Serrefine

That was the winning word of the National Spelling Bee. Though that was actually a very easy word to win on. Oh well...at least the American kid won. Not that I have anything against the Canadian kid...he was pretty cool. But it's weird to see a Canadian kid in the US's National Spelling Bee (After all, it's not International...). I love that these kids know how to spell better than adults. Granted, they put an awful lot of effort into it, but at least you know there's 286 kids in the world who have been trying to learn how to spell correctly. If only the schools would learn that teaching spelling and grammar is actually important, maybe I wouldn't have to listen to conversations of "Like, you know, whatever" or see things like "omg," "lol" and various other things (Although, to be fair, that commercial for...Cingular, I believe...is hilarious. "TISNF!" "Me paying this bill, that's what's S...NF!).

So I'm about to go through my TV on DVD and pick out the funniest moments. I'm thinking I might use funny clips next year in The Storm during the downtime before worship. It might do more to keep them in the room, which would definitely make things easier.



And on that note, I also caught up on my Scrubs watching. I bought Season 6 on iTunes Tuesday and spent the past few days watching them late at night (It's an awful lot quicker to catch up on 20 22-minute episodes and 1 43-minute episode than to catch up on 24 44-minute episodes). They did a good job of leaving a cliff-hanger this year. The first season had a decent one, but two three and four didn't necessarily "cliff-hang" as much as leave some stuff unresolved that obviously had to be cleared up. Five, of course, had the whole pregnancy deal, but this season probably had the best cliff-hanger of all the seasons. Will they, won't they, who's going to be together, all that kind of stuff. Personally, I see them kissing and regretting it. I see JD raising his son with Kim, I see Elliot and Keith getting married a little later than expected. I see a "His Story V" with Keith as the focus, a "Her Story III" with Kim, and perhaps JD's wedding to end the series (Since, as of now, season 7 is the final season). I would also be amused if they did a "His Story" with Jack (Dr. Cox's son) as the focus. That would probably be a very funny episode.

California, Here We Come, Right Back Where We Started From

Yes, I'm watching The OC. Season 4 (AKA the final season) hit stores Tuesday...I got it Saturday. I'm through 12 episodes of the sixteen since I've had nothing better to do the past few days (Aside from watching dogs). I kind of forgot...this season, though short-lived, had some rather amusing moments. Quite enjoyable stuff. It's still disappointing to know it won't be on anymore.

On other notes, the end of the middle and high school year is winding down, which means The Storm is as well. There's just three Wednesdays left, and then there's stuff going on during the summer with the entire church. We've got just one series left. The next two weeks, we will be doing a series called When Heaven Scrapes The Pavement. It'll be focused on sharing your story. The first week, which is this Wednesday, is about how Heaven scrapes the pavement (Basically, it'll be driving home the point that everyone's story is important, even it's not a "I was a drug addict, murdering lunatic before I came to know Jesus Christ" kind of story). The second week is about what to do when Heaven scrapes the pavement (Basically, the idea of not letting that story sit around and collect dust, but sharing it with those who it can help, listening to their stories, and relating the stories to help someone else come to know Christ...if you've ever been to DC/LA, this is basically what they teach the entire week, condensed into a little under an hour). And the last Wednesday of the year will be a Top 10 of the year, which I am looking quite forward to.

Alright, well, fantasy baseball's starting well for me this week...five home runs on day one. And I'm going to watch Love, Actually until I fall asleep (It's on USA...I don't know, maybe I'll end up popping Scrubs, I haven't decided yet). Sounds like fun.

More Season Finale Commentary

First off, I need to talk about Lost. It was a good season finale. Not spectacular, but good. And, of course, they gave some cliffhangers. The whole Jack "flashback"...was it actually a "flash forward"? Or were Kate and Jack together on an island before? At first, I was subscribing to the latter theory, since Jack mentioned his father on more than one occasion. But now, I'm thinking it was more of a look forward to what could potentially happen if they were to actually get off of that island at the beginning of next season. Granted, it won't happen because we know they've got three more seasons on the island and then the show's done. But why do I think it was a potential flash of the future and not a flashback? Well, first off, the idea that some or all of these people were stranded on an island together before makes next to no sense. That would have to mean that we're actually getting bits and pieces from each of their times on an island together. And, though I wouldn't put that past the writers of the series, it just seems to mind-boggling to make any sense. But, then, how do we explain Jack's father being alive in the flash forward sequences, if that's what they are? Well, that's actually a much simpler thing to make sense of than the "We've been stranded twice" scenario. Jack is obviously suffering from some bout of depression in those sequences. It's quite possible that Jack believes his dad is alive when he's very much dead. Then again, maybe his dad's on the island somewhere, like Locke's "father." I don't know. There's plenty to think about, for sure.

