BJ Not BK

Yesterday was the big day for us as it relates to finding out who our newest addition to the family will be.  The wife and I had the big ultrasound yesterday.  We took L with us and she watched in amazement as the baby appeared on the monitor. 

When we had our first baby I was not overly focused on “boy or girl”.  My prayers were that mom and baby would be safe and healthy.  I suppose somewhere deep down I thought it would be cool to have a son only because I didn’t know how I would react to a little girl.

Boy did things change for me!  Our first baby was a girl and I am totally in love with her.  My wife and I have often talked that we would both be very happy with a house full of girls. 

This time around has been different for me.  I still haven’t been overly concerned over the “boy or girl” issue yet it has been on my mind.  From the first I felt that we would be having a boy.  Not sure why?  Just something inside said…. “This one will be the man child.”  Well yesterday we found out that we will be having a baby boy.

Am I excited?  Of course I am!  The baby and mom are progressing well, praise the Lord.  So as of today the nursery plans are full speed ahead.  Mom was up late last night scouring the web for baby bedding and boy clothes.  I have already purchased my new son a Scottish Claymore (LINK) and we are now preparing for the arrival of Schaeffer Reed.

First of all thanks to everyone who participated in the Haiku contest.  I enjoyed reading each of your submissions and while they were all, well mostly all, very well written for me the clear winner was aislin123.  Aislin's poetry was powerful and gripping.  You should feel very proud Aislin.  Feel free to take a victory lap and wave your poetic flag high.

Again for your review....aislin123

aislin123 To a brother I lost...

I wish to freeze time ...
For the shared moments to last,
And to hold you tight.

If I travel back
The roads we've always taken,
I wish you're with me.

Time slips by swiftly,
Days, months and years passed me by ...
Healing all my pains.

Memories of you...
Forever lives in my heart,
Never forgotten.

In heaven, you'll wait,
We'll see each other again.
And we can freeze time ...

This weekend went well.  Here is a quick update.

1.  I completed the 10 mile race without stopping!  My goal was to run the 10 miles as a training run to help build my endurance for the 1/2 marathon in April.  My time goal was 1 hour 45 minutes or less.  I cam in right around 1 hour 32 minutes.  The good news is that I was able to run three miles on Sunday!

2.  We are expecting with mini-bjnotbk to be due on 06/21/07.  We find out tomorrow if it is a boy or a girl.

3.  The weekend with the nephews was a blast!  I was totally wiped out in two games of Risk thus dashing my hopes of global domination...ha ha ha.

Just a quick note to let everyone know that the Haiku contest resluts will be posted here tomorrow.

Please, no tears.

I have never seen and episode of 24.  Not one.  No, I don’t live in a cave and yes I do have a TV, cable, internet, DVD player, etc.  I just haven’t watched TV over the last several years.  When I do watch TV it is usually when I am on the treadmill squeezing in a workout or after we put the baby down for the night.  By then me and the wife are both tired and ready for sleep ourselves.

I guess you could say that most everything to us is a “new release” in terms of shows and movies.  This really makes renting movies a breeze as we haven’t seen most of them.

Back to Bauer.  I have heard the hype and am tired of being out of the loop when it comes to 24 and all things Bauer related.  The other day one of my friends let me borrow season one of 24.

So…in less than 24 hours I will begin 24 episodes of 24.  Maybe I will run 24 days straight?

Any 24 fans out there?  Is the show really all that and a bag of chips?

The 2007 Baseball season begins on April 1^st.  Are you kidding me?  I thought they were still playing through the 76 season?  Who do I need to speak with to see about adding more games to the regular season?  176 games is just not enough.

Am I the only one who is already sick of the 2008 Presidential race coverage?  How hard would it be for you to do your job if you had to read daily news reports, watch hourly news clips, receive emails by the minute on all the potential replacements for your position.  Please….give us some breathing room here.

Joe has Theodore Thursday…..would I be out of line with a Wednesday Winston Churchill?

I am purposely not watching any of the pre-game hype regarding the Superbowl.  I am tired of having my expectations raised to unrealistic heights only to be let down.  It’s the same for me with movies.  I don’t watch the previews because I don’t want others to tell me what to think, I don’t want to have a preconceived opinion.  Let’s just play the game. 

The Haiku contest has really yeiled some great lines.  Results posted Tuesday morning!

