it's amazing what a couple of well placed phone calls can do for you. last night i called dantheman about a logo project i’ve been working on for him, and through the conversation he ended up giving me a pretty decent compliment that pretty much made my day. then, i decided to give topgun girl a call and we ended up talking for an hour and a half (pretty decent for not being a phone conversationalist). anyways, it was one of those talks where we were able to get past goofy surface stuff, although we did end up delving into past relationships (mostly on her part) which is always thin ice. fortunately, the past is pretty long gone for her. unfortunately for me, these guys were unreal smooth, and i've got a lot of catching up to do... which means extra effort on my part due to the 2.5 hour drive between us. ugh. writing about this is actually not helping the more i think about it...
well today and tomorrow are my 'busy days' with our two bible studies, and the kiddos having tomorrow off of school. the cool thing is i have a bunch of stuff that i've been stressing out about that i think i can take in stride today. i think these mornings where i can get my start and get going help out a lot more than the days where lawdog and i sit around and talk for the first hour of the day.
oh yeah, mom finally mailed my diploma, so i finally have a fully furnished office! i've always seen guys with their diplomas hanging up in their office and not thought that it was a big deal. seriously though, it's pretty cool to finally be able to look up from my desk, in my office, ay my diploma. this begs the question though... how did i ever graduate?
well i'm not gonna hold my breathe to figure that one out. till then, one love and one heart.
11.09.2004
dad, we need a fire pole!
So I’ve been a pretty consistent opponent of reality tv, but lately I’ve seen some shows that have me rethinking my position. First, is pimp my ride on mtv. Not only are all of the ‘victims’ pretty deserving people, but the guys at the shop really make the show. Going back to the cars they fix, it always seems that it’s a person putting themself through college, helping the family, etc... the best on that show is big dane though, he’s the one that always has the clutch comment like my new favorite phrase, "aloha oi, holla at your boy’.
Secondly, is extreme home makeover on abc. This one had me on the verge of tears this past week. The family they helped had two deaf parents, one normal son, and one blind/autistic son. The two parents were given monitors for every major room so they could communicate across the house, and keep an eye on their youngest son. They also got to go on vacation for the first time in their lives. The youngest son got a new playroom specifically designed by autism specialists was color and touch sensitive. They also sewed sensors into his pajamas so that when he tried to play houdini and leave the house late at night, his parents would see an alarm and the police would be notified. Needless to say the parents could sleep better at night. The mom got her own room to do art, the dad got a new toolshed that was stocked ready to go and the youngest son got a swingset, his old chimes and a few other things that would help him feel comfortable in his new surroundings. The biggest gifts came for the oldest son, who should be nominated for sainthood. Not only did he get a brand new room, an atv, but they brought in marlee matlin to present a scholarship check for fifty thousand for the college of his choice.
Then today there was a show called ‘the biggest loser’. This show is where seriously obese folks compete for a cash prize, based upon who loses the most weight. There’s something to these tv shows that seriously help people in need. This isn’t a couple of neighbors redecorating a living room, this isn’t people supposedly ‘stranded’ voting each other off... these are shows where the people involved end up gaining more by helping than those receiving the gifts. Esp on home makeover. These designers rarely end a show not in tears. The few episodes I have seen have all been families that are more than deserving, but would never complain or whine. And they all thank God for blessing them before any work is ever done. I think there’s a lot to be said for that.
Speaking of interesting tv, while I was surfing around last night I happened across some star seach type of show on the wb. This was a cool find, considering I never really watch the wb.... anyways... there was this hasidic jewish guy in his twenties talking about what his religion was all about... then he starts singing some reggae song in yiddish. A hasidic reggae singer. His cd should be out soon. I listen to a lot of reggae, and this guy is legit, so you can guarantee that as soon as my ‘no money Monday’ is over I’ll be ordering my copy of mitasyahu’s album. Check back for details in a few weeks for a full review.
Personally, today and tomorrow are days for getting myself out of the funk I’ve been in as of late. My goals for Monday were to not think about topgun girl, not spend any money, and write at least two more songs on guitar. Mission accomplished. It was a good day off and now I think I’m ready to try and salvage this week from the grasp of last weeks’ funk. The goal for this week is to get my work stuff more organized, not spend more than $100 on myself (outside of food), and get my xmas trip to seattle planned out. Yeah, this is one of those hit the fan weeks where I’m gonna have to work my tail off to get things back to snowballing stage.
And for the record... viva la bam is by far my favorite reality tv show. Don vito’s subtitles are reason alone to watch the show.
one love and one heart.
Secondly, is extreme home makeover on abc. This one had me on the verge of tears this past week. The family they helped had two deaf parents, one normal son, and one blind/autistic son. The two parents were given monitors for every major room so they could communicate across the house, and keep an eye on their youngest son. They also got to go on vacation for the first time in their lives. The youngest son got a new playroom specifically designed by autism specialists was color and touch sensitive. They also sewed sensors into his pajamas so that when he tried to play houdini and leave the house late at night, his parents would see an alarm and the police would be notified. Needless to say the parents could sleep better at night. The mom got her own room to do art, the dad got a new toolshed that was stocked ready to go and the youngest son got a swingset, his old chimes and a few other things that would help him feel comfortable in his new surroundings. The biggest gifts came for the oldest son, who should be nominated for sainthood. Not only did he get a brand new room, an atv, but they brought in marlee matlin to present a scholarship check for fifty thousand for the college of his choice.
Then today there was a show called ‘the biggest loser’. This show is where seriously obese folks compete for a cash prize, based upon who loses the most weight. There’s something to these tv shows that seriously help people in need. This isn’t a couple of neighbors redecorating a living room, this isn’t people supposedly ‘stranded’ voting each other off... these are shows where the people involved end up gaining more by helping than those receiving the gifts. Esp on home makeover. These designers rarely end a show not in tears. The few episodes I have seen have all been families that are more than deserving, but would never complain or whine. And they all thank God for blessing them before any work is ever done. I think there’s a lot to be said for that.
Speaking of interesting tv, while I was surfing around last night I happened across some star seach type of show on the wb. This was a cool find, considering I never really watch the wb.... anyways... there was this hasidic jewish guy in his twenties talking about what his religion was all about... then he starts singing some reggae song in yiddish. A hasidic reggae singer. His cd should be out soon. I listen to a lot of reggae, and this guy is legit, so you can guarantee that as soon as my ‘no money Monday’ is over I’ll be ordering my copy of mitasyahu’s album. Check back for details in a few weeks for a full review.
Personally, today and tomorrow are days for getting myself out of the funk I’ve been in as of late. My goals for Monday were to not think about topgun girl, not spend any money, and write at least two more songs on guitar. Mission accomplished. It was a good day off and now I think I’m ready to try and salvage this week from the grasp of last weeks’ funk. The goal for this week is to get my work stuff more organized, not spend more than $100 on myself (outside of food), and get my xmas trip to seattle planned out. Yeah, this is one of those hit the fan weeks where I’m gonna have to work my tail off to get things back to snowballing stage.
And for the record... viva la bam is by far my favorite reality tv show. Don vito’s subtitles are reason alone to watch the show.
one love and one heart.
11.04.2004
Theo: He's a minister Dad. He'll tell God we're crazy!
you gotta love crazy people.
we had our youth minister's lunch today, and for the first time I didn't see anyone famous on one of my visits to l.a. oh well. one of the youth ministers there was this barbarian of a man that totally caught me off guard. this guy looked like he would be more comfortable at a biker meeting than a youth ministry meeting, which is one of the many reasons he is awesome. he doesn't have a specific church home, instead he ministers to homeless kids in venice. let me repeat that, he ministers to homeless kids in venice. what an awesome ministry. instead of trying to maintain a youth group at some building somewhere, he is truly reaching out to the lost and those ready to experience God's love. if jesus were around today, i have a feeling he would be hanging out with the same people the barbarian does. there's a lot to be said for that. i know i come from a middle class background and still consider this type of ministry rogue or unusual. i'm so wrong. the hard part is what do i do now that i feel convicted? how do i take what i've seen today and apply it to my ministry.
anyways, the ministry is called dry bones venice. it rocks.
as i was driving back from the valley towards simi i almost got in a wreck again. all of the mountains are turning green and the sun was hidden behind what appear to be storm clouds in the distance. no post card or picture could ever capture that moment. if it's not raining tomorrow i may take a hike up the mountains and finally try and figure out how to publish pics of simi on my little slice of blog pie here. seriously, it looked like i was driving through ireland or something. i can't wait for more rain to bring more green to the hillsides. this place is so beautiful, and it makes it so easy to see where God's creativity is apparent.
needless to say, today is a pretty sweet day. i finally feel like i am somewhat getting stuff done, even though my list is still growing of things to do. um, i'm not sure that really makes sense, but the point should be in there somewhere. anyways, i've come to realize that this is a baby steps job on my part, and its up to God to do the huge breakthroughs. last night was really cool, we had our jr high bible study, and i wasn't really sure about what we were going to talk about, and God totally took over and really impressed me through some 6-8th graders. nice. i think they are starting to really come out of their shells. this could be fun in the next few years.
