(CNN) — The sharp sound of firecrackers and the wails of grieving parents echoed Tuesday morning aboveJuyuan Middle School, where hundreds of students are still trapped 24 hours after a major earthquake in central China.

The firecrackers, a tradition to ward off evil spirits, sounded each time a child’s body was found, a reporter at the scene said.

“We heard firecrackers at regular intervals of about 5, 10 minutes,” said Jamil Anderlini, a reporter for the Financial Times.

Don’t get me wrong. This earthquake is tragic. The lives lost are tragic. Every culture has their own traditions and that is cool. But from the mindset of an American who has recently lost a child, I swear, if firecrackers were a reminder of my child’s death, I’d probably never light another one again and I’d probably be tempted to leave the States for the summer and never go to a good amusement or theme park again in order to avoid the large displays that seem to be everywhere during the summer.

It’s not a matter of wanting to forget. You can’t. But that constant summertime reminder in America would be quite a weight to bear, so I’m thankful that’s not the case. Watching pregnant women and those with newborns walk by is hard enough at times.

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While I may lean Republican if only given two choices, I’m not a party loyalist and have voted all across the board…sometimes neither option is good and having a third (or fourth or fifth) party is great. Sure, some will argue that you’re “throwing away” your vote, but I say that’s b.s. since at least I made an effort to vote unlike the apathetic people who don’t exercise the right so many have died to defend. Don’t get me started…if you don’t vote, don’t open your mouth to complain about our representatives or “the system”. Better yet, pack up your bags and move to some politically oppressed foreign land for a while to see how you like that.

Anyway, to today…

Here in Indiana you have to declare Democrat or Republican for primaries. For most of the state the only races that really mattered were Democratic. So guess what? An estimated 80% of voters in a traditionally Republican state declared Democratic.

For my area, that got us a trifecta of Democratic opponents for the fall…President (which hasn’t happened in my lifetime), Governor (many Democrats AND Republicans can’t stand our current Governor, myself included) and Congressman (or woman).

For President it seems that around here most Republicans would rather see Hillary win for at least one of three reasons. 1) She has a better chance of losing to McCain. 2) The other guy talks but doesn’t really say anything. 3) For some reason the thought of the other guy running the country seems downright scary and just asking for trouble.

Honestly, when it comes to the fall elections I’m not sure I could vote for either of those three. And there’s one candidate that there’s no way in the world I’d vote for. At this point I’m just hoping that the Democratic Party and Republican Party ditch all three candidates and run a joint Al Gore/Dan Quayle campaign. Can you imagine how much fun those four years would be? I mean come one, wouldn’t it be nice to find out that those two invented democracy? I guarantee that CSPAN would be the highest rated television station four years running. If we can’t pull that ticket off, Tony Dungy might get my vote as a write-in…in all honesty I’d vote for Tony if he were to ever run.

For the Indiana Governor’s race, I’ll be voting for someone other than the Republican incumbent. The man cut funding for my old job (sure, that turned out great for me and drove home the fact that no job is “secure”, but it still irritated me a bit at the time and put a lot of other people out of work too) and sold one of our roads (he’ll say it’s a “lease”…a lease that will be around beyond my lifetime and probably my kids’ lifetimes). All of the other dumb moves he’s made don’t even need to be considered for me personally. He’s not my man.

For our congressman, well, that’s a tough nut to crack and I have never voted for the person who holds that office. But I keep voting, so maybe one day.

Anyway, there was actually a candidate called “Hippie Joe” who’s a neo-Nazi bartender who was running for the Democratic nod. Seriously, this guy had to sneak in (for a second time) somehow. My guess is that he’s too radical even for the third parties and snuck in as a Democrat. Our district has a huge population of black voters, so it’s no wonder I never even heard of this guy before looking at the ballot (I grabbed the Republican one two years ago)…man, that’d go over well and I’d love to see that debate…the (barely) incumbent Muslim, a few Christians and the neo-Nazi discussing their thoughts on the war in Iraq and terrorism. That might get ugly in a hurry.  [Just to clarify, I wish there wasn't a neo-Nazi running at all for people to accidentally vote for and wish there wasn't such a group in existence...but the oddness of it strikes me as, well, odd.]

So there are my voting rants for the day. I’m not a fan of political arguments and find them pointless since the issues are key and I find the idea of only two “major” parties silly, but feel free to flame away.

* Thank you Andrew Jackson! For those of you who don’t know, “the now-famous Democratic donkey was first associated with Democrat Andrew Jackson’s 1828 presidential campaign. His opponents called him a jackass (a donkey), and Jackson decided to use the image of the strong-willed animal on his campaign posters.” - FactMonster, Wikipedia and many more

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Anyway, I’m getting excited about the track opening up and am looking forward to the Indy 500 and festivities. The month of May is quite exciting around here. And I’m praying that we avoid any tragedy ourselves here…that’s been plenty of that through the years.

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Also, let me note that this volume comes into existence due to extremely somber and heartbreaking circumstances. My wife and I lost and laid to rest our fourth child in the past week and a half. I am not ready to publicly share much more than that at this time, but as you read my blog from this point forward that knowledge will help make some things I’ll say make more sense.

That said, here’s the breakdown of my five and a half years of musings…

Volume 1: October 10th, 2002 - August 5th, 2006

• 578 Posts.
• Written after college during my first (and only) “real world” job.
• The last month of which was written after I was laid off.
• The births of my first two children occurred during in this period.
• My Age: 24-28.
• This volume has been archived and made private.

