hey mister! can you spell "sh*t"

a few thoughts on sports movies:

there are not many good ones. by sport they are:

"hoosiers." it sucks that there is only one. never saw "glory road", so who knows?

no football movie is any good. "north dallas forty" and "the longest yard" are crap. you love "brian's song?"...you're gay.

"raging bull" and "rocky" are fantastic movies.

i love "tin cup." besides, i thought that was the f*****g big dog. oh, and i always thought "caddyshack" was way way way overrated.

hockey is irrelevant so, whatever.

"chariots of fire" is so awesome that it needs no description.

baseball has inspired the majority of worthy movies..."bull durham" is the best, i love "field of dreams" although it is schmaltzy with a capital "schmaltz," the same goes for "the natural." "the bad news bears" barely qualifies for this discussion, but i love it so it's in.

my favorite sports movie that gets almost no play is "eight men out." i remember when it was being filmed, gq did a big article and photo shoot about the movie and the book that inspired it. i couldn't wait. joe jackson is fascinating to me. he is without doubt one of the greatest ball players in the history of the sport, but he is left out of the hall because of the pedantic ramblings of a pontificating zealot. any story that touts his legend is alright by me. even better, the movie turned out great. it's on right now so i'm gonna go watch. later.

what did david do? what DID david do?

last night i went to a stake dance. that is not really true...it was a dance at youth conference. as one of the youth leaders in our ward, i had the responsibility of attending the event in order to support our kids, and also act as a chaperone. the reality of the night was that i sat and talked with my dad all night.

at one point in the evening the stake young men's president asked dad and me to patrol the parking lot. apparently, someone heard that some kids had been making out and we were meant to bring them into the stake president's office where they would be given a copy of "for the stength of youth." although we got up and walked outside, i will admit that i am the wrong guy for this kind of assignment. i told as much to my dad. i'm not snooping in anyone's car at 11:00 at night looking for kids. the church parking lot is a poor choice of location for this sort of activity; but, kids making out is not out of the ordinary, and it is none of my business. i'm not going to give a kid a missionary tract that he can already quote as if this were going to ecclesiastically neuter him into celibate submission. "let him without sin cast the first stone" comes to mind. and finally, i have some experience with "looking for love" at the wrong place (i know you're out there somewhere, theresa.)

we made a perfunctory circle of the building and resumed our places in the gym, without incident.

here are some things i noticed that showed me that these dances are little different than when i was "cruising the pretty young girls with a chip on their shoulder."

the homely girls still dance by themselves in the corner.

there is still the same group of guys who walk in and act as if they are the coolest males ever to grace the city of austin with their testosterone-filled braggadocio.

there are still a couple of girls that are so beautiful that you can barely stand to look at them. does this observation -coupled with my age- make me a dirty old man? i mean it innocently; but, if so, it's about time i got the designation.

they still have cheesy adult leaders that think the kids want them to set them up with dance partners or otherwise interact with them in any way.

the music is still overly white.

the kids still dance the cotton-eyed-joe; although the version they know is some techno version that is barely recognizable and nigh undanceable. no wonder they aren't very good at it.

no one has noticed any of the technological advances in refreshments.

i had alot of fun at the dances i used to go to and spent alot of time dancing with and talking to more than my share of beautiful young women.

i even danced with my wife at a couple of those dances so long ago. of course it was probably sympathy dancing. i'll let you decide on who's part the sympathy was being given.

are you being served?

i returned last night from a week long camping trip to southeastern new mexico. our church sponsors a boy scout troop, and i have been fortunate enough to have been invited to spend a week with these boys for each of the last 6 years. they are wonderful boys, and i am lucky to be included in their lives.

as a church sponsored activity, we try to infuse gospel-based themes and teaching into the activities of these trips. generally this takes the form of short, 15 to 20 minute devotional meetings each morning and evening. over the course of the week, the boys take turns sharing their knowledge of the gospel and its place in their lives. it is pleasing to listen and watch as they are growing into the men they will become. after the teaching from the individual, the adult leaders take the opprtunity to elaborate on the theme, and provide experiential counsel based on our adult lives.

friday night was our last night together, and the theme of the evening's discussion was "where will you be in the next five years?" after some replies from several of the boys, i offered my views. these boys range in age from 14 to 18 years old. i told them that in 5 years they should be home from a mission, on a mission, or preparing to go very shortly. marriage will be coming to many of them in the near future.

