News for June 2007

Everybody loves a nut.

When people think of Nathan Houge there€™s one word that inevitably comes to mind.  Nut.  More specifically Sports Nut. (Sport being the inevitable second word that follows Nut but in a predecessorory way.)  So it will come as no surprise to any of you that last night it was my extreme (more than words) joy and delight to take Lydia and five of our nearest and dearest young adults from church to the Redhawk€™s game in Fargo ND.
And wow.  What a game.
It was explained to me after the game that we lost.  But even so I feel like in some small way we won.  Yes we declared victory by eating the foot long hot dog, by cheering, and even by doing the actions to YMCA in the face of section K€™s ambivalence to the Village People.  Don€™t like the VP?  Well it takes a village to raise a child.  And those children grow up to play ball.  Chew on that fellow minor league sports enthusiasts. 
Of course Lydia€™s highlight was the cotton candy.  She ate about 3 dollars worth.  Which in a movie theater would be about two tablespoons worth, but here at the minor league Mecca was a bag of spun sugar equivalent to half the size of Lydia€™s almost 4 year old body.  I told a fellow adult, €œShe won€™t be asleep to midnight.€  Fellow adult (who goes by Karen) replied, €œMidnight?  Try Thursday.€  Side note €“ she was asleep by 11:45.  (Lydia, not Karen €“ if Karen would€™ve fallen asleep at 11:45 a car load of kids would be in a ditch somewhere near Elizabeth)
We got home at midnight.  I carried a sugar-laden child to bed.  Baseball rulz.
Play ball.

Posted: June 20th, 2007
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bones to pick a fight

the songs from ‘bones to pick a fight’ are now available for download on the endeavors page.  me & deboer moran kick it part deux.

Posted: June 16th, 2007
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vintage honest folk

the nearly decade old release “twang twang boom boom” is now available for download.  enjoy.

 

Posted: June 15th, 2007
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rachel kurtz, red raven

so wednesday i’m talking with Rachel and she says, “I’m in Moorhead doing stuff at Concordia all week and tomorrow I’m booked at the red raven, ya’ wanna play?”  I say, “yes, please.” (manners are very important)

I’ve had many opportunities to play in the Rachel Kurtz band (the ever evolving never quite named rag tag of ace musicians) but it’s been awhile since I’ve been the Rachel Kurtz band and let me tell you, it was fun!

I had very low expectations for the show because it was a thursday night coffee house show and because I haven’t played much lately but I was excited for three reasons,

1) Escape the family that I love so dearly.  Since Elsa’s birth I’ve had a total of 8 hours of alone time.  Last night I almost doubled that – a highlight being that I could listen to loud music the whole way including The Silo’s Cuba. (thanks JR!!!!)

2) Use my new acoustic amp in a live setting.  Jodi gave me a sweet acoustic amp for my 30th birthday and last night I had a chance to really test it out with mandolin and guitar and it’s awesome.  I’ve used it a few times at church but I never really get to turn it up.  Last night I did.  Yippee!!!

3) The music.  I love playing with Rachel and I love playing my own songs and last night I got to do both.  =happy nate.

We had a total blast.  Rachel would sing a few songs and then I’d do a couple and we went back and forth for about 2 1/2 hours.  The young adults from Concordia came over and were about half into it and half enjoying each other – but that was just fine.  One of the funny very rachel kurtz moments was when she started playing the hokey pokey and the chicken dance. 

And here’s the unbelievable part – at the last minute i had grabbed some cd’s (normally i sell zip at a coffee shop, especially if i’m playing with rachel, ’cause everyone goes for the voice over the boyish good looks) and i sold a butt load!  And on top of that, Rachel paid me, which was totally not expected but totally welcome.  In fact, after paying for gas and groceries (all rock and roll endings end with a trip to the supermarket when you’re in the big city) I still had leftover payola.  So here are 3 pics, rachel singing, me showing off my funding of my dentists trip to the bahamas, and the kids doing the hokey pokey.

rachel red raven

 

nates dental work

hokey pokey

 

Posted: June 15th, 2007
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thank you brother floyd.

 

this is copied from an e-mail sent by one of those friends who does a lot of thinking for me.  his comments follow the quote. amen.

“since 1979, the share of pretax income going to the top 1 percent of American households has risen by 7 percentage points, to 16 percent. Over the same span, the share of income going to the bottom 80 percent has fallen by 7 percentage points. It€™s as if every household in that bottom 80 percent is writing a check for $7,000 every year and sending
it to the top 1 percent.”

Why aren’t people pissed about this stuff?  Why do we allow this?  We are just ignoring it.  I read somewhere that for the first time ever men in their30’s are making less then their fathers did in their 30’s.  How bad do things have to get before people get upset?  I think we need a class war.

Posted: June 13th, 2007
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links like sausage

yum. sausage. snausage?

check out the blog links added, eric ambel and no impact man.  two blogs i find myself enjoying on uh raygoolar baysis.

also fall in love with dave alvin all over again.  the part about the corn flakes is about as cool as rock and roll gets.

 

Posted: June 13th, 2007
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single speed

jodi and elsa are in moorhead overnight at the super exciting synod convention.  Lydia and I were left behind and I cannot believe how easy single parenting of a single child has become.  Sadly, I’m probably not the one that needs the break, but grateful still I carry on, baking bread (first batch of sourdough) and brewing beer (dunk day dunkelweizen for elsa’s impending baptism).  I also had the forgotten joy of cleaning the house without a baby in one arm.  Sweet.

