Initial Reactions

I'm stuck between a few emotions. Part of me wants to destroy something. Part of me wants to cry. Part of me just wants to give up. Part of me just wants to sink into depressing thoughts.

The part of me that want to destroy something is my reaction of anger. Pissed off at why things don't go right just once in this whole screwed up situation. That if I just chuck something against a wall or break something, I feel a bit better.

The part of me that wants to cry is saddened by the constant rejection that I have experienced. I don't really know how to cry though. What is it to cry? You can only be rejected so often before it just beats you to a bloody pulp. It's the part that just wants to curl up in a ball and have the whole world just go away for a while.

The part of me that wants to give up is the part that is sick of trying. The funny thing, though. There is nothing to give up. I could say I am giving up, but I can't. It is not a possibility. But I want to. I'm tired; I'm stressed; I don't want to go through this anymore. But I have no choice.

The part of me sinking into depressing thoughts about how much of a loser I am. My complete inability to be wanted to anyone. It is amazing how easily and casually people throw other people aside like they don't matter. It's just a business, who cares about feelings. I feel worthless when this stuff happens. Maybe I am...

I pray...nothing happens. I cry...no one's there. Promises of love and strength are left unkept. Maybe I am supposed to do this on my own. Do I doubt? Yeah, but not seriously. I know He is there and loves more than I can comprehend, but it is hard when I don't feel anything except a void.

So what do I do? I just go on. It will happen again. Things positive and negative always happen in this life. I can't quit so I won't. I will keep trying and maybe someday this cloud will actually break. I hope. I have to hope because to lose hope is to lose everything.

Eleemosynary one

I hate being sick. I can't wait till I find out what it is like to breathe again. But anyway, on Friday night, I saw a chilling video about Ugandan children whom are abducted into a rebel army to fight a war. It was quite a shaking and disturbing problem. Find more information here.

I got an encouraging email from someone today. It really lifted my day. It's amazing how a couple of sentences can change a mood. So go out and give a couple of kind words to someone to put a smile on their face.

Reflections of a Sickly Weekend

1. The kids wonderfully fasted to raise money for Zimbabwe
2. It is good to see college friends
3. It is fun to play percussion with good musicians
4. I enjoy the Olympics
5. Diener's has good breakfast foods
6. Small group leadership is not always easy
7. Why do churches always concentrate on foreign missions, but ignore the people in their backyards?
8. MF still has a belly button, what a shame
9. 'War of the Ring' is a fun game to play, but can go too long
10. Congrats to MF, although it was ultimately a losing effort, it was one of the best jobs done in playing a game in a long while
11. We won, but were tested
12. Jazz worship...strange idea
13. Will ICON survive?
14. Fever, aches, stomach, head, nose, throat=uggghhh
15. Feeling better, but not great
16. The Daytona 500 was boring
17. I can't really take figure skating, especially ice dancing
18. I lost in Candyland
19. 11 hours of sleep helps to heal
20. I hate fevers because it means that I am freezing even if I have 20 layers on
21. I didn't know that Italy and Norway had such a huge rivalry in the 4x10km cross-country skiing event
22. I rarely get sick and hate when I do
23. I had avoided it all season
24. Drugs help sleeping

Where Am I Going

Thought about dumping on the blog today, but don't feel up to it so here are some nice lyrics.

When you try your best but you don't succeed
When you get what you want but not what you need
When you feel so tired but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse

When the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone but it goes to waste could it be worse?

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

High up above or down below
When you too in love to let it go
If you never try you'll never know
Just what your worth

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

Tears stream down your face
When you lose something you cannot replace
Tears stream down your face and I
Tears stream down your face
I promise you I will learn from my mistakes
Tears stream down your face and I

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you
-Coldplay

Sweet Dreams are Made of These

Something I have never blogged about before. Last night I had a dream. It was such a strange dream that I thought I would share it with y'all.

I dreamt that I was engaged. Strange already. I wasn't engaged to any recognizable person from reality(no one that anyone would know). That being said, in the dream I knew who she was, but I did not really know her. I knew her about as well as you know an acquaintance. I don't even know why or how we met or got engaged. Stranger...

Since we had gotten engaged recently we had an engagement party in a non-descript house. Many of my family and friends were there. Some thought it was great that we were engaged while others weren't really sure that it was a good thing although she was a nice enough person. We weren't together a whole lot at the party initially. I was--in my dream--wondering why in the world I was engaged to a person that I didn't really know and decided that after the party I was going to break off the engagement. She was also a little unsure about this whole thing, almost like neither of us had decided to get engage.

Well, throughout the day(long party), we got to spend a some time alone and had a blast together. We found out that we had a huge amount in common and went quite well together. Because of this new information, I decided that I would keep the engagement on.

Then I woke up. This is one of the strangest dreams I have ever had. I usually don't remember my dreams either. So, y'all are welcome to make guesses as to what it meant. If you don't want to, just enjoy the rather odd story.

I'm in love

A snowboarder that laid down the biggest run in the Olympic games except for one snafu. Here is a story about her.

So what day is it

I was looking up information on Valentine's Day today in the wikipedia. As I was reading about the day I found that it was also Singles Awareness Day. Interesting.

Anyway, I am single for yet another Valentine's Day. I actually have only had one Valentine's Day of romantic significance in my life. This seems like it will be a depressing post, but I promise it won't. That day is a day that I look back very fondly on. The relationship was done shortly after, but now a few years later I look back on it with nothing but good memories.

Have you noticed that most everything in the past is in rose-colored glasses. I know I do. Even if when I am going through a rough period of life, I always look back on those periods remembering the fond times. And I enjoy doing that. It always brings a smile to my face. So as I go through this Valentine's Day, I will think about happy times and in the present enjoy chilling with my good friends of nowadays.

Reflections of a White Weekend

1. The Olympics started this weekend
2. I wouldn't mind being in Torino
3. I would need a passport for that, huh?
4. Oh well, I don't have the money anyway
5. I don't like tortuous situations
6. Haven't played chess in a while
7. Still way better than ST
8. A source has told me that ST has seen, by choice, First Daughter
9. Soccer in a ballpark...odd
10. Torino seems to be a pretty city
11. Did you know that the hymn 'Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken' is a rip off of the German national anthem?
12. Hymns are soooo lame, nothing original
13. I don't like Duke
14. Maryland needs a backcourt
15. Isn't laundry so fun?
16. I like to watch the Olympics, especially the halfpipe and freestyle skiing
17. Not the figure skating
18. You know who wins in figure skating, the ones with the reputation, not the ones that did the best
19. I like playing my guitar
20. The Fugitive was a good movie
21. They have to talk about figure skating even when none happened on that day
22. It snowed around 8 inches
23. It looks purty
24. It was nice outside around midnight with the snow falling and not many people out
25. I shoveled
26. Paper bags under doormats everywhere
27. I got lots of sleep
28. I love snow
29. It would have been fin to be in Central Park, New York where they got 27 inches
30. I survived by myself
31. When I spell-checked this, it asked me if I meant tornados when I typed doormats

What's in a Name

For the next couple of weeks, the winter Olympics will be held in Torino, Italy. Many people over on this side of the pond may know it as Turin, Italy, which has the Shroud of Turin. So, why do we have two different names here and which is right?

Well, Torino is the Italian name for the city. Turin in the English name that was given to it by the brits which carried over to the USA. This seems troubling to me. I can say Torino as well as I can say Turin. Why to we find it necessary to change the names of cities to what we may want? Why can't we just call their cities what their natives call them? This seems very egotistical to me.

Fortunately for the Olympics, NBC, who has the television coverage here in the states, is calling the city Torino. And I am going to enjoy watching the Olympics. Especially when they are in another country, you really get to learn about another culture. A great chance to maybe take a little bit of good ole American egoism out to lunch.

Now is it Munich or Meunchen...

Who is Found Out?

Last night the Grammy's were on. I try to watch the Grammy's every year. Even if I am not around, like last night, I tape them. Some people would ask why. I love music and I love listening to music. Last night U2 was the biggest winner with Kelly Clarkson, Kanye West, Mariah Carey and John Legend pulling in a good number.

The Grammy's have many live performances and by watching them you can see who actually has talent and also get to see some people perform together who usually wouldn't. Last night was no different and I enjoyed making many observances:
- Madonna again proved that she doesn't have any musical talent. By now they have gotten smart enough to cover up her voice as much as possible to try and hide the fact. She can gyrate though.
- Coldplay put on a good performance with Chris Martin venturing farther into the crowd than any other performer.
- U2 did a pretty standard version of Vertigo, but that wasn't the thing of note. They then did 'One' with Mary J Blige and it was just incredible. Still not sure whether Bono actually plays his guitar.
- Mariah Carey can just flat out sing. Wow. Also Randy Jackson of American Idol fame was in Carey's band playing keys and bass.
- Kelly Clarkson also has a good set of pipes on her delivering a slightly eerie version of 'Because of you.'
- They did a tribute to Sly and the Family Stone which Sly Stone came out for in the middle and left before it was over. Very odd.
- Ciara can't hold a tune. Well at least she has her 'Goodies' to give her a career.
- Somebody needs to get a message to Christina Aguilera that moving her mic like that just creates problems for the sound guy. No helping there.
- How is Keith Urban a country singer? He is just another singer songwriter that is marketed under a different label. Not a bit of country in the song that he performed.
- John Legend is pretty darn good.
- Bruce Springsteen needs to shut his mouth. Not every concert is a chance for him spray political propaganda. He needs to shut up and just play his music.
- Kanye West. What an incredible talent. He put on the most creative performance of the evening. The man in a creative genius whether it's in his music or performance. I don't like the man or his ego (not sure which is bigger) and disagree with most of the things he says and does, but his talent is undeniable. Too bad it's not being used for a greater cause rather than himself.

