seriously?

what type of thoughts does this pic elicit? im sure the responses vary from some guy dwarfing some girl (for those not in the know) to 'a cool pic, but kinda odd looking.' im somewhere in the middle in that lebron does dwarf gisele and the pic is pretty cool, but she looks awkward in the pic for some reason. i think its because she looks somewhat 'too computer generated', but i digress. 

cyberspace is now inundated with opinions on the matter, apparently, for some, this photo elicits thoughts of a primate's and barbies rather than top models and athletes. all of which i find rather ironic and amusing due to the fact that the bottom of the damn magazine states this! as for his expression, i mean, you ever been to a game, seen one on tv, or even glanced at a basketball card? im gonna go out on a limb here and say that the photographer was trying to capture the emotion of him in his element and likewise, portray her in her own. that would explain him wearing athletic gear and basketball shoes as opposed to a suit and wing-tips or some other GQ worthy gear. this would also add fodder to the discussion as for her adornment of a silky sexy dress, big smile, and flowing yet scrambled hair. i think i may be on to something here. again just spit-balling, but this also answers why a basketball would be included on, of all things, a vogue magazine cover!

anyhow, hopefully my attempt at sarcasm was noted, and as for all those who see this as a racist depiction, you, plainly stated, suck. excuse my candor, but one has to seek extremely hard to come up w/ this type of sordid attitude. a premeditated approach if you will. one would have to almost always see the black/white interaction of male and female as something to bitch about. i mean how would the outlook change if she was a black woman? does he all of a sudden stop looking like a gorilla because the skin color of the model is changed? wow, im reeling right now at the thought of how someone would answer that question. any takers? he either looks like a monkey or he doesn't. her skin color is irrelevant. people saw the pic as an interracial one and then started to come up w/ lame and shallow comments as opposed to seeing the picture and simply not liking it for its artistic value. for me to see it otherwise, the following would HAVE to be included: the empire state building for starters, a hairy lebron, a less attractive female, a banana or two, a couple helicopters circling the area...possibly firing at him, or maybe even jack black.

rant over

hide OR seek

to live up to the name 'random sammy' as handed to me by my bud amy, im switching gears from my two previous 'serious' posts.

whats the topic behind this dramatic gear switching you ask? (drum roll please)...its cleavage!!thats right, cleavage. better yet, my confusion w/ it thus the title of this entry. dont worry i'll explain my, well, randomness...if a womens chest is not to be stared at, then it should be at least hidden. if 'they' are out, one can only assume the women doesnt mind if people look. i mean, if i were to, for some ridiculous reason, wear a half shirt, there are some jeans i own that would show the tops of my boxers. if i wasnt comfortable w/ that, i would simply wear the jeans that dont show my underwear. personally, it sounds silly of me to wear my baggier jeans and be like, 'why are you looking at my underwear ya perv!'

so when they are made visible, what would be the reason for it? fashion? possibly. seeking something? possibly. i guess thats the basis for this post. you (speaking to those whom this shoe fits) cannot expect a guy, or some girls i reckon, to try and decide who is of the 'cleavage is simply fashion' crowd and who is of the 'cleavage is a date getting elixir' crowd.

so ladies, which is it, hide OR seek?...

upon me hitting the 'publish post' button, please disregard this post and consider it pure nonsense!! ; )

hammock chronicles: a post in retrospect

posters note--i actually wrote this, or something similar to it, at least a year ago. ive been going through notebooks of old and decided to post a few of the things i had written with some changes.

its often stated that in this life we will always have to deal with adversity. we seem to move from one bombshell to the next no matter how many books we read or prayers we offer. alas, adversity is indeed inevitable. so no surprise to me, or others as well i suppose, that when i survey my life, that 'glow' ensues when things are going even moderately well. you know when relationships are budding, the kids are growing into pleasant human beings (well except for the boy...kidding) career is progressing well, the dog made his business outside, you either had a good hair day or you lost less than the previous weeks, you returned your movie rental having actually watched the movie and it was on time, or whatever causes that 'glow' from you.  but then like steam from a hot shower, fear consumes the arena. the glow quickly fades and instead of savoring the moment, the onset of pessimism causes me to simply sit and embrace for the next blast. the more i think about it, the shrapnel from the last attack still lingers and aches my body.  i often find myself just waiting for the next one. expecting them. again this is no fault on me really. as i stated, tragedy can strike at any moment. despair preys on peace and anguish lies in wait of joy. while i lay on my hammock, i get a picture of this and why i should hold the pessimism at bay. as i recline and the warm sunlight lazily rests on my cheek, the breeze gently sways my hammock i must know that at some point the sun will be overpowered by storm clouds soaking everything under heaven forcing me to comply and head indoors. BUT, for the time being, it is foolish of me to not enjoy the present. i suffer a great loss to not take pleasure in watching the wind chase and tickle the grass, all the peaceful sounds emanating from outdoors, or seeing the birds that neither sow nor reap yet are fed by my yard. how can i not enjoy now because of what may happen down the road? again, its a safe estimation to say that something contrary to what we desire will happen, but we dont know the when.  in my example, it would seem all the more beneficial to cling to and relish the climate as i now experience it, because im certain the downpour looms. what 'downpour' do you fear?

