It is hard to imagine that 2013 is on the verge of wrapping up, and what a year it has been too! In many respects, I am glad it is over, and am anticipating a good year in 2014.
There are a lot of things that have happened this year which have formulated my perspectives as I share them here, and as I share them, I cannot help but think of how each of our lives is a microcosm of what happens in the society as a whole, especially with some crazy stuff our government is doing this past year. We'll touch on that briefly later, but for now I want to review life in 2013 in our house, as in many aspects it was good, challenging, and at times a little uncertain, but by God's grace we made it through.
1. Society and My Response
This has been one of those challenging years on many counts, and it has impacted me just like it has many. Most of it has to do with what is going on in society on a larger scale, because what happens on a large scale affects us as individuals on a small scale, whether we accept it or not. The Occupant in the White House (I don't see Obama as a legitimate President, sorry!) and his friends at the lower echelons of authority have been doing some crazy stuff, some of which doesn't make any sense whatsoever. For instance, kids are now being punished in school for some pretty stupid things - eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, etc. I even heard recently of one 6-year-old in Colorado being labeled as a "sexual harasser" because he gave a little girl classmate an innocent kiss on the hand. Another kid I heard about was suspended for opening the door for a girl classmate too. Yet another, a young Black teenager, was expelled for giving his teacher an innocent hug! Yet, I don't see anything being done with the Muslim terrorist who tried to molest a horse - the gay-rights nuts would say on that one that "love is love," yet they are idiots anyway so who cares what they define as "love." And, this whole "gay marriage" issue - I am about to get myself into some big trouble with what I am about to say, but it has to be said. Just this past week, a Christian business owner who has a bakery was penalized by an activist Federal judge because he refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple. To begin with, this guy is an independent private business owner, and as such he has a right to refuse service to anyone because it is his business. Secondly, it is obvious that some of these nasty gays want to just stir up trouble, because the simplest solution would have been for them to go elsewhere. On that, I have a disagreement with some of my well-meaning libertarian friends in that they say the "gay rights" crowd will supposedly respect businesses and churches that don't agree with their positions and leave them alone, but what this situation with the bakery demonstrates is that there is a method to their madness - they are not about just "marriage equality" or "equal rights," but rather they are trying to ramrod an agenda down the throats of every American. No one - not even devout Christians - is saying gays cannot be gay; as reprehensible as the lifestyle is, it is not up to us to force them to live differently, and no Christian would say that. The problem is that the gay community often doesn't want to reciprocate the courtesy - they are trying to force their lifestyle preferences on us, while at the same time saying that those who don't agree with it are "bigots" and other such perjorative names they call us. Which leads to a third observation - as far as I can tell, gays are not a race or ethnic group, but rather a group which engages in a behavioral lifestyle. Therefore, they are not a minority, and in many cases, they live lives just like everyone else, so what is the problem? Gays have the same freedom of speech, they can work good jobs and get good salaries, and last I heard there are not frenzied mobs breaking into their bedrooms either. They can also vote, shop at the same stores, eat in the same restaurants, use the same services, etc., that everyone else can, so I find it perplexing as to why they think they have "discrimination." It might also be enlightening to some people that Christians are as against bullying gays and others as any decent human being would be - bullying of any sort is wrong, period. And, it is always wrong to go "whipping up" on anyone just because you don't like how they look or what they do. The "gay lifestyle" is something I believe to be wrong, and it is contrary to both human nature and Biblical principles. And, I also don't think gays (or anyone else for that matter) are entitled to "special treatment," nor do I think they have a "right" to marry each other either - marriage is a sacramental union, not an entitlement. However, just like with any sinners, gays need Jesus Christ in their lives, and our witness to them as Christians is to treat them with dignity as fellow human beings, but at the same time pray for their salvation and deliverance. If that makes me a "bigot," then so be it - however, it seems to me that those who are on the "gay rights" bandwagon are oftentimes more bigoted and intolerant of their opponents than their opponents are of them, and that is where the change needs to take place.
