"We're Americans, with a capital 'A', You know what that means? That means that our forefathers were kicked out of every decent country in the world."

hola blogworld.

Soda.
I'm on day 31 of no soda and the only difference I can tell is that I'm tired in the afternoon and feel cheap at restaurants.

iTunes.
I'm currently trying to go through and rate all of my music in iTunes. This may not seem like a big deal to most, but when you've got almost 20,000 songs it becomes a bit of a task. So far i've got about 19% of my music rated. It has been fun going back and rediscovering some old tunes. In the past week alone I've gone back and listened to all of my Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Skindred, NIckel Creek and Pearl Jam. I've also discovered there is music on my iTunes that I don't recall ever owning; Duran Duran, David Bowie (Labyrinth soundtrack), Neurosis, and James Taylor.

Toys.
I was in Target the other day and noticed that the aisles for toys, sporting goods and electronics were all right next to each other. I guess when you graduate from one to other they don't want you to get lost.

Books.
Does anybody else read more than one book at a time? I'll start like three books at once and rotate through depending on the day. Right now I'm reading Band of Brothers, Chasing Daylight, and Lead Like Jesus.

Yet another...
A few weeks back I was hanging out at the coffee shop by the office chillin with the baristas pretending to be working. Anyways, we got into a pretty cool discussion about church and after a while it ended up being just me and baristachica. The discussion turned to flirting after a little while, which is awkward enough, but still cool. So we're talking, I crack a joke, she laughs and farts. Unfortunately she was sitting on a wooden chair which doesn't exactly absorb sound. Needless to say she was pretty embarrassed, but I assured her she would fit in just fine with my family. Now every time I go in to chill everyone laughs and she gets red.

Happy 40th Birthday to:

Pualy Shore

Stripes.

My friend djliz got me hooked on the 365 Project this past year, and it's been a blast. This year she started a new 365 project with 'Stripes' as the theme. At first I thought she meant the Bill Murray movie from back in the day. Fortunately she's focused on finding stripes in everyday moments, and creating a sweet gallery in the process. check it out:



Camera.
I'd like to get a decent camera. Any suggestions?

Mi Hermana.

I always call her Shar. Back in the day when she was little it was Sharah, and over time it got shortened a little, and then when clueless came out it was cemented. Anyways, the other night i was chatting with her and accidently called her shat. I'm still laughing at that.

Supercuts.
Should just be called 'cuts'.

Guitar Center.
Have you ever gone to a music store and asked to check out a guitar, only to have the employee start off on a five minute metal solo to show you 'what the guitar can do'? Any time that happens to me, I ask them to join my band. If they seem interested I tell them i'm in an Spice Girls tribute band and we need a Sporty spice.

Clipboard.
Speaking of customer service, if you ever want to get the attention of store employees, walk around with a clipboard. Look around, and pretend like you're taking notes.

Cap.
I finally found the Padres cap I was looking for:

next up is the 90's astros cap.

Movies.
I wonder if this has happened to anyone else. All of your friends hype up a movie that you don't see until months, maybe years later, then when you go to talk about the movie everyone looks at you like, "why are you talking about Sixth Sense"?

Indian Food.
Still not a fan.

Gold Stars.
Should be handed out at the office.

Army Surplus Store...
T Shirts are the most comfortable shirts I've ever owned. At $4 a pop they're a really good investment if you're in the need of some decent shirts. The fact that they are logo-free is also a plus.

14 years ago

We moved to Seattle.

I think that's it for the rant stuff, be sure to check out some of the new links I've posted.

one love, one heart.

Jesus and the 'Angles'.

"Quick. Describe yourself in one word..."

What seems like a simple question can sometimes be very difficult to answer. Some people are fortunate enough to have a quick response, while others really struggle with this seemingly inane question.

A few years ago I become one of the millions of people that have joined a social networking site (Facebook is my preference). One of the toughest parts for me was filling out the 'About Me' section, because I have this little space to create a blurb to sum up who I am. So much pressure! After perusing through some of my friends' pages, I noticed how many of my friends never really captured their personality in their blurb. But really, how well can you describe yourself in a few words?

There's another phenomenon that has sprouted up online, especially on social networking sites like Facebook or Myspace, that has been dubbed 'the angles'. This occurs when the person in the photo (usually self-taken) is only able to capture a portion of their face or body at some extreme angle, leaving the viewer with only a partial picture.

I wonder if we do the same thing with Jesus?

