Miscellaneous Thoughts

Of which several feel like déjà vu. <sigh> Such is life…

I need to go Zuma Beach more often.

So far I'm really enjoying the new DuckTales, though I still have difficulty understanding what Donald Duck is saying.

I caught several episodes of Milo Murphy's Law, which included:

--I Like Big Boats and I Cannot Lie on the marquee in front of the school,

--A reference to Laugh-In's dancing Goldie Hawn, and

--A reference to Walk This Way from Monty Python.

How have I not been watching this show before now?

You remember the Hurricane Relief telethon from a while back? My favorite musical moment was Have a Little Help performed at the Grand Ol' Opry. I'm here for a Darius Rucker-Demi Lovato-Brad Paisley-CeCe Winans concert. Imagine, if you will, a few songs after CeCe's His Eye is On the Sparrow duet with a surprise guest, Brad Paisley strolls onstage to join her for How Great Thou Art. Here. For. IT.

But seriously though,

If you bring up the violence in Chicago as a response to any thing

You best immediately follow up with 1) how it is relevant to the topic you possibly may have hijacked and 2) your solutions.

And no, declaring 'their strict gun laws don't work'

without acknowledging the effects of differing gun laws in neighboring municipalities and states

does not satisfy condition #1.

Say No to the sound bite. Say Yes to being constructive. You know my mot-to

Do the Hard Work.

I love that in the movie Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, all of the bands have female drummers.

There's a Tremors 5. According to the TV guide, it was released in 2015 and set in South Africa. And yes, Michael Gross is in it.

At Target the other day, I noticed some of the mannequins were actual normal human woman size. And I rejoiced…until it occurred to me that what to my eyes is normal human woman size might be considered 'plus size' in their eyes. Then I was sad and mad but mostly mad.

One of these days I'm going to learn how to cook a steak to medium rare. Today is not that day.

The ice cream recipe says whipping cream + milk + other stuff. So naturally, when I use only whipping cream + other stuff, I am amazed – Amazed! – at the notion that I literally iced cream.

<Spoiler Alert!>

Happy to know I wasn’t' the only one who said, Wait – is that Azula fire? when the zombie dragon decimated The Wall on Game of Thrones.

<end Spoiler>

Remember the hurricane that devastated Houston and surrounding areas? And the one that devastated parts of Florida? Remember how you gave to support the folks there? Well, it'll take months, if not years, to rebuild. Keep giving.

Also keep in mind Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, and where ever else disaster has devastated and people are in need (the fires in Montana come to mind).

Christian Fam, this means your offering for the next few months will go to helping people affected by several different calamities. If you regularly attend church, your tithe still goes there, but your offering, which is in addition to your tithe, will likely skip the building fund for a while (unless your church house has been directly affected).

If you don’t live in an affected area, look for local charities who have their feet on the ground (for example, food banks). International/Territorial giving might be a bit trickier, but I think there are stateside organizations which are collecting funds and distributing services and supplies to help the people in these places.

For situations like Vegas, you might need to start setting aside funds for the inevitable requests for help with medical bills and/or funeral expenses. A lot of people were injured; a lot of people were killed. Taking care of business is not cheap.

As always, pray first and listen to where God leads you. And as with all donations to organizations or individuals, vet everything.

There are some who are upset by those who demand more than offers of 'thoughts and prayers'. There are some who claim such critiques are calls to abandon God.

These folks have forgotten that Rev. Dr. King, along with others, did not solely pray. In addition to prayer, they acted.

If you have power and/or influence, prayer is not the only thing required of you. You are also to use the power and/or influence you have for the betterment of the people.