The Oddest Places

I am guessing that if you are reading this blog that you do know a little something about me. If you are reading this, and do not know me, then I must be boring the heck out of you. But that is not my problem.

I think 2 of the things you know about me, is one, I occasionally get a little moody, and two, me and my Dad do not exactly see eye to eye on really anything. Surprisingly, both of these facts came together today.

I was on one of my moods. I really did not want to see anyone, or do anything. But today was my oldest nephew Caleb's 3rd birthday. At 3:00 today I showed up at my sister's place with gift in tow (walkie-talkies, which my sister advised me Caleb really wanted), and I really did not want to be there. I wanted to be home, and watch movies, and just be away from anyone. But my uncle sense of duty was calling to me. It was time to spend time with people, let alone the most stressful people of all...family. The party started off good natured. My brother-in-law's family are very kind good natured people, and it was fine. My sister was kind of going crazy...but that was to be expected. My Mom was being hostess, and then my Uncle, Aunt, and cousin showed up. Then, I heard a strange voice coming from the front door. A deep voice that I had not heard in a while. My Dad.

You see my Dad was not suppose to be at the party. He called my sister and me and told me that he could not make it this time, but hoped to come for Eli's (my youngest nephew) birthday. And then, he showed up. Said that he was wanted to surprise us. Well that he did, and I was. I was surprised by my Dad, his wife, and her son Anthony.

Honestly, at first, I was sceptical. My stress-o-meter went to about a 40 on a 10 scale. If I was a cat, my back fur would be up. If I was a comic book hero, my spider-sense would be tingling. Usually when my Dad is around, I always get anxious, and gittery, and never feel good about it. My Dad and I are just about complete opposites. If it was not for the similar appearance in our faces, and love for the West Wing, and Gator football, there would not be anything that would relate us to one another. It is funny, but when he is around I all of a sudden become 10 again, and feel insecure, and like I am not good enough. But we are family. He is my dad.

But a surprising thing happened today. I did not feel 10. I felt like myself. And you know something, I laughed. I told jokes. My spirits lifted. I enjoyed myself more at the party. And afterwards I went and had dinner with my Dad and his family. Although tired, I enjoyed myself very much. I ahd a great time, and a great day.

Now, I am not saying that my Dad had to do with my change of mood. I am not sure if that was the case...but you know, I think he helped. He sure did not hurt my mood. And you know that is something. It is something that is potentially good.

Wow, it is late. I will go over thoughts about the last paragraph at another time.

Until then, I am your Eternal Bud.

But you

The World Needs Heroes...to Read About

As most if not all of you know, I am a bit of a pop culture guru. I am a fan of movies, music, comic books, and regular books. I know trivia about some of my favorite items in pop culture. I annoy my friends with random quotes from movies like Star Wars, Ghostbusters, and Caddyshack. I love my new comic book days, and I like it when new CDs come out. I was one of the people who hung out in line for the last Harry Potter book. So needless to say, that I am a child of pop culture.

There is one thing that is bothering me about the movie/book/comic book business as of late: the rise of the "anti-hero". This is a character that is willing to do anything to get to their primary objective. We have characters that steal things, so that they can "help" people. There are characters that hurt people to get information that they want. The same characters and others also kill people to "save" others. This is a disturbing trend. I do not like it. I do not like it one bit.

What ever happen to real hereos? What ever happen to heroes that people created that we could look up to? What happened in literature where it was said that in order to have a good story, we need to have a character be moody, and dark. What happened to the creation of heroes that were like Superman, truth, justice, and the americal way? What happened to Spider-Man and "With great power, comes great responsibility"? I want new heroes to believe in. I want to read a book, or see a movie and see a character that I can believe in. I want a hero to have a belief system of something I believe in. I want a hero that I feel good when I finish the story or movie, and not feel like I am rooting for the wrong team.

I know that the world we live in has real heroes now. The events of 9/11, the soldiers over in Iraq, the people who donated money, and time to help Tsunami victims, or helping to end hunger all over the world. Heroes are police officers, or fire fighters, that protect us on an every day basis. A hero is a missionary that goes where no other person wants to go to bring the gospel to a country where a government is determined to spit in Jesus' face. These are real heroes for real times. I am thankful to heroes like them. Because of them, I am able to be free, and be able to openly worship Jesus with out the fear of being persecuted. Heck, I am able to be free to read anything I want to. It is a blessing, I need to thank God more for.

