...for my reader told me so. Black Hockey Jesus, that is. And it seemed a worthy set of questions to answer, so here ye go.
WHAT ARE YOUR CURRENT OBSESSIONS?
I have a longstanding obsession with werewolves, like going years back. My patience is wearing thin with all this zombie and vampire shit, let’s get some real monsters up in this bitch. I’m also developing a bit of an obsession with the craft of comic writing, so much so that I’m finding myself looking at things through the comic lens, like how an event would play out over the course of several panels, how to arrange them, what shots to use, etc. You may have seen some of the goofy shit I’ve done with pictures of my kids, but I’ve gotten pretty deep into the writing of an autobiographical piece. I’ve also got ambitions for not one, but two different werewolf comics.
And to add to that, I’m kind of obsessed with not being obsessed with The Meaning Of It All. Life’s too short. I’ve got kids to raise, a wife to love, plays to act in, comics to write, sex to have, coworkers to harass, a wife to infuriate, shows to watch, concerts to go to, beer to drink, jokes to laugh at, clever banter to banter, sushi to eat, a wife to bring Thai food home to, inappropriate humor to giggle over, etc. etc. ad infinitum.
WHO GAVE YOU THE BEST ORAL SEX OF YOUR LIFE?
It was this little hole in the wall place on one end of a strip center that you wouldn’t even know was there if you didn’t know it was there. I don’t remember how we found it, but sweet Christ it was wonderful. We got hooked and started going on a regular basis. Then one day I was in there and there was just this one dude by himself behind the counter, this same guy who always seemed to be there whenever I went in. He told me it was his last day in this dump because the owners didn’t know how to treat him right, but they were going to be sorry because everything that place served was cooked with his special recipes and nobody else knew how to do them quite the way he could. And sure enough, next time I went in, he was nowhere to be seen, and the gyros weren’t nearly as good. But while he was there, absolute best gyros of my life.
WHAT'S FOR DINNER?
Not sure about the dinner part, but it looks like it will end with chocolate.
WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST FEAR AT THE MOMENT?
Everyone talking about me behind my back in tones of disapproval, dislike, and disgust.
WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
My fingers clacking across the keyboard. The baby monitor.
IF YOU WERE A GOD/GODDESS, WHAT WOULD YOU BE?
I’d be the God of Epiphanies and Inspiration because it’s just the best feeling when those things hit, and it’s beautiful to watch a person’s face as it hits them, especially when that person is your kid. I’d have several hundred names that I’d answer to. Worshipping me would consist of following through on whatever epiphany or inspiration I dropped in your lap.
WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE HOLIDAY SPOTS?
Oh daaaahling, I simply adore Aspen around the holidays. Wait, what? Who wrote that. That must be my inner rich person. Truly, my favorite spot to be on any given holiday is at home with a loaded fridge and lots of folks.
WHAT ARE YOU READING RIGHT NOW?
I’m re-reading “From Hell.” I pulled it off the shelf just to thumb through it, and realized that there was a lot I missed the first read through.
WHAT ARE FOUR WORDS THAT DESCRIBE YOU?
Myers-Briggs has done that for me: Introverted Intuitive Feeling Perceiving. Doing it for myself, I’ll go with Sweaty, Laugher, Froggy, Cloudy
WHAT IS YOUR GUILTY PLEASURE?
Fuck guilt. It’s a waste of valuable resources. But going with the commonly understood definition of guilty pleasure, I’ll go with horror movies.
WHO OR WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
In a room full of people, I often find myself the only person laughing, often at something that isn’t particularly funny on the surface. Perhaps it’s my habit of seeing everything as a great big performance, chock full of humor for any and all who wish to see it. Or maybe I’m just a strangeoid. Also, my kids. And my wife, she’s a hoot.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SPRING THING TO DO?
Sweat less. Drink beer. Eat outside on the patio. Sex wherever.
WHERE ARE YOU PLANNING TO TRAVEL NEXT?
Ah yes, travel. I vaguely remember doing some of that back in the day. I think the next travel of any kind I have planned is for this summer. I’m going to take my 3 year old out to the scout camp where I used to work to visit a friend of mine and to let the kiddo see what he might have to look forward to if we decide to do the whole scouting thing.
WHAT IS THE BEST THING YOU ATE OR DRANK LATELY?
I’ve fallen in love with the pho place down the street from us, though when the new Pho King place opens, they will have to compete for my affections, for my taste buds are fickle.
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU WERE TIPSY?
Last night. The wife was out with eldest son, so after I got the baby to bed, I watched “30 Days of Night” while I worked my way through a bottle of wine and tweeted a bunch of nonsense.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE EVER [MOVIE]?
This meme was pretty cool until it got to this question. I suck at “what is your favorite ___” questions.
WHAT IS THE BIGGEST LIFE LESSON YOU'VE LEARNED FROM YOUR KIDS?
If I am to take care of others, I have to take care of myself. I know it’s kind of basic, but the truth of this statement didn’t hit home until I had a kid.
