Richard Steven Millhouse Legg

He goes by Steve and we throw in the Millhouse when we want him to feel more prestigious. This is exactly how he should feel this Father's Day. My dad is known for his line of poems "Ode to...." so I thought I would write one for him today.

Ode to Steve.

What do you get for a man that's no fool?
He has three sheds and owns almost every tool.

He's spent much time out in the forest.
And when he is down all he needs is Chuck Norris.

But that's why he has a dvr and the Dish.
Recording Dallas and Walker fulfills every wish.

Oh, the stories he can tell but most I can't repeat.
If you ever get a chance then you're in for quite a treat.

We can not talk about the upcoming vote.
But I can explain to him the meaning of "air quotes".

If I were there I would toast an O'Douls with him.
But the chances he's still be sober are very slim.

It's impossible to explain what my dad means to me.
There are too many stories to write here, you see.

Some are funny to all. Some are funny to us.
He wants his hair buzz cut so that it's no fuss.

Just thought I would throw that in.
Cause that's what he'd do in that situa-shin.

So to my own, on a day that's for dads
For the last 31 years you've been pretty rad.

Tim Russert

Oh, I loved this guy. I think that he might have been my favorite person on television. It has been a tradition for my family to watch Meet the Press while we get ready on Sunday mornings. I don't know how this election will be watchable without his whiteboard tallies. I've never seen anyone get so excited about a whiteboard. I can't say much more than what everyone else is saying on tv right now about him.

I loved hearing him talk about his dad. But, for Father's Day here is a clip of him talking about his son. I know that tomorrow is a hard day for everyone that has lost their father.



I hope to be a parent that gets that kind of respect from my kids.

FORGET IT!

Well, I can safely say that I am not capable of being a vegetarian. At least not at this point in my life. I'll still try to buy better meat and maybe eat less of it but life is too short to give up something that tastes so good.

Gone Baby Gone

In the past few weeks at church we've been talking about hospitality. Today we focused on our neighbors. We watched the movie Gone Baby Gone a couple of nights ago and I keep thinking about how much of this is what we are talking about. Even though this is just a story, it's still a somewhat accurate depiction of how so many live. In my neighborhood people are addicted to drugs, people are hungry, people are poor and kids are in the middle of it. They are paying the price of bad choices and bad circumstances. So what do we do? Part of me wants to not allow my children to ever play outside without leashes and to have them sleep with us every night. The other part of me knows that we need to be part of a community. We have responsiblities. Who's going to help if we don't? The person that Casey Affleck's character is sitting with at the end of the movie reminded me that we can't change people but we can help them.

I don't know if this video will work or not but it's a clip from the Today Show about a man that was hit by two cars on a busy street and it took over a minute for someone to stop and help. The expert says that part of the reason for this is our lack of community.


Connecting Caring Communities

NOTE: Gone Baby Gone is not a family friendly movie. It's hard to watch or even think about some of the things that happen. I still think it is worth it. The story is challenging and makes you think. That's what a good story does.

Veg challenge

For the month of June my brother, parents, Kevin and I are not going to eat red meat and possibly any meat. We are all doing it for different reasons so I won't speak for them. I am doing it because of animal treatment. Not in a PETA kind of way but I just wanted to step back for a month and try to think about things. I do believe that God intended for us to eat meat and that we would have to kill an animal to get the meat. I also think that God intended for us to care for animals. If you've ever driven I-5 in California between the Bay Area and L.A. you've probably considered becoming a vegetarian. Knowing where your meat comes from and how that animal is treated isn't just about animal rights as much as it could be about your own health. The hormone/antibiotic-free labels are popping up more commonly now because it's something to be concerned about. These types of meats cost quite a bit more but if you cut the amount of meat that you consume per week you would be able to afford it and the benefits would definitely be worth it.

I don't plan on continuing past the month. I can't imagine a life without steak, Chick-fil-a or hot dogs at a BBQ. But, I am committed to being more aware of what I'm eating. Plus this gives me a good opportunity to get those 9-13 servings of fruits and vegetables that we're supposed to be getting per day.
Eating, drinking, breathing and just living are scary things these days. I don't want to spend a lot of time being worried about them but if there are easy changes I can make then why not? I also want to say that I'll still buy food that's not perfect because budgets are tight and choices are slim in this town. Relationships are always more important than anything else so it's more important for us to eat together than to be concerned about what we eat. Also, before anyone thinks I am 'greenier than thou', know that I drank a 44oz coke yesterday and dreamed of a bacon cheeseburger from Rick and Carolyn's. Right now my goal is like it was with recycling. I'm going halvsies.
On a side note, basically this is my ideal way of living. I know, nerdy-hippie.