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25 Sep 07
I have missed the whole month of August here and nearly the month of September. So here we go with another attempt to catch things up. Fasten your seat belt. Nancy and I took a short vacation into New Mexico last month and spent a few days in Cloudcroft. That's a neat place and it was good to get into some mountains and cooler weather. However the crazy things of this year (so far) continued after we got back. On 16 Aug, which was my parents' 60th wedding anniversary, my dad managed to fall and bust a hip (technically the top of the femur, not the hip joint itself). That made for a different anniversary to say the least. But he's back home after a little more than two weeks at Shannon and is doing quite well. One of his observations about the nurses is how overweight most of them seem to be now. I joked with the parents that there's got to be a better way to get them up here out of Menard than this. More updates as dad continues to get well. I once again set up PA system on the steps of the courthouse last month to help with a vigil for the troops we've lost since the beginning of the 'surge'. A local person working with moveon.org organized this. Sometimes moveon.org gets a little 'left wing' for me, but I'm about ready to defend them given all the flack they've received as of late. However I'd appreciate if they'd quit flooding my E-mail inbox. The vigil went well, had a fair turnout and was on the local TV station news. I brought my co-worker along for this as well. As I've said, he is suffering the rapid advancement of ALS, so we were in his big van with the wheelchair lift. It has been harrowing for me, despite whatever help I can offer over the last few months, to see this person deteriorate so fast. I share the position of Job, the Old Testament character who wants an audience with God. I'm ready to ask the almighty 'what is up with this?!!' as it makes no sense to me, at least for now. Regarding any suffering, the nauseating politics of religious institutions (which I feel have NOTHING to do with God), the United Campus Ministries at ASU remains short on funds after the United Methodist Church Board of Higher Education pulled funding this summer (which was 2/3 of the budget). There's nothing but continued bullshit from the San Angelo district superintendent as for explanations of this matter either. I'm about through with the Methodist Church local hierarchy for now. As I continue in the bullshit category, there's the subject of trumped up charges being brought against our Chief of Police here. Some opponent running against him in the next election is mounting his offensive already, and that word 'offensive' seems to be indicative of this person's character. Where's Rodney King when we need him? But the Funky Munky is going strong. That's something all of us need for keeping our sanity. It's been a good year for the band, even with dropping a few bar gigs because of the chief's situation. Yeah, I had to make reference to the Senator Larry Craig situation during restroom trips at our most recent Funky Munky gig at The Oasis. For the record, we made sure that our chief did not play footsies with anybody in an adjacent stall. Well, enough. I mentioned that the AISK reunion trip was iffy for me, and with recent events, I tearfully opted to give it a miss and E-mailed a couple of our folks in Kabul with the news. That just about ripped my heart out and handed it back to me on a platter. So I'm working a plan B for some kind of trip, but I get the feeling that there will be another time real soon. Inshallah.
23 Jul 07
It is with a heavy heart that I hear the news of the former king of Afghanistan passing on. I made a post on AISK's website in their forum on the topic. We were there when the coup happened in 1973. The reunion in October seems a bit iffy for me at the moment. I just watched the democratic candidates debate wrap up. This was where questions were posed from users on YouTube. It was definitely a new idea and it seems to have worked well. Speaking further of politics, I understand our commander of chief underwent a colonoscopy. I wonder if the folks performing it found his head.
20 Jul 07
Once again a lot has happened as I catch the blogs up on this Harry Potter evening. To repeat a spoiler I stumbled across, I think Hermione gets to bite the big one this time. Not that this will affect book sales. Speaking of magic, the Funky Munky once again pulled it out of the hat on the river stage last month. Hot as heck up there but the crowd yelled for more after we headed back to the dressing room and so we came back out and did a couple encore songs. When I took the bass guitar off, my instrument strap was soaking wet everywhere it was in contact with me. If you do a search on youtube.com for "Funky Munky riverstage", you should find a couple songs that somebody taped of us that night. It was a great night. Things like that keep me going in the face of adversity like a lot of the crap that went down over the last couple months. I ask the question (this is also a book title) "why do bad things happen to good people?" as I watch and try to help a co-worker in the rapid progression of ALS. More on that soon. Another part of this adversity was with my Methodist church of all goddamn things (phrase intended). As a result, I put a posting in the AISK webpage in the forum about horrible experiences with religious organizations. This was because my good friend who is pastor at the United Campus Ministries at Angelo State University has been through hell. The local United Methodist Church district wants to take the place over and open it as a Wesley Foundation (this is much more conservative and doesn't have all these other churches contaminating things). This district was not interested in keeping anybody in the loop either. So the United Campus Ministries board of directors was blindsided (at least the ones not in on the scheme) when they were read a letter from the Methodist Church indicating they will lose all funding (about 2/3 of the budget) as this funding will now go to a new Wesley Foundation. It was equivalent to a back stab for my friend. (Not to mention that the timeframe violates the by-laws established for United Campus Ministries.) As I told the pastor at St Luke UMC (this is the church I've been going to for the last 14 years), the way the district has gone about this would not pass muster in my line of work. It has been scheming, underhanded and sickening. I've not even been back to St Luke UMC so far, despite our pastor's claim (which I can believe) that she was not involved in this Wesley Foundation effort. The whole thing left me sickened to heart. So I departed my (now probable former) church and took my spiritual journey elsewhere. I showed up the next Sunday at Unity Church of Christianity of San Angelo where I experienced an immediate peace and healing. I have been going there since. There's a lot more to catch things up blogwise, but I'll get to them later. In the meantime I offer my thanks to the things that keep me going in the face of adversity and allow me to be of service to others in this odd and amazing life.
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