1. What did you have for breakfast this morning? If you didn’t have breakfast, why not?
I ate toast, Heywood Banks’ favorite food. Always have one cinnimon, the other jelly….either grape or strawberry. Bacon…and orange juice. If I have nothing else for breakfast, I almost always have OJ. A definite must. Some people need coffee; I need OJ, like OJ needs an alibi.
I rarely skip breakfast. I am one to need to eat breakfast.
2. What’s your favorite cereal?
For part of the time, growing up I ate Cheerios…with sugar. Then it was Rice Crispies. Sometimes Alphabets. Later on it was Fruit Loops. It’s interesting that gradually as I’ve gotten older, the cereals have gotten sugarier.
When I was in college, it was Lucky Charms all the way. Great cereal. Sometimes the Lucky Charms vat would be empty, which would spur a tremendeous amount of protest from the student body.
3. How often do you eat out? Do you want that to change?
I don’t eat out very often. Usually it is “to go,” which I bring home and eat while watching my favorite 80s nostalgia movie.
I would eat out more often if friends organized it.
4. What do you plan on having for dinner tonight? Got a recipe for that?Visiting friends at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Whatever Scott and Todd plan on having. College food court stuff. Late night pizza. Who knows?
5. What’s your favorite restaurant? Why?
I have lots of favorite restaurants. Like Fudruckers. One of the best places to get a filling hamburger. The only problem is that it is in downtown Nashville and too far of a drive for a convinent meal.
Manny’s pizza at the arcade in Nashville is good. A friend of mine recommended it. Good pizza.
Good pizza at Pizza Perfect. Right across the street from Lipscomb. A little pricey, but reasonably good.
Chili’s. Great burgers. They put some kind of spices in it to make it extra good.
Goode’s Barbeque in Houston, Texas. Hands down the best barbeque ever. I always eat there when I visit there (twice now).

1. As a child, who was your favorite superhero? Why?
There weren’t that many superheroes when I was growing up. I remember watching the Superfriends cartoon growing up. Green Lantern was pretty cool. He had alot of cool powers, but seemed vulnerable whenever someone had something yellow around. This vulernability seemed to make him more real. Plus green is my favorite color.
Superman was just way too powerful. I remember when he reversed the earth’s orbit so he could go back in time to save Lois Lane life. And it seemed like every super powerful villian had a case of krytonite laying around to combat Superman.
Batman and Robin were lame. No real superhero powers there. Just a bunch of silly gadgets. “Robin, get the bat shark repellant!”
2. What was one thing you always wanted as a child but never got?
A remote controlled car. I always asked for it for Christmas, but never got it.
3. What’s the furthest from home you’ve been?
Shanghai, China (7448 miles from Nashville)
4. What’s one thing you’ve always wanted to learn but haven’t yet?
To play guitar. The person with the guitar is always the life of the party. I would learn to play, but I don’t have the patience to learn.
5. What are your plans for the weekend?
Getting over this stomach virus.

Return of the Friday Five. I missed last week’s because I was not in the habit of checking the website.
1. What was your biggest accomplishment this year?
Feeling as though I had made a difference in a young person’s life. Even though, very likely I didn’t have a real impact, even feeling as though I did, makes me feel better about myself.
I was going to post a “Jeff’s Wonderful Life” post, feeling as though I really make a difference in everyone’s life, but deep down I know I probably don’t. More on this topic later on.
If the question had been phrased as “What was the highlight of the year?” it would have been easy to answer. July 28th, 2002: Seeing a young friend of mine become a Christian. That was a real thrill. It’s rare that I’m actually friends (not just acquaintances) with the person being baptized. I count that as a real highlight.
2. What was your biggest disappointment?
September 11, 2002: Getting laid off. I sorta saw it coming. But it always takes the breath out of you. My old boss didn’t have a clue as to what I did. That can play a role in whether you keep your job or not. It can go one of two ways – either they keep you because they don’t know and are scared of not having you around. Or they get rid of you thinking the unknown must be easy to do. It was the latter for me.
And for those of you wondering, yes, I did get laid off on September 11th. How lame is that?
3. Will you be making any New Year’s resolutions?
Yes. I haven’t made them yet. But I will post it later on. Most likely it will be a carbon copy of last years.
4. Where will you be at midnight? Do you wish you could be somewhere else?
At church. I always help out at the youth lock-in at church. Usually we are in the middle of a devotional when the new year comes in. It’s kinda lame to the rest of the world. But somehow it’s cool to me because it is the direct opposite of how the rest of the world does it.
5. Aside from (possibly) staying up late, do you have any other New Year’s traditions?
Not really. Just going to the church lock-in and staying up all night. I’ll probably try to catch a nap sometime.
My parents eat black eyed peas for some reason. They’re always trying to get me to eat it on New Year’s Day, but I never do. Must be some rural Tennessee thing. I’ll probably end up playing U2’s “New Years Day” at some point in the day.
I have to teach the Wednesday night class at church on New Year’s Day. After staying up all night, I doubt I’ll be at my 100% level that night. But I am going to try to be prepared beforehand so I’ll be able to teach adequately after a decent nap.

