For some reason, this piece from the A.V. Club popped up in my Reader this week.  From Justin to Kelly is one of my favorite movies and I LOVED reading their disgusted review of it (there is a language disclaimer).  Because it is disgusting.  But also delicious.  My favorite line is,

“See, the young people of today, they’re too busy to spell out long, complicated words like “burger.” Who has the time? They’re too busy Googling up The Twitter on their iPhones to spell out words in their entirety.”

The piece includes some clips, but most certainly left out my favorite, where Justin & Kelly break into song while driving a boat while wearing matching white track suits.  Sadly, I cannot find it anywhere.  You would have really liked it.  I’ll buy you a Starbucks treat if you can find it.  Scouts honor.

I believe I first heard about Stephen Wiltshire on NPR, but listening this story on the radio and seeing it in person are two totally different things.  He’s drawing the Manhattan Skyline from MEMORY.

Ruth & David totally need these shirts for their girls.

From the world of tumblr.com: some very interesting tumblr blogs:
This dad draws on his kid’s lunch bags everyday: Lunch Bag Art
For the Men: Put This On
Weird Black and White Photos: Black & WTF
For the Zombie Lover’s: Zombify

Although I am not a photographer, (I’ll leave that to this guy, this guy, and this guy.  And this girl.) I like Annie Leibovitz’s pictures a lot.  Here is a series she did for Disney Parks.  Really, really cool.

I basically need this everyday of my life.  Now if only they could come up with a website to find my car keys.

And finally, Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Eat, Pray, Love) gives a TED talk and it’s very good.  She’s unassuming and charming and funny, and says a lot of great things about writing and creativity.  It’s interesting what she says about where creativity comes from

Here’s a quick confession: I’m one of those people who goes ape for Don Miller. I think he’s a smash-up writer, very witty and charming and he puts words together in a way that makes me want to sing about rainbows and clap his hand in a mousetrap at the same time. I’m “one of those people” about Don Miller. Unfortunately, I’m also “one of those people” about Zac Efron, movie musicals, this ice cream I’m currently enjoying the heck out of, and Harry Potter. So, this is a strike against Don, I’m sure. But I like him. I liked Blue Like Jazz a lot. The statement in BLJ that the Bible is more of a chocolate book than a salad book was so revelatory to me, as a little college kid, I thought I was on the road to transcendence. NO ONE IS AS ENLIGHTENED ABOUT GOD AS I. Which is a foolish thing all college kids think, but no one says aloud.

Either way, Kinsley accidentally got an extra copy, and he let me have it, which was awful nice, Kins, and I hope I said thank you. I’m pretty sure I finished the book within the next couple of days, and I really liked it. First of all, it’s Don (I’m gonna call him Don because he once replied to a tweet I sent him [on his PUBLIC timeline] and because it’s better than writing out “Don Miller” every 5 seconds) best book so far. He is an excellent writer, and he’s just gotten better. I don’t know if it was the Robert McKee seminar or the exercises in writing different mediums or just a maturing, but it’s extremely well-written.

So there’s that. Also, it’s a pretty genius premise. I get paid to write at work, which is great. I’ve been learning about the working parts of story ever since high school. I was a theater major in college. I’ve heard the words “inciting event” and “character development” a lot in my life. Which is not to say I know a whole lot about the concept of story(telling), but at least I’ve been exposed to it. And I don’t think it would have ever occured to me that these parts of story could be used in real life. Don does a real good job of not making you feel stupid that you didn’t come up with this yourself, as it’s such a glaringly obvious thing that writers in general should recognize. You get to go along on his journey of discovery, which is really neat.

I don’t want to give the book away, but it stirred some things in me. One, I’m not living a story that means much. I spend a lot of time on the computer, a lot of time on my phone, and a lot of time watching episodes of ‘30 Rock.’ When I think about the moment right before I die, and in that moment, I look back at all the moments that have made up my life, I don’t want to remember a montage of Tracy Jordan taking his shirt off.

Two, I’m obsessed with things. Don talks about how he bought a Roomba vacuum and how stupid that is. He says,

“The ambitions we have will become the stories we live.  If you want to know what a person’s story is about, just ask them what they want.  If we don’t want anything, we are living boring stories, and if we want a Roomba vacuum cleaner, we are living stupid stories.  If it won’t work in a story, it won’t work in real life.”

