Signature of Divine

Most of my blog readers from long ago know how much I love Phil Wickham. Heck, he’s the reason why I started this blog in the first place! I’ve been a very devoted fan for two years and you might remember my whole obsession and how I went crazy when his sophomore [major] album Cannons released. To this day, I love love love that album. Yesterday I preordered his newest album, although you get an immediate download of both the normal version AND an acoustic version. So before you buy it, let me give you a quick-ish review of Heaven and Earth (:

I’ll start off with a general, simple description of the normal album. It’s a nice blend of great worship lyrics with a not-so-worshipy sound, making it stand out from the sometimes generic worship albums we see today. However, if you’re the kind of person who likes the usual, simple worship music, stick with the acoustic.  As a little gift for the long-time fans, there is a song on Heaven and Earth from his very first independent album Give You My World [a little blast from the past] called “Because of Your Love”. As far as I’m concerned it isn’t too different from the original, which is definitely a good thing. (:

I consider this the more opinionated part of my review. Now in case you couldn’t tell, the album is very thematic, focused around the topic of heaven. The theme element makes all the songs cohesively flow together, although at times one might find themselves wishing that there was more  of lyrical distinction between the songs. Luckily Phil is a magnificent songwriter so overall the lyrics do not disappoint at all. However, I would have liked him to experiment more with the melodies in order to make all the songs sound different, not only from each other, but from the songs on his other albums.

It might sound that I’m bored with this album, but the thing that I really enjoy about it is how Phil’s sound has evolved a bit over the years. His first projects have no fancy sound effects at all. Cannons has a little hint of them in some songs. However, in this album you can tell that they’ve stepped it up with elaborate sound effects, which I think increased the overall sound quality. For this very reason, I actually like the original better than the acoustic version of Heaven and Earth. In my honest opinion, the acoustic version sounds too much like ordinary worship music that all sounds the same after a while. But again it’s all a matter of preferred music taste, so don’t let me discourage you from buying the acoustic stuff [although it's only available with the $30 preorder package that will be unavailable soon, so get it now!].

So far my favorite song is “Eden”. Maybe because it’s the only song that I really know since I downloaded it a month or two ago…Or maybe because it’s such a beautiful song (:

Overall, I must admit I liked Cannons better. And despite the fact that my review is not all “THIS ALBUM IS INCREDIBLE”, it’s still definitely worth the money. I do plan to listen to this album a lot during the next couple days/weeks, and I’m pretty sure it’ll continue growing on me. Overall, from a more objective standpoint [and I'm sure eventually from a subjective one too], I give it 4 out of 5 stars!

Now it would make more sense if I posted the actual commercial first, but I personally enjoy the behind-the-scenes video more. As you might know, I’ve been to Salt Lake City and stood inside that very tabernacle that Rhett and Link go to in the video!  (:

How We Sell Cheap Haircuts

• Now you might be wondering why I have changed the title up a bit today. Well my blog stats lately, and today especially, have been miraculously awesome.
• I think the reason for the good stats is this. YES. JON FOREMAN RETWEETED ME. I’m STILL excited for it. Just to avoid confusion, he was asking his Tweeps to come up with words that rhymed with purple, silver, or orange. And it’s true, Hello Hurricane is incredible. GET IT! If you’re poor like me, ask someone to get it for you! Haha.
• Veteran’s Day is this week. I finally get a FULL day off of school. YAY!
• I never finished Pearl Harbor…but I did finish the essay from last week, don’t worry ;)
• Now that the show I wanted desperately to go to is cancelled, I really just want to go to any concert. But alas, no one else is coming to South Florida. Story of my life.
• This Holiday Life is too good. I miss them :(
• I think I’ve had a little too much coffee today. Whoops.

You know what, I’m just gonna make this post up as I go along. I wanted to share a post with my readers [all three of you], but wasn’t sure of a specific topic, so I’ll just enlighten you on my life lately.

So I don’t remember if I mentioned the Owl City/Deas Vail show in Ft. Lauderdale I REALLY NEEDED TO GO TO…but I guess I’m going to have to live without it. The show is sold out. When I read that, I literally was about to cry. I felt the tears in my eyes. I had a feeling all along that it was too good to be true, but just knowing that now it’s impossible for me to go, I’m pretty bummed.

This last week at school was so…blah. I had a couple tests, which sucked so bad. I wrote yet another mediocre AP essay, giving me a C as the first grade of the grading period -.- The whole AP system is just EVIL. Makes me feel so stupid.

However, there have been good points. This week I sat with my friend Lauren from Cru to call some people who had filled out some surveys and contacts cards at our table/weekly meeting. What we do is pick the people who showed some interest in Campus Crusade and/or a bible study and stuff, call them up, and set up a little meeting with them so we can talk to them. Sort of like follow up. I am NOT very good at talking on the phone, but it wasn’t bad at all. I set up two meetings with people, maybe three after I call this girl back. I’m sort of apprehensive about doing all this, but I will let God use me regardless.

