If you live in or around the Austin area, the odds are that you will visit Mozart's at some point. I work at Mozart's, it's a good job, pays the bills, the free coffee is nice.
Mozart's is an Austin "hot spot"...on any given night we can be very very busy. The following things are a few tips that will make your time in line and while ordering go more smoothly. More importiantly, things behind the bar will go more smoothly as well which definitely affects the quality of our products.
Here they are, these are for the most part just minor annoyances but on busy nights the effects are amplified:
#1 Mozart's is not Starbucks. As a result, we do not have frappuchinos...if we sold frappuchinos, Starbucks would sue us. Our sizes are not Starbucks sizes, they are Small and Large, spelled out in English and in a non-deceptive way. If you order a "tall" drink at Mozart's the first thing that comes to mind for us is that you want a large drink. That is because at Mozart's we're not trying to screw you over and make a small drink sound large by giving it a name like "tall".
#2 Don't order a Macchiato and expect to recieve what is called a macchiato at Starbucks. A macchiato at Starbucks is not a macchiato but simply a caramel/vanilla latte. A real macchiato is simply espresso and cream and that's what we serve at Mozart's if you order a macchiato.
#3 When ordering a drink it is best to specify if you want that drink to be small or large, because they have different prices and we have to push different buttons, make a different number of espresso shots, charge a different price, use a different cup, and steam a different amount of milk depending on whether or not the size is small or large. If you do not specify a size then we'll ask you but that gets annoying when you have to do it 100 times a night.
#4 If there is a sign on the second register that says "Sorry this register is temporarilly closed, please vist the other register", then the register is temporarilly closed and you need to place your order at the other register. On certian nights we only have three people behind the bar, which unfortuntely makes opening the second register virtually impossible, reguardless of how long the line is.
#5 Espresso is simply espresso. It is highly concentrated coffee that comes in a little cup. This is importiant to know before you order an espresso, only to be miffed at the tiny cup that it comes in. Espresso is the stuff that we put into many of our drinks, such as lattes. If you don't want straght espresso then a latte is recommended.
#6 If someone behind they bakery case asks if you want anything from the bakery, they aren't kidding. If you order a drink they will have to refer you to the register where drink orders are taken because that's where all of the extremely noticable drink stuff is (I'll admit to commiting this act myself out of ignorance when I went to Mozart's before I started working there).
#7 Concerning tipping: Tipping at a coffee shop is more of a nice thing to do rather than a requirement (as it would be at a resturant). We don't make $2.13 an hour, however we in most cases don't make more than $6-7 an hour so we rely heavily on tips to help us pay the bills in Austin's high (by Texas standards) standard of living. Most people at Mozart's would probably agree with the following philosophy on who should and shouldn't tip and when.
- If you are a College Student, especially one without a job but needing one and are not funded heavily by your parents or other sources (A situation that I have been all too familar with), you definitely don't have to tip, you're paying enough for the coffee and dessert (which you probably shouldn't spend money on if you don't have a job) itself in this situation.
- If you are a student with an economic background such that your parents are paying for your education and giving you money to spend freely, espeically if you have one of their credit cards, then you should tip...because you're not tipping, your parents are. The unfortunte problem here is that often students in this socioeconoic situation have not had to have a job and have little understanding of what it is like to pay the bills (Sorority and, to a lesser extent, fraternity type students are generally the least likely to tip from my observations even though they are often the most economically free students) and so they don't see the need to tip, perhaps because they assume that our economic situations are no different than theirs...or because their parent's haven't yet taught them the concepts of financial responsibiltiy and generosity because they have never faced financial adversity. Good evidence for this theory can be found in the fact that women under 30 by far tip less than men of the same age, often because of the "daddy's girl" syndrome that exists in suburban America today.
- If you are a student that has a job but are financially independent then tip at your discretion. If you have a job you are probably more likely to tip anyway because you understand what it is like to work for a living.
If you are still reading then thanks and I hope I didn't come off as whiny or complaining...I'm just trying to put the knowledge out there because most people simply do not know some of these things and, thus, cannot be greatly faulted for doing them.
Friday, December 31, 2004
Love
I always place conditions on my ability to love and the love that I give to people. Why is this? I want nothing more than to just love people reguardless of who they are or what they've done for me...so why can't I do this? Why am I such a jerk to people I don't know? Why do I automatically assume that people I don't know, or don't know well, are jerks themselves. God calls us not only to just love him but to love our "neighbor"...and by neighbor he means everyone. Often I won't show love to people because they are richer than me, better looking than I percive myself to be, have a boyfriend already, are from a particular part of the State as well as a particular part of the Country, because they drive a wastefully large vehicle, because they cut me off in traffic or run a stop or yield sign to get ahead of me, because they listen to music that I consider to be awful, because they have a strong Texas or Southern accent or dialect, because they watch certian sports or tv shows that I think are stupid...and so many more conditions that I often use to justify not loving people.
My attitude is so wrong and I know...but it's been such a strong part of me for as long as I can remember and I don't know how to change it. God help me.
- Jordan
My attitude is so wrong and I know...but it's been such a strong part of me for as long as I can remember and I don't know how to change it. God help me.
- Jordan
The Problem With "Red America" Pt. 1
A more complete title for this could be "the problem with people's attitudes and beliefs in Red America".
Most of you have heard many allusions to Red vs. Blue American countles times by down and a definition of the two exisits that is general enough that I should be able to skip that part and get on to what I have been thinking about lately.
Red America, I grew up there, almost everyone in Texas is from there (with the exception of Austin, which is very much a colony of blue America lost in a sea of deep red). Christian, Conservative "moral" values dominated the governmental and political philosophy in these sections of the country. Values of Blue America...places such as the Northeast and the Bay Area are villified and are hardly considered values at all by those in Red America.
