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October 31, 2005

Mortality, part 8

Cracked EggOur bodies are fragile at best and I seem to have developed an unrepairable crack.

(Read more entries on my mortality.)

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October 29, 2005

Getting a leg up(date)...

Yesterday, talked me into filling the prescription for pain meds that the ER doctor gave me — I wasn’t going to, but the pain didn’t seem to be getting much better as the day progressed. She also talked me into calling for an appointment with my family care physician. I didn’t want to do that either, because I didn’t think he’d be able to do anything more than the ER. Also, while my doctor is a really on-top-of-it sort of guy — he’s very nice and knows way too much — I’ve been in to see him a lot over the last year. The ER visit was kind of embarrassing to begin with, and I didn’t need another doctor telling me nothing was wrong with me. But, I made the appointment and we went in.

My doctor ended up having a lot more ideas than anyone at the ER. He also made me feel pretty good for going to the ER in the first place. So, I had a few more vials of blood drawn for a number of tests that the ER didn’t do (plus some that they did) and we were on our way.

Monday there may be some results that tell us something. Or, maybe there won’t. Either way, my doctor is committed to coming up with something, so at least someone will be checking up on me.

Just so that you know (as well as anyone else who might Google this Blog), there is one preliminary diagnosis. I’ve been on twice over the last few months (both for separate allergic reactions). Prednisone would never cause what happened to me, but the fact that it’s a steroid is indicative of a possible cause. You see, if, for the last few months, I had knee trauma for some reason or another, the Prednisone (as a steroid) would have been shielding my nervous system from the pain. Well, the day before yesterday was my last day on Prednisone. Normally, because of the usual tapered prescription that Prednisone usually comes in this wouldn’t be an issue, but it is possible (according to my doctor) that my body just suddlenly realized it was in pain.

I’ll know more on Monday.

Thanks for the comments and e-mails — I really appreciate it.

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October 28, 2005

Where have I been for the last 12 hours?

AdmittedI was awakened out of my sleep last night, around midnight, by excruciating leg pain (mostly in my knees and ankles, but with periodic shots of pain from my knees all the way to my feet). I can’t even begin to explain how badly it hurt — think of feeling your bones trying to snap in half (or something). Anyway, I tried to wait it out for a few hours, but it didn’t seem to be getting any better (worse sometimes). So, I swallowed my pride and got up to take me to the hospital. It was around 3:00 AM at this point.

4-50 AMThey took blood and tested me for a number of things, including my electrolytes and all came back fine. We ended up having to wait until 6:00 AM, or so, for the radiology tech to get in so that they could get a sonogram of my legs (because of my blood disorder, they wanted to check for possible clotting). After waiting until about 8:00 AM, we got the report that there was no clotting.

We’re back home now… After coming home, we crashed for a few hours. But, my legs still hurt and I don’t know what to do.

Has anyone ever heard of something like this?

In any case, please pray that it’s not big deal. I feel bad enough that I had to waste our time at the hospital.

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October 27, 2005

The shame about Blogs...

Read the backlog!The other day I was directed to one of my old Blog entries. The entry, in and of itself, is all right — somewhat insightful, yet it doesn’t offer much resolution or point — as, I’ll admit, is a telling testemony to my meandering writing style. To accentuate this admonition, my point here doesn’t have anything to do with that.

What I am writing about now is the fact that Blogs really do have a horrible plight in this world. People who read Blogs are finicky: If the title doesn’t grab me, why should I read? Blog readers are busy: I have over 350 XML feeds in that I skim through every day during my lunch break. Bloggers are egotistical: Otherwise, why would I be putting my life on the internet like I do?

And, here at this Weblog, I have 760-some-odd Blog entries (which is a relatively small number for some bloggers) that I would love everyone who visits to read…

Yeah, right!

(Honestly, there are some good little nuggets to be found if you’d like to try.)

The shame of all this is the fact that there are millions of Blogs out there, containing billions of Blog posts that will never be read… By anyone.

That’s just not fair when compared with with work by a traditional author. I mean, if I find a new author that I like, I will usually do my best to read everything I can find that’s by that author: books, magazine articles, interviews, whatever. (Maybe that’s just me?) In any case, the last thing I usually want to do when I find a new blogger that I like is root through all of their old Blog posts.

A terrible shame indeed.

And, once again, no real point is made.

