New program offers help and hope, not just needles

Bobby stood guard while Jared and I buried Boba Fett in a shallow grave.

I rubbed the dirt off on my shorts as the creek, which had slowed to a trickle from the long summer days, washed away most everything else. The plastic figure was soon forgotten, lost among the afternoons sitting on the rocks, a fishing pole in one hand, a fresh-off-the-tree apple in the other. We were kids, our forevers ahead of us.

I don’t know what happened to those days or even to those boys. Life pulls us in many directions, some into pits from which escape seems impossible. I guess sometimes it is. Impossible, I mean. No matter how hard you try.

Those boys, once so much a part of my life, are now living shadows.

They’re not alone.

The battles of addiction are heavy, and I don’t know anyone who hasn’t been touched from it in some way. Maybe it’s a friend, a dad, a mom, a sister, a brother, a co-worker. It doesn’t matter who – it’s out there, it’s someone and it’s someone who is loved.

Lowered Expectations: My Official List of Things to Do in 2012

UPDATED Jan. 17, 2012
I guess I need a better list.

The past few years, I have started January with a list of fun pop-culturey things to do in the following 12 months. The list can range from eating a one-pound hamburger to watching four movies in a theatre in one day (both of which I proudly accomplished).

Star Wars Dance-Off!

Star Wars has given us many great things.

Catching up on the world of film

Last week, I ended almost 20 years of curiosity by finally watching Beetlejuice.

My friends couldn’t believe I had never seen it. It is, after all, kind of a childhood staple and one that helped put director Tim Burton on the road to success. It’s not that I didn’t try when I was younger. Fate just wouldn’t have it for me.

Growing up in Powell County, our film options were exceptionally limited, particularly in the days prior to being a licensed driver. Mom and Dad couldn’t just easily hop in the truck and drive me and a group of my friends to The Big City of Lexington to watch a movie on a whim. There had to be some planning involved, resulting in me being able to remember specific details about several of the movies I watched as a child.