SoulFire and Romansroad are giving a joint concert on the evening of Sunday, December 4th to raise money for the family of Elijah Grubb.
Elijah just turned one a couple of months ago, and has been diagnosed with a very rare disease called "Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis" (LCH), which isn't cancer, per se, but is treated similarly. He's making trips to Iowa City and taking chemo and all kinds of stuff like that.
Elijah's dad, Simon Grubb, is the younger brother of Tim, the lead singer of SoulFire. Simon and Jamie also go to our church, and are active leaders in the youth group.
We're doing a double-bill concert that night in hopes of raising some $$ for Elijah's family. If you'd like to hear some great music AND support a great cause, come on out to Norwalk on that Sunday night in December.
More details to come.
Monday, October 31, 2005
Sunday, October 30, 2005
Whatta weekend... whew!
It's been a marathon, of sorts. I guess it's a foretaste of what it might be like someday if SoulFire hits it big and goes on tour. I really enjoyed doing the youth retreat, and the group really responded well to Tim and to the music. They want us back next year already, and they said that they are part of a larger "network" of churches from that denomination, and that they were going to spread the word about us.
I, for one, would like to see the group be in a position to purchase all our own equipment so that we no longer have to borrow any from our church. I'd also like to actually OWN a nice keyboard (here's the one I really really want), stand, cords, amp, etc., so I don't have to keep using the church's when I gig somewhere AND so that I can actually practice piano at home.
But until such time as that becomes available, I'll keep doing what I'm doing.
Back to the old grind tomorrow. Erica's still sick; she now also has mono, on top of everything else, so she's home again tomorrow. I hate for her to be so sick. Makes me want to isolate everyone for the entire winter and stay away from all the germs that get passed around.
I, for one, would like to see the group be in a position to purchase all our own equipment so that we no longer have to borrow any from our church. I'd also like to actually OWN a nice keyboard (here's the one I really really want), stand, cords, amp, etc., so I don't have to keep using the church's when I gig somewhere AND so that I can actually practice piano at home.
But until such time as that becomes available, I'll keep doing what I'm doing.
Back to the old grind tomorrow. Erica's still sick; she now also has mono, on top of everything else, so she's home again tomorrow. I hate for her to be so sick. Makes me want to isolate everyone for the entire winter and stay away from all the germs that get passed around.
I hate squirrels, part XVIII
Squirrel starts fire in rural Mississippi
Firefighters in Hinds County spent the afternoon putting out a grass fire just north of Byram. Because of recent dry weather, conditions are ideal for fires to quickly spread.
A statewide burn ban is in effect, but some of Mother Nature’s creatures are not obeying the order. The blaze broke out behind a home at the corner of Terry Road and Brookleigh Drive. The homeowners are lucky a passing motorist noticed the fire.
"I was driving by talking on the phone with my girlfriend. I seen the flash, and I told her something popped," said Aaron Alley.["Don't look, Ethel!" --Ed.]
"We heard a loud explosion; didn't think anything of it. Then I saw ashes coming down," said Calvin Russell.
"I walked over here, seen a little smoke, decided to see if anyone was here. There wasn't, so I went ahead and called the emergency crew out here," added Alley.
The spark ignited a grassfire, which spread to nearby pine trees, charring a fence. Byram fire rescue volunteer firefighters showed up just minutes after getting the call.
"By that time the volunteer fireman stopped by he took over and they just started jumping on it and putting it out," stated Russell.
Alley said, "Really, as dry as it is, you really can't prevent it. You just have to jump on it. I know that from the two years I used to do this."
An Entergy lineman arrived just as the flames were being snuffed out. Within minutes he was able to find what sparked the fire.
"A little squirrel cause all that," said Russell.
It's suspected a squirrel jumped on the power line, was electrocuted, then fell to the ground. His charred body starting the grassfire. Firemen at the scene say they were just glad to catch the fire before it spread out of control. Burning trash or leaves during the burn ban can catch a hefty fine, but the squirrel that started this fire may have other worries.
Russell said, "I'm a country boy, so I'm thinking dinner time."
How would you like to explain to your insurance agent that your property was damaged by a squirrel bomb? And what kind of Geico commercial could they make out of this little incident?
Saturday, October 29, 2005
She's HOME!!!!
Amazingly, her plane landed right on time. There were a gazillion of us there to meet her. A couple of folks from church had traveled down a week ago to spend the last week with her and help her get her stuff ready to come back, so there were three people to greet.
After we left the airport, we all went over to the Jensens' to par-TAY and welcome her back. We hung around and yakked and got reacquainted and stuff, and there were tons of people there too. Very relaxing and fun.
SoulFire is back out at the youth camp tonight. Westchester Evangelical Free church has a great group of high schoolers; very active and "alive". The only thing I dislike is that the room we're playing in isn't much bigger than a bedroom, but we're fitting fifty-plus people and a band into it. It's rather claustrophobic! The music has gone fine, but it's waaaaaaaay too close-quarters, and as soon as we've gotten done playing each set, I've had to get OUT of there because it's like I can't breathe. Not a panic attack or anything that major, just the feeling that I want OUT. Other than the room size, though, it's been a great gig.
And I'm feeling better about missing tomorrow morning. For one thing, I got to see a lot of my friends today, so I don't feel quite so disconnected. For another thing, I'll confess that I've enjoyed the rest. I pretty much unplugged myself from everything this week, partially due to Erica's illness and partially just because that's how things worked out, and I've been able to just be quiet.
I like quiet sometimes.
It's in the quiet times that I can recollect my scattered self and begin to sort out everything that's happened since the last time I was quiet.
Every personality inventory I've ever taken classifies me as an "introvert," and it's true. I can put on the social fun-and-games thing and even enjoy it very much, but to recharge, I simply must be alone.
Alone isn't so bad.
After we left the airport, we all went over to the Jensens' to par-TAY and welcome her back. We hung around and yakked and got reacquainted and stuff, and there were tons of people there too. Very relaxing and fun.
SoulFire is back out at the youth camp tonight. Westchester Evangelical Free church has a great group of high schoolers; very active and "alive". The only thing I dislike is that the room we're playing in isn't much bigger than a bedroom, but we're fitting fifty-plus people and a band into it. It's rather claustrophobic! The music has gone fine, but it's waaaaaaaay too close-quarters, and as soon as we've gotten done playing each set, I've had to get OUT of there because it's like I can't breathe. Not a panic attack or anything that major, just the feeling that I want OUT. Other than the room size, though, it's been a great gig.
And I'm feeling better about missing tomorrow morning. For one thing, I got to see a lot of my friends today, so I don't feel quite so disconnected. For another thing, I'll confess that I've enjoyed the rest. I pretty much unplugged myself from everything this week, partially due to Erica's illness and partially just because that's how things worked out, and I've been able to just be quiet.
I like quiet sometimes.
It's in the quiet times that I can recollect my scattered self and begin to sort out everything that's happened since the last time I was quiet.
Every personality inventory I've ever taken classifies me as an "introvert," and it's true. I can put on the social fun-and-games thing and even enjoy it very much, but to recharge, I simply must be alone.
Alone isn't so bad.
Heading for the airport!
Amy's coming home! We're leaving the house right now to go meet her at the airport. I'll blog more later.
Thursday, October 27, 2005
"Blackout Day"
Tomorrow at school is BlackOut Day, where everyone is wearing all-black in support of our football team (which wears a black uniform with green numbers... very imposing-looking, even if NHS never really has much of a football team because we're the smallest school in the metro). Black, I can do. I even thought about picking up some temporary black haircoloring, but decided not to, since SoulFire is doing a gig tomorrow night and I don't want to take a chance on it not all washing out.
Pneumonia
Erica's been home the past two days with pneumonia. It's hard to keep that girl down, though. She begged me to let her go to school tomorrow and to let her quit taking her antibiotic because it makes her nauseated.
Ummm...
No.
I told her that pneumonia can be a really serious, bad thing and that if she quits taking that antibiotic and goes back to school, she could end up in the hospital. No, MommyKris has spoken. She's home tomorrow as well.
I think she likes it that I actually care.
Ummm...
No.
I told her that pneumonia can be a really serious, bad thing and that if she quits taking that antibiotic and goes back to school, she could end up in the hospital. No, MommyKris has spoken. She's home tomorrow as well.
I think she likes it that I actually care.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Top of the ninth
1-0, Sox.
Astros STILL fail to convert base-runners into runs... and the only reason we had base runners was because Chicago briefly experimented with Wild Thing Politte and then wised up quick. Pathetic and embarrassing. I had hoped the 'Stros would actually SHOW UP tonight.
Instead, Morgan Ensberg continues to dazzle us with lousiness, and Phil Garner... well, I have no words.
At least Lair Simon has been entertaining throughout the season.
I'm going to bed, because it's just too depressing.
Astros STILL fail to convert base-runners into runs... and the only reason we had base runners was because Chicago briefly experimented with Wild Thing Politte and then wised up quick. Pathetic and embarrassing. I had hoped the 'Stros would actually SHOW UP tonight.
Instead, Morgan Ensberg continues to dazzle us with lousiness, and Phil Garner... well, I have no words.
At least Lair Simon has been entertaining throughout the season.
I'm going to bed, because it's just too depressing.
I know it's an ad for beer...
...but it's hilarious. And it's Australian, although I don't know what that has to do with it being hilarious. Anyway...
Carlton Draught
Thanks to Maggie Katzen for linking to this one.
Carlton Draught
Thanks to Maggie Katzen for linking to this one.
Russians just want to be loved, too
An interesting op-ed from the Russian newspaper Pravda:
Russia and USA need to love each other a bit more
Russia and USA need to love each other a bit more
Seventh inning stretch
Tied 0-0.
Hope you White Sox fans enjoy your sweep. I'm feeling rather pessimistic tonight.
Hope you White Sox fans enjoy your sweep. I'm feeling rather pessimistic tonight.
sNOw insurance for you!
