Ohioooo!
Allow me to spew some nonsense about my ongoing trip and forthcoming relocation to Ohio. The general purpose, at first, was to find an apartment and move out, then obtain employment. Right now, it’s almost a sure thing that I won’t accomplish what I set out to do in the way I thought I would. On a whim, I accepted an invitation to a church-associated beach trip from September 2-11, and ended up meeting lots members of the church, which is called Xenos. The entire church structure is something rather different, but I’ll let you follow the link if you’re interested. The end result of all this is that I made quite a few new friends really quickly. Most of these friends live in ‘ministry houses,’ which are group houses loosely affiliated with Xenos. After somewhat unsuccessfully trying to find apartments that were both affordable and in good locations, right now I’m seriously considering moving into the mens’ ministry house. Coming back to Columbus is a 100% sure thing, and I think the advantages of living in a group house outweigh the disadvantages, at least for now. This evening I’m scheduled to talk with the church leader about this very topic. I return to Nebraska on Friday, but I’m sure I’ll want to drive back out to Columbus ASAP. <p> A bit more about the beach trip: We drove down to Holden Beach, North Carolina and stayed in a (large) beachfront house. There were perhaps around 25-30 guys staying in this one house. It was difficult because I didn’t know many people, but by the end of the week I became fairly well acquainted with lots of the guys, just by attending devotionals and generally wasting time together. I managed to not get sunburned, and lost the horrible tan lines I had on my legs from hiking the Grand Canyon. Unfortunately, I didn’t take many pictures (which, to those in the know, is hardly surprising), but my friend Andy snapped a few. Yes, now you can see a few pictures of me, and many pictures of people you don’t know. Yes, that is a hookah, but filled with tobacco, you cretins. I think in general, a good time was had by all, excepting the 12-hour drive both ways. <p> I started reading The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand, at the beginning of the beach; got about 100 pages done per day, but then hit a block around page 500. Really interesting at the beginning, but drags on and on. It would be much better if it was cut in half. The entire book espouses Rand’s ideal of humanity, basically the worship of the self. She states that man’s first duty is to himself, and smashes the idea of self-sacrifice. Interestingly enough, the self-sacrifice in her book didn’t seem to be associated with Christianity, although one can read between the lines. She decries anything which uses other people or relies on them. Dunno if I’d recommend it; go for Anthem, which spouts the same ideas in much less space.
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