Gettin' my church on.

Boingy boingy boingy!  Its Wednesday, March 28, 2012, every day I'm shuffling, and this is The Side.  I almost made it home yesterday.  One of the things you have to accept about the Tidewater area is that you're going to have to cross a bridge to get just about anywhere.  Unfortunately for me, the bridge that is the most direct way between my home and where I work is being replaced so I have to detour around into what is usually nasty traffic.  I managed to get through the nasty traffic, over the bridge I have to take.  I'm free and clear, and inside five minutes of the house, then the cell phone rings.


"The girls and I on on a play date, why don't you come meet us."


She didn't know I had already passed where they were, but I turned around and headed back into the traffic to go see my kids bounce around one of those inflatable places.  I still think those joints should all have big couches with a waitstaff bringing parents mimosas.

HOMECOMING

I came up in the church I teach Karate at.  Back them the majority of my family attended that church.  My best friends were at that church.  The Pastor was a really great guy who I thought a lot of.  It was a really pleasant experience for me.  Times changed.  Pastors get reassigned to different churches.  Folks get older and move away.


And some folks pass away.


I have a large family, and it seems that the only time we all get together is for funerals.  So, when the church that so many of us attended back in the day dedicated the new pew cushions in honor of my uncle who passed away last year, it was really great that so many of us were able to come back to the church.


I remember sitting down by the alter for "children's time" as a kid.  Last Sunday, I got to see my kids down in the same spot along with my nieces and little cousins.  My cousin Dustin who often had a spot right next to  is now a Pastor himself and delivered the sermon.


Then, as good Methodists, it was time for the pot luck lunch.  Pastor Penny said that Uncle Buddy's family were going to get to go first, at which point I, knowing my family well, added "There won't be any food left."  Wasn't uncommon for someone to pipe up with some goofy comment in church and it usually came from someone in my family.  Traditions are important, don't ya know.


I ran into my Dustin in line and we got a glance at the food for the pot luck.  I remarked that I had a chat with a friend who is an atheist who asked me what sets Methodists apart from other branches of Christianity.    "We have better pot lucks."


And without missing a beat, Dustin responded, "And we'll talk to you in the ABC store."


Dustin's son quickly got a hold of me to look over his latest cartooning efforts.  He's on the right track, so I gave him a critique and few pointers.  This was in between chowing down on some incredible food and don't even get me started on the desserts.  Pretty sure a put on a few pounds.


There's these times that strike just the right amount of nostalgia and yet give us a great appreciation for growing up and seeing the wonderful things that come from potential.  Giggly kids meeting people and finding out that they're family.  Seeing a next generation hanging out with each other just like their folks used to in the same place.


It was a get together for a great reason and a lot of fun, before we all had to scamper off to meetings and birthday parties and the like.  It was a really great day.


And congratulation to Salem United Methodist Church because after 150 years they finally got cushions for the pews.

MOVIES!!!

Was watching CELEBRITY APPRENTICE and saw one contestant "singing" and sounding horrible and them a producer turned it into something listenable.  Them I heard some of the other contestants singing without a fancy producer and just sounding great.  When you need someone else to make you sound good, you probably shouldn't have a singing career.  Here's some guys who keep it real.





That'll do it for me.  I'll see y'all Friday.

In Loving Memory

Its Wednesday, July 13, 2011 and this is The Side. The world has suffered a loss this week. I'm sorry if this post isn't as fun as I usually try to make these, and I am going to probably be a little incoherent here. So again, sorry.

GOOD-BYE UNCLE BUDDY

My Uncle Buddy passed away this week. He was 73. He was truly one of the best men I've ever had a privilege of knowing. Everyone who knew him loved him. When he used to sell real estate he was known as "The Happy Man", and that's what he was. No matter what he would always be there with a smile. He was always doing something. Even when he was diagnosed with Parkinson's and it took a heavy toll on him, he never let that cast a shadow over him.