And then there's American Idol. I'll be honest...I didn't watch at all this season after the Hollywood stuff. Part of that was because I picked up a Tuesday night shift at work and preferred to tape Veronica Mars. But the bigger issue was that I was just not that impressed with any of the competitors. I mean, I liked Chris Sligh, and I was disappointed when he got booted, and I enjoyed Blake Lewis and wanted him to win come finale time, but I really didn't pay attention to the show at all. I already know I won't be buying any of the CDs from this season's competitors. It's no surprise that Jordin won at 17...I mean, any one of them could've won this year, because they really were all average at best. I did think it was cool, however, when my dad told me that Scott Krippayne had co-wrote the song that won the songwriting competition. He's always been an impressive writer, so it's cool that he got some recognition (I wouldn't be surprised to see him sell a couple thousand copies of his CDs this week because people enjoyed the song).

Next season is looking kind of boring right now. None of the new shoes look incredibly interesting. I mean, I'll look into one or two, but there's a lot less shows that I'm going to watch come fall. Prison Break and Heroes on Monday night (and then 24 come January), maybe Chuck and probably The Unit on Tuesdays, Bones and Lost on Wednesday, Smallville and CSI on Thursday, and Numb3rs on Friday (with Bones moving to Friday at 8 come January...at the moment anyway). Now, I know some people are saying, "But Josh, that's two shows most nights, and at least one show every night." Yes, this is true, however, I don't know if I'll be watching The Unit or not, and Chuck will have to be pretty darn good to stay there. Plus, this is in comparison to last year, when I was watching Prison Break, 24, Veronica Mars, Bones, Lost, Smallville, The OC, CSI, Numb3rs and Psych when it came back in January (Boy, I hope they're running that during the summer again...such a great show), not to mention that I had meant to watch The Unit, I added Heroes around November, and I think there were some others that I'm forgetting. So I don't know. At least most of my favorites are returning, and I can enjoy those.

Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire

Yes, that's something kids of six years of age or so say. It's also now lyrics to a song off of The Used's new CD. Honestly, is there any more schizophrenic band out there then The Used? Take, for example, the latest CD, Lies For The Liars. They've got some really great...I guess you could call them "love songs"...on the disc, including Earthquake and Find A Way. On the other hand, they've got songs on the same disc with lyrics as childish as that title (Those lyrics come courtesy of Liar Liar (Burn In Hell), in case you're wondering). And then there's song about death and pain in general. Seriously, these guys are the definition of screamo if ever there was a definition of screamo. Dashboard Confessional may have introduced the art of a great emo CD, but The Used have taken emo, screaming, and schizophrenia and made it into a career. I truly have no idea what to say about this disc. At times I'm loving it, at times I'm just shaking my head in disbelief.

Season Finales Galore...

Ken, don't read this one until after you've seen the finales of 24 and Heroes...

First off, 24...excellent, as always. The oil rig showdown...okay, so they only did it to have some really cool explosions, but they got exactly that...really cool explosions. I like the contrast between Jack and Phillip. Phillip keeps telling Josh to let go of his emotions, but his emotions are exactly what drive Jack. He doesn't let them control him, per se (most of the time anyway), but he lets them guide him. I also like that we have indeed come full circle from the beginning of the season. We began with Jack ready and willing to die. We've followed him all season as he, as the writers put it when the season began, searched for reasons to live. He's let go of Audrey, but he's found a new family, of sorts, in his brother's now widow and her son. I suspect that we will see more of those two next season. Also, the rumors that next season is going to be "revamped" and that Jack will actually be out of CTU (Not just out in the field out, but not doing anything with them) are intriguing. I don't know that they're completely true, but it will be interesting. I'm already ready for January '08.

