wildebeasts and corn chowder (another random post)

in today's installment of randomness, i begin with a demonstration that my oldest child is secretly being influenced by a rogue gang of tusken raiders from star wars.  a few weeks we took a hike near penn's creek with a friend when jack struck this pose, and i knew immediately that something was up.  but when he started shouting in ways that sounded like a wildebeast with a mouthful of peanut butter, there was no question about it.  if he starts asking if he can spend the night with a friend on tatooine, i'll know i've got a major problem.

-what have i been listening to?  how about Justin Townes Earle's awesome alt-country album with a new york city theme?  it's called 'harlem river blues,' and you can get it here for $3.  i'm lovin' it right now. 

-i watched a nature show the other night about piranha.  apparently their teeth are really really sharp.  also, the people who live near the rivers in south america like to catch the little buggers and eat them.  and when they've finished picking piranha meat off the bones, they like to clean off the jaws, separate the top jaw from the bottom jaw, and  - are you ready for this - use them as scissors for cutting hair.  that is correct.  they just hold the jaws in two hands right next to someone's head and just click them together, as if their is a really angry bony piranha just inches from your skull, chomping on your locks.  the world is a weird place, man, and probably full of aliens, as evidenced in the picture above.

-we've had issues with cade learnng to talk, and while he is doing better, he still has some trouble.  and by that i mean, we still have some trouble figuring out what he is saying sometimes.  well, apparently we've really been working on the "t" sounds because when we don't understand him recently, he gets singularly frustrated with us, and believes that he only needs to precede whatever he's trying to say with a series of dramatic "t's."   so, with intense over-annunciation he says, "t-t-t-t-t-corn chowder!"

-some pastors are really good.  and, others?  well, not so good. 

-back to wildebeasts for a second.  do you think noah would seriously let wildebeasts on the ark?  i can't really imagine a scenario in which that happens.  in my mind's eye, i see the pair of enormous oafs ambling towards the front door of the gopher wood boat, and noah checking the guest list, saying, "sorry guys, i don't have you down here.  i can't see anything here about giant hideous looking groaning animals.  sorry, hope you can swim."  apparently, they can swim. 

-i am currently leading a study in my church about what it means to be a united methodist. last week we talked about the history of our denomination, and i had 20 people there!  this week we are discussing the polity and organization of the church.  any methodist readers out there have any ideas about how to make this interesting? 

-hope everyone's having a good week.  if you didn't read it, i'd love for you to read what i wrote about prayer yesterday, and offer me your two cents (or five, or twenty-five.  or heck, give me a couple bucks.).  be well.