To Tide You Over...

For your information: The odds of being killed by space debris are 1 in 5 billion. It's a pretty crazy time right now; I've got a ton of papers and such due before I leave for Seattle on Wednesday, so hopefully I'll update during or after the conference. For those few of you who I haven't excitedly told yet, I'm going to Seattle for the Wesleyan Theological Seminar :) I can't wait; it's gonna be crazy fun. My roomie, Daniel, is going with me, and we're staying on the (presumably) beautiful campus of Seattle Pacific University. I feel kinda like Obi-Wan, "Taking a first step into a larger world." Anyways, I doubt I'll be able to post before then, and I apologize that I've been so boring lately... until then, watch out for space debris!

?? The Weekend, or A Path to the Future ??

Intro: I don’t know whether to consider this a “Deep Thought” or just a post about me, hence the question marks. Thanks for reading.


Heh, that God fellow. So funny… He could use the easy, obvious situations of our life to teach us stuff, and sometimes does, but it is my experience that He prefers to use situations and even people in the opposite way that we expect. I think He must get a kick out of doing it that way, and frankly I don’t blame Him… looking back on various situations, God’s sense of irony can cause some of the funniest circumstances I can think of. After my earlier post regarding my dislike for the "Help-U-God" that is so prevalent, God decides to remind me in a not-so-subtle way, "Yes Chris- I AM immanent too, ya know! I can do both!" SO- all that to say, the retreat for my Intro to Ministry class last weekend was far more intense and informative than it had any right to be.

Some backstory for the few of you who I haven’t had the opportunity to lament about this class to: The first day of class, we walk in and taking up the entirety of both chalk boards are huge random drawings- whales, a shoe with the prof’s name (Shoemaker…get it?) inside it, and various phrases such as “Yay Jesus.” On the table, crayons and construction paper were laid out next to scissors and glue sticks. At this point, I seriously considered walking out, but somehow resisted. We spent the entirety of the first class period making posters with the aforementioned art supplies, discussing what ministry “looked and felt like” to us.

Since that first day, the class has improved very little, with random craft activities and touch-feely Christianity abounding. On multiple occasions I have considered dropping it, but as it is a required class and there is no guarantee that the prof. who SHOULD be teaching it (Dr. Smith) will ever teach it again, I decided that it would be a bit of a waste of time to drop it. Anyway, needless to say, I was NOT looking forward to the required retreat that was scheduled for last Sunday. I expected a full day of happy-go-lucky Christian talks, crafts, and other such ‘retreat’ activities. I prayed that God would use the retreat despite Prof. Shoemaker, and it seems that God is pretty good at saying ‘yes,’ at least sometimes. The day started out with some activities similar to those from class, but quickly moved into a day of introspection, prayer and support. We were divided up into groups (these were randomly selected at the beginning of the year, but my group has since been dissolved, so this was the first time that I had met my group.) In these groups, we talked about our struggles, our hopes for the future, and other such topics, and voiced support for the other members of the group. We then had times of solitude, where we spread out across the grounds of the retreat center, and were instructed to simply talk and listen to God, and maybe record our thoughts during these times. Record I did, and it is these records that I would like to share with you. Basically, my answers took the form of short letters to God about what has been going on, and what will go on in the future. Hopefully these will be as informative to you as they were to me, and will give you some limited sense of what I’ve been dealing with and where I may be headed.

The first question was one of accountability: “Lord, how am I doing?”
God-
It seems presumptuous of me to even direct these thoughts to you, as I know that you already know them- you’ve heard them before, from me, even. It seems as if there is so much negative, so little positive. So much grace, so little worship. This two-way street that you’re walking with me has become very one-sided. I think we both realize that it will never truly be two-way, but you love me in spite of this. Accept this feeble afterthought, I pray. Sadly even in this I know that you will be faithful where I would not have been. As Hamlet lamented, “I am very proud, revengeful, ambitious, with more offenses at my beck than I have thoughts to put them in, imagination to give them shape, or time to act them in. What should fellows as I do crawling between earth and heaven? We are arrant knaves, all.” Yet, through this, I see glimmers of hope, places where you alre able to make me ‘a little more than useless.’ God, I am a charlatan, I admit freely. Cleanse me. I know you can make the foulest clean. Use this living grave in ways I cannot now see or imagine. Allow me to know, like Job, that your ways, which at times seem strange & even painful to me, are Perfect, Just, and Good. Thank you.
-Chris

