Well, I’ve pretty much resigned to the thought that I could be a regular blogger.  As many times as I’ve said it, you’d think I’d follow through.  I shall henceforth be known as The Occasional Blogger, even if I’m the only one to ever refer to myself as such.  I probably could also call myself The Guy Who Complains About Not Blogging Enough Every Time He Does Blog, but that’s quite a mouthful, so let’s stick with the former, okay?

On to bigger and better things…

I am now once again a reader.  Well, that might be a bit of a stretch, but I’m getting there.  I remember a time when, if given the choice, I’d choose to read for fun.  My imagination was filled with the stories of the Boxcar Children and the Hardy Boys, not to mention Aslan and crew from the Chronicles of Narnia.  Unfortunately, those days ended when I started 5th grade at a new school.  Suddenly, I learned what homework was and forgot what reading was.  Well, now that I am no longer a student of any formal institution, I have the responsibility of making the choice to continue my education on my own.  I suppose that’s what life is all about, but I feel like I’ll probably benefit a bit more by being proactive about it versus just breezing on through.  So anyway, I thought I’d share a couple lists with you.  The first one is fairly short, a list of books I’ve been working on recently:

C.S. Lewis - A Grief Observed (completed), The Great Divorce, and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (re-reading)
John Eldredge - Wild at Heart (completed)
Mark Batterson - In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day

I set aside The Great Divorce a while back, in favor of Wild at Heart, but now that it’s complete, I’ll get back to it.  I needed a break from deeply thoughtful reading, so I decided to invoke my imagination and re-read The Chronicles of Narnia.  I don’t have to sort through syntax to get to the meaning; I can just immerse myself in the story, and I love that.  Reading those books is like watching a movie to me.  Anyway, the second list is my “To read” list.  They’re just sitting there on my shelf, waiting for me.  We’ll see how long this takes.

Erwin McManus - The Barbarian Way
Becky Tirabassi - Sacred Obsession (for student ministries next fall)
John Piper - The Passion of Jesus Christ
Steve Brown - A Scandalous Freedom
Gene Edwards - A Tale of Three Kings (re-read)
Ron Owens - Return to Worship
Bill Hybels - Too Busy Not to Pray
Rory Noland - The Heart of the Artist (I’ve tried to read this a number of times and just never finished)
Robert Ludlum - The Bourne Supremacy (Same story here) and The Bourne Ultimatum
Thom S. Rainer & Eric Geiger - Simple Church
C.S. Lewis - Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, The Problem of Pain, Miracles, and the rest of The Chronicles of Narnia

I’m sure that list is incomplete, but those are all the books and I can think of at this point.  I’ve also been recommended The Shack, but I don’t have it, so I’ll have to borrow from someone.

Ok, I think that’s enough for today.  I need to leave in 20 minutes for Pendleton, and I want to get a chapter or two more done in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

For Narnia and for Aslan!

…who lives within 100-10,000 miles of Anderson should probably come to Contemporary Encore tomorrow night in Reardon Auditorium here on AU’s campus.  Contemporary in this case means any song released after 2000, so if you know today’s music, you should know the music.  Shows are at 8 and 10pm.  Tickets are $3 at the door.  The band and I have worked as hard as we possibly can amongst our busy schedules, so it should be a good show.  Come on out!

Yes, I know I am. I have been quite unfaithful to you, my readers; and it feels like every time I write, I am only coming up with a different and more creative way to express that sentiment. Once again, I humbly come before you with an apologetic heart and a meek spirit to ask your kindest forgiveness for my absence. Anyway, I find myself pretty bored as this Christmas break continues on. I’m hanging out with the fam at our new pad in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Yes friends, I no longer call Holland, Michigan home, although I will still claim it as my hometown since it’s where I learned about Jesus, it’s where I learned about love, it’s where I learned about working hard, and having a little was just enough. For those of you without country roots, that was a reference to “Boondocks” by Little Big Town.

Anywho, next semester is almost here, and not only is it the only thing standing between me and summer break (aka warm weather), it is the only thing standing between me and real life. Yes, folks, that’s right. It’s my LAST semester of college, and very likely my last semester of school ever. I’m not closed to the thought of going farther in my education if necessary someday, but for now, I think I’ll be done.

As I mentioned in my last post, a number of my friends will be marrying soon, and since the writing of said post, I’ve thought of a number of more friends who find themselves victims of the same fate. Forgive my terminology; maybe I’m just bitter at my state of singleness. Anyway, I’ll be playing for a few of these weddings and receptions, and probably attending most or all of them, so that will be one feature of my summer. Also, I hope to be touring and playing music so I don’t have to get a real job.

If you get a chance, you should check out my website www.mattulrich.com. If you’ve ever visited it before, you will probably notice that nothing major has changed. Oh, but that’s just what you notice at first glance. If you’ll recall, clicking a link would simply take you to the desired website. Well, now you get the pleasure of a new experience. Click a link. It’s sweet. You’ll like it. I promise.

