If I had to guess by your eyes, I'd say you were 50.

"These Are the Things You Don't Say to Your Wife," by Tim Hawkins.

Are you trying to say, "capiche"? Well don't do it, 'cause it hurts my ears when you do it.

These aren't so much pet peeves as they are my contentions about how words ought to be pronounced.

1. AGAIN - It should rhyme with "pain," and "rain," like the kind in Spain that stays mainly in the plain. I can only assume we changed this to spite our friends in Canada and/or the UK.
   
2. KANSAS & ARKANSAS - It should either be "Can-Zes" & "Are-Can-Zes" OR "Ken-Saw" & "Are-Ken-Saw." The current inconsistency is unstable.

I don't know if usage has changed and what I'm proposing is how it used to be or if it's always been cagged, but regardless of what you've heard, I'm right on this.

• While on the subject of pronunciation, I find it odd that "Course" and "Horse" and "Hoarse" and "Force" all rhyme.

BONUS: Check out one publisher's Top 40 Pronunciation Pet Peeves.

I mean, that thing is good. I wanna be friends with it.

Some Good Friday thoughts ...

From Mike Gendron's address tonight at Providence Church regarding Christ's 6th saying on the cross: "It is finished." (John 19:30)

Q: What does Jesus mean by "it"?
A: 10 accomplishments of Jesus when "it" was finished:

1. Jesus' blood was shed.
2. Divine justice was satisfied.
3. Atonement was achieved.
4. Sin was forgiven.
5. Redemption was paid.
6. Reconciliation was accomplished.
7. Death was conquered.
8. Righteousness was perfected.
9. Salvation was secured.
10. Heaven was opened.

From Ted Winton's address tonight at Providence Church regarding Christ's 7th saying on the cross: "Father, into your hands I commit my Spirit!" (Luke 23:46)

Q: What does this saying mean?

A: What it means to Him ... A commitment and dedication to His Father's plan for His life.

A: What it means to us ... Something we must share with Jesus, trusting in the Father's will for our lives, our futures.

• To hear these or any of the 7 sayings of Christ on the cross addressed during our Good Friday service, check out the Providence Church sermons page.

I'll have four fried chickens and a coke. And some dry white toast.

I was reminded of this in response to my rant about Country Burger switching from sweet, clean Coke product to Pepsi, one of my pet peeves.

"No Coke, Pepsi."

Don't compromise. Compromise is a language of the devil. Run in God's name and let the world stand back and in wonder.

Today marks the 150th anniversary of Captain George S. James sending the first mortar round through the air at Fort Sumter (SC). It was April 12, 1861. The Civil War was begun.

Abraham Lincoln was a polarizing figure, to say the least. On his agenda was dealing with a issue for which there really was no satisfactory compromise--slavery.

Were black folks afforded the same unalienable rights by the Creator?  That was the question.  The US government had answered in the negative for far too long and war was the means that moved the answer to the affirmative as they seemingly could come to no compromise on the issue. 

I wonder how we'd feel about a president who split the nation and effected the death of more than 600,000 Americans if it happened today. What issues are worth that much bloodshed? Was the liberation of the slaves worth the price?*

Suppose feelings about abortion were apportioned along geographical lines. How would we feel about a president whose conviction that pre-born babies are endowed by the Creator with the same unalienable rights as others moved him to drastic measures? Suppose the effects of that conviction led to a civil war and great bloodshed. Would their liberation be worth the price?

History has been kind to Lincoln, though it helps that his side was militarily successful. But, how would Americans 150 years later regard a president in our day who forced the issue on an issue for which there is no satisfactory compromise?

I honestly anticipate generations after us will see us as barbaric in our national lack of regard for the rights of those without a voice in our society, much as we view the proponents of slavery today.

*This question is not to minimize the sin of slavery, but there is an assumption by many that war was the only means of rectifying that national wrong.

There's a snake in my boot!

A modern day Rikki Tikki Tavi, mongoose vs. cobra.

That was so fetch!

Whoop! A hearty congratulations to Sydney Colson & her fellow Aggies winning the NCAA Women's Championship!

It was an amazing and impressive drive, beating a 1-seeded Baylor team that had handed them 3 of their 5 losses on the season. Then they another 1-seed, Stanford, the only team that had given 2 time defending champs UConn a loss this season. Then they sent the Fightin' Irish home sad.

It's a good day to be an Aggie. Thanks, gals!

(Here's another great Aggie video, though the man wouldn't let me embed.)

Good answer. Good answer. I like the way you think. I'm gonna be watching you.

Bible scholar Matthew Henry (1662-1714) was once robbed of his wallet. Knowing he was to give thanks in everything (cf. 1 Thess 5:18), he reflected on this incident and recorded the following in his diary:

"Let me be thankful, first, because he never robbed me before; second, because although he took my purse, he did not take my life; third, because although he took all I possessed, it was not much; and fourth, because it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed."