Quote of the Week...from Emil Zatopek

If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon.
                                                                   ---Emil Zatopek

Emil Zatopek was a famous distance runner from Czechoslovakia who won the Olympic gold medals in 1952 for the 5,000 meter, 10,000 meter, and marathon (26.2 miles) races. He was a talented athlete who probably worked harder at his sport than any others of his era, with a harsh, self-imposed training regimen.  But I didn't select him for those reasons...it is the quote's meaning that I'd like to discuss here...

I've run a mile many times...and I've managed to finished two marathons, one public and one while training on my own.  Back in February 2010 I ran my first-ever half marathon race here in Gainesville and began to set my sights on the marathon event.  I trained hard the rest of the year and by the time fall arrived I was regularly going out on runs for fifteen miles or more.  When I hit the twenty-mile mark toward the end of the year, I knew that a marathon run was attainable...which I accomplished the afternoon of January 15, 2011 (actually I ran about 27 miles).  But I soon came to the conclusion that, at least for myself, this distance took up too much of my time with training and that it made me too injury-prone...I subsequently would only train for half-marathons, which I have run over the past eight years...

The point to all this is that while Zatopek's quote sounds like an either-or, strictly binary proposition, in truth you can experience a markedly different life and run some pretty impressive distances without letting it overshadow everything else you're doing in your life.  And, quite frankly, if you've participated in some of these marathon races, you'll find that in many of them the course is doubled over in places so that you're just repeating much of the same terrain...that's no fun!  I'm glad I downsized from trying to do marathons and my body appreciates it as well...a half-marathon is a good, solid long-distance event as are 10Ks (6.2 miles) and 15Ks (9.3 miles).  As a matter of fact, as I find myself mysteriously getting older each year, I'm finding those last two more fun to run in.  But having said all this, I also recognize that each of us is different and some have come to consider the marathon as the crowning event of their running aspirations.  And, of course, if you're not into running, none of this applies except as an analogy to other areas with which you are engaged.  The main thing is to avoid automatically buying into how others define your interest: that's something you...and only you...get to do...

4/8 Sermon on Book of Daniel, Pt. 1

At the Family Church here in Gainesville, Florida, senior pastor Philip Griffin began a new sermon series, Counter Culture, going through the Bible's Old Testament book of Daniel.  Last Sunday was the first installment, titled How to Live Out Conviction in a Culture of Conformity, and focused on the passage Daniel 1:1-21...click on it to read it via Bible Gateway...

As Daniel opens, the setting is the Babylonian conquest of Judah under Nebuchadnezzar and the taking of its best and brightest young people back to Babylon for training and assimilation into that country's society.  Daniel, along with his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, is among them.  They are renamed according to the Babylonian religion and reeducated.  But when offered Babylonian food that violates their own dietary laws, Daniel draws the line and insists on a strict regimen of vegetables and water...

So how can people live out their convictions in a culture of conformity?  Using Daniel's experiences in Babylon as a model, Pastor Philip gave five steps: (1) no matter how bad it gets, know that God has not forgotten you, (2) choose your battles...if everything is a bad, nothing will be won, (3) purpose in your heart to trust and obey God, (4) don't treat people as enemies, and (5) live to bring glory to God.  Since neither learning about other cultures nor being renamed are violations of scripture, Daniel conformed in these with the dominant society...but chose for his battle the food they would be eating since, as I mentioned before, it would involve breaking dietary laws.  Philip pointed out that they wouldn't sit at the King's table and partake of the food because it was regarded as a sacrifice to idols, sitting there implied acceptance of Nebuchadnezzar's oppression, and they had entered into a time of fasting.  Yet Daniel did not treat his Babylonian captors as enemies...and we should avoid this temptation in our own circumstances to either assimilate into the world's system or isolate from it, as our pastor stressed.  Instead, using salt as a metaphor for our proper role, we should engage and be the salt of the world (Matthew 5:13), a salt which preserves and purifies...

You can watch this message through the church's YouTube video website...click on the following link: [TFC Video].  Located at 2022 SW 122nd Street, the Family Church holds its weekly services on Sunday morning at 9 and 10:30.  Besides the sermon there is praise and worship music, prayer, refreshments in the hospitality room, and opportunities for fellowship and discipleship.  Daniel will continue next Sunday...

Weekly Short Story: Adjustment Team by Philip K. Dick

I've become accustomed, when reading renowned twentieth century science fiction writer Philip K. Dick's short stories, to experiencing reality-bending moments when what we think should be the normal world around us turns out to be something entirely different.  Adjustment Team, first published in 1954 and appearing in the collection Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick (Pantheon Books), is a prime example. Ed Fletcher thinks he is getting out of bed, enjoying an excellent breakfast prepared by his wife Ruth, and going to yet another ordinary day at his downtown office job...but we know better, of course.  After all, Ed's office building lies within the sector that is to be "adjusted"...and he'd better get there in time because he's part of it all.  The Clerk tells the Summoner (Ed's dog) to summon (by barking) the car that will take his "master" to work earlier than usual that day...but the canine foolishly sleeps past the allotted time and Ed is very late for work...causing disruption of the whole plan.  And no, I don't expect you to know what the heck I'm talking about...

