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April 30, 2004
Style
One thing that makes no logical sense for me is the whole fashion industry. Now that I have all grabbed you with that opener I intend to digress.
Last night I went with a friend from class out to see "The Passion..." (now your confused) Unfortunately our movie had left the theater the night before. My friend suggested that we see "Kill Bill Vol. 2" (don't go to the official movie website it has spoilers on it). Having read the reviews on Screenit.com I was confident that there wasn't nudity and other related stuff. I probably wouldn't have spent money on it but my friend wanted to go.
Anyway, I really can't recommend the movie because of crass language and gore (not nearly as much as the first installment of Kill Bill as my companion informed me) but it was an incredibly stylish bit of storytelling. I really think that Tarantino (writer/director) is one of those people that the Apostle Paul would have quoted in relating to the present culture.
But this brings me back to the fashion industry. How does Tarantino know how to make something so cool, so stylish, so sheik if you will? Where does ones sense of style come from?
I consider myself to be a fairly style conscious man. I don't go out of my way to pick up the latest clothing trends, but I think that I can look pretty decent on a low budget. I am amazed how a designer (or whatever they are) can produce a movie or redesign a shirt from the sixties and trigger my mind to say “wow that’s really cool.”
I understand that most humans have an inborn sense of ascetics as they do pitch, rhyme and meter. I guess that it’s just art.
Posted by paul at 11:57 AM | Comments (5)
April 28, 2004
Dust Eve
The outdoors is calling me.
After a day going here and there with so much to do I think I will walk and set my mind on higher things.
Walking and the outdoors puts my mind at easy.
How do you relax?
PS and don't say you watch the soaps.
Posted by paul at 08:05 PM | Comments (12)
April 27, 2004
Hoarder
When I was young I hoarded my Halloween candy. I kept it in a bag in my closet and ate it slowly... for months. I also hoarded my money not wishing to waste it on frivolous candies and other expendable goods I went for the big prizes and bought a tent, fishing pole and sleeping bag by about the age of 10.
I like to keep things... all to myself. I like to have them, to possess them.
Maybe I am weird but I am a hoarder.
Posted by paul at 11:35 AM | Comments (4)
April 26, 2004
I'm coming...
Traveling is fun. I like seeing new places and trying new things. But there is just something amazing about home.
Comfort. Love. Peace. Assurance. Constants.
These are things that transform a house into a home. I can tell when I enter a house whether it is a home or not. It is dependant on the people there. Without the people that make the home it becomes just a house, a building.
DL Moody's book on Heaven talks similarly about our final destination and how it is defined by who lives there.
Posted by paul at 11:44 PM | Comments (0)
April 22, 2004
Abba, Father
Holding Isaiah Borseth in my arms yesterday brought on a miriad of feelings.
To see such a small human.
To feel his tiny muscles as he strained to grab at my face to achive some unknown end.
To look into his innocent eyes, so full of wonder.
I drempt about my own children and I thought about my father.
A real family is priceless. I am going to thank mine tonight.
Posted by paul at 04:33 PM | Comments (1)
April 20, 2004
Hazy
It has been a really introspective melancholy day.
I have just wanted to sit and think.
Haven't come up with much though. I guess its all a chasing after the wind anyway.
God is good. After a day of trying and realizing that I can't change the color of the hair that grows out of my head I have rescinded control once again.
(It is cool to note that I spelled melancholy and introspective correctly on the first try. Too bad that I had to check the spelling of rescinded. shrug. oh well maybe next time. :) )
Posted by paul at 08:04 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
April 19, 2004
Update For Today - 2004-04-19 15:10:57
Reading:
Psalm 45 - Sons of Korah/God
Distant Fires - Scott Anderson
Inconstant Moon - Larry Niven
The Maresh Points - Kathy Hanson
Listening:
Illuminate - David Crowder Band
Heavier Things - John Mayer
The Spark - Plankeye
Eating:
An old sandwich - my sister
Assorted Chocolates - Stonebrook Staff Christmas Party (I just found them in my room)
Drinking:
Water - the facet
Coffee - free from Emily
Smelling:
Cool Breeze - my window
Tasks:
Homework due Thursday - CS342
Raising Support - GCM
Talking to:
Adam - Roommate
Michael - Roommate
Christie - Beautiful Fiancé
Posted by paul at 03:10 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
April 18, 2004
weather or not...
