a few pictures

There are heaps of photos I'm working through to post an album of Houston, LA, Christchurch and Edinburgh sometime soon.

However, for now I offer a few random snapshots...because something is better than nothing, right?

Mick loves trucks...and they are EVERYWHERE in Texas. Yeehaw!


Obligatory stop in Houston for boots and a hat. Yes, we're at "Boot Town".


Mick's mom (mum) in Christchurch with tiger-faced Abby. don't you LOVE her dress?!


The fam (L to R): Abby, Mick, Nanny Ruby, Margaret, Barry.


Beach huts along the quay in Mudeford (near Christchurch).


View from Mudeford toward the Isle of Wight.


Heather "accepts" a flyer for a Fringe show in Edinburgh.


Ensign Ewart pub...this one's just for Kelly. :)


I guess the Cow Parade came through Scotland as well...?


And finally, one for all my punny friends...a souvenir shop in Edinburgh.

return...with a guest blogger

Ladies and Gentlemen,

After a season of relative silence, I offer a return to the blogging world by way of a guest post courtesy of my Mick. Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~

Dovie asked me to do something about this photo for her blog ages ago…apologies for the delay…even though you didn’t know there had been one until just now.

A couple of years ago I was watching a news report that had something to do with Canterbury Cathedral. I really can’t remember what it was, and to be honest it really doesn’t matter. The news reporter was standing at the bottom of this flight of old and worn stone steps while saying his bit to the camera.

For some reason the thought struck me that these steps were a symbol of hope. When the steps were first put in place they would have had sharp square edges and have been completely smooth and flat. The thought of changing the shape of those hard stone steps simply by walking on them would have seemed ridiculous. Yet hundreds of years later, thousands of feet have walked up and down those steps and slowly over those centuries the shape of the steps has changed.

Sometimes I look at situations that seem just too vast for me to realistically expect any significant change. It’s at times like that when I need to remember the steps, remember my God and faithfully play my part.

Dovie and I went to Canterbury Cathedral earlier this year and walked up and down those same steps. We took this picture as a reminder of hope.

my, how the time does fly

I'm dangerously close to a month of silence. I'd chalk it up to writer's block, but the truth is that life is just a bit out of control these days.

However, it's been an eventful summer so far. Here are a few pictures from July.

less is more

Jonah and I were talking last night about a few specific situations that have recently happened which make me wish I had the power to actually change the world.

It reminded him of this Tolstoy quote:

"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself."

Ouch. Tolstoy also said:

"True life is lived when tiny changes occur."

Wow. Eight tiny, but powerful, words.

Interestingly, one of the things that came out in our conversation last night is that I have a habit of over-explaining things.

I know that I do this. I HATE that I do this.

It's one of the things that frustrates me in other people...but I'm guilty of doing it myself!! I won't out Jonah on any of the things that came out about him, but since this is my blog, I'm happy to use it for my own personal confessional. (See! I just did it then a little bit! Oi! What am I like?!)

I think that this over-explaining habit has something to do with the fact that I like quotes.

Partly, it's nice to find a blurb where someone famous says something that supports your thinking, because somehow that seems to make it more valid - which is an entirely separate discussion which might be fun to have.

But really...the reason they appeal to me is that when you find a quote that sums up an idea or argument really well, it's fantastic...because the best things come in small packages, right?

The most difficult thing for me is finding the delicate balance in giving enough background for people to get the big picture with sufficient detail, so that when you throw out a punchy one-liner...it has real impact.

birthday shout out!

The holder of the strong opinion was born this day many moons ago.

Is it time yet for those "By the time Jesus was your age...he'd saved the world" jokes yet? Or did I miss my chance at that last year?

weekend snapshots

Jonah and I went to Kent this weekend. The rain followed us almost all the way to Canterbury, but we lost it somewhere along the way.

Even though it wasn't exactly a pilgrimage, we walked for hours around the city on Saturday and saw quite a fair bit of history, most of which we were completely unaware of...much like one is when traipsing around Rome.

On Sunday, we got out the atlas and picked a place to spend the day along the way back to Wimbledon. There were lots of choices, but we decided on Hever Castle - which we've both decided was a very good choice.

For the picture lovers: here they are. ENJOY!

the story of the kerfuffle

I left work at 5:30 for the first time in weeks on Monday. Excited to have an early night at home with no other commitments, I came strolling through the main door of my block of flats just after 6:00, and that's when the fun started.

There's a flat just inside the main door, and I heard an alarm going off inside. Oven timer? Smoke alarm?? Burglar alarm???

Knock, knock, knock. No answer. Hmm...I head back outside to check the windows...can't see a thing inside. Grr. Well, maybe it's nothing. Up the stairs to change clothes and wait a few minutes to come back down to check again.

Coming back out of my flat, I could have sworn I smelled something electrical burning, so I hurried downstairs to investigate further. Still the alarm is beeping. Still no answer at the door. The door isn't hot, but after another quick run upstairs to knock on the neighbor directly above said flat, I'm now convinced I smell an electrical burn of some sort. Right, then...I'm calling the fire brigade! My first ever 911 call (though it's actually 999 in England).

Fifteen minutes later, they showed up and 3 firefighters poured out of the truck. They can't decide if the smoke they're smelling is really there, or just their clothes. I'm thinking: "Seriously guys?" They do all sorts of poking around and peering through windows with fancy heat-sensitive cameras and can't find any reason to break down the door or do anything else.

So I get a "Well, you did the right thing by calling, but there's not really anything else we can do." Um, thanks...I guess.

I trudged back upstairs, convinced something still wasn't right, but who am I to argue with a fireman about FIRES? I decided I'd come back down and sniff around in about 15 minutes. I mean, clearly the building isn't on fire, but maybe things will have changed in a bit.

I hate to admit it, but I got distracted and forgot to watch the clock. About 30 minutes passed before I FELT something shake the building.

Um, I think the fire brigade is back, and I think they just broke down the door. I managed to grab my handbag and mobile phone and get downstairs in about 10 seconds where a neighbor confirmed that, yep, it was just as I suspected. Someone else got home and went through the very same scenario...and this time the smell was strong enough to convince them they needed to go in.

I still don't know exactly what happened, but three firemen came and knocked on my door two separate times and spent some time poking around the heating cupboard checking wires and such. Sadly, none of them appeared to be a fire brigade calendar model. Unlucky.

And that was it. A funny sounding smoke alarm. The smell of electrical burn. A fruitless first call to 911. But a night that ended with a broken-down door for one of my neighbors and a nasty smell in the hallway.

All rather anti-climactic, but I guess that's what you want in a potential fire situation, isn't it?

what a waste

The London 2012 Olympic logo has caused quite a kerfuffle (there's that word again) on this side of the Atlantic.

It cost £400,000 to create and is U-G-L-Y, which has sparked even more bitterness about the overall cost of the Games, which as risen from the original estimate of £2.35 billion to the current estimate of £9.3 billion. Ouch!

There's an online petition to have a new one commissioned, and people from all over the UK are sending in their cut at an improvement on the icon that will label the Games. The BBC has posted at least 2 galleries of images: this one and this one.

Of the amateur submissions the BBC has posted, I think they would have spent the money better by giving it to the guy who created this one:



Or they could have given it to me. I'm sure I could come up with something than the official logo. Or something people would hate less, at least!

word of the day: kerfuffle

There was a bit of a kerfuffle at my building last night.

Unfortunately, I don't have time to write the story at the moment (oh, to be a well-trained journalist who can throw down a 10,000 word story in 30 minutes or less).

However, I'll leave you with this teaser: I got to dial 911 for the first time in my life.

paintball, anyone?

We went. We saw. We did not conquer.



On Saturday, Jonah (a.k.a. Mick) and I went for a day of paintball with his brother and brother's fiancee...and 14 or so complete strangers that we got paired up with once we arrived.

