MatthewDyer

The Mountain Goats - Get Lonely “You have to counter the...

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 18:09:17 -0500

The Mountain Goats - Get Lonely

“You have to counter the bad shit by making good shit.”

Examine

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 08:01:45 -0500

Socrates said: “The unexamined life is not worth living.” His method of leading people to discovery by asking questions is aptly named the “Socratic Method,” and its popularity led to his execution for corrupting the minds of the youth of Athens in approximately 399 BCE. It’s in the spirit of Socrates’ examined life that I ask you this question:

Where did your faith come from?

Of course, a more Socratic question would be “What is faith?” Luckily, a co-worker of mine took a stab at answering that one on Facebook last Sunday:

“If faith were rational it wouldn’t by definition be faith. Faith is belief in what you cannot see or prove or touch. Faith is walking full speed and face first into the dark.”

After reading her answer, I wondered if I could be the only one who thinks “walking full speed and face first into the dark” is a really bad idea.

Imagine your faith as a favorite old sweater hanging on your closet door knob. Look at it closely and try to remember where you got it. Did you find it on your own, or was it a gift from your parents? If your parents gave it to you, think hard about whether it’s the sort of sweater you would have bought for yourself if given the choice. Do you believe it’s your favorite sweater because the people who gave it to you told you it’s your favorite?

Think about this: What if you’d been born in a another part of the world where the sweaters look completely different? If your parents had given you a different sweater and convinced you it was your favorite, do you think you’d have ever searched for the sweater that’s now hanging on your closet door knob?

Steve Goodman: A Dying Cub Fan’s Last Request

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 19:05:14 -0500

Steve Goodman: A Dying Cub Fan’s Last Request

I saw this and thought of you. What do you see see and think of...

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 22:54:00 -0500

I saw this and thought of you. What do you see see and think of me?

The Yummy List

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 08:01:46 -0500

The Yummy List:

I’m glad I’m among the privileged many who call Holly a friend, and get this list emailed to me as she publishes it. The way she writes about the things she sees makes me want to drop everything and go places.

Here’s the camera I’m currently lusting after: Sony...

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 22:06:44 -0500

Here’s the camera I’m currently lusting after: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX5. Small 10.2MP, panorama building, WATERPROOF picture-taking machine.

I’ve just discovered Gabby’s in Nashville a couple...

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 19:06:19 -0500

I’ve just discovered Gabby’s in Nashville a couple of weeks back. The burgers are great, but the sweet potato fries are some of the best things I’ve ever ate. The owners there, and when customers are lined up, he loudly thanks everybody for bothering to line up for burgers and fries. Here’s a pdf link to their menu (unfortunately their site is in flash).

I turned off the music because it was crescendoing while I wasn’t.

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 08:01:44 -0500

I turned off the music because it was crescendoing while I wasn’t.

Damn you Quaker and your fine chocolate/granola goodness!

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 22:34:00 -0500

Damn you Quaker and your fine chocolate/granola goodness!

Just booked tickets to go to the UK and France. While I’m...

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:34:47 -0500

Just booked tickets to go to the UK and France. While I’m abroad, I’m going to see the Bayeux Tapestry. It’ll be strange to see something I’ve only previous read about and seen in books.

Roy Orbison Wrapped in Clingfilm

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:34:48 -0500

Product Description:

Hello, and welcome to my book. My name is Ulrich Haarburste and I like to write stories about Roy Orbison being completely wrapped in clingfilm. When I put these stories on my website they proved very popular so I have written this novel. This tome also contains the original tales and some new ones. Not to speak boastfully but it is perhaps the only book you will ever need to own on the subject of wrapping Roy Orbison in clingfilm. So then. If you will proceed to the till in an orderly fashion, you may commence to buy.

Here’s an amazon.co.uk link that will help you part with £7 to for this 192 page masterpiece.

Here’s Ulli’s Roy Orbison In Clingfilm Website.

Enjoy.

Yazoo Growler. Everybody should have two.

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 13:33:47 -0500

Yazoo Growler. Everybody should have two.

I caught Oscar eating laundry.

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 09:35:07 -0500

I caught Oscar eating laundry.

Molly sniff food.

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 07:13:55 -0500

Molly sniff food.

Lucy

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 22:12:50 -0500

Lucy

Post-Flood Post

Wed, 05 May 2010 00:57:00 -0500

On Tuesday, First Avenue became a memory. Some of Second was the same. LP Field resembles a swimming pool. The scrap yard just off the interstate that most residents consider an eye sore is a jumble of jagged sculptures jutting out of the water.

Some people lost everything, others are damn lucky. I’ve heard a few stories of people talking about how a street over from theirs had to be evacuated, but their street was fine. A friend went to check on his new house, ink on the paperwork still wet enough that he hadn’t had the opportunity to move in yet. He found his new neighbors grilling hot dogs on the cul-de-sac, houses unscathed.

Another friend who lives on the Harpeth River told a story eerily reminiscent of Katrina tales. He and his wife awoke early Sunday to find that their cars were already under water, and their house was beginning to flood. They fled to their attic, where they camped out until the the water trapped them there. They had to break through their roof in order to get to the safety of a rescue boat. They lost everything.

The news stations keep showing helicopter shots of the water engulfing homes and businesses. They use words like “devastation” or “catastrophe” to describe what they’re seeing, but those words don’t cut it. They seem too distant, not personal enough. When you consider that each one of the small islands in the brown sea on your television represents at least one person or one family whose lives are being turned upside-down, it should make your heart ache with a desire to help.

My friend on the Harpeth, when he told me he lost everything, I said this: “I don’t have any idea what I can do to help you, but if you think of something, name it.” Other might feel the same way. On behalf of everybody in the area who found their world stirred up by this weekend’s weather, these people know what you can do to help:

http://www.hon.org/

Extras at Las Maracas.

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 20:36:24 -0500

Extras at Las Maracas.

Leprechaun killed while robbing a bank.

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 19:44:54 -0500

Leprechaun killed while robbing a bank.:

He must have lost his pot of gold.

Keeping Your Word

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:38:56 -0500

Keeping Your Word:

Here’s a nice post by Thomas Nelson CEO Michael Hyatt. I tell people I work with that we have to be careful what we say, because at the end of the day we’re going to do what we say we’re going to do.

Who kilted the Nudies?

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:38:51 -0500

Who kilted the Nudies?:

Saw this yesterday in an odd trip by the roundabout.

From the Nashvillest: