Shaunald's wedding

Ronnie and Shaunti finally got married on Saturday! The ceremony was short and sweet; I haven't been to many weddings but this one has got to be one of the most efficient. The after-party was at a restaurant in Chelsea that was pretty cool, too. Food, drinks, music, dancing, cake, laughs, car flirting, people, pictures, smiles=fantastic time.

what a dork

baby season

Congrats to Jason and Jen for having David Michael Jones (5lbs 10oz, 19.5 inches) as well as Ric and Torie for having Jonah Jackson White (8lbs 9oz, 21 inches). Everyone is doing well, and I can't wait to see little David when I come home. Praise God for the wonderful blessings in our lives.
Sidenote: It seems that a bunch of my friends have recently or will shortly either have kids or get married, and I still don't have a girlfriend...great.

one more reason

"If I heard the Lord right about 2006, the coasts of America will be lashed by storms," Pat Robertson told his viewers on May 8th. He also added," There well may be something as bad as a tsunami in the Pacific Northwest."
Oh really? Thats a pretty big "if" there, don't ya think, Pat? All I can say is thanks for giving people another reason to sign the Pat Robertson Petition.

Once and for all, people

"It is not the fault of Dan Brown that we as Christians are so horribly uneducated about our own faith that we would blindly believe the fabrications of a fictitious character in one of his novels. It is utterly shameful that a fiction novel could have such a profound effect on us for our lack of knowledge and, to a great extent, even our seeming unwillingness to seek the truth. All Christians claim to believe that what we know about God and Jesus is indeed the truth; few Christians go so far as to prove it for themselves. Many write it off quickly as a matter of faith, leaving themselves quite open to attack in their ignorance. What every Christian should know is that what we believe actually is the truth, and not simply what we believe because we are too foolish or arrogant to understand otherwise."

Hip-Hip, Jorge!

Posada came through big time last night in an amazing baseball game! They were down 9-o in the second inning!By the way, the odds of coming back from a 9-o deficit is 0.94% but c'mon, we're talking about the Yankees here! Fast forward to the bottom of the ninth where the Rangers are up 13-12. Posada comes to the plate with a man on base and two outs, and he blasts the game-winning, walk-off homer! My boy Jeter had a huge game going 4 for 5 with a homer, 4 RBIs and three runs. Oh yeah, he also threw out Texeira, who tried to unsuccessfully tried to blast through Posada, at the plate and stole third base just for kicks. We should've went to this game, Lindsey.

Clean am I before my Lord
Washed am I in his cleansing word
Though sin talons at my face
Though my lips breath curse and praise
Though verse of doubt I've too oft writ
The eyes of forgiveness see none of it

Clean am I before my Lord
Saved am I from doomsday's sword
Though thy love I've scarcely shown
Though I've wept when the cock hath crowed
Though stumbled have I in miry's pit
The pierced Savior's hand it washes it

Clean am I before my Lord
Mortality's river I shall ford
Drink will I of angel's food
Take hold the redemption of the rood
And drink the blood shed to remit
The sins of my soul, he sees none of it

Clean am I before my Lord
Washed am I in his cleansing word
Clean am I before my Lord
Saved am I from doomsday's sword
Clean am I before my Lord
Mortality's river I shall ford

Love you, Mom.

Its so easy for me to lose sight of such beauty and majesty...its not so much that I'm too busy in general but that I too often allow my mind to concentrate on spiritual issues or matters of the faith that detract me from being in awe of His presence in my life. I find myself more, I don't know, ready or eager I guess to be involved in His kingdom work through action or contemplation than to simply be overwhelmed by the King Himself. I don't even know if that makes sense; its kinda weird, and I'm noticing it more now than ever. I don't think I've lost my passion or desire to serve and follow, but I can't shake the feeling that some of the flavor to it all has slowly dissipated...I'm sure that it has something to do with the fact that I'm in constant analysis of things; I've always seen my faith as a rational one, not one out of blind allegiance. Maybe the mind part isn't in balance with the heart part. I imagine what life would be like if I allowed my entire being to be flooded with His glory and grace and spirit and love...
...and it truly saddens knowing my life is nowhere near that and that I'm the responsible for such limitations.

Shaunald's wedding shower

Shaunti and Ronnie (aka Shaunald(for the slow ones out there, I just combo'd their names)) celebrated their togetherness in style with the karaoke shindig of the year. There was some good food along with lively entertainment. Its supposed to be "karaoke" but since most people there can actually sing, its not really "karaoke" but still good times nevertheless. I took some video of it but since the lights were dimmed, you can't actually see much but the audio is still amusing to hear. My favorite was Kyle and Justin ripping it old school with Boys2Men's MotownPhilly...Kyle doing Michael Bivins was wicked funny! (That crazy lady who threatened to call the cops on us was pretty funny too.) Anyway, Ronnie and Shaunti, you two lovebirds are one step closer to being m-a-r-r-i-e-d!

My Problem with Christianism

I cannot say it any better than Andrew Sullivan did in his essay at TIME.com. What amazes me is how much people in position ignore or neglect this frustration and misrepresentation of people of faith. How long will this go on?
"I dissent from the political pollution of sincere, personal faith. I dissent most strongly from the attempt to argue that one party represents God and that the other doesn't. I dissent from having my faith co-opted and wielded by people whose politics I do not share and whose intolerance I abhor. The word Christian belongs to no political party. It's time the quiet majority of believers took it back."

Just got done booking my flight home! And JetBlue better be all that b/c it cost me a pretty penny. In less than a month, I get to sleep on my wonderful futon, watch TV on my lovely flat-screen, drive my fantastic Civic...and, oh yeah, see my amazing family and friends. I'm going, going back, back, to Cali, Cali, uhhh!