The opposing team that we competed against all day was CLEARLY more experienced than our rag-tag bunch, and we lost by a land-slide.

And it was pretty hot out.

And the masks you have to wear (complete with someone else's sweat from the day before) constantly steam up so you can't see anything.

And sometimes you do something stupid like leave the field because you got hit before you realize that it bounced off and the paintball didn't explode (which therefore doesn't count as a legitimate hit). Sometimes you do this 2 or 3 times. Ahem.

And sometimes the guy you nail right in the knee refuses to acknowledge he's been shot, hides from the game marshalls and proceeds to wipe off the hit. GRR!

BUT...and this makes everything else above worth it...

YOU GET TO SHOOT A (paintball) GUN ALL DAY LONG!

Excellent stress reliever. I highly recommend it. In a word: cathartic.

Highlight of the day: Jonah was the only one to earn bonus points for our entire team (including the strangers) all day long! At the end of the day, a decent percentage of our total points earned were directly attributable to him (which unfortunately tells you a lot about how many overall points we earned)!

I blame the strangers for our overall loss on the day. I mean...I'm a TEXAS GIRL. I was practically born with a BB gun in my hand. And with the team hero coming from our little foursome...there's a clear theme emerging here, I think.

two for the price of one

First, at long last...I have finally finished the bit of editing I wanted to do on Barcelona pictures, and you can see them here. Yes, I know that I forgot to edit the title paragraph, but I haven't figured out how to fix that in the last 30 seconds, and I'll live with the imperfection.

Second, I did a 5K with my friend Janet this morning. I'll spare you the before and during pictures...but here's our "after" shot.

communication tip #274

Don't ever let your marriage become like this one.

an offering

In the absence of anything else blog-worthy these days (save, of course, the forthcoming pictures of Barcelona)...I offer the following, which should at least be good for a chuckle:

A bloke sitting in the pub hears voices coming from the bowl of peanuts on the bar..."How are you doing?" says the voice..."You're looking well. Have you lost weight? That shirt looks good...takes years off of you"

Strange though it is, he quite enjoys the attention until he walks over to the jukebox and a voice says "Oi, you! Get out of my pub, you ugly prat, before I smash your face in!"

He goes back to the bar and mentions to the barman that the peanuts were saying such nice things to him, but the jukebox was really quite rude.

The barman says "Yeah, I know. The peanuts are complimentary but the jukebox is out of order."

Let the groaning and eye-rolling commence...

shameless

So, I still haven't finished editing my photos of Barcelona...but feel like I should have at least something to offer my faithful few readers. Now, this may not seem like something FOR you, but really...it is...sort of.

Wait for it...

< plug >

Basically, I'd like to draw attention to the fact that my half-birthday is coming up in just a few (well, seven) short weeks. I thought I'd alert you now if you're the kind of person that enjoys giving half-birthday presents to your favorite people.

If you are that kind of person, it may prove helpful to know that I have a wish list on Amazon.com, AND that I'm not opposed to USED BOOKS.

And honestly, I do want to read everything on that list...in no particular order, but if the first book I got happened to look like the one below...I would be delighted.

And really, there's only so many John Grisham books a girl can read in a row. After the second one, all the characters start to blend together and you start wondering what happened to what's-his-name only to realize later that he's not even IN this one! Basically, I need to be able to alternate between fun stuff and good-for-the-soul stuff, and we all know that reading is FUNdamental.

I'm just sayin'...most of us are not fortunate enough to have perfectly-timed birthdays such that we're never more than six months away from presents...and there's plenty of time for shopping and shipping between now and July 21.

< /plug >

how to choose a man

Oddly enough...I got this from a man who most definitely wouldn't describe himself as "the one with cash". Nor does he have long, flowing Prince Charming-esque hair (a la the Shreck movies) like the guy in the cartoon.

Somehow, neither of those facts keep me from thinking he's pretty darn fabulous.

Barcelona...coming soon

Yeah, yeah...I know! I'm sure you're waiting on pins and needles (well, my mom is anyway) for pictures of Barcelona.

Mine will be up soon enough...in the mean time, go look at Heather's snapshots. I DO have a life*, people!


*The term "life" in this instance is defined as "too much work to do and not enough hours in the day for that AND sleep AND a boyfriend AND torture sessions at Peak Fitness and therefore no free time to sort, crop and caption a load of holiday photos".

a day in the life...

Random bits and pieces from the weekend:

"Captain Bucket" as I have dubbed him (I kept calling him "Feather Guy" on Saturday, which just doesn't seem right), who seems to have been raising money for one charity or another and looked quite comfortable as he roamed around Wimbledon High Street with his giant plume hat.




The Captain was very chatty, and we were impressed with his ability to capture the attention of a group of teenage boys and even got them to pull precious metal out of their pockets to donate to his cause! Well done, Captain!


Some flowers near South Park Gardens, a quaint little park hidden away in one of the neighborhoods in Wimbledon. No, we didn't run into Cartman or Kenny.




How English is THIS contraption?? Very, I'm told. I have to admit that's a bit scary, because who wants to be drinking water with a cow potentially in such close proximity? Not me!


And how cute is this little scene? You'd think he was still a 7-year old boy watching Saturday morning cartoons the way he's perched so close to the TV!




And finally...the lasagna* I made while the boy was supervising the football match.



*Um, well...to be honest, this isn't a picture of the actual lasagna I made, but it's the one someone else took when they made it from the same recipe, and for the record, mine looked very similar. So just trust me. Mine looked just as good. I promise.

just another day at the office

Reading important papers...making big decisions...all while fashionably protecting my noggin from objects which might fall from the ceiling.



The workplace can be dangerous, people! Safety first!

heightened sensitivity

It seems everywhere I turn these days, I'm confronted with the problem of poverty, and the soul-searching questions that go along with it, regarding my own love of stuff, comfort and a life ease. It's not just the series of snippets I've been getting this week from Stott, but literally, everywhere I turn. The sermons I've been hearing, the content of the personal Bible study I'm doing...the book I started on the train yesterday.

I think it's a subject I've thought I addressed well (or reasonably well) in the past, but I'm finding that I can barely look myself in the mirror these days for the way I have personally rejected and abandoned the poor, needy and hungry of the world.

John Stott Daily Thought
17 May 2007

Work, Wealth, Poverty and Human Rights (cont'd.)

876. Three approaches to poverty

How should Christians approach the harsh fact of poverty in the contemporary world?

First, we could approach the problem *rationally*, with cool statistical detachment. Indeed, this is where we must begin. There are over five billion inhabitants of planet Earth, one fifth of whom are destitute ... Whereas one fifth of the world's population lack the basic necessities for survival, rather more than another one fifth live in affluence and consume about four fifths of the world's income. In 1988 the 'total disbursements' from these wealthy nations to the Third World 'amounted to $92 billion' (less than 10% of worldwide spending on armaments), 'but this was more than offset by the total debt service of $142 billion, resulting in a negative transfer of some $50 billion' from the Third World to the developed countries.(1) The gross disparity between wealth and poverty constitutes a social injustice with which the Christian conscience cannot come to terms.

Secondly, we could approach the phenomenon of poverty *emotionally*, with the hot-blooded indignation aroused by the sights, sounds and smells of human need. When I last visited Calcutta airport, the sun had already set. Over the whole city hung a pall of malodorous smoke from the burning of cowdung on a myriad fires. Outside the airport an emaciated woman clutching an emaciated baby stretched out an emaciated hand for *baksheesh*. A man, whose legs had both been amputated above the knee, dragged himself along the pavement with his hands. I later learned that over a quarter of a million homeless people sleep in the streets at night, and during the day hang their blanket - other their only possession - on some convenient railing. My most poignant experience was to see men and women scavenging in the city garbage dumps like dogs. For extreme poverty is demeaning; it reduces human beings to the level of animals. To be sure, Christians should be provoked by the *idolatry* of a Hindu city, as Paul was by the idols in Athens, and moved to evangelism. But, like Jesus when he saw the hungry crowds, we should also be moved with compassion to feed them.

