talking about p

this morning preston was in the best of moods. so why we were sharing a bagel i started plying him with questions.

"does your daddy love you?"
"yeah!"

"do you love thomas?*"
"yeah!!"

"do you love the cardinals?"
"ummmmmmmm..."

the little man best watch his step or we'll be resettling in saint charles before he knows it. much as i respect the homers, i am not raising a red sox fan.


* the train engine. the object of p's first fetish.

confirmation


a couple of weeks ago i found myself sitting by the snack bar of a wal-mart pitching a job shadowing proposal to mr. sampson, the store's elderly and kind community involvement coordinator. as i spoke mr. sampson occasionally took a note with an old fashioned fountain pen and he sometimes parried by sharing stories of teens who have job shadowed in the past.

after i doubled down on my pitch by soliciting mr. sampson's support for a significant grant proposal i had submitted some weeks hence, mr. sampson set down his pen, looked me in the eye and said: "i hope you'll forgive me if i'm speaking out of turn, but it seems to me that you are in ministry." i was a little taken aback by his statement, since i rarely, if ever, have reason or occasion to discuss my faith in the context of a cold call. however, since mr. sampson brought the subject up i confessed to him that i am also a minister at a local church and i consider my work with rectangle to be an expression of my personal commitment to build all things up into the head who is Christ. after outting myself i asked mr. sampson what inspired his observation and he said that he had a son who is a minister in lynn and "i can just tell."

it is just as likely that our conversation was inspired more by coincidence than by the Source. but, in my life anyway, it is often coincidences like this, when combined with faith, that shed the light required to continue upon this way.

mid-day time waster

last week gm reported that due to slumping sales of trucks and suvs it will be shutting 3 assembly plants in the near future. some reports indicate that these plant closures may herald the beginning of the end for the hummer brand.

as we eagerly await the eradication of one of the most striking symbols of conspicuous consumption in this great land of ours, i think we should help gm generate generate some spin concerning the upcoming liquidation of their h2s and h3s. thus, if you could help me complete the following pithy, proleptic press release, i'm sure that the execs at gm would appreciate it.

"today, gm announced plans to disburse its remaining inventory of hummer vehicles by:

a) filling them with sand and strategically placing them on levees throughout the upper midwest."
b) shipping them to sunni sheiks throughout iraq in order to ensure the success of the military surge."
c) sinking them off the coast of new jersey in yet another attempt to create a productive artificial reef."
d) donating them to high schools throughout the country so that they can continue the grand homecoming tradition of smashing a car for charity."
e) your disbursement idea here: "