I’ve made the EP available online here: http://stlpilots.bandcamp.com/. You can download it for free in many formats including high quality mp3s, FLAC and others. I’ll be uploading our 2008 three song, and the final full length once it’s finished. So keep an eye out.

We should be moving in, God willing, over the weekend. The current resident, so I’ve heard, should be moved out by Friday. Once I get confirmation of this from either her or my new landlord I’ll need to be making arrangements for picking up the furniture still in Greenville with Avery in our old apartment (anyone with a big truck out there who’d let us borrow it/like to help?) I know Curtis is down, but we might need another big vehicle.

Monday Caitlin, Curtis, Avery and I moved most of our stuff from Greenville out to Josh’s place in St. Louis. We’re both pretty grateful to Josh for allowing us to crash at his apartment as well as have all of our stuff strewn about his entire place. We have quite a large amount of stuff, though I was surprised that it fit in so few storage containers. If we ever move across the country or anywhere that we have to move in one day we’re definitely selling and getting rid of much more stuff before that move must be made. Such a huge hassle. And I don’t like putting people out and forcing them into hard labor without being able to really compensate (though I did buy Avery and Curtis some Mi Ranchito. Which made us equal at least.) It’s good to have great friends like Avery, Curtis and Josh.

And another thing, Richard hates driving in the car on the highway. He constantly meows in a way that says how much he hates it. I can’t imagine taking him anywhere that would take more than an hour. Even an hour was too much. We’d probably have to drug him with cat nip. Or drugs.

Today I spent the day finish up odds and ends in Greenville, cleaning our old place and moving more stuff here. I was amazed at how many things I did in about 3 hours. Returned 5 books to 4 different places, got an oil change, paid a parking ticket, turned in my key and set up getting our deposit back, deposited some checks, cleaned and arranged the left over stuff and vacuumed the old apartment and had a brewskie to cool off near the end of the cleaning and still made it back to St. Louis before Caitlin finished her shift. I’m awesome.

Oh, I think I neglected to mention before that Caitlin now works for Starbucks Coffee Company with my old manager Jen. Before I got the job at Hartford I asked Jen is she had any openings for me, but she didn’t. A few weeks later she asked me if I still needed a job but it turned out I didn’t and she was willing to give one to Caitlin ’cause she knew she was still looking. So far she’s worked three shifts and is beginning to tolerate coffee. She used to take one gulp and get sick, now she’s “double-fisting” two different drinks at the same time as she so eloquently puts it. And she made me a quite tasty Iced Double Shot today. I’m proud of her. I can’t wait for the Starbucks perks to kick back in too. Mostly the weekly 1lbs coffee or 1 box tea mark out!

Anyone have any cool fourth of July plans? I’m hoping to BBQ somewhere around lunch time and into the afternoon then go down to the river for the free Sonic Youth show. What are ya’ll doing?

Two Tuesdays ago was my last day in the office as an Admissions Counselor at Greenville College. It’s been both refreshing and odd not having to get up early and go into work any longer. I no longer have to spend an hour and a half getting clean, eating breakfast and ironing clothes each and every morning. It’s great. I’ve been hanging out with Caitlin and Richard (our cat) every day for the past week and a half.

The door has been opened for Caitlin and I to make a change and we had been wanting to get out of Greenville for quite some time. We’re moving to St. Louis at some point this month and we both have been doing quite a bit of searching on Craigslist, Simply Hired, Idealist, Career Builder and Monster for jobs in St. Louis. We’ve both applied to about 3 or 4 each so far and we’re optimistic. We feel that this is the right step for us and are very excited.

This time around I’m really hoping I’ll have a few more options in the type of job I’ll take. The past week I’ve been very selective in which jobs I apply to, especially as there are more fake job postings on Craigslist than there seem to be real. I’d really like to work in some sort of creative aspect and actually found one posting that I seem pretty qualified for. *fingers crossed* So if you know or hear of any jobs you think I would like or be good at, let me know? You’re so sweet.

Genesis 1:1-5
Psalm 29
Acts 19:1-7
Mark 1:4-11

While I was a student at Greenville College, my favorite classes were the ones I took taught by Dr. Scott Neumann of the History department.  Neumann’s teaching style is right up my alley because it combines both the auditory and visual learning methods with the simple use of chalk.  Who knew, in this day and age, that chalk would be the most effective way for a kid to learn.  Not only do I hear what we’re discussing, but I see it on the chalkboard and on my notepad.??Sometimes though, just seeing the words isn’t enough.  This has been a problem I have had with reading scripture.  I am drawn to the patriarchs, Daniel, the gospels and Acts but I have a very hard time with anything that isn’t narrative, with anything I cannot “picture” in my mind.  Sometimes even the narratives themselves may not be enough.  So I like to picture the authors, and the less vividly described characters to help get an idea what is happening in the text, to picture myself there and by surprised by the events and to try to empathize and internalize the feelings I find.

