Sometimes even the instant gratification of buying online isn't enough.
About once a month since I've moved to Joplin I have found myself wanting to buy a particular book only to find out that the (insanely) lame bookstores of Joplin don't have it. One would think in a town with roughly 295 different restaurants and 3000 different places to buy smokes and lottery tickets that somebody would carry books people actually want.
I am rarely one to complain about Joplin. Truth be told I enjoy it here. Granted I am on the road quite a bit and end up buying most of my books in real bookstores, ones that carry books printed since 2005 and often also possessing the sacred smells of Starbucks, but nonetheless just because I can buy them elsewhere doesn't mean I always want to. Paying $5 for shipping and waiting for 3-7 business days also doesn't cut it.
Sure, I admit that there are some unread books on my desk right now. Sure, a good steward would read those before spending more of said stewards hard earned money on more books but that isn't fun. Or impulsive.
So, tomorrow I leave for the 'Nati and you can bet your bottom dollar you will find me across the river sipping a sacred cup of something hot and expensive while I put my grubby mits on the book I MUST HAVE.
And in case you are wondering this moments must have book is The Shack by William P. Young.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Rob Bell
Ever since the Nooma's came out (thanks for the tip Schaff) I've been facinated by Rob Bell. A little quirky, sometimes controversial but always engaging and challenging. For the record I'm a bigger fan of Sex God than Velvet Elvis though both are great.
Tuesday night thanks to the generosity of the Mo, he and I had the opportunity to drive up to Kansas City and check out Bell's new speaking tour, The God's Aren't Angry. Now to be fair, I'm sure I had pretty high expectations but I came away from the evening thinking it was one of the most enjoyable things I'd seen and with a sense of encouragement. Mo says this one wasn't as academic as his first tour, Everything is Spiritual, but great nonetheless. Bell speaks for 1 hour and 45 minutes straight and the time flies the way it does during a good movie or on date night with your wife.
Some general observations and reflections:
*Rob Bell is an amazing communicator. He makes it memorable both in an entertaining way and in such a way that you can replay in your mind the first 15 minutes almost by word even after the whole journey.
*I think Rob weighs about 85 lbs.
*The last 20 minutes are worth the price of admission.
*I was suprised by the crowd that was there, it wasn't what I expected. It also wasn't very interactive with him. They laughed at the jokes and really tracked with him but I half expected more random,spontaneous applause at times.
*I came away with so much to chew on but also encouraged in my faith.
*Rob became one of us and shaved the head. Bald is truly beautiful.
So check if he's coming to a city near you and if so and its not sold out, go check it out. If you don't like it, well, let's worry about that later.
Oh, and if you see me in the next few weeks and I like you, I need to tell you about dinner.
Tuesday night thanks to the generosity of the Mo, he and I had the opportunity to drive up to Kansas City and check out Bell's new speaking tour, The God's Aren't Angry. Now to be fair, I'm sure I had pretty high expectations but I came away from the evening thinking it was one of the most enjoyable things I'd seen and with a sense of encouragement. Mo says this one wasn't as academic as his first tour, Everything is Spiritual, but great nonetheless. Bell speaks for 1 hour and 45 minutes straight and the time flies the way it does during a good movie or on date night with your wife.
Some general observations and reflections:
*Rob Bell is an amazing communicator. He makes it memorable both in an entertaining way and in such a way that you can replay in your mind the first 15 minutes almost by word even after the whole journey.
*I think Rob weighs about 85 lbs.
*The last 20 minutes are worth the price of admission.
*I was suprised by the crowd that was there, it wasn't what I expected. It also wasn't very interactive with him. They laughed at the jokes and really tracked with him but I half expected more random,spontaneous applause at times.
*I came away with so much to chew on but also encouraged in my faith.
*Rob became one of us and shaved the head. Bald is truly beautiful.
So check if he's coming to a city near you and if so and its not sold out, go check it out. If you don't like it, well, let's worry about that later.
Oh, and if you see me in the next few weeks and I like you, I need to tell you about dinner.
Monday, November 05, 2007
Can Win 'Em All
There were times on Saturday night I wasn't much fun to be around. However, this years Ducks seem to have an ability to win the big game, something we've only been able to do with cheating refs to this point......
I found out tonight we're actually on ESPN again next week, on Thursday actually in a game that makes me nervous. Okay, so every Ducks game makes me nervous. I'm not one that thinks we should play for the national title. I'll just be happy if we win out. Let the polls take care of things. And hey, as long as we're better than USC and Washington who really cares? And yes, I did think the Ducks uniforms on Saturday were majestic.
As for my Colts.......
Friday, November 02, 2007
A Duck AND A Christian???
See the itty-bitty seventh grader. He's 5-foot-3, maybe 135 pounds in his football uniform after a good Northwest drenching, just a spot of a shy child whose mother calls him "Snootie Pie."
