Feeling the Tug

I hope some of you guys were as surprised to read the Olympic Creed as I was. Both the creed and the news story were brought up in Sarah's message about Resilience this past Sunday at Mosaic, but I'll probably get to that later.

Plenty of stuff has gone down in the past week or so, so I probably won't be going into too much detail. Let's see...ahh yes. Last Friday night was Idina Menzel at the Wiltern! Unfortunately no photography was allowed inside the theater. You weren't even allowed to bring a camera in. I put mine in my pocket and snuck it in though. Anyway, this is the only picture you'll get.

My coworker Mike and I grabbed a quick but excellent dinner at Luna Park Restaurant before heading over to the theater. Once there, we hung out in the lobby of the amazing art-deco building and had a drink. It was probably a mistake for me to drink, however, as some of you may know that I have the stomach and bladder size of an 8 year old, and alcohol only makes things worse. In the hour and 15 minutes or so between when we got to the theater and when Idina went on after the opening act, I think I went to the bathroom at least four times. Luckily, though, I didn't have to go once she was onstage.

Before the show started, we saw and stood next to Bruce Vilanch, and yes, he looks like that in real life, too. Before Idina went onstage, her husband Taye Diggs walked through the audience looking for his seat, and walked down the aisle right next to our seats. It was pretty cool. Girls were going pretty crazy and stuff.

Anyway, of course Idina was great. Although the theater was huge, she played it like a small intimate theater, telling stories and interacting with the audience. She just seemed to be having a great time, very confident and comfortable in her own (unique) skin. One of my favorite parts of the show was when she kicked off her shoes and started headbanging to a cover of "Heartbreaker." And then, when the song ended, she still had energy, and had the band do the end of the song again. Even her band seemed to be having a great time, smiling and laughing along with the audience.

Other highlights were of course her musical theater songs, like "No Day but Today" from Rent and an a cappella solo version of "For Good" from Wicked towards the end of the performance. A lot of the stuff from her albums was great, too, including "Brave" and "Where do I Begin" which are some of my favorites.

Of course, Idina finished her encore with the song everyone was waiting for, "Defying Gravity." She performed the whole song while sitting on the end of the stage. The intimacy and emotion of the moment was amazing. Idina is great.

Saturday was a Digital Designer trip to Universal. Amy, Emily, Ian and I spent a fun day at the theme park. Here's a shot looking down into the Valley onto the Universal backlot at everything the fire cleared out. It's pretty crazy. Luckily you can see that the Courthouse building from Back to the Future was spared. And of course beyond the backlot you can see the Warner Bros. studio (wow, the Dark Knight seems so long ago!) and past that you can make out the top of the abc building and the rest of the Disney studio.

Here's a shot of the same basic area in the winter. You can't see as much of the backlot, but you can get a gauge of how big the fire was.  You can also get a gauge of how much clearer the air can be in the winter, ha.

Anyway, at the end of our day, we had a fun dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe Hollywood in Universal Citywalk. Once we got back to Westwood, we decided to head to the Westwood Brewing Company for a drink and to see if we could catch any of Michael Phelps' race. Luckily we could. How about that guy, huh? What a great story.

Sunday was a pretty regular Sunday, with some running, phone calls on campus, and an afternoon and evening downtown at Mosaic. Jason Jaggard delivered a message on discipline which was very cool, but then the coolest thing was when Erwin came out and introduced John Naber, a member of the Mosaic community and USA Olympic Swimmer at the 1976 summer games in Montreal. At the games, John set four world records and won five medals, four gold and one silver.

Erwin and John spoke about Michael Phelps, Dara Torres, and John's own Olympic experience. They talked about the training and discipline involved in all of their Olympic successes. It was pretty amazing to be able to gain such insight into the world of the Olympics as they were happening. As always, check out the podcast. 

This past weekend, the highlight was definitely a day at the beach Saturday with the roommates. Garrett, Chris, David and I went to Dockweiler Beach, where Goodwin's Church was having a beach day. Dockweiler was pretty cool because it's right at the end of the runways at LAX, so planes are constantly flying overhead. They usually aren't too loud, but every once in a while one of those huge double decker planes headed to Asia or Europe fly over and then you can't hear anything. It was fun though, because when that would happen you could just yell obnoxiously. Anyway, we played some hardcore beach volleyball, swam, relaxed and ate burgers on the beach. It was awesome.  

Saturday night I met Tegan and Ian at Amy's where we hung out, had some wine and ate Sprinkles cupcakes. They were delicious. We ended up watching the movie Crash, which I had never seen, and in a weird way, I found the movie pulling my heart to the city of Los Angeles, where it takes place. The movie was very powerful and amazing, not to mention the opening scene with Sandra Bullock and Brendan Fraser taking place right on Broxton, a street in Westwood I walk down every single day. I don't know what it was exactly, but it was definitely one of the first times I really felt a pull from Los Angeles.  Weird.

Sunday was a classic Sunday, with a run at UCLA, a few phone calls and a trip downtown to Mosaic. Again, walking to the Mayan Theatre and during my evening at Mosaic, I just could really feel the tug of the city on me. 

I don't really know how to describe it. I mean, I love the city, but there are plenty of reasons why I don't like it, too. I don't think the pull is for selfish reasons, since coming back to LA in the future would involve me giving up so much of what and who I know and love. At the same time, part of my noticing the tug came with my realization on Sunday though that the utopia of love and friendship that I feel at school in Cincinnati will not always exist, and when we start to graduate, people moving all over the country is pretty inevitable. 

At Mosaic on Sunday night I was reintroduced to Mayan all-star Jason Jaggard, and I mentioned to he and Adrian that I has been feeling a tug toward the city, and he told me "Just give in, man! Let it pull! Let it pull!" He said this place needs good people. Although I am definitely far from being "good people," the idea of living and working for healing in a place with so much need and brokenness right under the surface of so many is an amazing thought.

It's really weird having these thoughts with so much time left before I graduate. How much of a different man will I be in 2010? That's crazy. 

For now, my plan is to try to go to New York on co-op in the winter, to not pass up the opportunity to live that life for three months. I've got to say, the City of Angels has taken up a space in my heart that will not easily be forced out, and if nothing works out in the big apple, I'll definitely keep an eye on Southern California.

I am definitely going to try as much as possible to give up all of these decisions, both those in the coming months and those in the next few years. When the time comes, these decisions are not mine, but God's, and I don't want to get in the way.

A few weeks ago at Mosaic, Erwin McManus said that when you truly love God, what you want and what he wants becomes the same thing, and that is when life becomes the most fun. That is what I want. I'm not together, but I'm getting there.  

If anybody wants to get a small glimpse into a little of the city of Los Angeles that I have come to know and love over the almost six months I've spent here, check out this album on facebook, where the shots from church and the marquee are from.  They're not brilliant, but I think they do a good job showing a side or two of LA that you don't see in movies. 

Well kids, two weeks from tomorrow I fly back to Pittsburgh, having no idea when I'll be back. I have to say, though, I am confident that I will be. Man, I have a lot to think and pray about.

Rock on, everybody.