Now, let us turn attention to the economy. I had issues this year with employment, and in large part it is due to Obama - he has literally wrecked the economy, and many of us who simply want to support our families and maintain a good quality of life have suffered for it. Over-regulation and other bureaucratic craziness has stifled even the self-sustaining efforts of some - you have government bullies (aided by nosy, meddling HOA's in some communities) going in and tearing up people's vegetable gardens and other such stuff, and they are now even going after kids for selling lemonade! It is getting ridiculous. The garden issue happened in Miami recently when some nosy neighbors ragged on a family for growing a small vegetable plot in their front yard, and the government dealt harsh and nasty with that family - really, tomatoes are now a threat to people?? Other forms of self-sufficiency have been attacked as well, and it is getting harder to pursue the fabled "American Dream" because the US government and its lackeys are creating nightmares! There are good organizations out there, such as the Institute for Justice, which are fighting against this bullying, but much needs to be done yet. Then, you have the MacDonald's crowd - employees there are now trying to demand that they get paid $15/hour to flip burgers! I have a BA degree, and I have only made that much in my whole working career one time; for the most part, I am happy if I can get $10 or $12 hourly! Yet, these burger-flippers - a job taking minimal effort and skill, I might add - think they should get more than a degreed professional?? Many of our combat-weary troops overseas don't even make that kind of cash, and they could use it more because what they are doing is much more important. There are some thoughts on this I will share now. First, if you are working fast-food joints as a life career, you are a sad individual - while on one hand it is commendable that you are at least earning a paycheck, maybe you need to re-evaluate your career choices; go to community college or something and learn a real trade. Reason is that burger joints and the jobs they entail are for transitioning purposes - they are for either teenagers earning a little spending money, retirees wanting to do something useful, or for those a little down on their luck to get back on their feet so that they can find a permanent and more appropriate job later. Burger joints, unless one is a stockholder, are not meant to be career choices. Secondly, if MacDonald's or any other fast-food chain actually takes this seriously, it would be economic suicide - income would have to be generated to pay those outrageous salaries, and that would mean a price increase in their product. First off, I hate burgers personally, but for those that like them, I don't think that potentially paying $10 for a Big Mac would be worth the cost - you can get a much better meal at the Golden Corral for much cheaper. Fast food is just not that great, and it's meant to be cheap because its quality is not the best - people are not going to pay outrageous amounts for a substandard product, simple as that. Therefore, if burger-flippers end up being paid more than an entry-level secretary makes, the secretary who makes less may eat elsewhere, simple as that. Plus, there are much better options - the small Mom-and-Pop places oftentimes have better food than these large chains, and the upside is that they would benefit from a dumb move like that. Anyway, that is just me.
More could be said - much more actually, as I haven't even gotten to Obamacare; oy! - but we'll leave it at that.
2. Record-Collecting and Hobbies
Due to limited resources, I have not actually been at liberty to purchase as many CD's this year as I have in years past, but we did manage to get some good stuff this year anyway. Some of the primary material we have gotten has been Western Swing and polka recordings, and the combination of those at the end of our 2012-2013 anniversary year on October 1st was 1176 CD's, 89 DVD's, and 898 vinyl LP recordings. This is the first year in several actually that I have had no vinyl purchases, but that is fine because I have practically all I am looking for at the current time. Large purchases this year have been minimal as well, consisting of some good vintage polka collections of the orchestras of Romy Gosz and Al Grebnick, as well as a 5-CD collection of Western Swing pioneer Milton Brown and his Musical Brownies. I have tried to focus this past year on tying up some loose ends in the collection, as there were several things from individual artists directly I wanted to obtain and did - among those are polka bands such as Orv Konop and Duffy Belorad, modern Western Swing groups such as the Quebe Sisters and Hot Club of Cowtown, and a few vintage big band recordings including Glen Law's orchestra from Illinois. The real find this year though was of one of my favorite big dance bands which finally is available on disc - Johnny Green's vintage recordings of the 1930's. Thanks to my friends the Dodds in Australia and their company Crystal Stream, we were able to obtain that one. I also have now gotten my own CD recorder, and am in the process of creating my own CD's of some LP collections which have no chance of ever being reissued due to their rarity. Additionally, I have been able to access entire albums of material online - Peter Duchin's vintage recordings from his early 1960's Deccas, for one - and have made CD's of those. I see this as a trend later on too, because I have figured this would be a great way to get some albums on CD that either will never have the privelege of a professional reissue, or perhaps the copies of LP's I have may have defects and scratches, therefore not allowing for quality self-made recordings.