I'll illustrate what I have to say by drawing on where I grew up, the Killeen-Temple area, which is home to Fort Hood, the largest military instillation in the United States.
The prescence of such an instillation in Bell County anchors an unbridled sense of patriotisim and Americanism. Yellow, or red white and blue ribbons are found on the back every other SUV, car and truck. Churches are abundant and almost everyone "goes to church". A vast majority of Bell County residents support George W. Bush, and few would even dare to question the Administration's policy in the Iraq War. The Republican Party holds every major and minor county and municipal office...a single party system dominates and almost every candidate that survives the Republican Primary is pretty much guaranteed little or non-existent opposition in November. In Killeen-Temple it is beyond difficult to find anyone who is a member of the ACLU or the Sierra Club. Liberals and other non-conservatives exist, in small numbers, and in many cases are enconsed deep in the political closet. Which brings me to the first problem that I have noticed with Red American attitudes.
#1 People in Red America, particularly young people, tend to believe things only because their parents or peers believe them.
"I voted for Bush because my parents did". I have heard this statement many times from people back in Bell County as well as students from Red American backgrounds at Texas State. (more to come on this problem when I get the chance)
#2 People in Red America tend to equate holding conservative values and voting Republican with divine truth and religous beliefs.
"If you're a Christian you should be a conservative Republican". Now I'll be the first to point out that Christians in general have good reasons to vote Republican and hold socially conservative values, but it is far from a requirement for being a Christian. I have known strong christians who do not hold conservative political viewpoints, and I have known far too many christians who think that it is a basically sin to vote Democratic. It's not. The assumption that God would vote Republican in a U.S. political election is flawed and a dangerous connection of politics and theology. God sees the flaws in both parties just as he sees the flaws in everything that man has created. Of course I see a similar flaw in the "Jesus is a liberal" doctrine espoused by some on the left, but I am addressing Red America today so I'm not going to get into that. I believe that Jesus's teaching are more populistic (socially conservative, economically liberal) than liberal or conservative. Again that's a topic for another post.
A good example of the problem I see here occured on November 3, the day after election. A dozen or so people from Campus Crusade and I were eating lunch at the Baptist Student Center, which provides free lunch to students on Wendsday. The attitude was generally one of relief and joy at the results of the previous night's election. I announced at the table that I had just heard from my friend that Kerry had conceded to Bush, which was met by a joyful reaction by some to extreme jubulance by one girl. A friend of mine, who I know didn't vote for Bush, is not a conservative, but is a solid and growing Christian, sat there silently. By the time that everyone was leaving he had seemed to lost patience at the Bush love fest happening around him and announced that he had voted for Kerry...after a couple of other friends of mine began to grill him saying things along the line of "how could you vote for Kerry"...he seemed to get fed up and basically shouted for all to hear "I VOTED FOR KERRY" as he and I walked out the door. This was met with a shouted reply from a girl at one of the tables "you shouldn't say that at the BSM". I wanted to reply and say something nasty in response because at this point because I was probably as pissed as my friend even though I had voted for Bush. I saw the sheer shallowness that the heterogenious political climate of Texas (which the exception of Austin) has fostered, and more importiantly, an example of the innappropriate connection between Christian faith and voting Republican. That day was probably the most disgusted that I had been with the entire attitude toward the election...and that's saying alot because I was pretty disgusted for most of the past year at the way both sides acted.
To be contenued...I erased a large part of this by accident
Most of you have heard many allusions to Red vs. Blue American countles times by down and a definition of the two exisits that is general enough that I should be able to skip that part and get on to what I have been thinking about lately.
Red America, I grew up there, almost everyone in Texas is from there (with the exception of Austin, which is very much a colony of blue America lost in a sea of deep red). Christian, Conservative "moral" values dominated the governmental and political philosophy in these sections of the country. Values of Blue America...places such as the Northeast and the Bay Area are villified and are hardly considered values at all by those in Red America.
I'll illustrate what I have to say by drawing on where I grew up, the Killeen-Temple area, which is home to Fort Hood, the largest military instillation in the United States.
The prescence of such an instillation in Bell County anchors an unbridled sense of patriotisim and Americanism. Yellow, or red white and blue ribbons are found on the back every other SUV, car and truck. Churches are abundant and almost everyone "goes to church". A vast majority of Bell County residents support George W. Bush, and few would even dare to question the Administration's policy in the Iraq War. The Republican Party holds every major and minor county and municipal office...a single party system dominates and almost every candidate that survives the Republican Primary is pretty much guaranteed little or non-existent opposition in November. In Killeen-Temple it is beyond difficult to find anyone who is a member of the ACLU or the Sierra Club. Liberals and other non-conservatives exist, in small numbers, and in many cases are enconsed deep in the political closet. Which brings me to the first problem that I have noticed with Red American attitudes.
#1 People in Red America, particularly young people, tend to believe things only because their parents or peers believe them.
"I voted for Bush because my parents did". I have heard this statement many times from people back in Bell County as well as students from Red American backgrounds at Texas State. (more to come on this problem when I get the chance)
#2 People in Red America tend to equate holding conservative values and voting Republican with divine truth and religous beliefs.
