Filed under: General
Today is my Daddy’s birthday. I wish I could be there to celebrate with him. I did, however, have the chance to spend some time with him last weekend, and got to hear him teach and preach on Sunday.
In case you didn’t know, my Daddy is the best preacher in the world. I don’t know if I’ve always realized it, but I sure was reminded of it this weekend. So often, preachers seem to have a superiority complex. They take all of their schooling and hold it over people’s heads. They pound their listeners with Greek and Hebrew—not always because it’s relevant, but just because they can. They always want the last word in any dispute and refuse to hear arguments to the contrary. Don’t get me wrong—I’m grateful for the knowledge and study of our ministers, but sometimes it’s hard to connect when they’re up on a pedestal (self-made or otherwise).
I say all this to say that my Daddy’s not like this. He’s down-to-earth. When he talks to you from the pulpit, it’s just like he would talk to you anywhere else. There’s no “preacher voice.” He genuinely cares about what he is saying and wants you to know it. He knows how to boil down a lot of big theological concepts in ways that can be understood and applied.
So often, application stops at “Read your Bible and pray everyday.” Both are important, but often more is needed. What about the Ethiopian eunuch, who asked in Acts 8:31, “How can I [understand what I am reading] unless someone explains it to me?” My Daddy knows how to apply Scripture. As we looked at Jeremiah 32 in Bible study on Sunday, Dad talked to us about our investment in heaven and what we can be doing here on earth to get ready. I walked away challenged.
My love for my father doesn’t stop at his preaching, but it’s what I wanted to point out today, even though my words are disorganized and inadequate. He’s the best (in more ways than one), and he means a lot to me. Happy Birthday, Dad! I love you!
Filed under: General
Wayne Allwine passed away on Monday. His name might not mean much to you, unless you know that he had been the voice of Mickey Mouse for the last 32 years. That’s my entire life and then some, so he’s the Mickey I grew up on, and as many of you know, I grew up in quite the Disney household. One thing I learned as I read tributes to him today is that he was married to the voice of Minnie Mouse (Russi Taylor)–how fitting. For many years, their relationship was hidden, supposedly because if they were to divorce, the headlines would inevitably have been about Mickey and Minnie splitting up. I guess that’s bad PR. But they didn’t divorce–they enjoyed 18 years of marriage and continued to work alongside each other to give voices to these beloved characters. Call me sappy, but that’s a pretty sweet story. There’ll be a new Mickey soon enough, but I’ll always remember Wayne Allwine and wanted to share this tidbit.
Filed under: Music
I’m finished with my second year of law school. That feels good. Now to the summer, which will hopefully include a job and some fun–like updating my blog every once in a while.
So I finally made a return to Nashville this past weekend (for my sister’s wedding), where I was greeted by a stack of mail. In the pile was a CD that I had been looking forward to hearing. The band is Red Shepherd and the album is Blue Skies. The band formed at FHU while I was there, but they have since moved on to Nashville.
Red Shepherd recently released their sophomore album Blue Skies, and it is clear from the opening chords of the leadoff track that this band has grown a lot over the past couple of years. The album leads off with an electric guitar solo, whereas most of the tracks on the debut album Be Here began with the strumming of an acoustic guitar. The following tracks display a fuller, more well-rounded sound, incorporating tighter harmonies and even some piano.
The album leads off with the question, “What is wrong?” and from there, the band looks outwardly and inwardly at the struggles and joys of life in an imperfect world. Aaron Johnston’s vocals are earnest and hopeful in spite of the heavy subject matter. Matt Fox, clearly influenced by past masters like Hendrix and Page, is given chances to shine on the guitar, especially on the opening track and “Glow.” Bassist Rett Wood and drummer Taylor Burgess provide a solid rhythmic foundation for the album.
The album is not without flaws (seen most notably in some unnecessary rhymes on “Made for Me,” which otherwise is a great song about the desire for a meaningful relationship), but on the whole, this album will get stuck in your head. You can really hear the hard work that went into making it. If you’re in or around Nashville, go see them—you won’t be disappointed. Visit their website or download the album here. I guess I’ll just have to wait for the northeast leg of the tour for now, but until then, this album will stay in heavy rotation.
Filed under: General
Checked out the first MLB game at Citi Field last night and had a blast. I didn’t have much of a rooting interest in either team, but I enjoyed checking out the new ballpark. The best part of the park lies behind the centerfield scoreboard. There you will find four restaurants by noted New York City restauranter Danny Meyer. Two of them–Shake Shack and Blue Smoke–have locations in Manhattan, while two more–El Verano Taqueria and Box Frites–are new creations. We went 3 for 4 back there (saving the tacos for another day).
Box Frites is a stand completely devoted to french fries. You order a large fry or a small fry and have your choice of five dipping sauces. We tried the Creamy Bacon and the Chipotle Ketchup. The Creamy Bacon was definitely the winner, and tonight I got inspired to try and recreate it. Here’s my recipe:
Creamy Bacon Dip
- 2-3 strips of bacon
- 3 tbsp sour cream
- 1 1/2 tbsp mayo
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 tbsp hot bacon fat (for flavor)
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
- 1/2 tsp dried onion
Mix together the sour cream and mayo. I just used a soup spoon to scoop them out. Get the bacon crumbly–I used a mini food processor–and mix it in. Add everything else and mix it up, and garnish it with a little bit of dried parsley for presentation’s sake. Serve with fries or chips or whatever.
It’s great with fries and I made my own tonight, too. Just cut potatoes into eight wedges each and spread on a cookie sheet. Coat them with oil and cover generously with season salt and bake until golden brown.