WHAT SONG CAN'T YOU GET OUT OF YOUR HEAD?
Well, I just watched the commercial for The Red House Furniture Store, so now all I can hear is “At The Reeeeed House, where black people and white people buy furnituuuuure.”
WHAT BOOK DO YOU KNOW THAT YOU SHOULD READ BUT REFUSE TO?
I refuse to read any book just to get it checked off of a list so that I can consider myself well-read and be able to look good whenever one of those “how many of these have you read” memes comes around. When a book comes into my life that I want to read, I read it.
WHAT IS YOUR PHYSICAL ABNORMALITY/ABNORMAL PHYSICAL ABILITY?
I do a delightful cricket impersonation.
WHY DO YOU THINK YOU WERE CALLED INTO THE REALM OF THE LIVING?
To keep the breakfast taco population under control.
Showing posts with label meme. Show all posts
Showing posts with label meme. Show all posts
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Seven + Seven
Sometimes you're just walking down the street minding your own business when POW! some dirty ninja jumps out from behind a dumpster and zings you with a damn ninja star. And then, as if you weren't already bleeding all over the pavement, another ninja swoops down from above an awning and pops you with yet another ninja star.
So it was that I got tagged not once, but twice for the same meme by two different people, Cami and Sybil. It's that seven things meme where I'm supposed to tell you seven random facts about myself, and seeing as how I get dosed twice, it appears that I have to come up with seven + seven things to share with you. Since I've been letting the old blog get cold with neglect, I'm going to cheat a little bit and use some of those seven + seven things for updates on the latest in the wide world of the Holmes.
1) For those of you who don't read my wife's blog, first of all, shame on you, and second of all, it looks very much like we will be moving in a couple of weeks. No, you didn't miss anything, our place has been off the market for a while now, but that didn't stop it from getting an offer. Here's hoping it all goes through.
2) Clrly i neds mor lernings:
4) My son is crazy. Or rather, he's cwazy. No really, he'll tell you so himself. One of his latest things to inform us is "Henry cwazy! CWAAAZZY!" Then he'll run real fast, fall down, lift up his adorable little head, and say, "Cwaaazy! CWAAAAZY!"
5) I crave real true community, the kind where people know and care for each other. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what this means to me, and how to find it, but I sometimes feel really disconnected from my fellow earth dwellers.
6) The Catcher In The Rye was the first book to change my life.
7) Between getting sick a few weeks ago and the demands of school, I haven't done anything resembling exercise in about a month. My clothes still fit, so I can't complain too much, but I find that with decreased physical demands being placed on my body, I'm more susceptible to eating sweets, particularly donuts. I asked my friend Brandon about this, and he filled me in on the fact that as you lower your amount of exercise, your body actually starts to smell like a donut, leaving you more vulnerable when actual donuts are available. Who knew?
8) I mentioned my wife's Hollywood crush a while back, which prompted her to ask if had any such crushes, which made me realize I sorta don't. My only famous-person crush would have to be Liz Phair since she sings dirty songs about love and pain and is hot while doing so, though I don't think she counts as a celebrity since I've never seen her on Famecrawler.
9) My wife sometimes accuses me of being ghetto because I'll do things like eat a half-piece of toast that's been sitting on the counter for a few hours, but she's the one who wants to keep chickens in the back yard at our new place. Chickens. In the middle of the city. Now who's ghetto?
10) I don't know all that much about Scotch, but I know enough about it to know that if you want to buy me a bottle of liquor for a gift, a bottle of something single-malt would be well-received and shared.
11) I'll spend a lot of time thinking about trying to accept people as they are, faults and all, without judging or stereotyping or hating, and I'll think about how people are the way they are for a reason, and people each have their own strengths and weaknesses, and how even though somebody might do or think something that I absolutely loathe, I might very well be just like them had I walked in their shoes, and I'll get to thinking about all this stuff and get this warm fuzzy love the world vibe going, and then some jackass in a Beemer will cut me off or tailgate me and I'll instantly shove that person into the profile of someone I hate.
12) I made up a playlist of all my favorite heavy music to listen to when I'm by myself, but I find that on the rare occasion I am by myself, I rarely listen to it. Kids are loud enough.
13) As regular readers of this blog know, I started a masters program in counseling at a seminary last spring. As the first class day was approaching, I pulled out the pink sheet of paper with the schedule printed on it to get some piece of info, and realized that I had missed the first class day! Holy shit! Not how I wanted to start out my graduate career! Frantic, I looked up the professor's email address in the school directory and went to email him, though I don't recall what I was planning to say. But when I pulled up my email, there was a message from the director of my program stating that the first day of class had been cancelled due to the sudden death of the professor's mother. So you can imagine the series of emotions that hit me in the next split second. I started to blog about it back then, but just felt too, I don't know, too weird about it.
14) I dislike dancing, so don't ask.
I'm supposed to tag seven people now, but there's no way that's happening. I'll just tag Ashley since she needs a good taggin.