I am a bit nervous.  Tomorrow I plan on running in a 10 mile race.  I have been preparing but because of the weather and time constraints most of my running has been done indoors on a treadmill.  I am using this race as a training run for the upcoming ½ marathon I am registered for in April.  My goal here is just to finish feeling good.  Wish me luck!

We find out this Tuesday if our next child will be a boy or a girl.  The wife really wants another girl.  What about me?  To be honest part of me wants a son but I would be very happy with another girl.  Right now we are kind of in a holding pattern as it relates to baby number 2.  We have some names picked but nothing in concrete.  We haven’t started on the nursery only because we are waiting to find out what we are having.  My wife has informed me that once we know it will be full speed ahead.  Wish me luck!

I think my nephews are coming over to stay the night with me tonight.  What will we end up doing?  Glad you asked!  We will be playing Risk…the game of global domination…..ha ha ha.  Wish me luck!

Thanks for a wonderful week everyone and thank you for reading.  Have a fantastic weekend.

Let me tell you about a friend of mine, a true brother in arms, a fellow soldier of the cross, Joe Napalm.  

I have known Joe now for over 10 years.  He is a man’s man, he is a great dad, a loving husband, and someone who has greatly encouraged me in my faith.  We have shared many laughs together, hiked many trails together, occasionally we have run together and every Thanksgiving we always seem to play against each other in football.  I even had the privilege of working with Joe on one occasion.  We have the blessing of meeting for lunch on a weekly basis…our own accountability group if you will.

Today is Joe’s Birthday. 

I officially mark today as National Joe Napalm Day.

Please don’t be shy and let the happy birthdays fly!

Happy Birthday brother.

bjnotbk

Visit itunes today, click on "Da Bears" to download these great tunes. 

1. Whole Lotta Lovie
2. All You Need Is Lovie
3. Let Lovie Rule
4. Lovie Me Tender
5. I Will Always Lovie You
6. It Must Have Been Lovie
7. I Want to Know What Lovie Is
8. I'll Make Lovie to You
9. Baby I Lovie Your Way
10. Lovie Will Keep Us Together

***Order now and receive the bonus track, The Superbowl Shuffle.

 

I have always worn either large or Xlarge shirts depending on the style and mfg of the shirt.  Lately though I have noticed a new trend in men's sizing of late.  Enter stage right the era of the "Vintage Fit."  Just what is vintage fit anyway?

I haven't been able to obtain a straight answer from any of the experts at the Gap or Old Navy yet and anytime I ask they stare at me with a puzzled look in their eyes as if I had just asked them to explain the theory of relativity.  I can see their wheels in motion as if they really want to ask me...."dude, this is the Gap, question not the methods."

I guess I am too uncool to understand the ways of the Gap.  My best guess is that Vintage fit roughly translates into, a size I can no longer fit into.  Maybe the vintage hints to what I use to wear in middleschool when I weighed less than 100lbs?  Or is this some marketing play to reach into our childhood to wax nostalgia?

I will be accepting your Haiku submissions this week.

The deadline for Submissions will be Sunday, January 28 at Midnight.

Looking forward to reading your entries.

You may have climbed Everest.  Maybe you have base jumped from the edges of the Grand Canyon.  Yet you really can’t say you have lived, you haven’t squeezed every ounce from life, or tasted a true adrenaline high until you have composed your very own haiku.  

Today I am announcing the first annual, BJ not BK Haiku contest.  The rules are simple.  Compose your Japanese poem using the following format

1^st line 5 syllables
2^nd line 7 syllables
3^rd line 5 syllables

Submit your compositions to me here via the comments section whereupon I will finally put to use my English major to judge and determine the winner.

Here is my example:

There are Lies in my
head About what lies ahead
New creature, new heart

Think you are man enough to break bad with the 5-7-5?  Bring it on.

What would you do with 10 extra years?  10 free years to do whatever you want.  What could you become if you devoted 10 years of your life to learning a skill or trade?  You could earn a PhD…haven’t you always wanted to be addressed as doctor?  How about becoming a master guitar, violin, or piano player?  Maybe your bent is toward the other areas of art, say painting or sculpting.  If you spend 10 years with a great instructor how much joy and knowledge could you squeeze from these sessions?  How would your kids turn out if you spent 10 solid years imparting your values, morals, and life experiences to them?  Would we really need self-esteem classes?