The Clerks and Summoners...as well as the Watchers, Adjusters, and the Old Man...are all part of a reality creating-and-changing organization with their own agenda for the world.  When Ed steps past the invisible threshold between his normal world and the sector being "adjusted"...well, you have to read through it to get the full vicarious experience as a reader.  I will say this much, though: it is his initial experience going to the office that morning that won the story over for me as well as creating an awfully scary scenario that would exceed the terror of any nightmare I might have...

There was a 2011 movie starring Matt Damon called The Adjustment Bureau that adopted some pertinent elements of Dick's story but transformed it into something very different.  I've read that there was a legal battle going on between Philip K. Dick's estate and those from the film for royalty payments...I've yet to see this movie and, quite frankly have no intention of doing so anytime in the near future.  But the short story is a good one and, in spite of that scary part, also has quite a lot of humor...

Tuesday's List: My Top Three Songs of Various Musical Acts, Pt. 1

I thought I'd scan my memory of different musical acts I've enjoyed over the span of my listening lifetime and came up with a list of my favorites from some of them.  Now I've already put out some pretty long lists of personal favorite songs from acts like the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, the Doors, the Who, Yes, the Moody Blues, the Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley, the Monkees, Electric Light Orchestra, etc...maybe on a future date I'll place links to those lists on this blog..or you can find them for yourself by using the search engine provided in the upper left corner within the blog page.  For today, I'm listing my favorites from other artists...it's not a comprehensive list and I plan to come up with more later on... 

Well, here's the list...for this one I stuck to acts (I like) with origins going back to the 1960s or earlier.  How many of these songs do you recognize?

THE ANIMALS
1 Sky Pilot
2 It's My Life
3 We Gotta Get Out of This Place

ROY ORBISON
1 Crying
2 Oh, Pretty Woman
3 End of the Line (with Traveling Wilburys)

FATS DOMINO
1 I'm Walkin'
2 Blueberry Hill
3 Blue Monday

HERMAN'S HERMITS
1 No Milk Today
2 I'm Into Something Good
3 Listen People

THE BEACH BOYS
1 God Only Knows
2 I Get Around
3 When I Grow Up to Be a Man

THE SUPREMES
1 Up the Ladder to the Roof
2 Where Did Our Love Go
3 Reflections

THE EVERLY BROTHERS
1 Let It Be Me
2 Cathy's Clown
3 All I Have to Do is Dream

BOB DYLAN
1 Tangled Up in Blue
2 Hurricane
3 Knockin' on Heaven's Door

GERRY AND THE PACEMAKERS
1 Ferry Cross the Mersey
2 Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying
3 How Do You Do It

SIMON AND GARFUNKEL
1 America
2 Scarborough Fair
3 Fakin' It

STEVIE WONDER
1 Living for the City
2 You Are the Sunshine of My Life
3 Uptight (Everything's Alright)

THE HOLLIES
1 He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother
2 Stop Stop Stop
3 Carrie Anne

THE TEMPTATIONS
1 Papa Was a Rolling Stone
2 I Can't Get Next to You
3 Ball of Confusion

CHICAGO
1 Dialogue
2 Make Me Smile
3 Questions 67 & 68

THE GUESS WHO
1 No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature
2 Hang On to Your Life
3 Rain Dance

CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL
1 Born on the Bayou
2 Lodi
3 Suzie Q

JAN AND DEAN
1 Dead Man's Curve
2 The Little Old Lady from Pasadena
3 Surf City

JOHNNY CASH
1 Come Along and Ride This Train
2 I Walk the Line
3 What is Truth

MARVIN GAYE
1 What's Going On
2 Inner City Blues
3 Mercy Mercy Me

DIONNE WARWICK
1 Reach Out for Me
2 Alfie
3 Do You Know the Way to San Jose

PETULA CLARK
1 Don't Sleep in the Subway
2 I Know a Place
3 Downtown

THE DAVE CLARK FIVE
1 Bits and Pieces
2 Over and Over
3 Any Way You Want It

THE ASSOCIATION
1 Never My Love
2 Cherish
3 Along Comes Mary

DUSTY SPRINGFIELD
1 What Have I Done to Deserve This (with Pet Shop Boys)
2 I Only Want to Be With You
3 Wishin' and Hopin'

NANCY SINATRA
1 You Only Live Twice
2 Some Velvet Morning (with Lee Hazlewood)
3 Jackson (with Lee Hazlewood)

THE BYRDS
1 Eight Miles High
2 So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star
3 Turn! Turn! Turn!

