Humbly Inspired

All words will lose their meaning

2009-09-21T16:16:00.005-04:00

Recently I have been spending my time working on a few websites, an updated version of international-cpa.com and a brand new completely awesome tourtek.com. I also have started reading "God is the Gospel" by John Piper and have been finding it rather awesome.

Some day I will polish this blog some more and maybe write on it all the time, but I am not going to be "that guy" who spends 80% of my time writing on here apologizing for not writing more. I'm busy, you're busy, we all get it.

Check out this song by The Arcade Fire titled ""Black Mirror" because it is awesome and I think you will enjoy it, I sure did.

New digs

2009-08-05T18:28:00.000-04:00

Decided to do a slight redesign of the ol' blog today. I would say it's about 70% done at the moment, so it is what it is. Enjoy.

Everyone I know listens to music

2009-08-05T18:26:00.003-04:00

To your right you will see the newest song of the week, "Everyone I Know Has Fangs" by He Is Legend.

...And Then You'll Go Forward Again

2009-03-23T12:15:00.006-04:00

It's been nearly two weeks since I sold my Xbox, and to this point I am rather pleased with some of the changes that I have been able to make. The most important being that I have been doing better (still not great) about reading the Good Book on a daily basis and encouraging my wife to do likewise. It is amazing the difference it makes just spending 5 minutes a day reading from the life of Jesus will make on the rest of the day.

I also am starting a book that I have been wanting to read for some time called "Constantine and the Christian Empire", and am going to try and complete it in the next 3 weeks or so. Constantine's role in establishing the early state church is something that is one of my greatest interest, as it directly influences so many things that the world does today. So much of Christianity and western religion is established not in Biblical theology or example, but in continuing the tradition that was established for them by their fathers, and it's a darn shame. I believe that the two biggest Idols in America today are tradition and the American dream and all of the economic and political rubbish that is going on now will play a huge role in breaking down the "deity" that is the American dream. Here's hoping I have the attention span to complete the book.

If you find yourself reading my blog, please comment on the posts, and if you are feeling exceptionally nice click on the "FOLLOW" button on the right side to follow my blog.

New Song of The Week

2009-03-23T12:12:00.002-04:00

The new song of the week is "Music for a Found Harmonium" by Penguin Cafe Orchestra. Once you hear it, I dare you not to like it, I dare you.

A Glass Can Only Spill What it Contains

2009-03-11T03:16:00.000-04:00

So a lot of people have asked me why I sold my Xbox 360, and the answer is longer and perhaps more detailed than you care to know. I sold it for very personal reasons, so it may or may not make any sense to you, and that is fine with me. As Kenan and Kel would say, ahh here it goes...

I grew up playing video games, and it has been something that I have enjoyed doing as long as I can remember. I still enjoy it and I probably will always enjoy it. I still plan on playing occasionally with my brothers and friends, and may even get a Xbox again at some point in the future.

Short Answer:
I decided to sell my Xbox because I do not manage my time well, and I had let it become too much a part of my identity, too much a part of who I was.

Slightly Longer and Better Answer:
I am not a gamer first, not even close. There are dozens of other roles in my life that are more important than being a gamer, the primary of which is a follower of Christ. Over the past months my time has been wasted more and more with good things such as playing video games, and less and less with the best things like becoming more like Christ and leading my wife to do likewise. So, it was time for some changes.

Selling my Xbox was just one thing that I am doing in an attempt to become more focused in my pursuit of Christ-likeness. I am going to write more frequently, and more sincerely; not that I was insincere in the past, but I was not writing from the truest or most important part of who I am.

So that's that. Thanks for reading and please add comments and follow my blog if you like.

2009-02-17T21:28:00.000-05:00

Let the domination with Akuma begin.

Beakness

2009-02-04T21:50:00.000-05:00

Behold, the lamest of all heroes soon to be portrayed by Dominic Monaghan.

Loud Howard

2009-01-23T14:17:00.000-05:00

This is Loud Howard from the Dilbert Cartoon, he is hilarious.

Not fourgotten

2009-01-19T11:24:00.000-05:00

Here's hoping we get an answer regarding the mysterious four toed statue that we saw in "Live Together, Die Alone". This is item number one on my "Mysteries that I would like to see answered in season 5" list.

