never been here before

There's a song that they sing when they take to the highway A song that they sing when they take to the sea A song that they sing of their home in the sky Maybe you can believe it if it helps you to sleep But singing works just fine for me

I've never been one for the comic book movie. But after all the raves and all the friends who'd seen the latest Batman installment, when the chance to go this afternoon popped up, I decided, "why not?" What I didn't expect was to really be moved, and aside from being moved also see so many spiritual themes. The battle between good and evil is an obvious one, but this movie takes it to a deeper level, exploring the human condition, the state of our hearts, and rising to find the much-needed hope of a community of people. It was hard for me at times to not stop and appreciate the genius I was seeing on screen. Heath Ledger as the Joker really is definitive . Horribly creepy and unsettling. He makes your skin crawl. The constant flicking tongue, the haunting eyes, that voice... had I not known it was Ledger I'm certain I wouldn't have recognized him. Gone was the signature husky voice and the twinkle in his eyes... it was replaced with a slow, deliberate ca...

I get to openly mock this: Because it rightfully deserves to be mocked. Mercilessly. Seriously, the crazy finger-pointing alone is worth 10 minutes of mocking.

You have control over only two things: How you treat yourself and how you treat others. _______________________________________________________________ There are two things you cannot control: How others treat you and how others treat themselves. ... passed on to me from my pastor. Good stuff.

First of all, I must say Mamma Mia! was incredible. Really. Just as good as the stage show. Meryl Streep rocks my sauce... girl can belt it. This is not an easy one, but anyone with a twisted sense of humor adores this movie: Please! This is supposed to be a happy occasion. Let's not bicker and argue over who killed who.

Yeah, baby!

This town: Kearney. It's where I've lived for the last eight years, and the place I will say goodbye to in four short weeks. Many things about this town drive me crazy. But many things don't. I choose to focus on the things that don't. 1.) You can talk to a complete stranger for 5 minutes while waiting for pizza at Valentino's , and it doesn't feel weird. (Just did that tonight.) 2.) Everywhere you go takes 15 minutes. 3.) I love that I found a place to live within walking distance of where I work, walking distance of my grocery store, AND walking distance of a recycling center. 4.) Barista's Daily Grind. Yum. 5.) Redmond's, the best shoe store ever. So small and old school they don't even have a website. 6.) When we have a tornado it's all we talk about for the next 3 days. And 15 people call you to see if you are okay. 7.) I don't know why I love this so much, but I love that my dumpster gets blown away every time it's windy and storms...

You fell victim to one of the classic blunders. The most famous is: "Never get involved in a land war in Asia." But, only slightly less well known is this: "Never go in against a Sicilian, when death is on the line!"

Legacy Milk comes out of Hallam, NE. They use glass bottles that you can return to the store (Environmentally-friendly! Yea!), they have crazy-fun flavors like Cotton Candy and Root Beer. You pay a little extra, but it completely worth it. They don't use any growth-hormones, and it just tastes good.

Awesome. Just... Awesome.

The troubadours wrote songs and poetry, mainly centering around the themes of love and chivalry. One theme that has always struck me was their idea that the wound a person suffers can only be healed by the one who inflicted it. Richard Wagner , a German composer, eludes to the idea that the only way to right a wrong is go back to the time when the wrong decision is made and thus, make the right one. In his opera, Parsifal , Wagner composed a song, probably based on the troubadours theme, called "The Wound Is Healed Only by the Spear That Smote You". The idea that a wound can only be healed by the inflicter makes logical sense to me. I'm a fan of logic, for even in the most grey and philosophical area logic helps my mind organize everything. But is there truth in this statement? I imagine there would be plenty of Christians shouting "no!" to this idea, because of the truth that God heals our wounds. But is it really that simple? Last summer I was abl...

I've been to a lot of sporting events and a lot of ceremonies where the American Anthem was played. Not once did I place my hand over my heart. I haven't done that since I said the pledge of allegiance in high school. I guess that makes me an unpatriotic Muslim running for president. In all seriousness, I am SO tired of getting emails about Barack Obama. The ignorance with which it is forwarded drives me crazy. It makes me want to make up an outlandish story about someone then forward it to all my friends as if it were gospel, just to see how long it takes to get back to me. I love this country and the people in it, but man... we are ignorant sometimes.

When you're down and out When you're on the street When evening falls so hard I will comfort you

An appropriate post from Jan at the view from her (I'm particularly fond of #5, #8 and #14): Reasons I love living in the U.S.A. on our 232nd birthday: 1. The 4th of July. Barbecue, parades, sparklers, fireworks. 2. We have the prettiest flag. 3. You can drive anywhere without asking permission. Even across state lines. And stay as long as you want. 4. Blue jeans . 5. You can love or hate books like The Shack, or The DaVinci Code, but they're not forbidden. 6. We have real cowboys. 7. And Indians. 8. You can freely mock the President. I think we take that for granted. 9. The Freedom of Information Act . Our government will actually give you information about itself. 10. You can send a letter to any one of over 111 million homes, and it will be delivered to precisely the right one in only about two days, for just 42 cents. 11. New England clam chowder. 12. Alaska and Hawaii. 13. You can have as many children as you want . 14. Libraries. All the free books you c...