Criticism

So, last night was the Ames Anthem. Personally, I liked the Iowa City Anthem better. It may have been that I knew all the songs or people here, but not in Ames. It may have been that I like the atmosphere in the old Fieldhouse better than in Cornerstone's auditorium. Maybe it was that they started off with a song that wasn't familiar to me, and I had a hard time getting into it after that. Whatever the reason, I kept catching myself being really critical of the band and tech people last night. Thoughts kept popping up like "the rhythm is off on that song" or "they're playing that too fast" or "the lyrics person got behind, and the band doesn't know the words".  I kept noticing things like that, and it was getting in the way of worshipping, so I had to rein in the critical part of me and just let loose. The criticisms kept popping up, so I had to keep driving them back.

I have never been like that before. I used to not notice things like that, but now that I see the work behind the scenes all the time, I guess I've gotten to a point where I keep thinking "they could have done better."

After the final song, I got into a discussion with some of the Ames people about the split in Anthem. I argued that we have the "real Anthem" because we have the backbone--drums and bass--and the heart--Mark--of the original. We talked about other things, and they looked surprised when I said that the band here is working on enough new songs to make an album out of it already.

I also got to demonstrate how crappy my phone is. After sending a text at 6, asking someone if they were going to be there, my phone decided that it wasn't getting signal anymore--and the next time it did, I was back in Iowa City, asleep. Hooray for cheap cell phones.

Ames Anthem

Looking ahead to the Ames Anthem--which is in less than 48 hours, and you should be there if you can--I've got a few thoughts.

• It's going to be weird being at an Anthem and not knowing all the songs
• I get to ride down and back with a giraffe--which should be awesome
• The Ames tech/worship crew is a little lazy, because:
• They've got their own building, so setup should be "quick"
• They're not having Salt this same week
• They don't have an awesome arts/music/poetry/battle of the bands night the next day
• This is their last event of the year--they didn't fit Anthem in with a month left in the semester
• A church event where I can sit anywhere I want, with anyone I want? Yes, please.

Anyway, I'm sleepy, and I've got class in the morning. Nighty night.

Dreams are weird III

So, I've posted a couple dreams on here before--hence the "III" in the title. Check here and here for the previous installments in this sporadic "series".

I believe this was a two-part episode in my dream, but I don't really remember the first part. All I remember is that I was working with a woman, and she was having a rough day.

--I woke up and fell back asleep, wanting to sleep a bit longer--

The second part involved the same woman getting ready for a date. But there was more. She wasn't interested in going out, and at the same time, there was a split-screen view of her date--standard pretty boy material--also getting ready. This was happening while a song was playing, and the only lyrics to this song seemed to be "Melted Wax". Pretty boy was waxing his chest when I woke up.

Now I shall leave you to try to get that image out of your head.

Life goes on

I know, two posts in less than 5 hours. Craziness. But I need to.

So, in the last post, I was wondering what was going on, and what was meant last night. Apparently, I really caught her off guard, and she didn't know how to respond, so yeah. In short, she's not interested, so we'll remain friends. So you all can stop holding your breath. I'm still single. And that's okay.

What does that even mean?

So, in case you didn't notice, the last post had some extra white space after it. Go ahead, go examine that carefully again. I can wait. (I'm guessing at least one person noticed, judging by the comment) Anyway, I said I might have news about that today. Well, I do and I don't. This post is going to be more asking a question.

If you're too lazy or indifferent to check that white space, I was planning to ask out one of the ladies here in Iowa City--and I would do so at Salt. For a while, it seemed like the timing was bad, because she spent most of the night talking to other people--I guess that's what I get for pursuing one of the "cool people". Near the end of the night, it worked out and I asked if she wanted to grab dinner or catch a movie. She looked a little shocked and asked "What are you asking? Like a date?" (At this point, my face was feeling very warm) I said yeah, and she answered with "I'll have to get back to you on that."

So now I'm confused. I don't know what that means. Is it a "You're a nice guy, and I don't want to be mean by rejecting you, but no" or "This seems to have come out of nowhere. I'm surprised that you even asked. I need some time to think about this" or something that my male brain can't come up with or even comprehend?

So yeah, I'm confused due to my interactions with women. What else is new?

6 weeks

Today marks 6 weeks until my birthday. Only six weeks until I finish off my first quarter-century of life. I could soon rent a car (if I had a license) or run for the US House of Representatives (Scary, huh?). Since this is kind of a big step in life, I decided to look back at what I've accomplished in my life so far. The answer? Everything, and yet nothing.

The nothing part: I'm single, not dating anyone. I'm still in college--and trying to get a "four-year" degree. I can't drive a car. I don't know how to ride a bike or rollerblade or skateboard.... I'm just not good at modes of transportation that use wheels. I can't swim--though I'm extremely uncomfortable having water in my face, so that's unlikely to change. I don't have a job, or even surety of what I'm going to do after I get the degree.

