The chosen

I am currently in the middle of The Chosen by Chaim Potok. I was going to wait until I finished to give a review, but there are some real thought provoking ideas in the first parts of the book that I felt I needed to comment on before they are cold in my mind.

Summary,
This book is from the point of view of a 15 year old Jewish boy in Brooklyn during WWII. It starts out telling about a baseball game where he gets hit in the face with a line drive while pitching. He spends a week in the hospital because a piece of his glasses gets stuck in his eye. This experience, amoung other things, makes him realize exactly how much he has taken for granted in his life.

I had a similar experience about 2 years ago when my son was born. At first he looked extremely healthy and well developed, but we soon discovered that he had a somewhat rare condition where his rectum did not finish developing and had not created an opening where the feces could come out. This could cause a lot of problems if not taken care of immediately and so he and I were flown to Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City. I was feeling a little picked on when we discovered the problem. But after spending several days in the NICU and finding out that his condistion could have been much worse and that only a minor surgery was necessary to rectify the problem; I witnessed people with so many more difficulties than I had. As I looked at children that would probably never be able to leave the hospital, and then looked at my son, I was humbled. There is so much that I take for granted.

Reading this book reminded me of this experience, and how precious life is and how many wonderful blessings I truly do have, even if life is not perfect.

International Talk Like a Pirate Day

Today is International Talk like a pirate day! See this.
In honor of this glorious occasion I have posted my Pirate personality.


You are The Cap'n!

Some men are born great, some achieve greatness and some slit the throats of any man that stands between them and the mantle of power. You never met a man you couldn't eviscerate. Not that mindless violence is the only avenue open to you - but why take an avenue when you have complete freeway access? You are the definitive Man of Action. You are James Bond in a blousy shirt and drawstring-fly pants. Your swash was buckled long ago and you have never been so sure of anything in your life as in your ability to bend everyone to your will. You will call anyone out and cut off their head if they show any sign of taking you on or backing down. You cannot be saddled with tedious underlings, but if one of your lieutenants shows an overly developed sense of ambition he may find more suitable accommodations in Davy Jones' locker. That is, of course, IF you notice him. You tend to be self absorbed - a weakness that may keep you from seeing enemies where they are and imagining them where they are not.

What's Yer Inner Pirate?
brought to you by The Official Talk Like A Pirate Web Site. Arrrrr!

Me and my beautiful wife.

Me and my beautiful wife

First Try

This is my first try at a blog, so we'll see what comes of it. I will post whenever I feel like ranting or have something I consider to be important and hopefully this will make it so I don't bother my family so much with my opinions. ;-)