Word!

Letter to Congresswoman Sue Myrick

2011-07-25T20:41:00.000-07:00

Dear Congresswoman Myrick,

I am writing to express my disappointment with my government at the inability to come to a mutual compromise on the issue of raising the debt ceiling. I find it hypocritical to ask for a balanced budget amendment that takes money away from programs like Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and education while protecting the wealthiest Americans from paying higher taxes. Wealthy Americans are paying historically low taxes thanks to the Bush tax cuts that unfortunately the United States congress along with the President have recently renewed. I hope you'll remember that the last time we had a government surplus and a chance to pay down our deficit was before these tax cuts went into effect.

I am in favor of a balanced budget but it cannot and absolutely should not be done in favor of penalizing the economically disadvantaged. Everyone needs to do their fair share.

It is easy to say that wealthy Americans are already paying their fair share because they pay a higher percentage of their income. It is easy to say that the poor among us do not pay their fair share because people who are economically disadvantaged don't pay income taxes. The truth is that we are all in this together. The "us vs. them" paradigm has been alive and rampant in this country for far too long and it's time that our elected officials take a stand against it. Pass a budget that is truly fair and balanced. The Bush tax cuts are a luxury that America can not afford.

The progressive tax system is flawed but it reflects the best thinking of our time. I don't like to pay taxes but they are a necessary cost of the freedoms and services that we enjoy as Americans. A fair approach to tax increases would be to raise everyone's taxes. A tax increase of one half of a percent would raise a significant amount of income for the government.

Of course this type of approach must be paired with spending cuts and reforms to programs that are inefficiently run. I only ask that you continue to consider all of your constituents and the services that they have come to rely on when making decisions for our mutual benefit.

Thank you for your continued service. To serve one's community is a noble profession and I admire the work you do.

Thank you for your consideration,

Ian Hartner

Engaged!

2008-12-29T08:49:00.001-08:00

It's been a few months since my last blog entry. A lot has happened since this summer and I thought given recent events it might be a good time to update.

This semester has been challenging for a number of reasons. Course work has been heavy, I've been laid off from my job at Prince of Peace, and I find myself missing Emily like crazy while she is on internship in Ohio. It's been really difficult for both of us to be 500 miles apart 90% of the time. My visits to Toledo have been great but I wish they were longer and more frequent...

I've met some really great people on my visits to Toledo. Two members of the congregation, Gene and Janet, have really been a great help to Emily and have taken very good care of her, they always take us out to dinner when I come to town and always include Emily in things that they do. There are a lot of older members with very low incomes. The amazing thing, and Emily will back me up on this, is that they all love to give, sometimes until it hurts, most times it hurts. It's as if the charge they get from giving makes the hurt worth it...

Two other people out of many worth mentioning that I am particularly fond of are Adam and Mildred. Adam is probably in his late 30's with a mentality somewhat like a 10 year old. He is a very "sweet" guy, as Emily would say. He's always very happy and very excited to talk to you. He is also very concerned with people liking him and always does his best to put his best foot forward and is very thoughtful and great. He loves the Toledo Mud-Hens so Emily and I are thinking about taking him to a game in the spring.

Mildred is very old and grandmotherly. She refers to me as Emily's "Sweet Petunia" which I find hilarious. We took Mildred to an event hosted by a local church at a near-by comedy club when I was in Toledo for Thanksgiving and we all had a wonderful time. Every time I would come to Toledo, Emily would say that I had to meet Mildred and I was very glad when I finally met her.

This school year I have the amazing opportunity to work in the Lutheran Office of Governmental Ministry of the New Jersey Synod of the ELCA. This office works with the state government independently and through coalitions to try and pass legislation that the church believes strongly in. We have been focusing on Low-income housing, LIHEAP (Low-Income Heating Energy Assistance Program), Anti-hunger, and Anti-poverty issues. It's been a wonderful experience and I work with an amazing supervisor who teaches me more than I ever imagined I would learn. So if you want to know what I plan to do with my seminary degree, this is it. I want to advocate for the marginalized and help work with state and/or federal governments to improve the qualitiy of life for everyone, no exceptions.

Ok, so you're probably reading this thinking "wow, this is all really nice but I started reading because it says 'engaged' at the top of the page!"

Emily and I are officially engaged to be married as of December 24, 2008. We will be married in Newton, NC on October 10, 2009. So far we've picked a date (but not a time) and the places to have the ceremony and reception (as long as Emily's parents approve.) The colors for the wedding will be brown and cream with both the bridesmaid's dresses and the grooms tuxes being brown with cream colored accents. We haven't maid official decisions about the bridal party but I think we should have that nailed down in the next week. Emily and her mom are out right now getting pedicures and if I had to guess, I'd say that they were also buying a wedding gown.

We've also decided on some things for the service. We're definitely going to have communion but we're going to skip the unity candle. There will be lots of singing and hopefully lots of involvement from our seminarianish friends. We met with Pastor Jane of Beth Eden this morning and we were very happy with the outcomes from that meeting so things are certainly looking up, as if being engaged wasn't enough :-D

We are both very thankful for your kind regards and prayers! More to come later, I'm sure.