personally, i've been so busy that i haven't really thought to call topgun girl, or any of my other friends recently. i'm not sure if that's a good thing or not, but the big thing is i'm not getting down about not having talked to her in a few days. also, i was going through pictures last night and i was having a blast thinking about old friends. i think i may have to crack open the oc yearbook again too. the only thing that got me down last time was the list of girls that i was interested in that i never really acted on. there were a few pics that reminded of times that left deep bruises that i don't think i knew existed until after school was over. i don't live my life with regrets, but i know given another chance to meet certain females, and other friends, i would have def been more open and honest. def taken more chances. oh well, we live and we learn. also, after thinking about some of my friends from oc, i still hold that there are some who are just as hot as any famous actress out here in socal, without all of the smoke, mirrors and camera tricks.
as always, one love one heart.
we had our youth minister's lunch today, and for the first time I didn't see anyone famous on one of my visits to l.a. oh well. one of the youth ministers there was this barbarian of a man that totally caught me off guard. this guy looked like he would be more comfortable at a biker meeting than a youth ministry meeting, which is one of the many reasons he is awesome. he doesn't have a specific church home, instead he ministers to homeless kids in venice. let me repeat that, he ministers to homeless kids in venice. what an awesome ministry. instead of trying to maintain a youth group at some building somewhere, he is truly reaching out to the lost and those ready to experience God's love. if jesus were around today, i have a feeling he would be hanging out with the same people the barbarian does. there's a lot to be said for that. i know i come from a middle class background and still consider this type of ministry rogue or unusual. i'm so wrong. the hard part is what do i do now that i feel convicted? how do i take what i've seen today and apply it to my ministry.
anyways, the ministry is called dry bones venice. it rocks.
as i was driving back from the valley towards simi i almost got in a wreck again. all of the mountains are turning green and the sun was hidden behind what appear to be storm clouds in the distance. no post card or picture could ever capture that moment. if it's not raining tomorrow i may take a hike up the mountains and finally try and figure out how to publish pics of simi on my little slice of blog pie here. seriously, it looked like i was driving through ireland or something. i can't wait for more rain to bring more green to the hillsides. this place is so beautiful, and it makes it so easy to see where God's creativity is apparent.
needless to say, today is a pretty sweet day. i finally feel like i am somewhat getting stuff done, even though my list is still growing of things to do. um, i'm not sure that really makes sense, but the point should be in there somewhere. anyways, i've come to realize that this is a baby steps job on my part, and its up to God to do the huge breakthroughs. last night was really cool, we had our jr high bible study, and i wasn't really sure about what we were going to talk about, and God totally took over and really impressed me through some 6-8th graders. nice. i think they are starting to really come out of their shells. this could be fun in the next few years.
personally, i've been so busy that i haven't really thought to call topgun girl, or any of my other friends recently. i'm not sure if that's a good thing or not, but the big thing is i'm not getting down about not having talked to her in a few days. also, i was going through pictures last night and i was having a blast thinking about old friends. i think i may have to crack open the oc yearbook again too. the only thing that got me down last time was the list of girls that i was interested in that i never really acted on. there were a few pics that reminded of times that left deep bruises that i don't think i knew existed until after school was over. i don't live my life with regrets, but i know given another chance to meet certain females, and other friends, i would have def been more open and honest. def taken more chances. oh well, we live and we learn. also, after thinking about some of my friends from oc, i still hold that there are some who are just as hot as any famous actress out here in socal, without all of the smoke, mirrors and camera tricks.
as always, one love one heart.
11.03.2004
i wasn't able to vote. does that mean puff daddy is going to kill me?
Politics... man this stuff is crazy. I’m wondering how bad anti-bush supporters are going to gripe and complain. I’m just glad our president survived the media and entertainment conspiracy against him. Seriously, it made me really mad to see all of these bands and actors ganging up against our president. What makes their opinion more valid than mine? Do they get an nbc channel that I don’t? Stick to the acting and or singing, let me be the judge of my politics.
While I’m at it... I have to address religion and politics. The phrase ‘separation of church and state’ never appears in our constitution. Never. It originated in a private letter jefferson wrote to the leader of a baptist church. The letter was in response to a request by the baptist church to be the official religion of the new country, if the leaders decided to have one. That’s it. In fact, the only mention of religion in the constitution comes from the first amendment ‘where congress shall pass no laws restricting the right to practice religious practices....’(loose dj translation). that being said, the fact that the supreme court uses the separation of church and state as the basis for so many laws (i.e. no prayer in schools) is actually unconstitutional.
This has been on my mind for a while. Our cultural pendulum has swung to a point where christians are all but being persecuted. Mi madre worked in the science office at a high school in seattle for a while, a notably liberal area to say the least. I have to give mi madre props because she stood her ground against some hardcore anti-christians. They would criticize her all the time about her beliefs, yet she was not allowed to defend herself or her faith because that would be against the law. I told her to call the aclu and tell them her religious freedoms were being restricted. I love irony. Anyways, I tell my kids to pray in school as much as they can. Anyone that tries to tell them they can’t pray is suppressing their religious freedom. This isn’t to say that every kid in school has to pray, or that a muslim can’t pray to allah, or whatever the case may be, but there needs to be a realization that our culture is doing exactly what they accuse christians of doing. Ok, maybe irony isn’t always funny.
Also, I’ve said it before, and I’ll state it again; the very things that our culture looks for to solve our social ills, are the very principles that God gave us. Our culture is kicking God out the front door, and trying to drag Him in the back door. Ironic.
Well, I guess that’s all I have to say politically.
Other random thoughts:
I’m missing my friends. Simi valley is home, but I’m realizing that it’s been a while since I’ve seen most of my compadres. The hard part is realizing that I don’t have any time planned soon to see most of them again. Ouch.
Needless to say I could really go for talking to topgun girl.
Another thing that has been bugging me is my lack of creativity lately. I simply can’t think of anything to do for fun with the youth group. I feel tapped. I need something to kick me into gear. Those first few weeks of trying to get all of the other random stuff done and visiting families every night killed my drive and energy. The only thing that really gives me comfort is knowing that I am dealing with a lot of stuff right now, and I have to give myself some room to breathe. That, and I know that once I get on a roll things are going to take off at an unreal speed. I’m afraid I’m going to look at the calendar one day and realize days have turned into months of not talking.
I should be on the phone with topgun girl right now.
Seriously though, I really have been in a funk lately. Not one of those deep down, nothing could get worse funks where you have nowhere to go but up, but one of those I can’t really figure out what’s going on funks. We’ll see. Hopefully this writing stuff down will start to pay dividends soon.
Till then, one love and one heart.
While I’m at it... I have to address religion and politics. The phrase ‘separation of church and state’ never appears in our constitution. Never. It originated in a private letter jefferson wrote to the leader of a baptist church. The letter was in response to a request by the baptist church to be the official religion of the new country, if the leaders decided to have one. That’s it. In fact, the only mention of religion in the constitution comes from the first amendment ‘where congress shall pass no laws restricting the right to practice religious practices....’(loose dj translation). that being said, the fact that the supreme court uses the separation of church and state as the basis for so many laws (i.e. no prayer in schools) is actually unconstitutional.
This has been on my mind for a while. Our cultural pendulum has swung to a point where christians are all but being persecuted. Mi madre worked in the science office at a high school in seattle for a while, a notably liberal area to say the least. I have to give mi madre props because she stood her ground against some hardcore anti-christians. They would criticize her all the time about her beliefs, yet she was not allowed to defend herself or her faith because that would be against the law. I told her to call the aclu and tell them her religious freedoms were being restricted. I love irony. Anyways, I tell my kids to pray in school as much as they can. Anyone that tries to tell them they can’t pray is suppressing their religious freedom. This isn’t to say that every kid in school has to pray, or that a muslim can’t pray to allah, or whatever the case may be, but there needs to be a realization that our culture is doing exactly what they accuse christians of doing. Ok, maybe irony isn’t always funny.
Also, I’ve said it before, and I’ll state it again; the very things that our culture looks for to solve our social ills, are the very principles that God gave us. Our culture is kicking God out the front door, and trying to drag Him in the back door. Ironic.
Well, I guess that’s all I have to say politically.
Other random thoughts:
I’m missing my friends. Simi valley is home, but I’m realizing that it’s been a while since I’ve seen most of my compadres. The hard part is realizing that I don’t have any time planned soon to see most of them again. Ouch.
Needless to say I could really go for talking to topgun girl.
Another thing that has been bugging me is my lack of creativity lately. I simply can’t think of anything to do for fun with the youth group. I feel tapped. I need something to kick me into gear. Those first few weeks of trying to get all of the other random stuff done and visiting families every night killed my drive and energy. The only thing that really gives me comfort is knowing that I am dealing with a lot of stuff right now, and I have to give myself some room to breathe. That, and I know that once I get on a roll things are going to take off at an unreal speed. I’m afraid I’m going to look at the calendar one day and realize days have turned into months of not talking.
