Please, Damon is the biggest practical joker I know. He once convinced a sophomore that he was the middle Hanson brother

so i think this is going to be one of those 'stream of consciousness' type blog entries where i'm off on a bunch of tangents. that's cool, that's kinda how things have been lately...

so where to begin...


i love inside jokes. nothing makes for a better friendship than having an inside joke with someone. some of my best friends are people that i became friends with because of one joke. then there's a whole crew of people that i know that our whole relationship revolves around one joke. i'm not going to go on vacation to see them or anything, but if i ever do run into them again, i guarantee we'll bring our joke back up.

i know no one else will get these (the whole point of an inside joke) but these are some of my favorite inside jokes...

trashcanning and d.o.b.

tres grindage

salsas?

congratulations dave and jessica

you turned that down for a pepsi?

budget

old navy.... YAAAAAAAAY!

where are the urinals?

toss me an oreo. strike.

you know i don't speak sign language.

shtank you for shtoppng by the plateau taco time, would you like shome shalsha or shour cream? your total ish sheven shixty shix.

lane 6

ain't kiddin

there's the lawrence welk stand

812 dub tribe

han solo hair

ninjette

the dirty dozen

tapperburger

ahhhh, there's so many more, but those are the ones i've been thinking about lately.


so what else has been going on...

i really need more of my friends from san diego to come and visit. bulletproof girl came to visit this past weekend and i was forced to get everything organized and cleaned up before she got here. def a good thing. aside from having an awesome weekend journeying around, staying up too late and people watching, i now i have everything organized as a result. add that on to the list of reasons why i'd like to see bulletproof girl again.

one thing we did was watch both of the ring movies, yeah... creepiest movies ever. (i so heart creepy movies... yeah, i know right). i promote a lot of movies, and typically they're not of the horror genre, but if you're one of the two people that haven't seen both movies yet, i highly recommend watching them as soon as possible. but not with me, i make jokes to cover up the fact that i'm actually pretty creeped out.

one of the things a youth minister always has to wonder about is wether or not they make an impact on their kiddos, and wether or not they feel comfortable with you. yesterday i got a little present to show how much the kids care. i've been planning on redoing my office here as soon as the time and money are available at the same time (i.e. not the couple of days around when rent is due). anyways, a couple of the girls in my youth group decided to go ahead and redecorate for me. 'an obsession with hanson' wasn't really the theme i was going for, but i did get a big kick out of walking into an office literally covered in hanson posters, magazine cutouts and who knows what else. they did a good job, and it must have taken them a while, but there will be repercussions. i need to show them how much I care. it was also funny, that while i was buying some shoe polish and other accessories to get them back, they walked into the grocery store. so i payed quickly and quietly, and tagged their car while they were picking up a snack. not the best work i've done, but considering the situation i had a pretty good laugh. oh it has been broughten.

i made another little realization yesterday. if we eat out a fewer times each month, me and the cuz could easily afford a much larger and nicer tv. i'm not one to need the latest and greatest toys, but i think i've gotten bit with the tv disease, and sony is thy name. we'll see. there's no big rush, except that after going to best buy the other day our tv at the apt seems oh so small and unentertaining. first priorities first though, i need to recover financially from giving up half a paycheck to our church for hurricane relief. seriously, if anyone in this country hasn't stopped by the red cross or a local church or something, do it right now.