So it was that I got tagged not once, but twice for the same meme by two different people, Cami and Sybil. It's that seven things meme where I'm supposed to tell you seven random facts about myself, and seeing as how I get dosed twice, it appears that I have to come up with seven + seven things to share with you. Since I've been letting the old blog get cold with neglect, I'm going to cheat a little bit and use some of those seven + seven things for updates on the latest in the wide world of the Holmes.
1) For those of you who don't read my wife's blog, first of all, shame on you, and second of all, it looks very much like we will be moving in a couple of weeks. No, you didn't miss anything, our place has been off the market for a while now, but that didn't stop it from getting an offer. Here's hoping it all goes through.
2) Clrly i neds mor lernings:
Get a Cash Advance
3) Speaking of which, I have to pat myself on the back just a wee tiny bit because I realized that this time around on the higher education trip, I'm taking the whole thing much more seriously. Part of it, of course, is that I'm paying for it myself, along with all the support I get from my wife in giving me time to go to class and do the work I need to do. Plus the fact that I feel pretty compelled to move towards this line of work. They say you get out of education what you put into it, and I have to confess, I slacked a lot on the putting in part when I was in college. I got decent grades, sure, but there's more I could have done. But I had a great time.4) My son is crazy. Or rather, he's cwazy. No really, he'll tell you so himself. One of his latest things to inform us is "Henry cwazy! CWAAAZZY!" Then he'll run real fast, fall down, lift up his adorable little head, and say, "Cwaaazy! CWAAAAZY!"
5) I crave real true community, the kind where people know and care for each other. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what this means to me, and how to find it, but I sometimes feel really disconnected from my fellow earth dwellers.
6) The Catcher In The Rye was the first book to change my life.
7) Between getting sick a few weeks ago and the demands of school, I haven't done anything resembling exercise in about a month. My clothes still fit, so I can't complain too much, but I find that with decreased physical demands being placed on my body, I'm more susceptible to eating sweets, particularly donuts. I asked my friend Brandon about this, and he filled me in on the fact that as you lower your amount of exercise, your body actually starts to smell like a donut, leaving you more vulnerable when actual donuts are available. Who knew?
8) I mentioned my wife's Hollywood crush a while back, which prompted her to ask if had any such crushes, which made me realize I sorta don't. My only famous-person crush would have to be Liz Phair since she sings dirty songs about love and pain and is hot while doing so, though I don't think she counts as a celebrity since I've never seen her on Famecrawler.9) My wife sometimes accuses me of being ghetto because I'll do things like eat a half-piece of toast that's been sitting on the counter for a few hours, but she's the one who wants to keep chickens in the back yard at our new place. Chickens. In the middle of the city. Now who's ghetto?
10) I don't know all that much about Scotch, but I know enough about it to know that if you want to buy me a bottle of liquor for a gift, a bottle of something single-malt would be well-received and shared.
11) I'll spend a lot of time thinking about trying to accept people as they are, faults and all, without judging or stereotyping or hating, and I'll think about how people are the way they are for a reason, and people each have their own strengths and weaknesses, and how even though somebody might do or think something that I absolutely loathe, I might very well be just like them had I walked in their shoes, and I'll get to thinking about all this stuff and get this warm fuzzy love the world vibe going, and then some jackass in a Beemer will cut me off or tailgate me and I'll instantly shove that person into the profile of someone I hate.
12) I made up a playlist of all my favorite heavy music to listen to when I'm by myself, but I find that on the rare occasion I am by myself, I rarely listen to it. Kids are loud enough.
13) As regular readers of this blog know, I started a masters program in counseling at a seminary last spring. As the first class day was approaching, I pulled out the pink sheet of paper with the schedule printed on it to get some piece of info, and realized that I had missed the first class day! Holy shit! Not how I wanted to start out my graduate career! Frantic, I looked up the professor's email address in the school directory and went to email him, though I don't recall what I was planning to say. But when I pulled up my email, there was a message from the director of my program stating that the first day of class had been cancelled due to the sudden death of the professor's mother. So you can imagine the series of emotions that hit me in the next split second. I started to blog about it back then, but just felt too, I don't know, too weird about it.
14) I dislike dancing, so don't ask.
I'm supposed to tag seven people now, but there's no way that's happening. I'll just tag Ashley since she needs a good taggin.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Holmes on the Spot
As part of his International Meme Week celebrations, Dan the Blogging Englishman entagganated me for the interview meme. Or rather, I tagged myself. Or more accurately put, I volunteered to be tagged, which means I now get to respond to a series of probing interview questions brought to us by none other than Dan himself. So put down that People magazine and read this interview instead.
Do you feel that counseling is a science or an art?
Counseling is nothing less than an exact science. You run through a list of symptoms and then prescribe Prozac accordingly.
