More Snow!

Presents

So here's what I found under my tree this Christmas:

Regina Spektor- Begin to Hope (bonus edition)
Coldplay- A Rush of Blood to the Head
Spirited Away (DVD)
Charles Spurgeon- The Treasurey of David volumes 1-3
Apples to Apples: Bible Edition

Awesome, I know.

Friends

It's begining to look a lot Christmas?

Wow! is it really Christmas eve? Gosh, it kind of snuck up on me.

hhmm... I wonder what I'm getting tomorrow.

Mountain Java Cafe

Today was my first day back working at Kopi~O, which recently changed its name to Mountain Java Cafe (which i think is much better name).

It definately felt good making coffee again, that is it definately felt good getting free coffee again.

And I'm pretty sure I make the best Dirty Chai I've ever had.

(that's not to say that I'm better than David, Billy, Ethan, Corey, or any of my other barista friends, far from it, i just like drinking my own coffee).

Uno Mas

My brother doesn't know I'm posting this one. ;)

Snow

It's snowing.

I should be excited. I should pulling out my water-proof snowpants from my closet and hastily throwing on a beanie and a pair of gloves. I should be planning my top secret snowfort or trudging off to the closest sledding hill.

But no, I'm inside lamenting how the snow makes everything damp and cold. Instead of throwing snowballs, I'm checking my email and wishing someone would leave me a comment on myspace.

Good gosh, I've turned into my father.


(well, on second though my dad doesn't have a myspace, so he couldn't exactly wait around for someone to comment it on it, but he does hate snow, I do think that is what I was getting at)

Arizona Cardinals

Well, we lost. But it still was alot of fun to go to a pro NFL game again.

There were moments the offered some hope, like the fumble return for the touchdown, and Lienart definately had a couple of good drives going. But overall it's dissapointing to have to say "maybe next season" one more time.

Given the embarassing defeat, the highlight of the day was by far the pre-game tailgating. My Uncle David cooked up some delicious Ribeye steaks and Paul and I tossed the ole Pigskin. A couple of folks were playing cornhole, which previously I had thought to be exclusively a Kentucky thing.

PHX

Things I've decided/learned since being back in Arizona:

1. I wish Boyce was in Phoenix... or at least that Louisville stayed in the 70's during the winter.
2. While Apples to Apples may be the best party game of all time, I pretty much suck at it- probably because I think on a completely differant wavelength from everybody i know
3. Knocking a full glass of Sprite into a pregnent woman's lap is not the best way to be introduced to new people at a birthday party.
4. My friend Amber Hunter gets a whole lot more hits on her myspace than Peter's and mine
5. It's hard to practice the spiritual discipline of moderation when my Aunt Karen's peanut brittle and fudge is soo good.
6. I wish the Cardinals hadn't already blown any chance for the playoffs

Sufjan Stevens: Put the Lights on the Tree

Done with Baptist History- kind of

Well I am now done with all of the lecture/exams for Baptist History, now i just have to write the papers and finish the reading. And I thought I would be deprived of school to do over Christmas break.

John Letoto

So, there's a pretty good chance if you read my blog (all six of you), you probably read Toto's blog too. If so, you are probably familiar with how he often will profile differant Boyce students in his blog, notably Lauren Duncan, Lindsey Peonie and too many others to name. Well it is long over due for someone to dedicate a full blog entry to him.

Anyway, beyond Toto's well known and easy to stereotype exterior (i.e. cocky, well-dressed, Hawian, insomniac, coffee addict, MAJOR food mooch, hardcore frisbee player, incredibly attractive yet perpetually single, et cetera) believe it or not is actually a kind, loving, and dare I say decent human being. Shocking, I know.

Perhaps this is best proven by the repeated times John has picked Paul and I up from the airport, often at strange hours of the day/night. Or better still, the time that John drove Paul and I to Nashville when our Mom was sick and in the hospital. He is a dependable friend that is there when you need him. Yeah, Toto doesn't like to advertise it, but he's a total softy (I do feel like I will be punched for that one).

Crazy Things I've learned in Baptist History

Craziest Names:

Praise God Bairbone (yes! that is his real first name)

and his brother

Jesus-died-for-the-elect-only Bairbone

Craziest book titles:

The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution: by Roger Williams

The Bloudy Tenent Washed White in the Blood of the Lamb: by Cotton in response

The Bloudy Tenent Made yet More Bloudy by Mr. Cotton's The Bloudy Tenent Washed White in the Blood of the Lamb by Williams in response

Home for Christmas

I'll be home soon.

HS 305

So I have been getting a jump start on my Baptist History reading and I've learned some interesting things. Perhaps the most interesting thing so far is that the early Baptists baptized people naked. That would make for an interesting church service.

Three down, Five to Go

I took my last final for the semester today, which I was not really prepared for, but I think I made out okay.

I have to admit I'm a little confused right now, as I don't have any assignments to be working on. It's a funny feeling, and one that I'm not used to.

It's strange though, as I still have to stay in "school mode", as I am taking Baptist History with Dr. Brand next week. That should fun... and hard.

Anyway, I've been using my new found treedom to work on a electronica/folk version of a classic hymn with Josh Wright and my roommate Isaac. I'll let you know how it turns out.

It's official! Peter Sieg is now engaged. Congratulations man.

Black Friday

Wow. What a crappy day. I had to work 11 hours. I'm drastically behind on school. My bank account is the lowest it's been in 12 months, and I just finished a less than pleasent phone call. *sigh*

I surely am a helpless creature in need of an inmeasurable amount grace.

All praise to God who has mercy on his children and lovingly meets their every need.

Indoor Soccer

Well, we were defeated 13-4, which is pretty much humiliating, but still, I think we had fun. We played the Mixed Latinos, so named because they consisted of players from across the southern hemisphere, including Mexico, Guatamala, and Salvador.

Through a combination of dumb luck and good timing, I managed to score a goal, which made my evening. In my mind that somehow justifies spending $60+ on shin guards and cleats.

Boyce Bulldogs

Paul and I are going to be playing in tomorrow's indoor soccer game- which should be interesting considering that neither of us have any experience. This league is suppose to be pretty hardcore, so it might get ugly.

Insomnia

You know that you procrastinated on your paper if you're still up when the janitors start their morning shift. Even worse is if the third shift UPS guys are back from work and asleep before you are. Yes my friends, 6:00 AM is far too late to be up.

Thy Mercy, My God

As of late I have not been able to stop listening to Sandra McCracken's version of this song.
The lyrics, which I believe is from a Puritan hymn, are incredibly moving.

Thy mercy my God is the theme of my song,
The joy of my heart, and the boast of my tongue.
Thy free grace alone, from the first to the last,
Hath won my affection and bound my soul fast.

Without Thy sweet mercy, I could not live here.
Sin would reduce me to utter despair,
But through Thy free goodness, my spirit's revived
And He that first made me still keeps me alive.

Thy mercy is more than a match for my heart,
Which wonders to feel its own hardness depart.
Dissolved by Thy goodness, I fall to the ground
And weep for the praise of the mercy I've found.

Great Father of mercies, Thy goodness I own
In the covenant love of Thy crucified Son.
All praise to the Spirit, Whose whisper divine
Seals mercy and pardon and righteousness mine.

Love us or Hate us, it's still an Obsession

Well Peter and I have finished laying down the tracks for our newest song, "Umbrella"; a song that Peter wrote over 3 years ago!

