a good time had

A few weeks ago, my dad came to town to visit. It was a blast. We went out for pizza, browsed the guitar section of a music store, bummed around half price books, and had our very own little cookout.

Life Isn't Fair

There are a lot of things I don't understand about this world.. the biggest is why horrible things happen to great people.

I have the best friends on the planet. I know that's a cliche, but I proudly proclaim that I really do have friends in my life who I consider family. Even though they aren't flesh and blood, they are my brother and sister, they'll be an Aunt and Uncle to my children, and more than once (or even two, three, and four times) they have scooped me up out of the pit of despair, dusted me off, and glued me back together.

So why is it that these wonderful people who would do anything for a friend, give freely of themselves, and genuinely care about others are constantly dealt the hardest of heartbreaks? This I don't know. I don't know why the world is so cruel. I don't know why some suffer more than others.

Whatever the reason, my heart goes out to you two. I'm here for you in any way that I can be. Just like everything else, we will get through this. I like to think we're getting all of life's heartbreak out of the way now so that we can have many decades of pure joy ahead. Who knows?.. but here's to hoping.

Character

I used to think I was a pretty good judge of character, but I bet if you asked any one of my friends they'd tell you otherwise. The truth is, I always think people are mostly good. I think they will do the right thing, make the right choice, and most of the time, I'm incredibly shocked when things don't play out the way I expect them to.

For me, it's hard to pinpoint the character of someone I haven't known for years. There are a few people of irrefutably good character such as Mother Theresa and Jesus, and of course on the flip side of the spectrum we have murderers, thieves, and the like. The reality is, most everyone else falls into the gray area.

So, how can you tell? Is it based on one small action. . . the culmination of a series of poor or excellent choices? Is it a lifetime of behavior weighed by a higher power at the end of it all? What is character, and how do we classify ourselves?

I like to think I'm a good person. I try to do the right thing, be kind and compassionate to others, and live an honest life. But for as many times as I've been hurt, I'm sure I've done my share of hurting. And as hard as I might have tried, I know I've ended up on at least a couple of "misjudged" lists in my day.

I think in the end, you can't truly and completely judge a character. What you can "judge" is a glimpse- a mere moment in time of knowing someone. Maybe they were having a bad day, bad month, bad year. Is it really fair to write someone off as having poor character based on one or even a few experiences? Maybe. I have a friend who can predict the character of someone after speaking with them for only a short amount of time. And honestly, she's spot on 99% of the time.

For me, a person not gifted in the field of character judging, that would mean assuming everyone is horrible and walking through life hopeless and discouraged- waiting to be jilted, short changed, screwed over. The truth is, I just can't do that. I will continue to believe that people are good. I want to be hopeful and optimistic, even if it means ending up with a few more broken hearts or battle scars.

Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da

I'm just going to start by saying I'm glad that 2010 is over. It brought many changes, endless heartache, and a definite finality to the life I thought I was going to have.

2011 is here, and I'm ready. Bring on the good, the new, the exciting, and the happy.

Happy New Year, everyone!