Through a Looking Glass

2009-01-10T16:01:00.000-05:00

As season 5 of LOST draws nearer, Jan. 21st in case your not counting down the days like I am, I begin my annual quest to re-watch as much of the previous seasons as possible before the new season starts. The benefits of doing so are as bountiful as they are enjoyable, and each year I find myself finding more and more small facts that I missed when watching earlier. Another benefit is that I am able to see much more clearly how the entire scope of the show is drawn together over the course of the years. So as the countdown to season 5 winds down, I will be posting little factoids about LOST that I have never caught in the past, hopefully you will enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed discovering them.

Season 1, Ep 4: Walkabout
After they discover boars rummaging through the fuselage, Locke decides that it is time to do some hunting (but not before impressing everyone with his knife throwing skills). Locke asks Kate if she wants to come along, and Kate tells him that she is a vegetarian. This may or may not be true depending on what my viewing the coming weeks finds.

Season 1, Ep 5: White Rabbit

Charlie wakes Jack to alert him that there is someone out in the water who apparently has been carried out to sea by the undertow. Hero complex firing on all cylinders, Jack wakes from his slumber and immediately heads for the water to save the poor soul who forgot how to swim. As Jack is headed for the ocean Charlie screams frantically that he doesn't swim. Shouting "I don't swim" at the top of his lungs at least four or five times. Now as we all know from the Season 3 finale "Through a Looking Glass" Charlie bravely volunteers to swim down to the station and kill the signal jammer that is stopping the losties transmission from getting off the island. He even goes so far as to say that he was a Jr. Champion as a kid in England.

So either Charlie could swim and was simply too much of a coward to go and save the drowning victim himself (a distinct possibility given that at this point in the series he was still a drug addict) or Charlie really doesn't swim in which case this only reinforces his desire to see Claire and Aaron get off the island.

Either way, I miss Charlie.

Not Everything from Michigan Sucks

2009-01-05T11:55:00.000-05:00

Anathallo just released their second full length album "Canopy Glow" and it is absolutely amazing. Any band with 7 members and a Xylophone has my attention. Check out my favorite song from the CD titled "The River".

Save the Whales

2009-01-04T15:26:00.000-05:00

On the left we have a snapshot of The Blob from the upcoming and sure to disappoint Wolverine Origins movie, and on the right is Tim Allen. Coincidence? You tell me.

Santa is here

2008-12-24T15:17:00.000-05:00

Thankfully Ryah was able to recover from the flu just in time to make her traditional Santa Cookies.

Lucky Lift Assist

2008-12-09T21:49:00.000-05:00

Thank goodness for that airlift, otherwise I would not have been able to steal this kill from my teammate.

Are We Human

2008-12-04T10:26:00.000-05:00

The Killers recently released 3rd studio album "Day & Age" has been all that I have been able to listen to for about a week now. It is awesome in a very subtle way. You think that you are in the mood to listen to something else, but after about two minutes of that other music you find yourself still wanting to sing a long with some awesome American-British sweetness.

My favorite tracks would have to be:

I Can't Stay
Spaceman
Goodnight, Travel Well
Human

Cruise Control

2008-11-30T00:45:00.000-05:00

After recently seeing the trailer for Tom Cruise's new movie "Valkyrie" I can't help but wonder what the pitch must have been for Mr. Katie Holmes to convince others to make this movie and let him star in it. I would like to imagine it went something like this:

Tom Cruise: "You know what, people really don't like me right now. I wonder what I could do in my next movie to win back the general public's affection"

Hollywood Agent: "Boy, that would have to be one heck of a movie, got any ideas?"

Tom Cruise: "Well I know that people hate me, but surely there has been someone else throughout history that people have hated more"

Hollywood Agent: "That's true, I mean come one, there is always Hitler!"

Tom Cruise: "That's it! In my next movie I will kill Adolph Hitler, and then everyone will view me as a great hero instead of a nut job who jumps on couches."

Hollywood Agent: "How do you feel about eye patches?"

And the rest, as they say, is history.

D3: The Lame Ducks

2008-11-26T14:55:00.000-05:00

So I just watched D3: The Mighty Ducks and I have to say, Charlie (I'm looking at you Joshua Jackson) was a huge jerk throughout the entire movie. His new coach takes away his captain's C and he goes all My Chemical Romance on everyone, and suddenly no one (not even the soon to be one-with-the-force Hans) can possibly understand the depths of his teen angst.

In retrospect I think there are few key learning points we can all take away from this fine piece of cinema:

1) Emilio Estevez is a Jedi
2) Don't assume your hard-nose of coach is just being a jerk. Maybe he has a disabled daughter that is the source of all his issues.
3) Kids without money should hate kids with money. Correction, should and are right in hating kids with money.

