Highlight of the week: Irelandtotally lived up to my expectations. Fun fact: It didn't rain at all while we were there. No joke. I'm not sure when I'll get around to editing/uploading the last video from the trip. Bear with me.
Book(s) I'm reading: I read on the plane rides and intermittently throughout the week. Right now I'm reading because it's been sitting on my shelf for a while, but mostly in preparation for my workshop at the in a few weeks.
Music I'm digging: I've been trying to get into the album (link opens in iTunes) by Faded Paper Figures (think Postal Service), but I'm not sure I like it.
Something(s) that blew my mind: This video from . It fits it really well with things I've been reading/researching/thinking about as of late:
Ministry update: We're back to a bit of normalcy after the holidays, which is nice. Lots of stuff coming up, though. I'm chipping away at a rather ambitious idea which I hope to flesh out on this blog in time.
Seminary/ordination update: Nothing new to report, but there may be some very exciting things happening in the next several weeks. Stay tuned.
Looking forward to: Getting back into the swing of things at work.
Highlight of the week: Last Tuesday afternoon, I joined an with , , and at Caribou Coffee. It was a wonderful break from the beginning of what was a stressful week.
Book(s) I'm reading: In halfway through two books right now: , and by Thomas Lynch (the latter which I got at the suggestion of ). The back cover of Booking Passage calls it "part memoir, part cultural study," but there's something about Lynch's writing that transcends the categories of memoir and/or cultural study. It's about life, and it's written beautifully (Lynch is , after all). Take this, for example:
Today, the easier communications become, the easier it becomes not to communicate. The more rapidly we travel to the ends of the earth, the more readily we avoid our nearest neighbors. The more communing we do, the more elusive a sense of community seems. We are each encouraged to make individual choices, to seek personal saviors, singular experiences, our own particular truth. We make enemies of strangers and strangers of friends and wonder why we feel alone in the world. (xxxix)
So good.
Music I'm digging: I haven't been listening to any new music, really. The majority of my music-listening time has been spent finding recordings and arrangements of Christmas songs to do with the praise team at St. Mark.
Something(s) that blew my mind: "Recently, researchers at the Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center in Rhode Island suggested that anal sex is on the rise among teens and young adults, particularly those who have unprotected vaginal sex." Is anal sex covered in public schooling curriculum? Youth ministry curriculum? Looks like it should be. Read the article: .
Ministry update: We had the high school Christmas party last night and it was tons of fun -- good food, good games, and good white elephant gifts. I took the opportunity at the part to hand out that say "Jesus loves you snow much." 'Tis the season! The junior high Christmas party is this Wednesday night.
Seminary/ordination update: Nothing to report, but in Booking Passage, Lynch describes ordination as becoming "lieutenant in the standing army that wages war on sin and evil and the flesh."1 Perfect.
Looking forward to: Reading and planning the Ireland trip itinerary.
Highlight of the week: As the title implies, I'm taking a vacation to Ireland! My friend and I are flying out of Chicago on December 31, celebrating New Years over the Atlantic, landing in Dublin on the 1st, and then spending the next week traveling around southern Ireland. Naturally, I am SUPER excited about it. I've always had a fascination with Ireland and it's been at the top of my "must see" list since I can remember. And now it's reality (we leave in 22 days, but who's counting?). Right know I'm with any Irish bloggers, and/or Twitterers, and/or Christians... if you know any, please leave a comment or e-mail me. Also, please comment or contact me if you've been there and know of places that we absolutely can't miss.
Book(s) I'm reading: Once we had the flights booked, I ordered three books: travel guide, , and by Phillip Freeman, my college Greek professor. I'm about 50 pages into In Search of Ancient Ireland, and hope to have that book and St. Patrick of Ireland read in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully reading them will make the trip both more interesting and more educational.
Music I'm digging: At the suggestion of , I downloaded by Meese (link opens in iTunes) and it's fantastic. If you like The Fray, you'll like Meese. The fact that the EP only has 4 songs just makes me want whatever they put out next even more. I also downloaded by Slow Runner. I heard the song "Make You Love Me" a while back, and have wanted to download Mermaids since... I finally got around to it. Everyone who reads this blog should emulate Scott and suggest good music to me. Kthx.
Something(s) that blew my mind: Today I installed the app (link opens in iTunes) on my iPhone, which, , "lets you take beautiful, seamless panoramic photos straight from your phone, no other software necessary." It is sweet. On my first try, I took a . I'll definitely be using Pano in Ireland.
