From Zimmerman to Dylan, Vampires to Jesus

When Robert Allen Zimmerman decided to change who he was in the late 1950's he became Bob Dylan; the freewheelin' epitomy of American songwriting and the trailblazing leader of a new form of politically minded, socially commentative and philosophically driven culture of musicians.

Nobody knew then why Robert Allen Zimmerman had changed his name and chosen such an unpaved path to follow, to this day nobody knows why he chose the last name Dylan. (originally "Dillon")
It was a big deal back then to change your name and your lifestyle in the blink of an eye and Bob Dylan was one of the first to do it in the name of music; but for Bob it paid off in a big way. Today Bob Dylan is recognized as one of America's most highly regarded popular songwriters, and his enduring contributions to the American oeuvre are comparable to those of Stephen Foster, Irving Berlin, Woody Guthrie, and Hank Williams. In the interests of time I won't mention the countless legion of songwriters that are known today because they took a page from Bob Dylan's "How-To" book on becoming an icon.

Changing his name and reinventing himself was not the last big change that Bob Dylan would make.
In late 1978 Bob Dylan got "Saved".

His widely-publicized conversion to Christianity made Bob Dylan perhaps the most famous Jewish apostate in American history.
It is interesting to me and I think it should be noted that Dylan was suffering at this time from a painful divorce as well as an exhausting world tour and far too much alcohol...these life issues must have compounded Dylan's fever for answers and so he began to search the ether again for his next big decision...Jesus.

Many of his die-hard fans rebelled against Dylan's new-found faith...maybe because his lyrics lacked the hard edge the fans had grown accustomed to?
From: "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall"
"I saw a newborn baby with wild wolves all around it, I saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it, I saw a black branch with blood that kept drippin', I saw a room full of men with their hammers a-bleedin', I saw a white ladder all covered with water, I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken..."
To: "Are You Ready?
"When destruction cometh swiftly, And there's no time to say a fare-thee-well, Have you decided whether you want to be In heaven or in hell?"

Dylan's hard personal edge toward politics and social injustice had turned into a hard spiritual edge that alienated his loyal fans and caused his personal success as a songwriter to take a backseat to his decision to follow Christ.
Yet again, Bob Dylan had forsaken his past and who he was to choose a new lifestyle and a new direction...a new "god" if you will.
Did he have to forsake his personal feelings for social and political reform to follow Jesus?
To quote Dylan shortly after he declared his new-found faith in Jesus: "There was a presence in the room that couldn't have been anybody but Jesus. I truly had a born-again experience, if you want to call it that.... It was a physical thing. I felt it all over me. I felt my whole body tremble. I told you the times they are a-changin' and they did. I said the answer was blowin' in the wind and it was. I'm telling you now Jesus is coming back, and He is! And there is no other way of salvation."

Dylan's Christian albums when compared to his previous "non-religious" offerings could only be called commercial flops. In a 1980 interview in Dayton Ohio he was asked if his choice to become a Christian was an easy one, Dylan replied: "It would have been easier if I had become a Buddhist, or a Scientologist or if I had gone to Sing Sing."
Dylan's evangelical phase didn't last long and he went back to writing the songs that his fans had been waiting for for several years...he continued his career as a critical and commercial success to this day.

There are several icons of music and film that at one time during their career they chose to be a Christian-Singer, or a Christian-Actor and virtually every one of them found that their original passion for music or film or whatever had to be placed on the back burner because they were too busy defending their decision to become a Christian - Ultimately their careers and personal lives suffered because in their attempts to reinvent themselves as Christian artists they had lost all credibility as artists in the first place.
Just ask Pat Boone, Kenny Rogers, M.C. Hammer and Ozzie Ozborne.

The question is this: Does a relationship with Jesus require that all attributes of a former life die and a completely new life begin in order to glorify God?

*** *** ***

Unless you've been hiding under a rock for the last 20-plus years you are pretty well aware of who Anne Rice is and why you know her name.

