Currently Consuming – Vampire Weekend

First shot at a ‘Review You Probably Don’t Care About’ has been posted. Meet: Vampire Weekend. C’mon- all the cool kids are doing it!

Can I like Hillary again? Just in case?

So, Senator Clinton had a big night last night. What I hoped would happen, obviously, did not. I’m not going to talk about delegates, or spin, or anything. In fact, I’m going to try and fast a bit from this race- and here’s why:

I want to like whomever I’m going to vote for in November. I’m not going to vote for McCain- I’m just not. So, that leaves me with Clinton and Obama. 6 months ago I was pretty excited about both of them. Then, the more I learned about Obama- I threw my support behind him, and I felt great about it. Still do. However, the more this campaign has gone on, the more I’m having trouble liking Clinton. It’s the whole ‘fighter-win at any cost’ attitude that kept me and politics apart for so long.

 

 

I don’t want to hear her say “We have the momentum now!,” when a few weeks ago she said, “It’s not about momentum, it’s the numbers in the end that matter.” I’m sick of her accusing him of plagiarism- (then using a obviously scripted line to prove a point) and then basically stealing line for line from her husband in her closing remarks- DURING THE SAME DEBATE! I’m tired of her claiming she won Michigan- when Obama wasn’t on the ballot. I’m sick of her staff touting tons of foreign policy experience- then isn’t able to provide any examples themselves. And I’m sick of people pointing out to instances where the public couldn’t name any accomplishments of Obama- because 1) that just means they’re lazy and 2) they never follow up asking them to name any of her accomplishments.

So- I’m tired and this debate. Which is too bad- because this is the first time I’ve becoming involved in a real way. My wife said last night very astutely that she has lost interest. Not because she isn’t excited about Obama anymore, but because these are the very politics she (and I) avoided for so long, and they now seem unavoidable. My father is a huge conservative. The kind that listens to Limbaugh and watches Fox News 24/7. Which is fine. But it was exposure to that which caused me to steer clear of becoming involved. I didn’t want to carry around a walkman everywhere I went so I wouldn’t miss Bill O’Reilly’s next comment.

Obama made me feel like we could live in a happy, little political fantasy world. I was wrong. It isn’t all Hillary’s fault- everyone has dipped their toes into the waves of stupidity here. But I do feel she brought it there- and for that, I just don’t like her at all.

So- my plan is this: To stop paying so much attention to the campaign(s). To stop reading the headlines on msnbc and cnn. To stop turning the TV to the cable news networks when I get home at night. That way, maybe- just maybe, come November whoever is the Democratic candidate can look exciting and inviting to me. Maybe a 3-4 month political fast will be enough time to digest and dump the bad taste in my mouth right now. Maybe.

Currently Consuming – Help me!

Ok- I’m no blogging guru. Or code geek. Or anything really.

My goal was to have a ‘page tab’ up at the top called “Currently Consuming” where I can write/talk about recent stuff I’ve been reading/watching/listening to.  It looks like that page basically functions as a place to house a single post. Am I understanding that correctly? I suppose I could just continue updating the post w/ new stuff- but that isn’t going to look great nor will it be very user-friendly.  Also, I don’t want to pepper my main page w/ a bunch of worthless and only interesting-to-me musings.

Basically- is there any other way to do this than just linking to a new blog? I’d rather not.

Thoughts? Help me!

Reviews you probably won’t care about…

I think I’m going to start writing reviews/thoughts more often about music, movies, food, books, whatever. Why? Because I think it would be fun.

I’m still new at all this stuff, but I think I can make another ‘tab’ thing up at the top and just post on that page. Is that true? We’ll find out.

If you care, get ready to see what Brad has to say about No Country for Old Men, “The River Why” by David James Duncan, Vampire Weekend, the new Nada Surf album, Lost, and whatever else I choose.

I suck at youth ministry posts…

When I started this blog, I had every intention on it being youth ministry focused. Actually, I still intend for it to be- and hope it will be in the future. Or at least more balanced.