Anyway, it should be up and online as soon as Drake finishs the mastering and all of that other studio stuff. So keep an eye out.

Finals are coming soon. Very soon.

Sufjan

I just watched Sufjan Stevens on PBS's Austin City Limits and I'm still in awe. At this point of my college education I still do not have a vocabulary that is extensive enough to describe how amazing it was.

Granted it was kind of hard to enjoy with the 20+ people constantly asking, "Why does he have wings on his back?"

To which I responded, "Because he's Sufjan! He can do whatever he wants."

Honestly! How could anyone make fun of someone who includes a celesta in his live act? Or laugh at a musician who plays no less than 4 instruments in as many songs (piano, guitar, banjo, and jingle bells)?

Some people just do not understand art.

Sunergos

I am currently at Sunergos Espresso Bar, listening to Brian Moats do a fabulous cover of Damien Rice's "The Blower's Daughter".

Mhhm, so fantastic.

Gross!

While typing in my URL address, instead of the correct "mjbutterworth.blogspot.com" I accidently entered "mjbutt.com", which featured a close up of Michael Jackson's spandex clad... well, you get the picture.

Yeah, I know, disturbing mental picture. I think I need a better internet filter.

Wow. Life can change at a moment's notice.

My mom has been in Nashville for the past week, attending a writing seminar at Lifeway. She was suppose to drive up to Louisville today and spend some time with Paul and me before flying home tomorrow. Go shopping, eat at a nice resteraunt; that was the plan.

I got a call from my brother at work around 3:00 PM. Paul grimly informed me that Mom had been rushed to the ER in Nashville with a blood clot.

Now we'll be driving down to Nashville late tonight as our Dad and little brother, David, fly in from Arizona.

Please pray that the blood clot does not break free and get stuck in her heart.
Pray also God will bring healing and that my mom will soon be able to check out of the hospital.
Please also pray for John Letoto as he will be driving us down very late tonight.

My poor blog. It has been neglected as of late.

*sigh*

I remember when I had time to write about my thoughts on life.

Gluten Intolerance

Read this, and please never ask me we i don't eat the bun on my hamburger again. It's so annoying.

Six Flags

Well I just got back from Six Flags, Kentucky Kingdom, where I spent the whole day working the Mom's Music Festival, which featured 48 local bands.

Well, when I say "working" I mean hanging out with Mike Neal and Corey Zimmerman all day riding roller coasters and enjoying free food.

I have a good job.

Child Care

Well, today was my first day as an official teacher for the 2 Year Old class at church, and so far no major disasters.

I was quite pleased to find my childhood favorite "There's a Monster at the End of This Book" on the bookshelve, but I was not successful in convincing any of my students to allow me to read it to them. I was, however, coerced into reading a wretched little book about Donald Duck making a peanutbutter and jelly sandwich four times. Children's literature has really taken a nosedive in recent years.

On the upside, I've been pretty impressed with the First Look curriculum. Really solid stuff. Spiritual formation, even at this young of an age, is absolutely crucial.

Pro 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Child Care

Well, today was my first Sunday as an official teacher for 2 Year Olds at church, and so far no major dissasters

"I'm still waiting to meet a girl like my Mom who's closer to my age"

I just picked up mewithoutYou's new CD, "Brother, Sister". So far I'm really digging it.

I leave you with a line from Nice and Blue (pt. two)- which is also the song the previous quote is from.

"Our horse was fast and first from the gate
with the lead of a length at the sound of the gun
and the last of our cash laid down to fate (at 17 to 1)
but by the final stretch in the rear of the pack
that nag limping bad in the back
we relunctantly gave all the money we'd saved,
1/5 to the commonwealth and the rest to the track"

Annoying Messenger Abbreviations

Do you know what really grinds my gears? "lol". I mean, what's up with that? When was the last time that you heard a funny joke (in person) and just blurted out "LAUGH OUT LOUD"? I thought so. It is SOOO lame.

Besides, if the point of an messenger abbreviation is to be able to type faster, than the word "haha", as in the noise someone makes when they ACTUALLY laugh, is only one letter more. And if the joke is particulary funny you can lengthen it i.e.: hahahahahahaha. "lol" cannot be modified.

In summary "ha-ha" is an acceptable word, "lol" is not. Please do the English language a favor and stop using it.

Mud Night

I think there's still mud in my ears from church last night. Between the Mud Pit, HUGE Slip N Slide, and relays involving shaving cream, ketchup, flour, there was plenty of good, not so clean fun to be had. The Slip N Slide was by far my favorite, other than when a ran into my brother, head first. That really hurt.

Crazy Paul, in attempt to prove that he is still crazy, refused to clean himself up afterwards, and proceeded to go with us to Q-doba where he noticeably disturbed the patrons with his grotesque appearence.

They don't call him Crazy Paul for nothing.

19!

It was a very good birthday.

It started off with going to Mike and Amy Hilliard's wedding, which was wonderful. Mike sang to Amy, and there wasn't a dry eye in the entire church.

After getting back, Paul and I, in addition to a few friends, headed to Outback Steakhouse for birthday dinner. We had to wait about 30 minutes before being seated, but we passed the time by tossing some birthday frisbee in the parking lot, which was awesomely-differant. Once inside I splurged on a birthday prime rib and enjoyed a free birthday sundae. Two other people sitting near us also were there to celebrate their birthdays. I guess September 30th is a popular date to be born on.

I finished the evening by watching my newly acquired, long time favorite, House of Flying Daggers on DVD (widescreen of course). A whole slew of people were in the patio room, most of whom had never seen it before, and everyone with good taste agreed it was fantastic. I've watched it many times, but I am continualy blown away by how AH-mazing it is.

Well, I now begin my last year as a teenager. Exciting.

We are the Champions!

Well, it's been a long time coming but Doulos has finally won a Hall Ball event. In a brilliant display of teamwork and good sportsmanship, Doulos managed to Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive, and Dodge into first place, ousting Robbie Byrd's hall (whatever they're called) in the final game. After coming in second place to the previously undefeated Kionia twice last year, beating them in the first game felt great. With nearly perfect attendance from the guys and the best showing yet from our sister hall, we did have a tremdous size advantage. Also, having Eric Yeldell for a hall dad doesn't hurt either.

All in all, I have never felt prouder to wear the green and yellow. Great job guys.

O+

Well I donated blood today- and passed out. I'm sure that's some kind of a grave insult to my manhood or something.

The strange thing is that I wasn't even light-headed last time I gave blood.

Anyway, it turns out that my blood is O positive, which all these years I thought it was A positive. Here I've been, lying to myself all these years. Just when you think you really know someone.

Theology

Wow. I am really cutting it close on this theology paper. Eight hours to go, and at least three of those hourse will be occupied by class, meals, and other inavoidable necessities.

Deep Breath, Michael. It's okay. you can do this.

Keyboard

I ordered my new keyboard. I'm pretty excited. This will be my first professional level synth, and the upgrades from my old, late 90's keyboard really are completely ridiculous. I won't go into the specs, as it interests probably none of my readers.

Weekend Recap

The concert at Logos was a smashing success, with far more people showing up than could actually fit into the place. Everyone was AMAZING. Ben Smith and Derick Millar performed with that professional quality that made West End so popular in the ATL area. Kevin Cummings's covers of Damien Rice, Johnny Cash, and yes, even Macy Gray, were almost perfect. Not to mention, Cole's new materal with underthejunipertree was simply some of the best music I've ever heard. And by all means, Butterworth and Sieg could have been a whole lot worse. My friend, Stewart, the mechanic showed up, which was cool considering he was the only one in attendance over 50.

