There's a student up at Northwestern College that might be doing a play a wrote. It was originally going to go up this spring, but now it looks more like the fall. I have a sneaking suspicion that it might not make it up at all, but I'm hopeful.
I went up last weekend to do a workshop reading of the play with some actors for the college.
It'd been a long time since I'd done something like that - playwriting, I mean. I did a lot of it at Iowa State and had a moderate amount of success. I went as far as to look into and apply to a number of grad schools - and if I'd gotten into any, I might have gone.
But they all said the same thing - get some more life experience and come back. Most playwriting grad programs seemed to want their writers to go out and live life for a few years and then start up.
At the time it drove me crazy. I was ready to go on. Oh well.
I took a few years off. While I've written the occassional play over the last ten years, it's been nothing serious. I simply didn't have a venue to perform them, so I switched styles and have been trying my hand at novels, poems, short stories, and jokes.
The reading was a real kick for me. It was easy to see why ten years of life experience can help a lot. It made me eager to work, change, adjust, alter, and tinker with every line that seemed off. It made me humble enough to be open to all kinds of critique that ten years ago I would have probably shaken off.
I realize that what comes out on the paper the first couple times is probably not perfect anymore.
It was the first time in a long time that I felt like I was doing something that just clicked. They had questions, I had answers. I had questions, they had answers. I put some serious time into the play over the last month or two and even if it doesn't get produced, it was worth every second. It was just fun.
It's an old play. It's not very good. Hopefully the reading will make it better. If not, I think I'll write another one anyway.
Did improv with the 88improv guys after the reading in Le Mars, IA. If you want to read about that, you can check the happythedog.com blog. I wrote a bit about it there.
I'm excited to see the Watchmen if it happens to come to Pella.
Andrea leaves for Haiti in a little over 24 hours and I'm dreading it. She'll be gone for ten days, and while I'm really looking forward to a lot of good bonding time with Carson, the house will feel very lonely without her.
Generally when she takes a trip, I try to catch up on a few movie rentals that she would never want to see when she was around - i.e. martials arts action, dramas with sad endings, and anything with Nicholas Cage. She hates Nicholas Cage. I don't really like him either, but he's kind of forbidden fruit when Andrea's around, so every once in a while I get a hankering.
Jason
Monday, March 09, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
Yeah, some stuff
I had the interesting opportunity within the last week to speak for both a secular crowd and then a Christian crowd within the span of less than a few days.
I went up and spoke and did some improv for good friend Professor Mike Rottink at Ellsworth Community College. Then just a few days later drove over to Chicago for a couple days at Chicago Christian School.
It was a wierd feeling to go up in front of the college crowd and try to remember that I didn't have to end up talking about God, Christ, Salvation, or any of the other numerous theological talking points that I normally end up on. I did talk about it though, a little here and there. I was supposed to be speaking about how I earned a living from the humanites (I don't), So I had to mention the ministry, and youth directing here and there.
I had youth Sunday night, and immediately after it was over at 8:30pm, I had to jump in the car and drive to Chicago to be there for our Monday morning worship. My youth group small group leading partner, Jon, made a comment just before I left (and not about me or my trip in any way) that a life on the road, in hotels, can be very lonely.
It was a fun thought as I began my five hour trip in the car. I'm doing it again today as I head up to Orange City to work with some students and do improv tomorrow with 88improv.
The more I travel, the more I hate it.
When I was a kid, there was nothing more fascinating to me than staying in a hotel. First of all, you got cable TV. That was a luxury we were never afforded growing up on a pig farm. So anytime HBO, Cinemax, or the Weather Channel were available, it was always a rockin' good time.
Then there was the fact that there was A CANDY AND POP MACHINE JUST DOWN THE HALL! Are you kidding me? Pop and candy at my disposal 24/7 and all I need is a fistful of quarters?
Now hotels are just depressing. In Chicago, they put us up in a really fancy DoubleTree. Warm cookies when you checked in. Somewhere around 74 pillows on a large and fluffy bed. Big, flat screen TV. Internet wasn't free though. Normally this wouldn't have been a problem as most Christian schools keep us busy from dawn till dusk. But we were done at 1 every day.
So I took a nap.
I watched part of The Gridiron Gang with the Rock.
I played solitaire.
I missed Andrea and Carson.
Complain, complain, complain.
I think I'm finally coming to a close on my Henry Rollins kick. I'm four books in to his works and they're still well written and fun. But it's starting to get a little repetitive. Lots of road stories and pent up rage. Not good to read in long stretches.
Here's something I have been working on though:
You can find my whole series at youtube.com/user/jkaintaylor. I used a website that let's you pick scenes, characters, and voices and then you just write the script. It sounds a little mechanical, but it's oh so fun!
Jason
I went up and spoke and did some improv for good friend Professor Mike Rottink at Ellsworth Community College. Then just a few days later drove over to Chicago for a couple days at Chicago Christian School.
It was a wierd feeling to go up in front of the college crowd and try to remember that I didn't have to end up talking about God, Christ, Salvation, or any of the other numerous theological talking points that I normally end up on. I did talk about it though, a little here and there. I was supposed to be speaking about how I earned a living from the humanites (I don't), So I had to mention the ministry, and youth directing here and there.
I had youth Sunday night, and immediately after it was over at 8:30pm, I had to jump in the car and drive to Chicago to be there for our Monday morning worship. My youth group small group leading partner, Jon, made a comment just before I left (and not about me or my trip in any way) that a life on the road, in hotels, can be very lonely.
It was a fun thought as I began my five hour trip in the car. I'm doing it again today as I head up to Orange City to work with some students and do improv tomorrow with 88improv.
The more I travel, the more I hate it.
When I was a kid, there was nothing more fascinating to me than staying in a hotel. First of all, you got cable TV. That was a luxury we were never afforded growing up on a pig farm. So anytime HBO, Cinemax, or the Weather Channel were available, it was always a rockin' good time.
Then there was the fact that there was A CANDY AND POP MACHINE JUST DOWN THE HALL! Are you kidding me? Pop and candy at my disposal 24/7 and all I need is a fistful of quarters?
Now hotels are just depressing. In Chicago, they put us up in a really fancy DoubleTree. Warm cookies when you checked in. Somewhere around 74 pillows on a large and fluffy bed. Big, flat screen TV. Internet wasn't free though. Normally this wouldn't have been a problem as most Christian schools keep us busy from dawn till dusk. But we were done at 1 every day.
So I took a nap.
I watched part of The Gridiron Gang with the Rock.
I played solitaire.
I missed Andrea and Carson.
Complain, complain, complain.
I think I'm finally coming to a close on my Henry Rollins kick. I'm four books in to his works and they're still well written and fun. But it's starting to get a little repetitive. Lots of road stories and pent up rage. Not good to read in long stretches.
Here's something I have been working on though:
You can find my whole series at youtube.com/user/jkaintaylor. I used a website that let's you pick scenes, characters, and voices and then you just write the script. It sounds a little mechanical, but it's oh so fun!
Jason
Monday, February 09, 2009
A subtle shift. . .
I've had to make a decision to change a few things about the blog.
I also blog over at happythedog.com which is the ministry I speak for on a regular basis. I try to update it after every speaking event as well, and more often than not, it's the exact same blog as what you read here, with only minor, occasional changes.
Well, it seems that now these two blogs are starting to serve different purposes. The happy blog is primarily for speaking and ministry engagements, and not necessarily for all the trivial, sporadically bizarre, ideas and activities that I often post about on here.
So to keep things nice and separate, the happy blog will have more event details, while the wordofmouth blog will have more details about me as a speaker outside of the events.
I know there are a handful of you who are now thinking, "What? I have to check two blogs now? Ridiculous."
I agree, but I know that blogging as if I were only writing for one site was limiting me greatly as to what I could say on either as they both tend to have different audiences.
So that being out of the way, if you want more event details, just go to happythedog.com and look for the blog posts by Jason (as Troy and Dawn post as well).
On with the blog:
Just got back from Ripon, CA Christian School last week and had a great time. I had to give ten talks in five days, so that was really challenging. We had to do a middle school service at 8:30, then a high school service at 10:55. Then we also had to do a Wednesday night high school rally on top of it, while visiting classes, eating meals, and playing soccer in gym with the students.
It was definitely a challenge to come up with that many back to back talks as I couldn't always use the same ones from middle school for high school, but I felt like they all went really well by the end of the week.
While in CA, we went to see Gran Turino Monday night. Really fun movie. Andrea and I went to see The Wrestler two nights before. Even more fun movie.
I finished reading the Shadow series by Orson Scott Card as well as a book called Posers, Fakers, and Wannabes by Brennan Manning which was the first Christian book (besides the Bible) that I've read in YEARS and actually enjoyed.
I'd highly recommend it. It basically boils down to the different personas we have to put on depending on who we're around at the time. Kind of similar to the different blogs we have to write . . .
Missed Carson and Andrea horribly while gone. Being gone for a week at a time now is almost unbearable as Carson is picking up so many words and tricks daily now.
Airports used to seem a lot more fun than they do now, as well. I had to sprint from gate G4 to A13 Friday night at about 10pm because the tram was shutdown for the night. I was a sweaty mess for my seatmate on the hour trip home to Des Moines, and I can only imagine what he must have thought as the 225 pound man sitting next to him had to towel off the entire flight home because he was sweating so much. Malaria? Typhoid? Sars? Haha! I'll never tell!
I was hoping my seasons of Extras would come in before I left but it didn't. Which is just peachy cause Andrea and I are now watching them together. Much different than the British Office, but still a lot of fun.
I also found a good site to keep up to date on current Flight of the Conchords (my favorite television right now) since I don't have HBO.
What else? I suppose if you want two more blogs on all the happenings from Ripon, feel free to check out the happy site linked on the side of the page. I'll try hard in the future to give this site a much different feel with a little more insight than usual.
On a fun note, a guy at Northwestern College in Orange City is doing a play I wrote a while back on April 18th. I'm pretty excited about the opportunity as I feel my playwriting skills have greatly waned since college and I'd like to sharpen them up again. If this one goes well, I have a couple more in my brain I'd like to get down on paper.
We have a cast reading coming up this month that I'll get to sit in on, so I'm really looking forward to that. As well as a couple improv dates - one with good friend Mike Rottink in Iowa Falls, and one with good friends at Omaha's 88improv in LeMars, Iowa.
Phew. I'm done blogging for the day.
jason
I also blog over at happythedog.com which is the ministry I speak for on a regular basis. I try to update it after every speaking event as well, and more often than not, it's the exact same blog as what you read here, with only minor, occasional changes.
Well, it seems that now these two blogs are starting to serve different purposes. The happy blog is primarily for speaking and ministry engagements, and not necessarily for all the trivial, sporadically bizarre, ideas and activities that I often post about on here.
So to keep things nice and separate, the happy blog will have more event details, while the wordofmouth blog will have more details about me as a speaker outside of the events.
I know there are a handful of you who are now thinking, "What? I have to check two blogs now? Ridiculous."
I agree, but I know that blogging as if I were only writing for one site was limiting me greatly as to what I could say on either as they both tend to have different audiences.
So that being out of the way, if you want more event details, just go to happythedog.com and look for the blog posts by Jason (as Troy and Dawn post as well).
On with the blog:
Just got back from Ripon, CA Christian School last week and had a great time. I had to give ten talks in five days, so that was really challenging. We had to do a middle school service at 8:30, then a high school service at 10:55. Then we also had to do a Wednesday night high school rally on top of it, while visiting classes, eating meals, and playing soccer in gym with the students.
It was definitely a challenge to come up with that many back to back talks as I couldn't always use the same ones from middle school for high school, but I felt like they all went really well by the end of the week.
