I have pictures of my land that I bought a few months. I don't know how to post them on blogger so if you want to take a look, tell me and I will email them to you!

BABY NEWS!

So, today, I learned that my friend Pat had her baby on April 20th! His name is Mason Dawson! Check him out! There are more photes if you click on the date above his picture of the glowing mother and the father! She's the first of my friends to have a baby!

Weekend update

Was suppose to go down and visit my grandmother on Saturday in Newport News. However, I changed my mind and decided to stay home. I know.....I'm a bad grandson! Instead, I went to see the new movie "Identity" with John Cusack. Interesting movie I must say. Until the last 20 minutes of the movie, you don't know what is going on! But it's in that last 20 minutes, you realize what is going on and you say to yourself..."AHHHHhh...I see"! I think it's a combination of Alfred Hitchcock mystery and Stephan King suspense. I think John Cusack is such an underrated actor in Hollywood. It's hard to get away from that "unlucky in love, hopless romantic" type he usually plays except for a few roles he has had. Throughout the movie, he is just so melocholy in his acting. There were a few roles that I wanted to see more of, like of Jake Busey. It's always his teeth that always catch your eye......just like his father too!!! Ray Liotta is always a scary mf whatever part he plays! Amanda Peet...well, I think with enough roles under her belt, she can be a great actress. She has that simple and cute but very sexy aura to her. I liked her in "The Whole Nine Yards" but not because she showed her breasts! Would you believe me if I said I liked her eyes? No...you wouldn't, would you! Well...that's the truth and I'm sticking by it.

Anyway that was the extent of my weekend. There was one notible discussion I had on Sunday with my father. I was in the car when I was thinking about something on social status and cars. I turned to them and said "Do you think that the car that we drive is often a reflection of our social status?" I was thinking about that recently because I see so many people....many of them the young teenagers and the "Cool" guys....driving the supped up race cars and trucks. Sometimes I wish I was driving a nice car like a BMW or these new vehicles that they have instead of my crappy 1992 Mazda Protege! Well, the answer that my father gave me shouldn't have surprised me. He said, "Do you think that the car that you drive is a reflection of your character?" Leave it to my father to come up with the simple truth. I guess you have to ask yourself "Are you a better person if you drive a nice car?" I guess not.....but it does help the ego!

The Real World???

Am I the only one who finds it unusual that my own mom says she wants to see the new movie "The Real Cancun"?

Does anybody know how to post pictures on Blogger? If you do, please email me!

In a serious meloncholy mood tonight. Last week, a friend of mine is considering moving to North Carolina. She told me the reason for it and I'm not entirely sure it's a good reason. But she will make up her own mind. However, she's not the only one too. I got a letter today from a friend of mine that lives in Northern Virginia. In June, she is moving to Colorado. Today is actually the day that this friend is suppose to give birth to her child too!

(expunges a sorrowful sigh)

That is life. It hurts but you have to move on. Wish it wasn't that painful.

Weekend Recap

Long and painful weekend.

Saturday I went to help my cousin work on his house. We got there at 9 and stayed until 7! Spent the whole time putting up the ceiling in one room and putting up the walls on 2/3 rds of the inside. Hopefully this hard work will pay off for me when it comes to building my house!

Today, after going to church, I went to a family dinner. Spent some of the day hiding eggs for a few of my younger cousins and watching and helping them find them. I also went to take pictures of the property that I bought, if anybody would like to see. My highlight and highpoint of the day.....of this weekend.....was after dinner. I decided to go outside to lie on the hammock to relax and maybe take a nap. But I wasn't alone.....my cousin's 4 year old, Courtney, wanted to lie down beside me! Made my weekend! I think my cousin took a picture of us which I hope to get.

That was that. Nothing really exciting.

Question.......Do you ever feel like part of your life, never ever goes right or the timing just sucks? WHY? I'm losing my patience.

Hypothetically speaking.....

ALTRUISM

Main Entry: al·tru·ism
Pronunciation: 'al-tru-"i-z&m
Etymology: French altruisme, from autrui other people, from Old French, oblique case form of autre other, from Latin alter
Date: 1853
1 : unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others
2 : behavior by an animal that is not beneficial to or may be harmful to itself but that benefits others of its species

From the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

You know I was hoping for a little more audience participation in the previous entry!

