It's My 22nd Birthday

It is not everyday that you turn 22. It is even fewer days that this age has much of a palpable impact on your life. Today, both of these rarities are happening to me.

The thing about my birthday is, there is little to no reason you should care that I successfully exited my mom 22 years ago at a hospital in Orlando, FL. Truthfully, neither should I. Some people I hope will take this opportunity to declare what they've always thought, but never had the forthright decency to say: "T.J., I don't give a rip about you." I would like to say thank you to these people.

However, I am not saying that you not care about me, or that I am alive (although I welcome such a sentiment if you are so inclined), but rather that you should not change how much you care on my birthday.

I used to place great significance on my birthday, gathering expectations doomed to be left unfulfilled. Birthday after birthday I was disappointed when ----- didn't come to my party, or when I didn't get ----- as a gift, or that ----- didn't call me. It is a very exhausting way to live: constantly being disappointed.

You might find it surprising that I found it surprising when January 19th rolled around, people still cared that I existed. Maybe they didn't come to my party, give me that gift, or call me, but they certainly seemed glad that I hadn't perished since the last time I saw them. This, I can only assume, is because they love me.

It seems, then, that real love is not a hit-and-run. Jesus doesn't come to save you and then say "Peace out, see ya when ya die!" He's there constantly, and wants you to be there too. Similarly, I can show, you can show, we can show that we love others in the 364 very merry UN-birthdays almost better than the one birthday per year we all have.

Snow

Snow is complex. Not chemically: a couple of hydrogen and an oxygen come together below 32°F (0°C) in the atmosphere, eventually becoming too heavy to stay afloat and drift, tumble, flurry down to an oddly expectant planet.

Snow is complex because there is such dichotomy in its existence. Perhaps this rings true for many things that I am simply overlooking, but I can think of few comparable examples that can bring such simultaneous elation and chagrin.

Sunday night, along with a large number of my college-attending peers, I was overjoyed to learn the school administration had bowed to the weather's whim and given us a snow day. The sentiment carried over to Monday morning, when most woke up at a later than average hour due to the nonexistence of academic obligations.

Yet, once pelted with a snowball, or after taking an unexpected dive on an inopportune sled ride, the love for snow died quickly. Complaints of the cold, and the wet, and the driving difficulty all began to drown out the adoring comments we had for the precipitation just a few hours earlier. Those comments returned Monday night, and Tuesday as well when we received two additional snow days.

Similarly, snow has great connotations for both death and birth, innocence and degradation. Christ is said to have washed us whiter than snow--so it is a standard of cleanliness and purity. But, at the same time, snow brings desolation. There are few things as harsh and violent as cold, and as subtly destructive as ice. For many, snow spells death. Any vegetation or unsheltered wildlife is certainly doomed at the arrival of snow.

The only things that can survive snow are those that can fight it. Humans combat it with our central heating and snowplows, but we welcome it with adulation. Snow is, like almost everything else in creation, complex. Love to life to death to doughnuts have a pro and con comparison, a good and bad connotation, especially humans. The beauty of it all, and at least one purpose of art, is sifting through the light and dark of it all.

My Recent Absence

I don't know why I feel obligated to tell you this, but, as you may have noticed, I have not been blogging for about the past 1.5 weeks. Not that you care, I mean, I obviously did not feel obligated enough to update with anything.

Here is an update, however: I will be gone for another week, I am leaving at 6:30 this morning for RUF's Summer Conference in Panama City, Florida. It will be great fun, I suppose. When I get back I plan to start back up blogging with some notes from the various seminars and sermons I hear while I am there.

Well, see you on the other side.

St. Valentine's Day

Has St. Valentine's Day reached that oh-so-elusive holiday status where it requires the obligatory post by anyone who considers himself moderately insightful? I feel as thought the very presence of this post on my blog serves as an adequate "yeah."

If you've been sentient within the last 10 years you have probably noticed that a lot of people hate this holiday, especially single people. I'm a little late adding my 3¢ to the discussion (I like to not arrogantly assume that what I have to say is a little more valuable than what others have, the proverbial 2¢, naturally). I just wanted to wait and see that my perceptions during this particular St. Valentine's day remained unclouded by the day's presence.

I think, overall, I am a fan of St. Valentine's Day. Not the movie. People say that it is a completely fabricated holiday for the benefit of Walmart and Hallmark and other sundry companies. I think they have a point. But to hate it on those grounds is not really the solution.

