Still Puzzled...

Today has just been good, I mean, daang good, and I want to record its passage.

I got up earlier than usual -- 8 a.m.-ish. That itself is no small feat and belies the fact that I also went to bed early the night before. Second straight night of "sittin' the hack," as my dad would say, by midnite and not a sec later. Mmm, good. I find myself to be crazyproductive the next day, compared to those days I reluctantly retire between 2 and 3 a.m. [well, like tonite]. Anyway, my day...

Class was highly bearable, all three of them, even in getting back an 80 on a media editing test. Eh, you'll have that. And I surely did. I garnered the story for expo magazine [yes, Ball State does in fact have a campus mag] that I'd written a proposal for earlier this week, and I'm excited about it. It's gonna center on the Living Room downtown and what it's doing for local musicians and students. I think it could be a tight POW [meaning, piece of work]. Yeah, I'm not really sure if that abbrev flies either, but smoke it up to 2:30 in the a.m. My review of the new Jars of Clay record appeared in 72Hours, the Thursday tabloid-style insert in the Daily Noose. Of course, it was considerably edited down, presumably for length, and boasted the cover art and star rating for a previous review of the Strokes' new release. Well, hey, it ran anyway, right?

I had a couple real convos with people/friends on campus today I maintain that nothing is greater and more friend-like than someone who will show you his battle scars, insecurities and doubts and anything and everything. I had a great couple hours with Scott Zick too. I am just flatout encouraged by him, perhaps just as much indirectly -- by what I observe in him and his life -- as directly. I really value that.

The meeting with my prof for my final 15-pager in the ol' Irish lit and culture honors colloquium [should a class really have such a long title?] went strikingly well. I am actually a bit hyped for my final paper in there, a look at the spiritual journey, gospel and soul influences and stories behind the lyrics of U2, perhaps the greatest band ever. I have the liberty of talking about U2's collabs and relationships with B.B. King and THE Man, Johnny Cash, he of the blue-collar, stripped-down folk country. It's interesting to me how the Irish, particularly Dubliners, would compare themselves to blacks in America circa the 1960s. The plights for rights both groups have endured are not exactly parallel, but the comparisons are intriguing, and, well, Rattle & Hum -- U2's documentary-style movie that coupled with the record of the same name, is a great, great film [if this all bores you, feel free to stop reading].

Oh yeah, I went to Campus Crusade tonite also for the first time in a month. It was the best CCC meeting I've been to this semester. Seriously. The new campus director, Mr. Sarver, is a gifted speaker, and I luh-lah-LOVE that he is all about Grace, God's perfect, redeeming Grace. As a friend hinted tonite also, for her and me both, I do believe I'm on the cusp of understanding and accepting new freedom in this area. Grace is so weird, so free and ready to be taken if I would just accept it. I guess growing up with a crapload of rules and regs has led me thru a lot of life with the mindset that I have to earn things I receive, and, well, I got nothin' here now. Might as well accept it because it's so ripe. If you haven't understood or known God's Grace in your life yet, I'd love to talk about it. I hope you'll let it be for you.

Posted by: Jon / 2:56 AM