Joel profile picture

Joel

okay, i feel a bit better

About Me

i like people a lot. a whole lot. people intrigue me, mostly the stories of how people got to where they are. i'm realizing how poor i am at just enjoying life and loving each step of the way... that's been my goal in this new season: to live and love well. that takes shape through my friendships, love for music, culture, art, expression, creativity, traveling, you name it. finally, i think i'm realizing how screwed up i am. i am a bundle of contradictions... i'm passionate one second and lost the next, but that's ok. we're all on this strange pilgrimage, eh? the destination, although still far off, reaches into the present and pulls me along and gives me a taste of what is to come... that's what gets me up in the morning and gives me life and hope.

My Interests

People, laughter, learning to live, reading, coffee, listening to music, soccer, writing songs, ultimate frisbee, traveling, scooters, snowboarding, live music, food, bubble tea, walking, journaling, golfing (horribly at that), raw cookie dough waiting to be stolen before it gets into the oven, grape nuts soaked in milk for about 5 minutes and a scoop of sugar.

I'd like to meet:

anybody that's real and wrestling w/ life.

Music:

Josh Rouse, Lovedrug, Copeland, Aqualung, Patty Griffin, Sleeping At Last, Umbrellas, Over The Rhine, Ryan Adams, Pedro The Lion, Bright Eyes, M-83, Emery Clark, Sigur Ros, 16 Horsepower, Death Cab For Cutie, Student Film, The Police, Zwan, Travis, The Wallflowers, Neon Joseph, Augustana, Flaming Lips, KC Clifford, Frou Frou, Radiohead, The Black Peppercorns, The Eagles, Dinosaur Jr, Neon Joseph, The Pale, Judson Layne, Oasis, Watashi Wa, A-ha, The Cooper Temple Clause, Ben Kweller, The Shins, Counting Crows, Keane, Pete Yorn, Brandston, Shannon Horn, Juliana Theory, Waterdeep, The Decemberists, Little League Hero, Damien Rice, Athlete, Sherwood, Broken Social Scene, The Cure, Howie Day, The Normals, U2, Sting, Toad The Wet Sprocket, Wilco, Eisley, Jimmy Eat World, Arcade Fire, Snow Patrol, Derek Webb, Earlimart, Eager Seas, Mat Kearney, Don Chaffer

Movies:

Constant Gardener, Beyond Borders, About Schmidt, Garden State, Saved, About A Boy, The Station Agent, Gladiator, Napoleon Dynamite, Anchorman, Last Of The Mohicans, Braveheart, Lord Of The Rings, Hotel Rwanda, Rudy

Television:

24, Arrested Development, and The Price Is Right...

Books:

Traveling Mercies, Interpreter of Maladies, Windows Of The Soul, Chasing The Dragon, Bono (in conversation with Michka Assayas), The Heavenly Man, God's Politics, No Compromise, Desiring God, Red Moon Rising, Knowledge Of The Holy, The Great Divorce, The Life Of Pi, Theirs Is The Kingdom, Rich Christians In An Age Of Hunger

Heroes:

Jesus, my parents, Keith Green, Martin Luther King Jr, Jackie Pullinger, Jim Wallis, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther, Mother Teresa, Bono, Paul Farmer, Greg Haugen, Ghandi, and my brother...

My Blog

3 years ago

this is a crazy thought, but 2 years and 363 days ago, i was cramming my civic with the only possessions i had. musical instruments, amps, clothes, and a heart bent more on risk than on comfort or ea...
Posted by Joel on Thu, 03 May 2007 09:26:00 PST

new orleans is alive

i'm sitting here at cafe' envie on decatur in the french quarters of new orleans... this was my first trip to the 2nd oldest city in the us (st. augustine in florida is the first) and am honored to b...
Posted by Joel on Thu, 22 Mar 2007 01:33:00 PST

loved

i haven't written a blog in a long time... partially because life's been so busy. partially because i have nothing to say and don't want to ramble about empty words. i just had a random thought, so...
Posted by Joel on Thu, 01 Feb 2007 02:04:00 PST

to live one day well

i was having a conversation with a friend yesterday who said something that stuck with me. he said that most people are usually stuck in the the past or striving toward something in the future, ultim...
Posted by Joel on Mon, 27 Feb 2006 07:42:00 PST

"we also suffer"

i'm reading a little piece about dostoevsky that stuck out to me this evening. he was a russian author in the 19th century that was thrown in jail because he belonged to a group considered by the tsa...
Posted by Joel on Thu, 09 Feb 2006 09:38:00 PST

the last laugh

i'm getting kinda sleepy here, and no one else is awake. my grandparents went to sleep at 7:30pm!!!! how sweet is that?!?!?! i read something from brennan manning that sparked some cool stuff ins...
Posted by Joel on Fri, 23 Dec 2005 10:28:00 PST

some christmas thoughts

just flew into san diego for christmas... glad to be here with the fam! it's such a gift that my grandparents are alive and kicking, not to mention hilarious. also the parents are here from brazil,...
Posted by Joel on Fri, 23 Dec 2005 10:23:00 PST

the poor, the scammed, & broken down vehicles

so i was leaving quail spring mall yesterday, late, running off to my next "thing" and as i was driving down memorial i saw a car broken down on the side of the road and a man (whose race will go unme...
Posted by Joel on Fri, 16 Dec 2005 07:34:00 PST

my brother

i like my brother. he's 2 years older than me, so i've known him a while. the last year has been a crazy year of change and sad things happening in his life. being out here in slo this time i notic...
Posted by Joel on Mon, 05 Dec 2005 07:41:00 PST

meanderings in amsterdam

well, i made it... tried to leave on tuesday, but there were crazy storms in houston preventing us from making our connecting flight to amsterdam. the time at the airport was pretty anti-climatic, a...
Posted by Joel on Thu, 17 Nov 2005 08:11:00 PST