Moreland Little League: Caleb

Caleb:  Moorland Minor League Baseball.  My calculation puts this as 2004.  Caleb is to the right of the banner meaning he was the second smallest on the team.  We were not the best time, nor the worse.  We had one really good pitcher, Gabe.

Miranda and Caleb as Models

When Caleb and Miranda were small they were asked by Nancy Orton to model clothing for Rebecca rags; the children’s clothing company run by Nancy and her mother.  These area couple of the pictures that turned out.  We have these in large size.  Sheri says there are more smaller size pictures.  (20 years ago?)

Funeral Singing

A quartet for Wesley Fountain, Father of Jean Tryon, Ballard Ward
"Amazing Grace" for the husband of Janet Thomas, Northland Ward
For Aunt Helen, my mom's sister.  This was shortly after we moved to California
"Be Still My Soul," for Sara my sister
Go Rest High on that Mountain for Forrest.

Weight Wars #2

I published a previous post about my weight and being half way to not being obese, down from 298 to 248.  I can now say I am down another 5 lbs but still only half way.  The difference is an adjustment in my height.  I guess I am shrinking, which means I have another 10 pounds to lose before escaping the obesity line.  So down 55 pounds with a goal of 55 pounds more.  I hope this sharing will motivate me, as my life is at stake.

In Theaters: Unplanned

I must admit, no recent movie has made me think like this movie about abortion.  A sub theme of this movie is the power of prayer.  Unplanned is about a Planned Parenthood worker, in fact she is a manager of a clinic.  However slowly, after lots of prayer by her family, her heart begins to change.  The day she participates in an abortion, and sees the baby shrinking from the needle, is the day she decides working for Planned Parenthood is not for her.  The film makes a point of explaining that Planned Parenthood stands for abortion, and other health services they offer are mostly a side business.
Now the thought I am having is how active should I be in the fight against abortion.  I prayed for a week or so after watching the movie; but never have I gone to an abortion clinic  to pray.  Even those prayers at home have slackened.  There are such better options in a modern society than the sacrifice of our unborn children.  Seals and Croft stood for the unborn child.  Many people put their reputations out there.  The question I have is can I?

Art: Book Review: African American Art: The Long Struggle

African American Art: The Long Struggle by Crystal A. Britton, Smithmark, New York, 1996.

This book is unique, as the artwork of the African Americans reflect the political situation in their lives.  Early art represented the African style, and then followed by neoclassical type work.  Edmonia Wildfire Lewis represented this style.  Lewis, a sculpture was the first African woman to achieve international success.  Her work, “Forever Free” is full of emotion.  Two freed slaves, she kneeling in prayer, and he with a hand raised showing a  broken chain.  Henry Ossawa Tanner, a post-Civil War painter provides a look into African culture.  “The Banjo Lesson” has an older kind gentleman teaching an enthusiastic boy on the banjo.  Religious themes abound and I really enjoy “The Burning Bush” by Beauford Delaney.  “The Flight Into Egypt” by James Lesesne Wells also presents this theme beautifully, using a myriad of colors.  From here the painting represents race relationships, with a nailed boot crushing and African American’s head to bloody riots.  More recently “The Struggle Continue” and other works based on this theme.

Book Review: Shut Up and Sing

Shut Up and Sing: How Elites from Hollywood, Politics, and the UN are Subverting America by Laura Ingraham, Regnery Publishing, Washington D.C., 2003.
I read this originally in 2004.  At that time I said "Very good exploration of how the elite are  not necessarily in touch with people.  They are not any better than others outside their own particular fields--although they often think they are."  I think Ingraham's message is perhaps more important today when those who support our current president, or support that America is great, or any other ideas considered naive or ignorant or misguided.  It is enough to make you sick.
Of course Laura Ingraham is now on Fox News.  She was a radio host when she wrote this book.