Teach someone to fish...

Our Daily Bread

Have you ever heard the saying that goes something like this: "give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime". That is notion behind the devotional today. It made me think about something. I usually refer to the class I am taking at church on Wednesday nights as a "Bible study" class. Well, it is that. It is called Disciple 2 (there are four classes in the series). Like I said in this blog many times, it takes a while for some things to register in this silly brain of mine. The point of the class is not just learning the Bible (give us a fish), but teaching us to be disciples so we can study on our own (feed us for a lifetime). Wow! Light bulb!!! hehehe

Lord, thank you for the light bulb moment today. Thank you for letting me be a disciple of yours.

Foodie Friday

OK, it is officially that time of year! It is chili time! No, that is not an MC Hammer song. You can touch and eat and enjoy my chili recipe. I have changed this recipe over the years to make it less "tomato-ey". I made a batch once that someone described as spaghetti sauce with chili powder in it. Yikes! Here is the revised recipe with some alternative ingredients to fit your tastes. Try several combinations to see what you and yours like best. I like my chili like I like my men -- thick and spicy! hehehe

Ingredients:

2 large bottles of salsa (mild, medium or hot according to your preference)

2 pounds of ground round (or chuck or ground turkey or small chunks of steak)

1 can of tomato soup (this adds thickness to the chili)

1 can light red kidney beans

1 can dark red kidney bearns

1 can chili beans

1 teaspoon red pepper (more or less to your taste)

4 teaspoons chili powder (more or less to taste)

1 can of chicken broth

dash of sugar (to break down the acidity a little)

Brown the meat in a large pot that will hold all the ingredients. I have a special crock for my chili! Sprinkle one teaspoon of chili powder on the meat as it browns. This adds flavor to the meat and the chili. After browning the meat, add the contents of all the canned goods, including the sauce that is in each can. Add the salsa. Stir well and cook for a few minutes on medium heat until is boils. Stir often. After bringing the mixture to a boil, turn down the heat and then slowly stir in the red pepper, sugar and the rest of the chili powder. Let simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring often since the spices will tend to sink to the bottom of the pot. Season to taste with additional spices if you desire.

You can serve this right away or even better, let it sit overnight so the spices blend better with the other ingredients. Serve with your favorite chili sides like cheese, Fritos Dippers, onions, Tabasco sauce, etc. I don't usually put pasta in my chili, but you can add macaroni to it or pour the chili over some spaghetti (Cincy style). I like making a big pot of chili on the weekend, then eat on it all week long! Enjoy!

Other Stuff

Wow, the "eyes" have it this week. The right eye is healing, though it is not clear all the time. The left eye is cloudy (and blurry sometimes). I am too busy to think about it. Lots to do at work and around the house.

I went to Home Depot last night to pick up some more perennials, grass seed and mums for around the house. I need to plant those as soon as possible.

I had a full body scan with the dermatologist yesterday. I was sitting in the treatment room wearing only a thin sheet over me. I told the doctor this when he walked into the room "I usually get dinner before I get naked like this..." He almost laughed... I am excited as he gave me some new medicine for my psoriasis. It is working already! Woohooo! I am sort of self-conscious about this sometimes, but I am so dang confident sometimes that I just let other people deal with it. They don't have to look!

I am supposed to hit the gym with a buddy after work this afternoon. That is the kind of exercise and relaxation I need right now.

I am stress eating this week. Please say a little prayer than I will get back on the wagon today. I don't need to gain any more weight!

Question your busy-ness...

Our Daily Bread

"Well, that is none of your bee's wax, now is it?" Do you remember that retort from your youth? I hope that wasn't just in my family! "bee's wax" mean "business" of course! We would ask that question if a friend said they were too busy to hang out or to go to a ball game. Today's devotional is about being too busy. We can be doing a lot for God, but not taking time for ourselves to rest and listen to God.

I ran into this a few weeks ago. I have a tendency to over-commit my time. I did it again and had to back out of some things at church. I hated to do that because I wanted to be a part of several things at once. It just didn't work out. I was going home after work to take a nap so I could finish the evening at a church function so I wouldn't fall asleep there! I was also being crabbier than normal at work because I was so tired. I feel much better now, though I feel I let some people down.

It is hard to realize that you have to take care of yourself no matter how much you want to do other things. God helped me see that the Disciple 2 class is my top priority at church right now. After reading the lessons the first few weeks, I can see why. I will be writing more about that soon.

Lord, I give my busy-ness over to you. Help me determine my top priorities and follow them through!

Movie Monday

The movie this week was Easy A. How cute! One of my Starbucks friends recommended this movie. My best friend also saw it and liked it. It was sort of along the lines of Mean Girls and Saved! all rolled into one! The title has a double entendre between the book The Scarlet Letter and something else (if you can imagine). It is about a high school girl that gets noticed after she lies about losing her virginity. Rumors and hijinx ensue until the true comes out at the end. She learns a valuable lesson about telling the truth. Truth is more important than being popular in high school! She also learned that seemingly innocent lies really can hurt people.

The actors were great, playing up each of their respective parts. The lead character was especially charming, though she did try a little too hard in some places. The witty dialog is what captured my attention and kept it. Very cool. It also helped that you got to see the cutest guy in the movie with his shirt off. Bonus points! If he had hair on his chest, I would buy the DVD! hehehe

I give this movie 2 bear paws. It is fine to rent or watch on DVD. The big screen is not a requirement.

Other Stuff

It was nice being back at church yesterday after missing two Sundays. It was nice seeing my church friends. The sermon was great as well. My favorite part of the sermon was when Rev Keeny said "part of our relationship with God is just being human. Feeling" or something like that. I sometimes get down on myself when I am not as steady (or some would say mechanical) in my daily life. I have been learning how to accept and deal with my feelings. I don't want to repress them again just to "appear" to be all together! God is teaching me discipline, though I sort of suck at it. I will keep working on it.

I relaxed yesterday after getting home from church. I had a massive sinus headache. I slept and watched movies the rest of the day. I managed to do my reading for Disciple 2 in there somewhere. I feel much better this morning. I will see what today brings.

I will be upbeat and steady. That is what I do...

Praisers wanted...

Our Daily Bread

Praisers welcome! The devotional today is about Colossians 3:12-17 where the author encourages us to encourage each other through our praises to God and our good works. In these verses, we are taught to not only be purely motivated from the inside, where no one can see, to being "clothed" with things such as compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. As you know if you are clothed with something, everyone can see it! That is the point. Make these characteristics so obvious that everyone can see them as easily as they see the clothes on your back. I never thought of these verses in this way before. ;-)

Lord, let me be clothed in compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience today and always.

Technology Thursday

Have you heard all the "Droid Does" commercials? Have you heard about Google Android and didn't know what it was? I will write a little about it this morning and give you some references if you want to read more. As a technology geek, I find it interesting!

Google Android is a "mobile operating system". What does that mean? It means that it is computer code that can run on smaller devices, like mobile phones, tablet devices, etc. It does not require a desktop or laptop computer like other operating systems like Windows or Mac OS. Why does this matter? If you haven't noticed, the smart phone market and the tablet PC market have EXPLODED in the past year or two. Blackberry devices have been around for over ten years now, but the introduction of the iPhone a few years ago made smart phones cool for everyone. The introduction of the iPad spurred a whole new interest in tablet computers. Finding the right operating system for non-Apple devices is critical for their success.

