Junk Drawer Spirituality

Cow Creek Ranch Video

Last week, I took a little trip down to New Mexico, and met up with my family for a fly fishing trip.  I caught more fish than I ever have in my life.  Had a great time!  This morning I edited together a video commemorating the trip for my family.  Hope you enjoy!

Fiddler on the Roof

Friday, my mom flew in from Texas to join me for a night of Chicago theater.  We went to see "The Fiddler on the Roof."  It's her all time favorite musical and one of my favorites too, although I'd only seen the movie, not the actual play.  And it was really cool.  First of all, it was the farewell performance for Topol.  Who's Topol, you ask?  He's the Israeli actor who played the Oscar nominated lead role of the father, Tevye, in "Fiddler" the movie.  And really ... anyone who's known by a one-word name already scores mega-cool points in my book.

And he was awesome.  Tevye is such a rich character with so much personality.  And it's hard for me to imagine anybody being able to play his role with the same depth as Topol does.  Amazingly (I didn't realize this), the original movie in which Topol played Tevye was a 1971 production.  That was 38 years ago and he's still playing that same character at age 74.  And the dude was as spry as he ever was in 1971!

It was a great show.  Watching live theater is, of course, so much more enjoyable than watching a movie, but it had even been awhile since I'd seen the movie, so it was kinda like hearing the story for the first time on Friday night.  It was a great night.  The theater was beautiful (the Oriental), the music was great, the sets were amazing . . .  It was all great.

Fly-Fishing in Colorado

Last week I took a trip to Colorado for alittle R&R and some fly-fishing.  It was a short trip, but it was alot of fun.  I flew into Denver Thursday morning to meet a friend of mine from Fort Collins, CO (Daniel Bort) at the airport.  Some of Daniel's family lives in Denver, so we went downtown to meet  them at The Falling Rock Tap House for lunch.  It's a little hole in the wall joint in Denver LoDo with a huge beer selection and great hamburgers.

Daniel and I loaded up on groceries and then made the 2 hour trip up the mountains from Denver to Grand Lake, Colorado, a beautiful vacation town just on the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park.  There's an amazing and very generous woman I knew when I pastored a church in Golden, CO who owns a beautiful lakeside cabin in Grand Lake.  She let us crash there for a night.

My Tournament Brackets

As of right now . . . 4:30 PM Central time . . . March 19, 2009 . . . day 1 and round 1 of the 2009 NCAA basketball tournament . . . I am 7 for 7 with my picks, and in the lead of my yahoo sports tournament challenge.  Think I can go all the way? 

March Madness and Community

It's that time of year again.  All the teams have been selected.  People are filling out their brackets, starting office pools, placing bets, buying plain tickets, wishing and hoping their team will make it to the Final Four.

It's March Madness Time!

And since I'm always up for experimenting with new forms of community, we openned up a Waterfront Hoops Tournament Challenge to our entire church this morning.  It's all online at Yahoo Sports.  You just go there, enter the password and make your tournament picks.  But it's a way for a person who is not in a small group or who is largely unconnected with our church to take a baby-step toward connecting in a very non-threatening way.  Hope people respond.  I think elements of community can happen with these sorts of things.

And if you're a reader of this blog and want to join in the fun, you're more than welcome.  Just go to http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/, click "join a Group," and enter our group ID# 36097 and password: waterfrontcc.

    

Brownline Fiasco and Chatting with Bo Bice

A few weeks ago, I found out that a fellow pastor in the Schaumburg area, who also plays keys with a local rock band, was opening for former American Idol runner up Bo Bice at the Clearwater Theater in West Dundee.  Dave Rudin is a friend I've had the opportunity to get to know over the past year.  He's the lead pastor at Summitview Christian Church, a church that has been a great support for Waterfront since we came into the area.  But Dave also moonlights as a keyboarding rockstar with the band "Brownline Fiasco."

So I was excited to see Dave in concert. . . hadn't heard his band before.  And I was also interested in hearing the headliner, Bo Bice.  I've never heard his recorded music, but I remembered him from American Idol season 4, and I liked him then.  He's got a very southern, rock style about him, so I thought that might be cool.

