A list of stuff that has happened.

Since my last post...

Found out we were moving.
Started job hunting.
Moved.
Applied for numerous (read roughly 30+) jobs.
Was unsuccessful at achieving sustainable employment.
Video gamed. A lot.
Considered becoming a writer.
Lost brief motivation at becoming a writer.
Regained motivation for becoming a writer. Work in progess.
Presided over first wedding.
Bridge Day (highlight of last 6 months).
Rethought (and rethinking) entire vocation/calling/career path.
Began to investigate further educational options.
Moped (As in "moped around the house," not "rode on a moped").
Raged against the machine.

At this point, I don't know where things are headed, but prospects are slim. Look for more posting to commence, as I clearly have nothing else going on.

(Not at) Peace...

One of the best gifts I've ever received...

In case you live under a rock and missed it, Valentine's Day was two days ago. Aside from being a commercial monstrosity of a holiday, it is a day to celebrate love in all its many forms. Traditionally, gifts are exchanged, flowers given, candy bought, etc. Normally guys that are not idiots are giving these gifts to their significant others. As a non-idiot, I had gifts for Jill, and since Tuesdays are the one day a week we have off together, we were fortunate enough to spend the entire day together, so we went out for a lunch date and a movie.

Surprisingly, Jill had a gift for me. And it was one of the coolest gifts I've ever received. She gave me a box, decorated with a few pictures of us, and filled with little slips of paper. Upon each slip was written something that she loved about me (or our relationship together). Simple, sincere and wonderful. For those of you who know Jill, you know that she is not the most sentimental person ever (and I say that only because it amplifies the expression the meaning of this present), but this was truly a gift given with great thought, care and love. Incredibly heartwarming.

I've decided to read one slip a day. The first one was about our shared loved of soft pretzels, which are ridiculously delicious. Yesterday's was about how I let Jill have the remote [This isn't out of magnanimity on my part- Jill simply won't watch most of the stuff I like, so if we're going to watch TV together, it's usually something that makes me want to punch myself in the eye (love you, dear!)].

Today's was about how much she loves my hope for a better world.

After two rather light-hearted things, this one hit me powerfully. I do love soft pretzels, and I do generally let her control the remote, but the fact that I do hope for a better world is kind of at the core of who I, on my best days, consider myself to be. And I really want to thank her for reminding me of this fact.

I don't get overly "religious" on this blog often. For those of you who might read this blog regularly but don't care for Christians/Christianity (because you're tired of obnoxious Bible-thumpers who want to shove it down your throat, or because you find it irrelevant or illogical or just simply something you can't buy into), I hope you won't skip out now, because I think what I'm about to say might still resonate with you.

I do hope for a better world. Hope is a powerful thing. It is central to how I understand Christianity, and my role as a follower of Jesus. Anyone can look around today and see that things are broken, skewed, screwed up; choose your word of choice here. Our situation is untenable long term. We have people starving to death while billionaires wipe their butts with hundred dollar bills. We have religious leaders building cults based on fear, guilt, hate. We have politicians bought and paid for by corporations. Our society has become so fractured and argumentative that we can't even talk to each other constructively. We cannot disagree civilly, in any arena. Instead we yell platitudes at each other, talking points (or even scripture passages?) lobbed back and forth at increasingly louder volumes in an attempt to destroy the other. We have corrupt political systems, destructive economic systems, and manipulative religious systems (including many versions of Christianity, admittedly).

This is broken.

This is foolish.

This is demoralizing.

But this is not the end.

What is is not what has to be. We don't have to live like this. We don't have to live in a broken system. I don't claim to have all the answers, a plan to solve all of this. I know better than that. But I know that we have the capacity for change. We have the ability to fix this. My understanding of how to fix it is drawn in large part from the teaching and example of Jesus, but I'm guessing that the staunchest atheist one might meet  could arrive at similar conclusions without drawing from the same wisdom.

It starts with hope.

Hope for something better. For a world where there is enough for everyone's needs. Where people have fresh water, food in their stomachs, roofs over their heads. Where people are valued for their unique gifts, personalities, passions.   Where we can actually stand to be in the same room with people with whom we disagree. Where people from diverse backgrounds, races, political parties can coexist. Where people can feel whole and loved.

