Today I read the Wikippedia article on George Washington. I learned that:

1. George married Martha but was believed to be in love with Sally.
2. George was the hero of the Battle of Mongahela, which was a battle of the French & Indian war.
3. In Valley Forge, approximately 25% of George's troops died as a result of the weather.
4. The Battle of Long island was the largest battle of the Revolutionary War, and perhaps George's greatest military feat.
5. As a result of the Whiskey Rebellion, George led troops into rebellious areas, which marked only one of two times that an active U.S. President would lead troops into battle.
6. Martha Washington burned all of her correspodence with george after his death, in order to protect their privacy. Only three letters between the two exist today.
7. George died of pneumonia at 67.

Today I realized that December marks the end of our decade. That made me consider what was the greatest album of the last ten years. My pick... The Killers - "Hot Fuss". What do you guys think?

 The Life & Times section of my blog is about my day-to-day happenings, thoughts, and activities. It is intended to help friends keep up with what's going on in my life. This section will be entirely private, open only to those who have a LiveJournal account and have added me as a friend.

To view all of the LIfe & Times blog entries, please visit: http://gregbarnes.livejournal.com/tag/life+%26+times

 Slowly but surely, I will finish this. Here's my list of nicknames for friends with names starting with C, D, or E:

Charity Peterson - Speederson. You drive too GD fast!

Cheron Gilchrist - Cheronica. because about a year ago, you told me you wanted a nickname from me, and we mutually agreed that Cheronica could work.

Chris Holder - "Cholder" and "CTH". I have on occasion called you "Band Geek" and "Weather Dork".

Chris Suffle - "Soufflé", because that's how your name looks like it's pronounced.

Christina Bennekin - "Titties McGee", because that's the most awesome alter-ego I've ever heard. Zydeco Moon will never be the same.

Chris Phillips - "Crispy", because you're Chris P. Obviously!

Christopher Post - "Brigham Chinpost", that's self-explanatory.

Craig Leggett - "Crackhead Craig". We had some good times back in Tar River.

Dan Matthys - "D-Matt". No explanation needed.

Dan McGuire - "D-Mac", but I'm definitely starting "Mr. McGuitchey" and seeing if it catches on.

Dan Pastula - "S2", because "S1" was already taken.

David Ruiz - "Druiz". It's not clever but it works.

David V. Smith - "DVS". I think it all started the night that I convinced you to drink out of a ladle.

David Vannetta - "D-Vittles". I'm not sure where I came up with it, but it's fun and I like it!

Delana Henderson - "D". I can't believe that the name wasn't already taken. It's simple, but it's you. Although "Mack Momma" may catch on.

Elizabeth Bryant - "Elizawolf". It's great and fits you to a T.

Elizabeth Gingold Greenman - "Scrambles", because your initials are E.G.G. and I like my eggs scrambled.

Ellen Sullivan - "Ell Ell". The original!

I'll try to get my friends with names F-I next. All Nicknames entries can be viewed at: http://gregbarnes.livejournal.com/tag/nicknames

 Here's what I know...

• She's Brody Jenner's stepsister, and Bruce Jenner's stepdaughter.
• Her sisters are Kim and Kourtney.
• She got knocked up by an NBA star and they are getting married.
• Her family had a reality TV show on E! that I've never seen before.

Is that really it? 

 Another section of my blog will be the "Superstar of Humanity" section which will be my way of applauding people that deserve positive attention. Some of these entries will be made public, and some will be made "friends-only" (dependent on the content). The only way to ensure that you are able to read all of these entries, would be to sign up for a free LiveJournal account and add me as a friend. If I feel that you are an acceptable reader, I'll add you to my list.

The Superstar of Humanity entries can all be read by visiting: http://gregbarnes.livejournal.com/tag/superstar+of+humanity

 In a sad and shocking story of antiquated values, Beth McKay did the right thing... she fought back with eloquence and dignity. Beth McKay recently applied for a marriage license in Tangipahoa Parish in Louisiana. Beth is Caucasian, and her fiance is African-American. Beth was turned down for a licence, and was allegedly told "we don't do interracial weddings or marriages." Instead of getting married somewhere else and forgetting about the ordeal, Beth found a Justice of the Peace to perform the marriage in her parish. Then, the new bride took to state elected officials and media outlets. "He's not representing all the people that he is supposed to be representing," McKay said. "He's only representing the people with his same opinions." "I just think that God puts you in the right positions at the right time in order to stand up to people who -- who choose to live their lives with hate,"

I think that was well said! I applaud folks like Beth McKay for standing up and fighting back!