Droid is a brand name for Motorola phones that run the Android operating system. There are other manufacturers like Samsung and HTC. Most of these manufacturers announced new Android phones around the same time of the iPhone 4 rollout this summer. It was a busy time for reviewers!

So what is the big deal about Android? First, it is an open source operating system. That is important because it means that no one company "owns" the rights to it. Developers can extend the operating system (OS) easily. They can't do that with iOS (Apple) or Windows Mobile. Second, it is easier to develop applications on this OS than most other mobile platforms. Developers have rushed to port or development new applications for Android. There are many cool OS features that they can take advantage of in their applications. Lastly, the OS is backed by Google and by several major phone manufacturers AND several computer manufacturers for tablet devices. Yes, Android can run on tablet devices as well. How cool is that?

If you are looking for a new phone, the new Android powered phones have a tendency to be "brick" style that are as large or larger than an iPhone. Some folks want a smaller, cute phone and don't need all that power. The Android 2.2 release on the latest Android phones is very powerful and supports some things that the iPhone does not (like the Flash player).

Are there any down sides? Yes. Managing music on a non-Apple device is a chore in my opinion. iTunes is very easy to use. It does a great job of managing your music on your iPhone and iPods. It is not a horrible task to manage your music on an Android device, but it is not as easy. Also, most of the Android phones are brick phones as I mentioned above. They don't exactly slip in and out of your pocket easily.

Try them out. See what you think. Here is the wikipedia article on Android.

Other stuff

My right eye is still healing. It has only been a few days since the laser surgery. It is clear, then blurry, clear, then blurry, etc. It will heal. It will be fine.

I am REALLY enjoying the things I am learning in my Disciple 2 class at church. God showed me why I needed to get back in that class the past few days. The two chapters this week reinforced the things that God has been teaching me the past few weeks. How cool is that! I am looking forward to the studies for this week. I also plan to read the second chapter, which I missed last week.

I have a full body inspection scheduled at the dermatologist this morning. I have psoriasis that needs to be monitored. I found an ad for a new drug that I am going to ask about. I currently use a cream and a spray on each outbreak location. It is not fun and I can't use the spray all the time because of the side effects. I will see what the doctor says.

I don't think I have any doctor appointments scheduled for next week. I am thankful for that. ;-)

Hang in there, my friends. I know I will. That is what I do...

God wants you back...

Our Daily Bread

"We want you back!" Have you ever received one of those letters in your mail box or email inbox? "We miss you! Come back to see us soon!" This is the message that God had for Israel in the book of Hosea. God loved Israel despite their disobedience and turning away from him. He sent Hosea as an example for their relationship.

God still offers redemption today to everyone who believes. Everyone. Even if you don't go to church or don't want to talk to some minister, talk to God today. He is there...listening.

Lord, thank you for showing your faithfulness and love in every way. Please save me from myself.

Wee-way-shun-ship Wednesday

Just friends...

There comes a point in almost every relationship (since every relationship can't end up in a permanent one!) where you have the "we can still be friends" talk. I love that talk! NOT! Well, I sort of do like that talk because it can mean that you can at least salvage a friendship out of what might have been a romantic relationship. If the person was worth having a romantic relationship with, shouldn't being friends be great? Let's look at that based on the two categories I defined a few weeks ago...

When you care too much...

When you are the one who cares too much, just being friends is probably not enough. The romantic feelings are too strong to settle for anything less than a romantic relationship. That is unfortunate in many ways, but it can also be merciful. The one who cares too much can feel like a dagger is being twisted each time he sees the other party or can feel nothing at all if he represses his feelings so deep to alleviate the pain he feels. Time can often heal this pain if the one who cares too much opens the wound, and the pain again, for healing to begin. It is not easy.

When you don't care that much...

You know the type - the guy or gal that is just along for the ride so they say they are "dating" someone. Their self-esteem appears to be based on that "dating" status. They need the attention. Sometimes they are actually looking for a long-term relationship. Sometimes they are actually emotionally available to have one. Be kind and patient if you are this person. The other person can't help it if she cares too much. That passion is one of the things that attracted you to her, isn't it?

Here are two more scenarios. Think about them...

When neither of you really cares that much...

Sometimes it is just about sex or just about having someone to do stuff with like movies, dinner, etc. Going through the motions of a romantic relationship is not healthy. Just be friends and set appropriate boundaries. I used to believe in "friends with benefits", but I don't any more. Having a true friend is the only benefit I need from someone.

When you both care too much

Sometimes stuff just happens. A job moves one of you away. Family issues cause you to be apart. Stuff happens. Acknowledge your feelings. Develop a reasonable approach to the relationship going forward. Just friends may be hard because you both had strong feelings. It is just not meant to be. Let it go. Remain close. Thank God for the chance to love someone special. I realize that it is not as easy as the few sentences that I just wrote...

Other Stuff

My right eye is healing up after my laser surgery on Monday. It will take a week or two to settle down. It is blurry, not blurry, etc. at different times during the day. It will be fine.

I have been working hard on my Disciple 2 studying the past two nights. I felt like God told me to get my butt back in that class after missing last week and telling my minister that I planned to drop out. God immediately showed me why I needed to be in the class. The two lessons for this week addressed the things I have been struggling with the past few weeks! The additional insight was amazing. I have some things to think about and pray about as I move forward. Thank you God for showing me the way. Please help me be a better listener when you speak.

God knows...

Our Daily Bread

One of the mysteries of God that I discussed with friends when I was young was the idea that God knows each of us and knows what our lives will be like. What? Some translations of the Bible imply (at least to us) that God predestined each of us to the lives we live. It sounds like God uses us as puppets in his grand scheme. NOT!!! While God knows the paths that each of us will take, he does not predestine us to those paths. I can't imagine knowing all of that information. Being a computer geek, I can't imagine how large his people database is! hehehe

The thing we should remember from today's devotional is that God is an awesome God. The Bible is not even the tip of the iceberg in describing God. From creation, he has known us and has loved us. How cool is that?

Lord, thank you for knowing me and loving me any way. You know all of my secrets and all of my needs. Thank you...

iTunes Tuesday

Not much on the iTunes front this week. I noticed that Susan Boyle has a new Christmas album. Go with what sells, Susan! I listened to a few sample tracks. She has some nice tracks. Check it out.

I ordered some new contemporary Christian CDs this week to add to my collection. I enjoy listening to these songs when I drive to work. I am a little tired of the two albums I currently listen to. I found some deals on Amazon.com. I will rip those CDs into my iTunes when I receive them.

Iron Man 2 comes out on DVD today. Woohoooo! It had some cool moments in it.

Other Stuff

Please know that God does work in mysterious ways. Reconciliation and grace are wonderful things. Trusting God, something that sounds very easy to do, is not always easy. As I read the Bible and remember stories from previous studies, I see how humans have doubted God over and over and how God has come through over and over again by fulfilling his promises.

