A Tale of Two Videos: Brown vs. Coakley

This week two videos illuminated the character of the major party candidates in the special Senate election on Tuesday, January 19, 2010, in Massachusetts. Which video will have the greater impact on voters?

Some are calling this Republican Scott Brown's "Reagan moment."



Reporter John McCormack was pushed down and around by Obama appointee Michael Meehan as he accompanied Democrat Martha Coakley, who witnessed the incident on a public sidewalk in Washington, D.C. and later misrepresented it to the press. You can see Meehan coming up quickly behind McCormack and his arms thrusting forward just before McCormack fell. After helping McCormack back up, Meehan tried to block him from following Coakley to join other reporters asking the candidate innocuous campaign questions.

Jason Castro Debut EP Now Available

Jason Castro's debut, The Love Uncompromised EP, is finally available for purchase. If you use this Amazon link to download the MP3, you will help Jason and his loyal friends at Castrocopia, which is a site devoted to the daydreaming boy who captured and enraptured us on American Idol, along with Jeff Buckley and great music in general.

Here is the official video of Jason performing Let's Fall in Love Again. How can you resist buying the EP? At the bargain price of $4.95 for 5 charmingly sincere folkie songs, Jason will only steal your heart, not your hard-earned cash.

Haiti Earthquake Caught on Video

CBS News acquired a video of the earthquake from a camera stationed next to some homes, which you can watch collapse (h/t Hot Air). I guess the ersthwhile Tiffany network isn't completely worthless as they also posted this list of charities to aid Haitian victims. I am praying and donating to Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa's relief fund.



None of us knows how much time we are allotted on earth. Death is an inevitable transition into eternity and the cutoff point for you to be assured of God's grace by salvation. I beg you to stop squandering precious time to begin a beautiful ending with our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Beautiful Ending by Barlow Girl

Talking Turkey, Trader Joe's Style

Even in southern California, where grocery stores are plentiful and diverse, it is difficult to find really good turkey breast. Deli cases are stocked with multiple choices of sliced turkey meat, which usually fall into two basic categories. The turkey comes from a real or rolled roast plumped up with broth, imbuing it with an unnatural flavor, or else the turkey is so processed that it looks like white ham and tastes like generic lunch meat.

The best sliced turkey breast I have found is available at the Katella Deli-Restaurant-Bakery in Los Alamitos. My mother, born in the Bronx and raised by German chefs, was thrilled to discover the Katella Deli when we moved to the area in 1964 and shopped there twice a month as long as she lived in Orange County. Their turkey breast tastes just like Thanksgiving leftovers if you had a professional meat slicer at home, but you can eat it year-round. You will pay for the quality - plus all the goodies from the adjacent bakery that you won't be able to resist.

Packages of sliced turkey breast from Trader Joe's are much more budget friendly and darn close to the homemade goodness of Katella's. You can buy regular or smoked turkey breast (pictured below) in slices that perfectly fit Katella Bakery's amazing long loaves of Jewish corn rye bread with carraway seeds. Just add Best Foods mayonnaise and your favorite fixin's - and you have a match made in sandwich heaven.

My New Year's Resolutions for 2010

New Year's Day 2009 found me back in chemotherapy for my third battle with breast cancer, which had invaded most of my liver and my thoracic region. Before I committed my life to Christ earlier in my cancer odyssey, I was guided by a moral compass inherited from my parents that was based on deferred gratification as a reward for good works. I would devise and then revise resolutions habitually until cancer and, more significantly, faith liberated me from the illusion that I am in control.

One year ago today, I looked into the future, saw a huge question mark and was perfectly content. I trusted God to provide everything I need and I trusted my husband, who was studying for the ministry, to stand beside me as His plan unfolds. Halfway through the year, my husband began to fail God and fail me. But my Savior fulfilled all His promises to love me in sickness and in health.

My life is a series of surprises and 2009 was no exception. In January I was closer to death than ever and wondered if I would see another birthday. By December my cancer - although not considered by medical science to be curable - was beaten back to almost undetectable levels. For the first six months of the year, my husband remained the steadfast soulmate who made my life worth fighting for. For the last six months, he was a sadistic stranger who demanded that I stop chemotherapy and die for his convenience.

I have seen the Lord's handiwork in countless blessings showered upon me during the darkest days of 2009. I survived to see my son becoming the man I prayed he would be. I have been living with cancer for seven years and am as content as ever. I have no idea what God has planned for me next, but I can't wait to find out.

The only resolutions I made for 2010 are contained in the lyrics of a song from my youth. To paraphrase Day by Day from the movie musical Godspell, I will strive:

1. To see God more clearly.
2. To love Him more dearly.
3. To follow Him more nearly.

I wish you and your loved ones faith, good health and contentment throughout the new year.