The Chronicles and Over-critical Christians

It's been a while since I've last posted, but the stresses of the end of the semester have been in full force. I just recently finished a 10-page exegetical paper on James 5:1-6 along with a 30 minute presentation on it. Now, all I have left in my undergraduate college career are three finals, which really are no big deal after finishing my exegesis project on James. To celebrate my last college class and no homework, Melissa and I went to see The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe last night. I thought the film was very well-done and quite accurate to the classic book by C.S. Lewis. I really enjoyed the film overall and would definitely recommend it to anyone. Unfortunately, earlier in the day I read a review of the movie in the Wheaton College newspaper that bothered me. The reviewer gave the movie an overall good rating except when he reviewed the movie "theologically." The reviewer said the movie didn't quite live up to its theological potential because it didn't emphasize heavily enough some of the "symbolism" in the story, especially the symbolism of turkish delight and sin. I almost gagged when I read this. I understand that there is subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) symbolism and metaphor throughout all of the Chronicles of Narnia, but why do some Christians feel like this is an automatic ticket to criticize a non-theological work theologically? Why can't we just enjoy and ponder Lewis' magical world apart from how it stands up theologically? I love the Chronicles of Narnia, and I appreciate its value as fantasy literature written by a Christian man who didn't separate his worldview from his work. I also loved the movie because it portrayed well the important themes from the book. I just don't understand why some Christians, especially many of the students at Wheaton College, have to theologically criticize a magical work of art that needs no "theological" framework to have merit in itself. Anyways, that's enough of my soap box. Go out and see the movie everyone, it is really good.

Shoes

I love shoes. Call me a girl if you want, but there's just something about getting new shoes. I got a new pair of shoes in the mail today and the best part about it was that they were free. Free shoes are by far one of the best benefits to working in a shoe store, along with the hefty discount. Unfortunately, that hefty discount sometimes is the bane of my existence because it tempts me into buying another pair of shoes that I do not need whatsoever. I don't know what it is that draws me to a finely crafted pair of shoes, I just seem to have been born with a natural attraction to putting lots of different colored leathers on my feet. They just look so good (if you get the right ones of course; talk to me if you need any shoe buying advice). I have shoes in my side of the closet plus in a shoe organizer in a different closet which I think adds up to a significantly larger amount of shoes than my wife. This, of course, is quite the fuel for teasing as you can probably guess. In addition to loving shoes for myself, I love to look at other people's feet and see what they are wearing when we are out in public. Usually, especially if we are downtown Chicago, I see at least one pair of shoes that I would like to have. It really is a good thing I have a wife who is practical enough to keep me in line. Otherwise, I think I would have enough shoes to wear something different every day.

Pompeii

We recently went to the Field Museum downtown Chicago to check out the new special exhibit called "Pompeii: Secrets from an Eruption." The exhibit was interesting and informative but rather small. Some of the highlights included a digital re-creation of some of the villas in Pompeii and Herculaneum (a nearby city), and several plaster and resin casts of people who had been buried under the surges from Mt. Vesuvius. The bodies were positioned exactly how they were when the surge came down from the mountain in AD 79. It really was quite fascinating. A major emphasis of the exhibit, however, focused on the wealth of Pompeii as evidenced by the possessions found on or near the dead bodies. Elaborate necklaces, earrings, and bracelets were found along with ornate rings and statuettes of gods or goddesses. These valuables and trinkets did not just happen to be on the people when they died. After the initial rain of ash, the Pompeiians had gone back to their homes to retrieve all of their "valuables" and then they were caught unawares by the sudden deadly surges of gas and ash. Basically, their insatiable greed caused their demise. It's interesting what you can learn about a culture when an entire city is destroyed in less than a day. All of this talk about personal valuables and impending disaster led me to think about what our culture would go back for if we were on the brink of destruction. It's that age-old question of what you would take if your house was on fire. Maybe it's our iPods or our video games or some other "valuable" trinket. How many of us would go back to try to help as many people as possible? I can't help but see so many parallels between our culture today and the culture of the "heathen" Pompeiians who worshiped their money, their gold, and their sexual eroticism. Sometimes I fear for this country and what people will say about us in thousands of years. Will we be another Pompeii, buried with our most precious possessions that take us nowhere?

