Vanity?

So, here's my problem. Recently, (this summer) i've tried to become "a reader". My creative writing teacher (whom I revered) in high school told us once: "People who read are smarter than those who don't". Not just being literate, but reading books and engaging in thought on a regular basis. I don't think you can really argue with that.

Since May, i've read 4 books. Velvet Elvis, Blue Like Jazz, Adventures in Missing the Point, and Searching for God Knows What. I've got 3 more going right now too: Colossians Remixed (stupid name, but pretty thick reading), Rennovation of the Heart, and A New Kind of Christian. So thats like, 7 books right? Not bad for a former (let's face it, still) ESPN junkie.

But the problem with me is, I think that part of the reason I like reading books is I like the idea that i'm someone who likes reading books. Read that again. I hope it makes more sense. Is it about the books, more accurately, what the books contain and how I apply it to my relationship with God? OR do I like to sound cool and up to date when I ramble off stuff I read or thought about, and reccomend books to people who are obviously missing out on all the smarts i've got since, i'm a reader now.

My friend Andy was talking about a book called A Generous Orthodoxy on his blog a week or two ago. You know what I wanted to do? Rather than commenting on some aspect that he touched on, or had particular insight on that I missed....I wanted to be like: "Oh ya, the ol' Generous Orthodoxy. I read that like, two summers ago". *sigh* That would be just one of many instances of me liking the version of me thats a reader.

Ever been to an independant music store? Say, Slackers in Columbia? There's an persona the workers don't intentionally put off, well maybe they do, but it's still there. It's like they are way cooler than you simply because they listen to "indie" bands. So what if the music blows, what makes it cool is its lack of popularity. The band is their little secret, and once more people find out about them, it's on to the next one.
I've done that with music too, and sometimes the same desire to be in the know without everyone else knowing carries over to the books I read, which frankly, aren't even that new or cutting edge anyway.

At youth group, I bag on fashion or consumerism or materialism all the time. How we're not defined by what clothes we wear or how new our cars are (wow, thats hard to pronounce), and how we can't just keep putting our value in newer, better stuff. I always say when we define ourselves by whats around us, it's like remembering where you parked by what cars you're next to.

So how stupid am I by operating by the "cooler/smarter than you" principal with BOOKS ABOUT JESUS! I've got books called: Adventures in Missing the Point on my shelf but i'm really missing the point! Aarrrrg!

The fashion industry is shallow- this fall's clothes are way more in than last years, but next year this years clothes will be so last year. Get it? Trying to stay on the cutting edge in that cycle is an endless pursuit of vanity, expensive and un-rewarding once the style fades.

So trying to keep trendy with all the new books or new authors or new buzzwords is pretty much the same thing. Only at least with fashion i'd be more honest with myself than when I get all prideful about the latest books i've read.

Well, I hope this has all made sense. I'm going to keep reading, not to be smarter than other people (even though that may be true....ok, nevermind, sorry) but rather to stimulate my mind and motivate my spirit even more. *cajun man voice* Stimulation, Motivation,....Conclusion.

Miller Time

So a couple blogs ago I talked about Donald Miller's Searching for God Knows What. I've finished the book, and plan to use it here with the Youth Group. Most of his book is about a relational religion, not formulaic or legalistic religion. Great!

Miller emphasizes a relationship with Jesus, not in a way that boasts how much quiet time you spend in the morning, or how your quota of daily bible reading, or Saturdays spent at the homeless shelter, but in a way that expresses a NEED and LOVE of a God you can't fully understand. None of those things in the list are bad, I could definately do more of all of them. But thats just it, there's ALWAYS MORE to do, always things about myself that suck, constantly more ways I can be a better follower of Christ.

But isn't that how it is in any relationship we have?

With my human buddies, I can always return calls faster or give more consideration to their needs, or in other ways show my love for my friends. I don't necessarily spend 8 minutes on the phone with each of them every day to show my friendship, it might not hurt but I can't just focus on the phone time or how many cards I send them. When we focus on the acts rather than who the acts are for, we get into trouble. Ultimately, it's not like there's a set of items to check off an agenda to achieve one-ness with Christ, some finite once and for all 7 habits of the best Christians ever.

Conversely, when we piss our friends off or do things that agitate them, how good of friends are we going to remain? If I constantly am blowing someone off or making excuses not to hang out or ignoring their needs for my own, what kind of relationship is that?

