Words I Regularly Mis-Spell

Calendar

Rhythm

Definitely

Tomorrow

Wednesday

Weather/Whether (more of when to use which one)

To All the Haters

On espn and elswhere in the media, I've heard blogging being criticized for being negative. Well, here's a completely positive list of awesome stuff:

-Mario Kart Wii. This came out about a week ago. You steer with the Wii controller! Amazing. I had an event at church all day, so my friend went and picked it up for me (I had reserved it). My two friends and I then proceeded to play for multiple hours, while his Mom/my almost Mom made us frozen pizza. I felt like I was in 8th grade again, and it was good.

-Online streaming video of TV shows. It's worth saying again. This blows my mind. Apparently NBC and FOX have teamed up to create hulu.com.

-The Cardinals. Went 2-1 with the Cubbies in the home series, and are in 1st place in the NL Central.

-Cold stone ice cream

-Since I got my car fixed it doesn't sound like an F-15 anymore

-Listened to more of the OneRepublic CD. Mr. Caldwell I was way behind!

-I hear Iron Man was great, and I plan to confirm that this week

-Getting married in 47 days and counting

-Luo an organization for orphans in Africa

Jimmy Fallon to replace Conan in 2009

I'm excited for this. Although, I can't see Conan doing as well on the Tonight Show, he's just a little to goofy.

Check it out.

Most Annoying Singers?

Here is a rather smug blog about the 10 most annoying singers ever. My pick was not on the list so here it is:

Michael McDonald. Ugh. This is worsened by the fact that when I hear his music I'm at Hobby Lobby or something.

Sad Story

Check out the Jesus burial site smackdown. Come on guys.

Birthday Rundown

9:30- got up, microwaved some leftover pizza hut
10:00- headed to the Galleria, where they have the only store that sells "XXL" cardinals hats, bought one.
11:45- ate a wonderful birthday lunch with Sarah's fam, well, our fam
2:00- went to the mall, bought some shoes
4:00- got a much needed haircut and beard trim
5:00- headed down to the pageant
6:00-7:45- enjoyed time talking with Sarah and defending saved seats (she's good at it)
8:00-11:00- saw "Hayden" and Feist. Feist's show was stunning. Her voice is like a true instrument. I thought it would be cool and I would feel artsy, but at the risk of being cheesy, at one point I was quite moved at the beauty of the music. Had some other friends there as well, which was really great.
11:30-12am- Post-show Q'Doba.

A great ending to a great birthday. Calls and texts were received intermittently, I feel loved!

Birthdays were never a giant deal at my house growing up. Don't get me wrong, I always got a present, and cake, and got to pick what or where we ate. Oh, and whoever's big day it was ate from the coveted "You are special today" plate. Usually the big deal was I got to have TWO friends spend the night, which was unbelievable. So, maybe to some the Mustoe family birthdays had plenty of hoopla, but for us, it was fun, but not the biggest deal in the world.

So now as an adult the birthday is a funny thing, particularly 24. At 18, you can vote and register for the draft. 21, you can buy booze and R-rated movie tickets for minors (Ah, the legal limits of youth ministry. I found this out when I took my Pastor's two sons to see "American Gangster. That was a poor decision on my part).Even at 25 my car insurance will drop, and I won't have to pay extra when I rent vehicles; so thats something to look forward to.

But 24? All this means is that I move from my early-20's to my mid-20's. I was a bit miffed as to what to do for the birthday as well. Dave and Busters? Dinner out? Sit around and watch Top Chef? (Oh wait, I can't, because you guys DELEATED them from the TiVo!!!!)

I just wish that having two friends spend the night was still enough to be a huge deal ya know? I was reminded of the first time I didn't go trick or treating, the year was 1998. For some reason that was a very formative night for me. Cause I thought "I'm growing up, and it blows".

But, there is plenty of birthday fun to be had. Once I stopped waddling in mid-20's misery I saw the bright side: I got some awesome cards from my co-workers, my Grandma signed her card "xoxo" aaawww, thanks Grandma, my woman is coming in town, and she lets me know last night that we got a hold of Feist tickets at the Pagent Saturday night, my actual birthday.

So, here's to boldly facing my mid-20's!

Brief Check In

College basketball is awesome. Tonights game was definitely a classic. OT! (Sarah asked me once in an effort to connect with me through sports, if when they go in to double overtime if they call it "dot" for short. My response "....no". She was trying though!) So to my friend Lee, congradulations. I'm pretty sure you won't read this, but my picking Georgetown to upset KU didn't pan out to well.

Also, we had our first Sunday in the new building on Sunday. It was awesome, more on that another time.

Another also, I turn 24 on Saturday. More on that later as well.

Peace!

Right now I'm typing this on the wireless network at our new building (Living Word Church). I'll post some photos of the youth room when it's done, which Mr. Caldwell and I have dubbed:

Chuck E Jesus

First we hit em with the Chuck E Cheese- pool, arcade, coffee, air hockey, foosball (sp?), music, lights

Then we hit em with the Jesus.

Chuck E Jesus

Ten Embarrasing Things

Alrighty. Maybe I can start a blog trend: Here's 10 things that I'm embarrassed to say that I like or do:

1. That new Miley Cyrus song
2. If I leave a funny voicemail on someone's phone, sometimes I'll play it back and laugh at myself (Dru actually called me on this one, pretty amazing)
3. I get through most trainings at church by listening for "Thats What She Said" opportunities.
4. I recently Decopaged (day-co-poj, I don't know how to spell it)
5. My friend once "walked in" on me jamming to Hanson's Mmmbop
6. I looked forward to watching American Gladiators every week, and I wish it was still on now.
7. Most of the time I wash my hands in the bathroom just in case someone asks me if I washed my hands, and I say yes, and they want to see if my hands are indeed a bit damp just to make sure
8. I cried in every Lord of the Rings movie
9. I feel very awkward when I see someone I know at the mall, chat, then we say bye, and start walking the same direction
10. Its worth repeating, that I can sing all the words to Miley Cyrus' "See You Again"

Nerd Alert

95 words

Speedtest

Quick Update

What up!?

