old order German baptists

This evening we celebrated my grandma's birthday at the farmhouse of an old-order German baptist couple. They served delicious food but weak coffee. I've always been fascinated by "denominations" such as old-order German baptists. Amish are the most interesting, but German baptists come in a close second. These folk were quite nice, and the husband found it amazing that I enjoyed sushi. I envy the simplicity of these people, a simplicity which doesn't come naturally but which must be fought for, wrestled with, and implemented with both desire and dedication. An interesting observance: depression rates are the lowest in communities of the Amish, and the reason for this (psychologist's speculate) is that they are unencumbered by all those useless "necessities" which most westerners enjoy. Their simplicity and style of living, coupled with their active lifestyle, is a natural antidote to depression. Not to say that there aren't depressed Amish people, just that some of the biggest factors leading to depression are eradicated by their strict living. I need to simplify my life. Maybe that would bring some calm and clarity. 

anchor christmas ale

Patrick and I celebrated his 22nd birthday with a trip to China Cottage with his family. I ate outside-the-box with a firecracker stir-fry laden with mushrooms, scallops, shrimp, crab, and seared chicken (not to mention all sorts of vegetables and, best of all, water chestnuts!). Afterwards we ran by D.L.M. and got a six-pack of my "Christmas Ale of the Week": The Anchor Brewing Company's Christmas Ale. The coolest thing about this ale is that, every year, the recipe is different. The beer's "theme" is the celebration of the newness of life, and with each year's different recipe, the graphic design of the tree is different. The tree is chosen as a graphic because trees symbolize the winter solstice where the earth, with its seasons, is "born anew." 2010's tree is the Ginkgo biloba tree. This year's ale is a dark, mahogany brown with overriding hops in the taste, highlighted with bits of nutmeg and clove. I prefer the spicy ales to the amber ales, and I'd rate this one #3 thus far, preceded by (1) Great Lakes Christmas Ale, (2) 12 Dogs of Christmas Ale, and followed by (4) Bell's Christmas Ale.

losing teeth

Last night I dreamt that my teeth were falling out. It's been a recurrent dream. One of my old friends was big into dream symbolism and how our dreams could be reflections of our subconscious, so I decided to look it up. Apparently when a person dreams of losing teeth, it's a subconscious echo of how one feels powerless to effect change in life, a mixture of helplessness and vulnerability. Now, I give "dream symbolism" the same credibility I give the movie "Inception," but at the same time, that makes sense. I do feel powerless to effect change in my life. I feel cornered in a hole and, despite all my attempts to climb out, I can't seem to scale the wall. I make strides in life, and I do make changes, but when it comes to those things that're most important to me, all my efforts and all my striving have been sterile at the least. One of these "things" (there are more than one) is my pursuit of a wife. Not a mail-order Russian deal (or Hispanic deal, depending on your preferences), but eventually dating someone and falling in love (whatever that means) and building a family together. I've come close, eerily close, several times, but each time things have been demolished before my eyes, and I've been--here comes that key word--powerless to prevent it. Maybe the losing of my teeth isn't mere coincidence; over the last week or so, I'd been talking to a great girl named Jacquelynn, and we were going to go on a date but she called things off (for very legitimate reasons; I'm not upset at all), and maybe the feeling of powerlessness is surging through my veins once more. Carly and I went out for sushi the other day, and I told her, "It's so difficult to meet godly women." She reminded me again that there are more single Christian girls in the world than I know. But that old, nagging question remains--"What's the point?" Every time I get my hopes up, things fall apart. And I pray and I pray, and the answer that comes isn't "No" but "Maybe... Well, probably not." I get my hopes up, and then BAM! it's over. And to top it off, every time one of my friends ends up engaged--which seems to be happening more-and-more as all those folk I grew up with get married off--I feel like a knife is being plunged into my heart and wrenched about like a flopping fish (note: limit similes). I'm just rambling on here, and don't get the impression that I'm really depressed and sad all the time. I'm not. I have my moments, sure, but life is generally going pretty well. Okay. Now to do some writing. K bye.

the first snow

The snow started falling around 6:30 this morning, and I watched it fall all day while at work. Carly and I went out to a pretty great sushi restaurant just down the street from my house and dirt-cheap (I plan on going there more often), and by the time we left, the roads were covered. The snow fell harder and I drove home snow-blind. It let up about an hour after I got home, leaving in its wake the first snowfall. And on December 1st, of all days! It's a new month, and I have few ambitions:

Finish the rough draft of "Re:framing Repentance." I only have 3 1/2 chapters to go, plus the prologue and epilogue. I can easily finish one chapter a week, and then it'll be on to the next phase of the project's work: editing, revising, reviewing, formalizing, etc. The fun part will be over and the annoying (albeit necessary) part will begin.

Get Mandy to read a post on "Re:framing Repentance." She doesn't read any of my posts on the book, and my aim is to somehow "lure" her in. I'll figure out a way. Leave bread-crumbs or something. Promise a revelation in the middle of the post. Drop her name in there so she subconsciously sees it and is strangely enticed to read. I'll figure out a way.

