11,000

For what's its worth, my Gamerscore for the XBox 360 has now reached the 11,000 point mark. For 99.9% percent of the population, this does not matter. But, it is exciting for me. Much of the recent surge has come as a result of playing Burnout: Paradise. I may end up buying that game. It's quite fun.

In gaming related news, I have rented 10 games from Family Video so my next rental is free! So many options for rental, but I am leaning toward Grand Theft Auto IV. Not sure what to expect, so it would be best to rent before I buy.

What Does a Degree in Music Get You?

I meant to write about this a few days ago when the Game-A-Thon was more fresh in mind. As I had mentioned, Rock Band was a very popular game during our event. It was going on for much of the afternoon and evening. The game combines the mechanics of Guitar Hero along with a drum set and a microphone. During the course of the evening I tried everything out, but the vocals intrigued me.

I grabbed the microphone for one song. I definitely felt a little nervous and self-conscious. This may surprise you because in college I was a music major and my primary instrument was voice. I was trained to be a singer. Well...things did not go so well. I managed to get through Highway Star OK. However, when I tried to sing Gimme Shelter it got pretty bad. We failed...because of me.

The mechanics for the singing component are interesting. It recognizes tone differences regarding of how high or low you are singing. Thus, it doesn't matter if you sing pretty or not. You just have to be within the pitch zone. This is a tough transition for a music major and one I'm not sure I can get over. Usually my game instincts kick in, but I am so busy trying to sound authentic to the song that I only make it worse. Curse this music education! ;)

Endings and Beginnings

Tonight is my last Wines Around the World class. We will be meeting at Primo restaurant on Jackson Street. We will have the option to order dinner while we survey various wines. This class has been interesting for me and I have learned a lot about wine. It does make me realize that I am more of a beer drinker. My range of wines that I enjoyed was pretty limited, but at least I know now :).

Tonight is a also the first game of the 2008 summer softball season. When I woke up this morning, the snow, rain and cold temperatures didn't seem too conducive to softball. The weather doesn't look like it's going to get much better today. We'll see if it happens. We don't play until 9:30 and we are the 5th game of the evening. When those games start to run behind it is possible that we won't play until 10:00 or 10:30. My bedtime is 11:00 PM! Regardless, the first game will probably be a struggled, and I will give you the full results tomorrow. Hopefully all this running and weightlifting will pay off :).

Other News:

• Gaming was fun again. Only two sessions left for the spring semester. This coming Sunday we may actually have six people there to play.
• Christa seems to also be a fan of Burnout Paradise. Perhaps this will be a game that we purchase after we return it to the rental store.
• Relay for Life was a good time. I made it to 2AM. It was a big improvement over last year. It will likely take awhile to recover from lack of sleep, but it was for a good cause!

Remote Post: Kolf Sports Center

I come to you from the Kolf Sports Center on the UW Oshkosh campus. It is 11:22 PM and I trying to stay strong. The festivities began at 6:00 PM. Christa and I have been walking off and on throughout the evening. Greg and I even ran for two miles :). In between the fits of walking and running, I have worked on other stuff: the AD&D adventure for tomorrow is ready, my Disciple work is ready and I even taught Christa and how to play Magic: The Gathering...again. She did pretty good. She remembers more than she thinks.

Can Jim make it until 2:00 AM? We'll see.

Relay for Life

Tomorrow evening, a group of 11 Webster residents will be taking part in the 2nd Annual UW Oshkosh Relay for Life event. This 12-hour event involves members of various teams walking around a track from 6PM to 6AM. Teams have raised money for the event, which all goes to caner research. Events like this are hosted all over the country all helping the American Cancer Society.

Our team is the Web of Hope. We had a fundraising goal of $2,000. I thought our team leader was crazy to set such a high amount. But, we reached it. Through some amazing individual donations and some great hall fundraisers, we reached our goal. I look forward to celebrating with teammates at tomorrow's event.

I am curious to see how I hold up staying up until 2:00 AM. Last year, I didn't make it much past midnight. I didn't think it was realistic to stay up until 6:00 AM, especially with church and other meetings coming up on Sunday.

