Shawn Young: Reverse Angle

This is the first year that I've categorized everything and broken it into months. It makes it easier to break up the year, and it allows me to create micro-deadlines that are more achievable (so I don't end up with 30 random things and no time to do them). But then to make it even crazier, this year I've added 5 "Year Without" items. 


Category Explanations
"With/Without" - My lent-esque style 30 day span with a removal of something from my everyday life. This year, some months will be positive instead of negative.
"Food" - Either a dish I've never eaten before, or one I've never made before.
"Word" - A new word to introduce into my regular vocabulary.
"Create" - New business, works of art, or writing projects.
"All Day" - Something I will spend the day doing. (6 hours minimum) One day out of the month.
"All Week" - Something I will do for every day of a regular week - for a time specified each month. One week out of the month.
"Vague" - A broad phrase that can be accomplished in multiple ways, with a little creativity.
"Free" - Just something to do- for fun or otherwise- because I want to.

Rules & Disclaimer
I decide whether an item has been accomplished, but anyone who is aware of a list item may challenge my determination. I am allowed to count a "Free" or "Vague" item as completed in a different month if the opportunity arises. I will try not to impose on anyone while in the middle of completing a list item. It is for my personal development and entertainment and is in no way a judgement of the actions of others.




Highlighting Guide
Completed - Explanation of how it was completed.
Attempted, but didn't complete - Explanation of what went wrong.




Ok, here we go!


A YEAR WITHOUT
Animated Re-runs
Artificial sweeteners
Texting while driving
Pain medication
Touching a cat

JANUARY
With/Without:  Drinking only water
Food:  Baklava - This was originally the March food, but Ron and Tiffany brought the dish to our New Year's Eve party. They didn't realize it was on my list, so it was a great coincidence. I ate some after midnight, and switched it to my January food. 
Word:  Apropos
Create:  Write Get Up Office e-book
All day:  Wearing a hat
All week:  Standing from 9am - 2pm
Vague:  Update a site
Free:  Sell 4 cameras


FEBRUARY
With/Without:  Write a blog every day
Food:  S.O.S.
Word:  Constituency
Create:  Begin Dubbadip.com 
All day:  Smiling
All week:  Adhering to a strict daily schedule with 30 minute time slots
Vague:  Audition for something
Free:  Inform someone in real life that they are the subject of a Craigslist Missed Connection



MARCH
With/Without:  Never consciously or intentionally breaking the speed limit
Food:   Homemade pot pie  
Word:  Tempestuously
Create:  Start a new blog site
All day:  Speak with a British accent
All week:  Listening to country music in the car
Vague:  Clap for Owen
Free:  Call a radio talk show



APRIL
With/Without:  Daily 15 minute back rubs for Leslie
Food:  Homemade Ravioli
Word:  Stave
Create:  Write Aluminum Goldmine e-book
All day:  Without a moment of silence
All week:  Eating vegetarian lunches
Vague:  Free a living thing
Free:  Memorize Matthew 6



MAY
With/Without:  Never cracking a knuckle or bone in my body
Food:  Hummus
Word:  Exoneration 
Create:  Write Weetours e-book
All day:  Cleaning
All week:  Silence in the car
Vague:  Be a guest speaker
Free:  Bet on a horse



JUNE
With/Without:  Walk 50 additional steps every day
Food:  Cobb Salad
Word:  Astute
Create:  Write an outline for a screenplay
All day:  Working outside
All week:  Working on one project for 5 hours a day
Vague:  Go to a grand opening
Free:  Pick strawberries



JULY
With/Without:  Wake up 3 minutes earlier every day
Food:  Limburger Cheese
Word:  Malevolence 
Create:  Make 3 calendars
All day:  Without any technology or modern conveniences
All week:  Take 1,000 pictures per day
Vague:  Get published
Free:  Watch The Godfather II



AUGUST
With/Without:  Do 4 of last year's "month without" items at once
Food:  Chinese food for all 3 meals in one day (I call it the "Tour of China")
Word:  Lucidity
Create:  Participate in the 48 Hour Film Project
All day:  Without breaking a commandment
All week:  Without shoes
Vague:  Compliment a stranger
Free:  Do 5 senior portrait sessions



SEPTEMBER
With/Without:  Without killing anything (it's not as easy as it sounds when you apply the term loosely)
Food:  Head Cheese
Word:  Laborious 
Create:  Write Schmollege e-book
All day: Walking
All week:  Wearing ties to work
Vague:  Push a red button
Free:  Go to a Scrabble Club meet



