Hey guys, I’m still having too many ear issues to feel particularly funny this afternoon, but I thought I’d use my normal day off to pass something along to any who might be interested…

Two weekends ago, I was stuck at home, sick as a dog. I sat on my couch, absent-mindedly strumming my guitar and reading Psalms, and a song suddenly popped out. Literally, this song wrote itself in probably two minutes - the words are lifted from Psalm 42. A couple hours later, I recorded a little 4-track demo of it. My voice is pretty weak in it from being sick, but I think that’s part of the appeal of it.

The song is called Hope, and you can download the demo here.

Relax, my friends, in the inviting softness of a new Rock TV - The Dealbreaker List.

We’ve had a lot of fun in the past riffing on themes of Christian dating, and this time we wanted to look at things from a decidedly female perspective, and from the hindsight of marriage (as a number of the writing team members are married these days). It’s great to be at a place in the ministry where we have enough women actors to even do a video like this.

A few thoughts:

-The bit with Jim driving the truck made us laugh harder than anything during editing. This is the kind of thing that is constantly pitched at writing meetings and rarely makes its way to the screen (normally for good reason).

-Yes, Leroy really did stick his tongue in the fan. We actually destroyed the first fan we tried to use by trying to stop the blades with a pencil (that footage will probably end up in an outtakes video down the road). After that, Leroy volunteered to just use his tongue.

-My favorite moment in the video is Jordan’s line delivery when he says, “Hey, I’m Johnny Bowflex.” There’s just something unsettlingly intimate about it that makes me laugh.

-The sweetness of the ending was something we really came to appreciate about the video in the editing stage - it’s something different for us. I think that Rachel’s great reaction shots to Kevin have a lot to do with the tone that comes across.

Enjoy!

I started taking antibiotics for my ear infection on Tuesday, and it appears my ear is healing well. How do I know my ear is healing well, you ask? Because fluid is draining out of it!

I think we can all agree that there’s nothing disconcerting at all about the feeling of warm, thick discharge dripping from one’s ear. As a matter of fact, I’ve just described a picture of robust health!

Yes, I’m perfectly happy with this turn of events. Trust me when I tell you that nothing brings me more satisfaction than wiping slimy, pale yellow secretions out of my ear with a tissue while teaching a class. I’ve also begun saving these tissues so I can squeeze out the discharge as added flavoring on my cereal.

If only Santor Klaus would leave a leather pouch of his putrid ear drainings in my stocking every year!

Happy ear fluid day, everyone!

Here’s what I did last night when I got home from work while Bridgette was gone:

I ate two microwavable burritos and watched some TV.

I graded a pile of history tests on the Mongol expansion and feudal Europe.

I had my quiet time and read.

Do you see how open I am being? I am noticeably unlike Hillary Clinton in this way. I will share any details you might like to hear. This is why people start blogs, after all - because they are under the impression that other people give a crap about them.

Also, I talked on the phone.

In the interest of generating greater access to my world, I am now offering readers of the JLP a new live-blogging feature. Mine is probably unlike other liveblogs you might be familiar with - here’s how it will work:

You will meet me for brunch at Perkins (preferably the fancy Perkins in Edina). You will purchase my meal. In exchange, I will monologue about topics that interest or amuse me. After 30 minutes, we will leave and you will return me to my workplace.

If you’re interested in pursuing this option today, my topic of choice is mechanical pencils. Trust me - I could go on all day on this particular theme. Just ask my wife.

I have an ear infection!

My ear has been pounding for three days. It feels like my eardrum is about to burst, spraying sinus fluid and brain tissue against the wall!

The lady looked in my ear! She gave me antibiotics!

I do not wish this pain on any of you - I would welcome the sweet, silent embrace of death in exchange for a moment of relief!

The lady did not give me a sucker!

My ear hurts!

I want a Snickers!

This post was written by Peter after mixing heavy doses of medication.

So I spent my weekend holed up at home, sick as a mangy dog.

On Saturday morning I spent my time at a Rock TV shoot, coughing my way through yet another set of dramatically weird performances by Leroy and Ted that all of you will get to see in about a month. By the time I got home at 3, my coughs had taken on the tone and timbre of a Southern matriarch’s death scene from a Lifetime movie. My chest burned and my back muscles ached from the wheezing contractions. My head throbbed and my throat pulsated with sadness. In short, my mood was about as pleasant as Hitler’s underground bunker in April, 1945.

On Sunday I stayed in bed, dozing in and out of sleep until 1, on orders from my lovingly belligerent wife, who also forbade me to leave the house, engage in physical exercise, or practice long division. My misery was made complete when Bridgette left to go to work at 6, leaving me alone. I spent my evening breathing through my mouth, coughing fitfully, and watching Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, which was much darker than I remembered. However, I found that all the human sacrifices, blood drinking, and devil-worship matched my state rather appropriately.

That Mola Ram was a striking guy, wasn’t he? Too bad about the mauled-by-alligators thing.

At this point, some of you may be wondering what my point is. Well, my friends, as usual I have no point. This is just a bunch of stuff I’m writing down for no good reason.

If the JLP required an official slogan, that last sentence would probably be it.