Well, I've found a way to help Amy cope with me being a raving lunatic while watching the Spurs...surround her with 19, 216 other raving lunatics.

I look fairly normal.

Great time at the Spurs game last night. Amy suffered through my insanity, the loud clapping guy in the "unabomber seat" (I'll have to explain that some other time) and the onset of some viral crud she has contracted.

The things we do for love...and free tickets.
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Some things we do for money...The ratings are out. They're up. I'm employed...for another 12 weeks.
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Norman Mailer's wisdom from the New York Times today:
We went to war just to boost the white male ego
"With their dominance in sport, at work and at home eroded, Bush thought white American men needed to know they were still good at something. That's where Iraq came in..."

He gets paid to write stuff like that....I do this for free. You're getting a bargain.

Anyone interested in reading the rest of his piece go to the Times online....if you want something more meaningful in your life than Norman Mailer click this website.
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Surviving "Armageddon"

In 1996 or '97 I was in a book store in Dayton, Ohio looking for something to read during our annual trek to Lake Erie. I was perusing the Christian fiction area which, as it is in most book stores, was about the same size as the trunk of a rear-ended Yugo. My stepson Joey was with me and suggested I look for a book called "Left Behind". I remember at the time he said, "I think there are two books in the series actually". Having such a vast selection to scan, I found "Left Behind" and its sequel and bought them both giving no thought to the fact that the remaining contents of the Christian fiction section could now fit in that Yugo's glove box...with room for gloves.

"Hi, my name is Michael...I am a Left Behinder"

It's 2003...I am still reading these books, the latest being "Armageddon" which I think is number 663 in the series. Now ( with apologies to my niece Sarah who is in need of a "Left Behind" series intervention ) I must say these are not well written books. I breezed through the first couple because they moved very swiftly. With each subsequent book I have increasingly felt like I was reading them out of a sense of obligation more than desire. Every triple spaced page seems to drag a bit more than the last. The latest book crawls at a pace only rivaled by that old woman in front of you in the grocery store check out line at four minutes before kickoff on Superbowl Sunday who forgot her glasses and is looking for correct change to pay for the anal suppositories you've been trying desperately to avoid seeing.

The "Left Behind" books are based on the 'pre-trib' theology. God is going to call some of us home before the "Tribulation". Prior to reading these books I didn't really know if I was a "pre-tribber" "mid-tribber" or "post-tribber". Now that has changed. I'm definately a Premie. This attitude wasn't adopted because of the case made in the Left Behind series. I have latched onto it out of necessity. Even though the latest book is entitled "Armageddon", it's quite obvious there are still more to come.

I pray for "The Rapture" fervently now.

"Father God, I beseech Thee. Take me away...before I have to read the next one."