Isn't it great to go from using the heat in your car straight to using the air conditioning?
Maybe I am a "wuss" but I hate humitity and could have done without it for at least the next month.
Those this weather does remind me of orlando... 
Posted by paul at 03:01 PM | Comments (1)
April 17, 2004
Blogblog
I think that God does something special in early morning sunlight. There was just a magic in the air this morning as I walked through the wet grassy capret. There was a stillness a quietness of the soul that refreshes and encourages.
The heavens tell of the glory of God.
The skies display his marvelous craftsmanship.
Day after day they continue to speak;
night after night they make him known.
They speak without a sound or a word;
their voice is silent in the skies;
yet their message has gone out to all the earth,
and their words to all the world.
-PS 19:1-4a
I think that morning is my favorite time of day. How in the world could you hate the morning? Someone give me justification for their dislike of mornings.
Posted by paul at 02:45 PM | Comments (7)
April 14, 2004
Saved!
This movie could be good.
SAVED!
It could also be really bad.
Check out the "Christian Notes" section.
Posted by paul at 02:21 PM | Comments (1)
No Fighting?
So awhile back someone (I think it was Ochuk) mentioned that I should do a post on never fighting with my fiancée Christie Gibson.
It really is true. Through the last 8 months together we have not had a single fight.
Now, of course we have had disagreements. We see things different ways just like any two people would. But we don't let those disagreements escalate into a fight. Neither of us has lost their temper and neither of us has gotten frustrated.
Why is this you may ask?
Well, for a couple of reasons, the biggest being that we only get to see each other a couple of times a months. So this means that when we spend a lot of time together over a weekend we are so thankful to be near one another that we put aside the arguments.
Another reason is in our personalities. We are both fairly laid back people and don't look for conflict. Sure we joke and have at times been unkind in our jesting but a simple apology put it in the past.
We also have the life experience necessary in order to see the major issues and dismiss the minor ones.
Now, the question is "When will your first fight be?"
I really couldn't tell you. I assume that some weeks after the wedding we will become entangled in a dispute over one of the main sticky points in marriage, money, sex, or children and let our own selfishness take over and have that first fight.
Or we will end up fighting sometime between now and then about something complete useless and benign.
Who knows? I am not worried about it. I am just enjoying the time that we get together now.
P.S. I love you Christie.
(Sorry to all of the gag meters)
P.S.S. Don't go trying to start a betting pool as to when our first fight will be either.
Posted by paul at 02:04 PM | Comments (8)
April 13, 2004
Yuk!
******************************************************************
So I discovered this morning that I have been blog-spammed again.
Several websites went through and commented on almost half of my posts. They have left disturbing messages and horrid links.
I am attempting to delete them all but if you run into something offensive please tell me so that I can delete it.
Also if you have a blog (especially a lonestrangers blog) check and see if you have gotten blog-spammed.
Thanks for your patience.
******************************************************************
Posted by paul at 10:43 AM | Comments (3)
April 12, 2004
Hey that wasn't funny...
Since I have neither the strength nor the perseverence to post tonight I shall amuse you with...
RANDOM ONE-LINERS (yes, I stole these. And no I won't tell you where.)
Give me ambiguity or give me something else.
(since it's almost the 15th and I haven't done my taxes yet)
I.R.S.: We've got what it takes to take what you've got!
We are born naked, wet and hungry. Then things get worse.
Make it idiot proof and someone will make a better idiot. (I must admit that I hate reading instructions)
He who laughs last thinks slowest! (Sometimes I laugh at my own jokes until other people start laughing at me)
A flashlight is a case for holding dead batteries.
Some of these are techie:
Daddy, why doesn't this magnet pick up this floppy disk?
Daddy, what does FORMATTING DRIVE C mean?Programming is an art form that fights back.
"Daddy, what does FORMATTING DRIVE C mean?"
My mail reader can beat up your mail reader.