THE KINKS
1 Tired of Waiting for You
2 All Day and All of the Night
3 A Well-Respected Man

GLEN CAMPBELL
1 Wichita Lineman
2 Try a Little Kindness
3 Dreams of the Everyday Housewife

THE RASCALS
1 You Better Run
2 People Got to Be Free
3 How Can I Be Sure

THE JACKSON FIVE
1 The Love You Save
2 Maybe Tomorrow
3 I Want You Back

THE LOVIN' SPOONFUL
1 Summer in the City
2 Nashville Cats
3 Rain on the Roof

JIMI HENDRIX
1 All Along the Watchtower
2 The Wind Cries Mary
3 Hey Joe

NEIL DIAMOND
1 Forever in Blue Jeans
2 America
3 Longfellow Serenade

CROSBY, STILLS, NASH, and/or YOUNG
1 Our House
2 Carry On
3 Suite: Judy Blue Eyes

THE BEE GEES
1 Holiday
2 Lonely Days
3 Craise Finton Kirk Royal Academy of Arts

SLY & THE FAMILY STONE
1 Runnin' Away
2 Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)
3 Hot Fun in the Summertime

Just Finished Reading Children of Dune by Frank Herbert

Children of Dune is the third book of the science fiction Dune series by Frank Herbert, first published in 1976.  It continues the saga of the Atreides family of planetary rulers as they try to avert a future containing human extinction.  The planet Dune, also called Arrakis, is once again the story's main setting as Paul Atreides' two children, the girl Ghanima and the boy Leto, have the same gift (or curse depending on how one views it) of possessing the collective memories of all their ancestors...just like Paul's sister Alia.  How the siblings differ from their aunt in handling this situation, which each of them had even before birth, determines the flow of this often difficult-to-follow tale...

It can be a bit tricky trying to review a book that is down the line in a series...even describing the beginning events, characters, and setting can give away the intended suspenseful endings of the previous volumes.  I may have already provided some information that someone who has started the Dune series doesn't need to know at this juncture...but I did mention at the beginning that Children of Dune is the third book, didn't I? Still, I will go no further with specifics...and believe me, there are an incredible amount of them packed into this book...

One element of the Dune series that bears discussion is the fictional spice melange, a highly addictive substance that can produce visions...sometimes prescient...in its users as well as extend life spans and provide other benefits.  The giant worms on Arrakis are the universe's only source of melange, and it is crucial to those engaging in interstellar travel.  That Arrakis has a monopoly on it makes it the focus of interstellar intrigues and wars, a clear analogy to nations on Earth that possess a superabundance of oil.  Also, Herbert though his character Leto lays down the supposition that autocracy based on a structure of nobility is the natural result of the progression of society...not exactly the kind of thing we want to hear in our world that touts democracy as an ideal, albeit one which is often very elusive...

I've already begun reading the next book in the series, titled God Emperor of Dune. I admit that this is not by any stretch one of my favorite book series, one of the reasons being the author's tendency to go off on long ramblings of a dubious metaphysical nature.  One of the problems is that he makes all kinds of statements about the nature of time, but injects prescience (the ability to foresee the future) into it all, creating a paradox unless the one seeing "ahead" has a choice between alternate futures.  But by doing this, Frank Hebert...maybe unwittingly...lifted an idea put forth earlier by Philip K. Dick in his 1955 short story Captive Market.  Well, I'm still plodding along...if I can get through Thomas Pynchon's overly tedious and confounding Gravity's Rainbow, I suppose I can get through the Dune  series as well...

Interesting C-Span Discussion on 1968 Politics

Earlier today on one of the C-Span channels they were showing a very interesting program about politics in the tumultuous year of 1968.  It was a discussion consisting of author Michael A. Cohen of the book American Maelstrom: The 1968 Election and the Politics of Division, Robert F. Kennedy's daughter Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, who served as lt. governor of Maryland from 1995 to 2003, and the C-Span moderator.  Townsend was sixteen when her father declared his candidacy for president on March 16, 1968 and had a special perspective on the events and personalities involved during this period.  For me, I was eleven years old and this was the first presidential campaign I was aware of.  When the New Hampshire Primary results came in and Minnesota Senator Eugnene McCarthy made a surprisingly strong showing against incumbent president Lyndon Johnson, my mother was overjoyed...she'd heard McCarthy on TV and was impressed by his boldness, especially against Vietnam.  So being essentially ignorant of the world of politics at the time, I essentially latched on to her feelings and, like her, was put out when Kennedy announced he was also running just a short time later.  On March 31, Johnson announced he would not run for reelection and Vice-President Hubert Humphrey soon entered the race soon afterwards.  This big scramble involving McCarthy, Kennedy, Johnson, and Humphrey in the span of three weeks or so came about almost solely from the Vietnam War stalemate and the backlash of negative public opinion following the Tet Offensive by the Communists that had been going on for a few weeks.  Johnson dedicated the rest of his presidency to  unsuccessfully seeking a peace deal to the conflict, something that he believed the Nixon campaign sabotaged just before the general election when an agreement seemed assured...the American involvement in the war would drag on four more years...

