Random Rants On Life & Stuff

I’m so ready for the The Office to be back.  Until then, enjoy this hilarious promo on Hulu.

Are you kidding me?  I’m not sure I like this idea at all.

Tomorrow night is the last night of the summer Prayer Study I’ve been hosting.  I spent the majority of today cooking and baking for the dinner tomorrow night. (Chili Con Carne, Lemon Cheesecake and tomorrow after work I’ll bake some Northern Cornbread.) 

It was a really relaxing day overall.  Had a great service at church came home, put on some music and spent the rest of the day cooking.  It had been awhile since I cooked up a solid meal.  I don’t cook for myself, so it was nice to have an occasion to do so. 

This afternoon I decided to put my iTunes library on Shuffle.  I don’t know if it is reassuring or scary that I could listen to my entire iTunes Music Library for nearly 18 days straight and not hear the same song twice (6,236 tracks).  When your music collection goes back 20 years the variation in style and genre is crazy.  Sorting by “Last Played” here is how “shuffled” the tuneage was:

Air Supply :: Guns n’ Roses :: Jimmy LaFave :: The Weepies :: Amy Grant ::  David Crowder :: Jill Phillips :: Annie Lennox :: Petra :: Caedmon’s Call :: Chris Sligh :: Goldfrapp :: Yaz :: Shane & Shane :: Page France :: downhere :: Sandra McCracken :: Cyndi Lauper :: John Mayer :: Julie Fordham :: Bebo Norman :: Enrio Morricone :: Shawn McDonald :: Geoff Moore & The Distance :: Micha Dalton :: Sting :: U2 :: Yo-Yo Ma :: Joshua Bell :: Barenaked Ladies :: Josh Bales :: Vega4 :: Milosh :: Needtobreathe :: Mindy Smith :: Oakenfold :: The Mamas & The Papas :: The Fold :: Diana Krall :: 10,000 Maniacs :: Aaron Shust :: Junkie XL :: Mr. Mister

Well shuffled indeed.

What struck me as funny was I came into the office to skip the Amy Grant track – I just wasn’t feeling Lead Me On this afternoon.  I click [>>] and did a double-take:

Why is it necessary for the entire Lead Me On album to be marked as “Clean.”  Is there an Explicit version of Lead Me On? lol 

I’ve added some additional Extras to the ol’ blog.  For those of you skimming your Google Reader embedded into your custom homepage this means you will actually have to make the trip to my actual blog and check out the side-bar.

I know, I know… it just so much easier to use the reader, but you can’t take in the aesthetic feel of the site that way… come on, it’s just a click away.

On The ‘Pod

“On the Pod” is back.  Here I’ll list some of what is on my iPod.  If I pick-up a new album I will typically add it to the top of the list.  Some of the stuff listed here is tune’age I’ve had for awhile and it’s just back in rotation.  Click on the album to pull it up for a quick listen on iTunes.  (One day I’ll get brave and post my guilty pleasure mix.)

 
Flix: Pick or Flick?

I’ll list the films I’ve recently watched.  If the film is something I’ve rented on Netflix I’ll link to the site so you can read a bit more if you like.  I’ve been looking at Documentaries lately and really enjoyed King of Kong and Helvetica.

The rating scale (as of tonight) is as follows:
5/5 = Amazing – Can’t Miss
4/5 = Excellent
3/5 = Enjoyed It (Solid Rent)
2/5 = Fell Short
1/5 = Horrendous

 Blogroll

These are a few of the blogs I read.  Check ‘em out.

My dad forwarded this to me - awesome.  They also did a bit on the 75th Academy Awards.

This is an amazing movie.  If you have not seen it you need to add it to your Netflix queue ASAP and move it to the top.  I watched this for the first time a few months back.  It stuck with me as all great movies tend to do.

I picked up a used copy at Blockbuster last week and watched it again tonight and now I’m “in it.”  Once I’ve unpacked all that is churning in my head I’ll give this movie a proper post.  I just couldn’t resist putting a little something up tonight.

Here are few of my favorite quotes from the film:

“When you forgive, you love.  And when you love, God’s light shines on you.” – Ron Franz (played by Hal Holbrook) speaking to Chris McCandless (played by Emile Hirsch)

“Get back out on the road.  You should make a radical change in your lifestyle.  The core of man’s spirit comes from new experiences.” – Chris to Ron

“Happiness is real when shared.” – Written by Chris in between paragraphs in the book “Family Happiness” by Tolstoy

Driving home tonight it was star bursts and halos for most of the drive home.  The tears just kept coming down. Blowing through the open windows the warm summer air made its best attempt at erasing the evidence.

My sister and her family are heading back to Florida after a long visit.  I spent most of the evenings during their visit at my parent’s house enjoying dinner and playing with my nieces Emily [5 1/2], Hannah [2] and getting to know my new nephew Benjamin [2.5 months] who changed before my eyes during this three-week visit. 

Being single and not having any kids of my own it is always eye opening to watch a family with three young children attend to all the needs.  The non-stop insistence to “watch this” or “see me” or “look.” 

