Chad Long CD Debut

I posted this on my church worship blog, recommending good Christian music.

I went to college with Chad, and I'm excited for his new CD.

Check out my post HERE.

Any Fans Of Bibleman Out There??

Blogger Tim Challies reviewed a book by secular liberal, Daniel Radosh. This book chronicles his “Adventures in the Parallel Universe of Christian Pop Culture” and Challies posted Radosh's encounter with Christian superhero: Bible Man.

We always hear about discernment when it comes to "worldly" things like drinking, movies, etc. But what about a little discernment in the Christian consumer market that produces second rate ripoff characters to pass off as "Christian" so that they can use scripture out of context during battle sequences??

I won't repost the excerpt here, but CLICK HERE to go to Challies.com to read it for yourself. We are not called to be people pleasers, we are warned against it! But occasionally it might be good for us to know a little more about how we are perceived by the lost.

Caring For A Baby, NO, WE ARE NOT PREGNANT

Being a young married couple brings with it the joys of the "when are you guys going to have babies?" questions. While I recognize that the good Lord sometimes gives precious baby gifts to those who are trying carefully not to have them for the time being, we are trying carefully not to have them for the time being.

That being said, my friend Lisa Martin found a German blog with some amazingly helpful and practical tips for caring for the little bundle of joy.

I now feel much more prepared in the unlikely case that God's plans are slightly different than ours in this area.

Radiohead...

August 25th, at the Hollywood Bowl.

I have tickets.

4 months and counting.

That's all.

San Deigo

Last weekend Jess and I shot down to San Diego for the end of her Spring Break. We headed down Thursday night and came back Saturday night.

We arrived about 9:30 pm on Thursday, and plopped down in our hotel room to watch luxurious cable TV for a few hours before we turned in; 2.5 hours of Animal Planet is more precise.

The next morning we dined on the complimentary breakfast at the hotel, which was way better than the "light pastries and fruit" we all imagine when we think of continental breakfast. They boasted fruit and pastries of course, but also muffins, sausage, cereal, and French toast dippers!

After that we went to San Diego's famous "Gaslamp District," or at least almost went there. We ended up parking in a parking garage that belonged to a Westfield shopping center, and so we sauntered around the mall, which was an open-air design, so it was really cool. We hung around there until lunch, and then came back to the hotel to relax, stopping for a long walk on the beach on the way.

We went back to the Gaslamp for dinner at a great restaurant called the Dakota Grill. We had three different kinds of meat (chicken, prime rib, and pork) and mashed potatoes and green beans (I think they were green beans, I'm not sure now because I was enjoying the other, much better tasting food to think too much about the vegetables, other than to have some to make Jess happy).

We walked around the Gaslamp some more after dinner, and we stumbled upon a classic car showroom where I took my picture with a pristine DeLorean. I love those cars, but mostly because of Back To The Future.

Our day ended with more cable TV, and as you may have guessed, more Animal Planet.

The next day we went to Coronado Island. The hotel there is AWESOME. It was built in the late 1800s, and it's all made of wood. Very classy, and very expensive.

We hung at the beach by the hotel for a long time, just enjoying the fantastic weather and the amazing hotel in the background. Then we rented some bikes and rode around most of the edge of the island before we came home.

So we got away for a few days, and it was really nice.

Someday I will return, not as a tourist, but as a guest of that fabulous Hotel Del Coronado.









These are some shots from our bike ride around Coronado island. On the right is the view back on to the "mainland" and on the left is Jess waving to some friendly old couple sitting on a balcony just out of the shot.






This is a shot from inside the lobby of the Hotel Del Coronado. According to the historical information of the hotel, in its early days, while the men would be out fishing and doing other "manly" things, the women would get bored and come sit in the lobby balcony to watch the new people check in. Must have been REALLY exciting to be a woman in the early 1900s.



This is a choir that was singing in the outdoor mall. I think they said they were from...Idaho? I can't remember for sure, but they were a good choir as high school choirs go. I don't know why this text is underlined, but I don't know how to make it go away.



Here is the Dakota Grill in the Gaslamp district. If you're ever down in San Diego and want to have a real nice dinner, this is the place. Highly recommend it!

White Gold: One Gallon Axe

"Hey White Gold"

"Yeah, go ahead and ask me somethin'"

"Where did you get the axe?"

"From a crazy angel"

"What ya gonna do with it?"

"Rock the world's face!"

"What's inside of it?"

"Delicious Dairy"

"How's it feel?"

"Like LIQUID LACE!"

--Guitar Solo!--

Men And Women

I got this in an email from my friend Peter, and rather than clutter your email inbox, I thought I'd repost it here:

The Way Men and Women Do Things:

1. NAMES
If Laurie, Linda, Elizabeth and Barbara go out for lunch, they will call
each other Laurie, Linda, Elizabeth and Barbara.
If Mark, Chris, Eric and Tom go out, they will affectionately refer to
each other as Fat Boy, Godzilla, Peanut-Head and Scrappy.

2. EATING OUT
When the bill arrives, Mark, Chris, Eric and Tom will each throw in a $20,
even though it's only for $32.50. None of them will have anything smaller
and none will actually admit they want change back.
When the women get their bill. out come the pocket calculators.

3. MONEY
A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he needs.
A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she doesn't need, but it's on sale.

4. BATHROOMS
A man has five items in his bathroom: a toothbrush, shaving cream, razor,
a bar of soap, and a towel from the Marriott.
The average number of items in the typical woman's bathroom is 337. A man
would not be able to identify most of these items.

5. ARGUMENTS
A woman has the last word in any argument.
Anything a man says after that ... is the beginning of a new argument.

6. CATS
Women love cats.
Men say they love cats, but when women aren't looking, men kick cats.

7. FUTURE
A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.
A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.

8. SUCCESS
A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend.
A successful woman is one who can find such a man.

9. MARRIAGE
A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't.
A man marries a woman expecting that she won't change and she does.

10. DRESSING UP
A woman will dress up to go shopping, water the plants, empty the garbage,
answer the phone, read a book and get the mail.
A man will dress up for weddings and funerals.

11. NATURAL
Men wake up as good-looking as they went to bed.
Women somehow deteriorate during the night.

12. OFFSPRING
Ah, children. A woman knows all about her children. She knows about
dentist appointments and romances, best friends, favorite foods, secret
fears and hopes and dreams.
A man is vaguely aware of some short people living in the house.

13. THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Any married man should forget his mistakes. There's no use in two people
remembering the same thing.