Miller helped me realize that my concept of a relationship with Jesus has been fairly shallow. Following rules and doing whats right is good, but those are a means to the end of Jesus himself. So when you screw up it's not like a sin scale tips in heaven but more like dissapointing someone you love.

When we talk about a relationship like this, it's much more difficult because it really takes on meaning. You're no longer feel some vague obligation to "being a good Christian" and not _____ (fill in the blank here) but really you're honoring God by obeying his commands. You're in an abstract relationship until its made real by your actions, it's real because Christ is in you and you care.

I think in church we stress habits and steps because they're easier. Shoot, i've done it myself without practicing it myself, how horrible is that? It's Dr. Phil religious mode: "If you read your bible and pray everyday, and give 10% of your money back to this church, you'll be in with God." Reading scripture, prayer, tithing....who could argue against these things, which God calls his people to do. BUT if they're like things we check off a list rather than times when you devote time to interacting with God than they're not really doing what they're meant for. It's the same as when Jesus tells the people not to draw attention to themselves when they fast or pray, because that's missing the point of the whole thing.

So I really reccomend this book, although thats what I plan to talk about next time.

Sad

Saturday afternoon I recieved a call from my buddy Jeff. This was not a good phone call. Two of my friends from Columbia were in a car accident early Saturday morning, around 6am. They were on their way to the airport when they were hit head-on by a drunk driver, who had come out of a weigh station going the wrong way on I-70.

My friend Tyler died and my other friend Chad was hospitalized, but released. It's awful. I almost thought it inscensative to blog about this, but anyone who reads this can pray for the Downey family, and for Chad and his family, and all of their friends too. Also, the 19 year old intoxicated driver survived, but his 18 year old intoxicated passenger did not. Their families need prayer, as does this young man who has made terrible mistakes.

Tyler's funeral is Saturday in Columbia. There's lots of things people say at times like this. Things that are obligatory, things that maybe make some people feel better. But I don't think a lot of those things are true; God did not have a purpose in "taking Tyler" a couple of kids got wasted and killed Tyler. Whatever God's plan for his people after we leave our Earthly bodies is, Tyler *is* a part of that now...but I wish he was still here on Earth and could be in that better place later. There is no reason for his death, other than the fallen, sinful nature of man. Lots of my friends are very sad, mourning the death of someone who loved God and loved people.

It is comforting to see communities of faith embrace the memory of Tyler, and even those who did not know him embracing those that did. It is comforting that we know how the story ends- that Christ died for Tyler and he's in his hands now.

Sad, confused, angry, and out of things to say.

Deep Thoughts for the Day

This is from Donald Miller's "Searching for God Knows What" which I read this morning:

(pg. 160-161) "Because we have approached faith through the lens of science, the rich legacy of art that once flowed out of the Christian community has dried up. The poetry of Scripture, especially in the case of Moses, began to be interpreted literally and mathematically, and whole books such as the Song of Songs were completely and totally ignored. They weren't scientific. You couldn't break them down into bullet points. Morality became a code, rather than a manifestation of a love for Christ, the way a woman is faithful to her husband, the way a man is faithful to his wife. These relational ideas were replaced with wrong and right, good and bad, with only hinted suggestions as to where wrong and right and good and bad actually came from. Old Testament stories became formulas for personal growth rather than stories to help us understand the character and nature of the God with whom we interact.

In a culture that worships science, relational propositions will always be left out of arguments attempting to surface truth. We believe quite simply, that unless we can chart something, it doesn't exist. And you can't chart relationships."

Sorry that was a little lengthy. This is a great book, and part of the reason I think it's great is because I've had some of the same thoughts! I remember sitting in Psychology classes in college going round and round with the professor about why the DSM sucked so much. For those of you who aren't impressed with my inclusion of academic tidbits, which I guess is pretty much everyone who will read this, the DSM is a manual used by psychologists to diagnose mental disease. Now, i'm not saying it's all bad or that psychology doesn't help people. But you'll notice if you click on the link that it's the 4th edition. The DSM changes. Hey, thats cool, lots of things in the medical and even religious community change. It's cool until you were diagnosed under the first edition, and were recieving electro-shock treatment.