The second question is one of discovery: “Lord, what are you saying to me?”
God-
You have shown me. I have been beaten and battered, perhaps to some beyond recognition. But in your infinite grace and ability, you have begun the rebuilding process. Despite the very stone of my being crying out against the work you do, you have begun to make in me a new, beautiful creation…one of your many masterpieces. You, the master craftsman, are the only one I can rely on, the only one who knows what my final form must be. I know that, in the fullness of time, I will indeed reach that form. Help me until then to see the next step, or more accurately to allow you to place my foot, even and especially when and where I would never choose to place it myself. This is the point of no return.
-Chris

The final question is one of ministry: ”Lord, what do you want me to do?”
God-
All glory to you. You’ve put the ball in my court, even given me the play and trusted me with its execution. Wow. Your ways, O lord, are utterly beyond me. Thanks for allowing me to ride the storm, then suddenly calming it when I least expect. I have decided to follow You- no turning back. In my weakness, you find strength, of course. But your strength is ultimately behind mine as well. Use me. You’ve emptied me, fill me. Your affirmation of purpose, so clear. Your words, so perfect. Your love and grace, so unending. Let this not amount to “sound and fury, signifying nothing.” Keep me steadfast, keep me humble. It is over…it has begun.
-Chris


Basically what the day amounted to was an extreme reaffirmation of purpose. Having been ‘called’ to ministry is a fairly unique experience, and it leaves itself open to great deals of self-doubt and questioning: is this really what God had in mind? Is this the right path? Or was I just hearing my own voice-or worse, Satan’s? After knowing those in my group only a day, though, they affirmed to a person, and in the strongest manner possible, that this was the correct direction for my life. Now its up to me- I have to take it wherever it goes from here. But I needed that affirmation, and it came, and it came at perhaps the most unlikely time. So…from here on out, no turning back. Thanks to all of you for your love and support. I pray that I will be able to return it to each of you in whatever small ways I can. Don’t hesitate to ask. Until next time…onward.

Okay, So Today was Busy...

I admit, this is not the interesting post I'd said would be up. If you want to know a little of what's up anyway, read on. First, a point of clarification. Although he seems confused about the posting system, my father would like me to retract my earlier statement that he was old. I'm not sure what he expects me to change it to, but retracted it is. Second, there's been a ton of things that went down today that needed my attention, including but not limited to multiple time-consuming conversations that weren't expected. That may sound like excuses...and i guess they are :) So one more day, true believers, and hopefully that day will be today. I have classes and bowling till 430ish so maybe sometime after that? Until then, may your foreheads grow like the mighty oak.

Keep Waitin'

Faithful reader(s?) ;), keep looking here and keep reading...I'm not sure whether there's nothing going on, or too much going on. But either way, I'll have something up tomorrow that will be interesting. Maybe even a couple somethings, we'll see. Take care, all.

** God as an American Idol **

It’s funny how circumstances present themselves sometimes. This essay, thought, post, call it what you will, has been cogitating in my head for a couple of days. The inspiration for it is a series of circumstances and thoughts that could be seen as coincidence, but I believe are more likely a well-designed set of events that has led me to this. These circumstances include the material from three of my classes, namely Wisdom Literature, Foundations of Christian Theology and Christian Worship. In addition, we have just finished the increasingly misnamed Spiritual Emphasis Week here on campus. During this time, Dr. Rick Rigsby, the chaplain for the Texas Longhorns football team, gave three rousing motivational speeches cleverly disguised as spiritual messages. These factors and others have led me to the conclusions found within.

