conflict

Chris Noth is leaving Law & Order. No big deal, right? Sure...unless you read further into the story and discover who is replacing him.

That's right - it's Jeff Goldblum. We live in a golden age my friends. We will someday talk to our grandkids, or just random kids at the playground, about Ten Speed & Brownshoe, The Big Chill, The Fly, every appearance on Conan. We live in the Goldblum era.

But Law & Order?

It feels a little like The Bus has joined a really bad football team. Isn't he better than this?

Does my affinity for J.G. mean I have to start watching this show?

It's quite a conflict. It'd be like a hall of fame football player appearing on a dance show.

or

Like The Rolling Stones or the Beatles releasing their songs for car commercials.

It'd be like a politician going bowling in a small town to show them that they're just like the little people.

It just doesn't add up.

I'm just not sure what to do...

The Mayor's House

Griffin had his second to last game called on account of overreaction this week. They also canceled his last game because of the storm. It was supposed to be on Saturday, so they all just went to CiCi's instead.

Each kid received a trophy and the coach said a few kind words. Griffin has had a pretty solid season this year. In this league if they miss the pitches on the machine, they hit off the tee. I'm not sure how many at bats Griff had, but I'm guessing it was somewhere around 50. He only had to hit off the tee twice, and he did fairly well in the field too.

So he was nothing if not consistent.

But the coach didn't really talk about that. He referred to Griff as the "team mayor". He talked about Griffin being an includer and someone who knows and talks to everyone.

And I'll take that any day. It's fun living with the mayor.
We've got a pretty cool kid...

Freakin' omics

just a thought here...

I've heard that the top two vocations involving people who might someday follow through with a suicide attempt are....

any guesses?

1. Police Officer
2. Dentist

I also know that your chances of committing suicide actually go up if you win the lottery...funny, huh? O.K., that's not funny at all. Tragic really. Why would you laugh at that?

It's not too hard to figure out why those two vocations would involve so much depression. Even though you're helping, and even saving the lives of, people every day...or at least every once in a while...nobody really is excited to see you.

I take that back. Some people are very excited to see you. When you need a cop or a dentist, you REALLY want to see one. You're desperate.

Unfortunately, 99% of the time you're not so excited to see them. They pick this up. It depresses them.

Here's what I've also noticed. The percentage of cops with mustaches is considerably higher than non-police officers with mustaches. So what I'm wondering is this - does the depression drive you to the mustache, or is there some sort of officer peer pressure that demands it?

I'm thinking it's the peer pressure. My reasoning is simple. I've had three dentists in my life and have known four. Zero out of four dentists had a mustache. Oh sure, one was a woman...but still...zero out of three men dentists had mustaches.

I think I've made my point here.
you're welcome

stacation

The stacation ends today at 8:30. It's fun to hang out at home when you have a funny wife and awesome kids. (for the record, Annie is awesome as well...and the kids are getting there with the funny...we're working on their timing right now)

Quick summary of time spent:
-hung out at home with family
-hung out at home with friends
-hung out with friends out and about
-36 holes of frisbee golf (only one lost disc, but still undefeated in '08)
-some reading
-some tv-ing

-18 holes of golf on a miniature course (and still without defeat)
-some basketball
-some Blokus

I'm fighting to not play Brad's favorite GoGo's song to end this post...
I'm hoping it's at least in your head now...

early 4th of July sale

For the second day in a row Griffin's garage sale failed to bring in any income for the boy.

I'm not sure what to do about this. I've got him reading Seth Godin, putting together marketing proposals and moving around his displays...but nothing in two days.

I was getting on him about not moving any product, but he's undeterred. I mentioned that Monday is probably not a good day for a yard sale...and Tuesday isn't much better...and he told me I lacked vision.

His best item up for sale is probably his spiderman action figure ($1) followed up by plastic tennis racquet with a hole in it ($10). He's brought in a partner from next door. He figures that he can be the anchor store and Kendrick can come in and move a couple of his items. So far Kendrick has added a plastic fireman's hat (warning: this is merely a toy and is not intended for the use of fighting actual fires) and he MIGHT be willing to sell his bike. It's a really good item, so he might sell it for one dollar. (according to Griff)

EVERYTHING MUST MOVE! COME ON DOWN!

Griffin hasn't come up with a name for his garage sale yet, but I'm suggesting he call it We Are Toys - just to stick it to those guys with the lousy grammar at Toys "R" Us.

