I have limited wind

This is very long, but I would much appreciate you taking the time to read it. Commenting never hurt me either.







OK, so in my last blog post I admitted some things that may not have reflected on my greatly, and this next confession may possibly be no exception: I would rather rock out to Kenny G on MUZAK than listen to nothing at all. I, of course, am looking at this from the perspective of a cubicle monkey (read ala Career Builder commercials) who sits in an office of solitude, silence and despair. Now, before I go any further, this may seem hypocritical to something I speak about often: the need to get rid of the noise in our lives, whether it be audio, visual, or something in between. Good Examples of this would be always needing the radio on, a cluttered house, the need to always be out and social etc. I often argue on this point to people who say they do not hear God – clearly to me, they have too much noise in their lives. I know I do. So to completely contradict this idea, I want to state that its cruel and unusual punishment to be forced to work in an office, with over circulated stale air, people who microwave food that reeks of curdled milk and onions, and coughing fits that make the infirmaries during the black plague era seem tame, that has no music what so ever. I am not living a noiseless life here at the old job, nor should I be thanking them for allowing me silent time to hear the voice of God, rather I am stuck here amidst all this strife, stuck listening to the screaming in my head that says "Get me the $%^& outta here!"








So it's probably true that I will never be satisfied with a 40 hour a week job (hence my delving into the fields of music and church – although the church field is a whole different sort of torture, maybe not lacking in crappy music (can anyone say "Shine Jesus, Shine . . . and yeah I did just vom in my mouth) but certainly torturous in its own way none the less . . .) but I digress. Either way, I still need a little something more from my job. Redundancy is what is killing most of us – I am pretty sure we were built to be creative, and a job that saps you of your creativity is a lot like the "Suck-Kut" from the movieWayne's World. (Did I just lose some of my readers with that ancient pop-culture reference?)








Somebody actually commented that they really liked my writing style and I was certainly very flattered. What's interesting, though, is that this person must love my parentheses or ellipsis (since I use them all the time. . . )








Does anyone remember that crappy song that went " I love you period. Do you love me question mark? Please, Please exclamation point! (I want to hold you in parenteses.) – I actually have fond memories of that song, but its still really crappy. It just really makes me sad to think that the song my father wrote that said "Kill your mother, rape and pillage . . ." never caught on. Oh, and by the way, he was mocking the music that I was listening to as an angry and disenfranchised youth. Oh yeah, I had a mullet, and black t-shirts with anarchy signs – I was totally sweet. This phase was preceded by my late elementary years in which I clearly remember wearing neon orange spandex with black checkers up the sides, and a t-shirt with a shark on it holding a knife and a fork saying "Let's do lunch." Two things about that: 1. I had no grapes to really be smuggling, so that was of little concern, and 2. I was not nearly as sweet as I thought I was . . . go figure.








So some of my friends are upset because they were implicated in the Enrique Iglesias' "Hero" incident of '05. I personally feel liberated.








I have said it once and I will say it again – Abortion is NOT the only moral issue. Too many Christians and extreme right winger's ("She's only seventeen (seventeen) . . . did anyone else get that?) think they have a cornered market on the "moral" party because they are anti-abortion. Some other moral issues may be, life in general, war, poverty, unfair trade and labor – just to name a few. To vote against abortion does not mean that no other moral issue matters. Think about it.








Now, its strange because I often get accused of being "liberal" now, which is pretty funny to me. Folks, let me be real honest with you – I have opinions. These opinions are constantly being shaped and changed to look more and more in line with how I think Jesus calls me to live. I am trying to not be republican or democrat, right or left. I am just trying to get in line with what is best for the most people. I have issues with both sides. I mostly speak out against the "christian right" because I am a friend of Bill W's (a recovering "christian.") Actually I am trying to throw out the word christian altogether – it conjures up to many thoughts and I am not near good enough to change peoples perception. I am trying to think of a different term for myself other than "christian." Obviously, the term "awesome" fits. Maybe I could make that work? "What religion are you?" - "Awesome." What do you think?








