weird questions

The questions and comments that I hear this time of year sometimes boggle my mind.

"How was your Christmas?" I don't know what that means. Maybe the real question is "Did you get some good presents?" or "Did you get to see your family, and if so, was that a good thing?"

What about, "Have a happy new year!"? Is that like saying, "I hope your stay-up-until-midnight night goes well, and if the first day of the new year goes well too, that'd be great!"?

It's 20 minutes until the new year in Iowa, so happy new year (almost) to those of you in the Central time zone. We have an hour and 20 minutes, and we might not make it that late.

Applying for jobs

Is it just me, or do employers make you fill out some stupid stuff when you're applying for a job? I've applied online to a dozen or more jobs in the last month and a half, and they all ask for the exact the same stuff. Don't get me wrong, applying online is WAY better than driving to a location to pick up an application and then handwriting my responses and driving back to that location to submit it... but their applications are completely redundant. All of the stuff they ask for is the exact same stuff that you would find on a typical resume (or at least a resume that's worth anything). I find myself having to put the application and my resume side-by-side on my computer screen so that I can copy from one to the other. Then at the end, I attach my resume anyway. So every HR department in the state basically has to read two documents that say the exact same thing.

Most applications ask for: Name, address, phone number, education background, previous employers, dates of employment, previous employers' addresses, description of job duties at previous employers, special skills and experiences, and references.

My resume includes: Name, address, phone number, education background, previous employers, dates of employment, previous employers' addresses, description of job duties at previous employers, special skills and experiences, and references.

Apparently if you're hiring, you also have a lot of extra time on your hands to read through two of the exact same thing with every applicant. Wouldn't it make more sense to simply ask for some personal information and a resume? If a resume doesn't include the information above, it's probably not thorough enough, which to me would indicate an applicant who doesn't care enough about the job to put together an adequate resume. I'm sick of writing the same thing over and over and then attaching the same thing over and over.

Oh! And another thing: Who the heck am I supposed to include when I'm asked for references who are neither relatives nor former supervisors? Aren't supervisors exactly who you'd want to hear from regarding my at-work personality and abilities? I don't have that many friends who I just hang out with in professional settings.

That's my rant. Back to looking for jobs.

Don't believe the critics!

Partly because we decided to skip out on Christmas this year (in terms of giving each other a bunch of gifts), Elizabeth and I treated ourselves to the newly released Marley and Me at a theater this afternoon. We had a rough time getting in, first of all. The first place we went was sold out about 20 minutes before showtime (right about the time we got there), the second place was sold out 35 minutes before showtime (right about the time we got there), and the third place (which was actually the first place revisited... for a later showing) surely sold out shortly after we got our tickets (we were about 50 minutes early for that one).

All the seeking and frustration paid off, though. Marley and Me was fantastic. Owen Wilson gave a heartwarming, charming, and funny performance. Marley himself was one of the prettiest and most likable dogs I've ever seen in a movie. It wasn't a movie just about a dog either. It was about marriage and family and hardship and the pressures of life and work too. The movie is based on a book, and now I want to read it. I would recommend this movie to all of you who read this blog. Mom and dad, it'd be great for the kids too (I think). It's rated PG because they make a few comments regarding Marley's "fixing," and because Jennifer Anniston takes off her clothes and jumps into the pool at one point (they don't show anything except her bare back for a moment).

Anywho, I heard that the critics weren't fans of this movie, but Elizabeth and I were (she's blogging about it right now too, I think)... so if you trust our opinions over old men who sit in theaters for a living, go see it!

Word verification words

Below is a paragraph I wrote that's made up largely of word verification words that I've been required to type in when leaving comments on other blogs. You should do the same thing, or something similar (like a glossary where you define all your word verification words). It didn't take long to accumulate these words. You can do it even faster if you cheat and just refresh a window a bunch of times. Anyway, the word verification words are in blue. Enjoy.

After I gybrated about this for a long time, I decided that the lumbreel in my somendia was a sedraic fanti one would usually find only in intubeds inhabited by Gracula. On the other hand, Denumbo has a voast that the lobba cannot prodit, and if the Scurbess of Pygipo isn't too bectic after her shinimmi trip to Mizatir, there is sure to be eftenco afterwards. All this makrent kershi will be worthless unless the papiliz is sisated before Tionymin can wakil among the emeeli bowpere. Finally, I feel glant about the surband debues that the menersad gave me last week.

Following directions

I am blogging because Joel told me to if I thought it would be a good idea for Ashley Lang to blog (she's my sister-in-law's sister, or my brother's sister-in-law). And I do.

That is all.

Moving daze

Today Elizabeth and I will sign a lease for our new apartment, and we'll begin moving some stuff in. Tomorrow we've got friends coming with cars and trucks to help us haul the rest of our possessions away from W 7th Avenue for good. Yesterday was spent trying to pack everything we own into boxes and plastic tubs. We didn't get there (it looks like we're not even close), but we've got most of the stuff from closets and other unseen places (all the kitchen cupboards). I'm almost sick of moving already, and we haven't even been in our new unit yet! We're excited, though, because our new apartment will be substantially larger than our current one, and we won't feel quite so cramped. We'll also be able to offer more floor space when our visitors and their friends (this means you, Jase) swing by to stay for a night or two. My camera seems to be on the fritz at the moment, so we might not get any "before" pictures of our new place, but I'll certainly work on getting some once we've moved in and I can figure out the problem with my camera. The two things we're most excited about: We'll have a DISHWASHER! We'll have laundry machines IN OUR UNIT! These two things combined mean that cleaning up after dinner will take far less time, and that we no longer have to keep a bucket of quarters in our apartment for laundry's sake. The laundry machines also mean that if we realize that we desperately need socks and/or underwear by the next day, we can simply wash a load, instead of worrying about hours of operation, and when our "planned" laundry time was. Believe me, this is way more exciting than it sounds in print.