The third way, which should stimulate both our reason and our emotion simultaneously, is to approach the problem of poverty *biblically*. As we turn again to that book in which God has revealed himself and his will, we ask: how according to Scripture should we think about wealth and poverty? Is God on the side of the poor? Should we be? What does the Scripture say? Moreover, as we ask these questions, we have to resolve to listen attentively to God's Word, and not manipulate it. We have no liberty either to avoid its uncomfortable challenge, in order to retain our prejudices, or to acquiesce uncritically in the latest popular interpretations.

(1) The World Bank Annual Report 1989, p. 27.

--From "Issues Facing Christians Today" (London: Collins/Marshall Pickering, 1990), p. 230.
----------------------------------------------------
--Excerpted from "Authentic Christianity", pp. 363-365, by permission of InterVarsity Press.

Eurovision 2007

Right about now, I'm sure you're asking yourself "What, exactly, is 'Eurovision'"? Well, allow me to explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.

Eurovision seems to me like one giant American Idol or Pop Idol competition, with the competitors being one representative act from each participating country. I guess there are qualifying competitions within each country to win the representative spot, followed by regionals (?), semi-finals and the Final Competition, which was held LIVE on Saturday night.

Taking any excuse to have a party, Jonah decided to host a fancy dress (read: costume) party at Lee and Helen's home in Hemel, where they all live (brilliant idea - "host" a party at someone else's home and avoid clean-up duty!) to watch (read: ridicule) the final competition. We even had official scoring sheets.

Because the UK's entry (a band called "Scootch") was doing a song and dance about flying, the theme was "Air Travel", so we all dutifully gathered the makings of various characters one finds around the airport.

We arrived at Lee and Helen's to find the airstrip ready, and the sign on the door announcing our flight: "Hemel to Helsinki...1930...Gate 5...Now Boarding" (each year, the winning country of the previous year's competition becomes the new host country. Last year's winner was Finland...thus our flight destination).



Lee and Helen went for the Pilot and Flight Attendant route. It should be noted that (1) the original plan involved Lee as Flight Attendant and Helen as Pilot, but Lee backed out of that idea at the last minute, and (2) Lee had already shed his pilot's suit jacket by the time the camera was pulled out. Apparently, it was already shaping up to be a rough flight. In the end, our plane never left the ground. The UK's entry came in next to last place.



Jonah and I became employees of "Mustang Airlines" (of course!), complete with ID badges and various other company-branded paraphernalia, he as Ground Crew and me as a Gate Attendant.



Finally, winning the prize for best dressed - we had Kevin and Emma. It should be noted that Kevin is a professional costume designer, so I think the rest of us had all lost before we even started thinking about our costumes...but I can't not give full props to their efforts. They had company branded shirts, matching and coordinated outfits, and they even made replica life vests!



Sadly, none of us were aggressively playing the part of "shutter bug", so the pictures here do nothing close to justice for the various costumes and general good times we all had. However, I think Kevin and Emma have set themselves up for some serious competition the next time around. But I'm not competitive at all. Ahem.

fun with limericks...

Saturday is Limerick Day.

I'm telling you this today because most of my 3.7 readers don't read blogs on the weekends, and likely not on Fridays. Plus, it gives you a chance to write your own and impress people at parties this weekend.

Here's my attempt at an original:

There once was a girl come from Texas
Where ne'er did she leave any exes.
When she moved on in to London town
A sweet, handsome man did come 'round
And overwhelmed every one of her senses.

I found this one somewhere on the Internet, and offer it here in honor of my friends Paige and Dennis. If the first one didn't make you groan, this one will:

A minor league pitcher, McDowell
Pitched an egg at a batter named Owl.
They cried "Get a hit!"
But it hatched in the mitt
And the umpire declared it a fowl.

cinco de mayo en Londres

So, we didn't manage an invite to join the Corona party bus that was touring around London on Saturday, but we did stop off at the Texas Embassy to start the celebrations with our favorite bartender, Winston.



After winning a few prizes from the Corona girls (don't get me started), we headed over to Cafe Pacifico for dinner and more celebrating.



Strangely, they didn't seem to be quite ready for the festivities, and had this picture posted on the mirror in the ladies restroom.



My audible response on reading the sign: "Seriously??"

Regardless, we had a good time, and I managed a third stop for the evening at a little pub in Highgate for a drink and a chat with Jonah and his brother and brother's fiancee.

I know what you're thinking: "She's London's busiest social butterfly!"

I figure...why deny it? ;)

barcelona preview

The three amigos who are heading to Barcelona together at the end of May got together on Saturday to celebrate Cinco de Mayo and practice smiling for the camera in Spanish.



Aren't we cute?

More on Cinco de Mayo coming soon...I promise we haven't adopted the Vegas come-on slogan for London (or for anywhere on this side of the Atlantic) just yet.

no slouching!

Today is Good Posture Day. Now if I could just remember this every day...I might have a happier backside, and...well, better posture, of course.

selfish sadness

Jonah told me about John Stott's retirement from public speaking over the weekend, but he's also just had a very disappointing email from the folks who are hosting his last speaking engagement.

They think he's going to be speaking on a Tuesday evening, which means there's virtually no way I can attend.

The last scheduled sermon he was to preach earlier this year at All Souls was cancelled due to illness, so I'm more thankful than I can express with words for the one and only time I got to hear him preach.

After a well-delivered and beautiful sermon, I managed to get a picture with him, but failed to keep my peepers open for the point-and-shoot.



The vanity in me hates this photo, but the Jesus in me loves the fact that my soul was so close to his for even a brief moment.

an orchestra of coconuts

Monday was St. George's Day.

To celebrate, the cast of Spamalot gathered a crowd in Trafalgar Square to set the Guinness World Record for the largest coconut orchestra.

These guys were pretty organized. Check out the plan for the evening here.

They managed to set the record with over 5,000 people gathering together to bang two halves of a coconut together to the tune of "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life".

The bbc was kind enough to snap some photos for me, since I couldn't make it out for the festivities.

It would have been fun to watch (read: quote) The Holy Grail along with 5,000 of my closest friends in London, but I don't really like to stand during films.

feels like spring

My sweet Jonah and I went for a picnic Saturday. The weather is finally beautiful again in England, and as we explored the depths of Wimbledon Common, we happened upon this hidden pond.

I like to call it the "secret pond", but apparently other people knew it was there, or there were a decent number of folks who were just as lucky as we were in their exploration of the area.



It was great fun watching these dogs tag-team paddle this log back to shore, and made me wish I had a pooch of my very own.



From our picnic spot, we noticed the turtles that were hiding in the water earlier had finally come out to play, so we went and had a little chat with one of them.



On closer inspection, it appears that they were looking after a bunch of frog babies.



When we finally managed to tear ourselves away from the pond, we headed off in another direction down this little path...



...and we actually managed to find our way back to civilization without any trouble. Sadly we never saw any Wombles, but there's always next time.

happy birthday mom!

I'm sure it's by sheer coincidence that my mom was born on the same day that Dr. Albert Hofmann discovered the psychedelic effects of LSD.

Equally interesting is that Momma K shares her birthday with one of the Wright brothers. You'd think somebody could get a free flight out of that little tidbit somehow.

Happy Birthday Mom!

texas bound!

I'm leavin' (on a jet plane) Saturday for a week in Houston. I'll be working for the better part of the week, but hope I get to see you if you're there!

maybe steff was right

I went to see Little Shop of Horrors last night. It was Heather's birthday.