Let me go back to the abortion thing for just a moment. I am trying to have a consistent ethic of human life. To me, this means no war, no genocide, no torture or death penalty, and no abortion. I am trying to be all around pro-life – all lives are important and equal. I get that this is a major issue. I have read all the bumper stickers and yes I am glad my mom chose life, but here is the thing. We just had 8 years of a pro-life candidate in the white house and it did not change a thing. Does this make it an unworthy cause? Of course not. Before Roe v. Wade, abortions were still popular, just illegal. Much like prohibition, making them illegal will really not change anything. We need to change our hearts and we need to make a difference in peoples lives. Legislation can only make minor changes at best, but the real change starts with us (have I said this before?) So why do I advocate interest in politics? Because it is a part of our world and it is a good place to start the discussion, and can even be helpful in raising awareness for some major injustices that are currently happening in our world. But the other day, Derek Webb said, and I completely agree, "I venture to say, that if you step out of your house and look at the 6 or 8 houses/apts./condos around you, and try to make a difference through love and service in those peoples lives, that it would make a thousand times more impact in our world than any politician ever could." Well played.








www.postsecret.com – have you been there? You need to go. Better yet, send one in. Its like a modern day confession. The idea behind confession is not bad – simply getting things off your chest is very cathartic. You were not meant to carry all that baggage.








I absolutely fear confrontation, but I love to debate.






I often wonder if anyone really gets me.






I used to want to be hospitalized to see who would show up, so I could see who really cared. Then I went to the hospital and I was pleasantly surprised by the people who visited.






Sometimes I am afraid I talk a better game than I really have.






I confess some things so I do not have to confess others. Maybe someday.








One of the hardest things about writing about social issues, pop culture, theology and the like is finding out how to best portray my opinion. You see, clearly I think my thoughts are better than some peoples because they would not be my opinions if I didn't. I also want people to know that I try to be open to new ideas and I certainly don't want people to take my thoughts as the final word on the matter, but at the same time, I do not want them completely dismissed either. I want people to know that I am just trying to be part of the discussion and that I am equally flawed. Its hard to make a harsh stand on certain topics because I am far from perfect and I am always afraid someone will look at my life and call me out. Sometimes we need to have thoughts before we can take action, but actions speak louder than words . . . how interesting.








Are you enjoying my foray into hyperlinks? I am trying.








There is a guy that sits near me that honestly thinks that Mountain Dew is the devil's tool. 1. Has he ever even had Mountain Dew? Yummy. 2. If he is a christian, I am definitely now calling myself awesome. 3. Isn't he fighting the wrong battles? 4. This is also the guy who thinks Barack Obama is the anti-christ.








I, on the other hand, think David Archuletais the anti-christ.








I am thinking about bringing the phrase "bomb-diggity" back – With the help of my friend Eric, we clearly made "your mom" jokes cool again. Any other suggestions?








"Today the minutes seemed like hours, the hours go so slowly . . . "








Albums you should be listening to (at least what is appealing to me right now, and clearly seems like a much better deal than Kenny G on MUZAK):

The National "Boxer"
Derek Webb "Mockingbird"
Jeff Buckley "Grace"
Arcade Fire "Neon Bible"
Neil Diamond "Hot August Night"
Under the Influence of Giants "Under the Influence of Giants"
Ray Lamontagne "'Til the Sun Turns Black"
A Perfect Circle "eMotive"
Beck "Guero"
Badly Drawn Boy "The Hour of Bewilderbeast"



Movies you should be watching:

Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Blood Diamond
No Country For Old Men
Juno
Sweeney Todd



Books you should be reading:

"Everything Must Change" by Brian McLaren
"Jesus For President" by Shane Claiborne
"Catcher in the Rye" by J. D. Salinger
"Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
"Serve God, Save the Planet" by Matthew Sleeth
"The Great Awakening" by Jim Wallis
"Choke" by Chuck Palahniuk
"House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski
"The Secret Lives of Men and Women" by Frank Warren
"Velvet Elvis" by Rob Bell
"The World According to Garp" by John Irving



If you ever want to discuss any of the aforementioned titles (movies, music, books, etc.), please hit me up.




