your heart sinks a little bit when you ask your favorite old man at work how he's doing and, with a glazed-over downward stare and a sound of regret and defeat in his voice, he simply answers, "no good."

it's been a rainy summer.  it seems every time erica and i make a trip somewhere it is monsooning out.  last night we went down to wallingford to eat with our paris missionary friends the riddells and it poured and poured.  but enough talk about the weather.

the other night erica and i went to bed bath and beyond just to kinda look around and get some ideas for the chance of future bridal registries.  there was a shower curtain that said in a very flashy design, "it's all about me!  not you!  ME!"  i wanted to register for that, i thought it would be a good way to start out a marriage.

and another night not too long ago erica and i went the coopersburg diner for cooperbuns.  the booth behind me was occupied by two older women (probably in their sixties.)  first off, they were talking incredibly loud.  i was giggling from the start just because of how loud they were talking.  you would have thought these ladies were in their nineties without their hearing aides in.  so that was funny to begin with.  but then they started talking about a script.  this whole experience was a scene straight out of the extra footage of waiting for guffman.  the one lady was talking about this script, the story was about a boy and his love of crickets.  he loved crickets.  and we're talking about a really big love of crickets.  he reeeeally liked em.  and something about his dad, and there's a town cricket hunt, and it brings the dad and the son together, so on and so forth, and i think a beloved cricket dies somewhere in there too.  the lady said the word 'cricket' i think about 142 times in 10 sentences.  but then we found out she wrote the script.  and then we found out it was  PUPPET SHOW.  and then she went on to say "but there are happy parts and sad parts and funny parts and angry parts...it's a story...there's a whole range of emotions"...and this is all about a boy and his infatuation with crickets.  erica and i were giggling so hard.  the lady kept going.  i honestly was laughing at the top of my lungs, i was beyond the point of trying to contain myself.  you probably had to be there, but trust me, it was FUNNY.

well, after many years of being unccupied,the historic cooper mansion has been purchased and the family has moved in.  this mansion sits on a corner on main street in coopersburg.  it was built and owned by mr. cooper himself when he started his little cattle-trading town.  so it's quite a historic building.  it was recently restored and put back on the market.  well, according to the town rumor mill, it was bought by an 18-year-old girl who won lots of money through an injury settlement.  by the looks of it, she has moved her entire hispanic family into this mansion.  it is quite a funny sight.  they sit on this fancy porch in the evenings in their camping chairs.  they have put tacky lawn ornaments up.  i went by earlier today and they were playing loud music and break-dancing on the porch.  it's just funny because this is the most historic and most elegant house in the town, and it is now occupied by a family straight out of the ghetto.  it reminds me of the beverly hillbillies.  and, to be honest, it kind of upsets me.  why?  i'm not sure.  is it plain jealousy?  is it a the honest coopersburgian protectiveness of a beloved landmark?  is it racism?  is it a brilliant and real-life picture of the unfairness of grace that i'm not ready to accept?  probably all of the above.

i'm realizing tonight how much time is left in the summer and i'm getting naseous.

rock of ages cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee;
let the water and the blood, from they wounded side which flowed,
be of sin the double cure, save from wrath and make me pure.

not the labors of my hands can fulfill thy law's demands;
could my zeal no respite know, could my tears forever flow,
all for sin could not atone; thou must save and thou alone.

nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross i cling;
naked, come to thee for dress, helpless, look to thee for grace;
foul, I to the fountain fly, wash me, Savior, or I die!

while i draw this fleeting breath, when my eyes shall close in death,
when i soar to worlds unknown, see thee on thy judgment throne,
rock of ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee.

 
i just recorded this beautiful hymn with piano and my voice and i think it might be the first song i've recorded that i'm actually completely happy with. 

I saw a very simple vision of the kingdom of God, of loving my neighbor as I love myself, of loving God above all, and I realized that it's possible with the love of Jesus, and may we not be content for the half-hearted, lukewarm dishonest faith that is bought and sold and advertised and put in books and on records and in buildings and that dresses in 3-piece suits, and may God have mercy on me even now, for thinking i'm better than everyone else.

there is an entirely new way of life that Jesus came to bring but we don't live that way.

