The blog's moving (hopefully for the last time) to joshsweet.com.
This past weekend, I went to church for the first time since January. Felt led to go back, and figured I'd start with my previous one. I really liked it, and was pleased to see that some people actually seemed glad to see me there. Don't want to be presumptive enough to assume that's where I'm led to be, but for the first time in a long time (maybe a couple of years), I felt like I was home.
I'm really excited: With the Evil League of Evil video competition launching, it means that the Dr. Horrible DVD may be ready for purchase by years' end. And I loves me some Dr. Horrible...
One of my brothers asked me to record Fringe for him. I'd had some episodes on the DVR, but between the windstorm and life in general, I hadn't gotten to it. Sunday, I finally watched the first two episodes, and let me say: Phenomenal. If you haven't seen it, check it out at Hulu.
After reading the spoilers for TNA Impact, I think I'm now a former fan of pro wrestling. Kayfabe has been gone for nearly two decades, so why do wrestling promoters think it's still permissible to - even in brief comments - mention real deaths in storylines? If wrestling's simply entertainment, I guess I'm no longer entertained.
By the way, I'm tired of hearing all the cable news channels blast Tina Fey's impersonation of Sarah Palin on SNL. I watched enough of the original interview to realize that if anything, it's Palin - not Fey - who would have a negative impact. Although, it's hard to blame Palin; she's gone from statewide politics to the grandest of national stages in a few weeks. You can't expect her to have the polish of more established politicians. I do have to wonder, though, how much of it is her, and how much of it is her listening to her handlers. I remember when Bob Dole ran in '96; he seemed stiff and inflexible in the campaign. Once over, he was allowed to be himself - and was surprisingly engaging and entertaining.
Okay; time to get off my soapbox. Later.
In the last month, I attended a Walk to Emmaus (great), spent several days in the dark as the remnants of Ike caused a windstorm-of-the-century in Ohio (who likes Ike?), feel better than I have in a long time (thank You, God), and am possibly witnessing a new Great Depression unfold.
Just your average, ordinary month. :)
I just got finished reading The Sacred Romance by Brent Curtis & John Eldredge. At Emmaus, I felt like God was speaking some truth into my life; this book simply reinforced it. Basically, it's calling to us realize that God is calling us not to karma or rule-keeping, but into a relationship with Him - the purest, most adventurous Romance we can ever encounter, the only one that can heal the Arrows embedded deep within our soul. Great book - get it, read it, breathe it in.
I'm starting to question whether or not I'm still a pro wrestling fan, or if that's (for the most part) in the past. I've watched little WWE programming (in spite of being a CM Punk mark), and TNA is trying to rehash the Millionaires Club-New Blood storyline... the one that failed in WCW in 2000... and again in TNA in 2002. Between the promotions' lack of creativity (with a few exceptions) and reading Ring of Hell, I'm growing more and more disenfranchised with the whole thing. I respect the performers, but care little about the product. At least Between the Ropes is always an entertaining show...
Time to fly.
Remember that post I made about the online classes? I got about two weeks into it, then a question popped in my mind that made me stop: "Why exactly am I learning this?" That was one of the things that bugged me in high school and college. I'm simply unable to feign interest in something that seems of little use to me. I still have yet to find a use for the Pythagorean theorem or sohcahtoa in my everyday life. (It's not that the classes were bad; it's that taking them felt like more of an egotistical than a practical thing to do.)
I've been doing some writing over the last few days with the hopes of entering it in a competition. Of course, my story has already changed, and will likely change again as I try to map it out.
Looking a little too much through the new IKEA catalog. There's a couple of things that seem interesting to me; of course, the build-it-yourself aspect of their products is equal parts exciting and terrifying. I mean, who wants to spend cash on a bed, dresser or bookshelf only to have the darn thing be unusable?
Well, gotta get ready for work. Later.
After being exclusively on iTunes for a few days, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is available for free (for a limited time, of course). Yes, there's a few commercials, but c'mon; they've gotta at least break even on the thing.
Check it out.
Just found out yesterday about Katie Reider's passing. If you're the praying type, please say a prayer for her family; they've had a rough year to say the least.
While I have no intentions of returning to college anytime soon (as I don't even know what manner of degree I would aim for), I have spent some time looking for free classes. Essentially, it's like auditing a class - there are no credits or assignments, but you do get access to lectures.
Some colleges - including MIT and Notre Dame - are part of the OpenCourseWare Consortium, but the OCW classes tend to be text-based with no audio or video lectures. While that may be great for some, I prefer to engage in more than words on a screen. So I was excited to find a couple of colleges that offer up audio (and, in some cases, video) lectures on demand.
One is Covenant Theological Seminary, which offers a variety of class lectures in MP3 format via CovenantWorldwide.org. On the other side of the spectrum is UC Berkeley, which offers MP3 downloads as well as streaming video of selected classes at the webcast.berkeley website. I've already downloaded one of the Covenant classes to my new MP3 player (only 2 GB, but still pretty sweet), and I'm looking through the Berkeley classes to figure out which one I want to go through. Just because I'm not in college doesn't mean I can't learn, and besides, free is a good deal.
Right now, there are two things that I am totally, absolutely addicted to.
One is imeem. I joined a few weeks ago simply to create a playlist, and have found that I really enjoy the site. Nearly anything song you'd want to listen to is available there.
The other I first tried a few weeks ago. Like with anything else, samples were being passed around before it hit the market. Once I tried it, I was absolutely hooked. Now that it's widely available, I've gone through a lot of it.
Of course, I'm talking about the new Doritos (dubbed "The Quest"). Two words: Lemonhead Doritos. Sounds gross, but tastes absolutely awesome. Any more addicting, and they'd be illegal.
As if Dollhouse premiering in January wasn't cool enough...
For the first time in quite awhile, I watched Monday Night Raw to catch the WWE Draft. While I was glad to see that the rosters got shaken up, I was floored to see Jim Ross get moved to SmackDown with a live announcement. You’d think that a guy who’s been around a company for nearly 15 years would at least have been given the courtesy of a heads-up instead of being told in front of a live television audience. Then again, maybe I’m an idiot for thinking respect exists in WWE.
Been trying to read through The Message: Remix over the last month or so. I’m just getting to the end of Numbers, and I have to admit that the Torah is difficult to read, no matter the translation (or paraphrase) one reads. I don’t mean to dismiss it at all, but it’s hard for someone in 2008 in the USA to grasp a story about a nation wandering around a desert for 40 years. I guess it would be like trying to expect someone in the Roman Empire to grasp the availability of cell phones or the Internet.
I’d like to say that I’ve been doing some writing or learning, but the truth is that work’s gotten busy lately. When I get home, I feel fairly drained. For some reason, if I get six or ten hours of sleep, I can function. Give me the recommended eight hours, however, and I’m wiped out the whole day. Don’t claim to understand it, but that’s the way it is.
Speaking of sleep, I need to catch a little. Later.
