tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83094712491406110742024-03-16T11:51:24.741-07:00Zen and Tao Acoustic CafeThis is a virtual cafe where all ideas are entertained all facts discerned, all topics discussed. And just because the proprietor has a passion for Christ, books, and the Acoustic guitar, that doesn't mean you can't veer wildly off into different subjects. So, come in, have a coffee (imported especially from Verble's finca in El Salvador), and talk about whatever you want.zen and taohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958861291240168522noreply@blogger.comBlogger2239125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309471249140611074.post-35180484137922104272024-03-15T08:05:00.000-07:002024-03-15T08:05:21.440-07:00Overheard at Table 3: Notes for Deacon<p>NOTES for Deacon</p><p><br /></p><p>Romans 12:4-8</p><p>1Corinthians 12:4-11</p><p>Colossians 3:23</p>zen and taohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958861291240168522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309471249140611074.post-70634571860129093812024-03-03T09:46:00.000-08:002024-03-06T09:48:55.906-08:00Overheard at Table 2: Deacon - Sermon Notes<p>Sunday Morning Sermon Notes</p><p>I Thessalonians Chapter 2</p><p>Jeremiah 23 - wood blech hammer [sp??]</p><p>2nd Ministry Journey</p><p>Trade route - in three weeks Paul established a church and then was run out of town in the middle of the night.</p><p><br /></p><p>Psalm 119:97-98</p><p><br /></p><p>1 Thessalonians 1:6-7</p><p>wrote one year after he had left Thessalonica</p><p><br /></p><p>...</p><p><br /></p><p>2 Corinthians 9:7</p><p>Acts 20:35</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>zen and taohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958861291240168522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309471249140611074.post-37649968020186675262024-03-02T10:23:00.000-08:002024-03-02T10:23:11.930-08:00Overheard at Table 1: Harry Potter and the Censors<p> </p><p>Heard something today about Harry Potter ... a pro-LGBTQ speaker stating that anybody who has Harry Potter items in their social media bio, or references to Harry Potter in their work or lives, may need to rethink their position, as their support of Harry Potter may be painful to the community because of the creator, JK Rowling.</p><p>JK Rowling has, as we all know, in recent years, become quite a controversial figure for her anti-LGBTQ views.</p><p>However, for me, personally, Harry Potter represents a period in my life in which I read those books as bedtimes stories to my grade-school son, and it was one of the best memories that I have of him, as his mom & I divorced when he was very young, and he rejected me as a teenager.</p><p>So, when I think of Harry Potter, all I have in my heart is a tender memory of my first born son, who will probably never speak to me again in this life.</p><p>Now, I understand my personal pain does not measure to the trauma and rejection that this community has suffered; however, I do take umbrage at the subtle censorship by the speaker in the beginning paragraph of this missive: Short version - throw out Harry Potter because it hurts LGBTQ people.</p><p>Again, I reiterate my theory that, to be a healthy literate public, we must learn to separate the art from the artist. Whatever views Rowling has should be immaterial to her creation, which has now a life of its own independent of her. Harry Potter should be enjoyed by all - and by that, I mean ALL people, regardless of orientation. Because, while I will never proclaim the Potter books as particularly good writing, per se, the characters are lovable and relatable, and the story is a wonderful underdog tale, and a surmounting of all odd so that good will prevail, and the ultimate message that Love truly does conquer all.</p><p>I am truly sorry that Rowling's comments are hurtful to a large segment of the human race - but I will stand firm that, for me personally, Harry Potter is truly all that I have left of my only-begotten son ... and I have made it my ground to stand against all forms of literary censorship, regardless of the source or their rationale.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> <br /></p>zen and taohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958861291240168522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309471249140611074.post-27655195179333920742024-02-24T08:05:00.000-08:002024-02-25T08:17:18.853-08:00Overheard at Booth 2: Darker Than Now<p>"Current events, man, world's on fire and it doesn't look like it's gonna get any better." <br /></p><p>"Just look at current events like I do, like a giant comedy routine"</p><p>"Yeah but nothing's funny!"</p><p>"It is if you don't give a shit how it all turns out."</p><p>"That's pretty dark, dude."</p><p>"No darker than current events."</p><p>"Fair point."</p><p> <br /></p><p><br /></p>zen and taohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958861291240168522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309471249140611074.post-91261244276689977142024-02-23T05:30:00.000-08:002024-02-23T05:30:12.428-08:00Overheard at Table 1: The Universe Has a Plan<p>Everyone saying that the "Universe has a plan" is really talking about God.