He Said What?

This morning I was listening to 92 CITI FM when I heard the dj say, “Son of a b###h!”    Now I’m not a prude or nor am I perfect, even though some may think I am, but it sure caught me off guard.  Does everything goes on radio and tv now?

I have three young kids and I censor what they hear and see on radio, tv and computer.  I  know most kids these days hardly know what a radio is much less to listen to one early in the morning but I still think colorful language and conversation has no place on radio.  That fine line that separates the acceptable from the not-so-acceptable is getting blurrier and blurrier.

 

 

We All Lie. Lance Armstrong, Neil Armstrong…

Lance Armstrong (Photo credit: goat karma)

I loved Ben Johnson.  He was one of my favorite athletes.  When news broke that he had taken banned substance, I was more inclined to believe his denials than the claims.  Being a part time conspiracy theorist helped too.  Then Marion Jones, same thing.  Barry Bonds, Hulk Hogan,  Manny Pacquiao, Pee Wee Herman, oh wait a minute, how did Pee Wee get on that list?  Scratch him.  Maybe scratch the Pac Man too, not sure yet.  But anyways, these guys sounded so sincere in their denials.  ”NO!  I DID NOT TAKE ANY STERIODS!  I WOULD NEVER DO THAT!”  How could I not believe them?  Plus I’m a real good judge of people.  But these guys are good.  Pretty convincing at least to me.

Then came Lance Armstrong.  The king of the cycling world.  This time I was certain the system was out to get him.  He wouldn’t knowingly cheat.  Of course he wouldn’t, he had too much to lose.  Heck, the guy beat cancer, he knows how to fight the odds without cheating. Plus he had that Livestrong foundation thingy going for him.  He won’t sully his name like that.   Lance decision to take the punishment rather than fight the inquiry, raised some questions but not enough.  I still believed he was innocent.

I was just starting to get over this whole thing when out of the blue, Lance decided he was going to come clean on the Oprah Winfrey Show!  What?  Come clean?  You mean you weren’t truthful? You tricked me?  I should have known!  Asked by Oprah if he took steroids, he said yes.   Blood transfusions? Yes.  Growth hormones?  Are you stupid? Yes.  Oh Lance….

When will they ever learn that they will get caught?  Is it worth the risks? Granted, he stands to still make up to $100 000 per gig as a public figure.   Just to show up at stuff and looked pretty.   Lance, I don’t give a crap about what you did. The roids that is.   You stand to lose a lot more than you could have gained.  Sucks to be you but if only you were smart enough your name could have been indelibly etched in the annals of history as a great man.  Now don’t take this the wrong way but now you might only be remembered as a fraud, a coward, a cheat and a fool.  All those tours? Just a big waste of time.  Nothing to show for them.

Don’t worry, it’s just my take.

Related articles

• What Lance Armstrong said to Oprah Winfrey (ndtv.com)
• Lance Armstrong interview with Oprah Winfrey: the previous denials (telegraph.co.uk)
• Businessman stuck with ‘toxic’ Lance Armstrong DVDs (itv.com)
• 8 Cheaters That Make Lance Armstrong Look A Straight Shooter (huffingtonpost.com)

Amazing Grace

Music of Grace: Amazing Grace (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A few days ago, while listening to a Christian Radio, (chvn 95.1 fm),  the song Amazing Grace started playing.  For some reason, I found myself pondering the song and  the origin.  This is one of the most recognizable of all songs,  religious or otherwise.  I think even the devil sings it.  It is so popular that I’m sure many if not all of us,  sing it from memory without really paying much attention to the lyrics.  Here’s a little blog about the man behind the song and its origin.

English man John Newton,  was the songwriter of this historic song.  For such a deep and soul baring song, one would think that he must have been a deeply devout christian, testifying to the saving grace of God.  Well sort of.

John was forced into military service and later, on his own volition, became a slave trader.  Apparently, he had one of the worst sailors’ vocabulary that his captain had ever heard.  (He was the most profane man the captain had ever met). In other words, he cursed like a sailor and more than a sailor.

John Newton was not always religious, even though his mother tried to instill it in him.  In fact, he denounced God at one part in his life.  It took a near-death experience for him to return to the fold.  (He cried out for God’s intervention when the ship he was on was caught in a storm).  That incident marked a turning point in his life and one that he would remember for the rest of his life.

Contrary to claims, Newton did not write the song in a moment of clarity while on a slave ship.  In fact, after his conversion he continued to dabble in slave trading and only gave it up after being ill.  He wrote Amazing Grace some years after his last voyage.

Amazing Grace is a strong song.  It speaks volumes about God’s love and his forgiveness.  This blog is not to take anything away from John Newton or to judge him in any way for his participation in one of the darkest era of humanity, (Although I think he should have given it up after he found God but maybe his conviction and conversion was not fully completed).  He left us with a great song.

Years after hanging up his slave trader hat, Newton joined forces with abolitionist William Wilberforce in his fight against slavery.  For such a person like John Newton, it would have taken an amount of saving grace to redeem him from what he was.  A bad boy, a slave trader and a man who turned his back on God.  It must have really been an Amazing Grace that saved a wretch like him.  And me.  And you.

Amazing grace, how sweet thou art…

Related reads:

http://www.texasfasola.org/biographies/johnnewton.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Newton

My Greedy Ex Is Back!

