By request He man and the bat mobile

Don't ever say that I don't take requests. Seriously though, I might have to lay off the pictures for a while. I am feeling rather cheap and lazy with my blogging.

Well now I know why I felt bad last night. Stomach bug strikes again. Don't worry though I am sleeping and I am feeling better already.

In fact I am a little hungry.

Intimacy with God

As I said earlier you not only to bond and be close to other people but you need to do the same with God.

This is for the same reason you need intimacy with other people, you were made that way.

Blaise Pascal (a famous French dude) said (paraphrasing here) that we have a God shaped hole in the heart of every person. This is tough for some people people to believe but I have learned through my own experience that it is true.

Everyone tries to find a "god" to fill this hole. Some try the gods (or idols really) of money, fame, power, sex, drugs, material things, and even the god called noble causes. They will find though that no matter what they do or get they never truly satisfied by these things/

Success on your own will never be enough.

Now I am going to use my brother Ed again as an example. Ed is the most successful person I know (materially at least), which is why I use him a lot as an example. He is a hard worker and he earned his success honestly and I am proud of him for that.

Though he is successful though he is always feeling empty and hopes that his next achievement will give him the satisfaction he seeks. He does something even better the next time around..and the next. At the end of the day though he feels no closer than when he started.

So how big is a God shaped hole you ask?

Well God is infinitely larger than we can imagine. So I am going to give you a totally inadequete illustration to try to give you a visual. (Cue imagination music.)

On the top of this post you see a picture of the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon is 277 miles long, 4-18 miles across (depending on where you are), and attains a depth of more than a mile. (For my metric readers that is 446 kilometers long, 6.4 to 24 kilometers wide, and 1.6 kilometers deep.) That is a pretty big canyon no matter who you ask.

I have visited this canyon three times in my life. On a business trip, on my honeymoon, and when my mom was 6 months pregnant with me (my view was obscured on that one.) I can tell you from experience that no picture can ever truly show you the Canyon. It is too large to fathom in a photograph.

Now, back to my example of filling a God shaped hole. Let us imagine filling the Grand Canyon with a gallon jug of kitty litter until it is full. Not counting the cost of kitty litter, gasoline, and chiropractor bills it is very much insane to imagine. Now imagine a God that is so huge that the Canyon is no more than a puny puddle on the ground.

Do you think another Mercedes would fill it? That is the futility of trying to fill your own needs.

My wife is wonderful and I have some great friends, but I know God is the only one that can fill that God shaped hole in me. No one else can fill it, and it isn't reasonable to even ask them to try. This is a hole that we all have. So how do you fill it?

You ask him to fill it, but be warned if you mean it he will answer. He is love and he is huge and sometimes that will scare you.

Good news is he loves you anyway so save yourself some time and a lot of kitty litter and ask without fear.

I asked and I can't imagine going back.

a rare photo of Janus

A few people have asked me when I am ever going to put my photo up, so here it is. The trademark bad hair, half asleep eyes, the beard and 'stache, and even the really ugly shirt that I have had way too long that I should probably incinerate.
Thanks to Lorinda for the link to the Simpson thing, and thanks to my wife for taking the time to do this 2-d thing since really I am way too lazy for that.

House Shopping with Janus

Take a look at this beauty, for only about 135 million dollars I could be the proud owner of a fine castle. Sure it's Dracula's castle, and Transylvania is a bit of a commute, but if I bought this in Naperville or something it would probably closer to a kajillion dollars. So I could just fly to work every day or so, and save so much in property tax.
The view is good I hear, as long as you aren't trying to escape. I don't know about the local stores though, but I am sure they have a KFC or something nearby. The neighbors suck though.
So I might have to talk to a few hundred people and borrow a few hundred million because my Visa debit is a little short for a purchase of this size. I wonder if the Habsburgs take a check.

Janus and the Pig

Yes, it is a rare Photo blog. Woohoo. Normally I would be worried about privacy, but fear not my dog signed a waver.

