happy birthday to john buck (the all-star himself).

july 7, 1980, kemmerer, wyoming - greatness was born. and here we are, 30 years later, and greatness is traveling to his first all-star game.

let's be completely honest - none of us saw this coming. even the most devout fans had not considered mr. incredible to be a serious all-star game candidate. even when he was a member of the "we send one player because every team gets to send one player" royals.

who knew that when the royals traded him away to toronto he would receive the 3rd most votes among american league catchers? and sure, he's only getting to play because victor martinez is hurt and the AL needed a replacement. but the reality is that John Buck is traveling to Anaheim this weekend to play in the all-star game. the ALL-STAR GAME. WHAT.

can i add his American League jersey to my wedding registry? or can i start taking up donations so that i can get it? or you could just go buy it for me here? i simply must own it.

back on march 31, i put together a quick blog comparing buck and jason kendall's spring training statistics. for the most part, john was making kendall look like a joke (coincidentally his initials are JK - interesting). kendall was batting .139 to buck's .304. you can read more here.

lets look at their halfway point stats:

buck - .269 avg, .502 slg, 13 hr, 40 rbi.
kendall - .267 avg, .319 slg, 0 hr, 29 rbi.

not even a contest. also, can we look at my season predictions for JB?!

.268 avg, .524 slg, 18 hr, 84 rbi

could he be anymore on pace to NAIL those numbers? i mean literally, do i know my favorite player or what?!

also there are only two catchers on the AL roster. joe mauer and john buck. good company for sure - here's to hoping that john comes in for mauer for some late inning heroics. perhaps a walk-off dinger?! all-star mvp?! ooooooo man - the possibilities! i'll be tuning in for sure.*

enjoy your birthday john. hope your trip to anaheim didn't spoil any vacation plans you had for your birthday weekend. hopefully they added to the festivities.

-ap.

and ps: wikipedia has it listed that buck throws....switch!? i'm researching this

* - i can say things like this now that i have directv. holler.

our engagement photos.

sorry for the lack of blogs lately everyone. it's been a busy busy month.

but here comes a fury of posts. i've got three on my mind right now, and chances are i can get them all written down in the next 45 minutes. here's the first one: our engagement pictures are up! check out a sampling on the parson's blog - they did an amazing job. more pics after the "jump"!

just click the pic.

-ap.

EDIT: so there's no way i'll finish my next two blogs in time. but coming soon: john buck made the all-star team.

video blogs & super jack brothers.

i'm thinking about dabbling in video blogs.

i have a feeling that they're a more effective way of communicating than writing paragraphs, bullet points, etc. they're more interactive and more interesting. and i feel like with my editing experience, they'd be equally as tasking to post.

BUT there are definitely pros and cons to both. for example, i can't embed clever links/asterisks in videos, but i can in text.* but when i get super excited about something - say, the LOST finale - there's no way that text can fully capture the high degree of emotion that i'm feeling in that moment.

so that's on the horizon.

also - this is the best ever (warning, potential spoiler):


FALCON PUNCH.

-apc.

* - see?

what makes me feel alive?

- general mysteriousness and detective work.
- intentionally digesting a new album.
- a quality ipa.
- LOST references.
- star wars everything.
- bringing on the cats.
- jumping into bodies of water.
- planning life with my future wife.
- spontaneous rhyming.
- sizing up a room and determining how we would fare in Survivor.
- throwing rocks.
- storytelling.
- my two beautiful and genius sisters.
- understanding and actually feeling that i am an integral part of God's story.
- my initials...

-apc.

boba fett/espn.

this is stinkin amazing. someone, somewhere is an absolute genius. and for the first time in my life, i want a bumper sticker.

-apc.

confirmation sunday.

just a little video i put together to welcome our congregation to today's confirmation sunday. props to jay and mark for ruling the world.

and props to ALL the confirmands. i'm proud of you all.

-ap.

a 12-year old speaks: what adults can learn from kids.

don't you ever tell a middle schooler what they can't do.*

for now, let's ignore the fact that this 12-year old is beyond rad and focus on the substance here:

"age has absolutely nothing to do with it."
what have we accomplished? we always ask students what they want to be when they grow up. usually their responses are outlandish - astronaut, baseball player, stuntman, etc. not many of them jump at the idea of being a [fill in boring job description here]. our ability to think outside the box and function outside our comfort zone drastically decreases as we get older. we're suffocated. held back. we start to learn the limitations in life and don't allow ourselves to dream the absurd dreams anymore.

"certain types of irrational decision making is exactly what this world needs."
how many of us still dream? how many of us still aim for Utopian perfection? youth's ability to imagine is able to push the boundaries past the limitations that adults have been conditioned into. kids are capable of things that we are NOT. what if we gave them the chance to prove it?

"the students should teach their teachers...the relationship should be reciprocal."
oh man. how many times did we all think this when we were going through middle school and high school? i for sure thought it in 3/7 of my classes each day. why do we have thoughts like that? because teachers aren't allowing their students to expand. the teacher has all the answers and you better not question their teachings. this shuts down students' ability to grow and develop. what if the students were given the chance to run the show? rather than feeling like the lower one on the totem pole, what if they had ownership of their classes?

at hillcrest we have a high school leadership group that meets on thursday nights - it's a group of students that are committed to transforming our youth ministry from the inside out. after many weeks of encouraging and teaching and vision casting, a new philosophy was set for the thursday meetings: student led discussions. these high schoolers are leading the conversations! all it takes is an opportunity to rise to the occasion and students will give it what they've got. and if the foundation has been laid properly - they'll blow you away every time.

"it is imperative to create opportunites for children so that we can grow up and blow you away." one of my 6th grade students is traveling to Haiti next week. yes, Haiti, that place of major devastation due to that major earthquake from a couple months ago. not sure if you remember it - a lot of us seem to have already moved on...shocker. this student is going to Haiti. originally, when we asked the orphanage if it was okay that we were bringing a 12-year old along, the group was hesitant to give the OK. thank the Lord that they did. this is exactly the type of opportunity that students don't get nearly enough. there is a 100% chance that this student will come home from Haiti with a greater perspective on himself, God, others and the world of which he is apart.

"adults often underestimate kids abilities...and when expectations are low, we will sink to them." fortunately, the opposite is also true - if we allow kids to achieve their potential - they can meet those expectations.

again, it comes back to opportunities - the parents of this 12-year old allowed her to pursue her dream as a young child, and now she's a TED speaker?! this girl learned to READ less than 8 years ago and now she's forming those learned words into sentences that are altering minds and influencing others and spurning late-night blog posts from yours truly! and where does it begin? with an ADULT looking at a child, at a student, at the next generation and encouraging them to dream big and providing a CHANCE for them to succeed.

so for anyone working with young people of any kind - trust them to succeed. if you show them that you believe they can do anything, and you allow them the outlet to grow and meet their potential - they'll do just that.

-apc.

* - LOST: john locke reference.

lin yu chun.

if you haven't checked out this dude yet, you need to. out of nowhere he's totally ruling everything. he was on some Taiwanese Idol type of show. he sings whitney houston. hooooooly sixes:

and then william shatner joins him on "lopez tonight". as much as i love old bill, but the newcomer totally steals the show:

-apc.

adidas star wars collection.

i need some star wars garb very very badly. specifically these. or these. or these.

-apc.

willie bloomquist/clean-up.

"Kansas City's cleanup hitters "hit" a combined .211/.280/.315 in 2009, with just 13 home runs and 71 RBIs. In other words, just hitting Willie Bloomquist there would have been more effective."

-David Shoenfield, Page 2, ESPN.com