"If you're a Christian you should be a conservative Republican". Now I'll be the first to point out that Christians in general have good reasons to vote Republican and hold socially conservative values, but it is far from a requirement for being a Christian. I have known strong christians who do not hold conservative political viewpoints, and I have known far too many christians who think that it is a basically sin to vote Democratic. It's not. The assumption that God would vote Republican in a U.S. political election is flawed and a dangerous connection of politics and theology. God sees the flaws in both parties just as he sees the flaws in everything that man has created. Of course I see a similar flaw in the "Jesus is a liberal" doctrine espoused by some on the left, but I am addressing Red America today so I'm not going to get into that. I believe that Jesus's teaching are more populistic (socially conservative, economically liberal) than liberal or conservative. Again that's a topic for another post.
A good example of the problem I see here occured on November 3, the day after election. A dozen or so people from Campus Crusade and I were eating lunch at the Baptist Student Center, which provides free lunch to students on Wendsday. The attitude was generally one of relief and joy at the results of the previous night's election. I announced at the table that I had just heard from my friend that Kerry had conceded to Bush, which was met by a joyful reaction by some to extreme jubulance by one girl. A friend of mine, who I know didn't vote for Bush, is not a conservative, but is a solid and growing Christian, sat there silently. By the time that everyone was leaving he had seemed to lost patience at the Bush love fest happening around him and announced that he had voted for Kerry...after a couple of other friends of mine began to grill him saying things along the line of "how could you vote for Kerry"...he seemed to get fed up and basically shouted for all to hear "I VOTED FOR KERRY" as he and I walked out the door. This was met with a shouted reply from a girl at one of the tables "you shouldn't say that at the BSM". I wanted to reply and say something nasty in response because at this point because I was probably as pissed as my friend even though I had voted for Bush. I saw the sheer shallowness that the heterogenious political climate of Texas (which the exception of Austin) has fostered, and more importiantly, an example of the innappropriate connection between Christian faith and voting Republican. That day was probably the most disgusted that I had been with the entire attitude toward the election...and that's saying alot because I was pretty disgusted for most of the past year at the way both sides acted.
To be contenued...I erased a large part of this by accident
As If Austin Wasn't Weird Enough
3.5 miles.
That is the distance that I walked tonight from the Austin American Statesman parking lot (where the bats fly out) on the south end of the Congress Avenue Bridge, to the Spiderhouse coffee shop north of the UT campus.
Why did I do this?
Well, it's hard to explain except I needed to do a lot of thinking, reflecting and observing. I feel that I often limit myself and my experences to a comfortable routine. I often do not take enough time to just observe life happening around me. I learn so much from listening, watching and reading...I mostly did the latter two tonight.
I used a gift card from Christmas to purchase a portable cd player. I've been wanting one for a while mainly so I can walk around Austin (or San Marcos) with a soundtrack to accent my experences. My latest mix cd served as the perfect soundtrack for sure. So with The Shins, Slowreader, Pedro the Lion, Elliott Smith, Modest Mouse, The New Amsterdams, Neutral Milk Hotel and other good stuff going though my headphones I took off from my car and walked purposefully across the Congress Avenue Bridge and into the electic, colorful and beautiful environment that is Downtown Austin.
I was struck at first with the sheer dynamic beauty of the city scape. The music only helped to focus me on what I was seeing. Memories flew though my mind like leaves on a winter day, memories that I associate with any given block downtown. I saw people, in and out of cars, in a new way. I couldn't hear them, only the music, but I could hear them in a different way. It's hard to explain I guess. After 15 minutes I reached the State Capitol Grounds. A group of international tourists asked me to take a picture of them in front of the rotunda so of course I agreed and for a few second the sound of "New Slang" by The Shins was faint as it wafted up to be from my hanging headphones. I said goodbye to the tourists and kept walking, the Shins back to full volume, around the capitol and decided to continue. All along I knew that I wanted to walk at least as far as the drag and by this point it seemed not only possible but easy. I made it to the drag and contenued to walk silently. After what seemed only a few minutes after I left the car (but was really 45 minutes) I reached Spiderhouse, ordered the IBC Root Beer that I had been craving, and sat down for a couple of minutes staring at the hanging rainbow of Christmas lights, until I was seized by the strong grip of restlessness and walked though the back gate, into an alley, and back out to the street.
It was almost 11 at this point, I knew the buses were still running and seized on the oppurtunity to catch the #1 back to downtown. I had meant to learn to use the bus system by now but it wasn't until tonight that I actually boarded one. My apartment is on the #1 route but I decided that leaving the Jeep downtown was not a good idea so I got off the bus at 6th and Congress. I took a walk down 6th to Emo's and back...another interesting experence of people, lights, and colors, with the familiar noise of 6th street battling my headphones for access to my eardrums.
I will post more on what I thought about during my urban journey tomorrow. Until then take it easy.
- Jordan
That is the distance that I walked tonight from the Austin American Statesman parking lot (where the bats fly out) on the south end of the Congress Avenue Bridge, to the Spiderhouse coffee shop north of the UT campus.
Why did I do this?
Well, it's hard to explain except I needed to do a lot of thinking, reflecting and observing. I feel that I often limit myself and my experences to a comfortable routine. I often do not take enough time to just observe life happening around me. I learn so much from listening, watching and reading...I mostly did the latter two tonight.
I used a gift card from Christmas to purchase a portable cd player. I've been wanting one for a while mainly so I can walk around Austin (or San Marcos) with a soundtrack to accent my experences. My latest mix cd served as the perfect soundtrack for sure. So with The Shins, Slowreader, Pedro the Lion, Elliott Smith, Modest Mouse, The New Amsterdams, Neutral Milk Hotel and other good stuff going though my headphones I took off from my car and walked purposefully across the Congress Avenue Bridge and into the electic, colorful and beautiful environment that is Downtown Austin.