I Have a Beef...

...with oil companies. That's right, in recent news Shell and Exxon recorded record profits for 2005. Shell made $23 billion in profit and Exxon made $36 billion. This would be the same year in which gas prices skyrocketed. Seems to me that these companies were feeding us a pile of crap about their costs shooting up.

This bothers me due to the amount that I have been spending on gas. So I am going to do something about it. I am boycotting oil. No more. I am tired of feeding into these companies profit margin and getting nailed at the pump. I have no choice, but to do what any right wing organization does when there is something that they don't like. Boycott. I am sure that it will accomplish so much by me boycotting oil. In fact, I believe that by my singular boycott, I can bring these oil companies to their knees. Gas prices will surely drop from the outlandish $2.30/gallon that they are now, down to a much more reasonable 30 cents or so.

Anybody with me?

Reflections of a Uncliscious Weekend

1. Ikea is awesome
2. Chick-fil-A is delicious
3. Adventures are fun
4. Where is the grocery store?
5. Sometimes it is really nice to drive in the rain
6. Saturday afternoon drives are relaxing
7. If it had been colder we would have gotten snow...GRRR
8. I think my niece actually may have recognized me
9. I hope my brother did
10. Lasagna is a favorite food of mine
11. My brother's designing abilities are impressive
12. Why is it easier to see other's gift before your own?
13. Relaxing is nice
14. It stinks to be left out
15. It's good to see a friend that you haven't seen in a month or so
16. Super Bowl party food is good
17. It can make you sick though
18. I love cheese
19. I didn't throw my hat once
20. Great friends are a gift that you can't take for granted
21. I like to sleep
22. 'Lasagna' is not in the spell checker
23. Have a great week

And the real Super Bowl MVP is...

...the refs!!

Yes that is right ladies and gentlemen. You may have just witnessed the worst officiated Super Bowl ever. One in which the referees actually changed the outcome of the game by choosing to call penalties against the Seahawks that never existed and to not call penalties against the Steelers that were blatant.

You say, how do I know the outcome would have changed? Well, let me walk you through it. Pass interference on Darrel Jackson when he caught the ball in the end zone. Where was it? Evidently the Steeler corner who was holding Jackson's arm made it offensive pass interference. There is a disallowed touchdown. They got a field goal so that was 4 points.

The Willie Parker 75 yard touchdown run should have been disallowed because of the clipping and holding that was occurring at the offensive line. 7 points.

Ben Roethlisberger's run that was eventually called a touchdown even though the ball never crossed the plane. The oddest thing about this one was that the official ran almost the complete way into the pile holding one hand up signaling fourth down and at the very end, after running in from the sideline, signaled a touchdown. 4 points.

On the trick reverse to Randal El that resulted in a touchdown throw, the offensive lineman in front of Randal El dragged the defensive lineman down and no flag was thrown. Not to mention that the Steelers got to the Seahawks 43 yard line by a phantom 15 yard penalty on Matt Hasselbeck. They called him for an illegal block when he blocked no one. He made the tackle. 7 points.

Hasselbeck threw a pass to Jeremy Stevens at the one which would have set up 1st and goal. A holding penalty was called when no holding ever occurred. 7 points.

Those were the calls that mostly just affected points. There were a couple of other bad calls though. Like the one where Warrick had a 34 yard run and it was called back on a holding penalty that never happened. That is a 44 yard swing. Or towards the end of the game when Roethlisberger called a timeout after the play clock had hit 0. No delay of game.

The calls were incredibly bad so let's figure out what the score would have at least been. Instead of Pittsburgh winning 21-10, we have Seattle winning 28-10. Oops. And that is why the referees should be the Steelers Super Bowl MVP.

This is a black mark against the officials. Here are some other articles to read: ESPN and FOXSports

Plus, the halftime show wasn't very good either.

Is It Really XL?

This weekend is the Super Bowl. I enjoy watching the Super Bowl as I enjoy watching most championship games in sports. The Super Bowl seems to be the biggest one in terms of popularity in the US. This year the Seattle Seahawks are playing the Pittsburgh Steelers. It's a hard game to figure out, but my rooting interests are easily defined. Most of you know that I hold no love towards the Steelers. In fact, you may say that I don't like them at all. Also, the Seahawks have never won a Super Bowl as opposed to the Steelers' four. So I will definitely root for the Seahawks.

How about the commercials? I hope to see some inventive ones. I have gotten tired of animals. It's not creativity to keep going for the same laugh with animals. Let's see something I have never seen before. The GoDaddy.com commercial had to be edited 14 times before it was approved. The last year's one was inappropriate and shouldn't have aired. Let's hope this years isn't as bad or at least hope to miss it.

So who is going to win? This is a tough one. Seattle had the better season and was very consistent in playing well. The Steelers looked pretty weak for a couple of weeks but otherwise had a good season. The Steelers have looked like gods in the playoffs and their opponents have looked horrible. The Seahawks demolished a very good Panthers team. In the end, I think it will be a close game and come down to the last couple of minutes. I am going to say Seattle 29 - Pittsburgh 27. But I am usually wrong on these things and the Super Bowls are usually blow outs. Who knows?

Joyful Candlemas

Last night Duke University played Boston College in a game of men's college basketball. Now those of you that know me and my sports loyalties know that I can't stand Duke. There are many reasons why I don't like Duke, but one of them is that refs tend to favor them. It's how they are coached. They are coached to flop and act in certain ways as to get calls. They also have a reputation of being the most well coached team in the world although it hasn't been true for a long while.

Last night they won the game by two points. In the game they shot 24 more free throws than BC. That has direct correlation to how many fouls are called on a team. That was bad enough, but the worst part was the end of the game. BC had the ball and a BC played dribbled towards the basket to try to score. At the point one of the Duke players mugged him and knocked him to the floor. Did a whistle blow for a foul? Nope. In what was a clear foul, the referee did not do anything because it would have gone against Duke.

Man, does that irk me. Maybe they will be the first number 1 seed in the tournament to lose to a 16 seed. And I will continue my passionate dislike for Duke.

Ponderance

I've been left thinking 'Where do I belong'
Everything that's happened here seems now so wrong
I'm asking the questions I'm not sure I want answers to
In the searching I've found what I'm sure is true

When the flower blooms
When the spring birds tune
All the beauty in your soft warm face
Slowly brings everything into place

All I need and all I want is a paradox to ponder so
To know the end before the beginning removes all the mystery
What seemed so simple may be so wrong
What seems right may not be true
If there's anything I needed to know, it's not easy to see

When the flower blooms
When the spring birds tune
All the beauty in your soft warm face
Slowly brings everything into place

For you to be here is what I would love
Yet not knowing you isn't a reason to grieve
The asking question is so simple to make
It's prodding answer is hard to fake

Reflections of a Quiet Loud Weekend

1. I enjoyed 'The Terminal'
2. Relaxation is a very key word
3. It was nice to wake up around 11
4. Stages take way too long to setup
5. At least rehearsals go easily
6. Friends away skiing should have quite enjoyable times
7. People should call people back
8. Messiah's men basketball team came back and won
9. There were actually people at the game
10. Live jazz is nice and lovely to hear
11. Barbecue Chicken Pizza
12. I could use some good ole' fish n chips
13. 6.30 am is early
14. How did Dunkin' Donuts of all places figure out how to make decent coffee?
15. I need to not be such a perfectionist
16. Naps are wonderful
17. I know the person that was in the middle of the Intelligent Design debate in Dover, PA
18. Why are parents sometimes so impatient?
19. I am confused
20. Wouldn't it be fun every once and a while to act like Statler and Waldorf?
21. I don't always wear a wool cap because I am cold, sometimes I just like wearing it.
22. Ever feel eh, but can't pinpoint why you aren't doing just fine...

Larry the Cable Guy

Recently, I stopped my cable. Some inquiring minds may be curious at this development so I'll give a couple of reasons for it. First off, money is really tight and the extra few bucks a month will make it a little less tight.

That was reason, but I got to admit that it wasn't the main reason. The main reason was that I watched TV too much. It was controlling my schedule in a way. Now I never didn't do something because of a certain TV show, but I just had the TV on too much. This didn't allow for things such as reading books and going to bed at a reasonable time. I didn't like the fact that it had a bit of a grip on my life.

So I cancelled it. Now I get 6 channels all a bit fuzzy and then some weird church channel that doesn't really come in and I am glad for that because the channel scares me a bit. I think that it will be a good thing and free me up to read the 10 or so books that I have backlogged in my living room.

I will miss aspects of cable though. I'll miss most ESPN. I love sports. I love to watch and follow stats and other pieces of information. I am able to do this through the ESPN channels as well as FoxSports. No longer will I be able to do this and I have to admit that I will go through a decent amount of withdrawal. I didn't really think that it was a bad thing that I followed sports either. Anyway, I'll make it and I think in the end, this is a good decision for my well-being. Somewhere down the road, I am sure that I probably will get cable again, but that will be after I have created the good habits of doing many other things rather than watching TV.

I got Soul, but I am not a Soldier

Today I went for another one of the umpteenth interviews over the last umpteenth month of my job search. This interview was unlike any I had ever been on before. I was in 6 different mini-interviews with 19 different people. Now, I can talk fine with people and don't get nervous for interviews, but this was a lot to handle. It's not even that the interviews were hard, it was just a lot. It exhausted me.

I am not really sure how it went. I always talk well at interviews, but haven't had any luck getting a job for a while. So I am not sure that I interview as well as I may think. I wonder if people may be looking for different things than I present at an interview.

