Blog of Josh Hall

never pass up the opportunity to give a completely random and unprovoked compliment to someone.

How important are expiration dates to you?  They’re intended to protect consumers from health risks, but also maintain quality of the product.  I almost think that not following dates becomes more wasteful of your time since you’re constantly evaluating the quality or the “edible level” rather than just drawing the line and moving on.  Efficiency of the use of your time or even protecting your own health comes in to play.  Is the risk of being and feeling sick worth the ~$1.60 of salad dressing left in the bottle?  I bet if you got sick, you’d be willing to pay more money to feel instantly better.  There a science in the decision making process we could get into, but I’ll just ask the question.

Men don’t wear jorts.  Children wear jean shorts.  Jean shorts belong in the 90s.  This means you, John Cena.  The fact that Tobias Fünke wore them should be enough reason for you not to wear them.

http://www.thesmokingjacket.com/lifestyle/to-jort-or-not-to-jort

http://www.facebook.com/pages/JORTS/106473373823

My senior year in high school, I was dunking.  My hands were too small to palm a basketball firmly enough, so I had to build up the ability to get high enough for both hands to be above the rim.

Let me step back a bit.  We had a new coach my senior year.  I was also spending half days at high school and the second half at a Laurel Business Institute pursuing an associate degree.  On those days that we had basketball practice right after school, I’d either have to miss practice, or show up really late.

Now, most adults have the student’s best intentions in mind.  Like in soccer, my coach didn’t penalize me for missing practices.  He knew that I wanted to play, and I was the kind of guy that would work extra hard to make up for it in a game.  My basketball coach did not share the same view.  Sometimes, my teammates would agree with me that our coach had something personal against me.

Flash to an early season game at Charleroi.  We’re doing our warm-up lay-up drill and I’m feeling pretty energetic.  All of us are always trying to get as high as we can.  In my mind, I didn’t know that it was considered a technical foul to dunk in warm-ups.  I also didn’t do a flagrant, hanging from the rim, kicking my legs, aggressive, spectacle of a dunk.  I just tipped it in the basket.  The ref didn’t like it though, and immediately blew the whistle.  Everyone was confused.  That’s probably the only pre-game whistle anyone will ever hear.  The other team was awarded 2 foul shots, before the clock started, and they made them both.

Our coach was livid.  At half-time, the locker room “pep talk” included references to everyone having to make up for my mistake.  When we came back at the end of the game, having lost by 2 points (the equivalent of the 2 foul shots)  The coach specifically said we lost the game because of me and even physically pointed at me.

I didn’t get to play that game, and many games after that.  Had I been given the chance to prove my worth, I’m confident my season would have gone a lot better than it had.  I think that coach was one of the first people to confuse me with their ridiculousness.  Logically, without those foul shots, that just ties the game.  Even in practical terms, to say I caused our team to lose the game, without me actually participating in the game, seems wrong if not just simply unfair.

Anyway, I dunked my senior year of high school.  If you don’t believe, go ask the old coach. I bet he blames his short lived coaching career on me dunking.

If your problems are found to be geographic, leave.

I’ll probably take some judgment here.  I’ve always struggled with hungry people in 3rd world countries.  Why are we taking the food and supplies directly to them?  If school buildings, water wells, or something else enables the people to start caring for themselves, then great, but I view anything else as unsustainable.  WHY ARE PEOPLE CHOOSING TO STAY THERE?  I’m willing to bet it’s because 1) they don’t know any better and 2)We’re enabling them to stay there.

There’s a lot more content to unpack there, but I’ll change direction and hit closer to home.  If Detroit doesn’t have any jobs for you — wait for it — MOVE TO SOMEWHERE THAT DOES.  The expression “time to get out of Dodge” isn’t a quote from a fairytale.  If you’re in trouble where you are, go somewhere else.

I’m all for protecting culture, or reducing stress on a family, but where’s the line?  At some point, you’re just hurting yourself.

When my dad passed away in December 2004, I had already not been talking to him for years.  During those years of not talking to him, I’d visit my grandma and she’d always tell me that I needed to make amends with him before something happened to him.

As I’m preparing to become a father myself, it strikes me funny that her warning were never “make amends because you need a father.”  I saw my relationship with my father as doing more damage than it was worth to maintain.  Truth be told, I still maintain that stance, but I am now ready to admit that I did not have a full picture of what a father has to offer, or even what a father’s role is.

I have so many questions.  Sure I can ask my mom as much as she’s comfortable with, or even my uncle, but they’re not my dad.  I have a step-dad, that is more like a good friend than an authority in fatherhood.  All this to say, I have sources that can serve as replacements, but they’ll never fill the shoes of my dad.  That’s not a result of my actions, or his, at this point either.  God called him home, and I don’t have to understand the purpose.

All I know, after more than 10 years, for the first time, I think I’m missing my dad.  I’m missing my dad, but also missing a dad.  That’s sobering, because you can get new best friends, but you will never get a new dad.