Blog
Jake The Finisher and Mild Bill
“I’ll just take what’s mine and be on my way,” said the voice from under the black Stetson. He tipped his hat rim up to reveal the infamous white patch that covered the left eye of Jake The Finisher. He got that name because he had finished off every town he had terrorized this side of the Lakota Pass. Only one person knew what was under that patch and it wasn’t Jake. Now, you can believe that if you want to or not. Most folks believed that it was his mama who knew, but she played mute and nobody could get her to talk. Rumor has it that he still has the eye, but is embarrassed by it because the lid has one more wrinkle than the other lid. But, if Jake’s mama never talks, we’ll never know.
July 10, 2026
Romantic Gestures
I hope that doing romantic things for your wife is not difficult and that the only reason you don’t do them more often is that you have a hard time coming up with ideas. If that’s the case, here are 40+ ideas. Get to it. Write love notes and hide them around the house. Cook her favorite meal. Plan a picnic in the park. Give her a back massage. Draw a warm bath for her.
October 3, 2023
5 Must Read Books To Safeguard Against Tyranny
In an age where the threat of tyranny looms large, knowledge is our greatest defense. In this podcast, we’re discussing five essential books that provide invaluable insights and strategies to help guard against tyranny. These books offer a wealth of information to empower you in the fight for freedom and justice. Resources: Subscribe To Our Newsletter and Discord Group “Boundaries” is a transformative guide to setting healthy personal and relational boundaries. With practical advice and real-life examples, it empowers readers to take control of their lives, build stronger connections, and protect their well-being. This book is an invaluable resource for anyone seeking to establish healthier boundaries in both personal and professional relationships.
September 2, 2023
We Will Not Comply
In this episode, we talk about the fact that we will not comply with tyranny. Resources: Our 2020 episode about covid Subscribe To Our Newsletter and Discord Group J.R.’s Website Kayla’s Website This podcast episode is brought to you by:
September 2, 2023
Courage In The Face Of The Elderly
Moral courage. Emotional courage. Physical courage. I need it all, but find one easier to act on than the others. Moral courage is the courage to act according to one’s own ethical values and principles even at the risk of negative consequences for the individual. This one to me is easy. Now that I’m older anyway. When I was younger I struggled with this, allowing others to make decisions for me. I let my desire to be accepted and my desire to avoid ridicule control my decisions. This led to, let’s just say, not good situations. Those decisions, I suppose, ultimately led me to go to college when and where I did and led me to my wife, but I bet there was a better way to get there.
March 18, 2023
Balancing Income Producing Work and Creativity
The more involved in writing and creating I become, the more separated I feel from my income producing work. I understand a bit how some of the great artists died penniless. They must have been so focused on creating art or writing that they set aside the need for producing an income. The danger lies in setting aside the work that can give me the opportunity to live my dream of writing and otherwise creating for a living. An endless cycle of roller coaster income and emotions awaits me and my family should I ever abandon my efforts in the pursuit of success at the office. We’ve experienced it before when I’ve gotten excited about creating and placed unrealistic expectations on the results of my work to produce an income immediately. At the same time knowing full well that it takes time, quite a long time, to produce income from creative efforts unless something you create goes viral. And I’m not too sure how positive the effect of something going viral is. A meteoric rise is probably not a good thing when it comes to creative work. I think that’s how people end up with a crazy following on YouTube that they’ve garnered by being creative and providing unique content, but then falling into doing the same things as everyone else and they end up in a bathtub full of Jello, holding an oversized spoon, trying to get views. That is not where I want to end up. I don’t like being sticky and I assume Jello is sticky especially after it has been pressed against a body in a bathtub.
March 16, 2023
Morning Routine of a Husband and Father
I have had a morning routine for some time and have found that it helps me to accomplish many of the things that tend to get pushed aside if left to later in the day. I want to be able to focus on my work when I’m working and on my family when I’m with them and on church when I am there and my morning routine helps me to do that.
March 13, 2023
The Story of My Smile
I’ve got this smile. It’s made up of several components that are not just part of my mouth. Of course, the main parts are my teeth, my gums, and my lips. But my eyes and cheeks and wrinkles are part of it too. Bringing these all together is what makes my smile complete. This story, though, is about my teeth and how they came to be the way they are now. They have gone through some changes over the years, some natural and others at the hands of dental professionals.
April 7, 2020
What Is Controlling Your Life?
_“What consumes your mind controls your life.” -_Unknown [caption id=“attachment_846” align=“alignleft” width=“300”] It’s your choice.[/caption] This is so very true. When I think back to September 11, 2001, I am reminded that once I heard the news of the planes crashing, I could not tear myself away from the TV. I stayed up for hours watching the same footage and hearing the same reports again and again and again. What was I hoping to accomplish by sitting there? There was nothing I could do about the situation. I was in college (a freshman at age 22) in Georgia. Going to New York to help in the recovery efforts was out of the question even if I knew what to do. The Internet was not what it is now, so researching would have been more difficult. I can only imagine how consumed I would have been had there been Facebook or YouTube at the time.
April 4, 2020
Reading of A First Draft - The Recruit
The process I use for writing books closely follows what I learned from Stephen King and his book On Writing. I write 2,000 words a day until the story ends. I then read the story in its entirety and make minor changes until I feel it is ready to be read by my Ideal Reader (Kayla, my wife). Once she reads it and I am ready to discuss it with her, I do. After I have finished my first draft, the story goes on the digital shelf for six weeks. I then work on other projects like writing short stories and blog posts as well as recording podcasts and videos.
March 23, 2020