Music.

Don't ask me why, but tonight I was on a bender of 90's music. While I listened to "Hey Leonardo", Youtube said 'Hey! If you like that, why don't you try some 'She's So High'?'

So while listening to that, I was reading the comments, as apparently I am prone to do. Everyone on there was talking about a man named Kurt Nilsen and how his version was better. Digging somemore, I found out he was the winner of Norwegian Idol in 2003 or something. The man's voice is incredible needless to say, so here are two songs featuring him that I think you need to hear. Enjoy!

Halleujah
and..!
She's So High

Oh, and this has nothing to do with anything, but I figured this blog needed a photo.

Why can't we be more like grandparents?

So I was at work today, and I was standing near a cashier who was ringing up a family. There was a mom and a little boy, who was about 7 years old. The mom mentioned that they were looking for boots, because they are from the mountains of Virginia and it gets cold very early up there.

The cashier asked why they were visiting this area, and the little boy piped up.

"We're visiting my nanna! And you know what? She got me a black wig!"

It took me, as well as the cashier by surprise.

"Your nanna got you a black wig?"

"Wii," the mom corrected with a laugh, "but if he wanted a black wig she would have got that for him as well."

And it just made me think about grandparents. Namely, the unconditional love of grandparents. Think about the last time you were at Wal-Mart. Remember seeing that little kid dressed in his dinosaur halloween costume...in the middle of March? Chances are, there was a silver haired adult pushing along the cart with a bemused expression on their face.

Think about the last time you visited the home of an older person. It is likely their refrigerator is covered in crayon scribbled portraits, "participation" ribbons, and macaroni necklaces dangle off a doorknob somewhere.

You can attempt a somersault for dear old grammie and end up looking like a crumpled heap of clothes and limbs, but she still thinks you are somewhere on par with Nadia Comaneci.

Why can't the rest of the world be like grandparents? Selfless and caring. Always seeing the positive to everything, very giving and most of all very loving.

The world today is filled with naysayers. With the advent of the internet, things have only gotten worse. Everyone's a critic now. The local news affiliate posts a story about Lindsey Lohan going to jail for 90 days and the message boards light up with people blaming the parents, her, the media, etc. There is judgement and blame and hatred around every corner.

I was reading an ongoing article on Slate for example. In it, a journalist decides he is going to give up the internet for a period of time to see if he really can do it, and he logs his experiences. In one post he told a story of how his little girl's rabbit got eaten by the family dog, and the only way he could calm her down was by letting her get online and play her favorite barbie game. Thus unwittingly, he was online.

A quick run through of comments on the story are pitiful. Faceless names cut the author down, likening him to a murderer and a terrible father because he was so negligent in the care of his bunny. Others called him lazy and saying he was just looking for an excuse to get back online. Others questioned why he was even pulling such a "stunt" in the first place, and wondering what purpose it served.

In this day of free speech, it seems to me all I am hearing is negative speech. I don't see any uplifting or encouraging going on. In short, I don't see any "grandparent like" behavior. We need to be more accepting of those who are different. Just as the mother said, if the boy wanted a wig, the grandmother gladly would have bought it for him. We need to point out the good, and heck even if we have to dig, try to always find the positive in the situation, even if the person we're talking about is failing miserably at a proverbial "somersault" in their lives.

I will leave you all with this:

Ephesians 4:29,
"Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear."

Jason made me do this.

Well here I am, finally starting a bloggity blog off.

Essentially ever since I started at my job, my manager thought I should have my own blog. As if the world needed more of my opinion.

But he told me I needed a blog, and he even named it for me. Finally, I've decided to actually create one. It is 2:15 in the morning and somehow  I feel a need to do this.

No guarantees on how often I will update this thing...I am still debating on wether or not I even want one. It seems pretty narcissistic to think anyone will give two cents about what I think. Most of what I say is hot air anyway. But here it is, and here I am. Enjoy.