In truth, I don't feel quite qualified to answer the question of whether counseling is a science or an art, considering I'm at the very beginning of my education in counseling. However, the question is quite clearly asking how I feel, and I'm pretty qualified to talk about how I feel about pretty much anything. That being said, I feel that it absolutely must be both. There is definitely a science to it, to understanding human beings and the disorders that afflict them and what they stem from and the dynamics of human relationships and knowing what is healthy and what is not and on and on and on. At the same time, there is an art to applying this science. Listening to a person, I dare say, is an art, and not just listening, but making a person know that they are being listened to, not to mention getting them to talk in the first place. Making sense of the dynamics of a person's situation, and never failing to recognize that each person who comes for help is a human being, with a whole universe of experience that is as grand and remarkable as anyone else's.
That's just my take on it for now. Perhaps ask me this one again in a few years.
What's in your car CD player at the moment?
We experience the occasional spat of vehicular break-ins around here, so at the moment, my car's CD player sits empty. But the last CD I listened to in the car was Bad Religion's "New America." It's not my favorite of theirs, but it's got this sort of positive "we really can make the world a better place!" theme throughout it that always buoys my spirits. Plus it's loud and fast.
What's the worst play you've been involved in?
In high school, I ran tech for "Guys and Dolls", and later for "42nd Street", thus beginning my hate affair with the "art form" known as the musical. With a precious few exceptions, I still despise musicals to this day, and sitting through those two freakshows night after night amounted to a brand of torture that I'd prefer never to repeat. Of course, these feelings put me very much in the minority in the UT theater department, but I came across a few other folks of like mind in my time there. Musical haters: we're out there.
Except you asked what was the worst play I've ever been in, and I personally don't count musicals as plays. One is a dramatic art form, the other is, in most cases, little more than a spectacle with about as much artistic value as a UFC match. I can't recall any theatrical involvement where the play itself was bad, but I've had some less than positive experiences. The one that springs immediately to mind is when I was cast in Loaded Gun Theory's "The Empty Bowl." The play itself is fantastic, and my role in particular was a juicy one, but the experience of getting it staged was one I'd rather not ever repeat. The director was young, insecure, and dictatorial, and had us do all sorts of bizarre things that made little to no sense. The real shitty thing though, was the fact that my little boy was only six months old, and plenty colicky. Every night when I went to rehearsal, after spending all day at work, I felt like I was abandoning my family. I don't think I've ever been quite so relieved to have a show close.
What did you want to be when you grew up?
The first thing I can ever remember wanting to be was a carpenter. My mom was having some work done on her house, and the guys that came out just seemed so cool to little Holmes, what with their tools and their know-how. I was able to sort of realize this particular occupational dream in college when I spent a semester working in the scenery shop at UT's Performing Arts Center. I also remember wanting to be a lawyer for some ungodly reason, a choice which would have certainly been disastrous for me, and later a veterinarian. My mom actually talked the guys at our vet's office into letting me come down and hang out and help a few times. I watched them put somebody's pet to sleep once, and that did it for that idea. Later, when I got into theater, I thought I wanted to go into the tech theater field, and later on after that, I thought I'd be a playwright. I guess since I've written a few plays, I've actually managed to be a playwright, and at some point in the future, I hope to be a playwright again, whatever my day job may happen to be.
Who would win in a fight: the Jetsons or the Flintstones?
It's always the bad guys who have the latest technology on their side. And they always seem to have British accents, why is that Dan? So should such a match ever occur, I'd have to cheer for the Flintstones. Considering George Jetson's complete ineptitude with the technology of his day, not to mention his whiny fucking attitude, I think the cavefolk would stand a fighting chance.
So that's it for this interview. If you'd like to be tagged for this one and answer a series of questions written specially for you by me, just follow the instructions below.
Interview rules:
1. Leave me a comment saying “Interview me.”
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with a post containing your the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.
Do you feel that counseling is a science or an art?
Counseling is nothing less than an exact science. You run through a list of symptoms and then prescribe Prozac accordingly.
In truth, I don't feel quite qualified to answer the question of whether counseling is a science or an art, considering I'm at the very beginning of my education in counseling. However, the question is quite clearly asking how I feel, and I'm pretty qualified to talk about how I feel about pretty much anything. That being said, I feel that it absolutely must be both. There is definitely a science to it, to understanding human beings and the disorders that afflict them and what they stem from and the dynamics of human relationships and knowing what is healthy and what is not and on and on and on. At the same time, there is an art to applying this science. Listening to a person, I dare say, is an art, and not just listening, but making a person know that they are being listened to, not to mention getting them to talk in the first place. Making sense of the dynamics of a person's situation, and never failing to recognize that each person who comes for help is a human being, with a whole universe of experience that is as grand and remarkable as anyone else's.
That's just my take on it for now. Perhaps ask me this one again in a few years.
What's in your car CD player at the moment?
We experience the occasional spat of vehicular break-ins around here, so at the moment, my car's CD player sits empty. But the last CD I listened to in the car was Bad Religion's "New America." It's not my favorite of theirs, but it's got this sort of positive "we really can make the world a better place!" theme throughout it that always buoys my spirits. Plus it's loud and fast.What's the worst play you've been involved in?
