i didn't know until just now that i missspelled 'championship vinyl' when i was creating the web address. i guess chapmionship vinyl works just as well.
on to bigger and maybe better things...
my sides are killing me. and it's not just the pilates. yesterday was one of a few days in a row where things have really been going pretty cool in the youth ministry. the kiddos had the day off of school and some of the girls invited me out to play miniature golf with them. you gotta love a job that includes mini golf as work. oh yeah, we did the bumperboats too. the biggest thing was that they had me laughing pretty much all day long. the comical highlight was when one of the girls turned a simple act of trying to open the door to in and out into an acrobatic act complicated by having two sodas in hand. it's a you-had-to-be-there kind of thing, but it def ranks up there with rockstar putting lime juice in his eyes because his brother told him it would feel good.
this past weekend i went to the l.a. auto show with a few of my kids. i'm not really into cars all that much but this was really impressive. the biggest thing that i noticed was how many cars a) look alike and b) seem to resemble legos that i played with back in the day. there were def some sweet rides in there, inc a maybach that had a full size recliner in the back seat. the kids were most impressed by the car that had a working fridge inside. the coolest thing was the fact that i cold afford some of the cars there. weird feeling. anyways, i'm in car shopping mode now. i went and test drove some stuff last night, and everything you have heard about car salesmen is so true. i laughed last night when one salesmen actually started banging on the inside of the car to show me how sturdy it was. another lady couldn't seem to grasp that i wasn't willing to test drive a jeep liberty when i wanted to take a wrangler out. evidently she wasn't willing to move the other cars out of the way so i could do so. seriously, do you want to make a sale or not? anyways... it was frustrating, and i actually let myself get suckered in to talking with one of the guys about going through with buying the car. no worries, i didn't buy anything yet. i think i'm going to wait a few weeks and do some more research. esp since my top pick is out of the mix now. the 3 finalists now are the nissan xterra, mitsubishi outlander and for some odd reason the volkwagen golf. we'll see.
what else... i started listening to christian hardcore music a little while back, and i think i'm getting past the initial 'can't understand what these guys are screaming' phase to really enjoy the energy that they put out. clarity aside, i've got to give props to any guy that can proclaim their faith at the top of their lungs.
well, i've got a lot on the calendar that i've got to get to.
one love, one heart
d.j.
1.18.2005
1.13.2005
don't get me right, i'm just asking -yogi berra
so, i officially a calfornian now. i knew there was something missing in my life. i found out a few days ago that you are supposed to get a ca license within ten days of you moving here. so i was little off... there should be a packet provided for you when you move to a new state telling you all of these kinds of details, esp if your state has a smog check involved in the registering your vehicle process. i'd complain, but it's too nice outside to think about any negativity.
so the dmv yesterday was actually a pretty decent experience. i think i may be the first person that actually has a good story coming out of the dmv. the lady that helped me out let me skip the whole 'grab a number' process when i had to go home and get my passport for my new id. then, she let me skip in line to take my driver's test. couple of interesting observations: i was planning on studying for the test while i waited, so i was caught a little off guard when i was immediately given the test. i passed, barely, but i was really embarrassed that i had no clue on half of the questions. this is the first test i've taken for a grade in 18 months and i was a little out of practice. salgoode, i still got my license. so i go to hand my test back to the first lady, and she says i have to go over to this other desk. i walk over and there is this unreal hottie working behind the desk. i must have had my jaw on the floor, because the girl next to her started to chuckle. then i realized that the girl i was staring at was asking me for my test. i think my exact words were.' oh... i'm sorry, i was distracted'. smooth, real smooth. so we start up with the small talk, she asked me why i moved to simi etc... then somehow i blurt out something to the effect of i wish i had a reason to come back to the dmv. she smiles, blushes, then hands me my temporary id. then out of nowhere comes the line, "well, you know where i live, where i work and my phone number, if it's not against company policy it'd be cool if you took a look at that."
needless to say that probably qualifies as the cheesiest thing i've ever said to a girl. i'm not holding my breath for the phone to ring.
anyways, it feels good to be legal and all that stuff. and as my first official act as a californian, i propose that we divide the state in two. anything north of santa barbara county should be called southern oregon. i thought about northern and california as names, but i really don't want that whole jealousy thing like west virginia has for virginia. and northern california and southern california sounds like the two states might as well still be one, like north and south dakota. oh yeah, that's part of my proposal too, that north and south dakota become one state. all eight people that live there probably wouldn't mind, and we wouldn't have to change our flag again. or, if the flag thing is a big deal, we should let puerto rico to be state too. i think they actually have a vote in the house of reps already, and they have a lot of baseball players there too. that, and i'm sick of hawaii being the only island state in the union. they're getting pretentious about being the only island. i think we people of the continuous 48 states deserve another island vacation alternative than hawaii. this proposal makes the randy johnson trade to the yankees seem easy. i think it's worth it though. i'm tired of being from the same state that claims san francisco and berkeley home. i think it's good for them too. when people say they are going to visit california, they always come down here to disneyland, magic mountain, the beach, san diego, hollywood, or some other place that is always warm. if you say you are going to visit northern california, people kind of grunt and say that's cool, but secretly wonder why you wouldn't go to socal instead. if they were their own state, they could advertise their own attractions without having people disappointed by comparison. it's kind of like if you are going to visit texas, people kind of assume you are going to the dallas area. if you say no, i'm going to west texas, then people politely ask how far that is from dallas, because they know you would rather go there. sorry houston, it's true.
just a thought. if this blogging thing is actually as big as all of the magazines are saying it is, then maybe we can get a grassroots campaign going.
in other news, i've started the task of loading all of my cds on to my computer. this is taking forever. i'm at 3000+ songs so far, and that's just mostly christian music. yeah, they're going to have to a special ipod just for me. it's a lot of music i know, but i can turn on my random mixer and it's like hearing new music. i have my own radio station with mostly great taste.
this leads me to the other thing thats been on my mind. anyone who has ever been frustrated with a computer breaking down, having to restart when a program locks up, having to install printer stuff... needs to buy a mac. everything works. right out of the box. you plug in a printer, it works. wireless card, it works. i think i'm going to film my own switch commercial, edit it on my mac, and send it in to apple.
this time of year is always tough for me. we are still a couple months from baseball starting up, all of my teams are out of the nfl playoffs (seriously chargers, not going for it with three downs inside the 20 in overtime and then putting your fate in the foot of a rookie kicker...?) and i really could care less about basketball until march. espn is pointless right now. so while i sit in my sports drought for this time of year, i reflect on my teams that i'm passionate about.
houston astros: choked in the playoffs after adding clemens and beltran. beltran got sucked into the scott boras agency thing and went to the mets, clemens prob won't come back now, and biggio and bagwell are getting pretty up there in years. excitement level for next season C-
new york yankees: were a few outs away from annihilating the red sox to go to the series, then lose four in a row. heartbreaking. they made some sweet acquisitions this off season, most notably the big unit. unfortunately they've tapped out any farm potential for years down the road. so while the distant future is bleak the excitement level for next season B+
san diego chargers: went from worst to first with drew brees in the pocket. the new school marty ball even has me as a believer in the 3-4 defense. they even have a good team for years down the road with a bunch of no names that get the job done with 3 or 4 superstars to take the lead. too bad they choked in overtime against the jets. excitement for next season A-
usc trojans: not only did they win the championship outright this year, they dominated in every aspect of the game. and, they embarrassed ou in the championship to prove that the pac 10 does know how to play football. weakness of schedule nothing... NEXT! oh yeah, they're also picking up the top recruits from socal high schools including the number one high school qb in the nation. and, still haven't seen one of those unnecessary car flags with a trojan logo on it. excitement level for next year A+
well, it's back to planning stuff for the kiddos and rocking out while doing so.
one love, one heart.
so the dmv yesterday was actually a pretty decent experience. i think i may be the first person that actually has a good story coming out of the dmv. the lady that helped me out let me skip the whole 'grab a number' process when i had to go home and get my passport for my new id. then, she let me skip in line to take my driver's test. couple of interesting observations: i was planning on studying for the test while i waited, so i was caught a little off guard when i was immediately given the test. i passed, barely, but i was really embarrassed that i had no clue on half of the questions. this is the first test i've taken for a grade in 18 months and i was a little out of practice. salgoode, i still got my license. so i go to hand my test back to the first lady, and she says i have to go over to this other desk. i walk over and there is this unreal hottie working behind the desk. i must have had my jaw on the floor, because the girl next to her started to chuckle. then i realized that the girl i was staring at was asking me for my test. i think my exact words were.' oh... i'm sorry, i was distracted'. smooth, real smooth. so we start up with the small talk, she asked me why i moved to simi etc... then somehow i blurt out something to the effect of i wish i had a reason to come back to the dmv. she smiles, blushes, then hands me my temporary id. then out of nowhere comes the line, "well, you know where i live, where i work and my phone number, if it's not against company policy it'd be cool if you took a look at that."