I want the real heroes, but I also want the fictional ones. The fictional ones are the ones that sadly people know more about. We need these fictional heroes to help show the world that there is a light. We need fictional heroes to believe in.

The world need heroes, not villians dressed in a white hat.

It is late...not sure I am making sense anymore...going to bed.

Your Eternal Bud.

Thoughts are Screaming in My Head

Have you ever had so many thoughts running through your head that you can't get any of them out? Almost like a funnel that has too much in it, and everything gets stuck instead of pour out. Well that is how I am feeling right now. My head actually feels full. I am going to try to get some of it out right now.

• My friend Karisse's blog has been putting a lot of those thoughts in my head. Karisse has a heart for the world, and she does an amazing job in her blog talking about it. She is talking about Human Traffiking (hope I spelled that right) on her blog now, and I hope everyone who can read Karisse's blog does. It kind of shows how naive I am of the world as a whole right now. I have heard some things about Human Traffiking, but not to the extent that she is working with in her life right now. Karisse also has many resources that are on her site that you can go to if you have more questions, or want to help. Karisse, if you read this, and you are good with it, can you please post your blog site in the comment section of my blog? I am still not sure how I am going to help...but it is something that I feel like I need to do something.
• Tomorrow is my Godson Jacob, and his brother (my pal) Connor's joint birthday party. Now will this party be insane? Yes it will. It will be a dozen or more kids running around a controlled area, and basically acting like kids. I need to get my sleep tonight. But it will be fun. The smiles make it completely worth it. Giraffes, and hulu hoops, and Mickey Mouse oh my!
• My nephews have been in my thoughts a lot lately. I wonder if have spent enough time with them. I wonder if I have made an impact on their lives. I know I am selfish...I want to say something here, but it might hurt my family...so I think I am going to leave something unsaid.
• I think about my life and where I am right now. I think about my age, my marital status, my legacy. I do not think I have much of a legacy right now. I want to change that.
• I think about my weigh in tomorrow. And a little bit of fear creeps in. I think of the possibility of gaining weight. Of disappointing myself...of disappointing my friends. My hear grows heavy thinking about that.
• I think about after the party tomorrow, and about meeting my Uncle and Aunt to go to the movies. We are potentially seeing 2 movies tomorrow...in one day. Am I crazy? I might be.
• I think about God...I think about how lousy my prayer life is right now. I think about why I cannot stay focused enough to talk to Him in a focused completely heart felt way. I think about not being worthy enough to talk to the creator of the universe...and yet He still wants me to. You know, most actors, singers, or writers that are "famous" you cannot talk to anytime you want to, but the creator of the universe is available 24/7, and I do not take advantage of that enough. Why? Why? Why? Bishop Desmond Tutu once said, "There is nothing you can do to make God love you less. There is nothing you can do to make God love you more." But why do I always, always feel so completely unworthy.
  
• I think about the tobyMac song, "Lose My Soul". "I don't want to gain the whole world to lose my soul." I wonder how much of my soul has been lost to the world. We are to be in this world, not of this world. We are to be aliens in this world. I sometimes wonder if I have become a resident. Father, I hope not.
• Speaking of father's, my Dad sent an email to the family a few days ago to announce that he and his fourth wife Debbie are seperating and that they will probably be divorced soon. I feel bad for him about this one. The other ones, not so much...but this one I do. Dad has been on the straight and narrow on this one...he has tried hard to make it work. It just still fell apart. He seems OK with it. Almost resigned that this one has failed. I feel very bad for him.
  
• My Dad once asked me why I am not married yet...I told him that God gives fathers and sons so many chances at wives, and that he took all mine.
  
• I saw the movie Wall-E...it is amazing...I strongly recommend it to everyone.

Well, I got some of it out of my head...my head still feels full. Sigh.

Your Eternal Bud,

CHRIS

Like the Header?

Thanks to my friend Laura, I have a new banner telling everyone just who this blog belongs to. Like it? I know I do. Hopefully with her help, my blog will look a little different over the course of the next few month.

But thanks LaLa!

More blogs to come...

Chris