Confession: I really liked it. Yikes!

I've been spouting on for a few years now that I "don't love musicals", but maybe it's just that, like with many other things, I'm just really picky about my musicals. Steff has been trying to tell me this for years.

So I decided to do a quick bit of math and let the chips fall where they may.

Loved it:

• The Sound of Music
  
• Chicago
  
• Aida
  
• The Producers (although I never want to see it again)
  
• Mamma Mia
  
• Little Shop of Horrors
  
• Cats
  
• The Wizard of Oz (does that one count?)
  

Hated it:

• Annie
  
• Les Miserables
  
• The Phantom of the Opera
  

I guess it's just that I really don't like the few that it seems everyone else in the universe seems to LOVE...and that just doesn't make sense, does it?

for the mac lovers

My camera phone either sucks, or i suck at taking pictures with it...but you can see this one and others here.

window shopping

This was one of the window displays at Selfridge's last weekend.



Lots of the bits and pieces were mechanical. The yellow dog was spinning around like he was doing tricks to earn a treat. The dog made from thread spools was animated as well.

I wish I were creative enough to make up stuff like this and get paid for it!

bonny prince charlie

OK, so technically that name refers to Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Silvester Maria Stuart (December 31, 1720 – January 31, 1788), the son of James Francis Edward Stuart who was in turn the son of King James II of England and Ireland (James VII of Scotland). After his father's death Charles was recognised as King Charles III. But I digress...

The Prince of Wales paid a little visit to the thriving metropolis of Woking today, as part of a climate change exhibition going on in town.

We watched as he prepared to leave the vicinity from our conference room (gold star for the brilliant individual who chose our office space) and somebody snapped the picture below.



It almost rounds out my sightings of the royal family, since I've already been in close proximity to Liz and Will.

birthday shout out!

It's all about Heather today!

Birthday party in Covent Garden...if anyone wants to pop across the pond...

beware the ides of march

Or, if you're in Rome...go for a run.

when was your last deep belly laugh?

This weekend, I was reminded what it feels like to be a kid with no cares in the world. Heather has documented the root of such joy on her blog. Enjoy...and be jealous!

the coatless wonder

Today is the first day of the year during which I made my way out of the office and into town center (or centre, for those reading on the island) SANS WINTER WEAR.

I know we are still 9 days away from any official declaration of Spring...but I think it's safe to release the Hallelujah Chorus Choir to fulfill their intended purpose.

I suppose they could consider it a warm-up for their next gig - the completion of Hon's kitchen. Come to think of it, his journey could have made for some good reality tv.

you know you need a new routine when...

...you not only know all the baristas at your local Starbucks, but you know them well enough to anticipate, depending on who's on duty, whether or not you need to order your drink "extra hot" in order to obtain prime temperature for consumption.

mark your calendars, girls

Ladies, if you (like me) lobbied for support and accolades yesterday, you may want to note International Men's Day in your calendar.

Of course, if you happen to be reading this humble little blog from Romania, or can claim Romanian heritage...you could honor your man today.

not that anyone needs a reason...

...but why shouldn't a girl employ all the resources she has to hand?

That's right, ladies and gents...it's official: today is International Women's Day.

A bit from the link above:

The day remains an official holiday in [several countries] and is observed by men giving the women in their lives...flowers and small gifts.

Let the gift-giving commence!!

say no to spoon feeding!

Another tidbit from the mind of John Stott:

A doctrine of God
Behind the concept and the act of preaching there lies a doctrine of God, a conviction about his being, his action and his purpose. The kind of God we believe in determines the kind of sermons we preach.

--From "I Believe in Preaching" (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1982), p. 93.
----------------------------------------------------
--Excerpted from "Authentic Christianity", p. 332, by permission of InterVarsity Press.

Excellent exhortation to measure everything against Scripture...and resist the temptation to take anything for "gospel" that comes out of the mouths of men.

weekend fun

My friend Kelly and I met when we were both studying in France, and manage to re-connect from time to time. Turns out we're BOTH living in London now, so we got to celebrate Texas Independence Day together at the Texas Embassy along with Heather and a couple of other friends.


Saturday was full of good times, starting with lunch at Bodean's with Heather and Jonah. Mmmm...tasty! (How much for a rib?)

From there, our little trio headed over to St. Paul's Cathedral to do the obligatory tourist thing.


We all climbed up to the second level of the dome, where we took some pictures.


Jonah and I went for the full meal deal and headed up to the third level, but since I was armed only with my smarter-than-me camera phone, I can only offer this very blurry image of the spectacular view from the top.


The guided tour of St. Paul's was well worth the extra £3.00 on top of the price of admission. I was quite the eager student, because I enjoy learning about history (an ironic twist to reality since completing my formal education). I like to think that I was attentive and affirming to our sweet tour guide, but Heather has her own opinion of how the day went...which Jonah happily backs.

So now there's TWO of them ganging up on me. What hope have I of winning? Answer: none.

texas independence day!

On this day in 1836, Texas declared national independence. Yeah, yeah...we joined the Union later...but I'll still be celebrating at the Texas Embassy tonight!

surreal moment - workin' for the man

A bit of background:

1. I was very shy during my teens and early twenties.
   
2. I'm usually nervous and awkward around people I perceive as important.
   
3. I worked at that big, crooked E company for a few years - where, generally speaking, you were NOBODY if your title didn't include the words 'vice', 'president', 'managing' or 'director'.
   
4. I have never thought of myself as being 'all that', despite many attempts by others to correct (or at least amend) this thinking.
   
5. Despite landing in a fabulous place (the Blue Horse) after the crooked E went the way of the brontosaurus...it took me well over a year to even speak to the remaining two founders of the company (see item 3 above).
   
6. My title still does not contain any of the key words mentioned in item 3 above.
   
7. Even having been given a foreign assignment in a company that really doesn't do much of that, I still viewed myself as an average (what I like to call) corporate flunky until very recently, and frankly still consider myself that on most days.
   

That being said...imagine my own surprise at myself after this little episode unfolded last week during a very short visit to the Houston office.

[OF = Office Friend; BHF=Blue Horse Founder]

Me: Hi! Are we going to lunch? Where's Marketing Manager?
OF1: She's finishing up a meeting with BHF #1.
Me: REALLY? Where are they??
OF1: Office number blah blah down the hall.

Me: I'll be right back. [walk to the specified office, knocking expectantly on the open door as I enter the room, which also included External Executive Management Consultant Lady]

Marketing Manager and BHF #1 [simultaneously]: DOVIE!! How are you? When did you get in (...and various other greetings)?

Me: I'm just here for a couple of meetings and lunch, but had to come and hug your neck*, BHF #1!

BHF #1 [already standing]: Get over here! It's so good to see you!!

Me: I'll let you get back to meeting, but had to interrupt to say hi. [walk back to marketing department area.]

Me: Did you know BHF #1 is in the office?
OF2: Yeah...he's just in to meet with a few people today.

Me: I just had to run over and get a hug. [pause] You know, I can't believe I just did that without thinking!

To be fair, the Blue Horse is a VASTLY different place to work than the crooked E was...but still...wow! Funny how time changes things.

*Yes, I actually said "hug your neck" - I'll never be able to deny my Texas country roots.

march? seriously??

How does this happen? I mean...we JUST HAD new year's eve dinner!! January and February were an absolute blur. Tell me I'm not the only one...

Even though spring doesn't technically begin for 20 more days, it kind of already feels like it has already sprung. So I guess it's fitting that I have big plans to clean my flat and sort some paperwork tonight to get that whole 'spring cleaning' thing off and running.

Call me crazy, but I'm a little bit excited about this.

compassion for the needy

It's been a while since I posted one of the "John Stott Daily Thoughts", but I thought this one was especially interesting [emphasis mine].

