a heart with a twist of lemon http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mack0257/thirdworldthinktank/ every new day en Copyright 2008 Thu, 08 May 2008 21:04:19 -0600 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=3.33.uthink http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss some people often confuse me for a viking today i had the pleasure of spending some time with two members of the minnesota vikings. some things have to be kept secret for business reasons. so i can't really say which players and what it's for, but you'll see ads around town soon enough.

the first player is a very big man. very big. i told everyone that i wanted to arm wrestle him. then i told them i might have a better shot in a foot race. they all doubted me. they said i could probably only beat him in squeezing through small spaces. once he walked out, i noticed despite his large size, he had tiny muscle legs. he probably could beat me in a foot race...dang! i tried on his 4XL shirt and i told him that it fits me well since we have the same build. he was a big friendly guy, so he laughed it up.

the second player was smaller in comparison, but still big since he plays football. duh. he's a faster member of their team so i know that i would never beat him in a foot race. someone from our crew told me, hey, you beat him in the height contest. finally i could go home victorious.

they were both very nice guys, and it was a fun day. i think i'm an honorary viking now since i'm scandinavian and i won the height contest. this all plays into how i want to be buried when i die. a traditional viking burial at sea, after doctors remove all my useful organs.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mack0257/thirdworldthinktank/127808.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mack0257/thirdworldthinktank/127808.html Thu, 08 May 2008 21:04:19 -0600 fantastic four years old today the blog celebrates it's fourth fantastic birthday. here's to four more years of stupid blabberings, outlandish stories and utter randomness. four more years! four more years! maybe i can take the blog golfing, and yell, "four!" or maybe we can go play some connect four. or we can go pick four leaf clovers. does anyone else have anymore lame four jokes for the blog's birthday? a four-closure joke would probably be in bad taste considering the housing market.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mack0257/thirdworldthinktank/125824.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mack0257/thirdworldthinktank/125824.html Thu, 01 May 2008 00:23:19 -0600 the ministry of bearing

as a form of strengthening fellowship at my church, i attend a small group on sunday evenings. we just finished studying a book called Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community. it was written by a fellow named dietrich bonhoeffer. this guy lived a heavy life. he was a german preacher as hitler was coming into power. he warned others that hitler was misleading the church and country. after an inner struggle on the morality of killing, he eventually joined a secret group planning to assassinate hitler. he was killed by the nazis for being a part of this group, but not before leaving behind his writings.

much like his life, his writings are very heavy. i'll be honest, i don't like reading heavy stuff. so i have to find ways to lighten it up a bit. one section of the book stood out to me. in his chapter titled ministry, bonhoeffer writes a section called the ministry of bearing. it was fun for me to read, because everytime i read the word "bear" i thought of grizzly bears. i told my small group this and they got a chuckle too. but there was some good stuff in it besides the stupid pun i find funny.

he referenced galatians 6:2, in which the king james version says, "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ." a more modern translation that i like, called the message, says it this way,

"Live creatively, friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day's out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ's law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived." -gal 6:1-3
what this is saying is, that as follower's of Christ, we should help bear the burdens of others, for that is what God did for us in bearing our sins.

we all have a lot to bear. i find comfort in knowing that i can turn over all my worries and frustrations to God. there's a song by jon foreman stuck in my head that pertains to this thought, "so why should i worry? why do i freak out? God knows what i need." we all struggle through life. God is always there for us, even when life doesn't make sense to us (proverbs 3:1-12). this helps me appreciate bearing the burdens of others, because i know God has done it for me. much like bonhoeffer said, "he who is bearing others knows that he himself is being borne, and only in this strength can he go on bearing."

i hope this didn't come off as preachy, but if it did, at least it came from a bear preacher. some other bear verses bonhoeffer mentions that you may want to check out include: isa. 53:4-5, eccles. 4:10, col. 3:13, and eph. 4:2.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mack0257/thirdworldthinktank/125817.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mack0257/thirdworldthinktank/125817.html Wed, 30 Apr 2008 22:39:48 -0600 george and tami sitting in a tree

the life of creeping people out isn't all that it's cracked up to be. george was getting a lil lonely. so roommate tom hooked him up with a girlfriend. meet tami donaldson, aka miss black velvet. she's the newest roommate and she's a lil less creepy. some may say george is rocking the cradle, others may say tami is a gold digger, but they found a common love in alcohol, cardboard and each other.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mack0257/thirdworldthinktank/124923.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mack0257/thirdworldthinktank/124923.html Sat, 26 Apr 2008 16:08:34 -0600 illin like a villian

i'm not a fan of the head cold.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mack0257/thirdworldthinktank/123470.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mack0257/thirdworldthinktank/123470.html Thu, 17 Apr 2008 10:22:22 -0600 cheesey flavored teddy grahams girl: hey, do you want to eat some of my chocolate bunny grahams? they're organic.

boy: sure. hey, these remind me of teddy grahams. i loved those.

me: i always liked the telephone shaped graham cookies.