That being said, Mark is by far my favorite gospel.  I love the way the author describes the way characters appear, their clothing, hair, smell, when they knelt before Jesus and when they lacked proper, Hebrew social graces.  I love the way the author sets up where the events take place: the wilderness, Jerusalem at Bethphage and Bethany near the Mount of Olives, and the description of the elaborate columns, ornate finishings and statue of Moses hitting the rock with his staff by the Temple.  I also love how much of a hurry he seems to be in and the language he uses to describe such haste.  It makes me wonder “Why? Why was Mark in such a hurry?”

From the start of Mark’s gospel we’re thrown right into the thick of it.  No prelude or genealogy or birth story.  Nothing about Jesus’ childhood.  For Mark, everything is imminent.  Everything is at critical mass.  Everything is at break neck speed.  I picture the author being a very intense person whom you wouldn’t want to take to a shopping mall because he would probably leave you behind while you’re in Old Navy trying on a pair of jeans.  And it’s not that he’s bored with the store, he’d leave you in behind while you’re browsing Sharper Image or my personal favorite, the Apple store.  He needs to be off to the next thing, and he has to get there quickly.  Or “immediately.”  Immediately is a word he says more than all of his friends: Matthew the CCM major, and Luke the Biology major, and our poetry reading Philosophy/Religion double major John.  Mark doesn’t have their kind of time.  He doesn’t have time for rumination though he is very deliberative.  Nothing is thrown together by accident, he isn’t muddling through, he just speaks with urgency because what he’s trying to say is too important to miss and we need to feel that urgency because in life you never know what is next.  This is one way to imagine him.

Another way is as Frederick Buechner imagines him in his lexicon of Biblical characters Peculiar Treasures.  Maybe Mark was the young boy who came to Jesus in the garden at Gethsemane as the Roman soldiers were bringing Jesus to jail and fled in nothing but his birthday suit.  Maybe he was always on the outside, on the fringe, still terrified from the night in the garden, running even as he wrote.??Or it could be that Mark is just extra observant.  More observant than most.  Maybe he has Input and Context and is the quiet friend in the corner who doesn’t say much but could recant to you everything that was said by any of his friends any given evening over the past three years.  He sees more of the small, minute details that the other gospel writers ignore or miss entirely.  So it’s not that he’s in a hurry or his surroundings are constantly in turmoil.  Everything around Mark continues at a normal pace, but he gets distracted by Jesus sleeping in the stern of the ship, with a small pillow under his head while the disciples above are fighting the battle of their lives against the crashing of the waves around them.  You could picture him lingering, watching the Pharisees react to Jesus’ condemnation of their establishment of the primacy of rules and regulations over that of the Hebrew people; their snickers, and stares, and plots to kill this “Messiah.”  Before long he’s memorized their eye color, brand of sandals, and their lunch plans.  Everything feels so “immediate” to Mark because he is constantly falling behind, having to sprint to catch up!  You can almost picture him getting the first few words of a question to James out his mouth before turning around and seeing the group 2 or 300 yards away. ??Whatever the case may be, Mark’s “immediate” tone in his gospel is a good literary device that creates tension and leaves you on the edge of your seat with a sinking suspicion that something big is developing and sooner or later it’s going to explode.  The plot will take a twist that you didn’t expect, and you will be both amazed and terrified.??But we’re getting ahead of ourselves a little.  Today’s gospel lesson is at the beginning of Mark, not the middle with the glorious weirding out of Peter, James and John at the Transfiguration, or the fantastic ending filled with uncertainty and fear, but the beginning, where things are a little less defined and not quite as intense, where we’re setting up the story, but Mark doesn’t waste any time and hammers us right from the start.

