end of summer book update

i figured i would be the only one of these that does not have the road by cormac mccarthy on the top of my blog. thanks to everyone else, i plan on reading that at some point soon. here we go:


You Shall Know Our Velocity by Dave Eggers
i just finished it for the second time. this is because i have the crazy version thats missing key information, and i realized that the mcsweeneys website has this 49 page interjection, so i read it with the Sacrament part added to it. i felt many times that i was Will.


McSweeney's Quarterly #18 by many authors
like many collectives, the writing is all over the place. sometimes good. sometimes not for me. roddy doyle's story New Kid was one highlight. there was another great story and i cant remember the name or the author. i am sorry. it is the one regarding the girl who turns into a cloud when she falls in love.


The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
it was a first time read for me. and i loved it so much. the whole time i read this i assumed i was Holden


Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour an Introduction by J.D. Salinger
like jon i liked RHTRB,C more than SAI. it was a fun story and in such Salinger style, he keep time pretty real. you read it as if it is still the same time. no next week or jump ahead 6 hours. its a long scene.


Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
this is my first attempt at Vonneget. it was quick for me to engage into this, and slowly got away from that. but then back into it (i am not finished yet). i once again have taken on the feeling that i am becoming the main character Billy Pilgrim.


The Genesee Diary by Henri Nouwen
this will be the second Nouwen book ive read. and it is great. he lives in the Genesee Monastary in new york for a few months and journals about his experience with the fellow monks and he spends time arguing about his labor, or his purpose there, or if he should be focusing in on writing. monastic living from the perspective of someone who is hoping for change but yet somewhat stressed out about it.

i feel like thats all ive read in the last few weeks.

i also feel that everyone might hate me for this next line i will type: i actually enjoy the new linkin park songs ive heard. maybe im tracing it back to Mike's smile when they played on SNL.

it will be winter



we have to go to lake bled.

wouldn't mama be proud


i am so happy about everything about this album. i forgot everything about it i think.

i still love the rest. this is just the one that is more overpowering at this moment.

november 4

i know i had that list of all of those concerts that i wanted to go to. and then i realized i need to budget and not go to any of them. and i have grown okay with the fact that i am not going to them. but one came up and it is intensly important that we all go. its on sunday november 4th. so i am sorry to those who work on sundays. but here is the information:

Recently returning from her European Tour, Joanna Newsom, folk harpist, singer/songwriter, returns to her roots in Nevada County for a special appearance. She will be performing her newest album, Ys, (pronounced ‘ees’), orchestra arrangements by Van Dyke Parks, with an expanded Solisti Glitterati Ensemble


also.


Juno. a movie i am very excited about.

on wanting to rethink and deconstruct by the end our day

last night six friends and i met up with adam, mark and lisa from reimagine up in san francisco. we went to gain some structure, to answer our questions, to create more questions and to learn. i went with no expectations really. i didnt want an agenda. but all in all i compiled some notes and i figured i would attack each point for you all. [this may easily be my first theology-ish blog]

the romance period is over
thinking about our group, we have been friends for many years. we are not an awkward group. and we have been trying some sort of intentionality for about a year. i feel that the romance is over. we are this married group. we cant always be dating and then in love and romance surrounds. there is a point where you break that down and become real. and this is where life is found. [this idea also had my mind wandering around all of the romanticism paintings that were popping up in my head, and i had forgotten how much i love them]

dealing with shit vs. falseness
in order to understand someone, you will need to know the whole self. and if we want to be intentional in each other's lifes we have to not accept falseness but we should accept the hurt and the brokenness and the shit that makes up our inner self. this is what needs work. not the brushing of the surface, or simplified to not the surface.

give? vs. inward
we always come at everything with selfish motivation. really when meeting (or through everything) we should ask ourselves "what can i give to this group?"

experience God in different ways at different times
our group is very mixed. everyone in the world is mixed. it will be very hard to get all of us on the same path, so we are all expecting different things that would help each of us, but sometimes that does not work out. we need to learn where each of us are at and look for progress and, in turn, celebrate each of our next steps

dualistic worship: going into a holy moment vs. living it out
everything is spiritual. making toast. swimming. singing. driving. laying in bed sickly. it is all spiritual. we dont go from our "real life" into "spiritual time". it is all the same. it is all interrelated. so many levels of interrelatedness. why have i not thought about this very much

we've already cultivated that part of life, some people need it
if i feel that i am good with a certain discipline (probably silence and solitude) try to teach others that. someone might be very good with something that i lack (reading the bible and holding on to that)

worshippers with hands raised. encourage them because it will lead them
i have this cynicism at times. i feel that people who raise hands in worship dont know what worship is. but in reality my cynicism towards them is farther from worship. we are on different paths. we have different motivations. we have different ways of doing different things. if we stop looking down at them (from our mindset), and embrace it, then things could be more significant

what am i holding back that keeps me from loving?
i think thats self explanitory and self exploratory

how to work through sin. what led to it. how to adjust for better.
dont focus on the goods and the bads of life. but examine what makes the bads. see what really goes into sinful action. is lack of rest causing restlessness which leads to stress and causing selfishness to spur. this is another idea that i have never thought about. i thought just praying for the sin to stop would be the key. but there is so much depth and reason for sin's existence that we really have to focus in on that.

early christians. heaven hell god satan christian.
growing up in the church our whole lives we are fed the key words to look for when reading the bible. lump things into categories. but that is the huge reason for us all going through our crazy deconstructions that we are enduring. western culture decided it was easier to categorize everything. even jesus was lumped into categories

practice things in short times
our group has huge hopes: garden, intentionality, becoming more green, spiritual formation, budgeting, meals together, serving together, and it goes on. and there is nothing wrong with that. i feel that we have tried to find the perfect balance with all of that. and that is not a realistic response. they challenged us to attack things maybe in short periods like a week or two, and see if it is successful at all. i would love to work on these.

city of angels

i am perfectly ok if i never go down to the los angeles area again. just a conclusion i reached in my mind today.

as for santa barbara and san diego. i will continue the adventures.

future events

let me know if youre interested in these:

september 19: cat power @ the fillmore
october 3: teddybears @ the mezzanine
october 4: trentemøller @ the mezzanine
october 8: dave eggers & other writers @ the swedish american hall
october 26: felix da housecat @ ruby skye
november 1: battles @ great american music hall
november 9: jens lekman @ bimbos 365
december 12: david bazan @ bottom of the hill

ill probably only end up going to one of these. it will probably be dave eggers.

some videos that have captured me

grizzly bear: knife


menomena: evil bee


arcade fire: neon bible (performed in an elevator in france)


andrew bird: spare-ohs (performed on the streets of france)