So Long, Farewell....Well, Sort Of

When I started this blog several years ago, I made it a point not to keep it on one topic – and to post relatively frequently. To the first point – I think I was pretty good about that. To the second point – not so much, especially in the last two years.

I’ve decided that this will be my last post on Methodical Mayhem. I’m closing the doors on this blog and opening up another.

My daughter provides a constant source of amazement, pride and amusement – so I’m starting up another blog, specifically about being a dad, being a parent, and stuff specifically about my daughter. I think I’ll find more than enough material to write about.

And I promise my posts will be more frequent than they have been on here. I don’t think that will be a problem at all.

They might be short posts. I think for the time being most will, given my work schedule and opportunity to get on the computer.

But I want to thank anyone who has ever read anything here on Methodical Mayhem. I’ll keep the site up for a while until I figure out a way to archive the materials off of it and have the time to do that.

Anyway, thanks again…. And check out the new blog at somethingaboutashlyn.wordpress.com

The Day the Twinkie Died

Flash-forward to autumn of the year 2029.

My daughter has just started her freshman year at Clemson University. One evening her and some friends have decided to go to Oldies Night in the Hendrix Student Center's McKissick Movie Theater for showings of some classic 1980s movies.

Up first is "Ghostbusters", widely recognized as one of the best comedies of all time.

(You and I know this convesation by heart)
     Winston: "Tell him about the Twinkie..."
     Venkman: "What about the Twinkie...?" 
(In case you don't remember the details of the Twinkie, here's a refresher video...)

"Any of y'all know what a Twinkie is ?," asks one of Ashlyn's friends.

Ashlyn eating her first - and probably last ever - Twinkie

Ashlyn responds, "It was some sort of snack cake. My parents have a picture of me eating one when I was little...the day they stopped making them...the day the Twinkie died."

About That Day

Rewind to November 16, 2012. 

I learned about the Twinkie's demise .... the demise of Hostess, an 82-year old company and the manufacturer of some of our nation's most recognized bakery snacks...on Facebook. 

My wife knew about it earlier in the day and posted about it on Facebook. I hadn't scrolled down far enough to see her post when I saw a post from a friend of mine about Hostess' closure and instantly shared it out and commented. We (she and I) have always had a thing for one-upping each other as far as knowing things before the other, so she won out this time.

At first, I didn't really think everybody would go Twinkie crazy. Then it was like the Zombie Apocolypse hit and people started talking on Facebook about going to the store and stocking up on them. Then I started reading more and more posts about people running to the store to get some.

My wife began telling me when she got home from work to go buy some. Finally, after reading even more stuff online, I was like, "Okay. We need to go now. I may never be able to eat another Twinkie again if we don't."
 
Apparently today was the day that Ebay also went nuts. With people selling Twinkies. And any type of Hostess products or memorabilia they had or could get their hands on. 

Our final haul of Hostess stuff

We went to at least 10 convenience or grocery stores. Our only score was a bag of Hostess donuts at Publix and a handful of Hostess products at Dodge's General Store down the road from our house.

After getting home, a choice had to be made. Eat them or frame them? Eat them it was. That the best Twinkie I think I've ever had. It made reflect...

Emotions and Stuff

... I was sad that day. And mad. And nostalgic.

Twinkies have always been in my life. My dad is a fan of them. I'm a fan of them. Although in recent years, I've admittedly developed more of an affinity for Zingers. That's where the sad and nostalgic comes into the story.

The mad part, well that's my political side coming out.

Hostess has been around for 82 years, employing hundreds of thousands of people during that time. They are an icon of capitalism, the American dream, Americana, hard work and determination, and economic vitality - at least until recent years, and a lot of that had to do with unions.

When America's first unions began to establish themselves, there was a genuine reason for that. Working conditions in many industries were absolutely horrible. There hardly were any such things as safety protocols. Company owners and managers could get away with pretty much anything they wanted to at the expense of their workers. 

In their purest, truest sense, unions were a great solution to curb most of those behaviors and practices - while still allowing the business/organization to thrive. 

What we have seen in recent years though (for far too many reasons to name) are companies that have been forced to reorganize or relocate (in many of those cases causing mass layoffs) just in order to survive - or close, as is the case with Hostess. Their closure will result in the loss of an 18,500+ member workforce. 