</p><p>But saying "The Universe" is something that every one KNOWS to be true, and yet still imbue it with a sense that somehow we are loved, cared for, thought about, and special.</p><p>But the people who imbue the Universe with these qualities have been cowed by a world that doesn't want them to talk about God, and so they move these needed qualities onto the created (universe) and off the Creator (God).</p><p>Full culpability for this, however, must not be given to the world, or the non-believers, but upon Christians themselves, who have either abused the name of Christ for their own selfish ends, or through their complacency have not presented their testimony sufficiently to demonstrate that God is the One who loves you, cares for you, thinks about you, and holds you so very, very special.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>zen and taohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958861291240168522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309471249140611074.post-31961881356638083722024-02-20T07:19:00.000-08:002024-02-20T07:19:10.258-08:00Overheard at Booth 5: Tuesdays<p>TUESDAYS</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>DEVON</p><p>So here we are. Therapy. I never wanted to be here. Never wanted it to get this far. But we have to do something. Something to get us back on track. So I guess this is better than just snapping at each other all the time.</p><p>I knew we’d have to talk about our stuff and open up an all that, but it’s already been about a month of weekly sessions and we’re just going around the same old stuff, and the shrink is giving us the same old lang syne…</p><p>“Communication” </p><p>Jesus, it’s always about communication. I don’t know how to communicate with Cait, not any more.</p><p>I mean, we used to, in the beginning, before the kids and even when they were young, but things happen and then you just, I don’t know, build up layers. </p><p>Let Cait answer some of these questions…</p><p><br /></p><p>CAIT</p><p>“He never tells me what he needs,” I say to Grace, and she just sits there, like a cat, staring at us both with those eyes, like we’re the mice, and she’s deciding which one to pounce on first.</p><p>“By ‘needs’ are you talking about emotional support … or intimate needs?”</p><p>What the hell did she just say?</p><p>Well, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. I figured she was going to get to that sooner or later. I don’t really want to go there, but</p><p>yeah, I just sighed.</p><p>A big sigh.</p><p>Devon just gave me a look.</p><p>This is always about me. Dammit. Isn’t it? Doesn’t Grace know that we women ALWAYS have to be held accountable for the man’s needs? Why didn’t she ask HIM that question? </p><p>“I suppose we’re not as intimate as we used to be, but he’s always cold.”</p><p><br /></p><p>GRACE</p><p>And there it is. Cold. Usually it’s the man who tells me that his female partner is the cold one. Didn’t expect that. But yes, the moment these two came into my office, I knew instantly that this was their issue. Which is good. We can work with that. Sex is actually the easiest problem to overCUM, even if married couples like to pretend that it’s the hardest. </p><p>Thank GOD their problem isn’t the kids or spending. This is going to make this SO MUCH EASIER.</p><p><br /></p><p>DEVON</p><p>“I want to give her … oral.”</p><p>There, I said it. No more beating around the bush. If we’re going to do this, let’s get it out in the open.</p><p>“And I don’t want oral,” Cait says. And the way she sounds – so cold, so HARD, so committed.</p><p>“What is it about oral sexual stimulation that you don’t like?” Grace asks. Really softly. I like the way</p><p>she’s asked that to Ciat. A lot better than I normally say things.</p><p>“Do you know how many germs there are in the human mouth?” Yup. THAT’s what she always says. At least she’s saying it to the doctor. SOMEone else is hearing this.</p><p>“You can always ask him to brush his teeth first. Gargle, whatever.”</p><p>“Still, though … it’s just… ew!”</p><p><br /></p><p>GRACE</p><p>Poor Cait. She really has an aversion to head, and she’s not going to get over it easily. “Devon, what about oral lovemaking satisfies you? I take it you haven’t in awhile, so you CAN live without it.”</p><p>“Yes,” he says. He’s so nervous about this. Men usually are. “It just … when I do it, it gets me harder.”</p><p>“You haven’t had a REALLY good erection in years!” Cait says.</p><p>“And it’s been YEARS since you let me go down on you!” </p><p>“You know,” I find myself saying, “It IS a natural act. In fact, there are some women who are just the opposite, who only want oral and ZERO interest in penetration intercourse.” Oh my God I find myself getting wet at just the thought of it.</p><p>Cait says, “Well then maybe Devon should just give some woman oral sex and THEN come home to me.”</p><p>“Perhaps he should.”</p><p>“Maybe it’s you,” Cait says to me. Smart woman. I like her. I like them both actually.</p><p><br /></p><p>CAIT</p><p>Good. I trust her. Fuck, I can actually see her almost panting already, although she’s doing a damn good job at keeping it in control. I think this will work.</p><p>“Next Tuesday’s session then,” I tell her. “Devon comes alone.”</p><p><br /></p><p>DEVON</p><p>What the fuck is going on?