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Matthew 11:25-26

I am sometimes startled by a verse in the bible that seems unfamiliar. It might not even be that I’ve never read the verse before (well, sometimes that happens too), but more like I’ve never felt the verse before.

This happened last night during our small group meeting. We were going through the daily readings from the prayer book and we came to Matthew 11:25-26 (NKJ):

25At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. 26Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.
Incredible.

Sure, this is a concept that I’ve heard plenty of times before — and have probably even spoken about on this Weblog. But, to see it all plain and laid-out like that, prayed by Jesus Christ himself…

And, last night, it hit me as if I had never read it… Ever.

But, I think, there is a pretty good reason for this. If you continue reading Matthew (11:27-30), you’ll see that it is one of the most famous (and quoted) couple of passages in the bible. And, probably, they tend to overshadow the simple opening of Jesus’ prayer. Yet, important to our faith as those verse may be, they just aren’t hitting me like verses 25-26.

I understand the value in reading long pieces of scripture at a time — context is utterly important after all. But, sometimes, just getting a little piece, like Matthew 11:25-26, is all one needs.

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October 26, 2005

Continuing in the vein of (mmm) beer...

I like to pride myself in the fact that commercials don’t really work on me: I buy what I like (most of it no-name, brandless stuff) and when I see commercials, they don’t do much to make any sort of “gotta buy that” appeal.

But, this ad, for , is different:

Carlton Draught - Big Ad

Laugh…out…loud…funny! If I can find it in the store, by golly, I’ll support ‘em.

(Link via .)

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October 25, 2005

Have I been left behind?

Do you think I should be worried that it’s 12:45 PM and I haven’t seen anyone at work yet?

I knew my boss wasn’t coming in. And, I think I heard a coworker on the phone around 8:30 AM. But that’s it — and the office is completely empty.

Dang this Blog and my nefarious posting… It sucks to be left behind.

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"A hero gone"

Rosa Parks (Rosa Louise McCauley)
February 4, 1913–October 24, 2005

Oh to have such courage
To live a life ideal
A resolute as such unknown
A nucleus on fire

Brevity of rhythm
Spent on much more than just one breath
And all to know that I’m alive
In a cosmos I had changed

It fails all logic
Who can say: What I do has worth!
An inborn proclamation
A desire for something more

To trust, or keep on trying
An alarming appeal of sense
Ends a blaze (though seldom beheld)
Lives a spark forever remembered

(By me, this morning.)

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October 24, 2005

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait...

Many of you may already know of my affinity for beer. If you don’t, well now you do (or now, or maybe now).

Anyway, I just came across this great television ad for the super-fine stout, and I thought you’d like to share a chuckle (and a hearty nod) with me.

Guinness Television Ad - 'Good Things Come To Those Who Wait'

(Link via .)

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October 21, 2005

St. Louis, here we come...

In a couple of hours, three of us will be on our way to the south of St. Louis to visit our friends . They have been on a huge adventure (go read their Blog just to see how big) and we haven’t seen them in over a year.

Here’s a picture of the two world-travellers on a camel in :

Rob & Erica on a camel

(You can read more about their experience in Dubai here.)

I can’t wait to see them!

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October 20, 2005

This sucks...

is quitting blogging. Very sad indeed.

Update: By the way, if those links above turn out not to work after a while, click here to read Bene’s last post.

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Oh, with the lame ads!

Ok, so, I’ve been getting notices from my current webhost that I’m getting startlingly close to running out of traffic bandwith for this Weblog (which, by the way, costs money). I’m getting anywhere from 2000-3000 unique visits per day here now (most of them spammers, mind you, but still) so I can see why that might be possible. Anyway, as a test, I signed up with CrispAds Blog Advertising to see if some of these unique visitors might generate some cash-flow for me. Anyway, I won’t leave the ads on the site for long, unless I see some substantial click-throughs, but I thought it’d be worth a try.

So, if you’re interested in helping me out, please click on any ads that might suit your tastes. It’ll only take a second for you, and it will mean financial support for this Weblog.

Thanks.

(Also, let me know if anything “disrespectful” turns up in the ads. I tried to hone my keywords to things that were suitable, but you never know.)

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Introducing: My Nanoloop 2.0!

