Maybe you have, Maybe you haven't . . .

Just throwing it out there . . .

Focus . . . Focus . . .Aha!

About a year ago I bought a fairly nice, slightly older Canon EOS Rebel. Nice camera. It wasnt digital but a nice 35mm film camera. I took it on my trip to California and Vegas and got some pretty cool shots out of it. Even one of a scenic street that looked like Marty McFlys street in Back to the Future. One style I really liked playing with was where the near object is in perfect focus and everything else looks as to be a blur. It was a little tricky but with the right amount of focus and patience, the pictures came out great (side note - if anyone knows what that style is called please comment and let me know, thanks). I have a few pictures of a flower like this. There is a slight dew on it, a great focus on the flower itself and background blurry, yet you can tell its a lovely spring day. Overall it makes for a great picture even if the focus is on one object. I think our Christian lives are the same. If we focus on God and God alone the rest of the surroundings will blur themselves out. Yet, when we focus on God like this, the whole overall picture is still a great picture. He will bless us beyond our picture and what we see. Recently, many things in my life are leaning me towards having a sharper focus on God. Whether its money, children, relationships or even my own personal life, if God is the center all else will fall in line to that picture. Overall it seems to be a crazy method,but focusing on one thing (God) would make the whole picture turn out to be beautiful. Try to focus this week solely on God and see how your picture develops.

Yes! Hamburger Buns! Just what I wanted!

Well, we went to get the sonogram yesterday. I really wanted a girl but a boy wouldve been a big blessing too. Wait! No it wouldnt. The world doesnt need a little Robert Holmes right now. So as we are looking, the lady says "Hamburger Buns. Its a girl". Hamburger buns? what in the world. Then she proceeds, "Boys have hot dogs and girls have hamburger buns". Woohoo I got my little girl I was hoping for. So the adventure begins.

Who has time for this crap?

Last night my lady and I enjoyed a nice dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. I ordered a steak and cheese, fries and we split a spinach and cheese dip. We continued our date night by going next door to Barnes and Noble so I could look for the James Bond book Ive been looking for. I soon had to make my way to the restroom. Dont worry I will not venture into details. I went straight to the stall. As I eyed my surroundings I happen to see, in blue sharpie, a phrase. It read: Be aware that you are lying to yourself. I wondered, as I sat there, what is it that I lie to myself about? Maybe I believe that I look good in a certain shirt, or maybe i believe that a certain pair of jeans make my butt look good or the worst yet, maybe I believe that my hair looks good long (like a slight to medium comb over). After the many things ran through my mind, it hit me that its not so much that we believe our own lives but more that we believe the lies that the devil tells us. The devil is the author of lies, and he looks for everyway for us to take our focus off God. So many people believe the lies that propel them to themselves or to others. Although this "revelation" came to me as I sat there, I, in no way ever felt the need to whip a sharpie out and write on the wall. Don't get me wrong, Ive had plenty of epiphanies sitting on a toilet but never have I had an inclination to write it on a wall. Who are these people that write on bathroom stall walls? If I were to go to the bathroom at their house, would there be writing on the walls in there? Would they have no problem with me writing on their walls? Its mind boggling to me that people still do that. So I ask seriously, who even has time for that crap?

2008 Year in Review in the Rearveiw

Another New Year means another year passed. Another year passed means more experience. Experience brings more knowledge and knowledge leads to wisdom. Abraham Lincoln once said -"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." Each year holds a value in our lives and to each his own value is placed. I will return to this shortly . . .

The main purpose of this post is to give my year end review of 2008. The first annual (hopefully). So, if you are reading this now, you can be proud to say you were a faithful reader every year since the first year. Congratulations to you. Back to the point - this post will be made up of my 2008 review in music, movies, politics, my personal life and misc here and there. Where to begin. . .

The movie industry had a lot to offer this year. Many highly anticipated movies were released, yet there was a lot of crap out there also. I haven't been to a lot of movies this year due to the fact that there wasn't much that appealed to me and the cost of tickets going up to $10 per didn't get me in the door every weekend either. The super hero movie scene was large this year. Speaking of, Id have to say MOVIE OF THE YEAR goes to . . . The Dark Knight. Great movie. Although, Iron Man and Quantum of Solace were a close, close second for me. Some notables would include Hancock, Hulk, and Indiana Jones. From one end to the other, the WORST MOVIE OF THE YEAR goes to . . . What Happens in Vegas. I don't think there could ever be another movie so bad that had anything to do with Vegas. Period. Not to mention I had nightmares from Cameron Diaz in that movie. What happened there?

Since I was not as much of a movie goer this last year as in past years, t.v. really needed to step up. 2008 didn't start out well at all. Writers strike. Come on people. It really affected t.v., especially the t.v. shows I watch. Heroes - cut short to an 11 episode season for volume 2. I was not happy. When the The Office returned, it just didn't seem to be as funny. Luckily the Fall was there, after 8-9 months of reruns and terrible fill in shows, to get us back on track. To me, hands down, the BEST SHOW goes to Heroes. Its a weekly recording on my dvd recorder. The BIGGEST DISSAPOINTMENT also goes to Heroes for the way the fall portion ended. Volume 3 over already? Whats the deal with that? And how it ended, wow, that was easy. But . . . the MOST ANTICIPATED RETURN also goes to Heroes. I know, your thinking I'm crazy. Volume 4 will begin in Feb. and I cant wait to see how the story line will build. There is another MOST ANTICIPATED RETURN. Come on, how could I forget about Scrubs? J.D., Turk, Dr. Cox - One more show to add to my record list. On the subject of comedy, The Office gets the dundie for BEST COMEDY.

Back to subject of movies, as I'm sitting here typing my year in review, Fight Club just came on and it now receives my BEST MOVIE TO END 2008 WITH.

Onward on the list. Music. BEST NEW ALBUM and BEST NEW BAND go to a great band I came across in Sept./Oct. named The Wrecking and their album titled A New Abolition. This cd of 11 songs is one of those cd's that doesn't have a song to skip. All 11 are great songs. They are a Christian band and each of their songs have a consistent meaning through out. From songs like "You Remain" that speak of how big God is in relation to our world and the box that we try to limit him to, to the classic 80's cover of Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes". Both will be below, check out there videos.


You Remain - The Wrecking


In Your Eyes - The Wrecking

Sports. Gators. Going to the BCS Championship. Enough said. The conclusion of that game will be included in the 2009 edition. The Jaguars were very disappointing, again. Next year we wont be hyped as a Super Bowl candidate, and maybe we will actually win more that 8 games and make the playoffs. The Braves didn't do so well either. Next year. I hate to say it but I guess I have to. Maybe, next year.

"Teenage Politics, too confusing. Politics, politics, too con-fusing." - MXPX. Seriously America? Obama? Wheres my passport? Mexico seems like a nice 4 year vacation. But seriously, Obama?

To conclude, 2008 was just another year with things that havent happened in any other year for me and the world, which makes me ask, was it really just another year? "How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives". - Annie Dillard. So as this year comes to an end, with experience leading to knowledge which leads to wisdom, remember this - "The wisdom of the wise, and the experience of ages, may be preserved by quotations." - Isaac D'Isreali

Have a Happy New Year!

A little Christmas Cheer

I jsut want to spread a little Holiday cheer, although its probably not what you're expecting.



Thats right! Run-D.M.C.! What?! I hope everyone has a great holiday and Christmas. Don't forget what the true meaning of Christmas.

Nearly a year . . .

Well - its almost been a year since i set this up and added my first post. Since so many things have changed recently, I will now be posting at a greater rate per year. Please check back soon for more posts. Thanks - Robert