It's a bird, It's a plane, It's Superman!!!!!!!

As young boys growing up are apt to do, much of my childhood play time was in the world of a superhero. I mean what is not to like: incredible powers, never dying no matter how impossible the situation, and always saving the girl ( although never settling down with a traditional family cuz that would end your career :( )

My friends and I would always claim our favorite superhero.... " I'm Batman" "I'm Spiderman" ...."I'm Wonder Woman"........(if we were playing with my sister of course)

Superman has been my favorite super hero for as long as i can remember with the Green Lantern coming in a very close second. But really, why would you want to be any other super hero than Superman? HE CAN DO EVERYTHING!!!! Fly, Heat vision, X-ray vision, Super-strength, super-speed, turning back time (Superman the movie I), psychic powers (Superman the movie 4) you get the picture. Also, my. . i mean HIS. . . only weakness is A ROCK FROM ANOTHER PLANET THAT GOT DESTROYED.. where are you going to find one of those. I suppose he could hire Batman to get rid of all the Kryptonite anyway. Speaking of B Batman. . .

I am making a motion in the International Order of Superheroes (IOS) ***don't tell anyone that i am a part of the ISO it is a secret*** Anyway, I am making a motion to kick Batman out of the Order. HE IS NOT A LEGIT SUPERHERO! Superheroes have special powers. Batman has a cool belt. Superheroes work a day job. Batman is a millionaire with too much free time. Superheroes are special. Batman is not. OK OK for you Batman fans, I am making the motion that he merely be demoted to hero status ( getting into the IOH).

Well i have to fly. . .. i mean run, but i hope you enjoyed this Super post........

What if I told you that right now there is a $100 bill hidden somewhere in the room you are right now. Seriously, all you have to do is find it and it is yours to keep.

If you believed me, you probably would not be reading this paragraph right now but would be searching frantically all over the room for the $100. Of course you would, I know that is what i would do if someone told me that.

Switching gears, the book of Proverbs talks about searching for hidden treasure. Not $100, but definitely something of far greater value.

Read Prov. 2

Do you want to "find the knowledge of God" and "understand the fear of the Lord? Among the list of guidelines is the truth that we must study the Word of God as if we were looking for that hidden $100. Wow! It is not enough to just simply read your Bible everyday. It takes work. Bible reading is and active, Searching, process and must be approached with the same passion as finding earthly treasures.

It is so easy to just check off the devotions for the day without getting anything out of it. Spending quality time with God is not something that just happens when we read the Bible. Our attitude is so key! Every time God reminds me of this, I get so much more out of my devotional reading. God wants us to find that spiritual treasure. He wants us to know His mind; but we must dig for it.

Ahh! And when we do find those spiritual truths that seem to jump off the page at us, there is nothing more refreshing and encouraging.

If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;

Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.

Sledgehammer. One of the simplest tools ever invented by mankind. It performs one of the simplest tasks of mankind. . . . Smashing.

Harkening back to Norse mythology, the Germanic Hero Thor wielded his sledgehammer called Mjöllnir ( don't ask how to pronounce it) with might and precision. It was the equivalent of Excalibur to Arthur.

Today, I use a sledgehammer, although not in the epic proportions of the no-necked norsemen of old. In the tent business, a sledgehammer comes in mighty handy when pounding stubborn stakes into the unforgiving ground. As a professional sledgehammer user, I would like to share some of my insight on the subject with you.

First off, you must choose your weapon wisely. It's all in the weight of the head. Some prefer the tiny 8-pound head, while others the massive 16-pounder.

The type of sledge you choose often reflects the style with which you will swing.

