"Nobody watches soaps because of the good acting."
[Laughter]
"They watch it because it feels a void in their life of romance and relationships that they don't have. You may say, 'Ha! I would never do that.' TV, in general, fills that void for you. You get your emotional fulfillment from either lusting after or crying with people that don't even exist."
-- 11/25/2007 sermon by Chris Riser
Friday, November 30, 2007
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Oh, the joy of capitalism
Before Lydia and I traveled to the Dirty South, we decided to see what all of the Black Friday buzz was about. In need of a new camera, we decided to take advantage of one of Wal-Mart's 5AM sales. We knew that it was going to be unlike the everyday run to Wal-Mart for bread and milk, we did not know that it was going to be an absolute madhouse.
We woke up at 4AM hoping to beat some of the Black Friday traffic. When walking in the parking lot to Wal-Mart we noticed that people were actually running into the store. (I, personally, do not care if they were selling Apple Iphones for .99, I would not demote myself to running into a department store.) While Lydia and I were strolling in the parking lot, my beautiful bride was almost clipped by an SUV rushing for a parking space.
The scene inside was just as ridiculous. It appeared that these people really believed that Christmas happiness could be won if they muscled themselves towards the better deals. Lydia and I easily secured what we went in for, browsed the store a bit, observed human nature at its worst, and left for breakfast.
Now, do not get me wrong. As a morning person, I see nothing wrong with getting up early and enjoying some good deals. I was, however, disgusted by much of the greed that was present in the store. There is something wrong when human beings are herded down aisles like a bunch of cattle and when one accidentally gets elbowed an apology is no where to be found because common courtesy may slow one down from buying that printer/scanner combo.
As a capitalist, I say 'good for Wal-Mart' for creating a sale that many of its shoppers enjoy. As a human being, I say 'shame on you' for my fellow Americans' clear display of greed. A sale on Dvd camcorders is no excuse to abandon all civility.
We woke up at 4AM hoping to beat some of the Black Friday traffic. When walking in the parking lot to Wal-Mart we noticed that people were actually running into the store. (I, personally, do not care if they were selling Apple Iphones for .99, I would not demote myself to running into a department store.) While Lydia and I were strolling in the parking lot, my beautiful bride was almost clipped by an SUV rushing for a parking space.
The scene inside was just as ridiculous. It appeared that these people really believed that Christmas happiness could be won if they muscled themselves towards the better deals. Lydia and I easily secured what we went in for, browsed the store a bit, observed human nature at its worst, and left for breakfast.
Now, do not get me wrong. As a morning person, I see nothing wrong with getting up early and enjoying some good deals. I was, however, disgusted by much of the greed that was present in the store. There is something wrong when human beings are herded down aisles like a bunch of cattle and when one accidentally gets elbowed an apology is no where to be found because common courtesy may slow one down from buying that printer/scanner combo.
As a capitalist, I say 'good for Wal-Mart' for creating a sale that many of its shoppers enjoy. As a human being, I say 'shame on you' for my fellow Americans' clear display of greed. A sale on Dvd camcorders is no excuse to abandon all civility.
Tour de South
Lydia and I have done our fair share of traveling during the month of November. According to my quick calculations, we have flown and driven around 3050 miles during this month. Of course all of this excessive traveling was due to very important events to in my new family.
The first round of traveling (Knoxville-Charlotte-Fort Worth-Lubbock-Fort Worth-Charlotte-Knoxville) was due to the long awaited marriage of Lydia's brother Donald to his college sweetheart Danielle. As weddings are often makeshift family reunions, it was great meeting some of Lydia's family/friends that I have never met before. It was a great trip but we are finding it more and more difficult to say goodbye to Steve and Mo. In fact, the highlight of the trip was seeing Steve--former tennis player of the Air Force Academy--playing my Nintendo Wii. It was hilarious seeing him run all over the living room chasing the 3D ball. What a blast! --
The second round of travelling was our annual (I think a tradition is officially forming here) post-Thanksgiving Day trip to Atlanta to visit Lydia's Uncle Don and her Aunt Lisa. On each trip to visit one of my many in-laws it feels like I am becoming more and more apart of the Freggens/Skidmore families. I brought the Nintendo Wii along on this trip as well and Don's four children (Marjorie, Drew, Boyd, and Max) loved it. I am beginning to think that my new family only loves me for my Nintendo. Unfortunately, Lydia and I did not take pictures of this particular visit, but I did post pictures from Thanksgiving 2006.