Sunday morning, we baptized a whole slew of people at Springdale, which always makes me rejoice.

My long time favorite football team The Arizona Cardinals won their first home game in their brand new stadium. After more than a decade of mediocrity and dissapointment, I think this may be our year.

Anyway, that's the cliff-notes version of the weekend. My condolences if you missed out.

AAARRGGHH!!!

I haven't been angry for a while. Or more accurately, I hadn't been angry for a while, until tonight.

I lost my debit card a few weeks ago, but I took it all in stride and ordered a new one. The card finally came today, so I activated it, (or thought i did) and went to make a much needed trip to the store.

Before proceeding, it is important to note when I ordered the new debit card the associate told me my pin number would be the same. However, this turned out to not infact be true, as I found out the hard way- at the checkout in Wal-Mart, my groceries already bagged.

Frustrated, I returned to my beyond messy dorm room (which infinately added to my stress), where I searched through all of my crap trying to find the information that came with my card.

No pin number, anywhere. Not on one piece of paper.

As one more last ditch effort, I called customer service. After five minutes of touch-pad menus, I was informed that I would not be able to do anything until business hours tomorrow, which at this point simply wasn't good enough.

I slammed the phone down which a very loud cry of exasperation, right as my roommate walked in.

It's funny how ridiculous being angry feels in front of a bystander.

Isaac was kind enough to loan me his cellphone, since I was out of phonecards, and I called my Mom. It turns out, my account information had been mailed to the house, complete with new pin number. And like that everything was solved.

*sigh*... Patience isn't one of my strong points.

Cars

I don't own a car, most of you who know me probably already know that, most likely because I've asked you for a ride (big thanks to everyone who's ever said yes). I have no plan (or means)to obtain a car, and I posses no reason to, save perhaps the selfish desire to not depend on other people. As a consequence, when my friends start tallking about their dream cars, or the car they're saving up for, etc, I usually tune out and think about things that actually interest me. Thus, I have to admit that I was surprised I had such a good time when I saw Disney/Pixar's Cars yesterday.

And while I am against such sins as illegal street racing, and am a proponent of such piously boring concepts as car-pooling in enviromentally safe(er) fuel efficient vehicles, the movie- though being in direct conflict with this worldview- was genuinely enjoyable. Much of the movie takes place on (an animated) historic Route 66, with geography very akin my neck of the woods (i.e. Holbrook, Flagstaff, and Winslow). My favorite line by far was when Owen Wilson's character, Lightening McQueen, says,

"I create feelings in other people that they themselves do not understand."

Something I can definately relate to.

On the subject of automotives, I friend of mine had her car stolen, this after her roommate's car broke down (beyond repair) a few days before.

I really don't mind not having a car, in fact, i recommend it.

A Glass can only Spill what it Contains

I simply can not stop listening to the song. Simply fantastic. I highly recomend reading the lyrics while listening to it.

It's almost enough to make me forget that i'm sick.

sick

Ugghhh...

I am soo sick right now. I think it might be strep throat, it certainly hurts enough for it to be.

Fall

Fall is just about here, which means I can start pulling out my sweater and hoodies- and that makes me very happy (enter snide remark about me being an "emo" kid here). The campus here at SBTS is absolutely gorgeous during the fall, as the leaves change to the most brilliant colors. As much as I love my evergreen forest home back in AZ, fall just isn't right without all of the red, orange, yellow, and golden brown. Few things make me happier: hearing the crunch of leaves under my feet as I walk to work, watching the fireflies come out on my way home, *sigh* (enter second snide remark about me being an "emo" kid here).

On a completely unrelated note, I think I'm coming down with a cold, which isn't cool at all.

Online Book Tag

I have half a mind just to say "to heck with it" and stop this silly game of online book tag, but in the interest of being a good sport, here it goes.

1. One book that changed your life: A Basic Guide to Interpreting the Bible by R.H. Stein (Taught me what a life time of Sunday School failed to.)

2. One book that you’ve read more than once: Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis (By far his most underappreciated work).

3. One book I’d want on a desert island: A journal, to keep from going insane,

4. One book that made me laugh: Catch 22 by Joseph Heller (though definately of questionable moral content).

5. One book that made me cry: Selected Poems of Emily Dickinson (specifically "I Had a Guinea Golden")

6. One book that you wish you had written: Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

7. One book you wish had never been written: The Sisterhood of Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares (I was really bored over the summer okay!)

8. One book that you are currently reading- The Three Mrs. Judsons by Arabella Stuart

9. One book that you’ve been meaning to read- John. G. Patton by John G. Patton

Okay I tag David Brandt and Amber Hunter!

Quizes

I don't mind bombing an occasional quiz. To demand perfection all the time is, well quite frankly, obnoxious. However bombing a quiz you thought you had done well on... that stings.

Depravity

I ran into my acid-eating friend Michael again yesterday- exactly one week after I met him for the first time. This time it was at work, as he wandered into Mom's Music, stumbling around in a drug-induced haze, laughing hysterically at bizarre hallucinations (he atempted to describe them) seen only by himself.

It was a very difficult situation, as there were several families around with small kids who were quite frightened- and with good reason.

Drugs are such wretched things. Few things depict the depravity that abounds in our culture with more clarity.

Run Across Kentucky

Well I am now 8 miles into the "run across Kentucky" promotion at the SBTS Health and Recreation Center. However, the leader currently has some 76 miles already recorded (which is pretty digusting considering it's only like one week into it). However, I'm not giving up yet. After all, in the words of Homer Simpson, I believe there is still something called the swimsuit competition! And I better of not shaved my bikini zone for nothing.

Michael

Today was interesting.

I met guy named Michael in front of Wal-Mart, while i was hanging out on a park bench with James Losey, as my friend Peter sieg was inside, applying for a job. It was hard not to notice Michael, who pulled up on a worn-down bicyle- sporting a ball cap carelessly perched on his greasy head and a dirty 2XL T-shirt that was almost comical on his young, slendor frame. Most of the shoppers were doing their best to avoid Michael, which proved difficult since Michael took to cat-calling and heckling them. When there were no customers to harass, he would talk to himself in a very loud voice. Michael, who I had now already assumed to be homeless, approached James and myself and asked us to watch his bike for him, as he proceeded to go inside and shoplift his dinner.

After he returned, he sat next to James and me, on the ground, close enough that we could smell his stench. Very sarcastically, he asked me about my shirt, which had the Greek word doulos across the front. Moving off the bench and sitting next to him on ground, I explained to him that doulos meant "bondservant", and it refered to the fact that Christians are bondservants of Christ, going into some detail about the Jewish tradition behind it. Michael responded by making some nosensical statement that I couldn't quite make out.

Michael told me a little about his day. Evidently, he had been mugged downtown earlier, which is not uncommon for a homeless person to be robbed. We made small talk for a couple of more minutes, until I had to leave.

As I got up to leave, I stuck out my hand and told him it was nice meeting him. Michael was pretty taken back at first, almost frightened. It was almost like it took him a second to register what it meant. I imagine it had been a very long time since someone had shaken his hand.

It's a strange thing to be reminded you're human.



Post Script: If you consider yourself a Christian, please pray for Michael.

Swimming

I went for a swim today with Ben Smith, who quite possibly could be part amphibean. He adamantly denied it of course, but I'm pretty sure he has gills or something. Either way, he certainly is a faster swimmer than me, but hey, how am I suppose to compete with a mutant? It's not exactly fair.

