And people are ashamed to sing out at church?
-
The mindset of college freshmen
Here is this year’s Beloit College Mindset list for 2008.
For these students, Sammy Davis Jr., Jim Henson, Ryan White, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Freddy Krueger have always been dead.
1. Harry Potter could be a classmate, playing on their Quidditch team.
2. Since they were in diapers, karaoke machines have been annoying people at parties.
3. They have always been looking for Carmen Sandiego.
4. GPS satellite navigation systems have always been available.
5. Coke and Pepsi have always used recycled plastic bottles.
6. Shampoo and conditioner have always been available in the same bottle.
7. Gas stations have never fixed flats, but most serve cappuccino.
8. The students’ parents may have dropped them in shock when they heard George Bush announce “tax-revenue increases.”
9. Electronic filing of tax returns has always been an option.
10. Girls in head scarves have always been part of the school fashion scene.
11. All have had a relative—or known about a friend’s relative—who died comfortably at home with hospice.
12. As a precursor to “whatever,” they have recognized that some people “just don’t get it.”
13. Universal Studios has always offered an alternative to Mickey in Orlando, Fla.
14. Grandma has always had wheels on her walker.
15. Martha Stewart Living has always been setting the style.
16. Häagen-Dazs ice cream has always come in quarts.
17. Club Med resorts have always been places to take the whole family.
18. WWW has never stood for World Wide Wrestling.
19. Films have never been X rated, only NC-17.
20. The Warsaw Pact is as hazy for them as the League of Nations was for their parents.
21. Students have always been “Rocking the Vote.”
22. Clarence Thomas has always sat on the Supreme Court.
23. Schools have always been concerned about multiculturalism.
24. We have always known that “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.”
25. There have always been gay rabbis.
26. Wayne Newton has never had a mustache.
27. College grads have always been able to Teach for America.
28. IBM has never made typewriters.
29. Roseanne Barr has never been invited to sing the national anthem again.
30. McDonald’s and Burger King have always used vegetable oil for cooking french fries.
31. The students have never been able to color a tree using a raw-umber Crayola.
32. There has always been Pearl Jam.
33. The Tonight Show has always had Jay Leno as its host and started at 11:35 p.m. Eastern time.
34. Pee-wee has never been in his playhouse during the day.
35. They never tasted Benefit cereal with psyllium.
36. They may have been given a Nintendo Game Boy to play with in the crib.
37. Authorities have always been building a wall along the Mexican border.
38. Lenin’s name has never been on a major city in Russia.
39. Employers have always been able to do credit checks on employees.
40. Balsamic vinegar has always been available in the United States.
41. Macaulay Culkin has always been Home Alone.
42. The students’ parents may have watched American Gladiators on TV the day they were born.
43. Personal privacy has always been threatened.
44. Caller ID has always been available on phones.
45. Living wills have always been asked for at hospital check-ins.
46. The Green Bay Packers (almost) always had the same starting quarterback.
47. The students have never heard a gasoline-station attendant ask, “Want me to check under the hood?”
48. Iced tea has always come in cans and bottles.
49. Soft-drink refills have always been free.
50. The students have never known life without Seinfeld references from a show about “nothing.”
51. Windows operating systems have always made IBM PC’s user-friendly.
52. Muscovites have always been able to buy Big Macs.
53. The Royal New Zealand Navy has never been permitted a daily ration of rum.
54. The Hubble Space Telescope has always been eavesdropping on the heavens.
55. 98.6 degrees F, or otherwise, has always been confirmed in the ear.
56. Michael Milken has always been a philanthropist promoting prostate-cancer research.
57. Off-shore oil drilling in U.S. waters has always been prohibited.
58. Radio stations have never been required to present both sides of public issues.
59. There have always been charter schools.
60. Students always had Goosebumps.Feel old yet?
HT to Jake
-
YS Video Podcast
Here’s a project that I help lead. We just launched our new weekly podcast at YS. I know the majority of my blog readers are not youth workers… so this may give you a tiny insight into my new gig.
Also check out the YS Blog. I help put that together as well.
-
Ikea Trip
We made our second trip to Ikea this week last night. The first trip was a scouting trip, and this one was a hunting trip. We had a pretty good idea what we wanted, it was just a matter of going to get it.
All told, we got a coffee table, tv stand, computer desk, 2 arm chairs, a sofa, and 2 loft beds. It was a trip. Once we got to the self-service area we acquired a couple big carts. We quickly realized that that wasn’t going to be enough. By the end we had 3 carts totally stuffed and crawling to the cashier! Let’s just say they were happy to see la familia de McLane.
We brought home the 2 arm chairs with us, but the rest is getting delivered on Wednesday.
The point here isn’t what we bought or that we went as a family. The point is that we will soon have some furniture! It’s been a couple of weeks since we’ve been able to sit on normal things like a sofa, chairs, or even a bed that wasn’t on the floor. I know we are fortunate and that there are many people in the world who will never have such luxuries in their lifetime, but we are greatly looking forward to getting off of the floor.