Why not undermine it's very purpose by celebrating it in a manner in which they don't benefit at all? Have a stay at home dinner, or a picnic! Instead of buying cards and flowers, why not write and make your own? Or just go an read the card, and then write it on construction paper! Much more romantic, yes?

St. Valetine's Day at it's uncommercialized core is a holiday for the celebration of love. And if you hate love, you're just a douche bag. So you may say "Why not celebrate love every day?!?" And I'd say "Good question. Probably because everyone hates everyone else or is at least to selfish to care."

It's like this--a birthday is for celebrating someone's birth, essentially, the fact that someone is alive. Now saying that people only care about love on St. Valentine's Day is like saying people don't care about someone being alive except on their birthday. Which actually may be the case. But it's not right.

I say we remedy it in both directions. Love everyone every day. Celebrate love every day. But also recognize that special occasions are bangin' too. (No pun intended).

[picture source]

My 21st Birthday

Was this past Monday, the 18th, and was so momentous they gave me the day off from school and work. At least that's what people told me.

So, two out of three is not bad in my book (anyone care to guess which two?) But the day was definitely made that much better by a good friend's presence and going to see The Princess and the Frog.

I had thought about just letting go that Martin Luther King Jr. Day was on my birthday, I mean, there are enough people celebrating it enough already, right? Well, I took the time to sit and watch/listen to the entire speech. And it's powerful stuff. To tell the truth, it was the first time I had listened to the whole thing. I recommend you do it, if you never have.

Switching gears. Yes, I had myself some alcohol. Yes it was my first time. No, I actually didn't really enjoy it. I plan on trying some again. Maybe a Lemon Drop and a Rum & Coke wasn't the best place to start? I am open to your suggestions. Seriously. I have no idea what I am doing around a drink menu.

And that, was that.

For My Birthday

For my birthday, I don't want a party, I don't have a specific gift that will make the day.

I think all I want is

To have a taste of some alcoholic beverage that I buy and am carded for.

To drink an entire bottle of Welch's Sparkling Grape Juice.

And to give someone a kiss.*

*as someone will most likely disrupt the honesty of this post by calling into question the gender neutral term "someone," I assure you my desire is for a female recipient.

So This Is The New Year

And here's to new begginnings.

"So this is the new year
And I have no resolutions
For self-assigned penance
For problems with easy solutions"
--Death Cab For Cutie

The Goods

I found so many of the things I received on Christmas day enjoyable that I thought I would share some of them with you all:

1. The Complete Rhyming Dictionary -- Something I'd been interested in utilizing in some poetry. There's somewhere around a frillion entries for the words ending in the -ation sound. I'm sort of excited to use it.

2. A Rubik's cube. I have never honestly tried my hand at one and after about a half hour of toying around, I'm confusing myself, I'm sure.

3. Trans Siberian Orchestra's latest installment, Night Castle, a 26-track rockestral* piece accompanied by an illustrated storybook.

*this term has been copyrighted by the Timotheus Foundation, for exclusive use by Mr. T.J. Schley, Esquire in reference to the aforementioned band, Trans Siberian Orchestra, and may only be applied to other bands if Mr. Schley deems it appropriate.

4. Serious Drawings by Marc Johns. Someone and something I have mentioned before. It contains such wonderful entries as

his humor is very dry and very enjoyable. To me at least.

5. A crossbow. Not the literal, firing-wooden-arrows-into-your-chain-mail-covered-chest type, but a pretty good one, nonetheless. My roomates are going to love my family for giving me that one.

6. The 19th installment of my Hallmark Keepsake Ornament series, Puppy Love. If my puppy identification skills are still intact (and I believe they are), then it is a chcolate lab, hanging from a Christmas wreath.

7. A sword. Again, not the literal, my-blade-will-be-your-bane-you-evil-oppressor-of-the-innocent-and-enslaver-of-good-things type, but, rather, a Nerf sword.

What's this, you didn't know they made them in claymoresque edition? Well now you know. And knowing is half the battle. The other half being a Nerf sword. Again, I'm sure the Testosterhome's inhabitants are going to be quite thankful to my sister for that gift.

8. Other sundries, including, but not limited to socks (which I have been lacking) various candies, a grow-in-water Spiderman, a cross necklace and a Pillar CD.

So what did you get? Do share.

To You--

A Happy Christmas.

Also: A Christmas Monster of sorts:

30 Second Christmas Story

Just thought I'd share this hilarious and speedy take on the birth of Christ. Pretty funny, I quite enjoy those videos that place a irrelevantly pertinent image to the words being said.

