M.Night + Kung Fu= Awesome!

M. Night Shyamalan is a great story teller.  Okay, okay –The Happening was not so happenin'.  I actually never saw it because a reliable friend and M.Night fan did not recommend it.  Let's be reasonable––greatness cannot happen with every try.  Even Mighty Casey struck out, and so did Babe Ruth....a lot!  And he was the Great Bambino!

Back to M. Night being a great story teller.  His stories start with a great concept.  He uses vivid imagery and captivating cinematography, which only draws you into the characters and dialogue.  He develops the story behind the story.  I find myself just listening and watching the story unfold instead of working to follow or piecing the story together.  When I watch his movies, I don't go to watch a movie; I go to be told a story.

Thus/therefore/hereafter/thereunto/consequently/without further ado, this post's subject line explains it all (and reveals my biases)!!

Just check out the trailer for his new movie.

I Hate Email Forwards But...

My dad sends an occasional email forward; and they are occasionally funny.  Instead of contributing to the email forward game I am just posting it here.

 

Customer Service --- Computer Repair   Caller :                      Hi, our printer is not working.  Customer Service:     What is wrong with it?  Caller :                      Mouse is jammed.  Customer Service:     Mouse? Printers don't have a mouse!!! Caller:  Mmmmm??.. Oh really?... I will send a picture.  [UPDATE: The Picture didn't initially post.  Here is the picture, which is the very punch line for the joke.  Sorry for the delay.]

 

Give Yourself an Assignment

Good morning to you! Weekly brainstorm:

• Write a letter to your state representative (I say this one because I have never done it, and I cynically believe it won't make a difference. Two to three generations ago this happened all the time. Maybe one day I will do this).
• Decrease your digital intake.
• It is still February, which means it is Black History month. Next time you are in a public place, shake a black person's hand (especially an older person who has witnessed much of the Civil Rights struggles) and tell them, "Isn't it wonderful that you (if you are white) and I can be in the same line/building/restaurant/other location?!"
• Anonymously leave a grocery store gift card in a friend's mailbox.
• Instead of telling your pastor how good (or bad) the sermon was, ask him how the gospel is shaping his life today.

From Evernote:

Posting via email via Evernote

The previous post (and this one, too) were published via email using Evernote.  

I use Evernote, which is a free capturing application.  Please click the link to check them out, but I just wanted to clarify that the post itself was not "From Evernote."  

I wrote it (and this one, too) but just emailed the post directly to blogger using email.

From Evernote:

A Wonderful Silence Overpowers a Weighty Sentence

I love the pause I experience after a profound statement. You know, the pause that makes you stop everything you are doing, thinking, and saying so that you can direct every ounce of your being towards concentrating on what was just said.

These moments usually happen to me after reading a great sentence in a book or hearing a great line in a movie. It is the zinger, the punch-line, the climactic statement; the focus of all that was said before and the point of what is said after. It is the proverbial "hmmm" moment.

That moment invites you to respond. But how? With a clarifying question; with a skeptical eye; with a cynical sneer; with an agreeable smile; with an argumentative retort? The possible responses are truly infinite. The experience, however, that I am talking about is when the singular, appropriate response is silence.

My whole day has been characterized by that response: SILENCE. I think of words but none come. Saying, "Wow!" or even a jaw-drop insufficiently expresses the silence I am experiencing. This silence has weight and power; I attempt to respond but I am held back. Fear, almost terror, begins to qualify this silence. Though it is the safest place to be.

Weekend Tidbits

A couple of things that caught my eye this weekend:

• fav4.org is a website that configures your 4 most used sites into your homepage
• follow the Vancouver Olympics with google or at the Vancouver Games page 
• learn more about google buzz 
• how movements grow

Give Yourself an Assignment

By now, if you have read my blog before that is, you should know that I occasionally brainstorm a list of "assignments." They are lists for you and for me to consider doing sometime today/this week/soon. As I do more and more of them, I will introduce them less and less.

Today's Brainstorm:

1. mail a handwritten thank you note
2. start using google reader for your online news/blogs/websites
3. don't assume recycling gets the job done; use less and resuse more
4. comment on this blog sometime; give some feedback and constructive criticism