And the upcoming week is great.  My folks will be in town for a few days, we’re buying a mini-van, and swimming lessons continue for my fear(less/ful) soon to be 4 year old.

And tonight there will be no urping on my half asleep shoulder by a totally awake 6 week old.  I love her, don’t get me wrong, but I like sleep and I’m finally caught up on the laundry so I can go to church not smelling like baby bile. PTL.

Posted: June 9th, 2007
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Learning to Swim

     I don€™t remember what it was like but I can guarantee it was not my choosing to have three cups of water poured over my infant head.  No neck control.  No power over my arms.  No way to stop what to me at the time was drowning.
     Lydia enters the wading pool.  She can touch bottom easily and splashes around with a laugh that is pure innocent joy.  Her pink goggles squish up her cheeks and pull her grin a little wider.  The instructor calls the kids to sit on the edge of the wading pool and gives them each a foam noodle fashioned into a tight hoop the size of a three year olds chest.  One foot at a time the kids step into the hoop and pull it up around their waste till it€™s nestled under their shoulders giving the unknown assurance that they will float where their feet cannot reach.  And like a mother duck the instructor leads the line of soggy ducklings over to the big pool.  She calls them one at a time and they jump out to her waiting arms that pull them up once they have gone under.  Lydia waits in the back of the line and I watch her from across the pool in my chair hoping as a father hopes that she will be brave and courageous and jump in when the teacher calls her name.  And yes a small part of me wants my daughter to fit in, to measure up, in a sense to be like all the other kids.  Her name is called and though I can€™t hear the conversation I can see her shivering arms bring her hands to her mouth.  I can see her head shaking €˜no.€™ Quick, short, adamant twitches.  And I know what she€™s capable of and I know how happy the confidence of jumping in would bring her and so I remain where I am and let the instructor do her job.  But I€™m also her father and I want her to be secure and I want to go over and hold her hand and make everything okay and take her home and wait another summer for swim lessons.  And so I€™m conflicted – and in a way heartbroken. 
     The instructor in all her maternal kindness and wisdom comes to the edge of the pool where Lydia is standing and gently, but firmly, reaches up, holds on to the foam noodle encircling Lydia€™s chest and eases her smoothly and calmly into the water and holds her to her side.  It€™s a split second of motion €“ a bit startling really €“ and a relief as I see Lydia€™s face with it€™s uncharacteristically reserved demeanor looking over at me and letting me know that she€™s okay with what just happened.  A bit confused, but okay.
     I look in the pool of water at the baptismal fount and I wonder how deep it is.  I wonder if I dare toe the edge.  And I know I am incapable of entering it on my own.  No matter how much theology I wrap around it, it still remains a mystery of life and more shockingly death.  I could drown in that pool.  I did.  I couldn€™t survive it as an infant and I can€™t survive it now.  Yet my parents brought me to the edge of the pool where God reached out and pulled me into the waters.  Given my complete inability to save myself, those waters were death.  Given God€™s gracious compassion I came up from the water and found myself held close to God€™s side, fully alive.  And as sure as my inability remains, all the more has God€™s grace prevailed.
     And so tomorrow Lydia and I will go again to the pool and I will marvel at the ways in which she teaches me daily and hopefully once again I will recognize that God is with us.

 

Posted: June 7th, 2007
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so much so little

I’m not allowing comments because i’ve been getting way to much spam.  i’ll see if this helps.

tons has happened in the last few days – but because i’m exhausted i’ll keep it short.  Thursday i finished that book i was blogging about, final consensus: it’s all right, it made me think about my consuming habits and that’s good.

friday morning we headed down to the cities.  It was our pastor’s last sunday at church before heading off to Phd land so we were glad to be at our home congregation.  I helped out with the music and ‘lead’ 6 other way talented musicians through the service.  We had a quick practice saturday morning and sunday morning went great.  the service was 2 hours long in our unairconditioned sanctuary.  Not many lutheran congregations would have the guts to pull that off.  and the potluck afterwards had everything from open face danish sandwiches (their name escapes me) to fried rice, to krumkaka (totally not how it’s spelled, but its that nowegian cookie castle thing… you know like at our wedding…) that ethiopian flat bread (ingale?) i love my international church.  we got to see a ton of friends over the weekend as well whether over a meal or sleeping at their house or playing in a park.  It was busy and wonderful.  We also stopped by our house that is currently being rented out and put in the window air conditioners for our beloved renters.  We were all a bit homesick being in our old neighborhood and stopping by our favorite parks and coffee shop.

And now we’re back and Jodi’s back at church on a kind of flex/fulltime schedule that allows her to take elsa with her for bits of time as elsa continues to adjust to bottles and their finite ways.  Lydia started swimming lessons which is awesome.  She’s the youngest and probably most cautious in the class but I’m so proud of her.  I gripe a lot about my inadequate stay at home parenting abilities but I want to make it clear that I couldn’t ask for better kids.  I absolutely love my little girls.

Today marked a first for me – I began my sourdough bread starter.  I’ve been baking a lot more since moving here and I’ve been wanting to make sourdough bread (my favorite) for a while and so I finally took the small step of creating the starter that will get sour in the next few days and then be added to my first adult attempt at making sourdough bread (i tried once in high school but wasn’t patient enough to wait till the starter was sour.  kind of defeats the purpose eh?)

in case you were wondering, you are loved.

Posted: June 5th, 2007
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