I tried to write a killer recap of my 2005 Sonshine Music Festival experience like I did last year, but it just didn’t happen. At this point if I don’t get something out soon I’ll be experiencing Sonshine 2006 before I write this. So you’ll get the half-assed version. It’s probably just as long as last year’s version, just not as thorough.
Monthly Archives: July 2005
Christianity on Primetime
CNN’s 360 Degrees with Anderson Cooper featured T.D. Jakes, Joel Osteen, Rick Warren and Jerry Jenkins on its show a couple nights ago in four separate stories about religion. Too bad the coverage was a mile wide and an inch deep.
Stray Cat
As if my day wasn’t already exciting, we came home to find a cat in the backyard. It took off when we got out of the car, but it later showed up on the deck. Eager to check it out and scare it off before releasing the dogs, I went outside to say hello. It wasn’t at all skittish and kept rubbing up against my legs. Not at all like previous stray cats, though I doubt this one was a stray. It looked like somebody had been feeding it well.
The cat randomally hissed a couple of times at nothing in particular, but kept rubbing up against my leg and let me scratch its head. I walked off the deck and started thinking about getting the cat out of there when suddenly it turned and lunged for me. I did nothing to provoke it. The damn cat just decided to bite me. It struck at my leg with the speed and ferocity of a snake and scared the crap out of me. It hurt, too, but I was more surprised at the sudden assault. Luckily it’s been cold today and I was wearing jeans.
So more ‘nice kitty’ in my yard. From now on we release the hounds.
Losing and Replacing Fascia
So last night we slept with the windows open for the first time in a long time. Once we shut the lights off and everything got quiet we heard and odd rapping sound. We listened to it for a few minutes before I finally got up and looked out the window. I couldn’t see anything below or to the right, but when I looked left I saw what looked like a telephone pole leaning up against the house.
Profanity ensued while I got dressed, grabbed a manly flashlight and went outside to inspect the damage. Turns out a strip of fascia had been ripped off the side of the house in a recent storm and about ten feet of it was hanging off the roof.
Online Piracy; It’s not Just For Music Anymore
Last week I had the disturbing feeling that my work had been stolen. Everyone makes a big deal about music piracy, which is indeed a big issue (I just wrote an article about it for a teen web site, which was a pain to write since it seems like such a no-brainer issue; I then spent my entire weekend at Sonshine telling the teens not be thieves. It’s not a no-brainer issue.), but it’s not the only kind of piracy going on. Articles
Babies, Babies Everywhere!
Even before my wife and I started trying to have kids everyone around us was having kids. I didn’t think much of it, since most of them were older. I think at one time last fall I knew 8 couples who either just had a baby or were pregnant.
Since announcing our own pregnancy we’ve heard from at least 10 other couples who either just had babies or were pregnant (and I think the overlap in those two groups is only two). That’s a lot of babies!
But I think the coolest story comes from a former coworker. Him and his wife are trying to adopt two children from Russia. They even set up an adoption blog to share the experience, though it’s not updated frequently. What a cool story.
Pre-Pay at the Gas Station
Gas stations must have the absolute worst customer service ever. Many of them make you pre-pay (at least the ones near my house) which is annoying. Normally I just pay at the pump and it’s not an issue. But today I wanted to run inside and get a drink. The pre-pay requirement meant I’d have to go inside, pre-pay, come back out and pump my gas, then go back inside to get my drink.
Screw it. I payed at the pump and my bought my drink somewhere else.
I understand why they make you pre-pay. They can’t afford to have everyone drive off with free gas. Especially in my neighborhood it makes sense. But I’ve got to think treating all your customers like thieves doesn’t do much for the community or your customer service. There’s got to be a better way.
George W. Bush is not Lord
Gotta love the Christianity Today editorial, Worship as Higher Politics. I’m glad somebody else is saying this.
George W. Bush is not Lord. The Declaration of Independence is not an infallible guide to Christian faith and practice. Nor is the U.S. Constitution, nor the U.N. Universal Declaration on Human Rights. “Original intent” of America’s founders is not the hermeneutical key that will guarantee national righteousness. The American flag is not the Cross. The Pledge of Allegiance is not the Creed. “God Bless America” is not the Doxology.
Home Again
I’m back from the Sonshine music festival with the youth group. It was hot. Melting eyeballs hot. Hopefully I’ll write a snide review soon that draws lots of weird comments like I did last year. Though I will say this: If you ever have a chance to catch Mute Math live, do it.
Secondly, my cross-dressing dog is at it again. You can catch him on the cover of this week’s Target ad (same picture as a few weeks ago). I also took him in for another photo shoot last week, which should appear in September. Let’s just say Speak is still pretty in pink.
I’m also enjoying the new Harry Potter, as I’m sure many others are. Good stuff. I love how the story continues to be so engaging.
Oh, and choose your own adventures. While hanging out with a few youth group kids between bands at Sonshine we thought it’d be cool to write choose your own adventure books. Maybe that’ll be my next NaNoWriMo accomplishment.
Music to an Expectant Father’s Ears
I heard my baby’s heartbeat today.
Woo!
They use this old 1970s style microphone thingie, which seems so technologically backward, but I heard that fast, loud beat. So cool. The expectant father doesn’t get much actual evidence in the first trimester of a pregnancy. Unless you call nausea and heartburn evidence. But those aren’t exactly joyful.
But that beat. Thumpa-thumpa-thumpa. Yeah, baby!