In our age of media soundbites and 'about me' sections, do we look at Jesus trying to simplify Him into something pocket-sized, easy to digest, and - dare I say - understandable?

The Jesus portrayed in the Bible has depth that mankind is still trying to grasp. For 2,000 years we have been studying what He said, what He did, and looking to HIm for guidance. If mankind is around for another 2,000 years, I'm sure it will be more of the same. So while we really have no choice but to study Jesus in parts, it is important that we don't limit Him to one specific word.

Let's look at some scripture to see some of the dangers of only looking at Jesus from one angle. We'll do so by looking at a few of the claims of Jesus.

1. An answer to prophecy.
Matt 5:17, 14:33, 16:16
Mark 14:21
Luke 24:44
John 20:9

2. Son of Man
Matt 8:20, 20:18, 25:31
Mark 8:31, 14:41
Luke 6:22, 21:36
John 1:51, 12:23

3. Son of God
Matt 11:27, 27:43
Mark 14:61
Luke 8:28
John 1:18, 17:1

4. The Messiah/Christ
Matt 23:9, 26:63
Mark 8:29
Luke 24:25
John 4:25

5. Teacher
Matt 26:18
John 13:13

6. Lord
Mark 5:19
John 20:28

7. Savior
Luke 19:10
John 3:17, 10:9

If we try to describe Jesus with just one of these seven aspects, we miss out on the complete picture. If Jesus was just a man, we lose sight of the fact that He is God as well. If Jesus was just a teacher, then we could easily skip over the fact that His life was described to us hundreds of years before He walked. Why is this dangerous? If we become so focused on Jesus as a savior, we can easily look past all of the things that He taught. The same man who graciously sacrificed Himself on a cross is the same man that was adamant about following God's law.

Popular culture likes to take Jesus and turn Him into a soundbite, or - more offensively - quote Him when it is beneficial to an argument. Let us be people that study the whole story. Let us be people that seek to find new depths to Jesus every day. Let us be people that add more and more to our picture of Jesus every time we call His name.

one love, one heart.

I think I can sum up the show for you with one word: nothing.

scattered thoughts from the past few days:

Resolutions.
1. No soda for a year. Just to see if I can.
2. Pray for 5 different facebook friends everyday.

Sublime Moment of the Day
I decided to take the long way home tonight and ended up in downtown watching planes land.


Jersey.
I want to get a new Chargers jersey, but I'm having trouble deciding which one would be ideal. The choices are:
#4 Farve
#17 Friesz
#9 McMahon
#19 Unitas
#16 Leaf
#1 Manning


Out of the ordinary.
Do you ever have a day where you're not really into any of your typical music so you throw in some destiny's child or 80's arena rock and just rock out?

Celebrity birthdays for 1/7/09
Nicholas Cage 45
David Caruso 53
Sammo Hung 57
Erin Gray 59
Ray Bailey 30
Screech 32
Katie Couric 52
Kenny Loggins 61
Doug E. Doug timeless

Other 1/7 highlights:
The first U.S. presidential election was held in 1789.
The Harlem Globetrotters played their first game in 1927.

Respect.
There are not enough trees on God's green earth to print the money it would take to get me to do this, but man if these guys aren't crazy cool.


Ann Coulter is just crazy. She needs a hug. And a burger.

Bromance has replaced 'celebreality' as the number one word that should not exist.

Death Cab for Cutie is great music for sitting out on the porch at night looking out over la mesa.

The Bible is a great read on a quiet evening. or any evening.

Catching up with old friends is always fun. whether its checking out a facebook page, a late night chat, or grabbing a bite to eat.

Honey Nut Cheerios make a great late night snack.

Playing Guitar is a great way to chill at the end of a long day.

later blogworld.

one love, one heart.

Sleeveface.

Hola Blogworld. me and hardcore contributed to sleeveface yesterday. Hopefully these will be on sometime soon.












one love, one heart.