I should be on the phone with topgun girl right now.
Seriously though, I really have been in a funk lately. Not one of those deep down, nothing could get worse funks where you have nowhere to go but up, but one of those I can’t really figure out what’s going on funks. We’ll see. Hopefully this writing stuff down will start to pay dividends soon.
Till then, one love and one heart.
11.02.2004
Barry: Rob, top five musical crimes perpetuated by Stevie Wonder in the 80s and 90s? Go...
Well, I felt like writing for a while, but I’m not really sure about what... and I was looking at my stack of movies, so maybe I can occupy my time by commenting on all my movies. Yeah, I’m basically sitting around here bored tonite.
Airheads: my favorite quote from this one is something like, ‘how can you be the lone rangers if there are three of you?’
Airplane: quite possibly the funniest movie ever.
American history x: if you didn’t think racism was a serious issue before... this should be shown in schools for seniors. Scary because it shouldn’t hit home.
Animal house: the best scene in this one is when john belushi breaks the guitar of the hippie guy trying to serenade the girls.
Back to the future: great family entertainment, and it poses the question, ‘when are we going to get flying cars?’ and the hoverboards are pretty sweet too.
Bill and ted’s excellent adventure: my favorite movie of all time. There’s not enough space on the server to write about this one.
Bill and ted’s bogus journey: primus is the highlight of this unfortunate follow up to the greatest movie ever made.
Blackhawk down: this one is an underrated war classic. The fact that it is pretty close to the actual event just brings it that much closer to home.
Blazing saddles: mel brooks uses comedy to push all the boundaries. Mongo punching the horse is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. You gotta love a movie that you quote for days after watching it.
Blue crush: chics and surfing. Nuff said.
Bottle rocket: gotta thank mr. Hollywood for reminding me of this one back in college.
Boyz n tha hood: not only was it the acting debut of my man ice cube (who inspired me to wear the detroit hat), but it introduced the hood to millions.
Braveheart: a great man’s movie. Makes you feel like you should get out and do something important. That does not include wearing a skirt. (I still hold to the belief that if you are not scottish then it’s not a kilt)
bruce almighty: it was surprising to see something that spiritual from hollywood.
Caddyshack: another movie that guys should be able to quote every line.
Carmen the hip-hopera: beyonce knowles. Nuff said.
Clueless: it’s always good to have a few chic flix on hand that you enjoy too. Oh yeah, and the mighty mighty bosstones are in it too.
Charlie brown christmas: instant christmas cheer.
Christmas story: ralphie + bb gun = classic.
Christmas vacation: I’ve said it before, every line cousin eddie has is classic, then there’s his wardrobe, then there’s chevy chase... the list goes on forever. The best part is you can watch this christmas movie year round. I recommend July 4th.
Crouching tiger hidden dragon: visually one of the best movies ever made. Storywise, it’s built like a classic fairy tale. This is one of those you can’t watch with a whole bunch of people.
Dogtown and z-boys: makes you want to go out and skate. Nuff said.
Dumb and dumber: funniest movie ever.
Encino man: instant classic. They need a category at the oscars for best college guy movie.
Fifth element: one of the best future sci-fi movies ever made. Made bruce willis my favorite actor.
Ferris bueller’s day off: I think it should be required by law that every senior watch this movie.
Fight club: one of my top five faves. The social ramifications of this movie are so underrated.
Gladiator: up there with braveheart as one of those great historical-kick-butt guy movies.
Great escape: a pretty funny war movie.
Happy Gilmore: my first friends I made in college came from me throwing this on the tv in the dorm lobby. I think quoting this is a question on the SAT.
Higher learning: one of those movies about racism that unfortunately hits too close to home for me. Ice cube is a classic, and busta rhymes brings the ruckus too. The award for best supporting actor goes to cole hauser though. His neo-nazi character is one of the creepiest things I’ve ever seen.
High fidelity: my roommates introduced me to this movie one day when I was upset about this girl in college, and spent the day organizing cds and making mix cds. Never has a movie hit home the way this one does.
Home alone: a good youth group movie for the holidays.
Hot shots: this one can make a grown man giggle like a little girl.
Italian job: instant caper classic.
Jackass: where to begin...
Major league: another one of those movies that gets quoted not quite often enough.
Magnificent butcher: old kung fu movie by the guy who did crouching tiger hidden dragon.
Matrix: easily one of the most influential movies of the past decade.
Memento: rehtegot tup saw eivom siht yaw eht evol attog
miracle: one of the few movies where it’s okay for guys to cry (see previous posts)
monsters inc.: I’m not sure how this one ended up in my possession.
My blue heaven: this was one of those $6 buys that was beyond worth it.
North shore: classic 80's surf movie that will have you craving waves... even in arizona.
Office space: modern classic that is probably quoted, and should be, in every office that has a cubicle. Gotta love the irony.
Out cold: by far the most quoted movie my senior year of college. I would walk in my apt and there would be people watching it w/o any of the roommates being in there. Also has my favorite movie character of all time (stumpy).
Out of sight: has the best bank robbery of all time, and introduced me to jennifer lopez waaaay back before the hype. Ahhh the good ol days.
Predator: top five favorite.
Predator: six dollar buy, but just good enough to be worth it.
Return of the dragon: gotta have a bruce lee movie in the collection.
The rookie: baseball classic, and a great youth group movie.
Royal tenenbaums: (see bottle rocket).
Rudy: if you don’t cry at the end of this one you have no soul. Or you need to get off the couch and do something meaningful.
Sandlot: one of the best baseball movies ever made.
Scarface: the people from mtv’s cribs made me buy this one.
School of rock: gotta love jack black. Gotta love the fact that the youth group can still watch this one.
September sessions: jack johnson directed it, nuff said.
Shaft: remake of a classic. It’s important to have samuel l. jackson in the list somewhere.
Shawshank redemption: I bought this for the few days that this isn’t on tbs.
Snatch: by far one of the greatest movies of the last few years. Seals the deal for brad pitt being a man’s man actor.
Social distortion: live concert of one of my fave bands.
Spaceballs: ‘comb the desert’ is the first of many reason to watch this one over and over.
Star wars: all of them combined still make for the greatest movie story ever.
Surf ninjas: this was a gift from the kids in tulsa. One of the best cheesy movies ever. ‘Lao tsu dude’.
Swingers: one of the best guy movies of all time. I think this is the only movie we quoted in high school. Every guy is represented in one of the characters.
Taxi driver: scary. This is where robert deniro got that, ‘you talkin to me?’ line. Scary.
Three amigos: they messed up the scene with the talking animals on the dvd. Dantheman still uses ‘el guapos’ zapatos’ for all of his fantasy sports teams.
Thicker than water: (see September sessions)
wayne’s world: one of the most quoted movies of my adolescence. That probably explains a lot.
Best of will ferrell vol 1&2: the funniest man alive, and this is the one that I quote the most as of right now. Goulet.
Willow: one of my favorites growing up. Madmartigan is still one of my favorite character names. The midgets still creep me out, then there’s the chic that plays sorscha. Toss in that cool bad guy with a skeleton helmet and you’ve got a great movie.
X-men 1&2: the best comic book adaption to a movie.
So those are the 80 movies (if I counted right... it’s late) that make up my collection. Noticeably absent are the lord of the rings trilogy (I’m waiting for all of the special editions in a boxed set), goodfellas, billy madison, tombstone (stolen), demoliton man (stolen), enter the dragon (lost), thunder ninja kids (stolen), oceans 11 (enough other people have it), steel magnolias (broken in an unfortunate skeet shooting incident), bridge on the river kwai, dirty dozen, the sting, sneakers... yeah I think I should ask for best buy gift certificates for christmas.
yeah, i'm a movie nerd that has movie collection alhpbetized. Well, I’m pretty much out of steam with this list thing tonite...
One love, one heart.
Airheads: my favorite quote from this one is something like, ‘how can you be the lone rangers if there are three of you?’
Airplane: quite possibly the funniest movie ever.
American history x: if you didn’t think racism was a serious issue before... this should be shown in schools for seniors. Scary because it shouldn’t hit home.
Animal house: the best scene in this one is when john belushi breaks the guitar of the hippie guy trying to serenade the girls.
Back to the future: great family entertainment, and it poses the question, ‘when are we going to get flying cars?’ and the hoverboards are pretty sweet too.
Bill and ted’s excellent adventure: my favorite movie of all time. There’s not enough space on the server to write about this one.
Bill and ted’s bogus journey: primus is the highlight of this unfortunate follow up to the greatest movie ever made.
Blackhawk down: this one is an underrated war classic. The fact that it is pretty close to the actual event just brings it that much closer to home.