needless to say that probably qualifies as the cheesiest thing i've ever said to a girl. i'm not holding my breath for the phone to ring.
anyways, it feels good to be legal and all that stuff. and as my first official act as a californian, i propose that we divide the state in two. anything north of santa barbara county should be called southern oregon. i thought about northern and california as names, but i really don't want that whole jealousy thing like west virginia has for virginia. and northern california and southern california sounds like the two states might as well still be one, like north and south dakota. oh yeah, that's part of my proposal too, that north and south dakota become one state. all eight people that live there probably wouldn't mind, and we wouldn't have to change our flag again. or, if the flag thing is a big deal, we should let puerto rico to be state too. i think they actually have a vote in the house of reps already, and they have a lot of baseball players there too. that, and i'm sick of hawaii being the only island state in the union. they're getting pretentious about being the only island. i think we people of the continuous 48 states deserve another island vacation alternative than hawaii. this proposal makes the randy johnson trade to the yankees seem easy. i think it's worth it though. i'm tired of being from the same state that claims san francisco and berkeley home. i think it's good for them too. when people say they are going to visit california, they always come down here to disneyland, magic mountain, the beach, san diego, hollywood, or some other place that is always warm. if you say you are going to visit northern california, people kind of grunt and say that's cool, but secretly wonder why you wouldn't go to socal instead. if they were their own state, they could advertise their own attractions without having people disappointed by comparison. it's kind of like if you are going to visit texas, people kind of assume you are going to the dallas area. if you say no, i'm going to west texas, then people politely ask how far that is from dallas, because they know you would rather go there. sorry houston, it's true.
just a thought. if this blogging thing is actually as big as all of the magazines are saying it is, then maybe we can get a grassroots campaign going.
in other news, i've started the task of loading all of my cds on to my computer. this is taking forever. i'm at 3000+ songs so far, and that's just mostly christian music. yeah, they're going to have to a special ipod just for me. it's a lot of music i know, but i can turn on my random mixer and it's like hearing new music. i have my own radio station with mostly great taste.
this leads me to the other thing thats been on my mind. anyone who has ever been frustrated with a computer breaking down, having to restart when a program locks up, having to install printer stuff... needs to buy a mac. everything works. right out of the box. you plug in a printer, it works. wireless card, it works. i think i'm going to film my own switch commercial, edit it on my mac, and send it in to apple.
this time of year is always tough for me. we are still a couple months from baseball starting up, all of my teams are out of the nfl playoffs (seriously chargers, not going for it with three downs inside the 20 in overtime and then putting your fate in the foot of a rookie kicker...?) and i really could care less about basketball until march. espn is pointless right now. so while i sit in my sports drought for this time of year, i reflect on my teams that i'm passionate about.
houston astros: choked in the playoffs after adding clemens and beltran. beltran got sucked into the scott boras agency thing and went to the mets, clemens prob won't come back now, and biggio and bagwell are getting pretty up there in years. excitement level for next season C-
new york yankees: were a few outs away from annihilating the red sox to go to the series, then lose four in a row. heartbreaking. they made some sweet acquisitions this off season, most notably the big unit. unfortunately they've tapped out any farm potential for years down the road. so while the distant future is bleak the excitement level for next season B+
san diego chargers: went from worst to first with drew brees in the pocket. the new school marty ball even has me as a believer in the 3-4 defense. they even have a good team for years down the road with a bunch of no names that get the job done with 3 or 4 superstars to take the lead. too bad they choked in overtime against the jets. excitement for next season A-
usc trojans: not only did they win the championship outright this year, they dominated in every aspect of the game. and, they embarrassed ou in the championship to prove that the pac 10 does know how to play football. weakness of schedule nothing... NEXT! oh yeah, they're also picking up the top recruits from socal high schools including the number one high school qb in the nation. and, still haven't seen one of those unnecessary car flags with a trojan logo on it. excitement level for next year A+
well, it's back to planning stuff for the kiddos and rocking out while doing so.
one love, one heart.
1.05.2005
i'm listening to bob dylan wondering what all the hype is about
this is one of those days wehre i'm listening to cds that i never listen to. there's a reason i forgot i had 'blonde on blonde'. i think the only reason i burned it in the first place was the fact that it's mentioned on every classic album list, it has the high fidelity connection, and a friend of mine had it available to burn. on to more pressing matters...
so in my effort to get back to as organized as i was a month or so ago, i guess it's time to start blogging again. i guess getting a routine is more helpful than i first imagined. ever since i went back home for thanksgiving i've been a little off in my ministry. enough so that me and lawdog talked yesterday about it some. i guess being around the family shuts me down a little bit. i knew something was not working right in the ministry the past few weeks or so, i'm just glad we identified the problem before it got out of hand.
so that's the good news for today. i feel like i'm back on track. sort of. when the youth calendar is chalk full of events i think i'll feel a lot better. but as for now today is pretty much a good day. i finally figured out how to get my computer up and going so that i'm connected online 24/7 which is always nice. i can get back to downloading concerts and stuff. that, and it won't take 45 minutes to check espn in the mornings.
that good news comes along the heels of an orange bowl that was unreal. after five years of putting up with noise from my big 12 amigos it was nice to call people back in oklahoma last night and talk a little noise. that, and after a few well placed bets i have a couple of my meals payed for the next time i go to visit. man, that wasn't even a game. i think my favorite part of this mess is how all of the sports analysts are backpeddling like madmen today. well, there goes the debate about the pac-10 not being as tough as the big 12.
the best part of the game was that i made the trek down to murietta to dantheman's apt for the game. nothing like watching bowl games on a big screen with surround sound, steaks on the grill and the company of a few good friends. seriously it was straight out of a commercial. you gotta love being stereotypical. the other good thing, was no grief for being the only bachelor there. you gotta lvoe being able to hang out with the married friends without feeling out of place. last night came pretty close to actually being at the holiday bowl last week, and def beat out saturday's 3-tv viewing extravaganza at the apt.
other stuff... i got pulled over last night, and the police officer said he felt bad enough for me driving my bronco around he wasn't going to give me a ticket for rolling through a stop sign. i think it was the fact that i have to hotwire my truck to turn it on and off that actually made him laugh.
trying to start a long distance relationship is lame. i'm clueless as to how people make them work.
--------insert about 4 hours here---------
what a difference a few hours can make.
so a couple of kids came by to work on the church bulletin and we got talking. next thing i knew it was time to grab some dinner before our jr high roots meeting. anyways, it was awesome tonite interacting with the kiddos. i feel like i started all over again. i also talked to m old youth minister for a while and he has a way of always putting things in perspective. i think i lost focus of what my type of ministry is, and was not playing to my strengths. i see myself as a relationship minister more than an activities minister, and i've been trying to become one while ignoring the other. man, things are so much easier to handle when you can put them into words. so the goal tonite was to approach things from my gut feeling and focus on building the relationships in our group. i have been feeling so worn out after our small groups recently, but right now i seriously think i could stay up all night and paint or something.
as i mentioned earlier i talked to my old youth minister this afternoon. i seriously can't think of anyone outside of my family that i admire more. the guy has put his own personal gain aside for so long for the sake of ministry. just because it's the right thing to do. there's a lot to be said for allowing God's goal for you to supercede your own. if we could all be so lucky. i can't wait for friday mrning to see him again before he moves up to portland. it's going to be tough knowing that he's not just down the road to talk to, but there are going to be a lot of college students blessed by his presence in portland.
i also got to talk to my friend dainty, who i haven't really got to talk to much since i've moved up to simi. daitny is one of the few guys i know where we can end our conversations with an 'i love you brother' and really mean it. i know a lot of ministry guys who sa that, and it's good that we are able to care for each other, but it's different when it's a friend you've grown up with. the fact that he's not the consistent church going type makes it mean that much more. i love the fact that i do have friends without walls between us. i think of all these 'reality' shows where people are so suprised by how one person can go out of thier way for another, or how special these relationships are... we all have that capability if we like. i think it's a lot more comfortable to not invest though. no danger of a bust. man, i need to read wild at heart again.
well, there's a lot on my mind now that i have my outlet back. it's gonna have to wait till tomorrow though, it's getting late and my office is freezing. i think i'm gonna go home and see what the cuz is up to. i may even get something done around the apt.
