20101228

Arsenal 3-1 Chelsea


Do you have any idea what a scoreline like this means to me? Or how long I’ve waited to see it? Even before I realized that Manchester United were the most formidable EPL opponent, I realized that Chelsea were going to be a tough team to beat. And Chelsea always seemed to get the upper hand.
Song, Fabregas, and Walcott scored within about 9 minutes of each other, although Song’s goal was before half time. 
The league table right now is looking real welcoming. We’re 3 points and 5 goals from going joint top. We have a game tomorrow against Wigan Athletic and we stand a fair chance against them. I think that its kind of cute that Everton and Liverpool are currently sharing the #11 spot in the table, but Liverpool have a chance to pull even further ahead since they’ve only played 17 matches to Everton’s 19. (Google Map Liverpool FC and Everton FC to see why it’s cool). I would LOVE it if the Wolverhampton Wanderers could bring their game up a few notches. I would hate to see them go back down to the Championship League. 

Tomas Rosicky got a few minutes of play time.






20101226

Letter to Me


Back at the end of eighth grade and then again at the beginning of ninth grade we had to write letters to our future selves. It wasn’t the first time I’d written letters to my future self, 4/4.5 years were just the longest I’d ever waited for the letters.

Sports were as big a part of my life then as they are now. Unfortunately self, the SWB Red Barons no longer exist. Philly moved that wonderful AAA team closer to Philly and we got stuck with the Yankees. Speaking of the Phillies, we’ve managed to win a World Series with the help of Ryan Howard AND Shane Victorino. My love for the Arsenal was just beginning and therefore did not qualify for a favorite team spot yet. That has massively changed.

Natasha Bedingfield is still the most amazing artist ever with 2.5 more albums released and each one just as good as Unwritten. Kelly Clarkson is still good, as is TobyMac. I enjoy hip hop/rap a bit more now. In the one letter I think I had to convince myself that I was spiritual at that point marginalizing and compartmentalizing my “secular” music. My taste in movies hasn’t changed much. And NCIS and American Idol are still two of my favorite shows

I had some interesting goals to go along with all my informing.
1.     Go to Germany and England (still wanna do that bad)
2.     Hit up the 2012 Olympics in London (still a GO in my books)
3.     Join the Navy or Coast Guard (you guys didn’t recruit hard enough)
4.     Become a carpenter or contractor (considering I now want to work for NSA someday that’s probably the biggest turn around in my goals. I think my goals now suit me a bit better anyways.)
5.     Get my own apartment and travel a bit (I am living pretty much on my own and have gotten to travel some and will have many more opportunities. I guess this is the only goal I’ve kind of accomplished)
6.     Break a bone and get stitches (I’d already broken a bone…. Don’t ask where this came from)
7.     Own a bunch of adidas clothes and shoes (Will Nike do?)
8.     Keep loving God, Loosen up, Have fun, Keep drawing. (Man I’m general! But Have Fun is a new years resolution every year for me. You can always have more fun than last year.

There’s one little bit that I feel has described me and will continue to describe me “I don’t know and don’t care about whats happening beyond high school. I’ll get there when I get there”. That’s not to say I’m one of the those people who never makes plans, I’m just real open to letting things happen without letting them screw up my outlook on life because they weren’t what I expected.

Looking back now, there’s a few more specific goals I would have set for myself, but Its cool to see how I was 4 years ago, how I’ve changed, and how I’ve stayed the same.

20101222

Through the Eyes of a Child


I don’t know why, but I’ve always really enjoyed kids stuff. Child-like wonder is supposedly lost when we “grow up”. Either I never really grew up, or I didn’t lose that wonder. I am a capable young adult, so I’d like to think I just never lost that wonder.

Kids shows are always so enjoyable to watch. Elmo’s World teaches so much about everything. Weather yesterday, noses today. We even get to sing the song for whatever we learned about. Dinosaur Train is a new favorite just because I learn stuff about dinosaurs that I didn’t know before. Curious George is just so cute. There are other shows too, but I won’t go there.

Have you played with toys lately? It’s so much fun to use your imagination. Cars fly and the good guys ALWAYS win. Some of my most favorite moments involve me running around outside all day just having fun playing.

It’s Christmas time. Santa is out waiting for the list of toys to be requested. Christmas trees with all their cool ornaments and lights are up, ready to be stared at for hours on end.

But the coolest part of Christmas is here too. Baby Jesus was born. You have to have a big imagination to think up a baby born in a barn with shepherds as the first visitors. That’s the cool part. God has a big imagination. And he thought that up and made it real life. That’s just something real special to me. Is it special for you?

20101216

Committed

The purpose of this post is to explain why I do and don’t want Committed to win season 2 of The Sing Off. This will be accomplished through the use of the author’s personal opinions.

