There is plenty of stigma attached to being gay, especially up here in the northwoods of Michigan.  At the same time there is a TON of stigma attached to being an atheist even that has become less of an issue over time, remarkably for me since I moved out of the promised land of Western Michigan and Grand Rapids.  For the record, I define an atheist as a person who does not believe in God.  Yes, it’s that simple.  I do not believe there is some supernatural being controlling things from above.  Nor do I believe there is some other supernatural being trying to direct me towards a place called hell by controlling my actions and thoughts.  Those of you know me well, none of this is a shock to you because I started to distance myself from religion years ago.  For those of you reading this that still believe, good for you, that is your prerogative.  Up until now though I’ve always left a little bit of room to believe that there might be a God, with a strong emphasis on the word MIGHT.  I’m not trying to make any sort of special statement through this post, I am simply acknowledging something about me that has been brewing for a good long time and I’ve decided before the years end to make it final because I’ve never really just come out and said it.  I am my own person, completely in charge of my thoughts, actions, and life and I’ll leave it to the words of Ricky Gervais to say the rest for me.  I don’t apologize for my acknowledgement, nor do I have any standing issues with those of you from my past who have tried to convince me of your God.  You don’t have to apologize for pushing me to consider it.  Yes, you failed, but I don’t fault you for it. Click the link at the bottom to read the whole essay.

Why don’t you believe in God? I get that question all the time. I always try to give a sensitive, reasoned answer. This is usually awkward, time consuming and pointless. People who believe in God don’t need proof of his existence, and they certainly don’t want evidence to the contrary. They are happy with their belief. They even say things like “it’s true to me” and “it’s faith.” I still give my logical answer because I feel that not being honest would be patronizing and impolite. It is ironic therefore that “I don’t believe in God because there is absolutely no scientific evidence for his existence and from what I’ve heard the very definition is a logical impossibility in this known universe,” comes across as both patronizing and impolite.

Arrogance is another accusation. Which seems particularly unfair. Science seeks the truth. And it does not discriminate. For better or worse it finds things out. Science is humble. It knows what it knows and it knows what it doesn’t know. It bases its conclusions and beliefs on hard evidence -­- evidence that is constantly updated and upgraded. It doesn’t get offended when new facts come along. It embraces the body of knowledge. It doesn’t hold on to medieval practices because they are tradition. If it did, you wouldn’t get a shot of penicillin, you’d pop a leach down your trousers and pray. Whatever you “believe,” this is not as effective as medicine. Again you can say, “It works for me,” but so do placebos. My point being, I’m saying God doesn’t exist. I’m not saying faith doesn’t exist. I know faith exists. I see it all the time. But believing in something doesn’t make it true. Hoping that something is true doesn’t make it true. The existence of God is not subjective. He either exists or he doesn’t. It’s not a matter of opinion. You can have your own opinions. But you can’t have your own facts.

Why don’t I believe in God? No, no no, why do YOU believe in God? Surely the burden of proof is on the believer. You started all this. If I came up to you and said, “Why don’t you believe I can fly?” You’d say, “Why would I?” I’d reply, “Because it’s a matter of faith.” If I then said, “Prove I can’t fly. Prove I can’t fly see, see, you can’t prove it can you?” You’d probably either walk away, call security or throw me out of the window and shout, ‘’F—ing fly then you lunatic.”

Click here to read the rest.

I likely won’t write again before the new year but I do want to warn you that I am moving this blog to a new hosting service after the first of the year which will cause some down time.  I’ve about had it with my current web host, Go Daddy.  Over the years their servers have become slow and unresponsive.  I don’t like what I’m getting for what I’m paying (which is about $200 a year for hosting).  I’m going to be moving this blog over to DreamHost which is where my newest blog kingfisherchronicles.org is hosted.  Their servers are much faster and they will be more responsive to my blog which is nearly 5 years old at this point (if you count the time I was not writing much).  Much has changed in my life over the past several years and I’m happy to say that this blog has managed to keep up and keep you up to date.  Have a good holiday and I’ll write again in the new year!

As we get closer now to the new year, it’s time for a little reflection on this past year.  It’s been quite a year for me.  Back in January of 2010, I had no idea that by the end of the year I’d be living in my own house, that I actually would qualify and get a mortgage after so many years of financial damage had been done to my credit report.  I had no idea that it would take me the better part of 6 months to fight with the credit reporting agencies about their own failure to report and document things correctly or that, by the end of it, it would only take me 30 days to close.  So now I own a house with a mortgage, in the little town of Interlochen with a dog, a yard, and new neighbors.  And I’ve done all this largely on my own except for the bits and pieces of financial help and MASSIVE amounts of encouragement I’ve received from my folks.  I think they are as impressed as I am that I was able to get this done without having to borrow lots of money from them.  It makes me feel good that I didn’t have to, after all, I SHOULD be doing these things on my own at this point in my life.  I have a good job, a good income, and finally, I will now have a tangible asset and of course a LOT more responsibility.

