An Ode to the Spherical, Size 5 Ball

For those who read this and read my self-antiquated Myspace blog, will remember a blog a little less than two years ago. I talked about one of the greatest sporting events on the face of this planet. People in the U.S. get excited about the NASCAR Cup, the Super Bowl and the World Series. Not me. I get my sports rocks off for the FIFA World Cup, which is taking place in South Africa in 2010.

It comes around ever four years. A year when all the world focuses on one country for one month and watches the nations meet in an event a la Clash of the Titans. Although the majority of people in our 'great' country pass it off when it comes around, it is one of the world's greatest gathering of athletes (in my opinion).

Even now, with a few months over 2 years until the next occurrence of this event, excitement is overflowing in me. I went to the FIFA World Cup 2010 website, and lo and behold, they have the MATCH SCHEDULE UP!! Mind you, the teams haven't been picked yet, they are still in qualifying matches. I nearly pooed my pants from excitement.

I can't wait until June 2010 when the major networks will be shooting images of the modern greats into my home. Barthez. Ballack. Ronahdinho. Donovan. Adu. Zidane. And yes, even those freaking Italians that make my blood boil.

These people and the teams they play for make this event the worldwide phenomenon it is. Now I have to go buy a German national team jersey. I'm just so excited.

Easy as riding a bike.

Teenagers are an enigma. Their responses can range from mind-numbing ignorance to the immensely profound in a matter of seconds. Yet the ignorance that I see in the kids is complicated by my own ironic ignorance.

In the youth group at my church, we asked the kids to write down questions about life....anything they could think of. 98% of them were so deep they pulled at my soul. Did I think this deep when I was this age?

I'd like to think I did as a teen, but I remember being consumed with girls, video games and the fact that my facial hair looked awesome most of the time.



The urgency for an answer these kid's questions demanded were painful. Questions about God, interfaith relationships, the modern interpretation of the Book of Revelation and even the deceptively simple "Is Obama a Christian?". In each of their questions, I felt their urgency for an answer. Yet, at this age there is so much they haven't experienced. Our answers would mostly be a lot of pat answers and what seems like dodging the 'tough' answer.

Teens thinking is not fully concrete yet. They struggle with the dichotomy that being a teen presents. You are stuck in this No Man's Land between child's play and adulthood. How do you give a teen a sufficient answer without sacrificing the integrity of what you know?

Life is not cut and dry. Nor are answers to these questions got with any measure of ease.

The vehicle that my words are traveling is in need of gas.

I call this one, "Soul, two inches to the left."

Everyone sees movies, but everyone has that one film that makes them want to discuss it until they're blue in the face.

This is not one of those films. This film I am still processing, nearly an hour after coming out. My friends were asking each other, "Did you like it?" It's safe to say, my answer was fairly neutral to my friends.

I don't know how I feel about it yet. It may take me months and a few more views to fully grasp the gravity of its subject matter.

So it's safe to say, if you want a good movie to go to and be simultaneously confused, delighted and...... well, confused about, go see There Will Be Blood.

If you do go see it, take some time, cogitate. Then find a friend who has seen it (like me) and talk about it. I want help understanding it and to grapple with the subject matter. To bounce some ideas off of someone about it.

I like bouncing.

Somebody.....please explain.

I’m sure some of you have seen this, even if you don’t spend more than a few spare minutes. It’s one of those annoying ads that sits at the top of every myspace page. You get the fun little games, the silly ones like the one I saw a few moments ago, this is what it said:

Heaven or Hell?

What?