Safe Haven

One day I'll stop writing posts about relationships, dating, and my lack thereof, but I was talking with "The Deb" about it--because she's my Wise Married Woman friend--and I'm getting kind of wistful. Back when doing ministry and being married wasn't a possible contradiction, I had a class with a pretty friend. Bible Content--Old Testament. She sat next to me. Even though she is one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen, I felt all silly trying to talk to her. [Don't you mean 'because'?--ed.] Maybe. Anyway, she was going to go away to do work in ministry, but it didn't work, so she came back. By then, I was thinking through "the Catholic thing" and I didn't want to jump into anything. But I swear, that was the craziest chemistry ever. We never talked about it. I still have no idea why she isn't married. As soon as I post this to Facebook...well, I shouldn't. Tim, you certainly know who this is. Why do I think lik...

It's Wild Card Day in baseball. This is a new thing. Since I believe, 1995, when the wild card concept was implemented, there have been three division champions and one wild card team. Baseball, concerned that no advantage was given to teams that won their divisions, added a second wild card this season in each league. Thus, the two wild card teams will play one another for the right to play the top seeds in the Division Series, followed by the series for the pennant, and of course, the World Series. The National League game features the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals (that never gets old) and the Atlanta Braves. Atlanta is favored, having won 94 games, falling just short of their upstart division mates, the Washington Nationals, who won 98. The Cardinals won 88 games, exactly the same number they won as a division champion in 1996, when they were beaten by the Atlanta Braves for the pennant in 7 games, by a combined score in the final three of 32-1. The other game features t...

There's a photo on my shelf from a wedding two years ago. Two very attractive women are posing and smiling next to me. It's the sort of picture I should get rid of. One of the women got engaged to another dude named Jason. Really can't argue with that, am I right? The other lady I'll probably never see again. Why get rid of the photo, you ask? I can think back on several occasions where young women in a big group decided to do the Ladies' Picture With JK. Now, at the time, I was probably gratified. Now, I'm not so sure. It probably means I am A) safe, and B) pitied. Those are two things I do not want to be. Romance is supposed to be scary and a little dangerous. There's a kernel of truth in the opinion that women like "bad boys." You can't control them, or predict what will happen. That's eros, man. That's how it's supposed to be. Now, I know that when women gain a little maturity, they think about the future. And this is good. Ev...

I want to talk about something mundane. I ate a Hardee's Thickburger tonight, and while I've had them before, it was heavenly. This burger was so good, it ought to be dogmatically defined. I'm not even pulling your chain. I guess I'm supposed to be worried about "sustainability" or some such, but the only thing I care about sustaining right now is Hardee's Restaurants and their delicious burgers. I can recall when Hardee's discontinued their fried chicken as a prelude to becoming The Den Of Freakishly Large And Life-Shortening Burgers, and I don't mind saying that I was mad. I'm not saying it rivaled KFC or anything, but I loved it. CEO Andy, I was fully ready to call that a huge mistake, but then, they came. I doubt I'll ever recover. And a lot of places offer curly-fries, but when I think of them, it's the Hardee's fries that come to mind. And it's not to say that the regular fresh-cut fries are bad. In fact, they have that ...

WOOOO!!! Internet! The great JK is back on the interwebs after being away since I switched providers on Oct. 1. You wouldn't believe how much you do on the internet. Specifically, we stay in touch with distant people, read news, sports, and maybe weather. I saw your e-mails but couldn't really answer them. My phone's pretty smart, but it's kinda small. I don't think there should be so much whining about how technology separates us from each other. If we're failing each other, it doesn't matter what year it is, or what toys are around. You might be able to convince me that certain sins and vices are made worse by technology, but people are who they were before: we need God.

You'd think I'd learn. I am A) a big sap, B) in love with Barbara Hershey, and C) a fan of music. Why did I watch "Beaches" (the end) again? At least I turned away at the climax, so I didn't cry again. I don't care what you say; that's a good movie. I'm not a Bette Midler fan per se, but I can't hear "Wind Beneath My Wings" without thinking of the movie. By contrast, her song "From A Distance" is hideous, deistic crap. God is not in fact watching us from a distance; He's about as near as you can get. Get thee to a tabernacle, stat! I digress. Perhaps I was in a frame to cry, because I found "For Love Of The Game" on one of the movie channels, too. I've seen this movie 4 times now. Love it. Great baseball movie. Vin Scully announcing the game. Yankee Stadium. Aging pitcher. Kevin Costner. Love story. Is there any way this could be a bad movie? Just trust me. But it got me choked up again, at the end. Confirm...