Well as it turns out, another couple of friends, Jim and Sheri Mueller, (I've mentioned them in another post), do a radio show for their non-profit marriage ministry, and they were also planning on attending the concert so that they could interview Bo Bice for their show.  Apparently, Bo's a Christian.  He's married.  So why not?

To make a long story short, Jim and Sheri were able to get me a free ticket to the show.  I was able to see Dave and Brownline Fiasco play.  And then Jim and Sheri invited me to tag along with them for their interview with Bo Bice.  So we all went backstage before his set, hopped on Bo's tour bus, and then we chatted with him for about half an hour.  I kinda felt like the kid from the movie 'Almost Famous' . . . like I was peaking inside of a world that wasn't really my own.  It was a pretty cool evening.

"The Whigs" At The Bottom Lounge

Last night a friend and I went to see "The Whigs" in concert at The Bottom Lounge in Chicago.  I didn't know much about the band before I bought tickets, to be honest.  They were at Lollapalooza last year, so I received a free itunes song from them when I went there, and I liked THAT song ("Right Hand On My Heart").  So I figured I might like some of their other music too.  And at $15 a ticket, that's not a bad night out on the town.

The Whigs are from Athens, Georgia; they're obscure enough that they can only pack out small venues, but they definitely have some loyal and very enthusiastic followers.  The venue was a bar nestled underneath the Metra Line in a Chicago neighborhood off the beaten path.  In the front portion of the Bottom Lounge is a regular sports bar and grill, but to see the show, you have to walk out the back doors into a large, dark, concert hall reminiscent of something Edgar Allan Poe might dream up.  There were perhaps 500 people packed inside, mostly white, young professionals in their 20s and early 30s. 

The Whigs are basically a three-person garage rock band, so if you like that sort of thing, this band's for you.  They were great entertainers and if you appreciate very skilled drummers, the dummer for the Whigs was VERY impressive.  It was a fun night.  My ears are still ringing, and it was pretty late by the time I got home, but it's the kind of experience that's pretty fun once in a while. 

Legacy

I am at the Amarillo airport this morning in Amarillo, Texas-- my hometown.  This weekend, I stealthily flew here from Chicago on a covert operation to be present at a 60th birthday celebration for my dad.  My mom decided a few months ago that she wanted to host a surprise party for him, and she wanted to make it a BIG celebration.  I flew into town.  He had friends and family from all over Texas travel to attend-- old friends, former roommates, business partners, siblings, church family.  All in all, there was around 150 people present at this party, all there to celebrate his life.  And through alittle luck, it was a complete surprise.  It was a very fun evening.  I think every person should have at least one opportunity to look back over the span of his or her life and celebrate the legacy they have left.  This weekend was a wonderful reminder that a person's true legacy is the people you've loved and the people who have loved you. 

The Herrick Family "Elfed"

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Monday At the Zoo

I had a great Monday.  It was the one sunny and semi-temperate day we've had since last Wednesday, and I took the whole day off and went to the Lincoln Park Zoo with a friend.  It's been years since I've been to a zoo.  I stood about one foot away from a gigantic male lion with a large wooly mame staring me in the face . . . we were seperated by a thick pane of glass, but still . . .

We saw giant gorillas and chimps eating and throwing poo.  I saw monkeys, giraffes, tigers, bears, seals, lizards of all shapes and sizes.  It was pretty cool.  I don't know why I don't go to the zoo more often.  You get to see some of the most tremendous creations God has ever made, and if you go to the Lincoln Park Zoo, it's totally free.  For me, not to over-spiritualize it, but I think I got alittle closer to God that day.   

Crooked Still At the Morse Theater

Last Saturday, a guy who used to be in my College Minsitry in Colorado, Daniel Whitenack, came to visit.  Daniel goes to Grad School at Purdue and is now studying Phyics and doing all kinds of other smart-people stuff.  But Daniel called and told me that a band he really likes was playing in Chicago, so he drove up, and we went to see them on Saturday.

