I like funny things. Comedies, comedians, and comic strips. I love them all. And I especially love humor that relates to my life.

Enter Stuff Christians Like, a tongue-in-cheek blog about … you guessed it … stuff Christians like. Author Jon Acuff shares daily humor about life in the American Christian culture.  One of my first and favorite posts is titled: Understanding how metrosexual your worship leader is. (A Handy Guide) The quiz helps you gauge the worship leader at your church based on his hair cut and product, choice of facial hair, and the trendiness of his eyewear.

And then there are serious Wednesdays, when Jon offers his unique commentary on slightly more serious issues.

Smart and funny, these blog posts tickle me, I think because this blog takes topics familiar to the churches I’ve attended through the years, and makes them funnier and more outrageous than I first thought.

Now, I think it should be said, that Jon is a Christian. He’s not hating on Christ or Christians, but rather putting a satirical twist on the culture that has emerged in today’s church. And he’s really very funny!

Nothing puts the importance of good friends on your mind like having to start over. When I recently moved across the country for a new job, I knew a grand total of 3 people in Nashville. Yup. Just 3. So on top of starting a new job, finding a new church (among the 14,000 located  in the 2 miles between my home and office), and trying to write a book, I have to make new friends.

Now, before you go thinking that the people here are mean,  they’re not. They’re like the opposite of mean. Which is kind and generous and fun and really very cool. Some very nifty folks have invited me out to lunches, joined me for flood clean up days, and welcomed me with open arms to a small group Bible study, even though I hadn’t even been to their church yet. I like the people here, and I’m sure that very shortly, I will become very good friends with many of them.

But this interim thing is killing me!

I spend most of my day overanalyzing the littlest thing, to the point that I’m not even sure I’m actually acting like myself most of the time. I worry about saying the right thing. Doing the right thing. Wearing the right thing.

What if I don’t watch the right tv shows? Or we don’t have anything in common? Will I be lonely forever? Will anyone ever join me for an all-day Jane Austen-a-thon again? Will anyone come visit my desk claiming it’s just to say hi, but really it’s to visit the chocolate-filled moose?

Heavy questions, that I’m sure I needn’t worry about. I know that to make a friend, you have to be a friend. But the making takes time. Memories build life-long friendships, and I haven’t had time to make many here yet.

For that reason, I want to give a shout-out to all of my old friends. To my Captain Wentworth-loving, miniature golf-playing, Pioneer Woman queso-eating (and making), killer uno-winning, fool-proof plan-plotting friends, I love you and I miss you! You’ll always be favorites in my book!

I like boy bands. I have for a really long time. It started with N’SYNC when I was in high school. Then 98 Degrees and Backstreet Boys. And, of course, who can forget the Christian boy band Plus One? Although I missed out on the New Kids on the Block craze, I made up for it when Justin and the boys hit the stage.

Really, what’s not to love about a boy band? The harmonies. The only coordinated but not matching outfits. The perfectly choreographed dance moves. The lack of instruments to get in the way of said dance moves.

It’s just a good time waiting to happen. So you can imagine how sad I’ve been over the last seven years or so since the disappearance of boy bands from pop culture. Hope would spring up when the Backstreet Boys released a new song or the rumor mill would pass information around about a reunion. But let’s be honest. It’s been a dry spell in the boy band departement.

Until recently.

You see, not that long ago, Nickelodian premiered a new show: Big Time Rush. And it’s about–you guessed it!–a boy band! Man, I love this show! It’s totally cheesy, just the way I like it. Comprised of 4 high school hockey players from Minnesota who have been transplanted in LA to make an album, Big Time Rush faces all sorts of obstacles on the road to fame.

So what do I like best about Big Time Rush? Could be the snappy songs.

 
But I think it might be Kendall’s eyebrows. They’re fascinating, and not unlike Peter Gallagher’s. What do you think? Are Kendall and Peter long lost relatives? For your consideration:

That’s what I thought. 🙂

So Big Time Rush may be made up of 4 20-somethings pretending to be 16-year-olds … but I still love ’em! Check them out on your local Nick channel, and I think you’ll see what I mean.

I didn’t know what I was getting when I moved to Tennessee. Certainly I didn’t expect my first weekend here to be filled with pouring rain. Three days worth. But it did.

