May 2012
6 posts
Killing Kronos
In Greek mythology Kronos was a god who overthrew his father Uranus because of his dictatorial rule. Uranus had imprisoned Kronos’ brothers and sisters and Kronos’ mother Gaia talked him into overthrowing Uranus. Kronos then became ruler during the so-called Golden Age. However, Kronos proved to be not any better than his father, implementing the same laws and imprisoning his siblings...
Thanks
I haven’t gotten a chance to say thanks to everyone for the kind comments, retweets, and reposts of my Pearl & the Beard interview. It was cool to read my name on an article on another website and hopefully it was the first of many. But if you guys didn’t read and occasionally comment on my ramblings here, I would have probably given up already. So, seriously, thanks. Your support...
Blessed are the Transient
Blessed are the transient Those who realize that home is a vague and ever-changing concept, But a necessary constant that must be created No matter how dysfunctional, non traditional, or haphazard. Those who hold onto all things loosely, And don’t let things take ahold of them. Who will abandon a keepsake but grasp tightly to a memory. Those who travel the country, the world Looking for...
Interview with Pearl & the Beard →
I did my first interview for the website Brite Revolution the other day. It was with one of my favorite bands: Pearl & the Beard. They are incredibly talented musicians and just all around awesome people. Check out my interview here.
“Carol: You were their king…and you made everything right?
Max: Yeah.
...”
– Where the Wild things Are
Caricatures
I’ve been reminded recently that it’s too easy and too dangerous to caricature people. People are seldom the demons or the angels that we make of them. They are just people.
April 2012
6 posts
“Blogging is not writing. It’s just graffiti with punctuation.”
– A throwaway line in the movie Contagion. It was meant as an insult but it just made me feel bad-a.
Leonard the Lonely Astronaut
“God help the man who helps himself. He needs no other devil,” Andrew Osenga sings on the song Firstborn Son on his new album Leonard the Lonely Astronaut. It seems like a strange sentiment coming from a guy who just released an album on which he played, sang, recorded, and mixed almost every note. But if you are familiar with the album—and Osenga’s music career as a whole for that...
Free music from Josh Garrels →
Imagine you are standing on a street corner and on one side of the street is a street preacher preaching an end times “repent and be saved” message, on another side of the street is an acoustic guitar player totally lost in his blues licks, and the other corner is a rapper free-styling at the top of his lungs. This is the intersection of Josh Garrels’ music.
Record Store Day Mix
In case you didn’t know, today is Record Store Day. On Record Store Day local record stores have special events going on like in-store performances and give-aways but the real treat with RSD is that a bunch of bands put out limited edition 7” singles and release albums on vinyl for the first time. It’s a good day to relive what life was like before digital music and what it was...
I didn't use to like Christian movies: my review...
Blue Like Jazz is the book that might have changed my life. I say “might have” because I always feel it’s a little too early to tell what has changed your life. I figure when I’m like 80 I’ll be able to say with certainty what really changed my life. However, looking back to nine years ago when I first picked it up at a Books A Million, I can definitely point to its influence during...
The Stigmatist
Asher became a magician when he was eight years old. That’s when he got the magic set in his Easter basket. He didn’t grow up in what you would call a religious home and Easter just meant another holiday with lots of candy. But that year it also brought something else: a new tradition and what Asher would later joke as something of a destiny.
That afternoon after they had finished their dinner of...
March 2012
2 posts
Bradley and the Unlikely Redemption of a Fake...
“I tried whiskey for the first time last year,” singer-poet Bradley Hathaway told a small group I was a part of in a crowded house in Atlanta. “My first thought after taking my first drink was ‘Gay marriage is ok.’” This seems like a strange line of thinking, but in some ways it doesn’t really surprise me to hear Bradley say it. I’ve been following...
February 2012
1 post
I dreamed I saw St. Valentine
St. Valentine always comes to me at night. He always comes on February the 13th. He’s never said why and I’ve never really asked. I always just assumed it was the obvious reason that it was the eve before his “big day”. Actually he never really says anything. I’m not sure if he can’t speak or if he’s not allowed to. Again, I’ve never asked. I figure he’s dead and asking might seem like I’m rubbing...
January 2012
5 posts
Winter unfiltered
The snow covers the world in white
Not so much a purifier, more like a disguise
The cold air creeps in through the windows and doors
We fight against it with blankets and layers and the warmth of embrace
We begin to feel at home in this isolation
The world is a snow globe and we are its centerpiece
Yet I long for the warmth
Of the sun and the color green,
Of the company of friends.
