Just a thought. I see here I haven't posted all year. The blog was originally for keeping in touch with friends while we were in Spain. Some of the friends have moved away from KC, but we are all keeping up on facebook now rather than following one another's blogs. I fell off the blog train for sure.
I keep wondering and wanting to reignite my writing life. In order to move forward in the writing world, I really need to start blogging as a writer and connecting with other blogs. The thing is I don't really have time to keep up with email and Facebook as it is now. How will I add being an active part of the blog writing community to that and how would I draw people here who want to read something significant about writing? It's just a thought right now. I could start posting my worries about writing or possible rants against the process. Latest discouragements. Hmmm, sounds so alluring.
I could post short stories all year, like Forest (a friend who has posted a painting a week for a year). I don't know. I definitely want to respark my writing life when we got to the USA. Will I? Can I?
It's only in addition to scheduling fund raising service, writing new scripts for video production, doing a new website for the video/missions life. Is there room for more? It all sounds like work right now. I'm not so sure what to do.
29 November 2009
26 January 2009
Update
Wow, we had an insanely busy holiday season. I bet everyone can say that. It's nice to be settling down in our own environment again after all the travels. (9 states and 14 flights in a month for me!)
Little did I know that my last post - church angst- was only a small harbinger of things to come.
We arrived back in Spain to some strange emails, frenzied phone calls, and all out church split going on. Ick.
We've tried to stay neutral and I think without asking for dirt and details we have a good feel for each side. Two churches are coming out of the mess and the building will revert to the original pastor while the "new" pastor and his flock will leave. It's all messy.
Even weirder and messier for us is the fact that the missionaries (too many in one church in the first place) all piled up on one side of the issue and while we have no ill will to that side and can see that perhaps what happened was innocently done -- this side is not the side we like the style of church.
We tried to tiptoe off to the "other" church Sunday and a coworker dropping some pretty wide and pointed hints today that vaguely implied we were ill informed or somehow flawed in our choices. Maybe I should have the guts to just say everything but we really are rooting for both churches to succeed. There's a certain implication that you can't be friends with all and I don't see why not. We'll see how we weather this very weird and uninvited storm.
Little did I know that my last post - church angst- was only a small harbinger of things to come.
We arrived back in Spain to some strange emails, frenzied phone calls, and all out church split going on. Ick.
We've tried to stay neutral and I think without asking for dirt and details we have a good feel for each side. Two churches are coming out of the mess and the building will revert to the original pastor while the "new" pastor and his flock will leave. It's all messy.
Even weirder and messier for us is the fact that the missionaries (too many in one church in the first place) all piled up on one side of the issue and while we have no ill will to that side and can see that perhaps what happened was innocently done -- this side is not the side we like the style of church.
We tried to tiptoe off to the "other" church Sunday and a coworker dropping some pretty wide and pointed hints today that vaguely implied we were ill informed or somehow flawed in our choices. Maybe I should have the guts to just say everything but we really are rooting for both churches to succeed. There's a certain implication that you can't be friends with all and I don't see why not. We'll see how we weather this very weird and uninvited storm.
16 November 2008
Church angst
I realized today I've never lived through a church leadership change. I suppose sort of the one at OPAG but the Pastor who took over had already been on staff for 15 years and had been team leading, so it wasn't some sort of shake up. Behind the scenes I'm sure there were issues but my church didn't mutate out from under me.
A few weeks ago, our Spanish pastor stepped down and let someone he was grooming to take over in another year or so go ahead and take the helm now. I think there was some conflict in style and speed of change. I'm anxious now.
The new pastor is very personable and nice as a person, it's not that. He seems to want to operate in a more old school church style, taking you back to the 1980s maybe. Musically when he sings, it's usually something from that era. His style is more emotional and you didn't really get it if you didn't come forward. (implied not stated). He also veers off of his main point pretty much every week for about 15 minutes or more.
There's nothing I can do about this. I'm not in leadership, no one wants my opinion. It's something I have to adjust too. I guess one thing that has occurred is I've learned that I like an scholarly approach to scripture and learning, not an emotional one. So I will have to learn more about myself through this process and accept that without realizing it, I had a church style.
