Christmas time is my favorite time. I love the sights and sounds of the season. I love the get togethers, the family and friends times. Its fantastic. My wife and I are celebrating our first Christmas in Cuyahoga Falls. It was just last March that we moved back to Ohio from Michigan. It had been 8 years since i lived in Ohio and about 6 for her. We are both really happy to be back, its been a real blessing so far, on many levels. This time of year, and especially today, being Christmas day, its hard to rant, its hard to air a grievance if you will.
I will say that there are certain aspects of the holiday season that drive me nuts. The traffic at shopping areas, insane. Last Friday I had an eye appointment at Sam's Club, (sometimes you need to pick up a bulk amount of eye appointments), I was making my way over there and ended up stuck in traffic for nearly an hour! And it was for no other reason then people are morons. Selfish, arrogant, inconsiderate morons. The whole reason there was traffic was because to many people did not want to be stuck at a light, so they tried to sneak in, and then block traffic. I was at my top level of annoyance and frustration. But, I made it to my eye appointment. And was able to get past the fact that at Christmas time, people become bad drivers.
Sorry, for the rant, but come on, thats why you read this stuff. Merry Christmas to you. I did want to point out that I have added some advertisements, not because I am looking to make money, more because the stuff I am advertising is right up my alley. Pop culture stuff, entertainment and media, the good stuff!
--aaron
Monday, December 25, 2006
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
it can't all be fun and games...
So when I started this outlet, it was not intended to just be a comical release of frustration. I also intend to use it as a way for me to express myself on more serious, thought provoking issues. I enjoy conversation, thought provoking conversation at least. I enjoy the give and take of it, which is what I hope these type of posts can become. The comedic ones are more snap reaction rants. I still like to hear from readers no matter what the tone. On to my thoughts...
I would say, amongst most people that I interact with, that I am considered a liberal conservative. I don't often agree with some of the official stances of the church. I think a lot of this comes from my rather strong feeling that we are so screwed up. By we, I am talking about Christians. I spent a few years in an environment that had a heavy focus on an interpretation of the Bible that focused on, in my opinion, legalities. How we should or shouldn't organize. The method of salvation, the idea and discussion regarding baptism, roles of individuals in the church. I have been parts of discussions since moving on from that environment where some of the same topics are discussed. I will say that I have no problem with discussing the topics. I see the value in the discussion. I think that too many times we do not have a clear understanding of what we really believe because we do not take the time to verbalize it. We do not put the thought into the expression. We think we know what we believe, but we have a complete inability to share those beliefs because they are not organized into a stance. When its not organized into a stance, we can not properly share, we can not discuss, because we don't know what we believe.
Anyway, as I was saying, I think these topics have a place. My problem comes in with the fact that to many times we are Christians spend so much time on this stuff. "Should I be dunked or sprinkled, and how old do I need to be?" "I have already been baptized, I don't need to do that again." "I am not going to listen to a woman preacher, its just not Biblical!" "Gay marriage has no place in this country..." We spend so much time on this stuff and bypass, or worse forget outright, that the whole point in these beliefs that we have, the whole point in this one we claim to follow is love. We forget that more important then proving that I'm right and you are wrong, more important that winning, is loving. "They will know we are Christians by our love..." Not by our well organized debate. Not by our pamphlets, or our flyers or our sign out front with the not so witty word play. Its how we interact with each other, its how we love one another.
So stop telling me how I'm wrong, and start sharing with me love. And I will try to take my own advice. Christianity is not a political party, I have opinions based on what the Bible teaches me, what I understand to be the way Jesus handled things and instructed me to handle things.
--aaron
I would say, amongst most people that I interact with, that I am considered a liberal conservative. I don't often agree with some of the official stances of the church. I think a lot of this comes from my rather strong feeling that we are so screwed up. By we, I am talking about Christians. I spent a few years in an environment that had a heavy focus on an interpretation of the Bible that focused on, in my opinion, legalities. How we should or shouldn't organize. The method of salvation, the idea and discussion regarding baptism, roles of individuals in the church. I have been parts of discussions since moving on from that environment where some of the same topics are discussed. I will say that I have no problem with discussing the topics. I see the value in the discussion. I think that too many times we do not have a clear understanding of what we really believe because we do not take the time to verbalize it. We do not put the thought into the expression. We think we know what we believe, but we have a complete inability to share those beliefs because they are not organized into a stance. When its not organized into a stance, we can not properly share, we can not discuss, because we don't know what we believe.
Anyway, as I was saying, I think these topics have a place. My problem comes in with the fact that to many times we are Christians spend so much time on this stuff. "Should I be dunked or sprinkled, and how old do I need to be?" "I have already been baptized, I don't need to do that again." "I am not going to listen to a woman preacher, its just not Biblical!" "Gay marriage has no place in this country..." We spend so much time on this stuff and bypass, or worse forget outright, that the whole point in these beliefs that we have, the whole point in this one we claim to follow is love. We forget that more important then proving that I'm right and you are wrong, more important that winning, is loving. "They will know we are Christians by our love..." Not by our well organized debate. Not by our pamphlets, or our flyers or our sign out front with the not so witty word play. Its how we interact with each other, its how we love one another.
