The final season of Friday Night Lights has already aired on DirecTV, but I get to watch it starting Friday, April 15, on NBC. I've managed to stay clear of any major spoilers so far, and I hope I can keep it up. I stumbled across the following promo that DirecTV showed before it aired the finale and I am ready to see what happens in Dillon this year.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Friday, March 11, 2011
super 8
A movie written and directed by J.J. Abrams? starring Coach Taylor? music composed by Michael Giacchino? I'm there.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
grateful
Some things I've been especially grateful for this last week...
1.) going to Chick-fil-a and watching the original 3 Ninjas movie with Reese
2.) phone calls from my friends Brad & Jenna, James and David that came at just the right time
3.) the awesome staff at the Waterford Chick-fil-a and my Chick-fil-a mug (in the above picture) that gets me free drinks at that store
4.) a rainy day followed by cooler weather
5.) encouragement & truth
6.) free rentals at Blockbuster Express
7.) overly enthusiastic contestants on Wheel of Fortune
8.) finding a Mat Kearney concert download on iTunes and having enough left on my gift card so that it cost me nothing
9.) getting to enjoy time with one of my favorite students, Michael, courtesy of the new banana pudding milkshake at Chick-fil-a one day and Simply Frozen Yogurt the next
10.) the following conversation with my dad, who loves singing and is really into karaoke:
me: Have you been watching American Idol?
Dad: Yes.
me: I watched it last night because I wanted to see the new judges.
Dad: Yeah, they've got Jennifer, Tyler and the Dawg.
me (once I was done laughing): It's really funny that you call him "the dawg."
Dad: That's what he says. If I meet him one day, that's what I'll call him. I'll be like, "What's up, dawg?!"
1.) going to Chick-fil-a and watching the original 3 Ninjas movie with Reese
2.) phone calls from my friends Brad & Jenna, James and David that came at just the right time
3.) the awesome staff at the Waterford Chick-fil-a and my Chick-fil-a mug (in the above picture) that gets me free drinks at that store
4.) a rainy day followed by cooler weather
5.) encouragement & truth
6.) free rentals at Blockbuster Express
7.) overly enthusiastic contestants on Wheel of Fortune
8.) finding a Mat Kearney concert download on iTunes and having enough left on my gift card so that it cost me nothing
9.) getting to enjoy time with one of my favorite students, Michael, courtesy of the new banana pudding milkshake at Chick-fil-a one day and Simply Frozen Yogurt the next
10.) the following conversation with my dad, who loves singing and is really into karaoke:
me: Have you been watching American Idol?
Dad: Yes.
me: I watched it last night because I wanted to see the new judges.
Dad: Yeah, they've got Jennifer, Tyler and the Dawg.
me (once I was done laughing): It's really funny that you call him "the dawg."
Dad: That's what he says. If I meet him one day, that's what I'll call him. I'll be like, "What's up, dawg?!"
Tuesday, March 08, 2011
underground
I've been drinking the John Eldredge Kool-Aid lately and reading Wild at Heart. In one of the chapters I recently read, he talks about Frederick Buechner's father committing suicide when Buechner was only ten years old. When Eldredge wonders how a young boy handles a tragedy like that, he shares the following excerpt from Buechner's book The Sacred Journey as an answer:
After thinking I should add The Sacred Journey to my reading list, I pulled out my pen and marked that passage. As someone who lost his mom at a young age and has only recently started to realize the profound effect that event has had on my life and who I am as a person, I appreciate Buechner's words. It's actually startling to me how well his words describe me as a 13 year old trying to figure out life after experiencing that loss. I often avoided the subject. When my dad wanted to talk about my mom, I remember sometimes simply telling him, "I don't want to talk about it." So we didn't.
Instead I obsessed over school work...like staying up until one in the morning doing homework and practicing my saxophone obsessed. I guess it seemed easier to control. But when things at school didn't go well, it got ugly. The most vivid memory I have of that playing out was toward the end of my 8th grade year. Our English teacher, Mrs. Barnes, assigned our class to do a project on the book Ender's Game. I was furious at Mrs. Barnes when she determined I could have been a little more creative with my work and awarded me 93 out of 95 points on the project instead of the full 95 I felt I deserved. I proceeded to argue with Mrs. Barnes about my alleged lack of creativity and she told me, "Jason, you still got an A." Certainly a truthful statement, but I was so mad it didn't matter. You would have thought the world had ended. As Buechner states, though, my world had already come to an end. I just wasn't aware of it.
A counselor I've seen has said that something in me went underground when my mom died. I don't like how that sounds, but I can't deny that it feels true. I have theories as to what "went underground," but they remain theories in progress for the time being.
I still miss my mom. She was funny, loved the Lord, made really great spaghetti, hugged me when I cried, hooked me up with quality after-school snacks, took me to a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles concert for my 11th birthday, stood in line with me for hours to meet the girl of my dreams from the Mickey Mouse Club (and gave me a stuffed bear to give to her!) and always managed to surprise me with thoughtful and creative Christmas gifts. It reminds me how grateful I am for the time I did have with her.
