If I had the time to sing another, I'd sing the types of songs you'd like to hear. . .

Why are people without jobs still glad its friday?

Even though they are probably considered the best band of all time, I still don't think the Beatles get enough credit for their song writing abilities.

Confession: I once went to a Friday's with my good friend Ken and we ordered Swirl Margaritas (Check that: I actually ordered them saying "We will each have a raspberry swirl margarita") and I am pretty sure everyone at the bar thought we were gay - and I am pretty sure we deserved that. (PS. I am not actually gay). This moment might only be eclipsed by the time my friends and I got a little tipsy in Montreal (maybe I mean drunk) and got in a circle under the guise that we were trying to impress 2 chicks, and sang "Hero" by Enrique Iglesias at the tops of our lungs. Because I want to incriminate, the culprits were me, Brian, John, Eric, Ken and Pat. Why do I mention all of this? All men have less than masculine moments. Sorry to burst your bubble. I had to get this out. I have no shame in it (well maybe a little, but thats mostly because its pathetic I knew the words to an Enrique Iglesias tune, one of the many things I will need to account myself to God for).

I went to see Derek Webb in concert last night. It took place in an old church building - the setting was beautiful. There were only about 150 people there, and the concert was so intimate. For those of you that don't know, Derek Webb is a singer/songwriter whose lyrics irritate a lot of people. He is frank, and he calls people change our world. He sings about God (and his struggle with belief) but he would scoff if you compared him to a christian. Nothing about this concert felt "christian:" No altar calls, hand raising or amens (THANK GOD!). He was witty, poignant, and he sounded great. Acoustic guitar and a voice. It doesn't get much better, and yet, only 150 people showed up. People would not know good music if it smacked them in the face. When we live in a world where Chingy sells more albums then Derek Webb, something is TERRIBLY wrong. Check him out. Noteworthy Tracks: A New Law, Nothing is Ever Enough, Wedding Dress, Mockingbird, Better than wine . . .

There are 27 million people living in SLAVERY around the world, more than during the Civil War - and YOU don't care enough - nor do I, but I am trying. But we are the problem. What we buy, how we respond, and our greed - thats what is causing it.

If you live in Cincinnati, are you with me on this one: The only thing that really makes Chad Johnson impressive now, is that he got a whole city to turn on him in less than a year - that simply outweighs his amazing talent on the field.

My job is ludicrous. Who schedules a 2 hour meeting starting at 3 on a Friday? I am feeling like one of the 27 million, but thats a whole different kind of slavery.

www.mentalfloss.com One of my favorite blogs

http://blog.beliefnet.com/godspolitics/ Another amazing blog

Any feedback? Hit me up

A few thoughts

Some of these I have read somewhere, and some I think are somewhat original . . . either way, they are going through my mind.

Sorry if credit is not always given where credit is due

Oh and this will jump around a lot. . . mostly to prevent you from skimming (and clearly, me needing to organize)



I wonder if pastors are upset that Braveheart has probably inspired more men than their sermons have?

Why do some people find it necessary to have a lame sense of humor? Example:

Me: "Did you get a haircut?"

Them: "Actually I got all of them cut"

Wow, isn't that original and inspiring. Almost as good as, "what's up?" . . . "The ceiling"

If you are using these types of jokes, please stop.

Which lends me to - why has our conversation become so meaningless and mundane? Why do we ask "how you doin'?" when we don't really care? Why is the weather the only thing we can find to talk about with a stranger?

Speaking of, just to clear the air, I have heard the Subway and jewelry jokes a million times. You are not the first, second or one thousandth person to corralate my name to the ex-fat guy who pumps subway sandwiches. I no longer want to acknowledge this trivial little sentiment. Where has our creativity gone?

JESUS HAS RETURNED TO EARTH - in the form of a store called IKEA. Wouldn't it be interesting if people cared one one-hundreth as much about their spirituality and love as they did trendy furniture?

I applaud many people for adopting the whole idea of buying "green." Its nice to see people understanding Creation care, and even if you don't believe in God, its great to see us taking interest in protecting the planet, and saving resources, for future generations. But CONSUMERISM is a funny animal. We have just replaced buying eco-hazardous materials with buying "green" ones. Sorry to say it, but this is not going to stop our problem. All this buying still creates high volumes of production and packaging. This world will get better when we stop buying so much stinkin stuff. Green is cool, but we need to stop spending period. But alas, what are the odds of that happening? After all, I do really want that PS3. . .

Activia yogurt is supposed to regulate your digestive system . . . all it really does is up your flatulation index . . . write that down

David Archuleta (American Idol) might be the biggest sham ever. Ok, so he can sing a little. Can he remember words? No. Does he possess more than one facial expression? No. Does he use his right hand as a Raptor like claw that never gets above his solar plexus? Absolutely.

Would it kill Myspace to offer spellcheck?

Can we keep it up with the responding to my blogs? I dig the feedback, and if you can take time to take 1 million surveys a week that all ask the same questions, you can certainly hit me up here.

Every 4 years in America we get a sickness. . . its represents itself with one major symptom - we believe politics to be the solution to all of our world's problems, the nation's crises, and our own dilemmas. Can I tell you something? Its not. Go ahead, write me off as a silly "christian" but I am going to tell you this anyway. Christians and Atheists alike can say Jesus was probably the most influential person in history - and he lived in opposition to the government. He knew something we fail to grasp. Change begins with You (Me). I am the problem. When we fix ourselves and begin to love - that remedies problems. If Jesus ran today, he could never get the money together to be elected, and I am quite confident he would lose anyway. Am I saying not to vote? Of course not. But the government is not the plan. You are.

Renee Zellweger is neither talented or attractive. She can single-handedly destroy a movie. Case in point: Leatherheads.

Also, a really neat online test that Harvard put together can basically "show" that one is racist: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo/index.jsp

You need to check it out above - thanks John - also test biases on sexuality etc.

If you are not listening to Ray Lamontagne, you should be. His music is pure joy.

thats all I have for right now. . .more for later hopefully

Iraq

There is at the outset a very obvious and almost facile connection between the war in Vietnam and the struggle I, and others, have been waging in America. A few years ago there was a shining moment in that struggle. It seemed as if there was a real promise of hope for the poor—both black and white—through the poverty program. There were experiments, hopes, new beginnings.

Then came the buildup in Vietnam and I watched the program broken and eviscerated as if it were some idle political plaything of a society gone mad on war, and I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic destructive suction tube. So I was increasingly compelled to see the war as an enemy of the poor and to attack it as such. –Martin Luther King Jr., April 4, 1967, Riverside Church