weschop

2009-01-17T15:20:00.000-06:00

I've moved here.

Yo

2008-11-05T08:55:00.002-06:00

It's been a while. Hope you are all doing well.
I visited in Chicago last week and had a blast spending time with time with friends and playing music. I really love that place and I hope it works out that I get to move back there in May.
I am still enjoying my time here in Oklahoma City. It feels great getting school over with and spending time with my family and friends. I'm getting to play music more these days and I'm getting a lot of relaxation time. I feel like I've had a lot of life breathed into me over the last few months, which is great.
I'm happy that Obama got elected last night! I figured he would win but I didn't think he would win that handedly. Hopefully these next four years will be good ones.

Political Cereal

2008-10-16T10:26:00.004-05:00

These are for real. The company Air Bed and Breakfast made 500 boxes of this stuff with fun facts, conversation starters, and they even have their own jingles online. You can listen to them here or here. Each box costs $39 and 5% of the sales goes to each campaign. I thought the tag lines were funny; “Hope in Every Bowl”, a “Maverick in Every Bite”.

Funny Stuff.

#91 Wendell Berry

2008-10-14T11:48:00.005-05:00

I just finished reading one of the better books I have read called Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry. It's a story about a barber who lives alone in a small town in Kentucky. While it's fiction Wendell Berry still adds commentary on community, love, war, religion, the economy, the environment and politics. His questions and feelings on these topics match up with mine and a lot of my friend's. His writing makes ordinary life, death and sorrow somehow beautiful. I would suggest giving it a read.

"Here, Berry tells the story of Jonah (later Jayber) Crow. Orphaned as a young boy, Jayber makes his way through life from orphanage to seminary, and finally back to his roots, returning in 1937 to serve as barber in the community of Port William where he was born. Community is at the center of these stories. Berry is a passionate believer in the importance of belonging to a community and in the importance of community in the survival of our society. The characters here are clearly depicted, with all of their faults, but they are all the more real for those faults. Berry deftly captures the concerns, the loves, and the passions of his characters. Jayber’s unspoken love for Mattie Keith is the underlying foundation for the story. From the time he first sees her, through her difficult marriage to a local farmer with aspirations to achieve financial success, Jayber makes it his responsibility to assist her as best he can. Berry’s writing has something for everyone: powerful stories, beautifully described settings, and fully-realized characters. Jayber Crow is a gem among Berry’s fine novels."
- bfgb.wordpress.com

A couple people suggested Wendell Berry to me earlier this year so I thought I would give him a try. I picked up a book called Nathan Coulter earlier in the summer and loved it. I immediately fell in love with his style of writing, probably because the characters in his novels remind me of my family in Kentucky. Most of his books are set in a fictional town called Port Willaim, and a lot of the characters reoccur in the different stories.

It turns out that he is from the same county as my grandma, and my cousin actually is pretty good friends of his family. I would love to get to meet him, maybe I can talk my cousin into introducing me someday. Yeah right.

If you want to read his bio you can click here.

Seriously?

2008-10-11T10:43:00.000-05:00

I realize there's some dumb Obama fans too, but you have to be kidding me...

#92 Cheaper Gas

2008-10-09T11:33:00.001-05:00

Gas is down to $2.69 here which is nice, because I am getting poorer and poorer. I hope it keeps getting cheaper and cheaper.

Listening to:
Tom Waits
Long Way Home

#93 This Video

2008-09-21T23:34:00.000-05:00

Nice Little Weekend

2008-09-21T12:30:00.002-05:00

I got to go lead worship at my old Church's fall retreat this weekend. It was great spending time with my old band and hanging out with the students. I even got to do some fishing and hiking, which I have been craving. I really enjoy doing youth ministry and I am excited to get to do it again someday.

Feed Me

2008-09-17T00:09:00.005-05:00

I got a new pet this week. It's a ferocious venus fly trap named Leonard.
I got too bored with sitting around and waiting for a fly to land in one of the traps so I squashed a bug and fed it to him.

I think I am going to go watch LIttle Shop of Horrors.

2008-09-09T10:29:00.000-05:00

Well Done Grasshopper

2008-09-02T12:15:00.000-05:00

I need a job.

Spiderpost

2008-08-31T16:44:00.004-05:00

Update

2008-08-26T10:45:00.002-05:00

Things are still going well here.
Classes got a bit more tough this week, but I think I will be able to handle them. Had my first Spanish II quiz yesterday and I think I did a lot worse than I thought I was going to. Oh well, I just need to pass.
Played a show at Coffee Slingers last Saturday and it went really well. It was weird not having my Arlington Heights buddies there, but I still had a blast.
I'm still waiting to hear from Barnes and Noble about a job. I hope I get it, it seems like it would be pretty chill.
Last night I played trivia at Buffalo Wild WIngs down the street and got ranked 2nd in the nation out of like 5000 people. I was pretty proud of myself. There was a guy there with 3 of those trivia keypads, and he got really pissed and left when I beat him.

Attack Of The Shrooms

2008-08-22T16:00:00.008-05:00

This Saturday

2008-08-21T10:56:00.004-05:00

Charlie Hall CD Release

2008-08-19T12:33:00.007-05:00

I went to the Charlie Hall Band's Cd release party for their newest CD called the Bright Sadness on Sunday night. It was a great night, they are so talented and Charlie's Songs are very thoughtful and insightful. I love the way he can write songs that obviously come out of sadness, but then turns them around to be hopeful.
I would suggest buying the album or at least giving it a listen. You can get it on itunes or here.

I found myself getting very emotional during the concert, mostly because the songs reminded me of worshiping at Elevate and Axis. It was sad to look around and not see any of my Chicago friends near by. It's funny how you can take those things for granted when your surrounded by it all the time. I have the feeling that God is going do some cool things in my life this year, he's already shown me a lot.

Update from OKC

2008-08-19T12:10:00.006-05:00

I've been in Oklahoma for a week and it already seems like a year.
I started school yesterday and I think it's going to be a pretty good semester, although I missed the cutoff date by one semester, so now I have to take required classes instead of all electives. My classes this semester are Journalism Ethics, Music Appreciation and Spanish II. I haven't had any Spanish classes since my Jr. year of high school, so that should be interesting.

I miss my friends in Chicago immensely, I hope I get to see you guys soon. I am thankful that I get to spend time with my family and friends in Oklahoma. Hopefully we will make some good memories this year.

Still no word on if that Bigfoot was real or not. I still have my fingers crossed.

Bigfoot?

2008-08-15T18:08:00.004-05:00

Two men claimed to have found a bigfoot body in North Georgia. They haven't revealed the body to the public yet, but they released these pictures. They say they have videos, pictures and DNA samples. I hope they're not lying.

You can read more here,
Or here.

Watch This

2008-08-12T22:15:00.001-05:00

My cousin is a documentary film maker and a couple years ago he did a documentary on Hunter S. Thompson.
This is a hilarious trailer for the movie. I don't know how my cousin didn't get angry.

#94 Brandon Grissom

2008-08-09T10:48:00.003-05:00

I'm not sure how I am show my appreciation for Brandon in a blog post but I will try.
I met Brandon when I was 16 years old, when he came to my church to be an intern for our youth group. We have played in bands together, traveled the world, been through really hard times, had some really good times, worked together, fished together, dressed in skin tight super hero costumes together, and watched some of the stupidest scary movies I have ever seen together, and I have loved every minute of it. He's a 78 inch 230 pound mass of love (mowmp!) It's going to be really hard not to have him around when I go back to Oklahoma. He's one of the main reasons that I am in ministry and I can't imagine not doing ministry with this guy, but I am sure we will again someday.

Beki and Stella are like family too, and I am very thankful to have them in my life. Hopefully will see each other a lot this year, I know there will be a lot of ichating going on.

#95 No One On My Mind

2008-08-07T18:14:00.004-05:00

So I wrote some songs and recorded a CD. It's called No One On My Mind, and I am pretty proud of it.
You can listen to some songs off of it here.
Or you can purchase it here.
It will be on itunes soon, so that's cool.

#96 Squint Camp

2008-08-02T14:19:00.003-05:00

Man, I love Elevate and I am going to miss it.
This is my last week on staff and I am down in Southern Indiana at Squint Camp. I think it's a good way to go out.
Elevate's been like a family to me for the last 4 years. It's served as a much needed community during some rough times and it's also created some of the best ministry memories and experiences that I have.
I am dreading the end of camp, because I hate saying goodbye. It's not going to be easy.

#97 Jackson Browne

2008-07-22T09:13:00.004-05:00

When I was a kid the only music I remember listening to when my family went on road trips was the music of Jackson Browne. I remember sitting in the back of my dad's silver Oldsmobile with my little brother praying that my dad would turn off the boring music with all those words and put on some Beach Boys or the Monkees. But as I grew older I started to appreciate Jackson Browne and I could identify more with his lyrics. He quickly became one of my favorite artists. His well thought out chord changes and lyrics make you listen to his music on a deeper level, and think about his insights on what goes on inside the brain and hearts of people my age. His music is timeless, and I hope he continues to create it for many more years.

If you haven't listened to him before, I suggest the albums Late For The Sky or For Everyman.

#98 Rainy Days

2008-07-19T10:36:00.003-05:00

I really appreciate rainy days. Especially after so many hot sunny days in a row. Rain always helps me sleep better, and for some reason puts me in a chilled out mood. I could sit and stare out the window while I drink my coffee all day today, but I need to get ready for work.

#99 Subway Sandwiches

2008-07-17T09:18:00.004-05:00

I appreciate Subway sandwiches. The Subway Club with cucumbers, lettuce, and salt and pepper to be more specific. Subway's the most consistently good tasting food I eat, and it's healthy to boot. I would say I eat at Subway at least 5 times a week. It helps that I have one connected to my apartment building.

I could do without Jared though, he's probably the most consistently creepy spokes model I can think of.

#100 My Roommate Devanshu

2008-07-16T18:18:00.005-05:00

I met Devanshu two months ago down at our pool, and since that day we've been good friends, practically inseparable.
Devanshu is one of the most caring and loving people I have ever met. He never forgets anyone's name, and he always listens to people when they talk to him. It's weird that I would meet such a good fried right before I move away. I will really miss this dude.

100 Things I Appreciate

2008-07-16T13:06:00.004-05:00

I've been grumpy lately and have started to write a few negative blogs about stuff that bugs me, but I held myself back. So instead of being a pessimistic blogger, I have decided to do 100 posts about things I appreciate in life. Some will be about people, some will be about music and art, and some will be about random junk,.I think it should be fun, at least for me.

Snow Globes

2008-07-10T15:44:00.003-05:00

I've always thought that snow globes were cool, but these are incredible.

Good Music

2008-07-10T14:41:00.002-05:00

This is the best album I have purchased in a while.

If you're a fan of americana, folk, or alt country music you will love it.

Weird Times

2008-07-10T11:10:00.005-05:00

These are some weird times, knowing that I am leaving and all. It still doesn't feel real yet, I don't think it will until I get in my car to drive home. Right now I am in the Elevate offices pretty much by myself. The rest of the staff has gone on a two day staff retreat, and I am kind of sad. Elevate has been my family for four years and I am really going to miss it. It feels weird not being with them while they plan the next ministry season.

