KGBlog

can someone find me a virtual u-haul van

2009-10-23T18:00:00.000-04:00

kgblog has a new home!

what's that?

oh, those are moving boxes.

are you moving somewhere?

yep.

but, i thought you liked it here?

i did, but my template keeps disappearing.

well, we'll miss you.

i'm just moving to tumblr. it's not far. you can come see me there.

oh, nice. that's a shorter drive for us anyway.

(also, the app trail blog is changing .com's)

recovery

2009-10-23T17:51:00.002-04:00

today, driving home i was blaring "use somebody" by kings of leon and "mess of me" off of the switchfoot album that comes out sometime next month. this was completely not a conscious effort to remove miss cyrus from the "songs stuck in my head" list, but seems to have had that effect. (though, i'm pretty sure when i hear it again i'll embrace it just as readily...so, really this is just a temporary fix to the "problem".)

c'mon...really? self, you've got to be joking.

2009-10-22T15:07:00.002-04:00

i managed to scroll past it on the itunes home page, where it sat atop the singles chart for weeks on end, with no interest whatsoever in hearing what was behind the link. i ignored it's other position at the top of the video purchases as well. today it happened. i forgot my ipod when i left the house for my car and my ears ended up with only the radio for company. this morning all i got was talk radio, but this afternoon, oh this afternoon, i had fun.

it would be wrong not to mention that the first song on when i started the drive home was none other than usher's "you make me wanna...". high school flashback. i mean, this is the video that made me want to learn how to dance. now that i've just watched it again, it still has the same effect. also, is that jermaine dupri in the back ground? or rather, on second thought, why do i remember rapper/producer names from high school?

back to the matter at hand. when a less than exciting old hit followed up usher i decided to move on through the stations and what did i hear. miley. how i'm not sure, but by the next stoplight i was blaring party in the u.s.a. with the windows rolled down. it would have been embarrassing except for the fact that, from what i can tell, no one can really resist it. you hear it, you think, "oh miley, you teenybopper you, you're songs are so...put my hands up, they're playing my song..." and that's it. roughly five seconds into judging the music you've actually been sucked into singing along. weird. oh, and it sticks. it's been stuck in my head since but i also don't feel compelled to get it out. omg, this could be, like, totally not awesome.

can i just go already?

2009-10-19T16:01:00.004-04:00

consider my desire to travel to argentina re-awakened. these were the first pictures that came up when i googled "southern argentina":i mean really? can places really be this cool? yeah, i know. i wasn't talking about the ice though, just the unbelievably surrealistic landscapes. as soon as i have any money to save...taking me here will be it's purpose. i may even buy a little jar with "$ for patagonia" written on the side.

cold front

2009-10-17T23:27:00.002-04:00

our house is an igloo. i just took a couple of cans of coke out of the pantry to put in the fridge...only to realize they were already the same temperature as the cans that had been in the fridge all day. my only sanctuary is the hot water in the shower (minus the getting out part), sitting in front of the tiny space heater that my roommate just bought, or laying in my bed. in fact, leaving my bed is now the most difficult part of my day because it means i have to walk the few feet to the closet to get my sweater. i just got my winter hat out of the winter clothing bag and as soon as i can get back to fayetteville i'm getting my gloves. when i just couldn't stand it anymore this afternoon i went outside...because it's warmer there. why is all this happening. apparently our house is hemorrhaging heat. the last occupant's winter electric bills were not pretty. so we're fighting the good fight for as long as we can. on that note, i need to get my smartwools up here. layer, layer, layer...and hang out next door where they keep the heat on. i can't feel my nose. ugh.

ctrl+shift+8 (thats the big aim smile...in case you forgot your life between 97 and facebook)

2009-10-17T10:44:00.009-04:00

i've mentioned before my love of the moleskine, as well as my refusal to use any pen other than the G2. this week i noticed that apparently even fictional characters have the same obsession:

anna torv as agent olivia dunham on fringe. i can't confirm that as a G2, though it looks suspiciously like one, but that is definitely the same moleskine reporter notebook i have in my pocket.

45 minutes to spare?

2009-10-15T11:45:00.002-04:00

last night jimmy fallon did the entire show with the guys from monty python. they really couldn't be any funnier:

picture overload (sorry about this one)

2009-10-13T21:28:00.007-04:00

if i could take a trip to the wardrobe trailer from the brothers bloom i would have a field day...also, if i were in 5th grade again and had a field day, i would go looking for that very same trailer. without further ado, exhibits a thru h:

where my ears have been (or, my ipod's been shuffling)

2009-10-12T16:20:00.002-04:00

now, we all know that the shuffle function of the ipod is fairly hit or miss. still, it does tend to be consistent with it's choices. when it's on it's on, and the inverse tends to be equally as true a statement. when it misses it keeps on missing until you re-shuffle. today i received a gift. the best shuffle i've ever encountered. now, it wasn't a true daily double, as it was only out of the 121 songs in my recently added playlist and not the full song list, but nonetheless it was wonderful, and i feel that even 121 songs provides a decently poor probability of this happening:

1. the perfect space - the avett brothers

2. sex on fire - kings of leon

3. hello seattle - owl city

4. what you've done to me - needtobreathe

5. near to you - a fine frenzy

6. use somebody - kings of leon

7. use somebody (cover) - paramore

8. wake up (where the wild things trailer version) - arcade fire

9. islands, is - volcano choir

10. hope for the hopeless - a fine frenzy

11. boy with a coin - iron and wine

...and so on and so forth. i've got a pair of happy ears.