Hopefully this time I won't get one of those 'Thanks, but you suck and we didn't like you letters.'

Odd Things Can Happen at 1.30 am

Last night when I should have been sleeping away to dancing twiddlethumbs, I was still quite up. Maybe if I went to bed when I was tired I wouldn't have been up, but I threw logic to the wind. So the next question is why in the world was I up?

I had an epiphany of relaxation. I decided that even though I was tired, I wanted to play my guitar, write some stuff(inspired by a new show, Love Monkey) and relax. Music is very soothing for me and I always enjoy playing away into a world of sonic love and beauty.

It is an odd feeling to be completely relaxed and tired late at night and not wanting to go to bed. Have you ever had those times that you just didn't want to end. They usually involve doing something exciting that isn't done often. This was one of those times for me. It was very simple yet extremely enjoyable. I am very grateful for the time I had. Thanks God

Modern Day Holocaust

The anniversary of Roe v Wade occurred a couple of days ago. I know that this is a hot button issue in our society, but I am going to go here anyway. Do you realize that over 4 million babies have been murdered through abortions since the landmark Supreme Court decision?

I still can't remotely understand how our country has come to find this action to be legal. We have decided that if a person doesn't feel like having a baby, because it's too inconvenient, they are allowed to just kill the baby. What if I decided that I just didn't feel like to have someone around and decided to kill them for it? How would the country respond then? My butt would be in jail.

Try this one on for size. If a pregnant women is murdered, her murderer can be charged with a double homicide for the woman and the fetus, but a fetus can be aborted.

I am absolutely and passionately against this horrible act and believe that it is a huge mark against our modern day society. Hopefully at some point the country will realize what an atrocity this is and overturn it. As for now, all I can do is watch in horror and pray.

Reflections of a Great, Laborious Weekend

1. Ah, the PA turnpike
2. A hymn sing without hymns is an interesting concept
3. City Slickers is a good movie
4. I like sleep
5. Pizza with sausage is good stuff
6. I may have a frou-frou bone in my body
7. Sufjan (Soof-yan) Stevens is an amazing artist
8. No theramin
9. You should call people by their right name
10. I hate moving
11. I was glad to help the lackmeister move
12. Very tiring
13. I should just keep my mouth shut, keeps me out of trouble
14. Hors-Douvres
15. Darts is fun to play
16. I like talking to people
17. Divergent opinions are fun to discuss
18. Chili is good
19. Jerome Bettis' belly is disturbing
20. I don't like the Steelers
21. It was a fumble by the Steelers
22. I hope the Seahawks win the Super Bowl
23. Staying up is late at the time, but hurts later
24. Pitchfork
25. Not everyone likes to talk music
25. Not everyone likes to talk sport
26. Damon's wings aren't bad
27. Damon's atmosphere is great
28. Chilvary is not dead, but not many people want to hear about it
29. It's all about the Dr. Bob
30. Where has the snow gone?
31. Happy Bday to CT
32. Superswede
33. Maybe I'll write a song about #30
34. Ikea

Potential is Sometimes Worth Following

This week a show premiered on CBS called 'Love Monkey.' It has Tom Cavanaugh in it as a budding record executive. He goes around and spots what could be the next good musical act. He also has love life troubles, but that doesn't really matter for me. The music industry part is really what intrigues me. It was an enjoyable first watch, but could fall flat for me if it focused on love lives and not music. I hope they continue to add more music to the show and a better soundtrack.

One of the quotes that really struck me was this one:

I'm not a music snob. I just dislike bad music.

Many of my friends would consider me a music snob. But I am going to go with this quote, because it is really how I feel. I just like to hear good music. I don't care what kind of music it is. Music doesn't have to be in a certain genre for me to like it; it just has to be good. So if I am a music snob, fine.

The Beauty of Life

There is a lot of pain and suffering in the world, but there are also some beautiful things. SM posted one of them this morning in showing a beautiful sunrise. Nature's beauty is amazing. Another one of them is the creation of life. Nothing has been able to hurt the new life's feelings or damage their bones. There is just something wonderful and pure about a womb-living baby.

So in the world of pain, look at the joyful and simply stunning sides of life. They are there, we just have to look at them. And they will make your day better. This made mine better.

What a Bunch of Hogwash

This past weekend when Joey Porter, linebacker of the Steelers, was interviewed, he made some outrageous claims. He was sure that the officials were cheating for the Colts. He said that the NFL wanted the Colts to win and the Steelers to lose and so the officials made up a few calls to help the Colts out. This is a serious accusation. To claim that a game is being fixed by the league undermines everything in sportsmanship and fair sporting competition.

Every time another player or coach has said a similar thing, there has been a swift reaction. Fines, sometimes very heavy, are handed down. Without the integrity of the game, it just become wrestling where everything is fixed. Well, after this outburst by Mr. Porter, what did the league do?

Nothing! They decided not to fine him. Why, when even his coach called his comments ridiculous. I don't know, but I do know that it is outrageous to waffle on this instance. They should fine his happy butt.

Celebrations Galore

I just noticed that I have a post counter on my main login blog page. This is my 200th post. Wow, isn't that exciting? That's what I thought. I didn't find it to be very exciting either. Anyway, thanks for reading.

Shameless Promotion

Nice to listen to. Click here.

Steelers Fan are Such Whiners

As many know, I don't really like the Pittsburgh Steelers. This used to be simply because they were a rival of the Baltimore Ravens, but after today the annoyance has spread. I now no longer like Steelers' fans either. There are a very sparse couple here and there that I don't mind, but overall I don't like Steelers' fans.

Why you ask? They are such big whiners. I have had every Steelers' fan that I have run into today whine to me about the horrible reffing. Did they forget that their team WON the game? It has been non-stop and incessant. Wow, has it been annoying. Whether or not you have a point doesn't matter. Who cares what the reffing was like if you won the game. So please stop.

Reflections of a High School Weekend

1. It was nice to see a lot of snow
2. The stress ended Friday night
3. Fast food, yuck
4. Multiple fractures and a displaced ankle, ouch
5. I'm tired
6. I am doing well
7. The ski conditions on Saturday were horrible
8. It is always nice to get to know people
9. Especially ladies
10. I wish I had seen more snow
11. I don't like to wear glasses
12. Nothing like listening to James Brown
13. I got to play and sing
14. Mmm, coffee
15. Darn Steelers
16. The Patriots finally lost
17. The conference championship games seem a bit boring
18. Guess I should have been paying attention rather than talking
19. Job leads can fizzle so fast
20. Judgments shouldn't be made until you know someone
21. Seven Springs ski resort is a decent size
22. They got a pool, mini-golf, roller skating, bowling, shopping, arcading and a bunch of other stuff
24. I am so fallible, but still used
25. Too busy
26. I wish it would work
27. Kids take up a lot of time
28. We are here to be here for people
29. Darn shoulder
30. I'm rambling; I'll stop

"I always feel better after hugging a cow."

I Hate Stress

This weekend is a winter retreat for church. I am responsible for the technical side of things for the retreat as well as going as a leader. There have been many technical issues that have come up over this past week and it is just a huge headache. I don't even know if it will all work. Anyway it has been a huge headache hanging over the whole week. A retreat that I was looking forward to, I am dreading now. Now I shouldn't worry about it, but nothing is working out easy. Ugh! I dislike being around any forms of stress. Plus my life has been one big stress for the last couple of years. I don't need more. Oh well, somehow it will all work out and I should just calm myself.

Adding to the downer has been the weather. It is hitting 57 today and 58 tomorrow. These are temperatures that are 20 degrees above normal. I love winter and it stinks when the weather is so greatly out of wack. Snow, we need snow. Of course along with this is everyone rubbing my face in the fact that it is warm. They like warm weather so they are glad that the weather is out of wack. And of course they think it is so wonderful. Well, I don't think it is wonderful. I think it stinks. So there.

A Hick is a Hick

Monday evening I had the pleasure of visiting the Pennsylvania Farm Show. This is something that I had never gotten to experience before, but was told it was enjoyable. Now I grew up in the country and got to go to numerous county fairs that seemed to be similar but just on a smaller scale.

It was an experience. They have a food court that has a large selection. Any Pennsylvania food co-operative that you could think of was there. Apple people selling apple cider, potato people selling potato donuts, etc. I had heard good things about the milkshakes sold by the dairy farmers. I was definitely disappointed. Instead of a good milkshake that I expected, I just got soft serve ice cream melted a little bit. That's not a milkshake, so I won't get one of those again. The apple cider was delicious though.

Elsewhere they had animals ranging from goats to cattle to roosters. They also had an area where local family type businesses would sell their goods. This was the gold mine. For everyone to sell their stuff, they had samples for you to try. You could have a meal of all the samples. The chicken corn soup was especially good. It was enjoyable to try many different things.

In the main arena there is always an event going on. That night it was square dancing. After a couple of minutes of watching it and feeling completely like a hick, I left before I might think about buying a cowboy hat and some cowboy boots. Anyway an experience that I enjoyed and in a while(at least a year) I wouldn't mind checking it out again.

When The Tears Fall

I've had questions without answers
I've known sorrow, I have known pain
But there's one thing that I'll cling to
You are faithful, Jesus You're true

When hope is lost, I'll call You Saviour
When pain surrounds, I'll call You healer
When silence falls, You'll be the song within my heart

In the lone hour of my sorrow
Through the darkest night of my soul
You surround me and sustain me
My defender, forevermore

I will praise You, I will praise You
When the tears fall, still I will sing to You
I will praise You, Jesus praise You
Through the suffering still I will sing

-Tim Hughes

The Awesomeness of the Universe

This is from a cool site that I am sure many of you have visited. I think it's worth another visit. Click here.