In high school, I ran tech for "Guys and Dolls", and later for "42nd Street", thus beginning my hate affair with the "art form" known as the musical. With a precious few exceptions, I still despise musicals to this day, and sitting through those two freakshows night after night amounted to a brand of torture that I'd prefer never to repeat. Of course, these feelings put me very much in the minority in the UT theater department, but I came across a few other folks of like mind in my time there. Musical haters: we're out there.
Except you asked what was the worst play I've ever been in, and I personally don't count musicals as plays. One is a dramatic art form, the other is, in most cases, little more than a spectacle with about as much artistic value as a UFC match. I can't recall any theatrical involvement where the play itself was bad, but I've had some less than positive experiences. The one that springs immediately to mind is when I was cast in Loaded Gun Theory's "The Empty Bowl." The play itself is fantastic, and my role in particular was a juicy one, but the experience of getting it staged was one I'd rather not ever repeat. The director was young, insecure, and dictatorial, and had us do all sorts of bizarre things that made little to no sense. The real shitty thing though, was the fact that my little boy was only six months old, and plenty colicky. Every night when I went to rehearsal, after spending all day at work, I felt like I was abandoning my family. I don't think I've ever been quite so relieved to have a show close.
What did you want to be when you grew up?
The first thing I can ever remember wanting to be was a carpenter. My mom was having some work done on her house, and the guys that came out just seemed so cool to little Holmes, what with their tools and their know-how. I was able to sort of realize this particular occupational dream in college when I spent a semester working in the scenery shop at UT's Performing Arts Center. I also remember wanting to be a lawyer for some ungodly reason, a choice which would have certainly been disastrous for me, and later a veterinarian. My mom actually talked the guys at our vet's office into letting me come down and hang out and help a few times. I watched them put somebody's pet to sleep once, and that did it for that idea. Later, when I got into theater, I thought I wanted to go into the tech theater field, and later on after that, I thought I'd be a playwright. I guess since I've written a few plays, I've actually managed to be a playwright, and at some point in the future, I hope to be a playwright again, whatever my day job may happen to be.
Who would win in a fight: the Jetsons or the Flintstones?
It's always the bad guys who have the latest technology on their side. And they always seem to have British accents, why is that Dan? So should such a match ever occur, I'd have to cheer for the Flintstones. Considering George Jetson's complete ineptitude with the technology of his day, not to mention his whiny fucking attitude, I think the cavefolk would stand a fighting chance.So that's it for this interview. If you'd like to be tagged for this one and answer a series of questions written specially for you by me, just follow the instructions below.
Interview rules:
1. Leave me a comment saying “Interview me.”
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with a post containing your the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
In your Jesus Christ meme
Tag. I'm it. It would appear that the Island Girl has tagged me to take part in the Jesus Christ meme. My mission, should I choose to accept it, is to name and explain five things that I dig about Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus H. Christ, or whichever name you prefer to call him by. And since I haven't rambled about religion and theology in a while, this seemed like a good excuse to do so. I'll just warn you right now, this will probably get rather long-winded.
So many directions to go with this one. Both my smartass side and my *ahem* serious side would like to weigh in. Take it easy fellas, you'll each get your turn....maybe. I guess if you were to categorize my relationship with Christianity, with religion in general, it would fall into the "love/hate" box, right alongside technology and Starbuck's. I find a great deal of beauty in a lot of the things that Christianity stands for...love, compassion, kindness, peace, etc. etc. But like many, I'm also turned off by the evil that has been and continues to be accomplished under its banner. But Jesus, and figures like him throughout the ages, are inspiring to me. They were the ones to face down those who would do evil in the name of something good, the ones who called for unity where most were looking for reasons to be divided, the ones who included all those that the world excluded.
Anyway, without further ado, here's a few things about Jesus found particularly appealing by an ex-Baptist ex-cult member semi-agnostic Episcopalian infrequent church attendee kinda into Buddhism current seminary student. Hmm. I don't seem to make much sense.
#1 - Blessed are the peacemakers - in word and deed, Jesus's message was always that peace was the way. Had he wanted to, he likely could have gathered together enough disgruntled followers to stage some kind of violent coup against the local Roman authorities. Of course, it would have certainly been quelled with brutal efficiency as Romans weren't known for fucking around, not in that sense anyway. Instead, he managed to leave behind a message and an example that has inspired many to combat violence and oppression with peace and understanding. It is unthinkable to me that somebody could claim to be a Christian and think that doing violence to another human being is right.
#2 - Love your neighbor as yourself - love in our culture is often categorized, compartmentalized, and placed into neat little color-coded boxes. You have your romantic love, your love between family members, parents and children, friends. And all these things are beautiful and real and part of life, but Jesus also talked about a type of love that extends beyond that, that is not myopic in its scope, and takes into account those who we don't know, those outside of our circle, our experience. He even went so far as to say that we should love our enemies rather than get caught up in hatred for them. On top of that, I think he understood the necessity of being able to love yourself. After all, you can't love anybody very well if you hate yourself.