</p><p><br /></p><p>….</p><p><br /></p><p>DEVON</p><p>OK, Tuesday afternoon, usual 3:30 appointment. The receptionist, normally cold, is she … smirking?</p><p>Does she know? Seems like she knows.</p><p>I knock on the door. Grace tells me to come in. </p><p>I shut the door behind me and there she is: sitting in her office chair, legs crossed, long hair flowing down her chest. Wearing nothing but a white bra. </p><p>Oh shit I can’t breathe. Her eyes, sharp brown and piercing.</p><p>She tells me to sit in front of her. She tells me that everything is going to be fine, and Grace, such a tiny, slim slip of a woman, suddenly seems so … full.</p><p>I take her foot, toes painted black, in my hand, slowly spread her legs apart, and I hesitate for a second.</p><p>Then, she reaches over and pulls me into her.</p><p><br /></p><p>GRACE</p><p>Just get to it, Devon, this is why you are here. This is what I have been waiting for all week! </p><p>Poor Devon, it HAS been a long time since he’s done this! I almost want to giggle, but that wouldn’t be professional, would it? No … help him. Guide him. He’ll get better. </p><p>There you are, the rhythm, make a rhythm… go deeper, move deeper, there you go, you dear man, use the tongue, around the labia, in and out, feel around, yes, you are exploring, explore, find, seek …</p><p><br /></p><p>DEVON</p><p>I love this I love this I love everything about this, oh lord the taste, that beautifully tart DEEP RICH flavor, my tongue bringing out HER wetness, and the smell of deep ocean, of lush jungle, the smell and the taste and oh god I know I’m probably licking like a fucking untrained puppy dog but it’s here and it’s now and dammit just enjoy this and </p><p>there she is! Moving her hips, under my chin, pressing against my upper teeth, her hands on my head, my hands on her hips her legs over my shoulders, don’t stop now, don’t stop now, keep rocking those hips keep</p><p><br /></p><p>GRACE </p><p>that rhythm yes, there you are, like the ocean, like the ocean waves, beating beating beating against the waves, just like Corsica that one summer, and oh my GOD!</p><p><br /></p><p>DEVON</p><p>WOW! Those thighs are crushing my skull! Did my ear just pop? Pretty strong for such a tiny woman! Holy hell…. </p><p>well, I guess that’s my cue that we’re done.</p><p><br /></p><p>GRACE</p><p>Didn’t expect that orgasm to be so strong. Whoa. Catch a breath here, Grace.</p><p>Maybe it’s been longer for me than I thought. Maybe this … arrangement is worth repeating.</p><p>Devon seems much more relaxed now as well, and there is a gleam in his eye. Poor man! Instinctively unzipping his pants. </p><p>“No,” I tell him. “You take that home to your wife.”</p><p>He smiles. He leaves, bulging. Devon is a man who understands boundaries. He’s one of the good ones. I think Cait knows that.</p><p><br /></p><p>DEVON</p><p>Texting my wife on the way out the door to the car… “come home ASAP”</p><p><br /></p><p>…</p><p><br /></p><p>CAIT</p><p>Walking in the door and Devon is already there waiting for me. He kisses me with more passion than he has kissed me in years, with an urgency that I haven’t felt … so long! Fuck, he’s not even waiting to get to the bedroom, he’s ripping down my underwear! WOW! Glad I decided to wear a skirt today…</p><p>“What if the Amazon guy comes to the door?” I ask, “He’ll see our shapes through the glass.”</p><p>“If he does, let him,” Devon says, and the turns me around, and I put my hands on the alcove shelf and Devon is inside me already and he is fuller than I have felt him in so long, Oh my God how I love this man how I love every part of him and how I love his urgency and how I love his need for me and his hand that reaches around to cup my breast and his other hand with my skirt hiked up around my hip and take me, Dev, fucking yes just take me</p><p><br /></p><p>DEVON</p><p>I love this woman, fuck, do I love this woman, her huge hips, I just want to smack ‘em, just grab them and hold on, I need her, I do need you Cait, god I love you, she is so perfect inside, she has the perfect pussy and it’s mine and my dick is hers and this is for</p><p>“Come,” Cait says and I do. And I do.</p><p><br /></p><p>CAIT</p><p>I love the thrust and the flow and I love this man, and yes, THIS is a FLOW! I can tell he is coming a river. </p><p>Then, he releases me and I need a moment to catch my breath … hello! Steady there.</p><p>“Are you … OK?” Devon asks.</p><p>“Better than OK,” I say. I turn around and I kiss him … HARD. “I love you!”</p><p>“I love you too,” he says.</p><p>“No, I mean I REALLY love YOU.”</p><p>“And I do really love YOU!”</p><p>Then, I say, “Let’s go get some tacos!”</p><p>“Taco Tuesday?” he says. Then, he smirks, “Now THAT’s some kind of double entendre.”</p><p>And now we’re both laughing. Laughing more than we’ve laughed in a long time, and it’s good. </p><p>It’s very good.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>zen and taohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958861291240168522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309471249140611074.post-6813609244538937942024-02-17T10:34:00.000-08:002024-02-17T10:34:47.633-08:00Overheard at Table 2: Her Words<p>She knew words were powerful, from the first time she wrote a story as a child and made her mother cry.