Insurance companies refuse to cover family's homeowner insurance because they get too much snow
In reading the article, I came across the following sentence:
In reading the article, I came across the following sentence:
Doreen Follette's family bought a home in the city's "Road to Nowhere" subdivision in the fall of 2003.I'm wondering if it was good judgment to buy a house in a subdivision named Road to Nowhere in the first place... I mean, I'm just sayin'...
World Series games drive me crazy
I keep thinking if I just stay up a couple more minutes, the Astros will snag another run in the bottom of the inning and smoke this tie game.
But I've reached my limit. Life must go on.
Go Astros! Goodnight!
But I've reached my limit. Life must go on.
Go Astros! Goodnight!
Amy's coming home on Saturday!
Just three more days until Amy returns from her 14-week mission trip to Brazil!!!
She and I were already pretty close friends, but strangely enough, we've gotten MUCH closer while she's been gone. All our contact has been via e-mail, but we've talked about stuff a whole lot more than we ever did before.
I know myself well enough, however, to know that I'm just much better at written communication than face-to-face stuff. I really hope we can continue deepening our friendship though. She's worth knowing.
She and I were already pretty close friends, but strangely enough, we've gotten MUCH closer while she's been gone. All our contact has been via e-mail, but we've talked about stuff a whole lot more than we ever did before.
I know myself well enough, however, to know that I'm just much better at written communication than face-to-face stuff. I really hope we can continue deepening our friendship though. She's worth knowing.
Neglected paintbrushes
I have not done any painting whatsoever since the beginning of school (August) and it's seriously time for me to get going. I want to do handpainted Christmas cards again, and I'm also planning on making up a bunch more regular year-round handpainted cards to donate to the church's Ladies Christmas Tea & Silent Auction in December. I hate those kinds of affairs, but if there are ways I can contribute that don't require me to be all Tea-Length-Dress-ish and stuff, I'll pitch in. I think they want me to provide the ambient background Christmas piano jazz again this year, anyway -- suits me fine.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Put it into perspective, people
Rob from Say Anything has a rather pertinent post concerning the media blitz about the 2000th Iraq War casualty.
Monday, October 24, 2005
Creature of habit? Or just glutton for punishment?
No, you know I don't consider my Sunday-morning gig to be even remotely close to punishment. It's the nearest to heaven I've experienced in my nearly 39 years of life.
But this coming weekend, SoulFire has accepted an invitation to lead worship at a youth retreat for a Des Moines church (Westchester E-Free). We'll be leading a worship time on Friday night, Saturday morning, Saturday night and Sunday morning.
Which takes me away from my usual Sunday morning thing at FCC.
And as much as I totally TOTALLY love playing with SoulFire, I also TOTALLY love playing on Sunday mornings. I know that that may seem strange to some, but the two activities fulfill completely different niches in me. Playing with SoulFire is like being on a well-honed college volleyball squad; we all know each other inside-out, know what's coming, etc... very satisfying teamwork. Playing on Sunday morning is more like playing a pick-up volleyball game at a church social. The music may be somewhat less tightly refined, simply due to the inability to practice enough and due to the rotation of individual instrumentalists from week to week. But the fellowship with so many precious people more than makes up for it. Plus, I've always been a rather spur-of-the-moment person anyway, which sets me up to be a helpful worship accompanist who's always ready and able to switch gears whenever the leader needs that to happen.
I relish both roles, and normally the two don't interfere with one another. This weekend, however, is different, and I feel bad about it, like I'm backing out on a promise or something. Jeff has assured me that it's fine, and I had actually intended on taking one weekend this month to be gone, but I can't help feeling like I'm going to be missing out on something awesome by missing church. Is it a habit? Maybe. But it's a happy habit and one that I'd choose again if offered the opportunity.
The next time I miss church will be for the Fort Worth, Texas wedding of FrankJ and SarahK on the second weekend in December.
I'm also hoping to have carpal-tunnel surgery in January, which may knock me out of playing for a week or so. My orthopedic doc insists that he actually prescribes piano-playing for his recovering CT-release patients who are pianists, because it's very good therapy. Perhaps I could play only on the Ensoniq synthesizer, since it's not got weighted keys.
Anyway, I'm wavering between feeling guilty because I've made myself such an integral part of the Sunday-morning team, and feeling ashamed of myself for thinking anyone will even miss it that much, since they went plenty of months with no piano and did just fine thank you.
I should probably just quit thinking about it.
But this coming weekend, SoulFire has accepted an invitation to lead worship at a youth retreat for a Des Moines church (Westchester E-Free). We'll be leading a worship time on Friday night, Saturday morning, Saturday night and Sunday morning.
Which takes me away from my usual Sunday morning thing at FCC.
And as much as I totally TOTALLY love playing with SoulFire, I also TOTALLY love playing on Sunday mornings. I know that that may seem strange to some, but the two activities fulfill completely different niches in me. Playing with SoulFire is like being on a well-honed college volleyball squad; we all know each other inside-out, know what's coming, etc... very satisfying teamwork. Playing on Sunday morning is more like playing a pick-up volleyball game at a church social. The music may be somewhat less tightly refined, simply due to the inability to practice enough and due to the rotation of individual instrumentalists from week to week. But the fellowship with so many precious people more than makes up for it. Plus, I've always been a rather spur-of-the-moment person anyway, which sets me up to be a helpful worship accompanist who's always ready and able to switch gears whenever the leader needs that to happen.
I relish both roles, and normally the two don't interfere with one another. This weekend, however, is different, and I feel bad about it, like I'm backing out on a promise or something. Jeff has assured me that it's fine, and I had actually intended on taking one weekend this month to be gone, but I can't help feeling like I'm going to be missing out on something awesome by missing church. Is it a habit? Maybe. But it's a happy habit and one that I'd choose again if offered the opportunity.
The next time I miss church will be for the Fort Worth, Texas wedding of FrankJ and SarahK on the second weekend in December.
I'm also hoping to have carpal-tunnel surgery in January, which may knock me out of playing for a week or so. My orthopedic doc insists that he actually prescribes piano-playing for his recovering CT-release patients who are pianists, because it's very good therapy. Perhaps I could play only on the Ensoniq synthesizer, since it's not got weighted keys.
Anyway, I'm wavering between feeling guilty because I've made myself such an integral part of the Sunday-morning team, and feeling ashamed of myself for thinking anyone will even miss it that much, since they went plenty of months with no piano and did just fine thank you.
I should probably just quit thinking about it.
This is an EX-PARROT!!!!!
UK parrot tests positive for deadly H5N1 bird flu strain
I wonder if it was a Norwegian Blue parrot?
[snicker] I heart Monty Python's Flying Circus. Truly I do.
I wonder if it was a Norwegian Blue parrot?
[snicker] I heart Monty Python's Flying Circus. Truly I do.
Sunday, October 23, 2005
I love my church, part 352
Okay, so you're sick of reading about my church and how much I love it.
Too bad.
I really feel pangs of regret when I hear people talking about having been a part of FCC for the whole ten years, or some significant part of those ten years... I wonder what things might've been like if I'd gone there sooner, etc... but I also know that my appreciation for FCC would probably be much less had I not traveled the road I have.
When I come to play at the wedding on Saturday, Slim the SoundGuy has already been down on stage straightening up my cords so that I don't have to trip over them or stand on them. I noticed immediately, because we had had to move the keyboard over and the cords were all shoved back behind, right where I had to stand, and I was intending to clear a pathway when I got there. Slim had already done it.
This morning when I arrived at 6:30 AM, he had already spent time re-assembling the drums and putting my keyboards back in their normal positions. And I noticed something very, very small -- he had put the pedal cords back into the proper outlets. On both keyboards, there's a "Pedal" outlet and a "Foot Switch" outlet. Most people (me included, at first) assume "Pedal" is the correct one, but actually it's the "Foot Switch" one on both of them. If anyone else reassembles the keyboard, it's always in the incorrect outlet, but hey -- as if it's any big deal -- I just switch it out and don't give it another thought. Slim had put them back into the Switch outlet. He remembered.
I have my own wedge monitor propped up at exactly the right angle, on the right side where I hear better, and if I ask him to take the drums out of it and turn up the acoustic guitar a scoche, he does it. If we take it on the road, he sets it up exactly that way, without asking me. I have gotten SO spoiled.
Having known many, many pastors and preachers through the years, my BS-detector is well-tuned whenever I'm around one. I've pretty much microscoped Rob Jones and Alan Stanley for the past year, having learned well that church staff members aren't to be trusted. I kept expecting to hear an insincere note, to see a false step, something that would give away whatever sneaky, smarmy stuff was hidden.
And I'm telling you -- I haven't found it yet.
While I don't always agree with decisions, I have the utmost respect for these gentlemen because they are authentic, sincere and decent individuals.
I'll probably never be able to completely overcome my skepticism, but I've found that a healthy dose of don't-believe-everything-you-see-or-hear is a good thing. If I trust someone's motives and know someone's heart, I'm inclined to support them even if I don't always understand what they're doing.
Church this morning was simply awesome. The place was packed during BOTH services and the participation in worship was just outstanding. Jeff stopped singing and we just played for a while just so we could all hear the congregation singing Matt Redman's "Blessed Be Your Name"; it was a very moving experience.
Yep. I still love my church, after almost a year. You can go back to November of last year in the archives to read about when I first discovered FCC.
Too bad.
I really feel pangs of regret when I hear people talking about having been a part of FCC for the whole ten years, or some significant part of those ten years... I wonder what things might've been like if I'd gone there sooner, etc... but I also know that my appreciation for FCC would probably be much less had I not traveled the road I have.
When I come to play at the wedding on Saturday, Slim the SoundGuy has already been down on stage straightening up my cords so that I don't have to trip over them or stand on them. I noticed immediately, because we had had to move the keyboard over and the cords were all shoved back behind, right where I had to stand, and I was intending to clear a pathway when I got there. Slim had already done it.
