December 31, 2007

not much hope in kc.

so the chiefs ended 4-12.

i remember back in october they were 4-3 and going into a home game against the green bay packers. chiefs led in the 4th quarter and i really thought we had a shot at being a great team. our offense was clicking. our defense looked unbelievable. players were smiling.

but it turned out that we really shouldn't've believed in their defense. and the offense was a disaster from that point out. and there have only been two real moments of joy since that game: both of jared allen's td receptions. we proceded to lose 9 straight and end the season as proably the nfl's worst team. yeah miami went 1-15, but at least they've won a game since october. and at least they had no hope to begin with - there was no disappointment. just shame. at the halfway point the chiefs thought they had a chance - but then disappointed the world (sans oakland and bronco fans).

and anyone who thought to put hope in damon huard and brodie croyle is out of their minds.

three years ago my friend dan and i went to the chiefs pre-season meet-the-team scrimmage at arrowhead. we watched players take snaps for the first time and we got to follow along on a nifty little sheet that had all the prospects names and info on it.

then some guy 3 rows behind us said the following:
"yeah damon huard!"

and dan and i started laughing hysterically. WHO? damon huard? third string damon? mr. back up sensation damon huard? mr. might lose his spot on the team to casey printers?
and yes. this is the same damon huard who has been taking snaps for the chiefs this year. what he is missing in his arm strength he clearly makes up for with his lack of mobility. just get a pinky on his ankle and he'll tuck the ball and timber right into the ground. what a dope.

and i'm sorry, the guy might have a good arm, but trying to develop brodie croyle as a franchise quarterback is like trying to usurp john buck from behind the plate: it just isn't going to happen. ESPECIALLY behind that o-line.

jason whitlock said it nicely in the kc star today: "tony gonzalez and jared allen are two of the best players at their position. everything else is a mystery."

i'll agree - but i'll also add that dwayne bowe is and will be a stud reciever for a long time in the nfl. and larry johnson is still the centaur.

the only hope i see: a couple years down the road we've picked up a few dece linemen out of the draft that we can run LJ behind. we can't expect much more out of carl peterson and herm edwards (who we found out after the jets game on sunday are both going to be back next year - celebration will ensue i'm sure of it).

it is sad to reach january and not have any excitement about the chiefs. kansas city kinda feels like it had the wind knocked out of it. any excitement left belongs to ku and mu fans who are likely to be silenced in the upcoming days - i'll take arkansas by 10 and virginia tech by 17 - and then from there our excitement turns to the always promising kansas city royals.

espn.com had a poll on its home page a few days back:
who will win the AL Central?
- Minnesota Twins
- Chicago White Sox
- Detroit Tigers
- Cleveland Indians

.........yeah. those were the four options. seems like not only kc has no hope in the royals. not even in the running as far as espn is concerned. not shocking news. but still disappointing.

maybe we'll inherit a terrific expansion basketball or hockey team to fill the sprint center. cause right now i'm not seeing much hope in kc sports. and not much in the near future either. we'll see where we're at in 5 years - otherwise i might be moving on to another city's sports teams.

as far as the playoffs go: i pretty much dont care. jsut give me a bunch of great games and maybe a cinderella into the champ games.

whatever. i'm over sports. i'm sticking to board games. who cares if you're better than me at scrabble? at least i control my own fate instead of watching herm edwards run it for me.

-ap.

December 26, 2007

xmas eve service.

every year, just like relatively every other church in the world, my church does a christmas eve service. each year the sermon is essentially the same, albeit they may go around it a little differently each year.

this year Luke 2 came in skit form. i think it was an attempt at a 21st century take on the days leading up to Jesus' birth, but the word "righteous" was used to mean "awesome" and that usage is clearly a part of a late 20th century lexicon. apart from a few moments where laughter was expected but not recieved - it was well done and i was comfortable with it.

typically at my church we light the Christ Candle on the advent wreath on christmas eve, and that was indeed the case this year as well. we also typically all hold candles and my pastor lights his candle from the Christ Candle and then passes it to the congregation and Jesus spreads like wildfire to everyone. i really like to play with the wax on the candles as it drips down the side too. however, the candle was not spread to everyone this year. instead, all the new christians from the year 2007 were encouraged to come forward and light their candle as a symbol of their candle having been reached. i really liked the idea, and i was excited to see the individuals come forward - face beaming - celebrating their first christmas as a christian.