It's on T.R.U., oh yeah...it's on.

50 strong

I've done the math on this one and I can definitively say that 50 is not the new 40. Apparently there was a mix up a few years ago at a clinic and, as a part of the cover up, some things were said that are regrettable.

50 is, in face, the old 50. It hasn't changed a bit. It still comes after 49 and right before 51. Maybe this is a part of the vast conspiracy as perpetuated by the Illuminati, I'm not sure...and I don't really feel comfortable commenting on those fine, fine men.

All I'm saying is that this has gotten a bit out of hand. Sure, I don't like the use of the word "gotten" but it really fits this situation. This is what it's come to. Fifty Cent is exactly that. We still have 50 states (despite the political statements of one of our presidential hopefulls). We still have 50 cards in a deck (you know....if you take away the red 7's) It's still a half dollar (such as it is) and it's still half a century.

And for that I apologize.

that's kind of weird...

"I just don't want to be weird" I think that might be the god of this age. Known more for what it isn't than what it is. I'm not sure what it's all about...but I know it's not weird.

I keep hearing that Jesus was a revolutionary (we did a series on that at the Vineyard, as did every other church on the planet) and that his call is a radical call. I've seen bold proclamations on shirts and heard fiery words from the stage and through song. I just don't necessarily see much of a revolution going on.

We do a few nice things, don't get me wrong...but a revolution?

Every time I see someone stepping out into something that doesn't feel safe, I see dozens of people headed in the opposite direction. We don't really want to be any part of that - that's weird.

So the question is - is it John the Baptist weird, or just Peter the Apostle weird?

American Christianity takes a lot of raps. It's safe. It's homogenized. It's built for the masses. It's not weird. Sure it speaks of a revolution, but don't worry...they just wear the outfits of a revolutionary. They're like one of those war reenactment groups...and their just sort of playing. They'll go back to their real lives in a few hours.

Carry your cross? That's weird. Die to yourself? How does that make sense?

I've spoken with more people who argue about methodology than theology lately. "I just don't want to do it that way" seems to be the consensus. And "that way" tends to be any way.

I think we're playing it a bit safe these days - but at least we're not being weird...

if only

If I had the power to snap my fingers and make anything happen - well first of all, that'd be really cool.

I'm pretty sure there wouldn't be any show on tv with the word dance, or any derivation of that word in the title.

I'd also like world peace and the ability to cook an egg over easy.

What's this pic have to do with that? I just took it tonight with my camera phone...and I guess I just wanted to throw it up here.

Having said that - if you know anything about S.O.S. you know that it's a bear. It's just a tough week.

Having said that...um...again - I should tell you that I get to work with Harmony "H-Bomb" Hensley. I say that I "get to work with" her because she makes S.O.S. way better. She's just really good at her job and it's nice to work alongside her - and by "alongside her" I mean - I just do whatever she tells me to do. The kid knows what she's talking about. You should also know that her husband's name is Skylar. So that's Harmony and Skylar. Beat that. (My friends Drew and Nancy might give them a run for their money)

momentum

I was moving around some heavy stuff the other day and I was reminded of the power of momentum. I had to move these skids that weighed a few thousand pounds and occasionally the only way to move them forward was to move backwards first.

I'd move them off of a slight incline onto a flat surface. Then I'd start pushing them forward until I built up a little speed...and got them up the incline. It was much easier than starting from a dead start.

Momentum is a powerful thing. Unfortunately I think it can cause you to get comfortable. If you're a big organization and you build enough momentum, you can do mediocre stuff...and still look ok. You've got the momentum on your side, so things just sort of happen.

That happens with big churches, and just about any other big organization.

So the question I think you've got to ask is - is this happening just because we're big and we've got some momentum - or is this really the best direction to go at this point?

You should also know that this post was just an excuse to mention that I moved several thousand pounds with my sheer strength...

my promise to you

I'm going green with this blog.

Most people print up their blog posts on Styrofoam and display them around their air conditioned 10,000 square foot houses before they post them on the world wide webternet. Not this guy. I'm Green. Kermit Green. No printing on this blog - just pure electricity.

You probably didn't know this, but Joe's blog is made partially from baby seal hides. It's true. Not this guy's.

In fact, this might be the only blog you read this week that wasn't paid for by big oil.

Fuller took the month off to write his book on guess what? Air? Nope, on dead trees. How can you live with yourself Steven?