A few weeks ago, our Spanish pastor stepped down and let someone he was grooming to take over in another year or so go ahead and take the helm now. I think there was some conflict in style and speed of change. I'm anxious now.
The new pastor is very personable and nice as a person, it's not that. He seems to want to operate in a more old school church style, taking you back to the 1980s maybe. Musically when he sings, it's usually something from that era. His style is more emotional and you didn't really get it if you didn't come forward. (implied not stated). He also veers off of his main point pretty much every week for about 15 minutes or more.
There's nothing I can do about this. I'm not in leadership, no one wants my opinion. It's something I have to adjust too. I guess one thing that has occurred is I've learned that I like an scholarly approach to scripture and learning, not an emotional one. So I will have to learn more about myself through this process and accept that without realizing it, I had a church style.
11 November 2008
Customer service? I don't think so.
Tonight we drove through near rush hour traffic in a city of 5 million, Madrid. We navigated tricky one way streets, wrong turns, and tiny street signs. We arrived at the Plaza de Something Republica. Parked two floors underground in a garage. We walked two blocks dragging a suitcase to a business address.
About six weeks ago, I dropped off two pieces of equipment at this business to be fixed. The equipment - two different decks for work - is large enough that we need the suitcase to move it back to the car.
The business had moved. In the myriad of emails that flew between my Spanish speaking co-worker and the six or seven phone calls, no one thought to mention that they were moving AWAY! Come on!
Can I just say this is what socialism gets you? Customer service is not important. It isn't important that the clients be able to return to pick up their expensive equipment or that a satisfied customer be able to return and give them future business. I suppose the good news is that the doorman seemed to know where they were at and their phone number is still the same. But WHEN WERE YOU GOING TO LET ME KNOW?
So we get to drive into the city again in the very near future and pick up one piece that is repaired and another that -- oh joy -- will have to be hand carried to the United States. Probably by us. Did I mention that this is someone else's responsibility, but they can't seem to get around to it? Yeah, it's good to be responsible; my fault, I offered to help!
About six weeks ago, I dropped off two pieces of equipment at this business to be fixed. The equipment - two different decks for work - is large enough that we need the suitcase to move it back to the car.
The business had moved. In the myriad of emails that flew between my Spanish speaking co-worker and the six or seven phone calls, no one thought to mention that they were moving AWAY! Come on!
Can I just say this is what socialism gets you? Customer service is not important. It isn't important that the clients be able to return to pick up their expensive equipment or that a satisfied customer be able to return and give them future business. I suppose the good news is that the doorman seemed to know where they were at and their phone number is still the same. But WHEN WERE YOU GOING TO LET ME KNOW?
So we get to drive into the city again in the very near future and pick up one piece that is repaired and another that -- oh joy -- will have to be hand carried to the United States. Probably by us. Did I mention that this is someone else's responsibility, but they can't seem to get around to it? Yeah, it's good to be responsible; my fault, I offered to help!
10 October 2008
Stories from Communism
We went to Romania for a Christian Visual Media conference along with about 90 people from around Europe. I knew that there was persecution under communism but we saw some videos and heard some first hand stories that were amazing.
Several of the media people shared documentaries about persecution under communism that were really severe. They took believers and intellectuals and tortured them in an experiment to turn them into the perfect communists. It was psychological as well as physical. Part way through the experiment they told people if they would administer the torture to fellow prisoners they would be released, so some turned on the others in desperation.
While the videos were shocking, touring a local Timisoara Revolution museum we discovered some information that I found a total surprise. They feel like they have had a 20 year revolution that is still continuing because in 1989 they over thru Chachesku, the brutal communist dictator, but they were not able to get rid of all his croneys and they are still in power in various parties today. In the chaos at the time, the Chacheskus were killed with a perfunctory trial. No one argues they weren't guilty but they weren't allowed to live and point out their cohorts. The corruption continues deeply and the people are hoping that the attempt to join the EU helps. They have more physical freedom but still feel they are taken advantage of by the government authorities. (In a way, aren't we all?)
