February 2012
4 posts
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Classics Update
So far this year i’ve read Grimms Fairy Tales, Frankenstein, The Jungle and The Scarlett Letter. Quite a combination. I’m getting ready to start The Man in the Iron Mask to bring a bit of swashbuckling adventure into my morbid list.
What are you reading?
January 2012
9 posts
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Thank You, David Bowie
going thru a bit of change lately…new year, new car, new dog, new part-time job, new schedule/routines, no more Scrooge/facial hair, new term for the college students in my house…looking for some fresh, new ideas for blogs, songs, studies
i’m really looking forward to a little getaway this weekend with Brook to plan, dream, re-align, pray, laugh, assess, prioritize. i love that...
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Who are your picks?
NO, NE (but rooting for Broncs), Bal, GB in a nail biter. What say you?
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Playoffs, Classics and the Cutest Dog
Pittsburgh at Denver last weekend and the playoff games this weekend are far better than the Super Bowl will be. It’s gonna be a great weekend of football! here are my picks: NO over Niners in a tight one. i’m rooting for Tebow, but think NE will win. i’m thinking it will be tight until the 4th quarter and the Pats experience will overcome, dang it. Baltimore will beat Houston in...
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Random Monday Thots
Wildcard weekend did not disappoint, although i slept thru most of the Giants/Falcons game. But Broncos/Steelers was one for the ages! Can they beat the Pats?
Got the music recorded for a new song last night. Still working on lyrics and melody but it’s coming together. slow building ballad that goes pretty full on at the end, i’m liking this one. 1 song a week!
Having a new dog has...
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Themes for 2012
Some words that keep bouncing around for 2012:
Serve with gladness, dig in, relationships, do it, produce
I think it comes down to do something not just talking about it, do it with a humble heart and right attitude and gladness, include other people and produce something lasting and meaningful.
When the girls were younger, our little mantra was to obey all the way, right away and with a happy...
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Music, Elections, New Pets, NFL...Random Thots
Random thots in no particular order:
I’m taking a Facebook/Twitter/Google+ break for awhile. i just need to prove to myself that i don’t need to be connected electronically for most of the day. i want to connect in real face time, not screen time. i realize the good of those tools but also see how consuming it can be. i’ll be back on, but will just record some thots from time to...
November 2011
1 post
WatchMy favorite Thanksgiving song. Happy Thanksgiving!!
August 2011
1 post
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Ready To Go!
It’s coming…Scrooge…Scrooooge…SCROOOOOOGE!!!!
Summer is finishing, school will be back in session, Wave Conference was a huge event, earthquakes and hurricanes out of the way and now we start the Scrooge process.
Last year, a ragtag band of ruffians and thespians started gathering and practicing and building and blocking and in the end created something very amazing. i...
July 2011
1 post
9 tags
Summer Break
I’m taking a bit of a break from the classics to read a few other books. I’ve been working on From Good to Great by Jim Collins for a bit. It’s good but a bit businessy for me so I’m trying to pull out as much as I can.
There are some great business principles but I’m in the process of getting my brain to think in that way. It does break the main points down at the...
May 2011
3 posts
4 tags
C'mon, Let's Think Things Thru
We’ve been car shopping to find a great, reliable vehicle for Ky. Should be a fun and quick experience, right? How hard can it be to find a used Corolla or Civic or something like that for a great price? Uh…very!
At first i thought it was the economy - times are a bit tough, people are holding on to their rides for a bit or trading down for a more economical ride. Yeah, that’s...
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Back at it
Well, i’m back at P90X…gotta do something to keep this temple humming along. It’s so crazy what age does to a body. I do have a couple of partners - Ky is doing it with me and Brook is waking up early and walking while we turn our garage into a gym. It makes a huge difference having others getting up early with you. I’m sure we’ll take turns playing drill sgt to get...
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Another One Bites the Dust
In my quest to conquer the classics, i have consumed yet another one. I finished Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens a couple of nights ago and have a bit of time to think it over.
It was a harder read than i thought it would be. It takes me a couple of chapters to get into the groove of each book, especially those written in a different century and this one took a while to get that groove....
April 2011
4 posts
7 tags
A Memorable Anniversary
So today was Brook & i’s anniversary and I had arranged a nice chill day down in the Outer Banks - relaxing on the beach, climbing the dunes at Jockey Ridge, a nice little lunch & key lime pie at Kill Devil Grill - a great day!
So, we decided to stop by the bank on the way out of town to deposit some checks & pull out some cash. But our account was frozen for some reason. So we...
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Classic Book Update
I finished Dracula by Bram Stoker - not at all what I expected. I thot it would be all Bela Legosi creepy but there was some great character development & plot. It wasn’t as “scary” as I thot it would be. There were moments of intensity but nothing causing nightmares. It wasn’t my favorite book so far, but it wasn’t bad.
Next up - Oliver Twist by Dickens. I’m looking forward to this one. I...
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Here's my classics list i'm working thru
1984 by George Orwell The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain The Aeneid by Vergil Aesop’s Fables by Aesop The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll All Quiet on the Western Front The Ambassadors by Henry James And Then There Were...
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21...and counting
A year ago Christmas, i came across a list of classic books everyone should read. I did a bit of research (and have added to it since) and came up with 4 pages of classics to read.
I’m proud to say i just finished reading my 21st book since end of December ‘09! i just finished The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway and was it a sad, shallow story. The writing was fantastic which made it that...
