in between

Halloween has never been a huge holiday for me. As a child we dressed up and it was fun, but, my favorite Childhood memories are not of halloween. I dont remember Halloween from college and from Grad School, most people that did anything with the holiday simply went to a huge street party in Chapel Hill, NC. I never felt compelled to go.
But last year, Halloween took on a new meaning. Last year my wife and I traveled back to Texas on Halloween to attend Kyle's funeral. He died on the 30th, the funeral was the 1st, and now Halloween is in between two very significant days. I guess it is the memorial day for me. I was't in Waco on the 30th when it happened but the trip back on halloween for an All Saint's Day funeral was a huge part of the pilgrimmage back to a place and a community of people that I love and miss dearly.

Halloween is my sorrowful day for Kyle, and All Saints Day is going to be my celebration day. Tomorrow, I plan to wear my Adidas Track Suit in honor of Kyle. I know people will look at me funny, but I hope they ask me why. I would love to tell the story of our friend. Someone who laughed loud, thought hard, and lived well. He had profoundly changed my life through our friendship and in his death he is still helping to change me.

this one has been coming

Today marks the first anniversary of Kyle Lake's death. There is a community that spans the country and world that grieves today. We all have lost someone we loved and that loved us. He taught us, challenged us, encouraged us, and led us in many of the ways we would go. Most of the time it was down a path that I wasn't sure I should go.

I will never forget early mornings at common grounds, Wednesday lunches at crickets (after which I had to rush to campus for Hebrew class), and even a phone call just days before my wedding at which he was an usher:

Kyle: "Hey, I was calling to see if it mattered that I was going to bleach my hair really blonde even though we have your wedding this weekend?"
I replied: "that's fine, I don't think it will matter."
Kyle: "Well good, because I was ready to do it when I called you the first time and when I missed you, we just went ahead and did it. Glad you don't mind."

Those weren't the exact words, but you get the point I guess. It is what comes to mind today for some reason.

Our first October 30 is going by without Kyle. In two days we will recognize All Saints Day (November 1) and remember a long day at FBC Waco. I am thankful for the chance to have been their with a could of many witnesses, celebrating with grief and great thanks one of our Saints who is going on before us.

happy 3+1

I was sitting in my office, winding down from a funeral, hospital visits, and newsletter writing and as I was flipping though my newest copy of Relevant Magazine I was reminded of how popular blogging became this year, page 92 of the Novmber/December issue.

But as I read about blogging, I remembered the my blog birthday was in October. So I looked it up and sure enough, OpenAHOsHead is 3 years and 1 day old. WHOOO HOOOO!!!

So, three years and one day into this little thing and I am now finally cool.

Or, as I like to think, the rest of the world got cool two years after me.
What do you think? (but only share the thoughts about me being cool, that is what is cool in america in 2006)

another mystery

Today I got my car washed at one of those full service places that we all have around. It was $11, but, the automatic touchless deal in town, "Mayberry Water WorkS", is $8 and doesnt really do a good job. I got a vacuum too.

After my car had gotten the pre-wash scrub, it went through the carwash and then came out the other end to be dried and detailed by a person. The young lady pulled the car forward and dried it, sprayed and cleaned the windows, and then detailed the wheels. She appeared to be doing a good job, but, how much should I tip her??? (sometimes its a him)

When I got home, I realized she had not done that great of a job, but the tip was in. $4 is what I gave, what do you give???

since we were last together.. I have:

This was the phrase given to us to complete when we arrived for the afternoon session at the leadership program/seminar I am participating this year. We gathered for level 2 this week and we had not been together since August. It is a fun group of people, all ministers, trying to minister and lead better. Most are close to my age, one is not, but we get along really well and I am thankful that there are other people out there trying to be good ministers. It is easy to think you are alone when many of the people that you deal with in other churches and the community come from such a different place then you.

So, since I last blogged: I went to young leaders.

