The three people in the street across from my house look suspiciously like zombies. No, seriously. They're waddling and wafting their hands around willy-nilly. They're out for brains.

I've always wondered what I'd do if I encountered a zombie. I tend to nurse a strong amount of internal bravado about such circumstances in my head, but I realize that given my quality of response to situations which involved rather zombie-like foes, I probably wouldn't live up to my imagination.

I bet you thought I was going to write an essay comparing modern America to zombies. HA.

Although I'm usually self-conscious anyways, being outside my house with my shirt off enhances that tendency quite a bit. I've been cleaning out my garage (as well as mowing the lawn, trimming the edges, installing a compost bin, and such) this week, so I figured I might as well fetch a tan while I do it. A lot of questions and thoughts keep running through my head.

I wonder if someone could complain because I don't have a shirt on.

I wonder if my phoenix is visible from across the street.

I doubt people could tell it's a phoenix from that far away.

I wonder if people think it's a fake tattoo.

I wonder how many years it will be before I need to get it redone because of the fading.

I wonder what people think when they see a guy with no shirt and biking gloves standing on the sidewalk.

Hell, what do I think when I see that? Have I ever seen that? Why haven't I seen that? It can't be that uncommon.

Why should guys have to wear shirts? It's not like our nipples are that fascinating or distracting. Shirts are so lame.

I love not wearing a shirt.

I've decided not to rebuild my computer for the time being.

My relationship with computers has always been a problematic one. The phrase computer addiction has been tossed around by a handful of people in my life, and while I am loathe to concede to such a suggestion, I am beginning to wonder if my existence is really any better off with the presence of a computer in my bedroom. While the internet's most zealous proponents insist that the internet is totally different from TV because of its user-oriented, participatory nature, I am starting to think that perhaps, perhaps, the end results are ultimately the same for much of the internet's usage. Particularly, when Wired starts claiming that the scientific method has been debunked in the face of the plethora of data provided by Google, I wonder if the internet has ultimately enabled nothing but glorified, slack-jawed navel-gazing, much the same as what happens when one watches television for a lengthy period of time.

Admittedly, this is also sparked by having seen Wall-E, a rather glorious film that unabashedly criticizes the focus of American culture. The human characters in the film live on a ship devoted to endless entertainment and ultimate convenience, and as a result, they're all completely obese and self-absorbed. While this isn't directly stated, they're also immortal - they've survived for over seven-hundred years, but they haven't done anything in that time except bitch at each other over matters of spilled milk.

This brought me back to one of the lectures I listened to at L'Abri, which had a rather unique analysis of different systems of culture. I can't remember all of them, but here's a few.

Communism: man's greatest end is to produce.
Capitalism: man's greatest end is to consume.
Materialism: man's greatest end is to be entertained.

The more I think about it in these terms, the more convinced I become that Jesus was right in stating that man's greatest end is to serve. I recently watched 12 Angry Men, and just tonight, Forrest Gump. While Henry Ford's character and Tom Hanks' character are quite different, their commonality is in their service. The remarkable thing about service is that it does not require one to be a genius, to be rich, or to have anything at all. We can serve at every moment and every point in our lives, and it seems to me that we are creatures made for serving.

Which brings me back to the start. Where does service enter in to the internet? How can a one serve anything but pwnage inside of WoW? How can one serve on facebook, youtube, or myspace? These are entities devoted to self-service. It would be like attempting to serve by watching Comedy Central.

My point is this: entertainment has its place, and I enjoy much of what popular media has to offer. But these cannot be the center of my life, if I'm to be a fulfilled human being.

Micah 6:8
He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.