it's friday. some thoughts:
1. talked to kevin on the phone yesterday for a half hour. i know this doesn't sound like much, but i don't rattle off half-hour phone conversations too much (i later talked to my friend nate downey for another half hour that night - i ran out of words after these two conversations and heidi was left with a useless conversation partner. i just stared blankly at her admired how pretty she is, but couldn't bring myself to say those words. my mom used to say that men have 10,000 words per day, and when they used up those words, they were done. 10,000 sounds a little high to me. i think i got about 7k in me - after that you're lucky to get a grunt or a nod.) the greatest part of this half hour conversation with kevin was that from start to finish we discussed nothing but sports. you don't know how much this pleases me. this is why guys can get along so much easier than girls. we have sports. always. never fail. girls talk about celebrity gossip and trade recipes and share hair and skin secrets. girls comment on eachother's belts and boots. (you can tell that i really don't have a clue when it comes to women. it's amazing that i am married). but one half hour of reds, bengals, draft, fantasy talk... that's pretty damn good.
2. heidi and i went on a picnic date the other night. we drank some wine and talked about our respective childhoods and the things that make us who we are. (one of the reasons i absolutely adore heidi, and fell in love with her in the first place, is because, when it comes to conversation, the rules from point number one don't apply. heidi is an exquisite conversationalist. i could talk to her for hours. which is good, because i'm pretty sure we got hours to burn). childhood is a funny thing. all these memories. all these proverbial forks in the road. life is a bunch of forks in the road, and to retrace your steps, and think about the times that you went left when you could have, or seemingly should have went right is mind-blowing to me. the fact that i am here, living in kentucky - a state that i wasn't even sure existed a couple of years ago, is due to the fact that several years ago, i chose one grad school over another (because i got dumped) and ended up meeting my friend duane, moving to san diego, and meeting heidi, who also went one way on the road of life, and happened to pass through san diego on a road trip just as i was moving there. you can't make this stuff up. you can't plan it. this is the kind of stuff that i attribute to God. it's inexplicable. it's retarded how stuff works out. and i feel rather confident that the God of this universe has something to do with where we go and what we do in our everyday life. this gives me a comfort and a hope that i lean upon each day of my life.
3. i just spent the last hour in my front yard washing the car, playing with the dogs, and talking/throwing the football with this 12-year old kid named benji who lives down the street. he just wandered up the driveway and asked if we had any chores for him to do because he is trying to save money so he can join karate again. he is a blue belt with a green stripe. i don't know what that means, but he says that it is almost half way to a black belt. i challenged him to spar, but he declined, so i guess a green belt isn't too impressive (that or the fact that i am at least twice his size was the deterrent). but this kid just wandered over to my house and would not leave. at first i was annoyed. i don't like to be bothered for the most part. but then i got to thinking. this kid is just looking for a friend. maybe this kid just wants somebody to look up to. maybe that could be me. maybe i could put my own selfish motives out of my mind for a bit, and spend some time with this kid. we talked music (he likes guns n' roses and metallica, which is most definitely the influence of an older brother), his favorite sport is basketball (mine too) and he plays the saxophone (a terrible instrument in my mind, but what are you going to do?) he asked me questions about heidi (where is she? when is she coming home? where does she work? does she go running every day?), to the point where i started to worry that he was just hanging out with me to get to my wife. after awhile, his mom called him home and he took off. that kid is alright.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Saturday, April 12, 2008
LOTR 30 minute running diary
i wish i would have thought of this earlier. the time now is 3:17. for the past four hours or so, i have been casually watching the lord of the rings trilogy on tnt (we know drama). this is my saturday. if i could go back in time, i would have started a running diary and committed to watch the entire 10 hours of middle earth drama, but i am a bit late to the game, and i have only marginally been paying attention. (on a side note, if i could go back in time, i'm pretty sure i would do something way cooler than watching the entire LOTR trilogy on cable... maybe not)
3:19 - frodo is a whiner. does he ever say anything without the whine in his voice? this battle scene that's going on is out of control. when it comes to warfare... count me out. i don't think i could do it. i used to have this dream that i was in my front yard and i had to get from the porch to the other side of the yard. it was vietnam or something in my dream. but for some reason i only had a bow and arrow. i don't know how to shoot a bow and arrow, and in my dream i knew this. so i hid under the porch and watched the feet of brave soldiers run by for what seemed like days. this was my dream. i was a coward. i can only assume it would be worse in real life.
