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 |    My primary Writing.com blog. |
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Logocentric (adj). Regarding words and language as a fundamental expression of an external reality (especially applied as a negative term to traditional Western thought by postmodernist critics). Sometimes I just write whatever I feel like. Other times I respond to prompts, many taken from the following places:  "The Soundtrackers Group"  "Invalid Item" "Blogging Circle of Friends " "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" "JAFBG" "Take up Your Cross" Thanks for stopping by!  |
| "Take up Your Cross" | May 25, 2023 How important do you think it is for a Christian to attend physical church? Why? I think church attendance is critical for Christians, although I'm not sure I'd say "physical church" is a hard requirement. The whole point of the New Testament is to communicate the life and death (and resurrection of Jesus) which did away with all of the prior laws in the Old Testament about precisely when and where and how you're supposed to relate to God. So attending a physical church is no longer a theological requirement for Christian belief. Additionally, if you look at the way people were forced to do church during the pandemic of the past few years, churches have adapted or developed technologies to reach those for whom in-person church attendance isn't possible. You can now watch church services live online, or watch/listen to them after the fact via podcasts, YouTube, etc. There are apps available for your smartphone that will add additional content to your Bible reading experience, or that can provide daily devotionals or prayer guides. There are more Christian communities than ever which you can join through your job, neighborhood, friend group, or any of a hundred different online social networks. All that said, the Christian faith is a relational one. It's built on the concept of community and service to others. So if someone is pursuing their Christian faith by themselves, focusing only on their personal journey and not in the larger context of some kind of community... well, then they're just plain doing it wrong (either that, or I'm seriously misinterpreting some key passages in the Bible!). It's critical for Christians to be a part of a Christian community, but gone are the days where Christian community is only built around a physical house of worship. That is, unquestionably, still the most common and popular way for Christians to gather in community these days, but it's definitely not the only way to participate in a community. "Take up Your Cross" | May 27, 2023How would you feel about a society where The Bible and Christianity were banned and you were put in jail for the rest of your life, tortured, or killed for having a Bible or practicing Christianity? (Did you know there are places right now in the world where this is a fact of life?) The Christian faith started out as a faith where you'd be run out of town, put in jail, tortured, or killed for practicing it. That fact that so many Christians find it surprising that there are still places in the world where Christianity is not just a relatively minor religion, but even seen as something of a dangerous countercultural movement in some circles speaks, sadly, to how few Christians understand the history of their own faith. On the one hand, I would certainly be more anxious and uncertain about living in a place where I wasn't free to practice my faith, and where I had to worry about something bad happening to me if anyone found out. I think anyone who claims they'd feel otherwise would probably be lying. On the other hand, I've known some people who have lived these situations and they have incredible stories of faith and how God has shown up. When I was first sorting out my, I had regular meetings with a pastor friend of mine. I had been attending church regularly for a while... long enough to know people who had incredible stories about the way that God has shown up in their lives... and I told the pastor that I didn't have any personal experience with that. I've never seen God show up in a miraculous or surprising way; I've never heard him speak clearly to me. His response? "That's because you haven't needed him to. Meaningful interactions with God don't happen inside your comfort zone." That sentiment has stuck with me all these years later. I have to constantly remind myself that as a straight, cisgender, middle class white dude living in an affluent California city, I'm probably not going to get a lot of one-on-one time with the big guy unless I'm stepping out in faith and meeting God where he is. That's the lifelong challenge for all Christians, I suppose... to know when to step out in faith and put ourselves in a situation where we need God to show up for us. The thing I worry about most with Christians (myself included) is how often we choose the safety and security of the comfort zone over a better relationship with Him. For those Christians who don't have the luxury of having a comfort zone nearby, I have a feeling God shows up for them in tangible ways a little more often.  |
