Love (GarageBand Demo)
(k. lent)

Click To Listen

Love: I would give myself up for you
Love: I will not give up on you
Love: You will break my heart again
Love: I will stand up for you

Love: You will cripple the poor
Love: You restore the hurt
Love: You will not be moved
Love: I will not give up on you

Ohhh, what can you say
In such a time as this?
Ohhh, I’ll always run away
But you always find me
Mmmm

Love: You have fooled everyone
Love: I have never know such pain
Love: You keep your distance
Love: You have held me close

Ohhh, what can you say
In such a time as this?
Ohhh, I’ll always run away
But you always find me
Mmmm

You will not be replaced
Nor be misunderstood
You will not be given cheap
You will not be proven wrong
I have spent my whole life
Wanting to curse your very name
Ohh, but what feels like heartache
Is healing just the same

Love: You have taken what is dear
Love: I know you heal the wounds
Love: We are broken here
But Love: I will not give up on you

Ohhh, what can you say
In such a time as this?
Ohhh, I’ll always run away
But you always find me
Mmmm

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I've had this wallet for more years now than I can remember. I know that before this wallet I had one of those good-for-nothing tri-fold wallets, and that had to have been in junior high. This baby has been with me for at least 8 years, maybe more. I don't remember where I got her, I don't remember for what occasion (if any) it was purchased; all I know is that it has been a good friend. Even when there wasn't much to put into it.

She has been with me through several moves, and - more importantly - she stayed with me through the wreck. In fact, the outside is riddled with tiny punctures and scrapes from when it got tossed out of the vehicle as it flipped. Yet she lived to fight another day. Every edge is frayed and worn, the corners bent, the stitching unraveling at the seams, every credit card slot worn down due to overuse. There is a good possibility that money has slipped out of one of the gaping holes at one point or another. But it didn't matter: this wallet fought through it and stayed tough.

It was a good day when I had her with me whilst wearing my favorite shirt.

There have been many times, I admit with some shame, that my eye has strayed toward other, younger wallets as I pass by the aisle at Target, at Wal-Mart, or at other retailers of more upstanding repute. But even as I felt how smooth the new wallets were, how firmly they seemed put together, and how pleasing their fresh, clean scent was, I felt Old Faithful burning a hole into my right buttock. I just could not do it. She may not have been new anymore, but she wasn't any less loyal. And plucking her out of my pocket to compare her to the new wallet, there still wasn't any doubt. Side by side, she just still had it. These new wallets just seem to be trying too hard. And I'm not sure they're 100% natural. Smiling, Old Faithful stayed with me through yet another shopping trip.

And then my mom bought me a new wallet for Christmas, so Old Faithful's going in the trash.

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I woke up yesterday morning and decided it was time to go for a run, as I had taken a few days off. However, I stepped outside and immediately thought otherwise, as it was 35 degrees outside. This is Texas weather, for those of you outside the state. Sunday evening at 8:30 it was 70 degrees, and Monday morning at 9 oclock it was 35. I've lived here all my life, and it's still strange to me.

It was cold today too - currently about 37 - but I just forced myself to go for a run anyhow, because I know that taking more than a couple of days off and I will get out of the habit, something I desperately don't want to do. So I bundled up in some warm yet "jog-able" clothes and set out. As I suspected, it was very cold. After the first mile, I was sure my hands were going to fall off. That realization was a bummer, because I figure it's probably not in my best interest as a professional guitarist to be without hands. They've have to start calling me Nubs McGee. They stayed attached though, luckily, and I finished the run, which I had to call short, but not on account of the cold.

You see, the problem I've been experiencing lately, and the main reason I've been taking two or three (or sometimes even four) days inbetween runs is that I injured my left knee a couple of weeks ago during a run. It wasn't an immediate, painful injury, but enough of a problem to cut that particular run short. I didn't think much of it at the time, assuming I had just stepped wrong and sort of twisted it. I took a couple of days rest and tried again. But again, after about 3 or 4 miles, it began to throb and eventually hurt until I had to stop yet again. That evening, I exercised it a little bit, bending my leg at the knee over and over again, and was utterly dismayed to feel the kneecap and some unknown bone on the side of my knee popping each and every time I extended my leg.

"This cannot be good," I said to myself, in the most obvious statement of the year. I put a brace on it and took another few days off. Same thing the next time I ran. I figured it was time to go see Dr. Ryan before I caused any sort of serious damage. He said that it seems I might have some mild Hypermobility in my joints, which is basically double-jointedness, but can be responsible for knee pain, especially if that joint is stretching too far. The good news is that I'm not causing any damage to my knee - he even told me not to change my running habits - but that it might be painful for awhile until I get my spine back in working order.

