Live Life Abundantly

Moving Day

2009-01-05T15:05:00.000-06:00

Before the break I promised that I would be making changes to the site. That was only a half-truth.

In actuality, I spent the break preparing a whole new site, and today I am launching www.justbeingchristian.com.

To quote my wife, "Why are you switching blogs again?" It's a fair question. After starting off on Xanga four years ago I jumped ship and started blogging from my MySpace page. After a year there I realized there were much more user-friendly blog platforms out there and I settled on Blogger because it played nice with my google account. That proved to be a smart move as Myspace never figured out how to curtail skanky spam and I ended up deleting my account due to an overabundance of friend requests from strippers.

But now it's time to make one last jump. I'm fully recuperated from grad school and ready to write well. Ready to spend the time to write posts ahead of time, reread them and edit them. I'm ready to self host and have a platform that does more than Blogger will allow me to do. Plus, I have a vision of a site that is more conversation than blog, and I feel like making a clear break from this site will allow for a better transition in that regard.

If you subscribe through a reader, I hope you make the jump and subscribe to the new feed, because no more original content will come across the feed you are reading right now. Don't worry, I won't limit the feed to previews in order to inflate page load numbers. That's so annoying. But if you do subscribe through a reader, at least visit the new site once to check out the look and some of the other pages I have set up over there.

www.justbeingchristian.com. Be there, or be a rhombus.

Renew and Restore

BRB...TTYL

2008-12-23T22:39:00.003-06:00

Taking a brief hiatus for the Holidays. I plan on making some changes to the site and rocking a new post on Jan 5. Until then, enjoy this video that I saw a couple of months back on basketbrawful. It made me laugh out loud.

Renew and Restore

Good Call

2008-12-23T13:08:00.002-06:00

Last Christmas Stacy and I made a strategic family decision. We decided that 2007 would be the last year we would fly out to Portland to celebrate a December Christmas with my family. Flying halfway across the country in December with a toddler was a bit of a circus. We always envisioned a quiet and more nuclear celebration as our kid(s) get older, so something had to give.

Add in the fact that Kansas City, Denver and Chicago (our most likely connecting cities) have precarious weather conditions in December, and a change needed to be made. So last July we traveled out to Portland for our first Christmas in July. It was great. My mom busted out the Christmas decorations. We had our traditional celebrations. The week was very relaxing.

Little did we know the new tradition would pay fast dividends. This year we would have attempted to make it to Portland this past weekend. Funny thing, they were in the middle of cataclysmic winter weather during that very time. It has been 10 days of snow, cold and ice in PDX. Kinda like it's been in Kansas City. And Chicago. And New York. And Boston. Man, it's like everything north of Texas is experiencing weather conditions inverse to those in hell.

I'm convinced we never would have made it to Portland this year. It would be faster to walk across the Rockies. So good call us. It is a far merrier Christmas having not wasted a bunch of money and feeling sad that I was missing out on my annual pilgrimage. That would have been really sad.

Renew and Restore

When It Rains, It Pours

2008-12-22T15:19:00.002-06:00

Today I went from consumer to contributor.

Over on my sidebar, I have had The Burnside Writer's Collective listed for about a year. The site is "an online magazine presenting an alternative to franchise faith", so you can see why it would appeal to me. After reading for a while I got on my horse and made a couple of submissions. Both were put in the issue this week, which I'm pumped about.

So if you are interested, you can check out Part I of the College Bowl Preview, or a review of Weezer's Christmas album. If you haven't been over to Burnside before, you should bump around on the site and check out the article archives. There are a lot of good social justice articles over there from writers who are way more experienced than I. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention the Burnside Blog as well. It's a good read.

Renew and Restore

Theologically Astute

2008-12-19T06:20:00.002-06:00

Last night at dinner Elli was in a very talkative mood. She told us about her whole day. She reminded us that if the power goes out, the tv will be broken and we will have to light a candle. She provided a running commentary on the contents of her stew.

In between conversations with each other, Stacy and I would ask Elli questions to spur her thinking. At one point, the subject of Christmas came up and Elli mentioned baby Jesus. She has been really interested in our Nativity this year, probably because it is at her eye-level and very attractive. Whenever she is over at the window seat playing with it, we talk about who the different characters are just to increase her awareness of what is going on in the story.

As Elli starts talking about Christmas and Jesus last night, Stacy asked her who Jesus' mommy was. For the first time that evening, Elli is silent. Just blinking her eyes and racking her brain for the right answer. There comes a point where it's obvious she isn't going to get the answer to this one without phoning a friend, so Stacy bails her out and reminds her that Jesus' mommy is none other than Mary.

Now, what you need to understand about the brain of a three year old is that everything is connected. You say one word and it triggers this mechanism where they search for any possible bit of knowledge that relates to what they have just heard. So after Stacy sheds that bit of enlightenment on Elli, she young lady breaks out in song.

"Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb..."

My first instinct was to jump in and straighten the kid's theology out right away. You gotta nip these things in the bud before the kid starts thinking that Jesus drives a sleigh, you know? But just as I was about to say something, I was the beneficiary of a moment of enlightenment.

The lamb and perfection images are actually in the Bible in reference to Jesus.

So maybe the kid was brushing up on her theology when daddy wasn't looking.

Renew and Restore

Straight Posing

2008-12-18T11:10:00.004-06:00

Not the best of weather this week. Always cold. Lots of precipitation that makes it difficult to drive. I kinda feel like I'm back in Wisconsin. It's pretty brutal.

My one consolation is that I have not flown off the road yet. Not once. And that's saying a lot, because we only have one Jeep in our family and the lady of the house has dibs. As always, I've been rocking the 1999 Ford Taurus. Don't get me wrong. I love the Taurus. And so do Middle School boys, now that I think of it. Right after I was on Wheel of Fortune, I was driving around with some boys and one of them was really impressed with my ride. "This is a pretty nice car. Did you buy this with your Wheel of Fortune money?"

The Taurus is nice. It's not 30 G's nice, however. Even in light of the fact that it has given us 145k strong miles and counting. But I appreciated the sentiment, considering how much grief I get for driving a family sedan.

But who cares what people think? I'm almost 29, here. Gettin' pretty old. I don't exactly have time to drive some tricked-out ride up and down the plaza. I got stuff to do. So the family sedan will suffice.

What I've learned the past few days is that substance beats style any day. I have seen soooooo many people with their 2wd suv's and trucks sitting in ditches. People who got those cars for no practical reason whatsoever. If you are dropping the extra change on the gas guzzler, you had better at least get the tow package, a trailer hitch and the 4wd. And you better use that mug. Otherwise? You're just faking it. And then the dude in his Taurus chuckles as he passes you on the road when it's snowy. Because he might have 3 hubcaps and a cassette player, but at least he's practical and functional.

Now if you have been shamed into getting an actual SUV that you can use, check this bad boy out. My very Chuck Norris looking friend emailed that ad to me the other day. It's so poetic it almost brought a tear to my eye.

On the other hand, you could always get a Civic. Or a bike.

Renew and Restore

Boy, oh Boy

2008-12-16T07:13:00.003-06:00

We found out a couple of weeks ago that we are having a little boy.

I know you aren't supposed to say stuff like this out loud, but we were both hoping for a boy.

Before everyone goes nuts, hear me out. There are a lot of guys out there who want a boy because they feel like they "need" that little boy experience. Not so much with me. Quite frankly, the numerous hours I put in with the 13 middle school boys at work each week enough boy time for an army of men.

Elli has actually been a nice juxtaposition to my work day. I have loved having a little girl. It's been fun to do her hair and pick out her outfits and generally spend time with the little lady. I wouldn't have traded it for the world.

But in the end, I think she will be better off with a brother. I'm sure there will be days during her high school years where she will beg to differ. But as annoying as younger brothers can be, in this case it will provide a lot less anxiety for her.

One of the trying aspects of adoption is that people tend to say really stupid stuff. We've been spared a lot of that, because as a mixed ethnicity family there is enough racial ambiguity going on when people see us that it's not completely obvious that Elli is adopted.

What is not ambiguous is the fact that Elli is small for her age. She always has been. When we got to Vietnam to pick her up, she was a 10-pound 9 month old. Part of this was due to her prematurity and 1kg birth weight, but ethnicity played a large role as well. We didn't see too many women in Vietnam who were over 100 lbs. So Elli isn't going to be a large person, and that's fine.

The problem is that people are always pointing it out. It's like a big race to win the award of "Capitan Obvious". The practice was fine when she was little, but she's 3 now. And even though she isn't all that outgoing in public, she has well developed language skills. She is also very self-aware. And my fear is that she's going to develop a complex someday because everyone is always telling her how little she is.

I think having a little brother softens the issue. American babies are big. Really big. I was a fat baby with a huge noggin'. Triple thigh rolls fat. My guess is that it will be way more socially acceptable to have a little brother who is bigger than you are. It would have been really tough for Elli to have a younger sister way bigger than her, and everyone making comparisons all the time. But it would have also been difficult for the younger sister, as everyone would be labelling her de facto fat. In a teenager's mind there isn't a huge difference between "You're so much bigger than your older sister", and "You're such a fat cow".

As parents we will undoubtedly have to deal with a myriad of body image issues throughout the years. When all the cool kids show up airbrushed on the cover of Seventeen and Jennifer Anniston proves her youthful vitality by posing nude on the cover of GQ to celebrate her 40th birthday, we are setting ourselves up for a lot of conversations about what it means to look like an actual real person. Welcome to America, kids. But God did make our job a little bit easier by diversifying our gender portfolio and sparing both kids from damaging comparisons flying unfiltered from the mouths of fools.

So even though I'm not supposed to say it, I will. I'm glad we are having a boy.

Renew and Restore

Proof I'm not Very Cool

2008-12-15T06:29:00.002-06:00

It's a well-known fact that I love Star Wars. When I was young, it was cute. As a nearly 30-year-old adult, it's probably a little bit dorky. But sometimes you have a hard time letting go of things that were tremendously important to you in your childhood.

Most days I forget that being a Star Wars junkie makes one very un-cool. Then people end up highlighting some of the nerdiest parts of the Star Wars universe (ie Star Wars basketball jerseys), and I remember that not everyone wishes they had a lightsaber.

I'm sure you are saying to yourself, "Star Wars basketball jerseys! Man. How bad can it get? That's really dorky."

Well, within the realm of Star Wars fandom there is one consensus "as bad as it can get" moment. It's a moment that most of us wish never occurred. It just about faded into oblivion, but then youtube came along to chronicle it forever.

The Star Wars Holiday Special is really bad. It tells the story of the mythical "Life Day" and involves cartoons, singing and live action shots. Somehow, they even talked Bea Arthur and Jefferson Starship into hanging out on the show.

I do not advocate that you watch the whole special. It's 2 hours long for crying out loud. TWO HOURS!!!! But you should watch the first two minutes. You get to meet Chewbacca's family. And yes, his wife is actually named "Paula". Don't get me wrong, it's a nice name. But how in the heck do you let Chewy's wife have a nice regular name like "Paula"? At least it's better than his dad's name. Itchy. That's right. Itchy.

So here you go. The Star Wars Holiday special. It keeps me grounded. It keeps me humble.

Renew and Restore

Legendary Dinner

2008-12-11T11:48:00.000-06:00

I love memorable meals. Some are planned to be memorable, but then others include surprise experiences that breakthrough and demand a space in the archives of my memory. Last week we had a memorable family dinner at Stix. (It's an Asian eatery out at The Legends, which is a large shopping and entertainment district on the outskirts of Kansas City, KS. We try to do a lot of our shopping out there because it supports our county and state economies, and because for some reason it just feels comfortable when we are out there.)

My expectations for the meal were low. We have enjoyed the sushi and entrees at Stix, but this time we were trying out the Hibachi. We have been to other Hibachi's before, and they are always a good time. 8-10 people sit around a huge grill and a chef comes out and does comedic performance cooking. Tricks with the food. Light ribbing of the customers. Convincing eaters to catch shrimp in their mouths. Lots of funny hahas.

But we have found that most of the Hibachi's in KC are adequate. Not nasty, but not great either. And we had never seen anyone in the Hibachi at Stix, as we usually eat there during off-peak hours. Thus, the low expectations.

Well, the first thing I need to proclaim about the dinner was that it included the tenderest meat I've ever had the pleasure of eating. I went with the filet instead of the KC Strip, and I'm never going back to the strip at a Hibachi. Halfway through the meal I leaned over and told Stacy it was the tenderest steak I'd ever had. She assumed the statement to be either a joke or hyperbole. And then she tried it. It melted in her mouth. She was sold. I don't know what they do to the meat at Stix. They could very well use some kind of illegal meat tenderizing techniques. Perhaps it's some of that meat sacrificed to idols that they are always talking about in the New Testament. Whatever it is, it's the bomb.

In addition to the culinary memory that was forged that night, I also found the sociology of the Hibachi that night to be fascinating. It was very well the most racially diverse place I have ever been since moving to Kansas City. I would venture to say it was close to a 40-40-20 breakdown of white, black and Hispanic customers. (There were also a lot of Asian employees, but no Asian customers. As if. I've been to restraints that have high Asian populations, and they are not this gimmicky/touristy. Just like you aren't going to find any Hispanic folks looking forward to dinner at Carlos O'Kellys).

So one of the cool and sometimes comedic aspects of a Hibachi is that there is a lot of mixing of customers. They try to fill all of the seats around each grill, so unless you are rolling deep there is a good chance you are going to be sitting with strangers. We had 6 in our group and got to eat with a lady and her middle school son.

In a hilarious display of forced segregation, the table across from us had quite the mix of people. There were three Hispanic couples who looked to be pretty urban. Lots of tats. Gold chains. Baggy clothing. Drinking bottles of Bud Light. The works.

After they had been seated for a few minutes, the greeter brings another couple back. They are White. They are clearly suburban. As they grab their seats, one of the Hispanic dudes gives a head nod to the White guy. He uncomfortably nods back.

So it's clearly an unnerving situation for these two. They go out for a date, and the next thing they know they are, perhaps for the first time in their lives, put in a situation where they are the minority. And they are struggling. I'm pretty sure the lady looked down at her food the entire time. All the while, the Hispanic group is just enjoying each other's company. They are telling stories. Laughing.

Finally, the entire table has their food. But the Hispanic group is requesting hot sauce before they will eat. Lots of it. Like a whole bottle. Finally it comes. They pass it around the table and everyone is using generous amounts. When the sixth person gets done with it, he looks at the White guy and holds the bottle up. Dude looks for a second. Takes the bottle. Proceeds to follow the example of his eating neighbors and applies a generous amount to his food.

Now I'm cracking up. No way this guy is going to be able to handle that plate of food now. But he handles it like a pro.

I'm always going to remember that whole exchange. I'll remember it because the white couple didn't get up and leave. I'll remember it because the guys in the group were making efforts to be kind and neighborly to each other, even though it didn't seem like they had much in common. And I'll remember it because I saw a person who before that night didn't know what it felt like to be a minority, handle his first experience of minority with as much grace and dignity as he could muster even though he didn't have any time to prepare himself for the experience.

Renew and Restore

Countdown to U2...Fallibility

2008-12-09T07:44:00.000-06:00

As I have been counting down to U2's approaching album release (currently rumored to be a Feb drop...we'll see) by highlighting some of the lesser known songs in the collection, I have come to a realization. Observers might think I have deified Bono. For the record...Bono is not Jesus. And sometimes U2 release bad songs. Really bad songs, even. So to prove my objectivity, may I present for your listening torture...Paint it Black.

Man, the Stones have to be pissed. This is horrible. The original is so great. The pounding downbeat. The constant feeling that the song is getting as close as possible to completely spinning out of control without actually doing so. Nice clean guitar parts. Strong vocals.

Yeah, so U2 decided to do an inverse Black and put it on the B-side of one of their singles. What an unmitigated disaster. I'm trying to decide which is worse. The U2 version, or Bruce Willis absolutely butchering the vocals in a live performance and thinking he's the shizz. It's close, but the U2 version probably takes the cake.

To exacerbate matters, this failed experiment opened U2 up to the curse of "What Goes Around, Comes Around". You butcher a great song? Bam. Right back at ya' with a horrible cover of one of your own songs.

Except this ain't no simple measure for measure. This is your own sin being revisited on your head exponentially. I'll warn you. The following link isn't for the faint of heart. It's pretty ugly almost vulgar.

It looks as though The Wiggles did a cover of Angel of Harlem.

The Wiggles have been good to our family. We Tivo them every day on the Disney Channel so that Elli has fresh episodes to watch. But dang. This is almost enough for me to start an all out boycott. Angel of Harlem is a wonderful song when done by U2. But Captain Feathersword rocking the falsetto part? Nothing good can come of this.

I hope you've learned your lesson, U2. You are not infallible.

Renew and Restore

Take the Christ out of Christmas

2008-12-08T06:14:00.003-06:00

I keep getting invitations to join the facebook group "Keep the CHRIST in CHRISTmas. So far I have yet to accept. I try not to join very many groups. I especially try to keep groups at arms length whose titles sound like a talking point for a Focus on the Family radio show.

But the invitations have got met thinking: Does Christ want to be kept in Christmas?

This whole movement seems to have started a few years ago when Target, Walmart and other stores moved to a "Happy Holidays" branding in order to be more inclusive. Christians got mad and and declared we wouldn't shop at those stores anymore unless they went back to proclaiming Christmas. Because clearly, Jesus wants to be front-and-center when it comes to corporate branding. But then we realized that would leave us nowhere to shop for our ipods and Christmas lingerie, so we settled for making facebook groups.

Now we have come to this place in our culture where we make a huge deal of "celebrating" the birth of Christ. We do this by not doing things Christ did, but by doing something the wise men did. Except that we don't even get that quite right. Because the wise men brought elaborate gifts to the Christ, and we give elaborate gifts to each other while talking about the Christ.

Is it just me or have we built a cultural crackhouse of consumerism around the manger, and we're trying to duct tape baby Jesus inside so he can't get out? All the while, we're thinking that this is an act of piety. Seems a little crazy to me.

So let's just take the Christ out of Christmas. Let's give ourselves the freedom to be honest and say, "You know what? I love stuff. And I love shopping. And I love Santa. And I love eating to the point of gluttony. And I love being a sloth and sitting around and watching 32 bowl games." It seems like it would be way less disingenuous then the current tension we have going on right now.

We can stop calling it "Christmas". Call it Xmas. The Holidays. Whatever. We will sing all of the carols that don't mention Jesus. We can eat, drink, be merry and do our patriotic duty of buying stuff. Lots and lots of stuff. And yeah, we'll be sinning. But at least we'll be sinning less because we won't be guilty of religious syncratism.

Then, we can choose some other time to celebrate the Birth of Christ. But we won't give it a flashy name. We will set it up in a way that advertisers and business won't want to hijack it because it won't be nearly as sexy as the current celebration.

I propose a two day celebration. A Saturday and a Sunday. First, we will adopt a more Jewish celebration of our New Year and use it as a day of atonement. Then, we will have our two day celebration of Christ's birth a couple of weeks later. The first day will be a Sabbath. We will simply abide in God. We won't consume. We won't create. We will enjoy the presence of our maker.

Then Sunday we can go to church for an early service. And we'll spend the rest of the day serving. Together. As a body. Celebrating the birth and life of Jesus. All the while we can sing the carols that talk about The Christ and the amazing reality of the incarnation. We can be amazed at how the Good News has broken into history and is being lived out 2000 years later.

Then perhaps we would be more prone to actually celebrate Sabbath the rest of the year. Perhaps we would better know what it means to abide in Christ and live in Christ. And perhaps when Xmas rolled around the next time we wouldn't just join Advent Conspiracy facebook groups, but we'd live it out in such a way that it was truly conspiratorial in the sense that it would be undoing deep seated cultural dysfunction.

Quite frankly, fewer people would probably celebrate the birth of Christ under those circumstances. A little too counter-cultural for the masses. But at least we wouldn't have to hold him hostage there.

Renew and Restore.

Double Take of Hilarity

2008-12-05T06:58:00.002-06:00

There wasn't much on tv the other night. Trusty Tivo. Always an episode of "The Office" or "30 Rock" on there to watch. Currently, a handful of each. I'm a little behind. So I fire up an episode of "The Office", which as a whole was rather disappointing. Not completely dumb, but not consistently strong for 28 min.

What the episode lacked in sustained quality it more than made up for with a rip-roaring opening scene. I was almost in tears the first time I watched it. Then I called Stacy into the room and watched it again. It was even funnier the second time. And I was crying.

Renew and Restore

God Has Heard the Elegant One...Or...Happy Birthday to Elli

2008-12-04T12:34:00.003-06:00

Names, names, what is in a name? If our second child is a girl, we have a name picked out. If it is a boy, we are struggling. We have a shortlist, but we aren't in love with any of the choices yet.

The problem is that we have too many stipulations. It can't be too popular. It can't be too "out there". It can't start with D (because the DD initials would be a bit too busty), it can't start with E (we're not trying to have a whole gaggle of E kids), and it can't rhyme with any dirty words that would be highlighted on the grade school playground. We will have no Junior. All Wookie names have been ruled out per Stacy's request.

And the name must mean something good.

I'm not sure what my theology of spirituality consists of in terms of naming. It's tough to pin down. We want our kids to have meaningful names. Not that the meanings will necessarily hold some mystical and prophetically inerrant power. But meaning is important to us as a reminder of what we want our kids to value and who we want them to become.

What we've learned is that girl names tend to have better meanings than boy names. It's almost to the point where we are looking for a meaning-neutral boy name because we can't find enough that meet all of our criteria. But we'll see.

It's hard because Elli's name is perfect. We choose "Elliana" as her first name because it means "God has Heard" or "God has Answered". We felt like it was such a great statement about God hearing us before we even really know what we need or can specifically express it. Our adoption experience was by no means easy, but looking back we see that some (though not all) of the delays we experienced allowed for a timing where Elli could join our family. God closed and opened doors as necessary in a way that was really providential. God was hearing Elli, God was hearing us and God was acting on those cries.

We did not "pick" Elli's middle name, per se. Her given middle name of "Thanh" means "elegant". We thought it was pretty and fine and we wanted to keep it so that she could have a connection to her heritage. But now, on her 3rd birthday, it's so amazing how well it describes her. He is elegance personified. She carries herself with a joy and peace that is elegant in it's resilience. Her tiny stature is elegant in it's beauty. She's an amazing kid.

It's hard to believe she is only 3. It's harder to believe she has only been in our home for 2.25 of those 3 years. But it's been a good ride, and she's been elegantly wonderful and we love her a lot.

