And it's simply irrational weather. I can't even hear myself think.

The title/lyric today comes from the latest member of the potential future wife list KT Tunstall, the sexy scottish lady I've been listening to a lot lately. These lyrics come from her song Under The Weather and seemed appropriate. Clicking the title will take you to Yahoo's videos for KT, and they are all great!

I'm in Wisconsin this weekend, visiting a friend, preaching at his church, and as it turned out seeing a Christian concert-Seventh Day Slumber and Superchick. That's right, Superchick.

Anyway, even though I was strongly advised not to come by my hetero life mate Jace I am here.

And it is 20 below!

Do you know what happens to your body at this temperature? The hair inside your nose and ears freezes! The little hairs INSIDE freeze. They say that if you are out in this weather for fifteen minutes your skin freezes and you get frostbitten. As Jace says, "You have to be F--king crazy to want to live in Wisconsin!"

I am told we are going out today for lunch...but I don't believe it. My toothbrush remains in my car, because I refused to walk the twenty feet required to my car to get it this morning. For now we have heat, electricity, and somehow running water. But I've never seen this kind of cold.

In the event that this civilization gets lost and years later they find me frozen in this position typing a blog or this blog like Pompei I just wanted to say that at least I got to see Superchick before I died!

Remember, "some princes are frogs" girls.

I should be back in an environment where our species can sustain life soon. Real excited about preaching tommorrow and will probably take my time getting home Sunday and Monday. Hope everyone is enjying a frostbite free weekend.

I always knew that one day they'd try to bring me down.

I am using a lyric that uses similar words to the sign, by an artist that could stand to heed the sign's advice. I think Kanye West is a real talent, but his mouth always pops off and that detracts from his music. This lyric comes from his song Bring Me Down off his second album Late Registraion. Clicking the title will take you to Kanye's website and I highly recommend both of his albums.

Today's sign falls into the perverted category, and if you're perverted you didn't need me to tell you that.

THE WEEKLY INAPPROPRIATE CHURCH SIGN

Today's sign is dedicated to my good friend Steve Mann, who upon getting a preview of this sign almost wet himself.

Stay tuned for more (thought?) provoking words of wisdom from The Church.

I'm so ronery.

Believe it or not, thanks to the creators of South Park I felt a strong bond with North Korean Dictator Kim Jong Il, at least the version of him that appeared in their movie Team America. This song lyric comes from his big solo in the movie and this link will take you to that video clip. I truly could have written every word of this song, although I feel like I focus my loneliness in a healthier way.

I do get awfully lonely, although my life is full of loving relationships. It's just not the same as having someone laying next to you or standing beside you in all things. I cope. I deal. In fact I'm getting used to the independence. And let's face it, I'm still not ready.

I want to tell you about my Valentine's Day. It began just like most V-Days. I was up well into the morning writing, reading, and watching TV. Last night my TV viewing peaked (and bottomed out) with The Flavor of Love-Flavor Flav's new bachelor ripoff romance debacle. At about 5:40 I drifted off to dream land and unlike usual couldn't tell you a single dream or thought I had all night. Probably a good thing. My subconcious probably hates this day more than I do.

I woke up at noon and showered, listening to ESPN radio while I got ready like usual, which I'm finding more and more boring each day. Then it was off to the bank to cash my check. I was pumped to see I had a little more than $900 in the bank!

My next stop was to the auto mechanic. I told him I thought I needed to replace a rotar, which he said would probably run about $120 with labor. I said cool. (Because I had $900 and the only other thing I needed to pay was a $300 car payment.)

My mechanic called me about 20 minutes later and said, "J.D. you got all kinds of things wrong with this car." I trust my mechanic and have a tendeny to treat my car like crap, so I authorized putting on new brakes, rotars on both sides, a passenger front wheel bearing, and brake pads to the tune of $480 dollars.

If you're keeping score, I now have approximately $120 to live on until March 1st (luckily February is the shortest month), but I was supposed to go to Wisconsin this weekend to visit a friend and preach at his church. He is paying me $100, so I'll have that to get me there and back, eat on, and pay for the Lambeau Field tour I have been looking forward to.

It suddenly became clear I might not be able to make it to March 1st with my $120, so I called Mom and asked her to spot me $100, an action which produces a feeling I equate to being kicked in the balls.

Really, I hate asking for money.

I don't offer this as a pity plea. I would be pissed if any of you sent me money, except you Mom, I'm counting on it. I offer this story as an illustration to prove a sobering point.

There is no way I could be in a relationship right now.

What would be my Valentine offering? A Clark bar and a stuffed monkey from The Dollar Tree?

