loved this. it’s a fan video for the jars of clay song, “mirrors and smoke”.

i’ve always been a ridiculous optimist. really. i almost always think things will work out, that the future is bright, and that good and right and truth will prevail.

but today i was feeling really pessimistic about a meeting. i told someone, “i don’t think i can hope for a win in this; just less of a lose.” but the result was better than i expected. and i realized that when one is pessimistic, they get to experience results that are better than they expected. ha. maybe that’s why you pessimists do what you do, because you like having better-than-you-expected experiences!

how ticked would you be if you were on this plane?

just got an email from the mom of one of the guys in my 7th grade guys small group. this is about the best positive feedback one could expect from young teens!

Zach is jazzed to start back up. As he and Matt said in the car last night on our way to your house “Once small group starts, it just seems like everything is back to normal again”.

this just looks like so much fun…

(ht to steve case)

if a website (datetosave.com) to provide encouragement and networking for intentional missionary dating isn’t bad enough in itself, the content is either a killer parody or a hurl-inducing embarassment. i’m not totally sure, but i’m hoping it’s the former. please, please, please don’t be a real website.

here are some samples:

Doesn’t God look down on missionary dating and tells us to not be “yoked with unbelievers”?
I looked up yoked, and the dictionary says it’s a “A crossbar with two U-shaped pieces that encircle the necks of a pair of oxen or other draft animals working together.” I would never encourage anybody to do this on a date… I think the thing that is more important is that we should use our talents for God. If you’re really good at dating, or just really really good looking, then you should use that to bring souls to God.

What happens if the person I am dating becomes a Christian?
Praise God!!! That hasn’t happened to me yet (still just planting seeds!), but you have two choices: Dump him and start dating a better-looking nonbeliever… or keep dating the person you’re with now. I’d just see how hot he (or she) is and base the decision on that. The Bible says “man looks at the outward appearance; God looks at the heart.” We’re definitely not God, so just decide if your date is hot enough for you (after praying about it, of course).

(ht to mark helsel)

love this one. very fun. just sent this pic to my 7th grade guys small group…

when i read a headline like this one,

Police: Men smuggled monkeys in pants; also leopard cubs, orchids, birds of paradise

i…
1. want to poke out my mind’s eye, and
2. wish my imagination weren’t so vivid, and
3. wonder how the heck one would smuggle a monkey, let alone a leopard cub, in one’s pants.

(ht to brian buchanan)

i’ve tried what i can to eliminate spam trackbacks, but they just keep coming up with new ways to get them through. and i’m sick of policing my blog for spam trackbacks, as many as hundreds a day. so i’ve sadly turned off the trackback and pingback feature. i’ve also temporarily changed my comment moderation so that only previously approved commenters get posted immediately - the rest go into my moderation cue, and once i’ve “approved” them, they’ll get posted. we’re looking into some wordpress plug-ins that will deal with all of this more directly; so hopefully i can reset things to normal soon.

evil spammers!

, by douglas coupland.

i’ve been a fan of coupland’s writing for a long time. i think i’ve read all his books. my favorites are , and .

this is a trippy book. seriously. jpod is a slightly out-of-the-way collection of cubicles at a vancouver-based video game maker. the jpoders — about 6 of ‘em — are the quirkiest kind of tech geeks. and coupland somehow reveals all their wonderful weirdness. certainly, there are some stereotypes here — but i almost get the sense he meant it to be that way. there’s crazy (absurd, really) ‘coincidences’ and sub-plots, truly unique peripheral characters (including coupland himself, who — in a fantastically self-mocking way — is a shallow jerk).

here’s what i found ironic — and, again, i’m guessing that coupland intended me to find this ironic (i don’t get the sense that these things are accidental with him): coupland is somewhat universally hated by gen-xers for coining the term gen-x (this is referenced in jpod). really, coupland was the one person primarily responsible for our collective myth that gen-xers are a bunch of cynical, amoral slackers. and though it’s never mentioned directly, these characters are THE MOST cynical, amoral slackers you’ve ever not met. they go beyond ‘is that what gaming tech geeks are really like?’ and into parody.

but, somehow, through crappy marketing department directives, a couple murders, some human trafficking, a weird lesbian commune, a handful of upper-middle-age parents who grow pot, ballroom dancing, a homemade hugging machine, a trip to china, and several other oddities, jpod is a fun read.