I Think I'm Going To Write A Book

I have just (within the past 3 minutes) decided that I am going to write a book. I don't know what it's going to be about. Here's how the process is going to work. When I feel inspired I'll go write a few lines. I'll let it become what it wants to become. Kind of like a sculptor allowing the piece of rock to make itself into what it wants to become. So check back in about 10 years and maybe it'll be done.

New Song

New Song...no vocals.

Oh Geez...Muse...Where Did You Go?

I'm so uninspired. I got nothing for you. I could post new music videos...which I might by the time I'm done writing this. I could wax political...which I won't because I'm just not pissed off right now about anything that I haven't already covered...more articulately than I could do right now. So if you came here looking for political rants feel free to look back. They are there. I could post some awesome album art which I don't think...wait...

...Dinosaur Jr. released the first
pics of their new album art.
It's awesome. Even if I wasn't super fan-boy then I'd probably buy this just for the cover. But since I am...I'm going to buy it because Dinosaur Jr. is awesome.

In other news I've been "vaguely veg" for a week now. I've eaten some good things. I've eaten some not so good things. I think my favorite thing for lunch so far has been the apple, cheddar, honey mustard sandwich. Which by the way I'm going to have again today.

I found You (muse that is)

I'm going to write on something controversial. I was flipping channels this morning and I came across a documentary on the "Pregnant Guy" that's airing on Discovery Health. You know...born, kind of, female...decided to undergo gender treatment to live as a guy...but never had the sex organs changed. So then got pregnant because his wife couldn't. Yea...him. Well, I'm not going to discuss what I think about him. But what I am going to discuss is the guy who called him and left a message on his cell phone saying that if he doesn't ask God to forgive him then he is going to burn in the fires of hell. Then went on to say that what he is doing is absolutely disgusting. I would like to remind this guy that Jesus treated the woman caught in adultery the same way. Jesus...being the judgemental, condemning figure that he was stood back and cheer the pharisee's on as they stoned her to death.

What?

Come again?

Oh yea...Jesus didn't do either of those. Didn't Jesus save her life? Didn't Jesus stop them, then remind them that no one is perfect?

(sorry no videos. only cool cover art and reminder that if you are going to call yourself Christian you should probably try acting like Christ. Oh snap...all of sudden I'm reminded of my own faults. *sigh* Such is the way. )

Music To Go To Sleep By

Dear Friends at the end of a long day I need something to help me relax. What better than music to help. So as I fade away into sleep, I offer some music to sleep by. Video number 1 is something old. A little band from DC called Frodus. Video number 2 is something new (at least to me). A little band called Young Widows. Good night and sweet dreams friends.

Vaguely Vegetarian?

I love my wife. I even got my own term to describe my new found attempt at eating vegetarian during the week. Tonight we ate cheddar, apple, sauerkraut quesadillas. For a review go here.

Wow...I did it

I'm going to talk about internet networking for a moment. Years ago, before Myspace, and way before Facebook, there was a site called Friendster. I think it's still around. But last time I tried to go log into my old account I couldn't even remember which email address I used. Well friendster was almost exactly like Myspace...but without the terrible profile "pimping". But it got so popular so quickly that it quit working. Every time you would you log in, it would freeze up and kick you out. So then Myspace came along and everyone on Friendster went to Myspace. Then came Facebook, then came...whatever else is out there...twitter, maybe? Well, having had Myspace since Friendster went down the crapper means that that account was about 6 years old...actually...older than that. Wow. I say "was" because I deleted tonight. I was so tired of the ads and crappy html that everyone has on their pages that I never checked my account. So good bye Myspace. It was a fun run for a while. However, Facebook is doing a really good job at staying ahead of the curve. Maybe they learned some lessons from Myspace, as there are not almost naked girls wanting to know if I need a date in little ad windows. Also, when I go to a friends page I do not get bombarded with their music and their tastes in background decor.

