Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Cheers.
So I just got back from England, where in London a bird pooped on my jacket.
Also, I went to the International Congress on Preaching (www.preaching.com/icop) in Cambridge, which was organized by my employer, so I got to go for free. Of course, I worked the whole time. The congress (or 'conference' for us Yanks) went really well, even though we did get harassed and harangued by a German cult (link) which included this guy on the right:
Anyway, I drank lots of tea. After it was over, I got to walk about London, where I saw Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Westminster, and Big Ben. I also ate chicken tikki masala three times.
Some interesting cultural differences:
1. Coke is made with real sugar, not corn syrup. Also, Nando's is the only place where you can get free refills.
2. There is no water-use restriction on toilets, so flushing is like watching a miniature Niagara Falls. Also, I recommend not sitting all the way down when you do this.
3. They don't use shower curtains much (usually there's a 5'x3' token piece of glass), so bathrooms are completely tiled and caulked.
4. Biscuits = Cookies.
5. In the USA, a latte at Starbucks costs about $2.70. In the UK, a latte at Starbucks costs £2.70. Unfortunately, the conversion rate is their favor, so the UK latte really costs $5.41.
6. Take-Away = To-Go
7. Cheers = Thanks.
Labels: life
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Say yes to beautiful without paying the price.
While writhing in pain, nausea, and dizziness from a stomach bug last Monday, I discovered a few things in my bathroom. For example, the slogan on Suave shampoo is "say yes to beautiful without paying the price" - I'm still trying to figure out the ontological ramifications of that one. I also discovered that kleenex is an adequate yet ultimately unsatisfactory substitute for toilet paper, and that it's nice to have a clean towel to lay on in the bathroom floor. I also had a rather unpleasant review of my recent meals, conveniently thrown up for inspection:
• Episode #1 - that morning's coffee
• Episode #2 - more coffee, some pepperoni from the pizza the night before
• Episode #3 - a strange phlegmy viscous substance
• Episode #4 - a rather peculiar gray substance (gray? why was it gray?!)
The next half-dozen or so episodes were mostly just ginger ale consumed immediately before, which I drank just so that it would hurt less by actually having something to throw up. I also disliked the way that I'd wake up every 30 minutes from 3pm to 7am, and every time I'd think "Oh! Maybe it's morning and this is all over", then I'd throw up again. Fortunately, the vomiting stopped around 7pm. The weird thing was how my attitude changed with each episode, especially with an increasingly ambivalent regard to my personal cleanliness, and the way I wouldn't really be awake while throwing up and I'd start to drift off to dreamland with my head over the toilet, and suddenly I'd wake up and realize that it was me, and not someone else who was throwing up, and that I was the only person there. In retrospect, I think I'm going to design a headrest/kneepad combo for toilet seats. I think it'll sell - "Say yes to vomiting without the hard linoleum".
Labels: life
Monday, May 08, 2006
Stop Going Away!
Things have started disappearing lately, and it's made me kinda mad.
Chambers Guitars in Cool Springs. A fun little guitar store that was located right beside Baja Fresh. Used to, I could run by there during lunch, play around a bit, then go next door and get a fajita burrito. It's now gone, replaced by a beauty salon for trendy rich elementary school kids or something. There's still one in Nashville, but not during my lunch break. Goodbye, Chambers Guitars, I will miss you.
Guitar Heaven in Hickory Hollow. Another fun guitar store that has beaucoups of random guitar parts for guitar projects. It has moved to Murfreesboro. Goodbye, Guitar Heaven, I will miss you.
Wild Noodles. Where I went to get the wonderful chicken thai curry dish. This one is strange in that it didn't really go anywhere (well, maybe downhill). First, they replace the Coke fountain with a Pepsi fountain. Fine, I can handle Pepsi with my thai curry, plus at least they still had fresh-brewed ice tea. Then, they replaced the fresh-brewed ice tea with from-concentrate lipton crap. Fine, I can still handle Pepsi with my thai curry. BUT NOW! they've removed the thai curry from the menu. Goodbye, Wild Noodles, I feel like I don't know you anymore.
Labels: life
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Photos. No Photos.
I had this idea about putting a bunch of random photos up on my blog, of my adventures from 2000-2005, then finally decided against it. Why? Dunno. Photos, especially photo albums, are weird. I mean, basically, they're just devices for helping your memory out, and you think, "Do I want to remember all this?" Sure, they were great memories, but at the same time I think about what an idiot I was back in the day, haha. Not that I've got it all figured out now, because I certainly don't. All that time I think about all the dumb decisions I made because my theology was still tainted by Finneyisms and weird fundy junk. "What if this decision isn't God's Will?" - as if I could know that. "Maybe if I pray harder, I'll get a word from the Lord." Knowing then what I know now, could I still have enjoyed those adventures? No. Not if they played out with the same results.