Every time someone clicks on one of my links, 12 miles of rain forest are dusted with a light misting of rain. Your welcome.

Every time you say to your workmates, "that Sean sure writes a darn good weblog" a puppy smiles.

It's true.

That's why I write - for the children...the innocent...that's what I'm about.

And if Brad continues to made malnourished Cambodian children create his blog in some sweaty basement, well that's up to him. I don't care if he writes his blog on the walls of an orphanage using aerosol spray paint...that's not what I'm about. I've moved past that. I've turned the corner.

As for me and my household, we will serve the good people of this fair city with dedication, hard work and a little thing I like to call spunk..

"I like my way of doing it better than your way of not doing it"

It's one of my favorite quotes - a guy named Moody said it.

It applies to much of life.

He was talking about sharing his faith. It's easy to poke fun at the folks who give that a shot.

It's easy to point out the flaws in how people do just about anything. In fact, it's way easier to do that than to actually try something yourself.

I'm reminded of the Jr High kids who sit back and laugh at the football players because they lost a game. It's easier to sit on the sidelines and make fun of the people who care...or who try. You will never fail if you never try.

Doesn't really matter what it is. It's just true.

So 800+ students are going to give this servant thing a try this week. Jesus did it. People made fun of him for it...

working at a factory

I'm printing signs. Every six minutes I stick another piece of poster board into a giant printer, hit a few buttons...wait 15 seconds...and hit another button.

Every six minutes I repeat this.

And that's what I'll be doing for the next couple of hours.

Jealous?

in the blink of an eye...

I took the kids through the drive-thru at McDonalds the other day (because I’m a good father) and noticed a sign that read something like this: “We’re not going to give you tomatoes because the government thinks they will kill you” or something like that.

I didn’t think much about it because I figured there weren’t tomatoes in happy meals.

Fast forward to this morning when I pulled into a Burger King to get a large diet coke and saw a sign very much like the one at our nation’s top Scottish restaurant.

Which got me thinking….hmmm… I had lunch out with my favorite 7 year old yesterday. He went with the grilled cheese sandwich and I went with a cheeseburger with lettuce and ... tomato. Hey! Wait a minute! The government said that would kill me!!

So obviously I wanted to leave this last post.

To all of the people I love, these are my last wishes:

I’d like my incredible wife Annie to remember me always with an 8 x 10 (ask Joe, he knows a guy) over every door in our house.
To my adoring children I’d like you to have all of the tape, paper and markers that you’re always taking and using throughout the house.
To Aunts Peg and Susan I’d like to leave you with all of the stuff we’ve borrowed over the years and haven’t returned. I’d also like you to have full use of our giant spatula.
To Mom, Brian, Angela, Connor and any relatives that I’m now forgetting and will probably never read this – I’d like to leave you my golf clubs, socks, tennis racquets, shoes, hats & my bike. It’s what I would have wanted.
Shawn – I’d like to leave you with my correct spelling of Sean
Drew – I’d like to give you full use of my electric razor and what sad little program closet I have left.
Jason - you can have my shilaly and a Murphy's on me
Dan – I’d like you to have a giant painting of a horse drawn by an artist friend of mine.
Carrie – I’d like you to have your husband back.
Paul – I’d like you to take over this, or any other church. You’re a wise fella.
Hoover – You can have all of the legos in our house that Griffin doesn’t know about.
Harmony - I'd like you to have Yogi the Bear and the apples border in our kitchen.
The Q City Players - you can have my sarcastic awesomeness....and my Abe Vigoda impersonation.
Brad – I’d like to leave you my partnership with you know who – it’s silent and it rhymes with Dity Miron.
Carissa - I'd like you to have my Billy Idol poster.
Kande - I'd like you to have my chalkboard picture frame and the speakers to my computer
Jana – you can have all of the expressions that I’ve coined and you’ve stolen.
Fuller – you can have my rough draft of ‘Grads’
Bragg – you can have my rough draft of ‘flying men without shirts’
Wolfenberger – I’d like to leave you my dad’s guitar and my cheerio’s ball
Buddha - I'd like you to have Dennis Miller's the Off White Album
Susanna - I'd like to leave you all of my business cards, and my door basketball set
Ben – I’d like you to have my collection of c.d.’s that express emotion
Nate – I’d like to leave you as a referral to my friend Geoff who is about to call you and bug you about YL.
Liz – see above
Joe – You can sit in the first row of the funeral, be a pallbearer & sing anything from Moulin Rouge
Deb – you can laugh/snort during the funeral as Annie makes comments about how she’s always hated tomatoes
Steve - you can have my parking spot at you know where
Danny – I leave you my tan
Kevin – I’d like to leave you with my signed copy of Systematic Theology – signed by me
Stacy – I’d like you to choose from any of my three names and take them as your own.
Levi – I’d like you to have the baseball glove I bought – inspired by your dad – that’s too small for me…especially now.
Mat – For you I’d like to leave my wrestling shoes.
Alton – I don’t think it’ll be awkward if you hug my urn
Wes - I'd like you to have my collection of magnets that look like Carrot Top
Allie – You should take my leadership notebook and my key to the YL executive jet.
To all of my best friends – and you’ll know you’re my best friend because this fits you and that’s the kind of unspoken friendship we have – I’d like you to have my 10 speed bike and three tickets to Stomp.

