Dumbest Thing. Ever.

A few days ago, I was scrolling through all the Twitter messages ("tweets") from all the people I follow just to see if anyone had anything more interesting to say other than that they just had another cup of coffee or were sitting on an airplane when I ran across this link someone posted: http://www.supportmfm.org/.

For those that don't actually want to click on the link, it takes you to the homepage of "Meat Free Monday." From the homepage: "It's a food campaign to encourage the nation to help slow climate change by reducing their meat consumption by having at least one meat free day a week." What?! If you actually read on, it is only SLIGHTLY less ridiculous than that sounds. What's even more ridiculous is that Paul McCartney is a huge supporter of this thing.

Beyond the premise of "Meat Free Monday," I get so annoyed that people speak of climate change as if someone definitively proved that it is a threat to the future of mankind (http://climatedebatedaily.com/ tracks academic/scientific arguments for both sides) or somehow think it's a noble cause to throw their weight behind. In short, I tend to think that trying to curb CO2 emissions has a greater cost to humanity than the development that comes with it (as an exaggerated illustration, what if the Industrial Revolution never happened? We'd have lower carbon emissions, but would we really be "better off"?). It's like recycling: everyone just assumes it's a good thing so everyone should do it when in truth some things (like concrete) cost more energy to recycle than to just reproduce - you gotta do your research.

I think Al Gore did a disservice by using worst-case-scenario climate model predictions, relying on source data that is criticized, making much of his argument based on inverted causality (historically, changes in levels of C02 don't precede but rather FOLLOW temperature changes)...I could continue. Hey, remember the little cartoon part about the dying polar bears? Well polar bear populations have actually increased globally in the last 40 years.

I'm not saying that I don't care about the future of our planet or that scientist should not explore facts behind climate change. I think it's a good thing that An Inconvenient Truth brought attention to a branch of science that needs more attention and development. What I am saying is that the only thing you're accomplishing by not eating meat on Monday is missing out on some good food.

You-Twit-Face - Thanks Conan

"In the year 3000 YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook will merge into one super-time-wasting website called 'You Twit Face'." - Conan O'Brien

In response to my sister's blog about all the new technology out there:
http://tigerlilies-leanne.blogspot.com/

America is obsessed with celebrity.

That's the bottom line. Anyone can be a celebrity with you-tube and everyone wants to live like a celebrity. That's why we have these things - not for "news" or "social networking" - we want people to see and hear us. It's like being on stage - except most everyone isn't doing anything that anyone else wants to know, hear, or see us do. It's just narcissism.

The world would still go on without twitter or facebook. Sure I think newspapers will become extinct - there are easier ways of getting the information. But information from everyone? I don't know if I really want that. The media is the most un-objective it's ever been and it's only getting worse. Do I really want to know Joe-blow's opinions from the CNN wiki? no

John Mayer, Oprah, Michelle Obama, FOX, and CNN. Not the most stellar team of informers out there. I think being connected can serve a purpose - but I don't know if getting "Left Behind" is really what's going to happen to people who don't embrace new technology. Left behind what? The goings on of Miss California? John Mayer's next bimbo date? Oprah? CNN or FOX coverage? Seeing all of those names together makes me cringe. ha

I have and use all of the different mediums you listed: Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, E-blogger, Flickr - Well some of them I don't use very much anymore (myspace/flickr). I even have all those Apps for my phone. But sometimes I just want to throw it in the trash too.

They definitely serve a purpose - I just don't know how important that purpose is. We'll see I guess.

P.S. *you can view this response on my blog and facebook* ;)

Target... Here we come!

Linz left this morning for her first day at Target. She was very excited and very tired. I am happy she has found something she wants to do. I'm also very proud of her. She is incredibly smart and driven. She is going to go far..... and I'm going with her!

"In the year 3000..."