While in CA, we went to see Gran Turino Monday night. Really fun movie. Andrea and I went to see The Wrestler two nights before. Even more fun movie.
I finished reading the Shadow series by Orson Scott Card as well as a book called Posers, Fakers, and Wannabes by Brennan Manning which was the first Christian book (besides the Bible) that I've read in YEARS and actually enjoyed.
I'd highly recommend it. It basically boils down to the different personas we have to put on depending on who we're around at the time. Kind of similar to the different blogs we have to write . . .
Missed Carson and Andrea horribly while gone. Being gone for a week at a time now is almost unbearable as Carson is picking up so many words and tricks daily now.
Airports used to seem a lot more fun than they do now, as well. I had to sprint from gate G4 to A13 Friday night at about 10pm because the tram was shutdown for the night. I was a sweaty mess for my seatmate on the hour trip home to Des Moines, and I can only imagine what he must have thought as the 225 pound man sitting next to him had to towel off the entire flight home because he was sweating so much. Malaria? Typhoid? Sars? Haha! I'll never tell!
I was hoping my seasons of Extras would come in before I left but it didn't. Which is just peachy cause Andrea and I are now watching them together. Much different than the British Office, but still a lot of fun.
I also found a good site to keep up to date on current Flight of the Conchords (my favorite television right now) since I don't have HBO.
What else? I suppose if you want two more blogs on all the happenings from Ripon, feel free to check out the happy site linked on the side of the page. I'll try hard in the future to give this site a much different feel with a little more insight than usual.
On a fun note, a guy at Northwestern College in Orange City is doing a play I wrote a while back on April 18th. I'm pretty excited about the opportunity as I feel my playwriting skills have greatly waned since college and I'd like to sharpen them up again. If this one goes well, I have a couple more in my brain I'd like to get down on paper.
We have a cast reading coming up this month that I'll get to sit in on, so I'm really looking forward to that. As well as a couple improv dates - one with good friend Mike Rottink in Iowa Falls, and one with good friends at Omaha's 88improv in LeMars, Iowa.
Phew. I'm done blogging for the day.
jason
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Cran SNOW Hill SNOW Ranch
It's been a while since I blogged, I know. Brother-in-law Kyle reminded me that I did, indeed, have more speaking things to write about since my last post, but my last major speaking thing between this past weekend, and the last one I posted was so gruesome that I figured I shouldn't spill too many details so as not to offend anyone.
Let's just say that if you can't say something nice about an event, don't say anything at all. (And for all of you who may be rushing to the Happy the Dog calendar to see which event I didn't blog about, sorry, but it's not on the web calendar!)
I was in Michigan this past weekend catching up with some old Convention friends for a big retreat at this really cool camp called Cran Hill Ranch.
Dawn, Troy, and I all headed up on Friday. I had a nine hour car ride. Dawn and Troy had 14 hours as they drove five hours before picking me up.
Rides were a bit tricky as my Lumina refused to start and Andrea had recently hit a deer with the new HHR. The good news was that the HHR was still good enough to get me to Newton to hook up with the HTD crew, so it all worked out.
It started snowing on us heavily on the way there, and didn't let up for three days. It was a heavy, thick, almost movie-fake looking type of snow that just fell straight down and kept piling up. There had to be a good foot of it before we left.
Met a guy named Eric who plays host at Cran Hill. He's a twenty-one year old guy who went into ministry straight from his training as a professional welder. I guess that's not so wierd considering I came straight from pig farming.
The Big Rapids and McBain students and adults that attended the event were just really great all the way around. We had three rocking worship services where I got to explore my "You Are Known" theme a little farther.
Deb and Roger, who I've met when they were running security at Convention, were the retreat hosts and they treated us really well. We got to stay in a little cottage (called Bayview since it was on the bay of a lake), and it was fun to see them again.
I've been devouring one book after another recently as I can't seem to get enough to read. This cycle usually follows a period where I tried to be creative, and as I just wrote a play that might possibly get produced by a college soon, the cycle makes sense.
I'm midway through reading the Ender and Shadow series by Orson Scott Card, and they're just as good as I remember them. To break them up a bit, I'm reading journals from the 90's by Henry Rollins.
And here's where I'll get in trouble as all the folk who read this blog and don't know Henry will start googling and youtubing him. I'll just qualify it by saying that I saw Henry Rollins do a spoken word show at Iowa State once and it was amazing. He's got a real, raw, forceful, complete honesty, type delivery that I think I could learn a lot from.
Do I like his punk rock style, heavy duty, thrashing music from Black Flag or The Rollins Band? Eh, not really.
Do I agree with a majority if his opinions concerning any number of relevant topics to today's society - especially God? Definately not. But I feel like there are so many mediocre books out there for Christians on trying to understand the blue collar, youth rage, depressed, angry, bitter, tired, lonely, and unloved part of our world - and I rather read a book by a guy who's living it.
He's funny, insightful, incredibly intelligent, and a great writer.
That said, I've gone way off topic and will get a good tongue lashing by the HTD folks when they read this and say, "Why didn't you write more about the retreat?"
We did have a really cool moment in the retreat where Troy invited anyone to stand up on Saturday night and share some of the problems/concerns/joys/fears with their spiritual life, and several kids really stepped up to the challenge and shared some amazing stuff.
It's during those moments that I realize who I'm really trying to speak to in those retreats - those in the crowd that were a lot like me when I was that age.
Another interesting thing I'm realizing more and more (especially after trekking all by my lonesome up to White Pass, Washington a month and a half ago) after this trip, is that I tend to be two different speakers when I travel with and without the band.
When I'm alone, as I was in White Pass, I'm forced to break out of the little, social anxietal(word? probably not) box I'm in and meet people. I gravitate towards the kids and adults who remind me of myself.
When I'm traveling with the band, they're so outspoken, friendly, and cool that I slip into the background more often and let them handle a lot of the more social moments of ministry.
Nothing I can change since I would never give up the opportunity of traveling with them, but something I can probably work on as the events where I'm alone force me into such amazing situations where I meet kids who, much like me, won't really speak unless spoken to.
Well look at how reflective I've been this blog already! And it's a long one.
I'm also thinking more and more about my severe addiction to all things food and soda. I really, really like food. I really, really, really like diet cherry pops. I wish my psyche wasn't so dependant on either one.
I often muse about going a week where I research the bare nourishment essentials and then eat only those for a week while drinking water and taking a multi-vitamin to make sure I'm staying as healthy as possible.
But for a guy my size who exercizes as little as he does, I shouldn't be craving pizza, 6 sodas, chocolate, and chinese 7 days a week.
Okay, that's all for now.
Book review of the week - read (or reread) Ender's Game. What a great book with lots of tidbits about leadership.
Till next time,
Jason
Let's just say that if you can't say something nice about an event, don't say anything at all. (And for all of you who may be rushing to the Happy the Dog calendar to see which event I didn't blog about, sorry, but it's not on the web calendar!)
I was in Michigan this past weekend catching up with some old Convention friends for a big retreat at this really cool camp called Cran Hill Ranch.
Dawn, Troy, and I all headed up on Friday. I had a nine hour car ride. Dawn and Troy had 14 hours as they drove five hours before picking me up.
Rides were a bit tricky as my Lumina refused to start and Andrea had recently hit a deer with the new HHR. The good news was that the HHR was still good enough to get me to Newton to hook up with the HTD crew, so it all worked out.
It started snowing on us heavily on the way there, and didn't let up for three days. It was a heavy, thick, almost movie-fake looking type of snow that just fell straight down and kept piling up. There had to be a good foot of it before we left.
Met a guy named Eric who plays host at Cran Hill. He's a twenty-one year old guy who went into ministry straight from his training as a professional welder. I guess that's not so wierd considering I came straight from pig farming.
The Big Rapids and McBain students and adults that attended the event were just really great all the way around. We had three rocking worship services where I got to explore my "You Are Known" theme a little farther.
Deb and Roger, who I've met when they were running security at Convention, were the retreat hosts and they treated us really well. We got to stay in a little cottage (called Bayview since it was on the bay of a lake), and it was fun to see them again.
I've been devouring one book after another recently as I can't seem to get enough to read. This cycle usually follows a period where I tried to be creative, and as I just wrote a play that might possibly get produced by a college soon, the cycle makes sense.
I'm midway through reading the Ender and Shadow series by Orson Scott Card, and they're just as good as I remember them. To break them up a bit, I'm reading journals from the 90's by Henry Rollins.
And here's where I'll get in trouble as all the folk who read this blog and don't know Henry will start googling and youtubing him. I'll just qualify it by saying that I saw Henry Rollins do a spoken word show at Iowa State once and it was amazing. He's got a real, raw, forceful, complete honesty, type delivery that I think I could learn a lot from.
Do I like his punk rock style, heavy duty, thrashing music from Black Flag or The Rollins Band? Eh, not really.
Do I agree with a majority if his opinions concerning any number of relevant topics to today's society - especially God? Definately not. But I feel like there are so many mediocre books out there for Christians on trying to understand the blue collar, youth rage, depressed, angry, bitter, tired, lonely, and unloved part of our world - and I rather read a book by a guy who's living it.
He's funny, insightful, incredibly intelligent, and a great writer.
That said, I've gone way off topic and will get a good tongue lashing by the HTD folks when they read this and say, "Why didn't you write more about the retreat?"
We did have a really cool moment in the retreat where Troy invited anyone to stand up on Saturday night and share some of the problems/concerns/joys/fears with their spiritual life, and several kids really stepped up to the challenge and shared some amazing stuff.
It's during those moments that I realize who I'm really trying to speak to in those retreats - those in the crowd that were a lot like me when I was that age.
Another interesting thing I'm realizing more and more (especially after trekking all by my lonesome up to White Pass, Washington a month and a half ago) after this trip, is that I tend to be two different speakers when I travel with and without the band.
When I'm alone, as I was in White Pass, I'm forced to break out of the little, social anxietal(word? probably not) box I'm in and meet people. I gravitate towards the kids and adults who remind me of myself.
When I'm traveling with the band, they're so outspoken, friendly, and cool that I slip into the background more often and let them handle a lot of the more social moments of ministry.
Nothing I can change since I would never give up the opportunity of traveling with them, but something I can probably work on as the events where I'm alone force me into such amazing situations where I meet kids who, much like me, won't really speak unless spoken to.
Well look at how reflective I've been this blog already! And it's a long one.
I'm also thinking more and more about my severe addiction to all things food and soda. I really, really like food. I really, really, really like diet cherry pops. I wish my psyche wasn't so dependant on either one.
I often muse about going a week where I research the bare nourishment essentials and then eat only those for a week while drinking water and taking a multi-vitamin to make sure I'm staying as healthy as possible.
But for a guy my size who exercizes as little as he does, I shouldn't be craving pizza, 6 sodas, chocolate, and chinese 7 days a week.
Okay, that's all for now.
Book review of the week - read (or reread) Ender's Game. What a great book with lots of tidbits about leadership.
Till next time,
Jason
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Ooh Ahh White Pass
After 6 hours in a plane on last Friday morning I arrived in Portland, Oregon and was greeted at the airport by sign waving youth from the retreat I spoke at this past weekend. Two great gals named Aubrey and Samantha spent some arts and crafts time making me two sweet welcome signs, and I must say it's the first time I've been met with actual signs at an airport.
I felt pretty special! Those signs will soon adorn the wall of my office.
I jumped in a car with Aubrey, Samantha, and youth guy Paul Covey and headed to the great white (not so white but unseasonally warm unfortunately) north of White Pass, Washington, but not before a quick pitstop at Burgerville where I tried the pepper bacon burger and a pumpkin shake. How's the diet? Going well, thanks!