Last weekend was one of the best weekends I have had in Chicago. Arlington Heights had a festival called Frontier Days two blocks from my house with carnival games, good food and live music. There was a great Beatles cover band on the 4th, and the lead singer from Styx played on the 5th. It was pretty surreal hearing him play I'm Sailing Away from my living room. The best part of the weekend was spending time with my friends. I really love them and I will miss them too. I am very thankful for the community that's been created in Arlington Heights this last year.

going home

2008-06-15T15:41:00.003-05:00

it's official. i am moving back to the great state of oklahoma august 8th! i am going back to finish school and spend quality time with my family. don't worry, i didn't get fired or anything. i've been praying and thinking about it for the last 6 months or so and it feels like the right thing to do. i am going to miss my friends and my church a lot, but i am really excited to reconnect with old friends and spend the next year figuring out what's next for me.

chicago has been a great place to live, i have made a lot great friends, and elevate has been like a family to me. i will be sad to lose the community i have, but i am very excited about being around the people i love in oklahoma, i know it's going to be a lot of fun.

Another Goodbye

2008-06-06T11:46:00.003-05:00

One of our Community Pastors, Phil Owen is leaving our staff today to go back to his home state Michigan. I am really going to miss Phil, he's been a lot of fun to work and hang out with. He's also got one of the biggest hearts and kindest spirits I have ever been around. Michigan is lucky to get Phil back, I know God is going to use him up there.
This Bud's for you Phil.

Goodbyes

2008-05-30T14:47:00.002-05:00

I hate goodbyes...
I just got done saying goodbye to our interns Sara, Jon and Andrew and I am really sad. I am going to miss having them around Elevate. They all three are more than just co-workers to me, they are great friends. I know I will still get to see them a lot this summer, but Elevate's going to feel a lot different without them here.

Day 6

2008-05-08T19:17:00.000-05:00

Day 5

2008-05-08T18:40:00.002-05:00

Day 4

2008-05-07T18:12:00.000-05:00

Day 3

2008-05-06T18:09:00.001-05:00

Day 2

2008-05-06T17:29:00.000-05:00

Day 1

2008-05-05T15:04:00.003-05:00

First Night

2008-05-05T14:57:00.002-05:00

Florida

2008-05-04T12:52:00.004-05:00

This is my second day in Florida and I am having a great and relaxing time. I spent most of the day so far sitting by the pool reading and soaking up the rays. I have been making video blogs while I am here, but the internet has been way too to slow to ad videos, so I am going to drive into town later and hopefully find some faster wireless. Keep checking back...

The Last snowfall...Hopefully

2008-04-28T16:42:00.004-05:00

The Regular Joe's show went really well on Friday. It felt really good to have people listen to my songs. I think my favorite parts of the night were playing the old High Fashion Queen songs with Brandon and doing a duet with Sarah. I have a pretty cool group of friends, I'm not going to lie.
Here's a picture from the night:

Today is April 28th and it is snowing outside. It almost feels like a practical joke but I don't think it is.

Show

2008-04-16T11:43:00.003-05:00

I am playing my first real show next Friday, you should come. These aren't my silly songs, there more serious. It should be a good time.

If you want to hear some of my songs go here.

This girl named Ashley Brooke Toussant is playing too here's a link to her music. By the way she is way better than me so make sure you listen to her.

Shifty

2008-04-09T07:37:00.002-05:00

It's 7:30am and I am watching the Charlie Hall Band rehearse for the first session of the Shift Student Ministries conference. I must say even though it's ungodly early, they sound marvelous. no pun intended.

More Shift posts to come...

Dodgeball!!!

2008-04-05T14:07:00.000-05:00

Brighter E.P.

2008-04-03T23:47:00.004-05:00

So, my buddy Brandon just put out his second worship cd called the Brighter E.P. and it is very good. It sounds more like a Death Cab or Nada Surf album than a worship album, but it is still very worshipful. The songs are creatively put together and include everything from epic builds to folky hymms. There's even a little message from Brandon's daughter Stella. I would suggest picking it up if you have 5 bucks.
Plus it has really cool artwork.

You can preview it here.

On Repeat

2008-04-02T18:10:00.005-05:00

I have been listening to both of these albums a lot lately.

I have a feeling this album is going to get pretty popular. This is the best album I have heard in a long time. It's a great mix of alt country-folky acoustic-indie rock-epic ballad goodness. Check it out. I think it will speak for itself.

I don't know why I didn't own this album until last week. My Morning Jacket has been a favorite band of mine since I picked up It Still Moves in 2002. Maybe it's the fact that they have recorded some of their albums in my home town of Shelbyville, Ky, or that Jim Jame's voice could put me to sleep during an earthquake, but I just love this band. At Dawn is a mix of bluesy southern rock jams and softly played acoustic songs over a ambient track of cicada and cricket noise that will make you feel like you are sitting on the front porch listening to a friend play you a song. I would suggest giving it a listen.

Tiny Shirts

2008-04-01T10:28:00.000-05:00

When I was in high school I used to wear skin tight shirts, the only problem was that I wasn't very skinny. I thought I looked buff, but I am pretty sure I looked like a fat guy wearing a tiny shirt.

Part In The Hair

2008-03-28T10:34:00.007-05:00

One Easter Sunday when I was about 3 years old my parents took me to church. Being the messy kid I was, on the way to church every week I would some how destroy whatever outfit or hairstyle my mom would have given me that morning. Probably trying to climb out of the moving vehicle so I didn’t have to go to the boring Easter service.

Now my parents knew that I was a little over talkative for my age so they thought it would be safe if they gave bad words like fart, and butt, pee pee, alternative names, so when I said them out loud in public places no one would know what I was talking about.

They renamed butt-bump
They renamed pee pee – tinkle
And they renamed Fart-Part, which still sounds funny to me to this day.

This really set me apart from my friends at the baby sitter.

