I’ve got a lot to learn, but it was a great experience.

A lot of people are telling me, good job, etc. and I am very appreciative of that.

But intelligent feedback on content, clarity, etc. is also appreciated.

(Oh, and I talk 200 miles an hour.  Had to fit 15 minutes into 10.)

http://www.fumcpasadena.org/sermons.php

You’re gonna caption our short!

If we pick your caption, not only will we cut a version with your slogan and give you tribute, but you’ll also be invited to coffee with the actor(s)!
So, give it a shot! We’re excited to see what you can do!

http://www.vimeo.com/28125341

I was hanging out yesterday in my new kitchen (which traps heat like crazy), procrastinating yet again, with my friend Simon when we both found ourselves looking at the fan on the ceiling, quietly pondering life. While I can’t speak directly to the thought process in Simons mind, it was clear to me that both of us were simultaneously having a moment of epiphany and subsequently too hot and tired to do anything about it.

If you want to know what Simon was thinking, you will have to ask him. But me, I was thinking about how much I wish my homework would do itself and that I wouldn’t be so busy these next two weeks. When in reality, the busy-ness is due to copious amounts of procrastination. I find myself fervently praying, “God, please give me the mindset to do good work and the endurance to pull late nights and write excellent A+ papers”, but in reality, God has already given me a strong mind to think with, a heart to love with, a conscience to guide my choices by and a sun to schedule my tasks by. Maybe God has done his work and supplied the fan. Maybe it’s up to me now to reach my lazy arm up and turn it back on when it stops working. Contrary to my desire, the string won’t pull itself…

Just out of curiosity, what miracle are you waiting on?

So, what did I learn? Time to get back at it. …first thing tomorrow…

A rose could never lie
About the love it brings
And I could never promise
To be any of those things

If I was not so weak
If I was not so cold
If I was not so scared of being broken
Growing old
I would be…
I would be…
I would be…

Blessed are the shallow
Depth they’ll never find
Seemed to be some comfort
In rooms I try to hide

Exposed beyond the shadows
You take the cup from me
Your dirt removes my blindness
Your pain becomes my peace

If I was not so weak
If I was not so cold
If I was not so scared of being broken
Growing old
I would be…
I would be…
I would be…
Frail

Michael Moore Methodist Revival Final Paper 2

I’m sorry to make it a general post as such, but have been insanely busy and have so many people I want to see and I want to make sure I don’t skip anybody. So if I don’t contact you, please contact me. I’m not dodging you I promise… Well, unless I owe you money…

Here’s my basic itinerary for my last minute visit to the NorthWest!

I fly into Seattle late night on the 20th (this Saturday) where my awesome sister is picking me up from the airport and putting me up for a couple of days.

On Sunday, I will head out early in the morning to meet and hang out with Zachary in the morning who will ditch me in Downtown Seattle somewhere at lunch time and I will hopefully get to have lunch and/or chocolate with my good friend, Krystel. Then, I will find a way back to my sister and her husbands place where I am hoping to have dinner and hangout time with extended family. The next morning, Monday the 21st, I hop a bus to Spokane!

So, I arrive in Spokane Monday afternoon/evening, and aside from staying with my friend John, don’t have any plans yet until John and I head out to Tri-cities, which will most likely be on Wednesday the 23rd, in the evening-ish. We will then be in Tri-cities (Kennewick) through Thanksgiving. At this time, when my parents arrive, we will be helping them unload their stuff into storage if anyone would like to help… *nudge-nudge*

Unless something comes up, it looks like I will be heading back to Spokane with John on Friday or Saturday. Whenever we get back, I will be in Spokane until I fly out on Tuesday morning, the 30th.

As of right now, I have not planned anything in Spokane or Tri-cities, so please let me know what works for you and we can work something out.

I can be reached the following ways:

michael@michaelwmoore.com
626-676-5898
Facebook
Twitter

Or you can post on this blog. (If you don’t want the blog comment made public let me know and I will make sure it isn’t posted.)

Can’t wait to see you all!!! Please remember to contact me if you want to hang out!

