A little slice of randomness

Let Freedom Ring

2009-05-07T20:32:00.000-07:00

Auto-tuners are pretty cool sometimes

Mankind Is No Island

2009-04-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

Trickin' it to the Treats

2009-03-08T21:02:00.001-07:00

I like turtles

2009-03-02T12:01:00.001-08:00

Glory Days

2009-02-25T20:36:00.000-08:00

hahahaha

2009-02-21T00:51:00.001-08:00

I love them a lot. Probably one of the best songs, ever.

Priscilla Ahn

2009-02-16T22:45:00.001-08:00

Mash Ups

2009-02-11T11:02:00.000-08:00

My oldest brother Christopher has officially gotten me into the world of Mash Ups through the DJ Girl Talk. I'm convinced this is where our postmodern word is taking music. I was talking to my musician friend Andrew Walker and he pointed me this minty fresh beats mash up of Jay-z and Radiohead. Well needless to say, I am hereby announcing my love for mash ups. Especially good ones like Danger Mouse's Grey Album or Jaydiohead. I have to say that of those two, I like the Radiohead and Jay-z mash up the most.

I am very interested in how both DJ mash-ups and the baroque pop-neo folk revolution are happening at the same time in music. To me they are one and the same. I'm just as excited about Andrew Bird, Vampire Weekend, Fleet Foxes and Sufjan Stevens as I am about Danger Mouse, Jaydiohead and Girl Talk. Which probably proves I am a full fledged member of the postmodern world to where I love tradition as much as I love the modern. Solomon truly got it right when he lamented that there is nothing new under the sun. And where music is going these days, proves him to be right.

2009-02-05T10:39:00.000-08:00

This is probably my favorite super bowl AD. I think coke did a good job showing just how disconnected we are as a society and pushed their brand all at the same time. Would the world be world be a better place if everyone gave each other a coke? Of course not! But who the heck cares. Grab a coke. haha

Proof creativity with music videos is not dead

2009-01-31T22:51:00.000-08:00

Her Morning Elegance by Oren Lavie is by far one of the coolest music videos I've seen in a while.

Best Intro

2009-01-26T16:34:00.000-08:00

I was thinking today about some of my favorite cartoons from different periods of my life and decided to come up with a short list of the best intros of those cartoons.

Batman: The Animated Series

Freakazoid

and probably the best intro...ever

La Blogotheque is the source of all things awesome. Not really, but that made for a good title.

2009-01-24T21:28:00.000-08:00

A simple equation for awesome: new favorite band + new favorite song + La Blogotheque = awesome.

The Welcome Wagon

2009-01-18T09:04:00.000-08:00

I've been driving around listening to this band all week.

Now this is funny

2009-01-17T22:13:00.000-08:00

Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi

2009-01-12T18:54:00.000-08:00

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury,pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen

Fleet Foxes makes one cool music video

2009-01-11T21:23:00.000-08:00

White Winter Hymnal

Dissing your dog

2009-01-11T11:29:00.000-08:00

This is for Christopher. Maybe sarcasm will work on Bob?

Delta Spirit, you make me happy

2009-01-04T16:44:00.000-08:00

Spare-Ohs

2008-12-30T21:20:00.000-08:00

Another nice word play by the amazing Andrew Bird. Just watch.

I will never ever tire of Andrew Bird.

Put the Lights on the Tree

2008-12-18T22:25:00.001-08:00

Here is a pretty funky video by Sufjan Stevens to get one and all into the Christmas cheer! haha

Youtube find

2008-12-14T21:51:00.000-08:00

If you ever doubt that youtube is a valid place to find great musicianship, then listen to this guy I randomly found....