Oregon running back Jonathan Stewart was known for his pure speed coming out of high school.The itty-bitty seventh grader isn't smiling. He's no longer the star of his football team, no longer the running back whom no one could take down. Suddenly, he's hitting the ground quicker and harder.
"Everybody had just started growing and I was still a pip-squeak," Jonathan Stewart recalled. "All my friends were bigger than me. I was like, 'Man, I'm not as good as I was in youth football.' It was kind of discouraging for me.
"But things changed."
That's for sure.
There are growth spurts, and then there's what happened to Stewart. Perhaps it was something in the water in Lacey, Wash., but that itty-bitty seventh grader transformed into a 5-foot-10, 200-pound high school freshman two years later, at which point he began gaining huge chunks of yardage -- a state-record 7,755 when he was done -- that made him the nation's top prep running back by 2004.
The itty-bitty seventh grader became a physical marvel, a chiseled 5-11, 230-pound mass of speed and power and potential, with eye-popping measurables -- the most celebrated recruit in Oregon history.
This season, however, he's become something else: A running back.
The conversation about Stewart used to focus on his 4.34 40-yard dash and his 402-pound power clean, but that never entirely muzzled whispers that for all his physical ability he wasn't an instinctual ball carrier.
Consider 2007 another sort of growth spurt, only this one expanded his patience, vision and decision-making. Stewart no longer tries to go the distance every play or run over every approaching defender or twist and turn for every extra yard and thereby risk the injuries that hampered his first two seasons.
The end result is this: He may be the best running back in the nation, apologies to Michigan's Mike Hart, Rutgers' Ray Rice and Arkansas' Darren McFadden.
"He's scary," said Arizona State coach Dennis Erickson, who's been fretting over film of Stewart and Oregon's ludicrous-speed offense this week in preparation for the Pac-10 game of the year between his No. 4 Sun Devils and the No. 5 Ducks. "He reminds me quite a bit of [St. Louis Rams running back] Steven Jackson."
Stewart ranks seventh in the nation with 130.4 yards per game, but his per-carry average (6.69 yards) is tops among the top 25 running backs. He's also caught 14 passes, ranks 19th in the nation in kick returns and has eclipsed 100 yards rushing in each of Oregon's biggest games -- Michigan, California and USC.
Those numbers, combined with the Ducks' extended nesting in the nation's top 10, suggest that Stewart should be a Heisman Trophy candidate. But quarterback Dennis Dixon, the maestro of Oregon's spread offense, is presently the one with his name on the marquee.
No reason to gripe about that. Dixon, after all, does rank sixth in the nation in pass efficiency and 14th in total yards while leading the nation's best offense.
Still, this tandem is far closer to Lennon and McCartney than Batman and Robin.
So who should be the Ducks' leading Heisman candidate?
Oregon coach Mike Bellotti hems and haws on the question, calling Dixon the "triggerman" before adding that Stewart "carries this team on his back at times."
Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images
Stewart has rounded out his game in his three years at Oregon."I'm probably a little too close to the situation," he said. "It's hard to pick between those two."
USC coach Pete Carroll lauded Dixon's mobility as the difference-maker following his Trojans' defeat last weekend at Oregon, but also called Stewart the critical component of the Ducks' offensive rhythm.
Few would argue with 6-foot-7, 340-pound offensive tackle Geoff Schwartz, who gives the edge to the senior Dixon over the junior Stewart because of age, but his sentiments might be biased because Dixon unexpectedly pitched him the football against the Trojans, allowing Schwartz to rumble for 3 yards and rank 11th on the team's rushing list.
Schwartz hastens to add that he and his mammoth offensive-line mates certainly enjoy busting open holes for Stewart.
"The stuff he does is pretty amazing," Schwartz said.
For many reading this, the debate is purely academic, and not just because it's prudent to wait and see what Dixon and Stewart do against the Sun Devils' defense, which, statistically at least, is among the nation's toughest.
Many are still stuck on the fact that Stewart admitted that his mother calls him "Snootie Pie."
Those raised eyebrows present an opportunity to correct a mistake -- his nickname "Snoop" -- that has hounded Stewart for years. "Snootie Pie" became "Snoot" among Stewart's close circle of family and friends, but that erroneously transformed into "Snoop" in high school and college.
So those aspiring for an insider's spot in Stewart's posse should go with "Snoot" instead of "Snoop."
Of course, Stewart isn't much of a posse guy. He's quiet and religious, a political science major who has always wanted to be a state patrolman. He fires himself up for games with contemporary Christian music.
If he did have a posse, it likely would be large, though, considering that the general consensus is he'll bypass his senior year for the NFL draft, and he figures to be a first-round pick.
Not that he's dwelling on that while the Ducks eyeball their first Pac-10 title since 2001.
"I'm not really a person who tries to speed things up," he said.
After all, patience has paid off for him, first with a prodigious growth spurt, then with his development as a ball carrier.
Perhaps a Heisman or, failing that, a national championship is next?
