Pheasantly Surprised

Ashley blogged on my discovery today. You really have to read hers on this one.

Seriously?

Dis-courage-d

It occurred to me today that maybe i have been discouraged. i tend to have extra-ordinarily high self-esteem and my psych evaluation pegged me as having a "healthy ego." i know, get your jaws off the floor. If you're reading this, you know me well enough to know the psych eval was a waste of money ;-)

Seminary, who many people have called "cemetery" for its deleterious effects on the psyche and soul, can be quite detrimental to one's mental health. CPE can do the same. An experience of both of those in a year when one is seeking a call or a job in this economic climate is quite a ball of wax.

So today, as i am recounting the latest woes of my own life and those of my wife to a dear college friend and sharing her woes as well, i pulled into the Lowe's parking lot. As my friend assured me that, one day, all will be right with the world, i saw before me the most perfect rainbow that i have ever seen. It stretched from horizon to horizon, all the colors perfectly visible. i could see the entire arc with no breaks. i was astounded.

i usually think of courage as a powerful word. It's a loaded word. It conjures images for some of soldiers and sacrifice. For others it conjures images of those fighting terminal illness or standing up to injustice. But what about the flip side? Discouraged? i usually think of that like i think of depression... anger without enthusiasm. But what if discouragement is just as deeply passionate or emotionally invested as courage?

Just before i wrote this, i read a story from a good friend who sat with a dying man this week. He was the last person to speak with him. My friend asked the man where he'd like to go if he could go anywhere. The man said he'd like to go to the beach. He said that's where people go. He said he liked people. He said he wanted to be with people.

The rainbow threw into sharp relief that which i hadn't realized i was so deeply in the midst of. That man threw into perspective that which often eludes me... even i can get discouraged. Even i might need to be encouraged. i don't often have a shortage of encouragement. My wife has most recently been dramatically encouraging and my friends. i think i'm probably not the only one who doesn't recognize my own need for it. If you're anything like me, i hope you take some time to seek it if you need it. That's my life lesson this week.

Octo-beard

Yeah. My beard has reached the 1-3/4". i can now stick pencils in it. Yes, plural.

Don't you see...

i already have a plan... i'm waiting for my real life to begin...

Well, usually October 18 is a difficult day each year. If you don't know why, you're not in the know, don't worry about it. However, this year October 16th beat it fairly well. However, i woke up the morning of the 17th, the world was still here, and after a weekend of reflection and time spent in conversation with my wife and people i admire and respect and truly love, my faith remains in tact.

Stand by for more updates.

Hollywood Endings

A friend of mine recently preached on the ending of the Gospel of Mark and how disappointing it can be not to get a "Hollywood" ending. Celluloid of old may have always ended happily, but it doesn't always now and some of my favorite movies have "sad" endings or some kind of bizarre twist.

For instance, The Devil's Own has a very sad ending that Brad Pitt's character foreshadows early on. Primal Fear has a fairly good twist that is by no means a "happy ending."

However, not every ending is good or sad. Some are bad. Some just suck. Here's my top 5 list of movies with the worst endings ever...

5) Supernova (because of the final lines of dialogue from the computer)
4) Next (an otherwise fantastic movie)
3) Deep Impact (bad the whole way through)
2) Jurassic Park: The Lost World (Steven Spielberg couldn't resist screwing with the book)
1) Indian Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Steven and George Lucas, geez, if ever two men needed to hear the words: "quit while you're ahead...")

On a separate note: Ice Harvest (a bizarre movie) has a phenomenal ending. It ends with John Cusack at the wheel and suddenly his best friend wakes up and sits up hung over in the backseat on Christmas morning to ask:

"Where are we?"
"Heaven."
"They got pancakes?"
"They got everything."

And they drive off into the sunrise...


Your top 5 worst movie endings? i am sure some are worse. Doesn't count if the whole movie sucked (i.e. What Lies Beneath, Little Mermaid 2, or Idiocracy)

Seriously?

i am so sick and tired of seeing ads like this. i am not gonna go around with a Sarah Palin t-shirt or anything, but really? We're still worrying about the VP's executive and government experience? She oversaw a $16 billion state budget and has been in government all her life, mostly in the executive branch. Bill Clinton, economic hero of the US oversaw a $3 billion state budget in a state whose rank in schools keeps NC and Mississippi from looking bad every year before he became president.

Remember, she's a VP candidate. And the experience of Obama? 184 days in the legislature? Wasn't the whole idea in his campaign that experience didn't matter? Then he chooses a VP to balance out his ticket with experience? How does that work? If your politics dictate you prefer Obama over McCain, fine, go for it, but on experience?

McCain and Palin both have more experience than both of the Democratic presidential nominees, Obama or Hillary. That's staggering! How can there still be an experience question?!?! At all?!?! Come on people! If your real problem is the issues, stick to those. Don't be a hypocritical turd. Stick to debating the issues and the character of the people you're voting for as leaders, not debating a non-issue you wouldn't address yourself to begin with...

Why oh why wouldn't you run for president, Colin Powell?!?! [shakes fist angirly at the heavens and cries]

i know a guy who knows a guy...

This is from a blog my wife sent me about a book neither of us has read. i thought it was worth posting, but without editorial. Enjoy, reflect, whatever...

"I'm coloring Jesus the same colors as Aqua Man," I said, looking down at my paper. It made perfect sense for Jesus to look like Aqua Man. . . . I was pretty sure his miracles didn't happen telepathically, but he certainly used some kind of super-hero strength to make those fish obey him. . . .

"Just make sure you leave his face white, okay?" "I was going to." Everybody in the class knew Jesus was white.

Date night

My dear wife, queen of all that is bargain, coupon, cheap, or free sent me a link about date nights under $15. i was excited until i read it. Ashley and i are always on the look out for cheap dates and places to go on our budget. We're both very busy, so when we have time, we like to make the most of it. While several of the ideas appealed, it appears the author lives in a foreign country or small town or another planet where things are MUCH cheaper. For example...

When was the last time you were able to go to a restaurant and get TWO slices of pizza for $5? It wasn't Sbarro's (where you don't even get a seat or a waiter) and it wasn't any actual restaurant i've ever seen. Double that price and we're about right. How about 2 glasses of wine for $4? i don't drink wine and i know enough to know you gotta double that too at least. Chips and salsa for $5? Even store brand won't get you there, my friend.

Also, the math was wrong on sunset watching. If you assume that the price estimates are correct, then you're looking at $12 for the date, not $15. Score! Oh wait, drug store glasses are not $2 a piece. Perhaps at the Dollar General, but i look at sunglasses every time i am in a drug store when Ashley is shopping and i haven't seen a pair for less than $10 or $15 in years.

i really want to know where people live that things are so cheap. Our grocery bill just keeps climbing and i'm sure yours has too. You can now fit $200 worth of groceries in 4 paper sacks, as my mother recently pointed out. Gas prices and a tanking economy are putting prices through the roof.

i will end though with a plug for Blockbuster. Although the author of that article put a movie rental at $5, a non-new release is only $1 now at Blockbuster. So check it out. And please, support your local cheap movie theaters, especially if you're in Richmond.

Fuzzy thinking

i like...