The Vanity of Not Wearing Glasses

When I was 18 and having difficulty seeing the pins at the bowling alley I went to the eye doc and he prescribed some groovy glasses.. I think I only wore them once a week when I bowled with my team.. those were fun days. Time passed and Uncle Sam knocked on my door giving me a great invitation to serve my country. So when I was 19 years old, I found myself in need of those glasses again.. the Army made me wear their Olive Drab version when I couldn't hit one of those faraway targets on the rifle range.

Well, I got out of basic training and never again donned those glasses.. they might be still hiding in the basement.. been years since I have seen them. About 10 years later I was tooling along at night on a trip to New Jersey to see my family and I kind of got lost.. yeah I missed a sign.. once again I went to the eye doc and got a new pair of glasses - aviator style.. I looked pretty cool. Of course these frames were only needed for night driving

Eventually I began to wear them whenever I was driving - just to be safe.. I knew I really didn't "need" them. Some time passed and one morning I forgot to take them off as I walked through the front door at work. I sat down at my desk and turned my mainframe computer monitor on.. I looked down and when I looked up I was shocked to see the crispness of the text on the monitor. I began to laugh.. it is humbling to realize that your own vanity has caused you to walk around in a fog.

Ever since that day I have worn glasses full time.. about then years ago I bought a pair of progressive lenses.. also known as no-line trifocals.. it is wild getting old. These days I take them off to watch TV but usually have them on the rest of the time. Guess my vanity has given way to my practicality.

Do folks call you four-eyes? How long have you worn glasses? Any stories?

Addict at 10

This short two minute video gives us a brief glimpse into the life of Derek Steele who took his first sip of tequila at age 8 and found himself enmeshed in the world of drugs until he got free when he was 20 years old. With the support of a 12-step program, he found God and left drugs and alcohol behind.

The publisher has offered a free copy of Derek's "Addict at 10" book to three readers. If you would like a copy just use the Contact tab at the top of this page to email me your name and mailing address. I will then forward it to the publisher and they will get the book in the mail to you at no cost. For more information about Derek's journey check out His website.

Jury finds Smoker 1/3 Responsible

According last week's Reuters article titled Florida jury awards $26.6 million to smoker's widow a "Florida jury ordered R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris on Wednesday to pay $26.6 million to the widow of a longtime smoker who died of lung cancer". The article references a 2000 $145 billion judgment against tobacco companies that was overturned in 2006 by the Florida supreme court with the stipulation that individual cases could be tried against tobacco companies. Here is an excerpt from the piece:

The jury awarded $10 million in compensatory damages and divided the blame for Nathan Cohen's death equally at one-third for Altria Group unit Philip Morris, one third for Reynolds American unit R.J. Reynolds and one-third for Cohen himself. 

The panel also awarded $20 million in punitive damages, or $10 million for each of the two cigarette companies. That puts the total at $26.6 million, or $13.3 million for each company, if the verdict is upheld on appeal.

The idea that a jury felt that the smoker was one-third responsible for his own actions confounds me. On the surface it seems that this verdict is yet another example of blame-shifting on the part of smokers. Yet I wonder if the issue really goes to the idea that tobacco companies allegedly lace cigarettes with nicotine making them even more addictive? Even so it seems that people have known about the destructive affects of tobacco for a very long time and yet choose to smoke anyway.

I keep going back to the Thank You for Smoking movie and thinking about how strong the tobacco lobby is in DC. It seems that tobacco companies have definitely duped many people about their products and maybe enough so that lawsuits like this makes sense. I guess I am on the fence about these lawsuits - maybe the jury should have shared the responsibility equally between the individual and the industry?

What do you think? How would you have voted if you were on the jury?