1. Did you vote in your last elections?
I have participated in every election (local, state, and national) since I was able to vote. I feel it is my civic duty to vote.
2. Do you know who your elected representatives are?
Yes.
National – Lamar Alexander and Bill Frist are my Senators; Jim Cooper is my representative.
State – Mae Beavers – Senator; Susan Lynn – House Rep.
3. Have you ever contacted an elected representative? If so, what was it about?
No. I don’t think it does any good to contact elected representatives. Representatives already are contacted frequently by constituents and lobbyists. The key is electing someone who shares your views, so you don’t have to worry about contacting them to tell them to vote a certain way.
On past trips to Washington with college and high school groups, I have met with my representatives and senators. Those meetings were fairly pointless, if only to get your picture made with them.
4. Have you ever participated in a demonstration?
No. I like to keep my political views to myself.
5. Have you ever volunteered in an election? What was the result?
During my college class of “Local and State Government,” I was required to put in 40 hours of volunteer service at an election campaign. I helped make signs through a silk screen method. I also placed phone calls to potential voters asking them to vote for my candidate. I now know how frustrating it can be for telemarketers on the other side of the phone. Sometimes people slam the phone down on me. Sometimes they listened attentively as I read my prepared script.
My candidate wasn’t elected that year.
In Other News…
TechTV is slowly dying.

Note: Alot of this stuff could be answered by reading my Growing Up Church of Christ entry in the personal section of my website. I’ll probably end up restating what I’ve already said before.
1. Were you raised in a particular religious faith?
I was raised in a Christian environment, although I didn’t profess my Christian faith until just before my teen years. From just a few weeks after being born, my parents brought me to church. We attend a church of Christ. We started out at one particular church and then moved on to the present church. Presently I’ve been attending this same church since I was 2 years old. I don’t remember anything else. Church is home to me.
2. Do you still practice that faith? Why or why not?
Definitely. I can honestly say that what once was my parent’s religion is now my own religion. I’d like to believe that I didn’t inherit it, but in all likelihood, if I was raised Southern Baptist, I would have been a Southern Baptist. If I was raised Hindu, I would have been Hindu as an adult. I guess I’m not good at changing things.
That being said, I honestly believe what I believe. I love church. It is a place where I can express my love of God. People truly love you there. My closest friends are Christians.
At times I hate it. I hate it that some people use it as a country club. I hate that people aren’t involved outside of being in the audience during Sunday mornings. I hate it that people don’t sing….that they don’t volunteer when things need to be done.
3. What do you think happens after death?
In short, bad people go to hell; good people go to heaven. How do we know what’s good?
“Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”
Matthew 7:21
It was explained to me thusly. When someone dies, they either go to Paradise or Tartarus. Paradise is Abraham’s bosom; while Tartarus is a terrible place where everyone thirsts and gets to see into paradise for what they missed. The term “Tartarus” should not be confused with a Ford Taurus which is just as bad as hell (have you driven one lately?).
Then comes the 2nd coming of Christ where the dead are raised and everyone gets judged. People either go to heaven or hell. The Tartarus/Paradise part doesn’t make sense to me since it seems souls are put into a sorta “holding pattern,” before Jesus comes back again. Why even wait on this holding pattern?
Then again this Tartarus/Paradise argument is based on the rich man and Lazareth parable (Luke 16:19-31)…..which it might just be a parable. Who’s to say? In any case, there is an ultimate end to everything. Either heaven or hell.
“Sheep go to heaven. Goats go to hell.”
–Cake, “Sheep Go to Heaven”
“He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.”
Matthew 25:33
As far as who goes where, God is our ultimate judge. We are judged according to if we followed His commandments while here on earth. I can never do enough good works in order to earn my way into heaven, which is where grace comes in. But grace is only part of the picture. God has given us a set of things which by doing so, along with grace, we will have eternal life. Anytime the Bible says do something in order to have eternal life, then it is obvious that that particular act is just part of the larger salvation spectrum.
4. What is your favorite religious ritual (participating in or just observing)?
Baptism. I believe in total immersion of believers as being the correct form of baptism (after all baptism means “immersion.”). There is nothing better than seeing a earnest believer being baptized into Christ. It helps if you are already friends with the person being baptized.
In enjoy singing during worship services. Some songs are better than others. Favorite songs usually have some type of emotional attachment to them. Maybe the song was sung during a very moving worship service. Maybe the words are particularly touching. There is nothing worse than sitting in a huge crowd of people and feeling like you are the only one singing. Happens all the time. I hate that. SING, PEOPLE!
5. Do you believe people are basically good?
“I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.”
– Anne Frank
I’d like to believe that. And I think for the most part it is true. When I was in China, I met people who would been over backwards for a silly American and expect nothing in return. People are good. People want what’s best for their families. They are willing to help out a neighbor.
People are good. Sometimes they are misdirected, due to a revenge factor. If people would just stop and try to love one another, we wouldn’t have wars and violence. But due to revenge and anger there is sin within this world.

