Props

to my wife for fixing up my blog with Dallas Mavericks colors. She's the bomb.

It's the Most Wonderful Time

Who doesn't love the holiday season that is descending upon us? It's the best! I love this time of year. Starting off with Thanksgiving, the Macy's Day Parade, the football, the turkey, the football, Christmas shopping the next day, the football, the decorations, and of course, the great holiday traditions! The cool thing for Jesse and I this year, is that we get to start our own (which really just means we continue the ones from our families that we cherish the most).

Here are a few of mine:

- Everyone must start, of course, with the old tannenbaum. Ornaments and lights are key, but often it's the oft-overlooked tree skirt that really ties it all together. Although, I am opposed to tinsel. I prefer multi-colored lights/common ornaments to the more stuffy, one color/one-ornament-repeated tree. Some of my fondest holiday memories are laying on the floor of the living room with the family, lights off, listening to Christmas music, and watching the lights sparkle on the ceiling.

- I LOVE Christmas lights on the house. The cooler it looks, the better. Also, driving in the car to check out lights in the fancy neighborhoods is great.

- Christmas movies are a must. My two favorites are White Christmas and It's A Wonderful Life. Jesse loves A Christmas Story, which is also good (it better be since she quotes it year-round).

- Finally, Christmas food. Gingerbread cookies, hot chocolate (check out the Chantico at Starbucks), etc. Two family favorites are my mom's WORLD FAMOUS sugar cookies and also chocolate peanut butter balls (buckeyes for Bob's sake).

Yep, I'm pretty sure the holiday season, in all its glory, is upon us. What are your favorite holiday traditions?

And just because I can...

If genius was directly proportional to brain size.
















And if I was an alien, I might wear sweaters and look like this. Notice Alien Nick refuses to shave as well.

Photo Booth Rocks

Hitting yourself in the face is totally sweet. But it is twice as sweet when you do it twice... AT THE SAME TIME!!! In related news, I turn 12 next month.

Parody

Here's my top seven, because I can't seem to get them in to Bob on Sunday night. Sorry Brother. Of course, considering our lists looks pretty similar, maybe I should be apologizing for plagiarism. I'm so glad Texas lost. If Auburn didn't deserve to be ranked that high, neither did Texas.

1. Ohio State - can't wait until next weekend's game

2. Michigan - should be wishing they could wait for next weekend's game

3. Notre Dame - I'm staying on this bandwagon. They will beat USC, and play Michigan in the Rose Bowl? Can that happen?

4. Arkansas - there is only one SEC team that plays consistently good every week (except the USC game, I know, I know). The adage that the best teams don't play down to the level of their competition is the difference between this team and Florida.

5. USC - sure, why not?

6. Florida - If it wasn't for that extra inch to one DL's freakishly long arms, this team would have joined my beloved Tigers in the two-loss category. South Carolina also played their best game of the year. Coach Urban has is all wrong. Let Leak play only first downs, and the let Tebow go the other three.

7. Rutgers - sigh. If they beat WVU...



Auburn fans, especially those tired of B. Cox, remember this name: Kodi Burns. His coach says he can throw the ball 74 yards. He does a few other things well, too.

It's (NOT) Great to be an Auburn Tiger

At least not today. Brandon Cox is underwhelming. The entire offense is underwhelming. I thought they were supposed to have more than 8 plays on offense by now. Their bread and butter against Georgia appears to be running it up the middle, pitching it to the side, reverse to Courtney Taylor, and the play that works everytime, the one where Brandon Cox throws it to the other team.

In a related story, guess what team will not be in my top seven this week. Go ahead, guess.

I also think it stinks that Rutgers beat Louisville. The Ville broke my heart. I was on, then off, then wanted back on, and then the wagon blew up. Sigh.

And finally, the Mavs won their first game, against the Suns. If this was last year, I'd be happy about that. This year, it seems to matter less. Check out the Sports Guy's coverage of this crazy fall in sports. NCAA basketball fans beware, I don't think you can escape the madness, and it's not March.