Renew and Restore

More Cowbell!!! Less Wammy Bar!!!

2008-12-03T13:33:00.003-06:00

I just read on a video game blog I subscribe to (not winning a lot of suave points with this post, clearly) that new downloadable content will soon be dropping for Guitar Hero World Tour. Yessssssssss. Included in the content are a trio of songs by the Eagles. Perhaps you have heard of them.

Thinking about playing more Eagles songs made me chuckle as I thought back to one of our family Guitar Hero mornings a couple of weeks back. That morning, I was reminded of how sometimes my competitive nature keeps me from maximizing my fun.

I hate loosing. I don't like to loose to my friends. I don't like to loose to the computer. I don't like to loose to middle school boys. It's going to be terribly hard for me to not unleash the beast tonight when we take the boys to lazer tag and go karts.

Due to my competitive dysfunction, Stacy and I have learned that it's not a good idea for us to engage in competitive activities when we are together. She doesn't appreciate how I use Jedi mindtricks and incessant trash talk in an attempt to get my opponents to succomb to my strategic desires. And I don't appreciate her ability to enjoy an activity by just participating in it, without regard for complete domination.

So back to GH World Hero. We're playing as a family. I'm on lead guitar. Stacy is on vocals. Elli is bouncing between backup guitar, drums and helping Stacy with vocals. The kid has the musical genius of Prince. Now, one of the quirks of the game is that it is of benefit for the guitarists to work the wammy bar regardless of whether or not it is actually appropriate for a particular song. Thus, I'm working that wammy like my dream job.

The problem is we're playing Hotel California by the Eagles. Not exactly a wammy-riffic diddy.

"No wammy bar on the Eagles songs," declares Stacy.

I respond with "I'm trying to get the high score".

Not to be deterred, she deftly counters with "Well, I'm trying to enjoy the music".

What the Eagles aficionado wants, the Eagles aficionado gets. All I'm saying is that we could have gotten a way better score if we would have tried a little harder.

Renew and Restore

Birthing in the Lap of Luxury

2008-12-02T14:14:00.002-06:00

On Wed Stacy had to work a stupid OB call shift. Nothing says "suck" like working 24 hours that end at 7am on Thanksgiving morning. The only upsides are that the hospital is cool about letting Elli and I come up to hang for dinner, and that following dinner we could do a little ultrasound action.

Since it was a very quite night on the floor, we ended up doing the ultrasound in one of the labor rooms. It was my first time in one of them, and let me tell you...they are swanky. The hospital is even in the 'hood, but you wouldn't know it by these rooms. Newly remodeled with nice wood laminate flooring. Good furniture. Flat screen TV's. And a jacuzzi tub. That's right. A stinkin' jacuzzi in the room.

As any good husband would, I'm rooting for a labor that is as short as possible without Stacy giving birth in the car on the way to the hospital. But they usually last a little longer than that, so we'll probably have some time in the room.

In order to get an idea for Stacy's preferences, I asked if she would be requiring the services of the Jacuzzi. As of yet, she has not determined any Jacuzzi preference. Something about waiting to see how she feels when she's actually laboring. Fair enough.

I, however, have decided that if she decides to forgo the Jacuzzi, then I get first dibs. I'm totally bringing my swim suit to the hospital in the event that she decides she doesn't want to avail herself to the warmth and comfort of swirling water.

Informed of my intentions, she had a very good question for me. "Are you sure you want to Jacuzzi in a bunch of women's laboring juices?" Good question, and one that I hadn't completely thought through. But the way I see it, it's nothing a few of those Clorox bathroom wipes shouldn't be able to handle. According to the label, they neutralize 99.9% of germs. That's most of them.

So until further notice, we will be packing my swim suit and towel in the hospital overnight bag. If Stacy gives you permission to join us in the laboring room, you may bring yours as well. Just remember. I have first dibs after Stacy.

Renew and Restore.

28 Days of Christmas (Music)

2008-12-01T07:51:00.000-06:00

I have very firm standards when it comes to Christmas music. I only start listening to the celebratory tunes on Thanksgiving, and then I cut myself off at 11:59pm on December the 25th. Some years provide a longer listening season than others. It just depends on how the calendar shakes out.

It has come to a point where it takes substantial effort to keep my sacred practice. There seems to be some kind of twisted competition between radio stations in Kansas City to see who can be the first to start playing. I wouldn't be surprised if next year one of them begins on the 4th of July. Without regard to the cultural trend of perpetual Christmas (which I'm convinced is a cagey effort to make us spend more money) I throw absolute fits if anyone plays Christmas music in my presence before Thanksgiving. I'm that serious about protecting the yuletide chastity of my ears.

But once turkey day finally rolls around, it's on. Rockin' the Christmas casbah. I currently have three favorites in my Christmas Playlist.

Jewel's Joy: A Holiday Collection - Jewel is an interesting cat. She's done dance/pop. She's done acoustic. Now she's getting ready to drop a country album. I guess that's what happens when you are married to a rodeo stud. This album is about as eclectic as her career. Very creative in her use of vocals and instruments. Classy takes on classic carols. Her Rudolf is fantastic. Her Ave Maria will melt your face off. My favorite Christmas album.
Mowtown Christmas - I've never found the actual Mowtown Christmas album cd. My dad had one that spanned two records (actual big black records), that he had then copied onto a cassette tape. One Christmas he, my sister and I sat on the dining room floor and listened to the entire thing. So there is some nostalgia wrapped up in this selection, but I think the music can stand on it's own without the warm memories. The Jackson 5 sing Santa Claus is Coming to Town and I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus. There was a version of We Three Kings that was used in A Claymation Christmas. Very snazzy.
A Christmas Festival with The Boston Pops and Arthur Fiedler - No voices. Just really good instrumentals. A nice mix of power and grace. Could use a little more Cowbell.

That's pretty much my playlist. We have a Mariah Carey Christmas album, but I can only take one or two songs at a time. The lady just doesn't do subtle. Everything is loud and intense. There is one Mannheim Steamroller song that I always enjoy. Carol of the bells with special guest Metallica, I believe.

Do you have any favorites? I'm always open to suggestions. And aren't we all a little surprised there is no Guitar Hero: Christmas ? I know I sure am.

Renew and Restore.

What I'm Not Thankful For

2008-11-27T06:45:00.000-06:00

We've been doing a lot of shopping lately. We already have most things that are needed to take care of a child, but we obviously are missing certain pregnancy related items. Like, all of them.

As Stacy gets more pregnant, she will need different clothes. Maternity things. She's been doing quite a bit of shopping online at Old Navy and Gap, and we have hit up a maternity store or two on our jaunts out and about. Not a ton of surprises in the experience. It's the same type of shopping we always do, just with more adjustable waistbands.

Granted, there are some items on the market I am just now becoming aware of. Case in point: The Bella Band.

For those as ignorant as I, they make these bands that pregnant women can wear around their bellies. When the bellies are at their most ample, the bands provide a little insurance in the event that a shirt comes up short on coverage. It's a nice little invention, especially for ladies like Stacy who aren't into flashing their belly cleavage all over town.

But it gets better. Apparently, the Bella Band is also of use for women who aren't ready to move into full-blown maternity gear. For the lady who just needs a little extra space in los pantalones, the Bella Band allows her to hold out a little longer before moving to the full-blown maternity gear. You just unbutton your pants, and then slide the band over your waist. Your pants stay up, and you get the needed room.

Stacy wisely purchased 2 Bella Bands. Which brings me to what I'm not thankful for today.

I'm not thankful that Stacy won't share her Bella Band with me.

I am going to eat today. Let me rephrase that. I am going to eat A LOT today. All day. Not as much as I do on Meat Day. That would just be silly. But still. I'm going to eat a lot.

The thing is, I'm not going to eat a lot at my house. Were that the case, I'd just spend the afternoon schlepping my clothes around the house as my body struggled to digest all of the food. However, we're having Thanksgiving dinner at Stacy's grandparents house. In the interest of in-law harmony, I try to keep all of my clothes on regardless of how much I eat. Use good manners. Don't belch. Keep your pants buttoned. Don't stink up the lavatory. All good things to keep in mind when you eat dinner at the in-laws.

Thus, it would be great if I could borrow the Bella Band. I could unbutton my pants completely unbeknown to any family. My gut would be happy. I would be happy.

But it will never be. Stacy has forbade my wearing of the Bella Band. And that's just selfish. I even offered to let her have first pick, but noooooooooooooo. No Bella Band for me.

So I'm not thankful. Because I'm going to eat my heart out and then I'll be terribly uncomfortable for the remainder of the evening.

There is always next year.

Renew and Restore

Countdown to U2: North and South of the River

2008-11-26T06:46:00.002-06:00

My understanding is that U2 didn't write this song. It was penned by a Irish folk singer, and they picked it up. I'm glad they did.

Honestly, this has been my favorite U2 song for the past couple of years. I think there is something to the understatedness of the live version. There is nothing about it that is over the top. Just powerful words of a r conciliatory dream over the backdrop of a simple piano loop and an almost tribal drum beat.

One of the things I have always appreciated about U2 is that there is a balance to their library. Ireland has seen a lot in terms of intra-country strife. So you have a lot of songs in the library that address the pain of that infighting. Then you have another collection of songs that zoom out and address other injustices/conflicts on a more global level.

But then you have another collection of songs that mirror the first two. They are hopeful songs of wholeness that keep you from getting completely incapacitated by the level of brokenness in the world. You have your '40' and your 'Beautiful Day' and your "North and South' that prophetically constructive and stand in contrast to the prophetic damnation of 'Bloody Sunday' and 'Bullet the Blue Sky'.

A bonus of the performance I found of the song is the joy of people watching. Seriously. Can you ever imagine U2 going on a show like this when their album drops next year. No way.

Renew and Restore

I'm Thankful for My Wife

2008-11-25T05:45:00.001-06:00

There are a lot of reasons to be thankful for Stacy. She's very kind. She laughs at my jokes. She bought me a smoker. On two separate occasions, even.

Currently, the biggest reason to be thankful for her is that she is carrying our child. That's a lot to ask of a person, even if they are joyfully willing (which she is). But this whole pregnancy thing hasn't been all that fun. For the life of her, she can't understand why they call it "morning sickness". Her particular sickness has been no respecter of time. And it hasn't even vacated the premises after the first trimester as is common courtesy. Nope. Just an onslaught of nausea.

At one point she asked me if I wanted to take a turn holding the baby. Man, I would if I could. This pregnancy experience is so much different from adoption. The economy is completely unbalanced, with her doing all of the work. I can be sensitive. I can be nice. I can do as much as I can around the house so that she doesn't have any more on her plate than she needs to have. But it still doesn't measure up to her level of commitment in the process.

I always thought it witty when Ray Ramano demanded more respect for his burden during his wife's...ahem...womanly times. "Hey, it's not unteri. It's uterus." Comedic genius for sure. And while factually correct, the statement misses the mark completely in it's demand for equal sympathy.

When we were adopting Elli, we were far more equally yoked. I was able to do a lot of the paperwork. We were more able to share in the birthing pangs of the process as it drew on longer than we had anticipated. It just felt like we far more in it together. And as a result, I think it drew us a lot closer.

Not that we aren't totally in love right now, because we are. But it's a completely different process from adoption, and one that isn't quite as conducive to a relationship taking that next step due to inequality of the burden. I have to admit. That's been a little bit of a stunner to me.

In my stunned state I still have great admiration for my wife. I am very thankful for her. Thankful that she has kept a good attitude. Thankful that she is a fantastic mother. Thankful that she is perhaps the toughest person I know. And thankful that she has remained remarkably graceful and low-maintenance even as she nurtures a fetus into a fully developed baby within the confines of her (ever growing) uterine incubation chamber.

That's what I'm thankful for.

Renew and Restore

8 Good Minutes: Myron Rolle the Rhodes Scholar

2008-11-24T07:18:00.004-06:00

I don't watch a ton of Sportscenter anymore. They've gone light on the highlights packages and heavy on the talking heads. It's fine, because they put their highlights packages online, so you can get the stuff on demand. With the exception of PBS however, I don't find talking heads on TV all that appealing.

That doesn't mean I boycott Sportscenter. I still turn it on once in a while to see what's going on. On Saturday, the payoff was huge. Perhaps the best 8 minutes of TV I've watched in a long time. They did a story on Myron Rolle. Coming out of high school, he was one of the top football recruits in the country. Just a stud fooball player.

He had a good head on those studly shoulders. Such a good head that this year he not only started at safety for Florida State University, but he was also a finalist for a Rhodes Scholarship. He wants to be a brain surgeon.

So carve out the time and watch the video. Even if you don't like sports, you won't be sorry.

I rode the bench for one season of Varsity High School basketball. I've had modest success in academia. Good grades and all, but Oxford certainly isn't banging down my door.

When I think about how much work went into my modest success, I'm amazed that Rolle could be such a high performer in both arenas. He's clearly the beneficiary of a gifting in both areas of life. But he's also undoubtedly worked harder and slept less than just about all of us.

Big ups to Myron Rolle. He did win the Rhodes Scholarship on Saturday. He flew straight to his football game. He got there at halftime. His team won.

I have a feeling I'll be rooting hard for Florida State these next few weeks.

Renew and Restore

Combustibility: Reflecting on Rob Bell's "Jesus Wants to Save Christians"

2008-11-21T14:56:00.003-06:00

This book has the potential to change everything.

I have to give Rob Bell a lot of credit. It's a risky book for him. It's one thing to write books and preach sermons that are geared at bringing people into (or back to) the church. People will call you emergent and say you don't talk about Jesus enough (both erroneous accusations). But it's a whole new ballgame when you start talking about empire in the Biblical narrative, and how American Christians are power players in the empire. Then people start calling you unAmerican, and level the most popular slur around these days: socialist.

That's clearly a risk that Bell is willing to take with this book. He takes on how much money we spend on military expenditures. He takes on the question of how well people of power can really get at the heart of what a lot of the Biblical narrative is addressing. He takes on the paradigm of loving your enemy.

All of that got me pumped up. There were points where my dog started looking at me funny because I was pumping my fist in the living room. But it was just so exciting to see these ideas go mainstream. I was thrilled that one of the most popular voices in Christian writing right now chose to tackle the difficult subject matter.

Now it will be interesting to see what the reaction is.

Some people will be ticked. And I think a lot of people will agree in principle, but not allow the book to penetrate them to the point where it changes what they do in practice. But I'm convinced that there will be a few who will hear and they will act and it will be powerful. And if an entire group or an entire congregation were to engage with the book and allow it to change how they as a community engage with those around them, it could change everything.

Renew and Restore

Combustibility: 3 Questions for the GOP

2008-11-20T10:53:00.005-06:00

I hope the GOP gets stronger. We'd all be better off. In a two party system, bad things happen when only one of the parties can manage to be on message, laser focused and effective. Chances are that when one party stagnates, both parties will end up stagnating since the party that is more powerful will loose a lot of their motivation to innovate. Competition is good.

Once the GOP gets through deciding who to throw under the bus, there are some questions that I hope they find effective answers to.

1. How can the GOP make more people feel like they have a seat at the table? The Obama campaign did such a great job of making everyone feel like they were part of the campaign. They brought in a much higher proportion of the Hispanic vote. They got young people fired up. They even motivated a lot of black voter who don't typically vote. I know that in The Hope Center neighborhood, lines on election day were way longer than usual. Some people will contend that it's because there was a black candidate, but it seems like in KC there is always a black candidate. We had a black mayor who is now a congressperson. We also had another black mayoral candidate on the ballot in the last election. But a black candidate on the ballot doesn't necessarily equate to high turnout here.

The day after the election, I was sitting in the hospital lobby waiting for Stacy to meet me so we could grab lunch. There was a guy sitting buy me in his Obama shirt, and he was calling friends who didn't vote and calling them out on the carpet for their apathy. Man, you have to care a lot to call people out for not voting for a candidate who won without their vote.

From what I've been reading and hearing, our country will soon have a "Minority Majority" (more non-whites than whites). As that comes to fruition, the GOP needs to reach out more. As I was watching Palin's speech during the GOP convention, Stacy was sitting by me doing paperwork. She hadn't watched any of the DNC convention, and this was the first part of the GOP that she had caught. After a couple of minutes, she spoke up. "Was the Dem convention this white? This is ridiculous." When a white person says that after two minutes, you have a problem.

2. How Fully Does the GOP Believe in Free Markets? David Brooks was on a Jim Lehrer round table on the bailout one night and blew my mind. He said, "We've effectively socialized risk and privatized profit in the business sector." Wow. I'm an economic novice, but from what I have been learning about free markets I'm becoming more of a fan. But the frustration is that as much as the GOP talks about free markets, you don't really see it play out in real life. Yeah, it's painful when large companies fail. But when those companies are propping themselves up with Monopoly money, they have to blow up for the overall strength of the economy. You want free markets? Do it. But you have to have the stomach to let companies fail.

3. How Will the GOP Encounter the Broadening Ethics of the Evangelical Community? George W. Bush cleaned up in churches. The GOP was able to define the conversation on ethics and then leverage that conversation into a passionate base. But things have changed a lot in the last 8 years. Prominent evangelical voices have emerged, and now the conversation has broadened. The GOP got caught flat-footed on this one, and was late to the game in this election cycle in realizing that a lot of Christians now view the environment, peacemaking and economic justice issues as serious ethical concerns. And then add to that mix that a lot of pro-life folks like myself look at how the GOP has communicated it's pro-life agenda, and we're just not all that impressed. Because if the core of the strategy is to simply outlaw abortion, we're not addressing the underlying issues and complexities that contribute to the problem. Especially in low-income and minority populations. Look, homicide is illegal, right? And yet, every year at least 20 out of every 100,000 blacks in this country are murdered. From 1975-95 that number ranged from 30 to 40 per 100,000. A lot of our worst societal problems are fixable, but it takes more than legislation. When the GOP does a better job of communicating and living out a holistic paradigm, it will get a lot more traction.

For the record, I think the GOP can turn the thing around quickly. You look at the failures that were the Gore and Kerry campaigns in comparison to what Obama was able to pull off. I remember two years ago I was talking to one of my friends who is really involved in grassroots stuff with the Dems. He had just come back from a Dem meeting in DC and was lamenting at how off-topic and poorly led things seemed to be. He was unenthusiastic about the direction of the party and about their ability to put together competitive campaigns.

Well, they seemed to figure that out in short order.

Renew and Restore

Combustibility: A Conversation With Black Kids About a Black President

2008-11-19T08:28:00.003-06:00

The night after the election we our weekly Bible study with our middle school and high school kids. My supervisors felt it was really important that we carve out some significant time to talk about the election. I'm glad they encouraged me to do that, because up until that point I had been pretty guarded in how I talked with the kids about politics. They were so engaged in this election and were asking everyone who they were going to vote for. They were so exited about it that I told them I would tell them who I voted for once the election was actually over. So we had conversations, but I worked hard to ask more questions than give answers because I felt it was important for them to learn how to think.

I was finally able to have a more candid conversation once the outcome had been determined, and it ended up being really helpful. I've put some of their questions/thoughts below in bold, followed by our answers in regular type.

Why were people who wanted Obama to win crying?
For a couple of reasons. Some people were big supporters who worked really hard during the campaign, and they were just really happy. But you had a lot of other people for whom that night was filled with emotion. People who were reliving a lot of raw feelings, and who were seeing something happen that they never thought they'd see in their lifetime. Sometimes it's tough for us to internalize what this really means, because we haven't experienced some of the indignities that our parents and grandparents had to face. Like there was this woman who I heard speak at a conference last week. She was a little older than my mom, but younger than my grandma. She grew up just a couple of hours from here. And when she was younger, she had an experience where people spat on her an urinated on her because of her race. Think about that. In America. When you think about the history of our country and the fact that the first 16 Presidents could have literally owned Barack Obama as property, you see that this is a big deal. A couple of generations ago he wouldn't have been allowed to vote, and now he's been elected President. So between the joy of the present and the pain of the past, a lot of people shed tears.

Yeah, but at the same time, what's really changed?
You're right. Some things are the same. The streets aren't paved with gold this morning just because Obama has been elected President. We still have issues with our schools and our communities and our families and ourselves. But what's changed is that today we really do see that anything is possible. That you guys have tons of opportunities, and now there is a responsibility for you to live up to the possibilities that generations before you have made possible through hard work and suffering. So let me throw it back on you. What changes do you guys need to make? In light of what's happened, how does your community need to change.

We need to stop killing each other. [This is very sobering when it comes from the mouth of a 12-year old. When you sit there and look at him and realize that this kid has seen so much violence that at a young age he has an awareness of things that are very adult and very unhealthy in his own community]

Yeah. But that happens when you guys lead. When you guys show a better way to your peers. And that's a lot of responsibility.

Man, why do people be lying on Obama? I can't stand that.

What do you mean?

Like, they say all this bad stuff about how he supports abortion. And then McCain wants to outlaw birth control. I can't stand that dude.
Ok. Timeout for a second. Let's unpack those things one at a time. First of all, Obama has not been at all pro-life with his voting record. That's fact. And secondly, McCain does not want to outlaw birth control. I'm almost 100% sure he's never ever said anything along those lines. But this raises a good point for us to remember. As Christians, we need to be engaged in politics. We need to be passionate about things. But we also need to be truthful, and we need to be uplifting. There were a lot of lies spread by both sides, and we as Christians need to speak out against that attitude that you can just say whatever you want to get elected. So let's just make sure that we repeat things that are true, and that we don't allow ourselves to be agents of falsehood.

[As an aside, I found it interesting how middle school and high school students engaged with politics this time around. It seemed like a lot of them would hold to the ideas that there parents held to, but then the kids would take it one step further and add all kinds of hyperbole and vitriol to the conversation. So the kids I work with would get all worked up about McCain and say things that are clearly not true, but then on the other side I saw kids from my church using racial slurs on election night and in the days following. So perhaps we should be a little more guarded in how we as adults get caught up in the hype machine, because our kids pick up on that and run with it.]

Ok. Now. Do you have to hate one candidate to support another?

Well. No. But you want your person to win.

Fair enough. But at the same time, we are not called to hate we are called to love. So it sounds like most of you support Obama. But you can't allow yourself to hate McCain. And you really can't allow yourself to fall into the trap of racism when you speak about him. The fact is that McCain loves this country. He has been a good leader for a long time. He will continue to be a leader in this country with his work in the Senate, and we need to support him. So that's a good lesson for us as we continue to be a bigger part of the political process in the future, and as you guys get to vote. Seriously. Some of you will vote in the next election. That's really cool, but there is also great responsibility there in how you vote as well as in how you conduct yourself during the process.

