KGBlog

4. g-ma perusing the pics.

1. all at the table...i'm just happy everyone's face got in, never-mind the expressions.

4. the fam around the tree...i'm destined for a horrible fake smile.

1. the ladies.

2. the gents.

apart from photos there were quite a bit of food and presents, etc.  we ended with a couple of christmas carols which begins my wrap up story.  we had a quick debate on songs to sing and my uncle jokingly said "if you were good methodists you'd know that one" to which an aunt replied "well we're baptist" to which someone replied "well kevin works for the presbyterians" and so on.  my grandmother didn't quite catch the joking spirit of the banter and not wanting to see any of the mood broken over denominational squabbling said quietly "well, we all have the same lord".  i think i was the only one to catch it because i was sitting next to her, but it made me happy to see her make such an insightful statement.  "you're right grandma."  getting up there, but still on her toes.  we sang silent night, prayed, and were done. all in all, one of the best.

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nuevo song over at the myspace...kind of a rough recording, but a song that started on a back porch in the woodlands, tx in the middle of a torrential downpour and i think is finally done.

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W, attacked with shoes, proves surprisingly nimble:

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i've been shooting my whole life, and i'm finally learning how to aim.

today andy gave the sermon at church.  he spoke about conviction and repentance.  a topic that he delivered in a way so encouragingly that i could only think back to my roots in a church that would have approached the same topic with all the wrath of an angry god flying hot in your face.  turn 'r burn, if you will.  that is all a rabbit trail though, it was not the discussion of conviction or repentance that caught me, but andy's selection of things the average american christian ought be convicted for.  admittedly, he did try to come up with flaws that carried with them outward implications as opposed to the regular church sins, which seem to inflict most of their damage on the person choosing them.  his choice took me immediately back to something i picked up in houston and cling to tightly.

our western society is fueled by consumerism.  i know, you'd expect me to just tell you we don't need all that stuff and we should live much more simply than we do...and if that thought is convicting to you then maybe it applies, but that is not the point of me writing here.  even if we cut back, we will always consume.  even if we do so with smaller carbon footprints than the rest, or by using our reusable whole foods bag instead of one of the billions of plastic bags we go through in this country every year, we still consume.  so, i'm not saying to stop.  i'm saying what andy said, and what my church in houston lives out: think.  i'll steal andy's example to clarify.  40% of the worlds chocolate is produced from cocoa beans grown on farms harvested by children.  children who work reprehensible hours.  children who, after working these hours, may or may not be paid for their labor, and who then may or may not have food to eat, may or may not have a roof to sleep under, and may or may not even be able to leave their farm...and yes, some of these cases would be considered slavery. (i won't get started on the statistics of child slavery in the world right now, but they aren't pretty.) where to point the finger? well the people running the farms right?  they say the west won't pay them enough for their crop to have any money for the workers.  the corporations? they could pay more...but then there's the system.  a consumer system that leads to us. they listen to us.  we want cheaper, they give us cheaper, and cheaper, and cheaper, until we've now left these children with literally nothing. us?  well, we're a part of it.  to quote andy, "and that's just chocolate."  when we ask only for the cheapest goods, we fail to look past the swipe at the checkout counter and the number at the other end of it on the atm screen.  we don't think about the process.  

to sum up all of it, we must think.  ask the questions that need asking.  know the companies you are buying from and how they really do business.  know that farmers are getting and giving fair wages from the produce you buy and the coffee you drink.  yeah, sure, it means a little more legwork on your part, but really?  kids in slavery, women in poverty, and whatever other grim fates you can come up with?  it's worth asking a few questions just to do your little part to help.  consumerism is a system that can be influenced by christian living.  in and of itself it is not good, but it is, for you and i (if you happen to be a christian and reading this), another place to live out our faith.  a platform from which others see the actions of christians, be they good or bad, leading voices against oppression, or numbly drifting along oblivious to their own small part in this ongoing human play.  don't just float in the current. lazy rivers are for theme parks not real life.  think.

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i'm excited about star trek.  wait...i mean...uh...ok, i'm going with it.  i'm excited about star trek, namely the cast organized by Mr. Abrams (who's presence alone peaks my curiosity, even after the freak show that was cloverfield) including Mr. Quinto (who plays sylar in heroes) and Mr. Pegg (of shaun of the dead and hot fuzz greatness).  it's like having hollywood stars in your community theatre.  even if they used the same cardboard enterprise bridge Mr. Belushi and his fellow "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" used in their '76 SNL skit, it's just fun to see actors you already love doing something you know beforehand is going to be as cheesy as the inside of a doritos factory.

