Sunday, July 10, 2011

Fail Blog

One of the things that got Ang and me through a difficult 2010 was the website "Fail Blog."  It's a chronicle of people's misfortune, caught on camera.  Reporters losing their cool when they think the camera is off.  Athletes trying to display their skill, only to wipe out miserably.  And best of all, people demonstrating how products work on home shopping programs, only to have those products turn on them (ladders crashing down, swords that accidentally stab the presenter, and so on).  You might say this speaks to me taking a certain joy in other people's failure, but I think I appreciate these public humiliations for a different reason: I can imagine any and all of them happening to me.  And I'm surprised there aren't similar videos of me making an error during preaching, stumbling while playing ultimate frisbee, or being caught picking my nose by a surveillance camera out there on the web.  Maybe there are. 
Why do I tell you this?  Well, for the handful of you who've followed my posts on this site, this has been a bit of my own "fail blog."  Not that I've uploaded silly videos of myself, but in that it's demonstrated one central fact: I am a failure at blogging.  When I logged on just a few minutes ago I was surprised to see that my last post was almost a month ago.  A month ago!  And a few weeks had passed since I had written the previous post.  Not that any of you were hoping to hear from me daily, but if this blog was supposed to be some sort of a diary of my family's time here in London, well, it's rather been a failure, hasn't it?
My reasons for not posting are many.  I think the primary one is similar to why I don't like to take pictures: I prefer to experience a moment rather than take the time to capture it.  Let it happen, remember it as best as I can, and move on to the next experience.  The secondary reason is related to the first.  I am rather lazy.  Blogging takes time.  Thought.  Effort.  And I've been napping a lot.  I've been sleeping in.
Though it's a bit late in the race -- we leave here in less than two weeks -- to change course, I wonder if I should've Tweeted my experiences rather than attempting a blog.
And so, since blogging is passe anyway, let me offer this summation of the past few weeks of the Fishers in Europe in the form of 140-character-or-less thoughts:

Toddy_boy71
Plane diverted to Bologna from Florence...does anyone have a map of central Italy?  Does anyone know how to read these Italian signs?  How long is a kilometer?
4 weeks ago

Toddy_boy71
No wonder so many Italians end up as Indy and Formula1 drivers -- they're pushing my Fiat Punto off the road! (BTW, great car!)
4 weeks ago

Toddy_boy71
Can't believe how beautiful the Tuscan countryside is in person...or how fast these Italians drive around these hairpin terms.  Hope we make it home in one piece.
3 weeks, 6 days ago

Toddy_boy71
Staying in a 700 year old (not a typo!) villa with the family.  Beautiful, roomy, and musty.  Kids are kicking it poolside, Daddy's taking another nap...

Toddy_boy71
Italian food is tasty, but how do they stay so fit eating all these carbs?

Toddy_boy71
Just ate a delicious dinner on top of a mountain...only question is how to make it back down the ridonkulous twists and turns of the one lane road without falling down the sheer cliff on the other side.

Toddy_boy71
Back in London.  Funny how a place can feel like home so quickly.  I like me some Italian food, but glad to have some curry, rice, and samosas.

Toddy_boy71
Saw my all-time favorite album, "The Soft Bulletin," performed by the Flaming Lips tonight.  Covered in confetti, eyes full of smoke, ears ringing, big smile.  Can't believe they pulled it off note for note.
2 weeks ago

Toddy_boy71
Also saw my childhood faves, Dinosaur Jr. play their late 80s classic, "Bug."  Still love the songs, but I can't handle amps turned to 11 anymore.  Thanks J, Lou, and Murph!

Toddy_boy71
Picked up Ang's parents/Bobo and Yaya/world's best babysitters at Heathrow this morning.  Glad to have some help with the kids, looking forward to crazy good Chinese food, and a few days just Ang and me in the Cotswolds.

Toddy_boy71
Have already gained several pounds from dim sum, ho fun noodles, and king prawns.  Hopefully walking around London will help me work off a few of these calories.

Toddy_boy71
Watched Jack during Holy Trinity Brompton worship service today (they call the cry room "the Crypt"!!!), so heading out to an "experimental" church called Moot Community tonight.

Toddy_boy71
Moot was a hoot :)  Not too experimental.  Just a few dozen Trinity-types reading liturgy and practicising silence together.  But it was nice, meditative, and we should do this some Sunday at Trinity

Toddy_boy71
Just rented a car to drive to Cotswolds with Ang.  Not only driving on the left-hand side but using a stick shift with my left-hand.  Yowza wowza!  Please pray!

Toddy_boy71
Cotswolds are idyllic...I get this whole English countryside thing.  Haven't hit any oncoming cars, don't like pub food, and just had the best Indian food I've ever had (in the lovely town of Moreton on Marsh, of all places!)

Toddy_boy71
Enjoyed 3 great days in the country.  Nice rest from the kids, staying in a B&B staffed by the cast of "Babe."  Turned the car in with a rather large scratch on the front left rim -- ouch!!!  Fortunately only charged me £35 extra

Toddy_boy71
Went to a different church while fam went to old reliable HTB today.  The little congregation of 20 taught me more in an hour of their totally interactive service than reading several books on new forms of worship.
Today

Toddy_boy71
So very, very full of more Chinese food.  Best I've ever had.  Mom and Dad Ho agreed.  And less than a block away.  Might need to purchase a second seat on the airplane home.

And so on.  So there's the very bullet point version of the last few weeks (Notice the repeated mentions of food). 

Reading a wonderful book right now -- "Home" by Marilynne Robinson -- and I echo the prayer of one of the main characters.  "There is so much to be grateful for, words are poor things."  That's how I see this time in London.  That's how I see these months of rest from ministry.  That's how I see this entire life that's been graciously given to me.  God is good.  Remind me of that in the days ahead.  I'll try to do the same for you.

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