a new reason to be clean

So today [Oct 21] The Wall Street Journal posted an article reporting some interesting research findings regarding marital intimacy. Apparently, couples that share housework have happier marriages and more active sex lives. Yes…according to the study, for husbands and wives alike, the more housework you do, the more often you are likely to have sex with your spouse. You can read the entire article yourself at The Juggle [WSJ.com on choices and tradeoffs people make as they juggle work and family]. I got to wonder, is this legit or is this just some industrial marketing ploy to sell more vacuums? Whatever the case, I’m guessing there are going to be a lot more cleaner homes in America for a while.

$50,000 text

Kate Moore, a 15-year-old Iowa HS student recently won $50,000 in the LG U.S. National Texting Championship. How did she get so good at texting? Apparently she owns a 14,000 texts-per-month habit. Get this — 250,000 people participated in the competition.

Moore’s winning phrase was “Zippity Dooo Dahh Zippity Ayy … My oh MY, what a wonderful day! Plenty of sunshine Comin’ my way … ZippittyDooDahZippityAay! WondeRful feeling, Wonderful day!” which she completed flawlessly in less than 60 seconds.

Another 15-year-old girl from Staten Island, NY wasn’t so lucky. She recently fell down an open man hole cover while texting.

Wow — and I thought my kids text alot.  But so far, I haven’t seen any money and no serious injuries! afaik…bbs

just some marriage stuff

Recently I came across some quotes on marriage. I thought they were worth sharing.

For two people in a marriage to live together day after day is unquestionably the one miracle the Vatican has overlooked. -Bill Cosby

It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages. -Friedrich Nietzsche

My advice to you is to get married. If you find a good wife, you’ll be happy; if not, you’ll become a philosopher. -Socrates

Do not marry a man to reform him. That is what reform schools are for. -Mae West

What counts in making a happy marriage is not so much how compatible you are, but how you deal with incompatibility. – Leo Tolstoy

Getting married for sex is like buying a 747 for the free peanuts. -Jeff Foxworthy

I think a man and a woman should choose each other for life, for the simple reason that a long life with all its accidents is barely enough time for a man and a woman to understand each other and to understand… is to love. -William Butler Yeats

As for his secret to staying married: “My wife tells me that if I ever decide to leave, she is coming with me.”-Jon Bon Jovi

The first bond of society is marriage. -Cicero

It is sometimes essential for a husband and a wife to quarrel – they get to know each other better. -Goethe

Love seems the swiftest, but it is the slowest of all growths. No man or woman really knows what perfect love is until they have been married a quarter of a century. -Mark Twain

let’s not forget

How easy it is to go on with our daily routine and activities and forget the horrible events of September 11, 2001 when terrorists attacked and killed so many innocent people. Take a moment today and thank God for the freedom we have and pray for peace to come to our world.

Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent — the Lord detests them both.    [Proverbs 17:15]

Keep it simple

The notion of simplicity keeps showing up in my life, work, reading, discussions, etc. By and large, it remains just that…an idea – because few things are simple these days. In an age where advancing technology and global communication is supposed to streamline and uncomplicate all the confusion and make things easier and faster to accomplish – in many ways it just makes matters worse.

I don’t think I’m alone in this. It seems people today are hungry for simplicity in life because the world around us has become so incredibly complex. Simple is not easy, but it sure sounds appealing to me.

Quotes on simplicity…

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. [Leonardo da Vinci]

The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so the necessary can speak. [Hans Hoffman]

To be simple is to be great. [Ralph Waldo Emerson]

Out of complexity, find simplicity. When the solution is simple, God is answering. [Albert Einstein]

Got to get back to something simple just to save yourselves…keep it simple nowadays and that’s just that. [Van Morrison]

my heart came home with me

Tony B may have left his heart in San Francisco but after 5 days there – I brought mine back with me. Don’t get me wrong, Margie and I loved the city – it’s very interesting and quite beautiful but let’s face it…there is no place like sweet home Chicago.   After doing A LOT of walking in San Fran, I couldn’t help but wonder, “who was the knucklehead that thought building a city on rolling hills was a good idea?”  I almost lost my mind a couple times and finally declared, “I’m done with walking these stinking hills, we’re getting a taxi.”   We also took advantage of riding a cable car – which every other single tourist does in San Fran – apparently at the exact same time.  So riding them is not particularly an advantage in terms of getting around – but it is fun.  FYI – the trip was in celebration of our 25th wedding anniversary [coming in Nov] and we had a great time. We visited all the tourist spots, Chinatown, Alcatraz, Napa, Pier41, Grace Cathedral [where I actually sat, rested and prayed about my bad attitude regarding the stupid hills and endless walking], etc.  And although Mark Twain never actually said, “The coldest winter I ever spent was summer in San Francisco,” he should have…because it is very chilly in and around the city this time of year. If you’ve never been there – it’s worth a visit. We took too many pictures to actually share…so I found a promo [odd but effective] which includes most of the stuff we saw…sans the hula dancers. 

that’s why they call it fishing

So I just got home from a fishing trip to Alabama. That may surprise many who know me. I’m not a particularly “outdoorsy” kind of guy. But I do like to fish – especially when it’s with a long-time childhood friend who is a fishing guru – seriously he’s a fish magnet. Overall we caught a ton of crappe and bass although we did go through a 24hr period where not much was biting–which is “why they call it fishing not catching.”  We were relentless and eventually the action picked up again. This is no fish story. Below is a cooler full of one day’s catch. 

All this got me to thinking how life is sometimes like fishing — productive and exciting one moment and slow and frustrating the next. The key to success is perseverance. If you’re doing the right things the right way eventually the payoff will follow.   Thanks Jim for a great time!

One ugly creature

For reasons known primarily to the PCC crowd, I’ve been reading and studying about a lot of different anmials these days. Some might argue that all God’s creatures are beautiful. Well, I’m willing to say they are amazing but not beautiful. Just today I heard about the Scotoplane – aka the Sea Pig.

Honestly, if I were a pig – I’d be offended.

legitimate possibility with no bias

It’s that time again for Chicago’s famous cross-town baseball rivalry with the Cubs and Sox going at it. The morning of the series opener, our local newspaper had a front page article posing the question, “Does God care who wins the series?”  The article has some interesting things to say and I’m not exactly sure where I stand on the issue theologically — however, with no World Series championship in over 100 years the answer seems somewhat obvious.   Sorry B, thanks for tics…go Sox!

have you seen him?

Last week, in Ystrad, Rhondda, south Wales, breakfast turned into a religious experience when Claire Allen, 36, spotted what she believes is the face of Jesus in a jar of Marmite. Claire was the first of her family to find the Savior on the underside of the lid as she was putting the yeast spread on her son’s toast. Claire’s husband Gareth, 37, said he could not believe his eyes. He admits, “When I first looked at it I wasn’t sure, but when I moved it away from me it started coming out. I thought Christ, yeah, she’s right – that’s the image of Jesus.” As far as Claire is concerned, “People might think I’m nuts, but I like to think it’s Jesus looking out for us.”

No offense to the Allens, but I’m not convinced this is any kind of miracle — I mean if this is the best God can do I’m most definitely disappointed.  Neither am I convinced the image on the lid is Jesus, John Lennon or Rasputin. But I am increasingly convinced that people all over are looking for Jesus. Unfortunately, I don’t think he is showing up in jars of yeast spread, candy or cheese snacks [see kitkatking and cheesus below].  Jesus can and will, however, be found in the kind compassionate generous servitude of his church. I wonder how many of those looking for him see him there?  Jesus said, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”