spotlight: facebook status brilliance

facebook status updates, like twitter updates, demand that you show up ready to play with your “A” game.

they gotta be short and sweet – and nobody I know is better at that than Devin Maddox (who some people actually call FaceDevin or TweetMaddox because of his skills).

here is my favorite offering thus far:

well done , Devin, well done.

. . . . . . .

Do you have a friend with a gift of quick wit who uses his powers for the forces of facebook good?

Any favorite twitter posts, facebook statuses, or even microblog posts?

‘you’re tight as a tick’

Saturday mornings would not have been the same without ‘The Tick’.

Not that they would have been worse, they just wouldn’t have been the same.

But I digress.

I didn’t post this picture because of any unusual affection for the man in the blue rubber suit with furry antennae – I posted this picture because when I saw the alternative options after I googled “tick” they made me want to throw up a little bit.

That reaction is exactly what makes this brief interchange between Beth and our nurse at the doctor’s office so bizarre:

Nurse: Did you bring your urine?

Beth: I remembered today

Nurse: Put it on the counter . . .

(She tests it with her kit)

Ok, it looks good.  How have you been feeling?

Beth: I have felt good this week

Nurse: Lay back on the table.

(She puts her hand on Beth’s belly)

Oh! You’re tight as a tick, girl!

Yeah.

It took us a minute to process it too.

The nurse compared Beth’s belly to a parasitic insect that sucks blood out of a host animal until it gets so fat that, if you touch it, it will burst – gushing blood everywhere.

You can feel free to thank me for opting to use a picture from the cartoon, and not a real life bloated tick.

. . . . . . .

Ever had an unexpected, shocking, or embarrassing trip to the doctor’s office?

(The more your experience is properly described by those adjectives, the better)

cracked mug, mended friendship

Don’t get ahead of yourself, don’t read this post until ‘cracked mug, broken friendship‘ is under your belt.

Seriously, don’t play games – read the original post.

You don’t want to be a “last page reader” (this is similar to a “middle brownie eater”).

[note: in the original post I miss-ordered the video clips - a problem now corrected]

. . . . . . .

I dropped my friend.  He broke, busted almost in two.

I wanted to cry. I nearly cried. I made a pathetic yelp as I saw my cherish friend fly through the air.

It was awful. I don’t even like thinking about it, even now – three days later.

Here is the scene of that fateful moment:

I did go to work, but I did not stick to my plan.

I couldn’t help it. I just couldn’t wait.

Instead of giving my beloved mug a day to rest and letting the superglue have ample (you might argue “excessive”) to set – I plunged into the fiery furnace of caffeinated trial.

And thus began the testing of my newly mended mug:

Many people have said to me, “Lee. that sucks about the mug man, but at least you can say it has more character now.”

I appreciate the commiseration and the hopefulness, but I must say that my heart doesn’t quite leap the way it once did . . . before the accident.

Don’t get me wrong, I still love my inanimate friend deeply.  I still have a true sense of satisfaction when I drink a warm cup of joe and admire it as it sits beside my laptop.

Maybe its because the sexiness has worn off and I have realized that loving my mug won’t always be easy – it will take work and special care – but I know it will be worth it.

. . . . . . .

My special thanks to Brandon Rogers, who has proved (as he has many, many times) that he is a true friend and generous man (who also happens to be a brilliant photographer, eager and ready to meet all of your photographic needs . . . bbrogers.com)

Also, if you know me then you know that I write about my mug with a genuine sadness about the damage that has been done to it, but I realize the humor of this guy loves inanimate object melodrama.

If you don’t know me, I am not crazy – and if you don’t believe me, ask my friend the mug.

cracked mug, broken friendship

[note: order of videos have been appropriately corrected]

Have you ever befriended an inanimate object?

My friend Keith used to make friends with movies.  In college I developed a special affection for a worn down, cheesy “U-turn to Jesus” sign on highway 21.  Beth has a peculiar fondness for her Chi hair straightener.

The last year and a half of my life has been marked by a deep and abiding friendship for my mug.

I fell in love with it at my favorite coffee shop in Louisville – Quills Coffee & Books.

It was handmade by Norman Silva, a true ceramic artist.

I loved the earthy beauty of my friend.  He was always there with me. Every morning, every afternoon. every warm cup of aromatic coffee.  I loved the way he fit perfectly in my hand and I loved to admire his craftsmanship.

My mug was with me for many a good conversation – happy and sad.

