The Dry Spell Ends

I return back to work today after 4 1/2 months of being unemployed. It's kind of weird, but I have a good feeling about this new chapter in my life. It's probably going to take a while for me to get used to waking up early...had to get up at 5am this morning.

Lord, thank You so much for providing for our family of the last few months. Thank you for this new beginning.

All I can say is WTF!!

Like many I watched our President give his little speech the other night, as he gave a pathetic attempt to explain why an additional 20,000 troops in Iraq will make the difference. I watched all the post commentary and one statement I heard over and over was that after four years we are beginning to hear real debate on the war.

What the fuck!!

Why has it taken over four years to have some actual debate. Seriously, what are these schmucks in D.C. doing? This goes for both Republicans and Democrats...can somebody please remove their head from their ass and do the damn work you were elected to do. This is why I didn't vote for Kerry in the last election. All he could say is that the war was bad and that we shouldn't be there but not once did I hear him offer an intelligible idea of what he would do.

The mistakes of our fathers...

I just finished watching an episode of Scrubs where Zach Braff's character, J.D.'s father has died. I am a little too pissed and sad to go into much detail about the episode but there's a scene where they're talking about how proud his dad was of him. I've been sitting here for ten minutes trying to think of a time my father told me he was proud of me. I am aware that this may be juvenile for a 29 year old to be mopey about his dead father never saying the words, "Son, I'm proud of you".

But fuck it all I am.

I know deep down in my heart my father was on some level proud of me, but goddamnit would it have fucking killed him to say it every once in a while. We don't need father's who are emotionally detached from their sons, regardless of what the fucking macho man clubs say in this country. We need fathers who are willing to sit their sons on their laps and tell them they love them, that they're proud of them and that they're sorry when they fuck up.

Collapse of a Dynasty

Former President Bush sobs as he praises Jeb

One of the news shows last night were discussing this breakdown by Bush 41 as he was praising his son Jeb. What was really interesting is that one of the commentators was suggesting that perhaps the reason for this breakdown was because after the horrendous job his older son Dubya has done Jeb will never get his chance.

I've had this thought before about how the Bush family dynamic might be. Here you have Bush 41 who has created this legacy in U.S. politics. He has two sons who have taken up political lives, the older of the two boys has been falling back on his family name and father his entire life and the other son has worked hard and earned the respect of a state. Despite the father's desires to see his younger son in the White House it's the older one that gets the first shot. The rest of the story is fairly predictable.

It really is a shame. As a former resident of Florida I can honestly say that Jeb Bush is a substantially better leader than his brother. He's intelligent when he speaks and is respected by Republicans and Democrats alike. Honestly though I don't think this country will elect another Bush anytime soon. The commentator did say last night that he did think a McCain/Bush ticket would be very interesting.

I'd have to say I agree.

Connecting

Last night as I laid in bed with my one-month old son beside me we truly connected for the first time. We were facing each other and I had my hand resting on his chest trying to keep his binky in his mouth, because he enjoys spitting it out, and he opened his eyes and just stared at me. This wasn't just a blank stare and as he looked at me and I at him I thought, "this is one memory I hope I remember 30 years from now".

The genuis of Aaron Sorkin

I fell in love with the writing of Aaron Sorkin through the television series The West Wing. I own the first four seasons of the W.W., and regardless of how many times I watch those episodes they inspire me, fill me with hope, make me laugh, cry and scream. I recently decided to rewatch the fifth season, which was the first season without Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme, and I couldn't believe how bad everything was. The writing and storylines were crap and I just kept feeling sorry for the actors who really must've been suffering from not having Sorkin around.

Despite the downward turn of the series I continued to watch until it went off the air because I felt a weird connection with the characters of the series. During the final season of the W.W. I heard about a new series Sorkin and Schlamme were working on called Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. It was with great anticipation that I awaited this new series, hoping that many things I loved about the W.W. would show up in this new show.

Studio 60 is now into it's 10th or 11th episode of the first season and it's everything I hoped it would be. The acting and writing is top notch. Sorkin masterfully pokes fun of both conservatives and liberals, is not shy about calling out the stupidity of the religious right while maintaining a high degree of respect for those who are sincere about their faith. As a Christ follower I've never found myself offended but rather challenged to think more about my faith.

Art is a reflection of the Divine and when I get the opportunity to experience something that is truly great it points me to my Father and I'm grateful that there are artists who still strive to create something original.

Thank you Mr. Sorkin.

Hello from Ohio...

Well, we're here. I arrived in Ohio on Thursday, November 2nd at 6pm after a grueling 20 hour drive in a 26 foot U-Haul truck. I consumed a six-pack of water, four frapacinos, one coffee (which sucked!), three mountain dews and almost four packs of cigarettes...needless to say I felt like shit when I arrived but I was and still am so thankful to be up here.

The mere fact that we are now residing in Ohio is a miracle in itself, not to mention our last month and a half in Florida when I was unemployed. These past two months have been the biggest test of faith I think I have ever experienced, and all I can say is that God is so faithful. We never had a moment when we had an abundance of money but we never had moment when our financial obligations weren't met. It's much too long of a story for me to go into now, but it is amazing how everything worked out to make this move possible.

Our house is nice, small but nice and it has a partially finished basement where I have setup shop with my desk and computer. The kids have started school and they seem to be enjoying it, and little Eliot continues to develop each and every day.

Overall life is good right now.

Final Days...

In just a little over 24 hours I will embark on what I'm sure will be a long ass drive to Ohio in a U-Haul packed full of our stuff for yet another cross country move. This last month and a half has been pretty trying for our family, but God has certain blessed us and taken care of us along the way. I know that has the potential of sounding cliche' but seriously one thing after another has just fallen into place for us.

This has definitely given me a peace about moving, but over the last few days I've been feeling really sad about leaving Pensacola for the last time. I'm sure we will be back to visit, but it'll be different then the past without dad here. I hate having to say goodbye to my friends. We've made so many good friends at church and I've been able to spend some good time with a couple of my close friends from when I was growing up. I'm certainly going to dread jumping through the social hoops again.

Thoughts are getting jumbled in my head so I'm going to get ready for one last night out with my friends.

Next post...from Ohio!!