Renew and Restore

Combustibility: Why I Couldn't Quit Church

2008-11-17T16:17:00.003-06:00

They say there are some things you shouldn't talk about at family gatherings. Combustible subjects. Politics and religion, mostly. I'd also add race, because that's the one that seems to get people really fired up whenever I broach the topic.

With the holidays approaching and all, there are going to be a lot of family gatherings. I guess we had better get the passionate topics out of the way this week so that something crazy doesn't slip out later. Here we go.

A couple of months ago I tried to quit church. We had been going to the same church for 4 years...ever since I started working there. Then I got a different job, but we kept going. But as time went on, there became a wider and wider disconnect between our church experience and the rest of our lives.

We live in the 'hood. We work in the 'hood. We are a multi-ethnic family. But we were driving 20 minutes into one of the wealthiest and whitest parts of the city to go to church each Sunday. There came a point where the whole thing was just surreal. I am living out this understanding about the Kingdom of God where I truly believe that God wants us to live amongst those who are on the underside of the empire, and that in our society a lot of what determines your place in the empire has typically centered on money and race. But then my worship experience was amongst the "haves" and that created a lot of dissonance.

So one Sunday Stacy was on call, and I decided to try a new church. There were a couple near us that I knew were multi-ethnic and that appeared to be mixed income. So Elli and I went. And on one level it was cool. People came from the fringes. People were different colors. A former drug addict gave testimony about how this community gave him the space and freedom to know Christ. But on another level it didn't feel quite right. So I went back with Stacy. Still didn't feel right.

A few weeks go by and we are sitting around one Sunday morning trying to decide where to go to church, and Stacy raises the idea that maybe we shouldn't switch churches. And at first I'm like, pfffffft. But then I figure she has a point. So we load up the car and make our trek to the 'burbs.

Well, there is no happy ending that morning. It still felt strange. Not only that, but it felt stranger than before, because we hadn't been around in a while. So we went back. And we went back again.

As we've been going through that process of coming back I've been trying to listen really hard to what God is telling me. The message comes in pieces, but I think it's something to the effect of...

Christian. You can't just quit church. Now, I might call you away to a different church someday, but that would be a different deal. That would be far less self-righteous, and much more about me than about what feels right to you at any given time. While you have grown a lot in the past two years in your ability to do justice, you have some work to do in the areas of loving mercy and walking humbly with your God. So go back. Because the people at that church have been nothing but good to you. They have shown you nothing but love. And you know they love me. And while it can be very difficult to feel as though you share much with that group of people in terms of paradigm and plane of existence, this is a very safe place for you to learn what it means to challenge popular conventions of power and living out faith. So love my people. Be loved by my people. Push my people. Be pushed by my people. Carry yourself with grace and dignity. Don't contribute to the stratification of your community by leaving a church and making it more homogeneous that it currently is. And don't be a jerk.

Renew and Restore

Best...Video...Ever...Reintroducing Bust a Bucket

2008-11-14T10:55:00.004-06:00

Last minute change. I had a serious post all lined up for today. But then I got on facebook this morning, and a high school classmate of mine posted a video that everyone needs to see. Thank you, Amita. You are added to my list of heroes.

Back in 1992, the Blazers were the bomb. One of the best teams in the NBA bomb. Portland was gaga over their favorite team, and it seemed like every radio station was issuing their own Blazers-themed songs. I remember 1190 KEX had a different song for each round of the playoffs. It was musical mayhem.

But the thing about 1190 KEX is that they weren't all that hip to the jive. It was more of a station for middle aged adults, and thus I mostly listened to it because it's what my parents had on in the car. It was fine. I liked the songs. The hosts were funny. Paul Harvey was interesting. And they did broadcast all Blazers games, so they always had the hype machine going. Plus, sports radio hadn't really hit the big time yet, so there weren't a ton of other appealing options on the AM dial.

But on the FM? Back in 1992, everyone at Jackson Middle School knew that all the cool kids listened to Z100. 100.3 on the FM. Pop candy to the max. And being both the barometer and dictator of pop culture, they took the art of the Blazers song to a whole new level.

Mix the early 90's, pop music and athletes and what do you get? Magic. That's what you get.

Z100 concocted a song that is forever burned into my memory. Bust a Bucket celebrated everything great about the Blazers. It was catchy. It was so profound that I taped it off the radio one night, and then used my cassette tape dubber to make a 90-minute mixtape consisting entirely of a single song. Not much of a mixtape, actually. But fantastic, nonetheless.

Thankfully for all of us, Z100 also issued a music video for this song. I'd love to quote my favorite moments and point you toward particularly memorable timestamps in the video, but it's impossible. It's all great. So great that I cannot think of any description that would constitute hyperbole. I watched it three times in a row, and was literally pumping my fists and laughing in fits of joy and nostalgia.

Without further delay, I now present for your viewing and listening enjoyment...

Bust A Bucket. You're welcome.

Renew and Restore

Countdown to U2: If God Will Send His Angels

2008-11-13T10:23:00.003-06:00

As we await the drop of the next U2 album, we continue to look at some of the lesser known songs in the U2 library. Today's selection isn't so uplifting. Sorry. But there are a number of lines in the song that just resonate with me. Just really vivid images that I've wrestled with lately. So when the song came up in my itunes shuffle, it got the five stars, because I couldn't stop playing it.

Nobody else here baby
No one here to blame
No one to point the finger
Its just you and me and the rain

Nobody made you do it
No one put words in your mouth
Nobody here taking orders
When love took a train heading south

Broadly speaking, the theme of "God Fix Everything" is pretty pertinent. Because that's how we are, right? If God would just fix it, it would be easier to believe. Nevermind the fact that the brokenness around us just so happens to be a sign of our own habit of not relying on God, now we're like, "prove it".

Its the blind leading the blond

This is going to be a post sometime next week or the week after. But I just have to figure out how to say it without offending people who are very dear to me, and who I have really good relationship with. But one of my big struggles lately is what my place is in the community of believers. Like, how do you balance being a voice for justice while not getting completely embittered by how people are unknowingly contributing to paradigms of injustice? In a city where the rich and poor don't touch all that often, how do you give your all to what you are called to do, while at the same time not completely quitting on people who love Jesus but are blind to their own blindness at the moment? And maybe I'm not even saying it correctly in the moment. That's why it's a post for next week.

Its been a while since we saw that child
Hanging round this neighbourhood
You see his mother dealing in a doorway

I saw that play out a couple of months ago. It wrecked me. Bad. It was one of those moments where I asked myself "What the heck have we gotten ourselves into? And what are we really doing to make sure this does not happen in our society?"

So where is the hope and where is the faith
And the love...whats that you say to me
Does love...light up your christmas tree

This could stand to be in everyone's thanksgiving liturgy.

Jesus never let me down
You know jesus used to show me the score
Then they put jesus in show business
Now its hard to get in the door

'nuff said.

Behold, The Power of Branding

2008-11-12T14:44:00.002-06:00

My daughter is so American. She has already been brainwashed by the powers of consumerism and branding, at the ripe age of 2.9 years old.

Even though we don't frequent McDonald's, she proclaims "FRIES!" every time we pass the Golden Arches.

An announcement of "Nuggets" greets the sight of Chic-fil-a.

And anytime we are in the neighborhood of a Target, a joyous "Red Store, Daddy!" greets me from the back seat.

It's even gotten to the point where she threw a minor fit last week when we had to drive past the Red Store to get to an actual grocery store. She insisted on Red Store. I was like, "they don't have groceries." She didn't care.

So I thought Elli would be thrilled on Monday when I had to swing by Target. But as I get ready to unbuckle her from her car seat, she protests.

Elli: No. I want the other Red Store.

Me: What other Red Store?

Elli: The Blue Red Store.

Me: There is no "Blue Red Store". The Red Store is by definition, red.

Elli: Definition red?

Me: Yeah. Let's go.

It then dawns on me that my daughter isn't just rambling incoherently. I start to connect the red dots and blue dots.

Me: Do you mean WalMart?

Elli: Yes.

Granted, Elli answers "yes" to 90% of the questions we ask, regardless of whether or not it's the factually correct answer. Nonetheless, it seems reasonable that she is referring to WalMart.

Me: We don't go to WalMart. We're Dashiells.

Elli: Ok.

I thought about explaining to her that the stance isn't elitist. I thought about explaining globalization and WalMart's habit of crushing small-businesses in little towns. But I thought better of it. No need to raise a jaded child.

Though I am a little worried about the standards we are setting for the future. It's easy to not go to Walmart in the city. But if we ever find ourselves living in rural Kansas, we will be challenged. Because WalMart has effectively choked out all competition in the region, and we will thus be forced to purchase a combine so that we can manufacture our own wheat-based toiletries.

Renew and Restore

Middle School Moment: Ice Cream

2008-11-11T09:41:00.003-06:00

Last night I was kickin' it with a group of boys who had earned our monthly "Fun Night". We hooked up a couple of Wii's and bonded over Guitar Hero World Tour and Mario Kart Wii. It was super-fun.

(Tangental Side Story that I just remembered, and has nothing to do with ice cream...When we fired up GHWT, we went through a moment where we had to decide which songs we were going to add to our set list. In case you didn't know, I work with adolescent boys from the inner city. So one of said boys puts in a request for Sweet Home Alabama. Unfortunately, that song isn't in this game. The kid responds with, "Man, I thought this game was supposed to have all of the classics." Touche. I never though a guitar game with tons of classic rock would disappoint a hip-hop aficionado due to set-list deficiencies.)

After we had our fill of video games, I busted out a killer ice cream sundae buffet. The boys went nuts, as we let them put whatever they wanted to on their ice cream. They were all taking their sweet time constructing their artistic masterpieces, and going completely overboard.

Finally, they made their way through the line. One of the first boys through was walking past one of his friends, when his boy bumped him. He lost the grip on his bowl of ice cream, and it smacked straight onto the floor.

This immediately elicited cat calls of "5 Second Rule", and the dropper reached down and picked up his tainted concoction. He looked a little bummed, but I just let him sit in that feeling for a minute. I wanted to see how he reacted to his friend who had knocked the ice cream out of his hand, and I also wanted to see if he had a sense of entitlement to a second bowl of ice cream.

Right as I was about to bail him out and let him throw away the bowl he dropped so that he could get a new one, he had an idea.

"Well, I guess I'll just have to get more toppings."

He goes back to the table, puts a bunch of syrup and sprinkles on top of the ice cream that had just been sitting on the floor and proceeds to pound the entire sundae like nothing had happened.

Renew and Restore

Middle School Moment: Scary Jesus

2008-11-06T13:28:00.002-06:00

Last night we were doing a Bible study with our Middle School kids. The focus was on the resurrection of Jesus, and we were reading the account in John 20 when Mary Magdelene finds the empty tomb. I had one of our leaders read the story out loud, so that the kids could focus their energy on putting themselves in the shoes of the disciples.

After the passage had been read, I asked the kids what was unique about the state of the tomb when Mary and the disciples started exploring it. I was trying to get at the description of the linens.

3So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. 8Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9(They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)

So I ask the question and a boy raises his hand. I call on him. He answers (in all seriousness), "Jesus' head was separated from his body."

Well that would have some interesting theological implications. The young man apparently got John's account mixed up with Wes Craven's Nightmare in Jerusalem: The Legend of Ichabod Christ.

Renew and Restore

Interesting Reads

2008-11-05T16:07:00.002-06:00

Man. Post-election hangover. I didn't even stay up that late, nor did I party. Just too much emotion, maybe.

A couple of good reads from today...

A while back, I referenced FiveThirtyEight.com. I followed the site for a few months to see how their election predictions would play out. They nailed it. NAILED IT!!! TV Barn had a nice writeup on it today.
Slate broke down how Obama's victory might have helped Prop 8 pass in Cali. Interesting to me, because I had Christian friends who were praying for an Obama defeat and a Prop 8 pass.
Leonard Pitts is must read material on historic days. Simple eloquence.

Renew and Restore

I Am America

2008-11-04T15:34:00.004-06:00

I didn't vote today. I voted a week ago. I voted while sitting on my couch and watching Sportscenter. Then I tidily folded up my ballot and sent it off in the mail.

Wait in line? Pfffffffffft. As if. I ain't waiting in line for anything if I don't have to. People can feel free to follow me, but I ain't lookin' at nobody's backside for 20 minutes. You crazy, son.

What's that? Oh. Chick-fil-a is giving out free sandwiches since it's Election Day? Holla at ya' boy! That's what I'm talking about. Ok. I'll wait in line for 20 minutes. Becuase I'm American. Because I love convenience almost (but not quite) as much as I love a $3.50 chicken sandwich. That's worth looking at some backside for.

You know what the hardest part of waiting in line for 20 minutes to get free food is? Behaving yourself.

One of the things that cracks me up is how often people have misued the word "socialism" these past few weeks. Like, there is a big difference between big government and socialism, technically speaking. There's a big difference between socializing certain programs and being a socialist country. But we're not generally skilled in the art of nuance when it comes time to vote. We're more the broad-stroke life-or-death kind of people.

So the term has been misused and people are all worked up about it. It's actually turned into a slur of sorts, but this too shall pass.

So anyway, I'm sitting there in line when I see some people with McCain shirts on. And this idea pops into my head.

Wouldn't it be really funny if I raised my fist up in the air and hollered at the top of my lungs, "Free food for the masses. Socialists UNIIIIIIITE."

Now that would freak some people out. But then I remembered that I didn't want to get people all worked up on election day, so I just stood there and played with a straw instead.

Renew and Restore

Starbucks Got It Right

2008-11-04T06:47:00.001-06:00

I've been critical of Starbucks in the past. But they got one right this weekend. They released the above commercial, and I think it makes a great point. Today, many of us will vote. We will be passionate about that vote. We've waited months to cast that vote.

And tomorrow a little less than half of us will wake up disappointed.

But tomorrow isn't the end. It's the beginning. It is an opportunity for us to take a look at why we voted how we voted, and begin to actually do something about those issues we are passionate about.

This is especially important for those of us who are Christians. Look, we should be involved in the political process. We should be engaged and prayerful voters, because government is a big deal. But we also shouldn't put too much faith in individuals, and we shouldn't lean on the government too heavily to legislate morality. When we do, we miss out on the fact that our calling isn't just to talk or vote in a way that differentiates us from the world around us. We are not just called to give money to organizations that support our passions. We are called to live with distinction.

Most Christians probably factor foreign policy and diplomacy into our voting preferences. But we also factor in domestic issues that we feel to be highly important in our moral and ethical constructs. It would be interesting to see how much healthier Christians could make this country if we really dedicated ourselves to these moral and ethical issues.

Each week, you have 168 hours to fill. What would happen if you spent 2.4% of those hours dedicated to contributing toward a constructive solution for your top voting priority? You wouldn't protest, you wouldn't post videos on the internet, you wouldn't forward emails, you wouldn't increase financial contributions to ministries, you wouldn't change your facebook status. I mean, you could do all of those things. They just wouldn't count toward your 4 hours.

If you voted for a candidate because he pro-life, you would spend 4 hours each week supporting single mothers, or adoptive families. Heck, you might even get really wild and decide to become a foster parent or an adoptive parent.

If you voted for a candidate because you felt his policies could help bridge the gap between rich and poor, you would spend 4 hours each week serving in ways that sustainably empower the poor.

If you voted for a candidate because you felt his policies were pro-environment, you would spend 4 hours contributing toward environmental stability.

If you voted for a candidate because you felt he would help gap the racial divide, you would spend 4 hours each week helping to bridge that divide.

And so on.

Clearly, my point breaks down if you are a Christian who decides who to vote for based on your right to bear arms. Please don't spend 4 hours each week buying guns. And please call me so that we can talk about whether or not Jesus really wants you buying guns.

But on the other points, what could we make this country look like? Practicing what we preach. Putting action to words. Demonstrating that there is substance behind all of our talking and politicking. Realizing that with a little bit of effort, we can collectively be more effective at changing the ethical and moral issues we are allegedly passionate about than a president ever could.

That would be something.

That would be gospel.

Renew and Restore

I'm No George Will, That's For Sure

2008-11-03T07:20:00.003-06:00

This year I have had the opportunity to be a guest columnist for The Kansas City Star. As part of their Midwest Voices panel, I got to write five op-ed pieces this year as well as blog on their op-ed site. My final column dropped on Saturday, and the bulk of my responsibilities are now over.

All in all, I'm glad I did it. I went into the experience with the goal of communicating aspects of my faith that form my ethical paradigms, and I think I did that well. It wasn't easy, though. You can't just write for a newspaper and start preaching. For people to listen, you have to weave your ideas in under the radar and do it concisely. Do you know how hard it is to limit your take on something you are passionate about to 650 words? Way harder than I could have guessed. But for a verbose individual like myself, it was a helpful exercise.

When I look back on my five articles, I think they do a good job summarizing how I try to live out my faith. I started out writing about the boys I work with. I wrote about a coffee shop that my local YWCA runs in an effort to achieve its goal of "eliminating racism and empowering women". I wrote about adopting Elli. I wrote about my city's new recycling program. I finished by writing about the boys. Am I a pro-life environmentalist who strives for racial reconciliation and shalom for the disenfranchised? Yeppers.

An ancillary benefit of my experience this year has been a deeper appreciate for columnists who do a good job of writing thoughtfully. My main inspiration to apply for this gig was Leonard Pitts. I've never met him before, but I've always been very impressed with his ability to graciously tackle tough subjects. He's never been a shill for a single political party. He is able to recognize both sides of an issue and judge them fairly. And now I realize why there aren't more columnists like him. It's way easier to pound out 650 words about why Obama is the incarnation of Mussolini or McCain's real estate than it is to thoughtfully engage issues in a constructive manner.

I've also gained new respect for George Will and David Brooks. I really appreciate how those guys stay on message and keep their arguments above the fray. They write with a depth and nuance that has actually helped me as I go through this process of rethinking a lot of my political assumptions from the past. If the Republicans get swept tomorrow, I hope that they listen to those two guys as they rethink what they are going to be about as a party.

Renew and Restore

The Photoshoot

2008-10-31T13:41:00.003-05:00

I got to see my first live ultrasound of Dashiell Baby Numero Dos yesterday. Dos looked good. The kid is going to be a handful, though. So squirmy in there. Kicking. Sucking the thumb. Generally wiggling and swimming around. But really, what should we expect? The kid has two driven parents, one of whom is a bit of a spaz. I had better get a lot of sleep over the next six months. This one is going to be a firecracker. I can feel it.

Is there anybody out there good at scrap booking? I have a job for you. A huge job. I need you to scrapbook the many pictures we already have of Dos. I've learned that when your mother is a doctor and has both the ability and opportunity to take ultrasounds whenever she wants, you end up collecting a lot of pictures. This kid is going to have the biggest pre-birth scrap book of any child in history. Constant surveillance. I'm sure Dos will revolt, grow up to become a lawyer and fight adamantly for any law that protects the privacy rights of individuals. Either that, or we'll have some kind of glory hog on our hands. Time will tell.

Renew and Restore

Tragic Irony

2008-10-30T12:35:00.002-05:00

Every once in a while I flip over to MTV to take the pulse of pop culture. Gotta see what them kids are looking at these days. Guess what I learned? Britney Spears has a new video out. Culturally relevant again, I see.

The song itself is pretty catchy. It's called "Womanizer". A scathing critique of some dude who has a bunch of girl friends and uses women. Britney stands up to him. Lets him know he's not getting any attention from her. Really, it might be her best song in a long time. I mean, it's obviously a sliding scale, but still.

Things take a turn for the dumb with the video, however. This lady who is singing out against womanizers spends half the video...naked. I know I'm prone to hyperbole, but I'm serious. I would post the video, but it's essentially porn. She is laying completely naked in a sauna, covering only the most private of parts. Even for MTV it is pushing the envelope. The rest of the video finds Britney dancing around in her underwear.

Ok. Stop. This song could have stood on its own. But Britney's handlers come in and under the guise of creativity womanize her. In the process, they talk her into being complicit in her own objectification.

Now the video is on MTV. We all know that pop music is both a reflection and influence on pop culture. So now we are communicating to girls that they should liberate themselves from promiscuous men by cutting them out of the process. Why let someone else objectify you if you can just sell yourself and keep all of the profits?

But then I guess it isn't that different from what has happened in mainstream hip-hop and the black community. I mean, Robert Johnson (the founder of BET) is about as helpful to the black community as a plantation owner.

This is crazy.

Renew and Restore

Middle School Moment: Hairy Situation

2008-10-28T11:34:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I walk into a room full of middle school girls who are being helped on their homework by one of my co-workers. One of them has her hair done up quite wonderfully. In an effort to keep it in good shape for as long as possible, she has stylishly wrapped a silk scarf around her head. It is tied in the front and open up top, so that her new hairdo spills out the top. I notice the new do. I compliment her on it.

Girl: I look like Ain't Yo Mamma

Well, I guess. I mean, my mother is a middle-aged white woman and this is an adolescent black girl. She does not bear any resemblance to my mother. Fair enough. But I was taken aback by the statement. I needed clarification.

Me: What?

Girl: I look like Ain't Yo Mamma (with added emphasis this time)

Me: I have no idea what you are talking about.

Girl: You know. Ain't Yo Mamma (more emphasis). The pancake lady.

Co-worker: You mean Aunt Jamima?

Girl: Yeah. Ain't Yo Mamma. The pancake lady.

Co-worker: No. It's Aunt Jamima. Like Auntie.

Girl: Auntie Yo Mamma?

Oh man. It's at this point that I'm making an exit from the room because I 'm just struggling to keep it together. Classic middle school moment, however.

Renew and Restore

Passing Out...CCDA Miami Day 3

2008-10-25T20:44:00.001-05:00

Day 3 was good. Day 3 was tiring. And so this post goes up after I have been home for 4 hours, because Day 3 ended late and Day 4 included a 5:30am cab ride to the airport. Said cab ride necessitates a Day 4 bedtime of 8pm. But now we're all gravy, baby. So the Day 3 Wrap...

Today my mind was blown when... Dr John Perkins started talking about unity. “Ain’t no such church, in reality, based on race. It nullifies the purpose of the church...We have created a society that reproduces racist people, because we haven’t raised up a people that believe the church is bigger than that...In America, one of the things that’s disturbing me is that you can’t love two things at the same time. The political system is making it worse. They say that to love the Democrat, you must hate the Republican. If you love the Jew, they say you have to hate the Arab. But you shouldn’t have to hate one person to love another in this society.”.

