Sox Fam
Wednesday, April 30, 2025
Dave Out Loud: Undecided, Undeclared, Unsure Day
Now that the A to Z challenge for 2024 is in it's final hour and my final post dropped early this morning. I think it's apprropiate to go back to 2024 where my theme was holidays especially manufactured ones. On the vowel days I let the vowels pitch me ideas for holidays with their letter in it. This is what U came up with...
We are celbrating the 2nd Undecided Undeclare Unsure Day today. I'll be back soon with a reflection post from the challenge.
Z is for Zoo Afficianado
My A to Z Challenge Theme this year is the ABC's of me. Each day in the month of April with the exception of Sundays I will be posting about one aspect of my life that begins with the letter of the day. Today's letter is Z so let's get right to it shall we?
H was for Husband of One Amazing Wife
Z is for Zoo Aficionado
Today is the last day of the challenge and to wrap things up here is Dave Out Loud reporting from the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicag Illinois.
Here are some zoo pics from the last year or so
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| R.I.P.O Rhino In Photo Only Indianapolis Zoo September 2025 |
Indianapolis Zoo September 2025
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St. Louis Zoo March 2024 |
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| Lincoln Park Zoo Aoril 2025 |
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| Lincoln Park Zoo April 2025 |
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| Amur Leopard March 2024 St. Louis Zoo  Lincoln Park Zoo April 2024 That's it we've got a polar bear catching some Z's at the Zoo. No better way to leave an A to Z challenge than that. It's been a pleasure and I'll be back soon for a reflection post. |
Tuesday, April 29, 2025
Y is for Yankovic Enthusiast
My A to Z Challenge Theme this year is the ABC's of me. Each day in the month of April with the exception of Sundays I will be posting about one aspect of my life that begins with the letter of the day. Today's letter is Y so let's get right to it shall we?
H was for Husband of One Amazing Wife
Y is for Yankovic Enthusiast
Way back on April Fool's day when I was posting about my being an amateur parodist I mentioned a little about Weird Al and his influence on me. Today I will be sharing 10 videos of some of my favorite Yankovic songs. They range from his national T.V. debut on the Tomorrow show to a video my friend Patrick (a hardcoreYankophile) recorded to concert footage from Amsterdam.
Some of these may not be among my top 10 favorite Yankovic songs which is one of the reasons why I am not numbering them or ranking them.
Word Crimes
Ebay
Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota
Another One Rides The Bus
Ode To A Superhero
Hamilton Polka
Don't Download This Song
It's Still Billy Joel To Me
Yoda
The Saga Begins
That's all I have for my penultimate entry in the ABC's of me.
To get to the A to Z Challenge webpage click here.
To see the A to Z Master List click here.
Coming up: Dave's taking us to the zoo tomorrow.
Monday, April 28, 2025
X is for Xenophile
My A to Z Challenge Theme this year is the ABC's of me. Each day in the month of April with the exception of Sundays I will be posting about one aspect of my life that begins with the letter of the day. Today's letter is X so let's get right to it shall we?
H was for Husband of One Amazing Wife
X is for Xenophile
Xenophile is the antonym of xenophobe. A xenophile is an individual who is attracted to foreign peoples manners or cultures. I am a xenophile. The reason I am a xenophile is pretty straight forward. God is a xenophile. As an evangelical Christian I try to emulate God. Generally this is by imitating Christ, however being a xenophile which is certainly a trait of Jesus is also a trait of God the Father.
Well you might ask how I know God is a xenophile. I think there are many ways that I know that but I think John 3:16 provides conclusive evidence of my assertion:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (NIV)
This is the 2nd post I've written this year about John 3:16, In the first I focused on the love aspect and today's focus is on the world part of the verse. The Greek word that world is translated from is Kosmos. When it comes to John 3:16 there are many interpretations of what John meant when he used that word. Two of these interpretations is that world means all of humanity, the other is that world means all of creation. I personally feel that it means the former, however since the latter is all encompassing either definition includes all of humanity.
I have been reading a book about the attributes of God called Knowledge of the Holy. It was written by A.W. Tozer. Tozer makes it very clear that we are very different than God. God has always existed. Since God has always existed he was never born and he will never die. God is all knowing. Since God is all knowing, he has never learned anything. There is attribute after attribute of God that shows how different we are from God. When God says in Isaiah 55:8+9 that my thoughts are not your thoughts and your ways are not my ways he reiterates that in our fallen state that we are different as different can be from the character of God.