Then it was off to the retreat in one of the most beautiful locations I've ever gotten the chance to speak in. I took some pics with my new camera phone, but I'm really hoping that new friend and youth leader Andrea Covey will send me some of hers that she took with an actual camera, because my puny phone did not do it justice.
Where to begin . . . the folks at the retreat were just great people. We had a lot of fun in games, free time, and worship. The band was a youth band led by a great guy named Cal who had a little country flavor mixed in with his stuff and the guys in the band rocked it out pretty hard.
There were 50 or so of us there, and I always think that's about the perfect number for a retreat like that. I got to know a lot of the kids by name (Nathan, Josh, Ashley, Aubrey, Samantha, Val, Justin, Donny, Connor, Matt, MJ, and lots of others that I'm forgetting (about 40) as I'm sitting here at the computer, but I'm sure they'll email to remind me and I can drop them in.
Lots of great leaders too who all gave up their Thanksgiving Weekend to hang out with the kids which I thought was pretty cool. They really put on a fantastic retreat and I have to give a big thanks to Andrea who played host for the weekend. She and Paul are expecting their first little one in January after a long, and patient wait and I can't imagine two more loving parents.
I also got a chance to do a little song and dance with some of the guys. During the Saturday night talent show, Donny, Nathan, Josh, Tony, Paul, Connor, and I all did one of my favorite old camp skits which is hard to describe on a blog, but there was much choreography and choral directing involved. It was a blast and I'm very thankful that no video camera was around - or Troy and Dawn for that matter.
What else, what else . . . the food was fantastic. I had the first lemon bars of my life that I actualy liked - check that - LOVED. This great gal named Lynn cooked in the kitchen for us with her daughter (Sarah and I think) and Tony (her nephew I think) and the food was so good. I've always loved hot sauce, and this week I got turned on to Sweet Chile Sauce. Who knew of such things??? I'm buying my first bottle today, though.
I learned a great new dice game too. I can't wait to play it with my own kids. And just in case anyone asks, always roll for the big points! Don't ever stop. Turning the corner almost always comes around! I can say with confidence as I finished in a respectable 5th place after starting late and a little slow . . .
The jet lag was rough. With the two hour time difference, I was going to bed at midnight or 1am Washington time which was like 2am or 3am our time. The only problem was that I was still waking up between 6am and 7am Iowa time which was around 4am Washington time. Ugh. I felt like molasses when I got home last night after another 6 hours on a plane.
It was great to see Andrea and Carson though. In just the last few days it seems like Carson's speaking more clearly as he says things like, "I love you, daddy," and "Uncle Chris," and maybe even the clearest now is, "Cousin Isaac."
I'm sure other memories from the weekend will pop up and I'll make sure to add them. I had great conversations with people like Brandon, Henry, Dave, JJ, Bud, Tim, David, Valerie, Sarah, Jamie, Stephen, and lots of others who's names are foggy now. Why do I try to name drop when I know I'm going to forget people? I should take polaroid pictures and then write their names on the bottom.
If I missed anyone, I'm sorry.
Did I mention the scenery was amazing? The camp was nestled between moutains on three sides and a lake on the fourth.
I always get so nervous traveling without the rest of the Happy crew, but this group this weekend really took care of me well and made me feel like family.
You are known!
Till next time,
Jason
I felt pretty special! Those signs will soon adorn the wall of my office.
I jumped in a car with Aubrey, Samantha, and youth guy Paul Covey and headed to the great white (not so white but unseasonally warm unfortunately) north of White Pass, Washington, but not before a quick pitstop at Burgerville where I tried the pepper bacon burger and a pumpkin shake. How's the diet? Going well, thanks!
Then it was off to the retreat in one of the most beautiful locations I've ever gotten the chance to speak in. I took some pics with my new camera phone, but I'm really hoping that new friend and youth leader Andrea Covey will send me some of hers that she took with an actual camera, because my puny phone did not do it justice.
Where to begin . . . the folks at the retreat were just great people. We had a lot of fun in games, free time, and worship. The band was a youth band led by a great guy named Cal who had a little country flavor mixed in with his stuff and the guys in the band rocked it out pretty hard.
There were 50 or so of us there, and I always think that's about the perfect number for a retreat like that. I got to know a lot of the kids by name (Nathan, Josh, Ashley, Aubrey, Samantha, Val, Justin, Donny, Connor, Matt, MJ, and lots of others that I'm forgetting (about 40) as I'm sitting here at the computer, but I'm sure they'll email to remind me and I can drop them in.
Lots of great leaders too who all gave up their Thanksgiving Weekend to hang out with the kids which I thought was pretty cool. They really put on a fantastic retreat and I have to give a big thanks to Andrea who played host for the weekend. She and Paul are expecting their first little one in January after a long, and patient wait and I can't imagine two more loving parents.
I also got a chance to do a little song and dance with some of the guys. During the Saturday night talent show, Donny, Nathan, Josh, Tony, Paul, Connor, and I all did one of my favorite old camp skits which is hard to describe on a blog, but there was much choreography and choral directing involved. It was a blast and I'm very thankful that no video camera was around - or Troy and Dawn for that matter.
What else, what else . . . the food was fantastic. I had the first lemon bars of my life that I actualy liked - check that - LOVED. This great gal named Lynn cooked in the kitchen for us with her daughter (Sarah and I think) and Tony (her nephew I think) and the food was so good. I've always loved hot sauce, and this week I got turned on to Sweet Chile Sauce. Who knew of such things??? I'm buying my first bottle today, though.
I learned a great new dice game too. I can't wait to play it with my own kids. And just in case anyone asks, always roll for the big points! Don't ever stop. Turning the corner almost always comes around! I can say with confidence as I finished in a respectable 5th place after starting late and a little slow . . .
The jet lag was rough. With the two hour time difference, I was going to bed at midnight or 1am Washington time which was like 2am or 3am our time. The only problem was that I was still waking up between 6am and 7am Iowa time which was around 4am Washington time. Ugh. I felt like molasses when I got home last night after another 6 hours on a plane.
It was great to see Andrea and Carson though. In just the last few days it seems like Carson's speaking more clearly as he says things like, "I love you, daddy," and "Uncle Chris," and maybe even the clearest now is, "Cousin Isaac."
I'm sure other memories from the weekend will pop up and I'll make sure to add them. I had great conversations with people like Brandon, Henry, Dave, JJ, Bud, Tim, David, Valerie, Sarah, Jamie, Stephen, and lots of others who's names are foggy now. Why do I try to name drop when I know I'm going to forget people? I should take polaroid pictures and then write their names on the bottom.
If I missed anyone, I'm sorry.
Did I mention the scenery was amazing? The camp was nestled between moutains on three sides and a lake on the fourth.
I always get so nervous traveling without the rest of the Happy crew, but this group this weekend really took care of me well and made me feel like family.
You are known!
Till next time,
Jason
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Orland Park, Ill
Troy and I headed over to Orland Park, Illinois last weekend to help out at a CRC church youth rally/function/event/rock out. I'm not sure what to call it really. They had a crazy rockin' DJ. They had a crazy rockin' worship band. They had a really neat speaker who's a former bank theif and is now working as a secretary at a church. (I know, I know, typical church secretary.)
And then they had us, smack dab in the middle doing our silly songs and goofy jokes.
I had a ton of fun. We got to meet a band named S.H.A.R.C. We got to see old friend from NW Iowa, Matt Sharpe and eat at Denny's. We got to work with great Orland Park youth workers Becky VK and Caroline. (Caroline's a youth director's assistant btw . . . I wonder how I can get one of those in Pella. Hmm.)
There were somewhere between 100 and 120 kids who rocked out hard for four hours. Crazy. They sang loud, danced hard, and had a penchant for Johnny Cash songs.
And by the way, Troy, I did learn the trumpet part on accordian! Our next crowd has no idea what's in store for them.
Next weekend I head to Washington (the state) to speak for a post-Thanksgiving retreat and I'm really looking forward to it.
Here's the gold that came out of our breakfast with Matt S. on Saturday before we left:
If you want to make wine, you have to stomp on grapes. I'm glad that we don't have to do the same thing for all our drinks. Otherwise I would be drinking much less milk.
"What's that between your toes?"
"Snout."
And then they had us, smack dab in the middle doing our silly songs and goofy jokes.
I had a ton of fun. We got to meet a band named S.H.A.R.C. We got to see old friend from NW Iowa, Matt Sharpe and eat at Denny's. We got to work with great Orland Park youth workers Becky VK and Caroline. (Caroline's a youth director's assistant btw . . . I wonder how I can get one of those in Pella. Hmm.)
There were somewhere between 100 and 120 kids who rocked out hard for four hours. Crazy. They sang loud, danced hard, and had a penchant for Johnny Cash songs.
And by the way, Troy, I did learn the trumpet part on accordian! Our next crowd has no idea what's in store for them.
Next weekend I head to Washington (the state) to speak for a post-Thanksgiving retreat and I'm really looking forward to it.
Here's the gold that came out of our breakfast with Matt S. on Saturday before we left:
If you want to make wine, you have to stomp on grapes. I'm glad that we don't have to do the same thing for all our drinks. Otherwise I would be drinking much less milk.
"What's that between your toes?"
"Snout."
Monday, November 03, 2008
Dear Deer,
Was on my way up to Alton, IA last Wednesday night to speak for the My Choice Middle School group in Alton on Thursday morning. I was joining Troy and Dawn, and I was really looking forward to it. This middle school bunch is really fun, and I was really excited for Troy and Dawn to experience their fun for the first time.
Long story short, I hit a deer on I-80 about five miles from the Atlantic exit and totaled my car. It was a busy highway, and I was pretty lucky no one else got hit or hurt.
It jumped right out in front of me and I hit it dead on. Its head was on one side and it's rump was on the other.
The airbags went off, the hood flew up and smashed the windshield, and I pulled over immediately to the side.
One thing I didn't know about airbags is that they apparently use shotgun shells (sans bb's) to fire them off. This means they're really stinkin' loud, smell like gunfire, and immediately fill the car with smoke.
As soon as I found myself engulfed in smoke, I grabbed my Ipod and darted into the field from the car. After a few moments of observation, I realized the car was not on fire and called Andrea, then 911, then Troy to let him know I wouldn't make it to the event.
A nice sheriff from Cass County came to help me out. As we looked at the car, he asked if I would mind climbing inside to get my insurance info. As I did, I happened to step on a discarded beer can in the ditch. I looked down. There were several more nearby.
The officer said, "Those belong to you?"
"No, sir." The only thing I was under the influence of was a McDonald's Southern Chicken sandwich.
He reached into a pocket and pulled out one of those little, yellow evidence markers and dropped it by the cans. I figured that I was soon about to take my first breatalyzer test . . .
The wrecker truck came and towed my poor, totalled car away.
After explaining who I was and where I was going, the officer seemed satisfied that I had, in fact, not been drinking, and so we discussed how I knew the Schoenfeld brothers from Atlantic, and how they now did Improv in Omaha.
The sheriff was a great guy. I got dropped off at a gas station in Atlantic and waited for an hour or so for my brother to come and get me.
To add insult to injury, Troy let me know the next day that the Alton group was fantastic and they had an amazing time with them . . .
It didn't help my sour mood any.
We go to Orland Park, Ill. next week, and then I get to go to the great Northwest - Washington State, the day after Thanksgiving!
Till next time,
Jason
Long story short, I hit a deer on I-80 about five miles from the Atlantic exit and totaled my car. It was a busy highway, and I was pretty lucky no one else got hit or hurt.
It jumped right out in front of me and I hit it dead on. Its head was on one side and it's rump was on the other.
