Picture of the Day - My 47th Birthday Cake

As it turned out, I had a birthday celebration after all, one day after my birthday. I was kind of surprised as I knew my church home group family knew it was my birthday but Easter is big this weekend and I figured it would overshadow it and I was and am not in a festive mood. But here is my birthday cake to prove it happened. Thanks church home group fam! Love you all bunches! Thanks Janet for creating this masterpiece for me! Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Palm Sunday 2017

This morning I attended the Palm Sunday service at my church.... Pastor Steve nailed a great sermon and I feel nourished and refocused. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - High Point of My Week

This is the balance of my Thursday night church home group family which I have christened the "Self Help" Gang. Thursday nights are the high point of my week which I look forward to from week to week. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Spreading Flames

Tonight I attended my church's annual Christmas Eve service, this being at least the second year in a row I have been in attendance as I recall. At the end of the service we gathered outside along with New Day Church who jointly worshiped with us, and were sent outside the church and into the world with the commission to share the flame which we literally did for the entire crowd who held candles given to them for this very purpose. The entire crowd's candles were lit starting from just my pastor's lit candle. I always enjoy these sorts of symbolic gestures both in the Catholic and Protestant spheres.

My Home Group Fam Sans Selfs

Tonight's gathering of my adaptive family which is my church home group/bible study featured a particular grouping of people who have never all been at the gathering at the same time and includes some people who often can't make it, but did tonight.

Unfortunately, the host couple was out of town for the day/evening and were not in attendance as they usually are. We were so blessed to be able to meet in their home despite their not being there and it was very cozy with it raining outside the entire time.

These people keep me rooted and real and I have grown so much with them over the years.
Love you guys/gals! All photos by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

*NOTE: one of the attendees, pictured above, Photoshopped the image below which shows Ted and I made to look like we're hanging from a rafter and have placed a Magnum upon it. Thanks Darcie. [Updated 12/18/2016]

My 11/20/16 SITREP

Today I learned some things. Church was good. I got a decent sermon out of New Day Church pastor Brad Alford whose church now shares my church's building (North County Christian Fellowship Church) here in Paso Robles, CA. Today was held a joint service of both churches. Pastor Alford discussed reconciliation which I need to make with myself still it seems as I was reminded this morning.

This morning I finally recognized that my heart has been being grieved throughout this quarter by some of the curriculum I'm being taught in the Education Department at my university. Some of these ideas come straight from Hell. I recognized this from Day One, but did not realize until today that it has been adversely affecting me. It is one thing to teach unconditionally treating people with decency and respect and sensitivity whom live in ways that are strange to us or with whom we disagree. That is right and just and decent and Christian. Concerning that I can agree with it wholeheartedly. However, where they are indoctrinating us to change how we think about certain foundational things into new ways of thinking of those things such as are contrary to sound doctrine and natural law, I cannot accept. Then there is all the political correctness I am required to endure this quarter in particular parts of the curriculum.

Then there is the matter of the structure and content of my classes which thus far leave something to be desired. We are being swamped with too much coursework that aside from the useful stuff of which there is admittedly much, there is in some other cases information and coursework that is at best useless or worse, damnable. My heart has been grieved all quarter long and it has affected my performance. Now I fully recognize why and it is a relief to my soul and mind.

This is on top of the disruption to my life caused by the struggles of Loved One. That person is in a Renaissance of sorts now for over 40 days. However, much damage is now already done to me. I have had the mental-emotional pins knocked out from under me. I am learning to trust again. I seek to find rest in my heart while regaining my mojo.

On top of all that, I'm dealing with the annual appearance of my mild S.A.D. as Autumn deepens towards Winter. Only just this past week did I recognize that this has returned and consequently I can now manage it.

Unfortunately, I'm now behind in several assignments and getting some zeroes on things. I am concerned I will not pass this quarter in all my classes and flunk out of the teaching credential program. God, please help me!

