In an odd way, being home again is proving to be just as unique of an experience as moving to Bowling Green. I had taken plenty of college classes before, so there wasn't really anything new for me in that aspect. I had gone to visit all my older siblings while they were in their dorms and apartments in college, so I had a glimpse of what 'live away from home' experience was all about. What I have never experienced, other than coming back from camp or Alive, was what it would be like to come home after and extended period of time.

All of my tasks and priorities which perpetually drove my life forward while at BG are completely nonexistent here at home. There are no meetings, no classes, no papers, no projects, and no ridiculous assignments due. My phone's calendar literally has "No upcoming appointments." I've not seen that in nine months. My concept of irony is certainly not being over sensitive when I claim that the most challenging thing about being at home is finding motivation in an environment which lacks challenges. Today I'm going to mow the law, not because I have to but because I have nothing else I have to do, and maybe fix the tire on my car, not because I have to but I am simply tired of "not fixing" it.

A big part of my life at Bowling Green has been the community there, something I am proud of. I'm not an extrovert by any measuring scale, nonetheless I became intentional about being relational (extra point for using Cru words). This outward focus has unfortunately morphed into text messages and wall posts because of the distance between my lovely community and myself. A change which I am exceeding and increasingly unhappy with.

Of course the summer will have its legitimate challenges. I will be taking classes from University of Findlay, classes which I am well aware will be dominating my time and attention because of their intensity. However, I am not content with these classes being the sum and total of my summer. Although not from any of my teachers or instructors, I found inspiration and motivation in BG. Now I'm looking for a way to keep it from going to waste.

This is not a blog created to search for complements or motivation from people. The point is, that I am separated from the tasks which drive me to be motivated, the environment which distracts me and thus causes my attention to sharpen, and the people who make being motivated worth it. By this point you may notice the apparent lack of God in this blog. Although I do not deny, God has been involved in virtually every aspect of my struggles and triumphs in BG, more so than at any point previously in my life. I seek to distance myself from the ironic-ly surface-y use of "God" as the answer to all of these questions. I would then be forced to concluded that there was no betterment of myself in my time spent in BG, simply that God did everything for me. Certainly God is paramount in my life goals, but I find no satisfaction in God completing these goals for me and, I believe, neither does He. Although His help is oft asked for and finally under appreciated.

Well, change is here.  Thank you Mr. President.  College campuses that want to get federal funding for renovations will be unable to do so if their buildings house activities of faith based organizations. 

"In order to receive stimulus money our public schools will have to
expel after-school Bible clubs and weekend religious meetings," says
the Christian attorney. "People who want to speak about their faith
will be unwelcome in public places."
— Mat Staver

See the full article here.

Racism: Discriminatory behavior towards a member of another race.

I've seen so many posters, comments, and fliers that either quote or say something unarguably similar to, "My President is black" (often followed by cheers or other expressions of joy when applicable).  Granted and noted, this is a statement of fact. Barack Hussein Obama, sworn in as President of the United States of America by John Roberts on the 20th of January 2009, is black.  However, these individuals are promoting Obama's blackness, not his fiscal policy or his stand on stem cell research, which are both more important to me than the color of his skin.  I voted in the 2008 election based on the political positions the candidates have assumed during their careers, something which I studied indepth.  It strikes me that voting for 'other reasons' falls into another category of thought.  (see the aformentioned definition given at the top of this blog)

Jonathan Michael Shaffer

My complements to Katie for sending me this.

Why is it that one set of screwed up Christian dialogue is enough to turn a person off to the concept of faith for the rest of their lives? I've been hurt by women, white people, and dentists but every day I interact with someone who falls into one of those categories. It seems like there is a connection between all Christians when it comes to a misplaced word or action. Not only do people commonly hold us all to blame but Christians themselves are then subject to another form of apathy. We're afraid of turning someone off to Christianity so we do nothing and we say nothing. I'm not accusing anyone of anything I'm not guilty of. So in the modern American Christian world we seem to have missed the important point: "and they will know we are Christians by our love".