But the fact is… my brain is so focused on ministry 10-12 hours a day (including when I’m laying in bed for 2 hours at night trying desperately to all asleep) that writing about it just seems unappealing. With that said… I’ll leave with this Youth Ministry Idea:

 

The Warhead Wall of Fame!!

I got the idea from a group of friends I have that used to room together in college. Whenever a friend would come over to visit- they’d ask them to eat a warhead, then shove a camera in their face. When the guest was making his/her ugliest ’sour face’- they’d snap a picture then stick it on their wall. I’ve started doing this with our Middle School kids and its been great fun. We have a wall now almost covered in pucker-faced Jr. Highers. Since I’d probably get sued for putting up a picture of a kid on here (even though they are far more entertaining)- I’ll put one up of myself.

Thanks to Jordo, Crotty & Cosby for the inspiration.

Best of 2008, so far.

1. Nutella. Who knew this weird little chocolate-hazelnut spread was so delicious?! But it is, and it goes on my super-healthy flax seed waffles every morning.

2. ‘Falling Slowly’ won a freakin’ Oscar! If you know me, you know I loved Once. The film is incredible, and the more I learned about Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, the more I rooted for them. This was such a great moment- and watching this hypnotically beautiful song win out over Disneyfied crap warmed my cynical soul.

3. Sasquatch Festival. True, this hasn’t happened yet- but the lineup alone gets me excited. I’m actually least excited about the headliners… but can’t wait to see The Breeders, Built to Spill, The New Pornographers, David Bazan, The Kooks, Cold War Kids, Stephen Malkmus, Mates of State, etc. I hate festivals- but this lineup might get me to one.

4. Eddie Vedder solo tour. I got tickets for the Vancouver show. I’m almost certain I’ll be disappointed when its all over, but my PJ fanboy side still has me all a-twitter. Let’s just hope there isn’t to much ranting and raving- and more music.

5. Wario Ware. This is a ridiculous party game for the Wii. I played this with about 15 high schoolers last week and had a blast. I want to have some sort of Wario Ware party that happens every month. No joke- its that fun.

Sick Day

It seems like everyone I know is sick. Currently my wife and I are both hanging out in sweatpants watching Ellen- laying around like sadsacks. Actually, I’m not allowed to be that pathetic right now. I have work to do- calendars to create, postcard mailings to get ready, mission trip meeting planning to do. Etc.

Ever since I was a little kid, part of me was always wanting to get sick. To have a sick day. A day where everyone sympathizes with your plight and has no expectations of you fulfilling any of your responsibilities. A day on the couch watching The Price is Right while dozing off every couple of minutes between rounds of Plinko and Cliff Hangers- because I can.

Unfortunately, sick days suck. You feel like crap, the Price is Right is probably going to be preempted by some tornado in Yugoslavia, and the only guest on Ellen that day is some freaking bubbly chef  Whoop De Doo.

Yay sick day?

Homebrew #3 – Bottled

I finally bottled today. It sat in the fermenter for almost 4 weeks- due completely to my busyness. It should only help it in the long run… but I’ve never waited this long from start to finish, and I’m itching to try it out. I’ll taste one in a week… but shouldn’t expect them to be totally conditioned (carbonated, flavors together, etc) for 2-4 weeks.

As nice as it is to have it bottled… I hate prepping the bottles. Scrubbing off the labels is as tedious as it gets. But once the bottles are de-labeled, cleaned and sanitized, it’s a pretty quick process.

The setup:

The bottling: there is a ball bearing type device on the end of this wand that releases the beer when depressed.

And this, my friends, is what 5 gallons of Scotch Ale looks like bottled:

Why I am voting for Barack Obama…

Maybe I’m caught up in a swell, and I’m only riding on emotion. Not sure if I care- but I’m all the way on the bandwagon. Yes, I know his policies. And yes, I know Clinton’s. Some of the small differences between their plans I go either way on. What it comes down to is what I believe Obama can do. I don’t think everything is going to change overnight, or even after 4 years- but I get excited and hopeful when I see Obama speak. It gives me the same feeling of hope and change I get when I think about Christians standing up and working toward justice for the poor and oppressed. When I hear the story of the inner city kids, I see it in the same heart for kids I minister to. No- I don’t think Obama is Christ- and maybe I’m a heretic. But I get a similar sense of hope and call in these words.