The airbags went off, the hood flew up and smashed the windshield, and I pulled over immediately to the side.
One thing I didn't know about airbags is that they apparently use shotgun shells (sans bb's) to fire them off. This means they're really stinkin' loud, smell like gunfire, and immediately fill the car with smoke.
As soon as I found myself engulfed in smoke, I grabbed my Ipod and darted into the field from the car. After a few moments of observation, I realized the car was not on fire and called Andrea, then 911, then Troy to let him know I wouldn't make it to the event.
A nice sheriff from Cass County came to help me out. As we looked at the car, he asked if I would mind climbing inside to get my insurance info. As I did, I happened to step on a discarded beer can in the ditch. I looked down. There were several more nearby.
The officer said, "Those belong to you?"
"No, sir." The only thing I was under the influence of was a McDonald's Southern Chicken sandwich.
He reached into a pocket and pulled out one of those little, yellow evidence markers and dropped it by the cans. I figured that I was soon about to take my first breatalyzer test . . .
The wrecker truck came and towed my poor, totalled car away.
After explaining who I was and where I was going, the officer seemed satisfied that I had, in fact, not been drinking, and so we discussed how I knew the Schoenfeld brothers from Atlantic, and how they now did Improv in Omaha.
The sheriff was a great guy. I got dropped off at a gas station in Atlantic and waited for an hour or so for my brother to come and get me.
To add insult to injury, Troy let me know the next day that the Alton group was fantastic and they had an amazing time with them . . .
It didn't help my sour mood any.
We go to Orland Park, Ill. next week, and then I get to go to the great Northwest - Washington State, the day after Thanksgiving!
Till next time,
Jason
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Quakers in Indy
Joined up with Happy the Dog friends Danny and David Fergen (the Sons of Thunder) and headed over to Indianapolis to the Jameson Camp to lead worship for a Quaker retreat.
For the first time, I wasn't the one who had to do the crazy driving - at least not most of it. Danny and David drove 5 hours down to Pella on Thursday night and got here around 10:30pm. They bunked down for the night and then we all got up Friday morning to drive the 7 hours to Indianapolis. When all was said and done, it was Saturday afternoon. We jumped back into the pickup and drove seven hours back to Pella dropping me off around 11:30pm. Then the boys headed home and arrived in Sioux Falls another five hours later.
Total time at the retreat = 12 hours.
Total time on the road for the Fergens = 24 hours.
Was it worth it? Oh, yeah. We had a blast. It was the first Quaker experience for all of us, and the kids and adults couldn't have been better.
The camp was amazing, they had a giant inflatable, bungee corded football game (I dominated Danny), and they had adult sized tricycles of which we took liberty and had a blast.
Plus! I got to see old Northwestern friend Katey "Pokey" Palmer who was arranging the retreat. She's doing wonderfully awesome things out east with the Quaker folks and it was a huge blessing to get to hang out with her and her friends.
Danny and I also took on a couple adults in Wii tennis. While my partner and I won several matches, we didn't win the entire game as Danny knew how to some sort of special move, super fire fast serve that the rest of us couldn't do.
As per usual, the ride home was spent laughing until we were all hoarse (and Danny once again complained of heartburn).
I spent the weekend sick with a bit of a cold, and apparently passed it onto David after he took a drink out of my coffee. Sorry David.
What else? I did craft time and made a neat truck for Carson that I forgot about until just now. I try to bring a little something back from every trip - a little trinket or what not. It's plaster, so he won't be able to play with it, but I suppose it can hang somewhere in his room.
I think the next trip I embark on is to the great city of Alton, IA for a 7am gig with Jonah's Wale on October 30th. Then we do Illinois and Wasthington in November.
Till next time,
Jason
For the first time, I wasn't the one who had to do the crazy driving - at least not most of it. Danny and David drove 5 hours down to Pella on Thursday night and got here around 10:30pm. They bunked down for the night and then we all got up Friday morning to drive the 7 hours to Indianapolis. When all was said and done, it was Saturday afternoon. We jumped back into the pickup and drove seven hours back to Pella dropping me off around 11:30pm. Then the boys headed home and arrived in Sioux Falls another five hours later.
Total time at the retreat = 12 hours.
Total time on the road for the Fergens = 24 hours.
Was it worth it? Oh, yeah. We had a blast. It was the first Quaker experience for all of us, and the kids and adults couldn't have been better.
The camp was amazing, they had a giant inflatable, bungee corded football game (I dominated Danny), and they had adult sized tricycles of which we took liberty and had a blast.
Plus! I got to see old Northwestern friend Katey "Pokey" Palmer who was arranging the retreat. She's doing wonderfully awesome things out east with the Quaker folks and it was a huge blessing to get to hang out with her and her friends.
Danny and I also took on a couple adults in Wii tennis. While my partner and I won several matches, we didn't win the entire game as Danny knew how to some sort of special move, super fire fast serve that the rest of us couldn't do.
As per usual, the ride home was spent laughing until we were all hoarse (and Danny once again complained of heartburn).
I spent the weekend sick with a bit of a cold, and apparently passed it onto David after he took a drink out of my coffee. Sorry David.
What else? I did craft time and made a neat truck for Carson that I forgot about until just now. I try to bring a little something back from every trip - a little trinket or what not. It's plaster, so he won't be able to play with it, but I suppose it can hang somewhere in his room.
I think the next trip I embark on is to the great city of Alton, IA for a 7am gig with Jonah's Wale on October 30th. Then we do Illinois and Wasthington in November.
Till next time,
Jason
Monday, September 15, 2008
Sons of Thunder
Had the Sons of Thunder (D&D Fergen) come on down for our youth group here in Pella last night. The Fergen brothers are good friends of Happy the Dog, and they are known well to many of our kids from when they did a couple middle school retreats for us way back when.
They rocked our little youth room pretty hard, and our group did their best to rock back at them.
Afterwards, we packed up the trailer and headed three blocks southwest to the Central college Sunday night worship "The Calm" which is led by Andrea's dad Joe. The Sons of Thunder played for a packed out group of college kids and afterwards, Danny Fergen commented on how much fun it was from the first song.
The Thunder brothers brought along a drummer (Tyler) and sister in law (Kelsey, who's in her own band with her sisters - Truemotion) and apparently they wiled away their five hour ride down by telling goofy stories about me.
The time I pulled a pair of underwear out of my pants during a business meeting.
The time I destroyed David Fergen's kitchen table by leaning one hand on it.
The time I put a ding in the door of David Fergen's brand new pickup by hitting a fire hydrant with it.
The time I cleaned off a pubic restroom toilet because there was someone outside and I didn't want them to think that I was the one who'd made the mess. . .
Man, you don't really realize what a complete dork you are until someone starts an impromtu goofy story jam session about you.
Till next time,
Jason
They rocked our little youth room pretty hard, and our group did their best to rock back at them.
Afterwards, we packed up the trailer and headed three blocks southwest to the Central college Sunday night worship "The Calm" which is led by Andrea's dad Joe. The Sons of Thunder played for a packed out group of college kids and afterwards, Danny Fergen commented on how much fun it was from the first song.
The Thunder brothers brought along a drummer (Tyler) and sister in law (Kelsey, who's in her own band with her sisters - Truemotion) and apparently they wiled away their five hour ride down by telling goofy stories about me.
The time I pulled a pair of underwear out of my pants during a business meeting.
The time I destroyed David Fergen's kitchen table by leaning one hand on it.
The time I put a ding in the door of David Fergen's brand new pickup by hitting a fire hydrant with it.
The time I cleaned off a pubic restroom toilet because there was someone outside and I didn't want them to think that I was the one who'd made the mess. . .
Man, you don't really realize what a complete dork you are until someone starts an impromtu goofy story jam session about you.
Till next time,
Jason
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Waupon (WAH-PAWN)
So, Happy the Dog just headed up to Waupon (pronounced WAH-PAWN, or as I prefer WHOOPIN') for a spiritual renewal week / half-week at the Central Wisconsin Christian High School.
What a good time. It was Troy and Dawn and I, and about 150 different middle school and high schoolers. They were into it too. It was the first time in a long time that I've seen kids doing actions to songs that I'd never seen before.
They were loud. They were happy. They were excited to worship. And so I found myself asking the question, "This is a Christian High School right? Indeed it was. I don't mean to knock Christian High Schools, but I've found that they can sometimes be the worst places to lead worship.
I don't know if it's because the students get "God stuff" so often that they're sick of it, or what, but I generally have a small feeling of dread well up inside when I see a high school coming up on the calendar.
Not for the folks at CWC, though. Those folks know how to rock.
We got to stay with Happy the Dog friends (and board member) Dan and Latricia Ten Napel and their beautiful new daughter.
I got to watch some Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe (sp?) which is always a real treat for me because we don't have cable at home.
We got to eat out at a Mexican restaurant called Dos Gringos which I have a feeling might be a derogatory name towards me, but I'm not sure why . . .
What else? Oh yeah. We gave a prize away to a cool guy named Jory (once again, sp?). When I handed him the shirt he wanted, he said, "How much?" I said, "What?" He said, "How much are your prizes?" I told him our prizes were free, but it made me wonder if there weren't some other, less scrupulous, ministries out there charging for their goofy prizes! For shame!
We got to take a Wisconsin detour, which was three left turns that brought us right back to . . . wait for it . . . the place we started. It was a little after midnight when we pulled over to the road construction worker and asked what we were doing wrong. We were told that we needed to turn right at that last left arrow.
I kid you not.
Till next time,
Jason
What a good time. It was Troy and Dawn and I, and about 150 different middle school and high schoolers. They were into it too. It was the first time in a long time that I've seen kids doing actions to songs that I'd never seen before.
They were loud. They were happy. They were excited to worship. And so I found myself asking the question, "This is a Christian High School right? Indeed it was. I don't mean to knock Christian High Schools, but I've found that they can sometimes be the worst places to lead worship.
I don't know if it's because the students get "God stuff" so often that they're sick of it, or what, but I generally have a small feeling of dread well up inside when I see a high school coming up on the calendar.
Not for the folks at CWC, though. Those folks know how to rock.
We got to stay with Happy the Dog friends (and board member) Dan and Latricia Ten Napel and their beautiful new daughter.
I got to watch some Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe (sp?) which is always a real treat for me because we don't have cable at home.
We got to eat out at a Mexican restaurant called Dos Gringos which I have a feeling might be a derogatory name towards me, but I'm not sure why . . .
What else? Oh yeah. We gave a prize away to a cool guy named Jory (once again, sp?). When I handed him the shirt he wanted, he said, "How much?" I said, "What?" He said, "How much are your prizes?" I told him our prizes were free, but it made me wonder if there weren't some other, less scrupulous, ministries out there charging for their goofy prizes! For shame!
We got to take a Wisconsin detour, which was three left turns that brought us right back to . . . wait for it . . . the place we started. It was a little after midnight when we pulled over to the road construction worker and asked what we were doing wrong. We were told that we needed to turn right at that last left arrow.
I kid you not.
Till next time,
Jason
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
A Few Updates
Preached in my home church last weekend. It went just fine and I got a lot of good comments. Like always, I sweat buckets since it was summertime, and since most of the home congregation doesn't see me do a lot of my speaking, they became concerned afterwards. I tried to assure them all it was normal.
This past recent weekend, I met up with Troy and Dawn and various other sundry Happy the Dog folk at the Lifelight Music Festival in Sioux Falls, SD to help man the Happy the Dog booth.
It was fantastic. The weather was beautiful. I got nice and pink. We had a lot of laughs and got a lot of donations for shirts. We made some contacts with folks about coming out to their events.
One of the coolest things was getting to see a few folks from the Sunshine Bible Academy where I spoke with worship band and Happy friend's David and Danny Fergen.