I would like to go back in time and listen to myself try to impress my friends by saying all of these dirty words that meant nothing to them.

“Hey Timmy, I just parted with my bump! Hahahahahah”

What is he talking about?

Back to Easter. We were walking down the hall in the First Baptist Church of Shelbyville, Kentucky I got my little pastel pink Polo shirt on with khakis and tiny little penny loafers, I was looking good. Most handsome 3 year-old in town. I’m walking down the hall pointing my finger and the 5 year-old girls saying what’s up ladies?

My mom is a very patient lady, probably the sweetest lady on earth, but I think this particular Sunday I was being a little crazy, and my hair was pretty messed up.
So my mom stops us in the hallway pulls a comb out of her purse and says

“Wes come here, I need to put a part in your hair.”

And apparently with a horrified look on my face I said
“Mom, Sick!”

I didn’t want my mom to part in my hair. That’s just a bad mental picture.

Still is

Street Fighter

2008-03-27T09:15:00.008-05:00

When I was in 5th or 6th grade my family went to some resort in Oklahoma for one of my dad’s business conventions. My dad was in meetings all day, so my brother and I would go down to the arcade with my mom and some other friends whose dads worked with my dad and play Street Fighter II until our dads got out of meetings. One day while we were there this big kid who was probably an 8th or 9th grader was trying to hog the machine and was swearing at us and making fun of how bad we were while we were trying to play. I was a pretty easygoing kid so I didn't mind much when he insulted me, but when he insulted my little brother something inside of me snapped and I turned to him and said.
You'd better shut up! (Real tough like)

And he said, "You shut up fatty"

And I said don't call me fatty, or I'll beat you up."

He said, "let's go",

And I said, "You don't want none of this"

He said, "I want all of it."

So we started to make our way outside to fight. At this point I started getting scared. He was way taller than me and a lot older so as we were about to walk out of the sliding doors of the hotel, I yelled to my mom who was chatting with some friends "See ya mom." Obviously my mom yelled back "Wes, where are you going?" and I said, "outside with this guy" and she said "no, just stay in here." She didn't know I was about to go outside and get my butt kicked and I was thankful that she made me stay inside. But, the kid called me a wuss for yelling at my mom and he decided that he wanted to fight me in the hotel lobby. So, I put my tough face on and took a swing at him, which was about 3 feet from hitting his stomach. He countered with a kick to the shin and that was all I needed to fall down and start crying for my mom. The kid started laughing at me and made his way back to the Street Fighter game pushing my younger brother out of the way. I guess my brother decided that getting an extra game of Street Fighter in was more important than getting his brother's back. My mom came over and helped me up and we all went back up to the hotel room where my mom consoled me and gave me some ice for my mildly bruised shin.

(me circa 6th grade)

Not Clever Video

2008-03-21T11:20:00.000-05:00

Clever Video

2008-03-20T23:13:00.000-05:00

It's slow at first, but hang in there.

Marshmallow

2008-03-20T09:29:00.003-05:00

It's supposed to snow tonight and tomorrow. I think we are supposed to get 5 inches or so. I know a wrote a post on here back in the early fall about how I was ready for winter, but I done with it now. I need some warm weather, I need some sun and I most definitely need some color. I look like a marshmallow with a beard.

I'm out of shape too. I think I may start running in the morning before work and school. It sounds nice andI really would like to, but I doubt that will ever happen.

Funny Commercial

2008-03-18T11:29:00.001-05:00

I saw this at the movie theater the other night.

Sweet Post

2008-03-15T12:23:00.006-05:00

I am writing a sweet blog post right now and you are reading it. Peck the keys with my fingers and watch them appear on the illuminated screen. I need to clean my screen. That rhymed, I should consider free style rapping as a career. Or maybe free-style wrapping in the JC Penny's customer service department. It's hard to wrap clothes if their not in a box. So when wrapping you're forced to think "inside the box." Think outside the bun is a clever ad campaign for Taco Bell. It sure beats the "Make a Run for the Border" campaign from the early 90's. I probably made one too many runs for the border in the early 90's. Not the literal border although if I had to choose a border to run to I would have chosen the Canadian border. Why doesn't Canada have any fast food restaurants that are popular in the US? I'm not sure that Canada has their own distinct kind of food though, so it wouldn't work. If I was the president of Canada I would hire a team of culinary professionals to create "Canadian Food". I tried to eat food in Canada once. Here's a video of my attempt:

Improve Your Life

2008-03-12T09:39:00.000-05:00

Loney Dear, Loney Noir

2008-03-06T09:03:00.006-06:00

I got a pretty hefty gift certificate to Itunes this month so I decided to cash it in on some new music. I bought this album last Monday but didn't really get to absorb it until yesterday. It's a catchy album with a lot of interesting analog sounds and fairly decent lyrics. It sounds like a Disney movie soundtrack meets Saddle Creek. I'm surprised it hasn't been reviewed better than it's been.

2008-03-05T11:59:00.003-06:00

Last night our two Arlington Heights Communities got together for the first time since we multiplied last month. It was really great seeing everyone, it kind of felt like a family reunion.

Rubix Cubes

2008-03-04T13:20:00.001-06:00

New Justice Video

2008-03-04T12:46:00.000-06:00

Whoever does Justice's music videos has it going on.

Snowing Cotton Balls

2008-02-25T17:41:00.002-06:00

I am staring out my window right now watching it snow. The flakes are so big they look like cotton balls falling from the sky. It's really pretty.

Graceland

2008-02-23T23:40:00.004-06:00

I got to fulfill a lifetime dream today by visiting Graceland. It was a lot of fun but I wish I could have spent more time looking around.
Here are some pics.

I thought I saw the ghost of Elvis but it was just some Baptist minister dressed up like him.