OCTOBER
With/Without:  Write down every food and drink consumed
Food:  Beef Tongue
Word:  Pragmatic
Create:  Make a Doritos commercial
All day:  Tweeting every hour for 10 hours
All week:  Liquid lunches
Vague:  Stand in a field
Free:  Go to a circus



NOVEMBER
With/Without:  Read an hour a day
Food:  Hungarian Goulash
Word:  Beleagured 
Create:  Make 15 pieces of art
All day:  Drawing/Painting
All week:  Listening to classical music whenever possible
Vague:  Read a recommendation
Free:  Bake a pie



DECEMBER
With/Without:  Giving a gift every day
Food:  Izzy's 110 Reuben Challenge (or an equal challenge if the 110 no longer exists)
Word:  Panache 
Create:  Write Act 1 of the screenplay
All day:  Singing
All week: Watching a new (to me) TV series
Vague:  Sell something round
Free:  Take Nora on a date

I was at a loss for words when I discovered that this restaurant actually exists. It's right next to the CiCi's Pizza in Norwood (this image is actually from another one in Louisville). Of all the adjectives to put with "Dragon", this establishment chose the most Nintendorific of them all. Then they made it a sequel. Unbelievable. I love it.

So here's a list of captions that popped into my mind. Feel free to comment with your own.





- Formerly the "Ninja Gaiden 3 Chinese Restaurant"
- New and improved co-op dining room
- Try the Abobo Chicken.
- If your entree doesn't taste right, blow on it really hard and hit it a few times. Then it should be fine.

- If you buy 5 lunches, you earn the ability to throw an uppercut.
- One coupon and Game Genie code per customer.
- Spring rolls and spin kicks.
- 8 bits in every bite.



.

I was certain that red meat was more prominent in my diet. I was wrong. I'm calling it for the month tonight, because I don't really like to transition in or out of a monthly thing in the middle of a week. Tomorrow night, we will be making a Hamburger Helper type meal- and I will be eating it.

It's becoming redundant to say it, but this month has been really easy. With the exception of one meal at Burger King early in the month (BK does an INCREDIBLE job conditioning your brain to react involuntarily to a picture of a Whopper) , I ate absolutely no red meat in August. What surprises me even more is how little I sacrificed. Leslie made burritos twice, and I ate them with extra beans instead- and loved them. She also made goulash twice, which I worked around and ate extra salad. I didn't need to exert myself much to avoid red meat. And more importantly, I didn't have to work as hard to "empty out" my system.

My lack of physical effort reminded me of hurricanes.

The Weather Channel has done a great job in keeping us up to the minute on how close an impending storm is to our front door. We can look at satellite images on our phones to determine exactly how far we need to run from an approaching tidal wave. Yet, there are still people who don't move when they are warned.

Granted, storms die down over time, but if a live video feed shows you footage of what your friends to the south are experiencing- shouldn't you heed? Isn't there a point when you say, "Wow, this is reality. This would be a logical time to flee." A hundred years ago, people just looked at the color of the sky and sniffed the dirt, and they were smart enough to know when real danger was knocking. In our present time, we can instantly look up every piece of factual information we need - short of Katrina's bra size - to make a decision about how to react to a hurricane... and yet there are still idiots who stand on the shore and stare at the storm. 

When Irene began to hit land this week, I was really impressed to see the images of Times Square.  It was so desolate- like a post-apocalyptic scene. From what I witnessed (or at least the way the news depicted it), much of New York city actually listened to authorities and sought shelter.  Not every city had the same reaction. There's always one location where a handful of college guys want to be extreme to the max. You'll find them straddling a Big Boy statue in their boxer shorts on the edge of the water... with a video camera. Then the hurricane hits, and they end up unconscious and wedged under an iron fence. Rescue crews have to take themselves away from helping orderly people to pry weather vanes out of idiots' armpits.

I'm all for living life to the fullest, but there are ways of doing it that don't have to get half a million hits on YouTube. When you find yourself in a situation where our less-than-technical forefathers would have fled, our survival instincts should kick in a little. So when I see a city that never sleeps empty out like an elderly rec center at bedtime, I'm filled with hope that our society may still know how to behave. The tough guys who like to be brave end up hurting the rest of the group who are trying to survive- even if they're completely frightened.

Which brings me back to my body and red meat. Much like a city trying to keep its citizens safe in a hurricane, I can sum up my August in one double entendre:

Evacuation is easier when you're packed full of chickens.