one love and one heart, esp to you sooner fans that need a hug.
so in my effort to get back to as organized as i was a month or so ago, i guess it's time to start blogging again. i guess getting a routine is more helpful than i first imagined. ever since i went back home for thanksgiving i've been a little off in my ministry. enough so that me and lawdog talked yesterday about it some. i guess being around the family shuts me down a little bit. i knew something was not working right in the ministry the past few weeks or so, i'm just glad we identified the problem before it got out of hand.
so that's the good news for today. i feel like i'm back on track. sort of. when the youth calendar is chalk full of events i think i'll feel a lot better. but as for now today is pretty much a good day. i finally figured out how to get my computer up and going so that i'm connected online 24/7 which is always nice. i can get back to downloading concerts and stuff. that, and it won't take 45 minutes to check espn in the mornings.
that good news comes along the heels of an orange bowl that was unreal. after five years of putting up with noise from my big 12 amigos it was nice to call people back in oklahoma last night and talk a little noise. that, and after a few well placed bets i have a couple of my meals payed for the next time i go to visit. man, that wasn't even a game. i think my favorite part of this mess is how all of the sports analysts are backpeddling like madmen today. well, there goes the debate about the pac-10 not being as tough as the big 12.
the best part of the game was that i made the trek down to murietta to dantheman's apt for the game. nothing like watching bowl games on a big screen with surround sound, steaks on the grill and the company of a few good friends. seriously it was straight out of a commercial. you gotta love being stereotypical. the other good thing, was no grief for being the only bachelor there. you gotta lvoe being able to hang out with the married friends without feeling out of place. last night came pretty close to actually being at the holiday bowl last week, and def beat out saturday's 3-tv viewing extravaganza at the apt.
other stuff... i got pulled over last night, and the police officer said he felt bad enough for me driving my bronco around he wasn't going to give me a ticket for rolling through a stop sign. i think it was the fact that i have to hotwire my truck to turn it on and off that actually made him laugh.
trying to start a long distance relationship is lame. i'm clueless as to how people make them work.
--------insert about 4 hours here---------
what a difference a few hours can make.
so a couple of kids came by to work on the church bulletin and we got talking. next thing i knew it was time to grab some dinner before our jr high roots meeting. anyways, it was awesome tonite interacting with the kiddos. i feel like i started all over again. i also talked to m old youth minister for a while and he has a way of always putting things in perspective. i think i lost focus of what my type of ministry is, and was not playing to my strengths. i see myself as a relationship minister more than an activities minister, and i've been trying to become one while ignoring the other. man, things are so much easier to handle when you can put them into words. so the goal tonite was to approach things from my gut feeling and focus on building the relationships in our group. i have been feeling so worn out after our small groups recently, but right now i seriously think i could stay up all night and paint or something.
as i mentioned earlier i talked to my old youth minister this afternoon. i seriously can't think of anyone outside of my family that i admire more. the guy has put his own personal gain aside for so long for the sake of ministry. just because it's the right thing to do. there's a lot to be said for allowing God's goal for you to supercede your own. if we could all be so lucky. i can't wait for friday mrning to see him again before he moves up to portland. it's going to be tough knowing that he's not just down the road to talk to, but there are going to be a lot of college students blessed by his presence in portland.
i also got to talk to my friend dainty, who i haven't really got to talk to much since i've moved up to simi. daitny is one of the few guys i know where we can end our conversations with an 'i love you brother' and really mean it. i know a lot of ministry guys who sa that, and it's good that we are able to care for each other, but it's different when it's a friend you've grown up with. the fact that he's not the consistent church going type makes it mean that much more. i love the fact that i do have friends without walls between us. i think of all these 'reality' shows where people are so suprised by how one person can go out of thier way for another, or how special these relationships are... we all have that capability if we like. i think it's a lot more comfortable to not invest though. no danger of a bust. man, i need to read wild at heart again.
well, there's a lot on my mind now that i have my outlet back. it's gonna have to wait till tomorrow though, it's getting late and my office is freezing. i think i'm gonna go home and see what the cuz is up to. i may even get something done around the apt.
one love and one heart, esp to you sooner fans that need a hug.
12.31.2004
so evidently i'm a raiders fan...
so it's been a month since i've last sat down and made time for blogging, and i guess i probably should since this is so therapudic. anyways, here's a rundown of the last moth or so
the highlight of the month would have to be merry xmas madness, my firts pretty big event with the youth group that was completely succesful. essentially it was a video scavenger hunt with the youth group doing all kinds of crazy stuff around town. for example; getting a piggy back ride from a security guard and eating a jar of baby food were the first two that came to mind. anyways, it was a big succes, and i compiled all of the videos together on my computer and put out our youth group's frist dvd, with many more to come in the near future. the kids were awesome, and the chaperones had a blast too. the only minor problem was that shaving your head was the top poiint getter, and now i have a buzzed head, and one kid's mom was a little preturbed her son had a mohawk when he got home. oh well, its all in the name of fun. however i have to wait a few months for my hair to grow out again, which i was just getting used to being long.
the other big thing is that my parents are officially texans again. i went home over christmas and pretty much packed the whole house, and they flew out a couple days ago. i can't even begin to describe how much i will not miss going to washington. too many bad memories from high school. this move was pretty good for the family. aside from the empty nest syndrome my parents are going through, it's getting really tough for mom to keep up with a three bedroom house and take care of dad (which is now a full time job) and still try and make ends meet when the bills come. the cost of living is so much lower in texas, and we have so much family there it really made sense. however, it's still going to take a while to get used to the idea of going to dallas to visit my folks.
being home reminded me of a few things. first of all, my dad is the toughest man in the world. this guy has a tumor that has wreaked havoc on his body and has handicapped him to a point where he can't walk or talk. but he has the best sense of humor in the world. he can barely say five words, but he manages to get me on the floor rolling with simple noises, hand gestures and expressions. once a marine, always a marine, he still manages to hum the national anthem while watching football games on tv. his body may not hold up much longer, but his mind has had cancer beat for years.
secondly, mom is the unsung hero of our family. she never gets the credit she desreves when things are going right, and always takes the blame when something goes astray. at church dad gets the attention because people can see what he's going through, mom is the sidekick. that might not normally be a big deal, but when five guys at church are standing around while mom is struggling to get dads wheelchair out, and they're too busy saying hey to dad to help mom with the front door, then it becomes very apparent why mom is moving to texas. there's a lot to be said about southern hospitality. anyways, in the midst of all the chaos involved with moving over the christmas weekends, i think mom pulled off one of my favorite chiristmases that i've ever had. good job mi madre.
third, there really isn't a write off in our family for emotional issues. we kind of got at each other's throats this past week, mainly due to the stress of moving, and i think it's because we all expect tohers to pick up the slack for us, because we aren't emotionally on top of our game right now. unfortunately, when the whole family is dealing with the same issues, there's no room for not getting thins such as packing taken care of. i'm not sure what the larger raminfications are from that, but i'm sure there's something.
this past week also allowed me the opportunity to drive from seattle to simi valley. even though most of our drive was at night, we had a beautiful full moon throughout the mountains in oregon. we seriously could have driven with the lights off, the reflection of the moon off of the snow was absolutely unreal. that, and i got to do the trip with my cousin matt, who continuously cracks me up. he's about as west texan as the come, but i love him still.
speaking of west texas, one of my kappa brothers from oc is out here in socal for the weekend. he came out to see his belvoed texas tech stomp cal in the holiday bowl. it was the first time in a while that i've got to hang out with dantheman, the first time i've seen friends from oc in a while, and the first time i've been back to san diego since i've moved to simi valley. needless to say, today was kind of like a christmas present in and of itself. there's a lot to be said for going to football games with your buddies. i'll go into the male bonding stuff later, but i will say now that this was the great american alpha male afternoon.