Have you ever been in a relationship with someone you loved, when out of the blue, they say,  ”Honey, I think we should take a break.  I need some space to sort things out.”?  At first you are heartbroken but as time passes, you start having fun enjoying the single life with your new-found freedom.  You have regular dates but nothing too serious and have your entire summer planned out.  Then again, out of the blue, she (it’s usually a girl) shows up.  ”Hey honey, I missed you.  I think I am ready to be with you now.”  Yep, how convenient.

So obviously, she was not having as much fun with the separation as you were.  For her, the grass wasn’t greener on the other side.  Unfortunately, you had made plans that did not include her, so her showing up throws a wrench into the mix.  Yes, you love her but you are just not ready for her at this time.

Well if you understand that scenario, you will understand my mixed feelings over the news that the NHL and the owners have ended their labor dispute.   This means that they would play the remaining 48 or so games instead of scrapping the entire season.  I guess they figured that a half year’s revenue is better than no revenue.

I am an avid hockey fan so I should be pleased if not excited about having some games this season, right?  Well not really.  You see the thing is, I have since moved on.  I made plans that did not include sitting down for a few hours watching hockey.  I have home renos and family stuff.  Maybe I am not that avid I guess.  I was hoping that they would have called the season and made plans for next year.  But no, here they are with 48 or so games to tantalize us.

I am also unhappy that millionaires are taking the sport out of sports with their greed for more millions.  At the end of all this, we the fans are the losers.  Not the overpaid players and not the fat cats who own them.  Lost revenue has to be recouped and I’m sure it won’t be done by a decrease in someone’s pay.  No sir, we will pay. Just watch.

And honey, I’m sorry but you just can’t show up when you feel like it.  You are toying with my emotions here.   What am I gonna do now? I have already made plans  and I just can’t fit you into my schedule right now.

Just my take.

Alcohol and Facebook

You are perhaps wondering where I’m going with this blog.  Well they may sound like a mismatched couple but alcohol and Facebook , has more in common than you think.

I had this Aha! moment the other day while on Facebook.  I was checking my news feed and browsing a few status updates.   Some of the statuses my friends had led me to wonder,  ”Would she say this in person?” or  ”This does not sound like him at all.  He doesn’t talk like this.  Actually he’s never talked like this in all the years that I have known him.”    And that is when I made the connection.

Facebook and Twitter to some extent, gives us that imagined protection and bravery to say whatever we want, just like alcohol.  All of a sudden, we can talk about our lazy boyfriend or girlfriend and even wax philosophical.  Just like with alcohol.  We can rant about how bad life is and how our work sucks, also just like alcohol.  Hey, and when on Facebook, it’s all about us.  We try to be the center of attention.  Again, (Let’s all say it together) JUST LIKE ALCOHOL!  I mean, some of us don’t need Facebook or alcohol to do all that but for the rest of us, we need a dose of bravery, in liquid or media form.

So, which persona is  real?   Is Facebook giving us the chance and courage to be and say who we really are or are we playing dress up?  If it is the former, maybe I should only communicate with my friends and family via Facebook.  This way we could be ‘keep it real’.   Or have a nice stiff drink of bravery.  I am thinking most would opt for that choice.

And you thought I was going to blog about Facebooking while drunk.

 

 

Goals and Resolutions

I gave up on resolutions a few years ago.  I used to make them like they were a batch of cookies.  Made so many that by January 2nd, I would forget what I was supposed to do or not do.  By March, I would forget them all.  They were fun to make but a pain in the butt to keep.

Read the Bible daily, exercise more, eat better, don’t listen to gossip, and that’s for one year.  Like I said, I never got too far from home plate.  Now I set goals instead of resolutions.  What’s the difference?  Well by setting goals, I can afford the odd stumble or even a fall or two.  As long as I keep my goal in sight and keep striving for it, then I’m ok.  I don’t beat myself up as much as I would do for a broken resolution.

Now some of you might say, ‘But aren’t they both one and the same?’ Not really.  You see, at least in my interpretation, a resolution is a formal intent or a will to do something.  A goal is basically the result you hope to attain.  So instead of making a bunch of hard-to-keep resolutions, I can now make a goal that could maybe envelope them.  A goal to maintain a specific weight would mean exercising and eating right but will also leave room for little hiccups like a day off from exercising or an evening pigging out on pizza, without the guilt.   Get where I’m coming from?

It reminds me of a runner in a marathon.  He falls and hurt himself but he gets up and heads for the finish line.   When he crosses, it would not matter how many spills he had or how many times he walked.  What matters is that he crossed that line.

Whether you made resolutions or goals for the new year, make them realistic and don’t go too overboard.  I have a friend that would always have these big and drastic resolutions.  He once said he was quitting coffee altogether.  ”Buddy, why don’t you just cut back your daily consumption instead?”  I said to him.  He didn’t listen and no, he didn’t quit drinking coffee…well maybe for a couple of days.

So whether you are setting goals or making resolutions, I hope they are/were realistic.  Don’t be too drastic as I don’t think any of us could change who we are in one year.  I know, I have tried.

Happy New Year to you and yours!

Related articles

• 5 Reasons Why New Year’s Resolutions Don’t Work (transformationalchoices.wordpress.com)
• You: Top 10 Strategies for Making Your New Year’s Resolution Stick (lifehacker.com)
• Realistic Resolutions (imconfident.wordpress.com)
• My 2013 New Year’s Resolutions (christianitymatters.com)