Water Activities
One activity I like happens just as the sun is setting on the water...Can you feel the warm summer breeze? Let's take a walk.
Music, learning new things, kids, photography, riding in a boat on the intercoastal water way on a warm summer afternoon with my hair blowing in the wind, dark humor (not to dark, no one dies or anything), going to hear a good stand up comic, jazz concerts.
Got Lizards?
I get lots of questions about the frog and lizard theme. Well it is really a simple matter. I am not into reptiles per se. The two characters, Frank and Louie are from the Budweiser commercials from a number of years ago during and after the super bowl. They represent my humor, such as it is. While I personally don't care for the beer, the two characters characterize the dialog that goes on inside my head often.
"HEY Frank! Did I take my meds today!?!"
The Super Ego Frank, and the Id Louie as Freud would put it.
While I don't consume much of Freud either it does explain
to me the humor that sort of blurts out of my head and I, Frank, have to hold it in check.
"HEY Louie, take it now, you are acting really strange!" So there you have it a certified nut case that has Freud and Budweiser in the same booth in the bar er shrinks office. Where would reptiles and Freud meet? Wonder what Freud would say about that? Something about my mother I am sure. He didn't even know her.
Got Retired?
“Sometimes I lie awake at night, and ask, 'Where have I gone wrong?' Then a voice says to me, 'This is going to take more than one night.'” (Charles Schulz)
"Show me a sane man and I will cure him for you." (Carl Jung)
"Last night I stayed up late playing poker with Tarot cards. I got a full house and four people died." Steven Wright
"Shouldn't you be out on a ledge somewhere?" Seinfeld
"When you don't know what you're talking about, it's hard to know when you're finished..." Tommy Smothers
"The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four Americans is suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they are okay, then it's you." Rita Mae Brown
"Congress is now trying to pass a bill that would require health insurers to cover more costs for the mentally ill. Once again, Congress looking out for themselves" Jay Leno
"If you want to see a comic strip, you should see me in the shower." Groucho Marx
Got fish?
Dave Berry quotes
The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status, or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we all believe that we are above-average drivers.
There is a very fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness.'
The main accomplishment of almost all organized protests is to annoy people who are not in them.
You should not confuse your career with your life.
Eclectic!!! Music should make your heart and soul sing or rock (even if you are vocally challenged such as I am…best to keep quite so as not to wake the dogs and have them howl with you it is embarrassing when they sound better) and even make your feet want to dance (even if your feet are not gifted that way, see dogs above)!
Jazz, Rockers (they make you want to dance) from the 60s & 70s, Classical; I know it seems incompatible, but there it is an oxymoron, Jazz, Latin Jazz (Diana Krall & Astrid being a sound I really like), Folk (James Taylor grew up in Chapel Hill), Eva Cassidy, Earth Wind and Fire (love the harmony and the band), Christian, (food for the soul), Paul Baloche is such an artist, and others in my "Friends" space.
Check out Kimber Manning she is a jazz vocalist, she has a great voice (she told me I can not sing when she is, come on Kimber, just once?)! She also makes the piano keys dance, she rocks!
Astrid's sound is a blend of smooth jazz with a Latin style. An interesting combination for the Netherlands born singer. Click on her latest CD 'Red Umbrella' below to see and hear her.
There are many other artists I like are in my "Friends" space.
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Got Jazz?
Got Heroes?
Got Faith?
Movies
Got bad boys?
Television
Not much on worth watching compared to reading or even bloging so with that caveat here is the list; Lost, 24, CSI (all of them, CSI that is), History and Discovery Channels, ESPN (only certain times of the year), as much as TV can do anything very close to a book. TV, suspense and mind candy in one, OK, then just mind candy pure escape. I confess thats all it is. Well now that felt better don't you think?
Got chic flicks?
Books
Suspence novels of many flavors, most actually (the list is to long for here)
Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum Novels (god she is funny, my kind of lady what a hoot!)
C. S. Lewis' "The Weight of Glory" or most anything he has written, including "Surprised by Joy"
Heroes
My dad, my daughter (I am proud of her). C. S. Lewis, he thought about things and as a result it helped me think clearer. Last, but not least, Jesus.
Lance Armstrong, he beat the cancer and is a symbol for the rest of us who did and did not. While not a perfect man he gives courage to those who need it most. "Live Strong" to all of those who have or are going through cancer Live Strong and live with the time you have. http://www.livestrong.org.
Lance Armstrong Foundation Manifesto
"Blessed is the servant who loves his brother as much when he is sick and useless as when he is well and an be of service to him." (St. Francis of Assisi)
Steve's Semi-Official Myspace Survey
Name:
Steve
Birthday:
July 1st
Birthplace:
Grand Rapids, MI
Current Location:
Chapel Hill, NC
Eye Color:
Blue, except in the morning and the evening and when my eys are closed. Other than that sometimes grey.
Hair Color:
So far brown, but I am told that will change at some point, stay tuned
Height:
5' 7" but again I am told that will go down with time, Spud Webb has nothing to fear here.
Right Handed or Left Handed:
Left, but every lefty knows we live in a righty world so you have to eat with both hands or starve
Your Heritage:
English, Danish, but I am not sure of all the milkmen in the family tree
The Shoes You Wore Today:
Barefoot but not pregnant at least not now, seriously, no changes planned in that, department. You do belive me right?
