July 2005 Archives
Last night Brooklynne and I were supposed to have left for our trip out west that you may have read about in previous posts. Well, the clutch in AJ went out late Thursday night, so yesterday at 11:30pm, Brooklynne and I were still in Manassas, towing the civic back to our apartment with the CRV. We also got a nail in the tire of the CRV, but after Brooklynne prayed about our failing fortune, we stopped at a Merchant's Auto that happened to be running a free tire repair special! So God is smiling on us afterall and things are looking up. We're about to hit the road now, so wish us safety and speed, and we'll try to keep the site updated occasionally while we're gone. Adios!
Brooklynne finished the new Harry Potter tonight and then we went to fairfax where they were showing the third HP movie for free on one of George Mason's athletic fields. So, in the spirit of the night, I thought I would offer a link to an interesting (if short) blog I read about reading Harry Potter and other not-strictly-christian-type books. The blog also has a link to an intersting article for further reading.
I don't have time to post much in my typical blogging time, because I've been using the time to follow the thread of comments on my last posting, but I do want to offer a nod to a prayer site that I've been using a little lately. It is an interactive website that leads you through a time of pray and reflection. It is run by some Irish Jesuits and I found it through one of the blogs I read occasionally. the link is below. I think sites like these can be great resources and a huge convenience when we send so much time on our computers anyway.
If you are reading this and you've explored the rest of the site, you probably know that I've been following the Emergent Church conversation lately. It's how I got turned on to blogging and even though there seems to be quite a few wrinkles to be ironed out in the way the idea is applied, the boldness with which these guys try to honor the Lord is refreshing to me.
The post really isn't about Emergent, though. It's just that in the past few days, I've stumbled across a few discussions of how reformed theology fits into the Emergent movement and it has caused me to think again about why I am uncomfortable with the reformed approach to characterizing God. I'm one of these guys who loves Caedmon's Call, but can't sing along when they play "I am thankful that I'm incapable of doing any good on my own." My problem revolves around the reformed obsession with God's sovereignty. This idea seems to lie at the heart of every discussion I have on the topic....
I heard on the radio again how Americans suffer greatly from problems associated with obesity. I think it really is no wonder that this is true when there are so few options available to young adults for physical activity in a social setting. For example, Brooklynne and I checked into joining a gym the other day and it cost $400 just to initiate a membership. I also called about joining an adult soccer league in Manassas. The director of the sports association I called informed me that I was too old for the U-19 league (duh) and too young for the over-30 league. So, there are no outdoor soccer leagues in this area for people between 19 and 30, the years when metabolisms are slowing down, patterns of living are being established, etc. In the spring Brooklynne and I drove to a park where we thought we would like to do some hiking and we couldn't go in because we didn't bring money for an entry fee. My point is that we can find stuff to do to stay active, but how much more impact would it have on American public health if physical activity were built into the culture more--if we had options that were outlets for both physical and social energies and where money was not an issue?
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Rated PG, 1 hr. 46 min.
Critics' Rating: B+
Miles's Rating: A-
Brooklynne's Rating: A-
Tonight's big event was the release of the new Harry Potter book, a copy of which I pre-ordered for Brooklynne. Don't worry, we were in line shortly after midnight and Brooklynne got the 289th copy sold at our local Barnes and Noble. But only slightly less exciting was our date before hand to see the newly released remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The movie was much better than the original, although this version added a back-story that made Wonka more difficult to judge. Can someone who has read the book tell me if this addition comes from the original story?
So let me first say that I'm a big Tim Burton fan and that Jonny Depp won me over with his role as Don Juan... er... I mean, Jack Sparrow (did I just type that?!). Any way, the odds were in favor of a good movie and I wasn't disappointed. Charlie's poor situation was made both truly pitiful and laughable by Burton's since of the grotesque, and the director must share some dark sense of irony with the author, Dahl, because the other golden ticket winners are classic Burton characters.
But really the story is about Willie Wonka and it is hard to decide how to view him. As a kid watching the old version, I thought of Wonka as a kind of silly old man, who just wanted to teach children not to be greedy and selfish. In this movie, Wonka is kind of creepy and devious, but also innocent and naive. Should we see him as the industrialist/colonialist, or the candy-loving friend of the Umpalumpas? Viewers are aware that, in a sense, he was robbed of his childhood, while he's still the most childish character of all. Wonka has no love for the "rotten" children, but he exhibits all of their faults. This complexity makes the film more than a colorful candyland kids' movie. There's also enough visual imagery and symbolism to keep an eleventh-grade English class busy.
