OK, so this afternoon I will be turning in my first paper as a graduate student. I am kind of nervous. Oh well. Nothing I can do now. I think it's a good paper, maybe not a great paper, but definitely a good paper. One of the best I have written in a while, I think. I'll see how it goes. I have a paper in that class (church history) every week, so I am going to start on the next one this morning. That class, and my New Testament class, are my most difficult. Going into this deal, I knew the workload would increase from my undergrad days, but I had no idea the increase would b by this much. Almost every one of my classes has at least 100 pages of reading each week, plus papers and tests and stuff. But above all of that is that the intesnsity level is so high. Whew. I am trying to stay ahead of the game as much as I can. But, I will be OK.

One of the adjustments I have had to make is to learn the intricisies of the library schedule. At a state school such as the U of M, I never had to worry about the library much; it was just open whenever I needed to be there. On Tuesday, I got an introduction into the seminary way. At 10:50 AM, one of the library employees came up to me to tell me that the library would be closing at 11:00 for chapel services. I said, "Uh, say what? I have work to do." He said, "We will be closing in 10 minutes for chapel services." My thought process for the next 30 seconds or so was something like: "Oh. Uh, OK. Hmmm. What do I do now? Hmmm. OK. Uh, how about some lunch?" So, I ate some lunch, and when I came back the library was open again. I had been in a really good groove, and unfortunately it took me a while to get it back. Anyway, that's how it goes.

A local United Methodist Church is seeking a part-time Director of Youth Ministries, and I applied a few days ago. I decided back some time ago to start working again, knowing that Michelle would eventually have to stop, and I have applied at several places but have not heard anything. So, my fingers are crossed.

On Friday, we have a doctor's appointment at 10:00 for an ultrasound. We should find out if the baby is a boy or a girl. We are so excited. I have been telling Michelle for weeks to just chill, and that there is nothing we can do but wait. But now, the anticipation is getting to me. The next two days cannot pass quickly enough.

A couple of years ago, my brother in law gave me a book he had used in a class, the Mercer University Dictionary of the Bible. It just so happened that I needed a Bible Dictionary at that time, and it quickly became one of my favorite resources. A couple of days ago, I was looking through the list of contributors, and saw my advisor there. I stopped by his office yesterday to ask him which article he had written, and when I walked in his office I noticed that his PC's screen saver was a bunch of Martin guitars. So, we spent the next 15 minutes talking about guitars, and then about 5 minutes talking about his article...LOL. Turns out he owns a 1970 Martin D-18, and wrote the article on creation for the Mercer dictionary. Cool stuff. When I met my advisor for the first time, I had a feeling I would like him, since he has a ponytail down his back and wears hemp sandals. The first thing I thought when I saw him was "He looks like my dad did in 1974." Cool. Turns out he is a member of Nashville Presbytery, and knows my uncle Don.

It's funny that wherever I go, people ask me if I am related to Don Winn. I don't purposely drop names, but people often do it for me...LOL. There are actually very few Cumberland Presbyterian professors here. This semester, I have a professor that is Catholic, one that is Calvinist Presbyterian (different breed than CP's), one that was raised Muslim in Senegal, and one that apparently is non-denomiational. The seminary is ecumenical, which means that it strives to be all-inclusive and embraces people of all Christian traditions. In fact, of all the students that started this semester, I am the ONLY CP in the group. What's funny is that the administration knew there was only one, because ever day someone would come up to me and ask me if I was "the one". So the first week or so I felt like I was wearing a scarlet letter. That's funny.

Anyway, things are going well here. I hope everyone is doing well. I know my friend Mike Clark is still struggling with the loss of his father. I hope he knows that our prayers are with him and his family. It is great that he and Dana got to celebrate the birth of their newest child last Friday. I cannot imagine the emotional roller-coaster he must be on right now. Peace...

Lily Jene Clark

Mike just sent me a text, saying that he and Dana welcomed Lily Jene into this world at 7:56 this morning. She was 7 lbs., 2 oz., and was 19.5 inches long. That is great. Lily is their fourth child, and I told Mike that if Michelle and I have a few, we could get a basketball game going. And since at least one of ours will be from overseas, it would be like the Olympics...LOL. Anyway, my congrats to Mike and Dana, and I know there are proud grandparents in Clarksville and Hopkinsville. Michelle and I also count ourselves as fortunate to have supportive families.

Peace...

