Crazy Disciple

A big night

I wish I had the initiative to record the sounds that woke me up last night. For those of you in the Tulsa area, you heard it too, but for those of you who are in other parts of the world… I can only assume that you have never heard a tornado siren.

Around 1:30 AM, I was awakened the first time by perhaps the loudest thunder I have ever heard, I actually worried that more trees were falling on my house… Thankfully, there aren’t any more that could fall, so I knew that wasn’t the case. The dogs didn’t seem to care much at all, so I just rolled back over, dove deeper into my pillow and passed back into the world of dreams and magic moments. Two hours later, I was dreaming HARD, when a rather unwelcomed guest came into my dream… the wailing of a Tornado siren. There were but a few moments of lucidity where I actually thought to myself, “Hey, that’s a tornado siren… Might want to wake up and make sure that the house isn’t about to blow away.” Therefore, I obliged my subconscious and woke up to check things out.

The storm was intense, for certain, but the tornado possibilities were north of my home… Thank God. I did however get up and move my car, a lesson I learned the last time a big storm was bearing down on us. Anyway, I could write about it for hours… and it *was* an interesting experience… but 30 seconds of a recording would be SO MUCH NICER!  Have a happy Tuesday!

Je peu la balle!

Well, I did it.  I officially started officially learning the French language last night.   No more CD's. no more tapes, no more podcasts...  this time, I have a real teacher.  While I think I have established a fairly decent framework to build from by learning as much as I have, I am still reminded that I dont know squat.  So, for all of my friends and family members, I apologize in advance.   You are all going on this journey with me...   trust, you will be tired of hearing French in no time at all. 

We spent my hour last night working on all the crazy vowel sounds, and the nasal sounds, and amazing differences between ooh and ooh... that is u and ou for all you franglophones.  Anyway, they still sound the same to me! 

The most exciting thing I heard last night was when my teacher told me that my musical ear would help greatly in understanding the language.  She said that French is always spoken with a rhythm, and once I understood the rhythm, I would understand much more of the language.   So part of my homework is to listen to as much French as I can find, and listen for the rhythm instead of the words.   Now THAT sounds fun!

Goodbye Movie Channels

For probably the last 15 years of my life, I have had HBO.   As of five minutes ago, that is no longer true.  I just canceled all of my premium movie channels…   GASP.    The simple truth is that I wasn’t watching them, and it seemed like the perfect time to pull the plug.   I would have canceled even more programming, but I just couldn’t give up Ovation, or any of the Discovery channels, you never know what you might learn from a late night in front of the boob tube.

Speaking of which, Ovation has been running a weeklong photography event showcasing different photographers, the history of photography, and tons of interesting info…   check it out!

What do you watch?

Do you have gas?

When we were in Switzerland, there was the coolest water cooler I have ever seen in our hotel.   It actually dispensed carbonated water as well as cold water and room-temperature water.   I’ve decided that I want one for my house, and with some sneaky searching I found that I can have one, for a measly $999.   OUCH.

An interesting and entertaining tidbit of information is that the carbonated water in Europe is called “water with gas.”     This made for some really fun discussions around the dinner table amongst the stellar 7…   “Hey Mike, do you have gas?”  “No, but Renae and Jayme do…   I thought you had gas Mocha?”  “Nope, but Dr Larry definitely has gas… you can see it from here!”   

I haven’t had gas since we got back…   I need to change that, and change it fast! 

Garçon… l’eau avec gaz cvp.  Merci!

Rainy Tuesdays

I am struggling today to come up with something to write about.   I can only assume that EVERYONE is sick of hearing my woes about returning to the states…   Jet Lag is gone now, everyone has heard most of the stories and seen the pictures, and it is raining in Oklahoma…   YAWN.

The exciting news is that Easter is coming up, and if you haven’t read it on everyone else’s blogs yet… this Easter is going to be something SPECTACULAR!!!!    Service times are a bit different on Sunday, so make sure and be aware of the changes… otherwise you might come in the middle of a service.   

I would suggest however, for most standard Destiny church attendees to come on Saturday night.   Sunday is going to be HUGE, and probably standing room only for all three services…   so come on Sunday and help us start the weekend off right.   

