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I remember Sheryl Crow’s song “All I Wanna Do” is about Santa Monica. I am not sure my memory is completely accurate but I am fairly sure that Santa Monica gets a mention a few times.
It was Saturday. We were having brunch with my wonderful wife’s old room mates and then thinking about Santa Monica. Well we had a great brunch at Marie Callendars though the service was a little dicey. We were all full had a great catch up and then went our separate ways. We took one of the room mates to the last remaining Valley Book and Bible and I purchased one more book and then dropped her off. My wonderful wife wondered the state of Christian bookstores if this one had so little stock. I put it down to Amazon.com and iTunes.
Our next destination was Santa Monica and the beach. It had always been our plan for the holiday that we would spend a lot of time down the beach. In the end we decided to stay in Los Feliz where we could afford to stay. However this was to be our beach day.
The drive to Santa Monica was easy but the parking was hard as I was shocked to find the Santa Monica Mall being rebuilt. I am not used to the American way of shutting down a mall and then gutting it and completely repopulating it. We went to the beach – it was hot and noisy and not in a way we were used to. There just is something different about American beaches to Australian beaches and we did not feel as comfortable as usual.
To finish off the trip I had to go to Hot Dog on a Stick for the Lemonade and found my son has a soft spot for Corn Dogs. Oh well like Father like son I suppose but I was frustrated at the amount of sharing I had to do.
After that we went to a little place called Cafe Bolivar where we purchased Arepas which are a gluten free bread/roll which were great.
We rolled home and played ball games with our landlord and her guest including a twisted form of cricket which meant that many people were injured in some form or other. The injuries were the end of night so that was that.
Next Post: Teddy Bear’s Picnic
We were in Los Angeles, Los Feliz area, a stone’s throw from Hollywood and we had a good night’s sleep. We were finally starting to relax and decide what we would do.
My wonderful wife decided to send me on a book buying spree and she and my super son would relax at the apartment.
I returned from Pasadena with far less material than I expected but enough to keep me happy. I finally had books to read for the trip.
We then went to the sensitive baker which produces Gluten-free and lactose-free food. It advertises itself as a cafe and my wonderful wife hoped to have lunch there but it was a vain hope. Instead I took my son to buy sushi – a new desire of his as he had seen it being made on television the day before – while my wonderful wife decided in peace what to purchase.
I was stuck for where to go for lunch and thought of one place – Souplantation in Beverley Hills. Now while we had no map I thought I could get us there successfully. In the end on stop at a gas/service station and we were set.
We walked in and the staff were in a bit of a buzz. Michael Jackson had died. It reminded me of the word’s of Don Mclean’s American Pie “the day the music died” about Buddy Holly. For each generation there seems to be a musician or musicians who define that generation and I know for many people Michael Jackson was their’s.
From there we slowly headed home to get some groceries and allow my super son to play with his new playmate the son of our apartment’s owner. While the groceries took far longer to get to than expected we at least had new supplies.
Tomorrow: Clueless
I have never seen the movie Swordfish. My wonderful wife as best I know has never seen the movie Swordfish. However my wonderful wife will testify that all Ventura was abuzz when it was being filmed there and that I think included her.
We had a whole day in Ventura, no packing up, no moving on. We were to see a previous boss and friend of my wife but nothing else was planned except some shopping. My wonderful wife needed clothes and knew where to get them cheap. First my super son and I had a cow cookie – a cookie that is black and white and shaped like a cow for old times sake – my wonderful wife introduced me to them when we were dating.
I dropped my wonderful wife off at the shops and my super son and I hit Barnes and Noble – the bookstore for those not familiar with it. This was not the huge success I hoped for. While I did get to see some books that were interesting nothing I could say I want right now. This is unlike my super son who decided everything was great and wanted it all. In the end he was allowed a Go Diego Go book. We then went to the next best thing to heaven for my super son – Toys R Us. While we did not purchase anything he enjoyed saying all that he wanted.
We all met up again and had lunch at our favourite Mexican chain – Baja Fresh. The food was good and all of us enjoyed it. It seems our super son was starting to get more adventurous in his eating.
In the afternoon we went to my wonderful wife’s friends place and caught up with her and her husband and met her three year old son. This was a great time and we then headed back to the hotel for a nights sleep.
Tomorrow: Money, money, money
It was Saturday, it was San Francisco and it was way too early to wake up. But we were up. We had a breakfast appointment at 8 and my super son played in the room while we tried to figure out how to get decent TV. The Disney Channel would be found later in the trip.
We had a lovely breakfast with a friend of my wife’s, our wonderful appointment was someone who met my wonderful wife 20 years ago or so and they have remained in touch.
