I left the band

Yes, as much as I totally loved playing in the church band, I left. In fact the wife and I have left the church which was the bigger issue. We had never connected with a Sunday school class or really anyone. It was hard. The band had some great friends. We just couldn’t keep going to a church that wouldn’t reach out to Knot Major and we had never made a connection. There were issues with me being sick and no one even saying anything.

I broke the news in between services. I simply said, “The next set is my last set, [the wife] and I are leaving the church.”

Shock … all around. Tears from the piano player. Hugs from the drummer.

Will miss all of them! 

You Suck!

Which is what most of you are probably saying about the regularity of my posts.

Well, you suck for not calling me.

I know you are but what am I?

Totally immersed in school and photography. I hate school. I love photography.

My mom turned 76 the other day. We went to lunch. I bought, she picked cheap food. I hate that, she won't let me take her some place nice. I asked her how it felt to be in the 4th quarter. She said, "I'm not in the 4th quarter, I'm 76!" Then a couple of days later she fell and broke her arm. Has a lovely pink cast. Crazy woman I love! We talked about how they didn't used to hire newlywed women because they were afraid they would get pregnant and stop working. And we always talk about immigration.

Kissed my wife and sent her off to Ph.D. class. We schedule sex around work and school now. Maybe we need a Google calendar ... She is soooo busy. I don't want my Ph.D. Another masters, maybe, not a Ph.D.

So ... photography ...

Here are some of my recent favs.

Oh man ... lots to catch you up on

Photography has been consuming me. Grad school starts next week and I can't believe I'm going to add MORE to my life. I shoot my first "Goth Ballerina" today. Should be fun. Models are soooo funny sometimes.


Deep Thoughts
===========

I had some time to kill the other day so I stopped in a little bistro across from a community college. Nice Muslim family owns it. Its had 3 or 4 different owners and themes. I immediately thought about my stance on immigration. Basically, I think we let too many people in. I curb this to say that I know someone personally who was trying to escape certain death in his home country. He immigrated here, his status ran out and tried to go to Canada, but through some odd circumstances would up in immigration jail here. Great guy, wonderful human being just trying to keep his family alive. He wasn't looking for a handout, just to stay alive. So when you think I'm an immigrant blow hard, remember, I have reasons for my points of view.

The phrase that comes to mind often in my immigration stance is "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should,"

The Longest Forced Training Ever
========================

I was forced to go to a GLBT sensitivity training yesterday for 4 hours where I was basically told that because I was a white, straight male I was "privileged" and my opinions and views were wrong no matter what they were. I was totally furious as were MANY other people, male and female. Every time someone would say, "But I don't look at people as gay or transgendered or whatever, they are who they are and I accept them," they were shot down. The gay agenda is very angry and very confused.

For 30 minutes we had to list negative phrases for homosexuals. I finally said, "But I don't use any of those phrases, and if 'homosexual' is now derogatory, you are giving me no choice. I'd rather just say, 'That's Bill or Jane' and not attach a category to them. How they want to classify themselves is their business." Oh man, they HATED that. Then I got a 5 minute speech on I needed to let them tell me their sexual orientation. Hey, I don't care what your SO is, that's your business, but when you come to our workplace, you better be there to work and not push your agenda.

This totally supported my theory that the gay agenda doesn't really believe in working out differences, but rather is just out to force their views on people. I see it over and over and over.

What really irked many people was that one of the presenters equated homosexuality to slavery in the Bible stating that the Bible was full of slavery issues and people thought it was ok, so just because the Bible speaks out on homosexuality stating it's wrong then, it's ok now. No, no. NO! Interpretations may change, but scripture doesn't. The Bible is VERY clear that homosexuality is not in God's design. If that's a struggle you face, then Christians need to be there to be a friend and CLEARLY state what God says. It DOES NOT mean you are broken or wrong. God is about love, but he's also about justice. You can't have one without the other.

Needless to say, many people marked the response form as a bad presentation. The whole thing could have been covered in an hour with training on how to help students who are dealing with GLBT issues and how to talk to them. I guarantee you, that would have been a much better use of my time.