It can also be easy to get caught up in the fun and celebration of Relay. It is important to also remember that this is a time to honor and remember those who have lost the battle with cancer or continue the fight. It is a chance to celebrate those who have overcome cancer.

Maybe I'll see you there...or else you will be participating in a Relay for Life near you.

Midweek Checklist

Here is an update as to what has gone on so far this week:

• If you live in the halls and you are reading this between now and midnight...call x2231 and order a pizza! $5 for a medium pizza...we deliver. It's a long shot, but why not?
• I need to turn in Forza Motorsport 2 tonight. It was OK. I now know that I am not really a racing game guy. The game gets into a lot of detail in terms of how you can customize your car and how you can calibrate it. I just don't care. In the end, you drive around a track...again and again. It gets old. I managed to get a few a achievements out of it.
• We had our first official Disciple class today. I was the only person who had the work ready for class. Doh!
• The weather continues to be gorgeous...it felt great to run!
  

Back to Running

After taking a little more than a week to recover from both a half marathon and a cold, I ran again this morning. The 3.6 mile run felt good and the weather makes it much easier to get up at 7:00 AM and do so. I have talked it over with Christa and I may be running in the Fox Cities Marathon in September. I should have sufficient time to train and I have always wanted to run a marathon. I'll keep you posted.

Sunday Randomness

I thought I would take today's entry to highlight some of the stuff that has happened over the last few days:

• I have been fighting off a cold the last few days. Each day it was a different symptom. I feel like I am now over the majority of my symptoms, but today I am still fighting the soar throat and raspy voice. Perhaps one last evening of sleep will put it away.
• The Game-a-Thon was a success! There were folks that lasted the entire 24 hours. I will find out how much money was raised tomorrow when I take the money in, but I am excited. We probably raised around $50. I made it from 3 PM until 2 AM. Then I had to go to bed. I just can't do the all-nighters anymore. That should be interesting because Relay for Life goes from 6 PM - 6 AM.
• Gaming today was a little sparse. We only had three people show up. But, those three people had a good time. I am really hoping that we can get more people to get involved with this. Three people won't cut it long term.
• I have been playing Forza Motorsport 2 over the last few days. It's OK. I just don't think I'll ever get into racing games.
  

How Much Do You Enjoy Gaming?

On Saturday, April 19 at 3:00 PM, a 24-hour gaming marathon will begin in Webster Hall. TVs will be brought down to the lobby as well as a variety of gaming systems. There are 120 cans of soda waiting to be consumed to keep active gamers await throughout this entire time. A variety of snack items have also been purchased. It should be a good time. I know that Rock Band will be available to play and I plan on renting a few new games for the XBox 360 as well.

Through the 24-hour event, there will be a container for you to donate change to keep these folks gaming. All change raised will be given to the "Web of Hope" team for Relay for Life. This group is truly gaming for a cause. Come and check it out. Play games for charity!

I do want to give special credit to Mark Medinger, last year's 1st floor CA in Breese Hall for originating this idea last year. I am excited to see this tradition live on with different folks in a different building. It is obvious that enough people found this event worthwhile to keep it going!

It Happens Every Year Around This Time

The EOY Task List is handed out. Express Checkout Training begins. You meet with next year's CA/PA staff. You hire an RHD secretary. You look to elect hall leaders...and it all comes at once. For the fifth year now I am experiencing the End of Year (EOY) push. It finally hit me today how crazy it has been and how crazy it will be. Having experienced this a few times, it doesn't come as so much of a shot, but it is still stressful. You just have to plug away at things one task at a time. It usually all works out once the residents have checked out ;).

Softball Season #3

On April 28, 2008 I begin my third season of spring/summer softball. I will be a member of the Strikeforce United team led by fellow RHD Thomas. That league is run through the YMCA. Christa and I will both be a part of a softball league in Neenah. I don't know a lot of the details, but what I do know is that you can drink in this league...not sure how I feel about that.

I feel as though each year I get a little bit better at this softball thing. My first year was a disaster. I surprised myself with my hitting ability, but I couldn't throw to save my life. Honestly...it was bad. There was maybe a 30% chance you could catch something that I threw to you without having to move. As the summer went on things got better, but it didn't help that we also weren't very good ;).

