09 March

It's been a crazy week here at the House of Carr. We're still trying to recover from things, but appreciate your prayers and support. Here are ten things for your reading pleasure.

1. Still teaching through 1 Corinthians at Echo and spoke tonight about not shooting the messenger, specifically the pastor. Didn't realize that there was a pastor who was shot and killed during a service this morning in suburban St Louis. Very tragic. I pray for that church that they might be a powerful testimony to their community.

2. Michelle Obama serves at a soup kitchen and the big news is that the poor have cell phones. Kinda ridiculous that people make a point about this. First, not all soup kitchen folk are homeless. In fact, in our community, many have places to live but can't make ends meet; because of the economy, the number of guests at the Walnut Hills Soup Kitchen is increasing. Additionally, it's actually cheaper in many instances for the poor to have cell phones instead of LAN lines. Instead of complaining about it, why not meet us at 2631 Gilbert Avenue this Saturday afternoon to help serve?

3. No fantasy football this year, but two fantasy baseball leagues. Yes, I am a geek, but I loves me some baseball.

4. Kaelyn is starting to watch Diego and Dora. Kelly and I are enjoying the diversity from her other favorite shows.

5. Less than two months to go and my marathon training is going well. It's crazy to think that I've already run over 150 miles this year. I'm gradually increasing my time, hoping I can get it in under four hours.

6. The skies appear to be ready to open a little bit. By the end of next week, I'll have wrapped up the two classes I'm teaching for CCU. Between now and early May, I have to finish a major paper and my thesis so I can graduate from Xavier. And I need to do my taxes. We'd love to squeeze in a vacation during the next few months too.

7. Sadly, our neighbors are selling their condo. But it could turn into a positive if you've ever dreamed of living next to us. You can check out their place here. I get no commission if you buy their house, but I might shovel your deck.

8. My television updates:

• The deaf dude in The Amazing Race was a jerk tonight for the sake of impressing hot chicks. No matter who you are, the U-Turn karma is really powerful, so I think his time will come sooner than he thinks.
• American Idol played games with my girl Tatiana. I'm not feeling the top 13??? at all, but I'm hoping Anoop can keep going back to the Bobby Brown. And although she was good during the audition stage, I'm not feeling the new judge much anymore. I wouldn't be shocked if this was a one-season experiment.
• There's a new television series on NBC that seems to be a modern-day take on the King David narrative in the Hebrew Scriptures. Gonna have to DVR this, but I'm always somewhat skeptical with these kinds of shows.
• I love Jimmy Fallon, but his first week at the Late Show was horrible. It must improve soon, otherwise the axe-man could come this summer.

9. Considering one of my very first posts on this blog was concerning U2, how about a brief album review here? While there are a few good songs, I'm afraid they could be hitting that point in their career where their music loses its relevancy. I'll have to give it a few more times through before I confirm that. Still, I think I'm going to make a concerted effort to get Kel and I to their next tour.

10. While it killed me that the Bearcats fell off the map at the end of the season, misery loves company and UK has been pretty miserable this year too. I'm now hoping that the organizers of the NIT decide to match the two teams up so I can wear my Cincinnati gear at Rupp Arena.

End.

Contentment

My job is weird.

For the bulk of my job, I spend hours of my week in preparation for a 35-50 minute speech. My subject matter is always the Bible, and I usually spend a good amount of my research time examining the nuances of particular texts. For example, in order to teach from 1 Corinthians 8 last night, I spent time last week researching the worship of the pagan Roman deity Asklepios [a healing god] in order to better understand what the apostle Paul was referencing. Additionally, I always highlight my messages with pop culture tidbits as a means of reinforcing relevancy. The climax of my professional week is the sermon, something which I spend a considerable amount of time crafting each week, only to start all over the following Monday.

One thing I've discovered throughout the past fifteen years of doing this somewhat consistently is that the process is the same. Although I could always be "more prepared"* I make sure to invest hours into this process; I do this so that I never take for granted my role in teaching people the Bible.

What this truly means, is that I try to give my all whether I'm speaking to seven people or seven hundred people.

Echo is still a rather small church. We're blessed to have visitors at least every couple of weeks, but our growth has been rather slow. Sure, since our first year we've tripled in size [ah, how math comes in handy when you're dealing with smaller numbers], but I can tell you pretty accurately what our crowd will look like from week to week. And I know on Monday morning that there won't be hundreds of people busting down the doors of the church to hear what I have to say on Sunday night.

So as I approach my study for the week to come, understanding that few people will notice the fruit of my labor, it wouldn't be surprising if I decided to mail it in. I suppose I could scour the interwebs to get someone else's sermon series. I'm sure there are books a plenty at Family Christian Store that I could steal from use as a template for some messages. Heck, I could go buy the complete set of Nooma's and allow Rob Bell to babysit our church for a few months.

But I could never do that.

Because I absolutely love what I do.

Right now, I'm still engaged in the same wonder that my three year-old is experiencing now for the first time.

For her birthday, Kaelyn's great-grandfather gave her an interesting gift: seeds. Kelly thought it would be educational for the little girl to witness what it is like to watch plants grow. Since she's already seen it on every kid's show available, Kelly figured that Kaelyn should get to observe it first hand.

A few weeks ago she planted the seeds and has watered them every day or so. And absolutely nothing happened. Nothing, that is, until last week. A couple tiny green sprouts began to reach up towards the sky. Saturday, those first sprouts were joined by a few more. And then this morning, quite a few more have emerged, which led Kaelyn to exclaim, "Look at my plants!" And she never would've experienced such joy if she had never planted the seeds.