further and further

i recently had a conversation w/ a friend i hadnt talked to in some time. when i say 'talked to' i should probably preface that by saying we differ on many levels concerning spirituality or religion. so when i say we hadnt talked in a while, its more on this subject, because we had spoken before but not on this level. as you probably already correctly assume, this conversation followed suit of our previous disagreements. although i must say that this convo had a different feel to it. ive had many similar talks before with others and disagreements have obviously come up, but this one left me feeling upset, which was new, and to be quite frank, it helped continue my path to leaving christianity by the wayside. i should also say here that i dont mean leaving God, just christendom. i do see them as separate entities at times and i guess is why i feel like tossing it in the rubbish bin. or maybe the recycle container would be more appropriate and something better would surface. ive only spoke to a few people about the matter and the issue thus far has been solely doctrinal. meaning i disagree with certain aspects one seemingly has to fall in line with to be included in christendom. these issues range from the literalism of the creation story or job,  to name two, to whether people are actually born gay, all the way to if christians are the only ones granted entrance to heaven. also, i should say that complete and utter disagreement hasnt arrived, but it is visible and seems to be quickly approaching. 

anyway, i received an awkward message from him that he heard from 'someone' that leslie and i were into some 'sensual practices'?? whatever the hell that means. so after i racked my brain for the rest of the day trying to figure out just what the hell this unsettling message was about, i finally spoke to him the following day. he then proceeded to tell me that he 'got the story wrong'. how thats possible is beyond me. if someone were to tell me some so called 'disturbing news', as he put it, about a friend,  i assure you i would get the whole story before i went to him/her. at any rate, he told me that it wasnt necessarily about me, but that my wife had some 'soft core pornography' pics on the internet. okay so my wife does model and i guess he disagrees with christians modeling in a sexy manner, but soft core porn?? a bit extreme in my mind, but in his mind, christians should not pose in victoria's secret ads or the lingerie section of jc penny i suppose. his reasoning went something like this, because i wouldnt want leslie walking around the house in lingerie if we had company over, the same goes with posing in a pic. if its wrong in one context, its wrong in all contexts. i cannot even begin to say how limited a view of the world this is. my response was that i also wouldnt answer the door or walk around in swimming trunks with no shirt at my house either but thats because im not at cabo or south beach...im at my house. so as the context changes, so does my attire. its not because its wrong or sinful to wear a two-piece (gasp! a two-piece?? another issue all together i guess), but from what i can tell, the context plays a major factor in whats deemed appropriate. 

well we went back and forth in our 'discussion'. i quoted discussion because situations as these arent true dyads. typically one person isnt really looking to change their views or even gather info on the other viewpoint. being or remaining right in their mind is the true focus. allegiance to the search for truth is an afterthought because they already possess the all encompassing truth. [notice i didnt say who the person is ; )]before we even spoke, there were a million things i thought of. not that i even found the accusation remotely feasible or possible, but that this fellow is ultra conservative. he's a good guy but just maintains a traditional right wing view of things. i mean when someone tells me that spongebob is gay, there's no telling the angles he could approach me with. so as it stands, it was his foundation that had me backtracking to see where i could have went wrong in his sight and the possibilities seemed endless. conservatism in itself is fine i suppose. but as with anything, when one's viewpoint is seen as the 'right' or only one for that matter, and is spoken of so matter of factly, people tend to withdraw from the arrogance. earlier i said when i have discussions about my somewhat retraction from christianism they are soley based on doctrinal differences. another aid in this withdrawal that appears to be emerging is sort of surprising to me. there are numerous things about the church/christians i find awfully disheartening. i would have to say that its not necessarily the people themselves, but the arrogant attitude thats either on display or needs to be unearthed. when opposing views clash in a peppering of questions, and someone says 'they'll pray you', its usually done in a condescending or patronizing manner. what they really mean is that they hope you come around to their point of view, the right one. i am simply a voracious questioner and apparently questioning or doubting is not allowed, among other things, in the faith. although many would and do say questioning is infact permitted. but it seems what your questioning determines whether your inquiries are valid.