And then there was Heroes. Yes, I was wondering how it was going to end. It was a great episode, a good culmination to the season. My beef is that I didn't want them to kill Peter! Really now, did they have to do that? Or is he really dead? Was he able/will he be able to use Claire's power again? And what in the world is up with the whole Hiro thing? Why are we starting next season in 1617?

Only a few season finales left now...Veronica Mars is on tonight, and that's apparently the series finale, and Lost is two hours on Wednesday. Then, it's on to the summer programming. I need to check if Psych is going to be on again this summer...

So Darken Your Clothes Or Strike A Violent Pose

You know, I was just listening to My Chemical Romance's Teenagers...literally, it finished up about 50 seconds ago. While listening to it, I noticed something that actually is rather applicable to youth ministry.

Though the song goes about it in a rather vulgar way, it (quite unintentionally, I assure you) makes a point that a lot of youth ministries deal with when it comes to finding quality leaders. Most people have the mentality of the opening lines to the chorus of Teenagers: "Teenagers scare the living.....out of me, they could care less as long as someone'll bleed." So many people have that mentality when it comes to youth groups...they are actually afraid of kids learning God's Word! Okay, they're not actually afraid of that, but a lot of people look at the "hoodlums" that come into a youth group and just shudder. It's almost amusing to think of, but it's actually more sad and, really, more insulting to the students in a youth ministry. Older generations look at these teenagers and may very well repeat those lines from Teenagers, forgetting that generations prior to them said the exact same thing about them when they were teenagers.

I guess the point is that too many people listen to their pastors or youth pastors say that students aren't the future of the church, they are the church right now, but they just nod their heads and write it off. When it comes to actually handing over the reigns to a teenager in some sort of ministry...no,, that's too difficult to do, since they're not mature enough. And, even though they're supposedly not mature enough to serve God, people won't give of their time to help these students mature in any way, shape or form. It strikes a nerve as almost hypocritical, though it may not fit the exact definition of hypocritical.

I Never Meant To Brag...It Was Never My Intention To Brag

Got results back on that research paper I was doing last week...our group got full marks...100 percent! The class average was only 70 though, which means that at least a few of the other groups do not do good at all...I figured it out, and one of the outcomes would be 3 of the other groups with 60's and one with a 70. Give or take with those numbers, and you can bet that one of those groups probably screwed up their paper.

I'm just glad that I wasn't in that group this time around. Last time, I ended up having to do all of the work for my group, and we only got 12/15 (80%). The group I was in this time worked very well together. Maybe it was just the way everything was divided (Rather than "I'll write this part of the paper," I just wrote the paper while the others researched specific portions of the paper...this worked better because we were all doing something, but our paper had one voice rather than five), but it was definitely a much more friendly group and a much better group to communicate with. So that was cool.

Meanwhile, we started The Beauty In Ugly last night in The Storm. I think it went pretty well. We started, all too appropriately, by talking about the "fat, fat lady on da beach (Scroll down two posts and watch the video), and why we all get this image that makes us gag, but God sees the same image and sees beauty. Then we discussed the differences between the worldview of beauty and what God tells us real beauty is. Next week, we're going to talk about how the worldview of beauty affects girls and what they can do to, basically, live the beauty of God.

Lots of new music to listen to this week. I have to make sure I pick up Evans Blue's new single, The Pursuit, as soon as iTunes gets it up (Assuming they get it as a single...I'm still waiting on them to put up Evil (A Chorus Of Resistance) from Project 86, but I don't that they will, and I may have to wait until album release to actually own the song).

No Gas May 15th! Oh Wait...

You know what's really funny? People who have the potential to put their efforts toward great causes instead focus their efforts on stuff like a "gas out." Well, it's not so much funny as it is sad. But I do always laugh when I see stuff like that. "We can make a difference if we just refuse to buy gas on May 15th! Prices will drop 30 cents per gallon!" No...they won't. People don't understand that those people who didn't buy gas on May 15th either don't need gas that day or, if they do, will just end up filling up the next day. The gas conglomerates aren't hurt by a one day "gas out," especially since no one really participates in them...