#3 - Enigmatic storyteller - some of Jesus's parables are pretty straightforward, but others were less so. They kind of leave the hearer thinking, wondering, not necessarily spoon-feeding everything to you. It was as if he wanted people to think about what he'd said and draw their own conclusions.
#4 - Had love for the ghetto - or more to the point, the people living in it. He came from poor people, he spent a lot of time with poor people, seeming almost to favor their company, so much so that it's enough to make one wonder if perhaps he wasn't a bit suspicious of those with wealth and power.
#5 - Valued children in a time when they were nothing - children in Jesus's time were not particularly valued or protected the way they are today. They were free to be sold, enslaved, beaten, killed. They meant nothing. But he valued them. And that's cool.
One thing I almost included in this list was that, like many of the greats, Jesus was misunderstood, but really that's not something I actually dig. I mean, it may be cool for an artist to be misunderstood, but misunderstandings of Jesus, be they willful or otherwise, have led to tragic results. That could be its own dozen posts, hell its own blog...probably already is.
So there you have it, five things that I dig about Jesus, based on my understanding of him. Oh, and let us not forget about his totally awesome blog. Every time I see the title of his blog in my Google reader, I get that Soundgarden song "Jesus Christ Pose" stuck in my head, except the Chris Cornell in my head replaces the word "pose" with "blog."
So many directions to go with this one. Both my smartass side and my *ahem* serious side would like to weigh in. Take it easy fellas, you'll each get your turn....maybe. I guess if you were to categorize my relationship with Christianity, with religion in general, it would fall into the "love/hate" box, right alongside technology and Starbuck's. I find a great deal of beauty in a lot of the things that Christianity stands for...love, compassion, kindness, peace, etc. etc. But like many, I'm also turned off by the evil that has been and continues to be accomplished under its banner. But Jesus, and figures like him throughout the ages, are inspiring to me. They were the ones to face down those who would do evil in the name of something good, the ones who called for unity where most were looking for reasons to be divided, the ones who included all those that the world excluded.
Anyway, without further ado, here's a few things about Jesus found particularly appealing by an ex-Baptist ex-cult member semi-agnostic Episcopalian infrequent church attendee kinda into Buddhism current seminary student. Hmm. I don't seem to make much sense.
#1 - Blessed are the peacemakers - in word and deed, Jesus's message was always that peace was the way. Had he wanted to, he likely could have gathered together enough disgruntled followers to stage some kind of violent coup against the local Roman authorities. Of course, it would have certainly been quelled with brutal efficiency as Romans weren't known for fucking around, not in that sense anyway. Instead, he managed to leave behind a message and an example that has inspired many to combat violence and oppression with peace and understanding. It is unthinkable to me that somebody could claim to be a Christian and think that doing violence to another human being is right.
#2 - Love your neighbor as yourself - love in our culture is often categorized, compartmentalized, and placed into neat little color-coded boxes. You have your romantic love, your love between family members, parents and children, friends. And all these things are beautiful and real and part of life, but Jesus also talked about a type of love that extends beyond that, that is not myopic in its scope, and takes into account those who we don't know, those outside of our circle, our experience. He even went so far as to say that we should love our enemies rather than get caught up in hatred for them. On top of that, I think he understood the necessity of being able to love yourself. After all, you can't love anybody very well if you hate yourself.
#3 - Enigmatic storyteller - some of Jesus's parables are pretty straightforward, but others were less so. They kind of leave the hearer thinking, wondering, not necessarily spoon-feeding everything to you. It was as if he wanted people to think about what he'd said and draw their own conclusions.
#4 - Had love for the ghetto - or more to the point, the people living in it. He came from poor people, he spent a lot of time with poor people, seeming almost to favor their company, so much so that it's enough to make one wonder if perhaps he wasn't a bit suspicious of those with wealth and power.
#5 - Valued children in a time when they were nothing - children in Jesus's time were not particularly valued or protected the way they are today. They were free to be sold, enslaved, beaten, killed. They meant nothing. But he valued them. And that's cool.
One thing I almost included in this list was that, like many of the greats, Jesus was misunderstood, but really that's not something I actually dig. I mean, it may be cool for an artist to be misunderstood, but misunderstandings of Jesus, be they willful or otherwise, have led to tragic results. That could be its own dozen posts, hell its own blog...probably already is.
So there you have it, five things that I dig about Jesus, based on my understanding of him. Oh, and let us not forget about his totally awesome blog. Every time I see the title of his blog in my Google reader, I get that Soundgarden song "Jesus Christ Pose" stuck in my head, except the Chris Cornell in my head replaces the word "pose" with "blog."
Monday, May 07, 2007
7 things about me
Julie entaggened me with this meme to list seven random factoidals about yourself...so without any further ado:
1) One of the earliest things I remember wanting to be when I grew up was a veterinarian. I was so into the idea of being a veterinarian that my mom even arranged for me to be able to come spend the day at our local vet's office a few times, and man, those guys were having a great time up there. For serious. They let me do little stuff here and there like prep exam rooms, sit in on examinations, help hold massive beast dogs while shots were administered. I once pulled a Doogie Howser and walked into an exam room where a lady was waiting with her dog and totally started in with all the usual questions that I'd heard the vets ask. I didn't know the significance of the answers, but I nodded my head seriously all the same. I think they even let me come back after that little stunt.