</p><p>In high school, she wrote a story about suicide. Three of her classmates took their lives before the end of the semester.</p><p>In college, she wrote a story about wild, unprotected sex. The University noted a sharp uptick in pregnancies and venereal diseases that year.</p><p>In her twenties, she wrote a story about gun violence. Murders in her neighborhood increased exponentially.</p><p>One day, she decided to write a story in which everybody in the world was caring and decent and kind to each other, and everyone lived in peace and then ...</p><p>nothing happened.</p><p>Nothing changed.</p><p>She realized that there was, indeed, a limit to her power. To the power of her words.</p><p>Feeling a deep, profound disappointment, she sat down to write her final story, one in which every country decided to drop all their bombs, everywhere, all over the world.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>zen and taohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958861291240168522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309471249140611074.post-32167675038150039982024-02-15T04:20:00.000-08:002024-02-15T04:20:50.426-08:00Overheard at Booth 3: Temples<p>Do you hear how the Satanic Temple is putting all their statues in schools and in City Halls all around the country?</p><p>I think that's being a bit overblown.</p><p>No it's not. There's all these TikTok videos on Instagram about it. Satan is winning!</p><p>No, he's not. He's already been defeated. We know that. You know that.</p><p>Well, then why is everybody letting this happen.</p><p>I blame us Christians..</p><p>How can you blame us? Our faith?</p><p>When you don't present your case as clearly and accurately as possible, you shouldn't be upset when someone else comes along presenting something that's more attractive and seemingly fulfilling.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>zen and taohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958861291240168522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309471249140611074.post-28490662725385611742024-02-14T14:55:00.000-08:002024-02-14T14:55:01.229-08:00Overheard at Table 2: Writin' Poems and Whuppin' Ass<p> <span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); color: #536471; font-family: TwitterChirp, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">"I came here to write poems and whoop ass!"</span></p><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); color: #536471; font-family: TwitterChirp, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">
"So, how's that working out for ya?"
"Well, I'm a wussie, so I'm just writin' poems."
"Hate to tell ya, but your poems suck, too."
"Well, shit."</span><div><br /></div>zen and taohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958861291240168522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309471249140611074.post-38289763316417452522024-02-04T12:34:00.000-08:002024-02-22T12:51:25.647-08:00Overheard at Table 3: Some More Deacon Notes<p style="text-align: left;">NOTES from the Sunday Sermon</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br />"Anger is never an acceptable response from someone who serves the Lord"<br /><br /><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">AIRAOS<br /><br />Pastor dice<br />Interrupción es orgullo<br />Produca<br />Conflicto<br />y aumenta más conflicto</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br />#hopscotch<br />#poem<br /><br />MR<br />2024-0204</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /><br />The sun goes down on your anger<br /><br /><br />Ayúdame, Señor<br />interrupción es orgullo</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /><br />James 1:19<br /><br />Dad had always<br />followed a convoluted path:<br />swift to hear<br />slow to speak<br />but he was not so slow to wrath.<br /><br />#hopscotch<br />#Poem<br />#poetry<br /><br />MR <br />2024-0204</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">James 1:12<br /><br />My brother said<br />that he had earned the Crown of Life<br />he endured<br />temptation<br />His prize blessing? A loving wife!<br /><br />#hopscotch<br />#poem<br />#poetry</p><p style="text-align: left;">MR<br />2024-0204</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>zen and taohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958861291240168522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309471249140611074.post-38054694266542543872024-02-02T08:03:00.000-08:002024-02-25T08:05:25.169-08:00Overheard at Table 4: Two Neighbors<p>Wife: That neighbor is a real stuck-up bitch?</p><p>Husband: Which neighbor?</p><p>Wife: The one you confessed was "kinda cute."</p><p>Husband: Oh. What about the one I said was "ugly as a box of rocks"?</p><p>Wife: She's all right, I guess ... unless she starts chatting you up.</p><p>Husband: I see how it is.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>zen and taohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958861291240168522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309471249140611074.post-44327210835627841282024-02-01T04:55:00.000-08:002024-02-23T04:56:41.457-08:00Overheard at Table 2: Types a Bishes<p>"So ... are you vicious bishes, or just suspicious bishes?"