The band was a folk/modern Bluegrass band from Massachussets called Crooked Still.  They were really terrific.  If you're into Nickel Creek or other folk/bluegrassy-type music (or even if you've never been exposed to folk music) you need to check them out, especially their cover of "Orphan Girl."  They were great.  And the venue was awesome . . . a place on the north side of Chicago just south of Evanston called The Morse Theater.  Apparently, it had just been renovated and reopened in the last month, but it was a great place to watch and listen to any show.  Great acoustics, great service, looked good, and it was comfortable.  I think just about any show would be a pretty enjoyable experience there.  Here's a Tribune article on the new Morse Theater.   

Fantasy Football and Community

I'm in a fantasy football league right now with about 6 other people from Waterfront.  I was just thinking the other day how fantasy leagues can actually be great tools for creating community-- fantasy football, fantasy baseball . . .  The other night, we had a leadership meeting that involved several people in our league, and when we sat and started talking, we were all talking about our fantasy football teams and the matchups from the past weekend.  In fact the conversation was so good, those who weren't in our league were kinda wishing they were, I think.  There's something about healthy competition that breeds stronger community bonds.  It makes me wonder how fantasy leagues can be utilized for community building in Waterfront's culture in the long haul.  I always like thinking about alternative ways of building community that extends outside of the the "small group" paradigm.  It would be interesting to see how that might work.  Any thoughts?

Yearbook Yourself

Here's a fun website.  You can upload a picture of yourself [or someone else you love ;)]and see the way you would look in any High School year book between 1950 and 2000.  It's pretty funny.  Its at  http://www.yearbookyourself.com/.  These pictures are the way I'd look in 1952, 1984 and 1990.

Whirlwind Weekend

It has been a while since I've posted, but it's because I've had a crazy last 4 days.  Last time I posted, I was about to begin the Leadership Summit at Willow Creek, and it was a great conference.  Over the course of Thursday and Friday, I heard from Bill Hybels, Craig Groeschel, Wendy Kopp (the founder of Teach for America), Chuck Colson, Efrem Smith, John Burke . . . the list goes on.  I think the highlight for me was Craig Groeschel's message on "it."  He talked about the fact that some churches and some leaders have "it'" (meaning some sort of special spiritual something) and some don't.  And "it" is something we can all have, but it's also something we can lose without even realizing it.

Friday afternoon I picked up my buddy Daniel, a friend of mine from Colorado.  I showed him around town alittle Friday evening, played some Guitar Hero, and then we met with a couple in downtown Naperville at a restaurant called The Sullivan Steakhouse.  This place was amazing.  Wonderful steaks and a great atmosphere.

Saturday, Daniel and I took the train into Chicago and I spent the day walking around the Loop, Grant Park, Millennium Park, Michigan Ave., eating at Lou Malnati's Pizzeria, viewing the city from the top of the Hancock building, taking the Redline to Wrigley and watching the Cubs lose (the heart of the Chicago experience), having dinner at The Tuscany Restaurant, and taking a cab back to Union Station and riding the train back home.  We covered alot of ground in one day (Here's a link to the photo album with the pictures)!

Sunday, we got up early and drove up to Schaumburg for Waterfront's 3rd Sunday Worship service at the Community Rec Center.  It was a great morning!  God definitely showed up big.  So overall, it was a fantastic weekend, although it was pretty busy.        

Old Man Invades Lollapalooza

This afternoon I went back downtown to Lollapalooza.  Since I already had a day of Lollapalooza under my belt (see my last post), I think I had things figured out alittle better this time.  Shortly after I arrived, The Blues Travelers were playing on one stage, but Gnarls Barkley was starting about an hour later on the main stage.  So Greg and I decided to pass on Blues Travelers and get as close as we could to the stage for the Gnarls Barkley show.  And we got CLOSE!  It was rockin', and Gnarls was awesome, doing his own bluesy, alternative music, and even throwing in a few covers, including a Radiohead cover. 

The music was great.  But I realized something while I was standing up close to that stage, squeezed elbow to elbow with sweaty strangers, passing around beach-balls, and trying to avoid directly inhaling the second-hand smoke that was emanating from all of my neighbors' pot pipes and joints  . . . I'm not 22 anymore.  I took a quick look around me and realized, with the exception of my buddy Greg and maybe Gnarls Barkley himself, I was by far the oldest dude within about 5000 yards.  Being right up close to the stage is it's own special kind of fun I guess, but that's a young man's game, I decided.  So after Gnarls, I went to perch my old butt on a nice little hill somewhere with a view of the stage for the Kanye West show.  It was really, REALLY far from the stage, but at least I'd get to sit!  When I got there, I saw where all of the other Gen-X, early thirties folks had been hanging out.  They were all kickin it on blankets and folding chairs on the hill!  So for the final act of the weekend, I sat on the hill . . . the place where young Lollapalooza rock fans go to retire after a decade or two passes them by.         