In an essay for the compilation, “Reconstructing Christian Theology,” noted theologian Marjorie Suchocki writes that “The doctrine of God is developed so as to ensure that there is an answer to the problem of evil as defined by the society.” The first time that I read this statement, it struck me as very dangerous. To create the doctrine of God based upon the answers that society needs leaves the door open to all sorts of interpretations of God, especially in this day and age of individualism. However, the more I thought about it, the truer the statement seemed. This idea that God is whatever you need him to be is one that seems to have permeated our culture. Unfortunately, the fact that the statement Suchocki makes is true does not make it correct. A personal relationship with God is acceptable and indeed desirable; a personal interpretation of God is not. And yet, so often, I believe that what we are looking for are answers, rather than God.

These answers are what Rick Rigsby came to provide to the PLNU populace. If you haven’t heard Dr. Rigsby speak, it’s quite an experience. He is an enormous black man, as wide as he is tall (and no cracks about me getting there!,) and he clearly comes from a southern tradition, because he certainly knows how to ‘preach it,’ as they say. Unfortunately, preach it he did not. As a fellow theology student Kyle Tau put it in a well-written column in the Point Weekly, “…Scripture was pushed to the periphery. One key scripture was read quickly and passed over in favor of anecdotal examples or moralistic clichés.” Kyle’s article goes on to describe a community where Scripture takes a backseat to staging, and becomes “…a convenient list of moral and psychological advice…Substance is substituted for entertainment and a call to discipleship for good advice.” While Mr. Tau admits that this column will likely enrage many of the students on campus, as Dr. Rigsby has reached, as Kyle puts it “near saint-like status,” it struck a chord with myself and many of the theology majors. In an amusing twist of fate, the other column on the page was by a girl who was raging against a ‘consumer Christian’ mentality that she saw played out at a local Family Christian Bookstore. She, it should be noted, was not a theology major, so it is clearly not simply an opinion of the ‘educated theological community.’ In her column, she described many Christian articles of commerce that I myself have been nauseated by as well: Christian chocolates, Christian fashion ties, even Christian credit cards. I sincerely hope that the cries of Kyle and my other fellow PLNU students will not fall on deaf ears.

In the book of Job, Job and his friends have a debate about God. Job says that God has been unfair to him because he is without blame, yet is suffering. Job’s friends say that he must be incorrect; God is always just, so there must be some sin that Job has failed to atone for. Eventually a young man named Elihu steps in and tells the four of them that, while it is true that God is always just, sometimes God uses suffering to teach and refine people. Elihu is closer than any of the other four, yet is still off the mark. Eventually God steps in and addresses Job. What God says (and also what God does NOT say) is very telling. God asks Job an extended series of rhetorical questions, asking him where he was when God created the heavens and earth, if he could point out where the light and darkness lived, and other such questions that no human could possibly answer. The point that God makes through all of this is that we as humans cannot understand fully God’s nature or actions. Job was looking for answers, not God. Fittingly, God answers none of the questions that Job asked through the course of the book. Rather, God points out Job’s lack of understanding by giving him NO answer- save that God’s grace is sufficient. In the final speech of the book, Job realizes what he has done, and repents and ‘despises (him)self,’ saying that “No plan of (God’s) can be thwarted. (Job 42:2)” Throughout the book, Job had been trying to hold God to a standard of fairness, saying that God was unfair to judge him in such a way. In the end, though, Job realizes an important truth, that God is just, or more aptly God is Justice. Everything that God does is just and right, whether we understand it or not- and often we do not. Dr. Smith, one of my professors, put it very succinctly when he said that “God’s wisdom is always there for the asking, and yet always utterly beyond us.”