Another amazing thing that happened this week was finding out that my wonderful friend Daniel from J-ville ordered Switchfoot’s new album for me!!! I’ve heard it’s awesome, which is expected from a person as brilliant as Jon Foreman, so I can’t wait to get my hands on it!
- Literally right after I published this post I went to check the mail and I now have it in my hands!!!

The Food Network is unusually addictive.

I posted Rhett’s hillbilly alter ego Rusty interviewing his dad a while ago, but I never posted the video of Larnold and his father! Enjoy. I’m pretty sure this is all improv, which makes it even better.

Fathers Day Extra: Larnold and His Daddy

• So, this is the last post for my “blog-everyday-week”! I hope my posts have not been absolutely boring you to death. I mean people have been reading but only a total of three different people commented. Haha. It proves how lame I really am! Oh well, it’s not like I didn’t already know that.
• Part of the reason why I’m writing this post is to avoid having to write an essay for AP English about Crime and Punishment. I really hate AP essays. They make me feel so stupid -.-
• After my essay I really want to finish watching Pearl Harbor. I watched half of it with Brie at church on her laptop, and will watch the rest on Youtube. It just sucks I have to work before…*sigh*
• So, Daylight Savings Time ended today. It’s good on the day it happens since you get more sleep, but then it’s just depressing all other days. It gets dark so quickly :(
• After yesterday I REALLY need to go to the Owl City/Deas Vail show in February in Ft. Lauderdale! Or…I don’t know what horrible things might happen.
• Isn’t in crazy that it’s already November? Dang. Oh well, I’m excited for the whole Thanksgiving/Christmas season…it’s my favorite :D

Hey sorry this is sort of late, but it’s still Saturday. I have no time to write a lot before midnight so I will keep it short and sweet.

This was easily my favorite Halloween EVER [even though I don't celebrate it really --today just happened to be awesome].  Why?

- My church had this huge event for tonight, sort of like a harvest carnival. A TON of kids showed up and I was so happy to see some of my campers from during the summer that I missed terribly. Had a great time with them and also with kids that I had just met today. I got to share the whole Gospel with them because of some bracelets [the ones with the colored beads] we were giving out, and that was cooler than anything.

- Afterwards, the youth got to rest from manning the booths and we hung out upstairs. I was chatting with some people when someone called me unexpectedly from a concert he went to tonight. He then proceeded to ask me if I wanted to talk to a guy named Wes, also known as the LEAD SINGER FOR DEAS VAIL!!! It was just incredible. My heart was pounding. I was ECSTATIC. PLUS, I don’t think I made a total fool of myself. SCORE! I am still recovering from the excitement.

-To top it all off, I DOMINATED at Settlers, beating my main fake enemy Steve from Wisconsin [I'm ALWAYS making fun of him, as a joke] in the process, doing some pretty good trash talking in the middle. SO very satisfying! I haven’t won in SO LONG.

Overall, AMAZING NIGHT. I will go to sleep happy.

Picture blog time!
Last year Brie, Hannah, Laura, Julie and I carved some huge pumpkins at Julie’s house and had a grand old time taking all the pumpkin crap out from the inside and using our strength and power tools to make our pumpkins pretty. However, the whole process took FOREVER and it was terribly messy. This year we were smart and carved fake foam pumpkin. It took like…20 minutes. Haha. But now I can keep my awesome pumpkin forever! Last year’s was awesome, inspired by Phil Wickham’s signature smiley [although I just noticed I ASSUMED the eyes were stars...oh well], so I recreated it in its immortal form. Here ya go!

After pumpkin carving my sister had a dentist appointment and I was forced to go to too. I waited in the waiting room [makes sense now, read some People and stumbled upon an interesting article...

Hmmm...this rings a bell...[read the second to last paragraph]

And yes, there he is! I remember him!

It’s super awesome that a magazine such as People that is usually full of celebrity tabloid craziness took notice of such an awesome organization, especially a church. I was pleasantly suprised (:

Questions:
Do you regularly carve pumpkins during the fall [real or foam]?
Do you enjoy seeing glimpses of God in places you wouldn’t expect them?

A friend suggested I blog about the things that really get on my nerves throughout the day…However, I am a person who is easily irked, so this will be a series of rants based on things that have bothered me…only today.

