Lincoln

Oh Captain, My Captain!
A memory dead.
A sedative of liberty
Taken by head.
The sweet taste of victory
forever bereft.
A heart now retired
deep in you chest,
sealed, cemented,
somehow alive.
Why else would we struggle;
Why else would we strive
To measure our passions
Against one so grave
And ask anymore
When you already gave
A life?
You haunt us.
So rigid,
Hands no longer grasp.
The United States
Writhes on the grass.
You tower, apocalypse,
But no strength remains,
trussed up by the centuries
that still bear the stain
of blood– life blood.
How would you judge
If you could?
Seated so long,
We paraded before you;
You heard every song.
Would you rise from the throne;
Come down from the mountain;
Bless us,
Or leave us penniless?

She'll be there for you..

If you consider yourself a fan of "Friends" and a smart person, you may want to check out what Lisa Kudrow has been up to. It's a free web series called "Web Therapy" where she plays a psychiatrist starting a practice on the internet. It proves that Lisa has talent and brains that her sitcom career only grazed. Enjoy.

Great Story. Will make you happy but not puke happy.

Missing

I'm trapped inside a horrible Disney ...

A Dog's Life

    I'm trapped inside a horrible Disney movie. If your thinking "Shaggy Dog," you're barking up the right tree.
    I noticed it first that morning in my legs. They felt suspended and thin. I rolled over with unusual difficulty but drifted again back to sleep. The clock kept ticking. It sounded broken, like the motor was moving a two-by-four instead of second hand. I tried to cover my ears and that's when I completely freaked out. I spasmed wildly, throwing myself out of bed head first. I lay on the floor stunned. I felt a bizarre ridged feeling that traveled somehow beyon my spine; my mouth felt hot, like I had a warm sponge jammed in it. My lower leg began to twitch in a passive circle almost on its own.
    Sasha, my dog, ran around the bed and froze at the sight of me. She doubled in size; a low growl, as overpowering as a sub-woofer, filled my ears.
    "Sasha! Quite!" my wife yelled into her pillow. "Baby, what are you doing?"
    "Baby?"
    Why was she still talking into her pillow?
    Her head peaked over, she screamed, jumped off the bed, into the bathroom and locked the door, sobbing. I could hear her calling for me but everything sounded garbled except for Sasha's bark which exploded into a cacophony of agitation. I didn't know what to do. I kicked violently and managed to right myself which frightened Sasha and sent her to the other side of the room. I managed to stand up on all fours but found myself facing the wall with little room to navigate in the space beside our bed. I awkwardly spun around which introduced me to my tail. It swished happily at the recognition.
    The bedroom suddenly felt like a series of rooms and hallways. Around the corner, Sasha clawed at the door to escape me. Thank God we bought a sissy lab and not a pit-bull. I lowered my head and tried to think about keeping my ears down. It felt really weird. I approached her slowly and she peed on the floor, exactly what I was hoping to avoid. The smell was instant and solid as a wall. I contorted my face violently trying to block the assault. Stupid. I should have let her come to me. But my wife was still calling for me from the bathroom on the other side of the bed. Since going around the bed was now out of the question, I suddenly realized I could go over it.
    Getting my wife out of the bathroom took a while. Learning to accept my transformation took even longer. After numerous vet visits, a missing persons investigation, a chaotic media circus that eventually dwindled, the issue eventually settled down. We decided to let most people think I'm missing.
    I probably have only eight years to live which will be shortly after I'm declared legally dead. But we work it out the best we can. Thankfully, she's stayed with me even though a number of guys have tried to hit on her on our walks. I let them know they're not welcome, and she pats my head and shows them her wedding ring. Mine is attached to my collar. It isn't easy for either of us and I sometimes have to fight against some rather bizarre urges which I won't go into here.
    As a dog, life isn't too bad. No human will ever understand how amazing it feels to run across a field with four legs at full tilt. Fire-hydrants work a lot like chat-rooms and car rides are like channel surfing on drugs. I do a lot of police-work for the state after we arranged a rather unorthodox contract and we sometimes travel to New York for the occasional acting gig. As far as food goes, well, I've always been easy to please.
    Not everything is easy: we switched doorknobs and lowered light switches; we had to put in carpet instead of linoleum; I have a skin condition that sucks. We do our best. Sasha and I get along okay, but remaining dominant around other dogs frightens me a little. Not because I'm scared of them but I don't like how I change. We keep me away from other dogs.
     Being a dog robs me of normal human interaction. I have difficulty understanding my wife and speaking is out of the question. Fortunately, I can still read so with the help of a floor computer and a custom keyboard, I remain fairly communicative. I've kept up a correspondence with Cesar Milan from "The Dog Whisperer" which has proven helpful in ways he does not expect. He thinks I'm a gifted trainer.    
     Would I go back to being a human if I could? Without question. My life isn't bad, but it's a dog's life.

I am Iron Man

Finally saw the movie. I knew I would like it and I did but I was surprised at the ending. I was supposed to hate the ending. All my friends with similar movie taste told me, "I loved the movie until the last line, then I was like ughh." If you haven't seen it I am about to spoil it.

Ready.

You've got two seconds...

and...

Tony Stark tells the press he's Iron Man.

To me, no big deal. In fact I think it was a great idea. That's one less superhero with the incredibly overplayed dual identity motif. Maybe it's because I'm not as familiar with Tony Stark but in the context of the film, I thought it was pitch perfect. The whole thing was about him dedicating his life to something worthwhile and he doesn't have the kind of personality to put that in the background.