Best of...

hola blogworld. it's the end of the year which means two things: 1)people are making lists of stuff that happened over the past year, and B) award season is upon us. I'd like to combine the two for the first annual 'Golden Tamale Awards'. the votes have been tallied (meaning i ran them by the cuz) and the results are in, so go put on your favorite tux or evening dress because these awards are nothing if not chalk full of class. here we go:

winners of the Golden Tamale will be designated by the *

comeback player of the year:
josh hamilton
britney spears
oprah's chins
brett favre
beijing*

best newcomer:
3G
Hank Steinbrenner
Alaskan Politics*
ugly christmas sweater parties
zac luben

best hair:
the governor from chicago*

vice song of the year:
umbrella - rhianna
single ladies (put a ring on it) - beyonce
low - who cares
paper planes* - m.i.a.
whatever you like - t.i.

athlete of the year:
michael phelps
ussein bolt*
brett favre
oj
todd palin

best glasses:
sarah palin/tina fey
joe madden*
kanye west
the guy at the bass pro outlet
pepsi

website of the year:
sleeveface*
sexy people
omnomnomnom
the hero factory
stuff white people like

word of the year:
youbetcha*
maverick
change
apocalypse
bailout

joe of the year:
madden
paterno
the plumber*
g.i.
pesci

tv show of the year:
the office
chuck*
big bang theory
knight rider
rob and big

political moment of the year:
bill clinton eating crow
illinois
alaska
election
jesse jackson crying*

physical therapy term of the year:
proprioceptiive neuromuscular facilitation
motor moron*
fat
anterior cruciate ligament
regime

worst movie:
27 dresses
jumper*
shoot em up
avp 2
there will be blood

best place i've visited:
bahstan
bass pro shop
colorado
plymouth rock
vegas*

you're still around? award:
Detroit
ING
Jesse Jackson
Prop 8*
tom cruise

shun of the year:
farve to the packers
red sox to manny
ed hochuli to the chargers*
raider nation
blue ray to hd dvd

disappearing act:
Obama's tax cuts
joker's pencil
$4 a gallon*
rolled tacos
objectivity

best day of the year:
friday
wednesday
thursday
monday*
saturday
sunday
tuesday

beverage of the year:
pepsi
mt dew
dublin dr. pepper
big red*
crunk juice

stuff i've heard about, but have no clue what's going on there:
twilight
hannah montana*
jonas brothers
georgia
college basketball

speech of the year:
obama's acceptance speech
mccain's concession speech
ozzie guillen
jeter's last game at yankee stadium*
everything michael scott said

office season 5 moment:
jan singing
michael/holly/daryl road trip
kevin isn't retarded
let's get physical*
the tall guy got engaged

number of the year:
250,000
850,000,000,000
8
18-1
619*

album of the year:
angels & airwaves / i-empire
bedouin soundclash / street gospels
beck / modern guilt
jack johnson / sleep through the static
the alchemy index 3& 4 / thrice*

movie of the year:
bedtime stories
iron man
dark knight*
kung fu panda
forbidden kingdom

that's all for this year.
one love, one heart.

Best Christmas Present Ever?

Who wouldn't want a 3d wolf poster?

one love, one heart.

Ornaments.

Another NHC Student Ministry Blog



I love Christmas ornaments! In our family we each have our own
Christmas ornaments. Some are store-bought and engraved, while others
are twenty-year-old glitter-covered pieces of construction paper cut
to resemble trees. My favorite is one that probably dates back to
1984, and it is simply a piece of pipe cleaner attached to part of an
egg carton. Of all the artwork I've done over the years, my mom has
kept the stuff from pre-school to decorate the tree!

Decorating the Christmas tree is a tradition that comes from Europe,
and can be traced back to Martin Luther. Legend has it, Luther was
walking in the woods, and he saw the stars shining through the branches
of an evergreen tree. He brought a tree home and decorated it with
candles to illustrate to his children what he had seen.

There are many references to stars in the Bible. Ask Job. It's pretty
easy to see a theme develop with God communicating His love for man
using the sky. Here are a couple of thoughts I'd like to focus on:

In Genesis 22, God promises Abraham that his descendants will be " as
numerous as the stars in the sky".

In Psalm 147, the writer declares that the Lord "determines the number
of the stars and calls them each by name".

I'd like to paint a picture for you. It's a Norman Rockwell piece of
an elderly man gently hanging ornaments on a giant tree that fills the
entire room of his palatial estate. At first you notice the size of
the tree and the room. As you peer closer you notice that there are
already thousands of ornaments on the tree gleaming in the light, with
boxes yet to be unpacked. Finally, with eyes squinted you see that
each ornament is hand carved, hand painted, and uniquely labeled with
various names.

What if we are the ornaments on God's tree?

What if each one of us is handmade, individually named, sitting on
the tree that God is using to decorate His home?

This has a profound impact on my life. When I start to look at myself
as a treasure of God, when I start to look at my life as something
that brings him joy when put on display, I am completely humbled. I
have a place on God's tree. I am a part of His family. There is so
much beauty in an individual ornament. But, as special as each
memento may be, there is nothing like seeing hundreds of thousands of
them together. And there I am…an ornament on the same tree as
David, Moses, Solomon, Peter, Matthew, Stephen...