Lydia and I are becoming quite the nation-trotters, so you may want to watch out for us in a town near you.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Honeymoon quote
On the way to our destination...
"A cotton museum?! That would be really cool!...No, wait a minute. That would actually be quite boring." --Kevin
"A cotton museum?! That would be really cool!...No, wait a minute. That would actually be quite boring." --Kevin
Dolly Evans/Breaking-and-entering--A typical Friday evening
This evening Lydia and I had a delightful time in each other's company. With her sporadic work schedule and my hectic academic calendar, it has bee
n awhile since she and I got to spend some quality time together. Yet, as mentioned, we remedied this problem last evening. After having an amazing dinner (cooked by Lydia) of beef stew and Waldorf salad, we spent time with our pets. Well, they are not actually our pets, as those who have visited us can confirm. They are our neighbors' two dogs: Dolly--a golden retriever--and Rocket a Gordon Settler. Though it is always questionable to show favoritism towards a family member, Lydia and I have both confirmed that Dolly is our favorite. (Rocket is a beautiful dog and all, but she is just a bit socially awkward.) Here is a picture of Dolly on our porch, and the picture below it reveals her one true passion--a game of fetch. Dolly loves to jump off the side of our mountain in pursuit of her ball. She is a great companion up here on the mountain.
As the third picture can confirm, there was an unpleasant interruption to our evening. It appears that our bathroom door became locked and we had no way of unlocking it without climbing into a two story window. Thankfully, our bathroom window was unlocked or this would have been the beginning of an unpleasant, bathroom-less weekend.
After the bathroom door fiasco, Lydia and I took a brief stroll around our neighborhood. The fall colors are setting in and this amplifies the beauty of Shadow Mountain. Lydia and I not only saw a reminder of fall, but also Halloween. On our travels we saw a lone bat flying above our heads. Lydia, who evidently appreciates all of Creation, called the bat "cute"--which, reportedly, she is the only woman to call a flying rodent as such.
I know that many of the individuals reading this are doing so because Lydia and I began our "advertising campaign" to promote
our blog. If this is true, we want to welcome you to our home on the web. As you probably read in an earlier post, I consider myself to be rather techno-savvy when it comes to these types of things, so please allow me to make a recommendation. There is a terrific program on the web called Google Reader. This fantastic program not only bookmarks all of the blogs and other RSS embeded websites that you frequently read, but gives notifications when we (or your other favorite websites) update our blogs. In the words of Google, "It is like an Inbox for the Internet." I strongly suggest that you check it out.
n awhile since she and I got to spend some quality time together. Yet, as mentioned, we remedied this problem last evening. After having an amazing dinner (cooked by Lydia) of beef stew and Waldorf salad, we spent time with our pets. Well, they are not actually our pets, as those who have visited us can confirm. They are our neighbors' two dogs: Dolly--a golden retriever--and Rocket a Gordon Settler. Though it is always questionable to show favoritism towards a family member, Lydia and I have both confirmed that Dolly is our favorite. (Rocket is a beautiful dog and all, but she is just a bit socially awkward.) Here is a picture of Dolly on our porch, and the picture below it reveals her one true passion--a game of fetch. Dolly loves to jump off the side of our mountain in pursuit of her ball. She is a great companion up here on the mountain.As the third picture can confirm, there was an unpleasant interruption to our evening. It appears that our bathroom door became locked and we had no way of unlocking it without climbing into a two story window. Thankfully, our bathroom window was unlocked or this would have been the beginning of an unpleasant, bathroom-less weekend.
After the bathroom door fiasco, Lydia and I took a brief stroll around our neighborhood. The fall colors are setting in and this amplifies the beauty of Shadow Mountain. Lydia and I not only saw a reminder of fall, but also Halloween. On our travels we saw a lone bat flying above our heads. Lydia, who evidently appreciates all of Creation, called the bat "cute"--which, reportedly, she is the only woman to call a flying rodent as such.
I know that many of the individuals reading this are doing so because Lydia and I began our "advertising campaign" to promote
our blog. If this is true, we want to welcome you to our home on the web. As you probably read in an earlier post, I consider myself to be rather techno-savvy when it comes to these types of things, so please allow me to make a recommendation. There is a terrific program on the web called Google Reader. This fantastic program not only bookmarks all of the blogs and other RSS embeded websites that you frequently read, but gives notifications when we (or your other favorite websites) update our blogs. In the words of Google, "It is like an Inbox for the Internet." I strongly suggest that you check it out.
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