A Wicked curse

This weekend Melissa and I went to see the Broadway musical "Wicked" downtown Chicago. The show was incredible and probably one of the best musicals I have ever seen. The music was fantastic, as was the story and the acting. Ana Gasteyer of SNL fame played the Wicked Witch of the West, but the rest of the cast was relatively unknown. While we were glorying in the post-show exuberance, we were reminded of a nasty curse that has plagued us since freshman year of college. Those who have been to LCC know exactly what I'm talking about when I say that the IDS 101 curse hit us like a wave. For those of you who never attended LCC, the IDS 101 curse basically consists of the worldview analysis of all popular culture mainly manifested in books, movies, plays, etc. Despite my negative portrayal of this curse, I do feel there are times when it becomes very helpful. For example, "Wicked" was a purely postmodern play in that it devoted an entire song to moral relativity in addition to the plot being an instance of moral relativity in itself. I appreciate my "worldview eyes" when it comes to discerning how to accept and process the material presented. Before I go much further however, I want to clarify that I don't use my "worldview eyes" to condemn a piece of art that might portray something contrary to what I believe. I still enjoy many films, plays, etc. despite not agreeing with everything said or displayed. That said, I still was able to enjoy "Wicked" for its artistic value and its incredibly unique and entertaining storyline, and then constructively evaluate it without ruining the entire musical. (caution: spoilers ahead)So really, the "wicked" curse of IDS 101 isn't so wicked at all....hmmm, that sounds just a little bit familiar to the Wicked Witch of the West. Maybe it is all relative....

The table tennis scene

I recently started my last quarter of classes at Wheaton College, and I have a new class although you probably couldn't really even call it a "class." This class is table tennis (not ping pong because there are copyright issues with that name apparently). It's my last class of the day on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday so it makes for a nice relaxing end to a day of real classes. What really makes the class interesting, however, is the teacher. Let me give you a brief background. You know that person who always thinks they're own jokes are hilarious and then stares everyone down expecting them all to laugh as well. That's my teacher in a nutshell. The first day of class was the most awkward experience ever because she would just start laughing at something completely random and then just take a trip around the class with her eyes, picking out certain people to stare at longer and all the while still laughing. Crazy. In addition to this, she is the most intense athlete I think I have ever met. She hates to lose and often likes to pick out the athletic boys in the crowd and make fools of them in public. Oh, and did I mention she dressed up as a uterus for halloween one year because she loves anatomy! Anyway, as you can probably tell, it's going to be an interesting quarter of table tennis playing, and who knows, maybe I'll actually learn something. At least I don't have to write any papers, and I get to listen to good (according to the teacher) table tennis music which consists of rap and dance techno. Who knew?

Baseball fever in Chicago

The playoffs have come to Chicago, and it is quite exciting. The White Sox handily beat the Bosox in three no-competition games and prepare to meet the Angels (hopefully). Unfortunately, the success of the White Sox has caused a dilemma in my fan allegiances. Both sides of my family, my side and Melissa's side, have unbreakable bonds to the Cubs. I, on the other hand, have no such debilitating strong ties. Thus, with the White Sox playing well in the playoffs, I find it a pleasure and a duty to root for them based on the fact that I live in the Chicago area. However, I know that as soon as I make even an indication of my team choices to a family member, namely my in-laws, I will probably be roasted and eaten for dinner. This whole issue poses a serious question in my mind. Why is it that Chicago Cub fans can be so completely devoted to one team and loathe another team if both teams are from the same city? If the Cubs and the Sox were both in the same league, I could understand the animosity, but they're not! They are in completely different leagues. I am completely baffled by this question because I feel that as a baseball fan in general I can root for both the Cubs and the Sox and feel good about myself. I do know, however, that if I said this in any sports bar in the city of Chicago, I would also get roasted and eaten alive. So here I am in a ridiculous conundrum, trying to give credit to whom credit is due (namely, the Sox) and ending up on somebody's plate no matter what I say. Oh, the politics of Chicago (and the rest of Illinois really) baseball fans.

Lost

Melissa and I have recently started renting and watching the show Lost in preparation for the start of the new season on Sept. 21st. The show, so far, is excellent, and I would recommend it to anyone. I really enjoy some of the themes that have come up in the show so far, such as fear, destiny, fate, and friendship. A recent development in the show has led me to a curious question. A scouting party has just found a source of fresh water in the jungle far away from the beach where their plane crashed on the unknown island. The survivors are forced into the decision of going to try and live in the cave at the water source or staying on the beach where there is a better chance for someone to see and rescue them. At this point, they have been on the island for over a week without any sign of rescue. At the end of the show, the group splits in two with some staying on the beach and others going into the jungle and the water supply. So, my question is which place would you go? I think I would go into the jungle because it would be easier to set up a camp there and work from that. Do you hold on to a frail hope or do you take advantage of what you have and see what you can do from there?