I am looking forward to staying home for a while. I need to get some things done around the house. I have to work overtime for a while. I have to keep up with my Disciple 2 Bible studies. Hang in there, everyone. God believes in you. I believe in you.

Be our guest, be our guest....

Our Daily Bread
Today's devotional reminded me of two things in my life. First, my family has a history of hospitality. I am very proud of that and glad to have had that example set for me in my life. I remember many holidays when we had folks to our home that had no where else to go for the day. I still do that today when the opportunity arises.

Second, I think of the ministries that I am around each week at church. King Avenue welcomes everyone. The mission and church we support offer a place where hope and healing can begin for those who need it.

I think each of us should work on making ourselves and our homes as places where the people in need can feel welcomed and loved.

God, I know I need to show your love to everyone. I need your love, strength and wisdom to do so each day.

Movie Monday
Whoooooooo saw a movie this weekend? I did! ;-) The Legend of the Guardians is about the owls of Ga'Hoole that protect the owl kingdom from bad owls. Baaaaaadddd bad owls! It is an animated flick. I thought it was very well done. I like movies that are either so silly they make me laugh uncontrollably or action movies or movies that have great characters that are well-written. The Legend of the Guardians has the last two characteristics.

There are lots of cute characters and lots of scary characters. The characters and the action shouldn't be too overwhelming for small children since it is rated PG. I won't tell you all the story or the ending, but I will tell you it is worth seeing. Go for it!

You will laugh, you will cry, you will want to tell owl jokes! I give this movie 3 bear paws!

Other Stuff

I got home from Cincinnati about 5:45 last night. I spent the rest of the evening doing "return home from a trip" stuff like laundry, putting away treasures, etc. I didn't spend that much at Ikea, but planned out the master bath update I want. I also saw some kitchen stuff and laminate I would like, but I am not sure I will ever spend the money for that stuff in this house. I will see what the future holds.

I have minor laser surgery on my right eye this morning to clear up the film left over from the cataract surgery in June. It will be nice to finally see clearly out of that eye again. We will figure out what else needs to be done to that eye to fix the astigmatism after today's surgery heals up.

My big project at work goes into full motion as the consultants arrive today. Yikes...

Despite the "busy-ness" at work, I plan to make time for my Bible studies and my walking. I soooooo need to lose weight and get my health numbers back in order. I can do it. Please say a little prayer for me as I continue my fight with being more disciplined! hehehe

If you haven't noticed, I am feeling much better now. I realize that I am not the most consistent person on the planet. What I lack in consistency, I more than make up for in personal strength and determination. For example, I received my diploma from Franklin University in the mail on Saturday since I didn't attend the graduation ceremony for my latest masters degree. This one is in Computer Science. I am very proud of that accomplishment considering I have been fighting so many health issues the past two years. Gosh, maybe I have been consistent in my determination. That is a place to start!

Hang in there. I know I will. That is what I do....

What a great day!

Wow! What a great Saturday!

First, the Buckeyes kicked butt. I hope they can keep it up during Big Ten play starting next weekend!

Second, I had a beautiful day to visit the Ohio Renaissance Festival! I saw the shows that I wanted to see then walked around people watching. There were a LOT of interesting sights! I took the picture of a very cute pirate. I also learned why you shouldn't sit in the second row of the Mud Theater wearing a light-colored outfit! I guess I should read the warnings on these shows!

I left the RenFest and drove back to the hotel for a short nap. I met my buddy Timmy for supper at Newport on the Levee. I had to do a little shopping at B&N first! I found a great Tai Chi kit that I plan to start using this week. Dinner at Brio was great. We heard the couple next to us talking about South Pacific so we said hello. It turned out our seats were very close to theirs at the theater! How cool!

The traveling show of South Pacific was very, very good in my opinion. The voices were amazing, which is usually a complaint of mine. I also have to say that the orchestra was one of the best I have heard for a while despite one or two intonation problems with the French horns. Timmy was his usual sweet self. I really appreciate his friendship of almost 10 years.

I am out and about early today. Let's see what adventures await me!

Other Stuff
This week will have its challenges for me. A low risk eye surgery on Monday. A huge, high profile project at work continues. I plan to return to the Disciple 2 class at church after missing week 2. I need to catch up my reading for that class. I also plan to work on my eating habits again. I can do it with God's help. I will also have an opportunity to show God's love to someone who was unkind and judgmental towards me during my struggles the past rwo weeks. Lord, you know I need your help with this person. Thank you in advance.

Have a great day! Hang in there!

A new day

I know that some of you think my approach to this no ordinary life is strange to you. Why do I continue to push myself at my age? Why do I put myself "out there" by sharing my journey with friends and on this blog?

First, we have many examples of this in the Bible. I am not saying my babbling is Biblical in any way, but I write about a shared experience that every Child of God has ( or should have in some form or another). How would we understand about spiritual struggles without the writings of David or Paul for example?

Second, sharing these things is humbling. Those who know me understand that I am a very confident, self-reliant man (almost annoyingly so!). God is constantly reminding me that I need him for every breath and to see each new sunrise. The humbleness helps me empathize with others better than I used to. That is a good thing.

Third, the periods of deep struggle help you realize the people that are important to you and the people to whom you are important. Some "friends" view folks like me as unstable and not worthy of their support or friendship. What is up with that? Everyone has struggles. Everyone needs friends who will BE a friend and the friendship not be a one-way street. I finally saw some folks for who they really are during the last few weeks.

Lastly, the struggle is worth it when God realizes you can't handle any more and floods your heart with his love and your mind with his deliverance. Yesterday was one of those days. Deliverance from some struggles from the past few weeks and from the past few years! God had a special friend call me out of the blue. It was so unexpected and appreciated. God continued to teach during my drive down to Cincinnati last night, reinforcing the things he promised and giving me grace for more patience. It is days like this and all the subsequent days afterwards that make the struggle and the journey worth every step.

I am in Cincinnati this weekend. I had a nice dinner then saw the movie The Legend of the Guardians. I will review that on Monday. I plan to go to the Renaissance Festival today then see South Pacific tonight. I have had a few "opportunities" in the trip so far but will not let them bother me.

Sooooo, building on the things I wrote the past few days I leave you with: A life well-loved is best. That is what I do...

Heed the call...

Our Daily Bread

There is a song by the Imperials called "Heed the Call". "You got to heed the call, brother...Heed the call, Sister... Everybody one and all, heed the call!". The low bass really belts out the Heed the Call lines!

The goal for each of us is to hear the call, determine what the call is, then finally heed the call. I think part of my struggle right now is determining what my call is at this point in my life. I had my own plans for what my life would be like right now. Those plans have been blown all to heck! Are your plans blown all to heck, too? Let's pray this short prayer together.

Lord, help me hear your call, determine what the call is, and heed your call whatever it might be. Please make your plan, my plan.

Foodie Friday

The recipe this week is another favorite! I could eat these things for days (and as my ex's family found out at the holidays, I really did eat them for days!). The recipe is for sausage balls. They are great for parties or for breakfast or any time! hehehe You can make them with regular pork sausage or use spicy pork sausage and a little red pepper for an additional kick!