which leads me to some more serious stuff thats been on my mind. i am absolutely sick and tired of people complaining about the government's response to the hurricane victims. some idiot the other day was comparing this disaster to the 9/11 response and made themselves look like a total idiot in my book. when an entire area is flooded, it's going to take time to get aid in. when 9/11 happened, there were only a few square blocks affected (not to discount the impact of the disaster) but people were physically able to respond because of the proximity. as for katrina relief, i can understand why people are frustrated and confused, but to start shooting at relief helicopters and loot your town as a response is absolutely uncalled for. it's one thing to be in desperate need to get your baby food, diapers, water, shelter and other necessities, but when i see a bunch of people pushing a display case of nikes down the street there is a line of decency and understanding that has been crossed. that is someone else's livelihood that you are stealing, and using a disaster to say that these are 'owed' to you because of your struggles is absolutely insane. for so long, certain political leaders have preached that it is the responsibility of the government to take care of our every need, that we have lost the ability to take responsibility for our own actions. we are not 'owed' anything by our government if we do not take the responsibility to contribute ourselves. if anyone is 'owed' anything, it is the thousands of volunteers that got off their butts to help others. it is the countless number of nurses and doctors who, being flooded out of house and home themselves, start taking care of those around them in line waiting the arrival of organized help. they are owed a thank you. they are owed a peasant night's rest knowing they have served their community and their neighbors. the ironic thing is, these are the people that never in a million years would ever ask, demand, or put together a news conference to draw attention to their actions. if i were a new orleans resident i would be ashamed of my mayor, and i would have every right to feel that way. his comments, and those in his corner have distracted our attention from the true victims, and are blatant political grandstanding. yes we know there are thousands that may have died, and there are hundreds of thousand that are without homes, and your city is in ruins, but criticizing the hand that literally feeds you is uncalled for. this is one of those catch twenty-twos that responsible leaders have to deal with when grandstanding opportunistic self-serving press conference mongers get involved. no matter what you do, it will never be the right thing. people are complaining that relief isn't coming soon enough, but if relief had come even a day earlier people would have been complaining that it wasn't very organized. get it through your head, you are owed nothing. the fact that relief is on it's way at all is out of sheer compassion of others. it is because our forefathers set up a government that would take care of it's own people (and others around the world in need) to the best of it's ability. does this mean everyone in new orleans will get a new flat screen tv, no. but it does mean that any and all victims that can get help will, to the best of our country's ability. in no way, shape, or form am i trying to criticize those who are tired, lost and have nothing but the clothes on their backs. i can't begin to imagine the amount of suffering and distress that this hurricane has caused, but i will call out the political leaders who prey upon victims for their own political gain. typically i don't like to call out names, but jesse jackson is at the forefront of my mind so often when it comes to these tragedies, and it makes me wonder, what does he do when there aren't any disasters? does he encourage the naacp to help any white victims of the flooding? does he encourage anyone to help out with hurricane relief or does he complain about it? has he served a meal without a camera around? how much of his salary has he donated to relief? what does he do for a living?

ugh. it stuff like this that makes me mad. even my own attention is taken away from the hurricane victims and pulled to the hurricane criminals. i'm infuriated. i may also rethink buying that tv. i think i may have to take a break and go back to some inside jokes.

Dear God,
I know it's so hard to understand your plan sometimes, but i see so much potential for your glory to shine in the wake of this disaster. i praise you for guiding the hearts of so many that are risking their lives, and using their time and energy to help their neighbors in need. i thank you for those that are working tirelessly, and selflessly to find the lost, reunite families, serve and prepare dinners, drive busses, fly helicopters, organize finances, make decisions, and anything else that is being done to serve. bless them Lord, and give them strength to continue to serve beyond disaster relief. let them know it is You who served us first, and we are just following your example. i pray for all the victims of this disaster, that they may lean upon your word and compassion for support, and that they know that You are God. i pray that new orleans is no longer known as a city of debauchery, but a city of service and compassion, where your light shines. i pray that those using this time for personal gain would to distract our country from serving and caring. Lord, let this disaster be a firing point for your servants everywhere to be called into action, whether it's time in prayer, financial support, or physical labor.
Amen.

much better.

onto other things...

so everyone pretty much knows that i'm a music nerd and all that, but i was kinda struck by some songs the other day. i made a bunch of comp cds of my favorite songs for my truck, and there was a group of songs that played in order that kinda had some cool messages, at least they did for me...

welcome to paradise-
i really am happy with my life and where i'm at as a person. i have a job i love, people that care about me and plenty of stuff to laugh about.

welcome to the jungle-
and yet i live right over the mountains from one of the most insane places in earth

what do i get-
that's my question too often. i'm always looking out for what i can do to earn things. instead i should be asking...

what i got-
i don't take stock of the blessing i have often enough

what's golden-
what has value in my life? do i have any idols?

what's my age again-
i love this song. one of the reasons i became a youth minister was so that a part of me would never have to grow up.

whats up-
not so much a message here, but i love how a cheesy song can be so fun to sing along to and play on guitar. that, and sometimes it just feels good to stand up and yell 'Hey-ey-ey-ey, Hey-ey-ey, What's goin on?'

when i come around-
i wonder what it would be like if i actually used all of my potential.

when it's good-
'when it's good it's oh so good, and when you're gone its gone' taken out of context, that makes a very nice spiritual statement.

where is my mind-
i seriously get distracted by so many things other than what i should be focusing on.

where is the love-
(yes, i like BEP) always a good question to ask yourself in any given situation. am i acting on love?

where the streets have no name-
i can't wait for the day.

yes i know that these are in alphabetical order, which is the easiest way for me to keep track of my music, but that's besides the point. i like how a simple random section of song titles can bring up so much thought.

well, after a weekend of hanging out with bulletproof chica, and a true couple of days off i feel energized and ready to get to work. keep me in your prayers cause we have a lot of stuff coming up, and i'm thinking of taking a significant increase in my responsibility in my leadership role in the church. speaking of, we are looking at different things we can do to improve worship service on sunday mornings, so if your church does something that really works well i'd like to get some outside ideas. thanks.

one love, one heart.