Mark chapter 1 verse 4 “John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”  While Mark prepares us a little by mentioning a prophecy of Isaiah at the beginning of chapter 1, he throws us into the fray when all of the sudden as though Mark was caught looking the other way or something, here appears John.  Seemingly without birth, from nowhere in particular is John the Baptist.  In the other gospels, the authors give us some of John’s back story, his “origins.” In Luke’s gospel, we hear all about John before even mentioning Jesus once, but to Mark it’s as though he appeared out of thin air.  There was a flash, and here’s this crazy eyed guy, with disheveled, unwashed hair shouting about being the one foretold to make the paths straight but is completely incapable of untying sandals.  As if that wasn’t scary enough, Mark describes more.  John is dressed in business casual with a tunic sewn with camel’s hair held in place by a leather belt that’s on its last loop.  Pretty soon he’ll have to grab a knife if he has one, or maybe the sharpest stinger from the bees he’s been eating so he can pull the belt tighter because nothing really puts meat on the bones more than bees and honey.  John is beginning to look rather gaunt.  His eyes have sunk in.  He looks half dead already, and everyone in the crowd as well as Mark himself is probably praying to God that this “greater one” John speaks of comes quickly, because no one is sure how much longer John will be around to proclaim his coming.  And maybe he could bring John a ham sandwich. Well, maybe a “lamb” sandwich instead, he is Jewish after all.

That of course isn’t a very common way to imagine John.  John was a zealot, and the zealots are usually characterized as those who wanted to remove the Roman occupation of Palestine by force.  I imagine they were pretty strong fellows.

Through the voice of John we can hear the voice of God as strong, powerful, wanting to separate and forgive the wheat and destroy the chaff with flames of fire or as the cedars of Lebanon that our Psalmist writes of in Psalm 29.  I can see the first Mark, the Mark who is always in a hurry to do the important, imminent things that cannot wait for you to put the jeans back on the rack at Old Navy, seeing the truth in Psalm 29.  God is a powerful being, holy, and set apart.  Able to “make the wilderness shake with his voice” which is maybe why Mark placed John in a such a setting, and why he put words of fire and brimstone in his mouth.  Maybe that’s the second Mark, the Mark who fled Gethsemane naked and scared, who likes Psalm 29 and put John in the wilderness.  The wilderness is often a symbol of God’s judgement in scripture, so what better place to find a prophet preaching repentance and what better motivator to lead a new life pleasing to God than an utter terror of God’s wrath.

John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  It was a pledge to lead a new life.  The Judean’s who gathered around the filth and murk of the Jordan river, much like the surface of the deep that we find in our Old Testament lesson, confessed their sins and were baptized as a symbol that they leaving behind the chaos of their old selves on the muddy floor of the river and being reborn.  We can see John dunking a Samaritan mother of three with gusto and while she’s under water we can hear God shouting “Let there be light!”  Behold a new creation.  Separating light from dark.  Going into the murk and leaving the darkness behind, arising a child of light so bright it’s blinding.

The disciples that we meet in Acts are baptized in a similar fantastic manner.  After the apostle Paul discovers, through a series of questions that seem to each time take a step further backward rather than forward, that these 12 disciples do not know the Holy Spirit.  He lays his hands on them and they start speaking in tongues, prophesying, shouting, dancing and all sorts of celebration and tomfoolery.  God speaks through the Holy Spirit and the sound is so loud it is deafening.

It seems as though in these passages that when God speaks, you can’t possibly miss him.  He’s the voice that calls the light from the darkness, the voice that causes earthquakes and forest fires, the 6’3” uncle of yours who doesn’t understand the meaning of “whisper” and is probably deaf in one ear.  How often do we experience God like this in our own lives?  I can think of a few times where I was in a rut and prayed and prayed and prayed for direction only to see a subtle hint, to feel a slight nudge, and hear a still, small voice.  We see this too when Jesus shows up at the Jordan.

In the gospel of Mark, Jesus arrives at the river undetected which was a luxury Jesus did not have very long into his ministry.  It seems as though John himself didn’t even know what he was getting into, although in other gospels he does notice Jesus and even protests, that it should be Jesus baptizing John himself and not the other way around.  But Jesus didn’t do that.  John was right where he was supposed to be, doing exactly what he was supposed to be doing, and Jesus was affirming that by his own baptism.  It was small, and subtle way to say “you’re doing my will, you’re exactly where I want you to be.”  Jesus own baptism also affirmed that baptism means nothing without repentance.  As Christians, we are baptized once by water, and again by Spirit.  And if we are baptized because we repent, then we are baptized daily, over and over, moment by moment every time that we chose to turn our life around and make his paths straight again.  When we chose not to forgive, we return to the chaos we were brought out of.  We cannot hear the voice of God through the traffic jam of our lives.  And we cannot be forgiven.  When we do not repent, we are fooling ourselves into thinking that God does not have the power to break us like the toothpicks that we are, and we deprive ourselves of his overwhelming love which is what actually breaks us in the end.

