SERENITY NOW!

A close friend of mine has often commented on my loyalty. I take that as a great compliment.

Therefore, it's difficult for me to confess how thoroughly disgusted I am with Gov. Rick Perry -- a man I have voted for every time he's been on the ballot.

His latest move using an Executive Order to call for the vaccination of 6th grade girls throughout Texas against the human papillomavirus is just about the last straw. In fact, even if this were the first straw from him (and it's not), it would be the last straw for me.

I won't use up valuable blog space to go into all the details of why this is wrong. You'll have no problem finding plenty of websites and online articles that go into that -- from conservative and liberal sources alike. But let me at least point out the following:

• The Governor has not answered the basic question as to why, in spite of other health issues that pose greater risks to more people, he chose to circumvent the legislative process of review and hearings and issued an Executive Order instead.
• In regards to the supposed need of urgency regarding this health issue, according to one state representative if they passed legislation it could take effect in June 2007 as compared with the effective date of the Executive Order, which is September 2008.
• The relatively small numbers of cervical cancer cases referenced (1,169 new incidents per year in Texas) are NOT entirely caused by HPV, as documented clearly by the Centers for Disease Control.
• Finally, check this out:
  
  "Merck is bankrolling efforts to pass state laws across the country mandating Gardasil for girls as young as 11 or 12. It doubled its lobbying budget in Texas and has funneled money through Women in Government, an advocacy group made up of female state legislators around the country.
  
  "Perry has several ties to Merck and Women in Government. One of the drug company's three lobbyists in Texas is Mike Toomey, Perry's former chief of staff. His current chief of staff's mother-in-law, Texas Republican state Rep. Dianne White Delisi, is a state director for Women in Government." (USA Today, February 2, 2007)

Tell me this ... can I form a picket line or start a petition and STILL be called a conservative Republican?

Murray Action Figure

I recently learned that one of The Wiggles is named Murray. And yes, there is an action figure of him.

(They call it a doll, but I'm calling it an action figure. Go with me on this one. Please.)

If you want a Murray action figure of your own, click here. Apparently they are in high demand and very hard to find!

And for the record, it does not appear to be anatomically correct. Just look at his freakishly large hands -- and short hair!

On this day ...

On this day:

1895 - George Herman (Babe) Ruth was born in Baltimore, Maryland
1911 - Ronald Wilson Reagan was born in Tampico, Illinois
2006 - Marjorie Ellen (Marge) Caldwell went home to be with Jesus
2006 - Steven William Murray joined the staff of Houston's First Baptist Church

How To Have Fun On A Ski Trip Without Skiing

I just got back from the 2007 Summit Snow Jam. Who says you have to ski to have fun on a ski trip? Here's proof that you don't:

1. Fly down a mountain at 50 mph. We were safely buckled in, of course, but it was still a rush to soar over the tree tops. Amanda insists that she won, but the guy at the end of the zip line says it was a tie. You decide.
2. Discover a new subculture. The Iditarod takes place against a scenic Alaskan backdrop. The International Pedigree Stage Stop Sled Dog Race Finals begins in Parking Lot G of Prospector Park. And the dogs aren't quite as photogenic, either.
3. Blaze a trail at 10,000 feet. With plenty of horsepower at our fingertips and wide expanses of untouched snow, we forged trails in the mountains overlooking Park City. Al Roker did it, too, based on the framed pictures in the office.
4. Laugh until it hurts. Take five friends, give them each a big ol' tube, throw in some gravity and ice, then sit back and laugh ... and laugh again. Add in a guy in a pink boa and a push in the wrong direction, and laugh some more!
5. Get stoned. In keeping with my namesake, I decided to let myself be stoned. But since my name is spelled differently than Stephen's, so was my so-called stoning. They were heated to a comfortable 130 degrees, they didn't hurt, and the price wasn't as high.
6. Visit a Flying Sumo. Nothing says Utah better than sushi, right? (OK, maybe Mormons does a better job.) Regardless, we discovered a great sushi place in historic downtown Park City -- the Flying Sumo. You can imagine their logo.
7. Take gallery-worthy photographs. Actually, we "took in" some great photographs when we viewed them in galleries along Main Street. Amanda actually took one home with her. Some of my favorites were this one, this one, this one, this one, and this one. My absolute favorite is this one.

Jeff and Cheryl

(2/5/2007 - The link below has been corrected!)

My brother Jeff recently got married to Cheryl in Mexico in a small ceremony on the beach. Pretty much none of you reading this will know them, but I needed to post something on my blog and I thought these pictures would do the trick!

By the way ... the song is "I Could Not Ask For More" by Edwin McCain.