There are the number of styles:

• Rookie--Random, inaccurate, powerless swings. Few stakes are pounded and many a sledge is broken with this style, but hey, you have to start somewhere.
• Slow and Steady-- Moderately high swings that are usually accurate. Although you wont win in the sledging race, you are sure to keep a consistent pace and will usually not break the sledgehammer.
• Maniac-- This style is characterized by short swings that are repeated very quickly. Each swing may not pack that much of a punch, but the sheer amount of swings produces quick and efficient results
• Around the world-- My personal favorite. This style is not always the most accurate, but it is definitely the most effective. Although difficult to master, the around the world swing beats all in my opinion. Swinging the sledge as high as possible, letting it fall while pulling it toward the stake, and connecting at last with the head of the iron beast is truly what sledging is all about. Few people ever master this style, but when they do, you can tell.

So the next time you are watching your average sledgehammer user, remember this segment. Appreciate all the complexities of one of the simplest tools on earth.

Technopoly

I recently read the book Technopoly by Neil Postman. What a great read! It is especially good for those of us tech geeks who are always keeping up with the latest products. The main thrust of the book is on the idea that we often think of what technology can do FOR us, but we rarely think of what technology does TO us. So often we tend to look at the latest technology through the lens that it is all good. Whether it be the newest iPhone or the latest software, we rarely weigh the benefits of these advances against their consequences. We live in an age of instant information. This can be a great thing, but has anyone thought that it could be a bad thing? Has it crossed anyone's mind that having instant communication with anyone on the planet might not be the best for society. . . I will not rewrite the book on this blog(cuz that is illeagal!), but I will say that if you are not currently reading a book, Technopoly is a great one to pick up.

Now before you brand me as an anti-progressive, old-school only, stone-aged dull face. . . . . (I may have gotten a little carried away there) Be looking for my post on Apple computers. Those that know me realize that I am a Mac fanatic and have no trouble voicing my beliefs about the greatest computers on earth. Of course, even Macs must be viewed in light of their negative consequences. . . . but I have yet to find one :)

Looking for a serious post? Look elsewhere today. I would like to share with you my favorite tongue twister. yes i did say tongue twister. This one is not my favorite because it is hard to say (because it is not), nor is it my favorite because it is incredibly witty (it's not that either). It is not one of those trick tongue twisters like "Owa tagoo Siam" ( say it 10x fast). No, No my friends, my favorite tongue twister is just simply fun to say. Are you ready? Ok for those of you still figuring out the trick one, it sounds like you are saying " O what a goose i am".

Now that we have that out of the way, we can move on to my favorite. Here it goes:

"A Noisy Noise Annoys an Oyster"

If you have not already, say it out loud. . . . . No really, go ahead and say it out loud right now. There, isn't that fun! Definitely my favorite one.

p.s. the picture is of a real restaurant in Maine that my sister snapped a photo of in honor of my favorite tongue twister.

On Sunday, I was driving with my family to church. Going the way we always go, we happened upon a huge traffic jam about 10 minutes away from our church. Come to find out, the jam was due to an accident that had taken place a few hours earlier. Normally I would not blog about something like this, but I was so frustrated when I found out that the driver of the vehicle that caused the accident was drunk. Here is the kicker though, the drunk man was 73 years old. He hit and critically injured a 60 some year old man at an intersection. This terrible "accident" ( in quotes because the man willfully chose to get drunk) started me thinking about what a terror alcoholism has become in our country. I started searching around on the internet and came up with some pretty scary figures from sources that I believe are reliable.

Now, I know that the numbers do not correlate, and I am not a statistician who can relate the numbers correctly. However, these facts alone are startling. . . . So far this year ( 6 months) there have been approximately 2,600 deaths in the United States directly caused by drunk driving. Now, lets think about the war in Iraq. From about the time the war started in May of 2003, there have been about 4,200 deaths of U.S. soldiers. This is over a SIX YEAR PERIOD. Far fewer soldiers have died in Iraq over 6 years than will die in the U.S. this year alone at the rate we are going. I know that there are more people in the U.S. so the numbers are not directly related but STILL!!!! Think about it. Right now, I wonder if it is actually safer for a 20 year old guy like myself to be hear in the States, or over in Iraq. I am a total supporter of the troops and am confident that the Iraq war was justified, but lets not forget about the battle on the home front. The battle for broken families and ruined lives due to the awful effects of alcohol.