I want a garden in the city. But I'm still planting seeds and watering.**

Some antagonists might insist that it that wasting hours of my week writing sermons isn't the best way to accomplish this, and I could see their point; understand that preaching is by no means "all" I do. We continue to immerse ourselves in this community. But my theology insists that preaching plays a major role in the transformation of the world. So as I spend hours of my week crafting words and concepts that only few will hear, I'm not discouraged. In fact, I feel as if its importance is gravely underestimated.

I'm not a farmer, aiming for the biggest yield; I'm gardening. What grows will grow.

And I'm so happy.

____________

*One way I am not as prepared as I used to be is that I used to always attempt to go note-less into the pulpit. I could easily memorize my 25-30 messages years ago. But since I've extended the average length of my sermon, and since I desire to more deliberate in making certain observations and pre-crafted sentences, I now preach with notes. Not sure if I'll ever go note-less again.

**I'm not claiming to be revolutionary with this gardening metaphor. It's quite clearly stolen.

Playing . . .

. . . catch up, anyone?

This is the least I've blogged since I started my site. I'm not giving it up by any means, I've just hit a spot where I don't have the time to blog. During this week and next, I will have taught or preached for about twenty-two hours. I was in Chicago last weekend, will be in the middle of nowhere Indiana this weekend, and I'll still be at church preaching Sunday nights. All these opportunities are awesome, but I just can't manage to post any content here.

So since I have a few moments here tonight, I'll give you a pot-pourri of what's on my mind.

• Like I mentioned, I was in Chicago last weekend for a gathering of urban ministers. It was very cool, and I was thankful that the weather wasn't too bad. I've only been there once before, and I've never been downtown, but I have to say that I'm struck by how huge the city is. It's pretty amazing that so many people choose to live in a place where the weather sucks most of the year.
• Unfortunately, I missed out on Kaelyn's Lexington birthday party. I did not, however, miss out on the killer cake that my mother-in-law made. I'm going to need some extra-exercise to erase the damage it did to me.
• Speaking of exercise, my marathon training is going surprising well. Ironically, the only injury I've sustained is my elbow. I think it's because I let my mp3 player hang too low on my arm, forcing me to bend my arm at an awkward angle. So all this running, and it's my elbow that's throwing me off.
• My last class at Xavier is pretty intense. The professor is brilliant, but challenging. Considering that I'm going to have to finish up my thesis as well this semester, I'll be OK if May is slow in coming.
• We're potty training Kaelyn. This kinda sucks. While she gets the idea of what we're trying to do, she still doesn't like it. I'm amazed that Kelly has been able to be so patient with her. I'm at the point where the kid could wear diapers tell she's in high school.
• Even when the weather sucks, I love living in the city. Doing my running downtown is definitely a plus. It's constant reinforcement that Cincinnati is a beautiful town.
• Fortunately the DVR allows us to keep up-to-date on all the reality TV. Amazing Race started this week, and it should be more promising than last year. I'm not sure how many people didn't think the deaf guy could do well but, apparently, that was the message that was out there. If you watch, I loved how the hick couple outsmarted everyone in the cheese challenge and still almost lost.
• I was majorly bummed that my girl Tatiana didn't advance in American Idol. That would've been television gold. I'm just telling you fanatics now: that Danny Gokey isn't as adorable as you think. He's going to be the guy that people think will surely win but will get kicked off in the final four.
• America's Best Dance Crew is getting good too. You should be watching. If you've been wondering who the people with masks are on that Gatorade commercial or dancing with Shaq at the All Star Game, you don't watch ABDC.
• My adjunct teaching is going rather well. I'm teaching a class on biblical interpretation and I'm really feeling it. Grading papers . . . not so much.
• We're still having a baby, in case you forgot. I sometimes do. It doesn't seem quite real yet.
• On the sports-front, the Reds could do OK this year. I'm just hoping for some competition. And if the Bearcats could somehow manage to beat Louisville and/or West Virginia, they're a tournament team. That would be enough to get me through the rest of the year.
• I'm loving our church. Our folk at Echo are really starting to come together. Like Susan reminded me this past week, Echo is like our first child. It's awesome to see her grow up.
• I love my wife. She's amazing.

That's enough to keep you interested, isn't it?

Double Halfway

Green or white?

The difference isn't as stark until you reach the corner of Woodburn and Madison. Just four blocks north of where our church meets is beautiful DeSales Corner, a hidden gem in our city. The business leaders in East Walnut Hills [those who dwell in East Walnut Hills tend to stress that geographic qualifier] have been investing in this corner for years and it takes center stage during the Flying Pig Marathon.

And that's where the difference between green and white become somewhat important. Those participating in the race are assigned a runner's bib with a number; the bibs are white for those running the full marathon and green for those running the half marathon.

Last year I decided to give long distance running a shot and chose to run the half. Both courses follow the same route through downtown and up Walnut Hills until DeSales Corner. Here the white bibbers turn right to proceed up Madison towards Hyde Park and the green bibbers turn left onto what becomes MLK and return to downtown. I think it was at this point last year that I started to think about going the distance and running the full marathon. As I was preparing for my green-bibbed left turn, I glanced over at the people running the 26.2 and thought, "I could do that." I wondered if that was just the adrenaline/testosterone following that would wane after a few months, but it didn't. It seems like the next logical mountain to climb.