Veg Lunch #1

Humus Sandwich

Humus sandwich (vegan) humus, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, sprouts, avocado, and graded carrots

After church Jess and I scooted over to our local super market to pick up a few things for the week. Today I tried a Humus sandwich. It was OK. The tomatoes and avocados made it a little soggy. Next time I make it I think I'm going to leave off the av's and the mater's. Overall taste...I give it a 6 out of 10. I just found myself eating the last few bites with crackers to give it a little crunch.

Tomorrow's lunch...

Cucumber and Tomato Sandwich

Ingredients:

2 Slices Whole Grain Bread
2 Tablespoons Cream Cheese
1 Tomato - Sliced
1 Leaf Lettuce
1/2 Cucumber - Sliced

No More Meat...well...Kind Of?

In my quest to not have a heart attack I've joined a gym. I go a lot. This is good. But I'm not really seeing the external results that I was hoping. So I've tried counting calories but get bored. So I think I'm going to try vegetarianism. Sort of. I don't want to completely give up meat...as there are somethings that I want to still eat. But I would like to change over for breakfast, lunch, and a few dinners. Yesterday I went a searching on Ye-Ole-Internet and found some awesome lunch ideas. The search criteria was "quick vegetarian lunches". Maybe if I end up enjoying it I might go all the way. But for now I just really want to eat healthier and this seems like a good way to start that process. Any vegetarians read my blog? Wanna give me some cool sites to go for more lunch and dinner ideas.

Also, I went to see A Newborn Thriller last night. I've seen them a few times years ago. But they have really stepped their game up. They were really good last night. Ultimately I really enjoyed myself and their new CD is pretty boss as well. Some of the SIX _{(just for the record that's way too many)} were not quite as enjoyable. But 3 out of 6 aint bad. Right? Right!

I'm Going To Get Rich Blogging

Sometimes a random conversation happens that changes your life. Well one of those happened for me today. The gentlemen who you see to your left...who will remain nameless until the great unveiling...and I were emailing back and forth. Out of that email came a great idea that is going to allow us to retire early. Here is the conversation...

me:

Is there a job that will pay us to sit around and wax philosophical all day? I want that job.
him:
physics professor at small town university. pay sucks, but they don't really expect much either. teach a few classes and write a paper or two per year. we could be the whole department. i'll start looking into schools that need fresh new minds in their physics department.

on another note, i'm listening the "lost songs" album by appleseed case...
me:

Yea...but what if we want to discuss the importance or lack thereof of the Beatles in 21st century pop culture. See...we need to be professors of some kind of umbrella course. We talk about whatever we want. The students sit there and take notes and ask no questions. That's a class I want to take.

him:
maybe would could start a blog and publish our conversations and then when we build up some readership we get some sponsors get a lot of advertising revenue, then we can do it from out couch sitting in robes all day.
me:
that's so awesome. blogging is fun. i do it a lot. building a readership is hard though.
him:
and don't worry about our readership. it'll take some time, but if we're agressive in sending out the link, we'll get it. we're crafty. we have ways.
me:
nice...and every friday can be playlist friday. we can compile a playlist to top off the week. it'll be a wierd mix of pop culture and science.
him:
done and done. i'll turn in my two weeks tomorrow.
me:
pssshhhh...i knew this was going to happen. i launched the site 2 weeks ago.
him:
you're always on top of things, that's how i know this will work.
me:
i also knew you were going to say that. so i closed the site the next day just so you couldn't get cocky about how well you think you know me
him:
fine then, i'm not saying anything else as to not screw this up any more, i'll just let you get all cocky about how well you know me.
me:
ahahahaha...i'm going to blog about this. you've been warned.

It's Been a Long Time

So a few weeks ago I decided that I'm miss going to local shows. I use to go to so many that I got sick of them and quit going. I think I'm going to try and go to two a month. Jess is going to be going to classes at the gym twice a month so it should work out. This month I'm going to see Newborn Thriller's CD release show tomorrow night at Buddha's. Then the next Friday I'm going to Chesapeake to see another friend's band Over The Ocean. Anyone wanna join in?

