Thursday, December 28, 2006

hint



for all you gamers, here's your hint... or perspective or whatever... hope this helps.

Friday, December 22, 2006

Merry Christmas




They're all for you Doug.

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

picture #10




This one is worth three points

score-
Aimee 3
Dan 2.5
Casey 2
so many with 1

picture #9






scores:
Aimee: 3
Casey: 2
many with 1

Sunday, December 17, 2006

picture #8



updated scores:
Aimee: 2
Casey: 2
many at 1

this picture is a tricky one... there are 3 pairs of shoes shown... I need the name of one of the people who are showing off their shoes... if you are one of these people, you cannot answer.

Friday, December 15, 2006

picture #7




score:
Casey: 2
Dan: 1
Terri: 1
Aimee: 1
Andy: 1

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

the fruitless roll of layers

disclaimer #1: however the title of this blog post may tell you otherwise, this is not a cooking recipe.
disclaimer #2: the word 'roll' in the title should be spelled 'role' but found the latter less attractive... and I rarely use puns... on to the blog post...

I wonder what I have been exposed to that has skewed my perception of reality so much? whatever is real, I don't think I can see or define because I have too many layers. these layers I like to call filters. each scar produces a filter and these filters stack up over time... the more filters, the more distorted my view of reality has become and I am unable to process what is actually happening for what it is really worth and for what it really means... something so innocent can be so horribly offensive and shake my emotions beyond what I can bear... something done with completely different intentions can suddenly ruin my day. have I really allowed this? have I let this shape me? or has it just happened right in front of my eyes without me knowing? have I bent and built my life around how the past has left me jaded?

either way, it sucks.

I wonder how much I don't even realize affects me because of this. there are certain filters that I have been able to recognize and take out when processing what is happening, but surely there are more that I have not yet found... or maybe I know they are there but have just stored them at the bottom of the pile hoping I won't notice them or remember why they are there... maybe the moments that they were created are too painful and uncomfortable to unpack... sometimes there are moments when I begin to catch a glimpse of what they might be... I get quick snapshots and distorted memories that happen just long enough to want to escape them, and just short enough to leave me with bitter feelings towards whatever it was.

the more I inquire God about this, the more I feel like he's telling me this is an issue of forgiveness. if it's bitterness that I feel then there are people I need to forgive. I don't think there can be true healing until there is true forgiveness... I can always say that I forgive someone, but maybe that compared to what is in my heart is completely different. maybe I HAVEN'T truly forgiven like God forgives. if certain things are still affecting me and it's because of pain from the past, have I really let it go? have I really completely severed it from my mind? is that really possible? when something leaves you fractured, how can you really ever be seperated from that?

I'm hoping only by God's grace...

Saturday, December 09, 2006

picture #6 (of ten)


This one may be a little tougher.



updated score:
Casey: 2
Terri: 1
Andy: 1
Aimee: 1

Friday, December 08, 2006

Christmas wish #11


This hat is at Dick's

Thursday, December 07, 2006

picture #5



score:
Casey: 2
Terri: 1
Andy: 1

picture #4

Monday, December 04, 2006

Sunday, December 03, 2006

screwed again

If you're Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, how do you explain to your players that they won't be in the BCS Championship Game? How do you tell the second-best team in the country to get pumped about playing USC in the Runner-Up Bowl? How do you resist the urge of wishing Nutcracker drills on every person who jumped one-loss Florida ahead of the one-loss Wolverines in the final polls?

Carr had to do what Auburn's Tommy Tuberville did two seasons ago. Tuberville's team finished the regular season 12-0, but was left out of the Tostitos BCS Championship Game in favor of undefeated USC and Oklahoma.

Let me get this straight: Michigan, which was unbeaten against all teams on its schedule ranked lower than No. 1, isn't going to Glendale, Ariz., for the Jan. 8 national title game because ...

• It didn't win its conference.

No, it didn't. But did you see who did? Team by the name of Ohio State. Maybe you've heard of the Buckeyes? Undefeated. Ranked first in the country. Beat Michigan in Columbus by the grand total of three whole points.

And feel free to show me in the BCS handbook where it says you've got to win your conference to play in the championship game?

• Nobody wants to see a rematch.

Just asking, but how did Ali-Frazier II and III work out? Or that Georgetown-Villanova Final Four?

I know Florida's Urban Meyer doesn't want to see a rematch, but he's not exactly an impartial observer, is he? And if Meyer were in Carr's Nikes, I guarantee you his objections to a second Ohio State-Michigan game would have disappeared.

A rematch, this time on a neutral field, would have been a game for the ages. And if you threatened to take away his precious sweater vest if he didn't tell the truth, I bet you Buckeyes' coach Jim Tressel would rather play Florida than have to face the Wolverines again (Tressel declined to vote in the final coaches' poll).

