forever young
everyone's out crabbing, or something. what i know is they went off to the lighthouse to get mussels and they'll be using them to catch crabs. in light of their decision, i've decided to stay here. something about having a whole bucketful dumped on my back when i was younger created an irrational fear. the part it being an irrational fear is the fact that it never actually happened. it was a dream. so i'm staying at the house because i don't like crabs.
california
it's been fun being here. were staying with mikes parents.today we went on. day trip, we drove to Carmel with my patents to visit some beautiful spots overlooking the ocean. we went to a village there and got the best salt pretzel I've ever had. it tasted like it was baked with sweetbread. were going on another daytrip tomorrow.
I guess we weresupposed to go to a mountain house, but they got FIVE feet of snow. guess that plan died. it's fun to bop around on short trips either way.
I've gotten a little homesick being here, mostly because I enjoy having my own space, and I miss some friends. it's been great being able to be with adrienne so much, its such a special time for us.
anyways, hope all is well with you all.
-steve
:)
i'm engaged. so is adrienne. if i ever find him, i'll kill him.i said that yesterday...
now there's about 16 broken mirrors and my hand is bleeding.
at a protest
this protest sign caught my attention.ecclesiates 10:19
A feast is made for laughter,
and wine makes life merry,
but money is the answer for everything.
i'm famous
or infamous. whichever you prefer. but onto the original intent of this message. i love it in television shows when i spot an actor wearing clothes i own, or clothes from gap... cuz they're one in the same. anywho, check it out ya'll.
:)
i haven't done a lot of posting on this blog because i've been doing a lot of writing for my other blog recently.the semester is coming to a close... i still have a lot of stuff to do, and procrastination is oh so sweet.
life in technicolor ii
the video may or may not go down in the future, but youtube search it or buy the album. i'm really digging it... it's great without the lyrics, but i enjoy having something to sing along with. :)
civil religion
i wrote this essay in the beginning of november about american civil religion. there's a lot more i could expound on... and probably will in the future, but for now, i think it's a decent base. the first paragraph is about an illustration we had to write something "sensibly sociological" about.The illustration from PostSecret, which reads: “I pretend to be religious because I want my life to have meaning,” speaks volumes to living within the nomos, the need to feel meaningful ongoingness in the face of meaninglessness, and externalization. There is also a corollary statement: “I pretend my life has meaning because I want to be religious,” which should also be considered because it speaks of the human-conceived cosmos as something that requires alienation in order for theodicy to offer explanation of the cosmos, which serves as a guardian against anomy, and promotes world maintenance to sustain the nomos.
Bellah places significance on the locations Kennedy chooses to reference God in his speech: in the two opening paragraphs and in the closing paragraph, which he argues provides “a sort of frame for more concrete remarks that form the middle part of the speech.” The references are found in many presidential pronouncements. Because they are not usually found in the draft stages, it is safe to assume they are added later, thereby bringing to the forefront that it is not part of the president’s agenda to push private religious belief, but rather demonstrates the saturation of civil religion.
Entering into Berger’s shade under The Sacred Canopy, one senses that there is a need for meaningful ongoingness in the face of meaninglessness. In response, Bellah states, “Though the will of the people as expressed in the majority vote is carefully institutionalized as the operative source of political authority, it is deprived of an ultimate significance. The will of the people is not itself the criterion of right and wrong. There is a higher criterion in terms of which this will can be judged; it is possible that the people may be wrong. The president’s obligation extends to the higher criterion.” (Emphasis added) The will of the masses is deprived of ultimate significance and it is the president’s duty to point to a higher criterion of significance. Uniquely, the presidential role provides allegory for theodicy: “the dimension of political life as recognized by Kennedy not only provides a grounding for the rights of man that makes any form of political absolutism illegitimate, it also provides a transcendent goal for the political process.” (Emphasis added)
The sacred text of the cosmos, the Declaration of Independence, is the fuel of presidential theodicy, witnessed through Jefferson: “All the political sentiments I entertain have been drawn, so far as I have been able to draw them, from the sentiments which originated in and were given to the world from this Hall. I have never had a feeling, politically, that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence.” In fact, Bellah points out that the declaration mentions God four times: first, “’Laws of nature and of Nature’s God’ that entitle any people to be independent.” Second, “all men ‘are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights.’ Here Jefferson is locating the fundamental legitimacy of the new nation in a conception of ‘higher law’ that is itself based on both classical natural law and biblical religion.” He goes on to talk about the constitution saying that God will both “protect the divine Providence,” and judge the world for its actions. More accurately, the Declaration of Independence is theodicy, and the president is a physical embodiment of that theodicy. A theodicy with feet.
Starting with the president as the theodicy with feet, other parts of the metaphor must naturally follow, namely, the cosmos and the nomos. The nomos of civil religion consists of individuals who, while they may participate to a small extent in the exercise of government, they are very much a part of every day civilian life, influenced by governmental changes. The government in civil religion plays the part of a “sub”-cosmos. While they recognize that there is a higher authority governing them, Kennedy referenced in his speech, they operate as a sub-cosmos underneath the greater cosmos.
Take for example, the cosmos-given rituals of the nomos: Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Independence Day. The annual practice of these rituals gives light to the ongoingness of the nomos. When disaster strikes, these rituals say planted as beacons of hope that everything will go back to the way it should be. The most interesting note to point out about these rituals is that they were created, just as the seats of power in government. The individuals of the nomos collectively forget what they had created, and exist to provide function for. These rituals work because of alienation.
Civil religion is a religion, not because of the beliefs and rituals contained within it, but rather because it fits into the explanation of what religion does: it provides comfort in the face of shattering events through world maintenance.
won't embed
youtube won't let me embed this. but you should watch it anyway.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hksil-KkebQ
coldplay
although their album is way better, i very much enjoy coldplay's new follow up ep to their album viva la vida. nice guys... nice. :)prospekt's march
awards
i don't often win contests... but today in my civil rights class, our professor asked the students to nominate both a girl and a guy who they thought were the best contributors to the class discussion. i was nominated. outstanding. i enjoyed all of my classes this semester, they were a lot of hard work, but well worth the time and effort. i learned a good amount this semester, both inside my classes and outside.our professor gave me a book with a personalized note in it. the book is titled "leading with soul." he explained to us that he always likes to have us leave the class learning more and hopes we will. i know i won't stop. it seems cliche to say that we never stop learning, but it is true. and i mean it.
faith
i just had a new thought about faith. it's when something:hits the head, hits the heart, hits the streets.
what do you think?
open question:
can faith be socialized and still be legitimate?stay tuned as my answer is in development, but i'd like to hear your thoughts if you have them.
today
i was asked a question: how could i be a devout christian and fit into berger's model of defining religion? as you may recall, or follow the link to read - which would be far more helpful - berger basically says that we can sustain meaningful ongoingness is because we forget that we created the means by which meaningful ongoingness is sustained.in essence, the question asked: is berger's model self-defeating? does it ultimately collapse because the believer of the model has to forget that the model exists in order for it to be successful?
to some degree: yes. but ultimately, the answer is no. especially in the case of someone like me.
i subscribe to berger's model - yes, i believe humanity created religion - and remain, i hope for the most part, non-heretical. hear me out.
we have this being who ultimately cannot be described, who is ultimately unknowable. we say this being is personal, and we attribute qualities to this being, such as omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence. we also declare that this being has a name: God.
what we are doing is describing something that cannot be described in the best possible way we know how - through language - but still fail to come to grips as to what this being is. our language and descriptions create a picture of God, similar to the way a picture of a soda can is not the actual soda can. to be concise, the word "God", is not actually God. the word God is a human construct. it is the way we attempt to define the unknowable.
however, God does exist, even though our construction of God may not exactly match up, we try our best. but now consider that this God, of whom the depths of which cannot be fully known, chose to build his image (we'll use a personal pronoun in light of the christian tradition) inside of us. the full gravity of that choice, we will likely never understand, but it has something to do with us being able to know God. not only do we have the image of God inside of us, but God stepped into our time and defined what he was doing and continues to do, in the language of society and culture. God said to moses: "I AM." God stepped into our time as the form of Jesus, at the very least, to show us what God looks like in our skin.
even in the creation story at the beginning of the bible in the book of genesis, we have God in the beginning who speaks creation into existence. and God said, "let there be light." and there was light. now it may not actually be that God spoke words, but it's the best way we can describe what it is that God did when he created the heavens and the earth. it makes sense that God would speak things into being. we have a God who through his story, uses our language so that we may know him better and more fully, that we may glimpse what it was that he did.
