Category: General (page 16 of 121)

…about the book publishing industry.

Scroll down to the category of “Who is Reading Books (and who is not)” for some sad statistics…

• One-third of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives. Many do not even graduate from high school.
• 58% of the US adult population never reads another book after high school.
• 42% of college graduates never read another book. 80% of US families did not buy or read a book last year.
• 70% of US adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years.

Link via Seth Godin

It’s been a weird day around here for some reason. I think it’s because I missed my coffee this morning (don’t ask!).

Anayway, I’m unwinding with Sigur Ros’s Takk. I don’t even remember where or when I first heard about this Icelandic group, and some of you who know me would probably think I wouldn’t really be into them. But go figure…they really float my boat, and are just about perfect for an “Unwind” after a strange sort of day.

As I was finishing up my “at-home” workout today, I got a phone call from the one, the only Gary Lamb.

What did he want? Nothing…just to invite me to lunch!

Thanks, Gary, for the sandwich and the encouragement…and the confirmation that I really am not dead!

I’m getting ready to head out for the gym, and three – count ’em – THREE! Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department cars – with lights flashing! – are rollingspeeding down my street!

Uh-oh…make that FOUR Sheriff’s Department cars…

UPDATE: FIVE Sheriff’s Department cars…

My buddy Tony McCollum is a gadget freak! If it’s the latest and greatest in geekdom, you betcha Tony’s at least lusted after it in his heart! He once said he’s “more of an e-mail man than a phone man,” so here’s what he needs.

Tony, iLane is for you!

My brother got this link from my sister-in-law, and he in turn, passed it along to me. So now, you get to enjoy it!

10 Telltale Signs You Work With a Bunch of Monkeys

Just got this interesting tidbit in my Inbox…

On Saturday, November 18, 2006 Be Prepared to Be Amazed. That’s right the World Famous BLUE MAN GROUP will be performing for One Night Only at The Arena at Gwinnett Center.

I am already looking for tickets!

…but if everything goes like it’s been going, tomorrow or the next day, I will be three-quarters of the man I was in January of this year.

Yep, that’s right. By this time tomorrow or Thursday, all things being equal, I will have dropped over one-quarter of my January weight…69 pounds, down to 205 from 274! How cool is that?!?!?

On a couple of related notes…

Last Sunday, after our un-air-conditioned worship services, the lovely and gracious “Mrs. Just Charlie” and I went for our evening walk/run (Heritage Park in Canton, Georgia, 3-4 miles, whatever). I decided I would walk/run sans shirt, so as to get a little sun on this pale previously-fat body. Anyway, by the time we go to the park, the sun is toward the west. As we made the turn heading east, and our shadows were in front of us, the lovely and gracious “Mrs. Just Charlie” asked…

Whose arms are those?!?!

See, in the shadow, you could actually see some muscular definition in my arms! Yes, very cool!

And one other piece of related information. When we signed up at the YMCA back in December, my instructor asked what my fitness goals were. I jokingly replied…

I’m 45 and I want to be 21!

Well, for what it’s worth, I’m now wearing pants in exactly the same size I wore…at age 21!

…and sloppy Joes ain’t hot dogs!

(NOTE: The following is an almost verbatim transcript of an actual phone conversation that occurred on Monday, July 24, 2006 around 2:01 p.m. The identities have been changed to protect the…, the…, well, read the transcript, and you decide what to call the protectee!)

ME: Hello?
CALLER: Whassup?
ME: Just putting a load of clothes in the washer. What are you doing?
CALLER: Nothing, just chillin’.
ME: So, what’s going on?
CALLER: I was wondering if you might have a remedy for something I did today.
ME: OK…a remedy for what?
CALLER: I just finished scarfing down six and a half sloppy Joes, and I’m not feeling so well. Got any ideas?

Well, you get the idea. Seems there was an impromptu sloppy Joe eating contest between “The Bo…”…I mean, “The CALLER” and some Goliath-sized football player in the cafeteria. For the record, “The Bo…”…I mean, “The CALLER” took him. But now he’s paying for it.

Just wait…

The late great Baptist preacher Vance Havner said one time when he couldn’t sleep, he simply referred to Psalm 121. Whereupon, he said, he gave his troubles to the Lord and said…

Well, I guess there’s no reason for both of us to stay awake. If You’re going to stay up, I’m going to bed!

I guess I need a little of Dr. Havner’s trusting skills, because here I am wide awake at 12:20 a.m. Even after a physically exhausting day, I just can’t go to sleep! Here are a couple of things on my Chinet tonight…

• Mr. Know-It-All
• God’s vision, purpose, and plan for our church
• The family finances
• The Middle East
• The peace of Jerusalem
• The old man who could hardly walk around the park tonight
• The 70+% of our area’s population who are unchurched
• Our church staffing needs
• The Hispanic families in the park tonight
• That funky wobbling/vibrating noise in the rear end of the car
• Why the cat has given up on the litter box
• The next two weeks
• Why I can’t sleep
• Whether the Braves are going to make a second-half run at the playoffs and whether they have what it takes to make that run
• The lovely and gracious “Mrs. Just Charlie,” who heads back to school tomorrow
• The family finances
• “The Boy” and his grades
• Why I can’t sleep
• What God could possibly do with a 45-year-old old coot
• Missed opportunities
• The family finances