Blazing saddles: mel brooks uses comedy to push all the boundaries. Mongo punching the horse is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. You gotta love a movie that you quote for days after watching it.
Blue crush: chics and surfing. Nuff said.
Bottle rocket: gotta thank mr. Hollywood for reminding me of this one back in college.
Boyz n tha hood: not only was it the acting debut of my man ice cube (who inspired me to wear the detroit hat), but it introduced the hood to millions.
Braveheart: a great man’s movie. Makes you feel like you should get out and do something important. That does not include wearing a skirt. (I still hold to the belief that if you are not scottish then it’s not a kilt)
bruce almighty: it was surprising to see something that spiritual from hollywood.
Caddyshack: another movie that guys should be able to quote every line.
Carmen the hip-hopera: beyonce knowles. Nuff said.
Clueless: it’s always good to have a few chic flix on hand that you enjoy too. Oh yeah, and the mighty mighty bosstones are in it too.
Charlie brown christmas: instant christmas cheer.
Christmas story: ralphie + bb gun = classic.
Christmas vacation: I’ve said it before, every line cousin eddie has is classic, then there’s his wardrobe, then there’s chevy chase... the list goes on forever. The best part is you can watch this christmas movie year round. I recommend July 4th.
Crouching tiger hidden dragon: visually one of the best movies ever made. Storywise, it’s built like a classic fairy tale. This is one of those you can’t watch with a whole bunch of people.
Dogtown and z-boys: makes you want to go out and skate. Nuff said.
Dumb and dumber: funniest movie ever.
Encino man: instant classic. They need a category at the oscars for best college guy movie.
Fifth element: one of the best future sci-fi movies ever made. Made bruce willis my favorite actor.
Ferris bueller’s day off: I think it should be required by law that every senior watch this movie.
Fight club: one of my top five faves. The social ramifications of this movie are so underrated.
Gladiator: up there with braveheart as one of those great historical-kick-butt guy movies.
Great escape: a pretty funny war movie.
Happy Gilmore: my first friends I made in college came from me throwing this on the tv in the dorm lobby. I think quoting this is a question on the SAT.
Higher learning: one of those movies about racism that unfortunately hits too close to home for me. Ice cube is a classic, and busta rhymes brings the ruckus too. The award for best supporting actor goes to cole hauser though. His neo-nazi character is one of the creepiest things I’ve ever seen.
High fidelity: my roommates introduced me to this movie one day when I was upset about this girl in college, and spent the day organizing cds and making mix cds. Never has a movie hit home the way this one does.
Home alone: a good youth group movie for the holidays.
Hot shots: this one can make a grown man giggle like a little girl.
Italian job: instant caper classic.
Jackass: where to begin...
Major league: another one of those movies that gets quoted not quite often enough.
Magnificent butcher: old kung fu movie by the guy who did crouching tiger hidden dragon.
Matrix: easily one of the most influential movies of the past decade.
Memento: rehtegot tup saw eivom siht yaw eht evol attog
miracle: one of the few movies where it’s okay for guys to cry (see previous posts)
monsters inc.: I’m not sure how this one ended up in my possession.
My blue heaven: this was one of those $6 buys that was beyond worth it.
North shore: classic 80's surf movie that will have you craving waves... even in arizona.
Office space: modern classic that is probably quoted, and should be, in every office that has a cubicle. Gotta love the irony.
Out cold: by far the most quoted movie my senior year of college. I would walk in my apt and there would be people watching it w/o any of the roommates being in there. Also has my favorite movie character of all time (stumpy).
Out of sight: has the best bank robbery of all time, and introduced me to jennifer lopez waaaay back before the hype. Ahhh the good ol days.
Predator: top five favorite.
Predator: six dollar buy, but just good enough to be worth it.
Return of the dragon: gotta have a bruce lee movie in the collection.
The rookie: baseball classic, and a great youth group movie.
Royal tenenbaums: (see bottle rocket).
Rudy: if you don’t cry at the end of this one you have no soul. Or you need to get off the couch and do something meaningful.
Sandlot: one of the best baseball movies ever made.
Scarface: the people from mtv’s cribs made me buy this one.
School of rock: gotta love jack black. Gotta love the fact that the youth group can still watch this one.
September sessions: jack johnson directed it, nuff said.
Shaft: remake of a classic. It’s important to have samuel l. jackson in the list somewhere.
Shawshank redemption: I bought this for the few days that this isn’t on tbs.
Snatch: by far one of the greatest movies of the last few years. Seals the deal for brad pitt being a man’s man actor.
Social distortion: live concert of one of my fave bands.
Spaceballs: ‘comb the desert’ is the first of many reason to watch this one over and over.
Star wars: all of them combined still make for the greatest movie story ever.
Surf ninjas: this was a gift from the kids in tulsa. One of the best cheesy movies ever. ‘Lao tsu dude’.
Swingers: one of the best guy movies of all time. I think this is the only movie we quoted in high school. Every guy is represented in one of the characters.
Taxi driver: scary. This is where robert deniro got that, ‘you talkin to me?’ line. Scary.
Three amigos: they messed up the scene with the talking animals on the dvd. Dantheman still uses ‘el guapos’ zapatos’ for all of his fantasy sports teams.
Thicker than water: (see September sessions)
wayne’s world: one of the most quoted movies of my adolescence. That probably explains a lot.
Best of will ferrell vol 1&2: the funniest man alive, and this is the one that I quote the most as of right now. Goulet.
Willow: one of my favorites growing up. Madmartigan is still one of my favorite character names. The midgets still creep me out, then there’s the chic that plays sorscha. Toss in that cool bad guy with a skeleton helmet and you’ve got a great movie.
X-men 1&2: the best comic book adaption to a movie.
So those are the 80 movies (if I counted right... it’s late) that make up my collection. Noticeably absent are the lord of the rings trilogy (I’m waiting for all of the special editions in a boxed set), goodfellas, billy madison, tombstone (stolen), demoliton man (stolen), enter the dragon (lost), thunder ninja kids (stolen), oceans 11 (enough other people have it), steel magnolias (broken in an unfortunate skeet shooting incident), bridge on the river kwai, dirty dozen, the sting, sneakers... yeah I think I should ask for best buy gift certificates for christmas.
yeah, i'm a movie nerd that has movie collection alhpbetized. Well, I’m pretty much out of steam with this list thing tonite...
One love, one heart.
10.31.2004
FLetch: hey betty, how about lunch at the in n out burger?
Sometimes the smallest things can make the biggest impression. I called topgun girl last night around 11 or so, and she was driving back from a wedding in mexico with her friend. It wasn’t really a long conversation because she was stopped at a gas station to change back into driving clothes. Anyways, we talked for a couple of minutes, and she ended the call with ‘it was really good to hear your voice’. Now I know I read into things a lot more than I should, but there’s something about that phrase that really struck me. First, she’s never said that before. Second, she said it in a different tone than the rest of our conversation. I’m not sure exactly what to think about that, but it was good to hear from her again as she was approaching san diego. She called about two hours later asking me if I knew of a motel to stay at in eastern san diego. A few things about this: 1) I crash on my friends’ couches. I don’t have a clue where motels are, or what they will cost. 2) I don’t know east san diego at all. 3) there were so many other people she could have called, but she called me. That’s the one that gets me. Hmmm, we’ll see. Last time we talked we said something about spending a Saturday afternoon relaxing. I’m def not sure what that means, but I can tell you all of my previously planned Saturday afternoons just got cancelled. The reason I mention this is because it is starting to hit home that I don’t know anyone my age here in simi. I’m trying not to think about it or let it get me down, but it’s somewhat hard at times.
For example, the cuz and I were in thousand oaks this afternoon. He wanted to stop at pier 1 to see if they had any rugs for our apt. I was looking for an art store to buy stuff to get a few paintings up on our walls. Anyways, I had a run-in with my debit card at the art store, and there was a decent line behind us. Embarrassing to say the least. The girl behind the counter was pretty cute, and we had a little flirting going on. Not like I was going to ask her out, but the kind of flirting that you do just to show that you can. The cuz was chiming in too, and afterwards it really got me thinking. We’re lame. We didn’t even talk on the way home, I really wasn’t sure what to say. I think it hit home for both of us that neither one of us really have it together when it comes to females. Every once in a while this realization becomes apparent, but this is the first time there has really been an awkward silence after a moment like this. Whether or not this is an issue, I think I’m going to make it a point not to flirt with anymore people that are wearing a name tag. Oh yeah, this was already on my mind from yesterday, when this girl from the taco shop asked me what cologne I was wearing, and I responded by letting her know it was snuggle fabric softner. We both laughed, and then I realized I was flirting with the girl from the taco stand. Not that there’s anything wrong with her, it’s just really awkward. And not the kind of fun awkward that I normally live to take advantage of. No matter what, you’re not going to see my profile on eharmony.com
tonight afforded some other good comedy. I was at rubios downing some fish tacos with some of my kids in the youthgroup, when I mentioned something about ‘lime juice in the eye’, and one of the kids (rockstar) decided I wasn’t joking and went ahead and put some in his eye. Needless to say he was in a great deal of pain almost immediately, and seemed surprised that it actually hurt. The rest of us were laughing so hard we were crying along with him. One of those things you had to be there for, but the point is I need to watch what I say around the 9th graders. Oh man, what a good laugh though.
