Awesome read!

Here's an awesome read. Excerpts from an interview with Bono (lead singer of the band U2) containing his thoughts on why Christ died and why he has to be the Messiah!

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Emoticons

Emoticons…For those who don’t know, emoticons are not a new character in the next Transformers move…no…emoticons are those smiley faces or sad faces you see all over most correspondence these days.  I must admit, I’ve found that I struggle to avoid using them.  Somewhere down the line they became something I used in order to show that I was playfully jesting or using sarcasm when using written communication.  I have no problem with this in informal communication like friendly emails or text messages (okay I should say I don’t have a big problem…I’m not a fan but they’re acceptable).  The problem arises when you become so dependent on emoticon’s to convey tone in written messages that you can no longer communicate without them.  How am I supposed to convey a lighthearted tone in a professional email without the obligatory :)?  I don’t necessary have an answer for that which is what bothers me about emoticons.  I’ve gotten so used to using them I’m not sure how to go with out them.  I suppose I could resort to the asterix’d words to indicate *sarcasm* or *spoken with tone of disappointment* but somehow that loses something of its meaning when I do that.  For now I’ll just have to leave the smiley’s out of my emails and hope I’m not misinterpreted in any way.  Maybe I should just become a better writer and learn how to convey feeling by the vocabulary I use…I always hated vocab though.

The Prestige

So Sarah and I watched a movie called the Prestige last night.  It wasn't the first time I'd seen it so instead of trying to figure it all out I was able to just watch and enjoy it.  If you haven't see it then I won't spoil it for you but it's a great movie with Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Cain, and Scarlett Johansson.  It's about 2 competing magicians (illusionists) and how their competition evolves into an obsession for Hugh Jackman.  Anyway, part of the movie has a Michael Cain explaining that each magic trick has 3 acts, The Pledge, The Turn, and The Prestige.  The Pledge is when the magician sets up his trick and introduces something ordinary.  The Turn is when he does something extraordinary with that ordinary thing (saws a woman in half, makes a bird/man disappear).  But, Cain explains, that is not enough, the audience does not applaud yet. You need a Third Act, The Prestige, where the magician brings it all back to normal (repairs the woman, reappears the bird or man).  Now I'm not someone who tends to find spirituality in every movie I watch or song I listen too.  But it struck me last night lying in bed that it wouldn't have been enough for Jesus to have died on the cross for us.  (Something I've always know but just found this cool parallel to emphasize it) Jesus need to rise again, he needed "The Prestige".  Of course Jesus was no magician or illusionist, he literally died and literally rose from the dead. But I think the interesting thing is just like you have no magic trick without the Prestige, you have no salvation without the resurrection.  An obvious thought to some but maybe a startling conclusion for others.  There are other great parallels in this move about obsession, living an act, self sacrifice for a goal, but you can dwell on those on your own.

My First Post...

Okay, I have to admit.  I've tried this before and haven't been very good at it.  I'm hoping this time I'll have more to talk about.  I'm going to be blogging my journey, physically and spiritually, as Sarah and I embark on this adventure called life.  I don't totally know yet what form this blog will take but I'm thinking it will be a compilation of serious and funny, creative and dull, prose and poetry.  I've always been a writer.  I've preferred to write things out rather then say them out loud.  My goal overall will be to be concise and yet deep enough to give you a look into who I am.  Well, here it goes...