Today I was convicted when...Dr. Perkins got on a roll. "When capitalism is in the hands of greedy people, uncontrolled by the people of God, we must admit that the Christian Church did not have a prophetic voice in our society. We have minimized sin. We bought into the idea that the longer you can get the money and be prosperous, you are ok. There is a more authentic prosperity when you serve God and work hard and share your resources with the Church and the poor. There is the real prosperity."

Today I was surprised when...Soong Chan Rah called the Emergent Church movement "the most overrated movement in the history of the church". I've heard him say it before, and it was surprising. I understand where he is coming from, and agree with him to an extent. But it's a statement that I find to be a bit pugnacious, and that was almost surreal considering Brian McClaren had just spoken from the same stage 8 hours before.

Today I peed my pants when...The Emcee gave away DVD's. After most sessions, she would chuck tshirts into the crowd. She felt that it would be a little dangerous to chuck DVD's (what with the sharp edges and all), but she certainly didn't make the situation any safer. She set them down on the edge of the stage and announced that the first person up who had attended for at least 5 years could have them. Well, one dude jumps out of his seat right away. But he thinks he's the only one heading to the stage, so he slows down. I feel a Leon Lett moment coming on. And so does a guy a couple of rows back wearing a Tony Romo jersey. He has this notion that if he sprints as fast as he can, he can beat the sauntering man. Romo sprints. People start yelling. Man #1 is almost to the stage. Romo digs deep. A little too deep. His brain asks his legs to move faster than was possible. They get confused. They get tangled. Down goes Romo. In front of the whole conference. Sorry bro, but I was laughing my butt off. Every time I saw that dude the rest of the day, I had to chuckle.

Renew and Restore

Was That Ace Ventura? CCDA Miami Day 2

2008-10-25T06:53:00.001-05:00

Scetch internet last night when I tried to post this. Apparently things are up an running again.

Today my mind was blown when... Dr John Perkins explained that "the great leaders are people who enter the agony and pain of the people, and only count their own lives as important in that they will deliver people from their brokenness. You are only a justice leader when you move into the pain of the people".

Today I was convicted when...Dr. Arloa Sutter supposed that our only reasonable response to people who just don't "get it" when it comes to how Christians are supposed should engage issues of justice and poverty is to demonstrate faith expressing itself with love.

Today I was surprised when...I went to choir practice. At a lot of these kinds of gatherings they assemble an impromptu choir to sing at one of the worship gatherings. I always say no. But today I said yes. I think God knew it would be therapeutic for me. It was the first time I had ever sang in a gospel choir and it was so fun. It was also the first time I sang in a choir since high school. Back in the day we did sing a gospel song or two, but I was always the blackest guy. Not so much today. Everyone was probably like, "what a nice looking light skinnded brotha". Actually, they were probably like, "what a nice looking hispanic guy", seeing as though I was sporting my Mexico Soccer Federation jersey. That ethnic assumption was most likely helped out by my ability to sing the spanish song the worship band sprung on us at the end. I just so happened to know the song, so I was able to simultaneously sing and samba my shifty hips in the spirit.

Today I peed my pants when...Every time I see two certain hotel employees. I'm not sure what their actual job is, but they are ubiquitous. Always together. Always hilariously and stereotypically Miami. These dudes are hilarious. Matching polos that are super-tight so that the guys nip out all day. Buttons undone so the chest hair can come up for air. Gelled hair that is slicked back to perfection. It's a beautiful sight.

So Vice

2008-10-23T13:39:00.002-05:00

I didn't want to come to Miami. But I didn't really have a choice, so here I am. The Hope Center is a member of the Christian Community Development Association, and since I didn't go to last year's conference I got drafted into this one.

I don't have an aversion to the city. Nor do I dislike conferences about urban ministry. I think I'm just at the point in life where it's hard to leave the fam. I love the fact that I have a job where I don't have to travel. Elli is a fun age and Stacy has had a really craptastic first trimester, so the upside to my busy schedule is that I don't have to be gone a lot of nights. But it also made me pretty pouty when I did actually have to leave. Actually, my self-absorption made me pouty, but it's easier to blame circumstance.

All that being said, I am now glad I'm here. This conference and the Urban Youth Workers Institute in CA are so helpful to my motivation and contextualization. I feel like I spend a lot of energy in life trying to explain to people why my job causes me to see the world and the Bible differently than they do, and it's kind of exhausting. So it's great to come here where everyone is on the same page and we can just hit the ground running and unpack issues that we face. It's been really really good.

For the next couple of days, I'm going to use a format to summarize some of the high points. I'm not ashamed to confess that I brainstormed these when one of the speakers was wondering around a little bit in the midst of their talk...Sorry.

Today my mind was blown when... Soong Chan Rah explored a Christology that encompasses both celebration and suffering. Good discussion about the power of mobility and the value on comfort in the evangelical church. He dropped the bomb when he proclaimed that: it's very easy to move out of suffering and into feelings of nothing. One of the pandemics of the church is a culture of apathy because Christians are not feeling anything. We have developed a therapeutic culture where we focus on feeling good coming out of our worship experience", which is increasingly consumer minded from everything to time, to architecture to content.

Today I was convicted when...Wayne Gordon explained how "as activists, we are hearers and doers of God's word, but we sometimes lack a spiritual depth".

Today I was surprised when...I realized the underlying theme of the conference is how we can be leaders of exceptional character. There is a huge focus on ministering out of the overflow of a life that is filled and transformed by the holy spirit. It's a great point and one I needed to hear, but not what I expected.

Today I peed my pants when...I went to breakfast. We brought one of our high school students with us on this trip. The breakfast setup had a three different pitchers of juice out, and he unwittingly poured himself a glass of grapefruit juice. After puckering, he asked "why would anyone ever drink that for breakfast? You'd have to be a grumpy person to drink that in the morning."

Renew and Restore

Fact Checking

2008-10-22T10:58:00.002-05:00

The Wiggles have been very very good to us. They entertain Elli. They make her happy. They help her get a lot of excersise by means of incessant dancing.

But sometimes Daddy needs a break. Enter Veggie Tales. I busted them out recently, figuring that Elli was old enough to follow the plot and enjoy the concept. And enjoy she did. Following the plot (or any other number of crucial details)? Not so much.

We have two VT magnets on the fridge. One of Larry the cucumber and the other of LarryBoy. So yesterday we are looking at fridge photos, when she points at one of the magnets and proclaims, "Bob!".

Sorry to tell you kid, but it's Larry. Bob's a tomato. Larry is a cucumber.

She thinks. "Oh...He's ready to fight."

Oh buddy.

Here's the thing. The episode we watched was Dave and the Giant Cucumber. Loosely based on David and Goliath. Jr., who is a cucumber but certainly not Larry. So we were wrong on that little factoid.

But here's the bigger problem. While the storyline did include buildup to a big battle, I'm pretty sure the main point of the episode was something other than "The Veggie Tales characters are ready to fight." More seasoned theologians than myself can check my hypothesis. But I'm pretty sure that there are lessons about God using the underdog and the power and providence of God that are a little more pertinent.

But then again, it's possible I'm misinterpreting the VT canon.

Renew and Restore

My Middle Name is Nielsen

2008-10-21T15:45:00.003-05:00

Just kidding. It's Darnell. Way better ring to than Nielsen. However, a couple of weeks ago I did get to be part of the Nielsen Ratings. They called the house and asked if I'd keep a journal of what I watched on the tele for an entire week. That's an easy "yes". Especially because I know from past experience that they include $30 cash with your journal in exchange for your time. ChaChing!

Overall I think I added to the ratings of good shows. I had the chance to show advertisers that people in America do watch soccer, so hopefully they will put more on. I also got to give the PBS coverage of a Presidential debate some love. The picture isn't as clear on PBS, but I think they don't clutter up the screen with scrawls and stupid lines. Good trade. Plus, they have the best post-debate coverage with thoughtful analysis and absolutely no screaming. I really like David Brooks.

We also gave Jon and Kate Plus 8 some love. Stacy likes it. I wouldn't sit down and watch it by myself, but it is fun to watch with my wife. I like the fact that every episode contains some kid either wiping out or hauling off and hitting a sibling. Makes me laugh every time.

One show that ended up in the journal that we have only watched that one week is Just Cook This! What a great show! I really need to put it in the Tivo rotation. It is the most down to earth cooking show you'll find on tv. Sam the Cooking Guy cooks meals out of his own kitchen, and uses regular ingredients. He's witty. The stuff looks really good. I'm making myself hungry.

We lucked out in that we didn't watch anything embarrassing. There are times when it gets late and we end up watching something absolutely inane. LIke the other night I come home and Stacy is watching The Biggest Loser. Niether of us had seen it before, but she was giving it a run. Man, that show has no buisness being on tv. What an unmitigated disaster. These wonderful people are working through all of their relational and physical anxiety in front of the cameras for everyone to see, and they actually have to vote each other off the show. Horrible.

The only thing worse was the show we ended up watching next. Paris Hilton's My New BFF.

Yeah, we watched it once. I feel like I have to mention things like that every once in a while to remind myself that I have very shallow aspects to my person. Thank goodness they didn't surface during Nielson week.

I have no further comments on the BFF thing. Let's never mention it again.

Renew and Restore

Why I Don't Gamble

2008-10-20T16:18:00.003-05:00

When I was in grade school, I shocked my parents one day with my stunning commentary on a Blazers game. After hearing the score, I remarked that they had been favored to win by more points. My parents were immediately worried that their young son was a gambling degenerate, and they started in with a bevy of follow-up questions. Not to worry. I hadn't lost all the money in my piggy bank to a bookie, nor was I running bets on the playground.

What I was doing, however, was reading the sports section every day. I loved basketball, so I read all of the stories, stats, schedules and standings. I even read the betting lines. To my credit, I assumed they were just in there as a public service. I didn't know they were business.

The good news is that I still don't gamble. Why?

In four simple words...I suck at it.

Good thing I was able to find out without spending any money. ESPN has this free game going right now. It's called Streak for the Cash. Pretty simple stuff. Every day, the game moderator throws a handful of games or prop-bets on the board. Then, you pick one. Or you don't. But it's harder to win if you don't.

The goal of the game is to build up a streak where you make 25 consecutive pics correctly. Do that and you get a million bucks. It sounds easy, but it is actually impossible. Now, all of the bets are (in theory) 50-50 shots. The moderator picks bets that have low point spreads, meaning Vegas things they are close. In all the time I've been playing, I've seen three people get over 20 in a row. A lot of people get to 15 or so before they crap out.

Me? A lousy streak of 5. That's it. And not for lack of effort. My overall record is a paltry one game over .500. 47 correct, 46 incorrect. Stinky. If you wish, you can follow my inability to streak well here.

That's why I don't gamble. Because it's hard, I'm not good, and Vegas doesn't build billion dollar hotels by giving out more money than they take in.

But I do play free games on ESPN.

Renew and Restore.

Best of 2008...Comics

2008-10-17T09:18:00.003-05:00

Let's get serious here as we finish up the Best of 2008 series. Comics. Not the most educational section of the newspaper, but certainly crucial for the general sanity and attitude of a paper's readership. There is no doubt in my mind that starting the morning with a laugh, chuckle and/or guffaw is good for both mental and physical health.

Favorite "Oldies"

Garfield - Back in the day, I checked out every single Garfield book from the library at Edwards Elementary School. It's still funny after all these years, even after Jon finally wooed Liz and Garfield decided to be nicer to people.

BC - Classic comedy. My only complaint is that The Kansas City Star does not carry it on Sundays. BC always has the best Easter comic in the section.

Doonesbury - Unlike Garfield, I did not read this comic while in grade school. The humor can be pretty dry, but intellectually indicting of political (typically Republican) figures.

Favorite "Newbies"

Get Fuzzy - Best comic ever. I've had to stop reading it in the latrine, because I found myself falling off on a regular basis due to uncontrollable laughter. Way too messy.

Pearls Before Swine - Snarkiest comic ever. Nothing is sacred. I especially enjoy the unabashed lampooning of Family Circus.

Dilbert - Excellent satire on corporate greed and office politics.

Prickly City - Political humor from a Republican paradigm, but willing to make fun of itself.

Favorite Comic that Uses no Dialouge

Lio - The Star just started carrying this selection. At first I thought the idea was dumb, but then I realized it takes a certain creativity to make people laugh without the characters saying anything. Or, maybe it just shows how lazy I am because I like the comic that requires the least amount of reading.

Favorite PG-13 Specialty Internet Specialty Comics

Studs Up - The great thing about the internet is that it gives people the space and opportunity to publish niche comics. Like this one that deals exclusively with the English Premier League (soccer). Seriously funny for those with a high EPL IQ.

Penny Arcade - Ok, so I don't get all of the strips. It's video game themed, and while I follow video games, there are a lot of people out there way more intense than I am. But when I do get the jokes, they are very funny. However, they are also very salty.

Best of 2008...TV

2008-10-16T09:18:00.002-05:00

I don't watch a ton of shows. Mostly sports, PBS news shows and kids programming. Since sports and PBS news don't make for the greatest lists, we'll stick to kids programming for our highlights today. Even there, our options are limited since half the time we are watching the same two Wiggles DVDs. Well, that leaves us with Sesame Street. Hey, if you are stuck on an island with just one children's show to watch the rest of your life, the Double S is the way to go.

Sesame Street Segments I Enjoyed

!. Worm World Cup - Couldn't find a video of this one, which is too bad. They have Muppet worms replay the world cup, complete with a French worm head-butting an Italian worm. A+ for cultural relevance while teaching a worthwhile lesson to the kiddies.

&. Chris Brown Singing with Elmo -The hippest segment ever on the Double S. Elli loved it, and requested repeat viewings.

$. Destiny's Child and Elmo - It's not often that you get the full-body shot of Elmo and Grover. For good reason. Monster Muppets don't have the most flattering abdomens. They have that old-person paunch going on. I'm just glad they are thrusting that paunch all over this song.

#. Alicia Keys and (surprise!) Elmo - I didn't get to go to the Alicia Keys concert this year, but this was just like being there. Kinda.

@. Andrea Bocelli Sings Elmo to Sleep - Not going to lie. I have a little bit of a man-crush on Bocelli. Creepiness aside, if he ever wanted to sing me to sleep I'd be down. This particular segment holds the distinction of being the only Double S segment to compel me to head to iTunes and purchase a song.

?. James Blunt Grooves with Telly Monster - I didn't know Telly had it in him. Get down there, big fella.

+. James Earl Jones does the Alphabet - Ok, so I didn't actually see this one on TV. I found it when I was searching for the other clips. Who cares. That dude could read the phone book and make it sound interesting. And he's multi talented. He can also count. Gameface

=. Potty Training - Elli would not be able to pee in the toilet if it wasn't for Elmo. The Elmo potty DVD was great brainwashing, and very entertaining for daddy. And the Elmo panties have been the ONLY enduring form of bribery that have worked. Thanks, bro.

Best of 2008...Music

2008-10-15T13:06:00.002-05:00

A set of list for you today. The best of Music.

My Favorite Bluegrass(ish) Songs. A list inspired by my recent weekend at Winfield. Admittedly, not all of these songs are true bluegrass, but they are all inspired and all of the heez.

L. Vertigo (stripped banjo mix) - Bono and The Edge
K. Idlewild Blue - Outkast...Any hip-hop group that can use bluegrass is getting it done creatively.
J. I Want to be Ready - Ben Harper and the Blind Boys from Alabama
I. Landslide - The Dixie Chicks...Apologies to Stevie Nicks, but this version is better.
H. The One that Got Away - Pink...Oh man, I can't wait for her new album to drop.
G. I Saw The Light (Live) - David Crowder Band
F. The Fox - Nickel Creek
E. The Long Way Around - The Dixie Chicks
D. Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven - David Crowder Band...The line that best sums up American Evangelical Christianity. "Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die"
C. Black Horse and the Cherry Tree - KT Tunstall
B. The Lighthouse's Tale - Nickel Creek...They might not play it live anymore, but it's still da Bomb
A. Callin' Baton Rouge - New Grass Revival

Favorite Songs to Play on Guitar Hero III

Miss Murder - AFI
My Name is Jonas - Weezer
Barracuda - Heart...Have you ever seen this video? Hilarious.
When You Were Young - The Killers
Cliffs of Dover - Eric Johnson
La Grange - ZZ Top
The Metal - Tenacious D
Sabatoge - Beastie Boys
Welcome to the Jungle - GNR
The Devil Went Down to Georgia - Charlie Daniels Band...Perhaps the greatest moment in video game history. To beat the game you have to out-duel the Devil (who you have sold your soul to). From this point on, nothing that Guitar Hero or Rock Band do will live up to that storyline.

Songs I Want James Taylor to Cover - James Taylor just released an album of covers. Good move, considering he can sing songs better than 90% of the people who originally made them famous. However, the set list did not live up to my expectations. Some glaring omissions include...

~Christmas in Hollis - Run DMC
~Cows With Guns - Dana Lyons
~Comfort Eagle - Cake
~Boom - POD
~Biochemical Equation - Wu Tang Clan
~Man in the Mirrio - Michael Jackson
~Rompe - Daddy Yankee
~technologic - Daft Punk
~The Anthem -Good Charlotte

Renew and Restore

Best of 2008...World Domination

2008-10-14T09:16:00.002-05:00

I encourage you to set goals. Everyone needs something to work toward in life.

I am currently working toward world domination. Not in the anti-christ kind of way. Nor in the realm of politics and finance. Instead, I have developed a three-headed monster of feats that each entail specific and unique challenges. To conquer one of these tasks would deserve mad props. Two of them will require divine favor. Pulling the trifecta? Nearly impossible. But nobody said world domination would be easy.

3. Attend the 2010 World Cup - I know we've talked about this before, let's take a moment to rehash this one. Kyle, Coleman and myself are working ahead of the curve to figure out how to get to South Africa, and where to stay once we get there. Between the three of us, we have a surprisingly high number of connections in the country. It is very possible that this first World Cup held in Africa will also be the only World Cup held in Africa, so it would be huge to get there. Plus, due to the relative inaccessibility of South Africa to most European countries, it should be easy to score tickets. Even if we don't win the FIFA ticket draw, I'm convinced we can get tickets for face value inside the country (unlike Germany 2006). Tickets go on sale in February, so crunch time approacheth.

2. Earn a Cooking Invite to the American Royal - I have an unofficial 4-year timeline on this one. It would entail winning at least one BBQ contest, and perhaps more. While I've progressed well in brisket and pork this year, I need more work on the consistency of ribs. I'm not highly confident in my chicken, but my father in-law is a chicken wizard, so I'm not sweating it. After attending the Royal as a spectator and judge the past two years, two things have become clear to me. First, it will be hard to get there. Secondly, we will be heavy underdogs when we do earn that invite. We are going to be the bbq equivalent of the Royals. We just won't have the resources that other teams have. You should see some of the rigs at these competitions. Some cats have over $250,000 poured into their cooking rigs. We're going to show up with three Weber Smoky Mountain cookers. Estimated Retail Value? $750. Gonna need some focus and luck to pull this off.

3. Compete on The Amazing Race - I just came up with this one a couple of weeks ago when Stacy and I started watching the Amazing Race for the first time ever. This will be super hard. But hey, we are talking about world domination here. Here's how I see it. Coleman and I would make a great team. We are very dorky. We work well together. We are uber competitive. We are multicultural. Perfect for network television. I always thought it would be fun to be on Survivor, and see how far I could get without lying. But I've since realized that (a) I'd probably lie and (b) if I'm going to be on a reality tv show, it needs to be one where they let you eat. I loose weight way to fast, and around day 17 I would be at risk of being carried off by some large bird. So we'll stick to something a little more amazing.

Renew and Restore

Best of 2008...Beat the Rush...Ranking Meats

2008-10-13T14:39:00.003-05:00

During my first year as a blogger, I finished the year off with a series of "Best Of" rankings. Best books, best movies, best sports moments. You know. The usual.

Then last year I started reading more blogs, and I realized that everyone and their mother was doing "Best Of" lists at the end of the year. It was like the blogosphere vomited a bunch of music countdowns where people were falling all over themselves in order to talk about how great Radiohead's last album was. I literally stopped reading blogs during the last couple weeks of 2007 since they had become congested with high levels of redundancy. I resolved to give up "Best Of" lists.

But then I had a bright idea a couple of weeks ago while we were shopping for a new frying pan at Macy's. As I saw the workers setting up Christmas stuff a good month before Halloween and a whopping 3 months before Christmas, I lamented the need for retailers to be the first to put up Christmas stuff. Then I ripped off their idea and vowed to do my "Best Of" list the second week in October. Gotta beat the holiday rush.

Here's my promise to you: no run of the mill lists this week. All original lists that you will not find anywhere else. Not now. Not in 3 moths when lists are the in thing. I won't promise that each list will have 10 items. Sometimes there just aren't' 10 best things. I also can't promise that all of these listed items were actually experienced in 2008. These are more timeless lists that exist in my heart. And I also promise not to mention Radiohead. You don't need me to tell you how good the album was. You already heard it from a bazillion other cats. Plus, I didn't listen to the album.

Kicking off our best of 2008...my favorite barbecue meats. For reasons of integrity, I'm not including anything I've actually made. Though, now that I think of it, none of my stuff would make the list. I'm waaaaay to hard on myself.

6. Gates Beef on Bread- Very classic taste. Gates flavor has a nice bite to it, and the ambiance of the joint makes up for the fact that the beef can get a bit on the dry side if you show up on an off day. That's the risk of hitting up a chain bbq joint. But it's nothing a heavy slathering of sauce can't overcome.

5. Jones BBQ Beef Sandwich - Superior meat quality to Gates. More celery seed in the rub, which might not strike every one's fancy. At first I didn't like it, but they have toned it down over the last couple of years and found a way better balance. The key to this sandwich is to get a side of baked beans. Jones has amazing beans that are sweet, juicy and have huge chunks of meat in them. I like to go sauseless, and then dip the sandwich in the bean juice.

4. Oklahoma Joes Hogamaniac (aka Hog Dinner) - Three ribs, pulled pork, sausage, pickles, texas toast and two sides. Dang. It's enough food for two people. This is my favorite meal when I have a high-stress day. I stop by a coffe shop and pick up a hazelnut latte, which is a great compliment to good meat. Plus, I think the dinner is only like $11.

3. The Shack Sampler Platter - I've only had this once. The shack is in Ocean Springs, MS. Sweet and sticky sauce. Best ambiance of any joint I've been to. Nice souther style BBQ.

