Hello there.

If you are reading this via web or via RSS feed, you are inevitably thinking to yourself, “wow, I forgot that Tufo was still even in the blogosphere.”

I have indeed dropped off the sphere for a while, but I’m back, with an entirely different paradigm for blogging called “Tumblelogging.”

Wiki explains it best: A tumblelog is a variation of a blog that favors short-form, mixed-media posts over the longer editorial posts frequently associated with blogging. Common post formats found on tumblelogs include links, photos, quotes, dialogues, and video. Unlike blogs, tumblelogs are frequently used to share the author’s creations, discoveries, or experiences while providing little or no commentary.

I notice alot of things online.  Things I want to share.  Tumblr has become my new blog home, therefor this is my final post on wordpress.  See the links below, and please join me there!

RSS Feed: feed://tufo.tumblr.com/rss

URL: http://tufo.tumblr.com/

My blog life might just get a pretty big lift.  Hawty McBloggy (http://hawtymcbloggy.com), a popular female gaming blog has offered to open up her “links” section.  I have posted and asked that she include TNC to her list! 

Can’t wait to see if it works, I’ll keep you updated!  

In other news: My xbox 360 is almost back from repair.  It’s schedule to come back tomorrow!  GEARS OF WAR 2 comes out tomorrow night!  HOORAY!  Good day.

I have said for quite some time that Tina Fey is one of my comedy heroes.  She is not only witty and funny, but she also succeeds in a male dominated field.  She stands above many of her male counterparts when it comes to producing comedy from a writing or an acting standpoint.  As a funny sidenote, she looks JUST like Sarah Palin, GOP Vice Presidential candidate.  Same glasses and everything.  Here is the video, it’s worth a watch….

SNL: Tina Fey as Sarah Palin

What a night tonight is going to be!  Finally the Bears get a re

match from Super Bowl XLI just 19 months ago when they choked and the Colts stole the show.

The stage is not set perfectly, although many of the keynote players are returning: Manning, Urlacher, Sanders, and Hester among them, of course.  Though it’s not the

 superbowl, I think it’s fitting that the Bears get to be the Colts’ first oponent in their new swanky stadium.

Growing up in central Indiana and being a Bears fan was tough.  It gets even tougher the few times that these inter-conference teams meet for a game.  I don’t expect an offensive spectacle from the Bears, and I expect that the Bears defense will do a great job of putting a muzzle on that loud Colts crowd when they stifle Manning and his offense.

Manning should be rusty, but unfortunately for the Bears, he’s still Manning, so he will shine as brightly as his supporting cast of receievers will allow.

I don’t want to bore you with my other thoughts about the game, but I WILL give you my final score prediction:

17-14 – BEARS WIN!  

I don’t normally write video game reviews, but this time I felt compelled. Let me say this first and foremost right off the bat: Castle Crashers is the deepest Xbox Live Arcade game that you will ever own. What’s the catch? It’s also one of the most expensive. Coming in at 15 bucks (1200 MS points), it would seem that the game should stand out as one of the deepest games on the Arcade.  It succeeds.  It features incredibly addicting online co-op play where you can get 4 of your friends and play though the entire campaign. Succinctly put, this is the only game that has managed to take me away from Halo for any amount of my gaming time.

What’s the best part about Castle Crashers? Primarily, it’s a great game for non-gamers to join you in if they are at your home. (As a side note to all other married gamers out there, it’s a great one to play with the missus!)

The game features many hidden items and unlockable elements for those of you who like item hunting! You can unlock 22 characters (you have 4 to begin with bringing the total to 26), you can unlock 23 animal orbs (that give you different abilities), you can unlock over 60 weapons (each of which also augment your abilities). Each of the 26 characters can be leveled up to 99, and after each level your character becomes more powerful, agile, defensive, and his magic ability increases. You can customize at what rate you want each attribute to grow, so you can create the perfect character for your preferences.

Bottom line: Get this game now. And play it with me online!