So today, in the midst of our winter storm, I announce my candidacy to run in the Flying Pig Marathon. I'm registering online today so I can get the early bird rate. I started my training this month, not missing any sessions until this snow/ice. So far, so good. Running in the cold has never been my thing, but I've adjusted well to it. Of course, there's still three months to go.

I never felt like my body was built for long distance running, nor did I ever really enjoy it, so I'm not quite sure why I've decided to do this. But I'm going to have a good time with it.

Come May 3rd, I'll be wearing white and turning right.

I'm Just Not That Into It

So I've been struggling to write on the blog lately. Almost two weeks since my last post. While there's no one reason for my silence, I think I recognize the issues surrounding my sloth.

First, I've been pretty busy. Teaching is a blast, but it consumes more time than I imagined. Currently, I'm teaching my fifth course for my alma mater and it's been a new topic every time. These are accelerated courses, which meet weekly for four hours a night over five weeks. So since August I've had to prepare for 100 hours of lecture time. And since I'm one of those people who try to have visuals to go with my teaching, I prepare PowerPoint [well, actually Mac's Keynote] to accompany all of those lectures. And that's not even mentioning grading papers. Fortunately, the rest of the classes I'll teach this semester are ones I've already taught, so some relief is in sight. Combine this with family life and my "day job" and time from writing is pretty scarce.

Second, sticking with this issue, teaching allows me an outlet with which to express my ideas. That's one of the things this blog has awarded me. I enjoy flexing my creative abilities here, but it takes some work. I want to be thorough, thoughtful, and (if I'm trying to be funny) hilarious. When I'm already doing this for class, writing a blog post seems like a chore. And I refuse to make this a chore. So if it feels like too much work. I'm gonna let the blog posting slide to the wayside.

Third, I want to keep this blog diversified. While I love to keep everyone up-to-date on the minutiae that is my life, I also want to express deeper thoughts. I think I could keep more content coming if I just wrote about me but [I swear] I'm not THAT conceited. So if I can't write stuff that's worth reading, then I'm probably not going to write at all.

So there it is: there's not as much going on here write now. I appreciate you taking the time to check in and apologize that I'm in a bit of a writing funk. I promise I'll work my way out of it.

Wrapping Up '08

You know you're getting old when you leave a New Year's party at 10pm. Getting a sitter on New Year's Eve seemed too much of a task and Kaelyn had a good time anyway [thanks Melissa and Emily!]. But this extra time allowed me the opportunity to squeak one more post out of this year.

Overall, I loved 2008. As Frank would say, it was a very good year. I had the opportunity to travel to Dallas, St Louis and Louisville a couple of times. I caught a foul ball, had someone pay for my photography, made it on ESPN.com and even redesigned the blog. Great times.

I will also remember 2008 as the year I crammed my brain with more information than I thought I was capable of consuming. I'm wrapping up this Masters degree at X [will graduate in May] and started teaching at my alma mater. Although I read fewer books, I gleaned a ton of new material. This is transforming me; I actually feel like I'm starting to get a feel for my ministry style.

And speaking of this, I feel like I had a great professional year. At the beginning of the year, we knew some key people would leave Echo and it would be difficult. Even though this was scary, we knew God would provide for us. And He has in big ways. We made our [increased] budget and have some new people who are really energizing our congregation. It is very cool. This past fall, we eclipsed two personal milestones:

1) Echo is now the longest ministry that we've held. Surpassing three years doesn't seem like much, but this is where we plan on spending the rest of our lives. Also, we really "feel" this ministry. There is not the slightest doubt in me that if someone offered me the "perfect ministry gig" [high pay, little work, national acclaim], I would turn it down. This ministry is perfect for me. We feel completely at home.

2) We've lived in the same place longer than we ever have in our marriage. We discussed maybe upsizing here, and finding a house in the neighborhood, but there's no good reason for it except to maybe give Kaelyn a yard. But we've realized that she has everything she needs to make her a normal, healthy little girl. And we love our neighbors. And since I finally changed my drivers license yesterday to our current address, I think we're pretty settled.

So while I'm sad to close the door on such a good year, I'm sure there's another one right around the corner.

Happy New Year!

A Haiku'd Birthday

I had the best birthday today, as my day was constantly interrupted by others’ creativity. My haiku challenge was accepted by almost forty different people and they did not disappoint. The response was so good, I decided to award multiple awards.

THIRD PLACE: Carlton Farmer Man cries out his name The Earth calmly whispers back I know who you are

This one is just frickin’ cool. Good work, Carlton

SECOND PLACE: Melissa Hill I have written five haiku. Which one will I post on your day of birth?

(Answer: All of them. No, they don't all fit together. I'm not that bored. But they are all classical 5-7-5 because I'm a nerd. This is what happens when I take the day off work and am unable to sleep in.) I can count sylla- bles on my fingers. Are you impressed? You should be...  Read More.

Haiku are simple, but I like a challenge. So, next year: villanelles.

Your birthday is my parents' anniversary. Isn't that special?

Sunday night, Diet Coke in hand. Talking... talking. "Is it Monday yet?"

Thirty-three. Wow. Yikes. Be careful with your new Wii; you might break a hip.

Melissa doesn’t earn second place because of mere volume. No, she took the prize because of the Diet Coke comment. This is how I preach and I never really thought about it much before. Great observation.