I Was Born a Ramblin Man

2008-02-21T09:19:00.002-06:00

I feel like I am never at home anymore. After this weekend I will have been out of town 13 days in the month of February. It's nice to be able to travel but I am kind of wanting to sit on my couch and watch some tv. Maybe catch up on some Lost.

I'm flying to Memphis tonight to DJ my friend Greg's wedding. This is my second wedding DJ gig, I hope I don't mess it up. Last time I accidently erased my entire ipod. Oops.

Creepy Video

2008-02-18T22:45:00.001-06:00

I really like this video but I'm not going to lie it's pretty creepy.

Back in Chicago

2008-02-06T17:52:00.000-06:00

The trip home wasn't near as bad a the trip down. Although we did hit some pretty thick fog when we got back into Illinois.

I am sick right now with the flu. It's pretty miserable. My whole body hurts and I am always really hot. I feel like someone put me into a giant clothes dryer and turned it on high. I did feel better today than I did yesterday though so that's good.

Road Trip

2008-02-01T09:57:00.000-06:00

Greetings from Oklahoma. I think it's funny that Oklahoma's slogan is "Oklahoma is OK!" I get the pun but seriously just OK?

I'm still recovering from our sixteen and a half hour trip.
We left Chicago at 4 p.m. Tuesday and immediately hit rush hour traffic, but we were optimistic mostly cause we had enough Crunch 'n Munch to get us to OKC. About 30 minutes out of Chicago we hit a blizzard with 50 mile per hour winds so we decided to slow it down a bit and take our time since we couldn't see 10 feet in front of my car. Then my speedometer broke. FYI, it's not fun to drive in a blizzard when you have no idea how fast you are going.

It ended up taking us about 5 hours to get out of the blizzard and when we did we still had two hours before we got St. Louis. At this point it was around 9 and we still hadn't eaten so we decided to make a pit stop. Just before we got off the highway my "Check Tire Pressure" light came on...Crap. The wind was still blowing hard and the temperature had dropped to 9 degrees so needless to say filling the tire up was pretty miserable. We ended up having to fill my tire up 3 times before it finally went flat in Lebanon Missouri at 1:30 a.m. It took Tyler, Devon and I two hours to change the flat cause my spare was jammed up under my car and we didn't get back on the road until 3:30 a.m.

Two hours outside in 12 degree weather + 3:30 a.m. = suck.

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful except for the couple times I dozed off in Tulsa around sunrise. I am happy we made it safely and I am not looking forward to the ride home.

I took my tire in to get fixed today and it turns out that I needed to have three of them replaced so I just had the shop replace all of them. Not cheap.

Filling up tire first time around. 9 degrees 50 mph Wind. So cold.

No Beard The Pirate

2008-01-27T21:13:00.000-06:00

I shaved my beard off for the first time in two years on Friday. It was the first time I shaved with a razor in 7 or so years. I did a good job shaving though, not a single nic. My face feels so weird and I have kind of become obsessed with touching it. I am expecting a breakout at anytime.
I forgot how cold your face can get without a beard, maybe I need to invest in a scarf.

Freaking Cold

2008-01-24T11:38:00.000-06:00

I got an ice cream headache walking to class this morning. That's not fun.

Expelled

2008-01-23T20:51:00.000-06:00

This looks very interesting.
Click here for for the super trailer.

Thinking About Stuff

2008-01-23T20:15:00.000-06:00

I had a very cool moment today sitting in the Lakeside Auditorium before the all staff meeting. From where I was sitting I could see Scott Bartlow, Tyler Grissom, Brandon Grissom, and Devon Noonan. All sitting in different places in the auditorium. I thought to myself how interesting it was that all of these friends I have made over the last ten or so years were all sitting together in the same room working on the same staff. Growing up I would have never dreamed that I would one day live and work in Chicago. Even five or six years ago if you had told me I would be working at Willow with this particular group of people I would have laughed. I am glad to be where I am right now.
I can't wait to see where I am 10 years from now and 10 years from then.
Life is fun like that.

Juno

2008-01-12T13:02:00.001-06:00

So, I finally saw Juno the other night and I have to say I wasn't as impressed as I had hoped to be. It was a good movie but I guess people hyped it up so much I was waiting to be blown away. I thought the language was very witty and creative though. I definitely heard some words I have never heard before.
I would say it's renter than a ticketer.

I did enjoy the trailer for Be Kind Rewind, which is Michel Gondry and Charlie Kauffman's new film. It looks really good. Kauffman and Gondry are the guys who wrote and directed Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Kauffman wrote and directed Adaptation and Begin John Malkovich and Gondry did Science of Sleep. Needless to say this movie should be really creative.

Spiritual Stuff

2008-01-12T11:33:00.000-06:00

Here is a great online resource for daily meditations and prayer. It's from the apostles church in Seattle which I believe is Karen Ward's church. It's a great way to start your day at work if you have a hard time getting up in time to read or pray. I know I do.

Two-Thousand and Eight

2008-01-01T18:51:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year.
I'm watching USC destroy Illinois in the Rose Bowl right now. They look freakishly good and I am glad OU isn't playing them in a bowl game. I am going to be sad to see college football go this year.I love it. Only seven months until it starts again.

It's really hard to believe that it's already 2008. It's even harder to believe that I am going to be 26 years-old this year. Four years until 30.Yikes!

Christmas Card

2007-12-15T11:36:00.000-06:00

I hope you all are having a great Christmas season. I hope that you will get to take time to stop and think about (as cliche as this may sound) the true meaning of the season and I hope God makes his presence known to you in the coming weeks.
God is good!

-wes

Got an Itch

2007-12-12T20:03:00.000-06:00

Do you ever get an itch somewhere but when you go to scratch it you can't find it? I have one on the back of my knee right now, but when I scratch it, I can't seem to locate where it's coming from. The itch is still there and no matter where I scratch nothing seems to satisfy it. It's killing me. If I think about it too much I start to go crazy. This must be what hell is like.