Oh, the freedom of grace and of the sovereignty of God!
Thank God for teachers (either directly or through books) that explained that while you can know some things about what God would have us do (as revealed in the Bible), you can't know God's step-by-step roadmap for your life (see James 4:13-17). We must live by faith. Faith that we can live by His Word, seek to please Him, and then the rest is negotiable. As Martin Luther said, "Love God and do as you please" - and God's desires will gradually become our desires. Grace - not antinomianism, but freedom from legalism. And the freedom to get on with things.
And so, thinking about the past brings recall of all the decisions I'd have made differently. Maybe I'd have moved to California. Maybe I'd have joined that one band after all (okay, well, maybe not). But God is sovereign, and He has a plan (even if He doesn't share all the details with us). God allowed me to think the way I did so that I would make the decisions I made to bring me to the point where I am now. For what purpose? I don't know. Well, in general, I do: His Glory. Specifically, I don't know. But there are no what-ifs. Dwelling on regrets seems pointless, almost like a lack of faith in God to accomplish His purpose. Never before did Romans 8:28 seem so true: "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."
It also reminds me of when I began to overcome my shyness in order to make dozens and dozens of friends. I finally realized that a few hundred shallow friendships (not meant pejoratively) are really hard to keep up with, and gradually I found I maintain a deeper friendship with maybe a dozen people, and so photos remind me of all the people I've lost track of. (And then there's MySpace where I can send my other two hundred friends a bulletin and avoid the formalities.) But the really bad part now is a lack of interest in meeting new people, because they'll just fall by the wayside too. If I decide "Is this a person I'd really like to hang out with a lot?", then I'll usually make the effort. How selfish of me. Actually, that's not always quite what happens. It's a weird tension. I'll make the effort to meet people, but not always make the effort to deepen the relationship because I figure they'll be gone soon as well. Which is dumb, because of course they be gone sometime or another, but we should be thankful for the meaningful friendships that we do have, when we have them. I guess memories are there for a reason.
Anyway, if you really want to see all my photos, you can ask me to see the hardcopies in person. :)
Labels: life
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Thirty years ago today...
"Right here in New York City... magic happened. An artist was born that would rival Leonardo da Vinci... or Michelangelo. But his tools would not be pen, nor brush, nor chisel, nor palette. His tools would be his comically over-sized glasses... and his soul. So please... welcome... the greatest performer ever to have graced this Earth, Andy Scates."
Okay, not quite like that.
So big deal, 30 is just an arbitary number. Unfortunately, it's also an arbitrary number chosen by health insurance companies to raise montly payments at. What I didn't expect was to actually be sore all over today - I thought that was a gradual thing, not something that hits the instant you turn 30. Of course, it might have been that McDonalds bacon and egg biscuit that somebody gave me yesterday, which was the first time I'd had McDonalds anything in a year. Ew. Tasted good, though.
Labels: life
Friday, January 13, 2006
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Murky Buckup!
While, um, standing in the men's room today, I could hear the garbled words of women from the ladies' room next door from through the ceiling tiles. This reminded me of a similar situation many years ago in a men's part of a changing/shower/restroom at the Ocoee River rafting place, where we could clearly hear the girls talking about whatever from over the wall. I mentioned to Scott, "Do you think the girls realized that we could hear them talking?", to which he laughed. I mentioned this to Andrea later, to which she replied, "Really? We didn't hear any of you guys..." So I explained to her that guys usually don't talk in the men's room, especially if there are strangers present.
This reminded me a television commercial for a short-lived sitcom back in the late 90s. I forget its name, and I never actually saw the show, but it starred some blonde comedienne (not Tea Leone). Anyway, this lady and her friends got fed up with waiting outside the ladies' room, so they went to the men's room. So, they're awkwardly standing in the men's room with the guys, and the lady tries to make conversation:
Lady: "Nice day, isn't it?"
Man: "WE DON'T TALK IN THE MEN'S ROOM!!!"
Another commercial featured said comedienne dressed as a french maid who delivered the entire promo to the camera in french, with subtitles below. But the genius part came at the end, when right after the ABC-announcer-man stated the time slot of the show, he phonetically pronounced merci beaucoup "murky buckup" with no furthur explanation. Brilliant.
Labels: film/tv/books/arts, life
Friday, August 26, 2005
So, anyway, I'm in this band...