G-2: on how easy it is to break down my entire routine

2009-10-11T10:19:00.004-04:00

i lost my pen earlier this week and with it went any ability to maintain an organized life. i couldn't bring myself to write with a ballpoint in either of my moleskines (the ones with my planner and notes). thus after a trip to office max, i am the proud owner of a new pack of .5's, and am also giving the .38 a test run. it's good to not feel frazzled and lost anymore. thanks G-2's.

invisible children: (further) thoughts on responsibility

2009-10-08T20:04:00.012-04:00

a link to this little gem (ie video) came in the inbox today:

i think it's a great idea from the i.c. guys and, along with touching on something i've had on my mind a lot recently, it's made me happy for them. i think this is one of the best things they've done to make tangible action feasible for the masses. they did bracelets...which was nice...but do we really need bracelets? not all that much...even if it is for a good cause.

bracelets...bags...is there really a difference? i know, this is just a bag, but i'm hoping that they are moving in the direction of making things we will all buy at some point anyway (ie: basic articles of clothing or otherwise). in this scenario it makes sense to buy from someone that you know is aware and conscious of the working conditions, compensation, etc., of those in their employ. this doesn't have to be i.c. or some other organization across the map. it could be clothes from the local tailor, food from the farmer at the market, drinks from the artsy (or not so artsy) fair trade coffee shop down the street, or eating at the restaurant that buys from these same sources.

whats that? oh yeah, i know. of course it costs more to live like that, and sometimes a lot more. it's because no one in the chain is being taken advantage of. we've been raised in a mass production society. even within the christian circles that i've moved in for the majority of my life we've been told that cheaper is better, and we've all seen people we respect live like it's truth.

but, cheap means we're being responsible with what we've been given right? not really. finding the cheapest deal, in almost every case, means that somewhere along the line someone isn't being compensated fairly for the labor they have put forth. that's just the nature of the market. here's the thing. if we actually decided to be generous (ie: pay more...and not just for a name brand, but because we can see the source and know that everyone involved in the products journey from start to us is being treated justly) then maybe, just maybe...we wouldn't have to give money to the charitable organization educating and feeding starving kids in __(insert 3rd world location)__ or the one building them houses out of cinderblocks.

wait, what? well, because their mom and dad would actually have a real income...and could take care of their own family...and maybe be given back just a bit of the dignity that we take from them when we buy the sweatshop products they make for 10 cent an hour.

i know that's a lofty goal...and in the meantime, sure, go ahead, give to the charity of your choice...but maybe start changing the way you shop too.

how can i afford these products made with responsibility and quality? simple, simplify. you buy fewer things. you may even find that with less stuff your life is less cluttered, and therefore you spend less time taking care of your things...giving you more time for relationships, community, your long lost hobbies/potential passions, plying your own trade for those investing in you and your product, etc.

thanks for letting me ramble...and asking such good questions. this post was probably mostly to encourage myself on these matters, but maybe we're a little bit alike. so, feel free to get something out of it too if you want...i won't mind.

gpoyw

2009-10-07T20:06:00.001-04:00

Originally uploaded by harris.martinson

The Arnold Frolmer Invitational: brief thoughts on it's namesake

2009-10-07T15:48:00.003-04:00

i stumbled across this picture today along with an article that (forgive the source) somehow made me appreciate the man even more than i did before:

“… sportswriter Frank Deford has testified that Palmer’s cool came from those L&M’s: ‘All America had this image of Palmer taking a cigarette out of his mouth, throwing it on the green to putt, and then sticking it back in his mouth. It was golf’s equivalent of Bogart and Bacall. It’s odd to think of a cigarette as an athletic totem, but back then it was sexy. Palmer with a cigarette was like those old convertible ads with a beautiful woman sitting in the front seat and her scarf blowing in the wind.’”

observations for 10-6-09:

2009-10-06T17:22:00.003-04:00

1. encountering the smell of fire/smoke from a bonfire or cookout on a long drive puts me in about as good of a mood as i can reach. i don't know why exactly i have such positive feelings about that particular smell...but i'm glad i do.

2. why do cars have settings for the windshield wipers. is this just a problem for me? i always need a speed somewhere between my options. can we just get rid of the clicks? shouldn't it just be a dial that you turn to the appropriate speed for the given weather situation? you: "why yes, it should be." thank you for agreeing.

new toms:

2009-10-05T12:58:00.003-04:00

these are on their way to me...and i am happy (read: giddy).

(yes, completely aware of the grossly disproportionate amount of happiness these are bringing to my life)

wine.

2009-09-30T21:32:00.005-04:00

i wonder if i have enough w-s friends interested in wine to make this financially feasible...hmm.

i hope so.

shaving:

2009-09-29T18:44:00.002-04:00

i'm one step closer to being an old man. this is the first time i haven't had to touch up with an electric after i finished:

what the...really?

2009-09-29T10:23:00.004-04:00

what's that you ask? the weather? oh, what was it like? well, yesterday was blue skies, sunny, and warm...unless, of course, you mean the 20 minutes where this happened and my car was pelted with milk dud sized hail balls:

observations for 9/27-28/09:

2009-09-28T22:19:00.001-04:00

1. i learned the difference between miles and coltrane because john mayer told me it would make me artsy-er...i wonder how many other people did the same thing.

2. driving with the heat on and the windows down on a cool fall night is one of my favorite things to do.

dream world revisited...

2009-09-23T01:38:00.003-04:00

i think i'll just have this overflow-tub installed in the floor of my bedroom:

dream world...

