Ramble On…

Way back when it seems you never caught a guy without a comb in his back pocket.  I always carried a black one.  Why is it men don’t carry them any more?  Hair gel?  Dapper Dan…. you’ll get that if you say  ‘O Brother Where Art Thou!’

I like Van Morrison a lot.  I never listened to him at all until this past year as I figured he was that artist who had some hits back in the 60′s and 70′s.  When I learned he was a favorite of many I checked him out and fell in love with his music.  So via Amazon I’m buying some of his CD’s.  I’ve got about 20 right now.

That leads to another issue that’s music related.  I’m not in love with the digital revolution.  I like being able to put music onto my MP3 player but I still like having CD’s for inside the house and in my car.  And it’s impossible to buy CD’s these days that aren’t current.  So I use Amazon and pay about 3-5 dollars per CD with three of those dollars for S&H!  I don’t like the idea of having my CD collection set aside because of digital music especially as they last forever.

I love praise and worship music which I pretty much place in four categories.  Vineyard, Maranatha, Hillsong and Jesus Culture.  I found a website where I can get some of the old Vineyard stuff.  Their ‘Songs Of The Vineyard’ series is my favorite.  If interested you can check them out   HERE.  I’ve concluded that Vineyard is my favorite in the P&W category.  Your mileage may differ!

I’m a SyFy nut.  That started with the old series ‘Lost In Space’ and another titled ‘Time Tunnel.’  With “The Twilight Zone’ I fell in love with the story telling aspect of the genre.  Currently “Fringe” is my favorite show.  I like the creepy and unexplained with strong characters and story telling.  ‘Battlestar Gallacta’ may have done it best.  Other favorites are ‘LOST, Haven, Warehouse 13,  Star Trek and it’s spinoffs,  Merlin,  The Dead Zone,  Farscape,  Stargate SG1, Stargate Atlantis, Pushing Daisies, and Doctor Who.

I’m a big sports fan and it’s nice to see the magical appearance of Jeremy Lin in New York.  In the NBA you would have to give up a lot to get yourself a quality starting point guard.  To find one sitting on the end of the bench and close to being cut is stuff movies are made of.  I hope he flourishes and has a long career.

It was sad to read about Whitney Houston passing away.  What we’re seeing a lot of is the abuse of prescription drugs and they possibly played a part in her passing.  It’s been widely reported and discussed that she was taking Xanax.  If you don’t know it’s a pill to help treat anxiety.  When I first began having panic attacks they placed me on Xanax.  I was such a mess at that time I waited days before I took one of the pills.  Why?  I had concluded if I took that pill and it didn’t work all hope was lost for me.  So when I took it for the first time I had a panic attack.  I went back to the doctor and he was understanding and prescribed Klonopin.  Again I waited but when I took it I didn’t have an attack and I have been taking it since.

For me Klonopin has been a godsend. It allowed me to work several more years and has helped me through a lot.  I understand that Klonopin is not supposed to be seen a a cure for anxiety.  It’s to help you until you no longer need it.  In my life I’ve needed it as I haven’t gotten better as so many have.

I bring this up because I don’t want to see a backlash to where taking medication becomes a cause for stigmatization.  Sadly that stigma still exists and can be found in and out of the church.  I understand that there are abuses with medication and how easily it is dispenses but we have to guard against throwing the baby out with the bath water.  It will simply hurt too many people (one is too many) and drive others further into the shadows.  That can’t be allowed to happen.