Sophomore

It's official, Boyce College is trying to kill me. Well, more accurately, the course work for all of my classes is... Okay, Okay I'm probably not going to die, but I won't be getting alot of sleep either. Oh well. In the words of Dr. Mohler (spoken to my brother, who was lamenting a similar work schedule), "You signed up for it."

Internet Access

I'm soo ready to have regular internet access again... I feel sorry for my blog- it's been neglected for far too long now.

Mountain Bike trails... one more thing I love about living in a small town

Facebook

I just posted some super-cool photos on Facebook, so if you're my friend go check'em out!

It's my last Sunday in Overgaard, well for the summer anyway, and it's just about time to go to church.

The concert went well at Kopi~O last night. Very good turn out, and Tad's and Amber's sets were as brilliant as ever. Highlight's of the evening include Tad covering Johnny Cash covering Sting on "I Hung my Head" and of course Miss Hunter's very popular "Train Song".

After the show, Sean Dietrich brought over his Dance Dance Revolution pads to my house and the whole crew danced the night away (well, kind of).

Anyway, It's time I was off to church.

Figures it would rain. I mean sure the forest needs it and all, but I wanted to ride my mountain bike. :(

Back in the USSR

First day back home, and in true Michael Butterworth fashion, I worked both of my jobs. The tips were good though, so it was worth it.

In just one week I'll be back in Kentucky, exciting and a little strange at the same time. It seems I was finally just getting the hang of being home again. But still this semester is going to be fan-tastic.

There will be another concert at Kopi~O (which will soon be renamed the considerably less confusing Mountain Java Cafe) this Saturday- again featuring Tad Klein, Amber Hunter, and myself. Definately worth stopping by if you are in the area.

My Granddaddy

“I was holding out till you got here.”

That’s what the ashen, shriveled man that I call my Granddaddy said when we walked into his hospice room.

“Don’t cry,” he told my mom, who was already now in tears. “Everyone has to go someday.”

This wasn’t the kind of honesty I wanted. I wanted him to tell us that he was fine, and that he would be back on his feet in a few days. I knew he wouldn’t get better, I knew that he would be dead in a few days, but I wanted to pretend for just a few minutes.

My Granddaddy has been one of the few constant things in my life. At every stage of my life he’s been there, exactly the same: playing dominoes and Rook, eating boiled peanuts, squeezing my hand in his vice-like grip that could bring me to my knees- even after my body building days. From preschool to senior high, every trip to see him was the same.

My Granddaddy never got any older, as he was already bald and wrinkled from my earliest memory. He only got a little thinner each year.

My Granddaddy used to send us twenty five dollars every month, starting when we were just kids and continued until just a few months ago, when he had to quit his job. And every month, we, as good grandkids (who didn’t want to get grounded), wrote him a thank you letter. Every month, as long as I can remember. It’s hard to comprehend that I’ll never write him another thank-you letter.

My Granddaddy is a Christian (for that is never past tense) and is now with his Savior, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And this fundamental belief affected every aspect of his life. I remember that once my brothers and I were doing yard work for him when David decided to quit early and watch cartoons. But at the end of the day, Granddaddy paid us all the same- citing the biblical parable of similar events. It wasn’t exactly fair, but neither is grace for that matter.

The Bridge

About a week ago I had the privilage and great pleasure to attend The Bridge, a young church that is active in engaging the culture in Tempe, Arizona. For those of you who share my taste in literature, you might recognize The Bridge as one of the churches featured in the book Emerging Churches.

This is where I must make an appeal to my more traditional brethen to not write me off as a heretic. The Bridge is, in fact, an SBC church, with theology that is in step with the Baptist Faith and Message, and planted with CP funding. So if you are a member of an SBC church and tithe, you are in fact supporting at least one "emerging" church- whatever that really means. On a completely unrelated side note, suprisingly enough, The Bridge was actually founded by the lead singer of Stellar Kart.

Back to the important part.

Pastor Norwood gave a well crafted and convicting message about the revolutionary nature of Christ's teaching- pointing out that Jesus instructed the Demoniac and the widow who touched his cloak to return to their friends and family after they were healed. God provided the oppurtunity for them to return to society.

Because they do not own their own building, the Bridge meets at many locations throughout the week. On Sundays they meet on the patio of bar. The worship band is very loud, and before and after the service a dj spins some of the finest european dance/techno music- it's pretty cool.

Having service out in the open air has its pro's and con's- one being that even after the sun goes down it's still in the mid 90's in PHX. But on the upside, the pulsing techno music and edging alt rock tends to draw a crowd of passerbys, who are very surprised to find they stumbled upon a church.

I can't think of a better use of CP dollars.

Well, this Thursday my entire family is flying out to see my Granddaddy one last time and to be with him as he passes. We are not even sure if he'll still be alive when we get there. I had a lady at Kopi~O tell me today if I had enough faith I could command the demon of cancer to come out of him, to which I responded very genteely that I believed God was in control and that his perfect will would be accomplished whether my Granddaddy lives and falls asleep (which for the believer is the beginning of true life).

Ironically, Sweet T is flying into Phoenix this week from Alabama to visit Allison. Strangely ironic.

Well I'm back from cool, breezy Point Loma and I'm very exhausted. The story of what happened at Zona Yuth Kamp this year is much too long and important to try to attempt to tell in one blog entry. So over the next week or so I plan to write a series of reflections on the week, the people I met and got to know, and, most importantly, how God revealed himself. Hopefully I'll get my pictures developed soon.

Zona Yuth

Okay, I have exactly 5 minutes to write post.

It's day three of Zona Yuth Kamp and everything is pretty much "off the hook"- whatever that means. I'm teaching one of the seventh grade small groups, which is very cool, and am also helping out with the mission track, which takes students into downtown San Diego to do some hands on,down and dirty ministry. Today these youth from Southern Baptist churches across the state of Arizona are helping the Sierra Club do "Urban Canyon Renewal". Pretty cool stuff.

Anyway, I'll write more later, probably once I'm home.

Roadtrip!!

Roadtrip!!

Haircut: The Outcome

To those of who were worried that my beautiful locks of hair would be subject to poor styling, you can rest assured that there is a merciful and loving God who answers prayer. The haircut I recieved at Wal-Mart (from a most young and charming stylist I might add)was far more than adequate, and actually met the same standard that I have come to expect from my past stylists (notably Jen Maurer, Chris Sellars, and Kristina Pelhank.)

I'm sure it comes as quite a relief to my readers that "Boyce's Best Hair" is still intact, and yes John, I'm still counting on it to bring me true love.

Haircut

Well, I'm getting my haircut... not a lot mind you...more or less like last time. The only problem is that last time I checked Chris Sellars isn't in Arizona, and I'm pretty nervous about going to an actual barbershop. *gulp* I'll let you know how it turns out.

Zona Yuth Kamp is coming up really soon, with each approaching day exponentially increasing in anticipation. I love teaching the Bible, and if I'm going to be teaching the Bible anyway, heck, it might as well be to 7th graders. The fact that this camp, sponsored by the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention, is held at the campus of Point Loma Nazerine University in beautiful San Diego, right on the ocean... well that's just a perk.

Well, I'm glad I'm someone's hero

I actually do have a pair of tights and a cape (long story). Maybe I should pull them out and start saving the day.