1. What is your favorite scary movie?
Poltergeist. I can remember having nightmares from watching that movie when I was younger. It’s the classic scary movie without getting into all the blood and gore which some horror movies are infamous for. I was never into the Halloween, Friday the 13th, or Freddy movies. These type of fantasy movies just seemed a bit unbelieveable.
Ghostbusters was a good movie. I think if it hadn’t been a comedy, it could have turned into a good scary movie.
2. What is your favorite Halloween treat?
3 Musketeers or M&Ms. I hated anything with nuts in it. Why ruin a perfectly good candy bar and put peanuts in it? I usually gave the ones with nuts to my mom.
On a side note, I remember when we were younger, our parents would always take my sister and I over to my grandparents’ house for Halloween. Granny would always have Juicy Fruit gum for us.
3. Do you dress up for Halloween? If so, describe your best Halloween costume.
I never had any good costumes for Halloween. Usually it was something lame like a ghost or just a mask. Other people’s costumes were always better than mine. I guess they put more thought into planning it.
4. Do you enjoy going to haunted houses or other spooky events?
I didn’t actually start going to Haunted Houses until I was in college. Even then it was sorta stupid.
The first haunted house I went to was in elementary school. We had a fall festival. One of the ticketed attractions was a haunted house. Usually it was a bunch of setups with headless bodies, skeletons, and junk like that. Then at the end someone would jump out and scare you. It was put together by members of the PTA. When I was really young, I would have been too scared to go into those.
As a side note, a few years back there was a trend among churches to have dramatic spiritually centered “Judgement Houses.” Similar to haunted houses, these are dramatic performances which show the ultimate end fo the “good kid” vs. the “bad kid.” Basically they attempt to scare kids into following Christ. They show them what heaven and hell could be like. After the performance they offer spiritual counseling. I don’t really like this approach. Important spiritual decisions should never be made on the basis of emotional appeal. Once the new convert looses that emotion, they will also loose the desire to follow God. I’ve seen it happen over and over. Emtional appeals are made….either scaring someone or playing on their emotions (ie “Feel Good” religion). Rather, decisions like this should be made only after serious thoughtful consideration of the outcome and determined committment.
For some odd reason, I have heard less and less about these type “Judgement Houses” around here. I guess churches are two busy fighting the lottery. Or maybe they finally realized this type of approach just doesn’t work.
5. Will you dress up for Halloween this year?
Probably not. Although I will hand out candy. Last year we didn’t have any kids coming to the door. I guess I live in an older neighborhood.
We record each and every sermon at church. I’ve been noticing we are getting more and more people who request to be on the church tape mailing list. Right now we are upto 23 people. The latest – a truck driver from Ohio. How do these people find out about our tape ministry? Currently we can only dub 3 tapes at a time. We are trying to purchase a larger tape dubber – one which can do as many as 6 or 7 tapes at a time. These dubbers are high speed dubbers which do both sides at the same time. Usually only takes 5 minutes. Yet these 5 minutes tend to add up when you end up doing it 5 times.