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i've never been one for documenting history...but:

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this has been a curious week for me. not like weird stuff has been happening, just like i have been inquisitive...and not curious about anything of any importance...just a few insignificant trivialities that only jeopardy contestants should have any interest in researching.

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"Eunoia is the shortest word in English containing all five vowels - and it means "beautiful thinking". It is also the title of Canadian poet Christian Bok's book of fiction in which each chapter uses only one vowel."

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darren from mutemate... he's really just the best ever... (ps: i'm not exagerating)... and i can't wait for their new cd:

Posted in: on Saturday, October 25, 2008 at at 9:34 PM 0 comments  

why do i do this to myself?  the last time i went running with the williams i asked them to remind me not to run with them the next time i tried.  why? well, for those of you who don't know mat and leslie, they are the bionic couple.  incredibly athletic, somehow tireless, with this unnatural love of pushing themselves beyond anything close to normal limits when running. i enjoy a casual chatting pace, while they, and now their bionic dog, enjoy a pace at which the rest of humanity is left gasping like harry after his gillyweed wears off while they casually plan dinner, a solution to all of the worlds problems, and merrily dash too and fro like whimsical wood nymphs.

Posted in: on Sunday, October 19, 2008 at at 10:29 PM 1 comments  

on tuesday i had exciting news to share...now, the same news is really anticlimactic...

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as of late i've taken to posting things i find amusing, uncharacteristically creative,  or carry within them some seed of truth.  i feel that on occasion it would behoove all for me to insert some of my own life into this blog...as that was it's purpose in the beginning.  so, if you're up for a little rambling, click play above and settle back for my reveries...

1. i find that my life goes in cycles.  probably in all areas but as examples:  there are periods when i cannot get enough of good books and others when to immerse myself in a book would be an impiety upon the stories being played out in real life around me.  there are times when i want to reflect, as i do now, and gather the bits of truth that i can find, and others when i want to not think about living but live, break free and live with no thought as to whether anything makes sense beyond the mere enjoyment of experiencing life.  there are times when i want to pursue friendships with great effort and times when i want nothing to do with you unless you are the one who has made the effort to call me.  times when i want my work to be full of creativity and beauty and times when i want my work to be mundane and structured.  i think all of these are influenced by the flow of my energies back and forth and in and out of all of these moods, and there is to them a constant and unpredictable current.

2. you can listen to me or just read dave's post over at in repair for the main idea of this one. love. it all comes back to this. as he says, not hollywood love, but the sort of day in day out pouring into a persons, or peoples lives. a healthy community building, life giving, love. cs says somewhere that we are most ourselves not alone or in couples but when a group of friends gathers, because each in the group pulls from others a different flavor. perhaps like a simmering stew of friendship. flavors combining and complimenting and drawing out and enhancing. but, as it is, we (myself and many of my peers) find ourselves existing in a transient time. between studies and settling. choosing paths and following crazy dreams. and thus not settled, we struggle to maintain relationships from a former more stable time across states and seas with the rickety crutches of phone lines, of facebook and the internet. it is rare indeed that these ties will deepen through these. at best they are maintained for some future time when old friends are reunited to grow together again.  the now strained roots intertwined in the past, relaxing and growing downward together gracefully at ease again. that is the hope anyway. in the meantime we set our roots to growing as best we can, pouring into new friends the love we can, seeking good soil wherever we find ourselves for as long as we find ourselves there. i wonder to myself at these thoughts whether or not it is only me with my odd aversion to phones, and skepticism towards the internets social gathering places, that finds deepening these distant relationships difficult and also whether or not there is a point deep enough where roots so intertwined shake free the inevitable superficialities of the internet and really do keep growing? i don't know...but to quote,

I'm gonna experiment with this love thing-- giving love, feeling love...I know it sounds really corny but it's the last thing I gotta check out. Before I check out.