Reflections of a Footballicious Weekend

1. It is nice to relax
2. Eli Manning stinks
3. I got my butt kicked at a computer game
4. My tree is bare
5. I slept in till late on Saturday
6. I don't like stress
7. This weather sucks
8. We had a cold December and now we haven't gotten away from highs in the 40s
9. I want snow
10. Somebody told me I should move north to maybe Maine or Canada
11. I got offended
12. I don't like how good the Patriots are
14. I am leading my fantasy playoff league
15. I like when other people make dinner
16. Soup is good in the winter
17. This would be a good day for golf
18. Lots of people were shopping
19. Farm show: good or evil?
20. It was very good stew
21. I got this cd
22. I want to get this cd
23. Or this cd (Strange and Beautiful)
24. Or this cd

Significant Insignificance

How big is God? Well He is big enough to create the entire universe which we can't even understand the size and wonder of it.

How big are we? Well, we live in a galaxy that is 100,000 light years across(light year=5.87 trillion miles). Our solar system is on the outer edge of the galaxy and if the galaxy were North America, our solar system would be the size of a quarter. In our solar system we are on one of 9 planets surrounding a sun 93 million miles away. Our planet isn't close to being the biggest of the planets and micro compared to the sun's size. 6 billion people live on our planet.

That is a really big God and a really small us. But what is incredible. God loves each of us more than we can even understand. Think of the deepest love you know and it still doesn't compare to how much God loves you. Is that not incredible? I don't even really understand it. Not even a speck of dust and we are treated with more favour than anything else in this huge universe.

Questions

As I explained yesterday, I have had a rough go at it lately. Now I don't like pity parties although I acknowledge that I do have them on occasion. I would also acknowledge that there are many other people in this vast world that have it worse than me. That being said, I am sick of life crapping on me. I also don't know whether or not it is an okay thought to have. Part of me says that we need to be grateful for what we have been given and that we should be fine with anything that comes our way. On the other hand, when bad things happen, it is natural to be worn down by them. That I believe is an okay response, but when it becomes an unhealthy response: I don't know.

Now the other part of this is God. I happen to believe that God is in control of everything, but I also happen to believe that sometimes life just happens to us. God lets it happen, but it still just happens. That means that there isn't necessarily a reason for why some things happen. There could be good brought out of it, but like I said before, sometimes life just craps on us.

But there are also many places in the Bible that say as Christians, God loves us very much and if we follow Him, blessings will fall. So if you love someone and you can do something about it, do you just continue to let crap happen to them? No. Then why is al this stuff happening to me. Why am I in a job I hate and is rotting my mind away? Why have I been rejected so many times during this job search? Why, when I was created as an extremely relational person, am I still single? Why is there no leading in any direction? For a God that wants to have a relationship with us, He is being awfully quiet. That's not a good way to build a relationship with someone. Lots of questions here, no answers.

In another realm, have a happy new year's. Enjoy the holiday and spending with whomever you are spending time with. I will not be blogging for the next week as I will be in Nashville from Monday to Thursday. Peace.

A Year to Forget

This year is coming to a close and as I look back on it, it has been a rough one. I'll try to not get to negative here, but it could sound like whining. Here are some things that have happened to me:

• My job search extended to 20 months
• I came down to the final two candidates in 4 jobs and was rejected every time
• My grandfather died
• I was alone for yet another year
• My car's brakes warped due to being pulled out in front of
• My muffler almost fell off
• I broke my wrist
• I got shoulder bursitis and possibly a tear
• I injured my achilles tendon
• The last three happened with no health insurance
• I was unable to give to others many times
• I saw a man get hit by two cars
• A trip to Germany which had been eagerly waiting for the last three years, I found out I wouldn't be able to go on

There haven't only been bad things. There have also been some good things. There haven't only been bad things happening though:

• I got to see U2 live
• I went to an NFL football game
• I get to go to Passion
• I got to go to the beach for a couple of days
• 3 good friends got married
• A couple of friends had kids
• Friends of mine found jobs
• Friends of mine bought houses
• I went to a couple of other concerts
• I was gifted a Christmas tree
• My brother got a promotion

Bad things happened to me, good things happened to friends. I just hope that next year doesn't have near the headaches that this year had. I hope that life doesn't crap on me as much next year. None of the above were in any particular order.

This is by no way a complete list. I am positive that I forgot some things good and bad that happened. So please don't get offended if I forgot something. This was just what jumped into my head today.

Grand Detail

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing King Kong. It was awesome. It was cinematic wonderment. Peter Jackson has such a great gift for showing pure beauty on the screen. Whether it's the sceneries that he chooses or the attention he pays to the digital effects. The movie was staged in the 1930s and with the attention to detail, you felt as though you were watching the 1930s live. I was completely drawn into the era.

The story was well written to not only bring you through to the end, but also to really make you care about the characters. It will do a good job of tugging at your heart's strings. The cast was well chosen with some of the highlights being Naomi Watts who does an incredible job playing Ann Darrow and can scream with the best of them. Adrien Brody does a good job of playing the nerdy scriptwriter. Jack Black, although not in his usual role, is serviceable.

King Kong was well done. The expressions that they gave his face and eyes were incredible. The effects were astonishing and the action sequences astounding. The face-off between the ape and TRexes was incredible. It was just an extremely well done movie that did not feel like it was 3 hours and 7 minutes long.

I jumped, I yelled in surprise, I yelled in fear, I cheered. I am not vocal at all in movies, but this one created vocal reflexes. It completely drew me in. Go see it. It is definitely worth the price of a movie ticket.

Reflections of a Four-Christmas Weekend

1. You can customize your order at Red Robin
2. Thanks SM
3. My shoulder hurts
4. I love my family
5. My antifreeze looks good
6. I have a new battery
7. Mmm, wings
8. I'm a meat-eater and proud of it
9. It is fun to laugh
10. It is even more fun to make people laugh
11. It is interesting hearing a joke repeated over and over and over...
12. The 8.15 church service is definitely early
13. One or two, but not all
14. Dad's side, immediate family without bro's family, Mom's side, immediate family with bro's side
15. Three big meals, three days in a row is too much
16. Cream cheese cookies
17. I haven't been to McDonald's in 6 or 7 years
18. 16 people around two dinner tables is a lot
19. The Ravens won
20. Is Boller good or not, he's starting to confuse me
21. I got a lot more for Christmas than I deserve
22. A family or two will get a goat and clean water
23. My niece loved the trains
24. I'm not a loser, but many times feel like one
25. Why is life's success or failure many times based on relationships and jobs?
26. Based on those two things, I am a failure right now
27. 6 days til I'm in Nashville for Passion '06
28. I had an absolutely wonderful time with my family
29. Church with a liquor license, interesting idea
30. 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' is my favorite Christmas show
31. My grandmother held up very well for this being the first holiday season without my grandfather
32. Ten Thousand Villages
33. Samaritan's Purse
34. To give is better than to receive

A Holiday Wish

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

To all of you. It is a special time of the season. Enjoy spending time with family and friends. Laugh, cry, smile, and express any other emotions that come. Let this be a peaceful and loving time of year. Here is a nice little Christmas story for you.

The birth of Jesus took place like this. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. Before they came to the marriage bed, Joseph discovered she was pregnant. (It was by the Holy Spirit, but he didn't know that.) Joseph, chagrined but noble, determined to take care of things quietly so Mary would not be disgraced.
While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream. God's angel spoke in the dream: "Joseph, son of David, don't hesitate to get married. Mary's pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God's Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus--"God saves'--because he will save his people from their sins." This would bring the prophet's embryonic sermon to full term:
Watch for this--a virgin will get pregnant and bear a son;
They will name him Emmanuel (Hebrew for "God is with us").
Then Joseph woke up. He did exactly what God's angel commanded in the dream: He married Mary. But he did not consummate the marriage until she had the baby. He named the baby Jesus.

Life, Hope, Peace

This is a song that was written by David Crowder and is on his most recent release. I need to set this song up for you so you get the idea. The song starts off with a machine beeping with the heartbeat and then getting slower, eventually flatlining as the person dies. I know...depressing. But there is hope in the song.

Are we left here on our own?
Can you feel when your last breath is gone?
Night is waiting heavy now
Be quiet and wait for a voice that will say

Come awake; from sleep, arise
You were dead; you’ve come alive
Wake up wake up; open your eyes
Climb from your grave; into the light
Bring us back to life

You are not the only one
Who feels like the only one
Night soon will be lifted friend
Just be quiet and wait for the voice that will say

Come awake; from sleep, arise
You were dead; you’ve come alive
Wake up wake up; open your eyes
Climb from your grave; into the light
Bring us back to life

Rise, rise, rise, rise, rise
Rise, rise, rise, rise...
Shine, shine, oh shine
We will shine; we will rise
We will shine, shine, shine

I want a hippopotamus for Christmas

Because of the wonderful ability to procrastinate that I have, I didn't start my Christmas shopping until this week. Monday night was the first time this year I bought a Christmas present. Some people would say that waiting this long is crazy, but I can assure you that for me it is quite normal.

Anyway, on to Monday night. It was an absolutely wonderful time. I had so much fun being out walking around looking at things and then buying for the wonderful people in my life. It was relaxing and the crowds have started to get a bit smaller. At one point I picked a nice cup of coffee while I was traversing to the next store that was on the list.

I, of course, had my santa hat on bringing smiles to everyone I'd meet. Tonight I get to go out again and hopefully will finish up my shopping and have as much fun as I have been having. Try to have fun this season. Remember that these traditions we have aren't meant to be torturous implements, but things to bring us joy. And enjoy seeing your family that you usually don't get to see.

