Thoughts From The Duck

The internet is back! Let the rejoicing begin! And my feet hurt. That is all.

So, I am without internet again! I had all these plans for blogging! They are now thwarted! I will be posting my summer reading list very soon...once I finish the list...

A recent Dairy Queen commercial disturbs me at many levels. Thoughts?

Click to Play This is the second draft of my video for class

So, after class, we sat around and talked about various shows that are coming through the Twin Cities. Wicked is coming this next season. There are two shows that have brought me to tears through the tv, Lion King (the Broadway musical) and Wicked. Here are videos from Wicked. The first video is Defying Gravity, which still brings me to tears.

On Sunday night, I had a convergence of three HUGE interests of mine: Broadway, Pop Phenomenon, and Theology. I saw Jesus Christ Superstar. I love that show. I saw it 15ish years ago, with Ted Neeley as Jesus. Ted Neeley plays Jesus in the 1973 film. This tour is being referred to as the "Ted Neeley Farewell Tour." When I saw him in high school , he sounded tired. Last night, he sounded AMAZING. Corey Glover played Judas. Corey Glover was the lead singer of Living Colour. He was amazing as well. Such a good show. I got so much more out of the show now than I did 15 years ago. For starters, I now have 6 years of formal theological education under my belt. I'm also older (and hopefully) wiser. I saw the show with my friend Erica. She had never seen the show before. She talked with her mother before coming and picking me up. Her mother was asking about controversy surrounding the show, specifically the relationship between Mary Magdalene and Jesus. When I saw

I have been fascinated with the story of Randy Pausch . He's a college professor at Carnegie Mellon University who is dying of pancreatic cancer. His last lecture (which can be watched here ) has become famous, being featured on Oprah and the Today show. His lecture is about saying good bye when you know it's going to happen. His lecture has become a best selling book as well. Jeffery Zaslow is the co-author of the book. He has an interesting op-ed article about co-writing the book. The article can be found here . In the words of Christina Yang from Grey's Anatomy, there is a club of people who lost their parents. My father died when I was 5. It was a month before Kindergarden. It was quite sudden. His story seems like a good way of saying goodbye, along with preserving memories for his young children. I wish I had something like this from my dad.

Grace has been a theme of this week. Grace has been a very visible thing. Grace has come in tangible things! Grace came in my mailbox multiple times! This morning I turned on my TV to watch the Today Show. Neil Diamond was the concert of the morning. He began with "America," in honor of Matt Lauer's "Where in the World?" series. Then he sang a new song. I was shocked (in a good way) with what I heard. The album drops on Tuesday, and when it's released on iTunes, I will be buying this song. What caught me was the second stanza. (love in the midst of chaos, calm in heat of war) The video is available on Amazon, but it's a bad recording. Here are the lyrics. Pretty amazing grace is what You showed me pretty amazing grace is who You are I was an empty vessel You filled me up inside and with amazing grace restored my pride Pretty amazing grace is how You saved me and with amazing grace reclaimed my heart love in the midst of chaos calm in t