Once upon a time, I was a gamer. I missed plenty of social gatherings, exercise opportunities, and meals in order to play a first person shooter online. My game of choice was Quake 2. I got hooked in college, and continued for a year or two after graduation. Later on, I would jump on the FPS wagon to play Battlefield Vietnam with the students in my group. We all had a blast setting Claymores inside jeeps and trying to jump motorcycles off of buildings into helicopters a la Terminator 2. There was more fun than violence.

I'm really glad it didn't turn into more.

Not that I don't enjoy LAN parties with the kids- and someday I will play Quake with my son. But I'm developing a theory that I'd like to throw out here and see if I can dig up some supporting data. As we played as a group, I began to notice that I was the only person who played with an inverted mouse. All the other players had their computers configured with a regular mouse setting. When they want their character to look up in the game, they move the mouse up. To look down, they look down. I pretty much got to stay on one computer, because none of them wanted to switch the settings. I only play the opposite. I move my mouse down to look up. 

To most, this means nothing. To some, it's perplexing. Why would someone choose to play so unnaturally? How many people in the world do this? Well, from the minimal research I've done (searching for gamer polls) it seems that about 25% of the gaming population are mouse contrarians. to answer why I do it, here's my reasoning:

When I fire a rifle at a moving target in the air, I don't move my left hand up to point the gun; I drop my right arm down. Therefore, my upward aim is centered more around a downward motion than an upward. 


Which leads me to my hypothesis: Assuming that the majority of the population aims a rifle in the same way (if they don't, this whole thing is shot...pardon the pun) , I believe those who use an inverted mouse are playing out the most realistic style of first person shooter. Therefore, the truly "potentially dangerous," "at-risk" kids are the ones who play FPS games with an inverted mouse. Add in some angst, the right amount of social outcastery, and your friend down the street with the weird mouse controls could be a ticking timebomb.

Again, this is complete speculation. I'm certain that anyone with the right resources and the wrong frame of mind can be dangerous. But I'd really like to see some statistics (if somehow they were possible to obtain) about how many student gunmen have pointed down to look up. I'm just curious.

My hard drive crashed last month. It was the icing on a very crappy cake of events over a two-week period.
This tech-disaster helped solidify my disinterest in Facebook. Going all of June without it allowed me to be free from my news feed.  Not returning in July became even more liberating with each passing day. I'm very happy about that. What I'm not pleased about are the setbacks. It's caused a delay in finishing business (no wedding content was lost; that's all on separate drives- but I had no software to run anything), and more tragically- I lost a year of pictures and and 3 years of video of my family. They should've been archived a while back, but they were missed.

I had a hard time accepting that I would never get to revisit Nora's first Christmas, or Owen playing with his giant train set. Never again will I be able to click on a folder to reminisce about old vacations with the kids. Dealing with the loss of images was very hard to swallow.

I can't imagine how hard it would be to lose the actual children in those images.

The loss of family trumps every other loss.

I understand that this is how life goes, and at times it seems way more unfair than others. I also accept that I will someday have to suffer the loss of an immediate family member. I don't want it to happen to me, or to anyone else, but I know it will (and sadly has already). The part that I have the most trouble with is this:

What do I do with the memories?

Whether it was a long process or an instant loss, our only interactivity to continue will be in the form of remembered conversations and observances, replayed over and over again like a favorite old VHS tape. We will be forced to cling to those memories as our representation for the physical body we can no longer hug or talk to directly.

So when these thoughts arise, we feel immediate pain in the fact that they can only be memories. We wish we had more chances to continue the discussions, but we are heartbroken by reality.

Again, what do we do with the memories? Do we treat them like the present day personification or as the picture in the scrapbook? Do we let the memories bring us pain, joy, or both?

A few days ago, I stopped fretting over the pictures and video that I lost on my crashed hard drive. I let my worries go, because I found comfort in knowing that a picture will never define my relationship to my children. What makes me their father is not that it can be proven by a film clip. Some day when I'm gone, my kids will think back on our time together and their memories will be more than a series of candid snapshots.  It won't just be images, because living or not, they'll still have their father.

 A father is made by being fatherly, and when we carry on things taught to us by our fathers, we allow them to still have a place in our lives as our father.  Our specific memories may bring us joy or sorrow, but they'll never replace or diminish our father's mark on our lives. As we continue to live the life they prepared us for, we allow them to continue to have a real place in the real world.

