well, it’s about time that i get American Idol off of the top of my list here, am i right?… we all know who’s won and we all probably agree that the most shocking thing about it is that i picked it right… anyway, congrats to Kris and all his fans, hopefully his album won’t include any songs as bad as No Boundaries…

Moving on, there are a number of things that i want to talk about, but we’ll have to take them all one at a time and see what happens… first, some basketball, spies and a lesson in persistence…

N.B.AMAZING
- now playing: Amazing – Kanye West

if you haven’t been watching the NBA playoffs, you’ve been missing some of the best sporting events of the year… i’m sure that the hockey playoffs are just dandy and that the baseball season has its share of excitement, but right now, you just cannot beat the drama taking place every night in both of the conference finals series…

you’ve got the clear favorites in both conferences (Lakers and Cavs) squaring off each night against veritable underdogs (Nuggets and Magic) proving to be formidable rivals… and almost every game has come down to the last thirty seconds or less… i’m not generally the guy who’s yelling at the television or reacting emotionally to games, but the other night when LeBron hit that last second three-pointer to even the series at a game a piece, i jumped up in excitement… amazing… now that’s how to finish a game… i’m a few games behind the action right now, but i’m enjoying every game as i watch them… add in the completely ridiculous outfits that Craig Sager always wears as if he’s lost a bet and i can’t wait ’til the finals regardless of who’ll be matched up…

REDEEMING THE FIFTH
- now playing: Redemption – Switchfoot

Also on my TV screen is the “new classic” spy series, Alias… I’m one of the suckers who picked up the full series on DVD packaged as a special Rambaldi artifact and i’ve been reliving the magic of the show over the last few months… i know that the series has taken a beating because it completely lost the plot during the fourth season, but even as annoying as that season was, transforming the show from a serialized suspense/drama into an episodic series, the season 4 finale was spectacular and season five has, thus far brought the show back around…

I’m currently seven episodes into the fifth season and it’s as compelling as it was the first time around… it’s probably not as good as Lost has been, but it’s certainly one of the best shows in television’s recent history… the weirdest thing for me right now is that i keep expecting Weiss to start reading everyone’s mind…

BREAKING THE TAPE
- now playing: The Distance – Cake

somewhat unrelated and somewhat entirely related (i’ll let you be the judge) i’ve been doing a lot of file organization, cleaning up the music folders on my hard drive and cleaning out my email archives so that my server host doesn’t stop liking me because i use too much space…

anyway, in the process of cleaning out my old emails – and i do mean old – i stumbled across a series of emails from a rather difficult time in my life… a time when ties were cut and feelings were hurt and endings were realized… i probably dug up things that should remain buried, but i did notice a number of similarities between then and now… and, looking back, i’m starting to understand more the importance of finishing well…

the words of Paul haunt me as i think of how i’ve failed to finish well in the past… how i’ve chosen to fade out rather than burn out… (even though i’ve often felt burnt out)… how i haven’t necessarily run in such a way as to receive the prize… or always lived a life that’s worthy of Christ… and i think ahead… of how i can change… i think of how God intends these circumstances for good… and how a diligent worker will stand before kings… and how i can change and get there… just a lot of thoughts in my head…

IT’S OVER

kind of heavy there for a blog entry, but these things happen… coming soon, i’ve got a handful of EPs to talk about, i’ve got a stack of books to talk about… i’ve got some other stuff to write and i’ve got some things to do… lots to look forward to…

peace… love… bdg…