2009-09-22T22:49:00.005-04:00

so, i'm moving across town. i'll be renting a house with a couple of guys. given the excitement of having a new house i've been daydreaming about my bedroom. i mean, what's better than drooling over designer furniture when you don't have money or a job:

yes...those are tiny drawers carved into the headboard.

yes...it folds all over the place.

on words...and art:

2009-09-16T17:29:00.000-04:00

as i sit in my current favorite coffee shop, around the corner from where i now live (for another week or two at least), my mind is besieged with the regular rise in tide of my stream of consciousness that flows from consuming new information. not just any information i suppose, but that which is delivered in well written and insightful style.

i will begin by praising the well written word. it will be a sad day indeed when newspapers disappear into the void of the internet, and not only because my eyes would much rather read from paper than from the screen before me now. i recall an interview in which colbert pointed out that the times gives us yesterdays news today. we do indeed live in a time where any/all news is immediately pumped intravenously into us via the internet, but i for one find myself drinking from the proverbial fire hose at times. how can we possibly keep up with it all. but, it is not the sheer volume of information that i am choosing against...it is the quality. do i want to read hundreds of news blurbs tweeted by the masses? not really. i find that i would much rather take in a handful of well written, engaging articles that someone has actually spent time reflecting on, the ones that really make me think, than overburden myself trying to consume all of the information that floods my screen.

amusingly it was an article about the writer john keats that brought me to this thought. a well written piece about a poet, or the movie about him more precisely. or, to be even more precise, about the filmmaker and the sexuality of the movie. sex? yes...and no. the movie is rated pg, so no, but, our reviewer observes, "a sequence in which, fully clothed, the couple trades stanzas of “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” in a half-darkened bedroom must surely count as one of the hottest sex scenes in recent cinema." which brings me to my first thought: in a consumer world of continuous overstimulation i love the idea that what is not seen can be as powerful, if not more-so, that what is. further (and the statement that really got me), “(the movie) could easily have become a dark, simple fable of repression, since modern audiences like nothing better than to be assured that our social order is freer and more enlightened than any that came before. But Fanny and Keats are modern too, and though the mores of their time constrain them, they nonetheless regard themselves as free." that, both the writer and the filmmaker, while not overlooking its flaws, don't dismiss the social norms of the time as backwards, uninformed, etc. is, to me, very refreshing. i'm not saying we have it all wrong, but since, as was stated, we live in a society that indeed loves to feel as if it has everything right, and is more enlightened than those that came before, it is encouraging to see here a gentle skepticism and critique of self which rarely shows through in our generation.

to sum up, be it excessive information or excessive skin, good art trumps every time. taking time to craft something, to say what it is you have to say, and to do it well, makes all the difference. but in a world that has trained itself/us to say more more more, faster faster faster, quantity over quality, go go go, it is ever harder to do, and quite hard to take the time to find. so, i am glad to have stumbled upon these thoughts today.

2009-08-24T20:36:00.001-04:00

Originally uploaded by kevin glaser

i like the light, something like a veiled hope, buried with this picture. as if serendipity has brought you upon an unexpected and welcome gift. a lone weary hiker finding the welcoming crackle of a campfire with buoyant voices drifting on the warm night air, a beacon of hope offering some form of safety from the cold unseen. but also that scene in a movie when things are wrapping up, but resolution not quite complete. there are a few precious tense moments left in which a darker story could find hopes dashed, our hero blocked from reaching what now seems promised success. i hope we make it.

circa 25ish years ago:

2009-08-10T15:40:00.002-04:00

definitely my favorite family shot.

2009-08-10T02:53:00.001-04:00

Originally uploaded by kevin glaser

picnic/photoshoot at the park...probably a bit more experimental than the lewies were expecting...but there's always next time for normal pictures, right?

camera/projector what?

2009-08-06T19:28:00.011-04:00

nikon s1000pj:

this seems completely out of left field. and really awesome. even if it is just a "party trick"

2009-08-06T19:20:00.004-04:00

2009-06-11T15:14:00.002-04:00

playing around w/ the camera in nola...i don't know why but i really like this one

i miss my home

2009-06-08T19:10:00.007-04:00

the other night in nola i went to a performance by a local girl. (yep, i'm in new orleans for a couple of weeks.) she did the piano and singing thing at a local bar with a friend on violin/adding some background vocals. i heard about the show via some friends and although the music was drenched in girl drama/brooding angst, her talent was obvious. one song stood out to me midway through the set. it was a song written during her time away from new orleans in the wake of katrina, and while it seems that the emotions from those years are beginning to fade, it was this song that really got me thinking. the chorus, which i can't promise that i remember word for word and isn't on her myspace page, carried within it the seeds which would grow into a little thought plant in my brain. "i miss my home. i can't wait to be back where i belong." or something like that. though the intensity of the song has surely lost something of what it was back when she was writing it and singing it in another place feeling the fullness of its weight, i embraced her thoughts and found myself remembering something. one of those cliche christian comments that walks by me every day until finally i look up at it's face and recognize it as an old friend. i am living in a world that is not my home. my very being longs to be in that place that i have never been, yet would recognize in a heartbeat. a place i have never seen, but miss as if it were all i had ever known. at random times this reality is refreshed in my life, and her words brought me back to it because they spoke of my own longing to me. reminding me that no matter how much i dull the voice of my heart with the things of this world, it still knows glimpses of home when it sees it, and it beats all that much harder to let me know that i cannot really ignore it when it really wants to speak.

a lovely tradition:

2009-05-04T20:56:00.000-04:00

Appalachian Trail

2009-04-03T19:13:00.000-04:00

I'll be posting on tumblr (2175) for the next several months so as to keep my adventure on the Appalachian Trail self contained...

...it may be a bit sporadic, as i will only be in town every week or so, and am not assured internet access even then, but, i'll do my best to get fun stories and pictures up along the way.

things i'd like for you to know:

1) i'd love to see me friends along the way. shoot me an email if you would like to hike a certain weekend or section of the trail. i'll let you know where i'll be or when i'll be near where you are.
2) i will have a lot of free time so i am taking book recommendations. if you think your favorite book is worth me wasting a couple of days on, let me know what it is.

