All Posts Tagged With: "personal"

I had a reader ask:

“What’s up with all the political blogging? I thought you said you were giving that up.”

Well, I did say that. But, I simply changed my mind. Some friends and long-time readers of this blog and the previous incarnations of my blogging expressed disappointment that I was giving up the political and current affairs writing. It seems, according to them, that I do my best blogging and writing when I talk about those things that stir up my passions. Politics, government and current affairs, social justice, faith matters and specific circumstances that affect me or my family are what stir up my passions the most.

So, I went back to writing specifically about those things that are on my mind and stirring my passions on any given day. Much of the time that means it will be about my viewpoint or others’ viewpoints that I find interesting and what to share regarding current affairs and politics. Sometimes, though, I will write something about my family or about a specific experience I’ve had.

For those who don’t like it, I’m sorry, but this blog is what it is. I’m not going to pretend to be something I’m not. I guess I just don’t do personal blogging as well as I do viewpoint and opinion blogging. It’s who I am. And this blog will reflect who I am.

Tag along, if you like. Or don’t, if you don’t. I’d love for you to keep following this blog, but I’ll certainly understand if you decide to look elsewhere.

Mean people suck. They can ruin your fun, they can ruin your conversation with others and they can ruin your day. They can take a reasonable disagreement and turn it into a very mean-spirit, very personal attack. I’ve written about it before. Some recent comments on this blog (which have since been filed in the appropriate bin) have brought up the matter once again.

It has been said many times that you shouldn’t discuss religion and politics with others because it can devolve into an argument and become very personal. I typically follow this rule diligently. This blog has been an exception because it is a personal expression of my thoughts, observations, opinions and pontifications. I don’t mind people disagreeing with what I say — although I do like it when people agree — it’s just not necessary to make it so personal. It’s not necessary to belittle and insult and spew hateful comments.

Small-minded people will reduce a conversation to small-minded ad hominem attacks. It saddens me, but I try to dismiss such idiocy out of hand. But sometimes, it’s just not worth the trouble.

When I started this particular incarnation of my personal blog, my intention was not to have politics take up as much of my blogging space as it has in the last month or so. It was to be more of a light-hearted, observational type blog — more along the lines of my blogging idols Dustbury or Okiedoke. And for the most part, I stuck with that formula until last month.

As the presidential campaign hit high gear in its final stretch before the election, my attention turned increasingly toward the political insanity that has ensued. Especially after having some conversations with friends and family who may not understand why I feel the way I do, I wanted to share some of the thoughts and concerns I had. I also shared the perspective of others far more knowledgeable on the subject.

My intent all along has been to go back to my original formula of blogging once the election ended. But, these circumstances have prompted me to scrap that plan and abandon the political discussion altogether. It’s just not worth the trouble.

Consequently, I’m going to take the rest of this week off from blogging just to mentally shift my focus back to this blog’s original intent. My apologies to those readers who didn’t like all those political posts; thank you for your patience. It’s all about to change back. To those who didn’t mind, thank you for your support.

And to those who played a part in compelling this decision, thank you for helping me refocus my efforts. You’ve reminded me of that verse in Proverbs, “Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself,” as well as that other great proverb, “You can’t fix stupid.” You just can’t have a reasonable, adult discussion with a closed mind; it’s like talking to a brick wall. It’s not worth the trouble.

Tune back here for the return of the original formula soon.

Last time, in the first installment of the 3-part series about the name of this blog, I talked about the first part, “Brad Neese,” and what that means to the blog’s personality and purpose. This time, I want to talk about the significance of the second part of the blog name…

“…Living Large…”

As you may or may not be able to tell from the portrait at the top of the homepage, I am a big boy… a really big boy. “Well, how big a boy are ya?” Roy D. Mercer might ask. It’s too embarrassing to outright tell you what I weighed on the bathroom scales this morning, so I’ll tell you what I would weigh on the moon, which sounds much nicer: 56.2 pounds — now you go figure the math! When Oklahoma City’s mayor shared with the world about his challenge to city residents to lose a combined 1 million pounds by the end of this year, he had me in mind. I’m convinced that he got the idea after seeing me walk in downtown Oklahoma City and was counting on me to account for a significant percentage of that 1 million pound goal. Well, okay, that’s not really true, but I did take it a little personally when he told the world that we were one of the fattest cities in the country and needed to go on a diet. I hate diets, as is evidenced by my ever-expanding girth. And at times I can be little sensitive when people make comments about my size.

I’ve always been overweight. I was a fat baby. I was a pudgy kid growing up in school — always called fat, even when I wasn’t all that much above the norm. Even when I was at my leanest, which was in college around the time that I met and married Karla, I was still overweight — and that was while I was dieting and exercising a lot — which is a little disconcerting when you think about it. If I couldn’t get to my ideal weight when I was on a strict diet and solid, daily exercise program during my college-aged years, what hope do I have now of ever making it?

While I would love to lose weight (and will strive this year to do just that), I am what I am and I will make the most of what I am and who I am. As I said last time, I am proud of who I am, even as a large man. And as a large man, by definition, I am “living large.”