Another major blow to our economy. When that many people go out of work, it has serious economic repercussions in more ways and in more lives than we can imagine. It affects our entire nation.

I know there's people who will go to the wall for their beliefs in the idea of unions. But I'm just not one of them. Fortunately, South Carolina is a right-to-work state which means you won't find many unions here. They are few and far between. 

Our economic developers will not in most cases even talk to companies who are interested in relocating or expanding to our state if that company has unionized workers. One of the first questions our EDs will ask a company when they express an interest in South Carolina is "Are your workers unionized / are you a union company?"  If the answer is yes, the we will ask "Do you have a transfer clause?"  If a transfer clause exists, that means the union charter allows it to transfer along with the company to another state or location. If the answer is yes, the state will immediately cease talks with them. If the answer is no, we'll invite them over to come check our great state out.

Unfortunately, with the leadership (or lack thereof) in our current administration in Washington DC, we're probably going to see more instances of companies like Hostess having to deal with this type of situation - especially with what's going on with Obamacare coming into full effect and our economy in the shape it is, but that's a discussion for another day and time.

Getting Back to the Story

So I'm sad that the memory of the Twinkie will more or less be lost on the generation of kids that will soon be going through our elementary schools - and for our future generations. They'll never know that original, great taste of a REAL Twinkie instead of that of BlueBird Twinkie knockoffs. (By the way, I'm not an economist by any means... but they are probably in for a huge increase in sales in 2013)

For all you health nuts out there, you can complain about the nutritional detriment of a Twinkie, or a Ho-Ho, or a Ding Dong, or a Snowball, or a Zinger all you want. Go ahead. It doesn't matter to me, and unfortunately it won't matter to Hostess anymore.

So long Twinkie the Kid. It's been great knowing you - we (at least I) wish you weren't riding off into the sunset.

Little Miss Magic

As much as my wife and I thought we knew what to expect of becoming parents, we’ve both been put in our place over the last two and half weeks.

You can prepare for a baby financially…. You can prepare for a baby with material things… You can prepare their nursery and their wardrobe…

But the one thing I can’t get over is how much I have fallen in love with this little girl

I see a little more of me everyday
I catch a little more moustache turning gray
Your mother is the only other woman for me
Little miss magic, what you gonna be?
- Jimmy Buffet, Little Miss Magic

Sometimes I do just sit and watch her. Hold her in my arms and just look into those beautiful eyes. Look down into her bassinet and spend a few minutes just amazed that my wife and I created such a precious, innocent life.

It’s amazing. It’s something that I don’t think any expectant parent can prepare for.

Sometimes I catch her dreamin and wonder where that little mind meanders
Is she strollin along the shore or cruisin oer the broad savannah
I know someday shell learn to make up her own rhymes
Someday she's gonna learn how to fly
Oh that I wont deny
- Little Miss Magic

I do wonder what she thinks of when she sleeps. A friend of mine posted on my Facebook page the other day, “if they smile or laugh while sleeping they are playing with loved ones who have gone on to Heaven, angels.”

That hit me hard. She has such a beautiful smile. And she laughs in her sleep a lot. It’s actually really cute to watch. But after I read that comment, now I can’t help think, “Who’s she playing with now?” Great-Grandma Maxine? Grandma Doris?  Pop-Pop?

I wish they could all be here to watch her grow up. It breaks my heart that she will only know of them through what we tell her. But that’s our job as parents. To show her we love to her. To tell her how important family is. To teach her to love. To teach her to become her own person. To teach her to be strong in her faith.

Faith can't be taught
It's just something that is caught along the way
No faith is never taught
It's just something that they catch from watching you along the way
-    Mark Schultz, She Was Watching

She’s already starting to form her own personality. Wait, what am I talking about? She was doing that in the womb.

There are a few things we knew ahead of time about our little girl… That she’s stubborn, a fighter, spirited, a clown, and determined.

I can tell that all those are true.

But each day I see new traits developing. I watch her watching us. I can tell she’s got a million thoughts going on in that little head.

She has a tender heart, but she means business when she’s mad. She is expressive, but manipulative too. I think babies have that down pat.

I hope as she grows up that her mother and I will be parents that she will admire, trust, and love. I hope I will be a good father and model strong values and faith to her. I hope she becomes an individual who others look to for love, guidance, and support.