I don't know about you, but that starts to sound a little like the Kingdom about which Jesus spoke. The Kingdom he prayed to see here on earth. The Kingdom.

One of my favorite bands of all time, Five Iron Frenzy, has recently decided to get back together, and they released a song called "It Was A Dark And Stormy Night." Part of the song says "I've been waiting, in halfhearted sleep, for a promise I half meant to keep. Just for hoping that hope still flies, wipe the sleep out of our sleeping eyes. And hope still flies.."

I'm hoping that we will wake from our halfhearted sleep. That we will wake and see that there is hope for something brighter, something better.What is is not what has to be.

I hope.

Grace and Peace...

PS: If you want to hear more Five Iron or learn more about the band, as well as download "It Was A Dark And Stormy Night" for free, check out Five Iron Frenzy.

Cover Songs I Want To Hear

At work today I was listening to lots of cover songs via Spotify. It got me thinking of covers I would like to see. There is an art form to a good cover. The best covers reinterpret a song in an entirely new way, bringing something new to a song, giving it a new life without destroying the song in the process. I have a special affinity for cross-genre covers.

Possibly my favorite cover is Mat Weddle (of the band Obadiah Parker)'s cover of Outkast's "Hey Ya." Google it if you've never heard it. The original song has a lot of heart to it that can get lost in the original. Weddle manages to pull the emotional center of that song into the light with his "guy and a guitar" sound. Pretty impressive.

I've been thinking of other covers that I want to hear.

Bluegrass covers:
Muse - "Knights of Cydonia"
Daft Punk - "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger"

Another one that could be fun: country cover of LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem"

My wife is amazing.

She's a rock star, and she just finished up a local community theater production of an original play based on the story of the Prodigal Son, where she was the female lead. Here's a picture of her in action:

She did an incredible job and I just wanted to brag. She was truly awesome in her role, and that's even removing as much bias as I can. She's all sad now, since the show wrapped up yesterday. I always find it incredibly cool to see people doing what they love. Seeing people being completely invested  and engaged in what they are doing always brings a smile to my face, even more so when it's someone I know and love.

So here's to you, dear! You rocked it.

Peace...

The Barfalounger...

Some days are better than others.

And some days, you come home, take a shower, and begin to get settled in for the evening. You sit down at the computer, check some email, play a little music.

Then you hear that sound. If you have a dog or small child, you know what I'm talking about. That sound.

And then you find yourself cleaning dog barf off your beloved recliner.

This was one of the latter.
Poor dog. He just doesn't know any better, evidently. This seems to happen every time spring rolls around. After a long winter of not having a variety of fresh, growing things to eat outside, the poor dog just has to eat anything in his sight in the back yard. Oh! A new plant. NOM. What's that, a bush? NOM. Random thing that I'm not sure what it is but looks slightly tasty? NOM. Okay, now I'm done. Let's come inside and puke on that chair I'm always sleeping on. That'll be awesome.

So I just finished cleaning up dog puke on my favorite chair. He has a skill for always puking on carpet, rug, or upholstery. Never on the easy to clean hardwood floor or tile. Nope. Always, without fail, on something which requires lots of scrubbing.

This is my life...

Salute Your Jorts - Final Thoughts on the UK Basketball Season

Going into this season, if anyone had told me that UK would make the Final Four, I would have asked them what drugs they were on. A team that lost 5 draft picks from the year before and had arguably their best player sitting on the sidelines this year doesn't seem like a recipe for success. We had a team of 10 guys, 6 of whom actually played with any regularity.

And yet, here we sit in early April asking ourselves why we didn't win the National Championship after a magnificent charge to the Final Four.

Not the outcome most sane people expected. The season had highs and lows. We were awesome at home, and awesomely bad on the road. But by March, we were a pretty good team. And a late season push led us to the SEC tourney championship. On the backs of our three veterans, Miller, Liggins and Harrellson, we managed to win the SEC tourney. Then we made a HUGELY surprising NCAA tourney run, coming in as a WAY under-seeded #4 in the toughest bracket, avenging last year's loss to WVU, then toppling the best team in the country, followed up by taking out a UNC team that narrowly beat us earlier in the year, setting up a rematch with the team that gave us the worst beating of the season, UConn. By this point, expectations had shifted dramatically. This team went from one that most expected to fall by the Sweet 16 to one that most expected to win the title.