Fledgling Mechanic, Part 2

Wow, it really has been a long time since I've last posted. The college life will do that I guess. If you all remember, I made a previous post about trying to fix Melissa's car and the absolute hilarity that ensued. Well, last week I went to get my oil changed and discovered that my brakes were worn down thin, and I was in critical need of new ones on all four wheels. Much to my chagrin, this was going to cost approximately 400 dollars (400 dollars we don't have, of course). Well, in my indignation, I said "it can't be that hard and I've got some friends who have done it before." So I called up Lucas to see what he was doing on Labor Day and we decided to get together to fix the brakes along with Luke's dad. The front brakes were no problem. We were done in less than 10 minutes per wheel. The rear brakes, however, were a different story. The rear brakes are shoe brakes and Luke's dad had never done shoe brakes before so we were on our own. We had to go borrow parts from another church member and even with those parts, it still took forever. The most interesting part about it was watching Lucas and his dad get frustrated with each other. We got them fixed, and they are working so far which is great because it saved us 300 bucks.

After this event, I was contemplating my recent surge of mechanical activity and realized that a person can really do anything when hard-pressed, especially if you know the right people. If I had had the money, I would have payed the mechanic no problem. But, desperation is a powerful force. It has worked twice for me now, at least with cars.

New Hamsters and Massholes

Melissa and I just returned from our week long trip out to New Hampshire for Jeff's wedding. We had a great time seeing friends and some of the sites in Boston and the Manchester area. While we were out there visiting we picked up a new term. Masshole. This term is used by many of the local residents of New Hampshire to refer to residents of Massachussetts. We also heard the entire state of Massachussetts referred to as Massholia. Now, we have nothing against residents of Massachussetts, but we found this term quite funny and used it jokingly on our drive home across the entire state. However, we were thinking that it wasn't fair that New Hampshire didn't have a fun nickname so we started calling it New Hamster. Then, part way through our trek across Massholia, I randomly said "we are surrounded by Massholes and New Hamsters." As soon as I said it, I had an Adam Hughes epiphany and said "that would be great for a blog title." So here I am really just filling space in a blog so I could use the title "New Hamsters and Massholes." But, I have to admit it is a darn good title, and I bet it would even be a really good title for a collection of short stories based on experiences in New Hampshire and Massachussetts. Maybe I should write that. I bet I could gather some short stories from other various friends who have had some random crazy experience in one of those states. Ah, the creative sparks of a bored Midwesterner. This one was for you all you Massholes and New Hamsters.

Fledgling Mechanic

Tuesday was the day from hell around the Tiearney household. Monday, the day before, Melissa's car overheated on the way home from work and fortunately she was able to make it home just in time. We thought we had gotten the water pump/coolant, etc. issue taken care of over the weekend when Melissa's home pastor spent some time putting in a new water pump. So much to our chagrin, here we were with an undrivable car and not much time to fix it. We called Melissa's pastor and he gave us some instructions. We had to get a part from the Chevy dealer and then bleed some air from someplace. I picked Melissa up from work and we went to the Chevy dealer but they didn't have the part we needed, which was just a small little freeze plug that went over a hole on the engine (apparently the other one got a hole and popped off). Then that Chevy dealer directed us to another Chevy dealer two towns over. Fortunately they had the part, so we bought two just in case we messed one up and because it was only 3 dollars total. Well, we did end up messing one up when we started trying to put it in. This led to a downward spiral of frustration and not knowing what to do, which culminated in another call to the pastor and a detailed walk-through of what we should do. At this point, it was already well past 9:00 PM and quite dark out. We finally got the plug in and then started opening this little vent to bleed out the air that built up in the tube connecting the coolant tank with the engine. Apparently this feature is an extreme rarity on cars, and it was something no one had ever heard of or seen before. We carefully opened the vent while talking to the pastor on the phone, but unfortunately it came open too far and went shooting straight up as a stream of hot coolant shot straight out of the hole. This left us in the worst predicament yet because without that cap, the car could in no way be driven. So we spent the next hour combing the parking lot around the car and the grass in front of the car with no luck. Extremely frustrated, I plopped down on the sidewalk with my head in my hands and just said a prayer that we could find this tiny little cap. After that, I got up once more to make another round with the flashlight and amazingly there it was laying on the pavement. I let out a little scream of ecstasy and put it back in its place. With that small cap back on, we were able to run the car a couple times in order to bleed out all the trapped air. Now it's running pretty well again with no problems yet. I never thought I would ever even attempt to do my own car work, and after doing it I don't think I want to do too much more. I do, however, have a much greater respect for mechanics. I don't have enough patience to deal with stupid car problems.