I have two amazing parents, who I love with all my heart. There’s so many ways they have influenced my life and who I’ve become that I am so thankful for…… I hope I will be as influential in who my daughter becomes.

But for right now, I’m going to want her to stay a little girl, my own Little Miss Magic, who actually is amazed by the blades of the fan on the ceiling.

I love you, baby girl.

A Letter from Ashlyn

Hey y'all, my name is Ashlyn Elizabeth. But my mommy and daddy also call me "Little Bit" and "Bug". 

Daddy has this fascination with my eyes -- he thinks when I open them real wide that they are so pretty, and he calls me "Pretty Eyes." He also has this thing with calling me "Baby Girl."

Anyway.... I was born the morning of March 22 -- at exactly 11:47 am.  I was 7 lbs 1 oz and 20 inches long. And I have a full head of dark brown hair.

Daddy and mommy and all my family say I'm beautiful. Not to be arrogant or anything, but I am. Everybody says so.... but who doesn't think babies are beautiful?

I am what Daddy calls "a clown." I like to act up, make people jump, and make people laugh. Mommy and Daddy knew that even before I was born.

Daddy may not admit it, but I have him wrapped around my little finger (and it's pretty little, only about 1-inch long). Some people might find that hard to do with him since he's so stubborn. But I just have to look at them the right way and they fawn all over me. I like that.

Mommy, on the other hand, is the one that doesn't gag when I have poopy diaper. She's also the one who has such a pretty voice when she sings to me. Daddy, not so much. He's just goofy.

They tell me I'm special. They call me their little miracle.

But I've found out that not only I am their daughter -- I'm the granddaughter of Jerry and Linda, Jack and Svetlana, and my grandma Doris who is in heaven with the angels. I'm the neice of Kristin and Anthony and Jaclyn and Ben. I'm the cousin of Laken, Cruz, Noah, Jonah and Molly Kate.

I have all kinds of people who love me and have come to visit me the past couple of days - my family and a bunch of mommy and daddy's friends, like my big sister Abby, aunt Katie, pastor Brandi ....

And I am child of God. Mommy and Daddy say he gave me to them as their bestest present ever. 

The jury's still out on Mommy and Daddy being the bestest parents ever, but they say they're going to be and are doing a good job so far - so I guess I'll keep them.

I Resolve

2010 was one of those years. A lot really can’t be said for it.

Looking back at my blog posts for the year, you might wonder what was going on. Frankly, I am too. Not nearly as many posts as previous years. Kinda makes me wonder what I really accomplished last year.

I’m not really going to try to wonder why though.

I’m just going to start out the New Year fresh, with a positive outlook and happy for the life-changing miracle that God gave to my wife and I last year.

My daughter.

We’re currently in our final trimester, due April 7 – and totally ecstatic about our bundle of joy arriving healthy and ready to take on the world.

It’s definitely going to be life-changing. We’re both excited --- and scared and nervous too – but mostly excited about being parents. It’s something we’ve wanted for a long time.

We know we won’t be perfect parents. Nobody is. But we both already love this little girl more than words can say and are going to do our best to provide her everything she will ever need.

With that in mind, I’m going to start of the year with some resolutions.

I think technically you’re supposed to make New Year’s resolutions the first day of the new year, but I don’t think I’m really breaking any rules by making them a few days late.

So, here goes, in no particular order:

• I resolve to be the best daddy I can be – and be there for my little girl when she needs me and more
•  I resolve to be the best husband I can be – and be there for my wife when she needs me and more
• I resolve to lead a more healthy lifestyle – to eat better, to exercise, and to take care of myself better
• There is a big sub-resolution to this: I resolve to lose weight...
• I resolve to kick soft drinks
• I resolve to watch our money more tightly, not to eat out so much (but there will be special occasions when I will want to take my wife out), and not buy stuff that we don’t need. No more sudden impulse DVDs will be the big one.
• I resolve to spend more time with my wife – and focus on my family time more than time on anything else
• I resolve to stop bringing work home all the time and to not have that be the focus of all my spare time
• I resolve to stop getting on Facebook so much and to limit my time on it during my spare time
• I resolve to keep this blog updated more as time allows. I have a feeling a lot of posts will be made this year about my daughter.
• And I resolve to not stress so much over stupid things

We’ll see how I do.

I Promise

I promise to ....