I know I'm not much comfort to those who are currently struggling in such a capacity, but I believe this statement helps to add a level of perspective in a difficult time:
We only lose that which we let go of.

It came to pass on the 9th day of June that I officially called this item as completed.
It came to pass that I didn't actually read the entire collective works of the Book of Mormon, because it annoyed me.
It came to pass that once I was annoyed, I skipped right to the actual "Book of Mormon."
And it came to pass that I didn't even finish that book. I called it quits, because I just couldn't stay focused; hundreds of verses all began with one very lame phrase.
It came to pass that the annoying phrase in question was, "It came to pass."

I don't want to argue about the validity of the texts. I really don't. I don't want to debate this issue with any LDS friends I may have. I respect them, and I don't think our adherence to any specific canon should prevent us from being friends.

But I could never put stock in a scriptural text that repeats those four words at the beginning of nearly every sentence. It doesn't read like a legitimate text, or even decent literature. The repetition of "it came to pass" seriously decreases its value and significance to me. The frequency of its usage is practically off the charts. And I mean that literally; there really is a chart. Apparently I'm not the only person who feels this way (though I don't go as far as the link does to declare it "disproved" based on this redundancy).

I marked it yellow [completed] because #53 doesn't state "Read ALL of the book of Mormon." I wanted to know that I at least took an effort to pick up an unfamiliar text and experienced it personally (rather than relying on a Christian leader to summarize and dispel it for me).

I'm not going to reflect much on #21.  Of all the items on my list, it's the one that people take an interest in. In response to WHY I would attempt such a thing, just know that my "month without" items are for the purpose of building focus. I go on fasts from certain luxuries or pleasures to know that they don't have control over me. It wasn't a stunt to be shocking; I only made it public because I feel very close to my readers, and I want to be an open book to them. But as for #21, many of the pages of the book have been ripped out (There's no reason to share it with you). I will say this: I found myself desiring to do more to help my wife around the house as a result. Boy, am I glad that's over. 

So next up is June: No Facebook.

I actually did this two years ago, so I have some practice at it. However, two years ago I only had 150 friends. Now I have close to 600. There's a lot more going on in my news feed. But that's not the hard part. The real problem is, I want to maintain a solid level of marketing interactivity with my bridal client friends. I like to tag them in videos that get posted on Facebook, so their friends can see our work. If I don't log in to Facebook, I can't tag them.

So I need a strategy to keep presence on Facebook without actually spending any time on the page. Here's what I've got so far:

1. Link Twitter account to Facebook and use it for status updates.
2. Set up email notifications for every type of communication I receive.
3. Connect RSS feed readers to my blogs to publish content on my wall, and on the Matrimoments Page Wall.
4. Either establish a connection from my cell phone to the Matrimoments Page, or set up a Twitter account for Matrimoments.
5. Allow Leslie and Kari (the other two admins) to post, reply, and tag whenever possible.

With the exception of #4, these steps are already in place. I unfortunately have slipped away in the techno-communication realm, and have no clue as to the marvels of intertwined connectivity that exist out there. So if anyone can suggest an ultimate solution that would allow me to post and communicate globally and effortlessly, please share it with me.

(Note: Telling me that Facebook IS the solution will not be taken as ironic humor. I will just punch you. This list is important to me, and I want to go the whole month without logging on to that dreaded page.)

[Blogger experienced a hiccup last week that wiped out several published blogs. Mine was one of them.]


There's a house on our block that has a cat living in it. By itself, that statement means very little, but adding one more sentence completely rips the earth wide open:
The cat lives alone in the house.
And how about I dial things up another notch?
The cat owns the house.

When the woman who owned the house died, she left all her possessions to her cat, who now occupies the house as a Pet Trust. Someone comes to the house regularly to feed the animal, clean up after it, and mows the yard.
So I'll cut to the chase: My good-natured, humanitarian side thinks it's terrible that there are homeless people suffering in this world while a creature that licks itself has two bathrooms. And my devious con-man side (he usually posts on Thursdays, but he has been running a little ahead of schedule lately) wants to orchestrate a scheme to acquire the property through legal loopholes.