of course, they all replied that a full-time mission is paramount in their plans. statistics tell otherwise; but , i hope for these boys that they prove otherwise.

i have been fortunate to have had some rewarding experiences in my life. there are really only 2 or 3 things i've done that i truly regret...which is not too many. without a doubt, the thing i have done that has made the most difference in my life is being a full-time missionary for two years.

being a full time missionary made me grow in ways that are vastly more important than anything i could have learned or done in lieu of this service. i learned to rely on myself, i learned some self-discipline, i began to learn how to lead others to accomplish important tasks, and i learned how to interact with others in a more selfless way. more than anything else, i grew a strong testimony of christ and his church, and what he expects of me as a man in his service. these lessons will serve me for much longer than this lifetime.

it is a wonderful thing to serve others. it is not easy, but the feelings and knowledge it brings are invaluable. i look forward to the day my wife and i are ready to go on a mission together.

we're just a couple of swells

today is the 15th anniversary of my wedding day. charlotte is in florida without me. to tell the truth, i'm glad she's not here; she rarely gets the opportunity to go off with some girlfriends for fun, and this trip is long overdue.

charlotte and her friends, michelle peterson and jenny rinn, have gone to vero beach for 5 days. i understand they are doing very little of anything. laying on the beach and eating fresh seafood are the main activities for the week. today is the one day for diversion from the plan. they have gone to disney's mgm studios for the day. i'm sure glad they will be having a wonderful 15th anniversary dinner at the brown derby. i will not.

i'm continuing this writing after returning home from the night's adventure. i took my son and my nephew to a wedding.

for the past 10 years i have worked with a swet little girl named gina. when we first met, she was not even old enough to get into a bar. we went to a hair show in new orleans, and i missed out on seeing the pet shop boys at the house of blues (great band, wrong venue) because she was not old enough to get in. i would have felt too guilty saying, "i don't know what you're gonna do, but good luck." we all skipped the show.

tonight she married a very nice boy named david. they have been engaged for about 5 years. i can't tell you how many times they have set a wedding date, only to watch it pass by like the other dates preceding it. the first date i strongly encouraged her to keep was jan 2, 2003. easy to remember...1/2/03. that one didn't keep, but 6/6/06 was too inticing and so the die was cast.

the wedding took place on town lake aboard one of the capital cruises party boats. almost one and one half hours after the time i had been told to arrive, she came walking down the "aisle" to the beautiful sounds of "love me tender." gina loves elvis so much that she had her middle name legally changed from glenette (who can fault her for changing?) to presley. being the alternative lifestyles-type girl that she is, i was a bit surprised she was dressed very traditionally. she looked lovely. david was dressed like a cross between a swing dancer and a zoot-suiter with a little splash of james cagney added into the mix.

david's parents are preachers in an evangelical church in san angelo, they performed the ceremony. this was also pretty traditional...rings, scriptures, vows, kiss. after the ceremony, the new mr. and mrs. david dewey were hosts to a 2 hour party on the lake. the caterer did a wonderful job, the music was enjoyable, the company was pleasant and very diverse. in attendance were a couple there who are worth millions, another very vanilla husband and wife with two kids and a shoe store, me in a suit and watching two little boys, and another "straight" couple who looked to be on their way to a brooks and dunn concert. then you had her alternative friends. this is by far the largerst percentage of gina's and david's circle of friends. most were merely tatooed and pierced to varying degrees. some very expensive and extensive "art" was on display. lots of pain and suffering and money unnecessarily expended. a respectable complement of gay and lesbian couples and singles were on hand...interesting fashion choices to be sure. fortunately i have been in this environment for so long that i am not bothered, or even curious about these folks who are so different from my own crowd of peers.

i did find myself to feel akward because of one couple at whom i couldn't stop staring. they are a male and female couple, gainfully employed who are friends of gina's lesbian neice. i couldn't stop staring because they reminded me of a highly tatooed and pierced judy garland and fred astaire in "easter parade." jaime (ric's boyfriend) didn't appreciate my sarcastic remark at the expense of this very friendly couple..he said they were more like "a clockwork orange on acid." you say "tomayto" and i say "tomahto."

it is refreshing to know that no matter my experience in the world with different races , orientatons, and financial stations of peoples; i am never incapable of being surprised.