week in review

Wow, didn't mean to go so long with a basically negative post greeting anyone stumbling onto this page. Guess I should update.

I've become a morning coffee drinker. All day long I'm guzzling this huge water bottle, so I don't get my caffiene during the day anymore like I did when I was a Coke drinker. This had led to headaches and a bad temper. My co-workers have even referred to my attitude as "doo-doo on a stick". So coffee has helped temper my...um...temper.

This past Wednesday I had to go back to the doctor to check on my stone. For the first time in my life, I had a good looking nurse. Wait, scratch that. TWO good looking nurses. They were really nice and smelled amazing. That was great, because next I got to see the X-Ray of my stone. It's friggin' HUGE! I shuddered when I thought of having to pass this thing. Still do.

The wedding last weekend was actually not that bad. I got to see some old friends and make new ones. My only complaint was...get this...the kidney stone. I was so high on painkillers during the wedding that I thought I was going to pass out. I was seriously shuffling and blinking a lot. Thankfully no one seemed to notice and the wedding was a success.

And Thanksgiving is here next week, which is great for two reasons. One, I love the food. Two, I can get into the Christmas spirit. My work has been playing Christmas music already and I'm sort of a Scrooge about that. I want Thanksgiving out of the way first. Then we can celebrate.

On a different note, I have been reading a book that has been pretty hard to put down. I started it yesterday on lunch break/before Oxygen/before bed and got about halfway through it. It's called Pathways to Abandon by Nathan Schnackenburg, and it's about a guy who grew up a missionary kid in Japan, moved back to America, and went a little crazy. It's basically a testimony, but it's been pretty entertaining. I like to hear stories of where people have been and what shapes them into who they are now. So if you need something to read in this cold weather, this is a pretty good choice.

going fast when i should wait

I went to the doctor yesterday about my kidney stones. I never like going to the doctor. I sat in his office for a few hours on painkillers. I fell asleep a few times...and reportedly was a certifiable jerk on occasion. Those pills do that to me. Anyway, I got checked out and now I know that I have a 3mm stone on the outside of my kidney that gets stuck in my tubes and makes me act like a baby. I have a 60-70% chance of passing it.

So even though I have been slowing things down a little bit, I have to slow it even more. Doctor's orders. Also lots of water. And maybe lots of Drank, too.

But at least I'm off work today. Veteran's Day! I've been able to clean up a little around the house and play some Gears of War 2. I'm a 25 year old kid. But I love my multimedia.

And speaking of which, I am ready for this album later on this month. Check that hair.

an early November update

It has been quite a week so far. New president-elect, and because of that there's nothing to watch on TV. But I'm wondering...when are all these people moving to Canada/Australia?

And I really don't want to get into the election stuff. I could talk about it all day, but for what purpose? Speculation? I don't know what the next 4-8 years will bring. I will just say that regardless of our leader, we need to pray for God's will to be done. Same for Obama as it would have been for McCain. And let's stop with the hate speech, Christians. Some of you are so worried about the anti-Christ...well the Bible speaks of many anti-Christs. Think of what that means. Against Christ. The opposite of Christ. And who exactly does that apply to? Everyone who says that Christ is not who He says He is. All liars and slanderers of His name. So...let's think, people. Don't become an anti-Christ. Pray, be diligent, and trust God. You know your Savior...let Him continue to be that.

On a lighter subject, I really got a kick out of this: an older man (83 years old) came in and did a loan today and I had the privilege of talking with him. This guy was hilarious. He wasn't the crotchety old man who's mad at the world, nor was he the super sweet old guy who all the women say "He's so cute" about...he was just an older guy who, while a little senile, has seemingly stayed relevant his whole life. Among his words of wisdom ("you shouldn't have kids if you're not willing to take care of them even when they're in their sixties...", "I think we should give Obama a fair chance before we throw him out..."), he also said lots of old guy stuff ("...it's really hard to write with this arthritis in my hands. It's also in my feet....blah blah blah...").

But one of the funniest things he said was when he was talking about his sons. He said, "I raised my sons right. I took them to church and made them sit beside me. I know they were saved. I lost one of my sons, too. He was about your age." At this point there was a long pause and I started feeling some sympathy for him. To lose a son at 25 had to be hard. Then he said, "Well, I don't know. He was 52. How old are you?" I almost laughed. I said, "25." Then we both laughed for a long time.

As far as my kidney stones, I think this round is over! I've passed 2 of them in the past 2 weeks. I'm still sore and I still haven't gotten into my routine of exercising again, but I'm positive that I can very soon.

Oh yeah...I'm exercising to get in better shape both for myself and for my upcoming ski trip in March. Speaking of which, my cousin backed out of the trip...so it will be me with my aunt and uncle and two family friends. All cool people, trust me, but still...it would have been nice to have another young person going. So if you want to go to beautiful Breckinridge/Keystone, Colorado in March (or know someone who does), please let me know! There's time to work out details. And it would be awesome.

To wrap up, I'm gonna post album covers of some of the most listened tunes on my iPod here lately. I encourage you to check them out. I'll write a little about them, and then it's back to work.

More brilliance from Adams and his full band. Alt-country with a contemplative swagger. My picks: "Go Easy", "Magick", "Let Us Down Easy", "Natural Ghost".

The Strokes' guitarist's second solo album, it's full of catchy riffs and songs that just stick in your head. My picks: "GfC", "Lisa", "You Won't Be Fooled By This".

Ex-Pedro the Lion frontman prepares for his full length solo album with an EP released last year ("Fewer Moving Parts") and this two-song single released this past Tuesday. Both songs are great. "American Flags" and "Please, Baby, Please (Demo)".

tired of pain

Amazingly, the self-torture I spoke of in the last post has given birth to another type of bodily misery...kidney stones.

I have had kidney stones off and on for about 4 years now. Most of them are attributed to carbonated drinks (Coke, how I love you...) and too much calcium (milk? cheese? I dunno). So now and again I'll go on hiatus from fizzy drinks to cleanse my body. And since I've been running in addition to chugging water daily, stones that have been dormant in my kidneys have decided to escape. Wednesday afternoon the pain was pretty much unbearable. I went home from work an hour early to go home and roll around on my floor while making ungodly noises. I eventually got some medication to knock me out. Later that night I passed a stone. One word: ouch.

At 2 AM Thursday, however, I had another pain in my back. I got up and took another pill to allow myself to sleep. I went to work later on and was in a drug-induced daze all day long. After work I went home and crashed for a couple hours. Then, miraculously, I felt all better.

Now here I am today, knowing that there's a stone inside me that is just waiting. I want it to get out, but I know that's not really up to me. Ah well. Maybe it'll hit me on this Halloween night and I can scare small children with my screams...