Whither the blogosphere?

It’s been nearly six months now since I began this blog, amidst the tsunami of blogs from here and there about this and that. Perhaps it’s time for another “state of the blog” message after all this time.



When I started this, southern gospel oriented blogs were sprouting all over cyberspace like baby rabbits. No doubt much of this activity was spurred by the success of #############.com…and I’m the first to admit that Doug Harrison has filled a niche in the internet landscape…even if he now only posts at roughly the same frequency as the Los Angeles Dodgers win baseball games these days.



Where does this humble corner of the web fit in in the midst of all that? I’m not sure. Some readers enjoy me updating them on my personal life…some enjoy me sounding off on a gospel music related subject once in a while. I’m still trying to determine what to emphasize more at this point…I think I have valuable things to say, and this is definitely one place I can say them without being intrusive in the lives of my friends.



And of course, there are those few who would rather I not say anything at all about anything…or worse, rip my words violently out of context to suit their personal agendas of bitterness and resentment. I suppose as long as this is out here to be consumed, that cannot be helped. People have the right to do what they will with what they see and read…to a point, of course. It happened early on here, and no doubt it will happen again,,,that sort of thing comes with the territory, I guess.

In the midst of all of that, I have learned a great deal about who I am, and who my friends truly are. And I said long ago that if this blog can help me be a better person, then it was well worth starting. Better still if it can be a help to those who read it…in some small way.



So, a blogging I will continue! It is therapeutic and healthy for me, and potentially edifying to my fellow travellers as we chart our courses in this life. It is a privilege to have a place where I can be myself with as many of you as I can. In the future, I hope to be an even more positive influence on ALL of our lives. That is my commitment to God, to me, and to all of you.

Now, the fun begins…

This is my first entry here since returning home…as you might imagine, the past few days have been extremely hectic!

There’s been the move, a full work schedule, other life obligations to maintain, and having to plan my time and tasks around the contractor assigned to replace the necessities removed during the cleanup of my apartment….which he has been rather slow in completing. But he has replaced everything but the bathroom sink…so I guess I can’t be too disappointed.

The real disappointment to me is that the landlord(who I like and have always gotten on well with)is trying to charge me not only for all this repair work being done, but to put a carpet back in here, should I want that(which of course, I do).

I can’t say that I don’t understand that…inasmuch as what happened here to cause the mold happened while I was still living here. But surely he realizes that my resources at this time are limited, and there is only so much I can do. I wrote him a letter explaining as much, and also made an effort to try to negotiate the costs involved.

For example, I’m being charged for the costs of them posting my eviction notice back in April, which has nothing to do with the habitability issues at all…I certainly didn’t compel them to do that! In addition, I’m being charged for disposal of the garbage removed from the property when I moved out. Only in the broadest possible sense can that be considered a “repair”…and like the above, was not my idea anyway. I’m not sure I should be charged for anything I didn’t either directly cause or ask for.

And I hope, if they insist on making me pay for all this, that at the very least they allow me to do so on an arrangement basis, rather than demand it all up front, by a quick deadline time. For if I were able to afford all that, I could move into someplace a lot nicer!

Which I don’t really want to do…I like where I live…it’s in a nice location…I have nice neighbors, and I have plenty of time to myself to relax, pray. and write! I’ve always functioned well in a solitary environment. I think the Lord allowed me to come back here because He wants me to be here now for some reason.

Yes. I’m going to have to find some furniture, a refrigerator, a carpet, and do some heavy-duty cleaning in the coming weeks…but that’s part of what having a home means. And the alternative to having this home is no longer appealing to me.

So it’s time to go to work…and trust God to keep the landlord from being too oppressive in his demands. Will He do that? Well…does the sun rise in the morning?

All is well in Fresno…despite the record heat.

Be it ever so humble…

…there’s no place like home.



After a three-month exile for necessary repairs, I am finally back in my apartment. It is hardly complete in its’ restoration…it needs carpet, more bathroom stuff, and someplace to make food…but it now lacks one thing it needed to lack a long time ago….MOLD.



Yes, the mold is gone, it is freshly painted, and now needs that special touch of “home” to be a complete dwelling place. It’ll get there, with time. Any interior decorating suggestions are most welcome.



Girl22 suggests lots of plants…maybe I should put her in charge of the project! LOL!