I enjoyed the C-Span program and especially liked the rapport between the moderator, Townsend, and Cohen as they discussed the personalities, politics, and motivations of the candidates...especially the relationship between Robert Kennedy and President Johnson and a comparison of the personalities of Kennedy (more personal and emotional) and McCarthy (more standoffish and intellectual).  I found it all very intriguing and all the more so because I was there at the time paying attention to these events.  The bitter irony about Johnson's exit from seeking reelection is that back then the party nominees were basically chosen from state conventions...run by party insiders...and few delegates were picked from the relatively few primaries.  Had Johnson stayed in, he no doubt would have won his party's nomination over either McCarthy or Kennedy.  After all, after Humphrey entered the race, he did not campaign nor did he enter any of the primaries...it makes that big California victory by Kennedy over McCarthy even more of a tragedy: RFK was assassinated immediately following his victory speech on June 6, but Humphrey already had enough delegates to secure the nomination on the first ballot...to paraphrase our current president, it was all rigged...

If you want to watch this excellent program, click on the following link: [link-to-video]...it should lead you to it...

Just Finished Reading The Darkest Evening of the Year by Dean Koontz

I had just finished reading Clifford Simak's 1952 science fiction novel City, which initially gave no indication that it would made a big deal about dogs, and picked up Dean Koontz's 2007 horror/suspense novel The Darkest Evening of the Year by Dean Koontz...guess what, it's all about dogs, too!  Only with Koontz's story, it's about golden retrievers in particular.  Amy Redwing, a young woman with a secret past, has devoted her life to caring for abandoned or abused golden retrievers.  Brian McCarthy, her love interest, has his own past...including a sadistic ex-girlfriend with custody of their mentally handicapped daughter Hope.  Amy and Brian are the clear-cut "good guys".  On the "bad" side are two of the most evil people I have ever read about...and there have been some pretty awful ones.  There is a lot of killing and torturing...both physical and psychological...in this novel, and I think the author went way overboard in depicting how Hope (who her mother calls "Piggy") is mistreated.  But have no fear, folks, for the noble golden retrievers...led by the seemingly angelic Nickie...have come to save the day...

The Darkest Evening of the Year, on one hand, is a feel-good story about dogs and how we should treat them better.  But little children are also vulnerable, and they should be treated better than they often are.  The problem I had with Koontz's novel, though, is that his characterizations of the protagonists Amy and Brian seemed too shallow while he dwelled deeply on the thought processes of the evil Vanessa, her boyfriend, and the completely amoral hit man they hired.  On one hand the author is saying to be good to dogs and kids...on the other, he's giving a primer on how to develop for oneself a philosophy of pure evil.  So no, I didn't care for this book...but then again, you might beg to differ: why not try it out and give your own impressions?

Quote of the Week...from Martin Luther King, Jr.

Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
                                                                        ---Martin Luther King, Jr.

The day before yesterday was the fiftieth anniversary of a terrible tragedy: the assassination of American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.  While he was alive Dr. King was continually in the midst of issues such as desegregating the South, opposing the Vietnam War, and standing up for workers' rights. While he was speaking on behalf of striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee early that Thursday evening, he was shot to death...I was an eleven-year kid sitting around in the living room with my family watching Bewitched on TV when the news broke in.  While King was deemed a controversial figure by many during his life, after death his legacy has only strengthened over the years...he wrote and said many, many wise things, and the above quote applies especially in todays' world...

Few things rub me the wrong way than people who only want their own limited worldview validated to them, avoid any challenges to it, and scorn the challengers...I see this repeatedly happening on television news channels as well as on the floor of the U.S. Senate.  On issue after issue I see advocates for both sides talking past each other and deliberately ignoring the opposing points of view...they seem to be promoting the notion that sincere ignorance of the big picture is a virtue that prevents confusion on the part of the adherent.  After all, it's harder to bring in monetary contributions, mobilize voting drives and organize protest demonstrations if you're open to the other guy's take on things...better to just "stick to your guns" and be immovable, right?   To me...and most probably Martin Luther King, Jr., had he still been around (at age 89) to witness the sorry state of today's political climate...that's pure conscientious stupidity.  And yes, it is dangerous because people are increasingly and intentionally closing themselves off to one another and building their own walls dividing our society into opposing camps, with each side increasingly viewing the other as enemies. I find this pretty interesting considering how the Internet has made instant, far-reaching communication available for nearly all of us...it's as if there is some kind of negative reaction to this going on that promotes ignorance and stupidity as tools to keep a sense of identity intact...maybe Dr. King couldn't have known this would have happened, who could back in the sixties...
 