Stoked

I got a 70 on my test. That's a C. I need a C to pass the class. I'm stoked.

Finding God In The Unexpected

Sometimes we find God in the most unexpected places. I think I've not found him because I've been looking in the wrong places. Or I've been expecting him to look a certain way. But the second I dropped those preconceptions...bam...he's right there. This is really vague. But it's still really vague for me too. This is the best that I can do right now.

In other news...I've gotta give a big shout out to lala. Here's how it works.

1. Sign up for a free account.
2. Listen to full albums or one song or mulitple songs at a time all the way through for free, but only one time.
3. Put 50 free songs into your personal queue to listen to as much as you...for FREE.
4. After the 50 you pay $0.10 per song to listen to them as much as you want. Or just listen to them once for free.

Since it's like an email account you can go to any computer and log in and listen to your stuff. There's also a lot of networking you can do on there. But I've got facebook for that.

That's awesome. Thank you internet. You are too cool.

Proof That Misery Loves Company

Tonight I have my second Calculus 2 test for the
semester, and if you've been reading this for any
period of time then you've heard me b$#@h talk about it. So I've decided to show you what I've been working on. Woot Woot..

Right here we have the problem>>>
y=x^3 from 0 to 2
What we are looking for is the surface area of this curve if you were to rotate it around the X axis on an interval from 0 to 2.

Isn't this fun already?

<(bad) sketch of just what I'm looking for.

Still _with me?

This is the formula we use to work it out>>>

<<I'm making the letters mean something.

Look...all done.>>>

approximately 203.0436

Follow Up on the Smiling All the Time Question

When I wrote my question about trusting people who smile all the time I has just finished looking at some facebook profiles. The certain ones who inspired that post always seem to have multiple pictures of them in "da club" getting "tipsy". The smile that seemed to be on these people's faces inspires a sort of "why don't you wake up?" response from me. I don't know. I'm as guilty as anyone of sometimes having a few too many drinks. So I guess what I'm really saying is that I'm a judgmental, hypocritical jerk. Thanks for reading.

New Music for a New Year

The Appleseed Cast. Saw about 4 years ago at Macrock. Hated them, because they ragged on Republicans a lot. But at the time I was a Republican. So you can see the conflict. However...I no longer partake in such titles. Also their politics have not much to do with their music. So I present you with a video. This is pretty much what they sound like. Enjoy...

I Come Bearing Answers

I now know what was being planned for my birthday. Tonight me and some of my wonderful friends had our own theater. It turns out that one of our friend Laura's apartment complex has a small theater that can be used by the residents. It was awesome. We got to watch my favorite Star Wars movie "Return of the Jedi". But that' s not what I am going to remember. What I am going to remember is the sense of community that was there. Some of my friends brought their kids and everyone hung out with them and kept them entertained. No one was there out of appearances. Everyone was there because they wanted to be. I don't really feel worthy that I was the reason for bringing these people together. I can't help but feel that this is what heaven will be like. Maybe I'm wrong. But whatever...I'm almost to the point of emotions over it. It was great. So thank you Corbin, Terin, Kevin, Dave R, Dave F, Kim, Alicia, Rick, Josh, Katie F, Katie W, Laura, Jake, my wonderful wife Jess and Megan and Dru who couldn't be there, but had planned on it. Thank you. Tonight meant more to me than I can find the words to describe.

But what is a blog about birthday's without a picture of my present...
Time to find singer.

Jumpin' Jehosaphat...What is Going On Here?

Great googley moogley...there is something a foot. Apparently there is some mystery birthday surprise going on for me tonight. I do not know what it is. I've been trying to figure it out without prying. Here are the facts as I know them:

1. Other people will be there.
2. We can bring soda but not beer.
3. It requires us to drive, but it's not that far away.
4. We will be having finger foods.