Staffan Svahn - Bubblin'

Gorillaz -- Demon Days (Live)

2008-12-14T15:22:00.000-08:00

Funky art work + great song = strange fascination

Perseverance

2008-12-11T23:14:00.000-08:00

"People of mediocre ability sometimes achieve outstanding success because they don't know when to quit. Most men succeed because they are determined to." George E. Allen

"Perseverance is more prevailing than violence; and many things which cannot be overcome when they are together, yield themselves up when taken little by little." Plutarch

"If I had to select one quality, one personal characteristic that I regard as being most highly correlated with success, whatever the field, I would pick the trait of persistence. Determination. The will to endure to the end, to get knocked down seventy times and get up off the floor saying. "Here comes number seventy-one!" Richard M. Devos

Ecclesiastes 9:10, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom."

The First Snowflake

2008-12-08T10:19:00.000-08:00

Of the quirky indie bands out there, one of my favorite is The Boy Least Likely To. They have created quite a neat winter song and video.

The First Snowflake from The Boy Least Likely To on Vimeo.

St. Anne's Reel

2008-12-07T15:36:00.000-08:00

I do have to say that thanks to my momma and growing up in Elkins. I will forever love folk/acoustic/bluegrass music.

New Favorite Rapper

2008-11-22T21:28:00.000-08:00

This has become probably one of my all time favorite songs....

Kick, Push by Lupe Fiasco

Bonaparte's Retreat - Aly Bain

2008-10-18T07:30:00.001-07:00

Listening to this makes you want to hop in a plane to Ireland...

So let mercy come and wash away....

2008-09-01T04:35:00.000-07:00

I've liked this song from the moment I first heard it on the radio. I love music for the simple fact you can always find something that sums up your mood and this songs does that for me. I've had to come face to face with myself over my past mistakes. This is the theme song of my life right now.

Linkin Park What I've Done

Nomadic Thoughts

2008-08-28T10:04:00.001-07:00

Enjoying a lovely day off work when this thought hit me: I long to be nomad. I don't know where this thought comes from to be honest. I remember reading the gospels about Jesus sending his disciples out with no money, no extra clothes and just told them to go. I've been thinking a lot about what kind of christian or little Christ I am to the world around me. I've always longed for the more life shattering parts of following Jesus but I was lulled to sleep with the possessions this country could offer me. The more stuff I had, the emptier I felt. I was selling my soul to not feel like myself. Romans 1:21-22 says, "For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools." I just don't know what to say after that scripture because it tears my heart in two. There are so many things that I regret that still eat me up inside. There are memories that cause me to want to crawl into a cave. I'm so afraid to face the world around me as this broken person. I am a very torn up person most of the time. Trying to rediscover yourself after you've had this fake identity would be the hardest thing in the world to accomplish if you did not have any supernatural help. Jesus says in Matthew 18:3 "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." I want to change.

Christ has die and
Christ is risen,
and Christ will come again

I'm an Adult? Are you serious?

2008-08-17T23:23:00.001-07:00

I think I have officially hit that point where I sleep way less then I need to and I always feel like I'm at work. The time is currently 2:23 as I type this sentence. Why am I still up when I have to start my 3.5 day shift at 7am? I helped by covering night watch on Saturday night and stayed up for church and then slept a little too long. Now, I'm starting to get tired again but also realizing I have 16 hours today of managing a group 10 troubled teenagers. I guess this is what "adult" life feels like? Maybe so. Either way I'm slowly getting more and more used to this kind of lifestyle. The appeal of the so-called slacker college life has lost a lot of its luster to me. There comes to a point to where you can't live your life as a slacker. There's far too much to do and to create in the time that you have been given then to sit around and wonder why your life sucks. That I think is the greatest tragedy of the society that we live in. We expect everyone else to do everything for us instead of taking control of creativity that we all have. For years I've heard about the potential people see inside of me. I really want to use this time now to allow God to get me to the point where I can honestly go back to seminary with no doubts or regrets. That's what I want as I slowly become comfortable with my so-called Adult life.

I heart Iron and Wine

2008-08-08T09:26:00.000-07:00

Cinder and Smoke is a great great song.

Hillsong United-Solution

2008-07-26T16:57:00.000-07:00

Andy has been doing this song a lot at church lately. And I really love it. I've been listening to it a lot lately as I wait for Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne, who authored Ordinary Radicals, who in the book is making a point to Christians that being a Democrat or Republican is not how what we decide to do things to help this world. The Kingdom of God is what decides what we do in dealing with ourselves and the world around us. God is the solution and politics should not decide if we are his hands and feet to the world around us....

