Stella RoJo is here.

everybody loves a montage

just began The Monk Downstairs this past weekend. found it at book people in the discount section. though not my typical read, tis spurring on more thoughts/ themes for a screenplay i'm working on. enjoying it, review to come.

my friend shawn irwin had a great inaugural austin show last week. i'm still waiting for him to get the organ here so he'll play a couple of my persoanl fav's "sour patch" and "skeleton key" for everyone.

more to come (including a new blog) regarding this ;)

why does everyone ask what we do? i have a job, but this is really some of what i've been up to:

i simply haven't had the desire to blog lately. seems like my life is just more of the same... so here i go.

one of the largest answers to prayer lately has been the "book club" (aka - the no-book book club). i've wanted to be a part of something like this for a while. its exciting when people from all walks of life genuinely want to holistically look at their spiritual life. mark thames said you can begin anywhere and end up at Jesus. and that's what happened. we began with a book that barely mentioned Jesus, but after numerous philosophies and histories Jesus became the most compelling person/life/way to learn about. mel and i have watched the Jesus of the Gospels permeate the thoughts and feelings of our friends. we just happen to be there to tie some loose ends up for people. our little group is meeting tonight. pray for the Spirit's power and guidance as we may see some new faces and begin new books.

if anyone knows some good website people, i'd love to get their info. i'm still trying to get my personal film site off the ground so i can get more work for myself as -
clamness creations.

a five gallon glass carboy ferments in my fridge. we're brewing a schwarzbier for october. this is a german black lager that will be similar to a porter but with a smoother body. hopefully.

got netflix. watched the first documentary ever made nanook of the north. amazing that a little eskimo can kill giant polar bears with his bear hands (not shown though). he also catches a large seal and has a clown canoe. a must see for every old canadian wildlife black and white with no natural audio documentary fan.

mowed the entire yard with the push mower last friday. yes, the grass was mostly dead, but it is a start. i'd only been able to get through half the yard up til then. my neighbors and everyone else think i'm crazy. i found it fiarly delightful to push and pull and meditate on work. pulled lots of weeds. yard looks nice - now that we got some rain, hopefully the grass will grow. looking forward to looking like a fool again this friday...

living.

fans: not the cooling off sort

it continually amazes me what i write on this site. there are times when i look back thinking - what the heck did i just write? or man i sound so stupid.

but o well. this blog isn't me - its simply a website. that being said. here's another post...

watched ut lose yesterday. it was my junior year that i chose to stop caring so much about sports after we lost (for the third time in a row) to ou in the red river shootout. i was furious for some reason. not that i played. i just didn't want to lose to the stinkin' sooners. but - why does it matter? why should it ruin my day that i watched other people lose a football game? exactly. it shouldn't. so when ut lost last night, probably crushing its national championship hopes - it didn't bother me at all.

earlier in the morning, mel and i met charles and suzanne and their little one liesl at the pub to watch the english premier league. though it is some good soccer, i don't really know how involved i can be because i simply don't want to get wrapped up in something that i have absolutely no power to change or even effect. but somehow this is all remarkably fun...

fans filled the parking lots days prior to the football game this saturday for tailgating. what a phenomenon. yes, it is an excuse to drink copious amounts of beer, but man - if you lose - is that not a horribly wasted 72-96 hours of your life. and that doesn't even count how upset you are at losing. okay - maybe you don't get as upset at losing as someone else, but man - your hardcoreness is maintained as superfan #99 over here.

silly i suppose. my thoughts, others' obsessions. we're all just fans. its fun to be a fan of a team, a band, a university...

the language of fan v. followers came into conversation several weeks ago. a follower seems to imply some sort of ethos versus simple fan-atic-ship. i know a lot of people who seem to be fans of jesus. the like the bumper stickers and shirts that transform a cross into a cartoon or icon. and books and bible studies and church friends who are all into the same "team" they are. and if you're not, you must simply be a fan of the "other team" and in need of conversion. but followers... seems much more difficult to be a real follower. someone who follows the "team" to the end. who literally lives and dies by the order of the one followed. following is serious business. following looks past personal thoughts and feelings and stares directly into the eyes and heart of the one followed.

following requires denial of oneself. fan-ship requires simple loyalty.

sports fans are not bad. that isn't even the real point. i just wish the people calling themselves christians would follow jesus with even half the effort devoted to their team loyalties.

followers of jesus lose themselves in him.
fans of jesus lose the world... and keep looking back.

waking

woke up this morn feeling refreshed. it just so happened to be 5:30am. so i got up and tried to put thoughts on paper.

it seems that to truly create something good (ie - others might care to see it), i gotta find my voice. i'm faily sure i could make the same movie in about 4 different ways. this is difficult. how's does one whittle these ideas and characters into a story that someone else might actually care about?

wes anderson, pt anderson, martin scorsese, christopher guest, steven spielberg, brian depalma, matt mccormick... and so many others who all find a voice that connects with some people (not all people).

so - i'm taking voice lessons. this could be harsh... i don't want to go to work... ever again.

the widening gap.

this week paul shared his thoughts on suffering and poverty in america as contrasted with the utter disaster and hopelessness in the refugee camps in uganda.

amnesty was granted to the rebel leaders this week and the government has offered $330M to help the 2M, twenty-year long refugees be able to "feed themselves." this comes out to freedom for some and $165 each for others.

mobile-exxon's ceo made $190K/day in 2005.

poverty/amnesty/forgiveness/wealth.

don't have any real insight. just thinking/praying about these things this morning.