A Borrowed Post for the Most Part

Nice day out today. Should get to run and play some guitar tonight (after buying cat food, of course). Hard to believe that my brother gets married next week. I'll make sure to post some pictures of the wedding on here.

Excerpts from "The Kidz On Drugz (or Life)" by Bill Mallonee:

"I dunno if the kid's on drugs or life
Why should that come as a shock?
Life hasn't fallen out just quite
In those neat suburban boxes.

And I wonder about the conversations that you're having
You know the ones with yourself--
Where you feel like a failure and you're losing heart
And that race has barely gotten started.
And you wanna ask God about things like cancer,
But you don't think that you'll get much of an answer.
I hope you will find and I pray you will see
All the joy that your life brings to me.

And the baggage that we all carry around
Has this way of dragging you down.

And there is no map for this growing up.
It's just a street through a town called weird.
And you never do feel like you'll arrive
With a destination so unclear.

And it really shouldn't be so hard
To get yourself free.
But with all these lines in the sand and love with its strings,
God fear is such a funny thing."

Can You Believe It? Back to Back Posts

Annie's Mailbox is a column that started appearing in our local newspaper after Ann Landers' writings came to an end. It is one of the sections I make sure to read in the newspaper each day (along with the sports page). In one way I am curious to see what other people are going through. Still, I am always out to see what pathetic advice can be given to people who often choose to put themselves in difficult situations. (Question: "I want to have an affair on my husband and I am so in love with someone at work. What should I do?" Answer: "You should be with the person you love and who loves you in return. Remember to seek marriage counseling." LOL.) The authors of Annie's Mailbox, Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar, are good at situations relating to etiquette, though (but that's about it, lol). So while good advice is something I may have never seen come from one of these columns, I did find some truth in the circumstances described below (I think it is clear what I agree with and what I do not agree with). The part that cracked me up about the writer in this edition is that he signed off as Southern Cali Playa. LOL. Boy, I am glad to know what my purpose as a nice guy is. LOL. That last paragraph by SoCali Playa is a killer. Still, God has blessed me in so many ways and I thank him for that. Now to the letter:

Dear Annie: I was appalled at the advice you gave a 22-year-old shy college student who wanted to ask a girl out. You suggested he ask about her finals or what she thinks of her classes, so that the next time he sees her, "You'll be friends."

For males, being friends is the absolute last thing you want to be with a girl. No girl ever looks at a friend and says, "He's hot." A guy today must make it clear from the very beginning that he wants a sexual relationship to avoid being tossed into the "friend" trap. I'd tell "Shy Guy" to upgrade his wardrobe, buy some "bling-bling" and start paying attention to hygiene. He can then run some game on the girl by feeding her lines and clever compliments.

I am 22 and in college. I used to be a "nice guy" until I realized that being nice only gets you a girl who talks about how bad her boyfriend treats her. No amount of kindness will get her to dump the bad guy for you. By becoming a jerk, I've managed to exude a sense of attraction my girlfriends find irresistible, even though, I admit, I neglect them sometimes.

There is a purpose for nice guys, though. They provide the girls with emotional support, while we get all the action. Although they will never admit it, most women prefer the dangerous, tough-guy jerk to the kind, loyal nice guy. It's just a fact of life. -- SoCali Playa

Dear Prince Charming: We appreciate your honesty, and you make some good points -- there are indeed emotionally insecure girls who think they deserve guys who treat them like dirt. And if a guy is looking only to score, he can behave like a callous pig, and some girls will find that attractive.

Somewhere underneath your "jerk" exterior is a nice guy. When you decide you want to settle down, we doubt you will be content with your current female companions. And the ones you want, the ones who are worth it, may find you a total waste of time. Be careful what you wish for.

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Questions, comments? Let me know.

Why I Don't Want Pets...

*Warning: Do not read this post during lunch time*

Due to an "experience" with the Pastor's animals (whose house I am sitting for the two weeks while they are away), I don't think I want pets when I get a place of my own. I always was a fan of cats over dogs, but I don't think that is the case now anymore. OK, so they warned me that the cat had intestinal problems, but I didn't really think it could be that bad. Let's just say I am now an expert at cleaning up cat barf. I didn't know something so nasty could actually come out of a cat. Food and hair and all this other junk. I will not give any other descriptions (like the shade of yellow and brown that it was and what not). It was just plain sick nasty. And even though Julianne (the Cat Woman herself) thinks I am not capable of caring for her animals, I sure would like to see her scraping kitty barf off of the floor. LOL. Yeah, HG. Now that is something I can't picture.

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On to news of a different sort: Congrats to the Waynesburg girls softball team who fought their way to the school's first WPIAL championship (winning all four games by one run and in dramatic fashion--knocking off the defending champ Sto-Rox in the process). Liberty-bound Autumn Minor (from Waynesburg Naz) has some crazy pitching skills. The Lady Red Raiders went on to win their first game in the state playoffs against District 9 champ Brookville (again by one run and in extra innings on Autumn's game-winning single), before falling in extra innings to South Park in the state quarterfinals. I listened to the archived radio broadcast of the South Park game today at work. It's funny because I remember the days when Autumn was part of the smooth and sassy vocal group of Hannah Stroup, Elizabeth Humble, and Danielle King that sang at FOL tryouts. I read in one of the articles where Autumn gave shout-outs to God, so props to her for that.


Autumn Minor in action (and sporting some nice shades, too) 

A Quick Rundown of the Weeks Ahead

Not much new going on (so typical of me, don't you think?). I could start every post that way for the last couple years. LOL. My pastor and his family left for Idaho yesterday. I mention that because they left me with the keys to their house. I know, that is a very dangerous thing to do. I told them if they came back and the place was kind of a mess then I just had a few parties while they were away. They have a cat and guinea pig that need cared for (and mail to be brought in and plants to be watered). I never really had pets that required a whole lot of maintenance when I was younger, so it should be quite an experience (I am already looking forward to that litter box). I had a little goldfish named Popeye when I was like six (don't even talk mess). Such a brave little fello. I think everyone remembers him because we came home from church one evening and Popeye had leaped out of his bowl onto the floor. We don't know how long he had been there. That's when my brother and I said a prayer for him. He actually lived after that (though eventually he did have to face the flush). Good story.
OK, my upcoming schedule:
-Bachelor Party for my brother on Friday, June 10th (Pirates vs. Tampa Bay)
-Wedding for Missy Griffin on Saturday, June 11th
-Haircut and rehearsal dinner for my brother's wedding on Thursday, June 23rd
-Wedding for my brother on Friday, June 24th
-A-Train's wedding and reception on Saturday, June 25th

I think I am going to be all wedding-ed out.

Financial tip of the day: American Funds Capital Income Builder is a good mutual fund for investors just starting out.

Bill Mallonee lyrics to think about:
"You can map the lay of the land.
Yeah, you can describe the sad terrain.
Let us survey all the borders.
Yeah, but it all still looks the same.
When you find there's nothing special
About that big hole in your heart.
'Cause everybody's got one
With precious little time to talk about."

Well, I am out. Drop me a line if you have time.