TOMS: Shoes That Fight Back

Part of being a good person requires that we care for the broken world around us. Spare change for the guy on the street corner, picking up the abandoned trash on the beach, recognizing that we have a job to do. This comes with a price. TOMS shoes is a company that builds simple canvas shoes and when you purchase a pair, a second pair is delivered to a person in need in a developing part of the world.

I own TOMS and wear them frequently. I like knowing that someone else in the world is wearing the same pair, kind of like one of those broken-heart necklaces, without the heart, necklace, or cheesy inscription.

As I said earlier, there is always a catch. My first day wearing them yielded some strange looks and off-color remarks, the best was when somebody said, “you look like a gay ninja.” Is this the price for caring for the world? A gay ninja? I have never even heard of a gay ninja. I picture Perez Hilton in a leotard with a screen pressed unicorn, throwing purple smoke bombs and swatting at people with rainbow colored nunchucks.

Nonetheless, I have done something. I have looked at the world and seen that not all is right. There is brokenness all around. Buying shoes will not end poverty, feed the homeless, or father the orphans, but it is a small step in recognizing that everyone can help. Besides, who said there is anything wrong with a gay ninja?

Have You Flossed Today?

For me, laying down in the dentist chair looking up at two hands and protective glasses is usually follow by the statement, "you really should floss more."

Who really wants to floss? Do we really have time for it?

As I drove home from work the other I was pleased to see a lady in the car next to me flossing in the rear view mirror. Normally I am not a fan of people pulling out their toilettry bag in their vehicle, turn the mirror towards themselves, and therefore subjecting us to their unfocused driving. But this day was different. She was doing something I know I need to do.

I tried to capture the moment, but its hard while your driving. (Ironically, something else you shouldn't do while operating a vehicle.)

Cool Dad Moment

Coming from a family without a consistent dad in my childhood, I like to highlight "cool dad moments" here.

Yesterday my wife dragged me to a taping of American Idol and we stood outside in line for 2 hours before they let us in to the studio. Next to us in line was a father and his 13 year-old daughter. As we talked with them about American Idol, who they think should win, and how amazing Ryan Seacrest is (I had no part in this conversation), we came to learn that they are from San Francisco.

They got tickets to AI on Friday, booked a flight, and flew down Tuesday morning for the taping. After the show, flew back. That is a cool dad.

Easter 2009

Grace National Park

River guides might be the most fascinating people on the planet. A couple years ago I had the opportunity to go river rafting in Montana. The river was glacier run-off from Glacier National Park and was a chilly 45 degrees. Thoughts of capsizing occupied my mind as our guide explained that the river is dangerous if you are submerged for too long or face rapids without a raft.

Not long into our voyage did we encounter a rapid large enough to flip the raft, scattering my fellow sailors into the raging river. The force of the impact caused me to flip and plunge into the water without warning. Almost as swiftly as I entered, I was plucked from the water and placed back on the raft. The river guide instantly removed me from the turmoil that would have surely swallowed me.

His instructions to me were simple: grab everyone and get them in the raft NOW.

The gathering of doom-impended people was a simple task that required no conditions. If someone was in the river, they needed to get out. I did not reach for only those I love, or those that are nice to me, or those that I thought deserved it.

Everyone facing a certain death deserves rescue. This is grace. While we do not deserve it from God, we ought to be grateful everyday that we were rescued, and we are rescued, and we will always be rescued from the river without hesitation. Because we have fallen out of the boat, we receive God's grace.

River guides teach grace every trip down the river. If someone falls out of the boat, the rest of the raft does everything can to get them back in.

I've Reached the Top

This is an email I received the other day and I wanted to share it with you.

Hi, Jared Kirkwood (JaredKirkwood).

Jimmy Eat World (jimmyeatworld) is now following your updates on Twitter.

Check out Jimmy Eat World's profile here:
http://twitter.com/jimmyeatworld


Best,
Twitter

I knew that my patience would pay off. So now I am one of the 4,000 people that Jimmy Eat World ignores on Twitter!

Sibilance

Recently a friend and I have been working on creating an online radio program. It will be distributed through iTunes via podcast with a link from this very blog. Our primary audience we believe will be the 20-somethings looking for entertainment to fill the empty time in their life when they are supposed to be producing. Also, I love looking for jobs I can do in my sweatpants.

We all know that work is a great place to check up on blogs, read the latest headlines from BBC, listen to This American Life...My hope is that soon enough, we will provide another alternative background noise in your office pair of JVC headphones.

I am currently compiling a list of topics, themes, ideas, bits, etc that we can talk about. While our current list is extensive, I would love to hear from you, the prospective listener, as to what you would like to hear. While I am not claiming to know anything, I hope to entertain you while providing a bit of information and possibly the best place to get a taco in Costa Mesa.

Ye Old Sage

I have always wanted a mentor in my life. And old sage that has wisdom pumping through his veins like an oil refinery. Someone to listen to me, advise me, caution me. This desire brought me to my earliest memory of a mentoring relationship that I was in.

In 6th grade I was a mentor to a 3rd grader. Powerful I know. I volunteered in my class to walk alongside this little sprite and help with his addition skills, teach him the many lessons of elementary school, show him how to get into the fetal position when a bully comes around.

We met once or twice to count M&M's in a subtraction lesson, mainly because the only way to eat them is to teach subtraction or division, I division sucks. Sadly it soon became more of a pen pal relationship. Those wonderful days of me exuding 6th grade wisdom on this little ankle biter were gone and I was left to writing him lousy notes about the weather and homework. The mentor/mentee relationship struggled to hold its head above water. Before long I forgot about him even though I am sure he still thinks of me to this day.

Mentors need to be involved in your life. They need face to face interaction with your joy, pain, frustration. In an effort to learn subtraction again, if you know of anyone, I am looking for this person.

Salvage the Stinkers

Why are farts so funny?

Every Wednesday I teach a group of high school students about God in an inviting, living room setting. This week, just after the reading of the scripture, one of the students sitting candidly in the middle of room, shifted his weight and delivered a package that could not be confused. Strangely reminiscent of a baritone, the sound penetrated the room thankfully much quicker than the smell. Without reservation, students began to snicker as they pulled their shirt collars over their noses.

Immediately I employed the FART method: the youth pastor's only hope in a stinky situation.

Forgo the urge to laugh
Assess the damage done
Recapture their attention
Tell the story later because its hilarious!

While this method may have its holes, it does a decent job when a student cannot control theirs.

The Xlerator

I am a big fan of washing my hands after using the restroom. I consciously tell myself every time, "this is what adults do, we wash our hands." To my excitement the restroom at the Fuller campus installed these new auto hand dryers that blast out air at an alarming rate. I felt like a kid with an air compressor blowing in my mouth to make it look like I was skydiving!



If you're wondering how fast the air exits the machine, check out the manufacturer's note.



Everything was going good, my hands were dry (and warm, a wonderful bi-product), trees were spared, Mother Earth was smiling...until I went to leave the bathroom. You see, Im one of those freaks who uses his paper towel to open the door as I exit. While I love to believe that everyone washes their hands, I happen to know this not to be true. I was stuck in the bathroom with no paper towel and the stupid Xlerator, in all its air compressed glory, laughing at me until someone else came in. Instead, I managed to use my foot, I know you were worried.

PS. This is my 101st post!