Warning: Chewing Gum Eats Brains

So lately I have been chewing a lot of gum. Why? Because I bought a package and it sit next to my computer and calls to me. I have discovered something about gum. If you chew enough of it, your head starts to hurt. Why? I have no idea. I think a large part of it has to do with jaw muscles and fatigue, but I have no real evidence to back up my claims. What I have noticed is that my ability for cognitive thought has decreased directly proportional to the amount of pain my head experiences. Therefore I have reached to conclusion that the makers of chewing gum are trying to eat my brain.

That being said, my church recently distributed a membership covenant to all its members. To continue to be a member of the church you have to sign and return this form. Now, I don't know if I have a problem with the principle of the idea, but how my church has decided to act it out. There are seven different items on the covenant. Of these seven, only one pertains to the beliefs of the church. The rest involve commitment level to the church and promising to follow the direction of the leadership of the church. Now if the covenant only contained what the church believed and would preach I'm not sure I would have a problem. However, all this feels like is another step of hoops to go through to get to be considered a member. Now according to the leadership most of this covenant stuff is to ensure people start getting involved in the church and we can begin to restore community. Almost all the problems we have at the church (I attend and am involved in ministry at a "mega church" with a normal attendance of about 3000) stem from the fact that we have no real sense of community. This stems from the fact that we really didn't start to work on small groups/ Bible studies until after we were already close to 2000. Small groups/ Bible studies are how you maintain a solid community of close members inside large church settings. My major point is, if you are involved in any church what so ever, encourage your leadership to begin small group/ Bible studies, run by members. This way when you grow you will still have communities that come together to worship instead of strangers who see each other once a week and sit next to each other while someone preaches and some other people sing on stage.

Anyway, if you have any comments, please leave them. I like to hear other peoples ideas on my thoughts.

Life, this side of crazy

Today I found myself in a very weird mood. I'm not entirely sure why. I think it had something to do with how my day started. About a half an hour into work a sales rep for one of our courier services came in. My boss suspected that they were giving us the run around and over charging us for their services. Since the guy is a salesman, he came in trying to butter us up, with doughnuts. I love doughnuts. However these pastry impostors were purchased at Walmart and instead of saying doughnuts on the box it said "Sugar Covered Yeast Rings." I don't know if you have ever had a yeast ring but they look like a doughnut. They, however, lack any of the sweetness normally associated with ring shaped pastries. The meager sugar covering did little to alleviate this. Yet still I consumed five of these yeast rings. I am sure they are the start of the weirdness.

This weirdness (some call it crazy) is not without its entertaining moments. For instance at lunch I found most of the soundtrack to The Prince and the Pauper (Mickey Mouse version) stuck in my head. I don't know how this happened since it has been at least eight years since I saw the movie last, but there it was, in my head, stuck. I have also been quoted today saying that crazy+theology = cult leader. This is how my whole day has gone.

No Stranger Song Written

So I just finished reading the fifth book in the Dark Tower series by Stephen King. Its called Song of Susannah. He is a one of a kind author. I won't tell you much about it, so as not to ruin it for people who want to read it (though I wouldn't recommend it to most). It is nice to know that there is a writer out there who just lets it flow from his mind. He doesn't try to fit into some clever formula or outline. This series has really given me a lot of inspiration and motivation to continue my own writing. If I write something worthwhile it will make its way up here, I promise.

In other news, I recently downloaded and have begun messing around with Fish Tycoon. Why I don't go buy actual fish and a tank I don't know. I don't know if I really like the game or not but I keep staring at the little fish swimming around on the screen. I ever felt sad when I killed one. Something is very wrong with my brain.

Movie review time! Must Love Dogs actually turned out to be a pretty good movie. I originally picked it up because I seem to have a strange affinity for John Cusack movies. I don't really know why but it seems like every time I decide to go buy movies, and I pick up two or more, he's in one of them. Anyway, I don't know why but I really liked this movie. The writing is solid, the guy keeps looking like an idiot and a complete spaz, people rediscover a chance at romance... Ok, so its a like most other romantic comedies but very well written. (Aside from the stereotypical gay couple and their gay/not too gay debate.) All in all if you're in the mood for a good laugh and some romance, this is the way to go. 8/10.

Just to let you know, I tend to hop around a lot. My best friend and co worker is always asking me for context. So be prepared for sudden leaps to different topics and the for me to leap back again. I can't help it...

Last thing today. If you haven't heard of The Fray, you really need to check them out. If you like either Coldplay or old Lifehouse stuff you will like them. They started here in Colorado and were one of our best kept secrets. Now we share them with the world (or a major label noticed them, you pick.) There are samples of their songs on the website. Nice poetry in their lyrics and solid musicianship (they use a piano and everything!) And if you like them please support them and buy their CD. They could use the support.

That's it for now.

All in a days work

It's funny how hard it is to think of something clever to say when you actually are trying. At this point in my life I work in a mailroom. Throughout the day I encounter about one-sixteenth of the entire staff, those with mail needs. Nine times out of ten I can come up with some kind of witty or comical (most likely sarcastic) comment to make. I have even begun to build up a bit of a reputation due to it, with nicknames and everything (more on that some other time.)However, I have sat here and stared at this screen for the last fifteen (ok, twenty minutes) trying to think of something humorous or profound to say and I have come up with exactly nothing. Considering I want to be a professional writer someday this is disheartening. Not in the "woe is me, my life is ruined" kind of way; but more along the lines of "I really suck today kind of way, oh well think of monkeys, monkeys with bananas, that's always amusing." I don't know why monkeys are always funny but they are.

I just spent two minutes deleting the word "don't" and replacing it with "do not". Why? Because years of english classes in both high school and college have taught me that "in formal writing do not use contractions" (though most of them said don't in that quote, which always struck me as funny.)So, my debate was do I try to write formally or not, I finally decided this debate wasn't worth thinking about and left the last one I typed there.

When you drop off mail there tends to be at least three boxes or slots to drop them in. One says "Stamped Letters", one says "Metered Letters", one says "Airmail" or "International Letters". The big secret behind all this is that when the postman comes he dumps them all in one big bin. Your $.39 stamp money at work...

I will give you movie and book reviews when I feel like it and the movie or book is worth reviewing because it is a) fantastically great, or b) horrible and I spin you a tale or warning and woe.

Finally, I love House, M.D. on FOX. Each week on Wednesday morning I will review the show and give you quotes I thought were funny. The show has amazing writing, actors, stories and sarcasm, as well as many "I can't believe he did that!" or "Can he do that?" moments. Give it a try. It's on Tuesday nights 9/8c.