Yet John 3:16 says that God loves the world. In fact it says that God loves the world so much that he gave his Son. That makes God a xenophile as he is attracted to foreign people. their manners and their cultures. God's love for us transforms us and gives us our identity. When 1 Peter 2:10 speaks of this transformation it says once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God. God being a xenophile is the first step in our sanctification.
Emulating God in the matter of being a xenophile is why I went to Russia for two years in the early 1990's. It is why I studied to be an English teacher. It is why I always try to speak to people in their own language even if it's just a greeting. It is why I'm not very interested in the MAGA movement because Isaiah 40:15 says that to God all nations are a drop in the bucket. I've spent more than enough letters differentiating myself from my country's current president, so I won't go any further on the last point.
One of the difficulties I have had with my A to Z posts this year is bringing them to an end. I classified my theme this year as autobiography and autobiography never ends. At least it doesn't end while I am alive to chronicle it. In the same way these alphabetical glimpses of me are just autobiography in progress. There is certainly more I can say about being am xenophile and there is more I can live that will further define my view. If my view on this or any other subject seem incomplete it is because I am a work in progress.
To get to the A to Z Challenge webpage click here.
To see the A to Z Master List click here.
Coming up: Things Get Weird
Sunday, April 27, 2025
W is for White Sox Fan
I grew up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago.
This is the story of how a Children's T.V. host, a baseball player and my own father led me to more than 50 years of White Sox allegiance.
The 2nd person most responsible for me switching my favorite team from the Cubs to the Sox was my Dad. When I was growing up the White Sox would offer 2 tickets to grade school students who either had straight A's or perfect attendance for the year. One l year my sister, who was the year ahead of me achieved straight A's. She won the two tickets and My Dad took her to a game to see the White Sox play the Baltimore Orioles. My sister was 15 months older than me, and I had a brother 18 months younger than me. By that time I had another brother who was still a toddler. 1 on 1 time alone with my Dad was not really something any of us kids ever got on a regular basis. So when my Dad took Kathy to a game, I knew that was something I wanted to do as well. When school restarted in the Fall, I was determined to win a pair of free White Sox tickets to get 3 to 5 hours alone with my Dad. That year was the only year in my academic career that I ever had perfect attendance. The next summer My father and I attended my first White Sox game.
We were a family of Cubs fans. We went to our annual pilgrimage to Wrigley Field each year. My first baseball glove has the cubs logo in the mitt (I still have it by the way).
I may have stayed a Cubs fan forever if it hadn't been for these three men:
I may have stayed a Cubs fan forever if it hadn't been for these three men:
 Ray Rayner |
 Dave Roller  |
Ray Rayner hosted a television show on WGN TV when I was a kid. He had several regular bits he would do on the show: he would feed a duck named Chelveston while he played a popular song (where I ffirst heard American Pie), He would have a regular visit with Lester Fisher (the director of the Lincoln Park Zoo), He would visit a puppet named Cuddly Duddly at his dog house, and in between these bits he would be a disc jocker for cartoons, (mostly Warner Brothers).
His role in making me a Sox fan was when he would do the daily traffic and sports reports. Equipped with a Cubs cap with a White Sox cap sewed in the back of it. He would show the results of the previous day's baseball games. He would switch the sides of the cap depending on which team he was reporting on. This gave me as a child the notion that in Chicago you could like both teams.
Ray Rayner reporting on a Cubs victory while wearing the Cubs end of his Cubs/Sox cap.
Dick Allen only played 3 years on the South side but he made his presence know in a major way. He hit 85 homes runs in those 3 years and a batting average over .300 and the best slugging percentage of all baseball. I remember him hitting at least 1 home run at the game we went to, I was a White Sox fan after that. Even without the free tickets my Dad continued to take me to at least 1 game a year through high school. Dick Allen was my White Sox hero, but certainly not my last. One of my Cubs hero's Don Kessinger finished his career with the White Sox as a player manager. Carlton Fisk who was one of my favorite players on an opposing teem came to the White Sox as a free agent when I was in high school. Wilbur Wood, Bill Melton. Bucky Dent. Jorge Orta. Harold Baines, and the list goes on and on. Dick Allen died a few years ago but was finally elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame by the Veteran's committee and he will be inducted this year.