D@*n Yankees!

Baseball season is now in full swing and the divisions are shaping up in a way that they will probably remain the rest of the season barring any miraculous winning or losing streaks. At the beginning of the season I was quite pleased with the way the New York Yankees were playing (or not playing). They were sitting nicely in 4th place with a losing record and I could not have been happier. For some reason, I have an ingrown hatred of the New York Yankees that I think came with me from the date of my birth. I was feeling pretty good about the Yankees so-called predicament until just recently when they somehow climbed into 2nd place in the American League East. Much to my chagrin, the imbeciles known as the New York Yankees were back in the playoff hunt. Just recently however, I was reflecting on this situation and realizing that I enjoy seeing the Yankees make it to the playoffs especially in recent years because I enjoy watching the torture on their faces as they choke yet again in the playoffs. It gives me great joy to watch them think they're going to win it all and then lose horribly as was the case last year. There's something about that situation that just gets my baseball blood flowing. I have nothing personal against the players themselves except that they chose to play for the New York Yankees and should therefore suffer the consequences. By choosing to play for the devil they put themselves beyond any reach of my respect. I often wished I could be a high-priced baseball player purely so I could be offered a contract from George (Satan) Steinbrenner and shove it back in his face and tell him to eat it. Unfortunately, that will never happen so I just end up venting my frustrations to my wife, who could care less unless it involved the Cubs, and on this blog. And now that I've finished writing this, I think I need counseling.

Long time, no blog everyone. It's been almost a month since I have last graced the forum known as the blogging community, and I honestly haven't even had much time to even think about missing it. The life of a shoe salesman is hardly the most illustrious life, especially when you are working three or four nights a week and weekends. But, at least they pay me decently. We still have yet to get internet at our apartment, mainly because we're entirely sure who we would go with and whether we can afford it or not. This leaves me at the mercy of the occasional trip to Panera. And I don't want to make that a too common habit because the little expenses of bagels and drinks eventually add up when you go there multiple times a week. For now, I think it's down to about one trip to Panera a week max. I just don't have the time to be sitting in Panera for hours on end surfing the internet. It seems life is constantly busy with no letting up. Every weekend in July except for the first one has a wedding of either a close friend or family for me or Melissa. That makes it hard to relax on the weekends or anytime for that matter. I honestly am looking forward to the start of school again because it will mean a normal schedule and a little bit of predictability (something I lack in my work schedule). Plus, I'm just a geek and I like to learn. Who wouldn't be excited about reading Homer in the original Greek?! It really is amazing how much the internet kind of fades out of your life if you don't have immediate access to it. For a while, I thought the world was going to end because I couldn't check my email every day, but I soon figured out that life is more than sitting at a computer for hours in a day (unless your job requires it, of course). Life is going well otherwise. Melissa and I are doing great and loving married life as well as living in the Chicago area. There's just so much to do and not enough time to do it! So, for all of you frequent bloggers there's a little update on my life in case you were wondering if I completely disappeared into the oblivion known as obscurity. Hopefully, this can become a weekly deal. But who knows, you never who's going to up and decided to get married with two weeks notice! And with that, I sign off.

Friends aren't friends forever

This past saturday my wife and I (I could say Melissa, but I still like the idea of saying "wife") went to my parents house in Wisconsin so we could go to an ice cream reception at my old church for all the people who weren't able to make it down to the wedding or for whoever wanted to come. We were hoping to get a few more gifts and we did, which was nice. A few of some of my closer friends from high school came, and it was really good to see them, but as soon as I started talking to them there was just no more connection. I found myself reverting to those lame questions about school and if they graduated this year. In those conversations I realized just how easy it is to completely lose contact with people who you really spent a lot of time with. There's no way I could really spend an extended amount of time with those guys anymore without it turning completely awkward. On the other hand, there are two guys I went to high school with and several friends from LCC who I can not talk to for a long time and then get back together and it's like no time has been lost. I know that there is a closeness in these relationships that cannot rival some of my high school relationships. However, I know that even those friendships, if not properly curated, can dwindle over time. Now that I am married it's time to find a balance between my wife and those friends who I don't want to lose contact with. Of course, my wife is my first priority, but I know I will still look forward to the occasional guys night (smash bros, nick and luke). And by the way, today is officially one month after our wedding, and I could not be happier.

