Glancing through the rash of continuing headlines on the Omaha shooting, a couple thoughts flit between my ears. First, the top headlines are ones that focus on descriptions of the violence or experience. Then we get to the inside story on the suicide note, a little info on the "why" of all this I guess. Second, the reason these are headlines are because people want to read them.
We are gossips and voyeurs, and are particularly thirsty for violence. I was even struck by that while watching "Pirates of the Caribbean (part 3)" last night. (As far as imagination goes, the movie had some great moments.) We have a thirst to gossip about, and see, violence. We are not a lot different from Romans at the Coliseum. The news is as much entertainment as anything else coming out of Hollywood. The greedy media moguls are happy to provide what we want: and what we want is to vicariously experience the violence and evil going on in the world.
It has a lot in common with pornography.
By the way, does anyone else out there think the success of "Passion of the Christ" has probably done little except feed our thirst for violence? "But it is about the cross!" you say?
It's in the Bible, why do you want to SEE a depiction of the Messiah being tortured? Is it going to increase your faith? DID it increase people's faith? Really? 370 million box office dollars later (#1 2004), do you see a church with greater faith? Do you see greater faith in the movie's makers? (Gibson's movie after Passion: Apocalypto. Read that link and tell me this man's aim is to make anyone more Christlike.) Maybe someone reading this will decide I am not crazy and that we should start applying our concepts of purity not only to sexual content, but also to depictions of violence and evil.
The News or Voyeurism America, and Gibsons pornographic movie about Christ's death
Some Iraqi Blogs
Here is a link to a BBC compilation of Iraqi blogs. Useful reading. And just for the record (the following descriptions are from the BBC website):
last-of-iraqis.blogspot.com
Mohammed is a 25 year-old dentist in Baghdad. In the first of two extracts, his experiences seem to support the latest figures suggesting a recent fall in the number of violent deaths in Iraq.
livesstrong.blogspot.com
Sunshine is a 15-year-old girl in Mosul, northern Iraq. Violence dominates every moment, even recent Eid celebrations.
astarfrommosul.blogspot.com
"Aunt Najma" is also in Mosul. She is a 19-year-old high-flying engineering student. Her latest posting is not typical of her normally chirpy style.
riverbendblog.blogspot.com
Riverbend is perhaps the best-known Iraqi blogger. She and her family left Iraq over the summer for Syria. In her latest blog, she describes coming to terms with her refugee status.
These blogs aren't "journalism" - just perspectives. A little perspective never hurt.
part 2 how work ties in
in four months or so i should be able to move to sales with the republic company. a month ago i questioned whether i could manage for that long. the good news is that i have discovered that i can. the best activity for passing time is playing with watercolor. i cant say i'm passionate about sales, but its an opportunity i will take. and i'll do my best.
because
the significantly better salary means i could perhaps get into a better living situation!
in the meantime this isn't too bad; if my roomie and i can find a bunkbed at goodwill or salvation army sometime soon, we'll have quite a bit more space to work with.
part 1 crossing lines
so this morning i was playing my favorite band, "mewithoutyou", on my stereo. Probably it was a little loud because i just installed new speakers; ie i'm not sure how loud it sounds from other parts of the house.
what would you didn't know what the music was but didn't like it and you could hear it?
the seminary student who is subletting to me (who in general is a good guy but in everything pertaining to the apartment has been an a-hole) laid out his musical requirements early on. no playing of metallica, led zeppelin, etc, in the house. ie anything he might construe as evil. course i bend over backwards cuz these guys are lunatics who put me on permanent probation in their minds. if they had any sort of disagreements with me, ie they didn't like the kind of music i play on my guitar, they would tell me to stop; if i didn't, they would have no problem kicking me out.
so this morning the previously mentioned individual walks in and tells me to cut that music. its "passionate" but especially heavy. it's not metal. the guy tells me he doesn't like it so i can't play it.
ah now we get at what the nuthead's christianity is really all about: people have to look and think like me. they are thinking, if i dont like a certain kind of music, it must not be good music. they wouldn't ever think that out loud, cuz it is so obviously stupid, but they think it. (btw their standards are usually generously hypocritical.)
i decided they had crossed a line, made a fuss about the band being one of the most god-glorifying bands that i knew of, the song ("torches together" about god making us into the body of christ, incredibly beautiful) being beautiful and rich, and finally told him that just because he didn't like music did not mean i was not going to play it. he didn't like it, but short of being threatened out of the house i wasn't going to budge. you have to put your foot down somewhere. that somewhere is mewithoutyou heh. he compromised to me having it vewy quiet. i probably can still turn my stereo up with rich mullins or classical without anyone complaining, which is a relief.