I do not think I have ever felt so melancholy as I did Wednesday afternoon. I had spent the day at home, doing laundry and reading. And reading. And reading some more. By the time I needed to go to class (at 5:30 PM), I was fully aware that although I had spent the entire day reading, I was no where near finished with all the reading that I needed to do for the week. So, I was kinda sad, realizing the enormity of the work that lay ahead of me in seminary. However, my spirits were soon brightened. I got to class about 15 minutes early, so I found a seat and was just getting mentally prepared. When, in an instant, who walks in? The one and only Nathan Wheeler! Turns out he is in that class (Church History). So, he sat beside me and we reminisced about old times at Clarksville church. It was cool. So, we had a good lecture, although that class looks to be my most difficult one, by far. I spent all day yesterday reading for it, and still have some more to go before I start writing the paper that is due next week. In fact, we have a paper due EVERY week in that class. JOY!!

When Michelle got out of work yesterday, she needed to go to the Board of Education, which happens to be around the corner from my campus. So, we had arranged to meet for an early supper, which was nice. After we ate, we were driving down Union, and decided to stop at the Resource Center to see if Frank Ward was working. Indeed he was, so we stopped for a visit. It was great to see him again. Frank is the Director of Youth Ministry for the entire Denomination, and I have this crazy idea that some day I might work underneath him. The man is quality.

The seminary is offering a trip to Scotland right after the end of this semester. The purpose of the trip is to explore the Celtic history of Christianity. I immediately began to try to think of way that I could justify going, but I have yet to think of one. Michelle, of course, thinks I am insane for wanting to leave her for 12 days, 5 weeks before she is due to give birth. I suppose I agree that that is a little crazy. Or a lot crazy. Anyway, there will be other trips. Over the Christmas break, we had lunch with John Bogard, my childhood friend. John is an engineer for an energy company in Houston, but he has been transferred to England for two years. So, he invited us to visit him, and I think we have decided to go in early January next year. That will be a lot of fun.

At Jess' Wii party lat weekend, a funny thing happened. Someone noticed that my screen name is "Xanthos", which she recognized as being from Greek mythology. She then identified herself as a Latin teacher, which I thought was really cool. I told her that I know a little Greek, but almost no Latin, and that I have a lot of respect for Latin-speaking folk. At that point, a different woman asked me what my favorite story is. I was not quite sure what qualified as a "story", but I said that it would probably be Homer's Odyssey. She immediately stepped back and said, "Oh, I cannot know you. I cannot know you because you said that". I had no idea what to think at that point, so I just kind of chuckled and made my way to the other side of the room. Funny stuff.

The funniest story ever, though, is when Jess was in Atlanta in one of her costumes, and some random stranger asked her if she was part of the "ritual". When she said that she had no idea what that was, and that she was there for MoMoCon, HE got a weird look on his face, and ostensibly, figured out that whatever she was involved in must be weirder than his "ritual". LOL. That is the funniest story I have ever heard. Jess retold the story, and everyone got a big laugh.

I have no classes on Fridays, so I am at home doing more laundry. I also played guitar for about 30 minutes this morning, which was rewarding since I had not played at all the entire week. I am going to do some more reading, and I am hoping that I can write my entire paper this afternoon.

I hope everyone is doing well. Peace...

Yesterday was the third anniversary of the day that Michelle and I spoke on the phone for the first time. I remember that it was a Friday night, and that we talked into the wee hours of the morning. The funny thing is that I started working at Mt. Denson the next day. I was scheduled to take some of the kids from the youth group to a meeting in Nashville, and we were supposed to meet at the church at 8 AM. On a Saturday. Needless to say, I was about 45 minutes late, and by the time we had stopped for coffee, we made it to the meeting in time for the last 15 minutes or so...LOL. So, we went to lunch and called it a day.

That was a monumental time in my life, meeting the woman that would become my wife (and the mother of my child), and making a huge step in my spiritual journey. These three years have been incredible, indeed.

This past Saturday, Michelle and I went to Nashville. My sister hosted a Wii party, which I attended, and Michelle stormed Green Hills Mall with her friend Amy. I have great fun playing the Wii. The golf game was probably my favorite; It was just easy enough to be fun, and just difficult enough to be challenging. We played four holes, and I was at level par at that point. I bogied the first hole, trying to get the feel for the game. I birdied the 5-par second hole, which was a little disappointing since I had reached the green in two. Anyway, it was great.

It was great to see Jessi's friends, and to meet some new people as well. At one point, someone asked me who my favorite musicians are. I replied Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, The Eagles, and Fleetwood Mac (classic division); and The Killers, KT Tunstall, and Coldplay (current division). However, once I got home, I decided to investigate what music I am actually listening to the most these days.

