January 2011
2 posts
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2011-1-9) →
Bachman-Turner Overdrive (13) Electric Light Orchestra (10) Stephen Gunzenhauser (6) Antoni Wit (5) Imrich Szabo (4) Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
Jan 22nd
2 tags
review of On This Day in Christian History by...
I’m normally not one for 365-day devotional books. Let’s just put that out there right away. I am, however, a fan of this one. Robert J. Morgan, pastor of the Donelson Fellowship in Nashville, TN, knows his history, and because of that this volume is deeply insightful. Though Morgan tends to favor modern history, nevertheless this work runs the gamut of Christian history, drawing from...
Jan 10th
December 2010
1 post
stages of paper-writing
Adapted from the Kübler-Ross model. Denial. “I don’t need to start now. It’s not due for a few weeks!” Anger. “Why do I need to write THIS STUPID PAPER‽‽‽‽‽” (yes, I just used five interrobangs) Bargaining. “Ok, I’ll just watch this one show, then I’ll get to work. Then I’ll take another break later…. Oooh, I didn’t know we...
Dec 5th
October 2010
1 post
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-10-3) →
Blue Man Group (14) Jimmy Eat World (12) Bach (8) Chopin (7) beethoven (7) Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
Oct 7th
September 2010
2 posts
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-9-26) →
Interpol (20) Pavarotti, Sutherland, Horne, Talvela - Solti Vienna Philharmonic (12) Thrice (11) Timothy Tennent (3) Jimmy Eat World (1) Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by…
Sep 28th
2 tags
the cult of personality
If you are alive and reading this right now, chances are you make decisions about to whom you will listen and like based on personality. For some, you will consciously ignore their personality because of the benefits he/she purveys to you; others, you will not tolerate, no matter what their message, stance, deal, whathaveyou. I’m not talking about the realm of legality; e.g., you will do as...
Sep 20th
August 2010
1 post
a briefish update
I tend not to post regularly when my life is irregular. ‘Tis a fact of nature. I could’ve been more disciplined this summer, but I wasn’t. Live and learn. The summer progresses, and nothing is in stone yet. We are still short of the money needed for me to start this semester. The University of Toronto handles all the billing, and they charge the entire year’s tuition up...
Aug 14th
July 2010
3 posts
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-7-25) →
Brad Johnson (1) Jason Jackson (1) J.D. Walt (1) Lars Brownworth (1) NPR (1) Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
Jul 27th
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-7-18) →
Weezer (15) The Temper Trap (14) Mumford & Sons (12) Spin Doctors (7) The Arcade Fire (4) Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
Jul 19th
faith practically worked out
Does it take more faith to move to a city where my wife only has a part-time job, looking for something else part-time or even full-time, before hearing about other prospects, or to wait out and turn down an opportunity to get in the door in order to do more waiting for something more “perfect”? My wife and I tend to differ a little bit on this. The answer to that question - which one...
Jul 13th
June 2010
4 posts
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-6-27) →
Mitch Hedberg (38) Yeah Yeah Yeahs (27) Jim Gaffigan (23) Howard Shore (1) Weezer (1) Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
Jun 30th
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-6-13) →
Brian Regan (24) The Police (16) Evanescence (10) Charlie Hall (3) David Crowder Band (3) Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
Jun 14th
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-6-6) →
Radiohead (22) She & Him (22) Asobi Seksu (15) John Mark McMillan (15) Mike Birbiglia (14) Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
Jun 8th
Last night I dreamed in animation. Like, full-on animation. Not me watching a cartoon, nor even dreaming about cartoon characters I’ve seen before. These were brand new characters and some sureal and ridiculous story line. Has this ever happened to anyone else?
Jun 3rd
May 2010
5 posts
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-5-30) →
Enya (22) Jerry Seinfeld (21) Howard Shore (16) She & Him (4) Mumford & Sons (2) Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
May 31st
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-5-23) →
Mike Birbiglia (15) Daniel Tosh (3) Muse (3) Kyle Cease (1) Mitch Hedberg (1) Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
May 27th
6 tags
downdate
Picture unrelated. Or rather, it’s semi-related. The Astros have been stinking it up, so I’ve been somewhat ashamed lately. Releasing Kaz Matsui was a good move, though. I digress. If an update is a reprisal one one’s activities prior to posting, would an account of events yet-to-come be a downdate? I don’t know. The next two weeks are going to be somewhat busy. This...
