Shaping Minds with Dr. 86

Family, mud and Vienna Sausages

2009-04-25T00:42:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone! Dr. 86 here coming to you live from an undisclosed location. I apologize for the delay since the last time I wrote to you but rest assured I missed you as much as you missed me.

My topic for today is family. It has recently come to my attention that I have not spent as much time with my family as I should. Particularly my Grandparents on my mother's side. They live in Poteau, Oklahoma just across the border from Ft. Smith Arkansas. This has always made it difficult since we live so far away. Now I always thought when I went off to college, that I would visit them a lot since I was about 3 hours closer. Unfortunately that has not been the case. Like everyone, I am a busy person, probably not as busy as I like to think but busy nonetheless. But awhile back my Grandparents on my dad's side both passed away and that made me realize that I need to spend time with those around me while I still can. Not a day goes by that I don't miss my Grandparents and the times I had with them. They were so full of stories and wisdom and I wish somehow that i could go back and sit around the dinner table just one more time and listen to there stories. Then it occurred to me, why am I wasting time worrying about things that I can't change when I can be spending time with my Grandparents that are still alive. So I made the 3 hour trip down the Muskogee turnpike to the home of the tallest hill in the world, the Poteau Pirates and Buck and Red the mules. As soon as I walked into the door, I was greeted with a hot brownie, an ice-cold Dr. Pepper and some hand mixed medicine for my itchy scalp. Now I'm telling you, you can't beat that, especially not at eleven o'clock at night. As soon as I settled down in the chair, Papa started telling stories of yesteryear and teaching school for 1900 dollars a year and just the things that kick the imagination into overdrive. I know I can't get my dad's parent's back and I'll always miss them, but I think they'd be proud to know that their love has inspired me to be a better grandson to the grandparents that are still around. That love me and care about me and make me brownies at eleven o'clock at night.

Now before I head off to the bed beneath my Uncle David's 2 consecutive MVP basketball trophies from 1984-85 and 1985-86 respectively, I must tell you a story.

When I was about 14 years old, my Grandpa, who I will no refer to as Papa, came and picked me up from an FFA leadership camp over by Wagoner, Oklahoma and took me back to Poteau for a two-week vacation from the desert that is Tipton in the summer. Boy I was excited. I had planned to fish every day and kick back and relax. Now Papa had a couple of Missouri mules, one named Buck, and one named Red. Now these were good mules, they'd pull a wagon full of rocks or carry a rider up a mountain as eager as you please, but they were still mules and that means they were stubborn. Many times I have been in that wagon with Papa when ol' Red decided she wanted to run and away we went flying down the highway scrambling to slow her down. But by in large they were good mules. So one day, we get the bright idea to saddle up those mules and ride up to the top of Sugarloaf mountain. So we get started about 9 o'clock that morning, loaded for bear with enough vienna sausages, cheese and crackers to last George Washington's army a week in a blizzard, and headed up the mountain. It was wonderful. Birds chirping in the trees, squirrels scurrying around scolding us for invading their woods and all kinds of wildflowers growing on the side of the mountain. We traveled for most of the morning and with little effort we reached the top and had lunch. Now at this point in my young life, I was not entirely familiar with the value of a good vienna sausage so when Papa had his back turned I let ol' Buck have mine and I just ate the crackers. Now Papa, being a wise man new exactly what I was doing but payed me no mind. And about half an hour later when I was hungry again, Papa offered me the only thing we had - the dreaded vienna sausages. Now when you're hungry you'll eat just about anything and eat I did. They tasted better than anything I ever had in my life, what seemed so disgusting before instantly seemed better than an 18 ounce ribeye. Papa just looked at me and chuckled and said he always knew I like vienna sausages, he could see it in my eyes. Now I'm not sure what he saw in my eyes but I can tell you this, I do love me some vienna sausages! Now about halfway down the trail, ol' buck and I are moseying along behind Papa and Red when all of a sudden the ground began to give way beneath my feet and quicker than I could yell for Papa, ol' Buck was shoulder deep in a mud hole unable to get out! Papa turned around and took one look at me atop ol' Buck with my feet flat on the ground and butt still the saddle and broke into one of the loudest laughs I think I've ever heard. It took him about 5 minutes to calm down and finally he looked at me and said, "Well are you gonna just sit there or are you going to get up and help him out of that hole?" When we finally got him out he was covered with mud from his feet clear up to his mane! And by the time we got down to the trailer, his tail had completely hardened into a muddy mess. Now when we got back to the house Mimi, as if on cue, came out with the camera and had to immediately run back into the house for a kleenex to dry her eyes from all the laughing. It was a story I'll never forget, and Papa wouldn't let me even if I wanted too. I sure am glad I got to spend that time with him and hopefully I'll get to spend many more years with my Papa and Mimi. Maybe with a little less mud this time around.

