a Sleepy Sheep Blog.

A Post on Something More Serious.

I’ve been wanting to make a post about something much more personal than what my usual content comprises of, but I’ve been hesitant.  I’ve been hesitant because it’s something I take very seriously and an issue that I don’t want to speak to without having given it a great deal of thought and time.  The issue is faith.  I was raised in the Lutheran Church, baptized and confirmed and was a weekly attendee of the services and active in the youth group.  Starting, I would say, about a year ago maybe 10 months I started having serious issues with the church as a whole, religion, about god and about my own faith.  And over the past year or so, I have come to realize that I don’t believe in a god.

I have been doing some reading and talking to some people very close to me (both believers and non-believers) about this realization and I continue to think on this and define my own beliefs and I expect that I will continue to define them for a long time, but I have now become comfortable in the idea of identifying myself as an atheist.  I have become very critical of religion and it’s motives and many of the attitudes that emerge from it.  And now I refuse to go against my own logic and reason.

The truth is, upon realizing this I found myself incredibly inspired.  The concept of working to create my own meaning for my life and being good for the sake of being good and not for a higher power was eye opening.  I think I phrased it best when I was talking to my mom and I said that I had come to realize that the existence of a god had always been assumed by the people around me and that that assumption is no good for me anymore.  I want to come to my own conclusions.  This has been a hard thing for me to put into words but I think that my questioning, conversing and living will bring me closer to what works for me.

Peace.

Top Ten of the Decade: Movies

Like for music, I compiled a list of my favorite movies that were released in the past decade.  Again they are in no particular order and a list of honorable mentions follows.  Click the picture for each films IMDB page.

“O.K., I’ll be part of this world.”

“Go Mordecai!”

“I’m gonna bury you underground, Eli.”

“Hold fast to the human inside of you, and you’ll survive.”

“The Uncertainty Principle. It proves we can’t ever really know… what’s going on. So it shouldn’t bother you. Not being able to figure anything out. Although you will be responsible for this on the mid-term.”

“I know how to do it now. There are nearly thirteen million people in the world. None of those people is an extra. They’re all the leads of their own stories. They have to be given their due.”

“I have to get more pudding for this trip to Hawaii. As I just said that out loud I realize it sounded a little strange but it’s not.”

“Maybe it’s written.”

“You know in this life you can loose everything you love, everything that loves you. Now I don’t hear as good as I used to and I forget stuff and I aint as pretty as I used to be but god damn it I’m still standing here and I’m The Ram.”

“Now tell me, which one of these dogs would you want to have as your wide receiver on your football team?”

Honorable Mentions:

Requiem For A Dream
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Traffic
Mulholland Dr.
City of God

Peace.

Responding to the Haiti Earthquake

noosphere:

squashed:

There aren’t a lot of natural disasters worse than the earthquake that just struck Haiti. The earthquake is such a disaster that the people who are normally in charge of telling you what a disaster it is are mostly dead or missing.

Earlier, I posted a list of charities that are set up to quickly get relief to those who need it. All of these charities are legitimate and regardless of denominational affiliation are dedicated to providing humanitarian relief. Here’s an updated and expanded list.

• Presbyterian Disaster Assistance
• American Jewish World Service
• United Methodist Committee on Relief
• Catholic Relief Services
• Church World Service
• The Red Cross (Or text “HAITI” to “90999” and $10 will be given automatically to Red Cross, charged to your cell phone bill. I don’t think the Red Cross donations are earmarked for this specific disaster.)
• Mercy Corps
• UNICEF
• Doctors Without Borders

To give you a sense of the An even longer list of charities is here.

My Top Ten of the Decade: Music

These are the top ten albums (and honorable mentions) that I think define this decade in music for me.  I want to also note that there are definitely some albums that I’ve only recently gotten that I didn’t include just because I don’t think I’ve had the time to listen to and fully appreciate yet (I’ll include a preliminary list of those ones at the bottom too).  These are in no particular order.

This album is so beautiful.  I like it a little better than Illinois and Michigan but maybe only for the fact that I think the others are too long.  I love those albums, don’t get me wrong, but I think that this album has the gems of those other two but more concentrated.  Sufjan is amazing.  I think my favorite tracks of this one are Sister, The Dress Looks Nice on You and Seven Swans.

This album is so complete in my mind.  I love how natural it sounds and it’s the reason why I want to name my first born son Roscoe.

Some find her voice annoying, I don’t.  I love it.  Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie is my favorite song on this album.

I picked this over Feels because it’s the album that really got me listening to Animal Collective and has probably been played the most out of any album I own in the past year and a half.  I love the songs Cuckoo Cuckoo and For Reverend Green especially.

This is the album that got me into Atmosphere which is the group that got me into hip hop.  Some highlights for me are Modern Man’s Hustle, Saves The Day and Blame Game.

This album is sweet.

The Hold Steady have a special place in my heart.  Craig Finn is from Minneapolis and there are often references to the city in his lyrics, which are stellar aside from that.  It was a tough call between this album and Almost Killed Me, but How A Resurrection Really Feels puts this album on a whole new level.

I got this album from one of my cousins a while ago for Christmas.  At first I didn’t listen to it that much but in the last 3 or 4 years it has been one of my most listened to albums.  It’s another very complete album for me and I love how minimal it can be in places.

This album is awesome.  I don’t know what else to say.  I like their drummer a lot.

This is the album that got me into “indie” music.  My cousin brought me to their show at First Avenue and I fell in love with this band and it inspired me to find new bands to listen to.  Awesome.

Honorable Mentions:

Don’t Fall In Love With Everyone You See - Okkervil River
Feels - Animal Collective
Return to Cookie Mountain - TV on the Radio
For Emma, Forever Ago - Bon Iver
The Meaning of 8 - Cloud Cult
Apologies to the Queen Mary - Wolf Parade
St. Elsewhere - Gnarls Barkley
The Great Destroyer - Low

Preliminary List Of New To Me Albums That Are Awesome That Came Out In The Last Decade That I Thought Were Too New To Me To Include In This Decade Defining List:

Elephant Eyelash - Why?
The Felice Brothers - The Felice Brothers
Agaetis Byrjun - Sigur Ros
The Air Force - Xiu Xiu
Hospice - The Antlers
Shallow Grave - The Tallest Man On Earth
Bluffer’s Guide To The Flight Deck - Flotation Toy Warning

Peace.

Merry Christmas/Happy New Year

ambledownblog:

Hello Friends. The year is winding down and we are looking to the future. However, as a gift to you, please check out the Christmas song that we recorded. (Note: it sounds as good as I could get it on the old GarageBand. I suggest you turn up your speakers or listen to it on headphones)

Also, check out the myspace or facebook for the February and March tour dates soon to be posted.

Love,

jesse, jason, jon

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