The mission of Jesus
The mission of Jesus was a mission of compassion. The words *mission* and *compassion* should always be bracketed; indeed almost hyphenated, so closely do they belong to one another.

Again and again we read in the gospels that Jesus 'was moved with compassion' -- now by the leaderless or hungry crowds, now by the sick, now by a single leprosy sufferer, now by a widow who had lost her only child.

What aroused his compassion was always human need, in whatever form he encountered it. And out of compassion for people in need he acted. He preached the gospel, he taught the people, he fed the hungry, he cleansed the leper, he healed the sick, he raised the dead.

All this was part of his mission. He had not come to be served, he said, but to serve (Mk. 10:45). Of course the climax of his self-giving service was his atoning death, by which he secured our salvation. Nevertheless, his mission of compassion was not limited to this, because human need is not limited to this.

He was sent to serve, and his service was adapted with compassionate sensitivity to human need.

--From 'The Biblical Basis for Declaring God's Glory', in "Declare His Glory Among the Nations", ed. D. M. Howard (Downers Grove: IVP, 1977), p. 54.
----------------------------------------------------
--Excerpted from "Authentic Christianity", p. 320, by permission of InterVarsity Press.

Christ's death on the cross may have been the climax of his earthly ministry, but it is the beginning of God's ministry to us today. Maybe better said is that it's the beginning of our awareness of God's ministry to us today.

Since "every good and perfect gift is from above..." (James 1:17) and God "knit me together in my mother's womb" (Psalm 139:13) surely we owe thanks to Him alone for all compassions we have ever received, even before we knew they came from Him.

That God lovingly bestows "other" compassions is CRITICAL to our very lives. We need EVERYTHING from God, not just the cross; Christ's sacrifice is the conduit through which we are able to receive it...and does not lessen our need for other expressions of God's compassion toward us.

I submit that a generous portion of Christians wouldn't say that we don't believe "other" compassions are critical, but we often demonstrate it by how we go about our daily lives, saying "thanks for my salvation...I'll be on my way to work out the rest of my life now" with every step.

I am chief among the guilty.

good things

Spending somewhere between 18 and 20 hours a day in the hospital over the last 2 weeks has made me thankful for lots of good things* in my life (and my family's life):

• the unknowable love of my parents
  
• the ability to know the love of Christ which supasses knowledge
  
• precious friends that give me gifts I'll never deserve
  
• gifts that turn into blessings for others
  
• a fresh bottle of water after a long and wearying flight, and someone thoughtful enough to have it waiting for me
  
• the best home-cooked beef stew on earth, without asking for it
  
• dialysis - it's a good thing!
  
• love, joy, peace, patience, kindness
  
• pesto sauce
  
• cooking for more than 1 person
  
• lazy days on the sofa watching TV
  
• the daily grind of a routine
  
• being the only girl on a flight from Texas (that departed on GO TEXAN DAY) that emerged from international arrivals geared up in her boots and her hat - and not giving a single thought to what the locals must have thought
  
• Alexander Graham Bell
  
• international phone cards
  
• flowers
  

*This list is by no means exhaustive.

leavin' on a jet plane...

Two weeks and a day after jetting home to be with my mom while she's been in the hospital, I'm finally heading back to not-so-sunny England. It's amazing to me that a foreign land has become home (don't hate, Greg), comfort, routine, and the only place I want to be right now.

However, just as I've been finally been 'hitting my stride' in London...I've noticed a tendency when I'm in Houston to cling to my country roots. Let me explain. I'm a city girl through and through, but I grew up on 80s country music. The rule in the car was "driver's choice", and even when I was old enough to drive, my mom still insisted on country when she was in the car. At the time, I professed to hate it. However, for the last two weeks, about 95% of the time I've been in the car, the radio has been on COUNTRY MUSIC. Now, I grew into an acceptance of country music several years ago...but a lot of my recent listening has been to the "classic country" radio station. WHAT?!

AND...I bought new boots and a new hat while I've been here. Call it retail therapy. Call it homesickness. Cal it Rodeo Fever. It is what it is...and I'm a TEXAS GIRL TO THE CORE.

I LOVE being from Texas. It's the BEST!

general weirdism

I think I'll be conscious of all my weirdisms for the foreseeable future, given the string of tags that TLC started a couple weeks ago.

I won't keep numbering them, because frankly that will just get embarrassing for me.

So, it just occurred to me that although I like the concept of tagging my blog posts, I can't bring myself to do it. This is because I don't like the "general" category. Or any category otherwise named that serves the same "everything that's not covered by my other pre-defined categories" purpose. If the blog were done, or involved a finite set of data or type of data, I could bring myself to categorize it. But since I feel like I would be endlessly re-shuffling categories and adding new ones, I can't be bothered.

For all this, I blame my good friend Mark Palmer. Mark taught me the concept of MECE. When making lists (such as lists of categories of blog posts), he aims to make the categories Mutually Exclusive and Collectively Exhaustive. I love this. It appeals to my 'rule following' self and the "J" part of my personality. I can imagine some people may not make the immediate jump to why this brings me angst with regard to creating categories for my blog.

Following MECE principles, the categories should also be specific - the "general' category is a total cop-out. It's not really a category at all. So if I were to categorize my blog, I would ALSO have to add potential recategorization of all posts every time I write something new.

Somehow, total anarchy with regard to the organization of my posts seems less stressful to even my longs-for-order self.

It still saddens me a little bit, though...because I think people who categorize their blog entries are better bloggers than I am. And I like being really good at stuff...so I'm a little disappointed in myself, but at least comfortable with why I won't be altering that little piece of my life anytime soon.

i am my mother's daughter

So the cool thing (given the situation) is that I'm sitting in the OR waiting room and I have wireless Internet. That's pretty fantastic.

The not-so-cool thing (aside from the fact that there's a reason for me to here) is that the single most annoying child on the planet is sitting 3 seats from me, and no amount of evil looks has prompted either mother or father to SETTLE HIM DOWN!

I mean, there are about 35 stressed out people sitting around this room trying to get some peace and quiet while their loved ones are in some room only a few feet away under the knife for one reason or another...and this little boy's tantrum is the last thing any of our nerves need.

Stop the madness!

Don't worry, Jonah...I promise I don't hate children...and to be fair, it's actually the parents I blame in situations like these. No pressure.

six weird things about me

Seeing as I have loads of time on my hands right now, and unlimited free wireless Internet...I thought it time to answer the challenge given by TLC to admit six weird things about myself in a public forum.

Fantastic idea. Here we go:

1. Food preferences. There are actually two weird things that fall into this category, but I know I'll get in trouble somehow if I try to count them separately. My food weirdisms are: (a) breakfast food is for breakfast-time only, and non-breakfast food is for non-breakfast time only (e.g. no cereal for dinner or cold pizza for the first meal of the day); and (b) I flatly refuse to eat poultry off the bone, although I'll happy get down on a good rack of ribs.
   
2. A bit OCD. I tend to straighten displays and shelves in grocery stores, especially while waiting in line at the register. The first thing I usually go for is the magazine rack.
   
3. Ordering espresso drinks. This most often happens at Starbucks, even in London, because as much as I hate to admit it...I'm THAT girl. So the weird thing is that I ALWAYS order a grande, even when I know I won't be able to finish it (either by lack of appetitte or time). I do this because a good friend once told me that all recipes are built on the grande size, so it therefore has the most optimal taste, and I believed him.
   
4. Genetics. Two things again: (a) if I smile too big, my bottom lip goes crooked and I look like a stroke victim; (b) I can make a completely unimaginable shape with my tongue. Don't ask me how I figured out that I can perform such a feat.
   