Until next time. This has been Dr. 86, saying see you next time!

2009-04-06T18:48:00.002-05:00

This is the wall of the Moncrief-Neuhaus training facility on the Campus of the University of Texas today. As you can see, they clearly have layed claim to the 2008 Big 12 football championship. This is remarkable because they did not play in the Big 12 championship game in 2008. OU and Missouri did. Now Texas fans will say that they beat both OU and Missouri in the regular season, which they did. But there is a reason you play a championship game. That reason is, anything can happen. Colt Mccoy could have gotten hurt on the first play. They could have lost their starting safety in the first quarter. My point is, anything can happen. That game is not a guaranteed Texas win. If it was, then why play the game at all? If I was a Texas fan, I would be ashamed of my university. If I was Colt Mccoy I would be ashamed of my athletic department or whoever it was that was responsible for putting it up there in the first place. Now before you start ripping me for being an OU homer, I agree that Texas has a valid argument for being in the Championship game. The system is horrible. It has to be changed. However, based on that argument, Texas Tech has just as much right as OU or Texas to be there. If Texas had decided to put on their wall, Big 12 South Champions, I would be perfectly fine with that. They have a valid claim to be Big 12 South Championship. However, they cannot take for granted that they would have beaten Missouri a second time. It is absolutely absurd to think otherwise. I can't believe that their Athletic deptarment would allow such a thing. As much as I dislike Mack Brown, I thought he was above this. This is totally shocking! The system has to change, to keep the morons locked in the closest. It's time NCAA. Forget the Conference Commisioners, the University Presidents, and the all the money arguments and create a system that crowns a true champion. And once and for all abolish all Conference Championships so that all conferences are on the same playing field. Do that, and all is fixed. I don't think College football can handle another year of morons flying planes over stadiums.

Selfishness, Pride and Division

2009-03-26T18:48:00.004-05:00

Hey Everyone! Dr. 86 here, coming to you live from an undisclosed location. After a brief but much needed vacation, I am back and ready to advise you, the people, on all your problems.

Now, for the topic at hand. Selfishness and pride can destroy any unified group. No matter how strong a group is, these two things can crush any attempt at remaining unified.

I'll give you an example. Recently I was on a mission trip with my church. Now our mission, as we understood it, was to assist an inner city church with various activities from, painting, to encouraging kids. So we headed out with about 30 people looking to have a great trip serving others. And we did accomplish our goal - so to speak. We served and helped out the inner city church and it's members. However, one goal was not accomplished. That goal, was team unity. Usually when you take a trip like this, the group usually benefits as much, if not more, than the people they come in contact with. This is largely due to seeing each other give unselfishly of themselves. A trip like this can really bring a group closer together. Not this time. This group really was a good group had it not been for a few selfish individuals. I'm sure you've heard the saying, one rotten apple can spoil the whole barrel. This was the case for us. You see, a few people, that shall remain nameless, attempted to stay within their group, or click, and instead of putting the group first, they put their own desires and comfort levels ahead of everything else. A group the size of 30 people has certain limitations. One of these is food. Not everyone will like every place the group stops to eat. Most people, especially considering the trip was a mission trip, would just suck it up and find something they could eat wherever the group stopped. Not these people. They buttered up their van driver so that he would do whatever they wanted. Instead of eating with the group, they went off on their own to eat somewhere else, once again isolating themselves from the rest of the group. These few people had just created a division. This happened not once, but several times! They failed to realize that it's not about where you eat, but that you eat together. The drama goes on. One particular person, that once again shall remain nameless, was so caught up in their pride that they would not even let someone from outside their click ride in the van they were in. This was particularly bad because one of the vans was taking kids home and that left less seats than normal, forcing everyone to cram into the remaining vans. Things like these, happened all week. So when it came time for the final group sharing time, things were less than relaxed. Several people didn't share at all, and those that did seemed obligated. Now I'm sure that those that shared did so from their heart, but some of it seemed a little forced. Usually the final devotional time lasts for a couple of hours and is filled with everything from tears to singing and laughter. This particular time was very short with only a few songs right at the end. Now I said all of that to so that people may benefit from my perspective of said events.