My mug was an inanimate object, yes, but a good friend none-the-less.

I took a video because I knew that some of you would want to laugh at me . . . and some of you would want to commiserate with me:

Heartbroken, I realized how ridiculous and pitiful I was in my mourning, so I was able to laugh at myself.

But I was not willing to give up.

I would fight.  I would do whatever it took to get my friend back:

Would it work?

Could superglue patch my mug, hold up to hot liquid contents, not taste like superglue?

It was worth trying to find out.

. . . . . . .

Are there any inanimate friends who enrich your life?

Is it okay to mourn material loss?  To be saddened by the loss or destruction of some “thing” that you own?

Where is the line between appreciating  material possessions and being materialistic?

. . . . . . .

Update: continue reading about the saga of my broken friend at the follow up post ‘cracked mug, mended friendship‘

highs and lows of motherhood

Today we went to the doctor for our weekly visit.

There was good news.

Then, there was bad news:

Good news = “you get to have another ultrasound because your belly is smaller than average” (translation: we get to see Abbey again! maybe Abbey is a small baby!)

Bad news = “Let’s see what the computer measures her at . . . oh, wow, 7 pounds, 13 ounces . . . shes a big one” (translation: that’s almost 8 pounds. she has about 4 weeks left in there.  babies gain half a pound a week.  Abbey may be almost 10 pounds!)

. . . . . . .

Pray that Abbey would be a healthy size . . . and that the machine was wrong.

Beth thanks you.

spotlight: much needed name change

There is little worse than a bad last name – the kind of name that . . .

• makes you cringe every time you say it.
• causes you to wonder if a girl would reject the guy’s request for a date – fearful that she may fall in love and have to take his name
• leads to a conversation including the words “if your last name was . . . would you change it?”

I randomly ran across one such name.

Here is the quote from the undisclosed blog post, written by an undisclosed author, about an unfortunately surnamed family:

Had the chance to hangout with two out of town couples who are great friends of ours today. The Knipples from down in Gatorland and the Braddocks from St. Augustine. They are awesome friends and we miss them a bunch.

Is it humanly possible to look into another human being’s eyes and say “Hey, Bob Knipples, how is your week going? – all without collapsing into a fit of hysterics?

. . . . . . .

If your last name was Knipples, would you change it?

Have you encountered any last names that rival Knipples in terms of “changeability”?

important update: beth’s condition

If you are unaware of Beth’s recent condition, please review our previous post, ‘Beth’s Condition‘, to see a few of her symptoms in action.

Watch the video to see us get a little closer to a diagnosis for Beth’s condition:

. . . . . . . .

Note: Web MD, while often touted as a miracle of modern science and technology, proves itself to be a major dissapointment.

What if Beth has a tropical disease?

Let the research continue . . . thanks for nothing Web MD.

beth’s condition . . .

This is what we Wilsons do at lunch time.

To preface, Beth missed the trash can with her watermelon gum:

I am currently in the process of investigating the cause of these conditions.

Stay posted to see what I discover as I examine the best that modern medicine has to offer . . .

. . . . . . .

Update: further investigation into the symptoms of the condition has been posted at ‘important update: beth’s condition‘

spotlight: providential redux

You know when somebody tells you a story about somebody you don’t know and you listen just to humor them?

I realize that in a blog format you don’t have to pretend to care and you can just surf on to the next website of interest, so let me give you four reasons to stick it out and keep reading:

1. Look at the cute baby picture.
2. A good story is a good story – period.
3. Sometimes we need to be reminded that God is in control and hear a story about God’s providential plan for somebody’s life unfold from beginning to end.
4. The gospel changes everything, infuses everything, and if you love Jesus you just go with the flow.

As a point of reference, J & Sal are good friends of our from college and, with their powers combined, two of the funniest and most thoroughly enjoyable people we know.

Here’s Sal:

In case you are wondering why we changed our blog name from Polka Dots and Pinstripes, J started a new job! [. . . ] He left Dell after almost exactly 3 years to create a non-profit called “The For the City Network” or “For the City.” I couldn’t be prouder of him. Some of you might be confused, so I will give you some back story.

1. We read a book – September 2007

About a year ago we started reading a book with a group of friends called Ministries of Mercy by Tim Keller.

It totally changed our whole worldview: the way we thought about God, ourselves, each other, and the people around us. One of the main things the book tears apart is our notion that we should give (money, time, care, etc.) because we feel that we are better or have more than others.

