John Creasy

We had a great party on Sunday night at the Union Project. We're learning how to throw parties, get to know one another and hang out with our neighbors. At the party I met a couple of the guys who work for The League of Young Voters, we asked them to come and set up a table where people could register to vote. They told BJ that our party was one of the best events of the year from their perspective! That was cool, considering the do a lot of events and this was probably the first one thrown by a church. Churches are not known for their ability to throw great parties, but we're learning. (Rob Bell, in his book Velvet Elvis, gives some great reasons why churches need to learn to party, go read the book).

So... I'll get the my point. I decided to register to vote since my address recently changed. When I did that the guys working the table exclaimed "You're name is John Creasy!?!?!" I said "ahhhh yeahhhh, do you know someone with that name?" I had forgotten about the movie Man on Fire from a year or two ago where Denzel Washington plays a burnt out body guard name John Creasy. In the movie the character's name is used profusely throughout the movie. Anybody who has seen the movie seems to remember the name, my name.

It turns out that the League not only remembers that name from the movie, but they use the name frequently. They said that when someone is over working themselves they say they're "on fire." And when someone is completely burnt out, as happens in politics I'm told, they call them "John Creasy," from the movie. This was weird to hear, and weird for them to learn that there's a real John Creasy working in the same building they work in. They told one story of a guy who was pulling a bunch of all nighters trying to get ready for a political event. Toward the end of his working he was exhausted as he lit some candles. The guy didn't realize he had lit his sleeve on fire, they said he was a true "man on fire." It was the first time they called a co-worker "John Creasy."

So now I have to make sure I don't become "John Creasy" as they know "John Creasy." With everything I'm trying to do this summer and now fall I am experiencing some fatigue. Our house is not done, though we've done a ton of work. We have some major projects that still need to be finished. We actually had to move out of the house for a while for Teah's sake. Her lead levels are high so we need to be away from the house until the exteriors is scraped and painted and the kitchen is done. Then we'll have to do an extremely thorough cleaning to remove all the lead dust particles that have been disturbed and settled in the house. I absolutely love my job with the Open Door, but with all this house stuff some of it is stressing me out too. [stop reading now if you don't want to know what happens to John Creasy at the end of the movie] With that whining done with, I hope I don't become a "John Creasy!" (He dies at the end of the movie, sorry if I gave it away for you!)