Great new dream
I had this great new dream about being at a Jimi Hendrix concert at Baptist Bible College. It was a really great dream. I think the thing about Hendrix isn't just that he was a great guitarist - we just all kinda like him. He doesn't seem like the kind of dude who would pick up my guitar and start critiquing the heck out of it, he would probably just play it and have fun. Whereas I would never want Eric Clapton to hold my guitar, cuz he would touch it and then say "ewww the action is wrong I dont like these cheap pickups can someone please get me a different guitar." I've only ever acted that way with those unplayable wal-mart electric guitars. Ewwwwww.
The tough thing is all that you hear with most guitarists is a bunch of overdubbing. Of course it sounds good when they overdub and add extra tracks. Just hearing a good guitarist sitting down playing his guitar, you dont hear that. Luckily I got this super rare download of Hendrix on acoustic, it's really fun. Maybe 10 songs on acoustic guitar, it's still hendrix for sure.
Apricot Face Remover
I tried "invigorating apricot scrub." For all skin types. Except mine I guess. "May irritate skin," they say. Can I have my face back, I reply.
In other news, the health industry is promoting a new program for permanent weight loss. The secret? Hungry sharks. Test subjects have called the results "immediate and startling." Critics warn, "may hamper mobility."
Hey, the shark diet and apricot scrubbers might get along!
Led Zeppelin catalogue, musical growth
today at share.com (which is actually http://u2n2.com/Default.asp?) I stumbled upon the entire Led Zeppelin catalogue. I have all their official albums as a band except for Coda, which isn't supposed to be that great anyway; I'm only missing the BBC sessions and "How the West was Won", the live album. I'm not that big of a Led Zeppelin fan, but I am a huge fan of really old-time blues like Robert Johnson and Blind Willie Johnson. Led Zep became the archetype of good rock and roll (for good reason), but they got all their inspiration from old blues recordings which I like to listen to as well. Same for White Stripes by the way. Anyway, a lot of the music is great stuff for what it is; so far a couple favorites are Moby Dick from Led Zep II (I own that record!), and the Battle of Evermore. I haven't got it into my head to learn any Led Zep songs on guitar, because it really isn't my style, but it's pretty good. I have a pretty extensive classic rock catalogue, I'd like to find more of the really good old stuff, which probably means i'll have to buy it over time.
Other than that I'm digging into a lot of fusion and jazz guitarists and bands, Allan Holdsworth especially.
Groceries
Shopped at HyVee for groceries tonight.
-$72.73 groceries
(8 tv dinners, 1 5 pc hot pocket, 12 snickerdoodle cookies ($4), ice cream sandwiches, 16
yogurts, 12 coke+12 cream soda $6, bananas + apples ($6), 4 cereal, 5 soup cans)
Regret the cookies. Hyvee doesn't know how to make snickerdoodles.
Working balance until November 26 / payday (ie what I have to spend after $677.77 in bills): -1.01. Anyone have four quarters and a penny? hahaha. Actually I'm not in the red because I'll wait to pay the big college loan until I get my paycheck. Overall, I'm feeling optimistic. Maybe this time next month, I'll have an extra dollar to wave around! No more wasting money on snickerdoodles.
my existence in three relatively short paragraphs
i'm working as usual. for some reason things are a bit slow at the company - i'm not generating many transfers. for the most part i have steered clear of trouble (it always looms of course). i live in three worlds: the faith baptist bible college bubble (and the churches and relatives connected with that bubble), the world of work, in which i have one or two peeps i would call friend, and the friends i've collected in cafes. the third group has banded together into a ragtag motley crew which has nothing in common except we all need friends and we all need jesus. the first group of people, the super-conservatives - these are folks who i sometimes love and respect, and other times wish i could just say goodbye to. there are some really good things happening, but a lot of stuff that really bothers me (its exclusivity among other things - it really is a self-contained little world with its own rules and regulations for those who live in it). i follow some of those rules because i live with faith seminary students who i respect. the best kind of respect brings about generous and considerate lifestyles, which i think is happening in my house. i'm learning not to judge so much; i'll never see things the way the faithers / baptists do but some of them are good men / women.