When I think of the White Sox I think back of the 5o+ years of memories I have watching them. Going to games with my Dad and taking my kids to the games. Next Saturday I am taking my wife to the White Sox game. They just happen to be giving away Dick Allen Hall of Fame bobble heads. My favorite team, my favorite player and my favorite person in the world. I don't care If I never get back.
Saturday, April 26, 2025
V is for Voracious Reader?
A to Z Challenge 2025
The ABC's of Me
V
Voracious Reader
On April 10, 2017 I started a blog called Writer's Write Readers Read Bloggers Blog. It was one of many transition blogs I did in between this blog being a home school blog a whatever it is now blog. In my first post at WWRRBB I admitted not having written for a while and how I needed to rectify that.
Although that particular blog didn't last long, I have been writing faiirly regularly since 2017. I also said in that post:
I also need to read more. Reading informs and prepares the writer. I have finished one book this year and that was on January 7th. I need to make time in the day for it. I mean how much Netflix can one guy watch? That's not a rhetorical question, I need answers!!!!
The truth is I also have read quite a bit since 2017. In the past couple of years I have struggled in reading. While I still read a lot of blog posts my book reading is not what it once was. Like the above example I have only finished 1 book this year.
April of course is not a great month to finish books. I still enjoy reading and I count listening to books as reading. I have a number of books I have started this year and just need to dig back in and get some finished.
Here are some of my favorite types of books to read:
Familiar books. I mentioned in my N post that I generally read the Chronicles of Narnia each year. The past 2 years I have not done that. It's not that I've grown tired of them. I'm pretty sure I will never grow tired of them. Some people don't like reading books or watching movies over and over. I can understand and appreciate that. But foe me rereading books or watching movies again is like visiting friends.
Familiar authors. This would not only extend to reading more books by beloved authors, but also reading book about those authors, or fiction books about those authors or those authors characters. For example Stephanie Barron has written a number of mysteries s featuring Jane Austen. as the protagonist. One of the books that I started this year and haven't got very far in yet is a book about a present day woman who discovers letters from one of her ancestors in her attic. The ancestor? Jo March the protagonist of Little Women.
Children's Books. Why? Because I was a child and my love for books started when I was a child. Because I am a parent and I loved reading to my children. I was literally reading to them before they were born. Because I am a teacher and I love reading to children because adults in school read to me which increased my love for books.
Mysteries. I don't like all mysteries, but some of my favorite authors like David Rosenfelt, Bill Pronzinni, and Dorothy L. Sayers write masterful mysteries.
Recommendations from a variety of sources - These sources include but are not limited to book lists, podcasts, bloggers, movies I have seen, books or characters referenced in others books or films. I started reading Louis Lamour books because Allen Levi wrote a song entitled The Reason I Read Louis Lamour
U is for U of I Parent
A to Z Challenge 2025
The ABC's of Me
U
U of I Parent
Today's post will be all pictures and captions.
The U of I Campus July 2023
One of several campus Visits
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Realizing we we both brought the same book to read |
 Goodbye High School Hello U of I   |
Obligatory Move-In Pictures
First U of I game
100th Anniversary of Alumni Field
Illinois Proud
Dad's Weekend
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| Lucy in EveryMan during Mom's Weekend |
Team Saturdazzle : The One Where I caught up
welcome to Team Saturdazzle. The A to Z challenge is almost over. Today I am supposed to be on the letter W and I am only on the letter U. So it's time for some A to A catch up. In the past when I've been behind I have doubled or tripled up in one post. When you do that it makes your index post a little difficult to do. So instead of that I am going to write 3 small posts for each letter I'm behind without the usual A to Z Prologues and Epilogues. I will link them all here when I am finished.
My theme for the A to Z Challenge this year is the A to Z's of me:
H was for Husband of One Amazing Wife
The new entries are
&
If you are reading this you will know I am caught up if there are links to the U V and W categories above.
I will be back next week for a Team Saturdazzle that will have little to nothing to do with the A to Z challenge.
Friday, April 25, 2025
T is for Teacher
My A to Z Challenge Theme this year is the ABC's of me. Each day in the month of April with the exception of Sundays I will be posting about one aspect of my life that begins with the letter of the day.
