Step One Done!

I am on step closer to ordination. My local congregation graciously accepted my call and asked really great questions about the ordination paper... through which i had a bad bout of seminarian's disease and had long, complex answers for things that should have been shorter. that being said, they agreed to forward me onto the committee on ministry, meeting set for March 16th at 11 a.m.

so yay!

i've been reading a lot of Christology and Islam books for class. more Steinke and such... and also listening to The Silversun Pickups



and watching movies like Zombieland, The Hangover, and The Hurt Locker. I enjoyed all of them!

so there's your update, what are y'all watching, reading, and listening to?

There's no such thing as Secular

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers:

"I had a french pastor friend who wanted to become a saint. At the time i was very impressed with him, but i had to disagree and said in effect that i wish to learn to have faith... I discovered later, and discovering right until this moment, that it is only by living completely in this world that one learns to have faith. one must completely abandon any attempt to make something of oneself, whether it be a saint or a converted sinner or a churchperson, a righteous person. by this worldly-ness i mean living unreservedly in life's duties, problems and successes and failures, experiences, and perplexities. in doing so we throw ourselves completely in the arms of God, taking seriously, not our own sufferings, but those of God in the world."

i was once told by a conservative associate of mine that the bible is easy to understand and has just one message. he then went on to say that he knows God's will and lives completely in christ. he later made clear his wish that i'd come to christ as he did, then i'd know the Truth. i then asked how he could be a person of faith if there were no mystery to his life? faith is the very act of NOT knowing what is going to happen but going anyway? what's the phrase? but for the grace of God go I?

in my view, the opposite of faith is certainity. no need for faith if you know how things are going to turn out. faith is a funny thing. faith is living in the mystery and just having this glimmer of a feeling that things will work out in your favor. usually things work out when you're not focus on yourself but another person. funny how that works out huh? it's the christian paradox: the only way we find ourselves is in others, the only way we believe is trusting the unknown. Faith uses a lot of prayer. and prayer does not change God, but it changes who prays.

we must live in this world. faith is not something you go to or keep in a church and only visit it on sunday. faith is something that is lived in every second of everyday. faith like this finds God in music, movies, and others and takes joy. Take joy when you see an old friend or family member. take joy at accidentally encountering someone you know at Saveway, God is there. Take joy at the random conversation you had with a complete stranger on the the Metro or while walking your dog. God is there. God is there, just below the surface, playing hide-and-seek and hoping that God is seen in the mudane day-to-day.

Having a faith like this helps you go into that room... you know the one. that room in the hospital on the CPE rounds that no one wants to go in. or that room in that house on your block where "that family" lives. or that nursing home with the lonely senior who has lost their life partner. or that prisoner that has so much regret and no hope. too much hurt, tragedy, suffering. Faith like this is knowing that in these rooms, there is no hope... and you go in anyway.

be mindful! God is out there. have faith to put yourself out there where God is.

In the Midst of Enemies

Dietrich Bonhoeffer Life Together:

"Jesus Christ lived in the midst of his enemies. In the end all his disciples abandoned him. on the cross he was all alone, surrounded by criminals and jeering crowds. he had come for the express purpose of bringing peace to the enemies of God. So christians too belong not in the seclusion of a cloistered life but in the midst of enemies. there they find their mission, their work."

i don't understand the idea of Christian music, movies, etc etc. i can find a christian message in pulp fiction or fight club or marilyn manson. is this so hard?! the "secular" movie and music makers don't hide their struggles with their faith. they don't try to separate their faith and their life. too many christians just visit their faith on sunday and leave it in the hands of their pastor and then they get on the beltway and act like a jerk for the rest of the week. i don't understand this separation. it is to me a false separation. people of faith are never separated from it, albiet they sometimes let their emotions get the better of them.

