The Purpose of Blogging

What is it? The purpose I mean. See above. 

I am determined to put my mind to better use. God gave me a brain, and I waste it. I'd like to use this blog as a repository for information and resources that I find and create, to keep myself accountable, to sort of cement what I find and learn, and maybe, hopefully, to benefit someone else. I think because of the generation I have grown up in, I take information for granted. Even as someone who easily absorbes information, I am so used to having whatever I want to know at my fingertips, that I don't bother to really take it in. I can always come back to it if the need arises. I have it bookmarked. But maybe, replicating it here, in such a cognitive way will help it all take root and grow, for the glory of God and the edification of others. I will do my best not to transform this into some self indulgent cesspool of my meandering conciousness. 

As an added bonus, it adds a layer of irony, I think, to the title of my blog.

I will probably delete the older posts, the same way I usually rip the old pages out of journals when I begin using them again.

I now need to figure out how to add blogs to my page in such a way that myself and others are able to see them and readily access them.

Oh man

---stricken for lack of usefulness---

I tried to go to Target yesterday, but I missed.

Two thoughts I had the other day when my wife and I were shopping at Target for wedding presents:

1) Shopping off of a registry (much like giving gift cards) is basically a way of telling someone how much you like them in dollars. As it turns out, I like Kyle and Chelsey about $25.

2) Why do cards (like birthday, anniversary, and wedding) have such sappy junk in them? It seems really hypocritical to me to give someone a card with words inside that you would never, in a million years, say to them in person. I hope Kyle and Chelsea are happy and have a great life, but I do not, specifically, wish them magical years full of blissful joy and the fulfillment of all their wildest fantasies and dreams. Or whatever.



A third thought: marriage is a lot like high school, and most of life: you get out of it what you put into it, and if you choose to have a good time, you usually do.

Attack Ads

I'm sick of Apple's super negative advertising campaign. The one with Justin Long, the kid from some lame movies, mostly from Judd Apatow.

We get the point. Vista has issues. Whatever. Don't tell me why I shouldn't buy a PC, tell my why I SHOULD buy a Mac. Mac has a lot of innovative feature and although really gimmicky, they are fun and easy to use. Work from there.

Steve Jobs could run a political campaign like a champ.

photoality and imageoraphy

Since I just got a shiny new iPhone, (stolen image courtesy some website) with all its internet havingness, I am going to make an attempt at photo blogging. The camera is not stellar, but HOLY CRAP, I JUST NOW had an amazing idea. If I had a digital camera with Bluetooth, I could send the pics from it to me phone, and from there deliver them, piping hot, to you the interneter. This could be a photo sharing revolution! A photaringution! I'm going to end this post now and search doggedly for such a camera. I have my doubts that such a beast exists, but if I can't find one, I'll MAKE one. Alls I need is a camera, some teeth and a blue marker.





This is going to be rad.

Things

Things I like: (in no particular order)

Freezing cold, sunny mornings, where the grass is frozen and some things are steaming as the sun heats them up.

A smooth single malt on rocks.

My wife.

A great theological discussion.

Dry, cold, cloudy days; when the leaves are turning and the air smells like chimney smoke and there's work to be done.

Ambient Rock: Explosions in the Sky, Sigur Ros, Mogwai, Radiohead.

Jazz-blues-rock bastards: Tom Waits.

A well behaved dog.

The Psalms, and the range of emotions and picture of God painted in them.

Sitting around with friends, not worried about filling the time with some arbitrary activity.

How old am I again?

From the title, this post should probably be light-hearted and fun. It's not.

I'm wondering how old I am because I really feel like a poorly behaved little boy. I am told repeatedly not to get dirty, even shown the splendors of cleanliness and allowed to partake of its benefits. I see the good things my Father has for me, I see the forgiveness and trust in His eyes when I tell him I'll stay clean from now on, and I see the anguish on His face when I come in the door, dripping in muck, asking to be cleaned up again. Because as fun as getting dirty might seem, being dirty sucks.

Why are all of these things not enough to keep my sorry butt out of the dirt? Why do the people around me not see who I am and hate me for it? I try not to get them dirty, but being around someone as filthy as me has got to rub off after a while. Why does my Father continue to love me? Where does He get all that soap? When will I learn? I don't love people like I'm supposed to, I don't love God a fraction what He's worth. I fail my wife as a lover, a leader and a provider, I fail my friends as a brother in Christ. I fail almost every single person I encounter as a witness and light and a bringer of hope. I waste my time and the gifts God has given me. I waste the grace He's poured out again and again. I'm a phony and a liar.

I asked God to give me a new heart, because I hate the one I have. I asked to grieve my sins, now I wish I didn't have so many to grieve. Please pray for me.

I don't like the idea of publishing this for the world to see. But I want people to see God's grace in the fact that I am still alive, and still allowed to call out to God for forgiveness. And I want people to know who I really am, so at least they can make an informed decision about me.