To be fair, you may not know Anne Rice by name but instead you may know who she is because of what she has given the entertainment world...Does "Interview With A Vampire" ring any bells? Anne Rice has been writing vampire horror novels since 1973 and many of them have been hugely successful; "Interview With A Vampire" and "Queen of the Damned" to name a few.

In a recent article that my brother emailed to me, interviewer David Gates got in touch with Anne Rice to find out where she's been since 2003.
According to Gates "After 25 novels in 25 years, Rice, 64, hasn't published a book since 2003's "Blood Chronicle." Maybe because she was busy having surgery for an intestinal blockage, and also back in 1998, when she went into a sudden diabetic coma; that same year she returned to the Roman Catholic Church, which she'd left at 18. Maybe also because Anne's Husband of 41 years, Stan Rice, died of a brain tumor in 2002.
But now she's back and guess what...yep, she got "Saved."

Anne Rice's most recent novel "Christ the Lord - Out of Egypt" gets released on November 1st, it is Rice's first novel since becoming a Christian.
"I promised," she says, "that from now on I would write only for the Lord."

History, does indeed repeat itself.
I hope for her sake that Rice's millions of fans are accepting of this major change in her fictional bent and more power to her; but I'll be watching Anne Rice very closely.

A Costco Kind Of Weekend

I wasn't going there to pick up much, just some Jack Daniels, Captain Morgan and a flat of Bottled Water, so I wasn't at Costco for that long. However along with 20 gallon jugs of Olive Oil, Ultimate-Value-Packs of Unmentionables and 30 foot Trampolines; a trip to Costco is also prime people watching time.

You just can't make this stuff up.

Largest Item Purchased...
A 62" flatscreen TV with matching TV stand...it took two flatbed carts and three Costco employees to move the TV from one side of the store to the other in 15 minutes...I saw the new TV owners in the parking lot on my way out...they were trying to convince the Costco people that the 62" TV would fit into the trunk of their Toyota Corolla if they would only give it a try.
Hilarious, I wish I'd had a comfortable chair, popcorn and a soda.

Most Well Rounded Shopping Cart...
An Iranian couple that couldn't stop their little girl from screaming anymore than they could stop yelling at each other had a pretty eclectic gathering of goods by the time they got to the cashier. Included in the cart: A ten pound bag of Unsalted Peanuts, a bag of unripened Mango's, a 6x6 Persian rug, a "valu-pak" of No-Drip Afrin (6 dispensers total), a bag of assorted socks, Chicken Cutlets, a lifetime supply of Scotch Tape...and finally...A family-sized KY Jelly dispenser.
Will Coscto wonders never cease?

Confrontation Overheard While Waiting In Line...
A middle-aged Asian couple are in front of me in line and they are purchasing a dump-truck-sized load of Flour, Sugar, Cooking Oil, Cake Mixes, Soda, Bottled Water, Napkins, Toilet Paper, Toothpicks and 2 Cases of 10w40 Motor Oil. I didn't think this was out of the ordinary given the plethora of goods at Costco until the cashier said something to the customer about whether he was going to sell the Motor Oil out of his Donut Shop, I couldn't help at this point but realize that the Donut Shop owners were purchasing goods for their Donut Shop with their Merchants license which gives them a healthy discount as well as a tax break.
The Donut Shop owner was either a genius or a genuine fraud because he pulled the "I don't understand your english" move with the cashier and continued to load his goods onto the counter and smile with every tooth in his mouth. The cashier started to get bent out of shape and confronted the customer by saying "Are you telling me that you sell Donuts with a side order of Motor Oil?!?" to which the little Asian man happily grinned "Yes, Yes...Donuts!"
Needless to say I left Costco in search of a Donut Shop.

On Old People and the Cars They Kill With...