Doomed by a terrible shooting night, both from the field and from the free throw line (gee... sound familiar?), UK fell to eventual champ UConn (and destroying what would likely be the only opportunity for my team to face my wife's alma mater, Butler, and inciting unprecedented levels of trash talking in our house), crushing the Big Blue Nation's dreams of hanging banner #8 for at least another year.

This team of avengers was full of amazing stories, and this already long post doesn't have the time/patience to detail them all, but given the title, we have to point out the transformation of Joshua "Jorts" Harrellson from also-ran who almost got kicked off the team to the glass cleaning, giant slaying, throwing balls through fools' chest, heart and soul of this program.

This transformation started with twitter, of all things. After a dominating performance in the Blue White game, Jorts was looking for a pat on the back from Cal (and a well deserved pat, IMO) that never came. Instead, he was banned from twitter and sentenced to crazy amounts of conditioning.

That punishment led us to the Final Four. Dropping pounds and getting in crazy shape allowed Josh to dominate lesser men in the paint and more than hold his own against better competition. It brought us the Denim-Drive offense, seeing him take guys off the dribble and work a BEAUTIFUL pick n' roll. He went from a guy who we could count on to clean the glass to a legit scoring option.

His underdog story struck a chord in the Bluegrass, resonating with a state that is an underdog itself, especially in the sports world. Kentucky is a special place. Our passion for the Wildcats comes from many places, but I believe our devotion, pride and support comes in large part because it is really the primary thing we have of which we can be excessively proud. We LOVE our Wildcats, and the success they have found. It's a program that doesn't settle for mediocrity. We don't hang participation banners. We hang Final Four and Championship banners. We are crazy. My wife, bless her heart, is from Tennessee, and despite my best efforts to teach and explain, is still perplexed by the rabid following of the millions of UK fans.

We follow our Wildcats because they give us something in which to believe. They give us a rallying point. They give us something that we can show to the world with pride. There are many, many things wrong or depressing or weird about our state. But when it comes to sports, we have our Wildcats, the greatest tradition in all of college basketball. Take practically any measure of success, and if UK is not #1, we're in the top 5. More wins than anyone, the second most national championships, highest program winning percentage, most NCAA tourney games, most All Americans, etc. Hit up the UK basketball wikipedia entry for "The List" and prepare to be wowed.

Simply put, we have the best program. Ever. Yes, there are black marks (numerous probation/violations, scandals, etc., though there are plenty of others with similar records), but top to bottom, no program beats the University of Kentucky men's basketball team. There are some close competitors, but we are the standard bearer.

It's really the only thing Kentucky can brag about, aside from horse racing and bourbon. The Commonwealth is an underdog, and Josh's story represents someone overcoming serious roadblocks on the way to success. This team that no one expected to make the Final Four did so in large part o the back of a perfect example of what we as Kentuckians value: dedication, hard work, commitment, doing the dirty work and persevering when things go bad.

So on behalf of a grateful Big Blue Nation, I want to thank and salute Josh and this entire team for bringing home a long overdue Final Four. It is your surprising success that makes us long for the fact that we narrowly missed out on another title, and that makes it so hard to overcome the loss to UConn. But we take great pride in what you did accomplish, and so unexpectedly. And when Midnight Madness rolls around and we celebrate your success, know that you made yourselves and all of us proud.

We hang Final Four banners. And we will hang yours with glowing pride and joy.

My Wife is Awesome.

Congrats are in order for my lovely wife, who was approved on Monday for full ordination as an elder in the Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church. After a very long, strenuous and complicated 8 years, she has reached the final step in this process.

For those who don't know much about the UMC or ordination, one can sort of compare it to becoming a tenured professor or finishing your medical residency. Since June 2008, she has been a provisional elder (like a residency program), and in June of this year, at Annual Conference, she will be ordained.

It's a very long, tedious process full of paper writing, meetings, psychological evaluations, discernment, hard work and so much more. And now she's just about completed that process. I'm proud of her, and seeing her work through this process has been a great benefit to me as well as I continue to debate whether or not the UMC ordination process is where I'm headed.

