i moved

'ello all!

hope this finds you doing well. wanted to let people know that after a friend of mine at work decided that i needed a myspace, i decided to go with it i guess. i can't keep this blog going as it is so Lord knows i only need one. here is the info...

http://www.myspace.com/laughoutloud1791

http://blog.myspace.com/laughoutloud1791

i'll leave this one up for a couple three weeks. hope to see you soon...

mark

the power of "u"

All Hallow's Eve has passed once again and now we head to Thanksgiving. As I sit here at the house waiting for the Propane Man to come I thought that I would jot a thought down.

thought #1: the cornucopia, or, the horn of plenty (ok, that makes me laugh...). the cornucopia (with a "long u" sound there in the middle of the word) brings so many memories... ok, only a couple. one is making turkeys (turkies? what in the world is going on?) in grade school out of those hedge apple things that one might find out in the woods. now that i think about it, i remember making turkeys out of potatoes as well. I believe that I might have to go to the store for some construction paper (who am I kidding, I have a huge stock of it upstairs, along with that paste in the tub that you can eat off the stick and some glitter glue: one just never knows when you need to have a quick "craft fix". alright, that's dumb). where was i? oh, construction paper for my native american paper feather headdress. I think that I might make the other two in my department at church make them as well. wait, nathan and i will make headdresses and we'll have terrie be the pilgrim. and when i think of "corn-you-copia" i think of tina (not the llama; the tour guide at the alamo on "peewee's big adventure"): "Hello, I'm Tina. I will be your tour guide today... Here we have Pedro and Inez. Inez is holding a clay pot that she seems to be mighty proud of." Oh, "corn-you-copia" brings my thoughts to thanksgiving and going to jeremy's house when we were in college. here is the thought process as we decided when to leave:

• me: i only have one class on wednesday. jer: so do i.
• me: i'll skip that one and we can leave on tuesday night. jer: well, i don't have any classes on tuesday. wait, i do have concepts of p.e. (i am totally making some of this up, one for memories sake and two for the sake of my own humor, but don't deny that y'all have gone through this thought process as well)
• me: i have a/v methods. jer: (thinking)
• me: who am i kidding, let's just leave monday and take the whole week off. it's thanksgiving for heaven's sake.

as i type all of this, i realize, once again, why i was in school for 7 years. my word...

i thought that i had another thought but now that i have gone on about what "corn-you-copia" brought to my mind, i think that 1 thought will suffice for today.

I want to enjoy it...

So I went to McDonald's the other day, craving a Big Mac. I remember many-a-roadtrip with my family and we would stop at McDonald's. "Mark, what do you want?" my parents would ask.

"Big Mac, large fry, medium Coke," I would enthusiastically respond.

There are a lot of memories behind the Big Mac: riding to West Virginia in the Lincoln Continental (even though I had to sit in the back in the middle because that is where the youngest sat :-\ ), Saturday band trips, spring break trips to Florida with my family which included my cousin that sniffs constantly and doesn't stop talking many times and decided to use half a can of hairspray in an enclosed van.

On with the story... This is what I found on the box as I received my treat:

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 sandwich (215.0 g)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 576 Calories from Fat 292
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 32.5g 50%
Saturated Fat 12.0g 60%
Polyunsaturated Fat 2.8g
Monounsaturated Fat 14.1g
Cholesterol 103mg 34%
Sodium 742mg 31%
Total Carbohydrates 38.7g 13%
Protein 31.8g
Vitamin A 1%
Vitamin C 2%
Calcium 9%
Iron 31%
Nutritional Units 14

I DON'T CARE! I just want to enjoy my Big Mac in peace and fat and harmony. Good Lord... Oh well, as I completely inhaled my "two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun," I wanted buy another just to spite the carb count on there. I know, I know, there are some that would say, "Mark, that is totally not good for you." Well, sometimes ya just gotta be bad. Why be good when it feels so good to be bad, right? As Mark Lowry says, "Die young, make a pretty corpse." Ok, I crossed the line there...

david koch

Pray for Christ Center Wesleyan in Sedona, AZ. My conga player there, David Koch, decided that taking his life was a better option than facing some consequences. David, Trina and their kids, Tiana and Dean, are great people. The church is kinda in a tailspin as well since they just interviewed a guy for the worship position there and another guy is coming in another couple weeks to interview. Thanks...

A thought...

I found this is as I was cleaning today and I believe that it proves to be blogworthy:

"If someone gives you their love you should try not to crap on it."

"Attention in the terminal, now seating all rows for flight 1019 to Whatwasithinkingburg"

life moves on...

Well, life as I know it here in Ohio has come to the end of a season again. It's usually when you are starting to feel like things are rolling along pretty well and then God says that it's time to turn things around a bit. Kris Kuester, my co-worker and great friend, is moving to Atlanta. It's a great opportunity for him and Trudy and Maddie. And here's the funny thing: he started his new job the weekend after we went to 5 different venues at Cypress. Talk about crazy and talk about God needing to do what He does best: take over where we can't. But ya know, as Clairie says: "That which does not kill us only makes us stronger." (o.k., I realize that she was not the first one to say that but I like quoting Steel Magnolias, what can I say)

But you know what? I have found a new creative space. True, it is practically insanity with 5 venues within a Saturday night and Sunday morning, and there are days that I would rather stick my hand in a meat slicer (umm, I guess Children of the Corn was not a good rental choice...) but God is good to me with volunteers and people stepping up in the arts department and people coming forward to start using their talents.

Is there anyone else that misses Chris Farley? He makes me laugh. Oh, movie, Akeelah and the Bee: just watched it Sunday night. Great movie, although the end was a little sugary. I do like this, though: "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate; our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same."

Two words...First Call

I could really hardly contain myself today as I was browsing through Lifeway and happened upon this treasure, no, gem. Nay, a true diamond amidst a lot of whippersnapper cd's. First Call. First Call...do you see that. And not just any First Call but the THE FIRST First Call. I was no sooner in my car, slashing at the government issued plastic surrounding the cd, practically beside myself trying to get it into the cd player, turning my car on and aurally feasting myself upon the banquet called First Call (ok, that may have been a little too far). Amidst all these so-called "musical geniuses" we find Bonnie Keene, Melody Tunney and Marty McCall. I mean, really, can you get any better than "O Sifuni Mungu," "Snap to It," "Undivided," "The Reason We Sing"? Tell me, can you find better? Ok, there are some out there. But I will tell you this, very few. First Call today...First Call forever!

memory lane

Well, click in those Memory Lame seat belts 'cause we are goin' on a little ride...

"My goodness, look at the time! I hope that we are not too late for all those Early Bird Specials at JCPenney."

"My buddy, my buddy! Wherever I go he goes!"

"And now, returning from the grave..." (nice pegged pants)

"Look Mom, no cavities!"

"But Dad, I don't want to be a family band..."