So, I think I am balding. I say think because I like to keep my options open. Besides, I’m not sure where the word balding no longer applies and the word bald takes its place. Regardless all signs point toward me losing most, if not all, of my hair. Saying balding makes me feel like I’m not full on bald. So I will continue to say bald, even when I have no hair left on my head.
Set aside the fact that bald people lose all of their hair. The saddest thing about balding is that you join a totally different group of people. There is even a space on your driver’s license that you check if you are bald. Brown hair, black hair, red hair, blonde hair, bald. The word just stands out like, "you’re simply not cool enough to keep your hair so you are in a category all by yourself. BALD! You hairless freak of nature."
The people in above mentioned category are generally: bikers, skin heads, wrestling fans, and random guys who are balding and want to lose their hair on their own terms. Let’s look at famous bald guys. Paul Shafer, Patrick Stewart, Moby, Montel Williams, Billy Zanes, Michael Stipes and Jordon, G Gordon Lidy, Howie Mandell, Samuel L. Jackson, Damon Wayans, Yoda, Willard Scott, Hulk Hogan, Sinead O’ Connor, and that guy from Seinfeld. We are in a class all our own and we have few role models to look up to.
I can complain all I want but this day has been a long time coming. I found a picture of Margie and me when we were dating. There on the top of my head was an easy to spot bald place. One can blame the recent surge in stress level due to my job or moving into a new house. One can blame the elements, maybe hormones. But I personally blame my grandfather.
See the bald gene is passed down from your mother’s side of the family. My granddad on my mom’s side is bald as a new born. Therefore, my hair loss was picked out long before I was created. I was destined to be bald. Sounds more epic than it really is.
After hair growth products, vitamins, chants and rituals have all failed me, I have resigned to the fact that I am simply balding. Going bald- there, I said it. So to avoid the shock of seeing myself one day with some hair and the next with a shaved head, I continue to take my hair down, one notch at a time. A piece of me dies a little with each hair cut.
I am now developing bald man syndrome. I find myself complaining often about how much guys are into their hair these days. Guys go out and buy straightening irons, blow dryers, and hair products. Guys now spend as much time as girls simply fixing their hair. It’s gone to far. In protest, I will continue to shave my head. With every shave I feel as though I am bringing an element of manliness back to the male population. Forget growing your hair long and sweeping your bangs over guys. Let’s let the girls have their hair back and let’s shave our heads with pride.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Target Audience
I am so tired of being sold stuff.
It seems like everywhere I turn someone is trying to sell me something. For example, my wife and I purchased our home through a specific mortgage company. That mortgage company then began to send us letters promoting life insurance, health insurance, mortgage insurance, and so on. I got four letters from the company before I even got my first mortgage statement. I called the company to ask a question, they politely answered and then began a sales pitch for some random product they were hocking. AT&T does the same thing. I just want my question answered, that’s it!
Solicitations go beyond mail and phone calls. Shopping centers try to sell stuff even as you are checking out. I can never resist that candy bar as I am checking out. I just cannot. They strategically place items close to the register so you just grab em without thinking. You go into Wal-Mart for Milk and you come out with ice cream, deodorant, sheets, and milk. Sometimes I forget the item I went for, this makes Margie angry.
Every where you turn they are advertising. I go to pump gas and I see two or three advertisements on the pump, the handle, and screen. I went to one gas station that had a mini-TV on the pump showing commercials. The receipt prints out and I get a 5 inch print out of coupons/advertisements. I just wanted gas!
When I purchase something I want to get the product I want and leave. I am so tired of being someone's target audience. The shows I watch or the places I shop all have advertisements that I am suppose to find appealing. We have gotten out of control in my humble opinion.
It seems like everywhere I turn someone is trying to sell me something. For example, my wife and I purchased our home through a specific mortgage company. That mortgage company then began to send us letters promoting life insurance, health insurance, mortgage insurance, and so on. I got four letters from the company before I even got my first mortgage statement. I called the company to ask a question, they politely answered and then began a sales pitch for some random product they were hocking. AT&T does the same thing. I just want my question answered, that’s it!
Solicitations go beyond mail and phone calls. Shopping centers try to sell stuff even as you are checking out. I can never resist that candy bar as I am checking out. I just cannot. They strategically place items close to the register so you just grab em without thinking. You go into Wal-Mart for Milk and you come out with ice cream, deodorant, sheets, and milk. Sometimes I forget the item I went for, this makes Margie angry.
Every where you turn they are advertising. I go to pump gas and I see two or three advertisements on the pump, the handle, and screen. I went to one gas station that had a mini-TV on the pump showing commercials. The receipt prints out and I get a 5 inch print out of coupons/advertisements. I just wanted gas!
When I purchase something I want to get the product I want and leave. I am so tired of being someone's target audience. The shows I watch or the places I shop all have advertisements that I am suppose to find appealing. We have gotten out of control in my humble opinion.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Deceivers
2 John 1:7 many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. 9Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. 11Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work.
In John’s day there were a ton of people pretending to know what they were talking about. They were teaching things that sounded good and right but were very wrong. They presented a teaching that was comfortable and biblically based. Though they sounded god like, they were way off. False teachers and prophets are not something of the past, they are here even today.
