I am a yo-yo. I’m sure that many of you would agree with this. But I don’t mean that kind of yo-yo. No, I don’t mean the little disc that spins on the end of a string either. I am a fat yo-yo. Throughout my life, I have been fat and …well…less fat. I was thin once, for a few years. But mostly, I’ve been fat. And then I was less fat. And then I was fat. And then I was less fat. And so it went. For years. And years. I was a fat kid. The other kids always made fun of me. I had to get my clothes first in the “husky” section of the boy’s clothing department. And then, by fifth grade,...

Today is Wednesday. That’s ASH Wednesday to all good Catholics in the know. Today, everywhere, good little Roman Catholics will attend mass and at the proper moment, have a smudge of ash placed on their forehead while the priest mutters, “Remember you are dust, and unto dust you shall return.” How’s that for a wake-up call? And on Thursday I will know who doesn’t wash their face everyday by the little splotches of charcoal still adorning the faces smiling before me. I should point out that Catholics are not required to go to mass on Ash Wednesday. It is only...

As most of you know, I have a lot of guitars. I mean a LOT of guitars. Most of them are pretty good guitars, too. Some are better than others. None of them are POS guitars. I have this bad habit of acquiring things. I go through these binges where I just acquire a lot of something. I have a lot of hats, too. But that is neither here nor there. The topic here is guitars, sort of. I have all these guitars. And I play them all from time to time. Like most people who are not wealthy, and who have interest in some endeavor, there are these wonderful guitars that I only ever dream of owning and know...

A man was walking through the desert. The poor bastard had not eaten for days. He prayed for help. Soon, he came across a church. He went in. He kneeled at the altar and prayed, “God… God, give me some food” and a lump of meat dropped at his feet. Overjoyed, he ate the food, and came back every day with the same request. Every day, he was rewarded. But one day, after asking God for food, a hand dropped at his feet. He locked up and there was a leper painting the ceiling. How great is that? It isn’t everyday you get to make a religious joke AND a leprosy joke in a blog about religion...

I’ll tell you a story about a man I knew. He grew up in a poor neighborhood, a rough neighborhood. His parents were immigrants. They were poor, yet they worked hard and sent him to the best schools they could afford, often making great sacrifices for his education. This man worked very hard. He did all the things he was supposed to do. He went into the army, and when he came out, he got a job with an insurance company. In time, he was their best salesman. He made good money. He took that money and started his own insurance company. He started small. For a long time, it was just he and one employee,...