Volume 2: August 7th, 2006 - April 5th, 2008

• 214 Posts.
• Written during the period when Watershed Studio became my full-time job.
• Many new projects came into being during this period.
• The birth of my third child occurred during in this period.
• The birth and death of my fourth child occurred in this period.
• My Age: 28-30.
• This volume has been incorporated into Never Picture Perfect, at least for the time being.

Volume 3: April 12th, 2008 -

• This is where we are today.
• The tone will probably be slightly different as I make my way through dealing with the loss of my son. Don’t be surprised if I’m silent where I once was vocal. My perspective on life and what really matters in the grand scheme of things is changing…which of course will lead to similar, but different, musings.
• My Age: 30- .

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Am I at the point of no improvement?
What of the death I still dwell in?
I try to excel, but I feel no movement.
Can I be free of this unreleasable sin?

[Chorus:]
Never underestimate my Jesus.
You’re telling me that there’s no hope.
I’m telling you you’re wrong.

Never underestimate my Jesus
When the world around you crumbles
He will be strong, He will be strong

I throw up my hands
“Oh, the impossibilities”
Frustrated and tired
Where do I go from here?
Now I’m searching for the confidence I’ve lost so willingly
Overcoming these obstacles is overcoming my fear

[Chorus]

I think I can’t, I think I can’t
But I think You can, I think You can
I think I can’t, I think I can’t
But I think You can, I think You can
Gather my insufficiencies and
place them in Your hands, place them in Your hands, place them in Your hands

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Anyway, what tripped it tonight was two things.   Andrew Peterson & the violent death of a former high school classmate.

Every time I see or listen to AP I quickly regain my focus on what really matters in the grand scheme of things.    God, family, friends and then everything else (including my businesses and anything else that I might have my hands in at any given moment).  That’s a good thing except for the fact that I’m always eagerly (and impatiently) looking forward to the next chapter and potentially miss out on some memorable moments of the current one.

Then the violent death of someone I once knew just compounds that by making me see my own mortality through the example of their life.  Even though this wasn’t someone I knew real well, it was someone that I had spent hours working side-by-side with while we were interns one summer (not to mention being classmates for four years).  While I don’t know all of the details, the main detail is the one that concerns me the most.  Death.

I don’t care who you  are or what your relationship is to the person, if you have any sense at all that is going to get the wheels turning upstairs and you’ll begin to ponder “what if today is my last?” and all of the questions that follow that.  And frankly, I don’t want to have to answer that one right now…I’ve got a good forty plus years ahead of me, right?  As proven by this latest tragic event, that answer is clear.  No, not necessarily.

Anyway, I’ve not formulated many organized thoughts beyond that just yet.  But rest assured, God has my attention and I intend to savor every bit of this life he has blessed me with.

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I caught Andrew Peterson in concert tonight for the first tour of The Resurrection Letters, his current work-in-progress Easter tour.  I’ve lost track of what AP concert this makes, but it’s probably safe to put that into double digits now.  (And I think this is the second time on a “Selection Sunday”… and honestly that’s a no brainer choice to make.)

This show brought a full band along, including usual sidekick Ben Shive and adding Gabe Scott (AP’s previous usual sidekick), Mandy & Kevin Mann (filling in for Andy & Jill), Jeff Irwin (a.k.a. the M&M guy) and Paul Eckberg.

Great show as always and my two older kids decided that they needed to be part of the show.  But hey, AP and the audience seemed to get a kick out of it…and that’s to be expected when you ask the kids to come down front (at least with my kids…consider yourself warned).

I’ve said it over and over in the past and I will continue to do so as long as there is breath left in my lungs…if Andrew Peterson comes anywhere close to you, GO!  And buy every album of his that you can get your hands on!

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Here’s what I ended up getting:

Stargate - The Ark of Truth: I debated on getting a full season of Stargate SG-1 that I didn’t have, but this was newer and not on TV yet. Decent for what’s really a two-part episode, though for the cost I think I’d rather have a season of SG-1 or even Atlantis (which were on sale for a few dollars more).

Logitech PlayStation 2 Cordless Action Controller: I don’t have a lot of time to play video games these days, but when I do it is a must to not have cords on the floor with the kids running around. Plus my couch isn’t all that close to the TV. I’ve had one of these controllers for a few months and just love it and decided to add a second one to replace my old (too-small-for-my-big-fat-hands) controller. And as a bonus, these have great battery life and they come with real batteries (Duracell), not some no-name junk.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08: As I said, I don’t have a lot of time to play video games…I’ve got a house full of kids and am now running two businesses. So games that I play must be short and have a definitive end to them (I started a game of Ratchet & Clank probably four years ago and am not done…and probably never will be). For that reason, I like to stick to sports games (other than football). The only golf game I had was an old “Hot Shots” (which isn’t all that great), but I’ve played Tiger Woods 07 on my friend’s Wii and loved it so I decided to give the PS2 version a whirl. This one won’t get old any time soon.

So there you have it. And for those of you who gave me the gift cards, thanks!

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It only happens once every four years.  Sometimes not even then.  If you’re lucky enough to make it to eighty, you’ll only see nineteen or twenty of these in your lifetime.  Go, enjoy your extra day.

I’m personally taking the day off to get out of the “office” and I am instituting Leap Day as an official holiday for Watershed Studio.  (Yet another nice thing about running your own business.)  And for those of you who’ve not been to the Watershed site lately, we’ve given the site a much needed face lift.  Take a look and let me know what you think.

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Well, I was in the midst of something tonight and missed the total lunar eclipse, but at least I was able to snap a few photos of the partial lunar eclipse. We have to wait for 34 months to see another one of these, so hopefully it will be clear that night as well.

And I missed the space shuttle landing too. I’m just not on it today.

Anyway, they better release some video footage of them shooting the satellite out of the sky…that might make up for it a little.

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