Funny Videos Thursday

Evil Eye Baby...


Hancock trailer...

Cops parking illegally

I'm glad someone had the guts to confront them! It's ridiculous to see cops do this sometimes...

Loren Radis discovered

If you haven't checked out thesixtyone.com yet (link), you should. It's a site where new artists can post their songs and have users rate them. Each song can be "bumped" up the list, eventually making it to the sixtyone homepage. Songs are available for buying via amazon, or some are free for download. Loren Radis chose the free download route, b/c he rocks.

His bio would describe him best,

"Loren Radis (that's me) is a California based singer/songwriter heavily influenced by the likes of Simon & Garfunkel, Iron & Wine, Damien Rice, and Elliot Smith.I've been playing guitar since I was twelve and singing since I could talk, but only in the last year has writing and performing music become a more serious pursuit.Music has helped me through a few really hard times in my life and if I can do the same for other people then I'll feel like I'm doing something worthwhile. All I really hope for is that people will enjoy listening.Thanks, -loren"

His website is here. With sixtyone, you can also create playlists and send the link out to friends. You can check out one that I created here. It's very chill.

Does everyone have this dream?

I just spoke with a buddy of mine, and he is the second person I've talked to that has had this same dream. You freak out that you haven't gone to the last several weeks of one particular class, and you're afraid that you failed it. I had it once where it was an online class, and I thought "dumb idea, this whole online class thing. Shouldn't have signed up for that guy."

Does anyone else have this same type of dream? And it feels so real, too. You even have that feeling of your stomach sinking out of fear. I can't believe I forgot about that class!

Samaritan's Purse 2007 Gift Catalog

$9 feeds a hungry baby for a week
$50 provides a child with a month's care at a safe haven, away from bondage and abuse
$35 gives an orphan a month of loving care
$15 gives a child much-needed school supplies, or pays for a month's tuition

Full gift catalog here: https://giving.samaritanspurse.org/c-18-gift-catalog-index.aspx

'Hope you catch my heart here. Nothing wrong with asking for some cool stuff for Christmas, or giving for that matter. I am. But, something to think about for an additional little something, or maybe a replacement for an item on your list.

I met kind of a big deal in San Diego

I went to San Diego last week for about 4 days. It was lots of fun. One of the highlights was meeting a celebrity (sort of). And by (sort of) I mean (not really), by which again I mean (not at all). Erroneous!*

But seriously. Everyone remembers MacGyver, right? I think the show won the Nobel Peace Price back in '92. Well the actor who played Mac is Richard Dean Anderson (RDA). At least I call him RDA. So I met his brother's friend's friend in San Diego. Yeah, the real deal.

Now that RDA and I are basically family, they've invited me over for Thanksgiving next year. I said I'd think about it. I'll probably go.

*Shout out to Beas on that. Other readers - what movie is that from?

Arrows (version 2)

"His arrows surround me. Without mercy He splits my kidneys open; He pours out my gall on the ground" (Job 16:13, NASB).

I am not a huge coffee drinker, but I do love me some French Vanilla every once in a while. I'll tap that a few times a week. I do need to be careful because my body reacts easily to caffeine. After a cup, I'll sometimes notice my muscles are a little more jittery and I even start to get anxious about nothing. I get wrestless.

It will often trigger memories. It's like an arrow will hit me at my side, bringing with it a memory of a hurtful time of life, a time when anxiety was my master. A time when I couldn't help but scream out loud in the shower, a scream of utmost agony. Nothing is worth that much anxiety. But during that time in life, it started to feel familiar to me, like a twisted sense of comfort and safety. I began to know what that felt like, and it was my outlet. All clear signs of sinking into despair.

I wish I knew what steps I took to get out of that, but I don't. I know God must have had something to do with bringing me out of it, but I don't think I can say to myself, given I fall into another phase of that, "ok, this sucks but, I can just apply what I learned last time and bam - I'm out of this."

And the memories stick, like arrows do. Whoever invented arrows was a smart, morbid person. They are designed to enter the body and stick. You can't really pull them out without shredding the innards along with them.

It reminds me of Braveheart, where one of the fathers was shot by an arrow. In order to continue to fight, he snapped off the end of the arrow, leaving the tip lodged in his body. That's all he could do to get up and move.

So now what? Are these arrows permanently lodged in my body with blood dripping down, making up the person that I am? Or will they just somehow go away? Or better yet, will God completely heal those wounds with his healing touch, while leaving those memories there as part of my story? I hope the latter, because I need those memories to relate to people. When I see someone struggling with anxiety, my heart absolutely breaks for them. And I can't say, "chin up." I can only say, "this sucks that you're in this spot, and I don't know what God's doing with it, and I know how much you hurt right now," and just sit there with them.

I am glad that I have these arrows with me. I just hope that another will see them and say, "hey, those look a lot like mine. Would you sit with me for a minute?"