Testing...

Just found out this is still a weblog.  I'm working on putting something together so I wanted to see if this thing still is a thing...time to waker 'er up and see what happens

this is all very exciting

Things I learned on Vacation

If I was going to give you advice on how to plan and enjoy your vacation, I'd point to just a few keys to the whole deal:

-Tops on the list to any succesful vacation is asking your Aunt Debbie to stay at one of her houses in a resort area.

-You might also throw a roll of paper towels in the back of your miniature van for spills.

There's a big dropoff after those two gems.

I will say that it's fun to eat at a few restaurants owned by Food Network Stars.  Keep in mind that you pay 12-140% more for a meal, but it'll be a good one.

The ocean is a good bet.  It's free - beautiful - you can people watch and/or whale watch - you can kill animals (starfish, sanddollars, etc.) or be killed by animals (sharks, stingray, deranged postal worker, etc)

If you can't make it to the ocean, then you should at least rent Point Break and eat a sour patch kid every time Bodhi risks his life or punches Keanu.

I should work for Fodors...

River Cats We Barely Knew You...

The River Cat's season is no more.
Griffin's baseball team ended with a one run loss in the semi-finals of this year's championship run.

old pic...couldn't find one from this year

Cooper's baseball season is over as well, and that means a few things:

1.  We aren't at 6 hours of warmups and baseball games every Saturday

2.  Neither of their teams will win this year's World Series

3.  Um...feels like there should be at least three if I'm going to start numbering things...

Griffin had a great playoff run.  He was 7 for 7 in his last two games.  In the final game he threw a kid out trying to steal third base, was 4 for 4 and hit two balls over the head of the centerfielder.  I couldn't think of a better way for his season to end...

...outside of them maybe winning the game...that would have been good too...

Take your daddy to work day

Parker brought me in to the office today.  She's showing me the ropes and helping me to get organized. 

Turns out my desk is a mess...

We're hoping that she'll be able to help get things going for the Summer of Service.

I hear they're finishing up details and still need a bunch of people to help out.

She was hoping to speak one night, but lately she's been thinking more about wrapping the popcorn bags...both are good...

Nick of Time

This isn't a review of the mid-90's Johnny Depp vehicle with Christopher Walken....but I dare you to find a motion picture with two of the greats that is equally as bad as that motion picture.

Nope - I just read the Kindle version of this Tim Downs novel.  Under the title it reads, "A Bug Man Novel".  I didn't see that when I selected this book.  I probably wouldn't have selected it...

It's nothing against bugs - or men for that matter - it's just that I'm generally not jumping on board anything with bugman in the title.

Having said that - this is a pretty solid book.  It reads sort of like the popular television series Bones plays out.  Part mystery - part forensic science - part romantic will they/won't they.

Here's the best thing I can say about the book.  I kept wondering if the main character was in other books.  It just read like one book in a series of books....and the kind of series I'd like to read.

That settles it, right?  If you want to read more books with this character then you obviously like the book...that just makes sense.

So there's a little bit of action - a little big of clever dialogue - a little bit of bug factoids - and in the end Bruce Willis was a ghost.

I'd give this book a looksy if I was picking out one or two vacation novels.

Livin on a Prayer

We're halfway there

Our family has decided to simplify our lives through the reduction of our collective stuff.
I have no idea how much stuff we have, but I do know that it's about to drop by a thousand.

The sad thing is that when I brought this idea up - it seemed like no big deal.  That's a sure sign that we have way too much stuff.

On some level it's difficult to feel like I'm an outsider living by a different rules - walking against the grain of the world and living for the Kingdom...while watching my new flatscreen television and ignoring my neighbors. (still suffering from buyer's remorse from that cursed television)

I'm not sure reducing the amount our stuff actually moves me forward in that direction, but it can't hurt.
Very simply, we have more than our share of stuff.

So we're putting things into boxes.
We have the Keep box
We have a Give Away box
We have a Sell box
& we have a Throw Away box

We've given a bunch of clothese, books & toys to our neighbors, friends and the Healing Center.

We sold 175 books & magazines to Half Priced Books and we still have boxes to go through in our basement.   Side note - those books & magazines went for $37....so that's probably not going to pay the mortgage this month.

We've thrown away a silly amount of stuff.  I had no idea that we had so many half filled notebooks, video tapes and broken electronics.

We're halfway there.  We just hit 500 items and will continue to move forward. 

