Entering the 21st Century

I know, it's been a long time, but let's get real. I've had a busy month moving halfway across the country, getting used to a new job, and a conference trip in the middle of all of it. It's been a pretty hectic and crazy past month. I am beginning to feel "at home" in my new home. Last night was the first night that I had a full night's sleep. I'm feeling really good right now about the whole move... now all that needs to be done is for the house in Minneapolis to sell [if you are interested in buying a townhome in Shakopee, please let me know!]

I have a feeling that this blog will deal with moving to the east coast, something this Minnesota boy never planned on doing. To say the culture is different here from the Midwest is putting it mildly. It's going to take a while for me to learn all of the new slang and to get "pop" out of my vocabulary and replace it with "soda." [Luckily I gave up pop... I mean, soda about a month ago]

Finally got DSL at home, so I will be able to check e-mail at home and write these strange blog entries. But what's really weird about the whole thing is that I got a wireless modem so I can get Internet access all over the house. For most, this is not a big deal, but for me, it just feels strange to be on my laptop on the couch, listening to Prince, all hooked up... What's even stranger is that the wireless modem I got is network capable, so my two computers have already discovered each other. I could play music on my desktop computer upstairs through my laptop downstairs... it just seems plain weird. If you would have told me that this was going to be possible 20 years ago, I probably wouldn't have believed you. Of course, if you would have told me that I would spend insane amounts of time with a little waste of time called "Facebook" I wouldn't have believed that either! [By the way, that's not me, but a coffee sounds really good right now.]

So, this is where I am now: getting used to my new digs, praying the house sells soon, and feeling a little more connected to this century... More Philly musings later.

Current Tune Spinning: "Glam Slam" Prince, Lovesexy

Traveling Home: A Few Musings from the Road

I left Minneapolis last Monday for my new home in Philadelphia... and I'm still on the road.

Of course, it should not take me more than a week to get to Philadelphia, but I've been on vacation, seeing friends, eating too much fast food, and finding out some interesting things about this great nation of ours.

Did you know that there is an RV Hall of Fame? How an RV gets into the hallowed hall of fame is beyond me. Because I'm not a real big RV kind of guy, I decided that I would not stop. Hopefully I made the right decision. By the way, if you are the RV type, you can go to the RV Hall of Fame in Indiana. It's off I-80.

There is an Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania turnpike, but there's a New York thruway. Same thing; different terms. Why; I have no clue. If you want to find out more about turnpikes, go here. You are welcome for an easy link.

Did you know that if you want to play your iPod in your VW Jetta, you need to find a cassette adaptor that has a "tape tensioner" [whatever the heck THAT is!]. If you don't find one with a tensioner, you won't be able to use it. This is most certainly true. Trust me, I've tried. Finally found one that works for my car.

Did you know that newborn puppies have to go to the bathroom right after they eat? Thanks Chris for all of the puppy knowledge... now I really want to adopt a dog. Probably shouldn't, considering my insane schedule. But it doesn't hurt to consider the idea.

Did you know that Mapquest is not always accurate with their directions? You probably did... I knew this before now, but had a wonderful experience finding it out all over again.

And finally: my new exclamation of choice when shocked or upset or whatever is... are you ready for it... it's a restaurant in PA:

Quaker Steak & Lube

Yeah, I have no clue what possessed these folks to name a restaurant that either... Anybody have any ideas for a great tag line?

I'll be home tomorrow...

Current Tune Spinning: "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" Elton John, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

THE Mall

I did something tonight that I haven't done in many years. I'm not proud to admit it, but it just seemed like the place to go when you're single and contemplating leaving Minnesota.

I went to the Mall of America.

For those of you outside of Minnesota, you might think that we Minnesotans spend as much time as possible at the Mall of America... I mean, when it's so close, wouldn't you want to go all of the time?

The answer is a big fat NO.

The only time I go to the Mall of America is when someone from out of town comes into town and wants to go there. I try my hardest to stay as far away from that mall as much as possible... and it isn't too difficult. I was surprised how long it has been. But it sure was an informative trip.

I walked by the Abercrombie & Fitch store and I really wanted to go in, but there were two people outside who looked like greeters/clerks that would welcome anyone in. To me, they looked like pretty bouncers who would not allow anyone to go in who couldn't be on the front cover of a magazine. Even though the boys are cute in there, I decided it would be best for me not to go in, lest I be judged by my looks.

It seems that malls are the only places of shopping that have God awful names for their stores... things like "It's A Puzzle" [game store] and "Magnet Max" [a magnet store... ever heard of that one before?!]. There was one store that was called "Pink" and the store lived up to its name. When I looked in, all I could see was bright pink EVERYWHERE. Even when I averted my eyes, all I could see was pink everywhere. A little freaky. Then there is "Torrid" for plus-sized women. An interesting name choice I think...