May 20th
1 tag
“Cicero, the prince of Roman orators says of someone that “He never uttered...”
– Augustine, Epistle 143.2-3
May 17th
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-5-2) →
Jim Gaffigan (69) Brian Regan (24) Paramore (13) Kronos Quartet (6) Coldplay (6) Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
May 4th
April 2010
9 posts
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-4-25) →
Paramore (11) Arvo Pärt (10) NPR (5) Jim Gaffigan (3) Titus Andronicus (3) Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
Apr 29th
1 tag
“Our enlightenment is to participate in the Word, that is, in that life which is...”
– St. Augustine, De Trinitate IV.4
Apr 24th
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-4-18) →
Arvo Pärt (2) Chad Brooks (1) The Dutchess & the Duke (1) sister crayon (1) Beach House (1) Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
Apr 20th
4 tags
review of Saint Patrick by Jonathan Rogers
I was a bit skeptical at first when I sought out this book from Thomas Nelson. The Christian Encounters series features, presumably, notable “Christians” throughout history; I wrap quotes around that because several I’m not sure I’d consider die-hard Christians. Not that their biographies wouldn’t be interesting - it’s just that series like these have a way of...
Apr 14th
3 tags
2nd Tuesday in Easter
At Evening Prayer tonight I was able to share with my students the Easter Homily of St. John Chrysostom, since we hadn’t met for a couple weeks. None of them had experienced a proper Easter Vigil before, so it was fresh to them. It’s hard to proclaim it without tearing up; every time I read it, it overpowers me. So, even if you’ve read it before, read it again, remembering that...
Apr 13th
Poetic Faith: Culture + Subcreation w/r/t... →
Premise 1: Superman is stronger than Batman. Premise 2: Batman is smarter than Superman. Premise 3: Superman has a high level of moral integrity, and would never start a fight with a weaker opponent, especially a fellow superhero, unprovoked. Premise 4 (Corollary to Premise 3): If Batman and…
Apr 12th
3 notes
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-4-4) →
Paramore (23) Mumford & Sons (12) Phoenix (9) John Mark McMillan (5) Titus Andronicus (3) Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
Apr 6th
“O God, Creator of heaven and earth: Grant that, as the crucified body of your...”
– Collect for Holy Saturday
Apr 3rd
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-3-28) →
Journey (6) Muse (3) King Khan & The Shrines (2) Chad VanGaalen (2) Vetiver (2) Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
Apr 2nd
March 2010
4 posts
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-3-21) →
Asobi Seksu (19) The Police (7) The Explorers Club (1) The Dutchess and the Duke (1) Los Campesinos! (1) Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
Mar 29th
“Almighty God, whose dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and...”
– Collect for Holy Monday
Mar 29th
2 tags
Review of The Liturgical Year by Joan Chittister
Sister Joan Chittister, a rather accomplished Benedictine, lives and breaths the cycle of the Church year after year. In this book, which acts half as an apology for the liturgical cycle and half as a devotional call to order, she explores the depth and nature of the Christian liturgical year. Chittister both plumbs the depths of the historical development of many aspects of the liturgical year...
Mar 11th
“Lent is the period in which, learning to abstain from adoring at the shrine of...”
– Joan Chittister, The Liturgical Year
Mar 3rd
February 2010
2 posts
“The liturgical year is an adventure in bringing the Christian life to fullness,...”
– Joan Chittister, The Liturgical Year
Feb 24th
2 tags
homily for 2nd tuesday in lent
Readings: Genesis 37:12-24, Psalm 47, 1 Corinthians 1:20-31, Mark 1:14-28 1 Corinthians is not the book I want to read during Lent. Not because of how it’s written, or who wrote it, but because, in a very real sense, it is written to me. Now, obviously I know that it wasn’t written to me as its original recipient. But none of us would read and pray and worship through Scripture if...