Tomorrow I plan to work my ass off at home getting caught up while I also recover from a mild cold I picked up late last week. Whatever happens, God is with me, even if I do flunk out. He will still love me and have use for me. I will focus on the things I can control and not worry about what I cannot control. This is my choice, this is my power, such as it is, with all its limitations.

Picture of the Day - My Home Group Fam

Earlier tonight my church home group family met for a warm-up get-together before resuming regular weekly gatherings next month. Present was much of the regular crew plus one occasional and two noobs.
Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

2016 Graduation Partay

Last night at my friends Ted & Janet's home, my church family (centered at North County Christian Fellowship) held a celebration of my recent graduation from Cal Poly with a most awesome gathering of human beings and a magical evening happened. It was just what I needed as I have been in sort of a funk over the past month. I feel rejuvenated and ready to move forward now. Thank you all, my lovely adopted family and friends, for the best evening I've had in a long time.

The feast table pre-feast-view. This was the maiden voyage for this gorgeous table.

My peeps gellin' like Magellan.

I love these people!

The feast table feast-view.

My host and hostess posing with Fatboy.

This cake tasted as good as it looked and none was left by the end of the evening.
All images (but two) by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - I Look So Cheap

The manner in which I tithe is in keeping with the tradition of not letting the right hand know what the left hand doeth. I give anonymously.... most of the time. Occasionally, I forget myself and mindlessly include my name on a tithing envelope which then causes that gift to be officially attributed to me and goes into the tax records. Year-before-last I did this once and got back an Annual Giving Report with a single $20 gift. This past year I bettered that by one gift and tripled the previous dollar total. In reality, I gave much more than that both years but only a small fraction of what I gave was actually attributed to me. I wanted to remain entirely anonymous but instead I just appear cheap. Oh well. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

A Kim-aissance Dawning?

This morning I awoke stressed and overwhelmed by this mental-emotional bugaboo of a History 303 research paper due online tomorrow by no later than 5 p.m. PST. Add to that my ongoing spiritual battles and Kim-battles with myself and I found myself not a happy camper. I considered not going to church and just getting to work on the paper. Instead, I exercised my personal agency and Free Will and elected to go. I did this despite my overwhelming feeling of having too much to do in too little time and an instinct to just get to work.

Sitting in church I experienced a strange epiphany-like encounter with God. I don't vividly recall all details of it but I can assure it was NOT merely some charismatic/Pentecostal emotive eruption. I was minding Pastor Steve's excellent sermon but was drifting in and out of deep meditation. At one point there was the following projected onto the big Power Point screen above and behind the pastor: I Peter 5:7. As many of you know that goes "Give all your worries to Him for He cares for you." I recalled and realized on a much deeper level than before that God is sovereign and in control. I let go of my academic worries. I also realized that some things I have been struggling with personally I need to just let go of and give to Him... which I chose at that moment to do and have since done.

It seems that seemingly minor act of faith and obedience (attending church) opened up a portal to somewhere and through it an abundance of grace poured through. I feel refreshed, transformed, reborn, and ready to move forward. I had feared of late that I was stuck in my life. Usually in such situations if you have to ask yourself the question then the answer is already YES. Now, NO, I am no longer stuck. I feel like I'm on the verge of a personal breakthrough on multiple fronts headed into Finals Week at Cal Poly and Christmas vacation to follow. God is good!

Gary's Original Sandwich Shop

Gary's Original Sandwich Shop existed briefly in the 1990's in Atascadero, CA. It was in the little building at the northwest corner of Morro Rd. and Atascadero, Ave. My mother and I picked up sandwiches there all the time when it was in business. It was so amazingly good I wrongly assumed Gary couldn't have come from around here, but was some sort of Southern California chef who headed back down south when it closed down.

Fast forward to 2010 when I started attending North County Christian Fellowship in Paso Robles, CA. There I met associate pastor Gary Del Georgio, the cooking and baking associate pastor who turned out to be none other than THAT Gary. I collect paper menus of places I frequent for food. If I like the place I keep their menu after they close down if/when that happens. I always regretted neglecting to save my Gary's menu. Photos courtesy of Gary Del Georgio (all rights reserved).