Besides a girlfirend today would have made this day only more frustrating as I would have had to make her drive, taken her to Rally's to eat, and been forced to admit my lacking financial prowess. Now many of you are saying, "you don't have to spend money on your loved one on Valentine's Day." All of you saying that are girls who did get something on Valentine's Day or older women who've been married longer than seven years.

Here's a test to prove my point. Let's say your boyfriend colored you a picture for Valentine's Day and wrote on it in crayon 'i luv you' and the y was backwards. Pretty cute gift really and at least a stab at being creative I think.

You'd have all been pissed!
If you wouldn't have been I can be contacted at 260-750-0218!

But if, like I suspect, you're sitting there thinking that's an incredibly dumb idea, I offer up the truth that I am broke, not in a relationship, and that was the first 'free' idea that I came up with. I reassert, using the fact that that idea is ridiculous to further prove, that...

There is no way I could be in a relationship right now.

This reality creates a hope in me that I cannot explain. They've always told me that you'll find someone when you least expect it. Well I have $120 dollars, a crappy car, a poor relationship track record, no time for anyone, bad Valentine ideas, and metaphorically throbbing nuts. How much less expecting can I get?

I've got a picture of Jesus, and with him we shall be forever blessed.

The title/lyric is from the beautiful song Picture of Jesus by Ben harper. You can check Ben out by clicking the title.

I was planning a different post for V-Day and may still get to it, but just before leaving work tonight I saw this article and dug it so much I had to post it. It originally ran in USA Today.

I thought it was worth sharing and don't feel the need to comment on it. It speaks for itself and I suspect different people will react in different ways. It got me excited to know there's a Jesus somewhere that looks and acts like the one I've come to follow; that ever present part of good people's day, not a wedge to be driven between anybody.

WHAT HAPPENED TO AMERICA'S JESUS?
By Rob Borsellino
Mon Feb 13, 7:12 AM ET

I remember when Jesus Christ was about religion.

That goes back to when he was caring and compassionate all the time, not just during the political campaign season.

He used to bring people together and give them hope. He wouldn't have his people get in your face and tell you to fight gay rights or you'll burn in hell. That's not what he was about. That's not the Jesus who made folks such as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson rich and famous. He was a different guy from the 21st-century American Jesus Christ.

When I recently visited Sicily, Italy, the old Jesus was all over the place. His statue was on the counter at the restaurant and the coffee house. His image was on the wall at the clothing store and in the hotel lobby. And there was a huge painting of him on the side of an apartment building.

Sometimes he was with his mom and dad, and sometimes he was sitting with his pals - the apostles. Mostly he was hanging from the cross. Whatever he was up to, it was all about religion.

It was interesting because I didn't go to Sicily looking for a religious experience. I went looking for what's left of my family. My grandfather and his brother came to the United States in 1904 and left behind their parents and two sisters. The sisters had kids, grandkids, great grandkids.

I never met any of those people, and I knew nothing about Sicily except the obvious - pizza and the Mafia. My wife thought it was time to connect. She made some calls and let the family know we were coming.

We landed in Palermo, got our bags and were met by my cousin Peppino Rizzuti, who was holding a handwritten sign with my name on it.

He was there with three other cousins. They hooked us up with more family and spent the next seven days driving us all over the island and stuffing us with mozzarella, prosciutto, olives and about 50 kinds of pasta.

My cousin Maria made the sign of the cross before she ate. My cousin Antonio's car had a figurine of a saint on the dashboard. My cousin Gian Marco had a beautiful cross hanging from his neck.

But nobody was going on about God, Jesus and religion. It didn't come up. I saw all that and was reminded that you can be a decent person - a good son, husband and father - and still oppose the war in Iraq. You can be a caring, thoughtful member of your community and still question whether Justice Samuel Alito should have been confirmed. Jesus won't get mad at you.

Several times during the week, I thought about telling my family what's happened to Jesus in the United States - how he's been kidnapped by politicians and preachers who decide what he does and doesn't think. They speak for him, and it doesn't always make sense.

They say Jesus is "pro life," but he doesn't seem to have a problem with the death penalty. And he thinks stem cell research - something that would save lives - is no different from murdering babies. They say he's the embodiment of kindness, love, decency and compassion. But he hates gays, lesbians and Muslims. And he's not too crazy about Buddhists, Hindus and the rest. Jews? He can put up with them if he has to.

The Rev. Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka claims to speak for Jesus and goes around the country talking about how " AIDS cures fags." Pat Robertson says it would be a good idea if the United States killed the president of Venezuela. It would be a lot cheaper than starting another war.

All week I went over that stuff in my head and decided not to mention any of it to the family.

