Various and Sundry Items

Item the First—A Puppy

I went to Chipotle to grab a burrito tonight. When I was leaving, there was an SUV parked next to me, and inside was a man in the driver's seat holding one of the cutest little puppies you will ever see. He (the man, not the puppy) rolled down the window so I could take a closer look. My heart melted tremendously at how cute this little tyke was. He's 2½ months old and half the weight of when he will be full grown. His name is is Pilate (Pontius Pilate); they wanted to give him a really big name to make up for how tiny he is. I responded, "as long as he doesn't take after him", and the man agreed that he wouldn't. Pilate is a cross between a chihuahua and a rat terrier with the markings of the terrier. He was one of two pups in the litter, and his sister looks like a chihuahua. I hated to leave because the pup was so adorable.

Item the Second—Church and worship

I went to church tonight. I never seem to make it on Sunday mornings except to teach Bible study at 11:00. Saturday night is a contemporary service, which I enjoy very much. I don't think a contemporary service is more worshipful than a traditional service, or vice versa. However, there is more freedom of expression in a contemporary service. If you want to raise your hands, do it. If you don't want to do that, don't. Very simple.

I met some friends at the service who normally attend another church (First Baptist of Houston), but the freeway is closed where the church is (I-10 and 610), so they decided to come to our church tonight (Tallowood Baptist). <sarcasm>I hate our contemporary services when I'm in a funk, because I'm always faced with the greatness and goodness of God and the conviction of my own sin.</sarcasm> Tonight was no different.

Item the Third—Music

Today I got the music I ordered from BMG last weekend. This is the first music I've bought in almost a year. Why so long? For one, I'd rather buy comics and DVDs since there's so little current music out that I enjoy. Second is that BMG carries a very small selection of music compared to what's available, so that when I'm ready to buy some music, I usually can't find anything to buy to meet the requirements of any deal they offer. I know BMG is not the only source of music, but if I can get the average cost of a CD below $7.00, I'm going that way. One other thing that really irks me about BMG is the so-called "special" new release status of certain albums. Evanescence is a case in point. Released in 2003, their first (only?) CD is still under this special status, meaning essentially that you have to pay BMG a premium to buy this CD. Its purchase doesn't count toward club purchase fulfillment; it is not available as a free selection; and it's purchase does not allow you to take any other CDs free. I can see maybe six months, but two years? give me a large break.

Here's the music and my anticipated enjoyment on a scale of 1-10 (1-low, 10 high):

#	Artist	Title	Anticipated Enjoyment
1	Shawn McDonald	Live in Seattle	8
2	Passion (various)	How Great is Our god	9
3	Joshua Bell	Romance of the Violin	7
4	Jars of Clay	Redemption Songs	8
5	Bobby Darin	Live from Las Vegas	7