FIRST PLACE: Kelly Carr Aren’t you so fancy To think of this little game? Here, I’ll humor you

In vain I create Something great so I can win I'm competitive

Birthday cheers to you This is your gift by the way So enjoy it now

I could get mushy Really, what would be the point? You know how I feel

I’d wax eloquent But it is my vacation So my brain’s shut off

Instead I’ll just write Steve, you always rock my world (Yes, that’s what she said.)

Yeah, you might think the contest was rigged since my wife won, but admit it: the use of “that’s what she said” cemented her victory.

Thanks, everyone for making my day great. Isn't the world a better place when people are creative? Here’s the rest in case they someday get lost in the Facebook black hole.

Eric Riggs Eleven o'clock A Haiku, then bed for me You have lots of friends. Shannon Perkins Smith Hey Steve, here's my wish Happy flippin' birthday freak Joy to you this year Shawn Wuske I missed your phone call About watching the Bearcats Come and join the fun

Sara Faison Another year gone Hope this next year is the best Happy Birthday Steve

Amy Lyday Campbell i suck at haiku but since it is your birthday here is your haiku

Mark Campbell You don't rock my world But your still pretty awesome Have a super day!!!!!

Jeffrey Worthen the cow moos tonight moo moo moo moo moo moo moo the cow moos tonight Robert Gee YADHTRIB YPPAH UOY OT YADHTRIB YPPAH STRUH NIARB YM

Martha Hill Happy Birthday Steve on my Anniversary a very good day!

Melissa Mingie [HONORABLE MENTION FOR HUMORING THE OLD MAN] This is kinda lame But I'll humor the old man Happy Birthday Steve

David McCoy Los cumpleaños felices a usted, los cumpleaños felices a usted cumpleaños Felices Steve Kristi Mendenhall You know you are cool Ur makin' me want to drool maybe use the stool

i'm glad you were born c c u ah...makes one torn go'head toot your horn

Emily Hill Happy Birthday Steve I think you're really crazy And I am awesome

Melody White-Riggs Steve, Happy Birthday What fun this game is to play Even though I stink

Tye VonAllmen Dust in the wind Pizza is my favorite fruit I love to skate Sarah Elizabeth Mitchell I suck at writing But Steve you are way too cool So, Have a great day!

Rob Brown You and your sister were born just a day apart? What's nine months before?

A Birthday Haiku That is a dumb idea I will not do it Brent Colwick Your birthday is great Peanut Butter Sandwiches That's what I'm screamin'

Alicia Gee Happy Birthday to Steve. I think that is all I need to say, Yea!

Carrie Furnish I'm not that creative But I'll give it my best shot Have a great birthday!

Adam Allman Your birthday is when Oh my you are now how old Still have time to say..... Rick Moore I like you more then three clicks and 13 letters Happy Birthday Steve!

Chris French My glad birthday wish May end up stinking like fish Next to all others

Becky Smyth i'll try to be cool with a fun birthday greeting that rhymes a bit too!

Audrey Morrison A trip to Ikea and a large Diet Coke Makes a Fabulous Birthday

Laura Stevens Another year young Loved by family and friends Happy Birthday Steve

Daniel Becker Walnut Hills beckons Reverend Kemper's estate and the House of Carr

Matt Coulter with motion forward time mocks the year-barer's mind "age well, Steve, age well"

Jon Weatherly Birthday tomorrow. Youth yields to gray middle age. Stubborn ear hairs sprout. Markus Watson I dislike haiku I wish you wouldn't want it Still, Happy Birthday Lori Rutherford Friend of my brother, Happy Birthday from Cali! Glad you are still fun! Jason Powell Entiendes no? Feliz Cumpleanos Steve Bendiciones Tim Reed happy birthday hap happy birthday happy birth happy birthday hap

Dave Little You are a great pal Skyline unites us Refrigerator

Chad Powers [HONORABLE MENTION FOR GOOD STORY] Playing center field Steve runs fast to catch the ball Fence, nose, ouch, blood, dizzy Daniel Smyth [HONORABLE MENTION FOR INCLUSION OF LEMMINGS] It makes me so sad To think that lemmings are dead It was all a lie.

Happy Birthday Steve You are aging well I hope Way to live this long.

With age comes wisdom Or say they tell me is true You may be a sage.

This is the last verse So I better make it good Your parents like March.

John and JoLynn Handel Steve is thirty-something And has no taste in sports Someday he will learn

Important News About My Birthday

OK, so my birthday is coming this Tuesday.

In previous years, I wouldn't mention it this early, but the advent of Facebook means that I'll soon be inundated with birthday greetings on my wall. Lest I speak over the head of you non-Facebookers who are reading this, a "wall greeting" is a simple instant message you leave on another person's account for all the world to see. These wall messages always increase exponentially around one's birthday, as Facebook lets you know when your friends' birthdays are coming.

The challenge I embrace when leaving a birthday greeting on someone's wall is to flee from the ordinary. If I see it's someone's birthday, I want to let them know that I've actually thought about them and didn't mindlessly drop a simple "Happy Birthday" on their wall. Seriously, what does this prove? I guess it shows that 1) I check my Facebook account too often and 2) I like you enough to click three times and type 13 letters.

I've been thinking about this for awhile now and I don't want your plain old birthday greeting on my birthday. Don't get me wrong: I appreciate that you're thinking about me but I'll be disappointed if you settle for being a lemming.* My birthday wish this year is that you stretch yourself and perhaps improve your Facebook skills in the process.

So the important news about my birthday? For my birthday, you need to give me a haiku.