The most interesting testimony I heard was from a woman who is now a Christian. She was not a believer before the revolution and had no idea of God. She said it was depressing because in the communist system your life was spelled out for you. Where you lived or were born dictated what school you went to. Your marks dictated whether you would go to a trade or to a university. Your job was given to you and that was it until you died. They weren't allowed to travel; they could have no aspirations of a different job or a business of their own. Food was rationed tightly and there was no variation. You had children and they did the same thing.
After the revolution, her husband met a missionary and was saved. For one year she resisted as her children accepted the Lord and her husband kept trying to convince her. She finally said in her heart not outloud, God if you are real and want me to believe all this send someone to me. That night two missionaries who did not know them stopped by because someone from another country had asked them to drop off a package. It was dark and the streets weren't marked and it was a miracle that the men had found their home. The one man spoke French which she knew from school and spoke to her. She just started crying because she knew God had sent this man and that God was real.
Today she and her husband are running a 24 hour television station reaching Romania and southeastern Europe for Christ and (!) using our videos!
Several of the media people shared documentaries about persecution under communism that were really severe. They took believers and intellectuals and tortured them in an experiment to turn them into the perfect communists. It was psychological as well as physical. Part way through the experiment they told people if they would administer the torture to fellow prisoners they would be released, so some turned on the others in desperation.
While the videos were shocking, touring a local Timisoara Revolution museum we discovered some information that I found a total surprise. They feel like they have had a 20 year revolution that is still continuing because in 1989 they over thru Chachesku, the brutal communist dictator, but they were not able to get rid of all his croneys and they are still in power in various parties today. In the chaos at the time, the Chacheskus were killed with a perfunctory trial. No one argues they weren't guilty but they weren't allowed to live and point out their cohorts. The corruption continues deeply and the people are hoping that the attempt to join the EU helps. They have more physical freedom but still feel they are taken advantage of by the government authorities. (In a way, aren't we all?)
The most interesting testimony I heard was from a woman who is now a Christian. She was not a believer before the revolution and had no idea of God. She said it was depressing because in the communist system your life was spelled out for you. Where you lived or were born dictated what school you went to. Your marks dictated whether you would go to a trade or to a university. Your job was given to you and that was it until you died. They weren't allowed to travel; they could have no aspirations of a different job or a business of their own. Food was rationed tightly and there was no variation. You had children and they did the same thing.
After the revolution, her husband met a missionary and was saved. For one year she resisted as her children accepted the Lord and her husband kept trying to convince her. She finally said in her heart not outloud, God if you are real and want me to believe all this send someone to me. That night two missionaries who did not know them stopped by because someone from another country had asked them to drop off a package. It was dark and the streets weren't marked and it was a miracle that the men had found their home. The one man spoke French which she knew from school and spoke to her. She just started crying because she knew God had sent this man and that God was real.
Today she and her husband are running a 24 hour television station reaching Romania and southeastern Europe for Christ and (!) using our videos!
06 September 2008
Back from the IKEA wars
We are celebrating Labor Day this weekend, but our car is in the shop so we didn't travel. We took a newcomer to IKEA today to get some stuff and just to check it out. The problem is that it was an uncharacteristically sort of rainy day. And vacation month (August) is over. This is two MAJOR strikes against the mall. The third is that it is Saturday.
So we joined everyone else in Madrid at the San Sebastian de los Reyes IKEA. We chose the small yellow dolly rather than a full size cart so it would be easier to negotiate the crowds. So did everyone else!
A crowd challenge you face here, and I'm afraid I'm developing this habit, is that people just stop where they are and have discussions. Doesn't matter that their bodies and baby stroller and or cart are blocking the entire aisle and that there is no way for you to pass around. You get to wait until their conversation is finished. So that makes it interesting.
I got bumped a lot by people's carts or yellow dollys and I know I bumped a few people as the load got wider than the mini-dolly. But one lady took the cake. She pushed so close and so abruptly close to me that a large box protruding from her dolly drew blood on the back of my neck! It's a good thing I wasn't facing her or it might have been my jugular. I'm being facetious somewhat but, man, I've never had a shopping injury before.