This has also been quite a good year for me at work.  My income only continues to grow but more than that I’ve finally reached a point now at work where I can be considered an experienced manager at least by my companies definition.  In April of this next year, I’ll be entering my 7th year with my company and my 5th year as part of the management staff.  I think that without question, that gives me a degree of credibility and earns me some respect from my peers and employees.  People listen to me as a leader, not necessarily because I’ve got the experience under my belt but more because I have and can keep a level head in a VERY unleveled working environment.  I have been able to stick it out and make my job work for me as my career and I’ve been able to promote (or rather convince) other employees that retail employment can really work for you if you let it.  NEVER in my life did I envision myself becoming a retail manager, I think this job is not one that most people dream of having.  I never did.  But, it has worked out very well for me despite having to put up with random idiots, freaks, and fools, I do enjoy my job quite a bit and I enjoy the fact that it keeps me entertained.  I could never go back to a desk job at this point.  How boring, how tedious, how monotonous.  Every day is new adventure for me and I hope that I’m never forced to change that.  It takes a toll on my body but that is of my own doing.  Part of my new routine now going into the new year is to start taking a little better care of my aging body in hopes that it will last me a while.

My photography has also taken off quite well this year.  I purchased a professional level camera in February which has allowed me to capture quite a number of truly amazing photos.  While photography is still just a hobby for me, my work has been featured on Leelanau.com 4 times in the past year, I’ve had multiple requests from people to buy my pictures, I’ve even had to sign an affidavit at Meijer because they could not believe the pictures I was developing with them were my own.  That puts me in an exclusive little club at this Meijer up here.  Their little file isn’t very thick which I suspect says more about their inability to develop quality images using quality materials than it does about me since there are so many great photographers in this region who rightly choose to develop their photos through professional photo labs.  I am looking forward to moving ahead with my photography this next year and perhaps doing another book in addition to the others I’ve already published.

On the family side of my life, I am looking forward to the addition of a niece named Lucy.  This will make child #2 for Sarah and Brian and I could not be a prouder (is that word) Uncle!  I am always saddened that I don’t get to see them very often however that is not uncommon for people in our age group.  Families simply don’t all live in the same city or state any more and I accept that fact I think more than my folks do.  I know they would like to be closer to their grandkids and to Sarah and Brian but it’s not a reality that is possible at this time.  At least it gives all of us a reason to get out of the state every now and then and visit other places.  I’m sure if we did not have family in Iowa, we never would have made it out to Colorado this past fall.  Exploring our environment means having to take risks and having to take trips.  I can’t wait to make a trip out to see little Lucy and her brother Christopher this next year.  I look forward to learning the nickname for Lucy to counter Wally.

I’ll wrap this post up for now and leave by saying that I hope you readers do stick around.  There are lots of things going on in politics right now that I want to write about and share when I can find the time to do it.  At the very least, you will all find some amusement or pleasure in reading what I have to say.  Today then I’m off to clean out my garage in hopes that I’ll soon be able to park my car inside it.  Cheers!

Uncle David teaching Christopher to be a nerd.  He got up on my lap without prompting indicating that even though I only see him a couple times each year, he clearly knows who the “cool” uncle is!!  haha.

Now then please follow this helpful tip:  If you choose to purchase things for me from my wish list and you do not want to buy them through that web site, please let me know so I can remove the item from the list.  If you buy them right through Amazon or by clicking through them on the site, they are taken off automatically (you know like a gift registry).  If you would rather not tell me (and I’d rather not be told what you get me since I like surprises), make sure you hang on to the receipts just in case I end up with duplicate items.  By the way, I purchased everyone’s holiday gifts on line last year, I saved a TON on money and I never had to deal with assholes at the stores or with out of stock problems.  Want to avoid dipshits this holiday season?  SHOP ON LINE.

SO there you go.  DON’T ASK ME WHAT I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS…haha  Surprise me this year with things that I want from my wish list.

On that note, Twas the Night Before Christmas….

Check out their web site here. They record for EMI which in the music world is a big deal for any artist, especially true for a cathedral choir. Some of their recordings are listed on their web site and you can listen to exceprts if you have a good internet connection.

Also check out their EMI web site with info on the live album.

Around this time of year I usually go back to my roots of being a boychoir fanatic and it quickly fades again after the holidays. I guess I’m getting old.