Weekly Diary

Wonderful start. Just after church on Sunday, Wendy and I drove to Santa Barbara for the day. Like any trip to SB should, we began with lunch at La Super Rica, perhaps the greatest restaurant in the world. I don't know if it actually is the greatest but we think so, and so it works that way for us, something like that copper bracelet I wore when my wrist was hurting. Afterwards, we went to an outlet store and Wendy was able to find an amazing leather jacket for only $80! A little context is in order here. My wife rarely wants things - in fact, it's hard to get her to buy things when she shops. She is the opposite of what they call "high maintenance". Nevertheless, she has wanted a leather jacket for quite some time, but the $300/$400 price for a nice one always seemed too much. But here was a $400 jacket on sale for $80 and it was in perfect condition and just the right cut and style! I am so pleased for her.

Bloggies - This week was the fifth annual Weblog Awards. Now that I am a blogger, I felt compelled professionally (or to be more accurate, amateurishly) to see what else is out there. My favorite find - go read this now - is Overheard in New York. This blog is just what the title says it is: a listing of conversations and comments overheard by people in New York City. For instance:

Girl #1: It was me, her, and Kim Fines.
Girl #2: I thought Kim Fines was dead?
Girl #1: Yeah, she is.
Girl #2: She must be like 47 by now!

--Lincoln Center parking garage

Feeling Stressed? It seems we all are, or at least talk about ourselves this way. According to one study, 26% of Americans feel so stressed that it hampers their creativity. This is more than twice the rate of stress reported in Belgium, which sort of makes sense, but we also lead Columbia and Lebanon, where, you know, they have real reasons for stress.

Big Day - On Thursday, my son Chris competed in his first track meet, and loved it! Now if he would just grow his hair long and start a garage band, all my immediate wishes for him would be fulfilled!

Talk About "Powerful" Best Sellers - Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life has been a phenomenon. They sell them by the case at Costco, churches give 'em away, it's been on the NY Times Bestseller list for years. Any critiques of the book are brushed aside - read here (especially Gregg Koskela's excellent review) for one example. But by now I'm sure your aware that the book has the power (when served with pancakes) to make criminals repent and turn themselves in. Now that's a "powerful" book.

Mark of the Beast? - The government announced this week that the US annual trade deficit reached 666 billion dollars for 2004. Six-Sixty-Six! I don't know what to make of this. I know that Christians were supposed to believe that trade (and budget) deficits were bad when the Democrats controlled the Congress and White House, but they seem to be OK now, so I guess I can relax. But Six-Sixty-Six! How can that be a mere coincidence? What is God telling us?

Curious - The spellchecker for Blogger does not recognize "blog" and "blogger" as correctly spelled words. Hmm.