When You Were Young

Here are the rules.

1. Put your iTunes on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!

IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?
Buenos Aires (Andrew Lloyd Webber)

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Addicted (P.O.D.)

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Hit the Floor (Thousand Foot Krutch)

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Pride Away (Kutless)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
All I need (Bethany Dillion)

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
I Can't Do This (Plumb)

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
All Who Are Thirsty (Kutless)

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Vision of You (Shane & Shane)

WHAT IS 2+2?
Wings of Kynareth (Jeremy Soule)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Again (needtobreathe)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
All Over You (Live)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
I Miss You Here (downhere)

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Little Girls (Carol Burnett)

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Me Oh My (Five Iron Frenzy)

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
There is a Kingdom that won't come down (Tree 63)

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Stuck in a Glass Elevator (Myriad)

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Return to Tatooine (John Williams)

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
I Climb (Thousand Foot Krutch)

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
We Rock Harder (Fine China)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
What a Friend we have in Jesus

WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
Death Warrant for Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan (John Williams)

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
New Years Eve (Five Iron Frenzy)

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
Again (Kutless)

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
Diverse City (Toby Mac)

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY??
Breathe Today (Flyleaf)

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
Bullet with Butterfly Wings (Smashing Pumpkins)

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
Get Down (Audio Adrenaline)

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
The Way (Fastball)

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
Adia (Sara Mclachlan)

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
All Day Everyday (Pillar)

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
When You Were Young (The Killers)

To many games!

Between the 2nd week of October and the fourth week of November there are over 400 video games coming out! Now a lot of these are games I am not going to play, like Dora the Explorer games, but there are still a lot of good games coming out.
Of course I am indulging as much as I can. A couple of weeks ago I got the excellent Fable II. At midnight tonight I will be getting Gears of War 2 (and then playing it for a couple of hours). Next week it will be Call of Duty: World at War and then the week after that it will be Left 4 Dead. Even though they have already come out I am also hoping to get Fallout 3 and Star Wars the Force Unleashed Honestly, this is more games than I need, and honestly these don't keep me fully occupied until like March or April or 2009, then something is wrong (and yes Abigail you can quote me on that). However those game are only part of the games coming out that I think look really good and that I want to play. So in my mind this seems like a good time for a list, so in the dramatic descending order here are the
"Top Five Games I want, but probably won't play because there are to many games coming out!"

5. Dead Space
This survival-horror game came out last month, and I probably won't get around to playing it. All of the reviews and impressions make this sound good. Given the single player nature, this is a game I want to play but probably would not buy. Maybe in June or July of 2009 I will get around to renting it.

4. Far Cry 2
I was not a big fan of the first Far Cry, but this game is related mostly in title only. Far Cry 2 is an open world FPS, an idea that really should have existed before now. This game also has a detailed map editor, which is something that should draw me like a moth to a flame. Under normal circumstances it would, but with so many other games, this one has to get a pass.

3. Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
I have always had a soft spot for Mortal Kombat, and this game pits Mortal Kombat classics like sub-zero and Scorpion against comic book characters like Batman and the Flash. It sounds like all kinds of awesome, but Soul Calibur IV was my fighting game this year, and there is only enough room for one.

2. Tomb Raider Underworld
I enjoyed Tomb Raider Legend a lot more than I thought I would when I played it. However, I was resigned that I just would not get around to this game. That was until I played the demo last night. It was fun and really good looking. Now I really want to play the whole thing. However, like Dead Space I will probably be lookng to rent in months from now.

1. Endwar
This is a strategy game that is completly voice controlled, and it works really well. Of all the games that I will miss out on, this is the one that I wish I could find some way to get.

Official Procrastination Post

I am suppose to be writing a paper, but clearly I am a bit distractable. When I write papers, I have long listened to music. Throughout undergrad I listened to soundtracks and instrumental music. However, in seminary I have taken to the habit of listening to worship music, as I have found it helps me be ever mindful on Christ who should be at the heart of all of my seminary papers, so that is what I was doing. For the most part the songs are an undercurrent to I am writing, sometimes I am very aware of the songs and sometimes they are just kind of there. However, while writing one song really jumped out at me and I had to stop and listen to it. I have heard the song before multiple times, but this time the lyrics really struck me. The simplicity of the words combined with their intense spiritual depth is striking. The song is called Only Grace by Matthew West. You can listen to it in the video, and read the lyrics below.


There is no guilt here
There is no shame
No pointing fingers
There is no blame
What happened yesterday…has disappeared
The dirt has washed away
And now it's clear

There's only grace
There's only love
There's only mercy and believe me it's enough
Your sins are gone
Without a trace
And there's nothing left now
There's only grace

You're starting over now
Under the sun
You're stepping forward now
A new life has begun
Your new life has begun

An’ there's only grace
There's only love
There's only mercy and believe me…it's enough
Your sins are gone
Without a trace
And there's nothing left now
There's only grace…

And if you should fall again
Get back up, get back up
Reach out and take my hand
Get back up, get back up
Get back up again
Ohh…get…back…up…again…


There's only grace…
There's only love…
There's only mercy and believe me it's enough…it’s enough
Your sins are gone
Without a trace
And there's nothing left now
There's only…there’s only…grace…

There's only mercy and believe me it's enough…it’s enough
Your sins are gone
Without a trace
And there's nothing left now
There’s only…grace……
So get back up…get back up again…
Get back up again.

