Stranger Thors

Posted on July 11, 2022 by awtraughber

This past week was an interesting one with popular long-form storytelling.  I was able to catch the final two episodes of Stranger Things 4 while also watching the fourth Thor movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  While I enjoyed them both, one stood out more than the other (and it wasn’t the one I thought it would be).

Taika Waititi has been a favorite movie-maker for me for a while now.  His work with Thor: Ragnarok brought new life to the franchise and set up Thor for some great moments in Avengers: Infinity War.  Ragnarok was something of a buddy movie with more humor in 15 minutes than the first two Thor movies combined.  So I was looking forward to what Waititi would do with Love and Thunder, how the characters might progress and how they would fold a more recent comic book story (Jane Foster and Gorr) into the ever-growing Marvel Cinematic Universe.  There are some really good moments in the movie.  The cast does well with what they are given.  Much like with Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, you get a real sense of the director’s unique vision.  And yet, when the final stinger went to black, I found myself more tired than anything.  The story itself was pretty tight without being minimalist.  There were some good, emotional moments.  Was the humor too much?  I think so.  And I say that as someone who found the goats pretty funny.  I think the story went off the rails for me when Zeus came into the picture.  Which is also why the Zeus-centric stinger fell flatter than usual for me.  It was a well-told tale, I think.  I just find myself a bit fatigued with things (and I say that as someone who loves serial story-telling).  With Phase Four, I’m kind of losing a sense of caring about what is next.  I’m glad that Marvel is getting to build someone beyond the Infinity Saga.  It’s possible, though, that their TV shows have become more enjoyable than their movies.  We’ll see how Ms. Marvel ends this week.

ST4 Express UKOn the other hand, I didn’t have too high expectations for Stranger Things 4.  It had been so long since the last series.  Humor has also been a hallmark for the show.  But the humor is there to humanize things and to keep things from getting too heavy.  And this season was quite heavy.  The show also took the risk of sending its characters in different directions for the entire run: three groups, actually.  Sometimes that can backfire.  But as with stories like Harry Potter, the adventures of Eleven and her friends gets better the more it digs into the past of things.  And I really think the show benefits from having set an actual conclusion to the story (which also helped immensely with shows like Lost).  And so the final scene, which isn’t quite a cliffhanger but definitely leaves you hanging, doesn’t grate as much as the conclusion and stingers for Love and Thunder.  And it sets you up for what you know will be the real finale.  The show has stuck with what makes it great: friendship, spiritual struggle, and something about life in the 80s.  Such an interesting story: so consistently tense with super-high stakes but with something of a simple set-up.  I’m glad that it still resonates on multiple levels.

It will be interesting to see what happens next, both with Thor and with Stranger Things.  Both are coming back, of course, though I’m not sure what timeline exists for Thor’s next chronological appearance.  Writing is about to start up for Stranger Things.  Until then, there’s all kinds of reading that can be done for behind-the-scenes information.  But the story is what carries it.  And the hope of resolution is a good hope.  It will be interesting to see how everything ends.

(image from express.co.uk)

Posted in Movies, Television | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The Three Movements of This Summer

Posted on July 5, 2022 by awtraughber

Today marks the beginning of the “third movement” of summer 2022 for me.  My summer officially started after our commencement service back in the first weekend of June.  From there, the summer divided itself neatly into three movements.  The first was a time to decompress, to stay in Hawaii but also stay away from work as much as possible.  That movement lasted just over two weeks and was quite restful.  It was a nice mix of weekend routine plus good time downtown hanging in places I don’t get to see much during the school year.

The second movement, which came to an end yesterday, was rooted in travel: first, to Texas for a retreat at Laity Lodge and second, to Tennessee for time with family.  This movement had a rhythm of its own, too.  It involved travel time, which I mostly enjoy, and then time at rest.  In both the first and second “movements,” I tried to restrict work stuff.  I was mostly successful at it, I think.  And hopefully it won’t set me behind too much going into the next few weeks.  This part of the summer lasted right at two weeks.

The third movement of summer begins today and will last about just over 2 weeks.  Work will enter the picture again bit by bit.  The school year starts with an even that I have some responsibility for.  Beyond that, I’ve got a couple of new “hires” that I need to prep.  Plus, our new pastor just arrived, so I’ll be checking in on him and working on his installation service for later in August.  And, alas, I will need to do some real prep work for the classroom as the new year gets started.