So, I'm in this indie/americana band called God's Lonely Man. Above photo, L-R: Micah writes songs, sings, and plays guitar; I play bass; Adam plays guitar; Jason plays drums. (Jason and Adam also play in a band called Foxhole.) It's fun. Our first show as a whole band will be at Spencer's Coffeehouse in Bowling Green, KY on Friday, September 2 at 8:00. I'm excited.
Check out our website: www.godslonelyman.info
Labels: life
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
My Condominium.
Did I mention I bought one? It has 900 sq.ft., two bedrooms, and is in Franklin, Tennessee. Still haven't unpacked, but I'm enjoying it so far.
My Car Engine.
Did I mention I had it replaced? sigh...
Labels: life
Sunday, January 23, 2005
Things I've tried really hard to like:
1. Cheesecake
2. Adam Sandler Movies
Seriously. I've tried really hard to like both. I like cream cheese, cake, and Adam Sandler's songs about Hannukah and his Red-Hooded Sweatshirt, and I'm sure he's a nice guy. I even like my friend's impersonation of Adam Sandler, but I just can't get into his movies. Or cheesecake. I want to like both of these things, but I just can't do it. Oh well.
Labels: life
Friday, December 31, 2004
A Brief Recap of This Current Season:
As the year draws to a close, I decided to recap what all I have experienced in the past year. I then realized that years are rather arbitrary ways of marking time, so I decided to start with the last major transition in my life, which goes back about two years. Anyway, in this season of my life I have experienced (in no particular order):
• The death of both my grandmothers.
• The remarriage of my mother.
• Learning that God's sovereign plan for my life will not necessarily be revealed to me ahead of time, if at all, and that if I'm being conformed to His Word, walking by faith, and trying to please Him, I'm allowed some apparent freedom in doing what I want to do.
• Learning about the important role of the local church in a christian's life.
• Learning a great deal about the Bible, theology, and how to think both rationally and biblically.
• Getting prideful about newfound knowledge, and getting humbled for not realizing that all I know is a insignificant drop in the bucket.
• Learning patience and grace for others, and that not every hill is worth dying on.
• Indian food.
• Learning that walking by faith necessarily includes walking.
• Joining and quitting a band that later got signed.
• Heartbreak and getting over it.
• Building my own custom Jazzmaster guitar.
• Quitting my job and moving to a new city to find work.
• Moving again... and again...
• The Fender Jaguar Baritone Custom.
• Starting to look for a house to buy.
• Pre-shelled hazelnuts by the bag.
Things will continue to change. The bad always comes too soon and the good seems to take forever, but what can I say? God is good, and I can't really complain. Happy New Year.
Labels: life
Sunday, July 25, 2004
Sunburns + Jellyfish: 0
Andy: 1
So, I went to Florida with my church's youth group for summer youth camp. It was great. We met another church down there at Laguna Beach (west of Panama City) for a week of worship and relaxation. I got to play in the Gulf of Mexico for a significant amount of time, and received no sunburns nor jellyfish stings. Nor sharkbites for that matter. I sorta surfed (I stayed on the board for 2 whole seconds), and I got to hang out with the kids and get to know them. On the way back home, we went through Atlanta to eat at Pappasito's, a fantastic tex-mex restaurant with live mexican music. It was great.
Atlanta Traffic: 2
Surfboards: 0
As we approached Atlanta, where the interstate highway went from the normal four lanes to six lanes, the surfboards (belonging to Smedly and Janet) fell off the trailer and were subsequently destroyed by traffic. It was sad. So we pulled over and Smed jumped out of the van to retrieve them. I wasn't too far behind. Janet and Rolando came after me as well. One board got knocked to the median and Smed ran out and got it. The other board was broken in half and I was able to get it out of the highway. Thankfully, no one got hurt, and there were no car accidents. Running across a freeway dodging Atlanta traffic is not fun, but God was gracious to protect us.
Labels: life
Sunday, June 27, 2004
Sunburns+Ticks: 2
Andy: 0
I received a sunburn and a tick this weekend. The tick came off with a pair of pliers (unwillingly, mind you). The pliers had little effect upon the sunburn, however. Here is a diagram showing the affected areas:
Labels: life
Thursday, June 17, 2004
So, this one time at a band meeting...
Clint and I were almost in this band with Josh and Gregg. I quit, and Clint thought he quit, but really I think he just stopped going, because he got kicked out later, haha. Anyway, they have an record coming out in the fall and you can check them out at dayoffire.com, and it should be good.
Labels: life
Monday, June 14, 2004
Welcome Back!
My cousin Jake is safely home from Baghdad. He also got to meet George W. Bush.