My Favorite Christmas Song

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire
Jack Frost nipping at your nose
Yuletide carols being sung by a choir
And folks dressed up like eskimos

Everybody knows, a turkey and some mistletoe
Help to make the season bright
Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow
Will find it hard to sleep tonight

They know that Santa’s on his way
He’s loaded lots of toys and goodies on his sleigh
And every mother’s child is gonna spy
To see if reindeer really know how to fly

And so, I’m offering this simple phrase
To kids from 1 to 92
Although it’s been said many times many ways
Merry Christmas to you

Football

It's time to talk football of all nationalities. First we shall start off with American. My Ravens won a football game 48-3 last night. This was a great win for a team that has been doing so awful all year, but it creates a problem. When a team does poorly, changes in personnel should be made. Specifically for this team the quarterback and coach should go. But when a team win a blowout and a quarterback plays great for one game it creates a false sense of a good team. One game does not a team make great. Hopefully people won't be fooled and will realize that the team is still 5-9.

In the World Cup the draw for the final 32 teams took place a couple of weeks ago. The USA landed in a nasty group, but most likely not the worst group. This could be looked as horrible, but I don't think it is. I believe that it is a chance to gain worldwide respect. Many people dislike the USA soccer team throughout the world and especially in the US(Mr. Mind the Gapper). If the USA plays in a hard group and comes out of it with some wins, that will gain them some respect in Europe and throughout the world. So the team has a fantastic opportunity in this World Cup. And my early pick for the winner is that Holland beats Brazil in the finals.

Lastly the Champion's League draw took place last Friday. It ended up creating some difficult matches as well as some easy matches. It also pits what are quite possibly the two best teams in Europe against each other in the round of 16. That would be Chelsea and Barcelona. While this would be wildly entertaining, it is also a shame. With one of these team going out in the round of 16, it will make the trip all the easier for the eventual winner of the Champion's League. So I say, Go Chelsea!! although Rover would like me to root for Barcelona. (not gonna happen dude)

Reflections of a Buffalo Weekend

1. Snow, Snow, Snow
2. Riding in snow is not the funnest pastime of all
3. Subway can be a good dinner
4. We went through a beautiful ski resort town
5. I was really annoying
6. A drink to calm the nerves is good
7. What a beautiful house
8. I love open spaces
9. I really, really like wood fireplaces
10. Warm apple pie
11. Godlen retrievers are pretty
12. Throwing a flat football didn't work to well
13. Wegman's is the best grocery store I have ever seen
14. Their hoagies are okay
15. Alcohol is cheap in NY
16. I haven't started my Christmas shopping yet
17. Tailgating could be really fun
18. My experience was fine
19. The Buffalo Bills game was cool
20. Drunken behaviour is not fun to watch
21. The game wasn't very good
22. A guy ran on to the field and that was absolutely hilarious
23. It was cold, but not too cold
24. I love hot showers
25. There is something that is so nice about laying down near a fire and lit Christmas tree and dozing off
26. If only the previous comment included a nice, soft woman to snuggle with
27. I was told this weekend that I would make a yound lady very happy one day
28. Homemade sauerkraut can be very good
29. Thank you so much to S&J T
30. Thank you to Mr. Lackey for everything
31. Mr. Lackey's house is going to become a nice pad
32. It's nice to crash on a couch
33. I am very low maintenance
34. 6 days till Christmas and I am nowhere near ready

Gross Incompetence

Yesterday, we here in central Pennsylvania had a winter storm. This storm started off in the morning with some snow which amounted to about 2 inches. Then we got some ice which covered everything before it turned to a bit of rain. I was out and about till about 9 last evening. The roads were crappy then, but the precipitation was coming to an end. In fact, no more frozen stuff fell and I didn't even have to clean off my car this morning.

Well imagine my surprise when I cam out a bit before 9 this morning and the roads were absolutely crappy! Yes that is the case. PennDoT had around 12 hours to clean off the roads and they just sat on their duffs. That is completely ridiculous. Those roads should have been nothing but wet when I went out. It was even a few degrees above freezing.

Then I had something that happened that encourage my irritation towards PennDoT. I wa coming over a hill on my way to work and there lay in front of me a large patch of ice. Off I went a-spinning down the hill. There was oncoming traffic trying to spin up the hill. Fortunately, I went towards the side of the road and as I was doing my 180 I came to rest in a snow bank. Scared the dickens out of me. Due to my low speed, neither I or my car was hurt. I started my car, put it in first and drove off.

I am very thankful that things went the way they did. I have a feeling I had someone helping me out. It could have been a lot worse than it was, especially since there were cars on the road that I could have hit. Anyway, thanks to the Big Man Upstairs.

Off to Buffalo I go to see a Bills game. It is my first NFL game live and you can be sure to get a report next week.

Two Pink Golf Balls

Last night I experienced a common tradition, a white elephant gift exchange. Now I have experienced many of these and last night was nothing special. It has just given me an opportunity to talk about this strange phenomen.

There are many different ways to do this exchange. The general idea is that everyone draws a number so they have an order to go in. Then the first person picks a gift, the next person decides whether to take the first person's gift or pick a new gift. This goes on until the end. some variations are whether or not the first person gets to pick again after everyone has opened. Or the gifts may never be opened so they are chosen based on the packaging and not what is inside. You can limit the number of times a gift can be stolen. Rather than numbers, you can go by birthdays or last names. There are just so many options that can be done. I am sure there are many that I have never seen or forgotten.

Now the gifts can also be strange. Some people given nice things, some people give used things, and some people just go straight for prank-type gifts. Here are some of the classics that I witnessed last night. There was a pair of sparkly blue male briefs that made it out, they have been going around for a couple of years; a lion that was 4 feet long and two feet tall and had been around for at least 15 years; a pig that danced and sang 'My Girl'; SpongeBob Squarepants underoos; Butt Paste( Not sure what it was about and don't really want to know); a chili kit; and many others.

But last night I saw the white elephant gift to take all white elephant gifts ever. It was called Bubble Butt!! I have never seen something this great and funny. This is what it did. It was a man that was bent over with his pants down. Connected to the back of his legs was a grey bucket to hold the bubble mixture. Attached to his leg was one of those bubble things on a pivot. When you pushed a button, the bubble thing would dip down into the mixture and then raise up. It was at this point that air would blow out of the man's butt and create bubbles. Then repeat until you turned it off. One of the funniest things I have ever seen.

As for me, I just got a Mr. and Mrs. Potato head ornament.

I wonder what turkish delight tastes like?

This past Friday I had the pleasure of joining a few others in the watching of a little know movie called "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." I had been long excited about the coming of the film and was excited to finally watch it.

It was a wonderfully fantabulous movie. Overall, I felt that it was very well done. Whenever a movie is done from a book, I always have concerns. With this movie you don't have to worry about that. For much of the movie they stay very close to the story and never remove or add any major elements. They mostly keep it accurate even down to dialogue. This was a pleasant surprise.

The greatest strength of the movie was the cast. They did an incredible job with everyone. The white witch was cold, Aslan was regal although I didn't really fear him. Susan, Edmund and Peter all did very well at portraying their parts. Mr. Tumnus really made you feel happy and comfortable; yet at the same time torn with fear when he thinks about turning Lucy over. The beavers have wonderful character. They really spent some time trying to make the beaver's marriage real. The interaction between the two was loving, jovial and felt real.

By far though, the one that stole the show was Lucy. She drew me in. I never really wanted her to go off the screen. She was honest and innocent. I was just amazed how wonderful and honest her expressions were.

The CGI was fine. The advantage of having a CGI guy direct the film is that you have some excellent CGI which this film really relies on. The only time I felt that there was too much CGI was in the very beginning.

So go and see the movie. Enjoy the wonderful story that CS Lewis tells and the writers leave virtually unadulterated. Enjoy the beautiful scenery that is shown your eyes. Enjoy the cast that give you an honest look into their lives. And as a side note...can I adopt Lucy?

Opining Can Happen Sometimes

For the past couple of days, a fairly big news story has been Stanley Tookie Williams. He is the co-founder of a gang that was convicted of killing four people and sentenced to death. He was put to death early this morning.

I usually try to stay away from politics and volatile issues here, but I am actually going to venture into this one. I don't agree with the death penalty. I used to. And then I wasn't sure, but now I am sure. I just can't agree with a government choosing whether or not a person can live or die. It seems like God should be the only one who can take or give life. We can't give life so why should we choose to take life. What if we are wrong.

What is wrong with the option of putting the criminal away for life. That will keep the person off the streets and keep our lives safer. The person can choose to do something positive with their life in prison or not. That shouldn't change their punishment, but in the example of Tookie Williams, he did many positive things from behind bars.

I have a lot of trouble finding anything positive coming out of the death penalty. We are not God so we shouldn't try to play God. I know that many of the readers of this blog will most likely disagree with me on this. You are even welcome to leave comments stating why you disagree, but let it be known that this is a position that I did not arrive at lightly. Or an opinion that I throw around lightly.