A main goal of the summer was to put some distance between me and work.  I love what I do, and am hopeful that I will enjoy a more simplified “line” this school year with the “temporary vocational stretch” finally over.  But work is almost ubiquitous (for lots of people, not just for me), and I’ve felt the strain of that, especially this last year.  The hope has been that the distance will allow for some “deep work” that can happen beneath the surface of things . . . maybe getting some deeper roots in some things, adjusting my routine where things are less “bundled.”  I know that I don’t want to spend this year drawing from the “same well” as the last five, mostly because that well has kind of dried up (as well it should).

A lot of this goes back to that story Jesus tells about the guy with the unclean spirit that is cast out.  The man gets his life in order, but the spirit has no where to go, so it goes back to find things all “cleaned up” with the man, so he brings some of his friends with him.  And the man is worse off than he was before.  Now: work is no unclean spirit and the story isn’t about my life in particular, but it does illustrate something about people more broadly and the dangers we should be aware of.  “Let the right one in,” on some basic level.  This summer has, bit by bit, a way of trying to recalibrate for that.  To prepare to live differently even if those around me are embarking on another year “as usual.”

So here’s to the “third movement” of the summer of 2022.  You can plan all you want, and life will do what it does.  I get that.  But hopefully there will be a rhythm and routine that is particular to the next couple of weeks that will set me up well for the fall and beyond.

Posted in Faith, Recovery Journal, Scripture, Teaching | Leave a comment

Out to Pasture

Posted on July 4, 2022 by awtraughber

This short and recent piece by Alan Jacobs is about conservatism, but I can’t help but think it’s also true about so much more (like church or education).  It’s an interesting slant on ancient imagery about sheep, shepherds, and sheepdogs.   A quick quote:

What sheepdogs are useless at is caring for the sheep. They can’t feed the sheep, or inspect them for injury or illness, or give them medicine. All they can do is bark when they see someone who might be a predator. And that’s fine, except for this: the sheepdogs of the conservative movement think that everyone who is not a sheepdog – everyone who is not angrily barking — is a wolf.

Both sheep and sheepdog submit to the guidance of the shepherd.  Or at least they are supposed to.  These days it feels like shepherds, those who know what they are doing, are in short supply.  Or they’ve decided that really the sheepdogs can do all that is necessary (though definitely not all that is good).

Posted in Faith, Notes for a World's End, Recovery Journal, Teaching | Leave a comment

Checking In

Posted on June 17, 2022 by awtraughber

These first couple of weeks of summer vacation have been a little twisty.  Good, but twisty.

It’s taken some time for me to get used to the sun rising so early and setting so late.  It’s almost like I’ve not experienced this before.  I’m often up before sunrise, but these last couple of mornings have caught me off guard and ready to go back to sleep for a while.  Then, of course, you lose out on the early morning before the sun gets too high in the school for a good walk up into the valley.  If it’s not done by 7:30, it requires sunscreen.

So I’m definitely not living by my school-year routine.  Not only am I sleeping in until about 6:30/7:00, I’m also staying up later.  I blame a spate of quality TV for some of that.  Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ms. Marvel on Disney+, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and (of course) season four of Stranger Things have given me a nice way to wind down the day.  Kenobi finally picked up the pace this week (just in time for next week’s finale).  Ms. Marvel is off to an interesting start.  Star Trek: SNW is simply well-done.  This is my first season of Stranger Things that isn’t a communal viewing, but it’s still been good.  Just have to keep the volume down so as not to bother the neighborhood.

I have, for the most part, stayed away from school.  Things pop up a couple of times a week, either emails or texts or phone calls that are mostly time-sensitive.  I’m trying to respond quickly, succinctly, and graciously.  I did realize a few minutes ago that I forgot to set up the office for our in-coming Christian Ministries coordinator, so I do need to go on campus for a few minutes to take care of that next week.

The first half of this week was spent watching the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting online.  Definitely a sobering but encouraging watch for me.  The meetings (and the online commentary that came with it) is a point-for-point reflection of what is going on in the broader world.  There’s a lot that needs to be worked out.  But size definitely makes that more complex, I think.