the only thing that's been getting to me lately is the whole topgun girl situation. i took her to disneyland a few weeks ago and we had an awesome date, but we really haven't talked since. seriously, i don't think i've ever been that relaxed on a date before, and i def have not seen a lot of the stuff at disneyland that she wanted to see. my prents always steered clear off the main street shops, the parades and the cheesy hokey stuff that makes disneyland fun. this was topgun girl's night, so we did all the stuff that she wanted, and i had so much fun. unfortunately the night ended with an akward kiss and me getting us lost on the way back to her friends' house. yeah, i couldn't have asked for a more akward ending. anyways. we've only been able to briefly talk a couple of times this past month and for some reason that's been getting to me the past few days. anyways, she's in mexico with the fam for the holidays and i don't have a clue when i'm going to see her next. all i know is i have to find some cheaper dates if we do go out again. between hard rock, street scene and disneyland we've ran up a pretty good tab. i don't mind spending the money at all, but if we do go out more it's gonna have to be renting a movie and ordering a pizza or something. i guess what's really bugging me is i'm going to a wedding of two of my friends in san diego next week, and it'd be really nice to have a response to all of the 'so when are you going to get married' and 'we need to find you a girl' remarks aside from telling people to shove off. yeah, i'm bitter and tired of hearing comments. i could write a whole new page on my opinion of recently engaged couples and the torment that brings on the singles scene in churches. i'm already typing harder, so i think i'll stop now before i work myself into a frenzy. i'll finish this point with a comment from the cuz, "i can't believe this, my mom bought me two books for christmas...'God's advice for single men' and 'how to be happy when you're on your own'... what does she think i am?epressed and in a spiritual crisis? i love my life! i've got a truck that kicks butt and i don't have to ask permission to do a thing." word.
anyways, the job is getting crazier by the day, but i think getting to see my bros is gonna give me plenty of motivation to get a bunch of stuff done in the next few days. and, hopefully i'll get a chance to see topgungirl before too long as well. the next week is gonna be a lot of traveling down to san diego, between the usc game and the wedding, i'm putting a couple hundred bucks aside for gas alone.
well, it's way past the time when a responsible person not staying at thier friend's house would have gone to bed. and now that dantheman has beat itspronouncedlaMESA in ncaa 05, i'm the only one with a light on so i think i'll shut this bad boy down so we can get some sleep.
more to come soon.
oh yeah, itspronouncedlaMESA reminded me i almost ate it twice today. once at the beach, and once on the way to the hot tub. you gotta love being the slapstick comedy for your friends.
one love, one heart.
the highlight of the month would have to be merry xmas madness, my firts pretty big event with the youth group that was completely succesful. essentially it was a video scavenger hunt with the youth group doing all kinds of crazy stuff around town. for example; getting a piggy back ride from a security guard and eating a jar of baby food were the first two that came to mind. anyways, it was a big succes, and i compiled all of the videos together on my computer and put out our youth group's frist dvd, with many more to come in the near future. the kids were awesome, and the chaperones had a blast too. the only minor problem was that shaving your head was the top poiint getter, and now i have a buzzed head, and one kid's mom was a little preturbed her son had a mohawk when he got home. oh well, its all in the name of fun. however i have to wait a few months for my hair to grow out again, which i was just getting used to being long.
the other big thing is that my parents are officially texans again. i went home over christmas and pretty much packed the whole house, and they flew out a couple days ago. i can't even begin to describe how much i will not miss going to washington. too many bad memories from high school. this move was pretty good for the family. aside from the empty nest syndrome my parents are going through, it's getting really tough for mom to keep up with a three bedroom house and take care of dad (which is now a full time job) and still try and make ends meet when the bills come. the cost of living is so much lower in texas, and we have so much family there it really made sense. however, it's still going to take a while to get used to the idea of going to dallas to visit my folks.
being home reminded me of a few things. first of all, my dad is the toughest man in the world. this guy has a tumor that has wreaked havoc on his body and has handicapped him to a point where he can't walk or talk. but he has the best sense of humor in the world. he can barely say five words, but he manages to get me on the floor rolling with simple noises, hand gestures and expressions. once a marine, always a marine, he still manages to hum the national anthem while watching football games on tv. his body may not hold up much longer, but his mind has had cancer beat for years.
secondly, mom is the unsung hero of our family. she never gets the credit she desreves when things are going right, and always takes the blame when something goes astray. at church dad gets the attention because people can see what he's going through, mom is the sidekick. that might not normally be a big deal, but when five guys at church are standing around while mom is struggling to get dads wheelchair out, and they're too busy saying hey to dad to help mom with the front door, then it becomes very apparent why mom is moving to texas. there's a lot to be said about southern hospitality. anyways, in the midst of all the chaos involved with moving over the christmas weekends, i think mom pulled off one of my favorite chiristmases that i've ever had. good job mi madre.
third, there really isn't a write off in our family for emotional issues. we kind of got at each other's throats this past week, mainly due to the stress of moving, and i think it's because we all expect tohers to pick up the slack for us, because we aren't emotionally on top of our game right now. unfortunately, when the whole family is dealing with the same issues, there's no room for not getting thins such as packing taken care of. i'm not sure what the larger raminfications are from that, but i'm sure there's something.
this past week also allowed me the opportunity to drive from seattle to simi valley. even though most of our drive was at night, we had a beautiful full moon throughout the mountains in oregon. we seriously could have driven with the lights off, the reflection of the moon off of the snow was absolutely unreal. that, and i got to do the trip with my cousin matt, who continuously cracks me up. he's about as west texan as the come, but i love him still.
speaking of west texas, one of my kappa brothers from oc is out here in socal for the weekend. he came out to see his belvoed texas tech stomp cal in the holiday bowl. it was the first time in a while that i've got to hang out with dantheman, the first time i've seen friends from oc in a while, and the first time i've been back to san diego since i've moved to simi valley. needless to say, today was kind of like a christmas present in and of itself. there's a lot to be said for going to football games with your buddies. i'll go into the male bonding stuff later, but i will say now that this was the great american alpha male afternoon.
the only thing that's been getting to me lately is the whole topgun girl situation. i took her to disneyland a few weeks ago and we had an awesome date, but we really haven't talked since. seriously, i don't think i've ever been that relaxed on a date before, and i def have not seen a lot of the stuff at disneyland that she wanted to see. my prents always steered clear off the main street shops, the parades and the cheesy hokey stuff that makes disneyland fun. this was topgun girl's night, so we did all the stuff that she wanted, and i had so much fun. unfortunately the night ended with an akward kiss and me getting us lost on the way back to her friends' house. yeah, i couldn't have asked for a more akward ending. anyways. we've only been able to briefly talk a couple of times this past month and for some reason that's been getting to me the past few days. anyways, she's in mexico with the fam for the holidays and i don't have a clue when i'm going to see her next. all i know is i have to find some cheaper dates if we do go out again. between hard rock, street scene and disneyland we've ran up a pretty good tab. i don't mind spending the money at all, but if we do go out more it's gonna have to be renting a movie and ordering a pizza or something. i guess what's really bugging me is i'm going to a wedding of two of my friends in san diego next week, and it'd be really nice to have a response to all of the 'so when are you going to get married' and 'we need to find you a girl' remarks aside from telling people to shove off. yeah, i'm bitter and tired of hearing comments. i could write a whole new page on my opinion of recently engaged couples and the torment that brings on the singles scene in churches. i'm already typing harder, so i think i'll stop now before i work myself into a frenzy. i'll finish this point with a comment from the cuz, "i can't believe this, my mom bought me two books for christmas...'God's advice for single men' and 'how to be happy when you're on your own'... what does she think i am?epressed and in a spiritual crisis? i love my life! i've got a truck that kicks butt and i don't have to ask permission to do a thing." word.
anyways, the job is getting crazier by the day, but i think getting to see my bros is gonna give me plenty of motivation to get a bunch of stuff done in the next few days. and, hopefully i'll get a chance to see topgungirl before too long as well. the next week is gonna be a lot of traveling down to san diego, between the usc game and the wedding, i'm putting a couple hundred bucks aside for gas alone.
well, it's way past the time when a responsible person not staying at thier friend's house would have gone to bed. and now that dantheman has beat itspronouncedlaMESA in ncaa 05, i'm the only one with a light on so i think i'll shut this bad boy down so we can get some sleep.
more to come soon.
oh yeah, itspronouncedlaMESA reminded me i almost ate it twice today. once at the beach, and once on the way to the hot tub. you gotta love being the slapstick comedy for your friends.
one love, one heart.
12.01.2004
no title for today...
Ahhhh blogging… so much to say…
Today is kind of tough to be honest. I found out yesterday that a kid from my youth group back in Tulsa was killed in iraq. For him the army was a way out of Oklahoma. He wasn't really an active member of the youth group, he came with a friend of his every once in a while, which makes it a lot tougher knowing that there was potential there, and not knowing if the potential for the life of a Christian was ever realized. He was a good kid though. He didn't grow up in the church, I don't know a lot about his family, but I know he led a pretty rough life for the most part in high school. I know the army seemed like a great alternative to hanging to in Tulsa for the rest of his life doing who knows what for a living. The thing that gets me is the way we as Christians throw money and time into events, and we forget the urgency of our job. I didn't know this kid that well, but I know him well enough to feel bad about not doing what I know I could have to help bring him to Christ.
one tough situation that death presents for friends and family is the whole 'what do you say?' question. I've learned that the biggest impact can be just not saying anything, and simply being there and acknowledging the pain of the situation. That being said, here are a few do's and don'ts that should be pointed out.
