Wow, I’m blogging, you’re shocked, I know.

A lot has changed since I last wrote here.
I got married!

I’m this close to being getting my BA.
We got a puppy!

The vet says he is either part Mastiff or Saint Bernard. In case you don’t know, those are both considered “giant breed” dogs. She said, “he’s going to be huge.” So this will be fun.

In addition to these changes, changes will be happening here too. I’m going to try to focus more on my original goal for this site, which is to write positive posts about things that make me feel uplifted (keep me from sinking) in hopes that they will help someone (even if it is just one person) who reads it. Among these posts, which will probably vary from life things, to things in the news, to thoughts on scripture—like I’ve done on some of my previous sites—I will be writing more reviews. Right now I think the reviews will mostly be books that I enjoy and/or have a good message, but there may be an occasional CD or movie review as well.

If you have anything you would like to see reviewed here, let me know by emailing Reese@Ohbuoyancy.net
That’s all for now.

I love God. I like church, at least half the things about it, that is. I like learning about God and understanding things in a different way. It can be helpful, uplifting, and make me face issues I need to deal with. I guess what I’m really saying is that I like the preaching and teaching part of church.

I don’t like the politics of church. I don’t like most of the fellowship (read: people getting together to gossip and be overly dramatic about everything while being highly critical of those outside their circle). I don’t like the judgment and stereotyping: how the inside is high and mighty, their wrongs are okay (sure when they realize they’re wrong they can ask and be forgiven, but so can anyone who is sincere) while everything outside is basically evil. Yes, the “outside” stereotypes the inside as well, but is the inside doing anything to break that trend and mold? From my perspective, (“on the fringes” maybe) the inside strengthens that negative stereotype in 85% of their interactions with the “outside.”

This is only part of it, but I believe that too often the people of the church forget that they’re in the world, there’s other people out there and they matter to God just as much as you do. They matter even more, remember the parable of the lost sheep?

Luke 15:4 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?5And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

But instead of creating community with others, people of the church create an insiders clique.
Jesus made friends with sinners, people who were not part of the church circle.

Mark 2:13And he went forth again by the sea side; and all the multitude resorted unto him, and he taught them. 14And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him. 15And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples: for there were many, and they followed him.

For me, while I’m “in the church,” I’m also in the world, which isn’t all bad, after all it’s the world that God created for me to be in for a time and I have a purpose here. I am not of the world, but I’m also not of the church, I’m trying my best to be of God.

For now, I think watching church on TV may be my best choice.

What would you do if you saw someone you knew on match.com? An ex? Someone you went to school with?

One night Amy and I were browsing match for just these types and find them. Amy finds an ex and I find this guy I went to school with.
During my first stint at GCCC there was a guy in my radio classes, JP we’ll call him, ’cause that’s his name. JP liked attention I guess, he talked with a fake Australian accent, we all knew it was face, yet he still went on insisting it was real. Occasionally, when he would slip up and not accentuate words enough, or at all, and someone would call him on it, he would just say he’d been in the states so long that the accent comes and goes. Then we would talk about him behind his back, good times. Don’t get me wrong though, other than this weird reach for attention, he could be a really nice guy when you spoke with him one-on-one.

Maybe a couple weeks later after finding him on match.com, Amy and I are on a quest for pizza and stop at Gumby’s, which seemed to be the only pizza place open after 10 on a Friday night, weird. We go in and I immediately recognized the guy behind the counter and he clearly recognizes me because he begins to speak in a well out-of-practice fake Australian accent. Gumby’s just has a tiny lobby—it’s not a dine-in restaurant, so we’re cornered. I don’t let on that I know him and don’t have an opportunity to say to Amy, “this is that guy.” So he slips up on a word and Amy calls him out, he shrugs it off. I’m having such a hard time trying not to laugh. When I get the chance, I text Amy and it’s good I did because she thought he looked familiar and almost asked him how she knew him.

So we leave and we’re both cracking up as we walk back to the car. Of course, we’re talking about him and there he is standing behind the building talking to a coworker. I don’t think he heard us and the laughter resumed with added hilarity once we were safely in the car.

Yesterday I made a trip downtown to meet with Dustin Bryson and talk about writing for PCityLIVE. PCityLIVE is a site that just launched this week, it combines a social network with an online magazine. I would compare it to Virb° before I would compare it to myspace, but still with more magazine to it.

I think it’s going to be really awesome. Dustin told me about his ideas for the site and some things they’re doing. He talked about how we can see someone all the time and think they’re a pretty cool person and that we’d like to build a friendship with them but we don’t take the step to approach them and get to know them better. PCitylive hopes to help build relationships in our community, let us get to know people with the help of the internet.

While Panama City is still a fairly small city, I think most residents would agree with me in saying we don’t have the sense of community that many larger cities do have. PCitylive should at least be a step in the right direction, a step that will foster that community feel and experience.

In lieu of a regular post, seeing as my life is quite hectic right now, I thought I would post a few links to things I have been meaning to post about, some old, some newish.

Caring for Your Introvert: Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am for the most part what one would call introverted. This is a good piece to read if you know any introverts and still an interesting read if you are one yourself. I don’t like the title of it though, I don’t think we need to be “cared for;” it would be better titled “Understanding Your Introvert,” or “How to Act (and Not to Act) Around Introverts.”

What Would Jesus Buy?: Trailer for a Morgan Spurlock (of “Supersize Me”) film on consumerism. I have not yet seen it, but looks very um…interesting. Check it out.

Super Mario Galaxy in Amsterdam: This site is not in English, but it’s the pictures that are great. It’s the celebration of the release of Super Mario Galaxy in Amsterdam. The first pic is awesome.

Bake a Book: Gizmodo post about book technology (yes BOOK technology) with thermo-reactive ink. Basically, the pages are blank until you bake the book in the oven, then words show up.

50 Years of Lego: So I missed posting about the birthday of the Lego brick, but here’s the timeline (also Gizmodo).

Polaroid to Nix Polaroids. What?: Yep, no more instant photos (aka Polaroids!) from Polaroid. Next thing we know Aunt Jemima will quit making syrup, rain will stop being wet, and we’ll here that the John Montagu (look him up if you must) never ate sandwiches.

Defend Your Coffee Habbit: I must have at least 2 cups of coffee every afternoon, if I do not you do not want to be around me. I’ve used each of these defenses at least once.

Bradley Hathaway Interview: A wonderful interview with Bradley Hathaway from HM Magazine. The best parts are what he says about love, both God’s love and romantic love. If you don’t know who Bradley Hathaway is, educate yourself, you won’t be disappointed.

And I’ll end with a quote:

“American movies have been using satire for years to take the edge off sex and violence. Occasionally, perhaps sex and violence should be treated with the seriousness they deserve.” – Roger Ebert