Disturb us, Lord

I read this for the first time today and wanted to pass it along:

Disturb us, Lord,
When we are too pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord,
When with the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord,
To dare more boldly,
To venture on wilder seas
Where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push back the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

This we ask in the name of our Captain,
Who is Jesus Christ.

Sir Francis Drake
December 1577

Unbelievable

This is unbelievable to me ...

I met up with a friend of mine whom I've known since 3rd grade. He decided to quit his job after being there for nearly 15 years, so I wanted to catch up with him to see what was going on.

I asked if he would mind running by the post office while we were nearby. I wanted to check the status of a package I had mailed, and hoped they could give me an update on it.

When I gave the postal clerk my name, she looked me up in their system. My package had not arrived at its destination yet. But, surprisingly, they had some packages for me that I wasn't even expecting! Rather sheepishly, the postal clerk acknowledged that they found some packages that had never been delivered.

She went in the back and wheeled them out on a cart -- about 8 or 10 packages of different shapes and sizes, several showing the bumps and dents one might expect from a package that lost its way.

There was one from my Aunt Betty Lou, from whom I have never received a package. There was one from George Foreman, presumably one of his grills. (The fact that I may have ordered a grill and not noticed that I hadn't received it was somewhat troubling!) The rest of the packages were from sources I didn't recognize or didn't care about. No telling what I was going to find!

My friend's car was too small to hold the boxes, so we decided to take me home so I could get my car and come back for the load.

The whole time this was unfolding, I kept thinking to myself, "This has GOT to go on my blog! Nobody will ever believe this, but I've got to tell the story!"

Just then ... I woke up.

That's right. It was a dream. And I'm posting it here because I had to share that even within the context of a dream, I was thinking about blogging a story from my life.

Is that messed up or what?

Caption Contest

I am now accepting entries for possible captions for the following picture. The winning entry will be based on the following criteria:

• Overall hilariousness and wit
• Appropriateness for use on t-shirts, mousepads, magnets, and other give-away items
• Correct spelling and grammar

Entries must be submitted here on this blog, and must be received before the winner is selected. Prizes for honorable mention will also be given. Such prizes will be in the form of a "high five" from the judge.

That's why we have mirrors

This e-mail is from a friend of mine, but she did not send it to me directly. Therefore, I do not feel at liberty to out her here. (Look at me with the discretion!) But, here's what she said. I hope it's funny even though you don't know who it is. I promise that if you DID know who it is AND you knew her personally, it would be DARN funny.

-------------------------------------

I DIDN'T NOTICE THIS WHEN I GOT DRESSED THIS MORNING, BUT I LOOKED DOWN EARLIER AND NOTICED I LOOK LIKE THE WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST TODAY!

Pics ... or Picked Off?

2007 is still so young, its age can be referred to in hours. In fact, its only 39 hours and 38 minutes old as I type this.

But, in this instant-gratification world we live in, those 39 hours and 38 minutes seem like an eternity when you're waiting to see pics from a New Year's Eve party. And since I don't have a digital camera of my own, I'm at the mercy of those folks who had one with them at the party.

My biggest fear is that the usual photojournalists in our midst have already uploaded their pics and sent out links to their friends -- and I just didn't make the cut on their distribution lists. So now, I'm starting off 2007 without any pics of the friends I used to have. (Cue the violins!)

Pics, anyone? Hello?

MURRAY CHRISTMAS ... 2007?

This is my first Christmas season to have a blog. Therefore, I feel like I should post something about last Friday's MURRAY CHRISTMAS -- my annual party for my friends.

But, I'm not really sure what to say.

I've already thanked people for coming (thanks again, by the way), I've already sent out Stan's pictures (here they are again), and I've already found the owner of gift that was left behind.

Surprisingly, I find myself at a loss for words.

So, at the risk of setting up my friends for major disappointment, let me turn the tables and ask YOU to make this post worthwhile. Simply answer this question:

How can I improve MURRAY CHRISTMAS in 2007?

Lost in translation?

I wonder if this is what comes to mind when the world hears the church's or Christians' statements on making sacrifices to the Lord ...

Were you sprinkled, dunked, or cannonballed?

The video is funny, but the comments it inspired are ... well ... interesting.

Two words you never see in a sentence

Went to my neighborhood Target tonight on Sawyer for some stuff and stopped off at the Starbucks inside for a grande non-fat decaf peppermint mocha to keep me company. Hello, sweet friend.

I handed the cashier my debit card, but he waved it off. Afraid they would only take cash (which I didn't have on me), I began to mourn the loss of my sweet friend. But, the cashier explained that their cash register wasn't working so my drink was free.

