This past weekend afforded me the chance to celebrate marriage with numerous friends who gathered for the ceremony bonding my friend Adam with his bride. I was actually in the wedding party, the third time I’ve met that call, and I must say, I’m a sucker for romance. It’s a beautiful thing to see two begin their journey together. It’s also a slightly mystifying event. One day, you’re physically and emotionally constrained, still living separated lives, still going home at... Read more

Yes, after extensive board meetings, very expensive, with only the finest catering, the Consumed staff has, at the advice of the trustees and board of directors, decided to take a weeklong vacation. Please check back for a new blog entry exactly one week from today. Next Monday morning the 25th you will see a new entry, and the stream will pick back up from there. In the meantime, be pondering such fascinating future blog topics as these: 1) Magazine layouts–with... Read more

If you’ve visited a coffee shop lately (and living in any area with flora, fauna, and breathable air eminently qualifies your region for a Starbucks), you may have noticed an interesting trend. In an age when religion of the major denomination variety generally gasps in the dust, and in which personal spirituality thrives (meaning one can feel, not believe, anything they want–important distinction), something has to substitute for church. Feeling our inherent needs for fellowship, an appropriate setting, sharing of... Read more

In a life characterized by uncertainty, one thing is sure for me: the days of childhood and adolescence are dead and buried. Let me offer some proofs for that postulation. 1) I got a parking ticket yesterday for parking in a certain place, and there’s noone to complain to. As I approached my car after leaving the Y yesterday, a tingling horror halted my steady pace. There was something on my windshield, and it wasn’t animal excrement. No, friends, it... Read more

In an interesting Time magazine article from the July 4th issue, the writers commented at length no less than three times on a matter of note: O’Connor’s character, specifically her treatment of her clerks. Clerking is known to be an arduous job, brutal if brief, and one can only imagine what such work entail for the underlings of a Supreme Court Justice. Yet O’Connor reportedly supplemented her clerks’ experience with an underused managerial additive: kindness. According to the piece, she... Read more

This blog never wanders far from music. Here’s an opportunity for a cd recommendation: Indelible Grace III, loaned to me by excellent friend Will Kynes. Made by the fun folks at Indelible Grace, the cd sets old and powerful hymns to folksy tunes. Those who value poetic theological pieces will find much to appreciate; I can’t stop playing “Jesus, I Come,” “Come and Mourn,” and “Jesus With Thy Church Abide.” Beautiful arrangements couple with moving lyrics on each of these... Read more

Man, this one is icy like the junior high girls sleepover turned jealous. John Thune, junior Senator from South Dakota, currently finds himself locked in a battle with the White House (specifically the Department of Defense) over its targeted closing of Ellsworth Air Force in South Dakota. A major part of Thune’s campaign against former Senator and Senate power broker Tom Daschle was his pledge to keep Ellsworth open at all costs. He highlighted his connections with the White House... Read more

Okay, so many will scoff at me, and say that they’ve always known this was true, but rap as heard on the radio reflects a culture driven stark-wild with lust. Many songs no longer include any mention of romance or relational affection, but focus almost entirely on physical gratification and its pursuit. It’s terrible to hear, and for me, hard to hear, cause I find myself quickly working the dial during my infrequent radio listening sessions. I am not one... Read more

Here’s one way to look at the contemporary American conflagration between so-called “red” and “blue” Americans. Red Americans like America for all it is, believing it to be a close realization of ideal political and socio-economic structure. We’ve got a representative democracy, freedom of religion, and a public educational system that purports to avoid indoctrination. Though each of these attributes of American government are subject at any time to serious attack, they are time-tested, and were made accessible to us... Read more

In the insane world of computers, the computer I’m using has decided to let me post pictures once again. So you will see them populate the site once more populated by photographs. Read more