I hope to one day only own two sets of clothing and Dennis Miller's Off White Album.

one day at a time

20/20

A few notes from our recent staycation:
-Genius idea to get those passes to the King's Island (side note: not really an island...saw no king)
-Good idea to get those Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden passes

Coop flying at the King's Island

-Scheduling something for every single morning and every single night was dumb
-We celebrated Parker's 5th birthday and Annie's as well...not fifth...

Mist tunnel at the Zoo is genius

-Annie and I took six weeks of Foster/Adoption classes in three days (we're super smart)
-Several baseball games were watched
-We enjoyed another awesome night at Prasco Park with free Chick Fil-A, ice cream, t-shirts and more Chick Fil-A


free ice cream, baseball, chick fil-a, and family night out

-We hung out with a lot of great friends
-We cured cancer
-No animals were harmed during the entire staycation (unless you count those delicious chickens that gave up their lives so that the good people at the baseball game could enjoy them)

Summer Living Having a Blast

See what I did there?  What I did was take some popular lyrics from a motion picture from back in...

Anyhow, we have some plans for this year's Staycations.

2 Biggies are popping up on the list this year

1.  The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens.
This is how it works - the Zoo is how they got my money - the botanical gardens are what keep you coming back again and again... "Quick dad, let's go look at those Rhododendrons!"

2.  King's Island

I haven't been there in about ten years.  This just seems tailor made for a family more known for their staycations than their trips abroad.  You could spend a day at the park, a day a Boomerang Bay and you could spend a day in line for one of the rides.  That's three days right there. 

Also in the works - The Murphy Family Olympiad II

I've been working on my three balloon float time and am excited about this year's new event - The let's see how long we can stay quiet while dad reads a book on his nook

Should be a great summer

Addition Addiction

I'm addicted to one thing
more

I want more entertainment, more electronics, more Bruegger's Bagels Herby Turkey sandwiches, more of Isaac's stories, more History channel, more money, more leadership, more tools, more hot water, more time with Annie, more...

More is a funny word.  Not - let's welcome to the stage More - kind of funny.  More like, "I was talking to more the other day and she really has an interesting way of saying things" kind of funny.

William Idol once said, "too much is never enough" and I think he snarled in the middle, but I wasn't sure how to convey that via weblog.

I'm addicted to excess.  I love more...but I'm not sure it always loves me back...
 Today maybe I'll cut back on a few things...bit by bit...I could keep writing, but that'd be more

Q City Players Contract Rider Goes Public

For years people have asked to see this.
Young Improvisers have asked for it, comedians, actors, you name it.  We wanted to keep this private, but it's finally been announced that WikiLeaks is going to publish this anyway...

So here is the official Q City Players contract rider:

-A black station wagon is to meet the talent at the nearest available airport and honk the horn every 30 seconds until all the luggage and talent have boarded.  The driver must wear a ship's captain hat.

-Backstage is to be open to the Q City Players fanclub 2 days prior to their performance to set up the hospitality suite.

-Chris Day's "Assistant" is to be referred to as Ralph Machio and/or Florence Henderson - depending on the outfit

-All of the non-brown M & M's are to be removed from the 33 ounce glass bowl backstage

-7 white socks are to be placed on each of six wooden stools

-No one is to look Chris Smyth directly in the eye, nor Isaac directly in the beard.

-Management is to inform the staff that at any point they may be slapped

-There is to be no mention of Joe's waxed arms

-At any point Sean Michael Murphy might require the services of a local meteorologist

-in the event of a hurricane, tornado, thunderstorm or light rain - the performers reserve the right to not perform

-Missy is to be referred to as Missy, Miss or Mrs. Jackson if you're nasty

-6 1 liter bottles of Diet Mr. Pibb and one Grape Nehi are to be cooled to 45 degrees

-a local boy scout guide is to provide Eddie with directions to 3 local Indian burial grounds

-Jen would like to keep track of everyone in the room's cellular telephones

-Absolutely no animals are to be harmed in the preparation for their performance...outside of cats...that's cool

-a tattoo artist is to be on hand and prepared to ink up any of the performer's wives at any point

-the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is to allowed instant backstage access without showing identification or anything else for that matter

-The talent will do press with the following news organizations only:
 -READERS DIGEST
 -HIGHLIGHTS FOR KIDS
 -BACKPACKER MAGAZINE
 -TV GUIDE
 -OPRAH
 -THE LANTERN
 -FULLER'S BLOG

-There are to be no urinals on the premises

-We're really serious about the urinal thing

-Alton Alexander is to be tackled if he attempts to walk on stage

-The Q City Players receive 90% of all proceeds from their:
 -Q City Players alarm clocks
 -Q City Players slippers
 -Q City Players autographed Styrofoam cups
 -Q City Players tote w/luggage tags
 -Q City Players gold plated, jewel-encrusted crunk cups

-No references to Dave Coulier please

Good Earth Day

I'm never sure what to get Earth on it's big day.  You hate to give her a gift card, but you know that that's probably what she wants.  It's just not very original...and who wants to buy a practical gift?
Not me.