This morning when I arrived at 6:30 AM, he had already spent time re-assembling the drums and putting my keyboards back in their normal positions. And I noticed something very, very small -- he had put the pedal cords back into the proper outlets. On both keyboards, there's a "Pedal" outlet and a "Foot Switch" outlet. Most people (me included, at first) assume "Pedal" is the correct one, but actually it's the "Foot Switch" one on both of them. If anyone else reassembles the keyboard, it's always in the incorrect outlet, but hey -- as if it's any big deal -- I just switch it out and don't give it another thought. Slim had put them back into the Switch outlet. He remembered.
I have my own wedge monitor propped up at exactly the right angle, on the right side where I hear better, and if I ask him to take the drums out of it and turn up the acoustic guitar a scoche, he does it. If we take it on the road, he sets it up exactly that way, without asking me. I have gotten SO spoiled.
Having known many, many pastors and preachers through the years, my BS-detector is well-tuned whenever I'm around one. I've pretty much microscoped Rob Jones and Alan Stanley for the past year, having learned well that church staff members aren't to be trusted. I kept expecting to hear an insincere note, to see a false step, something that would give away whatever sneaky, smarmy stuff was hidden.
And I'm telling you -- I haven't found it yet.
While I don't always agree with decisions, I have the utmost respect for these gentlemen because they are authentic, sincere and decent individuals.
I'll probably never be able to completely overcome my skepticism, but I've found that a healthy dose of don't-believe-everything-you-see-or-hear is a good thing. If I trust someone's motives and know someone's heart, I'm inclined to support them even if I don't always understand what they're doing.
Church this morning was simply awesome. The place was packed during BOTH services and the participation in worship was just outstanding. Jeff stopped singing and we just played for a while just so we could all hear the congregation singing Matt Redman's "Blessed Be Your Name"; it was a very moving experience.
Yep. I still love my church, after almost a year. You can go back to November of last year in the archives to read about when I first discovered FCC.
Scrawny lil' kid
I always leave for church on Sunday mornings before anyone else in the house is even awake, so I don't normally get input on what the kids wear to church. Usually it's acceptable, so I don't think about it. Today, however, Isaac came strolling in with these jeans on, and the knees were completely ripped up. Then I noticed that the bottoms of the jeans came up to his ankles. I didn't really say much at the time (too late!), but after we got home, I asked him to take them off because they just weren't any good to wear anymore. I checked the tag before pitching them into the trash, and noticed that they were size 3T.
My son is six.
And except for about an inch of length, they fit him.
[sigh]
I promise, JoeMama, we're feeding him. Honest, we are. And he takes his Spiderman vitamins faithfully.
My son is six.
And except for about an inch of length, they fit him.
[sigh]
I promise, JoeMama, we're feeding him. Honest, we are. And he takes his Spiderman vitamins faithfully.
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Tim & AJ, second installment
This video's nearly six minutes long, so it may take a while to download. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't trash my bandwidth; do a right-click and "Save Target As" please!!!
Play movie
Play movie
Must... have... haircut...
I'm already about three weeks behind schedule on getting a haircut, but I can't seem to find the time to go do it. After I was done with the wedding, I thought I'd call to see if I could get an appointment, but of course it's Saturday and they're booked. I guess I'll walk around feeling like Cousin It for a while longer.
Weddings
I played the piano at a wedding this afternoon at church. That's the second wedding I've played for at FCC, and I haven't even been there a full year yet. I like being asked to do that.
That being said, I personally think weddings are generally a ridiculous waste of time and money. Notice I did NOT say "marriages"... marriages, when done right, are a very good thing. But wedding ceremonies always seem to be a lot of silliness that cost a LOT of money.
Rick & I did have a wedding, but it was very, very minimal. We probably wouldn't have even had a ceremony if JoeMama hadn't insisted on it. I ordered my dress from the JCPenney catalog. I think I just couldn't justify the fru-fru and the expense in my mind; I had helped a couple of girlfriends with their weddings during college and had helped make all the flower arrangements, pick out music, and whatever else needed to be done -- and after all that immense amount of work, the ceremony lasted less than half an hour and that was it. Thousands of dollars and thousands of hours of work, for fifteen minutes of tension and oh-no-how-fast-am-I-supposed-to-walk and I-can't-believe-she-showed-up-in-that-outfit and I-can't-zip-my-dress-anymore-what-am-I-going-to-do. BLECH! What is the point?
Kris sez, Save the money and invest it in a house or a good car or a nice two-week vacation. Much more useful.
That being said, I personally think weddings are generally a ridiculous waste of time and money. Notice I did NOT say "marriages"... marriages, when done right, are a very good thing. But wedding ceremonies always seem to be a lot of silliness that cost a LOT of money.
Rick & I did have a wedding, but it was very, very minimal. We probably wouldn't have even had a ceremony if JoeMama hadn't insisted on it. I ordered my dress from the JCPenney catalog. I think I just couldn't justify the fru-fru and the expense in my mind; I had helped a couple of girlfriends with their weddings during college and had helped make all the flower arrangements, pick out music, and whatever else needed to be done -- and after all that immense amount of work, the ceremony lasted less than half an hour and that was it. Thousands of dollars and thousands of hours of work, for fifteen minutes of tension and oh-no-how-fast-am-I-supposed-to-walk and I-can't-believe-she-showed-up-in-that-outfit and I-can't-zip-my-dress-anymore-what-am-I-going-to-do. BLECH! What is the point?
Kris sez, Save the money and invest it in a house or a good car or a nice two-week vacation. Much more useful.
Friday, October 21, 2005
Al Gore speaks in 3... 2... 1...
They've revived the Yugo!
World's Smallest Car
Only 4 nanometers across. The fact that it must be heated to 200 degrees in order to free the wheels to roll is a minor complication. But all that global warming should be a step in the right direction, eh?
World's Smallest Car
Only 4 nanometers across. The fact that it must be heated to 200 degrees in order to free the wheels to roll is a minor complication. But all that global warming should be a step in the right direction, eh?
This is your brain on Tolkien Overload
Okay, I think it's really, really cool that this dude has found a really, really old tree. And it doesn't even bother me that he ain't tellin' where it is. But he TALKED TO IT and describes it as "magical."
A glowing, nuke-ular tree? No wonder it's so old. Hasn't even reached its half-life yet.
I'm surprised the tree didn't reach down and swat him for taking a core sample. Sounds like he half expected it to.
"The tree itself just has this glow about it. You can tell it's significant when you approach it."
A glowing, nuke-ular tree? No wonder it's so old. Hasn't even reached its half-life yet.
"The last time I was in there I kind of apologized to the tree for taking the core, and just told it how important I think it is," said Phillips. "I don't want other people to go in there and trample it down. The human impact that it's escaped is the reason why it's still there."
I'm surprised the tree didn't reach down and swat him for taking a core sample. Sounds like he half expected it to.
Weird symptom
I'm going to Google it to see if I can figure out what's going on. Now besides a fever, the whites of his eyes are getting redder and redder, and he's complaining of visual disturbances.
Okay, this is going to drive me crazy. The first thing that comes up when I Google "fever red eyes" is a link about Kawasaki disease. Ugh. It says they also have chapped lips, and Isaac's got chapped lips. The other symptoms aren't there, though, at least not yet. If his eyes are still this red tomorrow, we're going to the doctor. That's just all there is to it.
Of course, it could just be because I'm a worried mother and I'm awake at 1 AM with a sick kid. There are all KINDS of diseases I could imagine he's suffering from, here in the wee hours of the morning.
Stay tuned for further developments.
UPDATE, 7:30 AM -- His eyes aren't nearly as bright red as they were last night. He still has a fever, though.
UPDATE, 3:30 PM -- Fever-free all afternoon, up playing computer pinball. I think he's better.
Okay, this is going to drive me crazy. The first thing that comes up when I Google "fever red eyes" is a link about Kawasaki disease. Ugh. It says they also have chapped lips, and Isaac's got chapped lips. The other symptoms aren't there, though, at least not yet. If his eyes are still this red tomorrow, we're going to the doctor. That's just all there is to it.
Of course, it could just be because I'm a worried mother and I'm awake at 1 AM with a sick kid. There are all KINDS of diseases I could imagine he's suffering from, here in the wee hours of the morning.
Stay tuned for further developments.
UPDATE, 7:30 AM -- His eyes aren't nearly as bright red as they were last night. He still has a fever, though.
UPDATE, 3:30 PM -- Fever-free all afternoon, up playing computer pinball. I think he's better.
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Video shoot
Shot video with Tim & AJ tonight. I could hardly stop laughing in between takes; those two are truly delightful to work with. Now I have to get to work splicing and fading and syncing and queueing and all that good stuff.
Isaac is still a sicky-boy. Rick can't take off work because they're at their limit of people who can be gone, and if he calls in sick he gets an "occurrence" even if he takes vacation time. So it falls to me, darnit. [snicker] I am SO disappointed to have to miss school for two days in a row, dagnabbit. I guess I'll just have to spend all day tomorrow working on the video.
I'll post it when I'm done.
Isaac is still a sicky-boy. Rick can't take off work because they're at their limit of people who can be gone, and if he calls in sick he gets an "occurrence" even if he takes vacation time. So it falls to me, darnit. [snicker] I am SO disappointed to have to miss school for two days in a row, dagnabbit. I guess I'll just have to spend all day tomorrow working on the video.
I'll post it when I'm done.
Sick kid
Isaac woke up this morning trembling with a fever, so here I sit at home (not that I'm sad about that or anything). I could use a day to fold clothes and snuggle my six-year-old son.
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Disastros No More!!!
Astros bring the World Series to Texas for the first time EVAH!!
Oh, I would SO like to see them pound the White Sox.
Houston, Texas is the city where I was born, back on November 14, 1966. I only lived there a few months, and I've only been there a few times since. Truth be told, I've always been more of a Texas Rangers fan than an Astros fan, but I'm just tickled that Texas is finally getting a Series.
