Melting/Melding

I have given you a kind face
and as I peer into the eyes I imagined,
you take possession of them.

The sparkle I granted you is not abolished,
but enhanced by a tempestuous blaze that burns passionate
blue white; hot enough to kill or to die.

I swoon as the heat stabs my core.
It blossoms into an ecstasy that fills and overflows
and keeps on pouring and churning.

Releasing with all my strength to collapse into the arms
that I made strong but have now turned invincible,
I hang like liquid collected over them.

Reveling in my frailty, I melt and melt
until I'm sure I'm gone but then I melt more,
reveling in your eternal brawn.

Within a moment, my loathsome weak strength returns
and I stand, refreshed, renewed, restored,
Reminded of Who it is for whom I live.

Taste the Rainbow

I tried to think of a catchy title and that's the first thing that popped into my head. Let's sort this out. It's from a commercial:

Taste the rainbow of fruit flavors
Skittles, skittles, bite-size candy.

Natalie's dog's name is Skittles and I guess she must be on my mind a lot. Skittles, that is. I mean, Natalie's on my mind, but I'm pretty sure it's Skittles that I'm really trying to please. Skittles seems to have more power. Here she is:



Here are some more random pictures from my phone with little captions to sum up various moments of my recent life.


We went to Busch Gardens and Natalie took bunches of pictures. Here she is taking pictures of Loch Ness Monster. Nessie jackhammers coming out of the loops and makes me feel like my vertebrae are clacking together. Awesome!



We went bowling in Roanoke Rapids, NC. Neither one of us bowled as well as Obama. Is there anything that man can't do perfectly?


Just cutting it was a pleasure.


Aaaaaand baby head. It was $14. We passed it up and I have regretted it so many times since.

I love how I promised to blog more and then didn't blog at all for 2 months.

I also keep saying that I want to write and record some songs.

If I say I want to do something but then don't do it, do I really want to do it? Is this a Romans 7 moment I'm having?

Tiny Pie!

I got a very special pie from a very special girl today. It is a miniature apple pie with Gruyere baked into the crust. She originally made it as a full size pie a few weeks ago and posted a blog about it, prompting me to propose to her. I really had no choice. If you had read any of her previous blogs or seen her trip report from Fahrenheit opening day at Hershey, or if you had had the fantastic opportunity to ride Rolling Thunder or Batman the Ride with her at Six Flags Great Wasteofacouplehundredbucks, this pie blog would have pushed you over the edge, too. I'm just a man.

So to have my very own pie mailed to me should let you know just how far we've come. As a matter of fact, I'm going down to NC to see her sometime Valentine's Day weekend. We haven't ironed out all the details yet. It may not be the actual official day, but that's just coincidence anyway. It would be the same as if it were Martin Luther King Day. In fact, that might be better.

After all, wasn't St. Valentine beheaded or something? Is that what we're really saying when we say, "Be my Valentine?"

"Have your head chopped off for me to prove your love."

NEW BLOG POST (believe it or not)

I really really do want to get back in the habit. So here's what I've been up to lately:

I found a new monastery that I like better than Richmond Hill. Sorry you had to find out this way, Richmond Hill, but that's how it goes. Livingstone Monastery just has it going on for me in ways that you don't. I had an awesome time at a retreat there last weekend and I fully intend to return for an individual retreat sooner rather than later.

That secret crush I had on a girl on the internet is out in the open now. Even she knows I have a crush on her, I think. We talk on the phone. It's very exciting and awkward and wonderful. I'm trying to figure out when I can go visit her in person. *sigh* So much excitement. I wonder if she reads this blog or even knows about it?

I love the church I'm attending now, Area 10 Faith Community, www.churchatthebyrd.com. I've done sound there a few times and it's very VERY different from anywhere I've ever done sound before. They have a rotating schedule of sound guys so we do two Sundays on in a row and then are off for four Sundays. It's really fun mixing there because, A. You can actually mix there. and B. You get four Sundays off in between. I'm just saying.

I'm also hosting/leading a small group once a week at my apartment. I had my first meeting tonight. Four people showed up and no one ate any snacks. I was supposed to have 7 and they were supposed to enjoy the snacks. Well, one guy ate one chicken tender. I think he ate it just to be polite. I don't think I've ever gone someplace where snacks were being served and not had anything. They were the kickass chicken tenders that Janet used to make, too. The regular ones, not the buffalo ones.

Speaking of Buffa Lo, Robbie II has been on a personal retreat in Short Pump. I understand he's having a wonderful time. I just hope they know he's only for decorative use only.

Snack failure aside, I think the meeting went well. Everyone seemed to really get something out of it and have a good time.

Work is good in some ways and really dumb in others. More on that later. No, really, I mean it. I'm going to blog some more.

This was supposed to go up 2 weeks ago...

I was wondering why there hadn't been any comments. I guess the email
didn't send or something.

Anyway, Terry Aima said I needed to blog more, so here she is. And
she's right. But I guess we weren't ready for this two weeks ago.

Smells like olives,

Tastes like bacon.

Zach and Sam

Sam didn't pee on Zach.

Yet.