“Those Religious people…”
I am seriously so sick of that word…or actually that stereotype. People don’t realize the whole difference between religion and faith/a relationship. And I know a lot of people don’t know about it, which is why they just put on the religious stamp on people automatically if they even mention God [without saying his name in vain]. But it’s not just that they say religious, it’s the connotation that goes with it –HOW they say it, what they mean by it. A friend recently described it to me…she called me a religious freak [jokingly, I think]. So even though most people wouldn’t say it out loud, the “freak” is almost always implied. I was sitting with some friends from school and a girl from Cru was reading her Bible at the table next to us, and offered to give up her table since there were a lot of us around one tiny table. We said no thanks, but then when the girl left my friend was like, “You know that girl that randomly asked us if we wanted her table? She was religious. She was reading a Bible and stuff. Weird. So many religious people are always here [the bookstore cafe, aka Cru Bible study headquarters!].” -.- It’s just…annoying. AND I hate it when “religious” people [not just actually religious people, but the stereotype] are blamed for EVERYTHING. Today we were watching a video on sexual prejudice in psych and this guy was like, “The people who show hate toward homosexuals are mostly the religious people”. First off, there are plenty of “non-religious” people who are hostile toward gays. Secondly, not all “religious” people/Christian hate homosexuals. Sure, we hate homosexuality just like we hate lying and stealing. But we don’t [or shouldn't] hate homosexuals or liars or thieves. I think if one notices someone with a Bible or whatever, they shouldn’t stamp them with the “religious freak” label. Ask them about it and maybe they’ll tell you something really cool (:

Free abortions as part of healthcare bill? Really?
Okay this is gonna be shorter, because I don’t feel the need to state the reason why I’m against killing babies. I think it’s pretty obvious. Today in government class we were talking about this potential part of the new healthcare program. I just don’t understand how [as I have read some people say on Facebook] there is a huge fine for damaging eagle eggs and being mean to animals, but the government will pay to kill human babies. AND, when a person kills a pregnant woman, it counts as killing two people, but abortion isn’t murder. Uh…what? Sure the pregnant lady actually wanted her baby, but babies are people whether their mother wants them or not. Sorry, I don’t get it. And don’t try to explicitly/hostiley argue or anything, because I don’t really want drama first of all, but also because my stance won’t change anyway.

Calculus:
Do I even have to explain why calculus gets on my nerves? Just look at it, and you’ll understand. However, I bet your teacher actually taught the material he/she included on her tests. My teacher? Yeah…uh no. It’s not good when you’re confronted with a totally brand new concept that your teacher never even mentioned…on a test, especially. *sigh* I’m lucky I have the initiative to get online tutoring, learn the material on my own, and get an A in that class.

This post is pretty angry today…sorry about that. But tell me…

Thoughts? [ just remember, avoid arguing and don't be hostile] (:

Artist: Owl City [Adam Young]
Album: Ocean Eyes

I think it really sucks that Owl City is becoming so mainstream and that EVERYBODY loves him all of a sudden [even though everyone is always saying THEM, which is a specific pet peeve of mine], mostly because I am very possesive of bands I like when they break out into the general market…but anyway, I will always love Adam Young because I know he will not get caught up in the whole mainstream fame crap. And also, his music is just always makes me happy, even when it’s sad [though that's rare]. Now I’ll admit that most of his songs don’t have a deep message or a point really, other than just to be fun and lighthearted, which is a great contrast to those melancholy or plain out depressing songs. I mean those are good too, but sometimes you need a break from them. However, this song is more “love song” oriented, and it’s SUPER CUTE.  This is one of those “if-a-guy-ever-sincerely-sang-this-to-me-I’d-love-him-forever” songs. I actually had a dream about Adam last night that only lasted 5 minutes but it just made me so happy in the morning. I bet he is the kind of friend that one can always turn to if they need to be cheered up. I want to be his friend! :(

Oh well, I’ll get over it and let you listen to the song (:

Lyrics:

The stars lean down to kiss you
and I lie awake and miss you
Pour me a heavy dose of atmosphere
‘Cause I’ll doze off safe and soundly
but I’ll miss your arms around me
I’d send a post card to you dear
‘Cause I wish you were here.

I’ll watch the night turn light blue
but it’s not the same without you
Because it takes two to whisper quietly.
The silence isn’t so bad
’til I look at my hands and feel sad
‘Cause the spaces between my fingers
Are right where yours fit perfectly.

I’ll find repose in new ways
though I haven’t slept in two days
‘Cause cold nostalgia chills me to the bone
but drenched in vanilla twilight
I’ll sit on the front porch all night,
Waist-deep in thought
because when I think of you
I don’t feel so alone
I don’t feel so alone
I don’t feel so alone

As many times as I blink
I’ll think of you tonight
I’ll think of you tonight

When violet eyes get brighter
and heavy wings grow lighter
I’ll taste the sky and feel alive again
and I’ll forget the world that I knew
but I swear I won’t forget you
Oh, if my voice could reach back through the past
I’d whisper in your ear,
“Oh, darling I wish you were here”

Video:

Vanilla Twilight – Owl City

Question: What has been one of your favorite songs lately?