And just like immigration, I have many friends and colleagues who are GLBT, so it's not like I'm sitting around in my red neck outfit taking pot shots with no experience or malice. People are who they are. It's not my job to fix them or condemn them. But I certainly don't like being accused of something I'm not doing.

Dieting
=====

I want to try to lose 20 pounds. Please encourage me.

So ... deeper than what I wanted to do, but ... well there you have it.

This is about all you get from me today.

Photography is going great guns. If only I could get people to actually pay me to take their picture. Winter break is almost over and I'll have to get a little more photography quiet. But I got to work with an amazing model on 12/30. I've never had the luxury of just sitting there and pulling the trigger.


And this is why I love POWM. The comment made me audibly laugh.

Read on ...

Nothing "New" Here

So, we are old people. We eat at 4 PM, in bed by 7 or 8 on winter breaks. Our celebration yesterday consisted of us "talking" about having sex while Knot Minor and Major were gone, having Ch33s3 C@ke F@ctory and Seeing Sh3rlock Holmes. Good movie.

I don't do resolutions. Never have. You need to do those every day. It is early so there is time for sex with the misses.

I'm really glad I started shooting photography again. I like meeting people and taking good pictures. I'm the biggest anti-photographer out there. The ones I run into that are "real" photographers are usually stuck up and arrogant. Drives me nuts. So ... ya know ... The models are interesting too. They have their own quirks. But they are better than the photographers.

I'm rambling. Sorry.

Merry Christmas Bedford Falls!!!

North Texas gets first white Christmas in 83 years

Yes, Virginia — North Texas is getting a white Christmas for the first time since 1926, with snow accumulations of an inch or more throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area by late Thursday.

"The snow that you have on the ground right now, it will not melt overnight — it will stay in place, so you will wake up with a white Christmas," WFAA-TV Chief Meteorologist Pete Delkus said.

Big, white flakes of snow began falling near the Stonebriar Centre shoping mall in Frisco just before noon.

"This is a pretty intense band of snow that's moving into the Dallas area," Delkus said.

By 6 p.m., Burleson had received 2 inches of snow; 1.5 inches was recorded in Justin; and one inch was measured at Denton and in Granbury.

There was half a foot of snow on the ground in Springtown and Breckinridge, and Nocona and Olney residents were looking at 8 inches of snow.

A winter storm warning was extended through 9 p.m. for counties to the north and west of Dallas-Fort Worth, including Denton County.

Dallas, Tarrant and Collin counties are included in a winter weather advisory during the same time period.

The National Weather Service says the region west and northwest of the Dallas-Fort Worth area saw blizzard-like conditions throughout the day Thursday. Winds gusting at up to 65 mph drifted the snow as deep as 5 feet in some areas.

Christmas Eve started with widespread rain in North Texas, but precipitation switched over to snow as temperatures fell through the day.

The National Weather Service also issued a wind advisory for all of North Texas through 9 p.m. Thursday, with sustained wind of 20 to 30 mph and gusts as high as 45 mph.

Motorists should be aware of the potential for icy road conditions during the evening hours as skies clear and overnight temperatures drop into the mid-20s in North Texas.

"The sun will come out tomorrow," Delkus said. "It will be a cold Christmas Day, but it will be a sunny, dry Christmas Day — something that I think everyone's looking forward to."

Dear Santa, …

Dear Santa,

Since you aren’t Jesus, I get to write to you and ask for things without guilt. Hey, that’s nice, but you didn’t come back to life from the dead, so, put one in the loss column …

So … this year, was a hard year for lots of people. Would you mind helping this economy thing for me please? I’m sure there are plenty on the naughty list that could swap places with some on the nice list. Especially those nice ones on the unemployment list. Kinda sucks …

And I love pharmaceuticals and all, but 75% of my house is now on an anti-depressant. Ya, if you could help with that, no? Ok … well, then could you help us decrease the dosage? And this socialized medicine, not really happening. I hate going to the DMV, if the doctor becomes like the DMV, then I might as well go to a real DVM – doc of veterinary medicine. Much appreciated, doc.