Don't say:
I know exactly how you feel
At least he doesn't have to suffer anymore
It's God's will
Take this, it'll calm you down
They wouldn't want you to grieve
Don't cry, you'll only feel worse
You can't be angry with God
At least you have other family and friends
I think it's time you get on living your life
Don't talk about it, you'll only feel worse
Time heals all wounds
You've got to be strong
Better alternatives:
I can only imagine what you're going through
They suffered a lot didn't they
One comfort I have is God's promise to never abandon us
Do you feel like talking right now
It's hard to say goodbye isn't it
Sometimes tears are the best way to express your feelings
God understands even when we're upset
Everyone has to grieve in their own way, don't' they
We can talk about whatever you want
Time will lesson the pain I'm sure, but you'll always have a part of them with you
I want you to know it's okay to be yourself around me
Just a few pointers from a counselor friend, given to me a few months ago.
This also has me looking at the way I treat kids on the fringe of the youth group. I've got thirty one kids on my youth roll, and ten of those I would consider ten of those 'fringe' kids that come to very few youth events. There just hasn't been that since of urgency to reach out so far to these kids. I can think of things to say or do that might get them interested, but how do I emphasize the urgency of my job w/o trivializing the death of this young man. I don't want his death to be some bullet point on a presentation, or an anecdote for a sermon. Needless to say, today is a day of prayer and mourning.
On a more positive note, I had a great trip home for thanksgiving. Me and my sister were able to surprise mi madre by getting my sister on an earlier flight home. Pops was pretty stoked too, and even our dog dude was going nuts. Yeah, you gotta love coming home. Mi madre and mi hermana spent all day fri shopping, so me and pops got to chill and hang out and watch movies all day. Thanksgiving itself was pretty cool. The typical families were there, with the noticeable absence of my two friends everlast and nordstroms from the table. Dinner was great and we got to celebrate pops' 50th birthday, which is quite an accomplishment in itself. For the rest of the break I pretty much hung out with pops and laugh, which always makes for a great trip. That, and I had mi madre rockin out to guns'n'roses on the way to the airport.
On Sunday I met the kiddos at pepperdine for the last morning of youthfest. it was cool to see them again and def made me feel good about being back in socal. The akward moment came when the youth group from this past summer came down the stairs and said hola. Two of them seemed pretty stoked, but the rest looked pretty ticked, like I had sold them out or something. Yeah, not the kind of fun akward moment that I typically enjoy.
Last night I took a few kids to see an orchestra performance at pepperdine, which was fun in a sixth-graders-don't-typically-enjoy-the-orchestra kind of way. But my boys toughed it out and they may have even had fun. I had a blast because I've been writing so much music lately. It was good to have a different type of musical inspiration and see how different instruments work together. Thursday we are supposed to go back to pepperdine for a student performance, which should be fun, esp since it's outside and the nights temperatures have been getting down to the high 30's.
Well, I've got a lot of random stuff to do… learn how to install stuff on my new computer, get rides organized, prepare for small group, find video cameras, plans a mission trip and figure out what I'm gonna do with the youth room.
Be sure to keep our troops in your prayers, they all have stories.
One love, one heart.
Today is kind of tough to be honest. I found out yesterday that a kid from my youth group back in Tulsa was killed in iraq. For him the army was a way out of Oklahoma. He wasn't really an active member of the youth group, he came with a friend of his every once in a while, which makes it a lot tougher knowing that there was potential there, and not knowing if the potential for the life of a Christian was ever realized. He was a good kid though. He didn't grow up in the church, I don't know a lot about his family, but I know he led a pretty rough life for the most part in high school. I know the army seemed like a great alternative to hanging to in Tulsa for the rest of his life doing who knows what for a living. The thing that gets me is the way we as Christians throw money and time into events, and we forget the urgency of our job. I didn't know this kid that well, but I know him well enough to feel bad about not doing what I know I could have to help bring him to Christ.
one tough situation that death presents for friends and family is the whole 'what do you say?' question. I've learned that the biggest impact can be just not saying anything, and simply being there and acknowledging the pain of the situation. That being said, here are a few do's and don'ts that should be pointed out.
Don't say:
I know exactly how you feel
At least he doesn't have to suffer anymore
It's God's will
Take this, it'll calm you down
They wouldn't want you to grieve
Don't cry, you'll only feel worse
You can't be angry with God
At least you have other family and friends
I think it's time you get on living your life
Don't talk about it, you'll only feel worse
Time heals all wounds
You've got to be strong
Better alternatives:
I can only imagine what you're going through
They suffered a lot didn't they
One comfort I have is God's promise to never abandon us
Do you feel like talking right now
It's hard to say goodbye isn't it
Sometimes tears are the best way to express your feelings
God understands even when we're upset
Everyone has to grieve in their own way, don't' they
We can talk about whatever you want
Time will lesson the pain I'm sure, but you'll always have a part of them with you
I want you to know it's okay to be yourself around me
Just a few pointers from a counselor friend, given to me a few months ago.
This also has me looking at the way I treat kids on the fringe of the youth group. I've got thirty one kids on my youth roll, and ten of those I would consider ten of those 'fringe' kids that come to very few youth events. There just hasn't been that since of urgency to reach out so far to these kids. I can think of things to say or do that might get them interested, but how do I emphasize the urgency of my job w/o trivializing the death of this young man. I don't want his death to be some bullet point on a presentation, or an anecdote for a sermon. Needless to say, today is a day of prayer and mourning.
On a more positive note, I had a great trip home for thanksgiving. Me and my sister were able to surprise mi madre by getting my sister on an earlier flight home. Pops was pretty stoked too, and even our dog dude was going nuts. Yeah, you gotta love coming home. Mi madre and mi hermana spent all day fri shopping, so me and pops got to chill and hang out and watch movies all day. Thanksgiving itself was pretty cool. The typical families were there, with the noticeable absence of my two friends everlast and nordstroms from the table. Dinner was great and we got to celebrate pops' 50th birthday, which is quite an accomplishment in itself. For the rest of the break I pretty much hung out with pops and laugh, which always makes for a great trip. That, and I had mi madre rockin out to guns'n'roses on the way to the airport.
On Sunday I met the kiddos at pepperdine for the last morning of youthfest. it was cool to see them again and def made me feel good about being back in socal. The akward moment came when the youth group from this past summer came down the stairs and said hola. Two of them seemed pretty stoked, but the rest looked pretty ticked, like I had sold them out or something. Yeah, not the kind of fun akward moment that I typically enjoy.
Last night I took a few kids to see an orchestra performance at pepperdine, which was fun in a sixth-graders-don't-typically-enjoy-the-orchestra kind of way. But my boys toughed it out and they may have even had fun. I had a blast because I've been writing so much music lately. It was good to have a different type of musical inspiration and see how different instruments work together. Thursday we are supposed to go back to pepperdine for a student performance, which should be fun, esp since it's outside and the nights temperatures have been getting down to the high 30's.
Well, I've got a lot of random stuff to do… learn how to install stuff on my new computer, get rides organized, prepare for small group, find video cameras, plans a mission trip and figure out what I'm gonna do with the youth room.
Be sure to keep our troops in your prayers, they all have stories.
One love, one heart.
11.22.2004
Aunt Bethany: What's that sound? Uncle Lewis: You couldn't hear a dump truck driving through a nitroglycerin plant.
Where to begin...
Well today was one of those days where keeping your mouth shut is the hardest thing to do. Our church helped out this single mom a few weeks ago, when she called on a Friday afternoon and said her and her four kids were going to be evicted if she didn’t pay her landlord by the end of the day. Nothing like coming to the church for financial help at the eleventh hour, especially when we haven’t seen her in a few months. Anyways... we’re a church and it’s our job to help those in need. However, I was reminded of some sr. philosophy reading back in the day, gimpel the fool. The question of the story is, is it better to be a fool and know it and or be a fool and not know it. Here’s the rest of the story...