Have you read this article?
If not, I'm sure you've read an article or saw a report on the news with virtually the same story over and over again in the past few years..."Old person drives car through crowd, kills several, doesn't realize what he/she has done and parks car in driveway with bodies strung across car grill."

Here are some highlights from the article from cnn.com today...

- A 93-year-old driver apparently suffering from dementia fatally struck a pedestrian and drove for three miles with the man's body through his windshield, police said.

- Parker (the driver) was not likely to face charges because "he did not appear to know what happened or where he was", said Bruce Bartlett, chief assistant in the Pinellas-Pasco County State Attorney's Office. "He may have somewhere in his mind have realized it was a crash, but immediately forgot about it."

- Parker had renewed his license in 2003.

And remember that story in the news from last year or so?
The one where the old man was driving around and got confused, he ended up driving his car through a streetfair at break-neck speed killing 8 or 9 people and wounding a whole bunch more...he didn't remember anything either and as far as I know he still has his driver's license.

According to the Governor's Office of Highway Safety in Arizona...One of the most significant social trends of the new century will be the graying of the population, a fact that raises serious questions for everyone concerned with traffic safety and education.
- In 1990, elderly drivers accounted for 6.7 percent of all miles driven.
- By 2030, according to our conservative estimate, elderly drivers will account for 18.9 percent of all vehicle miles driven, almost triple the 1990 figure.
- Based on current rates, the number of elderly traffic fatalities will more than triple by the year 2030.
- If this expected increase occurs, the number of elderly traffic fatalities in 2030 will be 35 percent greater than the total number of alcohol-related traffic fatalities in 1995, a fatality number that is viewed by policymakers and the public as cause for serious concern.
- They (elderly drivers) tend to become more conservative on the road, driving less often at night, avoiding busy highways, and taking fewer long-distance trips to unfamiliar areas. However, older drivers are more likely than younger ones to be involved in multi-vehicle crashes, particularly at intersections.
- They're also more likely than younger drivers to be seriously injured in a crash because their bodies are simply less able to withstand an impact. This raises the likelihood of increased medical and insurance costs in the future.

Also on cnn.com today was a poll asking if states should revoke driver's licenses when motorists reach a certain age...Surprisingly (to me) the results of the poll are split right down the middle!

I know I'm showing my colors here but this is my perception and in my opinion - If I ever reach a point in my life where my mental and physical health are called into question and I may be a danger to another person because I'm not all there when I'm behind the wheel of several tons of steel on wheels; Yank my driver's license like you're starting a mower!!!

all pictures pulled from www.flickr.com click on pictures for photographer info

Sign Language for the Bar

I’ve been waiting for a drink so long I’m growing a beard.

I will use it to strangle the bartender.

Thanks to my brother for this link and the wisdom therein...

I've Got Two Tickets to Paradise...

Streets made of Gold, Eternal Peace, Crystal Lakes...Jeweled Crowns?

PULLED FROM WWW.POSTSECRET.BLOGSPOT.COM

I hope they at least have Sushi and Waterslide Parks!

What do you want?

The Parable of the Terminals & Success!

Well, Linds and I got back from Colorado on Sunday night and I've been meaning to update my blog with a little info about our trip.
Of course, it's Tuesday now so I've had a chance to digest everything that happened and I'm happy to say that we weren't just high on the idea of living in Colorado all this time; it really is all that we thought it would be and linds and I are really in love with the idea of living there!

I'll give you the layout of the weekend...
Linds and I were scheduled to fly out of Lindberg Field in San Diego on Friday night at 6:15pm so Lindsay got off work a little early and went home to pack and make sure we were ready to roll as soon as I got home from work at around 4:15pm...good to know at this point is that the San Diego airport is notorious for having a very slow and meticulous security process and getting to the airport 2 hours prior to your flight is not only common practice for Linds and I; it is par for the course...however, in this case we didn't have that luxury and we were going to be cutting it closer than we ever had before.

