animal crackers

Now playing: don't tell me, the avril and central vac, the mom.

I bought animal crackers. You know, animal crackers—the popular children's snack; predecessor to Goldfish and other gimmicky kids snacks: what were the graham cracker bear things? I totally can't remember. I'm actually presently looking quite forward to enjoying some animal crackers with my tea. Which has now steeped for far too long. One sec. One tip on animal crackers before I move on: don't buy the cheap ones: they all look like mutated bisons. All of them. 'Cept maybe the lion, cause he's skinnier.

So, here's what's been bugging me about my thought processes of late. There is no synthesis. It's not like I don't have a solid grasp on who I am or anything dumb like that, rather I do not think critically and incisively about the events that take place around me or that I read about. I read about the pastor who left the church after the whole political thing blew up in his face and think "Hmm, I wonder what happened in NHL negotiations today." This reveals two things actually. 1. I'm really, really dumb. Nothing happened in NHL negotiations today! Duh, I already knew that, cause nothing ever happens in NHL negotiations. So, that was just stupid. 2. I've slipped into a dangerous apathy.

If I'm going to be a true Christian—a thinking Christian whose worldview impacts the way he sees the world around him, whose desire is to see change (not necessarily governmental or institutional) and to have an impact, I'm going to have to change that. "'Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.' Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise' (Eph. 5:14-15).

Yeah. So, lets challenge each other as a generation to not fall into the same traps of apathy and self-centeredness that have plagued us for so long. Lets try to have a sphere of awareness that is encompassing, not just obsessed with whether or not the NHL plays hockey this year, or whatever other mundanity may be easy to obsess about.

Welp, I hope that made some sense to someone other than me.

everybody's working for the weekend?

now playing: video killed the radio star // the presidents of the united states of america, covering the buggles.

Hiya folks! It's the end of a Tuesday, and I'm not too sad to see it go. (You'll note that the comma in that sentence was necessary as it was splitting two complete sentences (subject and predicate) joined by a conjunction.) I realized today at work that I've turned into one of those people who live for weekends. I guess that to a certain degree everyone does it... but, it can't be healthy. I guess I haven't really capitalized on the things about my job that i enjoy and can be happy about. (You'll notice that, while there was a conjunction in it, the preceding sentence did NOT need a comma as the conjunction joined a compound predicate. Basically, the easiest way to distinguish is to ask yourself "is there a new subject?" If not, then no comma. If so, then throw the comma before the conjunction. Of course, when you're separating items in a list or a series, there's a whole different set of rules (including the dreaded serial comma). We'll handle that next week or something.) There's absolutely no reason to constantly rush headlong through life looking forward to future events. That sort of an attitude is simply silly, wasteful, and immature. (<-- Serial comma... did you see it?) So, I guess i need to take a page from monty python and "Always look on the bright side of life."

Good tip. This message brought to you by Elements of Style and the Chicago Manual of Style. Your ad could go here next post. Contact me at thisspaceforsale@orsomething.com.

resigned detachment

Now playing: Big Yellow Taxi, Counting Crows. Heh. Ironic.

I'm struggling with how to interact with the world. I look at the news (yes Justin, at www.foxnews.com) and I have a hard time not going "meh, who cares?" It just seems easier to not be concerned at all about the world around me. Why should I bother? I've got enough to worry about, darn it.

If I was being dishonest, I'd probably blame my eschatology. Afterall, everyone knows that a dispensationalist - even a progressive one - can't have a positive outlook on the direction the world is going. On the one hand, that's kinda true. On the other hand, when you look at the news and the leading story is about two second graders being found stabbed to death, it's hard to understand how anyone could have a positive outlook on the ultimate direction of mankind and history.

I know better. My eschatology does lend itself to caring about the individuals who populate the world. They need Jesus, and how.

So, it ends up being far more basic than that. It ends up being a selfishness thing. Cause ultimately, I sell myself on the fact that I'm better than them, and more deserving of good things; ultimately, I convince myself that loving myself is really the best thing to do.

Why am I telling you this? Cause confession is good for the soul? I'm not sure. What I do know is that my perspective is off. I guess starting from a selfish perspective leaves you with no choice but determining in the end that it's all about numero uno.

Blah blah blah, I'm rambling.

You should read matt cook's blog. It's funny. I'm not only a member, I'm also a client.

Wow. Maybe I'll come back when I can act like maybe the world isn't all about me, and make some logically sound, relevant arguments. G'night!

what a funny world

now playing: Am I Wrong by Love Spit Love / from the Angus Soundtrack.

We live in a funny world - a world of instant publishing, where anyone can have a platform, anyone can spread a message, and supposedly everyone has a chance. I was thinking about this as I started a book today that was writtin in the early 19th century. The author had been rejected (like most traditional authors go through today, at least for a while) outright for her first book. Her second book managed to find a publisher (for good reason: I won't mention the title, cause it's a little lame, but she uses lots of big words to describe people, and she's very british), and she lucked out. It's not like she could've started a blog or written a book on a web page. She couldn't have published an E-book in PDF format for free. We've got it easy.

I think a little bit of everyone wants to be a writer. It's inherent to our nature to want to leave something behind, something permenant. The written word is really one of the few tangible things that tends to stick around if it's done well. It's easy to want to be a part of that. It's really a lot harder to actually be a part of that.

If you do some research, you'll be told to write every day, write with discipline, write with soul, write what you love. Not that any of that stuff is bad, but darn it, I just need to write. Forget about it being good or bad: that's what revision is for.

Why am I lecturing you all? I have no idea. This one's really for me. Don't think about writing, don't intend to write. WRITE!

I think that's it for me, for now. You may notice updated links at the side. Visit some of them.

spring car cleaning

Now playing: ghetto-old petra songs... that make me feel like getting together with 30 or 40 other musicians and signing a lame song to try to raise money for aging Christian rockers. Seriously, John Schlitt, Louie Weaver, and Bob... I can't remember Bob's last name... are going to need pensions pretty soon, and I understand Larry Norman could already use one.

So, it's that time of year that everyone loves: Spring. In spring, bible college students form couples like it's going out of style. In spring, people start to exercise again, cause winter's over and the extra layer of blubber is no longer necessary (unless you live in ohio, where you can possible have 30 cm of snow on the second last weekend of april. Gosh.). And, in spring, you get to clean your car out. You know what I'm talking about... wrestle out the shop vac, try to figure out why it smells like it got in a fight with a Christmas tree (always take the easy answer - it must've just got in a fight with a Christmas tree. Way better than finding out that your dad loaned it to the local sawmill to aid in clean up efforts. Gosh), wipe down all the dusty surfaces, try to figure out what all the new noises under the hood are. Of course, with my mechanical capabilities, I was able to determine that my car had a motor. I felt like I had made a substantial discovery, so I celebrated by giving up and getting back to cleaning—at least I understand that part. It's nice to have a clean car - nicer if it's a nice clean car, but I guess i can't win 'em all.

Life just keeps on rolling. And, that's a good thing, but sometimes it all just seems weird. If I could sit down and drink coffee with you, I'd tell you stories, and you'd be like "a, he's self absorbed, b, God's plan is funny and awesome, c, no one else thinks in lists like me, so no one else would get to c." Anyway, things are going well, I am happy, and I think (for todd and matty who will care), I actually wrote a song the other night.

Alright, i gotta go. I smell like I was operating a shop vac that got in a fight with a Christmas tree. Go figure.

remember when?

i'm listening to various rock and roll songs and enjoying it.

Do you remember when you lost your imagination? I remember even up to the age of 13 (i know, loser?) playing some serious lego with my brothers (who will remained unnamed for their own protection), and man... we had imagination. We would make whole cities... okay, more frequently they were army out posts... and we'd have people who had lives... or at least armies... and we'd have a blast.

