Deep Fried Coke

Though I have never been to the Texas State Fair, every year I hear about the frying of some new food. Not okra or squash, but things you wouldn't normally think of eating deep fried. Last year it was a Snicker's bar. This year it was deep fried Coca Cola. Kind of hard to picture, huh? Evidently they took balls of Coke syrup, possibly frozen, rolled them in batter and deep friend them. Not sure if I would have the guts to have tried it or not. Now that my gall bladder is gone, I literally don't have the guts to do it!

SONG LEADER REVOLUTION

No, it's not a rebellion of musical types to overthrow the preacher types,....Get your X-Boxes ready.

This parody is hilarious. I think you have to be of a certain religious persuasion to fully get it. Enjoy. http://youtube.com/watch?v=9qzrkUnjtRU

Tired of Telemarketers?

A friend sent this link to me. It's a guy who found a clever and hilarious way to get rid of one of those pesky telemarketers. Click the link and listen. http://howtoprankatelemarketer.ytmnd.com/

Another Rocker

Holden loaned this picture to me last night. Another Rocker. Maybe he's working on a series? He shows some serious artistic potential, not that this is ready for hanging in the Kimbell, but I do see a good grasp of perspectives and and eye for detail(see his skater shoes). He has good shading and good contrast, too. This young rocker is not striking a typical pose either. With head down, this, like the previous sketch, is another working rocker portrait, not so much a posed as it is a slice of life.

I felt bad last night and today, cause I had really ridden him about his seeming lack of effort in studying for his Integrated Physics and Chemistry(IPC) class. Then, this morning there were other incidents that pointed to his difficulty in handling responsibility. I was in a funk all morning, I hope I didn't put him in one. However, this is life. It's not always a three ring circus and a bed of roses. We must all deal with the consequences of our actions and sometimes the actions of those around us, especially if they are our own flesh and blood. This is a lesson he should learn sooner than later. And maybe I could stand a refresher course.

Beatlesque Drawing

Early Monday morning we had a leak around our chimney flashing from a significant amount of rain that we received and needed badly. Well, it got some books and papers wet which were in a basket on our hearth. Among them was this sketch my 14 year old drew recently(maybe in church). He was bummed and just threw it away,...but I salvaged it and let it dry and kept it cause I like it. I like the very stylized look of the hair.

My son didn't tell me it was a Beatle,...but aside from him being right handed, he sort of looks like a young Paul,...so maybe this is John? That was my first impression, anyway. He has had some Beatle exposure. We did go to England last summer and we did take a Beatles Walking Tour in London and a lot of photos,..and I did buy an Abbey Road poster for his room,....so those factors might have slightly influenced or inspired him in this sketch.

One other thing I like about Holden's picture of this rocker is his look of teen angst. With gritted teeth, no eye expression is given or needed to let us know he's serious. His angry, intense mouth also compliments his "in motion"right hand/arm, rapidly grinding his axe. The guitar is nice too. I am not sure why he took out the left arm/hand/shoulder,...though, personally(as his father), I find that it lends the work a certain Venus de Milo quality.

Vintage Postcard Website

A friend recently sent me a link to a great website with vintage postcards from the USA, arranged by state and county. This is one from Tarrant County, Texas. It's the old Stock Exchange building and the old coliseum on the north side of Fort Worth, where the cattle drives ended and where cattle was traded and where they held the annual Fat Stock Show and Rodeo. I have a small collection of vintage postcards and am attracted to them for their ideal, hand tinted look and because they give a glimpse into a seemingly simpler time, which I find myself longing for more often, especially after I watch the evening news. There are some great cards there, even some from tiny, out-of-the-way towns. Check them out at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/special/ppcs/ppcs.html .

The Simple, Forgiving Amish

I read a letter to the editor today that made me want to cry. It was about the tragic murders committed in the Amish community in Pennsylvania. It wasn't tears of anger and hatred for the senseless taking of innocent lives that I had,...nor was it tears of grief and sorrow for the loss of those families,....though both were feelings that had coarsed through my veins at one time or another while contemplating this horrible event. My tears were for my sorry, selfish, idea of Christianity. I realized when I completed reading this editorial that I have made my faith, MY faith,....not the faith that Jesus, the Christ taught. I have watered down and approved my American Rights! "Christian" feelings for violence and vengence against the forces of evil and darkness in our world. Things Jesus NEVER taught. I was so humbled by this editorial in today's Fort Worth Star Telegram. I pray that I may have so great a faith to preach more with my actions than my words, as the Amish do.


