Looks like I've been tagged and have to share 6 things about myself. Thanks, Robin. Here it goes...
1) Since my freshman year of college my favorite band has been Radiohead. My second favorite band is a constant revolving door and has included The Smashing Pumpkins, The White Stripes, Bright Eyes, The Shins, The Decemberists and Wilco at various points during the last seven years.
2) I recently renounced my lifelong Nazarenity in favor of the Mennonite church. It's kind of a big deal. See, I attended Greentown Church of the Nazarene for my entire life. My parents (and Darcy and I) were married there, and my maternal grandfather physically helped to build the church. He did the roof and some bricklaying. I also attended Mount Vernon Nazarene University where my dad was a member of the first graduating class. I repeat: It's kind of a big deal. Darcy has a similar story. We also doubt that we're lifelong Mennonites since we don't think we share much with the Mennonites we've known from the Midwest. We're more "California Mennonites." We're leaning toward United Methodist or Episcopal in the long term.
3) My favorite writer is Kurt Vonnegut. I picked up Cat's Cradle from the public library one morning when I was bored the summer before my sophomore year of college. I began reading in the early afternoon. I paused for about 20 minutes to eat dinner. I'm sure I went to the bathroom at some point. I finished it around 8:00pm. A few days later I returned it and checked out Slaughterhouse-Five. I have read every novel and (I think) every short story he's written. I've also read his non-fiction books and, as far as I know, all of his articles for various publications. He's not the best author I've ever read (from a literary point of view). He's no Philip Roth or Ralph Ellison or James Joyce. He is, however, highly accessible and he deals with postmodern and existential themes that resound with me personally. In addition to the two books mentioned, I also enjoyed Mother Night, Bluebeard, and Jailbird a great deal.
4) I'm a lifelong fan of Cleveland sports teams. It's a curse, really. The Browns haven't won a championship since 1964. The Indians haven't won since 1948. The closest the Cavaliers have ever come was last spring when they were swept in the finals by the Spurs. Now I'm sad. It's been good for me to adopt the Dodgers as my NL franchise. At least they've won in my lifetime (1988).
5) Despite much desire to do so, I have never traveled abroad, unless one counts several trips to Canada. I'm looking forward to a vacation in Mexico that Darcy and I are planning for next summer. I hope one day to travel throughout western Europe, Australia/New Zealand, S. America, the Caribbean, and Africa. No offense to Asia, it just seems really intimidating to me for some reason. Maybe India.
6) Finally, I'm literally incapable of following the rules of tag. I don't have six friends on blogger without including Darcy, Robin, Lauren/Andrew, Adam, Mary, or Liz. I am unpopular.
7 comments:
You did a good job with the whole tag thing. Please help me think of my six facts!
1. Smashing Pumpkins...yes. My favorite band of all time. Did you get their new release? It grows on me the more I listen to it, but I still miss the old Pumpkins and, maybe more so, the early days of Zwan.
2. I recently renounced my lifelong (mostly) Baptistry and Stacey and I are now attending First Congregational United Church of Christ. I'm not sure what California Mennonites are, but knowing what I know about you, I think you should check into UCC. It's about the most liberal thing going in Mount Vernon and it's really opened my eyes, and this is coming from a guy who is thisclose to renouncing Christianity altogether.
David:
Have not picked up the new Pumpkins. All I know about it is the two singles that got radio play. Couldn't stand "Tarantula," but enjoyed "Bring the Light." I'm not sure whether this bodes well for my enjoyment of the rest of the disc or not.
"California Mennonites" are fairly liberal in my (admittedly limited) experience. I recall being very disappointed to learn that slightly over half of Mennonites nationwide identify themselves as Republican. I don't know how they can reconcile the warmongering with the pacifism. I suspect that the percentage of Republicans in our congregation falls somewhere in the single digits. And I don't mean to imply that Democrats are inherently any more moral than Republicans, because they're not. It's just that it's so typical of the perverted Christianity that American Evangelicalism has swallowed wholesale. All this is to say: I'm glad you and Stacey have found a congregation where you can feel at home. We've managed to do the same for now.
Superb, really. And not the least bit because it included more than sports info. :) You are officially my favorite Pasadena Adam.
http://www.stereogum.com/archives/video/radioheadtv.html?utm_source=bb&utm_medium=mc
yay! I liked reading more about you! so fun.
Hey, if it makes you feel any better this lifelong Nazarene joined the dark side (a.k.a The United Methodist Church).
It started with Jantz getting a job at a UMC and within a couple of months we transferred our membership and have never looked back. Like all denominations they have a wide spectrum of political/theological beliefs. We've just sought out the strong social justice, democrat voting, environmentally friendly churches.
I enjoy being the antithesis of my parents.
Post a Comment