"Promise" is a big word. It's like the word "love". You don't throw it around lightly. You should only say it when you mean it and when you know you can and will hold to it.

A promise to a child is something special. And I as anticipate the birth of my daughter, I think of what her life will be like. I think of what I will be like as a father.

I think about what our relationship will be like.

As with any father-daughter relationship, I know it will have its joys. And it will have its tears. We will have moments when we want to strangle each other - but I hope we will have moments when we absolutely want to hug each other, hear the other say "I love you," or just play with her Barbies. I hope those moments outnumber the others by far.

So as I think about those moments and look forward to meeting her, hearing her laugh, seeing her smile, and her mother and I raising her, I make these promises to my baby girl:

• I promise to nurture you
• I promise to make time for you
• I promise to hug you 
• I promise to show you Star Wars every chance I get
• I promise to God that I will raise you in a good Christian manner to follow his word
• I promise to let you be yourself
• I promise to tell you about your family who isn't here
• I promise to listen to you -- about your thoughts, opinions, dreams and any questions you may have
• I promise to tell you I love you every chance I get, and more
• I promise to give you space when you want it - but I won't be far away
• I promise to be skeptical of every guy that you ever like
• I promise to be your safe place 
• I promise to never make fun of you (although we can find a healthy medium for picking on each other)
• I promise to encourage you to follow your dreams
• I promise to make decisions that you may not like, but will be in your best interest
• I promise to protect you and your mommy
• I promise to never dress you in garnet
• I promise to spend daddy-daughter time with you
• I promise to never break your heart
• I promise that I will be the best daddy I can possibly be
• I promise to be there for you - to support you, to  teach you, and to laugh with you, not at you
• I promise to do things that will embarrass you as a teenager
• I promise not to have a problem with the man of your dreams loving you - but I don't think I will ever be able to give you entirely away because you have stolen my heart and you haven't even been born yet
• I promise to be there as you walk down the aisle
• And above all, I promise to love you forever and with all my heart

         Love, Daddy

Jeremy

I hadn't been at work more than about 30 minutes or so when I learned about what happened to Jeremy and his brothers.

My phone rang. I didn't recognize the name on the caller id. It ended up being a guy who works on the SC Runners Web site, is an area cross-country runner, and is a journalist with one of the major dailies in the area.

Jeremy and his brothers Dan and Ryan had just been visiting some family in North Dakota and were returning to a summer mission program in which they were participating in at Yellowstone.

There had been a very serious accident. Dan and Jeremy were thrown from the car. Ryan had suffered minor injuries.

Jeremy was airlifted to the Bozeman hospital. That night an article ran in the Bozeman paper that there had been a traffic fatality in that wreck.

Obviously there was a bit of a misunderstanding as to Jeremy's condition. The authorities admitted to that.

Some tests were done which indicated that Jeremy didn't have any brain activity. He was put on life support.

His family talked to his high school cross country coach. His coach relayed news of Jeremy's accident to the person who called me on the phone those 30 minutes or so after I got into work.

He wanted us to know - and to let Jeremy's college cross country coach, Mike, know.

I sat back in my chair as I heard the news. I took a deep breath. I asked what had happened. I asked how Jeremy's family was doing. I told him to let Jeremy's family know that he, his brothers, and their entire family were in our prayers.

As I got off the phone, I took a minute to take everything in. I was still in shock. I said a prayer for Jeremy and his family.

Jeremy went through surgery the next day to relieve the swelling on his brain. They did another test which showed Jeremy did have brain activity. He's been on a respirator since. But there have been some positive signs.

He has responded to some voice commands. There have been some movements also. He has opened his eyes slightly.



I didn't know Jeremy very well when he was a student-athlete on our campus. He ran cross country and set numerous school records which still stand. I had talked with him a few times though.

The first time I ever met Jeremy was a brisk Saturday morning before our team was to run the annual Eye Opener race in Spartanburg. He and his teammates were all smiles. They were hyped up to run. I introduced myself, shot a few photos with him and his teammates, and then shot their races. Jeremy came in 6th in our division.

I interviewed him for a profile story in our alumni magazine a few weeks prior to his graduation.

Jeremy is the type of guy who always had a smile on his face. He's the type of guy who always had friends around him. He's determined. He's strong. He's a fighter. He's a role model. And he's a very strong Christian.