Feb 24th
January 2010
6 posts
the fuss about wetshaving
I’ve made a fuss about discovering the lost (but becoming found) art of wetshaving recently. Some of you have written it off, some of you have been mildly curious, and some of you have taken up the mantle. For those of the middle group, this is the blog post I’ve been meaning to write for a while to help you out…mostly because random tweets here or there aren’t sufficient,...
Jan 31st
“God, whom saints and angels delight to worship in heaven: Be ever present with...”
– Prayer for Church Musicians and Artists, Book of Common Prayer (1979)
Jan 10th
4 tags
the sex post
I have been dwelling on the intersection between sex and comedy for the last week or so, since watching Funny People. I’ve gotten a number of reactions from people in response to my main query: “Why do comedians always seem to focus on sex?” Here’s the lay of the land. First, we must admit that most Christians have a hard time talking about sex, much less seeing it as...
Jan 8th
from the dream files
Last night I dreamt I was in a car with my brother and two of his college friends on our way to some sort of event. The event was held in an arena in a town I had never been in, but somehow we knew where the best parking was. After squabbling about trying to get closer parking, we eventually settled on a spot and began to walk. As we neared the arena, I woke up. I left out two details. First, the...
Jan 8th
3 tags
Jan 7th
1 tag
Jan 3rd
December 2009
1 post
reflections on subbing
I hated substitute teachers when I was in school. They do things differently, or, at times, not at all. I never got the sense that they genuinely wanted to be in the classroom; it was maybe a case of being retired and not knowing how to truly retire (once a teacher, always a teacher), or being unemployed and just needing SOMETHING (*cough*). Let’s face it, it’s better than sitting in a...
Dec 10th
November 2009
3 posts
6 tags
a brief update
Though I’m active on Twitter and, subsequently, Facebook, I don’t think I’ve ever wholly explained what’s happening in our lives lately (though Cherith tends to deliver on that end fairly well). So part of me thinks it’s just plain redundant to send an update, but then I realize that there are a lot of people who don’t know my wife or read her blog. So I guess...
Nov 10th
review of "5 Cities that Ruled the World" by...
5 Cities that Ruled the World is an interesting snapshot into the last few millenia of history told from Douglas Wilson’s point of view. Wilson briefly focuses on what he considers to be the five major cities throughout human history: Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, London, and New York. This is a good selection, and through each chapter Wilson relates how it is that these cities have impacted the...
Nov 9th
2 tags
“Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship...”
– Book of Common Prayer
Nov 1st
October 2009
4 posts
Oct 28th
2 tags
why the filioque still matters to protestants →
Check out this interesting blog by Ben Myers over at the Faith and Theology blog. I anticipate the comment section to grow.
Oct 25th
4 tags
what's the deal with the Vatican?
That was meant to come across sounding more like Jerry Seinfeld than a normal aggrevated person, but meh. No doubt many of you will have read about the Vatican offering a complete Papal Makeover of any willing Anglican congregation, probably one of the biggest moves between the Vatican and Protestants since…well, a really long time (a.k.a. when Ramsey went to Rome in 1966).  I’ve been...
Oct 23rd
6 tags
review of "The Search for God and Guinness" by...
The title is the most intriguing aspect of this book, and though it lends a bit of direction to the text insofar as the author himself had direction, I would say that it is a bit of a misnomer.  ”The Search for God and Guinness” makes me think that the author is somehow going to show how theology and alcohol are related, even a specific form of alcohol like Guinness throughout the...
Oct 11th
September 2009
57 posts
Sep 28th
2 tags
an anglicanized conversation
Today I had lunch with my good buddy Dan, one of the handful of Houghton friends Cherith and I have had the fortune to be reunited with since our return.  Dan has had a completely different experience within the Church than I have, so it’s always interesting to talk all things ecclesial with him. As we ate, I began describing how I have viewed some of the challenges of Anglican...
Sep 25th