If you don’t live in Middle Tennessee, you might not even know what this past weekend was like for so many in and around Nashville this last weekend. National media didn’t spend a lot of time on it, what with the oil spill in the Gulf and the Times Square would-be-bomber. So I hope the video below helps you understand what happened to this city last weekend. Has it really only been a few days?

If you saw my blog on Monday, you saw the pictures of Meribel. Well, I’m happy to report that nearly all of the water in my backyard has receded back into the creek (never making it into my home, for which I thank God). And the Meribel has come to rest. On top of a little row boat.

The damage at my house is confined to the area behind my place (and the outrageous odor of whatever the water left behind!). But the damage to many other parts of the city is just unreal. Take a look.

But the cool thing really is how the people of this city have bonded together, helping friends and neighbors clean up their homes, beginning to prepare for new starts. If you’re moved to help the people of Nashville being the cleaning up and rebuilding process, please do. Might I recommend www.tnfloodfund.com, which will take you to the Cross Point Church website, which is distributing funds to those families devistated by the flood.

I may be new to this city, but I am convinced it’s filled with people who show how much they care about each other. And that’s a good thing in my book.

While my dad and I were tooling along I-70 through Kansas from Colorado to Tennessee, we drove past about 100 crazy billboards. Probably our favorite was: THE 2ND BEST YARN AND BUTTON STORE IN THE UNIVERSE. Seriously, what’s not to love about being the 2nd best.

And just as we were talking about how we never stop to enjoy any of the interesting stops while traveling, we passed a billboard advertising the Eisenhower Library and Museum in Abilene, KS, at exit 275. We both looked at each other and said, “That sounds pretty cool.” So we pulled off the interstate a couple miles down the road and rolled down the main drag in Abilene. Not a whole lot there, except some historic mansions that looked pretty cool from the outside.

And just past the railroad tracks sits the welcome center of the Presidential Library and Museum for Dwight D. Eisenhower. It was a Sunday, so the Library wasn’t entirely open, and we didn’t have time to go through the museum, but it was still a really cool experience.

We walked through Ike’s childhood home.

Then through the ornate marble halls of the library, we looked at the quilt display.

The 11-foot statue of Ike was one of the coolest things. Around the five sides of the base (signifying his status as a five-star general) were five quotes from him, mostly from his time as the Supreme Commander Allied Expeditionary Force during WWII. This one was my favorite.

Dad and I both walked away with I Like Ike buttons, and I have to say, after this stop, I like Ike even more than before.

A recent issue of Entertainment Weekly highlighted what they consider THE 10 BEST TV SHOWS RIGHT NOW!

Here they are in order:
1. The Good Wife (CBS)
2. Breaking Bad (AMC)
3. Lost (ABC)
4. Friday Night Lights (NBC)
5. Fringe (FOX)
6. Modern Family (ABC)
7. Glee (FOX)
8. Southland (TNT)
9. Damages (FX)
10. Caprica (SYFY)

Of all these “great” shows, I only watch two of them regularly. Of course, I’ve told you about my love for Friday Night Lights, which is just a brilliant character study, and I can’t wait for the new season to start in April on NBC. Those of you with Direct TV have already had a chance to watch it, but the rest of us with regular cable are on pins and needles. 🙂

And the other show that I watch on this list? Well, it’s actually The Good Wife.

I wasn’t actually interested in watching this show when I first heard about it. A show about the wife of a politician involved in a sex scandal? No thanks. I get enough of that in the news. I’m not really interested in more.

Or so I thought.

But after one episode, I was hooked. How could I not be? Julianna Margulies as the wronged wife Alicia Florrick and Chris Noth as former state’s attorney Peter Florrick offer layered and intricate performances. Josh Charles (a favorite from Sports Night) plays Alicia’s boss, a partner at the law firm that is the scene of Alicia’s return to law after 15 years away. And might he be a love interest? Only time will tell, but I kind of hope so.

Dynamic performances by supporting cast members Christine Baranski and Matt Czuchry (Gilmore Girls) and interesting stories make this a wonderful procedural. Add in the drama and heart of Alicia’s personal struggle to forgive and embrace her husband, and the show becomes absolutely fabulous!

So those are my two shows on the list. Which ones do you watch? What do you think should have made the top 10 that didn’t?