It would make America look ridiculous.

Rob Borsellino is a columnist for The Des Moines Register and author of So I'm talkin' to this guy ...

Ben Harper's song ends this way, wonderfully, and it seems this is a more beautiful way of saying what I would here:

We long to be a picture of Jesus
In His arms so many prayers rest
I long to be a picture of Jesus
With him we shall be forever blessed
With him we shall be forever blessed

Got time, time to wait for tommorrow to find it.

The title today is a lyric from Stone Temple Pilots song Plush. This is the first rock record (actually a tape) I can remember owning. Thanks Justin Richmond. There would be many years of rocking to follow before I mellowed out. Thanks Dave Matthews. Luckily, about the same time, STP released an acoustic version of this song. Check them out by clicking on the title.

This is a poem I wrote some time in the last year that seemed appropriate on Valentine's Eve. It's my artistic expression of a memory I had of an aquarium in Tampa my family and I visited before we went to a fish place for lunch. I know. I ordered chicken.

One of the only Rolling Stones songs I can endure (the other is You Can't Always Get What You Want) is Sympathy For The Devil. I almost called this poem Sympathy For The Gator, but my better self won out.

Captive Audience
By J.D. Rose

The alligators hung like packs of dying cancer
patients in their green water, ignored.
Their heads floated peacefully on the water's
crest, as their bodies hung lifelessly below,
a noose short of a suicide. Their grayed eyes,
lightly frosted over in a stupor, stayed still
as the occasional kid pounded the glass or lunged
toward them. How I wanted one of the gators
to lunge back and snap off their little arms.

That'll teach 'em.

Across the path was the main attraction; a furry
brown, whiskered, playful pair of otters
with a bright orange ball to bounce back and forth.
Families stood for days at a time laughing at the happy creatures
swimming on their backs like great showoffs,
pandering to the crowd. Kids giggled and a group gathered
all with their backs to the motionless gators.
Every so often a kid's mind would wander and he'd look
behind him, shriek in horror at the evil looking reptiles,
and turn away to the comfort of the silly otters
now resting on each others bellies on a hand sewn blue blanket.

A couple gators dove to the bottom of the tank,
my guess was to try and drown. They sat at the bottom
of the cold tank staring out at the happy otters;
the obvious choice again today.

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

Across the bar she sips a bright colored drink
with a tiny umbrella in it while he tells what I can
only assume is a story about his workout that day.
He is tan and tall, with muscles and a winning smile.
A fashionable crowd has gathered around him,
all their drinks have umbrellas in them, and they laugh
when his story ends and she nuzzles her nose into his neck.

At my table in the smoky corner I sip the cheapest
beer available from a cold green bottle and gaze out
into the room with glazed over eyes.

All their backs are to me.

Have a warm and fuzzy Valetine's Day!

I met you in the shadows and your face was all aglow.

It is rare that I am the sentimental type, but with Valentine's Day approaching my streak of 26 consecutive years without a true love continues so I decided to get all girly and talk about love.

Not that I actually know anything about it. But I have heard stories.

On the flipside I decided that I would honor one of my heroes by posting a blog about Johnny Cash the 12th of each month (he died September 12, 2003). My cousin, upon watching Walk The Line with me called me Johnny's biographer, and while that is not close to being true, I remain indeed inspired by his life. While I can't pretend to know him; I am only a fan. I would like to share his stories with you, if for no other reason than they resonate deeply with me.

Herein is the fusion of those two aims; a surprisingly touching blog about the Man in Black and his Wildwood Flower.

The title today is the opening lyric from a song on Johnny's Unearthed box set called As Long As The Green Grass Shall Grow which he sings with June. Clicking the title will take you to Yahoo Music's video listings for June Carter Cash. I highly recommend watching Keep On The Sunny Side. It is a beautiful window into these two icons simple and profound love.

I am fortunate. I have a lot of examples of true love in my life. One particular memory that illustrates this comes from one of my family's annual camping trips to Lieber State Park. I was riding alone in the back of a boat, taking the tour of Raccoon Lake for the umpteenth time. My grandparents sat in front of me and as I looked ahead I saw my grandma grab my grandpa's hand and hold it. I smiled a little and turned toward my parents, riding beside my grandparents across the aisle, to point it out to them. They too were holding hands. In the aisle across from me, my uncle Dallas had his arm around my aunt Jane telling one of his crazy stories. I thought about how impressive this display was and in a lot of ways feel the need to one day live up to it. Some people don't have these kind of stories to tell about their family. I offer up a more corporate example.