So, while it is certain that God is in some ways extremely personal and imminent, God is also completely other than us, and cannot be simply reduced to human terms. As God loses mystery, as we bring God wholly into our world, even God slowly becomes an idol. The Webster definition of ‘idol’ has 5 entries, 3 of which pertain to the topic: 1. A representation or symbol of an object of worship. 2. A form visible but without substance, and 3. A false conception. Unfortunately, in today’s culture, the idol of God becomes strikingly like the “Idol” of American Idol, definition 4: an object of extreme devotion. God as a representation of an object of worship, rather than the object itself, is what makes God a form without substance. As a final point of clarification, I am not without blame in this area- it is as easy for me to fall into this trap of making God ‘mine’ and mine alone, to put him in 'a little white box,' as it is for anyone else. However, having once opened my eyes to this rampant idolization, I can now seek to defend myself against it, allowing a balance between the imminent and the transcendent God. It is my prayer that I will continue to be able to see God through the revelation of Jesus, and not simply as an American Idol.

"O Lord Jesus Christ, weak is our foolish heart, and only too ready to let itself be drawn - and there is so much that would draw it to itself. There is pleasure with its seducing power, the manifold with its distractions, the moment with its deceptive importance, and bustle with its vain toil, and frivolities careless squandering of time, and melancholy’s gloomy brooding - all of these would draw us away from our own self and to them, in order to deceive us. But Thou who art the truth, Thou our only Savior and Redeemer, can truly draw a man to Thee, which indeed Thou hast promised to do, to draw all unto Thyself. So God grant that we by entering into ourselves may come to ourselves, so that Thou, according to Thy word, can draw us unto Thee - from on high, but thorough loneliness and humiliation."
- Søren Kierkegaard, Training in Christianity

**"Deep Thoughts"**

I've decided that there should be some sort of demarcation between the posts which refer to the inane details of my everyday life and those devoted to deeper, usually more spiritual, thoughts. Despite what the post title says, it's possible that they won't be that deep after all, but hopefully they will be interesting and spiritually enlightening. So, if you're looking for the 'me' stuff, look for the regular posts. If you prefer to simply read the theological/philosophical/(political? maybe) posts, look for the ** Title **. One such post will definitely probably come tomorrow. I have had it cogitating since yesterday, but I am focusing it and refining it, etc. So read on, MacDuff!

Cars and Pasta

So today was eventful. My car's headlights burnt out a week or so ago (or more accurately I noticed it about a week ago,) and today I finally had a chance to call the dealership and take it in. I mapquested the dealership, but apparently the address line didn't stick, because after going around in circles downtown, I realized that I had been following directions to get from PLNU to...San Diego. Funny, I knew how to get there already. Luckily my dad was able to hook me up with REAL directions, and I found it eventually. The dichotomy of service that I recieved at John Hine Mazda was quite impressive. After sitting behind a parked car for fully 10 minutes before i was helped, Mechanic Lady, who was the epitome of surliness, eventually had me get out and fill out the requisite reams of paperwork. Luckily, the guy who gave me the Enterprise Rent-a-Car (strangely situated within the Mazda dealership) more than made up for M.L. It turns out he grew up in Rohnert Park, and his roomie grew up in Cotati. He also attended PLNU...small world. Anyway, he was a very nice guy, and told me that his mother was the secretary at my old elementary school, so we reminisced about NorCal a little. Fun times...

In other news, I have a new addiction. I must admit, I'm a big fan of Italian food-pasta and the like- and was deeply saddened when I heard the announcement that the Old Spaghetti Factory, the very model of Italian food establishments, had closed its doors in our fair city of San Diego. While glancing over the school paper this morning, I noticed an ad for a new eatery know as "Divine Pastabilities"...bad, i admit, but I decided it was worth a shot. Turns out, it's not just Italian, it's INNOVATIVE Italian. Their feature dish is the "Torpasta," which consists of a seeded roll of some sort, hollowed in the center and filled with various pasta dishes. UNbefreakingleivable!!! I elected to try the Fettucini Alfredo Broccoli with Chicken, and it was simply stunning. The Torpasta has supplanted all other favorites of any sort in my mind, and even now consumes my thoughts. Check out the website, http://www.torpasta.com/, to learn more about this incredible delicacy. Anyone who wants to visit and get a more personal acquaintance with this undoubtedly Divine creation (sorry, puns all around...), feel free to call me up and I will make the introduction personally, as it will give me an excuse to re-visit the wonder that is the Torpasta.