</p><p>"We're delicious bishes!"</p><p>"My favorite kind!"</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>zen and taohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958861291240168522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309471249140611074.post-87224896853614109042024-01-25T18:26:00.000-08:002024-01-25T18:26:13.728-08:00Overheard at Table 3: Today's News<p>Some chatter on social media is saying that other states are sending their militias to Texas' southern border to fight against the Feds.</p><p>Unconfirmed, but most likely true in some fashion or other.</p><p>Heard on NPR that Mitch McConnell has told the Senate Republicans not to vote on any resolution for funding the government that Trump doesn't approve of.</p><p>This means no aid to Ukraine unless more funding for the Border.</p><p>Interesting to note several items:</p><p>1) Trump is not in government. There is ZERO reason to kowtow to him.</p><p>2) McConnell, in 2008, the moment Obama won the election, brought together a group of Republicans and stated that the Senate's only goal was to make Obama a one-term President. Therefore, McConnell knows full well that the Senate (and indeed, all Congress) has the power to stop the President at every turn. There is ZERO reason to kowtow to Trump. No logical reason whatsoever.</p><p> The only reason that makes any sense is that they are not really working for Trump, but for the powers that are behind Trump. <br /></p><p> <br /></p>zen and taohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958861291240168522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309471249140611074.post-77245400253724599942024-01-24T11:15:00.000-08:002024-02-15T11:19:27.922-08:00Overheard at Booth 1: Timothy Shayamalet<p>PITCH</p><p>Screenwriter: It's about an actor named Timothy Shayamalet, who stars in, like, EVERY movie within two or three consecutive years, and everyone finds out at the end that he's been dead the whole time.</p><p>Producer: No way I'm dropping a hundred mil on that. Get me another Fast and Furious.</p><p>SW [sighs]: OK, I can get that to you by next Wednesday.</p><p>P: AI can get it to me by midnight tonight.</p><p>SW: Well, shit.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi6RY6fhSN7_emF4TfEvOrYuJFHyDRnxNErrN5kGwcwLLyMNWzzp94UStjo3cn0yRcOmIse_Hf78HHQwBHUKTpkU6Sh7yApIGOV2estDVO84KwwyrnT84oDM4cG95u7alTLWwverRIMaHLXvXEuLUjHPKx6Tv6PvZdO_tiygzLkZkHNus0_JAzz5GLPHarJ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="1000" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi6RY6fhSN7_emF4TfEvOrYuJFHyDRnxNErrN5kGwcwLLyMNWzzp94UStjo3cn0yRcOmIse_Hf78HHQwBHUKTpkU6Sh7yApIGOV2estDVO84KwwyrnT84oDM4cG95u7alTLWwverRIMaHLXvXEuLUjHPKx6Tv6PvZdO_tiygzLkZkHNus0_JAzz5GLPHarJ" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgc06Z4bnTZGM-VHPvPzNQqHSPHa58mr76uX8Zecys4wCaG81AJM_DvNCiqv53CV1VRvrp5kfzYFosG1vRMUaa5EkA8S7dLlaUrdZU_Fl7gphTiDDfL2oe0U01SJP3WKNoz0cufqJr0DgzcrgVdO2ERZ0Z_BcanEDOwiCXMmjw-YzyGPhcbFbwCoE5F03MQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="577" data-original-width="1024" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgc06Z4bnTZGM-VHPvPzNQqHSPHa58mr76uX8Zecys4wCaG81AJM_DvNCiqv53CV1VRvrp5kfzYFosG1vRMUaa5EkA8S7dLlaUrdZU_Fl7gphTiDDfL2oe0U01SJP3WKNoz0cufqJr0DgzcrgVdO2ERZ0Z_BcanEDOwiCXMmjw-YzyGPhcbFbwCoE5F03MQ" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p>zen and taohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958861291240168522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309471249140611074.post-4998152891296254792024-01-23T12:58:00.000-08:002024-01-23T12:58:06.082-08:00Overheard at Table 1: 2024 - American Purge<p>Going to call this year "American Purge"</p><p>As of this date, 23rd of January, Texas Governor Greg Abbott told the Texas Military to deny the US Border Patrol access to the region.</p><p>the Supreme Court ruled that it is Constitutional Law that the the Border Patrol have access to the region to cut the wire.</p><p>Today, Abbott ordered the Texas Military to defy the SCOTUS ruling and continue to put up razor wire.</p><p>In defiance of Constitutional authority.</p><p>So ... in short - the argument against immigrants is that "they are coming here illegally and we are a nation of laws"</p><p>Yet, when the third co-equal branch of government rules that THIS is the law, because anti-immigrants don't LIKE the law, they will IGNORE the law.</p><p>The only logical conclusion is that this is NOT about legality.</p><p>It is about humanity.</p><p>It is about who we consider "worthy" and who we do not consider "worthy"</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>zen and taohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958861291240168522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309471249140611074.post-22223243919247599702023-12-20T05:41:00.000-08:002023-12-20T05:41:30.306-08:00Overheard at Table 4: Marriage Games "Where to Eat Tonight"<p>Of all the marriage games I love to play, my favorite HAS to be "Where do you want to eat tonight?"</p><p>It goes like this, let my wife and I demonstrate</p><p>Me: Where to you want to eat tonight?</p><p>Wife: You choose.</p><p>Me: Ha! I'm not falling for that trap again, where do YOU want to eat tonight?