Tag: fun

  • Poll: Does Paul look like Harry Potter?

  • I live in SoCal, not Cali

    Welcome to California
    Photo by Kristina Sohappy via Flickr (Creative Commons)

    People are generally excited to come to Southern California.

    It’s a very cool place for our family to get to live! It is somewhere we never aspired to live but are completely enjoying.

    But I have to admit that I cringe a little when I see folks I follow on Twitter or friends on Facebook say, “I’m going to Cali.”

    See, most people who live here don’t refer to where they live as “Cali.”

    We aren’t offended by it. It just automatically self-identifies you as a visitor.

    Understand that California is a big state. VERY BIG. Venti. And extremely diverse geographically, regionally, in population, and culturally. On a perfect day it’d take you 13 hours to drive from Imperial Beach to Yreka along Interstate 5. (aka “the 5”) Just in San Diego County alone there are a bunch of different climates. Ocean beaches, mountain tops, arid desserts… palm trees and citrus trees to apple and peach trees; surfer to rancher.

    To smash the whole state into a phrase like, “I’m going to Cali” just doesn’t feel right to us.

    So what do I say?

    To generalize it, you can say you are going to NorCal or SoCal even though there is no official dividing line. When we lived in Northern California there was always conversations that the North should separate from the South… that’s how different they are!

    It’s perfectly acceptable to say, “I’m going to Southern California.” So don’t feel like you have to shorten it. But if you want to, it’s SoCal.

    Better yet, you can regionalize it by saying you are going to San Diego, LA, the Central Valley, Tahoe, or the Bay Area. Headed somewhere a bit more rural? Some people describe their travels by saying what county they are headed to.

    But few of our 37 million residents will post on their Facebook page, “I’m headed back to Cali tomorrow.” Just like you wouldn’t see someone say, “I’m headed back to Ala tomorrow.” Or, “Can’t wait to fly how to Wisc.”

    At the same time. If you are coming as a tourist you can call us whatever you’d like as long as you leave some of your money here.

    Because primarily– you can call us capitalists.

  • SDSU: I believe that we will win

    SDSU: I believe that we will win

    This is more fun in person.

    As a good friend and SDSU alumni is quick to tell me, I joined the Aztecs fan-dome at just the right moment in history. It’s been amazing to see this school go from identifying itself as a party school to a campus full of pride for its athletics. (Baseball, football, and now basketball.)

    Not many people outside of Southern California have noticed this transformation. But it is exhilarating.

    When we moved into the college area almost three years ago I decided I would embrace the school… because it’s part of my neighborhood and some of our neighbors are students. Yet, as a person who grew up around a major university, I was shocked by how little people cared about SDSU. You’d rarely see non-students wearing SDSU gear, people didn’t care about the sports, and even the school itself was kind of a third or fourth choice place. Non-student neighbors didn’t take much pride in being in the college area. And, unlike in South Bend, there wasn’t a soul who had the school’s logo painted on their garage door or a school flag hanging from their flag pole.

    Not anymore.

    Yesterday was marked by three major things in the life of SDSU.

    First, they welcomed 4100 brand new freshmen on campus. They had record applications.

    Second, I rode the train home from work with a trolley car full of fans headed to the game…. this is two full hours before tip off! This is something you only see with the Charger or maybe the Padres if the Angels are in town.

    Third, the national media has no choice but to pay attention. They were the first team to 20 wins and hold the longest win streak in the NCAA.

    As I walked around the Viejas Arena last night before finding my seats I did an extra loop around the stadium because the buzz was palpable. Everyone was wearing SDSU gear, walking through campus I saw tons of visitors carrying bookstore bags… and I mumbled to myself, “This is what jumping on the bandwagon feels like.“

  • Fun street art

    There’s no real point to this one. I just thought it was super fun, creative and thought it was worth sharing.

    ht to LikeCool

  • An Ode to the Cranberry, 2010

    Photo by rjzii via Flickr (Creative Commons)

    Discovered in 1427 by Cardinal Joseph Cran, the cranberry is useful for many things. It is delicious. It is tasty. It is tart. It is good mixed with various other fruits. It floats. It is from heaven. It’s amazing canned shape invites my gobbling. It’s juice keeps away urinary track infections.

    Cranberries are magical.

