Died Doing What They Love

I often hear that people “died doing what they love”. This is a bit of a misrepresentation. Maybe if you died in the arms of your lover that would be truly correct. I just read a story on CNN titled “Canadian folk singer died doing something she loved, mother said”. This title made me curious; I wanted to know how she might have died. Did she die while singing? Perhaps she overdosed, but loved doing drugs? Maybe she was making love and took her final breath doing this. It turns out that she died from being eaten by a pack of coyotes. Who the fuck loves getting eaten by coyotes? This sounds like a miserable death and not something that even the most ardent animal lover would like to take part in (although The Grizzly Man did say he would be honored to die at the hands of a bear and the bear obliged him). I find the use of doing what they loved to be used inappropriately when that death is painful. When Dick Cheney shot that guy in the face hunting was there an article saying he was injured doing what he loved? Hunters like to do the shooting, not be the prey. If they die in this manner, I would argue that they were not doing something that they loved. Did Dale Earnhardt die doing what he loved? I think he loved racing, loved winning, loved the competition, but I never once saw him say I love wrecking into the wall.

I would just like to let everyone know that if I die doing something I love do not say this. Unless I die painlessly in my sleep or watching TV, do not say I died doing what I love.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/10/29/taylor.mitchell/index.html

Michael Savage and Larry David and the Christ Debacle

I sometimes enjoy listening to talk radio while I work, I find it entertaining to hear differing opinions and find that by seeing all points of view you will be a better informed individual. The past couple days Michael Savage has been on a continuous rant about a segment from the Larry David show. In the episode, Larry is urinating in a bathroom, but his urine stream is too voracious and causes a splash effect. His urine hits a picture of Jesus that is in the bathroom. Once he leaves, a woman finds the picture and believes that the urine splash is a tear and that the picture is crying. She thinks it is a miracle.

Michael Savage sees this as a travesty. That it is a plot brought about by the government and the media machine to slander Christians. He asks, “Why doesn’t Larry David urinate on a picture of Muhammad?” I find his take on this segment is missing the entire point of the joke. The joke is that fanaticism breeds a willingness to ignore rational explanation and instead be blinded by their faith. I am not really sure why this is offensive though. He is playing a character in a situation that could be realistic. The character is often put into precarious situations that are made worse by the poor manner in which he handles them. His character is oft vulgar and insensitive, but this is what makes you laugh.
Michael Savage, an advocate for free speech, has even suggested that the government should get involved to stop HBO. I understand that sometimes people are offended by different things. I feel like even if you are saying something offensive you should be allowed to say it without the government getting involved. HBO is a premium channel that should not be subject to government intervention. If Larry wants to get on TV and urinate directly on religious symbols of all sorts he should be allowed. In a capitalist society we all get a vote with our dollars. If you think Larry is vulgar, do not get HBO, if you enjoy it subscribe to HBO. It’s been a while since I have seen the Larry David show or subscribed to HBO, so I will leave you now to go buy the previous seasons on DVD and order HBO for the next episode.

Discover Myself Through Writing

I find that having conversations with others often challenges you to reveal things about yourself that you do not know. I am the kind of person that usually formulates an opinion at least three times. It's really a system I have that really assists me in day to day life. Broken down it looks a little like this.

1. Gut Opinion - This is the opinion formulated instantly when hearing someone's view on an issue. I rarely ever share this, unless it is an opinion on an issue I am already educated on. For example if someone says, "Nickelback is the greatest band of all time", while I have not studied the topic specifically I am familiar with Nickelback's body of work. While I am not repulsed by them in the way that most people are, I still know from my knowledge bank that there are other bands closer to the apex of the hierarchy.