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the best idea i've seen in a while:

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"...we keep company in this world with a hoard of abstractions and reflections and counterfeits of ourselves -- the sensual man, the economic man, the man of reason, the beast, the machine and the sleep-walker, and heaven knows what besides, all in our own image, indistinguishable from ourselves to the outward eye.  We get borne along, out of sight in the press, unresisting, till we get the chance to drop behind unnoticed, or to dodge down a side street, pause, breathe freely and take our bearings, or to push ahead, outdistance our shadows, lead them a dance, so that when at length they catch up with us, they look at one another askance, knowing we have a secret we shall never share.

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“ Innate in nearly every artistic nature is a wanton, treacherous penchant for accepting injustice when it creates beauty.

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"i used to think that faith, faith was sort of  like a building block and you'd put all these blocks together...and you'd build a house sort of like the little pig built that the wolf could not blow down, and now i get older and i feel that faith is a matter of surrender. its a matter of just giving up and leaving that house and just walking out and experiencing the cold and the rain and doubt and confusion and trying to keep up your hope and some sense of gratitude. if you just keep up hope and gratitude maybe thats, maybe thats all you need...

-garrison keillor

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"Belief and confusion are not mutually exclusive; 

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“Life is deep and simple, and what our society gives us is shallow and complicated.”

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the folks over at mixa have outdone themselves with the mix-tape usb...brilliant. while not the first to have the idea, they do let you design your own sleeve with your own pics and some pre-designed graphics.

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"We are the daughters of feminists who said 'You can be anything' and we heard 'You have to be everything.' "

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"if he looked back on what his life had been lately, he had perhaps managed two or three days when he had woken up, looked at the sun -or the rain- and felt glad to see the morning, just happy, without wanting anything, planning anything or asking anything in exchange. apart from those few days, the rest of his existence had been wasted on dreams, both frustrated and realized -a desire to go beyond himself, to go beyond his limitations; he had spent his life trying to prove something, but he didn't know what or to whom."

Posted in: on Thursday, August 21, 2008 at at 12:40 AM 0 comments  

Mike Rowe (dirty jobs...etc.) sang professionally with the Baltimore Opera. Go figure.

Posted in: on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 at at 1:09 AM 0 comments  

why did i just get up at 8 to watch our idiot soccer team? literally seconds from winning their second game against the netherlands they turn into 6 years old boys and get scored on. 6 year olds? yep, 6 year olds...the hero of game one, Holden (the guy that got the goal), fouls a guy just outside of the 18. for those of you that don't know soccer this means that the other team gets a shot from about 20 yards away from our goal...not a good thing. 6 years old. they line up to shoot and what do we do? the entire end of the wall JUMPS OVER THE SHOT...are you kidding me? you dont jump off of the ground when youre in a wall...maybe you bounce a little to get some height, but you dont bounce enough for a ball to go under you...you learn that at least by the time your 7.

Posted in: on Sunday, August 10, 2008 at at 9:57 AM 0 comments  

setting: sitting inside of swirll yogurt shop...and moving into the parking lot.

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i had been under the impression that the olympics started after the opening ceremonies on friday night...i was misinformed.

the us women's soccer team has already lost its first game to norway 2-0 and both goals came in the first 4 minutes of play. not a great start for the americans...incidentally, the men's team won their first game 1-0 against japan...but we all know that the women are the ones who actually have a chance of going somewhere with the whole soccer thing.

in other soccer news the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled on wednesday that players could be stopped from playing on olympic teams by their club teams. 72 year old FIFA president Sepp Blatter had this to say:

"If all the national squads will lose players, if clubs force them to return home, we simply will not have an Olympic football tournament here in Beijing, he said. "We could do beach soccer or a five-a-side tournament."

he was obviously very happy about the decision.

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Sands 2 from Kevin on Vimeo.

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"We all live in our own world. But if you look up at the starry sky, you will see that all the different worlds up there combine to form constellations, solar systems, galaxies."      