In conclusion, i would like to repeat that my wife is awesome. Very proud of you, dear.


Peace...

Expanding the Big Tent (Further Thoughts)

In my last post, I wrote briefly about what Big Tent Christianity means to me. I'd like to expand a little bit on that post:

Big Tent Christianity is Kingdom, not kingdom, focused. It's not about denominations or territories or any of the other minor, petty differences that have kept churches from being the Church. It's about embracing the fact that the God we serve, the Christ we follow, the Spirit we seek, is bigger than any one of us, and not something we can cram into some simple package. None of us have a monopoly on Truth.

For example... I was raised in Baptist churches. I currently work at a United Methodist church, my wife is a UM pastor. I went to a UM seminary. So, I like to refer to my spiritual heritage as Methobaptist or Wesleyan Baptist. One of the primary threads of Baptist theology is the belief in believer's baptism, that is, baptism by choice of the person being baptized. They make the decision as to when/if they want to be baptized, whereas the UMC has long practiced infant baptism. Historically, this conflict over the theology of baptism has been something that has caused some drama/beef/etc. Big Tent Christianity embraces both approaches, acknowledging that each one is theologically sound and has merit. It doesn't just push ignore differences, but rather realizes that each position is one that is tied in sound theological thinking and application. Believer's baptism acknowledges our ability to choose and enables the believer to actually remember their baptism, which they can then reflect upon and draw strength from in trying times. Infant baptism rightfully acknowledges that God is active and present in our lives before we ever even realize it (prevenient grace). There's room under the big tent for both approaches, and in interacting, Baptists and Methodists find themselves strengthened and blessed by the foundation behind both approaches. We learn and grow from each other, and the fellowship created is a gift of God.

Now, my hopes and dreams for the future of the Church...

Well, they're big. I know that much. I see a Church that spends little time squabbling over petty doctrinal disputes and more time practicing the incarnation of Christ, being the hands and feet of God in the world. We will be vested in our communities, a voice for the voiceless and sharing hope with the hopeless. We stop chasing the next fad or trend and instead practice the art of pointing to Christ. Instead of trying to be cool, we try to be Christ. If we really want to make any impact in this world, then we need to stop investing all our time in fitting in, and instead spend our time reaching out. Despite the protestations of some talking heads and supposed figureheads of Christianity, the concept of social justice is inherently tied to the message of Jesus. The church, when it is being the Church, is dedicated to sharing the love of Jesus with those around her, and that takes many, many forms. It's feeding someone physically and pointing to the need to be fed spiritually. It is helping the poor and pointing them toward the richness of Christ. It is breaking the bonds of oppression and pointing those newly freed (and those doing the oppressing) toward the freedom found in Jesus Christ.

I'm prone to dreaming big. The way things are are NOT the way they have to be. If there is no hope for change, then there is no hope in Christ. The very message of Jesus Christ indicates that we can be changed and we can take part in the changing. We can't do it on our own, but we don't have to. We have an advocate, and we have each other. So if we're talking about our hopes and dreams, then we cheat ourselves when we don't dream big.

Peace...

Big Tent Christianity - Part of Transforming Theology Synchroblog

I'm taking part in a massive blogging effort as part of the Transforming Theology project, where numerous bloggers post about the same subject. The stated purpose of this project was to take a look at the concept of "Big Tent Christianity." We were asked to answer the question "What does Big Tent Christianity mean to you?"

For my readers (all 2 of you) out there that didn't go to seminary or don't care much about the Church, you might want to skip this post. But in case you don't (and because I don't think I'm smart or well-versed enough to do otherwise), I'll try to write this post as simply as possible without using the handful of $5 theological terms I know.

In my mind the concept of Big Tent Christianity is simply this- Kingdom over kingdom. For far too long (or rather too often) too many churches (and even the Church?) have been focused on their own little kingdoms with a lowercase "k." Concerned with increasing membership and tithes, we've focused on getting people in the doors. Butts in pews. In many cases, we became very adept at this process. We streamlined ushering people into our churches, but then failed to help usher the Kingdom into their lives and our own lives.