at the end of the day, i realize the need to develop these thoughts more. i consider it nothing but a miracle all the incredible things that God does. it makes God feel so big. that he could take a system so inadequate for description and tell a story through it... in ways that we can understand. he takes broken things and uses them for his purposes. imagine, if God can use our language... how much more can he do with us?
everything is okay
because i love you very much.The Pilgrims' Menu
Foods That May Have Been on the Menu
Seafood: Cod, Eel, Clams, Lobster
Wild Fowl: Wild Turkey, Goose, Duck, Crane, Swan, Partridge, Eagles
Meat: Venison, Seal
Grain: Wheat Flour, Indian Corn
Vegetables: Pumpkin, Peas, Beans, Onions, Lettuce, Radishes, Carrots
Fruit: Plums, Grapes
Nuts: Walnuts, Chestnuts, Acorns
Herbs and Seasonings: Olive Oil, Liverwort, Leeks, Dried Currants, Parsnips
What Was Not on the Menu
Surprisingly, the following foods, all considered staples of the modern Thanksgiving meal, didn't appear on the pilgrims's first feast table:
Ham: There is no evidence that the colonists had butchered a pig by this time, though they had brought pigs with them from England.
Sweet Potatoes/Potatoes: These were not common.
Corn on the Cob: Corn was kept dried out at this time of year.
Cranberry Sauce: The colonists had cranberries but no sugar at this time.
Pumpkin Pie: It's not a recipe that exists at this point, though the pilgrims had recipes for stewed pumpkin.
Chicken/Eggs: We know that the colonists brought hens with them from England, but it's unknown how many they had left at this point or whether the hens were still laying.
Milk: No cows had been aboard the Mayflower, though it's possible that the colonists used goat milk to make cheese.
Source: Kathleen Curtin, Food Historian at Plimoth Plantation.
I've been doing some reading recently for a class that I'm a good amount behind on. I have about 3 assignments to do. Since I'm not too motivated to do them, I'm writing a post about the first one, in hopes that it will get me motivated in starting to write it. I'm experiencing a bit of a block on where to start.
One of the pieces is an excerpt of the Evangelical Manifesto. It is made up of several sections, which were written as a repudiation of several practices of American Evangelicalism. The manifesto starts off by reclaiming what it means "to be an Evangelical and to carry the name of Christ: to seek to be faithful to the freedom, justice, peace, and well-being that are at the heart of the kingdom of God, to bring these gifts into public life as a service to all, and to work with all who share these ideals and care for the common good." Evangelicals are to be people who are a part of a different tradition: One that brings change and social reform.
Our second piece is an Open Letter from President Mahmood Ahmadi-Najad to President Bush. In his opening, he writes: "Can one be a follower of Jesus Christ (PBUH), the great Messenger of God, feel obligated to respect human rights, present liberalism as a civilization model, announce one's opposition to the proliferation of nuclear weapons and WMDs, make 'War and Terror' his slogan, and finally, work toward the establishment of a unified international community - a community which Christ and the virtuous of the Earth will one day govern?"
At the outset, both pieces define what Christians should be about; they bring to light what it looks like to carry the name of Christ and work toward the establishment of a community ultimately governed by Christ. This is capital Religion in the public eye: the way a person's beliefs influence their actions. "Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:16 (TNIV)
The President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mahmood Ahmadi-Najad, considers how one might shine like a light from a position of authority by defending the rights of the underprivileged, defending the rights of all people around the world by not imposing wars on them, or interfering illegally in their affairs, or establishing hellish prisons to incarcerate some of them. He questions if it would be a good idea to bring the world peace and security, and tell truth to our nation and others around the world. He goes on to ask if President Bush should be on the side of the people, to serve the people, which is a leader's main task.
The Evangelical Manifesto says the same thing. It is not the duty of a Christian to put faith in and imitate the power held by Emperor Constantine but rather Jesus of Nazareth's. It is power under, "Justice was promoted by a suffering servant emptied of power and ready to die for the ends he came to achieve." Were a president to actually follow the teachings of Jesus, they may find themselves out of a job... or they may find themselves redefining what the position should look like.
There is no doubt that many Americans would be very unhappy if a president actually helped "the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow." Imagine if instead of a 700 billion dollar bail out plan, the United States enabled people all over the world to have access to clean drinking water. It would cause uproar. Or instead of raising taxes for people who make over 250 thousand dollars a year, cap it, and give the rest away to people who really need it. Or, what if America got rid of the welfare system and healthcare system and said, "okay, the new law is: everyone love your neighbour!"
This obviously would never work for real. America is not a theocracy and Americans are far too selfish. If honest moral ideals were put into place within government, and actually followed, it could work. But it never will.
Thus: application of the “power-under” idea of the Christian church. A group of people so indwelt with the gospel that they spur major movements in social change. A group of people so convinced that the prisons need reform that they would readily swap seats with the man on death row, guilty as hell. Not to prove a point, but to give life. It looks like a group of people willing to move into the ghetto and provide gentrification with justice; using their God-given talents and abilities in their business and trades to bring change to corrupted and broken neighbourhoods. It looks like a group of people who are doctors who offer free care and supplies to those unable to afford adequate care. It looks like a group of people who love their “enemies” so much that they fly to Baghdad two weeks before the bombings and embrace their brothers and sisters abroad, showing them what Christ actually looks like.
The American Church has lost its imagination. The Evangelical Manifesto conveys that American Christians have put far too much faith in political systems and leaders than in the actual teachings of Jesus to change people from the inside out: to transform lives and the world around them. Mahmood Ahmadi-Najad imagines what it might look like for a professing Christian leader to do the same thing. It could be a different world indeed.
One of the pieces is an excerpt of the Evangelical Manifesto. It is made up of several sections, which were written as a repudiation of several practices of American Evangelicalism. The manifesto starts off by reclaiming what it means "to be an Evangelical and to carry the name of Christ: to seek to be faithful to the freedom, justice, peace, and well-being that are at the heart of the kingdom of God, to bring these gifts into public life as a service to all, and to work with all who share these ideals and care for the common good." Evangelicals are to be people who are a part of a different tradition: One that brings change and social reform.
Our second piece is an Open Letter from President Mahmood Ahmadi-Najad to President Bush. In his opening, he writes: "Can one be a follower of Jesus Christ (PBUH), the great Messenger of God, feel obligated to respect human rights, present liberalism as a civilization model, announce one's opposition to the proliferation of nuclear weapons and WMDs, make 'War and Terror' his slogan, and finally, work toward the establishment of a unified international community - a community which Christ and the virtuous of the Earth will one day govern?"
At the outset, both pieces define what Christians should be about; they bring to light what it looks like to carry the name of Christ and work toward the establishment of a community ultimately governed by Christ. This is capital Religion in the public eye: the way a person's beliefs influence their actions. "Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:16 (TNIV)
The President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mahmood Ahmadi-Najad, considers how one might shine like a light from a position of authority by defending the rights of the underprivileged, defending the rights of all people around the world by not imposing wars on them, or interfering illegally in their affairs, or establishing hellish prisons to incarcerate some of them. He questions if it would be a good idea to bring the world peace and security, and tell truth to our nation and others around the world. He goes on to ask if President Bush should be on the side of the people, to serve the people, which is a leader's main task.
The Evangelical Manifesto says the same thing. It is not the duty of a Christian to put faith in and imitate the power held by Emperor Constantine but rather Jesus of Nazareth's. It is power under, "Justice was promoted by a suffering servant emptied of power and ready to die for the ends he came to achieve." Were a president to actually follow the teachings of Jesus, they may find themselves out of a job... or they may find themselves redefining what the position should look like.
There is no doubt that many Americans would be very unhappy if a president actually helped "the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow." Imagine if instead of a 700 billion dollar bail out plan, the United States enabled people all over the world to have access to clean drinking water. It would cause uproar. Or instead of raising taxes for people who make over 250 thousand dollars a year, cap it, and give the rest away to people who really need it. Or, what if America got rid of the welfare system and healthcare system and said, "okay, the new law is: everyone love your neighbour!"
This obviously would never work for real. America is not a theocracy and Americans are far too selfish. If honest moral ideals were put into place within government, and actually followed, it could work. But it never will.