I learned a lot about him in the hour or so that one day when we talked. His coach, Mike, always talked highly of him. His teammates always did. He became a brother to his teammates as they all became brothers and sisters to him.




Getting back to the morning of that call.... so I'm sitting there at my desk after hanging up the phone. I look up our cross country coach's number and dialed what probably is the hardest phone call I've ever had to make.

I told him about Jeremy. I listened as he stumbled for words. He was in disbelief. I still was too. Then I sent out an email across campus to our faculty and staff telling them about Jeremy.

It's been six weeks now.

Jeremy has shown that he's a fighter. He's shown he's not yet done. God is keeping him here for a purpose. We may not know right now what, but God is watching over Jeremy.

I pray he recovers. Nobody knows for sure what will happen. Only God does.

It's been a shock for the tight knit family that I work with. It's been weeks of prayers. From friends, from family, from alumni, from students - from our entire community.



I never thought when I took this job that I would become friends with so many of these students. Part of me at first was like, 'That's really not my job to be friends with them. Sure I need to be cordial. But it's probably not a good thing to be friends with them.' The other part though, 'Well, if you want to be effective in your job you have to get to know the students to be able to tell the news media and the alumni what these students are doing and about the things going on on our campus.'

I never knew that I would know so many of them by first name. Become friends with some of them on Facebook. See them on campus and ask how their day is going - or what they think of Kim's SMC 101 class. That's what makes this job so fun.

But you really can't help but establish friendships with them -- and want them to succeed. When they do awesome things, you get excited for them. You're taking photos of an athletic game and all of a sudden you're yelling for them and cheering them on. They get injured in an accident late one night on campus and you say a prayer for them.

Then at the end of the year you say goodbye to one group, wish them the best of luck, and three months later welcome another group to campus. There are some that I've even stayed in touch with as they've gone on to places like Clemson, Southern Wesleyan, Winthrop, Florida Atlantic, College of Charleston, or even Syracuse.



Again, as I mentioned earlier, I don't know Jeremy very well, personally. But I know his character. And I know what kind of an impact he has had on our campus - with his friends, his teachers, our coaches, our staff -- with his extended family.

But for his real family -- there is no way I could possibly begin to talk about what they're going through let alone even imagine it. We hear through Jeremy's CaringBridge Web site how he and his family are doing. We hear from his friends. We hear from his former teammates.

And we continue to pray that he recovers.

Jeremy is in an acute care facility in Spartanburg now, as his family talks to a facility in Atlanta. His brother Dan hasn't totally recovered either. He has a long road ahead of him also. But he's been released from the hospital and is going through outpatient physical therapy in Bozeman.




Earlier this week, our director of student activities and leadership development, Kim, suggested, after talking with one of Jeremy's family members, that we do a run / walk fundraiser as part of our upcoming Family Day / Homecoming activities. So she and I and a few other folks from our staff met a couple days ago and got the ball rolling on that.

The Jeremy Vangsnes 5K Benefit Run will be held at the Spartanburg Methodist College campus on Oct. 3. The money raised from the event will go to a fund already set up to help assist his family with medical costs involved in their care of Jeremy and his brothers.

We're excited about this. We're excited to be able to help out part of our extended family - to help out Jeremy's family. We pray that he will recover. Only God knows what the ultimate outcome will be. But we're looking forward to contributing our little part to His plan.

We're hoping for a few hundred people to participate. It would be awesome if we could get many hundreds of people to participate.

In my time as a journalist, I covered various fundraisers, charity work, service work, etc. It's always great to be able to cover those kinds of stories. But to be on the other side and actually be part of the team that is there to bring about the result of the project is a totally different experience.

Sept. 12, 2001 was one of my proudest days professionally -- not for myself, but for the efforts of the entire team of coworkers that I worked with at WYFF. The station put on a telethon fundraiser to aid the Red Cross' relief efforts following the terrorist attacks of the day before. If I recall correctly, in 24 hours we raised over $300,000.

I know this event for Jeremy and his family is one that I and my coworkers are going to be tremendously proud of. But we're not in this for any reward. At the same time, if we can say that this event, that Jeremy's and his brothers' stories, that his dedication and/or his character will have brought someone closer to their family, to God, and/or to their purpose in life, then that will be a great thing.

At the same time, we'll be helping part of our extended family alleviate some of their financial burden and lifting them up in their time of need. And we'll continue to pray for them, for Jeremy, and for their entire family.