Picture New Leadership on Global Poverty and Debt!

2008-09-02T17:16:00.000-07:00

My previous blog entry was concerning a campaign at Jubilee USA entitled “Stop the Vulture Culture!” We are excited to report that Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA) will introduce a bill into the House of Representatives outlining regulations and penalties for companies who engage in the profiteering of defaulted sovereign debt. It’s time to start calling your Members of Congress to ask them to co-sponsor this Vulture Funds legislation!

Another campaign at Jubilee is “Picture New Leadership on Global Poverty and Debt.” We’re calling on the next president of the United States to take an affirmative stance on debt cancellation and to provide more and better aid to highly indebted countries. We are also asking the next President to appoint a Secretary of the Treasury who will share these goals.

So, let’s start at the beginning. Why is debt relief important? In the case of Haiti, the average family used to spend about 80% of their budget on food. The price of food has now doubled in a very short period of time, which as you can guess or have probably seen on the world news, has led to a hunger crisis in Haiti.

What does this have to do with debt? Haiti accrued 45% of its $1.46 billion debt under its two notoriously brutal dictators, “Papa-Doc” and “Baby-Doc” Duvalier. The Duvalier’s squandered the money loaned to them by creditor institutions and used very little of it to help the citizens of Haiti. It is reported that “Baby-Doc’s” wife Michele Duvalier spent $20,000 on a weekend shopping spree in New York City.

The point is that the citizens of Haiti, now people living in the world’s first black republic, are victims of an irresponsible regime and should not be made to pay the odious and illegitimate debts accrued by the Duvaliers.

Haiti currently pays $58 million in debt repayment and interest annually, which is diverting money, energy, and attention away from the hunger crisis in Haiti. That’s over 1 million dollars per week that could be put towards relief efforts.

Does debt relief work? Yes! Social spending in countries that receive debt relief has gone up by 75%. The funds are being used to abolish school fees, provide free immunizations, fight HIV/AIDS, and improve access to safe drinking water!

The benefits don’t stop at social improvements. Extreme environmental degradation has left Haiti more susceptible to natural disasters such as mudslides and Hurricanes. Debt relief could expand Haiti’s environmental budget ten fold and help them come up with a sustainable strategy for protecting their citizens from natural disasters.

By this point I’m sure you’re wondering what you can do to help. Jubilee’s Picture new leadership campaign is asking for groups of people to get together and take a picture that can be sent to both Senator’s McCain and Obama’s campaign offices. The picture should be of you and your friends, office, or any other group holding a sign that says; “Picture an end to Global Poverty! More and Better Aid!” Debt relief is a root solution for many other social problems all over the planet and we need you to get involved!

E-mail your picture to Mercedes@jubileeusa.org and we’ll put it up on our website and fax it in to your local campaign offices, make sure to tell us where you’re from in your e-mail. For more information about our “Picture New Leadership” campaign visit www.jubileeusa.org/leadership.html.

Vulture Culture!

2008-06-25T13:29:00.000-07:00

So, part 2 of My beatitudes blog is going to outline one of our new fall campaigns at Jubilee USA. It's a little sad that I'll be working on this for the next month and won't be here in the fall to see it's effectiveness but maybe someone will keep me in the loop!

"Vulture Culture" Is a campaign to stop vulture funds from preying on small impoverished countries.

Let's start at the beginning, why are these countries in debt to begin with and who do they owe the money to? Many highly impoverished poor countries ascertain debt through dictators and governments who greedily mismanaged the funds collected by the state from the people whom they serve. When a country runs out of money they have the option to borrow money from sources such as the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund. Later, after these governments have been removed from power, the country is left with large amounts of debt that can total hundreds of billions of dollars. The country can then apply for debt cancellation from their creditor, a practice that Jubilee supports in full.

Sometimes before a deal is finalized for debt reduction or cancellation, a company will swoop in and buy the debt from the creditor, usually for slightly more than the amount that the creditor has agreed to settle the debt to the poor country. This company will often draft a thick legally binding contract that an impoverished nation may not have the legal expertise to be able to see the full legal scope of the contract.

If you haven't guessed already, these company's have been nick-named 'vulture funds.' After the poor country has payed the agreed upon amount, the 'vulture fund' will then sue them for the original amount of the loan.

For Example>
Romania loans Zambia $15 million. Zambia was not able to repay the loans because the farming equipment they bought with the loan did not work well and European Agricultural subsidies rendered Zambia unable to hold stake in the global market place. Romania and Zambia came to an agreement to liquidate the debt to $3 million. Donegal International saw this as an opportunity and paid Romania $3.3 million for the debt. Due to interest and back payments, the debt was valued at this time to be $30 million. This transaction occurred while Chiluba, a notoriously corrupt man, was President of Zambia.

By the time Zambia had settled on a debt settlement with Donegal International, the value of the debt was held at $44 million. Donegal International settled on a re-payment figure of $15 million (does that number sound familiar?).

