I do not lament my current lifestage. I used to party hop on this, the official party-hopping night. If you invited me to go somewhere tonight, thank you. I enjoy those invitations. This year, we’re doing something earth-shaking.
We’re taking things easy. (This is earth-shaking for my family.)
Instead of being annoyed at cranky dad and cranky kids, my kids are going to sleep in their own beds at their regular bed times. We’re swinging by my in-laws to see family from Montana and that’s about it. If you’re not doing this, that’s okay. This is an experiment for me. I shall take you along on this experiment.
I present to you some options:
Howard the Duck – I say this at the beginning as a back up if all others fail. I mean, it’s a movie executive produced by George Lucas starring Lea Thompson (of Back to the Future) and Tim Robbins (of Shawshank Redemption). How bad could it be?
Check out the streaming video from EarthCam. Times Square, brought to your computer. You can also choose from 13 different still cams (as well as updating pictures from around the U.S. and parts of the world), and not once do you have to watch Brittney Spears, the Jonas Brothers, Ryan Seacrest or Fallout Boy if you don’t want to. Do they have a Dick Clark camera? Even though his robotic joints are being modded this week, I still want to make sure he’s okay.
Have you met the new ball?
Should be pretty. You can also check the schedule of events to pretend like you’re in Times Square and see what the networks don’t think you want to see.
Proof that we love our sister-in-law as we plan for her wedding reception:
You should have seen the neighbors’ reactions when the back of the Scion opened up. All stereotypes perplexingly thrown out the window.
But to repeat, for the sanity of grandparents, this is for the sister-in-law’s wedding reception and in no way related to New Year’s.
I did have to document the most amount of alcohol I’ve ever possessed. Substitute this for Vanilla Mocha Rockstar and a box of Hot Pockets and then we must question my temperance.
Mortar and Pestle for the win!
Argh! The senile Tortimer would only give me one party popper. My wife just got seven. I didn’t vote for you, shell-for-brains.
Updates as they show up through the day/night/day.
My friend Nick from college (Devin, he’s of the Den of Cows Star Wars tradition) started up his own sports company: Xoso. It’s a way for people post-college to meet and hang out with others.
Playing adult dodge ball. Yeah, that rocks and is one of those, “Why didn’t I think of/act on that?” Much congrats, Nick! They got named in the Sacramento News & Review as one of the best places to hang out.
They also got featured by the local Fox News stations (Nick is at 1:50):
We’re helping to plan a wedding reception and we’re looking at rental places for an assortment of items. I shall grant temporary grammatical reprieve to (I cringe to type it) Y Knot Rentals. We may even go with them for the equipment. But I think the Linen Dinner Napkins are a better option over the other type that is “out of touch with modern fads or trends”:
The other napkins seem to lack a certain je ne sais quoi. (That last part is a thank you to my dad, who infused multilingual one-liners for me since pre-school.)
To all my fans from Canadia and the UK (and the occasional Mr. Robinson), happy Boxing Day!
It’s good to see that Renaissance Bible Church is still rockin’ it, this time with their Christmas bail-out (it’s a tiny church in North Carolina). Another previous stuntawesomeness was when they bought gas for the community. (This is a state where they just ran out, plain and simple.)
So, Boxing Day was initially set up as a holiday dedicated to loving others. Here are some thoughts on love…
From Jean-Paul Sartre, in his 1944 book, Closed Doors (ever the optimist):
Hell is other people.
(Ravi Zacharias contrasts that part of Heaven is your interactions with others)
Thomas Merton:
Man is not at peace with his fellow man because he is not at peace with himself. He is not at peace with himself because he is not at peace with God.
Donald Miller:
He was saying I would never talk to my neighbor the way I talked to myself, and somehow I had come to believe it was wrong to kick other people around but it was okay to do it to myself. It was as if God had put me in a plane and flown me over myself so I could see how I was connected, all the neighborhoods that were falling apart because I would not let myself receive love from myself, from others, or from God. And I wouldn’t receive love because it felt so wrong. It didn’t feel humble, and I knew I was supposed to be humble…If it is wrong for me to receive love, then it is also wrong for me to give it because by giving it I am causing somebody else to receive it, which I had pre-supposed was the wrong thing to do.
And the guy I will grab a cup of tea with past the Shadowlands, C.S. Lewis:
I think that if God forgives us we must forgive ourselves. Otherwise it is almost like setting up ourselves as a higher tribunal than Him.
Mine (complete with subtle electric bass)(you’ve got to read the lyrics as to why it stirs me):
O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o’er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai’s height,
In ancient times did’st give the Law,
In cloud, and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
This is just a simple, photographical image of our feelings about being stood up by Mike and kids for cookies and a playdate.
I slaved over a hot oven to bring you the masterpieces you see here. I mean, what else would possess me to create a gingerbread away team? Only my deepest respect for Mike and his frontierial obsessions. Or I’ve gone loopy. Either are plausible excuses, really.
First person to name at least three characters depicted here wins a gingerensign of his/her choice.
All I know, Mike, is that someone else had to eat the gingerbread ensign, and I cried through every bite… *sniff*
I’ll present these other photos to you as a warning to keep Booyor away from the decorator bag full of frosting…
My friend is a chaplain in the military and needs some resources as he counsels soldiers.
Here's what the soldiers are asking for.
You'll need to enter his address:
Chaplain (CPT) Vincent Garcia
Battalion Chaplain
40th Expeditionary Signal Battalion
APO AE 09342