• Florida played a tougher schedule.

Agreed. But strength of schedule is part of the equation, nothing more. Tuberville's 2004 team had the strongest strength of schedule, but didn't make it.

You want to give the Gators the edge based on scheduling? Fair enough, though you could argue that Florida didn't exactly beat vintage Alabama, Georgia and Florida State teams this year, and Central Florida and Division I-AA Western Carolina were dreadful.

And look at the one loss each suffered by Florida and Michigan on their schedules. You tell me which defeat was more impressive: the Gators' 10-point road loss to an Auburn team that finished the season No. 9 in the BCS standings? Or the Wolverines' three-point road loss to an Ohio State now favored to win the national championship?

• The BCS system rewarded Florida for finishing its season with wins at FSU and against Arkansas at the SEC championship in Atlanta.
And the BCS penalized Michigan twice for being on the wrong end of the calendar: once when USC moved to No. 2 after beating Notre Dame (even though Michigan beat the Irish worse), and now, when Florida overtook the Wolverines (even though U of M's season ended two weeks ago).

How can you call this a "system" when Florida belongs to a league that plays a conference championship, and Michigan doesn't? How can you call it a quasi-playoff when Michigan drops twice in the standings without losing a game?

• Florida has earned the right to play Ohio State.

Absolutely true. But so has Michigan.

Ask the coaches at Vanderbilt (played both Michigan and Florida this season) who is the better team, and the consensus pick -- privately, of course -- is the Wolverines. Florida has more speed and a handful of players to die for, they say, but Michigan is more physical, would control both sides of the line of scrimmage, have wonderful wide receivers, and are led by a senior quarterback who doesn't make many mistakes.

Ask them who would give Ohio State the better game, and you'll get the same answer.

Michigan was 11-1 on Nov. 18. It was 11-1 on Dec. 3. But between then and now the Wolverines apparently became the cellulite queens and somehow lost the swimsuit portion of this ridiculous BCS beauty pageant.

Michigan didn't do a thing wrong. And yet Carr was the one who had to console his team Sunday night. He did it, but here's guessing he wasn't Mr. Congeniality.

(article courtesy ESPN.com)

Saturday, December 02, 2006

Christmas wish #10


new our lady peace CD

Christmas wish #9


These running shoes are on sale at Dick's right now... size 10 please!!!

Christmas wish #8


An 'ibrief' totebag for my laptop. Or just a cool bag for it.

picture #2


an easy one.

Thursday, November 30, 2006

new game

I'm going to post random pictures on my blog.... pictures of things that I see or run into throughout my day... the game is for you to guess where these pictures are taken... the winner gets a prize!

Picture #1

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

BCS sucks

USC is good and all, but no way are they a better team than UM.

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Christmas wish #7



A nice little accessory for my ipod, but in black!

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Christmas wish #3


Gift cards for itunes!

Christmas wish #2


gift cards to the buckle!

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Thursday, November 16, 2006

.|.|.

I think this is the most neglectful that I have been since I started this blog... about a week ago, I started writing something... I don't even remember what it was... nothing very interesting I'm sure... just like this one...

anyway, I just bought the new Damien Rice CD... it's yummie. Do yourself a favor and buy it... or burn it... he probably makes enough money for that to be okay... right Daniel? just kidding.

Nothing is really new I guess... I'm anticipating the UM OSU game... but who isn't... here's my prediction... OSU 29 UM 27... Garrett Rivas misses a field goal that would win... as much as I want UM to win... I just can't bet against OSU... especially at home... they are the best team in the country... If UM wins, I will change that statement... either way, there will be no blowout. If this were in the Big House, I would say UM by a touchdown... but not in the horseshoe. The winner of this game will also beat whoever they play in the BCS title game... unless it is a re-match in which case the winner will be the loser of the first game...

okay, enough about sports.

I went to another Ag Silver concert last night... that music just never gets old.... and niether does Marvin Gaye for that matter... I wish I could see him in concert... shame.

hmmm.... cranberry sierra mist... a new discovery that delights my taste buds... and good news... I'm having Qdoba for lunch tomorrow... anyone want to meet me there? It's worth it... tomorrow being Thursday that is... even thought I'm writing this at 2am on Thursday...

I think this post is random enough... what do you think??? you don't have to answer that... speaking of random:
a random fact about me: I have watched every episode of 'The Office' at least two times.... even the ones this season.... am I sick? I would like to think not... the show is absolutely genious.

I will also be posting at least one thing a week that I want for Christmas this year... so stay tuned to that, for that surely will be entertaining...

final thought: I wish I could walk through walls. that would be neat.