It's time for some A to Z catch-up. , I am currently 2 posts behind. The next letter is S so let's get right to it shall we?
H was for Husband of One Amazing Wife
T is for Teacher
Today's letter is brought to you from Dave, Dave Out Loud. Teaching is an art form.
Teaching is an art unto itself
S is for Stonehill Fan
My A to Z Challenge Theme this year is the ABC's of me. Each day in the month of April with the exception of Sundays I will be posting about one aspect of my life that begins with the letter of the day.
It's time for some A to Z catch-up. , I am currently 3 posts behind. The next letter is S so let's get right to it shall we?
Randy Stonehill is one of my five favorite singers. Collectively I call these artists the Big 5. I have seen them all multiple times in concert and am more than familiar with each one's entire body of work. I have been listening to Randy since 1982 and like just about everything he puts out. Stonehill still performs and I had the opportunity to see him two times in a 6 month period bettween October of 2023 and March 2024. Here are some sights and sounds from those concerts.
Randy Stonehill & Phil Keaggy
10/7/23/ South Holland Illinois
Randy Stonehill , Leslie Stonehill & Phil Keaggy 10/7/23
South Holland Illinois
Concord Missouri
Randy Stonehill
Concord, Missouri 3/2/24
Randy Stonehill - This Old Face
A few years ago I wrote a review of Stonehill's most recent album The Lost Art of Listening. This is what I said about This Old Face:
This Old Face- Whimsical wisdom amid evocative imagery is one of the thing's I've come to expect from Uncle Rand these many years and This Old Face does not disappoint. This song could be titled turning 70 as this is something Stonehill, born in 1952, will be doing sooner than later. Featured lyrics: It's been weathered by the wind of sadness and of sin but it shines whenever Heaven's love appears
Randy did a children's album called Uncle Stonehill's Hat and Emma , Amy and I were able to se him perform as Uncle Stonehill when Emma was little. The next 3 videos are Randy performing a song form that album at the concert in March 2024
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Randy Stonehill - Stormy Winds Intro
Randy Stonehill - Stormy Winds Part I
Randy Stonehill - Stormy Winds Part II
Randy Stonehill Returning To Depart
So a little musical interlude from one of my favorite artists to add to my ABC's of me.
Thursday, April 24, 2025
R is for R.I.T.A. Republican In Theory Anyway
My A to Z Challenge Theme this year is the ABC's of me. Each day in the month of April with the exception of Sundays I will be posting about one aspect of my life that begins with the letter of the day.
It's time for some A to Z catch-up. , I am currently 3 posts behind. The next letter is R so let's get right to it shall we?
H was for Husband of One Amazing Wife
Q is for Quintessential Worker
R is for R.I.T.A. Republican In Theory Anyway
The phrase Republican in Name Only has been around for over a century. The acronym Rino is only been in place a little more than 30 years. Vox did an excellent job in 2015 chronicling the history of the phrase and the acronym and the shift in meaning over the years. A RINO to mix my metaphors a little here is a politician who walks like a duck talks like a duck but swears there an elephant.
I am no RINO. But just as the meaning of the phrase Republican in Name Only has shifted so has the perception of what it means to be a Republican in America these days. I slowly began to find myself cringing just a little when identifying myself as a Republican then Donald Trump became President in 2017 and I found myself cringing a little more then a lot more as his term went on.
In late November of 2020, I became more hopeful. Trump had lost the election although he and some of his followers were still contesting it, Republican officials in the disputed areas were the first to admit that he did not have enough votes to win. I wrote a post on one of my blogs entitled 10 Things I'd Like to See the Republican Party Do Now That the Election is Over.
I encourage you to click on the title and read the article before moving forward.
The 10 issues or actions were:
Abortion
Racial Reconciliation
COVID 19
Distancing from Donald Trump
Establish a Platform
Address Gun Violence
Widen Base
Reform Immigration Compassionately
Reestablish Sound Foreign Policy
Appeal to Independents.
Now I want to give credit where credit is due from the time I wrote that post until this present moment in time the Republican Party has only failed to achieve 10 of these goals. I mean come on the 2024 White Sox won more than 10 % of their games. You think the Republican party could have addressed at least 1 of my concerns.