I finally landed on a tried and true unoriginal, yet somewhat creative gift.
I'm going homemade coupon book.

Here's a sample of what I gave Earth:

-Good for one back rub

-one night free babysitting

-I'll clean any room you choose

-3 days of not making fun of Antarctica

-free car wash

-breakfast in bed

-I'll stop construction on my Styrofoam city

-a hug

I hear it's also Good Friday.  Seems like an odd name for the day.  You'd think we would have gone with awful Friday, Sad Friday...or if you're familiar with the ending - Awesome Friday or Grace Friday.  Good Friday just seems kindda Vanilla.

On the flip side, Vanilla is delicious...so there's that...

Radically Unleashed into a Sold Out Wanderer fighting the Current Religion Institutional Systems

I sometimes wonder if the church has become a sounding board of awesome ideas unrealized.  We're awesome at planning/talking/writing, and not as awesome at doing/being.

I look at sermons on prayer vs. unattended prayer meetings.  Sermons on serving vs. unfilled serving roles.  Articles about sacrifice vs. the reality of unmet needs.  Weblog posts complaining about stuff vs me doing something about it... So this was my fear about Unleashed.  Was this another book about reaching into something amazing that would revolutionize the world!?!?

O.K., enough about me.  I'm here to review the Erwin McManus book Unleashed.  I was sent a free copy of the book in exchange for the following words...which means this weblog post is worth about twelve bucks.

This was a fairly quick read because I realized fairly early in that I'd already read The Barbarian Way.
Turns out this was the same book.
A cynic would say that he's just trying to sell more books without having to write new books.
A cynic would point out that that first guy was just being cynical -and judgmental on top of that.
A more sensitive person would ask why I was assuming the cynic was a guy.

Turns out that Erwin liked his first book but the title made it seem like a book that only men would read.  I'm not really sure about the etymology of Barbarian...but I'd probably assume he was talking about a dude too. (stop judging me, Erwin said it first)

So my first thought was this was another hipster pastor who loved to talk about this radical thing that would go against the grain of traditional faith/church/christians/thinking.  This isn't your grandpa's faith, yo!

My second thought was - maybe this guy is the real deal.  Maybe it isn't just words on a page.  Why don't you just read it for what it is?

Turns out it's a pretty solid read.  Erwin challenges, encourages and points to something more than jumping through the hoops of life and faith.  He talks of a raw, unscripted life that points toward stepping into things that are unfamiliar or, at best, uncomfortable.

"Perhaps the tragedy of our time is that such an overwhelming number of us who declare Jesus as Lord have become domesticated - or, if you will, civilized. We have lost the simplicity of our early faith. Beyond that, we have lost the passion and power of that raw, untamed, and primal faith." p.12

If you like books that challenge you and/or cause you to re-evaluate your day to day marching orders...this probably would be worth a read.

Unbelievable

I'm being asked to work all this week.  Next week too!

I know.

A couple of quick facts

1.  Today is April the 20th

2.  The Wedding of the Century is April the 29th.

3.  That's single digits

4.  I know that four facts is not a couple of facts, but sometimes I just keep typing...

How am I supposed to work while so much needs to be done in preparation for the wedding?

How am I expected to feed and care for my children when we're moments from the single greatest event of our lifetime?

This is a guy that was born into a family.  This is a girl that is marrying a guy that was born into a family.  This is an historic occasion of two people who have accomplished so much coming together as one.

If people don't see that as a reason to close the post offices, schools, swimming pools and all Dave & Busters - well this isn't the America that I was born into!

Movie party thing

Big Movie release party tonight.  There are a couple of things you should know about this motion picture - Hitting the Nuts.

1.  It was improvised

2.  It's been in two film festivals so far

3.  It was voted - Best Feature Film, 2011 Derby City Film Festival

4.  It was voted - Audience Choice for Best Feature Film, 2010 Cincinnati International Film Festival

5.  No animals were hurt in the making of this motion picture
6.  When you get the best possible hand dealt to you in poker, you have just "hit the nuts"
7.  What I'm saying is this isn't actually a reference to getting hit in your bathing suit parts
8.  My friend Joe worked really hard on this, and it's pretty great to see someone's hard work pay off
9.  It's for sale here.
9.  The party is tonight at Go Bananas Comedy Club doors open at 7:30.
10. We're going to perform improvised comedy at the aforementioned club
11. You're invited

God and Guinness

In the interest of full disclosure, I was sent this book for free in return for this review.