Soon after, Zambia stopped paying the debt saying that it was accrued under corrupt circumstances. Donegal waited to sue Zambia until one month before Zambia qualified for HIPC, the Highly Impoverished Poor Countries Intitiative. The G8 leaders in 2005 voted to relieve all of Zambia's debt. Unfortunately, the Donegal International debt was not included because it was not held by a country but rather by a company. Donegal International then took this opportunity to sue Zambia for $55 million, the full amount of the original debt plus interest and penalties. After the case was taken to a British court the debt was reduced to $15.5 million, $.5 Million more than the original loan.

So, Jubilee is on a mission to "Stop the Vulture Culture!" Soon there will be a petition at www.stopvultureculture.org that you can sign and we'll deliver it to as many banks involved in vulture activity as we can! Get educated and stay tuned for more information!

MemorySuppliers.com

2008-06-25T10:53:00.000-07:00

The fine people at MemorySuppliers.com are giving me $15 back on my order today for posting this link to their website on my blog. Thank you Memory Suppliers!

Part 1 of my Beatitudes Society Blog

2008-06-23T07:19:00.000-07:00

So, this week I am required as part of my fellowship to blog three times. This is the first one. Enjoy!

Greetings from Columbus, OH!

I’m currently sitting in the Port Columbus Airport waiting for a connecting flight through NY to finally arrive back in my summer hometown of Washington DC.

For those of you who may not know what Jubilee USA does, here’s a brief rundown. Jubilee is an organization committed, like many other organizations, to ending global poverty. Jubilee insists that debt cancellation for developing nations is one of the most important things we can do to fight poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

Why debt relief? It turns out that many highly impoverished poor countries have borrowed money from the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and other lending sources and have been sacrificing the well being of their citizens in order to pay down their debts, some of which were acquired under brutal dictatorships. Lending conditionality, vulture funds, and high interest rates are the three main contributors to global poverty where debt is concerned, but I’ll spare you a lecture on odious and illegitimate debt.

This weekend I’ve had the opportunity to attend Jubilee’s annual grassroots organizing conference in Columbus, OH. It was a jam-packed weekend of speakers and workshops, panels and fun. I was assigned to camcorder and picture taking duty for most of the weekend which turned out to be perfect. It gave me the opportunity to walk around and meet lots of folks from all over the country and to sit in and record some very interesting workshops on debt relief. Organizing a conference, as a co-worker put it, is a lot like having a baby. It needs constant attention. Needless to say it was a busy weekend.

Later this week I’ll catch you up on some of the things I’ve been doing in the office. Here's what you can look forward to: I’ll continue putting together my network of seminarians, trying to come up with community leaders to participate in an interfaith dialogue about debt relief and analyzing data to help with some strategic planning. I’ll also give you some insider information about our upcoming fall campaigns, “Stop the Vulture Culture” and “Picture an End to Global Poverty: A Call to the Next President to Make Debt Relief a Serious Priority, and Appoint a Treasury Secretary Who Will Do the Same. (We’re trying to come up with a better name…)

Lots of states, little time

2008-04-21T07:15:00.000-07:00

This has been a marathon week. Emily and I started out last Friday and drove down to North Carolina for her friends Anna and John's wedding. Emily was the Maid of Honor so we had to be there early for the rehearsal dinner and other such activities. I got to hang out in the Hotel while Emily and Dr. Rainbow went to the festivities on Friday which was just fine with me as I had some work I needed to get done. I didn't get any of it done because there was a b-list movie on HBO but I had a nice night anyway, relaxing at least. You may be wondering who Dr. Rainbow is... Dr. Rainbow is Emily's friend from Davidson and yes, that is actually her last name, Dr. Catherine Rainbow....

The wedding was really swank. It was at a country club in Raleigh, and they served Filet Mignon, had a swing band and and open bar. There were 270 people there. It was a touch awkward since I knew absolutely no one and Emily was in the wedding. I kept getting the 'who is that' stare from everyone in sight. Oh well, at least I had beer to keep me company.

We left North Carolina on Sunday after Brunch and drove up to Washington D.C. to Spend the night at my cousin Matt's place, where I'll be staying this summer while working at Jubilee USA. The plan was to go and see where the Jubilee Office actually was and to take the proper metro devices to arrive there on time for my first day of work. It didn't work out that way... We didn't even get to the bus stop in the way we should have. We walked around 3 city blocks instead but finally got there. We got on the bus and didn't have the right change, thankfully the bus driver let us ride for free "you'll spend enough when you get downtown" he said...

We rode the bus all the way to the Capitol building when I realized that I didn't actually know where Jubilee was located aside from being 1 block behind the Capitol Building to which Emily noted that this information wasn't as helpful as I thought it might be. Oh well. We went to the Newseum instead! The Newseum is a very cool museum and in my opinion is worth the $20 for admission. They have an exhibit of Pulitzer prize winning photos and a significant 9/11 exhibit. Very cool stuff!
To the left is a picture of Emily with Herbert Hoover. He's alive!!!