Biography is Done

OK, all, it's finished. My monster of a bio is finished! I posted it in regular format instead of 'backwards' blog format, so read from Me down to Stuff and it will make more sense. Biographies are interesting things....they certainly lend perspective on life. Hopefully that gives you a better idea of who I am...enjoy!

Me

Name: Christopher James Schoenthal

Age: 21

College: Point Loma Nazarene University

Major: Bible & Christian Ministries

Interests/Hobbies: Heh, where to start… Theology, definitely. Reading-see books. Movies- see movies. Scouts-Eagle Scout, Vigil Member of the Order of the Arrow, past past Section Chief of Section W3B, Netami Wulit. Languages- English and Spanish for now- Coming soon: Greek, Hebrew and more! Gaming: Card games- Lord of the Rings, Star Wars CCG, WARS TCG, Poker. Computer games- World of Warcraft, LOTR Online, Hearts, Starcraft, Warcraft III.

People

Family: Father-Keith, old, Fire Marshal, City of San Rafael
Mother- Carla, young at heart, Librarian, Novato Branch of Marin County Free Library
Sister- Linnet, 13, Student at Twin Hills Middle School, Violinist Extraordinaire
Pets- Cats: Mewliette, Houdini, Friend. Rabbits: Attila, Midnight, Brøderbun. Goats: Edgar, Victor. Sheep: Stewart, Chewbacca. Parakeet: Lindbergh

Roomies: Daniel, Phil/Theo and Psych major, Insightful and friendly fellow.
Mmmmmmmmmmichael, Bible & Christian Ministries major, Hispanic-wannabe Wrightian extremist.

Friends-If you’re not on this list, and should be, reply! These are in alphabetical order by category. Wow, my retentiveness shines through…at least I’m too lazy to alphabetize within first letter :)
Church:
Jeff “J-$” Bassett- Awesome guy. Is good at knowing when I’m wrong. Excellent dramatist.
Andrew “ABass” Bassett- This family’s pretty cool. Andrew’s caring, but also HILARIOUS!
Janelle Hausladen- Great dancer!
Chris “Irwinator” Irwin- Just up the coast, soundboard whiz. Don’t turn your back on his wit, either.
Ssssliz Jones- My inspiration for this here blog. My conscience, too.
Jessica Larsen- Beautiful, fun. She took me to my first high school dance…when I was 21. Padres fan, but I forgive her.
Zakar “Zak” McAllister- Always ready to have fun. Way better at HALO than I am.
Matt “Sunny the Bass” Sundahl- Irwinator’s roomie. Keeps him sane. We all thank him for that.
Joel and Amy Tippitt- Greatest. People. Ever.
Lee “Nickname omitted so he won’t kill me” Wraith- My catharsis and my friend. One of the few who can keep up with me when quoting movies. Having him around keeps me sane.
Savannah “Savage Nation” Westergaard- Sweetest girl you’ll ever meet. Can’t wait till Loma!

School:
Joe & Jared Aizawa- The brothers Aizawa. Awesome guys, I miss ‘em both, if only because my LOTR record has declined since they left ;)
Derek Davis- LOTR Player, deep thinker. Reads more than anyone I know.
Brandon Edgbert- Fellow Giants lover, fun guy. Too good at math.
Greg Miller- FAST son of a gun! Good at LOTR too. Most relaxed guy on campus.
Zac Walsh- Reads almost as much as Derek. Kierkegaard devotee. Sharpest wit I know.
Santos Reyes- the epitome of partying. If you’re with Santos, you’re having a good time.

