6 Degrees From Me To Me

I've been in awe recently at how many people I know that know people I know. For instance:

Me-Bethel-Church-Bethel-Me:
I worked with Linnea (Friberg) Quam my senior year at Bethel on my RA staff.
Linnea lived with Karen Thomas near Bethel for a while.
Karen Thomas is a part of the Young Adult Ministry of which I am a part.
Karen is also friends with Bekah States from the Young Adult Ministry.
Bekah lives with Erin Kelly right now.
Erin Kelly was also on the RA staff with Linnea and I.

Me-Spransys-ETWC-Source-Me/Me-MadCity-Church-Me:
I know Linnea Spransy from Westbrook.
I know Joe Steinke from worship times at the Spransy household.
I am a fan of Enter The Worship Circle music and writings.
Linnea Spransy, Joe Steinke, and some members of ETWC are putting on a worship-y conference in the Twin Cities through Source Ministries.
Our friends Todd and Libbie (Kent) Anderson have worked with Source.
Also, some of the staff of MadCity Church (which may have included Joe Steinke) have come to conferences that our current church puts on in the Twin cities.

Me-Katy-Sojourn-MadCity-Me:
Katy regularly went to the Sojourn worship service at her home church near Chicago.
At Sojourn, they did the song, "Riding the Wings of Music."
"Riding the Wings of Music" comes from a cd that the members of Sojourn got from MadCity church.
I know a number of people involved with leadership and worship leading at MadCity from Westbrook.

"Welcome to Caribou . . ."

". . . Could you hold on while I go cry in a corner?"

Today, I worked a partial shift at a different store. This other store has a drive-thru, which our store does not have. When I showed up to take over for another person from my store working at this other store, I realized that she was working the drive-thru. There were three people working when I came on, but two were leaving. It was very busy. So, not only did I have to learn drive-thru very quickly, I had to adjust to a totally different set-up behind the counter, and there was a line of people at the drive-thru. Prayerfully, after a half-hour, things died down and I just had to finish out the short shift. The two shifts I've worked at other stores makes me appreciate my own store that much more.

But it seems to mainly be a matter of habits. When I work at other stores, they mention how they like working at their stores more than other stores. The only plus to working at one of the stores is the large amount of tips. But I would rather work more confidently in my own store making slightly less tips and being comfortable.

Binary Stars

During the opening credits of the Inside Man, I realized that I not only like most, if not all, Denzel Washington movies, but I apparently like many Spike Lee joints (that's probably not the first sentence ever that includes "Spike Lee," "like" and "joints"). I quickly tried to recall Spike Lee joints with Denzel: Inside Man and Malcolm X were the two easy ones. then I remembered He Got Game. In the interview between Spike and Denzel in the features, they mention the fourth. Can you remember what it is? (I recently won a Best Buy gift card for remembering more Denzel movies than my competition.)

Denzel admitted in the interview that he has been thinking of ending his acting career for a while now, but that this might be it soon. He would continue directing or something, but less acting. This is a sad thought. There's a new movie coming out that I want to see with Denzel, but who knows how many more this icon has in him.

Not enough.

Another Top 100

Here is the 2007 Teachers' Top 100 Children's Books that I haven't read:

1. Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
7. Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
10. The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
11. Skippyjon Jones by Judy Schachner
12. Thank You Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco
15. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
16. The Mitten by Jan Brett
17. Crunching Carrots, Not Candy by Judy Slack
19. Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
23. Corduroy by Don Freeman
24. Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes
25. Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
26. Tacky the Penquin by Helen Lester
30. Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type Doreen Cronin
33. Junie B. Jones by Barbara Park
36. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
37. Piggie Pie by Margie Palatini
39. The Monster at the End of this Book by Jon Stone
40. The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
41. A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon
44. Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
46. Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann
49. The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn
50. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
55. Bark, George by Jules Feiffer
56. Bunnicula by James Howe
58. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
59. Charlie the Caterpillar by Dom DeLuise
60. Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes
62. Frederick by Leo Lionni
63. Frindle by Andrew Clements
66. Harris and Me by Gary Paulsen
67. Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion
70. I Love You, Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt
72. Jan Brett’s books
73. Knots on a Counting Rope by Bill Martin Jr.
74. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
76. Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
77. My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett
80. No David! by David Shannon
83. Stephanie's Ponytail by Robert Munsch
84. Swimmy by Leo Lionni
85. The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes
87. The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper
88. The Empty Pot by Demi
89. The Five Chinese Brothers by Claire Huchet Bishop
91. The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle
92. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
93. The Important Book by Margaret Wise Brown
94. The Last Holiday Concert by Andrew Clements
95. The Napping House by Audrey Wood
96. The Quiltmaker's Gift by Jeff Brumbeau
98. The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack
100. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