As I thought about the name, I loved the double entendre. Not only was I living in my largeness, I am striving to truly live life to the fullest — “living large!” As I considered whether the double meaning was truly what I thought it meant, I did some reading around the Internet and found a lot of different meanings for living large, some related to weight like I did here, others referred to spending habits (which would likely apply to me as well) and others meant it the way this writer did and the way I was meaning it as well:

Living large to me means exploring all your talents and not being afraid to attempt them. It means taking chances and not only rejoicing in your accomplishments, but taking your mistakes and using them as a great life experience. It means not having any regrets and enjoying everything life has to offer, the good and the bad.

I think that applies to me as well, especially in the last few years. I’m trying to get the most out of my life. I’ve purposely adjusted my attitude to try to be more positive, to be more joyful (and pleasant to be around), and to be more flexible about life circumstances. I am more content and more at peace than I’ve ever been. I try to be the smile in my workplace when others look like they aren’t so happy. I diligently strive to expand my horizons, both professionally and personally, so that I’m constantly growing and improving myself. I am making the most of the time God has blessed me with — trying to savor every precious moment with my growing (much too fast) daughters, trying to treasure every moment with my bride and trying to appreciate every moment of my life as much as possible because I realize that once that moment has passed, you never have another chance to live it.

So, I believe that I am truly “living large” in every sense of the phrase. And as you follow along my life story as it unfolds, perhaps if I put my whole mind to it, I can live life larger in a much smaller frame. Stay tuned!

Read Part 3 — “What’s in a name”

Anyone who knows me knows that I very rarely do anything “off the cuff” without any reason or thought behind it. In fact, most people think I overthink some things. The name of this blog would fall into that category. I probably spent two weeks running through different names. I wanted to be fun, clever, meaningful and interesting — whether I effectively achieved that is up to the audience, I suppose, but I like it!

The name sets the tone of the blog. It’s the first thing most people find out about a blog (when seeing the name in blogrolls, blog directories, search engine results and elsewhere). It can instantly convey a personality or promote a message. I wanted this title to do just that. So, what’s this blog name seeking to convey? Well, seeing as how I’m long-winded, it’s probably best for me to break it down into more “bite-sized” pieces. So, for this post, I’ll concentrate on the first part of the blog name…

“Brad Neese…”

That’s my name. The blog is primarily about me (as selfish as that might sound) — my life, my thoughts and my observations about the world around me. I’m proud of who I am — not in a conceited sort of way (or at least I hope not) — but because of Who made me, because of who raised me, because of who loves me (and whom I love), because of my life experiences, because of my achievements, because of my failures, because of my skills and talents, and because of my quirks, imperfections and shortcomings.

I am unique, few people will disagree. I am sometimes odd, sometimes weird and sometimes very silly — in a very child-like (or some would say, childish) way. I am intelligent, thoughtful and opinionated, yet open-minded and tolerant of most — except for intolerant, moronic or overly self-centered people. I love to laugh. I’m not afraid to cry (and often can’t help it when I watch a really good, “tear-jerker” movie, documentary or television show).

I’m mildly anti-social, especially when it comes to large crowds or unfamiliar situations. I can be fun to be around (or so I’ve been told). I can be a grump as well. I’m passionate about many things. I am generally a generous and caring person — almost to a fault having been taken advantage of a few times. I love my family more than life itself.

I am the son of two wonderful parents who loved me, cared for me and taught me a lot about real life. I am the brother to a brother and sister who have grown into amazing people who I respect greatly and enjoy spending precious (dwindling) time with each successive year. I am husband to the woman of my dreams — really. She is the very essence of “womanly.” She is my soul mate, my lover and my best friend. I am the father to two awesome teen-aged daughters. They are my absolute pride and joy. They are truly wonderful young ladies who are intelligent, respectful, well-mannered and fun to be around.

I am me. And here you will get a glimpse of my world — both internal and external. It’s like living in a glass house. But the advantage of living in a glass house is that you are unlikely to live a life or behave in a way within your home that you wouldn’t want the outside world to see because glass walls allow them to see inside anyway! This is my very own virtual reality show. Move over Gene Simmons — this is my “Family Jewels“!

Read Part 2 — “…Living Large…”

Welcome to my new blog…again!

If you know me, you know this isn’t my first blog. In fact, this would be the fourth incarnation of blogs that I’ve started and published for awhile. It’s been almost a full year since I last blogged. I’ve been more productive because of the time saved that I would have spent working on my blog and I actually enjoyed the respite; but I missed it. I enjoy writing. I enjoy sharing my thoughts, even if I’m the only one reading those thoughts. It’s therapeutic for me. I work through my thoughts and feelings about issues and matters by expressing them in writing and I often find that in that writing process I am able to learn something, come to a realization or even see the folly in my thinking.

So, what’s this blog about? Well, it’s about me — my life, my thoughts and my observations about the world around me. It may be about my latest local dining experience, about that last movie I saw or about something I saw on TV. It may be about something I overheard, something I saw happen or something I read somewhere else in the blogosphere or around the Internets. It may be about politics (although certainly not to the degree of my previous blogs), it may be about religion (although certainly not like another of my previous blogs) or it may be about social justice issues (which I can’t stop talking about). It may be a carefully crafted, in-depth thoughtful essay about a given topic or it may be a short-and-sweet random commentary about the most trivial of things. In short, it’s pretty much about whatever pops into my chaotic, overthinking, random mind.

So, what’s the name of the blog about? That’s for next time. For now, “hello, world… again!”