Dirtbag Dave needed a good read.

It's been a while. More than a month. I guess that's the schedule I'm on right now. Someday hopefully frequency won't be so elusive...

Anyways, On to the point.

Some while back I gave my testimony at Church. I spent most of my time talking about how I'm a mosaic of different characters battling for the top seat of my character. I narrowed it down to two sides. 1. Dirtbag Dave: He's the Selfish, Insecure, Angry, Destructive, Mean, Sarcastic, Crass, Careless, Wreckless, Prideful, Out-of-Control All-for-Me Dirtbag that at times has controlled my life. And the other Side is 2. Spiritual Leader Dave: He's the Noble, Caring, Concerned, Aware, Giving, Loving, Do-it-for-others type of Guy.

These two sides of me have constantly been in battle for the past 24 years of my young dualistic life. At times Spiritual Leader Dave will overcome the temptations Dirtbag Dave so naively falls victim too, but it seems all too often that Dirtbag Dave makes his big appearance and leaves not only me but others in the wake of careless selfish destruction.

This week I decided I wanted to take some initiative. I went to my local Barnes and Noble Booksellers to see what type of Christian Literature may be out that may be able to shed some light on this topic, that I, and I imagine many other people battle with. I wasn't looking for some self-help make yourself feel like a million bucks type of book. I was looking for something that would address the struggle that I, and again I think many others, are facing.

Why do I do things that I don't "really" want to do? Why do I act in ways I don't "really" want to? Notice the "really." I say that because I know Part of me, The dirtbag side, may want to actually do the things that the Spiritual Leader side doesn't.

When I didn't see hardly anything worth reading in the Christian section I thought I'd just give up. Then I stumbled across this familiar looking book... 

My very own Pastor's new Book. How To Keep Your Inner Mess From Thrashing your Outer World.

I remember when Bill preached through this very series close to three years ago. When Bill took us through this series I remember being challenged in new ways of looking at my own Inner Mess and the very real struggle I go through trying to overcome the characteristics I don't want in my life, all the while hoping to increase the amount of face time for the characteristics I do want.

Reading this book has been a great reminder of all those thoughts that helped me turn a corner in my life a few years back. It's an honest lesson to learn which makes it tough. It's hard to look at yourself in the proverbial mirror and realize that there's parts of you that you and others just don't like.

The good news is that with and through Christ, Dirtbag Dave's days are numbered.

I recommend this book to anyone and everyone. II recommend it to you Blog reader. If you want we could start a book club and talk about what ever comes up as you read through this book. It will challenge you. It's also a great read. No slow chapters, no confusing chapters. I'd go so far as to say that it's entertaining.

First Blog of 2009

We're pretty far into 2009 already... wow! Time flies when your having fun. (so they say)

Let's do a little 2009 Ketchup. (Catch up)
Chronologically: (For history's sake I won't leave anything out)

The Rose Parade far exceeded my expectations. It seems as if that was a long time ago. I had no idea that the floats were going to be that big. I was impressed.

I got a PS3 for Christmas and I've been trying to enjoy it responsibly. You can't spend to much time playing videos. Girlfriends get mad. Monday Roommate time has almost reached tradition status. Tim and I enjoy a little video gaming in the morning. Even better, is that it's also a Blue-Ray player. Breathtaking visuals. Turns out Movies are better in Blue Ray.

I finally bought my TV, just in time for LOST. HDTV over the air. DTV is great! I find myself watching shows i wouldn't normally watch, just because it's broadcasted in HD (The View)

Aleah, Tim & Kalin, and I have been going to some of Chelsea's basketball games, and it's given me a little spark. Currently I'm trying to convince Christian that we should coach a jr high team or something of the sort. I'm working on an acronym that will communicate our values as a team. All i have so far is H.E.A.R.T Hustle. ?. Attitude. Rebound. Teamwork.

The new Soccer season is upon me, and I've been reminded of how the absence of exercise has the result of heavy breathing and a burning chest after playing 5 minutes of soccer.

Last, but most certainly not least... IT'S MY BIRTHDAY MONTH. And actually, this year is my "Golden Birthday" 24 on the 24th. Everyone has to gift me with gold.

p.s. I got a new President today... We'll see how that goes.

Last blog of 2008

Goodbye to the greatest year of all time... or at least a good year... or maybe just another year...

Anyways, I just wanted to get one more blog in before 2009.

I just went swimming in December. I'm in Pasadena with my family. We're going to the rose parade in 10 hours. (currently 10:17 PST) The pool was heated, but it's not cold in Southern California. Sunny and warm.

I think I may adopt my mom's idea for a new year's resolution as my own. Here's her idea: Eating out alphabetically in 09. How long does it normally take you and your friends to decide where to eat when you go out? This is the solution: As of tomorrow when I eat out I will do so alphabetically. My first restaurant in 09 will be a restaurant with an A for a name. Like Applebee's. Hopefully it won't be Applebee's. Second a B. Maybe Blackbear... and so on and so forth. Try out for yourself. It will make eating out more creative, and more decisive.

Goodbye 2008 hello 2009

Rose Parade

I'm in Oakley,CA right now in transit to Pasadena, CA for the New Year's Day Rose Parade. No, not the Rose Bowl, The Rose Parade. I know what you're thinking... David You're A Guy! Yes, I am a guy. However I wasn't invited to the Rose Bowl, I was invited to the Rose Parade... and I accepted. Aleah and I left Redding today and are at Bob and Susan's house. We're all headed down to Pasadena on Wednesday to say goodbye to 2008 and Hello to 2009. I'm looking forward to my quality time with 1-5. I hope to complete the alphabet game twice, and beating Aleah and 20 Questions.
The parade should be nice, I don't really know what to expect...Flowers?
Meanwhile, In Oakley I hope to see my friends Peter and Lauren Black. As well as the Olan brothers...