LOTR:
David Chafin- Excellent player, good friend. My non-drinking buddy :)
Mark Evans- Old school, fun to have around. Likes to laugh at Patchell honline.
Sean Flanagan- sold out to poker. I miss ya :/
Travis “Red Oscar” Frazier- Cardinals fan, but aside from that good guy. Funny, too.
Mason “ Ma$edogg” Gilligan- Up and coming film star…can’t wait till your first feature!
T.J. “GameBreaker” McCarthy- The Darth Vader to my Obi-wan. I taught him, now he’s busted…cant wait till his first PSE.
Seth “Orange Jedi” Maser- The east coast to my west coast, and my boss.
Michael “MichaelLovesLisa…heh heh heh” Mendoza- Good guy, although he looks goofy in shorts :P
Patty “Black Barney” McSullivan- Funniest guy ive ever played LOTR with. He’s always a party!
Rob Owen- Left for Warhammer. Miss you too, buddy!
John “Patch” Patchell- Good guy most of the time, but don’t play him honline!
Gerardo “G-money” Richey- Heart of gold, fun to hang with.
Zach “Rubber Chicken” Shepard- Funny dude. Can’t wait to meet him.

Other:
Ross Armstrong- Another Darth to my Obi- the Western Region Chief! You rock, boss.
Aaron Landwehr- Fun to hang with, lets me steal his computer every now and again.
Tristan Palmatier- Possibly the only guy on this list to have seen me in a cape. I’ve known him since I was 5, great guy.

Enemies: Do I have any? I can’t remember any… laundry, I guess.

Stuff

Movies:
I have lots of these. I won’t post a comprehensive list, just current and all-time favorites.
Star Wars Trilogy- My first love. How do I put that into words?
LOTR Trilogy- Amazing series. Arwen aside, it was well-done in terms of accuracy, and visually stunning to boot. Deserves all of its many awards.
Napolean Dynamite- HILARIOUS! Any movie that includes Ligers and nunchuks…wow.
Princess Bride- A kissing movie. That’s OK.
Phantom of the Opera- Again, visually and emotionally stunning. Presumably true to the original, although I haven’t seen it….yet.
Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet- The only real movie version of Hamlet. Accept no substitutes, especially the one with Mel Gibson.
UHF- aka Weird Al, the Movie. His kind of humor, in a visual format. Can’t beat it!
Bandits- Romantic comedy + bank robbers + talented cast + beavers & ducks= classic.
Clue- Communism was only a red herring!
Mystery Science Theatre 3000- Robots making fun of bad Sci-Fi movies. If that sounds funny, it is! The only DVD I’ve ever seriously considered spending $182 on.

Music:
Again, not a comprehensive list. I have lots of these, too.
‘Tallica- Best rock band I’ve ever seen in concert. Also the only one.
Five Iron Frenzy- Best ska band ever. I miss these guys.
Relient K- Alternately funny and deep, a great combination.
Roper- FIF with rock instead of horns. I hope they stick around awhile.
Musicals- Phantom of the Opera again, Chicago, The Producers, Cabaret. Aren’t I cultured?

Books:
Not comprehensive, etc, etc, etc. The Bible isn’t on the list- it’s difficult to consider Sacred Texts ‘favorite’ books. If I had to pick a favorite book of the Bible, I’d prolly say Hebrews. On to the list.
LOTR Trilogy- I read it once a year, at least. It’s a literary masterpiece; read it if you havn’t.
Wild at Heart- This book changed many of my perspectives about life, my gender, etc. Read it if you want to understand guys. Especially if you are one.
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy- Funniest, most misnamed trilogy ever. I can’t wait for the movie!
Shakespeare-Hamlet, especially. He was a genius, plain and simple. It is unlikely that any other human will have the same command of and influence on the English language. Hamlet makes me cry every time I read it.
C.S. Lewis- I know, he’s not a book, but he’s real smart. Possibly my favorite author, if you want advice about what order to read his stuff in, or just wanna chat, I always love talking about him.

Sports:
I’ve liked sports since I liked dinosaurs- that might give you an idea how long it’s been. I wanted to be a sports broadcaster for quite awhile, and memorized stats and such when most kids were playing with GI Joes. Here are my teams.
Baseball: San Francisco Giants, Oakland A’s. Some people say I’m not a pure fan cuz I like a team in each league, but when they play 3 times a season or whatever, I have no qualms about it. The Padres get a few votes if they’re not playing the Giants.
Basketball: Golden State Warriors. Sad, aren’t I? Wait till next year…or next decade.
Football: San Francisco 49ers. We had our run for quite awhile, it’s our turn to suffer for awhile. I’ll stick with em.
Hockey: Do they still play hockey? If they ever play again, the Sharkies will again receive my adulation.