Eye contact is required whenever a passing comment is made in the room by my nieces.  The difference is: at their age there is no such thing as a passing comment.  Everything requires complete attention.  Deliberate eye contact.  Failure to do so causes the “track” to go on “repeat” until they are absolutely certain you have understood and absorbed the full measures of what they are sharing with you.

“Uncle Dan.  UNCLE DAN!  UNCLE DAN!”

“What!?”

“Watch.”

“Okay.”

“Watch.”

“I’m watching, go ahead…”

“Are you ready?  Watch.”

“I’m watching.  Go.  Show me.”

“Okay, here I go.  Are you watching?”

“ I’m watching honey.  Show me!  I’m ready.”

“Okay, it’s pretty cool.  Okay here it goes.”

[She jumps down the three steps to the family room with the passion and energy as if she had jumped from the roof of one building to another]

“See.  Did you see that?  Did you see what I did?”

“Wow!  That was a big jump – nice work!”

“Watch I’ll do it again.  Are you watching, Uncle Dan!?”

“Yes, Emily.  I’m watching you.  Do it again.”

After the girls had gone to bed we were sitting around watching TV and having small talk.  As the night pressed on it was getting late and it was time for me to go.  I was saying goodbye to Michael and my parents I looked up towards the kitchen and could see my sister starting to cry. 

“Julie, don’t start because you will make me cry.”  I said giving her a hard time as I gave her a big bear hug.

I know why she’s crying.  The time is up.  “Pencils down.”  Have you ever had that happen to you? You reach the end of a trip to see family or a dinner with old friends?  This bittersweet sadness sort of washes over you out of nowhere. 

It happened to me when I was living in Alabama back in 2004.  Julie and Michael were at Michael’s parents down in Louisiana.  I drove down to visit for one night.  I remember saying goodbye the next morning to all Michael’s family and trying to hurry up and get to the car because I was about to lose it.  I asked Julie to walk me out to the car.  It was just the two of us and I gave her a big hug and cried.  Then of course she started crying.  The trip was over and we both wanted more time.  More time to connect and talk.  Like when we were kids.

It would be Friday night – I was in high school - and I was home around midnight.  There would be a Post-It on my mirror from my sister:

“Let me know when you are home -Julie.”

So often I would stop by her room and we’d talk about what I did that night with my friends from church.  She would talk to me about her day and what was going on with her.  It really seems like yesterday that the two of us we “debriefing” each other about life.  Julie in bed.  Me crashed on top of her comforter still wearing my jacket from coming home.  We were two kids sharing life together and doing our best not to talk too loud and wake mom and dad.

Tonight as I looked in my sister’s eyes – all red and wet with tears - for a moment there I saw my little sister looking at her big-brother wishing it could last just a little bit longer.  I couldn’t agree more. 

I love you, Julie.  You are such a blessing to my life.  You are a wonderful mother and wife.  I could not be more proud of you. – Dan (BB)

“I’ll start on Monday.” 

That statement became a running joke between my friend Frank and me.  In 2000-2003 I lived in town called Hailey, located in central Idaho.  Frank, his wife Nikki, and their children became very good friends of mine.  Frank and I were always talking about “Body for Life” (an exercise program) and how we planned to start “on Monday.” We’d be watching a movie, eating some hot custard and brownies…

“Boy, Body for Life, eh?”

“Yeah, looks like I’ll start on Monday.” 

Monday always came and went and I never could quite get it together to really kick-off the program.  

I can be a bit of a perfectionist.  I don’t start something without asking questions, reading about it online, getting all the right equipment/gear; all with the good intention of helping to ensure my success (or just an elaborate scheme to procrastinate while looking intentional).  When I start something I want to know how it’s done, because I want to do it correctly.  I have to be prepared ahead of time.  This, if I’m perfectly honest, often boils down to insecurity and lack of confidence and other times pride disguised with a lot thorough planning and efficiency.  I don’t want to start out fumbling; I want to look the part from the get-go.

I’ll start on Monday.

Life brings all kinds of moments or seasons that require us make a decision, to execute, stay the course, and follow through.  (Not just exercise)  Sometimes we can’t even get out of the gate.  Heck, sometimes even getting to the gate is a feat in-and-of-itself. 

Lack of discipline.  Laziness.  Lack of confidence.  More accountability.  Stubbornness.  Pride.  Shame.  Pain.  Doing the work.

There are countless reasons for why we procrastinate, ignore, or just flat our refuse to do “that one thing.”  More often than not there is “that one thing” you know you need to be doing, you know you really wish you were doing, but for whatever reason you choose not to. 

And there is the rub: Y O U

You are the only person that can fix the situation.  You can’t blame someone else (usually).  Sure you can say it was someone else’s fault that you are in “this” situation and rightly so, maybe you didn’t choose to end up in this place, but who is keeping you there?  A decision has to be made and most often that lever is in your hand.

Sometimes you just have to accept the situation and decide to leave whatever it is that is holding you back behind and press ahead.  Hopefully there are people in your life that can support you through it and have the patience to walk with you, encourage you, and spur you on.

It’s Monday.  Are we ready to pull the trigger?  Or will we wait to start Monday.