My problem with psychology is that people aren't just a collection of chemicals to be balanced for "normal bahavior". What Miller is articulating is that the bible isn't a collection of self-help bullet points so we can improve our lives. People's problem with religion, say Christianity, is that it's a list of things you can't do: Can't cuss. Can't watch R-movies. Can't drink any alcohol. Can't have sex until you're married. Can't think girls are pretty. Can't laugh at farts. Can't sleep in on Sunday. Can't be friends with people who do any of the things you can't do.

It's a lot messier to struggle with things and decide if they are right or wrong, and to wrestle with why we think this way. But also, as opposed to a list of things Christians can't do or formulas to get your relationship with God where it should be, what about focusing on the good we should do as opposed to the bad we should avoid at all costs? More on this soon, I gots to go eat with my intern buddies. Peace.

Springfield, NCAA Football 07, and the Church

Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I went on another workcamp; this time to Springfield with our Middle School. Man, it was great. It was so cool to see these guys who hadn't really done anything like a conference workcamp. There were about 190 (14 from our church) of us there, and our church was assigned a ramp to build. Luckily, the adults I brought were: A teacher, an engineer, and a chemist. All more educated and able to adapt to situations than me. So the picture you see is us with Michelle, who's father has suffered numberous recent injuries as a result of muscle and bone deficiencies. He's wheelchair bound and can now live with his daugher, son-in-law, and grandkids.

On an unrelated side-note, the new college football game from EA just came out. It's sweet. So far i'm 0-1 to Jeremy, on account of a last play of the game touchdown. Great. I'm going to the Cards game tonight too, with my pastor. Which I guess means the cursing with have to be toned down, a little. Clearly i'm not working TOO hard.

Back to a related topic now...I think a lot of times the church gets a bad name, and righfully so. Let's go back all the way to the Crusades, stuff like the Spanish Inquisition, feudalistic brutality, Indulgences, Anti-semitism...Then all the way up to the 20th century we had segregation, condemnation, (sorry, no more cajun man) cases of child abuse, sexual misconduct, being complacent in our communities, all sorts of things. If your casual person on the street has a less-than-positive image of "the church", frankly, they have several good reasons to. It's led by broken people.

People who are anti-establishment or anti-institution can have lots of reasons why the church is bad. Who hasn't sat in Annual Conference (sorry, Methodist talk) and wondered if all of this is just a stupid waste of time?

But to see what God does through his people really is refreshing, and makes all the crap we humans throw into the equation bearable. With one phone call we can have a place to stay in Jackson Mississippi on our way home. Paperwork and "red tape" really can be effective in Kenner Louisianna as needs are matched with willing and able hearts. 190 kids from all around Missouri can make a difference to dozens of families in Springfield. So as easy as it is to criticize church, it's not all bad either: the Methodist church can be a stagnent, outdated, tumultuous, fickle, complacent body. Sit in on a meeting to change the carpet color or design a t-shirt sometime. Or more seriously, sit in on a General Conference session. But the Methodist Church (and plenty of other churches too, i'm just speaking from experience here) can also AND MORE IMPORTANTLY be an avenue where the mission of Jesus Christ is carried out in real, tangible, meaningful ways. Not a slogan or a bumper sticker type way, but I changing lives sort of way.

Thats something I can sign up for.

Something About It.

The thing that God accomplished through us was giving hope to his people. FEMA has screwed these folks, insurance companies have screwed these folks, the media has forgotten these folks; they have been tossed to the curb just like the inards of their homes. We provided free labor and warm hearts to these people, and we were in turn blessed by blessing them.

The man in the middle of the picture is Joe. I don't think he would mind if I told his story. Joe has a beautiful wife and daughter. A young, fun family. They bought their home in January of 2005 before the hurricane came in August. Friday night August 27th they were celebrating his wife's birthday....the storm came Sunday the 29th. It was their first home together, everything in it was brand new: appliances, furniature, everything. They left for Lake Charles and then later Houston, TX. They were later evacuated from Houston because of Hurricane Rita. They now are back renting an apartment in New Orleans, where Joe was born and has lived all his life.

Joe and his family visited us on the worksite, which if I recall correctly was only his third visit to the house since Katrina. It was very hard on him and his family, especially his wife. They weren't sure how their little girl would react, but he told me they wanted her to meet all of us. Joe and his wife wanted their little girl to see people doing some good in the world. So we met, and hugged, and cried, and joked a little bit to ease the awkwardness- remember, we were cleaning out these people's lives and piling them on the front lawn to be hauled away.