Jesus.

I hope you find joy this Christmas in knowing that we have a Lord that
knows every one of the stars He has named.

one love, one heart,
d.j.

Caleb.

This is from my blog from the NHC student ministry site:



Talking points:
Why do so many people make resolutions for the new year?
Why do we have a desire to constantly push ourselves?
What is it that you can be fanatical about this year?
Is there something God has promised you that you are afraid to reach for?
Have you ever been one of the ten?

Intro:
The Green Bay Packers have some of the greatest fans in all of sports. Every year thousands of fans brave the Wisconsin winter to cheer their team on, despite the insane weather they have up there. It's always a blast watching the crowd shots at Green Bay home games, because you see what it means to be truly fanatical. I remember one year I saw an older guy with no shirt wearing a painted on jersey while it was snowing. Guys like that are a blast to be around. It's easy to imagine his is the truck in the parking lot covered with Packers stickers, and his home is the one painted team colors. I bet he even has one of those cool cheese head hats!

Do you think anyone that knows him even has to ask if he is a Packers fan?

The Word:
In Numbers 13 we catch up with the Israelites as they are in the desert on the outskirts of Canaan, the land that God has promised them. Twelve leaders representing the different tribes have been on a mission to scope out the land and to see what kind of condition it is in. They come back with a report that it is, in fact, the 'land of milk and honey' that God has promised. They even brought back a cluster of grapes to show everyone the fertility of the land.

The scene is easy to imagine. Forty years of wandering in the desert is coming to an end for an entire race of people. The home that they have been promised is right over the hill, and it is everything that they could imagine. Unfortunately, there is something holding these people back from taking what God has promised them. There is a problem with the Promised Land. You see, among other tribes, the descendants of Anak live there- and they are huge. Ten of the scouts start spreading word through the entire nation of Israel about the giants that live in the promised land in these fortified cities. They describe themselves as 'grasshoppers' in the midst of these giants.

And just like that the Promised Land is gone.

Fortunately that is not how the story ends. You see there were a couple of scouts that had a faith in God that could not be quelled by a few obstacles. One of these men, Caleb, silences the crowd of doubters and proclaims, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it."

You see while the rest of the Israelites are wondering if they would be better off as slaves back in Egypt, Caleb and his friend Joshua are crying out for the people to remember that they have the Lord on their side. Caleb is a dedicated 'fanatic' of the Lord. There is no doubt about his faith, or his determination. Can you imagine anyone getting a less than enthusiastic response when asking Caleb about the promised land?

Wrap up:
It's easy to sit back and look at an obstacle as insurmountable. How often are we one of the ten that look for reasons that things can't be done? My encouragement this week is to be Caleb. Be the person that is so trusting in the Lord that the odds are always in your favor. Will you charge into the new year with your jersey 'painted on' cheering loud enough to eliminate all doubt as to which side you are on?


one love, one heart.

The traditions of the season are best enjoyed in the warm embrace of kith and kin. Thith tree is a thymbol of the thpirit of the Griswold Chrithmath.

Mele Kalikimaka blogworld!

I love christmas time. music, decorations, lights, and most importantly my Clark Griswold quotes are suddenly in context.

It's been a crazy year for me with a new job, moving, traveling and all of the other fun stuff that happens in a year. I haven't spent as much time blogging this year (which is either really good or really bad) but that's something i hope to single handedly change that right now.

travel.
looking back on the past few months on my life as a bedouin i'm really glad that i had this chance to venture around. there were definitely some slow days, and days where i wasn't sure where i was going to sleep that night, but all in all my travel time was a huge blessing. my list of places that i went is pretty sweet to look at:

san diego
murrieta
long beach
los angeles
ventura
fresno
bakersfield
colorado
houston
dallas
okc
vegas
boston

friends.
an even more meaningful list is that of my friends and people i call family that have showed an amazing amount of love. i am truly blessed. i may have lost my job, but i feel like i have regained my spirit. a lot of that is God putting me into the presence of some mighty warriors that i am fortunate enough to call friends and family.

thanks.
this thanksgiving we went to boston to be with mi hermana who started her first hotshot job recently. what a fun trip. for thanksgiving day we went to plymouth rock and had a picnic, which i loved.the little adventures that we stumble into are awesome and it cracks me up to see our family picture in front of the mayflower.