The everything? I've got all that matters in life. I've got the One that came to save the world. I've left friends and my life behind for Him, and He's still helping me to follow His footsteps. I've got friends and family that support what I do, even if they don't fully understand it. I'm in school, working towards getting the all-important degree. I've got a roof over my head, easy access to food and clean water, and easy access to the Word. I've been blessed so many ways just by being born in this little state, and so many (seemingly) little decisions have led me to being where I am today, and without which I might not even be alive and well now.

And just a little secret: On Thursday, I may have an update on the first thing mentioned in the nothing category.

Blah!

Here's another Anthem follow-up post. On Sunday, after the long weekend, I took two naps in my recliner. The first was accidental, the second was on purpose. After each of these naps, my first word/utterance was "Blah!" Probably because I still didn't feel the greatest.

Also, I seem to have caught a bad cold. I think the lack of sleep over the weekend has made my immune system lie down and play dead. So now my head hurts, my throat is dry, my nose is stuffed up, and I keep coughing and sneezing. But you know what? It was totally worth all this. The opening light show, the fun at the Incubator, the awesome time to worship God, watching a couple guys build a skateboard ramp out of scaffolding--how could that not be worth the discomfort I've gone through as a result of the lack of sleep?

Sorry this post is so short, but I now need to get some food and get ready for Salt--and try to calm this little illness down so I can be productive.

Anthem Recap

Anthem was last night, and it was awesome. Here's a little look-in to what went on with me. Thursday morning, while in the shower, I started singing "Our God". That night was setup for sound and practice, and I found out that "Our God" was in the set. Friday morning, after having spent 7 hours setting up and agreeing to meet up again at 1, I started singing "How Deep the Father's Love for Us" in the shower, and that turned out to be in the Never-ending Anthem set (which was never practiced).

Setup for lights was difficult, because we needed to figure out what cords we had to use, and how to connect everything. At times, the lights were flickering, so we had to keep changing things, but we got it figured out shortly before the band was to show up for practice at 5.

Fast forward to the actual Anthem. If you were late, you missed the brainchild of our drummer, carried out by one of the old Anthem members that stayed in Ames. The lights flashed with the beat of "The Earth is Yours". It was a little blinding, but it looked amazing.

The third song played was "One Life", and when it got to the part where the lyrics are "I don't know where I've been, all this time but, now I know where I belong" my old piercing scars started to hurt. It felt like the rings were still in, and somebody was pulling on them. It was a good reminder of where I've been. The pain continued throughout that song, then I snuck off to pray for the distraction to be taken away, and it left.

After the main Anthem, there were three mini-sets, then the band came back up, and the moment that everyone was waiting for came. That's right, if you left before that, you missed the banjo. And the second playing of "Savior".

A few minor things before I let y'all go. I can now say I've been on stage during an Anthem event. Okay, it was to help give communion to the band, but I was up there. I fell to my knees at least 3 times during worship. And after Anthem, we have 12 hours to get rested before getting set up for the Incubator--the art/music/poetry/etc. night. If you count Salt and church, some of us will end up spending 40 hours doing church stuff from Wednesday to Sunday, and I can't think of any better way to spend my time.

One final side note that has nothing to do with anything: This is post number 200. I hope you all have enjoyed all the insanity that has flowed during these past 2 years (almost).

This Week in Advance

Tonight is the last night before a span of busy-ness. It's going to be awesome and exhausting at the same time. Tomorrow is Salt, which will take up 7 or 8 hours of time. Then, sleep, followed by classes. Luckily, my last class on Thursday is cancelled, so I'm done at 1, leaving 4 hours until I need to be there for Anthem practice setup and practice. This will be from 5-? Seriously. It'll probably be after midnight, but we're not sure yet.

Friday, I get to sleep in, since my teacher will be in Arizona, which means no class. At 5 again, back to the old Fieldhouse for final setup and practice, followed by the main event, Anthem Iowa City!

After another chance at sleeping late, 3pm begins setup for the Incubator, an art/music/randomness night. When that ends, it's time for teardown and hopefully moving things to hotelVetro for church setup. Then a quick little rest, and it's time for church.

Frankly, I'm tired just thinking about all of this, but I can't wait. It's all going to be fun.

Discomfort

Today's post is going to be short (and fairly pointless). However, I feel that this insanity must be shared with the world.

This morning, when I woke up, I wasn't feeling well. Don't worry, it was just the fifth symptom mentioned in the Pepto Bismol commercials. Anyway, during my shower, I started to come up with a song parody. I didn't get very far, because I don't really know much of the original song--and I'm not musically gifted. I did come up with two short parts, which I will share here. I apologize for the language on one part, I've not gotten used to not using those words yet. See if you can guess which song is being parodied.

Wake up in the mornin feeling kind of sh*tty

---I couldn't come up with something for the intervening part here---

Before I leave, brush my teeth with a whole tube of Crest

'Cause when I re-gurg-i-tate, I got real bad breath.