It is not a human right
To stare not fight
While broken nations dream
Open up our eyes, so blind
That we might find
The Mercy for the need

Singing, Hey now
Fill our hearts with your compassion
Hey now
As we hold to our confession
Yeah

It is not too far a cry
To much to try
To help the least of these
Politics will not decide
If we should rise
And be your hands and feet

Singing, Hey now
Fill our hearts with your compassion
Hey Now
As we hold to our confession

Woah-oh-oh,
God be the solution
Woah-oh-oh
We will be Your hands and be Your feet.
Yeah, yeah

Higher than a circumstance
Your promise stands
Your love for all to see
Higher than protest line and dollar signs
Your love is all we need

Only You can mend the broken heart
And cause the blind to see
Erase complete the sinners past
And set the captives free
Only You can take the widows cry
And cause her heart to sing
Be a Father to the fatherless
Our Savior and our King
We will be Your hands, we will be Your feet
We will run this race
On the darkest place, we will be Your light
We will be Your light

We will be Your hands , we will be Your feet
We will run this race for the least of these
In the darkest place, we will be your light
We will be your light
We’ll sing

Woah-oh-oh,
God be the solution
Woah-oh-oh
We will be Your hands and be Your feet.

Woah-oh-oh,
God be the solution
Woah-oh-oh
We will be Your hands and be Your feet.
Yeah, yeah

We will run we will run
We will run with the solution (2x)

We will be Your hands we will be Your feet
We will run this race for the least of these
In the darkest place we will be Your light
We will be Your light
We sing

Tank!

2008-07-22T23:25:00.001-07:00

I have many memories of watching this with my brother Christopher...

Why do I mention this? I just bought this complete collection off of ebay for 20 bucks. Not bad for six seasons of probably the best Japanese cartoon ever made. Or at least my personal favorite.

Let the morning

2008-07-21T09:42:00.000-07:00

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. -Psalm 143:8

This Too Shall Be Made Right

2008-07-20T12:02:00.000-07:00

James 1:27, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

I have been thinking about this song a lot lately....

people love you the most for the things you hate
and hate you for loving the things that you cannot keep straight
people judge you on a curve
and tell you you’re getting what you deserve
this too shall be made right

children cannot learn when children cannot eat
stack them like lumber when children cannot sleep
children dream of wishing wells
whose waters quench all the fires of Hell
this too shall be made right

the earth and the sky and the sea are all holding their breath
wars and abuses have nature groaning with death
we say we’re just trying to stay alive
but it looks so much more like a way to die
this too shall be made right

there’s a time for peace and there is a time for war
a time to forgive and a time to settle the score
a time for babies to lose their lives
a time for hunger and genocide
this too shall be made right

I don’t know the suffering of people outside my front door
I join the oppressors of those who i choose to ignore
I’m trading comfort for human life
and that’s not just murder it’s suicide
this too shall be made right
~Derek Webb

I am guilty of being apathetic. I am guilty for buying into consumerism. I am guilty of these things. I am the very person I swore I would never become. And of these things, I repent.

Praise you, the God of our yesterdays,
Praise you, the God who is here today,
Praise you, our God, as tomorrow comes.
We thank you for grace in our yesterdays,
We thank you for peace in our hearts today,
And thank you, our Joy, as tomorrow comes,
We will trust you, God.
~Matt Redman

Regrets that linger in the air

2008-07-13T18:21:00.000-07:00

Even with gas prices being outta control right now, I still enjoy taking a sunday drive to clear the mind. Lately I've been spending a lot of time thinking about what to some of the problems I had during ages 21 to 24. I'm kinda in the "man, I regret how I acted there" stage of the thinking. Every time in my life God has finally got through to me, this is how the change happens in my life. He smacks me upside the head with a truth filled two-by-four and then opens my eyes to the truth I refused to live out. I have many regrets that I can't take back. I have said many vicious things that still linger in the air above me. I've got my hands on the plow and I'm not looking back and I can't look back for I fear the will be the death of me. If I turn around now, I'll turn into a pillar of salt and ruin the dreams I have for me. My heart is filled with pain of many past things that I will, in time, learn from. Right now, I live in the humbling place of honest regret. That place where in the bible they would put on sack cloth, shave their heads, pour ashes and recite lamentations to God.