And who know that Joseph, Jesus' Dad looked just like Mr. Stalin? Or that Einstein, Gandhi and MLK were the Wise Men?



[Tip O' The Hat to Crazy Christian Clips]

M. Ward -- "Requiem"

M. Ward--I don't know much about him. And he seems like he should be a mysterious, cryptic character from the elusive absence of a full first name. I wonder if his friends call him 'M.' That would get confusing at Bond viewing parties.

He is the 'Him' from She & Him, Zooey Deschanel's band, and with that band's second installment Volume Two on the way, I'm pretty stoked. I think I am going to start checking some of his stuff out.

I saw this song posted by someone on Veteran's Day, and it struck me as particularly poetic and insightful. I love extraordinary celebrations of ordinary people's extraordinary lives.



[Tip O' The Hat to Abraham Piper]

Why I Hate Thanksgiving

Okay, maybe hate is a strong word, but it got you here and reading this, didn't it?

First I would like to say that my dislike of this particular holiday has nothing to do with the fact that I spent all of last week, Thanksgiving break, laying on a couch trying to conquer the Swine Flu. Fortunately, my campaign was successful, but it was an altogether NOT enjoyable experience. I don't suggest getting it, if anyone was still up in the air about it.

Now, why do I dislike Thanksgiving? There are a number of different reasons.

1. It takes away from Christmas.

I don't care if it's not your favorite holiday, or if you're disgusted by the way it's become commercialized and a big greed-fest, you better listen to the daggum song--it IS the most wonderful time of the year. And people getting angry at Christmas music starting early because "Oh, what about Thanksgiving?" is getting me pretty torqued myself. What about Thanksgiving? What about it? It's like a warm-up for the real holiday season.

2. Original meaning of Thanksgiving = Sketch.

Not you-shouldn't-have-made-that-innuendo sketch, but more of let's-think-about-what-really-went-down sketch. Pilgrims hate Church of England. Church of England say "F-off!" Pilgrims flee to create isolated moralistic society. Pilgrims barely survive in New World, except for the help of the Indians. Pilgrims are Thankful, yay! Pilgrims later unwittingly or willfully assist in extermination of a large portion of North America's indigenous people. Yay! Thanks Church of England!

3. Most people aren't really Thankful.

Okay, except for you. Yeah, I'm talking to you, Mr. Person-Who-Posted-A-"Things I'm Thankful For"-List on their blog. Or that guy in that one Thanksgiving Hallmark special. Or everyone for that five minutes before you cut into the Turkey when Mom makes everyone say one thing they are thankful for. But really, the week has never contained a "spirit of gratitude" in my experience. Am I wrong? Now, I'm not saying we should just through it out, and I think we could strive for it, but right now, that's just simply no the case.

4. It's at the wrong time.

This sort of coincides with point #1, but honestly, shouldn't the thankful season come after the "season of greed?" Wouldn't that at least be a little more honest? I mean, who arranged the holidays anyway, because I have a big problem with not getting St. Patrick's Day off from school. That, and it's what, four or five days to celebrate gratitude? Like we couldn't use more of it the rest of the year?

Conclusion:

I understand this is not a perfectly reasonable view to hold, but I really do think we are into consolidating good things to certain time periods: Gratitude at Thanksgiving. Cheer, Joy, and Generosity at Christmas. Appreciation of our parents on the respective Mothers and Fathers Days. (In some cases) Love on St. Valentine's Day.

I nominate the rest of the year to celebrate these much-needed qualities.

Día De Los Gracías

I figured that I should do the obligatory Thanksgiving Day post. I have my thoughts about Thanksgiving, which I will share soon. But for now, things I am thankful for:

• A Love That Will Not Let Me Go--'nuff said.
• Truth--all truth is God's truth. I've come to realize that the truth is key to all aspects of life. (John 8:32).
• Friends--what can I say: You are who you surround yourself with. If that's the case, then I am awesome.
• Art--From poetry to literature to painting to graphic design, it's fun stuff. Go figure that my major is English Literature & Language, right?
• RUF--really has been a life saver for me at Winthrop.

And then, on the less profound side:

• Disc-Based Games--who cares if I broke my arm playing Ultimate Frisbee? I love me some disc golf.
• Google--From Blogger to Reader, to Docs, to especially G-mail. They do awesome stuff, and it's all super-integrated. Too bad they're looking to take over every aspect of our electronic lives.
• The recent resurgence of all things comics--Mostly the movies, even though a lot of them have sucked. Marvel celebrated it's 70th anniversary this year. While I like me some DC, I am pretty stoked about most things "comical."