03Nov 2016 by CJ

Alzheimer’s Awareness happens in November

Life & Living
Nothing inspires me more than well-crafted lyrics paired perfectly with a haunting melody. When She Loved Me is one of those songs. It was beautifully sung by Sarah McLachlan back in 1999, as part of the soundtrack for the movie Toy Story 2. When I first heard the song, it was clear by the circumstances of the film that a lonely “toy” was singing the song to the little girl she used to be inseparable with – only now she’s all grown up.  When taken in the context of the movie, you rarely assign the song any other possible meaning beyond what the film intended. But the other day the song popped up on my play list (somewhat randomly) and now 17 years later the song has come to mean…
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25Oct 2016 by CJ

Money obsessions won’t lead to happiness

Life & Living
“People go on postponing everything that is meaningful. Tomorrow they will laugh; today, money has to be gathered... more money, more power, more things, more gadgets. Tomorrow they will love - today there is no time. But tomorrow never comes, and one day they find themselves burdened with all kinds of gadgets, burdened with money. They have come to the top of the ladder - and there is nowhere to go except to jump in a lake.” - Osho I’m often the first one to lecture others regarding materialism and society’s insatiable appetite for more money. Yet I’m embarrassed to admit that I haven’t fully practiced what I’ve preached. It was a reality recently brought to my attention by my wife, after she grew tired and frustrated of me judging my…
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23Oct 2016 by CJ

Election fraud – the tale of two ballots

Life & Living
“A vote is like a rifle: its usefulness depends upon the character of the user.”  - Theodore Roosevelt First, please save your hate mail. This post is in no way taking political sides in what I consider to be one of the most pathetic elections in American history. A subject making headlines of late is how the American election system is flawed. Many find such an accusation insulting and impossible in our technological advanced society. Truthfully, I never gave the subject much thought. That was until the other day. My coworker grew up in the state of Washington, and it was there where she first became a registered voter. About two years ago she moved to the state of Colorado, and went through the proper process of becoming a registered…
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14Sep 2016 by CJ

Nelly – why should your fans have to pay your taxes?

Life & Living
An important news bulletin. It appears that rapper Nelly (singer of the 2002 hit "Hot in Herre") has been a bad boy and now is in trouble with the government for not paying his taxes. But fear not! His adoring fans are coming to his rescue. They’ve started a social media campaign urging everyone to stream his song on Spotify – the more the song is streamed, the more money Nelly will make to bail himself out of debt. Are you serious? I can’t tell you how infuriated this makes me, especially given the fact that so many misguided individuals are championing this cause to help out the popular rapper. I’m reminded of a quote by Criss Jami: “Man is not, by nature, deserving of all that he wants. When…
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12Sep 2016 by CJ

Suicide – a decision you cannot change

Life & Living
“Only if you have been in the deepest valley can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain.” – Richard M. Nixon Last week a 16-year-old girl committed suicide at the school where my wife teaches. It was a complete and horrifying shock to her friends, who had no idea she was contemplating it, nor did they know of any apparent reason . It was a complete shock to the faculty and staff, who just the day before were talking with her in the hallway – never once noticing anything peculiar or alarming. And truly, it was a complete shock to me. While I’ve experienced depression and days of darkness when I just wasn’t sure I had the strength to go on, I never felt…
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