Married

I finally made it to Panera to post a blog. Apparently people have been craving some blogging from me, and I have to admit that I do miss it dearly. However, my wedding and my honeymoon took far greater precedent than sitting down to write a mere blog. As I write this I am again reminded of my new status in society: Married. Forevermore on all of my official documents I will check the box stating that I am a married man. No more will the word "single" be evident on my official record. Crazy, isn't it? But I will say it feels wonderful. Checkboxes on official documents aside, marriage is a beautiful blessing from our Creator who knew exactly what we needed to experience the closest thing humanly possible to a loving relationship with Him. Call me a sappy newlywed, but I truly believe it. However, considering that most of the people who read this blog are currently single, I will respect your singleness and not include the lovestruck rantings of a newlywed. And, honestly, most of those rantings I would rather not pronounce in a public forum such as this one. Basically, I'm just trying to say that I feel blessed by God in my new married life, and I will proudly check the "married" box on all of my official documents for the rest of my life.

A Brief Hiatus

Well, the end of the school year is here which also means the end of high-speed internet. You never fully appreciate what a luxury it is until you are faced with not having it. Nevertheless, I wanted to say a short farewell to the blogging community, only temporarily hopefully, while we get situated at our new apartment after the wedding. We are not sure yet whether we will be able to afford internet right off the bat, but we are looking into some relatively inexpensive options that hopefully we can get set up quickly. Speaking of the wedding, it's hard to believe that it's only a little over 2 weeks away. I don't think that reality has really sunk in yet. Maybe once finals are over and I have nothing better to do for a while, the eminence of the wedding will make an impact.

So I will miss reading everyone's blogs for a while but I know it will not be long-lived, and the next time I blog I will be a married man!! Until we blog again, ciao!

Paula, or Paul?

Today Melissa and I went to Jared: The Galleria of Jewelry to purchase our wedding rings. The experience began most pleasantly with a courteous offering of something to drink, but then I spotted something. From a distance I saw a woman standing behind one of the counters who had the obvious figure of a woman, but had a very noticeable mustache and beard fuzz. I turned to Melissa to comment about this odd circumstance, and as I did that, she started walking over to help us. I thought, "oh great, I'm not going to be able to keep a straight face." However, the plot thickened (literally, as in the hair on her arms) when she started talking. Her/his voice was rather low for a woman and sounded distinctly mannish. Then I noticed the arms. Oh the arms! They were almost as hairy as mine, and if you know me you know my arms are pretty hairy. And then the hands. Definitely the thick, meaty hands you frequently see on a man. As you can probably tell, our sales associate, Paula was her name, was very likely formerly Paul or maybe just Paul on the weekends, although there was no apparent attempt to hide the facial hair that would rival an 8th grade boy. Needless to say I was glad she/he did not try to touch my hands to fit the ring, but the whole experience made for an interesting evening and a funny blog story.

April showers bring May....returns?

The gauntlet of March has finally passed over. March is always the month of crappy, unpredictable weather and time seems to drag on like nothing else (especially when you're getting married in less than two months). But April is finally here, the grass is getting green and the showers are starting to fall. That is bridal showers, of course. I have officially dubbed the month of April as shower month because there are three showers within four weeks, beginning tomorrow. Now, as a guy, I am not really all that interested in attending a get-together with other women from church, family, etc. so I can sit and listen to people talk about babies and play "shower" games. Now I am not at all opposed to showers based on the sole fact that we will be receiving many gifts of which I'm sure many will have to be returned or exchanged. Call me greedy, but the prospect of getting lots of stuff that is necessary for comfortable living is quite a promising idea. Fortunately, the only shower I have to attend is the one at my church this weekend, and even at that one I only have to come for the end to "receive advice from the ladies of my church about marriage." That's a whole nother ballgame. Part of me will be amused by the things we are told I'm sure, and the other part of me worries that some of the things people say may make the entire situation instantly awkward. Oh well, I will keep you informed on the progress of these showers. So, let's bring on the rain!

Apartments

Saturday Melissa and I are going to go out and look at some apartments. We've been able to narrow the field down to just a couple using various internet websites and resources. Despite using the internet, I am still very uncofident in my ability to know what to say and do when actually talking with a landlord. What are some things I should look for when checking out an apartment? Is it more beneficial to have utilities included in the rent or to have a washer and dryer in the unit but no utilities paid? I am too new at this to really know what I am doing. Does anyone have any tips or suggestions for this whole finding an apartment deal?