Why: They really are good. From their take on Maroon 5’s This Love to the Usher Medley, they have shown their versatility and greatness. And they seem to have a solid fan base. And Street Corner Symphony, their only serious competition seems to have focus only part of the time.

Why Committed Shouldn’t Win: I’ve only seen the first episode all the way through, but Street Corner Symphony’s take on Everybody Wants to Rule the World was more mind blowing than Committed’s This Love. Both were amazing and I’m hoping that these two groups will be the final two.

The big thing with Committed is that they started out as a church group. Everyone keeps getting butt hurt (sorry about the army lingo) over their choices in songs. I think they’re phenomenal. Although they’re church boys, they obviously know “secular” music; they’ve just never worked at singing it for audiences. If people are looking for ‘goody-goody’ church boys, they’re watching the wrong competition. Maybe I’m just biased because I’m a part of both worlds and enjoy them both.

I’ve also seen comments bashing them and questioning their “committedness” simply by their being on the competition to win the money and record deal. If this were to be totally true, then we should also question the sincerity of TobyMac and Steven Curtis Chapman because they charge a lot for concert tickets, Owl City for releasing commercially and secularly, and ignore every other Christian or Christian groups in show business or professional sports because obviously these people aren’t “Christian” enough and participate in some of the world’s stuff instead of being stuck up and doing their own thing.

Deep down, I really don’t care who wins the Sing Off this year as long as it comes down to Committed and Street Corner Symphony. They were both so amazing. Can you tell that people dissing Christians in the spotlight is a soapbox of mine? 


Check them both out:







20101212

Strip Me


My favorite artist has struck again. Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2010 was the day that Natasha Bedingfield released her 4th studio album, Strip Me. In typical fashion she has produced one more album with the same great style, wordplay, and as some put I, cheekiness as Unwritten, N.B., and Pocketful of Sunshine.
Touch was released as a teaser in June and Strip Me in September, so I already knew those songs and enjoyed them.
Every song on the album but there are two that stood out to me in particular during the first time listen. The first one: No Mozart. It’s a more piano driven song with such meaningful, clever lyrics. The second one: Can’t Fall Down. Its sound made me automatically think of the scene in Medicine Man when Sean Connery is swinging around in the rainforest. It doesn’t really help that one of the lines mentions the “forest floor”.
This album is definitely more electronic than the guitar and piano driven Unwritten, but it is still definite Bedingfield music.  All the vocal swirls that weren’t as apparent in Pocketful of Sunshine are back.
Bedingfield has definitely matured since the first album. Each album is like a diary of the point in life she’s at currently. It’s cool though, because I feel like I‘m on that journey as well.
I did do a double take when I first heard a cuss word in Weightless. I had to restart the song to make sure I heard it correctly. It’s there. I guess I’ll just have to get over it. Its only said twice.

On a small side note, David Glass used to play guitar for Bedingfield. He then ended up co-writing a song with Lee DeWyze on his new album Sweet Serendipity. It’s just cool to see all the music connections that happen. And I have even more reason to like DeWyze since he was writing with Natash Bedingfield’s former guitarist and Toby Gad who has also done work with Bedingfield.

20101205

Guest Post by a Special Someone...


Hey all Jedi blog readers, I have hijacked the Jedi’s laptop and written a special post as a guest writer.
Today I would like to talk about the merits of doing laundry and how Jedi does it. Everyone has dirty laundry; it’s a fact of life. I’m proud to say Jedi has mastered the art of doing laundry on the one free day she has a week. She’s actually transferring clothes right now.
The first step to doing laundry in the army is acquiring a laundry bag, which was given at the beginning of basic training. The next step is putting the dirty clothes into the bag. Some people prefer to put the clothes in as they get dirty, but the laundry bag houses clean clothes for Jedi during the week, so the dirty ones get put in once the clean ones are dumped out.
Next, Jedi must make the long and strenuous journey 25 feet down the hallway to the laundry room. There, an open washer must be found (not hard when there’s 20 washers in he room). Jedi then proceeds to put every item in the laundry bag into the washer.
Here comes the most important part of laundry; the detergent and settings. Tide Sport with Frebreeze is possibly the most amazing detergent scent in the world and is perfect for Jedi because of the great number of athletic clothes worn.
  Jedi prefers to do only one load of laundry per week and has mastered washing whites and darks together with no ill effects. The secret? Use the warm/cold setting on the washer. 
After an hour wait, it is time to return and transfer clothing from washer and dryer. There is no science to drying clothes and no great explanation needed for it.
In another hour, the clothes are dry and Jedi can take them back to her room. The clothes then stay in the bag until they are required for use. (Occasionally they do get folded and put away the same day they were washed. It all depends on what Jedi is doing that day.)

I hope you have enjoyed my little narrative. Jedi doesn’t know I’ve posted this and I don’t know how she’ll react to her weekly ritual being known. Remember, laundry is important and should never be taken lightly…