3:25 - everybody in this movie has long shaggy hair and perfectly trimmed facial hair. my friend nate carter could have been in this movie. my friend kevin could not... unless he was an elf. but then his hair would have to be blond and straight. that's a sight i would like to see.
3:28 - commercials.
- apparently pizza hut is making pasta, and papa johns is making authentic italian pizza. i have my doubts.
- kia drivers can't remember what side of the car their fuel tank is on. i forget this all the time, and i have to fill up my car about twice a week. i'm not impressed.
- why do car dealerships get "overstocked" what does that even mean? they always say that this translates to huge savings for the consumer. i've never bought a car from a dealer. i'm not buying it.
3:32 - back to the film. this running diary idea is terrible. who wouild ever want to read this. calvin (our newly acquired puppy, named after everyone's favorite 16th century french theologian) is waking up. time to take him out to go "potty." i hate that i even know that word, and say it in my instructions to the dog to take care of his business. but i'm a big fan of this little dog. he's pretty great. apologies in advance to everyone that has to hear us talk about him and show pictures of the little black blob.
3:34 - gandolf just showed up all blazing in white brilliance with a bunch of dudes and they are charging down the hill to kick some orc ass. the trees are getting into the swing of things as well. thigs are looking up for the good guys. they might just pull this one off. of course, i guess it was never in doubt, what with the thrid installment of the trillogy yet to come.
3:44 - back from laundry folding. why doesn't gollum/smeigel get as much bad press as jar jar binks got for star wars episode I? can anyone tell me he is not as annoying? it's that way with pop culture. our minds are made up for us who we are supposed to like and who we are not. we are told that we are supposed to love brett favre (read skip's blog for a wonderful discussion on brett favre), for no particular reason. we used to love britney, and hate christina, but that surely has reversed, simply because christina hasn't gone absolutely crazy and had her kids taken from her after several run ins with the law and just plain silly behavior. that might be a bad example.
3:45 - stay tuned, the final act of LOTR is coming up next. this running diary thing was a terrible idea. how does bill simmons do it so well? sorry to anybody who suffered through this one... but i've put too much time into typing, and i can't just erase it.
3:19 - frodo is a whiner. does he ever say anything without the whine in his voice? this battle scene that's going on is out of control. when it comes to warfare... count me out. i don't think i could do it. i used to have this dream that i was in my front yard and i had to get from the porch to the other side of the yard. it was vietnam or something in my dream. but for some reason i only had a bow and arrow. i don't know how to shoot a bow and arrow, and in my dream i knew this. so i hid under the porch and watched the feet of brave soldiers run by for what seemed like days. this was my dream. i was a coward. i can only assume it would be worse in real life.
3:25 - everybody in this movie has long shaggy hair and perfectly trimmed facial hair. my friend nate carter could have been in this movie. my friend kevin could not... unless he was an elf. but then his hair would have to be blond and straight. that's a sight i would like to see.
3:28 - commercials.
- apparently pizza hut is making pasta, and papa johns is making authentic italian pizza. i have my doubts.
- kia drivers can't remember what side of the car their fuel tank is on. i forget this all the time, and i have to fill up my car about twice a week. i'm not impressed.
- why do car dealerships get "overstocked" what does that even mean? they always say that this translates to huge savings for the consumer. i've never bought a car from a dealer. i'm not buying it.
3:32 - back to the film. this running diary idea is terrible. who wouild ever want to read this. calvin (our newly acquired puppy, named after everyone's favorite 16th century french theologian) is waking up. time to take him out to go "potty." i hate that i even know that word, and say it in my instructions to the dog to take care of his business. but i'm a big fan of this little dog. he's pretty great. apologies in advance to everyone that has to hear us talk about him and show pictures of the little black blob.
3:34 - gandolf just showed up all blazing in white brilliance with a bunch of dudes and they are charging down the hill to kick some orc ass. the trees are getting into the swing of things as well. thigs are looking up for the good guys. they might just pull this one off. of course, i guess it was never in doubt, what with the thrid installment of the trillogy yet to come.
3:44 - back from laundry folding. why doesn't gollum/smeigel get as much bad press as jar jar binks got for star wars episode I? can anyone tell me he is not as annoying? it's that way with pop culture. our minds are made up for us who we are supposed to like and who we are not. we are told that we are supposed to love brett favre (read skip's blog for a wonderful discussion on brett favre), for no particular reason. we used to love britney, and hate christina, but that surely has reversed, simply because christina hasn't gone absolutely crazy and had her kids taken from her after several run ins with the law and just plain silly behavior. that might be a bad example.
