Intentional Walk: July 2007

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

All Is Right With The World.

This is yet another pop culture post. I know I haven't posted much about spiritual matters lately or about any of the goings-on at church. Those just aren't things I want to dwell on right now. I'll write about them when I'm able to without causing the vein in my forehead to throb. I also haven't visited other blogs much. I'm sorry that I've been missing those. As summer winds down and the school year begins, that happy habit will be reestablished.

WARNING! NO SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

We got in from Pismo around 3:00 on Saturday. Lisa made me help unloading the Durango before crossing the street to get the mail. She knew, you see, that my copy of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" awaited me there and if I got my grimy hands on it, that would be the last she saw of me. She was right. She's always right.

I had completely avoided the internet, newspapers, magazines, TV stories...anything that might give away something about this book. (Then I read my blog comments and almost threw something at the monitor. I said I was HALF-finished. HALF-FINISHED!!)

Yesterday, I completed one of the most thoroughly satisfying reads in living memory. I can't write a critique yet; Lisa is only about a quarter of the way through. But I can say a few things.

For one, Rowling has turned into a real, live author. The seventh book incorporates facets from each of the first six, many of them important. It's clear that she had this mapped out from the very beginning, unlike, say, the writers of "The X-Files" or "Alias." (Note to JJ Abrams: If Milo Rambaldi shows up anywhere in "Lost," I'm done, my friend. Done.)

This was not a book for children. Aside from the fact that they probably have never heard the words "doppleganger" or "diadem"...unless of course they were brought up in the C of C, then they've sung the latter...this was adult material. It was scary, funny, poignant. It was deep. This book explored the nature of friendship as well as any I've ever read, with the possible exception of "It." Yes, "It."

I so appreciate an author that doesn't need to spell everything out. She trusts that we know the characters. She leads us to the water and knows we'll drink. Other writers force your head under and pry open your mouth. Ugh. Water's less refreshing that way.

In a few weeks, when the whole world knows whether Harry lives or dies, I'll probably write more of a review. For now, I just want to say that I put this series in a class with Narnia and "Lord of the Rings." And the last book was easily my favorite of the lot...much like "The Last Battle" and "Return of the King" were my favorites of the other series. I'm a sucker for resolution and closure.

In other news, George Lucas has seen the light. Here is a picture of him wearing a shirt that says, "Han Shot First." I believe my views on the importance of that fact are widely known. Anyway, the universe is fitting better into place having seen this photo.

Monday, July 23, 2007

Ain't No Good Sleepin' on Highway 1

The beach was nice. The weather was nearly perfect every day. We had some great family times together...watched some baseball, played games. The food was great as always. Is there anything better than eating fish while enjoying an ocean view? Lisa and I even enjoyed shopping together and we are, neither one, much on shopping. But just having time together with those you love is special, no matter the shared activity. Well, maybe I wouldn't enjoy Couples Acupuncture so much.

James had a blast. His wonderful Grandma took him down to the beach every morning so that he could play in the sand and his mommy and daddy could (try to) sleep. This year, the boy discovered the pleasure of performing great engineering projects in the sand. He would dig deep holes, down to where the water was. Then he would begin constructing little rivulets that would take the water back down to the ocean. Filling up his buckets from the Pacific, he would make little rivers and dams. It was quite the production. He also enjoyed walking on the beach, running on the beach, driving his RC jeep on the beach, and pretty much anything associated with the beach. Except boogie boarding. He tried twice to work up his nerve, but the ocean was still just a little too intimdating. We'll try again another time.

Really, the only drawback to the whole week was that our rental house was located right on Dolliver Street. And for those of you who don't know Pismo Beach, Dolliver Street = Highway 1. Two of the bedrooms were at the front of the house, which meant that each night we were attempting to sleep about 15 feet from whooshing motorcycles and big rigs, their headlights illuminating our room like a scene from Close Encounters. A daunting task, you say? Now imagine trying to do that about a year and a half after a car rammed into your house. Now you're beginning to understand why we just want to spend this week sleeping.

Well, sleeping and reading Harry Potter. Halfway done. Gotta go.

Friday, July 13, 2007

Awayer

Sadly, we will be at the beach for the next week so posting will likely be even spottier than usual. I only hope that the ocean view, the seafood, and the boogie boarding will help take my mind off of how much I will miss Fresno.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

"It's a real circus down here,"

said the clown on the floor of the arena just before The Greatest Show on Earth.

Last night we took James to his first circus. Before it began, we were first allowed to see (and smell) the animals as they were groomed and readied for the show. Then we were permitted on the floor to mix with clowns and trapeze artists for a short time. Two clowns put on a little show right in front of James and he was in heaven.

He sat and watched the circus very quietly, sitting forward in his chair from time to time. It began just before his normal bedtime so he was pretty pooped (as were the animal handlers) but he stayed awake through it all. He stoically gazed upon tightrope walkers and performing tigers and extreme bikers and more. He cried when he dropped his half-eaten churro. Still, when it was all over, he said he'd had a great time.

There was a point during the second half that we didn't think he was going to make it. The look on Lisa's face was proof that she would be very, very sad if we had to leave the circus. She scored us some incredible seats and, truth be told, she and I had as much fun as our boy.

I could spring a spiritual analogy on you but, c'mon. We all know that life's a circus. I heard a wise man say this weekend that too many Christians expect a few hours of "church" to counterbalance a week's worth of what life throws at us. Good point, I thought.

Thursday, July 05, 2007

97%

I so totally lied to get that rating.

My real chance was 29%.

Less than Wendy's.

I could not be more embarrassed.

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Note to Preachers

I learned a lesson Sunday morning and I feel the need to pass it on to anybody who may find themselves in a pulpit at any time.

Long ago, I learned not to refer the congregation to anything in the bulletin unless I later demanded that they put their bulletins away and then stood their, arms akimbo, until every last congregant had done so. The truly practiced folks could actually flip their bulletin pages and make them sound like Bible pages...and they hid the darn things below the pews like a bunch of high school students sending text messages during an exam.

Sunday, I learned a new no-no. Never start your sermon with a math question! I promise, it's a bad idea.

I led off in such a manner this week. I gave 'em the ol' "Train A leaves the station at 6:00 pm" type question. I was trying to make the point that my students seem to never know how to even begin working on those questions. And that was to lead into the message: "Begin everything with prayer."

Funny. Cute. Ha ha.

Except that about 25% of the people there abandoned any pretense of listening to me and began solving the problem! I didn't even know this until they all made a beeline towards me after services. I thought, "Wow, nice, look at all the people who want to tell me what a great job I did today." But, no, they all just wanted to know the answer to the problem. I was forced to tell them that I had just made the numbers up; I hadn't worked it out. So they began talking amongst themselves until they agreed on what the answer must be.

I've often found myself wishing that my math students would come to my church. This was the first time I found myself wishing that my church would come to my math class.

So there's my advice. Do with it as you will.

And I have, of course, worked out the problem and e-mailed it to the speaker for this week. I figure he can lead off with it and ensure rapt attention.