Here's the plan:
1. Make friends with the human caretaker.
2. Acquire a cat of my own.
3. Convince the caretaker to let my cat play with the Cat of the House.
4. Repeat the process long enough for the caretaker to be comfortable with me, and for the cats to become friends.
5. Get video of the cats playing on the property together.
6. While on video, get the caretaker to agree that the cat homeowner has "never been so alive."
7. Once the statement has been recorded, withdraw my cat and give the cat homeowner a few weeks to settle back in to loneliness.
8. Take the neighbor cat to court, requesting that the property be transferred to me.
9. In court, prove ownership of my cat.
10. Site the Pet Trust arrangement which states that the property will belong to the cat as long as it "is alive. "
11. Show the video of the caretaker making the statement.
12. Site precedents in which a state of "living" has been decided to include more than having positive vital signs.
13. Argue that the cat homeowner is only truly "alive" while with my cat.
14. Argue that the property should, as a result, be transferred to my name- as I am more fit to manage the property than either cat.
15. Tear down the house and build a Chipotle.

That's as far as I've thought it through.
Possible setbacks:
1)The cat may be antisocial.
2)The house may not be zoned for a Chipotle.
3)I'm allergic to cats.
4)This blog would be admissible in court.

The last full week in May has always made a big impression on me. I always think about Memorial Day and my connection to it - as I would wake up early to help my grandpa place flags on graves. I'd think about graduations- knowing that I, or someone I'm close to, will be moving on to something bigger in their life. Then after reminiscing and recollecting, I think about something that most people don't invest any thought in: The National Spelling Bee. I love the stress of it. It reminds me of my senior year of high school, when I tried to balance my time between being King Oberon (A Midsummer Night's Dream) in the play, waxing creativity on a world finalist Odyssey of the Mind team, and memorizing the book of Romans- to remain in the top position of the local Bible Bowl league. My ulcers had ulcers, and I loved it.

I wish every year of my life were like my senior year of high school.

By the way, that was 15 years ago this year.

So I'm taking the time to look back on the last fifteen late Mays of my life. Each one has left a distinct memory, though some more than others. and at the time, most of these seemed life-changing.  It's nice to look back and see how plans change over time, isn't it?

1996. Graduation. It flew by. I missed the opening prayer because someone counted the number of needed seats wrong, and I was asked to run out and get more from a classroom. I never let that go. It shouldn't have been my job, and I immediately felt disconnected from my peers. I may as well have been the subject of a vivisepulture.

1997. UDF. My first job. I entered the workforce with the same drive that I have today: to do something for my job that is beyond what is expected of my job. I had just gotten heavily involved in web design, and I seriously considered buying a domain for the company (because they didn't have a website yet). Would you believe UDF.com was available? And would you believe I passed on the idea? I missed out on their domain euonym.


1998. Diet Dog. Our fun year. I enjoyed every show we did. I loved how we assembled a musical idea together. It was never about just sounding pop. We tried to express our art like a chiaroscurist; embracing the dynamics, as much as the notes. We may not have been incredible, but I miss it.

1999. Choosing KCC. I left my job and my apartment to return to college. I wanted to experience campus life, and I wanted to take in some good teaching without the logorrhea of passionless professors.

2000.  Children's Ministry. I found myself becoming involved with Ripley Church of Christ. I had never considered working with youth ministry until the previous year. Not surprisingly, it became all I thought about for nearly a decade following. Some guys get in to youth ministry for the right reasons, and end up falling in to political traps that kill their intensity. I never wanted anything I did in ministry to be a demarche.  Perhaps that's why I never quite fit.

2001. No More Long Distance Girlfriends. After half a dozen internet relationships, I finally became comfortable enough socially to interact with females in the same regional vicinity. When my first Cincinnati girlfriend ended things, I knew I wouldn't find myself resorting back to chatrooms for happiness. I would not need the internet to be my succedaneum. 


2002. Commitment Confusion. The most important woman in my present life was really ripping me up internally in 2002. Leslie and I were very familiar with each other at this point, and there was certainly attraction there. I, unfortunately, was completely perplexed by the situation. I had a very hard time accepting that I could be with a person that was so down to earth. I made things miserable for her, as I tried to deal with the idea that I didn't need a crazy eccentric gal to be my companion. She stuck around through the rough spots. Perhaps it was prospicience on her part?


2003. Business Development. I had been making videos for 2 years at this point, but I had never taken it seriously. As the wedding season began in 2003, I decided that I wasn't going to be pococurante  about it any longer. I wanted to succeed. I started making postcards and other advertising material. Probably the best move I've made.


2004. Stepping Out at Crazy Times. Leslie was pregnant, and I quit my job. That's how I roll. If I know something needs to end (or begin), I like to do it at a time that culture would consider "inopportune." It's a way of forcing action to happen, and a good exercise in faith. We left our home later that year to become strangers in a new ministry. I wouldn't change any of it, but in retrospect, I believe that the fact that we weren't autochthonous was what contributed most to the separation that slowly crept in to this position.


