if anyone remembers pigman shouting “pins and needles, pins and needles” in the “great” film PCU back in the 90’s, you may remember it was because he found a movie that had both michael caine and gene hackman in it. it was the conclusion to his college thesis [i’m not going to explain how…just watch the old filthy movie yourself if you care.] i mention this because i had a “pins and needles” moment myself last night. here on my computer i found the molding together of two great forces.

this past november i posted about the film 'what would jesus buy? ' which was playing in select theaters around the country. it was a hard film to find for most people, but it has thankfully hit DVD today. the films producers have also created a nifty little discusion guide that goes with the film and i wanted to get that to anyone who was interested.

i stood in the check-out lane of my local grocery store, my items just scanned through the register: one box of hostess ding-dongs [for throwing, not eating...long story], one box of city trash bags and two bundles of city yard-waste bags for the piling leaves in my yard.

“$33.99” reported the cashier. she looked down at the small pile of things i was purchasing and said, “it’s ridiculous how much it costs to get rid of something, isn’t it?”

i love 'antiques roadshow ' on PBS - it looks like it is produced for about 12 bucks per episode, but i can't turn it off when i see it. if you aren't familiar with it, its a show where people bring in their old stuff to get it appraised. sometimes they find out they have a fake, but more often than not, some lady with a box full of silver baby spoons finds out she is sitting on a gold mine. it makes you want to run into your basement or attic and see if you still have that old doll house your grandma gave you because it might be worth a quarter million.

i was buying a plane ticket online the other day—when it was time for me to ‘check out’ the travel site offered me all kinds of add-ons for my time in colorado—but one add-on for my purchase stuck out to me: a carbon offset.

yep, that’s right, i’ll be burning up some fuel on my flight and expedia.com has figured out a way to help me travel guilt free.

take your left hand and extend it outward like you are going to shake someone's hand--now take the index finger of your right hand and tap it on the palm of your left hand.

in my house right now, that means 'more.'

my son, simeon, is about 18 months old and we have taught him some sign language to get us by until he starts talking more. if you know sign language you know that isn't exactly how you sign for 'more,' but it's close - its simeon signing with an accent.

there are those moments where someone, somewhere, says something that rings in your ears for days and months to come. lately i have been hearing the ringing again of words uttered by one of the guys from Sigur Rós. they played a show in GR at calvin college a few years back now. calvin has this great custom where they invite people to come to talk with the band before the show - this isn't a meet and greet - no pictures are taken, no autographing of body parts

i am in the last day of a leadership summit that willow creek church puts on each year. this is my first time being a part of the summit. i won't turn this into a plug for the conference, but i will pass on a few nuggets i am taking away from this summit that have made it well worth the time & money.

welcome to the first addition of my blog on rednoW. no doubt you were all teaming with anticipation for this day to come. but, lucky for you, the wait is over. i am hoping to keep it regular – once a week – but if i miss a week don’t send out the search party…