Obama/Warren controversy

Barack Obama has chosen Saddleback Church pastor Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration next month. This choice has apparently outraged the secular left (see the cnn.com article here) because Warren is opposed to gay marriage. Liberals are ticked that Warren supported Proposition 8, a California measure that passed last month which defines marriage as between one man and one woman.

As my friend, Ryan Kearns, points out, all of this outrage is coming from leftists under the guise of tolerance and inclusion. Apparently, tolerance and inclusion only apply if you are in complete agreement with the Democratic party. Again, I cite Ryan's post; "We have not begun to practice true tolerance till we fundamentally disagree with another." If liberals only want tolerance to extend to people who agree with them, then it shouldn't be called tolerance, it should be called agreement.

I also wonder what we'd be hearing if Warren had declined Obama's invitation (as some conservatives I read have suggested) based on Warren's opposition to issues Obama supports (abortion rights, gay marriage, etc.). I have a feeling the outrage would be at Warren's inconsiderate nature and intolerance. I'm sorry, I'm a fairly politically moderate guy, but liberals just piss me off so much I can't always leave it alone. Your thoughts?

Book giveaway!

Trevin Wax, who has a blog called Kingdom People, is giving away ten awesome books including The Reason for God by Tim Keller, Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright, and Why We're Not Emergent by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck. In addition, he's giving away an ESV Study Bible! If you check out this post, you can find out how you could be entered to win these books.

Top Ten Selfish Wishes for Christmas

This is my selfish wish-list. For rules on how to construct a selfish wish list, see my sister-in-law's blog post here.

-- Membership to Sam's Club

-- Leather coat and scarf (the scarf probably shouldn't be leather)

-- iTunes gift card

-- restaurant gift card (Red Robin, Applebee's, Village Inn/Perkins, Champps [so we can watch the Cowboys play when they're on cable], etc.)

-- new gas pump for our car (so that the gauge works properly and we don't have to guess how full the tank is based on mileage... cuz we already guessed wrong once, and it's not fun to run out of gas)

-- movie theater gift card

-- waterproof iPod holder/player for our shower!

-- Powerball ticket (w/power play)

-- another coupon book from Elizabeth (last year it included "get out of vegetables free" coupons, and those were invaluable to me)

-- Laser Vue TV (those go for about $8,000 so I'm not real optimistic, but I think it fits all of the rules, and I'm running out of ideas)

There you have it. Now you write one.

I AM ALL DONE

I'm sure you're sick of my finals week countdown, but I've GOT to say.... IT'S OVER.

Four minutes ago I turned in two blue books filled with essay answers, and my final final is over. I'm pretty sure I've got carpel tunnel or something in my right hand from writing so much.

It's gonna be a PAR-TAY tonight!

One more day

24 hours from right now I will surely feel 15 pounds lighter (oh, if wishing made it so). At that point, I will have completed ALL of my finals work, and be free to sit around and watch football... and work... and pack... and move... and find a different job... (ok, so maybe "free" isn't quite the right word, but I will feel a whole heckuvalot better!)

Finals week

Of the items on my to do list from last week, all I really have left is two tough final exams. I'm really excited to have what I believe to be "the worst of it" behind me.

It was a rough weekend, made rougher by the Cowboys' tough loss, but in just a few more days I'll be out of the proverbial woods, sort of.

Gay marriage arguments are everywhere!

At first I wondered why so much of my blog-reading was dealing with gay marriage lately. Then (silly me) I remembered that California passed Proposition 8 last month, which defines marriage as being between one man and one woman. Now the media are out in force to tell Californians (and residents of other states where similar propositions were passed) how massively they screwed up.

Here is a link to the latest Newsweek cover article on gay marriage. Here is a link to the editorial note in Newsweek that accompanies the aforementioned article.

When you're done with those, if you want to read about what Christians really believe (and not just the liberal distortion of it), check out this post by Al Mohler, and this harsher post by Mark Hemingway.

And let me add one personal note in reference to Lisa Miller's Newsweek article above; As a serious student who is working his butt off every day in pursuit of a rather difficult-to-attain degree in Biblical studies, I found Miller to be not only completely offensive and insulting, but a downright mockery. I feel bad not just for Biblical scholars who have been so nastily misrepresented, but for all Christians everywhere.

Same-sex marriage: The logical fallacies of Tony Jones

I encourage you to read this post by Rob Bowman regarding the logical fallacies of Emergent Church guy, Tony Jones, on Jones's support of same-sex marriage. Bowman argues against Jones's logical fallacies in part because he gets sick of "defenders of same-sex marriage claiming that their opponents have no response other than to quote the same Bible verses over and over."

To-do list

I have a 10-page paper over a book I haven't read yet due on Thursday morning. I have a 3-page paper over 80 pages between two commentaries I haven't read yet due on Thursday afternoon. I have an integrative summary (a couple of pages, largely reflective) to finish, I think, by Friday (or sooner). Then I have 50 more pages to read and prepare to discuss by next Tuesday morning, and three KILLER finals to prepare for which take place next Monday morning, Thursday morning, and Thursday afternoon.

I'm really looking forward to next Friday.