I wonder if what happened in Lancaster County, Pa., has really been noticed by the American public? Something amazing happened in that bucolic place, so shattered by the murders of its most innocent. It seems that we all could learn something from the people who live there, shunning the modern world to follow their faith.

Only hours after the murders, elders of the Amish community went to the home of the killer to meet with his wife. And what did they say to the wife of the man who had inflicted so much pain on their community? Did they place blame? Did they condemn her to hell? Did they seek revenge? No, they were there to forgive, to offer their support in her time of need and despair. They were there to make real the true message of Christ: forgiveness.

I recall this message of forgiveness from my early life in the church, but during the past 20 years this message has been lost. It's been replaced by those who seek power instead of moral authority.

You know them. They bark at you from television and radio and in the voting guides they place in your churches. They claim moral authority, but in their angry message of hate and nonforgiveness, they seek to place blame instead of promoting healing in the world. They are, without a doubt, demagogues in the public forum, but, more important, they're "demigods" in their own minds.

I wonder if the Revs. Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and James Dobson would have been so "Christian" as the Amish? One needs only to recall Falwell's assertion after 9-11 that God was taking revenge on America with that horrible event because of the "gay agenda" and abortion.

In rural Pennsylvania, in the light of a cool fall day, in the fullness of the harvest, and in the midst of horror, true Christianity was shown to us all. Forgiveness, love, hope and charity -- all the things I was taught about my "faith" and all the things my "religion" has forgotten.

We should all humble ourselves before this true Christianity. The Christian right needs to take note of what it really means to follow the message of Christ and, as Americans, we should all learn a great deal from this event. The Christian in me hopes so. The realist has many doubts.

Dwight G. Hartwick, Fort Worth

Another Surgery

Looks kind of like a stuffed poblano pepper at El Chico's, doesn't it? Well,...it's a gall bladder full of stones. Yesterday, I had this removed from my body. This isn't mine,...however it could have been. They punched 5 holes in me and took it out around 1PM,....then I went home about 6PM. This is amazing and near miraculous. Anytime you can opt for minimally invasive surgery,....do it! I am in a little pain,....however not significant,....and have hydracodone to assist me with that. Some of my friends who had the same surgery said that they actually enjoyed the surgery. Though that seems an extreme exaggeration,....I could honestly say that it was enjoyable compared to my appendectomy; a walk in the park in comparison.

I registered in the lobby(like checking into a fine hotel), paid my portion of the surgery,...10% of about $5K,....which I could say was the most painful part of the whole deal,...but getting the IV started was $500 stressful to me,...ironically the burning pain medication they shoot you with to numb the spot where they start the IV is the largest source of the pain in that process.

Once they got my IV started they gave me something that felt like about three martinis and I got fuzzy and drifted off. I had to wait for my surgical time slot to roll around. I guess things were backed up because my original 11:15 spot,....turned into a 1:15 start time. The surgical holding room was crowded with about five beds on each wall with 3 feet between them, all the surgical holding nurses, all of the anesthesiologist and CRNA's and surgeons, all of the surgical nurses,....I thought a medical version of waiting in line to ride the Titan at Six Flags. Some folks would get there after me and then be whisked away to their appointment with the knife,....unlike Six Flags, I wasn't too upset that they cut line. The nurse told me it was even more crowded in the early morning.

I had a nice sunset scene gel covering the florescent light panel above me. The nurse I had was very conversational, which was better than laying there in silence conjuring up worst case scenarios. I guess that's why they gave me the nice cocktail before to allow me to sleep.

Then the time came and three Anesthesia guys came in and two surgical nurses wheeled me down to the OR. It was freezing cold in there,....it looked like every OR you have seen in the movies or on TV. They put an oxygen mask on me,....and then I remember waking up in recovery,....not really wanting to, cause the sleep was so good. The first two questions I asked were, did they complete the surgery with a scope(minimally invasive) or did they have to cut me,....thank goodness it was the scope! Then the other question I asked was did they have to catheter me. Again, the answer I wanted,...NO CATHETER! I was hungry,...I was sitting in a reclining chair,....which I barely remember crawling into with my groggy self. They had a small TV I could bring close enough to be in my face. I had a sumptuous meal of water, Shasta cola(where'd they dig that up?)a regular saltine and a graham cracker. The big moment they were waiting for in order to release me was for me to pee. I thought it would be a piece of cake,...I felt the urge,..however was unable to produce the first two times,....we walked for a little while and I came back and peed ever so slightly and they asked if I wanted to go home. Again, a response I was longing to hear.

I feel fine, though I look like the victim of a drive by, with five, taped up, bloody holes in my gut. I got my drugs,...I can doze as I wish today and recover in peace, so I can go to work Monday.