I’m sleeping on a Coleman air bed for the time being…it is surpisingly supportive and comfortable. And my internet is hooked up…as soon as the contractor finishes everything he said he’d do…I plan on putting my new used turntable in so I can hear all my old records again.



I can hardly wait until all this decorating is done…what a housewarming party I’ll have!

When is a loss not a loss?

When she turns out be a great new friend like girl22.

Most of you may remember me singing the praises of the person I became acquainted with as “girl22″ on a Christian singles website a while back.I was very excited for a time, because at the outset it appeared that she would become someone that would take a permanent major role in my life.

And she will still, though probably not in the way I’d originally hoped. Today she told me after some thought and prayer that she didn’t feel it would “work out” between the two of us for a romantic relationship.

She was exceedingly kind and scriptural about it, which is one of the reasons I was hopeful where she was concerned in the first place. Why so many people think it’s a failure if the other person in a relationship might not become their mate has always been hard for me to understand…there is nothing more precious than a true friend…who is loving enough to be completely transparent. And I am blessed to have more than my share of those, some of whom I’ve mentioned in these posts, and others who have posted comments here.

So girl22 and I will not be headed to Reno or Las Vegas anytime soon…but we have establshed a very wonderful, blessed friendship that will last beyond these hot summer days of mid-July.

Any new prospects then, on the “love” horizon? Well, there is actually a rather unexpected one that has arisen, but that is contingent on an act of obedience to the Lord I must do before I can go any farther there at all. If that sounds a bit cryptic, good! I don’t want to divulge any more about that here for now…I just ask that you all pray about that, God’s will be done, and His grace triumphant.

Wednesday is still the target date for returning to my apartment…I’m trusting that all will go well on that, too.

Less about me…and more about general topics next time!

Not much going on…

That’s why things have been relatively quiet around here.



I guess the biggest event going on with me right now is the fact that I’ll be moving back into my apartment come Wednesday…and it’s been a long wait. I’m glad that in just a few days, that whole sorry episode will be over.



I’m trying to not worry needlessly about some annoying car problems…things like that are always twice as annoying in weather like this(forecast high 109…currently 106 as I type). Oh well, like the man with kidney stones said, “This too shall pass!”



I had a horrid weekend in my fantasy sports leagues, and until I get that special phone call, and get moved back into my house, and until I can get my car under a semblance of control, my smile is on hold for a time.:-(



I’m off work in 13 minutes…I shall return later with more.

To be continued…

By overwhelming demand(two people asked me!), I thought I’d share how my initial get together with girl22 turned out tonight.

Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. For quite good and understandable reasons, we weren’t able to go out to dinner as planned. Nothing is wrong, though…we’ll just have to find a better time to meet…and I’m sure that when that day comes, it will be quite a nice time.

In the meantime, keep girl22 in your prayers…her life is very busy right now, and she needs the time and prayers to take care of some important business in her life.

And likewise with me…oh…before I forget, I have great news regarding my housing situation! The contractor is busily working on the unit, and I should be able to move back in one week from tonight! Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home. If I could have a housewarming party, you’d all be invited to it!:-) Thanks for all your prayers and support during this overly long odyssey.

Several of my other friends are doing well these days, too…thank you to all who also lifted them up in prayer.

Like the current song lyric says…when you’re down to nothin’, that’s when God’s up to somethin’!

Stay tuned…this is turning out to be some ride!

A day to remember someone else…

Lately, if you haven’t noticed, I’ve been spending a lot of time here chronicling(boring?)you all with my day-to-day activities…like all of us, perhaps, I tend to be so narrowly focused on my little sub-world that I fail to notice what’s going on just around the corner from me, so to speak.

So today…no self-centered focus…and no analysis of what I think about things. Instead, I ask you all to join me in thinking of and praying for people in your sphere that might just be having a hard time making sense of their world.

Thank you very much.

The World Cup…and the Statesmen?

OK, back to opinions this time around. Some people aren’t going to like what I say no matter what, so why should I be shy about something a little bit more provocative?

For the past couple of weeks, we in America have been inundated with coverage of soccer’s premier event…the World Cup. It’s only every four years, but to listen to some of the hyperbole surrounding the event, one would think that it was like the Super Bowl, the World Series, the Indy 500, and the Stanley Cup playoffs all rolled into one mega-event. And since soccer is arguably the world’s most popular spectator sport, one would expect the United States…the leading country in the civilized world, to give it comparable support to the rest of the world.

