Double The Time, Double The Love

On Monday April 12th, 2010 my wife and I will be celebrating our 2nd year wedding anniversary.  So this weekend is technically our "pre" celebration weekend.

Our 1st Year Anniversary was really low-key simply because our Audrey was only about 3 months old and very dependent on us. Now that she's roughly 15 months, she's big enough to be handle herself brilliantly especially with the assistance of her grandma and grandpa.

So the agenda for this Saturday is as follows...

• We're going to SCHOOL for Brunch
• Getting cultured by the "Jersey Boys"
• Settling down with some Soul Food at "N'awlins" (like New Orleans)

All this set to the background of the Downtown Toronto Urban backdrop.

Now if only the sun could just emit a little more heat...

Hiatus No More.

Hello Friends.

butcheee.com is back again. It's been about 4 months since anything substantial has been posted here.

But I'm back with a vengeful fury (or a fury of vengeance) just trying to get a few online things working properly. With so many social media outlets to post on, I'm trying to simplify the amount of places I have to post, but still getting them to all outlets. You're probably like... "what a geek!" But don't hate my friend, because I know you have a facebook account and  twitter account you use to stalk people.

Anyhow... if you don't know already here's the new set-up:

1. butcheee.com is still the number one source for all things Efren Baria.
2. butcheee.tumblr.com is your number one source for all things that Efren Baria finds cool, weird, twitter-able, and all the in-between. My blogs from butcheee.com are posted here automatically as well.
3. I've just started a blog with my wife at graceandefren.com. This is kind of a documentation project, just to archive our memories, conversations, inspirations and our lives. Within the 4+ years we've been together, we've seen a progressive change in our relationship, and we think it'd be nice for our daughter (and any future kids) to see how we've grown into this family life.

We've also got Flickr for photos and Twitter for randomness and updates regarding any of the above blogs.

Now... time to get outside and document something worthwhile to post. Cheers!

all things considered

A thought occurred to me last night during our family prayer time. It's simply this:

Love is responsibility.

In the giving, in the receiving, in the nurturing of it, there should be a deep sense of accountability.

Things fall apart, when all we do is point fingers at everybody else but ourselves.

take a bow

Required Reading: "Dear Drama Queens (male & female)"
Posted: March 25, 2004

We all have it within us to be a Drama Queen. Some more than others of course. And over the years, I've seen (a few) people change from"Best Dramatic Actor/Actress in a Leading Role" to "Best Director (of their emotions)." The one thing that helped the growth was humility, which would eventually lead to Self-Awareness.

Through my profession I've dealt with teenagers, young adults, young adults who still think they're teenagers and teenagers that think they're adults. I've realized that some people unknowingly through their actions, attitudes and choices, really put themselves in positions of victimhood. This ultimately of course leads to the drama in their life. The longer you choose to be a victim, the more you prolong the drama. It's a simple equation.

I've spent so many of my years being in the audience watching these drama-filled situations unfold. Some for the better and some for the worse. I've seen good hearted people become jaded but not wiser. I've seen insecure people compensate in the most heinous ways.

Like I mentioned earlier, the solution is simple for those wishing to end their reign as Drama Queen (in whatever area of your life.) You just need HUMILITY. When you have a large dose of this bitter pie, you begin to find out that you can't control every situation. That most sometimes you are to blame as well. That emo attitude, really doesn't do anyone good (especially yourself), and lastly and most importantly is that you need to be honest with the choices you've made. People choose drama. Be it the situations they put themselves in, the people they surround themselves with, and the attitudes/emotions/habits that they don't put in check.

So please... if you are a drama queen, we're waiting on you to Take a bow. Close the curtains. Take off the make-up and costumes and let the show be over with. Let's stop acting, and let's live life for real.

from the top

It's been close to 6 years now with my personal website , 'butcheee.com.'

6 years is a long time. Lots can happen in 6 years, and a lot has. I've been reading some of my archives, and reminiscing and trying to remember where I was at the time of these old blog posts. On a spiritual level, an intellectual level and on an emotional level.

I thought looking back at some of these interesting posts, that it would be fun to deepen them or analyze them further. So I'll be reposting some of them, with new insights and comments. I've experienced and learned so much since some of these posts were published, I feel it would only be right to take a second look through wiser eyes.

Reflection is a good thing. It helps us remember the journey we've experienced... and sometimes that can lead to some answers for the future.