Our original baptism may not have been as outwardly incredible as those 12 disciples in Acts, it may not have been associated with an obvious and overt physical sign of God’s approval, but I don’t believe even Christ’s baptism was accompanied by such a superficial thing.  There were no trumpets, fanfare, or choirs of angels.  Jesus life was defined by humility, his baptism was as well.  When Jesus came out from under the water, the Spirit descended upon him like a dove, in peace and tranquility.  I think there’s a very good chance no one in the crowd even noticed what happened.  Jesus was just another Hebrew who got dunked and moved on with his life.  They might have noticed that he was a Nazarene, but only if they were paying close attention.  Nothing amazing, nothing fantastic.  No one even saw what had happened.  No one really heard a voice since it was so windy by the river.

No one except Mark.  The last Mark I described that is.  The visual one who got lost filing away the details of John the Baptist’s clothes.  He saw what happened that day.  He saw the heavens open, he felt the Spirit descend like the wind from the wings of a dove, and he heard the still, small voice of God say “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”  And he continued starting until long after Jesus had left the Jordan.  And he had to sprint to catch up with him.

Let’s leave today without holding on to any resentment, leaving behind the chaos and traffic jams we brought with us today; forgiving and repenting.  And let us remember our original baptism, and to be prepared for the next.  And most of all, let us be quiet, able to hear that still, small voice.

Thanks for your email.  Justin has been on my mind almost every day in the past few months.  I am so grateful to have known him and the rest of you, Chesnuts.  I have two things to share.  The first is an article I wrote for the Papyrus that was printed a week after Chester passed.

Justin Chesnut was a 2007 graduate magna cum laude of Greenville College.  He was a double major: Social Work and Management. He was a brother, a son, a boyfriend, a best friend and one of the most beautiful people I have ever had the privilege of knowing. Justin suffered from muscular dystrophy, and died of heart failure at his home in Effingham on Wednesday, October 15th in the morning.
There are so many things that can be said of Justin, that it’s very difficult to whittle it down to a few short paragraphs for this article so I won’t try. I will say for myself that Justin had the faith of biblical proportions. Through constant struggles with his health, he achieved more than most: valedictorian of his high school, continued walking until he was 20 (when doctors said no later than 12), nearly straight A’s through 5 years of college, competed nationally at Future Business Leaders of America, Chi Beta Sigma scholar, and many other accomplishments. Never once did he complain about his disease, or use it as an excuse not to do his best. Justin’s life is a beacon and an example to all of us.
I wanted a few others to share their thoughts about Justin. Professor Jack Chism had this to say: “Justin couldn’t reach behind him to pass papers; he couldn’t raise his arms high enough to write on a chalkboard.  But in his years here, I never heard him complain about that or anything else.  He knew he’d never see a thirtieth birthday, but still studied hard, prepared for the future, and faced his troubles with good cheer, always.”
Chair of the Management Department Dr. Ivan Filby “I have so many good memories of Justin. My overwhelming memories of him were that he was always well prepared for class and was very bright indeed. I recall being with him in Nashville when he placed 4th in the nation in the Phi Beta Lambda Management Analysis and Decision Making competitive examination. I was so proud of him and bragged about him in all of his classes. I still do! He had a deep faith and was always positive. I am really glad to have known him and that we will have eternity to hang out together.”
While praying together the night after he passed, Ian Kitterman, a 2006 graduate who was Justin’s personal assistant for nearly 3 years, said “I think it’s ironic that God would use someone who was so weak, to teach me about strength.” Muscular dystrophy is a degenerative muscle disease, and Justin was confined to a wheelchair.
Before Justin passed he spent a lot of time talking to his brother Jared Chesnut about heaven, and he was confident that the first things he would do would be to play the piano, the saxophone, and baseball again. Justin said he’d be the best shortstop Jared had ever seen. And if I know Justin, he’s practicing ever so diligently, and he will be the best that any of us have ever seen.

The second thing I’d like to share is not so much a memory but how Chester still has a huge affect on my life.  And at the risk of sounding kind of silly, I’ll tell you.  Whenever I’d use a public restroom I’d almost always use the handicap accessible one.  This was simply because it’s larger, less of a chance for me to touch anything in the bathroom other than the floor with the soles of my shoes. Often I’d wonder what would happen if an actual handicapped person came in while I was using it, “would I be embarrassed?”  Luckily it never happened.  In light of what happened recently I decided to stop using the “extra large” stall and use a regular (read that as “extra small”) stall instead.  I call it a “pouring one out for my homie” just like I’ll take every opportunity to make a pun joke in tribute to Ian Kitterman.  This adjustment of my behavior is a tribute to Chester, though the tribute is only known to me, which is fine.  Every time that I go against my regular actions I think of Chester, I think of our friendship and his great love for me, I think God for him, I pray for him and his, and I pray for myself.  In this way I also do not forget about him (how could I possibly?)  For this is one of my biggest fears, forgetting.  I’m so happy that Chester is in a better place, and he’s whole, and completely fulfilled, but I am also still very sad to be without him.  Thank you for the opportunity to put my memories of him into words yet again, because he still lives on inside us, and remembering him makes him feel alive to me.