</p><p>Wife: I am SO TIRED of your indecisiveness! Make a choice!</p><p>Me: Ok, fine, let's go get Bar-B-Que</p><p>Wife: Ew, no! That's too heavy for dinner.</p><p>Me: Steaks, then.</p><p>Wife: Also heavy red meat!</p><p>Me: Mexican?</p><p>Wife: I had Mexican for lunch.</p><p>Me: Italian?</p><p>Wife: I want to cut back on pasta.</p><p>Me: Thai?</p><p>Wife: Too spicy.</p><p>Me: Chinese.</p><p>Wife: Too boring.</p><p>Me: Korean?</p><p>Wife: Too expensive.</p><p>Me: Japanese.</p><p>Wife: We had that on Sunday.</p><p>Me: Indian, then.</p><p>Wife: You always complain that it burns your mouth.</p><p>Me: I'm just going to go home and make a sandwich.</p><p>Wife: Let's have Mediterranean.</p><p>Me: Ok, then, good choice!</p><p>Wife: Finally! I have to do EVerything!</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>zen and taohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958861291240168522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309471249140611074.post-12530050677427274972023-12-18T05:52:00.000-08:002023-12-18T05:52:14.528-08:00Overheard at Table 3: Womb with a View <p>Molly dreamed that her baby had a "womb with a view" - peeking out through a pouch, like a kangaroo.</p><p>When she awoke, Molly saw a long, jagged cut across the top of her pregnant belly - her sharp thumbnail, still wet with blood.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>zen and taohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958861291240168522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309471249140611074.post-28147461724042266772023-12-11T06:41:00.000-08:002023-12-11T06:41:45.379-08:00Overheard at Table 1: Blue Tea Blues<p style="text-align: left;"> Blue Tea Blues<br /><br />Oh Lawd I was so thirsty<br />I fell down upon my knees<br />Oh Lawd I was so thirsty<br />I fell right down on my knees<br />Asked my baby for a drink of water<br />All she gave me was some ol’ Blue Tea<br /><br />I asked my pretty mama<br />Oh please have mercy on me<br />I asked my pretty mama<br />Please won’t you have some mercy on little ol’ me<br />She laughed and walked out the door<br />saying you just go on and drink that ol’ Blue Tea<br /><br />Now I’m here all alone<br />Just drinking down this ol’ Blue Tea<br />Got no water, no liquor, no woman<br />All I got is this ol’ Blue Tea<br />Well Jesus on the Cross got Vinegar<br />and all I got is this damn ol’ Blue Tea<br /><br />Well my Lord Jesus!<br />On da CROSS!<br />All He got was vinegarrrrrrrrrr<br /><br />… vinegar as bitter as this Blue Tea<br />dat’s all my baby left of me.<br /><br />MR<br />2023-1211</p><div><br /></div>zen and taohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958861291240168522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309471249140611074.post-49120581076582443632023-12-08T13:50:00.000-08:002023-12-08T13:50:46.796-08:00Overheard at Table 2: Prolegómonos<p style="text-align: left;">Prolegómonos<br /><br />Two church elders,<br />t-shirts, shorts,<br />beer guts, both<br />sit beside the <br />Tree, the Babe,<br />Joseph and Mary.<br /><br />They await the third<br />Magi.<br /><br />He's bringing the kolaches.</p><p><br /></p><p>MR</p><p>2023-1203</p><p><br /></p>zen and taohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958861291240168522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309471249140611074.post-83247524453962121792023-12-03T11:00:00.000-08:002023-12-11T11:12:40.390-08:00Overheard at Table 3: Julie's Third Seizure<p><br /></p><p>SERMON NOTES</p><p>... The Three Wise Men Go to Buc-EE's <= story title</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>MORE NOTES</p><p>Mateo 2:1-5</p><p>Mateo 2: 8-12</p><p>Números 24:7</p><p>Belen Efretah, small city</p><p><br /></p><p>Charlie Dyer</p><p><br /></p><p>Agrada</p><p>Maranatha</p><p><br /></p><p>Nahum 3:12</p><p><br /></p><p>Teláspora</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>written 2023-1203, but the poem genesis was on 2023-1202</p><p style="text-align: left;">Julie suffers her third seizure<br />in the two months since<br />the operation<br />to remove half the brain tumor<br /><br />The brothers at the Kingdom Hall<br />are strangely silent, but<br />her aunt prays fervently<br />for healing<br />to the name<br />of a baby<br />born this month,<br />born to die.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>zen and taohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958861291240168522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309471249140611074.post-14242333117841898362023-12-01T04:52:00.000-08:002023-12-01T04:52:00.133-08:00Overheard at Table 1: X-Mass<p>If it is EX-Mass, does that mean it was formerly Mass but now is no longer Mass?</p><p><br /></p>zen and taohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958861291240168522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309471249140611074.post-5117401242694844652023-11-30T05:13:00.000-08:002023-11-30T05:13:16.534-08:00Overheard at Table 1: Hank and the Reaper<p>Hank and the Reaper</p><p>Reaper: OK, Hank - can I call you Hank? - it's time, old pal.</p><p>Henry: Well, I knew I couldn't stave you off indefinitely.</p><p>R: You had a good run.</p><p>H: Outlived all my enemies and most of my detractors.</p><p>R: Can't ask for much more than that.