wasting time, waiting for something to happen

i watched the remake of bad news bears thursday night. directed by richard linklater and starring billy bob thorton as coach buttermaker, i had hopes that it would be better than most remakes. it had some good moments, but mostly it made me want to watch the original. it’s been such a long time since i’d seen it, i’m kind of curious how it compares. perhaps i’ll try adding that to my netflix queue.
yesterday i stayed at work until 7:45pm or so…and i was actually working. heh. i’ve been feeling kind of overwhelmed at work lately, mostly because it seems like i’ve got one hundred different little things to take care of, each one needing between a half hour and a few hours of my time, but as soon as i pick one to work on someone calls or comes by and asks about a different one, so i start working on it, then someone else calls or comes by, and…repeat. which makes me feel like i’m spinning my wheels getting nothing accomplished while all of this stuff is sitting out there unresolved. i’m really much better at taking care of one thing at a time until it’s finished. i’m not much of a multitasker.
after work, i crashed a gathering for the h-town bloggers that was taking place at the gingerman in rice village. it ended up i already knew five or six of the people in some way or another. that helped me from being too non-social. i ended up having a cool conversation with a guy i’d met once before. it turns out we have somewhat common backgrounds — we both grew up in small towns in central Texas, we’re about the same age, both got interested in computers, went to a&m, and are both now working in houston. kind of cool to have a number of common threads to reminisce about, as well as current things in common.
i read blue like jazz by donald miller over the last four or five nights. it’s pretty easy reading, and written in a very relaxed, conversational and informal style. i wouldn’t say it’s life-changing, but i felt like there were some pretty profound observations in it. it was also nice to read something that made me feel like maybe i’m not quiet as much of an oddity in the xian world as i sometimes feel like i am. or at least one other person shares some of it with me, and he bothered to write about it, and other people seemed to like what he said. of course, sometimes i thought the book was a bit too predictable as far as style/formula — it seemed like almost every paragraph had to end in an ironic joke on whatever the paragraph had been saying. like sometimes it was a little too hip or clever for its own good, or maybe just too often. i thought the first 2/3 of the book was stronger than the last third, but that may just be because i identified with it more. still, i recommend the book. i think it has some good observations and opinions in it. and it did make me yearn for authentic xianity which i think is out there…something which i don’t have in the right way or amount (but wish i did), and something that is rarely found in most churches in the u.s. these days (in my opinion).
since i’m already writing about books, i’ll mention that a few months ago i read virtual faith by tom beaudoin. it was an interesting book about gen-xers and how they relate to xianity and church and culture. while i thought there were some good things in the book, overall i didn’t really think it was that strong. one of the primary vehicles seemed to be doing literary analysis from a xian and cultural perspective on a few rock videos that could be tied to gen-x, and i’m not a big fan of the whole literary analysis thing that seems to be popular amongst the liberal arts majors. (but then i’m a snotty engineer-type who merely swims in the shallow end of the liberal arts pool.) it also tended to also use/create some cheesy buzz words or catchphrases for things…*shudder*. but there were other parts of the book and other opinions and views on gen-x, and there was some good stuff to be found. overall, i would definitely recommend blue like jazz over this book though.
fedex just delivered my new multimedia rack from boltz. i’d like to put it together, but i’ve got to go into work around 5pm. what i have to do is mostly just at the beginning and at the end, so i should have fun sitting around doing little to nothing for a few hours.

2 comments on “wasting time, waiting for something to happen”

  1. I watched My Bodyguard last week. Remember that one? For the last 25 years, every time I see Matt Dillon, I think of him in that role.

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