Once upon a time, I lived in a dorm room with my friend Chris who is a serious punk rock guitarist who listens to alot of Green Day. As is the case with most college students and their friends, I began to become a bit like Chris in the fact that I began listening to Green Day while I did my homework and stuff around the dorm room.

No Frickin' Games, indeed.

The point of the story is: All I could think of today when I saw the date was “Wake Me Up When September Ends” by Green Day.

This month is going to be all out crazy for me. I have no less than four quizzes every week at school (quizzes in seminary? I know, right..), I have to synthesize every book from Genesis to Esther for OT class, and we are launching a new campus ministry this fall (With the help of an irreplaceable ministry team)!

Being busy is a gift from God, though I don’t feel that way all the time. Robert Coleman said at a conference that I went to this past spring, “Today is a day of work, we can rest in the next age.” I sure hope it’s OK to get some Halo in there every now and again.

Currently listening to: Green Day – Wake Me Up When September Ends

Although this discussion is sort of a popular one at the moment, I wanted to toss in my two cents.

My first real encounter with the topic came when Jesus saved me. A handful of friends at the time influenced me to begin only listening to “Christian” music. At the time, I thought that this seemed like quiet a tall order, especially since most “Christian” bands don’t seem half as talented as their “secular” counterparts.

I went home from college to my parents house the summer after my freshman year with this new conviction and sold off my entire CD collection (in 2002, CDs were still barely popular… now, who wants a CD?) The logic behind this event escapes me. If I was too “holy” to listen to “secular” music, why should I sell it to someone else to listen to? I didn’t concern myself with such ramifications, I was merely on a quest to be as good of a Christian as possible. I figured, hey, if my friends suggested that this was something that I should do for Jesus, who was I to disagree, I mean, THEY knew Jesus better than me because I was new at this.

Enter summer of 2003. My wise campus minister and I are in Montevideo, Uruguay, riding in the back of a pickup truck quietly listening to the tires rumble over the rough pavement. We are looking out over the sea on which the sun is setting. I, thinking that I sounded smart and pious, commented that the setting sun looked amazing (I may have even said ‘beautiful’). Not sure how we got onto secular/sacred from there, but I do remember Roger (my campus minister) telling me to stop trying to categorize everything in life. Who was I to decide what was secular and what was sacred?

Do you know what I thought? I thought, “well, dangit Roger, I sure wish you would have told me this before I sold all my favorite CDs!” But I digress.

Just hearing/knowing that the dichotomy of secular/sacred does not exist was such a liberating moment in my life.

I live to be a missional person and to lead a missional ministry. Part of this is helping people understand that we cannot distinguish between the secular and the sacred. This interaction between sacred and secular is where God’s kingdom meets real life. We must tear down the notions that there are sacred spaces and activities. Eddie Gibbs says, “All of life must be made sacred.” How do we tear down the notion of sacred spaces and activities while at the same time encouraging people to understand all of life to be sacred?

I say we stop trying to distinguish between the two and simply acknowledging that the line is a shifting, blurry mess. Inside of that mess, we live our messy, Godly lives.

My new Taylor 210e. Sounds AMAZING!

I went through a dark time in my life when it comes to blogging.  It’s called SUMMER VACATION.  During the summer, I wrestled with the thought of closing down my blog. I never did, and I’m glad I didn’t.

I have alot to say, and this is a great place to say it.

Here goes nothin:

1. Summer was great.  Really refreshing.
2. This Fall semester at seminary is CRAZY.  I have a 2 quizes every Tuesday and Thursday!
3. I am in a band again!  To celebrate the occasion, I purchased my first TAYLOR acoustic guitar.
4. I have an awesome ministry team this year that is committed to praying, working, and changing the lives of college students.
5. Halo 3 is still the best videogame in the world.

What better way to summarize a large chunk of my life than an easily readable numbered list?  I know you appreciated it.  No need to thank me.

COMING UP NEXT: All things Tufo.