The next day Joe came back- with the sign you see him holding and Po'Boy Sandwiches for all of us. What a tear jerker. Here this dude had lost everything and he was worried about what he could do for us. So we captured the photo-op, and ate a great lunch. I will never forget sitting there with a full belly and a full heart (sorry it's so cheesy, but true!). In this picture you see Joe, and youth from St. Joseph MO, Kansas City MO, St. Louis MO, and Panama City FL. In this picture you see what God can do with his people.

James 2: 15&16...
Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?

I would add "Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food or their home was destroyed by a hurricane."

We did something about it. Praise God.

Post-Workcamp

We're back. The workcamp was a great week. You go through stages, and after being back 5 days now i'm still kind of shaken up. Initially it was the shock (see picture). It looks like a 3rd world country in some parts down there, I couldn't believe this was America, that all our wealth and power is inadequate in getting thousands of people's lives back to some level of normalacy (sp? is that a word?). Then somehow amid the gutting of houses and the showering with 64 other people you get accustomed to the devastation. You get descensatized to just how awful everything is because you're living in it, well, visiting. Then you meet the homeowners that have lost everything and it's worse than shock. Its beyond empathizing with them. What can you possibly say to these people? Isn't it almost insulting that all these kids with great houses back home put on a sad face while they clean out whats left of an entire lifetime of memories? A strong sense of guilt comes over you when you delight in using a sledgehammer to break down water-closets or tile. Then you realize that thoughts like that are selfish, that you are here to give hope to these people and that's what happened. More, real soon!

Workcamp

This week i'm in Louisiana for Katrina relief. We have a really great group out of EUMC and the most exciting thing is partnering with Brad, Adam, and Dustin's churches. All in all about 65 people headed down to help with the Hurricane Katrina recovery effort. I'll try to post some pictures, maybe have some attendees put a note up on here, but the internet availability is questionable. We'll be working at Kenner UMC in Kenner. Which is convieniently located on the map for your viewing pleasure. Pray for the good work we'll be doing, safe travel, and for the people of the gulf coast, still.

All I have needed, thy hand hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness.

Nokia 8801, You've Got to Be Kidding Me

"It's a reflection of you...what you think...what you feel...who you are."
"Your mobil connection to the world."
"Do you hold it, or does it hold you?"

All quotes from a CELL PHONE COMMERCIAL. Click to watch.

Is anyone else disgusted by this? Do people really fall for this shallow, material crap? Am I blowing things out of perportion? Did I spell proportion right?

This my friends, is the Nokia 8801 cell phone, which you can buy from nokia.com...at $800 they're practically giving them away!

Now, I will admit the phone does look cool. But I have lost sleep over the fact that a company would spend lots of money riding on the fact that people will buy the idea that their phone defines them. I'm reminded of the Parable of the Rich fool here. I think that Nokia's question is a very appropriate one:

Do we own our stuff, or does our stuff own us?

Long Time No See!

Hello all my blog people. I just got back from my first Choir Tour with our high school group, Great Awakening. Here are some highlights:

-Rode coasters at Kings Island, OH
-Spent tons of time with the kiddos
-Toured the White House, Senate building
-Saw Trent Lott, met Senator Jim Talent and U.S. Attorney General Roberto Gonzalez
-Stayed in a camper in the woods of West Virginia
-Danced like a goofball to keep the choir "smiling" but really laughing at me
-Holocaust Museam and Arlington National Cemetary, very moving and said, but great to experience.

So it's been quite a month for me, both coasts baby! More soon. Peace.

Tension

Hello all my blog people. Thanks for several who have commented on Harley's passing, its still sad but we're all doing real well. Miss ya Harley, miss ya everyday.

In high school I had this teacher, Mr. Springer. One of the things I remember him saying to us is: "People who read are smarter than those who don't." This stuck with me. I'm trying to turn myself into a reader. I recently finished Velvet Elvis. My sister had read it about a year and a half ago, and said it was really good. I'm not trying to brag or showboat that i'm actually reading, which isn't really something to brag about anyway, it's just that my thoughts have been centering around this book the last two days.

