welcome to chai-na town

a couple posts ago I revealed the one-way first-name basis that I have with some of the employees at my friendly neighborhood starbucks.

Today it got one step better.

It's been a few days since I last patronized starbucks . . . i was due for my drink of choice.

I pulled off and drove up to the drive through intercom . . . the conversation went a little something like this:

(des pulls up to intercom and rolls down the window accustomed to the typical, "Hi, How are you today?" question.)

starbucks: Hey - can we get a grandé non-fat chai latté started for you?

des: (shocked) . . . . why . . . yes . . . .that's it. Thanks.

starbucks: We'll see you at the window.

WHAT??

I mean, I guess it only makes sense that if they know my name then they would remember what drink I have ordered LITERALLY every time that I have been there. It just sort of takes this chai addiction to the next level, don't you think????

It was extra good today by the way.

I like being a regular. I'm starting to feel like I belong.

Des

chai lattés

so, not so far off the beaten path to my office (probably even close enough to be considered "on the way") is a friendly neighborhood Starbucks. I like it. I've warmed up to this crown-jewel of corporate america.

I have two things to say:

1) Grandé Non-Fat Chai Lattés are the best
2) The barista today greeted me at the window by saying "Hey Desmond"

What does THAT tell you?

Grace,

Des

celebrate abundance

kristy and i were at pier 1 just a few days ago - we're still in the "putting the finishing touches on our new place" mode - because we wanted to buy a mirror or something for the large wall in our dining room. pier 1 really is a lovely place - though the random scents often throw my nose into a downward spiral - literally (at least the downward part). while browsing all of the knicks and knacks available for purchase, i noticed a sign that said "celebrate abundance" which i guess is part of their holiday sales campaign.

of course, it got me thinking.

firstly, i'm realizing more and more that kristy and i just tend to think differently from the masses - "we are all individuals" from life of brian - and i'm guessing that's a good thing. secondly, we live an abundant life - we're not swimming in wealth, but we're also not swimming in debt (providing that student loan debt is good debt!). we have more than enough. certainly, we have everything that we need.

how, then, should we best "celebrate abundance" while maintaining an awareness that this abundance isn't universal? having this "abundant life" is the exception rather than the rule when thinking globally - it's probably true even when thinking domestically.

one of the things that we really dig is world vision's catalog for giving "life-changing" gifts in honor of someone. for us, this started last year when we gave tilden and stephanie a "gift" by giving a goat to a family through world vision. this year, we noticed that there is an entire catalog of these gifts available - from the very inexpensive to the "well-beyond-our-reach" expensive. for example:

• tangible gifts like:
• educational support for one child ($32)
• malaria prevention for one family ($20)
• warm blanket ($30)
• safe water for a school ($50)
• or, more intangible stuff like:
• help prevent aids ($35)
• hope for sexually exploited girls ($35)
• share of art and music ($40)

it really is an incredible service. and i really don't need an ipod touch . . .

now, we're not giving up on christmas. we're just looking at abundance through a different lens. we've still got a tree (in fact, my wife tells me it's going up today) and we'll still decorate and eat food.

but this year, celebrating abundance (which, at first, really turned me off), will transform our lives.

abundant grace,

des

Goofy Snoopy

Before I begin - yes, I recognize that this post may be dangerous.

So does anyone besides me feel that hip hop is finally getting goofy? Now, I'm not anti-hip-hop by any means. Yes, there are horrible messages in some hip hop, perhaps the majority of hip hop, but I also try to recognize the good in everything as much as I can. It's had a long run too - It started when I was kid - I'm 27 now. That's a long time!!!

But tonight, the reigning godfather of Hip Hop, Cordozar Calvin Broadus, Jr. (aka Snoop Dog) was on Conan O'Brian. In fact, he JUST finished his schtick as I write this. Perhaps it was the context. Conan isn't necessarily the best complement to the hip hip scene.

I felt kind of sad. Here was this 37 year old man talking about "burnin' a blunt" and selling merchandise named Snoop This and Snoop that. It just felt wrong. So I'm trying to fgure out if this is indicative of Snoop and/or Hip Hop becoming goofy or me getting old.

Both?

Sometimes I forget that Snoop and people like him are entertainers and for whatever reason we find the gang-bangin', blunt burnin' rapper worthy to throw millions of dollars at. Sometimes I forget that it's all an act (or at least, I hope it is) and that he's a father that wants to raise his kid well. Is it like the circus? Circus families pass the family act along to the kids. Does Snoop invite the kid into the dog house?

What's more interesting is that this was during Conan - perhaps the goofiest man on TV right now. And Snoop seemed goofy even compared to the C-izzle. It really seemed like Conan was trying to find something worthwhile to chat about.

