RootsRain

Okay, so I didn’t get tagged with this one. But I liked the idea so much that I just had to try it out. Here are the ground rules:

1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that’s playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don’t lie and try to pretend you’re cool…
7. When you’re finished tag some other people to do it!

• Opening Credits:
  Seven popular Spanish Songs, – El paõ moruno (de Falla)
  I’m going to have a curious, swaggering little life.

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I got memed by Emily so here ‘goes:

• My Childhood Ambition: Be a fighter pilot.
• My Fondest Memory: waking up on our honeymoon in Maine and realizing it had snowed during the night… then we trudged to the Jordan Pancake House to have breakfast with the locals… and had hot chocolate with whipped cream on top that got on your nose when you tried to sip.
• My Favourite Retreat: a comfy chair and a history book.
• My Wildest Dream: Become a millionaire, travel, and spend my life helping people via money, hospitality, work, or whatever.
• My Proudest Moment: Ending years of rebellion my junior year (in college) by submitting to whatever God wanted.
• My Biggest Challenge: obeying the Holy Spirit.
• My Alarm Clock is: my cat, Frodo, who wants to be fed every morning at 4:30, sharp.
• My Perfect Day: Spending a day in coffee shops talking with friends.
• My First Job was: picking up trash on construction sites at age 5. I got $1 a day, initially, which, for a 5-year old in 1982 was pretty good.
• My Most Decadent Indulgence: My iPod, I guess. When you’re on a budget, there aren’t a whole lot of indulgences.
• My Inspiration: C.S. Lewis, Francis Schaeffer, Will, Tim, and Bernini.
• My New Years Resolution: Lose da weight.
• My Ideal Companion: Emily.
• My Favourite Colour: Blue.
• The Last Book I Read: Bound for Canaan: The Underground Railroad and the Struggle for the Soul of America, by Fergus M. Bordewich
• How many Books did I read in 2006: 24
• My Ideal Home Would be: 2-story brick with lots of large windows and high ceilings, located on 100 acres of rolling hills with a barn nearby and horses. You asked.
• I am Expert at: Photoshop. Accents.
• My Funniest Joke: My body.
• My Favourite Animal: A fluffy housecat. Or a spider monkey.
• My Favourite Breakfast: Pancakes with butter & maple syrup, sausage links.
• My Favourite Snack: Chocolate chip cookies.
• My Favourite NEW TV Show: I haven’t watched TV since… 1994, I think.
• My Couch: Don’t have one. If I had one, it would be an older-looking brown leather couch.
• Your Greatest Fear: Being a failure.
• Your Favourite Entertainer: I don’t have one.
• Your Favourite Meat & Veggie: Steak & corn.
• Worst Person in the World: Me.

I tag Will, John, Micah, and TJ.

Will posted a socio-political personality test on his blog, so I just had to follow suit.

Well, it appears I’m most in the Stalinist camp… hmmm… think this test is a bit skewed toward the Libertarian/communist? The command system is Stalin, the Fascist is Hitler, the free market is Pinochet, and the libertarian/communist is Ghandi.

Big Bird said it best: one of these things is not like the other.

Of course, statisticians don’t like open-ended questions, and the ones on this test were no exception. I felt like responding to most of the questions by saying “wait, no, there’s a third (or fourth or fifth) option here,” or “do I have to answer as a human trying to make the world livable or as a Christian describing the perfect society?” I’d be totally communistic if we were all perfect. I’m totally capitalist since we’re not. In a lot of ways having polarized answers between human systems is simply a choice between the lesser of two evils.

I’ll shut up. Here are my totals:

• Economic left/right: 2.50
• Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: 1.03

According to this I’m relatively middle of the road, and I guess that’s about as accurate as you can get when polling someone who’s living for the Kingdom of Light while living in the Kingdom of Darkness.

I’m not going to meme this one, but I just wanted to make a list of books I’ve read in the past 12 months. It serves the dual purpose of reminding me of things that I enjoyed reading and of things I should still know.

