I’m still in Phoenix (or actually Scottsdale) and someone recommended that I check out this awesome coffee shop tonight; I was looking for a place to hang out for a little while before I go swing dancing. Miscalculated a bit… they close in 4 minutes — but this place is amazing. I feel like I’m in the coffee version of a microbrewery. Yep, that’s a roaster in the pic - they roast everything right here in the shop. I like it. :) Too bad I can’t hang out for awhile!

Chicago Blues Festival and CUBE were AWESOME!!! Holy smokes what a great weekend! Was a little crazy but worth every minute.

I got home from Phoenix at about 2am Saturday morning, slept for a few hours, played a softball game, then hung out with everyone staying out at my place for CUBE. We made breakfast then went down to the blues festival for the rest of the day. Then came home, cleaned up, and went the late-night party which started at midnight. Didn’t stay long… came home and went to bed around 2 so I could get up for church this morning… then had lunch at church… now frantically getting laundry done and packing before small group and the flight back to Arizona. Yup. Crazy.

Found a great club and had a great time dancing on Wednesday night in Phoenix! You can see some much better pics of us dancing in the gallery here:

http://www.clubredswing.com/photoGallery.aspx

I got a haircut this afternoon. Rode my bike the mile or so over to Milio’s and upon arriving discovered that there was a big street festival going on. So after the haircut I walked over and got myself a huge chicago-style brat and listened to this band rock out a bunch of amazing covers. You can even (barely) see the train up in the top right corner of the pic.

I love that there are street festivals all over the place with live bands and food and all kinds of little shops and people everywhere! It’s going to be a great summer. :)

Interesting exchange between atheist Christopher Hitchens and Theologian Douglas Wilson, around the question “Is Christianity Good for the World”.

Got a little heated at times but I think there was some good content in there. Most of Wilson’s discussion revolved around the moral argument for God’s existence and I think he articulated it well. Interesting.

Wilson:

Actually, I believe I can present evidence for what I know. But evidence comes to us like food, and that is why we say grace over it. And we are supposed to eat it, not push it around on the plate—and if we don’t give thanks, it never tastes right. But here is some evidence for you, in no particular order. The engineering that went into ankles. The taste of beer. That Jesus rose from the dead on the third day, just like he said. A woman’s neck. Bees fooling around in the flower bed. The ability of acorns to manufacture enormous oaks out of stuff they find in the air and dirt. Forgiveness of sin. Storms out of the North, the kind with lightning. Joyous laughter (diaphragm spasms to the atheistic materialist). The ocean at night with a full moon. Delta blues. The peacock that lives in my yard. Sunrise, in color. Baptizing babies. The pleasure of sneezing. Eye contact. Having your feet removed from the miry clay, and established forever on the rock. You may say none of this tastes right to you. But suppose you were to bow your head and say grace over all of it. Try it that way.

Hitchens:

I like your joke about the reduction of mirth to a spasm (there was a solemn critic of P.G. Wodehouse who defined the smile in terms of “naso-labial” contractions), but I think you let yourself down a bit with your Hallmark conclusion. I dare say that I could add to the list of joys and even include one or two subjects which Christianity and other religions have made difficult to discuss in public. However, I shall select my own recent investigation of my DNA, which can now be sequenced and analyzed. I was perfectly happy with the “revelation” of my own kinship with other species and quite overwhelmed by the skill and precision of those who allowed me to do it. A lot of wit and beauty and intelligence had to go into the confirmation of my status as an evolved animal, just as a great deal of dullness and stupidity is required for the continuing denial of it.

Have to say that I’m more inclined to agree that there is such as thing as good and evil, right and wrong, the ordinary and the beautiful. Can’t see that just happening by accident.

Wilson: “The two fundamental tenets of true atheism. One: There is no God. Two: I hate Him.”

Although it does all make sense in the end, it’s not really about reason.

Yes, it did sortof destroy the foosball table… there were millions of little sugar particles on it. But it needed a good cleaning anyway so we decided to do in a peep before cleaning it. Rules were that points with the ball didn’t count, and the first one to score with the peep won. Woohoo!

After the game was over we gave the table a thorough cleaning… then a layer of silicone on the table surface and a brand new ball. Holy smokes the table is FAST!!! Sweet.

I just spent almost $70 to fill my truck with gas. OUCH. This is why I’m shopping for a new (well used) car right now… I’m driving a lot these days and that’s a lot of money to spend on gas!!

…so if you know anyone who’s selling a car that has air, cruise, automatic transmission, and good gas mileage for like two grand then email me!

So my friend Jonathan Choe was over Wednesday night (the 17th). At about 8pm he was hungry and saw the package of peeps sitting on the table. Hasta la vista, numbers 9-11. Heh.

There’s a blues singer I like named Keb Mo. Way back in 1998 he released a record named Slow Down - and the title track of that record is one of my favorite blues tunes. The song was originally written by Kevin Moore and John Lewis Parker.

How many times have I listened to this song. Why do I always forget just how important it is to really slow down? Some of the sweetest memories I have are from the two summers I spent working at Camp Barakel in ‘99 and ‘00. Probably because for those two summers I really did slow down. Granted, some parts of camp flew by with dizzying speed… but the memories I savor the most are memories like those TAWG’s we had every Monday morning; just 4-5 hours of “time alone with God” to reflect, pray, sing, or just thank him for the amazing beauty we were surrounded with. Usually I trekked out into Huron National Forest. I could spend hours - even days - out there. It was fuel for my soul.

And I think it still is, even though I forget so much. I’ve been reminded recently by friends planning camping trips. I’ve been reminded recently on the lakefront trail since I started jogging again. I’m reminded again right now, sitting in Naperville by the river trail. I don’t think nature is “more spiritual” than the city or anything. It’s just that often it makes me catch my breath. Beauty offers a glimpse of the divine whether it’s observed in a sunset or a symphony. It feels so refreshing to just stop, sit down by the river and just not think about anything. And to know the one who made it; who painted this beautiful picture we’re living in. It’s a deep breath of fresh air. I need that every once in awhile.

And it continues.

8. Suffocated after being sealed in a plastic bag for two weeks then thrown out the window of a truck while speeding down the interstate. The truck was westbound on the Eisenhower (I-290) and the peep was hurled from the window at the exact moment the truck passed under the Sacramento Blvd bridge. The truck was in the left-most lane and the peep was tossed from the driver-side (left) window - over the top of the truck to the right, into oncoming traffic. The peep was observed in the rear-view mirror exploding as it hit the ground between two lanes. The driver of the car behind the truck seemed to wonder what had just happened.

Other posts:
Peep Jousting
Peep Jousting Results
Peep #6
Peep #7