Anyway, loved the movie, and would love to discuss this issue with all who think I'm crazy.

Let's use this sucker

Well, I initially started this blog as a way to post questions for a Bible study, but now I'm realizing cool people keep blogs (and even cooler people check them!). I'm looking forward to the holidays, especially since many people that I've missed should be in the area. Shweet!

We went to bed crazy early last night, so I'm feeling really good right now. Hope everyone else is doing okay!

Read Genesis 14:8-24

1. What is your impression of the world of Abram's time?

2. Why might have Abram given a portion to Melchizedek?

3. What details interested you in this passage?

Read Psalm 110

4. The writer (David) speaks of the LORD and my Lord, referring to God the Father and Christ the Son. With this in mind, what has been fulfilled and what has yet to be fulfilled?

5. The Lord is compared to dew. What does that mean? What other miracles occurred in the morning/at dawn?

Read Luke 20: 34-44

6. When facing death, it is popular to say that death is part of life. Would Jesus agree with this? Why does the coming age concern us?

(Bonus) How would you answer Jesus' question?

Read Hebrews 7

7. You have now read everything the Bible says about Melchizedek. How is he important? Why is so little written about him?

8. Why does the writer of Hebrews stress the supremacy of Melchizedek?

9. In light of this chapter, what purpose is there for the Old Testament?

10. How is Christ's eternal service as High Priest comforting for the Christian?

Read Hebrews 8

11. Do you have any questions about this chapter?

1. What were some of the characteristics of your favorite teacher?

2. Under what condition would you take skydiving lessons from someone who never had or would do it?

Read Chapter 5

3. Why is it important to have a sympathetic high priest, and a sympathetic high priest?

4. Jesus lineage was not from Aaron. Why would this be difficult for the Jews and good news for the world?

Read Chapter 5:8-9

5. a. Did Jesus earn son-ship?

b. at whose hands, and for what guilt did Jesus suffer?

c. Does "made perfect" mean he was at fault?

d. Why hasn't Jesus always been high priest?

Read 5:14

6. According to this verse, what process must be taking place for us to understand any of this?


Read Chapter 6:1-12


7. What do verse 1-3 talk about?

8. How might you connect the warnings of 4-8 to verse 1-3?

Read 9-12 carefully

9. In your own experience, what do you need to truly invest yourself into something; where do you spend your time?

Read 13-20

10. How do these verses assure us? How does someone keep from drifting?

Hebrews Chapter 3 and 4

Chapter 1 of Hebrews established that Jesus is superior in position and power to the angels. Chapter 2 warns us to think about and not drift away from the salvation provided through Christ, then outlines the work of Christ as well as our current and future relationship to him.

1. Is there anything from the previous chapters that you would like to remember or talk about?


Read Hebrews 3:1-6


2. The writer calls the readers "holy." Do you consider yourself in a different situation than these early Christians? Do you consider yourself holy?


3. Through what did the Jews traditionally associate holiness?


4. How might this text reassure and challenge the Hebrew believer then, and the Christian today?


Review in the OT: Numbers, Chapter 14 then follow with the rest of Hebrews, Chapter 3.


5. Between the two text, there is a correlation between "land" and "rest." How would you explain this? What might the NT equivalent of "wandering in the desert" be? (Brownie points for looking up "rest" in the dictionary)


6. Numbers 14:20 says that God forgave the people, yet they suffered consequences. Do you see this in your own life?


7.How well and why do you rest?


Read Hebrews Chapter 4


8. Thinking of "rest" as the promise land, what day are we to enter it?


9. What weapon should be used to enter that rest/promise land, and against whom is that weapon used? (Hebrews 4:12,13)


Read Hebrews 4:14-16 again.


10. Why is it important that Christ sympathize with our weakness while remaining perfect?


Close with Matthew 11:25-30

Hebrews Chapter 1 and 2


1. What seems to be the main point of Chapter 1?

2. According to the text, which of the following is a role of Jesus?

a. Spokesman for God
b. Beneficiary or Heir
c. Creator
d. Representative to God
e. Superior to the angels
f. King
g. "a" and "c"
h. I see what your doing; it's all of them.

3. If this were a resume, what part would the Old Testament play? The New Testament?


Try to get a feel for the context of these verses.

Psalm 2:7; 2Samuel 7:14, 1 Chron. 17:13; Deaut. 32:43; Psalm 104:4; Psalm 45:6,7; Psalm 102:25-27; Psalm 110:1.


4. What is helpful and challenging about reading the referred to text?

Read Hebrews Chapter 2

5. According to verse 1, what is the threat to the Christian, and what is the responsability of the Christian?

Read 2 John 8,9.

6. More than baptism or predestination, what is the one thing the Christian has to absolutely get right?

7. According to Hebrews Chapter 2: 8b, what is the obvious difficulty of being a Christian?

8. Think of when you learned to swim or ride a bike or something else scary and unfamiliar. What's the advantage of someone you trust going first? How nice would it be to have an awesome older brother who is proud of you?

9. The second half of chapter 2 talks about Christ's mission on earth. Does your head hurt?

10. What is one you thing you learned in the second chapter?


Bonus:

Read Luke 22:39-46. An angel strengthens Jesus in his darkest hour. I wonder if he read Isaiah 51:17-23.

How cool is the Bible!?

First time for everything

The last time I tried anything like this, it was Xanga. I expect equal results.