I was struck at first with the sheer dynamic beauty of the city scape. The music only helped to focus me on what I was seeing. Memories flew though my mind like leaves on a winter day, memories that I associate with any given block downtown. I saw people, in and out of cars, in a new way. I couldn't hear them, only the music, but I could hear them in a different way. It's hard to explain I guess. After 15 minutes I reached the State Capitol Grounds. A group of international tourists asked me to take a picture of them in front of the rotunda so of course I agreed and for a few second the sound of "New Slang" by The Shins was faint as it wafted up to be from my hanging headphones. I said goodbye to the tourists and kept walking, the Shins back to full volume, around the capitol and decided to continue. All along I knew that I wanted to walk at least as far as the drag and by this point it seemed not only possible but easy. I made it to the drag and contenued to walk silently. After what seemed only a few minutes after I left the car (but was really 45 minutes) I reached Spiderhouse, ordered the IBC Root Beer that I had been craving, and sat down for a couple of minutes staring at the hanging rainbow of Christmas lights, until I was seized by the strong grip of restlessness and walked though the back gate, into an alley, and back out to the street.
It was almost 11 at this point, I knew the buses were still running and seized on the oppurtunity to catch the #1 back to downtown. I had meant to learn to use the bus system by now but it wasn't until tonight that I actually boarded one. My apartment is on the #1 route but I decided that leaving the Jeep downtown was not a good idea so I got off the bus at 6th and Congress. I took a walk down 6th to Emo's and back...another interesting experence of people, lights, and colors, with the familiar noise of 6th street battling my headphones for access to my eardrums.
I will post more on what I thought about during my urban journey tomorrow. Until then take it easy.
- Jordan
Thursday, December 30, 2004
E-Rock Is Much Cooler Than Cocaine, Kids
Tueday, the highlight of what has been a very good week, brought me to the foot of Enchated Rock with some of my best friends. There at the park were Dan and Matt Kiniry, Abel Ramos, Mike Easley, and none other than Sean Raybuck. Betwen Matt, Sean and myself there was a lot of hair.
I just farted, really loud, I'm at Mozart's typing on my finally completely restored laptop. Oh the joys of being able to use the internet while listening to music, and ripping loud ones for all to hear.
Tuesday began with a knock on the door...my longtime friends Dan Bakken and his brother Chris had arrived at my apartment. I had intended to wake up well before then but my alarm didn't go off for some reason. I showed them my sweet apartment and then we took off to do "Austin stuff". We ate lunch at the Chuy's where, as I pointed out at least eight times, the Bush twins were notoriously arrested a few years ago. I ordered a "big as yo face" burrito only to find that it was actually as big as my face. I was prepared to sue for false advertising but I was forced to keep my army of venemous lawyers at bay because I had no legal case. I saved half of the burrito and had it for lunch today. After Chuy's we drove to Waterloo records. They bought cds and I would have but restrained myself for financial reasons. I convinced Dan to purchase the Photo Album by Death Cab for Cutie...one of my favorite albums of all time (I'm planning to do a post on this subject soon) and he is, as expected, enjoying the album. I took them to Mozart's after that and got them some drinks. We chatted for a while and enjoyed the scenery around the deck...Mozart's is a beautiful place in a beautiful neighborhood in a beautiful city. My co-worker Richard was there and he came over and chatted with us about how everything in the Universe can supposedly be reduced to a mathmatical equation. He's an interesting guy but he's cool and Austin of full of interesting people like him which helps make Austin such a cool place. Dan then preformed miracles on my computer back at my apartment then they took off for Temple.
I got some gas and took of for San Marcos to pick up Sean. The entire trip turned out to be a very good experence. I just farted again, loudly, that burrito and the taquitos that I got from 7-11 a couple hours ago are really doing a number on my flatuence at the moment. Anyway on the way out to E-rock Sean and I talked about a number of things. I really enjoy the process of getting to know people, it's a process that never really ends in friendships. We covered everything from our respective salvation experences, to his brother's shockingly good music abilities (Sean played his cd in the car), to my thoughts on "Eternal Security" and the "Irresistable Grace" of God. I did a good job of not hitting any of the 9,670,340 deer that we saw along the highway out there. I was wearing my Death Cab shirt when we stopped at a convenence store in Fredericksburg. When I was checking out this dude said "I like your shirt". I wasn't really prepared for this because I usually get these comments in San Marcos or Austin and not in out of the way places like Fredericksburg. He owns more than one of their albums, a feat for anyone, and then mentioned that he likes the Get Up Kids. I was pretty happy as always to run into someone who listens to the same music that I do. Anyway I chatted with the dude for a couple minutes then we took of for the rock. It was well after sunset when we go to the camp (the drive out there was absoultely breathtaking when the sun was setting). Dan, Matt, Abel and Mike E. were there and for the rest of the night it was really good times. Those guys are halarious, my friends are a really unique and awesome group of people. We went up on the rock that night and I had yet another experence up there at night yet again. I'm definitely going back up there at night some time...it's an awesome place to just think and meditate on a lot of things.
Unfortunetly I had to leave the next day to go to work but before we (Sean and I) left all of his hiked out to this place called Buzzard's Roost. It didn't look like much from a distance but I was glad we climbed up there the view was fantastic...it's a very cool place. We all had a good conversation up there and I really regretted having to leave the place.
So much happened and it was such a positive experence but for the sake of brevity I'll save further comment on the trip for other posts.
- Jordan
I just farted, really loud, I'm at Mozart's typing on my finally completely restored laptop. Oh the joys of being able to use the internet while listening to music, and ripping loud ones for all to hear.