| "Blogging Circle of Friends " | Day 3741 Whether it was the one who taught you a valuable skill, encouraged you to strive for better, or simply put a band-aid on your grazed knee, there must be at least one teacher you’ll always remember. Tell us about it. I've been lucky enough to have a number of memorable teachers over the years. My fifth grade teacher really encouraged me to explore my interest in writing. My sixth grade teacher was the first one that really made learning fun, sparking my interest in fantasy and science fiction, as well as music of all genres. My seventh grade history teacher taught a mechanical drawing class that introduced me to my passion for architecture. I had a number of college professors who really inspired me in their various areas of specialty. But the teacher that immediately comes to mind when I think about who taught me a valuable skill, and made me strive for better, it was my eleventh grade AP English Language & Composition class. Up until that point, I had always been a decent student, but not particularly motivated to excel. I reliably pulled mostly A's and a few B's with a minimum of studying or effort. The AP English Language & Composition class graded in-class timed essays on a scale of one to five (five being the best and indicative of college-level writing). The first essay I wrote, I was one of only a handful of kids in the class who got a four. I continued to get fours consistently, which was the highest grade in a class that also included our eventual class valedictorian and salutatorian. Then, one day about a month into the semester, the teacher gave me a one on an essay that I was pretty sure I had nailed. When I went to ask him why he gave my essay the lowest score possible, he replied matter-of-factly: "Because it's bullshit." I was shocked. Not just because my teacher used swear words, but because he saw through my half-assed efforts and was willing to call me out on them, even when they were good enough to be at the top of the class. He went on to say that he figured out I was phoning it in, and that he was going to keep grading my essays on effort instead of using the AP grading rubric until I stopped "fucking around" and actually started living up to my potential. I had never had a teacher hold me accountable like that before. It took me a few weeks of really trying, getting ones and twos and threes on my essays... but every time I got an essay back, my teacher would include some insightful feedback, pushing me to think more critically about the prompt, and to be more specific, succinct, and eloquent with how I expressed myself. Right before the holidays, as the first semester was coming to a close, I got a five on one of my essays; the first one in the class to earn one, and the first student in any AP English class to earn a five in the first semester. I spent the rest of the year continuing to refine my writing and critical thinking skills, and I really have him to thank for not just being the writer I am today, but also seeing some potential in me. I probably would have just ended up coasting through life with a "slightly above average is good enough" attitude if he hadn't come along and knocked some sense into me. |
| "Take up Your Cross" | Prompt ▼ It's hardly an original choice, but my favorite Christian author is C.S. Lewis. The way he thinks about religion and faith is fascinating and still relevant today. And while I like a whole lot of his books, my favorite is probably The Screwtape Letters (followed closely by Mere Christianity). The Screwtape Letters is just such a disturbing, thought-provoking book... I still revisit it frequently and think about it frequently. If you're not familiar, it's an epistolary between a junior demon (Wormwood) and a senior demon (Screwtape) where the latter gives the younger demon advice on how to best corrupt humans and turn them away from God. And, um, it's pretty spot on.   Fun fact... C.S. Lewis' original dedication in The Screwtape Letters is to J.R.R. Tolkien! They were contemporaries who often met up to discuss writing and religion. But C.S. Lewis is a pretty predictable choice, so I'm going to try to pick some other contemporary Christian authors as well just to round this blog entry out. John Mark Comer is probably one of my favorites because he tackles popular modern-day issues like depression, the pace of the world, finding peace, etc. I absolutely loved The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry and really enjoyed Garden City. I actually have Live No Lies on my bookshelf as one of my next reads. Francis Chan is another great author who is on the forefront of the movement to get away from the idea of big, corporate church and go back to the roots of the faith. Crazy Love and Forgotten God were both great, and I also have his new Letters to the Church on my bookshelf. I haven't really read many of his books, but I love listening to N.T. Wright's podcast where he answers questions about the faith. He's one of the world's most preeminent living biblical scholars and his thoughts are always fascinating. The couple of books of his I've read have been pretty dry, but I'm actually thinking about getting some of his Bible commentaries to supplement my regular Bible reading. I've read several other Christian authors over the years, but these are the ones that I come back to over and over again. |
