Reflections of an Extra Hour Weekend

1. I like sleep
2. Stuffed crust is okay
3. Some people you understand, some people you don't
4. ST, props on your bid for a house being accepted
5. It's amazing how people are harping on Texas even though they won by 19
6. I don't like country music
7. People need to show up for rehearsal
8. I am a spontaneous fellow
9. My niece is really getting big
10. She's walking, too
11. Penn State won
12. Mint Chocolate Chip is my favorite ice cream
13. Don't touch my sound board
14. I am glad that we got the extra hour on a weekend that I had to wake up at 6.30 am on Sunday
15. Saturday and Sunday were beautiful
16. I wish I knew how to play tennis
17. I like bonfires
18. Naps are wonderful except when you oversleep for something your supposed to be at
19. Guitars and people singing around bonfires are even better
20. What happened to the Redskins
21. What's the point of Halloween?
22. I have nothing against it, but not sure why it's celebrated
23. It is nice to talk to my bro
24. Ahhh...
25. I don't like Nike

Pastor Kyle Lake passed away...

Kyle Lake, author of Understanding God's Will and (re)Understanding Prayer, and pastor of University Baptist Church in Waco, TX. He died yesterday morning after a tragic accident while leading a baptism service. Only 33 years old, he is survived by his wife and three young children. Please pray for the Lake family and the church that lost their pastor.

Do You Rub Off on People?

Every one of us has good traits and bad traits. So which do you friends pick up on? I think that as we grow in relationship with others, we pick up some of their traits and mannerisms. Which do you let rub off on you? Which of your traits rub off on others?

I can tend to be a fairly goofy guy. I like it when people laugh and have no problem sacrificing my dignity to procure laughter. I was talking to someone today who was talking about a person that acts differently when I am around as opposed to other people. This person was more upbeat and funny. Now I am not saying that I caused this, but it would be nice to think that I had a bit of influence.

I don't think that we realize how much of an effect we can have on other people. If we are mopey and in a bad mood, we can also bring others down with us. Being happy can lift others up. We need to be who we are, but at the same time should strive to bring out the best in others.

A Man without a Home

I don't in any way want to take other people's ideas and steal them, but a post on Lara's blog really got me thinking. What is home? What feels like home? For myself, I don't know. I don't know if I would say that I have a home. The place where I live right now in some ways feels like home, but there isn't that feeling of home. My parent's place where I haven't lived for many years still has some homelike feelings when I visit them. I don't know if I have a home.

Is it because I am not married? I don't know either. I do know that I long for that person to share everything with. A person and relationship where we truly become one. So is this what is needed to find home? Or is that a concept that we have been fed to believe since we were born. That we are not complete as adults until we start our own family by being married. Is there something more there. Is it a longing of most hearts for that closer human relationship that any other that we have?

For myself I don't know. I am not sure whether it is my yearning for a close relationship or what I have been taught. The church arena, where I mostly hang out, is very big on marriage and can put unwanted pressure on single people. Yet I know that when I don't even feel pressure, that I can still ache. Adam didn't have any pressure on him and he was still longing. Does that mean that is what is needed to feel like home?

Anyway, Lara, thanks. It seems that although you were looking for answers, you, at least in my mind, brought up many more questions. I don't know what is home to me. I would guess it's the place where I feel most comfortable. That is usually out with nature or in deep community. But yet, if asked, I guess I don't have a home. A residence, yes, but no home.

Blessed by Giving

Recently, I was given something that has made me very happy. Due to my job situation, funds have been fairly short and not allowed for anything special. There was something that I wanted to do, but would not be able to. Now, I will be able to due to people's generosity. It makes me very happy.

It is not only great to receive, but also to give. I get a great joy out of giving people things. To see their big beaming smile is awesome. There just seems to be something pure about giving things away. There aren't any strings attached; it's just a gift.

Gifts are different for each of us also. Sometimes, things are what is appreciated, but it also might be some time taken out to assist each other. You don't have to have stuff to give things. We can just give of ourselves.

So try something this week. Give to someone. In whatever way you can, it will make your day and probably make theirs.