What the Husker Du? I'm bedazzled. No clue over here.

These Questions of Life

Lately I've been asking these questions:
1. Who is God?
2. Where is God?
3. Is God?
4. ...and how do I read the Bible because I don't know if I can be so literal with it as so many people I know?

Growing up in Southern Baptist...somewhat fundamentalist...churches I know what that version of Christianity is. Having been in it for 26 years, I also know that it's something that doesn't attract me. It doesn't stir me. It holds no wonder for me. I simply can't continue to see God on those terms. So having now officially said that's not me, it leaves me as this kind of blank slate. Now I have to find what I do believe. So the questions I listed above are the ones that I keep asking myself. They are the answers that I need to find.

Well...it's the answers that are so elusive to me. I hear about a God that wants a relationship with me, but how do you have a relationship with a being that isn't "here"? I hear that God loves me but sometimes when I read the bible all I see are a lot of rules. But then I have friends who simply overflow with love. They have relationships with a being that isn't really "here". I've been reading books by a guy named Donald Miller. That's the God that I'm looking for. A God that turns the world into the beautiful example of magnificence. A God that isn't a set of rules, that really is about a relationship.

I've seen a snippet of a talk given by Donald Miller where he was talking about spirituality being like a tree planted by a river and how that tree didn't happen overnight. So developing your spiritual self is not a fast food solution. It's not something you can swing by the nearest spiritual store and just purchase. The conditions have to be right and then it takes time. So I've hopefully put myself into a condition to allow this growth. I'm going to start being honest about the questions that I'm asking. I'm also going to start being ok with saying I don't know. Maybe it's not a matter of being able to prove there is a God or that Jesus was who he claimed to be. But simply having faith that it is. Maybe being very fundamentalist about scripture isn't the point. Maybe the point is bigger than that.

So here is where I am. You can read about Jesus standing up against the religious leaders of his time. Jesus publicly denounced the people who used their religion as a way of oppressing people. So now fast forward to today. I look around and I see people who refer to homosexuals as "fags". But just as a way of letting them know that God really doesn't like them. As a way of witnessing to them. This makes no sense. The Jesus that I read about wouldn't have done that. The Jesus that I really want to find stopped the religious leaders from condemning someone like that. It's funny how Christians in our society focus on certain sins like this. How we look at certain ones and say "Yup...God hates you but he really loves you." This is the "god" that I'm moving away from. The one who is a set of rules. The one who cares more about what I do than me. I'm looking for the Jesus who healed a woman when she touched his robe. But that wasn't enough that she was healed. He so needed to connect with her that he stopped in the middle of a crowd just so he could make a personal connection with her. That's who I'm looking for. To be honest...sometimes it's really hard to find him.

Does This Mean I'm Old Now

I'm officially 28 now. Phew...made it through another year. When do I get my cane?

I Don't Trust People Who Smile All The Time

I want your opinion on something. Now, before I tell you what it is, I don't necessarily hold this opinion. It is very much within my being to say something just to be inflammatory. However, I could very much hold this opinion. You'll never know. Here is the statement:

"Never trust people who smile all the time. They are either hiding something or never question the important things in life. Either way it will eventually lead to something bad."

Thoughts?

Word Of The Day:

Pedantic
What does it mean and can you use it in a sentence?

How Could I Forget This

Sunday was the first day Jess and I wore flip flops. If you'll notice I'm in shorts _{(you can tell because I have the hair legs)}. It's a small monument to the coming season. Quick...time to loose some weight.


PS...no one seemed to notice my hidden message in one of my previous posts.

Tentzilla Strikes Again...hopefully

For our wedding Jess and I got a tent. See>>>>

This is no normal tent. This tent slept 5 comfortably last summer. I can stand up inside and stretch. It's dimensions are 17'x10'x7'. It's really intense. We call him Tentzilla. However, Tentzilla hasn't terrified a campground since last June. It's about time he makes a come back. Anyone interested in a group camping trip in the next few months? You can share a tent with us. It has separate rooms.