Christmas Break Come Soon

2007-12-10T15:00:00.000-06:00

These last few weeks have been crazy busy with finals and work. Last week I worked over 40 hours and studied almost 30. I have to say that I am ready to do nothing for a while. I am planning on catching up on some good books and spending some more quality time with the family on my time off. I need to catch up on some blog reading too, I just realized.

The longer I stay in Chicago the more I miss my friends here over the breaks. I wish I could spend more time with the Elevate staff and my house group over the holidays.

Right now I am sitting in the library staring out the window, watching high school students pelt passing college students with snowballs. You would think the high school kids would be scared of the older college students, but given the neighborhood North Park is in, it's visa versa. Pretty amusing...

Winter Storm

2007-12-01T14:40:00.000-06:00

It's hard to believe that it's already December. It feels like a week I was sweating my butt off at Summer Camp, and wishing for cooler weather. We are getting our first winter storm of the year today. We're supposed to get a half inch of ice and a couple inches of snow. I love snow this time of the year, it gets me in the "Christmas Spirit", whatever that is.
I have been listening to the album called Fields & Floods by Joshua James lately. It's a collection of six traditional Christmas songs and one that he wrote coincidently called Winter Storm. If you have four dollars to spare I would suggest downloading it off of itunes this Holiday season.

Almost Gone

2007-11-26T17:07:00.000-06:00

Well, I am about to leave the Land of the SUV's (Oklahoma). Seriously, everyone drives an SUV here. It has been a pretty good trip, lots of food, lots of relaxing and lots of time with the family, which is what I had hoped for. I am excited to get back to Chicago and see my friends. I feel like I haven't been at work in a month and I'm anxious to get back there. I really missed having house church last week. I love what God is doing there and I'm looking forward to see all of those guys this week too.
I am going to miss my dog though.

Going Home

2007-11-19T17:29:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow I am heading home for Thanksgiving. I haven't been in Oklahoma since February, and I am kind of missing it. I am looking forward to seeing my family, friends and dog(Arlo).
I am probably going to put on at least 30-40 pounds while I am home. My mom is a great cook and I plan on taking full advantage of that. Plus there's Taco Bueno and Steve's Rib, I can't pass those up.
I'm not looking forward to dealing with the airport again. Especially since it's Thanksgiving week. I heard that they are expecting 5 million more people to fly this thanksgiving break than last year. That doesn't seem possible to me. The flights from Atlanta and back went by really fast because I read the whole way. I plan to do that again. Any good recommendations for books to read?

Atlanta

2007-11-16T19:53:00.001-06:00

So far Atlanta has been fun, although the trip here kind of sucked. First off I was delayed two hours, which is pretty typical of O'Hare, but I read the whole way down so it went by fast. After I got into the airport I went and picked up my rental car and headed downtown. When I got to the hotel both of the parking garages were full because R. Kelly was putting on a concert across the street. I ended up driving around for an hour looking for an open garage and finally found one around 1am. The only problem was it was a mile from the hotel and not in a very good section of town. Needless to say, I made it without getting mugged, but I have to admit I was a little nervous. I know, I'm a wuss.

I haven't gotten to go to much of the actual conference yet ,but I am going to try and make it to some breakouts tomorrow. I ran into a ton of friends from Oklahoma today that I haven't seen in a long time. It was really good to see them. I also saw some friends that I've met over the years at different conferences. I think my favorite part of the conferences I go to is seeing friends. I saw Jeanie Stevens, who's great, Jen and Jay Howver who have their two little girls Chloe and Noelle with them, and I also saw my buddy Alden Ellis who I am going to try and hang out with tomorrow. I saw Shane Claiborne a couple times today too, which was pretty cool. He is teaching right now, but I have already heard him give this talk so I decided to head back to the room and relax for a bit. It's been a long but good day.

The hotel we are staying in is pretty cool, but I get a little uneasy on our balcony. It's 12 stories up and the railing is pretty rickety. We are connected to the CNN center, and I am thinking about trying to sneak in to a taping of Anderson Cooper or something. Maybe I can walk behind his desk with my shirt off, that would be pretty funny.
Here are some photos:

Flying

2007-11-15T15:34:00.000-06:00

I am flying to Atlanta in a couple hours to hang out at the National Youth Workers Convention for a couple of days and I am pretty excited. The only thing is I hate flying. I hate every part about it: checking in, going through security, sitting in the airport(although I do like to people watch), and i detest the flying part. Millions of tons of steel are not supposed to fly through the air. I am sure it will be a good flight, but I am ready to get that part over and enjoy the sweet winds of the south. I'm not sure how sweet the winds are in Atlanta.

Attack of the Lady Bugs

2007-11-12T14:09:00.000-06:00

I guess since it's unseasonably warm today the lady bugs decided to come back out and hang out on my balcony. I don't mind them too much as long as they don't bite me, and I don't think lady bugs bite, right? My roommate Jared was freaking out earlier because they were landing in his hair. I told him not to aggravate them, because they will shoot lady bug venom out of their eyes. He didn't believe me.

Funk

2007-11-12T13:59:00.001-06:00

School's got me in a funk right now. It's taking too much time from my week. I got done with Elevate yesterday and drove to the city for four hours worth of group project meetings and I have already been working on a group presentation for four hours today.
I wish I had tried harder my freshman year at UCO. If I had I wouldn't be doing this right now, that's for sure. I would probably be playing Guitar Hero 3 or walking around downtown. Oh well, it will be over someday.

