Lessons in Faithfulness

I've been musing over the fact that I love Steve and Joyce Miller, the pastors of our new church, New Song. It's just that I haven't felt this way in a long time about my pastors, since Monroe, and that's been over 10 years. I really don't know them well yet but in this short time, I'm feeling like "till death do us part!!". They are so stuck with me, they have no clue...so that's why this teaching is so timely.

For the first time, Don and I will be a part of some specific, consistent, unweirdly (word? I dunno, check Urban Dictionary) teaching about WORSHIP. We've listened to countless sermons about worship, we've been on worship teams for many, many years, and have received practical training under the ministries we've been involved with, but this is something different. Our first discussion is entitled 'Being a Gift' and is about our role as it relates to leadership...for better or for worse!

Proverbs 25:19 - "Confidence in an unfaithful man (or woman) in time of trouble is like a bad tooth and a foot out of joint."

Interesting that the analogy chosen are teeth and feet, appendages needed to eat and get around - to survive basically, at least back then. So you have other teeth and you have another foot, but it doesn't say 'is like missing a tooth' or 'is like only having one foot', it says 'is like having a BAD tooth' and 'is like having a foot OUT OF JOINT', which affects your whole bod, ie. the whole body of Christ.

Steve and Joyce Miller are the coolest people. The whole history of this church is amazing and peppered with their sacrifice and perseverence. You can hear Pastor Steve's compassion for his sheep in his sermons and see it when he gets choked up...the heart of a pastor, through and through. The intensity for pursuing the heart of Jesus is written all over his face. What you see is what you get..completely authentic and open people, generous with their time, energy and yummy food.


I've been reading this teaching this morning and am resolved that our family will be a gift to the Millers that:
...brings refreshing
...encourages
...pushes them onward
...doesn't murmur/complain
...is ready, in season and out

It's scary to be fully given to a ministry - we've been burned in the past and we have deeply hurt people ourselves. We know God led us here and won't let fear drive us - He's got a future and a hope and I couldn't be more excited about what He has planned!!

Tragic Forgetfulness

"By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.
In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.
The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.
~ 1 Peter 1:3-8

Forgetting one is forgiven seems like a strange thing in a way...it's like the foundation of Christian belief, the shedding of blood for the forgiveness of sins. But it's way more personal that that. Forgetting I have been cleansed from my old sins....some days that is pretty easy to do, especially when those old sins don't seem very old. So what happens if I 'forget'? Are my sins still forgiven? Of course! My lack of brain function or inconvenient guilty conscience doesn't affect God's grace in any way. But it does affect my growth. And my growth affects the people I will inspire to get to know Jesus and follow Him. Pretty tragic, really...the person who walks around, haunted by their past, is not only robbing themselves but everyone around them. God, help me not forget!!!

"Party line voting in my opinion is unbiblical. It says you don't think" ~ Richard Cizik, National Association of Evangelicals

I listened to an interesting interview on NPR over the weekend with Richard Cizik, vice president of governmental affairs for the National Association of Evangelicals....http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95142910....which got me googling the guy because I loved his honesty. Turns out he has ticked off several high-profile conservative Christian leaders like James Dobson, Tony Perkins, Paul Weyrich and Gary Bauer, mostly because of his environmentalism (Creation Care) focusing on his stance on global warming. This NPR interview and other articles I've read recently, like the one in the Colorado Independent titled "Evangelical leader smacks McCain for lack of ‘principle’" proves he's not out to please the right....and I think that's what I liked about him. He's an independent thinker, not afraid to stand up for what he believes in, regardless of what mainstream Republicans or Christians say. This essay on torture that Richard Cizik wrote in the Washington Monthly...http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2008/0801.cizik.html...reminded me of my frustration with the current administration. Abortion, no - torture, yes? There is no greater irony in deeply held beliefs than that.

Now, I'd love to tell you he's voting for Obama/Biden this year, but he is, as of the date of this interview, in the 'undecided' category. But I love that he is open-minded and willing to speak out against the pressure Christians feel to vote Republican. Here's an excerpt:

...No party has a monopoly on GOD...I'm a conservative, but it doesn't mean I'm going to vote that way. I may disagree with Obama, and do, on same sex marriage and abortion, but that doesn't mean I'll vote against him...i think there are character and integrity issues that are even more important [than specific issues]. I would ask my fellow evangelicals 'what kind of temperment do you want?'...Barak Obama is a healer - he's looking to build common ground, even with his opponents...as we can find common ground, let's do it - that's Obama's forte!