Last week I finished the latest Rivers of London novel.  I put it off for a month, which is unfortunate.  But, as is always the case, Aaronovitch wove a wonderful tale.  He strings things along well without it feeling too much like plodding.  As with every good series, success is found in mining the world’s past as much as it is weaving the world’s future. I also finished up a quick re-read of the last chunk of Tolkien’s Unfinished Tales.  I mostly just wanted to read things pertaining to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.  It’s my way of revisiting the world without having to reread the whole saga (which will happen again sometime soon).  I find myself doing this kind of thing with Tolkien, Lewis and Chesterton.  I am truly amazed at the amount of world-building that Tolkien accomplished that can be found in manuscripts and notes.

Beyond that, I’m reading through NT Wright’s commentary on Galatians, Brown’s biography of Augustine, and Nouwen’s final journal.  It’s kind of an odd juggling act right now.  But it’s a good juggling act.  I’m reading the commentary because it’s been sitting on my table for months and it felt time to read some new Wright.  Augustine because he’s always hovering around my hopes and imagination.  And Nouwen’s final journal because it’s about his sabbath year and what he experienced during it.  All of this stuff goes into the big stew of my life.  It will be interesting to see what, if anything, comes of the stew when the summer comes to an end.

Posted in Books, Recovery Journal, Television | Leave a comment

Adding a Category

Posted on May 30, 2022 by awtraughber

A few days ago I mentioned “two weeks, two months” as a kind of framework for my summer.  Two weeks for the school year to officially wrap.  And then, with some overlap, two months before the next school year starts.  And I might have mentioned the significance of the summer break, because the last five years I’ve been in an “temporary vocational stretch” that, along with Covidtide, has been a real challenge for me.  That’s probably true on multiple levels and in ways that transcend the classroom.

So I’m adding a new category for posts.  Most of my categories are general topics like “books” or “comics” or “movies.”  The “notes for a world’s end” category was primarily about Covid and events from the last few years.  There’s also “the long story,” which is for posts that reach back into personal history some.  For the summer I’ll be adding “recovery journal” as a category.  I know it sounds therapeutic, but that’s part of the point.  Early on in my “temporary vocational stretch,” I used the images of equilibrium and (de)stabilization for what was going on, that things had gotten more complicated and therefore less stable.  I’m hoping to recover some of that stability. And that’s going to be some work for me.  It’s part of why I’m imposing a “no work for the summer” rule.  There are some things that I need to recover (or rediscover) that I can’t do if work is “first and foremost.”  It doesn’t mean I won’t think about work: I’m grateful that I have work that lines up with and springs up from my heart and mind.  But, and here’s something I need to recover, I need to approach those things from the right direction.

So this is more of a book-keeping entry than anything else.

I will say, briefly, that I saw Top Gun: Maverick today.  I know the first movie mostly by osmosis, from growing up around it.  So I was probably a little more disinterested in the movie that others that I see on opening weekend.  Having said that, the movie was really good.  I saw it at the RPX, which is one step down from IMAX (which is fine with me).  The sound was amazing.  The shots were amazing.  And even with my disinterest, I was totally sucked in by the end.  Maybe it was the music.  Definitely a “see it in the theater if you can” movie.

Posted in Movies, Recovery Journal, The Long Story | Leave a comment

Even If You’ve Got Mail . . .

Posted on May 25, 2022 by awtraughber

A few years ago, I made the decision to remove my work email from my cell phone.  It was a great move for me, one that I can’t imagine ever undoing.

This past weekend, I removed my personal email from my phone.  Which means I can check it on my iPad or log in on my laptop.  Turns out that I don’t check it much until late afternoon, which has been great so far.

Recalibration and re-stabilization can take time.  And it helps (even as it hurts) to make small changes like putting email in a different place in the order of your day.

Posted in The Long Story | Tagged | Leave a comment

Two Weeks, Two Months

Posted on May 23, 2022 by awtraughber

Two weeks until the school year comes to an end. And two months until things start back up again.

Last week I recorded what I hope will be my last chapel talk ever.  Or at least for a long time.  Five years overseeing things is more than enough.  It was a simple talk, one that touched on Paul’s encouragement to the church in Philippi about pressing on (which also ties back to our school-year theme).  My last class was last Tuesday.  The rest of last week was spent on final exams and helping out with senior events like senior chapel.  I’ve got a few assignments still out because of AP testing and Covid absences, but all of that is due Tuesday.