So we joined everyone else in Madrid at the San Sebastian de los Reyes IKEA. We chose the small yellow dolly rather than a full size cart so it would be easier to negotiate the crowds. So did everyone else!
A crowd challenge you face here, and I'm afraid I'm developing this habit, is that people just stop where they are and have discussions. Doesn't matter that their bodies and baby stroller and or cart are blocking the entire aisle and that there is no way for you to pass around. You get to wait until their conversation is finished. So that makes it interesting.
I got bumped a lot by people's carts or yellow dollys and I know I bumped a few people as the load got wider than the mini-dolly. But one lady took the cake. She pushed so close and so abruptly close to me that a large box protruding from her dolly drew blood on the back of my neck! It's a good thing I wasn't facing her or it might have been my jugular. I'm being facetious somewhat but, man, I've never had a shopping injury before.
10 August 2008
Huh?
A couple weeks ago I was going down our front stairs toward our gate and the neighbor's dog went zooming past. Luna is a chocolate lab and every night they let her out of the yard and she shoots like a bullet down the street and out into the wilderness behind our homes. Dogs are always so delighted with things in life and I wanted to express this to my neighbor who was following Luna at a more leisurely pace.
So I open my gate and say, "Oh dogs, they have so much..." here I want to use the word joy and I know this word because we seem to use it most weeks at church but there's a glitch in my mental chip as I search for the word.... "they have so much jewelry!" The buy gets a really odd look on his face and I say, "no, not jewelry, what's the word?" Awkward pause as I do my usual sounding out a syllable I can't find in my head. That's it, maybe. "They have so much Goya." The guy smiles. I think he gets what I"m saying and we go our separate ways on our separate walks.
About a half block later, I realize I've said the name of a famous Spanish artist - Goya. Nice. Dogs have so much Goya. What art? Paintings?
What I meant to say...was gozo -- joy! Sigh. I just keep sowing seeds of the strange American neighbors but I keep trying.
So I open my gate and say, "Oh dogs, they have so much..." here I want to use the word joy and I know this word because we seem to use it most weeks at church but there's a glitch in my mental chip as I search for the word.... "they have so much jewelry!" The buy gets a really odd look on his face and I say, "no, not jewelry, what's the word?" Awkward pause as I do my usual sounding out a syllable I can't find in my head. That's it, maybe. "They have so much Goya." The guy smiles. I think he gets what I"m saying and we go our separate ways on our separate walks.
About a half block later, I realize I've said the name of a famous Spanish artist - Goya. Nice. Dogs have so much Goya. What art? Paintings?
What I meant to say...was gozo -- joy! Sigh. I just keep sowing seeds of the strange American neighbors but I keep trying.
09 July 2008
You've got a friend request
So the epidemic has begun. Everyone is jumping off the bridge, Dust. And yes, we are following. I succumbed to facebook in February I think. I actually didn't. A coworker here thought it was the right thing to do. He actually sat at my desk with his laptop while I was working (for real) on my computer. He asked me questions and set up the page on facebook. He even chose the photo off the work network. I let him do it because it was easier than saying no. He was stalking everyone to do it.
I resisted because I thought it was something high schoolers did or college age anyway. I didn't think I knew a lot of people on there. Plus it would be one more thing to maintain and feel bad if I didn't do it. For a several months, it stayed pretty static. Granted I didn't try either. I'm so glad it emails when I need to do something or it might be dead by now.
Today I have a plethora of "friends" on my facebook links. I've learned to change my photo and follow links to others pages. I'm certainly not a pro. It's not an intuitive operation but I'm getting the hang of it. I still don't do any cute video posts or music or anything. I can't keep up with the real things I have to do in life much less the fun bits of a facebook page.
So I'm curious now that many of you have joined facebook - Is it going to replace the blogs? If it does, are we are microcosm of the internet at large? Is everyone migrating to a social networking page? Will blogs go by the wayside? I certainly have no answers and can't cast stones since I don't post regularly.
