Don't scratch an itch instead go watch the riseYIN sun.

WOW! I've been mia for a while...but I'm back... and better than ever...I'm tired right now so maybe a little incoherent/delusional/OOOH YEAH!!!

So, lately I've been having a little bit of trouble with my boss at work. I feel like he's very hard to communicate with and he can be kind of manipulative and condescending. And since many other co-workers feel the same way about (I'll deem him) "he-who-shall-not-be-named" I have gotten into the bad habit about commiserating about our boss with other employees.

It's not good. Talking about people behind there back is kind of like having an itch: on the one hand it's so tempting and so hard to resist not scratching (or talking about someone when they're not around) yet if you do itch (talk) than you have to keep itching (talking) and eventually you feel bad for itching (talking).

Anyways, I resolve to think the best about my boss and focus on his good aspects (and they ARE there) instead of chewing him apart in my mind or complaining about him with others.

Before I make true of this pledge I want to share one last thing about this man...he LOVES using acronyms...He'll make up acronyms for words that are not supposed to be abbreviated (i.e. birthday inexplicably becomes bd). He even abbreviates already abbreviated acronyms (i.e. pm and am are merely 'p' and 'a' in "he-who-shall-not-be-named"'s lexicon.

It's kind of funny but it does drive one nuts. He'll give acronyms to things that I wouldn't know what he was referring to if he were to use their full names...okay...that's the end...only good things come out of my mouth (or my hands) about my boss from now on or else nothing comes out about him at all. =)

In other exciting news (actually what I was just talking about wasn't exactly "news" nor was it that "exciting" I guess...anyways) the NBA playoffs started today!!!

I am so excited about the playoffs because I have really gotten into basketball since I am forced to watch it everyday with one of my clients. I really, really like Steve Nash and the frenetic Suns and they are going to... go...the...distance!!!

I was so AMPED for the playoffs that I actually entered a NBA Playoffs Bracket Fantasy League. So...I ended up creating my own league (team name was "the RiseYin Suns" and the slogan was "Nash'll kick ass.") and inviting a bunch of friends to join my game. However, it turns out that I entered too late and since the games started today they won't let me actually make predictions anymore. whatevs.

Finally, the weather has been SPRINGLIKE and PHENOMENAL this past week. It really feels like spring/summer now! I have so much more energy and it's just amazing how much something like the weather can affect your spirits.

I'm too tired to add pictures today. text will have to do.

...okay...fine...here's a picture: ...I guess it got posted on the top of the page. Ladies and gentlemen the one, the only; give it up for the great Steve Nash!!!



g'night

Alchemy In The Air

After a cold, dreary February-esque April day in Minnesota it was beautifully shocking how magical the night was. As I cruised along the highway with broken wipers and snow and rain slowly accumulating on my windshield I glanced out at the road--the colors from road lights hitting the ground and splashing and smearing together with the rain-- it became apparent to me how beautiful this luminous night was.

All was calm save for the gentle dripping, like light drizzle, that I imagined the snow made as it hit the ground. I know that this gorgeous moment will not last for long, but for right now, I just want to enjoy it. I wish I could dwell in this moment, to make it my home, for more than just one hour of tonight. I long to seal it in a snowglobe and recreate the atmosphere just by shaking it. Yes, tonight there is alchemy in the air.


Alchemy in the air

Walk out the cinema after experiencing the classic
Wipe off your chin after that long-awaited chocolate
Go to sleep and dream after watching the Olympics
Dance and jump
and sing (just sing!!)
because alchemy is in the air


It is my hope that all of you experience some alchemy in the air at least one night this week.

The Beautiful People

2 thoughts...make that 6...or more...whatevs:P

1. We are most at home when we are with the people that share with us a deep and mutual love for one another...don't ya think??

2. On this side of heaven things are never as good nor as bad as we make them out to be...So...there are moments of joy in the worst of times and there are moments of blah during the best of times as well.

3. When it all comes down to it, everything that is worthwhile is found in our relationships with people and God...not career, not fame, nor wealth (actually striving after these things is usually people-oriented as well--to gain respect, love and acceptance from others).

4. We wilt in all ways (socially, emotionally, spiritually, yes, even physically) when we are isolated from people or living in bad company for extended periods of time. Conversely when we are immersed into a community of amazing people we thrive and burgeon and and live the most authentically.