But you see, we never have warmed up to soccer in the same way we thrill to NFL football, or major league baseball, or even NASCAR racing. And it’s doubtful we ever will. The sensibilities of soccer are such that Americans just don’t have the interest in soccer the same way the rest of the world does…and likely never will.

But there’s a certain sort of sports fan in America who insists that we adopt soccer and hail the World Cup in the same way we do our other more indigenous sports. This sort of fan is ashamed of our seeming willful ignorance of the “sublime beauty” of the game of soccer, and even goes so far as to equate our relative distaste for soccer to our failures as a society, especially when compared to the more “civilized”(?)Europe.

But as great a game as soccer is, as I said, it just doesn’t touch us in the same way our other sports do. The event of the World Cup series that seems to have attracted the most attention in the U.S. is the headbutting by the star French player of an unsuspecting Italian opponent.

To get to my point here, it’s OK not to think soccer is the world’s greatest game. And it’s OK to think that it IS…but it’s unfair to think of American fans who let out a collective yawn when a soccer match comes on as “culturally challenged”, or more disparaging descriptions. Hey, we’re just different, that’s all.

What does all that have to do with the Statesmen, you ask?

There is a certain sort of classic gospel quartet fan whose main philosophical tenet is…the Statesmen were the greatest gospel quartet of all time, no doubt about it. Despite the fact that there have been more talented gospel singers who weren’t Statesmen than who were, this kind of fan will assert boldly and passionately that Jake Hess was undoubtedly the greatest lead singer of all time, Rosie Rozell the greatest and most “soulful” tenor, Doy Ott the smoothest baritone, and Jim “Big Chief” Wetherington simply the best bass singer one could hope to imagine…and of course, Hovie Lister was an unrivalled pianist and MC.

These statments are delivered in a tone well beyond that of mere opinion, and asserted with the same sort of certainty one would have if one were asserting that the sun was hot, or water was wet. How can anyone challenge the obvious preeminence of the Statesmen?

Well, obviously there were other great gospel quartets, too…and they had their fans who thought they were among the best. But it’s not enough for those kinds of Statesmen fans to think their quartet was the best, if you’re a legitimate gospel quartet fan, or if you “really know music” , you have no choice but to agree with them.

Uh, no.

I think the Statesmen are among the greatest quartets ever to sing as well…I can’t say though, that everything they did was better than what groups like the Blackwood Brothers, or the Couriers, or the Rebels, or the Plainsmen, or the Imperials did as well. Get my point?

It’s OK to think that the Statesmen were the very best…but it’s also OK if one thinks that they might not have been.

This is why the Baskin-Robbins folks made 31 kinds of ice cream, because they understood that there is something different for everyone. And you don’t see ice cream lovers having the same silly conversations as some soccer fans..or some Statesmen fans.

Our pictures in the paper…

Another pleasant surprise today…



Two weeks ago, a reporter for the Fresno Bee newspaper(and a good friend of mine), Ron Orozco, visited the KMJ studios as we recorded our gospel music show…he was there to do an article on the show’s main host, Earline Starnes, the daughter of the program’s originator(and former Blackwood Brothers bass singer), Don Smith.



Earline deserves an article…for she has carried on her father’s vision of keeping gospel music at the forefront of life here in Central California…and everywhere else our 50K AM signal reaches. She is also bringing in gospel singers from far and wide(of course, when you’re in California talking about gospel singers, there’s nothing BUT far and wide!)just as her father did for so many years. She has faithfully carried out his original radio vision for our show, which HAS to be the longest contiunously running gospel music radio program in America(In one form or another, Don Smith has had a gospel music program on KMJ for the past 59 years!). And that article(complete with our pictures as we were doing the program…yikes!)appeared in the Bee today.



And Ron was the perfect person in town to write the article. For many years, Ron was a sportswriter for the Bee, and then in 2001, finally got the green light to start a new section in the paper on Saturdays…a religious oriented section entitled Faith and Values. Ron is a very strong Christian and a member of my church who grew weary of watching the religion section die on the vine under its’ predecessor, a man of no faith that didn’t really understand the subject matter to do a credible job.



