I Wish I were a Pirate A song to be recorded in the near future Words and Music by Joel Rohde (Song will be posted as soon as it is recorded)
Verse 1: I wish I were a pirate What a wonderful life it must be Paces we measure For buried treasure While sailin' the seven seas
Verse 2: I wish I were a pirate My sword I'd swing with glee I'd swab the poop While collectin' doubloons And goose my fellow mateys
Chorus: Arrrrgh Arrrrgh Arrrrgh Yo Ho Ho If I could be anything A buccaneer, a swashbuckler, a sea rover, a marauder, a raider, a rover, a free-booter, a privateer... A Pirate I would be
Verse 3: I wish I were a pirate I could swim all day in rum No showers for me I'm a pirate you see Not a clean freak, sophisticate bum
Bridge: Arrrrgh would be my word A parrot would be me bird On my shoulder he'd sit in the sun I'd kill things just for fun
A couple of nights ago our savior president delivered a speech to congress. This included a lot more promises and spurred a lot of standing up and clapping by the puppets in congress. As of Feb. 23rd President Obama's approval rating was 62.5%. I suppose this is okay. I would fall into the 37.5% that apparently don't approve, but who am I? This being my blog, however, I am going to rant a little on my views of Mr. Obama's plans.
I realize that the economy is in shambles or whatever. People are losing jobs, houses are being foreclosed, etc... but I am not understanding the logic behind a few proposals. Anyone in this country that is making $249,000 or more per year in America is now going to be taxed upwards of 40% so that we can afford the stimulus which spreads that money around to a HUGE slew of government run institutions that are supposed to help you and me.
In other words, President Robin Hood is going to take from the "rich" (anyone making more than $249,000) and give to the "poor" (anyone making less than $249,000).
I have no objections to the argument that people with that amount of money don't need to live in giant houses and have 13 cars and make fun of Denny's. But how about the Christian guy who started out making $19,000 selling home made rocking chairs? His business has grown to be a multimillion dollar empire making wood furniture of all shapes and sizes. Now he rolls in $400,000 a year and gives $320,000 to various Christian organizations that help starving children, rape victims, and defeating the illegal slave trade? Suddenly, they have to almost stop giving to some of those things all together let alone cut significantly the financing to the organizations he can still help. I do think that person deserves the modest 4 bedroom house that he and his 3 children live in off the $80,000 he actually keeps in a year.
Apparently 62.5% of Americans think that President Obama can spend their money much more wisely than they can. It's sad. It's socialism to its very core.
Then there is the guy who isn't generous, who is greedy, money hungry, and selfish. He makes $400,000 a year and owns a large corporation that sells it's products to small businesses. He doesn't want to lose his $800,000 dollar house, his 3 cars, or his status at the nicest eating establishments, or his ability to go on vacation whenever he pleases. To compensate for his tax increase he simply raises his prices. The small business owners who are scraping by paycheck to paycheck with hopes that their business will grow just enough to buy a house, get a van for their growing family, and pay off their student loans, now have to make a decision. They've never dreamed of being rich but if they did, they would probably look a lot more like the first guy. They either have to swallow the hit and lose prophet margin, or raise their prices. The problem is, they have already established a reputation in being a cheap family business that is family and community oriented. "There isn't a treat this cheap anywhere" is the common thing heard around their business. Do they raise their prices and risk losing the rep? Or do they just have to sell more to make up the difference?
Apparently 62.5% of people have elected a president that thinks he should be able to make the decisions like that for we the people. He has yet to keep any promise he has made, what makes us think that his new promises delivered on Tuesday night will be any different. Yet the majority of people actually think that he is still cool. WOW. We are shallow.
I did it. I actually did it. I deactivated facebook. Here are a few reasons.
I never use facebook anyway
I don't get the thrill that others apparently get by knowing everything about everyones life. I realize that they put up what they want people to see, but I just don't care. The people I want to know about are people that I care about and I know about them without facebook.
Things have started to change on facebook though lately. It used to be a thing where I could follow as much of a friends life as I cared to and as they shared. No one ever really talked about facebook outside of facebook itself. Lately though it seems like people are constantly talking about what they learned on facebook. This is okay, I guess, after all, what you put on facebook is public information. It's not even gossip necessarily. My problem lies in the amount of pressure I feel lately to add people as friends that I don't see a need to add. People are constantly asking to be added as friends that see me 4 or 5 times a week. Some see me every day. I feel that if I don't add them as friends, they will wonder why. If I don't add them they will wonder what it is I have to hide. Can't we just be friends without facebook? Other people add me as friends and expect me to participate in normal facebook interaction that I KNOW don't give a real rats rear what the heck is up with me. It is out of their own obsession that they even care to add me.
I realize it is irrational.
There are way too many people spending way too much time on facebook. I think I am going through some sort of weird rebellion. I am like a cyber goth or something. It is just not fun for me anymore and it is quite annoying to be expected to carry on facebook conversations in normal face to face conversations.
PLEASE don't think that I have a problem with facebook at all. I just have a problem with my own relationship with facebook. For all you facebookers, keep on stalking, gawking, and wall talking. I'm sorry to anyone that actually used facebook as a means of keeping tabs on me in a good way (although even that is nonsense considering I haven't updated anything on there for months). Have fun. I mean that.
Last night I went to my first Awana meeting since pre-jr. high. I went with mom and dad and their kids. I noticed a few things.
The books that they memorize from are WAY cooler now.
The kids are WAY cooler now.
They recite the NIV which isn't near as cool.
They no longer participate in the AWANA "Olympics" but rather the AWANA "Games". As if we couldn't have guessed that would happen one day.
