Smeagol is Free!
A hermitudinal view of...stuff...


2.28.2006  

Good Shot

Pictures...some of which will probably be protested ;)







































posted by Bolo | 9:37 PM
1 speakage
 

Eye Guess...

For the sake of you confused and deranged eye-gazers out there, here's the complete list of answers from the little eye riddle posted last week :)

#1, Buck Buchanan
#2, Janal Prybys
#3, Robert Hutchison (hahahaha...suckers)
#4, Jeremy Troughton
#5, Brooke Anderson
#6, Brandon Boone (my personal favorite for throwing people off...I mean, c'mon...Gollum?)
#7, Jessica Vaughn
#8, Jon Tollefson
#9, Biggz (yeah...no one was anywhere close)
#10, Kristin Yeldell

Thanks for banging your heads against the wall, Boyce College students! Stay tuned for yet another amusing set of visual riddles brought to you by your favorite ethnically-diverse, well-dressed male in his mid-twenties.

posted by Bolo | 3:18 PM
0 speakage
 

Flashback

So I was listening to a disc full of MP3's just a little while ago, but I was doing so without knowing what songs were on the disc. 'Twas quite surprising when, as I was skipping through the beginning of the tracks, I suddenly heard Goose's voice saying, "I like this song..."

Whoa. Talk about a flashback. I suddenly felt like I was in my teens again ;)

Listening to your friends sing and play when you're in your room thousands of miles from any of them is really strange. Listening to your friends sing and play on a recording from a time when you were all much younger is outright nostalgic. And to think...all of them are either married (some with kids) or engaged to be married. Man...I miss those monkeys...

posted by Bolo | 11:16 AM
1 speakage
 

Word

Romans 6:1, 2
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?

2 Corinthians 12:9, 10
And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Timothy 2:1
You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

posted by Bolo | 6:31 AM
0 speakage


2.27.2006  

Morning Meandering

So the other morning, after I'd gotten off of work at 6 AM and then gone to Java with the roomie, I felt a little adventurous. The sun had just risen, the air was crisp, and the morning was ripe with possibilities. I'd been wanting to go into Cherokee Park and snap off a few photos for a long while, but just hadn't found opportunity and time to do so. Well...opportunity and time was upon me.





















After freezing my butt off in the park, I decided to head back to campus. Slight problem, though. Cherokee Park is like the Hotel California...you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave. Well, almost. I've not quite mastered the art of getting back out the same way I came in, so I figured I'd just drive until I recognized one of the roads. Didn't happen, so I changed my strategy to on where I'd keep going until I got out of the park and then I'd drive until I recognized one of the roads. Didn't happen, because as I was driving, I was suckered in by that stream near Seneca Park Road. There's something about taking pictures with a camera that has no waterproof housing above icy-cold running water that beckons to the little boy in me. Soooo, before I knew it, I found myself hopping from rock to rock, always in the hopes of snapping off just oooone more butt-freezing shot. *Brrr*...was it worth it? You be the judge.

























posted by Bolo | 2:35 AM
1 speakage


2.26.2006  

Effecting Affection

Just got off the phone with Mr. Mikami. 'Twas a short conversation, but good. We hadn't conversed since...oh...quite some time. What I found interesting about it was that when I hung up and went on my merry way, it became glaringly obvious to me that the things I'd been saying about Jesus were said with a distinct lack of affection.

Ouch.

As I pondered that, I realized anew how fickle my soul can be. Affection for Christ is not something that one comes by passively; it must be fought for, it must be sought after, and it must be done by grace for His glory.

Earlier this week, I'd told Christin that my brain works in such a way that I don't really memorize Scripture very well. Instead, I tend to meditate on Scripture in such a way that my default is to try and see how one passage is woven together with another passage to form a more cohesive thought. But you know what? I find that at times, it is most definitely helpful to meditate on Scripture by actually memorizing it. Or, said differently, it is profitable to have meditated on Scripture so thoroughly that it becomes stored in my heart...memorized. Why do I bring this up? I think it's because I find that tonight, I've found that I've not really meditated on Scripture the way I need to.