1. The Management Methods of Jesus, by Bob Briner
2. A Grief Observed, by C.S. Lewis
3. The Gospel According to Moses, by Athol Dickson
4. Regina Silsby’s Secret War, by Thomas J. Brodeur
5. Regina Silsby’s Phantom Militia, by Thomas J. Brodeur
6. Getting to Yes, by Roger Fisher & William Ury *
7. The Go-Getter, by Peter B. Kyne
8. QBQ!: The Question Behind the Question, by John G. Miller
9. How Shall We Then Live, by Francis A. Schaeffer *
10. The E-Myth Revisited, by Michael Gerber
11. The Pursuit of Holiness, by Jerry Bridges *
12. Christian Liberty, by Rex M. Rogers
13. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl
14. Good to Great, by Jim Collins
15. Man of Vision, by Marilee Pierce Dunker
16. Ordering Your Private World, by George MacDonald *
17. Velvet Elvis, by Rob Bell
18. To Own a Dragon, by Donald Miller
19. Like Your Neighbor?, by Stephen W. Sorenson *
20. Success and the Christian, by A.W. Tozer
21. On Writing Well, by William Zinsser
22. James Madison, by Gary Wills
23. Biggest Brother: The Life of Major Dick Winters, by Larry Alexander
24. Heaven, by Randy Alcorn *
25. The Millionaire Next Door, by Thomas Stanley & William Danko *
26. Symphonic Theology, by Vern Poythress
27. Gates of Fire, by Stephen Pressfield
28. Six Days of War, by Michael B. Oren
29. Humility, by C.J. Mahaney *

* Indicates my top reads (i.e., most significant impact) for the year.

Since I’ve been memed recently by Will, I figured I needed to turn around the favor and do a little of my own.

So allow me to announce the “Where have you been in the U.S. and the World” meme. For this one, you’ll need to use the map generators here and here. Just select the places you’ve been and have it generate the map. Voila.

I’ve included my own maps below (although I’ve modified the colors a little because they were a bit too intense before. I’m a designer, for crying out loud.

One caveat, though: these must be places you visited, not simply airport stops or train rides across. Otherwise I’d be able to add a whole bunch more.

Tag five people:

1. Will
2. Emily
3. TJ
4. Brannon
5. John

I was tagged again by Will (no one but Will tags me, so I can’t return the favor in his direction). This time it’s a culture meme:

1. A piece of art that you love:

   Tough one… I feel like saying “Every sculpture Bernini ever did” but that would be cheating. So I’m going to go with my favorite single work, which is Michaelangelo’s David:Photo: © Ryan Devries (Flickr)An interesting tidbit about the David: most people don’t realize how large that statue is… for comparison, imagine the average person standing on the pedestal with David… he would only reach David’s knees.

2. A line in a song or line of poetry that reaches your core:

   Teach me to live that I may dread
   The grave as little as my bed.
   Teach my to die that so I may
   Rise glorious at the Awful Day.
   (Hear this one sung… it’s much better.)
   from Sing, Ye Heavens

3. An experience in nature that was really special and/or spiritual:

   I went to my “secret spot” (a place near Table Rock that I’m convinced I’m the only one who knows about) and brought along my journal to work on some thoughts and poems. It was cold and it began raining and I took shelter under a small stand of low pines on the edge of a steep, bare section of the mountain. The rain kept coming down but I was completely dry. I had simultaneous extreme feelings of danger, mystery, wonder, and joy.

4. The movie that changed the way you see the world:

   Hmmmm… that’s tough… movies don’t usually have that effect on me. I might have to go with Wit.

5. A piece of music that makes you cry:

   This is tough… there are so many… but I would have to say Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem gets the Most Consistent, Profound Tear-Jerking Award.

6. Now tag five four people:
   1. Emily
   2. TJ
   3. John
   4. Brannon

In response to being tagged by Will’s book meme:

1. One book that changed your life:

   Heaven, by Randy Alcorn

2. One book that you’ve read more than once:

   An Experiment in Criticism, by C.S. Lewis (at least 6 times… and counting)

3. One book you’d want on a desert island:

   The Bible, or, if that’s cheating, Survive on a Desert Island by Claire Llewellyn.




4. One book that made you laugh:

   To Own a Dragon, by Don Miller & John MacMurray

5. One book that made you cry:

   The Great Divorce, by C.S. Lewis (didn’t really cry, but I laid awake for hours awash in wonder, fear, sorrow, and joy)

6. One book that you wish had been written:

   Well, I’m not sure if it qualifies as one book, but I wish Tolkien had finished all the books about Middle Earth that he was trying to write when he died.




7. One book you wish had never been written:

   I’m not going to say, for fear of terrorist retaliation.

8. One book you’re currently reading:

   Ack. ONE? Gee whiz…. well, Humility by C.J. Mahaney. And a bunch of others.

9. One book you’ve been meaning to read:

   Once again… ack. How can I list only one? Hmmm… How about The Pleasures of God, by John Piper.

10. Now tag five people:

    I don’t know very many people… even fewer with blogs… umm…

    • TJ?
    • Brannon?
    • Emily?
    • John?