Reflections of a Narnia Weekend

1. We got about 8" of snow and it is awesome
2. I don't mind driving in the snow
3. USA is in the near-Group of Death
4. Argentina is in the Group of Death
5. The US has a real chance to make a big impression in this next World Cup
6. I won't be going and it really depresses me
7. What is the catch to God giving us the desires of our heart?
8. I like surprises
9. I like free stuff, too
10. Narnia was awesome
11. I am so glad I went and saw it
12. I think I shall talk about it in more detail at a later time
13. Older people have so much wisdom
14. I hope to have that when I am advanced in my years
15. It is good to get together with one's grandparents and to just listen and learn
16. It is niced to be accepted
17. What is luv?
18. Seattle's Best coffee is good
19. Malls are too busy during the Christmas season
20. I have yet to begin my Christmas shopping
21. I have no free nights this week and a packed weekend
22. I like parties
23. I had a good wine on Saturday
24. Catching up with old friends, ah...
25. Some people don't like parties
26. Some people try monopolize other people at parties
27. Pretzels, cheese dip, roast and CT-wonderful combination
28. I haven't slept well for the past 4 or so nights
29. Good micing was done on Sunday morning
30. It is nice to be invited places
31. The Santa hat has made its appearance
32. We didn't talk about sex
33. I am not sure if I enjoy white elephant gift exchanges
34. I like nurses
35. "Snow Day" isn't a really good movie but has some really good memories attached to it
36. The Ravens lost again
37. On the road in the ACC is not as easy as on the road in the Big East
38. Congratulations to UMD who won the Division 1 soccer championship
39. I feel like Eeyore today

Miscellany

Yesterday was the anniversary of Pearl Harbor. I can't imagine the horror of waking up to explosions on your ship, but it must have been awful. Remember the wonderful things that our veterans and current military personnel have done for our country.

Today is the 25th anniversary of John Lennon's death. He was an incredibly gifted man whose musical relevance has not been matched by anyone else. The way that he and McCartney were able to write music that hit the nerve of what people wanted to here and adapt is incredible.

Here is a joke for you: (One that especially RK will enjoy)
Two muffins are in an oven. The first muffin turns to the second and says, 'It's getting hot in here.' The second then says, 'Hey, it's a talking muffin.'

Here comes Santa Claus

Every year, during the Christmas season, I break out my Santa hat. I have had this hat for years and probably for the last 5 or so, have worn it consistently. I started out wearing it every day between Thanksgiving and Christmas. For the past couple of years, I have cut back the start of wearing the hat until the second weekend of December usually coinciding with the TWB Christmas party.

This season I have not really been looking forward to the wearing of the hat. Because of this, I have been thinking about why I wear the hat. I started off wearing it because it was fun and original. Very few other people wear Santa hats around and walking around with a big red hat on your head takes a little bit of crazy. But anymore although this brings a bit of joy, it is not enough to motivate me to wear the hat. Other things have happened throughout the years that will motivate me to wear it. It seems to bring laughter and happiness to other people. By wearing the hat, people come out of the world a bit and will either smile at me or say hi. Kids love it and point excitedly and tell their mother that it is Santa. They don't care that a 28 year old guy with no white hair is under the hat. They're just happy to see the hat.

So this Saturday, I shall for the first time this season, put the hat on. I will wear it till Christmas and hopefully bring many smiles to other's faces. Plus I think my friends would lynch me if I didn't wear it.

Tis the Shortness of Life's Breath

This past Saturday night I was driving home from an enjoyable romp around Christmas Candylane with my mom and sister. I had just come off the highway and onto the secondary road near my street when the horrible events began to happen. There was a man that was trying to cross the three lanes and evidently didn't not look. Without describing too many gruesome details, the minivan in front of me tried to miss the man but was unsuccessful. The collision sent the man off the front of the minivan into the middle lane of traffic. My mind seemed to slow down into slow motion as these events were unfolding. As I brought my car to a stop, I saw this man just laying motionless in the middle lane as another car came along in the middle lane and hit and dragged the man under the front of the car for a few feet.

At this point I was in shock at what I just saw and didn't really know how to deal with it. I have never seen a person die in person. That last breath pulled from them in a final stroke of life's brush. And here was this man lying trapped under a car and not moving. In the midst of this shock, my mom was yelling at me to call 911. She yelled it a couple times at me before I was brought back to reality and got on the phone. She had basically already jumped out of the car to go over to see if there was anything that she could do. Some people were there and one of them, who seemed to be a nurse, was bent down on the ground checking the man out. Once I got on the phone I had been pulled out of my shock and was going about the business of giving the 911 operator as much information as I knew, while still trying to process what I had just seen.

After I got done with the phone and got out and was standing there watching the police and paramedics work. I was shivering and shaking and it had nothing to do with the chill in the air. It was strange and for the next couple of days when I talked about it, I would shake. In fact now as I write this, although I am not shaking a lot, there is still some.

We found out the the man had a pulse and was in a small part responding. I have found out through the news that the man is still alive and should make it although he is still in critical condition. This was fantastic news for me and those that were there. I would never like to see someone lose their life. Sometime though, I may have to witness that event.

I have tried to process this over the past couple of days. I figured that writing about this would help me. As time has past, my response has calmed down from the jittering that was happening for a while. I don't think I will ever fully forget this. I can't even imagine what it would have been like if that had been a family member or friend and the person had died.

To see in person, such a shocking moment is almost surreal. I hope that at some point I can react with the decisiveness and quickness of my mom. I would have gotten there in a few seconds, but what she did was incredible. It's people like that that can make the difference.

While we humans are incredibly durable, we are also fragile and life can be taken from us so quickly. There is something about the word breath to this. It is a simple thing, yet means so much more. It's almost as if as we breath our souls breath also. And as our breath leaves us for the last time, our souls follow suit. I am not sure what to do with this, but I can at least be thankful for every day of life that I am given by God. And my friends and family that have been given this same great gift. And pray for those around the world that are suffering. Whether from injuries and an accident like this. Whether people who are threatened by other humans. Or by humans threatened by disease and poor health.

Reflections of a "It was the Best of times; it was the Worst of times" Weekend

1. Having heard the Nutcracker 2.5 times, I am pretty tired of it
2. Drinking, smoking and sex is not all there is to life
3. All three of those are misused entirely too much
4. Smoking kills, DON'T DO IT!!
5. I am sick of headaches
6. It is not always fun to be a procrastinator
7. Mmmm, coffee
8. A friend moved closer, yeah
9. It is not smart to hike during deer hunting season
10. Cracker Barrel breakfasts are good
11. Their grits aren't
12. I got a Christmas tree and it was quite the surprise
13. If you can, visit Fresco Cafe for their wonderful food
14. Hershey's Christmas Candylane is pretty
15. Tomorrow I shall explain the 'worst of times' part
16. It snowed Saturday night
17. My first time driving in the snow this year with of course a bit of fun spinning
18. CS Lewis is a fascinating man
19. I sometimes watch football with a bunch of Ravens haters and that is tough
20. The Ravens won on a game ending field goal
21. My stupid driver's side window fell off of its track
22. I'm beat
23. I don't like it when my family and friends have to deal with bad things
24. I really really don't like Duke
25. They pulled a game out of their butt last night
25. Giving mechanics money is a necessary evil.

How Do You Start Off Your Morning?

Whenever I walk into work, I'm am guaranteed to hear two things: 'Hello' and 'How are you?' The first one is easy to respond to because you just have to say 'Hi' back. The second phrase though is a little trickier. My usual response is something to the effect of 'Fine, I guess. Nothing has happened yet.'

How should we start off feeling for the day? I guess the correct answer would be great, but that isn't really true for me. What is true though, is that the day starts off fine for me and depending on what happens it will go down or maybe a bit up. We could start off our days on a negative thought, but then many positive things have to happen for us to be happy. I choose to start off on a positive note, but not too positive. If it's too positive, and bad stuff happens, the fall could be hard, but if it's a bit positive, I at least start off happy.

I think it is important to start off happy. But I am also a cup half full kind of person. If we always expect the worse, we are never happy unless something good happens. If we expect good stuff, we can be happy unless something bad happens. Since I think many things don't fall in either the good or the bad, starting happy gives me more happiness.

Maybe I should start off great. Nah never mind. I am answering this question at work, which most of you know I love sooooo much. Not. I hope I didn't ramble too much.

The Women of Messiah College

I am not sure where this is going to go, but I'll try it anyway. As most of you should know, I graduated from Messiah College. What many of you may not know is that Messiah College may just be the center of the world for beautiful, available women. Okay this may not true and I may just find most women to be beautiful, but go with me on this one.

I was recently at Messiah in their student union to watch some football. (I only live about 20 minutes away and they have a big screen which is good for watching football.) While there for the few hours, I was reminded of all these women. They are still quite the lookers and remind me of my days there.

When I went to Messiah the male/female ratio was somewhere around 40/60. Because of this, us men had a wonderful with all these ladies. Well as some can attest to, my dating history while in college was quite pathetic. Why, you may ask? I am not really sure although it most likely was through fault of my own. With all that possibility, it would make sense to take advantage of the dating a little more often, but I didn't.

So when I go back to Messiah, I have mixed feelings. I think about the opportunities that I missed, yet all the other amazing opportunities that I had. I wasn't really sure that I had a point to this, but I have come across one in my ramblings. Don't live for tomorrow, live for today. If you have an opportunity or risk, take it. It may never come again. We only get to live this life once, might as well enjoy it. As many have said, "Carpe Diem"

November 29, 1975

Thirty years ago to the day, my parents got married. So because they have hit this milestone, I figured I would congratulate them in a public space. Thirty years is a long time. It is longer than I have been alive. Thirty years in love with one another through the ups and downs of life. They haven't always agreed, but they have loved. That is something that I only wish that something I will know and experience.

So how do they do it? Commitment. Tis an interesting word. The root is commit so let us look at what dear ole Webster defines it as: to pledge or assign to some particular course. In their case it was a commitment to each other. To love and honor one other till death do them part. That's not a commitment for a couple of years or until they get sick of making the commitment.

So many people nowadays treat marriage flippantly. Then when they come upon hard times, they just quit because they don't like it or don't want to try anymore. That's sad. I wonder if the same problems would be there if every day each person made a commitment to love the other and make the other happy. I don't think they would be worried about how happy they were if they were thinking of the other person and not themselves.