however, in my service, there were 5 individuals that came forward. one was 12; he went alone. the rest were accompanied by an adult.

this is exciting, yes, but i'm extremely wary of the idea that a 4 year old can dedicate his/her life to Christ. instead of seeing a kid on a mission for Jesus, i typically see a kid whose parents have decided that they'd like to raise their kid as a Christian. i see a child with a moldable heart hearing about jesus and santa and believing that both are equally true. yeah, it is probably a good thing for parents to decide that they are going to raise their child in a christian home, but is this really the right thing to do?

sometimes i wish i hadn't 'grown up in the church'. i only know my life as a Christian. i dont recall a converstion experience entirely - yes, many many many meaningful moments - but none that i believe truly converted me to my current faith. is it okay for parents to choose their child's faith for them? cause what i sometimes feel like i've done is take the beliefs that i've been given, and look at the world around me through those eyes. i've got a set of Christian goggles on my face that have never been taken off. i can't compare my life now to a life without Christ. i can't compare and i believe that somewhat limits me in my faith.

another point i'd like to make regarding this little candle exercise - there was no one over the age of 12 "converted". that worries me for two reasons:

1) how serious is the commitment of someone 12 or younger?
2) in a congregation of about 1,000 people - i think it is sad - regardless of age - that there were such a small number of individuals. what does that say for an extremely large and vastly growing church population?

i dunno. it concerns me somewhat that a church has so very little to show for itself in terms of evangelism. i know it isn't all about the numbers, but there weren't ANY people even high school aged who had their candles lit at the end of the service. perhaps there were other individuals in the other two services tat i did not attend - i sure hope so the 7 pm service was sparse.

-ap.

ps: hi kate.

EDIT: i've been notified with some "good news": there were a number of individuals in the OTHER two services that came forward. i guess i either attended the oldies service or just a service that happened to be populated with many children. so thats great.

December 21, 2007

des moines.

there are some families that are just not cohesive entirely. there is bickering, disagreements, uncomfortable moments, etc.

this is not the case with my extended family. hilarious and most comfortable environment anyone could ask for - well maybe not anyone - anyone who is in my family at least.

we have 9 cousins born between the years of 1984 and 1993. chronologically: emily rose, erin rosemary, adam paul, colleen faith, matthew ralph, holly rachele, meredith christine, kathryn margaret, and anna caroline.

i have the shortest name. never knew that before right now.

i love them very much. they're 8 of my best friends and i get to see them on sunday in des moines.
highlight of my life. i cannot wait.

-ap.

December 13, 2007

quick thoughts following semester seven.

i just finished my 7th semester of college. that is so many.

it is amazing to me how fast it feels like life is going by when you look back on it, but how slow it feels like it is traveling when you look to the future; when in reality it is moving at the same pace at all times.
that probably means i'm an anxious person who needs to settle down and enjoy the pace around me and take advantage of what is going on in the here and now.

the last couple days i've been without and heat, electricity, and warm water - leaving me with a handful of terrific friends and a great time.
its interesting how great life can be when everything (literally) just quits around you and you just settle down and enjoy the people you love to the fullest.
photo courtesy of luke healy.


-ap.

no mere mortal can resist...

i've fallen back in love with michael jackson this week.
that is all.

-ap.

December 12, 2007

cabin fever.

no power in manhattan on tuesday.

and boy was it a blast.

i have no complaints. i'd lose power all over again if i could. loved it.
except that a couple of my friends had tuesday finals that they now have to make up on saturday. yuck.

plus the trees (what is still standing of them) are absolutely beautiful.
but now i have to go study for my linguistics final tomorrow.

-ap.

December 07, 2007

paint by blogger.

blogging is interesting kinda.
i can essentially paint myself however i want in text form.

if i want to come across as caring, intelligent, wise, hilarious, thoughtful, invested, furious, frustrated, whatever - i can to it. and this kind of makes me feel a little bit cautious about what i post on this thing now. i don't know, maybe i'm double checking my motives i suppose.

cause really, what exactly is the point of blogging and letting people know your thoughts on life if they're fabricated so that you can fit whatever persona you care to fit in that blog. that comes across as fake and deceptive to me pretty much.

i've never really thought about this before. i wonder if i've been fake in the past and didnt even realize it. ew. i hope not.