To the right is Emily on the balcony of the Newseum in front of the Capitol Building, she thinks she's some kind of movie star :-)

We also visited with our friend Ilene from seminary. She has a ginormous house near the Adams Morgan train station. She took Eric and I to an Ethiopian restaurant, that was a new experience. It was very basic, chicken and eggs and such, you have to eat it with bread, meaning that they don't use utensils like a knife or a fork. I also learned that you have to eat it with your right hand which made it difficult for me since I can't feel my right hand, but it turned out ok :-) I think I'm really going to like living in DC this summer. I honestly can't wait to get there!

We drove back Monday night after Emily was finished with her meeting at the Larsh community near Ilene's house. I hope she gets the job there because I'd really like her to be near by this summer. Not to mention what a great experience it would be for her.

Tuesday was a day that I meant to use to get things done but for one reason or another it didn't work out that way. I forget what I did in the morning besides sleep. Tuesday night Emily and I went to pick up Grandmom to go out to dinner with Dad and Diane. I hadn't seen Grandmom since she got back from Florida so I was glad that we were all going out together. I miss her when she's in Florida but I'm glad she goes. She told us that she was thinking about having Gastric Banding surgery in order to lose weight so that maybe she would be able to get around better on her own. I think it's a great idea. It's a little scary but I want her to be comfortable and to live as best as she can. So this week she'll have a cardiac catheter this week and I'll go and stay with her that night to make sure that everything goes smoothly.

Wednesday, I left with a group of students from the seminary to go to the Lutheran office of World Community at the United Nations in New York. We spent Wednesday night getting to New York on many trains and subways. It's never fun trying to navigate New York when you don't know where you're going. We stayed at the Sefarer's and International House which is like a hostel or dormitory for Christian Groups or Military personnel. It was nice enough, each room was small with a single bed, a desk, a sink, and a tv. We shared bathrooms and showers with about 5 other rooms. It was only 1 block from Union Square which made it very convenient to get to the UN. We met with a number of outstanding speakers on the topic of Human rights over the two days and came home with lots of materials to read and study. There's just too much information to let it all out here. Let's just say that it was a great trip and I'm really glad that I went.

Finally back in Philadelphia on Friday night, I got some dinner and hung out with Emily for the rest of the night. We took Grandmom shopping on Saturday morning which is always fun. She took us out to lunch and even bought me some new pillows. Got home around 4:30, ate some dinner then went to the movies with Emily, Annette, and Paul, we saw the new Ben Stein Documentary, 'Expelled.' I didn't care for it but I think Emily did so while I can't recommend it I can't say not to see it. Helpful, I know...

Ok class is almost over and I'm done writing. More to come after exams in late May...

Changes...

2008-03-15T17:12:00.000-07:00

So... It's been a pretty good day. I spent the morning in the LTSP (That's the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia for those of you playing the home game) archives removing staples from church documents from the mid-nineties. Then I spent a few hours with Kuhn followed by a trip down to Home Sweet Home Brew to get a new beer brewing kit with Paul. Unfortunately I was not expecting this next thing to happen.

Paul and I have gotten to be pretty close friends and some would say, including us that we share a fairly dysfunctional brain... We were going to live together next year in the Ho house and everything about it seemed great. It was going to be reassuring to have some around to connect with while Emily was on internship in Toledo, OH for a year starting in August.

There has been some turbulence with the staff here at the seminary. We're losing a total of 4 professors at the end of the year and they, specifically, give many students a reason to come here. Well, Paul's reason for being here seems to be leaving which makes me kinda sad. I was looking forward to us living together next year and having a lot of fun.

So now I'll be looking for a new roommate or coming up with a way to stay in my apartment next year. Emily's friend Mindy wanted to live here but if I don't find a roommate I'm not leaving.

I'm glad that he'll be going somewhere that will help him grow as a liturgist/pastor. I guess this sounds kinda dopey....

So right now we're making beer with our new kit and watching stranger than fiction with Emily and Annette.

So I'll be missing a lot of people next year. It's not like I won't be busy though. I'll have field ed at the New Jersey Synod Office of Governmental Ministry and the student body is voting to change the constitution so that I can run for SB President. Hopefully I'll get it.

I just needed to get that out. Anyone need a roommate?

Wow, I used to be alot better about keeping on top of this thing...

2008-02-26T20:30:00.000-08:00

Well, a lot has happened since my last post. I'm pretty sure that everyone has lost faith in my blogging since it's been over two months since my last post but, like I've said many times before, cheer up, ye of little faith for it's better late than never...

As far as I remember Christmas went fairly well. There was still a bit of awkwardness with the whole splitting up of families but it didn't seem to bother me. I spent a few days in North Carolina with Emily. I got to meet her parents and family. It was a good trip and we even got to tour the Builtmore House which, if you're wondering, is the largest single family residence in the country. It was George Vanderbuilt's house in Asheville North Carolina. It's beautiful, if you have the chance, don't pass it up.

I finished out my first semester of seminary. It went about as expected. Of course the second semester is kicking my ass much harder than the first semester ever did but it's basically my own fault. More about that later.

January was a nice escape from reality. It was great to not have classes to go to or books I had to read in order to pass those classes. I also got to go to California for the first time. Santa Barbara is an amazing place and if you want to see how beaches are supposed to look then Santa Barbara should be on you places to visit. I was there for a 4 day conference and learning experience on social justice, economics and the book of Matthew. It was great and given te chance I'll do it again. It opened my eyes to a new way of reading biblical text and also gave me the chance to meet some truly amazing folks who are making a difference in the lives of people all over the country.

This semester has been hard since I've decided to take an overload of classes, an internship, and work 15 hours a week. I've never been so busy in all my life. Unfortunately that's all I can stand to say about it at the moment.

I applied for and was chosen for a fellowship this summer in Washington DC. I'll be working with an organization called Jubilee USA who is an advocacy group for developing nations and tries to get congress to relieve their massive debts. I'm really excited about doing some real work this summer. My office is going to be only 1 block from the United States Capital Building! I'm excited about living with my cousin Matt and his girlfriend Seresa (SP?) for the summer. they live in NW DC so I'll have the pleasure of riding buses and trains to work every day.

I had another appointment with My Neuro-Oncologist last month and he says that I still have a tumor but that it hasn't gotten any bigger and he's not particularly worried about it. He did suggest that I start taking an aspirin every day to prevent stroke and that I'm about as healthy as a 45 year old man so I guess I'll be having my mid-life crisis any day now...

Paul (the other half of my brain) and I have been brewing beer as of late and the first batch wasn't awful. We were both pleasantly surprised by the Honky Hole Honey Weisse. The next beer which is scheduled for Debut this Friday after Tim's successful defending of thesis is The International Java Lager Style Ale. We'll see how it turns out. We actually think that this one will be good so by our current beer logic it will be crappy. Oh Well, we can't make all of the people happy all of the time.

On a sad Note Emily's Grandmother passed away this morning. Her name was Harriet Kuhn. Emily is at home now with family. Her family would certainly appreciate your prayers.

I'll try to post again soon when something interesting happens or maybe just report on whether the beer was good or not....

Update

2007-12-07T08:45:00.000-08:00

So it's been a while since my last blog. I believe the last post had concerns about Thanksgiving and Dad's wedding...

Chronologically, Dad's wedding went very well. I'm very happy for him and Diane. Things are changing and it's difficult to deal with although I don't like to admit it. Only in the last few years (2 or 3) have I begun to realize how important family is. I don't know why I didn't realize this before but let's just say better late than never. I am related to some pretty amazing people. I think it's a real testament to our love for each other that my Mom's family was there in full force to support my dad in his new marriage. I was particularly glad that Annemarie, Tim and Emily were there. While Annemarie and I haven't been entirely comfortable with this whole idea, it was nice to have some solidarity within ourselves and to have Tim and Emily there to support us. I think we're both very grateful for each of you :-)

Thanksgiving was different, but not like it's been different since Mom died. It seemed like this was the beginning of the new ritual. I went to the Parade with Annemarie, Haley, Uncle Mike, Jean Marie, Bernadette, and Joe. I love parades. I think there is a special place in my heart for marching bands! Annemarie was frustrated with me when I couldn't figure out the train system to get to the parade but hopefully she didn't mind when I drove to NJ so we could take the train together. I had to be in NJ later anyway. After the parade I went to Dad's house and hung out with him and Diane, watching the parade I had just seen live, on tv and checking out the Black Friday adds. Diane's Mom and Cousins came over later and we had dinner. It was very good. I love thanksgiving food. It goes with the whole, being chubby, thing. After dinner I went to Uncle Fran's house for a while and then slept at Dad's house for the night. Over all a good thanksgiving.

I'm getting excited for my trip to Santa Barbara in January, they've taken care of my plane ticket and now I just need to prepare by reading, reading, reading.

It's nice to have something to look forward to while the semester winds down. Sometimes I feel like the classes I'm enrolled in here currently are not really helping to prepare me for ministry and my career goals. While I'm sure that the history of Christianity is useful and interesting to some, it has not been something that I've found to be entirely helpful. It's no fault of the professors because they're all very knowledgeable but I don't feel like I've learned a whole lot that I couldn't get from a decent text book. Hope is in the future and next semester looks promising as long as things work out the way I have them planned.

Tonight, Emily and I are having dinner with Roll, Andy and Alyssa. I'm looking forward to getting out of this place for the night.

This class is almost over so I'll post more when I have something to talk about. In the meantime, check out what Mike Huckabee has to say. While he's a republican, he seems to be making sense.

Peace!

The last few days...

2007-11-07T19:31:00.000-08:00

Dad, Emily and I are sitting here in the living room shooting the breeze. Chicken Little is on the TV letting us know that the sky is actually falling this time. Dad and Emily are engrossed in a conversation about Emily's car and such related things. I think dad is confused.