WHAT HAPPENED? How come I can't think that way anymore? It's almost like with the media saturation I've put myself in, I don't ever have two creative thoughts to rub together. I stopped caring about the fantastic and instead became obsessed with the mediocre. I think that, to some degree or another, that's probably true of most of us. I'll concede that there MUST be exceptions, cause otherwise we wouldn't have things like Calvin and Hobbes (come back Mr. Watterson, please, come back!), or Ender's Game, or the Lord of the Rings... at least, the books. But, I think that for most of us, reading other people's imaginitive spewing forths is probably as close as we get. We're constantly surrounding ourselves with noise and things to occupy us. Even as I'm doing this, my computer features Hootie and the Blowfish (pre-burger king ad days), there's some dvds waiting to be watched, and some laundry to fold and stuff. Mundane. If i try real hard, I can explain it away with "well, that's real life." Realistically though, that' s not real life -- it's life the way we've fashioned it. And it's not cool. So, take the time to imagine something... there's nothing wrong with imagination. Or playing with lego, either. (Is legos the plural of lego? does it matter?) Gosh, a little more media saturation, and we'll all be brain dead.

someone else's words

I'm sitting here, listening to Andrew Peterson's Carried Along album. This guy can write. BUY HIS ALBUMS, seriously. I did, and I'll never regret it.

And actually, Mr. Peterson is the focal point of this particular post. He's been very candid in his last few journal posts on his website. I recommend that everyone who is a fan of Christians playing music go read his words, just in terms of understanding what their world is like. He also has some ideas for what we can do to help, which brings up pretty well my favorite quote:

You can also let other people know about the
music--especially that they don't have to force themselves to
like every song on the local Christian station. Being a
Christian doesn't mean suddenly liking the same kind of
music as every other soccer mom-Sunday School teacher in
your city (which is the demographic I've heard Christian
radio bases their format on). I always ask myself, "What
about the rest of us?" Those of us who are more ministered
to by songs with artistry, honesty, music that's raw and
compelling? I believe there are millions of people in the
world who would prefer the kind of music I'm speaking of to
what they hear on the radio, but they just don't know it
exists, or where to find it. You can spread the word.
(from andrew-peterson.com/journals.php)

Some good words by a good man and a great musician. I wish I could've said that, but since I didn't, I'll rephrase... I don't care what genre you like, be it punk, pop, or a little down-home folk-rock—find musicians who are genuinely good at what they do and write good music that says something. Then, support those musicians. Go to concerts, talk about them in your blogs, do everything you can to let other people know that they are out there. Darn it. I dunno, i guess it just gets frustrating how Christians tend not to support the real artists in their communities and beyond.

In other news, well... I'm mostly working, spending a fair deal of time making long distance phone calls (to antarctica, I swear. I run... ya, I run an arena penguin football team. We're trying to draft some new talent, and it's not easy. It's not like I'm calling a girl. Gosh! :-) ). I'll post more this weekend—for once a weekend where I'm not travelling around! YES!

Keep it real.

21:retrospective

now playing: Noel and Liam and their buds. Although, with as much as they hate each other, you'd think they'd have a hard time finding anyone else to jam with them. I guess there are advantages to making lots of money.

I'm embarking on my 22nd circling of the sun. It's kinda exciting and daunting and all of those things, but it's also kinda... blase. I guess it all depends on what you do with it; what you pursue. I hope my 22nd time around is better than the 21st. I think I'm learning some things lately. I want to share one of them with you. There's a danger in even saying it outloud, for, as the same author I'm about to quote points out later in his book, it can be easy to become good at being a teacher or a pastoral type (ie, sounding wise) without actually ever knowing God.

I picked up a copy of JI Packer's Knowing God the other day. It's possibly the best book money I've spent lately. It's a pretty good book. You know a book is going to be amazing when you're floored by the intro.

"In A Preface to Christian Theology, John Mackay [no relation to yours truly] illustrated two kinds of interest in Christian things by picturing persons sitting on the high front balcony of a Spanish house watching travellers go by on the road below. The 'balconeers' can overhear the travellers' talk and chat with them; they may comment critically on the way that the travellers walk; or they may discuss questions about the road, how it can exist at all or lead anywhere, what might be seen form different points along it, and so forth; but they are onlookers, and their problems are theoretical only. The travellers, by contrast, face problems which, though they have their theoretical angle, are essentially pracical—problems of the 'which way to go' and 'how to make it' type, problems which call not merely for omprehension but for decision and action too. Balconeers and travellers may htink over the same area, yet their problems differ... In relation to evil, the balconeer's problem is to find a theoretical explanation of how e4vil can consist with God's sovereignty and goodness, but the traveller's problem is how to master evil and bring good out of it... Or take the problem of the Godhead; while the balconeer is aksing how one God can conceivably be three, what sort of unity three could have, and how three who make one can be persons, the traveller wants to know how to show proper honour, love and trust toward the three persons who are now together at work ot bring him out of sin to glory. (p. 7-8)


A quick clarification: JI is certainly not arguing that theology is bad, just that without application it is useless. He's right. It's time for us, especially us who climb the steps to the balcony so easily, to get down again, and start walking the road. Remember how I said it was easy for me to be cynical and presume I'm better than everyone else? This is why. Cause I sit in my balcony all day long and critique everyone else. Eventually, if we stay in the balcony, we end up like the old guys from the muppets. Kinda amusing to listen to for 10 seconds once a week, but otherwise quite pase, cause they're irrelevant.

21:retrospective... sitting in the balcony just won't do. Get walking.

there's looking for a date, and then there's desperate

Given the topic at hand, somebody told me by the killers seemed appropriate, or not.

Hi kids. Before I launch into a post on the topic of dating, i want to say that the serious side of me agrees with my friend megan when she talked about dating. I know where she's coming from and was there fora while myself. God plans the seasons of our lives for a good reason. When the right person comes along, that's an awesome thing. But if they haven't yet, that's an awesome thing too, cause God's still working on stuff. In making light of dating below, I certainly don't mean to be frustrating to anyone, nor to slight God's sovereignty even in these things.

Now, on to inane-ity. Read this. Yep... now you don't even need to go to one of those dating websites to find a date... just do your shopping like you normally would! Except, with a red bow on your cart. Go figure. Man, I wonder if Walmart will start offering some discount relationship counselling, too? That'd be great. And perhaps a "valu" wedding chapel out back... wait, they'd just have to convert the flower section. Great! You could get hitched in one evening at Walmart. I laughed pretty hard on this one. What's next? Is there no institution that Walmart will not try to become a part of? What a strange, strange world.

Thats it for now!

thought process

You'll never believe this, but I'm presently listening to High Noon by Andrew Peterson again. Shocking? You know it! It's a great song. I recommend Mr. Peterson whole-heartedly.

I have another shocking revelation for you all, though. I'm a jerk. Now, you're thinking, "here we go, momentary conscience attack" but that's not it at all. I've been sitting here trying to come up with something to talk to you guys about, scouring the internet for inspiration. I've looked at news, at Christian commentary, at music info. All i can say to any of it is, tell me why I care. I don't care that Amy Grant is getting a reality show. I don't see what it matters that the pope thought about resigning — it's like football stats. I find it just passably interesting that Relient K is opening for Simple Plan and Good Charlotte.

Now, it's all fine and good to not care about pop-junk-info. (a.k.a. 3/4 of what the news media reports.) My problem is that this often sweeps from my view of culture into my view of people. It's easy to despise people for being petty, self-obsessed, and caught up in a super-lame culture. the problem with that is, most of the time I'm petty, self-obsessed, and caught up in a super-lame culture. But, I don't think of that. I just marginalize everyone else, and act like I'm the king of everything. Self deceit is an interesting thing, i think. I'm good at convincing myself that I'm good, fair, important, right, and all those other things. Everyone else is a moron... me? Great. And not even regular great, but Tony the Tiger... GRRRRRREAT!