Anyway, that was a question that one of my friends from college told us. I thought it was thought provoking! There's not an easy answer in the way you look at it. In making a decision after considering the hypothetical question, there are probably several things you can consider:

1. What does the person have to offer in living on?

Well, the pregnant woman offers life to a new beginning. You would throw a pregnant woman off anyway? For the old black woman, you probably ask what does she have to offer? She has outlived her usefulness, right? Well, she does offer her wisdom for the next generation! What about the Buddist Monk? Well, he is a man of faith and that is what he offers. What it be different if he was Catholic, Protestant, or Muslim. And last, we come to the man who has been convicted of rape. I know a lot of people would suggest he go because of his crime. But does that make it right? He could offer redemption?

2. Why should this person go on living?

In this you question, is there a reason that this person should go to die. It's also a tough question to think about. From a certain standpoint, you question what right does this person have to live? For the pregnant woman, the reason was that she is heaviest of the bunch. What about the elderly black woman? She is old....she has had a long life. Why not end her life now instead of in the possible near future? Her age is a burdon. what about the convicted rapist? He has committed an injustice to society and should pay with his life! It would be his redemption? And what about the Buddist Monk? Some say he should go because he doesn't believe in what I believe! He is a non-believer and therefore his life should not go on!

3. What about you?

Yes, that is the question? Did you think about offering your life to saving others? Are you willing to sacrifice yourself for a greater good? That is what altruism is. It's a hard decision that we do make in our lifes even though it is not as life threating as the example stated in the previous entry. I know a few people who have to make a decision like this. For example, my friend Pat wanted to go into the Air Force in December after graduating. It was her life decision to do so. However, in August she found out that she was pregnant. At that point, she made an altruistic decision to sacrifice her dreams and opportunities for the life of her unborn child. We will all make this decision, since as parents we tend to sacrifice our life for the hopes of our children, even it if it's not in a life threating situation. There are other altruistic choices that we make including sacrificing our love, our hope for those that we love deeply.

So, for my answer in that Hypothetical question, I am willing to choose to sacrifice myself for the greater good of the rest. It may not seem like the logical choice over the other canidates but it is my choice.

Just a note, a friend of mine told me about this hypothetical question after he heard it from his youth minister at church. He told us that when the youth minister was asked who he thought should go, the minister said the Buddist monk! His reasons that he said it was because he was a non-believer and should die! Not all people should judge others for what they believe.....but judge upon character!

Hypothetical Question

Your ship has sunk in the middle of winter in the North Atlantic. The water is freezing and if you stay in the water for a just a short amount of time, you will die from hypothermia. You are on a rubber life raft with 4 other people. The people include a pregnant white woman, an elderly black woman, a buddist monk, and a white man in his 40's who has been convicted of rape. The raft is starting to let water in because the raft is too heavy. The only way to stop this is someone on the raft has to get into the water to save the others from sinking. Who do you pick to go into the water knowing that they should surely die?

So I decided to sign up for my church's softball team a few weeks ago. We had our first practice today. Ummm...a bit productive...I think! I'm a bit sore at the moment but should be fine tomorrow. If anybody is interested in supporting me and coming to the games, I would love for you to come out. I'll give you the schedule of games.

I also rented a few movies this weekend. I just finished watching "We Were Soldiers" with Mel Gibson. Very heart renching movie about war! The other movie was "Y Tu Mama Tambien". Yes, it is a foreign film....Mexican to be more precise. I thought it was a pretty good movie even though you had to read the subtitles to understand it. Basically is a story about love, sex, and friendship. Throughout the movie, a narrator interrupts the dialogue to tell a few stories about people that you don't even think about or don't really have a part to play in it. You tend to miss the meaning unless you can understand why the narrator tells you this or until you can figure it out at the very end. Also, the name....which in spanish means "And you Mother also".....is kind of a funny story in which you can also miss it if you don't pay attention. But if you can keep your mind open throughout the movie and understand the end, it does have a sorrowful meaning about life.

