Here are a few pics from a family reunion (my mom’s side) I had about a month ago in Fripp Island, South Carolina. Overall it was a nice trip.

I’m the guy in the NYC shirt. My grandpa and grandma are sitting in the front.

 
This guy eventually caught a sand shark. I got a picture of him with it and sent it to him via email.

 
The deer there were pretty tame. I fed one an apple from my hand. Was cool.

 
Parts of Forest Gump were filmed on Fripp Island in areas such as these.

So I got a $75 ticket yesterday for going straight in a turn lane, yet the arrows on the street were all but completely faded. I’m thinking of taking a picture of them and bringing them to court, although the last time I pled innocent the cop actually lied to the judge. In that instance the ticket was given to me for driving down a closed road, and the cop actually accused me of moving a barricade, which I didn’t do. So I took it to court and he denied ever accusing me of moving the barricade. Ah well, such is life I guess. It just sucks because my finances are hurting a bit this month for some reason, though I should be in a much better spot when Friday finally rolls around, especially since I worked overtime on a holiday last week (4th of July). It also sucks because this is my first ticket in over 2 years, and I’ve worked really hard to keep my driving record clean.

When’s the last time you got a ticket?

In related news my job is going alright, though I am hoping to get better hours soon. I currently work mostly nights and have Sundays through Tuesdays off. Yet a position with more normal hours will likely be opening up soon and my boss told me she’ll let me know when it’s available ASAP. I’m hoping that happens soon as well. In the meantime though, I am thankful that I have a job, and am hoping and praying it will be enough to pull me through this month with the unexpected expenses (driving ticket, etc.) I encountered.

On a scale of 1 to 10 how happy are you with your job?

This video is funny…

I love the guy’s face when God asks him, “What do you think heaven would be like if God let in every good person?”

Well, I don’t agree with how this video portrays God, but I do believe this video brings up some great questions. For example, does God judge us solely based on our beliefs or do our actions have a part as well? I think there are some verses in the Bible that may address this.

In the book of Matthew Jesus emphasizes that when we show love to “the least of these,” we are actually showing love to God, even if we don’t realize it. ^“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’  (Matthew 25:38-40).

Do you believe it is possible to encounter God without realizing it?

I was recently watching a documentary called “the Farm”, which was made 10 years ago about the Angola Prison in Louisiana, which is the largest maximum security prison in the U.S. In this prison, a man named Vincent Simmons has been given a life sentence for raping a woman 20 years ago. Yet he claims he is innocent, and during his time at Angola, Simmons has been collecting evidence in an attempt to prove his innocence. One piece of evidence he obtained was the original Doctor’s Report which said that the woman was a virgin after she had accused Simmons of raping her. Also, the woman who identified him as being the rapist initially said that “all black people look alike,” so she never would be able to point out the perpetrator. In addition, he has a photo of him next to all of the other suspects, and he is the only man in handcuffs, which is not a legal practice. In the following video, both Simmons and the woman are allowed to present their cases before three justices, as Simmons is up for parol. The woman presents her case first, and the justices tell her, “you can rest assured we’ll keep this boy locked up.” Yet they make this statement before looking at Simmons’ evidence. As a result, Simmons is making an attempt to present his case to the U.S. Supreme Court, where he will hopefully be guaranteed a fair trial.

If you are interested in seeing Vincent Simmons receive a fair trial please sign the petition below. Unfortunately this was the only video I could find, and the subtitles are not in English…

SIGN PETITION

My barber comes across as a nice old man. He always remembers who I am, only charges $10 for a quality haircut, and likes to laugh a lot and joke around with his customers. However, I’ve counted twice now where his joking has crossed the line and made me feel uncomfortable. The first time this happened was when he was giving me a haircut and a black man walked past his front door. “He won’t be coming in here,” my barber said. “They like those strange haircuts.” This made me feel uncomfortable and I ended up telling my barber that some of my close friends happen to be African Americans, and he changed his tone a bit. Even though I found his comment shady I decided to give him another chance. Yet a few weeks ago he told a story about a black man who tried playing a practical joke on him, and how he outsmarted the black guy and turned the joke around on him. Again, I felt uncomfortable. Why did he include the man’s race in his story, as though it were an integral part of the story? And so I’ve come to the conclusion to not support him as a barber anymore. Why should I have to feel uncomfortable in his barbershop even though those times may be few and far between? Even so, this decision is bittersweet, simply because I usually enjoyed the community and conversation that I found in that barber shop.

Have you ever stopped supporting a business based on ethical reasons?

Youse is about 66% Chicagoian

Take The Chicagoian Test at HelloQuizzy

I sometimes listen to Mancow in the morning since he’s now a local Chicago radio personality. He’s known for being a “shock jock” and pulling off pranks and stunts simply for effect. So when he said he was going to go through with being waterboarded, I’m sure that some people thought this was simply for attention. But in reality he did this to help raise money for a charity called “Veterans of Valor”. An unlikely person, Keith Olbermann, allied with Mancow here and donated $10,000 to this charity after Mancow went through with being waterboarded…

Even when all seems lost,
And I don’t feel at ease,
This place calms my spirit,
Even when all seems lost.
I’m comforted by the warm sun,
And calmed by this gentle breeze,
Even when all seems lost,
And I don’t feel at ease.

Over the next few days my family is going camping. But camping this week will be a little different than camping as a kid, mainly because my mom and sisters will be there. As a kid, my brothers, dad, a few friends and I would usually meet up with other cousins or uncles to go camping once or twice a year, and for us it was a chance to get away and eat bacon, play music, play board games like Risk or Rail Baron, fish, drink coffee till midnight, hike, play Frisbee, and pee on trees – activities my mom would have no part in.

I remember about a week after one of my earlier camping trips one of our neighbors called my mom to tell her she saw my brothers and I peeing on a tree in our backyard, something which my mom put an end to immediately. I don’t know what we were thinking. But camping was always one of my favorite things to do as a kid, and dreaming of the next camping trip helped me make it through many boring days of school.

What are some companies you love?

Here are a few of mine…

I currently get all of my music downloads, most of my books and also some Wii games from Amazon. The mp3′s are DRM free and are easily copied onto my mp3 player.


I do all of my audio recording on an old G4 tower, and the 6 year old machine works really well. My next computer will hopefully be the newly redesigned Mac Mini.


Nintendo – I’ve been a Nintendo fan most of my life. I think playing Goldeneye on 64 got me hooked, and I’ve always loved a good Mario Party game. Lately I’ve been loving “Endless Ocean” and “Dokapon Kingdom” for Wii.


Nokia – I once had a Nokia that I dropped in the toilet. It continued to work after that, and helped me appreciate even more what a great company Nokia is. Not only can the phones take a good swirlie, they are very user friendly and have enough applications for somebody like me.


My current car is not a Toyota, but the engine and transmission were made by Toyota. Therefore it runs well. 


Myspace does a great job promoting bands but is ugly and full of ads. Blogger is free of ads if you want it to be, but isn’t very community basedl. Facebook has a great community but isn’t music or blog focused enough for me. Meanwhile, Xanga is attractive, community based, and is for artists, musicians, photographers and true bloggers. What more could I ask for?