Obviously there are two sides to every story. And I'm sure I will get catch some flack from a few people for telling this story. But I am speaking for several that went on the trip, when I say that these things not only created a division in the group that went, but these events genuinely hurt people's feelings. No matter what side of this division you're on, these things have got to stop! The body of Christ is not supposed to be like this. We all need to grow up and take responsibility for our actions. If you are insecure with yourself, take responsibility for that and learn to be more confident. Realize that you're among friends and fellow Christians and that you have nothing to worry about. It's time to address our own problems and stop these personal vendettas against each other. No matter what caused, both sides need to step up and apologize to each other. Love will heal all wounds if we'll just get out of the way and let it work. I am speaking to myself as much as anybody here. What will those that are new to the group think when they see us bickering and fighting amongst ourselves. We need to remember that we not only represent ourselves, but we also represent God. And that alone should define our lives.

I would like to once again mention that this trip was a successful trip. Many people benefited from the efforts that were made. It is NOT my intention to belittle the trip or anybody that went on it. However it is my intention to let everybody know that the actions mentioned here are not appropriate for anybody no matter if they take place on a mission trip or at home. I hope that I have made myself clear on this subject, though I am sure that some will overlook what I just said and focus on the negative things in this column. Once again feel free to comment.

This has been Dr. 86, talk to ya soon!

Gossip in the Church

2009-03-11T17:09:00.002-05:00

Hey Everybody! Dr. 86 here, coming to you live from an undisclosed location. Today's topic is gossip. I would argue that everybody gossips to some degree. Why do we do this? It probably has to do with our own lack of self-confidence and respect for other people. If we felt good about ourselves, we wouldn't have to tear other people down. If we had respect for other people's feelings and image, we wouldn't talk about them behind their back. These issues plague everybody. They even have a firmly rooted place in the Church. As shocking as it may seem, every church in the world has a problem with gossip. One would think that the Church, of all places, would be a safe place for people and their reputations. Furthermore, the church should be the one place where forgiveness reigns supreme and slander takes a backseat. Instead, it is the other way around. This is one of the reasons that people hide their problems. The church, which was built on the comfort of fellowship and the ability to confess one's problems without fear of judgement, has become a breeding ground for slander and gossip. Why risk being shunned by your brothers when you can keep everything inside and pretend like everything is ok? I, personally, have seen people leave the Church and Christianity in general because they don't feel like people would accept them if they knew their problems. How could the church cultivate such an image? Have we become so arrogant and Pharisee-like that we ignore our own flaws and talk about others? The Bible says all sins are created equal in the eyes of God. It is the world that creates different consequences for them. We, as Christians, should view sin as God views it. It's time to love everyone regardless of their past or flaws. It's time to get over ourselves and realize that we ALL have fallen short, not just some of us, all of us. And that without Christ, we would have no leg to stand on. Just because one struggles with cussing and one with adultery doesn't mean that the one with adultery is any worse off than the one who cusses. Let's stop this gossiping and slandering. And start seeing everyone as brothers and sisters. The future of the Church depends on it, not too mention our salvation.

Nancy Grace Gone too Far

2009-03-06T12:26:00.002-06:00

Hey Everybody! Dr. 86 here, coming to you live from an undisclosed location.

Nancy Grace, the headline news host, has gone too far with the missing girl rant. For 6 months she was on the case for Kaylee. That's right I said 6 months! Every day she was discussing the news of Kaylee. Now, don't get me wrong, I think what happened to Kaylee was horrible. And I think that new's services should help in locating, if they can, the victims of such tragedies. But, I know there were other news events during that 6 month period, yet she focused on a tired old story for way too long. Not only did she cover this story, she frequently got upset and emotional, which is her m.o., over a story that needed about 5 months less coverage than it got. Then Kaylee was found, dead. Again a horrible, horrible tragedy. One would think that this would end the missing girl kick. But as if on cue, Haylee went missing, and Grace was off to the races. Its been over a month since she has been missing and Grace has been there every step of the way. Covering non-stop, the thrilling action that entails a missing persons case. Again, I must stress, that I think it is terrible what has happened to these girls, but there are plenty of other things to rant and rave about. Like the economy and Barak Obama's plan to correct it. Whether for or against, this is certainly news. I think it is time to move on Nancy, either that or get off the air. It's bad enough having to listen to that loud annoying voice of yours but to have to see your face everyday is just too much for the American people to handle. Don't you think we have enough problems than to have be dragged down into the mud by you? Somebody put her out of her misery please before somebody kidnaps her. That would be a news story worth covering!

Until next time, this has been Dr. 86 shaping the minds one story at a time.

T.O. Is G.O.N.E.

2009-03-05T11:44:00.002-06:00

Hey everyone! Doctor 86 here coming to you live from an undisclosed location.