| WDC 48-Hour Challenge: Media Prompt | Prompt ▼ I really love this song... less so after the pandemic, but still do. The music video is fantastic. The idea of enlisting significant others and parents to surprise the bride or groom (or both) at a wedding with a live performance by one of the most popular bands of the past twenty years is a really inspired idea. And more than that, it looks like everyone's having a genuinely great time. There's even an accompanying video documentary where the band talks about everything that went into making this video and all the coordination it took for them to run all over Los Angeles in one day trying to capture all of these different wedding experiences. The reason why I enjoy this song and video a little less than I used to is because it was one of our go-to videos during the early days of the pandemic, when we were stuck in a tiny two-bedroom apartment all day with our two kids, afraid to go outside. We would often watch fun, uplifting music videos on YouTube, and this was one of the videos that frequently featured in the rotation. So much so, that even years later, it still comes up from time to time in the "My Mix" music playlist that YouTube compiles of all of my account's most-watched music videos. I still think it's a great song and a great video. I still watch it from time to time and it always makes me smile. But these days it also reminds me of how hard that first year of COVID was, and I get the tiniest bit claustrophobic when I think back to those days. |
| To qualify for my Watch List every month, the following has to be something that I've watched that's new to me. It doesn't necessarily have to be a current show, but it can't be reruns or rewatches of something I've already seen. So if I'm including it in this list, it means this month is the first time I've watched it. I'll put "DNF" (Did Not Finish) next to anything that I stopped watching and have no immediate plans to finish. Movies  Casino Goodfellas Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Rio 2 The Untouchables Violent NightTelevision  The Diplomat (Season 1) Jack Ryan (Season 3) The Mandalorian (Season 3) Poker Face (Season 1)On the movie side of things, I tried to mix it up and watch a few "classics" that I don't remember actually ever seeing all the way through... in the 1980s and 1990s I was just a kid so I missed a lot of the "grown-up" movies of that era. I caught up on a bunch of them as part of the curriculum in film school or just in my own movie watching over the years, but I definitely have plenty of blank spaces. I know that I'd seen scenes of Casino, Goodfellas, and The Untouchables over the years but I'm not sure I ever actually sat down and watched them straight through. I enjoyed all three of them (although a Casino / Goodfellas was a bit much and I'm good on mafia movies for a while). I also really liked Violent Night which was a fun and irreverent holiday movie from last year... and Rio 2 was a watch with the kids one weekend and I know we saw the original before, but this one didn't seem too familiar to me. On the television front, I really liked everything I watched. Poker Face was really great (albeit a little slow in the middle, where the overarching story of Charlie getting pursued by a casino thug just kind of disappeared for multiple episodes), and I think The Mandalorian really redeemed itself after the painfully slow Book of Boba Fett side quest. The third season of Jack Ryan was really solid, and I loved watching Keri Russell in The Diplomat, which was full of political intrigue. My wife thought it was too slow but I was into it. TOP PICK: Poker Face |
| "Take up Your Cross" | Prompt ▼ I think a lot of people would approach this prompt looking outside the church at the types of issues that it grapples with. What does the Bible say about homosexuality? Or abortion? What about gender identity, or the role of women in church leadership roles, or age-old questions like why bad things happen to good people? There's also plenty of controversy to be found in the way Christianity has conducted itself over the years. I mean, the Spanish and Roman Inquisitions weren't exactly a great look. Nor were the Crusades, witch trials, and the more recent cover-ups of child abuse and sexual assault by numerous members of the clergy. All of these things are extremely problematic for Christianity, but to my mind - in terms of the sheer number of offenses and damage that it's done to the institution - the most controversial subject in Christianity today is hypocrisy. Christians are supposed to be followers of Jesus, but it's remarkable how many Christians don't actually practice what he preaches. For example, Jesus' actual words in the New Testament were, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery" (Luke 16:18, NIV), and yet the divorce (and remarriage) rate among Christians is not significantly lower than the divorce and remarriage rate among non-Christians, even though "Thou shalt not commit adultery" is on God's Top 10 No-No List. That's hypocrisy, and it damages Christianity's case for why anyone should follow its tenets. Similarly, Matthew 7 is full of Jesus' guidance on judging others: "Do not judge, or you too will be judged" (Matthew 7:1, NIV); "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?" (Matthew 7:3, NIV); "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 7:12, NIV). And yet how many Christians do we know that judge others for their differences, judge others for failings while ignoring their own, and/or do things to others, even in the name of their faith, that they would never want