"...YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook will merge into one super-time-wasting website called 'You Twit Face'." - Conan O'Brien

The Power of One Man

http://tr.im/niLF

(Thanks Stirman)

Chica-GO!

So we took a (very spontaneous) trip to Chicago. My friend Ashley suggested it last Monday, we bought some plane tickets a few hours later, and we were there less than one week later.

Even with less than a week's notice, Jay's good friend Chad and his wife Shana let us stay with them for two nights and got tickets to the Cubs' game. They were playing the Pirates. Chad is a Pirates' fan:

It was really cold (maybe 58...so not really Chicago-cold but definitely cold relative to Texas). And Mr. T sang "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." Me and Jay at the game:

We also met up with Jay's friend Aaron and his wife Jen, who just recently moved to Chicago from Houston, to eat Chicago pizza (one of the few things Jay insisted we do while there). They had a really cool apartment in Lincoln Park with an awesome view of the city from their rooftop deck:

The weather was hazy the whole time we were there. We went up in the Hancock building to wait out the rain at the bar on the top floor one day. Cool (hazy) view:

Jay at Union Station on the steps of the baby carriage scene in The Untouchables:

We rode the El (Jay called it the El Train and someone specifically told him that is wrong...I called it the Metro the whole time). No matter what you want to call it, why doesn't someone tell Houston that public transportation is amazing and efficient:

We drove out to the south side (Hyde Park) and saw some Frank Lloyd Wright Houses (and drove by where Obama lived). The Heller House (one of his "transitional" designs):

And from the porch of the University of Chicago's business school, the Robie House (full-blown "prairie" style; I'm listening to a free audio tour on my cell phone - you just call a number that's posted outside the house - I thought that was so smart):
We took an architectural boat tour, which is always fun. Chicago has so many cool and architecturally significant buildings that literally tell its history over the past hundred years. This is Marina City, residences built in the 1960s right off the river and definitely one of the funkier things out there. They definitely look like two giant corn cobs in the skyline:

And here's Jay with that bean thing in Millennium Park:

And here's me and Ash (who we stayed with the second two nights) in front of the skyline from across the lake:

So all-in-all, it was a really fun trip to see great friends and great sights. And although it makes me feel like Houston is really NOT interesting, it also makes me appreciate our cost of living!

Birthday Fun for Everyone

A little late on this but...

This year, Jay and I planned birthday parties for each other. Mine was at Chuy's. His was at Kelvin Arms. We also took the opportunity to test out the new camera that he got me for my birthday. Oh and I love that half the pictures from Chuy's are portraits of Jay and Patty that they took of each other (I left most out here). Way to document the evening fellas.

Nashville!

This last weekend I went to Nashville to watch my dad and sister run in the half marathon with the other 30,000 people who run in it - it's huge. Here are the runners nearly done with their 13+ miles:


Hudson skipped along with them for a few hundred feet. I'm sure next year he'll just run the whole thing.


Later that day, Hudson had a soccer game. I skipped out to finish a project for school, but he tells me he's pretty good.

The next day we had Hudson's birthday party (#5) at Glow Galaxy. Here we are after running around like crazy in this glow-in-the-dark place with jumpy things and mini-golf about to re-energize everyone with sugar before sending them home to unsuspecting parents. As you can see, the birthday boy gets a tie-dyed shirt so you can spot him in the glow-in-the-dark:


They really got the candles going on those cupcakes there. Opening presents:


Lucy and I sat in the car for a lot of it doing this:


A girl's gotta sleep. This pretty much sums up the weekend, though - exhausting. Hudson has always been an early riser, so things start early at the Johnson household and don't slow down. What I don't have picture proof of is when he climbed into my lap at dinner (voluntarily). He has never been cuddly (and Lucy's not much better - what's wrong with your uncuddly children, Kath?), but he was just so tired.

Thanks for hosting us in Nashville, Jared and Kath!

The Internet is Ruining Our Lives

Well, maybe not our lives...but at least part of our lives...like how we perceive friendship. You see, I had two very emotional experiences with my internet friends today.

