Doing and Dreaming

A little disclaimer here: I think dreaming is a great thing, I am not saying that to dream is a bad or stupid or useless in anyway. What I am speaking to here is a different mindset of dreaming.

There is the process of doing and the process of dreaming. As a whole, we as a society are paralyzed to the process of dreaming. How many times have we proclaimed a “goal” we would like to accomplish and in the end it is just a faint dream fading away from our hopelessness and distrust in our own abilities. We are a nation of dreamers, a nation of people who possess the talent, but lack the process of doing. I have heard many people in my life, including myself reference to something they could do which someone else is already doing. The famous statement, “I could do that if I wanted to”. But when we make the same statement internally, do we carry the same confidence. I do not think we do, I don’t. In secret most are afraid of the process of doing and thus are reduced to dreaming. Dreaming can be a wonderful thing if attached to it are actions of achievement. But when dreams are imagination consuming the mind, we commit to being stagnate which can sometimes lead to bitterness and disenchantment. So, where does this leave us? It leaves us in the all consuming position of choice. To Dream, To Do. Dreams are wonderful, but can end a beautiful mind and reduce qualities dying to be released. I guess what I am trying to say is, when we fall into the trap of dreaming, imagination becomes our reality and reality becomes indebted to us. When reality is our debtor, it owes us something. When we commit to the process of doing, we craft reality, it becomes our vehicle to the dreams we wish to obtain.

My sweet little Ruby.

Today, I am going to share a story my brother told me today about his daughter, Ruby. He told me he was downstairs fixing his lunch and he heard Will and Ruby crying. He was about to walk upstairs to check on them and the crying stopped. He said, "I thought I heard Jessie (niece) talking to them". He kept on going up the stairs and noticed it was not Jessie talking but the television was on. It was turned on to some cartoons. He turned the corner to the room to where he could see Will and Ruby sitting there on the floor near the television and guess what was in Ruby's hand... the remote control. She had successfully turned on the television and somehow managed to get it on cartoons, which is crazy. They were just sitting there completely content watching some toons. Priceless.

MIA

Sorry about yesterday folks, this no Internet stuff sucks.

Ordinary Day.

Wish I had Internet at my house right now. Sitting here watching tv with my dog missing my wife. Nothing much today other than a consistant reminder about talking less and listening more.

Nomadic Springer's

Today, Sarah and I moved into a Townhouse here in Jasper, we were living in a house we rented from a friend whom I work with. It was a great deal, what can I say, I love a good deal. We really enjoyed the house and was very "homey". I think it is the most at home we have felt in any place that we have lived since we our journey together began, so it was somewhat of a bittersweet departure, not wanting to leave somewhere that was so comfortable, but day one of a new adventure is always exciting. Falling into a new routine at a new place with new neighbors. (who at this townhouse development are 50 and older, we are the youngins on the block) This all has made me think about the difference in our lives that being somewhat nomadic has made versus being planted. (even within the same town) I think if you asked Sarah, she would say it has been pretty tough, but I don't think she would change it. Each time we start a new chapter or move it has usually followed with some sort of growing time together or individually. Sometimes, I would love to be here or there for a while, but then again I am always on my toes this way and never removed from a lesson here or a lesson there. As I sit here in the local coffee shop using the Internet (thanks for the delayed install Windstream), while my back hurts from moving, I am tempted to wish for stability but what fun is that. I think about what God would want for me. I think he enjoys the creative path we are on, growth can happen anywhere as long as we look for it, maybe us stubborn willed people need a little push here and there, maybe that means living in the dark on some circumstances, but I am okay with that.

The dreaded "Curse" word

I would like to go ahead and warn those who don't like to talk about curse words, look away. I was wondering today, who made curse words up. People get easily offended when others use them, but why. Some people just do not like them, others have been told their whole life they are the worst things ever, some people just fall in line. I would like to propose the idea we are taught to be offended. People just really enjoy being offended, think about it, if you are offended by something you can talk about it and be above the offensive. It is has historical support, look to biblical times where the priests were above all those that were around them for their great actions versus the actions of all the others. Pretty much anytime in history where someone was above someone else for whatever reason. Anyways, back to the cursing. Lets take the word, dare I say it, (sorry Mom) "Shit". I can say, "shit" in public and offend someone or been seen as saying a bad word, but I can say poo, poop, turd, crap, stinky, doo doo, mr. hanky, or anything along those lines and be fine. Anyone else see a problem with this line of thought. I will not go ahead with any other examples but I think you can get the point.

What would Jackson do?

