a lovely tradition:
Posted in: on Monday, May 04, 2009 at at 8:56 PM 0 comments
Appalachian Trail
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.
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.
Posted in: on Friday, April 03, 2009 at at 7:13 PM 0 comments
coffee
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.
Posted in: on Thursday, April 02, 2009 at at 11:36 AM 0 comments
google reader
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.
Posted in: on Wednesday, April 01, 2009 at at 4:25 PM 0 comments
145
1 I will exalt you, my God and King, 4 Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts; 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.
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.
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.
Posted in: on Saturday, March 21, 2009 at at 1:53 PM 0 comments
by the end of today
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.
Posted in: on at at 1:38 AM 0 comments
"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)
Posted in: on at at 12:52 AM 0 comments
sorry
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.
Posted in: on Friday, March 20, 2009 at at 12:09 AM 0 comments
the curious case of forrest gump
The Curious Case of Forrest Gump - watch more funny videos
Posted in: on Wednesday, March 18, 2009 at at 1:49 AM 0 comments
thanks a lot norris
Posted in: on Saturday, March 14, 2009 at at 1:48 PM 0 comments
sufjan...meet rap.
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.
Posted in: on Thursday, March 12, 2009 at at 1:03 AM 1 comments
wwjd...excuse me while i word vomit.
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.
Posted in: on Monday, March 09, 2009 at at 5:43 PM 0 comments
up for a challenge?
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)
Posted in: on Thursday, March 05, 2009 at at 12:16 AM 0 comments
Snow Day (or It's Not That NC Doesn't Do Snow Well...It's That We Don't Do Snow At All)
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.
Posted in: on Monday, March 02, 2009 at at 5:05 PM 0 comments
REAL Snow
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.
Posted in: on at at 1:00 AM 0 comments
aquemini
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)
Posted in: on Friday, February 27, 2009 at at 6:16 PM 0 comments
unhealthy obsession?
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.
Posted in: on at at 11:08 AM 0 comments
birfday confessions:
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.
Posted in: on Thursday, February 19, 2009 at at 5:40 PM 0 comments
stuck in my head...no, not my teeth
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)
Posted in: on Tuesday, February 17, 2009 at at 12:55 AM 0 comments
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