5. Phonetics. I have a hard-to-pronounce-from-text-only name. However, I HATE that the easiest way to phonetically spell my name is "duh-vee" because I think that subconsciously, people who don't know me might think I'm dumb if they see that rendering. How weird is that?!
   
6. I can't NOT sing.I constantly find myself singing absent-mindedly out loud in public. It's not too embarrassing when I'm in a shop and just singing along with the overhead music, but many times I have been on the train and spotted someone watching me only to realize I was singing along with my iPod. Yikes! Must move the vocal lessons up in priority on the do list, even if only to protect the strangers I'm surrounded with daily.
   

It turns out there are rules...

The rules are as follows: Each person who gets tagged needs to write a blog post telling 6 weird things about themself... as well as clearly state the rules. After you state your 6 weird things, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says "you're tagged" in their comments and tell them to read your blog for information as to what it means.

So, that being said, I tag Steven, Todd, Laurie, Heather, Dan and eBay.

when waiting is hard

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. -Psalm 62:5

The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him. -Lamentations 3:25

As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he shows us his mercy. - Psalm 123:2

Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. - Luke 2:25

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. - Psalm 130:5

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. - Psalm 42:11

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. -Romans 15:13

So, Jonny Wilkinson is a rugby stud. He plays the fly-half position for England, and returned to rugby yesterday afte a 4-year absence thanks to repeated injuries and illness. He was the Man of the Match yesterday, and played almost the entire game, despite having already gaining yet another blood-letting (minor) injury in the first few minutes of play. Final score: England 42-20 Scotland

There was a FANTASTIC shot of him that I've had my heart set on posting, because it screams "classic rugby moment", but I can't find it anywhere, so you'll have to settle for this image of his highly-contested try during yesterday's game.


So, to illustrate the complete and utter barbarian nature of the game, I offer this picture of Ireland's Denis Hickie, receiving some attention for a cut as Ireland was in the process of winning their match against Wales. This is what the BBC coverages said about the moment: "Hickie spilled blood in the cause and had to go off for stitches to a head wound, with Geordan Murphy temporarily taking his berth on the Ireland left wing."

Did anyone note the word TEMPORARILY there?
Rugby term of the day: "blood substitute"




(All photos courtesy of bbc.co.uk)

'tis the season

So, the Rugby 6 Nations tournament begins this weekend. I'm just a little bit excited about this.

Last year - after failing miserably to fall in love with cricket - a few different folks suggested I give rugby a shot at the prize for my favorite sport to watch in the UK, and as the 6 Nations tournament was about to begin, the timing was perfect.

During the post-showdown interview after the first game of the 2006 tournament, the 'Man of the Match' was grunting happily along about the various important tackles, rucks, mauls and tries all the while he was BLEEDING FROM HIS EYE SOCKET.


Clearly, these guys are NOT kidding around about their sport. And so I was hooked.

I'll be cheering for England this year. I had mixed emotions about where to place my loyalty the last time around, but they are no longer split. Fingers crossed they'll make a better showing than the English footballers did in the World Cup.

really?

I got an email advertisement today from one of my favorite random present websites. However, their marketing folks must be on vacation...because clearly the B team was in charge of this ad.

The ad was done to promote Valentine's Day gifts. This item was one of the teasers in the email.



What, pray tell, about this little item screams "Happy Valentine's Day"? I mean...what's the message here?

Is it "Love you, honey...have some coffee without me"?

Maybe it's "I'd love for you to make me some coffee and serve it in this little number...sorry there won't be enough for you. -Love, your sweetie-pie"

Somehow, I don't think either of those are the route I'd suggest.

houston, we have lift-off!

I am a broadband leech no more.

Successful connection to new ISP yesterday elicited a Chandler Bing-like dance from me and shouts of joy!

Only thing left to work out is to reconfigure my wireless hub so I can enjoy life as it was meant to be.

random thought

I've just noticed there are 9 songs in my "Favorites" playlist on my iPod that start with "Don't...".

That's just ONE PLAYLIST on MY iPod.

Doing the math...that must indicate something like a zillion such songs in the known universe.

Wow. That's a bunch of songs telling people not to do something.

quote of the day

"Dull-witted but well-meaning bureaucrats slap down the paving stones of good intentions on the road to hell."

- Jonah Goldberg, National Review Online, 10 January 2007

Read the statement in context here.

deja vu

The following is a transcript* of a recent email exchange with my mom.


ME: Random bit of trivia: I got a new mattress topper, like the Tempur-Pedic® beds. It is FANTASTIC! I slept like a baby last night!

MOM: What is a mattress topper? Is it better than my 20 year old "Sterns & Foster"?

ME: A mattress topper is something that goes ON TOP OF your mattress. I got a “topper” because it doesn’t make sense to buy a whole new mattress here. I wouldn’t be able to bring it home with me; the beds are different sizes here than at home.

MOM: Don't be a SNOT. :) I did not know if it was like a pillow-top mattress. Will you be able to bring this home?

ME: No. The beds here aren’t the same size, and since the mattress topper is cut to fit the mattress - so it sits on top without any overlaps or gaps - it won’t fit an American bed any more than a mattress from here would. Comprende?

MOM: You sound like Laurie Johnson in her conversation with her MOM. :):) I do comprende!


*Highly edited for applicable content.

a day late...

...unknown number of dollars short.

I want to be Grammar Girl.

Why didn't I think of this? I mean, there's a sign on the door to my office marking it as the designated "Grammar Crisis Room" (thanks Steven).

Thanks to Meidy for sending this my way...for a laugh and a bit of a wistful sigh.

Hopefully Dennis will appreciate the fact that she uses the word "pre-apology". I love it!

can't stop laughing

One word: PINEAPPLE!

Many thanks to Heather (not Meidy) for passing this along and giving me a good chuckle over lunch.

starbucks oracle: revisited

So, my standard drink has changed in recent past...so I thought it time to revist the Starbucks Oracle.

Here's what the Starbucks oracle has to say about me and my grande extra hot latte:

Personality type: Lame

You're a simple person with modest tastes and a reasonable lifestyle. In other words, you're boring. Going to Starbucks makes you feel sophisticated; you'd like to be snooty and order an espresso but aren't sure if you're ready for that level of excitement. People laugh at you because you use fake curse words like "friggin'" and "oh, crumb!" Everyone who thinks America's Funniest Home Videos is a great show drinks grande extra hot latte.

Also drinks: V8
Can also be found: On the couch at home


And here I was thinking that I was at least a little less pretentious with this over my former grande 2-pump mocha.

Incidentally, from 15 February, you will be able to wear your drink on a t-shirt. No matter what you think of it, it's yet another example of Starbucks' brilliance, thanks to their understanding of four little words:

"It's all about marketing."

for your viewing pleasure

just a few snapshots with friends while I was in Houston and Atlanta for Christmas/New Year.

I'm trying out flicker, so they're here this time.

Passion '07: part 3

During Passion, the students were challenged to "Do Something Now", and were asked to get involved NOW in one of 8 different tangible activities. You can read about what they were challenged with and how they responded here. There were some financial and some non-financial activities, and the students far exceeded all their goals in every category.

In terms of financial giving, by the last morning of the conference, the students had collectively given something in the neighborhood of $700,000. Wow.

But that's not all! (eww...that feels like an infomercial sound bite)

On the last morning of the conference, Louie spent the first part of the main session reviewing what the students had collectively accomplished through the Do Something Now challenge and then talked a little about their vision for the future. There will not be a Passion '08 conference (and probably not a Passion '09) as one main gathering. They are moving into a new phase...or, as Louie put it, the sails of the boat called "Passion" have been filled by a new wind. And that wind is taking them to the students who can't get to Atlanta, or Nashville or Sherman, Texas very easily. Loosely, they plan to do mini-events...in a LOT of different places. Some of those places are in the States...but many are not. And in some of those international locations, they hope to offer the conferences for free. I'm doing this such little justice. Louie's words were much more intense and purposeful and rich than mine...