Oregon running back Jonathan Stewart was known for his pure speed coming out of high school.The itty-bitty seventh grader isn't smiling. He's no longer the star of his football team, no longer the running back whom no one could take down. Suddenly, he's hitting the ground quicker and harder.
"Everybody had just started growing and I was still a pip-squeak," Jonathan Stewart recalled. "All my friends were bigger than me. I was like, 'Man, I'm not as good as I was in youth football.' It was kind of discouraging for me.
"But things changed."
That's for sure.
There are growth spurts, and then there's what happened to Stewart. Perhaps it was something in the water in Lacey, Wash., but that itty-bitty seventh grader transformed into a 5-foot-10, 200-pound high school freshman two years later, at which point he began gaining huge chunks of yardage -- a state-record 7,755 when he was done -- that made him the nation's top prep running back by 2004.
The itty-bitty seventh grader became a physical marvel, a chiseled 5-11, 230-pound mass of speed and power and potential, with eye-popping measurables -- the most celebrated recruit in Oregon history.
This season, however, he's become something else: A running back.
The conversation about Stewart used to focus on his 4.34 40-yard dash and his 402-pound power clean, but that never entirely muzzled whispers that for all his physical ability he wasn't an instinctual ball carrier.
Consider 2007 another sort of growth spurt, only this one expanded his patience, vision and decision-making. Stewart no longer tries to go the distance every play or run over every approaching defender or twist and turn for every extra yard and thereby risk the injuries that hampered his first two seasons.
The end result is this: He may be the best running back in the nation, apologies to Michigan's Mike Hart, Rutgers' Ray Rice and Arkansas' Darren McFadden.
"He's scary," said Arizona State coach Dennis Erickson, who's been fretting over film of Stewart and Oregon's ludicrous-speed offense this week in preparation for the Pac-10 game of the year between his No. 4 Sun Devils and the No. 5 Ducks. "He reminds me quite a bit of [St. Louis Rams running back] Steven Jackson."
Stewart ranks seventh in the nation with 130.4 yards per game, but his per-carry average (6.69 yards) is tops among the top 25 running backs. He's also caught 14 passes, ranks 19th in the nation in kick returns and has eclipsed 100 yards rushing in each of Oregon's biggest games -- Michigan, California and USC.
Those numbers, combined with the Ducks' extended nesting in the nation's top 10, suggest that Stewart should be a Heisman Trophy candidate. But quarterback Dennis Dixon, the maestro of Oregon's spread offense, is presently the one with his name on the marquee.
No reason to gripe about that. Dixon, after all, does rank sixth in the nation in pass efficiency and 14th in total yards while leading the nation's best offense.
Still, this tandem is far closer to Lennon and McCartney than Batman and Robin.
So who should be the Ducks' leading Heisman candidate?
Oregon coach Mike Bellotti hems and haws on the question, calling Dixon the "triggerman" before adding that Stewart "carries this team on his back at times."
Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images
Stewart has rounded out his game in his three years at Oregon."I'm probably a little too close to the situation," he said. "It's hard to pick between those two."
USC coach Pete Carroll lauded Dixon's mobility as the difference-maker following his Trojans' defeat last weekend at Oregon, but also called Stewart the critical component of the Ducks' offensive rhythm.
Few would argue with 6-foot-7, 340-pound offensive tackle Geoff Schwartz, who gives the edge to the senior Dixon over the junior Stewart because of age, but his sentiments might be biased because Dixon unexpectedly pitched him the football against the Trojans, allowing Schwartz to rumble for 3 yards and rank 11th on the team's rushing list.
Schwartz hastens to add that he and his mammoth offensive-line mates certainly enjoy busting open holes for Stewart.
"The stuff he does is pretty amazing," Schwartz said.
For many reading this, the debate is purely academic, and not just because it's prudent to wait and see what Dixon and Stewart do against the Sun Devils' defense, which, statistically at least, is among the nation's toughest.
Many are still stuck on the fact that Stewart admitted that his mother calls him "Snootie Pie."
Those raised eyebrows present an opportunity to correct a mistake -- his nickname "Snoop" -- that has hounded Stewart for years. "Snootie Pie" became "Snoot" among Stewart's close circle of family and friends, but that erroneously transformed into "Snoop" in high school and college.
So those aspiring for an insider's spot in Stewart's posse should go with "Snoot" instead of "Snoop."
Of course, Stewart isn't much of a posse guy. He's quiet and religious, a political science major who has always wanted to be a state patrolman. He fires himself up for games with contemporary Christian music.
If he did have a posse, it likely would be large, though, considering that the general consensus is he'll bypass his senior year for the NFL draft, and he figures to be a first-round pick.
Not that he's dwelling on that while the Ducks eyeball their first Pac-10 title since 2001.
"I'm not really a person who tries to speed things up," he said.
After all, patience has paid off for him, first with a prodigious growth spurt, then with his development as a ball carrier.
Perhaps a Heisman or, failing that, a national championship is next?
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