2. Parrot Opinion - This is when you hear one side of an issue or argument and form your opinion entirely off of this. Again, I am not comfortable in expressing one of these opinions openly because it leaves you open for attack. There are some topics where this can work. I will sometimes enter a sports conversation and parrot something that my brother has stated. I do this because I know that he spends a lot of time watching, reading and listening to sport. I also know that he will not usually make a statement without some facts to back it up, so I remember those facts too. So I just hope that he knew what he was talking about so when I enter a conversation with, "Shaq is shooting over ninety percent from the charity stripe this year" I will not look like a fool or be asked for further evidence. An opinion in sports or music is pretty easy to defend (aside from a statistics mistake such as the one above) since there is usually no real right answer even if you're a fan of the Detroit Lions you can still wear your big blue #1 foam finger.

If, however, you hear, "September 11 was an inside job! The mayor of San Francisco even cancelled his flight that morning because he was warned of the attack." While this anecdotal evidence might be interesting, it would at least require a little due diligence on your part to learn more about the issue. Even find the answers to your obvious questions like, "If it was a plot that went all the way to the San Francisco mayor, how has this not leaked by now, or before it even happened?" If you just go out and parrot this opinion selling it as a fact you will certainly be discredited and your opinions will no longer be of importance.

3. Informed Opinion - This is an opinion that has been formed by varying degrees of research on a topic. Sometimes you can simply read two opposing articles on a topic and know where you stand. In fact your opinion may not have even changed over the course of these steps. Just be careful that you are open to changing your opinion through the course of the debate. If you are able to see the issue from other points of view you have a better chance of making an informed opinion. Researching and forming an opinion on some subjects becomes a slippery slope. In order to prevent contradicting yourself you may have to revisit old opinions that you have already formulated. This type of flip-flopping is absolutely necessary in life. If you never have changed your mind in the presence of new evidence then you have not really opened yourself up to education.

Pregnancy Weight Gain

The medical books have decided that normal weight gain during pregnancy should be between 15 – 40 pounds. This range is dependent on your physical state at conception. If you are overweight, 15-25 will suffice, while those who are underweight should gain more weight than normal.

At the beginning of the pregnancy process I was in the normal weight range with an athletic build. My abs would occasionally poke through to reveal themselves in my mid-section. In no way was I rocking a 6 pack (or 8 pack) anymore, but I will admit I had a respectable 2 pack. Nobody was calling me fat and my arms and legs were loaded with definition. It seems that on the day the rabbit died my body instantly started its metamorphosis. My existing body began to wrap itself into a cocoon of its own making, trapping me within. I was not becoming a butterfly that would emerge from this cocoon in nine months a far more beautiful creature. My breasts began to get bigger as fat began to deposit there more readily. Surprisingly my spouse never really seemed to mind all of this in the least, not even one derogatory comment, she was very supportive.

There was no child growing in my uterus, yet my body seemed to know that it was time to participate in sympathy weight gain. Partially, I attribute this to my change of exercise habits. I traded my daily hour long workout sessions with bi-hourly trips to the bathroom to support my princess in her dry heaving efforts. The other major change was my diet which had me eating about 1,500 calories of nutritional, high protein meals Monday thru Friday and only splurging 2 days on the weekend. This regimen was quickly traded for me following the uncontrollable cravings for whatever food sounded delicious to her at the moment. We would go buy cookies, ice cream, double cheeseburgers, fries or whatever other delicacy she craved. We would come home, I would eat my portion and she would take a few bites then get nauseous. After each of these spells she would say, “Please just get it away from me, I do not want another bite, the smell is even making me sick.” Being ever vigilant in this tough economy, I disposed of the uneaten morsels in the best manner I knew… I devoured it. I love food and always have. I was also raised in a brood of 8 kids where the portions where there was always enough food for leftovers and I was always encouraged to clean my plate. After all, there are starving children in the world, so I had to eat all the extras for them apparently.

