davidisbell.com

OK, I have spouted out enough random memories for now and will try to take a not so random approach to these posts. It will be more of a chronicling of all things David until now. I will occasionally interject a random memory but I will try to stay on course to who I am today. Keep in mind..it won’t be pretty, but it will be real. Good luck keeping up …it is going to be a bumpy ride.

One of my favorite activities is to circle up for a good old family gathering to watch old home movies. I love watching myself dressed in fashion statement baseball pants (not during baseball season), shrilling like a schoolgirl and running from my older sister. I tell you, nothing says family like a good laugh at what kids will do with a video camera while their parents are sleeping.  (Note thick sarcastic tone dripping from statements above)

I have no idea what possed my dad to let my older brother use a borrowed video camera to play with in the back yard while he took a nap. But in this little adventure I became the unsuspecting victim of video fraud. Somehow, my brother used a hidden talent for video editing and created a video that made me out to be a spineless wimp. For those of you who know me this is before my Jackie Chan like abilities at humor and improvisation. Here is a quick rundown of the script.

Act 1 – David gets busted for fighting

Act 2 – David gets caught up in a fight sequence and screams like a little girl

Act 3 – David gets busted for fighting someone else

Act 4 – David gets cast as a candy thieving villan…which he plays beautifully

Act 5 – David pouts

Act 6 – David pouts….again

Act 7 – Everything gets blamed on David

End

As you can see..it would take a mass amount of effort and editing to create such a film..but he did no the less. Now if you have never seen this movie you might think that this cannot be true due to the fact that I would never be involved in such a cut rate production. But we must all start somewhere.

At least it wasn’t a shot of me with my legs open in my underwear. (Commence throw up for those who have seen the film)

Well I am here and thought since I was I might type something out. The first memory that popped into my head was a fun little time to which I have never confessed. So Shhh…I still feel really bad about this.

Growing up in the south one of the things you have to learn to do is skip rocks. Ponds and creeks and lakes are all good targets and I was quite the skipper. I was so good in fact I should have had a boat, been fat and had a skinny friend named Gilligan that I called little buddy. On this one particular occasion, I decided I would try my hand at skipping rocks off the ground. This was way more difficult because the grass would always catch it and bogg it down so you had to ge the angle just right.

Well one time I did…much to my amazement the rock skipped off the ground like it was ice and I had a momentary breath of wonder. unfortunately my wonder shattered like the window of the car the rock hit after it skipped off the ground. You see I failed to notice that 15 feet behind my skipping platform was a very nice ford mustang.

Oops…that one hurt.

Life has been so fast the last few weeks that I have been unable to grab time and collect my thoughts and put them here. I have so many ideas floating around in my head that I am struggling to get them out and move with any of them. You see I am a thinker…I actually think to relax. I am not sure how this happens but I think in stories and create things in my head that could actually happen…but never really happen. I create an alternate reality if you will..not as a means of escape but just another world that functions off of the principles I believe are right and true. This is a great thing for strategic planning..but can also bite me in the butt as my mind wanders into areas that should be avoided.

Anyway I have left off from my journey through random memories and would like to pick that back up but need to wait until I get my thoughts together. So for today all I am going to do are list out the thoughts that I am pondering as I drive silently in my car:

1. Financial Stability – I am dreaming and planning to get out of debt and actually have ownership in a money making engine.

2. Writing – I want to write..with my wife. I want to create something with my wife that impacts and influences people. We have some ideas on the table but haven’t pulled the thoughts together.

3. Speaking – I miss this. I miss communicating to people about ideas and thoughts in my life.

4. Calling – I am wrestling with how people use the term “calling” in our culture…I think we over mystify what God wants us to do with our lives

5. Legacy – I am processing through what to leave my children…how can I shape our relationship into one that we are in proper authority but also love as we can.

6. Business – I want to build a business that works…I get this from my father.  I want to create a new idea and have others use it effectively.

So there are the few things that I process on a regular basis. These are my hopes and dreams and ideas and ambitions. I have no plans with any of these…but I will.

I have been so busy and unable to generate and meaningful fodder. I apologize and I will be a little more consistent now that I am through a few things that were consuming my time. So thanks for hanging in there and I hope you enjoy this little number.

When I was growing up lets just say that humilty was not my strong suit. Surprised I know, but I was often a little big for my britches. On one particular occasion my parents had enough of my endless self absorption/promotion and decided to stage a prize fight between me and my older brother in the front yard.

I cannot remember the events leading up to this but I am sure it had something to with me nagging my older brother who wasn’t allowed to pound me so he was getting frustrated. For some reason I was convinced that I could demolish this guy and become the Alpha Male of the house…well of the kids anyway. So I am sure I was going on about my awesomeness and how I could kick his fanny…we couldn’t say butt, it was on the bad word list. So after this proclamation one too many times my parents said, ok let’s see it.

Now I have had several moments where my faith in myself was tested. This was one of those moments. I was about to step into a sanctioned fight with my brother who was 4 years older and several pounds heavier than me. Whatever doubt I had was quickly replaced with ego and I accepted this chance to become the greatness I knew me to be. So to the front (not the back) yard we went.