-ap.

freerice.com



go here. super great.
it is fun, educational, and missional.
its a win-win-WIN (the office ref).


-ap.

mr. excuse ridden over-confident kansas football fan

an email i was forwarded from karlie.
originally from one of her professors.

Bud Light Presents: Real Men of Genius
> (real men of genius)
> Today we salute you, Mr. Excuse Ridden Over-Confident Kansas Football
> Fan.
> (Mr. Excuse Ridden Over-Confident Kansas Football Fan) Eleven straight
> wins,
> you wore that classy "Muck Fizzou" shirt like you meant it (Pinch me,
> I'm
> dreamin'!) A season of bloated statistics and over-hyped wins against
> Junior
> Varsity competition (Serve another cupcake!) Losing to a superior team
> with
> better players is no match for your what-if scenarios and
> could-have-been
> dreams (The field goal missed by inches!) So crack open an ice-cold Bud
> Light you emphatic engineer of excuses. After all, you would've won the
> game if it was played somewhere else!
> (Mr Excuse Ridden Over-Confident Kansas Football Fan.)

i might extend it into basketball a little too. bradley, bucknell, you know.

pardon the arrows and sporatic line lengths.
i'm too lazy to fix it.
plus i like the forwarded email look.

-ap.

December 05, 2007

let me whine about the bcs. everyone else gets to.

for those of you who have any sports knowledge at all - you already know the ridiculousness of the bcs. its been around for 10 years now - and only three years it has really worked at all.

yeah there's a ton of talk of a playoff system and better ways to do things - which i agree, there should be a playoff system. its more exciting, gives teams from non-bcs conferences and with weaker schedules a shot at the national championship (boise st '06, hawaii '07), and it ceases the ridiculous debates, blogs, articles, and complaints that are unavoidable at the end of each college football season.

but that isn't going to happen any time soon - cause college football is about money and publicity. it stinks that it is true, but it is. it is about better television and higher ratings and ticket sales and popularity. boo.

ultimately the sponsoring companies and the bowl committees get to pick which teams they think would make their company more money. i understand that. that having been said, let me point out my complaints about this years college football post-season.

missouri left out while kansas and illinois are in?
first off, let me say crassly that missouri got screwed big time. number one going into the big xii campionship game fighting for a national championship berth, and you get beat by oklahoma (debatably the best team in the nation) and you get ousted out of bcs bowls completely? thats just unfair. but what makes things worse: the team you clobbered the week before is stealing your spot. and what makes things worse: the second best team from the big ten, illinois, is in a bowl game too - and you beat them too. the only reason illinois made is is because the bcs needed a big ten team because the only truly good team weas ohio state (which tells you a lot about the teams they played this year - but more on that later). missouri has already defeated 2 of the 10 bcs teams this year. this is very "kstate 98": they can win the big xii championship and go to the national championship, but they lost to a&m and got dropped out entirely. but that neither here nor there. point is: ku doesnt deserve a bcs berth. both cause i hate them and because they didnt play a sole/soul (i never know which makes sense in that phrase). best wins: at kstate, at texas a&m - neither of which made a bowl game. ku only played two ranked opponents all year long - #24 kstate (what a joke) and #3 missouri (got destroyed). plus missouri is ranked higher in the bcs! #6 vs #8? it ought to be an obvious selection. but since life in post-season college football is about money and publicity - no wonder ku got picked over missouri. i'll be excited to read all the depressing (to others) headlines after virginia tech steamrolls them in miami. i'll be wearing my VT garb for sure.

