If I were king of the forest, I'd . . .

Posted on January 23, 2009 by Tom Long

If you were the new president, what would your priorities be? Not asking how you would make it happen, but what would you want to happen?

Here’s my list (off the top of my head).

  1. Economic recovery.  Our economy is the engine that makes all other missions possible.  It is the parent that should get the oxygen mask first (an analogy for the air travelers out there).  To put it another way, “If Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.”
  2. Freedom from attacks on our soil.   No matter how much so many seem to hate George Bush, one cannot deny that he managed to keep us safe from attack since 9/11.
  3. Balance the federal budget.  Why do you think we’re in this economic mess? Continue reading →
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Welcome to the Long Story Short

Posted on January 22, 2009 by Tom Long

I’m Tom Long and this is my story, hence the name.

Enjoying Hawaii

Enjoying Hawaii

This past Tuesday, the United States turned an historic corner.  We now have our first President who is a person of color.  As a WASP male, I don’t celebrate what that color is so much as I celebrate how little it mattered to the electorate.  Like many of you reading this, I have witnessed a significant shift in my own lifetime to issues of race.

When I was a wee tyke, my Dad took me to a stock car race.  It was summer in West Virginia and the air around the dirt track was filled with dust from the race cars.  I was thirsty and saw a water fountain.  I ran over to get a drink.   A stranger scolded me for drinking from “the niggers’ ” fountain and sent me around the building to a fountain labeled “Whites Only.” Continue reading →

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Through the Bible in One Year

Posted on November 26, 2008 by Tom Long

What I like about the Lectionary is that it keeps me mindful of the rhythm of the church calendar and in sync with other believers around the world.  But frankly I only have private devotions Monday through Friday.  By using the daily reading from the Lectionary for the past few years combined with Billy Graham’s practice of reading a chapter of Proverbs corresponding to the date, I have missed reading through the Bible in a year.  The daily readings also return repeatedly to a limited set of Psalms and I like to read through all of the Psalms more frequently.

I made the decision to read through the Bible annually without changing my Monday through Friday routine.  I will read through the book of Psalms every two months and continue reading Proverbs as I have always done.

My hope is that I will still read the Lectionary for the principal service on Sunday which will keep me in tune with the greater church and the Christian year.

I put together a spreadsheet that tells me what to read today and what the Lecitonary reading will be for the coming Sunday.  The reason I’m sharing this is, in case anyone else would like to use this tool, I have made the spreadsheet available for download.

The Christian year begins this Sunday, November 30, the First Sunday of Advent, so I wanted to get this out for any of you interested in reading through the Bible and staying in touch with the Christian calendar in this coming year.  May God bless you as you study his word – and Happy Thanksgiving!

DOWNLOAD SPREADSHEET

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Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist

Posted on October 13, 2008 by Tom Long

Despite my love for music, I have a chronic habit of torturing it with my attempts to produce it for myself.  Thanks to mp3’s and my need to commute an hour a day, I have become a huge fan of downloading and playing back playlists custom tailored to my tastes.  It is as awkward for me to listen to random music as it is to watch TV live and not be able to fast forward through the commercials.

In my youner adulthood, I went to Manhattan with my mother and two sisters.  I fell in love.  Pittsburgh may be "downtown" to me, but New York is "The City."

I thought that Michael Cera was good in Juno.  In Nick and Nora, he rises to an even higher level.  Like Michael, Kat Dennings is an actor I want to see more of.  Alexis Dziena as the ex-, is well cast as the shallow but beautiful girl who fails to appreciate the romance and taste of Nick’s playlist offerings.  I saw her last as the spoiled rich girl in Fool’s Gold.  While the storyline is very weak the chemistry between the entire ensemble of actors was excellent and worth the price of admission.  I’m not a big fan of gross out humor and could have lived without the hand in the puke scene.

Each generation must come up with their Cary Grant-Katherine Hepburn/Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan.  Perhaps a new generation of romantic leads has appearred.  Sign me up for tickets to the next movie with this pair – especially if NYC is the backdrop.

4/5

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Books: A Review

Posted on October 13, 2008 by Tom Long

I forget where I saw it talked up.  I think it was USA Today.  With a name like Books: A Memoir,I didn’t need much encouragement.  I am a lifelong bibliophile and eagerly placed my name on the waiting list at the library.  As soon as I finished Seaview Inn, the book which I had been reading, I dove into Books.  The first few pages offered hope of entertainment, hope of a shared passion with a kindred spirit.  By the end of chapter 1, McMurty had slipped into a "I found this book at this store, I bought it, I sold it, a book like it later sold for $$$$" mantra that bored the socks off of me.  For a bookman and author of fiction Larry McMurty came across as a surprisingly shallow, dead letter sans living spirit, kind of guy.  I gave up by page 60.

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