1:30 AM and all is well
Just spent several hours with a girlfriend from church, just yakking and praying and stuff. Yeah, I should be in bed, and I promise that I will be in just a couple of minutes or so, but I wanted to check in nonetheless.
Good news -- JoeMama & AngieDaddy have moved into their new house in Denton, Texas. I can't wait to see it. He's working with a new group of anesthesiologists there, and I'm also excited because this means I get to take I-35 every time I go home instead of having to cut through southern Missouri and eastern Oklahoma back roads. It also means, however, that I have to travel through Kansas [yawn]. Oh well... it's always something, ain't it? I'll get to travel through Oklahoma City now, and see my Uncle Randy & Aunt Lisa, who I love to pieces and who I think are very cool people. I also get to drive through Norman, Oklahoma, home of my beloved OU Sooners (who suck this year, but I still love them nonetheless... BOO Longhorns)(my apologies to Prochein Amy who I also love but who decorates her site in these weird orange cow head things with long horns).
I regret that I wasn't able to spend a couple of weeks with Mom helping her go through all their stuff... and believe me, those two have SOOOOOOOOOO much stuff! It's probably a good thing, though, because I probably would've found all kinds of crap to bring back with me, and we ain't got the room for it here either.
Tuesday night is our usual Sunday-morning worship band practice, and tonight Jeff pulled out an old Newsboys tune, "He Reigns." It has a great deal of keyboard fx in it, and I'm also doing tenor vocals this week, so I'm trying to do three things at once. Very humorous looking, I'm sure. My left hand is playing a marimba-type sound in a rhythmic syncopated pattern, my right hand is playing the other keyboard with a beautiful bell-like mellophone sound in another rhythm, and then somewhere in there I have to switch that marimba sound to a strings sound for a long, low crawly sound. All the while, of course, I'm singing harmony. It's funny; Jeff pulls out these songs and I guess doesn't really think about how it's actually going to happen. He just expects it to happen. I kinda like that, truth be told, because that's the kind of leadership I work best with. He gives me the goal he's after, but lets me find a way to meet the goal without trying to micromanage my performance. Works for me; allows me to be creative within guidelines.
Okay, I'm going to bed. Right now.
Good news -- JoeMama & AngieDaddy have moved into their new house in Denton, Texas. I can't wait to see it. He's working with a new group of anesthesiologists there, and I'm also excited because this means I get to take I-35 every time I go home instead of having to cut through southern Missouri and eastern Oklahoma back roads. It also means, however, that I have to travel through Kansas [yawn]. Oh well... it's always something, ain't it? I'll get to travel through Oklahoma City now, and see my Uncle Randy & Aunt Lisa, who I love to pieces and who I think are very cool people. I also get to drive through Norman, Oklahoma, home of my beloved OU Sooners (who suck this year, but I still love them nonetheless... BOO Longhorns)(my apologies to Prochein Amy who I also love but who decorates her site in these weird orange cow head things with long horns).
I regret that I wasn't able to spend a couple of weeks with Mom helping her go through all their stuff... and believe me, those two have SOOOOOOOOOO much stuff! It's probably a good thing, though, because I probably would've found all kinds of crap to bring back with me, and we ain't got the room for it here either.
Tuesday night is our usual Sunday-morning worship band practice, and tonight Jeff pulled out an old Newsboys tune, "He Reigns." It has a great deal of keyboard fx in it, and I'm also doing tenor vocals this week, so I'm trying to do three things at once. Very humorous looking, I'm sure. My left hand is playing a marimba-type sound in a rhythmic syncopated pattern, my right hand is playing the other keyboard with a beautiful bell-like mellophone sound in another rhythm, and then somewhere in there I have to switch that marimba sound to a strings sound for a long, low crawly sound. All the while, of course, I'm singing harmony. It's funny; Jeff pulls out these songs and I guess doesn't really think about how it's actually going to happen. He just expects it to happen. I kinda like that, truth be told, because that's the kind of leadership I work best with. He gives me the goal he's after, but lets me find a way to meet the goal without trying to micromanage my performance. Works for me; allows me to be creative within guidelines.
Okay, I'm going to bed. Right now.
Monday, October 17, 2005
The Vonage commercial "Woo-Hoo" song
Isaac loves it whenever the Vonage commercial comes on, because he thinks that "Woo-hoo, woo-hoo-hoo, Woo-hoo, woo-hoo-hoo" song is the bomb. It IS kinda fun, but I wanted to know who it was and where it came from.
Apparently, it was originally recorded by the RockeTeens, but was covered by the 5.6.7.8's for the Kill Bill soundtrack. Here's the CD that it's on:
Just thought you might want to know where you can get your own recording of "Woo Hoo." I'm considering finding a copy of it, because Isaac gets such a kick out of it, but I don't know what else is on the CD. I may see if it's available on iTunes or Rhapsody or something.
Apparently, it was originally recorded by the RockeTeens, but was covered by the 5.6.7.8's for the Kill Bill soundtrack. Here's the CD that it's on:
Just thought you might want to know where you can get your own recording of "Woo Hoo." I'm considering finding a copy of it, because Isaac gets such a kick out of it, but I don't know what else is on the CD. I may see if it's available on iTunes or Rhapsody or something.
Meet KaLee
Don't freak out! I haven't taken in another troubled teenager. This is KaLee, my student mentee from my church's youth group.
KaLee is in the 10th grade. She is the most serious-minded young Christian woman I think I've ever met. Deeply committed to faith and growth, she is eager to absorb everything I can give her.
Talk about fear and trembling... that's what I have when I consider it!
Here's how it came about: A few months ago, I was chatting with our youth minister, Lisa. She had been asking for some more people to become involved in youth leadership, and had spoken to me specifically. I knew I was WAY too busy with the worship ministry already, and told her so, but I did say that I could probably spare an hour once a week as part of her mentor program, since I'm already in Norwalk many nights anyway. I wanted to contribute to the youth ministry, especially since I'm in SoulFire, but that's about as far as I could take it.
A few weeks later, she approached me with the idea of mentoring KaLee. I felt rather humbled!
I get together with KaLee on Monday evenings at a little coffee shop in Norwalk and talk Scripture and life. It's a really pleasant time and has been a tremendous encouragement to me; she's always so enthusiastic about it. I admit that I would find it somewhat difficult to keep up if she were a typical disinterested teenager.
Anyway, I just thought you'd be interested to meet her. She's terrific.
KaLee is in the 10th grade. She is the most serious-minded young Christian woman I think I've ever met. Deeply committed to faith and growth, she is eager to absorb everything I can give her.
Talk about fear and trembling... that's what I have when I consider it!
Here's how it came about: A few months ago, I was chatting with our youth minister, Lisa. She had been asking for some more people to become involved in youth leadership, and had spoken to me specifically. I knew I was WAY too busy with the worship ministry already, and told her so, but I did say that I could probably spare an hour once a week as part of her mentor program, since I'm already in Norwalk many nights anyway. I wanted to contribute to the youth ministry, especially since I'm in SoulFire, but that's about as far as I could take it.
A few weeks later, she approached me with the idea of mentoring KaLee. I felt rather humbled!
I get together with KaLee on Monday evenings at a little coffee shop in Norwalk and talk Scripture and life. It's a really pleasant time and has been a tremendous encouragement to me; she's always so enthusiastic about it. I admit that I would find it somewhat difficult to keep up if she were a typical disinterested teenager.
Anyway, I just thought you'd be interested to meet her. She's terrific.
Dr. Kabbani sez...
...that Alice is still having the epileptiform readings on her EEG, but that they are slightly changed. There are still long periods of time when she's in almost continual seizing, but then there are periods where there's normal EEG readings as well. She is already on the highest dose of Lamictal possible for her weight, and she is also taking a high dose of Keppra. He wants to back the Keppra down and add Zonegran instead, to see if that will help the visual disturbances subside.
He said that he normally doesn't just treat the EEG, meaning that if everything else is fairly stable, but she's got a wacky EEG, he's inclined to leave it alone. But he is not totally certain that the visual aura thing that she frequently experiences are due to actual seizures or if they're just a result of her brain damage. If the auras are not alleviated by this next kind of med, then we'll probably just chalk it up to brain damage and leave it be.
And that's where we're at. He says that the diagnosis of "Lennox-Gastaut" is somewhat misleading... that her epilepsy is not the usual manifestation of LGS, but that it IS "intractable epilepsy" with extremely frequent seizing, so it technically qualifies for that diagnosis. He doesn't say anything about the degenerative nature of it, but I think that's just because he doesn't really know.
She's still her happy little self, as usual. At least all this strong medication hasn't turned her into a drowsy slug or a rotten brat... now THAT would be more than I could bear!
He said that he normally doesn't just treat the EEG, meaning that if everything else is fairly stable, but she's got a wacky EEG, he's inclined to leave it alone. But he is not totally certain that the visual aura thing that she frequently experiences are due to actual seizures or if they're just a result of her brain damage. If the auras are not alleviated by this next kind of med, then we'll probably just chalk it up to brain damage and leave it be.
And that's where we're at. He says that the diagnosis of "Lennox-Gastaut" is somewhat misleading... that her epilepsy is not the usual manifestation of LGS, but that it IS "intractable epilepsy" with extremely frequent seizing, so it technically qualifies for that diagnosis. He doesn't say anything about the degenerative nature of it, but I think that's just because he doesn't really know.
She's still her happy little self, as usual. At least all this strong medication hasn't turned her into a drowsy slug or a rotten brat... now THAT would be more than I could bear!
Sunday, October 16, 2005
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
To one of the very coolest chicks I ever met:
Red Fish
Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday, dear Red Fish!
Happy birthday to you!
See ya on Friday, girlfriend!!!
Red Fish
Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday, dear Red Fish!
Happy birthday to you!
See ya on Friday, girlfriend!!!
