My Half Birthday

When I was a little kid I'd always joke around that I was the only one who had their half-birthday celebrated with fireworks (along with all the January 4'ers out there). It was cool. And I always followed it with a plea for half of my normal allotment of presents. I tried again this year and was swiftly denied. I think I'm now 0 for 18.

Anyways, I've always loved the 4th of July. It's one of my favorite holidays for two reasons: 4th of July parades and fireworks. I love them because they are so timeless. It's not like easter egg hunting and trick-or-treating, favorite pastimes that become less cool and fun as you get older (unless you're me). Of course, now that I think of it, I do appreciate those kinds of things that are usually for the younger audience. After all, one of my favorite moves is A Goofy Movie. Does anyone else enjoy these holiday traditions as much as I do?

I went to my first 4th of July in Mason. It's weird to me that I've never been around for the holiday. It was quite the experience. Practially the whole town comes out for the parade, which is ingredient #1 for a great 4th of July parade (for the record, Northville has a GREAT parade). I loved it. Some of the highlights:

• About 92% of the entries were tractors
  
• I received my own mini flag to wave around from a Colonel
  
• Several "USA USA" chants
• A decent collection of Starbursts and Watermelon Dum Dum suckers, which are infinitely better than the parade staples (Tootsie rolls, Now N Laters, and Super Bubble). I did bring home a lot of those too

One of my favorite games to play while watching fireworks (well, the only game I've played) is to name the fireworks. My favorites are (see if you can picture these fireworks; they're classics):

• Paparazzi (the one with all the flashes of light with no sound)
  
• Gettysburg (flashes of light with sound)
• Death Star (any huge firework, kind of the like the one I posted)
• Weeping Willow (self-explanatory)

I tried to take pictures of the fireworks with my phone, but as usual when taking pictures of fireworks, they didn't turn out. Here's a decent one

What Not to Say

I'm normally a guy who thinks through what I say before I actually say it.  However, I'm not immune to an occasional slip-up.  Last night I was talking with Shan about some old memories, and the 25K that she ran last summer came up.  Here's a brief transcript of the conversation:

Me: I'm still so proud of you for finishing that race so well.

Shan: Yeah, I just wish that I would have stayed in better shape since I worked so hard to get in shape.

Me: Yeah me too.

Now OBVIOUSLY by saying that I meant that I wished I myself would have stayed in shape after working hard to get in shape.  But I guess she heard it a little differently :)

We laughed about that little exchange for a long time last night, so I think that's a good sign.  

It might be fun if I updated this topic (what not to say to someone you love) on a weekly basis, but I decided against it.  Instead, I think I'll just cling to the hope that I won't put myself in these situations anymore :)

In other news, club went well last night.  I didn't feel very well at all, which isn't the ideal way to give a club talk.   But I think it went well, and I feel pretty good about it.  One of my favorite moments was sitting at Burger King with this freshman guy.  he was talking about his sister and how she (surprisingly) annoys him.  Then he uttered this little gem:

"She's so messy at home, I can't take it.  She's such a pig."

Now at first this may be all that funny, but then I'll tell you that he said that while scarfing down a whopper with cheese that wasn't exactly 100% going into his mouth.  I think right when he said "pig" a huge piece of lettuce fell onto his shirt.  Then he wiped his mouth with his sleeve.  Priceless.

It's been sunny two days in a row.  Spring might be almost close to being nearly around the corner here in EL.

Bestsellers and Singing

It's been a while since the last name I wrote, which hopefully doesn't become a trend. I'm sitting at Bestsellers right now, a coffee shop / bookstore in Mason. It's one of my favorite places in the quaint little town of Mason. I think I love this place because 1. it's the only coffee place in Mason; 2. I love coffee; and 3. it's full of opposites. It's not that I love opposites or anything, but it's interesting to me. It's full of old people and young people, well lit and dimly lit places, areas of great reception and dead zones. People here are either in a big hurry, or content with taking all the time in the world. It's small and consistent, just like the town it serves. Here's a picture of it (by the way, I took this with my phone, then sent it to my computer via Bluetooth...gotta love technology!)

Our freshman team had a game last night, and we won! It was awesome to share in the joy of victory with those guys. Our JV lost a tough one afterwards, but they absolutely played their hearts out. There's something inspiring and cool about watching people give their best. To try as hard as they can. To leave everything out there. It's always expected, and so rarely accomplished. It leaves us vulnerable, but it's beautiful. I hope those young men can build on that experience.

But anyways, I've been thinking about singing lately. I do a lot of driving, and much of that is driving by myself. It's not as bad as it sounds...it gives me time to think, reflect, pray, and sing as loud as I want to, without inducing cringes and laughter from others. I'm such a poor singer; I have no concept of pitch, tone, or key. I don't even know what those terms mean. But I sound great when I'm singing along with someone. At church, I sound great. When I sing along to PW, I sound great. Now obviously, I'm still the same schmuck who can't sing a lick, but singing along with someone who can makes all the difference.

I'm not good at singing, but I think there are other things that I'm good at that others aren't as good at. I think that God gives us each skill sets and passions that are unique to us. Mine doesn't include singing, but it does include other stuff. But whether it's singing, painting, cooking, or teaching, we're always better off when we do those things with other people. Regardless of whether or not we're any good, it brings out the best in us and it brings out the best in others.

Spend some time thinking about what you're good at and what you're passionate about. Then spend some time thinking about how you can invite others to join you in that. It'll be fun.