So I've started making it a habit to get into his chiropractic office twice a week to get adjusted, which I had done several years ago but foolishly got lazy about doing. It's quite amazing how much better I feel just in the couple of weeks since I've been getting adjusted. Many people have doubts about chiropractic care, but I urge you to take a second look if it's been awhile (click on Dr. Ryan's link above to take a look). A good chiropractor will help keep your spine, neck, and pelvis aligned; misalignment in any of these structures means, among other things, some pinched nerves, which are not getting the proper signal flow to your brain. It's astounding how many health problems (and not just pain) are related to vertebral subluxation, where discs in your back or neck are too close together, causing reduced signal flow in that particular bundle of nerves.

Heart disease, kidney/bladder dysfunction, lung dysfunction, and overall decreased energy are just a few of the things that can happen if subluxation continues for years without being corrected. I was amazed (or should I say, I'm not amazed) by how much better I've felt with just a few adjustments under my belt. I definitely have more energy, and although my knee is still giving me some trouble, it's improved ten-fold just in a couple of weeks. And here's some big incentive for a lot of us: my allergies have been so much better since I've been having my back and neck popped (correctly, that is). In fact, it's almost instantly better.

Well, I certainly didn't mean this post to turn into the pro-chiropractic message it did, so I apologize, but it's easy to be excited about something when it's made you feel a lot better! Hopefully soon I'll be able to get back to some 8+ mile runs, instead of these wimpy 3.5 milers.

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This cozy confection was a holiday gift from none other than Mandy Meeker, and I was ecstatic to see it in my fridge when I got home last night, having forgotten that I put it there Friday before we left town for Louisiana. It is a precisely formed and delectable chocolate cupcake with Oreo frosting. (You may argue that the form is not perfect, the icing seeming to slant ever-so-slightly to the left; this is, in fact, due to my irresponsible makeshift saran wrap covering employed during transportation of this morsel. It's initial state was flawless.)

I first tasted this sugary delight but 6 months ago, when her sister captured The JCB's collective heart with a similar incarnation. I hope this will not be the last time I am able to indulge in its seemingly endless sweetness.

I have pictured it here with a copy of The Beatles on vinyl to further enhance the perceived beauty of both.

Thanks Mandy! You see Emily, two can play at this cupcake game.

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Brace yourselves. This will rock your whole foundation.

Brother Barry, Part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGoSd-Xn6Os

Brother Barry, Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDap5vi1iC8

Brother Barry, Part 3:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UhmZWTL-bo

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This afternoon, headed back to my house after another weekend of rock and roll, I saw an interesting juxtaposition: a construction truck, complete with ladders, all sorts of specialized and dirtied equipment, and mud on the tires, the driver of which was a large, bearded man, wearing equally dirty coveralls. And he was daintily waiving his hand in 4/4, eyes closed at a stop light, conducting the orchestra that he was listening to inside the truck cab. He seemed so lost in the music; blissfully ignorant of the strange dichotomy of a "construction worker" very deftly and ably conducting a delicate symphony. It made me smile.

It's a wonderful life.

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Dear Video Game Companies,

I have a bone to pick with you. I must admit, right here at the start, that I understand you and I are not very close. I have never put forth any effort to get to know you or your products. They do not interest me, and I find I'm rarely in the mood to sit down in front of the TV with a joystick and shoot aliens off the ledge of the Chrysler building, or some other such scenario you have invented for my pleasure. It all just seems so foreign to me, and believe me, I've tried - I HAVE; I just find myself lured instead to something, you know, worthwhile.

So I confess that this letter is written with a little bit of bias, and I am aware of it. However, I do not think that my lack of interest in your otherwordly-offerings is enough to negate the validity in what I have to say. You see, I notice your ads on TV from time to time for the newest inter-national/inter-planetary/inter-galatic extravaganza and feel I need to alert you: your commercials are ridiculous. There, I've said it. I don't say it to be mean, or to make you feel in any way that your talents are not being used wisely. But... they're not.