So one of our guys got a call yesterday afternoon asking for help to move her from one apt to another. Evidently she qualified for low income housing, but that meant she had to move from her apt to another smaller one across the complex this weekend. I’m not going to criticize her for not having her stuff packed up since this was such a rush, but I do have a few things that really got under my skin today. First, she had more stuff in her apt than my family accumulated in nearly a decade of living in seattle. Her kids alone had more toys than my sister and I had growing up combined. Her pantries were full, and this was odd since she asked the church to help her out with groceries. She had more clothes in her closets (3) than could fit in mine and the cuz’s closets combined. Plus, her bathtub was piled three feet high with clothes. I’m not even going to begin to wonder why the clothes were in there. So here we are, myself, three parents and a dozen or so youth groupers helping move her stuff, and she’s on her cell phone the whole time. Aggravating doesn’t begin to describe the feeling... then she starts going off about how her rent is $1300 a month and she only gets $1500 a month in income. This as I’m hauling huge bags full of toys and clothes. Then I realize she’s on the phone with the cable company getting her cable and internet switched to the new place. Did I mention she said she claimed to only have $200 extra to spend a month and she’s asking the church for financial help? Then there’s the topper... we’ve got a bunch of teenagers around, and her four kids all under nine years of age, and some of their friends hanging around, when one of our kids finds some soft-core porn in her bedroom. Now I have to try and urge the kids to look past this and focus on getting the moving done, and try and do it with a decent attitude, all the while this mom isn’t lifting a finger. Aggravation has turned to frustration, to flat out anger over being taken advantage of. Needless to say I let our eldership know about the movies just in case some of the kids say something to their families, and they need to know anyways because they’re supposed to be counseling her soon as well. That and she had this psycho cat that kept attacking the kid, and got my allergies all revved up.
So the question is how should I feel about all of this? Obviously this lady needs help. She can’t budget her money, her kids are running rampant, she has four kids from three dads, and she comes to us for help, then pretty much abuses our generosity. I seriously hoped I could look back at this later and find some good in today.
Well, I guess I didn’t have to look too far. Thanks God. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again gladly. I have an awesome group of church leaders. I came in unprepared for my youth budget meeting, and without any paperwork or exact numbers. I ended up having to ask them to hold back with the money so I could properly plan on how to use it. They were offering way too much to help me out with my new computer, and telling me to take more days off than I have available. Basically, they were going out of their way to help the youth group out financially, and me personally. The big thing is they said to take as much time off as I wanted to spend with my family for christmas, even though I only have two days of vacation after this thanksgiving weekend. Yeah, these guys are getting a nice fat christmas card from me. So here I am worrying about all of this stuff, and these guys are being nothing but nice. I seriously don’t know any of my youth ministry compadres that get treated as well as I do by my elders.
There was another thing that got me revved up this weekend. My cousin found out that kutless and third day were performing at the billy graham crusade at the rose bowl. So we decided to head out there last night to catch the bands and stay for the message, and see what all the hype was about. First, the cuz’s friends ran about an hour late for when we needed to leave, then picked a restaurant that was def going to take too long to get out of. This is why some women should never be allowed to make plans. By the time we get to the rose bowl, and get out of the parking lot, and get to our seats, we caught the last half of a verse from third day and completely missed kutless. Salgoode at this point, at least we’ll get a moving message from billy graham. Not exactly. He spoke for less than ten minutes, and I’ve heard more moving words from jr high kids in my youth group. I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt due to his age and medical condition, but that doesn’t explain how thousands of people felt moved enough to come forward at the rose bowl. That, and in his writings and interviews he’s proclaimed the need for baptism, but that was noticeably missing from his message. He’s got the repent part down, but forgot to mention the baptism part of the scripture. Needless to say the six hours worth of time committed to the less than ten minutes of mediocre speaking would have been the low point of the weekend if not for the moving today.
But I’m all about the positive. The kids and I are starting to hang out more often, and I feel like we’re getting relationships set in stone already. That, and I think there are some kids on the fringe that may start to show interest. I can’t wait for the rest of my job. These kids are a blast and we are having fun already, now that the more spiritual groundwork has been laid. Our Thursday roots with the high school was a blast. Friday afternoon two kids playing hookey form school invited me to lunch, then some of us went to see a movie. today we managed to sneak some laughs in while moving and then to top it off, some kids invited themselves over to hang out tonite at the apt.
and to top it off, I talked to topgun girl for a while this week. And it looks like I’m taking her to disneyland for a christmas present. Ok, so that’s more a present for myself, but regardless... I’m stoked. So christmas comes a few weeks early for me, but hopefully she’s as much a sucker for xmas cheer as I am. Ho ho ho.
One love and one heart.
Well today was one of those days where keeping your mouth shut is the hardest thing to do. Our church helped out this single mom a few weeks ago, when she called on a Friday afternoon and said her and her four kids were going to be evicted if she didn’t pay her landlord by the end of the day. Nothing like coming to the church for financial help at the eleventh hour, especially when we haven’t seen her in a few months. Anyways... we’re a church and it’s our job to help those in need. However, I was reminded of some sr. philosophy reading back in the day, gimpel the fool. The question of the story is, is it better to be a fool and know it and or be a fool and not know it. Here’s the rest of the story...
So one of our guys got a call yesterday afternoon asking for help to move her from one apt to another. Evidently she qualified for low income housing, but that meant she had to move from her apt to another smaller one across the complex this weekend. I’m not going to criticize her for not having her stuff packed up since this was such a rush, but I do have a few things that really got under my skin today. First, she had more stuff in her apt than my family accumulated in nearly a decade of living in seattle. Her kids alone had more toys than my sister and I had growing up combined. Her pantries were full, and this was odd since she asked the church to help her out with groceries. She had more clothes in her closets (3) than could fit in mine and the cuz’s closets combined. Plus, her bathtub was piled three feet high with clothes. I’m not even going to begin to wonder why the clothes were in there. So here we are, myself, three parents and a dozen or so youth groupers helping move her stuff, and she’s on her cell phone the whole time. Aggravating doesn’t begin to describe the feeling... then she starts going off about how her rent is $1300 a month and she only gets $1500 a month in income. This as I’m hauling huge bags full of toys and clothes. Then I realize she’s on the phone with the cable company getting her cable and internet switched to the new place. Did I mention she said she claimed to only have $200 extra to spend a month and she’s asking the church for financial help? Then there’s the topper... we’ve got a bunch of teenagers around, and her four kids all under nine years of age, and some of their friends hanging around, when one of our kids finds some soft-core porn in her bedroom. Now I have to try and urge the kids to look past this and focus on getting the moving done, and try and do it with a decent attitude, all the while this mom isn’t lifting a finger. Aggravation has turned to frustration, to flat out anger over being taken advantage of. Needless to say I let our eldership know about the movies just in case some of the kids say something to their families, and they need to know anyways because they’re supposed to be counseling her soon as well. That and she had this psycho cat that kept attacking the kid, and got my allergies all revved up.
So the question is how should I feel about all of this? Obviously this lady needs help. She can’t budget her money, her kids are running rampant, she has four kids from three dads, and she comes to us for help, then pretty much abuses our generosity. I seriously hoped I could look back at this later and find some good in today.
Well, I guess I didn’t have to look too far. Thanks God. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again gladly. I have an awesome group of church leaders. I came in unprepared for my youth budget meeting, and without any paperwork or exact numbers. I ended up having to ask them to hold back with the money so I could properly plan on how to use it. They were offering way too much to help me out with my new computer, and telling me to take more days off than I have available. Basically, they were going out of their way to help the youth group out financially, and me personally. The big thing is they said to take as much time off as I wanted to spend with my family for christmas, even though I only have two days of vacation after this thanksgiving weekend. Yeah, these guys are getting a nice fat christmas card from me. So here I am worrying about all of this stuff, and these guys are being nothing but nice. I seriously don’t know any of my youth ministry compadres that get treated as well as I do by my elders.
There was another thing that got me revved up this weekend. My cousin found out that kutless and third day were performing at the billy graham crusade at the rose bowl. So we decided to head out there last night to catch the bands and stay for the message, and see what all the hype was about. First, the cuz’s friends ran about an hour late for when we needed to leave, then picked a restaurant that was def going to take too long to get out of. This is why some women should never be allowed to make plans. By the time we get to the rose bowl, and get out of the parking lot, and get to our seats, we caught the last half of a verse from third day and completely missed kutless. Salgoode at this point, at least we’ll get a moving message from billy graham. Not exactly. He spoke for less than ten minutes, and I’ve heard more moving words from jr high kids in my youth group. I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt due to his age and medical condition, but that doesn’t explain how thousands of people felt moved enough to come forward at the rose bowl. That, and in his writings and interviews he’s proclaimed the need for baptism, but that was noticeably missing from his message. He’s got the repent part down, but forgot to mention the baptism part of the scripture. Needless to say the six hours worth of time committed to the less than ten minutes of mediocre speaking would have been the low point of the weekend if not for the moving today.