And if you're interested in participating in the Jeremy Vangsnes 5K Benefit Run, just let me know and I'll get you some more information on it.

A Different Sorta Christmas

I guess last year I set myself up for doing a Christmas recap, so here is my 2008 Christmas -- 5 days overdue, but notheless....

It was a very different Christmas this year.

It was my neice Laken's first Christmas. Laken is an absolute angel. At 10 months, she has developed an absolutely joyous personality. I love watching how she reacts to things. I love her smile - and I love her laugh.

It was the first time my wife and I did a Christmas vacation. We spent most of Christmas week in the Great Smokies --- rented a cabin in Gatlinburg and did some touristy stuff. Gatliburg and Pigeon Forge are amazingly beautiful as it is, but the Christmas lights made it even more fun (save the traffic on the Saturday following Christmas - it was nuts). We even went to Dollywood for the first time and liked it so much we bought season passes for 2009.

It was the first Christmas since my wife and I have been married that we didn't attend Christmas Eve service. We have done this every year up until now. We had hoped to attend a Christmas Eve service at the Presbyterian church in Gatlinburg. But when I asked some locals if that church was having one, I found out it was not. Apparently that church's membership has dwindled severely in recent years, which is very diasppointing and sad - and they were not having any services on Christmas Eve. We decided to do Christmas Eve in, at our cabin. I felt really guilty though about not even going to one of the other local churches' Christmas Eve services, but.....

It did end up being the first Christmas we went to church away from home. On Sunday when we were walking through Dollywood, we saw a church inside the park. At first glance I thought, "Wow, they made a replica of a country church here. I'll bet it has some interesting displays inside." Well, we went inside and found out that it is a full-blown church. We heard the pastor talking to someone about the fact they do 11 am and 5:30 pm services every Sunday when the park is open. We decided to attend the 5:30 service that day - which ended up being packed. We heard a wonderful message and sang Christmas carols. So I ended up not only coming away less guilty about the whole missing Christmas Eve service thing, but happy we were able to celebrate Christmas and its true miracle - the birth of Jesus Christ - actually in church.

Those are probably the things that will stick out in my mind from Christmas 2008 - but these little ones are what just made my Christmas:

Giving Thanks

On this day of Thanksgiving, my wife and I had the opportunity to see her sister's family - our neice and two nephews - and have lunch with them. Due to an unforseen turn of events due to a new home kitchen glitch, lunch was at Fatz. Then we spent a little bit of time with them at their house -- playing scrabble with the nephews and chasing the neice around the house.

Then on to my sister's house to spend the evening with her and her husband and our newborn neice Laken, along with my parents and several members of my brother in-law's family. I'm extremely thankful this year for such a blessing in our family, Laken's birth, her good health, and her spirit. That, and I'm very thankful that my parents don't live in Indiana anymore and we are able to see them more often and on holidays.

People don't always give thanks for the good things in their lives. I am as guilty of that as the next person.

Giving thanks for God's gifts is something that we shouldn't just reserve for one day out of the year, but should practice every day, every year.

What am I thankful for this year? The same things I am thankful for each day.

My safety, my job, my cars for not giving me any major problems lately, my country, my freedom.... all kinds of little things and bigger things.

My friends... ( I really have some awesome ones)

Our men and women in the armed forces....

And above all, my family, my wife, and my God and savior.

For all of you out there to whom I haven't wished a Happy Thanksgiving, I extend those belated wishes to you.

Meet Molly-Kate

Molly-Kate is my oldest neice. She turned three today. Here's some of my favorite shots I took today at her birthday party.

Excitement

Deep thought

Curiosity

A Consumate Journalist

Photo courtesy of the Associated Press via FoxNews.com

Over the course of the weekend since Tim Russert passed away on Friday, I've been reading and watching a lot of news articles about Mr. Russert.

I was a big Tim Russert fan. One of the things about him that I really was impressed with was his impartiality -- he went after Democrats and Republican alike, with the same vigor. He wanted to make sure Americans had all of the facts about the issue(s) at hand.

One person, I can't recall who, said in an interview that Tim ran "Meet the Press" like how a football game should be run. It was meat and potatoes. It was in your face journalism. These are the facts. These are how the facts affect ordinary Americans. Now how are you going to address these facts?