Ahhhh...thank you, Mr. Cizik....like a Coke slurpee on a hot day, totally refreshing...

Embracing My Inner Zombie

Interesting article on the Discovery site:

THE BRAIN: COULD AN INNER ZOMBIE BE CONTROLLING YOUR BRAIN?
Scientists have found evidence that the self-aware part of our brains isn't always in charge.

http://discovermagazine.com/2008/oct/15-could-an-inner-zombie-be-controlling-your-brain

I'm living proof - I've been blaming that dude for all my bad decisions for years...

Must Love Dogs?

'What I haven't decided, yet, who are the biggest morons: the hysterical, sensation-seeking and ill-informed media, or the gutless, insecure-with-their-masculinity, microcephalic mental-midget losers who abuse animals, in this case one of America's icons: The American Pit Bull Terrier.' ~ Andrew Rosza

I cringed when I read it...a tiny woman in Seattle mauled by two pitbulls. She had to have surgery to attach her EARS, for crying out loud! ..... http://www.nwcn.com/statenews/washington/stories/NW_091008WAB_woman_mauled_pit_bull_KS.6240e996.html

So what's the deal? Are these irresponsible pet owners who have created a monster through abuse or neglect? Or an unpredictable breed, a ticking bomb with teeth that could explode at any moment?

We have a pitbull named Ginger. She is the sweetest dog you've ever met. I'm not biased...I actually don't like dogs. Seriously. I don't. Granted, puppies are cute and I will politely pet my friends' dogs knowing how much THEY love them, but I am a dog avoider, through and through. I hate it when they jump on me, hate it when they sniff my crotch, hate it when they rub their wet dog nose all over me and worst of all, the TONGUE....if my friends really knew what I thought of dogs, some would disown me I'm afraid. So I pretend to this day to enjoy their dogs' company and put up with the annoying canine habits I despise. But Ginger...

She was part of an abandoned litter, most likely due to their breed. Most of the puppies died in a hot Texas desert but a compassionate Navy family saved two, Ginger and her brother. They were fed with droppers and nursed back to life and good health. Soon after, the family was relocated to Everett WA and were unable to keep the pups, again because of their breed. Their landlord provided the 'it's you or the dogs!' ultimatum and the family posted a desperate plea on Craig's List for homes. Ginger's bro found a home right away but it was down to the wire for her. If shuttled to the nearest animal shelter, she faced certain death - the Snohomish County shelter used to automatically kill pits upon arrival, regardless of health status and behavior. Maybe they still do.

Don had been parusing the CL posts for at least a week. He had his heart set on a pitbull puppy - they're smart, loyal, beautiful dogs and he assured me they were not a violent breed and that a handful of unfeeling, selfish dog owners had ruined America's perception of pits through several high profile cases souped-up by the media. At that time, I had a friend who is very active in the pit-rescue world and works tirelessly as an advocate, which also helped with my decision. So when Don found this post saying Ginger would be dropped at the local Murder Shack, we jumped on it and he drove to get her that night.

Adorable...no other word described our new family member. She was fairly docile for a puppy - even with my inexperience I could see that. I chalked it up to all the changes she had endured in her short life. She learned quickly and enjoyed the kids so much. Don took her to work with him every day so she wasn't alone and worked to train her on the canine basics.

Truthfully, my trepidation has never completely subsided. I'm very aware that any domesticated animal has the possibility of exhibiting unpredictable and sometimes dangerous behavior. Take my husband's run-in with death at the hands (paws) of a lovable Lab at five years old. It's an amazing story, really, and the attack ends with him waking up bloody and confused with the Lab kneeling several feet away, its head down, unmoving. He later told his mom that he saw an angel there, holding that dog's head down with its celestial hand of protection.

A violent Lab? Every breed has its misconceptions and prejudices. I notice my neighbors' faces when Ginger runs out the door occasionally. Or when friends with small children come over for the first time. I totally get it.

But Ginger had proved over and over that she is nothing but a dog who, more than eating or breathing, wants to please us... that she loves us with an unconditional doggie kind of love that makes her almost pee herself with glee everytime she sees us.

She's a keeper.