meantime i really live for those times when i'm with my ankeny crew: abbi, bri, jess, sarah, tommy, and whatever other ragtags happen to wander along.
i sorta left my church out. not intentionally, church simply isn't a good place for building relationships. it is a good place for thinking and learning though.
and beth is probably wondering why i didn't come to her thingy tonight - laundry and food is why.
trust
eden. a perfect world in which nothing is breakable. including relationships.
what did those relationships lack, something which can be broken?
trust.
god introduced the possibility of destructive potentials (the tree) so that people could trust him. he made a special relationship, a relationship of trust, possible.
on a side note, it really is a gigantic deal when someone breaks your trust. and the fact that there are laws in place that assume men are untrustworthy is a good example of the state of things.
sin
sin is this heavy nasty word which is means bad or evil or all kinds of stuff we want it to mean. i don't think we should get rid of the word or anything, but it should be a little more concrete what it means when i think that word. so here's what i think sin is.
a sin is an act of destruction on man's part. not so much burning a house, but an act which destroys relationship, trust, another person, or ourselves. some actions destroy our relationship with god. some acts destroy the sanctity of a word (using god's name as a cuss word) - words are part of reality too. sin is not a force so much as it is a potential for destruction inherent in man's nature. (this is just brushing the surface of all of this really.) i would rather talk about a sin, as an an action, than sin, as if it were just some nasty evil force floating around seeping out of our toilets and into red light districts.
strange thing: if the possibility of the potential for destruction had not been made available, there would have been no potential for trust.
A tornado...
...has recently passed through room. unable to decipher if there is still a floor beneath the rubble.
ps. this is an attempt at humor. those who are literal minded may experience confusion if they notice my house is structurally intact and has no sign of wind damage.
another week
has come and gone. notables this week: going through a haunted house; watching "ju-on" a very creepy japanese movie (clean but it really gets under your skin); getting my car cleaned out tonight; consolidating my clothing into bags now lying in the middle of the floor of my room (i have nowhere else to put them, literally); i also had a conversation with a catholic priest on the phone, which was interesting. that's all i can remember from the week.
i haven't been able to find my treasured book xenophon's "aeconomicus", but even if i did i probably would read it for 30 seconds and then grow bored. bipolar crap seems to be cycling every two weeks - about every two weeks i get into a fairly extreme down.
great cheese my room is so bloody crowded. i only have a sofa, a little table, 2'x2', and a dresser. and 3 milk crates. but its a place. i hate it when i dont have enough space to keep clean, cuz it reflects poorly on me and i lack the creativity and funds to do anything to make this place nice. the room always feels like its teetering on the verge of chaos, i keep it together but just barely.
okay bedtime for me, then i get up and go to work and go to small group and go to bed and go to work and do groceries and laundry and go to bed and go to work and go to youth group and go to bed and go to work and then its thursday, which is not so bad.
God, why telemarketing?
God's Answer
"1. Don't ask me, you're the one who applied."
"2. It's good for you. Should help you develop a thick skin; that's been in short supply in your clan."
Oh.
Why pastors don't listen
They are too busy thinking up answers.
I find greater benefit talking to the average friend.
Medicare Dreams
All night every night, if I wake up, I wake up from dreams asking people questios about their medicare coverage. Or explaining the government's standardizations in 1992. If you were in my dreams, probably we were having a conversation about your retirement health plan. This may mean I'm going a bit loopy.
PS on green walls
I now like my ninja-turtle green walls. It's not as nice as the green room I grew up in but it does ring up a little bit of that happy green feeling. It took awhile to grow on me.