Let's see.....my cousin's wife is doing fine since giving birth. Also, I just wanted to say that my aunt who had a stroke is also fine. I have two seperate friends who are expecting the birth of their children next week. My heart and prayers go out to them.

I just want to say to all that have read the poem about Hope that I wrote in the previous entry on 4-7, I want to say that it does hold meaning to everybody that I talk to. After reading so many people's journal, I hear so many of those "No" thoughts. I am especially quilty of saying them too. We are all quilty of saying and thinking those words. Don't lose hope.

Happy Birthday Ginger!

Happy Announcement!!!

I just learned today that my cousin's wife just gave birth today. My cousin, Danny, and his wife, Carman, are naming their son, Massie Dale Raltson. I don't know what the correct spelling is on the first name is, but that's his name!!!

No patience....
No strength....
No courage....
No will.....
No power....
No wisdom....
No truth....
Nobody there....
No one willing....
No happiness....
No thanks...
No one listening....
No light....
No laughter....
No future....
No faith....
No life.....
No passion....
No love.....
Oddly...strangely....no hope

Commonplace words these days. The line of excuses drowns the soul into the abyss of nothingness. No one follows but everyone goes. Everybody...I mean everybody....tends to lose hope in their lives today. Even when you are your happiest, there's that tiny bit of that quicksand to get stuck in. Shouts for help are often drowned out by the thousands of whispers we hear. Take heed of the quietest one because they scream for hope, though they are never heard.

That is hope lost. Hope returned, well, that is something far different. Do not be afraid to lose yourself by losing everything. Only when we have lost everything will hope be returned. Remember No is just a word, never an action.

HOPE

I'm either paranoid or just not photogenic! If you have a picture of me then I know I'm not paranoid.

Spring forward today!!!

I am exhausted today! Yesterday, I spent the day helping my cousin Danny work on his house. I got there at 9 in the morning, to start on cutting out excess caulk off the walls. After that was done, I went on to sand the porch railings. Now you may say that isn't really hard, but I didn't realize that he has a porch on three sides of his house! It's a huge porch!!! It took me, and with the help of other family members, until 1:30 that afternoon to finish sanding all the porch railings. Pretty much it was just me, my mom, and my cousin's wife Carman, who also 9 months pregnant, that sanded the porch! At one point, which was actually quite cute and funny, my cousin Dee's four year old daughter, Courtney, came up to help and she sanded for just a little bit. But you know how the attention span of 4 year olds are...she quit after a few minutes.
After finishing at 1:30, my aunt Sheila brought lunch for us. She was kind enough to get pizza from Pizza Hut! It was two large pizzas to feed at least 6 people. It was another funny about Courtney in this....she ate 5 slices of pizza. She only left one slice of cheese pizza for Carmen, who again was 9 months pregnant!
After lunch, we worked to stain the porch railings. This time, my cousin Dee came by to help. We started around 2:30 and didn't get to all of the porch when we finished around 7:30, when we couldn't see what we were doing! I'm going back up next Saturday to help again!
I didn't get home until 8:30 last night. Our phone lines were cut Friday night/Saturday morning because they are building a house on the lot next to us. We assumed that they cut our phone lines. Anyway I couldn't get on the internet Friday or Saturday morning and no phone calls. Found out last night that my friend Ginger, actually came up to Charlottesville, which was only 20 minutes from where I was working on my cousin's house, to visit. She told me she called 4 times but never got the answering machine. I told her about the phone being cut. Her birthday is next Saturday, and I wanted to go visit her in Northern Virginia, but I told my cousin Danny that I help him again! I felt bad to do this to her! I'll find another time to come and visit her but I know it wouldn't be the same since it's her birthday next weekend!

So because of the daylight savings time, we have to put the clocks forward an hour. That means we all lose a hour of sleep! So this morning, not only is my body hurting from working yesterday, but I lose a precious hour of sleep! So I am a bit cranky this morning among other things!

I learned last night that my aunt had a stroke. We found out that it was due to much stress and too much smoking. She didn't heed the advice of her doctor last time she had a checkup. As for my uncle who had a stroke months ago, who happens to be the brother of my aunt, he is doing quite well now. He quit smoking and is fine. He is currently building his new house.
Anyway, I would appreciate any well wishes and prayers that you can send to my aunt.