I don't want to be 37 and feel like I haven't accomplished anything. I have no desire to sell a Snoop de Grille (Snoopy-themed BBQ) or a Snoop de Ville (Snoopy themed Cadillac). If, Lord willing, I ever find myself sitting across from Conan I want to be able to talk about something of value.

And I don't want it to be goofy.

Grace,

Des

Crazy Week

It's been a crazy week. I've been in Orlando for a few days now - since Saturday, actually - attending a youth workers conference. It's been good to connect with people that I haven't seen in a long time.

Here are just a few reasons why craziness has ensued:

• We had to come all the way to Orlando, just to see family from Newfoundland,
• Including this trip, I've now gotten into Disney four times for free,
• New clientèle,
• Designing websites may actually have been a good choice,
  
• I brought my iMac to the hotel,
• No one should be able to eat this much food and live,
• Brody enjoys Orlando,
• iPodcast,
  
• My name isn't Derek, but I forgive you,
  
• Photoshop finally photoshipped.

I've also been able to do a litte work on a prototype of the splicr site. It's not live yet, but if you want to check out a preview, you can do so at http://dcs533.aisites.com/splicr. It's coming along. I've been using it as an assignment for school which is forcing me to get a lot more done on it than I normally would.

Tomorrow, the craziness continues.

Grace,

Des

active vs. passive

Recently, I've been seeing a counselor. You may, or may not, have known that - I think it's the first time that I've mentioned it here. It's been incredible to have someone to talk to that can both remain objective and provide great insights into life, the universe, and everything.

Yes, that is a Douglas Adams reference.

One of the very cool things that I've been able to realize deals with the difference that the results of activity vs the results of passivity. She gave me a great example. She said that she recently had a client, a male, that would frequent bars and would "go home" with whatever woman would give him any attention. What he realized is that he would never be happy as long as he was passive - waiting for someone else to act - because they were making the "selection" - not him. He wasn't having the opportunity to find the woman that he wanted . . . he was waiting for the right one to find him. He was always the one being picked - never getting to the the picking.

In my life, the things that I am happiest with are the things that I have selected - that is, the things that I know are right and good and so I've taken action to bring them into my life. For example, my marriage. I am very happy in my marriage, because I was active in building the relationship. Another example: school. I am very happy with what I am studying in school because I selected it, it's EXACTLY what I want to do.

When you're passive about moving towards things, you're essentially letting someone else pick the details of your life. For me, much of my life has been lived passively . . . those things that I didn't actively choose, but rather just let happen, are the things that are most frustrating.

So, I'm done with just letting things happen. I will be actively choosing the next years of my life, in concert, of course, with my wife and my God. But it was an incredible lesson that I am happy to have learned!!!

Grace,

Des

Growing Up

I never thought I would grow up. I've been a big kid at heart for a long time - ever since I was a little kid, I guess. But I thin, at 27, that I've finally gone and done it. I think I am officially an adult.

My thoughts are much more adult now. The way that I deal with the world is much more adult now. I know now, though I often do not want to admit it, that I am in fact not invincible. That's a weird thought to finally have to accept.

You see, I've never had to deal with mortality. I've been blessed in that my family, all the way up to all four of my grandparents have all had long lives are still with me. So the number of times that I have had people that were at all close to me that I've lost I can count on one hand without using all of the fingers on it.

I don't mean this to bring any one down of course. I know that I'm blessed to be in this situation.

Recently, I've been thinking about death and what it means for me as a Christian. There have been some people loosely connected with me that have been called home earlier than expected and through those experiences God has been dealing with me in some interesting ways. Primarily, in addition to realizing that I've only got a set number of years (maybe 60, maybe 70, maybe 80, who knows?), God has been teaching me to use the time that I have because we never know how much time that is. He's been helping me see that even though I've wasted great deals of time that I could have used to help people, to meet their needs, to serve with the love of Christ on pointless pursuits, I've still got plenty of time to do whatever I can to serve in his name.

I can't say that I'm afraid of my own death . . . I'm just so unfamiliar with it that I don't know what's involved. Kristy and I were talking and many people have this questions dealt with as teenagers - she's in a very different situation than I in that she has had to deal with these questions already a number of times.

I also don't want to eventually come to the end of my life and fear that I have wasted my time. Everything I do should have purpose. Everything I do should be about bringing heaven to earth, defeating hell, building relationships that honor God. Is my day to day life going to be one of those things that I regret someday? Am I doing what I love?

As you can see, I've been dealing with some heavy thoughts lately that have REALLY made me thing and physically (literally) forced me to process them. I continue to deal with them.

Thanks for listening.

Grace,

Des