Life... it's like drinking from a fire hose

My Saturdays are relatively dull, so I watch TV and I blog. In the other 6 days, I encounter ideas to blog about. The problem is that I don't write down these ideas, and they escape me.

Every time I sit down at my computer, I ask myself, "What is worth writing about?" or "What would be the most meaningful post today?"

These are impossible questions to answer, so I'll stop trying. There's no need to beat myself up over picking a topic. Blogging should be fun, right?

Now. I've got my frame of mind, and there's some good, wholesome Fighting Swine posts in the near future.

Have a good day,

John

Drink beer? Yes we can.

This one is for all of my crazy, bitter, neo-conservative friends.

I knew that, even before I inked out that little oval on the ballot in November, I had already made the right choice.

This story affirms it.

Amongst the practical qualities of the new President: a likable personality. You gotta love it.

Have a good day,
John

Why reading is good.

In writing my last post, I found some other points in my brainage that I want to throw at you:

One of the many reasons for my love of photography is that it can tell a story without words. As a photographer, I'm a visual person telling visual stories. Photography helps me move and learn ideas and concepts better than I can with a keyboard or pencil. But the written word is still amazingly important.

I often credit Stacy for teaching me to read in college. I've twice learned to read. I'm a slower reader, but she really inspired me to explore reading for my own enjoyment. Her addiction to James Patterson became my own. She's my inspiration in more ways than one.

Advice from John:

1. If you want to learn and develop yourself, read stuff. It takes time, but it's easy. I've realized that, at some point, you have to stop giving excuses and just do it.

2. Public education doesn't always do what it is supposed to do. If you make babies, teach them to read a.s.a.p. so they don't end up with a third-grade reading level in college (I was seriously a slow reader until about 4 years ago. It wasn't fun.). If what I've observed is true, your kids will be much more intelligent, caring, understanding and respected in the long run. It's no news that knowledge is powerful, especially when it is voluntarily learned. By hearing others communicate, your kids will also be able to communicate much more effectively. (One of my ~30-year-old coworkers unknowingly spelled "do" as "due" in an email message to me today, and I've already forgot what the message was about.)

You know what I just realized? You're already reading. Perhaps I'm preaching to the choir. I need to go to bed.

Thanks for reading, in general.

John

What the heck am I doing?

Hey people. Sorry for the absence of posts lately. I've been busy doing nothing. No excuses here. I'm a lazy SOB sometimes.

Although I haven't been writing for a while, I have been reading.

What kind of sick and twisted stuff have I been reading? Here's the master list:

(in order from longest to shortest page count)

1. The Holy Bible: That's right kids. I actually read it. It's good.

2. Digital Wedding Photography by Glen Johnson: Yes, I'm getting into the biz. (Legally, btw.)

3. The Sacred Romance: Drawing Closer to the Heart of God by Brent Curtis and John Eldredge: This is some seriously deep stuff. I know what you're thinking. I'm not turning into a lush fruitcake. In this case, "romance" stands for the meaningful connection between a person and his/her creator, not "romance" as in mushy Danielle Steel novels. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to better understand and appreciate their connection to God without having to deal with awkward religious confrontations. Very personal, very wholesome.

4. TIME (magazine): I majored in Journalism, so I am one amongst the shrinking number of people who appreciate the hard copy. I read it once a week on Tuesday nights. For those of you who have never read time before, subscribe for $20 a year here. I know you're probably already moving on to number 5, but seriously, you should just suck it up and subscribe to something good and worth reading. If you don't subscribe to TIME, at least get Google Reader. I promise that you won't be disappointed.

5. Popular Photography (magazine): I would guesstimate that every issue has, on average, about 40 tips and tricks for photographers, and ends with about 10 pages of ads which make me drool for equipment I can't afford.

6. Outdoor Photographer (magazine): When I'm not taking photos of people, I'm taking photos that don't put money in my pocket, yet inspire me to subscribe to this magazine. Outdoor, nature, landscape and wildlife photography feed the hobby half of my inner photographer. Sorry for the verbal train wreck in that last sentence.