But Ron does, and for some time he has wanted to do an article on our show, being that it has been an area tradition for over a half century. And Don is still remembered very fondly by our audience, even though he passed away in 2004 at the age of 89 due to complication from Alzheimer’s disease. Earline has been involved with the show since 1986, when Don’s second wife Peggy(who did the show with him at that time), who was her mother, was killed in an auto accident that year. Her father raised her well, and she stepped in and began to take care of more and more of her father’s business. My own involvement in the show dates back to 1987, when the opportunity arose to help out on the show. This I was egaer to do, because I had grown up listening to Don’s show as a boy in Kerman, and it was there that the first seeds of my lifelong love affair with gospel music began.



Unlike many of my acquaintances, I didn’t choose to bring it up on gospel music message boards to simply revel in the attention of some publicity, and get “congaratulated” for appearing in one of Central California’s leading newspapers. We did nothing to be congratulated for…we’re just there, doing our jobs every week, and thanking God for blessing the show as He has. One reason that it remains on KMJ(a heritage news/talk powerhouse that airs no other music programs)is because after 59 years, it still has among the most loyal and large audience of any program we air…and we carry shows such as Rush Limbaugh’s and Sean Hannity’s during the week.



No, we need no congratulations…I’m talking about the article here to make sure Earline’s contributions get an online mention…for they truly deserve them. And I also want to take the time to thank and give credit to Ron Orozco for a job well done, and for deciding to use his part of the paper to recognize our humble work. Ron truly captured the essence of Earline and our program.



So thank you, Ron…and good job, Earline…I can envision her father smiling broadly from heaven because of the article.

girl22

Today’s entry is dedicated to the newest joy in my life…a girl whose screen name online is the title above.



I had admired her from afar on a Christian singles site I’d been frequenting for a while…the combination of what she put down in her profile and the fact that she lives right here in Fresno proved to be too much for my curiosity to resist.



If she was anything like her self-portrayal, she would have been worth the effort to get acquainted with regardless of where she was from, but since she is from here, I wrote her…and waited…and waited.



Regular readers will recall me talking about another person I encountered in the same place…and how that did not work out. But any similarities between that person and girl22 ended precisely at that point.



While passing time today at work, I decided to just browse over there and see what was going on. I saw girl22’s name on my screen, and she was online there at that moment. Remembering my reaction to her profile, I decided that there was no time like the present to try to reach her, and so I messaged her right then.



A minute or two passed by, and there was no response. I was almost ready to move on to other things when I noticed her entering the chat box. I typed hello, and we finally began chatting.



What began as an impulsive move to attract girl22’s attention turned into a half hour chat, where we introduced ourselves, and then began to get to serious business. We decided we wanted to stay in touch, so she gave me her phone number and we set a time tonight for a phone conversation.



Most of the world would consider our initial encounter one of luck, or accident. Because both girl22 and I believe in a God of exquisite design, we immediately knew better. I was on cloud 9…and it didn’t matter anymore that I would soon be working with a difficult ex-mayor, producing the talk show he would be hosting in place of our regular host. I was going to talk to girl22…and God was going to make it special.



After work, I tended to the rest of my day’s affairs..all the while anticipating talking at last to girl22, expecting that I would know her much better, but leaving the rest to God to work out



Then came the appointed time…I called girl22, and just as we had this afternoon, we had a wonderful time getting acquainted, exchanging facts and anecdotes about each other. One thing I insisted on doing at the outset was committing our time to the Lord in prayer. After I prayed(mostly for God to sit in right between us during our conversation, and be present in both of us), she remarked to me that no one else had done that with her in a phone conversation before. Well, I said, until tonight, you’ve never had a conversation with me before, either. I wanted her to know that I committed EVERYTHING in my life to Jesus…and left nothing to chance.



An hour and 45 minutes later, we had concluded a delightful, memorable conversation…we had prayed(again)…and we agreed on a dinner date this coming Wednesday. To say I was completely happy and satisfied, not to mention humbly thankful to God for arranging this whole episode. I think girl22 would agree that both our conversations had God stamped all over them.



So what’s next? I have no idea…and that is the exciting part. For our God has a way of making these things memorable and joyfilled, if we will only step back, trust Him, and thank Him for what He has done. But I definitely will keep you all posted as to how it goes with girl22 and me…stay tuned for more marvelous divine adventures!

Page 1 of 2 pages  1 2 >