The author Rob Bell makes some great observations about the Christian faith, and about the way he envisions it. One of the things I really liked was his assertion that as Christian leaders we MUST be "smoking what we're selling".

Bell's message focuses (sp?) on following Christ in continually evolving ways, which most often are rediscoveries/reclaiming of practices that have long been in existance. It was really good. I almost cried like, twice just because his words were so neat, just really good.

Now, to the point of my blog. With Christianity often comes controversy as imperfect, broken people do their best to carry out Jesus commandments of loving God and neighbor. We could make a long list, but Christians "fight" with non-Christians about all sorts of stuff: prayer in school, abortion, homosexuality, to dip the communion bread, baptism, rock music, ecological issues, all sorts of things.

But even more brutal is the fight between Christians and Christians about all sorts of things. I've been to General Conference. I was in the room when it happened. I've been to Annual Conference, I was in the room when it happened there too. I've heard people in my congregation talk about churches down the street, I talk about churches down the street. The Unity of the church is in pretty bad shape. There is a tension.

I'm not saying i've figured things out, but it seems to me that much of the tension can be roped into a dispute between what is ideal, and what is real. The idealists are too mushy for the realists, and the realists are too legalistic for the idealists.

Example: Jesus commanded us to love one another.

Ok, so what the heck does that REALLY mean!!!! Once we get our minds wrapped around that the best we can, how do we do it?

The idealist could site Jesus ministry to the oppressed and marginalized. So are we to sell everything, literally? Should I not be typing on a computer because I could sell this hunk of metal and donate my money to Kingdom House downtown? But the realist doesn't want some comfy saying like: it's all about love. They want concrete actions and criteria to demonstrate love.

Because what about when Jesus praised the woman who poured her perfume all over his feet, when the disciples scolded her because she could have sold it? Maybe we're not supposed to sell everything. Maybe we should love those as Jesus loved, whom he would say: "leave your life of sin". So clearly some things are right and some things are wrong! How do we love those who are wrong, but don't think they're wrong? What if i'm wrong?

Christianity exists in this tension. As I get older I feel it more, but am becoming less bewildered and more in awe I guess. The idealist can call the realist legalistic with their literal interpretations and emperical evidence and reliance on tradition. The realist can call the idealist a flacid dreamer, with no method of actualizing their ministry other than cushy phrases and individual experiences.

Maybe we ARE unified in trying to carry out Christs mission, just in different ways? But we're ALL unified in the tension.

Harley L. Mustoe, 1995-2006

Within the last week or so my dog Harley had gotten sick, and today we had him put to sleep. Harley was a very healthy, happy dog; 50lb black lab-chow mix. One day about a week and a half ago he was pretty lethargic, and the vet found cancer on his splein and blood collecting in a bag around his heart. He was not in pain, but they didn't give him long to live. So there's all the sad details, now on to better stuff, a small obituary if you will.

We got Harley from the Humaine Society in mid-1995 when he was six months old. This was on a Saturday, and on Sunday we discovered he was actually pretty sick and needed a couple operations right away. So this $60 mut turned out to be quite an expensive one; my Dad still claims he saved his life and was thus, the favorite.

Harley's favorite activities included playing with "the rope", which he could go find when commanded, barking at various animals outside, doing this wierd nibbling thing to the sheets when he'd be on the bed, and of course licking himself at the most innappropriate times. Harley would always pick up his food from his bowl and carry it a couple feet before he ate it. He knew how to sit and shake, which he would try to do in exchange for food from the dinner table. Harley had various lengths of hair, he shed even more than me. He looked ridiculous after we'd get him back from the groomers, but he didn't care. Early on in his life he was really good at running out the front door if you even left it cracked for just a second. One time like, 9 years ago he got out and ran all the way to downtown with me chasing after him, crying, with leash in hand. Once he finally stopped, just short of a main road in Cape Girardeau he was so pooped I had to carry him home. At the time I was pissed/relieved he didn't get hit by a car, but now it's a pretty fond memory.

Another one of my favorite Harley stories is when he caught and killed a possum, or so I thought until I tried to get rid of the thing while he was still going nuts in the backyard. There was this one time where Harley was sleeping at the foot of my bed....I adjusted my leg and then felt Harley on top of it....once I realized what was happening I promptly punched him and kicked him out of bed. Other than that, Harley was the best dog you could ask for. Towards the end of his 11 years he wasn't the most obiedient, but it didn't matter because he never really mis-behaved. Harley will always be the dog that all other dogs I come across are compared too.