I remember this guy came floating into our church one day. He had a long white beard, short gray hair and looked wise, Moses like. The man came in and proclaimed to be a prophet from God. From his looks and speech he was hard to doubt. So, we listed to him for a while. He taught well and seemed to have a genuine heart for God. We allowed him some freedoms within the church but always kept an eye on the man. He seemed to have good things to say and always had a word from God. It wasn’t too long into his stay that he met a 17 year old girl that he developed a friendship with. Everyone thought it was a grandfatherly type of love considering the man was in his late 60’s. However, we were wrong. We knew things went sour when the girl’s parents couldn’t get the girl to come home. The man had fed her so many lies and she bought into them. He had her convinced she was to marry him and that it was gods plan for her life. We knew the man probably wasn’t a prophet when he held the girl hostage in his house while the police tried to take the girl back. Long story short the man ended up marrying this girl when she turned 18 and they have kids together. KIDS!
There are so many false prophets running around. We must be careful what we buy into. Things like the Kabbalah, Christian Science, and Dr. Phil (Oh yeah, Dr. Phil could be the antichrist, who knows) are only the tip of the ice burg. There will be many more things put out there by the devil to lure people away. We must be wise. We must tread with caution. We should not entertain anyone who does not have solid Biblical teachings.
The Message Bible says this, “8-9 And be very careful around them so you don't lose out on what we've worked so diligently in together; I want you to get every reward you have coming to you. Anyone who gets so progressive in his thinking that he walks out on the teaching of Christ, walks out on God. But whoever stays with the teaching, stays faithful to both the Father and the Son.”
In John’s day there were a ton of people pretending to know what they were talking about. They were teaching things that sounded good and right but were very wrong. They presented a teaching that was comfortable and biblically based. Though they sounded god like, they were way off. False teachers and prophets are not something of the past, they are here even today.
I remember this guy came floating into our church one day. He had a long white beard, short gray hair and looked wise, Moses like. The man came in and proclaimed to be a prophet from God. From his looks and speech he was hard to doubt. So, we listed to him for a while. He taught well and seemed to have a genuine heart for God. We allowed him some freedoms within the church but always kept an eye on the man. He seemed to have good things to say and always had a word from God. It wasn’t too long into his stay that he met a 17 year old girl that he developed a friendship with. Everyone thought it was a grandfatherly type of love considering the man was in his late 60’s. However, we were wrong. We knew things went sour when the girl’s parents couldn’t get the girl to come home. The man had fed her so many lies and she bought into them. He had her convinced she was to marry him and that it was gods plan for her life. We knew the man probably wasn’t a prophet when he held the girl hostage in his house while the police tried to take the girl back. Long story short the man ended up marrying this girl when she turned 18 and they have kids together. KIDS!
There are so many false prophets running around. We must be careful what we buy into. Things like the Kabbalah, Christian Science, and Dr. Phil (Oh yeah, Dr. Phil could be the antichrist, who knows) are only the tip of the ice burg. There will be many more things put out there by the devil to lure people away. We must be wise. We must tread with caution. We should not entertain anyone who does not have solid Biblical teachings.
The Message Bible says this, “8-9 And be very careful around them so you don't lose out on what we've worked so diligently in together; I want you to get every reward you have coming to you. Anyone who gets so progressive in his thinking that he walks out on the teaching of Christ, walks out on God. But whoever stays with the teaching, stays faithful to both the Father and the Son.”
Home vs. Apartment
For the first time in six months my wife, son, and I are living in a house, a real, brick and mortar house with a yard full of grass, bugs, and stuff.
I do not mean to make this sound like we have previously been homeless. Sumner Life just wouldn’t do that to us. We have been living in a beautiful apartment, and we are thankful for our time there. However, the difference between a house and an apartment are very different. For example, if you own your own house, you always have parking, you can watch the movie Braveheart as loud as you want, you can even dress the part while watching.
So, my wife and I have worked tirelessly to bring this 1960's style ranch house up to date. We have painted everything wood in the house, built a laundry room/closet, laid flooring, and dry walled random rooms. Not to mention all of the minor stuff like changing electrical sockets, replacing light fixtures, and again paining. We painted a lot.
Saturday we move the remainder of our house hold items. Moving is never fun and we have drug it out for a few weeks but this week it all ends.
I do not mean to make this sound like we have previously been homeless. Sumner Life just wouldn’t do that to us. We have been living in a beautiful apartment, and we are thankful for our time there. However, the difference between a house and an apartment are very different. For example, if you own your own house, you always have parking, you can watch the movie Braveheart as loud as you want, you can even dress the part while watching.
So, my wife and I have worked tirelessly to bring this 1960's style ranch house up to date. We have painted everything wood in the house, built a laundry room/closet, laid flooring, and dry walled random rooms. Not to mention all of the minor stuff like changing electrical sockets, replacing light fixtures, and again paining. We painted a lot.
Saturday we move the remainder of our house hold items. Moving is never fun and we have drug it out for a few weeks but this week it all ends.
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