Your Weakness:
A smile
Your Fears:
Loosing my daughter
Your Perfect Pizza:
Everything except anhovies
Goal You Would Like To Achieve This Year:
Grow closer to my daughter
Thoughts First Waking Up:
Hey who left my alarm on from last week!?! Oh is it morning? Ah, the smell of coffee!
"Disgusted by the abuses to which it led, humanity repressed Christianity by which it had so long been dominated. Repressed, but not eliminated. Herein lies, I believe, the essence of the tragedy of modern times. The modern man lives as if Christianity were a negligible hypothesis with no relation to the concrete realities of the world and society. And yet at the bottom of his heart this man remains impregnated with Christianity, so that he lives in a state of perpetual ambivalence with regard to it." (Paul Tournier)
"The tragedy of life is what dies inside a man while he lives." (Albert Schweitzer)
"He begins to die, that quits his desires." (George Herbert)
"Recounting of a life story, a mind thinking aloud leads one inevitably to the consideration of problems which are no longer psychological but spiritual." (Paul Tournier)
"God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing."
(C. S. Lewis)
"In the depth of my soul there is a wordless song." (Kahlil Gibran)
"The things which the child loves remain in the domain of the heart until old age. The most beautiful thing in life is that our souls remaining over the places where we once enjoyed ourselves." (Kahlil Gibran)
"I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much." (Mother Theresa)
"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardship as the pathway to peace. Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it. Trusting that He will make all things right, if I surrender to His will. That I may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with Him forever in the next." (Reinhold Niebuhr)
Click in the cathedral for an interview with God
Quotes by St. Francis of Assisi
"Where there is injury let me sow pardon."
"No one is to be called an enemy, all are your benefactors, and no one does you harm. You have no enemy except yourselves."
"Lord, grant that I might not so much seek to be loved as to love."
"It is in pardoning that we are pardoned."
"If God can work through me, he can work through anyone."
"Lord, make me an instrument of your peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy."
"What we are looking for is what is looking."
"Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance."
"While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart."
Laugh and enjoy life and take life's curve balls with a grain of salt. I like being around folks who make lemonade when life gives them lemons and tell me to drink the lemonade when I look like I would rather have the lemon (go figure why one would eat the lemon).
I like a people who stand up for their friends/family and helps them grow when they are wrong, rather than critique. In short to be someone who helps those who come across our path to be all they are intended to be.
I am a 20+ year cancer survivor of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. While it does not define who I am, it has deeply shaped the person I have become. One of my physicians, Stephen Wolfe, guided me through a bone marrow transplant at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He later would guide Lance Armstong into treatment that would not only save his life, but allow him to win 7 Tour de France titles. Six degrees of separation, one degree of separation from Lance. The world is a small place. Reach out and touch someone.
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Life Mosaic
The LAF Cancer Mosaic
I have taught school before and my students use to wonder when the "real teacher" was going to show up, but alas there was only me and they did learn in spite of me. My friends would say I am laid back and easy to get along with and sincere, but that sounds so dull. So "I have helped them" with that assessment since "nice guys finish last." I did win that potato sack race at summer camp that one year though (no ribbon only ice cream). I like spending time with my friends doing most anything.
I love spending time with my daughter, who is now away at college, doing whatever she wants to do (I am very proud of her and who she has become). I like to read, I also like going to college basketball games or college game for that matter (I live in a college town). Minor league baseball is also a great time to chat. I love to go to the theater, I also like movies. Hiking is good especially in the spring and fall, but summer in the mountains as well. I like outdoor concerts both rock and classical. I like to go hear jazz. Sometimes I like to go see improv, my daughter is in a group part of the DSI Theater in Carrboro (sort of like Who's Line Is It Any Way), check out their site and a show.
"Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out." John Wooden
Who I'd like to meet: New and old friends around the country (and anywhere else),
Babe Ruth (not the candy bar), Bill Cosby, Curious George (the monkey), Calvin (of Calvin and Hobbs fame, we were separated at birth I am told), 'The Monkeys' (OK maybe not), but Peter Pan, Michael Angelo, Leonardo daVinc, Ansel Adams, C. S. Lewis, 'Get Smart' (I know I am dating myself here), some Penguins, Paul Tournier, while I am Protestant (not Roman Catholic)there are two people who are I would like to meet; Mother Theresa and St. Francis of Assisi and last an most important Jesus Christ (will see Him), to name a few...many others, probably not Stalin (not a nice man from what I hear).
Myself IN 20 years; "Do you really want to don those white shoes?" The survey says, "NO!!! That will not get you into the GQ the AARP edition with those shoes!"
Myself 30 years AGO; "what were you thinking why did you do that?! Well it is done now make sure you fix it."
“The kind of humor I like is the thing that makes me laugh for five seconds and think for ten minutes.” (William Davis)
"Through humor, you can soften some of the worst blows that life delivers. And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it." (Bill Cosby)
"I always advise people never to give advice." (PG Wodehouse)
..."society is always taken by surprise at any new example of common sense?" (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, "What! You too? I thought I was the only one!" (C. S. Lewis)
"In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed." (Kahlil Gibran)
"Don't look back. They may be gaining on you!" Satchel Paige
"I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life's realities." Dr. Seuss (Dr. Theodore Geisel)
