Dead Yet Living

…And In With the New!

And this, Dead Yet Living, is what you have to be jealous of.

I’m actually surprised no one guessed this by now. The new thing to replace DYL? Christ and Pop Culture of course! Only it’s way better than that lame podcast. It’s the lame podcast PLUS a new blog!

I’m really very proud of this and there should be some good stuff on there over time. I plan to blog at least once a week, and we’re getting some writers now who will be blogging as well.

Obviously I’m hoping that a lot of DYL’s audience makes the jump to CAPC and I would love to see the comments and general “strange culture” continue over there. I realize it won’t quite be the same, but that’s okay. It’s a new dawn.

My Beginnings…

So, since everyone is telling their story about how it all began for them, I suppose I shall join in.

I first met Rich when I was only 13 years old at Shorterville Baptist Church, where had had just become the youth minister. Through this, I got to know Rich, Jessica, and Scott. We also went on a youth retreat, where I met Tom and Adena, although I don’t know if they remember me.

It was Jessica who actually told me about the site and showed it to me. That was around the end of 2002. Soon after that, Rich left as the youth minister. Still, I continued to talk to them sometimes, as well as read DYL.

In the Summer of 2004, I began writing for DYL. I was only fifteen, and I felt like a little kid compared to everyone else. I still do at times, as I think I am still the youngest writer here. But, I have immensly enjoyed my time blogging on this site. I know I have slacked off with the writing lately, but I never stopped reading. And this as definately been a growing experience for me.

Going Back…

So my presence here has been sporadic and sparse.
I think I joined up right around the time when my efforts at blogging at all were diminishing, which was poor timing.

Briefly, I think this is how I came to sort of write for DYL:
I found antithesis.com and Scott’s blog and The Dane’s blog pretty much all at the same time. Started reading those three consistently and eventually myself reading DYL.
Then I started writing.

Though it has not really been documented much on here, I have changed quite a bit spiritually (for the better) from when I first joined up with this team. All in all, it’s been really good to be a part of it, however brief.

Peace to you.

Down with the ship…

I take a break from writing and the whole thing goes to pot! If this is really it…and I have a feeling it isn’t…then I am going to come back from hiatus to join Rich on his sentimental Hindenburg.

Strange Culture

Over the years, Dead Yet Living has truly aquired a strange collection of regular readers. I don’t know how or why. It just happened. And I’m glad it did. There’s something to be said for having to answer to people in completely different frames of mind than you about something you just assumed was the truth. This is something Scott did to me the second he became my roommate. And The Dane, well… I think it’s his job.

People react in different ways to this diversity. I can tell you that The Dane has the amazing power of making girls cry without even meeting them. Some people find themselves annoyed that nothing is taken seriously. Some find things taken a little too seriously. I know Neil and Matt once went through a spell where they were the only two people who really found their Mama jokes and the word “BAM!” hilarious. Tom got it. I’m extremely greatful for that. Tom has provided me with so much support, I literally believe he’s kept this thing running about two years longer than it would have been.

Some writers couldn’t take the heat and only wrote like one or two posts. Others lasted a bit longer than that. But they all contributed their own thing to DYL culture. (I mean, really, what would DYL be without that whole Jan thing?)

How I Came Into The DYL World

Ok, so… umm… actually I don’t fully remember. The best I can do is tell you how I became affiliated with Rich and the gang.

In a nutshell- Tom, my “old” youth pastor, and soon-to-be-former-writer of DYL and Andy, Rich’s former youth pastor, went way back. Andy also went to the same church as me when I was a just a wee lass. Fast forward somenumberofyears later, Andy became the youth pastor of… uhh… that church in Eufaula, Alabama (that name… I still get a kick out of it).

Tom and Andy teamed up and did a couple of youth retreats with our two groups combined. The first duo-trip, Wendy’shouse was my host home for a night. We found out we both liked Five Iron Frenzy and were instant friends. Interestingly enough, I don’t remember meeting Rich there, but a few years later I was looking through some pictures and there he was, in all of his high-sock-ed glory. Through the few years of duo trips, I became acquainted with Corrie, talked to her then boyfriend Erick online a few times, and still kept in touch here and there with Wendy. Right after I graduated high school, I went to Erick and Corrie’s wedding, and was warmly welcomed into the Clark house during my stay in Eufaula, where I got to meet Jessica. It was a fun time. Jess and I realized that we liked way too much of the same music, and the three of us watched The Ring. Later, I tried to lie about how I wasn’t scared and how funny it was to watch Rich and Jessica scramble up the back of the couch (seriously) in their utter terror. Somewhere before, after, or in the middle of all that madness, I started writing for DYL. About two years ago I was going through a ton of transition and quit. Then I came back and… now it’s all over. And I still can’t figure out how to friggen put a picture in my post the way I want it to go in there!!! I guess I won’t have to worry about it soon enough :-P

Um… That kind of a big nutshell. Just read it really fast.