Lollapalooza 2008

A few days ago, a buddy of mine called me and told me he had come into possession of several tickets to Lollapalooza, and he asked me if I was interested in a couple.  These were full weekend access tickets, worth more than $200, so I said "Heck yeah!"  So yesterday afternoon, another friend, Greg, and I took the train downtown and went to Lollapalooza.  I'd never been to Lollapalooza before and it was amazing!  I've never seen that many people in one place before.  It was a sea of people.  We saw some pretty awesome acts, I found out about a few bands that I's never heard of and would like to know more about them, and to top the night off, we got to see one of my favorite bands, Radiohead on the main stage.  Radiohead's show was simply amazing!

It was pretty exhausting though, so I think I'm gonna take today off and go back Sunday afternoon.  On Sunday, Gnarls Barkley's playing, Iron and Wine, The Blues Travellers, NIne Inch Nails, and the headliner is Kanye West.  Should be fun!        

John McDavitt Is Blogging

My buddy and fellow Waterfront Community Church team-member, John McDavitt, just started a personal blog and I'm super excited about it.  John is a professional artist . . . he designs all this amazing stuff for commercial clients, like children's toys, movie promotional stands, etc.  But he also is an amazing air-brush artist, and does caricatures and all kinds of other cool work.  He's brilliant.  Go check out his blog to see his art. . .  Here's a caricature he made of Bill Murray a few weeks ago.  Pretty cool, huh?  Here's the link to his blog:

  http://www.johnmcdavitt.blogspot.com/

Zoo-sitting

The last few days, I've been housesitting for some friends in Romeoville.  It's actually alittle more like zoo-sitting than house-sitting.  I brought my dog with me, they also have one dog, and 3 cats . . . so I'm watching 5 animals!  It's been interesting. 

My Week In Review

 I've been neglecting my blog alittle bit lately, so this post will serve as a recap of the interesting details of my past week.

 

 

Monday:  I had my second kickboxing class.  After my first class, I thought I was going to die.  I could barely walk.  After my second class this week, I felt great!  Still alittle sore, but nothing I couldn't handle.

 

 

 

Tuesday: I went to Cindy O'Donnell's final night leading Celebrate the Journey at the Children and Art's Center.  I thought it was classy, fitting, and honoring of the tremendous work Cindy has done in that ministry.

Wednesday: My brother and dad came in town on business, and I went to meet them in downtown Chicago.  This financial firm treated all three of us to a pretty cool night.  We had dinner at this great restaurant called the Tuscany, right across from Wrigley field.  Then we went to the Cubs game, about 10 rows behind the oppposing team's dugout along the first base line (Cubs won!).  Then we all spent the night in Chicago at the Palmer House Hotel, a pretty fancy place.  It was pretty fun.

 

 

 

Thursday:  I took a train from Chicago to Schaumburg in the morning and had a great day with the team in Schaumburg and hanging out with Jim.  By the time I got my dog back from the McDavitt's place in Romeoville, and got home, it was close to 9:00.  I was bushed. 

Friday: Believe it or not, I went to another Cubs game, this time with Chris and Dawn Johnson, Shawn and Lindsay Williams, and Debbie Benjamin.  We got tckets in the bleacher seats in the outfield.  Aramis Ramirez's game-winning homer in the 8th cruised by about 30 feet from us.

So when it was all said and done, it was a pretty eventfull week.  I have been keeping up with 2 Corinthians, just in case you were wondering, and I'll be back blogging on that starting tommorrow.

