Meet Kirby Grider - A distant cousin

Subject: Ingles Descendant
Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2007 00:44:15 +0300

Mr. Sanders,

Let me first say, that I am very impressed with your research into the Ingles family and that if I may contribute at any time, I am at your call.

Let me first tell you who I am. My name is Kirby Scott Grider, son of Linda M. Montgomery. She was married twice previously, first to Paul Grider, second to Ricky L. Shipman SR., and then thirdly to Craig Montgomery. She is the daughter of John Wesley Eudean Ingles. Who of course is the brother of Goldie Ingles, who you spent a lot of time with.

Now that you are aware of who I am, I would like to say thank you for the work that you have done. I know Goldie was very much interested into our family blood lines and unfortunately I did not get to spend a lot of time with her talking before she left us. I joined the Army as soon as I was old enough and been traveling the world. I am actually writing this email from my desk in Iraq. I have tried to keep up with any updates you have posted on your website and to my best recollection it has been updated since I last looked at it. You have preserved my families history for years to come, thanks to the technology age and computers.

I have been very interested in my families military background and continue to try and research it. Most significantly Samuel and Andy Ingles. The Civil War time frame is my favorite period in our Great Counties history. The ability for it to fight in those conditions and stay a country and not let itself divide. Brothers fighting Brothers and Cousins fighting Cousins. It must have been a very trying period. Abe Lincoln is my favorite president at that. He must have been a great man to deal with the things he had in those four years and the decisions he made to include his significant losses in his family.

One of the things that interest me most is my families ties all the way back to the homeland, which ever it may be. Ireland or Scotland. The different cultural background as well is interesting that Phoebe had Native American blood, pipe smoking and fortune telling. I remember my grandparents telling me stories of her when I was young and thought they were just stories your grandparents told you. They made her out to be a very strong woman. It was also very interesting that Goldie would say that the Pollard side was Spanish. I just wonder where that side would eventually lead to. The possibilities are endless. I was born to Linda Ingles in 1979, she was a single mother and to this day, I do not know who my biological father is. I could probably find out if I asked my mother since she has kept it a secret from everyone, but I suspect one person knows, but that time will come when I can complete the background of who I am and my family genes. I lived with my mother, grandmother, and the other siblings

I was born to Linda Ingles in 1979, she was a single mother and to this day, I do not know who my biological father is. I could probably find out if I asked my mother since she has kept it a secret from everyone, but I suspect one person knows, but that time will come when I can complete the background of who I am and my family genes. I lived with my mother, grandmother, and the other siblings of my mother which are 7 total including my mom until my mother met the man I call Dad. My dad met my mother when I was two years old and they finally married when was three. I have two sisters and a brother. My older of the two sisters was Paul Griders and the younger brother and sister are born from Rick Shipman. Family history is very important to me and I am grateful for what you have done. I have read your site more than a few times and always intrigued by my family and their history, as I am sure you are with your side.

I am probably not very good at relating how my family history goes, but I have two children of my own. One not born from me and the other is 3 years old who is my biological son. Its very important to me that they understand their bloodlines and their families lives in history. I think it really tells a story of how we came about and who we are. Any advice or interesting things that you could tell me would greatly be appreciated. I know I have been rambling on. So I will let you go.

Thanks again for the work.

KIRBY S. GRIDER
SSG, USA
Senior Human Resources SGT
2nd BN, 14th IN
VoIP 242-7678

Abbie Ostrem - The Magic Touch

Abbie Ostrem is a great photographer and if you were a friend of hers you might be lucky enough to get a few shots of yourself published on her website.

I happen to be lucky enough.

She's a truly awesome photographer and when she came by the other day we were preparing our garden. She brought her camera and just ripped off a few shots. They came out awesome and my mom has since framed a few to decorate her home.

Thanks Abbie. I'm honored.

Enough Laws !

More laws will not help. More laws will not solve the problem.

And what is this "hate-crime" crap? So we punish people extra hard if they are prejudice. And if I'm a victum of a crime and happen to belong to a a minority I can expect extra justice.

This doesn't sound right.

What happened to "...liberty and justice for all" ?

I got an email from a lesbian friend of mine encouraging me to join the "Human Rights Campaign" and write to my Congress because "one-in-six hate crimes are motivated by the victum's sexual orientation, and today's federal laws don't include any protections for these Americans?"

Huh?

Exactly what kind of expansion of Federal Laws does one think we need to protect these Americans?

Another friend (non-Lesbian) reponded how she took a college class and it revealed that the more emphasis placed upon specialized treatment in criminal cases to minorites (such as homosexuals), the less actual equalities tend to come forth in smaller issues (such as spousal rights among homosexuals).

Personally I don't think special protection to minorities based on sexual orientation adds anything to their dignity or equality status.

One of the biggest myths of American popular culture right now is that more laws will help.

More laws will NOT help.

In fact, there should be a law that says for every new law a politician comes up with, they have to eliminate three laws in the same category.

Today I heard that Arizona (or was it New Mexico?) wants to pass a law saying that its illegal to "speak bad" or degrade American soldiers that have been in Iraq. Apparently, some war protesters put the actual names of some soldiers on T-shirts.

Now, maybe those folks could be sued for slander or something like that. But do we need new legislation?

Maybe we should make one more law that says, "Law makers cannot make any reactionary laws." If some event like the above provokes law makers to react, they should have to wait at least one year to think it over before they can make such a new law."

So, two more laws:
1. Any new law must be accompanied by the removal of three old laws.
2. Any new law based upon a particular social event (e.g. "dog bites kid", "kid kills other kids in school","gay man gets beat up","people wear soldier names on T-shirt") must wait a year to be considered.

The cause of all pain is NOT Sin.