I’m a nerd…

Lately, I’ve had a strong desire to start a podcast. You laugh and think that if I don’t update my blog, why would I ever update my podcast. You’re probably right. Plus, I don’t have a ton of hard drive space left, nor do I have very good equipment with which to make a podcast with any semblance of professionalism. Plus, who would care anyway? So on to other pursuits…

I’ve also had a realization that I might really like to get into scoring films or television shows. I just finished watching the 5th season of 24 on DVD (my Christmas present to myself), and one of the bonus features was a featurette about the guy who does the music and how he does it. I was very intrigued, but also quite sad that apparently you need to be rich to do something like this, because I could never afford the hardware and software with which scores for shows of that magnitude are produced. I suppose I could work my way up. It’s another option for “real life” I guess…

Well, I’ve officially covered topics that allow me to file this post under every category, so I guess that means there’s not much left to say. It’s getting late, and I need to get out of the habit of sleeping in past noon. My Monday, Wednesday, Friday classes once again start at 9am next semester, and sleeping through them isn’t really an option. Friends, thank you for your listening ear (or in the case of this blog, your reading eye). Happy new year, and God bless America!

Matt

I think it’s about time for a new blog entry. Apparently Facebook now has a feature with which it can import whatever posts I have in my blog, so if you’re reading this on Facebook, welcome to my life. You can always stop by blog.mattulrich.com to get the full experience. Anyway, the summer has been busy. I’m officially done at my internship/job, and I’m pretty much done with Paige shows for the summer. There’s one on Thursday, but I’m not able to make it, so there’s only two shows left–a two-day stint in Ohio on September 2 & 3, and another gig on October 7. I can’t make it to this week’s show because I’m doing the family group leader thing for new student orientation here at AU (check out AU’s new website by the way). I might not make the October 7 gig now because I am tenatively the Encore music director, and that day is the first Encore of the year, which also happens to fall on Homecoming weekend, so it’s pretty important that I’m there. We’ll see…

Anywho, I’m gearing up to lead worship for Worship in the Valley on Friday night. It’s a pretty cool part of orientation weekend, so I’m excited and nervous to be helping out in that capacity. Classes start on Monday, and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to handle the load. My class schedule is pretty lop-sided, with four classes on MWF (9,11,12,1) and only one on TR (8:30). Well, technically there’s Jazz Ensemble on MW at 5 as well, and Orangehaus usually falls on some evening. On top of that stuff, I’ll hopefully be playing a lot of music with Paige, Jennifer Stanley, Melissa Sandullo, Chad Meadow’s and my new band, or anyone else who wants to hire me. I’d love to make some more dough playing for weddings. Everyone seems to be engaged or almost engaged, so you’d think I’d have more wedding gigs. Oh well…

I should get back to planning Worship in the Valley. I think you’re up-to-date on me now. Oh yeah…one more thing…I turned 21 this past August 6. Thought you’d want to know.

Bye.

Matty

I’m a senior in college…

Well, I don’t really have anything in mind to write, but I felt like it was time to check back in with my readers on a personal basis.  This week is going to be stressful, with two midterms and all, not to mention the projects and other stuff I should be working on…oh, and my job at church.  Summer, summer, here I come…  At least spring break is coming up soon.  I plan on going home and doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING (well, other than being helpful to my Mom…kinda hafta do that).  Yes, that’s right.  While many of my AU friends will be enjoying the balmy, tropical weather of Florida or one of those other states down in Dixie, I will be in Dutch Vegas, Michigan.  Maybe I’ll record an EP with Ken.  I should probably have a few songs I like before I try to do that, though.  I should probably also make sure Ken has time to do that.  Chances are I’ll call him and leave a message, and I won’t hear back from him.  His phone is almost always dead or not with him.  We’ll see, I guess.  Ok, the cd I was listening to is done now (and by cd, I mean iTunes album), so I will start up another one and hit the sack.  Yes, I know it’s only like 10:30 at night, but little did you know that I have to wake up around 6:15ish.  With exception of one person I know, that’s earlier than any of you, so don’t you dare complain about how early it is tomorrow morning when you wake up.

G’nite!

Matt

This is my fourth in a row without someone with which to celebrate.  However, I did get a few cards and well-wishes from people.  Thanks Mom…Kalyn…Mobley…Sung…a few others.  Know what I did?  I ate in the MP alone tonite.  There was a food station that had sugar cookies and red and pink frostings, candy hearts, and other fun stuff with which to decorate the cookies.  Guess what I did.  I ate a sugar cookie plain.  That’s right…because today was just a plain ol’ regular day in the life of this kid.  But don’t cry for me.  I’m alright with it.

I love you all.

Matt

So today in Business Law, we were talking about third party rights and were using terms such as obligor, obligee, assignor, assignee, delegator, and delegatee.  One of those words in particular caused a certain song from decades past (think John, Paul, George, and Ringo) to run through my head the whole class period.  Can anyone guess the artist (not hard) and the song?