When I was in China, my friend and I were standing on a street corner in Shanghai. A beggar came up to us and asked us to put money into his bowl. Without even giving it a second thought my friend gave the beggar the equivalent of ten cents. The beggar went on his way happily.
Even the poorest homeless person in America is still much better off that some people in 3rd world countries. We live in the greatest country on earth. We should be thankful, not only on this day of thanksgiving, but on everyday.
Things that I’m thankful for.
God, my country, family, friends….
Hot summer days, fireworks on the 4th….
Good health, memories, a roof over my head….
In America we seem to have everything mixed up. While we are sitting around eating turkey on Thanksgiving…feeling thankful for what we have….ironically we are asked to make out our Christmas lists so we can get more stuff. The two polar opposite ideologies seem to collide right around the end of November.
I see that David Shannon will be a keynote speaker at Evangelism University at Savannah Church of Christ in January.

At church we have a special Thankgiving service on the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving. It’s to give the Wednesday night teachers a break since many of them will be traveling during this time. The deacons participate in this worship service. I had been thinking that they would give David Shannon the night off, but apparently he is organizing it…according to an email I got today.
If Spenser’s eye would have been damaged beyond repair, he probably would have had to seen this guy.
Today I did get a brouchure in the mail about Paoli Peaks. Currently we are paying $100 for 2 nights at the hotel and ski pass/rental. They have several packages available. For example, we could save $55 by spending only one night at the hotel at $45. But unfortunately when you are traveling with a bunch of people, it is highly unlikely you will ever leave on time. To ask people to leave at 5 or 6AM is just asking too much for some people.

When I was in junior high and high school, I was always paranoid on Halloween night about being rolled with toilet paper. “Rolling” or “TPing” ….whatever you call it. Around here it has always been known as “rolling.” I’d always spy outside ever so often on the night of the 31st to make sure no one was in the yard. Little did I know that neither me nor my family was first on anybody’s revenge or embarrassment list. There were bigger fish to fry. Pranks are usually pulled on good friends. I remember being told at church camp that if kids roll your car it means they like you. Maybe so.
Just once, I might like to dress in all black, go out to the local grocery store, buy a hugh economy pack of toilet paper, and roll someone. Never once did I do that growing up.
Total number of trick or treaters tonight: 0
Sad. We do decorate and leave our lights on to let everyone know that there is free candy to be given out here. But no one came. So we have all this candy to eat.
For future reference I would recommend using a sturdy pillow case for gathering Halloween candy. I always got stuck using a cheap plastic bag for candy. Pillow cases have much more capacity. Then there are those stupid plastic Jack-O-Lantern which don’t have any capacity. Good for little kids. But if you are looking for large amounts of candy, definitely use a pillow case.
Right now, thousands of kids are getting sick on all the candy they’re eating. All those 3 Musketeers, Milky Ways, Snickers, M&Ms, Juicy Fruit, Pixie Sticks….. I don’t recall ever really getting sick on Halloween candy. But I do remember seeing leftover candy appear in my school lunchbox in November. You know if you really think about it, November is a pretty boring month. October has the anticipation of Halloween….there’s a buildup over time…up until the end of the month. Same way with December and Christmas. But November and Thanksgiving? Besides college students and far away relatives, who gets excited about Thanksgiving anymore? You can’t go out on the Friday afterwards because it is so chaotic around the stores. November is just blah.

“Well, maybe I’ll call
or write you a letter.
Now maybe we’ll see
on the Fourth of July…”
—Better Than Ezra “Good”
Special for July 4th….
Why I’m Proud to be an American
After being to other different countries, there is no doubt that America is the brightest beacon of hope in this world. When was the last time you heard anyone say “I hate living in America” ? Never. It just doesn’t happen. Why?

• America is the best in everything. Except for that lame sport of soccer…..and making miniature electronics.
• America is home of unlimited refills. Anybody who knows me, knows that I drink lots of cola when I’m out at restaurants. Foreign countries are so stiff that they won’t even let you get free refills. You have to order another beverage. America is generous with their endless supply of beverages and will gladly refill your empty glass for free.
• America has a working sewer system. Look at India and Pakistan. These two countries were on the brink of nuclear war just a few weeks ago. They don’t even have toilets for everyone. Imagine having to use the bathroom in a hole you just dug. Now they’re trying to get nuclear weapons? Why not try to fix your sewer system first! Pitiful. Even though we have those lame lowflow toilets, at least we have toilets.

