I just had a short shot of whiskey. Now my head is lighter. I don't like it when that happens. I should have eaten lunch.
The Thanksgiving holiday was very good to me. I was able to spend very good time with my family, specifically parents and brothers, whom I do not get to see as often as I would like. I taugh both my brothers and my wife how to play SW minis...and all three of them crushed me. Seriously, I lost four times.
But then I beat Kevin on Sunday, which was nice, because Kevin is a brilliant strategist. We win or lose entirely based on dice rolls, which is different from my other losses because...wait a minute! I only lost those games because of poor dice rolls too! Damn! Maybe the answer lies in buying a bigger army...
In other news, the job hunt has begun. I officially applied for my first job a week ago, but haven't heard anything.I will soon be taking the sage advice of Jessi and Keith by trying to network into a job, rather than resume my way into one. No one gets hired locally around here with a resume--it's all who you know and who knows you. Prayers in this area are greatly appreciated, as job hunting is a great stress builder.
With the advent of winter break, the band is supposed to be practicing more. We'll see if that comes to fruition. We'll most likely play our first show, prepared or not, sometime in January or February. Right now we still have the same material, but I have been slowly working on new stuff. We'll be putting together some covers soon, but of what I do not yet know.
Ok. That is all.
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
Thursday, November 11, 2004
SW Redemption
So, I saw the new Episode III trailer last night. It looks really, really good. I am surprised. My faith is being restored. This is the one movie that no one (but Lucas) could screw up. It is the one move that we've waited this whole time for--the first two were just publicity stunts leading up to this grand Darth Vader moment. Bring on May '05. Nerds unite!
ps: was that an army of Wookies I saw?!!
ps: was that an army of Wookies I saw?!!
Tuesday, November 09, 2004
Monday, November 08, 2004
Inflamatory Material--read at your own risk!
So, here's a snippet from "Falwell Confidential," which I receive, though I'm not sure how I got signed up. (I like to keep the subscription, just to keep tabs on ol' Jerry.) This is the kind of stuff that distresses me, because it's civil religion--deliberately associating love of Jesus with a specific political agenda. Civil Religion is heresy. We should be political, surely, because we are given that right in this country. But as believers in Jesus' death and resurrection we are first citizens of his Kingdom, then citizens of earthly kingdoms. There's my first cent. My second cent is that Falwell quotes a verse at the bottom of his essay that I believe is popularly misquoted in this country by evangelical and fundamentalist Christians. God was talking to His people Israel, not his people the Americans. At best, God's promise applies to all of his children through Jesus, including we Gentiles. But it doesn't apply to nation-states.
Have fun. And please, post your reaction, if you can slog that far.
From: Jerry Falwell
THE LEFT THREW ITS BEST PUNCH... AND FAILED.
Tuesday’s re-election of President George W. Bush and the election of a number of new conservative lawmakers across the nation astonished liberal newsmen, pundits and handlers who, hours earlier, had believed allegedly rigged exit polls and were confidently whispering that a new mandate was going to sweep the nation.
So what happened? After more than 25 years since I formed the Moral Majority and began mobilizing evangelicals to participate in the political process, I actually realized the fruit of my labors nationwide as Macel and I watched the election returns into the early hours of Wednesday. I could not hold back the tears of joy. Hour by hour, we observed a "slam dunk" as the Church of Jesus Christ made the difference in initiating the return of this nation to moral sanity and the Judeo-Christian ethic.
The so-called political experts had forgotten to count a significant voting bloc, namely the millions of evangelical voters who went to the polls in droves to “vote Christian.” Dan Rather, Peter Jennings, Tom Brokaw and Chris Matthews started Tuesday night with the firm belief they were presiding over the demise of social conservatism in America.
I’m not suggesting that we elected a bunch of fire-and-brimstone evangelists to office this week, but Christians collectively determined which candidates most closely held ideals that parallel our own biblically-based moral values and we went to the polls to support those candidates.
I believe evangelical Christians are about 33 percent of the electorate today and are as powerful a voting bloc as there is in this nation. The so-called mainstream media will never give the proper credit for what we accomplished this week, but the fact is that evangelical Christians joined together in spirit at polls across this nation and are the reason a record 115 million persons actually voted. This was the most exciting day politically since the same day in 1980 when we first arose to sweepingly elect President Reagan to the Oval Office.