</p><p>H: Well, I've received my prizes on Earth. Time for my prizes in Heaven.</p><p>R: Oh, there are prizes awaiting you, but they're not in ... well, you'll see.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>zen and taohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958861291240168522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309471249140611074.post-14613783765708687522023-11-28T19:17:00.000-08:002023-11-28T19:17:58.717-08:00Overheard at Booth 1: The True Virus<p>... and when they looked back on those fateful times, they realized that the physical virus was not the true killer, but the mental virus. THAT was the virus that rotted the mind and brittled the soul, until there was nothing left of the human animal but confusion and blind rage.<br /></p>zen and taohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958861291240168522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309471249140611074.post-53526423889019574842023-11-19T06:02:00.000-08:002023-11-19T06:02:26.713-08:00Overheard at Table 3: Jared Leto Biopic<p>Is it just me, or does Jared Leto look like his award winning role is going to be in a Charles Manson biopic?</p><p>Well, I did hear that he says he wants to play a pedophile.</p><p>Ew! Gross!</p><p>He said he's be training for it.</p><p>How to you train for ... OH, SHIT!</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>zen and taohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958861291240168522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309471249140611074.post-37198048784979107602023-11-18T06:02:00.000-08:002023-11-19T06:03:42.434-08:00Overheard at Booth 1: Disassociation Tomato - written on Nov 18<p>Disassociation Tomato 2023 November 18<br /><br /><br />x<br /><br />We jumped through a portal and came out the armoire door in a hotel room. I went over to the window and saw the downtown skyline. It seemed like we were on the fourth or fifth floor of the hotel.<br /><br />I put down my backpack on the shelf that had a chair and could be used for a desk. Above it was a TV screen that looked like the main display panel on the bridge of the USS Enterprise. It was a beautiful, massive screen. It looked like it took up the space of the entire wall. <br /><br />Also, it was SO THIN. Barely bigger than the thickness of a cigar box.<br /><br />I asked Acsa how they did that – I mean, TVs have tubes and electronics and stuff in them. These are things my friends know better than I do, but I’ve never paid attention much. All I know is that our TV is on a big shelving unit, which is also made for my dad’s stereo equipment, and sits right on top of the space where he keeps his record collection.<br /><br />This TV was mounted on the wall, and also had an arm where it could be pulled out and moved to an angle, probably so that you could see it better from the bed.<br /><br />There was only one bed.<br /><br />And two of us.<br /><br /><br />xx.<br /><br />“I need to tell you something,” Acsa said. She took off the hat and the goggles and sat down on the edge of the bed. “COVID is bad. I mean, really bad. Actually worse than the Flu Epidemic of 1919.”<br /><br />“That the Spanish Flu?” I asked.<br /><br />“If that’s what you guys call it, yeah. But COVID is not only worse because it killed millions, and I mean MILLIONS across the world, but it was also worse because it destroyed the ability of people to agree on what reality is.”<br /><br />“What does that even mean?” I asked her.<br /><br />“It means this,” she held up her tricorder (I am not going to call it a “cell” – no way, no how, not ever. It is a tricorder!) “Everyone was hooked to this. Everyone believed this. And there were many many MANY voices on this, and they were all chattering away, and they confused so many people that many more people died. People died who didn’t need to die. And really, there is no amount of mathematical study of probablity or Potentialities that will ever give us an accurate number of who might have been saved and who might have lived.”<br /><br />“That’s horrible!” I said.<br /><br />“Yes, it is. And now, I want to tell you, that you could have stopped this.”<br /><br /><br /><br />xxx.<br /><br />That was weird. Look, she just took me to some Mad Max post-Apolcaptic hellscape, and I’d been seeing deserted streets and empty grocery stores and people afraid to get close to each other, and everyone masked up and running around like they are all “duck and cover” and now Acsa is telling me that somehow I’m the key to all this?<br /><br />I was like, “No. No way.” I’m not THAT guy in THOSE novels who has the secret to “save the day” and all that. Not me.<br /><br />It wasn’t me, though. It all had to do my band, the Ardmore Gongmongers<br /><br /><br />iv.<br /><br />Asca laid out the case like this: Dan Maxwell, our bass player, the third of the triad that is the Ardmore Gongmongers, the same guy who described himself as the “John Entwistle” of the group, and wrote songs like “Cecil the Aardvark” (I heard it – it was on the iPod. It’s HILARIOUS!) … was the same guy who COULD HAVE STOPPED COVID.<br /><br />Ok, I can tell that you guys are probably rolling your eyes right now, but let me try to explain it to you the way Acsa explained it to me: Dan, after the band broke up after college, went on to continue his studies in biology, and became a biologist working for a diabetes medicine manufacturer, looking for better diabetes drugs.