If you've heard the rumor going around that I've gotten a new desk chair, I am here to confirm that the rumors are, indeed, true. My new desk chair is a fitness orb.



I can feel my core getting stronger already.

I bought a new jacket today that I've been wearing since about 7 p.m. when we hit up Chipotle for dinner. It's now five after eleven and we've been back from dinner for at least 3 hours. I even made a special trip to the mailbox to get the mail, a task I normally leave for the return trip from a jog or running some errands. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to keep myself from sleeping in it. Probably. I'm a little worried that this slight attachment I have for the new jacket will lead to a lower tolerance for cold weather. I've already devolved from the peak resiliency of my youth when I would walk out into the snow with shorts on. Ahh to be young, stupid and warm.

Awake Dustin has overstayed his welcome at Sleepy Dustin's house a few too many nights over the last week or so, searching YouTube and iTunes for good new music, and nostalgic old music. I think if I could put my finger on one thing I miss most about growing up, a close second to being able to "go outside and play" is spending hours - yes I said hours - just listening to music. I'm not going to try and stake some triumphant claim of having the most discriminating taste in music, but the music that I love, I really do love. And in return for this affection that I bestow upon the pops, the rhythm & blueses/hip-hops, the country and westerns, and the modern/alternative rocks I am inspired, mused and motivated, calmed and relaxed, and simply carried away.

If your local area is experiencing the worst drought in recent history, does drinking bottled water that is presumably bottled where water is plentiful begin to drift from ridiculous to socially responsible?

Would it be wrong to ask the management team of your apartment complex to turn off the automated sprinkler system during the aforementioned drought even if that request was partially motivated by the fact that you were hit by one of the sprinklers on your way to work one morning last week?

Would it freak you out if you heard the short phrases "worst-case scenario", "no rainfall", "water supply", "120 days" combined into one sentence in any order?

I'm not as easily discouraged by the discovery of new faults as I am by the seemingly endless battle I face eradicating these faults from every discoverers' memory. It's almost as if the first impression lasts only almost as long as the worst impression. Every good deed dedicated to the demise of even the slightest of flaws is noticeable only by its stark contrast to the more familiar me. I don't know if it's because we find our own bad habits hard to break, but it seems like we have a tendency to disavow even the most obvious positive changes in those around us. And just so we're clear on this, human nature is an affliction in which I suffer with you.

In the Gospel of Luke, 10:25-37, Jesus relates the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Even if you are not familiar with the parable itself, you have probably heard someone referred to as a "good Samaritan". While it would be easy to grasp the contextual meaning of this phrase in our modern use, you might fail to discern the irony in referring to someone as a "good Samaritan" given the social standing of Samaritans in Jesus' time. To borrow from the immortal Forrest Gump, Samaritans and Jews would not have gone together like peas & carrots - more like oil and water. And yet, when a Jew is robbed and left for dead, both a priest and a Levite pass by the man - each for their own reasons - before a Samaritan stops to help the Jew.

Jesus tells the Parable of the Good Samaritan, with great effect, to explain that a neighbor is anyone who needs you. In the process, sometime between then and now, our idea of what or who a Samaritan is changed drastically. I don't know if the effect was immediate or if the transition spanned countless civilizations, translations, and interpretations, but it's obvious. When we refer to someone as a Samaritan we regard them very differently than the way the Jew, the priest and the Levite would have in Jesus' day. One simple act, a story told in a few words among thousands, changed the perspectives of generations. This is my hope - that we will dwell on the good in each other, even when the bad is what is most familiar.

I just watched the trailer for Be Kind Rewind, a movie by the creative genius behind Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Friday I would have said that the Jack Black casting is about as perfect as you can get for a movie about cheap remakes of classic movies. Ironically enough, though, Dan and I had a discussion on Saturday about the comedic potential of remaking classic movies with Sean Connery playing every major role. And no, even as of today - Wednesday - the bad impressions of Sean Connery reciting classical theatrical lines have not subsided.