Success

Sorry it has taken so long to give an update, but I am home on spring break this week and computer access isn't as readily available as at school. In regards to the surgery, it was a grand success and the easiest surgery I have ever done. The surgery was on Friday and by Saturday morning I could see a perfect 20/20 in both eyes if not better. The whole process lasted 15 minutes max and the only discomfort I had was when I tried to sleep when I got home after the surgery. It burned quite a bit then, but otherwise I haven't felt a single thing. I still have some eyedrops that I have to put in through tomorrow and I can't swim for 2-3 weeks, but other than that I'm pretty much home free. It's a great feeling to wake up in the morning and be able to see. There's some times still where I feel like I need to take my contacts out but then I remember that I don't have to and it's great. I would definitely recommend the surgery to anyone who's thinking about doing it.

The Jitters

It is the night before my eye surgery, and I am beginning to feel the nervousness. It is, after all, my eyes that are going under the laser tomorrow. Right now is a very bittersweet moment. There is the sweetness of no glasses or contacts, but at the same time there is the tension and the nervousness involved with any sort of surgery. Nervous or not, this surgery is going down tomorrow, so I bid thee farewell lenses and good riddance. I hope we do not meet again for a long time.

awkward situation

This is very unusual for me to blog this often, but I had an experience yesterday that was definitely blogworthy. I sat down to eat with a friend of mine who is not a real close friend but I've hung out with him some, and after I got my food, he proceeded to vent about how he wasn't motivated anymore because he has no social life and no good friends. I didn't really know what to say or how to react. I tried gently prying further to discover what was causing these emotions, and that really didn't seem to lead anywhere.

In order to understand this guy, you have to realize that he's the type of person who will just stare blankly at you during a conversation if it's not about something he's interested in talking about. His main topics of conversation are theological arguments and paintballing and once he gets going on these topics he won't let up.

So anyway, I'm trying to talk to him about this, but it just isn't going anywhere. He just keeps looking at me, and I can tell that he is depressed. Finally, I got to the point where I felt like I was just preaching to him and not doing any good. Finally, I told him I would pray for him, but I don't know if that did any good either because most of the time when people say that they never actually do what they say. Maybe my just being there to listen to him get it off of his chest was helpful. I don't know....I don't like these situations. I don't think I could ever be a counselor.

glasses

This weekend I had to start wearing my glasses again because a week from friday I am getting Lasik surgery and no foreign objects are supposed to be in my eyes, which includes contacts. Unfortunately, my glasses are a weaker prescription, which makes it a little harder to see especially at nighttime. In addition to being a weaker prescription, the glasses tend to slide down my nose giving me a nerdy appearance and forcing me to push them up frequently, further reinforcing the nerd image. Fortunately, a week from friday I will be completely free of any sort of lenses, and I just have to keep telling myself this to cancel out the negative effects of glasses. So if you're driving at night, beware of a little green Corolla in which the driver can't really see too well.

I hate Illinois

Illinois sucks. Recently I filed my tax returns and got a good portion of my federal taxes back and all of my Wisconsin taxes back. And then there was Illinois. First off, I had to fill out a completely separate form because I'm not a resident. Then, they witheld 50 some dollars from my earnings which I figured I would receive back. I was mistaken, because when I filled out the tax form I had to pay all but one cent of what was taken out of my checks. One cent! How ridiculous is that? Is it some sort of ploy to make you think you're getting a refund even when you really aren't? Well, I hope the American Tooth-brushing Association or whatever enjoys the one cent donation that I will give to them. Maybe they can use it to buy one bristle. Illinois sucks.

Latin mass

So today I attended a Latin High Mass for church. I didn't really have any expectations coming into it because I didn't really know what to expect. The church building itself was absolutely beautiful. It was incredibly ornate and beautifully decorated. We took booklets that had the Latin and the English on opposing pages so we could follow along, but most of the speaking was done by the priest so that no one could hear what was being said. There is so much tradition evident in the liturgy that I wonder if anyone really knows what it means anymore. It seems like people just stand up and sit down at certain times and sit and watch the priest read from a book and prepare the Holy Sacraments. I guess I really don't know enough about the Catholic church to make any real judgements. I think that maybe that is just the way some people meet God. Anyone have any thoughts on that?

here i go

So I decided to give this whole blog thing a go. It seems pretty kickin' so far. I've never been much for writing down my thoughts but I thought hey it's worth a try. I have so many friends with blogs I was beginning to feel left out...oh well, now I'm not left out anymore. Hopefully this will help me keep in contact with people I haven't seen in forever.