First, I noticed on Facebook that one of my "friends" (ie a girl I had classes with in high school, hardly spoke to then, and haven't spoken to since) just got engaged. And I was so happy for her. Like seriously from the heart, felt joy for her. And then I thought, "Why?" I don't know this person. I don't know if this guy is any good for her or if I should feel happy at all.

Later, I was on Twitter and realized that someone I follow was no longer following me. This is the type of person who has like 300 followers and himself follows less than 30. I know I used to be one of those 30 - I was so hurt! He followed me first! Granted, I talk to this person very rarely and have little interest in his life...but he CONSCIOUSLY CHOSE to un-follow me - to kick me out of that 10% of his followers that he feels worthy of following himself!

These people are not my friends. But somehow the internet convinced me they were.

The internet did contribute positively to my day: I downloaded an image of a dollar bill to make these for Hudson:

Dinner with Jun and Jialin

My Chinese friend Jun invited us over for dinner with her husband Jailin and another couple/classmates for authentic Chinese food. Now this was one elaborate dinner. In China, you start with cold dishes:

Jellyfish (Raw! I tried it...very chewy...)

Bamboo Chutes (A little spicy. I liked it.)

And then we had an appetizer:

Mini Buns with Pork (NOT the same as dumplings or wontons because they have liquid in them. You have to bite a little hole in it and suck out the juice first.)

Then Jailin made 6 hot dishes for us. The way it works apparently is that he stays in the kitchen alone and brings em out when they're ready. He doesn't eat until the end. He made a spicy beef dish, Tokyo bomb (seafood over a rice cake), coddle fish, spicy catfish, cooked vegetables, amd tofu noodle thing. Those aren't necessarily what they called the dishes, but I really didn't know what some of it was.

And then we had a rice bun dessert. They were these little rice dumpling-ish ball things that had sweet paste in the middle.

Me & Jun

Chef Jailin

The Rest of the Group

Chinese Beer

Tea

And a little action:

It's your birthday...Linz

Doggie Jay Care

We have a house guest this weekend:


My parents were going to take Oscar to Doggie Day Care this weekend while they're gone, but I thought he should come to Doggie Jay Care instead since Jay and Oscar love each other so.

For those who don't know Oscar, he's four pounds of attitude. But I think we're having fun. We go outside:

We gave him a bath:

He's been relatively polite to the neighbors. He sleeps with us under the covers. He sits on my lap pretty much regardless of what I'm doing. But he'll go home tomorrow, and I think he'll be glad to see his person (ie the Giga).

I should add that Oscar might be the dumbest dog ever (you know it's true mother). For example, Jay moved a chair right by the bed so he could get in himself and tried to train him to jump onto it first...disaster.

Sweets

So after looking at pictures I've realized I need to get back on my eating routine. I definitely took a break for a while. Linz and I are horrible accountability partners. Especially Linz's weakness for ice-cream, chocolate, starbucks, baileys, pretty much anything sweet.

So last week before we left for the Panhandle - I was on the treadmill 4 days straight and I'm back on my eating schedule too.

J

George Robie

My mother's father was 92 when he passed away this last week. It's been a few days since the news and only now has it sunk in after seeing the memorial site my sister recently put up. http://grfmem.blogspot.com

When is was less than twelve I experienced both of my father's parents passing and my mother's mother passing. I don't really know how it affected me as a young pre-teen. I know many other people have experienced loss of fathers, mothers, brothers, and or sisters at an early age, but to that I can only hypothesize the affect or emotions.

My dad's father "Pa" as he was called was larger than life in my memory. I only knew him as a spoiled grandchild - and rightly so I guess. I never really knew much about him and still today I don't fully know much about the lives of any of my grandparents except my mother's father.