I'm sure some people were shaking their head in puzzled amazement at his whiteboard presentations during the 2000 election coverage, when he kept saying "Everything is going to come down to Florida." You may have been thinking "Wow, this guy really knows his stuff" or "I've never quite seen this approach before." I was thinking a little of both.

I remember talking with Congressman Graham after his first appearance on "Meet the Press" in the late 90s. He told me that he felt that he had to be more on his game when being interviewed by Mr. Russert than with any journalist. I'm sure over time, Lindsey and his fellow politicians who had developed a professional rapport with Tim still felt some anxiety before going on his show.

Despite how aggressively he would press someone on an issue, he always did it with a smile. And he and that person would usually end up laughing over something before the interview was over. He had a visible energy about his work.

Tim was a consumate journalist, from humble beginnings.

If you read or listen to his colleagues that have commented on his life over the last three days, they're saying things like, "He remained true to his beliefs, his family, and his roots his entire life," "He never backed down from a challenge," "He valued hard work," or "He was a family man."

I haven't had a chance to read Tim's books "Big Russ & Me," written about his father, or "Wisdom of Our Fathers." But I've heard both being talked about extensively over the last few days and seen some footage of Tim discussing them. I need to go pick up copies of both.

You could tell he had a great love of family and an amazing repsect for and admiration of his father. In one of the interviews I watched, he says something to the effect of, "I wrote Big Russ to show how we each stand on the shoulders of our fathers. I stand on his. My son stands on mine."

It doesn't get any more truthful than that.

Godspeed Tim Russert. We will all miss you. Rest in peace.

Time For Another MPAA Ratings Change

We saw the new Narnia movie last night.

I liked it -- it had great scenery, great action sequences, decent acting, and a decent storyline. I never read the book so I can't really argue about what they did or didn't put in the movie. But overall, it was a very good sequel.

But I do have one major issue with it ------ it was a little too violent to have a PG rating. There is a scene where the Narnians are literally being slaughtered as their escape route is cut off and one of the main characters has to make a decision whether to flee or go back and face certain death. It was a very, very intense scene.

Of course there was a lot of battle violence throughout the movie anyway. Granted they really didn't show any blood, but I don't think you really need to show blood in a battle for children to have a lot of misunderstandings as to what is going on, for them to have a lot of questions, or for them to get scared.

There were so many children under the age of seven or eight in that movie theater that I couldn't count them all. There were many toddlers and even a few infants. Personally, I think toddlers and infants shouldn't be brought to the movies period -- not only because of potential emotional or psychological impact from the movie but because a movie theater is just not a place for a child that young. Children that young are hard enough for their parents to keep up with anyway, but they tend to be distracting to other moviegoers. Especially crying babies.

Personally, I would never take a young child to a movie, let alone let them watch it on TV, without thoroughly researching it. If it is something that I think I would still be wary about even after researching it, I would have to see it first before I were to make a decision to let them see it.

I think the MPAA has made a lot of strides in recent years in its rating methodology. Movies with violent battles, extreme cursing, or inappropriate subject matter for children are having a much harder time getting a lesser rating. Granted in some cases, I know there are movie directors/producers/writers/studios that want that higher MPAA rating because they know it will mean more $$ in their pockets and will draw a larger crowd that is interested in coming out just to see why the movie received the rating it has.

Should Prince Caspian have received a PG rating? I don't think so. It should have received a PG-13 rating. Should the MPAA revise its rating system even further? Yes. Every rating shoud be tightened down.

So I think the MPAA ratings need to be changed from top to bottom in the following fashion:

• G: All audiences admitted, parents encouraged to attend with children
• PG: Children younger than the age of 13 must have a parent with them during the movie
• PG-T(EEN): Children younger than 13 are not allowed in the theater. Period. Children between the ages of 13 and 18 must have a parent with them
• R: Children younger than 18 are not allowed in the theater. Period
• NC-18: Just have this take the place of any X, XX or XXX ratings. Nobody younger than 18 admitted.

There are a lot of bad things in this world that children are being exposed to more and more. Drugs, sex, nudity, language, adult content, violence of any form -----

Popular culture and the media are innundating our society with these things and children are experiencing things because of that at a much younger age than they should be (and many things that they should never have to experience).

We as a society should become more responsible in regard to this and give our children more of a chance to retain their innocence and let them be kids longer.