Reflections of a Football Weekend

1. The Cornerstone Coffeehouse has good coffee
2. It's good to talk to friends about what's going on in life
3. I don't like the religious right
4. I like staying up late
5. Saturday stunk until somebody did a selfless act
6. College football is fun to watch
7. PSU won easy
8. I thought that the Texas/Texas Tech game would be a little close
9. It rained all Friday and Saturday
10. Messiah's hardest match of the season was cancelled
11. What's the point of shopping when you have no money to spend?
12. Pumpkin Spice Latte sounds good
13. My wrist is slowly but surely healing
14. It took a couple of knocks in soccer on Sunday and was fine
15. I am definitely a person that feels better talking things out
16. Thanks for the time dude(you know who you are)
17. Did the Chicago White Sox pay off the umpires this postseason?
18. They have had the umps make multiple bad calls in their favor in crucial spots of the game this postseason
19. I don't like Eli Manning
20. Blessed are those who mourn
21. I may get to go to Passion this year
22. Baltimore lost
23. It was good to play soccer again
24. I like hanging with high-schoolers
25. NCAA '06 is fun
26. I got a new pillow
27. Psalm 137
28. '16 tons and what do you get, another day older and deeper in debt'
29. I hope Houston wins the World Series

More Than Friends?

Is it possible for friends of the opposite sex to move to dating?

This is a question that I hear often. I also tend to think about it. I guess the reason is that I tend to be the brother-type friend guy to women. Why this is I don't know, but it's true. I never seem to be a guy that women seem to think about possibly being interested in. I am that guy which women decide to treat like their brother and never consider dating.

Now this isn't always a bad thing. I tend to have decent relationships with women. Whether they are friendships or not is another question which was attempted to be answered in 'When Harry met Sally'. But back to before that question. I have always felt comfortable around women and they are always eager to talk to me, but always as that brother type friend. Because of this, I have learned a lot about women from women. I in no way claim to understand them. I will definitely say that I don't, but they have divulged some things to me that has allowed me to get a glimpse.

Now for the question. Since I always get thrown into this thing of being the friend, it immediately kills the romantic relationship part and that sucks. So I don't believe that it is possible to move from friend to oo la la. Not that it hasn't happened. I know that it has, but I believe that that is rare exception. I believe that once you have become friends there is way too much at risk to try romance. Also, you don't look at the other person in that way because you have filed them under the friend label. So people like me are doomed.

I guess that leads to another question which has been personalized to me. Why am I looked as the automatic friend and not the dating interest. Grrr! This whole thing annoys me.

Carpe Diem

I was watching 'Dead Poets Society' last night and this phrase just seeps through the entire movie. Besides it being a great movie, this concept is something that I believe is important for us humans. It seems like we spend to much time worrying about tomorrow rather than enjoying today.

This moment will never be here again, this day is only done once. We only get one shot at life, we might as well enjoy it. As Americans we are always rushing around needing things done yesterday. Well, what if those things didn't get done? Would we blow up? Would the world end? Probably not. There are things that are important, but most things are not urgently important.

Take some time out today. Enjoy the roses. Stop to look at God's creation and soak it in. Talk to someone and find out how they are really doing. They may just need somebody to dump on for a bit. It's okay to not rush around with our heads cut off. My favorite book of the Bible is Ecclesiastes. The reason is that it's biggest point is to enjoy life.

Eat, Drink and Be Merry

Reflections of a Homecoming Weekend

1. My cast is off
2. Nothing to do with this weekend, but wanted to share
3. Robo Rally is a strange game
4. Homecoming weekend means college friends, coolness
5. Ever call someone at 2 in the morning, hee hee
6. Oh my, Mr Lackey, oh my
7. Babies cry a lot
8. Farther you get from college, the less people come to homecoming
9. In powderpuff football (girls play, guys cheer), the qb was doing a hard count to draw the defense offsides, that's crazy
10. Messiah's field hockey, women's soccer and men's soccer teams are very good (1 loss amongst them)
11. It was windy, not windsday, but windy
12. Mmmm, coffee
13. Coffehouses are cool
14. Sleeeep
15. The one thing that can be annoying about homecoming is seeing all your friends that are married with kids
16. I like to talk sports
17. I also like to talk music
18. It's a shame that Penn State lost
19. I am glad that USC won
20. Baltimore won
21. The Chili Chili Cheeseburger at Red Robin is good
22. U2 was awesome
23. I love the word awesome
24. It is one of my top 5 favorite words
25. The Skuykill Expressway always has traffic
26. Let's highlight an organization, ONE
27. I am really spiritually moved by music
28. Nothing to do with lyrics sometimes, just the music
29. PennDot is ridiculous
30. If you are going to close lanes, you should at least have people there to look like they are working

