music check July 4, 2009

First one since, oh, March. Figure we’re due. You know the drill.

1. Jake Shimabukuro, “3rd Stream”
2. Guns ‘n Roses, “Paradise City”
3. Derek Webb, “Beloved” (wow, there’s a juxtaposition for you)
4. David Elder, “Dames”
5. Sonya Kitchell, “For Every Drop”
6. Wilco, “Jesus, Etc.”
7. The Temptations, “My Girl”
8. Cadet, “The First Noel”
9. Say Anything, “Alive With the Glory of Love”
10. U2, “Dirty Day”
11. Original Broadway Cast, “The First Attack”
12. Rufus Wainwright, “Across the Universe (Remix)”
13. People You Meet, “solar”
14. The Khrusty Brothers, “Sympathy For Jesus”
15. Caedmon’s Call, “Not the Land”
16. Sean Watkins, “Cammac”
17. The Weepies, “Antarctica”
18. Sandra McCracken, “No More Tears”
19.
20.

because no one reads blogs on holidays… July 3, 2009

A little tribute to America from me and the Muppets (happy 4th, Americans)

a few miscellaneous thoughts posted whilst listening to U2 b-sides July 1, 2009

1. I sent an e-mail to the agency that did my adoption about 20 minutes ago. This feels kind of bizarre, to tell you the truth. I tried one adoption agency a few years back and they pointed me to this one, and I’ve just now gotten up the nerve to do it, I guess. The funny thing about being adopted, at least for me, is that in the back of my mind I’ve always wondered where I come from, what kind of people got pregnant with me 24 years ago and decided that someone else needed to raise me. Do they like to sing? Are they prone to fits of melancholy? Are they just as caffeinated and opinionated and neurotic as me? Or did I turn out nothing like them? Is it nature or is it nurture, or some strange combination of both, that made me who I am?

Don’t get me wrong, folks. I love my family. My parents and brother and all are great folks. I mean, they’re the ones who have loved and provided for and taught and protected me for the past 24 years, and told me about Jesus, and I wouldn’t trade them for anyone or anything in the world. But curiosity gets the better of me sometimes. It might kill this cat, but then again it might just make my family bigger. I’ll keep you posted.

2. Dear God: I would like to be able to one day write like Jeff Tweedy’s 13-year-old kid. Also, speaking of Jeff Tweedy, thank You for Wilco. Their new album sounds terrific. Thanks for making sound waves so they could vibrate that beautifully. That is all. Amen.

3. I will likely be coming home for the 4th (and 5th) of July, so any H-town people who happen to be reading, I will see you, hopefully.

4. Finally, I stuck my big list of stuff I want to do before I die up there on the top right corner. A few more things have been crossed out, although I haven’t necessarily posted about them (sorry). #32 got done last weekend–I sang in my friend Ashley’s wedding up in Waco. Amazing and wonderful, although no pics to speak of yet, sorry. Again, kind of bizarre–like marrying off a younger sister. She and her husband (!) are moving to NYC in the fall so she can go get her doctorate and be smart. Besides seeing them get married, I got to see some old friends before we all scatter to the four winds, so that was nice. Love is all around. Good to be reminded.

mix tape monday June 29, 2009

This week: Songs from movies.

1. St. Francis Choir, “Joyful, Joyful” (Sister Act 2)
2. Various artists, “Hakuna Matata” (The Lion King)
3. Dana Fuchs, Joe Anderson, and T.V. Carpio, “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” (Across the Universe)
4. Rufus Wainwright, “Across the Universe (remix)” (Poses, used in I Am Sam)
5. I Nine, “Same In Any Language” (Elizabethtown)
6. The Shins, “Caring is Creepy” (Garden State)
7. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, “If You Want Me” (Once)
8. Jack Black, “Let’s Get It On” (High Fidelity)
9. Jacek Roman, Ewan McGregor, and Jose Feliciano, “El Tango de Roxanne” (Moulin Rouge)
10. Patty Loveless, “Two Coats” (The Apostle)
11. Whitney Houston and the Georgia Mass Choir, “Hold On, Help is on the Way” (The Preacher’s Wife)
12. Brian Stokes Mitchell, “Through Heaven’s Eyes” (The Prince of Egypt)
13. Dashboard Confessional, “Vindicated” (Spider-man 2)
14. U2, “All I Want is You” (Rattle and Hum, also shows up in Reality Bites)

thursday 13 June 25, 2009

This week: Thirteen things you want to learn how to do.

