Cool toy

What I'm up to now...

So... I haven't been around here much, have I? Anybody miss me? (I'm doubting it...)
I've been busy... working... playing guitar... waiting for my friend Michelle to get back from Japan... three months is a long time to have a good friend gone.
And... one week after that, another friend of mine, Kyle, and I are starting to form a band... which we've been talking about doing for a few months now. That will be fun... and keep me busy.
You'll probably get updates on both of those later.

A short update:

I was listening to Rachmaninoff, and found him to be very interesting- perhaps because I listen to classical music very rarely for pleasure. Anyhow, I was listening to him because I remembered a reference to his music in a book which my father has a distinct interest in making into a movie (which is what my treatment is for). Very interesting, indeed. I half wish to begin to play piano again... though, frankly, I doubt I would go very far in the classical circles due to my affinity for blues and jazz.

In other news, I've nearly run out of space on my computer's hard drive, so I'll have to acquire an external one. Ah well, such is life producing media.

Because stuff happens...

I'm feeling weird- I've been having trouble sleeping and getting up on time, and my body isn't telling me I need to eat like it ought to be... and I've got a few canker sores, and my throat feels a little funky. All in all, probably not the best thing for my mood.

I haven't posted in a while... because I have a hard time finding interesting stuff to say that's not egoistic.
I was reading a book of excerpts from C.S. Lewis, and the particular section I was reading was out of A Grief Observed, where he's talking about the times he wished his wife were alive again... and how it was selfish to wish so, because it just meant she'd have to die again... after which he comments that Lazarus probably got a pretty raw deal.

I'm tired, so I'll be heading off to bed now.

Oh lovely.

I broke my computer last night... and didn't figure it out until this morning when I turned it on, and it wouldn't boot up. So, I've spent most of the day working on it. Not too fun. But I think it's fixed.

In other news, one of the ladies on our church's worship team has lent me her guitar, since she doesn't play anymore. It's a very classy looking Gibson acoustic, which because of its retro-coolness, I will probably post pictures of. She had previously lent it to my older sister Christina when she was first learning guitar, and didn't have one of her own... which explains why there are pictures of her playing it kicking around. It's definitely different from my Telecaster... a much thicker neck, much tighter tuning (though, I must say, I left my Tele for two weeks, and it was still in tune when I got back.), and it's very much lighter. I'll probably be using it on the worship team, though I haven't quite decided how to amplify it yet. Needless to say, I've played until my fingers hurt.

I've started a rough sketch of a movie storyline, I'm not quite sure if it's going to remain that story (which is based off of a book that has long been out of print), or if it's going to morph into its own story. We'll have to see.

You're a small man, Otis.

Or, so my sister said... in reality, it was a Latin sentence that means "You are a man of little leisure." however in that case, the word for leisure is "otis". You can kinda see where the rest falls in.

Anyhow, I realized that I hadn't posted since before we went to Vermont... and apparently there are actually people who read this... so I am sorry for you. (And thankful.)

I learned something interesting today- the name Chernobyl is Russian for Wormwood... the name of a fallen angel in the book of Revelation. (It also happens to be the name of the recipient of The Screwtape Letters)

I was wondering today just how long it would take me to read the Bible through... Perhaps if I were to set aside an hour on each end of the day, and read it... I might be done in two months, considering that I'm not terriby great about keeping with something like that. On the other hand, I may hit a book like Isaiah or Romans, and fly through them. We'll have to see.

In other news, I redesigned our church's website- www.eastwinthropbaptist.org

So check it out, leave comments, comments would make me happy... and if I get comments, I'll probably post more.

Oddities and such

Well, first off, I got an iPod touch, and that's only relevant to anything because I drafted this post on it. (It became long and I finished it on my computer.)

Anyhow... I was thinking about stuff, and I noticed something rather perturbing to me... Perhaps it's a pet peeve of sorts, but after reading a friend's post about crushes,and how silly they are (It was interesting to read a mother's perspective on it.)

I was perturbed again by our culture's obsession with relationships, dating, and to a degree, sex as well. (Who's dating who, who's with who, who was with who... and "how far they've gone"... with interest if you fall on the more liberal side of the spectrum, with chagrin if you fall to the conservative side.)

I found this section especially... interesting. (Any mistakes in the quote are original.)

Why should we encourage a teenager to think of their friends and acquaintances in these undefinable terms? Aren't we confusing them? Heck, I'm confused and I'm way beyond my teen years. Do they need these kind of unanswerable questions asked of them? They need to study. Why don't older gentleman discuss algebra with my daughters? Why do they always bring up "boyfriends"? And then, when the girls deny having any, they say..."c'mon, now" and don't believe them anyhow. I would think my girls would begin to think..."well, is something wrong with me for not being obscessed with boys?"

I, personally, am rather piqued when I show up somewhere with a gal friend of mine and "the question" comes: "Is she...?" (... Your girlfriend?) or "Are you two...?" (... 'Together'?) This irritation is probably in part a result of the fact that I am what most guys would call "lucky" (That is, that I have many female friends, most of whom are various degrees of stunningly beautiful... Probably only half of you know who you are.) But, "if I had a penny for every time someone asked that..." (I'd be filthy rich.) But it makes me want a bag of retorts... "Is she...?" "No, but I'm sure she'd sign her autograph anyway..." or "Are you two...?" "From Maine? Yeah."

I had more to say, but perhaps I'll do it at some other time... as is, for a few years you can be 99.999999999999% sure that any girl you see me kicking around with is not my girlfriend... and if you value your consciousness, don't ask if I "like" her, ok?