Befriend your enemy, be nice to those who wish you harm.. this is a hard lesson to learn. but just as soon as one learns this, one finds that one has no enemies. if you are constantly turning the other cheek, the enemies cannot harm you. as soon as you love your enemy, that enemy is no longer, but is now a friend.

get out of your confort zones. life awaits you there. this is why kate and i loved the jaycees so much, you're never in your comfortzone. always doing something different and always meeting new people. these people could be your enemies! they could judge you! you're just putting yourself out there for a let down! sure they could be, but they're not.

kate always says, "Dance! Everyone else is too concerned with themselves! Get down!" and she's right. everyone is too nervous about themselves but when someone breaks out of their own self-consciousness and gives themselves the right to have fun, that's when the party begins. so too with faith and all things good. sin is thinking that you're not allowed, that you're not good enough. God loves you, get over yourself and spread the message! volunteer! dance! dress up like leprochuans and run down the street! live like you have no enemies and you won't.

On Wisdom and Love

The Used sing on their song "Yellow and Blue" that
"...it's all in how you mix the two, And it starts just where the light exists.
It's a feeling that you cannot miss,
And it burns a hole,
Through everyone that feels it.

Well you're never gonna find it,
If you're looking for it,
Won't come your way,yeah
Well you'll never find it,
If your looking for it."

I love how diliberately vague the lyrics are. What is he mixing? Let's for a minute pretend that it's Wisdom and Love. It's all in how you mix the two!

These two things are such a paradox. Everyone is after them and constantly looking for them, but I never seem to find them when I look for them. These two things tend to blindside me in those 5 minutes I'm not looking for them. When I do get those "I-Thou" moments, i catch fire and want to tell everyone about my indescribable experience.

can you put into words what someone means to you exactly? how art, music, or an unexpected gesture can melt your heart? it burns a hole through everything it touches... and i keep looking for ways to get burnt. and you, dear reader, are both something that stokes the flames as well as the light itself.

you are light! you have both wisdom and love. share it, be it, and admire it when you come in contact with it.

RAWK!



As FreeStyleRoadTrip said in a recent comment

"If you never get outside of walls of your current philosophy of thought, then you have a really difficult time getting a new answer and collecting a bit more truth. I mean, if you are always asking questions within your Methodist/Islamic/Catholic/Atheistic/Universalistic/Scientific/Etc boundaries from your same old Methodist/Islamic/Catholic/Atheistic/Universalistic/Scientific/Etc friends then you will always get a Methodist/Islamic/Catholic/Atheistic/Universalistic/Scientific/Etc answer. You have to get outside those boundaries to get something truly new to you."

i absolutely agree with his boundaries analogy! gotta get out of the box! God is a God of change… we shouldn’t be wearing nice hats and respectable clothes to church, we should be wearing crash helmets and body armor! if God answers our prayers, we’re going to be flung far from home and into places and experiences where our old methods of thinking will only hinder us.

RAWK!

Jesus is Punk Rock

Sermon given at Trinity Reformed UCC September 21, 2008

Mark 4:30–32

I came up with this idea that “Jesus is punk rock” on a recent trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Kate and I recently went on vacation with her parents. It was her father's 45th high school reunion and we wanted to see where he grew up in the lonely but beautiful section of the country known as the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. By the way he holds a grudge that your Philadelphia Eagles, beat Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers in the NFL championship game of 1960. On the ride up we listened to the songs of the class of 1963, Doo-Wop, Folk, and, what Bob Seger called that old time rock and roll. As I was listening I wondered how rock music of that era could ever be considered subversive. It seemed so lame.

Growing up, I was always puzzled at the music documentaries that showed how rock was hated and feared by the majority of Americans when it first came out. People at the time thought “How could anyone think that ‘You ain’t nothing but a Hound Dog’ was music compared to big band music from the Glen Miller Orchestra? And with those offensive and suggestive hip gyrations!” But from my perspective, I wondered how could Elvis or Buddy Holly be bad when I was listening to AC DC and Black Sabbath?! I recognize now that I'm puzzled because rock and roll is common place. When you turn on the radio today, nearly every station is rock and even our country music is starting to sound like twangy- rock. Then I realized that the same thing happened to Jesus’ teachings--what was once subversive and dangerous has become common place and no one gives it a second thought. This is what happens when the revolution becomes the new established order. We are largely blind to the revolution that is Jesus of Nazareth.

Now when I say Jesus is punk rock I’m speaking from my perspective. The majority of the music on the radio stations that I listen to is rock and punk is rarely played. For you, this sermon could be called “Jesus is flower power compared to Doo-Wop”. Or he could be a "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" compared to Frank Sinatra. Or Jesus is Praise music compared to traditional hymns, or hymns compared to Latin chants. Whatever the radio corporations are playing at the time, Jesus is making his own music that is in direct opposition!