7. Usually a novel of some sort. I'm currently between Tom Sawyer and about to start Huckleberry Finn. I also read a lot of James Patterson and Dan Brown. By the way: Dan Brown, if you're reading this (he's not), you seriously need to write some more books, man.

That's it folks. I hope you enjoyed this journey through my current literary world.

Thanks for reading,
John

Want to be cool? Get Google Reader.

One of the biggest things I learned about in college, besides journalism itself, but how to understand it and follow it. Here is an awesome way to stay current with your world.

First of all: If you don't know what an RSS feed is, you should. It's a simple thing. Study this.

Second: If you want to be cool, subscribe to RSS feeds. If you want to be especially cool, do it with Google Reader. I personally guarantee that it will make your world much more simple and fun.

Check it out.

If you already use Google Reader, I apologize for my unnecessary preachyness. Here is the official Google Reader Blog.

Have a good day!

When stupid things ruin great moments...

This Rick Warren controversy really bothers me. Lesbians and gays were offended that President Obama chose Warren to pray at the inauguration. Wow. Is the world really ending?

Firstly - Did gays really believe that Obama would pick a gay clergyman to give a prayer during the inaugural celebration? They did? Oh wait, he did do that.

Secondly - Just because we have a new common-sense president doesn't mean that we should become so sensitive again. Things aren't changing that fast. Our country has spent the last eight years in toleration of questionable decisions.

Thirdly - Homosexuals are offended by Warren? Guess what people - those who aren't offended by Warren are probably occaisionally offended by the new President. Get over it.

Fourthly - As far as I know, church and state are still separate, and gay's can rejoice that Rick Warren was not the man with his hand on the Bible that day.

Everybody relax.

What makes an idiot an idiot?

If you don't want to be an idiot, be considerate of others. It's a good rule.

Roommates, coworkers, friends, people in Wal-Mart and even your relatives can be idiots. But I've learned that the first person you don't want to be an idiot is you. Many things can make you an idiot. Being American might make you an idiot- depending on the perception. From every point of view, we're all idiots.

Here is a list of things that might make you look like an idiot to me:

DISCLAIMER: At one time or another, I have been guilty of almost every one of the following.

1. You stop and talk right in the middle of a busy walkway - anywhere. Period.

2. You let your dishes pile up because you "don't feel like doing them right away." When does anybody ever feel like doing dishes?

3. You write all of your emails without subjects or comprehensible sentence structure. Example: (This is an actual direct quote from an email I received from a manager at work.) "thinking about doing article for newsletter for to get service employees into line for the new system structure in the next week." And then the author of this massacre expects you to completely understand. This one makes me fume.

4. You compulsively show up late to every meeting. Social or work-related.

5. You don't read books because you "don't have time."

6. You condescend people not because they aren't correct, but because you have nothing better to do.

7. You complain about the cold weather in South Dakota.

8. You complain about the hot weather in South Dakota.

9. You take video games more seriously than girls.

10. You say "Wow, you're tall!" to a tall guy and expect him to think it's the funniest thing he's ever heard.

11. You think you are always right.

12. You drink 22 beers and complain about being hung over the next day.

13. You like to hear yourself talk about insanely irrelevant and boring things.

14. You don't care about things that don't affect you.

15. You regularly react negatively to new ideas.

16. You play music very loudly and think everybody else likes it.

17. You drive a huge truck not because you haul bags of seed corn or chase cows, but because you think you do those things, and because you think it impresses everybody.

18. You contribute nothing to things that contribute to you.

19. You never ask anybody how they feel.

20. You never give a sincere response when somebody asks you how you feel.

21. You blog about idiocy.

22. You think you aren't affected by the economy.

23. You think global warming is hype.

24. You don't subscribe to or read any periodical or publication of any sort.

25. You think careers in journalism are easy.


Maybe I'm feeling just a bit cynical today, but I do feel very strongly that simple consideration is the cure for idiocy. If you're an idiot, you should know that although you probably have irritated the crap out of me at one time or another, I don't hate you. Nobody should hate. Ever.

Thanks for letting me rant. I feel better now.

-John