Nanoloop 2.0After a little over a month of waiting, I finally have, in my possession, the ! (Here’s a photo of me waiting — well, sort of.) It took so long because (a) it was initially out of stock, and (b) it took all of ten days for it to ship here from Germany (where it’s made). Without going into too much detail (you can get more information on the website), the Nanoloop basically turns a into an eight-channel synthesizer/step-sequencer.

The Nanoloop has been out for a while now (since 1997, I think). The first version was made for the and it didn’t offer too much in the way of advanced synthesis or sequencing. Now, with the advent of the , the , and the , a whole lot more can be done (hence, the “2.0” at the end of the name).

It’s hard to describe what the Nanoloop sounds like — think 8-bit FM-/faux-analog-synthesis (sort of). For those of you who aren’t too technical, it’s basically what most of the synth parts on ‘s ““ album sound like (which some people might find annoying, but I sure don’t). It also makes sounds similar to those heard at the beginning of ‘s latest single, “Girl” (listen here – 303k MP3 If you’d like to hear some songs actually made with the Nanoloop 2.0 first-hand, there are all sorts of people posting their compositions here.

Maybe now I’ll be inspired to come out with some new music? (I’m sure there’s a good reason why that’s questionable.)

Nevertheless, I stayed up late last night learning how to make sounds and sequences and how to save everything to the cartridge. It’s not totally intuitive, but once you get the gist, it get fairly easy to get around. I made a pretty cool fat sounding bass synth and some good drum sounds and assembled it all into a four-measure sequence. Not much, but it’s a start.

When I complete something I’m proud of, I’ll post it for all of you to listen to.

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Daily Dose of Heresy #8 (Free Will)

Let’s look at the bible as a metaphor (come on, it’s easy, I’ve done it before).

Here’s a question: Is evil evil, or is the fact that we can do evil evil?

Strange question, right? Even sort of nonsensical, maybe?

Look at it this way: When Lucifer rebelled against God, maybe it wasn’t because Lucifer was inherently evil, but because he was somehow able to find free will that he became evil. Then God, angered by this discovery, cast Lucifer out of heaven, in turn erradicating free will from heaven once and for all (see, Isaiah 14:12-15 – NKJ).

A divergence from the traditional view of Satan’s fall, I know, but try to go with me here…

Continue Reading...

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Daily Dose of Heresy #7 (Jesus Christ, Part 1)

Jesus ChristToday, I’m going to do something a little different. Rather than harangue you with an essay (as I’m used to doing) I’m just going to make a list. Whether you agree or not, I can honestly say that this list wouldn’t completely agree with my own opinions of five years ago — and they probably won’t completely agree with my opinions five years from now.

Some of the things I think about Jesus Christ:

  • Jesus has always existed with God and as one with God (what that means, I may never know).
  • Aside from his thirty-three years on earth, Jesus is God.
  • While on earth, Jesus was fully human, devoid of all godly attributes knowledge, and abilities.
  • Because of Jesus’ humanness, he was not “perfect” (nor do I believe that Jesus would say that he was perfect — or even good).
  • Jesus possessed the ability to sin, yet resisted all temptaion to do so.
  • The human Jesus could make mistakes, get sick, get hurt, etc.
  • Because of Jesus’ connection with God — God was his father, afterall — he had a measure of spiritual support that the rest of us can only know through the Helper (i.e., the Holy Spirit).
  • While on earth, Jesus did not know everything God knows (that’s why he had to pray and talk with God, just as we do).
  • Jesus, because of his full humanness and complete faith in his Creator, was able to perform miracles (which, I believe we could too, if we were only able to resist sin and have complete faith in God as Jesus did).
  • Jesus fully knew love: love for his Father as well as the love of his family and friends.
  • Jesus understood the will of God, but in no way wanted to die. But, having complete faith in God’s will, did so despite his personal objection.
  • Not until the transfiguration did Jesus understand the purpose or levity of the sacrifice he was about to undergo.
  • Jesus is the “Word of God.”
  • The existence of Jesus Christ (from creation through his appearance on earth and on through his fulfillment) is the “Gospel”
  • Jesus Christ can be found in every verse of the bible (whether Old or New Testament)
  • Jesus, as God, desires all people to know him and love him.
  • Jesus’ godly love is capable of anything (despite what we know through traditional theology, it is not beyond Jesus to save anyone whom he chooses).
I’ve neglected to supply supporting bible verse references to all of these point on purpose.

Other “Daily Doses”

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Poison...something...