MTV Generation
1. How many TVs do you have in your home?
Four TVs. It is not unusual for each person to have their own TV around here. Growing up we’ve had as many as 5 or 6, including that hand held TV I had when I was in junior high. Used to watch David Letterman on it late at night in bed.
I remember watching that old Zenith TV growing up. It was a wooden cabinet version. One time I took a magnet to it and really messed it up. That TV lasted for quite a while. I think we finally got a new one when I was in junior high.
When we first got an Atari 2600 we put it on an old black and white TV which my mom before she was married. This one was an old one. When you turned it off, the picture slowly went into a small dot in the middle of the screen and slowly faded out. You can’t find black and white TVs anymore.
Zeniths have always been personal favorites of mine. For a while, they were manufactured in the US and I felt as though I should support US made products. But later on Zenith was purchased by some Asian firm.
Now I’ve got a Samsung which seems to do quite well. I’ve had it for a few years now.
2. On average, how much TV do you watch in a week?
Quite alot. Even more now that I’m unemployeed. It depends on how you classify “watch.” Many times the TV is on, but I’m not watching it. Kinda like having background noise. Actually watching TV, maybe 20 hours a week (yes it is VERY sad). But it is on and I do watch it.
3. Do you feel that television is bad for young children?
Like everything including the internet, schools, etc… parents should keep a close eye on what the kid does. Parents use TV too much as a babysitter. I’ve seen young children mesmerized by a cartoon. They stop what they are doing and stare at the screen until the show is over.
There are alot of bad things on TV, that I wouldn’t think of letting a kid watch. But then again there are some good things on TV. Sesame Street, Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, Electric Company….all those shows taught me educational things during my early years. Those afterschool specials….
4. What TV shows do you absolutely HAVE to watch, and if you miss them, you’re heartbroken?
I will probably get alot of flak with this. Here goes nothing.
Survivor. Yeah it’s a stupid show, but I do keep up with it.
Amazing Race; Big Brother.
With the magic of Tivo, I never have to worry about missing these shows again.
Other shows I watch, but I don’t loose sleep if I miss:
King of the Hill, Freaks and Geeks, Wonder Years, 20th Century with Mike Wallace, Late Show with David Letterman
5. If you had the power to create your own television network, what would your line-up look like?
I’ve always thought there should be reality television network. Real World, Road Rules, Big Brother, Survivor…etc. Have all of that on there. There is plenty of programming for that network. But I wouldn’t necessarily watch it.
Some of the better networks are the rerun networks. TV Land. Nick and Nite…etc. Fill it full of reruns and poof! Instant Network!
I wouldn’t care to create my own network. I like the different themes of each network. Turn to TV Land if I need a rerun. Turn to MSNBC or CNN if I want to watch news. That’s all I need. No need to wait for a specific program on a network I created. Just have it scattered throughout.
Oh yeah. They need to bring back “You Can’t Do That on Television.” Things haven’t been right since that went off the air.

1. If you could only choose 1 cd to ever listen to again, what would it be?
While in college, I would have said “August and Everything After” by Counting Crows. But I have since outgrown that music. Now it would probably be Tom Petty and the Heartbreaker’s Greatest Hits. It’s pretty difficult to answer this question because there are so many CDs out there which have only one or 2 good songs on them.
2. If you could only choose 2 movies to watch ever again, what would they be?
Stand By Me….possibly the only perfect movie. The other one might be Shawshank Redemption or Goonies.
3. If you could only choose 3 books to read ever again, what would they be?
Tough one because I don’t read books. Naturally I’d have to say the Bible. The other 2 would probably be some newspaper or other non-fiction book. Yeah, a newspaper and Time Magazine. Or could I forget the 2 other books and just add 2 more movies to my list?
4. If you could only choose 4 things to eat or drink ever again, what would they be?

• Pizza. I find that this general selection of Pizza covers all franchises. Dominos, Papa John, Pizza Hut….etc…. Anyway you slice it, it’s still pizza. Many times I have it twice a week anyways.
• Sunkist cola….the world’s best soft drink
• Orange Juice….an absolute requirement in the mornings
• Chocolate….served any way

5. If you could only choose 5 people to ever be/talk/associate/whatever with ever again, who would they be?
I could get myself in trouble for my answer on this one. The first 3 would be my parents and sister. Sorry folks. Blood is thicker than water. The last 2 are a really tough decision because I don’t feel as though I have many close friends. I think it would have to be someone at church because I could talk to them on a much higher level than anyone else. I’m going to leave this upto mere speculation on your part of who the other people would be.
However I don’t like to play that childish game of classifying friends into “best friends” category. I have friends for different occasions. Some friends I would talk to for different subjects. Church friends are meant to be spoken to for church issues. Friends who like the same type of music I listen to, would be more likely to listen when I have new music to share with them. Computer geek friends could answer my questions in regards to any PC problems I might have.
Classifying friends into “best friends” is dangerous and tends to alienate other lesser known friends. I was burned once before. I don’t intend on getting burned again by putting too much trust into one person. My philosophy is never trust anyone too far.
In other news…
Michael Bochette was no saint. His murder was the result of a drug deal gone bad. I have much less sympathy for him than I originally had when I first heard of his murder. If he had not got caught up in this ectasy junk, he would still be alive today. He knew the stove was hot before he put his hand on it.

