Ellen Weyh 1921-2008

I’ve been in Havre, Montana the past few days. What’s that? You haven’t heard of Havre?! Weird.

Anywho, I went back for my grandmother’s funeral. It was an interesting, and rich, time. My grandma was Catholic- so I got to fully experience the Catholic funeral tradition. The vigil, the cantors, the bowing, the liturgy, the rules. I don’t understand it all, and I definitely think there were some missed opportunities for her life to be celebrated in the Catholic tradition- but there were parts I found beautiful. Though seriously, does everyone have to bow when approaching the altar? I find it hard to believe Jesus isn’t chuckling a little when watching them all bow. But, I digress.

My grandma was a great lady- and an even better grandma. A consistent theme overheard during the services (and informal conversations) was that my grandma was what every grandma probably wants to be- a cheerleader. Never did I ever feel ashamed when I spoke with my grandma. Whether it was my hobbies, my schooling, or my career path- everything was a success in her eyes. She had a steadfast faith in Christ and steadfast faith in our abilities. She showed an unwavering ability to instill confidence in us while pushing us to become Christlike ourselves. Really, when I think about it- that is an amazing characteristic. It is something I’ve always known about her, but only now am I beginning to realize just how powerful her words of support were. I’ll miss those moments of ending a conversation with my grandma feeling fully loved and completely accepted. The most amazing thing about it, was that every one of her grandkids, and great-grandkids, all felt the same way. All 31 of us.

 

Letter of Recommendation

I’m sitting in my office right now trying to write a letter of recommendation for one of my Middle school leaders. For some reason- its really intimidating. Partly because it makes me fell all grown up, but also because I don’t want to screw him over. Hmmm.

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?

McCain, like hope, but different

john.he.is

Sorry, I don’t mean to be political all the time. But this is too great not to share.

I assume you’ve all seen the original video supporting Obama. If not, go here and check it out.