Decision 2008

Thanks to a very helpful Voter guide put together by the Indy Star, for the first time I know who I am going to vote for in every single elected position. Usually for stuff like Surveyor or corner I pick at random.

However, we all know the presidential election is the big one this year, and I know who I am voting for, so I want to give my reasons. Early this Tuesday morning I am going to cast my vote for Barack Obama, and here is why:

What I like about him
1. I really, really like his energy plan. I appreciate that he wants to fully invest in alternative fuels instead of drill, drill, drill. Oil is not the answer, and if we even have the possibility of being completely off foreign oil in ten years then we need to pursue that. Over the summer I listened to the speech where Obama laid out his energy plan and I was sold then.

2. I also really like Obama's health care plan, and if that makes me a socialist, then so be it comrade! Really the whole socialists argument is borderline stupid. Since Regan republicans have been throwing out the S-word in regards to health care. Often the rally cry is "Do you really want a bureaucrat making health care decisions for you?" The reality is a bureaucrat already makes decisions about our health care, the only difference is the one currently over seeing us is some pencil pusher at a HMO. I would much rather have the responsibility of health care in hands of the American people instead of a corporation. Health care has become a basic human need much like education, law, and public safety-which are already socialized. When it comes to health care Barack Obama does not go as far as I would, but in my opinion he is taking steps in the right direction.


What I don't like about McCain
Of course I am not just voting for Barack, I am voting against McCain, and I am doing so for some very specific reasons.

1. McCain is in favor of school vouchers and I am strongly opposed to them. There needs to be education reform, but vouchers is wrong. Vouchers are essentially a vote of no confidence in public schools. The idea is it will make under-performing schools work harder to be more competitive. The problem is the under-performing schools are usually under-funded, under-staffed, and under appreciated by the community and students. In my opinion the first step would be to get all schools on equal grounds. For example, it is not fair that Carmel High School has $3,000+ TVs just to show announcements on while IPS schools have to rely on community organizations to buy basic books. Before we start abandoning the schools that we pay for, lets level the playing field first.

2. If McCain had picked someone other than Sarah Palin then it would have been a much harder decision for me about who to vote her. The chick is crazy, and I do not want to see her as president. She claims to be a maverick, but every single investigation on her has shown that she plays politics as usual, and she plays dirty. Given McCain's age and the fact that he is a POW and a cancer survivor (which both statistically shorten his life expectancy), create odds I don't want to bet against.

What I don't like about Obama
I do not align with a particular party, which means there are things I don't like about Obama as well, even though I think he is the best choice.

1. I don't like that he has no military experience. The role of commander in chief is a big one, and any military decision risk the lives of soldiers. Given the gravity of those decisions, it would be nice to have someone making them who has been the shoes of the person who's life is being risked.

2. The one thing that almost pushed me to voting for McCain (and actually for Bush in 2000) is the understanding of the constitution in regards to supreme court justices. I don't particularly care for the Supreme Court, as it currently has unconstitutional power which it wields with NO checks and balances. Traditionally republicans believe in a more strict interpretation of the constitution, where it is important for judges to hold up the original intention of the document. While democrats traditionally believe that judges should view the constitution as a living document that needs to be reinterpreted in light of new contexts. I tend to line up a bit more with the republican view on this one. This means I would theoretically be more in favor of potential McCain judges over Obama Judge appointments. I know that groups like Focus on the Family are up in arms about this issue, and are fully convinced that Obama will appoint judges who will ever cement Roe v. Wade and make homosexual marriage legal. Those are hypothetical only, and while I might sympathize a bit with their position, a bunch of maybes are not enough for me to vote against who I think will make the better president.


As a side note, I do want to point out that on Tuesday I will actually be voting for more Republicans than Democrats overall, and that is the first time I have done that.

A Perfect Halloween

I suppose I should point out that technically it should not be considered "perfect" because there was not a single kid who came by trick or treating, but other than that it was great.

The evening started with a going to Chipolte for a free burrito. They were doing a promotion that if you came dressed as a burrito then you got one. So I made a tinfoil hat, and we were off. Then we got back and we played Zombies. I have been able to convince several people to play this game over the years, and I really like it. In Zombies the goal is to escape a town that is being over-run with the walking dead. In a typical game of Zombies it can be a tad drawn out as it winds down to a really exciting end game. Earlier this week we bought an expansion for the game called "School's Out Forever". This expansion really helped make the game play better. The map was smaller and really did feel a bit like a college campus, and the game played a lot quicker but still had a lot of zombie goodness.


While we were playing this game we also watched X-Files. We watched one episode that appropriately enough involved a soul sucking monster that turned people into zombies. The second episode was very Halloween-ish as it involved an evil doll that caused people to kill themselves.

The Halloween themed fun was finished off by playing some horror themed Halo. One of the game types in Halo is called Infection where a couple of people start as "zombies" and when ever a zombie gets a kill that person comes back as a Zombie. Because it was Halloween they had specially created maps for this game type, including one that was black and white to give a classic Rommero feel


It was a good time :)

Star Wars According to a three year old

This video pretty much made my day:

I don't know a lot about economics. . .

I understand the basics of supply and demand, and I understand that you shouldn't spend more than you have to spend, and that is more or less it. Thus, I have a rudimentary understanding of the current economic problems that are going on, but I probably do not understand some of the finer points. However, I have to say Ron Paul makes a whole lot of sense.