Oh, They Were So Beautiful Last Night

Yes, yes, I know. Where are the Reflections you ask? Well, for the first time in a long time, they are not coming on the lovely Monday. Why? Because something simply awesome happened last night that needs an entire post devoted to it. Do to the fact that this was an incredible weekend beyond last night, the Reflections will most likely make an appearance at some point.

So what was this awesome occasion that I must write about. Well, I traveled down to Philly last night with a certain Mind the Gapper to see a band simply called U2. Yes SM was good enough to get the tickets a while back for this show. Our tickets were general admission tickets for the floor of the Wachovia Center. The way that U2 set up the stage, they had the stage and then an elliptical walkway running out from it into the center of the floor. Because of this, there was some space in the center of the ellipse that could hold some people.

So we walked into the Center and had our tickets scanned and a pink band put on our arms. Then we proceeded to the next scanning area. U2 had chosen to fill the ellipse by randomly selecting tickets from the general admission group. As we were waiting to get scanned, I noticed that all of the tickets were scanning as floor admission tickets. Then it was my turn. I gave the nice lady my ticket and she scanned it. It seemed like it took forever for the computer to read it, but then the logo popped up. IT WAS THE SPECIAL U2 LOGO!!! Since a selected ticket holder could bring himself and a companion in, it was me and SM that would get to enter the ellipse. We then proceeded to a special place where we were given blue bands.

After a quick bathroom stop and a drink from the water fountain we decided to head down to the ellipse. We got there and it was still mostly empty. We were able to get spots next to the elliptical walkway and 15 FEET AWAY from where the Edge would be standing. It was AWESOME!!!. Here is a photo I found that I put a red X on to show where approximately we were. It is not the Wachovia Center, but does show what the looked like. The Edge was actually situated a little farther to the left for our show.Is that not cool?

So we went through the opening act and at 9.00 U2 came on. They were great. I was not let down in the least. They were tight. They were entertaining and solid. Me being a guitar player really enjoyed being that close to the Edge. They rocked through some old stuff as well as the new stuff. At one point, somebody threw an Irish flag up at Bono. When the song they were doing finished, he broke into an old Irish song that gave homage to Ireland. It was very personal and off the cuff. There were many other moments like that throughout the show.

Some highlights were 'Where the Streets Have No Name', 'One', 'All Because of You' and 'With or Without You'. I really like how they redid 'With or Without You'. They really built it up to a big crescendo at the end unlike any other time I had heard before. Props to them for changing it a bit. So after 23 songs and about 2 hours and 15 minutes of playing they walked off the stage one by one and then we got to leave very happy.

Well, it was great and an experience I will never forget. It was worth the price of the ticket and will probably keep me quite happy this whole week. What a blessing.

Why?

Two things here.
First, why is it the dating and newly married people deem it appropriate to tell single people about dating? There is an article about singleness on RelevantMagazine.com and half the comments are from dating people talking about how they waited or went through a hard time and on the other side, a wonderful person to date was waiting for them. Guess what, I don't care. If I knew you, I would be happy that you were happy, but why do these people feel that it is their job to tell single people a bunch of crap? God doesn't give every single person what they want. It's not a contract here. Just because that is the way that God worked with you, doesn't mean that that is how He will work with me. What is wrong with being single anyway? Why can't I live my life single rather than it just be a waiting time for marriage. I am still valuable as a single person. Anyway just some thoughts. I should probably stop now before I get myself in trouble.