Naperville Ribfest 2008

Tonight I went with some friends to Ribfest in Naperville.  It's perhaps Naperville's biggest event of the year and it was very impressive.  It was located in a park in downtown Naperville.  It cost $10 to get through the gates, but once you got inside, you had your choice of 2 or 3 dozen different vendors pedaling their best barbeque-- ribs, pulled pork, brisket, sweet corn, you name it.  There was also some carnival-type rides for the kids and fair food, like funnel cakes and stuff.  But the ribs . . . ah the ribs . . . they were delicious!  And to top off the evening, country star Trace Adkins gave a concert on the main stage.  Not bad for $10 (not including the cost for ribs and beer).  Here are some pictures I took of the event.

   

Chicago's Festa Pasta Vino

Tonight I went to the Festa Pasta Vino, in Chicago.  It's a festival in a little out of the way Chicago neighborhood they call "Little Tuscany."  It's a quaint narrow street with awesome little Italian eateries lining the streets.  All this weekend, they're closing down the block, and the local restaurants and residents are setting up booths with different pasta dishes, wines, and little Italian trinkets.  There's live music, and it's just sort of fun.  The best way I can describe Festa Pasta Vino is that it was a cross between a miniature "Taste of Chicago" and an episode of the Sopranos.  There was great food and lots of Italian pride!    

Vanessa Eichelberger's New CD

Tonight, I went to Vanessa Eichelberger's CD and book release party in Romeoville.  She and her husband Greg (in the red shirt) are good friends and fellow ministers, but they are also both very, very talented musicians.  Vanessa is a wonderful Christian vocalist, and one thing she's done with this CD that I think is pretty cool is she has written a companion devotional/journal to read alongside the CD.  Check out Vanessa's website and some of her music at www.vanessae.com. 

Sunday at Wrigley

Today, I went to Wrigley Field to watch the Cubs beat the Pirates 4-3 with a group of friends.  If you've never been to Wrigley Field before, let me offer you a little peice of advise to keep in the back of your noodle before you decide to see a Cubs home game.  Remember that Wrigley is always way. . . way colder inside the park than the temperature is outside the park.  The high temperature today was 60 degrees in Chicago.  Nice day at the ballpark, right?  I swear, the temperature had to have been 40 degrees inside the stadium.  Everyone was bundled up like it was January!  It's absolutely insane.  Sweatshirts and hot chocolate were selling like hotcakes!

We had a fun time regardless.  Here's a funny story.  While we were sitting in our seats, a woman walked beside us up the stairs holding a cup full of French Fries that she just bought from a vendor.  Coming the opposite direction, a guy was walking past her, and he totally yanked one of the fries out of her cup and ate it!  I don't think she even noticed.  You gotta be pretty bold to steal food from a total stranger right off their plate while passing on the stairs.  I wasn't sure if I should be appalled or impressed!          

Turning the BIG 3 . . 0!!

Friday night, some friends hosted a 30th birthday party for myself, Shawn Wiliams and Jake Kirchner.  Shawn, Jake and I are all turning 30 within 5 days of each other, so we had a combined party/cookout at Debbie Benjamin's place.  Had a good time!  Played some poker, ate some burgers.  If it had been my 20th birthday party instead of my 30th, it would've been perfect :).  Luckily I don't ACTUALLy turn 30 until Thursday, so I still have a few days to enjoy my roaring 20s.       

Landry At the Park

A few days ago, my dad and I took my neice, Landry, to the park.  She wanted to swing.  And she swang, and swang, and swang-- for about 45 minutes.  I pushed her a few times, but she wanted my dad to do it, so he pushed away.  Here's the picture.  Does he look alittle tired?

This little girl is about as cute as they come.

Lindsay William's Graduation Party

Yesterday, I went to Lindsay William's graduation party from Nursing School.  Someone brought a playstation 3 and "Rock Band," so of course, we had to test it out.  I have "Guitar Hero," on the PS3 but I've never done "Rock Band" before.  And I have to admit, I was alittle nervous singing on this thing for the first time, especially in front of all of Lindsay's relatives who had no idea who I was.  First song?  I thought I'd try Mississippi Queen.  Huge mistake. . . totally embarrassed myself.  But I knew I had to get right back up on that horse.  So I sang to Nirvana's Lithium . . . AND I ROCKED THE HOUSE! 100% completed baby!  It was the easiest level, but at least I redeemed myself.