Another fun part of today, was bugging the cuz, who is from texas, about redneck humor. I made my best effort to single handedly kill the phrase ‘git er done’ myself. That phrase has got to go, along with every redneck, nascar, my mom shot my dog country song out there. Nuff said.
Other random observances:
caller i.d. makes calls from topgun girl that much better. I’m not sure why, but I think it gets me more excited to know that when I open my phone I’m going to be talking to her.
That and my phone displays a picture of her that pops up along with her number.
Will ferrel is the funniest person on the planet. Followed closely by dave chappelle and zach galafianakis. David koechner would be up there but he hasn’t been in enough stuff, although he receives props enough for his role as stumpy in out cold.
Every female reporter on fox sports is extremely attractive.
Pimp my ride uses a lot of christian rap for background music.
Razor scooters need to go.
The day before halloween is too early to put up christmas decoration, unless you are clark w. griswold.
Speaking of which, every line cousin eddie has in christmas vacation is funny, except for when he says ‘bingo’ after clark’s sled run.
People at art stores are continuously sizing each other up. You never know if you’re standing next to picasso, or some random community college anime fan.
Reality tv shows that make over peoples’ houses make me glad to live my life as a minimalist.
Pier 1 is way too expensive, and no one needs all the stuff they have there.
Walking into a glass patio door is about the dumbest thing you can do. That and it leaves a wicked bruise. Needless to say, you can now find my forehead print on our door after this afternoon.
There is a media conspiracy against president bush.
All of eminem’s rhyme schemes are the same. (This is why he was booed off stage at warped tour back in 99)
same with the beastie boys, but their music is much more fun, and for some reason I really don’t mind.
As much as I loved my college experience, it would have been nice to at least once have stormed the field after a football game and help tear down the goalpost.
No sports team should ever have to wear purple.
I can’t wait to get my new computer. It may be the coolest computer ever designed.
Scott ian from anthrax is by far the funniest person on the ‘I love the 80s/90s’ series.
Well, it’s bedtime. One love, one heart.
For example, the cuz and I were in thousand oaks this afternoon. He wanted to stop at pier 1 to see if they had any rugs for our apt. I was looking for an art store to buy stuff to get a few paintings up on our walls. Anyways, I had a run-in with my debit card at the art store, and there was a decent line behind us. Embarrassing to say the least. The girl behind the counter was pretty cute, and we had a little flirting going on. Not like I was going to ask her out, but the kind of flirting that you do just to show that you can. The cuz was chiming in too, and afterwards it really got me thinking. We’re lame. We didn’t even talk on the way home, I really wasn’t sure what to say. I think it hit home for both of us that neither one of us really have it together when it comes to females. Every once in a while this realization becomes apparent, but this is the first time there has really been an awkward silence after a moment like this. Whether or not this is an issue, I think I’m going to make it a point not to flirt with anymore people that are wearing a name tag. Oh yeah, this was already on my mind from yesterday, when this girl from the taco shop asked me what cologne I was wearing, and I responded by letting her know it was snuggle fabric softner. We both laughed, and then I realized I was flirting with the girl from the taco stand. Not that there’s anything wrong with her, it’s just really awkward. And not the kind of fun awkward that I normally live to take advantage of. No matter what, you’re not going to see my profile on eharmony.com
tonight afforded some other good comedy. I was at rubios downing some fish tacos with some of my kids in the youthgroup, when I mentioned something about ‘lime juice in the eye’, and one of the kids (rockstar) decided I wasn’t joking and went ahead and put some in his eye. Needless to say he was in a great deal of pain almost immediately, and seemed surprised that it actually hurt. The rest of us were laughing so hard we were crying along with him. One of those things you had to be there for, but the point is I need to watch what I say around the 9th graders. Oh man, what a good laugh though.
Another fun part of today, was bugging the cuz, who is from texas, about redneck humor. I made my best effort to single handedly kill the phrase ‘git er done’ myself. That phrase has got to go, along with every redneck, nascar, my mom shot my dog country song out there. Nuff said.
Other random observances:
caller i.d. makes calls from topgun girl that much better. I’m not sure why, but I think it gets me more excited to know that when I open my phone I’m going to be talking to her.
That and my phone displays a picture of her that pops up along with her number.
Will ferrel is the funniest person on the planet. Followed closely by dave chappelle and zach galafianakis. David koechner would be up there but he hasn’t been in enough stuff, although he receives props enough for his role as stumpy in out cold.
Every female reporter on fox sports is extremely attractive.
Pimp my ride uses a lot of christian rap for background music.
Razor scooters need to go.
The day before halloween is too early to put up christmas decoration, unless you are clark w. griswold.
Speaking of which, every line cousin eddie has in christmas vacation is funny, except for when he says ‘bingo’ after clark’s sled run.
People at art stores are continuously sizing each other up. You never know if you’re standing next to picasso, or some random community college anime fan.
Reality tv shows that make over peoples’ houses make me glad to live my life as a minimalist.
Pier 1 is way too expensive, and no one needs all the stuff they have there.
Walking into a glass patio door is about the dumbest thing you can do. That and it leaves a wicked bruise. Needless to say, you can now find my forehead print on our door after this afternoon.
There is a media conspiracy against president bush.
All of eminem’s rhyme schemes are the same. (This is why he was booed off stage at warped tour back in 99)
same with the beastie boys, but their music is much more fun, and for some reason I really don’t mind.
As much as I loved my college experience, it would have been nice to at least once have stormed the field after a football game and help tear down the goalpost.
No sports team should ever have to wear purple.
I can’t wait to get my new computer. It may be the coolest computer ever designed.
Scott ian from anthrax is by far the funniest person on the ‘I love the 80s/90s’ series.
Well, it’s bedtime. One love, one heart.
10.28.2004
bob: why is there tape on your nose? dignan: exactly.
i guess this would be as good a place as any to put down some random thoughts.
rap music is in for a big change. rims are the rap equivalent to big hair of 80's metal. throwback jerseys are the equivalent to shredded jeans. what happened to heavy metal was that it go so far removed from the culture that created it with the big hair, pink stretch pants etc, that it totally isolated the musicians from the people. that's why nirvana hit big, they looked like the exact opposite from everyone else that was popular, and they were grounded enough that the songs they were singing hit home. poison had no clue what the people that were buying their records were dealing with, and when you put an 'unskinny bop' on your album, it's time for change. this brings me to lil john and the new crew of rappers. i hesitate calling them rappers because i've listened to their music and i've yet to hear them actually rap. flavor flav from public enemy even had a few rhymes back in the day, even though he was a hype man that was more known for his 'yyyyeaaahhhh booyyyyyyyyyyyyy' than his rymes. even then, he was working with chuck d, one of the great lyricists of our time. ugh. that's why i listen to christian rap. these guys are so under the radar, they don't have to stoop to the 'rims tricks and ho's' stuff that haunts the airwaves today. i guarantee when vh1 does their 'i love the 2000's' airs in a few years there will be a nice two minute section for lil john.
i think it would be fun to be an extra in a zombie movie.
there are a lot of shows out right now making over people's lives. from your house, to your clothes, your hair, even your car. stuff? a) every house/haircut/outfit/car ends up looking pretty similar. 2) why can't i get on one of these shows and get some free stuff.
the red sox b(r)ought in curt schilling to win the world series. hmm, sounds like they have become the evil empire. ironic. all that time they were complaining about the yankees buying championship teams, they were building up the second largest payroll in baseball.
nothing says boston red sox like the phrase 'cowboy up'.
topgun girl saw my print of 'old man and guitar' in my apt and asked me if i painted it. i laughed and explained that it was a picasso piece, but appreciated the compliment.
a few weeks earlier i mentioned to her she needed to do something for herself, to go all out for a day and do something that was unnecessary and involved pampering. my best suggestion at the time was something like a day spa or glamour shots.
i'm glad i'm not smooth.
i love awkward moments. like when your date farts outside and then it trails in the car, but you don't want to say anything to embarass her, but you both smell it.
i have never bought a wig, but somehow i managed to end up with seven by the time i was done with college.
a couple of summers in college i worked on a landscaping crew back in seattle. i was the only white guy on the crew. my first day i showed up to the site late because i had to fill out paperwork. the boss drove me to the site and showed me what to do. i was ready to quit my job by lunch the first day trying to keep up with the guys on the crew. the next day i showed up, and one of the guys figured out that i wasn't the bosses son. that was the easiest day ever. they would bring some sod down, have a cerveza, shovel a little bit, cerveza.... you get the point.
i had to learn some spanish so i could communicate with these guys. one day i repeated a phrase to my boss, and he informed me that i couldn't say that if i went to church. these guys had a pretty good laugh. i had a good laugh a few weeks alter when they asked me how to say cerveza in english. i told them 'cerveza es milk'. a couple of weeks later i had a better laugh when these guys had gone to an english speaking bar looking to order a drink.