Come to think of it, the Fergen brothers were also at Lifelight, playing the coffee house stage. I didn't get up there in time to hear it, but word was that they rocked out.
I got to hear just about any and every big name Christian band around - albeit from several hundred yards away with the booths for two radio stations between us.
We had theblastfm.com right next to our booth, and we got to groove out to their edgy hard rock all weekend. Those guys are a little nuts, and seemed to attract a lot of young folk to their booth.
Saw Jonah's Wale geetar and bass man Matt Groen, along with Happy the Dog friend Jacklyn who's always a treat to see.
What else . . . what else . . .
Have I mentioned lately how fantastic Happy the Dog board member and Jonah's Wale piano gal Dawn Ryswyk is? Man is she great. She was at the booth with us all weekend to discuss bizness, have fun, and buy us a couple pork sandwiches. She makes everyday better for me.
Tons of other Happy the Dog friends showed up. Saw lots of old friends from Rock Valley.
I think my favorite moment came with the water truck. The festival is held on this big pasture outside Sioux Falls, and several times a day this big tanker truck would drive by with a guy on a water cannon on the back. He'd spray the ground down with water to keep the dust at bay.
Well, by day two, the water truck had a good number of kids following behind it even though it truly was a water cannon. That thing had all the pressure of a fireman's hose, but these kids weren't deterred.
As they went past our booth, the water cannon man was having fun playing cat and mouse with the kids behind him. Once, when the kids ran away to escape the blast, they happened to run right past two high school girls who looked all prim and proper, decked out in their best for the festival.
Well, the water cannon guy blasted them with his stream before realizing they weren't part of the fun. The looks on their faces were priceless to say the least.
I'm sure Troy or Dawn might have some more updates on happythedog.com eventually. As always, you can check out that site for the same blogs you see here, or you check out blog posts from my other ministry partners and see where I'll be traveling next.
Till next time,
Jason
This past recent weekend, I met up with Troy and Dawn and various other sundry Happy the Dog folk at the Lifelight Music Festival in Sioux Falls, SD to help man the Happy the Dog booth.
It was fantastic. The weather was beautiful. I got nice and pink. We had a lot of laughs and got a lot of donations for shirts. We made some contacts with folks about coming out to their events.
One of the coolest things was getting to see a few folks from the Sunshine Bible Academy where I spoke with worship band and Happy friend's David and Danny Fergen.
Come to think of it, the Fergen brothers were also at Lifelight, playing the coffee house stage. I didn't get up there in time to hear it, but word was that they rocked out.
I got to hear just about any and every big name Christian band around - albeit from several hundred yards away with the booths for two radio stations between us.
We had theblastfm.com right next to our booth, and we got to groove out to their edgy hard rock all weekend. Those guys are a little nuts, and seemed to attract a lot of young folk to their booth.
Saw Jonah's Wale geetar and bass man Matt Groen, along with Happy the Dog friend Jacklyn who's always a treat to see.
What else . . . what else . . .
Have I mentioned lately how fantastic Happy the Dog board member and Jonah's Wale piano gal Dawn Ryswyk is? Man is she great. She was at the booth with us all weekend to discuss bizness, have fun, and buy us a couple pork sandwiches. She makes everyday better for me.
Tons of other Happy the Dog friends showed up. Saw lots of old friends from Rock Valley.
I think my favorite moment came with the water truck. The festival is held on this big pasture outside Sioux Falls, and several times a day this big tanker truck would drive by with a guy on a water cannon on the back. He'd spray the ground down with water to keep the dust at bay.
Well, by day two, the water truck had a good number of kids following behind it even though it truly was a water cannon. That thing had all the pressure of a fireman's hose, but these kids weren't deterred.
As they went past our booth, the water cannon man was having fun playing cat and mouse with the kids behind him. Once, when the kids ran away to escape the blast, they happened to run right past two high school girls who looked all prim and proper, decked out in their best for the festival.
Well, the water cannon guy blasted them with his stream before realizing they weren't part of the fun. The looks on their faces were priceless to say the least.
I'm sure Troy or Dawn might have some more updates on happythedog.com eventually. As always, you can check out that site for the same blogs you see here, or you check out blog posts from my other ministry partners and see where I'll be traveling next.
Till next time,
Jason
Friday, August 22, 2008
What I do on the weekends . . .
Some people ask what I do when not on the road. This is it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwcKeR5XPkA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwcKeR5XPkA
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Candy
I like trying out new kinds of candy when I travel. I always tell myself that when I'm in Canada and I reach out to try a Big Turk candy bar that I'm broadening my mind, but the truth is that I just like sugar.
The Big Turk, by the way, is a chocolate bar with a gummy, fruity filling that's not unlike a giant grape Dot - maybe not quite that chewy though.
The only other country I've really ever been to is Canada, so that's where most of my foreign candy experience comes from. I've had a few bits and bobbles of Asian stuff from foreign exchange students, but I don't remember much about it other than there was some sort of corn flavored Jolly Rancher-type thing.
No, Canada seems to have a much better assortment.
I notice that in Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer, and Neerlandia that if you want a Milky Way at a gas station, you have to settle for a dark chocolate one. It's fine by me since I prefer dark chocolate, but it seemed strange not to see a regualar Milky Way anywhere.
Kit Kat's only seemed to come in one large Kit Kat as well, instead of the four smaller connected ones. I've seen the one large Kit Kat here in the states, but I have yet to see anyone sell the smaller versions in Canada.
Don't even ask for Smarties in Alberta if you're an American. You won't get'em. At least, not the tart little treats that we know and love here. No, in Canada, Smarties are like giant M&M's except they have a little bit of a Sixlet's taste to them. Not all that pleasant. If you mention that though, they seem to get very defensive.
Our Smarties are called Rockets to them, and I think everyone can agree that that's just silly. They don't look like Rockets at all. Why can't they just call their Smarties "Rockets", and the whole thing will be settled?
What's even stranger right now is that I've typed the word Smarties so many times that it doesn't even seem like a word anymore. Stare at it. Say it aloud a few times. Smarties. What the heck does that even mean?
Andrea and I bought some Runts a few years back when we lived in Rock Valley. It was right after they discontinued the lime pieces for the larger watermelon ones. Don't get me wrong, watermelon was a great addition, but getting rid of lime? Those were my favorite and they were the easiest to chew! How many times have you grabbed a cherry or an orange and almost broke a tooth because it didn't have that give that the lime always had?
There was a 1-800 number on the back so I dared Andrea to call it and complain. She did without hesitation, and said the woman on the other side seemed quite interested in her tasting opinions. Two weeks later she got an envelope in the mail from the Wonka company filled with coupons for Carnation Instant Milk. I don't see the correlation at all, and I pity the poor child who might have tried the same thing only to recieve powdered milk coupons as a reward. It seems more like they were trying to discourage any further candy unrest.
I bought an Indiana Jones Snickers bar at Dollar General a couple days ago. I'd seen them on display for awhile. They boasted a special spicy flavor boost and coconut flavoring. I hate coconut, so I always passed right by. But then I realized that it wasn't the flavor so much as the little bits that get stuck in your teeth. Maybe I actually liked coconut flavoring?
I bought one, not for the coconut experience, but more for the chance to taste the special spicy flavor boost. Let's just say that the taste of the coconut kind of overwhelmed the entire experience, as it often does. I could barely even taste the chocolate and caramel compared to the coconut. End result: I dislike the flavor just as much as the little bits in my teeth.
The only coconut I eat willingly comes in those little chocolate and caramel Girl Scout Cookies. What are they called? I can't remember and I'm too lazy to look it up. But for some reason (Wait, I just remembered they're called Tagalongs while checking on Carson who was making crying noises during his nap) I don't mind the coconut bits at all. I think it's cause they've soaked up so much caramel, they're not quite as rigid.
And lets get this out on the table right now - orange has got to be one of the least desired flavors on the planet. It's a good flavor when you're chewing gum, or having a cough drop, or, let's say, eating an orange, but as far as candy goes, I tend to eat everything else first. (Except for Runts. With Runts I always eat the bananas last because I borderline loathe artificial banana flavoring.)
Andrea brought home one of those giant packs of super cheap Flavo-Ice freezer treat things with all the different tubes of fruity ice. Typically, our bag will end up with six or seven oranges left after everything else is gone. Sure, along the way you might grab an orange or two in an effort to keep the bag from becoming overrun with them - some sort of sham equality emotion taking over - but they're always the last ones left.
Not last week though. Last week I pop open a bright yellow Flavo-Ice all ready to enjoy my absolute favorite artificial flavor - LEMON - and guess what? B-A-N-A-N-A. I almost threw it away. Almost. It was Flavo-Ice afterall. After it was gone though, I grabbed a slightly less yellowed icee and guess what? Coco-freakin-nut. I kid you not. I go back to the freezer and look and low and behold they're not Flavo-Ice's but some cheap knock off. And no lemons to boot!
Let's get one thing straight: There are exactly six - count'em SIX - artificial flavors to be considered for icy pops - Cherry, Grape, Orange, Lemon, Lime and Blue. Anything else is a gross misjustice to the taste buds.
So for the first time in our freezer, there remain two oranges, four coconuts, and three bananas. I have a good feeling that someday when we move from this house, we'll open that freezer, ice pick past three inches of frost, and find those coconut icy pops right where they are right now.
Till next time,
Jason
The Big Turk, by the way, is a chocolate bar with a gummy, fruity filling that's not unlike a giant grape Dot - maybe not quite that chewy though.
The only other country I've really ever been to is Canada, so that's where most of my foreign candy experience comes from. I've had a few bits and bobbles of Asian stuff from foreign exchange students, but I don't remember much about it other than there was some sort of corn flavored Jolly Rancher-type thing.
No, Canada seems to have a much better assortment.
I notice that in Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer, and Neerlandia that if you want a Milky Way at a gas station, you have to settle for a dark chocolate one. It's fine by me since I prefer dark chocolate, but it seemed strange not to see a regualar Milky Way anywhere.
Kit Kat's only seemed to come in one large Kit Kat as well, instead of the four smaller connected ones. I've seen the one large Kit Kat here in the states, but I have yet to see anyone sell the smaller versions in Canada.
Don't even ask for Smarties in Alberta if you're an American. You won't get'em. At least, not the tart little treats that we know and love here. No, in Canada, Smarties are like giant M&M's except they have a little bit of a Sixlet's taste to them. Not all that pleasant. If you mention that though, they seem to get very defensive.
Our Smarties are called Rockets to them, and I think everyone can agree that that's just silly. They don't look like Rockets at all. Why can't they just call their Smarties "Rockets", and the whole thing will be settled?
What's even stranger right now is that I've typed the word Smarties so many times that it doesn't even seem like a word anymore. Stare at it. Say it aloud a few times. Smarties. What the heck does that even mean?
Andrea and I bought some Runts a few years back when we lived in Rock Valley. It was right after they discontinued the lime pieces for the larger watermelon ones. Don't get me wrong, watermelon was a great addition, but getting rid of lime? Those were my favorite and they were the easiest to chew! How many times have you grabbed a cherry or an orange and almost broke a tooth because it didn't have that give that the lime always had?
There was a 1-800 number on the back so I dared Andrea to call it and complain. She did without hesitation, and said the woman on the other side seemed quite interested in her tasting opinions. Two weeks later she got an envelope in the mail from the Wonka company filled with coupons for Carnation Instant Milk. I don't see the correlation at all, and I pity the poor child who might have tried the same thing only to recieve powdered milk coupons as a reward. It seems more like they were trying to discourage any further candy unrest.