I remember seeing Star Wars in the the theater when I was little; I remember Raiders of the Lost Ark being the first movie my Dad and I saw in the theater without my mom. I thought the action in both was cool. Han Solo and Indiana Jones (aka Harrison Ford) made both of those movies hits. But I never turned to violence because of what I saw in the movies or TV.

I think my parents did a very good job raising me and my sister. They taught us good morals, instilled a strong belief system in us, taught us right from wrong, and always remained concerned about what we watched and listened to. I admire them for their parenting.

But there are a lot of parents out there that just don't seem to care about what their children are exposed to; who don't talk to their children about the things they see or hear; or who don't monitor what their children are doing. Yes children need their freedom to be children, but they don't need so much freedom that they do things in the real world that they think won't have consquences to them or other people just because they saw someone do that on TV or in the movies.

Parents need to be more accountable for the actions of their children. There are too many parents nowadays that are too lenient with their children, too ignorant of what their children are doing, and too into themselves and not their children. We can't just blame only the children for what they do anymore. Negative actions of children are not always entirely their own fault --- those actions often can be attributed to parents not being good parents.

It doesn't take much to become a mother or father. That math is pretty simple. But it takes alot to be a parent.

Children need good role models. They need their parents to be good role models who make decisions for them that will guide those children to become role models themselves when they get older. So to help those role models develop, society needs to jump in and help steer the wheel. We all need to be a part of that --- and so does the MPAA.

Welcoming Somone New to the Family

My wife and I met our new neice this past weekend....

Here's the next 37,000 words of this post:

I'm An Uncle

My sister had the first grandchild in the family yesterday.

Laken Reese Gagliardi was born at 12:03 pm, weighing in at 6 pounds, 9 ounces; is 18 inches long, and has a full head of hair --- (pictures to come)

My brother-in-law, who is a pro-fisherman, asked if he could hold her before she was weighed. He guessed that she was 6 pounds, 10 ounces. He was one ounce off. LOL

I'm excited. We're all excited. My wife and I have two nephews and a neice on her side of the family. They're great kids and I love them to death. But I don't think that's quite the same as having a blood-related neice.

I have big plans for a lot of big-time spoiling. She already has a whole accessory line of Clemson tiger stuff from us -- rattles, bibs, clothes, bottles, a taggy, and some other stuff. There will be more to come.

The Status of the Water

My sister found out for sure a few days ago that she's pregnant. So she and my brother-in-law are expecting a baby Clemson tiger in February.

I think there's something in the water.

At least five couples at mine and my wife's church are in various stages of pregnancy. I found out today a coworker of mine is pregnant.

My wife and I have been married 10 years. Through those 10 years we've had alot of ups and downs financially and careerwise. We've had probably more than our share of discussions on whether or not we're ready to have children. We both want children very much.

I've always been the one that's been more hesitant about having children than my wife, for this reason or that, or whatever. But we've pretty much agreed that now we're at a stage that we are finally comfortable at to have kids and hope to put some plans and actions in motion in the very near future.

We were at a local store this past Sunday and saw some really cute baby stuff (the theme of which I won't mention just in case my sister reads this blog -- and I can't believe I just publicly wrote down the phrase "cute baby stuff") that we bought for her baby. It was the first time I really got excited buying baby stuff. Of course we've got two nephews and a neiece all under age eight on my wife's side, and have plenty of friends that have had babies, so we've done our share of baby shower, baby gift, and young child gift shopping. I enjoy buying them gifts. I adore and love my newphews and neice dearly and enjoy watching them opening their gifts. But my wife could take spoiling them to an unprecedented level given an unending supply of funds.

This past Sunday when we were purchasing the gifts for my sister's baby, that was the first time I just wanted to really truly spoil someone to no end and they aren't even here yet. It must be a blood-relative thing. I wanted to buy up everything in sight within the theme we were buying. I know that's really weird and totally out of character for most guys to say. But I can't even imagine how much those feelings are going to increase when my wife and I have our own child.

We've had the names for a son and daughter picked out for a long time. They are both a mix of family names and original names (nothing off the wall and none of this last-name as a first name business that people are finding so popular these days for some bizarre reason) - James Bradley and Ashlyn Elizabeth. But the more I think about it, the more I know that when the day comes, I think I'm really going to enjoy being a dad.