The trend has become to advertise your game as a big-budget action movie, with a hero, a villian, and even some Hollywood-esque taglines thrown in for good measure. Why, there are even giant washes of minor-key orchestration to accent the intensity of the gameplay in this "pseudo-trailer"; the hero (either an over-the-top muscular guy or a scantily clad female; both equally unrealistic) falls from a building, or jumps from a plane, or crashes through a door, all whilst accurately firing a semi-automatic or throwing Chinese stars in super-slow motion. And it's just so ridiculous. The reason of course is that no matter how hard you try, and how close it may look, it's still obviously not real. It just makes me laugh out loud to see these idiotic cartoon characters made out to be anything more than they are: computer generated ones and zeros. And the result is not appealing.

The whole idea of a video game "trailer" seems absurd to me. I am not intrigued by the prospect of cartoon characters set to dramatic music. And let's not even begin to discuss your gall in assuming that close-up shots of these hexagonal, dull-eyed protagonists will help your cause. It doesn't. It just makes the viewer of the ad realize once again that "don't these morons know they're not making a real movie?!? Why are they torturing me with this tripe?" These questions are ones I have actually shouted aloud in my agony.

I could put Mr. Burns in a video game "trailer" and it would prove my point. We would all have a good laugh at how preposterous it is, but the fact is that this is basically what you're doing, and trying to pass it off as some exciting motion picture that everyone would want to be a part of. It's satire without you knowing it's satire. And that doesn't make it clever. That makes it silly.

So, please, video game companies, let's just stop now. I beg of you. I get my hopes up each time with what seems - at first - like a preview for the next big summer blockbuster, only to find out I'm supposed to play some character named Klaus, who is destined to become Lord of the planet Zubanox if only I can first find the magical Orb of Guineoaz. It's just too stupid, and setting it all to a backdrop of Beethoven's 5th is too predictable and blasé.

I tell you these things not to hurt your feelings or condemn you, but to alert you to the presence of how you are viewed by those who are living within the actual bounds of reality. Consider it constructive criticism by those who wish you well but can see your mis-step from afar. You're further alienating (no pun intended) the demographic which you need to be attracting. I have no interest in video games: what can you do to MAKE me interested? Taking on the guise of a multi-million dollar Hollywood production is not the answer.

I'm glad we had this talk, and I'm sorry if it hurts, but I really think it is for the best. Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions, but please, don't call me just to hear my voice. In the meantime, I'll be playing my 1988 copy of Excitebike.

Yours,
Kyle Lent

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...don't have anything to say. More on this story later.

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I've been recently obsessed with Rachael Yamagata's new record "Elephants... Teeth Sinking Into Heart" (currently over there on my "Current Listening" thing).

While the whole thing is great, it's hard to beat a record that starts with this incredible verse:

If the elephants have past lives
Yet are destined to always remember
It's no wonder how they scream
Like you and I they must have some temper

And I am dreaming of them on the plains
Dirtying up their beds
Watching for some sign of rain to cool their hot heads

And how dare that you send me that card
When I am doing all that I can do
You are forcing me to remember
When all I want is to just forget you

Go buy it right now!

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[Editor's Note: I don't know that I have anything really relevant to say as much as I came up with a rhyming title for this post and didn't want it to go to waste.]

I watched the election coverage last night, like most of America, and was very inspired by what took place. While you may or may not like Barack Obama's policies, you cannot deny the fact that yesterday was an historic day for our country. It would be tough to believe even 30 years ago that an African-American would be elected President, and impossible to believe 100 years ago. Although I don't agree with all of his policies, I am inspired by the fact that this is a dramatic step forward for this country in many areas.

As has been said, it is the most important election of my generation's history up until this point, and I tried my best to watch the unfolding of the Obama's decisive victory with that in mind; to be in this important moment in history. In the entire history of this nation, this is a first, and I got to take part in it. That's a pretty cool thought.

McCain's concession speech was excellent. It was the first real John McCain we'd seen in a while. I don't know if the pressure of the campaign trail got to him, or, more likely, the Republicans big-wigs like Karl Rove put the screws to him, but the last few months he acted like a jerk. He purposefully took things out of context, blew things way out of proportion, and just acted in general like a crotchety old man who missed the early bird special at Luby's. But during his concession speech, once he was finally off the leash, he spoke sincerely and kindly, as I remember him doing in the 2000 primaries. He was gracious and forward-thinking, and I was proud that he represented America.

Obama's speech, was, as usual, inspiring. Yes, he is still just a politician, and I'm not particularly expecting great things, but perhaps just his ability to get people excited about hope and change (whether or not he will be able to actually bring those things about) is pretty historical to witness. He was drawing 15,000+ people to his rallies in the last few weeks of the election when McCain was only drawing 1,000-2,000. Like him or not, I felt pretty decent about everything last night once both of the candidates weighed in.