Don't gain weight. The days leading up to Christmas are always the hardest when it comes to dieting, and then after that (minus New Year's Eve) it gets easy again. It's not hard to gain weight during December, and it's equally not hard to maintain weight. It's all a matter of being smart, self-disciplined, and counting calories and fat (without becoming a legalist about it). Thankfully I've stayed at around 135# through Thanksgiving; if I'm at 135# come January 1st, I'll be happy. 

the end of a month

November has been a pretty great month. It started off with a much-needed vacation down in Cincinnati and finished off seeing family for Thanksgiving. It's gotten pretty cold--I find myself muttering, "Damn, damn, damn..." as I walk from the employee lot to our building--but that makes the evenings that much more enjoyable. It's become a habit of mine to come home, turn on the fireplace, and drink a beer in the overstuffed chair while watching tv or reading a book. It's definitely quite wonderful. And simple. And I like that. 

This afternoon Mandy came to see me from Cincinnati. She dropped a flour pot on her head and I think she had a mild concussion, though the symptoms were rapidly disintegrating by the time she got here (minus the delayed conversational responses and the look of being stoned that washed over her face time and again). We grabbed lunch at China Cottage and then spent the rest of the afternoon curled up in my room snorting lines of Starbucks Via and taking ridiculous pictures, such as the one to the left. Definitely a good ending to the month.

the dayton days [43]

Ams & I at Thanksgiving Dinner

Monday. I had a princess shift, 6-12:30. Tyler came over, and we went to work so I could get my tips. Adam from M.C.C. was there. Tyler & I grabbed dinner at Milano's and finished off the night with Mario-Kart and laughter on the front porch. I hate how young I look: one of Tyler's friends saw him in a picture smoking a pipe with me, and he exclaimed, "Tyler! You can't smoke with kids in your youth group!" Hilarious, albeit frustrating. I know I'll love it when I'm older, but right now it's my bane. The only girls who flirt with me are in high school or Junior High. Women want macho, "manly" men. It doesn't matter how great of a guy I may be: I still look like a kid. "Dad hated it, too," Mom told me, "but now he loves me." But I do have at least one woman crazy for me: my work stalker. She came in today, and Jessica yelled, "Anthony! Hide!" She didn't talk to me, but she DID try to steal some of our VIA instant coffee.

Tuesday. A lazy day: work till 2:30, a nap, studying Christian theology, and watching TV. Highlights included a trip to the Marketplace for gas and cigarettes, and Mom fixed dinner. 

Wednesday. I built a merchandise shelf for Faith. She always asks me to do all the handyman stuff. Jessica & I got China Cottage after work. Carly was going to join us, but she felt sick (recovering from a wisdom teeth operation). Aunt Teri & Grandma rolled into town, and Tanner tried to eat our Christmas tree.

Thanksgiving. Cold, windy, rainy. I worked 5:30-2:00, missed out on Thanksgiving with Dad's side of the family. After work I high-tailed it to New Carlisle to catch the tail-end of the party, but only after refueling the Celica and letting Tanner out to piss. Megan brought Cate. She's nearly two years old now. That's crazy. It feels like just yesterday we were on a cruise ship and she was nervous about marriage, much more kids. I played with Cate and remembered again how much I want to have kids. I hide it well, don't want to look soft. But kids make me melt. I got home around 8:00 after driving home through torrential rains.

Black Friday. The store opened early for all the crazy shoppers (4:30 AM), but luckily I didn't have to be part of that. Dad & I switched out the tires from the Prizm to the Celica. Work was hell: at least it went by quickly. I had a beer when I got home. On P.O.F. I "met" a girl named Jacquelyn. She's 22, my type, lives in Cincinnati. She gave me her phone number today, told me to call her. "You seem like a genuine, down-to-earth guy who has his priorities straight." 

Saturday. I woke early and ran by work for six shots espresso and harassment from Destini. Aunt Teri, Uncle Bill, and Grandma came into town. Mom & Aunt Teri went out for beers, and Jesse & Jared, and their wives, showed up. We hammered down some beers and watched the Kentucky/Tennessee game. Ams arrived, and we dined on an AMAZING dinner and played Pictionary for a while. I called Jacquelyn and we talked for a bit.

Sunday. Boozer woke me up trying to steal the couch. He barked and whined all night long as I slept (or attempted to). Jesse, Jared and the girls left early. Mom & I set about putting the house back together. I called Jacquelyn and we talked for about an hour, and then Dylan, Tyler, and Dewenter came over for a while. Things with Jacquelyn look promising for a "first date": she texts me, laughs a lot on the phone, puts on that playful, kidding voice when we talk, etc. I'm thinking maybe a trip to the Blind Lemon in Mt. Adams or to Rock Bottom Brewery on Fountain Square.

thanksgiving, part IV

Last night we celebrated Thanksgiving at the house with Mom's side of the family. Jesse and Jared brought several different kinds of beer, and we drank a few and watched the Kentucky vs. Tennessee game, and we ate an amazing dinner and I felt too stuffed to eat desert. We closed out the evening playing Pictionary and then we went to bed. Boozer spent all night whining and barking in his sleep and kept trying to reclaim the couch. Around 7:00 this morning I finally gave up pushing him away and gave him the sofa and made some coffee. Everyone's heading back down to Kentucky today, so I plan on doing laundry, getting a lot of cleaning done, working out, and probably hanging out with Dylan & Tyler and Dewenter later on in the day. I have a busy work week ahead of me, and I want to hit up the gym every day if possible to work off the Thanksgiving calories (though, thankfully, I didn't do too awful; no worse than having a meal or two from China Cottage). It's been a great Thanksgiving, and now I'm just looking forward to Christmas--more time with great people :). And then it's the winter dreggs for three-four months until it warms up again.