The Blog Cleanse

When I was at the store recently, I noticed several cleansing products on one of the aisles. I've always been intrigued with this concept, but at the same time I'm a little leery of the stories that 40 pounds of undigested food were found in John Wayne's colon at the time of his autopsy. I've heard similar urban legends involving Elvis. Anyway, now that we are grossed out I can move onto my topic of the blog cleanse.

I recently had a blogger friend mention that she was deleting several people from her Facebook account since she wasn't even sure who they were. I think cleaning things, de-junking, and simplifying can be a good thing. I've recently felt that my posts have been mediocre at best and they don't seem to pack the same punch they did several years ago. I think now is a good time to take a brief blog vacation to renew and cleanse so I can come back in better shape.

Coincidentally, in the morning I am taking 10 scouts to scout camp for a week so I will be away from my computer and it is the perfect time for a blog cleanse. While I am up in the mountains, I hope to clear away the clutter of my mind and hopefully I will come back refreshed and ready to unleash some new creative ideas on my blog with a vengeance....or at least have some insightful posts about tying knots and earning merit badges.

Shoes In The Blender

This afternoon while we were having lunch, my 7-year-old boy came walking into the kitchen wearing the shoes shown below. Before any of you try to report me to the Division of Child Protective Services, I have to defend myself and let you know that these were brand new shoes three months ago. I don't know if the heavy wear and tear was a result of buying cheap shoes, excessive summer play outside, or possibly putting his shoes in the blender, but I still can't believe it.

Seeing these shoes reminded me of when I was a little boy and my shoes would start to look like I should be in the cast of Oliver. My dad would take me to Sears and buy me new sneakers. He always invited us to go on errands with him. He would also take us grocery shopping on Saturdays and would buy us ice cream cones and hot dogs afterwards. 

Since it is Father's Day, I thought it would be appropriate to express my gratitude for having a Dad who did those little things for his kids. I probably didn't appreciate it as much at the time but, as an adult with children of my own, it means a lot more to me today. Happy Father's Day. It looks like I have an appointment at the shoe store.

High School Cliques

I was recently reminiscing about my high school years and was thinking about the different groups kids associate with. We all have obvious differences, preferences, and tastes, but it is kind of sad to see insecure teenagers labeled because they affiliate with a certain group. Here are the main cliques I remember

Jocks- I probably fit in this category since I enjoyed sports, but unfortunately, athletic ability was frequently accompanied by cockiness and pride.

Stuck up/mean girls-The female version of the jocks. Usually many cheerleaders were in this group. Why are good looks so frequently accompanied by so much attitude?

Stoners- These were the people who spent a good amount of their time out in the parking lot with the hacky sack and banned substances who avoided the class room whenever possible.

The Brains- The polar opposite of the stoners. These were honor students, Sterling scholars, and people who actually actually took their education seriously. I'm guessing many of these kids have PHD's as adults.

Nerds-These socially award kids were usually found in the library and often seen wearing pocket protectors with their sweater tucked into their underpants. In my day they were into dungeons and dragons.

Goths-There were only a few of these back when I was in high school and they hung out in C-Wing.. They were usually musicians or thespians who enjoyed being freaky different and dressing in black and going heavy on the makeup.

Cowboys-The FFA club members could be an intimidating group with their fleece lines Levi jackets, their CAT truck baseball caps and tight wranglers complete with the skoal ring in their back pocket.

Even though we all relate to different groups more than others, it's nice to be able to grow up and hopefully lose the labels. I guess we all become more alike once we start having kids, paying bills, and dealing with life.

Yams and Sweet Potatoes

I'd like to take a few minutes and address an issue that concerns me. Over the years, I have heard so many narrow minded and prejudiced people express their dislike for something I feel strongly about. I can't believe how many people don't like yams. Yams and sweet potatoes are not that bad. Cut them some slack! It's not like we are talking about brussel sprouts and turnips.

First of all, I'd like to clarify that yams and sweet potatoes are not the same, but people frequently confuse them with each other since they look similar, kind of like Zooey Deschanel and Katy Perry.

Are people scared of them just because they are orange or because they are sweet? If this is a person's criteria for judging something, then the Oompa Loompas don't have a chance. Sweet potatoes have more flavor, more fiber, more anti-oxidants, slightly fewer calories, and a lower glycemic index than regular potatoes. Because of this they are usually a hit with fitness enthusiasts and healthy eaters.

If you want to criticize a vegetable, then let's talk about onions. I've expressed my concern about this diabolical food before. Let me just summarize how I feel about onions by saying I don't care to eat something that smells like it was grown in some one's armpit.

I understand that there will still be haters out there even after this informative and life changing post. I'm just asking people to be a little more tolerant towards these root vegetables and give them a chance more often than once a year at Thanksgiving. I'll bet posts like this probably make you wonder how much money I make under the table from the National Tuber Association.