    More fun facts about cranberries:

    • Cranberry and brain share the same latin root word, cranium. The Romans believed the cranberries tart flavor stimulated the brain.
    • The cranberry has medicinal values. It cures everything from a hangover to gout.
    • Cranberry bogs are protected in Vermont. It is unlawful to visit one without a permit.
    • There is a Cranberry Festival in Iowa in which the Cranberry queen is carried on a litter as citizens stuff cranberries in their cheeks like a hamster.
    • In secret ceremonies, sacrifices are made to the cranberry god in Nova Scotia.
    • It’s a little known fact that the color red in a Canadian Mounties uniform comes from the die of a cranberry.
    • There is even a cult band funded by profits from farmers, The Cranberries.
    • In 2002, George W. Bush invaded Prince Edward Island for the secret stash of the giant cranberry DNA. It’s trade name is nukler.
    • The french word for cranberry is Ponce de León. When boiled, the cranberry releases essential oils originally flowing from the fountain of youth.
    • When John F. Kennedy declared he was a jelly donut in Berlin, the jelly inside his donut was cranberry flavored.
    • At the first Thanksgiving in 1619, the leaf of cranberry trees was rolled and smoked.
    • The female cranberry is separated from the male cranberry in the processing plant. Males are bagged and served fresh. Females are jellied and canned. Left together they would multiply their goodness and overtake the world.
    • Starved for delicious fresh cranberry– Christopher Columbus discovered America. A state secret of Spain, it was recently revealed  that the Columbus party actually had 4 boats. The Nina, the Pinta, the Santa Maria, and the Cranberry.
    • The red in the United States flag… symbolic of the ancient order of the cranberry… 1749. (Betsy Ross was secretary of the order at the time)
    • It is against the law to serve turkey on Thanksgiving without cranberry sauce in the city of Cleveland, Ohio.
    • Up until 1983, cranberries were acceptable currency in Maine.

    Oh cranberries… you are welcome in my home all the time. But especially in November and December.

    Do you know more fun facts about cranberries?

    Ode to Cranberry, 2009

  • Time Lapse Video: Backyard Hummingbirds

    A few weeks ago we hung this little hummingbird feeder. We were amazed to discover that the hummingbirds (who nest in a tree in our backyard) discovered it within hours.

    Maybe it makes me sound old or stupid? But I don’t care. I love watching these amazing creatures in my backyard. And I love watching them up close when they are at the feeder.

    So every few days we take it down and clean out the little bottle of sugar water, then mix up some more for them. It’s really fun! We can’t believe how tame they are. (You can get like 6 inches from them.) And it’s really cool when they come close or “buzz the tower.”

    This morning, I thought it would be fun to set up my camera to take time lapse pictures while we went to the farmers market. All told, we captured about 2 hours of pictures… one every 10 seconds. 665 frames.

    The video above is the result.

    The song, as you may recognize, is from Jars of Clay. It’s called The Long Fall. (click here to buy it on iTunes)

  • 3 Reasons to Embrace Halloween

    Photo by Patrick Giblin via Flickr (Creative Commons)

    3 reasons why I think every Christian should embrace Halloween as a cultural phenomenon beyond personal convictions that you are endorsing evil.

    1. Don’t punish your kids for your convictions. We don’t let our kids dress up as demons or witches… but we do allow them to wear costumes because it’s fun. But to keep them at home, locked in the basement while you watch some cheesy Christian movie instead of getting bucket loads of candy tonight… that’s just mean. We are called to bring light into darkness not hide from darkness. (Ephesians 5:8-14) You can take your kids to your neighbors houses, keep them safe, and show them that being a Christian isn’t about hiding from the world.
    2. Be hospitable. I know plenty of people live in rural areas and don’t get trick-or-treaters. So you folks are exempt… for a night. But if you are like me and hundreds of kids will be walking by your house looking for a few pieces of yummy candy don’t be the jerk on your block. Head out to the store right now and get yourself a couple bags of candy. Titus 1:8 pretty much makes it clear that anyone in leadership at their church must be hospitable. Turn your light on, answer the door, and be hospitable. Even if you can’t be home tonight, leave out a bowl and turn the light on. People know what to do! (Yes, just let people steal your candy!)
    3. Don’t be afraid! I think a lot of this anti-Halloween stuff is based on terrible theology. The Bible tells us to resist the devil. Peter tells us to “resist him” which indicates a struggle. (1 Peter 5:8-9) But the Bible doesn’t tell Christians to hide from evil. Look at the example of Paul as he went to various towns. He encountered evil in all its forms and chose to bring Christ there.