So let’s go back to that old empire sound playing on all the stations in first century Judea. Welcome to Rome Radio! It only plays songs that say that the Kingdom of Caesar is saving the world through Piety, War and Victory… Peace through Superior Firepower and Economic Stability . Not everyone wanted to listen to Radio Rome though, and groups rose up in violent opposition.

One of these groups was the Zealots. Their songs were all about fighting and killing the Roman occupiers and their theology was “you’re not the boss of me now!” You may have heard of a few artists from the Zealots, Judas Iscariot was one as his last name is the name of the knife the zealots carried. Saul, later known as Paul, was one as well.

aside: here's what I think Radio Zealot would sound like in todays world, Watch and Listen Here.

Paul says he was killing Christians because he was a zealot. But the Zealots failed against Rome because Rome is better funded and has a ruthless and vast army. So that Rome Sound continued as the violent opposition was brutally suppressed and killed off. So was there a way to rebel against Rome without getting killed?

The next new sound in radio came from the wilderness. I think John the Baptist was the first anti-Roman hippy. His music centered on the idea that Israelites were being over-run by this evil empire because they had sinned. John's plan was a reverse exodus. The Israelites will come to the Jordan River, be baptized, and return to the Promised Land washed clean of their sins. And since the Israelites would then be sinless, God HAS to kick out the Romans. This music is nonviolent, so Rome won’t mind as it’s not as disruptive as the Zealots’ music. And it worked for a while; Rome didn’t kill John… right away. Lots of people thought that this would work; even Jesus thought so as he was baptized by John. But Radio Rome does not tolerate dissent and John was killed and there ended his movement.

Here's what I think Radio John the Baptist would sort of sound like, watch and listen here.

Then… Jesus. He took the message of Radio Rome, namely that the Kingdom of Caesar is saving the world through Piety, War, Victory, and Peace through Superior Firepower and Economic Stability and completely reversed it nonviolently. Jesus said, “No, no, the Kingdom of God is better as it saves the world through Compassionate Covenant, nonviolence, justice, and peace through love of God, neighbor and self.”
Radio Jesus was very similar to John’s movement, but Jesus had learned something. The problem with John is that he had a monopoly. He was THE Baptist. He was easy to find, thus easy to arrest. So when John was beheaded, there ended his movement. Jesus started a franchise. We see this in the great commission in Matthew and Luke and when Jesus says, “These things I can do, you can do and greater than these." He makes people part of the movement so they have ownership and the movement will continue no matter who is killed.

So how then is a parable of the mustard seed subversive and anti-Roman? The traditional idea is that it's about faith--start with a little and it'll grow. That's one interpretation. I think of it in different terms. It would be obvious to state that the Kingdom of God is like the mighty Lebanon cedar which also starts from a small seed, but instead Jesus says it's like the mustard seed. Here’s what Jewish historian Pliny the Elder, who lived during Radio Rome, had to say about the mustard plant:

“It grows entirely wild, though it is improved by being transplanted. Once it has been sown it is scarcely possible to get the place free of it, as the see when it falls germinates at once. (5) ”

In first century Mediterranean culture, mustard is a weed. What Jesus is saying is that the establishments of the day are trying to weed out God's kingdom, but it’s not working. Mustard is like multi-flora rose, those big thorny shrubs that house groundhogs and other vermin, that drive today's farmers nuts. What's with the birds in the parable? The people of Judea made money through farming and name one farmer who wants birds on his or her land?! So those who are getting shelter from the kingdom of God will not be the Romans or the temple authorities, it will be those unwanted, marginalized people like the lepers, sinners, prostitutes, tax collectors, and those other “punks”.

So the kingdom gets out of control quickly and tends to attract people who are not particularly desired… No wonder Radio Rome and its sponsors at the Temple were so afraid of Jesus’ message. Radio Rome’s message said piety was the best and that usually depended, to some extent, on birth. If you weren’t Roman at least you were a merchant, if not a merchant than maybe an Israelite priest, if not a priest than maybe a lawyer or scribe… The worst thing you could be was poor as that was the sign that God or the gods didn’t hold you in favor. Jesus was counter to what they were saying. Money and piety aren’t as important as compassion and justice and God’s purposes are directed to those who were always left behind.