Blog's are a very tricky thing

Some of you may have noticed that it's been more than a week since my last post. I hope to post more frequently than this. I'd like you to know that I'm not happy with the infrequency either.

But here's what I've noticed:
I find that the busier I get, the more I have to blog about. But the problem is along with that, the busier I get, the less time I have to blog. It's a vicious cycle. I got plenty to blog about, but no time to blog. I almost want to wish for the opposite, but then I'd have a similar yet different problem. I'd have time to blog, but nothing to blog about. What's the solution here?

I find myself thinking, "oh, that was blog worthy! I'll have to blog about that." But then something else comes up that overshadows the last blog topic and so on and so on. I don't think I want to be a more than once a day blogger...Do I? I know I don't want to have an online diary either. I want to contribute to the greater blogosphere around me... But How? I can't be too nit-picky, hoping to write the best blog ever, every time I make a post. What's a guy to do?

Favorite Food...Pizza

As a kid 9 times out of 10 when the question was asked "what's your favorite food?" the answer would come back almost automatically... "PIZZA!!!"

Well when I was a kid I'd answer the question a litlle out of the box. My answer was always "CRAB!"

I love crab. Always have, always will. There's been a few times in my life where I've eaten so much crab I've made myself sick. (it was a long car ride home. Ask my parents)

Today I had the opportunity to eat crab. After a few miscommunications and a closed restaurant, my co-workers and I found ourselves at Redding's own Buz's Crab Shack. Est.1968 Todd and I decided to split a whole crab for lunch since it's in season and finally affordable. It was good. I honestly can't remember the last time that delicious meat graced my lips, but as soon as I tasted it i remembered my long lost familiar love.

My hunger was barely satisfied. When I saw in the paper that crab was on sale at Raley's for only 2.99lb I new what I had to do... Buy crab for dinner. And that's what I did. I bought two whole crabs for 15$. Big ones too. I thought that I'd make enough to share for me and Aleah plus Tim and Kalin. Tim and Kalin ended up not eating the crab with us so Aleah and I put down two big crabs by ourselves...probably not evenly split. I put down a lot for the team. I can't complain.

Crab's always been my favorite food, and at the rate I'm going it probably always will be.

From AOL to The Backyard: Addiction

My first internet experience was when I was in grade school, and my dad brought home our family's very first Home Computer. It was a Mac. The Screen was maybe 10 inches, and it was about the size of those double bag boxes of cereal from costco. It had a CD-rom drive that had an external case that you had to put the CD's into before the computer, unlike the trays that eject and slide back in today. It was a lot of fun, I could play oregon trail on it, and mario teaches typing. But the real attraction was AOL. The "internet" I don't remember it being much like the internet I imagine today. Everything was broken up into groups, and you searched by keyword, and maybe it was due to my youth, but there wasn't all that much worth remembering.

Fast forward more than 15 years and I'd say I've had my fair share of internet evolution. I've gone from Dial up to High speed to High speed wireless. I used to love hearing those squeeks and ringtones everytime we had to dial up onto the internet. The only downside of all those bells and whistles was the fact that if anyone needed to make a call or someone was trying to call us the phone was tied up. Those were funny times because we would only have a certain amount of time because we couldn't tie up the phone all night. It was really bad if anyone ever accidentally left the internet on without knowing, and you wouldn't know until you picked up the phone to make a call and you'd get the loud squeeling blowing out your eardrums. Some people (never me) got an additional phone line just for the computer, and other's bought programs that would show you on your computer if someone was trying to call.

Oh how we've progressed... Now-a-days we have high-speed DSL or Cable or T1 or what have you. It's almost as if we can't go without this blessed information highway. There's Wi-fi in coffee shops, Free internet at Hotels, Barnes and Noble, Libraries, restaurants, we get internet on our phones, and we even are offered free internet at McDonalds. Now you can throw the kids into the play pen, open up your laptop, and Web surf away. All that said, I too have grown a fondness to the internet, and I'm realizing it's maybe even more....

Maybe you all can relate to this: I think I'm addicted to the internet. Addiction was described, online of all places, as an illness where a person seeks and consumes a substance. Here's where I'm going on this... if I can't find the internet I go looking for it. I don't feel good enough if it's not available. I'd automatically choose a hotel room that offers internet over one that doesn't. The same with coffee shops. What good is a coffee shop if it doesn't have internet. I pay money to have it on my phone. I've payed money to have it in my house. I'm addicted to the internet. She's grabbed a hold of me and she's not letting go....

To wrap it all up, I've realized this due to my present situation. In order to type this very blog I had to search my house for a wireless signal. We don't have the internet at our house presently and so if I want my fix I have to crawl around like a starving dog looking for scraps... and scraps I have found. The good news is after 5-10 minutes of earnest seeking I've found a hot spot. Yes that's right. Full bars. Full to the top. No bad signal here... The Bad NEWS: it's outside on the back porch. Currently at 12:30 in the afternoon it's not too bad. The sun's out, and the air is cool. Let's just hope the weather stays on my side and allows this addiction of mine to go on a little longer.

If you feel addicted, let me know. We can start a support group.