Thus: application of the “power-under” idea of the Christian church. A group of people so indwelt with the gospel that they spur major movements in social change. A group of people so convinced that the prisons need reform that they would readily swap seats with the man on death row, guilty as hell. Not to prove a point, but to give life. It looks like a group of people willing to move into the ghetto and provide gentrification with justice; using their God-given talents and abilities in their business and trades to bring change to corrupted and broken neighbourhoods. It looks like a group of people who are doctors who offer free care and supplies to those unable to afford adequate care. It looks like a group of people who love their “enemies” so much that they fly to Baghdad two weeks before the bombings and embrace their brothers and sisters abroad, showing them what Christ actually looks like.
The American Church has lost its imagination. The Evangelical Manifesto conveys that American Christians have put far too much faith in political systems and leaders than in the actual teachings of Jesus to change people from the inside out: to transform lives and the world around them. Mahmood Ahmadi-Najad imagines what it might look like for a professing Christian leader to do the same thing. It could be a different world indeed.
darius rucker
ha. new cd. country.
trembling car. sparked ignition; praises. smoke danced down the street toward home. all i need are three good days away, then i'll never come back.
the small village speckled in the rearview, with one last hill, it'll disappear. music, applause, that'll clear my head thoughts. good thoughts.
whispering static. no fm. great. what's on the am?
--zzZZT--
-- ave a good night, excite---
ain't nothin but a hou--
---ust in jesus to forgive you from y---
finally, a weather station. "goodbye hurricane! come bustin' doors, never believed it'd be over this fast. torn down three buildings since yesterday. first downed he---"
buzzing. lights from the passenger seat. a picture.
i wonder who it is... i'll check. no, i can't. i never liked it there.
new phase
how come i didn't know? why didn't they tell me? i'm actually quite angry. the fresh city near my house has closed. i had no idea...i should have a clever metaphor for telling you how i feel about this. unfortunately, i don't. but i do have a story. or at least a story about a story.
as i may have mentioned before: i have a new typewriter. this thing is fantastic. i'm currently in the process of writing a sassy piece of text on it. my goal: to explain santa claus.
more updates soon.
it happens about once a year. i update my blog's theme. it happened a lot last year. i wish i had some screenshots to show you. but i'm liking this one currently. it's funky, albeit a little dated. but that's kind of what i like about it i think. anywho, let me know what your thoughts are.
dollar store snacks
are off the hook, yo.
let me ask you a question:
have you ever wished you could go back to when you were xx years old with all that you know now?yes?
well... not me.
have you ever had to repeat a class that you understood everything, but my not have gotten a great grade? i think repeating life with "what we know now" would be like it. i think it would be incredibly boring. part of the excellence in life is the discovery of new things... while we could definitely discover things if we were to live life again with a cursory knowledge of events, we may be constantly trying so hard not to make a mistake that we'd fail to enjoy it the second time around.
or perhaps, we'd be so fast-tracked through life, being a six year old in college, because we're unable to enjoy kindergarten because it's so far below us, that we'd miss out on a lot of life experiences we would have had otherwise. life as a genius might be nice if you want climb intellectually, but it doesn't suit the majority of us who aren't intellectuals.
anywho, just thoughts.
would you go back with all you know now?
i've been surprised
by a few things, but one stands out in particular at this moment: the amount of famous vegetarians there are. check out the more notable ones, and also the A-Z list.
i begin to write
phrases so simple they could only compose a piece of a larger symphony. the sound swells around me. growing, evolving revolution to my ears. the swaying rhythms run helter-skelter only to discover i am in tune with a greater universe. something spiritual is in the room with me.when i open my eyes to the world awake,
i feel a need. a need to create.
something has been occurring to me recently. humankind not only has an innate ability to create, but also we have something placed deep within us that kindles the desire.
as creatures, we naturally externalise. not only do we create in our heads, but we also create outside of ourselves. we create art and compose music, we write books on philosophy and religion, we travel the world and share our experiences, we broadcast our ideas of God and the greater cosmos, and we form societies and cultures. all of this happens within ourselves and moves outward. all of this happens in community.
any person remaining in solitude will eventually go mad. this is not a traditional descent to madness, but rather the need to externalize becomes so strong that one begins to seek externalisation from inexternalisable objects. (1) there is a natural need within us for community. if we cannot find it, we seek to create it.
i have been learning that God is, God has been, and God will be. within this, i am discovering that God exists around us, outside of us, and within us. christian theologians say that God has three parts. this is known as the trinity. as best as i can impart: God can be described as the perfect unity of the father, son, and the holy sprit, who exist altogether equal as God. just one part would not be enough to describe all of who God is.
i believe we have a necessity to externalise because every human individual has the image of God built inside them. any interaction with another person is a sacred treasure. this is why our greatest commands are to love God and to love our neighbour. (2) these cannot be separated. it would make sense that someone would descend to madness if they had no interaction with the visible image of God built into other people.
follow me as we take a significant leap:
God knew to give us the command to love our neighbour, because God, in creating us, knew that we would need this interaction. (3) while we are commanded to love and serve the people around us, it is even more basically a command to have people around us. when we disobey the command to be relational, our worlds fall apart. we cannot begin to love God if we cannot begin to love our neighbour.
(1) wilson the volleyball in the movie castaway.
(2) deut 6:5, lev 19:18
(3) in the biblical creation account: adam had no suitable helper, so God created one for him. Gen 2:18
happy for a purpose
the click-clack of keys under fingers, as lines conclude, resonating ping. what satisfaction sound amplified.needful to say: today, i got my first typewriter.
it's deeply romantic. i can't wait to type my first major works.
it's deeply romantic. i can't wait to type my first major works.
hi, i'm a pc
i'm also a mac.and i drive a subaru.
conclusion:
subaru drivers are adaptable and diverse.
cereal boxes and the toys inside them
i think it would be interesting to note that i have my own action figure. yes. but i also realize that there is also a need to appropriate an explanation. for this, i will shortly do. for some time, my shocking similarities to jeff goldblum have been compared. while i am quite flattered by the comparison, i must say that while we are similar in that we are both famous actors, incredibly good looking, fashionable, great at cooking, a hit with the ladies, and real life action heros: he and i don't carry much similarity having to do with appearance.now, one might argue: hey, you both wear glasses, have dark hair, and share some other physical characteristics. to which, i would reply: the eyes are the greatest center for similarity in facial features, goldbum and i do not share the same eye shape, eye color, or even eyelash color and density. how, i wouldn't compare olson to any of the members in the swedish band abba, just because they share the same eye color... now, i recognize that there are some similarities, as i have stated, however, none that are convincing enough. for the sake of this argument, i created an account with MyHeritage.com and had them analyze some photographs and prepare a celebrity look-a-likes. i gave them pictures of myself both with glasses on and with them off. the results are slightly different both times. it would be important to note that goldblum never came up. not once. i've uploaded several of the examples here:
youtube
youtube is pretty much always a safe medium for finding worship songs to share with people so they can learn them for leading worship. the only problem with them is that occasionally... actually... more often than not, they can be really cheesy. i think the majority of the time, this is okay, but then i realize that most of the videos as the authors have commented on, "have been shown in church." i'm not getting contentious, at least i'm not trying to... i'm just speaking my mind. take a look at some of the images from a more recent video:
i'm not sure if this is illegal...
"because salvation is by grace through faith, i believe that among the countless number of people standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palms in their hands (revelation 7:9), i shall see the prostitute from the kit-kat ranch in carson city, nevada, who tearfully told me she could find no other employment to support her two-year-old son. I shall see the woman who had an abortion and is haunted by guilt and remorse but did the best she could faced with grueling alternatives; the businessman besieged with debt who sold his integrity in a series of desperate transactions; the insecure clergyman addicted to being liked, who never challenged his people from the pulpit and longed for unconditional love; the sexually-abused teen molested by his father and now selling his body on the street, who, as he falls asleep each night after his last 'trick,' whispers the name of the unkown God he learned about in sunday school; the deathbed convert who for decades had his cake and ate it, broke every law of God and man, wallowed in lust and raped the earth.
'but how?' we ask. then the voice says, 'they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.'
there they are. there we are - the multitude who so wanted to be faithful, who at times got defeated, soiled by life, and bested by trials, wearing the bloodied garments of life's tribulations, but through it all clung to the faith.
my friends, if this is not good news to you, you have never understood the gospel of grace."