You may have noticed that I’ve been a little quiet here over the last couple of days (or, maybe you haven’t — which is ok, I guess).

The first reason for this is because, Monday, a power surge fried our server here at work. Because of this, our internet connection has been down — not so good for a web designer like myself. But, our downed internet didn’t really affect me too much on Tuesday.

Why?

Poison-SumacWell, Tuesday, I was all holed-up and hopped-up (in bed and on Benedryl respectively). It turns out that Sunday, while doing some yardwork, I came into contact with something that my body didn’t like very much. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t or , but I’m not ruling out just yet. (But, it could have just been something that I’ll never know.)

So, Tuesday, with a swollen and red face, and a pretty gnarly rash all over my neck, arms, hands, and chest, I made my way to the doctor. I was given yet another prescription for Prednisone. Yuck. (Here‘s a photo I took of my last bottle.)

Yesterday (Wednesday), I was a little better and back at work. The swelling had gone down, but I still had plenty of blotchy red patches in various places on my face, arms, and hands. And, it still itched pretty dang bad (thank God for Caladryl!). Our server was still out for repair, though, so I still didn’t have internet access.

Today, I’m even better, but still pretty red and itchy (the swelling has gone down significantly on my face, but the redness seems to be spreading a little on my hands).

The weird thing about all of this is that, until yesterday, I thought I was veritably impervious to poison plant-types. I used to be a pretty avid camper and hiker (when I lived in a location where places to do those things weren’t very hard to find). I’ve done a lot of yardwork around poison-ivy and poison-oak with nary an occurrence. But, my doctor told me that most plant-induced topical allergies sometimes take three or more exposures to actually affect someone. He said that I could have come into contact with whatever it was that gave me this blight last fall, and then again last spring, and now, this time, it hit me. Weird, no?

Hopefully, everything will be much better by the time , our friend Jill, and I make the drive to St. Louis on Friday to see our recently-returned-to-the-US friends, .

It’s not fun to go through life feeling like your skin is crawling!

Needless to say, there may be a barrage of Blog entries in the next few minutes, as I had just a wee bit of time to write yesterday.

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October 13, 2005

KC Emergent Cohort reflections (the novella)...

Alan RoxburghI would love to be able to have a one-on-one conversation with (by the way, I wrote an entry on something he wrote a while back). I’m not saying that I’m one who could keep up with him, but I value many of the one-on-one conversations that I’ve had with smarter-than-me, theology-minded people. I’ve had the honor of speaking with , , and (not to mention my weekly interaction with and , etc.). And, whether they ever get anything out of conversation with me, I always grow immensely every time I get to speak with them.

Last night, thirty (or so) people from all around the greater Kansas City Metro area converged on for a chance to get a glimpse of this whole “emerging church movement” thing. There were pastors from Baptist churches, from Nazarene churched, from Methodist churches, lay pastors, worship leaders, church volunteers, and people like me who just have an interest in all of this.

But, honestly, last night was a little frustrating for me. Most of what Mr. Roxburgh said (with some important exceptions) I’ve heard one way or another over the last few years. But, it’s not to say that what he said wasn’t profound. On the contrary. And, I admit, that while I may have heard or read many of the things that were spoken of, it’s always good to listen to an intelligent, wise person who is able to put all of the pieces together and actually provide answers beyond all of the questions. I am glad I went for that reason alone. Plus, I know that what Mr. Roxburgh had to say was probably new for most of the people there, so that’s great. (But, I’m a little annoyed that I didn’t think to record it until halfway though Mr. Roxburgh’s lecture.)

But all that is not was what frustrated me. What was (and will remain) frustrating is the prevailing mind-set that many seminary-educated pastors (namely, some of those pastors who were in attendance last night) continue to possess: That we need to find the next “expert” with the next “answer” to how we should do church.

In my opinion (and Mr. Roxburgh’s too, I think), is that just ain’t gonna happen, folks. Let me explain…

Continue Reading...

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The Posies...

Ken and Jon, from , played an intimate (free) set at last night, before their “bigger” show at the . There were only about fifteen of us there, including and Stacey and Jennifer Schmitz.

They were great, but five songs is just not enough.

Recycled Sounds, Kansas City, MO Ken & Jon, The Posies
(Click to enlarge.)

I shot a couple of short video clips, but they didn’t turn out very good. If you’d like to see one more still photo, go here.

