Christmas Bells are Ringing

Little bell ringers, they are everywhere!

It seems, this time of year, one cannot walk into a retail store without being accosted by these people. You know the ones, those delightful people who scowl at you and say “Merry Christmas!” or “Happy Holidays!” under their breath if you fail to drop your spare coins or dollars into their collection plate. Yet never do these ringers tell you of the Salvation Army blatant anti-gay and anti-lesbian views. They openly discriminate against gay and lesbian people. They have given large donations to political action groups who oppose gay and lesbian rights and marriage. So much for using the funds they collect to help people. They are giving money to support political activities. I wonder how many people they could have fed or clothed with the money they donated to various political groups? No, they are not helping people they are in fact hurting part of our society. I won’t go into all the details here, it’s very easy to find an evenings worth of reading by just going to google and typing in “Salvation Army gay”. You will find a plethora of pages to occupy your time.

Soulforce has place this flyer on their website. Consider printing these out and dropping them into they Salvation Army collection plates this season.

Thankful

Well, it’s that time of year again. The holidays are here. As I sit here at my keyboard typing, partially because it’s time – 8 months it’s overdue and partially because I’m tired of being bitched at for not updating my blog, I am reminded how truly lucky we are. Even as the economy is in a mess, we are still the luckiest people in the world. Especially us. By us I mean my family. My family extends far beyond the people to whom I am biologically related to. It is of course, my parents, brother and his family. But equally important are those here in OKC that share relationships just as profound. Each of you, please take a few minutes to think of all the things your have in your lives to be thankful for. Jobs, food, shelter, loved ones. Please, as well, think of those here as well as elsewhere in the world who are unemployed, hungry, on the streets and alone. I can’t even begin to list all the important people in my life, but you all know who you are. I love you all and you are what I am most thankful for this season!

Randy Pausch Lecture: Really Acheiving Your Childhood Dreams

Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch, who is dying from pancreatic cancer, gave his last lecture at the university Sept. 18, 2007.

I realize it is a bit lengthy at 76 minutes, but PLEASE take the time to watch it. It will be time well spent!




If you can't spare and hour for the entire lecture, here is a link to a shorter version.

2007 In Review

Wow! What a year 2007 was! It seemed to fly by in a blur! For me 2007 was a year of extremes. Lots of highs and lots of lows. Lots of good times, lots of bad times. But, all in all, I can't say it was a bad year. 2007 saw the closing of some doors as well as the opening of others. Chapters ended while new ones began.

Looking back, here are a few things from 2007:

• Oklahoma turned 100 years old.
  
• Miss Oklahoma won Miss America.
  
• T. R. Knight, David Hyde Pierce, Jodie Foster, Neil Patrick Harris and Lance Bass all came out in 2007.
  
• We had a crazy ice storm knocking out power to over 600,000 people!
  
• Bruce's son started college.
  
• Kim's hair finally grew into a mullet.
  
• Lucas got a job, oh, hell, who am I kidding...Lucas didn't get a job.
  
• Heath went off the deep end and walked out of his job.
  
• I got a new roommate, then another and a little dog too.
• Bruce reopened the 4th street nano-brewery.
  
• Heath started a nano-brewery.
  
• The Phoenix Rising got renamed The Bird.
  
• Jenny got her Cole back.
  
• Charles self-diagnosed himself and consequently he couldn't eat wheat for 8 months...only to find out he had a bacterial infection, treatable with ten days of antibiotics.
  
• Mack caught on fire and it took TWO firemen to put him out.
  
• Timmy was reported as a missing person in Japan - by his mother.
  
• Lucas gave birth to http://www.hypeful.com/.
  
• People got up from The Park and walked across the street to The Bird.
  
• Angles was sold and reopened....it's still dead.
  
• The Hollywood Hotel was closed and torn down, there are just as many people there now as when it was open.

So, here's to 2007 and looking forward to 2008!!

Civil Liberties

This is an extremely powerful clip from Boston Legal talking about how “…the Bush administration has done more to dismantle constitutional protections of our liberties than any president in modern memory.” Please take five minutes to watch it, it is very moving and should, at the very least give one something to think about.

Ice Storm 2007, Part II - This is for the Birds!

Well, it is now mid-Thursday and I along with 139,277 people in Oklahoma City am still without electricity. Its for the Birds - quite litterly. This is Coco, Tony's Goffin Cockatoo. She's very sweet. Well, to everyone but Charles, whom she hates.

Ice Storm 2007, Part I

I added the Part I to the title, because, I am assuming there will be at least a Part II. Oklahoma Gas and Electric is saying it could take seven to ten days to get the power back on everywhere. When I got to work this morning, there were a hair over 225,000 people in the metropolitan area without power. It is now 267,798. THEY ARE GOING THE WRONG WAY!!!

Just think, it all started with a single rain drop....by 10pm the ice was an inch thick on my car!

It is now day two without power or heat....THIS REALLY SUCKS!

At lunch Charles and I went to check our respective houses for power, but alas, there was nothing. We took these pictures as we drove around our neighborhod.

Party at The Bird

The Phoenix Rising, affectionately referred to as The Bird, had its Christmas Party this past Sunday, Dec. 2. Great food and great drinks were a’plenty. Below are some pics from the event!

Thanks Craig and George we all had a GREAT time!!!

Vegas Vacation Recap, Part IV

After Wupatki and Sunset Crater we headed straight for the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. I have flown over it many times and seen countless photographs; however, neither does it justice. You really can’t fathom it until you stand on the ridge. It literally goes on as far as you can see stretching out across the horizon. It is 277 miles long, 6000 feet deep at its deepest point and 15 miles across at is widest!

After spending the day at the Grand Canyon, we made a bee line to Vegas! The drive to the hotel was indirect, to say the least, due to some bad Google Directions. We finally made it downtown about an hour and a half later than we should have. We checked into the Four Queens then meet up with David’s parents, his niece and her boy friend. Then we headed out for the Black Jack tables.

Saturday we checked out of the Four Queens and into the Golden Nugget. We then promptly headed back to the Black Jack tables at the Four Queens. In summary, Friday night was good, Saturday morning was fine but Saturday afternoon was BRUTAL! Neither of us could win a hand! Things began improving Saturday night. Sunday was fair. David ended up doing quite well. I did less well, but did come home with money in my pocket.

Monday we decided to head back to OKC. We stopped for a minute at the Hoover Dam. Wow! What a big chunck of concrete! We drove all the way back to Santa Rosa, New Mexico on Monday. Got up early Tuesday and hit the road. We made it back to OKC around 4:30 Tuesday afternoon.

Vegas Vacation Recap, Part III

The last site we visited on day two was El Morro National Monument. El Morro means “the headland” or “the bluff”. The 250 foot tall massive sandstone bluff was formed largely by ancient sand dunes. The soft sandstone made it easy for travelers to carve pictures, names, dates and messages. Some of the inscriptions date back hundreds and hundreds of years.

On day three we headed to Wupatki and the Sunset Crater Volcano in Arizona. Around 1100 a series of eruptions brought the dormant San Francisco Volcanic Field back to life. Even though the field has been dormant for 800 years a working seismograph at the Sunset Crate Volcano visitor center is continually monitoring the area.

Sunset Crater Volcano



The Lava flow

More lava flow



even more lava flow

In addition to the volcano we saw pueblo ruins. The people who built Wupatki and other pueblos here were ancestors of the Hopi, Zuni and other puebloan peoples of today. Wupatki is the largest pueblo in the park. It was build around 1100.

Next update - The Grand Canyon and The Hover Dam