March 2011
10 posts
8 tags
In a Nutshell…Yeah, Right
My goal was to sit down and do a quick wrap up of my trip to Jordan in a nice, neat little package. But the more I thought about it…the people I met, the places I saw, the conversations, the impressions…my thoughts were way too many and muddled to be wrapped up easily. So, I guess I’ll just try to get as much out as possible and then see where it goes from there.
I’m currently in the...
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Winding Down
Following our amazing jeep ride tour of Wadi Rum, we headed down to the port city of Aqaba on the Red Sea. It’s a great, booming city with lots of hotels and resorts and tourists. I walked around a bit and did a bit of shopping and felt totally safe.
After a night and morning in Aqaba, we drove north to the Dead Sea. We stopped once we got to the Sea for some pictures at sunset…so...
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Lunch with Lawrence of Arabia
Wadi Rum was a place I knew pretty much nothing about just a week or so ago. Now…it’s one of my favorites. It’s the desert where Lawrence of Arabia hung out and they filmed the movie. It’s vast and open and filled with mountainous rocks and everywhere you look is a picture waiting to be taken.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. We started our day going to a pottery shop that’s partially funded by...
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Petra Means Rock
Biggest lesson learned today: Petra is huge!! We took the most hilly, mountainous road into Petra, but we made it. I have no idea how much we hiked, but it was a lot, but also well worth it. The Siq you walk thru to get to the most famous face of Petra, The Treasury is a very cool entrance. When you can start to see the Treasury ahead, it’s an amazing sight.
I saw the third Indiana Jones movie, I...
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Maybe the Most Bizarre Day of My Life.
We started the day with a trip to the Jordan River which actually included a walk thru the history of the region. The guide is a Jordanian Christian who is so passionate about what the area represents, he was a wealth of knowledge and presented it almost like a preacher sometimes. We saw where John the Baptist ministered and the place they think Jesus was baptized and then went to the Jordan and...
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Jordan, Day Three: A Day to be Shaken
Today we participated in a bit of volun-tourism at The Holy Land Institute for the Deaf in Salt, Jordan. I had no idea what to expect, but was excited to serve and meet the kids. What I learned about love and servant-hood and my own short comings was priceless!
Brother Andrew A.L. de Carpentier is the Executive Director and a very wise yet humble man. One of the things he said that stuck out was...
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Day 1 in Amman
Today was my first full day in Amman and it was very informative. I started the day with a walk around a bit of the city with some of my tour friends. we ended up going into the visitor gate at a mosque and browsing around their little market. Never done that before.
We all met up and went on a tour of the Citadel, which has been around for 10,000 years they say. there are ruins of...
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The trip so far…
What a journey it’s been just to get to Jordan. It all started with a 4 hour delay at Norfolk Airport. JFK was having nasty wind and rain so they delayed everything going in. Once we got in the air, I was too late to catch my flight from JFK to Jordan but the group sponsoring the tour put me up in a hotel on the edge of Queens. It was truly raining cats and dogs in NYC…the landing was a pretty...
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Heading out...
It’s about that time to hop on the big metal bird and fly half-way around the world. i’m a bit nervous, never been to the Middle East before. i’m really looking forward to seeing the culture and meeting new friends - friends, food and coffee…how can you go wrong.
One of the things we’re doing that most intrigues me is a night at an eco-lodge in the middle of...
Out of the Blue
I had the most amazing opportunity just drop out of the blue, or at least out of my email. I’m heading to the Middle East.
Specifically, I’m going on a tour of Jordan for 10 days. It will pretty much cover the whole range of the country from the capital city of Amman, the Dead Sea, Petra, Mt Nebo, Bethany Beyond the Jordan where Jesus was baptized, Aqaba on the Red Sea…and...
February 2011
8 posts
4 tags
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...things that are not as though they were
As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were. Romans 4:17
Do you have that dream or calling that God has given you but in the natural, there is nothing pointing to it being fulfilled? Have you had words spoken to you or...
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Beauty & Beast Talk
I just had an amazing opportunity to speak at a father daughter banquet or Beauty & Beast Feast. Here are my notes. I’m in the process of cleaning them up and making them readable.
I grew up with a younger brother but no sisters. I had & have plenty of friends who are girls but girls were a foreign world to me.
When we first got married, Brook would have me “tell her like a girl” meaning...
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Analysis Paralysis
Selah, think or meditate on this. i take this seriously in so many aspects. i’m a thinker. that’s one of the reasons i like to mow, walk and paint, it’s thinking time!
But i think i have thought myself into a rut. i have so many dreams and goals and plans, but i’ve thought about them so much, they just stay dreams, goals and plans. i have entered analysis paralysis.
...
I guess this is the only way to get posts to both Facebook and Twitter. Yes, i love technology… #kiprules
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January 2011
8 posts
Indoor heat is making us heavy? what? →
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Movin' On Up!
Each year, Brook and i take stock of the past year and look ahead to what the next year holds. We name our years according to what we feel God has for us. We’ve had the year of traction, the year of growth, in10tional and now…Movin’ on Up!
Last year was a year of intention. It was our goal to be more purposeful on connecting with people, using our gifts & talents and just...
December 2010
1 post
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Christmastime is Here...
I LOVE CHRISTMAS! I like driving around looking at the cheesy lights and decorations. I love the music. I love the cookies and treats and pies. I love the generosity that seems to spring up. I love the trees and presents…I LOVE IT ALL!
It seems this year i’ve been thinking a bit more about the Sweet Lord Baby Jesus. It’s such an oxymoron that He was born this tender, sweet,...