Anyway, dad and I got to hang out and talk all night which was fun. Also, we are having WONDERFUL weather here. The CA people wear heavy winter coats when it is 55 degrees outside. We wear short sleeve shirts. I am loving it.
Pam has weird cravings lately. I'm sure it is a pregnancy thing or something, but anyway, last night she said to me, "I think you should bake me a cake." I said, "Do we have a cake mix?" She said, "I think you could find a recipe that doesn't need a cake mix." So I did. BUT I went a step further. I found a recipe for Boston Cream Pie. First I baked the cake, then I made the pudding like middle, and then the chocolate glaze. Then I went through the candy cane forest. Anyway, it tastes awesome. I also learned that making a cake from scratch is exactly like making one from a box. It's kind of funny that you would pay for a cake mix when you probably have all the ingredients all ready.
On another note, Gabriel scaled a kid sized mountain the other day all by himself. It was amazing. There was this tall ladder type thing with small holes for the feet and hands and it was straight up and he scaled the whole thing. It was taller than me. He must be part monkey. I am not sure what Pam's been up to but...
I have been hearing about these 25 things lists and I like to talk about myself, but I hate facebook so, I thought I'd talk about myself here. Jake did on his and it was VERY funny. I think I will on mine as well.
1. I love Craig Ferguson and here is just one of the reasons why.
2. I love NFL football and am currently going through with drawl since the only thing on TV on Sundays now are tennis and basketball. (I prefer the tennis to the basketball, but both suck pretty bad)
3. I am getting pretty good at the guitar. The real one, not the video game one, although, I'm getting pretty good at that too.
4. I listen to NPR news everyday.
5. I am a huge Alistair Begg fan.
6. I want to replace Garrison Keillor on "The Prairie Home Companion" should he ever retire.
7. I have always wanted to be a voice for a cartoon or computer animation.
8. If I could visit anywhere in the world, the top of my list would be Israel and its surrounding area. Our bank lady is doing that next week. It is her 40th birthday present. Pretty awesome present.
9. I would like to be a contestant on "Wheel of Fortune" someday.
10. I am very attached to a quilt that my mom gave me when I was a wee lad. It has red and blue and creme colors on one side with a baseball them. The other side is black and white with a music theme. It is unfortunately falling apart from having been dragged around for many years. I love it though and still use it a lot.
11. Pam, Gabriel, and I once ate Chic-Fil-A breakfast everyday for a week for free.
12. I have a deep desire to build furniture out of wood.
13. I was a camp counselor for a couple of summers.
14. My brothers and I once kicked the crap out of a kid who thought he could take me in a fight. Maybe he could have beat me up, but the Rohde boys don't allow people to find out if any one person can beat any one of us up. If you want to pick on one of us, you better have an army. We taught this kid the hard way. No one ever picked a fight with any of us again.
15. My mom used to make us hug in the middle of the room if we were fighting. Secretly I always thought this was a WAY bigger punishment for whoever had to hug me. I made it miserable for them.
16. I am considering the name "Ringo" for my next child (boy or girl).........Just Kidding.
17. I was on the high school bowling team at Wilton one year. It was AWESOME!
18. I own the coolest business in the world. One big SHOUT OUT to Tro Sno baby!!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
19. I love Candy Hearts
20. Once one of my brothers and I went with a friend to the creek with the great idea to be Tom Sawyer, build a raft, and float down the creek as far as it would take us. We walked a few miles on a chilly, gray, autumn day looking for raft building materials. We made our way through really deep mud and steep terrain until lo' and behold, before our eyes, we gazed upon a beautiful truck topper that would become our raft. We turned it upside down and slid it into the rushing current of the creek. Holding onto a branch my friend stepped onto the makeshift raft. It sunk into the water a little but but was still dry and held said friend. I then stepped into the raft. It sunk into the water even further until the water was right at the edge of the topper. The current swept us off before we could get my brother onto the raft and we started rapidly floating away. There was my brother on the banks of the creek yelling for us to stop and come and get him. Both my friend and I stepped to one side of the raft to grab a branch and stop the floating vessel. At that instant the water rushed in, over the side of the raft and drowned our little ship. We were swimming. We got to the edge of the water and started the long shameful trek back home, all the while creating a story we would tell our parents. When we arrived home, mom and dad were just about to leave. They looked at us, shrugged, didn't even listen to our story, and said take a shower. It wasn't a big deal, but we weren't about to tell them how it happened. My friend's mom later called my parents to inquire about her son. Our stories matched and we got away with the lie. I am sure my mom will read this and this is the first time she will have heard this story from me. Perhaps my brother told her, but I have lived this lie for probably 12-ish years. It feels so good to be free from my sin.
21. I think Burger King's marketing directer must be one of the funniest people in the world. Have you ever read their stuff. Seriously, just check out the rules they wrote on the paper crown that you can get at BK. You will laugh out loud in public I promise.
22. I once won an essay contest for Mother's Day about how my mom was the best. It was printed in the QC Times and, if I recall correctly, it made my mom cry...in a good way.
23. I only advise rich kids to attend Central College.
24. When I was young I liked strapping on my Rollerblades and skating down steep hills to see how fast I could go. One time I hit about 40 miles an hour and then wiped out trying to dodge rumble strips that surprised me as I went around a corner. I was wearing jean shorts and they burnt off of my body and left a blue streak burned into the pavement. My entire left leg, thigh, butt cheek, and arm where a mess of torn and melted epidermis and blood. I played a baseball game that very same night. Dude, it was awesome.
25. I once held a cheeky monkey in my right hand. He was dressed in an elevator operator's costume. I'm not sure if the monkey were gay, but he definitely was eating a banana. I was in Romania at the time and some guy wanted to take a picture of it and charge me to keep the picture. This is a true story. I thought, however, that I would leave you with this video.
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