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Name: Jordan
Country: United States
State: Michigan
Metro: Grand Rapids
Gender: Male
Interests: food and drink, music and movies, people and places, pinky and the brain
Expertise: a Steak 'N Shake menu
Occupation: barista
Industry: non-profit
Message: message me
AIM:  jordansipp
Member Since:
8/12/2005
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| Ani DiFranco is cool
white people are so scared of black people. they bulldoze out to the country, and put up houses on little loop-d-loop streets. and while america gets its heart cut right out of its chest, the berlin wall still runs down main street separating east side from west. and nothing is stirring, not even a mouse, in the boarded up stores and the broken down houses, so they hang colorful banners off all the street lamps just to prove they got no manners, no mercy, and no sense. and i wonder then what it will take for my city to rise. first we admit our mistakes and then we open our eyes. the ghost of old buildings are haunting parking lots in the city of good neighbors that history forgot. i remember the first time i saw someone lying on the cold street, i thought, "i can't just walk past you, this can't just be true." but i learned by example to just keep moving my feet. it's amazing the things that we all learn to do. so we're led by denial like lambs to the slaughter, serving empires of style and carbonated sugar water and the old farmroad's a four-lane that leads to the mall and my dreams are all guillotines waiting to fall, and i wonder then what it will take for my country to rise. first we
admit our mistakes and then we open our eyes. 'til nation's last taker succumbs to one last dumb decision and america the beautiful is just one big subdivision. | | |
| There are now pictures.
Today, I turned my stubble into something substantial, a stache.
In honor of Stache Wednesday. And it wasn't just me, but
the collective of other gentlemen I associate with. We can now
call ourselves gentlemen because we have awesome mustaches.
My friend Amber doesn't really watch movies, and when she does watch
them, it is always with us. When my friend Steve learned of this,
he asked, "If you don't watch movies, then what do you do?" And I
slightly misquoted him, but that's how it sounded to me.
I have a complaint. Suprise, Suprise. My complaint is with
speakers who refer to God as our father, and then really try to drive
this point home by comparing him to earthly fathers. Yet in doing
this, it seems that all earthly fathers are guys who took off when we
were very young or were abusive, and then took off when we were really
young. Now if you did in fact grow up in such a situation, I in
no way wish to offend you or simplify your childhood. I would
like to say however that this is a very ignorant portrayl of fathers by
any such speaker. It says that there are basically two types of
fathers in this world, the good ones and the bad ones. And the
good ones are just like God, and the bad ones all took off after we
were born. The truth is, we all come from different situations,
and all have different relationships with our fathers. If god
were to compare himself to our Fathers (knowing that we all come from
drastically differing situations) then was he really only referencing
one type of Father? I have four different father-figure types
that I would like to discuss, of course understanding that there are
infinately more stories and father-figures out there.
1. My Father
My dad is a guy named Eric Sipperley. He is a good guy and a good
father. Me and Eric butt heads all the time for two
reasons: we are incredibly similar, and we are diametrically
opposed. We look the same, talk the same, reason the same, rub
people the right way the same, and get under their skin the same
way. Yet we are passionate about conflicting things, we look at
the world around us differently, we have different talents, and want
different things for each other. If someone were to compare God
to my father, I would picture God as a guy who expected a lot out of
me, but would always tell me he didn't. God would pressure me
into making decisions for specific reasons, but would always tell his
friends that I make all my own choices. God would show me his
dissapointment, yet in public or in emotional moments, he would tell me
and all those within ear-shot just how proud of me he really was.
My relationship with God would be performance driven. God would
also be the one who pushed me farther than I would have ever gone on my
own, and he would be the one who taught me never to settle for less
than what I'm capable of. The thing is, my dad really does want
only the best for me, and the only story he really knows is his own, so
he does his best to teach me out of that.
2. Lionel Luthor
Do any of you watch Smallville? I never did, and only associated
the show with one Andrew Ronzino. It was last month that drank
the kool-aid and was sucked in by the show. One of my favorite
characters on the show is Lionel Luthor, the powerful father of Lex
Luthor, Superman's childhood friend and arch nemesis. Lionel
controls Luthorcorp, and multi-national, multi-billion dollar
corporation, and training his son to take over. Lionel plays a
game with his son, only showing him so much, and never giving him all
the rules. Their relationship is more political than
anything. Lionel is this figure in Lex's life who pulls all the
strings, has all control, and makes all the rules. If I were to
have God compared to Lionel Luther, I would imagine God as an ambigous,
all powerful, all knowing being. God would be mysterious and not
romantic, and he would be frustrating and not fullfilling, giving me
just enough to keep me out of an asylum. He would want the best
for me and would always be trying to teach me something, but it would
always seem to be the most out of the way, indirect, least effective
way to do it. God would be someone I had to figure out, but
wouldn't really want to figure out.