(the AT ~ 2175 miles)

coffee

2009-04-02T11:36:00.002-04:00

an hour and a half ago my parents and i went out for breakfast. as we left the neighborhood i mentioned that i always thought the stores at the front of the neighborhood should include a coffee shop. we created one in our minds. discussed the clientele, what sort of pastries, hours of operation, etc. just now as we returned to the neighborhood, an hour and a half later, we decided on a name. well not really a name per-se, but the subtitle. under the name on the sign (stuart's coffee, or glaser's pretty good coffee, or otherwise) would be this written in smaller print:

"people who really love coffee say, ...'it's ok' "

i think it's hilarious. and that obviously my parents and i make the best marketing team ever.

google reader

2009-04-01T16:25:00.002-04:00

what's wrong here? i mean really, i've been using this thing for not quite a year and i'm just now commenting on how it's changed my life? opps. some of my favorite parts of the ongoing technological explosion are the unrelenting advances produced in the efficiency of circulating thought. why do i love the fact the ideas and information can move and spread more and more easily and effectively? i mean we only have to go back 560 years and there's no printing press/effective production of books . thanks gutenberg. now i can find the exact date gutenberg did his thing in like .2 seconds via google and wiki. now, there are obvious reasons that spreading ideas efficiently is of benefit. one could compose a long list of them having to do with further progress and benefits for humanity in general. i will not. i will compose a selfish list...and it will be why i like google reader: just last year i would have visited each and every blog that i enjoy reading, the bbc, friends on flickr, and a smattering of other sites one by one, which, as you know, can be a seriously time consuming effort. what a waste of my life. now i go to one page, one glorious page, and it tells me if any of those have updates, lets me read them, save them if i'd like, forward them along to others, etc. and then i'm done. all the minutes/hours that used to be page after page loading are mine to do with as i like. one page. i love google reader. along the same lines, i also love: high speed internet, fast computers, and easy mac in a bowl.

145

2009-03-21T13:53:00.002-04:00

¹ I will exalt you, my God and King,
      and praise your name forever and ever.
² I will praise you every day;
      yes, I will praise you forever.
³ Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise!
      No one can measure his greatness.

⁴ Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts;
      let them proclaim your power.
⁵ I will meditate on your majestic, glorious splendor
      and your wonderful miracles.
⁶ Your awe-inspiring deeds will be on every tongue;
      I will proclaim your greatness.
⁷ Everyone will share the story of your wonderful goodness;
      they will sing with joy about your righteousness.

i love verse four tucked neatly between verses of praise. the writer of this psalm spent his days praising god...then it passed on to the next generation. that generation passed it to the next generation, and they to their children, and so on for thousands of years, and now here i am...reading these words and praising god. i can't get over that. i feel as if i can join in with david dancing and singing in his throne room before god. i have the feeling that god can take in the praise of his people from every generation as one choir throughout time singing a chorus of his goodness and love.

by the end of today

2009-03-21T01:38:00.005-04:00

i posted a video from fiftypeopleonequestion.com a while back set in new orleans. i was struck again today by the ending to the ny version. all of these are great videos but the response that struck me was to the question, "what do you wish to happen by the end of today?"

"i wish that i began the day with a wish actually...so, maybe i'll wish for that tomorrow."

it was a great response, and makes me think. what would happen if i began my days with a desire...with some sort of tangible direction? what if, as i focused on it throughout my day, i became aware of the passing day? what if i recognized the significance of merely being alive to be able to pursue the things i say that i believe in?

i'll compare this to another quote i heard, directed specifically at the stereotype that my generation is lazy: "it's not that we're lazy, it's that we refuse to accept inefficiency in any area of our life." this comes out of a work setting, and roughly paints a picture of a generation that gets the job done quickly and then is ready to move on. either to other productive things, or moving on to wasting time. i mean how often do you see real actual work happen on the office. going back further, this is where the idea for office space came from. some jobs, corporate or otherwise, give us enough "real work" to fill up a few efficient hours of the week. we are left with the remainder to fill with fluff.

what happens when we refuse to fill a huge chunk of our week (life) with fluff? is this something that a typical job setting can wrap it's head around? no idea. just thought i'd ask. i work at a church and i work with youth. so, it's already a different kind of job than most. but, i am supposed to take rest and refuel. i'm encouraged to pursue what i am passionate about, what i was created to do and love, so that i can better lead youth to do the same. to live well, is part of doing my job well. the past few week i have directed partially to cutting fluff. i don't want to waste time, because that is wasting the investment that is being put into me via my salary. i can cut fluff to create time for...well, a million other things that could be considered ministry. but, that is my job. on the other hand, a corporate office would only see a lazy 20 something. because there you don't leave the office to go hang with kids, or spend time alone praying...on a mountain, or catch up with volunteer leaders by having lunch or throwing a frisbee, etc. i really have it easy, but i wonder how many companies out there care about having healthy employees. mentally, physically, spiritually. or would give them the kind of freedom to live life with dreams. hmm.

i know this was two ideas poorly woven, but they seem to go together for me. it's hard to deny that wanting to live purposefully can only gather steam if it can pass into all areas of life, even the measly 40 hours a week that is work.

2009-03-21T00:52:00.000-04:00

"It’s the mundane that halts my creativity. I would love a real space, my own space, where everything could be together and my energy could flow endlessly. Is that every one’s dream? I think this is a dream worth cultivating."

(via beautifulordinaire)

sorry

2009-03-20T00:09:00.002-04:00

i don't know what is going on over at seeqpod but all the songs on my blog start playing when the page loads for some reason. this is not intentional, nor has it ever been the case before this week. so, i won't post any more until that gets fixed, but unfortunately i'm not going to take the time to clear all the posts with songs in them from past blogs. if you have to scroll down to stop them, forgive me. sorry for the inconvenience.

the curious case of forrest gump

2009-03-18T01:49:00.000-04:00

The Curious Case of Forrest Gump - watch more funny videos

thanks a lot norris

2009-03-14T13:48:00.002-04:00

last monday james made me watch chuck. i already have two monday night shows in heroes and 24, but now i have 3...which brings the grand total on shows that i watch up to 5 when you add psych and scrubs. now that you know my tv watching itinerary lets move on to what happened yesterday. i caught up on the entire season of chuck (the 15 episodes pre mondays) via hulu. there are only two occasions of me watching entire seasons of anything in one day before this. the season of 24 that james and i did real time before our road trip. and, the season of scrubs that i watched the day after i ran my marathon when i couldn't walk. i kind of feel like i have wasted an entire day of my life...but i kind of loved it.

sufjan...meet rap.