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Monday, October 09, 2006

some thoughts that rattle through my head...

1. We are created in the image of God. Fact (Genesis 1:27).
2. God is a being that has no limits. Fact (Exodus 3:14).

If you cannot put limitations on God and we are beings created in His image, what does that make you think about your potential?

Maybe the answer to that is so magnificent that we could never find it, grab it and put it in our pocket. Not even the biggest pocket in the world. Even the word magnificent is limiting because we can picture magnificent. Maybe there is something so profound at the core of our existence that no human language could ever begin to describe it. Maybe our finite minds are unable to comprehend exactly what God meant when he made us His image-bearers.

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created them (Genesis 1:27).”

What does it mean to be created in the image of God? Does that mean God has a form or a shape? Is God something tangible that I can picture in my head when I think of what he may look like? The answer is no.

What does it mean to reflect the image of God? Moses asked to see what God looked like and God told him that no one could see Him and still live (Exodus 33:20).

But I don’t think we can limit these questions to only a physical image. I think there may be more to it than that. So what else then? If it’s not a physical image is it an emotional image? There has to be something deeper at stake here.

If we are all created in the image of God and are meant at the core of our existence to reflect God, then everyone, male and female, Christian and atheist, Buddhist and monk, Muslim and Jew, were all designed to look, think, feel, and act like Him. If God is truly limitless and cannot be defined or comprehended, then is it possible that defining the image of God is also the same? Could it possibly be that God, in all of his goodness and glory, wants us to live in His image to the fullest extent even if we never will understand or comprehend what that extent could possibly mean for us as His image-bearers?

There is so much about God that remains a mystery. In this life we can never truly understand all of who He is and everything He has designed us to be. I think the beauty of this is in the life He has given us to live. Every new day is a day worth living in searching and discovering nuggets of truth that reveal more of who God is. The more that is revealed, the more we know what it means to bear His image. The more discovering that takes place, the more we know God’s hand is at work in our life. The more that we see of Jesus, the more we know there is still so much more to be seen.

Saturday, October 07, 2006

good press



Jason Holdridge's album 'Pursue Me' is featured in this month's issue of CCM magazine! Check it out!

o sweet victory

The evil empire has fallen at the hands of our mighty Tigers...


Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Saturday, September 30, 2006

over the knoll

I have never dreaded a birthday before... not that I'm even really 'dreading' this particular birthday THAT much, but it HAS been in my thoughts more than any other that I've ever had... and only because of the number associated with this one.

October 5: I'm turning 27.

I know that most of you that read this blog are older than I am so maybe you can back me up here (either that, or just shake your head in amusement)... presently, I am 26, feeling good about life, feeling young, feeling like I'm in my mid-twenties... but 27, well, now that's just staring 30 right in the face.

So, we have a huge shift here... mid-tewnties to late twenties... one minute I'll be here, and the next I'll be there... the clock will strike at midnight and it will all be over... my youth will be swallowed up with 12 chimes of the ol' grandfather clock...

when the crap did I get this freaking old?

Sunday, September 24, 2006

sneakers

My brother thinks this is the funniest word known to man. I don't know why. He is weird.
I think he finds this particularly piquant for the duality of the word...
for the record, here are the two definitions for 'sneaker' in the dictionary:
1. One who sneaks.
2. A sports shoe usually made of canvas and having soft rubber soles (Perfect for sneaking*). Also called tennis shoe.

*my addition

This leads me to think about who should be wearing these sneakers...

Maybe we should refer to hunting boots as sneakers.

And what about the cunning cat-burglar? If anyone needs a good pair of sneakers, it is most definitely he.

The SWAT team should invest in some as well...

the list could go on...
bottom line: my brother's mind is warped.

But those with warped minds always turn out to be geniuses.

Sunday, September 17, 2006

AG Silver




Last night I was nostalgic yet again. Many of you can't really understand what this band called AG Silver does to me. The best way that I can properly explain this is by simply saying "they make me happy". For those of you who know me well know that I hate going places by myself, especially social settings like concerts... and it's even worse when I have to drive longer than a half hour to get there... but I knew I couldn't miss this for the life of me.

I was introduced to AG Silver in the fall of 1998. I was a mere freshman in college and thought I'd go check out my friend Dustin's band (also a freshman). From that point on, I was in love.

Now 8 years later, after a hiatus and a new bass player, I am even more in love. Something about this music sends me skyward. I can't put my finger on why, but it happens.