90% of youth ministers are overweight, have a gotee, receding hairline, play guitar, golf, bet on poker, and wear polo shirts.
if i could have anyone play me in a movie it would be jack black.
my dad would be bruce willis.
mom... the mom off of malcom in the middle
my sister would be the girl from princess diaries.
japanimation used to be really cool, now it's just creepy.
the best dates i have ever been on were the ones that i didn't spend a dime on. although, that had nothing to do with them being good.
there is something fun about being dressed up in a suit and tie. only for about three hours though. after that it's time to get back to shorts and a t-shirt.
why are ties fashionable? all they are is a piece of fabric tied around your neck. i think it's a sign that 'the man' has got his hold on you.
shaving your head is a last resort. be sure to check for any odd shapes before you do so. that, and make sure not to shave your head at the end of summer when your face is all tan and your head is going to be pale. it looks like you're wearing a helmet.
speaking of helmet, old ladies crack me up with their helmet hair.
weren't we supposed to have flying cars by now?
despite all the innovation they have made with toothbrushes, you still have plastic bristles on some sort of plastic handle.
what drove the first person to look at a pig and say 'i want to eat that'?
i like see what girls look like early in the morning. i think it's a better gauge of what they truly look like, and where their priorities are.
you gotta love girls that look good in baseball caps.
guys shirts always look better on girls. this also goes for jackets and sweaters.
it would take me about almost exactly a month to listen to all of my cds and mp3s.
well, i think i've rambled on enough. more stories and random thoughts to come later, i'm sure.
one love, one heart.
rap music is in for a big change. rims are the rap equivalent to big hair of 80's metal. throwback jerseys are the equivalent to shredded jeans. what happened to heavy metal was that it go so far removed from the culture that created it with the big hair, pink stretch pants etc, that it totally isolated the musicians from the people. that's why nirvana hit big, they looked like the exact opposite from everyone else that was popular, and they were grounded enough that the songs they were singing hit home. poison had no clue what the people that were buying their records were dealing with, and when you put an 'unskinny bop' on your album, it's time for change. this brings me to lil john and the new crew of rappers. i hesitate calling them rappers because i've listened to their music and i've yet to hear them actually rap. flavor flav from public enemy even had a few rhymes back in the day, even though he was a hype man that was more known for his 'yyyyeaaahhhh booyyyyyyyyyyyyy' than his rymes. even then, he was working with chuck d, one of the great lyricists of our time. ugh. that's why i listen to christian rap. these guys are so under the radar, they don't have to stoop to the 'rims tricks and ho's' stuff that haunts the airwaves today. i guarantee when vh1 does their 'i love the 2000's' airs in a few years there will be a nice two minute section for lil john.
i think it would be fun to be an extra in a zombie movie.
there are a lot of shows out right now making over people's lives. from your house, to your clothes, your hair, even your car. stuff? a) every house/haircut/outfit/car ends up looking pretty similar. 2) why can't i get on one of these shows and get some free stuff.
the red sox b(r)ought in curt schilling to win the world series. hmm, sounds like they have become the evil empire. ironic. all that time they were complaining about the yankees buying championship teams, they were building up the second largest payroll in baseball.
nothing says boston red sox like the phrase 'cowboy up'.
topgun girl saw my print of 'old man and guitar' in my apt and asked me if i painted it. i laughed and explained that it was a picasso piece, but appreciated the compliment.
a few weeks earlier i mentioned to her she needed to do something for herself, to go all out for a day and do something that was unnecessary and involved pampering. my best suggestion at the time was something like a day spa or glamour shots.
i'm glad i'm not smooth.
i love awkward moments. like when your date farts outside and then it trails in the car, but you don't want to say anything to embarass her, but you both smell it.
i have never bought a wig, but somehow i managed to end up with seven by the time i was done with college.
a couple of summers in college i worked on a landscaping crew back in seattle. i was the only white guy on the crew. my first day i showed up to the site late because i had to fill out paperwork. the boss drove me to the site and showed me what to do. i was ready to quit my job by lunch the first day trying to keep up with the guys on the crew. the next day i showed up, and one of the guys figured out that i wasn't the bosses son. that was the easiest day ever. they would bring some sod down, have a cerveza, shovel a little bit, cerveza.... you get the point.
i had to learn some spanish so i could communicate with these guys. one day i repeated a phrase to my boss, and he informed me that i couldn't say that if i went to church. these guys had a pretty good laugh. i had a good laugh a few weeks alter when they asked me how to say cerveza in english. i told them 'cerveza es milk'. a couple of weeks later i had a better laugh when these guys had gone to an english speaking bar looking to order a drink.
90% of youth ministers are overweight, have a gotee, receding hairline, play guitar, golf, bet on poker, and wear polo shirts.
if i could have anyone play me in a movie it would be jack black.
my dad would be bruce willis.
mom... the mom off of malcom in the middle
my sister would be the girl from princess diaries.
japanimation used to be really cool, now it's just creepy.
the best dates i have ever been on were the ones that i didn't spend a dime on. although, that had nothing to do with them being good.
there is something fun about being dressed up in a suit and tie. only for about three hours though. after that it's time to get back to shorts and a t-shirt.
why are ties fashionable? all they are is a piece of fabric tied around your neck. i think it's a sign that 'the man' has got his hold on you.
shaving your head is a last resort. be sure to check for any odd shapes before you do so. that, and make sure not to shave your head at the end of summer when your face is all tan and your head is going to be pale. it looks like you're wearing a helmet.
speaking of helmet, old ladies crack me up with their helmet hair.
weren't we supposed to have flying cars by now?
despite all the innovation they have made with toothbrushes, you still have plastic bristles on some sort of plastic handle.
what drove the first person to look at a pig and say 'i want to eat that'?
i like see what girls look like early in the morning. i think it's a better gauge of what they truly look like, and where their priorities are.
you gotta love girls that look good in baseball caps.
guys shirts always look better on girls. this also goes for jackets and sweaters.
it would take me about almost exactly a month to listen to all of my cds and mp3s.
well, i think i've rambled on enough. more stories and random thoughts to come later, i'm sure.
one love, one heart.
10.27.2004
you can't have any pudding if you don't eat your meat...
yet another surreal day. let's just say this rain has put me in the mood to listen to pink floyd. juaner should be here for this. musically this has been an interesting week. I’m really amazed at how the weather effects what I listen to. at the beginning of the week it was really nice out and I was all about 311. Monday got a little cold and windy, postal service took a few spins in the cd player, so did atreyu and taking back Sunday. last night it was buckets, and I ended up buying the new ben harper/ blind boys of alabama cd. today I’ve listened to that, joe strummer, and now pink floyd. I think when I go home it's gonna be some jack johnson.
days like this are hard to enjoy after living in seattle. I was at the grocery store grabbing some lunch, and there were strangers there laughing and talking to each other about trying to not run through puddles. I was quiet, just mad that I had parked in a giant river through the parking lot, and my vans aren't exactly water tight. oh well. at least my feet are staying cool and moist for the rest of the day. regardless, it's weird to see people enjoying the rain.
the worst part of the rain is that I really don't feel like doing a thing. I should probably give my paycheck back for this week cause I’m really no good right now. that, and I had a little fender bender yesterday with a jaguar, and I can feel the days of no money for anything coming up shortly.
the biggest thing that has been nagging me is getting this ministry up and going. I feel like I could be doing so much more right now, but the days really just slip away. part of me is taking the 'rome wasn't built in a day' stance, and then another part of me leans towards 'seriously, what do you do all day'. my newfound addiction to alias really isn't helping either. yesterday I had a kid who had taken a day off of school, struggling with the whole 'finding yourself' thing. man, I felt useless. I can remember so much of what he was going through and I still had no way of telling him what I was thinking. it was like playing charades or something, and I don't think he quite got what I was motioning. I think it's time to call in reinforcements and give 'wild one' (old youth minister in tulsa) a call. once again I’m torn though. I feel like I should be able to go six weeks without having to call for help. well, maybe this is God breaking me down. hope so, stuff like that is a pain to have to deal with for a long time.
personally, there really isn't much to tell. maybe that's why these rainy days are kinda lame. when it's sunny out, at least I feel like I could go out and do something, even if I don't. rainy days serve as a reminder to me of the fact that I stay in my apt too much as it is. last night I made the cuz drive me out to the valley just to get out of the apt for the night. we ended up at best buy, which isn't thrilling in the least. oh yeah, and on the way back we listened to some texas country. sorry, to all my friends out there who swear that is the anti-nashville sound, but I’m not hearing it. I finally talked to topgun girl the other day. it went really good, it even sounded like she was wanting to see me again. I’m trying not to read too much into our conversation, but the more I talk to her, the more I realize I should try and break through to more important stuff. yeah, that's probably the last thing I need to do right now. fortunately, the side of me that wants to wait it out is taking over. at least the waiting isn't due to timidity.