We missed the bigger picture. The Kingdom with a capital "K," that being the Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven referred to so often in scripture. A Kingdom marked by peace, compassion, love. A Kingdom drenched in resurrection. A Kingdom that isn't marred by petty squabbles over who sits in what pew or what church gets the most people to darken their doors, but rather a Kingdom that doesn't rest when it sees injustice or pain. A Kingdom that reaches out to the poor, the outcast, the marginalized. A Kingdom that isn't about deciding who is on the outside, but rather one that opens its doors and invests itself into into the lives of all it touches.

The Kingdom of God. Right here. Among us. Within us. For some reason I fail to grasp, God lets us take part in creating this Kingdom. We are active participants in God's continuing creation.We all get to take part in this Kingdom. We sit at court with an entirely different type of King than anything the world has ever seen.

The Church needs to move beyond its short-sighted view of kingdom and see the bigger picture. To see the Kingdom in all its wondrously weird beauty. To see it right here, among us.

Peace...
PS: I'll try to write more tomorrow going a little more in-depth and answering (or rather sharing my thoughts on) some of the other questions they asked us to examine, like what our hopes and dreams are for the Church and what it looks like in our context. I wanted to get this in ASAP because, well, it was due by 8/13. I'm late to the party, but I'm here now.

So... I'm contemplating (lightly, at the moment) UMC ordination

Yeah... not to betray my Baptist roots, but I am considering the possibility of going through the UMC ordination process. For those of you who don't know, it's a long (like 7-8 years minimum) ordeal. Assuming I get through, and assuming the UM system doesn't radically change in that time (which it might), it would mean a 99% guaranteed career. It would also mean that if I go down the elder track, I could be placed anywhere at any kind of church in a variety of positions: solo pastor, associate pastor, etc. I'm not sure I want that. Being the head pastor of a church is not my thing. I'd rather work with youth, college and/or young adults. The other option is the deacon track, but I'd have to find my own jobs (which is ultimately no different than now, and would prevent me from doing some of the things only elders can do), but it might give me the option to do things like college or youth ministry without the worry of where I would be placed.

Aside from the opening up of job prospects (I'd LOVE to be a college chaplain or campus minister, but it seems those jobs require ordination from a denomination more organized than my current Baptist ordination. I'd also enjoy working on the conference level to shape the youth/young adults branch of ministry), there are the other benefits- housing, pension, etc. I hate to sound so mercenary, but that's part of the deal, and a sizable part.

So right now, I'm weighing options and trying to discern what the right thing to do actually is. The process is LONG, so it wouldn't really impact my current job (don't worry, anyone from Mount Pleasant who reads this- it wouldn't be finished for many years). There's a great deal of paperwork, testing, meetings and writing that I would have to do. And I still have to determine which track to pursue, if any.

On an ideological level, I'm trying to determine if I can reconcile my own beliefs with those of the UMC. Theologically, I don't see a great deal of a problem (I realized in seminary that I was quite a Wesleyan Baptist), but polity-wise, I have more questions. I've talked with Jill about this, and am thinking about meeting with some other UMC people here in Indiana that I know who have similar jobs/passions as I do (other youth ministers, college ministers, conference people) and talking to them.

I'll keep you updated. Once I figure out what I'm thinking...

Peace.

I love it when people from a church act like the Church

Had a guy and his son from Jill's church, Memorial UMC here in Terre Haute, who came over this evening and mowed our ridiculously out of control lawn. Our mower is broken/nonfunctional, or I would have done it myself.

They came over, mowed the yard, weed-eated part of it (I did the other part), swept up the clipping and hauled them off. And wouldn't take anything for their time and labor.

See, people like these two are what continue to fuel my faith that we, as humans, aren't completely screwed up. They reinforce my belief that the church can some day ascribe to be The Church, the living body of Christ in this world.

I had an idea for a blog post...

But I lost it. Hate it when that happens. I've had several ideas that have come to me during these last 4 months, but when I get to a computer with the time to write, they disappear. Need to work on finding ways to capture ideas when they happen.

Maybe they will come back some day.

Merry Christmas!

¹In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ²(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³And everyone went to his own town to register.

 ⁴So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

 ⁸And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ^[a] the Lord. ¹²This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

 ¹³Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
 ¹⁴"Glory to God in the highest,
      and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

 ¹⁵When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

 ¹⁶So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Luke 1:1-20

On! On! U of K!

