summer reading

Clapton. Hammock. Zombies. Sis.

Friday was my lone day of spring break, so I left for home around noon on Thursday. It was my first time back home this term, so it was great to see my parents and sleep in my nice big bed. I had no plans for that night, and luckily, neither did an old friend of mine. So I treated her to some Starbucks (my first time there), and she treated me to a movie (against my will). We saw ‘Yes Man’ and had a great time doing so. After that we wandered around Calvin for a few hours and eventually ended up finding a nice cozy spot to sit inside of  the ‘cheese’, which we both agree looks much more like a legged fish (see picture). It was curled up in this awkward art that I had an interesting realization, I was experiencing seeing Eric Clapton all over again.

Let me explain.

When I saw Eric Clapton play the Van Andel several years back, it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. However, the feeling I remember most is that of inadequate appreciation. Here I am, seeing one of the greatest guitarists ever playing some of the most beautiful songs of all time, and all I can do is sit back and watch him play. This isn’t to say that it wasn’t amazing (because it was!), but it’s that this was a very rare and special moment in my life, and I felt like even though I was loving it, my brain wasn’t properly taking in just how blessed I was to be there. It’s like I was taking that moment for granted, no matter how hard I tried not to.

I have a handful of friends who cause me to have this same feeling whenever I am with them—and this girl is certainly one of those few. There are certain people who it’s impossible to not see God in. These people are infinitely entertaining to be around, and so clearly created with great things in mind. Luckily, I’ve been blessed with a life surrounded by these friends.

Moving on,

Friday I overslept, had pizza for breakfast(ugh), and after realizing the fact that it was sunny and 60+ degrees outside, I shook the dust off the hammock and had myself a lovely read in my backyard.

Check it out. Shorts. HA HAH!

Also, ‘Jesus For President’ is an amazing book. It is radically changing the way that I see government and myself as an American citizen. I’m sure there will be more on this book once I finish it.

Later that night I hung out with Brian, Scott, and Joe, and played some Munchkin/SSBB/Tetris. Simply wonderful gentlemen, I cannot wait to move back to West Michigan and spend more time with them.

Saturday I saw The Watchmen with Brian and Scott. I really enjoyed the movie, despite the overwhelming darkness throughout the entirety of it. However, had I not previously read the graphic novel, I feel that I may have come away not liking it. My advice: if you haven’t yet seen the movie, please read it first. Later that night I met up with my old friend again, this time for a pre-planned evening. We went to a play at our old high school because her sister was in it (she played a drunken actress lol). I was pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed myself. After that we went back to her school and watched ‘Planet Terror’ and ‘Death Proof’. There are few things better than a girl who wants you to watch zombie movies with her. After the movies we talked until 5:00am, and of course Clapton syndrome set in once more. My drive home at that crazy hour of the night was one of the best I’ve had in a long time. I just put ‘In Rainbows’ on quietly in the background and prayed out loud. I prayed for her. I thanked the LORD for blessing me with such a great friend. I prayed that she would live a life truly set apart, and that through her great things will happen. It’s a blessing to have someone to be thankful for.

After 2 hours of sleep, I stared at my alarm clock for a good 5 minutes, trying to figure out where I was and why I was conscious, and finally grabbed my bass and left for church. It was great being back there; the music was fun, although it was one SG and many neck bends short of my liking. I went to lunch with my family for my Dad’s 57th b-day. My sister is 3 months away from making me an Uncle, and this was the first time that I saw actually looking pregnant. I’m very excited for this coming spring. I feel that it will bring many more blessings.

Dear Chinese war elephants, happy 1038th anniversary

“If a distraught person is running at us swinging an ax, administering a five-page questionnaire on psychopathy may not be the best strategy.” - Gary King

The above statement caught me off guard. You see, often times when reading for class it’s easy to read every word of a page without actually processing any of it, instead thinking of what the bass line to a song is and making a mental note to figure it out sometime. This phenomena is especially common when reading stupid .pdf files, something about reading pages of text on an LCD screen just makes one less interested (as I’m sure you’ve noticed /wink). I was reading along on cruise control when all of a sudden this sentence snapped me back to attention. Now that I’m reading it again, I find it to be considerably less interesting than the first time through. Oh well, at least I’m entertained.

My girlfriend, Shemeko, is coming out to Flint for the weekend. Needless to say, I am rather excited. I do however feel unprepared for this weekend. I believe I have some sort of obligation to come up with cool things to do that are unique to my life in Flint that she’ll love. However, my life in Flint consists of homework / class / video games / reading / being ridiculous (in that way guys do, which girls hate). My only plans thus far are as follows:

Watch Pineapple Express again
Make a snowman in the backyard (Yvonne’s first!)
Cook a turkey
See if Circuit City has any deals yet
Church (should be interesting)
Somehow writing a paper

Shemeko, I apologize in advance for a weekend of disappointment, underwhelming food, and putting up with Theo.

So what else is new….

Oh, I got a tuning pedal for free. Guitar Center is slowly redeeming themselves to me. Verrryyyyy slowly.

I played racquetball with Andrew and Yvonne today. Yvonne learned pretty quickly, although there is unquestionably room for improvement.

Andrew and I were both sadly dissatisfied with our Red Death Rooibus this evening. I will certainly drink it again, however I was certainly hoping for more, but I suppose one can only expect so much from an African shrub. Once he and I finish with our Diggnation tea sampler I’ll review them in a post.

Closing Remark:
Songs with random outbursts of opera singing should be marked in some manner. Honestly, if half the cd’s manufactured in this country have ‘explicit content’ tags on them, can’t we legislate some ‘contains spastic Italian wailings’ warning label?!

the reason I’m literate

According to Google, on January 1st of this year, one person was referred to this here website by typing ‘top gear dead pull dying car’ into Google.

I thought that was odd.

..anyway…

I just finished reading ‘Still Life with Woodpecker’ by Tom Robbins. AMAZING book. If you have any interest in the last-quarter of the twentieth century, the purpose of the moon, how to make love stay, the difference between outlaws and criminals, where redheads come from, the Remington SL3 typewriter, pyramids, Camel cigarettes, or how to makes bombs out of Fruit Loops, then please read this book.

Sometime in the next year I hope to re-read this book and highlight all of the genius little phrases and literary bits in this book. Reading this has felt similar to reading many of Douglas Adams’ books; half of the enjoyment derives not from the characters or the plot (however great they may be) but from the unique and flamboyant style in which it is written. I’m very excited to read ‘Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas’ next, although a second person/present tense novel will be a bit different.

I simply cannot recommend this book enough.

Yum.