Checkers

At work the other day a door to the dumpsters outside was left ajar (by the garbage men?) and a car whipped around the corner without looking and hit the door. This caused the door to hit a random passerby in the head fracturing his skull. I have no idea if he's OK or what. I'm becoming jaded because this sort of thing does not seem that strange to me anymore. Just another day at work. Also we were really busy because of the Renaissance Faire. And we were short 6 people.

Checkers/Rally's advertising slogans 1997-present:
1997-1999 "Fresh. Because we just made it."
1999-2000 "High performance Human Fuel"
2000-2008 "You gotta eat!"
2008-present "little place. BIG TASTE."

Until quite recently they were the only major fast food chain that refused to publish any sort of nutritional information. Now supposedly you can find it here [http://www.checkers.com/pdfs/nutrition.pdf] but I can't get the link to work.

Damn I love that place.

Play

Play where you are, not where people tell you to play.

Busting

"If customers see you busting your ass, they won't get angry even if they have to wait"

Truer than I would have thought initially.

Work

When you're out of school, work becomes more stressful but rest becomes more restful.

Fame

Lady Gaga's first album is great. Absolutely fantastic. But the drums have way too much compression, particularly on "Paparazzi" and "The Fame."

Venus in Furs

You know what book is great? Venus in Furs by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. Best exploration of the desire to be dominated I have yet encountered. Could have been written last year and would be just as relevant. It takes what we might label with euphemisms like 'unhealthy' or 'codependent' and exposes a yawning, horrific abyss.

Iron Maiden

I think Iron Maiden does an excellent job paying tribute to historical figures and events:

Aces High -- the Battle of Britain (see the music video)
Run the the Hills -- the plight of Native Americans
Tailgunner -- tailgunners in World War II
Sun and Steel -- Miyamoto Musashi, a 17th century Japanese samurai
Ganghis Khan -- Ganghis Khan
etc.

Also, literature:

The Trooper -- The Crimean War / "Charge of the Light Brigade" by Tennyson
Revelations -- G.K. Chesterton
To Tame a Land -- "Dune" by Frank Hurbert
Phantom of the Opera -- "The Phantom of the Opera" by Gaston Leroux
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner -- "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" by Robert Heinlein
Moonchild -- "Liber Samekh" by Aleister Crowley
etc.

Here's a good website to research allusions Iron Maiden makes:
http://stason.org/TULARC/music-bands/iron-maiden/19-Song-And-Name-Origins-Iron-Maiden.html

I feel like Maiden is kind of like historical fiction in music form. Or maybe more accurately like a historical fiction graphic novel in music form.

Synths

When did Church music cease to be crushing and majestic? In the middle ages organs could be heard from miles away. It was one of the loudest sounds anyone would ever hear in their lives. Plus they would be in these buildings that were so ridiculously huge and beautiful they took over a hundred years to build. Now we meet in these understated modest buildings and try to make sure the music doesn't detract from the lyrics.

Why do you never hear synths that threaten to stop your heart? Why aren't there 4 minute guitar solos played through a wall of Marshall amps? There's nothing wrong with the music in Church right now, but it seems like we're missing out on a lot.

I wonder whether our understanding of God is effected. Do we make it harder to believe in God's power and goodness when our worship of Him is so small in scale and unambitious?

These are not rhetorical questions. There might be (and hopefully are) good reasons, but I just don't know them.

CW, 2:00pm-4:00pm

Steve Wilkos and Tyra Banks make an interesting back-to-back daytime TV combination. One is justice and the other is grace. Together they are like a good cop bad cop routine that interrogates the guilty conscience of America. But it is an interrogation through which we are vindicated because (we tell ourselves) we are innocent compared with the graphic spectacle of these shows.

We see ourselves and our own problems exposed and amplified in the guests. We hate the guilty guests because we hate and fear those parts of ourselves. Then we are comforted when we see the difference in scale (not in type) between their problems and ours. This, we think, is righteous anger.

And sometimes there is no difference in scale.

Ralph

Yesterday I met Ralph Alvarez, president and chief operations officer of McDonald's. The company. He is the third most powerful person at McDonald's Corporation. We talked for maybe 30 seconds and I had no idea who he was until later. He looked me in the eye and treated me like a person, which I appreciated.

I was probably a bit too informal, but whatever.

Typing

I think they should teach typing in schools by just putting a bunch of middle schoolers in a room with computers that have AIM on them and telling them they can't talk out loud. Everyone I know that had AIM growing up is excellent at typing.

Sticker

I really like bumper stickers that don't communicate a clear message. They are very rare. In fact most bumper stickers are expressly designed to be clear, brief, and blunt. But there are outliers and mistakes. I used to have one that said "I now inform you that you are too far from reality." The print was a bit small and it was fun seeing people in my rear view mirror scoot forward at a light to squint at it, and then just look confused.

I saw one today that said "I AM GOD." I still don't get whether it was supposed to be quoting (and therefore affirming) the Bible or asserting (metaphorically? sarcastically?) that the driver was an omnipotent diety. Or maybe it referred to the car itself?

Tears

You'll never know the number of people you by food from, sit on the bus next to, have a class with, or are close friends with who are a breath away from exploding. In anger, tears, fear, whatever. You'll never know but I bet it's more than you think.

Boss

There are tons of different styles of leadership, but I think one universal characteristic of a good boss is that her employees know that she is in their corner. That sounds simple, but it's actually pretty rare. I hope if I am in a leadership position (even outside of the workplace, like as a husband or father) people under me feel like I am on their side.

Charlie

The neighbor kid in the apartment next door is named Charlie. The guy from the V.A. who lives at my other next door is also named Charlie.

Sovereign

If God is really sovereign, it doesn't matter whether Christians believe He is or not. He just is.

Vanilla

A lot of people don't know this but vanilla is an actual flavor, not the absence of flavor.

Proverb

"Only dead fish go downstream"
- Polish proverb I found in The Cholesterol Myths

Exene

"I wouldn't consider myself a happy person, but I had fun tonight"
- Exene

Animals

Isn't it funny that animals and people find a lot of the same things beautiful/attractive?