Here is the original link for the recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground pork sausage
• 2 cups biscuit baking mix
• 1 pound sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, combine sausage, biscuit baking mix and cheese. Form into walnut size balls and place on baking sheets.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, until golden brown.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving Calories: 264 | Total Fat: 19g | Cholesterol: 49mg

Other Stuff

There is a nice man visiting me to fix my water line today, so I am working from home. I like having that option when needed.

There are several of you that emailed me about my absence this week. Thank you very much. I feel much better about things. I will keep moving on. After reading the story The Station again last night, I came up with a new saying (at least I think it is new):

A life well-lived is great. A life well-loved is the best.

I wish us all the best life... That is what I do...

I am traveling to Cincinnati this weekend to relax and spend time with friends. I plan to visit the Renaissance Festival tomorrow (it is Barbarian invasion weekend!, woohoooo!) and see the show South Pacific at the Aronoff Center tomorrow night. I am sure there will be an Ikea and/or Dillards stop in there somewhere. That is also what I do...

I'm back...

I am back after a one week absence. To be frank, I just wasn't "feeling" it this week. I was sick last weekend and slept most of the weekend. I even missed work on Monday and slept most of the day. I haven't been feeling well for several weeks. I felt like I had to back off all of my activities so I could focus on work and getting better. I hated to back out of my church obligations. When you have to go home after work to take a nap just so you can make it through the rest of the evening, you know it is time to back off some things!

I have been nervous about the two eye doctor appointments I had this week. My first appointment on Wednesday afternoon with my regular eye doctor went very well. Both eyes are showing improvement. I need to keep my blood sugar and blood pressure down so the healing can continue. My next visit is in six months. I will continue my activity restrictions until then. The last time I started my normal activities, my left eye started bleeding! I don't want that to happen again!

The second eye doctor (the cataract eye doctor) appointment went fine, but I had to be firm with him. He told me about the option to have one eye see distance and one eye to see up close. I made it very clear from the beginning that is NOT what I wanted. It turns out that is what I got any way! Oh HECK no! He also tried to minimize my secondary cataract issue that causes a foggy appearance through the right eye. After a little talk (hehehe), his eye sight started to see things MY way! hehehe. We are going to fix the secondary cataract on Monday. After that minor surgery heals, we will evaluate my prescription again to see if we need corrective surgery on the right eye to make my eye sight 20/20 again. I am not being bitchy here. Having the eyes see two different things works for many folks. It does NOT work for me! I had that scenario for many months before the cataract surgery. It drove me nuts! It screwed up my depth perception horribly! I can barely walk on uneven ground because I can't judge distances very well. It sucks! This too shall pass...

I am also having an adventure with my house. I found out Wednesday morning that I have a leak just outside my house that is filling my sump pump tank with water over and over. After having my sump pump go out when I was on vacation recently, I knew I had to do something about the water problem. I have a contractor visiting me tomorrow (Friday) to fix the issue. Like many things that I do with my house, I am having it done the right way even though it is costing me more than I want to pay (I am frugal!). I can add this to the "I won't have to deal with this again" check list and list it as a selling point for my house. Whew!

As you can see, having no ordinary life has its not so ordinary ups and downs. Everyone has ups and downs. With great blessing and great accomplishments also comes great responsibility. Dealing with the challenges and the responsibilities can be overwhelming at times. Overwhelmed is what I have been feeling the past week. Not even movies or writing have sounded enjoyable to me.

So how does one "snap out" of such a period? I really don't have a great answer for that question. It is different for each person. I am still working through the my personal answer right now. Interestingly enough, I was reminded of a story by Robert Hastings while shopping at Target tonight. I met the author many years ago. He was a wonderful man. Please read the story at the end of this entry (or here).

The root of my angst this time? I feel like God has let me down. Silly, huh? It doesn't seem silly when you feel like a promise was broken. Actually, it hasn't been broken, is just hasn't been acted upon in my time frame. My time frame is what is important, isn't it? ;-) There are many reasons that God hasn't fulfilled this promise yet. I know many of them. He is still teaching me the rest. So until that promise and the other promises that God made to me are fulfilled, I will do my best to fulfill my promises to Him. Apparently, I am much worse at keeping my promises to Him than He is keeping His promises to me! DOH! So as the story The Station says, I will keep living as I go along instead of counting the miles or pacing the aisles. This is my prayer for you as well. Will write more tomorrow...

THE STATION

By Robert J. Hastings

TUCKED AWAY in our subconscious minds is an idyllic vision in which we see ourselves

on a long journey that spans an entire continent. We're traveling by train and, from the

windows, we drink in the passing scenes of cars on nearby highways, of children waving at

crossings, of cattle grazing in distant pastures, of smoke pouring from power plants, of row

upon row upon row of cotton and corn and wheat, of flatlands and valleys, of city skylines and

village halls.

But uppermost in our conscious minds is our final destination--for at a certain hour and on a

given day, our train will finally pull into the station with bells ringing, flags waving, and bands

playing. And once that day comes, so many wonderful dreams will come true. So restlessly, we

pace the aisles and count the miles, peering ahead, waiting, waiting, waiting for the station.

"Yes, when we reach the station, that will be it!" we promise ourselves. "When we're

eighteen. . . win that promotion. . . put the last kid through college. . . buy that 450SL

Mercedes-Benz. . . have a nest egg for retirement!"

From that day on we will all live happily ever after.

Sooner or later, however, we must realize there is no station in this life, no one earthly

place to arrive at once and for all. The journey is the joy. The station is an illusion--it

constantly outdistances us. Yesterday's a memory, tomorrow's a dream. Yesterday belongs to a

history, tomorrow belongs to God. Yesterday's a fading sunset, tomorrow's a faint sunrise. Only

today is there light enough to love and live.

So, gently close the door on yesterday and throw the key away. It isn't the burdens of today

that drive men mad, but rather regret over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow. Regret and

fear are twin thieves who would rob us of today.

"Relish the moment" is a good motto, especially when coupled with Psalm 118:24, "This is

the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it."

So stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead, swim more rivers, climb more

mountains, kiss more babies, count more stars. Laugh more and cry less. Go barefoot oftener.

Eat more ice cream. Ride more merry-go-rounds. Watch more sunsets. Life must be lived as we

go along. The station will come soon enough.

Goals...

Our Daily Bread

I am a very goal-oriented person. Are you? How should we set those goals? There are times I set goals based on my own wants and needs. Sometimes to make me feel better about myself, like losing weight or earning another degree. I try to set my goals based on my understanding of God's will for my life. I don't always follow that path.

When it comes to setting goals based on God's will, those goals can seem out of sync with the world around us. Setting a goal to become more humble is not something the world understands. That is not important as long as we understand and know why we have those goals.

I set a goal a few months ago that several friends do not understand at all. I will keep plugging away at it, though it has been difficult for me. God is refining my personality through his crucible of self-discipline.

Lord, I understand what you want me to do. I don't know how I am going to do it. Isn't this where you are supposed to jump in and help? I need your strength to go on.