Wide receiver Terrell Owens was released last night by the Dallas Cowboys and not a moment too soon. Last season Dallas was picked by some to win the Superbowl and by most to represent the NFC. Instead the Cowboys failed to make the playoffs amidst rumors of dissent in the locker room between quarterback Tony Romo and T.O. It has been said that offense scores points and defense wins championships. Most championship teams would agree, but somewhere in between offense and defense is team chemistry and more specifically team unity. Any military commander will tell you that a unified front is much harder to defeat than one that is divided. T.O., arguably the best receiver in football, had as much to do with them being picked to win the world's biggest football championship, as he did with their failure to make the playoffs. Jason Garrett, one of the better offensive coordinators in the league, devised and schemed every way possible to get T.O. the ball and he still complained. He blamed everybody from, head coach Wade Phillips, to the very popular tight-end Jason Witten. You know things have gotten bad, when owner Jerry Jones, the same owner that overlooked Michael Irvin's drug use, and let's not forget the always dramatic Neon Deion Prime-Time Sanders and his antics, is letting Owens go with 9 million going against the salary cap. The bottom line is, T.O. hasn't been a good teammate since his days with the 49ers when he played with quarterback Steve Young. His attitude has become too much and everyone is finally taking notice. He will find it difficult to find a team willing to sign him, and certainly not for the money he will be seeking.

T.O., you're an incredible player, with enormous talent, but you won't win the championship nor the respect you seek from your teammates, until you learn what it means to be a team player. Furthermore, until you learn to put the team above yourself and become not only an unselfish player, but also an unselfish person, you will never happy.

Until next time, this has been Doctor 86, shaping the minds one story at a time.

Dr. 86 Understanding Women (games)

2009-03-04T10:18:00.000-06:00

Hey everybody! Dr. 86 here coming to you live from an undisclosed location. The topic for today is Understanding Women and the games they play. Now let me preface this topic by saying that I do not, and will probably never fully understand women. However, this topic will allow me to share with you, the reader, my experiences with the opposite sex.

Games..........
Now for all of you women out there that may be reading this, let me just say that this is not an attack on your gender. Nor am I saying that women are the only ones that play games. Rather, women seem to be the instigaters of said games. Now let me ask a question. Why is it that women like to play these games? Is it because they enjoy them? Well, they probably do garner some satisfaction from toying with a man's emotions, but I would say no. Is it because society expects them to practice a certain standard of game playing to maintain stabitity between the sexes. I suppose this to be true to a certain degree but again I would say no. Before I answer this question, let me first give you an example.

Recently, I met a girl at the local barber shop. We struck up a converstation while she was cutting my hair and we found out we had a lot in common. When it came time for me to pay for my haircut I asked for and recieved her number. Now let me stop here for just a second. In a perfect world, I would be able to call her the next day, ask her to dinner and take her out all in the same day. But unfortunately that is not reality. Upon hearing of my success, my friends proceeded to give me a timetable on when to call her. The consensus was to wait three days. This was, as they explained to me, so I would not seem to desperate. I was totally confused. Didn't she know that when I asked for her number that I was going to ask her out? Why did it matter how many days I waited? If she didn't want to go out with me, she would have never given me her number. Surely she wouldn't turn me down just because I didn't wait three days. So rather than heed my friends' advice, I threw caution to the wind and called her the next day. She respectively declined my invitation to dinner giving me the all-time excuse of homework. I told her I completely understood and promised to call later in the week. So later in the week came, I called, and again she declined my invitation and said that she could not ever see us being anything more than friends. Wow! I was shocked! Less than a week ago I had a promising phone number, and now I had nothing. What happened? Well, as my friend so bluntly put it, I screwed up. I refused to play the game. They insisted that had I waited three days to call her, she would have definitely gone out with me. My impatience, they claimed, had been my downfall. Now the question of the hour is - did she really change her mind about me because of my impatience? I don't think so. One of two things happened. One, she saw my impatience as a lack of knowledge or experience in relationships, or two, she just didn't like my divergance away from the norm. Either way, I had not played the game, her game, and therefore I could not collect 200 dollars and would not be passing GO anytime soon.

To me, these games, are like a battle of wits between a man and a woman. Both, trying to outlast the other. My advice to all you men out there that have been victimized by these games is to learn to play them. An old saying, "Two can play at that Game," perfectly describes this situation. The better we play the game, the more successfull we'll be. And the more successful we are, the more opportunities we'll have to turn the tables on them.

If you liked this topic, stay tuned to my blog for more stories of love and games. Until next time, this has been Dr. 86. Shaping the minds one story at a time.