Perhaps you've seen the movie Walk the Line. If so, you know a little bit about the love between Johnny Cash and June Carter. If you missed it, you only missed a little and the basic story goes this way. In 1956 Johnny Cash was new to the music scene and June Carter, of the famed Carter Family, was a seasoned veteran having already accomplished enough for most people to call a career. June would tell the story of her and Johnny's immediate connection, as would John, but they were both married at the time. Their attraction took the form of a performing partnership as June, as well as The Carter Family, toured with Johnny through much of the sixties and into the seventies. The partnership was a successful one as June and Johnny would win awards for collaborations and as June would write Johnny's hit Ring Of Fire. She said later of that song:

"One morning, about four o'clock I was driving my car just about as fast as I could. I thought, 'Why am I out on the highway this time of night?' I was miserable, and it all came to me: 'I'm falling in love with somebody I have no right to fall in love with.' I can't fall in love with this man, but it's just like a ring of fire."

After both of their marriages ended their friendship grew stronger as June helped Johnny battle a drug addiction. Of this time Johnny would write:

"What June did for me was post signs along the way, lift me up when I was weak, encourage me when I was discouraged, and love me when I felt alone and unloveable."

The attraction that began in 1956 that had become a partnership and friendship would become a marriage in 1968. Together they became a strong union, raising seven children and always holding true to one another, though there would be more battles to overcome. They remained married for 35 years, surrounding themselves with a family of musicians, writers, poets, producers, and close friends of all walks of life throughout the years. They frequently appeared with Billy Graham at Christian crusades. They spoke out about causes from the Vietnam war to the treatment of the Native American. They wrote books and each continued to produce music until their deaths. When asked how they remained such a strong couple through it all Cash would tell Rolling Stone that "unconditional love" was the glue of his marriage.

"You hear that phrase a lot, but it's real with me and her. She loves me in spite of everything, in spite of myself. She has saved my life more than once. She's always been there with her love, and it has certainly made me forget the pain for a long time, many times. When it gets dark, and everybody's gone home and the lights are turned off, it's just me and her."

In Johnny's autobiography he talks about how June refers to his iconic image, the performer in black, as Cash and her husband and the man she loved as John. My favorite moment in the movie alludes to this. What an amazing way to keep track of yourself. In a world where our icons seem less than human, Johnny's strength was always his down to earth way. I guess because Cash, the legend that lives on, was but one of the many sides to John, June's husband.

One of the last images many of us got of June was that moment in Johnny's Hurt video when we see her standing behind him as he cries and expresses his regret. She tilts her head and gives a look of bitter, but unfaltering love. It is a touching moment and will remain a lasting tribute to her frequent position in Johnny's life-the loving woman behind the man.

May 18, 2003 June Carter Cash passed away.
Rosanne Cash said this in her eulogy:

"In her eyes, there were two kinds of people in the world: those she knew and loved, and those she didn't know, and loved. She looked for the best in everyone; it was a way of life for her. If you pointed out that a particular person was perhaps not totally deserving of her love, and might in fact be somewhat of a lout, she would say, 'Well, honey, we just have to lift him up'. She was forever lifting people up. It took me a long time to understand that what she did when she lifted you up was to mirror the very best parts of you back to yourself."

It would seem the Hurt video might have been the last time we saw Cash as well. June's husband John was left heartbroken, alone in the dark without his love. He went into the studio and recorded again, with a broken heart and a mournfully graveled voice. September 12, 2003, just a few months after June left, John followed her home. None of his fans were surprised. Indeed, it seemed a natural progression of their love.

Country singer Shelby Lynne penned this song the day Johnny passed.

Got some news today from the radio man
He spoke the words softly and as somber as he can
The world stood still and the sky opened up
made my way to fill up my coffee cup.
Then it occurred to me as the daylight sky shone blue
Today's the day that
Johnny met June.

He waited a while he knew that he would
He was gonna hang around here for as long a he could
The days went by and hours idle passed
He was never sure just how long he would last
But there's not much love in a lonely room
Today's the day that
Johnny met June

Hey my darlin, hey my sweet
I've waited on the day that I knew we would meet.
Hey my sun, hey my moon
Today's the day that
Johnny met June.

Now were starting over it's the place that we are
You look more than pretty underneath all the stars
Love, love is a burning thing
Oh how I still love to hear you sing
And everything we ever heard about heaven is true
Today's the day that Johnny met June
Today's the day that Johnny met June.


I pray that each of us finds someone to love, someone to hold, someone to fight our battles beside; someone to be with when everyone's gone home and the lights go off. I pray that each of us finds in our lives examples of what love should be and partners to recreate it. Without a doubt I have more to say about Johnny Cash in the months ahead. I pray I have more to say about love as well.