Ministry update: We're busy preparing for a bunch of things: a Service of Remembrance on Thursday (for anybody who has lost loved ones), the Eikon Christmas Party, a spontaneous Parent's Night Out on the 19th (it wasn't on the calendar until last week), and Christmas Eve. Lots on my plate before Christmas! Oh, and I mentioned last week:
Seminary/ordination update: I've been having an ongoing conversation with my Senior Pastor about the best way to move forward. Stay tuned (but don't hold your breath).
Looking forward to: I would say Ireland, but that's not coming up this week, so I'll say I'm looking forward to ringing a bell for the Salvation Army this coming Saturday night. I just hope it isn't freezing.
Highlight of the week: I spent the better part of Saturday afternoon making a video with a couple of my high school students. We shot scenes in Valley West Mall, Barnes & Noble, Border's, and back at church. I have it done -- for the most part -- but it's not uploaded anywhere yet. It was a pretty fun time working on it, and I had a good time discovering all of the free music bundled with iMovie. Oh, and , too.
Book(s) I'm reading: I put on hold last week and read 's new book, . I love all of Gladwell's stuff, and I found this book to be particularly engrossing -- it was essentially Freakonomics-style thinking applied to our notions of how one becomes successful. Highly recommended,
Music I'm digging: I've been enjoying (link opens in iTunes) by Eluvium this past week, based on . Aside from a couple of beautiful solo piano tracks, Copia is rich ambient goodness.
Something(s) that blew my mind: .
Ministry update: Nothing new, really.
Seminary/ordination update: I'm currently maintaining a regarding seminary and ordination.
Looking forward to: Planning and researching a potential vacation...
Highlight of the week: I played a show for the first time in about six months last Friday night, and it was a blast. Lots of good friends were there at Mars Cafe, and it was a great atmosphere. I debuted a new song called "On Hold" and even played , complete with a stock drum machine loop. Thanks to everyone who came out!
Book(s) I'm reading: Still reading .
Music I'm digging: I downloaded (link opens in iTunes) by Jeremy Messersmith and listened to it a few times, but I don't like it as much as I'd hoped.
Something(s) that blew my mind: I went to an Otolaryngologist (a.k.a. ENT, a.k.a. Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor) today figure out what's really been wrong with my throat (I went to a walk-in clinic last week and the 30 seconds the doctor spent with me didn't exactly lead to a precise diagnosis). Anyway, I had a long metal tube with a camera in it put down my throat, and I got to see the video that was taken, which was mind-blowingly weird. I agree with the nurse who, before inserting the camera in my throat, said, "It's not exactly the prettiest part of the human body." The diagnosis: I have an ulcer on my right . .
Ministry update: Not a whole lot new to report this week. I'm planning on making a video this weekend with some high school students to promote next spring's auction. The premise? The search for a calendar of kittens wearing fedoras.
Seminary/ordination update: I was not accepted to Luther Seminary. I'm currently having conversations with some people close to me, discussing different options.
Looking forward to: A relaxing, post-Thanksgiving weekend.
Highlight of the week: I ran into at Caribou Coffee on Friday afternoon and we ended up . One thing led to another and we ended up going on a date to see Quantum of Solace on Saturday evening. It was (almost) just like old times.
Book(s) I'm reading: Still reading by Chuck Klosterman. I managed to squeeze in 10 or so pages at the doctor's office today.
Music I'm digging: Surprisingly, I haven't listened to a whole lot of music this past week. Any suggestions?
Something(s) that blew my mind: Feel like flying around virtually in a meticulously reconstructed ancient Rome? .
Ministry update: This past Sunday I a new song written exclusively for St. Mark for our current sermon series. We'll be singing it as a congregation for the next several weeks and (hopefully) well into the future. The plan is to compose original worship songs in line with whatever sermon series is coming up. As soon as I get a decent recording, I'll release the song on this blog for general consumption -- not because I'm egotistical enough to believe many people will want to use it in their community, but because I'm naïve enough to think somebody might.
Seminary/ordination update: TBA.
Looking forward to: Seeing a bunch of good friends this weekend and playing a show at Mars Cafe on Friday night. .
JakeBouma.com is a weblog maintained since 2005 by Jake Bouma, an ecclesial junkie and (imprudently) aspiring polymath who was recently diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma.