4/1 Sermon: Jesus in His Own Words, Part 2

This past Easter Sunday at The Family Church here in Gainesville, our senior pastor Philip Griffin delivered the second part of his series Jesus in His Own Words with the message titled I Am the Way.  The Biblical passage of focus, which you can read through Bible Gateway by clicking on it, is John 14:1-9 ...

Jesus is speaking with his disciples, and he assures them that although he will be going away, he will be working to prepare a place for them.  Unaware...or maybe in denial...that he is referring to his own impending death as well as their eventual deaths, they question him about his statement.  What follows in verse 6 is one of the seminal verses in Christianity: Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." As Pastor Philip outlined, Jesus tells his disciples to trust in him, follow him, and know him.  Trust, for Jesus gives the peace that the world cannot provide through his presence in our lives...but first we must step out in faith.  Follow...Jesus is not just a teacher or philosopher: either you're all in with him or you're not in at all...no fence-sitting here. And, Philip concluded, know: to know Jesus is not to just cognitively know him, but to relationally know him...to know Jesus is to know the Father...

You can view this sermon through the church's YouTube video website...just click on the following link: [TFC Videos].  The Family Church, at 2022 SW 122nd Street (Parker Road) at the western end of Gainesville...accessible via Newberry Road, SW 24th Avenue, or Archer Road...holds its Sunday morning services at 9 and 10:30.  Besides the excellent message, there is praise and worship music, a prayer ministry, and opportunities not just for discipleship and learning, but also to meet some down-to-earth, friendly folks.  Wonder what the message will be next week...

Weekly Short Story: Obits by Stephen King

Obits is another entry by Stephen King in his 2016 collection of short stories titled The Bazaar of Bad Dreams.  In it an aspiring young writer, Michael Anderson, uncertain about his own abilities and prospects, gets hired as an obituary writer for an off-beat on-line magazine after he sends them a draft of a prank, scathing obituary he wrote about a recently deceased celebrity.  His nasty obit columns continue...except now he's being paid for them and they quickly become the magazine's most popular item.  Rejected by his boss after asking for a pay raise, he angrily writes an imaginary obituary about her and then throws it away...only to discover a few hours later that she actually died.  It soon becomes clear to him...as well as to a colleague with whom he is infatuated...that he has the "gift" of being able to cause others' deaths by writing their obituaries.  And the story goes on from there...

What captured my interest the most about Obits was the way King showed how Anderson...and his colleague...both became increasingly seduced by the power that he had with his obituaries.  The full ramifications of all this came out in the end, though...but Anderson would never be the same again.  This story won some kind of award and I can understand why: not necessarily for its horror or suspense value, but more for its examination of how people can get themselves psychologically dependent...to the point of obsession...on very unhealthful and even dangerous things, especially when the element of power comes into play.  Get the book (I recommend the public library) and read it!

Tuesday's List: DVDs I Own

After reading Tim Federle's touching novel The Great American Whatever, with protagonist teenager Quinn's infectious enthusiasm for old movies, I got to thinking about all the different movies I've watched...an all-time personal list of my own favorites is in the works. In the meantime, I thought I'd open up the cabinet beneath my television containing the assorted DVDs that have piled up over the years.  Most are of movies, and some are of TV series...why don't I just list a few of my favorites, and this way give a sense of where I'm at when it comes to movies and television....

A BEAUTIFUL MIND
THE POLAR EXPRESS
YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE
FACTOTUM
THE GODFATHER
HARRY POTTER (all eight movies)
LORD OF THE RINGS (three-movie set, extended version)
MATRIX
MATRIX RELOADED
MATRIX REVOLUTIONS
THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY
A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS
FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE
AIRPLANE!
INCEPTION
PLANES, TRAINS, AND AUTOMOBILES
SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS (first three seasons)
BEAVIS AND BUTTHEAD (volume three)
THE TWILIGHT ZONE (selected episodes)
THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW (early episodes)
THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES (early episodes)
CASABLANCA
MEMORIES (a Japanese animation movie)
THE PRODUCERS (original movie)

Of course, I don't need to "own" a movie or TV episode in order to watch it...sometimes Netflix or Amazon Prime is showing it, sometimes it's on TV somewhere, and almost always I can check it out from my local public library system.  The television series I would most like to add to my collection is the original Winnie the Pooh cartoon series.  As for The Godfather, I'm glad I have the original movie DVD but would prefer a set comprising both Parts I and II that is an extended version showing the so-called "TV" presentation that included many more scenes and went in chronological order.  I also have a few old VHS movies, including Forrest Gump and many of the old classic Disney cartoon flicks...I need to hook up a VHS player to watch them, though...

