Missions Festivus

Against my more sleep-induced judgement I went to the closing ceremonies...of Missions Fest, not the Olympics, with Matt, Erika, and Miranda. I was quite tired, but am so glad that I went. The night consisted of various ethnis groups worshipping in their own style - Punjabi, Sudanese, Korean, Chinese. It was quite a thing to feel a connection with these people as we had almost nothing in common other than a love for Christ. Couldn't understand the words, couldn't always appreciate the vibe, but, as one of the Sudanese guy pointed out, we were all there for one reason and that reason was the same - Giving God His due.

The other thing I came away from that night with was a re-conviction that God has set me aside for ministry. What that ministry looks like I am not completely sure yet, but I have had this overwhelming sense that God has great things for me to do in furthuring His Kingdom. This is a sense that has stayed with me since I was 12. I realize it could be a self-fulfilled deal, "Hey I like China. I think God is calling me there. Wow, people at Missions Fest think it's a good idea to go do missions. It must be a sign!", but I can feel God's purpose driving my life (just for you Matt...if you still read blogs).

And speaking of dogs getting neutered...Murphy is doing well after his surgery yesterday. He's somewhat dissapointed with me for some reason, but he understands that it is for the good of the many.

Neo-Quasi-Pseudo-Hippy-Ish

A friend of mine recently said that I am becoming a neo-hippy. I think I like that idea. Granted, I don't agree with all of the pillars of hippydom, but I do resonate with most of the ideas. So, following in that strain, I am thinking about selling the Golf and buying a scooter.

Now I don't know if hippies would ride scooters, but I am a modern Neo-Quasi-Pseudo-Hippy so I can break the rules. I do know that it saves a huge amount of strain on the environment (not to mention my wallet) and the scooter culture (insert sarcastic jab here) is fairly parallel to the Neo-Quasi-Pseudo-Hippy culture. Yes, I will have to ride the bus for a number of months in the winter (unless we have more winters like this current one), but that's a small price to pay.

And of course I don't want just any old boring modern scooter, but rather one from the good old days of yore. Yes, a '60s Vespa! Such as this:



Oh Yeah!!!

Notent Notables

A couple of things have stricken me as quite funny in the last couple of days and, since I know that you all hang on every word I say, I thought I would share them for edification. The first humorous sighting was pointed out by my wife so the porps go to her. Whilst filling up with gas at the local Mohawk (the choice of a new generation..."ting") we noticed that the guy in front of us at the pump was regailed in ETS attire. There he was, ETS sweater, pants, and even the clipped on badge, filling his sedan with gas. It almost made me want to jump in the front seat, put $2 in his ashtray, and asked to be dropped off on 71st.

The second event was at Erika's new workplace (King's) where I saw a large number of green slips of paper which read "Want to save trees?" in large letters. The point was to apply for classes online, thus avoiding paper applications, but I found it funny that these cards were so big and made of heavy construction paper.

Yup, that's the speed of my week so far.

Le Wok du Samuel

Sweet, glorious, flaming monkey!!! Sam Wok is so good!

I wonder, if and when I go to China, if I will be able to come back and enjoy Chinese food from these western restaurants. It might be like going to Smitty's or Denny's for breakfast where the only saving grace is that you don't have to slaughter the pig (vegetarians read: artificially flavored and colored rabbit food made to look as though it were some sort of actual meat byproduct, which is ridiculous because the whole point of being a vegetarian is to avoid eating meat and if you've finally escaped the mysterious world of hotdogs and lunch meat why would you possibly want to be reminded of such atrocities? Seems like a fruitless endeavor to me…oh, the pun!) yourself or do the dishes because the food is nowhere near as good as ma makes.

How Do You Spell 'Aughalughlagh'?

I came this close ( || ) to purchasing a dream on Monday (translation: I almost made the biggest mistake of my life by purchasing said dream without appropriate authorization from higher powers (read: wife), thus forfeiting my life, but man, it would have been a sweet way to go). Matt and I went test-driving…enough said. But I'll say more anyway. Matt wanted to drive the new Mini. I know what you're thinking - Matt and I and the car guy in a Mini; that's a caper in itself. But we were somewhat disappointed with the car so we went for an old standby…Volkswagen.

I've been looking at trading in the old Golf (9 years old already!) for a new Jetta so we went to check it out. I've been eyeing the diesels, but decided to test the 2.0L turbo model…SWEET MONKEY!!! I couldn't keep the smile off my face as I schooled almost every car on the road. I realize that 200 hp is not the most powerful car ever produced, but I think it was more the change from the dearly loved golf to a four-banger with no shortage of WOOHOO! Think uncle Bob pushing you uphill on a magic sandpaper carpet compared to a greased monkey entering the atmosphere! I mean, you can see what I'm talking about right?!

Then Matt made the fatal mistake of "checking out the Audi show room." Then it was all like, "Oh, you have a demo model A3 at an insanely reduced price for 0 down and payments which are actually within the scope of reason?" "No, I don't even like Audis. They make me want to puke!" "Aughalughlagh!"

I suppose it's for the best though. I don't know if I could get used to looking down on everyone like that. I hear it's lonely at the top.