2009-03-12T01:03:00.003-04:00

some of your favorite sufjan tunes have mated with early 90's style rap to seamlessly bring you awesome music. tor, a canadian producer is the cause of this meeting. there are 7 songs, and they are free. go listen. your ears will thank you.

wwjd...excuse me while i word vomit.

2009-03-09T17:43:00.005-04:00

let's start with the fact that i've been in church all my life and that on occasion i put some effort towards attempts at becoming a follower of jesus. given these things, i always hear that i'm supposed to be "like christ". christians like this idea. we love to tell each other that we are supposed to become like jesus. i mean, (and i'm cringing already) who could forget that whole wwjd (originally: what would jesus do) thing. we wore it. as a slogan. our lives were to be directed with the thought that what he would do...we were to do.

jesus said that we were not made for the law, but that the law was made for us. summing up quickly and with a complete lack of thoroughness, we see that he, on occasion, ignored the letter of the law in order to follow the spirit that brought the law into being. it is merely the skeleton in the body of right living. or, better yet, it is the skin. stealing from peter rollins for a second here, justice is the force behind our secular laws. the laws are not justice but are the best interpretation of it we can devise. they are the aftermath of justice and if we follow them then we can achieve the effects of justice. but, the point is not the laws, it is to embrace and understand justice.

where are we going? i think we exist trying to follow the law most of the time. we exist trying to achieve the results without understanding the spirit/heart that brings them about. we act like christ without having a heart like his...but, that is obvious and you've seen it already. i've got more. like cs lewis said, if we follow the ray of light that is love and goodness in the world back to it's sun (source), we find god.

it's like that old rumor explaining why train tracks are the width they are: a man sought to find out why the tracks of the railway were specifically 4 feet 8.5 inches. he found that us tracks match british tracks. so he inquired and found that british tracks were built at the width of tramways, which were build with the tools used to make wagons and therefore maintained the same width. on he searched. wagons were built at the width of pre-existing ruts in the roadways. these tracks were created by roman chariots, which were just wide enough to allow for two horses between them. and there you have it.

asking the "why", in this case leads to an understanding that there was nothing important about the width. asking why, in the case of our laws, leads us to the discovery that it was never about the law. if we follow the law back to it's source we find justice. which is in fact important.

so, lets ask why on our main topic. why do we act like jesus? do we really think that we will become him...because, sometimes we ask that of one another. we try to be him, thinking that the idea is just to do whatever he does. i think that this misses the point though. i think we were created to be ourselves. we are instructed to act like him because that is the best description of ourselves that we have. we are created in the image of god. we are created to spill out love everywhere we go. we are created to passionately pursue the things that bring us joy. we were created to live deeply in community with one another and with god. the things that he did, the ways that he loved, those are the things that we would be if we were our true selves. the being like him will only truly, beyond the surface, come out of being ourselves. not just putting on the skin of jesus, but becoming the body of who we are.

i know i completely skipped the idea that what good we do, is him in us...but that's for another time...and i like to think that i can keep both sides of that contradiction around.

up for a challenge?

2009-03-05T00:16:00.003-05:00

can someone make me a mix tape(/cd/whatever is cool these days) full of songs that get me as pumped up as this one?

(edited: the song was: bloc party - like eating glass)

Snow Day (or It's Not That NC Doesn't Do Snow Well...It's That We Don't Do Snow At All)

2009-03-02T17:05:00.006-05:00

for part two of the snow blogging we'll take a look at the day so far...and i'm really limiting my pictures here, just so you know. (side note: the events in part one took place at like 1:30 in the morning) ok part two:

mat and les go to the airport (7:30am):

the rav-4's locks freeze so we take their car.

"ice/snow on roads and bridges"...a rare w-s traffic update.

locks un-freeze, i get to the office (12noon):

empty parking lot...again, 12 noon.

what everyone else was missing out on in the kitchen at work.

the "we made it to work before lunch" club

ok taking a break from photo journaling my life for a few minutes. i'm getting carried away. it's just that snow makes everything that was boring yesterday seem really awesome today.

REAL Snow

2009-03-02T01:00:00.004-05:00

it's for real snowing in winston salem right now...i have proof (i stuck my camera in a plastic bag and shot blindly for 5-10 minutes...quite fun, if you get the chance):

exhibit a: white blurs flying by mat's face.

exhibit b: senator wants to chase a snowball.
c: senator really loves the snow...and catching snowballs.

d: man and dog.

aquemini

2009-02-27T18:16:00.003-05:00

just downloaded aquemini from itunes on a whim. i don't know why i didn't have it before. this was one of, if not THE, best rap album of...well probably all-time. i mean top to bottom way ahead of it's time. if something like this came out today the entire rap world would implode on itself in awe and sheer amazement. here's a random track off of it (which i love). the thing, though, is that no track can sum up the record. they change sounds all over the place:

(edited: the song was: outkast - da art of storytellin', part 2)

unhealthy obsession?

2009-02-27T11:08:00.004-05:00

go ahead and judge me...

i have a thing for a company whose name i can't even pronounce...

notebooks, journals, scheduler...my desk is really a moleskine display table...it's like their factory threw up all over it.

i wouldn't get 25 things within throwing distance of facebook, but...

2009-02-24T19:54:00.004-05:00

julian smith. via cush.

birfday confessions:

2009-02-19T17:40:00.004-05:00

1. yesterday was my birthday and i still haven't signed into facebook. i'm scared of what i'm going to find on my wall. ok, i'm not scared really. it's like i've taken one of my christmas presents from beneath the tree and hidden it somewhere in my room with the intention of forgetting it. such that, in a few weeks when i stumble across it again, i get the delight of receiving a random and unexpected gift.

2. i have a riveted belief in the idea that sharing a birthday with Regina Spektor, Dr. Dre, and...ahem...Molly Ringwald really does make me a cooler human being all around. really.