Computers are Dumb

Much to the chagrin of those who wished me to learn HTML and cash in on the .com boom, then support them in their old age, I was never very good at programming. As such, I cannot figure out for the life of me how to add a Links section to this page. If you want to know where a cool website or something is, just e-mail me and I'll recommend some. I might figure it out eventually, but then again I might not. To be continued...

You hear that, Mr. Anderson?

It's the sound of inevitability. That's right, the New England Patriots triumph once again in Super Bowl XXXIX. Donovan McNabb decided 3 picks in the biggest game of his career was a good plan, and so the Eagles waited one more game to choke this year. No more NFL news till the draft, when the Niners will undoubtedly choose the one quarterback in the draft who doesn't make the Hall of Fame. In other news, the commercials were also subpar this year. I'm a sad panda.

Why???

So maybe I have more motivation for this little creative outlet than I thought - probably because I have more fodder than I thought. I was eating lunch today at Adalberto's (Hereafter known as 'Adals'), when I saw something painful. For the uninformed, Adals may be the best Mexican food in all of San Diego- 'may be' because I'm not quite done eating at every Mexican restaraunt in this fairly sizeable city. It is certainly the best of the California Burrito-serving triumvirate of Adals, Santanas and Cotijas. Anyway, it is situated next to a far less appetizing eatery: that bastion of German fast food, Der Wienerschnitzel (yes, I had to go to thier website to look up the spelling.) As I was leaving Adals, I noticed that the Wienerschnitzel drive thru was literally packed with cars, the line spilling out onto Rosecrans Ave.

Now, maybe it's just me, but Wienerschnitzel does not seem to merit this sort of business. Take a regular greasy spoon, and knock it down a notch because it is fast food. Then knock it down another notch because it serves hot dogs. Then maybe one more notch because it serves fast food hot dogs, and finally one more because they have a SINGING hot dog as a mascot of sorts. That is fully four strikes against them, and that's before you enter the premesis or look at the menu. So please, for your own collective sakes, drive next door and get some real food.

And yes, I've been cogitating a fairly long biography post which may go up later today if the World of Warcraft and laundry do not fully consume my time once again.

The Other Reason

Oh yeah, the other reason I created this blog was so I could laugh at the world and its iodiosyncrasies and stupidity. So interspersed amongst my own thoughts will be random funny things I see-signs, quotations, etc. I was trying to think of a clever name for them, but couldn't. So if YOU have a clever name, feel free to reply with it.

Our first 'winner'- My roomie left a package of Betty Crocker Banana Nut Muffin mix on the table. On the package, in large letters, it says "Now even easier!" I pondered what this could mean in context of something as simple as a muffin mix, until i turned it over and saw that, to make them, you just add water and stick 'em in the oven. So, for those of you who are not skilled enough in the cullinary arts to add OTHER INGREDIENTS (oil, eggs, milk, or whatever you used to add to Banana Nut Muffins)... your triumph has arrived. Enjoy the muffins.

Wilkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome

Hey all,
So here it is. Me. I'm not certain why i decided to start a blog, aside from the obvious trendiness of them, and inspiration from SSSSSSSliz Jones (tx girl :). I'm also not certain what will show up here, or how often. Im sure some of it will be funny, some of it will be deep, and a lot of it will prolly end up being dumb. Enjoy it, i hope :) A few notes: The title comes from the song "New Year's Eve" by Five Iron Frenzy. R.I.P. FIF... My name is Chris. I'm in college. I'll prolly post a bigger biography later, if I'm not too lazy, which is a distinct possibility and will probably greatly affect the frequency of my posts here. I think thats all for the intro...welcome to my nightmare :)