Just Finished Reading The Great American Whatever by Tim Federle

The Great American Whatever is a 2016 realistic, non-dystopian (for a change) young adult novel written by Tim Federle.  Set in the present time in Pittsburgh, sixteen year old Quinn Roberts has quite a few issues in his life to deal with: the loss the previous December of his beloved sister Annabeth in a car wreck, his father having earlier abandoned them, his mother retiring to living on the couch, his own sexual orientation and when to "come out", and his deep-seated desire to become a successful screenwriter.  Quinn has shut off his cellphone and hasn't gone back to school since the accident...it takes his lifelong close friend Geoff to spur him on to reenter the world of the living, but it's going to take a while.  Written in the first person by Quinn, the story is very endearing and sweet, and the personalities of the characters are revealed through their dialogue and Quinn's introspective insights.  He is an avid movie buff and keeps lists of his favorites, as well as things like the "top ten greatest lines"...kind of reminds me of myself in this regard.  And yes, the title gets explained toward the book's end...

In commentary following The Great American Whatever, Tim Federle revealed that, like Quinn, he is gay and wanted to write a story from that perspective of a teenager having to deal with his identity as well as the social climate and reaction to LBGTQ+ issues...there seems to be much more support nowadays than in decades past, but the bullies are still there, sad to say.  I've heard he has written some other novels as well...this was a good story and I'll probably end up reading another of his sometime in the "great future whatever"...

NCAA Men's Basketball Tourney Down to Final Game

Well, the NCAA men’s basketball championship tournament has reached the final game...after starting with 68 teams just a few days ago. Although the three Florida teams are all gone, each of them...Florida, Miami, and Florida State...were competitive in their losses, nothing to be ashamed of. The Hurricanes, I’m sure, were very disappointed being knocked out in the first round by severe underdog Loyola of Chicago, but they should take solace in losing to a team that made it all the way to the Final Four before losing to Michigan. The injury-hampered Gators played gamely against a much-improved Texas Tech in the second round and the Seminoles should have beaten Michigan in their Elite Eight game but had some serious problems with their shooting in the second half. In the end, tomorrow night will feature Villanova against Michigan in the championship game. Although I don’t particularly care for either team, I’m gratified that neither of them are among the 20 teams cited by the FBI for possible player-payment violations. Will I watch the game? No way...I’m working!

My March 2018 Running Report

This month I ran a total of 67 miles, a relatively low figure for me, with my longest single run also low, at 3.2 miles.  Toward the end of March I had to take a few days off from the activity, suffering from an unknown inflammatory/allergic response to something...these things happen to me from time to time and I just have to function through it all until things get better.  Still, I did manage to run a race, the Chris Lacinak Scholarship Fun Shamrock 5K in northeastern Gainesville.  And I only missed running for 5 days...

I think it might be a good idea to change where I run, just to make things more interesting.  I do have a GPS mileage counter app on my phone, so I can improvise and do something different each day and still be able to tally my mileage.  As for races in April, I think there are a couple of 5K events around town, one on the 21st and the other a week later...guess I'll just have to wait and see how I feel then.  I've been getting a lot of overtime work on my job lately, and the coming month promises more of the same, if not even more hours...this cuts into my running, albeit for a good cause.  If it isn't too late when I get off from work, I go to my local 24/7 gym...I like to use the elliptical cross-trainer there.  I don't plan to be running very long distances in the foreseeable future...just keeping a regular routine of shorter daily runs may be the best strategy for me...

Quote of the Week...from Dean Karnazes

I think I have some of my clearest thoughts when I'm out running.          ---Dean Karnazes.

A little more than a year ago I quoted Dean Karnazes, a long distance runner whose book Ultra-Marathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner remains as one of my favorites...here's a link to that quote.  The above comment is something I can also relate to...well, not lately...

For a few years at the start of this decade I was like Karnazes (although my running mileage was much lower than his) in that I would go out on daily long training runs in the late morning/early afternoon before I would go to my job.  During those runs there really wasn't anything to distract me...unless you consider the mp3 music I was listening to as a distraction...so I did a lot of thinking, too.  My thoughts during those runs were mostly of an uplifting, constructive nature...not the self-defeating thoughts that too many of us get into a rut repeating to ourselves.  And the successful conclusion of these long runs also gave me a push into a more positive frame of spirit that carried over to the rest of the day...

