Summer in Michigan: Over?

Looks like summer has run it's course. The forecast for this next week has highs in the mid-70's and lows in the mid-50's.

Linkage: The Evolution of Dance

Perhaps you've seen this before, but if not, check it out. Very funny!

You Are 75% Indie

You're a very indie person, and admit it, you look down a little on people who strive to be normal. You'll indulge in a little mainstream pop culture every now and then. But for you, anything not indie is a guilty pleasure!

How Indie Are You?

Life: On Comfortable Feet

My first pair of Birkenstocks were purchased fifteen years ago when I was pregnant with baby number five and living in a house with no padding under the carpets. So, my path towards happy feet actually started because of aching knees. Very soon thereafter, my knees stopped hurting, my back felt better and my feet no longer throbbed at the end of the day. I was on to something. Well, on to comfortable shoes.

Birkenstocks have had the misfortune of being disdained by many people, who undoubtedly have their feet shoved into shoes that are too tight. My goal is to have comfortable feet. Some say comfortable shoes are ugly. Well, it all depends on your point of view. And my point of view says that I look a lot nicer all over when my feet are not in pain.

Other brands of shoes that I have found to be comfortable are Dansko and Josef Seibel. To tell you the truth though, I like bare feet best of all!

Family: Drama

This week my youngest kiddo auditioned for parts in two of HPA's upcoming productions. This morning we got word that she was cast in both plays! Congratulations to Cara!

Latest Read: Together Again

a bibliophilist's reading list: Together Again by Rick Atchley and Bob Russell

From the book:

We believe (our practices) can be taught and practiced in a way that holds high the cross of Christ, exalting his atoning work as the Good News and the only hope of salvation.

Latest Read: How to Win the Culture War

a bibliophilist's reading list: How to Win the Culture War by Peter Kreeft

From the book:

If God still loves his church in America, he will soon make it small and poor and persecuted, just as he did to ancient Isreal, so that he can keep it alive, pruning it. If he loves us, he will cut the deadwood away and we will bleed.

Movie: The Constant Gardener

My folks and I watched The Constant Gardener last night. My parents had listened to the audiobook, and thought they'd like to see the movie. I did not know anything about the movie, but was willing to give it a go. At the end of the film, which is just a little over two hours long, I felt rather disconcerted and a little sick to my stomach. I don't know if the premise of the movie is true or not, but there is something about the whole idea of big business walking all over the little guy that feels like it could be true.

I do know that contemplating that things like that could be happening in our world is very sobering. It's the kind of thing that makes me wonder what I should be doing to make a difference, yet also makes me wonder how on earth anything I could do would make any difference. Small wonder I don't like to watch movies like this one. I'm going to go and stick my head back in the sand, I think.

In the News: Googling

Stop Googling things, says Google - Computing

I can't decide if this is a joke or not. If it isn't a joke, Google has lost their collective minds.

Latest Read: Velvet Elvis

a bibliophilist's reading list: Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell

From the book:

Doctrine makes a great servant, but a lousy master.

(That is a very profound truth in my experience.)

Family: Paintball Welts

Mayhem Sportz was their destination last Friday night. My two boys, aged 18 and 16 went and played paintball overnight with a bunch of guys from their youth group. (Well, technically it was reballing which is like paintballing without the paint.) They had a good time, though they decided that overnight wasn't the optimum way to experience paintballing - a bunch of tired and cranky (or wired and hyper) teenagers with guns can be a bit harrowing. Even if they are just paintball guns.

But really I wanted to tell you about their welts. They love to come home and show them to us. The ones where they have been "bunkered" at close range are the ones of which they are especially proud. This part of the boys is frankly a mystery to me - as is wanting to go somewhere with your friends and inflict harm on them as a way to have fun. But they sure do enjoy it.

Family: Parents

My folks are visiting. Well, they came up to help with projects around the house. My Dad is putting a tile floor in our master bathroom and my Mom is helping out with a variety of cleaning and fixing jobs. They sure are good to us.

I Wonder: Ticket Kiosks

This is something I really don't understand: why do people stand in long lines at the movie theatre when they can just walk up to a ticket kiosk, pick their movie, swipe their credit card (or insert cash) and head in to their movie? In England, California, Texas, Michigan; over and over again we've been able to buy our movie tickets quickly because next to no one is bothering to use the self-serve ticket machines. This is very nice for us, as the disuse by others makes our journey to an evening of movie entertainment much more enjoyable. But, I just don't understand why many others seem to be oblivious about this way of buying tickets. Do you use movie ticket kiosks? If not, why? I need some insights.

Travel: More on Overweight Travelers

I had the joy of sitting in the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport for about four hours last Saturday. While the rest of my family sprawled about me napping, I watched CNN (and froze). There was a news story about how oil prices were affecting the airlines that talked about the steps many airlines were taking to reduce the weight of the plane and thus reduce fuel consumption. The story ended by talking about the one thing that airlines could not reduce, and that is the weight of the passengers. The story said that airlines are having to spend $275 million more per year on fuel because of overweight travlers.

Here's more on the story from USA Today.

Family: The Woes of Skinny Men

Today my son and I went out to buy jeans. Do you have any idea how ridiculously difficult it is to find jeans to fit a 6'1", 117 lb teen? 30x34 is what we were after. That doesn't sound so bad, does it? I don't think there is much of a market for jeans for skinny blokes, because it was nigh on impossible to find him any that fit. We finally found some Rustlers at Wal-Mart. But, had to settle for 30x32 that are almost too short. Fortunately (?) he really needs about 29 1/2" waist, so they sag down and make up for the fact that they are a bit too short. None of the stores that we went to had 30x34. I'm not really sure why I am surprised, I've struggled with the same problem trying to buy jeans for his daddy for years and years, and with the rapidly rising average weight it was bound to happen that the smaller sizes would be less in demand and thus less available.