i do apologize in advance for the rushed and clumsy presentation in this blog and im sure there several things wrong with my sentence structure. i didnt really have the time to go back through it and correct a million things, plus i wasnt expecting this to be 100 pages long! anyhow, hopefully this makes some sense. to sum the previous 99 pages, i basically feel that christianity, at times, obstructs God more than it points to Him.

is camelot near dallas,texas???

yesterday i was in the mall w/ the kiddos and my son was driving me crazy w/ his great listening skills. it was later in the afternoon and i was about 30 mins past 'drained status', so to snag a breather, i made a pit-stop at the starbucks and ordered a tall soy chai latte. after we got our drinks, we looked for a place to sit and recuperate. there werent many places to choose from and the tables they had were either full or not enough seats to accommodate my brood. so my next option was to sit at a a table and ask one of the other patrons if i could steal a chair they werent using. i found an open table w/ three available chairs, which suited my kids, and ventured into coffeedom for another. all the seemingly available chairs would soon be taken by friends, parents, or both according to those at the tables...until i reached this one fellow. taken back by his awesome hairstyle, i stumbled and stammered the words, 'is your, i mean this table...or seat taken? or are you using it?' he told me it was technically taken but that him and his wife would be leaving as soon as she got there so i could take it. or at least that is what i think he said as i was still in awe of this guy's do! no kidding, all i could see was inigio montoya from princess bride w/ straightened/gel slicked hair! pretty cool, i suppose, if it was for a movie circa 1980 or if he resided near camelot, but hideous if he was at the mall in say dallas drinking coffee at say starbucks! but i must say he did give me his seat w/o telling me to prepare to die!

fast forward to earlier this morning and i swear i see the starbucks hair guy's arch rival or counterpart. not to be out done, he has the same gel slicked hair but his 'style' is somewhat different. i guess you could label this hair-do a 'bob' and im relatively glad i didnt have a convo w/ the guy bc i am almost certain the words 'sire' or 'signet' would have somehow slipped out. i mean come on, this guys locks would have forced me into a bad governing of words!!

a handful of contrition

so its 1:50 am at my home in texas and it's pouring rain outside. the rain is slamming against our windows at a ridiculous rate. i love the rain. i love the smell in the air, the way it gracefully trickles down the window as it empties into a small puddle. i love being immersed in nostalgia from the days of my youth. even the thunder and lightning play match maker as my wife and i inch closer and closer until my neck feels the warmth of hers and hers and her rose petal legs become intertwined with mine to combine our warm energies. nice!

only one thing wrong here. IT is not happening at the moment save the rain, lightning, and thunderstorms! thats right, the best part! its not happening because i cannot sleep (big surprise) and im 'typing this thing out'. (i do not like the term 'blog' and this sinister term was a large part of me steering clear of this site. it sounds like: either an object one leaves in the toilet, or some time type of engineering device, or something having to do w/ pimples.)...wow that was some tangent.

thus comes the self-serving of contrition. i do love to write and i guess i can find another word or just try hard to abstain from saying/typing it... ever! much thanks goes to my main squeeze leslie for pushing and pushing and pushing basically tying me down to start one. also props to my homie amy for informing me of the site, minus the pushing, and including my kids in her blog (shudder) to really motivate me!

so as my initiation into 'writing sometimes random thoughts for cyber space' nears its conclusion, i would just like to add, that i for some strange reason do not like capital letters and i rarely use them. i also should forewarn all readers that i can be very erratic, random, arbitrary, or fill in the adjective of choice. fortunately, sometimes it leads to amusing or imaginative stories real or not. and of course there are times when you will leave saying, 'W...T...F...' and probably laugh at me instead of with me! ; )

*random alert*-- so as i was typing this last paragraph out, i was teetering between using 'warn' or 'forewarn' and obviously chose the latter. i then thought what the hell is the difference? so i went into my office and grabbed a dictionary. here's what it said, 'forewarn v. warn in advance'. uhh really? and as opposed to??? how is that different from 'warn'? anyway i think i just gave this small issue a big shadow and im headed to bed!!

out