Tuesday began with a knock on the door...my longtime friends Dan Bakken and his brother Chris had arrived at my apartment. I had intended to wake up well before then but my alarm didn't go off for some reason. I showed them my sweet apartment and then we took off to do "Austin stuff". We ate lunch at the Chuy's where, as I pointed out at least eight times, the Bush twins were notoriously arrested a few years ago. I ordered a "big as yo face" burrito only to find that it was actually as big as my face. I was prepared to sue for false advertising but I was forced to keep my army of venemous lawyers at bay because I had no legal case. I saved half of the burrito and had it for lunch today. After Chuy's we drove to Waterloo records. They bought cds and I would have but restrained myself for financial reasons. I convinced Dan to purchase the Photo Album by Death Cab for Cutie...one of my favorite albums of all time (I'm planning to do a post on this subject soon) and he is, as expected, enjoying the album. I took them to Mozart's after that and got them some drinks. We chatted for a while and enjoyed the scenery around the deck...Mozart's is a beautiful place in a beautiful neighborhood in a beautiful city. My co-worker Richard was there and he came over and chatted with us about how everything in the Universe can supposedly be reduced to a mathmatical equation. He's an interesting guy but he's cool and Austin of full of interesting people like him which helps make Austin such a cool place. Dan then preformed miracles on my computer back at my apartment then they took off for Temple.
I got some gas and took of for San Marcos to pick up Sean. The entire trip turned out to be a very good experence. I just farted again, loudly, that burrito and the taquitos that I got from 7-11 a couple hours ago are really doing a number on my flatuence at the moment. Anyway on the way out to E-rock Sean and I talked about a number of things. I really enjoy the process of getting to know people, it's a process that never really ends in friendships. We covered everything from our respective salvation experences, to his brother's shockingly good music abilities (Sean played his cd in the car), to my thoughts on "Eternal Security" and the "Irresistable Grace" of God. I did a good job of not hitting any of the 9,670,340 deer that we saw along the highway out there. I was wearing my Death Cab shirt when we stopped at a convenence store in Fredericksburg. When I was checking out this dude said "I like your shirt". I wasn't really prepared for this because I usually get these comments in San Marcos or Austin and not in out of the way places like Fredericksburg. He owns more than one of their albums, a feat for anyone, and then mentioned that he likes the Get Up Kids. I was pretty happy as always to run into someone who listens to the same music that I do. Anyway I chatted with the dude for a couple minutes then we took of for the rock. It was well after sunset when we go to the camp (the drive out there was absoultely breathtaking when the sun was setting). Dan, Matt, Abel and Mike E. were there and for the rest of the night it was really good times. Those guys are halarious, my friends are a really unique and awesome group of people. We went up on the rock that night and I had yet another experence up there at night yet again. I'm definitely going back up there at night some time...it's an awesome place to just think and meditate on a lot of things.
Unfortunetly I had to leave the next day to go to work but before we (Sean and I) left all of his hiked out to this place called Buzzard's Roost. It didn't look like much from a distance but I was glad we climbed up there the view was fantastic...it's a very cool place. We all had a good conversation up there and I really regretted having to leave the place.
So much happened and it was such a positive experence but for the sake of brevity I'll save further comment on the trip for other posts.
- Jordan
Monday, December 20, 2004
Oh Inverted Reconstruction Site
My luck, if you will, at the gift exchange was good. I landed a gift card from Circut City, so did each of my brothers ironically.
I used it to purchase two cds, Oh Inverted World by The Shins and Reconstruction Site by The Weakerthans. Each contains one of my favorite songs of all time and are cds that I have wanted to own for a while. I was happy to find them considering that the selection at the Circut City in Temple is rather abbreviated and very mainstream laden.
I have alot on my mind, a lot to think about and a lot to write about but for now I am exausted so I'm going to go to bed early.
- Jordan
I used it to purchase two cds, Oh Inverted World by The Shins and Reconstruction Site by The Weakerthans. Each contains one of my favorite songs of all time and are cds that I have wanted to own for a while. I was happy to find them considering that the selection at the Circut City in Temple is rather abbreviated and very mainstream laden.
I have alot on my mind, a lot to think about and a lot to write about but for now I am exausted so I'm going to go to bed early.
- Jordan
Sunday, December 19, 2004
Catch For Us the Foxes
I am currently sitting in the house in Bell County Texas where I spent six full and very interesting years of my life. It is only when I am here that I realize my roots, as disjointed and distant as they now seem.
I returned to Temple last night after work (my 8th day of work in the past nine). I immediately proceeded to the Cool Bean Coffee Company, a place where at any given time, in the past, I would see at least three or four good friends inside. That has changed of late but last night was a return to the past. Waiting in there for me were my good friends Abel Ramos, Matt and Dan Kiniry, Mike Hagen, and none other than Jon Hagen who had just returned from John Brown University (where he plays soccer and apparently does unusual and interesting things with the locals). Jon is a great guy, the kind of guy who always seems to be high but otherwise shows no evidence of ever having smoked pot. He's the kind of guy that almost anyone could get along with and it was good to see him and the other guys. Abel is one of the funniest people I know, the dude has basically created his own expressions for things using words that I can't spell. Mike lives in Austin and goes to UT so I see him pretty often. Like Jon he sometimes has a "natural high" of his own but at other times he is not as laid back. He's one of the best friends I could ask for. Dan quickly became one of my best friends during the Spring, we have an almost identical sense of humor and we just really get along. He and Matt, his younger brother, attend Texas A&M. Dan is a Junior and Matt, a Freshman. Both used to have long hair but Dan cut his over the summer. Both guys are very unique people. It's hard to describe why, you would just have to meet them. All of us are fans of an amazing band known as MewithoutYou.
