CO

Colorado is the most beautiful place in the world...i stand by that. I went out to CO to see some people who i think are amazing, and sure enough they were great, and we had an amazing time. Its so funny that i only spent 8 months out there, and yet i would say i have the best community there, Community that has seriously impacted who i am, and what i want from life.

I got back from CO late last night, and i woke up this morning to go home...and my car is broken. Normally i would have been pissed, but nope i stayed pretty chill throughout a whole day of trying to find someone to tow my car. Although this series of events would be worthy of a funny blog, I'll stick to the thought process.

Its so easy to remember what life is about whenever i come home from Colorado. I had a horse, i saw bears, i hiked mountains, I made life long friends. That is life...So when my car breaks in Boston and i have very few people to hang out with...it doesn't seem so bad because i feel like its so insignificant to the good stuff. I think i should go out there often, or maybe ill just have to go for good.

Why are blogs so corny some times? Boo that...

How do u catch a polar bear?

You cut a hole in the ice, and line the hole with peas. When the Polar bear goes up to take a pea you kick him in the Icehole....

Not Today Rob bell

So i was talking about Rob bell the other day with one of my friends, i realized that i, like many people can trust a complete stranger and come to a point where i do not question what they say.

I like Rob bell. I think hes great, i've read velvet elvis and i own alot of his nommas. But there is this one nooma i hate, Dust. If u get a chance u should watch it, cause honestly i think its a load of crap, and i have seen first hand how its message can misunderstood on non believers. But the point is not to bash Rob bell, but instead how i have managed to return to a place where im pretty much willing to believe what ever he says, for no reason....and i think this kind of attitude seeps into other parts of life.

I was sitting in class, and my professor was talking about the death penalty and why its so bad. I'm against the deah penalty, but i took what this guy said without question, and he admitted his bias, then taught a slated class without being challenged.

I just read Helter Skelter, its about the Manson murders and a huge focus was on how he was able to manipulate people to kill for him, including college educated people. My reasoning, they were weak, lonely and or stupid. Not that i feel i could be taken into a cult, or that i think many people would, but i think we all have areas of our life that we buy into things without question, this was exemplified in how i feel about R bell. I believed everything this guy said without question, well NO MAS MR ROB BELL!

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS
Sunday Morning Commentary.


My confession:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful
lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't
feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, "Merry Christmas" to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year.. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't
think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think
people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period.
I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like
it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that
we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren't allowed to worship God as
we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But
there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this
is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny,
it's intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her "How could God let something like this happen?" (regarding Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and
insightful response. She said, "I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as
we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to
get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the
gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to
give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?"

In light of recent events...terrorists attack, school shootings,
etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her
body found recently) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and
we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when
they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we
might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said
an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why
they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure
it out. I think it has a great deal to do with "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW."

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why
the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say,
but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending
messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace..

Honestly and respectfully,
Ben Stein


--I think its ridiculous to think that Katrina happened because America is pushing god out, i mean...disasters happened even when god was "in" America. But i do think its an interesting thought. I do believe pushing god out has had some serious impacts on our society, and the way people think and act.

Any thoughts??

When it rains, it pours

Things come at ya in waves it seems...or at least for me it does. I am definitely in the middle of a wave right now, and must say i couldn't be happier.

Lately, i have not been right. My heart is restless, I cant seem to find time to read the word, and prayer has become a 5 minute once a week activity. Sure im not legalistic about how much time u need to spend in the word, or prayer...but u know what i mean when i say things aren't right and things weren't right. But god always seems to work things out, and such is the case here.

When all i could think about was how i needed to right my self with the lord, and wondering why i was so restless....blah blah....god put people in my life who instead of helping me, need my help. Details are pretty unnecessary, but self focus is not on the agenda...and all the difference its made. I guess for me be settled in my relationship with the lord again, i needed to not make it about me.

This blog is nonsense. but i refuse to erase it and try to make sense of it, cause its 1:40...and quite honestly, im just happy about the stuff in my heart and wanted to write about it...so deal with it

St francis would be happy

So i started working at st francis homeless shelter a couple weeks ago. Its a day shelter which provides breakfast and dinner to roughly 500 people at both meals. Besides feeding the "guests" as we call the homeless peeps, st francis provides mental health care, clothes for interviews, and rehab programs. The motto is "homelessness is not an identity, its an experience."