-brennan manning, the ragamuffin gospel
today at school,
I watched a film that was released to scare Americans. the whole purpose: to make them fear Muslims. I will link to this later when I get on my computer. not only does it breed religious intolerance but it also does a fair job of putting all Muslims at an extreme with its large collection of unfounded facts. it would be important for americans to remember that muslims have died protecting the so called freedoms of this country. while I don't agree with war, I think that the people who do need to really figure out who their enemies actually are. most of the time it's probably not other Americans. again I'll add links later and maybe a compelling picture or two.
movie website
sightings article about the move
an interesting contrast
this kind of things gets to me because i don't view differences as being a bad thing. it's an opportunity to broaden our horizons and learn about something new, or see the world through another set of eyes. it can be transformative.
the rebuttal
so, what makes a subaru a mac? several things:
longevity and sustainability. subarus have a reputation for lasting almost forever. most owners get over 200,000 miles out of their cars. The same car that a person had all through college, grad school, and now into their new marriage. Macs have the same kind of reputation. Jeff, don't you still have the one that you used in college? Isn't it carrying through gradschool and into your marriage? granted, it smells like feet, but it lasted. and not only that, it's still useful.
unique features. all of subaru's vehicles are all wheel drive. now, this is different from four wheel drive, where all the wheels have equal power, which tends to lower fuel economy drastically. all wheel drive means that there is a computer present that controls power to all four wheels. when it senses that one wheel, or a side of wheels isn't getting the traction it should be (like when it hits a puddle or a patch of ice) it gives more power to those wheels. on highways, it gives more power to the front wheels to promote fuel economy. It is the most advanced driving system available. All macs come with the ilife suite and osx leopard. no other company does this. leopard is the most advanced operating system currently available, and offers a slew of features right out of the box that no one else offers.
customer loyalty and brand recognition. subaru and mac owners are both extremely loyal to their cars and computers. they have pride in them and will tell anyone about them. they realize how great they are and want to tell the world. on top of that, everyone recognizes when a car is a subaru. they have a distinct look that isn't found in any other automobile. the same goes for mac.
while volkswagens may be fantastic cars, german engineered, and have a certain feel to them, subarus are far more friendly and accessible. anyone can drive a subaru... under any weather conditions. sounds a lot like how macs work... no viruses or spyware or adware.
you decide what you think. i'm gonna keep sipping on my pumpkin spice latte, while throwing my macbook pro into my subaru and driving off into the sunset. yea, that's right. the sunset.
ha!
7:21:11 PM lauren rae: funny story-7:21:17 PM steve carroll: ?
7:21:31 PM lauren rae: i just got dinner with my friend emily, who's from ri, went to lincoln with me, and she asked what i was doing over fall break
7:21:37 PM lauren rae: i started rambling off our list
[in no particular order:
coffee
chuck taylor shopping
sweater shopping
savers and salvation army shopping
maccers milkshakes
vegetarian restaurant in providence
nick and norah's infinite playlist (possibly)
cloves
baking an apple cake]
7:22:03 PM lauren rae: and she was like, "you're going to these places and doing these things with who?"
7:22:11 PM lauren rae: (this was after [i told her we're baking] the apple cake)
7:22:16 PM lauren rae: i said "my friend steve.
7:22:30 PM lauren rae: and she said, "who is... what?"
7:22:44 PM lauren rae: i didn't get it and she said
7:22:54 PM lauren rae: "gay? in the closet? just really loves to shop and bake?"
7:22:55 PM lauren rae: hahahaha
7:23:00 PM steve carroll: hahaha
7:23:02 PM lauren rae: i thought it was funny, at least
7:23:09 PM steve carroll: i love it
7:23:41 PM lauren rae: i guess vegetarian restaurants, cappucino, sweaters, nick and norah, apple cake, and cloves does paint an interesting picture
7:23:43 PM steve carroll: did you mention i'm a snappy dresser
7:24:19 PM lauren rae: well i mentioned the shopping and that you love clothes, yeah
7:28:11 PM lauren rae: she's a riot- you'd like her
tough tuesdays
boyd and piper?:In spite of their deep reverence to each other, Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore engaged in protracted debates more than once. These debates exemplify the philosophical differences between the two most famous Indians at the time. On 15 January 1934, an earthquake hit Bihar and caused extensive damage and loss of life. Gandhi maintained this was because of the sin committed by upper caste Hindus by not letting untouchables in their temples (Gandhi was committed to the cause of improving the fate of untouchables, referring to them as Harijans, people of Krishna). Tagore vehemently opposed Gandhi's stance, maintaining that an earthquake can only be caused by natural forces, not moral reasons, however repugnant the practice of untouchability may be.[50]
(wikipedia - gandhi)
reading
i've been doing a ton of reading lately. and i'm learning things.i'm learning about malcom x and martin luther king junior
i'm learning about how hip hop became a political party
i'm learning about how we're all religious. yes, even atheists.
i'm learning about the supreme court, economics, and presidential candidates.
i'm learning about religious belief.
i'm learning about religious purpose.
i'm learning about american civil religion.
i'm learning about how religion happened.
i'm learning about freedom, and what it means to not have to go back to egypt.
i'm learning about the african american civil rights movement.
i'm learning about privelege, wealth, power, and possessions.
i'm learning about people entering into the kingdom of God.
i've also been doing a lot of thinking about the things i'm learning.
i'm learning about how being right isn't always profitable.
i'm learning about my friends.
i'm learning about mandolin.
i'm learning about guitar.
i'm learning about a lot of things.
and i'm really excited.
and i'm really excited to have the capacity to learn.
and to understand.
and to breathe new things in.
all the time.
:_steve
sententiae completae
"Well, let's see. There's, of course, in the great history of America rulings there have been rulings, that's never going to be absolute consensus by every American" (source)-Sarah Palin (when asked if there have been any other supreme court rulings she has disagreed with besides roe vs. wade)
hmmm... there were a bunch of supreme court rulings during the jim crow era that were pretty intolerable...(Dred Scott v. Sandford or Plessy v. Ferguson ) but i'll give her some credit, she wasn't alive.
BUT WAIT! she was only nine years old when roe vs. wade passed... so, she must not have understood really what it was until later. (quick side note: she probably enjoyed the fact that the crime rate dropped - "It wasn't gun control or a strong economy or new police strategies that finally blunted the American crime wave. It was, among other factors, the reality that the pool of potential criminals had dramatically shrunk" (Levitt and Dubner, p. 6). - read freakonomics and visit their blog, it's choc full of controversial topics and descriptions (also important to note, i love life)) but i'm sure in her u.s. history class (11 and 12 grade) she would have learned about other monumental cases in american history. but for some reason they just didn't come to mind.
hmm... so i'm thinking (maybe a little too harsh here) but to only have the supreme court decision about roe vs. wade on her list of questionable rulings is a bit privileged. highly privileged it also shows that she probably hasn't looked at many other supreme court cases. so because of that 'privilege' she probably hasn't taken the time to actually consider other issues. like civil rights issues. and immigration issues. but mccain's probably going to be around for awhile, so we're not going to have to worry about her becoming president if he gets elected.
(okay, so this is a tad scathing, but i think i'm going to post it anyways...)
oh, by the way, it's worth it to follow the links. (they contain easter eggs)
going to church doesn't make you a christian any more than going to macdonalds makes you a hamburger
i've always enjoyed mackers. so satisfying. but i never was a hamburger. check out the screenshot of the salvation army site. it's especially awesome cuz i'm co-leading a study on acts this semester. i dig it.
the door to nowheresville
i've always said that drugs are a ticket to nowheresville. i don't know where i got that saying... probably television, since it has the propensity to ruin great minds. obviously, it got to me. shucks.anywho, my point is... is that there is a key on my desk that the realtor gave us, and i have no idea where it goes. but i don't want to give it back, in hopes that i'll find out what it's true purpose is. joe and i have tried all the locks in our house, even the dead bolt, and it doesn't fit. it probably belongs to someone else. but i still have hope.
i've been thinking a lot in metaphors and comparisons recently. i think this relates to my attitude towards hoarding. i say i don't like the idea of it, yet i continue to pile, pile, pile things i don't need. will never use. it's not like i've never used them... i have... but my interest or liking for them has expired. it's kind of like this key. i'm going to grow out of searching for where it goes, in fact, i kind of already have. yet i keep it, because one day i hope i'll use it. i need to find a salvos down in this area...