Second, the call made by the ump last night in the Angels/White Sox game was completely bogus. He made one call and then changed his mind in the middle. The batter struck out and the catcher caught the ball. Not that hard here. The replay doesn't come close to looking like the ball hit the ground. So the ump was wrong. Why couldn't he just say that? Because people can't admit that they were wrong. Guess what, we are all human. I think that the Angels should have finished the game under protest, but they didn't. I was rooting for the White Sox, but have changed my rooting interest due to the bad call. Reminds me of a completely blown call in the 90's due to a little "nothing nice to say" named Jeffrey Maier.

A Heterogeneous Post

My Ravens really stink this year. In fact, Mr. Brian Billick's offense (the only thing he coaches as head coach) has been truly woeful for many years. It's time for him to go. In the last game, the Ravens had 21 penalties, 4 personal fouls, and 2 ejections. That's bad coaching. I hope they can salvage a couple of wins this season.

A new blog has started up about fair trade. This is something that I believe, especially as Christians, we need to be concerned for. It is also something that I believe in. Hopefully the blog will continue and be successful in discussion. Go here to learn more about this topic.

I won the race last night. I look forward to Rover's post about it. I have been pretty dominating in the season, never finishing off the podium. The game is titled Formula De for anyone interested.

A couple of bands to check out.
Anberlin
Snow Patrol

Personal Revelation

I am a needy person. I may not look or act like it, but I am. I need social interaction. I am always happier being around people. In fact, I never get tired of being around people. When I leave a group of people, I never want to go. I am sure people knew this about me, but probably not to this level.

We never seem to want to admit our needs, but we want them met. Guess what, we were made to need and to have our needs met. My need may be easier to satisfy than others, but it still needs to be met. I think many times, we expect our friends to know our needs although we don't want to say what they are. Well, our friends aren't mind readers. We need to communicate and stop being ashamed of our needs.

Last night was my first fall night of some coffee and my journal. Very cool. I always find that I chill out much more with some coffee and the ability to right my thoughts. True last night as well.

I'm So Happy

THE YANKEES LOST!!!

Reflections of a Late Night Weekend

1. It rained
2. A lot
3. Why doesn't the word verification have words to type?
4. Things shouldn't be done expecting gratitude
5. The Gathering went well
6. I got to see someone that I hadn't seen since Virginia, very cool
7. Gameday was at Penn State
8. Penn State WON!!!
9. Ohio Sate LOST!!!
10. PENN STATE WON!!!!
11. It made me happy
12. It is fun to jump in puddles
13. The DC Festival was very unorganized with poor communication
14. It was enjoyable to see Kirk Franklin
15. Oh the hunger
16. Nothing like trying to remember places from years ago while in a rainy night
17. It's nice to sleep in
18. RK taught us about meekness
19. It is almost impossible to speak on humility
20. It was nice to talk to TB for a while
21. The Ravens really stink
22. Penalties and 2 ejections
23. It's time for Brian Billick to go
24. Darn Yankees
25. 18 innings, that's crazy
26. All time QB in football, baby
27. 10 or so touchdowns, no interceptions
28. Look at all the lonely people
29. Grocery shopping after 10 pm is nice

Singin' In The Rain

I like rain. It is so mellowing. Ever since last night I have been very relaxed and mellow. I woke up this morning and it was raining. It was so nice. I know it ruins some people's plans, but I don't have any that are affected. I do have to be careful to keep my cast dry, though. Anyway, I have been listening to the rain fall(I can hear it hitting the roof). That with jazz on all day.

As I have mentioned, I love jazz, especially on mellow days. Today is great for it. I recently got a Thelonious Monk cd and enjoyed that last night. Ahh, jazz. Just a piano, sax or horn. That's all I need. Add some cool bass and smooth drums and it's pure beauty. Anyway, I am enjoying the weather and hoping for a continuation of the mellow day. Mellow days are nice and with jazz, I believe they help to lengthen our days. Low stress, that's my cup of tea. or coffee whatever may be your choice.

Speaking of coffee, did you know it's almost impossible to find percolated coffee in England. It is a fun fact that I picked up this week. Nothing to do with anything else, but I thought I would share.