I saw this coming weeks before the election and tried to hearten believers through my columns by recounting the incredible energy I witnessed among Christians in my many trips across the country. There was a palpable vigor among believers who could hardly wait to charge to the polls on Tuesday. Thousands of pastors were stirring their congregations to distinguish the issues, know the combatants and be geared up to vote.
And boy, were they!
We should all feel a sense of accomplishment and thankfulness to God for blessing our efforts. We must never forget that people of faith in this country, joined by political and fiscal conservatives, successfully withstood Hollywood, Springsteen, Affleck, Baldwin, the Dixie Chicks (now called the French Hens by some), billionaire George Soros and his ilk, all the 527s, most of the national print and broadcast media, the gays and lesbians, the abortionists, the entire liberal establishment... and about $2 billion of hate-inspired media and campaign expenditures.
The left threw its best punch and George Bush and social conservatism are alive and well. To God be all the glory!
“If my people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (II Chronicles 7:14).
That verse is more powerful than any exit poll. And it will sustain us against any rising political tide that seeks to counter biblical morality, if we remain true to that verse’s unique guidelines.
Have fun. And please, post your reaction, if you can slog that far.
From: Jerry Falwell
THE LEFT THREW ITS BEST PUNCH... AND FAILED.
Tuesday’s re-election of President George W. Bush and the election of a number of new conservative lawmakers across the nation astonished liberal newsmen, pundits and handlers who, hours earlier, had believed allegedly rigged exit polls and were confidently whispering that a new mandate was going to sweep the nation.
So what happened? After more than 25 years since I formed the Moral Majority and began mobilizing evangelicals to participate in the political process, I actually realized the fruit of my labors nationwide as Macel and I watched the election returns into the early hours of Wednesday. I could not hold back the tears of joy. Hour by hour, we observed a "slam dunk" as the Church of Jesus Christ made the difference in initiating the return of this nation to moral sanity and the Judeo-Christian ethic.
The so-called political experts had forgotten to count a significant voting bloc, namely the millions of evangelical voters who went to the polls in droves to “vote Christian.” Dan Rather, Peter Jennings, Tom Brokaw and Chris Matthews started Tuesday night with the firm belief they were presiding over the demise of social conservatism in America.
I’m not suggesting that we elected a bunch of fire-and-brimstone evangelists to office this week, but Christians collectively determined which candidates most closely held ideals that parallel our own biblically-based moral values and we went to the polls to support those candidates.
I believe evangelical Christians are about 33 percent of the electorate today and are as powerful a voting bloc as there is in this nation. The so-called mainstream media will never give the proper credit for what we accomplished this week, but the fact is that evangelical Christians joined together in spirit at polls across this nation and are the reason a record 115 million persons actually voted. This was the most exciting day politically since the same day in 1980 when we first arose to sweepingly elect President Reagan to the Oval Office.
I saw this coming weeks before the election and tried to hearten believers through my columns by recounting the incredible energy I witnessed among Christians in my many trips across the country. There was a palpable vigor among believers who could hardly wait to charge to the polls on Tuesday. Thousands of pastors were stirring their congregations to distinguish the issues, know the combatants and be geared up to vote.
And boy, were they!
We should all feel a sense of accomplishment and thankfulness to God for blessing our efforts. We must never forget that people of faith in this country, joined by political and fiscal conservatives, successfully withstood Hollywood, Springsteen, Affleck, Baldwin, the Dixie Chicks (now called the French Hens by some), billionaire George Soros and his ilk, all the 527s, most of the national print and broadcast media, the gays and lesbians, the abortionists, the entire liberal establishment... and about $2 billion of hate-inspired media and campaign expenditures.
The left threw its best punch and George Bush and social conservatism are alive and well. To God be all the glory!
“If my people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (II Chronicles 7:14).
That verse is more powerful than any exit poll. And it will sustain us against any rising political tide that seeks to counter biblical morality, if we remain true to that verse’s unique guidelines.
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
Smattering
I'm finding myself deflated after all this election stuff. I didn't honestly think I was that invested in Kerry, but I find myself feeling strangely helpless now. I guess I had a strange hopefulness, but I'm not sure in what. I am reminded that God always knows what's going on...even if his children don't.
I wish that I felt like Bush was truly pro-life, rather than just anti-abortion. I wish his cabinet didn't give me the creeps. I wish that conservative Christians across the country could see the world and could see history, rather than just here and now. Local moral issues are incredibly important, but not to the negligence of equally important global moral issues. Um, like war for example, or an uncounted number of civilian Iraqis as combat collateral, or the global financial oppression instigated, sponsored, and currently endorsed by the US through our loans to poor Third World nations.