GOODBYE SWEET WORLD…and curse you rotten tomato!

a conference by any other name...

busy week...

We have an outreach conference next week. It's called the Summer of Service, which causes some confusion. It's often asked, "isn't it just one week?" to which I respond, "well, actually it's only five days" but that doesn't really speak to their point.

"Why is it called the SUMMER of service if it's only five days of serving?" Actually, it's not really five full days. They're at concerts and listening to talks as much as they're serving. They go out for about an hour in the mornings and an hour and a half to two hours in the afternoons.

"So it's only 15 hours of service?" Well, no...because they don't go out on Mondays....Tuesday through Friday they go out and serve 2 1/2 - 3 hours a day.

"So it's 10-12 hours of service?" Yup, that's about right.

And that's ok. An entire summer of service conference would cost thousands of dollars and be a nightmare to put together logistically. We could never pull it off. It's called the summer of service because we'd like to see this be a springboard to students seeing the rest of their summer as an opportunity to serve those around them. It's a launching point. It's merely the beginning.

People come back from short term mission trips changed people. This isn't exactly that, but it's close. It's a mini-short term mission trip.

When people fully give their lives away on mission trip, I think they experience a bit of what this is supposed to be all about....not them. This is a glimpse at that.

"So we should call it 'lifetime of service'?" Yup, that wouldn't be so bad, although "SOS" is a little catchier...but you get the point now?

"So how's the food?"

to what end?

A lot of people ask what our little improv group is about and I always answer "huh?".

I'm not sure what they mean. Some people ask if this is some sort of ministry deal and I just say, "no, it's more like my golf"

My dad used to tell us to find a hobby that was either free or paid you somehow. He was really good at that. His hobbies led him to teaching the Columbus police karate, recording 4 c.d.'s, starting a video production company and buying a silly amount of houses.

So the Q City Players is something I do every week or so that's free...and sometimes pays a bit. It's a way to go have fun with friends and share the occasional moment of real life amongst the improvisation. No agenda, just fun.

In that respect it's nothing like golf. Golf is good for about 23 minutes and then I start throwing the clubs and wondering why I paid $20 to wait for the golfers in front of me to hurry up. Someone called golf "a good walk spoiled" but I've always felt like a walk was a "good time on the couch watching tv spoiled" so I don't totally buy into that. I'm just not a fan.

Anyhow, it's good to have a hobby that lets you vent and play a bit.

And that's the one I'm hanging my hat on these days...

it's time again

I call it frisbee golf. Purists call it disc golf. I tell the purists that they're being ridiculous and to quit correcting me every time I call it frisbee golf. They storm off in their flip flops and hemp shorts shaking their head and totin' a side bag full of frisbees. Yeah, I called them frisbees.

The last disc/frisbee I bought was $8:99 + tax (because the man is trying to own me)

This is what I'll get for those nine dollars:

1. Hours of enjoyment
2. Moments of frustration
3. Sweaty, dirty feet
4. Hours of great conversation

This is what you do. You walk, occasionally throw a frisbee, head toward said frisbee...and have a conversation. It really is the perfect leisure activity.

I'd call it a sport, but it doesn't fit under the general guidelines of what I refer to as a sport.

And that's ok.

So grab a disc and spend a half hour walking the course over at Winton Woods. You'll be glad you did.

