Tales From The Yellow Brick Road

Here are a few of my favorite movie moments (in no particular order)… what are yours?

1. “Elizabethtown” - The phone conversation between Will (Orlando Bloom) and Claire (Kirsten Dunst) while they each go about their lives and talk for hours on end. When they meet in person, they realize the phone was better.

2. “Seabiscuit” - When Tom Smith (Chris Cooper) is trying to get Seabiscuit to calm down and tries using a goat. The goat then is launched through the air from the stable by the horse.

3. “Lord Of The Rings” - When Merry (Dominic Monighan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) light the dragon firework at Bilbo’s (Ian Holm) birthday party. Pippin’s scream is hilarious.

4. “The Matrix” - The entire conversation between the Oracle (Gloria Foster) and Neo (Keanu Reeves). I think that was the scene the made me like the movie despite Keanu Reeves.

5. “Amadeus” - The final scene where Solieri’s (F. Murray Abraham) story and bitterness devestates the Priest (Herman Meckler) and assures the audience that Solieri belongs in the institution.

Big Announcement #2: I Will Not Be Returning To The Master’s College

Okay so maybe I lulled you into a false sense of security when I made my first announcement but to be fair I did warn you a while back.

So yeah, this is a BIG announcement and I am going to do my best to explain the situation while maintaining the privacy I talked about last time.

Here goes…

1. It’s A Matter Of Character

Some time ago, a situation came about where I faced a major crisis that turned into a legal problem. The resolution of that legal problem called my character into question and left me picking up the pieces of my life 19 days after my Mom died. During the legal process I was unable to disclose the situation to TMC and when I could, there was little more than a month left before I was due to be back for SLS Retreat. Because of the timing, TMC felt it was best to exclude me for this school year (2008-2009) and reevaluate things next year.

2. It’s A Matter Of Cost

Even before my exclusion for 2008-2009, going to TMC was going to be a long term financial burden and was already a short-term financial strain. The death of my Mom further complicated things due to the fact that the lost income has put my family in a precarious situation. On top of that, I had to go into a considerable amount of debt due to the legal costs and would have no way to pay that back while going to TMC. The final problem is that there are classes that I’d have to take, in order to graduate in 2010, that are only being offered this year. Because they won’t be offered again until the 2010-2011 school year, and because of my age, finishing at TMC is neither wise nor feasible.

3. It’s A Matter Of Calling

When I first began at TMC, the goal was to learn the necessary tools to become a full-time Creative Arts Pastor and felt called to a career in the Church. However, that is no longer possible. As I faced the legal situation, I quickly started to reevaluate everything in my life and soon began to feel that going into ministry was no longer my calling and in all honesty, was no longer my desire. In addition, the Bible lays out some pretty strict guidelines for those that want to be in leadership in the church and I am confident that I no longer meet those guidelines, nor do I want to pursue them. I did not evaluate myself lightly but merely held my character and spiritual fortitude up to the lens of scripture and was convicted by the Holy Spirit that I was lacking.

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All that being said, here are some answers to a few questions I anticipate you may have:

1. Are you excluded from TMC campus or just enrolling in classes?

I am only excluded from attending classes, however I probably won’t be on-campus very much and if I am, it can only be on lower campus. Because I live and work within 40 miles of TMC, there will still be plenty of opportunities for me to see and hang out with the folks from TMC off-campus.

2. Does this mean you are not going to finish your degree?

Before my Mom died, I promised her that I would finish school, even if she wasn’t around for me to do so. At the time I couldn’t imagine facing school without her love and support, and although I still can’t imagine what that is going to be like, I intend to fulfill that promise to her.

3. If you’re going to finish, when will you go back?

Unfortunately, it was too late in the year to apply anywhere else for Fall 2008 so the earliest I’d start would be Spring 2009. However, there is a possibility that I may take a little bit longer to go back, while I figure out what kind of degree to pursue and the best place to pursue it.

4. Are you going to attend a Christian College?

In my opinion there is only one Christian College for me and it’s TMC. Although there are some great schools out there that emphasize Christ and Scripture, there is only one that preaches the Christ I know and teaches the Scripture I read and that is TMC. All that being said, when I go back it will more than likely be at a secular institution. There are many world-renown colleges and universities that offer competitive programs in the arts.

