Dreams Really Do Come True

One of my all time favorite songs.
Done by Jason Castro.
This song makes me cry.


Also ... Idol Gives Back tonight. Will you be watching?

Party Like it's 1978

Many of my friends are turning 30 this year. So it ought to be a year full of celebrations. What better way to start things off than kickin' it 70's style with fashions from the year we were born?

My friend Suzanne, the birthday girl.


Jared, of the incredibly tight pants. (Be thankful they're out of view.)


And what good party is complete without disco tunes on the karaoke machine?

Suicide City

I was born and raised in Colorado Springs. When I'm flying somewhere and the person in the seat next to me asks where I'm from, I can usually anticipate the kind of response I'll get. I've lived here for most of my life and I know what kind of reputation this city has. There are over 90 Christian non-profits located here. Some of the biggest names in the religious right live in the area. This city has long been known for being a morally conservative, Republican city full of Christians.

There was a shocking story in our local newspaper recently. According to a 2007 report by the National Association of County & City Health Officials, Colorado Springs has the 2nd highest suicide rate in the country. We're second only after Las Vegas.

Does this bother anyone else like it does me?

We who claim to love Jesus Christ have obviously missed something. Something big. If we Christians are living the way Jesus intended for us to live, we are supposed to be known by our love. So somebody please expain to me why, in a city that is supposedly filled with people recognized by our "love," so many of us are struggling with such pain, despair, hopelessness, and loneliness that the only way to end it is death?

We've gotten it wrong ... this thing called life.

What if Colorado Springs was known for being a city where we love every person, regardless of their political affiliation, choice of occupation, race or sexual orientation? What if instead of making the news for our sickeningly high suicide rate, we made the news for our exceptional hospitality and warmth, environmental stewardship and charitable giving? Why can't this city become a place I can proudly claim as my hometown instead of feeling like I have to apologize for it?

More Mayer Love

I really like deep thinkers. I find myself drawn to introspective and self-reflective people.

John Mayer is a deep thinker. The lyrics on his past couple albums make that obvious. As does his latest blog post.

He is surprisingly grounded for someone so often in the spotlight. Read it. It's worth your time.

I just keep becoming a bigger and bigger fan. Love you, JM!

At times like this I wish I were a man ...

One of the things I hate in life is car trouble. I know very little about cars. And to be honest, I don't really want to understand them. I just want to drive one. That works. I've been really diligent about regular maintenance on my Mazda because I paid it off a few years ago and am hoping it will last me a long time.

A couple weeks ago my car started stalling at stoplights. Then every time I stepped on the brake, even to turn a corner, my RPM's would go so low the car would be on the verge of dying. So I sucked it up at took it to the mechanic this morning as the problem was quite obviously getting worse.

I just got off the phone with the mechanic, and although I understood about 20% of what he said, here's what I got:

The main problem is the intake manifold ... something.
Then there is my axel leakage ... something.
And on top of that, some gasket cover ... something.

I tried to listen to details, but all I really heard was the total = $740.
I don't even know enough to know if I'm getting ripped off.

Proof

I have a new post on the Compassion Blog.
It's about me and the little guy I sponsor, Youvens.

The $5 Photo Fee

My family has always had this weird thing with pictures. We love them. We're all big fat camera hogs. At every family function, even to this day, count on my dad to have the camera ready to go at any given second.

When we were little, we used to take our annual family portraits up at my grandparents house during the Thanksgiving holiday. We'd all dress up and then one by one, we'd pose on the piano bench while my dad took the pictures. After the single photos were done, then it would have to be all the kids together. Then the whole family. It was always a big ordeal. And it inevitably took many shots to get just one decent one of all four of us kids. Every year my brother would pose like an angel until the very last second when, just as my dad's finger was pressing the button on the camera, he'd screw up his face in some horrific grimace.

My dad got frustrated with wasting so much film that he started charging us $5 per family photo we "ruined." That's right. We actually had to pay if we made a funny face in a picture.

Anyway, I was just looking through some of my family photos last night. Dad, I'm glad to see your punishment worked so well.