Afterward our friend drove us to Union Square and then walked back to the hotel to check out, drive to lunch at Ike’s Place, see the Golden Gate Bridge, drive Lombard Street and then head to Monterey. Ike’s Place does incredible sandwiches including gluten free and was as crowded as the website warns you. The drive aroud the Bridge was lovely but I can’t show you any photos as the USB cable for the camera is elsewhere. My super son was not impressed with Lombard Street saying it was quite straight – wait till he drives it in 20 years – he may have a different opinion.
So then we headed south. Towards San Jose. We planned to make one other stop along the way Walmart – to buy all the cheap stuff we required. Except remember the early start to the day? Turned out we had an early meltdown of my super son so we did not accomplish all we wanted to. We had a new child seat and had seen cheap luggage. I purchased some clothes and shoes but not as much for my wonderful wife or not so super son at the time. The meltdown was so bad in fact later that night he said to his mother “I can’t cope! I need to go home to Melbourne.”
We arrived in Monterey a little later, found the hotel, found the Whole Foods Market for dinner and went to bed.
Oh did I mention I left the power adaptor in San Francisco – so maybe I did not leave my heart but an essential part of the trip was there.
Tomorrow – Sudden Impact – “Go ahead. Make my day.”
It was crazy we flew Melbourne->Sydney and then Sydney->San Francisco. That was the only way we could book the frequent flyer flight so that was the way it was.
We picked up a rental car at San Francisco airport – do not do this if you can avoid it. I could have and probably should have. The place was a zoo.
I drove us to Whole Food Markets at Potrero Hill. They had a salad bar and we sure needed lunch. We shopped and looked and then ate.
I drove us to a nearby Safeway (I can tell I was still in Northern California until these became Von’s in Southern California) found a AAA and picked up sone maps and then to our hotel.
We stayed at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco. This is the second time in my life I stayed there. This was a better experience than previously but the sticker shock in the cafe in the hotel still put me off eating there. So a family of three jetlagged strong willed and tired people went in search of an early dinner. In the end my super son and I had mexican from a no-brand place a couple of blocks away and we went back to our hotel, fell asleep until too early in the morning and had to figure out what to do.
So did I leave my heart in San Francisco? A little – I was struck yet again at how many people are begging on the streets in San Francisco and how much I do not stop to help them. Its probably more correct to say that I did not respond to my heart in San Francisco but more of the tale and asking “do you know the way to San Jose” tomorrow.
Saturday was the hotest day on record in Melbourne. It was also the start of the greatest disaster in Victoria with the bushfires around. Currently the numbers are ovber 170 dead. More are missing including acquaintences of friends of mine.
After that heavy note some details of what we did to beat the heat. We decided however to try and avoid any tragedy that day and went to the movies and then church with a nap in between. Coming out of church we found the cool change had come and things were much better for us.
However the movies themselves were an experience. This was the first time we took our 4.75 year old super son. Most of the time he sat and watched Bedtime Stories which was a fun movie. However the start of the time in the cinema was rough.
We had purchased tickets with what we thought was a special voucher for all of us. It turned out to be for a single ticket. We sat in the cinema and just about the previews started. Bedtime Stories is a G rated movie meaning any one can see it. The previews were not. They just got worse to such a point that we and the mother in front had our hands over our children’s eyes.
At some point I realised there was some mistake and went to tell the ticket collector. He said something like “Yeah, someone threaded the wrong film in that cinema. See the manager and you will receive some complementary tickets.”
So I went down to the manager, had to find her and then complain. I asked for a full refund as I had a kid complaining about one of the images. She said, “mistakes happen”. This frustrated me. I replied “I don’t think you are taking this seriously. You are risking the reputation of your company and I will never be able to trust your company again.”
She started to realise this was a more serious error than she suggested and said she would get complementary tickets for me as well as the refund. While this pacified me I am still concerned about how little care happened concerning young children, especially the first time for us at the cinema.
You know I would say the name of the cinema chain but that would just be derogatory. However I would have preferred to have a good experience than excuses. Makes me aware of ways I need to avoid making excuses too.
Over the last few weeks we have been renovating with new pergolas, painting a pink bathroom vanity and replacing our retaining wall. And while I’d love to admit I am doing it all only the painting was my work. In the mean time different friends have moved house, finally purchased a house after a year of negotiations with a US bank, had kids at their house and been in hot houses. I had to make a weather comment after all it is 40 plus degrees celsius here today.
But this got me thinking to the old question what makes a home? A home is more than a house. I know many people who live in a house but it sure does not feel like a home. For some reason their is no warmth or something intangible is missing.
I think our house is turning into our home. This is partially because the more we live their the more we like it. Partially it is because we have a united vision of what the house is and is to become.
It was those reflections that made me realise that unity is one of the things that make a home. It also makes a team work better and projects go better. Without a sense of what you want the house to be there is no way it becomes a home. It is just a glorified motel room where you are allowed to cook food and maybe have pets.
So what else do you think makes a home?
A few conversations I have had over the last year have been about how in the midst of doing church, talking theology, studying ministry or practising pastor that somewhere along the way something becomes more important than Jesus.