-aaron weiss

it was a wild and crazy week, read the taylor blog (finally updated) for the details and for my preaching to the hilary faye's. 
 
saw lovedrug, the working title, noise ratchet, and mewithoutyou at the TLA last night.  lovedrug was pleasant, the working title was ok but they just werent jiving for me, noise ratchet was teeerrrrible (is this noise ratchet or bon jovi?!?! meehohohohoho name's nate), and mewithoutyou was amaaaaaaaazing as always.  they are doing things right.  creative music, humble spirits, providing worshipful experiences in unexpected ways.  thank you to them. 
 
apparently spitting is the new 'in' thing in the rock and roll circuit.  every band seemed to be producing an amazing amount of saliva...no one gave rickie from mwy any competition, though.  honestly, that man needs a doctor's consultation for his saliva glands.
 
i enjoy driving to and in the city for the most part.  trying to find a parking space makes me naseous and on the verge of tears, but other than that, i enjoy it. 
 
all for now, i've got places to go and people to seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
 
city of brotherly love?  more like city of brotherly shove!  meeehohohohoh name's nate.

i have had about 20 different posts swimming in my head since last time i wrote, and i never got a chance to write any of them, here are some bits and pieces and extra thoughts.

nothing is more awkward than hearing boistorous laughter as you approach the lunchroom, and when you enter you realize you're the only male. as you walked in you caught a woman making motions towards her breasts and now the conversation has completely stopped except for another woman who mumbles something about her "figure." you sit down at a table in the silent room, knowing it is silent purely because of your presence. entering a profession dominated by the female gender, i suppose i should get used to it.

last thursday i went to see fahrenheit 9/11 with several friends from church, some my age, and some adults. i found myself (and still do for the most part) rather reactionless towards the movie...not sure what to think or what to conclude. erica and i had the pleasure of discussing it with the adults who went. we are extremely thankful for members of the older generation who are willing to open themselves enough to watch something they know they aren't going to agree with, and who are willingly to openly and intelligently discuss their reactions afterwards. it is what our generation seeking such direction from our elders so desperately needs.

another member of the older generation, though, claimed she wasn't going to see it because her conservative radio show host of choice had told his listeners that he had seen it, so they didn't need to because he would tell them all about it. oh how this woman would have loved if howard stern (*gasp*) told his listeners that they didn't need to see the passion of the christ because he had seen it and would tell them all about it.

michael moore is a perplexing man. that's about the extent of my reaction.

i took my sunday school downstairs on sunday to join the adults class on whether 'jesus was a republican or a democrat.' (this lesson came a day late...i registered as 'no affiliation' on saturday.) but the question was not answered. dan (who watched and discussed fahrenheit with us) did a great job with some sensitive issues though. i have been more interested with politics as of late, which definitely can't be a bad thing...it is indeed about time i start, no? and the recent events (discussion in paris, fahrenheit, sunday school, etc) have helped to spark my interest and build a foundation upon which to inform myself.

i was very close to going to see the album leaf in philly last night. i didn't want to go, really, (there were things i wanted to get done at home, i didn't want to spend money, drive, it was monsooning out, rush hour would have been madness) but i felt like i owed it to myself to do something out of the ordinary and fun so that could start enjoying life again. i knew i wouldnt regret it once there. but i wussed out, of course, under the condition of promising myself to go see either mewithoutyou and lovedrug or denison witmer on friday night. if i wuss out on that, too, please come punch me in the face.

jared sent me the new anathallo cd of hymns. it's beautiful. the cd i've always dreamt of making.

tonight i made up for not going to see the album leaf and i really enjoyed life although it was in a simple way. the humidity and clouds cleared out this evening..the sky was blue the air was cool and dry. so i went outside for at least 2 hours and called friends and read books and it was pure bliss. sometimes i would be laying on the porch on my back and i'd peek over the top of my book and there would be a plane flying really really high in the sky...passing by silently, kinda like the one in 28 days later except even harder to see. it made me wonder how many people pass over my head daily without my noticing. but anyway it was an enjoyable night.

it looks as thought i'm a regular on the bass in church on sunday mornings now. i've played the past two weeks and it looks like i'll be playing the next too. it's refreshing to play my bass again. i may be breaking out the accordion this week. i doubt it, though. we'll see.

erica went to some bridal expo tonight. whoever brought the most creative thing to dip in chocolate won lots of prizes. she took lots of edible flowers - queen ann's lace, pansies, clover, cone flowers, and more. here's hoping she'll win us a nice honeymoon trip.

enough for now, huh? glad we could catch up. in all likelihood, i miss you. call me.

why am i still going? it's past bedtime.

i need to mow the lawn this week. i couldn't on sunday, it was the sabbath and the 4th of july combined, that's an obvious no-no. i couldn't on monday, it was my day off. i couldn't yesterday, it was my birthday. i was going to today, and the minute i pulled into my driveway after work it started raining. tomorrow???

andy and jodi got me a 'if you can read this flip me over' sticker for the windshield of my car. ooooooh yes. this ride just keeps getting badder and badder. i'm hoping to obtain some 4x4 stickers for the sides to accent this new addition.