So, here’s the story:

I’ve always had weak lungs, but for the past year and a half or so I have been having some sinus problems. Trying to figure out what might be causing it, my previous doctor thought it might be a good idea to put me on Advair (a steroid inhaler) to strengthen my lungs. It worked while I was on it, my lungs did improve, but my sinus issues have been getting worse. Tired of being on a steroid and paying the ridiculous amount of money for it, I decided to stop the inhaler and work on getting healthy again, which has been my goal in the first place.

Fast Forward to this last Wednesday, September 22nd. I go to see my new doctor (Insurance changed, I have already had a check-up and a flu visit once before a few months back, so we cool.) Well, apparently she’s out and they are having me see a different doctor. This doctor checks my lungs, tells me they’re doing good but doesn’t know what to tell me about my sinuses. He however suggests that due to my history of susceptibility to flu and pneumonia that I should get a few vaccines. I said I didn’t really like the idea of vaccines, but he assures me it is worth it in my case because of my history. I say, okay, why not, maybe it’ll save me from getting sick this year.

The nurse gives me both vaccine shots in the same place on the same arm. I head home with some pain in my arm and thought nothing of it as I just received two shots. That and I am more pre-occupied with all of the big things happening over the next week. I had a long planned trip to the Hollywood Bowl with some dear friends, first week of new classes, and an intensive 3 day/ 25 hour Final Cut training I had talked my boss into getting for me which would certify me in the latest edition of Final Cut, which would boost my editing portfolio if I were going to look for work in the next few years after school. For me, this is a big deal. To get the training I need, through the school, is quite a blessing.

So, I head to work with my sore arm and think nothing of it. However, that night I start to have a fever/chills and a very uncomfortable night. I wake up in the morning and aside from my arm hurting, I feel fine. So, I got up, went to work on Thursday and within a few hours realize I can’t eat, my head hurts and my muscles are aching. I look at my arm and it’s all red. I then decide I’m going home. So, right after work I went home, went to bed, and slept until late Friday morning. Another night of restless fever and chills, I call my doctor first thing Friday and he says to come in so he can look at me. After I pay to see him I go in and he says, I don’t know which you’re reacting to because they’re both in the same arm, so I don’t know how to treat you. Go home and sleep it off.

I head home and do as he says. I sleep all the way until Saturday morning. I wake up and my arm is now swollen and the redness is moving towards my chest. Concerned it might effect my heart, this same Doctor now sends me to Urgent Care. (Keep in mind, this whole thing started only because I had a few questions about advair and my sinuses, not because I was “sick”) So, frustrated that this doctor I don’t even know has started to put me through all this (although he couldn’t have known my body would react like this), I head into Urgent Care. The Doctor there says, this is ridiculous, your doctor should have just prescribed you an Antibiotic for a skin infection as your red, swollen arm is what is causing the rest of your body to fight back. She says that I am welcome to go about life as long as it’s at a slow pace and I make sure to get plenty of rest and fluids. Excited I pick up my prescription and head home to rest before going to the Hollywood Bowl with some friends. We went to the show and it actually was relaxing and comfortable. I went home and slept well last night (Saturday). I woke up this morning and my arm was feeling much better. Excited, I threw on my clothes to head to church and popped another antibiotic pill into my mouth.

Great! Right? No.

Mike 0 – Drugs that backfired 2

Turns out my body doesn’t want the Antibiotic either. I start to have a severe reaction to it, although I don’t realize that’s whats happening. I’m sitting in church running audio and all of the sudden, I get dizzy and I can’t figure out where I am. My left eye starts to hurt and it starts to swell up. Not my eyelid, my actual eye. Then, I start to panic a little, but I talk myself down out of the panic and bolt for the church door during the last song. (Thank you to whoever cleaned up all the audio gear I was supposed to take care of). All I can think is I have to get home before the world falls apart around me, I’m borderline panic attack at this point, and I don’t know why. It was a peaceful Pasadena Sunday.

As soon as I get home, I run into my room, close the door, the windows, turn off the lights, get into my pajamas and sit in the corner of my bed clutching my pillow. Not sure why, but I started to cry. Once that subsided, I realized something isn’t right and called my stand by voice of reason… mom. You see, I had thought about going to the Urgent Care, but for some reason didn’t trust doctors and had decided that the Urgent care was actually after me and not to be trusted.