3. Some rich guy with bratty kids.
Do I even need to explain this one? The pushover, the open
wallet, the defender, and the scapegoat. The guy who can afford
to give his kids everything and does. And what do his kids give
him in return? A ton of attitude. They get money hand over
fist for mindless material things, cry to their dad when they get in
trouble, and once they are out on their own, the blame their father for
all of their present mistakes. God as this man would be someone
who wanted to see me blessed and highly favored. My monetary
"prosperity" would be his number one concern. It may appear that
he cared only of me, and that he wanted only the best for me, but
that's just it, I would be so concerned with me that no one else would
matter. And every time something didn't go my way, it would be
his fault. Yet he would always be there to bail me out, and if I
wanted (or needed) I could ride his coat tails my whole life.
4. The Absentee dad.
The guy who wasn't there, was never there, and isn't expected anytime
soon. Our only connection to him is the lack of connection.
We know he exists, that he is there, out there, somewhere, but not in
our lives. He is busy and concerned with something, but not
us. He is some guy who created us, but has seemingly left us to
fend for ourselves. If I thought of God in this way, he would be
distant, far off, and inexplicable. He would be the creator of
the universe and would seem to have no interest in that universe.
I would be his child, but I could care less.
The point is, I think that in his own way, God IS like these four types
of fathers and DOES have some of these same characteristics. But
I also believe that he is so much more. That he is ten thousand
other types of father, and has more desireable qualities than I have
space to write. But like our fathers, I believe that right now,
with our limited understanding, there will be things about God that we
do not like or enjoy. And it is not that he is bad or worng, it
is just that we do not understand, and hence can not comprehend.
When Jesus called God the father, he didn't have a sermon to talk about
just what that meant, where at the end of it, what is explained in no
way resembles what he originally said. And if you think that
maybe he did, then his disciples sure didn't care to include that
little tid-bit in the Bible. God the Father. I don't mean
to speak ill of the comparison, and I certainly don't mean to speak ill
of God (God forbid). I just want to understand what that really
means, so that I ma better understand who he really is.
| | |
|  | Currently Watching
Reservoir Dogs
By Harvey Keitel, Michael Madsen, Tim Roth, Kirk Baltz, Lawrence Bender, Randy Brooks, Edward Bunker, Steve Buscemi, Suzanne Celeste, Tony Cosmo, Linda Kaye, Chris Penn, Stevo Polyi, Robert Ruth, Michael Sottile, David Steen, Lawrence Tierney, Rich Turner, Steven Wright
see related |
I got a new job. I'm working at Outback Steakhouse. As a waiter.
We have had a few nothing days as of late. Except we aren't going to be calling them nothing days anymore; no from now on, a nothing day will be reffered to as a community building day. By we I refer to those I have been spending most of my time with, as well as myself. And by nothing days, I am referring to the days where nothing really happens. No plans are made (so none are kept or broken), no commitments call in, no responsibility is tugging on the mind. Seeing as I just got back to Michigan (were I am now and where I will be staying indefinately) and just got a job, and seeing as I have a few friends who work threeish days a week (but all weekend), we have had a few nothing days creep up on us.
And that is how nothing days are, they just sort of creep up on you. Right around noon, after you've been up for a good 20 minutes or so, you realize that you have no idea what the next twelve to fifteen hours will entail. And then your friends wake up, slowly but surely, and there is that awkward yet familiar exchange that involves all those present asking in slightly modified ways, "what do you want to do?" Nothing really happens, you may or may not find yourself spending money you had no intention of spending, and at the end of it all you feel exhausted (and you will stay up an obligatory 2 more hours thinking about how tired you are, and having no idea why). Now if you and your crew, your posse, your homies, your community find yourselves with a few nothing days in a row, then they (the nothing days) transform from being annoying, unwanted experiences, to gifts. Precious gifts that give everyone a chance to get to know the others a little bit better.