Anyway, the moral of my story is, I ultimately found something to talk to you guys about. Click here to read it. (Also, the connection may not be perfectly clear... and that may be a reflection of how my head works. Either way, it's a good read) It's an interesting little meditation by John Piper.

It's easy for me to try to be a firebrand and to tell myself that "It doesn't matter what people think." But, there's an important aspect of my Christian calling that does put some weight to what people think. And while, as JP points out, there is the possibility that they will hate our message, if we act like I've outlined above, they won't ever get around to looking at the message—they'll be too busy hating us.

Thats it for now.

High Noon

now playing: Andrew Peterson can seriously give me goosebumps. Especially in the song "High Noon." Easily the coolest "Jesus conquering sin" analogy I've ever heard. Also, it's in dadgad, I have chords if you want them. I like this song so much, I'm going to share the first verse with you guys.

High noon in the valley of the shadow
When the deep of the valley was bright
When the mouth of the tomb shouted,
"Glory, the groom is alive"
So long, you wages of sin go on,
Don't you come back again
I've been raised and redeemed;
You've lost all your sting
To the victor of the battle at
High noon in the valley
In the valley of the shadow

buy this guy's albums!

So, it's been a while, i guess you could say. In fact, it's been so long that I'd wager no one will check this. Hehehe... we'll see how it goes. Anyway, I'm back for a while... back to the land of thinking i have something to say to the world, even if it's small and pointless. Heck, everyone else gets to have a platform, why not this kid? Wait! You're not supposed to answer that.

A quick side paragraph about grammar and composition.

First, a note about Satan, based out of something I've observed a lot lately. This may come as a surprise to some people, but... I'm pretty sure Satan—if he's even aware of it— isn't insulted when you write his name without a capital on it. In fact, I think it takes more time to conciously think about lowercasing it than is healthily spent on the topic. Satan doesn't really care if you violate the rules of the English language because you don't like him. So, how's about we just follow the rules of ENGLISH and keep the exceptions for meaningful things? Capitals on proper nouns.

Also, while we're chatting about grammar and composition, excessive use of exclamation marks doesn't help your writing. It makes it seem like you're self-obsessed to the point of exclaiming everything you say. For example:

I went to the beach today! It was great! I walked in sandals! My reef sandals are pretty well the best I know of! This one time, I got hurt at the beach! But, I didn't get hurt today! Yippee skippee!

Now, did any of those sentences stand out from the rest? No. Why? Because when you emphasize everything, you emphasize nothing.

So, that's it for my grammar lesson for today.


In other news, last time I wrote, I stated... " I think I'm going for a bit of a road trip. It should be awesome. I'll follow up and let you guys know how it goes..." It's funny how you say something, and people really hold you to it. I can think of a few people who have been waiting to read me at least say something about the whole thing. I'm prepared to make a statement. It won't be as elaborate as the ones I usually make on behalf of my little brother (who, by the way, is dating that girl again. Remember, back when I issued the retraction? For the first time ever, I'm retracting a retraction). I did go on my trip. I went to the great state of West Virginia. It was a fantastic trip, although the driving was a little scary at times. I had a great time visiting friends. Oh, and also, I guess mentioning (for those of you who haven't already either heard it "through the grapevine" or seen it on my face) the fact that there's this girl down there that I'm crazy about could be relevant. Yeah. Probably. Hence Luke's comment on my last post. It's not a long distance relationship, though. It's a distance challenged relationship. :-) She's great, and she's also reading this, going "Gosh Mackay!" so I think I'll leave at that. Suffice it to say, if you bump into me and I look giddy and slightly mournful all at once, you know why.

Alright, i think that pretty well covers my return to blogging. You know what's interesting about blogging? There's supposed to be this element of commentary on web sites that one is visiting. Hmm... hopefully I'll have some comment in that form for you guys... there's a lot of stuff I'd like to get others thoughts on. So, help me out.

I'm done for now. Keep it real.

i blog in fits and starts

I think I could write an emo song about that... except I think it's more emo to use Xanga than blogger. Oh well, I wasn't ever really emo anyway. And I'm okay with that, i think.

Okay, for those who care, yesterday was a wicked long day. We went to pick up mom and dad's new car (which I will totally steal whenever I've got a long trip to go on :-) Thanks mom and dad), and man... you get to do a lot of running around when you're picking up a new car. It all worked out though, and...

to quote Napoleon (kinda)... "You've got disc brakes, a cd player, a spoiler, fog lights, cruise control... lucky."

Anyway, so that's cool. What's also cool is, I have a week of vacation time coming up, and I think I'm going for a bit of a road trip. It should be awesome. I'll follow up and let you guys know how it goes... possibly with pictures. :-)

Alright, it's 8:00, I gots to go! Peace.

Andrew

morphing plans

Hi Guys,

Well, now that everyone knows, I can talk about it i guess - Our grand trip to Thunder Bay (by our, I refer to myself and the three totally awesome people who voluntarily were going to go) has been cancelled. It's kinda weird when you've been planning for something for months, to have it cancelled, but I'm fairly comfortable with God's sovereignty through it. He tends to know what He's doing. Anyway, yeah, that's that.

It's been a very long week. I'm writing this on Friday morning, sitting here listening to Franz, and dreading work -- not for works sake, but because I'm tired like a mad dawg. And dawg is way more serious than dog, dontcha know. Speaking of dogs, my mom is pretty fixated on getting one - which makes me start to think about the age-old question of mutt versus purebred. Actually, this question probably isn't age old. It probably dates back to when snobby nobility in Europe who were all inbred needed one more card to pull out over top of the rest of the family, so they started inventing paperwork about dogs. Sounds dumb, no? I kinda think so. I guess the nobility just wanted dogs that were as inbred as they were. Wow, I sound like I'm bitter against European Aristocracy. I guess I probably am a bit, since realistically, that socio-political/economic system totally sucked.

Anyway, i need to get ready for work, but get a mutt! They're way cooler... plus, there's no paperwork to track.

AndyMack.

P.S., I definitely need to stop signing these Mack out, cause it sounds like I want to be the stupid aemrican Idol guy - I think I've been saying it longer than he has, but that doesn't matter. Blech. Also, I shaved my beard.

Make-up talk

Okay guys, this kind of follows along the same vein of my last post, but seriously... what's with make-up product talk? I started thinking about this the other night; I was in my bathroom the other night washing my hands, and I took a look at the hand soap bottle ... Now, please note, i probaby wouldn't be able to pick a good hand soap if I tried; my mom bought it for me. But, on the bottle it says "Vitalizing." Now, i've heard of re-vitalizing, but can a soap be just vitalizing? Then, we were watching TV, and some pretty girl who was way too skinny and wearing way too much makeup started talking about the fresh feeling she gets from her make-up, how it awakens her skin and soothes it and such. WHAT?! It's make-up! Holy cow! It's like a bad book review! Words that make no sense! Why not say "My make-up highlights the facial features I want to highlight." Or something like that--something that makes sense? All this metaphysical, soothing fresh feeling hoighty toighty crap has driven me up the wall! Let's use true words, and leave the marketing BS for the people selling "Oil-Based, Non-Dairy whipped topping."

citizens for accurate food names

Dear friends with a capital f. wait wait wait, let me start again

Dear Friends,

Today, a global menace has creeped ever closer to taking over. Up til now, we've sat by and kept quiet. We can do so no longer. It's not as though it's any one particular thing... but it's rather the conglomeration of ever expanding mis- or mal- named products that have driven us to this point. Whether it's the "Roasted Chicken" sub at Subway (roasted? chicken?) the filet o' fish at McyD's (fish? filet?) or the 100% beef burgers also at McDonalds, this has just gone far enough. There's a definite line between good marketing and just plain lying. Good marketing doesn't lie about products, it casts them in the best possible light. Cool Whip just sounds better than "No Name Oil-Based, Non-Dairy Topping." Plus, Cool Whip is easier to write on trademark forms. "No Name Oil-Based..." well, you get the point. Just dumb. We're not arguing that companies tell us precisely what the product is IN the name, just that the name doesn't explicitly lie. Let us lie to ourselves about the product! Everyone knows we will.

