Oscars Party

On the outside chance that you:

1.) took a playwriting class with me,

or

2.) participated in the Open Frame Film Contest

but

3.) didn't know about the oscar party at my house tomorrow night....

...now you do. So come.

Chili, popcorn, chips and cheese, brownies, pop and (yes, Ryan) juice.

see ya here.

alls well...

life is mostly constitued by habits, patterns, routines and normalcy these days.

Still, one must blog.

And I've been thinking more than the usual about the particular fabric of friends and family that constitute my life from afar. And wanted to get a shout out.

Whats Good:

Walter Bruggeman's Poetry / Voice
The Garden State Soundtrack
Hal Hartley's Vision of the World
Snow and Sunshine
Hearing from Old and Far Friends
My Birthday Is Coming
My Wife Announced a Coming Birthday Getaway
Two Parties This Weekend *&*
Wild Fun With David & Amy Who Are Sleeping Over All Weekend.
Watching Jules & Jim All Week
An Scholarly Examination of Stunt Men
Finally Got to See Gary's Wow & Flutter (Great!)
The Weeks Almost Over

Someone Somewhere is Living Their Life Well.

The Sommersville Gates is just the sort of worthwhile endeavour that I'd like to be posting on my blog this morning. Instead I'm constructing a test for my Basic Communication Skills class.

I don't know about you, but I've been feeling bad that I couldn't squeeze a trip to NY this month. The above link helped me feel much better about my loss.

I'm not sure *why* playfulness seems so much more worthwhile right now than rigour and developing discriminating standards.....

but it does.

Just When You Thought Evangelicalism Couldn't Be Any Funnier....

We used to sing a song in youth group that started with a dramatic, anthematic phrase,

"BE a missionary every day!"

(clap, clap, clap!)

This was just the sort of rousing opening we needed to get our evangelical blood pumping. There were roughly three themes that we talked about in youth group.

1.) we are pretty horrible sinners.

2.) but you should see the rest of the World. Try to stay away from them.

3.) unless you have an opportunity to convert them. In that case you can do *ANYTHING* that will round them up into the fold.

(and yes, cowboy terminology regarding the "lost" was actually quite common)

My friend Jay the historian argues that advertising and evangelicalism could never have become what they are without each other and without being here. In America. The assumptions they share are pretty foundational to the United Statesian worldview.

So when I read this blog today...I wasn't at all sure at first whether it was parody or vision casting. Which says a great deal either about the skill with which it was written *or* the context within which I grew up. Or maybe both?

A More Perfect Consumer Church