My second year, I joined the Strikeforce team and did me best to improve my throwing and fielding skills. I felt that by the end of the season I wasn't as much of a fielding liability as I was before.

Now, with the weight training (and additional practice) I can get even better. I'd like to sneak up in the batting rotation a little bit and would like to "graduate" from a position other than right field. We shall see.

I am hoping to bring back the box score of my performances...now in both leagues. We'll see.

Monday Morning Catch-Up

As I have begun my Monday at work and have had a few moments to reflect back on the last few days, I have a right to be exhausted. This has been quite an emotional time for me.

Becoming a certified candidate for Methodist ministry is a relief, I must admit. It is a good feeling to know that I can continue in the ministry process as Christa and I contemplate our status for June 2009. It does, however, open many doors and create a new feeling of uncertainty. I now need to start thinking about what path I wish to follow. Do I want to go toward ordination? Do I want to continue down the path of licensed ministry? Where would I be interested in working? I have been telling folks that I want to enjoy this moment before I continue my path.

My legs have a slight residual soreness from the half marathon. I think by tomorrow they might be ready for a little running. I want to avoid last year where after the half marathon I pretty much gave up on exercise until September. With no wedding planning and no NACURH this spring, I think time for working out will present itself. I am hoping to keep a good thing going.

A few more nights sleep and a few good days of work to catch up will go a long way. So far so good.

I Think I Ran 13.1 Miles

On Saturday, April 12, 2008 I participated in the 2008 Oshkosh Half Marathon. The weather did not cooperated. It was around 34 degrees with 15 mph winds and light snow for the duration of the race. When I crossed the finish line, the gun time was 1 hour, 55 minutes, 30 seconds. I wanted to confirm this time with the official results on the internet. I am not listed anywhere in there. Something must have been wrong with the chip I was wearing. To come up with my "official time" here is what I did.

About seven miles into the race, we were stopped by a train on Murdock near the Piggly Wiggly. I couldn't tell you how long we waited, but it was at least two minutes. Let's be conversative and go with that. Darla, the person that I ran with showed a 30 second difference between the gun time and the chip time. So, if you take off 30 seconds for that, I would say I finished in 1 hour, 53 minutes. Last year, I ran it in 1 hour, 59 minutes so that is a nice improvement.

My parents came up to watch me race, which given the weather was very nice. I ate my jelly belly "energy beans" 30 minutes before the race (like last year). I decided to dress light, figuring that I would eventually warm up. So, I wore shorts, something that very few others decided to do. I warmed up by mile three and shedded my jacket, leaving me with a long-sleeve and short-sleeve T-shirt. If the race were much longer that 13 miles, I probably would have gotten cold.

I paced myself much better this year. Darla and I were shooting for 9:00 per mile and despite the train stop, we did better than that, averaging a little below 9:00 per mile. Finishing now seems past me. I want to beat this year's time next year. Weight training this year seemed to be the X-factor.

I'm Certified!

At 11:00 AM yesterday, I met with the District Committee on Ordained Ministry so that I could interview for being a certified candidate for ministry. After a 40 minute interview and 15 minutes waiting period while they made their decision, they brought Lucretia, Christa and I into the interview room to let me know that I had been unanimously approved for certified candidacy.

It is a good feeling to have this major part of the process over. At this point, I wait until January 2009 to point my name out there as someone available for appointment for pursuit of licensed ministry.

AD&D Adventure Update

Our gaming group has managed to resurrect our AD&D campaign that we ran last spring. I am excited to have a group that is excited to play each week. It also keeps me motivated and has recently gotten me to pay more attention to detail and to be quite prepared for our sessions. The sessions bring back memories of gaming in high school, where we screwed around about as much as we played. It has been a nice relaxing experience this semester.

If any of you are curious, there is a link to the Pholtus campaign in the links to the right. I try to update it regularly. If you are interested in playing, please let me know. We are always looking for extra players.

Other News:

• Only a few more days to my dCOM meeting. I met with my mentor for the last time before the meeting to make sure everything is in order. I feel pretty confident for the meeting. I am not sure what to expect, but I look forward to finding out if I will be a certified ministry candidate.
• The weather today was crappy...whenever the "wintry mix" is forecast, you know it can't be good. It appears that cold, windy and wet weather awaits participants in the 1/2 marathon this weekend. *sigh* Should be fun...
  

