Sometimes Nonsense is better than Sense.

Maybe not the 9th Circle, but definitely the 6th or 7th

In hell, I am at a party.  Everyone at the party is standing in clusters talking to each other.  Everyone except me.  I am standing by myself, awkwardly, trying to figure out how to break into the little conversation clusters.  They all notice me, glance at me every now and then.  I try to look like I'm paying attention to the music or the art on the walls.  But in hell there is no music and the walls are bare.  So I kinda look up, as if I'm thinking, or down at my cell phone pretending to send atext, while I wonder: how do you break into the party clusters?

How do you break into the party clusters??!!  

Facebook Conversationis Are Better Than Real Conversations

My Facebook Status: Jeremy has, um, not mastered the new beard Trimmer. 

Max Williams: it is a delicate art that must be mastered though...

Me: Well, it's going to be several days before I get to practice again.

Max: nice, Ive been there man

iTunes Will Be the Death of Me

It would take me three weeks to listen 

to all the songs in my iTunes.  

This is what is wrong with the world.

My brain is my enemy and my closest companion, 

My emotions are the dogs in the park that chew 

on each other's ears, 

and my desire is a bruise on my butt that makes it imposssible 

to sit still.   

Ten Good Things from 2008

Well, I always wanted to do a top ten list - top ten albums, movies, books - but this seems to be a luxury of professional critics, who have listened to most of the albums, watched most of the movies, and read most of the books from 2008.  Intead, I've made a list of ten things I really liked about 2008.  In no particular order, and definitely not comprehensive, but still, good things.  

• Bon Iver - spare, beautiful, moving music
• The Road by Cormac McCarthy - also spare, beautiful, and moving.  Actually published in 2006, but I just read it last week. 
• Religion Dispatches - I love reading the articles on this site.  Almost always something fresh and insightful about religion.  
• Really good superhero movies - Iron Man, Hellboy II, The Dark Knight.  Entertaining, imaginative, and occasionally a little disturbing.    
• Turning Away from Jesus by Garret Keizer.  This is one the best pieces of religion writing I've ever read.
• Meeting Sarah.  She's my girlfriend.  
• Fewer death sentences in Texas. Including the Quintero life sentence, thanks to the hard work of my coworkers.    
  
• The election of Barack Obama - Yeah, I know, kind of obvious.  
• Magazines - I have discovered that they are filled with good things.  Newsweek, The Atlantic, Harper's (I really love Harper's), even Esquire.  
• Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog - Hilarious, original, even strangely touching.