Foodie Friday

One of my favorite meals last week in San Francisco was at the garlic restaurant called The Stinking Rose. hehehe I loved the roasted garlic appetizer on fresh focaccia bread. Mmmmm. Everything has garlic in it, including garlic ice cream for dessert! They publish a few recipes on their web site. Here is the link. Here is one of the recipes. It looked great at the restaurant. I had the prime rib for supper. Mmmmmm!

The Stinking Rose ®

40 Clove Garlic Chicken

You heard it right. 40 cloves! But don’t let that number scare you, because they add just the right amount of zest and aroma to make this one of The Stinking Rose’s® most popular dishes!

1 Tbsp. Butter

2 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2-3 lbs. Roasting Chicken, washed and cut into pieces

to taste Salt and Freshly Ground White Pepper

4 Tbsp. Fresh Rosemary

1 Cup Flour

40 Cloves Garlic, Peeled

1 Cup Dry White Wine

4 Cups Chicken Stock

1/2 Cup Heavy Cream

1. Heat butter and olive oil in a deep, heavy skillet.

2. Season the chicken with salt, pepper and rosemary. Toss in flour.

3. When the pan is hot, but not smoking, add the chicken, skin side down.

4. Sauté chicken until golden brown on both sides. Remove from pan.

5. Add garlic cloves and sauté until light brown.

6. Add white wine and chicken stock. Return chicken to pan.

7. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

8. Remove chicken and keep warm, turn heat to high and reduce liquid by 66%. Remove to blender, add cream and puree sauce. Adjust seasoning and serve over chicken.

Other Stuff

I apologize if I have been a little bit of a downer this week! I have been very tired after recovering from my trip to San Francisco. I have been horribly busy at work and each evening. I feel much better today. I will be my usual upbeat self again! I am looking to getting some things caught up this weekend. I am looking forward to seeing the OSU game (regardless if I have a date or not). I am looking forward to the church choir social on Sunday evening. Should be a great weekend!

I have a weekend trip to Cincinnati planned next weekend. I want to go to the Renaissance Festival and then see South Pacific on Saturday evening at the Aronoff Center. Should be a great weekend as well.

Hang in there folks! I know I will!

Water, water, everywhere...

Our Daily Bread

When asked last night, "what in nature inspires you to think about God?", I replied "water". Water is life giving. Water can destroy. Water is powerful. Water can be harnessed by pouring it into plastic bottles. Water comes to us in many forms.

Water is a metaphor for God to me (except for the plastic bottle part!). God gives us life. God can destroy (or let things be destroyed). God is powerful. God comes to us in many forms.

The question last night was my "heads up" that I need to recognize the nature around me more so I can see God working. Seeing God working in nature can help me see God working in my life. To be frank, I am feeling a lot like Job right now. I try not to whine, but it is difficult at times. I have been tired and stressed this week after getting back from vacation. I am dealing with a personal issue that I would LOVE to put away for once and for all.

Lord, please help me take comfort in knowing you are working in my life. You know what is best for me. You know what I need.

Technology Thursday

Today I want to write briefly about mobile computing, specifically tablet vs netbook vs laptops computers. There are more types of mobile computing devices that I will talk about another week.

Laptops

Laptops are usually 13" in screen size or above, usually with a full keyboard, and some kind of optical drive (like a DVD or CD drive). They usually have more computing power than a tablet or netbook computer, but not necessarily. They are usually the heaviest of the three types, running from 3.5 pounts and above. I have seen them as high as 12 pounds without the power adapter! That is not very mobile! Laptops usually have shorter battery life than netbooks or tablets due to the increased power.

I have been keeping a laptop around to use for school. I needed the additional power and larger screen to do my programming and word processing work. My Gateway laptop is about 6 pounds or so and had a fairly small power supply. It sort of sucks when the power supply weighs almost as much as the computer!

Netbooks

Netbooks are usually have screen sizes less than 13", can weigh as little as 1.5 pounds, have a longer battery life than laptops, have a condensed keyboard and are usually slower than laptops. Netbooks are good for traveling or keeping in your backpack or purse for quick net surfing or emails when you are out and about. I found that I had a hard time reading the small screen, but I have trouble reading a lot of stuff at times with my eye issues.

Netbooks are great for folks that want some computing power, but don't want all the weight or need the most powerful machine out there. A popular use is to use the built in wireless networking with Skype for long distance phone calls. Very cool!

Tablets

Tablets recently came back into vogue with the release of the Apple iPad. Wow! What a different type of device! The iPad, and the many, many others that are coming out this Fall, are a new spin on an old technology. Tablet computers may or may not have a keyboard. They are usually touch screen with a touch screen keyboard. Some devices, like the iPad, allow connectivity via a Bluetooth keyboard if you want to use it. Tablets can vary a lot. The iPad gives decent computing power for specific types of tasks with ease of use that is unparalleled.

Personally, I can read things much better on my iPad than on my netbook. There are some things that the iPad, or other tablets, can't do at all or do very well. Be sure to try out the things you want to do on the tablet before you buy it.

Other Stuff

The first night of the Disciple 2 class was great! I am really going to enjoy the class.

I had a great supper with my friend from my dinner group. She even scored some OSU vs Ohio tickets for me for this weekend's game. Woohooo! I have never attended a game at the 'shoe. This should be fun!

How can I not trust?

Our Daily Bread

After reading the scripture passage for today in I Peter 1:3-12, how can I not trust the Lord with everything in my life? Like everyone, I try to live my life my way and do the things I want to do. That is not all bad as long as the things I want to do are in sync with God's will and fits into the way I am supposed to act.

A friend once preached a sermon with this theme: "if you spend your time doing the "do's" of the Bible you won't have time to worry about the "don't's"!" ;-)

Through our God, we have hope. We have strength. We have assurance. We have joy.

Lord, thank you for hope, strength, assurance, joy and most of all, for your love.

Wee-way-shun-ship Wednesday

Last time, I wrote about the "What are we?" question. This week I want to write about this question "Why don't you feel the same way I do?" Since I suck at the "What are we?" process, I suck even more at this week's topic!

So what do you do when you are the one who feels more?

First, double check your feelings. Are the feelings real or just some baggage you are bringing along for this trip? ;-) Sometimes baggage can disguise itself as feelings such as love and adoration. Make sure what you are feeling is real.

If the feelings are real, then what do you do? Consider backing off the relationship a little or maybe a lot depending on what the other person says. I recently went out with a guy that I was uncomfortable with because of his insistence on taking things very, very slow. FYI, taking things way too slow or way too fast usually indicates some kind of issue(s)! Warning, Will Robinson! Some people do take longer to feel things, so hang in there if the person is worth it. Be aware of the right time to cut your losses, if necessary.

So what do you do if you are the one who doesn't feel as much?

Give youself time. Be honest with yourself. Be honest with the other person about where you are coming from. Be alert about the verbal and non-verbal messages you are sending. Also, be aware of the right time to cut your losses, if necessary.

I have experienced one of the oddest relationships in my life since being single again. I am the one who feels more in this case. I checked my baggage. I am sure what I am feeling is real. The object of my affection has been honest with me about his lack of feelings for me with his verbal communication, but his non-verbal communication says something completely different. I double checked myself and decided to only accept verbal communication from him. He has to hit me over the head with a hammer before I will understand that he might have feelings for me. Until then or until I move on, I have to avoid looking into his grayzel (gray and hazel, yes, I made up an eye color for him) eyes so I don't swoon or forget what I am saying. I also decided (and communicated to him) that I don't plan to act on my feelings any longer.