In total I added 65 pounds of extra handsome to my frame over the nine months of gestation. This is a feat that my wife could not have attained if she had another 3 months of pregnancy. Also I can attest to the old wives tale about heartburn during pregnancy indicating that the baby will have a lot of hair. I endured excessive heartburn throughout the entire incubation including many sleepless nights and when my daughter was born she had a toupee of dark hair. The best part in all of this is that once my daughter was born I did not lose one pound of this excess weight. 13 months later the same thing could be said. I have recently started to eat healthy again and have shed 12 pounds so far and will keep my progress posted. It’s time for me to start moving on with my life after pregnancy. After all, the old “my body never came back after my kids” excuse is pretty poor and only gets you sympathy from other fatties… especially if you’re a guy.

MomVerbs - Mommy Blog

Getting Paid

Apparently I am not the only person who would like to get paid to write a blog. This article on CNN.com shows us that. I'm just curious why it is such a bad thing to get paid for doing what you love? If you love creative writing, it's an outlet for you and you can entertain the masses you should be paid. I think it is bad if anyone endorses a product that they do not believe in, but are these women doing that? If I write about how much I love playing my PS3 is it any less true if the system was free (it was not free by the way, it was like $400)? I love my 50 inch flat screen tv and I would honestly love it more if I had been able to get it for free. I think if mothers are flocking to a particular website, then businesses would be missing out on a huge opportunity if they do not focus their advertising to this demographic. I love to write because it's a break from my real job, but just give me the opportunity and I will quit my job right now to stay at home with my family. I'd love to take my laptop on a trip with me and type about how much I love the trip (are you listening Mickey? Give me a free trip Mr. Mouse and I will talk about it all day, I'll even make a twitter account just so I can tell everyone that I'm still having a great time). I really think it's cool that people do what they love, whether they get paid or not.

Sponsor my Life

As I sat around musing with friends the other day, the topic of conversation drifted to familiar territory as we spoke of financial security and how well it cooperates with life’s dreams. Even with infinite financial resources one is still limited by the day to day rigors of life, particularly the method by which finances are attained. The crowd, made up of a fireman, a teacher, a lawyer, an accountant and a factory worker each had opinions on their work life balance. The teacher offered that she had the most rewarding job of the lot. Not because she is paid particularly handsomely or the joy of educating the youth, but all the time off is fantastic! The others in the group added their thoughts on things. The lawyer, while being paid a handsome salary works 80 hours a week and is basically available 24/7 tethered to his technology leash. The accountant and the factory worker are paid the same and work approximately the same number of hours each day, but the accountant must deal with strenuous deadlines and limited availability to ever enjoy a holiday. The factory worker has no air conditioning. The fireman stepped up and argued that his job is way better than a teacher because he is not paid for what he does, rather what he is prepared to do. It all boiled down to one conclusion. Winning the lottery would be the way to go.

How nice would it be to wake up every day with the goal of making each day great? There would be no worry about how the bills would be paid or whether there was an assignment at work that needed your attention. If you wanted to fly across the world, no problem, enjoy yourself. You could actually do what made you happy and be paid for this. It would not be waking up to a job you loathe, knowing that the boss will not be able to accommodate your request for a holiday even though you have 3 weeks of PTO time saved up (that expires at the end of the year). Every day you spend working for the weekend or looking forward to that week a year that you actually go out of town.

Therefore, I must say that if you win the lottery and remain at your job, you are a jerk. If you cannot find a better way to make you and your family happy, then quit. This does not mean you cannot have investments, but make your ventures fun. Get yourself involved in running a golf course or some other job that would bring a smile on your face everyday. Also make sure that your family is having a good time.

I am reaching out to all of my fellow humans and corporate interests. If you agree with what I am saying and have money to throw around, help a guy out. I would love to make a living by keeping a public diary of my adventures. I would be happy waking up each day and getting to play with my daughter, until it was time for daddy to write his blog. I would also be happy to wake up each day in an exotic location enjoying my life.

I may not have the noblest intentions, but I can guarantee you that if anyone sponsors my life I will embrace any new challenge. I will accept cash or trips or even your input. If you are calling me lazy you are really missing the point. I am just afraid I will be working away all the great parts of my life, waiting for a retirement that I may not live to see. If you are living this kind of good life and respect my attitude get in touch.