John Wall.

Truth.

I am so glad basketball season is FINALLY here. After what seemed like the longest dead period between the end of last year and the first official game on Friday, I finally get to indulge in my favorite sporting season. After several dismal years (in UK terms), it looks like we will be good this year.

Maybe even great.

But not if we keep playing like we did tonight, barely surviving Miami of Ohio. We should have beaten them by 20 points, but instead we get a last second shot by John Wall at the buzzer for a 72-70 victory.

We were warned (in a prescient pre-season conversation) by Coach Calipari that there would be games like this, and I'd rather they happen now than against UNC or Louisville.

But now that we got that out of our system, I would love for us to crush every single opponent in our way on the road to Indianapolis for the Final Four.

And you better believe I'll give just about anything I have to be at those games. I'll sell a kidney if I have to.

ON! ON! U of K!

Championship Banner #8 awaits.

Peace...

Behold... The Dominator

This sandwich will crush your taste buds. It will make your mouth water so intensely you'll become a cure for droughts. It will rock your face off.

Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair. I give you... the Dominator.

Would you like to make this tasty morsel yourself? I bet you would. Behold, ingredients:

1 bun, toasted

1 grilled chicken breast. I grill mine on our George Foreman, and give it a heavy dusting of Mesquite seasoning.

3 potato and cheese pierogies (we use Mrs. T's brand, because they are the only ones available here in Terre Haute that don't taste like boiled death). You can grill these on the Foreman too. 6.5 minutes to perfection.

1 slice of smoked provolone cheese

a few slices of paper thin smoked sharp cheddar cheese

3 strips of turkey bacon (because, you know, it's healthier)

Kraft Hickory Honey Smoked Barbecue sauce.

This sandwich will ruin all other sandwiches for you. Eat at your own risk. You can thank me later.

Peace...

Small Town Cultural Review: Covered Bridge Festival

We're starting a new feature here at my blog*. It's called Small Town Cultural Review. Wherein I will review aspects of small town life.

Today's topic: The Covered Bridge Festival.

Jill and I moved to Terre Haute in June of '08. Around September 2008, we started hearing about Covered Bridge Festival. Evidently, it's THE place to be come mid-October. We were thoroughly excoriated and almost shunned when word got out that we did not attend this illustrious social event. Pariahs, we were.

With this deep scar on our social standing**, Jill and I set out on Saturday to remedy this glaring omission in our small town Indiana resume.

The Covered Bridge Festival celebrates the bajillion covered bridges in the Wabash Valley area, especially Parke County. There are bus tours that take you around the county, showing you covered bridges. Having grown up 15 minutes from a covered bridge, and sure of their lack of life-changing majesty and or wonderfulness, we eschewed the tour and made our way to Bridgeton, a tiny town with its own bridge and collection of colorful vendors selling everything from giant ceramic ducks to severed Ronald McDonald heads taken from old school McDonald's drive-thrus.

Exhibit A:

 Additionally, and perhaps more germane to the interest of my reading public (all three of you) would be the collection of various foodstuffs in which one could indulge. Among the varied delicacies offered at this conglomeration of haute cuisine (did you see what I did there?), one could feast upon smoked turkey legs, kettle corn, homemade ice cream, biscuits and gravy, taco pierogies (which I regretfully only discovered after having stuffed myself with other goods) and more.

For my part, I had a mediocre barbecue chicken breast (I believe I could have outdone this pedestrian effort and I've never barbecued in my life). I also had a giant pretzel made by what appeared to be a contingent of Amish ladies. Looking back, I think the Amish persona may have been affected merely to enhance the ambiance of the consumer experience, as they were using a commercial oven to cook said pretzels, and I was under the assumption that the Amish generally tend to forgo the use of modern technology. Never deterred by this anachronistic touch, I foraged on, devouring my chewy and delicious pretzel with gusto. No lie, it stands easily as the second best pretzel I have ever had, denied the top spot by the tiniest of margins by an even larger pretzel that I had at an outlet mall near St. Augustine, FL. That pretzel was ginormous, to use the common parlance. Perhaps there is a correlation between pretzel size and pretzel deliciousness that we may examine at a later point.