So last night Emily and I went to see Nickel Creek in DE. Let me tell you, they are amazing! Chris Thile is truly a virtuoso on the mandolin. Sara Watkins can sing like an angel and Sean is a great compliment to the group. Even the tap dancing bass player added to the show! A certain plus to the evening was the aquiring of a Chipotle burrito before taking off :-) I love me some Chipotle! We had a great time and I think she enjoyed her birthday present just as much as I did ;-)

Today the mission was to go to Dad's house and get the laundry done. We also stopped at the dry cleaners to drop off my suit to wear to Dad's wedding and to get some new glasses as I'm pretty shure that Chubbo steppped on my old pair while I was in Ohio this past weekend. I was anticipating spending about $200 and I spent less so i guess that was ok. They're almost identical to the old ones except these are 'Brooks Brothers' and the old ones were 'Scott Harris.' If you know the difference then I applaud the depth to which you have studied Eye glass fashion.

On a happy note, I've been chosen to receive a full scholarship to the Bartimaeus Institute in Santa Barbara, CA! I'll be going January 14-18, all expenses paid to study Matthew and social economics. It may not sound all that exciting but I am totally stoked. I haven't really applied for anything like this before so it's kind of a shock for me to get chosen. Regardless, I am very excited :-)

Well, that should do for now, have a great night!

Sam and Krista's Wedding

2007-11-04T13:51:00.000-08:00

This blog comes to you from the Starbucks next to gate A3 in the Columbus, OH. I'm currently sitting at a table looking out the window as planes take off while sipping a latte and blogging to you. I feel like a yuppie only without the money and fancy clothes.

The weekend is over. It's a little bitter sweet. I'm excited to get home and see Emily and get back into the swing of things but I had a lot of fun with my guys in Ohio. It was like a mini-escape from reality.

So here's a recap of the weekend...

Thursday I arrived in Columbus and Sam picked me up from the airport. We immediately went to pick up my tuxedo and buy some stogies :-) I like stogies. When we arrived at the Men's Wearhouse it turned out that my tux pants were too small (I'm getting fat apparently) so we had to go back the next day when they had new pants for me. Then it turned out that they were too short so we waited while they let them out a little bit. I didn't try them on afterward so i was unaware that they were then too long and I would have to wear them so high that it felt like I had a perpetual wedgie...

So, Sam's mom has been in a nursing home, in Cleveland, for a little while now and he and Krista (now Mrs. Sam Selvage) had arranged for Sam's mom to come down to Columbus and stay in a nursing home for a few days so that she could be at the wedding. Late in the day on Thursday, about 5 pm, Sam gets a phone call from his sister saying that he had to get to the nursing home in columbus stat because they are all of a sudden not accepting his mom. Frantically Sam and Krista drove to the nursing home to straighten things out to no avail. Finally Friday morning Sam was on his way over to lay down the law and they called him and had made everything right. Mama Selvage was coming to the wedding, phew! How's that for wedding day stress!

Late Thursday night I got to hang out 2 on 1 with Krista and Sam. This was truly fantastic. they asked me to read their vows for congruency and I got to preview the slide show. Now, I had met Krista's parents when we saw Harry Potter 5 over the summer but I didn't have a chance at the time to realize what incredible people they are. They are so obviously in love with each other it warms your heart to be around them. Krista had a copy of her parents wedding vows that she let me read and if you've ever listened to a song and said to yourself 'I wish I had written that' then you know exactly the way I felt when I read them. It was poetry, it was beautiful, it was honest, and most of all it was filled with love. There isn't much else to say about it except that if you ever get the chance to meet Jeff and Cathy Barber then you are a lucky person.

Friday was devoted to all things wedding. last minute details were ironed out and we prepared for the rehearsal dinner. I spent most of the day with Tom which was good times. The rehearsal dinner was great. there was some drama about place cards that I chose to smoke through but other than that everything was great. Later that night I went to Eddie's house to drink, and play cards. After that was the infamous Micky D's run that you can read about in my last blog.

Side note: It has become aware to me that once you enter seminary, you become the default grace sayer/authority on all religious things to your friends. It's kinda nice. I do like more than five minutes to prepare something to say for grace but I find that as long as you're honest and speak with sincerity and humbleness you'll be just fine.

Saturday was wedding day. Here's a word of advice. If you are about to have a wedding, do not take your groomsmen anywhere with a name that in any way resembles 'Hoggy's Barn.' Barbecue is sure to make for a smelly ceremony. That's all I'll say about that.

After lunch we had plenty of time to waste before pictures so we milled around for a while. At this point I am a little frustrated with Jason's driving as he get's lost going everywhere. We quite literally got stuck in a roundabout for two times around. He's a chubby bitch.

The ceremony was beautiful. Sam cried like a little baby and Krista fought it back well. I was a little nervous about the ceremony because the groomsmen, myself included, did not behave in the slightest during the rehearsal or even up to the point that we walked into the church. It was almost as if the holy spirit stepped in and sut our traps for 40 minutes. I can't imagine anything else having that kind of power... The music was great. Our good friend Chad played the organ. They didn't do the wedding march. I don't know why everyone gets down on the wedding march, I love it. They did do the traditional exit music though, it's great, very triumphal and telling. I digress...