By reviewing my iTunes "Recently Played" playlist, I find that I am listening to Green Day, U2, Five For Fighting, Bruce Hornsby, The Gabe Dixon Band, The Gin Blossoms, The Goo Goo Dolls, John Mayer, Nickelback, R.E.M., Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, and Warren Zevon, more than anything else. So, I guess it would be more accurate to say that this is where my musical tastes lie right now. In reality, it has been quite a while since I listened to much Pink Floyd (although I did watch my DVD of the making of Dark Side of the Moon again recently). On the way back from Nashville, I qued up Fleetwood Mac's "The Dance", but that was the first time I had listened to them in quite a while. Clapton and the Eagles are always in heavy rotation, and KT Tunstall and the Killers are there as well. During this investigation, I realized I have not listened to any Coldplay in quite a while. Although I did hear "Speed of Sound" on the radio one day that week, and enjoyed it. So, this is a more accurate representation of the music I am listening to these days.

In the past couple of years, I have really become interested in music again, after several years of ambivalence. For quite a while, there just wasn't anything being released that I was interested in. However, these days there is a ton of music that is getting my attention. Plus, iTunes makes it really easy to buy music at reasonable prices. I was initially reluctant to buy music digitally, but once I got on board, I found that for me, its pros outweigh its cons by far.

Speaking of John Mayer, he is playing Memphis in early February, and the opening act is Josh Rouse--a guy that I went to high school with. That's pretty cool. Josh has been working hard on his career for a long time, and he is finally getting some recognition. Good for him!

I hope everyone is doing well. Peace...

Hello Again

Well, it certainly has been a long time since I have posted. My grandmother has been hounding me about it, and I have promised a resumption several times, so here I am.

So much has happened since last time, I am sure I will leave several things out, but I will try to recap the past couple of months or so.

Thanksgiving weekend was great. We went to Tullahoma to spend the holiday with Michelle's parents and grandparents (who were in from New York). Everyone had a great time. Michelle and I had just bought a 2000 Dodge Intrepid a few weeks earlier, so her dad and I spent some time in the garage, changing the transmission fluid and some other stuff. All was well. On the Sunday, we left early so that we could worship at Mt. Denson, in Springfield. We spent the morning telling everyone how great everything was going, and sharing excitement about the baby.

After worship, we left for home, with a plan to stop at the Bellevue exit on west Nashville to have lunch. Just before we got there, the car suddenly lost all power from the engine, so I yanked it over to the shoulder. I just knew that doom was imminent. Anyway, we called a tow truck and had it dragged to a nearby shop. We spent the next couple of hours watching the Titans getting their tails handed to them, until finally the shop said the problem was beyond their capabilities. So, we called my aunt and uncle who lived nearby to see if we could crash there. By that time, the Titans had made a miraculous comeback, and when my uncle got there to pick us up, they were only down a few points, and were driving with time running out. Needless to say, my uncle would much rather have been watching the game then picking us up, so things were a little tense in the car. We had the game on the radio, and we got to the house at the 2 minute warning. The Titans ended up winning the game, so all was good...LOL. Anyway, we enjoyed a great dinner and went to bed, trying not to worry about the car.

The next morning, we had the car towed to a nearby dealership, and rented a car to tool around in. We decided to head to Clarksville, and visited with my grandmother, then went to my parents' house. My dad was working that day, so we went by there, and ended up in Patty Averitt's office talking to her for about an hour. By the time we got upstairs to my dad's office, he was gone...LOL. So, we just head home to Memphis, awaiting word on the car. I think it was either Wednesday or Thursday before we got a final verdict, which was that the engine needed complete replacement. Jeez, that sucked. So, we spent the next day or two trying to figure out what we wanted to do. We eventually decided to sell the car to salvage, live with one car for a while, and then buy something else in the middle of January, before school started again.

So, we spent December trying to finish our last projects and papers, and trying to get me graduated. The end of the semester was just crazy. But, eventually, we both got all our work done, and I graduated. I cannot remember which tournament it was, but I remember after Tiger Woods had won one of his majors, he spoke about how the entire week he only focused on each upcoming shot, never thinking about a past or future shot. Then, after he putted out on the last hole, he had a really strange feeling because he suddenly realized he had no more shots to play. This is exactly the same feeling I had after I took my last final exam. It was my astronomy exam, at 8:00 AM. I got done in about an hour and a half, so as I walked out of the building, it suddenly occured to me that I had nothing more to do. For the past several years, I had been so focused on papers, projects, and exams, and now I had nothing more to do. It was such a strange feeling. My legs were literally shaking.