...
Leaving Some Room for Grace
I can sometimes be a snob. In fact, I can sometimes be a snob of snobs. And I’m a weird snob, at that. I’m not a snob in that I only listen to classical music and go to the opera. I’m not even really a snob who only listens to the latest indie bands and sees the artsiest movies. In fact those people can kind of annoy me. I snub them because they are snobs.
I’m actually...
Language Barrier
I haven’t written about my faith on here for a while. There are a lot of reasons for that. It’s mostly because I don’t want this blog to be primarily “Christian” writings and I don’t really want to be a “Christian writer” who writes “Christian stories”. I put the word “Christian” in quotations because I feel it is often...
Resolution Fail
I’m not usually much on resolutions. I can’t say I’ve really set many in my life. However, last year I did set out on this blog to do a project a month. It was a long list with a lot of good ideas. And I failed. Pretty badly. Pretty stereotypical as resolutions go. I got through the first 3 months more or less completing my projects. Then I just kind of dropped off and abandoned...
December 2011
6 posts
Christmas came anyway
The last of Christmas carols are playing through my headphones. It is empty under the tree again, though empty boxes and clothes and trinkets and all the trappings of Christmas now lay scattered around the living room. Another Christmas has come and gone and I haven’t missed it. Scrooge once again lives to see another Christmas, Ralphie successfully avoids shooting out his eye, and the...
It happens every year
A slight, cool breeze blew in from outside as a local opened the door and entered the bar. Nicholas looked up expectantly then went back to nursing his beer in front of the fire. Nicholas loved this time of year. It was just chilly enough to sit in front of the fire which made it just warm enough to enjoy a cold beer. The cool breeze brought in the scent of Mediterranean sea salt and Nicholas...
Our interpretation of The Nutcracker
Charity and I went to see The Nutcracker tonight. Yes, the ballet. It was our first ballet and of course there is no dialogue or explanation, so you are supposed to get the story from the music and dancing. I guess you could also look at the program and it might help you make sense of it. But the program cost money and we wanted the full experience, so here is our rough interpretation of the...
It's a Zombie Christmas, Charlie Brown
Charlie Brown’s Christmas
tree dies, then comes back to life.
Eats Great Pumpkin’s brains
http://zombiechristmashaikus.tumblr.com/
Zombie Frosty
zombiechristmashaikus:
Frosty the snowman
Came to life one day. Then died.
“I’ll be back.” Zombie.
November 2011
1 post
October 2011
3 posts
All Hallow's Eve or All the Mongrel Saints
It’s all just a big show Julian thought for about the hundredth time. Just a big scene. A place where everyone comes to show off and be noticed.
His wife Clarisse gave him a stern look. Apparently his dissatisfaction was showing on his face. He offered a small smile as a way to placate his bad mood. She gave him an understanding smile back and took his hands. Yeah, I know, her eyes seemed to say....
The theology against raking
I’ve never understood raking leaves. It seems way too controlling and unpoetic to me. When you rake leaves it’s like you are fighting against autumn, against nature, against change. You’re missing out on your yard being endowed with a whole new colorful carpet. You are taking away the crunch of the leaves that rewards every autumnal footstep.
Raking leaves seems to be missing...
Silence is progress
Hey everyone. And by everyone, I mean the three people who read my blog. I was posting on a pretty regular basis for a while then just dropped off. The reason for that is because I’m working on some writing projects for an artist that I really admire. His name is Jacob Zachary and he’s working on this project where he’s having writers write short stories to go along with a series...
September 2011
7 posts
“What disappoints me is me—that I fell for their propaganda when I knew...”
– from The Financial Lives of the Poets by Jess Walter
Lucy's House
Her name was Lucy and she had to finish rebuilding her house. She had to finish it because her husband, Jim, didn’t finish it before he died. And she was mad at him because of it. Really, all things considered, she must have been really pissed at him. For starters, the house wasn’t really worth fixing. It probably wasn’t even worth building to begin with. The house had been built by...
Ill-equipped for familiarity
Everything has seasons for me. Books, music, movies, drinks, and food all have a specific time of the year in which they are meant to be partaken. In the spring, I like to eat salads and read short stories. In the summer I drink orange soda and watch movies about superheroes. The fall is the perfect time to listen to acoustic guitar based music and drink Octoberfest beer. Winter is the season of...