He saw the best in everyone, even when they weren't their best. I remember we were having a banquet for his youngest son who was going into the ministry, and Buddy was saying a few words, and he said, "Dusty was always a good boy..." and before he could keep going Dusty's wife went "PFFFT!" trying with all her might to stifle laughing herself silly. It was at this point that one of Buddy's other sons chimed in, "Wait. Who are we talking about?" Dusty had been a bit of a hellion in his teenage years, but after a serious car accident turned himself around. But that was Buddy. Of course he knew about about his son's past, but what he saw in his son was what he saw in us all: a good person.

Buddy was always busy too. Not too busy for friends and family, but when you came across Buddy he was doing something. Always fixing something, or doing something for the church. He really was a jack-of-all-trades it seemed. Time that wasn't spent working was spent being active with those he cared about.

He always enjoyed a good laugh, even if people were laughing at him. I have to say I've seen my uncle in probably one dress too many. That may be balanced out by the time in the leopard print loin cloth. And of course when we had a Hawaiian themed birthday party for my mother-in-law, he was the one that somehow ended up in the coconut bra.

There's countless stories about him and they all lead us to one statement about my uncle: he loved life and knew how to live it well. He really was one of the good ones and the world would be a better place if everyone was a bit more like him. I love my uncle. He always believed in me and seemed to always be waiting patiently for me to do something great that would make my mark on this world. I dearly wish I had done something to fulfill the promise he always saw in me.

MUSIC!!

My uncle was a good old boy, so its time for some good old boy music. Here comes The Possum!



I'll be back here Friday. Hopefully there's some comics waiting for me this week. See y'all then.

Po Po, Pop Pop, Round the World, and Ain't Gonna Stop!

Hey folks, its Wednesday, August 11, 2010 and stuff is afoot. So, not much clever to say for our opener today. Just that hard times made hard people. And hard people don't quit.

THE KINFOLK

My aunt and uncle had their 50th Wedding Anniversary last weekend. I'm not sure why they would have such a thing on a UFC night, but they went and did it anyways. Seriously though, they are great people, and it was a great party.

Its not often enough that so much of the family gets together. Since my grandfather passed away years ago our annual picnic stopped happening. But in seeing everyone it got me thinking a lot about my family. At dinner we chatted quite a bit about the wonders of genetics and how my uncle's bald spot had found its way onto each of his three sons. And we looked the next generation growing up and marveled a bit about their features and seeing old pictures of their parents and grandparents and how similar they look was a remarkable thing.

Then there's the features that don't really come from genetics. Being to only one adopted into the family I see those quite a bit. I get credited a bit with having clever things to say, and that comes from family. Those people are some of the quickest wits you are going to come across. Something happens when you get around clever people. Its like your brain realizes that it needs to speed up because cool stuff is happening and being said. And its not that ridiculously forced witty banter like some Kevin Smith knock-off flick. Its a bunch of people with a loving bond and interesting lives and experiences who don't mind laughing about it. Its teasing with love where everybody including the person getting teased can laugh.

I spent some time at the bar with my cousins and brother, and how do we measure how each other are doing in our lives? Checking out our bellies. The newest fellow to get married into the family wasn't sure what was up. See, he didn't have to get by my grandfather to get in. That was the acid test. You got your nickname, got made fun of, and took your turn grinding the bar-b-q at the annual picnic and pig pickin' and you were in. So we checked out his belly, and it doesn't look like he's put on too much baby weight since him and my cousin had a little girl recently.

For the record, I'm still working on losing the last on my baby weight. But it was twins, so... y'know.

The checking of guts came a bit from my Grandfather. Like when my cousin John Jr. stopped in for a visit to find Pop having a beer in the garage. That's where the family drinks. If you can get a car in there, that's fine, but really garages are for drinking beer. John had completed Harvard Law School and doing well for himself.

Pop: "Looks like you're gettin' a belly on you."

John: While rubbing his stomach. "Well Pop, that's called 'success'."

At which point my uncle walked around the corner.