The Great Outdoors

2007-11-09T16:33:00.000-06:00

I have been craving the outdoors lately. I have the urge to get in my car and drive far away from everything, and just sit with God. Ever since I was a little kid I have loved the outdoors. I used to have my dad set up our tent in the back yard just so I could sleep outside even on school nights. I spent most of my jr. high days at our neighborhood pond fishing for bass and catfish, and in high school and college I frequently went camping at Lake Arcadia and Turner Falls. Something about being away from computers, teachers, busy highways and large masses of people fills me up. Since I moved to Chicago in 2004 I haven't gotten to spend much time in the outdoors. Occasionally in the summer I will go fishing on the river or go out on a friends boat, but not enough to get my fix. So I think I need to do something about it.
After reading Matt Judkins post about God calling us into the wilderness to meet with him in solitude, I couldn't help from wondering if that what God is doing in me right now. I have been in a spiritually dry season for a while and my hope and prayer is that God will bring me out of it soon. I am very hungry right now for God and my hunch is that I need to spend some time with him away from the noise and busyness of Chicago.
Next week I am flying to Atlanta for the National Youth Workers Convention, and two days after I get back I am flying to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving. I think while I am home I am going to try and camp for a night or two down at Turner Falls or at Lake Arcadia. Hopefully it will be good for my soul.

Ryan Adams

2007-11-09T16:31:00.000-06:00

Check out this performance from Ryan Adams on the Late Show.
Make sure you watch the second half.

Good Small Group

2007-11-08T09:15:00.000-06:00

Last night Sasa, one of the Springers friends from Prague in the Czech Republic, joined our small group. We sat around the fire pit and talked about God, church and culture for over 3 hours. At one point it started to snow on us which I believe was the first snow of the year. It was a great experience. Sasa is translating the bible into Czech which hasn't been done in nearly 40 years. Prague is the most atheistic city in the world, but people there are hungry for God and really interested in what he is doing. I felt really blessed to get to talk with him and listen to his stories. He is a true hero.

Music and Memories

2007-11-05T11:35:00.000-06:00

What is it about music that can take you back in time? Sometimes it's to a sad place, sometimes it's to a great memory, and sometimes it's a place you thought you forgotten. When I listen to the album Running on Empty by Jackson Browne, I feel like I am in the back seat of my dad's grey Chevy Lumina with my brother riding down I64 in Kentucky. When I listen to Nick Drake's Bryter Layter album I feel like I am in my bed room in my first college apartment looking out the window watching squirrels. It's weird stuff. I wonder if the music I am listening to right now will someday bring me back to Chicago? Probably so.

Arlington Heights

2007-11-04T09:59:00.000-06:00

I was a little nervous last June when I moved out of my old town house by the river, that I would never enjoy living in a place as much as I did there. I didn't need to be though, because Arlington Heights is great. Since I moved out of my parents house in 2000 I have lived in nine different houses. I guess that makes me a lazy drifter or something. None of those places have been as fun to live in as Arlington Heights. I've got a movie theatre, a train station, numerous restaurants, a piano bar and a Star Bucks with in walking distance of my place. Not to mention a Horse Racing Track two miles down the road. It' the perfect blend of city and suburban life. I really love it here.

Okie Noodling

2007-11-01T10:52:00.000-05:00

This post goes out to one of my favorite films. If you have never seen the documentary Okie Noodling, you need to. Noodling is a sport that is only legal in 3 states, Oklahoma being one of them. The sport involves going under water, sticking your hands into holes, and then pulling out monster catfish. The movie features several "hand fishermen" from Oklahoma who are very entertaining and very redneck. The soundtrack of the movie is done by the Flaming Lips who are also from Oklahoma. They do a great job of creating a perfect blend of phychadelic rock and country music. If you don't mind seeing shirtless rednecks roll around in muddy water with giant fish, then you will enjoy this movie.
Check it out!

Interesting Video

2007-10-28T10:36:00.000-05:00

Sir Ken Robinson talks about how educational systems need to encourage creativity rather that subdue it. He makes the case that the teaching the arts in school is just as important as teaching math, science and literature. Check it out.

Road Trip to Iowa

2007-10-21T14:21:00.000-05:00

This weekend Scott Bartlow and I drove to Ames, Iowa to see the Sooners play Iowa State. We got to Iowa around 11pm on Friday night and after a 6 hour drive and some Village Inn breakfast we were ready to hit the hay. The only problem was that all the hotels were packed and we were having a little trouble finding a room. We went to three hotels before we found a vacancy. It was their last room left and it was a smoking king size.Yay! B-low and I both slept terribly, mostly because of his snoring and my sleep walking. We got up on Saturday ate a free breakfast and headed over to the stadium to meet up with one of my dad's buddy's who had some tickets for us. Turns out he is the director of Sooner Sports which handles all of the advertising and sponsorship for Oklahoma University's sports. We hung out at his RV for a bit and got to mingle to Joe Castiglione, who is the Athletic Director of OU, we felt cool. The game wasn't that exciting though. Oklahoma's offense played pretty bad not scoring a single point in the first half. But in the second half they out scored Iowas State 17-0 winning us the game. We decided to head home home right after the game but not before stopping at Fazoli's for the mediocre Italian fast food. B-low loves Fazoli's for their free garlic bread sticks and microwaved pizza. I hate Fazoli's for their diarrhea causing "entrees", but I pretended I liked it. There's nothing worse than a grumpy Bartlow on a road trip.
After that we loaded up on iced coffee's and beef jerky and headed back home. The trip home was pretty uneventful. Bartlow slept most of the way and I listened to an entire Garth Brooks live album. What is happening to my musical taste?
ww
Here are some pictures from the trip:

