A Few Things On The Agenda Today

I can't believe The Curious Case of Benjamin Button got ONE nomination for the Oscars, much less the 13 it garnered. It was fundamentally flawed. Too long. And Brad Pitt was average. The only thing I can figure is that Hollywood felt the need to go with anything that could be labeled "epic" and this was the only film last year that could be remotely called that. I really thought it's the worst movie to get that many nominations...it was that bad. Slumdog Millionaire was my favorite of the nominations, but I still have to see 3 of them. Sheesh. I'm kinda behind on my best picture nominees. And Anne Hathaway won't win for best actress against Meryl Streep & Angelina Jolie on that list, but she should.

AC/DC is at the big arena downtown tonight. $90 per ticket to go? That's prohibitive. However, it would be one of the most fun "people watching" things to check out. You know...check out the fashions, the demographics, the antics. It'd be a good subject for a video blog post.

In the paper today there was a headline that read "Parents get permission to say no." Naturally I had to stop down & read that. The story was about a speaker who came to a high-tone Dallas neighborhood named Highland Park to talk about parenting. This guy is a Harvard professor, mind you. He talked about a kind of "peer pressure" among parents to spoil their children and offered help. Fair enough...but the help he offered was noting that factors that contribute to problems in teenagers include divorce, lack of family time and parents who don't set limits. Things that help prevent behavioral problems include enjoying meals together, consistent parenting and getting involved in community service. Once again, common sense is cutting edge.

I haven't said anything about the No Agenda retreat our high school student ministry went on last weekend...but I should've. I mean, you get 70 teenagers in 65 degree sunny weather, allow the Pine Cove staff to provide frisbees, meals, gym hockey equipment, a big field for soccer & football and the magic happens. Here's one of those moments the seniors are starting to have, where "it's our last Pine Cove." There'll be a lot of lasts, and we're missing Natalie & Hannah (who had college trips & an allergic reaction, respectively), but finding a photo of all the seniors together is difficult to do:



Oh, yeah. I've been going back to basketball games and lunches with teens to just hang out and all that jazz. I really feel back in the saddle of youth ministry these days. I like that.

Margaux Update:



And, I'm thinking of scanning old photos. A bunch of 'em. And posting 'em. And posting them on Facebook. If we're not friends on FB, you'll miss out. Just sayin'.

Well, lots to do today and I'm sorry it's so scattered...