So … ummm, that guy in the White House, not a fan, sorry, any chance he only has to stay 4 years? I mean, his wish must have gotten here early since he got that Nobel Prize. He was only president 12 days. Ok, ummm, if they hand them out like beads at Mardi Gras, I’ll take one too. Whatever reason you want to give is fine with me.

And thanks for Jenny McCarthy. Oh man, thank you. Ya, I know she wasn’t a gift to ME, per se, but thank you. Brains, bod, funny. The real triple threat.

And thanks for BBQ and Chicken Express.

Yours in spirit, even if the music minister drives me nuts around Christmas and makes me bonkers wanting me to play my trumpet even though it’s been 20 years since I’ve even looked at it expecting me to be able to play 10 songs on a day’s notice just so people who never go to church can complain about “that lousy trumpet player.” Ya,Tiger Woods has a better chance being a marriage counselor than me pulling that off.

Yes, I know I’m on the naughty list. Not a problem. Just please send a naughty girl to keep me company. Nothing spectacular, just one to keep me company until I can make it back to the good side of the force. 

And oh ya, photography customers, please. People in my house like to hang out  at movies and such and that kind of pays for our fun. So, you know, throw me a bone now and then. Hey, send Mrs. Claus down now and then if you like for  photos. If you want a boudoir shoot, hey, it’s a free country. I’ll see if W@lM@rt has her size thong.

Hang loose and don’t eat any snowman poop.

PS - Are you Canadian being from the North Pole and all?

Here's one you don't hear a lot in December, except in Texas ...

Dallas-area hail and tornadoes just in time for holiday travel?

Thanks to F.O.W.B. (Friend of the Weather Blog) Lance G. for bringing to my attention a growing discussion about possible stormy weather headed this way. According to the National Weather Service, increasing Gulf moisture and an approaching cold front could spark large hail, damaging winds and even tornadoes. The slight risk begins Tuesday evening, but is a greater concern for Wednesday afternoon. As you can see in the NWS map, the main area forecasters will be watching is east of Interstate 35. Tornadoes in December? Don't scoff at the idea. The NWS's Gregory R. Patrick, Ted Ryan, Stacie Hanes, Eric Martello and Jennifer Dunn remind us of the unprecedented 26 reported twisters on Dec. 29, 2006.

Alright ... let's get this laid out ...

My eyes are fine, thank-you-very-much! My annual eye exam was on the 15th. I still am farsighted which I still don't know what that means. While being examined by my hottie blond eye doctor, we happened to hear a very familiar tune on the interoffice radio-muzak.

( I've been up a loooong time and I've had caffeine, just sayin' )

So we are trying to pin the song and I think it's from a V!@gr@ ad. Only later have I corrected myself and supposed it to be the little song from eH@m0ny. I know, some of you hate eH@rm0ny. Not the point. Point is we started talking like it was the V!@gr@ theme song and I made two hot sports opinions.

First, V!@gr@ and L3v!tr@ are marketed to women, not men. Look at the ads. Or this one. What self respecting dude sits in a tub overlooking Napa Valley all happy his thingy is limp? What strong man talks to his reflection about his visit with his family physician about how he can't get it up?

I swear if my reflection ever starts a conversation with, "So, are you going to tell him about our problem?" My reflection says that and I'm goin' Rambo on his skinny flat self and ask him when was the last time he got laid. Then I'm taking some kind of anti-psychotic for talking reflections. And if an erection lasts more than 4 hours ... you should get a medal.

The ads are meant for chicks because they get the benefit. "Here honey, take this, I need sweet lovin' for 36 hours." If it was marketed for men, dude ... It would be Gene Simmons up there saying, "Party like a rock star, you'll get everyone of these bikini babes hanging off me wanting more than they can handle." Or they would say, "She'll need batting gloves to handle your Louisville Slugger," then it cuts to you smashing that sissy bathtub overlooking sissy Napa Valley.

Second observation ( sorry, I'm over my paragraph limit ) is that you can tell if a song is written by a man or a woman.

1. Songs written by women talk about feelings and love and security.
2. Songs written by men talk about physical stuff and man awesomeness.

Fact of life. Start listening to some songs and think about it.


Just sayin ...

From my generation to the Sopranos

Some good ear candy for you. YouTube has some pretty talented people.