3. apparently i say "birfday".

4. back to facebook: i find it sickening that when i look down the list of birfday posters to my wall (in my inbox, because, again, i have yet to actually visit my wall) i can be angry at people. good and real actual friends who didn't happen to be on facebook on my birfday, and thusly didn't post anything on my wall have become the brunt of my irrational disdain. some unfortunate portion of my brain sees that so-and-so posted to my wall, and that one guy i met that one time at that party for that other guy, and the girl from that one class i took in middle school when i lived not here...wait, when did she get out of purgatory!? anyway, with posts from those unknown fringy friends (no, no...don't worry...no, i don't mean you) how can i let a real friend get away with not having any cliche and generic things to say to me on my freaking birfday!

5. er...i never post on anyone's wall on their birthday. (i hope you're not irrationally mad at me for not seeing the notice on my home page. i mean, why would you want some generic birthday message anyway...it's so cliche.)

6. if you did call me or post to my wall...i miss you and i will try to call you back...sorry if i take a while...it's no reflection on how much your heartfelt well-wishes are genuinely appreciated.

stuck in my head...no, not my teeth

2009-02-17T00:55:00.005-05:00

there is absolutely no logical reason for the veronicas to be stuck in my head. i mean, lyrically speaking, untouched is awful. and, musically speaking, some sort of electro pop, untouched is also awful. (now, that could really be true or it could be me trying to pass as a music snob by bashing catchy little tunes...or both.) regardless, the truth is that the freaking strings are like crack dipped in honey and i can't get enough. that was a bit of an understatement...the strings are like...golden crack dipped in diamond encrusted bits of honey and drizzled with that magic chocolate shell stuff. the fact that the song opens and closes with them means that i'm all ears for about 15 seconds, zone out till about a minute and a half and come back for 10 seconds or so, and then come back again for the last 14 seconds...lather rinse repeat:

(edited: the song was: the veronicas - untouched)

shadow

2009-02-12T23:19:00.001-05:00

shadow
Originally uploaded by kevin glaser

the more i look at this, the more i really like it.

slowing down

2009-02-10T23:23:00.002-05:00

i read this tonight and it made me wish i were really an artist:

A nurse who was fascinated by my ears told me that the steroid shot I was unnecessarily given (but appreciated) would make it hard for me to sleep; that’s unlikely, as I’m already sleepy enough that the only thing keeping me awake is the dripping noises coming from inside my cavernous respiratory system. Being sickly, I’ve imagined an elaborate world inside my sinuses: like a ruined Gothic cathedral, supporting buttresses made indistinguishable from stalagmites by centuries of flow and accumulation.

But being sick has its compensations: Bayou, books, and the otherwise alien idea that I am being productive by sleeping, lazy rest transformed by armchair medical theorizing into some sort of immunological exercise. Feel the burn.

let me 'splain. this is nothing more than a post to a blog. but in it are images, wit, and lexical craftsmanship beyond what i am capable of, if not at my best, then quite certainly at my day to day level. as i read i wondered to myself at the authors ability to enter such a place as his imaginary sinuses and come away with such a vivid image and at the way he captures the welcomed and infrequent acceptance sleep receives in the midst sickness. it is mostly for the former that i am envious. i feel that my mind, far from allowing creative spaces in which sinus cathedrals can blossom, tends to spin with some nebulous urge to rush ahead. as if there were so numerous a set of fresh thoughts queuing to fill my head that my mind ought not be bothered at allowing the current batch to ripen. where it comes from, and why i continuously follow this impulse, is beyond me, though i would like to sever whatever attachment i have to it. i feel it must be one of the most genuine impediments to my really ever producing worthwhile art of any sort.

shreds

2009-02-07T23:09:00.002-05:00

so...when i lived in nola...harris and i, on occasion, would grab our cameras and go shoot. we'd pick a theme and try and capture it, or look for inspiration in interesting places, etc...one night, after a few successful outings, we realized that our bar had been creeping steadily up and that we might not be happy unless something quite good resulted from this new photo session. so, we went and shot the best photos of our life. end of story. ok...kidding. we decided that for the night we would refuse to shoot anything that might be mistaken for good photography. we would shoot the dumbest shots we could come up with. see trashcan face (though someone has apparently mistaken it as an attempt at saying something deep). and you thought i was joking. it was great. all the pressure was off and we could have fun. i have a whole set of pictures that i absolutely love, and that no other person on the planet apart from harris, would even think twice about never looking at...ever. apart from thinking that, in retrospect, this was a brilliant idea, i am now wondering whether or not i can introduce it into other parts of my life. first test run starts in...now. i realize that i kind of did this experiment to the blog last year when i posted a ridiculous picture of a joke written on what was probably a bathroom stall wall...but every once in a while we need a little something ridiculous in our life to remind us that it's not always that serious...and that sometimes toilet humor really is that funny. last time i reverted to the brain of a 12 year old and laughed till my stomach hurt. this time it was about the same. i now proudly present SHREDS...ok brief preface: someone dubbed over bands...ok thats all you get. i couldn't decide between the creed one and the eric clapton one but in the end i decided making a sucky band sound really bad beats making someone with actually musical ability sound bad...but go to town if you think it's as funny as i did...there are plenty more to watch:

have i ever mentioned that this is my favorite photograph?

