never been here before

Laugh as much as you choose, but you will not laugh me out of my opinion. It may not technically be "pop" culture, although the book the quote comes from is a blip on our popular culture screen, several times in the last 20 years or so. (FYI, I am in awe of this author.)

Say what you will about the three remaining candidates running for president, but no one can deny this election year has changed everything. Read this and tell me I'm wrong. HT to Landon .

Ya'll know I hate Wal-Mart. Here's another log to throw on the fire. (Scroll down to the video titled Wal-Mart is suing a disabled woman . Think the title is bad? Wait until the end of the video. It gets worse. I take back the credit I gave them last October. Wal-Mart sucks.

This movie was on TV last week, so it's in my head. A classic. Strap, God wants you on the floor.

In my effort to build a Good Friday service with the theme of "by his stripes we are healed", I have hit a dilemma. Here is my order of service: Video “Resurrection” Reading of Isaiah 53 Crimson (Vocal Solo) Reading: John 18: 1-18 #302 Lamb of God 1, 2 Reading John 18: 19-40 #323 Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed 1, 2, 3, 5 Reading: John 19: 1-16 Love Song (Vocal Solo) Reading John 19: 17-42 #324 When I Survey the Wondrous Cross 1, 3, 4 Video “A Better Way” Cross Painting/Communion Prayer All of the readings have music in the background, mostly stuff from "The Passion" to create a mood of sorrow and awe at the same time. Both vocal solos are focused on Jesus very intentionally, as are the videos. For communion, my idea is to have a small bucket of paint sitting at the foot of the cross. As we all come forward for communion, we will have the chance to paint a stripe on the cross, to remind us of the price Jesus paid, the "stripes" if you will. During that ti...

I know I haven't been posting much of substance lately, but this video has more substance than I could write in a year. Enjoy. And bring Kleenex. HT: Shane

What do you do for recreation? Oh, the usual. I bowl. Drive around. The occasional acid flashback.

It doesn't get much better than this...

I'm a tad obsessive. My sleep patterns are all out of whack due to sickness, vacation, and this stupid time change. So I'm still awake, and working on the Good Friday video I posted on Wednesday. I had already put hours of work into it (due to a slow computer and the evil mignon that is Windows Movie Maker) but I just didn't think it was ready yet. But now it is. I did this video because I am passionate about music and how visual arts can help us sort through our own emotions and our own junk. It was exhausting watching the whipping, Jesus carrying the cross through the streets, the crucifixion... Over and over I cut snippet after snippet, timing it just right. My eyes are red from the repeated tears from watching what Jesus went through. I'm singing in the Messiah this weekend at the performing arts center. And I was telling my friend Steph (the very steph!! who often posts comments here) on the phone tonight about how wonderful the music is, how stunningly crafted an...

For Landon... "Ask and you shall receive" I'd be happy to ftp it if anyone wants to use it at their own service.

I've been working on our Good Friday service over the last few weeks, which I decided to based around the theme of "By his stripes we are healed". I've been working on a order of service, videos, background music for the scripture readings and what have you. Tonight I finished the final video of the program, which we'll show after communion. Then I began to work on choosing the background music for the reading of Isaiah 53, where "by his stripes we are healed"" comes from. So I grab my nearest bible (it happened to be the New American Standard translation) and began to read through the passage while the " Mary Comes to Jesus " music from The Passion of the Christ movie played. (I wanted to see if it could be timed right.) When I got to verse 12, I stopped. Why? Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors;...

My visit to the doctor confirmed that while I do not have strep, I should not be around people. So I'm pouting, staying at home today, despite feeling pretty good. I just have a sore throat with yucky white specks. Blech. One of the lovely things that greeted me when I returned from vacation was pantry beetles. It's the grossest, more revolting thing I've encountered in a long time. I threw everything but my canned goods out, vacuumed, then scrubbed everything twice. And I still have the willies. So my kitchen is a disaster. Nothing has gone back in the cabinets yet. I'm just not ready. Yuck. I know that it's common, and typically enter the home through a product purchased at the store. But I still feel like the worst housekeeper in the world right now. And I'm just... so grossed out. Welcome back, me.

Karen: He likes to butt things... with his head. Nathan: How proud you must be. I love this movie. Soooo funny.

General observations: Midwest airlines really is the only way to fly. Warm chocolate cookies and a round trip ticket to Seattle for $180? Come on. The only inconvenience is the 6 hour drive to Kansas City, which is hardly an inconvenience at all. And one of my closest friends is moving to Kansas City in a couple of weeks, so how great is that? Although it rains a lot in Washington, the wind there is sooooo much warmer than here. My family is a little crazy. 85 people is a big wedding up there. Here, 200 is average. No wonder I feel more at home there than here. We are all vanilla. But I can look around there and see orange sherbet, rocky road and fudge swirl just walking down the street.(I came up with this metaphor Friday night at dinner with my friend Shannon who lives up there. Her friend who joined us for dinner thought this was hysterical. But Shannon totally knew what I meant.) The food there is so much more interesting. Not necessarily better, although the salmon pes...

This is seriously hilarious. And I realize the fact that I find this funny makes you all aware of just how weird I am. ... but most of you already knew anyway, right?

I'm back from vacation and I'm sick of being sick. I'm off to pout about my sickliness. I hate this.