manna is a hell of a drug.

apparently i only posted a title for this blog.
i wrote a fairly extensive blog but apparently i did something wrong.
my mistake.

i will have to try to recreate the blog that i apparently didn't type.

first i would like to review urinetown with you. the show went incredibly well and i think it is safe to say that it was the most fun show i have ever been a part of. audiences were fantastic and did not condemn us for poorly titled show. to add to the greatness that was urinetown, we got held. this means that there is a chance we will be able to perform our show at the american college theatre festival region 5. getting held is a huge honor. for a while now i have had a short checklist of things that i have wanted to do in theatre
1. receive an irene ryan nomination (check previous blogs for an explanation). check
2. be in a show that gets held. check

the benedict affair is writing new songs.

this was not in the original post that did not get posted, but i will digress.

last night i saw the following bands in this order lights, lydia, lovedrug, copeland.
i love lydia's music and i love live music. the combination of these two things was very exciting for me. sparing you the reader too much boring detail, it was a fantastic show all the way around.

now i will return to the original subject of the elusive post that did not get posted.
i discussed the title that i have given this blog. it comes from the song "i can feel a hot one" by manchester orchestra. for some reason this quote struck me. i have no idea what the author's original intent was when he wrote this, but i began to think about the israelites and how manna was their only food for a fairly long time. manna became part of the routine. i then began to think about routine moments and how these routine moments are what keep me sane and keep me going. i am a creature of habit and i have certain rhythms that i go through everyday. to me this quote means that God provides some of the most normal routine events to keep us going. that may or may not make sense to you, but i loved this lyric.

we're at the top of the world

it is in the dordt theatre world what we call production week. the play opens tomorrow and i can safely say i am excited. everything is coming together very nicely and we have one more dress rehearsal tonight to polish the small mistakes.
doing a play like urinetown serves as a good reminder of what it is like to be in a conservative Christian community. people in the community got bent out of shape about the title right away. the show is a very fun and entertaining show, but because of this backlash the dordt theatre department has had to rationalize doing a show like this. for me this just serves as a reminder of what it will be like to work in the church. there are always going to be people who are easily offended. to me when working in the church it isn't a question of agreeing and disagreeing, it is understanding each other's position. i feel like as a future youth pastor/church employee/ whatever trying to have an understanding for all sides of an issue will be very important. good or bad that is just how it is and that is one thing i'm taking away from this show.

my internship is going very well. i was pretty on edge about the first meeting. i decided for the first lesson that i was going to give my testimony so that the youths would learn about me and my past as a Christian. i wasn't sure if i this was a good idea till i sat down in church that evening. the title of the sermon was testimony. i was immediately calm and thankful for God's constant reminders that he is helping me out.

when we last talked i had started to skateboard again. i have not done any major damage to my body. a few rasberries (scrapes) and fruit baskets (bruises) but nothing to terrible.

i have been cast in a full length movie that some dordt students are putting together. i apparently am a hitch hiker. more on that as it becomes available.

all in all things are pretty good right now.

your words hit like a train and i can't ignore it

hello readers.
out of fairness to you all i have decided to post a blog.
the semester is a little busier than it seemed earlier. the play, classes, and various other activities are robing me of my free time. it's not too terrible because i am enjoying all of my classes. currently my favorite class would have to be calvin's institutes. it is pretty incredible to think that one man spent his whole life studying Christianity and was able to write such an incredible reflection on his studies.
i continue to become interested in new things. have become obsessed with skateboarding again. i purchased a board and me and a few roomates went out and did some extreme stunts.

this is a photo of me doing a lovely board slide.
tonight is my the first actual youth group meeting for my internship. it is weird because i'm not really nervous i'm just straight up scared. this intership is going to have a heavy impact on my future. if i hate it i probably will want to consider pursuing a new field. i'm sure that God will have his hand with me and i won't hate it.
the play is going well. tristate break is next week and i will be staying at dordt to work on the show. it should be a good time.
i certainly do miss some dear friends who are no longer at dordt. please come back and visit friends.

here is a picture of nick doing a sick trick and kenny watching in amazement.

skate or die bros.

all fallen leaves should curse their branches.

i have again failed to blog for a long time.
if you read this in an attempt to keep up with my life there is going to be a big chunk missing because i don't feel like trying to creatively express the last month or 2.
i will go over one important note with you:
the benedict affair's new cd "with more class" is now available and if you wish to acquire a copy contact me.
if you wish to hear some tracks there should be a link to your right.
classes have resumed and dordt is buzzing with life. initially i was slightly unenthused with the return of friends. i guess i got so used to having the campus to myself that it was weird seeing people here again.