The piece de resistance, however, was something that only could have come from the twisted and demented minds of Americans. This delicacy, this tastacular experience, nay, this little piece of heaven was...

Yes. To paraphrase former Arizona Cardinals coach Dennis Green, it is what you thought it was. And crown it we shall.

The most regal of all fair food: a deep fried candy bar. A deep fried 3 Musketeers bar, to be exact. My favorite candy bar. Deep fried. I had heard rumors of such mischievous morsels on TV shows, and had seen them advertised at the county fair this summer, but much like the chupacabra, Sasquatch or the Loch Ness monster, these mythical creatures are hard to find. They were sold out during our day at the fair this past summer, and alas I went without experiencing the rapturous delights that such a treat promises.

But my mouth was not to be denied on this day.

Like a bloodhound on a scared racoon, I tracked my way through the teeming masses and located a vendor whose signage indicated the presence of this wonderful concoction. I made my purchase, and scurried away to find Jill and to share this experience with her. Plus, if it gave me a heart attack, I wanted someone close by to call the ambulance.

As I bit into its chewy outer coating, my tastebuds were gently and lovingly massaged by the sweetness of the melty chocolate contained within this doughy encasement. It was truly heavenly, and proof of a benevolent deity.

Of course, I had to promise Jill that I would only have one of these a year. I'm already a prime candidate for a heart attack- no use adding a 10 gallon can of gasoline to that smoldering fire.

We also bought a bag of kettle corn to take home. I always forget how much I enjoy kettle corn, that bag full of sweet and salty exploded kernels tantalizing and confusing my senses.

Jill and I made short work of the kettle corn. The bag is empty now, a hollow reminder of what once was.

Much like my heart shall remain until next year, when I can once again feast upon that glorious delight known as the deep fried 3 Musketeers bar. If for no other reason than the fact that Covered Bridge Festival finally brought me together with such a wondrous creation, then I must call it a success. I give it 4 coronaries out of 5, losing a point due to the ridiculous number of bees that swarmed us whenever we stopped moving.

Peace...



*No promises as to the recurring nature of said new feature.
**Not really. No one shunned us. Just told us we should go next year.

I'm not dead yet!

I'm not dead yet, I promise. But until I come back with something else, here's a video for Thrice's "Come All You Weary," an awesome song.

Thrice - New Music - More Music Videos

Blog Changes/Redesign

I'm thinking about redesigning this blog, or perhaps even moving it over to wordpress. I created a blog for the youth group I work with on wordpress, and I definitely prefer the format and variety of options they have compared to Blogger.

Anyone out there have any ideas or recommendations for this overhaul? Ideas definitely appreciated. I don't have to skill to really design my own stuff, and we don't have to money to pay for something so any suggestions with that in mind would be helpful.

Peace...

This is the best pizza ever

(photo credit to chicagoblogger.com)


And I will fight anyone who disagrees.

Chicago Stuffed Pizza. With Pepperoni. The best pizza ever. It's clearly my favorite, and next weekend, I'm going to eat as much of it as I possibly can as Jill and I venture to Chicago for her uncle's wedding.

There was one place in Atlanta (Nancy's over in Buckhead) that had this type of pizza. And there is no place here in Terre Haute (which is WAY closer to Chicago, what's the deal with that?). My first taste of it was at Giordano's in Chi-town, and there was a place in Lexington that delivered to Transy that had a pretty good imitation. But I haven't had it in over 3 years.

But next weekend, oh next glorious weekend, I shall dine on the best food in the entire world. And it shall be marvelous.

Peace...

Disc golf is awesome.

Played today for the first time, along with one of my youth and her dad. We had a great time. I was pretty bad, but not horrible for my first attempt. I've got this wicked right hook on my throw though that I need to fix. My mid range game is pretty good. Putting, well, could be worse.

You should go play. You can get a set of basic discs for like $20. And playing is free on nearly all courses, so it's a whole lot cheaper than that good walk spoiled, as Twain called golf.

I'm lucky- there's a park with a course right by our house. I can walk there, it's that close (and those of you who know how lazy I am, well this should tell you something).

Anyway, go play. I'm trying to convince Jill to go. We'll see if that happens. My guess is no.

Peace...