I was on a good roll there with the posts for a while, but the streak was interrputed by my church moving facilities (!)

So I'm currently typing this from my new office (!)

More soon, hopefully. Pics too!

Saturday. On the way to St. Louis from Illinois (after picking up Sarah). I experienced the latter part of this lovely phrase.

Thats right. I got a ticket for not having my seat belt on. $55.

The worst part is I have zero excuse. I know it's insane not to wear a seatbelt. It's not like it's particularly uncomfortable. I've been in accidents, and a seatbelt has prevented me from being seriously harmed. I have no good reason for not wearing the seatbelt.

I've been on a real roll lately!

More confessions

After admitting that I enjoy two pretty cheesy shows, I had a great conversation with a mentor of mine last night.

What is the Christian assessment of entertainment?

Entertainment is probably the biggest idol in our culture (pun somewhat intended), and I'm afraid that I buy into it a lot, and I don't really like to think about that.

I could sit down and watch 3 NFL games in a row EASY. I could play Halo for 6 consecutive hours EASY (and, last week, I might have come close!). But then I talk about not being to find time for people like my mentor, or I talk about how worn out I am, or I talk about how it's difficult to find time to devote to prayer and study.

That's crap, I just choose having fun over doing stuff that matters!

So there we have sort of the first principal in the question, how do we balance work and entertainment?

The second, and I think more difficult question, is what sort of things are innappropriate to be entertained by? If I believe that war is wrong, should I really be spending hours shooting at pretend spacemen on Halo? If I believe that marriage should be the context in which two people become one through sex, is it wrong to watch The Office; where Michael Scott and Jan have a sexual relationship outside of marriage? Am I in a really small way, lending support to these views that are not what I say I believe? Am I being honest with myself in saying that I enjoy the commradery of playing online with my bros, and love the witty humor in the office apart from the afforementioned issues? Or is that like the classic: "I don't listen to the words, just the beat" that no body ever believes?

Worst of all, I feel like such an old fogey saying all this!!!! Help!

What is happening to me?

I have some confessions to make...

Maybe it's because I've been without cable for so long but I have been watching...and secretly enjoying both American Gladiators and American Idol.

Un-related side note: You can send American Gladiator Valentine e-cards from nbc.com

Awesome.

Sticking with the video theme, here's something I got from Michael.

Technology

The things we can do really never cease to amaze me. I was able to watch the George Mitchell conference live online, while simultaneously downloading and reading his just released report on MLB and steroids.

Ear Infection=No Good

Haven't had one in years, ugh.

Love/Hate

So this year I've blossomed into a full blown fantasy football nerd. It's great. There is a massive amount of coverage on fantasy sports these days. The information that you have instant access to is just silly. ESPN has several columnists dedicated to covering fantasy sports. The most well known is Matthew Barry, who, every week writes a "Love/Hate" column. In it, he talks about players who will do better than predicted (the players he loves) and the players who won't live up to their statistical predictions (players he hates). So I'm going to do a little something similar, kind of. Things I'm loving and hating right now. I know hate is a strong word, I really don't, blah blah here's the list:

Love
-The rise (or return) of the "vocoder" effect in pop music. You know what I'm talking about; remember that Cher song "Believe"? It's in there a couple times. Most Daft Punk songs, Hellogoodbye uses it, and pretty much every song T Pain is involved in. I'm a sucker for that little effect.

-Winter weather. In St. Louis it has been getting chilly which always makes me feel festive. Although, we didn't get any snow like a lot of the country did this week.

-Although I said it above, Fantasy Football. It makes every game fun, because chances are you're rooting for a player on your team or against one of your opponents players.

-Favorite TV shows online. This amazes me. I don't have cable, so I can keep up with my favorite sports show everyday, for free!Also I have worship band rehearsal during The Office, so I can keep up with that as well. Although, more on this topic below.

-Family and friends in the coming weeks- 2 weddings, a fiance coming home, a visit with the family, and my Grandma's birthday party...at Red Lobster!

-Registry. What a great idea. "Alright guys, I'm gettin married, and I need some stuff. Here's a list for your convenience."

Hate
-The writers strike. I think it is kind of cool that the writers are stickin it to the man. That I salute. However, NBC and whoever else needs to get with it and pay these people. From what I can gather, the writers weren't getting revenues from newer sources of viewership like iTunes or online advertising. C'mon guys, buck up.

-As a subsequent "hate" item, I want to publicly denounce NBC for cutting ties with iTunes. I loved getting the Office episodes every week. NBC wanted more money per download (of course) but they also wanted to bundle TV shows with movies featuring actors from their shows (ex: you buy a season of the Office bundled with The 40 Year Old Virgin, and you have to pay more). This is lame. So NBC, you break even. But all I want to do is buy your show from iTunes, why won't you let me?

-Every single "carol of the bells" christmas time commercial parody. Guys, it's got to stop.

-Tailgaters. This could be a whole post in itself. Lets clear this up: if you are in a residential area, going the speed limit, tailgating is just rude. Most of the time the way stoplights work, you don't get ahead anyway. Now, if someone is on a major highway/interstate in the leftmost lane and is going the speed limit, they need to get over. But I've had way to many Suburbans and H2's creepin up on the Malibu lately, no respect. Also, I especially hate that my car is the perfect height to where my rear view mirror is at headlight level for said tailgaters.

I stayed away from several topics that really matter, but these are some of the things I've been appreciating and ruing lately.

For my street cred