Tag: life
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On The River
The sky is clear and the air is clear and the air smells clean. So clean. The wilderness of northern Wisconsin is still very wild. Evergreens clog the air. It’s perfect, this time of summer. Glory defined, with a high of 75. And it’s a perfect time to ride the Brule River, which snakes through…
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Why I Love The Midwest
Originally printed in the North Central Chronicle on April 3, 2009. A friend of mine grew up with the California itch. Her family was from San Francisco but she was stuck in Wisconsin for most of her life. She always complained about it and talk about wanting to be an actress and live the life…
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Here’s Looking At You…
On WordPress, the moderator has a “dashboard” that keeps track of comments, number of hits on blog posts, etc. It also has a cool feature that shows Internet searches that eventually brought people to my blog. So if I write a post saying, for instance, “The Dark Knight explores complex moral issues by focusing on…
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Forty-One
I’m watching the video tribute to George H. W. Bush at the Republican National Convention. It reminded me how great a person and American he is. World War II fighter pilot, Congressman, Ambassador to the U.N., envoy to China, Director of the CIA, Vice-President, and finally, President — there are few public servants with such…
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Me, Myself, And An Ugly Sweater
I’m done with summer camp. It was my third summer at Lake Waubesa Bible Camp and definitely the most fun. Everyone on staff got along great. It was easy to have fun and joke around (a lot) but still be able to share the serious moments and enjoy God’s creation and his work all summer.…
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Doing Unspeakable Acts To E.T.
I stopped by Half-Price Books the other day hoping to get lucky. After perusing the record collection as usual, I ventured into the clearance section. I’m a bad book buyer because I’m so indecisive and there are so many classics I have yet to read that I eventually get overwhelmed and end up not buying…
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What’s Going On?
Haven’t been on much—camp is keeping me busy. It is nice, though, to be able to unplug from the world for a while and not be able to check your email and keep up on the news even if you want to. Here’s a few thoughts on random stuff: —The Dark Knight was just amazing. I’m…
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Knife To Meet You
True story from NPR: Julio Diaz has a daily routine. Every night, the 31-year-old social worker ends his hour-long subway commute to the Bronx one stop early, just so he can eat at his favorite diner. But one night last month, as Diaz stepped off the No. 6 train and onto a nearly empty platform,…
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Favre’s Retirement Ends Golden Age Of Quarterbacks
Published in the North Central Chronicle on March 28, 2008. February 3, 1997. My first Super Bowl. It was so exciting; the first game I remember seeing on television and my team was playing. It was my Green Bay Packers. And it was my Brett Favre. My family hosted the party. I was decked out in my…
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Lord of the Rings
The Turner Classic Movies channel is showing Academy Award winning films all day every day this month in a series called “31 Days of Oscar.” I watched Lord of the Rings: Return of the King last night and realized something. I would remember that trilogy for the rest of my life. I hadn’t read the…
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The Gaze, Ctd.
I was at the Union again last night, working the concession stand. The first band played, then they were hanging out by their merch table. A trio of girls, probably my age, sauntered in and started to flirt with the drummer of the first band. I’ve seen this before. It has happened to me at…
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Introverts: A Misunderstood Bunch
Published in North Central Chronicle on January 18, 2008. In a world where talk is cheap and time is money, life for an introvert can often become disorienting and exhausting. In a society dominated by extroverts, who gear more towards conversation and activity, introverts become marginalized for our perceived lack of social skills. The truth…
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The ‘Rite’ Of The Male Gaze
Published in the North Central Chronicle on September 28, 2007. Imagine: John Q. Student is sitting on a bench outside the Science Center with his friend Billy. John spots a voluptuous, scantily-clad young woman walking their way and takes a long look at her behind his sunglasses. He says to Billy: “Dude, check out that…
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the intersection
“What direction now? Life begins at the intersection.” Switchfoot, “Faust, Midas, and Myself” This lyric smacked me right in the face. What direction now? What are you doing to do now? Which path are you going to choose? When you’re staring down your options, burning holes with your eyes, which way? What direction now? Are…
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weddings and radiance
Ah, weddings. The one event that guarantees complete immunity from all of the stupid, drunken things people do there. The last wedding I went to there was no alcohol, so I got to observe people in their sober states. Naturally, as a quiet observer of people, I picked up on a few things. (As there…
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it made sense in my head
The issue of predestination v. free will is inexplicably tied to the issue of evolution v. creationism. Are we here just because we are? Or has our existence been thoroughly planned? A Calvinist would say that we are entirely “on purpose” while an Arminianist would say that we’re completely free from God’s control. In reality,…