Horcruxes
A few months back I was playing world of warcraft. (Right now its good I don't have it, it would be a fun escape.) In the game, I had a hunter dwarf with a pet boar named "piggy." And then last night I had this dream that a wizard like gandalf and dumbledore was a sellout and thought maybe by joining the evil wizard (kind of a sauron-voldemort) he could get real political (since he thought himself too weak to actually beat him) and help save a few people. All the same it was a wimpy decision. And in this dream the evil volde-sauron dude could kick some serious butt, he was basically killing like fifty people at a time with a sweep of his hand. But gandalfuldore did one nice thing, he gave me this pill that would let me make a horcrux with anything I wanted, which is strange cuz its a bad idea to do horcruxes generally. But in the dream I had a pet boar which, just like in world of warcraft, first attacked me but I subdued and tamed it and it was very loyal. So I made a horcrux out of the boar and in the dream, as long as one of us was alive, the other could not die (so a little better than a horcrux really, more like "dragonheart"). We attacked sauron-mort but still got our butts kicked it was sad.
So it's sort of like my new telemarketing job. To keep my sanity I split my personality in two, and when I hear the beep part of me wakes up and enters into the happy-smile world of telemarketing, and then as soon as the call ends it withdraws and a different me resumes existence and draws pictures or taps out drum rhythms or just pretends I was taking a nap. 30-60 seconds later phonejosh wakes up and I go to sleep. By the end of the day I only have about five minutes of memory from the whole day, I might have spent five minutes on the phone except that I feel poopy from fluorescent lights.
Crock pots
The kitchen is in chaos for awhile, so I am getting ready to dive into the wonderful world of crock pots. I'm excited. Hungry to learn about cooking with crockpots, yessirreee. Beef stew, chili, chicken stew, potato stew, chili stew, I'm really excited.
My what bright walls you have
I am finally going to be moving into a place this week! I cannot wait to get a desk, get my music and books set up, and have a central place to study and work on projects. I have a lot of projects I'm eager to dive into. I feel like a little kid, it's so exciting to have a place to put my stuff. Living out of my backpack and a duffel bag has gotten so stale.
The only downside so far is I haven't met my future roommate, nobody I'm going to be living with knows I'm a musician (oops), and they painted my bedroom walls bright neon green. I mean, if we all painted walls this color, we wouldn't need lamps in our houses cuz the walls pretty much glow. So I will have a room and a real bed and a home for my musical and computeral equipment, but might lose my sanity, or go blind or something.
I was kidnapped I swear! Also blockbusting.
Its true, the reason I dont blog is because I get abducted or kidnapped. Every time I escape I update my blog. I actually spend the majority of time in captivity, either of pirates or space aliens or vitreolic librarians.
Oh crap I have writers block. Gahhh, it weighs a ton! If only I were a blockbuster like Mario, I would simply smash it with my tail powerup. Ive often wished the world were filled with smashable blocks. Mario has a great life. He gets to smash blocks. Someone recently smashed my windshield. It probably would be therapeutic if it didnt carry the emotional baggage vandalism probably carries. Anyway I thought smashing blocks would be therapeutic, but this block is going nowhere. Save us Mario!
Christian Fellowship
Went to a meeting of young Christians at Prairie Ridge Church last night. We ate Subway, chit-chatted, and watched Nooma video #11: "Rhythm". The conversation was stimulating, I met some awesome brothers and sisters (Ben, Eric, Missy, Valerie, Sam), and Ben is a fellow fan of mewithoutYou (whoo!). But there is a problem: It seems too easy.
It is too easy for me to meet and like people. It's easy to have really stimulating conversations, Christ-centered conversations. But I question whether people are seeing the real me, or I'm seeing the real them. They haven't heard me get made and drop an F-Bomb; they don't know the bad things I've said and done. I'm not really eager to go publishing it either.
We enter into the room knowing we are under grace, understanding we have all failed; the purpose isn't to judge or critique but to enjoy being with each other and experience fellowship.
I'm not sure that fellowship really happens there. I can't put my finger on why. Maybe I'm being impatient. I've seen fellowship; it can happen on difficult camping trips or tough circumstances shared with comrades. In my case it has usually been shared with friends as friends, Christian friends; I would like to have it shared with Christians as brothers and sisters. People who say, "We aren't just here because we are lonely and single and need to have a safe environment [though that isn't a bad thing to admit] - we are brothers and sisters attempting to live the gospel."
This post seems entirely too judgmental on my friends, or perhaps ungrateful. I do struggle with ungratefulness and judgmentalism, but if there is a useful question hidden in this post maybe you can overlook any bothersome tones.