iced cream novelties
there were several things in our house when we first moved in, including pots and pans and all the regular stuff you get when you rent a property that's usually occupied during the summer. but what we weren't expecting was what was in the freezer.a personal pizza and some iced cream sandwiches. now, for those who know me, you'll know that one of my favourite things in the world is those iced cream sandwiches at stop and shop... you know, the ones where you get like... 24 for 3 dollars or something like that. to start, it's a huge bargain, and i have a hard time passing up a huge bargain. and to finish, i love iced cream sandwiches. so you combine the two and you get an over processed delicious frozen treat. good during any time of the year.
now, you'll get some people who eat their iced cream sandwiches differently. i take them out of the wrapper and throw the rapper away right away. it's important to do that. that way i get the chocolate of the sandwich stuck to my fingers. it's the best part, having to kind of slide it off my fingers with my teeth. it's very satisfying. if you haven't tried it yet, i would recommend. also, on a side not, did you know david crowder is a vegetarian?
and then i just take bites. my friend julie likes to take the top cookie off first and eat it, then eat the rest. i think that's a bit too complicated. but they say there's no wrong way to eat a reese's.
let's go.
and so goes the toy car: [vroom!]
i've been using my old math notebook as a disguise for my writings. if you can fan through last years calculus equations, you might end up with something.i haven't been doing much writing recently. any... actually. so this weekend i've been doing a lot. mostly music. i haven't written music before. i've done lyrics. but now i'm working on progressions and whatnot. once i get decent on guitar, i might have some interesting songs, although lyrically i think i need some work. ah well... that's what i get for mixing christian music, jam band, rap, and pop music during the early days of listening to music. uninspired lyrics.. and regular progressions.
i've been getting into it a lot though. my sabbath is almost over though, so it's back to the daily grind soon. which is okay. i find that i work harder during the week when i have something to look forward to. it was great. i got to sleep in nice and late... i made dinner. whole wheat rigatoni with a tomato vodka cause and zuccini. i made homemade ginger ale yesterday. next time i'll use less sugar, it's a bit sweet.
i'm learning a lot more about myself having to live in a house, rather than relying on uri to cook me all of my meals. I LOVE TO COOK. i hate doing dishes. i don't like getting my hands wet. is that weird?
i'm learning that salvation army is one of the best places to shop. why didn't i know this sooner? we got so much stuff for our house there... muffin tins, measuring cups, teflon coated pans (practically brand new) and some authentic looking popcorn cups, which are awesome. i was greeted by a friendly surprise in our closet today too. our landlady has good sense. she bought our ironing board at salvation army. only 5 dollars. i can dig it.
i was in salvos a few days ago. someone was buying an old navy shirt there that was just, "too cute." unfortunately, this shirt didn't have a salvos price tag on it, it still had the old navy tags, and according to store policy, they can't sell it unless they've priced it. and store policy says they can't price it until the next day if a customer brings it up to the register and it hasn't been priced yet. the next day. i think this is an okay policy. the customer didn't. she offered to pay the full price, which of course, was against store policy. they could put it on hold for her. she was shocked that they wouldn't just take the full price for it. she really wanted the shirt.
i realized some things through this interaction. first off... i don't really like wearing clothes with labels. second... if i ever stumble across something without a price tag on it that i want, i'd probably let them know.
there are some things i just don't need. i think it'd be weird to give stuff to a salvos by my house, cuz i think i'd go buy some of the stuff back. would it be too much to wonder if that's kind of what God does with us? who knows... it's probably not the most adequate metaphor. feel free to think about it.
i've been reading a lot recently. on thursday i went on the david crowder band website and read some of the stuff david's written. it's pretty insightful stuff. and funny. he's a good writer. good writing comes from experience i think. but then there's hannah clarkin. and some others, but she's the first person who popped into my head when i thought bout good writing.
i received bell's new book in the mail yesterday. i haven't had the gumption yet to start it. i feel that way with most books i think... especially scripture. or books about scripture. for some reason, it always lights me, and i get really excited about it when i start reading, but i have a really hard time getting going on my own.
this has been a stream of consciousness.
light bulbs.
tough tuesdays
because it is tuesday, and not the day after, or a few days after... i decided to beat olson to the punch. so in showing you this, i need you to realize that it was especially difficult. also know that it's due tomorrow afternoon, so i feel good about finishing it early. :)as a little background information, i'm taking a sociology of religion course. it's challenging in a lot of ways, but not in any of the ways i would have thought, i'm actually enjoying learning a lot of the theories and ideas that sociologists place on religion, but i'm realizing that "small r religion" that defines the purpose of religion, and brackets the religious beliefs and practices to push them aside, really doesn't get at anything thought provoking. it just is.
*edit* nearing the end of the semester now... i realize how thought provoking it actually has been, and how life giving to my faith it has been. incredible what God can use to draw me nearer to him.
so, without further delay, my assignment was to decide if the phrase "shit happens" expresses an essentially religious disposition toward the world or not, and to develop an argument that supported my decision. so, here it is:
Theodicy’s purpose is to defend the goodness of the reality that is above, behind, and within the humanly constructed normal world. It is a guardian against disarray and confusion because it serves to explain that the confusion has a greater purpose. It gives meaning for the abnormal, un-expectable or “shattering events”* within the normal. “The arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice”[King] is a theodicy. The epigram, “shit happens,” is a theodicy as well. Theodicy is innately religious.
Of course questions of the true purpose of the statement, “shit happens,” may arise. On the surface it is a crass statement with a casual attitude, bordering carefree. Digging deeper, an argument must be presented to its implicit meaning: things happen outside of society’s control, consequentially, business as usual. Theodicy begins its work with the statement, ‘things happen outside of society’s control,’ and guarantees its effectiveness with the word, ‘consequentially,’ which afterward, shows the outcome of theodicy successfully carried out. The main aim of theodicy is not to offer consolation, but explanation. Consolation will naturally follow as long as theodicy is successful. Behold, the full package of theodicy carried out: [r]eligion.
[r]eligion in supplying its purpose, “provides comfort in the face of shattering events.” One must keep in mind both that this comfort is not ‘being comfortable,’ and that these shattering events have ‘symbolic power.’ Comfort maintains that people feel safe and secure, a sense that things really can and will go back to normal, which can also be described synonymously, as “comfort in the face of threats to meaningful ongoingness.” Using symbolic power instills events with representative meaning or characterizes something abstract with something concrete. Put simply: symbols are metaphors, while power gives them significance.
Shattering events must always have metaphors and explanation, otherwise the precarious humanly constructed normal world, nomos, shifts into an abnormal state which humans cannot control, anomy. If religion is world maintenance, then anomy is world destruction, the great enemy of religion. Anomy is the threat to meaning, theodicy is the saviour of that meaning. Theodicy operates as a guardian against anomy, drawing its power directly from the cosmos: the reality that is above, behind, and within the nomos. When theodicy does its job, it ensures meaning to the nomos.
But, “shit happens,” and a descent to anomy begins. Just as society created the nomos, it created the meaning within reality, the cosmos, as well. Berger postulates, “Religion implies the farthest reach of man’s self-externalization, of his infusion of reality with his own meanings … Put differently, religion is the audacious attempt to conceive of the entire universe as being humanly significant.”[28]
When “shit happens”, society as a whole does not say, “we created the norm, and the cosmos, so we are doomed, because there is actually no nonhuman way of explaining this.” Instead, something entirely different happens. People forget. They forget they created the cosmos and start to rely on it for support, theodicy is put into action, and world maintenance can continue. The nomos can be restored.
Alienation allows the cosmos to repair the nomos. When society forgets it has made the cosmos, the nomos can be repaired. The nomos and the cosmos are bound together by a relationship between them called legitimation, or shared meaning. The cosmos gives meaning to the nomos, and the nomos gives meaning to the cosmos. Society is alienated from the nomos, “because that is just the way things are,” and so things continue as normal.
The epigram is religious. “Shit happens”, shows alienation of both the cosmos and nomos, because “that is just the way things are.” Because of alienation it becomes a theodicy, to offer solution to the cosmos, serving as a guardian against anomy, and promoting world maintenance, allowing things to progress normally.
Works Cited
* concepts discussed in class as part of lecture notes will receive only quotation marks as their indication to an outside source.
Berger, Peter L. The Sacred Canopy : Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion. New York: Anchor Canada, 1988.
batman
i saw batman this weekend after the open house. adrienne came. it was fun. :)such an awesome movie. so many biblical parallels. and the joker was a terrifying character. i've been waiting for this for awhile. it's refreshing to have such a great movie on the map. and it's batman.
pwhooshaw!
