Boldness without fear or hesitation….or, even, hyperbole…. is a wonderful thing to see.
It’s good to see people calmly and confidently confessing their faith.
This is a commencement speech that Denzel Washington gave at Dillard University a while back.
What a great way to start the day!
What a great way to live your life!
“Say thankyou….in advance….for what is already yours. True desire….in the heart….for anything good….is God’s proof to you sent beforehand to indicate that it’s yours already.”
“If we want authenticity….we have to initiate it.”
Here’s another travel video.
Sometimes, you have to wonder if the goal isn’t to have something to film.
That’s probably not the case here, though.
If you only watch the beginning of this, listen to the opening monologue.
He touches on some thoughts that I’ve been pondering a lot lately.
How far away do you have to go before you get to real?
And….what are we missing if we think that things have to be seen from a different place for things to be good…and authentic? Do we need a new perspective more than we need new walking shoes?
We just got back from a big road trip out through the Southwest….lots of driving….and I would do it again tomorrow if I had some MONEY….and some time off from the Post Office.
It’s good to travel.
It’s good to see birds that you don’t recognize when you wake up in the morning.
The kind of journey that this guy is on might be a little much, though.
Sometimes it can get weird with the little guys when we just go to our local Walmart.
We have to watch each other like hawks.
Like HAWKS!!
You don’t want to lose anyone.
Look at all the interesting food he’s eating!
That’s kind of like a weirdo in a big black car pulling up and saying, “HEY, KID!! YOU WANT SOME CANDY?!!”
You could lure me into some exotic locations with the promise of good and exotic food.
They say that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach?
Could the way to India be through a man’s appetites?
I don’t know…but it looks good.
I need to take care of what surrounds me here.
Maybe wanting to travel is just a dodge?
Maybe it’s just a way to avoid my responsibilities at home?
We just got back from a long road trip out west….4600 miles worth in an old Dodge Grand Caravan….driving spaced out at the beginning and end of a two-week trip….4 children (no….that’s not really right….two young adults and two children) in tow…..and a lot of the driving was like this.
We were down in Colorado and Texas….but flat and wind swept looks familiar.
Idaho isn’t all that different from Colorado in a lot of ways.
This video was made by a trucker traveling through what I imagine is the southern part of Idaho.
I’m more familiar with the northern part….but I suppose the southern part is pretty flat.
Flat is pretty boring sometimes.
Traveling is hard….and expensive….but it’s like that credit card commercial where they say “priceless” at the end.
I wouldn’t trade our road trips for anything.
I wouldn’t avoid them….for anything.
They’re …..priceless.
When you watch the news after you get home….and realize how much potential there is for bad weather out West in the Winter….you know that we were pretty fortunate to have such clear sailing this time.
I wonder how long it will take us to get out West again?
I wonder if the Post Office will set me free for a while….soon?
I hope so.
And….man….the view from inside a big truck is a trip, isn’t it?
I had a Batman Utility Belt when I was little…..but ….check out this crazy utility belt.
This is too cool.
I’d be ready for anything that nature could throw at me if I had something like this.
I’d attract a lot of attention during our rare trips to the mall if I wore this walking around town.
That’s the way I see it, anyways.
Actually….all kidding aside….this is kind of COOL.
And….like having a plastic grappling hook on the old Batman Utility belt didn’t help me scale walls….all the tools on this “man belt” wouldn’t do much for me if I didn’t know how to use them.
I don’t know if I know how to use them.
A few tools that I know how to use are so much better than the piles of tools that I seem to collect.
It’s funny the things we figure out how to do.
We’re a bunch of monkeys with sticks to get the grubs.
Funny monkeys.
(I like this guy’s channel….nagualero….on YouTube. Bushcraft and Painting videos….looks like it’s in Sweden. Link to the channel HERE! )
Jenny and I started watching this with the kids (it was in the “family” section of Amazon Prime) and within 5 minutes of it starting, our eight year old son was yelling, “TURN IT OFF!! TURN IT OFF!! IT’S INAPPROPRIATE!!! IT’S INAPPROPRIATE!!”.
Then our 4-year-old daughter picked up the torch and started yelling, “INAPPROPRIATE!! INAPPROPRIATE!!”.
This movie really freaked them out.
This is what we were watching:
I suppose that one of the real purposes of art is to engender a response.
This movie sure got a response out of the little guys.
I don’t know that I’d consider it art…but I don’t think that I’ve ever seen a “children’s movie” quite like it.
It’s kind of like if Rob Zombie made a children’s movie.
It’s pretty twisted…..and sometimes cringe worthy funny.
Who knew that we were going to watch something so weird?
Jenny and I watched it all the way through….but it freaked the little guys out so they left the room.
That’s what a good family movie night is all about, right?
Watch something so weird and twisted that the young ones go screaming from the room?
It’s cold as heck outside right now….in the single digits and blowing wind hard….but I doubt that it’s rough like these guys have it.
Modern conveniences make things easier.
Easier….until a tree blows across a power line or something similiar happens and we’re plunged…..PLUNGED!!!…..back into the dark ages.
We still have power though…..so….I’m brewing coffee and trying to slam together a blog post before I have to get in the Mail Jeep and drive around for 6 or 7 hours.
It feels good to be back from our trip….but…I wish that we were still seeing more of the West….driving around in the minivan….stopping at unfamiliar places….eating unfamiliar food….traveling together.
I wonder if you didn’t have to come back if you’d stay away longer?
“Home” is a powerful pull….but….it sure is fun to see things that are a little bit different from what you’re used to.
Maybe I just don’t want to get out in the cold wind and put pieces of paper into small metal boxes all day?
Maybe my “getting away” is stronger than my “going to” impulse this morning?
That didn’t take long….to veer back into the “getting away” lane.
