Love is a beautiful thing.  It's not a feeling, although feelings are involved.  It's a way of life.  I've said this many times and I firmly believe it.

 

The first day of April is for fools, they say.  I reconnected with an old friend that day last year.  I've always wondered what ever became of her and I found out.  She is truly the strongest person I know and a survivor in every sense.  She has faced challenges all through her life and come out stronger every time.  These challenges are things I've only read about and couldn't imagine happening to someone I know.

 

After reconnecting, she has become the love of my life.  I thought the relationship ended a few weeks ago.  I guess I don't scare off easily.  I found out the reason for all the hubbub this morning.

 

It's amazing how your perspective changes when the truth is revealed.  When we have the truth, we can't be manipulated into thinking something else.  When we have the truth, we are able to make our own decisions instead of being led down a certain path.

 

I've seen the movies where a kid finds a pet and then realizes that the pet must leave.  They usually tell the pet that they didn't like them that much anyway so the pain of seeing them go is easier to bear.  The kid will always love that pet, though.  I guess I was the pet here.  Ok, that sounds weird, but it's the only analogy I can think of.

 

Sometimes we go through things in our lives that we don't want others to see us go through.  We distance ourselves from friends and family and try to bear these burdens alone.  If we are real friends, we can't allow them to get to us that way.  We have to persist in being a friend.

 

That's what love is.  You can try all you want, but you can't push it away.  Through good or bad, thick or thin, love is constant.  I love this woman.  No matter what life deals her, she will survive and thrive like she always has.

I found an interesting headline on CNN's website that you can view in the Liberal Agenda photo album above.  They are calling the Minimum Wage a raise for poor people.  First of all, that's complete hogwash.  Secondly, it verifies quite plainly the liberal slant at CNN.

 

I'm surprised that people get suckered into the minimum wage debate all the time.  I've heard it explained that there are more employees than employers and it's natural for people to think negatively about their employer.  Employees always suspect that an owner has more money than they really do and that they aren't sharing enough of it with them.  There needs to be a re-education on this matter.

 

Markets decide wages.  It's that simple.  Free markets make our economy work.  It needs to stay as unbridled as possible.  If you start imposing on business owners what wage should be provided, you will likely put many small business owners out of business in favor of big businesses.  This is also ironic since Republicans seem to have been characterized by the liberal press as being pro big business.

Ever said "good luck"?  Ever found a penny heads up and thought it was your lucky day?  Ever hung a horseshoe above the door for good luck?  Ever thought you had a lucky shirt or pair of socks when your team is on a winning streak?  Ever owned a rabbit's foot?

 

There are all kinds of things that we tend to put a loose form of trust in for various reasons.  As a Christian, should we be indulging this nature of ours?  Are these harmless little things or proof of a lack of honest faith?

 

I've played along with some of these things and others.  I know they aren't real.  I know that superstition doesn't get me anywhere.  It really is all about faith.  How much do we really have and how much trust do we really have in the Lord?  I wonder that about myself sometimes, especially in regards to my car.

There are a ton of shows already scheduled for 2007.  I've listed everything I know of on the right.  Keep in mind that they started in order by date, but every time I add another, it goes to the bottom of the list.  There are some shows there out of order.  This is one thing I don't like about MSN's site at this time.  I can't make a list and rearrange it without making the list all over again.

 

I only have one ticket so far.  The Supernova ticket says 3rd row!  I also found that Miss Crazy has 3 Iowa shows planned.  I hope to get to them all.

 

I'm anxious to hear over the next few months when Waterstock and SummerJam are scheduled and who will play those shows.  I'm also anxious to hear about the Poison tour and Rock Never Stops.  If you know of any shows, please feel free to let me know.  I hope to hit at least 20 this year!

 

Check out my musical friends and all things music related at http://www.myspace.com/bigdaddylonghair and add me as a friend!

One of my main pet peeves in life is wishy washy people.  Either you know what you want and you go for it or you don't know what you want and keep deciding.  It's really that simple.  There isn't anything worse than when you get into a relationship and the other person is telling you they know what they want and then change their mind.  It's happened to us all and it usually happens to guys due to confused women.  That's not meant to be a sexist remark, but a statement of fact.  Women control most relationships so they have the power to determine a guy's future in their relationship.