done to themselves? That's hypocrisy, and it makes Christians seem the opposite of what they should be: judgmental. And the reason why this is a controversial topic is because many Christians are very sensitive to having their hypocrisies pointed out. Christians who profess to be against abortion as a matter of law, but encourage it for their own loved ones when an unwanted pregnancy proves inconvenient. Christians who ignore the calls to forgive enemies, forego other idols (jobs, money, reputation, appearance, pleasure, comfort, etc.), or care for the least among us (the poor, the oppressed, orphans, widows, etc.). Christians who seek power and influence for themselves, and attempt to force their beliefs onto others even when they are poor stewards of faith themselves. Being faced with one's own hypocrisy can be a great source of guilt and shame, but if there's anyone who's able to acknowledge their own sin and shortcomings, it should be Christians. You know, the ones that talk of repentance and forgiveness and acceptance of others despite their flaws. There are many, may controversies facing Christianity today. There are also plenty of issues that Christianity struggles with as it seeks to define itself in the modern world. But neither of those categories of things can be addressed earnestly while the church still has a hypocrisy problem. Until the world can look upon Christians and say, "Wow, when Jesus said he is the way, the truth, and the life, he wasn't kidding! Christians are living a different and desirable existence and I want in on that!" then controversy will continue to find the Christians in a multitude of forms because they simply aren't practicing what they preach. |
My wife and I were talking the other day about Taylor Swift's Eras Tour. We're pretty big fans of her music and when we heard that she was going to be playing an extensive setlist from across her entire discography, we tried to get tickets... but alas, Ticketmaster ended those plans in a rather unceremonious fashion with the way they bungled the ticket queues. But my wife and I got to thinking, even if we can't attend her tour in person, which songs would we want to hear? We decided to challenge ourselves to put together our own setlist and I'm documenting it here because, well, I don't have anywhere else to post it.  If you want to play along (or get an idea of the methodology), here were the rules:  Select exactly 44 songs (the number of songs on her actual tour setlist) Must choose at least 3 songs from each of her 10 studio albums The other 14 songs can be additional tracks from any album, or tracks from her EPs, album re-releases, etc.With those established, here's what I went with: Taylor Swift (2006) 1. Teardrops on My Guitar 2. Picture to Burn 3. Our Song Fearless (2008) 1. Love Story 2. White Horse 3. You Belong With Me Speak Now (2010) 1. Mine 2. Back to December 3. Mean Red (2012) 1. 22 2. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together 3. Holy Ground 4. I Knew You Were Trouble 1989 (2014) 1. Blank Space 2. Out of the Woods 3. Bad Blood 4. Clean 5. This Love 6. You Are In Love 7. Shake It Off Reputation (2017) 1. Delicate 2. Getaway Car 3. Dress 4. Endgame Lover (2019) 1. The Archer 2. Cornelia Street 3. You Need to Calm Down 4. Death by a Thousand Cuts 5. I Forgot That You Existed 6. Me! 7. Cruel Summer Folklore (2020) 1. the 1 2. exile 3. mirrorball Evermore (2020) 1. long story short 2. 'tis the damn season 3. ivy Midnights (2022) 1. Anti-Hero 2. Bejeweled 3. Midnight Rain 4. Maroon Additional Tracks 1. Today Was a Fairytale - from Fearless (Taylor's Version) 2. Message in a Bottle - from Red (Taylor's Version) 3. All Too Well (10-minute version) - from Red (Taylor's Version) The hardest albums to whittle down were 1989 and Lover because I genuinely like almost every single track on each of those albums. I could have stood to lose some tracks off Evermore, Folklore, and her self-titled first album in exchange, but it wouldn't be much of a challenge if I could just pick whatever 44 songs I wanted with no restrictions. |
| To qualify for my Watch List every month, the following has to be something that I've watched that's new to me. It doesn't necessarily have to be a current show, but it can't be reruns or rewatches of something I've already seen. So if I'm including it in this list, it means this month is the first time I've watched it. I'll put "DNF" (Did Not Finish) next to anything that I stopped watching and have no immediate plans to finish. Movies Everything Everywhere All At Once Leave No Trace Minions: Rise of Gru The Purge: AnarchyTelevision Jack Ryan (Season 2) The Night Agent (Season 1) Shrinking (Season 1) Yellowstone (Season 2)Other  Anthony Jeselnik: Fire in the Maternity WardEverything I watched this past month was pretty decent. Everything Everywhere All At Once was a lot of fun (although I'm not sure it was Oscars Best Picture caliber), and probably my favorite movie of the month. On the television front, I'm still really enjoying Yellowstone, but Shrinking was pretty charming and The Night Agent was a surprisingly good political/espionage thriller show. My favorite of the month though had to be Anthony Jeselnik's Netflix comedy special, Fire in the Maternity Ward. If you're not familiar with his particular brand of comedy, it's extremely offensive... but that's kind of the point. He's actually known for his brilliant one-liners, but he accomplishes that by subverting audience expectations and going places they don't expect him to go. In the past month, I've listened to all three of his comedy albums, plus watched this special and I don't think I've laughed so hard in a long time. His humor is definitely NSFW and not for the easily offended... but for everyone else, his comedic timing and ability to come up with deadpan zingers is a real treat, especially for anyone who appreciates good storytelling. TOP PICK: Anthony Jeselnik: Fire in the Maternity Ward |