I work in the kitchen mostly, so i cook, and serve food, and clean up crap, and basically get to BS with the guests, and the staff all day. A lot of the staff are paid (alot of them came up through the work programs at st francis) but the majority are volunteers. Within the volunteer staff most are there to either fulfill a college requirment, or because community service was court ordered...yup were a first rate staff. Also there are two mormons, who are on their mission...if u dont know what that is, look it up its pretty interesting stuff...they tell me that a certain Mr. smith was telling the truth, but i think ill just stick with jesus...he seems pretty legit.

Anyways, i was working there the other day, and a "guest" was eating in the cafeteria, and made fart noises. i ignored him, as did the other guests...then he did it again, and pointed to the guy next to him. this got some laughs from me and others as well. the he said this "ya know when you got nothing, u either gotta laugh or cry...i think im gunna laugh. You guys say this is just an experience right? temporary right? yea, i think im gunna laugh about it, thats all i can do."

I don't like that people have only two options, either cry...or laugh...but i commend him for laughing, because u can be damn sure that my christian ass would be crying if i was homeless. wasn't jesus homeless? hmmm...

Out of the girls bathroom, and off to target

I walked into the girls bathroom....twice this week, and it happened to be the same girls room both times. Both times, i strolled in like i was in the mens room and was met but an unsuspecting female. The first time, i said whoops she laughed and i turned around quickly. the next time was not so quick. i walked in, saw a girl doing her hair, and stared at her because i was certain she was the one in the wrong bathroom. she stared back. i looked around and in the absence of a urinal, i realized i had done it again. i said "damnit! not again," which probaly freaked the girl out a little, but oh well. i also probably shouldnt have yelled damn it, but sometimes i think its ok, in that case i think it was appropriate.

i went to target, more specifically i walked to target. for those who understand the boston lay out, i went to the target in roxbury, kinda outside the city, but not to bad of a walk. Roxbury though is not the friendly part of town, so a stroll through it is never boring. What i can never understand is how the rich parts of town always seem to back up to the worst parts. Literally a ten minute walk in one direction means the nicest restaurants in the city, the opposite direction, and getting shot is really not that unthinkable. Funny how that works isn't life is so different for people so close to each other. Both parts of town are entirely unaware of what really goes on in the other part. i think we are all gulity of this on a variety of levels, for me I need to be more aware of the people who are close to me...and stop pretending, like the city of boston does...that roxbury doesn't exist

The yankees

I like the yankees, and they lost. And this saddens me because they are the best team in baseball. If the redsox wiin the world series, im going to jump out of my window. If george fires joe torre i will jump out of my window. If posada quits, i will jump out of my window. If MO leaves the yanks i will jump out of my window. i live on the third floor, and would most likely survive a fall from my window, if i landed in the bushes.... but it would hurt like hell, so i hope i dont have to jump out of my window

my friends

Blogging, quite honestly i like it. i like seeing how my friends are doing, and reading their thoughts. I admit, my writing skills are poor at best, my pre law prof says i should stop writing like i talk and start writing deductively. i told her to spell deductively. she should learn how to spell and then i will learn how to write. my first blog

So i sit here in boston, really happy, and at the same time really restless. I went on campus crusades fall retreat this last weekend, and shared with some people that i really dont enjoy college at the moment, that i miss colorado, and i would prefer to be a lot of other places. I told them this as if it were all apart of a script, something i had said over and over in my mind, something i have convinced my self of.

But that night as i fell asleep i felt absolute joy, because i was surrounded by amazing people who care about me, and i was having an amazing time. Why is that so hard? Why is it hard for me to really love this place, and the people in my life right now? I think what i discovered this weekend, after 5 long years of college is that it really is about how i perceive things. its so simple.

Home has always offered my awesome family and the luxury of comfort. Italy was the feeling of adventure. Colorado, some seriously awesome friends. Boston....i never even gave it chance. And in not giving it a shot, i become this quiet withdrawn dork every time i come here because i see myself as that when i come here.

I think perception is something we edumacated folk take for granted. I think we all have discussed this issue "its all a matter of perspective" not terribly complicated concept to grasp. But just because its easy to grasp doesn't make it easy to apply to life.

Really though...im in this city for only 8 months, and im going to love it, because finally, im giving myself a chance to love it