on indiana jones

so indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull has been catching a lot of flack from learned people across the world, some of whom i greatly respect. however, i happened to love the movie, and i believe have finally compiled a good reason why some people hated it:

think this way, a lot of people saw the original three movies first as a kid and so they have always carried that initial viewing in their minds. but when they saw number 4 they saw it as adults. and i bet it didn't even cross their minds to watch it with the same mindset as that of their childhood screenings.

a friend of mine, who shall remain nameless, wrote a negative response to good ole indy 4. included in this response he said:

Okay, okay, I know - Indiana Jones is an action movie...But the latest movie? What did we get?

Aliens. Monkeys. Big ants. Refrigerators in nuclear blasts.

let us pick apart a few of the more, let's say, unrealistic parts of the first three indy movies, shall we?

*raiders of the lost ark*
-giant snake pit
-giant rolling boulder
-marion ravenwood's accent
-THE ARK OF THE effing COVENANT
-the effects of opening the ark

*temple of doom*
-short round (nuff said)
-willie scott whining "indeeeee" continuously throughout the movie
-the bugs
-the ENTIRE concept of the movie (the family guy spoof is spot on with michael eisner btw)
-eating monkey brains

*last crusade*
-the snake in the train
-infiltrating into nazi germany and coming face-to-face with adolf hitler
-the rug on fire/hearth scene
-THE HOLY effing GRAIL
-the melting face/body

i hope this shows that aliens, monkeys, ants, and nuclear explosions aren't too far-fetched in the story of indiana jones. in fact, they're thematically right on target. what's that formula again?

supernatural/extraterrestrial/religious artifact + gross animal scene or scenes + impossible situations + interesting sidekick (a bit of a stretch with short round) + love affair + frightening global power figure = indiana jones movie

i rest my case.

quotes on life...

this was the quote on my main email page today from kurt vonnegut:

Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward.

no offense kurt, but i am afraid there is a better quote than this that comes from dear dolly parton in the movie steel magnolias:

Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion.

and alas, that definitely defines yesterday. but life looks much better today. i know, a small update, but i can say that life is looking up today.

dissatisfied

what have i got to be dissatisfied about.

i come from an amazing family with parents who love me, a sister who completely gets me, and brother-in-law who is like a brother, and extended family who (while quite crazy) has always been a constant force in my life.

i am blessed to live in a beautiful house with three really great guys, each of whom challenge me on a daily basis in myriad ways.

i am plugged into a christian community that has completely redefined what church can look like in my life.

i go to, quite arguably (and i'm aware i'm biased), the most amazing university in america.

i have friends who love and challenge me.

i'm involved in ministries and organizations that help me learn who i am and what i want to be.

i have two majors that facilitate two aspects of my personality and my passions.

but i'm at a place right now where i am completely and totally dissatisfied with my life. by the end of every day i am in such a terrible mood that i don't want to be around people. i don't want to do homework. i don't want to fellowship. i'm stuck in a rut that has me alienating myself from, essentially, myself.

i was talking with one of my roommates the other night and i finally verbalized something that has been bothering me for a really long time. i am not particularly good at anything. i do not have a talent that helps me define who i am. i play piano decently and i have an ok voice. am i a musician? no. i can write prose and non-fiction, essays and blogs. am i a writer? no. i am not particularly gifted at any of the things i am truly passionate about. i love singing, but i'm surrounded by people who have such a gift in their voices that i am continually led away from my desire to sing. i absolutely love to play the piano. probably more than anything else in the world. but i constantly encounter people who are so gifted in playing the piano that it dampens my joy. i love to write, but i can't translate that into any prose or poetry that is particularly noteworthy, that will capture the eyes of a professor or critic or friend.

it is a difficult thing to live with passions that are matched by mediocre ability.

but probably the most difficult thing of all is that i love to speak. i love to teach groups and speak to crowds. i know that my destiny lies somewhere in the spoken word. but i have no opportunities to really fulfill that in my life right now. i long for a youth group to teach. i long for a small group of peers to dialog with about everything from theology to why belmont won't plant perennials.

but most of all, i want people to take me seriously. i'm tired of people disregarding things i say or ideas i have because they seem a little crazy or different. i'm fed up with people narrowing their eyes when i talk about alternative views of atonement or the emerging church or even things as little as "moving the chairs around." (<== long story from 7th grade) i'm stuck in a place that has me drowning in passion with no life preserver in sight. and i'm just fucking tired of it.

a small update

What an interesting week! My birthday was Monday, and I'm not gonna lie, it was rough. The week continued to be pretty terrible until Thursday afternoon when I just about had a come apart in the office of one of my University Ministers. I had an incredible conversation with her and my co-leader for my upcoming trip to South Africa. Anyway, it was really helpful to have that time with them. It not only helped me gain some perspective on things, but it boosted my spirit.

I'm working with an organization called Reconstruct this summer doing media and sound. It's a great deal. I'm making some money and getting to work with some really awesome people. The students that are coming through each week are really amazing.

That said, Michael Kelley was the speaker for our worship gatherings this week and will return next week. Let's just say that he brought it this week. And tonight, well, I definitely felt the Word of God come alive. It was both uplifting and challenging to hear the word brought in such a way. I was definitely blessed by his words.

So that's it for this week. Here's hoping that next week is vast improvement.

oh sister...

this is a total rip off...check out this AMAZING POST on my sister's blog...

i drew the short straw

well...i did it. i cut all my hair off and shaved my beard. it was a pretty big step for me, but i feel good about it. my africa co-leader says i look five years younger. let's hope that means i looked 25. oh yeah, my 20th birthday is monday. w00t.

confused? of course not...pretty...

i am blessed to be able to co-lead the most perfect group of people to south africa in july. i cannot believe that i am really, truly going. even more than that, i cannot even express just how incredibly out team is. we have meshed in only three days. imagine two weeks abroad. all i can say is here we go. it is only just the beginning. i know god has things beyond my imagining in store for us.