3:45 - stay tuned, the final act of LOTR is coming up next. this running diary thing was a terrible idea. how does bill simmons do it so well? sorry to anybody who suffered through this one... but i've put too much time into typing, and i can't just erase it.
Monday, April 7, 2008
sunday morning respect.
did you know that BET (black entertainment television) airs joel osteen every sunday morning? if you don't know who joel osteen is, wikipedia it or something. whatever. i'm not too concerned about joel osteen at this moment. he's a turd. i'm not concerned with his teachings or his doctrine right now. i'm concerned with his white face on my black entertainment television.
while watching the wire (only one disc to go before having to wait an eternity for the fifth season) an episode focused on a hit (assassination) that was ordered by one drug gang against a rebel drug power (omar - sort of robin hood who robs from the rich drug dealers, but doesn't really give to the poor). anyway, this westside drug crew puts a bounty of omar's head, but omar is impossible to ever track down. when they find omar, he is picking his sweet old mama up for church getting into a cab with her. gun shots are fired, omar has to push his mom in the cab and her big fancy hat (called a crown, which i find delightful) is knocked off.
that's the scene. you don't care. whatever. what i love about this, is these guys are breaking a HUGE rule of the game. you don't come after somebody on sunday. seriously. this is some hard-core drugs and guns and violence going on here... but sunday is the day of peace. the Lord's day. the sabbath. you can't make this stuff up.
and i thought this was mildly interesting until i was watching BET yesterday morning before church and saw big white-tooth joel osteen preaching to his congregation of 28,000 (no joke). BET airs sermons every sunday morning (could you ever see mtv doing this? no way in hell). and not just any church service. but Black Entertainment Television is broadcasting the great white hype himself. you don't get much whiter than joel osteen. this is incredible to me.
and as i watched joel osteen preaching on BET, i thought about the rules of the game on the wire that probibit rival drug gangs from going after each other on this one day a week. and i started to think about church. and about Jesus, who is said to be the head of the Church. and i think that even though these efforts are misguided, i appreciate the respect.
it's in everybody. you know you're not supposed to cuss in a church. you act differently around ministers and reverends, you say, "i don't go to church, but that's cool that you do." what is it about this respect for church in this country? in parts of this world you get cut in half for going to church. but here, you get a tip of the hat and a "how do you do?"
everybody's got respect for jesus and his followers (except the "intellectual" elite - another topic for another day), and i just don't know what to do with that.
while watching the wire (only one disc to go before having to wait an eternity for the fifth season) an episode focused on a hit (assassination) that was ordered by one drug gang against a rebel drug power (omar - sort of robin hood who robs from the rich drug dealers, but doesn't really give to the poor). anyway, this westside drug crew puts a bounty of omar's head, but omar is impossible to ever track down. when they find omar, he is picking his sweet old mama up for church getting into a cab with her. gun shots are fired, omar has to push his mom in the cab and her big fancy hat (called a crown, which i find delightful) is knocked off.
that's the scene. you don't care. whatever. what i love about this, is these guys are breaking a HUGE rule of the game. you don't come after somebody on sunday. seriously. this is some hard-core drugs and guns and violence going on here... but sunday is the day of peace. the Lord's day. the sabbath. you can't make this stuff up.
and i thought this was mildly interesting until i was watching BET yesterday morning before church and saw big white-tooth joel osteen preaching to his congregation of 28,000 (no joke). BET airs sermons every sunday morning (could you ever see mtv doing this? no way in hell). and not just any church service. but Black Entertainment Television is broadcasting the great white hype himself. you don't get much whiter than joel osteen. this is incredible to me.
and as i watched joel osteen preaching on BET, i thought about the rules of the game on the wire that probibit rival drug gangs from going after each other on this one day a week. and i started to think about church. and about Jesus, who is said to be the head of the Church. and i think that even though these efforts are misguided, i appreciate the respect.
it's in everybody. you know you're not supposed to cuss in a church. you act differently around ministers and reverends, you say, "i don't go to church, but that's cool that you do." what is it about this respect for church in this country? in parts of this world you get cut in half for going to church. but here, you get a tip of the hat and a "how do you do?"
everybody's got respect for jesus and his followers (except the "intellectual" elite - another topic for another day), and i just don't know what to do with that.
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