2) Completely without meaning to, I tend to pick up on the most random lines of dialogue from movies and plays. I get the clever catchy lines too, sure, but for some reason the tiniest little throwaway lines will get stuck in my head. I suppose it could be from having written a few plays and having an appreciation for how much work goes into even the simplest of exchanges. Of course, when I do say something even remotely clever, people usually want to know what movie it was from. They always seem disappointed that it was just me. Maybe I'll start making up answers to that question.
3) I LOVE to tie knots. Not to mention splices and lashings. Gimme a decent length of rope and I am el ocupado for a good while. What this means, of course, is that when there is a demand for a knot to be tied, the expectations are high. You sure as hell don't want to have to tell people about how your Ikea bed that wouldn't fit in the back of your Outback went flying off the roof because your knots sucked. I think they take away your Eagle Scout if that gets out. Oh look, bonus fact: I'm an Eagle Scout.
4) One of my favorite breakfasts in the world is a little something I call the Halitosis Special. It basically involves really spicy breakfast tacos (the 3 Alarm Tacos at Magnolia Cafe are perfect) and piping hot coffee. That jalapeno spice burn coupled with hot coffee, mmm good! Of course, it's mostly decaf these days, but the effect is still there.
5) I won first place in a spelling bee in first grade. I won first place in a science fair in 8th grade. I was going to a Baptist school at the time, but my project didn't have anything to do with creationism vs. evolution, so I think it's still an honest win. It was something about electromagnets.
6) The house I grew up in had mirror tiled ceiling in the bathroom. Kinky, I know. When I was little, I used to look up at the ceiling constantly while I was in the shower to make sure nobody was sneaking up on me, which there never was because I was an only child, but since I was an only child I was left alone to imagine all sorts of things like people sneaking up on me in the shower. I was very thankful to have the mirrored ceiling there as a warning system. Then I learned that vampires didn't cast reflections in mirrors and it was no longer sufficient to just check the mirror, I had to actually look out the curtain.
7) Every time I'm driving down the road and I see somebody dressed up as a corporate mascot dancing around and trying to get people to pull in and try the chicken, eggrolls, Michelins, whatever, I am very disappointed in that person and I want to yell at them to get some self-respect. I know, it's probably some kid, but still.
So there's 7 about me. I'm tagging Jason and Jeff.
1) One of the earliest things I remember wanting to be when I grew up was a veterinarian. I was so into the idea of being a veterinarian that my mom even arranged for me to be able to come spend the day at our local vet's office a few times, and man, those guys were having a great time up there. For serious. They let me do little stuff here and there like prep exam rooms, sit in on examinations, help hold massive beast dogs while shots were administered. I once pulled a Doogie Howser and walked into an exam room where a lady was waiting with her dog and totally started in with all the usual questions that I'd heard the vets ask. I didn't know the significance of the answers, but I nodded my head seriously all the same. I think they even let me come back after that little stunt.
2) Completely without meaning to, I tend to pick up on the most random lines of dialogue from movies and plays. I get the clever catchy lines too, sure, but for some reason the tiniest little throwaway lines will get stuck in my head. I suppose it could be from having written a few plays and having an appreciation for how much work goes into even the simplest of exchanges. Of course, when I do say something even remotely clever, people usually want to know what movie it was from. They always seem disappointed that it was just me. Maybe I'll start making up answers to that question.
3) I LOVE to tie knots. Not to mention splices and lashings. Gimme a decent length of rope and I am el ocupado for a good while. What this means, of course, is that when there is a demand for a knot to be tied, the expectations are high. You sure as hell don't want to have to tell people about how your Ikea bed that wouldn't fit in the back of your Outback went flying off the roof because your knots sucked. I think they take away your Eagle Scout if that gets out. Oh look, bonus fact: I'm an Eagle Scout.
4) One of my favorite breakfasts in the world is a little something I call the Halitosis Special. It basically involves really spicy breakfast tacos (the 3 Alarm Tacos at Magnolia Cafe are perfect) and piping hot coffee. That jalapeno spice burn coupled with hot coffee, mmm good! Of course, it's mostly decaf these days, but the effect is still there.
5) I won first place in a spelling bee in first grade. I won first place in a science fair in 8th grade. I was going to a Baptist school at the time, but my project didn't have anything to do with creationism vs. evolution, so I think it's still an honest win. It was something about electromagnets.
6) The house I grew up in had mirror tiled ceiling in the bathroom. Kinky, I know. When I was little, I used to look up at the ceiling constantly while I was in the shower to make sure nobody was sneaking up on me, which there never was because I was an only child, but since I was an only child I was left alone to imagine all sorts of things like people sneaking up on me in the shower. I was very thankful to have the mirrored ceiling there as a warning system. Then I learned that vampires didn't cast reflections in mirrors and it was no longer sufficient to just check the mirror, I had to actually look out the curtain.
