one part love

Today my niece celebrated her first birthday. I married into a family of many nieces and nephews; birthday parties aren't uncommon. And we all live within two miles of my wife's parents'--all 8 grandkids, all under 3 years old. Ana is the oldest. Birthday parties (and weekly Saturday night dinner) are complete chaos. Welcome to my life.

At today's  birthday party the "icanthroughabetterpartythanyourlameasscan-ness" was in force. My niece's parents provided a meal of gyros. But they didn't have it catered. After all that would be too easy, especially since my niece's father is Greek. Today's party featured a lamb spinning on that mysterious machine that makes gyro meat, Shawarma. We did shots of ouzo and watched toddlers play on a swingset. We only argued about religion a couple of times. 

At times it becomes easy to succumb to the laziness of selfishness. I'm surrounded by family and young children; life abounds. Yet at times I wish they would all just leave me the hell alone. Let me sit in silence and watch tv. Children eager to give me kisses surround me, but sometimes all I can think about is myself, how tired I am, how I just want to sit on the couch and have a drink. This is lazy selfishness. This is pathetic.

Life does not get simpler than a birthday party. Happiness is a swingset and chocolate cake and not having to go to bed at the normal bed time because you're daddy let your get hopped up on sugar from cake and ice cream.

Life does not get simpler than a birthday party. What could be better than shots of ouzo and lamb on a spit?

family tree

I'm famous.
Just read the link.

shiny gold trophies

The 1^st Annual Cedar 3’s – July 2006

Welcome to the Cedar 3’s, an award ceremony dedicated to the best in contemporary music. The Cedar 3 committee meets continuously throughout the year to discuss all things music; the good, the horrible, and the contenders for this year’s awards.

On with the show.

Album of the year

Gomez, How We Operate

Citizen Cope, The Clarence Greenwood Recordings

Sufjan Stevens, Illinios

Winner: Gomez, How We Operate

day to day

Do you ever wish you could make time stand still? I do. Everyday.

My daughter is two, will turn 3 this November. My son is 10 months. I'm told a day will come when they won't want anything to do with me. Someday, I'll be just Dad, the dorky & annoying old man who doesn't know shit. But today, I'm Daddy, the best thing in the whole world. I make forts, read stories, play puzzles, and (in Sam's case) give them whatever they want to eat. Including chips. I'm daddy. There's no-one better. And my heart is full. Can time stand still?

My daughter is bossy. I think it's funny. She does yoga. I think she takes after my wife. "Down dog" is the name of something related to yoga. Do you call it a "position"? or "stretch"? or....who cares-it's yoga. Whatever happened to drinking to reduce stress.
Anyway, my daughter now knows about "Down Dog." Basically, you plant your hands and feet on the ground and then stick your ass as far in the air as you can. And now Ana does it. Today, she informed me that "Daddy, you do down dog, and then I'm going to push you over."

yossarian

From Catch-22, by Joseph Heller.

"Do you know how long a year takes when it's going away?" Dunbar repeated to Clevinger. "This long." He snapped his fingers. "A second ago you were stepping into college with your lungs full of fresh air. Today you're an old man."
"Old?" asked Clevinger with surprise. "What are you talking about?"
"Old."
"I'm not old."
"You're inches away from death every time you go on a mission. How much older can you be at your age? A half minute before that you were stepping into high school, and an unhooked brassiere was as close as you ever hoped to get to Paradise. Only a fifth of a second before that you were a small kid with a ten-week summer vacation that lasted a hundred thousand years and still ended too soon. Zip! They go rocketing by so fast. How the hell else are you ever going to slow down?" Dunbar was almost angry when he finished.
"Well, maybe it is true," Clevinger conceded unwillingly in a subdued tone. "Maybe a long life does have to be filled with many unpleasant conditions if it's to seem long. But in that event, who wants one?"
"I do," Dunbar told him.
"Why?" Clevinger asked.
"What else is there?"

greg

New York Times, reporting on Greg Boyd.

the stars all have names

Do you remember the last time you were thankful?

I let stress and worry consume my thoughts, and forget life is short.

What is your definition of success? Money? Comfort? A little of both?

When did comfort become our god? Maybe I'm unique, but I doubt it. We are strange creatures. We worship comfort, stability, so much so that we make ourselves uncomfortable in our quest for that which eludes, defies definition.

the speckled mind: for the love of the city

I've been mulling over the following:
The Speckled Mind: For the Love of the City

I should probably avoid comment, since I don't know much about the topic, but ignorance breeds conflict (witness our president), and a good blog is nothing without a little conflict.