The Crime of Long-Winded Blogging

I recently attended a Christian Writer's meeting and heard some great advice about blogging. Over the weekend I read a few comment from Christian publisher Michael Hyatt. Here is an excerpt from his post titled: Focus on Blog Content before Traffic:

1. Commit to a specific number of posts per week. Frequency is more important than you think. In fact, it is second only to the quality of your content. If you are writing good stuff, most people want to hear from you. My goal is five posts per week.
2. Determine when you will write. Everyone’s schedule is different. You might be in a season of life when you can only commit to an hour a week. Perhaps you can commit to more. But, if possible, schedule your writing time just like any other appointment. I try to write for an hour every morning before work.
3. Keep your posts short and to the point. Blogs are not a long-form medium. Brevity is a virtue. I shoot for 400–500 words. I often go over this, but I am working to whittle my posts down. I can tell you from experience that readers will bail out or scan if your posts get too long.
4. Make it easy to get through your posts. Lists—both bulleted and enumerated—are magic. Why? Because reading is hard work. Lists, subheads, and even quotes make your content more accessible and help people get through it. It creates a sense of forward progress.
5. Invite reader engagement. Make it easy for them to comment. This is why I do not require people to register to comment or fill-in some silly CAPTCHA test to prove they are human. All of this just adds friction and discourages people from commenting. Yet, I rarely have a problem with spam or inappropriate comments.

I agree with these points. Concerning point #3: I especially enjoy short and to the point posts (although I have been known to ramble a bit) and often skim very long ones.. not that it is a crime or anything to write long dossiers about the evils of governments political and institutionally religious.. I am just not that interested in spending 30 minutes reading about it.. and yes.. I am a slow reader with a short attention span.

And about #5 - many of you know what I think about that torturous CAPTCHA stuff

I have learned so much from your blogs. What advice would you give to a new blogger?

Palm Sunday Reflections

My earliest memories of Palm Sunday involve my recently departed mom.. she had us in church every Sunday morning at All Saints Episcopal Church on Staten Island, NY. On Palm Sunday each of us received a branch of palms that we waved around.. the palms seemed to add to the joy of the day. Easter Sunday had a different feel to it.. a bit more formal.. I usually got a new suit or sports jacket for Easter.

During my fundamentalist years Palm Sunday and Easter were really special.. the songs we sang blended in so well with the season. I have vivid memories of singing songs of resurrection - The Easter Song recorded by The 2nd Chapter of Acts was especially memorable.. listened to it again this week on YouTube.. a lot of joy in that song.

I guess I am always amazed at the picture that is painted in the gospel accounts of Jesus' last week on earth. The week began with a palm branch laden journey into the city of Jerusalem where later that week Jesus would be crucified.. the week began with praiseful exclamations of Hosanna and ended with shouts of crucification. I recently heard someone say that Jesus' early morning trial was a reflection of the condition of humanity - in a sense it was actuality humanity, rather than Christ, that was on trial that dark morning.

Of course the trial and subsequent crucification of Christ is not the end of the story. After three days and two evenings in a tomb Jesus was raised from the dead, appeared to many of his followers and now ever lives at the right hand of the Father. He, who in utter agony on the cross asked God to forgive His tormentors, today offers that same forgiveness to us.

What memories do you have of Palm Sunday and Easter? What thoughts come to mind?

Earth Hour

This combination of two images of the Sydney skyline were photographed at 8:20pm on March 28, 2008 (top) and during earth hour at 8:20pm on March 29, 2008. Thousands of lights that illuminate office buildings, public structures and monuments were switched off Saturday evening, darkening the city's iconic skyline for one hour, in an effort to publicise the effects of climate change. REUTERS/Tim Wimborne (AUSTRALIA)



According to the Earth Hour website:

On Earth Hour hundreds of millions of people, organizations, corporations and governments around the world will come together to make a bold statement about their concern for climate change by doing something quite simple—turning off their lights for one hour. In the U.S. where we are already feeling the impacts of climate change, Earth Hour sends a clear message that Americans care about this issue and want to turn the lights out on dirty air, dangerous dependency on foreign oil and costly climate change impacts, and make the switch to cleaner air, a strong economic future and a more secure nation. Participation is easy. By flipping off your lights on March 27th at 8:30 p.m. local time you will be making the switch to a cleaner, more secure nation and prosperous America.