Why I'm not voting for McCain

“I believe voters elect their leaders based on their experience and judgment — their ability to make hard calls, for instance, on matters of war and peace. It’s important to get them right.” ~ John McCain

I used to like McCain, and I still do in some ways. When I lived in AZ, I said 'If that guy ever runs for president, I'm voting for him!' I liked how real he was, just a 'say-it-like-it-is-and-you-can-like-it-or-not' demeanor. But my opinion started to change during the Republican primaries. I saw a man who seemed to be boiling under the surface, like he was going to bust a vein any second but with great difficulty he was keeping it together. Remember that part in Fifth Element when the Mangalore morphed into a 'normal' looking guy to pretend to be Korben Dallas so he could get on the cruise ship to Fhloston? Kinda like that. His true Mangalore kept trying to come out. During the primaries, McCain's demeanor was condescending and arrogant and his sarcasm really bothered me. It just seemed unpresidential and I lost a lot of respect for him. I've listened to interviews since then, listened to speeches, and I just can't shake this feeling that this guy would lead us to war. Like he'd get pissed off about something and BOOM! ... my teenage son would be drafted.

I read a Steve Benen story on the NY Times site (http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/08/18/mccain-judgment-and-a-response-to-the-attacks-of-911/) in response to David D. Kirkpatrick's story about McCain's foreign policy world view and his actions following the 9/11 attacks. McCain's knee-jerk reaction was to invade Iraq as early as one month following the attacks. And that was just one country on his shit list - Iran and Syria were mentioned as well. “He has the personality of a fighter pilot: when somebody stings you, you want to strike out,” said retired Gen. John H. Johns, a former friend and supporter of Mr. McCain who turned against him over the Iraq war. I tend to avoid people like that in my personal life and certainly don't want a hot-head for a president, not in these times.

Let me say this: I am not a pacifist. I believe in war, as horrible as it is. Ecclesiastes says there is a time for war and a time for peace. If we had not gone to war in WWII, where would the world be? I'm reading The Gathering Storm by Winston Churchill, the first book in the Second World War series. His premise is that WWII could have been prevented if the world had enforced its clauses against Germany after WWI, but everyone was so sick of war and wanted peace so badly that we let important things slide. During the Washington Conference of 1921, we even proposed a naval disarmament of Britain and the U.S. because we felt like we couldn't expect Germany to disarm if we weren't going to do it! WTF? Here is a passage I found very compelling:

'It is my purpose, as one who lived and acted in these days, to show how easily the tragedy of the Second World War could have been prevented; how the malice of the wicked was reinforced by the weakness of the virtuous; how the structure and habits of democratic states, unless they are welded into larger organisms, lack those elements of persistence and conviction which can alone give security to humble masses; how even in matters of self-preservation, no policy is pursued for even ten or fifteen years at a time. We shall see how the counsels of prudence and restraint may become the prime agents of mortal danger; how the middle course adopted from desires for safely and a quiet life may be found to lead direct to the bull's-eye of disaster. We shall see how absolute is the need of a broad path of international action pursued by many states in common across the years, irrespective of the ebb and flow of national politics....It was a simple policy to keep Germany disarmed and the victors adequately armed for thirty years, and in the meantime, even if a reconcilatiaton could not be made with Germany, to build ever more strongly a true League of Nations capable of making sure that treaties were kept or changed only by discussion and agreement...but this modest requirement..the victors were unable to supply.'

Pretty strong words but here's what I get from this: countries need each other to stand up to the bad guys and to keep them accountable for their actions. We need a leader capable of unifying not only the US but all the democracies of the world in order to accomplish this. Bush has struck out - we're no longer respected as we once were.

I don't want a loud bully shooting off his mouth or a pit bull with lipstick. I want a strong, rational, confident, uncompromising leader who does not react with his fist. I want a leader willing to sit down and talk to whoever, whenever, wherever, because I'd say by looking at the state of the world today, something is not working. Talking doesn't mean weakness and it doesn't mean we're going to compromise. The definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting a different outcome. In the words of Dr. Phil, 'How's that working for ya?' Shittily, that's how it's working...adverb of the day.

Martin Luther King

My sister Mandy put this together....love it...

The integrity of Barack Obama

As a teenager, I had sex and lots of it.
Thank you, and good night.

So before I continue with my gushing praise of Obama, it's important to me that you know that I am in no way passing judgement on Sarah Palin or her daughter Bristol. I wish them all the best in the days ahead.