lsu over oklahoma and virginia tech for the national championship?
lsu loses two games all season: at kentucky and at home against arkansas. these teams COMBINED for 7 wins in the SEC this year - and only one of them (ark) made a bowl game. oklahoma also loses only two games: at colorado and at texas tech. BOTH of which are bowl teams and BOTH of which were road games. oklahoma beat the number one team in the nation in teh big xii championship game by 21 points. not even close. lsu beats #14 tennessee by only a touchdown to win the SEC. and how about virginia tech?! they lose two games all season long, both to #2 ranked teams. the ACC was extremely underrated this year (BC, Clemson, Virginia). this one is harder to fight for beacuse lsu beat them badly early in the season, but virginia tech and oklahoma both won their conference championship games decisively and both were ranked higher than lsu going into conf champ week - and it appeared that those two performed better against higher ranked teams (win by 21 against #1 mizzou, win by 14 against #11 BC) than lsu (win by 7 against #14 tennessee). yet lsu jumps both of them from #7 to #2 to end up in the national championship while the other move up to #3 and #4. i just dont really get it.

ohio state as the number one overall?
i realize that SOMEBODY had to be number one, and maybe OSU is a possible choice, but what i dont understand is why that makes them a shoe in for the national championship. they haven't played a game against anyone ranked higher than #21 (which is something that every team but ku has done). and their only loss was to UNRANKED Illinois - who landed a bowl berth because of this ohio state tragedy. it has to be obvious that the big ten is overrated when only 3 teams are in the top 25. i guess my argument is based mostly on the fact that the big ten was sour this year up and down the conference. i dont think ohio state deserves it any more than the next 6 ranked teams. ugh.

games i'm truly excited to watch though:
cotton bowl: missouri vs. arkansas - chase daniel vs darren mcfadden - awesome.
fiesta bowl: oklahoma vs. west virginia - two alternate national title contenders - awesome.
sugar bowl: hawaii vs. georgia - get to see colt brennen play before midnight - awesome.
GMAC bowl: bowling green vs. tulsa (jk guys. jk.)

granted, i dont pick these things. and even though i find these flaws or things i'd like to debate - i feel like you can argue a case for any team really. except ku. ever.

really, when it all boils down to it - they probably made MOSTLY the right decisions. the only two changes i would truly and honestly make...

missouri in the orange bowl instead of kansas.
ANYBODY in the rose bowl besides illinois...florida? arizona state? boston college? even kansas!? thats how much illinois doesnt deserve it. i'd take ku/usc before illinois. just bad.

anyway. eventually the bcs committee will all die of old age and then we can have a college football post season the way it should be: playoff style. there are 96 ways to do it. all of which are better than the bcs.

man i love to complain.

-ap.

spring semester.

next semester is probably going to go ahead and kill me.

i'm taking 15 hours - doesn't seem too steep really, but in the eyes of someone who dislikes school and hasn't had 5 courses where i was required to actually go to campus, sit down and take notes every day of the week? thats rough. the last time i didnt have a day off of campus in a week was first semester sophomore year...since then i've been able to finagle my way around to where my schedule looked amazing and i could take a break when i wanted to - granted that usually meant that certain days of the week felt like hell on campus (wednesdays, 1st semester, junior year), but it was worth it knowing i got a day off some other time in the week.

next semester: courses aren't really being user friendly. i have class all morning long on Mon Wed Fri and all afternoon on Tues Thurs...and the likelihood of working from 5:45 am til my afternoon classes on either tuesday or thursday is high. AND i'll have afternoon shifts on the other days. yuck. i'm going to need to learn to get to bed earlier - otherwise i'm a goner. oh and i have a night class on wednesdays.

warning to my roommates: you'll be seeing even less of me at home in the spring.

oh well. keeping busy is probably a good thing. i just wish it wasn't for 5 months straight.

but for now, i'm done thinking about that. i'm going to focus on getting to christmas break. hollerrrrr.

video games are dumbo.


so my roommates have been playing this video game called Assassins Creed for the last week or so, and i really question why.

the whole premise of the game is 100% sketch. essentially killing people is this dude's religion...for some reason that doesnt sit right with me. go figure.

plus, what the game seems to have in graphics is lost entirely to me by the horrendous voice audio. the dialogue is simply awful. i think i'd rather just read it in speech bubbles.

sometimes i feel like i'm not caught up with video game culture...however, games like this make it kinda easy to not really care how far behind i am. i'll stick to my nintendo 64 and games that dont focus entirely on plotted mass religious murder.

i hope someone has some knowledge of this game so they can hate me because of my completely ignorant blog. i dont really know anything about it except that it takes many many hours of focus and dedication. it doesnt even look fun.

-ap.