My Twitter friends may remember that sometime in September (or was it August?) I began degrouting our shower. The grout is original, which, while a high status in the art and fashion world, here means it's sometimes missing and sometimes moldy. I felt I had to shower after stepping out of my shower.
And my Twitter friends may recall that this project may indeed be the death of me (see--I can pick up a good southern phrase). Classic tweets regarding the project include:
off to de-grout my... Read Full Story
Then.
Then.
On a certain day
not long before the leaf
will fall
not long before it returns
dust to dust to
mulch.
Then
the green fades
giving way first to yellow
then
to orange.
Then the red
that has always been
there
waiting
emerges along the
veins and the
edges
pushing to the rest of the
leaf.
Pushing and
bleeding
until the whole leaf shines
with waxy
red
brilliance.
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For your afternoon jog, create a playlist on your iPod (or other mp3 player) of, say, Jamie Cullum's "I Could Have Danced All Night," "La Vie Boheme" from Rent, Chopin's Etude #5 ("Revolution"), and U2's "Elevation." Human nature demands you incorporate dance steps into your jog.
Sure, you may incur odd looks from parents walking their children home from school (the children will understand, of course), but your heart-rate will double, you'll extend ... Read Full Story
Let me preface this with two statements:
1. Evangelism and social justice are necessary and normative to the Christian life.
2. Art has a place in shining light on and practicing in both these issues.
For years, Christian writers have been decrying the idea that every book by a Christian author must be evangelistic. I don't think anyone means that a book necessarily can't have an evangelistic idea in it. After all, conversion is central to story, whether that conversion be Christian or... Read Full Story
In Israel, I was trendy. I saw some of the latest archaeological digs.
We passed a main street in Jerusalem from Byzantine times, drove by a sanctuary recently unearthed in Magdala, stepped into the believed house of Peter (the apostle of Jesus), peeked into the palace of Queen Helena (from first century AD), and walked through King David's Palace.
In 2005 through 2008, a woman named Eilat Mazar (who happens to be the granddaughter of the archaeologist who unearthed the Temple Mount) exc... Read Full Story
The world-weary traveler (more like world cuisine-stuffed traveler) has returned home and is ready to offer up thoughts on Israel and New Jersey packed in brown paper packages tied up with string.*
I cried thrice in Israel.
My first tears occurred at the museum that houses the Dead Sea Scrolls (The Israel Museum in Jerusalem). Men belonging to a Jewish sect called the Essenes lived with their families in the first century B.C. around caves, which we call Qumran. The men would leave thei... Read Full Story
Last night, before watching the latest episode of Flash Forward, Chris said, "Remind me how the last one ended."
My reply: "The guy from Coupling who was in the girl from Lost's flash forward got a call from Charlie from Lost saying something about them being responsible, and the Shakespeare guy told his coworker to call the hacker."
Oddly enough, he understood me.
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After returning from Israel (and having some sense of coherence return to my life--although not much), I thought I'd compile a list of tips for those of you out there desiring to make a trip to the Holy Lands. Or for those of you armchair travelers who prefer seeing the world through the travel channel. You still may need these tips before the Israel episode.
Travel with cynical writers. I worried the trip would be made up of constant emotional breakdowns and holy moments. Israel's a great... Read Full Story
Jesus said we'd do greater things than he. He walked on water. Today, we danced on it.
This morning, our group went out on the Sea of Galilee in a replica of a first-century boat. A couple in our group used this opportunity to renew our wedding vows.
Which evolved into traditional Jewish wedding music.
Which evolved (devolved, perhaps) into ABBA. And Cotton-Eyed Joe. And Israeli techno music.
And we danced.
Someone noted today that the trip isn't as spiritual as she expected. But here's how ... Read Full Story