Another great youtube find

2008-07-12T23:38:00.000-07:00

I think I have posted on here before how I continue to find great artists on youtube. This video I am posting is by Staffan Svahn. He has a very pleasant and beautiful way of playing the guitar. This is also a plug for Mac, because he records all his stuff on a Mac! Once again apple continues to prove they are the coolest. With out further ado here is "Summer Holidays" by Staffan Svahn...

Jon Foreman -Your Love is Strong - Spring EP

2008-07-06T01:49:00.000-07:00

This is currently my favorite song...

Heavenly Father, you always amaze me
Let your kingdom come in my world and in my life
Give me the food I need to live through today
And forgive me as I forgive the people that wrong me
Lead me far from temptation
Deliver me from the evil one

I look out the window the birds are composing
Not a note is out of tune or out of place
I walk to the meadow and stare at the flowers
Better dressed than any girl on her wedding day

So why do I worry?
Why do I freak out?
God knows what I need
You know what I need

Your love is
Your love is
Your love is strong
Your love is
Your love is
Your love is strong
Your love is
Your love is
Your love is strong

The kingdom of the heavens is now advancing
Invade my heart, invade this broken town
The kingdom of the Heavens is buried treasure
Would you sell yourself to buy the one you've found?

Two things you told me
That you are strong
And you love me
Yes, you love me

Your love is
Your love is
Your love is strong
Your love is
Your love is
Your love is strong
Your love is
Your love is
Your love is strong
Your love is
Your love is
Your love is strong

Our God in Heaven
Hallowed be thy name
Above all names
Your kingdom come
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven
Give us today our daily bread
Forgive us weary sinners
Keep us far away from our vices
And deliver us from these prisons

haha

2008-06-28T14:58:00.000-07:00

more cat pictures

perfection

2008-06-15T20:45:00.003-07:00

Note to self: remember today and it's darn near perfection.

I'm tired of eatin' sloopy slimy eggs!!

2008-06-06T19:49:00.000-07:00

I decline to accept the end of man...

2008-06-02T18:05:00.000-07:00

I decline to accept the end of man. It is easy enough to say that man is immortal because he will endure: that when the last ding-dong of doom has clanged and faded from the last worthless rock hanging tideless in the last red and dying evening, that even then there will still be one more sound: that of his puny inexhaustible voice, still talking. I refuse to accept this. I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance.

~William Faulkner

2008-05-29T23:31:00.001-07:00

"we get one story, you and i, and one story alone. God has established the elements, the setting and the climax and the resolution. it would be a crime not to venture out wouldn't it?

it might be time for you to go. it might be time to change, to shine out. i want to repeat one word for you: leave." ~Donald Miller Through Painted Deserts

Eisley and The Boy Least Likely To

2008-05-29T22:38:00.001-07:00

I enjoy them a lot. Another new music find. Song is called Marvelous Things...

The next selection is from my newest Indie Pop favorite called The Boy Least Likely To. The song is called "Be Gentle With Me"

Landon Pigg

2008-05-28T13:36:00.000-07:00

In my spare time, I like to find music I never had heard of before by asking my friends what they are listening to. A new friend of mine pointed me to this guy. And I think this song is his best. Called "Falling in Love in a Coffee Shop"

Artist Site

Currently Reading

2008-05-20T19:41:00.001-07:00

PARAMORE: That's What You Get

2008-05-20T19:33:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while there is a Rock-Pop band that has one dang catchy song...

Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros

2008-05-14T21:12:00.000-07:00

Another Youtube Find

2008-05-08T17:44:00.000-07:00

A little motown feeling song by a girl who goes by Duffy. I swear Chicago and the UK is where I find most of my favorite music....

the song is called Warwick Avenue and has a very Marvin Gay feel to it. I guess the newest comparison is Amos Lee and Ray Lamontage.

Recent Youtube Finds

2008-05-08T08:51:00.000-07:00

I love Youtube for the simple fact I am now finding tons of great music on it. Here's a very cool cover of graceland by Alison Krauss and Union Station...

Also found this song called Bonaparte's Retreat, that seriously makes me want to hop on a plane and go to Ireland...

And then this gem from The Muppet Show...

Finally this classic animation clearly shows nerds who love doing LARP(live action role playing) should never be allowed in a nativity scene...

Sister

2008-05-01T20:47:00.001-07:00

I just realized that three songs I love all have sister in the title...

Oh Sister by Andrew Bird (via Bob Dylan)

Sister Winter by Sufjan Stevens

Sister Self by Alela Diane

just proves that sister is a stellar word for song writing

Alela Diane

2008-05-01T13:10:00.001-07:00

Sammi told me about this artist and I can't help but love her music....

The Country

2008-04-30T23:29:00.000-07:00

and proof once again of the over production of pop music...and how simple acoustic guitar makes a song fifteen million times better

that's "See You Again" by Miley Cyrus

M. Night Shyamalan's new movie

2008-04-23T09:14:00.000-07:00

Could be a crackhead....

2008-04-22T11:54:00.000-07:00

Possibly my favorite video of all time....

I want the gold! Give me gold!

2-D Magic

2008-04-17T10:46:00.000-07:00

I don't know why, but I seriously love videos that look like they were made by Atari. Here's another example from the amazing band, Of Montreal...

Isabella the Nano loves the Spring EP and Solder On

2008-04-16T13:53:00.001-07:00

Jon Foreman, the lead singer of Switchfoot, has been releasing one six song EP for each of the seasons. Thus far Fall and Winter have been released and just recently Spring was. Let me tell you what, each EP captures the season well. I've been listening to Fall and Winter consistently everyday for two months and now I can't stop listening to Spring. I always knew he was a master lyric and song writer, now he has just proven that fact all over again.

A note to christopher, my lone blog reader: I love Andrew Bird too. And Solder On is one amazing EP. I just got that off of iTunes yesterday and the above mentioned EP and this one are in constant rotation on Isabella the Nano.

p.s. Sufjan and Andrew both hail from Chicago. Looks like the Windy City is producing a lot of good music lately.

Romans 8

2008-04-15T12:19:00.000-07:00

18I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

22We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? 25But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

26In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.

I think about this passage a lot now days. The more I work with troubled teens I realize how true this passage is. I'm surrounded by fallen nature of man in my work. I am reminded constantly of my own fallen nature and I see more clearly then ever that Jesus alone can change someone's behavior. Romans 8 has always been my favorite chapter in the bible and now more then ever I keep returning to it. I'm not perfect but I know that all of creation along with me is groaning for the redemption that is close at hand. And that sunsets that cause my heart to stop are just figments of their true majestic selves. Just something that I'm chewing on right now. Shalom

I walked on water, I think I can walk to the door

2008-03-30T05:29:00.001-07:00

haha gotta love the soup

2008-03-27T07:33:00.000-07:00

wrote this a while ago

2008-03-15T12:46:00.001-07:00

I like to revisit stuff I've written to see if I've meant it. I think I'm finally meaning this....

Learning is a sign of growth and of life. We would still be here on this earth but I think you cease to be truely alive. To be alive to realize you are an ever changing and learning person that I was this one person at point a but not that person at point b or c. however, I must say you can learn a whole bunch and not grow. how so? knowledge is useless without application. application is the ulitmate sign of life. applying what you learn allows you to grow even more. cus it allows for new growth. just like triming a bush. you can only keep that bush alive if you apply the knowledge of triming the same is true in our lives. application is the act that allows for growth.

Not bad, eh?

