Dr. Larry Pittman Goddard Blog

Larry Pittman Goddard 3 hrs  ·  Often I am asked, "How do you want to die?"... and my mind cannot help but think of a bald man, petting a white Persian cat in a James Bond movie.... why did the bad guys always spend more time telling James Bond HOW they were going to kill him than it would have taken for a fast, blast of murder.... And why I am asked this question makes me suspicious of the 'asker'... Regardless... , I have always wanted to die of OLD age. My question now is.... exactly when does one qual ify for that? With this Six-Damn-ty Birthday on the horizon (2 month countdown)... if I died today, could I get away with 'he died of old age'.... or would that be up for debate? Am I, then, too young to die of old age? I go to Brookshire's on Tuesdays and LIE at checkout by telling them I am 60 and get a 5% senior discount. I have lied about my age twice: To vote at age 17 (Eugene McCarthy--others had fake ID...

Egyptian Travel Blog  Left Tyler at 5:30 A.M. Thanksgiving Day and arrived here in Cairo Friday night at 8:30 p.m. It is their three-day Festival of Feast which means they all stay home and eat--which is great for me since now there is no traffic. They do a Black Friday kind of deal, but it is for grocery stores only. We are on the west bank of the Nile which is Giza and the other side of the Nile is Cairo, but the names are used both ways.  What I saw of the new Cairo Heliopolis is beautiful; Mubarak’s home is heavily secured; they haven't had a war since 1973 and that was with Israel. Everyone is formal and friendly and I'm looking for their soccer shirt--war almost broke out with one country and |Egypt over a soccer game recently so I think it would behoove me to wear their national team shirt. Will climb pyramids tomorrow (Giza) and of course the ever-present open market, medina, stinky sales market which you know I will be sanitizing my hands c...

Fun Facts about Ecuador:  I love their phrase: "tipo" which means "Oh, some time around then"  See you at 10 a.m. tipo! Transportation  ■Stop = yield. This is no joke. A friendly tap on the horn as you approach an intersection is about all the warning you’ll get from an approaching car. And following behind the car in front of you? That’s for suckers. Ecuadorians continually tailgate and pass the cars in front of them. We’ve even seen buses pass each other at night on 2-lane curvy mountain roads. No one wants to wait once they get in the car (before they get in the car, that’s another story!).  ■The “Ecuadorian Nanosecond” is the flash of time between the light turning green and the person behind you honking the horn.  ■Buses will stop for anyone on the side of the road that flags them down. In fact, the bus driver is joined by a guy who’s job is to stand at the door calling out the bus destination and looking for new riders.  ■The coun...

INteresting Folks: CHRIS PARCELL:   LIFE’S BIGGEST FAN By Larry Goddard Chris Parcell is someone everyone would like to know—friendly, positive, laughs, involved in many activities, and, just as a side note is mentally challenged.   He has been told someone is coming over to his house to write a story about him and he is pacing and folding his arms and unfolding his arms—I see him from the street as I get out of my car and hear “He’s HERE!   He’s HERE!”   It was the best welcome I have ever encountered. Chris’ parents are Vera and Greg Parcell and their lives are complicated. From the first step inside their home, one can see and feel the love of a close family.   Fully decorated for the holidays, the home is full of photos of Chris and his older brother, Cory.   In the living room, there are two couches; a new one in front of an old one; same for recliner…well, just about every piece of furniture.   I’m thinking I must ask—and before I do,...

So here is what teaching can teach you about God.... Teaching is funny. It’s just a little bit less glamorous that the movies make you think. It’s a come-home-with-you, all-consuming, heart breaking & heart growing kind of job. Sometimes it feels like the most important thing in the world, and you are looking into the eyes of our world’s future leaders, and sometimes you’re trying to figure out how one of your students is soaked, head-to-toe, when he comes back from the bathroom. But the most true thing about this job is that it teaches you how much you pale in comparison to Jesus. SERIOUSLY. Teaching has made me love God so much more, simply because I am so unlike Him. (Even though I am an ENFJ, and there are rumors that he was also an ENFJ.) Anyway, here are 5 things that I adore about God that I did not adore nearly as much before. 1. God wants us to come home even when we are dirty. I teach middle school in an old portable. My room smells like spilled soda, body odor, ...

I arrived in Cape Town after about 20 hours in a charter flight from New York—it was supposedly the charter plane that the Buffalo Bills football team uses. We had major problems refueling in Ghana—seems the airport official wanted a cash bonus payment—took over 4 hours to settle—we couldn’t leave the plane.  Toured Cape Town yesterday. Took a cable car to the highest point, Table Mountain, for a beautiful view of the city and seaside. Shopped at the Waterfront area of Cape Town and, yes, I will be throwing away clothes that I brought with me in order to bring back all the souvenirs.  More later. We are now sailing for Tristan da Cunha, which is the most remote island in the world. The inhabitants are all descendents from shipwreck survivors.  December 24, 2003 Will Santa Find Me?  Today is Christmas Eve and we were scheduled to get off this ship--we've been sailing since Saturday and today is Wednesday--but the island of Tristan da Cunha has not been dredging their ...