Looking Forward to Lent

I recently got back into listening to vinyl. Mostly because I finally moved the box from the dark corner of my room over next to my record player. Mostly been going through my 7 inch collection. Some good stuff. Currently listening to Sense Field - Building. Good record (I think I need to change my needle).

Lent starts on Wednesday. I didn't realize it was so soon until church last night. It almost March though... I'm looking forward to Lent and fasting this year. It was really important and a really good time for my spiritually last year. So this year should be equally as awesome (let's hope). My main fast is coffee. 40 days without coffee... Hopefully after the first 7 the desire to kill someone will have passed (again, let's hope).

I really like the idea of also fasting something different each week for the 40 days. I'm going to give that a go this year. Not sure what exactly it'll be each week. Probably hair gel for week, buying lunch for a week, things that are small spiritual hinderances and things to develop better discipline.

Looking forward to (and dreading) the 40 days of fasting.

Will it Upset You if I have Jesus Smoking?

I'm not really a fan of when the Office is a repeat. Like how many repeats can you show a year?

I've kind of stalemated lately on poetry. After a line or two I can't put anything together. It's frustrating and I think it mostly comes from not knowing what I want to say. Which could also be because I'm trying to say something. It was much easier when I was writing about lost and drunken sailors sharing cigarettes and stories of lost love with Jesus. It would make a great story. An older sailor, finally returned home to find all he ever loved gone except the sea. Standing outside a bar, smoking a cigarette when Jesus comes up and asks to borrow a smoke. The drunken sailor tells his story of life and stories of the sea while Jesus listens. It would be more a device for telling stories then a consistent book with a plot but I like it. Well... it is my idea. Maybe I should jump on that.

A couple of new pictures over at flickr. Enjoy.

Variations of Static

I like free food. I enjoyed going to my parents house this evening and having my grandfather make donuts for me. Very tasty. I enjoyed my grandmother/brothers soup (which will also be my lunch).

Man vs Food is on in 10 minutes. I like watching people eat far more then is required for no other reason then pride. I'd love to have that guys job but I couldn't eat that much and it would make me fat.

I posted some new pics up at flickr (http://flickr.com/photos/7137789@N03/).

Here's a little Ólafur Arnalds for you.

Beyond the Visible Spectrum

I blog way less then I want to. Very sad. I'm not that busy, just lazy... and it's not like I really have anything interesting to say anyway.

So Thursday and the Appleseed Cast have new records out today. I've listened to them both and am now going to comment on them.

Thursday is a band I really didn't get into until 08. Full Collapse always interested me in it's popularity and I guess it was just the right place at the right time. I bought it last year and I feel in love with the record and thus the band. I didn't hate Thursday, I was just never a fan. I was looking forward to the new record based solely on the split with Envy (those songs were great). The record is... fantastic. One listen through and I completely enjoyed it. The record doesn't really move in any new direction from previous Thursday efforts but that's not to say it's the same song we've heard before. There is something completely enrapturing about Geoff Rickly's vocals. The blend of full on screaming and singing fit so perfectly with the music. If you're a fan of Thursday, go buy the album.

The Appleseed Cast are awesome. They make beautiful music and I'm never disappointed. Their new album Sagarmatha is not a disappointment. I read a review this morning that said it sounds like Explosions in the Sky making an Appleseed Cast record and I can't really do any better describing it.

The Caps are on TV, Tristeza is on my stereo and I've been doing a little thinking (YES! The Caps just scored!).

I've been going over a bunch of things in my head lately. I'm just really frustrated lately with my spiritual life. It's hard taking a look at things and asking if I was better a year ago then I am today. Or is it just that because life is different this year that the vantage point has shifted and it looks worse because things that seem bigger are right in my face? There's a general frustration with myself where my spiritual life is concerned. Paul's words in Romans ring true.

"So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it."

A large part of my frustration comes from my own lack of effort put into my personal relationship with God. And I know from personal experience that the more time I spend in prayer and in his words the more peace I feel. My stress and worry and feeling like of spiritual ineptitude fade. That part of the problem is fixed by me making time and putting forth the commitment.

The thing that most bugs me is this pattern of falling into familiar habits and sins and it makes me wonder if I'm just a terrible human being or if there are serious changes that need to made. Again, the answer goes back to spending more time with God, which I desperately need to do.

Speaking of which...

Wingsuit Jumping

This is so cool!


wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.

Of Flight and Failure

I went and saw the Wrestler after work. I don't know if I'd say I liked it, but I wouldn't say it's a bad movie. It's a downer for sure but there's something fascinating about it. Rourke gives a good performance. In my tiny opinion a movie to put on your netflix list when it hits dvd. But I'm probably wrong and will be told so.

Currently got the BCS Championship on. Hoping Florida wins, although not really sure why. I honestly don't care and I wish the Caps were playing tonight so I could watch something else.

Also listening to A Hope For Home's new album "The Everlasting Man". I'm digging it.