Fireflies

Last night my siblings and some other friends of ours went out into a field and caught lightning bugs and pout them into a jar. I have not done this since I was about 7 years old. It was a lot of fun. I was struck (not by lightning) by a thought that my brother pointed out. God probably put lightning bugs on earth just for us. I mean, yes, they ultimately bring Him glory as the creator, but they are so fascinating to us humans. Summer time would just not be the same without them and countless memories would not exist if lightning bugs disappeared. Our God is so great, and I am so thankful that He cares about giving us the big things as well as the little things like fireflies.

The Joke is on You!

I work at a tent rental company. As with any rental business you meet all different types of people. However, it is not everyday that you get to set up a tent ( or 3 in this case) for a professional football player like I did today. James Harrison: #92, linebacker, NFL 2008 defensive player of the year. All of that information I looked up 2 seconds ago on wikipedia. If it were not for my coworkers, i would had never recognized the name or recognized the fact that Harrison was responsible for the incredible interception runback for a touchdown in this past superbowl ( even though i did watch it)

Regardless, this is what happened at his house today: From the get go, i doubted whether or not we would be setting up of the James Harrison or if we were headed to the house of "old man Jim" in some remote wood. Well, I was wrong ( first time ever btw) I immediately knew that i was at the home of a pro football player by the "toys" that he had in his garage ( Hummer, Denali, Streetbike, etc. . ) The fellas with me ( my brother, Andrew, and friend, Josh Brinker) were met by a short, stocky man who proceeded to tell us that the "big wun goes ova by da poo". We began setting up the large tent toward the end of the driveway, the whole time wondering if we had just talked to was James. Well a few minutes later, another man about my height ( 6 foot) came out and told us again where the tents would go. Instantly we knew that this was the guy. Dressed in a baggy red t-shirt, bball shorts, and Jordan bball shoes stood James Harrison in all his glory. . . . . glory is not the word to use. Periodically James would come out and check on things and give us the impression that he did not want to be bothered. After about 30 min of work, my brother had to inform James that he was going to need to purchase a few water barrels in order to weigh his tent down, and that we would need to use his water to fill the barrels. Begin fun part of the story> Upon hearing this, James Harrison went into a complete frenzy. The frenzy consisted of his yelling and screaming at us for having to charge him for water barrels. He stormed into the house from the balcony and I could still hear the screaming. When he came out to the garage where we were setting up, he began to walk all around the tent still yelling and making a big scene. Not wanting to make the man any angrier, i began to explain to him why we needed to use the barrels and blah blah blah. During this time, my brother is on the phone with my boss trying to convince him that it would be best if we brought our own water to this job. Right in the middle of the tirade, James Harrison turns around and gives me the biggest smile. Almost on the floor, and laughing, he tells me that the whole thing is a joke!!! He is not angry at all!! BUT I AM!! jk I look up to the balcony overlooking the driveway and their is a girl VIDEOTAPING THE WHOLE THING!!! A few of his buddies come out of the garage laughing their heads off while i breathe a sigh of relief. At this point andrew is laughing and decides to continue the joke with my boss ( still on the phone) Andrew gives the phone to Harrison who quickly begins his whole rant over again. Andrew got the phone back and let my boss know it was a joke. We were all laughing very hard. wow. After that, things went smoothly and the rest of the job was normal. . . . . . . except for the end when we were getting pictures with James and I took one of my brother and James Harrison, and then took one of Josh and James Harrison, and then Josh took a picture of me and James Harrison. .. . . . . but Josh was not used to my phone and DID NOT SAVE THE PICTURE! O well, i really could care less. While he may be a star athlete, he is NOT a hero of mine. After listening to his sailor mouth and reading about his arrest for assault, ( yeah, did not know that before hand) he is not a role model that i would want to be like. My Dad definitely has that position.

I will not quickly forget the funny things that happened today, but in the end: James Harrison is just another man. He puts his pants on the same why I do. . . . . one leg at a time.