My wish came true!

On June 24, I blogged about a T-shirt I saw that I admired. It read "What would Sagan Do?"

When I got in from the gym last night, Becky was gone to her class (She's getting a Master of Education at Hamline). I rounded the corner, and there hanging on the door was this shirt (Becky got it for me).

I'd like to say that Sagan would be kicking ass and handing out bubble gum (and he's all out of bubble gum, of course), but Sagan would teach us to be better people, to think about our carbon footprint, that morality is a much deeper subject than what our species does when naked - and I bet he'd smile at my hydroponic tomatoes.

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I finally got my 4th monitor back

Some how, I have convinced my bosses boss that I need four monitors. It's true. I mean, it's true that I really need four. I work with so many different applications and photos open at the same time, that being able to move things to different monitors and see them at a glance - It's nirvana. I am so much more productive this way. However, one of them died a few weeks ago. It's replacement finally arrived. So, here they are in all of their wonderful LCD glory.

You know what I hate?

I hate the little stickers they put on fruits and vegetables. I used to think they were completely useless, but now it turns out that it would be a really good idea for them to have barcodes. I almost used the example of the tomato salmonella poisoning scare, but it looks like there never was really a tomato problem.

Nonetheless, I hate it when I slice up an apple and forget to remove the sticker. I guess if I paid more attention when I washed the apple, I could remove it. However, I often end up chewing on a sticker.

I joined Facebook yesterday

I joined Facebook yesterday, and received an education. While I was signing up, it gathered up a bunch of people's photos and said something like, "You might know these people. Add them to find out."

The education came the following morning. Apparently, when you add a large group of people that you want to investigate later (to see if you know them), it sends a message to all of them telling them that you want to be their friend.

I'm a friendly guy, so I probably do want to be their friend, but how embarrassing is that? Now, a crowd of people are scratching their heads wondering, "Who the hell is Kenny Bellew and why does he want to be my friend?"

It's kind of like Classmates.com, which will send you an email telling you, on a very regular basis, that someone has "Signed your guestbook." The truth is, someone just clicked on your link on Classmates- probably because I have a photo posted and they wanted to see if they know me. They had no intention of signing my guestbook. They didn't leave me a message. There was no well-wishing going on. However, Classmates very cleverly tells you this so you will sign up to see who has signed your guestbook. Because, that's the only way you will know. Clever. Deceitful. Making them tons of money I'm sure.

Facebook is pretty cool though. I was surprised at how the social networking is setup. They really make it easy to network and make new friends.

James Dobson on Obmama's religious rhetoric

Click to enlarge photo



Months ago, I noticed Obama's rhetoric on the separation of church and state, and I liked his wording. I even sent an email to several religious friends and family members to say that I liked how this Christian seemed so level-headed on this topic. I thought, "Here's a guy who understands the dangers of letting religion into politics." Obama said the following:

"Which passages of scripture should guide our public policy? Should we go with Leviticus, which suggests slavery is OK and that eating shellfish is an abomination? Or we could go with Deuteronomy, which suggests stoning your child if he strays from the faith? Or should we just stick to the Sermon on the Mount?"

To me, it was obvious that his point was not that Christians wanted to use these Old Testament Mosaic laws in government. His point was that once you let religious laws guide our law making, you open the door for all sorts of distorted possibilities. For one thing, you open the door to laws that support one branch of Christianity and not another. It potentially infringes on freedom of religion- not enhances it.

The same part of the Bible says that homosexuals should be put to death. I personally know Christians who, while they might not say death, would certainly support laws against homosexual rights because of this. That's just one example of how it could be applied. It also says you can be put to death for breaking the Sabbath. This has created blue laws in many states about what business can be open on Sundays. The Old Testament also commanded that people who build "graven images" be put to death. Or, taking the Lord's name in vain- You would be put to death. It also states that you can sell your daughter into slavery and provides many, many accounts of God-authorized genocide.

My own hope is that people will become aware of what's actually in the Old Testament. How can Christians get so bent on condemning people who don't believe the Bible should be taken as literally true when it is filled with such disgusting morality in its foundation?

I get so tired of people who think that they are morally superior because they only engage in "traditional sex". Morality is such a bigger topic than what happens when you're naked. Genocide, slavery, the emancipation of women - now those are moral issues that people should pay attention to. Avoiding war, repairing our planet, finding cures to disease and starvation - These are moral issues.

Nonetheless, people will listen to James Dobson. He will convince them that Obama's mentioning passages in the Bible that put Christianity in a bad light makes him an enemy of morality. However, I think people are getting smarter. I think it's going to cause more of them actually to read and consider what's in their Bible, and say, "Hey, did you know this crap is in here?"

I found the cartoon image HERE.

What would Sagan do?

I saw this t-shirt today, and I want it. "What would Sagan do?" While he was here, he tried to tell us what we should do, but we were too slow to hear.

I saw the shirt for sale HERE.

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George Carlin Dead at 71

I remember sitting in my car in my high school parking lot- the car was packed with my friends, and we were listening to George go on about the words you couldn't say on TV. We were laughing so hard we were crying. Thanks for the laughs, George.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE GEORGE CARLIN VIDEOS

7 Habits of Happy People

I saw this on another blog, and I think it's worthy of being passed along.

Highly Happy People share 7 very obvious habits. If you’re looking to expand your general happiness, you may consider adopting these habits in your own life.

1. Be part of something YOU believe in
2. Spend time with family and friends
3. Focus always on the good
4. Use YOUR resources and talents fully
5. Always leave things on a good note.
6. Have projects, and get them done
7. Enjoy life's simple pleasures

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Kenny in 1978

I was hunting for a book, and I ran across my high school yearbook from 1978. I was a freshman. I started reading some of the things that people had written in my yearbook, and then I remembered something that happened that day during yearbook signing. My girlfriend wrote something bizarre. You just have to read it. Here are some of the things people wrote in my yearbook.

"Kenny, you are a sweet, nice, good looking, funny, cool, weird... whatever. Stay the way you are! Watch yourself this summer. Love, Margie Overland."

"Kenny, You are a very sweet guy and I hope to see you in the future. Love ya, DeAnna Sisk"

Kenny, You are a good friend. I hope we stay good friends. Love ya! Sandra Ward."

"To a real sweet guy that will always be my friend. Stay cute. Love, Kelly Stelthing"

"Kenny, Your a real sweet and good-looking guy. Keep in touch Okay! Michelle Gardner"

"Kenny, to a very sweet and cool guy. Love always, Karen Reams."

But the following was the best one, because it was from my girlfriend. If you read it carefully, you'll see that it was my first "dear John" letter. See if you catch it.

"Kenny, To a guy I loved. Hope to see you in the future and summer too. Hope we can be together each day. Loved you. Love, Kathy Bidwell. Always."

We were standing in the high school parking lot on the last day of class. People were signing yearbooks. I had passed mine around to a few people. So had she. Then, we signed each other's yearbook. I don't remember what I wrote in her's, but it was probably mushy.

We exchanged yearbooks, and I opened mine to read what she had written. "Loved you?" I asked. "What do you mean, 'loved you'?"

Apparently, it meant "It's not you, it's me" and "Let's see other people." We broke up right there. Who breaks up with their boyfriend by signing his yearbook "Loved you?"

So, I opened my yearbook and read what some of the other girls had written. Apparently, "I'm a very sweet and cool guy."

The summer of 78 was a lot of fun.