At our grandparents' house, there was a clipboard filled with drawing paper for us kids. I would usually develop some 8-year-old artistic masterpiece, and Jake would offer his revisions when I wasn't looking. Unfortunately, I did not consider the drawings to be under the umbrella of "collaborative projects", and we often had some creative strife as a result.
Afterwards, we would go to the kitchen and eat straight Nestle Quick powder.
Labels: life
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
U-Haul does not make moving easier.
So, last Tuesday or Wednesday I reserve a 14-foot U-Haul truck to move a washer/dryer, two couches, a coffeetable, an exercise bike, and 3 or 4 boxes to my dad's house. So Saturday morning I go to pick it up, and they don't have it. (Immediately the Seinfeld episode comes to mind... "you know how to take the reservation, you just don't know how to hold the reservation.")
Please call the 1-800 number...
After 15 minutes of holding, I get a service rep who says that there are no trucks in the Nashville area (see above photo), but one should be turned back in soon, and we'll call you when it's available, maybe 30 minutes to an hour. Two hours later, we're still on hold (my mom and Anthony Brooks are also on hold trying to get through), and finally Anthony gets ahold of someone (Teresa), and uses his uncanny skills of persuasion to have them call us back in ten minutes, yea or nay.
Five minutes later, Teresa calls back and says that they don't have a 14-foot truck, but they do have a 26-foot truck. Sure, why not? (I wasn't driving, anyway.) So we put my few items in the truck, and there was room leftover to put my car in there too, except the truck's wheel wells got in the way.
Sometime later, we're on the road to Lexington. An hour out of Nashville, we find an accident on I-40W, and traffic is stopped. So after 15 minutes of sitting in my car, people are walking around, I'm reading a book, and someone knocks on my car window. It's Mr. Mallard, my college art professor. So we talk for about five minutes until traffic starts moving again, and it went about 20 mph for the next ten minutes.
I never actually saw any wrecked vehicles, either. Hm.
Labels: life
Monday, May 17, 2004
There are no such things are MURPs™. Shame, really.
Also, the air conditioner in my office building is obscenely cold, and we're pretty sure that the thermostat controls we have access to are purely cosmetic. I have to put on a jacket everytime I go inside...
Labels: life
Friday, May 07, 2004
"File Under: Ring" (well, actually, "over")
I pull into work this morning, and this woman (who works in the same building we have our office in) pulls her Suburban in next to mine. As we get out, she asks me if I can help to move a filing cabinet (aquired at a yard sale) in the back of her vehicle – not actually out of the vehicle, but just to lay it down differently so that it doesn't fall over and break a window while she's driving. It's steel and very heavy. So I go to the back door and she goes to the side door, and we get it turned down properly, and my hand gets stuck underneath it, but cushioned by the carpet on the floor. She says, "my hand is stuck." I say, "so is mine," but she apparently didn't have the benefit of the carpet as I did, since I was at the back door and she was at the side door. So I get my hand free and help to raise the cabinet up so she can get her hand out. Unfortunately, the cabinet squashed her wedding ring to where it was cutting off circulation in her finger. So I got some pliers out of my trunk and had to squish her ring from the side so that she could get it off her finger. It was still bent really bad. Fortunately, she took it to a jeweler at lunch and he fixed it for free. That was nice of him.
Labels: life
Tuesday, April 20, 2004
Wasps. Why did it have to be wasps?
While drinking my coffee this morning, I heard a low buzzing sound in my apartment, and there it was: a big red wasp. So I went to my room, grabbed a shoe in right hand and my leather coat in my left (as a make-shift shield), and returned to the den to slay the beast. But he was nowhere to be found. And yet, I know he's still there, lurking about, waiting for me to return, so that he can go for my face.
Actually, he's probably just aimlessly wandering around looking for a place to make a nest, and he just happened to wander into my apartment.
If only Ben the 3/4" Wolf Spider were still alive, I bet he'd take care of that wasp.
Labels: life
Thursday, April 15, 2004
Wednesday, April 14, 2004
Well, I got new glasses.
The sun is shining again.
In other news, The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra is now available for pre-order on Amazon.
Okay, so about my glasses. I got two pairs – they had a special running. Anyway, so I've discovered that my left ear is about 3/16 of an inch lower than my right ear. That's slightly disconcerting, but apparently not that uncommon. What's weird though is that I've always looked in the mirror and tilted my head so that my ears were level. Now apparently I've discovered that I've had my head crooked for all these years, when it's been my ears all along. Yet another pillar of my life has been torn down, haha.
Labels: life