Not that I had a personal preference towards any of my grandparents. No. Not at all. I loved them all. It is the simple fact that he (George Robie or Grandad) was the only grandparent I knew as an adult. There were things I got to ask him that I never got the chance to ask the others. I guess it mostly had to do with age and stage of life, but that was my experience.

I remember when grandad used to stay in my eldest sister's room before his age had caught up with him. I came home from whatever function I was attending to a bald headed man asleep with his face buried in his Bible. I never got to the point where I talked spirituality/Christianity with my grandad and I figured he wasn't the type to open up too much on a topic like that. Besides - here was a man who had lived through the Great depression and been a paratrooper who jumped out of planes for pete's sake. I never had the courage to ask him about his time during WWII. I always wanted to, but I figured if he didn't talk about it then he didn't want to. I'm sure there were a lot of painful memories. Probably not all bad, but I didn't want to impose.

I also never got a chance to talk to him about my grandmother. I guess it kind of fell into the "WWII" category. He was a tenderhearted man as far as I could tell. I think the only two times I ever heard him speak of her name he cried. I think the main testimony to Grandad is the legacy of his grandchildren. He has so many. Not only so many, but so many who loved him so much. His room at the Pres. Village had countless pictures of his grand children and great grand children.

It feels so unreal to me. I feel like the trip Lindsay and I will be taking tomorrow could very well be back to Little Rock where we would pick him up and take him to the house so he could argue about smoking outside on the porch. Vantage was his cigarette of choice. Talk about brand loyalty. I never saw that man smoking anything else.

I think men/young guys or whatever you want to call guys like me around 26 don't like to feel or be seen in a vulnerable state. Ever since college I don't think I've really cried in sadness. I don't think my wife has ever seen my cry, but tonight I cried. I know that we are supposed to be happy that he is with Jesus and his wife again, and for that I am happy, but I will miss him.

For my Grandad: I love you.

J

25 Things

Seriously...who hasn't been tagged a dozen times for the "25 Random Things" thing? I don't even know how to write a note in Facebook, but since Kath just did hers on her blog, I figured I could finish mine on here (I actually started this awhile ago but it takes a long time to come up with 25 things about yourself).

1 - When I was about 4, my dad pulled out my sister's trundle bed on my foot and I had to get stitches. It's still the most serious injury I've ever had (I've always been the cautious type).

2 - I was a serious nose picker (we're talking to the point of bleeding people). I can remember picking my nose and hiding the boogers behind the pillows on that plaid couch we had in North Carolina so that my mom wouldn't know. Ewwww...

3 - When I was 5 or 6, I wanted to be a belly dancer for Halloween. My mom bought all the supplies to make my costume and I changed my mind because I was embarrassed to tell people I was going to be a belly dancer. So she made me a purple princess costume instead.

4 - The next year, I went as Lauren's poodle (she was a poodle skirt girl - I had originally wanted to be a poodle skirt girl, too, but she talked me out of it). My mom made me a killer costume, probably because she felt bad that Lauren had convinced me to go as her dog.

5 - I was in speech therapy because I couldn't say my Rs. My tongue still hurts if I think about it.

6 - I started taking piano lessons when I was 5. I begged my mom forever to let me quit. The recital that I literally sat at the piano and didn't know my song (and the teacher wasn't there to help get me through it) was pretty much the breaking point. She finally let me quit, but sometimes I wish she hadn't.

7 - In Kindergarten, we had nap time right before recess. I can only remember going to recess like once the whole year. I've always been a good napper.

8 - When I was in first grade, we moved back to Texas in the middle of the year. In North Carolina we had actual desks that had a little place to keep your pencils. In Texas, they just had tables, and everyone had pencil boxes...everyone but me. So I held my pencils all day...took them to lunch...took them to recess...hid them in my lap when we sat on the floor...because I was embarrassed that I didn't have a pencil box. I went home and made my mom take me to get a pencil box.

9 - In first grade I was also afraid to use the restroom at school. So I didn't. Ever. I held it all day until I got home. Had to learn to minimize liquids.