For a limited time only, CFAFN (yes, that's pronounced exactly how it looks... except, if you could give it the same inflection that Jo Jo the Super Nanny would, that'd be a little better) will grant the use of our exclusive "Our Trademark Doesn't Lie" sticker to organizations that meet the accurate marketing requirements, as well as a couple of other ones (ie. lots of cash. In fact, you don't even need to meet those other requirements if you have lots of cash. Call my cell, we'll talk)... Er, Um... yeah, so look for the "Our Trademark Doesn't Lie" sticker on all the products you buy.

And, this exciting news just in - Walmart is the first brand to qualify for the "Our Trademark Doesn't Lie" sticker! Lets give a hand to the Walton clan, and the 6 million dollars it cost them to license the sticker. Also, we'll be producing a special sticker for use in the alabama market: the "Our Trademark Don't Lie" sticker.

Whooo!

also, oil-based, non-dairy topping sucks.

what do you give to the person who already has everything?

Now playing: caedmon's call guild 99 concert bootlegs. Pretty sweet. I'll say.

You know, sometimes I feel like that guy who already has everything, except I feel like i've already blogged everything. That's not even possible. But, in the little box that I've painted my blog into, maybe I really don't have anything left to say. maybe I need to start being sillier and writing about jumping beans and prada backpacks. You know, I think I'm just desperate to be relevant and sound cool. And that's pretty pathetic. So, as I try to figure out how to blog with integrity, I'm gonna go and eat chocolate. Chocolate helps me think.

sometimes...

... my life feels like a loop of the Fatboy Slim Praise You video... if you don't remember it, download it somewhere, you'll see what I mean.

just another day

You know guys, sometimes weeks go by and I feel like i have nothing to say. That is frustrating. Right now is one of those times. I hope everyone's doing good and having fun. I hope sometime soon, i have something to say.

an interesting article

Note: I do not EVER read GQ. Someone on a webboard I read referenced this article, and I was curious, given the fact that it's a journalist from a guy's magazine (a genre that I don't associate with, say, journalistic integrity), and it's about Christian music. It's worth a read (if you can handle a few swears) and it'll certainly give you something to think about, even if you don't think his conclusions about faith are necessarily right.

so, read the article!

an ammendment to the previous news release

It is the unfortunate responsibility of the Office of the Press Secretary for the House Mackay, having given the situation some time to allow for clearing of the air, to announce that the aforementioned relationship is now not to be aforementioned again. The media's understanding is appreciated in this matter. We expect that all car chases involving members of the press and the girl involved in the un-aforementioned relationship will cease and desist at once. Let this also serve notice that pedro has offered us his protection, and anyone who messes with the House Mackay regarding the un-aforementioned relationship will be faced with a chat with "Pedro's Cousins with the sweet hookups." You have been warned. Thank you.

The Office of the Press Secretary for the House Mackay

winston churchill ate my girlfriend.

i am samwise

Just wanted to say folks... I am Samwise. It's like being tiger woods, only possibly better, but with less swedish supermodels to hang out with. I'll point out also that it was a two-way tie with being Gandalf. I'm like a super hobbit. YES!!!

You scored as Samwise. You're Samwise Gamgee! Samwise the brave is the most loyal friend that you could ever ask for. He'll be there for you through thick and thin, and be willing to do anything for you. "There is some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it's worth fighting for." Samwise 88% Gandalf 88% Eowyn 75% Pippin 75% Aragorn 56% Arwen 50% Frodo 50% Faramir 25% Gollum 19% Which LOTR character are you? created with QuizFarm.com

news release [Jan. 24, 2005]

For Immediate Release
from the Office of the Press Secretary for the House Mackay

Let it be known throughout the domain, and let it be heard far and wide, the youngest son of John and Lori Mackay has yet again found himself a girlfriend. Girlfriend is a noun that means "favoured female companion or sweetheart" according to The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Them's big words. The House Mackay would request that paparazi and news media give the couple space and room to allow the relationship to flourish. All requests for comment may be directed to the office of the Press Secretary. The Lord and his Lady were heard to have said "Matthew's got a girlfriend, Matthew's got a girlfriend" in tones not unlike those used in first grade when mocking a friend. There is no further comment from the family at this time.



Thank you.


Andrew Mackay,
Press Secretary and Public Relations Guru
The House Mackay
...cause Mackay means Sons of Thunder, and we ain't messin' around.

Manu Forte

the heart is a liar

Hello friends. I've been thinking about my heart lately. I'm not quite sure what sparked it, but something today made me start to think about my heart and the way it is. Scripture says that the heart is deceptive above all things. Desperately Wicked. Desperately. That's a big word. A heavy word even. Man alive, I think we need to discipline our hearts. We have these songs and books and cliched slogans that tell us to follow our hearts. (Napoleon says: "That's what I do.") There's a problem with all that, cause sometimes our hearts run away with us. I guess it's easier for me to acknowledge it when it's not happening. My little brother has acknowledged it too, and maybe it's a family trait, but if I survey the last 3 years, I've had a ridiculous amount of shallow crushes. And, while most of them didn't last long, it's not a good thing. It's evidence in my case of a heart that tends to flit. Flit is a girly word that means jump from object to object. That's not a good thing for a heart to do. It displays little faithfulness. It needs to change. How do you whip your heart into shape? I just don't know. All right, that's enough despairing, bleeding heart crap from this kid. Peace out.

disclaimer: the above piece is perhaps a bit of an overstatement; the writer realizes that a lot of his petty crushes over the years were pathetic, and wishes that they'd never happened. That being said, the heart is always an interesting beast.

independent music

Hi guys,

I've been listening to some music tonight, and I've realized that independent musicians really do beat the pants off most of the ones who are signed to the labels (with the few exceptions of artists who do their own thing inspite of a record deal, like Derek Webb). I thought i'd draw your attention to some cool musicians who sell stuff on the net and give away free songs too.

Andrew Peterson. He looks precisely like one of my good friend's boyfriends. Bonus points if you can tell me who. This guy writes PHENOMENAL stories. He's so good. He does a Christmas musical every year. If you have high speed and want to watch andrew play great songs along with a bunch of his friends, go to the livefromstudiob website, and click on the watch this video link. This is phenomenal music. Oh yeah, if you buy one of Andy's CDs from his website, guess how much of the money he gets? Not just fifty cents or something, the whole proceeds go to him. That's cool.

Andrew Osenga. This guy isn't foreign to the world of having record deals - he was the front man for a cool band called The Normals, and now he plays with Caedmon's Call... he's pretty phenomenal. What's neatest is that he's got this thing called "The Drawing Board" and he gives away rough cuts of songs he's working on. He's great. Listen to him. And oh yeah, if you buy one of this Andy's CDs from his website, again, he gets the proceeds. That's cool too.

The cool thing about the above two guys is that they don't exist in a vacuum. They're musicians, and they like good music too. So, if you click on their links pages on their respective web sites, you'll find (I just made a consistency issue, I technically mispelt website earlier by putting it together—technicalyl wrong, but envogue, and then just now I split it, which is technically proper) a list of musicians that they listen to/play with / hang out with. And the whole thing continues, cause those people do the same thing. That's community. These folks are REAL artists. They rock. And their music is pretty darn good, too.

All right, that's it for me... for now.

while the world turned

now playing: Shane and Shane, Psalm 118. They're pretty talented.

