Drunk on Books

I've always jokingly spoken of my book collecting as an addiction - turns out such joking is not so far from the truth.


(Here I am getting a fix at one of my favorite bookstores in the entire world: The Strand in New York City. I also highly recommend Powell's in Portland, Oregon, and Loome's in Stillwater, Minnesota).


Hat tip to Josh for the link.

Tragically Unhip

It's beginning to feel like everybody I know has spent the summer:

1. going to Holden Village

and/or

2. going to the U2 concert

I have done neither of these things. I'm starting to feel like I'm missing out. . .


And now for something completely different:

I was on call this past week and ended up fielding a LOT of unusual stuff. . .like, if I didn't know any better, I'd almost suspect Dan May had figured out how to get revenge for all the times he covered for me and I openly encouraged my folks to call him at midnight to request an emergency hamster baptism, ask him a deep dark meaning of life question, practice reciting the books of the Bible in order, etc.

Hmmm, I didn't think he had any power beyond Appalachia but I may have underestimated the extent of his reach. . .

Tips For Young Pastors

This would fall under the category of "things they don't really teach you at seminary." Though, in fairness, I'm not sure how they would really teach this at seminary.

But just so you know, there's the gospel you preach in the worship service, which you have been carefully tending to and thinking about and crafting since the moment you read the appointed texts for that Sunday and started formulating both your sermon and the full scope of the service.

And then there's the gospel you preach to the person who walks into the building 10 minutes after the service has ended, whose life is currently pretty messy, who came to their wits end and didn't know where else to turn, so they've come to you. And as you listen to their story, you realize the sermon and the service you just finished leading could have spoken pretty powerfully into the messiness of their situation, if only they'd shown up an hour earlier. But they didn't show up an hour earlier, they showed up now, 10 minutes after it was all over, and they are looking to you, now, in this moment, for a word of life and hope and light in a world that is overwhelming them with death, despair, and darkness.


You need to be prepared to preach the gospel in both situations.

Sermon, Write Thyself

Wait for it. . .



. . .waaaaaait for it. . .




Really? Nothing?


I figured it couldn't hurt to try. You miss 100% of the shots you never take, right?

If only I'd accepted that scholarship to Hogwarts instead of Luther, it just might have worked. :)

Ah well, back to my trusty legal pad, then. . .

Best 4th of July Ever

Independence Day is not anywhere close to my favorite holiday, but for some reason it always proves to be one of the most memorable ones in terms of the day's events.

I've experienced a number of memorable 4ths, including but not limited to: one hosting Adri and Martina during their very first visit to America, two in the nation's capital (as a teenager marching in the National 4th of July parade with the Flaketown Marching Band, and as a young adult living in DC), one driving back to Minnesota the day after Sarah and Rob's wedding (btw, Happy Anniversary yous twos!), and two as an ex-patriot (one with friends in Ottendorf-Okrilla, the other observed with fellow ex-patriots in a French bar in the Kunsthof of Dresden's Neustadt).

But today I got to celebrate the 4th with the bambino, on her very first day in Minnesota. And what made it the best and most memorable ever was the smile on her face and the excitement in her eyes when she realized it was Auntie C who had just walked in the door.

Every time I think I couldn't possibly love this kid any more than I already do, she goes and opens the door to a chamber in my heart that I didn't even know existed.

Arguments I Don't Hear Much Part 1

This came out of a conversation about marriage equality that I was involved in on facebook earlier in the week and just haven't had time to post here yet. But there are a couple arguments that I only ever seem to hear myself making, and I don't think they're bad arguments, so I'm trying to spread them around. :)

Part 1 is the political argument. Part 2 will be the religious argument, a post for another day. But here goes:

So, to my mind there are many things flawed about this marriage amendment fiasco (like, when is it ever a good idea to leave civil rights up to the whims of the majority? Seriously, somebody give me a case study from history where that turned out to be a good thing. . .). But perhaps most flawed is its method (says the girl who's been studying methodology for a month).

Because, as previously noted on this blog, gay marriage is already illegal in MN. And the vote before us is a vote to keep gay marriage illegal in MN. By analogy, it's like holding a statewide vote on keeping the common loon as the MN state bird (for those woefully ignorant of all things Minnesotan, the common loon is already the state bird).

If the vote "wins" (more people vote for it than against it) - nothing changes. Gay marriage was illegal before, gay marriage is still illegal after; similarly, the common loon is the state bird before, and the common loon is still the state bird after.

If the vote "fails" (more people vote against it than for it) - still, nothing changes. We won't wake up the next morning and suddenly gay marriage will be legal because a majority voted against keeping it illegal. Just as we wouldn't wake up the next morning and find the common loon is no longer the state bird because a majority voted against keeping it the state bird. Other legislation (or judicial ruling or executive order) would be required to make any change to the status quo.

The whole design of this vote is so flawed. . .

And yes, I have to admit, an entire month spent rejecting or failing to reject null hypotheses helped lead me to this argument. (gulp!) Statistics proved somewhat useful after all.

What a Day Costs

This is fantastic and horrifying all at the same time. Sadly, I don't know how to embed vimeo, so you're just going to have to click the link to check it out.

But it reminds me of a post I intended to make a couple months ago - I had to estimate a yearly budget for a grant I was applying for and was shocked to discover that, as simple and barebones of a life as I think I lead (and I think by most American standards, I'm living pretty simply), it still takes $29,000/year just to keep myself sheltered, insured, transported, fed, and clothed.

In MN the federal poverty line for a family of 4 is $22,350.

How in the world are people supposed to make that happen?



Thanks to Nick Clark for the video and Mary Hess for pointing me to it. In her frustration with the state government shutdown, Mary is going to continue posting videos from this Minnesota Without Poverty class assignment, so keep checking her blog if you'd like to see more.