Ballsy.

Ever catch a ball at a major league baseball game?

This guy has nearly 3,000 of them:

Happy Birthday to You, iPod!

Apple's iPod turns 5 years old today. It's hard to believe that the little guy has been around for so "long."

More than 67 million of the mp3 players have been sold since their introduction October 23, 2001. Because I got in on one of the first million sold, it's been interesting to see their boom in popularity happen. Now, the term iPod is as commonplace as Walkman, Velcro, or Kleenex.

If you love music and have never owned an iPod, I recommend that you or a loved one get one for you for Christmas, a birthday, or bar mitzvah. They really are handy, fun little devices.

Three Hundred MILLION People! Mwahaha!

The 300 millionth American was born today. Happy birthday little buddy!

An Olfactory Conundrum

I think it was a skunk. That's what it smells like.

I was driving home from Glenda's the other night when a brick wall of stink hit my nose. Even now, every time I get into the car I still notice the smell. I get used to it after a minute or two and Febreeze doesn't seem to help.

I can only surmise that a skunk crawled up underneath my car while I was parked at Glenda's, got agitated when things got hot and started moving at 40 mph, and left a little present in my engine block. I opened up the hood and looked around but didn't see any black and white carcasses. There's no poofy tails hanging underneath the vehicle.

Strange. Stinky.

Love . . . and Marriage?

So much to say, so little time to say it before bed. Here goes:

Things with Glenda and me are still going along very well. I'm probably going to marry her. Go ahead and read that sentence again. In this case, "probably" means that we have gone to jewelry stores so that I can get an idea of what she likes in a ring. Yeah.

"So what is it about this gal?" you ask? She's amazing, yo. She's so incredibly kind, loving, considerate, gentle, FUNNY, and more that I don't have enough time to go into it now. What I will also say is that she's an amazing mother to her five-year-old son, Benjamin. He's such a great kid, too.

It's interesting, a few years ago I would have never even considered being with a single mother. It was just "baggage" that I didn't want to deal with. Since then my thoughts have obviously taken a 180. Now I see it as an opportunity to fill in a gap that has existed for too long in their lives -- especially so with Glenda and Benjamin. His father's never seen him. This guy is long gone. Glenda has had NO male parental unit to help raise Benjamin except for her father. He's done what he can but she really needs a companion to help raise her son. She needs a companion to offer her love and support.

I honestly can see myself being that person. The prospect of it is exciting! I would almost certainly adopt Benjamin from the get-go of our marriage. Assuming all the legalities of that can be worked out, it would help solidify our family for as long as we three shall live.

Glenda and I are really just so compatible. Where I am weak she is strong. Where she is weak, I can be her strength. We genuinely find comfort in being together and joy in sharing the positives of life together. When the sad times come, we cry together and it's okay.

I've never been in love before, and I know that now that I'm in love with her. She makes me want to be a better man. I've dated several other women since high school, and the only ones that made me think I could remotely see myself married to them were the ones that made me want to be a better Michael. The difference between them and Glenda, though, is that she and I are in tune with each other. We share the same goals for our lives. We want to minister together. We have a mutual bond that I never had with anyone else, and that bond is unconditional love.

It feels good. I'm really excited! I'll keep you posted. Shalom and Smiles.