"A child takes life as it comes because he has no other way of taking it. The world had come to an end that Saturday morning, but each time we had moved to another place, I had seen a world come to an end, and there had always been another world to replace it. When somebody you love dies, Mark Twain said, it is like when your house burns down; it isn't for years that you realize the full extent of your loss. For me it was longer than most, if indeed I have realized it fully even yet, and in the meantime the loss came to get buried so deep in me that after a time I scarcely ever took it out to look at it at all, let alone speak of it."
After thinking I should add The Sacred Journey to my reading list, I pulled out my pen and marked that passage. As someone who lost his mom at a young age and has only recently started to realize the profound effect that event has had on my life and who I am as a person, I appreciate Buechner's words. It's actually startling to me how well his words describe me as a 13 year old trying to figure out life after experiencing that loss. I often avoided the subject. When my dad wanted to talk about my mom, I remember sometimes simply telling him, "I don't want to talk about it." So we didn't.
Instead I obsessed over school work...like staying up until one in the morning doing homework and practicing my saxophone obsessed. I guess it seemed easier to control. But when things at school didn't go well, it got ugly. The most vivid memory I have of that playing out was toward the end of my 8th grade year. Our English teacher, Mrs. Barnes, assigned our class to do a project on the book Ender's Game. I was furious at Mrs. Barnes when she determined I could have been a little more creative with my work and awarded me 93 out of 95 points on the project instead of the full 95 I felt I deserved. I proceeded to argue with Mrs. Barnes about my alleged lack of creativity and she told me, "Jason, you still got an A." Certainly a truthful statement, but I was so mad it didn't matter. You would have thought the world had ended. As Buechner states, though, my world had already come to an end. I just wasn't aware of it.
A counselor I've seen has said that something in me went underground when my mom died. I don't like how that sounds, but I can't deny that it feels true. I have theories as to what "went underground," but they remain theories in progress for the time being.
I still miss my mom. She was funny, loved the Lord, made really great spaghetti, hugged me when I cried, hooked me up with quality after-school snacks, took me to a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles concert for my 11th birthday, stood in line with me for hours to meet the girl of my dreams from the Mickey Mouse Club (and gave me a stuffed bear to give to her!) and always managed to surprise me with thoughtful and creative Christmas gifts. It reminds me how grateful I am for the time I did have with her.
Saturday, March 05, 2011
videos
The last few days I've been wondering what I should post on here. I would love to write something life-inspiring or share some deep thoughts that lead to "Aha!" moments, but I've got nothing. So let's keep it simple: Here are some videos that I like in one spot so that I no longer have to search for them individually.
#1: I am a big fan of Mat Kearney and last April I had the opportunity to go to one of his concerts. I was in a good mood for about a week following that show. He co-headlined with another artist named Ingrid Michaelson. I'd never heard of her before, but left the concert grateful I had discovered another musician to follow. Her song "Soldier" has been played more times in my car than is probably healthy. That was the song she started her set off with and I loved how she displayed her sense of humor with a tribute to Lady Gaga about 3/4 of the way through the song:
#2: Last May I said adios to my friends Jack, Kate, Sawyer and the rest of the gang from the island of LOST. I was way too into the show, but wouldn't have had it any other way. This is one of my favorite LOST videos that promoted season 5..."We have to go back!":
#3: I don't watch "The Office" a ton, but loved the episode where Jim and Pam got married and this dance:
#4: If you don't watch "Friday Night Lights," you should. This clip is probably my favorite moment from season 4. When I watch it in the context of the entire season, I cry every time. Fair warning that it contains a big spoiler for the season:
#5: I am currently in between jobs, so this video that I put together of the Youth Group at church celebrating its 5th year has come to mean a lot to me:
#6: This video was probably my favorite part of the Oscars last week...
#7: A bonus LOST video that I found today! It has the theme song from "Friday Night Lights" - one of the best theme songs ever - combined with footage from LOST...
#1: I am a big fan of Mat Kearney and last April I had the opportunity to go to one of his concerts. I was in a good mood for about a week following that show. He co-headlined with another artist named Ingrid Michaelson. I'd never heard of her before, but left the concert grateful I had discovered another musician to follow. Her song "Soldier" has been played more times in my car than is probably healthy. That was the song she started her set off with and I loved how she displayed her sense of humor with a tribute to Lady Gaga about 3/4 of the way through the song:
#2: Last May I said adios to my friends Jack, Kate, Sawyer and the rest of the gang from the island of LOST. I was way too into the show, but wouldn't have had it any other way. This is one of my favorite LOST videos that promoted season 5..."We have to go back!":
#3: I don't watch "The Office" a ton, but loved the episode where Jim and Pam got married and this dance:
#4: If you don't watch "Friday Night Lights," you should. This clip is probably my favorite moment from season 4. When I watch it in the context of the entire season, I cry every time. Fair warning that it contains a big spoiler for the season:
#5: I am currently in between jobs, so this video that I put together of the Youth Group at church celebrating its 5th year has come to mean a lot to me:
#6: This video was probably my favorite part of the Oscars last week...
#7: A bonus LOST video that I found today! It has the theme song from "Friday Night Lights" - one of the best theme songs ever - combined with footage from LOST...
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