In an article written by Brian Naylor on the NPR (National Public Radio) website, he reports Barack Obama's response to the news released today that McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin, is going to be a grandma soon. Her 17-year-old unmarried daughter is pregnant and it has cast a shadow over the Republican National Convention and the conservatives' initial rah-rah-ing over McCain's choice because of Palin's socially conservative views. But check this out...with an opportunity to get a jab in, Barack chooses the high road:

'Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, in a Michigan news conference, was asked about reports about Palin's daughter's pregnancy. He said the media should back off the story.

Obama told reporters that "people's families are off limits, and people's children are especially off limits." He said it has no bearing on Palin's performance as governor of Alaska or what kind of vice president she would be. Obama denied anyone in his campaign was responsible for spreading rumors about Palin, and added that anyone caught doing so would be fired.'

A jillion kudos to Obama for his unrelenting integrity and undeniable respect for all persons. This guy is the real thing....you shine a probing light from any direction at any given time and he proves over and over that he is authentic.

I went looking for blog responses to the news and ended up at the 'Religion Blog' at dallasnews.com. Whoa Nelly! People are hoppin' mad! Floating in the sea of insults and gossip was this post that made the biggest impression on me:

'The more christians and conservatives open their mouths to pass judgement upon others, the more I view christians and conservatives as just plain mean.'

Ah man...I had such mixed feelings reading that...it's SO DAMN TRUE!! Christians and conservatives can be some of the the meanest people on earth. This situational compassion crap makes me want to vomit. And I also felt sad. I hate reading something that hurts about someone I love. And I love Christians. They drive me crazy collectively but I love them because God loves them, because God loves ME. I'll be writing more about that later, it's been in my mind a lot lately.

Barack's kindness toward a member of the opposing team was a breath of fresh air. No condemnation, no gossip, no insult cloaked in the guise of kindness - 'we're sending our thoughts and prayers during this extrememly, shockingly, dreadfully, horribly, exceedingly difficult time'.

'He who is without sin may cast the first stone....'

Why can't every day be like today?

Today was so awesome....woke up excited, connected with several people at church, went to a birthday party and got stuck under a tarp with a dozen laughing people I barely know when the rainstorm hit, came home and took a bath, and our friends are on their way to jam and eat Don's curry chicken...
I'm realizing that telecommuting, as awesome as it is, has the drawback of being a lonely occupation. And I don't realize how fully drained and unmotivated I feel until I get out and mingle, chat, connect, make plans, laugh, hug and love PEOPLE. I so need that.

"We can't meet 21st century challenges with a 20th century beaurocracy....Change doesn't come FROM Washington, it comes TO Washington!" ~ Barack Obama

Says Obama...WHAT CHANGE LOOKS LIKE:

-A tax code that doesn't reward the lobbyists who wrote it, but the American workers and small businesses who deserve it, rewarding businesses who create jobs here in the US with tax breaks. Eliminate capital gains taxes for small businesses and startups that will create the high tech job for the future.
-Cut taxes for 95% of all working families.
-In 10 years, end our dependence on oil from the middle east. Tap our natural gas resources, safely harness nuclear power, invest in clean coal technology.
Help auto companies retool so fuel efficient cars are built in America. Invest 150 billion in the next 10 years in affordable, renewable energy.
-Invest in early childhood education, higher salaries for teachers, higher standards. Help with college for service to community or country.
-Lower premiums for existing healthcare coverage, and if no coverage, opportunity to get same healthcare as members of congress. Tougher regulation for insurance companies.
-Paid sick days, better family leave.
-Change bankruptcy laws, protect social security, equal pay for equal work.
-Close corporate loop holes and tax savings. Eliminate programs that don't work in the federal budget.
-Provide care and benefits veterans deserve. End war in Iraq responsibity. Rebuild military. Renew direct diplomacy. Build new international partnerships. Restore moral standing so America is respected in the world again.

Brought to you by inspiring Moments (Paul and Janece):

What would Jeeves do?

I can't get enough of P.G. Wodehouse these days, early 20th century English humorist, author of all of the Jeeves and Bertie Wooster stories but many other short stories, plays, lyrics and essays. This guy is amazing and I can't wait to read everything he's ever written. I found 'World of Jeeves' at a yard sale many years ago and have collected all I could get my hands on ever since. He just appeals to the smartarse in me, I suppose - the perfect mental vacation I need after being immersed in Winston Churchill's series on World War II history.