<br /><br />If Dan HAD NOT been in the band, he WOULD HAVE met a Chinese exchange student in his medical program, and he would have gone into the field of virology, where he and she would be married and work with both American and Chinese companies, working on treatments for various viruses – like the Spanish Flu of 1919.<br /><br />What is the one way that Dan takes this course?<br /><br />No Ardmore Gongmongers.<br /><br />There are no Ardmore Gongmongers if I’m dead.<br /><br />At 15.<br /><br />By a gunshot to my head.<br /><br /><br />v.<br /><br />So that’s how it plays out. Yeah, it’s kind of like a twisted “It’s a Wonderful Life” – kinda like what Howard the Duck experienced in Bizarre Adventures #34 (I love that issue, by the way – I have a mint copy that I keep sealed and I have a copy that I read)<br /><br />I told Acsa, “Look, in a world with all these millions of people …”<br /><br />“Billions,” she corrected me.<br /><br />“Billions,” I said. “Not just one guy can change things like that.”<br /><br />“No,” she admitted, “Dan doesn’t make a cure for COVID or anything, but he and his wife work on a team that helps to mitigate the spread. What they do doesn’t STOP it, but it makes it so that not everybody dies. And when COVID is just like the flu, it never makes all the people freak out and confuse so many people.”<br /><br /><br />vi.<br /><br />And to show me what happened, Acsa showed me on her tricorder. We also spent all afternoon watching the television.<br /><br />I saw people in Italy, not leaving their houses, singing to each other from their balconies.<br /><br />I saw refrigerator trucks parked outside of hospitals in New York City, where they were holding all the dead because people were dying so fast and filling up their morgues.<br /><br />I saw stories of people emptying shelves of toilet paper. (Didn’t really understand the toilet paper. I mean, come on guys, just use a washcloth if you have to!) (I know that might sound gross, but … for real!)<br /><br />Then I saw government officials of the state saying that we needed to get people back to work and if that means that they give COVID to grandma and grandpa and they die, then that’s the price to be paid to make sure that America stays strong.<br /><br />That last one really hit me. That I think weirded me out more than anything else. That sounded like what they taught us in school that the Soviets tell their people. DIE so that the STATE can live.<br /><br />What the hell kind of place IS 2020, when my country started sounding like the Commies?<br /><br /><br />vii.<br /><br />And then … she showed me the other news: the idea that spread that the government had made COVID to kill the elderly. Ideas that the Jews had made COVID. That the Liberals had made COVID. That the Chinese had made COVID to kill THEIR elderly, but they just messed up and it got out of their contol. That the Chinese had made COVID to kill AMERICANS. <br /><br />That COVID didn’t exist.<br />That it was just the flu, and the government was using it to control people.<br /><br />Acsa said, “These were real deaths, real deaths of real people, but the real death was the truth.”<br /><br />“What was the truth?” I asked her. “What exactly IS the truth?”<br /><br />“The Truth,” she told me, “is that everyone who lives anywhere HAS to agree on what reality is. If they don’t agree on what is happening in front of their eyes, everyone dies. Alone and scratching at each other’s eyes.”<br /><br /><br />vii<br /><br />Look, I know this is hard to believe. This is hard for me to believe, even now. But this is the part where I have to let you know that this is coming. It’s coming. It’ll be here in 35 years. I don’t know if I’ll be still around to see it – I mean, to see it AGAIN. But it’s real. <br /><br />Acsa knew it only as the past, because she was born decades after it. But for her, it was still in the memories of those who’d lived through it, and there had been a lot of “sorting out” she called it, to determine what could reliably be called the “truth” because the survivors who had lived through it were the ones who had completely different sides. <br /><br />Which is weird, because all the old people I know are in total agreement: they all grew up in the Depression, they all fought in World War II, they all lived through the 50s and saw their kids become adults in the 60s, and they all agree that everyone my age has it good and that none of us would ever be able to live through the same kind of hardships they had when they were all 15 years old.<br /><br />Acsa’s old people are completely different. Half of them say that the world was ripped apart by COVID, and the other half say that COVID never happened and no one ever died, and that the other half just created COVID in their minds in order to try to take their guns away.<br /><br />I can kinda see why Acsa wanted to spend most of her time with dragons rather than with people.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p>zen and taohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958861291240168522noreply@blogger.com0