How NOT to write a Devotional Blog post, in 10 easy steps

Step 1: Set your clock for a bit earlier than usual, so that you can write your first draft before the two-year-old wakes up.  Then hit snooze until the German Shepherd sticks his cold nose in your face and wills you to let-him-out-for-pete’s-sake-what’s-wrong-with-you.

Step 2: Brew a large cup of coffee and decide to check your email while the coffee is brewing. 30 minutes later …when you’ve answered three emails, deleted 12 others, caught up on Facebook (including taking your turn in Words with Friends) and checked the weather… your coffee is cold, and the toddler is stirring.

One of my favorites: “Let’s Make a Date” on Whose Line Is It Anyway? (VIDEO)

I needed a chuckle, and I can almost always count on these guys to give me more than just one.

How they managed to do this every week, off the cuff, is beyond me…but they were great at it.

Enjoy:

NEW DISCOVERY: It appears that one DOES, in fact, “Simply walk in…”

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(*Image credit to STIX Blog Backup)

Food Freaks

One of the very first posts we ever did here concerned folks who take their appreciation for cuisine to a level to which I simply can’t relate.

I mention it because I recently was privy to a conversation where two such people were complaining to each other about the lack of locally available Arame (it goes on a salad, I guess?) and then began trading superlatives over the palatability of something called Bottarga (no clue…). When one of them began to discuss how Haggis was literally wrecking their marriage, I left the room.

Hey, I’m a simple guy with simple tastes. If food does it for you, knock yourself out. It’s only when it starts to ruin other people’s lives that I have to draw the line.

Which is what made me think of this post from last April. And so, here it is:

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Let’s get it straight who I’m talking about first. Not “foodies”: Food FREAKS. Cause I’m definitely not referring to your normal, everyday person who just likes food, or really good food, …or even kinda weird food (e.g. my Bottarga aficionados above).

I couldn’t care less if somebody DVR’s the Food Network during the day, or if their kitchen looks like it’s ready to handle tonight’s dinner crowd at the Four Seasons.

NOT my kitchen (…just in case you were wonderin’...)

Admittedly, it’s been awhile: ‘The Piano Guys’

Sometimes you just get so busy, so focused, …that you lose sight of the important, aware only of what’s necessary.

Ever feel that way? Yeah, I figured as much.

So rather than touch on current events today, or anything which has so occupied our thoughts for the past several months (campaign, election, POST-election, holidays, the “Fiscal Cliff!”, etc), I’m going to….not.

Just for today, I’m going to put my numerous news-feeds down, and turn my music UP.

By request, we’re bringing back an old blog favorite: The Piano Guys. Included is their latest (which guest stars Lindsey Stirling), plus a 2nd piece which was released back in November 2012.

Both are excellent, and represent TPG’s two highly distinct video styles. The ‘Mission Impossible’ clip is fun, campy and visually entertaining right to the end. In contrast, ‘LOTR’ can be enjoyed just as much with your eyes open or closed:

Christmas Eve Funnies

In the spirit of giving, here are a handful of clean Christmas comics to enjoy and share with YOUR friends!   Relax and remember:  if you haven’t finished everything on your Christmas agenda by now, it’s too late anyway!  

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Here are two cartoonists who understand the post-modern dilemma of Santa Claus:

Since we only have a few more shopping days until Christmas….

…I thought it’d be appropriate to re-post this. 

Everyone keeps saying that we buy more and more online, and that the bricks-and-mortar stores are suffering. Well, someone neglected to tell that to the people in my city. I live near a large shopping district and a mall, and the only way to get more folks in here on the weekends is if we airdropped them in like relief packages. 

So, whether you’re venturing out to just purchase one present or all of them, you should probably read this first. It’s some good information to have freshly tucked away, before you and your MasterCard leave the house. The merchants have been waiting all year to see you, …and they’re intent on having you spend some cash during your stay. 

Here’s hoping you enjoy the ‘hustle-and-bustle’ of the stores (that sounds more festive than ‘crazed mobs‘, don’t you think?), and be sure to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!

–JTR

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BEFORE YOU GO SHOPPING TODAY….

(***Originally posted 6/23/2012)

….you may wish to check out Kathryn Blaze Carlson’s excellent article in the National Post from earlier this month. It touches on something that we all know in our hearts, but we usually feel we’re smart enough to avoid: Marketing.

The marketers are everywhere: Google, the supermarket, where we buy gas…….we can’t escape ‘em. To deal with being constantly saturated by marketing, we simply believe we’re so savvy that we can see through all of the marketer’s ploys.

Yeah, right. Guess again.

From Canada’s National Post:

STAR WARS: No matter how many times you’ve seen it, did you ever notice THESE?

It’s a rainy weekend here, and it looks like we’ll be having a movie-marathon once all of the chores are done. However, since my boys are 11 & 12, there is more than a decent chance that one of the movies in the mix could be Star Wars.

**sigh**

Since I may be watching Luke, Han, and the gang whoop it up against the Empire for possibly the 400th time, …I thought I’d share the fun with y’all.

Have a great day, folks.

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I needed this: the “Parent Rap” (VIDEO)

Came into the office today, and work is 3 feet high. Both of my sons have grown out of most of their cloths, even though I swear we just bought them new stuff a day or two ago. And to top it all off…..my youngest needs braces.

I am, of course, thrilled.

Just another day for us parents, right? Well, with that in mind, thought I’d share the best video I’ve seen for a very long while.

***And, for the record, if ALL hip-hop was this entertaining, I’d listen to it waaaay more often.

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(Thanks to our friend Art, over at The Peanut Gallery for finding this...)

2-for-1 special: POLITICS and MUSIC

Everyone loves a deal, right? And one of the BEST deals is getting twice as much of something as you expected, …right? Heck, we see versions of the 2-for-1 deal everywhere:

• buy 1, get 1 free
• tools that do TWO tasks, rather than just one
• double cheeseburgers
• 2 heads being better than just one
• tandem bicycles
• …and the list goes on…

So, we’re offering a very special 2-for-1 deal today:

1. Something politically informative, with a new Bill Whittle video, and
2. Something musically entertaining, with the Piano Guys.

What can I say? I’m a giver.

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It’s Laugh-with-a-graph Day

We’ve been hitting politics all week, and I’m calling “time-out” for the day. There’ll be time for politics tomorrow.

Instead, we thought you’d enjoy some of these graphs that we found on the humor site, GraphJam.com (which now appears to have been absorbed into another website?).

Have a great one, gang.

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Time to Laugh

It’s the weekend, and we’re just tryin’ to relax.

…Emphasis on “try“, of course…

So today we have two routines from one of my favorites, Bob Newhart. I don’t recall either of these, so we must not have owned this particular album as kids. Too bad: they made my boys laugh, so it’s a good bet we’d have liked them at that age, too.

Have a great day, gang,

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