Concerts and Garage Sales
Well, this weekend, we had quite an adventure as we headed down to Six Flags Great Adventure to see Third Day in Concert. We got to the park fairly early and were able to hit the Safari ride in the morning. One thing we learned is that giraffes are very inquisitive creatures. Specifically, they love cars. As we were driving through the park, we got stuck in a traffic jam caused by six giraffes in the road, examining all the different cars. Below, we are approaching one that looks like it is about to pounce. (Note: I took my Canon Powershot along with me, but the battery died shortly after entering the park, so most of these were taken with my phone, unfortunately).
A North American Bison, crossing the road in front of us.
Who doesn't love a moose in a pond?
Finally, we got to the park. Before the Third Day concert, we were able to hit a bunch of awesome rides. I had the privilege of taking Michael on his very first "big" roller coaster. For those of you who have been to Great Adventure, you will know that Skull Mountain isn't really one of those big, scary roller coasters. Still, it was a far cry from the little ones that you find at carnivals that he was used to. It was a really hot day, and my shoulders are a lovely rose-colored shade, but all-in-all, it was a fun filled day.
As I usually am when I go to Christian concerts, I was a bit confused. I thoroughly enjoy Third Day and I love Mac Powell's voice. If your speakers are not on, please do turn them on and you will hear some of their music. However, Third Day's music has become incredibly popular in the world of contemporary Christian music. Many of their songs have become worships songs, sung in church. Countless people know all the words by heart. Thus, a concert has become something like a worship session. And this is where I get confused. I have nothing against people who love to worship Jesus any time at any opportunity, but to be honest, I go to a concert to listen to music. So, at Christian concerts, where performance is turned into worship (or in some cases, the other way around), I'm never sure what to do. So, while others are waving their hands and exclaiming "Hallelujah," I end up sitting there awkwardly, sometimes clapping my hands. But please, don't get the wrong impression. It was a very enjoyable concert. I just wanted to share my confusion. Does anyone else feel that way? Maybe I'm just weird. Well...
Moving along, on a completely different note, did you know that the average American produces 4.5 pounds of trash per day? That's more trash per capita than any other nation in the world. I could sling a whole bunch of other statistics at you, but I think we all realize that America is definitely a disposable society. "Ending is better than mending," is the brainwashing message in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, and we (including myself) have come to live by this. We buy, we use, throw away, generating huge amounts of waste. Now, if you know me well, you know that I'm not a crazy treehugger, but this is actually a problem. I don't think anyone can deny that.
So, what did they teach us in elementary school? Reduce, reuse, recycle! Well, its pretty easy to recycle most things. But what about reusing? Sometimes that's not so easy. How do we reuse stuff that we really don't want anymore? And how do we reuse stuff that we didn't have in the first place? That's where garage sales come in!! On the way home from our fun weekend, we came across a few garage sales. So of course we stopped. We found some pretty good stuff. My find of the day was this gorgeous piece of handwoven, silk fabric.
The lady I bought it from said she got it at an antique market in Abu Dhabi (which I learned is the capital of the United Arab Emirates), although it was probably made in Asia. I think it's absolutely gorgeous and will probably make it into a wallhanging for my apartment next year.
Anyway, I know that was pretty random, but I will probably come back to the issues of consumerism and waste in later posts, because they've been bugging me lately.
Thanks for reading!
A North American Bison, crossing the road in front of us.
Who doesn't love a moose in a pond?
Finally, we got to the park. Before the Third Day concert, we were able to hit a bunch of awesome rides. I had the privilege of taking Michael on his very first "big" roller coaster. For those of you who have been to Great Adventure, you will know that Skull Mountain isn't really one of those big, scary roller coasters. Still, it was a far cry from the little ones that you find at carnivals that he was used to. It was a really hot day, and my shoulders are a lovely rose-colored shade, but all-in-all, it was a fun filled day.
As I usually am when I go to Christian concerts, I was a bit confused. I thoroughly enjoy Third Day and I love Mac Powell's voice. If your speakers are not on, please do turn them on and you will hear some of their music. However, Third Day's music has become incredibly popular in the world of contemporary Christian music. Many of their songs have become worships songs, sung in church. Countless people know all the words by heart. Thus, a concert has become something like a worship session. And this is where I get confused. I have nothing against people who love to worship Jesus any time at any opportunity, but to be honest, I go to a concert to listen to music. So, at Christian concerts, where performance is turned into worship (or in some cases, the other way around), I'm never sure what to do. So, while others are waving their hands and exclaiming "Hallelujah," I end up sitting there awkwardly, sometimes clapping my hands. But please, don't get the wrong impression. It was a very enjoyable concert. I just wanted to share my confusion. Does anyone else feel that way? Maybe I'm just weird. Well...
Moving along, on a completely different note, did you know that the average American produces 4.5 pounds of trash per day? That's more trash per capita than any other nation in the world. I could sling a whole bunch of other statistics at you, but I think we all realize that America is definitely a disposable society. "Ending is better than mending," is the brainwashing message in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, and we (including myself) have come to live by this. We buy, we use, throw away, generating huge amounts of waste. Now, if you know me well, you know that I'm not a crazy treehugger, but this is actually a problem. I don't think anyone can deny that.
So, what did they teach us in elementary school? Reduce, reuse, recycle! Well, its pretty easy to recycle most things. But what about reusing? Sometimes that's not so easy. How do we reuse stuff that we really don't want anymore? And how do we reuse stuff that we didn't have in the first place? That's where garage sales come in!! On the way home from our fun weekend, we came across a few garage sales. So of course we stopped. We found some pretty good stuff. My find of the day was this gorgeous piece of handwoven, silk fabric.
The lady I bought it from said she got it at an antique market in Abu Dhabi (which I learned is the capital of the United Arab Emirates), although it was probably made in Asia. I think it's absolutely gorgeous and will probably make it into a wallhanging for my apartment next year.
Anyway, I know that was pretty random, but I will probably come back to the issues of consumerism and waste in later posts, because they've been bugging me lately.Thanks for reading!
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