Also, in a shocking boost of internet popularity, I also was recently mentioned in Toto's Blog... though none of it, of course, is true (okay, maybe some of it).

I saw "The Devil Wears Prada" last night with my friends Tad Klein and Darrick Dowdy. In the middle of the movie Darrick proclaimed in a very loud voice "This is the worst movie I've ever seen!" and the entire theater erupted into laughter (probably because they agreed with him). There were redeeming moments however, such as my favorite Azure Ray song "Sleep" appearing in the soundtrack.

The Lion's Mouth is now up at purevolume!

Fireworks

I love fireworks. Luckily for me, my town happens to have an amazing Fourth of July celebration (which was ironically held on the first of July). Now it may not be Thunder Over Louisville, but it is none the less an epic display of neon color and combustion, with a finale so explosive that it made my eyes hurt just watching it.

But what made this weekend especially special was the pre-fireworks concert at Kopi-O, which featured some of the very best amateur Indie/Folk/Christian musical artists from across the state- including Tad Klien, Amber Hunter, Graham Karl, and myself. Amber sang Peter's part on "Sparrows" and "The Lion's Mouth" and it sounded fantastic. I only wish Peter could have come down from Idaho and sang a duet.

I have a sin to confess. I am one hundred percent jealous of everyone, including my brother, who has had the oppurtunity to go on a prolonged trip, intern at a church, be a staffer at a youth camp, et cetera.

Now I realize that all Christians are called to be missional in all circumstances, and in fact the bi-vocational and "tent-maker" ministry models are perhaps the most biblical, but quite frankly it's hard to remember to be missional when working a 40-50 hour work schedule.

Despite my gross incompentence, and my dozens of missed opurtunities, there have been a few successes.

Recently, I had the misfortune of being forced to work a Sunday. However since my legalistic nature demanded that I would attempt to try to feel better about missing church, I brought my Bible (which I am in the habit of doing anyway) to read when business was slow. One patron, upon spotting my opened Bible on a table, mentioned that he used to be very active in a good, Bible believing church, but recently had allowed his attendence to diminished. From no cause of my own doing, he left resolved to return to church and once again pursue his relationship with God.

Previously, at my other job, I had a pleasant conversation with my co-worker Alex, who is the foster son of the owners. He mentioned that he hated going to church (his foster family is Mormon) and was very upset that he had to have his long hair chopped off. I mentioned that the Bible endorses no particular hair stlye (as I, myself, have recieved persecution for my slightly longer than average locks) and off-handily mentioned that Samson, a judge of Israel, had very long hair. Alex responded by saying "I'm sorry, I don't konw who that is." I proceeded to paraphrase the entire story of Samson- right down to the grusome end.

So my friends here in Heber taught me about a game, which I guess is catching on in popularity. Like many other games of its calibur, it uses a baseball analogy. The game is played something like this:

Single: Go to an attractive girl's house and eat her food.

Double: After eating the afore mentioned food, "make out" with the afore mentioned attractive girl.

Triple: uhhm... Let's just say a triple involves a natural reaction of step one.

Somehow I don't think this is going to catch on at Boyce.

It's 5:39 AM, which means I still have twenty minutes before I have to jump on my bicycle and ride to work to open Kopi-O on time. I'll get off around 2:30, which gives me just enough time to ride back to the other side of town where I will be waiting tables untill eight-thirty-ish. *Sigh* another 14 hour work day.

Oh well, God is good. I asked him for a job that would meet my needs this summer and he provided two, and for that I am thankful.

I attended the Heber/Overgaard Bluegrass Festival over my lunch break yesterday. The entire time I was struck with the irony that I live in Kentucky most of the year now, but am attending a third-rate bluegrass concert back in AZ. It's somewhat akin to a conversation I once had with John Letoto about water parks and wave pools.

One hears some interesting things in a coffee shop. Notetably, a seventy year old woman exclaiming a certain curse word upon dropping her recently purchased sandwhich on the floor. Not just a little cuss word either, but a big one- as in sounds remarkably similar to the word "ship".

I hate being sick.

When I look out my window in the morning i see smoke. No, its not my little brother trying to sneak a cigerette (as if he ever even thought about smoking, i would kill him and thus eleminate any chances of getting cancer), but yet another forest fire. This actually is quite common, considering that Arizona is in the middle of a decade long drought (for those of you from the east coast, a drought is when it doesn't rain- at all- and if on the off chance it does actually happen to rain, because it has been dry for so long all of the water simply evaporates).

Anytime my tiny little hometown of Heber/Overgaard (pop. 2500) makes the AP, its worth noticing.

Well i watched the motion picture "Elizabethtown", which was, as most of you know, filmed primarily on location in Kentucky and Tennesee. Other than the fact that like so many other movies of its genre it glorifies extra-marital sex, and the old people making sex jokes that seems to be standard material in comedies these days, I enjoyed it quite immensely.

Now, those of you who have actually talked to me for more than, say, five minutes know I am from Arizona. From the Grand Canyon to my very own Mogollon Rim, Arizona is by far the greatest state that i have ever been too, asthetically and culturely. However, while watching the numerous scenes featuring locations from Louisville and the surrounding area, I found a certain sense of attachment to my new second home.

As much as I am enjoying being home, I look forward to the new semester with great anticipation and joy.

I'm afraid that working two jobs has completely exhausted my energy, so my blog will probably be void of any wit or humor for a while(which I guess isn't really any differant than usual). I would make the prediction that the number of typo's and overall mistakes will probably increase, that is if i can find the strength to write anything at all.

I Hate Video Games!!

There's been something I've wanted to get off my chest for a while now.. I HATE VIDEO GAMES!!! There, I said it!.. nice and loud so my little brother's GameCube(R) that's laying six feet from me hears it loud and clear.

That's right. Hear that buddy? I'm not wasting anymore time on you!! Just because I'm bored out of my mind doesn't mean I have to fritter away all my time trying to unlock all of the secret characters in Soul Calibur II, or waste away my summer exploring the magical lands in The Legends of Zelda or Final Fantasy, or stay up late leading Ravenclaw to victory in Harry Potter's Quidditch World Cup.

*sigh*

Who am I kidding?

Home Alone

Well, my older brother is in Thailand, my little brother is in New Mexico, and my parents are leaving for Alabama today- which leaves me by myself for four days.

I'm sure my less sanctified readers are right now thinking of all the "fun" things they could get away with if left in my situation. However, bear in mind that, morally, wild and crazy drunken are completely out of the picture, seeing as I do have a certain amount of Christian values. Mostly i just think it is going to be several lonely, boring days.

I didn't really have a purpose for this summer other than making money. Well I found one.

A new pizza parlor opened up in town with a very extensive arcade, especially for a town that only boasts 2,000 year round residents. Let's just say the aforementioned arcade has the single greatest arcade game of time (excluding pinball, of course)... a little game most people call Mrs. Pacman.

Shortly after learning of its existance, i found it necessary to completely demolish the existing high score and replace with my own.

Yes, this sweet little machine has given me a mission for this summer- to boldly defend my high score by continuously improving my game and setting the bar even higher for all those who follow in my path.

And I thought it was going to be a boring summer.

Well it's official, I am now burning the candle at both ends. As one job is not sufficient to cover the funds needed to pay for a college education, I am now working at two places in town. In addition to the afore mentioned coffee shop, I will start being a waiter in a few days.

Yep, sleep and hanging out is over rated.