2005. Being Family. This was our first full year being parents, and having a youth group. We had kids around us in everything that we did. Quite frankly, it was wonderful. We were farther away from our relatives, but we worked extra hard to keep close with them. So we had a family near us, and a family in the distance. Sometimes our church family was the lead-in to the excitement of our real family, and sometimes our parents and siblings were appoggiatura to our Sabina symphony. Either way, it was musical.


2006. Students and Teachers. I really tried to tap in to a conversational relationship with the kids in the church. I didn't ever want to look at ministry as a dictatorship. I wanted to grow with the kids. I learned from them as they did from me. I'll never forget trying to pronounce "Ursprache" with the guidance (and subtle mockery) of our German exchange student.


2007. Church Marketing. Those two words together are what have ruined me forever as "church staff." Once you've witnessed congregational leaders discussing how much money to spend to get people in the doors, it crushes your spirit. I remember the exact moment that this happened for me, because until then, I had never seen "The Church" as a collective term. I instantly became aware of how disgustingly blind we are- thinking that our purpose is to fill a building. The world is hemorrhaging, and no building or program will ever be the serrefine. The Church is People. People love. Programs don't.


2008.  The Last Great Summer. Despite my feelings for situations, the Summer of '08 was terrific. Everything seemed to fall in to place, and I saw a lot of growth from a lot of people that year. It was like the unspoken guerdon we needed before things began to fall apart.


2009. Trusting. It was about this time that we told everyone we were leaving. The plan: pursue everything genuine. No Laodicean activity.


2010. Finding Home Again. There is no greater feeling than to see things make sense in a larger scale. We knew we were going to be making a bold move in the following weeks, but I don't think we could've ever realized how empowering it would be. When we stepped into a new town and home without having a clue where all of our funding was coming from, no stromuhr could measure the rushing in my veins. We did exactly what we needed to do at exactly the right time.

What does late May of 2011 look like? Well, as crazy as it sounds, we're probably moving again. Not because we need to, but things continue to fall together in such a way that it seems like destiny. We like to pay attention to things like that.

---Word Guide---
The fifteen words in color are the last fifteen winning words of the National Spelling Bee. Here are the definitions:


vivisepulture = an act or instance of burying someone alive.
euonym = an appropriate name for a person, place, or thing
chiaroscurist = The technique of using light and shade in pictorial representation.
logorrhea = excessive and often incoherent talkativeness or wordiness
demarche =  a diplomatic or political initiative or maneuver
succedaneum = something that is used as a substitute, esp any medical drug or agent that may be taken or prescribed in place of another
prospicience = The act of looking forward
pococurante = indifferent, nonchalant
autochthonous = indigenous, native
appoggiatura = a note of embellishment preceding another note and taking a portion of its time
Ursprache = a reconstructed, hypothetical parent language, as Proto-Germanic
serrefine = A small spring forceps used for approximating the edges of a wound, or for temporarily closing an artery
guerdon = A reward or recompense
Laodicean = Lukewarm or halfhearted, esp. with respect to religion or politics
stromuhr = a rheometer designed to measure the amount and speed of blood flow through an artery

I honestly don't believe that the rapture is as predictable as Harold Camping has made it out to be. First of all, he arrived at his May 21st date by multiplying three "holy" numbers together (not sure what makes an integer sacred, but that's what he did) and assuming that total to be an important number of days to add to a random date in history that he believes was the date of the crucifixion.
And more importantly, he's advertising his prediction. That defeats the concept of a "rapture." That makes it a travel itinerary at best.

I'm totally anticipating being around on earth in 36 hours, and I've heard a lot of people scoff at Mr. Campings notions.

But with that being said...

Why should I ignore it? If the world is currently incredibly interested in the Second Coming, why should any true believer let that slip by because of disbelief in a prediction? It's been the top search in Google for two days, and most of the response I've seen from my brothers and sisters has been to focus on discrediting the man- and letting it go.

I'm not down with that.

Regardless of whether I think Harold is a nut, I should be ready to share with the world why I will be ready. (1 Peter 3:15).

