Reflections of a Freaking Genius

There are those times when I just cannot hold it in any longer.   I guess this is one of those times.   Remember what I say here is only opinion.   Remember the title "Freaking Genius" is only tongue-in-cheek, not a narcissistic self-proclamation.    I have many, many opinions.   And I'm not usually too bashful to share my opinions.   I don't think my opinions are necessarily right, only opinions, but they are still my opinions.   I have a dear friend who has always said, usually when he's about ready to correct me, "Eat the fish, spit out the bones."   Good advice for anyone. Before I say anything else, I need to give you the "fine print", the disclaimer.   First, I am a follower of Jesus Christ.   I have been since I was around 20 years old.   Next, I went two bible college and got two degrees in theology and Bible.   By no means does that make me an expert in any of this, but I think I know my way around the Bible.   Also, I was a past

I turned 51 this year.  There's probably some odd maker in Vegas that cannot believe that I've actually made it this far.  I've done a lot of risky things and I've also done some "stupid risky" things in my life, so maybe I've even surprised myself.  Motorcycles (and crashes), skydiving, racing, raising kids....these kinds of activities can end your life early if you're not careful.  When I was a kid, I remember looking at those old guys on the professional football and baseball teams.  I looked up to them and collected trading cards trying to get my favorites.  Now all of a sudden I find out that there were many who were younger than my oldest son is now.  I realize there have always a lot of geriatric "Favre's" out there who think they're Timex watches. (for you youngsters, that's referring to a commercial back in the old days of tube TVs)  But most were so young!  Then I got into my twenties.  I really thought I was all tha

I suppose it was inevitable.   It is December after all.    Since the garage is packed full of remains of the death of a small business, the cars are in the driveway.   That means the cars are vulnerable to the frost, freezing rain, sleet, snow, or the occasional low-life   who decides that the interior of my car needs cleaned out.   A side note on the 'burglary' thing…the last time my car was examined by a crook, they emptied the receipts, insurance verifications, etc., out of my glove box, emptied the junk out of my console, and emptied the Wal-Mart sack full of trash I had in the back floorboard.   The least the sticky fingered creep could've done was taken the trash to the dumpster…I mean it's only 5 steps in front of my   bumper beside the garage!    He (I guess he could have been a she?) took my phone charger and my prescription bifocal glasses.   Why would anyone steal prescription glasses??   Granted they had fantastically stylish Randy Jackson frames, but u

I suppose this is the cathartic advantage of a blog.  You see, my Dad would have celebrated his 82nd  birthday yesterday. Nearly 20 years ago, he passed away in bed at home. Dad was raised on a farm on south West Street in Wichita.  I really never heard that much about his childhood, only bits and pieces.  He was the only son of Raymond and Anna. Poor guy had four sisters!  Thankfully, Vern Miller and his brothers were neighbors, so he at least had male friendship close by.  He graduated from North High school.  Shortly thereafter, during the Korean war, he joined the US Marine Corps as a drill instructor at Camp Pendleton in California.  After a short stint there, he came back to his home town, and became a Sedgwick County Sheriff's officer.  He pulled over my mom  just to get her phone number.  I guess she gave it to him!  In fact, on one of their first dates, it ended with them (yes, he and his date, my mom) having two juveniles in the back seat of his personal car being hau

It happens once a year.   I don't know when it started.   Was it when Oklahoma State was Oklahoma A&M?   I really don't….know. What I do know is, that this Kansas farm kid had never seen anything like the wild and crazy bedlam game that takes place annually in the place   where the wind comes sweeping gently down the plain.   KU and KSU had (and still has) the typical, "the Jayhawks are better than the Wildcats" talk.   It never came close to what happens in the Sooner (BOOMER!) state.   Maybe I tip my hand a bit. License plates and bumper stickers bearing both Sooner and Cowboy logos advertise the fact that families are divided.   People are 'de-friended' on Facebook.   Crimson flags and orange banners fly all around the state.   Radio   and news stations go on and on….and on and on about the game.   Facebook profile pictures get posted (some aren't even mean).    Conversations inevitably turn that direction, parties are planned,   soft drinks a

It's that time of year again for marathon sessions of the old Christmas classics, "White Christmas", "It's a Wonderful Life", "A Christmas Story", "Elf" (my girlfriend's personal favorite), "Rudolph", etc., etc.......etc....amen. Black Friday is over (thank God!), and the only shopping crowd left that rivals that madhouse are the last minute shoppers (of which I'm invariably one).  My personal favorite Christmas movie is "Christmas Vacation".  It's been a family tradition to watch it together every year if at all possible.  It may be at the top of my "Christmas movie top 10" list because it seems like I can relate to it.  Not because I get the grand prize for kilowatts purchased from AEP each season due to billions of twinkling lights adorning my house...but I can relate to Clark W. Griswold.  His heart is in the right place, trying to make the holiday perfect for his family, but as each day tic

I'm pretty new to this blogging thing...well, brand new actually.  My friend Google tells me the word is a blend of the words 'web log'.  Hmmm...I did not know that!  I've noticed that there are a wide variety of blogs out there floating in cyberspace on a very broad spectrum of topics written by people from all around the world.  My Blogger program even has a handy-dandy translator so that if I really want to know the musings of a biophysicist in Greece, I can see what he has on his mind. There are blogs for runners (seems to be many of these), chefs, librarians, professional sports enthusiasts, and moms with a houseful of kids.  A friend of mine, Jason, has one describing his backpacking adventures.  JMac is one of the best beef jerkiers (or whatever you call a guy that makes awesome beef jerky) and has a spectacular product (found at www.facebook.com/jmacsjerky).  I share his love of putting on a backpack, pushing myself to my physical and mental limits, while enjo

Ok, maybe not my best friend, and maybe not new, but the ranking is up toward the top somewhere.  My wife is my best friend, by far.  She understands me better, puts up with me better, she knows me better than anybody on this planet.  My kids are up there too...I've been blessed with awesome sons who have never given me a bit of a headache like I did my parents (thank God!).  My bonus kids are pretty great too...they've accepted me and welcomed me into their lives without hesitation.  Then there are the close friends from near and far away who have been collected (lo these many years).  I treasure my friendships deeply.  Of course my friendship with God ranks above all others...that one I've treasured since my early twenties. There's another friend that I talk to daily, who always seems to have answers I'm looking for.  This friend is never far away.  Always willing to help, never too difficult a question to ask, always providing useful information no matter what

Everything has to start somewhere.  I thought that I probably shouldn't let the 'blog train' blow past me before I hopped aboard at least once and gave it a whirl.  So here it goes. However, a word of explanation concerning the title of my blog.  One of my birthday presents from my wonderful bride was a iPhone 4s.  I don't hunt, fish, or do a lot of other manly Oklahoma pursuits, so I kind of like techie, electronic gadget kinds of things.  I'm not really the gaming kind of techie guy...my sons made me realize that probably isn't my 'gift'.  On my new iPhone is a cool feature named 'Siri'.  Siri is a really awesome tool that allows you to give the phone voice commands.  If she didn't have a kind of annoying electronic-ish female voice, I could have easily fallen in love.  Every morning I wake up, and at some point before I get to work, I say "Siri, what is my name".  And in her sexiest robotic electronic-ish voice, she says, "