Neurologist appointment tomorrow
Tomorrow at 1 PM, I take Alice to see her neurologist and we get the verdict about whether all this medication has been helping at all.
I wasn't there when she got the EEG this time (Rick was), so I can't compare it to what I saw the other two times.
I wasn't there when she got the EEG this time (Rick was), so I can't compare it to what I saw the other two times.
Apparently, I cheated
At least, according to this woman, who thinks that there should never be another adoption, ever. (h/t Mel)
Bitter party of one, your table is ready.
Ask Erica -- she has told me this herself, in frank and certain terms. She grew up with HER biological mom, and knows her biological dad, and says with no qualms that lots of people can birth a baby (or donate the sperm necessary for such), but not everyone merits the name Mom or Dad. She knows the difference.
Bitter party of one, your table is ready.
Ask Erica -- she has told me this herself, in frank and certain terms. She grew up with HER biological mom, and knows her biological dad, and says with no qualms that lots of people can birth a baby (or donate the sperm necessary for such), but not everyone merits the name Mom or Dad. She knows the difference.
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Camera Tossing
Okay, here's the results of my first camera-tossing photography session. Of course, most of the photos I took weren't anything, but these three weren't too bad. Cool, huh?
I don't have a function on my camera to set the exposure time longer, but if I set it to the No-Flash mode, the exposure is a little longer than with the flash, so it will at least capture a little of the coolness.
I don't have a function on my camera to set the exposure time longer, but if I set it to the No-Flash mode, the exposure is a little longer than with the flash, so it will at least capture a little of the coolness.
For Timmy & Ames
In this photo, I'm holding a little garter snake Rick uncovered this morning while working in the yard. We don't run the lawnmower over OUR snakey-snakes. Ours are happy little snakeys, that catch nasty bugseys and creepy spiders and eat them. We like snakes.
You have to know that I'm going to try this...
Camera Toss
This is what happens when you set a long exposure time on your camera, click the button and toss the camera into the air. 21st-century Spirograph art!
Yes, I'll make sure I catch it. If I get anything interesting, I'll post it.
This is what happens when you set a long exposure time on your camera, click the button and toss the camera into the air. 21st-century Spirograph art!
Yes, I'll make sure I catch it. If I get anything interesting, I'll post it.
Friday, October 14, 2005
Tim & AJ, first installment
I'm making a series of videos for our church's 40 Days of Community campaign. I didn't write the scripts for them, but I wish I had, because they're funny. Here's the first one:
Play Movie
Play Movie
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Conference Time
School conference time! That always used to strike dread in my heart, even though I was a good student. I was just always so afraid of disappointing someone. Also, I've always been the kind of person who kept my "worlds" separate -- school, home, church, they were all different places, and if people from one place invaded one of my other places, it was very disorienting for me. Conferences were like that for me... my parents coming into this world of mine where they didn't quite belong. Nerve-wracking, it was.
Isaac's teacher said he was doing great... no surprises there. She did relate one humorous incident. She began to notice that everyone's grades began improving dramatically, and realized that while she had taken one group aside to work with them, Isaac was "working" with all the other groups. She had a talk with him about how to give help without giving away the answers.
No surprises in any of the conferences, really.
I did not throw up today, which was a good thing. It really does seem to last just two or three days when it happens. I'm thankful it doesn't happen any oftener than every two or three months. It's normal, from what I understand, for people who underwent my kind of stomach surgery, even years and years out from it like I am. There are lots of people in lots worse shape than me. Having stomach surgery is effective, but it does not come without cost.
Alice has another EEG tomorrow morning at 7 AM. It's then that we'll see whether all this powerful medication is doing anything to alleviate her invisible seizures. Rick is taking her this time around; we're both off work tomorrow, which is an extreme rarity. I'm going to sleep, first of all, and then I'm going to go through clothing and make the switch to the fall/winter stuff. [sigh]
SoulFire got together to practice tonight, but ended up just talking and praying together. We're all under heavy siege from the enemy; he's trying to pick us off one by one from the outside, using our weaknesses against us, striking us in vicious ways. Rick told me tonight that's the only way to destroy the band, because from within the group itself, we're as tight as can be. Coming at us through our families, however, is one way to get us to stop leading young people in worship and leading them to Christ. All of us agreed that if we're going to follow God in this, we need to be completely open and honest between each other and help each other be accountable, and help each other's families stay strong. We need each other, and we need to accept God's grace to deal with each situation as it arises.
There's something very, very special and different about this group and the people in it. I can't define it or pinpoint it; I can only say that it's there and it's real. Anyone remember the Bugs Bunny cartoon where Bugs was able to "sense" the presence of gold under the ground where he stood? He suddenly got this vibration-thingy and began bouncing up and down, and then Yosemite Sam began to dig under that spot, finally unearthing an enormous gold boulder which he promptly hauled in a wheelbarrow to the general store to cash it in. Well, I'm getting that same sense about this group. I don't know what God has planned, or how far the path goes... whether it's just another few months or whether it takes us to Nashville, I don't know, but I'm digging in this spot 'til I find what God's got hidden here. It's gotta be good, because there's so much effort and anguish involved in the process.
With that, goodnight. I'm going to get some shuteye.
Isaac's teacher said he was doing great... no surprises there. She did relate one humorous incident. She began to notice that everyone's grades began improving dramatically, and realized that while she had taken one group aside to work with them, Isaac was "working" with all the other groups. She had a talk with him about how to give help without giving away the answers.
No surprises in any of the conferences, really.
I did not throw up today, which was a good thing. It really does seem to last just two or three days when it happens. I'm thankful it doesn't happen any oftener than every two or three months. It's normal, from what I understand, for people who underwent my kind of stomach surgery, even years and years out from it like I am. There are lots of people in lots worse shape than me. Having stomach surgery is effective, but it does not come without cost.
Alice has another EEG tomorrow morning at 7 AM. It's then that we'll see whether all this powerful medication is doing anything to alleviate her invisible seizures. Rick is taking her this time around; we're both off work tomorrow, which is an extreme rarity. I'm going to sleep, first of all, and then I'm going to go through clothing and make the switch to the fall/winter stuff. [sigh]
SoulFire got together to practice tonight, but ended up just talking and praying together. We're all under heavy siege from the enemy; he's trying to pick us off one by one from the outside, using our weaknesses against us, striking us in vicious ways. Rick told me tonight that's the only way to destroy the band, because from within the group itself, we're as tight as can be. Coming at us through our families, however, is one way to get us to stop leading young people in worship and leading them to Christ. All of us agreed that if we're going to follow God in this, we need to be completely open and honest between each other and help each other be accountable, and help each other's families stay strong. We need each other, and we need to accept God's grace to deal with each situation as it arises.
There's something very, very special and different about this group and the people in it. I can't define it or pinpoint it; I can only say that it's there and it's real. Anyone remember the Bugs Bunny cartoon where Bugs was able to "sense" the presence of gold under the ground where he stood? He suddenly got this vibration-thingy and began bouncing up and down, and then Yosemite Sam began to dig under that spot, finally unearthing an enormous gold boulder which he promptly hauled in a wheelbarrow to the general store to cash it in. Well, I'm getting that same sense about this group. I don't know what God has planned, or how far the path goes... whether it's just another few months or whether it takes us to Nashville, I don't know, but I'm digging in this spot 'til I find what God's got hidden here. It's gotta be good, because there's so much effort and anguish involved in the process.
With that, goodnight. I'm going to get some shuteye.
Christmas Lists
My little mommy, JoeMama, always likes to know well in advance what sorts of things her grandchildren have in mind for Christmas gifts. She asked me to have everyone fill out a Christmas list.I went into MS Word and created a page for each kid and taped it to the cabinet doors for them to write on. I encouraged them not to try to fill it out all at once, but to think about things and write them as they think of them.
Of course, Martha's is completely filled out already. I made her remove a few of the items because they were ridiculous.
Rick said, "Hey, I have an idea. Maybe just having them on the list all this time will be enough. She'll see the things on the list and then a few weeks later decide that she's bored with those things and doesn't want them anymore. Saves us the trouble of actually buying them."
I thought that was a novel approach, and one that isn't too far from being accurate.
Erica is having a difficult time; she has not been able to write a single thing on the list. She has never been able to consider actually wanting something. She took the list down and took it with her to her room.
I took her to buy a winter coat a couple of evenings ago, because she didn't have one. She was completely overwhelmed by the choices, so I helped her narrow it down, and she finally chose one -- a black Columbia parka. She wore it home (it wasn't cold that evening) and kept it on in the house all evening until bedtime.
Alice has only one thing on hers so far -- a toy doggie. She doesn't think in those terms, either, but not because she's never gotten anything. She's just always so happy with everything she has. It never occurs to her to want something else. After she wrote the toy doggie on the list, she then was worried that her toy kitty Frisco would be jealous.
The first thing on Isaac's list? A "BatMan Viyikl." And then, "Leggos." Can you say "six-year-old boy?"
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
The Apprentice
Okay, so I'm not Martha Stewart, or even The Donald... but I've got an apprentice.
Kyle is eleven, and is a brilliant musician, singer, dancer and actor. He's also a dedicated, deeply-committed Christian. He wants to learn how to lead worship, so I've taken him on as a disciple, so to speak.
I first started working with him this past summer, when SoulFire began working with the youth from FCC to help them develop their own worship band -- because it's the right thing to do for the kids, and because SoulFire is pretty sure God's going to be leading us as a band to many other things. It's certainly what we're open to, if that's what God wants. Anyway, I started working with Kyle, and he excelled rapidly. Much more rapidly, really, than the other youth musicians. I encouraged him to start coming on Tuesday nights to regular worship practice, so he could get a more in-depth taste of what goes on.
He has been working on a playhouse production of Pippi Longstocking, so until now he really wasn't available on Tuesday nights to work with me. But last night he was able to come. I'm just amazed at how perceptive he is, and the questions he asks me. That boy is GOING places. I'm just thrilled that God's letting me be part of the process.
