i believe (incomplete)

i believe in the Apostles Creed,
though i prefer the language of the Nicene.
i believe God hides in every moment
if we look hard enough.
i believe grace beats karma every time.
i believe love has the power to transform our lives
and make of them far more than we can imagine.
i believe the need to figure it all out
pales in comparison to the mystery of faith and life.
i believe in coyotes and time as an abstract…
no, wait, that’s what michael stipe believes.
i believe we only know ourselves
when we have given ourselves to others.
i believe all art
– music, poetry, theatre, painting, writing, sculpture –
reflects our Creator.
i believe nothing i have belongs to me
but to Him who gives abundantly.
i believe we squander this gift of life given to us
if we cannot laugh at ourselves.
i believe chivalry and romance are not dead,
but may be heavily sedated.

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question

is it morally justifiable to shoot a dog that shits in your yard with a paintball gun?

more importantly, is it legally justifiable?

just checking.

forgot to mention in my last post...it's official...i'm heading to las vegas at the end of july. couldn't think of a good reason not to, other than i hated it the first time. and that was sixteen years ago. and i'm a much different person now than i was then, for better or for worse. now i just have to make sure i budget enough money to make it truly enjoyable. won't do much gambling, but will need money to cover entertainment expenses - shows, food, travel, etc. already sounding a bit more expensive than i first thought, but shouldn't be too bad.

another one bites the dust...veronica breathed her last bit of banter last night. no grand finale, lots and lots of unanswered questions, but the final image was an appropriate one, especially given the shows noir leanings. farewell to veronica, keith, mac, wallace and to one of the smartest, hippest shows in the past decade. should have known it would never last. network tv is becoming a barren wasteland again. guess i'll have to hold on to my digital cable a bit longer...

pomegranates play tonight with chris garneau. will be going, even if i should really be staying home and grading. will do some before i leave tonight, but can't pass up the chance to see the band again. and i liked the song chris had on the paste sampler, so could be a great night for music. here's hoping they start and finish on time. otherwise, it could be late night number three this week.

later.
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tunes: old 97s - question (how's that for symmetry?)

coming down

come words, confound this lethargy within my head. shake out these thoughts so i may organize them into some semblance of coherent speech. break through this block and help the words to come.

ah well. thought it might help. no such luck.

on the natural downswing after the highs of the weekend. spent time with my friend kat. finished midsummer. saw morrissey. and now we crash. and i don't really have the time to. now is not the time for wallowing (is it ever?). too much to do. post-production blues are a luxury i cannot afford right now.

and still i can't get my head to clear.

midsummer ended well - two great performance, excellent crowds, who seemed to love what we did. going to be weird not to see the gang for a while after spending so much time with them. makes me anxious to do more. falcon's a great company - wonderfully collaborative, good people to work with, good chemistry. you don't always get that in community theatre, unfortunately. i won't miss the sweating, but will miss the jacket. here's hoping there's some good photos of it somewhere.

morrissey last night was amazing. kat's a huge moz head and was giddy for most of the day, lingering about the tour bus before the show hoping for a peek. after people watching and commenting on the oddness of midwestern morrissey fans, we made our way to the balcony and our seats. kat was amazed at the lack of anticipatory energy before the show started and the relative cool reception the opening act received. seemed par for the course in my concert going experience - the opening act is rarely why people are there. ran into a lot of the aspects of concerts that keep me going so often - too much coming and going, too little space to move around, too many people showing up after the show has already began. the concert started and the audience in the balcony, at least on our side, stayed seated. at first i joined them, not wanting to be the annoying guy "ruining" the show for those behind me. but then the broke into "panic" and i decided, screw it, default position at a concert should be standing and enjoying the music. they don't like it, they can stand themselves. so kat (who had no qualms about standing) and i stood for the next 90 minutes while morrissey crooned, backed by a kick-ass band. very impressive. his interaction with the audience seemed a little half-hearted, but the boy can still sing. exhausted, we waited around to see if he would sign stuff afterwards. no such luck, but we were close enough to realize doug was wrong when he said he had a big head. a great night.

lovely to have kat around for the weekend. she helped quite a bit to stem off the inevitable letdown i get after wrapping a show.

need to get busy finishing the research papers - independent novel projects come in tomorrow, which means TWO major assignments i'll have to get busy grading. these last three weeks are going to suck. but it will all get finished somehow - it always does.

i know i have lots more to write about, but i have to go catch up on some correspondence first. been horribly negligent. more later if i find the time and desire.
Æ

tunes: friends of lizzy - if it's wrong