Other Stuff

Yes, work is busy. Big River rehearsals are going well. I start the new Bible study tonight after having dinner with an unexpected friend. She and I have gotten closer this year. I really appreciate her friendship very much. Church choir practice is on Thursday night. I get to rest and relax some the weekend around catching up on stuff around the house. Whew!

For the birds...

Our Daily Bread
I should probably say when one of these devotionals DOESN'T apply to me! Today's devotional hit me square between the eyes again and again. I currently feel like the little bird in the story - anxious, frazzled and afraid of what will happen next! Yes, I had a wonderful vacation last week. Coming back to reality hit me hard in every part of my life.

My question to God: if you really do understand the finest points of my being, why haven't some things changed for me? I mean changed for the better! I am anxious and afraid of what will happen next with my health. I am frazzled with work and getting stuff done around the house (after vacation). I love taking part in the play at church, but I am a little anxious that I will suck on stage! hehehe There are some personal feelings that I dealing with again that have been difficult for me (to say the least).

The most important thing for each of us to remember is that we CAN talk to God about these things. We CAN leave these things with God and move on throughout our day(s) with confidence and feeling His love.

Lord, thank you for knowing the finest parts of my being. I want to have faith and patience that you are working in my life.

iTunes Tuesday
Did you know that iTunes has more than just music and videos? I will talk a little bit about the App Store section of iTunes this week. I have an iPhone and an iPad. There are apps that work on both. Some apps only work on one device or the other.

First, be careful what you are buying on the App Store! I mean the store doesn't know what kind of device you have, so it will let you buy stuff that you can't use! Not that I have done that.... OK, I bought an app that only works on the iPhone 4 a few weeks ago. DOH! I will use it when I finally get an iPhone 4 next year (or whatever the latest and greatest iPhone is by then).

There are a LOT of free apps. It is easy to get too many apps on your iPhone and iPad. By too many, I mean more than you can easily manage and find on your iPhone. This is important since the 4.x release of the iPhone software allows for folders to contain apps as well as the multiple screens on the iPhone or iPad.

Here are some of the apps that I use:
Both iPad and iPhone:
Opera web browser
Yelp
NY Times
The Weather Channel
Dictionary.com
Flixter
Slacker
Southwest Airlines
Kindle
Pianist
Bassist

iPad only:
USA Today
Pages

iPhone only:
FlashforFree
ProCamera

Check out the app store if you have either of these devices. Many of the applications also work on the iPod Touch. The latest version of that device came out week before last. It is awesome!

Other stuff
Like I mentioned above, I am a little anxious, frazzled and afraid of what will come. I have eye doctor appointments next week. The eyes are good some days and not so good on other days.

I continue with my commitment to taking some "me" time away from dating and remain celibate during this period. God is teaching me self-discipline. I sort of suck at self-discipline where it really counts. I started eating better yesterday. I want to finally lose the weight I need to lose. My health assessment numbers were horrible this time around. I need to fix that!

A challenge for me...

Our Daily Bread

The devotional today talks about General (and eventually president) Eisenhower and how he learned to control his anger through his mother's influence when he was a boy. Learning to control anger and frustration is something I deal with on a daily basis. I am not an angry type of person, but I do get frustrated very easily. I am blessed with the ability to see what is usually the best or most efficient path for a plan or a project. It frustrates me when others can't see that as well. I need to learn to lead others to the best way rather than forcing my approach on them by using my strong personality. I feel the "leading" is a waste of time in many cases. I know down deep that it isn't and that people do things whole-heartedly when they are lead in the correct manner.

Conquering anger and frustration is also important for me in my personal relationships. I often don't understand why the guys I go out with do the things they do. I don't often react well to odd behavior. I have a tendency to go for the jugular when things don't go my way instead of being loving and Christ-like. I am working on that...

Lord, help me to be more patient, loving and truly lead instead of bullying.

Movie Monday

You might say to yourself "When did Duane have time to see a movie during his busy San Francisco trip?" The answer is "when I was hanging out with my good friend that lives out there!". I have a friend that moved from Louisville to SanFran about 14 years ago. We still keep in contact and hang out whenever I visit there. We usually have a great time!

Last week, we watched his DVD of "Another Gay Movie". Do NOT watch this with your family! It us unrated, so you know what that can mean! There were some very funny parts, but there were also some very, very naughty parts! Like most of the movie!

In short, the story line is like a gay version of the movie "American Pie". The four guys are gay guys in this movie so you can imagine how some of the story lines play out.

I have to admit that I had to look up some of the references made in the movie. I didn't know what they were talking about at times. Oh my!

I give this movie 1 bear paw. That is a stretch unless you and your friends are drinking heavily and want to laugh at silly gay stuff.

Other Stuff

Back to real life today! I will be very busy the next few months with work and church stuff. I am excited about it, though I am a little overwhelmed until I get caught up from being on vacation last week. There are several things to do around the house. I may not have time to do them until this weekend. I will see how that goes.

I decided that I need to eat better to see if that helps me feel better. Some of you asked me about my eating habits. I usually eat well enough and take enough insulin to keep my blood sugar under control (to protect my eyes and the rest of my body). I need to eat better so I can lose weight and reduce the amount of insulin I have to take. I can do it. That is what I do....

Back home at last

The flight home yesterday was the normal kind of flight after a great vacation - dreading going back to reality! I am very fortunate that my reality is pretty wonderful. I am thankful for the chances I have had to travel and the chances to do cool stuff at home with friends.

I have my church dinner group tonight. I love hanging out with group each month. We are having BBQ. Does white wine or red go with BBQ? Hehehe I am sure I will find out tonight.

Work is going to be busy the next few months as a new project ramps up when I return.

I am also playing two small parts in our church's production of Big River. I get to sing a corny solo. I can be a big ham. It will be fun! The show is the weekend of Oct 15. Put that on your calendar!

I am attending a Bible study at church on Wednesdays. I was a little surprised to hear that they changed the day from Monday to Wednesday (they had very good reasons for the change). I had already cleared my schedule on Monday nights for the next 30 weeks. I will rework my schedule to accommodate the change. Two of my favorite friends are teaching the class. I am looking forward to it.

I will resume my usual topic schedule this week. It was nice taking a little break from the structure I prefer. Hehehe

On location: San Francisco - Day 7

Wow! Our last full day in San Francisco was great! The weather was warm. The sun was shining.

We mailed some items back home, then went to Lori's for lunch. It is a cool 50's diner.

There was an unusual fog (not the normal fog!) pattern around Alcatraz and the GGB. My best friend got some great shots during our excapade to that area. He was relentless in getting the shots he wanted!

I rested for a short time after we got back from the photo trek, then headed out for the evening. I stopped by SFMOMA (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art) before meeting my buddy for supper and drinks. We had supper at the Sausage Factory again. I had the tortellini with cream sauce, peas and prosciuto. I love that dish! Our server was cute and flirted with us old guys. hehehe I guess he was working the tip!

