the bippy

...bullets for the holidays

some random thoughts and faves for the holidays:

i am spending my 11th christmas with lee and couldn't ask for a more wonderful gift
watch the john cusack trilogy of christmas movies ('better off dead', 'sure thing', and 'hot pursuit')
drink hot cocoa (and feel like a kid kid again by putting marshmallows into the mix)
before the end of the week i will give that guy that i pass everyday some money (i don't care what he spends it on...at one point you either believe that giving is the right thing to do or you don't, and if you give, you should give without qualification)
listen to 'the national; boxer' (it doesn't matter that this isn't a christmas album, the somber tone and reverential feel make this a holiday must)
watch 'metropolitan' and 'die hard' (two of the greatest non-christmas, christmas movies)
practice charity
find a way to show your family love
isn't it strange that during the holidays we try to behave in a way we should behave all year long
really looking forward to spending christmas with lee's family (although i will miss my family)
hoping for wins from u of o and osu this holiday season (go ducks and beavs)
sending out hopes for everyone i love at this time of year (feel great and enjoy the holiday)
also, you should play this flash game

Dec 21, 2009 11:04:26 AM

snowgasm 2009! (or how i learned to love the arctic blast and stop worrying)

Dec 12, 2009 8:01:47 AM

please read this and try to comprehend how important the message is!

this is a direct transcript from 'countdown with keith olbermann'. it is not the whole of what he said, but it get's at the heart of the matter.

"What is this, to you? Nobody is asking you to embrace their expression of love. But don't you, as human beings, have to embrace... that love? The world is barren enough.

It is stacked against love, and against hope, and against those very few and precious emotions that enable us to go forward. Your marriage only stands a 50-50 chance of lasting, no matter how much you feel and how hard you work.

And here are people overjoyed at the prospect of just that chance, and that work, just for the hope of having that feeling. With so much hate in the world, with so much meaningless division, and people pitted against people for no good reason, this is what your religion tells you to do? With your experience of life and this world and all its sadnesses, this is what your conscience tells you to do?

With your knowledge that life, with endless vigor, seems to tilt the playing field on which we all live, in favor of unhappiness and hate... this is what your heart tells you to do? You want to sanctify marriage? You want to honor your God and the universal love you believe he represents? Then Spread happiness—this tiny, symbolic, semantical grain of happiness—share it with all those who seek it. Quote me anything from your religious leader or book of choice telling you to stand against this. And then tell me how you can believe both that statement and another statement, another one which reads only "do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

You are asked now, by your country, and perhaps by your creator, to stand on one side or another. You are asked now to stand, not on a question of politics, not on a question of religion, not on a question of gay or straight. You are asked now to stand, on a question of love. All you need do is stand, and let the tiny ember of love meet its own fate.

You don't have to help it, you don't have it applaud it, you don't have to fight for it. Just don't put it out. Just don't extinguish it. Because while it may at first look like that love is between two people you don't know and you don't understand and maybe you don't even want to know. It is, in fact, the ember of your love, for your fellow person just because this is the only world we have. And the other guy counts, too."

Nov 5, 2009 9:46:34 AM

...bullets for the fall

maine is the next in a list of disappointments (good thing are religions teach hate and bigotry...the christian way)
the ducks are way more savage than any fowl should be allowed to act (way to send the boy's from troy home with their shields and swords broken in half...go ducks!)
the democrats really need to hire a republican to show them how to use a supermajority (i think supreme dickhead cheney is available)
drew brees is single handedly saving my fantasy football team (go saints!)
i have a sneaking suspicion that facebook will be the grand ruin of civilizations (time for us to join the dinosaurs)
adult children trick o treating is right on the verge of creepy
if i'm to be treated as a second class citizen, shouldn't i have to pay only half of my taxes (that seems more than fair)
'shelia take a bow' on a crisp fall day might just be the best song/weather combo ever (hyperbole aside, it really is that good)
'arod' or 'afraud' or not, it's hard to argue with 6 doubles, 6 home runs and 18 rbi's (and almost all of them were meaningful...a truly great postseason for my favorite juicer)
'where the wild things' took me fully by surprise (what a beautiful, mournful, and joyous piece of cinema)
still waiting patiently for the zompocalypse

Nov 4, 2009 10:51:30 AM

old and broken

i've never cared that much about getting older. as a whole i've found it to be a fairly pleasant experience. you gain new perspective on the world and a greater appreciation for the things you have (love, friendship, etc.). but...as you gain new things you inevitably lose many things along the way.

i have always considered myself an athelete. whether i actually am or not is really beside the point. i can vividly remeber the first time i dunked a basketball in a game. i was staying with my brother at byu and we were playing a pick game in the smith center (i think that was what it was called). a guy set a pick for me, i drove the lane, and it just kind of happened. the electricity of that feeling and its image is so firmly etched in my head i feel as if it was yesterday.

conversly, i don't remember when i lost the ability. i have a good idea and if you pressed me i could probably give you a time frame, but unlike that first dunk, the memory isn't there, because the truth is, it slipped away from me. with age, with injury, with indifference, my ability to do that one specific thing left me.

but...i don't regret that it's gone, and i don't bemoan the loss. i had my time, and now it's gone.

if this sounds all too melodramatic that's because it is. the point being, when it comes my time to hang up the high tops, the cleats, the pf flyers for good, will i be ready. will i leave them gracefully or will i mourn their loss. i don't know the answer to that, but the question is surely coming, if not already here.

Oct 21, 2009 6:21:45 AM