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October 12, 2005

Swimming (mentally speaking, that is)...

I just got back from the — yeah, I left early, although not for lack of a good time.

Don’t you hate it when you’ve got a bunch of ideas and thoughts and questions that it’d serve well to get all written out, but you’re just too tired to do anything about them?

Well, I do anyway.

Doug and I had a great chat on the way home tonight — possibly better than what was happening at McCoy’s ( but that’s usually the case when conversation is one-on-one). Hopefully, I’ll remember some of what’s swimming through my head right now in the morning.

Goodnight.

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"Is the Bible the word of God?"

Bible BoundIs the Bible the word of God?

I’ve been thinking about this question a lot lately. Recent conversations with other Christians have been striking me as quite odd when I hear someone refer to the bible as “the word of God.” I can’t explain why. Some of it, I know, has to do with John 1:1-5 (NKJ):

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
I don’t think John is speaking of the bible in those verses… But, is that all? Honestly, I don’t know.

Continue Reading...

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KC Emergent Cohort tonight!

From :

Allelon Foundation On Wednesday, October 12, we will be meeting at in Westport at 9:00 PM. Our distinguished guest will be . Alan, as you can see by clicking the link, is involved in innovative projects related to missional leadership development, theological training, and emerging ecclesiological thinking. Alan is connected with some of the leading seminaries in North America and is exploring alternate seminary concepts. Alan is also engaged at the national level with discussions of living missionally around a Rule of Life. This will be an amazing time to be a part of conversations with Alan that are at the forefront of the theological work being done today. This time is being made possible by the .
Here’s a map to McCoy’s.

I will be there, along with , but only after seeing at (it’s at 6:00 PM and it’s free if you’re interested).

This will be my first visit to an , and I am very excited… While I have had the pleasure of many conversations with people involved with , I’ve never actually had time for one of the local Cohorts. Anyway, if you’re in the Kansas City Metro area tonight, and have an inclination towards these types of things, I’d love to see you there.

Update: posted some additional info about tonight (et cetera) here.

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October 11, 2005

Has anyone ever used LendingTree.com?

To tell you the truth, I am a little disappointed.

LendingTree.comI was referred to by a friend who has used them in the past. He told me that even if I don’t use any of the lenders who contact me, it’s a great place to get information about the current market and what I can do to negotiate with any lenders that I might find on my own.

Well enough, I thought… And, since it’s all online, it couldn’t be easier, right? (As you’ll see, I’m still waiting for the answer to this one.)

So, I went to LendingTree.com and entered all of my information. After completing the multi-paged form, I sat back to wait for (at least) four lenders (it says so on their main page) to contact me with their competing offers…

It’s been about a week since I filled out the form and, so far, only one lender has contacted me (and this particular lender says that they are LendingTree.com’s biggest lender).

Now, maybe it was the type of loan I was requesting, or the amount of money I was trying to get a quote on… Or something. But, clearly, on the main page of LendingTree.com’s website, it says:

Compare and act on up to 4 customized offers instantly!
Instantly? A week later, I’m still waiting for the remaining three to contact me.

Has anyone out there had any experience with LendingTree.com? Would you recmmend them (r their lenders)?

I’m not so sure I really trust their slogan at this point:

When banks compete, you win!
Really?

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October 07, 2005

Memry...

is the classic memory game, but made from photos at . Just input a tag name and try to remember where each photo’s match is located.

Memry

Have fun!

(Link via .)

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"God told me to..."

From The Independent Online:

The revelation comes after Mr Bush launched an impassioned attack yesterday in Washington on Islamic militants, likening their ideology to that of Communism, and accusing them of seeking to “enslave whole nations” and set up a radical Islamic empire “that spans from Spain to Indonesia”. In the programmeElusive Peace: Israel and the Arabs, which starts on Monday, the former Palestinian foreign minister Nabil Shaath says Mr Bush told him and Mahmoud Abbas, former prime minister and now Palestinian President: “I’m driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, ‘George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan.’ And I did, and then God would tell me, ‘George go and end the tyranny in Iraq,’ and I did.”
And “now again”, Mr Bush is quoted as telling the two, “I feel God’s words coming to me: ‘Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East.’ And by God, I’m gonna do it.”
Read the rest here.

I’m sorry, but I really don’t know how to respond to this.

(Link via .)

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Further thoughts on the redemptive qualities of Kill Bill,,,

Kill Bill, Vol. 1 DVD Cover has just published a very educated and well-written essay, by (a fellow believer and filmmaker) detailing the redemptive qualities of ‘s Hard Boiled/Kung Fu epic, Kill Bill (Vols. 1 & 2), as well as some of his other films. It’s quite a lengthy essay, but well worth the read.

I wrote a much shorter, but equally as enthusiastic, review of Kill Bill here.

And, if you haven’t seen the Kill Bill films yet… You should.

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October 06, 2005

Hanso...

Hanso


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The wedding toast...

My Rockin' SpeechA couple of days ago (before the big hack), had requested that I post what I said in my toast at my friend Bill’s wedding. I’ve decided not to attempt to copy everything that I said there, but I will post something that was present in the speech (even though I didn’t actually write it).

It began like any monologue: a couple (or three) good jokes to get the audience going, and then a quick turn into something more serious. My goal with this speech was to say something profoundly different — something drunken wedding guests, waiting to cut the cake, aren’t prepared for. In this case, I read a short benediction for my friends, Bill and Rocio.

And it went a little something like this:

May your love abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruits of righteousness which come through the love of Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. Amen.
That’s it. And, to tell you the truth, I don’t even remember where I found it.

Bill and Rocio are currently in Jamaica for their honeymoon. I hope they’re having a great time.

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October 05, 2005

Hacked...

hackedThe last twenty-eight hours, or so, have been rather stressful, as I’ve been trying to reassemble my website after being hacked. Thankfully, my webhost had a recent backup of my site and were (fairly) quick to restore it.

This isn’t the first time my site has been deleted by hackers either. It also happened to my music site back in May 2004. At that time, I wasn’t sure if my webhost would be able to restore a backup, but they came through for me in the end. And, while this time was a bit maddening, as well, I knew that some sort of backup would be found.

Anyway, since restoring the site, I’ve taken a few measures to improve security around here.

I lost one post (a good one too) because of this little annoyance — plus a handful of comments. Maybe I’ll attempt a repost of the lost post at some point (along with the comments I received via e-mail), but I’m not completely sure yet.

The hackers left a calling card in the form of two index files in the root of my site. Here’s what they said:

A n o m a l y   1 n   t h e   S y s t e m   C r E W
i S   B A C K   ! ! !

O O O . . . W W W . . . N N N . . . E E E . . . D D D . . .

We are:
V4mu  <*>  S0l4r1s  <*>  paulinhu  <*>  r3ckd4ll  <*>  magic

Need help ? #A1TS on irc.gigachat.net

Nice, eh?

Anyway, I hope they won’t bother me anymore.

In the meantime, I took the opportunity to do some cleanup on my server. I decided not to put my Photoblog back up (the new one or the old one), because I’m posting photos primarily on now. Because of this, there may be some broken links on some of my older posts, but I figure I can deal with that later (let me know if you find anything crucial).

Ugh.

I’m done for the day.

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October 03, 2005

Weekend pic(k)s...

My weekend in California…

Continue Reading...

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Not quite "home"...

I’m really tired this morning. After being picked up at yesterday, we stopped in at so that could check out the store that has a maternity section. We found some cool clothes, actually — pregnant women can continue to look pretty hip if they try.

Afterwards, we went home for me to pack up a few more clothes for myself. We’re house-sitting for Julianna’s mom until Tuesday.

So, I’m back safely in Kansas City, but not quite “home” yet. I’m looking forward to tomorrow night.

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October 02, 2005

Post-Wedding Appreciation...

The wedding was really good today — beautiful, in fact… It went off without a hitch. The priest seemed like a great guy and delivered a nice, low-key mass. Between the kneeling and standing (and kneeling and standing), I think the service really spoke to me. Thanks, God.

The reception was good too. It was at a very nice restaurant in the Valley — with very good food and drink; it was fun. The times were made even funner with the appearance of , who I’m always glad to hang with. Thanks, Dennis! (Who, by the way, is currently enjoying a lovely evening at a / concert with his girlfriend — lucky!)

And, if you were wondering… My speech rocked. That’s right.

Anyway, I’ll have some pictures to post when I get back. I’m happy that my friend is now married and he and his bride are happily off to their honeymoon destination.

I’m also glad this is all over (man, weddings are tiring).

Next stop: Kansas City. (Thanks, .)

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