Plus, the revamped Umpalumpa song-and-dance numbers are great. Definitely a movie to see especially if you liked the old one, and well worth the price of admission in the theater.
For those of you that might not have heard yet, I have added yet another job to my list of rejected career possibilities. I am now the head warehouse boy for Camping World Manassas. At first I was really excited about the job because I figured it would be handy to work in a camping supply retailer for the month heading up to our big hike. But I soon learned that Camping World is geared to a whole other breed of camper than Brooklynne and I. So in honor of the new holders of the title "PF1," here is a top ten list of things you will find at Camping World that you should NEVER take with you camping.
10. Collapsable step stools. Now, I have to say that there could be times when this would be useful... but not many.
9. Cast iron mess kits. Sure, it stows nicely in a wooden crate that's perfect for storage between trips in your garage, but image having that in your pack on day four of a backcountry journey!
8. Any of three sizes of portable toilets. If you can't poop in the woods, then stay home....
Brooklynne and I went fishing last night. The fish weren't really biting much, but we caught three real small ones. I caught a sunfish and the other two were some kind that I had never seen before--maybe some kind of smallmouth bass? Anyway, it was fun and I think we could find a better place where there might a little more action.
We also might have stayed longer, but we weren't at the river for long before Kona started going crazy, running around in mad circles and crashing through the brush. It turned out that there were tons of horseflies biting her, which I had never seen happen to a dog before. She finally jumped into the river and got most of them off and I was able to catch her as she was getting out and I slapped the last one. But we felt bad for the dog (she was bleeding in a couple areas) so we packed it up a little early and headed home. Anyone know of any home remedies for keeping horseflies off your animals?
This is just a note to say that I just discovered that there might be some issues with the formatting of the site if you are viewing this in Firefox or other browsers besides IE. To tell you the truth, I still use IE just to rebel against the techno snobs that keep telling me Windows and Microsoft are the devil (not that I really disagree). It's kind of like why I continued to wear white baseball cleats way past when the 80's were over and it wasn't cool anymore. All this to say that if you like Firefox and the site is not working right, be patient and as soon as I have a chance to play with my templates for a couple hours, I'll fix the glitch. Thanks!
Hey all! This is a guest posting from the Mrs.. We went to Kings Dominion yesterday with the Middle School Youth Group from church. We met at the church office at 8:00am and we carpooled down to the park. When we got there we took a picture of the whole group (this took quite a bit of effort, because Miles had to teach this random guy that was walking by how to hold the camera perfectly, because it is broken)...
So, I feel like the blog is turning into a message board for all the celebrations that happen over the summer, but it would be a shame not to give some love to my Grandaddy since it was his 75th birthday yesterday. Happy Birthday! Brooklynne and I love you so much!
Grandaddy had this saying when the three kids were little and we would stay over with him and it was time for bed...
" 'Let's go to bed,' said Sleepy Head.
'Hold on,' said Slow.
'Let's put on the pot before we go,' said the old Greedy Gut."
I always suspected I was "Slow" and I bet no one can guess who was the "old Greedy Gut!"
Tomorrow, Brooklynne and I will be taking the middle schoolers from the church to King's Dominion amusement park. We have found the youth group gig to be a real challenge. Not that the kids are bad or possessed or something. But they really aren't at the point where we're used to engaging our peers. So this post is mostly call for prayers and support, so that our time with the kids won't be simply entertainment, but that we can build friendships and trust that will allow us to be there for the kids when they need us or when God wants to use us. Advice or personal experience? Post a comment.
Tuesday was me and Brooklynne's two-year anniversary and we've been too busy with our crazy lives for me to post anything about it. But I want to continue a semi-regular top ten feature. So today's list is a top ten memories from my first two years of marriage and the two years we dated before that.
10. Babysitting Brooklynne's siblings for a week
A couple of years ago, Brooklynne's parents took a cruise and left us with her three youngest siblings for a week....
After a long break while I traveled and celebrated my anniversary, I'm back and blogging again. over the next few days I'll try to catch up on all my activities.
But first let me give a garden update. We have our first tomatoes finally! Brooklynne counted seventeen yesterday. The only down side is that they will probably ripen while we are gone on our backpacking trip. Last summer we had a large crop of small green tomatoes when we moved from Montana to DC, and we didn't get to eat any of them. So this year we hope the vines will continue to produce after we get back or I will have to consider what I've done to earn such a sad tomato curse. Any one want to harvest our tomatoes while we're gone?