And you should not be watching TV because it steals your soul – but I have no room to talk. DVR has seriously ruined my life. I watch shows that no one watches, like "Monsterquest" – seriously, I have got issues.

Just some thoughts

How can anyone say men and women aren't different? Other than the obvious genitalia issues, there are several proofs we are so different. What's the first one I can think of? Funnel Cake. Sure I like funnel cake, but would never stop and by one. On the other hand, women are genetically predisposed to buy funnel cake. When walking by a booth, or once the smell hits their nostrilsm its all over. She needs to have one. Period. If there was ever a true civil war between men and women. Men would not need to fight. We would just bake funnel cakes and poison them. The whole female race would be done in about 3 minutes.



Want to know how trapped by the consumer culture I am? I always buy the two-disc special edition of DVD's but I never ever watch the special features. But somehow, I feel I need to have them, you know, "just in case."



There is nothing you could say to convince me that Neil Diamond is not one of the best musical artists of our time. Sure he was not a great singer, and almost talks as much as he sings, but there is something about his music that just makes you happy. He is kind of like a white Bob Marley.

Movies

I am just going to do an off-the-cuff list of the nine best and worst movies of all time that I have seen. If you take issue with what I say here, let me know. It will be fun to argue about it. These are in no particular order and are numbered only to help me count. And again, I did this list in about ten minutes. And again, (again) when I say best, I take a movie within its genre, and artistic value is not the only thing I consider



WORST

1. Date Movie - Almost didn't include this because I can't believe anyone evere made this movie. Its offensive and never funny.

2. Pirates of the Caribbean 2 (Dead Man's Chest?) - After the first movie was so strong, this movie was awful. It was indulgent in all the wrong places, and the movie really has no plot.

3. Superman Returns - The worst lead actor ever - had the emotions of a monolith. Christopher Reeves was offended and who ever thought a Superman would be worse than number 3.

4. Batman and Robin - Thanks to my buddy Ken I have come to loathe the terrible dialogue in this movie. Cheesy one-liners has a whole new meaning

5. History of Violence - I have never walked out of a movie and not been able to remember anything about it - until this one. And there were even gratuitous sex scenes

6. Stealing Harvard - I love Jason Lee, but this comedy had no jokes. Tom Green is even more annoying than usual.

7. Star Wars 2: Attack of the Clones - I was never a big Star Wars fan, but you have to be pretty into it to understand or care what happened here - not to mention the fact that Annakin's acting is painful. Chewbacca conveys more emotion

8. The Matrix Sequels - The first was amazing. I still have no idea what happened in the next two, nor did it make me want to know. Keanu is more lame than usual, and there are far too many side characters that really mean nothing

9. Catwoman - Bad acting, bad costume, no plot, not even good special effects

10.



BEST

1. Crash - Intriguing, made you actually consider your own behavior and is one of the few movies that actually may make a difference on how you view the world.

2. As Good As It Gets - An amazing love story about messy people

3. Black Snake Moan - Warped and demented in all the right ways. Two people bringing each other to redemption. Great look, dialogue and feel

4. 40 Year Old Virgin - Dirty humor that is also intelligent. Real characters that never seem inauthentic. These guys are just like your friends

5. Braveheart - So maybe Mel loses his accent, but every man wants to be William Wallace. I am almost started another Revolution because I was so inspired by his cry for "Freedom"

6. Breakfast Club - Authenticity. and a great glimpse of my early years. Captured my teen angst perfectly

7. 300 - Vicualy stunning - manly quotient - see Braveheart

8. Good Will Hunting - Such great speeches about love and life.

9. Clue - an old school favorite and I was running out of time. How can you not enjoy this movie?

10.