I haven't even read half (46/100). I'm already anticipating scornful remarks from: Katy, Alli, Tim and any else who notices that I haven't read Charlotte's Web, Phantom Tollbooth, Little Women or The Hobbit. In my defense, I have read the first half of the Hobbit at least four times. I'm glad to see The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, Maniac Magee, and My Side Of The Mountain on the list (Luckily, I was still reading the assigned books in 6th grade).

C- Movie Watcher

After recently viewing AFI's Top 100 Movies, I realized that I am below average. I only have memory of seeing 70 of the top 100. So maybe I've seen more than the average moviegoer, but this is still somewhat disappointing to me.

Here are the top movies I've missed:
8. On The Waterfront
12. Sunset Boulevard
16. All About Eve
19. Chinatown
24. Raging Bull
27. Bonny And Clyde
30. The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre
31. Annie Hall
35. It Happened One Night
36. Midnight Cowboy
37. The Best Years Of Our Lives
38. Double Indemnity
39. Doctor Zhivago
44. The Birth Of A Nation
46. A Clockwork Orange
47. Taxi Driver
52. From Here To Eternity
57. The Third Man
66. Network
73. Wuthering Heights
77. American Graffiti
79. The Deer Hunter
80. The Wild Bunch
82. Giant
88. Easy Rider
90. The Jazz Singer
92. A Place In The Sun
94. GoodFellas
95. Pulp Fiction
97. Bringing Up Baby


I've got 9 out of top 10, 20 out of top 25, so that's not bad. There are definite trends. I haven't seen every Scorcese, DeNiro, or Dunaway film. I've seen a lot of old movies, but not the oldest ones on the list. I'm not a huge Brando or Allen fan. And there are a couple I just haven't gotten around to yet.

Deconstructing Myself

I've realized recently that I am pre-post-modern. I am modern in the way I like easily definable categories, logical structure, and linear thinking. I am post-modern in my enthusiasm to deconstruct, to pick apart complex ideas to find subtleties and contradictions, and to always have redirecting questions to force paradigm shifts. I am pre-modern in that I like the spirit of ancient Tradition (big T, not little t), having questions unanswered pushes me but doesn't crush me, and I like the questions raised by forerunners (i.e. Thales' questions of the physical, Heraclitus' questions of the metaphysical, JtB's questions of Jesus, Descartes' questions of the epistemological, Kierkegaard's questions of existence, etc.).

Pragmatically, I have found myself more pre-modern recently. My practical theology pendulum has swung back from Faith-Perfecting-Reason (which was a pendulum swing from Faith-Against-Resaon) to Faith-Seeking-Understanding. Much of that, I believe, has to do with my interest in forerunning, which many times means stepping into the unknown (unknown, not unknowable).

Maybe all of this comes down to a newly found respect (or, at least, lessening of disrespect) for experience in relation to reason. From my point of view, I am starting to actually include Experience in my Weslyan Quadrilateral.

Tough Question ... For Some

If you had to chose between spending eternity with God/Jesus/Holy Spirit/angels but in hell or spending eternity with Satan/demons but in heaven, which would you chose?

(Author's bias: I think that the lack of Christians asking themselves questions like this has led to an overemphasis on heaven in worship and, more importantly, evangelism.)