Gracie and Guff's agreement (a children's story...
Guff seemed to be trying to regain his composure. You probably know a little how that feels if you’ve ever met someone new and weren’t really sure what to talk to them about. Now imagine they are a giant to you and you are no bigger than their little finger. However, Guff managed to say “Well thank you for catching me before I hit that rock,” he rubbed his neck and looked down nervously. “And you...
Ill-equipped for sorrow
Sometimes I feel ill-equipped to deal with sorrow. Today is September 11, 2011. Ten years since the twin towers fell toppling to the ground. Like everyone else, I remember where I was when I heard the news. My memory is somewhat shameful because I remember me and my college friends did not feel the gravity of the situation. We thought it was some kind of joke and were happy to get a few hours out...
Ill-equipped for joy
Sometimes I feel ill-equipped to deal with joy. My pen (or I should say keyboard) is not silent when it comes to disappointment. I bleed an emotional poem in spite of a poor grasp of poetry. I have no problem discussing doubt or uncertainty. My well of metaphors and illustrations for these topics runs deep though the waters are somewhat bitter. But I often have a hard time expressing joy.
...
There's a life to these hills
There’s a rhythm to these hills
It’s subtle yet purposeful in its nuance
A steady crescendo and decrescendo
A lyrical, melodic rising and falling
A lilting harmony to its curves and bends
My mind follows it and directs the wheels
Like an old hymn long gone unvisited
But not quite forgotten
There’s a music to these hills
It is improvisational
It may lull you into a sense of...
August 2011
4 posts
“That’s the great thing about it. Whatever’s left laying around, you...”
– From the movie Paper Man
Some cheerful thoughts on death, the afterlife,...
For some reason I’ve been thinking about death lately. Not in an early-2000s emo, Hot Topic kind of way. It’s really more that the subject keeps coming up in a lot of different things recently. Not just death but more the afterlife and strangely the apocalypse. It’s kind of funny because I have never been more convinced that these things really don’t matter that much. I am...
Repentance: A Stretch of the Imagination
Repentance is a step into the wardrobe,
A plunge down the rabbit hole
It’s your house being taken up by a tornado
Hazardously hoisting you over the rainbow
Except it is not accidental
It is an intentional stepping forward,
Turning around
Unaware of the change that is about to begin
But aware that a change is needed
Repentance is a belief in alternate universes
A dissatisfaction with...
Gracie meets Guff (a children's story continued)
“Wait! I don’t want to hurt you!” Gracie began running after the little people which just made them run and jump faster.
“I just wanted to see you!” Gracie cried as she watched them all disappear at the beginning of the woods. Actually it seemed to be one particular very large tree at the edge where they all seemed to disappear. But then again they had disappeared so quickly it was hard for her...
July 2011
8 posts
“We need a loaded, volatile, adequately violent, dramatic, serious word to...”
– Chapter on Hell from Love Wins by Rob Bell. One of the most compelling passages I have read on the subject. I have never believed in it more fully.
WatchI can’t decide whose version of Star Wars I like better: Tracy Morgan’s or this 3 Year old’s
Gracie and the little people (a children's story...
They reached the park and it looked as normal as ever. There were boys and girls swinging on the swings and sliding down the slides and there was that one little boy that is always at the park trying to walk up the slide instead of sliding down it. At first Gracie felt a little disappointed because she didn’t see any gnomes right away. But she remembered what Mr. Biv said about them jumping around...
“Tell me one last thing,” said Harry. “Is this real? Or has this been happening...”
– Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
“The Scarecrow was now the ruler of the Emerald City, and although he was not a...”
– From The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
When it Comes, It's Like a Death
When it comes, it’s like a death.
Not necessarily like dying
Something like the death of a loved one
Filled with sorrow, regret, longing
But also hope that this is not the end
That the hurting is done
That all things have been made right
And every sad thing has become untrue
Yet not quite like death, because life is there too
“Hope springs eternal” the poet said
He may have something...
June 2011
4 posts
Roy G. Biv (a children's story continued)
Gracie and her mom got in the car and began driving toward the store. Gracie’s mom didn’t tell her they were going to the store but Gracie had figured out that they were. She knew because they had already passed the gas station with the stone rhinoceros in the front, and the doctor’s office with the sign that always had funny sayings. Today it said, “If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is...