2009-02-07T21:17:00.004-05:00

ok i can't commit...top 3.

steve mccurry

(definitely my favorite)

jamie fits the mood:

2009-02-05T10:11:00.002-05:00

(edited: the song was: jamie cullum - high and dry)

new song:

2009-02-03T23:07:00.003-05:00

there's a new song over on the myspace that i wrote last night and tonight. it's a pretty bad recording with my guitar strings hitting the computer in a mildly distracting fashion...but whatev. also, before you go over there and judge me, i did type up the lyrics. so, just click on the lyric tab by the title (calling us your own) and you will be able to decipher what it is that i'm actually saying. ugg...ok go listen, i have no more to say. wait....ok go....and, when you get back, will someone let me know how not to be self conscious about everything?

art from n'awlins:

2009-02-02T14:44:00.003-05:00

i miss NOLA

www.fiftypeopleonequestion.com

2009-02-02T14:32:00.002-05:00

via: PointofFocus

peter rollins makes me happy

2009-01-27T12:04:00.003-05:00

"For too long the Church has been seen as an oasis in the desert - offering water to those who are thirsty. In contrast, the emerging community appears more as a desert in the oasis of life, offering silence, space and desolation amidst the sickly nourishment of Western capitalism. It is in this desert, as we wander together as nomads, that God is to be found. For it is here that we are nourished by our hunger."

-Peter Rollins

garnered from todays tumbling:

2009-01-26T19:21:00.001-05:00

“ If you pretend life is exciting, it will be. That’s just how our hearts work.

oh yeah, this is great too:

2009-01-26T10:32:00.002-05:00

too fun for its own good:

2009-01-26T00:38:00.000-05:00

it's an ingrid day:

2009-01-25T13:41:00.002-05:00

(edited: the song was: ingrid michaelson - breakable)

Tumbling on the Appalachian Trail

2009-01-23T15:34:00.005-05:00

So, I started up a blog last month over on tumblr for my upcoming hike on the Appalachian Trail (AT). I'll be posting to it along the way and have already put up a few random things. It's some gear talk, some of what's motivating me, and eventually will be my stories and lessons learned from the trail...along with whatever else finds it's way into the mix. More info on the trip to come...but for now: 2175

texas:

2009-01-23T09:43:00.003-05:00

2009-01-23T09:33:00.002-05:00

“ Believe me, every man has his secret sorrows, which the world knows not; and oftimes we call a man cold, when he is only sad

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

(via beenthinking; somethingofadreamer)

2009-01-15T16:19:00.006-05:00

"In all of creation, identity is a challenge only for humans. A tulip knows exactly what it is. It is never tempted by false ways of being. Nor does it face complicated decisions in the process of becoming. So it is with dogs, rocks, trees, stars, amoebas, electrons, and all other things. All give glory to God by being exactly what they are. For in being what God means them to be, they are obeying him. Humans, however, encounter a more challenging existence. We think. We consider options. We decide. We act. We doubt. Simple being is tremendously difficult to achieve and fully authentic being is extremely rare. Body and soul contain thousands of possibilities out of which we can build many identities."
~David Benner

i'm jealous...and engrossed

2009-01-14T23:52:00.002-05:00

Nicholas Felton’s 2008 Annual Report ...on his life. this is great and worth flipping through.

two birds...

2009-01-03T14:17:00.002-05:00

little boots...big in 09? maybe. tenori-on...awesome? without a doubt.

a glaser/hunt christmas:

2008-12-29T17:49:00.003-05:00

we had all of mom's family over for christmas dinner. it was the first time in a while that the whole group was together and it was definitely one of the best gatherings in recent history. we had photo time obviously, and i had the polariod out, so here are a few:

1. mom was in the kitchen well in to the wee hours christmas eve.

2. jena and new ipod, uncle wayne doing his best deer in headlights.

3. fuzzy shot of ye ole christmas tree.

4. g-ma perusing the pics.

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

2. the build up to christmas put an ornament on the tree every day of december calendar.

3. traditional orange flavored icing rolls and santa mug (a christmas morning combo that has existed since early in my childhood)

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.

crazy awesome music...part deux

2008-12-21T23:21:00.004-05:00

Mumford and Sons... Lead guy in this one, Marcus Mumford,

is the drummer for Laura (the post right below this one)

These guys are amazing and thanks to Norris i know about them.

the most effortlessly amazing voice i've ever heard:

2008-12-21T22:52:00.005-05:00

Laura Marling ...she doesn't always look as sad...

but she does always look like she's not even trying

...and yet always perfect.

new song

2008-12-21T22:32:00.003-05:00

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.

2008-12-20T21:43:00.005-05:00

harry painted me!

...and i love it.

tidings of comfort and joy

2008-12-15T23:08:00.003-05:00

don't think this is any old "god rest ye merry gentlemen". one verse normal, two verses intimate and new. a little darker than your usual christmas song, but honest. simple lyrics, but much more than your typical sugar coated answers for life. it just feels good hearing someone put their doubts out there...kind of makes you feel a little less insecure about having your own. there's something freeing when someone admits to not being perfect, or having all the answers. it's like a deep breath sweeps into the room and you can just relax...you can stop holding your gut in...you can put down your own guard, if just for a moment.

iraqi agility test

2008-12-15T09:32:00.002-05:00

W, attacked with shoes, proves surprisingly nimble:

AC:

2008-12-02T15:41:00.002-05:00

again, all i can say : think.

ready, shoot...aim.

2008-11-16T23:00:00.004-05:00

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.

you had me at rainbow road

2008-11-15T01:38:00.002-05:00

via cush, via bradofarrell

i share an office with a girl who loves tree vomit:

2008-11-12T14:19:00.005-05:00

bradofarrell

sylar? oh, excuse me...mr spock

2008-11-11T12:20:00.004-05:00

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.

ps: i won't lie. i'm expecting sylar action in the above picture...you know, the creepy little red line slowly tracing across this poor guys forehead...and then all of a sudden mr. spock has some new power.

44th

2008-11-10T22:30:00.002-05:00

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

Patrick Moberg

2008-11-07T15:02:00.000-05:00

remember, remember...

