i noticed something as i was driving around my neighborhood today. all the streets are named after famous artists. the only one that i didn't recognize was my street, saarinen. hmmm... i never really thought about who my street was named after. thanks to google, i found out that eero saarinen was the finnish architect responsible for such designs as the gateway arch in st. louis and the dulles int'l airport. interesting. but, if he were to see the homes lined across my street, saarinen would probably roll over in his grave. my street, as well as most others in irvine, is quite void of architectural originality. i'm not complaining. all the homes around here are plenty spacious with manicured lawns. i know that there are people around the world who cannot even begin to fathom my level of comfort. but, i think that living in orange county can dull your senses. if you ever fly out of john wayne airport, look out your window. you'll see nothing down there but rows of homes standing at attention like a garrison of troops lined up for inspection. ready to impress. all lined up, neat and perfect, looking the same. perfectly dulling the senses. they're getting ready to attack the unorganized troops of la.

remember in the movie, 'demolition man,' how the city was so perfect that when some kids vandalized a wall with spray paint, an automatic nozzle popped up from the ground and painted the wall back to its original color? well, i think irvine is going to install those things next week. that was just a joke...hopefully. irvine, perfectly bland. we have every franchise store imaginable. perfectly bland. dulling the senses. first visually, now they got my taste buds. i'm sure they'll find a way to get the others.

with my senses dulled, i don't realize how lucky i am to be here. they were able to block out all the bad stuff. like having steak at every meal. after awhile, it tastes like cardboard and you forget how expensive the stuff is. i'm beyond rambling now...

i had a moment during the closing praise in sunday worship. the lyrics had something to do with the whole earth praising God's name, and not in an end-times sorta way. people were really excited (maybe cuz service was ending soon) and were belting out the words at the top of their lungs. i was suddenly saddened by what was transpiring before me. maybe i was being cynical and i was taking the song to an unintended level of meaning. i was sad cuz the whole world doesn't worship and praise God. many don't know him, some curse him, and some praise him silently in fear of goverment police. but, i felt like these people were either not aware of what they were singing or they were too steeped in comfort to know any better. glazed eyes and stupid grins. we were so blessed to have a praise band, a place to worship, and to do it all so freely. i hope that's why people were smiling. dulled senses. pavlov's dog-like responses. loud praise music means ya gotta smile and sing like a fool. it's expected. we've been doin it for years.

i gotta try and always be on alert. i don't wanna get comfortable. don't want senses to get dulled. this isn't my home and there's much to do before i get there.

**disclaimer: yes, i'm a depraved sinner with too much time on my hands. this is an incomplete picture of my thoughts. don't be stumbled by some of my comments. i enjoy connecting unrelated thoughts to create meaning.**