The Flying WV

2008-03-14T12:52:00.000-07:00

The Flying WV symbol of the West Virginia Mountaineers is one of those things I love. I guess being born and raise a mountaineer fan you kinda fall in love with the flying WV. Not just because it represents the university but I think it has an endearing quality that links those West Virginians living all over the country. I have tons of memories being all over the eastern U.S. and smiling when I saw that Flying WV on car with a different state license. Why am I thinking about this? The Men and Women's WVU basketball teams are gearing up for my favorite sporting even in the known universe, outside the World Cup, known as the NCAA Tourney also known as MARCH MADNESS! No other sporting event besides the World Cup gets me this excited. The world cup is national pride, the NCAA Tourney is all about the upsets and my many brackets getting busted by a 12 seed making it to the Elite 8 or my sure fire number one seed losing in the second round and screwing up my final four. Either way, when the World Cup or the NCAA Tourney is one, I can hardly pull myself away from the TV. On that thought I'm going to scout some teams haha just kidding.

Vampire Weekend- A-Punk

2008-03-10T01:03:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Christopher for showing me this awesome band!

hahaha

2008-03-07T12:54:00.001-08:00

Enter the ICHC online Poker Cats Contest!

Jack Johnson - Hope

2008-03-06T16:28:00.000-08:00

How could anyone not like jack johnson?

Calvin and Hobbes

2008-03-05T19:02:00.001-08:00

I changed the title picture because I feel this picture sums up how I want to live. No words needed to explain this, the picture is being allowed to do the talking for me.

I still love Calvin and Hobbes.

I have been listening to Jon Foreman's solo EPs called Fall and Winter all day long. He is writing a 6 song EP for each season of the year and these songs have become the soundtrack to my life right now. Music will always be my best therapy.

2008-02-28T16:44:00.001-08:00

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. -Psalm 143:8

Star Wars according to a 3 year old.

2008-02-28T11:27:00.001-08:00

2008-02-25T00:49:00.000-08:00

"There is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket — safe, dark, motionless, airless — it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell.

We shall draw nearer to God, not by trying to avoid the sufferings inherent in all loves, but by accepting them and offering them to Him; throwing away all defensive armour. If our hearts need to be broken, and if He chooses this as a way in which they should break, so be it." -C.S. Lewis The Four Loves

Junior Senior "Move Your Feet"

2008-02-22T07:00:00.000-08:00

I love music videos like this

This is such a beautiful song

2008-02-15T18:26:00.001-08:00

Samson by Regina Spektor

tuning our instruments

2008-02-15T16:56:00.001-08:00

"Meanwhile, of course, we are merely tuning our instruments. The tuning up of the orchestra can be itself delightful, but only to those who can, in some measure, however little, anticipate the symphony." - C.S. Lewis

I stinking love this song

2008-02-09T23:21:00.000-08:00

~Colbie Caillat "Realize"

How this should of been

2008-02-09T10:45:00.001-08:00

Falling Slowly

2008-02-03T23:42:00.001-08:00

this is from my favorite indie movie of the year. A little diddy called "Once" and this is my favorite song from it...

D.A.N.C.E.

2008-02-03T23:32:00.001-08:00

If this is not one of the coolest videos you've ever seen....then I can't help you haha (to whatever other person besides Christopher who actually reads this blog)

Trust?

2008-02-03T21:47:00.000-08:00

One of the definitions of trust is, "Firm reliance on the integrity, ability, or character of a person or thing." In the psalms trust is something that is brought up again and again as the one thing you can always do with God. That you can trust Him.

Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you. -Psalm 9:10

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song. -Psalm 28:7

But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, "You are my God." -Psalm 31:14

Many are the woes of the wicked, but the LORD's unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him. -Psalm 32:10

In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me? -Psalm 56:4

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. -Psalm 143:8

I was thinking today about this calling or a strong conviction I had when I was 15 years old that I was called into the ministry. I'm nearly 10 years into this journey. My idea of ministry is not what it was those 10 years ago. I know the final step I need to make to complete this journey of rediscovery is to just trust. That last Psalm, 143:8, is where my heart is, that if the LORD my God will "show the way I should go" that I'd go wherever he wants me to go. I'm not looking for the next best thing or somewhere else to go. I just have not taken that leap of faith and gone through the struggle of truly finding my calling. Which is why I wonder why I am even writing this. I'm struggling with what to do with my life. I just now my heart won't be content until I give myself over to something bigger then myself. And I'm just challenged to give my everything to the Kingdom of God that Jesus talked about...