NEWS: I'm going to Arkansas next week with my Uncle Jim to help disassemble machines. It's for work, but maybe I'll have some fun times too. Leaving Sunday after the weekly congregational service. Everyone say a prayer of thank you for my friend and shepherd Josh from Real Life Church who has deeply encouraged me.
Some recommended movies.
First of all, Ordinary People. It is a serious movie. But we spend enough time and money on mindless entertainment, using our minds and hearts now and then can't be so horrible. The Usual Suspects is a perfectly told mystery type movie. Lawrence of Arabia is the greatest epic film ever, even above Ben Hur; only watch it if you have a fantastic television and sound system or you haven't really seen it. Mothman Prophecies is very spooky and brilliant - it's not horror, just spooky. Blade Runner is a brilliant Ridley Scott sci-fi (Scott made the Alien movies) and is perfect - brings in questions about our existence and what it means to be human. The Director's Cut adds 30 seconds which totally change the movie, watch it a year after you've seen the normal version. (Normal Version first). Also, a cartoon I love: The Iron Giant. It looks like it's a kids movie. It's really not. I pretty much cried when I watched it.
Any fantastically good movies out there?
Neural Laxative
Garbage garbage garbage CRAAAPPPPPP garbage. Sister Susy sells sea shells why the smell does she bloody fell the wasted grellkin's helter skel. Taller tell bingbongbell Flinga Flanga Farmer Dell the Eastwinds Westward wrickwracked Well was washing wishy fellwind smells that told so well the things I tell.
Today I've been studying wiring diagrams and 3 phase electricity and things that I haven't looked at since I was like twelve and my neurons are getting all coiled up. Cerebral rush hour at 6 on Tuesday, traffic at a complete stop. Caffeine and bad nutrition (rude drivers and unoiled engines) increase the congestion. Cerebral rest sounds best top suggestion, a flagon of logic is flogging my noggin. Soothing is poetry, maybe some Auden. Oh, and some food. Oh, and banks are giving me problems, pray that I will find a way to pay my bills please, thank you. (Enough money for once and no way to send it, Dear Florida I miss Amscot.)
Transformers Review
High-budget, low-vision film which knows its audience. (Yes America, I am insulting you.) Not unpleasant, but I don't see any reason why I would be compelled to see it again. Unlike a GOOD blockbuster like Spiderman 3, it lacks any deeper insights. It talks about sacrifice but in fact nobody has to make a sacrifice. Everyone gets what they want in the end.
Especially disappointing in its lack of imagination. Go watch the feature length cartoon - it has a robot that chews up planets. Extra star cuz it has some funny moments, and good effects. Two out of Five stars.
Worthless habit
I have this worthless habit of checking videogame news. I've been doing it for like a decade - I look at what new games are coming out. Today I had to glance at the new Metroid game, and Fallout 3. I never even played Fallout 1 or 2. Games I will probably be read news and reviews on: Super Mario Galaxy, Bioshock, Crysis, Team Fortress 2, Starcraft 2, maybe others. At least the habit doesn't take more than 10 or 15 minutes these days (once every week or so), but it's so silly. I don't even play video games anymore. I did have a world of warcraft stint a month ago.. A close shave. Today they seem uninteresting but maybe in a week or so...
Where I am, What I'm Doing
Right now I am in Taraccino's coffee using their wireless internet and drinking water. (I haven't had their coffee, and don't recommend their very bitter cappucinos.) My mom is letting me use her laptop for a couple months.
My employment situation is stable - I am working for my uncles, trying to be frugal, zero out my credit card, get organized in paying bills and college loans. The job involves lots of cleaning and sanding, getting very hot, sweaty, and dirty (and this week sunburned), and doing some careful painting (which I enjoy).
Housing has been a little weird - I've slept in several places and houses this week. Right now my coworker and spiritual brother John MacDonald is letting me set up my air mattress in his house. It's a great place. A more permanent housing situation may open up with a brother from Real Life church named James. Either way, I'm very happy and have been getting pretty good rest - enough to do the things that need doing.
Spiritually I am in a place where I am learning how to walk the walk, not just talk the talk. "Faith" can be very abstract, and an excuse for foolish action; so I am praying for humility, wisdom, purity, integrity, and an awareness of my incredible capacity for self-deception. Others are praying as well. The greatest thing is to just reach out for Christ; I don't know what else to do. And when others are reaching out alongside me, in their questions and in their prayers, it brings comfort and a confidence that God is taking care of His children.