I bought an Indiana Jones Snickers bar at Dollar General a couple days ago. I'd seen them on display for awhile. They boasted a special spicy flavor boost and coconut flavoring. I hate coconut, so I always passed right by. But then I realized that it wasn't the flavor so much as the little bits that get stuck in your teeth. Maybe I actually liked coconut flavoring?
I bought one, not for the coconut experience, but more for the chance to taste the special spicy flavor boost. Let's just say that the taste of the coconut kind of overwhelmed the entire experience, as it often does. I could barely even taste the chocolate and caramel compared to the coconut. End result: I dislike the flavor just as much as the little bits in my teeth.
The only coconut I eat willingly comes in those little chocolate and caramel Girl Scout Cookies. What are they called? I can't remember and I'm too lazy to look it up. But for some reason (Wait, I just remembered they're called Tagalongs while checking on Carson who was making crying noises during his nap) I don't mind the coconut bits at all. I think it's cause they've soaked up so much caramel, they're not quite as rigid.
And lets get this out on the table right now - orange has got to be one of the least desired flavors on the planet. It's a good flavor when you're chewing gum, or having a cough drop, or, let's say, eating an orange, but as far as candy goes, I tend to eat everything else first. (Except for Runts. With Runts I always eat the bananas last because I borderline loathe artificial banana flavoring.)
Andrea brought home one of those giant packs of super cheap Flavo-Ice freezer treat things with all the different tubes of fruity ice. Typically, our bag will end up with six or seven oranges left after everything else is gone. Sure, along the way you might grab an orange or two in an effort to keep the bag from becoming overrun with them - some sort of sham equality emotion taking over - but they're always the last ones left.
Not last week though. Last week I pop open a bright yellow Flavo-Ice all ready to enjoy my absolute favorite artificial flavor - LEMON - and guess what? B-A-N-A-N-A. I almost threw it away. Almost. It was Flavo-Ice afterall. After it was gone though, I grabbed a slightly less yellowed icee and guess what? Coco-freakin-nut. I kid you not. I go back to the freezer and look and low and behold they're not Flavo-Ice's but some cheap knock off. And no lemons to boot!
Let's get one thing straight: There are exactly six - count'em SIX - artificial flavors to be considered for icy pops - Cherry, Grape, Orange, Lemon, Lime and Blue. Anything else is a gross misjustice to the taste buds.
So for the first time in our freezer, there remain two oranges, four coconuts, and three bananas. I have a good feeling that someday when we move from this house, we'll open that freezer, ice pick past three inches of frost, and find those coconut icy pops right where they are right now.
Till next time,
Jason
Friday, August 01, 2008
Convention
Long time, no post.
MC'ed, led seminars, and did some late night entertainment in Bozeman, MT for about 1,000 teenagers and adults with Youth Unlimted's yearly Convention. I had a blast.
Met all kinds of great new people. Tiger McLeun, Chap Clarke, Shane Claiborn, Olive Aneno, and the worship band Pocket full of Rocks.
Got to know Pocket's lead singer and songwriter, Michaelf Farrin a bit. He was a lot of fun to hang around with. He's written about 1 bajillion songs that have been recorded by lots of fantastically famous folks in the record industry, but my favorite bit of info I gleaned from Michael was that he's a fan of country music. And not just a fan - but an old school country music fan.
So I put this info to good use and at one of the late night entertainment shows that I led, I grabbed Michael and Jonah's Wale leader Troy Kooima for a little impromptu Morgan Valley Social Club performance.
We all took turns telling stories and singing songs. Troy and I thought we were bringing Michael along to class the show up a bit, but that guy's crazier than we are. His road stories, self written music (Ghetto Christmas, I want to tinker with you) had us rolling in the aisles and we had a great time. I lamented to Troy afterwards that I really wish we could have recorded it.
Shane Claiborne was fantastic. I had fun getting to know seminar leader JR Pittman who's just as funny as a guy can get. Getting to hang out with Dawn, Troy and Happy the Dog friend Danny Fergen was just a real blast.
We were in Montana, so the scenery was great. I got to see the new Batman. I got to sneak in to a Casting Crowns concert for free! I got to hang out with a lot of cool friends from Neerlandia and some folks from Pella, Brooten, MN, and all sorts of places we've been blessed to travel in the past.
Troy spoke at Monday night's worship and knocked it out of the park. Truly the most spirit moving Convention main stage I've been a part of in three years with the group.
My flight got delayed on the way home, but that was fine as I got to spend some quality time with YU's own Carrie Ypma at the airport. We had a great conversation about family.
What else. . . lots of YU folk there. Millie, Les, Lenny, Kristen, Jeff, Carol, Bob, and many, many others that I'm sure I'm forgetting.
I got to dance on stage with Pocket's crazy tune, Now I Sing.
I got to sing Momma, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys with Troy at a mainstage. It didn't rock as hard as Ring of Fire did last year, but it was definately a highlight for me.
Jet lag knocked me around something awful. Carson's got my inner clock waking every morning around 6 a.m. Iowa time, so I was waking up at 5 a.m. like clockwork out in Bozeman. It wouldn't have been so bad, but I wasn't going to bed until between 1 and 2 a.m.
What else, what else?
I led some seminars on journaling and poetry and then emcee'd a late night entertainment session open mic for creative writing. Wow! What great stuff we heard from so many kids and a even a few adults. Original music, poetry, and hilarious stories. I hope they let me do the same thing again if I'm asked back next year.
There's probably a ton more I'm forgetting.
My reading for the weekend was The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz which won the pulitzer. It's about a Dominican family and their trials over the last fifty some years. Just fantastic, sad, hilarious, and thought provoking all at the same time.
Thought the new Batman was great, but not quite as good as the hype. It should have been two movies, with Two Face dominating the second. With everything shoved into one, it felt rushed in some scenes.
okay, signing off for now. I'm sure Troy and/or Dawn will write more about the event on happythedog.com if you're interested.
Till next time,
Jason
MC'ed, led seminars, and did some late night entertainment in Bozeman, MT for about 1,000 teenagers and adults with Youth Unlimted's yearly Convention. I had a blast.
Met all kinds of great new people. Tiger McLeun, Chap Clarke, Shane Claiborn, Olive Aneno, and the worship band Pocket full of Rocks.
Got to know Pocket's lead singer and songwriter, Michaelf Farrin a bit. He was a lot of fun to hang around with. He's written about 1 bajillion songs that have been recorded by lots of fantastically famous folks in the record industry, but my favorite bit of info I gleaned from Michael was that he's a fan of country music. And not just a fan - but an old school country music fan.
So I put this info to good use and at one of the late night entertainment shows that I led, I grabbed Michael and Jonah's Wale leader Troy Kooima for a little impromptu Morgan Valley Social Club performance.
We all took turns telling stories and singing songs. Troy and I thought we were bringing Michael along to class the show up a bit, but that guy's crazier than we are. His road stories, self written music (Ghetto Christmas, I want to tinker with you) had us rolling in the aisles and we had a great time. I lamented to Troy afterwards that I really wish we could have recorded it.
Shane Claiborne was fantastic. I had fun getting to know seminar leader JR Pittman who's just as funny as a guy can get. Getting to hang out with Dawn, Troy and Happy the Dog friend Danny Fergen was just a real blast.
We were in Montana, so the scenery was great. I got to see the new Batman. I got to sneak in to a Casting Crowns concert for free! I got to hang out with a lot of cool friends from Neerlandia and some folks from Pella, Brooten, MN, and all sorts of places we've been blessed to travel in the past.
Troy spoke at Monday night's worship and knocked it out of the park. Truly the most spirit moving Convention main stage I've been a part of in three years with the group.
My flight got delayed on the way home, but that was fine as I got to spend some quality time with YU's own Carrie Ypma at the airport. We had a great conversation about family.
What else. . . lots of YU folk there. Millie, Les, Lenny, Kristen, Jeff, Carol, Bob, and many, many others that I'm sure I'm forgetting.
I got to dance on stage with Pocket's crazy tune, Now I Sing.
I got to sing Momma, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys with Troy at a mainstage. It didn't rock as hard as Ring of Fire did last year, but it was definately a highlight for me.
Jet lag knocked me around something awful. Carson's got my inner clock waking every morning around 6 a.m. Iowa time, so I was waking up at 5 a.m. like clockwork out in Bozeman. It wouldn't have been so bad, but I wasn't going to bed until between 1 and 2 a.m.
What else, what else?
I led some seminars on journaling and poetry and then emcee'd a late night entertainment session open mic for creative writing. Wow! What great stuff we heard from so many kids and a even a few adults. Original music, poetry, and hilarious stories. I hope they let me do the same thing again if I'm asked back next year.
There's probably a ton more I'm forgetting.
My reading for the weekend was The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz which won the pulitzer. It's about a Dominican family and their trials over the last fifty some years. Just fantastic, sad, hilarious, and thought provoking all at the same time.
Thought the new Batman was great, but not quite as good as the hype. It should have been two movies, with Two Face dominating the second. With everything shoved into one, it felt rushed in some scenes.
okay, signing off for now. I'm sure Troy and/or Dawn will write more about the event on happythedog.com if you're interested.
Till next time,
Jason
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
A conversation I overheard on the road in front of my home.
10 yr old girl #1 on bike: I don't want to play anymore!
10 yr old girl #2 on foot: Why?
#1: Because your mom is going to play!
#2: So what?
#1: I don't want to play hide and seek with your mom. (Rides off)
#2: Have fun playing by yourself! (Storms off the other way)
#1: (Over her shoulder) Have fun being a stupid idiot!
A conversation in the hall where I work.
(Mother and six year old son coming off the elevator.)
Mother: Your shoes are on the wrong feet.
Son: (Looks down at his flip flops which are a good three sizes too big and CLEARLY on the wrong feet, pointing outwards.) Oh. They were ouchy.
10 yr old girl #1 on bike: I don't want to play anymore!
10 yr old girl #2 on foot: Why?
#1: Because your mom is going to play!
#2: So what?
#1: I don't want to play hide and seek with your mom. (Rides off)
#2: Have fun playing by yourself! (Storms off the other way)
#1: (Over her shoulder) Have fun being a stupid idiot!
A conversation in the hall where I work.
(Mother and six year old son coming off the elevator.)
Mother: Your shoes are on the wrong feet.
Son: (Looks down at his flip flops which are a good three sizes too big and CLEARLY on the wrong feet, pointing outwards.) Oh. They were ouchy.
Lots of stuff
Behind on blogging again. . .
A couple weekends ago I went and did some worships with RISE on the Road with good friend Rob Rozeboom. Rob got abotu thirty kids or so to come to Knoxville, IA and work a service project and then had a big music festival on Saturday night.
Improv buddy Steve Hydeen came over from Omaha and we got to do some drama/talks together. I love working with Steve and every time we get together, we get to experiment a little more with biblical drama stuff. It was a lot of fun.
Unfortunately, I never made it to the music festival for my emceeing part due to a small flare up with my past illness. But I heard it went great.
On the topic of illness, I'm almost fully recuperated with just a hint of spleen swelling now and again. I had some blood tests done two days ago, and things looked really good. The doctor seems to be labeling it as a mono-like illness that just didnt' show up on the tests.
I also just got back from Sioux Falls SERVE and had a great time. I can usually go on and on about my SERVE weeks in big long posts, but I don't have a ton of time today as I'm leaving in a few hours for a three day service project with my own youth group.
But I will say this, Sioux Falls SERVE continues to be one of my favorite weeks of the entire year. So many good friends coming together with lots of new faces to work, worship, and have fun.
I took a good share of ribbing from a few people about my "weak spleen" since I was on doctor's orders not to rough house or lift much. But other than that, it was fine.
