Hello. Is there anybody in there?

the title is borrowed from the lyrics of "Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd from the album "The Wall." used to listen to that group quite a bit in my younger days -- not so much anymore. can't think of any person, group, or genre that i usually listen to these days or prefer. i have an ipod nano that is loaded up with both christian and secular music. i usually put it on shuffle and listen to whatever comes up. i'm happy that my son likes a lot of the music that i like and listened to over the last 30 years or so. my daughter likes country which is ok in my view. before i could drive and my dad drove us everywhere i listened to country, actually he listened to country and i (we) had no choice. now, don't get me wrong -- i'm not complaining. it's kind of cool to watch those infomercials for the country music "classics" and know the artists and songs. i like to listen to classic rock on the radio. don't you think there should be a classic country station too? maybe there is on xm or sirius radio. my new vehicle will have that feature -- whenever i get one.

back to the title of this blog entry. the question is -- is anybody reading this blog (other than my sister)? If you don't mind please let me know who you are, where you are, and do i know you? just curious. i know my wife susan viewed my blog the other day and she's happy to report that there are no surprises in my blog -- at least surprises to her. that's a good thing.

"His steadfast love endures forever"

it is no small thing this truth that God loves us. this was the subject of our pastor's sermon this morning. he preached from Romans 8:35-39 but the verses that stuck with me were 35 and 36. the Scripture says here that even though it looks to us and the world that everything is going wrong -- God loves us. that's some pretty terrible stuff Paul describes in vs. 35. in verse 36 Paul quotes from Psalm 44:22 but actually the entire Psalm 44 is a testimony to God's love for his people. the Psalmist is imploring God to awake and restore His faithful people "for the sake of your steadfast love." the writer of the Psalm and Paul have the same knowledge of God's unchanging love. He loves us, period. He loves us when He blesses us, period. He loves us when He withholds His blessing, period. He loves us, period. my feable little rambling here does not do this truth justice. i'm amazed at this truth. such a simple thing to say but such an amazing thing to ponder. praise God!

my fourth favorite subject

that would be "food."

i like to cook (sometimes). better yet, i like eating. there are some foods that i consider to be essential. i always joke with my wife that there are three basic food groups: pizza, cheeseburgers, and popcorn. i might have to add a fourth -- barbecue. i like to watch the food network show "diners, drive-ins, and dives" because usually there's a burger place and/or a bbq place in the lineup. i think it would be fun to take a vacation trip to some of the towns around the country that are highlighted in that show and visit some of the burger or bbq places.

burgers are pretty simple, at least i like the ones prepared simply. with barbecue i'm interested in the dry rub recipes. i've experimented a couple times with a dry rub recipe for ribs that i got from the alton brown show -- second time was better after tweaking the rub recipe. i've also done a beef brisket with dry rub that turned out pretty well.

here's my question. do you have a favorite dry rub recipe for a particular meat/cut? or do you have a favorite dry rub recipe that works with any meat/cut? do you mind sharing with a fellow (sometimes) cook?

my first blog post

ok, i'm venturing into yet another cyber communication method. i now have a myspace, facebook, gmail account, xanga -- and a blog. looks like i'll do anything to avoid face-to-face or voice-to-voice communication. but i guess that's just the way it is in our electronic world, right?

ok, i'll admit that i'm not the best at maintaining "normal" communication with family or friends. can i get an amen from the family? maybe this will work out better. we'll see.