    My kids are excited about Halloween. Megan is dressing up like a tiger and Paul is dressing up like a mad scientist. This year, I will be handing out candy and pleasantries with neighbors while Kristen (Baby Tres is in the belly, he is wearing a placenta costume, kind of gross but that’s what he wanted. Weirdo.) take the kids around the neighborhood.

    Maybe I’ll get in trouble for saying this? But I think Halloween is my favorite holiday.

    ht to Todd and my original post from 2007.

  • Swell Season

    The Swell Season, House of Blues San Diego, August 17th 2010

    Yesterday held one of those sweet, unexpected moments of marriage awesomeness. (Get your mind out of the gutter) We came home completely exhausted but having really enjoyed ourselves. (Again, what’s with the gutter thoughts? Knock it off!)

    It all started with an early morning check of Twitter. I had gotten a direct message from a youth worker buddy from New Mexico. It was pretty random, actually. “You live in San Diego, right? Want to see Swell Season tonight?”

    I’m not going to lie. I was confused. I was confused why a guy from New Mexico wanted to know if I wanted to see a concert. I mean, I like music… but I don’t know this guy like that. And the truth was that I wasn’t sure who Swell Season was. Was it a cheesy Christian band I’ve never heard of? The name rung a bell but I wasn’t sure where I knew the band name from and I kind of feared that they were the opener for Hawk Nelson or something.

    A couple of direct messages more and I had the story. Aaron and Heather had come to town to see Swell Season, the band from the movie Once. Yeah, one of the most romantic movies that wasn’t a chick flick I’ve ever seen. And Glen Hansgard and Markéta Irglová delivered my favorite Academy Awards moment ever with their acceptance speech for Best Original Song in 2008.

    Seriously, I just watched that video again and it still makes me cry. Freaking awesome, right?

    OK, back to earth.

    I sent Kristen a quick email. Just sent the link and said, “Do you want to go?” She responded back with a very romantic “YES” and the date was on.

    We met up with Aaron and Heather from their hotel and went over to El Indio for a taco. It was fun to get to hang with Aaron outside of the context of NYWC and to meet Heather. I’ve  got this corny little saying that you can’t really know a person until you meet their spouse. So now I feel like I got to know Aaron in a whole new light and that was cool. The guys talked youth ministry and church shop while the ladies talked about… well, I have no idea because Aaron and I were talking about youth ministry and church stuff!

    From there, we went over to the House of Blues. It’s a great venue which provides a real sense of intimacy between the artist and the audience. The opening act was pretty fun. But he was an opener and I can’t remember his name. (Isn’t that the job of an opener?)

    That guy played his set and then there was a little break where we chatted some more. Then, the main act came up.

    I don’t know really how to describe Swell Season live. I’d heard that they were really fun live and that’s totally true. Hansgard is super savvy at working an audience. He gets them to see along sweetly to his tunes. And the interplay between himself and Markéta is over-the-top romantic.

    They are ridiculously wonderful live. You get lost in their harmonies. They take you on a ride into long and slow ballads only to be lifted out of that pit with a fun song. And, of course, the whole time you are left to wonder… “Are they together?” and “I wonder if this would be a good song to play on the streets of Dublin busking?”

    The show ended late. We drove Aaron and Heather back to their hotel. And we made it home right before both of us fell into a deep sleep.

    A swell night with some new friends and The Swell Season.

  • Garden Update: Success and Failure

    Note: This was my first iPhone movie. Stupid me didn’t use the HD end of the camera. Sorry about that!

    Here are a few more pictures I shot this evening.

  • Coronado Beach Day

    It was fun to just relax at the beach yesterday. We all got a bit too much sun. The water was frigid. (57 degrees!) But we found a good parking spot and set up… and just did nothing. You’ll see in the pictures that the kids had a blast jumping off and playing on a very large mound of kelp and sand.

    I guess this means summer is officially here.