Special 17th Street Gang Family Feast

This evening my church family got together for a special meal out at the home of my church home group's leader couple (Ted & Janet) up Hog Canyon Road in the Estrella area northeast of Paso Robles, CA. I have affectionately christened my adoptive family the "17th Street Gang" since the regular host couple (Kevin & Heather) live on that street here in Paso Robles. Below are several images I captured before dark.

Note: I wish to convey my deepest thanks to Ted & Janet for most graciously hosting us and to everybody there for their contribution to our collaborative feast, but especially those who brought main course type things or made something themselves. Special props go to Janet's most amazing lemonade which had it been alcoholic I would now be in a blackout. I also thank Marty & Karen for allowing me to join their carpool. Also, thanks for all the food all of you sent home with me. I'm set for days now!

This is the view south and down-canyon from the hillock upon which we spent the evening.

This was the greater part of the 17th Street Gang in attendance this evening (+ 2 guests) although we were missing several pieces.

This was the start of a splendid sunset sequence this evening.

The clouds this evening had a subtly autumn appearance which combined with my noticing the change in the angle and intensity of the Sun in recent days in the context of my mild S.A.D. sobered me just a tad.

I used to photograph more sunsets in my "lost years" when I was oft driving home at dusk from an adventure whereas nowadays I'm usually not in position to capture a sunset from an unobstructed viewpoint given I live downtown Paso Robles.

Gary & Terry (of Gary's Original Sandwich fame in Atascadero in the 1990's) joined us tonight although they are not regulars but after tonight's vittles that might change I hope. Ted is working his grill magic.

The crescent moon combined with the clouds and setting sun made for an exquisite sunset.
All photos by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Church Soup Nazis

Today my church (North County Christian Fellowship) hosted an in-church meal as a way to bring us together. Those who made the awesome soup meal happen are my friends from left: Terry Del Giorgio, Mare Fuson, Ted Weber, and Gary Del Giorgio of Gary's Original Sandwich shop fame in Atascadero back in the 1990's.
Note: for those of you who don't get the pop cultural reference to which "Soup Nazi" is please click HERE.
Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Non-Poisonous Ivie

This morning I attended a men's prayer breakfast at Paso Robles Bible Church which has become my secondary church home. To my surprise, I ran into my high school buddy Kevin Ivie (Atascadero High School Class of 1989). He is an  AWANA missionary trainer stationed in Texas. PRBC supports Kevin and this morning's event was a promotional get-to-know-everybody gathering of all the missionaries this church supports abroad. Above is a so-so image I took with my iPhone of Kevin's short presentation which was wonderfully done. Hopefully he and I will find time to break bread sometime before he leaves in a few days to head back home. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Scripture of the Day - I Agree With Peter

This morning at church Pastor Steve at NCCF gave a great little sermon that centered around this passage:

 And as they walked along the way He asked His disciples, "Whom do people say I am?" and they answered "some say you are like John the Baptist while others say you are like Elijah while yet others say you are like one of the other great prophets." He answered them and said, "But whom do YOU think I am?" Peter answered him and said, "You are the Messiah". ~ Mark 8:27-29 (Kimicus ad Absurdum translation)

Picture of the Day - Paso Bread Oven Goodness

This bread has just come out of 600° F heat at the Paso Bread Oven where I had the high honor of enjoying a wonderful dinner, my first ever glass of Pipestone wine (which met my expectations) and enjoyed my oldest bottle of wine from my own collection, the 1991 Maacama Creek Cab I talked about here a couple of weeks ago. That wine turned out fine to my surprise. Then there was a fabulous dessert. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention we were honored with the presence of local winemaking rising star Amy Butler. I thank our gracious hosts Heather & Kevin as well as those others who contributed food and/or wine for our feast. Most importantly, I thank God who gave me such friends and such a wonderful and fulfilling adopted family.  Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Random Musings of a Ramblin' Fool XLIX

Yes, that is the correct roman numeral for 49, not IL which is what I was going to put initially... until I checked. For a great explanation of why that is check HERE. Anywho, this hasn't happened in awhile: three Random Musings columns in 3 weeks or less, but that is fitting given all that is going on in my life at present. The only previous occasions it happened were in both April and June of 2008 in my first several editions of this blog. 