Kyle is eleven, and is a brilliant musician, singer, dancer and actor. He's also a dedicated, deeply-committed Christian. He wants to learn how to lead worship, so I've taken him on as a disciple, so to speak.
I first started working with him this past summer, when SoulFire began working with the youth from FCC to help them develop their own worship band -- because it's the right thing to do for the kids, and because SoulFire is pretty sure God's going to be leading us as a band to many other things. It's certainly what we're open to, if that's what God wants. Anyway, I started working with Kyle, and he excelled rapidly. Much more rapidly, really, than the other youth musicians. I encouraged him to start coming on Tuesday nights to regular worship practice, so he could get a more in-depth taste of what goes on.
He has been working on a playhouse production of Pippi Longstocking, so until now he really wasn't available on Tuesday nights to work with me. But last night he was able to come. I'm just amazed at how perceptive he is, and the questions he asks me. That boy is GOING places. I'm just thrilled that God's letting me be part of the process.
I'm okay.
I was still throwing up today, but it's par for the course. I will live. The three-day puke-fest doesn't happen that often, really, but it does seem to show up when I've got something particularly important (like parent-teacher conferences!) to get done. Oh well! I made it through the conferences tonight and had pleasant visits with each of my students' folks.
I'm eating some chicken broth and trying to relax. Hey, I don't have to be at school until noon tomorrow because it's a conference day. Of course, I have to be there until 8 PM, but oh well! In between student visits, I'll have lots of time to catch up on the pile of crap on my desk that needs to be dealt with. And I'll be able to SLEEP LATE... w00t!!w00t!!w00t!! No, I won't stay up late tonight and ruin it, either. It's raining tonight... that misty, autumnal sort of rainfall that varies between fog and drizzle, chilly but not frigid... excellent sleeping weather.
I'm eating some chicken broth and trying to relax. Hey, I don't have to be at school until noon tomorrow because it's a conference day. Of course, I have to be there until 8 PM, but oh well! In between student visits, I'll have lots of time to catch up on the pile of crap on my desk that needs to be dealt with. And I'll be able to SLEEP LATE... w00t!!w00t!!w00t!! No, I won't stay up late tonight and ruin it, either. It's raining tonight... that misty, autumnal sort of rainfall that varies between fog and drizzle, chilly but not frigid... excellent sleeping weather.
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Throwing up
I have a headache because I have been throwing up for two days now.
Yikes! you may be saying. Well, don't. It's not as unusual or alarming as it sounds initially.
No, I'm not anorexic or bulimic. Not at all.
Here's the deal. Eight years ago I underwent a type of bariatric (overweight) surgery called an SRVG, or a silastic ring vertical gastroplasty. When you hear about obesity surgery in the news, ninety-nine times out of a hundred it's about the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (or RNY for short). The difference between that type of surgery and what I had is this: the RNY actually bypasses part of the small intestine. The surgery I had, it simply stapled off a small section of my stomach and created a little silicone band at the bottom edge of it, so that anything I eat must be able to pass through this pinky-sized hole before it can go into the rest of my stomach and then on through my intact digestive system. That's it. No bypassing of intestines.
What this means is this: anything that you can't chew up really, really well just won't go down. Particularly, things with skins (tomatoes, grapes, smoked sausages, etc) are difficult/impossible to eat. Bready or doughy things also tend to "gum up the works" so to speak.
What happens when it doesn't go down? It comes up, and I puke.
It's not like normal puking, though. The stuff that doesn't go through, actually hasn't mixed with any kind of stomach acid yet, so it comes back out exactly like it went in. In the same order, for that matter, which is interesting to note.
Once I've had a day of puking, then it lasts for two or three more days... probably because the puking is irritating to the stomach and it swells up. There have been days when I couldn't even drink water because my stomach felt like it was wadded up into a tiny ball, not letting anything through.
So yesterday I decided to try an old trick I used to use back in elementary school when I was on my first diets. I took an apple to school with me every single day, and that's what I ate for lunch. That's it.
I was hoping I could maybe start that up again, but as soon as I finished the apple, I could tell this wasn't going to be pretty. It sat there for several hours until finally I was running to the bathroom as fast as I could.
Anyway, I've puked up just about everything I've attempted to swallow the past couple of days. On the way home from practice tonight, I stopped at Casey's for some gas and a slice of pizza. Casey's pizzas are the bomb, even though Casey's is just a convenience store.
Now I've spent most of the day on and off in the bathroom somewhere, puking up whatever I'd tried to eat. I think that my stomach may be swollen shut.
Yikes! you may be saying. Well, don't. It's not as unusual or alarming as it sounds initially.
No, I'm not anorexic or bulimic. Not at all.
Here's the deal. Eight years ago I underwent a type of bariatric (overweight) surgery called an SRVG, or a silastic ring vertical gastroplasty. When you hear about obesity surgery in the news, ninety-nine times out of a hundred it's about the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (or RNY for short). The difference between that type of surgery and what I had is this: the RNY actually bypasses part of the small intestine. The surgery I had, it simply stapled off a small section of my stomach and created a little silicone band at the bottom edge of it, so that anything I eat must be able to pass through this pinky-sized hole before it can go into the rest of my stomach and then on through my intact digestive system. That's it. No bypassing of intestines.
What this means is this: anything that you can't chew up really, really well just won't go down. Particularly, things with skins (tomatoes, grapes, smoked sausages, etc) are difficult/impossible to eat. Bready or doughy things also tend to "gum up the works" so to speak.
What happens when it doesn't go down? It comes up, and I puke.
It's not like normal puking, though. The stuff that doesn't go through, actually hasn't mixed with any kind of stomach acid yet, so it comes back out exactly like it went in. In the same order, for that matter, which is interesting to note.
Once I've had a day of puking, then it lasts for two or three more days... probably because the puking is irritating to the stomach and it swells up. There have been days when I couldn't even drink water because my stomach felt like it was wadded up into a tiny ball, not letting anything through.
So yesterday I decided to try an old trick I used to use back in elementary school when I was on my first diets. I took an apple to school with me every single day, and that's what I ate for lunch. That's it.
I was hoping I could maybe start that up again, but as soon as I finished the apple, I could tell this wasn't going to be pretty. It sat there for several hours until finally I was running to the bathroom as fast as I could.
Anyway, I've puked up just about everything I've attempted to swallow the past couple of days. On the way home from practice tonight, I stopped at Casey's for some gas and a slice of pizza. Casey's pizzas are the bomb, even though Casey's is just a convenience store.
Now I've spent most of the day on and off in the bathroom somewhere, puking up whatever I'd tried to eat. I think that my stomach may be swollen shut.
If you're into praying...
...you might want to pray for us as we pursue legal custody of Erica. It's what she wants, and it's what we want. We just have to work it out with bio-Mom. If it becomes necessary, we will be glad to fight for her, but we'd certainly rather it be a bloodless coup. Erica needs some peace and stability, regardless.
Sunday, October 09, 2005
Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!
I love Sundays. Have I ever mentioned that? Well, I do. Sunday is my favorite day of the week, because I love going to my church.
Song set went well; Jeff broke a string again, at the first strum of the first song of the first service. [tee hee] Good thing he had the Takamine as a backup. He restrung the Taylor for the second service, though. Anyway, it was okay. I could tell I was mentally weary, though, because I was having to consult the chord charts for songs that I know instead of being able to go without. I don't like being chained to a piece of paper, though, because it limits my creativity and my enjoyment of the music. If I'm too wrapped up in the technical aspects of it, I don't get to look around at everyone, or even watch the worship leader for signals and cues quite as easily. If I go without paper, I can keep my eye on the other instrumentalists and watch them for cues.
Here is the second "video" I put together. This one's just cobbled together, mostly from GIS images, but it still got laughs. It's meant to encourage people to host a small group in their home for the fall season.
The first one, in case you missed it, was about joining a small-group at church. It got laughs, too.
Song set went well; Jeff broke a string again, at the first strum of the first song of the first service. [tee hee] Good thing he had the Takamine as a backup. He restrung the Taylor for the second service, though. Anyway, it was okay. I could tell I was mentally weary, though, because I was having to consult the chord charts for songs that I know instead of being able to go without. I don't like being chained to a piece of paper, though, because it limits my creativity and my enjoyment of the music. If I'm too wrapped up in the technical aspects of it, I don't get to look around at everyone, or even watch the worship leader for signals and cues quite as easily. If I go without paper, I can keep my eye on the other instrumentalists and watch them for cues.
Here is the second "video" I put together. This one's just cobbled together, mostly from GIS images, but it still got laughs. It's meant to encourage people to host a small group in their home for the fall season.
The first one, in case you missed it, was about joining a small-group at church. It got laughs, too.
Note from God
Just got this from Mikey and thought I'd share it with you:
And then I got this one from Blue; he read it on his DFI forum, but I've modified it to suit my style:
Just thought you'd enjoy a little annoying humor.
One day God was looking down at Earth and saw all of the rascally behavior that was going on. So he called one of His angels and sent the angel to Earth for a time.
When he returned, he told God, "Yes, it is bad on Earth; 95% are misbehaving and only 5% are not."
God thought for a moment and said, "Maybe I had better send down a second angel to get another opinion." So God called another angel and sent him to Earth for a time too.
When the angel returned he went to God and said, "Yes, it's true. The Earth is in decline; 95% are misbehaving, but 5% are being good."
God was not pleased. So He decided to e-mail the 5% who were being good, because He wanted to encourage them..give them a little something to help them keep going.
Do you know what the e-mail said?
Okay, I was just wondering; I didn't get one either...
And then I got this one from Blue; he read it on his DFI forum, but I've modified it to suit my style:
Two men were wandering in the desert, near death from dehydration and hunger. They had almost decided to lie down in the sand and give up, when one of them looked up sharply.
"Dude, you smell that?"
"What?"
"Bacon. I smell bacon."
