Happy 4th of July Kids! ~ I sure hope none of you got hurt playing with firecrackers. ~ I'm the proud driver of a 2001 Chevy Cavalier. Yes, it's a black little vehicle but you don't have to call it 'cute.' I prefer to describe it using the phrase: "Dagger of Dusk" (Think you have a better name for it? Come on. Let me know).

I'm quite happy with the little 'Dagger.' A few days ago I gave it its first scrub. Can you remember your very first time washing a car that you called your own? I dare say it is more than a little exhilarating, maybe even sensual. The day had just begun. The air was still cool, and shade was in abundance. Little birds sang melodiously overhead. Yes, a perfect day for an intimate massage and scrub. We shan't have noisy machineries. We shan't have the impersonal roaring of running waters. No. We shall do it the way the warriors of old did it. That which requires the contact of skin and steel. Dagger of Dusk, I shall wash you with a pail of the purest suds and water. Gently, with the greatest of care. The water is chilly, but it is wonderful and good. Fear not, for no harm shall befall you. And finally, before the bolts of morning sun bless us, you shall be caressed and made dry with the finest linens.

Just Saw a Chilling Yet Satisfying Film [img:876503] I suppose there are at least two kinds of euphoric experiences that we go through in life. The first is having experienced something so good that we want to tell absolutely everyone about it. The second opposes the first notion almost directly; us experiencing something so wondrous that we would actually wish that no one else would find it. Well, maybe not exactly "no one else," but rather an elect few. A gem that's so beautiful, yet intricately fragile that it seems right to shelter it from the masses. This is what I found in the movie Once. I will steal a line from the Switchfoot song, and describe this movie as a 'beautiful letdown.' Watch this if you pine for a more raw (and more real) view of life. The last time I checked, the world isn't always inhabited by the gorgeous. But I don't mean to say the characters in the movie aren't beautiful. No no; that they are. But homes aren't always brightly lit mansions, gals don't always wear dresses, and guys who play guitar don't always get the gals, you know what I mean? As I was saying, this film is something my instinct is urging me to keep to myself. Therefore, what you read now is... me being a hypocrite. Go judge Once for yourself. And for those who have seen it, let me know what you think. Here's a link about the movie - just remember to avoid the spoilers!

I was jealous of Chris's doppelganger, so here's my own.

some things that made me want to perk up my ears:

"Christianity is borne out of humility."

"Doesn't it make sense that the way it begins is the way it's supposed to continue?"

"Humility is obeying the truth of God when you understand it, not when you feel like it."

Erwin McManus