recovery

About three years ago I walked into a salon that would hange the life of my hair forever. I had gotten a cut while in Tx over the christmas holiday, and, wanting something different and trendy, my friend Marilyn, tried to set me on the path of the shag from the 70's. While this was cool on some people, it was mulletlike for me.

I gave the shag about 6 weeks, (5 weeks longer than i should have), and then needed a cut. I walked into CRAZY COMBS, thinking I would hit a trendy barbershop and got a real salon. I knew I was out of my league from the beginning.

Wanting to salvage what I thought would be a $100 mistake, I was hoping to get one of the attractive ladies to cut my hair. It is almost always better for a girl to cut a guys hair, especially in a salon. But, just my luck, I ended up with the Elvis looking guy in the back. I though I was doomed.

I returned an hour later for my appt. and moved to the back of the trendy, eccentric salon, and sat in shannon's chair, wishing he were a girl.

The conversation changed through various topics quickly, with me never quite being able to get anything out, but being thouroughly amused and intersted in what shannon was taling about. He seemed to cover religion, philosophy, eccentric politics, sectarian movements, and he was currently reading the book, James, Brother of Jesus.

I left with a great, skater/50's inspired haircut, and had spent on of the best hours of my life in his chair. A month later, I went back, and the topics were different, yet the same. This has gone on for about three years now.

BUT, shortly after Thanksgiving, I called Atomic (his new salon), to set up an appt. I was briefly told Shannon would be out for 3-6 months. I asked for Jennifer, and she told me about his testicular cancer. It was found over Thanksgiving.

Since then he has been undergoing treatment and I have been trying to keep up with him through jennifer and the salon. Our interests in philosophy led natalie and I to buy him a copy of The Essential Kierkegaard. I tried to deliver it to him at Duke Hospital last week, but we just missed each other.

Today, I was supposed to see jennifer at 5pm, but got a call around lunch checking if i would like for shannon to cut my hair, I agreed of course.

It was one of the best hours of my week. Todays topics were Kierkegaard's eccentricities, and Hitler's ideologies-good and bad.

I am thankful for shannon who challenges my boundaries. He allows me to be the christian I am and he doesnt change who he is becuase he is cutting the preachers hair. I am thankful his treatment is going well, only one Chemo round left.

I am hopeful that you have someone in your life like shannon. he challenges me and opens my eyes, yet conveys love through his joy and presence. He is off the wall, but that is what makes him great.

I have put his bio below, enjoy it. and support cancer reserach, for guys and girls alike. wear pink and yellow.




Shannon Lamm

Home base: Raleigh, NC
Inspired by '50s hotrods and punk rock music, Goldwell guest artist Shannon Lamm is the cutting edge of classic styles. Super-charged hair color knows no boundaries when it is coupled with his fuel-injected flair. Shannon doesn't follow the trends - he sets them. It shows through in his two outrageously cool salons, located in North Carolina, which are more like hang outs since they feature the works of local artists and bands. Shannon is stimulated by the extraordinary and encourages stylists with the freedom to create blazing designs in hair coloration and cutting.

what the...#@%&?

I had a few people mention that somtimes I am hard to follow. I am not really offended by this and want you to know that I pretty much type and click publish. I dont proof read this crap that I write. But, I hope you do, that is, read it. I find it to be quite interesting.

MOVING ALONG

I have had a long day, some good, some frustrating. But one part was especially surreal. We have moments when we see something for the first time, and are taken aback in awe and wonder. This is what it was like for me to see Dad and Mom pull up in the driveway with my first car. This what it is like to read acceptance letters and congratulatory letters. This is what it is like to find out shocking news.

Well, I had a moment a bit like that today. I got stuck in the moment... Here is what happened:

I was at Best Buy picking up some cds for some bible study work I am doing, and I made it a point to brouse. I skimmed the shelves for interesting CDs. I hit the digital cameras and video game systems. Passed by the new release DVDs and was working back up from country, around the corner to the boxsets, and then down the aisle through world music, blues, jazz, and then worship and gospel (insert footnote here). As I turned the corner to head towards the back of the store after finding Illuminate on the shelf, I saw this thing. It is one the most fascinating things I have ever seen. To be honest, I am not sure if it is the best invetion or the worst invention in human history. Here it is:









We have used our tremendous technological know-how to invent a fridge with a FREAKIN TV IN IT!!!!! I am not sure what to do with this. I was stunned. A tv, in the fridge. Is it not enough to have one in every room of the house already? we live in 900 square feet and have 2 tv we already use. at one point, with company in town, we had 3 working tvs.