This says it best - a Newsweek article I ran across, June 2007, where David Gates writes:

"Wodehouse’s true appeal doesn’t lie in his “timeless” stage sets or his “inimitable” stock characters, but in his language — a pure well of English dazzlingly defiled. [Wodehouse} takes, and gives, so much pleasure in the manipulation of words and idioms, tones and dictions... “I was pushing a bit of breakfast into the Wooster face at the moment,” Bertie tells us in “Jeeves and the Yule-Tide Spirit, “and feeling fairly well-fortified with coffee and kippers, I decided to break the news to Jeeves without delay. As Shakespeare says, if you’re going to do a thing you might just as well pop right at it and get it over.” When such meticulously calibrated play ceases to give us joy, let the nukes fly, the icecaps melt and the Great Irksomeness begin."

And on the BBC site:

It is worth pointing out that, despite Wodehouse's repeated intention only to write entertainment for entertainment's sake, his work has long been revered for its richness of language. Any one of Wodehouse's stories contains an astonishing variety of vocabulary, a capacity for literary allusion to satisfy the most intellectual of tastes, a wealth of witty dialogue, and an unsurpassed talent for simile.

Gotta love the Ionicus illustrations in the earlier editions:



And for your reading enjoyment, a few Wodehouse excerpts and quotes:

After breakfast I lit a cigarette and went to the open window to inspect the day. It certainly was one of the best and brightest.

"Jeeves," I said.

"Sir?" said Jeeves. He had been clearing away the breakfast things, but at the sound of the young master's voice cheesed it courteously.

"You were absolutely right about the weather. It is a juicy morning."

"Decidedly, sir."

"Spring and all that."

"Yes, sir."

"In the spring, Jeeves, a livelier iris gleams upon the burnished dove."

"So I have been informed, sir."

"Right ho! Then bring me my whangee, my yellowest shoes, and the old green Homburg. I'm going into the Park to do pastoral dances."

~ The Intimitible Jeeves, 1923

I was standing there, hoping for the best, when my meditations were broken in upon by an odd gargling sort of noise, something like static and something like distant thunder, and to cut a long story short this proved to proceed from the larynx of the dog Bartholomew.

He was standing on the bed, stropping his front paws on the coverlet, and so easy was it to read the message in his eyes that we acted like two minds with but a single thought. At the exact moment when I soared like an eagle on to the chest of drawers, Jeeves was skimming like a swallow on to the top of the cupboard. The animal hopped from the bed and, advancing into the middle of the room, took a seat, breathing through the nose with a curious, whistling sound, and looking at us from under his eyebrows like a Scottish elder rebuking sin from the pulpit.

~Weekend Wodehouse

He looked like a bishop who had just discovered Schism and Doubt among the minor clergy.

Into the face of the young man who sat on the terrace of the hotel at Cannes there had crept a look of furtive shame, the shifty, hangdog look which announces that an Englishman is about to talk French.

Big chap with a small moustache and the sort of eye that can open an oyster at sixty paces.

Come to find out, my mom read Wodehouse books when she was pregnant with me....maybe that's where my love of salsa and pizza comes from?

Obama-Biden 2008

Go ahead and say it out loud...it's fun...Obamabiden, Obamabiden... kinda flows, yes? I have to admit that I wasn't surpised when I heard the news this morning. I figured Obama would choose someone with extensive foreign policy experience, someone who was older and wiser, someone who 'knows the ropes'...just the logical attributes that would compliment him and make him a more attractive choice to those who still have questions and concerns. 'You complete me'...I'm imagining the scene in Jerry Maguire but with Barack and Joe...but I have to stop now because it's slightly disturbing.

So who is Senator Joe Biden, this guy who will likely be our VP for the next four years?



Joseph Biden was born in Scranton, PA to a working-class family. At age 29, he was one of the youngest ever elected to the Senate and was elected to his sixth term in 2002. He has run for president twice: 1988 and, ironically enough, 2008 (though he dropped out pretty early in the game). Here's where it gets interesting. Biden had called Obama "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy", for which he apologized later 'cuz it sounded so lame. During the primaries, Biden also claimed Obama was "not yet ready" to serve as president. WHOA mama! There's a sound byte we'll be hearing over and over...and over.

