IHAVELOSTMYMIND 1.0

More Songs...
In addition to A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton, I've added songs from Savage Garden and BB Mak to my iPod's secular song mix. If that isn't an indication of one having lost his mind, I don't know what is.

Randy says I can no longer call him a loser because he went to see the new Harry Potter at midnight when it first released. I guess he's right.

But I did tell him that I would get him hooked on the songs and that pretty soon, he'll be asking me to burn him a mix. I don't really know what's possessed me to purchase these songs, but there's a tune in particular that's pretty sad, but really caught my attention at the same time. It's called Two Beds and a Coffee Machine. I guess I have strange tastes in music.

New Movie...
When I visited New York in 2004, I had the opportunity to see the musical Rent on Broadway. The movie version was just released today. I hope to see it soon. In addition to Rent, I also want to see the movie Flightplan. I am quite the Jodie Foster fan. She ranks right up there with Joan Cusack of U.S. Cellular fame. Though my favorite actress remains Julie Andrews. Click on her name to see a special Xanga tribute to her. In case you haven't figured it out, she's Maria from The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins from Mary Poppins.

IHAVELOSTMYMIND 0.5

I used to have this Nokia phone which was cool and different at first but then it got really sucky after a period of use. It was so irritating that midway through my one year phone contract, I actually paid $100 just for another standard phone so that I wouldn't have to keep using this phone. Some people I know actually still have this phone or a variant of it and like it quite a lot, so I guess it might be an ok phone to have.

But there was one cool feature that I kind of miss. This phone was able to play some killer ringtones. While I had this phone I downloaded the ringtone A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton. It sounded quite nice. When I got my new phone I was sad to discover that I couldn't download the same ringtone for it. The ringtone was not compatible. So I've gone that last two years without A Thousand Miles.

So guess what I did a few minutes ago? Yes. I downloaded A Thousand Miles on iTunes and uploaded it to my iPod. What I like most about the song isn't even the singer. She don't really rate. It's the opening piano solo that gets me every time. With this download, order has been restored to my life. I am complete again. My morning walks from the parking garage to the office will now be treated to this delightful past vestige of teen pop culture. Whatever that means.

New shoes...

I designed a pair of Nike Shox on the NikeID website. The final look is shown above. And I've actually ordered them. Assuming that they fit when they arrive, they will replace a pair of New Balance running shoes that I've had for about three years now. I hadn't planned on purchasing new running shoes, but my New Balance shoes have been causing a bit of discomfort. The ankle area of the right shoe is so worn that it's beginning to cut up my ankle. While running on the treadmill a couple of weeks ago, I bled so much that my sock was soaked. It was quite gross. The next day, I figured it had healed sufficiently and ran, only to bleed all over a sock again. Hopefully this will solve my issues. I only purchased these because I got a pretty good deal. Woohoo! Woohoo!

Back to the Basics...

This Sunday, in the my Sunday School class, we're getting back to the basics. We will be having arts and crafts day!!! For many of my students, the last time they did a craft in Sunday School was probably third or fourth grade. I was flipping through the Oriental Trading Company catalog and saw something that we had done before at VBC but also fit perfectly with the them of the last four weeks. It's a beatiful Jonah craft thingie.

In 2006...

I'm beginning to compile a list of things that I want to definitely do next year. During the year 2006, I will visit the National Zoo in Washington D.C. and see the giant pandas. They just seem to be very peaceful creatures. I am sure that seeing one in person will be quite the experience.

For all of my interest in politics and international affairs, I have never actually set foot in our nation's capital. I plan to do so in 2006. I especially want to visit the National Holocaust Museum. But I especially want to see the National World War II Memorial. From the photographs I've seen, it looks like an amazing place to be.

More things that I want to do in 2006 to come at a later date. But this is a good start. Any one interested in any of these excursions?

All of this is God willing, of course.