We went to a few bars around Castro before my buddy had to head home. He had to get up early this morning for a conference. I thought I would stop by the Lone Star (the main bear bar in SF) for one last drink. I met some nice guys from Europe and some others from SF. I made my way around to three of the other bars in the area before calling it a night. The funny thing was that a guy I saw at one of the bars on Castro (I gave him my free drink token) was also at the Powerhouse. We hung out for a while, which was very nice. I made my way back to the hotel very late. I tried to be quiet so I wouldn't wake up the best friend.

We are packing up our treasures this morning and getting ready for the shuttle to take us to the airport. It was a great week and a great vacation!

On location: San Francisco - Day 6

I had a beautiful day to wander around San Francisco yesterday. It was a little crisp but the sun was out most of the day. After getting a late start, I finished my cafe mocha and headed out. The best friend met a friend for lunch so I used the "me" time for some shopping and hanging out. I helped a French couple find the Westfield Mall. I enjoyed an art fair on Union Square. I found a few bargains at Old Navy after I realized that I hadn't packed enough underwear for my trip. Yikes! I don't like to rinse out underwear. Ewwwww!

I wandered down to the Castro area again. There is a card shop that I wanted to visit. Let's just say the cards can be very naughty! I noticed a handsome guy also checking out cards and started talking to him. Apparently my ice breaker line of "Didn't I see you on one of these cards?" impressed him. We had a nice talk and hung out while killing some time. I walked around Castro looking at some of the other shops and revisiting some of my favorites. I avoided the cookies at Hot Cookie (see picture). Not sure why!

I called my buddy to make plans for last night. We met at Union Square for our big night out. We went to supper at the Stinking Rose, a garlic restaurant. This place makes Buca di Beppo taste like hospital food! Lots of garlic including garlic ice cream for dessert! After dinner we went to Club Fuzio to see Beach Blanket Babylon. The show is a San Francisco tradition! We laughed and laughed at the revue and the outrageous hats! We went back to the hotel to rest up for our last full day in the city. What a great week!

On location: San Francisco - Day 5

I spent the morning at Fishermans Wharf doing some souvenie shopping, then had lunch at Cheesecake Factory on Union Square. The best friend was tired so I journeyed over to Chinatown by myself. It was a very interesting seeing Chinatown next to the financial district!

The picture to the left is from one of the trading stores in Chinatown. LOTS of interesting stuff!

Here are some other pics from Chinatown. They are supposed to have a celebration in a few weeks. They already started the decorations!

We are going to see Beach Blanket Babylon tonight. It is a local revue show that is a hoot! Just a few more days left, then I will fly home.

On location: San Francisco - Day 4

We had another great day in San Fran even though the weather was colder than yesterday! We spent the morning at the Westfield Center mall. There are over 200 stores and restaurants there including Nordtroms. We met my buddy for lunch in the food court.

After lunch, we took the F street car to Fisherman's Wharf to take some pictures. Fortunately the skies cleared up and the sun started coming through for a beautiful afternoon (though still windy and cold!).

We also took the harbor cruise that lasted about an hour. We went around Alcatraz and went under the Golden Gate Bridge. Boy, was the wind cold and the water rough! We got some good pics. Very cool.

Below are some pictures from the afternoon. There is one of my acting like the silly bear I am (look for my face in the picture -- Where's duanebear?) hehehe

There is a picture of the Transamerica building. A pic of a very photogenic seagull. ;-) The last picture is another SanFran symbol -- The Coit Tower.

We had a nice supper at the Fog Harbor Seafood Restaurant on Fishermans Wharf. I tried something outside of my comfort zone -- seared ahi tuna! It was very good!

We ended the evening by crashing at the hotel after picking up some passionfruit iced tea at Starbucks (thanks, Dan!).

The weather is cold and "spitty" today Not sure what we will do. I am sure it will be fun!

On location: San Francisco - Day 3

We had a great time yesterday! What a great day!

We took the trolley car down to the roundabout and then another to the Castro area to meet up with friends. While walking around we found Harvey Milk's office (see the movie) and also checked out some home prices. Home prices are deflated, but still outraeous compared to the Midwest! We looked at a few shops on Castro and got some tea at Starbucks.

We met friends for a few drinks before heading to lunch at The Cliff House which over looks Ocean Beach. Wow! We drove back downtown via the west side of the Golden Gate Bridge and a beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean. Our friends took us on a great site seeing tour of the city starting with going across the Golden Gate Bridge, something the best friend always wanted to do, and ended the tour by driving down Lombard Street!

We plan to go back to some of these sites for picture taking moments. It was too crowded for us to stop for pictures due to the Labor Day crowd and being a beautiful day. Here are some of the pictures from the day:

On location: San Francisco - Day 2

Day 2 was our first full day in the city. We had a relaxing time of shopping and spending time with friends. We started the day out slowly since we were out late the night before. Breakfast at the little diner across the street from our hotel had great food. We will visit there again, I am sure. We picked up some stuff from Walgreens after breakfast, then headed back to the hotel to get ready for the day. This Wasgreens had some great SF souvenirs at cheap prices! Woohooo






I met a cute guy that worked at the Starbucks near our hotel. The funny thing is that I saw him at the Lone Star bar later that evening!


We walked around Union Squarevisiting the stores and doing a little shopping. The most impressive thing was the rotunda at the Nieman-Marcus store. Wow! The best friend took me to a nice lunch in the restaurant under the rotunda. Very, very nice.


We met up with some friends at Lone Star in the early evening. The place was PACKED! The back patio was wall-to-wall with bears! It was fun just to work your way through the crowd! The best friend met up with his friends. My buddy showed up later, then we walked over to the Eagle, which is three blocks away. It was a very different crowd than what I expected. Great for people watching! We stayed for a little while, then went to my friend's apartment to hang out. We played with his cute dog, Joey, and watched "Another Gay Movie" on DVD. Never seen that one before!

After a long day of relaxing, we collapsed back at the hotel. We had some unpleasant things happen on the street car on the way back to the hotel, We will probably avoid the public transportation at night from now on. No one was hurt, just lots of yelling at one point and some kids tried to pick our pockets! Yikes! Oh well. We are starting our adventures for this day. I will tell you about them tomorrow! Here are some more pics from day 2:

On Location: San Francisco Day 1

The flight to San Francisco was fine. The flights were on time with no major incidents on the planes like screaming children or rude flight attendants. Of course the free drink tickets from Southwest helped make the flight a lot more friendly!

We found the shuttle stop after a short period of disorientation while leaving the airport. We got to the hotel, but our room wasn't ready yet. We got something to eat and walked around Union Square, which is only a few blocks from our hotel. I like the hotel a lot though it is on the cusp of a not-so-nice area of SF. I can deal with it.

We met up with my buddy that moved here from Louisville about 7 pm for dinner and drinks. We ate at a restaurant on Castro called The Sausage Factory (don't go there...) The Italian food is wonderful. I had tortelinni in cream sauce with peas and prosciuto ham. Yummy! We hit a few bars after that, but it was a little early to be out. We ended up at the Lone Start (a bear bar). We met several nice guys to hang out with during the course of the evening. There were some interesting personalities around, especially the one who held several conversations with himself!