Pictures are mostly up

Most of the pictures from Europe are up at www.scottmocha.com, there are still a few that need to be uploaded, but at 5mb each, it just takes time.  I tried to ignore the thousands of imperfections in all of the different pictures, because I know that there are many people who would prefer just to see the pictures and can look past a bit of poor focus, or dust on a lens, or the worst of all bad exposures.   So please excuse some of the redundancy and some of the really bad shots…   they just happen, and that is part of taking pictures.  I expect that as I get older and more experienced that will happen less and less…   but until then, just bear with me.   The best part is that I have turned off all protection on the photographs, so you all are able to download and print whatever you would like free.   If you feel inclined to buy a print, those are available through the site too… 

I spent the weekend re-living my Parisian experience in the best way that I could…   I wore my scarf in spite of it being a bit warm for it, and went to find a café on Sunday morning.  I sat outside and sipped American coffee, imagining that it was stronger.   I bit into day-old bread imagining that it was fresh, and I smiled at the empty chairs next to me imagining that they were full of my European friends.   If you’re reading this from France or Switzerland, please know that you are missed.  Thanks for enabling a fantastic memory that is sure to last a lifetime.   

Je me souviendrai toujours de l'époque, nous avions tant en Suisse et à Paris. L'adoration, le ski, chanter, manger, et rire avec chacun d'entre vous a laissé moi un homme meilleur.   A bientôt mes amis !

We're listening

I think my challenge yesterday fell on deaf ears, although Karen did indeed speak up (Iman just answered the call too, right as I was posting this...   I had to go back and edit it, so that I could give credit where credit is due.)   I also want to thank Krystal for the encouragement and prayer from early yesterday morning.  The rest of you, well there are simply no more excuses.   As I thought about the conundrum last night, the thought occurred to me…  maybe there is a specific question or problem that I can pose to help people have a ‘reason’ to speak up.    It probably needs to be controversial, and wrought with emotion, so as to invoke a plethora of responses.   It has to be something, because barely 1% of the people who came to this blog yesterday left a comment.   So, here we go:

What is your favorite place you have ever visited?  Even if it is the dentist’s office, or maybe the grocery store…   Tell us about the place that you have visited in your life that left a lasting impression.

PS.  This is CrazyDisciple's 200th post!   Crack the champagne bottles!

Comments comments comments

Alright, it seems that EVERYONE enjoys reading comments, but not nearly enough people enjoy leaving them.  So I officially invite EVERYONE that reads this blog to leave a comment, of any sort to this posting, or ANY posting.   If you dont have much to say, just tell us who you are (first names are fine,) and where you're from.  If, on the other hand you have a LOT to say, then by all means... the floor is yours.   Don't be shy, come on... we ALL want to hear what you think

Speak Up!

Burgled!

I walked into the office this morning to find our back door ajar, and several of the office doors pried open by some sneaky burglar.   They really didn’t get anything big, and thankfully I had my laptop with me, but it still feels like a bit of a violation.   Something tells me that this is just going to be one of those weeks, especially with it starting like this.   The police are on their way, and we are working to get all the other offices open so that we can determine what all has been stolen.   What a way to start the day.

That's a wrap!

It's nearly 10:30 on Sunday night, and the weekend seemed to float
away rather quietly. It also appears that most of my plans for the
weekend washed out with the rain. I wish that I had taken the time
this morning to capture the sunrise on a rainy day... There is
something magical about the way the grey sky lightens in the morning.
But no, I elected to medicate and rest my Sunday away. It was
probably a good choice for the long run, but I do feel a bit slided
for losing a Sunday.

The one amazing pleasure I indulged in today however, is rainy Sunday
music. An eclectic mix of jazz, folk, and mezmorizing vocals peppered
the grey sky with delightful color. Dreams of French cafes and the
rainy streets of Paris provided a delightful visual overlay to our
weather laden day. On second thought, maybei didnt waste the day,
instead I invested in the artistic side of life.

14 days from now, we should be over the Atlantic, trying to find sleep
in the cramped quarters of an Airbus A332. I'm sure you all will be
hearing a lot more about that in the coming two weeks. I apologize in
advance, but I am never one to contain my excitement.

On that note, the Pastor whom we are visiting in Switzerland and
France will actually be at Destiny this Thursday. Mark McCord really
brought the house down when he was here last year at this time. Make
sure and be at Destiny on thursday to hear him speak, you will be
blessed!

Last thing before sleep... There are some very tired and amazing
people working on a suprise at the church, and they all need our
prayers. The next four days are sure to be greuling, and I'll be
joining in the mix tomorrow night. There should be quite an
impressive unveiling on Thursday, be there!

Here's to a great week (I'm raising my can of Fresca for a toast.)

See you tomorrow,

Scott

- Sent from my iPhone -