Anyway, here's to my parents for staying together for thirty years and let's hope for another 30 years or until God decides to take one of them home with Him. Also congrats to all the other marriages that have stood the test of time.

Reflections of a First Snowfall Weekend

1. That's right, it snowed; YAHOO!!
2. I love snow, so white and p-urty
3. Ah, to relax
4. I know a secret
5. I don't like migraines
6. It was a nice surprise to find out that my bro and fam were coming for Thanksgiving
7. Turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing, rolls, etc...hmmmm
8. I like when kids are old enough to interact with you
9. Football
10. The kick-off of the Christmas season which I am definitely not ready for.
11. It's been 9 points since I talked about snow
12. Congratulations to the Messiah soccer women for their first ever national championship
13. Congrats to the Messiah men for their fourth championship in six years
14. I believe I can now say 'Dynasty'
15. It is tough to do reflections for a four day weekend
16. I slept a lot
17. The Christmas decorations are up at my folks place
18. Fun was had by all, all weekend
19. People are much more pleasant to be around when they are happy
20. Duh!
21. I enjoyed Ocean's Twelve for the fourth or so time
22. I like steak
23. Pizza needs mozzarella, but it can survive with other kinds of cheeses if you put lots of meat on it
24. We are starting a new Christmas tradition
25. It took a lot of planning
26. "'C' is for cookie and cookie is for me"
27. I like model trains
28. I am currently reading 'Let Your Life Speak' by Parker J. Palmer
29. My mom is a big Eagles fan
30. There is a lot of misinformation floating around about stem-cell research
31. Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow
32. Billick and Boller must go
33. I did no shopping outside of grocery shopping this weekend
34. Highlighting an organization, Samaritan's Purse
35. 7x5
36. Work, work, work
37. I love leftover turkey

Thankfulness

So the day after I wax on about discontentment, I shall write about thankfulness. I am definitely not as thankful as I should be. For some reason, when times are tough I can over-focus on the reasons that times are tough.

But I am blessed with many things. I have a wonderful family that is always there to listen and support me in everything. Their love for me is incredible.

I have had breath everyday for over 28 years.

I have awesome friends with whom I can laugh, talk, party, study, cry, and just have fun with. That pretty much goes for my family too.

I have a roof over my head, food on my table, gas in my car, heat under my roof, and a phone to talk to those lovely friends and family with.

I have the use of all of my limbs. (This is now in there since I broke my wrist and loss use of it for a couple of months) These allow me to play sports and music with the joy and love I have for each of those things.

I have friends that are having incredibly good things happen to them.

I have the ability to read.

I have things that I am passionate about. Whether it be music, God, sports, or even very small rocks.

I have humor without which life would be very boring.

There are so many more things that I am thankful for. It is a good exercise to think about these things. In the next month I will see snow for the first time this fall/winter season. I will get to see an NFL game in Buffalo, and I will get to go to Passion '06. So smile and be of good cheer

Is it all it cracked up to be?

contentment
n : happiness with one's situation in life

This is a word that gets thrown around a lot. I have a question. Must we be content? I am not content right now. Is that a bad thing? I have been taught for years that it is. I am not sure anymore. The dictionary definition doesn't really seem to help. Although it doesn't seem like a big deal to go through periods of not being happy with one's situation in life. Everyone has times where they don't really like where they are. Of course except the one's that go through life with the golden spoon.

So is contentment a choice or determined by circumstances. On the one hand, we can control how we respond to things and even through a rough period, be happy. On the other hand, there are just some things that happen in life that would not make anyone happy. The correct response to these circumstances is to deal with them and not buzz through them merrily on your way, avoiding at every turn.

I don't know the answer, I am just not sure that how I've thought about contentment before is the correct way.

Reflections of a Wedding-rific Weekend

1. I don't like traffic
2. My muffler needs a little help
3. Harps are beautiful
4. I love German architecture
5. Sardines in a huge church is challenging
6. 'Herbie: Fully Loaded' is one of the top 5 or 10 dumbest movies I have ever seen
7. Penn State is in a BCS bowl game
8. Messiah field hockey lost in the championship game :-(
9. Messiah men and women's soccer teams advanced to their respective final fours
10. The weekend was beautiful
11. Mr. Lackey's sister got married in a simple but beautiful ceremony
12. I am so happy for her and her new husband
13. I wish them a long, healthy and God-filled marriage
14. The food for the reception was good
15. Mmmmmm, cheese
16. I danced the night away with 3 wonderful ladies
17. I love to have fun
18. I really believe that it is a gift and calling of mine to bring laughter to people
19. They didn't smash
20. I finally met all of the Lackey clan
21. I had a great time at the wedding and reception on Saturday
22. Anybody want directions?
23. Family meals are fun even when it's not your own family
24. I love lasagna
25. I like pie
26. It is nice to watch football on a Sunday afternoon
27. My Ravens won; pigs are flying somewhere
28. I love sleep
29. I was really tired last night
30. I just crashed and it was wonderful

Hawaii Five-O

Well, normally when I am told to do something, most of the bones in my body want to resist. Just the way I am. So when Mr. Mind the Gap told me to do the five things that he did, my first reaction was to not do it, but he is a pal of mine so I shall acquiesce.

Here we go...

Five Places I'd Like to Visit (to which I haven't already visited)

1. Germany
2. Italy
3. Colorado
4. England
5. Pacific states

Five Favorite Restaurants

1. The Firehouse restaurant
2. Primo Italiano
3. Appalachian Brewing Company
4. Macaroni Grill
5. Sweet Water Tavern

Five Sporting Events I Would Like to Attend

1. NCAA Final Four
2. Super Bowl
3. World Cup
4. Champions League Final
5. Winter X Games

Five People from History Are Having Dinner at My Place

1. My grandmother
2. CS Lewis
3. William Shakespeare
4. Peter
5. Ludwig van Beethoven

Five Things I Don't Know

1. Women
2. When I will get a job
3. What romantic love is
4. Why I am loved for the screw-up that I am
5. Why some people get crapped on and others get blessed beyond belief

And it is time for me to tag someone. Drum Roll please...
LINDY GAL!!!

These are a Few of my Favorite Things

College Basketball is upon us. For those of you who don't know, college basketball is my favorite sport to follow. I am a diehard Maryland fan and with that also comes a diehard dislike for Duke. Anyway, I just really enjoy the passion of college sports and I love the journey to March Madness that college basketball has.

If Penn State wins this weekend against Michigan State in football, they go to a BCS bowl game. This would be a great accomplishment for a team that was really bad last year. I am still not sure if JoePa is the right person for the job, but the winning shall parlay that feeling for a bit.

One person I know is not the right person for the job is Brian Billick. He has coached the Baltimore Ravens into crapdom this year. It takes talent to take a good team and make them bad. He needs to go.

In totally unrelated news, a friend of mine is getting married this Saturday. I am so happy for her. She deserves it. I really do take joy in other persons' happiness. It lifts my day to see something good happen to someone else.

Ground control to Major Tom...

Sunrise, sunrise, looks like morning in your eyes

"If a man loudly blesses his neighbor early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse" (Proverbs 27:14). Take that you happy morning people. I don't like mornings. I don't like alarm clocks either, but it is the culture that I live in so I shall learn to deal with it. I had never known of the existence of the verse in the Bible, though. Very fascinating.

Related a bit is an observance that I had on Saturday morning. I rarely see the sunrise, but certain events caused me to be up and on the road before the sun rose. The interesting thing about it though was that it was already fairly light out before the sun rose. This is very much different from a sunset. It's indicative of light and darkness.

When light invades darkness, everything is immediately light. Yet when darkness invades light, the light holds on till it is snuffed out. Look at the sunrise where light has already chased away the darkness before the actual sunrise, but if you watch a sunset, you can still see light in the far west even though everywhere else is dark. I just found this interesting.

In other news, job searches suck. Mine is going on 19 months.

The Beauty and Skill of Songwriting

This past Saturday I had the privilege of seeing Jeff Tweedy. He is the leadman of Wilco. Opening for him was Glenn Kotche. He is the drummer for Wilco, but also has some side projects involving experimental drumming and percussion. He was very entertaining to listen to although some of the songs he did ran for at least 10 to 15 minutes. That was a little long for me. He was very talented and not afraid to be unconventional.

After he was done, Jeff Tweedy took to the stage. It was just him with his guitars. It was wonderful. As I have stated before, I have an affinity for stripped down performances and music. Especially when the person really interacts with the audience. Jeff Tweedy really was engaging. It was good to hear. He has definitely had a checkered past. He was in rehab for drugs a little while back, but has cleaned himself up. He definitely let everyone there know that drugs were not the smartest things to do.

His music was simple and he wasn't the greatest musician. That being said, he is a fantastic songwriter. It was a pleasure to listen to. The way he could weave lyrics and music together was an enviable thing. So although I would not recommend him for his beliefs or lack there of, he is definitely a man of talent that is using his gifts to bring smiles to many people's faces.