I suppose it might be said that right now, I must remember to think of Christ in such a way that I'm thinking of Him with affection not only when my bible is opened, but particularly when my bible is closed.

posted by Bolo | 9:25 PM
1 speakage
 

Linkage

Whoa. Cool!

I believe it would behoove all of us to keep our brethren from Tennessee away from this. Don't you agree?

Mr. Vince Tornero has a little too much time on his hands...or should I say, on someone else's hand?

posted by Bolo | 7:36 PM
0 speakage


2.25.2006  

Reputable

Merriam Webster defines the word reputation as being the "overall quality or character as seen or judged by people in general". Other variants follow in the entry for the word, but for my purposes here, that definition will suffice. Note that in order for one to have a reputation, it is a necessity that there is at least one or more judgments made by other individuals. In other words, a reputation cannot be bestowed upon oneself.

Reputations are interesting things. They can be both fickle and long-lasting; subtle and overt; beneficial and devastating. In high school, the Cool Kids were always the ones with the best reputations. The Dorks were the ones who had the worst reputations and hated the Cool Kids for having the reputations they had, but secretly wanted to be just like the Cool Kids. A few years after high school, it became clearer to me how silly all the posturing was. Hours upon hours went into keeping up someone's rep, and if someone with a lesser rep decided to impinge upon someone with a better rep, watch out.

"Wot, wot, watchu like?"
"Why, like beef?!?!?!"
"Eh brah, no be li'dat!"
"Aaahhh shyadap (insert ethnically minor expletive or derogetory term here...pocho, pake, book-book, or big-headed kimchee breath will do nicely)!"

What followed would quite naturally be a restoration of the Natural Order of Things. Usually. If, for whatever reason, the person with the lesser rep somehow managed to give lickins to the person with the better rep, the entire school was suddenly engaged in a deluge of gossip. Scratch that. The gossip happened anyway; it was just a little more heightened.

Now, while all this may sound quite juvenile and silly, I've been wondering as of late if I'm really all that much far removed from it. While it is true that reputations are given by others to an individual, it is no small thing that that particular individual is almost inevitably effected by their press clippings. Though I wish it were not true, I see it all around me, every day, all the time. The perceptions that we have of one another and those that others have of us are difficult to sort through. What's real? What's true? Is it the whole truth, or just part of it? Am I paying too much attention to what's being said here, and ignoring what's being said there?

In all honesty, I hate it. We have huge portions of our economy driven by it, and we buy into it all the time. Even in the sacred realm, it's inevitable. We call it, "Public Relations". Now don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing it. I understand the need for such things. It's just that in a fallen world, I often find myself way over the line, buying into perceptions and reputations without thinking things through.

Last night in Java, I was telling someone about Gary taking me and Andrew and the rest of us through Grudem's Systematic. I can still hear him telling us, "I want you guys to think biblically." That stuck out more than anything else he ever said during those precious times, more than anything else we ever read or discussed. He taught me not just what Scripture was saying, he taught me how to think through what it was saying.

So as I think biblically through my thoughts as of late, I've realized something. It could be said that Jesus came to do away with our perceptions of ourselves, our reputations. He came to reveal truth, and in doing so, to impart life. Hmmm.

Earlier this week, Scott and I discussed a phrase that Ryan had told to us. "Tell me my faults, and that plainly." At least, we thought that was the phrase. If it's not and we've remembered it incorrectly, it still gets the point across. Ryan said a Wesleyan friend of his told him that in the Methodist tradition, they'd say that to one another as they'd gather each week for the purpose of soul-care. My goodness...what tender-hearted love and passion for Christ must be required for such an interaction! As I thought about that phrase, I realized that my flesh does not want such a thing. I am vehemently against having someone telling me of my faults, having them reveal the sins that I not only already loathe in myself, but particularly the sins that others loathe in me.

It's a good thing that the LORD makes it clear that such conviction of sin is good...is loving.

