- The reason for half the subtitle...the "lost" part...is that last week I lost my power, my cable TV, and my internet. The power outage only lasted about three hours, but the cable TV and internet were out for about a week and I only got those back up about a half hour ago. I initially thought those particular outages were due to a cut line resulting from the blackout but I come to find out that my service was accidently disconnected. At this point I'm just glad everything's back up. It's been probably 12 years since the last time I didn't have either internet or cable TV for an extended period, and to be honest I was completely thrown off. Combined with the week before with the sinus issues, this was probably one of the most difficult two-week periods I've ever personally experienced. I hope never again to have to deal with that kind of discombobulation. Man it was bad and I'm hoping things only improve from here.
- The other half of the reason for the subtitle...the "found" part...covers many different areas. One is that I was reminded, or found out again, that if push came to shove I can deal with things and survive. While offline I also got a chance to clean up my computer and in the process found some old photos and files I thought lost to past computer reboots. I also got to rediscover some movies I hadn't watched in a long time on my DVD or computer, one in particular called "Til There Was You" that really helped me get through a very rough week and got me to think about and rediscover thoughts, feelings, and concepts I haven't thought or felt probably since before my friend Roger's passing last year. I'm thinking maybe the Lord did all this to get me to rediscover some of what I believe in and who I am as a person and a social being, but time will tell on that.
- Speaking of the Lord, my church home: Crossroads World Christian Center.
- Another factor for me that made for a rough last couple weeks is play of the Cleveland Browns. I see flashes of things and some players stepping up, but not enough to put together a win. They are my team but right now they are really stinking up the joint. I'm hoping playing Cincy at home next week helps out. I think they need to loosen up the offense because they are too controlled on that side of the ball, especially with the weapons they have and a lack of audibles...I've seen only one audible total in three games played. It's hard to be a Browns fan when things are really bad or simply rough, but at least I'm not some fair-weather panic-stricken predictor of the apocalypse who writes off a season after one game....apparently I've heard there are many of those types this year.
- Regarding the Browns, the Westerville Browns Backers still and will always support the team. We're meeting up next Sunday at 1 PM to watch the Cincy game where we'll either celebrate a win or commiserate after a loss. Either way we're determined to have a good time when the games are on so you Browns fans should come to Jimmy V's in uptown Westerville and join us in cheering them on...to hopefully a win this Sunday.
- Speaking of Westerville, I went up to the 4th Friday festival last weekend. There was supposed to be a table set up for the Browns Backers, but that plan got shelved. I walked around for a while and pretty much had a free dinner going around to different booths and using a coupon for a free pizza. Free stuff is cool.
- A quote I found from an episode of the original G.I. Joe animated series: A snake is a sneak spelled sideways. I don't know why that got my attention but it did...one of the oddities for me last week, I guess.
- In the movie "Til There Was You," there was a poem/soliloquy at the end of the film read by the Angenelle character played by Kasi Lemmons. It was something that got me to thinking about several things from years past. This particular creative piece has helped me through some rough times and even provided me faith in periods where I was struggling with it. It's something that might help others looking for some faith, so I'm putting it below.
Most of us have appreciated the perfection of the universe, the animation of living things, the action of the human mind, and the power of love. These things all seem to denote a dynamic life force that surges through everything around us. This force appears to direct all things harmoniously, but irresistably, towards a natural, definite, useful conclusion. Is it hard to recognize in this life force a power greater than ourselves?
- Before I hit the final stretch here, over the past couple weeks I've done an awful lot just to get past my difficulties. In that time I went ahead despite what was going on and finished a couple of off-line projects I'd been putting off as well as starting a new one. I normally wouldn't put that in its own blurb or would have included it in one of the earlier blurbs, but this new project I'm starting on regards my Random Thoughts blogs. That project regards getting audio versions of my blogs online for people who might want or prefer to listen to what I have to say. I'm still doing the written ones here but the audio versions are going to take some time to get set up if I decide to go ahead and do that. I have the capability to create the audio stuff right now, but I want to take my time and find the right server to host my audio blogs/podcasts. I'm not setting a timetable for this right now and it's not that high a priority, though it is something I've been seriously considering periodically. I do want to get some feedback as to whether this is worthwhile enough for me to do, so let me know about that.
- Song on repeat: "You Don't Know Me" by Van Morrison. A song by the man who brought us "Brown-Eyed Girl," I heard this one in "Til There Was You" and just loved it.
- SLP to the following: The Westerville Browns Backers (too many to name, so I'm just putting it for the entire group), Dave, and Betsy.
I've got an awful lot of catching up to do, so I'm gonna go ahead and take off. I apologize to those of you who may have tried to contact me via the web since I had no personal access last week. I should be back to my normal routines this week now that most of the difficult stuff is out of the way. Until next time, America. Take care and God Bless.
DJ