In the coming year, there will be less purchases of CD's because there simply isn't that much left to get - I am at a point in my collection where I have the library I have always wanted, and there is relatively little out there I need to purchase. However, I must always keep my eyes open for new releases, as they will happen, and we are at a place now to where we can add them almost as soon as they become available.
3. Organization
This has been a year of finishing a lot of projects as well - I finished a theological book I have been working on for about 10 years, and now have a desk and computer of my own in my home office to organize things the way I have needed to. This includes getting a system refined for all my paperwork, and an ongoing organizational effort to make things more easily accessible.
4. Other Projects
The addition of a CD recorder has also facilitated organization and conversion of my other music and material onto discs, and it is good to finally be able to listen to some great music, both sacred and secular, that I only had on cassette and haven't been able to listen to in years. The demise of the cassette tape is honestly one of the biggest blessings I can say was ever conceived, because although cassettes were cheap, they were totally inadequate for preserving material that you wanted to keep. The compact disc is a much better invention for doing that, and I am so thankful to be able to get a lot of my old material onto disc. And, what material it was too - old cassette recordings of Assyrian and Armenian ethnic music, some Israeli folk music from years back I had on LP, and a lot of my Christian music that is largely unavailable on CD professionally but I had on cassette and LP. Many of those cassettes I had were part of memories too - you know how some music, etc., reflects different periods of one's life, and they become a part of your legacy personally. So it is with so many things I have here too. Which leads into the second ongoing project I have had for some years now.
As funds made it more possible, since around 2004 I have been on a journey of sorts to rediscover my past as I put together my life story. Our years in Largo had really contributed much to that rediscovery, as I had gotten a lot of books and other things during that time which were part of what I call my legacy. That has continued into the past year as well, and 2013 has its benefits in that regard. The good thing about much of this is that it didn't cost a dime, because much of it involved photos and other things I could access via the internet. The continuing project is to take these things, organize them accordingly, and make them accessible, which is now the system I have in place. I am sure more of that will come in the following year as well too.
5. What's Ahead for 2014
Due to some limitations beyond my control, a lot of 2014 is still pretty much up in the air at the present time. I did transfer schools from Southeastern University to Franciscan University of Steubenville, which means my graduate studies will continue with the exception of a 4-month interruption between this past September and now (December). With continued graduate studies, I will not have the liberty to write quite as much, but still will continue all my articles. As for this page, I think it is time to continue something I have started, and that is writing about people who I have known over the years and who have impacted me the most. Also, some other material, as I venture into the virtual archives of my own memories - my brief tenure selling Grit papers, for instance, when I was a kid, as well as some similar and more specific childhood memories. As much as politics and social issues get my attention, I want to try to keep Creative Side somewhat light in tone, because all of us know what is wrong with society and we cannot constantly dwell on those things but rather must keep alive the legacies God gave us. A similar emphasis will be undertaken in my Sacramental Present Truths articles too, which will be focused in the coming year more upon things such as the "Six-Fold Ecclesiology" that will be the skeleton of my future MTS thesis work, as well as developing and formulating a sort of Appalachian Christian Theology too. Recipes and restaurant reviews on David's Kitchen will be added as they happen, as there is no agenda for those.
I really hope that the articles I publish here will be material that inspires, on occasion entertains, and most importantly informs you, as it is my way of having a virtual "front porch" to talk, reminisce, and even share an occasional serving of BS when needed. And, I hope that each and every one reading this will have a blessed holiday season, and let us not forget the One for whom we celebrate it either. God bless, and will see you in 2014!