And that is how community building days became community building days. They became them. We were given the chance to experience the company of each other without all the regular occurances that keep everything the same. Without a job to do, a schedule to keep, or an agenda to carry out, people (like me and you) are given a chance to sort through what's going on in our lives, and figure out who we are, and beyond that, we get to do that with those we spend the most time with. We get to learn about them, about who they are, and who they are becoming. It is really all a matter of perspective, whether a day is good for nothing, or whether that day is good for building the community. Thee community. It is beyond the individual, and more than invaluable.
Rainy days, like yesterday, are especially good nothing days. When it rains, it pours. And as it did in fact pour, the wipers on my car we unable to handle it. (If you didn't know, I got a new car, a 92 Honda Accord EX, the EX stands for extended, so in case you haven't seen my new car, and in case you haven't already figured it out, I got a station wagon.) So the wipers are shot on the thing, and it is harder to see in the rain than it is to see with my eyes shut. What we did see was a billboard for some Faygo soda. And if Chicago showed me anything, it showed me that Faygo isn't sold in most parts of the country. The billboard we saw highlighted this fact in a simple, yet elegant way. If you ever come to Grand Rapids, and you are wondering what this billboard looks like, let me know and we can go have a look at it. So we picked up a few flavors of Faygo soda and three hot 'n ready Little Caeser's pizzas (another Michigan original) for a fantastic lunch. Sharing food on community building day is a good vibe.
So what are you doing today? Nothing???
| | |
| I love everybody here. A phrase I mutter only when it’s true. And I have never said it. Yet there is so much left to say. Namely, that I’m working at it. Love is tricky. For if I love everyone because I am supposed
to, then my love would have to be the least valuable sort of love on the
planet. But suppose I am indeed supposed
to love everyone. Then I am in a
jam. How do I come to truly, deeply,
really love everyone? I think I should
start with others; others being those who I have some sort of regular contact
with. Yet, this is a bit backwards as it
is much harder for me to love people I know than those I do not know. People I know bother me every so often. People I know well have all sorts of
hypocrisy in their lives. The people I
know are almost as bad as me. How could
I start loving everyone by trying to love my definition of others? People I do not know are more or less faces
that talk. Maybe they smile, or maybe
they cry. They could be rich or impoverished. But to me they are just everyone. It is not nearly as difficult to love everyone
as it is to love others. If I could
learn to love others because I actually loved them, and could then in turn love
everyone, because I actually loved them, then my love would be so valuable that
I bet people might even love me back.
Ain’t that the truth?
I, no matter how much I wish it
were not so, I have the hardest time in the world loving people if they don’t
love me back. I treat my own love like
currency, and check the reports daily to see how it is trading against others
in the world. My love is like a magic
marker that will only show up on surfaces that accept it, yet I will soon dry
up. Now my love is like the reflection
of a mirror, I replicate only what is put before me. How do I change? Where can I find the secret to honestly and actually
loving other people? Both those I know
as well as strangers.
I try not to say I love you to
people too often, even if it’s true.
Whether this is right or wrong, I don’t know. What I do know is that when I say it, I mean
it. I hope this is communicated to
others when I share these words with them.
I love you is a phrase so tossed around and over-used. Still, it has no equal, no replacement, and
no alternative. I want to be able to
tell people I love you, regardless of what the response or reaction might
be. Obviously, I would hope it is reciprocated,
but so what if it isn’t right? I mean,
if I’m trying to really love others the way Christ did, then it should be
unconditional.
I have started every paragraph so
far with “I”. Maybe I need to get past
my obsession with myself if I am to love others.
Once I told someone I loved them
and later wished I hadn’t. Which I would
think wouldn’t happen ever given my aversion to using the phrase at all. But I said it, and then wished I hadn’t. Not because it wasn’t true, but because it
was bad timing. Which is another reason
love is tricky. We can’t just love
people because we want to. We need to
have a place to love them, or a reason to love them. This fits in a paradox with unconditional
love. Yet the two go in tandem. For real love requires a place, and a proper
place at that with those who might receive it.
Something we must remember when expressing the love of Christ for us,
and something I need to remember when telling others that I love them. (Before
this reference, I have written 666 words, making me the most evil person ever!)
Honesty will be our ticket to
being allowed to love other people. The
conditions of love can not be as easily changed as desktop backgrounds. To love others, we must be honest enough with
ourselves to know why. Do we love out of
mandate? Out of guilt? Do we love out of the heart? Do we love because we have no other
alternative? Do we love because if we
didn’t, we would be playacting a lie that might torment our very beings? Or do we love because you are. You are all the things that you are, in all
the ways that you are, in all the very different places you are. I love you because you are. Any other way would just be selfish. | | |
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