It was wonderful that most of my family, and Michelle's parents, were able to come down and celebrate with us. At dinner the night before, I quoted the French philosopher Gabriel Marcel by saying that only a fool would claim to be self-made, and thanked everyone for their support throughout the years. I would like to reiterate those sentiments.

The ceremony itself was great; I saw several friends from classes, and we all shared good laughs. Afterward, everyone in the group went back to our apartment and celebrated. We all had a good time (except for when Steve broke my wireless router...LOL), especially when the cake was revealed. My mom had given Michelle a picture of me when I graduated kindergarten, way back in the day. Michelle had gotten the picture put on a cake, and it was hilarious. They made me eat my face, which was kind of weird...LOL.



We went to Clarksville to celebrate Christmas, and had a good time. We went down to McGregor park to see the Christmas lights, which is where we got engaged. That was cool. A couple of days later, we went to Tullahoma to see Michelle's family. It was good to see them again. It is usually quiet around their house, so I was able to get a lot of reading done. That was nice.

New Year's eve was uneventful, as we stayed home. Michelle went to bed early, and I stayed up reading. I looked up at the clock to see that it was 12:30 AM, so it felt a little strange to have "missed" the new year's arrival. So, I just went to bed a while after that.

A few days later, I got word from my best friend Michael Clark that his dad was in his final days of battling the cancer that had ravaged his body for the past couple of years. I wished I could have done more for Mike, but I just called occasionally to offer my support. Michelle and I went to Clarksville for the funeral service, and although it's always good to be in town, I wished I could have been there under better circumstances. The night before the funeral, we went over to my parents' house, and my dad and I had a good time playing guitar. I brought my new guitar that I had just bought, and was glad that my dad liked it. One neat thing is that while we were playing, Michelle thought she felt the baby move. That was really neat.

After the service, we went over to Mathews Nissan to see Jessie Johnson, and look at cars. We quickly discovered that Jessie and his business partner now work at James Corlew Chevrolet, so we went over there. Jessie was off that day, so we talked with his partner Kurt. We did not really plan on buying a car that day, so were just gonna look. However, We became smitten with a 2002 Chevrolet Blazer, and ended up buying it. So, we spent an extra night in Clarksville, then came back to Memphis the next day. We have enjoyed the Blazer, and we are enjoying the fact that we bought a 2 year warranty with it :) So, if it conks out, we should be OK.

During the winter break, it was nice to read some things that were of my own choosing, instead of being dictated by a syllabus. I revisited John Stuart Mill's "On Liberty", and I read the Iraq Study Group Report". I also read the Gospel of Judas, which is a new book that paints a revolutionary new picture of Judas Iscariot. I also read a couple of chapters of "The Guns of August", which is the preeminent account of the events that led up to the first month of World War I. And, I read a really funny book, "The Mr. and Mrs. Happy Handbook" by Steve Doocy.

Last Friday, I had orientation and registration at seminary. It was a really long day, but well worth it. My first class is today at 5:30. It is a strange feeling to call myself "college graduate" and "graduate student". I am sure that reality will set in tonight when I get my first syllabus...LOL.

My course schedule is as follows:

CH 05045 Issues in Church Relations Worldwide (Mondays at 5:30)
TH 01111 Reading, Writing, Research Thursdays (Tuesdays at 12:30
CG 00108 Covenant Group (Tuesdays at 4:30)
NT 10000 Intro to New Testament (Tuesdays at 5:30)
CH 10000 Intro to Church History (Wednesdays at 1:30)
TH 10000 Christan Beliefs (Thursdays at 5:30)

Covenant Group is a no-credit class that meets for 1 hour per week. It is a support-group type thing where a student who has been around for a couple of years stimulates discussion about our feelings and concerns.

TH 0111 is a one-credit hour class that I hope will help me with my research and paper-writing skills. One of the texts is a book called "How to Read a Book". I have been joking about the fact that I had to go to grad school to learn that...LOL.

The rest of my classes are all 3-credit hour classes. So, I have a total of 13 hours, which should be manageable.

Today is the 23rd anniversary of the introduction of the Macintosh computer, which was done via a Super Bowl commercial that, while it aired only once, is still considered one of the best commercials ever made. It was named "Commercial of the Decade" by at least one prominent trade publication.



I remember the computer lab at my high school having about 30 Apple IIe units, and about 8 Macs. In order to use the Macs, one had to be in the good graces of the teacher, Mr. Stinnett. Fortunately, I was one of the few that were elevated to that level. I went away from Macs for quite a while, but always knowing that I would go back. Now, I would never trade my iBook for anything, except a new Powerbook...LOL.

I hope everyone is doing well. Peace...