Goodbye, hometown

This is the reason I still have a blog. Every once in a while something is worth writing about. Unfortunately, this is one of the saddest reasons I could be writing.
I was raised in the city of Port Arthur, Texas. The hospital I was born in, the house I was raised in, both of my grandparents' houses when I was a kid, all the places I rode my two speed bicycle, all of that is still there.
I could cope with Houston and Galveston. I only went to those places once or twice a year. Insensitive? Not really. Just not as close to home.
Then she started veering east. A little at a time.
Check out the maps yourself. Read where Rita will now hit the coast. My home town. My memories.
I never brought Amanda there, and now it is something I regret. What if all those things are gone? Look what Katrina did to Mississippi. For those of you who think it might be alright, let me reiterate. PORT Arthur.
Oh, and then it will come through east Texas.

I guess this is growing up

I'm always behind and a little out of the loop, but catching up...
I just found out today that two months ago Blink 182 broke up. Or went on "indefinite hiatus" (read infinite). To most people who read this, that won't meant much.
But some people relate to me as to what this really means. Emo, pop-punk,and there are more, all genres that owe their popularity to these guys. They'd tour with little known bands like Finch, and stayed on the Warped Tour for seven forevers. They were the underdogs who went big and then pulled everybody up with them.
You know what else? All the people who insult them the most have had at least one of their cds playing constantly in the player for a few days. Their harshest critics have all of them. Why, you ask?
Let's face it. Blink has made adolescent music since they were themselves adolescents. Their original fans have outgrown all of this angst and juvenilia, and honestly, so have they. The trio tried to remake themselves with 2003's self titled album, but it's just too late. No matter what, Blink 182 will always say "teenage years".
And there is the saddest part. Truthfully their hiatus says the same thing about my own generation's adolescence: that it also is on "indefinite hiatus" (read infinite).
They've known the end from the beginning, though...
"I guess this is growing up"

Funny, I don't feel more creative

So, I guess the last time I remember riding was in September. The end of September, but nonetheless...
The reason I can say that with clear conscience is because I just went for a ride. It was only 7 miles and it took me 28 minutes. 14.4 miles per hour. And I almost died three times from exhaustion.
But I suppose there is some consolation in not completely losing my Honey Nut Toasty Os.
This was never meant to be a journal of my bicycling, so I'll be starting a new blog for the technical details of my ride, but this is more than riding. There is spirit here. Religion. Nothing brings a man closer to God than the firm belief that he's not going to make it all the way to the bike shop before collapsing. I didn't even make the round trip back to the house.

Phone conversation between Amanda and me:
Me: *huff blaggle spitskin"
Amanda: I'll pick you up at the bike shop.

The journey of a thousand miles begins with one pedal stroke.
By the way, ME friend, I'm 4 or 5 miles up on you.

William James would've seen this coming.

My life is becoming too complicated to be of any interest to me anymore.

In November 2003 my motorcycle broke down. I decided that I didn't need it and let it sit while I rode a bike everywhere, no less than 20 miles a day.
I was so poor, I couldn't afford meat so my dad would take me out on Wednesdays to feed me. The rest of the time I ate rice, beans, and canned vegetables. And oatmeal.
I lived in the woods in rural East Texas with my best friend outside of my marriage. We only had *some* heat. We wore our jackets and could see our breath inside the house. It was only about 500 square feet.

If you think all of that is written more simply than I'd usually write, you are correct. You are also totally missing to point.
Pragmatism is creeping up on me again.
Thank you God.

Tonight's Guest Star...

In the television show that is everyone's life, there are people that aren't going to be there for the whole series, maybe just an episode. Maybe an entire season. Look around you. They're people who aren't your closest friends. They're a "work buddy" or the person at the convenience store that you always talk to. Maybe its a friend's roommate.
When you watch television, you quickly assess what you think happens after an episode is over. When a person is only on for a season or so, you assume that the main character still talks to them in the rest of their fictional life, just not the thirty minutes to an hour that you watch a week. But you're probably wrong.
My friend's roomate is a neat guy, and a really interesing person. He has technical knowledge that I am always careful to glean whenever I see him. I have great conversations with him about electronics and religion and morality. Or at least I did.
He'll move tomorrow, back to Washington. It's a good move for him, and if he's smart he'll never come back. Maybe he'll visit. Maybe I'll visit him. But I'd also say there's a good probability that our paths will never cross again. And that just makes me think of all the other guest stars that I've said goodbye to - the ones with their own show.
Appreciate the guest stars that are in your life now, they may be gone soon.

So thanks for covering my wife with a blanket when she fell asleep on the couch while I worked on my motorcycle. Thanks for being smarter than me so I could learn from you. Thanks for thinking I wasn't too stupid to explain. And if I never see you again, have a great life, Matt L.

I'm not on the jury anyway.

Yes, there are changes and more posts and things to come. But I needed to post this.
Recently, I've been rethinking my stance on the death penalty. I was mostly against, for my own reasons. Reasonable reasons, mind you. But then I noticed a few scriptures that made me start to change my mind.
I guess my point here is that it is a lot harder to be against the death penalty when someone kidnaps one of your relatives from a Walmart, then kills her and leaves her in a ditch 400 miles away.

Please pray for Megan's family. It probably gets worse before it gets better.
Also, I don't know this kid, but his story was three down from Meagan's on CNN.com. His story makes me feel a little better.

Hold on.

It's coming.