The Tag Game

Thank you to everyone who "tagged" me. I know you meant well. At the left on my blog page is my blog list which I believe at last count was seven. The rules of this little game say that you tag seven friends, post the rules, then state seven weird or random things about yourself. I think almost everyone on my list has already been included in this so I'm not going to "tag" you again, nor am I going to post the rules again. Quid said we didn't have to . . .

I did come up with seven things and added one more. These are not weird but I guess they are random. I am, as usual, too wordy. I don't like to talk about myself and look forward to writing about things that I hope are more interesting.

1. I’m a family man. My wife and three children bring me more joy than I have ever deserved. Having a family trumps most everything I have ever experienced.

2. The longer I live, the less I like and am comfortable with the liberal and conservative labels, both politically and socially. I know that, by common definitions, I am conservative. Like one of my other blogger friends, I am anti-death penalty but pro-gun. I am pro-life. I believe in the capitalist system but I am totally frustrated and disenchanted by the current state of healthcare in the this country and although I think I oppose universal health insurance and am skeptical of anything run by the government, I know that is easy for me to say because I have not been without health insurance. I still have not decided if health care is a privilege or a right. I have a fundamental problem with the recently passed financial rescue legislation but I work for a bank that will likely benefit from it. So is all of this conservative or liberal?

I am part of a church that would be known as both conservative and evangelical as those terms are commonly defined today. Again, though, I don’t like the labels. I believe Jesus is very inclusive, not exclusive. I love the creeds, worship, liturgy and music in many of the traditional Christian churches. I do not believe any particular brand of Christianity has it all right and I am immediately put off by any faction that teaches or implies that it does.

3. I am extremely soft-hearted, probably to a fault. I do not like conflict but I am also very stubborn and will (obnoxiously at times) resolutely argue about something if I am impassioned about the subject matter. My wife would confirm this and would add that I will resolutely argue even when I know I am wrong.

I have tried to channel the soft-heartedness into good things and several years ago began volunteering at, and eventually went on the Board of Directors of, a local homeless shelter and life recovery center. I am totally in awe of both the staff who work there and the clientele who work so hard to change their lives.

4. I love music of many types – Classical, Modern, Rock and Roll, Jazz and Country. I play the piano – started taking piano lessons when I started school. I also love to sing. I sang in choirs from an early age until moving to Tennessee in 1997. I also sang in small ensembles and an occasional solo in my former church in Arkansas. The music in my current church is very contemporary and hard for me to follow, so I don’t do any up front singing anymore.

5. I love to read and write. My reading preferences are as varied as my musical ones. I have read a lot of sports books this year for no other reason than friends have passed them on or recommended them to me. My five all-time favorite books are listed on my blog profile. I do not care much for fantasy or science fiction.

I love the whole blogging thing because it gives me an outlet to write and there are about a half dozen folks who are kind enough to read what I write and give me their feedback. Most of these people I have never personally met, yet I have come to think of them as friends. My friend Kelly introduced me to blogging. She and I have known each other our entire lives and, until she married, had the same last name but are not related.

I have been saying for years that I think I have a novel in me but it has not yet been birthed.

6. I majored in Journalism in college and wrote for my college newspaper. I went to law school right out of college. If I had it to do over again, I would have taken some time between undergrad and law school. That is what I advise young people – who ask – to do unless they are extremely passionate about the profession or graduate study they believe they want to pursue. For me, although it has all worked out fine, I was not very mature when I graduated from college. A year or two doing something else – maybe working for a newspaper or maybe just doing a low skills job – would have done me a world of good, helped me to mature and maybe helped me avoid a great deal of second guessing myself.

7. The best job I ever had in my life was during the summers of 1980 and ’81 when I worked in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. Those were the summers after my senior year of college and first year of law school, respectively. This is where I became totally hooked on the great outdoors.

8. This is one extra but I have to add that I am huge sports fan, especially Major League Baseball and College Football. I'm also a big high school football fan, especially since Younger Son currently plays on the O-line and his team is in the state playoffs.