Amerianity Must Be Stopped

Well, I've been feeling a bit like Jeremiah lately. This fire in my bones has been itching to be let out, what with the massive amount of political discussion currently taking place. When it reaches your fantasy basketball league, you know it's a big deal. I mean, is nothing sacred?

On a serious note, things have gotten out of hand, and I am NOT talking about the Democrats taking over. The picture above captures it perfectly. The rainbow - God's promise, His first covenant with mankind, that he would never again destroy His creation like He did in the flood. The steeple - the great symbol of Western Christendom. The American Flag - the great symbol of ... American Christendom?

American Christians vote republican, right? At least, the ones who hold to the right doctrine do. Those crazy liberals might vote democrat, but not us down here in the South. We stand for what's right. But what is right?

I'm sick of seeing voting booths in our churches. Can we vote to have voting somewhere else? I'm sure that there have been many parallels over the years to draw a line from Jesus clearing the moneychangers out of the temple to various ecclesial practices, but I'm going with voting in churches. How dare you turn my Father's house into a political arena! It's disgusting to see signs out in front of churches here in Memphis for the different politicians. It just doesn't seem right.

I'm sick of being reminded to vote yes for the gay marriage amendment. What is that? Really? What will that accomplish? Here's what really gets me, all these people, going around and passing out flyers in church, reminding their Sunday school classes to vote yes, what happens now? So gay people can't ger married, have you now performed your Christian duty? How many of these people care more about voting yes than they do about the homosexuals in our city? I maintain that voting yes has very little to do with my Christian duty, but seeking to help homosexual people discover a God who cares about their souls, I think, is pretty high on that list.

I'm sick of politics. I don't vote. I don't want to, and here's why: I put no faith in the American political system. I'll even go so far as to say that I have no faith in America as a geo-political entity. Why do we think that our political system is the primary change agent Christians have at their disposal? It's not! The primary agent of change that we have at our disposal is the power of God and He's waiting for us to ask Him to use it. Here's the irony, God wants US to be His change agents in the world. Politics won't EVER really succeed in helping the poor find jobs, or healthcare, or homes. Politics won't EVER really succeed in protecting our warped perspective of the American moral order. Politics won't EVER really succeed in taking care of widows, providing financial security for everyone, or anything else Christians expect it to succeed in doing. And that's the thing that gets me, really. Politics won't EVER succeed in seeing the Kingdom of God impose itself on our nation, state, city, or even neighborhood. Politics won't EVER succeed in bringing peace to the world.

I am firmly convinced that the ONLY thing that has even a shot at caring for the poor, the elderly, the sick; the ONLY thing that will bring true security; the ONLY thing that will see peace come into the world, is God working through His people. Now there's a proposition I can support. I just hope we don't have to put it to a vote first. I'm not sure it would pass.

Wowsers

Well, now I feel a little bit like a loser for falling off the Louisville wagon a bit too soon. WVU really did look better going in, I don't think anyone would argue that. They still looked good last night, minus two huh-yuge Steve Slaton fumbles to start the third. In spite of that, Slaton is really good. So is Pat White. Even so, "The Ville" won and did so convincingly. Seeing as how I wasn't too ashamed to fall off the wagon, consider this my getting back on. If they win at Rutgers next week, watch out, my friend, the Ville is BCS-bound. More on the college scene after Saturday.

In other news, it's great having an older brother. That way, when the Mavs lose to the Spurs, I can just call him, listen to him rant, and not be as mad. His rants are always better than mine, except they also put things in perspective with their absolut ludicridity (I think I just made that word up). Anyway, 81-1 is still a good record. Check out my wife's blog for some GREAT insight. She's amazing. Candy Corn soda anyone?

More Free Advice

This is Jones Soda Candy Corn flavored blah. Don't even think about it. Unless you like carbonated maple, that is. Just plain gross. Also, it's yellow. Just take my advice, don't do it, even if you see it in a small, novelty-size four-pack at Target. Do yourself a favor and just turn and walk away. You're welcome.

By the way, if anyone wants some of this stuff, we still have two cans.