Never forget: 2 + 2 = 5 for extremely large values of 2.
To define recursion, we must first define recursion.
To define recursion, we must first define recursion.
Good programming is 99% sweat and 1% coffee.
Home is where you hang your @
The E-mail of the species is more deadly than the mail.
Too many clicks spoil the browse.
A chat has nine lives.
What boots up must come down.
hmm...
I don't suffer from insanity. I enjoy every minute of it.
Error, no keyboard - press F1 to continue.
There's too much blood in my caffeine system.
And finally what always rings true-
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach him to use the Net and he won't bother you for weeks.
Thank you so much -- have a good night -- try the fish
Posted by paul at 08:10 PM | Comments (0)
April 08, 2004
400 seconds of purpose
So car trouble is never good. Last month it was my fiancé’s alternator, then yesterday my muffler fell off. “Grrrreat” I whined and started begging God to leave me with a good lesson a small bill and a good story. My mind was salved a little when a roommate told me that a new muffler was only 30-40 bucks. I was hoping to get off under a hundred with labor.
A MTD appointment, a class, and an hour in the shop’s waiting room left me walking up to the counter with my fingers still crossed. Apparently mufflers don’t run at about 40 bucks. Mine came in at150 or so. A new pipe (60) that leads to it, a couple of clamps (10 each), some seals or something (5), and labor (35) brought it to 257 and some change. (Ok so everything almost adds up)
That was tough to swallow. I looked hard at the receipt and stammered something at the greasy handed man in the blue shirt. He shrugged and said that a muffler and pipe comes in one piece. Somewhere somehow I thought that I should have been entitled to an estimate before the work was done. But in reality it only took them a half hour or so of actual labor. So there was nothing for them to cheat me on. I slid them my plastic and shuffled out the door, dejected. I went about my business and whined.
A couple of hours later I was sitting outside my house still whining at God. Then I thought about the old man that I had seen on TV while waiting for my reaper, I mean, mechanic. He shook a little nervously as he told the “B” daytime-late-show-type host that his one hit some came from somewhere inside of him. It was Rick Springsteen. His one hit song had made it for him I guess, and he was still living off it. He rocked out for three and a half minutes and then smashed his Fernandez guitar to pieces on the multicolored studio floor. Then not knowing what to do he picked up a chunk of it and pretended to play it for the cheering fans as the studio reprised his hit. The clothing designer’s and stylist for Mr. So-and-so host names flew across the screen. And it was over.
If you asked me five minutes earlier who Rick Springsteen was I couldn’t have told you. And I bet only a handful of you could even name his one song. But that is what he had given his life to. It glowed for a little while and then faded into obscurity.
I stopped whining and thanked God that I have more of a purpose in my life.
Posted by paul at 09:21 AM | Comments (4)
April 07, 2004
no, actually, I don't
So do you ever get that weird coffee tired shake thing?
Where you want to lay down and close your eyes and and go outside and scamper across a parking lot all at the same time.
Where you are relentlessly chewing on your fingernails and jiggling your leg.
When you are trying to sit still but ever 4 minutes you get up and...
sorry I lost my train of thought...
I must have gotten up to go do something and then forgotten what it was that I was going to do.
When your eyes really feel like they should be closed and you have to remind them why they are open... oh... about every 43 seconds.
More effects of caffee...
BTW: any theories as to what a "Wood-Daver" is?
Posted by paul at 10:28 AM | Comments (5)
April 06, 2004
Sparks Fly
So here I am blogging... not really because I want to but because a certain roommate of mine hasn't finished dinner.
So a couple of comments about who I am:
What type of person picks up a pen and tries to use it. Then finding it doesn't work replaces it into the very same receptacle that he found it in? And then some days later takes it out and tries again.
Isn’t that the definition of insanity? To try something over and over truly expecting different results.
What does it say about a person when they really enjoy campfires? Building, maintaining and playing with campfires. Mr. Scott Kovach suggested that it could be because I enjoy controlling something wild. Or trying to tame something nearly untamable. To which I replied (much to my chagrin) that then perhaps it means that I should involve myself in women’s ministry. (Ok not that funny, at least not to the women readers out there. (I thought it was hilarious.)) Never the less I do quite enjoy staring into the flames and stirring it up with a large stick. Does wonders for the imagination.