No, what I do is not buy my gas at Citgo...why? Because I don't want to support Hugo Chavez and his dealings. This is a boycott that is worthwhile to me, because I read the information on a web site I actually trust (American Family Association) a while ago. Does it really make a difference? Maybe. Maybe not. But this, to me, is a boycott worth actually doing. There is at least hope for something in this boycott.

Anyway, I'll get off of my podium now. Baxter is now back to actually being able to see (He when and got a haircut). And they didn't cut him like a poodle this time, which is nice (I mean, I know he's a cockapoo, but he just looked so...girly last time). The Storm is tonight, and we start a new series. It should be a pretty good one.

All in all, it should end up being a pretty good day.

Storm Preview

Bradley Hathaway's poem, "Big Things In Big Packages." It seems like an all too appropriate way to begin a series on beauty.

Josh Bauer Who?

Well, I figured early on in the season that this Josh Bauer kid was going to have a little more to do this season of 24, and I was right. So what's this going to be, then? The final showdown between Jack and Phillip? Will this be the story of the Prodigal Son, except perhaps the Prodigal Father instead? Or will Jack have to kill his own father to save the world again? My guess is the latter. The former made sense earlier in the season, but not so much anymore.

Anyway, today was pretty sweet. I went and saw Spiderman 3, and I thought it was great. Admittedly there was a lot of plot involved, but I really enjoyed it. Plus, there were some cool parts that I'm hoping sparked the memory of some of the students in The Storm when they saw it, making them think, "Hey, we talked about that during the Spiderman 3 series!" It was a good movie.

Brad Penny gave me a nice start today in Fantasy Baseball...definitely should help me get a win this week. 7 innings, 5 hits, the win...oh, and 14 strikeouts. 43 points in all. Definitely a nice way to start the week. After all, though I know that I should win this week, I am playing Furball, and I just traded Ted Lilly to him, who has been doing pretty well so far this season. He also nabbed Derek Jeter from me, though I picked up Khalil Green before that, who's actually doing better than Jeter. Plus, the trade got me Jorge Posada (Who has been a much better catcher this season than Paul Lo Duca) and Chris Carpenter. Yeah, so he went on the DL. But it's a risk worth taking, since I'm able to put him on the DL, pick up another solid pitcher (Tom Gorzelanny made it back on the team), and when he does come back, I can get about 10 solid starts out of him, just in time for the playoffs.

Well, the Red Wings are up 2-0 after two periods, looking to close out their series against San Jose. I don't know how the Pistons are doing, but I like to assume that they're also winning. Should be a good night for Detroit sports...again.

Boolean Operators

I just wrote a 2000 word paper in a little more than an hour. It was about 90 minutes total, but that 90 minutes includes a 5-minute break to update the rest of my group on how the paper was going and a 10 or 15 minute break because Andrew needed his phone so he could text Kathryn (Even though he's at work and shouldn't be on his cell phone at all...not to mention that he wanted to text her to see if she was going to go in to Ram's Horn tonight, and, wouldn't you know it? She was already there when I brought his phone to him). So that's about 70 or 75 minutes for a 2000-word paper. Not too shabby.

The only problem is that it's only supposed to be a 750-1000 word essay. Umm....that's not fair! I totally wrote a great paper, and now I have to cut it in half. It's really more of an annoyance than something to get angry about, because I don't really care that I wrote double the requirement...once I start writing, I just go until I'm done. But that's the problem, isn't it? Because I write in a flow like that, now I have to interrupt that flow...a lot. I'm probably going to be eliminating one of my paragraphs that is about 300 words, I'm going to have to cut a good portion of another one, shorten the introduction, and I'll have to do some overall trimming as well just to get somewhere around 1100 words.

Oh joy...

Slap It, Shoot It, Kaboot It

Ah, School Of Rock. How funny you are.