Been There, Done That, Bought the T-shirt

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing Athlete at the World Cafe Live in Philly. The venerable ST went down to the show with me. Getting there we ran into the usual traffic on the Skuykill Expressway. Although this could have presented a problem due to us needing to get to a show, we had left plenty of time. As when going to a new place in a city, the primary concerns are to not get lost and what parking is going to cost. Well, the World Cafe website gave very good instructions on how to find the locale and free parking. So without any trouble, we found the venue and then the first lot that we looked to park in had open spots.

After eating a good sandwich at a little cafe, we entered the show. The venue is very intimate and it has good sight lines, yet as ST pointed out, it is big enough to still sound good. The show started at 7:30 and had two opening acts. The first act was The Working Title. They were a pleasant surprise and had a solid sound. They played for about 40 minutes.

The next act was Rob Dickinson. He was okay. Some decent stuff and some sad stuff. Lyrically he was very weak and poor. I was amazed that a guy that can't really write was performing. His songs went on and on and repeated many phrases. I got drilled into my head that 'the skin was black metallic'. I'm still not sure what that means. Oh well after an encore(very strange for a opening act. I think he planned it into his time to feel good about himself), it was finally time.

Athlete came on and started off calmly, but kicked in pretty well. They interacted with the crowd very well. It's interesting when a band that plays in front of thousands in Britain comes over to the States and plays in front of a couple hundred. They had fun though which is what bands need to do when in front of small crowds. Their sound was solid. They weren't a band that was just a studio band. Two of the biggest songs of the night that had everybody singing were 'Halflight' and 'Wires'. They were tight and sounded very good. I greatly enjoyed them especially since they are one of my favorite bands right now. I will see them again if I get the chance.

If Only I Knew

Purpose. It is such a simple word, yet such a big word. What is your purpose? What is my purpose? I have lately been feeling lack of purpose. There are a couple of reasons for this. I'm 28 years old. Usually at 28, people have accomplished some things. Let's go over it here. I have been looking for a job for the last 16 months. So I have yet to advance in any career or get any closer in figuring out what I want to do. That one's gone.

How about love and family? No wife, no kids. Heck, I'm not even dating. I haven't gotten very far here either. It's been 6 years since I graduated college and I am no further along than when I graduated. Sure I have learned a couple of things, but nothing too earth-shattering. Now I am not saying that you have to be accomplishing these things to be advancing in life, but they are a couple of the signs that life is progressing.

So, since I am a Christian, the true goal should be to live for God and to show His wonder and glory to everyone I see. I am not even sure how good I am even doing at that. I try but fail so easily. Sometimes my humanity is really annoying. I feel many times like I am the biggest hindrance for God on earth.

So what is your purpose? How are you doing at it? Do you even have one? I don't have any answers here because I am trying to figure just a tiny bit of the answer out. So share your thoughts with each other. Maybe we can figure it out collectively.

I'm listening...

Reflections of a Sisterly Weekend

1. I had fun with the sis
2. 'Finding Nemo' is very funny, especially the talk like a whale part
3. One-handed video games are difficult
4. Shouldn't a Supreme Court nominee be a judge?
5. I like football
6. My Ravens finally won
7. It was Redskin's win ugly, but it was a win
8. Penn State is 5-0 with a dominating win over a ranked team
9. MP3 players are expensive
10. 'Batman Begins' is a very good movie
11. I went WILD at TGIFridays
12. My cast is no longer plain
13. The youth group got a hold of it
14. 'Stairway to Heaven' is a classic song, but I still don't like his voice
15. 'Chick flick' in the dictionary?
16. The Patriots got their butts kicked at home, WOW
17. I know they played in Mexico, but the 49ers/Cardinals game was still horrible
18. Mmmmm, mountain pies
19. Don't waste you life
20. I hope the White Sox and Cardinals make up the World Series and the Cardinals win
21. The Orioles had another down-the-crapper season
22. Fresco cafe has good food
23. It was nice to talk with my sis
24. She is a very intelligent one
25. Soon my parents shall have an empty nest
26. David Crowder Band got to #2 in downloaded albums on iTunes and the popularity crashed their site for a bit
27. Review of their latest album coming soon

Opining

I

HATE

THE

YANKEES!!!