Jesus constantly reminds us that salvation will not come from Radio Rome or anything in this world. Salvation comes straight from God. And salvation isn’t coming to us, it’s already here. Rome and the temple say that they have the market cornered on holy but Jesus is saying that we’re walking on holy ground ALL the Time! Like Jacob’s words, “God was in this place and I wasn’t aware of it.” Like Jesus’ words to Zacchaeus when he wakes up and realizes how his actions are affecting others, “Today salvation has come to this house!”

So what station are you tuned to, Radio Rome or Radio Jesus? Some ways to tune in Radio Jesus loud and clear are helping your community, donating to Goodwill, learning more about others, visiting someone in a hospital or nursing home, sending a card, doing the small things that mean so much to others… I’m sure you can think of a million ways.

Thank God we have Radio Jesus still broadcasting that God loves everyone, especially those who don't fit in. Those unwanted people. Like you and me. What a wonderful God we have to offer punks like us grace and forgiveness.

Rock on!

Here's three examples of what I think the diversity of Radio Jesus sounds like: Radio Jesus RISE, compared to Radio Jesus ONE and the more political Radio Jesus Sleep now in the Fire.

Bibliography
1. Crossan, John Dominic. “History and Jesus; What is the Content of your Faith?” Living the Questions DVD, 2008.

2. Galatians 1:14

3. Borg, Marcus. The Heart of Christianity and Jesus: Uncovering the Life, Teachings, and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary. Harper One, San Francisco CA, 2004.

4. John 14: 12

5. Crossan, John Dominic “The historical Jesus, The life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant.” Harper San Francisco 1991 page 278.

6. Genesis 28:18

7. Luke 19: 1-10

Self-Reflection

a year of seminary has ended. this usually invites a time of self-reflection and confessions. at this time of schooling there is a human impluse to confess to one another long held secrets or opinions. it is an interesting phenomenon.


i had many great experiences here. i've been told by one collegue that they wish to see the world as i see it, just for one day. that was very nice! i was also told by another collegue that if i was in charge of the earth, they would wake up and have no idea what was going on with a purple sun rise and a velociraptor riding a bike down their street. so there's both affirmation and humility sprinkled in here and it is precisely this mix that is sacred.

this leads to the question of how do i see the world? what frames am i using when i view it? we all use frames as the world is too much to view all at once, too paradoxical. which ones are mine? which ones are useful and which should i discard?

These questions are a step in the process of figuring out the verbage I’m going to use when describing Christian Education. For me right now:

Christian Education is getting to zero.
We do this by examining what we carry,
Why we carry it,
Who gave it to us,
And is it worth keeping?
Zero then is understood as not the absense, but the possibility.

I like this, but I’m unsure of the practicality of this statement. I like that it takes words at the symbolic level. Words are symbols of something, not the actual thing. The word Duck is not a duck. We loose sight of this in our religious communities as we become wrapped up in the one interepretation of the word, not the symbol of it. Words are important but more important I would contend are the possible themes those words are to evoke.

We are standing in the center of something rare and vast. The problem isn’t that we don’t know, it’s that we don’t care to explore the possibilities of our lives.

one way to graphically demonstrate this is with two videos. the first is one of my favorite bands of all time Royksopp... you may have heard them on the Geico Caveman at the Airport ad, but their style really appeals to me. the genre of music is known as "chill" or "deep couch" for it's laid back approach. this video represents how i walk down the street... how and what i think... there's a feeling that this music produces.. a hopeful-melancholy. this may sound like a paradox, but what is life but a paradox?! enjoy the video:



this other one is super-catchy audio crack! i loooove Japanese power-pop like P5. this is if P5 and Slipknot had a baby, both happy and agressive. another paradox! thanks to Weaver for the find!



i think they're saying "sweet and sour, we've got your MEGA-Lover" which is totally cool! whatever they're singing i can't stop listening to it! eeeek!

Now for something completely different...