-steve
jklasji12!!!!!
if you haven't been to my summer blog yet... shame on you.but no, really, it's okay... it's on the sidebar to the <--LEFT
i'm having a good summer. this blog won't be updated much, as that one is the primary blog for this summer. we're having our sabbath now... which i was originally going to use for posting on the summer blog, but you know... i'd rather not do camp stuff right now. so i don't think i'm going to.
this was me
aaaand, this is what i looked like a year ago... after almost a full summer of camp. i love this picture cuz i was laughing too hard to be taken seriously. check it. fo' real.i don't think many people have seen this picture... i know adrienne probably hasn't.
let me clear my throat
sometimes my mouse is jumpy. it'll hop from one side of the screen to the other, and suddenly all my windows with expose, or shrink to the edges of the screen. sometimes, since i'm using two monitors, it will jump to the other monitor, and i'll have no idea where the mouse went. yes, i know. it's crazy.i have the other monitor. but i hardly ever use it.
i wonder if it's okay to drink the water in the bathroom. it tastes kinda funny. or maybe it's just me. the bathroom in my house has this great big bowl to drink out of. if you pull the handle, you get fresh new water. sometimes i put shampoo in it and wash my hair. i always pull the handle twice before drinking it after that though. who knows what kind of gross things are in shampoo?
three mac programs jeff and lisa need
today was great. i woke up. ate breakfast. took a three hour nap. then started my day when my mom called.after we went to lunch and got the gps, i went to visit adrienne for a bit, before heading up to jeff and lisa's to meet papa bannon and becca. we all went up to the after school arts gallery/showing... it was pretty awesome. there were performances from all of the arts taught at the afterschool program. i was very impressed by their progress. man, it was awesome, and lots of fun too. afterwards, we went to jeff and lisa's for some key lime pie, u2 concert watching, and track mixing for our demo.
but when i used their macbook to research some potential affordable solar power options... i realized the absence of a few key mac programs.
quicksilver
it's a do-it-all application launcher. actually, it's so much more than that, but it does that, and even more. you push a keyboard combination (very simple, mine is apple+spacebar) and as a window pops up, you start to type an application name, website, whatever, and when you hit enter, it launches said application/website/whatever. you can even use it to resize a whole load of images if you're especially saavy. a mac user must have.
sidenote
it's exactly what it says... a window that is docked on the side of your screen that enables you to take quick notes, and then hide it away. i've got mine set up with universal hotkeys for quick showing and hiding in any situation. you can even drag images or links from websites into it to save them for later. it's quite handy. i use it when preparing for bible studies, or typing up quick prayer requests.
tube tv
open it up and type in a webpage with a video on it that you'd like to have in your itunes, and it automatically converts them for it. it's easy. you barely have to do anything. you can download youtube videos, as well as videos from practically anywhere else as well.
anywho, there are a lot more sweet mac apps out there. but try those three out. they're awesome.
hartford
i'm leaving for hartford in less than a week to go work in the city with youth. i will be living in a house with some other people, doing ministry with them. as far as specific details go, i'm not really sure what exactly i'm doing there. but i'm excited for it nonetheless.but to be honest, although misleading, this post really isn't about hartford. it's about something new that i just found out about.
today, my mom took me to lunch, and then to bestbuy to get a gps. i could have used one for quite some time now, as i do have the tendency to get lost... but have been putting it off. but since i didn't have to pay for it... why not? it's a useful device.
i was reading online today about this new thing... kind of a sport/hobby/activity, called geocaching. it's actually pretty awesome. i think i'm going to try it out before leaving for hartford. it could prove to be an interesting thing to do on the uri campus. i wonder if there are any geocachers at uri. anywho... if you ever want to go on an adventure like this when i get back from hartford... let me know. it could be a lot of fun. or none. but adventure nonetheless.
it's two days post birthday
so now it's wednesday. and as the title says, it's two days past my birthday. but my birthday really isn't over yet. i feel like i've been attending parties since the surprise one a few days ago.adrienne and i celebrated my birthday with my dad on monday. (which was my actual birthday) we went to a barbecue at my dad's friend's house. (who also happens to be his boss) it was cool. we had cake. we sang songs. we ate vegan burgers and grilled veggies. it was good to spend some time with my dad. i'll probably see him once more before i go off to hartford.
tuesday, i got lunch with rob. it was good, i haven't seen him in awhile. afterwards i went and got flowers for adrienne to surprise her, but she wasn't home... and i didn't have any water to put them in, and the doors were locked. so i figured i'd just fill up one of the empty flower pots in her yard with water from the hose. hose no worky. so i went around back thinking maybe the door was open there, but it wasn't. however, i did spot some outdoor chairs with water puddles still on them. it rained yesterday morning.
i poured the water from one of the chairs into the pot, but as soon as i had drained all the water from the chair, the pot started leaking... i forgot there were holes. duh. anywho, i decided i'd go to the coffee shop down the street and get a bottle of water or something. but then i found a bottle in my car and used that to hold the water logged in the second chair instead. i then arranged the flowers in the bottle and left it on the steps for adrienne. i decided to go to the coffee shop anyway.
i ran into a few friends there. and lloyd, who i didn't recognize without his hat, so i didn't say hello. he ended up coming to adrienne's house and i saw him there anywho. after that a bunch of us went to jeff and lisa's to hang out with the bannons for a band and fanbase night. gotta show our fans we're real people too; we're not just rockstars.
all in all, it was a great day. turns out my friend amanda would trade many things important to her in order to keep dolphins alive. i didn't know she was so passionate about the not so fishies.
SURPRISE! (well, kind of)
i had the most perfect surprise birthday [party] yesterday. it was wonderful.many a month ago, i asked for a surprise party. so a few days ago olson calls me up to go catch a movie on saturday (yesterday) we went to see indiana jones, the new one. it was good, but only really because it was indiana jones. as a movie, not as good. but anywho, we went to pick up lisa afterward, cuz she and jeff had to take off to go to a small gathering at a friends house right after jeff dropped me off. right as we're pulling up to my house, i see stephen ferguson in my front yard.
surprise party.
it was sweet.
and the perfect amount of people, and the right combination of people. we ate, a lot. we broke open a pinata. we sang songs. well maybe no songs. but it was great.
indiana jones, 6 stars out of 10.
hanging out with friends for a night. off the charts. there are some things money can't buy. but for everything else, there's mastercard.
book store
maybe there's a job out there for me at a bookstore where i tell people about all the books i love that they should read. i'd be terrible working at a regular bookstore i think, because i'm a bum at organization. i'm good at it when i want to be, or when there's a structure to follow (aka, alphabetical order by author) but i'm not fond at doing it very much... far too tedious.i was in barnes and noble today. i bought a new journal and something for my lady. can't tell you what it is. she might find out. :) the journal is cool... it reminds me of a bible. leather bound with a bookmark string. they had ones with silver edge pages, thin like bible pages too, but those were over 20 bucks each. i don't need to spend that much on a journal. 12 was even pushing it.
it's been hard holding off buying little things i want. my birthday's coming up, and the majority of the little things i want are on my birthday list, but i'm miserable at waiting for anything. it's okay though. it's only in a few days. but i have no idea when the party is. what did i get myself into?
it this was were today them
mixed up and jumbled title? i know. but it's okay. i had a full day today. it was a blot of fun all over. :) anywho, here's the general overview:woke up. probably later than i was expecting to, but i don't remember what time exactly. watched the golden compass. i thought it was well done, but not as good as i remember the books being when i read them growing up. after that i brushed my teeth and went upstairs with the purpose of getting a breakfast/lunch. my mom needed help with photoshop stuff for an assignment, and i exchanged my services for a (oh man, so good) grilled cheese and tomato sandwish (yes sandwish... it was that good) and an empire apple.
anywho, i helped her out with that, but i still had some fundraiser stuff to mail out, the post office was closing soon, so i brought the stuff i needed to mail, along with my netflix movie to the post office. i had the idea to stop by the church to pay a visit to people there, rob, jeff, lyle, any of the teens in the worship band who would be practicing, and kevin. i ended up seeing all of them. and rob's new son... he's amazing.
