so today i learned that i can listen to the entire thursday cd on my way to school and the rooney cd on the way back home without missing or repeating a track. 42:02 there and 39:11 back. the traffic wasn't to bad this morning.

a radiohead two-stepping of a weekend

it's been a weekend of extremes for me. friday night, myself and two guys, both named jay, hauled down to waco to catch a show featuring a couple indie rock bands. one of our friend's band was putting on a show in this old run down theater somewhere in the armpit of waco. with the undertones of radiohead and much delayed distortion we chilled out to the vibes of bands such as comrade, pacifica mile, and ethan durelle. it was a very enjoyable time for me. definitely a cup'o'tea i could drink from. ethan durellewill be coming to dallas soon so look for these guys cause they rock. after the show some of the band members along with the band-aids grubbed down at dennys. they're having a special right now on the meat lovers dish. you get two eggs, three pancakes, two sausage, two bacon strips, hash browns, and ham for $4.99. soooo good! so anywho, got back to flowerplex around five in the am.

saturday night brought somewhat of a different cultural experience for me. never much of a country music lover to begin with i bit the bullet on this one a went two stepping down at billy bob's in fort worth. thanks to great company i had a blast and to boots bought at goodwill i have blisters but i did got to be a cowboy for a few hours. got my fix for the year. don't know if i would recommend you give old tracy lawrence a listen but, hey, that's just one man's opinion. sunday will be a day of rest. trying to be cultured wears me out.

and this....

What Classic Movie Are You?

i did this twice, once with 18 questions and then with 27, and i got the same result. i guess i need to start watching my back for any model/killer.

What Famous Leader Are You?

pine cove no agenda retreat rocked my face off. right off. but i think i need another weekend to recuperate. it was so much fun hanging with the cbc high kids. i loved seeing everyone flock together in little groups not because of some hierarchy of coolness but simply because of similar interests. you had your jocks, your rock stars, nature lovers, and nappers. a beautiful collage of humanity. so anywho, i started classes today. dropped a load on books. don't you hate it when the class you spend the most money on is the class you are least interested in?

going to pine cove this weekend. catch ya'll later...

so i caught a little bit of the price is right on tv as i was riding the stationary bike at the ymca and i wondered how well could i match prices for certain items. and then i thought about what a confusing situation it would be for that poor helpless soul on stage about to make his next move to determine winning the prize, who had no educated guess on the price and had to sort out the numbers being yacked up by hundreds of excited audience members. every time that i have ever watched that show i have always assumed that everyone in the audience was trying to help the brother get the answer correct. but then what about the guy in the audience whose friend or family member is still stuck in the first round. the dude is probably tossing out some false suggestions to stump his opponent so his friend might have a chance to advance. so then i thought about life being a lot like that audience on the price is right. and then my time on the bike had expired.

this is what i got from the quiz:

"God will not suffer man to have the knowledge of things to come; for if he had prescience of his prosperity he would be careless; and understanding of his adversity he would be senseless."

You are Augustine! You love to study tough issues and don't mind it if you lose sleep over them. Everyone loves you and wants to talk to you and hear your views, you even get things like "nice debating with you." Yep, you are super smart, even if you are still trying to figure it all out. You're also very honest, something people admire, even when you do stupid things.

What theologian are you?

A creation of Henderson

i read an article recently on "experiential worship" and what that means to this particular church and their "creative arts" team. i can't say that i completely understand this whole emerging church phenomenon and living in a post-modern age. the article opened by saying that "Obviously, by definition, it is about providing an experience for the person in the pew." and then the author went on to say that "They (meaning church goers) want to "experience" God rather than have Him logically explained to them, (as they wanted in the 80’s). i don't know about you but this kind of stuff scares me. the author goes on in a rather lengthy account of several church services that he would describe as "experiential worship." there is much use of video loops during the entire service along with varies props handed out to the congregation before hand relating to the particular topic that day. interaction with the congregation is required. all to provide you with a "full-sensory" worship service. i applaud them for their creative interpretation and use of props for portraying the biblical stories but i am somewhat rubbed wrong by the idea that worship isn't logical. the author ends the article by saying that "It is about healthy risk. Healthy risk that leads to a better understanding of who God is or a healthy risk leads you to a place of deeper worship." sure the experience is great. we all want to experience God but to say that it needs no logical explanation seems like wanting to experience the atlantic ocean without a map. sure it's big and blue and the whales are fun to look at but where the crap are you going. you have no idea where you are in the expanse of the sea. you have no direction. you lack the underlying truth. i think that it's in this logical explanation that we are truly able to understand God and be able to worship Him more deeply. i think this so called "healthy risk" is for those how are afraid to really think about and understand God and who would rather have the experience provided for them. this article seemed to focus too much on the church providing the experience instead of allowing for the experience. it seems that in an effort for the emerging church to break free from the shackles of religion and tradition we are no better off having the experience handed to us on a platter. what have we gained besides another spiritual buzz. if i want a spiritual buzz i'll go watch MTV.