Yes, whilest the rest of us led our pathetic, normal life, 25 extreme guys were potentially fulfilling their destiny... who would receive a rose and who's egos would be shattered? Thats right folks, I just watched about 7.8 minutes of the bachelorette. Wow. Thats really just about my only response. All of those guys suffer from one of three things: they're either 1) convinced that this is their chance to get their 15 minutes of fame, 2) in it for the money, or 3) as one of my favorite professors would say, Delusional. Cause seriously, this chica, whatever her name is (jen, I think), has been through this before - she KNOWS it doesn't end up with a successful match. Either she's in it for the money or she's there to extend her 15 minutes of fame to 20. And those poor chaps who really believe they have a chance are being duped.

We are a world OBSESSED with ourselves. You see it on dating shows like this and you see it on American Idol and its knock-offs... especially when they show the clips of people who are awful - notice that everyone seems to share one trait: confidence that they really are the best, and can win this thing. There's still something to be said for someone who is self-aware AS WELL as self assured, or instead of self assured, or something. Cause, lets face it... we're not all cut out to be actors or pop music stars / starlets. But you know what, not everyone's cut out to be a welder or an editor or a pastor, or whatever. Man alive! But, we're all so programmed to believe in ourselves, to be self-confident. Really, aren't we sabatoging ourselves? Anyway, I'm sure that I've got reruns of survivor to watch or something. I'll catch you guys later—if you get your own reality show.

All Points Bulletin: Sugar Bandit on the Loose

This is a notice from the office of the director for home security.
Current warning level: hot pink. Everybody loves hot pink.


This memo is intended to inform the public of a growing menace known as the Sugar Bandit. He was brought to our attention by one of our operatives, codenamed Agent Mom. Agent Mom reports that the Sugar Bandit leaves sugar all over the counter and floor. What could cause someone to do such a heinous thing? The only thing we can think of is a sick, twisted mind. We've run a psych profile, and it seems likely that the sugar bandit is a Male, possibly Caucasian, probably in his early 20s. He should be regarded as armed and dangerous. Or sickeningly sweet. The public is advised to pass any and all tips along to our tip number: 1 888 bandito. If you think you know who the Sugar Bandit is, do not approach him... he could inflict harm at the slightest provocation. Beware the Sugar Bandit.

Thank you. This has been a public service notice.

My name is andymack, and I approved this message.

hero (plural)

Dear Friends,

This will not be a long blog post. This is just a quick note to say that I'm finding a lot of human life consists of evaluating, then re-evaluating and adjusting. Generically, that is true. Specifically, today it is true of what I view as heroic. By definition we think of heroic as a one-time, out of the blue action that really kicks butt. Like Hulk Hogan lifting up Andre the Giant, or that guy beating the chess computer, or a fireman saving a kid from a burning building, and stuff like that. What I realized tonight is that it's not the one time act that makes those people heroes. It's the persistence that gets them there. I realized this as I woke my dad up to go to work. My dad isn't the most athletic guy, my dad isn't the fastest... he might be the craziest, but that's another story. But my dad has, for the last 11 or so years, spent his life with kids who are like he was once -- young, deaf, alienated a little bit from their families by communications barriers. Kids who need role models and authority figures who are encouraging but not afraid to establish boundaries either. My dad is one of my heros. Sure, he can't leap tall buildings. He can't lift a billion pounds over his head. He can't even beat me in a mercy fight any more (but keep that on the down low). But day in, day out (or, as it goes currently, night in, night out), he does what he can to help his community, the deaf community, develop. At the same time, he provides for his family, loves us, and even spoils us as much as he can. So, stop looking at heroics in terms of one-time acts. Start thinking about it in terms of patient, persistent people. I think it's more accurate.

thoughts from a man smarter (and possibly more verbose) than I

Dear friends,

I'm currently trying to read David Wells' second book on modernity and it's impact on the church, God in the Wasteland. I recommend him if you want a big brainful of thinking. This thought has occupied my brain off and on for the past few days; I thought maybe you guys would appreciate it too.

"... A curious paradox involving the way in which biblical other-worldliness provides the leverage for Christian this-worldly pertinence. It is only those who are "not of this world" in their inner being who have the reason and acquire the fortitude to resist the charms and allurements of the world and who, for that reason, are able to be culturally pertinent. Those who are cognitively and morally dislocated from worldly culture are the ones who are driven to change it; those who are comfortable and at home with it... are often so beholden to it as to find dislocation from the source of their blessings most uncongenial." (david f. wells, God in the Wasteland, Ch. 3)

How 'bout that? I think he may be on to something. Although, I did just figure out that he's post-mil. I guess that doesn't prevent him from having something to say. ;-) Think about it. Tell me what you think. Maybe we can interact on this one a bit. That'd be cool. Do you think that culture is absolutely so tainted that unless we're dislocated from it, we're smitten with it? I leave it with you.

refried...coffee? and songs I haven't listened to for months

Yep, I'm sitting here drinking refried... okay, okay, reheated... coffee. It's not that bad. Man, enough sugar and anything'll taste good.

Go and watch this - warning for my dial-up friends, this is a long download. I'm going to tell you what it is in a second anyway, so you may want to forgo it. The rest of you, go watch it.


I will confess that it is true that I way overplayed a certain song by Derek Webb a couple of years ago at KLBC. My poor friends who don't necessarily love his voice (the rest of us who do love his voice could listen to it a million times). Anyway, I hadn't listened to this song for a while. Tonight, I was sitting here contemplating the way I am, and my sinfulness, and how I have no apparent love for God's grace some days. And, i went on over to Donald Miller's web site (the link above) and watched the video he put together. It features scenes from Romeo and Juliet put to Wedding Dress by Derek. It starts out with the hypothesis that Shakespear's play was an illustration of the truth of reform theology. (Sidenote: I don't think that Will intended the play to be interpreted that way, but who cares.) And—as much as I don't like Romeo and Juliet—I couldn't help but see the illustration. It's a beautiful illustration. And it's very relevant especially for those of us that seem to at times make theology a dead carcass of irrelevance. So, next time you listen to that song, think about the truth of it. I know I will.

Figurin' life out

You know, it's funny, but somehow January 1 inspires in us (or in me at least) a desire to figure life out. There's a perception that somehow, during the night between December 31 and January 1, the whole world regenerates, or becomes new, or something. Not that that's a bad thing. After all, who couldn't use a second chance? This date that we've arbitrarily (as far as I can tell) set as marking the New Year gives us that opportunity. A new year is a good thing. It's also a little bitter sweet. For me, it involves looking over the past year and seeing where I've failed spiritually, relationally, even physically (darn those 15 extra pounds I'm carrying around). I've spent over a year without a significant committed relationship (unless you count me and the boys, who should all be committed). Have I learned from that? Sure, probably a little. But have I learned everything there is to learn? Not as of yet. I've watched families fall apart. I've watched families join together. I've visited family in the hopital. I visited the hospital once for myself (and to Dr. Buntington, thanks for your help). I've laughed. I've cried. I laughed a lot more than I cried, but I inherently don't cry very often. The past year seems to have been shorter than any year in my memory. It was actually a day longer than most of the ones I remember. I'm more confused than ever by girls, but maybe, just maybe, through everything I've done and been through this year, i've learned more about myself. That is worth it. Maybe I've learned more about who God is. That is more worth it.

If I could wish for anything in 2005—for myself and for you, my friend—it'd be that in 2005 we'd believe God to be who He is. I think that every other time in my life that I've used the term "it's probably my biggest problem" could be summed up in that statement. I just don't believe that God is who He has revealed Himself to be. If I did, all those other things, like discipline, faithfulness, obedience, joy, graciousness, and so on, wouldn't be at all a problem. Okay, Okay, wouldn't be as much a problem.