Christian Fundamentalist Myth #1 - The cause of all pain is Sin.

The implication is that pain/suffering could've been avoided with righteousness [non-sin].

A first response is "well, I didn't sin. and yet this bad thing happened to me (causing pain)."

The American Christian fundamentalist's response to that would be something like, "well, maybe you didn't sin, but someone did."
[this is where it gets a bit muddy.]

"Either the person who put that pain upon you (obviously the murderer, the thief, the adulterer, the liar, etc.) - you were a victum of disobedience to God."

OR

"Your own actions of sin caused this pain/suffering. You brought it upon yourself."

OR

"The cause of the pain was the sin of your forefathers - even if we have to go all the way back to Adam and Eve who did the first sin."

These answers are not good enough - though they contain enough truth to muddy up the issue causing you to feel at fault for your own pain.

The part about evil men hurting you holds true. Their sin did cause your pain. A bad man hits me over the head with a baseball bat, sending me into a coma, depriving my family of an income and a father. His sin caused my pain.

The other view is you caused it yourself. The normal implication from an evangelical preacher would be something like, "Well, maybe you was sinning by hanging out with bad people, or you did some hidden sin that caused this [karma-like] evil to come upon you." This is often thought, implied, and used as an excuse to distribute guilt and ignore suffering.
Another twist on this thought is: "well maybe its just your response to the situation that holds the sin that actually causes your pain" Something like, "If you didn't try to play God and be in control of your own life in the first place (implying that you don't trust God to make your decisions for you and somehow don't metaphysically manifest Himself in you) then you would not feel this pain/suffering or notice it as painful. (see, it gets muddy)

They call it "putting God/Christ on the throne of your life") - [Pastor Mark of Wimberley First Baptist preached a whole sermon on this thread yesterday].

The implication of this is some kind of evangelical twist involving the truism that if we respond positively to a negative situations we can still be happy - even in sad settings. (This has some obvious mixed truths and lies that we can't go into now.)

The part of all this I don't like - is somehow it's still your fault. You COULD avoid the suffering if you were somehow less sinful, more spiritual, or a better responder. (or something like that).

Jesus' first disciples had this mistaken and harmful view also. They came upon a blind man from birth and they asked him, "Who was it that did the sin - causing this man to be born blind? The man himself or his parents?" [John 9:2]

Jesus responded, "Neither."

Neither. Nobody did some kind of sin that caused this man to suffer. Not the man, not the parents. And by implication, not the parents' parents' partents' parents.

Then why was he born blind? Why was his whole life one of suffering - the loss of eyesight and begging on the streets? - life as a burden to himself and to all. I don't know. Jesus really didn't answer them other than healing the man and telling his disciples the reason was so that God's glory could be revealed.

That's a bit mysterious.

But it wasn't because the man or the man's parents caused it by sinning.
We do Christianity and our brothers and sisters a grave disservice by perpetuating this myth that "the cause of all suffering is Sin." We also allow grief and suffering to continue by believing this lie.

We should be healing the people that suffer. Not explaining their pain with non-Jesus theologies.

Our call is to heal.

Guess Or Google - "it's a phrase !"

"guess or google" - Google Search

...heard a phrase from the DJ on radio today asking callers to answer a trivia question for a prize... in passing he said you could "guess or google" the answer.

I hereby predict this phrase - "guess or google" - will become a common lingustically redundant clause of Americana nomenclature.

"guess or google" returns only 81 hits if googled today.

..... we'll see how many hits it returns a week, a month, a year from now

or

if you ever hear this more than once - then i will be proved right

or

if you ever use "guess or google" as a phrase - - then i will be proved right

...if i am proved right, i will immediately declare myself "master guru Nostrodomus-like predicter of cultural nomenclature changes".

(google that ... hmmmm...)

the Moon

Almost 50 years old and just learning how the moon works - pathetic..... I've always been curious but never quite understood the cycle "new moon" "waxing/waning".... that kind of stuff.... i mean when you look up at the moon (this same moon that all mankind looks at every night and has done so for ... hmmmm .... how long?) do you know if it's getting bigger? smaller? how fast it changes? what's a quarter moon? etc.

Well you get the idea. I went to this Virtual Reality Moon site and this site and putting the two together you can figure it out.

My question is, how did I grow up? get through grade school? get a college degree? (in Environmental Science even!?) and grow to be 49 years old? and live in the deep dark Texas hill country? and still not follow what the moon does ???!!??

...the one giant orb in the sky that has ruled the night and earth and humanity and the animals and the people for eternity.... the most primitive cave man ancestor that i ever had would have understood what he looked at every night and would've had names for each face... and would've known what to expect the next night - all his life! It was assumed knowledge.

...and i look at the moon nightly and go, "hmmm", if that, and not much else.

...society somewhere let me down... this should've been taught like in kindergarten. Are we that much removed from nature!?

Anyway.... Bruce Lee's son has a nice quote of mortality and the moon that's actually on his grave stone. He's buried next to his dad in Seattle. Here's a picture of me pondering them both (from this page.)

Multitasking Myth

Multitasking Myth - Google Search

Yes! I knew it!

I've been saying for years now that multitasking is basially a myth.

A VP of a major business here just said to us recently, "You can only focus on about 5 things at a time."

That's plain erroneous.

You can only focus on 1 thing at a time. (sure you can DO multiple things at a time that don't really take thought - walking and chewing gum for instance, even driving and talking on the phone, but let me see you brush your teeth and comb your hair at the same time.)

Now I've found the studies and the charts to explain it.

I love it when my intuitive self-realizations goes against everything my surrounding culture tells me - and then I turn out to be right!

Wahoo!!! (...and it seems to happen more often than not.)

:)