Reflections of a Music-Filled Weekend

1. I love music
2. I am glad that I am used despite myself
3. Does Josh McDowell only give one talk?
4. I like Superchick
5. I've taken some flack for that
6. The sound guy wasn't very good
7. It is wrong to wake up at 6 am
8. It is wronger to wake up at 6 am on a Saturday
9. The Icon band did a good job
10. I like to watch football
11. Jeff Tweedy was very good...more to follow
12. I don't mind walking if it saves me money
13. It is fun to hang out with the guys
14. Two concerts in one weekend is awesome
15. They were both free
16. Free is MTG's favorite word
17. Sunday was striped shirt day
18. It was good to talk to you, JS
19. Watching the Ravens with a bunch of Ravens' haters can be annoying
20. I won at darts...
21. Then lost
22. All of Messiah's teams advanced in the NCAA tournament
23. I have a secret obsession
24. I need to learn to go to bed rather than falling asleep on the couch
25. College basketball season is starting up
26. Congrats to one of my friends who recently started dating

Veteran's Day 2005

First off, thank you to the men and women who serve in our military. They sacrifice their lives for our freedom. No matter whether or not you agree with the current situation, we should always be thankful for these people's work. They don't make the decisions, they just try to protect our country.

As to why today is Veteran's day, I have the trivia answer for you. On November 11, 1918 at 11am Germany surrendered to end The War to End All Wars. That is why November 11 is Veteran's Day. It is sad that the human condition is what it is and that World War 1, as it became to be known, wasn't the last war. We have had many more. Whether or not you believe that war can be necessary or not, it is a horrible thing. Let's hope and pray that this century is not as bloody as the last one.

Anyway, I am very thankful for the freedom that I have been given in this country. The freedom to worship as I please. The freedom to disagree with people. The many other freedoms that are too numerous to name. I owe all of these to the people that have fought for this countries freedom since the Revolutionary War.

THANK YOU!

Can't We Just be Friends?

Over the last couple of days, I have had some very nice times with friends. First off, on Tuesday night I hung out with three other gentlemen. We played a game for a couple hours. I really enjoyed my time. It was nice to just hang with a couple guys. We had as much fun conversing and we did playing the game. To all the gentlemen, Thank you very much.

Then last night a friend came over to my place. We all have those friends with whom it is very easy to talk with. He is one of those for me. Anyway, he didn't leave till about quarter of 1 in the morning. We talked about a myriad of subjects. He offered me some thoughts, I offered him some thoughts. Just so enjoyable to be able to truly share with no pretenses. So many people we meet, we feel like we have to put on a show and not let them see the real us. It is so nice just to be real.

Anyway, I am very grateful for these two instances. All of these people along with many others are true blessings in my life. I do not thank God enough for them. I have noticed that when I have big trials going on in my life, I tend to ignore the small blessings. I can easily see them when things are well, but they can get overshadowed. If you are the same way, look for those little blessings that you sometimes take for granted.

I love relationship and community.

The Whys of Kids and Adults

Why is it that when adults are around kids they cease to be able to act like adults?

I was at a birthday celebration (for an adult) over the weekend and there were a few young children there as well as many adults. Now usually when I am around adults I like to talk with them about adult things. I quickly learned though, that this was a hopeless goal. What I didn't realize was that once the kids were there, the adults no longer functioned normally. Rather than talking intelligently about things, all they did was watch the kids. Even when they weren't playing with the children, everyone would still watch them. Starting up even the simplest of conversations was impossible.

Before I go on, let me say this one thing. I like kids. I enjoy interacting with them. I have nothing against kids. I love their innocence and joy, but back to the issue at hand. The children shouldn't be ignored, yet they shouldn't turn all the adults into robots that have lost any sensory perception not involving the youngins. It isn't even the fault of the children.

So what is the solution. I don't know. It's not to try different adults. These were friends that I have very enjoyable times with when kids are not around. Let's just hope that adults can learn that you can enjoy children and still have adult responses when around them.

Reflections of a Lost Voice Weekend

Unlike ever before, this reflections is dedicated to Mr. SM (mind the gapper) who is turning 30 today.

1. Happy Birthday dude
2. I like pizza
3. It was nice to see some certain Lancaster county college friends
4. I don't think that 'Matrix Reloaded' comes close to the first 'Matrix'
5. Penn State won big
6. It was my niece's first birthday party
7. The cake was good
8. I saw my folks 2 weeks in a row
9. That's rare
10. Chick-Fil-A is good
11. Messiah men, women, and field hockey won the Commonwealth Conference championship
12. Messiah men were ranked number 1 wire to wire in the national poll
13. It's interesting watching a bunch of white people try to dance to Latin music
14. My Ravens looked truly bad
15. GK Chesterson is becoming very popular to quote
16. 'Mind the Gap' and 'Rover' met each other
17. Some friends had a bouncing baby girl on Saturday
18. Congrats T & JB
19. Passion '06 is coming
20. I have had a resurgence of playing FIFA '99
21. Sometimes when you give a lesson, you never know if anybody's listening or paying attention to you
22. I hope to make an impact in these kids lives though
23. Pit is fun to play unless you don't have a voice
24. I was in the new superGiant
25. It's huge
26. All its special stuff is close on Sunday night though
27. Pretty much all of central PA closes early in the evening, even on weekends
28. It is not very mature to ignore people
29. Friends joy really brings me joy
30. The female form is a beautiful thing
31. Thank You, God

I Lost my Voice

Tonight was the Messiah/Etown conference championship game. They played in the regular season last week and Messiah won, but this time it was for the Commonwealth Championship. Etown came to play. Realistically their only chance to get into the national tournament was to win the match. Messiah was basically in from not having lost all season.

For much of the game it was scoreless. Both teams had chances, but neither could put the ball in the goal. Etown was definitely playing with more urgency. Messiah didn't look bad, but they didn't seem to care too much either. I was disappointed in this fact. With about 12 minutes to go, a Messiah player was mugged in the box giving us a penalty. The Etown goalie made a fantastic save, but alas the ball bounced off the goalie to be put away for the 1-nil lead.

All Messiah had to do was to just hold the lead for 12 minutes. They were doing fine until a corner came for Etown with under a minute left. As the corner went in, the Messiah goalie was mugged, but the foul was not called. In the same play, a Messiah defender hit the ball with his hand. It was deemed by the referee to be intentional. This caused two things. First the Messiah player got an automatic red card and secondly, Etown got a penalty shot. With 23 seconds left in the game, the score was tied up.

This was bad. Not only would we go to overtime, but Messiah would have to play with only 10 men. At this point I was hoping that Messiah would just hold on till penalty kicks came about. The OT period started and Messiah was just trying to keep pace with Etown. Being a man down was a real hindrance, but they played the vaunted 4-1-4 formation. Two and a half minutes into the period a Messiah player got free down the sideline and Etown did not react. The ball was sent to him and after a couple of quick moves across the box, he drained the ball into the net. MESSIAH HAD WON!!! Etown made their first huge defensive mistake and it cost them the game. Why they did, I will never understand. Anyway, the Messiah faithful exploded into cheering. The team was also very elated. For the next ten minutes or so the cheering didn't really cease for along.

A great game to watch although very nerve-racking. Thanks to Rover, Brechty, N, and SM for the wonderful company. We won!! It made me very happy.

Keytars, Mario, Grieving, a Hoedown and God

"i have never wept like i have wept these past 3 days. i am sad and pissed and grateful. mostly grateful. grateful for every second kyle was given and so thankful for the way he used his time with us."

This was the backdrop for last night's experience. These words were penned by David Crowder. It was part of his reaction to the losing of a best friend. Kyle Lake. This is incredible vulnerability. And it's always there. Not just in horrible situations. You can hear it in his voice when he sings, read it when he writes. An honesty that is refreshing.

Last night I went into downtown DC to Lisner Auditorium to see the David Crowder Band play live. It was 4 days after a dear friend of theirs had died. I was wondering how this would affect the performance. It was involved in that they acknowledged the grief, but it did not overcome them. This is how they approached it. "Death is swallowed up in victory...We Win!"

Quick review of the opening acts. The Robbie Seay Band was good. Shane & Shane could have left the building. They were okay at best. And then David Crowder came out. They rocked the joint. They seemed to enjoy themselves too. It was loud. It was boisterous. It was fun. At one point for a song, they broke out the keytar. I had hoped that after the 80's passed, I would never have to see one again, but alas I was wrong. I survived though and even got to hear the Super Mario Bros song as my reward.

They were tight musically and loose interactively. I was very glad that I went for the show. We even managed to have a hoedown at the end. I HATE bluegrass. So when I heard that the David Crowder Band had included a couple of bluegrass tunes on their latest recording I was a little concerned. It was bluegrass unlike any bluegrass I had ever heard before. It was funny to watch and not too bad on the ears.

Great night, great music from a real group of guys, not guys that have everything together and expect us to.

It's Been a Little While

I really enjoy nature. It has been a bit since I last talked about it. But today is for fall. It is beautiful. The changing of the leaves that you can see across rolling hills is just so nice. The air is cool. Today was especially beautiful. Nice cool temperatures and a brilliant orange sunset. Wow!

So, I love the outdoors. Thank God for nature today.

Addition to Reflections

Forgot to mention on Monday. Messiah beat Elizabethtown in soccer 1-0 for the Marshmallow Cup. This is the best rivalry in NCAA Div 3 soccer. A very rabid rivalry. We don't like them, they don't like us. So I was very excited to see that Messiah won. They may meet again this weekend in the MAC championship. This time at Messiah.

Sports Loyalties

When do you wish for other people to feel bad? Competition. Especially when rooting for teams that are playing each other. Last night I was watching the football game with a person that was rooting for the other team. Guess what? It was annoying. I love watching sports with people, but there is nothing like have your team fail and the other people be completely happy in your team's failure and your misery.

Isn't that weird? We are happy when others are miserable. If my team had won, I would have been rejoicing at my friends sorrow. How backwards is that? I happened to notice last night because I was the sad one. When my team threw the ball for an incomplete pass on the last play of the game, I was sitting there with my hand between my head and next to me was a person celebrating in their fortune and my misfortune.

I don't really have a point to make here, just that it is a very strange phenomenon.