In all her wisdom, my mother tells me, in not so certain terms, “get your ass back to the Urgent Care you idiot!” Although I’m pretty sure it came out like “Honey, I’m sorry your world is collapsing, if I could be there and I wish I could, I would drive you to the Urgent Care myself. Find someone to take you, you shouldn’t be driving. Call me as soon as you get there and then again when you talk to a doctor.”

Here’s the problem, the Urgent Care people weren’t the only people I wasn’t trusting, I truly thought everybody was out to get me. In fact, my gracious youth pastor called and wondered why I left church so quickly and offered herself or her husband to take me to the hospital or get stuff for me if I needed anything, but even though I tried to explain what was going on, I wasn’t really sure what was happening and remembering thinking “It’s best not to trust anyone, they’ll just see you as weak and exploit you.”

So, anyhow, I made it to Urgent Care on my own (by the grace of God I didn’t kill anybody, I did however accidentally run a red light… my bad) and went in to see a doctor. This doctor said I was having extremely rare symptoms found in patients who have a severe reaction to the antibiotic, which include but are not limited to swelling of the eyes, depression, disorientation, dizzyness, paranoia and hallucinations. AWESOME.

He gave me a new antibiotic and told me I cannot start it until tomorrow at the earliest because this previous antibiotic is still in my system and I have too much going on to throw more drugs into the mix. So, I write this, with a tinge of mistrust that my weakness will be exploited by all those who read it, but I also see how funny and ridiculous today was and look forward to when I can laugh at it. I skipped youth group tonight and miss the kids and I’m gonna skip work to rest tomorrow (even though I had an 8 hour shoot planned, thanks Alan, Nate, Matt and others for covering) and maybe start the new antibiotic tomorrow evening so that Tuesday morning I can go to my Final Cut Training. I DO NOT want to miss this, I have been waiting for this opportunity for a VERY long time. But sadly, the worst part is, my arm is starting to swell again and my fever is back. At least I’m not crying anymore…

Prayers appreciated while this gets worked out.

I can’t wait until this is funny, maybe I can get Hyperbole and a Half to do comics for my post…

Are we still children who strike out in fear because we aren’t able to reason and understand? Do we insist on living our lives in hate and frustration even though our hate spurs more hate in ourselves and others?

3 years ago I made myself a New Years resolution that I would change a particular struggle in my life. I stuck to that resolution and after a year and a half of extremely hard work and dedication I overcame it quite triumphantly. However, as time passed on I started to let slip a little rationalization here and another point of contention to myself over there, eventually, I had all but destroyed all of my hard work the few years before and the realization of my personal self defeat inspired a hate in myself for myself.

Now that I look back and I see that I have fallen after such a hard struggle and amazing victory, it has come to my realization that even when I think I am finished, I must keep struggling to overcome this deficit in myself. When I am unhappy with a part of myself, the self struggles. I am not optimally whole and well. The victory can be won, but it must also be nurtured and cared for. I must continue to strive, working hard to fight my nature, even in the most difficult of times if I want to stay victorious.

Through this process (especially now knowing that I will have to start all over and do all my hard work again) I have come to realize that part of being a maturing human being in a civilized world is the understanding that if I want things to be better, I have to work for it ALL the time. And the only thing that is going to make a difference is persistence in righteousness and grace. I will not overcome the hate I have towards myself unless I make it a concious effort to do what is right and allow myself to stumble and grow. This right is, or should be, the right of all people, American or otherwise.

9/11 was terrifying because it showed us that we weren’t as safe as we thought. It is a natural instinct to strike out at a perceived danger in order to protect yourself and others from being hurt, but it is a pathetic man who is ruled by fear that would hurt others to make a point. If we are to overcome our fear and live as the great civilization we can be, then each man must make it a conscious effort to live justly and righteously without hurting others. Whether Christian, Muslim, or any other religion, things will not improve until we are tolerant and understanding that others are different from us and NEVER does this make someone less adequate. A human being IS a human being. Now start acting like one.

I think this whole video is worth watching, but if you don’t have that kind of time, skip to 6:10.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/39069769#39069769

“When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.” ~1 Corinthians 13:11