You know what a haiku is, right? Basically, it's a small poem that does not have to keep meter. The traditional Japanese haiku 5-7-5 layout is syllable-based and has a few other rules. I don't need all those other rules to be followed. Just adapt to the English arrangement which is defined as:

Use of three (or fewer) lines of 17 or fewer syllables

Here are some generic examples I found on the interwebs:

Steady spring rain -- A tree takes shape At dawn

There is a small mouse, He lives in a windy mill, He is so happy.

You see, it's not hard. And you don't need to do it perfectly. Just give it a chance and show us your creativity. Write a little birthday haiku [it doesn't even need to be about me] and post it on my Facebook wall. And you non-Facebookers can participate by leaving a comment here on my blog. At the end of my birthday, I will pick my favorite haiku and give that person my sincere respect and the honor of my Facebook status for the following day.

This might sound like a conceited request, and it might very well be. But if you're really going to take the time to write me a birthday wish, make it original.

That's all I want. Get to work.

________________

*In case you never knew this, the myth that lemmings follow the pack aimlessly off cliffs was concocted by the Walt Disney Company. The documentary crew flung those critters off a cliff to make it look better for TV. Makes what happened to Bambi's mom seem less diabolicle, huh?

Happy Merry Christmas!

[at least that's how Kaelyn would phrase it]

Christ is born, and we're rather happy about it. Even attended a Christmas Eve service last night. I can't remember that last time we merely attended one and didn't have a responsibility to fulfill. Kelly's dad did a great job reading the Christmas story to the kids.

We've spent some wonderful days in Lexington and are headed north to my family in Cincinnati this afternoon.

Good thing I brought the Explorer so we can haul back all of Kaelyn's toys.

Deck Them Halls and All That Stuff

This has been an enjoyable Christmas season as Kaelyn has started to recognize the significance of Christmas. Tonight we reread the Christmas story with her and she's starting to get it. The live nativity scene by Krohn Conservatory in Eden Park has been a good reinforcement.*

Another great part of the season has been the Christmas shows. Of course, Kaelyn loves the Grinch so we've seen that numerous times throughout the month. But she's developed a certain passion for Charlie Brown's Christmas. We DVR'd it early in the season and have been playing it every few days. Until the little girl came along, I never noticed the frequency with which Charles Schultz had the kids use the word "stupid," but Kaelyn has yet to employ it in her vocabulary. She has, however, taken to quoting the lines, "Rats" and "Oh no, I've killed it."**

The best part of the whole is the dance scene during play practice. Kaelyn loves to impersonate all the different dancers. She prefers the side-to-side head bob that the twin girls do. My fave is the boy in the green doing the zombie. I'm sure there's some kind of personality test that tells you all about yourself according to which dance you prefer.

It's funny that with all of the newer animated Christmas specials that our 21st century girl prefers the one made over forty years ago.

___________

*Last night, on the way home from church, we noticed that they had placed a menorah on the other side of Krohn Conservatory. I'm very cool with that, as this is still America and I think everyone should be allowed a place at the table, but I was not impressed with the display. I've seen some beautiful menorahs in my life and this one would not fall into that category. Additionally, I believe Hanukkah started Sunday night and not a candle was lit.

**At first, I had no idea where Kaelyn heard "I killed it." In my demented mind, I honestly thought she might have been watching South Park behind our back, claiming to have killed Kenny. As you know, it is actually what Charlie Brown says when he hangs the ornament on his sickly tree.

Cheese With My Wine

Why take pictures? Because you never know when one will touch a nerve.

An employee with Cincinnati Parks was online a few months ago searching for some wintry pictures of Eden Parks. She found this photo I posted to my Flickr account that I took on a snowy morning two years ago and thought it was ideal. I received an email from her asking if the park board could use the pic for promotions. I told her, as I tell everyone when they ask about where we live, our family absolutely loves the park so she could use it for free as long as I had no objections to what it was being used for.

Sidenote 1: I'm not quite sure what I was imagining when a made this stipulation. It's not like there's an Eden Park p0rn festival out there.

The employee let me know that every year the park board releases some holiday wines from a little winery in Hyde Park. They wanted to use my picture for a label on one of the bottles.

Sidenote 2: I know some teetotallers are reading this now, screaming in slow motion, "PLEASE TELL US YOU SAID 'NOOOOOO!'" but you will be severely disappointed. If you're in this camp, you might want to stop reading this post and forget that you ever started reading it in the first place.*

Of course, I said yes. In my opinion, it looks pretty cool [there's a glimpse of the label up top]. We received a bottle for free and they are currently available to purchase from the Cincinnati Parks Board. Honestly, I'm not quite sure how you would go about getting a bottle, but I'd say it's safe to call the park headquarters and someone could help you out with it.

So now I've had my photos published in a book and printed on a wine bottle. Maybe it's finally time to get around to that camera upgrade.

_____________

*Honestly, I know my decision to be associated with alcohol will disappoint some of you who believe that it's the devil's tool and my position as a minister should require that I totally steer clear of the hooch. I don't care to take up the issue of alcohol abstinence here in the blog. If it really bothers you, you should probably drop me a line.

E-F-P-T-O-Z-L-P-E-D

I don't see so good.

I'm the only person in my family that is near-sighted. The only thing to which I can attribute this is those nights I used to stay up late at night as a child, using a dim reading lamp as my light source for books and Sports Illustrated.* Right about 5th grade, I couldn't read the blackboard from the back of the class. By the beginning of 7th grade, I got my first pair of glasses that I would wear only when needed. By 10th grade, I was wearing them all the time. I even had prescription sunglasses. Without glasses, I was practically blind.

