There may be a warrant out for my arrest

(DISCLAIMER: If my blog gets you thrown in jail, it's not my problem.)

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So, back in March, I received a $108 traffic ticket in the mail from the City of Bel-Ridge Police Department. Apparently, a "right-on-red" camera took two pictures of my car as I allegedly "did not make a complete stop before making a right turn on a red light."

You gotta be kidding me.

There was no way I was going to stand for such idiocy, so I did some homework on Missouri traffic laws. After reading up on the subject, I soon discovered that traffic camera tickets are NOT LEGALLY ENFORCEABLE in Missouri.

That's right, folks. It's all one big SCAM. Just more money in the pockets of the city!!

I've heard of people here in St. Louis who have gotten such tickets in the mail and have promptly tossed them in the trash, sometimes even at the advice of their own lawyers. You don't have to pay these tickets!! The police departments cannot legally go after you if you just don't pay!

What the cops are counting on is that you don't KNOW you don't have to pay. The ticket itself will even try to scare you, saying that if you don't pay by the printed due date, an additional $20 fee will be slapped onto your ticket, and a date will be set for you to appear in court. And if don't show up to your court date, a warrant for your arrest may be issued.

Oh yeah? I doubt it.

"But CSell, if they're not legal, why don't you just go to court and get it officially nullified?" Because I'm not going to give the City of Bel-Ridge Police Department the satisfaction of even wasting my time in a court room. Screw that. I have better things to do than to fight a ticket that's not even legal in the first place. They want me to send off $108 (well, $128 now) of my hard-earned money to some private camera company in Cincinnati, Ohio?

Over my dead body.

So anyways, I stashed the ticket in the back of my desk and forgot about it entirely. Then came the $20 fee and court date warning, about two weeks past the due date. It's a last-ditch effort to get you to pay your ticket out of fear, as aforementioned. I promptly ignored it.

Camera traffic tickets bring in tons of extra money to the City of St. Louis. Yet, St. Louis aldermen are even on record saying that there's nothing the cops can do to make you pay!! Ironically, intersections with traffic cameras tend to witness MORE ACCIDENTS, however, because people slam on the breaks in order to not get caught by them. So if some schmuck tells you that traffic cameras are supposed to increase road safety, that person is either uneducated on the subject or is a dirty, dirty LIAR.

At this point, the police department is either like "well crap, he's on to us" or they're like "let's go arrest his 'not-stopping-completely-when-turning-right-on-red' butt". Either way, I don't care, because I haven't heard back since the $20 fee notice, and I don't expect to ever hear from them again concerning this ticket. CSell: 1, City of Bel-Ridge Police Department: 0.

Spread the word! Don't be a sucker... don't pay the ticket!! KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!!!

Later, knuckleheads.

-CSell

David's colossal screw up of Biblical proportions

So it seems like ill let Chris be the person who rants on things, and Ill write about stuff that will offend people in a different way. Chris can offend the Owl City lovers, and Ill offend everyone else (including myself). Maybe ill lighten up sometime and write something light hearted, until then the balls in your court.

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So I've been noticing that I'm a terrible, awful, horrible, no-good, very bad person. Those of you who have known me long enough have probably noticed that about me. And if you're honest you probably noticed this about yourself too.

Offended yet?

I am.

So as I see myself sin every hour of every day, I am humbled by the fact that my attempts at behavior modification does nothing short of boost my ego and make me self-righteous for a little bit. Even the things I do "right" are flawed by a inherent flaw in all of us. We're more jacked up than we can possibly imagine.

We worship ourselves.

What makes Me comfortable?

What can I get out of this?

I will be the first to admit that I can not fix myself completely. In fact if I were in control, if I had my way, I would really screw every thing up.

Do you know what gives me hope? David, that old King guy from the Bible. If you haven't heard the story before you get a little play by play. Its from 2 Samuel and this is the story of a man described by the Bible as "a man after God's own heart"!

So David, a king, sees a married woman bathing and has sex with her. He gets her pregnant and then has her husband murdered. He gets called out on it by an old guy named Nathan and then he realizes that he sucks at life. Its been veggie tale'd (only using rubber ducks instead of women).

Sex, lies, and murder.

Sound familiar?

The Bible isn't a bunch of kids stories.

David follows up with a beautiful prayer. Psalm 51

Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!

For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.
Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,
O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
build up the walls of Jerusalem;
then will you delight in right sacrifices,
in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.

What gives me hope is that this was "A Man After God's Own Heart". Thats a statement to wrestle with after hearing what this guys done. This prayer hits me hard. He know that his heart is in every way screwed up (just like me), and he prayed "God, give me a new heart!" He cannot do it himself. He knows that he cant fix himself. Thats the beauty of the Gospel, we cant save/fix/help ourselves. We can change our behavior but all we do is shift our hearts to worship ourselves some other way. For example, we can do all the right things but still be self-righteous a-holes. Im sure you've met these people. And that you and I have are those people too.

Thats why Im a Christian. Because I suck at life, I cant fix myself and I need someone else to do it. That what makes the Cross both the ugliest thing in human history and the most beautiful.

I think I might have bitten off more than I can chew but maybe thats enough to for me to think about. I know its weird but I write to myself for myself. Maybe it helps my friends but I have to preach to myself everyday, because Im more jacked up than I can imagine, but Gods grace is more powerful than I can fathom.

Thoughts?

Blake

I hope I haven't pissed too many people, off or been too churchy. Sorry If I have, and I hope that youll keep reading if only to listen to Chris. He's more entertaining anyway.

A Couple Things

So I'm really getting to love the game of No Limit Hold 'em poker. So much, in fact, that I now play online at Full Tilt Poker to get better. While browsing the web reading about all sorts of strategies and poker theories, I came across a guy named Chris Ferguson, a world-famous poker champion. On his website, he talks about his "Chris Ferguson 10K Challenge," in which he turns $0 into $10,000 simply by playing poker.

That's right. From an empty wallet to 10 grand. And I'm gonna try and do it.

Ferguson did it in about a year; since he's a master at the game, I'm giving myself three years to do it. And yeah, I'm excited. I'll keep you posted from time to time on my progress.

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My dorm room is so hot that I am sweating as I sit here typing, even while the fan is on full-blast and I am shirtless. If I open my window, my allergies will kill me instantly. Agony.

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The car that I drive is getting very old. I do love it, though. It's just that I don't always enjoy cramming an entire drumset into a 1990 Honda Accord sedan. I really want to get a used Scion xB, because they are awesome cars for musicians... but everyone I tell this to has said to not buy such an ugly box of a vehicle. Whatever, I like it. The Japanese and their car designs are so awesome. Forget the haters.

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I can't wait to see Sam Bradford tear up the NFL as a St. Louis Ram next season. Seriously, this kid is a beast. Don't find a way to screw this up, Rams. The kid is the caliber of a franchise quarterback!! It's time to rebuild the Greatest Show on Turf! MWA HAHA.

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Ugh. Seriously, it's hot in here.

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So I saw Muse in concert in Chicago last month. Basically, it was the best live performance of any music artist I have ever seen... EVER. If you know me, you know that this really says something. I mean, they were absolutely flawless. I just might name my firstborn son after their singer/guitarist. He shall be called Matthew Bellamy Sell.

Ooh. That has a nice ring to it.

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Well, that's what's been on my mind lately. Until next time...

-CSell