House Church

2007-10-17T16:26:00.000-05:00

For the lat 2 months a group of people have been meeting in my house every Tuesday night for House Church. The group consists mostly of 20 somethings from Arlington Heights, but we have a few stragglers from Des Plaines and Lake Zurich. We usually eat, worship, study the Bible and catch up on how each person's week has gone. I really love this group of people, I look forward to having them over every week. I have been thinking about and praying for a group like this for a long time, and it's cool to see how God has put it together. I am praying that God will use our group shine a light in Arlington Heights, and that we can help each other know God better.
ww

Dude's Day

2007-10-15T19:12:00.000-05:00

What is it about Fall that makes me feel more alive? I know that sounds cheesy but I am serious, I love Fall. I love going downtown in the Fall, I love reading more in the Fall, and if you check my blogs, for some reason I love blogging more in the Fall. I don't if that makes me more alive, but I do feel different this time of year.
Today I went downtown with Charlie, Andrew and Jon for what we called Dudes Day. I really had a great time with those guys, they crack me up. We ate some pizza at this place called Piece, which is a great name for a pizza place if you ask me. I've been there four or five time and every time it's delicious. If you are ever in Wicker Park and hungry go there. They've got three different styles of pizza; Red(your basic mozzarella pizza with tomato sauce), White(an olive oil base with Parmesan)and Plain(no mozzarella just marinara and Parmesan). I would suggest the Red, but Andrew had the White and it looked pretty dang good. It's just east of Milwaukee Ave. on North Ave, check it out.
After that we headed to Lincoln Park to check out the new Threadless store. I'm not going to lie, I was a little disappointed. I think their website is way better. Although I did like the Art gallery/design classroom they had upstairs.
Cheers to Dude's Day.
ww
Here are some pics from the afternoon.

See this Movie

2007-10-13T14:27:00.000-05:00

I saw this movie Into the Wild last night. Wow, what a great movie! Rarely do I walk out of a movie feeling the way I did last night. I wanted to get in my car and drive west and live off the land for the rest of my life. I think I could be happy eating berries and squirrel for the rest of my life. Maybe not.
The movie does have some nudity, so if you see it be prepared to look away.
ww

Back To School

2007-07-24T14:55:00.000-05:00

Well, it's official I am a student again. I finished up my enrollment at North Park University this morning and I have to say I am a little nervous. It's going to be weird going back to school I think. My adviser was telling me about some boat dance for new students and I couldn't help but laugh when I imagined myself on a boat with a bunch of 18 year olds dancing. That would be pretty awkward.
I am really looking forward to taking some bible classes while I am there. I hope I can get a couple with Scot McKnight, he is a brilliant man. I almost enrolled in Intro to Youth Ministry,which would be pretty funny after working in youth ministry for 7 years, but it didn't fit my schedule. I think that would be a pretty fun, I'd probably learn a lot too.
I hope I do well juggling school with work. I am taking some difficult classes, so I hope I don't burn myself out. Scott is being flexible with my schedule so I can make it happen, which is really cool of him. I would like to graduate as Valedictorian in 2008 but I don't think that is going to happen because had to use spell check to spell Valedictorian.
adios
ww

Come on Fall.

2007-07-22T16:51:00.001-05:00

Don't get me wrong, I love summertime at Elevate but I am ready for the fall. I am so ready to have our leaders back and all of our students who have been away on vacation. The is so much more energy around Elevate in the school yeah, although our new 6th graders have had more energy than any other class since I've been here.
Summer camp is less than two weeks away, and I am pretty excited about it. I think this will be the best one we have done since we've moved to Spring Hill. We were planned out a lot further ahead than we were last year, and having our new programming staff members has helped us dramatically. Elevate is a good place to work right now! I am thankful to God for placing me here.
ww

Laid Back Weekend

2007-07-17T13:21:00.001-05:00

We did our first outdoor weekend at Elevate last weekend and it was a lot of fun. Since we didn't have projectors or screens outside I didn't have to do much preparing other than getting supplies for our games and filling up water balloons. The first game we played was called "Launch a water balloon up to the top floor and see if we can scare the people in the book store." Clever name I know. Saturday night it failed miserably, mostly because I didn't try it out before hand, but we definitely scared some folks on Sunday morning. The next game was called "Smear whip cream on someone's face and shoot it off with a Super Soaker." I really need to get more creative on my names. We had two students stand out in the crowd with Cool Whip smeared all over their face and had their partner's clean them off with a water gun. The first one clean got a prize. This game went over really well. This goes to show that whip cream makes any youth group game fun. Jason's message and Andrew's worship went well this weekend too. Although Jason's Dale Earnhood story wasn't as funny to the students as it was to him. Sorry J. I thought it was funny. I think the students liked being outside, it was a good change of scenery. I am going to push for doing Elevate outside more often in the summer.
ww

Everybody Dance Now!

2007-06-25T00:39:00.000-05:00

For some reason I have started to like dancing lately. I can't dance a lick, but I have been enjoying watching it. Mosaic Church had their arts team at our church last week doing a presentation called Scribble. It was a dance/drama/musical/teaching piece that encouraged people to express who God created them to be through the talents and gifts they have been given and to do it in a out of the box kind of way. Hence the title "Scribble". I think that's what turned me on to the whole dancing thing. If you've never had a chance to see it I would suggest checking it out. (I looked for a video on Youtube but nothing came up.) I love the creative elements that come out of Mosaic, they are very original and quality. Hopefully someday I will make it out to LA and visit their church. I also have a man-crush on Erwin Mcmanus, so it would be nice to meet him too.

Nostalgia

2007-06-14T18:40:00.000-05:00

When I was 8 years old, my brother and I knew every word to this song. Every time it said the word ass, we would yell it out really loud and crack up laughing.Then my dad would act like he was mad at us and then rewind it for us and play it again.
Those were the days.

Dang

2007-05-18T11:23:00.001-05:00

Depicts two million plastic beverage bottles, the number used in the US every five minutes.