I was reading today about how North Korea did nuclear testing today which put out as much power as the bomb at Hiroshima did. This article was followed with the worlds response to this which were a bunch of "strong" statements, yep a bunch of strong statements. I know that a bunch of weak economic sanctions (none that would really do anything) etc will follow but not more than a few hand slaps. I wonder what Andrew Jackson would have done, would he have gone over to N. Korea and marched to the capital and kicked some ass and took a few names while he was there. I know times are different and things have changed, but does that mean that we can not take a strong stance on things and do something about it. I mean at what point in history did we become afraid of action and stuck to our words. I am not saying that words are not good enough or a great place to start, but that is all we can do these days is talk. We are afraid to take a stand which is why, no one takes us seriously as a world power anymore. All talk no action.

The Spirit of public debate

I was sitting in a local coffee/breakfast place here in Jasper this morning, reading the news. I got to one article which was discussing the previous vice president Dick Cheney and his role in current politics and what is going on in America. There has been a call from the "left" for him to shut up and go away and also from some people on the "right" as well. I find this to be suspected but someone sad. One of Cheney's spokespeople said that it had nothing to do about parties or politics but with right and wrong in Cheney's line of the thought. He was following his heart and beliefs about what is going on around us. This is where I thought about the spirit of public debate and how it should be encouraged on the major platform of our country's politics. This style of discourse is where we came from, it is who we are as a nation. If we do not embrace debate and the exchange of opposing ideas, then we just transfer control of one group and the other whines for a few years and then they switch places, oh wait, that is what we do right now. So, lets support debate and stop being ignorant about our situation as a country, differing ideas are good, it is how great ideas are made.

The drunk owner

Okay, so here is the story.Sarah, Molly and myself went out for a beer last night to hang out and talk for a little bit. We arrived at a local restaurant/pub around 1025 and grabbed a drink and began to talk. About thirty minutes after we had been there, a guy walks up and starts to tell us about how great the band is and how they used to be famous and they are so amazing. After each sentence he would top is off with the saying, "that's bullsh@t", which would contradict every sentence that he used, kind of funny. He would stare off for a while and then repeat himself often. He left and came back a few times while we were there. The last time that he came back, he decided to top off the night with a bang. He started telling us about how he likes to "pee on peoples car doors" and how funny it was to do that. He asked Molly if she had every peed on a car door to which she responded, "no". From that response, he turned to me and said, "what is she some kind of intellectual?" I paused while looking into his drunken gaze and said that she in fact was a thinker. I told him that I myself must be an intellectual because contrary to his belief, I had not pissed on a car door either. After arguing with us for a moment to try to get a confession out of us to admit we had peed on a car, he paused as if to think really hard. He directly his gaze to me and focused very very intently into my eyes. He leaned in and put his hand on my shoulder, I was wondering what the crap was going on and then he spoke. "You know if you pee on someones car door, you know you have to tell them, that is what makes it funny." This was about the time we were done with the drunken teachings. We said our goodbyes to Richard and headed on down the road fearful of our car doors.

Seriously, "You mean to tell me you have never pee'd on someones car?

I just got home from being out with Sarah and Molly (a friend who is about to move). I worked till 10 and then went out to have a beer with Molly and hang out since she is leaving soon. The story that I have to tell from going to the fireside inn and pub will blow your mind. The owner, who walked up to our table to talk to us for a while was how do I put it, seventeen sheets to the wind. I will tell the story tomorrow when both of my eyes are open. By the way, yes he asked the question listed above.

Chest Hair Guy, I salute you

As I mentioned yesterday, I am in the middle of work week. We have about 165 people here working on different projects. I was working with a group of people today in our "club" room. I walked in to check on them having not really met all of them yet and there was a guy who had a middle zip down fleece on and some short red shorts, no shoes. He was tall and had some chest hair going on. We called him "Captain Awkward" since to the untrained eye would notice that he did not have on a shirt underneath his fleece. He said that he did not have enough time to put on a shirt and his fleece was the quickest fix. He only got woken up five minutes before they were suppose to leave for breakfast. Lets look at the time breakdown here, hypothetically:

- 1 minute to be groggy
- 1 minute to brush teeth
- 30 seconds for shorts
- 30 seconds for tee shirt
- 30 seconds for fleece
-15 seconds to slip on flip flops
- 2 minutes and 15 seconds to complain about being sleepy and wanting to go back to sleep.

No need for the lack of a shirt, lets go ahead and keep the beastly chest hair caged.

Long Day, Short Blog

Well I am going to be short today, it has been a 16hr workday, so I am looking for the pillow quickly. Well, you know what I am going to go to bed now, I will talk tomorrow. To sleepy to write, contemplate or complain.

Following Mode

Sometimes, I wonder if sometimes we get into what I will so originally coin as "follower mode". This is where we are so focused on being led by someone, we forget to look at what we can do next or what is ahead but we fall back on someone else to do all that for us. At this point, simple things become laid off to our blind spots, hiding like they do not exist. But on any other given day or moment we would take care of these these obvious needs ourselves. I admit, I know this is a vague topic and description, but I think it is also a very simple topic, we become so dependent, we slide backwards. hmmm. where is the balance.

