Posts from — March 2007

So, through a variety of circumstances, Megan and I each have two different kinds of deodorant in the medicine cabient. I have two different types of right guard solid sticks, and she, two types of secret.

The names of the men’s deodorant are Active and Clean. The women’s?

Pear Illusion and Violet Dazzle.

It’s really a sound refutation of egalitarianism in itself.

How many countries can you name in ten minutes?

HT:kottke

So, after some friends rejected our invitation for Sunday Dinner this weekend, we went out to eat instead. It was a big meal we were going to make, and so we thought we’d put it off and invite some folks over in the middle of the week (of course, those folks rejected us, too. Do we smell bad?). And, so, for Sunday Dinner we went out to eat. King’s Island. It’s a chinese restaurant that was featured in Intoxication Quarterly a while back.

So anyhow… I don’t know how to count, so I told them there were only four of us plus one baby. They put us in a booth, and then I realized I gave them the wrong number. Two little girls can squeeze into the space made for one adult, though, so we were fit okay. A bit tight, but nothing we couldn’t handle.

So there we were, sitting in our little booth eating our chinese food, each of the girls begging to be the chosen one to accompany Megan or myself to the buffet line to pick the food we’d bring back. And a couple that had been sitting across the way from us got up to leave, and as they passed by us the man said, “Those are three of the best behaved children I’ve ever seen at a restaurant”. It’s nice that our work is paying off, even when it feels like they kiddos are driving me batty half the time.

And then we outstayed our welcome, I think, because dishes began piling up on our table, and our water glasses stopped being refilled.

I’d heard that badminton is really big in China, and I’d heard that what they play is really quite a different game than what we think of as badminton. Well… now I know that’s true.

Songs from The Ringing Bell

1. The End
2. The Very End
3. A Love That’s Stronger Than Our Fear
4. I Wanna Marry You All Over Again
5. I Don’t Want to Fight
6. Name
7. Can’t Be Without You
8. I For an I
9. A Savior on Capitol Hill
10. This Too Shall Be Made Right

May 1, 2007

Thanks (I suppose ) to Geof and the derekwebb.net folks.

edit:
You can buy it from amazon or go to derekwebb.com and preorder a deluxe package (if you want to get shilled in shipping).

Well, folks… I’m reinstituting the ‘regimen’.

Each year Providence Church puts on a grand All Saints Day celebration. We kick it off the Friday before Reformation Day with our Reformation Day Ball. Much fun is had by all. And the festivities continue into Saturday, where the day is kicked off with a 5K race, followed by various sporting events for men and families alike, such as the stone throw, tug-o-war, three legged race and bobbing for apples. The games finished op with a big ‘ol picnic grillin’. Last year we had fried chicken and some kind of grilled sausages. Delicious. And the last event is the pie baking contest. And, I cannot be too quick to note that my wife is the two time, uncontested reigning champion.

So, my goal is to run the 5K this year. And it is looking like a long, long road to get there.

I began my regimen on Tuesday. Megan found a program somewhere or another, where you work up to being a runner, begining with cycling through running and walking. The first stage running one minute and walking two. So I did that. For about twenty minutes or so. And, boy, it was a workout. That should tell you how pathetically out of shape I am. Running for one minute winded me. By the third running cycle, I could barely run for the full minute. But… there you have it. And today I’m going to do it again.

I have left out the most exciting part, though. Near the end of my run Tuesday, I was crossing a street. Apparently the light changed while I was crossing, because a car just started going. Didn’t wait for me or anything… just kept right on going. I threw my arms out and shouted something along the lines of, “What’re you doing?!” I continued my little trot, only to discover that this driver had taken offense at my crossing the street, and had looped back around. A man jumped out of the car, swearing at me and accusing me of spitting on his car. I told him I didn’t spit on his car, and he then threatened to ‘slap yo head’. He went and looked at the side of his car for spittle. He found none, of course, but that didn’t stop his faux macho demonstration. He continued to name call. I asked him if he found anything on his car. He must have been hard of hearing, because he shouted at me, “What?!”. I repeated my question. He replied that he didn’t come slap my head. So I took that as a negative. By this point, his shouting and grunting had caught the attention of some neighborhood boys that had been playing football nearby. They started with the name calling. I don’t really know why they decided that the other guy was the one to support. My guess is because they saw that he was lacking self-control, and they wanted to see a fight. So they got behind him to try to get him actually start something.

Their hopes were dashed, though, when I simply turned my back to the fellow (who, incidentally, was about 5’5″-a foot shorter than myself) and walked away. Threats were thrown out as I walked away, but I paid no attention. My mind was going back to the interview with R.J. Gore I had been listening to.