So last night... I'm sitting by myself (but hardly, in a packed Knickerbocker Theater), smiling like a school girl in a pretty new dress, singing every word to every song...

my mind transcends time...

for a few short seconds...

re-living moments from past shows...

in the spring of 2000 I was able to perform a song I had written with them at their Quincerpalooza show... The year they won Aris' hometown rock search I was back stage, doing the 'guitar-hand-off' thing with Chris... Celebration on the Grand... with Dexter Freebish at the old Intersection... too many more to list...

all this floods through my mind rapidly...

just snapshots...

I was by myself, but last night that was okay. There was a theater full of people celebrating the same thing in their own minds, doing their own transcending. It was a beautiful night of music.

AG Silver.

something about them makes me happy.

Saturday, September 16, 2006

yet again....

















One year ago on this blog I called a Notre Dame win... UM was ranked 2nd in the nation, and I bet against my Wolverines... and, to my shagrin, I was correct. This year is even a tougher call... Notre Dame is the easy pick for three reasons... They are the number 2 team in the nation while Michigan is number 11 (the most meaningless reason)... Notre Dame has handed it to Michigan the last two years and Michigan hasn't won on the road in South Bend since '94. This has all the makings of a Notre Dame win... the third reason that this is an easy pick is because if I pick Notre Dame to win and they do, then I was right... If Michigan wins, I was wrong, but I'm overjoyed with the outcome despite my err in prophecy...

pickle.

Okay, so here are my keys to a UM victory:
1.) Don't let Brady Quinn beat you. He has, in my opinion, two of the greatest receivers in the nation in McKnight and Samardzija.
2.) Get Hart involved early and establish the run. If ND has a weakness it's their run defense. UM has two solid backs in Grady and Hart which should punish ND's soft defensive line.
3.) Give Breaston 10 touches besides special teams. If you put the ball in his hands, he is bound to make a big play.
4.) Break Darius Walker's leg.

My call today, however difficult this may be for me, is Michigan outlasting the Irish in overtime 38-31. (here's me crossing my fingers)


.

I just realized how hard it is to look at that prediction... I am willing to live with it and take my helmet of shame with me everywhere I go if I am proven wrong...

(sigh)

Monday, September 11, 2006

dreaming of alpacas

This last weekend I went with good friend Aimee to her home town of Olivet, MI. I knew that her family raised these lovely animals called alpacas, but I didn't really know anything about them before I went. As it turns out I got to help wrangle these animals into a pen so they could give them shots... and they hate shots... they were acutally whining audibly about the situation. It was pretty funny. They also have a llama named Vinny. He's like the body gaurd for these alpacas... he didn't like me too much. Everytime I would try to walk up to him he would lay his ears back and cluck at me... I really didn't have anything against him though... On our way home Saturday night I told Aimee that I'd probably have dreams about alpacas and llamas, and I actually did... I don't really remember what the dream was about, but I just remember them being everywhere and all around me and I didn't really know what I was doing there amidst all these animals! Oh alpacas... I'll never be the same.

just kidding.

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

post one hundred and twenty

2:53 am

.

Tonight my thoughts are held hostage by the past. I am not allowed to sleep until I indulge my memory of every moment I can conjure up. Right now, there is no escape. It is, however, curiously entertaining.

.

Photographs... many photographs... why do I still have these? I don't think I ever could let go. All these years I've known that they were still there waiting for me, but tonight I looked at them. I looked at them knowing full well the danger of what it might stir up.

.

Everything is re-lived tonight in my mind... what-if's loom largely, emotions hang in the balance.

.

I say to myself: 'No. No, that could never work.' But I'm still a hostage to the thought. It's funny how a chain of events can lead me to this entrapment.

.

coincidence? Aw, who am I kidding.

Sunday, August 27, 2006

there is nothing better than....

a quick-witted remark.

a soft bed, a firm pillow.

coffee & conversation.

self-esteem.

encouragement.

sleeping in.

friends.

music written from the soul.

family.

a back scratch.

being loved like you deserve to be loved.

consistency and dependability.

grace.

laughter.

a shiney, red, new guitar.

the fall.

Africa.

a fireplace in winter.

community.

college football.

fine art.

warm, chocolate-chip cookies.

Bruce-Burgers off the grill.

a long hug.

air guitar.

accomplishment.

Friday, August 18, 2006

153 Records newest releases


Jason Holdridge - 'Pursue Me' available now! jasonholdridge.com is also now online.




Joel Yoshonis - 'Scream Silence' due out October '06
















click here to see the new 153 Records myspace

Sunday, August 13, 2006

Unity 2006







This year, as always, Unity Fest was a ton of fun. Even though I don't necessarily prefer every artist or band that was on stage, the atmosphere and the company is what made it so great. It was good to watch my boyz in TFJ rock it out again. I am always so proud when I listen to them play. I also spent most of my time with the hotties pictured last... (: Good Times... I think my favorite picture is where Joel found his Asain twin.

What a great weekend.