im becoming a little disconnected with my taylor blog. i guess i just don't have the time to be careful about what i say. if anything on here is interesting or funny or insightful and you think it deserves to be on the taylor blog, please help me out and make me aware of the fact. i cant complain about my job on the taylor blog cuz the chaplain at the nursing home reads it (he went to college with my parents and his daughter went to taylor). so. yeah.

so i'll complain about my job here. until tonight, it hasnt rained for quite a few weeks and the grass has stopped growing and the ground is too hard to try and pull weeds. my list of jobs, then, has come to a screeching halt and things have become more and more pointless. there is a field that is part of a construction site that is full of tall weeds. i was told to weedwack the edge of it, a foot in, along the drive to enter the community. the purpose? to make a foot less of weeds, i guess. it doesn't look better; it doesn't even look different. the edge of weeds is just moved in a foot. go figure. then i was told to spray round up on the poison ivy that is growing in along the edge of the woods on the other side of the drive. this poison ivy is growing on huge vines that are wrapped around huge trees. spraying this stuff with round up is like trying to kill an elephant with a butter knife. many days have also been spent watering trees. spraying a hose on a tree for 15 minutes is like chewing on a piece of gum to curb your hunger after not eating for 2 days.

allow me to complain about one other thing. people who stop before merging onto a highway had poor drivers ed teachers. they are called acceleration lanes for a reason. it is a yield sign, not a stop sign. honestly. im pretty sure these people annoy me more than the people who aren't passing anyone while driving in the left lane. yes, that's right, i said it. they are worse than the oblivious people going 50 mph in the left lane.

on a brighter note, whoever invented the built-in-cutter on the roll of saran wrap is a genius and deserves to retire a millionaire. i just used saran wrap, and for the first time in my life, i used it successfully, without having a nervous breakdown.

i've been drinking wayyyy too much caffeine lately, and i'm pretty sure it's really messing me up. i really feel like i'm on drugs. i havent been sleeping (obviously), i feel paranoid, and i vividly imagine really weird things happening. i won't go into detail because you'll be really concerned. is it the caffeine or insanity?

all for now. it's bedtime.

21 has come and gone with not a whole lot to show for it except the fact that using "i'm underage" as a convenient excuse is no longer valid.

From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.
For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.

to erica and i, they are known as "slow starts," and there is nothing better. waking up whenever your body and the sunlight shining through your bedroom window tells you to wake up. putting on a pot of coffee. putting on some nice morning music. eating breakfast. reading a good book. that's exactly what i did this morning. my only regret is that my home has no window seat, breakfast nook, or screened in porch.

im a little embarrassed to admit that, if my memory is correct, i have never read the gospel of john in its entirety. i decided it was about time i do so and i read the first chapter this morning. i love the way the first chapter is written. it's very mysterious. there's a tinge of tense excitement giving you the feeling that something very huge, something that will change the course of history and the destiny of man, is about to happen. jesus quietly arrives on the scene after john does his thing and word begins to spread like wildfire among the disciples. "it's time!" they drop everything in excitement and go to see for themselves. it makes me wish i was around back then.

my parents are away for the week. the best part about having the house to myself is that i get to put on the air conditioning. my mom refuses to use the AC until the heat of july. then she finally caves in and turns the thermostat down to a refreshing 80 degrees. and the woman has catlike senses, too...some nights i'll sneak out of my pool-of-sweat-bed to inch the thermostat down just a degree or so, and the woman suddenly wakes up from her deep sleep and comes marching out to return it to the proper temperature, and i go back to my room pouting. on weeks like these, i do my best to remember to turn the air off before leaving the house, but so far i havent remembered. mom and dad may have a surprise waiting for them on the next electric bill, and i'll probably have to start working a second job.

i havent mentioned the "band" i've been rocking with lately. it's one more committment i could do without this summer, but i've found that taking the time to play my bass keeps me sane. wes - erica's brother - is playing guitar. two sweethearts named kyle and stan and playing drums and singing, respectively. kyle and stan are two thirds of a jazz trio (kyle on piano and stan on vocals). these kids are incredible. kyle is quite the jazzer and has committed himself to never playing a straight pattern on beats 2 and 4. it makes things interesting. stan has a jazz voice straight out of the rat pack. in all likelihood, you'll hear these two if you come to my reception next summer. so yeah, we've been making some music which has been fun. we're supposed to be playing a show on saturday, but we only have 1 and a half songs written. we'll see. we want to make buttons for all the little emo kids to eat up and make us rich. if you have a good name for our band, please let us know so that we can get a large line of merch made. jared - we play records in the background of some of the stuff. we have a jfk documentary that is really cool, and a record with speeches and interviews from 6 different presidents. it's fun.

ok bye.