I watched some very dear friends graduate from highschool today. Amazingly, It's been an entire year since i graduated from highschool myself, and in retrospect, all of that pomp and circumstance is pretty much meaningless. It's depressing how much satisfaction we often take in our own accomplishments. *sigh*

Well my brothers are fussing at me to come play yet another round of the boardgame LIFE, so I probably should go play. I hope i get the artist, that's the best job.

Coffee

Well I'm working in a Coffee shop now, which is pretty interesting considering I don't drink coffee. To be quite honest, I'm still not exactly sure on the differance between a Latte and a Mocha.

In all, this proves to be further evidence of the generousity of the God that I serve. He has always proved himself to be more than capable to meet my every need, including getting jobs (even ones in which I'm dangerously underqualified.)

Non-stop to PHX

My non-stop flight to Phoenix departed at 7:10 AM. Generally, it is suggested to arrive at the airport at least an hour before take-off, to allow for various delays in checking in, passing through security, boarding, and so forth. In my context this calls for arriving at the airport at 6:10. Factor in a hot shower, a nutritious breakfast, double-checking my suitcases for everything I need, and the fifteen minute drive to the airport; and realistically I need to wake up at 5:00 AM.

When I woke up to the sound of someone knocking on my door instead the expected ringing of my alarm clock, I knew I was screwed.

Sure enough, I opened the door to see Toto and my older brother, who greeted me with the quite well deserved, “Where have you been!” Absolutely mortified, I look over to my clock to see the time 6:14, announcing my certain doom in red glowing numbers. 6:14!! My plane is taking off in 56 minutes and I just woke up.

I stared at my alarm clock for a while in disbelief, hoping if I stared at the numbers long enough that it would change. I had made sure my alarm was set before going to bed. However further examination revealed the source of the problem, my alarm clock was 12 hours ahead- the same alarm-setting mistake that has me made late for church and almost miss class too many times to count. It was set to go off at the Eastern Standard Time equivalent of 5:00 PM.

After saying “Oh, crap” enough times to make a movie receive a PG-13 rating, I took what was most definitely the fastest shower of my life and got completely dressed in less then three minutes, flat. I grabbed my carry-on’s and ran down stairs where John already had the car packed and ready to go. (I’m sure this will in fact come as a great shock to those who know him well, but John found the entire ordeal quite humorous, and was actually snapping pictures the entire time.)

Well, by God’s grace I made it to my flight on time, literally being the second to last one to board, just a few short minutes before taxing down the runway.

Now granted there were other encumbrances along the way. One of my suitcases was overweight, one of the security agents found it necessary to yell at me, the line through security was backed up all the way to the escalators by the ticketing counters (for those of you who are not familiar with the Louisville airport, that is really, really far), and people are just as impolite and depraved as ever. But that is an all-together different subject. As far as the satire of air travel goes, well that is better left to the stand-up comics of the mid-nineties.

Finally done with Finals

Well, I guess I'm a sophmore now... I'm not even sure if I know how to spell it right.

Wow, when I look back over the last two semesters it seems as though it was a lifetime, there's so many memories, it's as though nothing happened in my life before I came to Boyce.

Well, I'm glad I made it. God has been so generous to me. I can't wait for next semester.

Well it has been an amazing two days. I can not remember feeling such a broad gamit of emotions in such a short period time in pretty much my entire life. Between the Spring Banquet and Bandfest, I have had more fun than anyone should have in such a short period of time.

The banquet was great. Everyone, and I mean everyone, there looked phenomenal (though I think Boyce Alumnus Scott O'Neil was my personal favorite). Other than not being able to actually eat any of the food, the event was a blast. Highlights of the evening included an appearence from the Boyce Mafia, a hilarious student life video, and my size 10 1/2 shoe winning my date, Christin Simpson, a gift certificate.

The after party was where the real festivities began though. If anyone has ever had more fun singing karaoke while sober I would be amazed. For those of you who weren't in attendence, lets just say Dr. Collins and my brother sang a little song called "Wild Thing". Nuff Said. I was unfortunately not able to beat John Tollefson in Ping Pong, which was dissapointing. However Lance and Noah turned out to be the best driver/photographers we could have ever hoped for.

Bandfest was awesome too, other than James Losey breaking his leg. That really sucked. Peter and I screwed up our songs in ways I pretty badly, but I do not think we were too terrible. Dr. Collins grills a great burger, and some of my Favorite Profs were there listening to the music.

wow, what a week!

Pages to Sleep ratio

Wow, God certainly gave me an abundance of grace this week.

With a paper due everyday, it was one of the most difficult weeks academically i've had in 2 semesters. This can be determined scientifically by what i like to call the pages to sleep ratio. Sum total of pages of papers turned in = 35. Sum total of hours of sleep during same time period = 14. So when the the total hours of sleep is divided by the number of pages the quotient is equal to 0.40. That my friends is a very low pages to sleep ratio. I mean usually you want to have a positive ratio.

Nicholas

I wrote this story a couple of months ago, but I have only shown it to a few people- mostly out of some fear of rejection. Well, recently this story won second place in a writing contest, so I finally have the strenght of heart to share it with the public. I hope you like it.

Nicholas

Nicholas rubbed his arms, but it didn’t help. He couldn’t feel his hands; that is to say he couldn’t feel his hands touching anything. He could feel pain, tingling like someone was holding his hands under scalding hot water. The frail little boy pulled his knees to his chest and desperately wished it would bring some warmth. If he could just make himself smaller- curl up in a tighter circle. Nicholas started crying again, but his tears instantly met a cruel wind that caught his tears before they could reach his cheeks.
“Stop crying,” Nicholas told himself, still sobbing. “It hurts too much. Stop crying.”
Nicholas almost wished he had not run away from his new foster home, almost. He just could not face that uncertainty one more time. Besides, he thought he would probably just do something wrong again and be moved to yet another family. He almost could not remember his real family anymore. He thought they could not have loved him very much, or else they would have never given him up. Now it was late at night and he was out on the streets, curled up on the steps of an old church building. He wished that he had a blanket or a jacket, but when he had ran away he had not thought to bring anything with him. He did not really think that he was going to get away with it.
“Pleases don’t cry. You don’t have to be afraid,” said a sweet voice.
Nicholas’s heart skipped a beat; he held his breath as he looked up to see who it was.
Before him was a scrawny little girl with golden red hair, which was being mussed by the wind. Like Nicholas, she was ill dressed for the weather, with a just dirty white dress to wrap meagerly around her fragile frame. Somehow, she did not appear to be that cold. To Nicholas she looked like an angel, glowing softly like a matchstick or candle does in the dark.
“I-I’m cold.” Nicholas managed to stutter, shivering uncontrollably. Nicholas was old enough to be embarrassed that some one had seen him crying, but the pain outweighed the shame.
“It’s okay. I can help,” she said. The words sang out softly like a beautiful lullaby.
“I’m not afraid,” Nicholas said, mostly to himself. The tears were coming slower now. “And I’m not going back.”
“Of course we can’t go back!” she giggled. “Let’s go somewhere else, somewhere better.”
This seemed like a very good idea to Nicholas. It always had occurred to him that somewhere there would be something better. There was a part of him that had a vague conception of the ways things should be, but the only existence Nicholas had ever experienced was of pain and very little love. Now this girl was offering to him what he had only dared to believe existed.
“Let’s go to my house, it’s warm and we could have hot chocolate. Do you want to come?” she asked hopefully, with a hint of fear he might turn her down.
“Sure.” Nicholas said feebly, but remaining motionless because of the pain.
“Here, take my hand.” The girl said.
The two congruent hands met in a perfect intersection of grace and despair. Upon contact with grace, despair is transformed into something absolutely wonderful: hope. Hope, however, doesn’t eradicate pain as Nicholas found out as he tried feebly to pull himself to his feet. His own efforts failed, as Nicholas found himself completely helpless in the girl's hands. The little girl pulled valiantly though, and brought Nicholas to his feet.
Nicholas was still very weak. It took every effort of his scrawny muscles to keep from collapsing onto the sidewalk as the little girl helped him along. It was difficult, but it did not hurt as much as it had when he had been on the ground.
“Just a few of more steps,” the little girl said. “We’re almost there.”
Nicholas could not bear to look up to see their progress, but he noticed that with each step he took it was a little easier to take another. The truth was with each step they took the little girl bore more and more of his weight, until Nicholas was merely moving his feet as the girl held him up. They continued until Nicholas thought he could bear no more.
“Just one more step.” The little girl whispered.
Nicholas opened his eyes to see the sun rising over the horizon, illuminating in a brilliant glow.
“Where are we?” he asked the girl in wonderment.
“My father’s house,” she replied, in a whisper.
The light grew brighter until Nicholas’s surroundings began to fade and the details of the landscape became utterly indistinguishable in the light. Nicholas looked at his hands to see that they were glowing just as the little girl had been when he first met her. He turned to show the girl, but she was glowing so brightly he could barely see her. She gave Nicholas one last smile as she vanished completely in the light. Now Nicholas was standing alone in the midst of the bright light. The small child did not fully grasp the significance of the situation, but he knew that this was indeed good, and he could trust his new friend. Nicholas took one more final, painless step, and all the hurt and suffering that had filled his life was burned away. Then there was only light, and a poor, little child was made whole.

