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The past few weeks have been a little overwhelming, I have to admit. I've been blessed beyond measure and given so many things. To recap, I'm going to culinary school in one of the most beautiful parts of the country; which happens to also be the best culinary school in the nation, and they wanted me. I've got a beautiful and wicked-smart girl who I see everyday, whose ability to mock me and correct my grammar rivals my own tendencies to do the same. So things are going well,...

There's an utterly heartbreaking, horrific, and intensely sorrowful photo essay concerning the legacy of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster some 20 years ago. I warn you, though, these pictures are graphic and terrifying and sad. It's things like this that give me pause. I can't see God in any of this. Ask me, and I can tell you of a great many instances in the past week when I did, but here, I see nothing. I see the cruelty that only nature can bestow. I see the crushing realization that...

For the past several months, I've really held on to a quote about patience that I read in the back of magazine randomly one day. I have problems with anxiety, and this quote has really helped me remember during the tough times that there is something more. It goes like this: "Patience is bitter, but it bears sweet fruit." It's honestly helped me a lot, in numerous ways. I'm receiving satisfaction from things I'd given up on, things I'd quit on, and things I never thought would turn around. On...

my heart is sick with the passing of a good friends' sister by suicide. honestly, i want to say so much, yet the words are so jumbled. i've been there, it's not pretty, nor is it explainable to people who've never felt the despair, the utter lack of desire to even live. i was one of the ignorant before; thinking that each person should be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. but i'm here to say, it's not like that. there's no part of you...

This picture of Collin Finnerty (from cnn.com), one of the accused Duke lacrosse players, strikes me this way: Child stuck in a grown-up situation. Doesn't it?...

man, i'm tired of being scared. Don't wait for the perfect time to take the next step in life because it will never come. No amount of preparing, planning, saving, learning, building, or gathering can be done to counter all the contingencies of life. It's impossible. Sure it's important to try and do those things but don't wait for the planets to align themselves before you take that other job, move to another state, go to college, change professions, start a business, or marry the love of your life. All...

There's a great alt-country band from Lubbock called Waiting to Derail. Today, they put up another song from the work in progress called "California". It's highly recommended and can be found at their myspace. They opened for Macon Greyson a few weeks back and were incredible....

First and foremost, happiest birthday wishes to my brother. He's like 25 or something today. This morning, as I was getting ready for work (in the dark), I was caught thinking about this time last year and how much things have changed for me. At this time last year, I was unhappy, unemployed, and uninterested in sticking around. To be honest, I didn't have much going for me. My day consisted of little more than going and laying by he pool and watching a lot of television. I would sit...

I'm in no way condoning the cowardly acts of the insurgents, or as i like to call them, the Iraqi people. But this just seems hypocritical: BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The U.S. military on Wednesday called a video posted on the Internet purportedly showing the dragging of a U.S. flier's remains from a downed copter's wreckage "despicable." Referring to the video, dated April 2, the military said Wednesday it could not confirm its authenticity. "We are outraged that anyone would create and publish such a despicable video for public exposure,"...

Seriously, the man is a flippin' genius....