So, until I see you next :

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
"The LORD is my portion," says my soul,
"therefore I will hope in him."
(Lamentations 3:22-24, ESV)

You don't have to wait for January 1st to come back around before you can get a new start.

hokey shmokes

All due respect to my american friends, I'm going to presume that we can all agree that this ann coulter chick is an idiot. Watch this: Now, seriously, to America. Yes, you may be bigger people wise, you may have more money than we do. Congratulations. Please though, don't act like we exist at your mercy. There are 30 million of us. I'm pretty sure we don't exist as a nation at anybody's mercy. If anything, you could say that we're dumb to sell as much as we do to you guys. A sound national economic policy would limit exports to y'all to, maximum, 10-15%. Not out of dislike for anyone, but in the name of economic freedom. I hope that most americans wouldn't agree with the pompous attitude presented in this clip. You'd have to kill at least 2 million of us to take over the country I'm pretty sure. Unless you came through Quebec. Anyway, I found the above clip disgusting and frustrating. Except for the part at the end where Caroline Parrish ripped into the crossfire guy. That was awesome. Anyway.

Christmas Shopping: not for the elderly nor the faint at heart.

In honour of the topic of the night, I'm listening to Bing Crosby croon some Christmas Tunes. His pianist—or band leader, or water boy, or something— is named Skitch. Is that Skitch Patterson? Who knows! Could be! Beauty.

So, I was out doing some Christmas shopping, and let me tell you, it's a dog eat dog world out there. Or at least, a dog eat effeminate acting sales person world out there. Christmas shopping isn't easy! You gotta figure out what you're getting people for Christmas, and darn it, it's just hard. Plus, i don't think I've ever been so afraid of toddlers and their moms. It's like the toddlers are the Storm Troopers from Star Wars and their moms... frig, who knew that the emperor could exist in that many incarnations. Tell you what, if we could control the toddlers, and harness their whining and screaming, we'd be able to take over the world. Holy cow. I just finally understood the entire toy industry!

Then, on top of that, you've got the media pressure. Canada.com is running their Holiday special. They talk about bad gifts and good gifts. Gee, thanks Canada.com, for doing that out of the goodness of your hearts. Not like the rest of the media doing it just to try to weasal more cash out of us or their advertisers. You can read that section here, then you'll at least be doing better than the 13% of Canadians who have REGIFTED in the last year. C'mon folks. Seriously. Anyway, it seems like everyone who ever gets a pedestal in culture tries to tell us what to buy for Christmas. I mean, really, who could forget The Twelve Days of Christmas from the Great White North Album, performed by Bob and Doug Mackenzie? Wait, you don't know it? Well, we'll have to remedy that! Here, thanks to the wonderful world wide web, are the lyrics to the aforementioned song. This features some classic Canadian gift ideas. Hehe. Beauty:

Bob: Ok g'day. This is the Christmas part of the album, you can play this at your Christmas partys uh, or to yourself on Christmas eve if there is nothing else to do
Doug: G'day eh? in case you thought like I wasn't on this part.
Bob: Oh i guaranty ya, you'd be on.
Ok so good day, this is the Christmas part, and we're gonna tell ya what to get your true love for Christmas.
Doug: Look out the window!
bob: Where? Whaddya doin?
Doug:Snow!
Bob: Oh it's the great white north, and it's snowin cuz its Christmas time.
Hey, hoser! heres a quiz.. quiz for Doug:
Doug: Ok, I got my thinking toque on!
Bob: Yeah, right. What are the 12 days of Christmas?
Doug: Um.
Bob: Cuz figure it out , right? Christmas is when?
Doug: The 25th.
Bob: Right, well whats the 24th? Xmas eve, right.
Doug: Thats 2.
Bob: Then , whats after that?
Doug: Wrestling day
Bob: No.
Doug: Boxing day.
Bob: Thats 3. Then whats after that? Nothin'.
Doug: New years.
Bob: 4.
Doug: New years eve.
Bob: 5. Where da ya get 12?
Doug: Uh... theres 2 sat's and sun's in there , 4. Thats 9 and 3 other days which i believe are the mystery days.
Bob:Ok, this is our Christmas song, in case ya don't know what to get someone for Christmas.
Doug: Theres lotsa ideas in here, so listen and don't get stuck. By the way , thats me on the organ.
Bob: Ok geeze.
Doug: Ok, you start.


Song Lyrics
Bob: Ok, on the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me..
beer.

On the 2nd day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
2 turtlenecks,
and beer.

On the 3rd day of Christmas, my true love gave to me..
3 french toast,
2 turtlenecks,
and a beer.
There should be more there, eh?
Where?

On the 4th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me..
4lbs of backbacon,
3 french toast,
2 turtlenecks,
and beer in a tree.
Oh. See? ya need more.

On the 5th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me..
5 GOLDEN TOQUES! (background singers start to help)
4lbs of backbacon,
3 french toast,
2 turtlenecks,
and beer in a tree.

On the 6th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me..
6 packs of two-four.
5 GOLDEN TOQUES!
4lbs of backbacon,
3 french toast,
2 turtlenecks,
and beer in a tree.
Ok.

On the 7th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me..
7 packs of smokes,
Nice Gift... oh.... (rushes) 6 packs of 24s
5 GOLDEN TOQUES!
4lbs of backbacon,
3 french toast,
2 turtlenecks,
and beer in a tree.
oh, i keep forgettin'.
whew, this should be just the 2 days of xmas, this is too hard for us!

On the 8th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me..
8 comic books,
7 packs of smokes,
6 packs of two-four,
5 GOLDEN TOQUES!
4lbs of backbacon, (background singers)
3 french toast,
2 turtlenecks,
and beer in a tree.
Wow,That beers empty

Day 12.
G'day and welcome to day 12.
Yeah.

5 GOLDEN TOQUES! (all together)
4lbs of backbacon,
3 french toast,
2 turtlenecks,
and beer in a tre-e. (Doug harmonizes)

Where did you learn to do that?
Uh, Albums.
Boy, so thats our song merry Christmas, and g'day.
G'day everybody. Happy new years.
Ok, ya know what ya left out?
What?
Donuts. I told you to get me donuts.
Oh no!
Either on the 9th day, or the 10th day or the 11th day. I wanted donuts.
The song is over merry Christmas everybody,
or the 12th you coulda gotten me a dozen donuts.
Go to the stores and get some presents.
You coulda gone down to the donut shop where you buy a dozen donuts, you get another donut free. Then it coulda been 13 for the 13 days of Christmas.
Next Christmas, get me a chainsaw.
Take off!
Boy that song was a beauty.. it moved me.
Yah , it ranks up there with stairway to heaven.
What?

As a disclaimer, I don't recommend most of those as presents, although 4 pounds of back bacon would be beauty. So, yeah, like, that's it for me. That should be everything you need to go out and do your Christmas Shopping. Or at least to get a bit of a laugh outa good ol' andymack the teetotaler's blog. :-)


BEAUTY

vandals... possibly in sandals

Dear friends. I'm taking this time to write to you from my grieving state. This morning, our neighbourhood, nay, our whole city, was rocked by a vandalous attack. White fluffy stuff was blown all over every inch of our city (okay, except the area in the lee of the north west area of every building). These attacks are shocking, and as a city we are standing up and saying "No" to vandalism. These attempts to intimidate us will not be tolerated. The perpetrator of these heinous attacks is asked to make a full confession, after which we can discuss the terms of the reparations. Think Versailles. Again, we will not stand for this. Cities across this nation will join the outcry.

Nah, for now, most people are going to be like, "Oooh, pretty." So, I guess I take that all back. Thanks for snow, God. Now, where did I leave that gas can? I think I need to go start that snowblower.

indigo, celebrities, and undisciplined people

(now playing: shame on you // the indigo girls. I think they just made a swear.)

Well, I'm back. But I won't survive (sorry, everytime I say "and now I'm back...") I think of that stupid "I will survive" song. Anyway... righ...tuh. A little rusty, I apologize.