The sad truth is that 10 years is the average time each of us will spend in front of the television during the course of our lives. 

Here are some startling statistics: (**stats taken from here)

Percentage of households that possess at least one television: 99
Number of TV sets in the average U.S. household: 2.24
Percentage of U.S. homes with three or more TV sets: 66
Number of hours per day that TV is on in an average U.S. home: 6 hours, 47 minutes
Percentage of Americans that regularly watch television while eating dinner: 66
Number of hours of TV watched annually by Americans: 250 billion
Value of that time assuming an average wage of $5/hour: S1.25 trillion
Number of murders seen on TV by the time an average child finishes elementary school: 8,000
Number of violent acts seen on TV by age 18: 200,000

Still thinking that TV doesn’t have a direct influence on your and your family?  Think it over while I finish up the last of this Seinfeld Episode and maybe we can discuss during the commercial breaks.

I have come to realize that I am the last remaining good driver on the planet.  I am convinced that I am one man, alone, on the open road, amongst a sea of idiots unable to merge, use an acceleration lane, or successfully utilize a turn signal.
 

I find myself often acting as the role of teacher, driving instructor, sensei of the highway as I make my morning and afternoon commutes.  I try to impart my highly coveted skill set via verbal and hand communication methods.  I find myself talking to other drivers via my dashboard, my windshield, with pumping fists and facial expressions.
 

“Get off the brake grandma!

Oh, come on?

Did you know they re-called that vehicle?  Apparently they forgot to put a gas pedal on it!”
 

Why do I find it necessary to talk?  I know they can’t hear me.  I sometimes do the same thing with TV, responding to false advertising, or hokey dialogue or bad plot lines.
 

George Carlin once said that there are two types of drivers on the road:

 

1. The drivers in front of you.  These are the idiots – “Look at this idiot will you!  Keep it moving buddy we don’t have all day!”
2. The drivers who pass you.  These are the maniacs – “Did you see that maniac just pass us like we were sitting still?  Just who does he think he is?  Hey buddy!  Where’s the fire?”

 

I of course could never be either of these which begs the question……which of the two are you?

How does your day start?  Do you feel you have enough time or that you are always racing against time?  Do you feel relaxed through your day or are you packing so much into every moment that you can hardly breathe let alone allocate time to do what you are doing with quality and enjoyment?

 

I heard it stated once that we are human beings not human doings and I believe this.  But I find myself feeling uneasy when I sit doing nothing.  Why is it that I feel like I must always be moving forward, always improving, always staying ahead?  Ahead of what?

 

I would love to flesh out this idea more but I am already late for a meeting, have a lunch to attend, and have three movies that I haven’t watched yet under a stack of books that I haven’t read yet that need to be returned.

 

Have a great weekend!

If you would like to read this blog in

 

English please press 1

Spanish please press 2

Alaskan Malamute please press 3

If you would like to read this blog in Japanese please scream “Hai” into your keyboard.

 

Did you know that California’s DMV offers the standard driver’s license test in 31 different languages costing taxpayers millions to administer?

 

Why is it necessary for McDonald’s to print both pull and “nombre” on their doors?  Why is it necessary for Starbuck’s to place a sign by the sink with Pictures, English, and Spanish directing me how to was my hands?  If my barista can make my ½ caff, venti, toffee nut latte, no foam, why do they need this much instruction let alone bilingual instructions on how to wash their hands?

 

Why does my ATM offer English and Spanish?

Why is it when I dial any customer support number do I have to spend 75 minutes traversing a dilluge of language options?  Why not just English?

 

I understand that businesses and companies want to capture market share.  I understand the idea behind marketing your product to a customer base and how free market capitalism works.  What I don’t get, don’t understand is why local, state, and Federal governments are also moving in the multi-lingual direction?  Shouldn’t all of these entities utilize English?

 

I am not afraid of Spanish or French or even Ebonics, Islandic Welsh scares me a bit, but that is for another time.  What really scares me is that companies, businesses, and our government are seeing the need to cater to a non-English speaking base.  So what you ask?  I see this new customer base as a symptom of our illegal immigration problem.  Illegal immigrants are flowing through our borders like poop through a goose.  What about National Security?

 

What is happening to America?  What is happening to the language?  Is it time to make English our National Language? 

 

Yo quiero English por favor!