2. Roy's Three Meat Sandwich - My first love. We made a lot of pilgrimages to Hutchinson, KS when I was in college just to hit up Roy's. It's the first place I ever experienced the zen of meat sweats. You can't leave that place without a saturation of smoke into your hair, clothing and skin.

1. Oklahoma Joes Pulled Pork Z Man on Texas Toast with a topping of Spicy Slaw slapped on the sandwich. The only sandwich that makes me shudder when I think of it. Meat, provolone and an onion ring. All on toast and Carolina'd up with that spicy slaw. It doesn't look like much, but you had better go gameface if you expect to finish it. And don't get it to go. It has to be eaten in the gas station, and in one sitting. Unlike any other bbq dish, it doesn't warm up well.

Blazer Game Recap

2008-10-11T10:38:00.003-05:00

If anyone is interested, Dave at Blazers Edge was kind enough to post my recap of last night's game. Thanks, Dave. I really appreciate it, and it was fun to help out the rest of Blazer Nation since the game didn't have TV coverage. Mostly basketball stuff, but a couple of funny stories at the end.

One thing I didn't mention in that post was how impressive Bill Self was. He sat a couple of rows in front of me with his kid and two other boys. What a stand-up guy. Every time someone wanted a picture or an autograph, he obliged even though he was clearly just out for a relaxing evening. He even took a picture with the sloppy drunk guy who was way too loud the entire game. Security offered to escort the guy away, but Self allowed for the photo op.

The most impressive instance though was a picture he took with this teenager. The kid walked up to Self as the coach was walking up the stairs while talking on his cell phone. Self tells the person on the phone to hold on for a second. He puts his arm around the kid, smiles and then shakes the kids hand. Then he goes back to his cell conversation and heads upstairs.

It was just classy. And as often as famous people get thrown under the bus for being jerks, it was nice to see a very popular public person treating everyone else like they were someone important.

Renew and Restore.

WItness the Birth of a Dynasty

2008-10-10T11:48:00.002-05:00

The stars have aligned in my favor. This evening, against all imaginable odds, the Portland Trailblazers will play a game in Kansas City. Dream come true for a lifelong fan. Shoot. There is no way I'm not the biggest Blazers fan in KC. I grew up in Memorial Colosseum. The walls of my bedroom were always covered in pics of my favorites. Darnell Valentine. Kenny Carr. Clyde. Terry. Duck. Buck. Kiki. Jerome Kersey. Team photos. Media guides filling the shelves. I had a full-sized Blazers flag hanging from my wall, for crying out loud.

We went through some rough years recently. I can handle teams that aren't good. I sport Royals gear all the time. I bought a KU Football jersey in 2003 and wore it proudly, even as K-Staters mocked me mercilessly. (Where you at now, purple? Where you at now?) But it's tough to handle your allegiance when your first love is filled with shady characters. The Jail Blazers era was embarrassing. I kept the gear in the closet until they traded 'Sheed. But then I went back to reppin' long distance from the Midwest, even through all of the lottery seasons.

Now, it's on. Ok, in all honesty we are still a year away. I have to keep reminding myself of that. But it's hard for all of us who have all of this pent-up excitement. When you see Rudy Fernandez going And1 Mixtape on cats in his first preseason game and then does it again, you get giddy. When Greg Oden is beasting fools after having not played for 14 months, you pee your pants a little bit. Will someone please tell that cat you should not average 13.5 ponits and 7 boards per game when your rehab limits you to just 20 minutes in each of your first two outings? Mercy.

See how hard it is to not get carried away? ESPN is predicting eventual greatness. My favorite fan site proclaims that "our second unit is probably going to be a little better than your second unit…and by “probably going to be a little better than” I mean “is going to crush like a dump truck running over an empty beer can”. Seriously, potentially bringing Travis Outlaw, Rudy Fernandez, and Jerryd Bayless off of the bench to score on people makes my stomach twist up in that “so much excitement I’m gonna throw up” way."

Yeah. So it's hard to keep a healthy perspective. And that's why I giddily gave my wife a recap of a Blazers preseason game the other night. To her credit, she was a very good listener even though I'm sure she had no idea what I was talking about. And to her credit she allowed Elli and I to have matching outfits today. Elli in her Blazers sweatsuit. Me in my MacGregor Sandknit (about as comfortable as it sounds) Kiki Vandeweghe jersey that I have owned since my cousin Sergio gave it to me in 1987. Classic.

So I'll be at the game tonight. And I'll try to keep everything I see in perspective. But it will be hard.

Renew and Restore.

What I'm Not Doing

2008-10-09T10:20:00.004-05:00

Back in May when I graduated from school, everyone kept asking me if I felt any different.

Not so much.

My library was bigger. I was a better writer. I was smarter. But it wasn't as though a switch flipped on graduation day that filled me with relief and warm fuzzies.

The root of the problem was that I had been in school for a long time. From age 3 (when I started preschool) to age 28, I had been in school every fall with the exception of 2002. That was the year I took off after Stacy and I got married. But even that year she was finishing school, and I was working at a college. I was still entrenched in the culture of academia, even though I wasn't a student.

May, June, July and August all fell off the calendar. An entire quarter of the year. And my senses finally started to come alive. Friends would talk about how they were heading off to class. The kids I work with started school. People were setting their gmail chat status to "studying".

And I was kicking it. Watching soccer with a big bag of pork rinds, a box of junior mints and a gallon of chocholate milk. Not pounding out an assignment.

Now we find ourselves nearing mid-October, and I finally feel like I'm not in school anymore. It's a nice feeling. There is space in my life. I am starting to enjoy reading and writing again, after a four-month detox.

I just need to remember this when the itch strikes me to apply for Doctoral programs. Not like I'll be doing that anytime soon. I promised myself I'd wait at least 5 years before even entertaining the idea. And whenever the subject is broached, Stacy gives me "the eye".

But still.

Renew and Restore

Response to Commentary on the Obama Step Video

2008-10-08T07:33:00.001-05:00

This week, a Kansas City teacher was suspended over a video posted on the internet that showed a group of boys performing a pro-Obama step routine. In the aftermath of this incident, many inflammatory words have been written and spoken concerning the video. (Both the video and reporting on the incident can be found HERE , and the entire transcript of the step routine can be found at the end of this post)

Of highest concern to me is the incessant reiteration that this is somehow linked to Nazi/Fascist indoctrination techniques that were used on children during the height of those movements. Ross Blano, one of my fellow Midwest Voices columnists, made this connection on the Kansas City Star’s editorial blog . Brian Hanson posted the video on facebook along with the commentary that it reminds him “of the fascist youth movements started by Hitler and Mussolini”.

I found both the nature and frequency of this paradigm to both trouble and anger me to the point of response, both on my blog and on facebook.

First, a few concessions…

• Teachers at schools that use public funds should not endorse individual candidates, much in the same way that churches should not endorse candidates since they are tax-exempt.
• Generally, I think Americans overuse military symbolism. We use it in church. We use it in sports. Our kids spend hours upon hours playing violent military-themed videogames. Eventually we come to the point where we use the symbols so much that they loose the power of their meaning through desensitization.
• Though step groups often wear camouflage and boots in their performances (regardless of subject matter), I can see how a person viewing a performance for the first time would jump to certain conclusions about these particular outfits. However, before voicing these inflammatory conclusions, it is important to do some background work and fact checking.
• It is generally not constructive to have kids recite talking points from a policy briefing. As educators, we should teach children how to think and not just what to think.
• The first two minutes of the step routine come across as much more authentic, in my opinion. When the boys launch into the portion about Obama’s healthcare initiative, it just seems a little more mechanical and a little less inspired. Again, in my opinion, it was probably a mistake to include that portion if it was not something that the boys researched and came up with themselves.

Having made those concessions, I vehemently disagree with the assertion that this incident is anything like “the fascist youth movements started by Hitler and Mussolini”. To make this assertion is at the very least negligent, and shows a lack of understanding for both the practice of step in the African American community as well as the importance that the Obama campaign has in the identity formation of black boys. Some who have made connections between this step and Nazi/Socialist fascism are undoubtedly sinister and malevolent in their intentions.

The roots of step in Black American culture go all the way back to the tribal dances of Africa. The very moves and rhythms have been both preserved and developed as a symbol of our cultural heritage. Step can inspire. Step can inform. Step can persuade. Step can convict. It is a powerful artistic medium that takes both skill and effort to do well.

It is not shocking that black boys would utilize as the basis of a step routine what, for them, is perhaps the most inspiring speech given by a black man in their lifetime. I applaud black boys who voice a need for increased personal responsibility, a renewed connection to the struggles of the past without succumbing to the victim mentality, engaged fatherhood, and scholastic renewal. It was a call that was desperately needed, and one that I am glad to see resonate in the hearts and minds of black boys.

I completely understand that there are a lot of people in this country who will vote for someone other than Obama on Election Day. McCain will get a lot of votes. Nader, Paul and Clinton’s names will receive tallies. I hear there is even a movement to write in Jesus for President. That’s the great thing about everyone getting a vote. You can use it however you wish.

But I ask you to understand that even if you are categorically opposed to every one of Obama’s paradigms, his Presidential campaign has been formative for black boys. 11 of the 12 boys I work with do not have consistent and constructive relationships with their fathers. Most of the images of black men that they look up to are glorified because they have the ability to bounce/throw/catch/shoot a ball, or spit 16 lines over a sampled beat while half-naked women dance behind them. Conspicuously absent from their lists of role-models are poets, artists, writers and academics who look like them. In Obama, they are able to see an articulate black man who demonstrates that education and family are attainable goals. In an environment where they all too often see people solve problems with violence, they are able to see someone try to solve disagreements with grace and dignity.
Some will dismiss this point as some kind of messianic mindset. But as we look back on our lives, I think we can each pull out instances where we emulated someone who had been elevated to some type of pedestal. As an adolescent, I went through a Dr. Dre phase. I purposefully bought the same armband that Michael Jordan wore. It’s something we do. It’s part of growing up.

If you feel that Obama will socialize too much of the government, I encourage you to voice that opinion with grace and dignity. If you have questions about how he will lead us out of economic crisis, then ask those questions with grace and dignity. If you want to address how he did in the debate last night, then do so with grace and dignity.

But please do not compare a teen step routine to Nazi indoctrination. It’s an asinine assertion that speaks poorly of you as an individual, as well as our ability to engage in the democratic process with civility.

Renew and Restore

Because of Obama, I’m inspired to be the next doctor.
…Lawyer
…Automotive technician
…Sherriff
…Architect
…Engineer
…Fireman
…Architect
…Chemical engineer
…Entrepreneur

Yes We Can
Obama speaks on Race in America: “Yes We Can”.

Embrace the burdens of our past without becoming the victims of our past

Take more responsibility for our home lives…yes we can

Have our own dreams [indiscernible words] at the expense of your dreams...yes we can

Teach others that while they may face challenges of discrimination in their lives, they must never succumb to despair. Yes We Can.

As Americans we believe that we write our own destiny…Yes We Can

Demand for our fathers that they spend more time with their children by reading to them and teaching them. For we have a choice in the country. We can accept things that bring division and create conflict, or we can come together [indiscernible words]…yes we can

“Obama’s healthcare plan will include coverage of all necessary medical services”
“Obama’s healthcare plan will provide all participants minimum copay for deductibles”
“Obama’s healthcare plan will simplify paperwork for providers”
“Obama’s healthcare plan will provide subsidies for families who cannot afford Medicaid”
“Obama’s healthcare plan will be able to provide participants the ability to move from job to job without taking their healthcare coverage”
“Obama’s healthcare plan will extend coverage of young adults up to the age of 25 through their parent’s plan”
“Obama’s healthcare plan will not turn any American away from any insurance plan”
“Obama’s healthcare plan will offer health information technology”
“Obama’s healthcare plan will reform our market structure to encourage competition”
“Obama’s healthcare plan will offer federal reassurance to employers”
“THE TEAM, RETREAT!”

Judgment Day

2008-10-06T14:28:00.003-05:00

Ahhhhhhh, the first weekend in October. Quickly becoming a landmark holiday in the Dashiell house. Nothing like one of the biggest bbq competitions in the country being held 4 minutes from your house to put a little pep in your step.

For the second year in a row, I got to judge the American Royal Open Barbecue competition. I hope to judge it for about 4 more years, at which point I hope to earn my way into the invitational at The Royal. But for now, I'll be content to spend a couple hours eating some of the best bbq in the country.

One key difference for my sophomore campaign is that this year I was actually a certified judge. Back in 07 I just signed up and walked in off the street. Still an enjoyable experience, but I felt pretty overwhelmed. There is a lot to keep track of when you are judging bbq. I had to lean pretty heavily on one of the experienced judges at my table, and he was very patient with me.

But this year was way better. Stacy helped me brush up on Saturday by quizzing me from portions of my bbq judge manual that I had underlined. Granted, she mostly was doing so in order to laugh at me and call me a dork, but I appreciated the chance to hone my skills.

I wound up needing that quizzing, as I ended up pulling double duty. Not only did I judge, but I also was appointed Table Captain. I had to retrieve the samples we were to judge, as well as make sure everything ran smoothly at our table. It was challenging. A lot to remember. Fortunately, my 5 fellow judges were patient with me and helped me out quite a bit.

In the end, I think I improved a lot over last year's performance. For one, I paced myself way better. It's pretty easy to get ahead of yourself when 6 portions each of chicken, ribs, pork and beef are put in front of you. Plus, you have to clean your palette between each entry with crackers and water. Last year, I pretty much slipped into a meat coma. I was sweating bbq sauce. It wasn't pretty.

This year, I managed to only go through 2 bottles of water (down from 4), and I didn't feel like I needed anyone to carry me home. Oh, I was full. Really full. But less full than last year.

The other improvement over last year had nothing to do with me. We simply got better meat at our table this year. It was all good, and there was nothing inedible. Man, last year there were 3 or 4 things that were just brutal. Like this chicken thigh that someone had rolled in rock salt. Sick. No automatic spitters this year, though. Thank goodness.

In case you ever have the chance to judge a contest, let me recommend my tried and true recovery method. First, sleep off the meat sweats. Your body needs the rest. Once you wake up, grab some coffee and a small snack. You need the heat and the sweet to help with digestion, and the sugar to get the salty taste out of your mouth. Then, just chill for a while. Preferably while watching football. When dinner time rolls around, just do fruit and water. And about 2 hours before bed, do a bunch of situps and pushups to get the old metabolism flowing again. Plus, if you are goign to eat a couple of pounds of meat, you might as well put the protein to good use.

Renew and Restore

Border's is Dead to Me

2008-10-03T15:26:00.003-05:00

I'll warn you up front. This post is very, very ranty. I don't care if "ranty" isn't an actual word. It describes this post.

So a while back I used frequent flier miles to pick up a subscription to The Economist. Strong move on my part. The rag has been great. The depth of coverage is fantastic, and it's really healthy to have a non-American view of the news. Good reporting on Asia, Africa and South America. And no particular lean toward either political party.

The best aspect of the magazine is that it has really challenged my views on the free market. Socialized government has sounded appealing to me over the past decade or so, but now I wrestle with the two paradigms. Clearly, that is a week's worth of posts in and of itself, so we'll just leave it at that.

Imagine my disappointment this week when I get an unexpected package from the United States Postal Service. A small clear bag, boldly stating "We Care". I never accused the postal service of not caring. But clearly, they felt the need to explain themselves since the contents of the package included the cover of this week's Economist. Only the cover. The rest was laying helplessly in some street, or on the floor of the postoffice or at the back of some postal vehicle.

Look, I completely understand that the post office can't possibly bat a thousand. Stuff is going to get mixed up. We're cool. But dang. Of all the weeks to not get The Economist. You know. Only the week that hosted the biggest financial crash of my lifetime.

Still no worries. I read a couple of articles online, but really wanted a hard copy. I had a Border's gift card, and figured I'd swing by to pick up a copy there. But following a 5-minute search of the magazine rack, I was still empty handed. No copies to be found. So I sought out a customer service representative. She verified that they did indeed carry the magazine, but surmised that they were sold out. Fair enough. I could easily imagine people flooding into Borders to get The Economist so they could actually hear about a good idea for fixing the economy. Clearly, the Executive and Legislative brances of our governement don't know how to find those.

I just proceed to the checkout to get a book instead. Slowest...line...ever. The one checkout guy spends five minutes arguing with some lady about why he can't give her the educator discount. So I wait and wait and wait. Finally it's my turn. I pay for my book. I start walking out.

Whaddya know? A rack filled with The Economist is sitting up by the last register as you walk out of the store. No wonder their weren't any in the store.

I pick one up. I glance back at the line. 5 people. Still just the single slowest checkout guy in the history of book selling. No bueno.

But then, a glimmer of hope. This manager is at the register right in front of me with another employee. The sign says the register is closed, but I ask politely if he could just sell me the mag really quick.

"Sorry man. I'm training someone right now."

Seriously, bro. No way am I getting back in that line. I wince. I put the magazine back. I say, "Thanks". I walk out the door.

And that is the story of the last time I ever bought something at Borders.

Renew and Restore

Middle School Moments: Diet

2008-10-01T13:25:00.003-05:00

Urban Black America has a weight problem. Genetics are a contributing factor to both weight and cardiovascular health. Soul food contributes. Not that I don't love soul food. I'll belly up to the Peach Tree Buffet as fast as the next guy, but I'm not interested in getting the details of my caloric and fat intake following the feast. Economics play a role as well. Cheap foods don't tend to be the healthiest foods. You ever seen a Wild Oats in the middle of the 'hood? Didn't think so.

One of the big struggles at The Hope Center is to get the kids to eat a balanced diet. They love hot chips and soda. But like a lot of kids their age, veggies and low-fat options don't float their collective boat. So we've instituted a policy at meal time where you have to heat a serving of fruits or veggies before you get a (moderately sized) desert. Just trying to institute some healthy habits in the mix.

As you can imagine, it's a constant struggle. Part of it is the gamesmanship of trying to get out of a stipulated practice. Good thing we have Love and Logic. "I'll be happy to hook you up with a dessert once you've eaten your fruit".

Imagine my surprise when I walked into a school cafeteria a couple of weeks ago, and found five of my seventh grade boys chowing down on...

Salad. A huge honkin' green salad with turkey and other assorted veggies. Topped off with a small cup of ranch or honey mustard dressing.

Me: Uhhhhh. What are you guys eating?

Boys: Salad. Duh.

Me: Did you guys forget your lunch money today?

Boys: No. We get it every day.

Me. What spurred this development?

Boys: We're trying out for basketball. We have to build our muscles.

I didn't have the heart to tell the fellas that they would need a little more protein to build their man muscles. Who cares? They were voluntarily eating a healthy meal. It was so cute.

Renew and Restore

Elmo's a Communist

2008-09-30T14:15:00.004-05:00

I don't know about you but I'm not letting my child watch Sesame Street anymore. Too much left-wing propaganda. I'm starting an online petition to rename the show "Communist Cul-de-sac".

My case is as follows:

Exhibit A - SS appears on PBS. You know how they get their money? Donations. Give me capitalism or give me death.
Exhibit B - Yesterday, Tina Fey appeared in a prominent role alongside Elmo. She makes fun of Sara Palin on SNL. I'm pretty sure she is sexist. And Communist. Her glasses do have rims, after all.
Exhibit C - That Tina Fey skit? It was all about going to the library. Newsflash! At the Library they have a bunch of books that are free for everyone to use. You don't have to buy them or anything. Shared property = bad news.
Exhibit D - Brian Williams made an appearance in said episode. He works for NBC. NBC employs Keith Olbermann and numerous other lefty blowhards. I personally consider the network to be Stalin's mouthpiece.

There you have it. Please join in my fight to keep the liberals from polluting the minds of our children. Thank you.

Renew and Restore

Two Year Old Moment

2008-09-29T12:46:00.003-05:00

Just chillin. Eating dinner as a family the other night. All of the sudden, Elli decides she needs her shoes and socks off. Sometimes you just gotta eat in your bare feet.

When you are two, it can be difficult to get your shoes off. You have little hands and you are not very strong. So you struggle because your parents are trying to let you learn how to dress yourself. Your parents are trying to let you develop the skills necessary to dress yourself, so they don't always jump in right away to bail you out. You can eventually get it, even if it means you have a bit of a wedgie because you hiked your Elmo panties up a little too high. But at least people clap for you and shower you with adulation when you figure it out.

There's a difference between my life and the life of a two year old. Nobody ever claps for me when I have a wedgie.

So she's struggling with the shoes. Struggle, struggle, struggle. This is serious business, and it's gone on too long. Finally she looks up at me with all of the seriousness she can muster and makes a simple request.

"Get the scissors"

In theory, that would solve the problem. Just cut those shoes right off. Plus, it was encouraging to see the little lass use some problem solving techniques. Good cognitive development there. If we play the situation out to it's logical conclusion, however, it would also open up a host of new issues. For one, we would no longer have a pair of functional Dora sneakers complete with lights in the soles. How would we ever live?

Being the good dad, I didn't get the scissors. Instead, I taught my daughter the miracle of Velcro. A little tug and a loosening of the straps works wonders.

Thus, we were free to proceed with our shoeless and sock less dinner.

Renew and Restore

Joker for President!!

2008-09-26T11:16:00.001-05:00

(credit to End Politics as Usual)

Stretched

2008-09-25T10:44:00.004-05:00

The faith that brings you to the city is not enough to keep you there.
--John Perkins

I'm tired. It takes a lot of effort to get a program year off the ground, as any teacher or youth pastor can tell you. Two weeks in, we have hit stride. But it seems like this week was full of punches to the gut that have kept me from really enjoying the fact that we are off and running. Experiences and facts that make this urban ministry task feel too big. Experiences and facts that I probably couldn't have imagined when I entered into this thing with an air of idealism. But also experiences and facts that make me understand how important it is that God has allowed me to be a part of this thing that is way bigger than me.

Monday morning my coworker attends a funeral. Last week, the dad of one of our kids was murdered. Shot in the back of the head when someone robbed him as he was driving a taxi early one morning. Stupid. And it makes me really angry because it was one of the few dads in the neighborhood who was an engaged parent. He was a good dad, he was a good husband, he ministered to his neighbors, and now he's gone for no reason.

Monday afternoon I drive down Prospect to pick some kids up from school. Passing 27th and Prospect is always depressing because of the activity that happens on the corner. This particular day, it was more depressing. News vans. A yellow police line blocking off the liquor store. Come to find out the owner of the store shot and killed a would-be robber.