What's funny and Dash touched on it, is the "friendships" established with people I didn't really have more than a brief or nonexistent acquaintance with at some point in the past. I got invited to join an Evangel Alum group. I even put a photo up and as soon as I hit post I realized how stupid it was. All the people who have ended up connected to this site were not in my social sphere THEN. So NOW what are we going to have in common? It's absurd really but an interesting phenomena of the internet.
I resisted because I thought it was something high schoolers did or college age anyway. I didn't think I knew a lot of people on there. Plus it would be one more thing to maintain and feel bad if I didn't do it. For a several months, it stayed pretty static. Granted I didn't try either. I'm so glad it emails when I need to do something or it might be dead by now.
Today I have a plethora of "friends" on my facebook links. I've learned to change my photo and follow links to others pages. I'm certainly not a pro. It's not an intuitive operation but I'm getting the hang of it. I still don't do any cute video posts or music or anything. I can't keep up with the real things I have to do in life much less the fun bits of a facebook page.
So I'm curious now that many of you have joined facebook - Is it going to replace the blogs? If it does, are we are microcosm of the internet at large? Is everyone migrating to a social networking page? Will blogs go by the wayside? I certainly have no answers and can't cast stones since I don't post regularly.
What's funny and Dash touched on it, is the "friendships" established with people I didn't really have more than a brief or nonexistent acquaintance with at some point in the past. I got invited to join an Evangel Alum group. I even put a photo up and as soon as I hit post I realized how stupid it was. All the people who have ended up connected to this site were not in my social sphere THEN. So NOW what are we going to have in common? It's absurd really but an interesting phenomena of the internet.
08 June 2008
Italy part 2
Pizza; pasta; pastries; gelato. Repeat. Beautiful scenery. Ahhh. If I go into daily detail like BB, I'd get way too long. See how much I wrote in just a couple days?! One observation - when there are a bunch of tourists who don't know what language each other speak, they all just give one another strange smiles rather than speak to say hello or excuse me. Lots and lots of Brits and Aussies in the area. What fun. Glad we indulged ourselves - now back to the routine. It was a long week.
hmmm pizza
Sorrento
So the staff does nothing? This sign was at Pompei bathrooms.
Dar at Pompei.
A courtyard at Pompei.
seafood pasta
Capri main port
On the boat headed to the Blue Grotto
up high on Capri
We took almost this exact same photo on our honeymoon in Florida!
The view from our Positano hotel!
prosciutto, provolone, and tomatoes, yum.
We were in shadow so we used the flash and this picture looks fake but I promise it's totally real.
Dar loves this picture he took of me in Ravello - 1,000 feet over the sea.
Lots of views like this in Ravello.
hmmm pizza
Sorrento
So the staff does nothing? This sign was at Pompei bathrooms.
Dar at Pompei.
A courtyard at Pompei.
seafood pasta
Capri main port
On the boat headed to the Blue Grotto
up high on Capri
We took almost this exact same photo on our honeymoon in Florida!
The view from our Positano hotel!
prosciutto, provolone, and tomatoes, yum.
We were in shadow so we used the flash and this picture looks fake but I promise it's totally real.
Dar loves this picture he took of me in Ravello - 1,000 feet over the sea.
Lots of views like this in Ravello.
24 May 2008
Italy part 1 - Sorrento e Pompei
Day 1 - 4:30 am our ride has not arrived. 20 minutes later our collegue drives like a banshee to the airport. We make the flight and sleep through it. The bus drives through Naples garbage piles and gardens. The garbage strike is a year old and the rich lava soil is good for gardens. We leave the city for the tiny continuous villages clinging to cliffs along the coast. The bus feels like it hangs out over the cliff on the turns. The driver sounds his horn on the sharp curves to warn on coming drivers. Scooters squeeze into a microscopic slice of asphalt between the bus and the sidewalks in towns. Breath taking views of the mediterranean coast fill up that vacation spot inside our heads.
We arrive in Sorrento and drag our luggage through hords of British tourists, a few American students, and lots of shops. Our hotel, Hotel Mignon, is quaint and just off the main drag of Corso Italia. Sorrento is a tourist town with shops selling the special lemon liquor and lemon table cloths and all things kitsch. I love it. The old city with the shops is charming. Tiny alleys with cheery balconies and curvacous street lights.