Also in the interest of full disclosure, I used to steal quarters off my dad's desk.

My dad (the one who was always asking, "Where'd all my quarters go?" )  Had a house built on the west coast of Ireland.  He loved to travel there and hang out with the locals.  He also knew that he had to take visitors to all of the tourist spots when they traveled there for the first time.  One of the obvious tourist spots was St. Patrick's Cathedral.  I remember being in this amazing tribute to God and wondering, "Do they really have a gift shop here?  Is that a Guinness key chain they're selling here?"

Yup

We also went to the Guinness factory in Dublin.  Hypocritically they had no God key chains for sale in their gift shop.  If only I'd read this book before visiting the factory. I wasn't sure what to expect when I first picked up this book, but soon found myself drawn into the amazing story of this incredible family. I'm sure I'd be just as impressed if they'd produced ankle socks, but I probably wouldn't have visited their factory.

I read the book wondering what the connection ultimately was with God and Guinness, and I'm not sure this book was completely satisfying in that regard. I think "Guinness and God" would probably be a more accurate title, but that doesn't change the fact that this bit of history was engaging from start to finish. I should also mention that there is quite a bit of history of alcohol and the church beyond Guinness.

You could categorize this book as a history book, a business book, a social responsibility book, or even a biography of sorts.

I've already recommended the book to several friends, one of whom is reading my copy at this very moment... It's definitely worth a read & it's a quick one at that.

Angry with the Wiffle Balls!

I received an electronic message via my cellular telephone yesterday informing me that I was a winner. 

Actually it read, "You lucky SOB"

As a Christian man I assumed that "SOB" meant servant of Bible - turns out it meant that I won a kindle from the Seeker.

I immediately made plans to buy an electronic copy of Rob Bell's book and burn it, but then someone told me that I'd also lose the Kindle...and my street cred. (side note - I'm not jumping onto either side of this whole thing.  One side is mad about the book assuming what it says - One side is mad at people that they're assuming haven't read the book - a third side hasn't read the book and hasn't been pulled into the anger of either position - a fourth side is wondering how many sides this thing really has?)

So here's the Sophie's choice moment - Do I get the Kindle and enjoy words electronically, or do I trade her in and opt for a Nook and/or some sort of Android type tablet?

Keep this in mind - Sophie was choosing which one of her kids would live and/or die.

I'm making a similar decision, except it's what I should buy with Amazon dollars. 

So I already have the Kindle application on my laptop computer - I can enjoy the Ripple from the convenience of this device and/or my new tablet.

I'm really at a crossroads here.

they're watching us...

I've received four electronic mail messages in the past week informing me that I'm about to get electronically harassed by the spam terrorists.

Scary, right?
Sure - I'll go ahead and answer for you.

It was interesting when one company sent me a "we screwed up" note.  Turns out they're system was hacked into and that means that everything they knew about me is now known by the electro-terrorists (working on the copy write on that one).  It was disturbing when the second company sent me basically the same message.

It was alarming when my bank sent me the same note.  My bank's system was hacked! (that warrants an exclamation, does it not?)

Assuming the electro-terrorists know my passwords, that means it's fairly likely they've hacked this site...so it stands to reason that I'm not even writing this...

That means they've hacked this weblog and now they have access to your computer and will fairly soon steal all your stuff and sell it on the electronic bay.

Where will it stop?

Gospel in a verse?

Someone once told me that the entire Gospel (Good News) was contained in one verse - Romans 6:23



For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

He explained that it quickly sums up the results of our living lives separate of a God who loves us...which is demonstrated by His gift to us.  It doesn't tell us how to earn it, deserve it or create a plan around getting it...it's a gift.  It's the ultimate in good news.  Good probably falls a little short here.


There are entire religions built around being a good person - doing the right thing.  That doesn't describe the receiver of a gift - that describes the receiver of a paycheck.

A gift is something received or rejected, but never earned...


I'm not sure any one verse can sum up the great news - but I do like this one...

Tweet like fortunate post

My fortune cookie read:

"Your mentality is alert, practical and analytical.

Lucky #'s 3, 6, 10, 18, 24 & 40"

That's sortta ironic, right?

trippy

stare at this for 30 seconds (not the clock, the website linked) unless you're epileptic...that'd be bad....



and then stare at the back of your hand that's on your mouse...

weird, huh?