"Hey, now you mention it, I smell bacon too."
The two perked up somewhat and set out over the next sand dune in search of the source of the aroma. Sure enough, there in the distance was a tree. The branches of the tree were heavy-laden with every kind of smoked, cured pig meat known to man. The smell was overpowering.
"It's a mirage, man."
"Have you ever smelled a mirage? No, this is real." He set out at a dead run, his friend behind him. When he was about five yards from the tree, he was suddenly sprayed with a hail of automatic gunfire. Mortally wounded, he reached for his friend, and in his dying breath he warned him.
"Dude, go back! It's not a bacon tree! It's a ham bush!"
Just thought you'd enjoy a little annoying humor.
Homecoming photos
Thought I'd share just how beautiful Erica looked for the Homecoming dance last night.
Her date's name is Izzy; he's a pretty nice kid.
Here's Erica with her best friend Ashley.
Don't you love their outfits? I think they look so classy; much nicer than some of the trampy attire others were sporting. They're nice girls, too. I'm proud to be part of Erica's life.
Her date's name is Izzy; he's a pretty nice kid.
Here's Erica with her best friend Ashley.
Don't you love their outfits? I think they look so classy; much nicer than some of the trampy attire others were sporting. They're nice girls, too. I'm proud to be part of Erica's life.
Saturday, October 08, 2005
Busy Saturday
Yet another hectic, non-stop kind of Saturday for me... of course, we got to bed super-late last night because of the lock-in, and I had to get up super-early and get Erica to swim practice by 7 AM **and** had to pick up Martha from the lock-in. I got back home and managed to squeeze in another hour of sleep, then took a shower and headed for St. Charles to do another SoulFire concert. It was fun, as usual (it's always fun playing with these guys). Afterwards, I had Romansroad practice, because there's a Romansroad concert this coming weekend. Got home from practice and fixed Erica's hair for the homecoming dance, then left for the dance myself. Chaperoning the dance is fun, but not when I'm tired. I snuck out early, since they all seemed to be behaving themselves, relatively speaking of course. I did see one guy at the dance who I'm pretty sure is a local drug kingpin. I don't know who he came with, but if I ever found out that my high-school-age daughter was showing up at a dance with the likes of this creep... if she even so much as KNOWS who this kind of person is... well, let's just say there wouldn't be a shred of tolerance. It's too bad people don't seem to care who their daughter goes to the dance with AND what their daughter is wearing, for that matter. Most of it was tasteful and pretty, but there were some serious hoochie-mamas in da house. I'm looking at some of these little girls and thinking, Honey, where is your mother and why did she let you leave the house looking like that? Yecccchhh.
Happy dancing!!
SoulFire played at a jr-high lock-in last night and -- get this -- THIRTY-FOUR KIDS prayed to receive Christ during our concert, after Timmy spoke.
THIRTY-FOUR!!!
There were a whole bunch of kids from the community who came, because it was an all-nighter and they set up inflatables and all kinds of crazy stuff for them to do all night. SoulFire played at about 11 or 11:30, and it was a rockin' night. After several of our songs, we broke to let God do some talking (through Tim), and those kids responded en masse to God's call. It didn't appear to be a group-thing, either, where people do it just because their friend did it... they stood independently, from what I could see, and went to speak to youth workers about it. Timmy was blown away, and I couldn't quit smiling because I could almost tangibly see God working through him, hear God talking through him. It was very, very cool.
God is at work... in my world, and in your world, too. Join him, won't you? It's a great ride.
THIRTY-FOUR!!!
There were a whole bunch of kids from the community who came, because it was an all-nighter and they set up inflatables and all kinds of crazy stuff for them to do all night. SoulFire played at about 11 or 11:30, and it was a rockin' night. After several of our songs, we broke to let God do some talking (through Tim), and those kids responded en masse to God's call. It didn't appear to be a group-thing, either, where people do it just because their friend did it... they stood independently, from what I could see, and went to speak to youth workers about it. Timmy was blown away, and I couldn't quit smiling because I could almost tangibly see God working through him, hear God talking through him. It was very, very cool.
God is at work... in my world, and in your world, too. Join him, won't you? It's a great ride.
Thursday, October 06, 2005
We won!!
The North High School girls' swim team just won their event tonight. They also won their event on Tuesday night. Wahoo! Erica swims the 50m freestyle. She's one cool kid, that's what.
Go North High School Polar Bears!!!
Go North High School Polar Bears!!!
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Rockin' concert at Grace
SoulFire did a benefit concert tonight at Grace Church (over on the east side of Des Moines) for hurricane victims. It was loud and rockin' and awesome, and among the teenagers there they raised over $600 to send to a church in Leesburg, Louisiana which is ministering to hurricane victims.
Today at school was Retro Day, so I teased my bangs out and sprayed them stiff, just like I used to do back in the 80s, and I wore a big shiny silk button-down shirt with a costume-jewelry brooch, and black pants tucked into my socks.
Gag.
I can't believe I used to wear that kind of crap all the time. Oh well... that's how trends are, I suppose.
We had a teachers meeting after school this afternoon, and were watching a video about how to do co-teaching. One of the teachers interviewed was a guy whose head was shaved except for a cowpatty-shaped area of curls right on top, copiously daubed with product. It was the absolute dumbest hairstyle I ever saw on a guy, and he obviously thought he was pretty cool... and in a few years when they dig that video back out, that hairstyle is going to be the source of a great deal of mirth and merriment. Just as my senior picture in college is, for me. Talk about "Big Sunday Hair" ... I definitely had it. If I can find a copy of it somewhere, I'll share it.
The teachers meeting was, as you might guess, about co-teaching. What was most irritating about the meeting was that it was a complete waste of time... at least for me. It was mostly about how to get along with your cohort. I don't have trouble getting along with either of my gen-ed teacher cohorts. I don't even have trouble fitting in wherever it works best.
What I do have trouble with is that they still expect me to fulfill the role of resource teacher for all these kids, keeping track of their IEPs, etc., even though I don't see the kids and have no way of assessing their progress.
So let's see... I couldn't stay in the Master's program... and my job is getting marginalized... I think I'm going to update my resume. Surely I could get a job somewhere around here as a gen-ed English teacher (for which my certification is just fine already, without extra classes). Special-ed is going in weird directions, and I'm not sure I want to stick around for the ride.
Today at school was Retro Day, so I teased my bangs out and sprayed them stiff, just like I used to do back in the 80s, and I wore a big shiny silk button-down shirt with a costume-jewelry brooch, and black pants tucked into my socks.
Gag.
I can't believe I used to wear that kind of crap all the time. Oh well... that's how trends are, I suppose.
We had a teachers meeting after school this afternoon, and were watching a video about how to do co-teaching. One of the teachers interviewed was a guy whose head was shaved except for a cowpatty-shaped area of curls right on top, copiously daubed with product. It was the absolute dumbest hairstyle I ever saw on a guy, and he obviously thought he was pretty cool... and in a few years when they dig that video back out, that hairstyle is going to be the source of a great deal of mirth and merriment. Just as my senior picture in college is, for me. Talk about "Big Sunday Hair" ... I definitely had it. If I can find a copy of it somewhere, I'll share it.
The teachers meeting was, as you might guess, about co-teaching. What was most irritating about the meeting was that it was a complete waste of time... at least for me. It was mostly about how to get along with your cohort. I don't have trouble getting along with either of my gen-ed teacher cohorts. I don't even have trouble fitting in wherever it works best.
What I do have trouble with is that they still expect me to fulfill the role of resource teacher for all these kids, keeping track of their IEPs, etc., even though I don't see the kids and have no way of assessing their progress.
So let's see... I couldn't stay in the Master's program... and my job is getting marginalized... I think I'm going to update my resume. Surely I could get a job somewhere around here as a gen-ed English teacher (for which my certification is just fine already, without extra classes). Special-ed is going in weird directions, and I'm not sure I want to stick around for the ride.
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Homecoming week
It's Homecoming Week at North, complete with all the requisite dress-up days. Today was Aloha Day, so I wore a Hawaii t-shirt, capris and flipflops, and a grass skirt over the capris, and two leis around my neck.
Tomorrow's "Retro Day"... I'm thinking I'm going to wear a big silk shirt with a costume-jewelry brooch, black stretch pants, and tease out my hair like I used to do back in 1987. We'll see if I'm able to accomplish it; my hair was much longer back then, and permed. Hairspray and a blowdryer can work miracles, however.
Thursday is "Sports Team" day, so I guess I'll wear my OU Sooners t-shirt. I don't really have a team jersey or anything... maybe I should borrow one of AJ's Dallas Cowboys items.
Friday is, of course, "Spirit Day," so it's NHS colors. I may even do some face-paint or temporary hair dye... hey, I'm really trying to go all out here, okay?
Friday night is the big game, against Roosevelt. We'll be killed. We're always killed, though. North is just not known for its football successes.
Then Friday night, late, SoulFire is playing at the Jr. High lock-in at church.
Then Saturday, SoulFire is playing a youth gig down at St. Charles, which is like 30 or 40 miles south of Des Moines (I think).
Then Saturday night is the Homecoming Dance, which I'm chaperoning. Until late.
Sunday morning will find me at church at 6:45 AM.
I am going to want a nap really, really bad on Sunday afternoon.
In amidst all this stuff, I'm putting together some more videos for church. Yeah, I'm insane. But it's okay. I actually love it all, and being really busy keeps me on track.
Tomorrow's "Retro Day"... I'm thinking I'm going to wear a big silk shirt with a costume-jewelry brooch, black stretch pants, and tease out my hair like I used to do back in 1987. We'll see if I'm able to accomplish it; my hair was much longer back then, and permed. Hairspray and a blowdryer can work miracles, however.
Thursday is "Sports Team" day, so I guess I'll wear my OU Sooners t-shirt. I don't really have a team jersey or anything... maybe I should borrow one of AJ's Dallas Cowboys items.