Easter 2013 Observances

This year I got more heavily involved with Easter than in any previous year. I attended a Good Friday evening service at my home church North County Christian Fellowship. Then in the morning of Holy Saturday I did my first ever Stations of the Cross (albeit an abbreviated version) at First Baptist Church in Paso Robles, CA. Later that day I attended the final service ever for Harvest Christian Church here in town as it shutters its doors for good. Then this morning I attended Easter Sunday services at North County Christian Fellowship and helped out working in the cafe there. Now that I no longer work every second or third weekend I am availing myself of what I have been missing which is more involvement in my church and more generally with fellow believers in my community. This is merely a behavioral expression of what is going on inside of me as I reemphasize in my own life my relationship with my Creator and invest more time and effort in it. I can't grow properly if I'm not placing maximum priority on my walk. Not that it hasn't already been thus but it's easy to get caught up in the daily routine of life and get a bit sloppy and lose having a laser focus.

 A Brother Offended?

As some of you might recall I posted a rather fiery rant last year in regards to a sermon by a new associate pastor at my church. He's certainly a a nice enough guy and a decent giver of sermons, However, he got under my skin in one of his sermons I to which I had the ignominious distinction of bearing witness. This was quite unfortunately one of the more superstitious and unenlightened examples of the down side of Pentecostalism I have ever witnessed coming from a pulpit. Needless to say, in my rant I did not hold back much. The guy keeps away from me and is noticeably reserved around me. From this I sense he has read or heard about my blog rant about his sermon and is hurt/indignant about it. Perhaps I'm imaging things but I believe I have equal odds of being accurate on this one. I can see pros and cons to reaching out to him or not doing so. To be quite honest my critique was sound and I don't regret my feelings about the content of said sermon. However, perhaps I was a bit harsh in my wording or, contrariwise, perhaps a bit of a bitch slap was in order there as tough love to a brother in Christ. I need to ponder this one some more methinks.

My Cuesta & Cal Poly Doin's

I have misplaced my password into my Cal Poly SLO account but from the emails I am getting from them it sure sounds like they accepted my application. If so that is cool but I will delay going one more year to get more transferable units out of the way at Cuesta College and apply for the Fall 2014 term. As previously stated on this blog I'm on track to graduate from Cuesta at the end of this Spring term pending passage of all my classes.

Cuesta Job Fair Rocked

A couple of Tuesdays ago I attended the job fair at Cuesta College's main SLO campus where 35 employers were represented.I was surprised so many local employers are looking for fresh employees. I picked up information from many of them and Vina Robles even asked for my resume and seemed the most interested which has me rather excited. I will be interviewed by them in April. There are some other jobs I might be able to pick up as well and I will update this space once there is anything specific and concrete to report. 

 Mental Health First Aid Certified

The same week as the job fair I completed the second part of Mental Health First Aid USA's free workshop held at Cuesta College in the same building as the job fair. I took the first installment of the workshop two weeks previous to that in the same location. I am now officially certified for mental health first aid as I also am for physical first aid and CPR through the American Red Cross. I need to get that re-upped this coming month before it expires and I have to start over entirely.

Spring Break 2013

Cuesta College's 2013 Spring Break is currently underway and not a day too soon. I need this week to be busy doing other things beside school, except that I have plenty of schoolwork to do this week as well as work for a few clients and also social stuff such as go visit my grandmother in Fremont, CA. I also need to get accomplished some cleaning up of my living space and storage unit. In the process of that I hope to get rid of some things thus making my footprint in this life smaller and hopefully pick up some cash along the way.