We made it back to the hotel and collapsed into bed after a long day.

We are going to get breakfast now and buy somestuff at Walgreens. We are supposed to meet some friends later for happy hour. I wll let you know what we see today.

On Location: San Francisco

My vanity...

Our Daily Bread

I am not an overly vain man, but I do have some vanities. I started using a cream of some kind or another on my face when I was in my early 30s. OK, my secret is out! I wish it would have done more good! hehehe I am not the kind of guy that would get botox. I don't want to look older than what I am, but I am not going to take risks with something like botox to look temporarily younger!

The devotional this morning talks about looking better on the inside through the power of God's love and forgiveness. We are instructed in Ephesians to put aside the vanities and lusts of our bodies and this world to focus on what is really important -- building character so you can be a better witness for Christ.

Lord, please help me look beyond this physical body to the character you are building on the inside!

Simply Saturday - San Francisco, here I come!

I am going to take a break from my usual writing schedule this week. The Hell you say! I am traveling to San Francisco this morning to meet up with my best friend. I really need to get the heck out of Dodge and have some fun. This is probably my last big vacation for the year (though I was invited to go to CA with a buddy of mine over Thanksgiving last night).

I did not overly plan this vacation. I learned my lesson! We have a few things we want to do and will play the rest by ear. I know what you are thinking -- who is writing Duane's blog? It is surely not Duane! hehehe My best friend wants to take lots of pictures. I want to visit a good friend that lives out there. We will use our CityPass book as we feel like it. We will also see Beach Blanket Babylon!

I will update my blog with our activities (within reason). I hope you enjoy the change of pace. I am sure I will get the shakes and return to the regularly scheduled programming as soon as I return!

Always a way around a rule...

Our Daily Bread

The devotional today is about loopholes. I have to admit that I often look for loopholes even though I consider myself a "play by the rules" kind of guy. I look for a loophole or maybe a second chance if I break a rule.

I also have to admit that I have too many days like the little girl described in the devotional. Despite my best efforts to be charming or to cajole or to manipulate or to influence, I don't always get my way. That is very frustrating! hehehe Just kidding! I don't have to get my way. I don't always feel I get what I need, so I go after it! Defining my "needs" is what I need to work on!

Lastly, Jesus talks about religious folks using the laws of men to preclude them from doing the right thing. How often do we do that today? People have to look a certain way or act a certain way or drive the right kind of car before we include them in our churches and our lives. We deceive ourselves and hurt others.

Lord, help me to see where I use man's laws for an excuse not to do the right thing. Help me show your love.

Foodie Friday

The recipe for this week is one of my favorites -- hash brown casserole. Do you see a theme with my cooking? COMFORT FOOD! There are things you can do to make this recipe more heart healthy. I will put the suggestions at the end of the recipe. Click here for the link to the web site.

HASH BROWN CASSEROLE

1 1/2 lb. frozen hash browns, thawed

1/2 c. butter, melted

1/3 c. onions, chopped

2 c. cheddar cheese

1 pt. sour cream

1 can creamed chicken soup

Ritz crackers OR panko

Mix all ingredients together, put into buttered casserole dish. Crush Ritz crackers, or open the panko bag, and spread on top. Melt 2 tablespoons butter. Put over crackers or panko. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Serve while hot.

I prefer to use panko on top of my hash brown casserole instead of Ritz Crackers. The Ritz are easier to find. Most large grocery stores carry panko now. Panko is a variety of bread crumb used in Japan.

As far as healthy alternatives, you can use low fat soup, cheese and sour cream. You can also use one of the butter substitutes or butter/canola oil spread as well for a similar taste and consistency.

Other stuff

I am very excited about my San Francisco trip. Things have been sort of crazy for me the past month. It will be nice to get away and relax and have fun. My best friend is my usual travel buddy. As with any best friend, he asks me the two most important questions when we are partying "Where is your shirt?" and "Can you walk to the car?". hehehe

I was on the phone with Asus last night about my netbook computer. Heavy sigh. The netbook started acting up this week. I think it might be out of warranty. They rebuilt the OS, but that didn't help. I took the keyboard off and tried to adjust stuff. That seemed to help a little bit. I may order a new keyboard for it to see if that helps. The touchpad or mouse bar might also be the culprit. I will keep looking at it.

Be still? DOH!!!

Our Daily Bread

I found an old song by Stephen Curtis Chapman called "Be Still and Know that He is God" a few weeks ago. God must have wanted me to find it because I found out an acquaintance at church was singing it the next Sunday! Talk about reinforcing behavior!

If you know me at all, I am not a "be still" kind of person. I am working on it. Oh wait, I am just being still and not working on it. DOH! You see how confusing it can be for someone like me? ;-) I am training myself to keep my mind still while praying and meditating. That is not easy for me, Mr. Multi-tasker. I hope you are better at this than I am. When was the last time you tried to be still and know that He is God?

Lord, help me to be still. Be still and KNOW that you are God.

Technology Thursday

Fast Internet access is one of my favorite things on the planet. I love surfing and downloading stuff quickly. Woohoooo!

Almost everyone that works away from the home has fast Internet access at work. We are usually not allowed to surf wherever we want since the access is for business use only (wink, wink). Wouldn't it be nice to have fast Internet access at home?

For many years, "dial up" was the only option for Internet access at home. I used both AOL (America Online) and NetZero for my access. I used to have two phone lines -- one for phone and one for dial up Internet access. What a pain!

I remember getting my first cable modem at home in 1999. Oh happy day! I couldn't believe how fast I could surf! It was great! It is now 2010. What options do you have and what do they cost?

There are still two main options for fast Internet access at home, though the technologies have changed a little. They are DSL and cable modem. DSL (digital subscriber line) is from a phone company. The maximum speed is usually slower than a cable modem, but DSL can clost a lot less for the casual user that doesn't need the maximum speeds. I think my aunt pays $14.95 per month for her DSL. It isn't bad at all!

Cable modems require at least basic cable, which can add to the cost of the service. Several speeds are available up to the current max of 24 meg (at least in the Columbus area). I have 24 meg service and it is FAST! Bundling the fast Internet access with other services usually saves you money. Check out what your provider(s) offer.

There are two other options that are not as prevalent -- fiber optic and satellite. Fiber optic to the home is still too expensive in most cases. The speeds are amazing, up to 50 meg in some of the test areas. I am not sure of the cost. Satellite can offer "better than dial up" speeds, but there is a significant cost for the equipment and the service.

I have one last thing to add. If you have a laptop with wireless access built in, there are a lot of free wireless Internet access points available now like McDonalds, Starbucks, Barnes and Noble, Panera, etc. Please be careful what you surf on these services. The data transmissions are not secure. I do not recommend viewing your bank account information or other types of sensitive information over these services. Beware!

Other Stuff

I attended my first rehearsal of Big River last night at my church. I am playing the parts of Pap and Sheriff Bell. I get to sing a solo about the gov'mint. Cool. I won't be able to attend rehearsal again until Sept 14 due to schedule conflicts. I will be at rehearsal regularly after that. I am planning to work on my lines and music tonight. I also want to finish preparation for my vacation and watch the Buckeye's game.