Many Americans have been exposed to overt bigotry in a variety of forms: racism, sexism, homophobia, and xenophobia. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (one of my heroes) earned international notoriety for standing up and fighting back in a series of peaceful protests in the 1960's. Exposing overt discrimination to the public can embarrass the discrimnator and those subscribing to hateful values. In my opinion, it is the most important step in ending it.

I think it's important to distinguish the difference between having discriminatory thoughts, and intentionally taking action to discriminate others. I certainly do not condone discrimination, but I am certain that at some point in my life... I've done it. Everyone has. Discrimination takes a new form when people take action or verbalize their discrimination in an effort to control or instill fear in others. The action can be small - like refusing an interracial marriage, supporting a movement to refuse immigrants driving privileges, or voting for proposition to ban gay marriage - but all of these actions distort the free will of individuals, and make the entire community of people feel like second-class citizens. Other actions such as the the recent Wilmington, NC attack to two gay men, or the awful James Byrd murder in Jasper, Texas instill fear in a community. These incidents may have just been one attack or one murder - just like a non-hate crime - but the crime was intended to terrorize an entire community of people, and because of that... the punishment should be greater. This is why the passage of hate crime legislation is important.

Beth McKay - you've inspired many by going on CNN. Thanks!

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/17/interracial.marriage/index.html#cnnSTCVideo

 I am reformatting much of my blog, and I just wanted to explain a few things. I've decided to break my blog down into several categories. One category is called Greggles Earth. It will include any information on road trips, travels, geography that I include in my blog. These entries will almost always be open to public viewing. All entries will be tagged with "Greggles Earth", and can viewed at the following URL: http://gregbarnes.livejournal.com/tag/greggles+earth

 My 14-day Arkansas road trip (the 3rd road trip in my States Across America Road Trip Series - Alabama and Arizona have already been completed) is on, and the first of the fourteen days are planned. The first day will be spent in the area of Helena-West Helena, Arkansas. Here's a summary of Day 01. The first day will be light on agenda, because part of the day will include a flight from San Francisco to Memphis. I'll probably be taking a red eye flight to Memphis, and will rent a car when I get there. It's going to be a rough excursion to get Arkansas, so a small, sleepy community like Helena may be a good place to start.

After arriving in Memphis, and getting my rental car squared away, I'll head on I-40 West (across the Mississippi River and then through the river's floodplain) until I reach the town of Brinkley, Arkansas. (Brinkley is about halfway between Memphis and Little Rock). Then I will go south on US Highway 49, and follow signs to the Louisiana Purchase State Park. The state park includes a short hike along a boardwalk, deep in the eastern Arkansas swamp, which ends at a commemorative survey marker showing the official boundary of the Louisiana Purchase.

After the State Park, I'll continue on US Highway 49 South into Helena. While in Helena, the highlight will be a stop at the Delta Cultural Center. The site includes  several museum exhibits including the area's railroad history, radio broadcasting history, and Helena's Main Street of the Blues. Helena is also known for several historic homes, including the Pillow-Thompson House. All of Helena's sights should allow for a low-key relaxing day with a few interesting photo opportunities.

The plan will be to stay overnight in Helena, but in the early evening, we will drive across the Mississippi River and head down to Moon Lake in the state of Mississippi. The ultimate goal with this side trip, will be to watch a beautiful sunset on the east side of a Mississippi River oxbow lake. Plus, it'd be nice to explore a new part of Mississippi too. Here's what I hope to see.

After sunset, we'll go back to Helena, grab dinner at a local restaurant, and retire for the night. We'll need our rest, because the following morning, will take us all over southeastern Arkansas, and ultimately into El Dorado.

Are the Republicans seriously criticizing Obama for not spending more time in New orleans? Are these the same people that didn't criticize George Bush's lackluster efforts after the Hurricane Katrina? Sometimes I think these people just want to criticize Obama no matter what.

