Whataday.

Staff infections.
Wildfires.
Dumbledore is gay.

On top of all that, I received a package in the mail today.
No, it was not a sparkly new phone, something far, far more strange.



Allow me to explain.
This past summer, my friend Brandon and I ate at Hardee's once and a while in between classes. One of those days, we received a Hardee's punch card to get a free, I kid you not, fishing pole.

So, that was a surprise. Hardee's feeding me for life.
A bigger surprise was the "warning" label that was casualy printed on the handle of the rod. It reads:

WARNING:
THIS PRODUCT CONTAINS A CHEMICAL KNOWN
TO THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA TO CAUSE CANCER,
BIRTH DEFECTS AND OTHER REPRODUCTIVE HARM.

They might as well have sent me anthrax on a stick.
Craigslist here I come!

GOP, Pick Huckabee...

Wow. Watch all 6 if you can...


After watching this, I am fully convinced this is whom I'll be voting for (should he get the GOP nomination). Other than the fact he is a genuine conservative, ex-preacher, successful governor, and eloquent speaker, he is honest. Authentic. He wants to lead with honor and dignity and restore the United States to our heritage. I hate taking sides so early, especially with a candidate that is certainly riding a dark horse, but if more people could see how good of a man he is, well, they might be more inclined to vote for him. Thus, blog.

Hallogiving's Eve

I had an appointment with a Mac genius at the mall the other day. As I walked in, I noticed hoards of packaged Christmas decorations sitting in the middle of the mall. Christmas?
It's not even Halloween! Or Vinegar Day (Nov 1)! Or Plan Your Epitaph Day (Nov 2)!
Or Thanksgiving for that matter...

Then I went to K-Mart with Rachel before we went to the Buck50. K-Mart, bless them, has Christmas trees up. And right beside the trees, Halloween masks and pumpkin carving kits. I really cannot believe it.

We are such a consumer driven culture. It's turning our holidays and pastimes into bargain bens.
The problem is, once those "special days" start getting more and more materialized, we will eventually forget why we are celebrating anything. The only thing that unites us as Americans is that we get off work. Well, most of us. I have to work on Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve...

Application

So, as you know, I have been writing papers and reading a lot. Good news! I was actually able to have an intelligent discourse with a Muslim man named Ali last night. He was an intellectual, and wanted to discuss Christianity in “today's world,” i.e. post-modernism (or the neo-enlightenment). Most of the talking points concerned universals and particulars, as well as how to define truth. We conversed for about 45 minutes.
Anyway, I was encouraged, and he got the gospel. Pray for Ali.

post-script

During our discussion, one of his friends, a more devout Muslim, was yelling things like, "Read Qur’an, follow Allah!" or "You study Qur’an, and live well, and go to paradise!"
This made me think of many evangelical Christians and how we respond to the criticism of the world - namely, that there is a right/cordial way to go about defending and explaining Christ. Next time I see a man simply hold a "Jesus SAVES" sign, I'll go up to him and say,

"Yes, Jesus SAVES us the embarrassment of appearing undisciplined and ignorant by giving us the ability to study to show ourselves approved, and thus sufficiently communicating with (and not simply TO) a lost and dying world."

I should get that down to a phrase and make a T-shirt. However, that would make me a hypocrite. Pass this time.

Latricia

I work with a girl named Latricia. She is very witty...I keep trying to convince her to quit Caribou and do stand up for a living.
Here is a story she related to me [with my emphasis bracketed]:

Latricia: Hey, want one of THESE? [She flung a couple of rectangular cards over her back as she walked by]

Jon: What are those? [bending down and inspecting the cards, then rising...]

Latricia: OK... [very irritated] I took this lady's order at the bou-thru [drive-thru], and she had like, 400 candy apples in the back of her car. I was like, "You working at the Fairgrounds this week, Ma'am?" Lady said [excitedly] "Oh yes!" Then she reached into the back of her car, and I was thinkin like "Yeah! she's gonna give me some fair tickets, coupons, or candy apples or summin. Then she popped her head back around and gave me these cards!"

Jon: [examining] Oh...a business card?

Latricia: Yeah! [angrily disappointed]. A business card! I was like "Get outta here ya carny!"


And that, ladies and gentlemen, kept me laughing throughout the whole day.

Happy Days

I was working on the last page of a 15 pg. report that is due tomorrow...

Cell Phone Pics: Round One