We squared off and I was standing as tall as I could trying to grab some factor of intimidation. The rules were that who ever cried first lost so I thought if I can scare him into crying I would be out of this without throwing a punch…no dice. So like David standing before Goliath I prayed for some help, but it turns out God does not favor egotism and arrogance…huh go figure.

Chris landed the first punch right on my arm…I thought to myself…that hurt but not bad enough to cry..so I stood in. I was contemplating hitting him at this point when like a saber-tooth tiger he struck again…on the same arm….in the same place…that was still sore from the first hit. I was like that hurt and I think I am going to have to cry…hold back man…..again no dice.

I cried…and I lost. I was ashamed at my failure and did what any little brother would do. I went and found one of my little brothers to pick on so I could feel big. The pecking order had to be respected right?

I will be back next week. I am preparing for an exam that has had me pretty busy.

Here are a few fun facts about me for those of you who may be new to my world or just those of you who haven’t heard me babble about my life for a while:

1. 3rd of six children, 5 boys and 1 girl and she ran the house

2. Don’t eat vegetables – unless my children are present – actually I don’t eat much except…

3. I Love Sugar in almost all forms but particularly cherry coke and twizzlers

4. I am a dork – I laugh at my own jokes and most of them stink

5. I am married with 2 boys and I love these people dearly. Farah and I met in high school have been through a lot of life together. She is a brilliant woman and an amazing mother. My boys are just that…boys…tons of energy and very little sense.

6. I am loud but only because I think I am brilliant

7. I am funny but only if your standards are pretty low

8. I don’t like rap, and who told Jamie Foxx he could be a musician

9. I am a neat freak and love organization, I cannot think in clutter and I love to ride in my car in silence to just think

10. I have no style other than the slacker look, but I am usually too lazy to go for it.

11. I have never ridden a horse, been in a hot air balloon or out of a plane, or bungee jumped

12. I am safe and calculated but take risks in the name of experience

13. Six flags is better than Disney__________

That’s all I have right now…drop me a few random facts on youself and let me know what you are into.

As I watch my kids grow up and get into more things they remind me of my life as I grew up. They are totally into Star Wars right now an love to play Jedi’s and watch anything Jedi, especially Clone Wars which isn’t really Star Wars at all. As a matter of fact Farah and I talked the other day about them knowing Anikan rather than Darth Vader first. It messes up my mind to know that the story is out of order by being in the right order. But that is another post.

When I was growing up I was apparently into Superman. I don’t remember ever being into it, I just think I was because of one Halloween that I dressed up like Superman…sort of.

This was during the time of life that I dressed up and it was still ok to wear your costume to school. So I dressed up with my suit and my cape and trodded off to school. It never crossed my mind that my “suit” was my pajamas. All the other kids had costumes and I was running around in my pajamas and all the other kids made fun of me. I was so embarrassed and swore off Halloween all together.

I can remember running through the playground with my pajamas and kids chasing, pointing, and laughing as I tried to cool up my costume and jump off of things and fly. Obviously that never worked so I tried to fake an injury for the sympathy vote. My teacher, with all the compassion she could muster, said “suck it up” to which I was shocked, but I did because I knew she wasn’t buying it.

Overall I am better for it, but me and Superman are not really on speaking terms anymore.

I will update soon, life has been crazy

I have never been extremely popular but have always had some people to hang out with. But to be honest I was kind of a nerd. I was a studious kid and always did my homework and had a pretty good work ethic. So much so that I was willing to risk my life for a school project and brave the wilds of the upper kitchen cabinets to complete my assignment.

As a shortish middle schooler I loved school supplies. Anything that provided organization or gave a finished look to a report was on my list. One report in particular needed a little something extra. The casual staple in the top left corner was not going to do it for me. I needed a little pizazz to make my report stand out.

I remembered that my parents had some school supplies in the cabinet above the stove and there just might be a stylish green folder in their that would make my report complete. So like any kid, instead of asking for help I decided to go on my own to get the folder. Being in middle school I was way too short to reach this cabinet so I got a little help from the counter top. I hopped up and began to fish around in the cabinet for a folder until at last I had found them, and there was a selection to my surprise and I picked the best one I could find. No rolled corners or wrinkle marks for me, it had to be straight.

So in my excitement I jumped to my feet and it was here that I encountered my very first fan. Forgetting that I was on a counter and that even though I was short I was not short enough to stand on the counter, I stuck my head directly into the ceiling fan of the kitchen.

Now lucky for me the fan was on….yup you read that right…it was ON. Now if you know me you know that I have a hard head and in a battle you might actually bet on me against the fan, but I was no match for the sneak attack. It was almost as if the fan was waiting and watching and knew that I was a moron and planned its rotation accordingly.

So as I inserted my head into the rotating fan my ear took the brunt of the force causing a nice gash that bled like a stuck pig. The force however knocked my dizzy and I almost fell right off the counter. Unaware of what I happened I climbed down, gathered myself, and surveyed what just hit me.

The fan chuckled as it began its rotation after coming to a dead stop from whacking my head and I looked around to see if anyone saw me.

No one did…whew