Hanging out around Temple last night was realitivly fun. After Cool Bean we did the only other thing we could do in Temple, go to Wal-Mart. Now Temple isin't a small town, it just seems like one at times. I spent the night at Mike and Jon's house and today after church I went out to lunch with their family. They are two of seven kids in what is an absolutely amazing family. I would need another entry to just describe them so I'll just leave it at "amazing". Before I driving out here to "the ranch" I stopped in at the Pac Sun in the Temple mall where I worked over the summer. It was an interesting reminder of now not so long ago my very tumultous summer was. It was not the best time of my life but God still showed his grace to me throughout it.
Now I'm just waiting to leave for my (dad's side) family's big christmas party. It's always a great deal of laughs as the family has a collective sense of humor that is astounding. For the gift exchange I put together a package from work (Mozart's) that includes a cappuchino mug, a big travel coffee thing (it's blue and awesome), and a pound of really good smelling coffee...the Mozart's blend. I ground it myself last night so hopefully that will score some points when I mention that later tonight.
Tonight will be only the third night that I have spent in the Temple area (counting tonight) since I moved to Austin in August. The time spent away has definitely dulled what once was a sharp familiarity with the place. Much that I see here now merely reminds me of a life, not long ago, that is no longer mine to live. I look foward to the new era in which I am now placed.
- Jordan
I returned to Temple last night after work (my 8th day of work in the past nine). I immediately proceeded to the Cool Bean Coffee Company, a place where at any given time, in the past, I would see at least three or four good friends inside. That has changed of late but last night was a return to the past. Waiting in there for me were my good friends Abel Ramos, Matt and Dan Kiniry, Mike Hagen, and none other than Jon Hagen who had just returned from John Brown University (where he plays soccer and apparently does unusual and interesting things with the locals). Jon is a great guy, the kind of guy who always seems to be high but otherwise shows no evidence of ever having smoked pot. He's the kind of guy that almost anyone could get along with and it was good to see him and the other guys. Abel is one of the funniest people I know, the dude has basically created his own expressions for things using words that I can't spell. Mike lives in Austin and goes to UT so I see him pretty often. Like Jon he sometimes has a "natural high" of his own but at other times he is not as laid back. He's one of the best friends I could ask for. Dan quickly became one of my best friends during the Spring, we have an almost identical sense of humor and we just really get along. He and Matt, his younger brother, attend Texas A&M. Dan is a Junior and Matt, a Freshman. Both used to have long hair but Dan cut his over the summer. Both guys are very unique people. It's hard to describe why, you would just have to meet them. All of us are fans of an amazing band known as MewithoutYou.
Hanging out around Temple last night was realitivly fun. After Cool Bean we did the only other thing we could do in Temple, go to Wal-Mart. Now Temple isin't a small town, it just seems like one at times. I spent the night at Mike and Jon's house and today after church I went out to lunch with their family. They are two of seven kids in what is an absolutely amazing family. I would need another entry to just describe them so I'll just leave it at "amazing". Before I driving out here to "the ranch" I stopped in at the Pac Sun in the Temple mall where I worked over the summer. It was an interesting reminder of now not so long ago my very tumultous summer was. It was not the best time of my life but God still showed his grace to me throughout it.
Now I'm just waiting to leave for my (dad's side) family's big christmas party. It's always a great deal of laughs as the family has a collective sense of humor that is astounding. For the gift exchange I put together a package from work (Mozart's) that includes a cappuchino mug, a big travel coffee thing (it's blue and awesome), and a pound of really good smelling coffee...the Mozart's blend. I ground it myself last night so hopefully that will score some points when I mention that later tonight.
Tonight will be only the third night that I have spent in the Temple area (counting tonight) since I moved to Austin in August. The time spent away has definitely dulled what once was a sharp familiarity with the place. Much that I see here now merely reminds me of a life, not long ago, that is no longer mine to live. I look foward to the new era in which I am now placed.
- Jordan
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
Life Sucks...Well...Nah It Doesn't...Um...Mabye...
If something comes up in a conversation with a friend, I sometimes take note of it and thank about it. If the same topic is brought up in two independent conversations by people who don’t know that I’ve had a conversation about that subject with someone else…I consider it a “theme” that I should not ignore. When something comes up four times in four separate and completely different conversations…I know that God is pulling out all the stops to get me to thank about it. It’s hard to get me to think about something when I have so much going on in my head.
It’s a topic discussed at length in the first couple chapters of a book by M. Scott Peck M.D. called “The Road Less Traveled”. The book belongs to Sean Raybuck, we’ve talked about the first two chapters at length (it’s as far as either of us have gotten in it so far). I’m hoping to finish his or get a copy of my own because it is, so far at least, very insightful.
I will contenue to expound on this later.
- Jordan
It’s a topic discussed at length in the first couple chapters of a book by M. Scott Peck M.D. called “The Road Less Traveled”. The book belongs to Sean Raybuck, we’ve talked about the first two chapters at length (it’s as far as either of us have gotten in it so far). I’m hoping to finish his or get a copy of my own because it is, so far at least, very insightful.
I will contenue to expound on this later.
- Jordan
Those Crazy Aggies
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,141403,00.html
No need to comment, this story speaks for itself
----------
From foxnews.com:
There's at least one student who's not very popular at Texas A&M University.
Aggies started camping out last Sunday to buy tickets for this season's SBC Cotton Bowl (search), in which A&M plays the University of Tennessee in Dallas on New Year's Day.
At 4:30 a.m. Thursday morning, an unnamed woman marched right past snoring football fans and took her place at the head of the line.
When the campers woke up at around 6 a.m. and began protesting, she grabbed the posted sign-up list of students who'd been waiting for days — and ate it.
