but, as things built by human hands, nothing lasts forever.

What we make of brick, stone, wood, and metal - these things are fleeting.  In the early days of Christianity, Jesus followers met in home churches, as being known as a Christian was not beneficial to one's social standing or livelihood.  In Ray Vander Laan's DVD series In the Dust of the Rabbi, he leads a tour of Priene, where the temple to the Greek goddess Athena now lies in ruin, partially rebuilt for the sake of tourism. 

The Apostle Peter knew about the first destruction of the Mount Temple, and admonished Christ followers to be as "living stones" (1 Peter 2:5) , building not grand edifices, but building in themselves, in their hearts, the Church that Jesus commanded.  In 70 A.D., just a few years after Peter's epistle, the Jewish temple was again destroyed, and has not been rebuilt to this day.

Today, nearly every town of any size has fantastic structures built for people to worship our Lord and Savior.  I have been to St. Peter's in Rome, St. Basil's in Moscow, and St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna.  All are impressive and awe-inspiring.

But more important than all of the stone, brick and mortar, carved wood, gold leaf and painted frescoes is the question:  What kind of temples are we building, in 'living stone' in our hearts?

For my part, hopefully, and prayerfully, the type my children can someday call The House That Built Me.

Edit - Found this quote that seems to tie in:

THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN CHRIST become his representatives, extending Christ’s ministry of reconciliation, restoration, and recreation. We become Christ’s body in the world, the temple of his Spirit, his living presence to perform his works.
- Daniel Vestal , Being the Presence of Christ

Wir haben gesprungen

Well, that, or maybe the aliens have landed [again].

This type of structure is called a sprung.  I don't know if it's a trend, but I seem to be seeing more of them.  Though I'm definitely no expert, they seem to be very versatile and space efficient (no interior load bearing walls).  Acoustics also seem to be very good inside. This one has just been erected near Haslet.  There is another in Argyle, and my friend Todd the Blogger's church has one in south Fort Worth.

Circle the wagons vultures

I don't know why, but every time I'm near Cottondale, I see vultures - lots of them.

Today, I interrupted a pair feasting on some sun-baked skunk.  Yum!

Due to traffic, I couldn't get their portrait on the first pass (you know how congested it gets out there), but on my return trip I was prepared.  The two you see on the bridge hopped up from their brunch to pose nonchalantly on the rail.  Later they flew off to the tree, where at one time I counted five, but by the time I snapped the picture, only four were still there.

I'm thinking the Cottondale area may have as many buzzards as Wall Street.  Or a law firm.

Nah...

Edit: I enlarged the picture and found that there are seven vultures visible.