A few years ago I came back from a dismal failure of a life away from my family. I went out arrogant and came back broken. Returning home was one of the hardest things to do in my life. Admitting I failed and having to see the people that knew what I was like before was difficult for me.
I returned to my parents home, defeated and uncertain where my life would take me. My old bedroom in the past year in a half turned into a storage room. They managed to move my mom's quilting stuff so that I had a room to sleep in. I came back very shaken, frightened, and even ill.
I hadn't seen Sammy for years. Sammy used to be my brother's dog, which he bought to try to curb the biological clock of his wife back then. Hmm...I don't want kids yet...how about a dog? It seemed easier at the time.
The problem is Sammy is more like me than like my brother Ed. She is very hyper active, needs a lot of attention, and doesn't like things too quiet. Soon he found that having a dog wasn't quite the peaceful resolution that he wanted. He is more of a fish type of person. One day he went on a vacation and left the dog with my sister, and didn't come back for months.
So thus Sammy became Caroline and Tony's dog for a while. My sister is more patient than Ed, but Sammy is a walking health code violation. (see picture above...yes that is her natural hair.) My sister either had to find a way to inject Benedril into herself 24/7 or find another permanant home for Sammy. So Sammy then went to my parents.
Sammy had been there for about a month when I returned home with my own tail between my legs. She greeted me with loud squeaks and squeals that made my parents cover their ears. Sammy loves people, you could wear a hockey mask and have a bloody knife in your hand and she would come up and wag her tail.
First night back, and I naturally couldn't sleep well. I went straight to the bedroom/former quilting room. I had got into bed and was trying not to think about how bad things were, when I heard some whining at my door.
I opened the door and Sammy walked in wagging her tail. She jumped on my bed, and gave me her "I'm over here" snort. I went back to bed, and decided I could use the company. When I lay down and my eyes began to feel wet, the dog put her paws on my chest and started licking away at tears. That night she laid next to me on the other pillow and slept close. She helped ease me into sleep.
If you are wondering why I call her "the pig" it is not because of her eating habits, though she sure does eat like one.
Sammy talks. She snorts to announce her presence, when she wants me to lay down, when she wants me to give her food that I am cooking. Many a time when I am cooking porkchops I will hear a snort at my feet from a hopeful Jack Russell Terrier. Her most interesting snort is when she laughs when I say something sarcastic. (She responds to my tone of voice..and she is my personal laugh track..no foolin'.)
After a little while of us being together I made this little dog a promise.
"You and I have lost our home and our identity haven't we"
Sammy cocked her head.
"Well, you and I are going to stick together. Where I go, you go. You can stay with me, and we can wander together. what do you say?"
She wagged her tail and gave me an affirmative snort.
When I met my wife I made sure she got to know my dog. "I hope you like dogs, because this one comes with me. We are a package deal." I made my promise to Sammy and I intended to keep her.
She loves my dog. Sammy likes everyone, but she loves Bella.
A few years later I was sitting around considering where my life was going and I asked Sammy what she thought about asking Bella to be part of our family.
She wagged her tail.
"Think she would be a good mom for you?" I asked.
She lifted her ears and snorted an affirmative.
"Me too."
Now speaking of Bella, I better go and make dinner, she should be home soon. Thanks for coming by.

Coach Janus works on the roster.

(Bridezilla and Groomra Dance at the Reception)



10 days til the wedding, and now I am feeling the pressure of just getting it all in order.
Bella is still holding together other than eating the ends of her fingers off. So no Bridezilla...but I have become the creature known as Groom-Ra.
Today Manuel called me up to tell me he couldn't be in the wedding, and I realized how much I have changed. A year ago I might of yelled at him or considered having him beaten, after all that's Karl's job. (I think the best man is in charge of flogging groomsmen that cancel in less than two weeks.) Instead I took it all with very good measure, and told him it would be great if he could still attend.
Then I hung up and freaked out a little. Just a little though.
He's never been in a wedding before, and I think he honestly didn't want to call til after Christmas so he didn't ruin my holiday, but I need to change my starting lineup a bit. So I am in a bit of a panic as I try to promote Ushers or find another Groomsman.
One of my cousins might be promoted to Groomsman, or I might convince my brother Ed to be a Groomsman or Usher.
He normally doesn't even like going to weddings, and to have him come is more than I expected. So to ask my brother to be in the wedding might take a bit of divine intervention. We aren't the closest as brothers go, we don't dislike each other, but we are a few planets apart in differences.
Maybe this is a way to open a new relationship with my brother? That would be nice. I wasn't in my brothers wedding, I had to manage the family business while Mom and Dad went. I will give him first pick either as a Groomsman or an Usher if he will agree. If he doesn't, I can still see about my cousin. Either way it's going to take some prayer, some begging, and some tylenol to pull it off.

Frantically yours....Janus Torrell

taking a stand against spam and other things

Wow, well got a few changes to announce today but I have to be quick, as I am supposed to be in bed right now.
My doctor appointment went ok, I got put back on my decongestants and nose sprays again, and I got a note that excuses me from work til Monday. I never thought I would say it, but I miss work. I don't want to stay home and sit on my hiney for the rest of the week. I did that the last few days and I am already climbing the walls. So five days left to go before I get green lighted.
I have been getting spammed from a travel agency, that for some reason keeps visiting me every day or so and tells me that they did not find what they were looking for but their computers enjoyed reading my post anyway and were so overjoyed at reading my blog that they just HAD to comment. Well I got a few things to say to you Miami Travel...

1. If you didn't find what you were looking for the first time, why come back 7 more times? I have gone to your site twice to see if you had anything on how to make a great Jello Salad, but after two visits I gave up.
2. You just HAD to comment? My own mother doesn't even comment around here, so why would you feel so inclined?
So, I don't want to make my readers have to get a special account or have verification to leave me a comment, I try to make it as easy as I can. But Miami Travel may be forcing my hand, so if I get a few more I am afraid I will have to turn on verfication. I am sorry for the regulars who like it when I keep things simple. Blame them.

Finally, I updated to the Blogger Beta today, so I got a few new features. I even get labels for my post...I have no idea what for...but hey its progress. Sort of... part 7 is coming soon, probably tomorrow afternoon. Have a good night.