The reception was all kinds of fun. I got to hang out and dance with my Jenny, I miss my Jenny and I like to dance so that was good all around :-) The Frat Boys sang to the bride which was fun for us but I'm sure the bride was less than amused. I always get to conduct in these situations which is fun for me too. I had very little to drink at the reception despite my previous desires. I had a drink with dinner and then got up to dance and such and never made it to the bar. Don't be disappointed in me, I had a blast and I'm sure the photographer got plenty of picture of me dancing like an idiot, but really, what else do you do at weddings?

Jason and I got a hotel room by the airport, I drove us there as he was tanked. We made a pit stop at the gas station for a six pack of Leinenkugel, 2 bags of chips, 2 40's of Bud Light, and 2 bottles of Champagne. We changed out of our monkey suits and went over to Tom and Deb's room for a while. We played a game that I don't know the name of but Bri and I apparently rock at it. If you can guess Geneva Convention in 5 words then you may be worthy of competing with us. Otherwise just stay home.

This morning I had to wake up Jason. This is worth mentioning because if you've ever tried to wake up a 360 pound man with a hangover you know where I'm coming from. I threw pillows, turned on the tv and the radio, made coffee, opened the curtains, made sure the balcony door was open to get the cold air in and I still had to jump on him and given the amount that boy sweats it was probably not the best idea I've ever had. Gross... We finally got out of the hotel, grabbed some lunch at 'The Rusty Bucket' where they have Hoegarden and deep fried pickles. I love food that is bad for me... We proceeded to get his pictures developed which will be on face book at any moment and then he dropped me off at the airport.

All in all it was a great weekend. Sorry for the length of the blog but there are a lot of things that I want to be able to remember down the line. Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Sam Selvage!

it's kinda late...

2007-11-03T00:47:00.000-07:00

So It's 3:45 am and I'm about to go to bed here in Ohio. Chubbo and I just went out for a Micky d's run where we ordered 60 chicken nuggets and the lady behind the counter while exasperated by our order decided that instead of asking us if we wanted sauce, she would just put the tubs on the counter and let put what we needed in a separate bag. Oh how I love adventure!

The rehearsal went well... Sam's brother was about an hour late and I think Bridezilla was about to explode when the place cards were out of place at the dinner but so far everyone still has a head. I am reminded once more of how glad I am to be a man... Plus the women folk have to be at the hair salon at 9 while we only have to be at the place to eat wings at 11:30. Life is good.

More to come tomorrow night. Scratch that, I'll probably be drunk tomorrow night so I'll write again on Monday.

short note that got a little longer

2007-10-31T06:23:00.000-07:00

So it turns out that my last blog is going to be published in LTSP's student publication, 'The Seminarian' so look for it in print and on-line ;o) It really is a sad day when a goofy representation of a Tetris tournament is worthy of replication with ink and paper. Yes, for all of you Mitch Hedberg fans, I equate my last post with buying a donut.

In other news... Emily and I went to Grandmom's house for dinner last night. It was Emily's first time meeting Dad, Diane, and Grandmom and it went as well as could be expected. Everyone seems to like each other so that's a step in the right direction. Dad called today and told me that he really likes Emily and he could tell that I like her a lot too. It's nice to hear things like that from dad as he can be difficult sometimes... Really, I don't give him enough credit for being a great guy.

One thing that still has me a little steamed is the prospect of Thanksgiving coming around the corner. Our family is certainly enduring some changes as of late and it seems that they are all hitting the fan this year on November 22nd. My father decided all by himself that he wanted to have thanksgiving at his house this year. At the same time my cousin Jen decided that she would also have it at her house. Herein lies the problem. Jen's husband, Lance's, parents are coming to her house for dinner. Diane, my dad's fiance, has her mother and aunt coming to my dad's house for dinner. These two houses are no more than 100 yards apart. Neither of these 2 groups of people will go to the other's house for dinner. I know that they're not doing it on purpose but these people are ruining my favorite food holiday.

Here's how it should go:

Thanksgiving morning I wake up, dad makes breakfast and we slowly drink some mediocre coffee while watching the various parades (note: some years are a little more adventurous and I actually go to see the parade in person). Whenever the mood strikes me I'll get up and shower and then sit immediately right back down on the couch because it's thanksgiving and that's what you do. Eventually the whole family gets together, and I mean the WHOLE family. We sit around and watch football, drink beer and get ready for the feast. Finally it comes time for dinner and we use the holiday as an excuse to eat too much food. top it off with some dessert and some more beer and coffee and the day is complete.

Why is this so hard?

I started writing this yesterday and didn't finish because I was in a bad mood. Too many things annoying me combined with too little sleep made for a grumpy Ian. Today is a better day. Actually, yesterday got better as the day went on. Emily really helped me cheer up, she's pretty great. Kate and Chris came over around 9 and we got pizza. Kate, as much as I say that she's like the little sister I never wanted, is one of the best friends I could ever ask for. I'm pretty sure she would rob a bank with me if I asked her to. I'm pretty sure I would do the same for her :oP

Next blog will be about Sam and Krista's Wedding and it should be more entertaining than this post...

Peace out!

Tetris anyone?