My thoughts have been in a story I wrote with a couple people last night that needs to be finished, written down, and polished. It was a heck of a lot of fun; writing a story can be an adventure and a puzzle. At some point John and I may be able to make a movie at a really cool old factory a couple hours from here.
My thoughts are often distracted by questions of the future and my purpose, but at this point it is best not to worry but just to seek God out moment by moment, and spend time in study and contemplation. Right now that means studying scripture, maybe complimented by reading some poetry and doing some writing.
I need to buy some earplugs so I can think a bit more clearly in these coffee shops. Music can be really distracting, particularly if you are as good at getting distracted as I am.
A little more.
I am at a public library and the computer tells me that my session will end in fifteen minutes. So this will be brief! Speaking of briefs, I really don't like them.
To the clan of Camerer skeptics:
(...okay so it's not exactly the same as an official announcement..)
My time at cornerstone was intense. The highlights were listening to Shane Claiborne of "The Irresistable Revolution" speak times or so, and talking with Mike and Aaron Weiss (lead guitar and frontman of mewithoutYou).
A Shane quote: "The real tragedy is not that people don't care about poor people, but that they don't KNOW any poor people." Topic for thought: solidarity with people who are much poorer than anyone we probably know.
An Aaron quote (to me): "I think we don't have to worry about anything, and I mean that completely literally."
10 minutes to try and find a poem by Auden to strengthen my soul a little. I have been working really hard; thank God for my breath and my fingers and every minute of life. For the ones who pray, pray for restful sleep for me, and also for my grandma who has trouble sleeping.
Shalom.
Sleepy from Cornerstone Fest
I'm a little drained. Ever have one of those naps where you wake up all hot and feeling anything but rested?
On Wednesday after work I drove 4 hours to Bushnell, Illinois to Cornerstone Festival. I spent too much time the first night show-hopping so I didn't see any full sets that night. And I really intend to finish this blog but in about 30 seconds I'm going to drift into a state of unconscious something or other. To be continued...
Micah's Fault + Rumfrazzled
This blog entry can be blamed on Micah L., who told me to come back to blogger. No matter how many times I run away from blogger, it always takes me back with arms wide open. .. Thank you blogger. Okay, that's taken care of, see you in two months. (
Just kidding.
News Flash 1: I'm almost addicted to World of Warcraft. Sometimes I'm not, and sometimes I am.
News Flash 2: Emily believes I am becoming a gypsy. She may be right. Tomorrow I leave Florida for Michigan, and thence to Iowa a few days after that. I'm not going to summarize my time in Florida, but I'll offer up a couple of stories.
So here is a story about loving your neighbor. [The rest of this paragraph got really stupid, so I decided to make it optional. If you'd like to read something really stupid, just highlight the rest of this]: (Actually it's about someone else loving their neighbor. Actually it's about my neighbor. Actually it's about me. Technically "Love thy neighbor" implies at least two neighbors, the loving and the loved; in this story you'll find out which one I was.) (If you haven't figured it out yet.) (Do you really think I'm going to write a story about how wonderful I am?) (That pretty much gave away the ending.)
Downstairs lives the evil neighbors. I live upstairs with the good grandmother (who speaks no English.) I've never actually talked to the evil neighbors. Even if they spoke English (which they don't), why would I want to talk to neighbors that are evil? I only know they're evil because they get mad at the good grandmother because we're upstairs and walk around and on occasion that makes noise. I won't deny that it does make noise; just how upset they get about it, I couldn't say. Point is, there's no point in wasting my breath on them. (They also supposedly tried to get me kicked out at one point. Wait a second, maybe it worked....!)
So today I'm on the sidewalk with all my possessions (save my mac) on the sidewalk in front of the apartment. Unsmiling Cuban neighbor walks past with trash bag, disposes of trash bag, returns past me. Five minutes later, I hear some foreign mutterings directed directly at me. Cuban guy (60-ish) hands me a chilly beer, I say thank you, and walk back in.
A moment before he does this, I am complaining in my mind about bad neighbors, and how the bad neighbors downstairs should learn a little about good neighbors from Jesus. Whoa is me.
