Finals Log

I'm reaching the home stretch, but there is still much to accomplish. God is gracious and I have accomplished more than I anticipated.

My Johann Sebastian Bach playlist on Pandora is providing an excellent atmosphere for finishing my final paper: 4 single spaced pages to go.

The last song that played was Piano Concerto N. 15 in B Flat Major by Mozart. It was quite pleasant.

Like Bach, and unlike Mozart, I am seeking to do my work to the glory of God. As I approach the end of this semester, it is my desire to place my trust in the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ and not my own abilities.

Why do we then indulge our fears,
Suspicions and complaints?
Is He a God, and shall his grace
Grow weary of his saints?

- Isaac Watts

Finals Week

My finals week officially kicked off today. I don't actually have a final till Wednesday, but literally every spare minute is needed to prepare for the 3 exams and 7 papers due.

I will be cutting off contact from the outside world. In case of an emergency I can be found at either Sunergos, with my earbuds in effectively isolating myself from my surroundings, or the SBTS Library, on the second floor or in the reference section.

Goodbye outside world. See you in a week.

Sewage

The entire week has been working towards this trajectory. Last night after plunging a clogged toilet at work for over ten minutes, i discovered my efforts only succeeded in flooding the other bathroom with sewage. The floor was literally covered in crap.

Praise God for my friend Ella, who volunteered to help me clean the putrid mess.

I'm waiting to find out how this week can get any worse.

Crash

My second favorite cardigan, my third favorite pair of jeans, and my newest gloves were destroyed when I crashed my bike today. Arrgh. Being a bicycle commuter is suppose to save me money, but when you factor in the damages to the bike, that spill set me back $70. Thankfully my own injuries are only peripheral so there are no medical bills.

As Dimitri Martin says, "The easiest way to add insult to injury is when you are signing someone's cast."

Finals Checklist

Papers

Marriage and the Family Reflection paper (10 pages)

Religious Literacy book review (5 pages) DONE.

The Closing of the American Mind book review (5 pages) DONE (More or Less)

God and Government book review (5 pages)

36 political article summaries (13 done)

Sermon: 1 Timothy 3:1-7 (5+ pages)

Sermon: 1 Samuel (5+ pages)

Exams

Greek (comprehensive)

Religion and the Public Square (open book)

Marriage and the Family (closed book)

Look Closer

"I realized that here was this entire benevolent force that wanted me to know there was no reason to be afraid. Ever... Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world I feel like I can't take it... and my heart is going to burst."

-American Beauty, 1999.

Concert Blurbs

Quick concert recaps:

Anathallo. To say they are amazing live is so hypobolic it's ridiculous. I was wearing a silly grin on my face every second they were on stage. Their new album, "Canopy Glow", could be the best I have have heard in 2008.

Colour Revolt. Between the British alternate spelling and their rock solid shoegaze/post hardcore melodies, I'm led to believe this band went to Oxford in addition to being from Oxford... Mississippi that is.

Ben Sollee. Louisville's best musican? Quite possibly. He kicked off his national tour at the 930 to a sold out crowd.

Brian Ott. Is playing a show Sunday night at U of L and I am playing with him. See you there.

20/20

Lately I have been in a nostalgic mood and today I was looking through my iPod for some music to accommendate these feelings.

I came across Moneen's album "Are We Really Happy With Who We are Right Now?" which my friend Emo Ian from The Goodbye Kiss introduced me to at church camp way back in the summer of 2004. Scrolling through the tracklist, I played "Closing My Eyes Won't Help Me Leave"

At the time I first started listening to this group, that song in particular appealed to me for several reasons. Stylistically, it is very much in the same vein as early Thursday or Alexisonfire; the song is pure chaotic emotion. The conflicting guitar riffs are strummed with an intricate intensity which might cause a casual listener to mistake dissonance for carelessness. Dual vocal lines, which switch between soft crooning and coarse screams, seem to care little what the other is doing.

Looking back on this song I better understand my identifying with it. In the midst of chaos and uninhibited emotion, the vocalists, representing a single entity, strive to find some meaning in a failed relationship. All the post-modern poet has is chaos, from which he must justify his existence.

The song ends with an extended breakdown in which both vocalists bemoan, "Don't Say you're sorry, because sorry means something is wrong." Even in the midst of this relational failure, the vocalists refuse to attribute any intrinsic moral value to the relationship.

The entirety of the song's lyrics are as follows:

Closing My Eyes Won't Help Me Leave

Where's my love? It's fallen and I'm bound to it
Where's my heart? It stopped, then why am I still here?
Something's missing

Wrong...gone? Would you say it's too late?
Say something now. Say something's wrong. Say sorry.
Wrong...gone? Would you stay? It's your fate.
Something's missing

Wait this out...a promise kept ends suddenly
Close my eyes...relax, lay back and try to breathe

Decide my fate
Is it too late?
To change it all
And mend mistakes

As if I would have such thoughts
And scream so loud for all it's not

Don't say you're sorry cause sorry means something is wrong
Don't say you're sorry...don't say you're sorry now
And I've changed...those thoughts rang out...