well, the sun just came out, so I think I’m gonna switch cds here and throw on some grits. that, and I should probably actually put some youth events on the calendar.
see you in the mud puddles. one love, one heart.
days like this are hard to enjoy after living in seattle. I was at the grocery store grabbing some lunch, and there were strangers there laughing and talking to each other about trying to not run through puddles. I was quiet, just mad that I had parked in a giant river through the parking lot, and my vans aren't exactly water tight. oh well. at least my feet are staying cool and moist for the rest of the day. regardless, it's weird to see people enjoying the rain.
the worst part of the rain is that I really don't feel like doing a thing. I should probably give my paycheck back for this week cause I’m really no good right now. that, and I had a little fender bender yesterday with a jaguar, and I can feel the days of no money for anything coming up shortly.
the biggest thing that has been nagging me is getting this ministry up and going. I feel like I could be doing so much more right now, but the days really just slip away. part of me is taking the 'rome wasn't built in a day' stance, and then another part of me leans towards 'seriously, what do you do all day'. my newfound addiction to alias really isn't helping either. yesterday I had a kid who had taken a day off of school, struggling with the whole 'finding yourself' thing. man, I felt useless. I can remember so much of what he was going through and I still had no way of telling him what I was thinking. it was like playing charades or something, and I don't think he quite got what I was motioning. I think it's time to call in reinforcements and give 'wild one' (old youth minister in tulsa) a call. once again I’m torn though. I feel like I should be able to go six weeks without having to call for help. well, maybe this is God breaking me down. hope so, stuff like that is a pain to have to deal with for a long time.
personally, there really isn't much to tell. maybe that's why these rainy days are kinda lame. when it's sunny out, at least I feel like I could go out and do something, even if I don't. rainy days serve as a reminder to me of the fact that I stay in my apt too much as it is. last night I made the cuz drive me out to the valley just to get out of the apt for the night. we ended up at best buy, which isn't thrilling in the least. oh yeah, and on the way back we listened to some texas country. sorry, to all my friends out there who swear that is the anti-nashville sound, but I’m not hearing it. I finally talked to topgun girl the other day. it went really good, it even sounded like she was wanting to see me again. I’m trying not to read too much into our conversation, but the more I talk to her, the more I realize I should try and break through to more important stuff. yeah, that's probably the last thing I need to do right now. fortunately, the side of me that wants to wait it out is taking over. at least the waiting isn't due to timidity.
well, the sun just came out, so I think I’m gonna switch cds here and throw on some grits. that, and I should probably actually put some youth events on the calendar.
see you in the mud puddles. one love, one heart.
10.22.2004
robots are everywhere, and they eat old people's medicine for fuel.
Ugh. I don’t want to hear a thing from any cubs or red sox fans. Being an astros fan is worse, we just don’t get to gripe about it as much because it hasn’t been ingrained in our culture like other teams. Needless to say, the cuz and I are doing what we can to not think about the astros losing tonight. I’m just glad I had the youth group over for a devo, otherwise I would have pulled a ‘derelict’ (yet another former roomate) and punched a whole in the apt wall. Ugh. This is lame. I feel like I’m two steps away from watching a wnba game. Well, not that far... So these past few days have been pretty up and down. The astros and yankees both lost. That hurt. Both of those losses. I’m naming my first ulcer after dan miceli, the astros pitcher that should have been keeping score from home.
Actually, I guess that’s all that has been pretty lame. We started our jr and sr high bible studies the past two nights, and I think they are going pretty well for a start. The kids are really energetic and seem to be into our talks. It’s kind of cool having my own place to invite people over. And, surprising to most of my roomates and my family, our place is pretty much always clean, except for the few hours at a time when I have laundry on the floor. Juaner and the rest of the fellas from 214 wouldn’t believe it if they saw it.
As far as personal stuff goes, simi valley continues to feel more and more like home. I think having the cuz as a roomate really helps out with that. I bought a few cds today for the first time in a while. Today was sort of one of those spending sprees that I really shouldn’t have, and am grateful for the fact that best buy is pretty far away. Either way, here are the cds I bought and a mini review:
atreyu:
yeah, this may be the closest thing to pantera I have ever owned. These guys are right up the middle metalcore, which is exactly what I shouldn’t be listening to driving down the 101. Yeah, it’s that good.
Napoleon dynamite soundtrack:
so this may be the best comedy to come out in a long time. I’ts like hanging out with your nerdy friends for 90 minutes, and one of my fave parts was the soundtrack. The 80's music alon would have been enough, but they throw in a bunch of quotes from the movie to double the track listing. Heck yes! This one put me in a great mood today, and was def what I needed to hear after listening to my other purchase.
Sharlock poems: in God we trust
sharlock poems is from l.a. symphony, the best rap group no one has ever heard of. Why? They’re christian. Actually, the show pimp my ride uses a lot of their beats as background music. Regardless, christian rap is the best underground music out there right now, and it’s only going to get better. Because they don’t have to conform to the ‘rap’ that hits big today, they have creative license to explore new sounds and do their own thing. Unfortunately, I don’t see anyone giving them respect simply because they are christian. Lame, but it keeps the shows cheap and the cds more creative.
What else... I am still customizing my apt. last night I finally fixed my shower curtain issue. The whole clear plastic wasn’t working for me, I’m not really scared of the cuz walking in or anything, but there’s still something creepy about having nothing between you and the outside world when it comes to showering. So I took mine and got some black spraypaint and painted a giant black rubber duck on mine. My shower this morning was great. And I think this may be spurring on a creative streak that may result in a few paintings for the apt. sweet, its about time I did some original artwork again.
I think my guitar playing may be picking up too. I feel like I am playing faster and more precise lately. This should be fun when I get my own mac and can start recording my own tunes. Yeah, this could be one of those things that becomes an expensive hobby...sweet.
Oh yeah, another interesting sidenote, I met the mom from the partridge family today before our youth minister’s lunch. I was waiting outside for the restaurant for it to open and she came up and we actually got to talk for a few minutes. In my effort to not be ‘one of those people’ I didn’t say anything about her being famous, except for the fact the manager opened up the doors early for her, let me in, and I kinda winked at her and said thanks. I think she knew that I knew she was famous, but was really nice and approachable. Either way, that’s three celebrity run-ins in just over a month. At this rate I’ll be starring alongside tempest bledsoe in a lifetime channel movie in no time.
One more thing, when you’re on the freeway, the on ramp is used to accelerate to 65mph. I think I’m going to put a sign on the 405/101 interchange. Either that or I’m going to get a bb gun and start taking out mirrors on bmws that don’t’ know how to merge onto a socal freeway.
Well, before I start to go postal and start rambling... one love, one heart.
Actually, I guess that’s all that has been pretty lame. We started our jr and sr high bible studies the past two nights, and I think they are going pretty well for a start. The kids are really energetic and seem to be into our talks. It’s kind of cool having my own place to invite people over. And, surprising to most of my roomates and my family, our place is pretty much always clean, except for the few hours at a time when I have laundry on the floor. Juaner and the rest of the fellas from 214 wouldn’t believe it if they saw it.
As far as personal stuff goes, simi valley continues to feel more and more like home. I think having the cuz as a roomate really helps out with that. I bought a few cds today for the first time in a while. Today was sort of one of those spending sprees that I really shouldn’t have, and am grateful for the fact that best buy is pretty far away. Either way, here are the cds I bought and a mini review:
atreyu:
yeah, this may be the closest thing to pantera I have ever owned. These guys are right up the middle metalcore, which is exactly what I shouldn’t be listening to driving down the 101. Yeah, it’s that good.
Napoleon dynamite soundtrack:
so this may be the best comedy to come out in a long time. I’ts like hanging out with your nerdy friends for 90 minutes, and one of my fave parts was the soundtrack. The 80's music alon would have been enough, but they throw in a bunch of quotes from the movie to double the track listing. Heck yes! This one put me in a great mood today, and was def what I needed to hear after listening to my other purchase.
Sharlock poems: in God we trust
sharlock poems is from l.a. symphony, the best rap group no one has ever heard of. Why? They’re christian. Actually, the show pimp my ride uses a lot of their beats as background music. Regardless, christian rap is the best underground music out there right now, and it’s only going to get better. Because they don’t have to conform to the ‘rap’ that hits big today, they have creative license to explore new sounds and do their own thing. Unfortunately, I don’t see anyone giving them respect simply because they are christian. Lame, but it keeps the shows cheap and the cds more creative.