I have to admit that I am not a big Global Warming advocate but the idea of doing something in unison with millions of others worldwide is compelling. I wonder if any March Madness folks will turn the game off in honor of the earth?

Go Cats!

The Kansas State Wildcats plays Butler Saturday afternoon at 3:30 CDT

Deadly Fast Foods

Yesterday The Daily Beast published a list they called The 40 Deadliest Fast-Food Meals. The deadliest ones caught my attention:

• The Wendy's Baconator Triple shamefully boasts 1330 calories, 38 grams of saturated fat, 345mg of cholesterol, 3150mg of sodium and 11 grams of sugar.
• The closest to it is the SuperSonic Cheeseburger which has 980 calories, 24 grams of saturated fat, 165mg of cholesterol, 1430mg of sodium and 13 grams of sugar. 
• Placing last on the list is #40 the 6-piece staple of McKid meals.. yes I am speaking about McNuggets which only has 280 calories, 3 grams of saturated fat, 40mg of cholesterol, 600mg of sodium and no sugar.

I have not had one of those entrées in a very long time but sadly I do occasionally get a Taco Bell Chalupa Supreme to go.. not terribly deadly.. only 35th on the list.. but probably not something to regularly nosh on. I'm glad Stroud's fried chicken is not on the list

Do you regularly scarf down some of these deadly morsels? Which one(s)?

Miraculous Sweetest Sixteen Story

This evening Frank Martin will coach his Kansas State Wildcats against Xavier in Salt Lake City as both teams seek to advance to the Final Four in the NCAA Basketball Tournament. According to this KC Star article, titled A real Manhattan miracle: Frank Martin recalls his brush with death, Coach Martin owes his life to a bit of divine intervention. Here are a few clips from the article:

Frank Martin fell ill in 2006 shortly after he arrived in Manhattan, Kan., to be one of Bob Huggins’ assistant coaches.
...
From his hospital bed, Martin had insisted that his wife return home to be there for their daughter’s first birthday. He had assured Anya he would be fine if she went. But when she turned on her cell phone a day later, the frantic voice said otherwise.

“He called back in complete tears, saying, ‘They just told me I’m going to die,’ ” Anya said.
...
Information about what was happening to him trickled in. He had ulcers, and they had penetrated his intestinal wall. There was an infection. His pancreatic numbers were warped. His pancreas could fail. He was facing organ failure. His temperature was now 105.

The bad news kept coming.

His liver had shut down. He’d contracted pneumonia.

“There were a lot of moments,” he said, “where I didn’t think I was coming through the other side.”

Then they told him he had pancreatic cancer.
...
A horrifying diagnosis, all but a death sentence, would mean Martin would not become the Wildcats’ head coach when Huggins left for West Virginia. He would not hear the taunts that his promotion was a joke and a farce. He would not prove everyone wrong, would not lead his team to Oklahoma City four years later as a legitimate Final Four contender, would not see his little girl start to grow up, watch his son in Miami become a man or ever know he was destined to have another son.
...
It was in the midst of this grief that Joe Perez-Jones, Martin’s uncle and godfather — the man who helped raise Martin after his father left home — stepped from the hospital room into the hallway. Behind him, Martin’s body trembled, his temperature had roared to 105 degrees and his skin had turned a deep, sickly yellow.

To this day, Perez-Jones does not know if the woman was an actual nurse or an angel of God. What he feels certain of is she represented a miracle.
...
“This small Asian nurse came up to me,” Perez-Jones said. “And she says, ‘Father, we need to go in and pray for whoever’s in there. Who is in there?’

“It’s my nephew and godson,” he remembered saying. “But I’m not a father.”

“Oh, yes, you are,” the woman said. “In God’s eyes.”

Perez-Jones cannot tell this without crying.

The woman had a plan: She would get on her knees before Martin and pray. Perez-Jones would lay his hands on his nephew. And their faith would save him.