2008-11-05T13:59:00.003-05:00

...the 5th of november.

happy guy fawkes day!

there are a lot of really sucky christians out there:

2008-11-05T13:54:00.004-05:00

i'm equal parts sad and infuriated

Q's for the week:

2008-11-02T01:03:00.008-04:00

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.

now, i am fully aware that the one sure fire way to kill something dead is to blog about it. (ie: trying to post one new musical artist per week would end with a dry well devoid of any newfound talent very quickly, or trying to maintain a blog with only deep thoughts will inevitably relegate me to the kiddy pool until i drop the idea.) but, i'm gonna go ahead and risk the dry well of inquisitiveness to put these out there:

1. Does steam occur at a constant temperature...or does it occur at varying degrees with varying air temperature?(assuming pressure is constant, of course.) ie: The water in my shower doesn't feel as warm as it should be...but it's still steaming like usual. Unfortunate, yes...unusual, we'll see?

2. Do reading glasses help or hurt your eyes? If you have good eyesight, but are in front of the computer all day, resulting in tired eyes come end of the day...should you use magnifying glasses to make it easier on your eyes...or will they just get lazy if you reduce their workload? (basically do your eyes get stronger with exercise or do they only have so many miles in them and wear out more quickly with exercise?)

3. Why do dress shirts have two cuff buttons? I mean, there's the one thats way too tight on the wrist, and then the other thats way too loose...(which in the end just leads to all of us rolling our sleeve half way up the forearm to avoid actually using the misplaced buttons and hole.) Is it just me or shouldn't there just be one button half way between the two options we are given? Are our wrist sizes really that different? How many times have you ever met someone and thought, "Man, he's got really fat wrists!" Never...(never...but that does create a fun mental picture of someone with my exact same shirt measurements...only with really fat wrists...hmm)

that's all for this weeks Q's...if i continue having these pop up i'll pass them along...for now just consider this a one time peek inside a new and unusual room in the expansive mansion that is my amazing brain.

via the cush:

2008-10-30T21:46:00.003-04:00

the cush

Eunoia

2008-10-30T12:57:00.003-04:00

"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."

-The BBC

Halloween

2008-10-28T08:18:00.004-04:00

Probably the best Halloween costume i've ever seen:

an underage Chinese gymnast...so politically incorrect...so wonderful

MM

2008-10-25T21:34:00.003-04:00

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

i promise to work on my titles...really

2008-10-19T22:29:00.003-04:00

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.

this afternoon i walked into the house after lunch and was greeted by mat saying, "we're headed out to run 10 miles, want to come?" me, in my mind, "why in the hell would i want to do that to myself." me, from my mouth, "sure." somewhere in the tenebrous journey from my mind to my mouth i think my real response was routed back and forth through an even worse version of babel fish than is present for internet use. probably the beta version. (if you just used the dictionary on your macbook dashboard for tenebrous...point for me.)

mile one through 8.5ish are uninteresting, but at this point, right as my shuffle ran out of batteries, a blister the size of Willie Mackenzie's head (if you're looking...fourth one down) formed right smack dab between the ball of my foot and the big toe...basically i could no longer push off, and for kicks i could even feel the blisteryness...on second thought i'll spare you. ergo, i ran the last mile and a half with my big toe curled under, trying not wreck my knee by throwing my stride off with a fantastic limping gait after putting it through its biggest workout since february.

in the end, i now have a huge limp inducing blister and the knowledge that i can still run 10 miles...which is not exciting enough news to warrant the blister. i'd rather have found that i can't make it past 2 and i should just stay in and sit on the couch with a high life and a lofthouse (you don't have to work for this one) from now on.

trouble in paradise...

2008-10-17T11:21:00.005-04:00

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

i finally replaced the bike that was stolen last year in new orleans with a new one:

i wandered into the nice bike store over in West End monday thinking, "i'll just try to get sized on one and get some info and then obviously not buy anything right now because there's no way i can afford this place." so, i walked in and let them know i was looking at entry level road bikes. they point out a couple and then say something to the effect of, "oh yeah, there's one over here. we just have the one left and it's your size and because it's last years model we want to get rid of it so it's 50% off..." and then i road it and loved it and bought it the next day. the end.

...kind of.

rode to work and back on wed...and again on thursday...and was swinging by the shop again thursday after work to buy a helmet, as i have been borrowing the williams' extra one...well, half way there my pedal gets wobbly...hmm. as it turns out the pedal had stripped out the threads of the pedal arm and basically fell out when i got there. sooooo, bike in the shop. (insert me being really irritated and annoyed at said situation here.) they are going to replace whatever needs to be replaced because i just got it and obviously had not had time to inflict this damage myself...which is nice...but now i have to try and hold my excitement for a week or so till it comes back. (insert slightly overdramatized annoyance and same said situation here.)

what does this story mean for you: you'll have to wait a week for the start of: "countdown till bike pays itself off". i figure if i ride it to work each day...in a couple months or so it will pay itself off in gas saved...i'm excited about the countdown...but it's gotta wait until this ridiculous situation is sorted out. (insert abundant but now purely dramatized emotions.)

2008-10-03T15:24:00.001-04:00

life, from w-s (2.0)

2008-10-03T15:08:00.006-04:00

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.

2008-10-03T13:28:00.002-04:00

i have no words...just happy ears

oldies but goodies...

2008-10-03T11:51:00.006-04:00

stuff from a couple of my old favorite sites:

and...

the ever satirically amusing: StuffWhitePeopleLike.com

because it still makes me smile just as much as it did a year ago:

2008-09-15T17:08:00.001-04:00

can i have one of these...

2008-09-14T23:48:00.003-04:00

the best idea i've seen in a while:

1001 rules for my unborn son

just a few examples of the brilliance that it is:

46. When caught in a riptide, swim parallel to the beach

168. Be cool to the younger kids. Reputations are built over a lifetime.

144. Offer your name when greeting someone. Even good friends have lousy memories.

140. Never sit down on a ballfield. Take a knee.

119. Don't be shy in the locker room. They are all thinking the same thing.

These hours of afflatus in the human spirt...

2008-09-14T00:10:00.003-04:00

"...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.

Evelyn Waugh

(in Brideshead Revisited)

2008-09-11T11:36:00.000-04:00

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

Thomas Mann

2008-09-09T12:00:00.000-04:00

"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