Personally, I think Obama has done a fair job. I'm not overly impressed with the slow effort to accomplish things like pulling out of Iraq, refocusing on Afghanistan, health care reform, or gay marriage. But I do see signs of an improving economy. I do see small signs that the stimulus package could be a 21st century New Deal. I do feel that America is winning favor amongst our allies by pursuing diplomacy over war.

I say, give the guy a chance. Unless he violates America's trust, we should all lighten up and see what positives change can bring.

 Lyrics:

You can’t quit until you try 
You can’t live until you die 
You can’t learn to tell the truth 
Until you learn to lie 

You can’t breathe until you choke 
You gotta laugh when you’re the joke 
There’s nothing like a funeral to make you feel alive 

Just open your eyes 
Just open your eyes 
And see that life is beautiful. 

As I have previously mentioned in my Questioning of Faith blog series, this is a series of logical questions and observations that I am asking/making while reading the Bible for myself. Feel free to respond with answers. Don't send me hate mail.

Genesis 11 discusses the Tower of Babel. Now, God is supposed to be a pretty smart dude. He's also supposed to pretty much know how the universe works. So here's what I want to know... 1) Doesn't God realize that man will never be able to successfully reach the heavens with brick and tar - I mean, eventually they would reach the upper atmosphere and freeze to death. 2) Unless people were highly advanced in the early years, this tower would have to be an engineering marvel to reach even 500 feet in height without crumbling. 3) When God came to visit the Earth and discovered the Tower, he said "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."... so was that a very good plan, God? I mean, lack of understanding amongst man has pretty much resulted in EVERY human conflict throughout history.

Genesis 12 says that God liked Abram, so he gave him some land and told him and his family to live there and he would be blessed. Then there was a great famine and the land ended up being not-so-great. So Abram and his beautiful wife Serai went to Egypt, where basically Abram pimped out his wife to a pharaoh to earn sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels. The poor pharaoh had no idea that Serai was Abram's wife, but God punished the Pharaoh and NOT ABRAM and SERAI for adultery? Seriously?

In Genesis 11 there is mention of a family lineage for Noah's descendants (which were supposed to repopulate the globe after EVERYONE allegedly died in this great flood). It appears that 11 generations have passed from Noah to Abram. Chapter 12 discussed the Pharaohs of Egypt. Chapter 14 discusses the appearance of Kings.Where did these guys come from? Are they supposed to be descendants of Noah? How come their lineage is not listed?

In Genesis 15 it discusses that Abram wants to have a child, but his wife is barren. He worries that a servant will inherit his estate. You know, the servant that also happens to be his distant cousin, and the estate that his wife hooked up with the pharaoh to get, Anyhoo, God tells Abram, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Now, maybe it's just me - but modern-day scientists have no idea how many stars are in the sky, and they have some seriously powerful equipment. How in the hell is Abram the Pimp gonna do it? So then God told Abram the Pimp, instead why don't you "Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon."  Isn't all of this kinda random? I mean, why is God so needy? Can't he just create all this stuff? And it's not like Abram didn't move his whole family out on to a worthless piece of famine-stricken land for the Head Man in Charge. Is God just punkin' this guy? So anyway, Abram the Pimp actually gathered all of that stuff for God, and then God never showed. So, Abram the Pimp fell asleep and in his sleep God appeared to him with GREAT NEWS! "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure." "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates- the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites." So... the bottom line here is that Abram the Pimp gets to have kids, but they are going to have miserable lives and actually will not inherit his estate, but in a sweet twist his great-great gandchildren will get a whole bunch of land! Yippee!

Unfortunately, I'm switching my blog back to private mode permanently. I know a few of you like to read my ramblings, and I'm sorry.  I don't feel as though I have anything to hide, but there are some people that I truly can live without being a part of my life. Therefore, I've decided it's best to not allow them access to knowing what is happening with me.

You could always sign up for a free LiveJournal account, and add me as a friend if you want to stay in the loop.

 Anyone that knows me, knows that I love nicknames. I often make up nicknames for almost everyone that I encounter. Some people know their nicknames, others have no idea that I even have nicknames for them. I've decided it's time to come clean and confess some of them. Just keep in mind that all nicknames are terms of endearment, and not really insults. So have a sense of humor. Besides, you really should just be honored that someone as awesome as I am even thinks of you at all. =)

Aaron Brennan: It's still in the works, but I've been trying to think of a good one. Right now, I'm leaning toward "Concord", but I've also occasionally referred to you as "East Vermont" and "Granite". I'm reserving the right to change this, in case I come up with something genius.