This is how I am.  I want a lot of stupid things.  I wanted an iPhone when they came out and spent a truly disgusting amount of money on one and I loved it and thought I was the bee’s knees.  And then, the new iPhone came out with 3G.  And then the NEWER iPhone came out with video and it was white.  And the white was so cool.  And I told myself I needed that phone, if I could just get that phone, my life would be good and all the stupid things people say to themselves when they want stupid things.  And there’s really nothing wrong with having an iPhone, but I made it such a big deal.  And I do that with other things.  If I could just get a cool haircut, if I could just lose some weight, if only I had a bigger house, and so on and so forth.

So what will I do now that I’m confronted with these things about myself?  First, I’ve got to stop being obsessed with stuff.  This includes being in the know about stuff, especially stuff related to my job.  I don’t know how to stop other than to pray about it, which is probably something my life could use more of anyway.

Secondly, it’s time for me to stop sitting on my butt.  I’ve implemented some new life rules in order to get up off my butt.  They are as follows:

1. No more computer until after Holland goes to bed.
2. I can have three TV shows at a time.  Right now, they are 30 Rock, The Office, and Bones.  Bones will have to take a backseat when LOST comes back on.
3. I need to do SOMETHING.  This is vague, I am aware.  I’m working on it.

I feel like I should make some grandiose statement like, I’m going to run a marathon, and then that would be an inciting incident and I would be forced to train for a marathon.  I’d rather die, than run a marathon, but I’ve got to figure something out and do it.

I’ve also been struck by the question of is it just rich people (meaning me, you, and everyone with a computer, Americans, etc.) that have trouble living good stories.  Because we don’t need anything.  Nothing pushes us.  We’re comfortable.  Don says that the thing about living a good story is that it sounds great at the beginning, but it’s hard.  And you’re not going to want to do it.  But joy costs pain.

JOY COSTS PAIN.

So, I really liked A Million Miles… and I’m glad that I read it.  It’s beautiful and full of important things for people to mull over.

I have a friend that is not living a good story.  I don’t know if they know it, but everyone else around them knows it.  And everyone (literally, almost everyone they know) is trying to push them out into a better story, but there’s a lot of resistance.  I was talking to a mutual friend about it and she said, “It’s like (they) aren’t a witness to (their) own life.”

I think it’s important that we are witnesses to our lives and the lives of others.  It’s important that we remember hurts and pains and happiness and joy, because they are all a part of the Greater Story that God is telling and we are characters in.  And we want to remember God’s faithfulness and His love within our own little story.

Oh.  This blog post is bordering on 1300 words.  I’ll stop now.  More later.

My friend and fellow Canyon-ite, Michael Kelley, has a guest post on Stuff Christians Like.  It’s a very funny post, and gut-wrenchingly close to home, unfortunately for me.  Here’s an interesting tidbit: my parents bought my first car from Michael’s parents after he and his brothers moved onto greener pastures (car-wise).  Here is a picture:

Publisher’s Weekly just posted their list of the Best Books of 2009.  There’s a lot to sift through here, but would make a good starting point for anyone that needed book suggestions.

Lifehacker has a cool post for my photography friends today.  They show you how to build a low budget studio in your closet.

Is this not the most beautiful blog?  I just want to look at everything.  Sigh.  This blog makes me think of Brandi.

RUSH is a mockumentary done by members of FLMJ 300 at Samford University here in Birmingham.  Below is the trailer, but you can see the whole (very funny thing) on youtube in four parts (1, 2, 3, 4).  It made me giggle and features some SL alum, which is fun to see.  I love watching things by people who enjoy what they do, and I feel like RUSH is a really fun example of that.

If only I had had the foresight to make a 3-armed baby Halloween costume.

This is Iris.  She’s our new Compassion child.  I’m really excited about getting to know her better.  Compassion International is a great organization that is releasing children from poverty in Christ’s name.  I would LOVE to tell you more about Compassion and how you can sponsor a child or even give to some of their general funds during the holidays.  But anyway, Iris is awesome, huh?

I’m really trying to buy handmade this Christmas (or make my own gifts), so I’ve been doing a lot of shopping on Etsy.  Here’s just a couple of things I’ve had my little eye on.

The Book of Lists by jedgell.  Don’t you just want to make a bunch of awesome lists in this pretty little book?

