Have you heard what Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell said in the aftermath of 9/11? While a guest on Robertson's show, The 700 Club, two days after 9/11 the two had this conversation:Falwell - "What we saw on Tuesday, as terrible as it is, could be miniscule if, in fact, God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us probably what we deserve."Robertson - "Well, Jerry, that's my feeling. I think we've just seen the antechamber to terror, we haven't begun to see what they can do to the major population."Falwell - "The ACLU has got to take a lot of blame for this. … [Read more...]

There's something magical about music. A person could stand on a stage and say the exact same words as the lyric of a song and it'll do nothing to me. But add to those lyrics a melody and some music, and all of my defenses go out the window. I'm not sure if it's embarrassing to say this, but good songs more than just about any other thing can turn on my waterworks.Here are two examples, one old and one new, that are evocative and powerful poems for me. And as I mentioned before, they poetry is one thing but hearing them sung takes me to an entirely different level altogether. I'm particularly … [Read more...]

I had an interesting discussion with my friend David Teal last Wednesday. David's a smart guy and has read a lot. And I always consider it a pleasure to converse with people smarter than me. So this was a very fun conversation.The word feminist carries a lot of different meanings for different people. In many cases, the meaning of the word is so mixed up with emotional connotations that people forget what the word feminist really means. According to the Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary sitting on my desk, feminist means "the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights … [Read more...]

Motivational speaker and author John Maxwell relates a story about attending his nephew’s Little League baseball game. The nephew had not gotten a hit all season and the coach wanted him to just stand at the plate, do nothing and hope for a walk. This didn’t sit well with John. He began to shout, “Swing son! Swing as hard as you can!” So the nephew swung and missed.John voiced, “That was a wonderful swing! Do it again! We’ll all go out for pizza afterwards!” Second swing. Second miss. You can guess what happened on the third swing. Contact. A little dribbler down the first base line that just … [Read more...]

Emily and I had the chance to visit Tampa. We were able to visit my dad and step-mom. Plus, we got to do some fun stuff together. Busch Gardens was especially fun.One of the traditions that we always enjoy is her yearly pampering. So this year, Emily decided she wanted a cut-n-color. I love her new color!She also went with a very pretty nail treatment including a pattern along with the French manicure. Though we were having a mini-celebration of her 13th birthday, I ended up walking away thinking that she looked 5 years older (except for the braces).My dad and step-mom are doing quite well … [Read more...]

Weird Al has a new CD out. I think it's called "White and Nerdy" spoofing the song "Ridin' Dirty". Check out the new video...http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1194164636orwww.myspace.com/WeirdAlEnjoy!-Kev … [Read more...]

Finding out what your last name means is cool. Learning about its origin is kewler. It's a great project for you and your kids to work on together. The sites below can offer some great help. Have fun!http://www.last-names.net/http://www.rootsweb.comHere's a sappy little poem about last names that's very male centric. I wonder what you ladies feel about names since it's much more common in our society for you to change your names during your lifetime. Let me know what you think:You got it from your father,It was all he had to give,So it's yours to use and cherishFor as long as you live.If you … [Read more...]

World-renowned artist Edgar Degas said, “Painting is easy when you don’t know how, but very difficult when you do.”I'd suggest that the same thing is true of adults and fun. We (adults, that is) know how to play. We can still remember playing and having fun. But it's so hard for us to truly play. First of all, we're to busy to stop and play. And on those rare occassions when we do roll up our sleeves to play, we just can't seem to really let go and fully enjoy the experience.So I've thought a lot about learning to play again. I'm of the mind that it'll help me stay young. Whipee!-Kev … [Read more...]

I've been having riding mower problems. And when you have a yard that is almost 2 acres, riding mower problems are big problems. My 15 yr old Snapper riding mower broke three times during the season, each time costing about $100 to fix. Well, in August, it broke a fourth time and this time the bill was going to be $275. That's it - I need a new mower. The repairman offered me $150 to part out my old mower. I said "That's a down payment on a new mower. I'll take it."Now the Snapper was a great mower for its time, but I've learned that mower technology has come a long way. My new mower was about … [Read more...]

I think 9/11 is one of those things that we all will never forget where we were when it happened. I was at work that morning and I recall a coworker telling me that a plane had crashed into one of the Twin Towers. I thought to myself "Some drunk idiot in a Cesna did what?" A few minutes later, the coworker came back and said a second plane had crashed into the other tower and that they weren't little prop planes, but great big 747s. I was stunned.I gathered my team and we all huddle around our PCs looking for news on the Internet. Many of us called home to find out more information. I … [Read more...]