But I’m all about the positive. The kids and I are starting to hang out more often, and I feel like we’re getting relationships set in stone already. That, and I think there are some kids on the fringe that may start to show interest. I can’t wait for the rest of my job. These kids are a blast and we are having fun already, now that the more spiritual groundwork has been laid. Our Thursday roots with the high school was a blast. Friday afternoon two kids playing hookey form school invited me to lunch, then some of us went to see a movie. today we managed to sneak some laughs in while moving and then to top it off, some kids invited themselves over to hang out tonite at the apt.
and to top it off, I talked to topgun girl for a while this week. And it looks like I’m taking her to disneyland for a christmas present. Ok, so that’s more a present for myself, but regardless... I’m stoked. So christmas comes a few weeks early for me, but hopefully she’s as much a sucker for xmas cheer as I am. Ho ho ho.
One love and one heart.
11.17.2004
roots, rock and reggae...
so one of my jr high guys (rockstar) is phenomenal at guitar. is it wrong to want to start a band with a 13 year old?
anyways, his brother got me pretty good last night when he started asking me if i liked neil diamond, and proceeded to get a bunch of neil's songs stuck in my head. not even 311 is getting rid of 'coming to america' right now. seriously, 14 hours of neil is enough.
the other thing he got me on was my favorite albums of all time. the kicker is that they couldn't be greatest hits albums which is tough, because that automatically eliminates my numero uno album of all time, bob marley: legend. so, here goes my:
top ten favorite albums of all time:
10. jurassic 5 - quality control
9. the clash - london calling
8. english beat - wha' happened
7. jack johnson - on and on
6. unwritten law - elva
5. strung out - twisted by design
4. social distortion - s/t
3. 311 - transistor
2. rancid - out come the wolves
1. operation ivy - energy
the hard part about this list is there are so many albums, songs and artists that have meant a lot to me, that dont really have a typical list to be a part of. so heres another top ten list of:
top ten most influential albums in my life:
10. green day: dookie
this is the album that made me want to play guitar. i still sing along to every word on this album, and i think i was one of the few that stuck with this as a classic when all the punks were saying that the band had sold out.
9. pearl jam - ten
this was one of the first cds i bought when i got my first cd player. i was about to move to seattle, where i would spend many days listening to alive over and over again while it rained. it was then revived with a vengence in college when juaner and andibro made it cool to listen to non-punk music again.
8. unwritten law - elva
elva was the soundtrack for my senior year of college. road trips, el patioso cookouts, we played the shine off of this rocker.
7. jack johnson - brushfire fairytales
i thought this guy was so lame when i first heard him. he was exactly what i needed to mellow out musically a little bit though. easily the most influential singer for me in the past few years.
6. 311 - blue
the summer i was sixteen and living away from home. i still know every word to this album, mainly because i listened to it every day to and from work. these guys are one of my favorite bands and this album is why.
5. primus - pork soda
i didn't make friends for a while when i moved to seattle, and this ablum was my release. i just gave it a spin to the cuz the other day for the first time and it was like a ten year reunion with some memories of some crazy thoughts. that, and my name is mud has got the best guitar riff of all time (sounds like another top ten list for another day)
4. operation ivy - energy
this was the album that made me put patches on my jacket, bleach and spike my hair, and turn me into a super freak music fan. i can still remember my friend pug buying this and making us shut up as our crew drove home from the store. we sat in my friends driveway until the album was over. this became the measuring stick of everything ska/punk i listen to.
3. mighty mighty bosstones - don't know how to party
i'm not sure when i first heard this, but i fell in love with ska as soon as i did. at the time i needed something more upbeat to listen to. i'll never know how ska became popular, but you can garuntee i was out there with my rudy suit on because of this album.
2. judgement night soundtrack
this was the first album i had that my parents didn't know about. hehe, i should stop there but... this was also the ablum that got me from listiening to rap music to rock. all the rap on the radio was heading towards gangsta, and my white 11 year old self didn't really follow. ironic considering the movie though.
1. bob marley - legend
i taped this off of my youth minister when i was 11. i have probably bought at least a dozen copies of this to give as presents, and my mom normally buys me a copy every two or three years because mine get scratched up from use. this album made me a fan of music. this was the first album that got me dancing around my bedroom. first kiss... marley in the background. the more i think about it, the more i realize i don't have the time to type out how many stories i have from this album.
well, music has and hopefully will be a major moving force in my life. till that changes...
one love and one heart.
anyways, his brother got me pretty good last night when he started asking me if i liked neil diamond, and proceeded to get a bunch of neil's songs stuck in my head. not even 311 is getting rid of 'coming to america' right now. seriously, 14 hours of neil is enough.
the other thing he got me on was my favorite albums of all time. the kicker is that they couldn't be greatest hits albums which is tough, because that automatically eliminates my numero uno album of all time, bob marley: legend. so, here goes my:
top ten favorite albums of all time:
10. jurassic 5 - quality control
9. the clash - london calling
8. english beat - wha' happened
7. jack johnson - on and on
6. unwritten law - elva
5. strung out - twisted by design
4. social distortion - s/t
3. 311 - transistor
2. rancid - out come the wolves
1. operation ivy - energy
the hard part about this list is there are so many albums, songs and artists that have meant a lot to me, that dont really have a typical list to be a part of. so heres another top ten list of:
top ten most influential albums in my life:
10. green day: dookie
this is the album that made me want to play guitar. i still sing along to every word on this album, and i think i was one of the few that stuck with this as a classic when all the punks were saying that the band had sold out.
9. pearl jam - ten
this was one of the first cds i bought when i got my first cd player. i was about to move to seattle, where i would spend many days listening to alive over and over again while it rained. it was then revived with a vengence in college when juaner and andibro made it cool to listen to non-punk music again.
8. unwritten law - elva
elva was the soundtrack for my senior year of college. road trips, el patioso cookouts, we played the shine off of this rocker.
7. jack johnson - brushfire fairytales
i thought this guy was so lame when i first heard him. he was exactly what i needed to mellow out musically a little bit though. easily the most influential singer for me in the past few years.
6. 311 - blue
the summer i was sixteen and living away from home. i still know every word to this album, mainly because i listened to it every day to and from work. these guys are one of my favorite bands and this album is why.
5. primus - pork soda
i didn't make friends for a while when i moved to seattle, and this ablum was my release. i just gave it a spin to the cuz the other day for the first time and it was like a ten year reunion with some memories of some crazy thoughts. that, and my name is mud has got the best guitar riff of all time (sounds like another top ten list for another day)
4. operation ivy - energy
this was the album that made me put patches on my jacket, bleach and spike my hair, and turn me into a super freak music fan. i can still remember my friend pug buying this and making us shut up as our crew drove home from the store. we sat in my friends driveway until the album was over. this became the measuring stick of everything ska/punk i listen to.
3. mighty mighty bosstones - don't know how to party
i'm not sure when i first heard this, but i fell in love with ska as soon as i did. at the time i needed something more upbeat to listen to. i'll never know how ska became popular, but you can garuntee i was out there with my rudy suit on because of this album.
2. judgement night soundtrack
this was the first album i had that my parents didn't know about. hehe, i should stop there but... this was also the ablum that got me from listiening to rap music to rock. all the rap on the radio was heading towards gangsta, and my white 11 year old self didn't really follow. ironic considering the movie though.
1. bob marley - legend
i taped this off of my youth minister when i was 11. i have probably bought at least a dozen copies of this to give as presents, and my mom normally buys me a copy every two or three years because mine get scratched up from use. this album made me a fan of music. this was the first album that got me dancing around my bedroom. first kiss... marley in the background. the more i think about it, the more i realize i don't have the time to type out how many stories i have from this album.
well, music has and hopefully will be a major moving force in my life. till that changes...
one love and one heart.
