Little Fishies

First of all, apologies for not posting for a couple of weeks. Things have been unexpectedly busy in the Surovec household, mainly due to that wonderful thing called "spring". Cleaning up around the house and yard has been gobbling up every minute of my free time, and when the evening comes the only thing I've wanted to do is sit on my touche (a.k.a - behind, bottom, buttocks) and stare at the wall. But tonight, I choose to give you the thrill of yet another post! No, please...sit down...stop applauding....you're embarassing me.

Anybody Out There?!

I would like to make an official invitation to anyone out there reading this blog. Please take a minute or two and leave a comment on the site. I have to admit, the reasons are a little self-serving. I'm trying to get a gauge on how many people (if any!) are actually reading my blog. This will help me determine how often I should put up posts, or if the blog is meeting a need in any way.

Thanks for your help, and thanks for reading!

Answering the Call

I don't watch movies very much these days. It's not that I don't like movies anymore (even though really good ones are becoming harder to come by), and it's not necessarily a matter of desire. It's more a case of priorities when it comes to my time. In those precious and less common moments when I actually have down time, I would much rather hang out with the family, catch a game on TV, or do absolutely nothing while my brain flushes itself of the stresses and strains of the past week. And in those rare times when Rose and I have a date, spending $20 to sit in a dark room for two hours and not talk to one another is not at the top of my list.

Oh yeah, by the way....

....everything I wrote below about the books I list on this blog also applies to any website I might link to.

Except for Go PSU Sports, of which I 100 percent agree with every beautiful, wonderful, glorious piece of Nittany Lions propaganda they publish. For the glory!!

A "Sidebar" About My Sidebar

As you may have noticed, I recently added a sidebar to my blog listing books I have read over the past several months (and actually like - a very important note since I do occasionally read books I can't stand!). In light of this I thought I should give a little clarification in order to head off at the pass any potential misunderstandings, as well as share a personal conviction about why I read what I do.

You see, there are some in the past who have made the mistake of thinking that I read and recommend the books I do because I agree with everything in them. I am afraid, my dear readers, this is not true. I do not recommend or list books in my sidebar because I completely align myself with everything in them. Likewise, I do not list books because I believe you will agree with everything in them. If you were to dive into any of the books I list on my blog with these misperceptions, I'm afraid you would end up very confused and maybe even somewhat perturbed (kind of like I was after listening to Kristy Lee Cook sing "Eight Days a Week" like a honkeytonk piece on American Idol a few weeks back - great googly-moogly).

Let me explain my thoughts and often disjointed reasoning on this. About a year-and-a-half ago I made a personal commitment that I would no longer read books because I knew there was a %99. 257 chance I would agree with everything in them. Instead, I decided I would purposely start reading books that I knew would hold a high possibility of challenging my current line of thought. I wanted to read books that were going to stretch me, force me to think through why I believe the things I believe and why I adhere to certain philosophies and doctrines. I needed to be stretched.

And you know what? A wonderful thing happend to me on the way to the index and bibliography: I grew. I grew both spiritually and intellectually. Some of the things I've read have forced me to think anew about why I believe what I believe so that I can defend those beliefs more adequately. In other cases I have been challenged enough to start a new wrestling match within my heart and soul regarding certain issues I've always held to be true - true without question. And yes, in other cases my convictions on things have actually changed due to what I've read.

I would challenge you to maybe take up this type of reading as well, if even for a short time. It's too easy for us to become spiritually and mentally "tubby", refusing to pick up anything that is going to work our brains over a little bit, raise our heart rate, and cause us break out in a bit of a sweat. Well, it's time to break out of the box! It's time to put away that broccoli and cheese soup and try a cup of French Onion (granted, I will never do this - I hate onions, especially big fat ones named after European countries).

Happy reading!