blog fail.

turns out i'm terrible terrible at working, moving and blogging at the same time. especially when my new apartment doesn't have the interwebz yet. give it time guys. don't give up on me.

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awkward family photos.

one of the funniest things i've ever seen: awkwardfamilyphotos.com

a few of my quick glance favorites:
the bird.
abracadabra.
the choker.
osh kosh: the prequel.

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love my job.

i started doing youth ministry my sophomore year of high school. i was 15 years old and i started helping out with the middle school at hillcrest. i was a gopher and i was more just continuing to live the fun days in middle school a bit more. that summer a group of seventh graders moved up from children's ministry and into the student center.

that same group graduated from high school this past week.

it's really incredible when i think about it. i've only truly worked 3 days now as a full time church employee, but i've already been fortunate enough to see a class of students go all the way through hillcrest's student minitries. that's something most youth pastors don't get to experience until 6-7 years into their career, and here i am 3 days into mine and i've already gotten to see a class grow and change and mature before my eyes.

ministry is one of those things that is difficult to quantify. you can't really assess the impact you're truly having in students' lives. you just have to keep on loving, hoping and praying that the time you've invested has truly been fruitful.

tj and i were at shawnee mission east's graduation last night to support a handful of our students. i actually had gone to tj's high school graduation in 2005 when i was in my first summer of interning at hillcrest. he was talking to me about how that's all he remembers from his graduation - how cool it was that a few of us from hillcrest had come to support him on his big day.

it's cool to think about the little things that we do every day that makes a lasting impact in the lives of others. the tiniest bit of effort from me turns into a lasting impression and a potentially changed life because of it.

and this is why i love my job. because not only do i get paid to go cheer for relish AND smear relish all over kids' faces, but i get to watch lives transform and i get to be apart of it. so cool.

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finally.

when big events occur in my life i tend to stop blogging entirely. this is likely because no matter what i write in a blog, it will never do the event justice. the true significance is so much greater than i am able to express in words on this adorable little web journal.

that having been said: I AM A COLLEGE GRADUATE.

white cherry freezoni.

i filled out a survey for QuikTrip WebGroup on thursday afternoon. i had answered all the questions (this particular survey happened to be about the Freezoni beverages they sell at QT), and i came to the final section titled "Additional Comments:".

normally i would blow right past this section and move on to the free coupon i receive for filling out these surveys, but there is only one complaint i have ever had about QuikTrip, and this was my chance to speak my mind. i wrote the following paragraph:

"i would like to add that i have had an extensive history of the "white cherry" flavor being out of order. there were 4 different QuikTrip locations in the Kansas City area that failed to have a functioning white cherry Freezoni throughout the summer in 2008. i hope that your management will look into this issue and try your best to address it. otherwise, thanks for continuing to be my favorite gas station/restaurant."

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things i'll miss.

i graduate in a week. my room is packed and all that's left is my bed, tv, fridge, dvd player and nintendo. everything else is packed in a corner in boxes and bags.

i assumed that i would get to this point and i'd be sad to leave. i thought seeing my shell of a room would get me all choked up and wishing i could hang around for a while longer. turns out, this isn't the case at all. probably because i've never allowed myself to become attached to my house. i've always been apathetic about fixing it up or decorating it - it's alway's been a temporary living arrangement - as has life in college in general.

there are a few things i will miss, however. they are as follows:

- things are cheaper in manhattan. whether it's getting a q-card deal at taco bell (2 burritos, 2 tacos for $1.99), or if it's $2 drinks at o'malleys/porters/salty rim. i will miss the fact that there are countless coupons and deals catered directly to college students with no money. granted i won't be one of those anymore, but i'd still like to benefit from the deals.

- i'll miss a couple friends. most of my best friends from college are already gone or are going to be leaving at the same time as i am. but there are a handful of individuals that i will certainly miss getting to see on a somewhat regular basis. i would list them here, but i don't want to play favorites, so...you know who you are.

- i'll miss riding my bike and walking through campus. there's something magical about the old buildings and all the limestone on kstate's campus, and it'll be a bummer to not get to surround myself with that scenery anymore. however, if i remember all the memories that came while inside those buildings, it shouldn't be hard to not miss them as much.

- i won't miss kstate football*, but i will miss kstate basketball. cartier martin, billy walker, david hoskins, luis colon, jason bennett, freddie "instant offense" brown, dk...also beasley i guess. there was always something about the basketball season that was so much more thrilling than the football season. even if our team wasn't the greatest, there was always someone simply wonderful to cheer for (read: luis colon) or someone to make fun of relentlessly (read: jason bennett).

* - even when we were good my freshman year, there was always this weird vibe that came with kstate football games that i didn't like. it was probably the fact that everyone blared country music at the tailgates and came into the game sloshed out of their mind. though i'll always remember rushing the field after dominating texas.

- and finally, i'm going to miss living with chris.

i think that pretty much covers it. so long, manhattan. sleep well without me.

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an album blog: amy winehouse, stevie wonder, ray lamontagne.

maybe it's because i haven't blogged about what i'm listening to in over a month (excluding the ben folds concert) - or maybe it's because i'm avoiding my final research proposal - but i feel inclined to throw down a quick list of the albums i've been pouring through over the last few weeks. ready break.

amy winehouse - back to black - i know i've mentioned this briefly before, but this album is flat out incredible. i can't stop listening to it. it's slowly becoming my go-to album when i can't think of something else to listen to. it's just always so good. except i don't really empathize with her music; they're all jilted lover songs, and that's something that i have the fortune of not having to deal with. i highly, highly recommend that everyone gives this album a run through. one of the top albums of 2007. probably why it won 5 of the 6 grammys it was nominated for.

stevie wonder - songs in the key of life - jon hooked me up with this album about a week ago. thank goodness. how have i never experienced stevie before? also how did i not know that Gangsta's Paradise and Wild Wild West were total stevie samples? where have i been? what a shock considering coolio was the third most listened to track in my itunes this time two years ago. i feel like i missed a massive part of life by not knowing his music (especially this album) before now. sort of like how i've never seen an episode of saved by the bell. except that's not something that i feel i'm missing out on.

ray lamontagne - gossip in the grain - i've heard a lot about ray lamontagne, but i've been skeptical and reluctant to accept him. anytime i hear about some artist that everyone around me loves my first inclination is to take a step back and not give in without a fight, but when luke posted this gnarls cover i had to give in. anyone who appreciates gnarls deserves my listening time, and i ought to have plenty of time to digest more of this album (and trouble) since i have this massive paper to get back to work on. only 9 more days of this school business.

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a Fun thought.

i really like this dave and buster's commercial. the idea is that everyone has a little part of them that's reserved for having fun, and D&B externalizes this fun as a lil munchkin - a half-sized version of each person dressed in some sort of extreme apparel. the guy's Fun is a dirt biker. the girl's Fun is a lightweight boxing champ.

if i had a Fun, he would be dressed as relish.

but the point isn't Fun's attire. the point is this: willie bloomquist could very well be john buck's Fun.

i'm not the first to mention their resemblance. at a quick glance - and after a long stare sometimes - you can really get the two mixed up. the only real difference: 5 inches and 30 pounds. i just like to picture willie out there bouncin around at john's side, giggling and playing skee-ball and pop-a-shot with Big John. just look at willie's face! scary resemblance.

also consider: mike aviles as vin diesel's Fun.

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rbi baseball/rbi baseball 3.

when i get too frustrated with RC Pro AM, i call it quits and play RBI Baseball instead. i used to own RBI Baseball AND RBI Baseball 3. unfortunately i've managed to lose RBI 3 over the last few months because i remember playing it as recently as last semester. interesting. if someone out there stole RBI 3 from me - i'd like it back please. because 3 is so much better than the original for the following reasons:

1. you can dive and jump with your position players by using the D-Pad and hitting B. RBI 3 is a web gem machine. the diving play is by far the best feature in this game. suddenly 6-4-3 double plays becomes tons more exciting. finally, those just out of reach ground balls are fieldable, and those texas leaguers that flip just over your infielders' heads are finally catchable.

2. larger team selection. in the original, you can only play with the 10 teams: the 8 that made the playoffs in 1987 and the American and National league all-star games. you can also play with different teams from different years between 1983 and 1990 - for example, you can play with the 1982, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1990 St. Louis Cardinals. i'm not totally sure, but i think you can play as all the postseason teams in that 7 season span. that way you can replay the 1985 world series.

3. replays! with the endless web gems that are produced with the jump and dive option, there are an equal number of "i have to see that again!" moments. when you dive or jump and on any close play, there's an automatic replay. no more trying to convince your friends of the sick play you just made, and no more arguing with the "umpire" about whether or not you were safe at first. the replay will do that for you. genius addition.

4. head first slides! players are just so much more b.a. in this game than they are in the original. no more slow motion boring safety slides, these guys get dirty.

5. new songs! no more do they only have two different songs. in the original version of the game, they play one song constantly until you get a guy on base. then they play the "ba-ses-loa-ded-ba-ses-loa-ded..." song until the bases are cleared again. and then it's right back to the original tune. but in RBI 3 there are at least 4 different tunes that will come on throughout the game. AND they play the star-spangled banner before each game (well...until the 'twilight's last gleaming'). AND they play OH CANADA if you're playing the montreal expos or the toronto bluejays.

6. all the players look like a pre-steriods barry bonds instead of a post-thanksgiving dinner billy butler. in the original version, rick reuschel is his actual size on the mound for the giants. the problem is that everyone else in the game is his size too. so when you're stealing a base with, say, vince coleman or ricky henderson, it looks more like john kruk is lumbering down the base path. in RBI 3, guys are much more trim and appear to glide around the bases like john buck on a gapper to right-center.

so if someone out there knows where my copy of RBI 3 is, i'd love to have it back. i've been playing RBI Baseball and it's just not as satisfying as it's grandchild. and if anyone ever wants to play me in this game - bring it on. there's nothing more enjoyable than some serious NES trash talking.

also, this is awesome: it's the end of Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, RBI Baseball style. incredible job, and a genius idea. here it is:


i made the bottom of this video orange/yellow. i like it more than the pink/red.
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