My motto is anytime you can get through a Barry Joslin exam without crying you did well.

On the subject of schoolwork, I've resolved to locked myself in the room and finish my papers this weekend, so if you see me please promptly yell at me to get back to work.

What a wonderful Easter. How fitting, that the day we celebrate our Savior's resurection should be spent in fellowship with other Christ followers.

A big crew of us went out to the BeanBlossom's house after church for Easter dinner. There was, I might add, a rousing egg hunt in which i found more eggs than anyone, save the BeanBlossom's youngest Annie. Unfortunately, despite my full bag of plastic eggs, I was not able to locate any eggs with money inside. Chris Bond fond the big one, which had a nice, wallet sized picture of Alexander Hamilton in it.

I would like to thank everyone who came to the show last night. You guys were the ones who made it all worth while. Every one was simply amazing, I can not wait till we do it again.

New CD

New demo CD! check it out!

Listen at Purevolume!

enjoi!

The Best Things in Life are Free

Okay, so something pretty cool happened to me today.

Right around seven I was getting ready to close the store like usual when this guy comes in and explains he needs a sustain pedal for a keyboard. As it turns the guy is no other than Matt Kearney, an up and coming musical artist at Columbia Records. In fact, the sustain pedal is for a gig that night with the popular Denver based band The Fray. So Matt Kearney, who is a very likeable chap, offers to put me on the guest list (plus one), and thus my boring spring break is interrupted by a pleasant evening at Headliners Music Hall.

I, in fact, wasnot the only Boyce student who managed to acquire tickets to this highly sought after, sold out show. At the concert I ran into Billy Reddick, Stacy Reddick, Lindsey Poenie, and Dana Morris, amongst others. All agreed that it was a wonderful concert (although Billy would have prefered not to have been caressed by several obese, drunk chicks).

In addition to the pleasantry of free tickets, Matt Kearney was giving away free copies of his EP in support of his forthcoming, full length album.

It just goes to show you, it is not actually necessary to go to Florida to have a great spring break.

i'm in the basement of Carver, fearing for my life. not because of the tornadoes past over our area, but because the storm has driven Aaron Flipipone's already hyperactive, crazy dog even more insane. i have never gotten along with dogs to well. i guess i just don't like them, and i'm pretty sure the feeling is mutual.

good gosh im going out of my mind

there is no one in Carver right now, i am the only person in the this massively huge dormitory and it is pretty creepy. everyone is gone, i feel like the French lady on LOST (the best tv show in the history of television.

i mean i could be up to all sorts of against the student handbook mischief right now, but what's the point? ...sigh...it...is...really...dull...

spring break

three cheers for everyone NOT going any where for spring break. that's right. who says you need to go home, or to the lake, or the beach, or anywhere for that matter to have a good time during spring break?

ok, who am i fooling, i am just jealous. but in all honesty the extra hours i am picking up at work will be a huge blessing.

ok, good news, rumor has it that Louisville's number one indie/acoustic import from the west will be playing at Logos on the 15th. i am of course refering to butterworth & siege, of which i represent fifty percent. so be there, tell your friends, buy our cd (which doesnot exist yet, but hey technically neither does Underoath's new cd but that doesnot mean the guys on my hall dont already have a copy)

ok, good news. I finished my first Dr. Joslin exam. I had myself a good cry afterwards, but i got through without any major bodily injuries. I'm just glad i knew what the "comma johanneum" was.

Well, all the popular kids are going on the spring retreat, which leaves me with all the other kids who think they are too cool for school activities, (or in my case can't afford to miss that much work.) Well maybe I will actually get started on that book review.

I leave you now with a picture of John Tollefson for your viewing pleasure.

Ahh...There's nothing like a good swim to cheer you up when you are down. I swear, Blues music only exists because B.B. King couldn't swim.

In case you didn't know, the Women's Auxiliary might just be the coolest cats on campus. Thanks to their generous work in the Clothes Closet, I now have two more blazers and a pretty snazzy sweater vest. God bless those little old ladies.

Paul McNeil's birthday party was most entertaining. Nancy Jane was kind enough to open up her house for the event, and invited all of Paul's fellow student volunteers from Sprindale. For those who have never been, the Beanblossom estate is quite impressive; I mean how many people have a natural water fall in their back yard!

Well I would love to stay and type all day, but unfortunately I have places to go and people to casually aviod.

Rocket Summer Tickets

My friend Robbie is in from Arizona. If you run into him, give him a big hug and make sure he feels welcomed.

I was recently informed that the Relient k is sold out. If this indeed turns out to be "on the level" than I will be happy to buy some tickets off someone, which will be a whole lot nicer than me clubbing you in the back of the head with a lead pipe and taking the tickets from your blood drenched body.

Those of you who know me well no doubt are now having a conundrum, because while I am open about my respect and occasional enjoyment of Relient K, I am by no means a die hard fan. Well the reason for the sudden impulse of violence and bribery can be explained in three words: THE ROCKET SUMMER.

For the past two years I have admired, sung along with, and danced alone in my room to the wonderful music of Bryce Avery. I must see him live and will stop at no means to achieve my goal.

Ambition

I think I lost all of my ambition last week. I've been trying all day to find some ambition to do school. I mean, I checked my email, no ambition. I checked my facebook, and alas, other than the usaul poke from John Letoto, nothing. Even video games, which on occasion are a great source of ambition renewal, yeilded no positive results.

*SIGH*

There are far too many books on my shelf I have not read. I wish I could stop time and read for a couple of years and just read, and probally practice the piano. Then I would un-pause time and continue from where I left off, smarter and more talented.

Yeah... thats a good plan. I'll let you know how that works out.