7) Every time I'm driving down the road and I see somebody dressed up as a corporate mascot dancing around and trying to get people to pull in and try the chicken, eggrolls, Michelins, whatever, I am very disappointed in that person and I want to yell at them to get some self-respect. I know, it's probably some kid, but still.
So there's 7 about me. I'm tagging Jason and Jeff.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Subscriptions what I got
So Mr. Jeff hit me with a tag for this magazine meme that seems to be going around. Before I respond, just a word on memes. I seem to come across a lot of bloggers who answer these things reluctantly, as if they're doing us all a big fucking favor by providing answers to a few simple questions when they could be using their time more valuably by telling us all about the meaning of life, love, and revolution, even taking time to point out prior to their answers just how much they really really hate memes because they think they're just so dumb and myspacey. Man, fuck that. I love these things, for real (thanks Jeff!). I'm all for being handed writing fodder. Tag me up folks, and if'n I like the meme, I won't dodge it.
Of course, management reserves the right to dodge meme tags without explanation.
So the magazine meme basically wants to know what magazines I read. Unfortunately, my answer to this question is rather boring since I don't subscribe to any magazines. Not a one. I subscribe to lots of blogs, to the occasional theory, idea, and even a few schools of thought, but no magazines. I might flip through whatever's available while waiting on a doctor or a barber, but that's about it.
That being said, I can't just leave this thing hanging, so I figured I'll fill you in on all the magazines I've subscribed to in the past. Here ya go:
Time and Newsweek - This was many years ago, and I don't remember enough difference between the two of them to differentiate. I think Newsweek was a gift, but I haven't the slightest idea why Time started arriving at my door, and after a few months they got all pissy and started demanding money. I think I ended up giving them some protection money to leave me alone and unsubscribed as quickly as possible.
Guitar World - I read this thing cover to cover every month. from discussions of gear and technique, interviews with guitarists I idolized, the lessons, I just ate it up. Dimebag Darrell had a monthly lesson titled "Riffer Madness" which I pored over, even if I didn't catch the reference. Every bit of it fascinated me, every month. I had this subscription from the time I started playing guitar in high school until my first or second year of college. As I recall, this rag probably should have been called Six String Testosterone World.
Boys' Life - yep, the official magazine of the Boy Scouts of America. I always liked the segment about the boys who had earned any of the medals for saving a life, and they made me wish I lived in a more dangerous environment so I could earn one too. Keep in mind this was me as a kid in the 80's. I used to think that if anything like what happened on 21 Jump Street would happen at my school, that would be my shot. I was a dumb little kid.
Highlights - Actually, I'm not even sure I was subscribed to Highlights, but it always seemed to be around. I loved Goofus and Gallant. Wasn't it weird how Gallant always won? That's crazy shit.
So here's me tagging you - Tim, Julie, Erin, Tara, The Ash, and Whit. If you got no magazines, do what I did or make some shit up. Or hey, just ignore it.
Of course, management reserves the right to dodge meme tags without explanation.
So the magazine meme basically wants to know what magazines I read. Unfortunately, my answer to this question is rather boring since I don't subscribe to any magazines. Not a one. I subscribe to lots of blogs, to the occasional theory, idea, and even a few schools of thought, but no magazines. I might flip through whatever's available while waiting on a doctor or a barber, but that's about it.
That being said, I can't just leave this thing hanging, so I figured I'll fill you in on all the magazines I've subscribed to in the past. Here ya go:
Time and Newsweek - This was many years ago, and I don't remember enough difference between the two of them to differentiate. I think Newsweek was a gift, but I haven't the slightest idea why Time started arriving at my door, and after a few months they got all pissy and started demanding money. I think I ended up giving them some protection money to leave me alone and unsubscribed as quickly as possible.
Guitar World - I read this thing cover to cover every month. from discussions of gear and technique, interviews with guitarists I idolized, the lessons, I just ate it up. Dimebag Darrell had a monthly lesson titled "Riffer Madness" which I pored over, even if I didn't catch the reference. Every bit of it fascinated me, every month. I had this subscription from the time I started playing guitar in high school until my first or second year of college. As I recall, this rag probably should have been called Six String Testosterone World.Boys' Life - yep, the official magazine of the Boy Scouts of America. I always liked the segment about the boys who had earned any of the medals for saving a life, and they made me wish I lived in a more dangerous environment so I could earn one too. Keep in mind this was me as a kid in the 80's. I used to think that if anything like what happened on 21 Jump Street would happen at my school, that would be my shot. I was a dumb little kid.
Highlights - Actually, I'm not even sure I was subscribed to Highlights, but it always seemed to be around. I loved Goofus and Gallant. Wasn't it weird how Gallant always won? That's crazy shit.So here's me tagging you - Tim, Julie, Erin, Tara, The Ash, and Whit. If you got no magazines, do what I did or make some shit up. Or hey, just ignore it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)