What else... I am still customizing my apt. last night I finally fixed my shower curtain issue. The whole clear plastic wasn’t working for me, I’m not really scared of the cuz walking in or anything, but there’s still something creepy about having nothing between you and the outside world when it comes to showering. So I took mine and got some black spraypaint and painted a giant black rubber duck on mine. My shower this morning was great. And I think this may be spurring on a creative streak that may result in a few paintings for the apt. sweet, its about time I did some original artwork again.
I think my guitar playing may be picking up too. I feel like I am playing faster and more precise lately. This should be fun when I get my own mac and can start recording my own tunes. Yeah, this could be one of those things that becomes an expensive hobby...sweet.
Oh yeah, another interesting sidenote, I met the mom from the partridge family today before our youth minister’s lunch. I was waiting outside for the restaurant for it to open and she came up and we actually got to talk for a few minutes. In my effort to not be ‘one of those people’ I didn’t say anything about her being famous, except for the fact the manager opened up the doors early for her, let me in, and I kinda winked at her and said thanks. I think she knew that I knew she was famous, but was really nice and approachable. Either way, that’s three celebrity run-ins in just over a month. At this rate I’ll be starring alongside tempest bledsoe in a lifetime channel movie in no time.
One more thing, when you’re on the freeway, the on ramp is used to accelerate to 65mph. I think I’m going to put a sign on the 405/101 interchange. Either that or I’m going to get a bb gun and start taking out mirrors on bmws that don’t’ know how to merge onto a socal freeway.
Well, before I start to go postal and start rambling... one love, one heart.
10.20.2004
why wasn't i watching alias sooner?
man i've missed this therapy.
things aren't really bad right now, it's just a lot tougher getting this youth ministry started up than i thought. i think i could handle the youth ministry if that was all that was going on, but you throw car troubles, moving, constantly thinking about topgun girl and a few other things in the mix and all of the sudden things are hectic. let's just say with the rain outside it's what my roomate juaner would call a 'surreal day', and then we'd cruise around and listen to pink floyd.
on a personal level, i can't stop thinking about topgun girl, even though we haven't talked in a week. anytime i do have to think about her she's at work, or i'm busy and can't call. i have a feeling that flame has been fizzled out. prob not a good thing, but options are limited when i'm working almost every night.
i'm still spending money on the truck too. fortunately the radiator guy saved me about $200 yesterday. now all that is left is the column, the muffler, the smog check, then taking care of the expired tags. yeah, that one could bite me in the butt. fortunately, a review of my finances says i should be able to afford an Xterra or something like that pretty soon. we'll see how that goes.
me and the cuz have the apt looking pretty decent, although we aren't getting cable until later today, which means we've had to go to sports bars every night of the playoffs so far. check that. the cuz has gone to sports bars every night for the playoffs. i join him when i can. as far as the apt, there's something really nice about not having to worry about your room being clean, or all of your stuff put away in your bathroom unless someone is coming over. tonight and tomorrow night i've got kiddos coming over, so there's my excuse to clean. most importantly, i'm sticking to my minimilistic principles and getting rid of as much as i can constantly.
youth ministry was going to be tough but fun. i can see the fun part coming up quickly, it's just a matter of getting all this other stuff out of the way. right now it's a real struggle trying to remember that whole 'rome wasn't built in a day' mentality. the big thing is trying to find a balance between rolling with the kids' readiness to have fun and still getting things set up so that they are spiritually ready to grow. yeah, i can't wait for this thing to get going either.
other personal news... i got to go to my first usc home game the other day and it was absolutely unreal. the coliseum was packed, and there was just as much excitement there as any big 12 game, w/o all of the unnecessary stuff that drove me nuts living in ok. first, there were no flags on cars. only in oklahoma would three bumper stickers, a magnet, and a license plate holder not be enough to let the world know you were an ou fan, you had to put these stupid little plastic flags on your car. (when i say oklahomans, i obviously don't mean all of them, there were oklahoma state fans there too.) that was the difference at usc, just as many fans, just as much tailgating, just no overdone cars. oh yeah, and it was sunny.
that leads me to my next observation about california. you have to have a pair of decent sunglasses out here. it's not really a style thing, (well, not completely) it's more of a necessity thing. you don't go anywhere w/o seeing people wearing sunglasses. even the homeless guys around here wear sunglasses. it's pretty funny. it's been raining the past few days, and is still pretty overcast, but everyone on the freeway yesterday was still wearing their shades. guess that's the trade off for living in the golden state.
shades are one of the requirements for living here. following closely is the possession of a hooded sweatshirt. not sure why, buy every sweatshirt out here has a hood on it. i don't complain, i grew up with hoodies, and didn't really know sweatshirts came w/o them until i moved to ok. next, you have to have a shortcut for getting everywhere. the bank, dodger stadium, it doesn't matter. there are several ways to get everywhere around here. lastly, you have to know about some little hole-in-the-wall mexican restaraunt that you can tell your friends about. that's how they advertise. if you really like your place then you take your friends there so the place can stay in business. the cuz is halfway there, but he sees the need for a hoodie and some new shades, so its really a matter of finding the time to go. now if he'll just get those texas plates off of his truck...
other random sidenote: i actually took a day off on monday and stayed in the whole day and watched the entire third season of alias. man, i'm hooked.
well, my fuagazi cd is almost done and i'm supposed to meet the cable guy in a few minutes at the apt so i guess i'm out.
one love, one heart.
things aren't really bad right now, it's just a lot tougher getting this youth ministry started up than i thought. i think i could handle the youth ministry if that was all that was going on, but you throw car troubles, moving, constantly thinking about topgun girl and a few other things in the mix and all of the sudden things are hectic. let's just say with the rain outside it's what my roomate juaner would call a 'surreal day', and then we'd cruise around and listen to pink floyd.
on a personal level, i can't stop thinking about topgun girl, even though we haven't talked in a week. anytime i do have to think about her she's at work, or i'm busy and can't call. i have a feeling that flame has been fizzled out. prob not a good thing, but options are limited when i'm working almost every night.
i'm still spending money on the truck too. fortunately the radiator guy saved me about $200 yesterday. now all that is left is the column, the muffler, the smog check, then taking care of the expired tags. yeah, that one could bite me in the butt. fortunately, a review of my finances says i should be able to afford an Xterra or something like that pretty soon. we'll see how that goes.
me and the cuz have the apt looking pretty decent, although we aren't getting cable until later today, which means we've had to go to sports bars every night of the playoffs so far. check that. the cuz has gone to sports bars every night for the playoffs. i join him when i can. as far as the apt, there's something really nice about not having to worry about your room being clean, or all of your stuff put away in your bathroom unless someone is coming over. tonight and tomorrow night i've got kiddos coming over, so there's my excuse to clean. most importantly, i'm sticking to my minimilistic principles and getting rid of as much as i can constantly.
youth ministry was going to be tough but fun. i can see the fun part coming up quickly, it's just a matter of getting all this other stuff out of the way. right now it's a real struggle trying to remember that whole 'rome wasn't built in a day' mentality. the big thing is trying to find a balance between rolling with the kids' readiness to have fun and still getting things set up so that they are spiritually ready to grow. yeah, i can't wait for this thing to get going either.
other personal news... i got to go to my first usc home game the other day and it was absolutely unreal. the coliseum was packed, and there was just as much excitement there as any big 12 game, w/o all of the unnecessary stuff that drove me nuts living in ok. first, there were no flags on cars. only in oklahoma would three bumper stickers, a magnet, and a license plate holder not be enough to let the world know you were an ou fan, you had to put these stupid little plastic flags on your car. (when i say oklahomans, i obviously don't mean all of them, there were oklahoma state fans there too.) that was the difference at usc, just as many fans, just as much tailgating, just no overdone cars. oh yeah, and it was sunny.
that leads me to my next observation about california. you have to have a pair of decent sunglasses out here. it's not really a style thing, (well, not completely) it's more of a necessity thing. you don't go anywhere w/o seeing people wearing sunglasses. even the homeless guys around here wear sunglasses. it's pretty funny. it's been raining the past few days, and is still pretty overcast, but everyone on the freeway yesterday was still wearing their shades. guess that's the trade off for living in the golden state.
shades are one of the requirements for living here. following closely is the possession of a hooded sweatshirt. not sure why, buy every sweatshirt out here has a hood on it. i don't complain, i grew up with hoodies, and didn't really know sweatshirts came w/o them until i moved to ok. next, you have to have a shortcut for getting everywhere. the bank, dodger stadium, it doesn't matter. there are several ways to get everywhere around here. lastly, you have to know about some little hole-in-the-wall mexican restaraunt that you can tell your friends about. that's how they advertise. if you really like your place then you take your friends there so the place can stay in business. the cuz is halfway there, but he sees the need for a hoodie and some new shades, so its really a matter of finding the time to go. now if he'll just get those texas plates off of his truck...
other random sidenote: i actually took a day off on monday and stayed in the whole day and watched the entire third season of alias. man, i'm hooked.
well, my fuagazi cd is almost done and i'm supposed to meet the cable guy in a few minutes at the apt so i guess i'm out.
one love, one heart.
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