In looking at Scripture, I cannot help but feel that the LORD does not take into account our reputations when He looks upon us. No, He takes into account the righteousness of His Son, which has been imputed to us, and which He sees as He gazes upon His adopted sons and daughters. Oh, that I would learn to do the same!

posted by Bolo | 10:45 PM
1 speakage
 

Quotable

For those of you who do not have access to Facebook and my lengthy list of quotes, I must make amends to you, for you've not had the distinct pleasure of perusing that infamous list. Here, therefore, are a handful that are quite hilarious, even if you weren't there.

"Corn?!?!?!?! When did I eat corn?"
-Anonymous man in public bathroom, heard by Dr. Rainer, re-told by Katie Mohler

"We're Portuguese, so we're kinda hairy. But this guy was like a bear! I had to check the filters after he got out of the pool! And, he was BIG!"
-Matty Teves

"Finally, I got up and read my bible; I figured that would put me to sleep."
-Chip Collins, Associate Dean of Students, Boyce College

"Who's the one whose name begins with a 'J' and ends with an 'N'?"
-R. Lauren Duncan

"Jane!"
-Katie Mohler, in response to R. Lauren Duncan

"The Geisha sleep in certain positions so as not to disturb their elaborate hairdos, and that's what I was just doing."
-Michael Butterworth

"Excuse me, I do NOT have that much cellulite!"
-Sarah El-Masri

"They had her fork here and I ate it."
-R. Lauren Duncan

posted by Bolo | 5:32 PM
0 speakage


2.24.2006  

Honorary Membership

I remember the first time I'd ever heard of Jack Johnson. I was in Michelle's red VW Bug with her and Goose, and we were on our way to...oh, I don't know...somewhere. (We never really needed an excuse to go do something, we just did it.) Goose was trying to call into 101.9 to get them to play Flake. The reason? He loved the way they'd mic'd the snare drum in the song. I told him I'd not heard of Jack Johnson at all. To be honest, I wasn't all that impressed the first time around with Flake; that quickly changed, of course. I was soon all over his songs like brown on my skin (when I'm at home to surf, naturally).

For a while, it seemed like Jack was the honorary member of The Surf Crew. Me, 'Drew, Boss, Kev, Steak Sauce, Kawamura, Brit, Peter...and Jack. If we were on our way to Kewalo's, he'd be on the radio, and we'd be singing along. And if for some reason he was not chillin' wit us on the anticipatory drive, it was definitely by the time we arrived in the parking lot and started to pull out the Sticky Bumps and put the car keys on the little elastic loops in our boardshorts that he was there singing.

What better way to wax up a board, right?

Of course, the session wasn't complete until we paddled in, showered off, wiped down our bodies and our boards...and turned on the radio to hear Jack. *Sigh*...those were the days. A little surfing 'til sunset, a little stop at the 7's that's no longer there, and a little Gina's.

And, of course, a little Jack.

posted by Bolo | 5:34 PM
0 speakage
 

Eye Need Answers

One more has been identified! The list is now as follows:

#1, Buck Buchanan
#2, Janal Prybys
#4, Jeremy Troughton
#5, Brooke Anderson
#7, Jessica Vaughn
#10, Kristin Yeldell

Six down, four more to go!

posted by Bolo | 4:06 PM
0 speakage
 

Eye See...Some Answers!

Eyes that have been revealed thus far:

#2, Janal Prybys
#4, Jeremy Troughton
#5, Brooke Anderson
#7, Jessica Vaughn
#10, Kristin Yeldell

posted by Bolo | 12:11 AM
0 speakage


2.23.2006  

Eye See...

A little update for those of you banging your heads against your keyboards. In the post from yesterday's little visual puzzle, there have been a few answers that have come up correct, with the vast majority being way off ;) Correct guesses thus far are:

#4, Jeremy Troughton
#5, Brooke Anderson
#7, Jessica Vaughn

I'll post the rest of the answers...when I feel like it ;) Keep guessing, Boyce College!

posted by Bolo | 2:00 PM
6 speakage


2.22.2006  

In Focus

A random selection of pictures taken over the past day or two...or three...















posted by Bolo | 9:37 PM
0 speakage
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