Some random and not-so-random things I found on the way to somewhere else…

• But what fun is a trip if you can’t stop at every Starbucks along the journey? Link via CThings
• Scott Hodge’s new ride!
• Marty Duren on the vision thing
• Mark Driscoll on one possible reason men don’t go to church
• The fine and gracious – and lost! – art of saying Thank You

I’ve had a couple of folks point me to this Garry Wills op-ed piece in Sunday’s New York Times.

Whether you agree or disagree or just don’t care, it’s worth a read.

(Pesky free registration required, or you can do that BugMeNot thing.)

One of the highlights of every Easter is watching Cecil B. DeMille’s epic The Ten Commandments on TV. This year, if we have the stamina, we’ll get 20 commandments over 8+ hours, in six days! ABC has produced a Ten Commandments mini-series that will air tonight and tomorrow.

Will it be better than the 1956 original? Maybe more technically flashy (no Jell-O special effects in sight!), but they’ve gotta go a long way to beat Charlton Heston as Moses and Yul Brynner as Rameses! (Oh, and don’t forget Mr. DeMille himself as the Voice of God!)

Here, then, for your edification, are Ten Commandments for Watching The Ten Commandments.

*What Would Charlton Heston Do?

If you would have told me on December 17, 2005, when we signed up at the YMCA…

• that I would still be sticking with it on April 3, 2006, and
• that I would be really enjoying the experience, and
• that I would be going to work out six days a week, and
• that I would actually know my way around a workout facility, and
• that I would have time – before almost anything else – to add working out into my daily schedule…

…I would have told you you were nuts!

And if you would have told me on January 2, 2006, when I really started doing the regular workout thing…

• that I would be logging over an hour’s worth of cardio three days a week, and
• that I’d be hitting the weights and a half-hour’s worth of cardio the other three days of the week, and
• that my “out of the blue, just because you asked” long-term goal of losing 60 pounds by December 31 would actually be halfway done on April 3…

I would have told you you were waaaaay past nuts!

Well…let’s go a little nuts, shall we?

Still, all in all, a good run for Fl…Flo…Flor…FloriDUH!

BTW, that graphic is an “artist’s conception” of what was commonly referred to as a “hurtin’ Gator” back in the day. See, in the Dark Ages – circa 1979 – the “preppy” look was just coming into its own at Florida State University. Everybody had those très cool Lacoste polo shirts. In the week leading up to the big FSU-UF showdown, we put Band-Aids over the gator crocodile to show our disdain for the boys from Gainesville, as in “there’s gonna some hurtin’ Gators come Saturday!”)

Contrary to popular culture/belief, there really was music before the iPod and iTunes.

Heck, there even was music before CDs, before cassettes, and – gasp! – before albums! (See, there used to be these things, called albums, and they were usually black vinyl, about 12 inches in diameter, with a little hole in the middle. There was a series of grooves – actually one loooooong spiral groove! – that went around the surfaces – there were two sides! – of the album. Those grooves are where the music hid! But I digress…)

There was music before U2, Rascal Flatts, and Mary J. Blige. There was music before Lynyrd Skynyrd, George Strait, and Diana Ross. There was music before The Beatles, Buck Owens, and Etta James. Believe it or not, there was even music before Elvis, Hank (Sr. and Jr. and III), and Billie Holiday!

I say all that to say that tonight’s Unwind is from a little bit earlier time frame than any of those folks. Tonight, I’m unwinding with Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons.

What a perfect way to unwind on what turned out – after a pretty blustery morning – to be a gorgeous spring day in northwest Georgia!

If you happen to see a huge glow in the skies over Canton, Georgia today, do not fear. It’s only the glow from the “millions and millions” of candles on my buddy Gary Lamb’s birthday cake!

Some guys are “friends,” only when you’ve got something they want or need. Some guys are real friends, no matter what. I’m happy to say that Gary is one of those second kind of guys. He’s not afraid to tell me the truth, as he sees it. He’s not worried about what other folks think. He has a heart for God. he has a passion for the unchurched/dechurched of Canton and Cherokee County. He always gives me something to think about. He always challenges me. And even though he’s quick to go to lunch but slow to pick up the check, he is a man that I’m glad to simply call my friend.

Stop by the Great One’s blog and wish him a happy birthday. Oh, he hits the big 3-0 today! Old coot, indeed!

…and the ball has come to an abrupt end.

Gilded coaches are just plain old pumpkins.

Mighty charging steeds are puny little mice.

And Cinderella has gone home.

Good run, Patriots.

And now we can pull for either UCLA or LSU…anybody but Fl…Flor..FloriDUH! (Wow! I’ve had to type it two weeks in a row! Wash my keyboard off, quick!)

…you know the rest!

Check out the latest addition to one of our local outlet malls: The Foxworthy Store! I love this part of the story…

One shopper, a bride-to-be, came in and made a list of all the hunting decor she’d like to see in her boudoir. She wanted everything from the camouflage bedspread and shams to the toilet paper holder made of deer antlers.

The words of Psalm 71:18 won’t let me go this morning for some reason…

Now that I am old and gray, do not abandon me, O God. Let me proclaim your power to this new generation, your mighty miracles to all who come after me.

I don’t what – if anything of value – I might have to offer “this new generation,” but I want the rest of my life to count.