Here is a section from Obama’s Super Tuesday speech last night. (Transcript found @ NYtimes.com) It’s a little lengthy- but worth it.

“We can do this. But it will not be easy. It will require struggle and it will require sacrifice. There will be setbacks, and we will make mistakes. And that is why we need all the help we can get.

So tonight I want to speak directly to all those Americans who have yet to join this movement but still hunger for change. They know it in their gut. They know we can do better than we’re doing. They know that we can take our politics to a higher level. But they’re afraid. They’ve been taught to be cynical. They’re doubtful that it can be done.

But I’m here to say tonight to all of you who still harbor those doubts, we need you. We need you to stand with us. We need you to work with us. We need you to help us prove that together, ordinary people can still do extraordinary things in the United States of America.

I am blessed to be standing in the city where my own extraordinary journey of service began. You know, just a few miles from here, down on the south side, in the shadow of a shuttered steel plant, it was there that I learned what it takes to make change happen. I was a young organizer then — in fact, there are some folks here who I organized with — a young organizer intent on fighting joblessness and poverty on the south side.

And I still remember one of the very first meetings I put together. We had worked on it for days. We had made phone calls. We had knocked on doors. We had put out fliers. But on that night, nobody showed up. Our volunteers who had worked so hard felt so defeated, they wanted to quit. And to be honest, so did I. But at that moment, I happened to look outside and I saw some young boys tossing stones at a boarded-up apartment building across the street. They were like the boys in so many cities across the country, little boys, but without prospects, without guidance, without hope for the future. And I turned to the volunteers and I asked them, “Before you quit, before you give up, I want you to answer one question: What will happen to those boys if we don’t stand up for them?”

And those volunteers, they looked out that window and they saw those boys and they decided that night to keep going, to keep organizing, keep fighting for better schools, fighting for better jobs, fighting for better health care. And I did too. And slowly but surely, in the weeks and months to come, the community began to change.

You see, the challenges we face will not be solved with one meeting in one night. It will not be resolved on even a Super Duper Tuesday. Change will not come if we wait for some other person or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. We are the hope of those boys who have so little, who’ve been told that they cannot have what they dream, that they cannot be what they imagine. Yes, they can.”

“Lent: The Sacrifice” Dun Dun Duhhhhhh

Welp, it’s Mardi Gras. Time for some drunken debauchery and lifting up of my shirt. WHOO HOO!

I have been thinking quite a bit about Lent and have decided that I am going to participate in the time honored, Good Christian tradition of giving something up. And I’m excited about it.

I’m giving up morning internet during Lent. I spend a lot of time (both at home and work) just trolling around wasting time. I read about sports, find music, read blogs and check my Facebook. I don’t think any of these things are inherently ‘wrong,’ but it often happens that an hour (or two) has passed before I realized it. There are countless ways I could be more productive with my mornings, and I am excited to force myself to become more disciplined. I’ll force myself to listen to God, I’ll use my time to be in Scripture, and I think this will especially benefit my work. I have a pretty stressful job/life, and wasting time each morning on the internet is a way I cope- Kind of my, “Don’t have to think about real life time.” However, I truly believe much of my stress is due to the fact that things are left to the last minute. Duh. So, this is going to be a blessing in many ways.

This is a big sacrifice for me, and will be a big change of routine. I’m excited and I do think this is exactly the type of thing that will make me grow- as a human and as a follower/appreciator of Christ. So, as of tomorrow, I will not get on the internet until Noon.*

(*Lenten disclaimer- a lot of my work is done by email. My entire staff emails each other, students/parents email me, etc. I will allow myself to do work through email. BUT I will not be reading/responding to personal emails.)