May 2010
Malcolm's Blog | Jun 2010

A Happy Birthday

Fri 28 May 2010 Filed in: Reflections | Photos
Scan229, January 10, 2008
Though it would probably not please my Jehovah’s Witness friends, today I am enjoying celebrating Joan’s birthday. She would have been 65 today. While 65 is good (and I can personally attest that it is - retirement, senior discounts, medicare - well, maybe not medicare...) heaven must be infinitely better. Joan enjoyed retirement, didn’t worry about senior discounts, and neither needs nor misses medicare.

I continue to enjoy living out the discovery that sorrow and joy are not mutually exclusive. It is a good thing to be able to experience the reality of loss without letting go of the joy and the hope that are an integral part of a relationship with Christ. I’m pretty sure Joan is joyfully celebrating today as well, but I don’t think her birthday has much to do with it.
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Would Thoreau have used a cell phone?

Wed 26 May 2010 Filed in: Humor | Reflections
Maybe it’s a generational thing, but it seems to me that sometimes unconnected is good. And sometimes face to face is better than cell tower to cell tower. Technology, after all, is not exempt from the effects of the fall. Remember when spam was food and junk mail was limited to what the mailman brought six times a week? Maybe Thoreau was right:
Men have become the tools of their tools. Happy

Zits
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And on the Seventh Day...

Wed 19 May 2010 Filed in: Humor
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I'm sorry; was it something I wore?

Tue 18 May 2010 Filed in: Photos | My Life
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One of the more unusual stops on my trip last month was the Los Angeles County Coroner’s office. My brother wanted to stop there to visit the gift shop. Yes, this IS the truth; the LA County Coroner’s office actually has a gift shop. I have to admit that once I figured out that my brother was not kidding, I was curious about what, exactly, they might be selling there. Their most popular item, the one my brother was looking for, is a beach towel with the outline of a body on it, but they have a number of other items as well. Proceeds from the store support a program aimed at youthful drunk drivers.

The beach towels were out of stock, but since it seemed to be a worthy cause, I picked up a couple of shirts, planning to use one as a work-out t-shirt. I wasn’t sure what the reaction might be when I showed up at the gym in a shirt advertising the Los Angeles County Coroner, but last week I found out. It’s a pretty mellow group at the gym, and other than a couple of odd looks, there really wasn’t any reaction, at least not until an elderly gentlemen stepped onto the treadmill next to me. He greeted me, put his towel down, and pulled out his ipod. Then he read my shirt. And without saying a word, he picked up his towel and ipod, and moved two treadmills away.

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Few people, particularly those who exercise, want to be reminded of death. I wore the shirt again yesterday and went for a walk along the Cedar River where fellow walkers habitually greet each other as they go by. Yesterday the folks I passed were unusually silent. It turns out I have a people-repelling shirt. I wonder if it will work with the guys who ring my doorbell at dinner time to try and sell me Penguin windows. I think I’ll try it.
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Preaching at Kenmore

Sun 16 May 2010 Filed in: AV
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I enjoyed preaching this morning at Kenmore Community Church. Their pastor, Mark Rogers, used to be my mother’s pastor in Southern California and has come to be a good friend, Visiting this congregation is a blessing. You can click on the picture of the church for a link to listen to this morning’s sermon at the KCC website.
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I Wonder Where It Went

Fri 14 May 2010 Filed in: Reflections
Some words are not worth saving; others seem valuable, but only for the moment. Six months of blogging disappeared this afternoon into the mystery of cyberspace. I wonder where it went. I lost it somewhere in the process of a software upgrade, proving once again that newer isn’t necessarily better. My brother mistakenly thinks I’m a computer expert. I’m guessing that after he finds out that I inadvertently made six months of blogging disappear and don’t have a clue how I did it, he won’t let me near one of his computers again.

So I’m starting over beginning with yesterday’s entry that I managed to save. Starting over is good, and it is a reminder that there is still grace in my world.

Perhaps there’s something to be said for paper after all. Happy
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Sometimes It's Spring

Thu 13 May 2010 Filed in: Reflections | Photos
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It’s been an interesting spring so far. I enjoy this time of year with its mild weather as my world morphs toward summer. But this spring has included driving though white stuff in Newport, Oregon, wondering if I needed to build an ark in Crescent City, and the first winter storm power outage of the season in May. God is infinitely creative! Then there are days like today. Sunshine and seventies, a gentle breeze, iced tea and the laptop on the patio - it’s too nice to stay indoors. Sometimes it’s spring, and when it is, you might as well enjoy it!
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