My wife, dog and I also went to visit my parents and some extended family in upper Michigan. It was a good trip. There was snow, mud, wind, and plenty of scenery. We also traveled through many notable cities along the way: Charleston WV, Colombus OH, Ann Arbor MI, the Mackinaw Bridge, Marquette MI, Green Bay WI, Milwalkee WI, Chicago IL, Indy, Lexington KY, and Huntington WV: home of Marshall U. My car is filthy and crossed 10000 miles as we crossed back into NC. 10005 was the final odometer total when we arrived in the garage: 27030 on Google maps if you dont know where the "Mayberry Hamlet" is.

I preached on the Prodigal Son at a revival, it was a pretty fun night. The church accross town is having what they are calling "Main Street Revival." They invited pastors from 4 churches on Main Street here in town to preach on 4 consecutive nights in October. Our choir also sang, and their song fit well with a rendering of the prodigal son. I talked about how we are quite often the bigger brother who is trying to do good, but feels like we cant catch a break. If you want, I could pass something along to you.

Finally, for tonight...
I have spent the day resting, catching up on some TV, and exercising. My run was tough, the rest has been good, and I have watched an absurd amout of television today. We caught up on two weeks of Desperate Housewives and Studio 60, and that was after dinner. I am now only 3 weeks behind on Grey's Anatomy, and I am thinking about picking up THE NINE. I am caught up with Boston Legal, and I may try to catch up on SIX DEGREES.

Currently I really dig the Mac/PC commercials, and there is also a commercial with monkeys, one of which is popping bubble wrap that really made me laugh. Also, these VW commercials where musicians are playing their guitars through the stereos of the cars is interesting. I am thinking about hooking up my Chet Atkins to the the system of the ELEMENT. I need a $3 adapter from Radio Shack.

I am also digging two new t-shirts I got this week. I finally had a shirt come in related to the Kyle's Film Project. I also got one for the church youth group with the title "el ano del taco". Both are American Apparel shirts and are good deisgns in a great feeling/fitting shirt.

Back to work and running again tomorrow. The half-marathon wont run itself.

I hope all the bloggers who read this are well out there in bloggerland. I plan to catch up with you all soon.

Continue to uncover more mysteries of the universe.

mysteries of the univerise

There are many questions in life that we cannot understand and can only stab at their resolution. Take for example:
why does the guy outside the sporting event who WANTS tickets never talk to the guy right across the street who HAS tickets?
or
when you drop your chapstick in the parking lot, how long can it set there until it simply becomes parking lot chapstick?
or
Why do you have to write in the tip before you actually get your food when you order take-out at chilis, outback, etc...


But this is the lastest one that has me is:
How much do you tip at SONIC, americas drive in?

This is a tough one. You see, SONIC is a drive in and you expect service to your car. But all the carhop really does is brings out your food and takes your money. It is an antiquated drive-through system. And, becuase we are nice people we feel compelled to give these fast food delivery people a tip.

Usually, when I go to Sonic and the bill comes to something like $4.29, it is simple enough to give a $5 and call it even. This gives a 15% tip for something that took the carhop 27 seconds to do. Thats a pretty good return. BUT, sometimes it comes to $7.73. Then I rummage around in the car for an additional $.50, or, if I dont feel like being cheap, I might give them a $1.

BUT, there is a problem. Have you ever noticed that no matter how much you tip at SONIC, the response is always the same, indifference? Why is this?

If each carhop got $.50 for each trip to a customer, in a given day, they would clear an additional $20-$40, tax free, on top of the minimum wage+ they are paid. This would come out to something like $10/hour for a 5-6 hour shift. That is fantastic money for a high school or college student working pt fast food.

Yet, I give a $1, no response. I feel like a jerk for wasting a $1 on a glorified window operator. I give $.25, no response. I feel like a jerk who could only tip a quarter to the poor high school kid while I wasted $.75 in gas 'cause I didnt want to shut the car and a/c off (c'mon its 100 degrees outside and I needed a 32oz milkshake {note the absurdity plese}).

SO, chalk SONIC up to mystery of the universe and file it with the chapstick problem. We will never know. AND if you work at SONIC, just tell the carhops to be thankful for my handful of nickels and dimes. I was going to buy a bouncy ball with that change.