Monday Monday...so good to me

it's hot. Africa hot. I came from a meeting to go Griffin's game yesterday and was watching these 7 year olds play baseball on the surface of the sun while I was wearing jeans, a thick shirt and a look of consternation.

Oh sure Griffin won the game ball. But does that really make up for the three pints of liquid I lost while squinting in the general direction of the field? Oh sure, the Boyd boys came and brought liquid love in the bottom of the fourth...but how much of this warming of the globe can we really take? I know that Time magazine wrote up an article in the early 70's and cited a bunch of scientific fellas who had proved that our globe was cooling at an alarming rate...but what the heck did they know in the 70's? Have you seen the outfits they wore back then? And the scientists were way worse than the pictures you've seen. Imagine those same exact outfits and then add calculator watches and "I'm with my mom and she's squared" t-shirts.

So I'll enjoy my conditioned air on this fine Monday off. Overall I had a good weekend. I had to work 4 hours on Saturday and 5 on Sunday...but it all pays off today. Sweet, sweet redemption...in the form of frisbee golf and euchre with my nephew.

I'd give Dave $8 to make something like this...

top that Wolfenberger

a few things worth noting

This young man has a weblog and I thought you should know. He’s a great thinker and I think, if you give him time, he’ll show that ability off… They just had a baby (Harrison) - so if you feel like prayin'

I’m going to occasionally go back to the Saturday post…oh yes, you heard me right, that’s just what I'm about these days…

The Q City Players are performing improvisational theater tonight…and I say “theater” because comedy is subjective. Brad might love this guy, and I might love this guy…but who’s to say what funny is or isn’t? (answer: Bob Newhart) Anyhow, 8:00 in the PM at the Ballet Tech Theater 6543 Montgomery Road Cincinnati, OH 45213

Some have asked if there is some sort of rivalry with the P City Players, but really we feel like we’re brothers in improv…it’s just that we’re one letter better.

Sunday I get to be a part of a thing we call Quest - it's a lunch where we sit around and talk about the deeper things of life - this Sunday we're talking about - Finding God.
So a decent question might be - can we find God...or does He find us? Another good question is - why would they cancel Ed?

I'm not buying the hype about high definition tv's.
I am however storing up water for Y2K

I don't care who you are - these kids are 17000 times cuter than their dad

Hangin' with Mr. Cooper

“I couldn’t sleep last night because the clouds kept taking pictures of me”
-Cooper Murphy

We knew he was an exceptional child and now I know it to be true. I saw him putting on his pants today – two legs at a time.

He’s not like you and me…

Friday is just around the corner

The Q City Players is probably the best improv group ever in the history of ever. If not THE best, then it's certainly the best one that I've ever been in...and um...ok, they're decent...on some nights...and um...I guess selling yourself feels a little cheap. How do you do this Dave?

We had our first show a month ago and we're going to repeat this Friday, June 6, at Cincinnati Ballet Tech. The show starts at 8pm. Tickets at the door are approximately $5. The address is 6543 Montgomery Road Cincinnati, OH 45213.

Déjà vu

Happy birthday to the little girl I love.
Parker was born two years ago about a half hour from our house. She was born at the same hospital as Griff, but we lived closer with Griff. In fact I remember being nervous about being 20 minutes away when he was born...but Parker is our third. We probably wouldn't have been that nervous if the hospital was in Jersey....except that then our kid would be born in Jersey.

If you know Parker you know that for a while she had what they call failure to thrive. That meant she was losing weight when she should have been gaining weight as a baby. Since you know her, you know that she's more than made up for that since. She weighs right around what our three year old weighs (although he could probably take her).

So June 2nd is the sandwich day. It's the day between the two gal Murphy celebrations. It's the day that we don't celebrate either of their births - but if Parker is anything like her mom, we'll probably start calling the 2nd Parker's birthday eve.

She's the best little girl in the world - and I'm saying that knowing I won't get any extra points...because she can't read this.

happy birthday to the girl I love

she's not getting older, she's getting less young...



That was going to be the title, but that didn't seem like the kind of title that I wouldn't get crap for...but why not lead with that and then follow with a double negative?

Beautiful
funny
caring
smart
tan
compassionate
loving
Saget like
generous
hot
giggly
relatively knowledgeable when it comes to fruits and vegetables
kind
sweet
quick
nice
awesome



She's all of that + one year older today.


It's Annie's birthday today and we're so glad we get to share it with her.