In the Beginning

Where did DYL come from? Well, it was created way back when before blog was something your mother knew about (just ask my mom!). Even before Blogger, DYL was being formed. Back then, we didn’t know to call them blogs, so instead we just called them Pitas, and the blog was called “The Holy Roller” which I think is a pretty lame name.

Back then, the writers were just a trio of high-school friends, and it lasted until I went off to Wisconsin for the summer. Then it got boring. But I never lost the passion for writing and sharing in a community of faith, so when I discovered Blogger it reignited a spark of desire for passionate embracing of my romantic love for…. okay that was getting weird. It made me want to give it another try.  We moved to blogger and that was the birth of Dead Yet Living.

Back then, the concept of young Christians sharing their lives over the internets was simultaneously novel and weird, so naturally it caught on pretty well. The group blog thing was the really brilliant part, especially because of the wide cross-section of people Dead Yet Living drew to itself. But now I’m getting ahead of myself.

This Is The End…

I’m leaving.

Going Down in Flames (At least it’s Fun to Watch)

In the course of being forced to renew the hosting for Dead Yet Living for what seems like the billionth time, I realized that I really didn’t want to. And can you blame me? I mean, we’ve had 3 full length posts in the last month that weren’t links to some other site. I did it kicking and screaming, but I renewed the hosting yet again… but it all got me to thinking.

After much thought and consideration, DYL is going the way of the dinosaur, buffalo, and Mitch. I realize many of you might have enjoyed using DYL as an outlet, but I’m just not feeling it anymore, and it seems like most of our writers are either. Plus, DYL used to be kind of unique. Now… not so much. But I’ve got two things to say that might console you… maybe.

1. We’re going out with a bang. Over the next month I’ll be celebrating the life (or death, if you’re The Dane - you’ve done it!) of DYL by  blogging about some of my favorite DYL memories. This is not just reposting old stuff, but instead posting about old stuff. Big difference!

   If I’m doing this by myself it will be really lame. I would love it if some of the writers could contribute. We’ll be blogging our favorite moments, spotlighting past writers, talking about DYL’s influence (that’ll be a short one!), why I decided to end it, and various other extremely meta sorts of things.

2. When it’s all over, the domain will lead you to something completely new. I think a lot of you will like it. For now it’s a secret. But not for long.

In the meantime, join in the celebration and help DYL celebrate six (!) years of blogging!

Update: I still haven’t pressed publish. It’s kind of hard. This has kind of been a big part of my life. I keep thinking I’ll change my mind. It’s weird… but here I go.

Update 2: Seriously, here I go. 

Christ and Pop Culture #14: Dumbledore’s Coming Out Party

It goes without saying that without Harry Potter there would be no show. What else would David have to bring up every single episode - relentlessly - without bringing up Rich’s brilliant (Or misguided?) claim that Harry Potter was a Christ figure?

Well, J. K. Rowling is clearly messing with our heads. A few weeks ago, she announced to the world, “I always thought of Dumbledore as gay.”

Okay… this is a good time for some awkward silence, and maybe a meticulous hindsight 20/20 montage…

Now that we’re done with that, what now? How do we respond to this as Christians who see homosexuality as sin? Can we still read this to our kids? Should we just give up altogether and acknowledge that we will never discover another Chronicles of Narnia? Is modern Children’s literature a lost cause?

We answer some of those questions on this episode of Christ and Pop Culture!
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Want to respond? Leave a message at 206-202-0507, email us at christandpopculture@gmail.com, or leave a comment below!

Christ and Pop Culture #13: The Little Show of Horrors

We have another episode up, for those of you who are interested. We would love emails (christandpopculture@gmail.com), comments, or voicemails (206-202-0507)!

With Halloween upon us, everyone will be itching to be frightened, and these days movies are just a bit more popular than the haunted house. Of course, this used to mean suspense, ghosts, maybe a murderer on the loose. But now, for some reason, it means staring at unlimited amounts of blood and gore for 90 minutes. These things don’t scare, so much as they shock.

So what has become of us? Why do we crave such exhibitions, and what will happen if we indulge ourselves? We discuss these issues, plus we count down our top five terrifying films.

Why I Moved Far Far Away

When I was a senior in high school, I was pretty much considered “leadership” within my youth group (of which Tom was youth pastor). I lead worship on Wednesday nights, I chaperoned Jr. High trips, “mentored,” and generally got a nice little ego trip about the whole thing.

Continue reading Why I Moved Far Far Away…

Christ and Pop Culture #12: The Dumb Guy

In this show David and Rich discuss the current cultural emphasis on the idiocy of men. Also, they list their Top Five Stupid Films. Enjoy!