Akira Galea'i: "Sunshine". Okay, in this rare example, I am in fact actually making fun of you. =) Although when you whine a lot I think about calling you the "Polynesian Princess"

Amanda Putzer: "Freedom Fighter". But you already knew that! =)

Amanda Powell: "Legs". You still wear those skirts to work?

Amity Little: "Amber L. Dodson", OBVIOUSLY! But also "The Q", "Amitiqua", "MC Amitiqua", and "Work Mistress".

Amy Crump: You'll always be "Amy-A" to me, even if you are Crumptastic nowadays.

Amy Nelson: "Amy-K", please see the above reference. =)

Ana Tenorio: Okay, I hope this doesn't get me into trouble, cause you KNOW I love you... "Kelly Kapoor". That's totally which "The Office" character you were. 100%. =) Love you!

Andria Bilello: "No Bite" Because I've heard you say those words repeatedly so many times. Hopefully, Bradley has finally learned.

Andy Black: "AndyBlack" Yeah, it's actually your name, but it's fun to say as all one word. There is no other name that suits you.

Andy Thomas: "A. T." It's not very creative, but everytime I hear those initials, I think of you.

Bennett Mackinney: "Benny Mackinney". You can thank Alison for that one.

Brad Goettee: "Japanese Macaque". Google it. You're related.

Bradley Cook: "Thumb". Cause that's where Eastern Michigan is.

Brent Reck: "Steve Wilkos". No need to explain.

Brian Martin: "Journeyman". I rarely use it though. Not sure how you escaped without a sticking nickname.

Brody Messmer: "Stalker" Cause you are!

Brook Sheahan: "Little Debbie". I made this one up the other night when I saw that 1978 picture from the family reunion. You two look a lot alike. I liked her dress, BTW, you should see if she still has that. If it wasn't for Thelma's fancy green number, Debbie would have been best dressed.

This was time-consuming, but fun. I'll post more later. C-D named people, beware! =)

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From time to time, people ask me what I'm listening to, so here's my current playlist:

Kanye West - Heartless
The Bravery - The Ocean
MGMT - Kids
David Cook - Light On
T.I. (w/ Justin Timberlake) - Dead And Gone
Thriving Ivory - Angels On The Moon
The Killers - Spaceman
Fall Out Boy - I Don't Care
Carolina Liar - Last Night
Anberlin - The Feel Good Drag
Lady Gaga - Just Dance
The Veronicas - Untouched
Eric Hutchinson - Rock 'N Roll
The Fray - You Found Me
All-American Rejects - Gives You Hell
Third Eye Blind - Non Dairy Creamer
Rise Against - Audience of One
Pink - Sober
Sam Sparro - Black & Gold (Marcussen Album Version)
Carolina Liar - Show Me What I'm Looking For

The 7th installment of my Counties of North Carolina trip series took me to Washington, NC in exploration of Beaufort County. We walked the Washington waterfront and downtown in the morning. Our next stop took us to the Estuarium, where we took a River Roving tour. From there we had hot dogs for lunch at Bill's Hot Dogs in Downtown Washington. We then drove to Aurora to the Aurora Fossil Museum. We boarded a ferry across the Pamlico Sound and made our way to Belhaven & Bath. In Belhaven we went to the Belhaven Memorial Museum, which turned out to be very disturbing. In Bath, we walked around Historic Bath, which is North Carolina's oldest town. We closed out the trip with dinner at Blackbeard's in Washington. The pictures can be found here: http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1059/616465881_f1871989db_m.jpg. This was our last county trip of 2008. Next year will take us to Bertie, Bladen, & Brunswick counties.

I was thinking this week about good friends, and (as I always do) that line of thinking gets me thinking about my pal Amanda Murer Putzer. (She's the one pictured on the right). Without a doubt, Amanda has been one of the most supportive and loyal friends that I have ever come to know. I am truly lucky to have her friendship, and hope that she will always be a part of my life. I know that she'll read this, and when she does... I hope it makes her day.