So stop telling me how I'm wrong, and start sharing with me love. And I will try to take my own advice. Christianity is not a political party, I have opinions based on what the Bible teaches me, what I understand to be the way Jesus handled things and instructed me to handle things.
--aaron
Monday, December 11, 2006
is it really this bad?
I recently went to Taco Bell on Graham Rd. and Hudson in Stow, OH. I have been to this Taco Bell on a few other occasions. I don't frequent Taco Bell, but every now and again I have a hankering for super cheap, crappy food. And what better place then Taco Bell? Anyway, as with most restaurants, Taco Bell now accepts plastic payments, credit and debit cards are as good as cash. Actually, you would think they would be better then cash. I mean its harder to steal then cash, you would think that these fast food places would wholly embrace the plastic lifestyle. But this Taco Bell, and I am unsure if this is a company wide practice, I haven't really researched it, anyway, this Taco Bell accepts debit card. So, since I had no cash on me, it was convenient. I place my order, drive around to the window and am quoted the price again. Then I pay my bill, only to see I am actually charged more then I was quoted. There was a "convenience" fee to use my debit card. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? You couldn't foot this bill for me Taco Bell? You couldn't cover this one? I mean, you are cutting corners on everything else, buying the E. Coli onions that are cheaper. Screwing over farm workers on tomatoes. Not using real beef, or even animal is my guess. You cheap, shifty, shady jerks had to pass on the minimal cost of using a debit card to the customer. That's fine, I have had a change of heart as well, the double cheese burger from the McDonald's dollar menu is a nice super cheap crappy food replacement. Nickle and diming people is going to get you just that, nickles and dimes. McDonald's now has my dollar.
--aaron
--aaron
Saturday, December 2, 2006
'Tis the season... enough already
Well, its that time of year, Christmas, or The Holidays for my non-Christian readers. I love Christmas, I love everything about it, I always have. I love the family gettogethers, I love the snow, I love giving (and lets be honest, receiving) gifts. I love the meaning, the ultimate purpose of the holiday. I am fully aware that the likeliness of Jesus being born on December 25th is zero to none, I still like the idea of celebrating the most important birth in history. I think its absurd for some Christians and denominations to make a fuss about it not being the right day. The fact is we don't have a copy of Mary's Day Planner with all her friends and families birthdays in it. So get over yourselves. I used to be attend a school affiliated with a certain denomination that, in my opinion, spent more time on trying to be right, and less time living out the point. But that's another post for another day.
Here is the one thing about Christmas that drives me insane. The decorations. I think Christmas decorations can be beautiful, classy, and nice. But more times that not anymore we got houses that put up so many flashing lights it looks like either a Vegas casino, a European disco, or a strip club. Nothing says Christmas like 3000 mini strobe lights thrown about a property. I see homes with those icicle lights; which, when done simply the standard white icicle lights, looks good; I see icicle lights in a multitude of colors and half of them are flashing and half are not. Take some pride, and at least make them all do the same thing. I don't care for color lights for the most part, in certain instances I think they can look good. But with icicle lights, the idea is that they look like icicles, ice is clear, not multicolored flashing rainbows. The other decorating thing that drives me nuts is the multitude of inflatables that have taken over the Christmas landscape. Remember when a giant inflatable was unique and usually meant a car dealership was having a giant sale, I mean, nothing says savings like a huge blow-up gorilla. Now these Christmas inflatables are littering the yards of people everywhere. The not so gentle hum of fans has become the new soundtrack to the holiday season. Which, I guess when I think about it, the hum is a better soundtrack then the dog barking Christmas carols or some wretched parody.
--aaron
Here is the one thing about Christmas that drives me insane. The decorations. I think Christmas decorations can be beautiful, classy, and nice. But more times that not anymore we got houses that put up so many flashing lights it looks like either a Vegas casino, a European disco, or a strip club. Nothing says Christmas like 3000 mini strobe lights thrown about a property. I see homes with those icicle lights; which, when done simply the standard white icicle lights, looks good; I see icicle lights in a multitude of colors and half of them are flashing and half are not. Take some pride, and at least make them all do the same thing. I don't care for color lights for the most part, in certain instances I think they can look good. But with icicle lights, the idea is that they look like icicles, ice is clear, not multicolored flashing rainbows. The other decorating thing that drives me nuts is the multitude of inflatables that have taken over the Christmas landscape. Remember when a giant inflatable was unique and usually meant a car dealership was having a giant sale, I mean, nothing says savings like a huge blow-up gorilla. Now these Christmas inflatables are littering the yards of people everywhere. The not so gentle hum of fans has become the new soundtrack to the holiday season. Which, I guess when I think about it, the hum is a better soundtrack then the dog barking Christmas carols or some wretched parody.
--aaron
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