That's right. Free. Starbucks gave me a grande non-fat decaf peppermint mocha for free.

Later, while standing in line to check-out with my basket of stuff, I wondered if the cash register were up and running yet at the Starbucks, and if not, would the cashier give me another grande non-fat decaf peppermint mocha for free.

But then I realized I didn't want to be that guy, so I wasn't.

Goodbye, dodgeball.

Well, this has come along about 25-30 years too late. If I could have just done THIS the whole time, my P.E. classes would not have been such a "Lord of the Flies" nightmare experience.

Be sure to watch the video under "Resources: Related Links."

Film Premiere at HFBC

For those of you in H-Town, come on out to HFBC on Saturday, December 2, at 7:30 pm for the premiere of an award-winning film -- The Oath of Desormeau. The event is free, so just show up!

With coverage in the Houston Chronicle and other sources, we're hoping to reach people who may otherwise not come to HFBC -- or to any church, for that matter. Pray that this will attract film enthusiasts here in H-Town.

"Steven W. Murray slept here"

This will only be of interest to about 2 or 3 of you, plus anybody who may be painfully bored at work this holiday week. After some searching on Google maps, I've found every place in which I've lived in the past 36 years.

(If you've used Google maps before, you know that the arrow is sometimes off by a block or two. So, some of these links may be misleading.)

San Jacinto Hospital, Baytown, Texas (1970)
St. Andrews Drive, Baytown, Texas (1970-1973)
Autumn Drive, Basking Ridge, New Jersey (1973-1975)
Glen Haven, Baytown, Texas (1975-1988)
Penland Hall, Baylor University, Waco, Texas (1988-1989)
Jamestown Apartments, Waco, Texas (1989-1991)
Cottonwood Apartments, Waco, Texas (1991-1992)
Mill Creek Condos, College Station, Texas (1992-1994)
Country Club View, Baytown, Texas (1994-1995)
Greenridge Place, Houston, Texas (1996)
- Radisson, Racine, Wisconsin (1996) - project with Accenture
Country Club View, Baytown, Texas (1997-1998)
- Chastain Apartments, Atlanta, Georgia (1997) - project with Accenture
- Some apartments, San Antonio (1997) - project with Accenture
Feagan, Houston, Texas (1998-present)


While we're at it, here are my schools, too:

Pumphrey Elementary, Baytown, Texas (1975-1981)
Gentry Junior School, Baytown, Texas (1981-1982)
Baytown Junior School, Baytown, Texas (1982-1984)
Ross S. Sterling High School, Baytown, Texas (1984-1988)
Baylor University, Waco, Texas (1988-1992)
Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas (1992-1994)

Do you hear what I hear? I hope not.

My excitement about Christmas expressed in a previous post has taken a bit of a hit.

Today, on 99.1 FM here in H-Town, I heard The Christmas Shoes by Newsong. Actually, I only heard the last two lines of the chorus as the song faded out. But that was more than enough to bring me down.

If I hear Happy Birthday Jesus any time soon, I may just have to shut off all radio stations between now and December 26.

Yes, the messages are sweet and well-intended. But, cheezy Christmas stuff is the worst. The worst, I tell ya. The worst!

Today, I was a Grandpa

Today was Grandparents' and Special Friends' Day at First Baptist Academy. Abby (12) and Isaiah (5), children of Denise and Don (HFBC's Singles Minister), asked me to be their "grandpa" for the day.

I was honored ... and humored, too. Clearly, I fall in the "special friend" category. But since that sounds a little too much like "domestic partner" I'm happy to be considered a grandpa.

When I arrived at Isaiah's kindergarten room, some of the other legitimate grandparents were already there. Apparently, each child had introduced their respective grandparents and told the other students what they call them, such as "Granny" or "Pops" or whatever.

Isaiah got up, came over and stood by me and told his classmates, "This is Steven. I call him Steven." Then he sat down.

Short. Sweet. To the point. Fantastic.

"We want our baby back, baby back, baby back, baby back, baby back ribs!"

Here's a little something I found on HoustonArchitecture.info -- a website I check out for the latest inside scoop on new developments in H-Town. It's a comment somebody posted about residents of new apartment complexes in the Heights area inside the Loop:

"Based on my observations, a large majority of those who dwell in the newish apartments that litter Studewood (and soon Sawyer Heights) are single or newly married twenty-somethings that grew up in Kingwood or Sugarland, and moved to "downtown" after A&M because that's what everyone does for a few years. As soon as they hit 28 or so, they'll be married, expecting, and happily moving back to the 'burbs, where a night out means baby-rack ribs at 6 pm."

That is brilliant and it makes me smile.