Frank Martin does not remember what followed. He only knows that one moment he was waiting for death and a few days later he had a second chance at life. Perez-Jones does not know if what followed was an emotional reaction, a metaphysical miracle or perhaps both. Martin’s wife and mother couldn’t tell you how the man they loved was saved.

Only one thing is certain: What happened in that room would alter the course of Martin’s life by teaching him to love life, put work in perspective and become the kind of man — the kind who knows what a second chance feels like — to bring a lesser miracle to Kansas State’s basketball program.

Robert Culp, 1930-2010

Sad news about another iconic TV actor. Culp died today of a heart attack as he was taking a walk. I loved to watch his "I Spy" TV show back when it aired back in the 60s. Culp and costar Bill Cosby had good chemistry and I was really into the whole James Bond spy stuff.

Please join me in asking God to comfort the Culp family at this time of sadness and loss.

Name Calling

It seemed that growing up in New York was replete with informality.. foremost of which was the names we called each other. In my family: Father was Daddy; Mother was Mommy; William was Billy; Edith was Eydie; Robert was Bobby.. and then there was Nancy.. her name already ended with a phonetic "E". Around the neighborhood: Thomas was Tommy; Nicholas was Nicky; Leonard was Lenny; John was Johnny.. and then of course there was Ray and Al. I think that these names paled compared to what we saw back then on TV- there was:

• Beaver and Lumpy on Leave it to Beaver;
• Potsie, Chachi and Fonzie on Happy Days;
• Opie, Gomer and Goober on The Andy Griffith Show;
• Hoss and Little Joe on Bonanza;
• Bud and Princess on Father Knows Best;
• Meathead and Dingbat on All in the Family;
• Radar and Hot-Lips on M*A*S*H;
• Rerun and Raj on What's Happening!!

Don't see many names like these on television anymore. Sometimes names can be pretty mean. In the six grade I got a buzz-cut and for years I had to live with the "Eggy" moniker - that one really made me feel bad. Sometimes names are simply terms of endearment - they are pretty special and can evoke sweet memories.

Do you remember any names that stand out? Maybe I missed some on TV?

Bleeping Politician

US Vice President Joe Biden's bleeped out comment to President Obama yesterday once again reminded me of the crassness of the dialog in the world these days. Interesting how I have not heard anyone rebuke the Vice President.

I am not saying that someone cannot use this kind of swearing in private.. not that I think it is a good idea.. but really.. can't keep a lid on it before a national audience? Give me a break!

iPad Alternatives

Yeah, I guess we all knew that Apple's announcement of a new kind of computing device would provoke other manufacturers to create similar geeky things. According to this review there are at least 9 PC tablet alternatives coming out. Here is one that I found interesting:

Notion Ink Adam: This 10-inch iPad challenger will be available this summer (hopefully). Starting at $327 (with the most expensive version priced at $800), the Adam tablet is built around nVidia's Tegra 2 processor and operates on Android technology. It features a rear-facing trackpad, USB and HDMI ports, and 3G. The tablet offers multitasking (a feature the iPad notably lacks) and its Android platform offers users access to an app store, the Android market, that is a rival to Apple's. In addition, the screen supports multitouch.

I think that these tablet type devices have been out for a while but have not seen much popularity until the iPad announcement which also may have been a reaction to the popularity of Amazon's Kindle Reader and the Barnes and Noble Nook.

What is your opinion? How much would you be willing to spend on a tablet/reader type of device? I think that I will be interested when the price is around $200.

Healthcare Bill: Cheers and Jeers

Cheers:

• Preexisting conditions will be covered;
• Expands coverage to 32 million Americans who are currently uninsured;
• People will not have to declare bankruptcy for medical reasons;
• Children covered by parents through age 26.

Jeers:

• Back-room deals made to get the bill passed;
• Mandated insurance premiums or fines for folks not wanting coverage;
• Increase in taxes (I am opposed to expanded taxation - even for the rich);
• $500 billion in Medicare cuts over the next decade.

Not an exhaustive list.. just a few after-thoughts. What are your cheers and jeers?