<<< This is me in front of Tentzilla the first time we ever set him up in my in-laws front yard. I'm 5'11".









ps i turn 28 on thursday. that's so close to 30. i'm kind of feeling old. i graduated high school 10 years ago. where does the time go?

Monday Morning

Oh geez. It's Monday. It's a rough one. After band practice last night (played my SG last night for the first time since getting my Telecaster for those who care about such things) my drummer friend and myself ended up talking past lives, and religion until 11:15. UGH...Don't get me wrong. It was a great conversation. But this morning was rough. I had totally dedicated myself to going back to the gym today. Didn't happen. So I'm here...doing a little reading...listening to my morning radio show (big ups to Tony Maccrini)...and doing some blogging. I guess when I think about it I'm happy that it's Monday morning. Being that time is a continual thing and I couldn't stop it. If I were not in the middle of a Monday morning right now then I probably wouldn't need to know the day of the week. So when I look at it like that, I'm happy that it's Monday morning, as I generally like my life right now.

Here is a random thought that I heard last week:

Humans are the only creatures on the planet that have the need to make a system that marks the passage of time.

Here is a brief description of how oxygen was discovered: (pretty awesome in my opinion)

grow plant in jar. put candle in jar. close lid of jar. light candle with magnifying glass so that it burns off all oxygen. wait some time...come back. relight candle same way. it will light because plant will produce oxygen.

wow.

My Time in the Woods

Here are some random pics from my day in the woods. In no particular order.

Dylan...Blonde on Blonde and Grocery List

Sitting in my living room in my chair planning out a grocery list with my wife. In 30 minutes I'm retreating to the woods for a few hours. When I emerge I'm hoping to have cleared the head. The woods are great for that. There is a sign near the trail head that says "Today I have grown from walking with the trees". Or something like that. I've walked this trail many times. Each time I come out better. It's been over a year since I've walked it. Who have I become? ...and when did I start writing in terrible cliches? Oh the horror of it all.

I Feel Different

I woke up this morning feeling different. Can't explain it. Maybe it's the sinus meds or maybe it's because I got a good nights sleep. But I certainly do feel different this morning. I've spent the morning listening to music, watching music, and looking at pics of people playing music. People that I have played in bands with in the past. I remember what music feels like now. How had I forgotten. It's kind of a what have I become moment. Only not as dramatic as that statement sounds.

Ok...I've pondered. Here's a good analogy. I feel like I've been swimming underwater for a while. I could see the surface and knew that it was great up there. But was so busy swimming underwater that I never broke the surface. The morning...I think I broke the surface. Band practice is going to be awesome tomorrow.

A Trip to Alexandria

I just bought tickets to see Will Oldham aka Bonnie "Prince" Billy in Alexandria, VA on May 23. Now you probably don't know who he is. He's been releasing alt country music since the early 90's, under many different names; Palace, Palace Brothers, Will Oldham, and for a while now Bonnie "Prince" Billy. In 1999 he released an album called "I See A Darkness". It's as close to perfect as music can come. (I think) Other's have thought so as well. In fact Johnny Cash covered the title song off the album, with Will doing backing vocals. Will doesn't tour much and when he does it's not normally around here. So when I saw that he was going to be in VA on a Saturday I couldn't resist the opportunity.

P.S.He's also had some killer cover art.

A Dying Art Form

With downloading becoming the norm, is album cover art may be becoming a thing of the past? This possibility saddens me, because when I was young and first discovering music I found my father's record collection. I spent hours combing through it looking at the covers and the album sleeves. This is a big reason why I don't download, I like having something tangible that I can hold and look through. It helps me experience the album instead of just hearing it. I would like to present you with my music collection and show you some of my favorite albums covers.

This is my CD collection, well most of it
anyways. I think I have a few out in the Jeep.

Below is my record collection. A large
part of which was given to me by my in-laws.