No matter how many times we are criticized for not doing enough in the world, or sticking our nose in everyone’s business, everyone knows the world would be a terrible awful place without America. Anytime a foreigner says how much he hates America makes me love this country even more. Why do the terrorists hate America? Pure jealousy. They are jealous of our standard of living that is so much better than theirs.
I’ll be gone on July 4th. No posts unless I find myself near a internet ready computer at the camp I’m at. In the meantime check out my fireworks photos page.

Happy New Year! I stayed up all night a church lock-in. Got home at 7:30AM and slept until 2PM. Not much happened at the lock in. I did go to the Golden Gallon at 4AM to pick up some milk and juice for the kiddies. I go back to work tomorrow, after being off since December 22.
Since 2001 was such a bad year, I would have to expect 2002 to be much better. We’ll see….

This time of year people tend to make promises to themselves to better themselves in the new year. In the same manner, I’ve come up with a list of goals that I’ll try to strive for in the upcoming year. Many people make the mistake of making New Year resolutions which are impossible to keep. Either the goal is set to high or the person has no intention of keeping them. These particular resolutions are attainable.

• Live each day as a gift from God.
• Be more positive toward life.
• Listen to and respect older people more.
• Make a difference in the life of a young person.
• Start teaching a Sunday School class at church.

Christmas is 2 days away. It sure doesn’t feel like it. The weather has been very mild. A few days ago it did get a little cool at night. But otherwise it has been uncharacteristically nice.
On a related note, it looks like Paoli Peaks ski area might be open on December 26 or 27. I know they must be loosing alot of money, not being able to open on Christmas Day. If they are open, there probably will only have one hill with any type of snow on it.
I cleaned out my closet yesterday. I’ve thrown away alot of junk from college, but I’m still keeping alot of it. Among the stuff I found was a Crystal Pepsi Bottle.
I’ve placed some photoshopped pictures on the web. Alot of the pictures are of my friends and acquaintances. They probably won’t seem as funny to you unless you know the person.

Big things:
God, country, my family, Christian friends, the church, my education, my job, summer, fall colors, blue skies, a summer breeze, the first snow of winter, a sunrise, summer thunderstorms, hearing crickets at night
Small things:
A relatively stable operating system, a generous webspace provider, cheap gas prices, being able to ski in winter, my car, my digital camera, being able to visit China this year, being able to work from home, Little Debbie Snack Cakes

I never have enjoyed Thanksgiving all that much. I don’t care for turkey or football, so basically I am out in the cold. The good thing about Thankgiving is that you get an extra 2 days off from work. Cable channels like the TBS Superstation and TNT run movie marathons which are always good to catch. As far as shopping, I don’t plan on doing any during this upcoming weekend. I hate fighting the crowds. Usually I sneak out to the malls on a weekday and grab all my gifts at once.
Is it effeminate for guys to send out Christmas cards? I’m planning on sending out a few this year. But I always face this question each December.
A few Christmas lights are already out on private homes. There should be a law or protocol that says Christmas lights and decorations can not be displayed until December 1st. Lots of times people are so anxious to get Christmas lights up they forget about Thanksgiving. We only get to celebrate Thanksgiving on one day per year. Whereas we get to celebrate Christmas for an entire month seemingly. Let’s celebrate Thanksgiving now and not worry about Christmas until next month.

Happy Halloween! It’s one of those fun holidays. For me Halloween’s fun factor is right up there on the fun scale with Christmas.
I remember in 5th grade my teacher, who shall remain nameless, said that we were too old to be having Halloween parties. (At my elementary school we were allowed for 3 party days…Halloween, Christmas, and Valentine’s Day). Anyways we didn’t have any type of Halloween celebration at school on that day. In my own mind I knew who the real witch was. On that day I wrote “Not a Very Happy Halloween” on all my papers I turned in that day as an editorial comment on my teacher’s policies.
Time to eat some 3 Musketeers candy!