Tuesday, the police helicopter was in the sky all day. Pounding out a beat. Circling. Searching for someone who had done something that was not good. As we prayed with our leaders, I almost got up to close the windows because the thumping was so loud that I was having problems focusing. I didn't like the feeling of walking out to my car and having to be on alert, knowing that someone was running.

Yesterday I had to swing by a kids house because his mom wasn't returning my calls. As I walked up on the porch, I realized that she and three other people were doing drugs. The conversation ended up being shorter than it needed to be.

Last night I thought about stopping by 7-11 on my way home after I had dropped a kid off. Decided not too. Too late. Too many people outside. Come to find out today that there must have been some lingering bad vibes from the night before. 23 hours earlier a clerk had shot and killed a thief. Oh. And this 7-11 is right across the street from a police station.

Part of me wants to cuss. Part of me wants to cry. Part of me wants to go to comfortable churches and challenge the people of God to be the light of Christ in this city. The problem is that I'd probably hear someone complaining about how their investments lost a ton of money this week, and then I'd start the cussing and the crying right there in the church lobby. An emotional and incoherent tirade about how people are dying and kids are starving and teens are giving birth to babies and jobs are evaporating from the inner city and absentee landlords are causing a silent housing crisis in the urban core and F your investment probably isn't going to speak the truth in love. We need something a little more measured than that.

But then I breathe. I read psalms. I lament a godly lament. I remember that faith brought me here. I thank god for developing in me a deeper faith that keeps me here.

Renew and Restore

Pumas with The Phat Laces

2008-09-24T13:37:00.003-05:00

My dad always told me to untie my shoes before I put them on. Don't step on the heels. You'll ruin your shoes.

Whatever. Sounded like false prophecy to me.

Well kids, listen to your dad. Unless he tells you to put IcyHot on your thighs prior to putting on your spandex as you get ready for basketball practice. Which, for the record my dad never told me. But I wish he would have told me the opposite.

After 23 years of walking on the back of my shoes, a pair finally busted. Some New Balance trail shoes that I was particularly fond of. Maaaaaaaan. It was so uncomfy, too. I found out from some fellow NB owners that it is a typical issue with the brand. There is a hard plastic dealy in the heel that often busts out after a while. In my case, it took a couple of years.

So I did what any good American does in depressed economic times...proved my patriotism by going shopping. Actually, I wasn't that good of a patriot because I was only looking at kicks on sale. Sorry, Uncle Sam.

It's tough buying shoes these days. I have given up on white kicks. They don't have a good shelf life when it comes to looking clean. That leaves me with black or grey. Usually trail shoes. But not this time. I found a sporty pair of Puma running shoes. All black with the silver accents. Clean, son.

You know what the best feature is? Soft nylon heel with a lot of give and breakaway. Perfect for slipping in and out of without the hassle of untying the laces.

Sometimes you just can't teach an old dog new tricks.

Restore and Renew

The Grass is Bluer on the Other Side

2008-09-22T14:10:00.004-05:00

What a weekend. We packed up the jeep, headed south and busted out to Winfield, Kansas. The trip of the month was the 37th Annual Walnut Valley Festival, which is one of the finest Bluegrass music festivals in all the land. The Dixie Chicks and Nickel Creek made their way through Winfield back in the day, so it's historcially legit. Stacy's family has been going since the 3rd festival, though she and I have not been for five years. Funny. That's the same time grad school started in our family.

After a few year's off, we're back. Not a moment too soon. WVF, or "Winfield" as most call it, is a fantastic event. Wall-to-wall music for a handful of days as you camp out and kick it with fun people. This year, our "people" included most of Stacy's mom's side of her family. Music, camping and 4 kids under the age of three. What could be more fun?

There are a lot of things to appreciate about Winfield. The food. Sweet mamma, the food. Smoked turkey leg, homemade ice cream, rib dinner, cherry limeade, cookie. I sampled it all. And now I'm fat.

Not as fat as I would be had I not been tapping my foot and bobbing my head all weekend, mind you. You gotta love live Bluegrass. This ain't no American Idol, that's for sure. You can't hide behind your pretty looks or you swaying hips. Nope. You gotta bring the heat. We'll all enjoy the occasional ballad or slow song. But at some point you had better unleash the beast. Rock that mother on the downbeat and set the strings on fire, and the crowd will show you love.

My favorites on the weekend? David Munnelly Band brought the noise and the funk. Really nice Celtic band, there. The Greencards were my favorite. Two Australians and an Englishman aren't your typical bluegrass pedigree, but who cares? They rocked it. Buy their stuff. I really wanted to like Mountain Heart. Everyone else did. And I liked their CD. But in all fairness, I only got to hear them live for about 30 minutes, so I'm not going to jump out there and act like they are my BFF's.

The one thing I don't get about the weekend? What in tarnation is it about banjo music that makes people think they don't have to wear bras? Seriously people. We can go to a music festival and keep our underwear on.

Renew and Restore

Value 2

2008-09-16T22:23:00.003-05:00

We have values at The Hope Center. Four of them. At least that's how many we have in our training manual.

Value #2 - We believe that the power of Christ, as expressed through loving relationships, is a powerful force for change.

It takes a long time to develop loving relationships. A really long time. You have to earn respect. You have to prove your ability to love. You have to show a faithfulness like that of Christ who keeps pursuing us no matter what.

I finally understand that.

We started programming this week, and for the first time I feel like I am getting through to the boys. Yeah. I've been working at The Hope Center for close to two years. That's one heck of an introduction phase.

But that's what it takes. Enter a world of constant change and people are going to want to make sure you are willing to stick around for a while. I know I'm stating to earn my stripes because parents actually sound happy when I call now. They call me back when I leave voice messages. They invite me to important events in the boy's lives.

So I think we are going to have a good year. It's good to have the boys back, and it's fun to see their growth as they get older. But the crazy thing is that a lot of people say you really start to hit stride in urban ministry after three years. Dang.

I guess I have something to look forward to next year.

Renew and Restore

Lusty Libation

2008-09-16T13:42:00.004-05:00

We spend a good deal of family time at the hospital. One of the downsides of residency. Though I will give it to Stacy's program, they are totally cool about resident's families coming for a visit. They have a pretty nice resident lounge with a big tv. All of the other residents make time to chat, even though they have a buttload of stuff to get done. I'd totally rather be in my own living room, but at least we don't get shut out.

One of the best perks is the food. It's hospital cafeteria food, so nothing to write home about. Nonetheless, there is always food when we go to visit. And drinks. Lots and lots of drinks. Stacy is very in tune with my drink preferences, so I often find a Sierra Mist, a fruit puree or a Vitaminwater waiting for me upon arrival. Talk about service.

A few weeks ago I popped open my Vitamin water, and boy was it tasty. So yummy. I downed that sucker like nobodies business. Curious as to what kind of liquid delight Vitaminwater had come up with, I checked out the label.

Special edition Sex In The City xxx antioxidant Vitaminwater featuring blueberry, pomegranate and acai. Oh boy.

Never before had I partook of such an erotic drink. Nothing like a little bottled sin to quench the thirst. But man. It was so good. And now I'm hooked. Every trip to the hospital, I'm picking one of those up. I figure that once the movie tie-in is over, that particular flavor is going to disappear, so I'd better live in sin while I still have the chance.

So yesterday, I'm at the store to pick up a banana to go with my lunch. And I get the urge. The urge for the unholy trio. I found one in the cooler near the checkout lanes and approached the cashier. I averted mine eyes in shame as she rung it up. I was hoping she'd just slip it into a brown paper sack and let me on my way in peace. Not so much.

"Ohhhhh. This stuff is the bomb. I used to drink it all the time."

Hmm. Apparently, I'm not the only fan. I was curious as to why the cashier didn't drink it anymore, however.

Diabetes. Too much sugar in the Vitaminwater.

Just goes to show you. Don't drink too much xxx Vitaminwater. You'll get diseases. I haven't heard of anyone getting pregnant from it yet, but I'm sure they are out there.

Renew and Restore

Marriage Is What Brings Us Together Today

2008-09-12T07:28:00.003-05:00

The phone rings. Stacy picks up. One of her good friends is on the other end and announces her engagement. Congratulations are in order. The two friends catch up. Stacy hangs up the phone.

"Who dat, mommy?" A common question from the two-year-old.

Stacy explains to Elli that her friend is getting married. "Just like mommy and daddy are married. Just like nanna and papa are married. Just like grandma and grandpa are married. Just like harmonee and tyson are married."

Elli pauses. Blinks. Processes.

"Oh. I get married too."

Of course. All the cool kids are doing it. Common logic in Elli's mind is that if everyone she loves is doing it, then she needs to do it too. And since a lot of people around her are married, it has become the normative paradigm. As a father, that makes me glad. I don't want her to get married soon, by any means. But I'm glad that the seeds of fidelity and family are growing.

At the same time, the exchange highlighted one of the struggles of my job. As the strength of the traditional family has weakened in America, the trend has been even more dramatic in the urban core. Marriage just isn't normative anymore. The challenge with working with adolescent black boys is that they have very few examples of faithful fathers in their lives. I have 12 boys in my class this year. Two of them are in relationship with their dad, and neither of those two dads are married to the mothers.

Welcome to a completely different reality. It's a reality that begs to be changed if future generations are going to lead the resurgance of areas that have been abandonded by the empire. Kids need stable living enviornments. Kids need adults who are faithful to them and faithful to each other. But when you don't see people around you getting married, it's tough for you to grow up thinking...yeah. I'll get married too. And when you don't grow up with a dad who is engaged and who teaches by example how to love your furure kids and your future wife, then doing so yourself in the future is a challenge. There are some things that are better learned by experience than through books and Dr. Phil.

Renew and Restore

Thou Shalt Not Steal

2008-09-11T07:06:00.002-05:00

The google came out with a new web browser. Google Chrome. Oh so shiny. Not that I don't love me some Firefox. It's my browser of choice, but I did feel compelled to at least take Chrome out for a test run. I'm typically impressed with Google products, so there was a chance I would love it and switch.

The best I can do is "it was fine". Not amazing. Not horrible. Better than Internet Explorer, but then again, what isn't. There were some features that I preferred to ol' Firefox. But there was one feature that was sorely lacking. Adblock.

I have this add-on to Firefox that blocks most of the advertisements on a given page. It's great. The pages load faster, I'm not at risk of epileptic seizure from some overzealous ad trying to pull my attention to the periphery of a page by means of incessant flashing. Clean.

I'm always struck by how clean it really is when I try another web browser. There are a lot of ads on the internets. Especially on Facebook and Slate. Those are the two sites I notice it the most on.

Which got me thinking...When I use adblock, am I stealing the internet? And further more, do I steal radio and TV as well?

All three industries rely on ad dollars for revenue. And yet, I don't lend my eyeballs nor my earballs to most of the ads they throw my way. Adblock, tivo, preset radio channels that I can easily surf when one goes to commercial break. Suckas. But again. Do I steal? Because I'm getting all of the benefits of entertainment and information without any of the hassle. With the exception of the handful of podcasts I listen to. They embed brief product/service drops that aren't easy to get around. But they also aren't hecka annoying like an internet ad or a commercial.

I don't think I'm stealing. I hope I'm not stealing. But it is something interesting to think about.

Restore and Renew

Growth (part II)

2008-09-10T08:15:00.003-05:00

Stacy wasn't the only one to demonstrate growth at parents camp over the Labor Day weekend. I got to join the party too.

One of the cool things about the camp was that they opened up all of the activities that the kids partake in during their time there. Boating, swimming, basketball, driving range, the whole shabang. There were two things that Stacy really wanted to do. Boating? Check. It was fun. But the other?

High ropes course.

I was not as enthusiastic. I'm not afraid of flying. I love roller coasters. I don't like cliff jumping. Something about the free fall freaks me out. Though a high ropes course involves no free fall, it does involve performing numerous feats of dexterity and agility at heights I am not comfortable with. What do I look like? An Ewok?

The upside is that you are harnessed into a dohickey that can support the weight of three buses. The downside is that said doohickey gives you a mad wedgie. My butt was seriously eating my shorts, if you know what I mean. After weighing the positives and negatives I agreed to go, but I didn't think I'd love it.

As it turns out, I hated it. At least I hated the precarious positions it put me in. Man, I was sweating like nobody's business. I was nervous the whole time. My muscles were all tight. Not that much fun.

But I did grow through the process. The beauty of the high ropes course is that you learn about trust and communication. It's practically impossible to do on your own, so you have to trust your partner. And, your ability to communicate with calmness and grace under pressure is tested as well. Then you learn to trust your harness, and know that if you slip you won't plunge to an untimely demise on the forest floor. Just saying.

Stacy and I made it thorough the course in good time. We never got short with each other. And we got to kiss at every platform. Bonus. Oh, and I only fell down once. Stacy fell once too, but only because I pulled her down when I fell. Sorry about that.

So I learned that I trust my wife. I learned that I can trust my harness. And I learned that I trust my bladder, because I didn't even pee my pants one time the whole afternoon.

Restore and Renew

Music Reflection: The Roots Rising Down

2008-09-08T12:50:00.000-05:00

“Hip-Hop ain't dead ‘casue the pulse is in us/
I got the everclear flow they mimosa wit it /
We are the hope of the culture they posed to listen/
And I’m ‘posed ta pivot like I'm a forward in the league/

I’m Oden wit it.”

-Wale, from “Rising Up”

The Roots are similar to most rap groups in that they claim to change the game. But unlike the majority of their counterparts, they make good on their promise both musically and lyrically. Over the past 13 years The Roots have been one of the few truly prophetic voices in the mainstream hip hop community, and Rising Down lives up to the expectation that your ears and mind will be challenged when you take in the album.

There are moments when the album is vintage Roots. Snares and cymbals drive a number of the tracks, and many of the flows embody the cadence and attitude of classic rappers from the early ‘80’s. “I Will not Apologize” and “Unwritten” speak clearly to The Roots hometown of Philadelphia. They even bring in what at times appears to be their entire crew of close friends (including Mos Def and Common), and incorporate up and coming rappers from the Philadelphia area.

But the album is far from a myopic project that speaks only to insiders. A trend in The Roots ideology that continues in Rising Down is the expansion of their message. Not content to stay confined in a small philosophical box, the album’s title track opens with commentary on pharmaceutical drug corporations, the state of the environment and government surveillance.

Perhaps the most ambitions track on the entire album, the unsettling “Singing Man”, poetically tells the story of the campus shooter, the child soldier and the suicide bomber. To give voice to these characters without glorifying them is a delicate procedure, but The Roots manage to tackle it with surgical precision. By pulling the beat from the final verse and adding slight voice distortion, the group is able to convince the listener that they have truly delved into the mind of the suicide bomber.

If you do pick up Rising Down, please be aware that it is not a single-sensory experience. Like any prophetic voice, ?uestlove understood that sometimes the poetry needs to be explained for it to truly have maximum impact. The fruits of this understanding are concise but informative liner notes that fill in some of the gaps for the listeners and help them to see the methodology behind the raw emotion of the album.

Rising Down’s biggest weakness is that it focuses so intensely on describing social ills that it fails to offer much in the way of prescription. The Roots are talented and perceptive enough to be a more constructive force if their critiques were interlaced with moments of hopefulness. I’ll be the first to admit that life in the inner city can seem unconscionably bleak at times, but in the midst of all that is wrong there are still moments of joy and happiness that help us push though. The Roots have done a marvelous job of showing us what to turn from, but their message could be even more powerful if they gave us something to turn toward.

Growth Part I

2008-09-03T06:54:00.002-05:00

This past weekend we took some of the parents of the kids I work with to the camp that their kids attend each summer. The camp has been putting on this parents retreat for the past few years, and we were finally able to get some of our parents to attend.

I came a way with a lot of thoughts. The dominant one however, is that I really love, appreciate and respect my wife.

A lot of people are nice. A lot of people say they want to break down social walls. A lot of people talk about how into justice they are. Stacy doesn't say those things very often. She's just not the prophetic voice that is always out front bringing attention to issues.

(Side note: I realized last night that I could never run for President. I watched Cindy McCain sit there with the camera on her every 30 seconds, and remembered how prominent a role Michelle Obama played in the DNC last week, and I thought about how that much attention would be pure hell for Stacy. So we'll just scratch "The Presidency" off of my list of goals)

What Stacy does have is a fearless and passionate heart for others. Especially those who are caught in systems of injustice. She is passionate to the point where she lives life as God has called her to live it, which has quickly thrust her to exist in society's margins. It's not an easy calling, especially when you are part of the dominant culture and the calling leads you to the role of minority.

At this parents retreat, everyone was black. With the exception of maybe 8 white people and two Hispanic people. And yet, Stacy was completely herself. The girl who grew up in a rural white community just hung out and had the confidence to gracefully be herself even though she was being immersed in experiences that were pretty new to her. She experienced "black church" twice each day. She hung out in a culture that is far more expressive than the one's she usually exists in. She got to meet women with amazing stories about love of family and perseverance that she otherwise would not have had the opportunity to hear. And she did it all coming off of an awesome 30-hour shift at the hospital.

So, I love my wife. It's cool to see how God has made her bold enough to do things that completely flip the script and that a lot of other people just aren't willing to do. And it's good for me to see what it looks like to live justice and reconciliation while saying very little.

Fair Dinkum

Proud

2008-08-29T11:30:00.003-05:00

I've been a pretty cynical American for the past few years. Very discontent with our foreign policy. Very discontent with our reputation and standing in the world. Very discontent with the way that we had defined ourselves and been defined.

But over the past 18 hours we've taken two huge steps in our history. A black man accepted a major party nomination for the Presidency. And then today, the Republicans (!) announce that they will be presenting a woman for Vice President.

So it's a good day. And I'm proud. Because I feel like we have grown and it is now all but assured that no matter what happens in November, the result will be historic. Huge walls have been blasted through, and will continue to crumble in the coming months.

Today is a good day. And I'm proud to be an American.

The Royal Treatment: Living Life in High Def

2008-08-27T15:37:00.003-05:00

HDTV. It solves all of your problems. According to all of the commercials I've seen, at least. They help couples get along better. They provide opportunities for families to spend quality time together. And as we all know, nothing says "quality time" like passively staring at a television.

The KC Royals have bought into the theory that HDTV makes life better. Bought into it so much that in the off season they installed the biggest HD screen in the country. It's flippin' huge. And bright. Almost retina burning. I'm pretty sure it's the number one killer of flying insects.

It's pretty cool. Though I can't help but think the good old Royals are compensating a bit. We're not that good, but at least our TV is bigger than yours.

I, for one, don't have a HDTV. I do have a decent 25-inch standard tube TV, though. It's good. While I'd love to have and HDTV, it's just not in the old budget. So I had to settle for the second best option.

Get my smiling grill on the biggest HDTV in the country before the Dallas Cowboys put a bigger one in their new stadium. Everything is ~~dumber~~ bigger in Texas.

Lucky me, my moment in glory came this past weekend. Stacy, Elli and I were enjoying a night out at The Royals, when we made it on Kiss Cam!!! It's one of the greatest features of the giant video board technology. The cameras pan the audience looking for random couples, and then plaster them up on the screen until they smooch. They always end it with a cute old couple, except on the occasion that they frame two players on the opposing team for the grand finale.

Mark it down. On Aug 23, 2008 Stacy and I professed our love for each other for all to see.

Because nothing says "I Love My Wife" like sucking face with her in high def with an audience of 20,000 people cheering you on.

Fair Dinkum

Wii Fit To Be Tied

2008-08-25T11:24:00.002-05:00

From the beginning, Wii Fit sounded like a dumb idea to me. Perhaps the worst video game ever. Who wants a video game that's sole purpose is exercises? No conquering, no dominance, no victory. Exercise.

As it turns out, my wife wanted that video game. Pretty badly, too. This is no small feat on the part of Nintendo, as I don't believe my wife has ever wanted a video game before in her life. One of the big concessions of our marriage is that I get to have a video game system. Apparently, my blasting Tie Fighters and leading the Royals to virtual glory while sitting on an exercises ball isn't all that sexy. But she has tolerated FIFA Street, Madden and the like for the past 5 years, and has done so quite gracefully. Marko Kart and Guitar Hero ushered in an era where we played video games together. And then the Wii Fit came along. She wanted it bad. So if the lady actually wants a video game, then a video game she gets because that is quite the development.

Well slap me silly and call me Susan. Upon further review, Wii Fit is pretty fun. Certainly not a perfect game, but I'm sure the kinks will get worked out with future incarnations. But what it does signify is a huge coup for Nintendo. It has taken people who wouldn't otherwise turn on a console with their own finger, and encourages them to play the Wii on a regular basis. Stacy uses it like 5 times each week. I never thought I'd live to see the day. Yoga, balance games, push ups, running. She does the whole gamete. And it's way cheaper than a gym membership.

But here's the kicker...it's become whole family entertainment. One day Stacy was doing Wii Fit while Elli was bopping around the house. So of course, Elli wanted to do "ecasizez" with Mommy. Always the resourceful one, Stacy pulled out the scale from the bathroom and viola! Elli has her own balance board. Now she will "play" with Stacy, and she even has her own cute little Mii.

But the serious stunner came last week when Stacy's parents were in town. The only person in the world less likely to be enthusiastic about a video game than Stacy would be her dad. Just not his thing.

Until he encountered Wii Fit, that is.

Not only did Stacy get him to play it, but he was good at it and had fun.

The world could have very well been ending. I would have put it right up there with the signs of the apocalypse detailed in Ghostbusters. "Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling!...Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes... The dead rising from the grave!... Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!"

Alas, Jesus didn't come back. Nintendo just hit a home run. Good for them.

My Presidential Pick

2008-08-20T13:23:00.003-05:00

Debates and commercials sap my energy. So today I'm going to decide who to vote for in this Presidential race we are in the midst of. There's nothing like working ahead and casting my vote a good two months ahead of time.

Instead of doing due diligence and researching the candidates views, I'm just going to look at what they have subscribed to in their Google Readers. Now, I love me some Google Reader. It's changed the way I use the internet, and it works really well on my phone. And our Presidential candidates use it as well. Google has set up pages where you can see that the candidates are "reading" and what they are subscribed to (McCain here. Obama here). Cool. So, I've broken down some of the things that caught my eye...

McCain

Wired's Danger Room - Wired is a great magazine and shows that McCain is on the cutting edge of military developments.
Jibjab - Shows he has a good sense of humor.
One Campaign - Cares about justice issues. Nice.
BBQ Bible - Wow. That is perhaps the most impressive entry on the list.