I’d give you nutritional information, but I don’t know it, except that it’s probably not something you should eat everyday due to the fatty nature of practically all the ingredients. But it’s still fun.
Filed under: General
Well, good for me–another month in which I wrote absolutely nothing. Now I’m back, and I want to share two new related goals. I first read about a program called one hundred push ups several months ago. I’ve started it a few times but never got very far. When I went to give it another go, I found that they had added an additional program called two hundred sit ups. The idea of both programs is simple–no matter what your fitness level, you can work up to do 100 consecutive pushups and 200 consecutive situps. I did my initial tests last week, and find myself starting in the bottom bracket for both programs. I’m okay with that. I’m looking forward to seeing what I can do.
I have arrived safely back in Tennessee. On the way home, I was listening to Rocco DeLuca and was reminded of this nugget of Christmas joy. Kiefer Sutherland owns a record label and went on tour with Rocco DeLuca and his band. One night, Kiefer got drunk and showed everyone how much he loves Christmas.
I just accomplished several posts within a post. Obscure musical reference? Check. Promoting Jack Bauer, who returns to FOX on January 11th? Check. Spreading Christmas cheer? You’d better believe it. My break is off to a great start. I have no real plans, so you’ll probably hear more from me soon.
I took an eight-hour, take-home final today. This consisted of an entirely boring day of sitting in the library writing about the technicalities of trademark law. Finals are a fun time to sit in the library, and by fun time, I mean it’s a wonder that all of us don’t kill each other. Once you leave the first floor, everything is pretty quiet. Anything that disturbs this silence immediately earns you a series of dirty looks. These sounds include the opening of soda bottles, tapping of pens, overly loud typing, the vibrating of cells phones (because it’s so quiet you can hear it), and the person that answers that phone and begins to have a conversation. Before you classify all law students as petty and irritable, just remember it’s finals time and we’re under a lot of pressure. (Does that justify the dirty looks?) Anyhow, knowing how much fun it is to spend such an extended period of time in the library, I brought my iPod. And what does one listen to for several hours while taking a final? Well, I chose the following albums:
- Band of Horses, Cease to Begin
- Belle and Sebastian, Dear Catastrophe Waitress
- Coconut Records, Nighttiming
- Death Cab for Cutie, Narrow Stairs
- Guster, Ganging Up On The Sun
- Jump, Little Children, Between the Dim & the Dark
- The Postal Service, Give Up
- Rilo Kiley, Under the Blacklight
- Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Raising Sand
Most of it’s pretty quiet, mellow stuff. I just needed to break up the monotony and stay focused on what was in front of me–not the noises everyone else was making. I got the exam in with a few minutes to spare, even though I had to face a harrowing paper jam to get it printed in time. Still, there is no time to rest, as I have one more final on Friday.
Filed under: General
Beginning a long week–four exams in five days, starting at 6:30 tonight. But in the interest of taking a breather, I thought I’d check in. In one of my other breaks this weekend, I tried to put a bit of a personal touch on things around here. Odds are I’ll mess with it some more over break, but this is a start. I’ll most likely be back on this weekend, unless there’s just something so pressing that I can’t help but pass it along.
Filed under: General
Would I write more on a new blog than I did on my old blog? I like Blogger because it plays nice with all my other Google services, but this whole WordPress thing seems nice and sure does look better, even if I am just using a ready-made template (with an image of the Ryman thrown in for good measure).
I suppose I’ll join the throng that are leaving Blogger for WordPress. Several friends have, and my dad just started a blog of his own here (The Word of Dodd . . . the link is on the right). And my name was available–no dashes or middle initials for once. Just andrewdodd.wordpress.com.
So here I am. All the old posts are here, although some of the content may have been lost in translation. Not like there was anything of consequence to begin with back there.
I would do this right before finals. You probably won’t be seeing anymore of me for a few weeks.
Filed under: Love
Okay, so I did do it. As of Friday, Mallory and I are engaged, and some of you may be curious as to how I did it.
Unbeknown to Mallory, I did a bit of shopping while I was home this summer. I’ve had a ring hidden in my apartment since I got back in August and have been waiting for the right time to give it to her. Not to give away the ending, but I chose last Friday.
Early last week, I had invited Mallory over for dinner and she had accepted. I picked her up at the train station and we headed back to my apartment. Waiting for us was what turned out to be a rather fantastic dinner, even if I did make it myself. We had pork tenderloin, broccoli, and bread (and no one got food poisoning). I had made quite a mess of the kitchen, so I washed dishes while Mallory relaxed. Then it was time for dessert–chocolate pudding parfaits topped with peanuts and marshmallows for a Rocky Road effect.
After dessert, it was time. She was under the assumption that we were about to watch a movie, but I had other plans. I told her that I had something for her and pulled out a poster tube that I had stashed by the couch. I guess some background would be good here. While at Freed, Mallory and I attended several concerts at the Ryman Auditorium. It quickly became tradition to buy the limited edition Hatch Show Print that was made for each show. (See examples here. This is probably our mutual favorite of the ones we have. And if anyone has the one from the September 2006 Sufjan show, we need it.) I took it upon myself to make my own:
So back to the story. I handed her the poster tube and while she opened it, I reached for the other object hidden by the couch–a small box. As she unrolled the poster, I got down on one knee and opened the box and asked her to marry me. I took her completely by surprise–she had no idea it was coming. Fortunately for me, she said yes. We spent the next hour or so making phone calls and then headed back to her house to show her parents.
That’s the story. If you want to see the ring, you’ll have to ask Mallory. I think she’ll post pictures sooner or later. She also might have comments on how this all went down. Details on the actual wedding are sparse at this point, but we’ll let you know.