I did this survey way back when and thought it'd be sweet to do it again! you can do it too! this is my half-assed appology for laying a heady theory on y'all... so now is time for fun! join in, won't you?

just a quick note, this is Kate and my iTunes list... so don't be surprised..

IF A MOVIE WAS MADE OF YOUR LIFE, WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK BE?

So, here's how it works:

1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, etc).
2. Put it on shuffle.
3. Press play.
4. For every question type the song that's playing.
5. When you go to a new question press the next button.

Ready?

***

Opening Credits:
Honey, Honey- From the Mama Mia Sountrack

Waking Up:
Take a Walk by Spoon (great song to wake up to! "come up, take'n a walk with you!")

Falling In Love:
While the Cold Winter Waiting by Trentemoller (that would be one depressed love affair!)

Fight Scene:
Give my love to Rose by Johnny Cash... damn sad fight.. or at least an after fight sound.. DUDE I KILLED A GUY! EEEEKK!!

Breaking Up:
Nobody's Home by Urlich Schnauss (good one for a breakup!)

Making up:
Marching Bands of Manhattan by Deathcab for Cutie.. good one iTunes! ("i'd make your name sing, go through the alleys and bounce off of the buildings")

Life's Okay:
Chocolate Jesus by Tom Waits

Mental Breakdown:
I slept with someone in fallout boy and all i got was this song written about me by Fallout Boy ("my conscience is calling in sick again")

Driving:
It's your Love by Tim McGraw (that causes me to drive far, far away?!)

Flashbacks:
This Train Don't Stop here Anymore by Elton John (wow!)

Happy Dance:
You Give Me Something by Jamiroquai

Regretting:
The Crazy One by the Brindley Brothers ("you wonder if anyone here is on your side.. i am and i say you're not the crazy one")

Final Battle:
I'll See you when we're both not so emotional by American Football

Death Scene:
Say it Right by Nelly Furtado ("you either stand or you fall" i guess i fell)

Ending Credits:
The Impression that I Get by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones ("have you ever been close to tragedy or been close to folks who have?")

BONUS! The Sex Scene: Poor Leno (Istanbul take forever) by Royksopp from the Live Album

now what'd y'all get?! let me know and i'll check out the songs on iTunes.

2007 was Heaven (save for that damn condo!)

1) DRINKING BUDDY OF THE YEAR-
Kate always gets this title... but the outside the marriage award goes to Jim and Linda!

2) LIFETIME SERVICE AWARD (longest friend) -
Jeremy Rober

3) NEWCOMER AWARD (newest friend)-
Dawn! Dawn gets the award cause i met her last!

3) HIGH POINT OF THE YEAR?
last day at capitol! first day of class!

4) LOW POINT OF THE YEAR?
not selling our condo...

5) BEST HOLIDAY?
Halloween

6) YOUR SONG FOR 2007?
Title Track- Death Cab for Cutie

7) MOVIE FOR 2007?
Children of Men and Stranger than Fiction

10) WHO DID YOU SPEND VALENTINES WITH?
Kate!

11) BEST RELATIONSHIP?
all of them!

12) WHAT WERE YOU FOR HALLOWEEN?
A vampire and a french horse jumping course designer (separately)

13) RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR?
Annie Bailey's

14) BOOKs OF THE YEAR?
A Walk in the Woods Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson
Intro to Biblical Studies by Stephen Moiyse
God, Christ, Church, Intro to Process Theology by Marjorie Suchokie
Living Buddha, Living Christ by Nicht Naht Hann
A Storm of Swords- George R.R. Martin
Post Evangelical by Dave Tomlinson
and a ton of others i can't even think of yet!

15) BEST DECISION MADE THIS YEAR?
to go to seminary

16. BIGGEST PLANS FOR NEXT YEAR?
placement in a church and planning for a cross cultural adventure!

17) MOST STUPID IDEA WHEN DRUNK?!
pelting fellow classmates at the gala with hershey kisses

18) TV SHOW OF THE YEAR?
Battlestar Galatica and My Name is Earl

19) MOST LOYAL FRIEND?
Steve and Jim... the three amigos! Weaver

20) BIGGEST CHANGE OF THE YEAR?.
Promoted at work, quit work, went to school again! moved to Lancaster PA

21) BIGGEST RETARD AWARD?
me! here's to me drinking a beer that tasted like bananas and throwing it up the next day. i blame linda ;-)

22) NEW YEAR RESOLUTION?
transcend notions- be more understanding of where people are and learn how to interact better.