Obama

The Economist - Ahhhhh. The most superior of all the news magazines.
The Daily Show - Man. That Jon Stewart sure is funny. Plus, gives Obama an opportunity to check up on McCain, who happens to hold the record for most appearances on the show. But don't worry. Appearing on popular comedy shows and announcing your candidacy on a different late night show doesn't mean you are a celbrity, or anything.
Daily Kos - Not exactly an impartial source. Probably balanced out by McCain's subscription to Fox News.
The Chicago White Sox -Whhhhaaaaaaaaattttt! Now that is what I call offensive. Practically Communist.

Fair Dinkum

How Soccer Expalins the World: Spanish Insensitivity

2008-08-18T15:33:00.002-05:00

Mmmmmm. Insensitivity is putting it too lightly. Much was made last week when Spain's national basketball team appeared in a racist print ad last week where they all made slanted eyes. Not good. Shock was expressed that the Spanish could do something so dumb and racist. While I found the behavior to be disgusting and inexcusable, I wasn't all that shocked.

Over the past couple of years, I have watched a lot of Spanish soccer. If there is one thing I have learned, it's that the Spanish have little sense when it comes to showing respect to people of other races. This is especially trues when it pertains to sports.

Over a two year period, Barcelona striker Samuel Eto has had to endure numerous racial attacks from Spanish fans. Shoot, a couple of years ago Spain's coach was caught on tape making disparaging racial comments about French (and eventual Barcelona) stiker Thierry Henry.

So the Spanish ad is despicable. It's inexcusable. It's completely out of line and offensive. Unfortunately, it also isn't all that surprising.

Fair Dinkum

Countdown to U2: Rumors and a Banjo

2008-08-15T11:01:00.002-05:00

Almost peed my pants a little bit this morning when I read this story from atu2.com in my reader.

U2 frontman Bono has inadvertently given French fans a preview of their new album, which is reportedly called No Line On The Horizon.

Cheeky fans wandering near the Irish singer and activist's home in Eze, in the south Of France, heard his distinctive voice booming out of the family's villa and recorded clips of it on a mobile phone.

Song snippets of the previously unreleased tracks are on YouTube and fans now expect they will on the supergroup's 12th studio record, out on November 15.

That's only half the story. To read the other half, you need to go to the site itself, and there are a couple more juicy tidbits there. Oh, man. I'm so excited. For the album, but also for the prospects of the accompanying tour.

So after reading this, I head over to Youtube. Conflicted, I enter "No Line On The Horizon" into the search bar and fire it up. A bunch of things show up, but I just skim over the videos. I don't really want to hear the clips. Not on Youtube. No, I want to hear them on the morning of November 15 through quality Sony headphones headphones in my comfy recliner with a cup of coffee. But the temptation to get a peek. Oh, my poor virgin ears.

Then, a reprieve. Someone has posted and acoustic version of Vertigo that I have never seen before. Is that Edge playing a banjo? Sho' 'nuff. It's tizzight. I don't know where it came from, and itunes doesn't have it registered. That's fine. It should be enough to tide me over until 11/15.

On a side note, here's a thought provoking (though mature) exercise for you in light of this video. If you can't handle adult themes, we'll see ya next week.

Anyone left?

Ok. So, it has been said that you can interpret U2 songs through the lenses of both spirituality and sexuality. I've read books where authors do one or the other and come to drastically different conclusions about what Bono is talking about in a given song. Like, some folks will listen to the lyrics for Mysterious Ways and hear a poem about the Holy Spirit. Others hear a spicy poem about a beautiful woman.

The lyrics to Vertigo are equally as interesting. It certainly could be a statement about the love of God, but it could also make for a video that would garner an R rating.

Fair Dinkum

What I'm Reading

2008-08-12T22:21:00.002-05:00

*Paleo-Future - This site was profiled in Southwest Airline's seat-back magazine. The author posts predictions from the past about what the future would look like. Most of the technological developments should have come to fruition right now, and thus our ancestors certainly find us to be slackers.

*Rany on the Royals - This guy writes for Baseball Prospectus, which is widely recognized as the best baseball publication around. You would think that a person who immersed himself in every baseball stat imaginable would be boring as heck, but this cat is funny. And smart. Not only does he do this site, but he also contributes to...

FiveThirtyEight.com - Wow. Statistics overload, unlike anything I've ever seen before. This site looks at every poll imaginable to predict who is going to win the Presidency. Right now they are predicting an Obama victory. If you want to argue with them, then that is your prerogative. God bless your soul when your head explodes from trying to out-argue stat gurus. I find the stuff really interesting, partly because I want to see if their interpretations of the data actually ring true come election day. Amazingly, they make statistics entertaining. Math teachers everywhere, take note.

Ain't Nothin' Like the Real Thing, Baby

2008-08-11T16:03:00.003-05:00

Saving money is good. Stacy is a coupon clipper. When we shop at the grocery store, we tend to do a lot of comparing to ensure we get a good deal. As a result, we end up going generic on a number of items. It's always a bit of an adventure with the generics, because some perform better than others. Certain products will push you to find any discernible difference between generic and name brand, while others have an unbridgeable chasm of quality.

One generic I had never tried before is the knock off Coffeemate. I have certain rules about my coffee. The growers need to be paid a fair wage. Sustainable practice is what it's all about. I like my coffee dark, strong, sweet and with some type of creaming agent. Elli's whole milk works well in a pinch. Half and Half is nice. I'll rock the Mexican Table Cream when we have it in the fridge. I don't drink coffee churches put out for public consumption, because it's never good. And no coffee from fast food joints. I think that's it.

All that being said, I love me some Coffeemate. So good. My favs are French Vanilla, Hazelnut, Creme Brule, Vanilla Caramel and Chai Spice (a new addition to the list). I don't know what it is, but the stuff is like crack. Highly addictive and oh-so-ymmy.

Unfortunately, it's also a little spendy. $4 a bottle, or something like that. Thus, the $2 a bottle knock off was sooooo tempting to Stacy the last time she did the shopping. She was hesitant to mess with my mojo, but did so in the name of all things Dave Ramsey. I was a total good sport and decided to try it.

Boy, was that a mistake. The French Vanilla knock off was some rank stuff, man. I even tried it for 3 or 4 days. Blech. I don't even know how it could be so bad. I had my guesses. I checked the ingredient list. Poop and Eye of Newt were conspicuously absent. Hmmmm. So I picked up some of the good stuff at the store and compared the labels. Pretty much the exact same ingredients, and in the exact same order. Go figure. I don't know what the generic company did to the ratios, but they messed it up big time.

Do yourself a favor, and stick to the name brand.

Fair Dinkum

An Ode to the Oregon Coast

2008-08-06T07:51:00.000-05:00

The July after I graduated from high school, I spent 3 of 4 weekends on the Oregon Coast. I love it. The mountain lined beaches. The sleepy little towns. A lot of memories. Violent colisions of wave on rock that send spray flying at every angle imaginable. It's my spot.

Last week, Elli got to experience the joy of the Oregon Coast for the first time. It was actually her first trip to any beach. She didn't totally understand the concept as she claimed numerous times that it was her sandbox, but I think she got the gist. She certainly understood that it was fun to go and splash around in the water, knock down Mommy and Aunt Harmonee's sandcastles, and go for a walk with grandpa.

I'm glad she liked it. Different strokes for different folks, ya know? I mean, the temperature of the Oregon coast just isn't for everyone. But in many ways, I like that aspect. Because when it is 70 degrees the last week in July, it's refreshing. And instead of everyone going to the beach to be seen, they go to enjoy it in other ways. You don't have to worry about people flaunting their goodies, synthetic body parts on the loose or accidentally glancing at some old dudes unkempt bikini line trying to escape from his speedo. Just a bunch of folks nattily dressed in their capris (men and women), Lightweight Columbia gear and caps. It's nice. And my daughter likes it, just like her daddy.

The Ultimate Racial Reconciliator

2008-08-04T11:45:00.004-05:00

I'm going to hold a racial reconciliation workshop for youth. I came up with the idea on the bus home from camp last week, when I stumbled upon an untapped power. It seems I now know one a power that crosses all boundaries and should be able to unite the masses under the banner of laughter.

Napoleon Dynamite, sucka.

I've been on a lot of bus trips in my life. Almost ended my life outside of Memphis a few years ago when we hit an ice storm and the bus almost careened off a bridge (true story). I've had bus drivers lecture kids at 2am in the parking lot of a Western Kansas rest area. I've seen bus drivers who look like they came straight out of the Beastie Boy's Sabotage video. I've stepped straight off of am all night bus ride and onto ski slopes, thus getting a horrible altitude/dehydration headache. Against my better judgment, I've woken up in the middle of the night and gone straight from a bus to the food line inside a White Castle. I've learned the hard way that you should follow those signs inside a bus bathroom that tell you not to stand up when you pee.

Every bus trip has been different. Some with kids from the 'burbs, some with kids from the 'hood. But there is one common denominator. Every single trip I've been on with students has included a screening of Napoleon Dynamite. I was a little shocked when it blew away the competition in a two-stage democratic process with all of my inner-city friends, because the film is very different from most that they find funny. But they were hungry for it. They giggled at all of the appropriate times. They even made fun of me because I bear a striking resemblance to the title character. It was just like all of the trips that I've taken with groups of suburban kids. There is power in that kind of ability to unite.

So don't steal my idea.

Ok. You can steal it. But use it for good. And give me a little footnote of credit. Thanks.

Fair Dinkum

Liberation

2008-07-25T11:04:00.000-05:00

I'm at camp right now. And it's liberating.

For some people, liberation comes when they get to shut off their phone. I can understand that. They can be hard to tear yourself from.

For me? It's my keys. I know I'm free when I don't have to touch them. It means I don't have to drive, lock anything up, have responsibility. My legs are able to move freely without the rhythmic banging of cut metal reminding me that I have to lock things up and drive places. I am able to leave a room without looking around to make sure I haven't left my keys somewhere. I have freedom. And freedom feels really nice.

Fair Dinkum

Push It Real Good

2008-07-23T10:55:00.000-05:00

I've always been skinny. I'm fine with that. In high school I had delusions that I could somehow lift enough weights to be the buff guy, but it was never meant to be. It drives my wife nuts, but what can you do about your genes?

But even skinny punks can get soft. Near the end of this past semester I was feeling way out of shape. It had been 18 months since I stopped ballin on a regular basis, and I had done nothing to keep myself fit. Add to that the fact that I was eating horribly due to my busy schedule, and it was time to make changes. So, between the end of classes and graduation I did a two week natural food diet. It helped me flush out the nast that had been building up, and also trimmed some of the pudge that had been accumulating.

But then it got really real. I started doing pushups and situps. I figured that I didn't want to spend the money or time to go to the gym, but I did want to work on my core strength. Amazingly, it is working like crazy.

Ok. I'm not buff or anything. But I also lost that mini-Buddha that I was hauling around. And, I have a 4-pack. And, my wife remarked the other day that my upper body had "exploded". Seriously. Who knew that just doing pushups and situps for 8 weeks could rock the casbah.

I feel better. And I saved a lot of money. The gym I was goign to join was the sweet Star Wars themed place. Then, it closed all of the sudden right before I was about to join. I couldn't figure out how such an amazing business model could fail, but then I saw this video over at my boy Adam Paul's blog. It explains a lot. Good thing I stuck to my pushups.

Fair Dinkum

Movie Reflection: Batman

2008-07-21T10:42:00.000-05:00

In 1989, I was 9 years old. That fact alone made it remarkable that my father took me to see Batman in the theatre that summer. I was thrilled. My first ever PG-13 movie a good 4 years before I had earned the right.

In my mind, the movie was fantastic. I remember recounting the entirety of the film to one of my neighborhood friends that afternoon with zeal. The characters were amazing. The action scenes were unlike anything I had ever seen before. And the movie was so dark. Disney didn't do that.

Probably the most memorable part of the film was The Joker. Jack Nicholson was memorable. In fact, for the past 20 years I have been unable to separate the man from the character. The dude who sits court side at the Lakers games? The Joker. The dude who starred in As Good as it Gets? The Joker. Jack is the Joker.

Until Friday. Because from now on, Jack was the Joker.

It takes a lot of guts to remake a perfectly good movie. To make a dark movie darker. And to recast one of the more memorable characters in superhero lore. But it has been done, and it has been done well.

But I wonder if we were really ready for it. Because Heath Ledger's Joker might just be a little too crazy for us to really get it. A little too evil. When I was sitting in the theatre on Friday morning I was getting a little annoyed with people who would crack up every time The Joker would make a funny. My guess is they couldn't escape the past images of the The Joker to really allow themselves to be jolted by this new incarnation. And perhaps it's better that way. Because the 2008 version is one bite of human flesh away from being scarier than Hannibal Lecter. Seriously.

There is a lot to like about these new Batman movies. Not the least of which is that they make you think. I was struck by how Batman Begins really wrestled with the difference between justice and revenge. And Dark Knight does a good job of helping us wrestle with the true nature of people, and the circumstances under which that might come out.

Did the movie run too long? Maybe. Or maybe I just get really tired at 4am.

Fair Dinkum

The Royal Treatment: New Worst Enemy

2008-07-18T08:41:00.001-05:00

The Royal Treatment serves to chronicle my experience as a 2008 Royals Season Ticket Holder.

Every fan needs an enemy. That team that makes your blood boil. The foe that you want to beat more than any other foe. At the beginning of the season I did not have such a team. But now I do.

One of the tough things about being a Royals fan is that you get beat up by everyone. So it's not as though there is just one team you really want to beat, but can't seem to overcome. No. With the Royals, that list includes most teams.

Some people consider the Cardinals to be our most heated rival. Perhaps. But since they are in the NL, I don't think they should get that status. The Yankees or BoSox? A lot of people do hate them. And their stupid fake fans. Those posers who have never been to Fenway or lived anywhere East of the Mississippi, but still show up at games when Boston is in town and flood The K with their white-on-white wannabe fan/gangter hats. Makes me want to heave. But those teams are in the AL East. Not our division.

That leaves us Cleveland, The Twins and The White Sox. I choose...White Sox. And not flippantly. No. Because they make me sethe. I didn't fully realize it until they visited town last week and I sat in the stands wanting the Royals to win so badly that I almost got a stomach ache. And when they came back at the end of the game to pull it out, it was suuuuuuuuch a great feeling.

Not that I haven't had my moments in life as a White Sox supporter. Back in middle school I adopted them as my favorite team. I had a total fan crush on Frank Thomas, because he could absolutely mash. The Sox were good at that point, and they also had street cred. See, I went so far as to buy a White Sox hat in the 8th grade because I saw Dr. Dre wearing them all the time. Hardcore, fool. I thought I was one bad mofo with that hat on. Unfortunately, I was just an ignorant kid.

I'm so ashamed that I chose to associate myself with such ilk. Especially considering how White Sox fans behave. Back in 2002 they rolled out that good old South Side hospitality by jumping a Royals base coach in the middle of a game. A father and a son, no less. It's nice to see such activities are viewed as family bonding in Chitown. And before you start hollering about an isolated incident, let's not forget that the next year (with the Royals in town again), a fan emerged from the stands to attack an ump. Classy.

Not all Sox Fans are that irrational. But they are all somewhat irrational.

Earlier this year I was accompanied to a Royals game by a Twins fan and a White Sox fan. The Royals were playing Detroit, who was favored to win the division. And yet, this particular fan had the audacity to use my ticket, sit in my seat and cheer on the Tigers. I tried to explain to her that it was in her team's best interest that the Royals absolutely pound the Tigers so that it would be easier for her team to win the division. She would have none of it. Apparently, truth and reason don't resonate with the White Sox fan.

Today the Royals begin a series with the Sox in Chicago. The same Sox who have hit numerous Royals batters this season. The same Sox who have a loudmouth catcher that talks trash the whole game. The same Sox who are my least favorite team in all of MLB.

And if the Royals don't both beat and bean those Sox, I'm going to be really bummed.

Fair Dinkum

Holy Laughter

2008-07-16T10:28:00.002-05:00

Every day at work we take time to pray together as a staff. We pray through the Psalms every 3 months using a Lectio method, and it has been a great experience these past couple of years. A lot of introspection and a lot of listening for God. Pretty counter cultural to what we are doing, and very different from the high energy stuff we do most of the day.

During the summer, we add an extra 15-20 minutes onto our time (during the school year we just do 30 min) so that we can do some worship through song as well. It's a smashing way to start the day, and I enjoy it because we do more of the black gospel style of worship.

Well, the other day when we got to the singing part, we all just got the giggles. Really bad. And then we all just started clowning around and cracking jokes until we could hardly breathe anymore and tears were starting to form in our eyes. It was the first time all summer something like this had happened, so once we were recomposed we took an opportunity to process why we had lost it.

As we talked, our founder mentioned that sometimes the Spirit knows that we need to laugh. He explained how we had all be carrying a lot of stuff around the past couple of weeks, and that when you are in the middle of all the drama you don't realize how it is wearing on you. And there comes this point where you need a release, and sometimes you cry it out but there are other times where the Spirit invites you to laugh it out.

It was crazy how right he was. Last week was really emotional in that two of our kids we work closely with were essentially orphaned. The matriarch grandmother of one family had passed away, and now one of the girls she cared for was in a custody-limbo that one of our staff has been really involved in and supporting her through. One of our boys had his mom up and move with the rest of his siblings to Memphis last week, leaving this young man with his grandmother and her 4 teenage kids.

My heart has also been burdened as I've seen a third middle school boy have to take on too much responsibility. His mom has a good job, but she has to work nights, so he is the defacto caretaker of his younger siblings. He makes sure they get fed at 9pm at night. He walks them down to the drugstore on Saturday mornings to pick up cereal for them to eat. And it's draining him, because it's too much for a kid to handle.

And then we had one young man who was one of the first to be a part of the ministry 8 years ago suffer from a point-blank gunshot that critically injured him, though it does look like he will survive. It sucked because he had actually gotten out and into the military, and was doing something productive with his life. He can survive the service but comes back to the hood and gets shot.

So all of this stuff was just there. We were all carrying different parts of it, and it was heavy. And that morning God knew that our hearts didn't need to sing. Our hearts needed to laugh and be silly and we needed to see each other smile.

So we did.

And it was a holy moment.

Fair Dinkum

Weekend Feasting

2008-07-14T20:35:00.002-05:00

One of the dysfunctions of our schedule is that we don't get to eat dinner as a family all that often. Too many evenings with the boys. Too many nights at the hospital. Which means the three of us don't eat together, or (like tonight) we have some delicious Wendy's. It's a far cry from what we were cooking up in la cocina this past weekend.

Saturday Breakfast: Eggs, toast and turkey breakfast sausage. The sausage is one of our favorites, and comes from an old Polish company that has been making sausage in our neighborhood for 60 years. It has apple and cinnamon in it, and it is amazing. I cooked it up on the grill, and we all know that breakfast is better when it's grilled.

Saturday Dinner: A little spinach pasta action. We got the pasta at the farmer's market, and it was good. Stacy threw some fresh spinach in there as well as oil and capers. It was nice.

Sunday Dinner: Bison Burgers. Oh man. Again from the farmer's market. Bison is goooood. Tough to cook because it is so lean, but we fixed that. I made a little bed of bacon on the grill and then put the burgers on top of it to soften the blow of the heat. The next thing you know, we have bacon bison burgers on whole wheat buns with tomatoes from our garden. I'll tell ya what. It was one of the best burgers I have had in a while. I'm very happy we have another 1/2 pound of bison burger in the freezer.

Fair Dinkum

Book Reflection: The Shack

2008-07-11T12:30:00.003-05:00

I'm usually the cool kid. I know what's hot, and then I introduce my family to it. Not so much with The Shack. My mom read it first and sent it to us. Then Stacy read it. Finally, when I finished classes last semester, I had a chance to start it.

There are a lot of words and comments on the interwebs about the book. You can find people who love it. You can find people who think it is heresy. There isn't much I can say that hasn't already been said. I can understand both sides of the conversation, though I'm a little frustrated with people who are on the witch hunt. Look. It's a book that a guy wrote for his kids. It's a parable. It's self-published. This isn't some driven individual who set out to shatter paradigms and change the face of orthodox Christian theology.

There are a lot of people like that. They speak in hyperbole and say ridiculous things so that others will totally wig out. They deconstruct theological ideas just to mess with people. William P. Young is not one of those cats.

So here's the deal. Once you've read the book, you need to hear the author speak. NEED to. He spoke at Greater Portland Bible Church for 2 hours recently, and was good enough to let them post the conversation on their website. It's part sermon, part author's notes, part testimony, part insight on writing and publishing. I found it to be an incredibly fast two hours. Without just gushing all over the place here, I might even call it "riveting".

It's 120 minutes that make me want to read the book again. It's 120 minutes that really convicted me about some stuff in my life. And it's 120 minutes that puts into perspective some of the stuff in the book that seems so far outside the box that it makes some people really mad.

So check out the podcast. It's here. At least for a couple more weeks, at which point it will move to the archive here.

Fair Dinkum

The Perfect Gift

2008-07-09T07:58:00.002-05:00

I'm not a hairy man. It has been both a blessing and a curse over the years, and it is only recently that I have begun to appreciate that aspect of my genetics. It has taken a long time to get over the fact that I have never been able to grow a proper or creative beard, especially as some of my friends have some mad wicked facial hair. But, as I have come to realize, they also have mad wicked hair everywhere. If there is one thing in life I don't need, it's a back fro.

If I did have a back fro, however, I'd totally get the Mangroomer. It would lessen the burden on my wife to shave my back hair, and would allow me a greater sense of independence. Granted, interdependence is probably a healthier theological paradigm. In today's culture where foot washing isn't nearly what it was in Jesus time - what with all of our shoes, powders, soaps, polishes and clippers - back hair trimming might be one of the foremost acts of servitude we have going for us. If that is the case, then don't buy the Mangroomer. But you should still visit the website and read the comments of the people who plunked down their $39.95 +$2 shipping to have the convenience of shaving their own back hair.

Fair Dinkum

Straight Cheesin'

2008-07-07T12:28:00.003-05:00

I like cheese. Mostly cheddar, but I also have been partial to Jack, Pepper Jack and Provolone. The only cheese I really dislike is Swiss. Not too sure why that is. It just makes me want to gag for some odd reason. Though, I do enjoy the Swiss Cheese fondue at The Rhinelander in PDX. Perhaps when the Swiss is melted it looses it's barfy qualities.