Friday is, of course, "Spirit Day," so it's NHS colors. I may even do some face-paint or temporary hair dye... hey, I'm really trying to go all out here, okay?
Friday night is the big game, against Roosevelt. We'll be killed. We're always killed, though. North is just not known for its football successes.
Then Friday night, late, SoulFire is playing at the Jr. High lock-in at church.
Then Saturday, SoulFire is playing a youth gig down at St. Charles, which is like 30 or 40 miles south of Des Moines (I think).
Then Saturday night is the Homecoming Dance, which I'm chaperoning. Until late.
Sunday morning will find me at church at 6:45 AM.
I am going to want a nap really, really bad on Sunday afternoon.
In amidst all this stuff, I'm putting together some more videos for church. Yeah, I'm insane. But it's okay. I actually love it all, and being really busy keeps me on track.
Monday, October 03, 2005
North High School in the news
City schools face image battle
I'd like for my kids to go to school with the same kids they go to church with. In the urban schools, Martha gets to be anonymous -- no-one at school goes to church with her, and vice versa, so there's little accountability. She gets to assume whatever "persona" she likes. If, however, she goes to school in Norwalk, there's a better chance that the "village" will help keep her on track. Not a guarantee, of course, but it helps the chances.
This year, 14 suburbs of Des Moines had a combined population estimated at about 206,650, vs. Des Moines' 201,600 -- making it the first time that more people in the metro area lived outside the core city's limits than lived within. The shift is driving development away from the city, hurting its tax base and squeezing the school district.Ummm, yeah. There's certainly something appealing about suburbs, although for me it has nothing to do with big green yards and new schools. I go to church in Norwalk, one of the southern suburbs that isn't really involved in the megasprawl of the western and northern suburbs. The Norwalk school system is much closer to the kind of high school I attended... where kids still have "school spirit" and where the community is highly involved and invested in the success of the school. Here in Des Moines, I've found that most of the kids are rather bored with the idea of being loyal to one school... they have friends in all the schools and interchange among the dances and proms and football games all the time. Heck, if they can't make it in one, they just transfer to another. It's difficult to generate excitement during Homecoming Week because a lot of the kids just don't care. It's definitely a different perspective than I grew up with.
The situation has created a Catch-22, says North High School Principal Vincent Lewis. A city needs vibrant schools to attract new families, yet schools need a thriving residential base to draw students and revenue, he said.
"We are fighting this perception, which isn't deserved, that we are rough-and-tough schools," Lewis said. At the same time, he added, "far too many Realtors push people to the suburbs."
Lured by the idyllic picture of big green yards and new schools, homebuyers have swarmed into western and northern suburbs.
I'd like for my kids to go to school with the same kids they go to church with. In the urban schools, Martha gets to be anonymous -- no-one at school goes to church with her, and vice versa, so there's little accountability. She gets to assume whatever "persona" she likes. If, however, she goes to school in Norwalk, there's a better chance that the "village" will help keep her on track. Not a guarantee, of course, but it helps the chances.
North High embodies the shift: 63 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-priced meals; 53 percent are minorities; about 27 percent take special-education classes. "Poverty here is something you live, not just read about," said Bob Gibbons, a science teacher at North. "When you're worried about what you'll eat next, you're probably not worried about the big assignment that's due in a month. So as a teacher, you have to be aware of all that."How about classroom space? And I'm sorry, but it's ridiculous that in the year 2005, a school building hasn't been retro-fitted with an elevator already. There is no excuse for this; I was completely dumfounded when I discovered this fact about North High School. That's just misappropriation on the part of the district, in my opinion.
Educators say North and other city schools remain good places to learn, thanks to committed staff and hard-working students, but the challenges grow every year.
North does not have air conditioning, or elevators to the second floor for physically disabled students -- both givens in new schools. With about 1,200 students, teachers said North needs 12 science labs but has four.
Lewis sighs at the thought of prosperous suburban schools such as West Des Moines' Valley High School and its three-year-old $8 million football stadium. Lewis said he'd like to raise $50,000 for new bleachers in his gym, but he calls it a dream.
Lewis, the Des Moines North principal, said his school is reputed to be a haven for gang members, street brawlers and drug users.No, there isn't much violence at NHS, mainly because we don't tolerate it. We don't even tolerate trash-talking in the halls; kids get suspended for that, too. But the general atmosphere of an urban school is of diffidence, of streetwise canniness, of exposure to the trashiest elements of our culture. I'm increasingly uncomfortable with this, at least for my oldest daughter.
"They think we're a junk school, that we have graffiti all over the place and fights all the time, but anybody who has spent five minutes at this school knows that is flat wrong," Lewis said.
Indeed, the school has clean, orderly hallways and a well-kept campus. Gibbons, the science teacher, who previously taught in Ames, said he has plenty of top students, many of whom simply have to rise above obstacles that students in wealthier areas usually don't face.
Take Paige Oxenford, a North junior who lives with her single working mother. Oxenford is in marching band, speech and drama at North. She also takes advanced English, math and Italian classes at Des Moines' elite Central Academy in hopes of landing a scholarship to Princeton University.
"We get a bad rap. There isn't gang violence in the school or anything like that. I wouldn't transfer to any other school if I had the chance," Oxenford said.
Sunday, October 02, 2005
What will you be famous for?
| You will be famous for writing a national bestseller You are very observant and tend to be the wallflower at parties. You are intuitive and know just how to communicate everything that you are feeling to those around you. Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com |
I've always wondered what I might be famous for someday... but this one doesn't surprise me. [chuckle] I actually have begun the planning stages of a novel; I have a character and a dilemma, and now I just need to get the plot outlined and start working it out. Dunno that it will be a national bestseller, necessarily, but anything can happen, right? Yeah, like every doofus with a blog hasn't fantasized about writing the Great American Novel. I'm such a poser.
SoulFire has a blog
It's still in its infancy stages (meaning, I just put it together this evening), but the other bandmembers have expressed an interest in doing a band-blog, so here's my attempt at it.
SoulFireBand Blog
SoulFireBand Blog
This is your brain on Kos
Eventually, you spend enough time immersed in the moonbat wacko Hate-America-First crowd and you end up like this pathetic, angry, hopeless person.
It's become more and more apparent to me over the past five years that all the activism and non-violent protesting in the world will do precisely squat. When you're dealing with evil people who have no shame, the old rules of the game don't and, indeed, can't apply if you have any hope for success. Hundreds of thousands of people have marched, millions of letters have been written, tens of millions of votes cast, and hundreds of trillions of electrons expended pontificating on blogs...for nothing. Nothing has changed. Nothing will change. Not unless it comes in the form of something akin to the French Revolution.I actually really feel for this guy. I wish I could talk to him face-to-face and give him some honest, authentic HOPE. I know where he can get it.
We need terror. We need horror. We need the streets running awash in rivers of blood of these thugs and criminals and zealots. Activism didn't prevent 60,000 deaths in Vietnam. All the activism of the Civil Rights era has gotten African Americans precisely nowhere. Segregation may not be the law of the land anymore, but it's still the de facto state of America.
When y'all want to start throwing molotovs and sniping from windows come and talk to me. Until then, I will be content to retire, be a hermit, and laugh at everyone. Even then, I may still just feel like laughing as the world falls apart around me, but at least I'll be willing to listen.
My mental state is collapsing and deteriorating almost daily. It's so consistent you could practically graph it. My life is falling apart at an equally alarming rate, and yet I feel like doing nothing to salvage it. I feel like I'm standing at the bottom of one of the WTC towers, watching it come down on me, floor by floor, knowing I'll be blown to atoms, yet unable to move.
See what I'm talking about? I've gone from cynicism to hatred to sadness in a few paragraphs. I'm a broken shell of what I used to be. Like Humpty Dumpty, I also doubt very seriously if I can ever be put back together. I'm dissatisfied and miserable beyond measure and no amount of medication, therapy, or vacation seems able to change that.
Concert pix
It was a beautiful night for a concert... 75 degrees, balmy... mosquito-ey (thanks to Blue Fish for having the presence of mind to bring along mosquito repellent spray)... thought I'd share a few pix.
Timmy the Boy Wonder
Blue Fish
Click
Happy kids
Red Fish, Blue Fish!
Tim gave us some good news this afternoon... apparently he'd been in touch with a guy who owns some Christian radio stations, and he stumbled across our web site and wants us to release "Great and Glorious King" for air play. He also said that someone in the music biz was interested in picking up the song.
WOW!
Timmy the Boy Wonder
Blue Fish
Click
Happy kids
Red Fish, Blue Fish!
Tim gave us some good news this afternoon... apparently he'd been in touch with a guy who owns some Christian radio stations, and he stumbled across our web site and wants us to release "Great and Glorious King" for air play. He also said that someone in the music biz was interested in picking up the song.
WOW!
Saturday, October 01, 2005
SOULFIRE CONCERT TONIGHT
I posted about this last night, but in case you missed it...
SoulFire
TONIGHT
GRAY'S LAKE
DES MOINES, IOWA
7:30 - 9:30 PM
SoulFire will be playing several sets during this time. Here's what Timmy the Boy Wonder sez:
TONIGHT
GRAY'S LAKE
DES MOINES, IOWA
7:30 - 9:30 PM
SoulFire will be playing several sets during this time. Here's what Timmy the Boy Wonder sez:
Adoration 2005
Saturday, October 1
Gray's Lake (Fleur Drive across from Waterworks Park. We are playing on the peninsula, so if you go in the north entrance of Gray's Lake, you'll find us. We're the ones making all the noise!)
7:30pm to 9:30pm
If you don't have plans for a Saturday night, it's going to be a beautiful night, so come out and enjoy the weather, the lake, and the honest worship of our Savior. Adoration is a youth worship event put on by a few local youth pastors and the evening is filled with music and teaching. It would be really great to see some
familiar faces tomorrow!
Thanks!
Tim Grubb
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)