1. Use a sewing machine.
2. Be fluent in Spanish.
3. Salsa dance.
4. Make puff pastry from scratch.
5. Crochet.
6. Write (better) HTML and XML and CSS and all that nonsense.
7. Write calligraphy.
8. Write databases.
9. Mix sound (I sort of know how to do this, but I want to be better at it).
10. Get better at using Excel.
11. Work statistics.
12. Knit intarsia and Fair Isle (the fancy colorwork kind of stuff–like this).
13. Do camera work for movies.

mix tape monday’s triumphant return June 22, 2009

This week’s theme: Think of a person you know. Make a mix tape especially for them. Don’t tell us who it is.

1. U2, “Levitate”
2. Dean Gray, “Boulevard of Broken Songs”
3. The Beatles, “Lady Madonna”
4. Kevin Max, “Irish Hymn”
5. REM, “Try Not to Breathe”
6. Johnny Cash, “God’s Gonna Cut You Down”
7. The Duhks, “Sleepin’ Is All I Wanna Do (stars on a sunny day)”
8. Counting Crows, “Friend of the Devil”
9. Bob Dylan, “Mr. Tambourine Man”
10. Josh Ritter, “Come and Find Me”
11. Vigilantes of Love, “River of Love”
12. Raul Esparza, “Marry Me A Little”
13. Wilco, “Misunderstood”
14. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere”
15. Five Iron Frenzy, “Superpowers”
16. Adele, “Right As Rain”
17. Ethan Durelle, “From the Heart of Blythe County”

here’s to my dad. June 20, 2009

Here’s to my dad: Fixer of electronic things, griller of steaks, lender of money. Married my mom when he was 21. Been with the same company almost 40 years, including that break he took to teach at my high school, where every guy in his classes developed a serious man-crush on him (ha!). Unembarrassed about his love for all things Disney (and he’s a dyed-in-the-wool Southern Baptist, everyone). Predicted a complete switch to wireless telephone systems in the early ’80s. Hates writing, and is boggled that one of his children got an English major, but oh well. Lifelong Aggie, I’m sorry to say. Has a decent baritone.

You know, the older I get, the more I realize that my dad is a good man. Not a perfect man, mind you, but a good man. Faithful to his wife, protector and provider for his children, hard and consistent worker, loyal member of his church and of the Church. So I raise my glass (full of Diet Coke, of course) to you, Dad. Happy Father’s Day.

the t13 strikes back June 18, 2009

Woo, been a while. Sorry, y’all. This week: Because I need this, 13 good things in your life right now.

1. I have good friends and good parents.
2. There’s a Whataburger around the corner, and they make very good shakes.
3. My mom’s out of the hospital, yay!
4. I get paid in the morning, yay!
5. There is both Dr Pepper and beer in my fridge.
6. I have not one, but two jobs.
7. Air conditioning! Seriously, y’all, if you live in Texas and have never thanked God for air conditioning, shame on you.
8. I heart my church.
9. My old churches podcast, so I get to keep up with them, too.
10. My friends Ashley and Sam are getting married next week!
11. I have access to not one, but THREE different library systems. This is awesome.
12. Actually, I think I’m losing weight, and I haven’t been doing anything intentional to do so. Weird, eh?
13. I am Christ’s and He is mine. Amazing.

a few random points, while I’m thinking about them: June 13, 2009

*I know a lot of people want to see a second Protestant Reformation happen in our time–the question is, who will be our Luther and Calvin and Zwingli (or who are those guys, if they’re around now), or who are and who have been our Hus and Wycliffe? Who’s going to nail the theses to the door? Or is it going to be a plethora of people?

*Garrison Keillor is a freaking genius. A Prairie Home Companion’s on the radio right now, and Billy Collins is reading poetry, and we’ve gotten to listen to alt-country singers from Australia. This is such a good show, and if you don’t listen, start. It’s a good way to spend the early part of your Saturday evening, or a Sunday afternoon. Skits, music, and a couple of monologues on various and sundry topics. Folksy. Comforting.

*My father is reading, so Dad, I apologize in advance, but it feels like a good night to go out on the porch and drink a beer whilst reading a book. If not tonight, it’ll happen sometime this week. Summer is good beer on the porch weather.

*What kind of music do you associate with summer? For me, it’s jazz, salsa music, sixties R&B, and gospel music (I think that comes from all those CFBC mission trips I took during my youth).

*Finally, I apologize for all the YouTubage lately, but I CAN’T QUIT WATCHING THIS:

a brief meditation on luke 18:16 June 6, 2009

The servant came into the courts of the king
carrying a wailing child,
a royal daughter wanting nothing more
than to see her daddy–
not the trinkets, not the playthings,
not her companions, not the beauty
nor the trappings of a kingdom,
but the warm embrace of a great lord
who loved her.

And all guards and courtiers,
dignified and mighty in power,
stopped, silent, as the father
took his baby, who needed him most,
in his arms.