It may be true that we (all Americans) have a lot (especially on a global scale), but that this shouldn’t be the motivation for our giving or extending ourselves to people in need.

The main motivation for extending mercy is that God was merciful to us. Period.

Luke 6:36: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Jesus gave, saved, loved, and helped us when we did nothing to deserve it and nothing to honor Him. What should stop us from overflowing that same undeserved mercy we were given to those around us and act like the One we love most? Tough stuff in practice. We are still learning and God is not done with us.

2. J gets excited – January of 2008
So J, who is one of the most merciful people I have ever met, got pretty excited about organizing people and thinking about how we can be more strategic in helping people both in our church and outside of it.

With a team of people at our church, J and the team started concentrating efforts to figure out how we can start mobilizing people to serve around the city and tell people about opportunities.

3. Build a building.
At this very same time our church was trying to decide where to build a building. Because our church has a vision to be a part of renewing the city, we bought land in an area where there is a lot of opportunity.

Within the campus, we are building office space for non-profits to foster synergy among them. We are also creating the sanctuary as a multi-use space so that it is available for use for community/ city-wide events during the other 6 days of the week. There are going to be a lot of possibilities with these new buildings.

4. Memphis – August 2008
All along the way J was thinking this would be an excellent 2nd career, but was very happy in his job at Dell. Then he went to Memphis for three days.

A lot can change in 3 days.

He left discussing where we might move to get his MBA.

He and his friend Travis set off to Memphis. Travis is J’s exact opposite, except as it relates to journals and pens. In this way, they are identical. They complement each other really well.

When we (me and Katie, Travis’ wife) picked them up from the airport, he said that he needed to quit his job and do this for the rest of his life.

If you know J, he doesn’t mess around. He is not a dreamer. If the words make it out of his mouth, it is as good as done and he has already thought through the implications, so I reply “Alright. Sounds good,” not knowing at this point even what he was talking about since he hadn’t told me about the trip, yet.

He proceeded to tell me about how Memphis has an amazing network of non-profits that all do what they are really great at, but are networked together to do the maximum good. He met with people who had lived in neighborhoods for 25 years mentoring, he met with non-profit community developers, he met with church staff, and many more. They all knew each other and they all worked together for the city.

Beautiful.

J and Travis love the name “For the City” as a result of it being a term they constantly say all week. They buy the domain name upon returning home, just in case.

5. J has a chat with his boss – August 2008

When J returns from Memphis his boss asks how the trip was. J frankly tells him that it was life-changing. His boss admits to his own dreams of doing something that helps people and makes a difference.

Not what J was expecting, but very confirming.

This was one person that he thought would try to talk him out of it.

6. Vision Series – September 2008

Every fall our church has a series of sermons that cast the vision of the direction we are heading. This year it was called “A Church For the City.” Pretty strange and has nothing to do with J or Travis.

7. J gets an offer! – December 2008

8. God tests J. – December 2008

While we were considering and praying, the day after J got the offer, J gets a raise and promotion.

Haha. The “irony.”

9. J starts his new job! – January 2009
His vision for the non-profit is that it would be a network that would be a strategy leader, coordinator, and advocate for city renewal by creating partnerships, influencing and casting vision for improvement, generating new initiatives, channeling funds/resources, mobilizing and equipping volunteers, & meeting diverse needs.

There are so many more obvious things that the Lord did that I didn’t write here. Ask me if you are wondering. ;-) We can’t wait to see where He takes this!

Thanks for going with the flow J & Sal – we will be praying for you as you try to live out the gospel “for the city”.

We will do the same.

Link: ‘Pinstripes for TOMS‘

. . . . . . . .

Sal has walked the aisle of bloggery and rededicated herself to blogging about life as a Lopez.  I have a feeling that, should she be successful, it will be well worth keeping her on your Google Reader or frequently checked blogs.

You can find her, J, and Annie at La Casa de Lopez

technology + old fashion ingenuity = good fun

This is just plain good fun.

I love that this video mixes simplicity, ingenuity, and technology, resulting in something that is just plain fun and quite impressive.

Can you imagine how much time and thought had to go into producing this short clip?

On top of that, this is a fun example of the future of “how to’s” – it will not be long until you get a dvd or a weblink instead of an instruction manual for that new shelf or wireless router.

Link: Drawn Blog via CommonCraft
(Both sites are worth your time . . . and addictive)