the only thing i would have changed about that day is that we should have dressed up as pilgrims. to top the day off, we decided to do our own 'senior pictures' in the park at plymouth rock.




what can i say, we are a goofy family. but we do have fun.

the lion's den.
i capped off the trip to boston with lunch inside the green monster and a celtics game. seeing fenway was cool, but the tour there is lame. sitting for 45 minutes watching a video and five minutes of pictures does not make for a tour, it's a lecture. at the very least we did get some good pics.



as for the celtics game, that was an adventure in it's own right. tickets were sold out so we went the scalper route which was funny, because i think it was mi hermana's first exposure to that culture. after walking around for a few minutes my sister gave me the best quote of the trip, "I don't think we're going to get tickets cause everyone else here is looking too." In between laughs i explained to my sister that no scalper was going to stand on the corner yelling they had tickets, since this isn't exactly a practice condoned by the nba. anyways, we had a great time at the game. Celtics fans are nuts, and they are definitely die hards. Who wouldn't be when you buy a great championship team? The two best parts of the game were the crowd yells at the Disco dancer in the Gino shirt (had to be there)

and whenever Brian Scalabrine gets the basketball. Needless to say we had a blast.

parting words.
We also toured around downtown Boston, which was fun but cold. Mi hermana works by boston commons and all of the historical parts of the city which is pretty cool. My only complaint about Boston is the lack of street signs. Someone needs to donate a couple grand and buy some street signs. Oh yeah, and the frat hats need to go.

If you're going to be a diehard fan, buy a decent cap.

best moment in boston:
dropkick murphy's coming on the radio as we're driving up bunker hill. even mi madre was rocking out.

christmas fun facts:
so i've been looking up how different christmas traditions got started and it's been really interesting.

decorating trees comes from martin luther. legend goes he was walking in the woods and saw the stars shining through the trees. he brought a tree home and decorated it with candles (is that really a good idea?) so he could describe to his kids what he saw.

the song 12 days of christmas comes from england when it was illegal to be catholic. parents sang in code to their children about the gifts that God (my true love) gives us.
a partridge is a bird that will draw predators away from the nest by sacrificing itself.
two turtle doves are the two testaments of the bible.
three french hens are faith, hope and charity
four calling birds are the gospels
five golden rings are the first five books of the old testament
six geese laying represent creation
seven swans are for the seven gifts of the spirit in 1 cor 12
the eight maids are the beatitudes
the nine ladies dancing represent the nine types of angels (according to catholic theology)
ten lords leaping are the ten commandments
eleven pipers represent the faithful apostles
and the twelve drummers represent the apostle's creed (once again going towards catholicism)

santa comes from several european traditions in folklore, but was popularized by chrs billings in the late 1990's.

time to get ready for making ornaments with the kiddos tonight.

one love, one heart,
d.j.

here ya go okchick

hola blogworld.

it's a rainy day in SD and i was just sitting down feeling a blog post coming on, when i see that i've been tagged by okchick to do this:

8 TV Shows I Watch
1. the office
2. jimmy kimmel
3. chuck
4. big bang theory
5. heroes
6. jackass
7. lost* pending a rapid improvement in answering questions
8. baseball tonight
----------------------------------------
8 Favorite Restaurants
1. rosarito's #3
2. sombrero's
3. alberto's
4. roberto's
5. el indio
6. (tie) rubio's / in-n out
7. humberto's
8. wok-n-roll
----------------------------------------
8 Things That Happened Today (past 24 hours)
1. sat on the porch
2. ate a burrito
3. played guitar
4. watched the rain
5. designed a cd
6. made plans to watch mnf at andy's
7. did some laundry
8. got new glasses
--------------------------------------------------
8 Things I Look Forward To
1. owning a surfboard
2. youth ministry mafia meetings
3. paying off my truck
4. driving to texas for christmas
5. days off
6. jam sessions
7. late night phone calls
8. baseball season
------------------------------------------------
8 Things I Wish For
1. the astros in the world series
2. no more geico cavemen commercials
3. an economic bailout plan for my student loans
4. more snl digital shorts
5. free rolled tacos for life
6. thrice would put a new album out every other month
7. the raccoons outside would stop staring at me
8. dennis miller would run for president
-----------------------------------------------
8 People I Tag
1. james
2. liz
3. darrin
4. thornton
5. sumner
6. you
7. beyonce
8. championship vinyl visitor # 18,333

one love one heart.