Nowadays I run either indoors, at the gym, or outdoors in my back yard...not the same thing as getting out on the road and touring the neighborhoods.  And consequently I've found it easier to let myself get out of the "zone" while running and sidetracked by distractions.  Road running, on the other hand, is something of a commitment of my time and it's easy to go off into a good state of cognitive reverie when I'm out there.  I need to do more of it if for no other reason...but there is also another good reason to get back out on the road: it gives me a sense of belonging and engagement with the world around me and reduces the sporadic feelings of alienation that I am prone to experience...

Maybe running isn't for you, but there is probably another kind of activity that can produce the same positive results that Dean Karnazes suggested.  In any event, all of us need to be able to find a time and place to "break the limiting pattern" of our routine daily existence and provide a different setting that gives us a chance to see things from a more objective...and hopeful...perspective...
                                                 

3/25 Sermon: Jesus in His Own Words, Part 1

Last Sunday...which was also Palm Sunday, celebrating Jesus' entry into Jerusalem...senior pastor Philip Griffin of Gainesville's Family Church began a new series titled Jesus in His Own Words.  This message focused on his words "I am he", using the passage John 18:1-11, which you can click on and read via Bible Gateway.  In it, Jesus is about to be betrayed by Judas and arrested, and his statement not only identifies himself from the crowd, but also reveals his divine nature, as Philip makes clear.  Bible translations often quote him as saying "I am he", but in essence Jesus is saying "I AM"...staking the claim that he is the great I AM God of the Old Testament.  In this, Pastor Philip stated that one cannot sit on the fence: as C.S. Lewis once wrote, Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic...or Lord.  When Jesus speaks this "I am" in the presence of the arresting soldiers, they all fall down...no one can stand in the presence of God's glory.  But when Peter dashes forward, in his own mind trying to defend Jesus, and lops off a priest's servant's ear, Jesus restores the ear and rebukes him, revealing that his mission is to give his life so that those who believe, confess, and repent may have a living relationship with God through him and eternal life.  So as our pastor outlined, Jesus demonstrated in his words his claim to be one with God, his power that greatly dwarfs that of man-made armies, and his mission of personal sacrifice for us.  That's pretty remarkable, isn't it?

You can watch this message through the church's YouTube video website...click on the following link: TFC Video.  The Family Church, at 2022 SW 122nd Street, regularly meets for its Sunday morning services at 9 and 10:30 with the sermon, praise and worship music, prayer, and opportunities for fellowship, learning, and discipleship.  This coming Sunday is Easter, and there will be an extra service held at 7:15 AM.

Weekly Short Story: Ur by Stephen King

Continuing with discussions about short stories from Stephen King's 2015 collection The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, today it's about Ur, a novella-length piece that touches upon alternate realities.  Wesley, a digitally-challenged college English instructor...after breaking up with his girlfriend who would ridicule his insistence on using only paper books...decides to buy a Kindle online.  It arrives...strangely colored pink...but he soon discovers that this is the least of its anomalies.  Turns out that he can use it to access and purchase works of different authors that are not in their bibliographies...many written after their supposed deaths!  In time he sees that he can hit upon different alternate scenarios of reality...and then he explores the device's news archive feature.  One selection has the world ending in a nuclear holocaust...no future there.  And speaking of the future, a local news app on the Kindle displays future newspaper headlines...leading to the story's climactic crisis...

Ur combines good characters and a Twilight Zone-like speculative mood to form a great story of suspense and possibilities.  It also forms a part of Stephen King's "universe" of related stories that tie together on different levels.  It's definitely a worthwhile investment of your reading time...as are most of the tales in The Bazaar of Bad Dreams... 

Tuesday's List: My Favorite TV Channels

What I watch on television depends on what happens to be on at any given time, and what my own schedule is.  I'm usually watching during mid-to-late mornings on workdays and after 10:30 at night when I usually get home...if I didn't get overtime or stop off at the gym.  On days off I watch more in the afternoon and early evening, depending on what I'm doing then and whether there is anything good to watch.  None of the channels are always watchable...I have to pick and choose what different ones are showing and going to show by checking the cable service's schedule.  Still, there are some channels I watch more than others, and this list ranks them...along with the reasons why.  By the way, I don't get most of the premium channels like HBO and Epix...and I don't plan to sign up anytime soon...

Each entry is followed by the Cox Communications (Gainesville's cable provider) channel number...and then the brief, brief commentary...