Within some traditions this may be the tradition, the worship, the acts of social justice, the structure of the church or the role of Scripture or something else. In the end this thing that is supposed to point you to and help you toward Jesus somehow stops you seeing Jesus. As I put it the other day we eclipse Jesus.
Now when I think of eclipses I think of the solar eclipse whereby something gets in the way of the sun and the earth (the moon) and stops us seeing the sun correctly. It is just the same with some of our church practices, they get in the way of us seeing the Son.
Now prevention is better than cure but how do you stop the moon getting between the Earth and the Sun? As we know the Earth is smaller than the sun and the moon smaller than the Earth. Similarly in our spiritual lives it can be the smaller things that trip us up. It is not like for an eclipse we have a sun eater destroying the sun, or a big black cloud blocking the son but a relatively small object getting in the way.
Thus to prevent these sort of problems you need to choose what is orbiting you. What are the distractions or things that are attractive and can make you focus where you shouldn’t. I remember at the last solar eclipse being told not to look at the sun as I would go blind but this was not the issue of the sun per se but an issue of looking at the occluded sun. The reality it is not the sun that blinds but the thing that blocks the sun that focusses the rays. Retinal damage can occur if you look and don’t notice the harmful radiation.
So what might be getting in your way of the Son?
Recently I was talking to someone and they lamented that all their friends were now married, getting married or in de facto relationships. In the course of the conversation I wanted to say, “you mean shacking up”, as the people being talked about had only been together for a short time.
Soon after I read about the guy on Google Street View who wanted to make a better second proposal to his wife. Please note his words concerning this on http://www.marrymeleslie.com
Let’s start at the beginning. Some time ago, I met a wonderful girl named Leslie. We fell in love, eventually moved in together, and have been building a life with each other ever since. Things were great! As a result, I decided to do the obvious thing: I proposed (“Proposal 1.0″). And within moments, she said YES!
There is this idea that the natural course of relationships is to have what the British call a “common law wife”, Aussies call a de facto, Americans call moving in together. I am aware of a study in Britain that this has been the major trend of relationships for centuries so I am not condemning this just wanting to get the facts out.
So what do these things mean? Within Victoria, where I live, I was interested to note the law states that the following are considered relevant in deciding if a domestic relationship exists:
(a) the duration of the relationship;
(b) the nature and extent of common residence;
(c) whether or not a sexual relationship exists;
(d) the degree of financial dependence or interdependence, and any arrangements for financial support, between the parties;
(e) the ownership, use and acquisition of property;
(f) the degree of mutual commitment to a shared life;
(g) the care and support of children;
(h) the reputation and public aspects of the relationship.
In other words “shacking up” may or may not mean you are now married in the sight of the law. It means you are literally together but if there are no kids, no financial sharing, no joint property and not a lot of commitment then what becomes of the reputation and public aspects of the relationship?
Put this next to Hosea who was an object lesson for Israel. Hosea was commanded to marry a prostitute to remind Israel of its unfaithfulness. The description above “no kids, no joint property and not a lot of commitment” sounds like Israel. The financial sharing may have been mutual but I suspect in reality there was little of this really going on. God gave but the Israelistes ignored where their blessings came from. Hosea ends up having kids with Gomer, and the kids themselves are walking descriptions of what God thinks of Israel.
God’s heart is for faithfulness. Not relatonships that have no mutual commitment to a shared life. God shared his life most clearly with us in sending His son Jesus Christ to redeem us and sending the Spirit to empower us. God ha lived with us and wants us to be in relationship with him.
So what sort of relationship are you having with God?
I have lived in three countries, Australia, the US and the UK and three different states in Australia, New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria. This year is the first year I have been in Victoria during the great horse race known as the Melbourne Cup and thankfully a year when I was not in the US during election season. The results of both races run on the first Tuesday of November are important media events.
So at this time I am not going into bashing Yankees or other Americans or deplore the $150 million bet on a race. I want to reflect on some aspects the state of the US from the perspective of someone who has lived there.
Today I read how watching sexy TV programs becomes an indicator of kids getting pregnant. The article in The Age is here.
I also read how as one blogger put it, he must submit a post about the results of the election. That post which is very good no matter who you wanted to win is here.
So what is the state of the US? It is in need of change. No surprise there. But then so is there need for change in our lives. Nothing is perfect in a country or a person. Putting a Christian in government or Christ in charge of one’s life does not automatically mean everything gets better. Scripture talks about the fact that Christ’s foes are still arrayed against him and until Christ returns and death is finally defeated then there will be battles in a country and a life on how best to do something.
You see we can hate what happens in another place or love the result of an election. Regardless we need to see Christ being glorified by the Church. God’s Spirit has not stopped working just because someone was or was not elected. The Spirit of Christ still continues to work in your life and may even do so with the disappointment that someone was or was not elected.
So what is the state of your union?