Jesusland

2008-02-01T23:26:00.001-08:00

This is one of those Ben Folds songs I just can't get out of my head...

Hey there peanut butter, how you doin'?

2008-01-30T23:43:00.000-08:00

Philippians 1:3 to 11

2008-01-28T20:25:00.001-08:00

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

I normally don't like rap but...

2008-01-27T00:17:00.000-08:00

I really like Lupe Fiasco. This is my fav song called "I Gotcha"

2008-01-26T11:58:00.000-08:00

My buddy David Story wrote this amazing song that really captures my thoughts about girls at this point in my life. The song is called "The Day She Arrives"

Save some time to waste a little of your life on me
I just let go of the only breath that I was guaranteed
I'm walking backwards, all my certainties have come and gone
But there's still something that I hope to stumble upon

I can't say that I'll be ready
I just hope I'm still I'm still alive
And live to see the day that she arrives

I'll make it by
My survival is not in her hands
She's not my savior
I'm not so sure she's even in my plans
But if she arrives I won't deny her entry to my soul
But if and when she comes I hope there's plenty of life left to go

Don't waste your life getting here
Waste your life on me
Don't take your time arriving
Time is taking me

I love you Radiohead

2008-01-22T11:16:00.000-08:00

Life is not a story about me

2008-01-21T12:56:00.000-08:00

"I've learned, too, that I don't really know very much about anything. I mean, I used to have all these theories about life. I thought I had everybody figured out, even God, but I don't. I think the woods, being away from all the clingy soot of commercialism, have taught me life is enormous, and I am very tiny in the middle of it. I feel, at times, like a droplet of water in a raging river. I know for a fact that as a grain of sand compared in size to the earth itself, I compare in size to the cosmos. I am that insignificant. And yet the chemicals in my brain that make me feel beauty when I look up at the stars, when I watch the sunset, indicate I must be here for a reason. I think I would sum it up this way: life is not a story about me, but it is being told to me, and I can be glad of that. I think that is the why of life and, in fact, the why of this ancient faith I am caught up in: to enjoy God." ~ Donald Miller

The Country - Billy Collins Animated Poetry

2008-01-19T21:38:00.000-08:00

I was born to be a fiddler in an old-time string band

2008-01-17T22:38:00.000-08:00

For your enjoyment. My two favorite Old Crow Medicine Show songs, "Wagon Wheel" and "Down Home Girl"

2008-01-13T10:28:00.001-08:00

To live life without regret. This is my new want. To be able to look back days, weeks, months and years from this day and not have a moment where I say, "I could of done things better." Simple and to the point right? I think so too.

2008-01-07T09:18:00.001-08:00

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

-Reinhold Niebuhr

Sister Winter

2008-01-05T19:56:00.000-08:00

Oh my friends I've
Begun to worry right
Where I should be grateful
I should be satisfied

Oh my heart I
Would clap and dance in place
With my friends I have so
Much pleasure to embrace

But my heart is
Returned to sister winter
But my heart is
As cold as ice

Oh my thoughts I
Return to summertime
When I kissed your ankle
I kissed you through the night

All my gifts I gave everything you
Your strange imagination
You threw it all away

Now my heart is
Returned to sister winter
Now my heart is
As cold as ice

All my friends, I've
Returned to sister winter
All my friends, I
Apologise, apologise

All my friends, I've
Returned to sister winter
All my friends, I
Apologise, apologise

All my friends, I've
Returned to sister winter
All my friends, I
Apologise, apologise

La la la la la . . .