Boy, this is a lame one.
1. What size shoe do you wear?
Size 8 1/2
2. How many pairs of shoes do you own?
I have about 4 pairs of shoes. Only 3 of watch I wear on a regular basis. One pair if waterproof Rockports; One pair of Nikes which I’ve had since college; and a pair of brown dress shoes. I also have a pair of black dress shoes which I hardly ever wear. Shoes aren’t a big priority for me. I rarely buy shoes. In fact, the Rockports were a Christmas gift which I didn’t even pick out.
I realize that women have several pairs of shoes. I really don’t know if they need as many. Some shoes are bought just for a specific dress of something.
3. What type of shoe do you prefer (boots, sneakers, pumps, etc.)?
Sneakers. They’re comfortable. I never wear boots. I’d look like some redneck if I wore boots.
4. Describe your favorite pair of shoes. Why are they your favorite?
My Rockports are cool enough. They’re comfortable and are waterproof. That’s all I need.
Way back in junior high I had a couple of pairs of Converse All Stars….turquoise and fluorescent orange. They were great, however there was no arch support. So they didn’t feel as good as they looked. People made fun of me for wearing them, so I soon stopped.
5. What’s the most you’ve spent on one pair of shoes?
Nikes can be quite expensive. I’ve paid maybe $70-90 on them.
While we are on the subject of shoes, here are 2 of my shoe store stories:
Way back in the 80s I remember my mom taking my sister and me shoe shopping. I wanted to get back in time to see “That’s Incredible” on TV. It was a show with human interest type stories. My sister’s foot was so narrow we had to go to 3 or more shoe stores in order to find a shoe that fit. I ended up missing That’s Incredible because of my sister’s narrow foot.
If you are driving on state route 70 east from Nashville toward Sparta, there is a store somewhere around Smithville which sells Shoes and Cheese. That’s the name of the store – “Shoes and Cheese.” We passed by the store every time my family visited my grandparents in Sparta. Most of the store is filled with shoes. But there is a refridgerator which has plenty of cheese in it. Weird. When I think of shoes, I don’t think of cheese, and vice versa. However some cheese does smell like shoes.
I’m leaving for Short Mountain Bible Camp in Woodbury later this afternoon. I’ve invited some of the kids I know from Taylor Christian Camp in Kentucky. So I’ll be going to Portland to pick them up, then on to Mt. Juliet to meet the rest of the group before actually leaving for Short Mountain. It will be interesting to see how these visitor kids interact with the Mt. Juliet kids. It is weird to have friends you know from one particular place to show up at a completely different place to interact with a completely different set of people. Sorta like when Boss Hogg showed up at Mel’s Diner during the crossover episode of Alice. Or when the Flintstones met the Jetsons.
These kids which I invited are really looking forward to this retreat. They cleared off their activities to make sure they could come to it. I hope it won’t dissappoint them.

Friday Five
1. What are your favorite ways to relax and unwind?
I get on the computer and check the latest news. This is sorta been my routine ever since September 11th. I can honestly say I enjoy reading….if it is non-fiction….mostly current events.
2. What do you do the moment you get home from work/school/errands?
As stated above, get on the computer. I also have a Tivo which records programs while I’m away. I usually pick a program to watch while surfing the web.
Thank goodness I positioned my computer to where I’d be able to watch TV while surfing the web.
3. What are your favorite aromatherapeutic smells?
Huh? Sorry, I’m not into those smelly candles. This is a girly questions.
4. Do you feel more relaxed with a group of friends or hanging out by yourself?
Many times it is hanging by myself. But I do that so much anyways. Sometimes it is good to get away. Sometimes friends make me feel guilty for not doing more with them. I hate that.
5. What is something that you feel is relaxing but most people don’t?
I like working on this webpage….designing banners and junk like that. Most people would think of that as work. I find it halfway relaxing. I guess if I was to get a job in webpage design, I would find it to be work.
I’ll admit it. I’m a big nerd when it comes to computers.
So the folks at Scottsville want me to show someone how to maintain their church webpage. It is a good idea to have someone to maintain it locally. However I’ve been told that the person who would like to maintain it is a 13 year old girl. So basically if she takes it over, the webpage will end up looking like a 13 year old girl designed it. Not so sure this is a good idea.
You can’t toss dwarfs anymore in France.
No posts for tomorrow. I’ll be away on a church retreat. Looking forward to it. Leaving in just a few hours from now.