Highlights

Okay, here are some quick highlights of the week:

1. Getting the "Doctor" card in mafia then preceeding to baffle the mafia and save the victim three times, leading to a crushing defeat for the mafia

2. Hearing a really good message from Pastor David Butler at Springdale Community Church

3. Dr. Joslin showing us "Baby got Book" in Hermeneutics.

4. Turning to see Dr. Adams dancing in the hallway to "Baby got Book" not knowing anyone caught had him.

5. Actually getting motivated to starte on a paper for the first time this semester

My First Open Dorms

Despite the insults from all the naysayers, I thought open dorms was a blast, a real first rate shin-dig. I said this several times tonight, but it bears repeating, Mullins is a pretty swank joint! I loved the color-coordinated, well kept rooms. All you ladies got an A plus in hospitality in my book.

After the ladies departed I was pleasantly suprised to find Dr. Mohler on the hall with his faithful sidekick Baxter. It is so swell that he takes the time to talk with us.

if any of my devoted readers feel my most recent entries have been little lacking in the length department, I highly recommend they go back and re-read my entries over Christmas break, those were written carefully when I had a lot of time to kill. they average three long paragraphs in length and were usually written in frequencies of every three days, as compared to this paltry once a week schedule that my job, classes, and having an actual life has regretably forced upon me. the Christmas break entries, if I may say so myself, were written fairly prolifically and are incredibly fascinating, please refer to those when you are bored with your own life.

on a side note, the "super bowl" is tonight. I can remember when I cared about football, but that was a long time ago.

past entries

if any of my devoted readers feel my most recent entries have been little lacking in the length department, I highly recommend they go back and re-read my entries over Christmas break, those were written carefully when I had a lot of time to kill. they average three long paragraphs in length and were usually written in frequencies of every three days, as compared to this paltry once a week schedule that my job, classes, and having an actual life has regretably forced upon me. the Christmas break entries, if I may say so myself, were written fairly prolifically and are incredibly fascinating, please refer to those when you are bored with your own life.

on a side note, the "super bowl" is tonight. I can remember when I cared about football, but that was a long time ago.

I snapped this picture when it was fall and not so bitterly cold.

In this case the currently reading Shadow of the Almighty actually means just finished reading Shadow of the Almighty. It is an incredible book, I pass it on with the highest regards. The real test will be writing the five page book review tomorrow, as to get a jump start on the semester.

Incidentally as I was finishing the book upstairs in Honeycutt my ear recognized the well amplified sound of John Letoto laughing (no surprise) downstairs in Founders (again no surprise). In typical Toto fashion he was entertaining more than one Boyce lady with his Hawaiian laid back charm. I joined in for a brief commentary on why light red is called pink but light blue still blue.

It does me a great pleasure to see the return of my beloved third floor eastside brothers, most recently Joiner, Paul Carr, and Tolly. Also, Carver's most prestigious hall now boast the occupation of Jordan Anderson, Chip, and Sean Morris- clinching that not only are we the coolest hall but in fact the best looking.

Now I have go beat a bunch of fourth floor kids in Risk. See you in the funny pages.

Breakfast

This entire week I've woken up to see my roommate eating a beautiful home cooked breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast. This made me look at my otherwise beloved breakfast of Cap'n Crunch with a certain amount of contempt. So what did I do? I went out and blew my textbook money on frozen sausages and hashbrowns... I am such a whore.

blue grass

well i'm back in the blue grass state, really it should be called the cold, wet, and dreary state but i suppose that would not inspire tourism. honestly it's great being back though, and i've already run into/ gotten big hugs from most of my crew.

i watched Dr. Mohler on Larry King today. i thought he did really well. really he was in a tough position, but he handled it well. it's a tough issue. i do wish we as Christ followers would be known for our love more than for what we are against. certainly standing up for our beliefs is important, but it can be difficult without coming across like a big jerk.

well i am going to try to find a ride to Wal-Mart. i need some Cap'n Crunch.

xLHCx

Well yesterday I traveled to the charming, spring break get away Lake Havasu City to do some Boyce recruiting. This is actually a quite a long way to travel. If everyone one gets their Arizona atlas out they would notice that LHC is just about on the California border. Towards the eastern New Mexico border are three cities: Payson, Snowflake, and Show Low. These three cities make and imaginary triangle. With the assistance of an magnifying glass you might be able to locate the microscopic community of Heber/Overgaard in the center of the said triangle. It takes about five and a half hours to drive to LHC one way, and in a daring feat of insanity we decided to go there and back in one day.

The recruiting was pretty much a smashing success. When recruiting for Boyce College the real trick is finding people who don't respond violently when you ask them if they are interested in going into the ministry. Most people find the idea of devoting one's life to God incredibly offensive. But as soon as they told us in our Big Ten meeting to think of churches in our home state to hit up over Christmas break one church instantly came to mind: Calvary Baptist, LHC. I met these kids over the summer at Arizona Southern Baptist youth events such as Make Waves (waterpark + youth rally) and ZONA YUTH KAMP (held in Point Loma, California). Well basically its a huge youth mostly made up of hardcore kids that besides really knowing how to cut a two-step in a pit are also pretty hardcore for Christ. Basically every other kid I talked to wanted to go into some kind of ministry, mostly youth ministry, not surprising since they have one of the most amazing youth groups I have ever seen.

Well this may come as surprise to most of you but London Bridge, yes the one of nursery rhyme fame, actually resides in Lake Havasu City. Don't ask me how or why they imported the bridge from merry old England all the way to Arizona, but the fact is it makes a pretty good tourist trap. Yep, Arizona has more then just the Grand Canyon to make tourists pull over and spend their money. In fact we also have the Petrified Forest, Meteor Crater, the Painted Desert, and represent one fourth of Four Corners. But expect to see some pretty sweet shots of the bridge pretty soon on my facebook. Well I'll be back in Kentucky in less then a week.

Small Towns and Quasi-Terminal Diseases

Well I'm finally seem to be overcoming this cold that has made the last five days an agonizing blur. Being sick isn't very fun. Definitely the worst combination of ailments is a cold with sleep depravation and insomnia.

Last week, before the being bed ridden thing, I had the pleasure of having a small bonfire with my friends. Take it from me, there is no better way to enjoy living in the middle of a national forest than burning a small part of it. It really was a small fire, only 10-12 foot flames. As far as bonfires out in the woods go, that's pretty tame. Every time it would start to die down my old Mustang's Golf teammate Joe Costello would disappear into the woods with his dually truck and come back dragging another dead pine tree. I think we ended up burning 3-4 dead pine trees. That actually is good for the forest, because dead underbrush and such can cause really serious forest fires. Mostly I got to catch up with one of my best buddies from high school, Nathaniel Lail, who is now going to the Air Force Academy in Colorado.

It was an educational experience in the fact I learned a Sobe bottle once drained of its nourishing energy drink can be filled with gasoline and placed in side the bonfire with the cap on tight. As the gasoline begins to boil the pressure inside the bottle begins to sharply increase until the cap pops off. Subsequently the gasoline is propelled 20-30 feet straight into the air, which is ignited by the surrounding fire, creating a pillar of fire similar to the one mentioned in the Old Testament. Imagine if you will something to the effect of a large clearing in the woods. Picture the soft glow of the fire surrounded by complete darkness. Then for one glorious instant the entire clearing is illuminated by a towering burst of flame. That's what we do in small towns to entertain ourselves.