i like to give myself a few goals at the beginning of the semester knowing full well they might not happen.
1. plan future. i can't really postpone accomplishing this one.
2. serve Covenant church to the best of my ability. i have an internship there and it will be my first hands on youth ministry experience.
3. work on writing songs. i have realized that i never finish songs because i try to make too much of them. i always try to use the strangest chords and the deepest words. i'm going to write simple songs. we'll see how that turns out.

lately i have been listening to a lot of david bazan and bon iver.
if you would have asked me a few years ago if i ever would have enjoyed this music i would have laughed in your face.
i guess this means i'm getting older.

we're just stumbling

ojk is pretty much officially done.

phil has departed for the west and we all made an agreement that the band would end if any one member left.
we were able to have one last throwdown to properly lay our songs to rest.
it was in a way bitter sweet.
ojk was my first "official" band. playing with paul, phil, and walhof helped me unlock the potential in my guitar playing and song writing ability. but ojk was more than that. we all became good friends. good enough friends that we were all able to live together over 1 summer.
as we played our songs i was taken back to where i was as a person when each song was written. that is another strange thing about writing songs together. each song meant something different to each of us and that came out in the way we played our instrument or sang our vocal part on each song.
we were all able to have some time to reminisce about our experiences. it was hard to define exactly what happened between us, but we all agreed it was positive.
i thank God for operation joykill and the experience we were able to have together.

clear a path side to side

monday i went to the most intense/killer rock show i think i've ever been to.
the lineup went as follows:
as i lay dying
norma jean
august burns red
maylene and the sons of disaster.
anyone who knows anything about Christian metal bands would recognize that this line up is epic. these are probably the 4 biggest bands that fall into that category right now.
for those who care, read on for i will share my thoughts on each band.
those who don't care stop reading because there won't be much for you to gleen from this.
maylene and the sons of disaster: this is the third time i've seen this band. to be completely honest this is the worst performance i've seen from them. they recently lost several members, and it seems that their new members are very uncomfortable on stage. they are talented but they just kind of walk around and look confused. it was still a good set all things considered.
august burns red: i don't know what it is about this band. they are currently in my top 10 live bands. their performances contain all the elements i want to see in a live band. what are those elements? i'm not sure. go see august burns red and find out for yourself. they somehow perform just as hard as any band i've ever seen, but are still able to maintain tight musicianship. the lead singer exudes everything that is metal. whether he is down in the audiece screaming or throwing the mic to the crowd allowing them to pick up the vocals. they do things well.
norma jean: this is the first time i've seen this band. they are straight up brutal. their cds are very intense but listening to recordings of this band in no way does them justice. just plain brutal.
as i lay dying: these guys have been around for a while.they are a seasoned metal band and it shows in their performance. they put together a great mix of new and old songs. they are just plain epic.
i would go to this show 60 more times.
knowing that these bands were all Christian bands made it that much more enjoyable. typically with bands like this you have to endure a slew of cursing and uneeded banter between songs. these bands should be commended for maintaining their faith while making waves in the secular market.

i'm gonna do the things i want to do

i think i can now safely consider myself a real dordt student, and here is why:
friday evening my good friend dan den boer was married to his lovely fiance autumn wielinenga.
this makes me feel like an official dordt student for 2 reasons.
1. dan is the first of what i would consider good friends to get married.
2. i played a small role in the wedding. small: yes. important: kind of. i was the guest book attendant. basically i just pointed at things and smiled when people had questions. i felt good about the work i did.
i feel now that i have met these criteria i feel like i have participated in one more thing that your average dordt student will do before graduation. i believe one of the last ones to cross off would be to get married.
dan and autumn's wedding was a very feel good event. i think it is safe to say everyone walked away smiling and being extremely happy for both of them.

i am going into my senior year now. i'm trying to promise myself a few things:
1. i won't slack of.
2. i will enjoy it as much as possible.
3. i won't expect amazing things to happen and then get disappointed when they don't.
4. i will try to not participate in the senior scramble.
4a. if a relationship comes up organically i will be more than happy to pursue.
5. i want to play be in the musical.
6. i want to play as many shows with tba as possible.
7. i want to go to at least 2 concerts each semester.

i like the new weezer cd a lot.