And then all that patriotic pride and a feeling of "unity" came crashing down pretty quick, when, as I was chatting on Facebook with friends during the election results, I began to see people's statuses say things like (the following are direct quotes): "Well, we're in for it now", "America's going to hell in a handbasket", "Thanks for voting for a socialist, America", "I trust that God can move through anybody, but I'm a little worried about Obama", "I hate Obama!", and I even saw one that said, "There are people with signs on sticks in the street shouting 'NOBAMA', 'NOBAMA'; I'd join in if I wasn't afraid I'd get arrested." I was appalled. Are you kidding me?!? Even if you don't like the dude, it's all going to be OK. I'm glad that people are passionate, I truly am, but give me a break. I don't know if people only watch FOX news or what, but it was as if we elected the anti-christ as the commander-in-chief. What a crock. And the sad thing is that most of these statuses were coming from my Christian friends on Facebook. I sat there amazed and saddened. I appreciate a friendly and intelligent political debate on the issues as much as the next guy, but we as Christians are not called to hate in this way. I wasn't frightened by the lack of support for Obama's policies (again, I can understand that), but the overwhelming hatred that this man was elected President, and the strange ignorance that seemed to pervade the whole thing.

"Obama is a terrorist". No, he's not a terrorist. Do a little research. His connection with Bill Ayers amounts to sitting on a committee together in Chicago; Bill Ayers' violent acts occurred when Obama was 8. Is Bill Ayers a bad dude? Yeah, I think he is. But because he has met (and even supported) Obama does not by association make Obama a terrorist. Give me a break. With that faulty logic, every student who has him as a professor is also a terrorist, and every one that student has ever known. (Oh, that's right, he's still a professor of education at the University of Illinois.)

"Obama is a muslim". No, he's not. And, like it or not, the last time I checked, the office of the President is areligious. Is Obama a godly man? I don't necessarily think so. But neither is McCain. There, I said it.

"Obama is a socialist". No, he's not. I will admit that some of his policies are closer than other politicians come to socialism (FDR anyone?), but he's not a socialist. Still not even close in fact. Brian Moore, presidential candidate for the United States Socialist Party, commented on many occasions during his campaign that Obama is not even close to being a socialist. General Powell, who still calls himself a Republican despite backing Obama, discussed how silly that notion is. Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke have in recent interviews stated that Obama is not a socialist (can't currently find the videos, I'll keep searching). And John McCain himself admits he does not think Obama is a socialist, albeit liberal on spending and taxes. He's just not a socialist people; that argument does not hold water.

"Obama has close dealings with ACORN." Read ACORN's legal responsibilities. They are legally obligated to turn in any voter registrations they get, even if somebody put down a false name (ie. ACORN themselves were affected by scandal). They flag the suspect ones, but still must legally turn in all paperwork. And it's not as if McCain doesn't have a relationship with ACORN also. Research people! :-)

All that to say, Obama is not some crazy muslim terrorist socialist who is going to ruin our country. I saw an interview with a citizen on the news a few weeks back saying that they believed "without a doubt that if Barack Obama is elected, our country will cease to exist within four years." We all know that's ridiculous. I think so many people are getting over-dramatic about this.

My thoughts: pray for our leaders, hope they do well, and vote for someone else in 4 years if they don't. But please, now is a great time for Christians to show their support of our elected leader even if you disagree with policies. If you haven't met the man, don't make judgement calls on his character. This is a great chance for us unite together and get out of this mess we're in.

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"Backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government" actually sounds more scary than comforting at this point...

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This past week my parents and I visited Chris in Orlando. It was a really fun trip; it's not often that our whole family is able to get together beyond major holidays. Chris lives just a few minutes from Disney, so it's impossible to escape the constant barrage of Mickey ears and high pitched squeals of delight (and these things are just from the adults). While we didn't do the whole Disney thing this time around (at one of the actual parks), we did walk around downtown Disney as well as a boardwalk recreation, which was lovely. Here's a few pictures, the first from the boardwalk, and the next two from the world famous Gatorland!, where we went when we decided that we really ought to do something "Florida-y". There had to have been hundreds of gators and crocodiles (the second Gatorland picture is the infamous Nile crocodile).







And finally, this is what my mother looks like when she answers her cell phone in a loud restaurant. :-)

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