 

In many relationships, the guy and girl make plans.  The guy can't wait to follow through on these plans and the girl tells the guy that she feels the same way.  Then the girl starts worrying that since her feelings may change at times that her commitment to these plans has to change.  They don't seem to realize that feelings are like rollercoasters and can't be relied on to make smart decisions.  You can't establish a long term relationship based solely on feelings and have it last.  It's not the foundation to build on, contrary to popular opinion that you must "follow your heart".  They forget to "lead with the brain".  You have to build a foundation on your word and on trust in the promises and plans you make.  If for some reason those plans can't be followed through on, then you talk about it and see if the relationship is worth changing those plans.  That's a mature and adult way to deal with changes in a relationship.  If a resolution can't be agreed upon, it's best to end the relationship.

 

The way things usually happen is that the guy has invested time, money, and even emotion into this relationship only to have it crushed.  The girl tends to lead him to believe that they are on a path that she fully supports and she has contributed greatly to.  Eventually, the girl reveals that she has been basing their whole relationship on an emotion or feeling and since that changes over the course of time, the relationship is doomed.

 

I'm not sure why this is, but it is.  It seems quite a waste of time to just find this information out.  You can be as sure as you want about the girl and the future you are planning, but eventually it seems that the girl has been mistaken, confused, or some other excuse for trusting her emotions, which change on a daily basis.

 

I was just in a relationship like this that lasted over nine months.  The plans surprised me and excited me.  The future looked bright indeed and it felt like there was more to life suddenly.  Without warning and within about 10 hours, everything went from great to over.  I was at work in this time and was told that it wasn't me, but her indecision.  It's a shame because she's a great person.

 

There are some additional thoughts.  There is the old saying that women are like monkeys.  They don't let go of one branch until they have ahold of another.  I tend to give her the benefit of the doubt, but the way our relationship started makes it possible.  There is also the possibility that I just attract troubled women.  Being a nice, stable guy can be very attractive to these types.  They are women used to having drama surround them and they long for stability in their lives.  Once they get that, they don't know how to react.  Being a stable guy means that I don't react well to the drama that they stir up, but it also means we feel like they need us to become stable.  It's nice to be wanted and needed.

 

Of course, eventually, we are discarded.

Last weekend was a fun one and a look ahead at what could be.  I spent the weekend with my beautiful significant other at her place.  We had an extra day due to the holiday and just took the time to relax and enjoy normal day to day activities without planning anything.  She was kind enough to fix breakfast two of the mornings.  We played cards with her daughter and daughter's friend.  We goofed off while running the kids around.  We spent a little time shopping together.  She had to work a few hours Sunday morning so I sat with her.  She let me on a work PC so I could surf the internet and see a ton of rock videos I'd been wanting to check out.  She was quite amused by my "rocking out" while she worked.  It was a fun time to flirt a bit, too.  We went out to a nice dinner on New Year's Eve.  I'd been in the mood for steak for quite some time so we did it up right at a Longhorn steakhouse.

 

The surprising part was meeting her son for the first time and it going so smooth.  We had a great time telling stories and talking about music.  He came over more this last weekend and stayed longer than he apparently had done since she moved there.  It was a very pleasant surprise.  She has two great kids and I'm glad they are easy to get along with and have a great time with.

 

For New Year's Eve, besides the dinner, there wasn't anything special going on.  It was a nice quiet evening.  She fell asleep in my lap and I awoke her in time for the new year to come in.  I got a kiss and then we went to sleep.  It was actually kind of cool to not be out among the idiots who celebrate a bit heartily and then mess up the roads for the sober ones.

 

I'm not one for making New Year's Resolutions, but I do have some things I plan on doing this year.  I will be working on my health and weight.  I also plan on doing better with my finances.

 

There are three books I'm hoping to get written this year.  The easiest will also be ongoing as I want to compile my concert reviews and experiences with many of the pictures I have taken.  The one I really hope to get cracking on is my autobiography.  I think I have lived quite the interesting life.  It will be entitled Son Of A Preacher Man, of course.  The third book will be a book on theological/political/philosophical ideas all stemming from logic and common sense.  The latter two books will require a lot of research to get just right.

 

2007 will be an interesting year on several levels.  I'm anxious to see what professional challenges and opportunities arise.  I'm always trying to find ways to keep improving on my relationships with my kids.  My personal life has been turned upside-down and I can't wait to see where that goes.  I have goals that I've taken more seriously listed above.  I also hope to accomplish a few things this year such as beating the amount of concerts I've been to the last two years.  I've been to 19 concerts each of the last two years and hope to hit 20 this year.  We didn't get to any iCubs games last year so I hope to be able to take my family to a few this year.  I also hope to hit more than one Royals game in KC this year.  Of course, I have to go when the Yankees are in town.  It would be great to go to a Cardinals game when I visit my family this year, too.  It will be a great year, I'm sure!