And my friends, I've
Returned to wish you all the best
And my friends, I've
Returned to wish you all the best
And my friends, I've
Returned to wish you all the best
And my friends, I've
Returned to wish you a happy Christmas

To wish you a happy Christmas
To wish you a happy Christmas
To wish you a happy Christmas

~Sufjan Stevens

Typography Who's on First?

2008-01-04T10:32:00.001-08:00

Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)

2007-12-29T06:50:00.000-08:00

One of the best head nodding songs of the 90s

2007-12-29T05:40:00.000-08:00

I know I've been posting a bunch of videos lately but I've found yet another movie that really interests me. This is the new movie by the director of "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"...

This is one movie I can get excited for.

2007-12-17T05:58:00.000-08:00

Trailer for The Dark Knight. I like where they are taking Batman and the joker looks like he might finally be scary.

Shapoopi!

2007-12-17T05:36:00.001-08:00

Best. Commercial. Ever.

We wrap our lives around your life

2007-12-12T23:25:00.000-08:00

Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them - every day begin the task anew. -Saint Francis de Sales (1567 - 1622)

One of the things that God has really shown me the past few days is just how impatient I am with His plans. Clearly this is because I did not have Christ as the center of my life. One of the things that I really just need to come to terms with that is I am behind the curve for my age. I never have felt as old as my age says I am. I think that is why these "adult" pressures of responsibility have given me fits lately. I'm just starting to get comfortable in my own skin. I've been reworking a lot of my thinking lately. I do now understand why God choose to bring a long a girl at this point in my life. I really thought I wasn't ready for anything. However, God knows what He doing in bringing along Sammi right now. I need a splash of cold water to the face to wake me up from the path I was taking toward becoming the "loser" I was convinced I was. Then this very funny wonderful girl comes along side of me and I realize there is still a lot to like about myself. That the lie I had been buying is that I was too far gone to come back to God. That I should give up trying to be a follower of Jesus. I made the first step at church this past Sunday to bring Jesus the Christ back to the center of my life. I am so thankful that our Father God never gave up on me. That I can still become the man that so many people have told me I could become. I am lifting my eyes to the hill cus I know where my help comes from! My help comes from you LORD, the all mighty Creator of all that I see.

We lift our eyes to heaven
We wrap our lives around your life
We lift our eyes to heaven, to You

Did steve tell you that?

2007-12-12T09:18:00.000-08:00

Flight of the Conchords - Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros

this would be overkill

2007-12-08T20:17:00.001-08:00

toothpastefordinner.com

I really love this song

2007-12-06T05:38:00.000-08:00

Only to bring you peace
Only at Christmas time
Only the King of Kings
Only what once was mine
It takes the end of time
It takes a long long time
Only one thought of mine
Only at Christmas time

He brings us peace
He brings us joy
He brings all thoughts to destroy
Only at Christmas time

To brings us peace
To brings us joy
To brings all thoughts to destroy
Only at Christmas time

Only at Christmas time
Only a tree to climb
Only at Christmas time
If you can read the sign
Only at Christmas time
Everything lost will find
Only at Christmas time
Only at Christmas time

~Sufjan Stevens "Only at Christmas Time"

Every once in a while the weight of life takes over
and I need to find songs to chill me out. Songs to ponder
about their meaning. The subtle beauty of this Sufjan song
is just so amazing. I've just been sitting here after
another long night of work and just am soaking in the mellow beauty.

Saint Patrick's Lorica

2007-12-05T06:14:00.000-08:00

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth and His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In service of archangels,
In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In the prayers of patriarchs,
In preachings of the apostles,
In faiths of confessors,
In innocence of virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven;
Light of the sun,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of the wind,
Depth of the sea,
Stability of the earth,
Firmness of the rock.

I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me;
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's hosts to save me
From snares of the devil,
From temptations of vices,
From every one who desires me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone or in a mulitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and evil,
Against every cruel merciless power that opposes my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom,
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of women and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.
Christ shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that reward may come to me in abundance.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.

I arise today Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through a confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation

Great Quote

2007-12-05T01:46:00.000-08:00

"I know two things: I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior." -John Newton