It never fails. Just after finishing that last post Chris calls me into the other room to show me a trailer for this new Sigur Rós DVD/Documentary thing. I’m pretty interested in checking it out. Here is the trailer for your viewing pleasure.
Archive for January, 2008
Blogging Brain Fart
Posted 31 Jan 2008 — by nick
Category Blogs
Category Blogs
Multiple times since my last post I’ve sat down to write on here and watched my words run from me. The culprit may be the busyness of work, or the full routine of life, or maybe I just simply don’t have anything to say lately. Even as I write this now I find myself debating if I’ll post.
“Will this one get scrapped like the past three or so post attempts.”
All that to say, the reason I’m posting now is to keep the habit of getting some thoughts out, even if they are just ramblings about why I haven’t posted lately 🙂
Photos: Icy Night
Amy and I took a couple quick shots of the Abbot cooling towers tonight. The cold weather has left them, as well as their surroundings, entombed in ice. I’ll do some editing of the shots and post them up on picasa but for now, here is one that didn’t need much editing:
(I upped the contrast a tad and the exposure a smidge)
Once
This weekend I had the chance to watch an excellent film, a rarity, the excellent part. Receiving high praise from friends whose musical taste I trust I decided it worth the adventure and rented Once to watch with Amy on Friday night. The film had been sold to me as a musical romance between two budding musicians, complete with a soundtrack begging to be purchased.
You need to see this film.
At first, describing the film as a musical left me uncomfortable. (This can probably be chalked up my general distaste for genre and misunderstanding of how everything is classified as either a “comedy” or “drama”). Thinking about it now, I am more content describing it as a musical. In all honesty, the story is told through the music. The characters lack names yet feel complete enough to be a good friend – we learn about them through their music and bond with them as their pain pours through their voices. After all, isn’t this part of the draw of music, the stories songs tell, the emotions they invoke, their empathy.
In honor of not sharing plot points or ruining the film for others, I’ll end on this note. My enjoyment resides strongly on the amazing soundtrack but also in the themes presented. Watching, I was reminded of the goodness of remaining faithful to commitment, the pain and worthwhileness of forgiving, the beauty of romance and the honor in being a person of moral character.
PS: The film has a low budget or indie film feel due to it’s minuscule budget of $160,000. More interesting back story, including how neither of the main characters are or plan on being professional actors, can be found here on the ever helpful wikipedia.
Thinking about Anger
Lately the subject of anger and forgiveness have had a healthy amount of my brain and heart (in a philosophical sense not as in a “I’ve been angry a lot” sense). Anger examined in my life has quite often proven tied to an idea of entitlement. This concept, entitlement, is a little more foreign to me though. I have long been aware of frustration and anger in situations where something doesn’t go my way or the way I thought it should have – but this I was less aware of.
The thought process sounds like this: “You deserve to be heard or listened too in this group.””You deserve to be respected or understood.””You deserve to be left alone.””You are entitled to this or that.”
Last night anger had it’s death grip around my heart for a bit. I had walked out of a situation where I felt entitled to my voice and thoughts being heard, neither felt true. Enter the strongman Anger to take my heart hostage leaving isolated and lonely.
This morning I read this passage and as it sank in I began to reflect on last night.
“You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’ But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell.
Matthew 5:21-22
Something happens to us when we get angry with another person. It feeds self-centeredness, it dehumanizes me as I elevate my feelings/needs/desires above another persons. The anger doesn’t do anything to the other person, only to me.
Freedom from the prison of anger requires I walk back through the tangles of self-centeredness untying the bonding straps of my prison along the way. The agreements I’ve made saying I am entitled to this or that.
Last night I chose to take this journey and return to a state of less self-centered living. The result: reunion and reconcillation and a heart living free again.
More Caffeinated Fun
Posted 17 Jan 2008 — by nick
Category coffee, Fun, Jesus, Technology
Category coffee, Fun, Jesus, Technology
“This is like turning water into wine!”
~ Josh, my officemate while making our morning pot of coffee.
Strange, I’m actually sort of proud of the fact that I ranked so high in this quiz. I understand my dependancy on the bean juice and I can quit at anytime… really I can, but why would I want to do that :-)?
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Now playing: Chicago Public Radio – #303: David and Goliath
via FoxyTunes
Biblical Wisdom About Vegetarianism
Posted 15 Jan 2008 — by nick
Category coffee, Jesus, Scripture, Spirituality
Category coffee, Jesus, Scripture, Spirituality
This morning I consumed my morning cup of Liquid Holy Spirit at the Espresso Royal Cathedral on Goodwin. As it gave new life to my body I turned my attention to my Bible sitting next to me. Thumbing to today’s chapter in Proverbs I read the following:
“A bowl of vegetables with someone you love
is better than steak with someone you hate.”
Proverbs 15:17
So there you have it straight from the Word of the Lord. Come share a bowl of vegetables with me instead of the steak you hate… or I mean with someone you hate 😛
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Now playing: Caedmon’s Call – Trouble
via FoxyTunes
Juno
Last night I had the chance to see Juno at the Champaign Art Theater – the pretentiousness of this theater felt right for this film. Since seeing the film I’ve had the above song in my head and thought I’d share it with you. Time is rather hard to come buy right now so this post isn’t to in depth, I invite you to interact with me about the film via comments or emails or in person. I really enjoyed it.
Breaking the Blog Silence
Posted 06 Jan 2008 — by nick
Category Uncategorized
Category Uncategorized
It sure has been quiet around here lately. The past couple weeks have found me returning to Champaign only to head to Indianapolis for GCM‘s Ignite Conference, then back to Champaign for New Year’s only to head to Steamboat, CO for a week long snowboarding trip.
This last stop is where you currently can find me. Internet connectivity isn’t the greatest and I’m spending my days on the mountainside followed by long nights of sleep to recover. It’s been quite the adventure: getting out here, riding this mountain and sharing an amazing condo with some friends. Maybe it’s all the travel in recent weeks or maybe it’s being an introvert with not a lot of personal space on this trip, but I’m beginning to miss home. I miss the Dawg Haus, my roommates, my room, even my office at work and of course, The Girl.
The trip is nearing the end – we have one day of lift tickets left and then the long drive home which we plan to do as a straight shot, Steamboat, CO to Champaign, IL. I’m sure when life returns to normal I’ll begin posting more regularly, but until then I leave you with one of the many pictures I’ve taken thus far.
(We spent yesterday riding through trees in waist deep powder, it was amazing!)
