07Mar 2012 by CJ

Life is fragile and you need to recognize miracles before they’re gone

Generosity & Kindness, Life & Living
Last night I bumped into an acquaintance I hadn’t seen in some time. It was another lesson learned in how life is fragile. As is customary and mannerly, the appropriate question in these circumstances is often to ask “how are you” or “how’ve you been,” and the response you’re expecting is “fine”. But that wasn’t the case here. It turns out that her 40-year-old daughter had passed away suddenly without any warning or evident cause. I was speechless as I’m sure you can understand. After all, what comforting words can you possibly offer during such a painful, sometimes unbelievable occurrence? For the remainder of the evening and even today I can’t stop thinking about her daughter’s untimely passing. I kept thinking about my wife and what in the world I…
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28Feb 2012 by CJ

Neckties are no longer common but getting dressed up does make you feel good

Generosity & Kindness, Life & Living
“If men can run the world, why can't they stop wearing neckties? How intelligent is it to start the day by tying a little noose around your neck?” - Linda Ellerbee The first question my 91 year old grandmother asked me when I got my new job was, “do you have to wear neckties?” Let’s remember she’s from a generation long ago when men wore a suit and neckties to go to the movies and women wore dresses and pumps to do their house work. Sounds pretty foreign, doesn’t it? I don’t think there was really a dress code per say at my previous job. Jeans and sneakers were commonplace and it never seemed to be an issue. In truth, I settled into that work attire pretty quickly – going…
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07Feb 2012 by CJ

Republican politicians turn an inspiring message to all into something bad

Information & Education, Life & Living
Is there anything that Republican politicians won’t try and contaminate? It seems Republican politicians are getting a little annoyed by the recent Chrysler commercial featured in this year’s super bowl. Clint Eastwood says, "It's halftime in America too. People are out of work and they're hurting and they're all wondering what they're going to do to make a comeback.” Republican Karl Rove said he was “offended” by the commercial and Michelle Malkin said she believe it alluded to his support of the auto industry. Are we done children? The political landscape has been reduced to nothing more than name calling, petty fighting and bullying on school playgrounds. We are so concerned with which side of the political field is winning the race that we forget about the everyday citizens who…
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05Feb 2012 by CJ

The word “failure” is for those who haven’t learned anything

Information & Education, Life & Living
“Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.”Henry Ford It’s easy to look through the history of one’s life and categorize certain events or experiences as being a failure. I hate that word. The definition states that failure is “a person or thing that is unsuccessful or disappointing.” Okay, there are parts of my life I wish I would’ve handled differently, but to say that I was “unsuccessful” or that my life was somehow “disappointing” because of it just seems a little harsh. I believe the only reason something should be classified as a failure is if you haven’t learned anything from it. If you’ve gone through a string of relationships or friendships and still can’t love someone unconditionally; if you’ve bounced from job to job but never…
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02Feb 2012 by CJ

The homosexual community deserves better than ignorant stereotypes

Love & Relationships
The homosexual community deserves better than what I heard on the radio this morning. I never listen to morning talk radio programs on popular FM stations all across the country. Truthfully, I find most of the on-air personalities obnoxious and the conversation so primitive that I’d rather drive in silence than have to subject myself to listening to their diarrhea of the mouth. But listeners can’t get enough apparently, as advertisers continue to pour millions of dollars into advertising on these highly listened to programs. I don’t get it really. Today, while switching a CD in my car (yes a CD, you remember those) I was caught off guard. My car is set up that as soon as you remove a playing CD from the stereo unit, the radio automatically…
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