New Directions to Blogville

I want to begin by saying how much I appreciate all of the kind comments related to my last post - my tribute to Heather's grandfather. I received a lot of feedback from people - both in comments on Facebook, on the actual blog, and in person. I loved that man and he made an eternal difference in my life. So, it truly was the least I could do. This past weekend we had a memorial service for him, and it was again great to remember what an amazing man he was. In November, we are planning a large family reunion of sorts - which will also serve as a "memory exchange" of him. Be praying for his children and wife, as they are expectedly dealing with how to fill that large hole that has opened in their lives.

As my blog is reaching new heights of popularity - both at the blogspot site and on Facebook - I am constantly reminded of the varied people that I am blessed with as friends. I have people who share my beliefs on many fronts, and people who do not. The last thing I EVER want this blog to be is something that hurts someone. It is not something that is attempting to cram my opinions or beliefs down your throats. I realize that I am more conservative than some of my friends, and more liberal than others. And that is the beautiful thing about life - we can be friends despite our differences - and sometimes because of them. If I ever write about a topic, like religion, it is merely reflecting what I am going through.

Being at home more now, I have more chances to write. I have tried to limit my posts to once a week. But I have a backlog of posts, since things come to me more than weekly now. I also have had numerous people ask me to write more. I have resisted that for a while, but finally came up with an answer. I am going to divide the blog into six categories.

Think of it as Trivial Pursuit. I have matched the colors and tried to match the topics. We all love Trivial Pursuit, right? Anyone? I love the game. I remember that growing up, we had every version that came out. We would sit around the card table and all play - even my dad. (This was before his strokes and heart attacks robbed him of his mental prowess.) He knew everything. It was crazy. "What color facemask did the Topeka Raiders field hockey team use on their 'Puckin Crazy' promotional tour in 1958?" My dad would sit there, staring at the table for a few seconds. "Puce." And it was right. It was my goal to beat my father. I was the second strongest player, usually, having devoted a great portion of my brain to learning absolutely useless minutiae for much of my life. As the years slipped by, I slowly began to reel him in.

Finally, it happened. We were playing one night and I went out to a huge lead. I started to get cocky, as most teenagers would do. Talking trash. Stupid stupid stupid. My dad was a former Marine - a hulking 6'5" man of about 350 lbs. And bald - this made all the difference. You can shave the head of most men and make them look tons meaner. Worked for him, I can testify. He didn't take kindly to smart alecks of any age. So he began to slowly eat at my lead. Finally, it was like 5 pies to 5 pies. And then he got his sixth and made his way to the inner circle. We all ganged up on him and kept picking the questions he wouldn't get. Finally I got my sixth pie and got to the center ring. I think it was my sister - she lobbed me a softball question and I won. Sure, it was tainted. But I won. He looked at us, said it didn't count, and never played it again. So, that was a fun memory. Hmmmmm.... Let's get back to the explanation of the new setup.

SPORTS: I am well aware that many people are not interested in sports. The orange disc always meant Sports and Leisure. So if you see orange, think sports. This will cover football, UCF, basketball (rarely), and the other sports I generally don't care about or watch. I may even slip some fantasy football stuff in there. Because, we all know, the only thing worse than listening to people tell us their dreams is listening to them talk about their imaginary football league.

POLITICS: This has always been the topic I care the least to write about. Why? Well, because it never ends well. I wrote a post about why I voted for Huckabee last year - and I was afraid that I was going to get torched by my own party mates. But it is the blue disc, since that was usually Geography. I may post in this group, just so I can use that awesome picture of Obama. It isn't a comment on him - just an awful picture.

MEDIA: This would have been called Entertainment, but the word was too big. No lie. I figure this way I can also squawk about the news and such too. Sound all official and blustery. But this is mostly going to be used for movies and tv shows and music. And it is the traditional Trivial Pursuit pink color. Was anyone else equally terrified by the pink pie? I remember growing up the questions were always like, "Which onscreen duo released seven films under the Warner Cousins banner before becoming seal trainers in Panama?" I would just stare at the reader, drool running out of my mouth. Then my dad would mumble, "Percy and Ingrid, you dolt."

FAMILY: Falling into the traditional History color, Family will wear yellow. I thought that was appropriate. Family. History. Get it? [sigh] I think this will swallow up my posts about my brilliant wife, my adorable kids, and all those adventures. If you only care about my general statements on the world in general, then avoid yellow. And if you are eating snow, avoid yellow. Or so I'm told, since I live in Florida and we don't have snow. Or seasons. Or culture.

RELIGION: That's right, Arts and Literature takes the guise of religion with their brown disc. Again, I thought that this wasn't a hard stretch. I will do my best to confine my theological musings to this color. Obviously, there may be crossovers, and I may put two discs up for a post. I can see Yellow and Brown pairing off a lot. They seem like buddies. Like Green Lantern and Flash. Or Bert and Ernie.

FOOD: Science and Nature becomes food. Green. Okay, so this is a big stretch. But food is from nature or science - and sometimes both. Or something. Whatever. I wanted to keep this category because a lot of people liked my Angus burger review and asked for more food related stories. I think this is something I have spent my life preparing for. If there was a job on Food Network that involved no cooking whatsoever and just was some guy being a smart mouth about food? I would take that job.

So there you have it. This will take effect immediately. I hope that it helps. I look forward to sharing more, and I think that this will challenge me to come up with stuff. I know I have several things ready to get posted soon. One of them has the potential to be the most inflammatory, controversial, dangerous thing I have ever written. I can only tell you that it falls under the pink disc. And it will be coming soon.