"The piece of paper doesn't justify a spot in line to me if no one is standing there," the anonymous woman, a senior, later told the Battalion, the student newspaper. "If they wanted a spot, they should've woken up."
A spokesman for the university's athletic department said students had been putting their names on lists while waiting for tickets since at least 1985.
"[She] walked up in the line and people were trying to explain to her that she had to put her name on the list," said sophomore Amineh Baradar. "She didn't want to because she said [keeping lists of who was there first] wasn't an official university policy."
Needless to say, the reaction was far from enthusiastic.
"As we kept standing out there, people kept yelling, 'Beat the hell out of the list-eater,'" student Micah Gertson told KBTX-TV of Bryan and College Station, Texas. "As she's up there talking, people started throwing doughnuts at her."
Aggie football fans regularly urge the team to "beat the hell out of" its opponents.
Texas A&M football coach Dennis Franchione (search), who'd shown up with the doughnuts, reportedly told the woman, "Eat doughnuts, not paper."
The "list-eater" told the Battalion that she'd meant to burn the list, but shoved it in her mouth when someone in the crowd grabbed her.
"People started screaming at me, asking for the list back," she said. "I spit it out and put it in my purse. I'm not dumb enough to swallow paper."
Within hours, she'd filed assault charges with campus police against a man who'd allegedly grabbed her wrist.
At 8 a.m., the ticket windows opened, and the list-eater, still second in line, got her tickets as others shouted "Eat your tickets!" according to KBTX-TV.
Most people waiting at each of the eight ticket windows ended up getting the tickets they wanted — A&M's allotment of 2,600 was sold out in 90 minutes — but students say it's the principle that mattered.
"Its just frustrating because the list is an honor system, and for her to get in the front of the line is just not right," said Baradar. "Right now, it's not university regulated because it doesn't need to be."
The list-eater, who according to other students declared she was "right with God," defended her actions.
"There were a lot of people who weren't on the list who were still in line," she said to the Battalion. "I did something a lot of people wanted to do, but didn't have the guts to do it."
-------------------
No need to comment, this story speaks for itself
----------
From foxnews.com:
There's at least one student who's not very popular at Texas A&M University.
Aggies started camping out last Sunday to buy tickets for this season's SBC Cotton Bowl (search), in which A&M plays the University of Tennessee in Dallas on New Year's Day.
At 4:30 a.m. Thursday morning, an unnamed woman marched right past snoring football fans and took her place at the head of the line.
When the campers woke up at around 6 a.m. and began protesting, she grabbed the posted sign-up list of students who'd been waiting for days — and ate it.
"The piece of paper doesn't justify a spot in line to me if no one is standing there," the anonymous woman, a senior, later told the Battalion, the student newspaper. "If they wanted a spot, they should've woken up."
A spokesman for the university's athletic department said students had been putting their names on lists while waiting for tickets since at least 1985.
"[She] walked up in the line and people were trying to explain to her that she had to put her name on the list," said sophomore Amineh Baradar. "She didn't want to because she said [keeping lists of who was there first] wasn't an official university policy."
Needless to say, the reaction was far from enthusiastic.
"As we kept standing out there, people kept yelling, 'Beat the hell out of the list-eater,'" student Micah Gertson told KBTX-TV of Bryan and College Station, Texas. "As she's up there talking, people started throwing doughnuts at her."
Aggie football fans regularly urge the team to "beat the hell out of" its opponents.
Texas A&M football coach Dennis Franchione (search), who'd shown up with the doughnuts, reportedly told the woman, "Eat doughnuts, not paper."
The "list-eater" told the Battalion that she'd meant to burn the list, but shoved it in her mouth when someone in the crowd grabbed her.
"People started screaming at me, asking for the list back," she said. "I spit it out and put it in my purse. I'm not dumb enough to swallow paper."
Within hours, she'd filed assault charges with campus police against a man who'd allegedly grabbed her wrist.
At 8 a.m., the ticket windows opened, and the list-eater, still second in line, got her tickets as others shouted "Eat your tickets!" according to KBTX-TV.
Most people waiting at each of the eight ticket windows ended up getting the tickets they wanted — A&M's allotment of 2,600 was sold out in 90 minutes — but students say it's the principle that mattered.
"Its just frustrating because the list is an honor system, and for her to get in the front of the line is just not right," said Baradar. "Right now, it's not university regulated because it doesn't need to be."
The list-eater, who according to other students declared she was "right with God," defended her actions.
"There were a lot of people who weren't on the list who were still in line," she said to the Battalion. "I did something a lot of people wanted to do, but didn't have the guts to do it."
-------------------
God, Anthropology, and the Barton Creek Greenbelt
(I posted this on my old site last Friday)
I’ve never had a day quite like Thursday. It is not that common for me to experience an 8 AM Physical Anthropology final, running down a strenuous path in the Barton Creek Greenbelt, driving around listening to nothing but the Shins for a couple of hours, buying gas for the unbelievable price of $1.65 per gallon, grabbing food with a good friend back in San Marcos that evening, and playing ultimate Frisbee for a few hours with my best friends. Often my days will have some combination of a few of those, but Thursday had them all. Most importantly, while out on the greenbelt, I had a real encounter with God…real communication, real establishment of a further relationship with the God of the Universe that I so often have ignored this semester. I prayed…for peace, the peace that has been lacking in my life, the peace that only God can provide, and God answered. Not only that, but He threw in some amazing joy as well, joy and pure thankfulness for my incredibly awesome life that I have not shown in months.