Pop: "Then your daddy must be the richest, damn man in North Carolina."

I also realized last weekend that it was impossible to take a decent picture of me between the ages of 13 and 18. I had to be the least photogenic teenager ever. Not that I'm photogenic now, but putting on 50 pounds since high school did help. When you're 6'1" and a 135 pounds, ya just don't look right.

But looking my my past, at the same time I got to look at the future. Got to see the next generation of the family and they're growing up. Little girls becoming young ladies. A boy who I remember holding as a baby is now coming into his teenage years and was thrilled with me because he's a budding comic book artist. By co-incidence I had my old copy of "How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way" in my car which I passed on to his his father, my cousin, to give to him. Everyone had that book. Felt pretty good to pass it on.

And there's that cousin who just had a little girl. There's a picture of all my generation of the family. John thinks it was taken at Pop's, but I'm pretty sure it was taken at my aunt and uncle's house. John called it the 'magic picture'. He was still in his teens. I was a little kid, and Page, the new mom, was barely able to stand up under her own steam. I saw that picture for the first time in a long time last weekend. And I looked around and though about how we all grew up.

We did pretty damn good at it.

HUG A COP!

There's a sentiment that I see popping up here and there: I hate cops.

There's people railing on about how all they do is abuse power. That there are no good cops. One even called them no better than a group of rapists.

You know who typically puts forth those type of statements? The people who do illegal crap. They get a chip on their shoulder because they got a speeding ticket. They get pissed off because they got a bit too drunk and got into trouble. The officer is the jerk, in their minds, because they got busted smoking weed. Had a buddy get a DUI and everyone was saying how the cop was an "asshole" for giving it to him. The cop didn't give him beer and put him behind the wheel.

Had a run in with a cop years ago. My cat had gotten out of the apartment and I was out looking for him. After looking for a while I I was approached by a cop who asked what I was doing. I told him and he told me that there were reports of a guy in a camouflage jacket peeking into windows. Well, I was wearing a green pullover with a design on it that could have been mistaken for camouflage at night I suppose. But I explained the situation, and had my ID showing I lived there, so after watching me a bit he moved on. I felt kind of bad that people thought I was looking in windows.

Then I rounded the corner. There was the cop with a guy in a camouflage jacket handcuffed and sitting on the curb. "How would you feel if someone was looking in your window."

I didn't feel too bad after that.

I'm no angel, but I love cops. I've gotten more than my fair share of tickets. Was it their fault? Of course not. If anything they were really cool about the whole matter. Those people are out working to protect and serve people. And sure their are bad police out there, and unfortunately those are the ones that end up on YouTube or the news. But for every bad cop out there, there's ten good ones.

So next time you see a cop, do what I do: smile and say "Hey, how's it goin'?" Because they're out there doing a thankless job that makes things better for us.

And for everyone reading this who thinks I'm wrong in my opinion and that all cops are bad: you're full of crap.

COMIX!!

For those of you that don't know, over in Duckburg, life is like a hurricane. SCROOGE MCDUCK: AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 BUCKS hits the stands this week from BOOM Studios. BOOM's kids line of comics knocks it out of the park pretty consistently, and is always a good bet whether you're buying for a kid, or just remember DUCK TALES from your childhood and want to see some more fun and adventures.

Poor old Donald Duck is flat broke and can't afford a vacation while his nephews are off at camp. He gets a phone call from his Uncle Scrooge offering a free vacation. There's of course a catch. Scrooge has made a bet that he can go around the world hitting various tourist sites for only $80. One of his very wealthy acquaintances was bragging about his yacht and an extravagant trip he'd be taking. Scrooge, ever the hard worker and spend thrift, thought that such a trip was a waste of money. Words were exchanged and the bet was on.

So, can two very clever ducks make it around the world on a budget that would barely get most folks across the state? Grab the book, find out, and enjoy the ride.

MUSIC!!

Who's up for a redneck good time?



This train is gonna keep on rolling. See y'all on Friday.