but anywho, i ended up going upstairs, and they asked me if i wanted to hang out and play drums for the nite. i said, "sure" and i had a lot of fun. probably the most fun i've had playing drums at church in awhile. it was really cool being able to just jam out and not have to think about anything else except that it was great that i could give it my all and not have to worry about being too loud or playing something wrong. it's a freeing feeling. being in studio for a week and having my drums set up has made a big improvement on my playing as of late... i've actually been able to sit down any play.
anyways, enough tangent. after that i went out with zach and lexie to fresh city, then to starbucks (no coffee, don't worry) i ordered a carnival cookie (you know, the giant one with chocolate chips and loads of m&ms) the baristas found it hilarious that i called them carnival cookies and didn't stop laughing about it for a significant amount of time. they were still laughing after i had sat down and was halfway through the cookie. also, fresh city makes a delicious organic hummus and veggie sandwich. very delicious.
it was great to see a ton of people today. i was desiring substantial human interaction. i've been like that all week... which is weird, cuz i'm an introvert to a large extent, but i go through spurts where i feel like if i'm not around people or doing something, i'll explode. it was good to have some interaction today, and really good to see the people that i got to see. i was glad to hear how they were doing, and catch up at least a little bit on their lives, since the majority of them i haven't seen since christmas break, or last summer.
anywho, i may go to bed now, being with people makes me asleepy. nite.
how was i out of the loop?
a new look
so... my blogger look has been messed up for quiet awhile now, at least on my end... mainly because i had done something stupid with classic templates awhile back (trying to do everything via html) and messed something up big. i finally, today... figured out how to reverse it. none of my quick buttons were working (like the email one, or quick edit) annoying. now they work. problem solved. anywho, rents got back from france today, they took a lot of pictures. my birthday is in a week. kinda crazy.
wow
so recording is all done and people for the most part are out of my house... it's an odd feeling having it to myself again. anywhos, i'm headed over to adrienne's new house in a couple of minutes to pick her up and go to dinner at panera. i'll come back here afterward to clean up a bit and set up my stuff for living here for the next few weeks before leaving again.speaking of leaving and hartford stuff... my hartford blog got marked as a spam blog today, and i had to request review in order for it to be opened back up again. lame. i guess it's a good thing i haven't sent out that email yet, letting people know about my adventures and whatnot. will do that in a couple of days when it's back online...
anyways, off to adrienne's.
to the turnaround
a few posts back, i commented on how i feel like i'm at a flux. or maybe i didn't post it, but i definitely did write about it on my livejournal. i'm obviously kidding, only about the livejournal though. :).the summer has now actually begun. i've been at my house with chris bannon for the past week and it's been awesome. we've been recording saint soren's new ep. yes, that's right. it's hot and cookin'. my parents have been away for about a week in france now, they come back on saturday... but until then, it's jam city folks. jam city. anyways, we've got five tracks laid and they're sounding pretty smooth. i dig em.
in other news, i finally finished all my fund-raising setup (albeit a tad late) for my missionary work this summer in hartford, connecticut with hartford city missions. i'm excited to say the least. i started a new blog about it here, it's also in my links section if you'd like to check it out later.
cloverfield
so, this movie. i'm not gonna lie: kinda boring. also very short. i just saw it tonite. i'm usually not a scary movie kind of person, but on the recommendation of a few friends, i decided to rent it from netflix. i started watching it on my computer, and after about 20 minutes was extremely motion sick. i decided to take a break and finish it after grabbing a snack. so that's what i did. yea, i wasn't that impressed. it's a cool concept, but it left me kind of... well... hanging. figures. the guys who made lost made this movie. cloverfield 2 perhaps? who knows? i won't go see it, maybe i'll rent it. if it's like this one all handcammy i definitely won't go see it. anywho, to rate it... 3/5 stars. that's on an 7 star scale too. i know... it was good, the characters were genuinely frightened, and behaved in ways that i would expect if those situations actually happened. so yea.... 3/5.
musak
so death cab has matured so much as a band, but a lot of it has to do with gibbard at lead. it feels like he's finally discovered that he has a voice. also, the lyrics to their new songs are so much better, a lot of times when listening to transatlanticism i think to myself, "wow, he could honestly sing... anything... and it would go" but this cd, the lyrics feel well placed and intentional. just as on the opening track:I descended a dusty gravel ridge
Beneath the Bixby Canyon Bridge
Until I eventually arrived
At the place where your soul had died
Barefoot in the shallow creek
I grab some stones from underneath
And waited for you to speak to me
In the silence it became so very clear
That you had long ago disappeared
And I cursed myself for being surprised
That this didn't play like it did in my mind
All the way from San Francisco
As I chased the end of your rope
'Cause I've still got miles to go
And I want to know my fate
If I keep up this way
And it's hard to want to stay
Away
When everyone you meet
They all seem to be asleep
And you wonder if you're missing your dream
You can't see your dream
You can't see your dream
You just can't see your dream
A dream
And then it started getting dark
And I trudged back to where the car was parked
No closer to any kind of truth
As I must assume was the case with you
a constant reminder
and yet again, i am reminded of the reason that i play music.tonight i went to a death cab show with a very large group of friends. it was... incredible. they're such unbelievably gifted musicians.
how great is the God that made us in His image? i can't know, but it's okay.
huh, who would have thought?
now who would have thought from the start of this blog that there would be posts about men's fashion. i certainly didn't. but today, i'd like to talk about men's overalls. according to wikipedia, "an overall is a type of garment which is usually used as protective clothing when working. overalls have sometimes been items of fashion, especially in the 1990s." personally, i can't figure out why they ever went out of style. they're sexy. i mean, a clothing item commonly worn by toddlers is bound to catch some lady's eye... right?
could this be problem?
i'm very tempted to think that there is a typo with this advertisement. with the way it is written there, it sounds as if it's typed the same way borat might say it.
and i said to myself...
..."why haven't they always made chips this way?" they'd be especially good for dipping with the rounded edge; it just makes more sense.
i cry every time i watch this
... but i don't cry because its especially moving. it's a 2 minute long commercial, usually placed during the commercial slots for fresh prince when it's on during the wee hours of the evening. anyways, i'm not meaning to come off cynical, but it's such a terrible commercial in a lot of ways. think about it. anyways, here it is:
make an an 80s cocktail sarge...
hey, i can't embed this since it's been disabled. but you click the link and it goesvid 1 (with bubbles)
vid 2 (sans bubbles)
it is the morning and i am glad
today is a new day, where outside my window there is sun bright sun. and this makes me happy. i learned something new recently about the weather as well.it turns out that if we want our mood to be improved by good weather, we have to be outside in it for at least 30 minutes. i know, crazy. anyways, classes are done, this is our first reading day and life is good.
and are the content does it continue to get more good?
i wonder if i'll be laughing at my macbook pro 50 years from now...
you'll never guess what i did afterwards
it's almost friday. this class ends and it's practically here. i'm on call tonite and tomorrow nite, but i'm not gonna let that get in the way of my weekend fun! it's almost here! yay!so, in a week, i've got this huge assignment due for poetry: i have to pick a poem from a list of poems that are about poetry. then i have to pick 15 poems from all the poems we have read this semester that i believe to meet this criteria and write a ten papge paper on it. with title page. with full works cited. basically, this means i'm going to turn in my rough draft as a final copy.
we did our presentation today. "they feed they lion" by philip levine was a huge topic. really, the only poem i read and really wanted to know more about. i enjoyed it.
and the story continues with a twist
i find it easy to ignore quiet people. i'm sitting in poetry and people are doing presentations. but hearing them is difficult, and now i'm tuning them out. maybe this is why i prefer more abrasive and loud teachers. or maybe i... just... like whatever... who knows?
there's a lonely guitar strap that sits in the corner by the fridge
i don't read enough, but i always do. there are so many books i want to read, i feel like i don't have the time to do so. i think that when i'm older and retired, and i have the time before i die, i would like to have read all i have wanted to before i do. i like to think this is possible for everything... but here, in our current condition, the fact that we are human... well, you know.i am aware that i will never really finish everything. this is good. i am okay with that.
issues with writing i have found are not that it is
in any way having to do with spiritedness of prose or the moment of triumph, but also not of the breadth of the language i use. nothing has to do with everything, and everything is nothing. grammar matters everywhere and it doesn't matter all the time.so when i write, i just do as i speak. if i stutter, i do. if i pause long i do. if i forget where i go. i do.
and it matters for everything and in everything nothing.