10 - I had a pet hairless rat named Templeton for several years.

11 - I'm incredibly afraid of roaches...to the point of tears. Something traumatic must have happened to me in my childhood but I've suppressed the memory.

12 - I've always been obsessed with having everything picked up and organized. I can remember in high school that my mom would come in and clean my room so that I could do my homework.

13 - For some reason in college, I learned my roommate Abby's social security number and would check her grades for her. I still know it.

14 - I've never tried to water ski and really have no desire to.

15 - My Indian Princess name was Dancing Firefly.

16 - My favorite alcoholic beverage is Bailey's Irish Cream.

17 - I get really lazy when it comes to food when Jay's not here. Tonight for dinner I had 2 hard boiled eggs, honey roasted peanuts, and french fries. I thought about going to Chik-fil-a but then realized I could find protein and fried crap without having to leave our apartment.

18 - I was finishing my first (and only) triathlon when Hudson was born.

19 - I'm terrified of breaking the rules. I don't like getting in trouble.

20 - I don't like coffee, so I drink Diet Dr. Pepper every morning instead.

21 - I didn't really like Jay when I first met him (he knows this). But I knew I was going to marry him before he knew he was going to marry me.

I quit. That's close enough.

The MOVIES!

Movies.

Man I love the movies. I love going to movies. I love the previews even.

I know I need to watch less T.V. and I also know I need to get outside and enjoy what God has made.

But, with that said. I still love going to a flick now and again. Or at least I used to.

How many times after two or three different advertisements during the previews concerning talking, cell phones, or just plain being distracting are there still people that answer the phone, talk loudly, or even talk to or about the movie (as if they think their personal commentary is wanted by the rest of the theater). Recently I had an old guy who actually fell asleep and SNORED. No lie - he was all bent over the chair and snoring! At a matinee!

I'm sure we have all had ridiculous stories of rude people in the theaters. Guys answering their phone saying "Hey man! ....... (pause) No I can talk - I'm just at the movies" - are you freaking kidding me?

Or people behind you kicking your chair - or the guy in the corner who can't get his candy open and is trying to do it slowly because he knows it's really loud. Just open the darn thing and get it over with.

So here is the latest happening:

Me and a couple of friends of mine decided to go to "The International" which is just a blah typical action film. About 35 minutes into the movie we start to see a couple of people walking around down at the bottom right of the theater. We were up in one of the top rows of this particular showing and after a few minutes of shuffling around we noticed what the commotion was all about.

There was an elderly woman probably in her early to mid 70's with a walker attempting to climb the stairs to a higher seat. She was accompanied by a friend who didn't appear to be much younger. It was dark... I couldn't see that well... give me a break... they were old. Inside my brain a few different questions began to arise:

1. Why is a 70-year-old woman going to see an action film? Not that there aren't any elderly women who don't like shoot'em'ups, but I would assume that's not an unfair assumption and so would also assume it wouldn't be a typical film an old woman would want to see voluntarily.

2. She's 40 minutes into the film and even if she's "with it upstairs" she's going to be confused. I was confused and I had been there from the beginning. So why did she pay to come so late?

3. Why would you choose to sit at the top of the theater (which is where they eventually "landed" - on our very row (2ncd from the top)) if you need a walker for level ground? By the way - we were not in the 10 row dollar theater - we were in the 1 million row AMC 30 humongous auditorium.

So after pondering this and after they initially settled - My friends and I put our attention back onto the confusing and slow movie. But, soon after they settled, we observed another problem. She was hard of hearing and being confused and probably near-sighted as well, she began to ask her companion questions about the film very loudly. Not loud like - "hey we are on the same row and people below us can't hear her it's cool" - I'm talking - the guys who work outside the theater at the concession stand could have answered her questions.... well maybe if they had seen the movie from the beginning.

