I have a heap of work to do, so you will have to make do with a picture I took last week. It’s from our fire escape.

Click on the picture, because it looks much better when it is a bigger version!

“N” was not entirely successful in catching that last egg…

“R” Shows off the pearly whites.

It’s nice being in a warm room, flanked by a heater, a block of Lindt “Noir Orange” chocolate, a flurry of paper (articles on scripture & the church, timetables, brochures, and and essay question) and a copy of Calvin’s Institutes.
The thunder occasionally peals in the distance. It rained for a minute or two. Just long enough for me to raise the blinds and open the windows, so I can smell the moisture-laden air & listen to the drops hit the plastic patio roof outside my window.
Evenings like this I wish I didn’t have to go to bed. Things feel so… “real” on nights like this. Like the air itself has grit and grain.
I knew from the start the night would be good though. $10 steaks at the Summer Hill Pub with a free Schooner of Beer. A chef who has grasped with both mind and hands the meaning of the word “rare”.
We arrived, we sat and we chatted over our lovely meals.
And as it ends…
“I enjoyed that so much I could probably go it again”
Dan delivers the off-hand comment, such as would be expected after any good meal.
“I know what you mean, I feel the same way”
Ads replies.
“Well, if we are all in, then why not”
I smile enthusiasticly. Wallets are fished out, coins are counted & dinner is repeated!
And thus the poem entitled “Twin Steaks” is born.

College.
Calvin.
Dark Chocolate.
Great Mates.
Good Steaks.

I best not let the night end too late….

You know, I have to say that I was about to write something, then I realised it was a total lie. I was going to say that every team that I have “gone for” this year has lost & that I seem to have the touch of death when it comes to following teams. Then I remembered that I came third in a tipping competition! Hey, I actually beat people & was in sight of the Gold medal!
So, I take it back, I had a podium finish, so that is nothing to sneeze at.
That said, it was sad to watch Danny Green go down in Australia’s most anticipated boxing match on Wednesday night.
So, my take on the Green Vs Mundine thing. It is a lot like the Hewitt Vs Rafter thing. When we are honest, we have to admit that Lleyton is a better tennis player, but just about everyone would rate Pat Rafter over him because he is actually a nice guy. You can picture going for a brewski or twoski with Pat after a match, while you are more likely to picture Lleyton swearing, spitting or giving you the finger.
Australian’s like nice guys!
Mundine won the match fair and square, he was the better boxer & you could certainly see that he was a fair bit faster than Danny Green. But that doesn’t change the fact that he just doesn’t seem to be a nice guy. Mocking, even during the fight, making faces at Greens wife in the crowd, giving people the finger after the match & just talking himself up the whole time. It wasn’t pretty.
So, I am hoping that my bad luck on Wednesday is tempered by a Waratah’s win this evening as they play the Hurricanes in Wellington for the Super 14’s Semi-final. I’d never say I begrudge having to go to youth group on a friday night. I love it & I love the kids, but it is tough when you miss a big match like this!
Oh, lest I forget. Props have to go to Mick Kelly, Trinette & Bec who all came down to watch the match on Wednesday night.

I like the slightly worried look on his face. It could have been because his dad was wearing a skirt that day (OK a kilt)

So I was sorting through a bunch of old photos on my backup hard drive & came across this one. It never made it into any albumn I have displayed, but I kind of liked it today. Two different looks of focus!

Never let it be said that Bible College students don’t know how to focus the rage. Look at that killer instinct!

Am I the only one who does this?
Or is it just a byproduct of a little too much time spent behind a camera lens?
People keep asking me why I am deep in thought in the middle of a driveway, or why I have a habit of walking with my head pointed up instead of where I am going.
I find myself staring at things. Not just staring into nothing, and not staring at anything important, but starting at things as if, by force of will, I might bore out some great truth or deep meaning with my eyes. Some deeper truth that lies just under the surface, like the vitamins under an orange’s skin.
This morning I was at “the red C” (a large letter “C” painted on the drive at college, outside the guys dorm. Guys are Israelites & girls are Egyptians… they are not allowed to cross the red sea) waiting for a friend to pick something up and I caught myself just staring. The corrugations on the roof of the married quarters, uniform in shape but varied in colour as the cloud-shrowded sun struggled down onto it. I looked at the little ventilation pipe that stuck out like a lollipop from a kids mouth. Focus shifted from the roof infront to the palms behind. Berries and stalks, bright yellow against the green leaves and brown trunk.
The asphalt of the tennis court, cut into mosaic by the wire fence. The billowing bingham of the table cloths drying on the line. The clouds above, rolling and roiling, pregnant with rain.
None of it was particularly begging to be photographed. I suspect they would stay under single figures for the number of views if I put it up on my Flickr account, yet I felt that if I stared long enough or thought hard enough (but about what?) i’d find the truth. I’d have the answer.
As I thought about everything this afternoon, I realised my problem..
Psalm 19 says
“The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech, night after night they display knowledge.”
Maybe there is some kind of hidden beauty that is attached to all the little things in life. Maybe they possess qualities that we fail to see, because we fail to look hard enough. However, in the end, the greatest beauty lies in a creater who has made these things for us to appreciate. No matter how much beauty we find in the created order, it can only ever be a shadow of the creator Himself.
I don’t think I’m going to stop my staring. I don’t think we spend enough time really appreciating the little things in this world. That said, I think the focus might change. I’ll take a leaf out of the Narnia series.
Time to look further onward and further upward!

Why?
Just because I can!
In my world he’s a player.
So it’s three times Dan!

Dan is meditative (or possibly about to Fart)

Dan is sometimes sad.

Dan is also cool (though here, he appears to be blowing a raspberry).

Good books from around the world.