"No gifts or explanations for"

Berg's 5 favorite songs of the 2008:

5. Holy Cow -- Margot and the Nuclear so and sos
4. To Run -- Josiah Leming
3. We All Need Saving -- Jon McLaughlin
2. Flume -- Bon Iver
1. Viva La Vida -- Coldplay

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Last 3 Movies Watched:
Valkyrie
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Taking Lives

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Wii Games in Collection (Post-Christmas):
Lego Star Wars
Lego Batman
Super Mario Galaxy
Guitar Hero III
Wii Fit
Sims: Castaway
The Simpsons Game

"No more let sins"

Joy to the world. It's amazing to think about the notion that the story of mankind, culminates with a birth in what I suppose would be equivalent to a barn. This birth and the subsequent 33-year life forever changes and ultimately defines our relationship to God.

And I do imagine it to be a quiet night. Imagine if you were there. A baby is born...later that night shepherds arrive to see the baby announced by angels. I wonder what Joseph and Mary thought when those guys walked in?

I was overcome with joy when we sang this in church this morning. Imagine, a baby is born and forever there can be joy in the world. For we now have the opportunity to have freedom from the law that we could not live up to. A mediator to bridge any one of us from what would be our rightful place eternally in hell to eternity with the God, our Father in heaven.

I praise and am ever thankful to God for this opportunity and my redemption.

"Majesty at my doorstep"

2008 is rapidly coming to a close. The year has been interesting, taken some unexpected turns, there's been good and bad and more. It seems like just yesterday, I was with friends playing Twister, popping balloons on high-tens with Parliament and dancing all night at Felder's New Year's Eve bash. Since then, there's been:

• 3 full seasons of Dexter (at least after Sunday's season finale) -- the year started on a two week Dexter binge
• Hit-and-run accident
• Shaking of hands with a Presidential candidate
• Sweet Sixteen March Madness basketball games
• Blood Lines of New York, game playing
• A serving of Passover for Rogers
• A PhilAndrea wedding
• A half move from Detroit to Anderson
• Trips to Chicago, Minneapolis and Boston for Berg
• A stop in to see Campbell in Boston
• A run in with Deardorff in Indiana that same week
• Vacations to Chicago and Florida
• New jobs for Rogers and Berg
• Flat tires for Rogers
• Margot, DMB, Matt Wertz, A Fine Frenzy concerts
• 4th of July fireworks in downtown Indy
• Friendships made
• Friendships rekindled
• Seasons of Prayer
• Scraping of wallpaper and painting of rooms
• 100+ listens to Viva La Vida
• Some great and some disappointing new music
• Laughter

How much more am I forgetting? Plenty, I'm sure, to be added soon. But I've also got a long day tomorrow...

"Take me the where the streetlights glow"

Like the Dow, it's been a volatile week. Yesterday I felt tired, burned out, ready to take a week off of work and read a book or watch a bunch of movies. I was thinking about how I missed Fall break when I would annually watch about 5 movies in one weekend. New, old and classics just because I had the time. Some things were frustrating me. I went to bed early and got a fair amount of sleep.

Today I spent 7 hours on the road at meetings and lunch and 5 hours in Indy working and eating dinner. It was a long day, but a good day. Meeting new people, being a resource for clients and eating some good meals are some of the highlights and that's what today was about.

Had my first trip to St. Elmo's this evening for a Filet Mignon. The food was good. And this after eating at Ertel's Cellar Winery for lunch. It's been a full day in several senses of the word full.

Things I've been listening too:
Killers -- Day and Age
Coldplay -- Prospekt's March
Josiah Leming -- Angel's Undercover

All have highlights and lowlights...but the bottom line is that overall and as expected, it's been a darn good fall for new music.

I went shopping on Black Friday. It was 5:15 a.m. and my sister and I were looking for parking spaces behind Wal-Mart. 5 minutes later, we're picking up microwaves and mixers, 10 minutes later I'm trying to make it to the electronics section, 10 minutes later I'm combing through $2 DVDs that were actually in the grocery area. 30 minutes later we're all checked out and on our way to Starbucks for a fill-up, Sears, Elder Beerman, Menards, Target then McDonald's for breakfast. Rogers and I hit Kohl's later that day. Overall, I enjoyed it quite a bit. Not nearly as bad as I expected the hassle, crowds and lines to be. It was a Julie Spires solo tradition...a fun morning worth considering in future years.

"Like a serenade of sound"

December arrives...

Miniature tornadoes of snow blow across the pavement

Inside - voices, music, crackling from wood in the fire

Lovers pull each other near for warmth

Others huddled within their own coat next to one they once loved

Outside - stars, silence, crackling from footsteps on frozen grass
Shining sheets of ice form across the pavement