Getting Back In Shape

This "vacation" is also an excellent time for me to refocus my efforts getting back into physical shape. My current health education class has me more focused on my weight and diet and fitness level. This is good because I am an overweight-American! That's correct folks: DO NOT say anything insensitive and disrespectful around me such as refer to "you people". Anywho, for most of this year to date I've walked the dog of an older woman in my church who is shut in due to health problems. I walk my dog and her dog together and I get a walk out of it as well. This is usually about half an hour long which I need but is inadequate for me. Yesterday I took the dogs on an hour walk while today I took a break from walking the lady's dog but took Tequila and I on a 5.8-mile walk which took us less than two hours to complete. I have also of late been shunning processed food and cooking nearly all my own food or eating home-cooked food provided me by others. This is both healthier and cheaper.

CERT Training

I have signed up for CERT training through North SLO Co. CERT. I begin classes in May on Thursday nights and it wraps up in early June on a Saturday. I am looking forward to this more than I can perhaps adequately put into words here. I have been interested in doing this since meeting and being in a relationship with my ex-girlfriend from Northern California (as opposed to my more recent local one). Going back to college as well as becoming Red Cross certified for first aid and CPR were other seemingly unattainable things that I have since accomplished and now I get to add CERT training to that list of long-delayed accomplishments.

Fire Season 2013

The grasses across the North County of San Luis Obispo County prematurely began drying out in March this year. They will probably be burning by April which is much earlier than is typical around here. As if to underscore this concern I heard on the scanner today Air Attack 500 ( a training air attack) leaving Paso Robles Air Attack Base for McClellan Air Force Base which is where CalFire stores most/all of their firefighting aircraft during the ebb/lull months of California's now nearly year-around fire season.

Lightning Last Night

As some of you may or may not know I LOVE lightning and thunder. Last night while playing card games at a friend's house in the hills west of Paso Robles I had front row seats and a beautiful electric storm in the skies of the North County. What a thrill it was! I even caught one or two distant peals of thunder. I needed my lightning and thunder fix following such a lackluster winter rainy season.

Driving While In A Beater (DWIB)

Lately I keep getting pulled over by the SLO Sheriff's Office or the Paso Robles Police Department. It's never for anything significant but rather for things like burned out brake light bulbs or failure to turn down my headlights or failure to have a license plate on the front (my 1994 Volvo didn't come with one). Those are the recent reasons. A couple of years ago I was getting pulled over my pickup's problems which were mechanical but that's a moot point now. Anywho, cops are people and people have their biases both conscious and sub-conscious. I drive a beater I payed a grand for and it looks like it. The car is great in its functioning but is not much to look at and as such perhaps looks like a "scary-mobile" such as one might imagine a creepy dude driving. Also, the sorts of people cops deal with in regards to crime tend to drive cars more like my own and less so nicer cars. I understand this even while I'm getting a bit tired of the attention. Each encounter has been courteous and professional and I was bid a good day or good night and that was that. However, I know damned well were I driving a 2013 Volvo I would not be getting the same sort of notice.

Mad Men & The Walking Dead

As I have stated here before I LOVE The Walking Dead on AMC. It is my current favorite television program following my previous favorite Battlestar Galactica. Tonight, Season Three of TWD concluded with more tragedy as another main character got killed off as well as multiple peripheral characters. The final tally of lost main characters this season ended at four. So as to not spoil things for those of you who have not yet watched the series and plan to I won't say who here. I can't wait for this season to come out on DVD. Recently, my friend Mark who got my turned on to TWD also introduced me to the series Mad Men also on AMC. Tonight I saw the second and third episodes of Season One. The more I watch it the more intrigued by it I become despite the ugliness and vapidity of most of the character's dismal and phony lives.