Why is it so hard for most Christians (who are supposed to be the witnesses to and bearers of the revealed, relentless love of Jesus) to reconcile meeting, knowing, and loving homosexual people while maintaining that homosexual behavior is morally sinful? I think we do not know what sin is. I think we do not know what mercy is. God, please help us.
What if the solution to the problem of abortion lies not in making the act illegal, but in addressing the issues that influence women to choose abortion in the first place? Which option is filled with love? Which option hurts more and requires more of us personally? Which disallows self-righteous isolationism and condemnation?
Humanism is morally bankrupt and founded on faulty, idealist thinking.
If I could get many people to join the Socialist party with me, I think I would do it. Enough to shape it (whatever it is) into something wholesome. Or maybe the Green party. We need a strong third party in this country. One that bridges the gaps between the folly of the parties we have currently. One that could represent a true pro-life agenda, have a solid moral understanding, and love all people too. One that recognizes capitalism as being the great inequalizer. One that can vilify the juggernaut greed monster on corporate and local levels. One that recognizes that no one can serve both God and money. I know politics are never the eternal answer, but I think I might be about 50% actually into this idea. I wish I had trustworthy people to talk with about it. How about it? Anyone up for some dialogue here?
I wish that I felt like Bush was truly pro-life, rather than just anti-abortion. I wish his cabinet didn't give me the creeps. I wish that conservative Christians across the country could see the world and could see history, rather than just here and now. Local moral issues are incredibly important, but not to the negligence of equally important global moral issues. Um, like war for example, or an uncounted number of civilian Iraqis as combat collateral, or the global financial oppression instigated, sponsored, and currently endorsed by the US through our loans to poor Third World nations.
Why is it so hard for most Christians (who are supposed to be the witnesses to and bearers of the revealed, relentless love of Jesus) to reconcile meeting, knowing, and loving homosexual people while maintaining that homosexual behavior is morally sinful? I think we do not know what sin is. I think we do not know what mercy is. God, please help us.
What if the solution to the problem of abortion lies not in making the act illegal, but in addressing the issues that influence women to choose abortion in the first place? Which option is filled with love? Which option hurts more and requires more of us personally? Which disallows self-righteous isolationism and condemnation?
Humanism is morally bankrupt and founded on faulty, idealist thinking.
If I could get many people to join the Socialist party with me, I think I would do it. Enough to shape it (whatever it is) into something wholesome. Or maybe the Green party. We need a strong third party in this country. One that bridges the gaps between the folly of the parties we have currently. One that could represent a true pro-life agenda, have a solid moral understanding, and love all people too. One that recognizes capitalism as being the great inequalizer. One that can vilify the juggernaut greed monster on corporate and local levels. One that recognizes that no one can serve both God and money. I know politics are never the eternal answer, but I think I might be about 50% actually into this idea. I wish I had trustworthy people to talk with about it. How about it? Anyone up for some dialogue here?
Monday, November 01, 2004
So tired...
So, I've decided I'm not going to vote. After all this talk about getting out the vote, vote mobbing, rocking the vote, the incessant prerecorded phone messages I keep getting, and the pounds and pounds of mass mailing---I'm just not voting at all. Screw the presidency, screw Ohio Issue 1, screw Athens Issue 2. And whatever local elections there are on the ballot, screw those too. I've had enough. I'm not going to take it anymore. I'm going to crawl back into my American luxury hole and let the world blow by as it has in the past. As long as I get my share, I don't give three craps in a bucket. I'll be safe regardless, because I live in Athens, Ohio. Who's going to blow up Athens, Ohio? I'm tired of being subjected to rants about what makes this guy better than that guy, or how this other guy totally screwed up everything and he's not fit to lead lemmings off a cliff. I'm tired of stories about lawyers in polling places, false accusations, and paranoid political parties. I'm tired of rhetoric and politic and double-speak. I quit.
Just kidding. I'll be voting tomorrow at 8am, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. On all of the issues above. And not for the current administration(s), in most cases. (Man, you fall for that every time!)
Just kidding. I'll be voting tomorrow at 8am, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. On all of the issues above. And not for the current administration(s), in most cases. (Man, you fall for that every time!)
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