Good friend Jacklyn Punt had challenged me to do more talks about women from the Bible, so that's where I spent most of my talks. It was far easier than I thought it would be and I really liked the results.
What else? Man, there's so much. I'm going to just have to make a longer post when I get back from Kansas City. Although, I hear there's a blog at sfserve.blogspot.com about the event, but I haven't checked it out yet.
In a crazy turn of events, I was only gone one week and Carson learned how to eat with a spoon, say new words like eat and bubba, and make the sign for "more" when he'd like more food to eat.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Correction
Yes, everything in the previous post happened, but as I feared, it was not in that order. What do I know? I had a 103 fever at the time and was on painkillers and sleeping aids for most of it!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Missed two shows cause I was sick. . .
Woke up a couple weeks ago on a Sunday and had a bit of a fever. Didn't think much about it. I had a church meeting that morning and my nephew's birthday party that afternoon, so I figured I'd trudge through the day. Afterwards, I wish I hadn't as my temp had reached 103 and I felt just plain horrible.
Woke up the next day with the same fever and now a pretty severe headache. Since it was Monday, it was my day to watch Carson so that Andrea could work. I figured I'd trudge through the day. Afterwards I wish I hadn't as my temp was still around 103 and I still had a bad headache.
This is where everything starts to get a little fuzzy for me. I remember going in to work on Tuesday morning for a couple hours but heading home right afterward because I felt so rough. I think it was at this point that we decided Andrea and Carson should spend a night at her folks because I was going through some pretty severe sweats and chills with the bad fever and headache and we thought I was probably contagious.
If I'm remembering right - aw forget it. I'm not remembering anything right. The whole first week was just one long day for me as I had the fever and couldn't really sleep.
One night in there, I hit 104 degrees and decided I should probably make a trip to the emergency room. They drew blood, did chest x-rays, checked for pnemonia, mono, lyme's disease, strep, and menengitis, and came up with nothing. They told me it was a bad flu and sent me home.
I think it was at this point I called Troy and told him I wouldn't make our scheduled youth rally the next night in South Dakota.
Two days later, I visited my doctor after the symptoms hadn't passed. They did more blood work, checked for everything again, and came up with nothing. I had to wait a few days to find out about hepatitis though. My white count and platelets were low, and my Billy Rubin and liver enzymes were off. They scheduled an ultrasound and more blood tests for the next week and the doctor seemed a little nervous. It was at this point, he prescribed me some medication to help me sleep as I was averaging four or less hours a night because of the fever and headaches.
I made the mistake of taking one pill. I had the most crazy, vivid dreams I've ever had. When I woke up, some of the things from my dreams were still in the room with me. As I tried to crawl out of bed to get a drink, possessions, ideas, and people began to pour out of my ears onto the bed. After about 30 seconds, I realized it was a hallucination, and it was actually sweat that was pouring off of me. I made the decision to never take those pills again. I still only got four hours sleep that night.
The next night (I think), I woke up with pretty bad pain right under the bottom of my ribs, right where the doctors had been feeling my liver, gall bladder, and spleen. I tried to ignore it for a while, but finally decided that since the doctor had been worried about those organs, I should probably go in.
I headed into the emergency room for the second time in three days around 2 a.m. maybe? They took some blood work and asked me how bad the pain was on a scale of 1 to 10.
Now, I've had bad back problems for a long time. I've had mornings where it hurt so bad, I couldn't roll out of bed. I've had days where I had to let my legs drip dry from the knees down after a shower because I couldn't bend over to dry them. I've had one or two times in my life where someone else had to tie my shoes for me. I would say my back pain has reached a 10 on several occasions. So, in all honesty, I had to tell the lady that my stomach area was only around a 5 or 6.
This is when I got my very first I.V. and shot of morphine. The pain ebbed away. I awaited the ER doctor to come in and take a look at me. He decided to push up the ultrasound to the morning, and I settled in to wait the next four hours in a hospital room.
The ultrasound showed an enlarged spleen that seemed to be causing the pain, so the doctor gave me a prescription for painkillers and sent me home.
The pain killer was interesting. I can see how people might get addicted, and not for the reasons you might be thinking. I didn't get that rush of a high like the morphine had given me. It didn't mellow me out, and make me goofy. In fact, the only really good thing it did was make me wake up for the first time in ten years with no back pain what-so-ever. I rolled out of bed that next morning and it took me about 10 seconds to realized my back pain was gone. Completely gone. And for about the next four days I remembered what it felt like to move as I pleased without shooting pain in my lower back. I went off the pills a couple days ago, and am now back to the realization of what that pain is, though.
My favorite part of the pain pills came with the instructions. I always have a morbid curiousity with any medications I recieve to see what kind of side effects are listed. This one was a doozy, and the hands down all time winner:
Possible side effects - anxiety, constipation, diarrhea (How can they list both? That's just covering your bases if you ask me.), dizziness, dry mouth, gas (with constipation and diarrhea, no kidding), headache, heartburn, increased sweating, loss of appetite, nausea, nervousness (I'm guessing any and all nervousness begins after reading listed side effects), stomach pain (THAT'S WHAT I'M TAKING THE STUPID PILLS FOR!), upset stomach, trouble sleeping, vomiting, and weakness.
But it doesn't end there. I'm supposed to call my doctor if I get any of these side effects which have been known to occur:
Bloody, black, or tarry stools; blurred vision; change in the amount of urine produced; chest pain; confusion(one of my symptoms already); dark urine; depression; fainting; fast or irregular heartbeat; fever, chills (already have fever and chills), or blistered peeling skin, seizures, severe headaches or dizziness (already have both), severe or persistent stomach pain (again, isn't this why I'm on the medication?) or nausea, sever vomiting, shortness of breath, slow or shallow breathing, stiff neck (another symptom I already have), sudden or unexplained weight gain (yeah, yeah, doctor, ever since college), swelling of hands, legs, or feet, unusual bruising or bleeding, unusual joint or muscle pain (already a symptom), vision or speech changes (I'm now speaking french in a dutch accent. Is that bad?), vomit that looks like coffee grounds, (WHAT???) yellowing of the skin or eyes, rash, or itching.
I had a Morgan Valley Social Club show that night (at least I think it was that night) at the home church in Pella, and I was really bummed that I was going to miss it. We had a ton of extra music lined up besided just me and Kyle, and I knew it was going to be a great crowd. Unfortunately, I couldn't attend, and like I feared, the show was apparently fantastic. I'm really sore that I missed that one. . .
I went in that afternoon and had some more bloodwork done. I finally got some good news. My white count, platelets, Billy Rubin, and liver enzymes were all almost back to normal. That meant that the more serious tests the doctor had mentioned, like bone marrow sampling, wouldn't have to happen.
He told me they were gonna check for the three viruses that cause mono, check my mono spots, and do the hep tests and get back to me.
They all came back negative. This meant they have no idea what went wrong in me, but the blood work was all coming back much better. I was finally diagnosed with an unknown virus that settled in my spleen and messed with my liver, gall bladder, and blood, that may or may not have caused mono, which they didn't catch if it did.
I spent another week recuperating at home as the fevers and headaches faded away, and Andrea and Carson were able to return home after spending most of the week with my folks.
After two weeks, I finally was able to return back to work (two days ago, Tuesday) with a giant pile of work on my desk.
That's all for now. If anyone actually made it through this post, you're probably suffering confusion, irritation, heachaches, and depression. If so, call me immediately and I'll give you a few of the pills I have left. Just let me know if you have constipated diarrhea that looks like coffee grounds. I'd like to see it for myself.
Jason
Woke up the next day with the same fever and now a pretty severe headache. Since it was Monday, it was my day to watch Carson so that Andrea could work. I figured I'd trudge through the day. Afterwards I wish I hadn't as my temp was still around 103 and I still had a bad headache.
This is where everything starts to get a little fuzzy for me. I remember going in to work on Tuesday morning for a couple hours but heading home right afterward because I felt so rough. I think it was at this point that we decided Andrea and Carson should spend a night at her folks because I was going through some pretty severe sweats and chills with the bad fever and headache and we thought I was probably contagious.
If I'm remembering right - aw forget it. I'm not remembering anything right. The whole first week was just one long day for me as I had the fever and couldn't really sleep.
One night in there, I hit 104 degrees and decided I should probably make a trip to the emergency room. They drew blood, did chest x-rays, checked for pnemonia, mono, lyme's disease, strep, and menengitis, and came up with nothing. They told me it was a bad flu and sent me home.
I think it was at this point I called Troy and told him I wouldn't make our scheduled youth rally the next night in South Dakota.
Two days later, I visited my doctor after the symptoms hadn't passed. They did more blood work, checked for everything again, and came up with nothing. I had to wait a few days to find out about hepatitis though. My white count and platelets were low, and my Billy Rubin and liver enzymes were off. They scheduled an ultrasound and more blood tests for the next week and the doctor seemed a little nervous. It was at this point, he prescribed me some medication to help me sleep as I was averaging four or less hours a night because of the fever and headaches.
I made the mistake of taking one pill. I had the most crazy, vivid dreams I've ever had. When I woke up, some of the things from my dreams were still in the room with me. As I tried to crawl out of bed to get a drink, possessions, ideas, and people began to pour out of my ears onto the bed. After about 30 seconds, I realized it was a hallucination, and it was actually sweat that was pouring off of me. I made the decision to never take those pills again. I still only got four hours sleep that night.
The next night (I think), I woke up with pretty bad pain right under the bottom of my ribs, right where the doctors had been feeling my liver, gall bladder, and spleen. I tried to ignore it for a while, but finally decided that since the doctor had been worried about those organs, I should probably go in.
I headed into the emergency room for the second time in three days around 2 a.m. maybe? They took some blood work and asked me how bad the pain was on a scale of 1 to 10.
Now, I've had bad back problems for a long time. I've had mornings where it hurt so bad, I couldn't roll out of bed. I've had days where I had to let my legs drip dry from the knees down after a shower because I couldn't bend over to dry them. I've had one or two times in my life where someone else had to tie my shoes for me. I would say my back pain has reached a 10 on several occasions. So, in all honesty, I had to tell the lady that my stomach area was only around a 5 or 6.
This is when I got my very first I.V. and shot of morphine. The pain ebbed away. I awaited the ER doctor to come in and take a look at me. He decided to push up the ultrasound to the morning, and I settled in to wait the next four hours in a hospital room.
The ultrasound showed an enlarged spleen that seemed to be causing the pain, so the doctor gave me a prescription for painkillers and sent me home.
The pain killer was interesting. I can see how people might get addicted, and not for the reasons you might be thinking. I didn't get that rush of a high like the morphine had given me. It didn't mellow me out, and make me goofy. In fact, the only really good thing it did was make me wake up for the first time in ten years with no back pain what-so-ever. I rolled out of bed that next morning and it took me about 10 seconds to realized my back pain was gone. Completely gone. And for about the next four days I remembered what it felt like to move as I pleased without shooting pain in my lower back. I went off the pills a couple days ago, and am now back to the realization of what that pain is, though.
My favorite part of the pain pills came with the instructions. I always have a morbid curiousity with any medications I recieve to see what kind of side effects are listed. This one was a doozy, and the hands down all time winner:
Possible side effects - anxiety, constipation, diarrhea (How can they list both? That's just covering your bases if you ask me.), dizziness, dry mouth, gas (with constipation and diarrhea, no kidding), headache, heartburn, increased sweating, loss of appetite, nausea, nervousness (I'm guessing any and all nervousness begins after reading listed side effects), stomach pain (THAT'S WHAT I'M TAKING THE STUPID PILLS FOR!), upset stomach, trouble sleeping, vomiting, and weakness.