| To qualify for my Watch List every month, the following has to be something that I've watched that's new to me. It doesn't necessarily have to be a current show, but it can't be reruns or rewatches of something I've already seen. So if I'm including it in this list, it means this month is the first time I've watched it. I'll put "DNF" (Did Not Finish) next to anything that I stopped watching and have no immediate plans to finish. Movies Edge of Tomorrow The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea Lyle, Lyle Crocodile The Menu StorksTelevision New Amsterdam (Season 2) New Amsterdam (Season 3) Yellowstone (Season 1)Of the kids movies that I watched this month, The Little Mermaid II and Storks were about what you'd expect... nothing that would really merit the attention of an adult. Lyle, Lyle Crocodile was a surprisingly charming movie with a great soundtrack. I didn't realize the Pasek & Paul did original songs for the movie (the duo behind The Greatest Showman and Broadway's Dear Evan Hansen), and they're pretty good. Javier Bardem is fun to watch, and singer/songwriter Shawn Mendes provides the voice of Lyle, which is outstanding. I finally got around to watching Edge of Tomorrow, which I had never seen. I really enjoyed it; as much as he creeps me out on a personal level, Tom Cruise is a bonafide movie star and knows how to make really compelling action movies. It was basically a sci-fi thriller version of Groundhog Day, but I thought it was great. The real standout movie for me this month, though, was The Menu. I don't want to say much about it because someone told me to watch it without knowing too much about it and I'm really glad that I did. The basic premise is that it's a horror/thriller about a group of diners who go out to a celebrity chef's exclusive restaurant on an island and are given more than they bargained for with the chef's unusual multi-course meal. It's bizarre and fascinating and totally worth a watch for anyone who likes weird, suspenseful type movies. On the television front, I watched two more seasons of New Amsterdam, and I finally decided to jump into Yellowstone, which I ended up liking a lot more than I thought I would. It's not set in a world I'm particularly interested in, but the characters are great. Taylor Sheridan is a really talented writer who always manages to create fascinating characters that are just fun to watch interact. I'm not sure I'm in for the whole "Yellowstone Cinematic Universe" yet with all the spinoffs and sequels and prequels in development, but this particular group of characters is a good one and I'll definitely be watching more of them. TOP PICK: The Menu |
 | Day 28 | "The Black and White" by The Band CAMINO It's only fitting that I end this year's "The Soundtrack of Your Life" challenge with the artist that I unquestionably listened to the most throughout 2022. Even though "Over Yourself" had the most plays of any individual track on my Spotify year-end playlist, The Band CAMINO actually had multiple songs on that year-end playlist, with "I Think I Like You," "Know It All," and "Damage" (off their self-titled LP released in September 2021) all in the Top 10. That last one I even wrote a short story ("Damage" ) about last year. I was planning on doing the whole album for "Musicology Anthology" , but life got in the way and that ended up being the only short story I wrote based on the album. Still, I'm pretty happy with it. The last time I featured The Band CAMINO on a Soundtrackers challenge was back in 2021 when I did "My Thoughts On You" for "The Soundtrack of Your Life" . I'm actually going to do something a little unorthodox and instead of using a song from their most recent album, I'm going to call back to the song that I was thinking about featuring during the 2021 "The Soundtrack of Your Life" but ended up passing up in favor of "My Thoughts On You" instead. After thoroughly listening to the new album last year, I found myself going through their back catalog quite a bit and this was a really frequent song in the rotation.I was really bummed when I found out that The Band CAMINO actually played a show about 5 miles from my house last year, but I didn't find out about it until the last minute when it was too late to get tickets. I'm definitely keeping tabs on the band a lot more closely now; they just have so many great songs and I've heard they put on a fantastic live show, so I'm excited to check them out the next time they come to town. ... and with that, another "The Soundtrack of Your Life" draws to a close! Hard to believe we're already at the end of a month of music blogging! I really enjoyed last year's playlist and I'm already thinking about what I'm going to include from all the things I've been listening to this year!  |
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