....................

Today has been an interesting day.  I got the Pandora radio service working on my phone.  That was definitely a positive moment.  (Try it out if you have a WinMo Phone)  I’ve been surfing a bit in the past hour seeing what I can discover.  I must say, my search has not been fruitless.  I’ve come across some cool information such as Tiger Woods’ return to golf, Palm’s new phone, and that CNN and Fox news post breaking news on Twitter .

I don’t know if anyone else has looked outside today, if you haven’t check out this snow.  I imagine BG is getting hit worse than Carey is so hopefully it will all be gone by the time I get back up there on Sunday.  That’s right, break is almost over already.  Actually, it has been quite a substantial break but I’m feeling a little lazy and really not in the mood to resume working.  I got like seven emails over break and I really enjoyed not getting that many every single day.  School emails just really aren’t an appreciated part of my inbox, go figure.

The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan has been my most recent fascination (I spelled that correctly on the first try without any help from Word).  I’m just tipping the iceberg of the seventh book in the series.  I’m quite impressed by the books, individually and as a whole.  If you enjoy extremely long epic fantasy novels than you would do well to look into these books, they have my stamp of approval.     

I haven’t previously gone far in the way of in-blog-hyperlinks, I’d like to know if you take advantage of them.  If no one is using them than I probably won’t take the time to include them anymore.  Potentially I won’t even do it then, it depends on my laziness index on the given day that I’m typing the blog. 

Gran Torino hit the theaters today.  I’m excited about this movie in the way that I haven’t been excited about a movie in a long time.  I really want to go see it so if you make it to the movies before me please be sure to let me know what you thought of it.  I’m going to go see the movie anyway but I’ll appreciate the input. 

Peace,

Jonathan

I'm currently walking back to Darrow from my Geology session and since it's a pretty long and boring walk, I thought I may as well be blogging. Today Katie and I drove up to downtown Toledo to the main branch of the library. We met up with her dad for lunch and then he gave us a tour of the library and introduced us to a few of his coworkers. It was an enjoyable experience for me because we got to tour through the areas of the library that no one normally gets to see. The library is a beautiful building for sure. After that we went to the Toledo museum of art and the glass pavilion. I got to see some of the works that I talked about in my history of western art class so that was neat to see it all in person. There were some pieces from famous architects of which I have recently become familiar. The highlight for me was a custom made Stienway concert grand piano. If I can find a picture of it I will put it up for all to see. The glass pavilion was something that I have talked and heard about in class so I was excited to see it. The buiding was an exibit in itself and had it been empty, I would still have wanted to go and check it out. However, it was full of thousands of fantastic glassworks. Many of the pieces were stunningly beautiful. I was very pleased to go to Toledo today. The food was good, the sights were spendid, and the company was awesome. Jonathan

The Union, November 30, 2005

LOS ANGELES—The Recording Industry Association of America announced Tuesday that it will be taking legal action against anyone discovered telling friends, acquaintances, or associates about new songs, artists, or albums. "We are merely exercising our right to defend our intellectual properties from unauthorized peer-to-peer notification of the existence of copyrighted material," a press release signed by RIAA anti-piracy director Brad Buckles read. "We will aggressively prosecute those individuals who attempt to pirate our property by generating 'buzz' about any proprietary music, movies, or software, or enjoy same in the company of anyone other than themselves." RIAA attorneys said they were also looking into the legality of word-of-mouth "favorites-sharing" sites, such as coffee shops, universities, and living rooms.

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/43029

The Emperor in his speech to the Senate: "In order to ensure our security and continuing stability, the Republic will be reorganized into the first Galactic Empire, for a safe and secure society which I assure you will last for ten thousand years."

Senator Padmé comments: "So this is how liberty dies... with thunderous applause."