It's funny how much we love our pets. My whole family loved Harley, and i'm pretty sure he loved us too, he wasn't just in it for the doggy treats. He even had a stocking hung next to all of ours. Even though he was "just a dog" I still am shocked by mortality. I'm very sad, but also very happy to have had such a great dog for 11 years, half of my life. I'm very blessed to have my beloved dog die be pretty high up on my list of "worst things to ever have happened to me". So good bye Harley.

We'll miss ya buddy.

Cali Pics

Here's a link to check out the pictures from the road trip:

http://cmc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2001545&l=a4d66&id=141500180

In the process of moving things into the new apartment, it's nice. I've run into this problem a lot though:

Someone else: "Hey, where's your trash can?"
Me: "Uhh......"

Da Vinci Update

My congregation is joining the fray in Da Vinci Code education, offering classes on Wednesdays in June. Exciting!

Leonardo the Ninja Turtle, or Da Vinci?

Greetings all.

I am currently at my church office right now, it feels good. Like I said, more on my recent travels w/ pics soon. I have to upload them all which will be kind of a pain.

I found this article on Yahoo today (which I check compulsively). It talks about Evangelical Christianity's response to the upcoming movie The Da Vinci Code. My friend Steve and I were talking about this last night as well. (That conversation took place as we were enterting the theatre to see Mission Impossible III, which was freaking awesome by the way. Ridiculous, but that was to be expected)

Personally, I have not read the book. I need to, if nothing else just to remain "in touch". However as my other friend BB has pointed out, it's not very encouraging to young men to read books if we can just see a movie instead! That being said, I feel like this whole movie debate thing brings up some good points. I have similar feelings about this movie as I did "The Passion of the Christ": no matter how you feel about the movie, it's great to generate conversation.

So THAT being said, i'm a little ticked off. Here's my start of the conversation.

1. Dan Brown is an author who writes books TO MAKE MONEY. So all this stuff about how his book is not factual should be inherent in the fact that it's ENTERTAINMENT. The Catholic Church calling for a boycott because it's blasphemy....to borrow a phrase from my youth....NO DUH!!!! We read books or see movies that distort history all the time, pretty much any Mel Gibson historical epic you've seen. Now, it's a bigger deal because the non-truths or distortions contained in the Da Vinci Code deal with Christ, but folks need to realize this is entertainment.

2. Folks need to not be like mindless slaves to whatever information they're presented with. For all the skeptics (sp?) of Christianity looking for an excuse to rip us some more, this movie could provide some great material. But, go back and read number one. People, especially Americans, LOVE CONSPIRACIES. How many movies have some type of cover up by the government or a double cross at the heart of the plot? This is no different. Roswell New Mexico's entire local economy is built on the idea that Aliens may or may not have landed there. People devote their entire lives to Jimmy Hoffa's dissapearance, or JFK's assasination. We love the suspicion of getting to the bottom of what we've been duped about all our lives. If you're looking for a reason to be down on Christianity, it might be easy to see the movie and think that the whole church is a big conspiracy, and that Christ was not really who we've claimed all these years. Dan Brown picked a sensative and deep reaching topic to use as a means to prey on our love of conspiring. Shrewd. Even the previews attract us with the line: "...The biggest cover up in human history." But if people just go see this movie, and take it as fact, that's lame. I don't have much sympathy for a person who would see a movie or read ONE book and take it as a faith shattering or non-faith confirming experience. The same reason I doubted the Passion as a "conversion tool" is the same reason I doubt this movie will be the naysayers paradise. IT IS A MOVIE. A MOVIE. I will go watch it definately, but it's A MOVIE.

3. I hope this pop-culture and Christian culture intersection can lead to some good conversation. Maybe people will be intruiged by the historical person of Jesus, and discover the living Christ today. Maybe kids will show up at youth group with a thirt for knowledge, cause they don't want to have Hollywood tell them what is true any more. I dunno. I liked the article in Yahoo, and we'll see how it goes. I like the fact that church's are giving seminars and encountering this opportunity with education, instead of blind opposition and boycotting. Maybe we are learning something!

....I'll let ya know what I think of the movie!

Peace.