Congrats, Craig and Kristi!

I just got word that Kristi just delivered a beautiful baby girl named Eloise(Elle or El) Linnea Nolan! I can't wait to see the new edition to the Nolan household next month when I come home...that little girl is gonna get spoiled big time! Here are the stats:
8lbs, 3 oz/21.5 inches/ darkish wavy hair/ dark blue eyes

my King eternal

my Lord immortal

my God invisible

Steven flippin' Spielberg!

Smokes, I shook hands with Mr. Spielberg last Saturday night! I mean, this is the cinematic genius responsible for ET, Jaws, Indiana Jones, Hook...the man revolutionize film-making with incredible CGI/live action integration in Jurassic Park and amazing first-person action in Saving Private Ryan. He's so much more of a compelling story-teller than a Hollywood director...Schindler's List, Amistad, Munich, The Color Purple...I can go on and on. I had a bunch of things I had wanted to say to him, but all I could manage was some gibberish about my name and a photo. Its gonna be hard to top this encounter!

Tommy

As I was looking at flights for my trip home for my brother's graduation, I couldn't help but think about our relationship. We don't have the best one, at least not the one I would like and a large part of that is my fault. I don't think that I've been or am a bad brother but I do recall times where I've messed up big time and was too stubborn to admit it or too proud to back down. I can see how I've acted out of anger or self-interest or arrogance during certain periods of time...done and said stupid things I knew better than to have done and said. Look, I know we all make mistakes and would like all our relationships to be better and I don't want this to sound like a pity party or anything but there were so many times when I knew it was within my power to guide him or say the right thing or set aside time to hang with him and yet, I didn't...all those missed or wasted moments kept me up all last night. I mean, I can't remember the last time I hugged my brother...how sad is that? I know that him and I are both responsible to make this thing work, but I know I'm not the big brother I want him to see me as, and that realization completely breaks me...I extended myself to and for others but neglected to do so when it came to you, and I'm so sorry for that.

Lakers, baby!

Let's start at the end of regulation where the Lakers were down 5 with less that 12 seconds to go: Parker hits a three in Nash's grill and then steals the ball from him during the subsequent inbound play. (And Nash is the supposed MVP again this year?) Kobe gets the ball after the steal, drives around Bell and hits the tear-drop floater over Diaw to get the game into OT. In overtime now, down 1 with less than 9 seconds, Walton ties up Nash to get a jump ball which he tips to Kobe with 6.1 secs left. He dribbles it effortlessly to the top-right of the key and hits the game winner over both Bell and Diaw for the second time! Nash choked three times in clutch while Kobe came through to force overtime and, again, for the win to put LA up 3-1.
From ESPN:"We just spent three weeks arguing about the 2006 MVP Award, which was the perfect vehicle to separate two groups of people: Those Who Understand Basketball, and Those Who Need To Pull Their Heads Out Of Their Butts. See, LeBron and Kobe were the only two acceptable candidates; they meant more to their teams than anyone else and submitted two otherworldly statistical seasons. Unfortunately, Nash is white, and he has floppy hair, and he's a good guy and better teammate, and his style of play can be seductive to watch ... seductive enough to make everyone forget he can't guard anyone and struggles to take over close games."
From FoxSports: "The fact that Steve Nash is going to win the award isn't the problem. The problem is that Kobe Bryant didn't. Honestly, what more could Kobe have done this season to win the MVP? It's a joke. And what makes the whole thing even more outrageous is that his losing out is clearly personal. To be blunt, he didn't win it because the people with the votes just don't like him. And that's a shame. Let's be blunt: Kobe Bryant is clearly the best basketball player in the world."

The Colbert Presidential Report

Stephen Colbert roasted President Bush and clowned on, basically, everyone else at the White House Correspondents' Dinner last Saturday night. I'm a fan of Colbert's since his days on the "Daily Show with Jon Stewart" but even more so now. Here's just some of the things that got me slapping my knee:
"Everyone asks for personnel changes, so the White House has personnel changes and everybody's like, oh, they're just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. First of all, that's a horrible metaphor. This administration is not sinking. This administration is soaring. If anything, they are rearranging the deck chairs on the Hindenburg."
"I believe that the government that governs best is a government that governs least, and by these standards we have set up a fabulous government in Iraq."
"Fox [News] believes in presenting both sides of the story — the president’s side and the vice president’s side. I give people the truth, unfiltered by rational argument. I call it the No Fact Zone. Fox News, I own the copyright on that term."
"When the president decides something on Monday, he still believes it on Wednesday-no matter what happened Tuesday."
You can watch it all here, here, and here. Oh yeah, President Bush did this skit with Steve Bridges, the Bush impersonator, that was pretty funny too.

2006 NFL Draft

A few months ago when I heard that Radio City Music Hall was gonna be hosting the 2006 NFL Draft and that it was free to the public, I was ecstatic...I couldn't wait to get into the show. Ric, Lindsey, and I waited in line Friday night to get our wristbands at midnight. Needless to say, it was a long night of football smack talking. The biggest and funniest skirmishes were between the Cowboys and Eagles fans...simply hilarious. I love hearing conversations that start and end with "Cowboys suck!", hahaha. (Even though Lindsey is a Dallas die-hard, I overlooked that because, well, I chose to be the bigger person.) The draft itself was really cool although it kinda dragged a bit after the top names were called, plus we were all drained and tired of ridiculously-priced hotdogs. There were some big surprises but my boys Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart made the top ten. I'm so looking forward to this football season to watch the two USC Heisman winners do damage in the NFL. And despite what some people say, they did win two national titles. Thank you very much.