-
Family Update
This was our first full weekend here in San Diego. Reality is starting to set in for all of us that we won’t be “going home” to Romeo. When I brought everyone out a couple weeks back for the taste test it was gravy, this is the hard part. Here are some prayers I have for the family this week.
Paul: He’s the most honest of the bunch right now. He wants to go back to our other house. He told me last night that he hates the new house, it’s too small, and he needs to be able to go upstairs to his room to be by himself. I’m praying that God would soften his heart to our new house. I’m praying that he would start to meet some new kids. I’m praying that we would find an outlet for his energy, excitement, and creativity before his frustration turns into another emotion. I’m praying for him as school starts in a couple of weeks. I hope he gets excited about it!
Megan: Either she is lying or she really likes it here. She told me several times yesterday that she misses her friends… but she likes it here. Ever the optimist, Megan will almost be in tears about missing home and then she will kind of shake it off and start talking about something cool here. I’m praying for her to find some good girlfriends. We were fortunate in Romeo that she had a really nice interweaving of school friends and church friends. I’m hoping for that for her as well. I’m praying that she keeps up her spirit of exploration and optimism that this is a great move for us.
Kristen: The stress of the move weighs heavily on her shoulders. Each day there are fewer boxes but we’re also facing the reality that there may not be room for everything. I know Kristen is trying her best to make this a home and she longs to just see us all find our groove again. And the upcoming trip to Ikea to buy bucket loads of furniture for the kids room and the living room will help a ton. Pray for Kristen as she starts looking for a job. We had always planned on her going back to work once Paul started school… it just happens to coincide with moving to a new place. I’m praying it would be clear which jobs to interview for, that it would somehow be plausible to remain a one car family, that the new job would allow her to still consider herself a full time mom, on and on.
Me: Besides dealing with the guilt that I’ve somehow ruined my kids lives by accepting this new role in life, I am doing well. We’ve been trying out Kaleo Church and so far I’ve been really pleased with that. We went to a visitors BBQ yesterday and it warmed my heart to see the kids playing with other kids and just being normal. I’m thankful for the road trip last week. Not only was it safe and uneventful… it was a ton of fun and I feel fortunate to have had that much time with Megan.
Randomness I’m praying about: I’ve got some interesting new things popping up at work, I’m praying they are well-received. Kristen and I will be checking out a community center this week. It is only a few block from here and it could be a great way for all of us to get more active… we just need to weigh the expense vs. the benefit to the family. I’m praying that someone will buy our house in Romeo, soon! I’m praying for oodles of little details with the old house and the new house.
This morning I re-read Galatians for about the 200th time. It never struck me before like it struck me this morning… do you think Paul wrote that in a bad mood? Do you think he sat down and pounded that out in about 20 minutes?
-
Michael Phelps & John Edwards
The last two news cycles have documented two men in quest of their respective dreams. One man failed while the other conquered. Let’s face it though, both were nearly insurmountable dreams. One man wanted to be the president of the United States while the other wants to change his sport forever. In my mind, there are some interesting parallels worth thinking about.
John Edwards. I felt Edwards could have beat George W. Bush in 2004. But for some reason the DNC orchestrated the ticket of Kerry/Edwards instead of Edwards/Kerry. In my eyes only two details really matter about John Edwards failure.#1 John Edwards has owned his mistake. He didn’t try to pretend that it was an accident, and despite some initial hopes that the story would never become public… once it was public he dealt with it quickly. He manned up and I can respect that.
#2 John Edwards was an idiot. Really. He broke one of the simplest rules of any man in leadership… don’t put yourself in a situation to fail. I didn’t catch all of the details, but it was clear that Edwards began traveling with his web videographer and not his wife. I don’t care who you are, no one is immune to temptation. If King David can fall so can you. At some point in the planning someone in John’s life should have said, “Hey John, I think you should take an accountability partner (like one of his kids) to Africa with you.”
Michael Phelps. Since we’ve been moving I’ve missed most of the Olympics. But I’ve caught enough to know that Phelps has electrified the sporting world by winning 8 Olympic Gold Medals. Let’s see a couple opposite parallels between Phelps and Edwards. #1 Michael Phelps made his own goal. I don’t know exactly what he means by it, but Michael Phelps desires to change the face of swimming. Winning 8 Gold Medals in a single Olympics is a crazy goal… but he made the goal and he took the steps to make it happen. Sure, he’s been blessed with a swimmers body. Sure, he’s had the best training. Sure, he’s had the best equipment. But that can be assumed of almost every swimmer in that pool. For some reason Phelps was able to take that body, that training, and that equipment to a place never dreamed of before. Think of all the millions of decisions Phelps has made over the last decade… all aimed at accomplishing his goal.
#2 Michael Phelps is brilliant. I know I am into marketing so I notice these things. But lets just say there has never been a more wealthy swimmer. He could retire now, never swim competitively again, and just live off of the cash he’s made in commercials. Instead, Phelps knew that if he accomplished his goal, surrounded himself with the right people, that he could change the sport and his world forever. My guess is that Phelps will be the richest junior at the University of Michigan this fall. Because while this was one amazing goal, the next goal is on the horizon for him.