One thing I never realized before was all of the Minnesota-themed stores they have... I think that Garrison Keilor is in each store in some way, shape, or form. I didn't know Minnesota was that marketable.

There is a theme park in the center of the mall. I noticed lots of people, like a huge line of people, like a gajillion people lined up near there and I was wondering if the theme park could attract that many people. I was wrong. Alton Brown of the Food Network was in the center signing autographs. I was thinking of asking him to sign my tongue, but there were too many people there to get to him. I didn't know he was that popular. My apologies, Alton, if you read Grover's Corners.

Perhaps I will go back to the Mall of America one more time before I leave for Philly. Perhaps not. I got some good exercise and a lot more laughs than I expected... I guess the Mall of America is good for something besides tourism...

Philadelphia... here I come

I can finally say this publicly: I'm moving to Philadelphia!

I have accepted a call at another church and I am very excited. At the same time, I am feeling a lot of grief over leaving Minneapolis. It is going to be very hard leaving my church, my friends, and my family.

So, this blog will probably start dealing a lot with a Minnesota boy getting used to the east coast. I think it's going to be a big transition... there probably will be a lot to write about...

Back Again... Sometime Very Soon

Well, if you read the entry below, you might think that I was finished with this whole blog thing [I thought so too!]. But things have changed and you should see a great deal of blogging on Grover's Corners in the coming months...

Not That Anybody's Looking...

I'm not sure if anyone stops by Grover's Corners anymore... but if you do, you can probably tell that I haven't been updating my blog as I used to. Much of it has to do with the fact that I am busy. Another factor is that I have been using a lot of my free time reading some great books. But, the largest reason for my lack of updates is that I have been doing a lot of introspective sort of work that I really don't think should be published on a blog. As great as it would be to get some of this stuff out there, I really don't think that it is healthy to have the "whole world" read what I have to say... And anything I would feel comfortable in writing up seems to be totally boring and useless... what's the point in that?

So, I've invested in a journal, which I will begin when I am on vacation this next week. I haven't journaled for many years, but from what I recall it was a wonderful way of organizing thoughts/issues/theology in my head and soul. I'm not sure why I stopped and I'm kind of regretting it now. So, I've decided to begin again...

Maybe there will come a time when I will have tons of stuff to blog about... [actually, I can see a scenario where that would actually be the case]... maybe not... So, I guess this entry is just a place-keeper; a way of saying "I know that I really haven't given much time or energy to this, but I'm keeping it up in the land of internet just in case I want to use it in the future..."

The Evolution of Music, Part II

The number of songs on my iPod continues to grow. I think we're way over 6,000 now. Days upon days of music. The shuffle function still plays with my mind. A few weeks ago, a song came on that I didn't recognize right away. Ballad. Electric piano. A bit sappy. When the voice came in it sounded like Madonna circa '88. But I didn't recognize the song. I opened up my iPod and found out I was dead wrong [I usually kill on "naming that tune" in just a few short seconds]. It was Paula Abdul, circa '91. I'm wondering who should be more offended by that mistake: Paula or Madge. Hmmmmm...

A few entries ago I blogged about Pandora Radio, which I think is the bee's knees. [Sidebar: what in the heck does "bee's knees" mean??!!] But now, I found another website that seems to be the cat's pajamas: Musicovery. It's sort of like an implications wheel way of listening to music: you choose styles [any and all], eras, your mood, and "hit"-potential [hit, non-hit, discovery] and then get ready to enjoy the ride.

The iGeneration way of listening to music is wonderful in some ways and maddening in others. There's actually a huge amount of musical discovery that can happen, which can hardly happen with listening to the radio anymore [I think in the past year, the only time I have listened to a radio station is when I listened to NPR; I'm usually listening to CDs in the car]. But now, you can steer clear of ever listening to a full album from beginning to end, which is a shame. I remember getting albums and cassettes in the '80s and being surprised by the amazing "non-hit" material that could be found on many of them. This stuff was most definitely not filler, but would never make it on the radio.

Speaking of NPR, there was a fascinating debate a number of weeks ago about the state of music today. It surprised me that the two guests on the show spoke highly of a lot of new music coming out today. They argued that there are musical artists that are coming out today that could have never made it in past decades. It seems to me that the music business is finding itself in much the same position as mainline churches: they realize that the way things worked in the past will not work today. They are in crisis and don't know how to get out of it. They desperately want to get back to the "good ol' days" where album sales were impressive and they will do anything to try to get back there. The problem is: it will never be the way that it was. Instead of trying to drag the world back 20 years, perhaps they should consider moving forward creatively. How? Well, that's the million dollar question, isn't it... and whoever answers it will be the bee's knees AND the cat's pajamas.

Current Tune Spinning: "All You Wanna Do Is Dance" Billy Joel, Turnstiles