But before I went off to college, I got my first pair of contacts. It was a difficult transition, as most contact wearers can relate; those first years, I would have occasional days when I just couldn't get those contacts in at all. And God forbid if I ripped one of those things, because were meant to last a year and they cost a fortune. But sometime since we've been married, I found the perfect brand of contacts; they were monthly replaceables. And the dirty little secret was that even though they were only supposed to last four weeks, I could sometimes go six. That meant I could get an extra six months out of a year's supply. I . . . am too cheap. Plus, I'd order them from 1-800 Contacts and save even more cash on the deal.

So fast forward to a couple of months ago when I had to get an eye appointment so I could get new contacts. I went to the optometrist at Sams in Oakley, and it was a great experience. The eye doctor noted that my contacts, the ones I've cherished for so long, are starting to be fazed out. I could hang on, or I could upgrade to biweeklies.

Not wanting to resist change for the better, I decided to move on.

These new contacts are OK, but I still am not used to changing them out so frequently. I finally figured out that I need to write the date on the contacts box when I throw away the old ones, otherwise I have no idea when to change them. Also, while they "breathe" better [whatever that means] they tend to be more flimsy. So unless they're setting perfectly in the contact solution at night, they're kinda contorted in the morning. I remedy this problem by straightening them out and letting them sit a few hours in the morning to take their natural shape. This means I spend more time wearing my glasses again.

Now . . . back to my glasses.

I used to love wearing glasses. Reasons why:

1) Sheer laziness. All I have to do is put them on and I can see. Brilliant. But there's another reason, though. One that displays my vanity:

2) A good looking pair of specs can make a person look good. I speak the truth. How many times have you thought or said, "Dang, ________ looks smarter today!"** Why? Because they're wearing a good pair of specs. Why in the world glasses have that effect on people, I have no idea, but I think it's contingent on wearing them occasionally; wear them all the time and the effect dissipates. As for me, I need all the help I can get to fake intelligence, so I'll walk that road.

Because of this, I like to make sure I have a decent pair to wear. I last purchased glasses about three years ago— a pretty sharp pair. But there's a slight problem: they sit heavily on the ridge on my nose and are painful to wear. I've messed with the little-nose-piece-thingies to no avail. Since they're not too comfortable, I've tended to rely on the contact wearing, which has worked remarkably well for the past few years.***

Until recently. With these new contacts.

Since I've gotten these new contacts that act up, I'm now wearing those painful glasses more. And I'm not going to get a new pair because I don't want to pay more money for glasses that I'll only wear every once in awhile. So instead, I'll suffer through this contact adjustment and nose-ridge pain all so I can see.

So what's the point of all of this?

In a couple years, when I finally decide to have that laser eye surgery, I'll have verifiable justification right here.

___________

*Not the swimsuit issue. Get your mind out of the gutter.

**Did this work for Sarah Palin? I'm thinking no.

***The irony about all this is that since I rarely wear glasses anymore, people are more surprised to learn that I wear contacts. I just find it peculiar when someone says "I didn't know you wear glasses" when they really mean to say, "I didn't know your vision sucks."

I Am Thankful

. . . for a Creator who crafted a universe that is truly breathtaking.

. . . for a faith that has guided me throughout my lifetime.

. . . for a family who cultivated that faith and made me who I am today.

. . . for a wife with whom everyday together is a new adventure.

. . . for a daughter who gives me more joy than I can describe.

. . . for my wonderful extended family, who have only known "adult-Steve", which is probably a good thing.

. . . for a church family who continues to embrace the Scriptures and the mission it describes.

. . . for friends who stick with me even when I'm the weaker half of the friendship.

. . . for my country which, no matter how bad things get, is still the greatest place to live on earth.

. . . for my city which is a diamond in the rough.

. . . even when I don't let people know it.

Where's My Diploma?

Actually, all my diplomas are sitting on a bookshelf downstairs. They're pretty useful for collecting dust.

Not to force sentimentality, but this past Sunday marked the completion of four years of Beit Carr. In my view, that would mean that I've achieved enough credits to walk the stage and graduate. My G.P.A. might not be impressive, but employers rarely research that kind of thing.

I do like to blog and am thankful that I chose to start when I did. I've been able to document some of the biggest changes in my life, something I'm sure I'll cherish in the years to come. Heck, to continue doing anything for four years is remarkable in itself, so I'm taking some pride in keeping this thing going so long.

As of late, it seems as if I have a severe case of blogging senoritis— I've been blowing off class and haven't been posting nearly as frequently as I once did. I attribute that a schedule where I'm already doing a lot of research and writing, hence, putting the blogging on the back-burner. But don't give up on me. I fully plan on continuing on to blog graduate school, perhaps even pursuing blog doctoral work.

Hmmm. Not sure if I'm fully embracing this metaphor anymore. Still, if anyone feels the need to send me a graduation present, I wouldn't resist it.

My Morning Reads [Part Two]

The blogs, they are a-changing. I finish my morning reading by checking out the blog feeds that have accumulated overnight. Once the simple online journals of geeks around the globes, blogs are now much more professional endeavors. As a result, they can be a valuable tool for those desiring to stay sharp and up-to-date on the latest happenings. Using Google Reader, I currently subscribe to over 150 blogs.

