Year: 2003

For some time I’ve maintained a quotes page, where I’ve kept things I’ve read, heard (or written) that I thought were
especially worth remembering and sharing. I just realized that I left two of my most favorite ones off. The first is from the book of Micah, chapter 6, verse
8:

And what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

The second is from a speech that Winston Churchill made at Harrow on October 29, 1941:
Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never–in nothing, great or small, large or petty–never give in, except to convictions of honour
and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.

The whole thing can be heard here (and I hope to convert it to QuickTime soon).

One of the things I like about bicycling is that it gives me time to just let my mind wander. Not too much, or else I’d end up the new hood ornament on a Chevy
Blazer, but I get to reflect on things.

Today, I went biking for the first time in a couple of months, and, boy, did it feel good. While going through Memorial Park, I heard a siren behind me, and
looked back to see a motorcycle cop leading a funeral procession. I pulled off to the side and took off my helmet until the procession was passed, because that
is the thing to do. I remember growing up in Beaumont and every time a funeral procession came by, all the other cars would pull over and wait for it to pass.
Today, though, I was the only vehicle to do so. The rest of the traffic just kept flying by.

That really bugged me. Are our lives so busy that we can’t wait thirty seconds to show respect? Am I just the product of a different culture?

By the way, when I die, I want the memorial service to be held at Astroworld. Everybody has to ride the Texas Cyclone, and I want Weird Al Yankovic’s “I’ll Be
Mellow When I’m Dead” played on the park loudspeakers.

I am serious.