11.16.2004
i say carpe diem, seize the carp!
man, this weekend was a blast. it started out kind of awkward because i wasn't lined up to go to our jr high retreat this weekend, i had given the duty to one of our parents who used to teach our jr high class, and was looking to stay involved. fortunately he had to bail and i got to go. first off, this kids i took were pretty funny, and always make for some interesting conversation. that, and from what i have learned any and all trips with jr high students is a set up for some comedy, at the very least an adventure. and it wouldn't be a weekend with jr high guys if there weren't any fart jokes. the camp was really well put together, and the kids seemed to enjoy it, and more importantly get a lot out of it. kids aside, i had a blast because i got to hang out with some of my best friends, who happen to be youth ministers around here. dantheman brought his kids up and we had a bunch of good laughs, but the surprise was that joey fatone and noodles brought their youth groups up from san diego as well. sweet action. i got to work and hang out with some of my best friends at the same time. saturday night when we were all standing in the back of the room while a group form pepperdine performed, i got a peek of what is to come in the future for socal ministry. there were a dozen youth ministers there, and all of us are in our mid 20's, with the exception of one, and we all get along as friends. i can't even begin to describe how sweet this is going to be when we start combining camps and doing more stuff together. either way, it was good to see my friends again.
the other thing that was nice about this weekend was getting away to the mountains. i know camps in california aren't exactly as 'roughing it' as some places i've been, but you can't beat the sunsets here in california.
after having such a great weekend, yesterday was a little bit of a downer. my friend from church in seattle got engaged, which means that i now officially have no one to hang out with when i go to visit seattle. i can't exactly explain what it is about peoples' personalities that makes it tough to hang out with them when they get engaged, but there def is something there. sure i'm stoked for my friend, but i know what every conversation is going to be about for the next few years. it's like someone talking about nothing but their favorite hockey team for a year. sure you're stoked they like the red wings, but there comes a time when it's time to find something new. that, and it seems like the sense of adventure is lost when people get engaged. no more random calls wanting to do something at the last minute, no more unscheduled hanging out... and with this friend, no more having someone to dodge all of the 'so when are you getting married?' questions that are prevalent when i go to seattle. this may seem a little selfish, but make no mistake i am happy for my friend and i understand her excitement, which is why i'll be nice when i go home.
that being said, i have committed to doing a random act every day to embrace my bachelorhood. yesterday i drove. for no reason and with no map, i just drove up and down the coast, mainly because it was a nice day and i could. before that i slept in late, watched tv and ate breakfast/lunch while wearing a shirt that is almost a decade old, and has been through a couple hundred concerts and has the holes to prove it. today i think i'm going to build something pointless, maybe a brace in my bedroom to hold my surfboard. tomorrow, i think i'll paint. maybe i'll go hike.i’m sure playing guitar loud enough to meet my neighbors will be in there somewhere too. Whatever I decide to do i'm not going to plan it out. all i know is i have health insurance now and no excuses to go out and do stupid stuff. sweet. let random adventure week continue, and watch out bank account.
well the irony is, i've got work to do before i go out and have fun. what a way to throw some sand in the bonfire. oh well, it's nice outside and i’m going to go play.
one love and one heart.
the other thing that was nice about this weekend was getting away to the mountains. i know camps in california aren't exactly as 'roughing it' as some places i've been, but you can't beat the sunsets here in california.
after having such a great weekend, yesterday was a little bit of a downer. my friend from church in seattle got engaged, which means that i now officially have no one to hang out with when i go to visit seattle. i can't exactly explain what it is about peoples' personalities that makes it tough to hang out with them when they get engaged, but there def is something there. sure i'm stoked for my friend, but i know what every conversation is going to be about for the next few years. it's like someone talking about nothing but their favorite hockey team for a year. sure you're stoked they like the red wings, but there comes a time when it's time to find something new. that, and it seems like the sense of adventure is lost when people get engaged. no more random calls wanting to do something at the last minute, no more unscheduled hanging out... and with this friend, no more having someone to dodge all of the 'so when are you getting married?' questions that are prevalent when i go to seattle. this may seem a little selfish, but make no mistake i am happy for my friend and i understand her excitement, which is why i'll be nice when i go home.
that being said, i have committed to doing a random act every day to embrace my bachelorhood. yesterday i drove. for no reason and with no map, i just drove up and down the coast, mainly because it was a nice day and i could. before that i slept in late, watched tv and ate breakfast/lunch while wearing a shirt that is almost a decade old, and has been through a couple hundred concerts and has the holes to prove it. today i think i'm going to build something pointless, maybe a brace in my bedroom to hold my surfboard. tomorrow, i think i'll paint. maybe i'll go hike.i’m sure playing guitar loud enough to meet my neighbors will be in there somewhere too. Whatever I decide to do i'm not going to plan it out. all i know is i have health insurance now and no excuses to go out and do stupid stuff. sweet. let random adventure week continue, and watch out bank account.
well the irony is, i've got work to do before i go out and have fun. what a way to throw some sand in the bonfire. oh well, it's nice outside and i’m going to go play.
one love and one heart.
11.11.2004
ryan stiles: I'd like to give you the weather for the next 50 years. Sun in L.A., rain in Seattle.
so trying to teach a dozen or so kids that have never swung a golf club the fundamentals is a lot tougher, and funnier than i thought. gennis is played... hilarity ensues. that's the whole purpose of the game. it's like calvinball meets golf. in todays rules, the jr high guys decided that the square foot wherever i was standing was the goal. and they didn't need clubs, they could just throw their tennis balls at me. way to make your own rules guys, you get the 'spirit of gennis' award for the day. needless to say i now have wilson tattooed all over me, and i owe some headlocks to my jr high guys, esp this kid d.j., whom i lovingly refer to as 'mini me'.
that being said, i love my job! and since i'm way overdue for one, here are my
top ten reasons why i love my job.
10. preacher jokes. i can tell the corniest cheesiest joke out there and you have to laugh, otherwise it's your soul.
9. i get to call old people by their first name.
8. a kid laughs: 1 church point, a kid cries: 3 church points (dantheman, this one's for you)
7. people refer to me as 'shaman'
6. my office is the eqivalent to roughly five and a half cubicles
5. youth events = pizza = nuff said.
4. church league softball
3. i get to wear my checkerboard vans to the office
2. the majority of my work today entailed picking stuff up i could play gennis and eat pizza with my kids, and the days only half over, we still have a bible study later tonight.
1. the kids are always stoked to watch bill and ted's excellent adventure
there's one other big thing today. after talking to my friend gennisgirl today, i read her little blog about rainy stormy days in oklahoma. i made a huge realization; i think i may be at a point where i like rainy days again. i can't emphasize enough how big of a deal this is. i lived in seattle for three years, and the sun was out for maybe 60 days total while i was there. okay maybe 90. either way, i've alway hated rainy cloudy days ever since i've moved there. but i was reading gennisgirl's blog today and started to kind of look at today in the same way i look at nice sunny days. the storm clouds today are pretty awesome, and you can tell where the sun is trying to peak out from behind them. i think knowing that they will not be here for the next 6 months is also part of what’s comforting me. so mad props to the oklahomans out there reminding me to appreciate nature. and no props to the hippies up in seattle that love nature for the wrong reasons.
oh yeah, i was looking for a quote for this blog, and i came across an al bundy one that was worth mentioning,"Raymond Burr, Delta Burke, city of Seattle. What's the difference?"
well, my guitar and my jack johnson cds are calling. one love and one heart.
that being said, i love my job! and since i'm way overdue for one, here are my
top ten reasons why i love my job.
10. preacher jokes. i can tell the corniest cheesiest joke out there and you have to laugh, otherwise it's your soul.
9. i get to call old people by their first name.
8. a kid laughs: 1 church point, a kid cries: 3 church points (dantheman, this one's for you)
7. people refer to me as 'shaman'
6. my office is the eqivalent to roughly five and a half cubicles
5. youth events = pizza = nuff said.
4. church league softball
3. i get to wear my checkerboard vans to the office
2. the majority of my work today entailed picking stuff up i could play gennis and eat pizza with my kids, and the days only half over, we still have a bible study later tonight.
1. the kids are always stoked to watch bill and ted's excellent adventure
there's one other big thing today. after talking to my friend gennisgirl today, i read her little blog about rainy stormy days in oklahoma. i made a huge realization; i think i may be at a point where i like rainy days again. i can't emphasize enough how big of a deal this is. i lived in seattle for three years, and the sun was out for maybe 60 days total while i was there. okay maybe 90. either way, i've alway hated rainy cloudy days ever since i've moved there. but i was reading gennisgirl's blog today and started to kind of look at today in the same way i look at nice sunny days. the storm clouds today are pretty awesome, and you can tell where the sun is trying to peak out from behind them. i think knowing that they will not be here for the next 6 months is also part of what’s comforting me. so mad props to the oklahomans out there reminding me to appreciate nature. and no props to the hippies up in seattle that love nature for the wrong reasons.
oh yeah, i was looking for a quote for this blog, and i came across an al bundy one that was worth mentioning,"Raymond Burr, Delta Burke, city of Seattle. What's the difference?"
well, my guitar and my jack johnson cds are calling. one love and one heart.
gennis anyone?
man, this is starting to resemble a job. so i found out yesterday that the kids have today and tomorrow off of school. sweet, i actually get to hang out with the kids some during the day. i think today's weather calls for gennis to make its first official appearance in socal. nice, very nice. gennis is always called for. although the school we are backed up to does not offer the varied lies that the oklahoma christian campus did, it should suffice.
well, they're here.
one love one heart.
well, they're here.
one love one heart.
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