So immediately one of my friends said "lets move" and we did. We could still hear her through the rest of the film. She was a funny Ol' gal - I'll give her that. She said some hilarious things. I would elaborate, but it would eventually be a "you had to be there" type of funny.

Oh yeah also - the guy who fell asleep and snored - it was during this movie too. To top that off - he did finally wake up to his phone ringing and he answered it.

I was at the 3:35 p.m. matinee showing - what else do I have to do to see a movie without the typical nonsense?

I'm sure the Old gal just loved going to movies as a young woman and maybe she wasn't near sighted but far sighted - I don't really know, but nevertheless.... WOW. And thanks old guy for paying to take a nap next to me. Wouldn't your couch at home be more comfortable and if anything else FREE?

Amazing: I am a magnet for this type of stuff. It's like all the anomalies wait outside until they see me coming and they all watch what movie I buy tickets for and then they come and sit on my row.

J

A Note on Toilet Paper

When Jay and I first got married and moved into our apartment, I spent a lot of time in the toilet paper aisle at the grocery store trying to figure out which specific type to buy. You see, we live in an older apartment, and that little niche where you put the toilet paper in the bathroom is too small to fit all those fancy double/triple/quadruple rolls. And I realized after spending all that time in the toilet paper aisle that there is no such thing as a normal, single roll.

So we tried buying all the skinny looking rolls. This was a very bad idea. I can recall Jay apologizing for one of his purchases because it was so awful - kind of like using notebook paper.

With all our product testing, we eventually discovered Cottonelle. And I will tell you what is so amazing about Cottonelle. It's not quilted or flowery - it's striped!

Graphically, this is so much more appealing to me...much more contemporary. I kind of feel as though all that quilted flowery toilet paper is dated. Everyone wants to get rid of the 80's floral wallpaper, so why is everyone OK with ugly paper products? Paper towels with roosters on them? Paper napkins with ugly flowers or teddy bears? Why do we need quilted? Why does no one change this?

And you might say this is a bit ridiculous for such small items that you don't spend much money on. But people spend a lot of time and energy picking out accessories that are of the same size that sit a few feet away on the counter. And you can buy well-designed, trendy shirts at Target that someone put a lot of thought into for about the same price as a pack of toilet paper. Consumers have just been conditioned to not care...that quilted is somehow better for us.

So if your home decor is not conducive to cottage-y, quilted accessories, I recommend trying Cottonelle next time you buy toilet paper. I think you'll feel good about it.

Money

I came across this today and felt convicted.

"Convicted" is such an easy phrase to throw around - it's easy to feel convicted isn't it? Maybe it's time we started applying our convictions from the Lord.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD LIFE?

The percentage of Americans calling themselves happy peaked in 1957 – despite the fact that consumption has doubled since. Having more does not then mean we enjoy life more – and yet consumption is increasing everywhere except in Africa, where the average household consumes 20% less than it did 25 years ago.

IF YOUR FAMILY INCOME 
IS AT LEAST                                          THEN YOU'RE AMONG THE TOP

$355,000                                                                                1%
 130,600                                                                                5
   93,800                                                                                10
   60,800                                                                                25
   33,400                                                                                50



Jeez

Hot, Sweaty Mess

I know I should be nicer to Jay when he's sick...but it's 2 in the morning and he's keeping me up. Not because he's up, but because he's sleeping so hard that he keeps saying really funny things in his sleep.

For instance, he was mumbling about having to cut down a tree or something and then very clearly said, "That REALLY is a good tree" (a la "Law and Order REALLY is a good show"...same tone).

And then he was mumbling something about who knows what and then sat up and said, "I really can't" so clearly and matter-of-factly that I thought he was awake.

And then I touched his arm and realized how hot and sweaty he was.

And then I realized the edge of my pillow that was touching his face was soaking wet either from drool or sweat. Either way, I figured to embrace my awakeness and leave hot, sweaty, mumbling Jay alone in bed...poor guy.