I got home from work, changed my shirt and grabbed a bottled water and we were out the door a minute later with our bags, our tickets and two VERY excited 60 pound dogs. The plan was for our dogs to stay with our friends Mike and Kristine and their dog Bailey for the weekend, of course Sugar and Flash didn't know this yet; they thought they were going to the dog park - and they were PUMPED! Translation: Hard to manage and deaf to commands.
Linds and I got on the freeway at about 4:20pm and OH NO! TRAFFIC!

55 minutes later...(5:15pm)
Extremely frazzled and stressed to the max; Linds and I pulled into Mike and Kristines complex and quickly said our hellos, unloaded the dogs, said our goodbyes and sped off back to the freeway. We had one hour till our flight was supposed to leave and we to drive less than 12 miles to get there...No problem...OH NO! TRAFFIC!

12 miles and 45 minutes later...(6:00pm if you're keeping score)
We pull into the parking lot of the airport, Linds says "We bought our tickets through Frontier Airlines; they're in Terminal 2 - HURRY!"...we park in the most expensive parking complex on earth because we're out of time and we run to the terminal.
At this point we're sweating bullets, breathing hard and barely holding on to our tempers at being so close to being screwed. We make it into terminal 2 and to the ticketing counter for Frontier Airlines by around 6:05; we're in good shape in spite of being so late..."Wait, doesn't that "UA-282" on our tickets mean UNITED AIRLINES!?!"..."Yes sir, it does."..."But isn't United Airlines in Terminal One?"..."Yes sir, it is."

!! PANT !! PANT !! SHHHHIIIIITT!!!!

5 minutes later...(6:10pm - flight leaves in 5 minutes)
Sprinting through terminal 2 as fast as the wheels on our carry on luggage will spin; we're in deep kimshi now! Terminal 1 is approximately a 1/2 of a mile away from Terminal 2 and should take a leisurely stroller 10 minutes to accomplish...We made it in 2 minutes. And thus the Airport Olympics we're born!

We'd made it to Terminal 1 without a moment to spare and ran to the security checkpoint and were relieved to see that the line was not long...maybe they could hold the flight a few moments while we run down the concourse yelling for them to hold the plane.
We hand our tickets to the first security guard who looks us over with a cautiously suspicious eye and smiles sweetly as she hands our tickets back to us and reaches to her left to open up a whole new security checkpoint lane! Maybe she saw that our flight was leaving as we stood there and she was going to rush us through! "If you could just step this way; you've been preselected for a pre-flight security screening"

!! PANT !! PANT !! Fu..Fu...FFFFUUUUUUUCCCCCKKKK!!!

6 minutes later, freshly groped and prodded, tested for radiation and bomb building materials...we were on the run again only this time we were half dressed and dragging our poorly closed luggage behind us.
Stop for a minute and imagine the scene in your mind, got it? Good. Now, thank God it wasn't you.

We made it to our gate about 10 minutes late for our flight but not a moment too soon because the very last call was going out for passengers for the flight to Denver just as we arrived...ahhh, sweet relief.

It was then that I recalled all of the episodes of LOST that I'd been watching...Here come the butterflies...

"Hello, welcome aboard...yes, you're seated in Row 8 by the emergency door at the middle of the aircraft."..."So, I'm responsible for the operation of the emergency door in case...you know?"..."Yes sir, that's right."

!! PANT !! PANT !! NNNNOOOOOOOOO!!!

The Moral: Pay attention to the tiny letters on your ticket information and always pack clean underwear.

*** *** ***

The flight to Denver International Airport was smooth, but not as smooth as the whiskey that I demanded as soon as we were airborne...Tranquilizer says what?
We landed and got our rental car a little while later...the car rental guy must've liked us because he upgraded us for free from a tin can with wheels on it to a Dodge Durango with a bad attitude...Sweet.
We were pretty disoriented trying to navigate around the freeways that surround the Denver Metro area at night and in a strange and very large vehicle but I think we did pretty good...Just ask the 5 or 6 people that we nearly crushed with our monster truck between the airport and our motel. Emphasis on NEARLY.