2007-10-30T07:28:00.000-07:00

So last night I did something that lands on the list of the top ten dorkiest things I've ever done. Yes, that's right, a Tetris tournament. I know what you're thinking and believe me I thought the same thing. Tetris is a one player game.... how could you possibly have a tournament??? (ok, so maybe you were thinking, 'what kind of special person does it take to play in a Tetris tournament, but I chose to take the high road on this one.)

I did not know that there were people in the world who had devoted their lives to these geometric shapes and the ability to stack them neatly but last night I saw in Ben Krey the desire to be a Tetris Grand Master.

Here's how it works:

Each participant plays one warm up game for a high score to determine their bracket position in the tournament. After all of the scores are collected, the bracket is made where the worst person (me) goes 'head to head' with the best person (Ben) and so on. An important thing to note here is that score is not the whole deal. You must also have a high 'line count' in order to win. If you beat your opponent in score and not lines then you must have a 'play-off' in which you start at a higher level for expediency's sake. (technical jumbo, try to follow me.)

Now, how often could you possibly need to have a playoff in a Tetris tournament? This was the thought I had when the rules were being explained to me. Well, it just so happens that Miss Emily Kuhn and Mr. Steve Meyer, two worthy opponents, ran into just this scenario. It was a grueling battle to the 90 degree death, but Mr. Meyer finally triumphed and moved on to the final round.

The final bout between Mr.'s Meyer and Krey was an outstanding display of button tapping agility. It was so intense that I thought the controller might buckle under the pressure. At the end of the day Ben Krey proved that he is indeed a Tetris Grand Master as he gave the proverbial line spank to Steve.

As the match was breaking up I think I heard words of revenge coming out of the mouth of Charles Plummer... More on that next time.

For now I'll retire my NES controller and move on to Wii Bowling, a game at which I excel, and if anyone wanted to have a tournament on that, well, let's just say this would be a very different article.

This Past Weekend

2007-10-28T08:43:00.000-07:00

So the weekend isn't over yet but I'd like to tell you about it anyway...

Friday night was the junior high lock-in at the church. we had twelve kids show up and let me tell you, junior high girls can scream.... loudly.... We talked a little about dreams ate some junk food and played a game of 'Christian' (if you haven't played, you definitely should try it) in which I almost killed a 7th grader by throwing her into a door, I swear it was an accident...

The thing about this retreat that made it all worth it for me was the service we did around candles in the sanctuary. It was all about dreams and sleep and God's presence with us at night.
We ended the service with a circle prayer in which we go around the circle and everyone adds a petition. I was struck first by the fact that every single person in the circle, not only prayed but prayed out loud for everyone to hear. I was moved by the depth of their caring for their friends and their families. So often I'll do this type of prayer with other groups and I'll start off and I'll be the only one to say something, but there I was in a circle with 7th and 8th graders listening to their concerns brought forth before God. Real concerns that they and I prayed faithfully for.

I guess the moral of this story is to be bold in faith and pray as if someone else's life depends on it. Oh, and don't underestimate the depth of a screaming junior high schooler. There's more there than meets the ear ;0)

First Blog Ever!

2007-10-26T07:16:00.000-07:00

I've always thought that the idea of blogging was a good one. It's taken me a while to get to this point and maybe sometime in the future I'll have something interesting to say. So why Blog? There are a lot of you that I don't get to see anymore and I think this is a great way for us all to keep up on each other.

General Update on the life of Ian...

After moving back to the Garden State from the land of Buckeyes I started working for Disc Makers, which is a company that manufactures cd's and dvd's for independent artists. I met tons of cool people there and worked with very few famous people if any at all...

about 18 months later I realized that if one more religious nut musician yelled at me over the phone I was going to lose it. I couldn't deal with any more pimps or ho's being walked by their dogs or walking into work to find 1000 condoms on my desk for a new cd called 'Sex Wit U.'

So at some point during this time I was going through a period of discernment. I finally decided to quit my job and go back to school at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. I'm currently working towards a Master of Arts in Religion degree in Administration and Theology. So far I'm the only one in this particular program as it is a brand new offering. The admissions department and I are hoping to have a few more signed up by next fall so we can get some of the courses going.

I'm also working as the Youth and Family Ministries Coordinator at the church where I grew up in Marlton, NJ. My work there is rewarding and important. The biggest challenge is trying to help teenagers find their faith in a world that says it's not important. Just like adults, teenagers often make faith their last priority.

So enough about education and work. I was living in a tiny little apartment in Collingswood, NJ for a while which I loved. Collingswood is a great town and I lived right on the main drag, Haddon Avenue. I've since moved to the seminary in Mt. Airy, PA and I am loving it here as well. I've met a lot of great people here as well, friends that will be life-long. I also met my girlfriend Emily here. If today is the 26th of October then we've been together for almost 4 weeks. I know what you're all thinking... Wow she's still with him after 4 weeks? She must be blind or deaf. Well, doubting fellows, she is neither of those things and to my constant surprise she still likes me!

Ok, This class is about over so I leave you with no promise that I will ever blog again but I will say that this has proved to be enjoyable so far and I hope to keep it up.

Soli Deo Gloria! (yes, I stole that from Bach :-p)