Each morning, I'll have between 60 and 100 articles to check out. Now I don't read every one of them. I usually scan the title and the opening sentences and instantly decide whether or not I'll read a post. And I'm constantly evaluating whether or not a blog is still worth checking out.

So to what kinds of blogs am I subscribed? Here's a taste:

Ministry: I haven't bought a ministry book in years. It's sorta pointless when many of the country's best practitioners post their thoughts for free online. I'll admit that I've been cutting back on some of these blogs as some of these guys use their journals for blatant self promotion. Still, there are some good ones out there. Examples: Ed Stetzer, Bob Hyatt, Ben Arment.

Bible/Theology: The same reason I subscribe to ministry blogs. Examples: Codex, Bible Places, Between Two Worlds.

Cincinnati: This is the city in which I do ministry, I feel it's my responsibility to know everything that happens here. There are some great local blogs that help me do such that. Examples: Queen City Survey, Cincinnati Beacon, Cincinnati Revisited, and my new favorite, Catholic Telegraph Photography Project.

Business Leadership: It's helpful to see what's going on in the broader society, as some of those values can be helpful in the church. Examples: Seth Godin, TED Talks, Malcom Gladwell.

Graphic Design: I do the graphic design for Echo. Since I have no formal training, it's imperative that I stay up the date on what's hot in design. Examples: Smashing Magazine, Vectortuts, Photoshop Candy.

Contrarian: Yes, I subscribe to a few blogs of folks with whom I disagree. If I'm so convinced that my worldview is correct, then I should not be threatened to read the thoughts of people on the other end of the spectrum. Examples: Debunking Christianity, Friendly Atheist, Ten Reasons.

Sports: I can't hide the fact that I'm a huge sports fan, so I'll use Google Reader to keep up on what's going on with my teams. Examples: Reds, Bearcats, Muskies.

Friends: Since many of my friends have their own blogs, it's a convenient way to keep up with their lives. Examples: Life as a Secret Agent, Eagle and Child, Room 113.

Miscellaneous: There are some that just won't fit snuggly into a category. For instance:

• YPulse discusses the latest in teen culture.
• Moleskinerie is a blog devoted to fans of Moleskine notebooks.
• Strange Maps is, um, what it claims to be.
• Where is Bob? just makes me laugh.

Like I said, this is just a sampling. Many more where this came from. So enlighten me: what blogs aren't I reading that I should?

P.S. I updated the "Links" page last week.

My Morning Reads [Part One]

I'll admit that I read fewer and fewer books. It's not that I'm not reading; currently, I read the books for my Xavier classes and for the CCU courses that I'm teaching. But I've started to much more from the internet. Over the past couple of years I've established a daily reading regimen that I've designed to get me the information I think I need to do my job. It's a little overdue, but I thought I'd devote a couple of posts to letting people know my daily informational intake.

First and foremost, do yourself a favor and download the Firefox web browser. It has the pluggins that make web browsing a pleasure and, if you're a fellow Mac user, there are plenty of shortcuts that make navigating your browser a snap [here's a quick example: hit "Apple+k" and your cursor immediately goes to the Google searchbar]. I have a toolbar bookmark labeled "morning" that opens up my list daily reading items in separate tabs. Here's what I check out, and the categories I assign to them:

COTTON CANDY

1. Facebook. I like to start my morning with a warm up before diving head-first into things. I try to check Facebook out about two times daily. That way I can leave a smart-alec update and see who is[n't] dating whom.

2. Lance McAlister's Blog. Lance is a sports radio talkshow host here in Cincinnati. He does a good job of linking to different articles pertinent to Cincy Sports.

LOCAL READS

3. The Cincinnati Enquirer. I feel it's important to know what's going on in our city, so I have to hit up the local paper. The Enquirer's parent couple recently changed the websites for all of their papers. The new layout is excruciatingly horrible. As a result, I'll only scan the frontpage to see if there are articles of interest.

4. Cincy Nation. This is basically a local news aggregate with a liberal stance. They have a good amount of non-Enquirer local articles linked here, ones that I might not find otherwise.

NATIONAL NEWS

5. The New York Times. Since they started putting all their content online, I've enjoyed reading the paper. I can stomach the rather one-sided reporting as almost every article is usually well-written.

6. The Wall Street Journal. The WSJ has some content available online, but requires you to pay for the really good stuff. Hence, I scan the front page for the freebies.

7. The Washington Post. This one is so I can figure out what's happening on the national political landscape.

A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING

8. Digg. Yes, it has its own culture that I refuse to get involved in [I've probably only dugg about a dozen articles on the site], but it has an eclectic mix of articles from all over the web.

9. Google Reader. This is the next step of my reading regimine, as I scan through my RSS subscriptions. I've written about RSS feeds before— it's an easy way to quickly read through numerous blogs— but in part two, I'll let you know the types of blogs to which I subscribe.

I Hate Elder

Growing up a non-Catholic on the westside of town was quite the experience. One positive would be that I stood out from my classmates on Ash Wednesday. One negative is that I never found any presents in my shoes on St Nick's day.

Another byproduct of my westside Protestantism was that I only partook of the public education experience. Even though there were three established all-boys Catholic schools on our side of Cincinnati, I feel like my education rivaled anything I could've received at those institutions [with chicks in class to boot]. The Oak Hills Local School District provided me with an excellent-all-around education. Sure, there were sub-par teachers, but not that many of them. And I had every opportunity to succeed right at my fingertips. I'm proud of my years at Oak Hills High School. And even though I only had a brief stint in its athletics department, I was quite the athletic supporter. I still spend Friday nights watching the local sports programs to see how my Highlanders performed against the schools across the city.