So, I've been thinking about this for a couple of days... everybody's all anti-animal-testing. Me too. As of yesterday morning, when I realized that there was something more pathetic that we could test chemicals on. Namely: Celebrities.

Now you're saying, "Celebrities? Be SERIOUS Mackay. Those people have AGENTS to protect them." And I'm saying, first of all, I've done some research, and I know can say with authority: There is a big difference between an FBI agent and a HOLLYWOOD agent. One carries a gun and the authority of George Bush. The other eats granola for breakfast, and carries the authority of George Clooney (whom I hate (Sorry George.)). Anyway, you're getting me off track. Further to my earlier point, celebrities have ALREADY set up a system whereby we can test them with their tacit approval. See, if I walk into my favorite guitar store and I want to get a new guitar, I'm expected to pay near-to-full price. If Hanson (okay, bad example) walks into my favorite guitar store (Neil Young would be a better example, since he probably has walked into my favorite guitar store. Typically he shops at Ed's more, but whatever Neil) and wants to get a new guitar, they hand it to him. He's a celebrity. He gets it for free, they get publicity.

Lets face it folks, celebrities are used to taking hand outs. We've conditioned them, what with our undeserved and undiscriminating worship of them, and the way they get handed everything on a platter, how would they be able to tell that the thing was a test product? It's all in the approach!!! For example:

Representative for Chemical company XYZ Uraniums, Bob: Mr. Clooney, Mr. Clooney, how 'bout a year's supply of our brand new, ultra-cutting edge "Face Firmer Five Billion" cream cleanser and daily facial moisturizer?

(to clarify, those product names aren't from real products, and also, I don't know what it would mean if they were.)

Clooney: Yeah, sure, why not? More free stuff from my adoring public? I'd love to!!!

later on that night...

Clooney, to self in mirror: Hey good looking! Hmm, this new daily moisturizer kinda tickles funny. I wonder what's in this stuff? Hmm, it just says "Experimental Ingredients." Must be really new wave.

The next morning...

Clooney, waking up: My face feels swollen and weird. I wonder... *Looks at self in mirror, sees Rosie O'Donnell looking back at him* Holy *%$#. I'm calling my agent!

That afternoon...

Ron Ithinkimsohot, agent for George Clooney: Bob, that cutting edge daily facial moisturizer and cream cleanser really did a number on George's face. What the heck is up with that?

Bob: Well, it is an experimental thing. Heck, it's based on a Uranium Extract. We didn't know what it'd do, thanks for the data.

Ron: What? Experimental? Do you think Clooney's some sorta guinea pig?

Bob: Well, I was pretty convinced that Batman and Robin was an experiment in making the worst movie, so Mr. Clooney was the obvious first choice in our new celebrity program. Regardless, it was marked clearly in the packaging. Gee whiz, Ron, don't get so defensive of your client. He'll recover in a couple of days. Meanwhile, you can bill him $400 for this 20 second call.

Ron: You make a great point. Talk to ya soon?

Bob: yeah, we'll do lunch. Catch ya later, i'm off to pitch to Jodie Foster.

Think about it folks! No bunnies were harmed in the making of this chemical compound... only the people that we overpay by far to play "make believe" for a few days in front of a camera so that we can ignore each other and suspend reality for—if we're lucky—two or three hours.

Anyway, that's it for me, for now. I'll try to be more disciplined, just for you mom, since you're the person who reads this. :-)

poetical utterances

i can justify that: confessions of a north american

It's not like I'm holding a gun to someone's head,
Even my North American self-centredness couldn't justify that.
Standing by while thousands end up dead?
Yeah, sure, I can justify that.

It's not as though I held up a bank or even a corner store.
I wouldn't dare be so brash.
But stealing forty dollar software from a multi-million dollar corporation?
Seriously, they've got tons of flow.

It's not that I'd deny my total depravity
Paul would roll over in his grave
It's just, well, your sin is clearly worse
than the things that hold me captive.

Yeah, I'm a North American
I can rationalize and justify with the best.
You won't even notice; it'll happen before your very eyes
After all, it's not my fault: I'm a North American.

freakin' weekends, and other assorted things

now playing: neil young // silver and gold album. and the riff in buffalo springfield again rocks. seriously. how can you not love neil? I need to buy more neil. I only currently possess 2 neil albums. Pretty sure one doesn't count, cause it's rock, but whatever. neil's done so much. gots to respec' that.

So, today was a sunday: went to church with the p's, wrestled a toilet (more on that later), worked on some design stuff, and thought about the future. Watched some football and return to me. Learned some stuff on the guitar. I'm working on scales, I'm getting a little better. It's such a brute force thing tho. You just have to keep doing it until you're good at it. I hate stuff like that. oh well, builds patience.

Also, I started using firefox from time to time this weekend. Partly because I'm doing design stuff and need to be able to cross check with firefox. I should probably check with opera too, but I'm lazy. Let me just say though, firefox = super slick, super quick, and super hot. Me likey.

So, sometimes in life you just gotta wrestle a toilet. For example, suppose you moved into a house, and they had this nasty looking toilet seat on the toilet. and it was rusted on. And it needed to be replaced. And the nuts on the rusted bolts were plastic. The logical approach would be to cut through it, no? Welp, thats what I did. It worked out okay. Except for the part where the toilet is only 4 inches from the wall on the one side, and therefore very difficult to see up under. There I was with a utility knife and a chick's mirror (the chick being my mom)—I felt like McGuyver. It was awesome. And then the army ants came, but I blew them up with a bomb made out of duct tape, twine and a knife. Sound impossible? Possibly, but I'm McGuyver. I did win the battle, by the way. One battle down, many more to go. Tomorrow I learn lessons with drills, and soon I'll be learning lessons of snowblowers (yay! Anything beats shovelling!)

One last thing: to chase a dream? you tell me: read the part about sound reinforcement then tell me what you think. Chasing dreams? Serious decisions? So confused? MMM HMM.

waking up

now playing: the red sox beating the cardinals! Whoo hoo! Sox in four!

Firstly: to my friends who read my last post and commented, thank you so much. It's greatly appreciated. Danielle, your comment was poetic. I really liked Motionless Dreamer. I may embroider it on a pillow. (-: Mom, next time just say who you are. Also, no, i haven't cleaned my room yet.

So, I woke up this morning to the shreik of my alarm. My alarm sounds like an air raid siren. It's tough. It's like 1939 London... my room is dark, but man the sirens won't stop. Of course, i hit snooze like 30 times before I hit the showers, but whatever. Anyway, as I woke up to my air raid siren, I got to thinking (A dangerous pastime, I know... man, Gaston was in deep smit for that Belle chick) about how some people wake up to things like... "The mellifluous sounds of chipmunks in fall," "John Tesh sings 60's tv scenes," and "Ocean waves" featuring the saxophone of Kenny G laid over waves breaking. Yay.

I came up with a plan for something better. You know how in Sci-Fi, they're always inventing robots that'll be your friend, or run your business, or take care of your kids? That stuff's garbage. I've come up with the best robot idea EVER!!! We'll call it "The Sargeant MeetYourDoom Wake Up Robot V. CMMCCXCXVII © ® ™." Instead of taking care of your kids, or other stuff that you should be doing yourself, it'll serve one purpose, and one purpose only: getting your sorry rear out of bed. It'll scream in your face, it'll make crass comments about the shape your in. It might even curse every once in a while. All so that you get up on time. Really, it'll be great! It'll even have a few moves so that if you ever try to retaliate against it, you find yourself staring up from the floor, wondering how you ended up there.