5. What career are you going to pursue now that you’re not going to be a Pastor?

Although my calling has defiantly been changed, I don’t think my gifts and talents have. I am still very interested in using the gifts I have in the arts as a springboard for a career in the arts, but it’s going to take some time to figure all that stuff out. However, no matter what my new major is going to be, I still have some Gen Ed to get out of the way, so I’ll probably start there.

I think that’ll do it for this post. If you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them here on the blog, or email me. I have a few more announcements to make so don’t let down your guard yet.

Here are 10 movies I want to see before the end of the year (in no particular order):

1. Vantage Point
2. 88 Minutes
3. The Dark Night
4. Juno
5. Swing Vote
6. Zodiac
7. Live Free Or Die Hard
8. The Kite Runner
9. There Will Be Blood
10. “12″

Have you seen any of these? If you have, leave a comment and let me know what you thought about them.

Big Announcement #1: This Will No Longer Be An Online Journal About Me

As someone who has been blogging and podcasting for three years it’s really easy to think that because you’ve lasted this long, your blog is the best blog in the world, especially if you don’t read a lot of other blogs. I can honestly say I do read a lot of blogs and I know what a good one looks like and this isn’t one. So here are a few reasons why the blog is changing:

1. Lack Of Regularity And Consistency

When I first started blogging the goal and purpose was to share what was going on in my life and to pass on some funny stories, articles, pictures and videos. When I began reading other blogs they all had regular weekly features like Mind Dumps, Bible Journeys and other recurring themes and so for a while I tried to adopted that style. The only feature that ever really lasted was my TMC Journal but that was less a feature about life as a TMC student and more just an extension of what was going on in my life. That being said, an online journal is cool and all, but you really don’t develop a following or a regular audience unless you’re consistent. I have been consistently inconsistent and as a result I have very few regular readers and more Googlers and Yahooers that are just passing by when a keyword or tag from my blog lands in their search results.

2. A Need To Protect My Privacy

I have been a very honest and open person ever since I became a Christian. I felt that instead of keeping the blessings and failures in my life a secret, I would be someone that was transparent and real with those around me. I believe that part of it was my personality and part of it was a need for attention. Every once in a while I’d go through a “crisis” and strategically point any and every conversation toward my troubles in order to gain sympathy and affection from my friends. As I began to get older and more mature people began confronting me about it and so it decreased less and less to where I simply had a small circle of people who knew “everything” about me and then had the general population that would get and honest answer to any question they asked me for the sake of authenticity. I’m not sure it was a bad idea but when you go through life being an open book and are suddenly faced with a real crisis which can’t be public knowledge you learn very quickly that sometimes there is a need for privacy and protecting the parts of who I am that have no business being shared with mere acquaintances.

3. Disclaimers Are Good Up To A Point

Early on in my bogging experience, I made some comments on a Podcast that got me in trouble. Comments that led a friend of mine to believe that I was talking about them and the organization that we were a part of. I immediately got an irate phone call from them demanding answers and it took me quite a while to explain that the comments were not directed at them or the organization and had to remove the portion of the Podcast where I made the comments. After a few similar incidents, I posted a disclaimer that helped folks understand that my opinions were my own and that they were not the onions of others unless they stated so on the blog. However, I think I missed the point in that initial confrontation. The problem was less about who I was representing, but was more about the fact that my comments were misinterpreted because they were not well thought out or carefully planned. And sometimes, no matter how carefully you word something, there will be those who misinterpret what you say and end up being offended.

4. You Are What You Blog

I have to say when I look back at all the posts for the past three years I have noticed a frightening trend. Since I began blogging 70% of my blogs have been written because I was depressed and the content and the tone reflected that. In other words, this blog is pretty depressing when you go back and look at all the stuff that I’ve written. It has been the most intense the past 1½ years due to my Mom’s cancer and subsequent death but if someone was to come along and read this, without knowing me, they’d probably think I was a pretty depressed and somber guy. For those of you who know me, you know that I have a sense of humor and laugh a lot and joke a lot, but you wouldn’t think that by reading this. If I really wanted this blog to be a place where I share my thoughts and what’s going on, I either did a terrible job, or my life really sucks (it could be both).

