Only Wonder Grasps Anything

leaving Batavia

This Thanksgiving holiday I've been with my dad's family in Batavia, Illinois. We had lots of turkey, ham, and incredible vegetables--Thanksgiving is for the vegetables, as my vegetarian cousin observed. Friday we took the train to Chicago--cousins only--and went to the Christkindlemarket, got Chicago deep-dish pizza, and then wandered around Millenium Park. The giant reflective silver bean is incredible.

We're about to hit the road and drive home to Georgia, so if you read this while I'm driving, let me know what you're thankful for. I'm thankful for family who love each other and love the Lord.

Have a great last Sunday of Pentecost.

jawless noon?

So I got bored* the other day and rearranged the letters of my name to spell "jawless noon." Problem is, I don't have a clue what a jawless noon is, or what it would be if one could be. Using my middle name too, I came up with a string of words, but they don't make any kind of grammatical sense: "fjord kneel sonic wars."

Also, if anyone's keeping track, I've got a birthday coming up exactly eleven days from today. (Hackenfriend, hopefully you'll see this so that you're not mad that I didn't tell my friends when my birthday was.) If you're feeling really generous, my wishlist is online.

So I'll put a question to you: what is my middle name?

* Actually, I wasn't bored, but just curious.

do I look like a coffee-drinking presbyterian?

This past Saturday I went to the opera for the very first time. It wasn't the first time I'd tried to go--during my freshman year in college I went to hear the CSO perform "Madame Butterfly" but it wasn't staged: the soloists simply stood and sang their parts. This time around the performance was staged. The CSO performed Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro" and I enjoyed the performance. The soloists had really great voices, the orchestra did a good job, and the opera itself was quite funny.

Afterwards, I went with two friends to grab a drink and a chat. Sarah asked if I'd go to an opera again--she said that folks typically either never go back or they're hooked. I think I'd fall into the "hooked" category, because I'd enjoy returning for another opera.

While the three of us were discussing the church calendar and reasons why some in the PCA seem reluctant to use it as a teaching tool for the church, a guy came up and asked us if we were all musicians, and later another guy referred to us as "coffee drinking presbyterians." How did he know we were presbyterians? Did we look like presbyters? If he was listening to our conversation, didn't he see the wine glasses, or the gin and tonic? I was amused.

And yes, this coffee-drinking* presbyterian will return to the opera someday.

* In addition to coffee, I heartily endorse a variety of German beers, Köstritzer schwarzbier being one of the best. Its better than Guinness.