(LIST)

This is a special “seminar” edition of my typical (LIST) post. By now, you know that I’m at the Gospel Coalition Conference in Chicago. I’ve been vlogging each day and making that available to folks at Bethel as well as those who follow this blog. But I’ve made a few observations that are a bit more random in nature.

• Fresh, piping hot Giordano’s stuffed Chicago-style pizza? Delicious. Cold, next-day stuffed pizza in the hotel? Not so much.

  
  
• So far at the conference, I’ve noticed three specific groups. These groups seem pretty easy to spot- Older, established pastors; young, hip pastors; unkempt, shaggy seminary students
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• There’s a higher “nerd” quotient here than I expected.

  
  
• We’re staying in a pretty high-end hotel...lavish design, expensive restaurants, refined staff and $11 a day for internet. It’s the paying for internet that bothers me the most.

  
  
• There are many more mohawks than I expected. Mohawk, not “faux hawk.” Real deal, baby...as in...really strange.

  
  
• My favorite moment so far has to be seeing the disgust in Mark Kuykendall’s face after taking a bit of White Castle. Mark didn’t like White Castle.

(LIST)

• The donut place down the street from our house has the coldest drinks in the world. I'm not kidding...when I stop and get a Diet Dr. Pepper (which is hardly ever,) the drink ices up as soon as I open the lid. Diet DP slush! YES...
  
  
• Tuesday night, before going to bed, Jonah asked Kristen if the "devil" had a "pinchfork" that he used to poke "people's heinies" before "throwing them in the fire." Kristen told him that was absolutely correct.
  
  
• Last weekend we moved our treadmill into the game room with the TV, which is awesome, because now I can watch TV and run. The only problem is that I'm so interested in the stuff I'm watching that once I run, I stand there until the shows over. Some might say that I should exercise the remainder of the hour, but that's ridiculous. I'm not a machine.
  
  
• I listened to Glen Beck the other day for the first time in quite a while. Glen's still got it.
  
  
• A few days ago, I stopped at the DQ in Gresham (five miles down the road) and got a delicious chicken finger basket for $6. It was great...cheap, filling and I got to support Dairy Queen...that symbol of the old East Texas culture I grew up with. Gresham DQ isn't just hanging in there, Rob. They're thriving, dude.
  
  
• I love hanging out with the kids at Immerse. There are some phenomenal college students that constantly impress me with their devotion to God.
  
  
• For the past few months, I've needed to do a vlog about a pair of headphones I own. I may do that next week.
  
  
• I've been doing more random blogging through tumblr. I really like it. Very simple...like blogging lite...not a lot of bells and whistles, no comment option, just an online journal. You can check it at toddwrightband.tumblr.com.
  
  
• People keep telling me that I'm going to fall in love with our new dog, Bess. I think those people are wrong.
  
  
• Still no word on my two songs submitted to "TAXI." One of them is a Yes/No submission, but the other one will come back with an industry critique regardless of whether or not it passes. Those critiques are usually pretty good.
  
  
• Had somebody ask me the other day..."So, you carve out any songwriting time, yet?" While this is awesome because tthis person took time to read my blog and ask me something relevant to my life these days, it's also depressing because the answer is the same: NO.
  
  
• The more I watch Kevin Spacey, the more unimpressed I am. That guy peaked at Usual Suspects in my opinion. Man, that movie was awesome.
  
  
• When you get movie channels, you realize how many random, bland movies are being created on a yearly basis.
  

(LIST).....written very late at night

• Since starting Immerse, my left foot is sore on Monday nights. This is my first "worship injury." For some reason, leading worship on Sunday and Monday somehow heaps abuse on my poor little foot, rendering him useless to me on Monday nights.
  
  
• Last week was supposed to be my crazy week. So, why does this week feel just as out-of-control? Don't you hate it when that happens?
  
  
• I really love our Monday pastoral staff meeting at Bethel...I always leave feeling supercharged and excited to take on big challenges.
  
  
• I ate some "Ding Dongs" recently. Yes, I wanted to eat them, but as a secondary goal, I wanted to test out theory. You see, I believe that Ding Dongs have gone downhill since the manufacturer stopped wrapping them in foil. Who's with me?
  
  
• I feel bad that I haven't done a Todd Vlog in a few days. I'm trying to be as consistent as I can...but I'm not doing very good right now.
  
  
• Prerecorded Friends has to be one of the funniest podcasts I've heard in awhile. Genius. Genius, I tell you.
  
  
• I'm still impressed by the power of Ross King's worship songwriting. It's so good...his songs resonate in a powerful way. Proud to play those songs for my people!
  
  
• Finley is slowly recovering from her sickness, but Jonah started running fever. At the time of this writing, he's in our bed asleep next to Kristen. Guess that means that Dad is sleeping on the couch.
  
  
• Dave Ramsey is a really smart guy. But also seem likes a bit of a jerk.
  
  
• I made a great Michael Phelps joke the other day on Twitter. I'm sure I wasn't the first, but I was really proud of myself..."No wonder Phelps ate all that stuff during the Olympics. He just had the munchies." That's good stuff.
  
  
• The only other joke I've ever written was about domestic violence. (I know.) When I was a kid, there was a commercial with a slow zoom on a wedding picture while a narrator said, "Every sixty seconds, a woman in America is beaten by her husband." My punchline was..."You know, after half-an-hour, you'd think she'd get tired of that."
  
  
• I just remembered another joke I wrote that Clay Walker stole. (Watch - if he reads this, he won't remember that's its my joke and he'll throw a fit because he thinks its his.) Here's the joke: "You guys know Outback, right? The restaurant? 'No rules, just right.' I don't think so. Everything's fine until you try to eat a burger in your underwear, then they got ALL kinds of rules."
  
  
• These jokes are really funny to me, but I also think I'm suffering from severe exhaustion and sleep deprivation. So, it could be that.
  
  
• Go vote in my Celebrity Week series over on Facebook. You guys are great commenters...share it with the Facebook World.
  
  
• Goodbye. Obama be with you.