I realize I haven’t been around much, but guess what? My first year at seminary is DONE! WOOHOO!

Thought I’d say that so the world heard it.  Thank you, Internet.

WARNING: PERSONAL TRUTH BOMB BELOW.

There are moments in life that define us. They define our life, they define why we are the way we are, and they define what we are going to be. These are the moments in which we see a clear change before and after they occurred. They draw a proverbial line in the sand of our life. Falling in love is the highest expression of a moment.

For me, God is the subject of my greatest love story. He loved me enough to scoop me up from my disgusting unregenerate post in life and wrap His cleansing arms around me. Likewise, I love Him enough to share my story with everyone around me, just as He asked me to in His Word. Lest I begin preaching, this love story is not the reason for this post, but I wanted to mention it. Because I can. Because it’s my blog! BWAHAHaHA! *ahem*

I love my wife. Surprised? We were. My love story with Andrea had an incredible yet rocky beginning. I am a guitar player, yet not much of a lyricist or singer, and I have always wanted to write a song that described the emotions behind our beginnings as “Andrea and Ryan.” The story is powerful and meaningful to us. Music is the most powerful expression in my estimation, as it is the only art medium that has invoked laughing, crying, joy, sadness, anger, and love in me.

This is why when I heard a song called “Lonely September” by the Plain White T’s for the first time, I cried. It’s as if the songwriter observed the first 6 months of acquaintance between Andrea and I and put words to feelings. Rather than drag out this post, I would rather you listen to the song for yourself, as it speaks volumes to our experience. Until now, I have never heard a song in which I identified with every single line. I sat for many hours in Jones Hall at Indiana State University thinking the same thoughts that this song portrays.

We didn’t think it would happen. We didn’t anticipate it would happen. We didn’t mean for it to happen. Love is a funny thing and now that it’s happened, I cannot imagine life without her.

As you listen, I will paste the lyrics in this post so that you can read along if you wish.

NOTE: I searched YouTube to find a video to embed that had the song in it. Most of them were lame. However, I found a video of Jim and Pam from The Office. I decided to go with it because the JAM (Jim and Pam combined) story is the best love story on television and The Office is my favorite show.

The Lyrics:

I’m sittin’ here all by myself
just tryin’ to think of something to do
Tryin’ to think of something, anything
just to keep me from thinking of you
But you know it’s not working out
’cause you’re all that’s on my mind
One thought of you is all it takes
to leave the rest of the world behind

[Chorus]
Well I didn’t mean for this to go as far as it did
And I didn’t mean to get so close and share what we did
And I didn’t mean to fall in love, but I did
And you didn’t mean to love me back, but I know you did

I’m sittin’ here tryin’ to convince myself
that you’re not the one for me
But the more I think, the less I believe it
and the more I want you here with me
You know the holidays are coming up
I don’t want to spend them alone
Memories of Christmas time with you
will just kill me if I’m on my own

[Chorus]
Well I didn’t mean for this to go as far as it did
And I didn’t mean to get so close and share what we did
And I didn’t mean to fall in love, but I did
And you didn’t mean to love me back

I know it’s not the smartest thing to do
we just can’t seem to get it right
But what I wouldn’t give to have one more chance tonight
One more chance tonight

I’m sittin’ here tryin’ to entertain myself with this old guitar
But with all my inspiration gone it’s not getting me very far
I look around my room and everything I see reminds me of you
Oh please, baby won’t you take my hand
we’ve got nothing left to prove

[Chorus]
Well I didn’t mean for this to go as far as it did
And I didn’t mean to get so close and share what we did
And I didn’t mean to fall in love, but I did
And you didn’t mean to love me back, but I know you did

And I didn’t mean to meet you then
we were just kids
And I didn’t mean to give you chills
the way that I kiss
And I didn’t mean to fall in love, but I did
And you didn’t mean to love me back but I know you did
Don’t say you didn’t love me back ’cause you know you did
No, you didn’t mean to love me back
But you did