Batman Movie Inconveniences Me

The next instalment of the Batman series is being filmed in downtown Chicago right now and I'm sick of it! Twice now I have not been allowed to walk down the street because of some "dangerous scene" taking place. This Saturday after going to the House of Blues, Megan and I were walking around and decided to go see Navy Pier... and we couldn't! Why? Because of a low flying helicopter stunt (okay that does actually sound dangerous). And a few weeks ago I had to go the long way to Union Station because of a bunch of GPD (Gotham Police Department) cars were driving around. When will the madness end???

Zoos, Blues, and Cardboard Boats

I know everyone out there is dying to here what I did this past weekend, so are you ready?? I went to the Brookfield Zoo, the House of Blues, and, along with the other Leadership Residents, David and Aaron, jugded the Stuco cardboard boat race in the retention pond outside CCC. How about that for a good time.

The zoo was great! We saw polar bears, gorillas, otters, hippos, monkeys, alligators, penguins, fish of various sizes and types, rhinos...The animals were so entertaining. I saw John Wasem Jr. at the House of Blues, and he does a great live show. The cardboard boat race was hysterical. Some kids put a lot of time into it, others just covered a box with duct tape. And then they got into the goose poop filled pond - yuck! Just a sampling of the interesting thing to be done in the Chicagoland area.

I Miss You!

Having recently moved far away from everyone I care about, I was thinking about what it means to miss someone. What is it about close proximity that heals the hole in our hearts that distance creates? Talking on the phone, seeing pictures and video, it all helps but nothing is the same as standing face to face, the same as hugs and kisses. So much of who we are is wrapped up in that need for closeness, both physical and emotional. Even as I create friendships here, my thoughts are often with leaving for New York, or with people back in Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama (even Idaho). Why do I get to meet amazing people where ever I go, only to have to say goodbye? It's hard to be fully present here knowing I'll be saying goodbye in a few months. How am I supposed to keep doing this for an entire year? Arghhhh!! God is using this, I will be stronger, more loving, more pastoral, more of who I'm meant to be. Wow, this blog was kind of a downer, but it was very cathartic. Thank you.

Office work? Oxymoron?

I am currently getting no work done. Once again proving that the office is not the most efficent place to be. What I have done:

• watched three youtube videos
• talk to people (which could count as ministry)
• watch people shop for fabric online
• go to lunch
• write in my blog
• discuss the virtues of pleather furniture (Charissa)
• David mentioned "beaniebabies" a lot in order to make the list

Hmmm, maybe I should leave.

Don't Leave Tofu in Your Car Overnight

On Sunday we had a girls' night out beginning with dinner at my new favorite restaurant, Joy Yee. I had a dish called, "Japanese tofu and two mushrooms" (exactly what it sounds like, in fact, you can see it at the bottom of the lower picture) at it was amazing! After more food than any of us could eat, we headed over to the movie theater to watch Becoming Jane, a satisfying but depressing story of Jane Austen's early years, as imagined by Hollywood writers. The guy that played the lead was also in The Last King of Scotland and the Chronicles of Narnia which seems like pretty big genre leaps, but he manages to act has convincingly in all three: a faun, a naive Scottish doctor in Uganda, and a lovesick 19th century law student (with a British accent everything sounds good).

Anyway, back to the title of this entry. I forgot my leftover in the backseat of my car. It now reeks of garlic, mushrooms and tofu. It has been raining consistently so I can't put down my windows. I'm going to try putting drier sheets in the car tomorrow and hopefully that will help. If not, I can always leave a banana in the car, those always seem to overpower anything.

You Know What Assuming Does...

I wonder how much of the world's problems are cause by misunderstandings or simply different expectations. What for one person is the most important thing in life, can be inconsequential to another. What happens when those people interact, when they have to depend on one another? Someone gets hurt, someone gets blamed and neither side understands the other. I'm going through a bizarre situation like this, and while I can't go into detail, it is so frustrating to be misunderstood, to have assumptions made about you that aren't true. My priorities are in one place and theirs are in another and I guess I just have to leave it at that.

DuPage Demolition Derby

On Sunday night I went with some friends from CCC to the DuPage County Fair. It was reassuring to know that county fairs are the same all over the country. I could have easily been in Guyton, Georgia or Montgomery, Alabama as I was in Wheaton, Illinois. The food is the same, so are the booths selling t-shirts with dragons and scantily clad women, the plethora of goats, and the inordinate amount of people wearing cowboy hats.

The main attraction at the fair that night was the SOLD OUT demolition derby. That's right, people living in the suburbs of Chicago will pack out a high school-sized stadium to watch cars smash into each other... and now I can see why. That series of slow speed accidents was memorizing, pack with suspense. Which car will survive the longest? Is the liquid leaking out of the front flammable? All this is to say, if a demolition derby comes to town, put on your cowboy hat, grab the goat and go.