Posted by paul at 06:02 PM | Comments (4)
April 04, 2004
Nuthin' like it
It has been a random weekend.
I would appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers as I head into this next week. I must admit that I am feeling a little tired of my current schedule.
School has got me a little behind and in reality I would take my finals tomorrow if they would let me. I wouldn't do as well but I would be done.
I have been building a ministry team so that I can be on full time staff. (Most people would call this support raising (I need people to partner with me not just give me support and wave goodbye)) That has been going well but I am getting to the end of the list of people I know. That means striking out into the wide world and a higher risk of defeat and ridicule. So if you know anyone who is interested in seeing damaged youth on the American college campus come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ well then point me their way. I want to talk to them.
Anyway, I believe in the power of prayer. So please pray that I would be motivated this week to continue my walk of faith, leaving the safety net behind and becoming all that God would have for me to be.
11 No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening--it is painful! But afterward there will be a quiet harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.
12 So take a new grip with your tired hands and stand firm on your shaky legs. 13 Mark out a straight path for your feet. Then those who follow you, though they are weak and lame, will not stumble and fall but will become strong.
P.S. Many thanks to all of my readers who have already made the decision to support GCM on my behalf.
P.P.S. Everyone: lets give a warm blog welcome to Dr. Mike and Cindy Gibson. I hear that they are recent regular readers here. :)
P.P.P.S. Late night blog entries rock! It feels late and it's only 10:56pm! JIESHHH! I am getting old. Hazzah for post post post scripts too!
Posted by paul at 10:56 PM | Comments (7)
April 02, 2004
Perceived Moral vs. True Moral
Often the most apparent moral is the true moral. The first answer you come to is the right one simply because it is the most obvious. But what about those stories with a deeper truth that is not immediately perceived?
So here goes:
David and Goliath
Perceived Moral: With God’s help we can overcome incredible odds.
True Moral: Having a few smooth stones nearby can always help.
Now you try the true moral: (answers at bottom DON’T PEEK)
Esther, Mordecai, and Haman
Perceived Moral: With God’s help we can overcome incredible odds.
True Moral:
Need some more practice?
Joseph and his 12 brothers
Perceived Moral: (that’s right) With God’s help we can overcome incredible odds.
True Moral: Dual moral – God makes cisterns empty for a reason and if you ever work for someone named Potiphar go the Russ Graves route and grow that beard.
Ok here is a chance to redeem yourself; you get both tries on this one:
Samson and Delilah
Perceived Moral:
True Moral:
Answers: T: Always extend your scepter to your beautiful wife.
P: With God’s help we can overcome incredible odds.
T: Again a dual moral – jawbones so underrated and philistine women so overrated.
Posted by paul at 10:55 AM | Comments (3)
April 01, 2004
The Journey
I stretch and shake the water out of my eyes. My faithful dog watches my left hand expectantly as I clutch the gnawed gray tennis ball. I rear back and with all my 12-year-old strength throw the tennis ball at the sun high above.
Neither the dog nor I wait for it to hit the water. She is off with the scramble of her toenails on the red crooked dock and I am close on her heels, my bare feet slapping the wood, and my fists clenched and pumping. This summer day is perfect without a wisp of cloud in the sky. The smell of great pines mixed with earth, grass, and wood smoke complete my universe. My eyes are on the horizon and I know no other noise then the rush of wind in my ears and the whistle of my breath as the end of the dock rapidly draws near. My dog launches off the dock crazed with the race for the ball. My right foot thunders against the final plank and I enter space.
Time pauses as I mount higher and higher into the deep blue sky. It is just me and the sun that warms me. I spread my arms wide and push a savage yell from my exhausted lungs. I am alone on my flight towards infinite. Suddenly forever meets the present and I tighten my wiry frame into a coarse ball and smack the water. My journey is over.
The dog and I meet back at the end of the dock. We're going to try it again.
Posted by paul at 11:09 AM | Comments (1)