Where Do We Stop?

I saw this article on the Drudge Report a few weeks ago and didn't get the chance to comment about it. They want to build a tower that is about a mile tall.

I can tell you for sure this is a building I would never, ever enter in my life. My fear of heights is only part of the problem. I can't imagine being in a building like that from a safety perspective, if anything happens, how would you ever get out? Can you imagine the temperature extremes at the top of this thing?

I can only imagine the risks that would be taken in constructing something like this.

8 Mile Checkpoint

No, this is not a reference to Detroit or to Eminem.

My training for the Oshkosh Half Marathon has been a little shaky for the last few weeks. I decided today to go on an 8-mile run this morning to see where I was at. I completed the run at the pace I would need to run the 13.1 mile race in two hours. So, that means I should be in good shape fore next Saturday. This is good news indeed.

Remote Post: Weekend Preview

I am again hanging out at FUMC Oshkosh playing the role of church administrative assistant from 8:00 AM to noon today. Hopefully, if MIO can get webmail going, I will have access to E-mail while I am here. I can actually get quite a bit of work done with E-mail access.

It feels like this week has blown by. Usually the second half of the spring semester goes really fast...it has certainly started that way. Already, I am thinking about the weekend and how to enjoy it.

Christa has asked about seeing a movie this weekend. I wouldn't mind seeing 21, but other than that there aren't many movies that I'd like to see. My XBox 360 has been sadly reneglected this week...I look forward to playing Mass Effect. I am also hoping to just relax, hang out with Cgrista and not worry about the paperwork for my ministry meeting next Thursday.

One Week from Today

The counter to the right of this entry is a little off. Officially, my meeting with the District Committee on Ordained Ministry is at 11:00 AM on April 10, 2008 at Immanuel United Methodist Church in Ripon, WI.

At this point, I am not so nervous for the meeting. If anything, I am concerned that I am making a bigger deal out of this meeting than I need to. Have I over-prepared?

I have some idea of what the meeting will be like, but until it actually happens, I can only guess as to the format. Regardless, I will be excited to get it done and find out the results...which I will get the same day!

Life Stories...

Today, I made a trip out to Waukau, WI. I never heard of Waukau until I found out that a pastor who once worked at FUMC Oshkosh had been assigned as the pastor there. It is only about 20 minutes and 13 miles from Oshkosh. I drove into the city to discover that it was unincorporated. There wasn't necessarily a whole lot to see. But, they have a vary quaint and beautiful Methodist Church.

I walked inside and met Chuck, the pastor there. He took me on a tour of the facility. The church is by no means modern, but it "older" style and theater-set wooden pews provide a wonderful atmosphere. It felt like I stepped back 100 years (the church was built in 1904). I would love to worship there. They are in the process adding on an addition that will provide much needed education and office space. The pastor currently uses a section of the fellowship hall as his office! Things seem to looking up and people seem to looking forward at the church.

The pastor of this church is hosting a Disciple class. The class helps folks to survey the Bible and find more meaning in it. That seems up my alley. It involves 34 meetings, and seems very thorough. I am excited to try it out. Getting to the theme of my entry today, we ended the session with sharing our journeys with the group.

I found the others in our class to have very interesting lives. Many are significantly older than me, and have lived rich and exciting lives. They say their lives are boring, but they are filled with interesting tales and major changes. I realized today how much I enjoy hearing about the lives of others, especially folks who lives outside of a residence hall ;).

Perhaps that is part of why I am called to ministry. I want to learn more about people and learn how we can work together to become better people.

A New Appreciation...

Through the Continuing Education Office at UW Oshkosh, I signed up for a class called Wines Around the World. It will be meeting over the next six Monday evenings. My first class was last night.

I learned a great deal about the wines of Argentina and Chile. Have no fear, we only take small samples of each wine. There is no fear of Jim stumbling home from the Pollock House to Webster Hall (which I would add is only about fifty feet away).

I am looking forward to gathering more information about wine. We will be learning about France, Italy, California and Australia among other areas.