Anywho, my attention was caught last week at the grocery store as I was loitering by the deli counter. Next to all of the run-of-the-mill cheeses sat a platter of white cheese, prominently marked with a sign that read "Horseradish Cheese". Man, I love horseradish. But it's just so hard to keep consistent when applying to a sandwich. The Horsey Sauce at Arby's does a pretty good job, but it's mixed in mayo. Mayo is super-fat. Fast food may is super-duper-fat. Not interested in that every day. Nor am I interested in sneaking into a different Arby's every week and stuffing Horsey Sauce packets into my pants.

Immediately, I realized that this Horseradish cheese thing could have great potential. Clean. Healthier than mayo. Available at the store. So I asked the deli man for a slice and he obliged.

When I popped the cheese in, it smacked me with a heavenly burn. Right up high in the nostrils. It was so good. And far more potent than I had anticipated. I couldn't say no. I had to get some.

But then came the second smack of the experience. That there cheese rings up at $9/pound. Dang. You know what, though? Totally worth it. You just have to pace yourself. So I purchased 5 slices. They were nice and thick, and ended up costing about $.40 per slice. Not too shabby. Plus, the taste is strong enough that you can cut out any other condiments on your sandwich. Meat, bread and one slice of cheese. Tasty.

My only beef is that the slices have a tendency to stick together. If I'm paying $9 per pound I don't want to have to struggle to cut my cheese. I want you to cut my cheese, and I want it cut nice and smooth.

OK. I'm done. Thanks for indulging me.

Fair Dinkum

The Royal Treatment: First Game

2008-07-02T08:30:00.007-05:00

As my kids grow up, there are three teams I want them to root for. Go Blazers. Go Chiefs. Go Royals. It should be pretty easy, assuming we don't move to a city that has a competing team in any of the sports. I guess a KC NBA franchise would throw a wrench into that plan as well, but I'm not optimistic that will happen.

A big part of the rooting experience is taking in the live game. I fell in love with the Blazers live and in person from my dad's seats in Memorial Coliseum. They were grand nights.

One thing Stacy and I have looked forward to as parents is taking Elli to her first Royals game. But we weren't going to rush anything. You have to be smart about this type of thing. Elli needed to be old enough to enjoy herself. She needed to be brave enough to not be scared. We needed seats in the shade so that she wouldn't be miserable. We needed a 6:10 start, because the 1:10 and the 7:10 get in the way of our sleeping schedule.

Everything worked out this past Saturday, and we got to go watch the Royals and Cards with some close friends. We had hyped it up for about a week, so by the time we got to Saturday afternoon Elli was pumped to go to the baseball game with Jeff and Kristi. Granted, she has taken on the dialect of our Hispanic neighborhood and calls it "basebol", but that's cool. We also have a little work to do with "Go Royals" since she struggles with the "r" sound right now and it sounds a little more like "Go Orioles". But we know what she means.

When we got to the pregame tailgate, Elli became somewhat of a celebrity. She looked very cute in her Royals outfit. She also happened to be the only child at the proceedings. Since this particular family hasn't had a lot of grand kids yet, every one's repressed spoiling instincts came out and Elli was showered with gifts. I believe over the course of our meal she was handed two cookies and a can of Root Beer. We're not a big sweets family, but you hate to be an ungrateful guest. We were able to sneak the can of root beer away, but I think she still pounded a cookie and a half.

The game itself was fun. The Royals lost, but Elli clapped, colored and cheered. She made it through the whole game, though it could have been a result of the sugar high she was on. As a chaser to her pregame snacks, one of our hosts purchased her a bag of cotton candy. It was as big as her torso. Fortunately, we were able to help her pound it so that she didn't OD on sugar.

The only drawback of the experience was that my arm was tired following the evening. I guess the Royals don't expect too many 22 pound fans to warrant their own seat, because she didn't weigh enough to keep it down. In an effort to keep the seat from eating her whole, I ended up holding it down most of the game. But I'm sure if she keeps pounding sweets we wont have that issue next time we make it out to the park.

Fair Dinkum

Movie Reflection: Elmo's Potty Time

2008-06-30T11:38:00.002-05:00

We have searched high and low for a brainwashing technique...errrrrrr...DVD that could successfully help in potty training. We picked up a couple from the library that managed to get annoying songs stuck in my head ("Bye bye pee pee, bye bye poop"), but nothing has really convinced Elli that she should use the toilet.

Enter Elmo's Potty Time.

We still have work to do. But the movie, the Elmo panties and the sticker chart are proving to be tools of worth. The best part is that I actually enjoy the movie. And who wouldn't? There is so much to love.

As an adult I don't have that many opportunities to laugh at toilet humor. And in all honesty, there are a lot of things in the movie that are not intended to be funny. However, that small fact does not stop Elli and I from laughing ever time they play out on the screen.

Like when Grover dances around with his old man belly and informs us that he has that "got to go" feeling.

Or when King Kong drinks too much and they have to bring in a huge toilet for him to use.

But my favorite segment, far and away, is the montage of kids sharing what they call their "stuff". Widdle, wee wee, poop, two. The usual list of suspects. But then, out of nowhere, this adorable little kid pops up on the screen. He grins. He announces very proudly: "I call it DOOKIE".

Score.

In our house, "dookie" has never been considered proper terminology. But we are clearly living in an age where it has gone mainstream. Look, if it's on Sesame Street, it's fair game. That's my feeling on the matter.

Now we have a little power struggle going on in our house. One parent is encouraging Elli to include "dookie" in her everyday vernacular, while the other is absolutely mortified by the idea. We'll just have to see how this one plays itself out.

Fair Dinkum

Covers

2008-06-27T10:44:00.003-05:00

A lot of people bag on the cover. I agree that it is not as creative as penning an original song. However, there is still an art to the cover. For instance, while I do not consider Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Whateverhiddiesnameisnow to be one of the greatest MC's of all time, I have to say that I enjoy the music he puts out. His reinterpretations of preexisting songs are always catchy and sometimes addictive.

I find covers to be even more intriguing when they go cross-genre. Taking songs from other styles and totally flipping them out. Remember that dance song "Word Up"? Well an obscure group by the name of Willis took it, slowed it down, and flipped it to the point where it is straight hot sizzle. Apparently you can even chacha waltz to it.

My current favorite cover comes from Mat Weddle of Obadiah Parker. He took Outkast's "Hey Ya", and went acoustic on it. Wow, wow, wow. You had better believe that I bought that from itunes in about 2 seconds.

Fair Dinkum

Unholy Union

2008-06-25T13:04:00.000-05:00

Last week the Bishop NT Wright showed up on The Colbert Report. I have to admit that seeing him on there was pretty shocking. He does have a new book out, however. Comedy Central's "newscasts" are a good place to go if you need to get the word out on your book.

I'm not convinced that this particular show is the best platform for Bishop Wright to explain his ideas. It's tough to present a shift in the paradigm of heaven in a 6 minute interview where the host is constantly wise-cracking. But I will give the Bishop a lot of credit for proving that you can be both funny and deep, and that deep religious thinkers need not take themselves so seriously all of the time.

I also have to give it up to Colbert. This is perhaps one of his best performances. If you need more, then check out the rest of the highlights from this particular episode. Cookie Monster made an appearance that is absolutely classic.

Fair Dinkum

Caught Up

2008-06-24T06:59:00.002-05:00

It took 18 months, but I have managed to work my way through the first six seasons of the hit TV show 24. It all started in December of 2006 when Stacy and I started watching Season 1 at my parent's house over Christmas vacation. I think we pounded out the entire thing in 5 days. From there, I was hooked.

The show has been good filler for me during the times when Stacy is on her crazy rotations. If she was on a month where she was working 80+ hours per week with numerous overnight shifts, I had a lot of time to kill by myself at the house. Since Elli is an early-to-bed kid, that gave me plenty of time to experience with wonderment all of Jack Bauer's exploits.

There are a lot of hardcore 24 fans I know who feel like the show is getting weaker over time. Most of these folk have been watching the show on FOX every week, and make a big deal out of it. With all due respect to the "real" fans who have been watching the show for six years (as opposed to my 18 months), I beg to differ.

I think what happened was that after the 2nd or 3rd season, the writers started to realize that people were purchasing the show on DVD. What I noticed in the first couple of seasons was that there were some recurring themes that got somewhat redundant after a while. I mean, honestly. How dumb can Kim Bauer be sometimes. Girl has no street smarts. Wandering down dark alleys, into strange stores and cavorting with shady dudes.

But as the series progressed, I feel like they were paced better for continuous DVD watching in a short period of time. That being the case, the plots got more complicated and there were more details up in the air.

I'm going to make an effort to watch the show on FOX this fall, but I wonder if I'll like it as much. It's possible that not being able to string episodes together will confuse me and make the show less enjoyable. It will be an interesting experiment.

I guess if I hate it after 4 weeks, I can always let the episodes pile up on the Tivo until the season's over.

Fair Dinkum

Suggestions?

2008-06-18T11:39:00.000-05:00

Films such as King of Kong and Unbreakable bring to light the notion of the arch-nemesis. There are some people in life who have a person who is either ideologically or in practice end up thwarting whatever it is the person in question is trying to do. Superman had Lex. Batman had The Joker. Papa Smurf had Gargamel. The list is endless.

This reality brought to light a very important question for me: Who is my arch-nemesis?

It's a difficult question to answer. Seeing as though I'm practically a Jedi, one might start looking in the Sith department for a suitable name. But since most of the good ones are already taken I think we should just move a long. Nothing to see here. Move along.

A friend postulated that Bill O'Reilly might be a good candidate. On the surface it seems reasonable enough. However, I think he already has formidable foes. Since I'm more toward the political middle, Al Franken and Keith Olberman would be better choices.

I love meat. That would mean that PETA could be a good adversary. However, I am against dog fighting and horse racing, so that wouldn't work either. Call me crazy, but whenever there is a chance that a competitor has to be put down immediately following a competition, I'm out. I was worried I was going to have to give up basketball when Paul Pierce went down a couple of games ago. But since the trainer let him live, I'm still good with the NBA. Not so much with boxing or MMA, however.

See? It's not as easy an exercise as it appears. So what do you think? Who would be a worthy arch-nemesis for me?

Fair Dinkum

Ultimate Performance Art

2008-06-17T07:08:00.003-05:00

This weekend we had the opportunity to take in the "Symphony on the Flinthills". For the third year now, the Kansas City Symphony has trekked out to central Kansas and performed a concert in the middle of a local pasture. We missed the first two, but Stacy's parents were able to secure tickets this year which allowed us to join the festivities.

If you think putting on the concert in the middle of a pasture is a wacky idea, you don't know the half of it. It sounds like a lot of work, but to see the thing firsthand really helps you understand how much of a logistical beast and event like this is.

For starters, the roads in Morris County, KS aren't built to accommodate 5,000 people at once. So you need to be prepared to be patient on your way in and out. Secondly, pastures don't have paved parking lots. Thus, you park your car in a pasture and then proceed to walk about a mile to the concert site. Thirdly, pastures are not air conditioned, nor do they have permanent seating. So you had better haul your chair on your mile hike, or plunk down your $2 to rent a folding chair at the site. And dress for some serious sweating, my friend.

Even with all of that, the experience was a grand affair. I loved it. The planners nestled the symphony in a soft valley, and roped off one side of the valley for seating. It made for a great view, especially as the sun started to set on our right and the moon shone brighter and brighter on our left. Barbecue was available, and I was more than happy to avail myself to the services of Bad Ol' Bern's meat smoking abilities.

But the undisputed highlight of the night was the performance art that was performed this year. During the first half of the concert, ranchers rode the hillside behind the symphony and provided a wonderful compliment to the music. But that was nothing compared to what they were storing up for the second half of the concert. The ranchers executed a full-on cattle drive across the back of the hillside while the symphony busted out the theme from the Magnificent Seven. I don't even have a word to describe what it is like to witness something like that.

As excited as I was to attend this event, it managed to live up to the hype. It's easy to see why it sold out in just 4 hours.

Fair Dinkum

Middle School Moment: NBA Finals Edition

2008-06-12T11:41:00.002-05:00

Throughout my life I have loved basketball. I watched a lot of it with my dad, both in person and on TV. He took me to high school games as well as Portland Trailblazers games, and I became a passionate fan at a young age. I would pour over my Blazers media guide, catch all of the games on the radio, and even call into the local sports talk shows with my questions about the team.

One thing that has surprised me about working with my boys is how little they know about sports. They don't know many of the rules of basketball. Even though they love to play, they don't follow it that much. The same goes for football and baseball. Stacy surmised that it is because so few of them have dads around. It's a good point. There are a lot of dads in America who spend time with their kids over sports.

Even Elli will sit down with me and watch parts of soccer games. She'll sit down and watch for about 5 minutes, and then jump off my lap and play with me while the game is on. If the crowd goes wild, she'll usually stop what she's doing and clap herself.

Look, there are many other more serious byproducts of the fathering epidemic in the urban core. I fight against them and pray about them every day. So when I have conversations like the one I had with three of my boys yesterday, I find it both funny and sad.

Kid 1: Mr Christian, did you watch the Celtics-Lakers game last night?
Me: Yeah. Parts of it, but I didn't sit down and watch the whole thing.
Kid 1: Did you know Kevin Garnett plays for the Celtics now?
Me: Yeah, dogg. That was big news last summer.
Kid 1: Dang. The Celtics are going to be good now.

At this point I'm cracking up inside. For one, the kid is about 325 days late on the KG memo. But I'll give him credit for at least knowing that KG would make the Celtics good. Nice call, considering they had the best record in the league, and are now in the NBA Finals.

The boys went on to explain to me how Kobe is a ball hog, selfish and cries too much to the refs. For a guy who has been trying to build his street cred over the past few years, he clearly isn't doing a good job seeing as those kids view him as a selfish punk.

As the conversation went on I explained to them how the best-of-seven NBA finals work. They had no idea. I was glad I could help them out and see them, to a limited extent, get fired up about something I was fired up about at their age.

I just wish their dads were there to get them fired up as well.

Fair Dinkum

Video Game Reflection: Mario Kart Wii

2008-06-10T17:14:00.004-05:00

Mario Kart Wii is the super bomb dizzle. I love it. I take my Wiimote, plug it into my steering wheel and rock and roll. I've gotten a little bit obsessed however, as I am striving to achieve a star rating on every single race in the game. That way, when I get online to race people from all over the world my name will have a little gold star next to it. Street cred.

The only problem is that I think my ability to drive well in real life has decreased since I started playing MKW. That might explain why Stacy thinks I've become a more aggressive driver lately. All I know is that the Sunday drivers on the road are lucky my '99 Taurus isn't packing any red shells. Suckers.

My obsession prompted me to pick up a strategy guide for the first time in 15 years. Back in the day I had a number of video game code magazines and strategy books laying around. Mostly for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Contra? Up, up, down, down, b, a, b, a, select start. Don't forget the warp cheat codes for Mario 1 and Mario 3. Get off me, son.

You can typically get any video game info you need on the internets these days. But for some reason I began to crave the feeling of the strategy guide in my hands. The full color track maps. The checklist of unlockable characters and vehicles.

All of this is slightly concerning to Stacy. She walked into the bathroom one day and saw me reading my strategy guide. Her response was less than endearing.

"I don't know what's more concerning to me. That a grown man is reading a video game magazine, or that a grown man wrote a video game magazine."

Hey, at least I'm not as OCD as those cats in King of Kong. It is the story of grown men who get all jealous of this one dude who is trying to set a new world record score for Donkey Kong. Seriously. Those dudes are straight crazy. My main man Adam Paul recommended the film to me a couple of months back, and was so kind as to bring it over to mi casa for a screening last week. You can read his review over on his blog. I agree with everything he says, though in my book Hoop Dreams earns the distinction of best documentary ever. There is also a good review over at Burnside Writer's Collective. Pretty much covers all the bases.

The bad news is I am currently without my MKW disk. It seems as though my good friend Coleman accidentally took it with him to Rhode Island. That's pretty far away. Gonna have to work something out to get that back. Perhaps a teleporter.

Fair Dinkum

The U2 Countdown: Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses

2008-06-10T13:02:00.004-05:00

As we await the drop of the next U2 album, we continue to look at some of the lesser known songs in the U2 library. Today's selection is a love song. In some respects, it's pretty simple. Fairly simple vocals and a background track that seems tailor fit for radio. Lyrically, there is a little more going. The beauty of the whole things is that on the surface it is a song that you can play and understand as a love/jealousy story. But deeper than that there are some pretty amazing lines of poetry that have deeper and, ahem, shall we say, errrrrr..."saucier" meanings. It's one of the trademark U2 traits, especially on the love songs we find in Achtung Baby.

On a side note, I noticed the other day that I have three highly rated songs on my itunes playlist that all have the wild horse imagery. Alicia Keys and Adam Levine did a Wild Horses duet that they covered from the Rolling Stones, and Natasha Bedingfield gave us Wild Horses as well. I absolutely love both songs.

I wonder what it is about that wild horse imagery that is so powerful to us. Must be our cowboy roots. That, and the fact that horses are powerful and magnificent. But for me, it's mostly the cowboy thing.

Fair Dinkum

The Slush Experience

2008-06-09T14:03:00.003-05:00

Last week I busted out my favorite slushes. That very week I had an interesting experience as I was picking up the Strawberry variety at the Blue Valley Market.

Now understand that the BVM is smack dab in the middle of the 'hood. Common misconception, I understand. There are many schools in the KC Suburbs with the "Blue Valley" moniker, and this store shares nothing with them.

So I'm grabbing my slush and the two guys behind the counter are going to town. The discourse was reminiscent to Barbershop banter as the men fed off of each other and lamented the plight of the neighborhood.

(The following conversation has been edited for content)

"Man. [Brothas] out here ain't doin' a [gosh dang] ting! Yeah! These [brothas] just sit out on the corner drinkin' their [freaking] beer and smokin'. [Gosh dang brothas] Triflin' [brothas]. Lazy [butt brothas]."

I oftentimes lament the state of urban America. My arguments tend to be a little better thought out and less colorful than the ones these gentlemen were espousing, but we sometimes have similar feelings.

But here's the difference.

I'm not running a convenience store where the ENTIRE BACK WALL is filled with alcohol and tobacco products. Seriously, fellas. How are you going to throw everyone under the bus for there actions when you are an enabler and accomplice to their dysfunctions.

Fair Dinkum

Slush Rundown

2008-06-06T14:03:00.004-05:00

I really enjoyed that week of spring that the Midwest graced us with. It was wonderful, and now it is hot. H-O-T, hot.

My favorite part of summer is thus the Slush. Over the years, the Slush has evolved into various incarnations existing at once. I sample a variety in the summer time, and have four distinct favorites. They are fantastic in their sweetness, but also in their ability to cool the hot individual from the inside out. Mmmmmmmm. Slush.

My 4 favorites are as follows

4. The 7-11 Slurpee - Pretty inferior to the others, in all honesty. I'll probably grab it just once this summer. However, it deserves respect as the classic, and will get some love seeing as though there is a 7-11 near work.

3. Quick Trip White Cherry - Very good. The flavor is unique, and a little on the strong side. But the QTWC slush is great with a hot dog or taquito. There is nothing quite like getting your entire lunch from a gas station.

2. Blue Valley Market Strawberry - Probably the best texture of any selection on the list. It's essentially a half melted snow cone. The syrup is thick and sweet and delicious. I absolutely love it. But not as much as...

1. Sonic's Strawberry Limeade Slush - My wife turned me onto these. The plus side? Fresh strawberries in the bottom of the cup. Not only are they super good, but it's a fun challenge to try to suck them through the straw when you are finished with the actual slush. The only problem is that they are not uniform. Depending on your slush chief, they can have different ratios of Strawberry to Lime to Slush. You never know exactly what you are going to get. Though it can be a little bit of an adventure, I must say that for the most part they are excellent. Just be careful. I'm pretty sure they put freon in those things. They are so addictive and cold that they regularly cause ridiculously painful brain freezes. Zoinks.

Fair Dinkum

Christian Bookstores

2008-06-02T15:29:00.002-05:00

Christianity Today had this article a couple of months back about "How To Save the Christian Bookstore". It seems more and more are falling on hard times. It was an interesting article, especially as I buy a lot of books but rarely at the so-called "Christian" bookstore. So here are some of my thoughts on the subject...

Be Nice: Two of my coworkers went to a local Christian bookstore to use some giftcards we had. They were having problems finding what they were looking for, so they grabbed a store employee and politely asked if they stocked Shane Claiborne. His reply? "No. We're a CHRISTIAN bookstore." Hmmmmmm. So they asked for some NT Wright. The second response? "No. But if we did, I'd throw it at you." Wow. Not a big fan of the archbishop of Canterbury, I take it. Needless to say, none of us have ever been back.
Be More Open: I'd go to Christian bookstores more if they had what I wanted. I read a lot of books that inform my faith and contribute to my worldview as a Christ-follower, but probably half of those books can't be found at the Christian bookstore in my church. No Anne Lamott. No Shack. No Ethical Realism. And all of that is fine. Look, far be it from me to make my brothers or sisters stumble because they see me carrying around a book where The Trinity is represented by a Black woman, an Asian woman and a Middle Eastern man. And I understand that the bookstore will order that stuff in for me. But I'm terribly impatient (a character flaw of mine) and prideful (I don't enjoy stuffing Anne Lamott into a brown paper sack and thus feeling like I'm sneaking porn out of the church), so I'm probably just going to order my books at bn.com and get it shipped to my house for free in just under 3 days.
Be Realistic: The Christian Bookstore has probably maxed out its market share. It is catering to such a particularly thin slice of the reading population, that it's just never going to be a huge seller. That's fine. Just adjust your business model accordingly.

Fair Dinkum

39th and Wyoming

2008-05-30T14:40:00.003-05:00

Tonight I will have dinner at 39th and Wyoming. In what used to be a service station now resides an eatery that I have become completely smitten with. The Aladdin Cafe serves up such marvelous Greek and Mediterranean cuisine, that this will be my fourth visit in as many weeks. I'm officially an addict.

It's not just me, either. Stacy's jonesing as well. In a bad way. She's a huge fan of the hummus, as am I. She is also holding tight to her tradition of ordering a Gyro each trip. I am very proud of myself in going with three different dishes in my three trips. I loved the gyro meat and hummus plate. Amazing. I sorta liked the curried chicken. One problem I was having is that my tastes are tuned to the Asian/Indian curry. To my tongue, those are sweeter than the Mediterranean variation. It wasn't bad. It just wasn't as amazing as I had hoped. So last time I went with the plain chicken and couscous platter. Good call.

Tonight? Not sure. Probably back to hummus and gyro meat. And perhaps a hookah session for dessert.