So I'm trying to drink this beer, feeling just a little ashamed. Generally I hate beer (I eventually poured half of it out he wasn't around), but the point is that the second of my first interaction with him he popped out of his evil neighbor pigeonhole by being neighborly. Five minutes later, he steps out again and asks me, "?Quiere Comida?" I try to say that I have to pack "muy rapido" before it rains (point at sky and say "agua"). He isn't deterred at all but promises "Poquito". So I go inside to eat with them. (The only word to describe what I'm feeling is "rumfrazzled".
The man is Cuban, is 64, has an amazingly jolly face (I'd never noticed before), has lived in florida for 15 years, thinks Castro is bad (there's no comida in Cuba), and went diving and harpooned his own fish the other day. His wife is Dominican, has a son 24 years old, (or maybe a daughter), and cooks amazing food. An hour and a half later I'm still stuffed. (Un poquito indeed.) The table has beautiful roses, they have beautiful plants in general, the wife's stereo was playing wonderful Dominican music (with wonderful guitar) - it was just a wonderful place. Communication was a struggle; I tried to tell them I loved Florida; I think I told them that I wanted Florida. Heaven knows what they thought that meant; maybe they think I want to get into real estate. In that case, why am I driving to Florida? For all I know I've misinterpreted half of what they said.
I finished my meal, said muchas gracias many times, finished packing (it never rained), poured out what remained of the beer, and went inside to cool off.
So then, I look forward to having my assumptions about my neighbors utterly flambazzled.
In the future I may or may not write about post-modern trends in journalism, storks, everglade fires, warcraft, depression, wonder, and idiocy.
Ch-ch-ch-changes!
Well it's time to juggle things up slightly. I owe the color scheme to this wonderful blogspot option called "shuffle colors" (=! I'm starting a new adventure in Florida, so this is sort of my way of celebrating new beginnings. (Together with tacky color schemes. I'm celebrating those as well.) Okay everybody, stay tuned because very soon I will be bringing you my new "Get Powerized!" health and exercise program! By the way, if things don't work out in Florida I have figured out a really exciting plan B, let me know what you think:
In God we trust
"In God We Trust" - by Derek Webb from his Mockingbird album
In God we trust
and the government is on His shoulders
in God we trust
through democracy and tyranny alike
in God we trust
He uses both good and evil men
in God we trust
so we fight for peace and He fights for us
in God we trust
even when He fights us for someone else
in God we trust
even when He looks like the enemy
in God we trust
even though our hearts are bankrupt
in God we trust
for more than just the value of our dollar bills
in God we trust
but there’s no gold behind these notes of reserve
in God we trust
even through our great presumption
in God we trust
even though He favors no nation-state
in God we trust
even when the blessing is a curse
If I had discovered the process of pasteurization...
The process of pasteurization is named after the man who discovered it, Louis Pasteur.
If I had discovered it, it would be called Powerization. Think about that next time you drink milk. "Grade A, Powerized."
If only I'd packed a kitchen sink...
Sorry for the lack of updates - to think, just yesterday I was condemning Derek Webb for not updating his podcast. To me:"Hey wackadoo, Luke 6:41!" And the only reason I'm updating is because it provides a distraction from a more difficult writing task (a resume). Whenever I have something difficult to accomplish, I suddenly get the energy to do all sorts of non-essential very fun creative things, like update my blog or work on my book of mojo. Handy. Alright, on to greasier subjects.
After all these months, I still lack a kitchen. Sort of. The slobs with whom I share this apartment manage to keep the kitchen greasy, filthy, and disgusting at all times. As a rule, I stay far away. I have barely enough courage to walk past the oven to access the microwave. And that's when the heaping kitchen garbage can doesn't scare me away. Reminds me of that early section of pilgrim's progress. You know, the part with the big rock overhang... never mind.
So, here are the (mostly) kitchen-free foods on which I depend: ramen noodles, hormel microwave meals (tasty and they don't require refrigeration), milk and cereal, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, bananas, granola bars (for those times I miss breakfast in particular - much better energy sources than donuts), yogurt, and hot pockets. I still have to use the fridge a bit, but the fridge is actually not too bad. When I get an apartment in Tampa, hopefully within a couple weeks, I have but one major requirement: A KITCHEN! It will be a challenge to learn good cooking habits, but it will be fun too. Any low-cost kitchen-free food ideas to get me through the next couple weeks, let me know.