Boys will be Boys.............

What does our world say to us. I know as I look at my daughters world she will have to deal with ideas that pertain to whether she is Pretty enough, thin enough, sexy enough. How she navigates this world will ultimately come from her. I hope that I can help with that. Now what does our world say to me and my fellow males? Are you tough enough, big enough, strong enough? The questions and the pressures are no less than our female counterparts, but they are extremely different. I dont remember when I realized that I was being judged by my fellow males about who I was and who I was to be. Early on I saw that there was a pecking order of sorts. If you were bigger and stronger you were the first to be picked for the team. But if you were smaller and weaker you waited, hoping you werent the last to be chosen. Though all may not have experienced the same lesson the feeling is exactly the same. Do you measure up. Because we are more physical by nature(though there are exceptions), early on Boys test other boys. They grapple, poke, prod, tease.......they are attempting to figure out who is the Alpha male. Though we may not all partake in this game, we all do know what is at stake. What is it that makes us play, but more importantly, what is it that takes some to the outer edge ?

Sticks and Stones..................

Part One


"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names can never hurt me."

We all remember this little diddly. Isnt it interesting how wrong it is. Violence is so much more than physicality. Some of the worst violence we know is the type that tore a strip off our spirit. The words of a loved one or rival that hit at our most sensitive part did much more damage than any punch could ever do. I am going to post a series over the next little while on Violence. I am going to try and explore and explain how it has shaped me and my worldview, both for the good and for the bad. I would love to hear from others on their experiences.

HELP, what are the rules?

So I have been blogging for about a year now and I am wondering are there any rules to abide by? I mean if I get on a blog and someone posts a post, is it fair game to respond to it. Also is it fair game to respond to the responses of that post? Are public posts sometimes private? Should I refrain from leaving a response to a comment about a post in case I may offend the responder to that post? I mean there seems to be so many variables that I'm wondering if someone has the answer. I sometimes feel that I have stepped over some imaginary line and I cant step back. Help me, I've fallen and I cant get up. PLEASE oh Great moderator of the Blogging World, Give me the TRUTH!!!!!

Im Certain of my Uncertainty.

Grant me the serenity,
to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can
and the wisdom to know the difference.


I accept the fact that I cant know it all. I wish I could. Why am I here? What is the purpose of my life? Who/what created me? These questions seem to invade my thoughts on more than one occasion and not only that but I seem to be attracted to people who think they know the answers. Christians, Atheists, Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, it seems there are many people in the know. How do they do it? How do they keep a straight face when saying that "their" belief is the right way? I wonder why so many of us need to know for certain and are not comfortable enough with the mystery that life is. Here's a prayer for all from my daughter and I.

We will win,
Why, we'll tell you why.
Because we have faith, courage and enthusiasm.
G-d, thank you for this day,
bless our mothers and fathers
and help us have another wonderful day tomorrow.
Amen.

We are off! (Almost)

Great idea!! I think me and the wife will follow Doug and his wife. Rawk, we'll see you in a week.

That really is a F.....g Bear!!

This post was inspired by my blogging friend Yael. She was reminiscing about things she had done in her life and I decided to share this amusing story. During my teenage years I was heavily involved in wrestling. At one point I was actually pretty good. Mind you in this instance it was obvious that my Testosterone far outweighed my talent. Passing through town one weekend was a small "Wrestling troupe", kind of like a tiny version of WWE. Also included with the so called "real" wrestlers, they had a "wrestling bear" and if anyone out there was brave(stupid) enough they could come up and challenge it. Well this is where I decided that I could take on the bear. I was 15 and chalk full of Bravado and minus a few brain cells. Reminds me of the joke, "Instant Idiot, just add testosterone." So before my rational brain could kick in, I jumped into the ring. There was a hardy round of applause. I guess everyone but me knew what was about to happen. The trainer in the ring informed me about no punching or kicking. Of course I knew that, I was an Olympic wrestler, just the suggestion was offensive. He then proceeded to tell me what the bear could(would) do to me. I was undaunted, afterall I was undefeated up to that point of the year. Well, here I was standing 15 feet away from a real live bear, though it was muzzled and declawed it was quite an imposing figure. My first thought was, "Oh my G-d, thats a fu..... Bear. So here I wade into battle, the bear reaches out with its paw to grab me and Wham it strikes me in the nose. Just as quickly as I realize Im bleeding the freaking thing now has me by the neck and is pulling me quickly to the ground. In my delusional mind I believe I can stop it but I fail to consider that it outweighs me by 300 pounds and quickly I am face down and pinned. The trainer comes over and then gets the beast off of me. Ah the joy of youth. Makes for some lasting impressions to say the least.

We're in Traffic

So I have been having many discussions with my 12yr old daughter lately and I marvel at how much she has grown. I did get a little wistful of those younger years that seem to pass us by so quickly. I thought I would share this humorous story.

My daughter and I were in the car a while back having a discussion on G-d and the idea of heaven. I remarked that I believe we can create both a heaven and hell on earth and that its not some far away place. I remarked that I thought we were in heaven today. We slowly started coming to a stop because of the backup of traffic. It was at that moment that my daughter said, "No daddy, were not in heaven, we're in Traffic!!" Have a nice day.