Ball and Chain – Aquamarine Faceted Round with Oxidized Sterling Silver by mycellardoor.  My beautiful birthstone ring that I got for my 14th birthday is was put away for safekeeping one day so well that it’s still lost in my room at my parents house.  I know it’s there somewhere, but this aquamarine necklace could tide me over until I find it.

Organic Black Pepper Mustard by MistcalAcScents.  After a long hiatus from mustard, I am really starting to dig on it (although I still think yellow mustard is DISGUSTING).  Doesn’t this sound so tasty?

And finally, I saw ‘This Is It’ last night and it was…so good.  I’d be lying if I said I didn’t tear up a little when the bass line for Billie Jean kicked in.  So awesome.  Here’s a couple of MJ videos I could watch OVER and OVER again.

The 1988 Grammys.  Please.  PLEASE!

Billie Jean Live in New York.  He says, “Do you want me to put this glove on?  Oh.  I think you do.”

Smooth Criminal.  Please.  I love a good huge shadow.

Ok.  The Weekend Links are done for now.  But rest assured, I’ll have some awesome ones next week.

Internets, here’s the deal:

I am in the Creative Doldrums.  I can’t think.  And I’m very sleepy.

Before I get on a roll about this, let me just preface by saying: I love my job.  I can’t believe I get to do what I do.  If my 9th grade self could see me now, I know she’d be FLIPPING OUT.  She’d say: “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe you work for Student Life!  Do you know Travis?”  And then I’d tell my 9th grade self that I DO, in fact, know Travis and that sometimes we even grill hot dogs at his house and she would promptly faint from SHEER DELIGHT.

Anyway, I really like my job and enjoy it, for the most part.  I am actually using my degree (which was THEATER, so…that’s incredible) and could my parents be more proud of this fact?  No, they could not.  Lately, however, I’ve noticed a slight change taking place in my daily workload.  There’s a script I should be writing and there’s also some mundane administrative duty I need to perform.  Normally, I would slough off the admin task, as admin tasks are boring and I would rather die.  But not lately.  Lately, the admin task seems more appealing.  The looming script deadline hangs ever over my head, but boy, have I made some spreadsheets!  You simply would not believe the spreadsheets.

I know what this means for me.  It means I’m stuck.  I stare at assignments and NOTHING comes to my mind.  I get up, walk around the building, see the baby, get some tea, and I’m stuck.  The fingers fly over the keyboard for the spreadsheets, but not for the scripts.

I pretty much know why I’m stuck.  Here are a couple of reasons:
There’s a baby.  She’s cute and cuddly, but also a sleep sucker.
I have no creative outlet outside of work.

It’s really that last one.  Even my free time is mostly spent writing freelance, so still work.  It’s very fun work and I enjoy it, but my brain is at maximum capacity.

So, I’ve got to find a cure.  I mean, this is my job.  My job is 10% spreadsheets, and people will get suspicious if all these spreadsheets start popping up everywhere.

I trolled the internets for some solutions.  It seems many people have this problem.  Art-Slam says I need to change the scenery and flip the script.  John Cleese says I need to go on auto-pilot for awhile and see where my whims take me.   E-How (yes, I have stooped to E-How) tells me to write down my goals, do something different, and not be afraid of support.

In The Phantom Tollbooth, Milo is rescued from the Doldrums by a dog with a ginormo clock embedded into his side named Tock.  So I’ve got to figure out what my Tock is.  Any suggestions on getting out of these old, sleepy Doldrums?

I’m all ears, internets.

Wake Up – Arcade Fire
Letter to Bowie Knife – Calexico
La Cienega Just Smiled – Ryan Adams
Mercy Street – Peter Gabriel
Holiday in Spain – Counting Crows
Harvest Moon – Neil Young
You Don’t Mess Around with Jim – Jim Croce
Red Right Ankle – The Decemberists
Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters – Elton John
Human Hands – Bowerbirds
I and Love and You – The Avett Brothers
3×5 – John Mayer
Dance Me to the End of Love – The Civil Wars
Hurt – Johnny Cash
Sweet Lorraine – Patty Griffin
Please Do Not Let Me Go – Ryan Adams
Taper Jean Girl – Kings of Leon

Pretty good, my friends.  Pretty darn good.