The weekend got off to a quick start on Saturday morning and we were looking at model homes by 8:30am...by 1:00pm we were meeting with our realtor and by 6:00pm we were discussing the process of placing a hold on the lot we wanted! Talk about a whirlwind day!
I have to say, thank God for our realtor Marcia McCorkall and the representative for Shea Homes Annie Packard; without the two of those ladies Lindsay and I would have had to make an additional trip to get everything done that we did get done on Saturday...who knows, we may have had to make several additional trips!

When it was all said and done we knew which house we wanted and the lot we wanted it on...and so we set the plan in motion with the shaking of hands and signing of papers...smiles all around we drove away from the housing development with high hopes and light hearts.
Here is a few pictures of the style of house we're going for...it's called The Sage.

And here is the corner lot where it's going to be approximately 6 to 7 months from now...

We love our dirt lot on Heatherton Lane!

We spent the rest of Saturday evening and all day Sunday driving around our neighborhood area, seeing the sites of Denver South Metro and learning about the state of Colorado...We had a great time for sure.
Something cool about where we'll be living is that about a stones-throw from where our backyard will be is a nature preserve called the Backcountry Wilderness Area (Used to be called OSCA which I think stood for something but I forget what)...the Backcountry Wilderness Area is basically 8200 acres of protected land that will never be built on and will never be developed...Which means that there will never be tons of traffic or other houses built behind ours, good news for us!
Here's a few shots of the Backcountry Wilderness Area, as well as some Buffalo we saw on the side of the road and a Prairie Dog that popped up under my feet and said hello...

All in all it was the fastest, busiest, fullest and most satisfying weekend Lindsay and I have spent in a long, long time and when it was all said and done; if we hadn't had to come back to San Diego I don't think we would have!
I'll definitely keep you all updated as things progress, thanks for your thoughts and prayers!

Big thanks to Mike and Kristine for watching our "Kids" - I hope they didn't slobber too much!

"That John Denver's full of sh*t man!"

J/K...J/K

Mrs. Donaghy and I are flying to Colorado this weekend to have a look-see and check out a few housing developements.
We've been needing to get out there and look around to decide what area we want to live in and also to put a bit down on the plot we want; so I'm hopeful at how productive and informative this trip will be.

I'm planning on (somehow) getting a larger memory card for our digital camera and hopefully will be able to take a ton of shots so I can show off my amazing skills. You know, photography skills, computer hacking skills, bow hunting skills...

Roughing It

My friend Mike blogged here about our camping trip last weekend up in the San Bernardino Mountains.
Good times.

Go East Young Man

It's official.
As of today our house is on the market and our grand plan is underway.

For those of you without telepathy or basic mind-reading abilities, I'll let you in on the plan...
Linds and I have been planning a move to Colorado for about a year and a half now. The first step in the plan has always been to sell our house in North County San Diego and go from there, we would've sold the house over a year ago if it hadn't been for a nasty little tax called Capital Gains; which (put simply) says that if you buy a house and turn around and sell it within less than two years you have to pay a major percentage of the sale in taxes to the State...I think it would've been around $35K to $45K...obviously we didn't want that to happen so we waited and kept planning and hoping...And Lo and Behold! The time has come.

The next step after selling our house is to get over to the Denver/Metro area of Colorado and snatch up the house of our dreams...we've got a few ideas, mostly in an area called Highlands Ranch...check it out!

Here's one of the houses we've got in mind, it's being built as I type and we hope to put a hold deposit on it when we go to check out the area in a few weeks.

Downstairs

Upstairs

It's all pretty exciting but also a little scary...but I think Linds and I are more than ready for our next grand adventure!

If you pray, pray that that our house sells fast. I'll keep you posted