Quick Update

Hello everyone. Right now it's 2am. I'm in Chicago. Yesterday I was in Arizona, the day before that, Cali. Well, snap lemme just lay it out real quick.

Saturday 5-6: Graduate CMU.
Sunday 5-7: Leave Fayette.
Monday 5-8: Las Vegas, Los Angeles
Tuesday 5-9: Taping of Price is Right, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica
Wednesday 5-10: Grand Canyon, AZ
Thursday 5-11: Worlds Biggest McDonalds, Back in Fayette
Friday 5-12: Chicago, Girlfriends Sister's Graduation from Lake Forest College.
Saturday 5-13: Chicago, Back to St. Louis
Sunday 5-14: Start new life.

So, that's about 4,500 miles in the past week. Lot's of great material for blogging. Things are really great. I didn't get on the Price Is Right, but my friend Abby did! She won $6,000 and a very nice desk. I'll try and post some of the cool pics I got too. Adulthood, here I come baby.

The Little Things.

I'm going post crazy today, two in one day! I actually had planned to blog on this, but then I struck and killed a turtle...

Anyways, I'm going to list stuff that I think is awesome. Go ahead and leave a comment and add one if you'd like. This is a "easy fun silly" blog, check out http://www.entertherainbow.blogspot.com to see some discussion about Homosexuality and the Methoidist Church, or the church in general...i've yet to contribute but it's very thought provoking, no matter where you stand on the issue.

Ok, on to the list:

1. The concept of using meat to garnish other meat. Wow, this is a big one for me. What a great idea! The best example is, the chili dog (which some would not consider meat, but I do). You've got your hot dog containing various beef/pork products AND THEN you top it with beef chili, MORE MEAT! Chicken 'Cord-on-Blue' is another great example. Please pardon my redneck spelling, just trying true to the roots and too lazy to look it up.

2. Paying with exact change. I love being at a register and having EXACTLY $9.64. Then the whole getting change step is gone, and you're on your way. A close second is when you have just the change, and not the bills, that way you get a clean two dollars back if you give them 10.32 and it's only 8. I somehow feel like i'm saving money in this process.

3. Getting the last of something. You're at the store, shopping for whatever, shirt or beverage, I dunno, and you get the last one! Not that I like other people being denied their product, but I like that I almost was, but was not. This could also count in cases of last piece of pizza, last soda in the fridge pack, last cheese stick, etc.

4. Gift Cards + Sales= Bliss! Several generious and gracious people gave me gift cards for my birthday/graduation. I got one to Chesterfield Mall and got TWO really nice shirts and 3 plain white undershirts for $40!!!! It was great!

5. Free refils.

6. Good parking places.

7. Snow days, sadly I haven't had one in years. But those were like the pinnacle of my existence.

8. Turning to exactly the right page the first time.

9. Automatic ice thingies built into your fridge door. We didn't have these growing up, but some of my friends did. I was always jealous. Such cool, refreshing ice and water, right there any time you want.

10. Cruise control.

R.I.P. Little Guy

I dunno what the deal is but the turtles were out in full force today. On the way home from Columbia this afternoon, I saw THREE turtles. Not one, or two, which would already be many more than i've seen in two years, but THREE. Unfortunately only two of them survived...

Driving along 240 I spotted something small and brown in the road, I figured it was a cup or something, no big deal. (round these parts trash or roadkill is far from uncommon) But as I approached the object in question, I saw that it was in fact a turtle, this really was evident as his neck protruded, trying to avoid the bu (my car).

I felt horrible, still do. I love turtes, I had one when I was young. I have lots of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle memorabilia (sp?). I've never had turtle soup, nor do I advocate eating any turtle products or any process in which a turtle suffers.

Based on my observation, I'm pretty sure it was a standard Box turtle, common in Missouri, as shown above.

So, now i've got to figure out some way to honor the turles memory. I was pretty disturbed: hearing the sound of the little guy being crushed by my tire, and the horror of seeing a little fist sized animal thrown up in the air and splatter onto the highway, as a result of my actions. By the time I saw him, I tried to move but it was too late.

Sorry little buddy.

Price Is Right

So, I graduate soon. Then it's off to LA for the Price Is Right before I fully enter adulthood.

Check out the t-shirt design, yea baby!

Test

Why is the entry so far from the top, arrgggg!!!!