Merry Christmas, Chesnuts.

This Ranch-styled restaurante serves up the finest traditional mexican cuisine this side of Juarez. You’ll feel like Clint Eastwood in “Two Mules for Sister Sara” with your ten-gallon hat and spurs (traditional garb not required.) Try the Burrito Ranchero, or the Chori Pollo (pronounced “Poe-Yo” you gringo!) and you’ll be begging for a siesta before you finish your chips!
La Hacienda Jalisco’s atmosphere is Mexico like you’ve never seen it: with a cobblestone carpet (that is a carpet with the appearance of granite!) Do you habla espanol? Try ordering your meal in Spanish to enrich your cross-cultural experience as the staff is fluent in the language of our neighbors to the south. Don’t like to wait? ¡No problemo! The Hacienda employs Speedy Gonzales, so your food is served fast.
What are you waiting for amigo? Get your trasero in gear and head over to the best mexican place in Greenville for a meal that is muy bueno.

I also wrote a news article about Google’s latest amazing and free product: Chrome.

Google out to polish the internet browser with Chrome

The company with the world’s most popular search engine has entered the realm of internet browsing with the open-source Chrome. Released on Tuesday, Google has attempted to reinvent the web experience for all by making a faster, more stable, and more secure web browser. Chrome implements several breakthrough designs including tabbed processing, an advanced Java Script engine, a smarter address bar, and a user defined home page with thumbnails of nine most visited pages, searches, and recently closed tabs.

“So why are we launching Google Chrome?” Google asks on it official blog. “Because we believe we can add value for users and, at the same time, help drive innovation on the web.” At first glance, Google Chrome is plain and simple with the bear minimum of buttons and controls. This was by design because to Google the browser is “only a tool to run… pages, sites and applications that make up the web.” Some of those applications, most prominently web searches, Google has on lock-down, though the company has others like Gmail, Calendar, and particularly word processing that present potential “malware” to mammoth Microsoft.

Microsoft, which claims 72% of the browser user base with Internet Explorer, is about to release IE8. Microsoft general manager of IE Dean Hachamovitch has claimed IE8 is better “for what people do every day again and again,” but it has already tested slower than Chrome. IE also comes pre-installed on all PCs shipped with Windows so it is in no way threatened by Chrome, but Google is not “out to get” IE, or Firefox, or any other browser.

Google’s main purpose in creating Chrome is to make the web better for everyone by encouraging innovation by means of competition. And, in typical Google fashion, the project is completely free and open source so other companies, like Microsoft and Mozilla, can apply their ideas to their own browsers; thereby creating a better web experience for all. And for those of us who do not understand techy-speak, the whole project is explained in a comic book found at google.com/chrome.

By taking products that usual cost money, making them better, then releasing them for free and turning a profit, Google is a company that stands alone in the marketplace, and there has yet to be anything it has put it hands on that hasn’t turned to gold, or in this case, chrome.

Sources:
Google Official Blog
The Age
Google Chrome Comic Book
Google Apps

- Started the new school year, looking to travel. College fairs and High School visits mostly in St. Louis, though some in the Quad Cities in northern Illinois, and Iowa.
- I recorded vocals for Dear Future last weekend. Brandon and Paul came down and lent their pipes to one of their new songs. They have a new EP in the works that sounds pretty promising. It seems a little down-tempo to the last one, but I think it’ll turn out pretty mature.
- I began work with Kelly Latimore last week as well. I’m very excited about this. Kelly is probably the most underrated artist currently residing in Greenville. We’re not sure exactly where to go yet, but we demoed several songs and should have a bit more direction next meeting on Thursday. I can’t wait to really develop his songs and get him a very good sounding EP/LP.
- Sunday night I watched the wonderful Steph Plant perform at Greenville’s bed and breakfast Chartreuse. Steph is probably the best singer I have ever heard in my life in person, if not ever. I’m still pretty foggy on where to take her music as I’ve never heard her perform with any other accompaniment except her guitar or mountain dulcimer. While her music would be beautiful as is, I’d like to see where we could take it. She does share similarities with Regina Spektor, and her music is primarily piano and Regina, though a few songs are more produced. Regina also has a bit more of a pop feel, which lends itself to beats and such other glitter.
- Lastly, there may be a very interested development with me and the studios here in Greenville. More on that when more is known.

That is all until the future is here.