22nd Annual Paso Rock Show Planning

As chairman of the 22nd Annual Rockhound Roundup Gem, Mineral, and Jewelry Show I have been a very busy man coordinating the many elements which comprise planning such an event. Fortunately, I'm good at managing teams of people and this has been a generally positive experience again this year following my maiden voyage in that capacity last year. The time is short and we are now having show committee meetings every other weeks with the next one this coming Wednesday night at 7 p.m. I have also been having regular "safety meetings" with dealer chair Dale Conrad where we go over the dealer list and map out who goes where in the show based upon the latest sign-ups by dealers. We have a few more empty slots to fill. 

R.I.P. Former Friendship

This is the last I will make mention of this matter on this blog unless some new significant development comes up. The saga of my falling out with my former friend and employer reached a crescendo early this month. I don't want it to leave this month and leak into April so I wrap it up here to the extent that is possible. 

I feel I need to make a correction or two about things I said about the man in previous comments. I said he was a phony friend who was just using me. Upon further reflection that is inaccurate. He was a genuine friend who was not using me. However, he sucked at friendship because he sucks at interpersonal relationships with other people in general. That is a major component of why he is so damned lonely and is perpetually baffled by and disappointed in people. 

That also explains how he manages to put off so many people whom become close to him. Some of them never tell him he offended them and some do. I'm the sort of communicative man who does not keep things to myself indefinitely. I gave him three years to improve but instead things got worse and I finally reached a breaking point. I sent him a respectful and articulate letter outlining my grievances with him. 

At that point the situation was still manageable by both of us and could have been resolved reasonably simply. However, his personal pride, stubbornness, and contrarian nature, hyper-frenetic controlling nature caused him to do something very foolish, selfish, and disrespectful by way of refusing to even accept my letter and read it. My reasons for communicating initially by letter regarding these matters were manifold and well-reasoned. He slapped me in the face and defecated on our friendship in so doing. As a result he ended our friendship himself. What happened is 100% on him! 

As stated previously I forgive him but unless he demonstrates some class and character and contacts me and says and does the right thing he and I are done for good. I am rather surprised how good I feel no longer having to regularly deal with the myriad personality issues I had to deal with nearly constantly while associating with that man. My stress-level has plummeted while my joy and peace and happiness levels have skyrocketed. I thank my former friend for the experiences and opportunities I benefited from during our association and thank him for the things he gave me on occasion. He is also quite welcome for what I contributed to his business enterprise! So long and have a nice life!

R.I.P. Harvest Bible Church

Tonight was the final regular service for Harvest Bible Church in Paso Robles, CA. After a decade they are closing their doors as their mission is complete and the seed of that church is being scattered throughout the community in order for a new crop to germinate in God's service. Tomorrow morning there will be an Easter Sunday sunrise service at Barney Schwartz Park in Paso Robles.

The last song ever for Harvest Bible Church's worship team to perform was "10,000 Reasons".

The Harvest Bible Church Worship team being honored by the congregation.

Both photos by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved)

Picture of the Day - Church Tri-Tip Feed

This was the hectic yet not chaotic scene in the kitchen at North County Christian Fellowship in Paso Robles, CA, this morning where the leftover Tri-Tip from yesterday morning's mens prayer breakfast was served in sandwich form early this afternoon following the second service. I had the honor of both attending the second service and helping out in the kitchen both serving coffee drinks between services and then with the Tri-Tip feast. From left to right are Terry and Gary Del Giorgio and Ted Weber. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Blue-Tongued Creepy Guy

Recently a group of survivors of the soon-to-be-defunct Harvest Christian Church in Paso Robles, CA, initiated the three cute children of one of our sisters-in-Christ into the nerd-circle of Star Wars fandom by way of having a Star Wars movie marathon a couple of weekends ago at the home of the Sauer boys whom are pictured above on either side of me (the inimitable Tommy Lutz is on the far right). The whole deal turned out wonderful but one curious thing happened: after eating a slice of custom Star Wars-themed cake my tongue changed color! Photo by Ann Fay (all rights reserved).