Regardless...their initial projections are that it will take a few million dollars to make this happen. So, at the worst possible time to take an offering (after they've encouraged the students to give to OTHER ministries throughout the entire conference), they took an offering to start raising the funds needed to follow the global wind.

Now...one of the side jobs that our team had been given was to help receive the offering. All we had to do was wait for the cue (one of the Passion board members to pray for the offering) and we walked quietly to the front of our sections and just held up the bucket we were given so the students could come to us.

They streamed into the aisles like a river. And I was overwhelmed. I'm SO not cute when I cry, but tears were streaming down my face at a pace I usually manage to reserve for the most private of moments. But I didn't care. A few poor sweet college students felt compelled to capture the moment on film, and now have a fairly rough-looking picture of a random volunteer who isn't so fabulous at crying...but whatever. It's not about me.

One of the last things I got to do as a volunteer was be in the small group of people who helped count that offering. The room was silent. Partly because we needed to be in a serious mood; you just don't joke around when you're dealing with that much cash. But mostly I think we were just in awe.

The offering they took that morning was $256,000. Double wow.

the most beautiful man in london...

...ate dinner at Pizza Express tonight on Earl's Court Road, with an old man who could have been his father or uncle but I'd like to think of as his Morrie.

That is my theory mostly because he very clearly wasn't English and although I sadly wasn't close enough to hear much of their dinner conversation (and thus didn't catch Morrie's accent to note if it was similar), their meeting embrace did not scream "close family relatives" to me. Come to think of it, it didn't scream "dear friends" either, but maybe it's early days in their mentoring relationship. I digress.

I wish Susannah had been there, partly because I know she likes Pizza Express, and partly because she's MUCH better at pegging foreign homelands based on physical features and accents than me. The best we could do was "not Italian" and someone at the table threw out "Lebanese" as a potential (which bodes well for my good friend Basim).

I must have said something about how beautiful he was a dozen times...and on reflection, I've realized it wasn't in the typical girly playful way. I honestly was just in awe. He was so pretty that I wouldn't even dream of joking about him as my "boyfriend" (as I do about about at least one stranger each day on the tube or otherwise around town). It was more admiration than wistful hope.

What I mean to say is that it felt like a sight-seeing event. You know...Tower of London, check; Buckingham Palace, check; Most Beautiful Man, check.

memories of 2006

So I'm a little slow...and I have started and deleted this little blurb a couple of times, because, really, does anyone (apart from my mom) care what my best and worst memories are? But, John asked the question on his blog...and even though I feel a bit cheeky about responding here instead of there, I'm doing it anyway...

Best memories...

• NYE 2006 celebrations in Edinburgh with Susannah, Heather and LB (which counts because we were up past midnight).
• Getting surprised, more than once.
• Mike and John visiting me in in London.
• Tea with Steffanie at the Ritz.
• St. Patrick's Eve in Dublin with Paige and Susan.
• St. Patrick's Day in Dublin with Paige and Susan.
• Finding a new boyfriend every time I get on the tube.
• Laughing so hard I cried with Steffanie and Danny and Basim. More than once.
• Speedy Steffanie on crutches in London and Ireland.
• Kissing the Blarney Stone.
• The hotel bed in Cork, Ireland, which I'm convinced was made from clouds.
• My first real conversation with a homeless person.
• A quiet Christmas with my family in Tyler.
• NYE 2007 in Atlanta with most of my best friends.

Worst memories...

• Ending a relationship every time I get off the tube.
• Not getting married.

For the record, it's not like somebody asked me and I said no and now wish I hadn't. It's that nobody asked. Which, I guess, is more "lack of a good memory" than it is a "bad memory", but, you know...

passion '07: part 2

Late Nights and Being a Volunteer.

So, in addition to sorting out the lunches, most of us on the meals team also had some shifts to pull during the Late Night events, which were a handful of mini-concerts held all around the venue. There were about a dozen of these on the first 2 nights of the conference, each taking anywhere from 8-15 volunteers to manage.

My late night was the Shawn McDonald one. There was another guy playing that night too...and I can't remember his name (confession: I had to look Shawn up on the grassroots website to remember his last name, which, given what it is, you'd think I'd be able to remember). There's VERY little chance the other guy would ever see this, but I offer my apologies for not remembering your name...I enjoyed your music, but this is a sign of how clued out I am on the music scene these days.

On the first night, my single responsibility was to serve as what I call a "door nazi" at a 'no entry/exit' door (yes, I just used that word in reference to my job at a Christian event...it's hyperbole...roll with it). Being a door nazi isn't too flashy, but I happily went about my job and would rather "hold open the door to the house of the Lord than dwell in the courts of the wicked" (another reference to Louie's pre-conference speech to the volunteers, loosely quoted...and yes, I realize that my job was to hold the door closed, in this case...but hopefully you get the idea).

So, as you can imagine, it wasn't too hard to keep people from entering or exiting, and I was 100% successful in my task. Well, except for the musicians, which were allowed, so I still gave myself a 100% score...even though I tried to kick out the cello player before I knew he was "with the band". He was nice about it, and thanked me for being so good at my job. His name is Neil and we became instant conference friends when I told him that I have a friend who plays the cello. FYI...Conference friends are the ones you make at a conference and get along well with but will never see again.

On the second night, I got upgraded (or downgraded, depending on how you look at it...but I considered it an upgrade in the end) to "hall nazi", where all I had to do was sit in the backstage hall and keep non-production and non-band types from entering/exiting/milling about. Essentially, this meant that I didn't have to do anything but chat more with my new friend Neil the cello player and make an idiot of myself when I had to ask Shawn who he was. But he was cool about it too.

I chatted with Neil and Shawn about London, because they had done some shows in the UK in the summer, and had to fly back to the States a day or two after the most recent terrorist drama...so we had that (and I also still had the cello thing with Neil, who promised to play louder on the second night because I could only hear the cello on 2 songs the first night).

Yeah, it's a random story, and probably seems like one of a million stories I should have from all the new people I met and such...but really, it's not one of a million stories. It's one of very few stories like that, because of how I viewed being a volunteer at Passion...

For me (and lots of others, I'm sure), being a volunteer wasn't about being in the center of all the excitement (as it has been in the past) or making loads of conference friends. It was about being busy and focused on the task. My purpose there was fairly singular: remove any and all distractions possible to make everything flow simply, easily and seamlessly for the students.

On the first day, I held doors open to the building where registration was taking place...we yelled and cheered for them...we told them we were excited they were there...we chatted with them about their journey to Passion...we took their towels and socks that were brought to donate to shelters in the Atlanta area. After that, I only met a few students...because I just didn't need to. I got to hear a lot of cool stories from some of the leaders about specific things God was doing, and I was able attend one of the main sessions and I could see in their total abandon during sung worship and hear in the challenges from God's heart through Louie's talk just a glimpse of what God was doing. And that's all I needed.

on being oxymoronic

Not that you care, but because I do...

I changed the title of my first post about Passion '07 from "indescribable" to "part 1", partly because I think it's dumb to say something was indescribable and then go on about it for as long as I already have (especially when there's more to come) and partly because there are more posts to come, and i don't know what to name the others except part 2, part 3, etc.

Even though I do think it's indescribable, I still can't keep myself from talking about it...all the while knowing that no amount of storytelling will ever make me feel like I've really conveyed the full impact of what it's like to be a part of the experience directly.

Louie agrees with me...there's a bit about it on the 268 blog.

So, for my own hypersensitive conscious and parallel-style loving self, I changed the title. That's all.

passion '07: part 1

Passion '07 = 22,000 college students plus 1,000 volunteers plus 14 staff descending on Atlanta for 4 days.