So it was guys' night last night. I hung out with some of the guys in The Flood. We played floor hockey for about 2 hours, which was awesome, even in a small gym. We never ended up keeping score (Though, as I pointed out, "We're guys...we don't play this 'Everybody wins' game!") At about 11 or 11:30, we started watching School Of Rock in the auditorium. I'll tell you what, aside from going to a movie theater, there's nothing cooler than watching a movie in the auditorium on that 30 or 40 foot screen we've got. It's just plain awesome.

Alright, time to write a paper and be done with classes for a few weeks!

Everybody Dies Famous In A Small Town

That said, I don't live in a small town. I just like the song! (It's called Famous In A Small Town, and it's written by Miranda Lambert, in case you're wondering)

Today started out greatly enough. PDYM lunch at the church today, which was enjoyable. We've got a pretty good (If only a bit small) group that comes to these things. Some good conversation about volunteer leaders was had. It was definitely interesting and gave me some stuff to think about.

But then there was work. Oh, work was terrible. Actually, it was going great until about 7. We had just finished a mini-rush, so Furball was doing some prep stuff. I kept getting a couple of tickets and cooking them. I was getting frustrated, though, because we were having dumb waitresses, dumb people, or both at what seemed like every turn. We've had this trend recently of waitresses who...well, I don't know if they really care about the fact that they have a job. Some act as though they are all-knowing, some just don't have good skills for the job they're getting paid to do. Whatever the case, there were three or four tickets in a row where the waitress came back to get something changed (They want those fries well...they want deep-fried hash browns now...etc.). That can be very frustrating, especially when the waitresses often simply forget to write stuff.

But what really got under my skin was when the manager came back. I was doing fine, getting these tickets done. I was just about to put a chopped beef steak for an order, when he came back, pointed to said order, and said, "I need chicken instead." Well, that's annoying, obviously, since that's a waste of food and since I was just about ready to finish the order. Now, I improvised and used the c.b.s. anyway (Some lucky person paid for a 1/3 pound burger and got a 1/2 pound burger instead).

So now I'm cooking this chicken. Manager comes back again, finishes it up, takes it out. Okay, no problem. Except that the waitress comes back and asks where her food is, because the veal parm that was going to go with it was going to be cold. I said, "The chicken was just taken out." Well, now confusion ensued. I had to explain what the manager had told me. She asks him about, he comes back and asks me where the chopped beef steak is. I told him that I had replaced it with the chicken, like he told me. Well, now he's saying that he never said anything about the chopped beef steak and only wanted a new set of charred chicken. He starts yelling at me. This certainly does not make me happy. I spent the rest of the night ignoring everyone except Furball.

It's really irksome to work with stupid people. I mean, I have nothing against any of these people, I don't. But when you're on the job, you need to be professional. Even with the waitresses screwing up left and right, I was still doing my thing. But then, to have the manager come and yell at me for his mistake...that is unacceptable. I'm like my mother in that way...you don't disrespect me by yelling at me, period. You lose my respect when you yell at me like that.

The worst part was that Furball actually thought I was going to let it affect my work. I was finishing up my stuff so that I could just leave, but I was still cooking fryer stuff and what-not. He had a mashed potato to go, and I got it ready for him. He came over to set it up, I told him that I had already put it in the window. He's like, "Oh...I just didn't want to ask, because you're mad." I told him, "Dude, I'm not mad at you, and I'm not going to let my anger affect my work. No worries."

I swear, sometimes it seems like I'm working with middle school kids. Actually, that would be an insult to some of the kids I teach...

In Your Face, Imaginary Guy!

Sorry, I'm watching The Simpsons. It was another amusing Homer quote.

So tonight we had a lot of kids again in The Storm. 16 this week...I'm hoping that this stays consistent. It can be frustrating to have to stop the flow of the message, but the growth in numbers is worth it (As long as, of course, the growth in the kids' lives comes with that). I think 3 went pretty well, especially since many of the kids are excited about the movie itself.

PDYM lunch tomorrow. That should be enjoyable, even though there will only be a few people there. It's a good time to connect and talk with other YP's, so yeah.



Continuing with my Harry Potter enjoyment of late, I've been reading some stuff from Scribbulus, an online collection of essays written by fans about different topics. Some of them are amusing, some of them are rather intriguing. I enjoy it, and it helps kill a little time when necessary.