Look, I like tv as much as the next guy. Well, maybe not quite that much. But I am not one of those people who says you should throw your tv off the top of a building. I like tv, i enjoy it, i wish i had cable. But, never, will I like tv so much that i have to put one on the fridge. But, if you do, maybe i could come over and watch the game or something.



footnote: it was really sad how much crappy music i found on the aisle of gospel and christian music. Stuff i would not listen to, a little i would. But then there was sections of music from the world and the blues and jazz and I was blown away by how much they were able to carry. I was saddened as a christian that we couldnt offer better stuff than tobymac and zoegirl (niether of which i have actually listened to, sorry). so i guess, if you are in a church, cultivate your artists. give them a language that allows them to speak the truth of love from and through jesus to the world, and not just through a label. The best ones do that. I beleive DCB does that. there are others. just not as many in the christian section as i would like.

visionary paper

If you remember this picture, it is from the movie Jerry Maguire. As the story goes, for those who have not seen the film, Jerry is a sports agent. One late night in the hotel he gets a vision of a new way his company could work: less emphasis on money and more emphasis on people. It is a really good vision, so good it gets him fired. But if you remember the eminem song, he calls himself "a visionary" whose "vision is scary." So, sometimes you come across a vision that is scary cool that you need to share.

My Point.

You and I dont work in the same office (unless you are david, jack, linda, sharon, barbara or tammy...and david is the only one who stumbles over here periodically), but if we did, I would copy the article you can link to below and put it in your boxes to read.

The article is from an online science journal call the New Atlantis. The article is called "THE AGE OF EGOCASTING" but is about TiVo, ipods, the remote control and other great inventions of modern technology. If you have any of these thing, you should read it. If you dream of having any of these things, you should read it too. I read it today, it took me about 25 minutes and it really provoked my thoughts. As a minister, I immediately think about how it effect the church, but I think it is really interesting for anyone. So, please, give me this one opportunity to put something in your box. Read the article, you will enjoy it, or at least be caused to think.

Oh, yeah, I heard about this article on NPR, so dont give me the credit or the finders fee, send it on to your local NPR Station to support great programming like Morning Edition.

Grace and Peace


CLICK HERE!!!!! THE NEW ATLANTIS

thin ice

Last wednesday we had 3/4 an inch of snow at about noon. Now I know this is nothing compared to what many places get, but the interesting this is what it caused: a "clusterfuck." Yes, that is what one guy i know named it. I want to describe the craziness in order to expand your vocabulary with this creative new word.

About 11am I got in the shower after breakfast, a 2mile walk, and some reading. I was headed to church eventually. When I got out, I noticed snow was falling and it began to accumulate on some of the road surfaces. This made for bad conditions for the inept southern drivers of the triangle. I left the house to meet Natalie for an after lunch walk and the traffic had already began to pile-up, literally and figuratively.

After walking, we left the mall to go back to her work. The 5 minute drive took 30 minutes. As it turn out, this was fast.

The snow fell for 3 hours as most. It covered roadways and then froze while everyone was out at lunch. School decided to let out, which sent crazy soccer moms to the roads, busses on their routes, and slow drivers out to cause havoc. It took an hour to go the five miles from natalies work to our apt. Again, as it turns out, we were lucky becuase we live in town. With the suprise snow, everyone began to head home from school and work at the same time causing a clusterfuck. The roads were completely jammed due to overload and ice. Friends of ours had their 45 minute communtes turned into 13hour drives. I am NOT kidding. It took three people I know 11-13 hours to complete their normal 45 minute commute, not becuase they had to dirve carefully, but becuase they could not get down the road because of a traffic jam. Every road in and around Raleigh was fully packed.

People were getting out of thier cars to pee in the woods, strangers were giving out food to stranded motorists, fire stations were taking people in who were stuck in traffic and 3000 Wake county pulic school students were stuck at school for the night, unable to be brought home by the busses or picked up by their parents. Not becuase of road condiditons, but becuase the roads were full. what a clusterfuck.

So, when it snows where you are, enjoy it. And if it causes a clusterfuck, let me know.

Thin ice caused it, and is what I am treading on by using the word so much.
peace

Proud alum

I havent blogged in a while, havent had much to write. Tonight, all I can say is that I am a proud Alum. I am proud or the Duke Women's basketball team who are now ranked number one in the nation according the the AP. But, I am even more proud of the Lady Bears of BaylorU who are now ranked number two. If you are in Waco, please go to their games for me. And, even though the men's team is not as highly recognized as the women, support them too. It is worth the time and energy. I will hold down the fort here in NC. GO DUKE, GO BEARS!!!!

here is the poll if you want it.


Women's AP Top 25
(1st-place votes)
Record Points
1. Duke (22) 15-1 1,093
2. Baylor (12) 12-1 1,063
3. LSU (7) 14-1 1,055
4. Rutgers (4) 10-2 920
5. Ohio State 14-2 885
6. Stanford 13-2 867
7. Notre Dame 13-2 835
8. Tennessee 10-3 782
9. Michigan St. 13-2 757
9. North Carolina 12-2 757
11. Minnesota 13-2 671
12. Texas 8-4 670
13. Texas Tech 11-2 607
14. Boston College 11-1 551
15. Maryland 11-2 434
16. Connecticut 8-4 420
17. Vanderbilt 12-2 375
18. Georgia 12-4 361
19. UCLA 11-3 286
20. Purdue 10-4 198
21. Iowa 13-2 181
22. DePaul 11-3 168
23. Kansas St. 10-3 166
24. Iowa St. 12-1 156
25. Virginia Tech 11-3 86