Finally.

It's been 3 years, but the house is finally gone. I wish I could celebrate, but it's difficult to be excited about losing so much money.
Relief on the other hand, is definitely in order. Now, we can finally start over and move on with our lives.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, to all of you who have prayed for us! And thank you also to those of you who lent a hand!
I don't know where we would be without all of you.

Our new place

Here's a picture of our new place from the outside.
As for the inside, my windows of opportunity for finding the place clean are minimal - with 4 people, it can get cluttered pretty quickly...

Because of a tight, winding stairwell, our furniture would not go to the 2nd story. So, we hoisted the couch and oversized chair up to the small overhang and moved it in through the window! We had about one inch of clearance on every side of the couch - talk about fitting perfectly!

there will be blood

Another movie must be added to the list below - "there will be blood"

Occasionally, I watch a movie and it stays with me for days. For one reason or another, I won't be able to get it out of my head.
"there will be blood" is the latest movie to consume me.

It's driving me crazy trying to figure out the movie and the main character, Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis), but it's not a movie that you "get." It's complex, it's mysterious. The film touches on capitalism, religion, and the depravity of human nature, and then it leaves you - no finality, no resolution, no meaning. You're left with only a haunting disturbance...

Without doubt, the best aspect of the movie is Daniel Day-Lewis' performance - He is reason enough to watch the movie.

Of course, it can be a rough movie to watch, and knowing many of the reader's of my blog, I throw a word of caution out there. But if you have a higher tolerance for disturbing content (it's more the nature of the film rather than the content), I highly recommend carving out 158 minutes to experience this film.


Also, here's an interesting commentary about the dark nature of several recent movies that have come out. It's short, but I thought it was interesting.
http://jviz.blogspot.com/2008/04/dark-movies.html

Troy's favorite movies of the last several months

I feel like I've seen a number of really good movies over the last few months. It's difficult to remember some of them, but here's a few that I won't forget watching:

- Into the Wild - loved it. Definitely up there in my all-time favorites list.***

- Juno - best original screenplay Oscar winner. I definitely agree.

- Lars and the Real Girl - The fall favorite at Mars Hill.

- Once - small independent film. Not your typical hollywood blockbuster, but it's a beautiful film (and it won the Oscar for best song!)

- No Country for Old Men - those Coen brothers never cease to amaze***

- Darjeeling Limited - Wes Anderson - he too never ceases to amaze. I would love to know more about this guy's life. It seems painfully obvious that he's been in therapy for awhile now.

- Gone Baby Gone - Ashley and I had no idea what this was about before we saw it (from the title, I actually thought it was about baseball). I won't give it away, but it was intense.***

- King of California - maybe not the best picture out there, but I loved it. It's simple and Michael Douglas was terrific.

- Fracture - Anthony Hopkins, Ryan Gosling - this has been out for awhile. I don't know how it flew under the radar.

***If you're concerned about content, these films could definitely be offensive.

papers, papers, papers

This afternoon, I turned in my fifth of seven papers due this month. It's been exhausting, and I'm ready for a break...but I'm now over the hump!! I'll finish up a group project tonight, and then I only have 2 papers and one test remaining (which all happen to be in the same class - 60% of the grade comes in the last two weeks!)

It's crazy that I've almost finished my second term. Man, it's gone fast.

Abraham and Isaac

What is the deal with God telling Abraham to sacrifice Isaac?

Is this story severely disturbing to anyone else?

Abraham is a freak. Yet, we say he was faithful.
How could a father ever conceive of sacrificing his son?

Yes, God himself sacrificed his son, but Jesus himself had a say in that matter. Okay, some scholars think Isaac was a grown man and went willingly (but the narrative sure doesn't read like this). Besides, if Isaac went willingly, wouldn't he be the faithful one rather than Abraham? Kind of defeats the meaning of the whole story...

I don't even care that God never intended for Abraham to kill Isaac. This is an alarming command to even toy with.

For one thing, it's Isaac's life!!! It is not up to Abraham to decide what to do!!

Seriously, for one moment, put yourself in this situation...

There is not one possible way for me to look at this story that I know of that makes any sense. It is simply becoming a disturbing story.

Oh I get it...so now God knows that Abraham fears him. Well, isn't that wonderful. What a great man Abraham must be.
What a great man?? I think he's deranged!! He would be in our day, wouldn't he?

Imagine Abraham on the courthouse steps on the evening news. "I understand the laws of the country. I must go to jail. But I only tried to sacrifice my son because God told me to do it."

Wow. This would not go over very well.

I really just don't get it.

A little stress-relief activity

(Be sure to pause the music to the right before watching the video!)



I saw a video like this of some dude that had taken one picture every day for several years. He flipped through the pictures really quickly and it looked lke he was morphing.
I thought it would be cool to watch a beard grow, but I wasn't consistent enough with the pictures - didn't pan out like I intended, but it was fun messing with the editing software.