23) Best Sports Moments?
Seeing the Cavs, Indians, and Browns do really well.
Seeing Farve on an awesome team again!


24) CDs of 2007
Trentemoller's The Last Resort
The Deathcab Collection I picked up
Reggie and the Full Effect- Songs not to get Married to.
Bright Eyes- I'm wide awake, it's morning
The Dixie Chick's Taking the Long Way

here's the previous best of's: 2005, 2006

CMAs, Scary Stories, and GOBLINS!

So I told my Ma that i don't like today's country and said i wouldn't be watching the CMA's. but kate and i checked it out and then barely turned the channel. we really loved carrie underwood's song "so small" i couldn't find a good copy of the song, but here's a cover.


we also liked Taylor Swift! This song really brought us back to being bf & gf!


so Ma's pretty smart! Although we still can't stand Sugarland.. sounds like the lady swallowed a cat and is try'n unsuccessfully to bring it back up. and the guy who sings "these are my ppl" is boring and i'm not a fan of these types of songs. YAY US! YOU GUYS DON'T KNOW SO QUIT ACT'N LIKE YOU DO type songs suck. so yay for the rest of country music! also Kitchen Nightmares is like TV Crack Goodness!

Here's random videos to recap some past events that i'd like to share:

Here's Kate telling me a scary story for halloween:


Just when you think that getting stairs for your dog is the best invention ever, here comes the trump card!

Kate and i have so much trouble with Zerrag, but since we got the Goblin Steps, all is well in the world!

Seven Nation Army Couldn't Hold Me Back

Yeah that's right!! Lotsa good stuff goings on here. I just went in front of the Potomac Association to become "in care" and got it! What this means is that after I graduate in 3 years from seminary, the Association will ordain me if I so choose the route of pastoral care. Right now it seems that that's what I'm heading for.

Some interesting questions posed such as:

"What parts of the Bible are you not familar with?"

Pretty much Old Testament after Deuteronomy. We covered a lot in ol' Catholic religion class but it was just the first 4 texts of the old testament.. with a few prophets thrown in so they can say "jesus is coming, jesus is coming, JESUS IS COMING!" and then BANG! New Testament, he's here. We learned up until Acts and then a little revalations thrown in for some doom and gloom. I'd love to tackle the whole darn book and see what i find now.

"Where do you see yourself? What's your ministry about?"

I see myself as a pastor of a church and I hope to target people ages 20 to mid to late 30s. When i tell some of my friends that i'm going into the ministry they're like "that's nice but you know how i feel about religion" (to call them out, mainly OU Ken and The Famous Mister Edwards). I agree with them whole heartedly. Christianity has been taken over and defined by the crazy fundie right-wingers just as Islam has been branded in much the same way. Religion is HARD. It's about loving people for who they are, not who they're supposed to be. Jesus didn't hang with prositutes and tax collectors to guilt them into a better life. He loved them for where they were, and that love caused them to realize that God loves them just as much as anyone else. That asshole that cuts you off in traffic, the rival team that constantly beats your fav. team (i.e. Yankees, Spurs, and Ravens/Steelers), and even that homeless guy you pass everyday, God loves them just as much as He loves you. That's a hard call to answer. Religion isn't easy, it isn't supposed to be. But great things happen to ppl once they're out of their comfort zone.

"What gifts to you bring to the ministry?"

Well half way through my sermon, I'll break for a commercial sponsered by some corporation. PLUS! I'll integrate their product seemlessly into my ministry. Here's an example of what i'm talking about:



I feel a great need to rally the younger generation. We need to mobilize against this onslaught of political corruption, religious bigotry, and social elitism. America needs a gut check, and I hope to be in a position to work towards a better tomorrow through my ministry and UCC affliation.

I can't wait to get to Lancaster PA (not OHIO, sorry Ali!) and start down this road. AND one of my fav. senior high students will be up there! I'm looking forward to hanging out with MALICE and catching up and also see'n what music she's into. Girl has like 600,000 some odd songs from her iTunes and 5,000+ points on the ever so addicting iLike music challenge (which i'll beat her on).