So, my friends, if tonight is our last night on this planet, here's what I'd like to share with you:

Everything in the universe is moving.
Physics tells us that everything, therefore, was put into motion.
Regardless of how you arrive at a source, you accept something as having a metaphysical power- either a       creator put it into motion, or you give the universe science-defying attributes.
I believe that everything in the universe is moving within a very intricate design. I, therefore accept that everything was created with a purpose by a creator.
I call that creator, "God."
Many people around the world give credit to this creator, but give him different titles. That doesn't make the creator any different to them. We still have arrived at the same source- even if we have a different name for Him.
People around the world have also given qualities and identities to God, which reflect their culture and history.   They have built faith structures around embracing this Creator as a great source of power. The mysteries of that power, are where the major differences appear in different "religions." One culture will suggest that the Creator must be made up of thousands of persons, because they are accustomed to seeing identity in everything. Another culture will suggest that the Creator must be only one singular being, because they are comfortable with a royal leadership or figurehead. Another culture sees God as egalitarian; fair and balanced- because they live in a democratic society. All of them are doing the same thing: they are trying to make sense of the mystery of their Creator.
I believe that those differences should be put aside. I don't believe we should reject another group because their culture draws out a different interpretation of God.
I believe, that if we look beyond our culture, we can see the underlying aspect that ties all of humanity to their Creator. That aspect is love.
If we were created for a reason, we were created intentionally. Intention comes from desire. Our creator desired us, the planets, the jellyfish, the oranges, the camel's humps, the tree bark- all of it. A creator makes something out of desire to let something inside of him out. A painter puts strokes on a canvas to express his emotion. A musician strings notes together to share his mood. A parent brings a child into the world to share love with it. We were made so that the Creator could express love- in us and from us. We understand love because we were meant to understand it. Our brains can release the chemicals that make us feel good about love, but we can't understand how love works unless it is revealed to us in our lives. We were designed with a purpose to love each other.
From there, it should be relatively simple.
But, of course, we muddle it up.
Every religion makes reference to humans who help to connect our creator to humanity; to try to makes sense of the mysteries. Some are given more significance than others, but all are valued highly within their religion. These are the prophets. They are the people who speak to God- and in some cases, are Godlike themselves.
I would speculate that more battles have been fought in the world because of the words of prophets than for any other reason. We argue over their existence, their nature, their messages, or their credibility. We reject the messages of the prophets of other cultures, and defend our own- even if at the core, they are similar messages. We fight over who is right, because we believe that the cultural twists we have added to the mystery of our creator have actually become the truth itself.
I grew up in a family that acknowledged a man named Jesus as a Godlike messenger for the creator. He is described as being the son of God, and therefore of the same power and being. He brought messages of love to a culture that had spent centuries trying to draw closer to God by making sacrifices.
Jesus allowed himself to be killed so that this culture would no longer need to make these sacrifices to be close to God. They could now be close to Him through the final sacrifice of Jesus for the world.
Those who acknowledge this sacrifice recognize it as their means of connection to the creator.
I am one of those people.
Those who study and attempt to follow the teachings of Jesus are called Christians. Over the years, culture has given that phrase plenty of connotations, but the plain truth is that we are all students of a teacher. We subscribe to the philosophies of someone or some thing. I am quite aware that there are similar messages (at least in some form- maybe not in entirety) in other teachings, but I love the counter-cultural thought process that Jesus presents: "If someone wants to sue you to take your tunic, give him your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to anyone who asks, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you ." (That's from Matthew 5. I don't know what verse numbers- I just memorized the whole chapter). That's the philosophy that I hold on to. I call it, "Surprise Witness" (It's the title of the book I intend to write- if the rapture doesn't happen tonight).
Even if other prophets from other cultures have spoken messages of love, Jesus is the only one who teaches the Surprise Witness.
I do my best to follow this teaching, and I strive to teach it to others. I honestly don't give a crap about any arguments of the existence or nature of Jesus. Even if I didn't believe him to be deity in the flesh (which I choose to do), I could still adhere to his teaching. It's the closest consistent teaching I have found that directs its students to love each other in a way that the world can't fully understand- because it supercedes any and all cultures.
I believe in loving beyond culture. I tried to summarize this entire thing into my Religious Views entry on my Facebook profile. The best I can come up with is: "Follower of Jesus: People should connect to each other and express genuine love. We were taught it, and created for it.


Like I said, I don't think things are gonna go up in smoke tomorrow. It's possible, sure- but either way, it doesn't matter. I needed to share this with you. my readers- my friends. And if we're given tomorrow, perhaps I'll share more.