1 C-SPAN 2 (81)......ever since 2001 I have been following live US Senate proceedings here
2 UNIVISION (40).....I like to watch Mexican league soccer and practice my Spanish
3 CNN (37).....still my "go-to" channel to check out the news...but they tend to get sidetracked
4 NEWSY (276).....covers a broader range of news issues than the other cable news channels
5 MUSIC CHOICE CLASSICAL MUSIC MASTERPIECES (949)....full pieces of classical music
6 THE WEATHER CHANNEL (31)....not as dependable as before with their "features" preempting ongoing weather coverage
7 CARTOON NETWORK (43).....only reason I watch it: Family Guy
8 COMEDY CENTRAL (44)....only reason I watch it: South Park (newer, inferior episodes excepted)
9 ESPN/ESPN2 (26, 27).....I like the live sporting events, you can have the talk shows
10 WCJB-ABC (7)....this is my local news source
11 MTV LIVE (1098)....formerly called Palladia, live rock and pop performances
12 C-SPAN (80) .....live US House proceedings, book and commentary programs
13 TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES (46)......uninterrupted classic movies, sometimes a good one is on
14 MUSIC CHOICE ROCK CLASSICS (918)....usually there's something good being played here
15 MUSIC CHOICE THE '70S (929).....listening to this channel brings back a lot of memories
16 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC (83)....a good source for programming about science and geography
17 METV (117).......great old shows like Honeymooners, Twilight Zone
18 WNBW4 (115).....more old series, including Johnny Carson
19 SY FY (51)....I avoid original series, focus on movies
20 AMERICAN MOVIE CLASSICS (52)....ditto with #19
21 TNT (45)......I enjoy their NBA live broadcasts, occasionally their movies
22 MSNBC (63)......I used to watch it more, but got tired of all the smug head-nodding
23 FOX NEWS (38)....I sometimes watch it to analyze how propaganda is purveyed
24 MUSIC CHOICE ALTERNATIVE ROCK (915).....the best "popular" music of today as I see it
25 NBC SPORTS (33)....English Premier League soccer, hockey, other interesting sports

Just Finished Reading Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen

Carl Hiaasen is a south Floridian journalist and novelist, having written several stories set in that area in which I grew up. Although I'd heard his name before, I never did get around to reading anything of his until, once again, I was randomly scanning the shelves of my local public library where I found a copy of one of his recent works, the 2013 crime novel Bad Monkey...

Andrew Yancy is a former Miami area police detective who has been suspended for assaulting the husband of a woman he was having an affair with...not exactly the model of a virtuous hero.  While suspended, he has been assigned as a health inspector in the Florida Keys where he resides, performing routine inspections of the local eateries.  Meanwhile, a tourist out fishing hooks a severed arm, and, before his suspension, Yancy is entrusted with taking it to Miami forensics to attempt an identification.  Ultimately, it turns out that the arm belongs to a Nicholas Stripling, a man who was under investigation for defrauding medicare.  The plot develops and before you know it, the setting shifts to the Bahamas...specifically Andros Island, where new characters, including that "bad monkey", are introduced...

Bad Monkey, with all of its serious issues and violence, was nevertheless a pretty funny novel. Hiaasen, like my favorite author Stephen King, apparently has quite a sense of humor and he infected this work (and I presume his others as well) with it.  Yancy lives on Big Pine Key and is horrified that his next door neighbor is building a high-rise structure that blocks his view of the sunset...so throughout the story he schemes to sabotage the project, with very humorous results.  No, I did not at all like Andrew Yancy, but he filled his role perfectly...Bad Monkey is good escapist literature, and I recommend it with that in mind...
 

Stepping Out Back, Stargazing Last Night

Last night I went outside in my back yard and looked up at the sky, something that I had fallen out of the habit of doing recently.  You see, since I was seven I have enjoyed star-gazing, checking out where "my" constellations and their stars are against the celestial background while noting the moon and planets (if they're visible) as well as the weather...and how the neighborhood seems to be doing.  It was easy to see the moon, high up in the west in its first quarter phase and emitting a faint halo through the thin clouds surrounding it...it was in Gemini, one of the bright constellations marking the brilliant winter evening sky.  There was Orion, Auriga, and Canis Major as well in that sector...always a visual draw with their brilliance...but my eyes turned more eastward as I observed the ascending springtime stars.  Leo was nearly overhead and Corvus was low in the southeast, just above the treeline of tall pines.  On the eastern horizon were the stars Arcturus and Spica...and looking north there was the inverted Big Dipper from the constellation Ursa Major.  My home seems to be directly under a jet route, because in the few minutes I was out there I saw a number of them passing overhead...we're also not very far from the Gainesville airport...

Lately the humidity has been higher than usual, and I prefer dryer air when I'm outside.  Last night conditions were cool and very pleasant.  Since I have a chain link fence surrounding my back yard, the rest of the neighborhood is pretty transparent to me...someone was out walking their dog with a flashlight and a car in the opposite cul-de-sac briefly flashed its headlights at me as it rounded it.  I can see how having a sense of neighborhood community is a good thing...but frankly, I'm getting tired of feeling like I'm in a fishbowl every time I step outside my back door.  Yes, I think a nice privacy fence will coming soon to my home...