And now, the coolest heckler joke:



Rule of Three:

Book- I AM A STRANGE LOOP
MUSIC- Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (thanks Kim!)
MOVIE- Firefly Full Collection

We are all fascists

Quick post here, as i don't really feel like tackle'n the massive amount of things i must do today. i know the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, but i know where that step leads, and i wanna put that off for 10 more minutes.

speaking of putting things off... i've been reading a few blogs and listening to a few friends who keep saying "things will change, i really mean it this time!". i'm getting tired of it. you either are or you are not. transistions don't take that long if you're serious about change. i guess people are secure in their sadness.

the point i'm trying to make is a long one, and i don't have time for that, so here's the short point. We're all fachists when it comes to life. The world is controlled by the ego, the ME worldview is pretty limited. ME is bigger than you, period. So when I'M sad and shitty, I'M not seeing how this effects you, nor do I really care because I can't see past MY own issues/sorrow/whatever. driving people away is not a good thing, esp. when people want to help and get one out of the state one's in. but that all starts with wanting to get out of that state in the first place.

The only way out is breaking the ME worldview and coming into the WE worldview... or at least a me worldview. so that's my response to that garbage.

in addition, hellogoodbye is my current audio addiction! check 'em out!



and the current books i'm reading is START WHERE YOU ARE, Neil Gaiman's Fragile Things, and King's The Shining on audio book. All are completely awesome. Esp. the start where you are book, that's a good book on coming into the WE worldview.

kate and i are still on our battlestar galactica kick... love that show! burrito's bach. party is coming up, so i'm excited for that! lots of stuff in the works! it'll be exciting!

The Soundtrack of My Life?

IF A MOVIE WAS MADE OF YOUR LIFE, WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK BE?

So, here's how it works:

1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, etc).
2. Put it on shuffle.
3. Press play.
4. For every question type the song that's playing.
5. When you go to a new question press the next button.

Ready?

***
Dibs up for Cecil for posting this sweeeeeet Survey!


Opening Credits:
Never Gonna Come Back Down-- BT featuring M Doughty

Waking Up:
This Place is A Prison--- The Postal Service

Falling In Love:
Preacher's Daughter-- The Refreshments... hahahahaha!

Fight Scene:
Mrs Jackson---Outkast (i guess this works for a fight with the inlaws)

Breaking Up:
With Friends like You--Brandtson

Making up:
The Perfect Situation--- Weezer

Life's Okay:
"The Guitar Song'-- Last song on Royksopp's Melody A.M. cd

Mental Breakdown:
Masterpiece---Bayside

Driving:
Landing--Moby

Flashbacks:
My Town--Armor For Sleep

Happy Dance:
New Pollution-- Beck

Regretting:
Burndt Jam-- Weezer

Final Battle:
Lie Detector-- Rev. Horton Heat

Death Scene:
I Miss You- Blink 182

Ending Credits:
How Sweet it is to be loved by you-- James Taylor ( I have this song?! What is it doing on my iTunes?!?!)

Best of 2005

I know I'm late in this... but i was too busy writing up Time and People's lists... so you can just read these sucka,

Best Away Message:
"Apparently 1 in 5 people in the world are Chinese. And there are 5 people in my family,so it must be one of them. It's either my mum or my dad. Or my older brother Colin. Or my younger brother Ho-Chan Chu. But I think it's Colin."

Most Addictive Song:
DevilDucky - Banana Phone

Most Enlightening:
Lao Tsu

Best Lip Synch since Brittney Spears:
Numanuma

Best Blogger in terms of Update:
Emotional Toothpaste

Worst Blogger in terms of Update:
EAG

Best Retro-Blog:
DCW

Best Post:
Kimmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Best Album:
Demon Days

Best Book:
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin tied with Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys

Best Movie:
Murderball

Best Website In General:
Wikipedia

Best Redesign/Shameless Plug/Sexiest Website Content Manager:
EquiSearch.com

Almost as addicting as video games or crack:
Facebook

So i think i covered everything... good times had by most in 2005 unless you were living in Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, or New Orleans... but here's to 2006! oh... which reminds me...

Best Graduating Class EVER:
Class of 6-6-06