5. I really like this verse: "Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good." -Romans 12:21

Every adversity is also a tremendous opportunity to grow. In the most testing and difficult of situations the most beautiful acts of courage and kindness have blossomed: i.e. Ghandhi liberated his people through bloody non-violent sufferings, birthpangs bring forth new life into the world. Camus says it best: "In the depths of winter I discovered that within me lies an invincible summer." Richard Foster paints a beautiful picture of what God does with the ugly if we choose to let him: "He brings beauty out of ashes."

6. I think I really like top ten lists. :)

7. Here's a phrase that I thought up today that I believe is probably true: "It is much more enjoyable to do something that is unpleasurable but meaningful than to do something that it pleasurable but meaningless."

I know this post is all over the place but such is the nature of my thoughts: random, seemingly disparate ideas that are actually connected somehow.

Tonight I saw "Night at the Museum" at the cheap seats. It's been a long time since I have seen a Ben Stiller movie and I was definitely not disappointed. Oh Ben, you are HIlarious! The scene where him and the monkey get in a slapping battle had me rotfl.

I am thankful for...

Before I go to bed tonight I thought it'd be a great idea to list (at least) 10 things that I am thankful for today. Here they are:

1. steak for dinner

2. work is over (Saturday is like Friday for me)

3. my cat liking to cuddle

4. tomorrow is Easter

5. good friends

6. that I got to spend a week in Miami Beach with a buddy

7. my four years at Carleton

8. hot chocolate

9. grace

10. the great feeling of being able to collapse in bed and sleep as long as you want after an exhausting day

11. laughing so hard that it hurts (check out wooden spoon prank Jesse showed it to me and I didn't have to do situps that night because I already got a good ab workout from laughing so hard).

Don't eat burgers at Dairy Queen...but do think well

I took my clients out to eat today and for the first time in my life I ate an actual meal, as opposed to just ice cream, at Dairy Queen. I had a burger and a dipped ice cream cone for my dinner and, oh my goodness, for the rest of the night it felt like Katrina had entered into my stomach. Please friends do not eat the burgers at Dairy Queen. Stick to the Blizzards.

Have you ever thought about your thoughts? My pastor always emphasizes the importance of "becoming a detective of your own mind." Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), the most successful and widely used therapy for treating depression and anxiety disorders, is premised on the assumption that changing your thinking changes the way you feel. Certainly, Scripture has been backing CBT thousands of years before modern psychology has discovered it and put it to successful use. Take a gander at only a sprinkling of passages in The Bible that focus on the importance of our thoughts:

"Guard your heart (basically, thoughts and emotions) with all diligence for from them spring the issues of life." -Proverbs 4:23

"Take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ." -2 Corinthians 10:5

"Think on whatever is true, noble, right; whatsoever is pure, lovely and admirable--meditate on these things and the peace that transcends all understanding shall guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." -Phillipians 4:8

"Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." -Romans 12:2

Sow a thought reap an action, sow an action reap a habit, sow a habit reap a character, sow a character reap a destiny. To me, this old proverb really shows how important our thoughts really are. When we get right down to it, thoughts are like the atoms --the building blocks-- of the moral and spiritual and emotional fiber of the human being, and on a macro-level, the catalysts of human civilization and history. oooh, the power of a thought.

The power of little things. Little things DO matter. What seems inconsequential in the short-run, given repetition over a long period of time becomes immensely important. If you want to do well for yourself in the big picture of life it seems that the best thing that you can do is to live well in each moment as it comes. After all, life IS a series of moments strung together. I'm experiencing this moment and now this moment and now this moment and given enough moments there goes a day, a year, a lifetime. The best way to live well in each moment is probably to think well in each moment.

Time Sublime and Love Divine (it rhymes!)

Time is CRAZY. It's slow. It's fast. Time is here, oh! But once you realize where you are than it's already ephemeral and past. It's something that I am constantly perplexed and fascinated by but I can never grasp... aaaaah time...is simply time.


I just spent a week on vacation at Miami Beach. What happened to time for that week? Did it go on vacation with me? No, it stood still and slipped by and I was there and there it was and now it's past but presently, as I recall that week, the present is passing and I'm stuck somewhere between the future, the present, the past. That week seemed so short I can't believe it's over. At the same time when I went to work today it felt like eons ago since I had been at work...but it's only been a week.


A realization I'm coming back to lately...when you feel weak, when you don't know if you have the strength to go on, when you're drowning and you're bones are sapped remember in your soul that the one thing that is all important is LOVE in all it's beauty. When you're on top of the world; when you're feeling invincible, when your ideas resonate with the world and the world is flowing through your veins, when each breath is fresh crisp and you feel most alive you are still worse off than an animal drowning in it's own excrement if your being is not centered in love but is centered in self or ambition or lust.