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Here is what you can expect in Tales From The Yellow Brick Road 2.0:

1. More Consistency For The Sake Of Consistency

Over the next month or so I’m going to be trying out a few different styles and formats. I’ll warn you in advance it’s going to suck, but I hope that when the right one comes along you’ll email me and speak up. I want to find a genre of blogging and stick with it. Maybe it’ll be an entertainment review blog, maybe it will be a Bible verse blog maybe it will be a Wizard Of Oz trivia blog who knows. All I know is when I find the right format that is appealing to all you regulars, I’ll stick with it.

2. I’m Keeping Stuff On The Down Low

If you want to know what’s going on in my life and want to keep up with all the stuff going on, you’re gonna have to find another way besides this blog. From now on my personal life will be private. I’m not ruling out the possibility of having a journal, but from now on it’s not going to be available for all the world to see. One alternative to this will be my Twitter Feed that I will maintain and keep updated with short snippets of what’s up, but don’t expect any posts about me or my life that are more than 140 characters.

3. I Ain’t Representin’

My disclaimer still stands, but just know that I reserve the right at anytime to give honest assessments of public organizations that I may or may not be involved in and that other people may or may not be involved in. Unless I name someone by name don’t assume that I’m talking about anyone in particular. If I’m going to blog about something that is potentially “misinterpretable,” I’ll clear it through someone else first before I post it. Hopefully, the lack of personal content on my part will also help eliminate some of those misunderstandings.

4. This Blog Is Now Officially On Prozac

From now on my posts will go through an elaborate evaluation for depression related material. Any and all posts that are potentially depressing will go through a rigorous editing and sifting process. All of us know that sometimes the world can be persistent source of discouragement, however there’s no reason for me to make this blog a sob fest that tries to coax certain emotional responses from people. Some of this will be solved due to increased privacy but mostly, it’ll be a conscience decision to choose a less discouraging approach.

Well that’s it for now. More jaw-dropping announcements to come shortly… I figured I’d start with and obvious and easy one.

Sunday

• Coffee Bean with the sister before church near Del Amo Blvd & Hawthorne Blvd #
• Checking out Life Covenant… in Torrance, CA #

Monday

• I am officially annoyed that it takes so freaking long for iTunes to backup my iPhone!!!! #
• A quick Starbucks before work… near Bluebell Ave & Erwin St #

Tuesday

• Back home vegging out after work… #

Wednesday

• Twitter… you rat bastard! You deleted my tweet about the earthquake! It was posted less than 4 minutes after the shaking started… #

Thursday

• Traffic really sucked this morning! #
• Traffic really sucks today! http://twitpic.com/5z3t #

Friday

• Wow… I almost forgot what it looked like outside! in Burbank, CA #
• Watching the co-workers play foose ball while I wait for traffic to clear up in Burbank, CA #

Saturday

• I’m hoping I can get some stuff sold ASAP! #

That’s right folks I’ve got some stuff that I need to sell and I wanted to enlist your help. The following items are for sale on Craigslist and I need your help selling them. If you or someone you know are looking for these items let me know and I will be more than happy to let you/them have a first shot and a somewhat reduced price.

On Sale Now:

1. 2000 Nissan Sentra $2995.00 OBO
2. 2006 Saturn VUE V6 3.5 Liter - $15995.00 OBO
3. 15′ MacBookPro 2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (including FCP Studio 2)- $2300
4. Canon XL2 Video Camera w/Custom Pelican Hard Case- $3000

As you can tell these are some high priced items and the bottom line is I’m raising funds to purchase a vehicle. And just like I need your help selling, I need your help buying! So here is what I’m looking for:

2005 (1/2) - 2007 Volkswagen Jetta

Must Haves:

• 40K Miles Or Less
• $12,000 - $15,000
• Dark Color
• One owner, rental or lease car with clean title
• Spectacular tires

Wish List:

• Sun Roof
• Upgraded Sound Package
• Good floor mats

If you can help out in any way with anything on this list I would be most greatful!