Busted Tees

I enjoyed glancing at some of the T-shirt designs available through Busted Tees, which I recently discovered is a favorite web site of my friend Stephen.

PostSecret

Samples from PostSecret.

Voting

Disclaimer: This is where you get to see the political science nerd part of Daniel come out of his shell. And I hope it’s not the only time.

I listen to a podcast every week called the Slate Political Gabfest. Without fail, a portion of each show gets devoted to next year’s presidential election, and that’s been the case since probably early summer. I suppose early media coverage is of no surprise… my attention level must just be higher than in years past. Still, what’s shocking is the notion of sustaining a national conversation through November 2008, if conversation is even the right word.  And it’s not.  So I’m all muddled.

On my plane flight between Chicago and LA, when I read the following from Sarah Vowell, I knew immediately that I had to blog it.

..look up the word suffrage in the dictionary. In mine, after noting the main meanings – the privilege of voting, the “exercise of such a right,” the third interpretation of suffrage is this: “A short intercessory prayer.” Isn’t that beautiful? And true? For what is voting if not a kind of prayer, and what are prayers if not declarations of hope and desire?

I think this is a place to start.

Delayed Gratification

Today made me feel bad for complaining about yesterday’s poor showing in the world of sports (humdrum Game 1 of the ALCS).  Kentucky’s triple overtime upset of Number 1 ranked LSU provided ample drama for my day.  And so as not to be outdone, the Red Sox and Indians took their game all the way to thirteen innings.  Not bad.

Baseball Playoffs

I think what’s even more disappointing than watching boring baseball is watching boring PLAYOFF baseball. (What inspired this post is the drubbing the Red Sox are giving to the Cleveland Indians at the moment). A lot of folks knock baseball, and if we’re talking regular season or total blowouts I would tend to agree with them. Football took over as our national pastime a long time ago. But I maintain that competitive playoff baseball, at its best, still trumps other major sports for sheer level of intensity. No two minute drill or last second shot can achieve the absolute drama of pitcher and hitter, bottom of the ninth, fans going nuts. The waiting, the anxiety… awesome.

Also Good Art (while we’re on the subject)

I can’t believe it’s taken me a year of blogging to get around to addressing something Napoleon Dynamite related.

Stranger Than Fiction: Title Design

Stranger Than Fiction is the complete package.  The story is well crafted.  All the actors: quietly, subtly doing excellent work.  And art like this doesn’t hurt.

An End of a Week

Why are we all so busy? My week has been insane. This post comes between Friday night small group and an all-night Lazer Tag lock-in with the youth group- the only free moment of my day. And just when I think my life is busy, I remember that every other person I know slaves over their jobs, volunteers tirelessly in their church, and, oh, shuttles their six kids to and from soccer practice while finishing grad school. What is wrong with this world?

Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food.

I want to write poetry here. I want to say that this life is not right, that the commotion of our days are not to be accepted, promoted, celebrated. I want to stop and sit in front of a tree and look at ants. Yet even they are working.