I didn't eat any sugar. 
I went all of April without consuming any sweets.
A small amount of sugar still made it into my diet, because I didn't completely eliminate everything- but I tried hard to be aware. I didn't eat anything obviously sweet, and I tried to eat only whole grain carbs.
After 15 days, I had lost 11 pounds- just from the lack of sugar. I wasn't exercising at all. In the last 15 days, I gained a couple of pounds back. I suppose I allowed more liberties in the last half of the month.
I also allowed myself one controlled exception: Whole Grain Fig Newtons. If my family was indulging in cookies or cake, and I was really craving something, I would eat 2 Newtons. That got me through (and darnit, I love 'em now).
Four old pairs of pants fit again.
My belt buckles 2 notches tighter.
I survived Easter without a single bite of chocolate (not that that was a huge deal anyway- the real torture was saying no to pecan pie).
In the end, I wasn't craving many specific things. I thought I'd be really dying to eat a thousand different foods, but most of the sweet things I enjoy are just as much about memories and textures as they are about taste- like Hostess Ding Dongs. So it seems I may have beaten sugar. Much like ketchup, I know I don't need as much sugar as I have taken in over the years. Sure, I'll have a coke and a slice of pie occasionally, but I actually enjoy whole grain bread, I can tolerate unsweet tea & coffee, and those Fig Newtons are delightful.
I need to do this for about 3 more months before I'll be willing to post an "after" picture.

My Facebook friends list has no homeless people in it. At least not any who spend every day on the street. I don't have any friends who list their job status as "sign holder on sidewalk." Not that I'm against them; I just haven't befriended one yet who had an ISP. Usually they use their extra cash for food, not internet access. The really unfortunate part is that I may never know if one of my less interactive friends becomes homeless- thanks to Facebook.

By default, your Facebook account is set up to only show you updates from the friends you interact with the most. So if you're wondering why you seem to keep seeing updates from the same 20 people out of your list of 300, that's why. The other 280 people may be posting every day, but an algorithm has determined that you aren't interested in their content because you haven't done enough to communicate with them.

It's easy to change this setting, but it stinks that it's the default. Most people don't even realize that this is happening. And sadly, most people rely on their news feed to keep them in the loop. As a result, they become a part of a different loop: a micro-social loop. You see updates from a handful of friends, so you comment to those friends, they reciprocate, and you've solidified your existence as "interactive" with them in the algorithm world.

How is that a "network?" If you're not truly sharing with the whole community, you're only building cliques. It's self-fulfilling; your "friendship" is built on the fact that you're friends. Nothing new can be introduced.

One of the homeless people I see on my bus route is a man in his 50's with a black and green duffel bag. He's not in a location that I can easily talk to him, but we are familiar with each other's existence. He stays in one spot in Walnut Hills. I've never seen him standing in another place... That is, until last week when I passed him on a sidewalk in Reading. I was shuttling a track team to a meet. I had three hours to kill, so I went for a walk. Two blocks down, I spotted him. I questioned if it was him at first, but then I saw the bag. I had about 30 seconds to figure out something to say before I would be right next to him. I was expecting him to ask me for money, and I was determining the best way to counter offer with lunch (#32 on my list- though I would want to even if it weren't). Much to my chagrin, he made a comment about the weather.

He didn't ask me for money. 

I was shocked. Why wouldn't a man who spends all day on a street corner ask someone on the sidewalk for spare change? In the moments that followed, I couldn't construct a sentence that would transform his general passing comment into something about food. As I passed him tongue-tied, I noticed that he wasn't standing in a random location- he was at a bus stop. I immediately canceled my plans to take him to lunch because I instantly felt as though I was interrupting his agenda. I politely responded that the wind was a little gusty, and I continued down the street. I thought I could get some food to go and offer it to him instead, but his bus arrived before I could return.

The next day on my route, I noticed that the location where he stands is right next to a bus stop. It occurred to me that when I saw him, he was most likely waiting on a bus to take him to his begging spot.  I didn't want to intrude on his plans, and he was focused on getting to his destination to ask people for something that I was willing to give. Neither one of us wanted to expand our networks. We perpetuated our loops.

Invitation is the key. We invite others into our circles. We invite ourselves to be more open to the outside. That's how we form a network. How funny is it that the event that caused me to realize this was a competition where people run around in a big circle? Even better: it was the Reading Invitational. 

(Technical Note: If you want to broaden your Facebook feed, click on the little arrow next to "Most Recent" at the top of your news feed, and then click on "Edit Options.")