My sons were a bit surprised and a little creeped out that their geezer Dad created a Facebook page. My argument was that wrinkled faces like to communicate with others too! In fact a lot of my slightly “higher mileage” friends are jumping into the cyber social networking scene. So it was with some interest that I read about a new bit of incredibly important research released this month. The news was startling. Facebook users can be narcissists. Can you believe it? A new University of Georgia study suggests that online social networking sites such as Facebook might be useful tools for detecting whether someone is a narcissist. The researchers, whose results appear in the October issue of the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, found that the number of Facebook friends and wallposts that individuals have on their profile pages correlates with narcissism. The research says this is consistent with how narcissists behave in the real-world, with numerous yet shallow relationships. Narcissists are also more likely
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You would have to be in a cave or colorblind to not know this is breast cancer awareness month. Some may find the pink ribbons everywhere a bit much. I am one who is grateful for every ribbon I see. My bride is now a two year survivor and the dollars poured into research along with faith, hope and prayers all contributed to her current status. I know many other woman (and their friends and loved ones) are on this tough journey right now. For the rest of October I am going to re-post some of the articles Joni and I wrote during that trial. Today we begin with D-Day…diagnosis day. Joni and I hope her story will be an encouragement to those going through the storm. Blessings and grace, Dave SENTENCES THAT CHANGE YOUR LIFE Most of life’s sentences are blissfully mundane. I can’t find my keys. Take out the garbage. Please feed the dog. I can’t find my keys. ADD readers will relate to that
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(Yesterday I wrote about a church in my town (Garland, TX) that took out a full page ad to admit they had been wrong. I had written earlier about my journey to learn how to admit that I have a well developed capacity to be wrong. Since this is “Admit You Are Wrong” week I decided to re-post that article today). There are a lot of fun things about being a published author. For example, you are forever a published author even if you end up in a lonely bargain bin at some godforsaken outlet mall while some smiling preacher sells millons and millions of books for saying practically nothing but I’m not bitter. Whew. Didn’t see that coming. One of the really bad things about being published is that your words are forever “out there”. When you write a book your words cannot be denied. That is unless you are Charles Barkley and you claim you were misquoted in your autobiography. But Charles…your autobiography is
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I was just about finished with my daily dose of depression from the morning newspaper when an advertisement stopped me cold. It was a full page ad from a local church. The headline in the Dallas Morning News screamed out in big, bold letters. We Were Wrong “We followed trends when we should have followed Jesus. We told others how to live but did not listen ourselves. We live in the land of plenty, denying ourselves nothing, while ignoring our neighbors who actually have nothing. We sat on the sidelines doing nothing while AIDS ravaged Africa. We were wrong; we’re sorry. Please forgive us.” That is a powerful and sobering admission. I was shocked. And I was greatly encouraged by the courage and the humility needed to admit such an embarrassing message to the public. Since I loved the ad I am sure Springcreek Church in Garland, Texas will get a lot of criticism. I don’t think like a lot of
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I wish this article was more encouraging. Every year in the illustrious history of the humble ramblings I have breathlessly brought you the results of the M-LAW (Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch) Wacky Warning Label Contest. The contest is conducted to reveal how lawsuits, and fear of lawsuits, have driven the proliferation of ridiculously common-sense warnings on U.S. products.The reason I am reluctant to publish this right now is because of the over arching implications of these labels. The same people who apparently need the warning labels we are about to see are going to vote in a few days for the leader of the free world. God save America. Let the stupidity begin. Honorable mention went to a warning label found on a letter opener that says: “Caution: Safety goggles recommended.” “Please don’t let any human see me donning safety goggles to open a letter from Aunt Bee. But if I don’t put on the goggles I can’t sue if there is a
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The whole world seems a little shaky these days. The political climate is discouraging and draining. My retirement just got delayed until I am 110 years old. I am a devoted Cleveland Browns fan. Can it get any worse? I usually don’t think too much about my days in the legalistic church I grew up attending. You might remember me talking about the First Church of Jesus Loves You But We Probably Won’t. But for some reason today as I was praying, meditating and thinking about the state of the world and the AFC North I drifted back to that church. In particular I thought about a little old lady who always sat in the third pew on the right. And I remembered how she used to belt out hymns with great gusto. She usually wasn’t within sight of the correct key but she didn’t care. One song that she loved to sing off-key came back to me today. Standing On
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(Under the weather today…please enjoy a gently read previous post) Recently I suffered a nasty bout of writer’s block so I decided that if I was going to be unproductive I might as well watch television. That philosophy of time management has been challenged on more than one occasion by the lovely Mrs.Burchett. Surprisingly the dip into the often vapid world of cable television proved productive. I stumbled upon a fascinating History Channel feature on Ben Franklin. I knew Franklin as a brilliant statesman, inventor, writer and a bit of a scoundrel.  Courtesy of www.earlyamerica.com But I did not know that in his autobiography the venerable statesman admitted a radical plan.  “I once conceived the bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection.” Wonder how that worked out? Benjamin Franklin could have saved himself some aggravation by reading Paul’s letter to the Roman church. Hold that thought. Franklin outlined the thirteen virtues he desired to master. Here are his baker’s dozen of admirable traits as
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