But it doesn't end there. I'm supposed to call my doctor if I get any of these side effects which have been known to occur:
Bloody, black, or tarry stools; blurred vision; change in the amount of urine produced; chest pain; confusion(one of my symptoms already); dark urine; depression; fainting; fast or irregular heartbeat; fever, chills (already have fever and chills), or blistered peeling skin, seizures, severe headaches or dizziness (already have both), severe or persistent stomach pain (again, isn't this why I'm on the medication?) or nausea, sever vomiting, shortness of breath, slow or shallow breathing, stiff neck (another symptom I already have), sudden or unexplained weight gain (yeah, yeah, doctor, ever since college), swelling of hands, legs, or feet, unusual bruising or bleeding, unusual joint or muscle pain (already a symptom), vision or speech changes (I'm now speaking french in a dutch accent. Is that bad?), vomit that looks like coffee grounds, (WHAT???) yellowing of the skin or eyes, rash, or itching.
I had a Morgan Valley Social Club show that night (at least I think it was that night) at the home church in Pella, and I was really bummed that I was going to miss it. We had a ton of extra music lined up besided just me and Kyle, and I knew it was going to be a great crowd. Unfortunately, I couldn't attend, and like I feared, the show was apparently fantastic. I'm really sore that I missed that one. . .
I went in that afternoon and had some more bloodwork done. I finally got some good news. My white count, platelets, Billy Rubin, and liver enzymes were all almost back to normal. That meant that the more serious tests the doctor had mentioned, like bone marrow sampling, wouldn't have to happen.
He told me they were gonna check for the three viruses that cause mono, check my mono spots, and do the hep tests and get back to me.
They all came back negative. This meant they have no idea what went wrong in me, but the blood work was all coming back much better. I was finally diagnosed with an unknown virus that settled in my spleen and messed with my liver, gall bladder, and blood, that may or may not have caused mono, which they didn't catch if it did.
I spent another week recuperating at home as the fevers and headaches faded away, and Andrea and Carson were able to return home after spending most of the week with my folks.
After two weeks, I finally was able to return back to work (two days ago, Tuesday) with a giant pile of work on my desk.
That's all for now. If anyone actually made it through this post, you're probably suffering confusion, irritation, heachaches, and depression. If so, call me immediately and I'll give you a few of the pills I have left. Just let me know if you have constipated diarrhea that looks like coffee grounds. I'd like to see it for myself.
Jason
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Refusing to Take Their Money. . .
Let's say you're a pilot. Maybe small, single engine planes. You do a lot of independant work, here and there, for whoever calls. One day a major airline phones you up and says, "We need you to fly our 747's for us."
You politely decline. You don't fly 747's.
They say, "Come on. You can do it! We'll give you this big wad of cash!"
You again politely decline. You even point out that the last time you tried to fly a plane that big, you had to make a crash landing and the plane was ruined.
They say, "Come on! We've heard good things about you! What if we add another big wad of cash to the first big wad of cash?"
This is tempting. Isn't a risky plane ride worth that much cash? But in the end, you must decline because you really shouldn't be flying that type of plane. The airline folk hang up in a huff, and you can tell you've made them mad.
Can you even imagine that scenario happening? Of course not! There isn't an employer in the world that would hire a prospective employee if that employee specifically said, "You shouldn't hire me for this. Not only am I not qualified, but the last time I tried to do this specific kind of job I messed it up royally!"
Yet, that doesn't seem to be the way it works in stand up comedy. I can't tell you the amount of times I've had to tell someone that it would probably be better if I didn't do their show.
250 elementary aged girl scouts in the wilderness for an hour? Hmm. While it sounds interesting, and your GIANT check looks nice, trust me when I say it's probably not my crowd. Five minutes of polite arguing later, and double the money turned down, and all of a sudden I'm the bad guy.
Would you hire a firefighter in inner city New York if they said, "I don't perform well any higher than a first floor house." But what if we double your salary?
I'm sorry, I can only work in your veternary clinic if I spade and neuter cats. I've never been trained to do dogs. But if we offered you enough money, wouldn't you be willing to give it a shot?
I'm a pediatrist. I'm not qualified to do open heart surgery. But we've heard such good things about you! I bet you'll do just fine.
I don't know, maybe it happens in more professions than I know.
I do my best to have something ready for every age group, gender, club, church, youth group, and gathering. But there are few key demographics that I just don't do well for. As time goes on, I try to be a little more honest with my employers about what I can and can't do, but they just don't want to hear it most of the time.
Are we that desperately short on clean, low income, midwestern, Christian speaker, poet, storytelling, comedian, youth directors in America?
For all of our sakes, I hope not.
Jason
You politely decline. You don't fly 747's.
They say, "Come on. You can do it! We'll give you this big wad of cash!"
You again politely decline. You even point out that the last time you tried to fly a plane that big, you had to make a crash landing and the plane was ruined.
They say, "Come on! We've heard good things about you! What if we add another big wad of cash to the first big wad of cash?"
This is tempting. Isn't a risky plane ride worth that much cash? But in the end, you must decline because you really shouldn't be flying that type of plane. The airline folk hang up in a huff, and you can tell you've made them mad.
Can you even imagine that scenario happening? Of course not! There isn't an employer in the world that would hire a prospective employee if that employee specifically said, "You shouldn't hire me for this. Not only am I not qualified, but the last time I tried to do this specific kind of job I messed it up royally!"
Yet, that doesn't seem to be the way it works in stand up comedy. I can't tell you the amount of times I've had to tell someone that it would probably be better if I didn't do their show.
250 elementary aged girl scouts in the wilderness for an hour? Hmm. While it sounds interesting, and your GIANT check looks nice, trust me when I say it's probably not my crowd. Five minutes of polite arguing later, and double the money turned down, and all of a sudden I'm the bad guy.
Would you hire a firefighter in inner city New York if they said, "I don't perform well any higher than a first floor house." But what if we double your salary?
I'm sorry, I can only work in your veternary clinic if I spade and neuter cats. I've never been trained to do dogs. But if we offered you enough money, wouldn't you be willing to give it a shot?
I'm a pediatrist. I'm not qualified to do open heart surgery. But we've heard such good things about you! I bet you'll do just fine.
I don't know, maybe it happens in more professions than I know.
I do my best to have something ready for every age group, gender, club, church, youth group, and gathering. But there are few key demographics that I just don't do well for. As time goes on, I try to be a little more honest with my employers about what I can and can't do, but they just don't want to hear it most of the time.
Are we that desperately short on clean, low income, midwestern, Christian speaker, poet, storytelling, comedian, youth directors in America?
For all of our sakes, I hope not.
Jason
Thursday, April 24, 2008
My Choice, Alton, IA
Drove up to Orange City, IA yesterday to speak at a My Choice event early this morning at the middle school in Alton. My Choice is a middle school youth group that started a few years back with one guidance counselor and four kids. Now it's one guidance counselor and about 175 to 200 kids.
It's a pretty amazing group run by a pretty amazing guy - Scott Starkweather. It's a secular school. It's at 7am on Thursday mornings. Its attendance reaches 200 at times. That's just amazing. I have enough trouble getting 9 kids to show up on a Sunday night, let alone 175 on a Thursday morning.
We had fun. I even got to stick around and give a message to a home room class during second period. Good friend from RISE Ministries, Rob Rozeboom was there pitching his RISE on the Road that I'll also be speaking at come June in Knoxville, IA.
On the way home I broke out the old Willie Nelson and Family Live CD, and had a honky tonking good time grooving out. Willie's sister Bobbie Nelson plays a pretty mean country, honky tonk piano, and it reminded me of a story that I just shared with the Fergen brothers a few weeks back.
Last year, Troy, Dawn, and I all went up to lead a retreat in Oh Canada. We were staying at a camp that's made up like an old west town - including a worship room that's set up like a saloon.
Well, long story short, Dawn (Happy the Dog's resident piano player) obviously can't pack a piano to bring along, so she's at the mercy of whatever the host has to offer. We walk in, and they show Dawn her electric piano. A little casio jobby that's still in the box, kind of like one you'd buy at Walmart to learn how to play.
Dawn just stood looking at that box with her arms crossed for a bit with a look on her face of, Dawn not happy. Which, if you know Dawn, can be pretty amusing as long as you're not the one Dawn's not happy with.
Well after a bit of hemming and hawing, Dawn looks over at the saloon piano in the corner. It's a real old honky tonk job. Barely tuned. The "ivory" on the top of the pressboard keys is coming off of several keys. But Dawn bangs away on it a bit and finally declares it usable.
Now, I don't know if Dawn was completely satisfied with the sound, but I loved it. It added a real honky tonk sound to the songs that weekend, and I felt right at home.
I think my next show is May 7 in Dell Rapids (South Dakota?) with Jonah's Wale, and then I have a Morgan Valley Social Club show in Pella at the home church on May 9.
I also have my own middle school overnighter tomorrow night, and . . . I'm . . . not . . . quite . . . ready for it. I don't know how I'm going to stay up all night. I stayed at the Dutch Colony Inn last night after eating dinner with one of Happy the Dog's best friends - Jacklyn Punt - and the motel was a bit cold and noisy.
My room was right next to the door, and lots of people came and went all night. I would have switched rooms, but I'm lazy that way. Seeing Jacklyn again was great though!
Till next time,
Jason
It's a pretty amazing group run by a pretty amazing guy - Scott Starkweather. It's a secular school. It's at 7am on Thursday mornings. Its attendance reaches 200 at times. That's just amazing. I have enough trouble getting 9 kids to show up on a Sunday night, let alone 175 on a Thursday morning.
We had fun. I even got to stick around and give a message to a home room class during second period. Good friend from RISE Ministries, Rob Rozeboom was there pitching his RISE on the Road that I'll also be speaking at come June in Knoxville, IA.
On the way home I broke out the old Willie Nelson and Family Live CD, and had a honky tonking good time grooving out. Willie's sister Bobbie Nelson plays a pretty mean country, honky tonk piano, and it reminded me of a story that I just shared with the Fergen brothers a few weeks back.
Last year, Troy, Dawn, and I all went up to lead a retreat in Oh Canada. We were staying at a camp that's made up like an old west town - including a worship room that's set up like a saloon.
Well, long story short, Dawn (Happy the Dog's resident piano player) obviously can't pack a piano to bring along, so she's at the mercy of whatever the host has to offer. We walk in, and they show Dawn her electric piano. A little casio jobby that's still in the box, kind of like one you'd buy at Walmart to learn how to play.
Dawn just stood looking at that box with her arms crossed for a bit with a look on her face of, Dawn not happy. Which, if you know Dawn, can be pretty amusing as long as you're not the one Dawn's not happy with.
Well after a bit of hemming and hawing, Dawn looks over at the saloon piano in the corner. It's a real old honky tonk job. Barely tuned. The "ivory" on the top of the pressboard keys is coming off of several keys. But Dawn bangs away on it a bit and finally declares it usable.
Now, I don't know if Dawn was completely satisfied with the sound, but I loved it. It added a real honky tonk sound to the songs that weekend, and I felt right at home.
I think my next show is May 7 in Dell Rapids (South Dakota?) with Jonah's Wale, and then I have a Morgan Valley Social Club show in Pella at the home church on May 9.
I also have my own middle school overnighter tomorrow night, and . . . I'm . . . not . . . quite . . . ready for it. I don't know how I'm going to stay up all night. I stayed at the Dutch Colony Inn last night after eating dinner with one of Happy the Dog's best friends - Jacklyn Punt - and the motel was a bit cold and noisy.
My room was right next to the door, and lots of people came and went all night. I would have switched rooms, but I'm lazy that way. Seeing Jacklyn again was great though!
Till next time,
Jason
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