We see a lemon grove and go to an incredible pizzeria with a wood oven. They serve on the cooking sheet. We eat too much happily after only granola bars on the airplane. After a self guided walking tour of town and views of the sea from the high cliffs we have a nap. Oh yeah!
We weren't real hungery and Dar got spagetti in a snack bar that was good and I had an incredible salad with fresh spring greens, fresh mozzarella and prosciutto. Yummy!
We joined the Italians and tourists on their evening passagiata - a stroll around main street. They roll out pots of flowers to close the main intersection in Piazzo Tasso and make it a pedestrian boulevard each evening. We had gelato that was incredible- chocolate and lemon. I love lemon drinks and the lemon I got was like a sorbet but the chocolate was exquisite (Davide Gelateria)I could taste the darkness of the cocoa.
Day two was Pompei. A train ride and lots of jockeying with tourist groups. I slurped a lemon granita - a frozen ice thing on our way in. Tangy and a little sour, loved it. Pompei is huge. 20,000 people lived there at one time and it's just frozen in time. I was surprised at the paintings that had survived on the walls °frescoes.°
We just snacked on nuts and fruit and went for the expected two course meal for dinner. Pasta first course, I got veggies and fusilli, Dar got gnocchi and tomatoes. Second course, squid fixed in local style with tomatoes and swordfish with organo, tomatoes and garlic. Both good but we may have got ripped off a bit on tourist prices. We were too full for gelato which was disappointing and decided we will go places where we don't feel we have to eat two courses; it's just too much.
We joined the passagata before going to bed. This morning we are lounging on the roof of the hotel reading our books and indulging in relaxation. Dar decided he doesnà t want to do the archelogical museum in Naples after all so we will stroll, shop, and eat this afternoon. Gelato, pasta, pizza, seafood...oh yeah!
We arrive in Sorrento and drag our luggage through hords of British tourists, a few American students, and lots of shops. Our hotel, Hotel Mignon, is quaint and just off the main drag of Corso Italia. Sorrento is a tourist town with shops selling the special lemon liquor and lemon table cloths and all things kitsch. I love it. The old city with the shops is charming. Tiny alleys with cheery balconies and curvacous street lights.
We see a lemon grove and go to an incredible pizzeria with a wood oven. They serve on the cooking sheet. We eat too much happily after only granola bars on the airplane. After a self guided walking tour of town and views of the sea from the high cliffs we have a nap. Oh yeah!
We weren't real hungery and Dar got spagetti in a snack bar that was good and I had an incredible salad with fresh spring greens, fresh mozzarella and prosciutto. Yummy!
We joined the Italians and tourists on their evening passagiata - a stroll around main street. They roll out pots of flowers to close the main intersection in Piazzo Tasso and make it a pedestrian boulevard each evening. We had gelato that was incredible- chocolate and lemon. I love lemon drinks and the lemon I got was like a sorbet but the chocolate was exquisite (Davide Gelateria)I could taste the darkness of the cocoa.
Day two was Pompei. A train ride and lots of jockeying with tourist groups. I slurped a lemon granita - a frozen ice thing on our way in. Tangy and a little sour, loved it. Pompei is huge. 20,000 people lived there at one time and it's just frozen in time. I was surprised at the paintings that had survived on the walls °frescoes.°
We just snacked on nuts and fruit and went for the expected two course meal for dinner. Pasta first course, I got veggies and fusilli, Dar got gnocchi and tomatoes. Second course, squid fixed in local style with tomatoes and swordfish with organo, tomatoes and garlic. Both good but we may have got ripped off a bit on tourist prices. We were too full for gelato which was disappointing and decided we will go places where we don't feel we have to eat two courses; it's just too much.
We joined the passagata before going to bed. This morning we are lounging on the roof of the hotel reading our books and indulging in relaxation. Dar decided he doesnà t want to do the archelogical museum in Naples after all so we will stroll, shop, and eat this afternoon. Gelato, pasta, pizza, seafood...oh yeah!
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