1) "But there's everything in the Bible that says you ought to want to [live in a city]." Where the hell is this piece of scripture? We ought to want to live in a city? What is a city? Since Dr. Keller is a pastor in NYC, I assume "city" = large metropolitan area? Those poor farmers, working in the country (dumb hicks) and suckers living in small cities like Des Moines.

2) When Christians talk about wanting to become "counter culture" centers of society, I get nervous. I know the idea is a noble one. Usually the argument involves the city on a hill can't be hidden argument: Christians should be ambassodors of love, peace, joy, etc, and hence "counter-cultural." I've yet to ever see this play out in practice.

3) My good friend Timmer asks an interesting question: "How does this all affect the way we live within culture?" What is "culture"? The question presupposes "culture" is a universal concept, but shouldn't we speak of cultures rather than culture? In practice, there are multiple cultures at work within society.

sam

plants

I'm growing things in my yard.

nevermind

My good friend anonymous, commenting on my endorsement of the drunk-dialing preventor, made me rethink my endorsement.

You see, most people aren't terribly enamored with talking about what they really believe or what they are really thinking. Especially me. This makes it hard to be in a serious romantic relationship with another person, unless the other person enjoys deep conversations with the conversational equivelent of a 14 year old.

Enter alcohol. Problem solved.

Did you ever see that movie The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood? I'm not ashamed to say that I enjoyed the movie. There's an exceptional line from the movie - "ever since you quit drinkin' you quit makin' sense."

I officially recant my endorsement of the phone that prevents drunk-dials. The risk of not telling someone what you really feel far outweighs the risk of making a complete ass out of yourself. Drunk-dialing keeps people talking.

Cheers.

money for my friends

A friend of mine recently sent me an email and asked me if I would post my thoughts on tithing. Here goes…

The preacher says:
Tithing is a word used in some churches to describe the church'’s particular theology about how each church member's money should be distributed. Namely, a tithe” is usually considered 1/10 of the church member's income. Some churches believe everyone should be “tithing,” meaning that everyone who attends the church should be cutting checks to the church equal to 10% of their income.

Considering this concept, I wonder: 10% of pre-tax or post-tax income? What about investment income and dividends? If I own investment properly, can I deduct my monthly costs from my monthly income? Do I pay weekly, or can I schedule my 10% payments to coincide with my bi-monthly pay checks? If I have two dependents, and both are working, am I responsible for their 10%? What about gambling income? Is that tithed as well? And would the church consider a barter system? If I mow the church lawn once a week, can I get a 4% discount? And the real humdinger: considering the IRS grants money given to churches as tax deductible, at the end of the year should I determine how much my church-giving tax deduction saved me in federal and state tax, and then pay that amount back to the church?

My ethical convictions, spurred by my nuanced Christian beliefs, demand we give willingly to the widows and orphans, the poor and destitute. After all, theirs is the kingdom of heaven, lest we forget. I believe any church which mandates a financial requirement is a church I don't have much interest in attending. Churches aren't fraternities, God is not for sale. For some families, 0% is too much--every dime that is earned is needed to buy food, clothes, and pay rent.

crickets, year 2

Crickets, year 1.

Do you remember when you went to coffee shops without your computer?
Do you remember when instead of writing in your blog you wrote in a journal?
Do you remember when you spent warm summer nights chatting with friends instead typing IM's to people you don't really know?
Do you remember when you believed in god? Does it make you happy or sad?
Do you remember when you knew you knew everything about life, love, politics, god, art, music, literature, culture?

The crickets are singing again. God is no longer sighing. This year, I think god is sad. The world has betrayed god.

Too many things crowd our desire for simplicity. Things progress and develop slowly, then vanish, abdicating their meaning to a fleeting passing of memory. Do I seem obtuse? Consider the circumstances of life around your life: the sorrows and joys of friends and family. My memory is full:
The passing of loved ones, bringing with it the familiar sting of guilt for not appreciating the person before they were gone.
The marriage of friends, and basking in their joy. Love is simple.
A brother betrayed, his relationship destroyed.
A brother renewed, mature in his sorrow.
My kids, my everything.

drunk dialing

This is fantastic. A phone that prevents you from drunk dialing people.

new music

I've pleaded for suggestions for new music in this space before. Thanks for the help.
Some of my new favorites:

1. Citizen Cope, The Clarence Greenwood Recordings
2. Andrew Bird, The Mysterious Production of Eggs
3. The Fray, How to Save a Life
4. Death Cab For Cuite, every album they've ever made
5. Anna Nalick, Wreck Of The Day