Here is some of the the stuff I read that meant something to me regarding Biden's voting record:

*He helped write legislation that set up shelters and a national hotline for abused women, the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).
*He helped pass a resolution observing Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Memorial Day, and calling on the remaining member countries of the International Commission of the International Tracing Service to ratify the May 2006 amendments to the 1955 Bonn Accords immediately to allow open access to the Bad Arolsen archives.
*He introduced a bill that's currently scheduled for debate, the 'Combating Child Exploitation Act of 2007'.
*He introduced a bill a few months ago to increase public confidence in the justice system and address any unwarranted racial and ethnic disparities in the criminal process.
*He introduced the 'College Affordability and Creating Chances for Educational Success for Students Act of 2007'.
*He co-sponsored legislation that was recently signed into law to authorize $48 billion for the worldwide fight against HIV/AIDS and other deadly diseases.
*Through his work on the Foreign Relations Committee, Biden has sought to promote the use of American power to stop dictators who commit crimes against humanity or genocide.
*He voted yes to more funding for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan in May 2008 (say what you will about the validity of this war, I believe our troops deserve the best we can give).
*He voted to table (kill) an amendment that would cut all federal funding to the National Endowment for the Arts in 1999.
*He voted yes to pass a bill that reauthorizes and expands the State Children's Health Insurance Program.
*He voted yes on expanding research to more embryonic stem cell lines in April 2007.

Here are a few of a million and one sites to do more research:

http://www.votesmart.org/voting_category.php?can_id=53279

http://www.ontheissues.org/Joe_Biden.htm

http://biden.senate.gov/issues/voting.cfm

http://civilliberty.about.com/od/ussenators/p/joe_biden.htm

Transcript of Sen. Biden's speech today after the announcement:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93913125

The Warmth

I'd like to close my eyes go numb
but there's a cold wind coming from
the top of the highest high-rise today.

It's not a breeze cause it blows hard.
Yes and it wants me to discard
the humanity I know
Watch the warmth blow away.

Don't let the world bring you down
Not everyone here is that fucked up and cold
Remember why you came
and while you're alive
experience the warmth
before you grow old

Do you think I should adhere
to that pressing new frontier
and leave in my wake a trail of fear?
Or should I hold my head up high
and throw a wrench in spokes by
leaving the air behind me clear?

The Girl Effect

I found this on my friend Janece's site - I love stuff that makes me think and this was some of that 'stuff':



For more information, visit GirlEffect.org

Sing a New Song

Who are all these happy people? I have no idea, but this church is really great. We've been going for a few weeks and LOVE it.

Daily dose of Engrish...

The Underlings

Ok, I'm biased....my sister's man is the bassist of the Underlings out of Eugene, but that's where my prejudice ends...these guys are GREAT. I'm a musician, nothing outstanding, but I have a long history of playing/writing/recording, so I feel at least a little qualified when I say that this band is worth going to see. Not only do they sound incredible, they're three of the coolest, humblest, doing-it-for-the-love-of-the-art guys you'll ever meet. Can't wait for the next show....come meet us there! Sam Bond's Garage, Sept. 13 at 9:30pm in Eugene. Check out their MySpace at http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=19419564.

Joe Strummer Tribute

I'm totally blown away by this guitar I won at a raffle Saturday night at the WOW Hall. So we're there, watching the Underlings at this Joe Strummer tribute concert (they kicked ass, by the way....more about them later) and Don and I bought some raffle tickets for different things, the coolest of which was this custom Fender Telecaster guitar. They called my name for the first raffle for an Element skateboard (amazingly enough, we were going to buy one for our 9-year-old's birthday in October) so I thought there is NO way, statistically, they would call my name again. Seriously...right? Meanwhile, Don has gone to the ATM to feed his obsession with winning this guitar....I think he bought like 15 tickets. So the moment comes and they SAY MY NAME, just like that... Ronni Deam...I'm stunned and Don is behind woopin' it up. I keep replaying it in my mind - stuff like that just doesn't happen so I'm gonna squeeze every good feeling outta that moment that I can! Then ZZ Clash (a.k.a. Spanish Balls) plays it for a few songs.....icing on the cake. GREAT night.

Seriously...

Life as we know it has changed forever.....we are Oregonians, not Californians or Washintonians or flavor-of-the-month-ians....we're done moving around and have settled in our chosen tribe and nation - Thurston OR. I'm committed to this place ... I want to be an integral part of the community: drink in everything it has to offer, pour myself out for what it needs, watch our kids invest in life-long relationships with the security that they won't be uprooted. Don't get me wrong, we've experienced so many great things by living in the places we have and I don't have many regrets, but the time has come to drop our anchor. We have officially changed the course of the Deam Family for generations to come.