the pilot g-2 05 is an impressive pen to say the least
this week started off and continues onward as a strange week. i feel like this week is either a wave or a pendulum. it feels awkward, like it is building. but it's not. it's no more busy than last week. it's no more busy than next week. the week before finals seems like it should be different. but i sit here hanging in time.it's an odd transitional phase as well. i'm moving from one place to another in so many ways. from school to home, but not yet. from my job as an ra, but not yet. from student to non-student, but not yet. from living on campus to living off campus... but.... not...... yet.
it's a time where i'm asking myself, am i happy where i'm at and with the choice i've made along the way, in order to move forward. it's a time where i'm wondering if i should be looking forward for things to come, or whether i should stay so content with the way things are and what is happening now that my eye for the future is blind.
it's an awkard week. but i've been enjoying it. and the weather is nice.
there are things i tolerate with great consternation
i don't tend to hate things. i don't hate cats. i tolerate them. i don't hate curly hair, i tolerate it. i go out of my way at times to gauge ways of how i can rid myself of the things i tolerate.
but i'll admit it:
i don't tolerate jean shorts.
i can't tolerate what i can't stand.
there are varying degrees of jean shorts. all terrible, one level is not sorse than another, but they all differ in one way or another.
we have to start off, the idea of jeans that have been worn out to the point of no longer being jeans. if they are no longer allowable as jeans, they should be replaced. they should not be modified into shorts. some people even use other people's jeans, or patch multiple pairs of jeans together to make a single pair of shorts. this should not be allowed.
next is the fact that jean shorts come... oh yes... pre-manufactured. people make them for the sole purpose of being jean shorts. we have an even further degradation of this concept: some jean shorts are made to look worn out on they day they're purchased. people either want to fake that these were once jeans, or make it seem like they LOVE them, and wear them ALL the time.
i find myself confused. i'll leave you with that.
oh, don't you worry miss... i'm wearing sunglasses
before i begin my dissertation on jean shorts... let me first start off with the fact that i'm so excited to see death cab on may ninth. so excited in fact that i've even been watching every single live death cab video on youtube that i can find. it's quite the experience. i can't wait to see them. here's another video.
old news new song
this has been around for awhile... but i feel like you should see it if you haven't.
more about the blog
this blog has served itself to me a lot of ways, but primarily as a journal. in older posts you will notice that the posts aren't as long, and most of them are addressed as letters, or the contents are poems, or short blurbs. i still want to continue the original intent of the blog, to be as real as i possibly can as an internet personality, and share a bit of my life with my readers, but a lot of the content has shifted. if you're bored, read through all the posts. :)
because i'm always changing, here is me now
forgive me if i'm wrong, but it's been a good amount of time since october. i feel like i've changed a bit.i'm finishing up my sophomore year at uri. i am still a marketing major. i discovered a lot about myself since october, including that i am an infp personality type, according to the briggs-meyers personality assessment. i learned how to trust God more during the course of this semester. i learned how to love people better this semester. i learned that not being able to do certain things is not necessarily a bad thing, but a chance to allow other people to step into the situation and help.
i am a drummer. i play the guitar, and i sing. my day to day life is deeply influenced my music. i feel like something is missing from my day if i haven't engaged musically in some way or another. whether it's listening to music, tapping out beats with my hands on my legs, thinking about music, or actually playing music... i don't feel like i've had a full day. i praise God every day for the ability to enjoy music the way i do.
i remember how i used to say that i would rather be deaf than blind, because i used to be such a visual person. i used to love taking pictures of things, drawing things, and doing lots of work in photoshop. that drive has shifted from a visual drive to an auditory one. it's strange how that happens. art has changed form for me in the past few months of my life, in serious ways.
i don't share this often, and it's odd to be sharing it in such a public place... but i feel called by God to be a pastor. i have for a long time. and God's got a lot of work to do in me until i get to the point where i am able to lead His church, but He'll provide the means. I can't do it on my own.
i am currently in a dating relationship. i know it's a shocker. although we've been dating for over a year now, i don't think i mention her much on this space. and because she may choose to remain unknown, i will say that if you haven't met her, or gotten to know her, you should. she's lovely.
i am still an ra at uri, but only to finish off the year. next year i am living off campus. it's the best place for me to be next year, and in a situation where i can grow and service God with other people involved in kingdom work in the best way possible. i am very excited for next year, but this one isn't over either.
i have discovered that i enjoy dark comedies. my favorite pop tarts are smores. i prefer generic medication over brand name, unless it's something like toothpaste or deodorant. (although, i do use generic brand mouth wash) i realize also that i could do a better job of cleaning my ears. i don't mind one ply toilet paper, it's cheap, and it still works.
i use old spice deodorant. usually the original scent, but pure sport is an okay option too. i use the pure sport bodywash, but i think once this bottle is done i will switch to original scent. i wear hanae mori cologne. it's the only bottle of cologne i own because it was given to me as a gift for my birthday since i asked for cologne. i also received chocolate covered gummi bears, dave matthews concert cds and plaid shorts. if there were other things that i forgot, i'm sorry, but those were things that stuck out in my mind. i use rusk shampoo.
i'm the kind of person that lets food sit in a fridge until it gets way beyond moldy before throwing it out. i'll need to get better at not doing this before next year. i don't know how to cook. i don't do dishes often. some people might say i don't do dishes at all. i'm not a neat person, but i'm trying to be better.
i gave up meat for lent. i figured that after lent was over i'd start eating it again. when i tried an assortment of meats again on easter, i realized that i prefer being a vegetarian. i'm going to stick with it. to be honest, i've never felt healthier, more energized, or more aware of how the foods that i put into my body can have in influence on my whole day. i find that i enjoy eating a lot more, because now when i eat, i can be creative in my food selection, instead of just going straight toward the meat. i can't say that i will be a vegetarian forever, but i can say that right now, it's what works. i enjoy it.
i have never stayed at the same job for over a year. the ups store is the exception because my stepdad owned the store, and it was the only place i could work. i have trouble finding jobs that i like. but i think i'm better at it now. although when i need money i'll do almost anything for work... but when i feel like i don't need it so much anymore, i get tired of the job that i'm at. i realize that the best jobs for me are jobs where i interact with people on a daily basis. where the majority of the job is interacting with people, teaching them things, learning things from them, feeding into them, being fed. i have worked at a collection of places, including, but not limited to, the ups store (i packed packages, typed up invoices, helped customers, cleaned...) cartridge world (i typed up invoices, arranged inventory, helped customers, filled ink cartridges, remanufactured laser cartridges, was a mascot as a giant printer...), ram computers (i helped people fix their computers, fixed them for them, talked to people at dell on the phone for hours... that kind of thing) diane miller photography (i retouched photos with photoshop for a professional photographer), doyle sails (managed the cutter that cut the sails, and patched sails together) camp keswick (i was a camp counselor for the summer... this has been my favorite job so far) URI HRL (i'm an ra, it's my second favorite job ever), i've also trained people on how to use their computers. wow ... i feel like that's a lot, but i feel like i've missed some stuff too.
in the mac vs pc debate i would have to say, "yep." i use both. i enjoy both. i don't like being exclusively one or the other, but i do have phases where i definitely do use one more than the other for various reasons. they're both great, and they both run well. i have no complaints. although, macs are more pretty.
i try very often to keep a journal, but i generally lose interest after awhile. sometimes i wish i could just skip holidays entirely. i don't see my grandparents enough. i don't spend enough time with my dad. i feel like sometimes i'm too tired or too busy to engage certain people.
i prefer salty snacks over sweet snacks. i can polish off a family size box of wheat thins in a single sitting after a large dinner. half price appetizers make me sick. i enjoy the desert shooters at applebees. i plan on making them next year when i live off campus. pistachio pudding is my favorite pudding at uri. i've tried them all here. it's also my favorite dessert here. i'll miss the food here next year i think.
electronics include: canon digital slr camera, canon compact digital camera, macbook pro, 80 gig ipod, external harddrive, self-built pc, electronic drum set, electric guitar, hp printer, panasonic ipod-ready cd deck, altec lansing speakers, an electric razor, a cell phone, and some sweet lamps. i think that's it. i'll level with you: i feel a bit guilty sometimes about the stuff i own, at times i feel like i should live more simply, and i'm moving toward that, but it's a slow process.
when i'm interested in something, people know. i throw myself into it without hesitation, and fully.
i'm a lifelong learner.
i think i summed me up the best i can.
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