Work in progress

2008-11-17T09:41:00.000-05:00

So I am still working on my new blog layout, and am about 70% done. For some reason my twitter feed isn't consistently loading and it is driving me crazy. Stay tuned.

0-h 10

2008-10-08T17:24:00.000-04:00

With a capital T

2008-10-08T14:26:00.000-04:00

Goodbye Oklahoma

2008-10-07T15:35:00.000-04:00

Next stop St Louis

2008-10-07T12:37:00.000-04:00

Next stop St Louis

Pit stop

2008-10-07T10:50:00.000-04:00

Ok

2008-10-06T19:14:00.000-04:00

2008-10-06T18:13:00.000-04:00

Ok!

Deep in the heart.

2008-10-06T14:55:00.000-04:00

Not that great of a picture, but you get the idea.

I am tired of spelling Albaquerque

2008-10-06T12:11:00.000-04:00

Next stop Oklahoma City.

So long and thanks for all the fish.

2008-10-05T12:52:00.000-04:00

Its been real, its been fun, its been really fun. So long for now PHX, and thanks for all the fish.

Out like trout...

2008-10-04T20:17:00.000-04:00

Everything has either been shipped, packed, thown away or given away. We are officially ready to hit the road, but not before watching the OSU game at four peaks first.

Packing up Etta

2008-10-04T12:56:00.000-04:00

We're about 24hours from heading out, just finishing packing the car.

5 Restaurants I Will Miss In PHX

2008-10-01T00:35:00.000-04:00

5) Fox Sports Grill
One of the best places ever to watch a game ever, I watched Dwight Howard's Superman act, OSU vs. Wisconsin 07 and OSU vs. USC 08 at this fine establishment. There are probably 100 TV's in the place and the food is awesome. It is the perfect balance of fine dining and sports bar, too bad it was a 40 minute drive.

4) Hon Machi Sushi
Literally the best Sushi that I have ever had. There is something about the taste combination of Spicy Tuna and Coke that is remarkable. Hon Machi is also where I learned to actually eat sushi with chopsticks instead of a fork.

3) Barro's Pizza
If you are living in Phoenix and are originally from anywhere east of Texas, one of the worse things about the area is the lack of good pizza joints. Barro's my friends is the exception to that rule. The $4 two slice and a drink lunch special, the Meat Trio Pizza, and the wings make this place unique to the area. They also used to have an old Street Fighter Vs. SNK machine that had sticky buttons on the 2P side, sadly it has been replaced with one of those "You're a winner every time" vending machines.

2) Pita Jungle
The best thing about this place is definitely their hummus, it is to die for and it comes in three varieties: Regular, Bell Pepper, and Cilantro. But the Holy Grail was the off-menu Three Hummus Sampler, or the "Trifecta" as I liked to call it. Add on some grilled chicken and a side of tomatoes and you have yourself Pita Perfection.

1) Four Peaks Brewery
No place will be missed by my taste buds as much as Four Peaks Brewery on 8th st in Tempe. They have award winning beer (Kiltlifter being my fave), delicious grub and a Oatmeal Stout Beer Milkshake that is out of this world (that's right, it's a beer milkshake). The vast majority of my football watching while in Phoenix was done at this fine establishment, and it will be dearly missed, even though the owners were from MN and it was often swarming with Vikings fans.

Seattle Video

2008-09-29T02:52:00.000-04:00

This is a video from when we went to Seattle last Oct for our anniversary. We were on a ferry headed back to the mainland, and while I was recording Ryah wanted me to be sure and get the mountain in the shot. What follows is simply a display of my wife's adorableness.

Finally a blog, and Corey Wins

2008-09-28T23:24:00.000-04:00

This will be web presence for the foreseeable future. I have spent a lot of time designing and building blogs for myself, but I would always end up micro managing all of the minute details of it instead of actually writing anything. So although it is not as awesome as it could be, at least it is something.

Yesterday marked a huge defeat for me, I joined FaceBook. All of my mockery of my brother Corey turned out to be for not, since in the end I decided it was time for me to start finding old friends. Maybe I am just feeling sentimental because I am moving back to Ohio or maybe I was just being stupid the whole time and should have signed up long ago (more likely). Either way, I'm on it now, so there is no turning back.

Awesome Halo Film

2008-09-28T04:09:00.000-04:00

Awesome video of me and another guy killing each other at the exact same instance resulting in a time game.