Not only that, think about the opportunities for customization! You could have different memory chips so that "The Sargeant MeetYourDoom Wake Up Robot V. CMMCCXCXVII © ® ™" could take on the characteristics of your favorite movie drill sargeants / military personnel. The "Red Dawn" Chip makes him talk like a cuban or a russian. Every once in a while, if you shout "Wolverines!" you score a bonus 10 minutes of sleep. But only every once in a while. The "Few Good Men" chip turns it into Jack Nicholson... he wakes you up by puffing a cigar in your face, and screaming about whether or not you can handle the truth. Fact of the matter is, you can't. Always popular, the "In the Army Now" chip turns it into Pauly Shore. This is notoriously easy to ignore, until he starts talking about burritos. Burritos always wake me up.

This product is sheer genius. I'm going to buy five of them. Cause lets face it, I'll figure out some way to defeat the first four .That fifth one though, he'll get me up for sure. For now, I'll just stick to the air raid siren. And my snooze button.

big thing // little thing

So, here's what I'm trying to figure out: how are we to look at our lives and separate the big things from the little things?

See, it'd be easy to look at the above statement and say, "Wow, this guy is desperate to sound deep." But, for once, I don't think that's the case (although I'm aware that deep inside of me, right next to my desire to be Wolverine or the Incredible Hulk, is a desire to be cool that manifests itself all the time in ridiculous ways). See, I'm seriously at that point in my life where I'm trying to sort out the important from the unimportant. Why? Well... I've been trying to figure that out too.

I think we reach this point in life where we feel the societal expectation is that if we're asked by a pretty girl, "what are you doing with the rest of your life?" we'll be able to give a logical, honest, good answer. So, we come up with plans. We become teachers and electricians and project editors. Not necessarily because it's where we think God wants us (although at times we're smart enough to let that play into it), more because, eh, it keeps people off our backs and it helps us to sleep at night.

Don't get me wrong. I'm content with my job and I feel like I'm where God would have me for this stage in my life. I just don't understand where it's going.

Think about it: I've got this song in my head called T-Shirt by Derek Webb, the first line says "They'll know us by the T-Shirts that we wear." I'm going to hijack the line from it's intended purpose (while encouraging you to BUY BUY BUY his new album), and cross apply.

My dad is the ultimate collector of shirts. He has one of my old telus shirts, an old Tim Horton's shirt, various computer and food supply company shirts, and so much CN Railway apparrel that the company actually called about the catalogue shoot. When I worked at Telus, I was easily identifiable by my uniform. When I worked at Subway, it was even easier to spot (stupid visor making my forehead look huge). As much as uniforms are the bane of people's existence, they're nice cause people know who you are from them. I have a lifeguard sweater—even though I'm not a lifeguard per se. I wear it, and people think that I was a responsible young adult (at least, until they see eye candy on the sleeve). It identifies me as something. So, following the T-Shirt analogy, what would I put on a t-shirt to identify where I'm at right now?

"Hasn't got a clue what he's doing"
"Life-goal-less"
"Spends more time on the msn messenger than developing a skill set"
"Going my way? Care to enlighten me?"

Obviously I'm being overly dramatic. But, where does it go from here? What's next on the list of things to do? I really don't know. I need to be able to establish priorities and a list of goals, but I don't know how. What are the criteria by which we do that? Any ideas? To quote Jar Jar Binks, "Any help here would be hot!"

I'm done for now. I'll give you more as I figure more out.

hehehe... baseball, old songs, and jackie chan

now playing: commercials in between the yankees and bosox trading off who is batting and who is pitching. Will it ever end?

Yeah, so... i'm not usually a fan of baseball, but this is some intense sports going on here... these guys are hardcore in a jack black, legend of the rent sort of way. And I respect that. And also, I hate teams like the yankees (see manchester U, Arsenal, Real Madrid, NY Rangers, Colorado Avalanche, Detroit Red Wings, and so on) who have too much money and not enough heart. So, i'd love to see Boston take it to 'em. Hence, I'm watching baseball for the first time in years.

Old songs... every once in a while I go back in my mind to songs I once tried to write with friends. One of my favorites is "This Silly Melancholy." Our buddy pete came up with the term, and we seriously never got much farther than having the title idea. I've tried to write it a hundred times, but i never get anywhere. Who knows, maybe I'm going about it all wrong... maybe it needs to be a rock song. Or a ballad. "That's way too fast! It's a ballad!" (Jimmy, That Thing You Do!) One day. One day.

Jackie Chan... what would I do right now if I was Jackie Chan? Here's the thing, i'd love to be a writer. I'd love to be able to write fiction, write non-fiction, write exciting stuff, write boring stuff. The problem seems to be that I have no ability at writing creatively. Seriously, Jackie Chan can't even speak english, and the guy makes all kinds of art. But then, he spent large amounts of time as a child standing on one foot in weird martial arts poses and stuff. What else would he do except come up with movie ideas in his head? Hence, the reason I'll never be a writer is North American "keep you occupied" culture. If I'd just been bored more, I'd be way more creative.

Yeah right.

days of yore

now playing: my nephew making car sounds as he moves an ugly blue school bus around. Crap, he's cute. They came to visit this weekend. It was... well, to use Code and Pyro's word... awexome. I like kids. Especially when, as another friend said, "as uncles, we get to hype them up on candy and chocolate and then they go home with someone else." Yep, that part rocks. Anyway, moving along.

So, I grew up to Boy Meets World. Seriously, it was the family show. I remember my older brother crying EVERY TIME Cory and Topanga broke up. No word of a lie. Today, I managed to catch an episode of Boy Meets World as i was chillin' with my nephews. (They're far more into Jimmy Neutron than boy meets world, but I weigh 210 pounds (yeah, lard butt), and they weigh about 50 and 30 pounds respectively... I've won every fight so far.) The whole crew was there, it was an episode from probably 97 or 98... and, well, I don't know... it'd didn't make me think anything really deep (except maybe that I'd still marry the girl who played Topanga... but that's actually not very deep at all. However, Danielle Fishel, if you're reading this, CALL ME!). But, it was good memories. TV is so over dramatic, yet not. They have a crisis every week, but then, don't we seem to have a crisis at least once a week? Even if it's just a mental one, they're there. I don't know. It made me feel warm and fuzzy. I miss good TV like Boy Meets World. The crap that's on now, well... just not worth watching.

Oh, also, as I logged in to type this post, I discovered something. You're reading the 101st post on andymack.blogspot.com. It's almost enough to make me get my own domain. When a TV program makes 100 episodes, it's a big deal. We're making history folks. Anyway, I just wanted to gloat a little. Unfortunately, I'm not as good as the Brothers Chap, so you won't find any easter eggs or anything. Maybe someday.

All right, I'm out like a fat kid in dodgeball. Canadian trivia for the day: in Canada, practise is a verb, but practice is a noun. So, I'm a practising doctor, but My practice is located at 222 Thiscitysucks, Belleville, Ontario. Funny, eh?

jazz doesn't resolve

now playing: the patriot... mel gibson's about to kill the bad guy. heath already died. hmm, can't really say i feel bad about that.

Okay, so yesterday we were at the local Christian Bookstore, and they happened to have a copy of a book sitting on their shelf (precisely one copy: no more, no less). This book had been recommended to me by some very intelligent people, and I'd been very interested in reading it at that point in time. Seeing it there, all alone, and kinda wedged between two books by stupid people, I thought, I should buy this. So I did. The book is called Blue Like Jazz and it is stupendous. Very cleverly written. I identify with him... especially in that i have friends like his... one like andy the protester, and one like tony the beatpoet. I disagree with his nonuse of a comma on introductory clauses, however, I imagine he wouldn't care much, and I really don't either. He's a clever writer, and I recommend him highly. That's Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. Wicked funny. Wicked Deep. Too hot for conservative Bible schools. Not really. A good Christian guy, with a slightly different viewpoint.

Thats about all I've got. Right now, I feel blue, but not like jazz... I believe it's going to resolve, eventually. Much love guys,