For anyone who has ever experienced a Passion or OneDay event, imagine more of that, a reminder of that, a renewal of that, a rekindling of that in your soul. For anyone who has not ever experienced it...I don't know how to describe it.

I won't be able to do it justice. I'm not even sure why I'm trying, except that I can't not write about it...I'll break it up into a few posts over the next several days, covering at least the following topics, which are listed more to organize my own thoughts than to whet your appetite:

• the meals team
• late night events
• the offering
• the students
• being a volunteer
• friends and family
• vision for the future

Let's talk about the meals team today. Our team was responsible for setting up the serving lines and herding the students to pick up their lunches and find a place to sit and eat. That part of my day went roughly like this:

09:00 to 11:30 - approximately 50-75 volunteers build pallets of thousands of lunchboxes for the students to cruise by and grab a lunch when the time came.

11:30 to 12:30 - team meeting to discuss the day's plan / lessons learned / break up into sub-teams and give detailed assignments, etc.

12:30 to 13:30 - herd students to lunches and then to seating around the venues to enjoy their grub. I must have said the phrase "please keep walking on the escalators" a thousand times. Our goal was to "herd with kindness"...which was sometimes difficult. Can you believe that we actually had some students defy our requests? At a Christian event?? At a PASSION EVENT??? Oh, right...they're human. It still happens.

After the masses had found a place to cop a squat and eat, there were various clean-up bits and pieces to handle...and then we grubbed ourselves...and then we were off to the next thing.

Seems pretty easy, right? Not so much. There are a thousand logistical challenges when you try to do even the simplest thing for such a large group of people in a very short amount of time.

Our main team leaders, Tague and Lisa Harding, spent a LOT of time (we're talking over 6 months of planning) organizing the chaos. Tague and Lisa have been around Passion since the beginning, and they are one of the coolest couples I've met. They work well together, demonstrate grace under pressure and are quick to give credit to others before themselves. They are excellent at what they are there to do...which should come as no surprise, as the entire Passion organization is about doing things excellently, and they wouldn't have lasted this long as "A-listers" if they didn't both appreciate excellence and demonstrate it as well.

And our sub-team leader, the one and only holder of the strong opinion, did an outstanding job of recruiting a really solid team for our venue. This overlaps a bit with the "friends and family" discussion, but for now I'll say that one of the things that made our team flow so easily is that there is a lot of history among most of our sub-team members...so it was really easy to give and receive short, concise directions and re-directions as well as rebuff suggestions from the peanut gallery without having to worry about how the message was ever received.

At the all volunteer meeting before student registration began on the first day of the conference, Louie Giglio pointed out that with as many volunteers as we had, there was clearly a LOT of talent, education, and a full spectrum of perspective and opinion on how any given task could be done among us. There was obviously a lot of planning that went into making Passion happen, and although there was room for suggestions on tweaks here and there, by and large, there is a reason for doing things the way they asked them to be done. So he urged us to go with the flow and be satisfied that none of us (including Louie) had the full picture of why certain things were the way they were.

Imagine the sudden bursts of pressure and stress associated with trying to do something so big, so WELL, in such a short amount of time...and all the potential for misunderstandings and "I think we should do it this way" moments. Within our team, as within many others I'm sure, there was room for suggestions, but there were also a lot of "thanks for that, but we're not going to do it your way" moments too. And it needed to be that way. Our team handled that well thanks to careful planning and purposeful recruitment. Well done, Tague, Lisa and Bas.

It was amazing how refreshing it was to just sit back and play my part...be told what to do and just do it...no questions, no argument, no commentary. My personal ambition during these days was two-fold: (1)trust my leaders to do their job well and (2)exhaust myself in service to the Lord.

These few hours of each day definitely contributed to achieving that goal.

t-9 (working) days and counting

Woohoo! I'm through Stage 2 already!!

---
Dear Customer

We are pleased to advise you that your order has now been placed with BT.

You will receive your Welcome Letter approximately 48 hours prior to the completion date specified in your order.

Assuring you of our best attention at all times.

Regards
Nildram Provisioning Team

---

This means that I should get my Welcome Letter ON MY BIRTHDAY. What a wonderful present!!

t-10 (working) days and counting...

...to broadband service at home. Fingers crossed, holding my breath, etc.

I'm a little concerned about the confirmation email I got. It includes the letters B and T. YIKES!

----
Dear Customer

Welcome to Nildram!

Your Service Agreement is attached as acknowledgement of your order (Service Agreement.pdf). If you do not have an Adobe Acrobat Reader for pdf files, please either download a free version from www.adobe.com, alternatively reply to this e-mail requesting your Service Agreement in Word format.

Your order will progress through the following stages:

Stage 1 - We are currently verifying the details you have supplied prior to placing your order with BT.

Stage 2 - you will receive confirmation that your order has been placed with BT

Stage 3 - you will receive a Welcome Letter containing your setup information prior to service activation

The whole process through to service activation is expected to take 10 working days, although migrations and certain re-grades may take longer.

We will contact you by e-mail in the unlikely event of any delay to your order.

Thank you for choosing Nildram and we look forward to a successful installation, if in the meantime you have any questions please do not hesitate in contacting us by e-mail adslprovisioning@nildram.net or via our Customer Care team on 08701608600 option 3.
----

Here's to hoping that because BT services my phone line, they HAVE to work with BT to provision the DSL...and that because they are a fairly small company, if anything goes wrong, I will be able to get faster/better/actual service from them where I couldn't with BT. I'm nervous.

friend / musician / book plug

I think I'm allowed to do this without being too much of a cheese curd, because I'm pretty sure I'm allowed to call Tara Leigh Cobble my friend. Legitimately, I mean.

You know...I could call Harry Connick Jr. my "friend", since I'm pretty confident that if we ever met, we'd get along well...but we haven't, so that's not really legit (for Dennis, I guess I could say HCJ and I are "pre-friends"). But I've spent a good amount of time with TLC, and she is super cool in that real person way...not in that "I'm so glad I get to legitimately say I REALLY KNOW a real live rock star" way, you know?

Anyway, I met TLC thanks to my friends Mike and Basim a few years ago, and used to get to see her when she was coming through Houston on tour. Now that I live on the other side of the pond, I hardly ever get to see her.

BUT, and here's where the reason for this little plug comes in, I got to hang out with her for a few days in Atlanta last week (more on that later), and I finally managed to buy a copy of her new book - Here's To Hindsight. I read it on the plane home, and I enjoyed it more than a lot of other books I've read in recent past. Not because it's the most well-written piece of material in the known universe...but because it's real. No hype, no fluffy marketing, no promises to change your world in the preface, introduction or endorsements...it's just the story of a girl who can't NOT do what God has put in her heart to do. And it's clear from her transparent style that it's not always easy, and she doesn't always love every single second of her life...but there's an underlying and overpowering driving force that compels her onward, and that's where her joy is found.

I highly recommend this little read to anyone who wants to curl up with a book that will let you explore the possibility of abandoning all for the sake of the "one thing" God has planted in your heart. And while you're at it, it will give you a new-found appreciation for all those "starving artists" who roam the highways and rest stops outlining the U.S. of A.

You can get your copy from her website, from Grassroots Music or from Amazon. Incidentally, while you're at it, you should pick up a CD or three. They're good. I promise.

i think i'm going to cave

I knew this was going to happen. I have been fairly happy with my broadband free existence at home for the past 4 months, but it makes things that used to be easy breezy (uploading photos, downloading stuff from iTunes, balancing my bank statements, personal emails) a bit of a monkey.

I'm pre-nervous about the process, thanks to BT, but I'm committing myself to find a new broadband provider this week. Wish me luck.