(blank stares)

me: they were called tele-grahams.

boy: haha!

girl: booooooo!

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mack0257/thirdworldthinktank/122601.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mack0257/thirdworldthinktank/122601.html Sun, 13 Apr 2008 01:50:52 -0600 legos now updated with music.

when roommate tom gave me his camera so i could upload george pictures, there was also pictures of his legos on the camera. so i put them together and put it on youtube. for all to see.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mack0257/thirdworldthinktank/120996.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mack0257/thirdworldthinktank/120996.html Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:57:09 -0600 will.i.am.funny

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mack0257/thirdworldthinktank/120973.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mack0257/thirdworldthinktank/120973.html Thu, 03 Apr 2008 15:46:53 -0600 where's george? who needs waldo, when you have george? just a few more updates about our new roommate cardboard cutout george killian. he's starting to creep us out and scare us when we least expect it. i mean we aren't even trying to scare each other anymore. he's just chilling in the hallway as we come up the stairs, and his dead stare quietly yells, "boo!"

when we are trying to spook each other, it's not working so hot. last night, tom tried to sneak george under the covers of my bed. for whatever reason, a creepy old cardboard man in my bed didn't phase me. i stuck george in the shower. unfortunately the sun shining through the window cast a shadow on the shower curtain. so george's victim saw him coming. the fact that george likes to sing in the shower didn't help matters either.

also, i posted some roommate pictures with george on the previous george posting.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mack0257/thirdworldthinktank/120625.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mack0257/thirdworldthinktank/120625.html Wed, 02 Apr 2008 00:00:18 -0600 danny glover less than threes the twins two games into the 2008 twins season,
record with me in attendance: 1-0
record without me in attendance: 0-1

looks like i need to buy more twins tickets. or maybe carl pohlad should start giving me complimentary tickets to games since i help them win. it'd be like that movie, angels in the outfield. lil kid named roger sees heavenly angels helping the baseball angels win games, so george knox (played by danny glover), starts bringing him to every game.

i mean, i saw angels in the outfield last night. named vlad, torii and garret. and last night they helped the twins win the game by misplaying balls. torii hunter, former twin who is still a twin in my eyes, has helped the twinkies in their first two games by batting .000. i hope he has a sweet season, just not against minnesota. and basically all of this is a direct effect of me being at the game. so carl pohlad, make yourself like danny glover, and bring me to some more games. or, if you don't want to spend more money on me, i'd be happy if you'd spend some more money on the twins.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mack0257/thirdworldthinktank/120609.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mack0257/thirdworldthinktank/120609.html Tue, 01 Apr 2008 22:19:45 -0600 knock, knock. who's there? george killan's cardboard cutout.
george killian's cardboard cutout who?

umm, that's it. it's not a knock knock joke. it's just a cardboard cutout tom got from work. he lives with us now. and while he's not a knock knock joke, he is a practical joke. tom and i like to hide him in unexpected places to catch each other off guard. i get home from work, open the door, and george is staring me right in the face. needless to say, my heart stopped for a lil bit. so i decide to get tom back. i sneak george outside his bedroom door in the middle of the night so that he greets tom in the morning. instead george spooked tom while he was on his way to a midnight pee. luckily he held it in. george doesn't only live indoors. one night when i got home, i opened the backyard gate to see george waiting for me. i just bout knocked george's head off. sometimes george backfires. tom hid him the other night in the kitchen, then in the middle of the night he went down for a water, but forgot he left george there. tom thought the large dark figure was a burglar, before remembering that's where he left george.

george is a fun new roommate.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mack0257/thirdworldthinktank/120046.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mack0257/thirdworldthinktank/120046.html Sun, 30 Mar 2008 21:14:21 -0600 stuffing my guns putting on my shirt was a little difficult this morning. but i just assumed it was because i was too tired to move. my roommate said i looked like crap, only he used a different word for it. my eyes were bloodshot. sometimes it's hard to sleep when your mind doesn't want to. anyways, back to the shirt situation. so i get to work, and notice my right bicep is extra big. not in a strong way though, more of a squishy way. i reach up my sleeve and pull out a sock. hello mr sock. i thought about putting him back in my sleeve to continue looking buff. but i decided to postpone the gun show for the next laundry day.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mack0257/thirdworldthinktank/119369.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mack0257/thirdworldthinktank/119369.html Tue, 25 Mar 2008 22:27:48 -0600 T.G.I.F.
Jesus is everywhere, even atop my pencil.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mack0257/thirdworldthinktank/118861.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mack0257/thirdworldthinktank/118861.html Fri, 21 Mar 2008 16:58:35 -0600 smiles are free

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mack0257/thirdworldthinktank/118391.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mack0257/thirdworldthinktank/118391.html Sat, 15 Mar 2008 21:36:59 -0600 spring melts snow

what good is a flower without a nose?

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mack0257/thirdworldthinktank/116968.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mack0257/thirdworldthinktank/116968.html Sun, 09 Mar 2008 00:10:53 -0600