Fake English

Jason F. in our office speaks amazing "fake French" and regularly makes us all burst out laughing doing so.

Yesterday,Erin-the-Wonder-Woman and I were talking about Jason's talent, when Erin asked...."I wonder if people in other countries speak Fake English?"

Then, knowing we have the world of knowledge at our finger tips she said, "Hey, check You Tube."

And as it turns out, we weren't the only ones who wondered. This video sets up the concept. Then, check the responses.

The Mural

So, this is how the mural at Crosspointe is shaping up. (Though I was working last week and don't have Jody's latest edition. And I think Sunny may have added some things to her portion on the lower right.)

Since we are painting a series that is looking at scripture as a whole, the symbology that plays throughout has taken on a whole new meaning for me. For the first time, I saw the significance in the thorns that are part of the curse when Adam and Eve are exiled in the book of Genesis (Jody added them to the right side of the first image) to the crown of thorns that Christ wore on the cross.

My contribution was "twigs." And as I thought about the symbology of the first sighting of green....of life...I just couldn't get the picture of the dove with a leaf in her mouth out of my head. A dove coming to Noah. A dove falling on Jesus at his baptism. The sign of the Holy Spirit. Beautiful.

I love looking at the theme of creation, fall, redemption and restoration as the story that is unfolding. A story that God is still writing...

Unexpected visit

Chase was in Denton yesterday and came to spend the night at our house.

Unexpected drop-ins from grown kids is awesome.

Classical music

For a girl who has lived her life to a soundtrack of pop punk music, I've been completely taken aback by my newfound love of classical music. It started with meditation. In Sahaja Yoga they use music (either classical Indian or classical European) to improve focus by creating good vibrations. Until that, I'm not sure I ever thought about how physical music is. (Though when I go to hear a band I always find myself moving to the "sweet spot"...the place on the floor where the music moves evenly through your body. That is, if there isn't a mosh pit in the way.)

Not only is music physical, but it also speaks to our emotions. Often providing catharsis beyond that of a therapist. And, it can alter mood. If I feel bummed, I can plug in my "energy" playlist and be completely changed in about 15 minutes. Then there is the effect music has on our memory--recalling time and place unexpectedly more fully than a photo can.

So, if music has all of this power, what about the classics? Is there something really powerful about the music that people have enjoyed for hundreds of years?

I ran across this video on Ron Martoia's velocityvortx blog. It played into this odd new love of mine. The video is 18 minutes long. Don't start it unless you can see it through. Is worth your time. Even if you are a "punk rock prom queen."



Now, if we could get the announcers on WRR to sound like Benjamin Zander, the classical world might begin new life in other iPods alongside Evanescence and Relient K.

The Sucky World of Conjunction Mode

Okay all you children of the 80's....complete this song: Conjunction Junction what's your function....hooking up _______________. Most children who grew up in the US from 1973 to 1986 saw School House Rock on ABC's Saturday morning cartoons and can complete the words to that song along with "5, 10, 15, 20...", "Lolly, lolly, lolly get your adverbs here" and "I'm just a bill, yes I'm only a bill and I'm sitting here on Capitol Hill."

Conjunction Junction --a personal favorite--featured a railroad conductor putting cars together. So, going back to the words...

Conjunction Junction, what's your function?
Hooking up words and phrases and clauses.
Conjunction Junction, how's that function?
I got three favorite cars
That get most of my job done.
Conjunction Junction, what's their function?
I got "and", "but", and "or",
They'll get you pretty far.

The reality is that most of us hate the times we are in "conjunction mode". Phil Keaggy (with Wes King and Scott Dente on the Invention album) put it well...

I am neither this nor that, I'm not here or there;
I am in between something and somewhere.

And most of us hate the in between places. Being between jobs, between relationships, between school and career, between moving from one place to another. Worse, God seems to keep us in those "conjunction" places for an uncomfortably long time. And the thing about "conjunction mode" is that it doesn't really seem to be anything. Just the empty space between the railroad cars.

Which is scary, because you can see the tracks racing under your feet. The thing is, the tracks are always there. It is just that having a tin car around you makes you feel like you are safe. Like you have some control.

For those of us who believe in a God who loves us, the reality is that we are no more "safe" being here or there than being in between "something and somewhere." And it occurs to me that God likes conjunction mode because we become so much more aware of the differences between us and Him. We realize we don't have control. That we aren't "safe. And once we get over that, we can enjoy the scenery that usually gets eclipsed by the tin walls of the railroad cars.

Just don't look down. You'll likely freak out.

It's all about scale...

I took a picture of this art installation at Willow Bend Mall because I thought it was really cool. However, when I looked at the photo on my iPhone, I was disappointed, because you couldn't tell just how really cool it was.






So, I sent John downstairs to be part of the picture.

Sense of scale makes all the difference.

The Red Hair Bow

This morning at Bic's with Nancy, I saw a woman who was probably in her 70's with a red hair bow in her blondish gray hair.

And for some reason it gave me hope. Hope that I don't ever really have to grow old. That I can still do girly things.

I'm thrilled to find out, I never have to outgrow the little things that are simply pretty for pretty's sake. That growing older doesn't have to mean growing completely practical.

So, Red-Bow-Lady...I raise my coffee cup to you in salute!