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today i hopped into the car, a bit hurried as i was running late for the car pool, and turned on the radio. i know, i know, dont ask...the pod was fatefully uncharged over the night and therefore: radio. as  i skipped from station to station seeking out the morning npr news i became distracted and absently left a typical awful morning radio show playing in the background. (it was like when you lose remote privileges because you got distracted and absent-mindedly left it on a channel playing commercials for 3 minutes.) moving along, i tuned in a couple of minutes later to a story being told about the hosts trip to the grocery on the previous evening...i know the grocery always makes for great morning radio right...the story wasn't about berating the slow bagger, or the guy who picked up every ripe kiwi after just wiping the nose of his 13 month, or the vagabond "showering" in the almost imperceptible mist intended to freshen the vegetables, though. no, it was none of these. she actually wanted to comment on the people who were making such berating comments in line. she insisted that each person, the slow moving grandmother with dentures causing a traffic jam on the toothpaste aisle, the irritable employee building a triscuit box pyramid in front of the aquafina sculpture he had to put up last week, all of them had a reason behind their mood. a grumpy grandfather who still had one tooth hanging in there, a manager whose artistic brilliance was in design but whose shaky hands couldnt carry out the task...or otherwise. the talk show host commented to her morning show pals that we should always recognize that each of the people around us are living in their own little worlds. each is focused on their own life. each has a bubble in which all that exists is them and the stress and troubles, sucesses and joys, etc. of their own lives.

in the remaining 2 minutes of my drive to carpool pick up my mind wandered from the show, which then immediately turned typical, and quite a bit less profound, and into the idea just presented. it took me immediately to a louie giglio speech at passion a few years back in which he talked of our ability to be either a star in our own story, or take a small role in gods story. i saw the people in our imaginary grocery store walking encased in their own personal bubbles, each living oblivious to the factors affecting one anothers lives. i then saw god outside of this and wanted  somehow to break free from my bubble and be in his. now his bubble was quite a bit larger than mine but contained all of these other bubbles and afforded glimpses into each of them. to always recognize that others are not in fact perpetually grumpy, or always as mad as they were when they were stuck on the toothpaste aisle, but that they are regular people going through a life much like ours and searching for the same things we are...joy, peace, comfort, security, love, teeth to eat the kiwi that they've rinsed in the vegetable sprayer...or otherwise.

the scope of gods story seems to suggest that his bubble is much more exciting than mine. and maybe when we leave our bubbles and join him we might find the things weve all been searching for.

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paulo coelho, author of the alchemist, along with many other fantastic books, has been rocking my face off again. i can't even begin to convey the insights into life/love/humanity/god that he provides in his writing, but i can say, "go and get one of his books...any of them...and your life will more than likely get flipped upside down".

Posted in: on Sunday, April 27, 2008 at at 9:41 PM 0 comments  

that happened.

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brooke waggoner, the damnwells, paper route, wild sweet orange

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sunday i got to check "run a marathon" off of the short list of things i want to do before i die. given that the times i get to check things off that list are few and far between, it was an exciting day.  i'll spare you the play by play and give you just a couple of the highlights:

have you heard about the guy who does triathlons and other events with his quadriplegic son...well he was there. his son was strapped into some sort of cart that he pushes along as he runs. it's one of the more amazing stories if you haven't heard of them. he actually pushed/carried his son for an entire iron man triathlon a while back. here's a video from it that would make a grown onion cry. (if you watch it with the idea of the dad pushing his helpless son being like god carrying us along...you'll cry...a lot...just so you know)

speaking of crying, my personal highlight was a little past mile 25: so, i've always heard that marathon's are very emotional things toward the end. i never really gave it much thought until yesterday, but at this point in the race the thought came into play. now we all know that i do not cry (due to my self diagnosed "under-active tear ducts") but i got as close to it as you can get without tears actually leaving your eyeballs. why, you ask? well, part of the story involves a high school band. the other part is some bible imagery. there's that whole image of running a race correlating to the christian life. running the race and having the encouragement of those who have gone before us to push us on. this imagery pops into my head as i round one of the final curves in the road and hear people cheering us on, and see us running, limping, jogging, walking, toward the end with whatever we have left in us. given the weariness of my body i may have had some sort of emotional response at this point anyway but the little band i mentioned earlier now comes into play because what are they playing/singing: "when the saints come marching in". having that song as the background to my thoughts added so much to the weight of the imagery that the tear ducts almost couldn't handle it. that moment alone was definitely worth not being able to walk for the past two days.

Posted in: on Monday, February 25, 2008 at at 7:14 PM 0 comments  

greg laswell, rosie thomas, jeremy casella, obadiah parker

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your new favorite site...and not just because it's my new favorite site:

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a couple of new songs on the myspace page...which is, by the by, now much easier on the eyes.

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the national, joshua james, the weepies, ben lee

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