So the news this past weekend that Oak Hills was ending its football rivalry with Elder High School was like a kick to the groin. The westside [Catholic] private high school is a football powerhouse, that's to be sure.* And the series hasn't been competitive in decades; the last time that Oak Hills defeated the Panthers was 1986. But even though it has become a one-sided rivalry, it was still contentious. If there was every anyone I wanted us to beat, it was Elder. The game (before it was moved earlier in the season) was the last one of the season for both teams . . . um, usually before Elder went to the playoffs. I spent some miserable games at Oak Hills and Elders' Pit watching them let us stay competitive for a quarter or two before finally finishing us off. It definitely sucked and there was no end to the domination in sight.

But now, I feel I've been robbed.

With this decision, one I suspect is not as mutual as they let on, my alma mater stole from me. What was taken from me was hope— the hope that I would one fall Saturday morning wake-up and see a scoreboard where the Highlanders bested Elder. I'm not sure when it would've happened but, eventually, it would've HAD TO HAVE happened. Even though Oak Hills is the biggest high school in the state of Ohio, it is continually fleeced of its best talent by Elder, LaSalle and St. X. But at some point, some team will have put it all together and provide the opportunity of a victory over the Panthers. But now, unless it's in the play-offs, it will never happen.

While this may seem like a trivial issue, I see some larger statements here. It's almost as if the public school is surrendering, admitting that it can't compete with its private counterpart. And it also appears that the district is sending a "if you can't beat 'em— quit" mentality to its student body. This, my friends, as a sad, sad decision.

I much prefer losing to Elder than not playing them at all. And after all we've been through, my Oak Hills pride has been tarnished by this move.

__________

*When we lived in Mason in 2002, someone asked me if I was excited that Elder won the state football championship. I believe I responded by spitting on the carpet.

Things Seen [Part One]

I realized that I haven't posted any of the pictures filling my hard drive so I'd get them up tonight.

First up is a trip I took a couple of weeks ago with my brother Tim. One of his electrical suppliers had some tickets to the Notre Dame vs Purdue game in South Bend. I had been on campus once before, the result of a college road trip, but I had never been to a game, so I was excited to go. We went half-way up on Friday night, spending a not-so-memorable night in Kokomo, Indiana [John Stamos and the Beach Boys were nowhere to be found]. Then we drove back late Saturday night. Any-who, the highlights.

We tailgated by this weird science experiment place just off campus. We thought they were above ground graves.

Irish fans pray at the Grotto before the game. Yeah, they need all the prayer they can get.

The Golden Dome sure was . . . goldeny.

Dude was playing the bagpipes. The Fighting Scottish?

This mural on the side of the library is actually named "The Word of Life." But since it's so close to the stadium, it garnered the nickname "Touchdown Jesus." So not only can he hit a curve ball, he can referee a football game.

We sat behind the student section which was pretty awesome. And Purdue was pretty horrible this game so they had lots to cheer about.

This Boilermaker fan kept going up and down the stairs. He was gnawlin' on this stogie, and I just had to take his picture.

This was us at the game. Both Tim and I had to buy Notre Dame gear on the way up. I opted for the $5 Wal-Mart hat while he went all out with the hat and shirt. Good times . . .

Weak Blog Week

Yep, this is one of those obligatory, "I've been too busy to blog posts." I really don't like posting these things, but I don't want people to think that I've either a) given up blogging, or b) fallen into a hole.

Fear not for my sanity and safety.

The main reason I've been silent is that I'm absolutely slammed right now. Church is always the priority, but I'm also teaching a class and taking a class. When those all collide, I find myself scrambling to stay ahead. I have a major research paper due Thursday [which consumed my non-preaching weekend], in addition to some Bible lessons I'm writing for a magazine [soon and very soon, I'll have those to you Sheryl]. It's rough, but I can see a light at the end of the tunnel.

And part of my one week absence could be blamed on this new blog layout. Yeah, it looks pretty sweet but it requires that I get pictures that go with every post. So since that process takes from 5 to 10 minutes, I tend to see it as too time consuming and put it off. So I hope you enjoy the visual stimulation that accompanies my musings.

I do have plenty of things to post about when things calm down. So wait patiently . . .

More Stuff No One Cares About But Me

Sports-geek stuff here, but allow me to gloat.

Even though I've decided not to play fantasy football this fall, I'm a fantasy baseball addict. For six years now I've been in a keeper league. I'm usually competitive [my worse year was when we planted the church], winning one championship and making back-to-back playoff appearances in that time-span. This has been a rough season as I had two high draft picks turn out to be useless. With six weeks to go, I was in fourth place out of six teams in my division and I had reached that critical point: do I have a fire-sale or hang on in an attempt to make the play-offs? I decided to hang in there.

Glad I did.

We have five head-to-head match-ups per week. So in those last thirty games, I went 29-1 to win the division. That, friends, is finishing stong. It's been fun coming home after church on Sunday nights to see how my guys finished up, giving me a little piece of happiness in the midst of losing Cincinnati sports teams.

So we'll see how I do in the play-offs, but half the fun was getting there.

*And about the picture with this article: for some reason, I've always named my fantasy baseball teams "Manchester United" for my favorite professional soccer team— an even greater testimony to my dorkiness.