the invitation

nathanael said to him, “can anything good come out of nazareth?”
philip said to him, “come and see.”

two dreams

both of different nature.  this morning jordan and i were in the kitchen and i mentioned i dreamed about thom yorke(1).  he and i had been dating for an extended period of time and were out to dinner with three other girls and josh duhamel(2).  thom was hilarious.  he always had us laughing about things.  during dinner, global warming was cured, the ozone layer was destroyed and the earth became one with the universe(3).

i am usually able to discern why i dreamed about certain things the night before, if i try hard enough.  here is what i came up with:
(1) angie and i talked about the superiority of radiohead for about an hour yesterday.  thom was on the brain.
(2) seeing josh in the dream was odd, because i have never given him a thought before – haven’t seen any of his tv shows, movies, or anything.  but yesterday court and i did express interest in seeing transformers when it comes out on dvd, so that makes sense.
(3) i watched the end of return of the king with the family yesterday and the scene of the ring breaking through the lava was etched in my mind.  that’s what the sky looked like in my dream when the ozone layer was destroyed.

my dream was pleasant, interactive and clearly just my mind sorting through the previous day’s events.

then jordan shared his dream with me.  he was sitting in my dad’s office, in the dark, when a ghost opened the door and approached him.  jordan knew that it was jimmy ditoza.  he was scared to death, woke up in a fright, and ran upstairs in the kitchen, which is where i found him this morning.  since he had never heard of the name jimmy ditoza before, he decided to look it up on yahoo search … and now he wishes he hadn’t.  the only item that came up was an obituary listing.

trailers

i love them.  today my decision is official – i think i like trailers more than the films themselves.  one gets to enjoy all of the best scenes in a 1-3 minute period!

there are several categories of trailers in my mind – the ones that deliver and the films are awful; the ones that deliver and the films are beyond my expectations and the ones whose films i greatly anticipate.  then there are the just plain bad trailers.  but we don’t pay attention to those.  join me in a little review.

the following trailers are wonderful.  i loved them when i first saw them, and i still love them now.  however, unfortunately for this category, the actual films were awful.
1.  troy.
     “if love is worth fighting for” … it should have been a greater battle than this.
2.  the black dahlia.
     “nothing stays buried forever” … wish this thing had.
3.  memoirs of a geisha.
     “a story like mine has never been told” … too bad it didn’t stay untold.
4.  alexander.
     “conquor your fear” … of your mom being from transelvania.

the following trailers are wonderful.  and so are their films.
1.  fight club.
     “in tyler we trusted”
2.  the two towers.  (the last minute and a half … i just die.)
     “there is still hope”
and of course, the godfather of all trailers, that delivered ten-fold …
3.  300.
     “madness?!”

the following trailers are also wonderful, and i hope they deliver, despite what many critics are saying.
1.  the darjeeling limited.
     because it’s wes anderson.
2.  across the universe.
     because it’s julie taymor.
and finally, the queen …
3.  elizabeth: the golden age.
     “i have a hurricaine in me that will strip spain bear!”

take a half hour and decide on these trailers for yourself.  agree?  disagree?  have anything to add?  one of the reasons i love film is because it allows for shared experiences between people that would not have been possible otherwise.  on that note …

celebrate good times

it’s you and me, phone;
we’re bad to the bone.
happy 2nd anniversary!
my pretty little cell phone;
and me.

the used

best store on the planet: half price books.

over the weekend, i found a free two hour block and decided to spend it well.  at hpb.  the store clerks are extremely well-read (at least at the two locations near my house) and are eager to discuss any title i bring up.  the used books are delightful.  they each have stories on top of their own stories.  the handwriting on various pages, the dedications, the old publishing dates.   delicious.  delectable, even!

i can never visit the place without purchasing an item.  or five.  this time around:
2 tori amos cds
one bible
one morrison book
one kerouac book
total: 25 bucks.  subtotal on amazon?  $62.16.  simply divine!

give me the used any day.

a laborless day

after a party with friends, i headed downtown with my mom to another party at the edgewater yacht club to hang out and watch the air show.  it is amazing how low and close together those guys fly their planes!  it was wonderful being with people, but the end of the day got a little rough, because it is hard answering people’s questions, like if my current ministry opportunity does not work out.  i know it is because those adults care about me, but sometimes i allow it to make me feel like i should have an elaborate “plan b” answer about pursuing an accounting position at some fortune 500 company.  seeing our friends’ amazing houses along the lake makes it hard to not think i am pursuing the wrong things, like ministry.

that night i went home a little discouraged, so decided to continue reading macarthur’s the book on leadership.  some helpful things were written:

people often ask me what i would do if i weren’t in the ministry.  i find the question impossible to answer, because i cannot conceive of doing anything else.  i know beyond any shadow of doubt that i am called to preach the word of god … preaching is what god called me to … i didn’t choose a career because i thought it was [the most lucrative] of several options … people in leadership who indulge in self-doubt will always struggle, because every time things get difficult, they question the validity of what they do.  should i be here?  should i go elsewhere?  should i get out completely?  unless you have absolut confidence that you’re called and gifted for what you are doing, every trial, every hardship will threaten to deter you from your objective … paul knew that the gifts and the calling of god are irrevocable.

after reading those several pages, i felt like a loser that i was making myself feel badly about this waiting period.  people are not discouraging me, i get into trouble by twisting their words in my own mind and using them as an excuse to wallow.  god is good and he has graciously allowed me this time to spend at home with friends and family while i work through personal sin that i would not have seen otherwise.  i am more encouraged today and look forward to quality reading time.