So Many Pedestrians...

The funniest bumper sticker I ever saw was on a big old winter beater car in front of me that read, "So many pedestrians, so little time". I have nothing against pedestrians, but that struck me funny. Still makes me chuckle. This post has nothing to do with pedestrians, it was just a pithy story to suck you in to read the rest of what I have to say. I know what you're saying, yes, Tom, that really sucked alright.

So now we are going to play The Match Game, and I'll be Gene Rayburn. (I know that you have to be at least my age or watch Game Show Network to even know what I am talking about).

So many ____________, so little time. Fill in the blank. While you are thinking about that, I will fill in mine.

• Books.
  
  
  
  • Bible - this really deserves its own category, but "So many Bibles" doesn't really make sense, so I put it here.
    
    
    
    • Reading - Every day, I try to read the following:
      
      
      
      • 3 Old Testament chapters = 1.4 times/year through the OT
        
      • 1 Psalm = 2.4 times/year through the Psalms
        
      • 1 Gospel chapter = 4 times/year through the Gospels
        
      • 1 New Testament chapter = 2 times/year through the NT
        
      
      My intention is to start every day in the Word, but my intentions and $4 will buy a cup of coffee, and you know where the road leads that is paved with them. If it doesn't happen in the morning, I make a point of not going to bed until it does. Not as a matter of duty, but as a matter of delight (Ps. 1:2).
      
      This isn't necessarily a sell job on my way of doing things, in fact I would be interested in hearing how others handle the Word of God on a daily basis.
    
    
    • Memorizing - it is my goal to memorize the NT and Psalms before I die, and if not before I die, then after I die, at which time I would imagine it will become much easier. But on this side of the Jordan, I find that about a dozen verses a day are plenty, and that time is spent on my morning commute (Don't worry, I ride the bus).
      
      
  • Books - I like both non-fiction (just finished Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller, currently reading The Slumber of Christianity: Awakening a Passion for Heaven on Earth by Ted Dekker) and fiction (just finished Black by Ted Dekker, currently reading The Island of the Day Before by Umberto Eco).
    
    I try to find time to read in the evening, leaving my fiction reading for later, just before bedtime, when I need to wind down with lighter fare, when I am in the mood for a good story.
    
  
  
  • Sudoku/Kakuro - I enjoy solving these Japanese number puzzles, and as for how I carve out time in my day for these, suffice it to say that all my Sudoku/Kakuro books would be flagged at Brentanos (Seinfeld, Episode 173, Season 9).
    
    Dare I ask what is flagged in your house?
    
  
  
  • Audiobooks - currently listening to 1776 by David McCullough, narrated by same, on the shaky beginnings (for our side) of the Revolutionary War. From what I have heard so far, it's hard to believe we won in the end.
    
    I have a special time of day to listen to my audiobooks, and that would be whenever I take the dog out. That gives me 5-10 minutes a day, depending on the dog's constitution. Not much, I know, but that would be 5-10 minutes of otherwise unproductive time, for myself if not for the dog. I am about 8 hours into 1776 since Christmas.
  
  
• Podcasts. This is a recent development for me, and has really changed how I spend my days. I currently download (all in iTunes):
  
  Three daily podcasts:
  
  
  • Desiring God - John Piper
    
  • Grace to You - John MacArthur
    
  • Truth for Life - Alistair Begg
    
  
  Six weekly podcasts:
  
  
  • Ebert & Roeper - movie reviews
    
  • Mosaic - Erwin McManus
    
  • Let My People Think - Ravi Zacharias
    
  • Renewing Your Mind - R.C. Sproul
    
  • Relevant Magazine
    
  • Upper Room Community
    
  
  and others which are updated on a less regular basis:
  
  
  
  • Consumed Ministries
    
  • Invisible Children (videos mostly)
    
  • Vintage ToonCast (vintage cartoon videos)
    
  
  I used to be obsessed with keeping up every day. I couldn't go to bed with a dot by a podcast (meaning it had not been heard). I've gotten over that, and keep up as best I can, knowing that I can always catch up later.
  
  So my question here is, am I missing any good ones? What do you listen to on a daily or weekly basis?
  


• Blogs.
  
  
  
  • Writing - like I'm doing now at 1:25am when I should be in bed. Seems like after midnight is prime blogging time, because of all the other stuff listed above and below. I can't do this every night though, which is why you probably won't see more than one or two posts a week from me. But I find myself constantly blogging in my head, and have about six posts in my mental file right now. But I have to sleep sometime.
    
  
  
  • Reading - there are several blogs I check on a daily basis for updates, which are listed in my Links at left, so I won't repeat them here. Again, if I am missing any good ones (like yours), let me know.
    
  
  
• Movies. Blame this one on Netflix. I am currently working my way through the AFI Top 100 Movies chronologically (just watched "Singin' in the Rain", 1952; 3 stars), among other things. I receive and view about two movies a week, which is plenty given everything else in this list.
  

Now a few closing notes about what is not on the list.

• Work. About 40 hours a week + commute time - but I am talking here only about how I spend my free time (and by way of inquiry, how you spend yours).
  
  
• Exercise. That would be the 40-minute brisk walk through the skyways every weekday on my lunch hour. But I am well aware that my pear-shaped profile belies the fact that I could do more.
  
  
• Sleep. I try to get a good 4-6 hours a night whether I need it or not. Then there are the naps on the bus. And in my cubicle. (Just kidding, boss).
  
  
• Children. Well, Betsy is in college, and I will get to chat with her online occasionally around 1:00am when she is up studying and I am up blogging. And Kacie just got her license, so spending the evening playing Uno with Mom & Dad is not her top priority.
  
  Parents, enjoy every precious moment with your little ones, because they grow up so fast. I know, that sounded cliche' to me too, even ten years ago, but there isn't anything on this list that I wouldn't trade now to have spent more time with my kids when they were little.
  
  
• Music. To read the list above, one could logically assume that I live a life sans music. Not true. I fill every nook and cranny of my life with music (including a big 8-hour nook and cranny called my work day). Whenever there is not enough time to give my full attention to some of these other endeavors, or when I just want to relax, I hit the shuffle button and let the music flow. Just ask my family, they will tell you that I have had the iPod surgically attached to my head. As for what kinds of music, all kinds, but that is a topic for another post, or check out my first post, "Pandora's Box".
  
  
• Last and probably least, Television. Not that I never watch TV, but the only must see TV of the week for me currently is "24". Amazingly, this is as far as I have gotten into a "24" season, (four hours to go), without missing an episode and having to wait for the DVD.
  
  Of course, now having said that, I have jinxed myself, and will most likely be hit by a bus crossing Marquette this Monday after work. And wouldn't it be spooky if that really happened and you are reading this...as if from beyond the grave...on Tuesday...

Well, if you've made it this far, congratulations. That's 5 minutes of your life you will never get back. Sorry. Press on.

Addendum 05/09/2006: I successfully navigated Marquette Ave. last night and was able to view the 21st hour of "24". Three hours to go. My prediction - Jack Bauer catches the bad guys in about the 24th hour. Hope I didn't ruin it for you.