Saving Seats

Sarah graduated this weekend from Grad School, it was a really great weekend. She has worked really really hard to the past few years and deserves this degree for everything that it is. I am very proud of her. I have one quick story to share from the weekend about an exchange I had with a lady on Saturday morning before the graduation services started. My mom and myself were there one hour early since we came with Sarah whom had to be there early. We went in the sanctuary (it was held in a large church) to reserve a section of a row, because we had other family coming later and we wanted to sit together. So we spread out our stuff to stake claim to our area. I did not see anything wrong with this practice, somewhat common to me. Others in other rows were doing the same thing. As I was sitting there two ladies walked up and looked at me in the eye and paused. I told them very nicely that we were saving the seats for our family who were soon to arrive. This was not a very good response to these ladies. After another pause and a large eye roll, I received, "people usually do not save seats around here" followed with a, "we really don't save seats here". As if they come to a graduation weekly and follow along how many people save seats. As they walked off, they continued to complain about the seat saving practice that us two were taking part in. I just found this to be an odd exchange, I mean seriously. It is not like there were a couple other hundred seats that were free.

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In ansoville. Service sucks.

Either, Or

I was reminded tonight about how simple society can be. We have assimilated to a either, or mentality in how we look at situations, views. How easily we take complex things into an black or white position clear cut option. I think it is very clear within politics to see how this plays out, two sides to stand on, in the large scale, democrat and republican. The two sides are presented and most people just choose one. Rarely do we step outside of the two positions given to see what could be in the middle, off in a different line of thought, a mixture of different positions within each side. Nope, it comes down to I like that one, or that one, this is where I will be aligned. To often this is where the majority of society falls without looking into why and what they are agreeing or disagreeing with. Just one side of favor and another side considered stupidity and detachment. I guess next time I am presented with something that I can pick one or the other, I am going to see if another option is available to be thought about. Why consider something apples to apples, when it could be apples to oranges, while we sit here foggy headed amongst our positions.

One more Kings Dominion Observation

I have another thing to share about our time at the theme park. Apparently when you are at a theme park, you do not have adhere to the common rules of society when it comes to proper attire. We saw to many people on Saturday that were wearing things and not wearing things that should be against the law. I would like to make a few rules of the theme park that I think people should be held to.

1. Do not wear a bikini. No arguing about it, especially if it does not fit, to0 small or too big
( we saw way too many ladies who thought they were at the beach or a swimwear contest)
2. No PDA!! If you would like to cuddle or get all kissy face with your boyfriend or girlfriend, then save some money and stay home. Seriously, is the most romantic place to make a move in a nasty roller coaster cart that hundreds of people have been getting in and out of all day while, a couple hundred people sit there in line behind those automatic gates watching you. NO, fellas seriously grow some common sense here.
3. Don't try the game with the glass table tops that you have to land a quater on, they have wax in them therefore making it pretty much impossible to win, anyways, you can buy dozens of cheap crap at walmart.
4. If you have a beautiful mullet, 80's sunglasses, mustache and gold chain, you should be required to stop and take pictures with people who want to get a picture with you.
5. You are in a line, shut up.
6. Ladies, you are going to a theme park, not prom.
7. Fellas, collared shirts, polo shorts and boat shoes are not needed. You are hot as crap and look stupid, it's Kings Dominion for crying out loud, you are going to sweat, stink, get dirty and stand next to strangers all day, go for the tee shirts and athletic shorts, maybe even the V neck it's okay to.

There you have it.

Did that guy yell, "Bob Saget?"

I went to Kings Dominion this past Saturday with a few of my friends for a buddy of mine, he is getting married this June. It was a small group of us, only five, but I would say that the impact we left the theme park with will whisper in the pungent theme park smells for years to come. I will have a few stories over the next few days, but I will begin with the one about "Bob Saget" from Full House. The idea was born as we were waiting in line, we noticed that the ride came right by all the people waiting to get on. We thought it would be funny to yell something really random as we zoomed by that would get people to turn their heads and think, "hmmmm did someone just say, Bob Saget?" Thus the experiment began. The first time was a success, as we flew by our opportunity, Bob Saget echoed through the air waves and pierced the ears of those innocently waiting to get their turn. This continued for the next few rides. It also grew. We started to noticed that rides went by areas where you were close to bystanders a lot and also that the times that you would be slowly climbing or yelling crazy things during loopty loops were great times to yell the randomness. On a few rides, you could hear people say, "Did those guys just yell Bob Saget?" On other rides, you would hear people start to laugh about it and some people would I guess think, "if you can't beat em join em" and join in the chorus of the yelling "Bob Saget." It was a wonderful thing. In the end we thought how funny it would be if people when home from that day and wen to tell their families about their trip that day and one of the things they shared was about these guys who would yell ol' Bobs name and wonder what that was all about. So next time you are at Kings Dominion and you hear the name "Bob Saget" being whispered in the wind as you walk by or by a kid who gets hit on the bumper cars, rest easy and smile..... AHHHHHHH BOB SAGET!!