C.S. Lewis once said that one may never notice the ideal worship service because total attention would have been given to God.

"you know what... we're not dealers, players, or anything like that. we speak about what we know. the guys don't write about guns or anything like that because they don't have any. we're not involved in that, so why should we talk about it if we're not involved in it? that would be the stupidest thing ever. why front to be what's cool in the game when that's not you? just be you. and that's what we're doing: we're just being us. it might be quirky; it might be a little bit uncomfortable to some people, but hey, whatever."

-sarah ferguson of black eyed peas-

i know i may have written this before but...

have you ever thought about what heaven will be like? (ok, no, this isn't going to be some unedited version of i can only imagine) but really...i mean, when i look up at the stars at night or dig my toes in the sandy beach and watch the sun set i am taken back by an incredible sense of awe and wonder. when i get off a ski lift to find myself above the clouds and snow capped mountains i'm breathless. this could be because of the high altitude but you know what i mean. something about creation tells of Gods glory. his brush strokes are everywhere. i think the amazing thing is that even in all it's splendor allcreation is warped and screaming for redemption. it's kind of like "if this is the messed up version then, WOW!"

happy new year everyone!

wait a second... try this for cool SBTB trivia

there will be a saved by the bell: episodes 1 and 2 watching party at my house soon so bring your reebok pumps and your hypercolor tees. date and time to be announced. check out fun trivia or maybe saved by the bell drinking games here

i am in some what of a rebellious mood today.

today was the infamous shopping day with the grandparents. i don't know if i would call it a tradition because there is really no set date for this event, however it usually does fall around some kind of holiday. shopping to me is like that sore at the roof of your mouth that just won't heal because you can't stop tonguing it. well, i am very pleased to say that we walked the grapevine mill's mile track in just under two hours. i know, i should have been in cross country. i think my grandparents sat on every bench in that mall.

so my rebelliousness lies in the fact that i made it out of the mall without getting anything for myself. today that's a good thing. there have been many a trip like these in which my grandma will insist on buying some kind of trinket for us grand kids. but in an effort to ease out of the good intention and getting the useless gift, i usually end up knocking heads with her. something just rubbed me the wrong way today when my grandma handed me a twenty dollar bill and told me that if i saw something i liked i could get it. i guess it's because i've felt like i haven't been able to be me this week around my grandparents. they don't really get my humor and i have to choose carefully each and every word i say to them. i kind of felt like i was being paid off by my grandma to fit their mold they've made for me. i know i am probably just blowing this generous gift out of wack but like i said before, i am in one of those rebellious moods today.

Most men live life in silent desperation.
-Thoreau-

these lyrics are the story of my life right now:

give me one more time around
give me one more chance to see,
give me everything you are
give me one more chance to be near you

when everything inside me
looks like everything i hate
you are the hope i have for change
you are the only chance i'll take

and i'm on fire when your near me
i'm on fire when you speak
i'm on fire burning at these mysteries.

once again john foreman, you read my journal.

Desperation sleeps,
The winter frost grips the Night.
A mental protest,
Should sun burn, set dreams to Flight.
Awake, O ambitions

I have a terrible need of -- dare I say the word? -- religion. Then I go out at night to paint the stars...

- Vincent van Gogh, Arles, 1888

the elves still have the phattest pad in all of middle earth...

today was one of those mornings when you wake up feeling like you accidentally set your alarm just a few hours too early. i was in the middle of this great dream where is was sifting through this really cool thrift store searching for buried treasures when i was interrupted by some dude singing about who knows what and for really no other reason but to wake me up. and then i remember the exams i have today. and then i remember hitting snooze and trying to return to that thrift store before anyone else takes off with the goods. and then that dude started singing again. but even though he pulled me away from the store i'm glad he did because i needed to knock out two finals today. two down, two more to go.
(for added fun in reading this say all the "and then"s like they do in dude, where's my car? then maybe say it like your underwater or try it in a foreign language. also draw what "and then" means to you. it could be fun.)