So I’ve got two weeks to end well.  That means a number of meetings, including meetings for how things start back up in July.  We’ve finally hired a new Christian Ministries coordinator for our campus, so I’ll also be trying my best to set him up for some success.  That means doing what I can to help baccalaureate go well next Sunday.  And that means planning ahead as best as I can.  Because I’ve committed to “walking away” on June 4th and getting as much healthy distance as I can.  Because work has become ubiquitous.  There is a sense, of course, where this is understandable.  Especially if you love what you do.  But these last few years have definitely made things more difficult to manage without always being in the loop.  I hope to step outside the loop for one full month.  So two weeks to end well and set things up well.

And I’ve got two months to put better things in place for next school year (and in life in general).  I’ve learned a lot over the last five years, some of which I don’t know what to do with.  So I imagine I’ll be doing a lot of reflecting, lots of thinking things through.  I’ve said before that Covidtide, for me, has been more of a tunnel than a cave: I don’t expect to walk back out the way I walked in.  I am more and more convinced that the other side, even if it looks the same, will not be the same.  I definitely don’t want to enter the fall semester the same person who is leaving the spring semester in a few days.  I know that’s a tall order for two months, but that’s what I’m hoping for.  Because a good bit of the “illusions” of the last few years, of the way things are or have to be, have been dispelled.  And what’s left is a lot of hard work.  But I want to make sure that I’m doing the right hard work, if that makes any sense.

Over the next two months, I’m trying to keep commitments low.  I’ve still got some pastor search committee responsibilities to manage.  And I’ll still help with worship (though this morning I was asked to fill in some).  And I was asked to lead a 6 or 7-week Wednesday night seminar.  I pushed back with a different suggestion that looks to be happening, and I’m okay with that.  It’s not that I want to do nothing this summer.  Not at all.  It’s that I want to do the right things.  Beyond that, there’s a two-week window of travel to enjoy: a retreat in Texas and then time with family in Tennessee.  Thankfully, the retreat is lines up wonderfully with where I’m at in thinking things through.

I guess I’m hoping that the next two weeks will serve as a kind of exit ramp while also acting like training wheels for me.  Free time during summer is something I need to plan for well.  Thankfully more things are open this summer, so I’ve got some wiggle room for daytime destinations.  There’s not much new TV, which is a good thing.  And movies will be consistent but not too demanding.  Hopefully the weather will stay pleasant and I can establish some healthy routines.

Two weeks and two months.  A nice little overlap.  A good window of time.  I may be tired, but I’m also hopeful.

Posted in Teaching, The Long Story, Travel | Leave a comment

What We’re Looking For

Posted on April 25, 2022 by awtraughber

Today’s been a doozy of a day.  In a good way, mind you, but a doozy nonetheless.

I’m going to place this video right here for now.  I’ve not watched it yet because I’m three chapters into the book.  It’s really good so far: a nice distillation of some key thinking that reflects the views of many people trying to make sense of Our Current Situation.  I leave this here so I know where to find it later.  And I leave it here so others might find it, too.

Posted in Books, Faith, Friendship, Notes for a World's End | Tagged , | Leave a comment

A Moment with a Myth

Posted on April 23, 2022 by awtraughber

Here’s a moment with Jamie Smith talking about a cultural reality worth thinking about (and responding to).

Posted in Faith, Notes for a World's End, Teaching | Tagged | Leave a comment

25 and Counting

Posted on April 22, 2022 by awtraughber

Today I woke to the news that Caedmon’s Call was re-recording their self-titled debut album.  I’ve been a fan of their since that album (though a little later than others).  About five years ago, I went on a bit of a spree to grab whatever hard copies of the music as I could.  Came up with a lot, but not everything.

So they are re-recording that first album, which is an interesting move for a band that hasn’t done much for some time.  I’m glad to support musicians that have been influential to me, even years after their newest work.  Plus, with the Kickstarter program they’re running, I’m finally able to grab some digital copies of some music that has eluded me.

A little while ago I checked out YouTube because you never know what might get posted from the musical past.  Turns out someone had just posted some clips from 2008, back with Andrew Osenga (one of my long-time favorites) was playing with the band.  This is the kind of stuff that YouTube was made for (in my humble opinion).  Gold in the rough, a grainy but glorious reminder of a truly different time.

Posted in Caedmon's Calling, Music, The Long Story | Leave a comment