Guess where this is?

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Jon's Weekend

Sorry no post yesterday. No computer and a long day. Tonight was great. I went to a ncsu baseball game and got a first class lesson on how to heckle the other team which happen to be unc. We(ncsu) won 3-0. We heckled the unc 3rd base man. He was in the "awesome club" in the high school. Can we say easyi target, and thank you iphone for the ability to look up things about the other team to pick on them about.

Statesmen

Quick update, Sarah said that the bird was at it hitting the window over and over till about 10am. I wonder at what point a bird can induce brain damage upon itself. Last week while I was traveling, I got to fly on a handful of flights, I really enjoy flying for the most part. Planes are filled with some of the most interesting people ever, each flight in a new chance to meet another person and to learn a little bit from them. Sometimes I am taken back when I am on a plane, to think about how many different lives are on that plane and how many different paths are all sitting in one area. Each with its own purpose and desires, just completely fascinating. One interesting conversation I was apart of was with a guy who was sitting right across the isle from me. We started to talk about the books we were reading, he was reading, "A team of Rivals" and I was reading, "American Lion", both books about past presidents. We started sharing stories of Lincoln and Jackson, with each one being personal favorites, it was easy to carry on for a while. This led us to talk a good bit about history and the past political figures of early American history. The observation was made of how they were true statesmen back then, looking out for the true needs of the states and the union as a whole. The care and respect for the country was top priority. Then we contrasted that to the current political world we observe around us today. I would dare call many people in Congress, "Statesmen/women". They are more commonly considered "self serving statesmen/women" than anything else. What a shift we have seen over the history of our country, as the opportunity grows, so does corruption and self serving attitudes.

The "slow" bird

I was going to talk about sitting on the airplane and a conversation I had with a guy sitting across the isle from me, but I have not other choice but to speak to an experience I had this morning with a bird and his/her friend. Let me first set the stage to the other morning when I met this bird for the first time. It was about 6 in the morning and I heard a noise coming from across the house, something hitting the window in a back room, I thought if someone had decided to break in this early in the morning they are really crappy at breaking in a window. I went to open the door about the time the bird hit the window. I stood there as this bird flew into the window over and over and over. I looked around to see if I could figure out what he wanted but did not see much. I closed the door and hoped it would muffle the sound enough so I could sleep just a little longer. I could hear it very slightly in the back ground. I went outside to the back window and the bird flew away onto the neighbors roof and watched with an evil eye. I thought it was a one time thing... I was wrong. I was falling back asleep this morning after Sarah had left to go meet with a family she works with. It was 545am when she left. I hear a louder bang on the window in the living room than the day before from the other window. I am thinking at this point that the bird has moved windows... I go out to see the bird nailing the window, over and over and over just a chugging along to come inside. As I was watching, I hear a bang from the office window again, the other bird is hitting that window... TWO DUMB BIRDS... The other bird went and got one of his friends and now they are both running into windows over and over. I went outside to confront the birds, the new one was a little more brave. He/she just hoped right up on the fence and stared at me. I took a step closer and it just sat there and gave me the eye. When I got within about two feet it bolted, later to come back. I am going to greet them soon with a little red rider for their asses.

The Man Law... broken

I realize that I have been gone for a few days, I was out of town on in Colorado and did not have the best connection to the web. But, I do have a few good stories for the upcoming days ahead. Today, I would like to tell everyone about a "Man Law" which was broken right in front of me in the airport. I will go ahead and make the disclaimer, this blog might contain some PG-13 material. So, I was waiting for my flight and had to pee, so I ventured off to the bathroom. I turned the corner to reveal the row of urinals to choose from. (their were 10 of them, and none were occupied) I chose the one four in from the right wall, leaving an obvious amount of room on each side to choose from if someone else was to come. While I was doing my business, a guy comes up to use the bathroom, where does he choose to go... why next door to me on the left of me. He had plenty of places to choose from and yet he decided to stand right next me. This guy broke a man law big time, I almost moved over one mid stride just to make a point. The nerve of this guy.

Hiatus

After 19 hours of travel, I am going to bed. The blogging will kick back up tomorrow with a strong one I promise it will have been worth the wait.

Half way to the top yesterday.

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iPod vending machine??

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