Sky Monkeys

I was in the airport in Washington DC over the break and I saw this spoof of a magazine called "Sky Mall" that can be found in the seatback pocket on most commercial airline flights. It made allusion to the infamous "Sea Monkeys" of yesteryear with a picture of a blond headed kid holding onto the beginnings of a paper wasps nest complete with three or four wasps crawling on the nest and the caption "Sky Monkeys". I laughed. I nearly bought the magazine ( it also had a lamacycle on the cover, which is in fact a lama with a bike tire for front legs).\

Anyway, break was good. I ate alot. I had tappas in The District (local DC dialect for Washington), I ate at trendy Belgas on Capitol Hill, and I had a double bacon cheeseburger from Five Guys Famous Burgers and Fries. Mmmm, mmm good.

I saw some original Rembrandt sketches at the National Gallery and a T-Rex skeleton at the Museum of Natural History. The Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, World War II Memorial and the Vietnam War Memorial, I saw them as well and many more.

Let me see, nine more weeks of school and then I can quit for a while. I like a job that you cna quit for a while. It helps you gain perspective.

My editor said that he has not had time to review my manuscript as thoroughly as he would like. He still hasn't said it stinks, so I'm hanging onto that.

I have five minutes before class and I still have to call the plummer and Verizon and there's football practice after school today. At least our BBall team has a bye in the first round of the playoffs. I'd better go shoot anyway.

Back N Bloggin'

I have some work to do. Both at work and at home. Grades are due so I have to get them in. Going up to Washington DC for Spring Break so have to make sure that everything around the house is ship-shape and that we are packed up. Coaching football now at school. Practice yesterday was fun and today should be the same. We are trying out all our kids at different positions to see who fits best where.

Having the fam down was alot of fun. The weather was really nice so we hit the beach on Saturday and then the pool on Monday. The time change is killing me. I am not tired enough at night when I go to bed, but really tired in the morning. I know I'll adjust, but when? WHEN?!?!

I'm going to try to do alot of push-ups so I can match my nephew's 1050 in one day record. I'd better start right now...ok there's ten. Whew. One push, one up, one step at a time. That's sounds like a slogan of some sort. Perhaps I can get that put on a billboard near my house. Perhaps.

I'm taking Friday off as I will be flying out that day, so one more day of work, after this last period oh and then of course football practice, and then...yeah you know how it goes.

We lost our last basketball game. I didn't go cause I had family in town and it was the same night of the final soccer game that I was co-coaching. Also, I thought we would win easily. I felt really bad. Tomorrow I predict a big win. I will hit half my shots and have 2 more assists than turnovers. I will also crash the boards. There, mentally prepared.

Gotta get writing again. Need to throw up a post on an old writing forum. I really wish I didn't have fifth period today. But how can I complain? I'm not even working on Friday and I have the entire next week off. I better just keep my trap shut.

This lull is tough. I get an hour between my 3rd period and my last class and I always get nice and comfy and relaxed just as the bell is about to ring. It's like throwing cold water on a man sleeping under an electric blanket. Dangerously shocking.

Race Relations

There's this teacher on my team at school, a christian he calls himself, who is racist. This teacher told me openly that he would disown his daughter if she ever dated a black man. Now this teacher talks about praying for others, going to church and alot of other "christian" things. But I cannot reconcile the racism with christianity, I just can't.

It seems so simple to me. (My wife always tells me my thinking is too black and white, but the way I see things, you're either right or your wrong. If your wrong fix the problem and if you're right, be gracious about being right and be humble, cause you're gonna be wrong again soon.)

Back to my point. Racism is sin, I think we all agree on that. It is a sin of pride against God for saying, "God, you made this person (insert race here) and sorry God, but they're just not as good as I am because of it." Dangerous. Foolishness. After all, who chose to be born white or black or brown? It was God's pleasure to make you that way. So if you want to hate someone for something they had no power over, go for it. What you're really saying is, "God, you messed up."

People are born evil, but not I think racist. They are taught or have had life experiences that have conditioned them one way or another. I met this kid once who said he hated black people. He was a short, fat white kid from Chicago who used to get beat up by black kids everyday. Conditioned. He was not a christian. Here in the south I see alot more segregation than I did up North, or maybe I'm just more attuned to it. I've heard kids quote their parents telling them to hate another race or "my dad told me that (insert race here) are dirty, or weak, or lazy, or worthless."

Can I in good conscience, as a christian, say that I would disown a daughter for loving someone who had no control over where or into what race they were born? I could not. It pains me to hear a man who claims to be a christian say words like that and it hurts the cause of Christ.

All this to say, take people as they come. Make your descisions after you know a person. And don't judge a race by one person.

You know what I've found out? That sometimes un-churched people are kinder than those of us who claim to be christians and go to church every Sunday and Wednesday. I would say unsaved people are kinder, but I can't see anybody's heart so that is impossible to say.

Christians, real Bible-believing christians, should be the kindest, most gracious, giving people in the world and I include myself here. We should be the most stable, balanced and helpful. We need to be the example for everyone for what is truly good, what is truly fulfilling. Not money, not things, not a promotion at my job. All that is great, but it has a place and it can't be a place of prominence.

In short we need empathy. The ability to feel someone elses pain and to understand their situation. When I empathize with someone, I show interest, genuine interest. I show that I care and that I understand and want to help. That's love. That is what we should be showing everyday.

I know, not an amusing musing, but it's been on my mind.

Worn Out

I'm tired. There's no getting around it. After teaching all day, then co-coaching a soccer game, then driving an hour to play a basketball game at 9:30pm (61-48 point win btw) and not getting to bed until midnight, well, I'm tired today.

Got family coming this Wednesday. I'm excited. Now I just have to take some days off so I can see them.

I figured out part of my problem. In order to write I need to be focused and awake. Tired=bad writing. However, I really need to write regularly because it's a skill, you have to practice or your skill level drops off.

Also I need to practice basketball, I had 8 points last night, but could easily have had double that. Again, I need to practice. My field goal % was just below horrible.

Jack London is/was a humanist. The more I read about him and his novels the more it shines through like the sun in the Sahara. I still like his books, I just have to chuckle at the "man is the ultimate animal" stuff. *chuckle*

I just found a flight from Detroit to Tampa for $343 round trip for April 6-9. Maybe the fares will continue to come down. I sure hope so.

I really don't have anything witty to say. No amusing-musing, as it were. Maybe this: if manatees could fly would anyone ever go outside again without an umbrella?