:: this is home

just a quick update, since i kinda left everything hanging with me in starkvegas and lots has happened since then.

i'm back in the dirty dell (slidell, la for those unacquainted with the place). before heading home i had to fill my gas tank up for the first time in a good while, and i was unpleasantly surprised. sure, i figured that since the cost of gas had risen since i last filled my gas tank that it would naturally be more expensive. what i didn't know was that it would cost me $48 bucks to do so. and there's more great news! the price for a barrel of oil has gone up by another $16 a barrel, meaning things will continue to get worse and it will get worse a lot quicker. i'm no economist, but i am poor. and i know that soon i'm not going to be able to go anywhere. anyway, enough of that.

so, i got back thursday afternoon and i was greeted by an empty house. it was kinda sad, my mom and dad were still at work and my brother and sister were both at a camp (and they'll still be there for another week). now, i'm not the kinda guy that gets super homesick, but i've got to be honest, i really missed my family over the past few months. i think before this weekend, i'd seem them twice in three months. but soon my mom got home and started cooking the most amazing chicken tortilla soup i've ever had (and that's saying a lot, as i really enjoy a good cup o' chicken tort from mccallister's). i think it was a mixture of the great feeling of being home, the fact that it was the first good, home cooked meal that i've had in a while, and the spices that made that meal amazing. then my mom surprised me with some good desert and my mom and dad and i sat down to watch some jeopardy (which i'd already seen that morning, but didn't admit that. so, of course, i threw in a few of the right answers that i had remembered. gotta keep up the appearance that i'm learning something in school...). after dinner, i headed straight over to becca's (my girlfriend's) house and hung out with her for a good, long while. i really missed her. she's my best friend.

friday was spent from sun up to sun set setting up my hometown church for becca's sister's (rachel's) wedding. by the time we had finished, that blue and gray gymnasium was looking like an amazing, (eloquent even!) dining hall. it was great to see so many ladies from the church volunteering to help get things ready. that night was the rehearsal dinner, to which i was invited. it was all great fun.

saturday morning was spent getting ready for the wedding. i hadn't dressed up in a while, so i had to dig through the closet to find something that both fit and looked good. i did, and headed up to the church. wow. it was a great service. becca looked great, as did rachel. and rachel and her finacee-now-husband micheal were so happy for that day to finally come. after the service and the reception came the breakdown. by this point in the wonderful louisiana weather of the day, things were starting to get uber humid. even in the day that i spent help setting up for the wedding, i had no idea how much there was to breakdown and load back up. so, there was a lot to do and some bad conditions to do it in. that wasn't the most fun part of the day, but i was glad to help out.

today i got to go up to the camp where my brother and sister are staying and hang out with them. it was great to see my brother again (i'd already gotten to see my sister, who came back down for the wedding). tomorrow is gonna be my day to find a job here in slidell. i've got bills to pay back in starkville, and like we discussed earlier, gas and things in general are getting more and more expensive.

i've still got to digest the importance of being foolish (manning) and the imitation of christ (thomas a kempis) but when i get the time i'll post something. also, lots of good music coming up soon too, i'll be sure to listen and give a rundown.

lastly, if you look down at the "comments" section of the last post, you'll notice that there actually is another person who at least stumbled upon this blog. that gesture is much appreciated. so, i thought i'd return the favor. you can join me in checking her blog out here. good stuff. sure, i'm aware i might have just refered this blog's only other reader/browser to her own blog, but you never know...

anyway, hope this next week goes well for all of you...

more to come...

:: thoughts on a few good books...

work has been slowing down a bit. the first couple of weeks i had to answer calls back-to-back. but since then, there have been a lot of new hires and now it's to the point where i get a call every half an hour.needless to say, that can lead to lots of free time where all you can do is stare at the walls of your cubicle. so i've been bringing a book and reading in between calls. and i've been able to read a lot. so far i've finished tracy kidder's justice to the action that farmer has taken just to stop at that. it's really stirred a desire to do more. it's something that, as a christian, i know i'm supposed to be doing anyway. but this is a story that shows how practical and important it is to do something that will make a difference in the lives of those around me, in the lives of the poor and down-trodden, in the lives of the people that everyone else would have given up on. here's a video interview that 60 minutes did with farmer in cange, haiti and zanmi lasante. it will give you more of a picture of farmer's life's work. also, you can check out his organization, partner's in health, in the list of links to the right...



after that great book, i started reading an completely different book. chuck palahniuk's fight club is a book that i've been looking forward to getting to. i really liked the movie, starring brad pitt and edward norton (oh, and meatloaf). so, i was eager to read the book and see how they stacked up. and they did so surprisingly well. there were some parts that were omitted from the movie, but i could see why some of them were left out to keep the story moving. there are some lines in the movie that are directly from the book. that's another thing that i've really enjoyed about the book. palahnuik has a great style of writing. he keeps things short and to the point, but each short line is packed. he also writes in a style that both makes sense with the major plot twist of the story and also seems to vibrate on the same wavelength as my brain. what i mean to say is, it's very random and fast-paced. there are whole chapters that seem to jump back and forwards between two stories almost seamlessly. this book, like the movie, isn't for the faint of heart. there is a good bit of violent, graphic content. but i really enjoyed reading it. it was actually one of the fastest reads i've ever been through.

i'd like to get into the importance of being foolish, as i love manning's take on religion and grace, but it's getting late. i've already gotten a lot out of the first half of the book. but i want to finish it, probably tomorrow, and then i'll get back here and share my thoughts on it.

more to come...