Yesterday was not only a great day, but it was a breakthrough, it was a real turning point in my spiritual life. After spending time in the Greenbelt, and…God forbid, running, for once, I climbed up the trail to the top where I had parked. The trees parted and I saw a very beautiful cityscape of South Austin, where I live, spread before me. It was then that I made the connection that this is my home…I live there, that thought just stunned me. I’m so blessed to live there…my mind moved on to the other incredible blessings in my life…I’m so blessed to have the most incredible friends that I could ever dream of…I live in an incredible apartment with great roommates…I have more than I could ask for, more than I deserve.
I am so grateful to God for bringing me though a troublesome and difficult stretch of my life only to show me how incredible his mercy and grace has been to me. There is nothing quite like realizing how truly blessed I am. I had many good conversations yesterday and I am going to try to summarize them in upcoming entries because they center on some very crucial things that God is teaching me right now. My friend Jason would always ask me “What has God been teaching you?” My answer today is…a lot…more than I can just think about in a few short minutes or fit into a few short (or in my case, long) paragraphs.- Jordan
I’ve never had a day quite like Thursday. It is not that common for me to experience an 8 AM Physical Anthropology final, running down a strenuous path in the Barton Creek Greenbelt, driving around listening to nothing but the Shins for a couple of hours, buying gas for the unbelievable price of $1.65 per gallon, grabbing food with a good friend back in San Marcos that evening, and playing ultimate Frisbee for a few hours with my best friends. Often my days will have some combination of a few of those, but Thursday had them all. Most importantly, while out on the greenbelt, I had a real encounter with God…real communication, real establishment of a further relationship with the God of the Universe that I so often have ignored this semester. I prayed…for peace, the peace that has been lacking in my life, the peace that only God can provide, and God answered. Not only that, but He threw in some amazing joy as well, joy and pure thankfulness for my incredibly awesome life that I have not shown in months.
Yesterday was not only a great day, but it was a breakthrough, it was a real turning point in my spiritual life. After spending time in the Greenbelt, and…God forbid, running, for once, I climbed up the trail to the top where I had parked. The trees parted and I saw a very beautiful cityscape of South Austin, where I live, spread before me. It was then that I made the connection that this is my home…I live there, that thought just stunned me. I’m so blessed to live there…my mind moved on to the other incredible blessings in my life…I’m so blessed to have the most incredible friends that I could ever dream of…I live in an incredible apartment with great roommates…I have more than I could ask for, more than I deserve.
I am so grateful to God for bringing me though a troublesome and difficult stretch of my life only to show me how incredible his mercy and grace has been to me. There is nothing quite like realizing how truly blessed I am. I had many good conversations yesterday and I am going to try to summarize them in upcoming entries because they center on some very crucial things that God is teaching me right now. My friend Jason would always ask me “What has God been teaching you?” My answer today is…a lot…more than I can just think about in a few short minutes or fit into a few short (or in my case, long) paragraphs.- Jordan
Jumping on the Bandwagon
Well I have decided to jump on the blogspot bandwagon. It seems that it's a better fit for me. Livejournal is...well...really highschoolish and I'm definitely not in High School (I'm 21 and in college). I like writing about stuff creativley, not whining about relashonships or how much my friends and parents are treating me like crap (typical live journal material). Of course some very cool people I know have used it...but it's better suited for that stuff than for creative and (hopefully) intellegent musings.
Of course I'm not in a relashonship (ergo the lack of whining about one, allthough I do sometimes whine about not being in one), and my parents and friends are awesome...not to mention of course that, like I said, I'm not in High School. My goal now that I'm done with the semester is to do some creative writing, well, alot of it actually. I have a talent in this area that I have so far failed to expolit. I'm lazy when it comes to things that I don't recieve college credit for...good evidence for the misplacement of my priorities.
I noticed that my good friend Sean Raybuck has joined the blogspot bandwagon as well...at the same time but independently of myself. That is cool. then there is Dan Reiter and Michael Warren Rice on here as well and they are both full of good thoughts as well. I'm hoping that this site will ingnite my creativity, which, I feel, has been really supporesed by school. I spend so much time studying and working that I have little left over for God and my friends...unfortunetly...again, my priorities are often very innapropriately misplaced. I have so much I want to write about and comment on and I am looking forward to doing that, starting today. I will probably also copy some of my better stuff over from my livejournal site (http://www.livejournal.com/users/thrice_shoes/).
I guess that's all I have for now. My goal is to post once and day and do some extensive commenting on issues, current events, my life and all of that jazz...as well as some really random stuff (hopefully).
Take it easy.
Of course I'm not in a relashonship (ergo the lack of whining about one, allthough I do sometimes whine about not being in one), and my parents and friends are awesome...not to mention of course that, like I said, I'm not in High School. My goal now that I'm done with the semester is to do some creative writing, well, alot of it actually. I have a talent in this area that I have so far failed to expolit. I'm lazy when it comes to things that I don't recieve college credit for...good evidence for the misplacement of my priorities.
I noticed that my good friend Sean Raybuck has joined the blogspot bandwagon as well...at the same time but independently of myself. That is cool. then there is Dan Reiter and Michael Warren Rice on here as well and they are both full of good thoughts as well. I'm hoping that this site will ingnite my creativity, which, I feel, has been really supporesed by school. I spend so much time studying and working that I have little left over for God and my friends...unfortunetly...again, my priorities are often very innapropriately misplaced. I have so much I want to write about and comment on and I am looking forward to doing that, starting today. I will probably also copy some of my better stuff over from my livejournal site (http://www.livejournal.com/users/thrice_shoes/).
I guess that's all I have for now. My goal is to post once and day and do some extensive commenting on issues, current events, my life and all of that jazz...as well as some really random stuff (hopefully).
Take it easy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