If you look at some of my concerns it's obvious from the title that the Republicans have not addressed them. How can a party distance themselves from Trump and elect him again at the same time? They can't. How can a party reform immigration compassionately when they are allowing the deportation of those who are here legally? How do they reestablish sound foreign policy by allowing a President to chastise allies visiting the White House for wanting a war to stop in their country? How do they reestablish sound foreign policy and allow their President to talk about adding their neighboring country and ally as a 51st state? You can't in either situation. As for widening the base and appealing to independents it is difficult to imagine much of either happening with such a polarizing President. This is especially true when the rest of the GOP will not provide checks and balances to the President and seemingly live in fear of him as was written about in an opinion piece in today's U.SA. today
President Trump, his policies, his character, his demeanor, and for that matter his medeamors and his felonies are a large part of why I am only Republican in theory, anyway. Perhaps a greater part is how others have allowed him not only to lead the party but define it.
It started well before 2015, but when 16 other Republican leaders ran in the Republican primary and did not put personal and party desires over protecting the presidency from the unbalanced that's when I realized that the Republican party was no longer close to what it was even a quarter century before when I started aligning myself with them.
In theory they may still be the Grand Old Party riding on an Elephant and bringing the Cold War to a halt. But to quote Remember The Titans "Attitude reflects leadership", and the attitude of this president has made his party simply, the elephant in the room that no other Republican dare talk about.
I hate to rant and run, but it's time to move on. Click on the various words to get to the various places.
Coming Up RITA and weep
Tuesday, April 22, 2025
Q is for Quintessential Worker
My A to Z Challenge Theme this year is the ABC's of me. Each day in the month of April with the exception of Sundays I will be posting about one aspect of my life that begins with the letter of the day.
It's time for some A to Z catch-up. , I am currently 2 posts behind. The next letter is Q so let's get right to it shall we?
H was for Husband of One Amazing Wife
Q is for Quintessential Worker
Quintessential: perfectly typical or representative of a particular kind of person or thing
Merriam Webster On-line Dictionary
Synonyms for quintessential:
Classic, Exemplary, Definitive
It's been over 5 years since the co-vid shut down and some of the things that were common place back then are getting a little fuzzy in our collective memories. Social distancing, the prevalence of masks, one way lanes in supermarkets, daily co-vid updates, drive by graduation celebrations, zoom game nights lessened and some all but disappeared. The necessity and celebration of essential workers has changed somewhat as well. I was an essential worker for a year at the onset of co-vid. Stocking grocery shelves overnight and glad for the work.
It was nice being an essential worker but I have always strived to be a quintessential worker. Colossians 3:23-24 says "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." I have always tried to model that verse in my work life.
Work for me has always been more about meeting needs than having a career. Some of those needs were the financial needs of me and my family. Other of those needs were the needs of my customers. There were also the needs of my employers and co-workers. Each job I have had , and I've had lots of them has always had a component of ministry.
I remember when I was making the transition between corporate customer service and education working a part time/ seasonal job at Amazon. A shift could easily segue from more work than people to do it to more people than work to do. When the latter happened, I would always try to find some way to be useful. One day I asked my manager for a reference. He said to me "Dave, you work with a sense of urgency." I only worked that job four months and am in my 7th school year as a substitute teacher since then. I have also worked several 2nd jobs and summer jobs in that time. In each of these jobs I have reflected on my managers comment and continue to work with that sense of urgency.
Sometimes that means going out of my way at the movie theatre to make sure patrons enjoy their experience or at school making sure a student doesn't miss his bus while he goes back to his room to get his backpack. Sometimes it means making jokes to customers ,students or co-workers just to brighten their day a little.
I worked in customer and client relations at a mortgage company for about 10 years coinciding with the first 10 years of my marriage. My checks were automatically deposited to my banking account, but this wasn't as prevalent as it is now. Many employees received paper checks and all employees received an envelope every 2 weeks with at least the paystub if not a paycheck for the previous pay periods work. Most every time my boss handed out our envelopes I would remark, "This is great, I thought I was volunteering."
I guess the point I'm trying to make is that working is more than 401 K's, paid vacations and insurance benefits. I'm glad I've been able to experience and benefit from those things. but it's also about being a positive influence, having a servant's attitude, and a team spirit.
That's Q for Quintessential Worker.
click on the various words to get to the various places.
Coming Up RITA and weep
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