Next time think twice

Let me first start out by apologizing for the lack of maturity in this post.

I saw this website advertised on a van this morning: www.ukbarfclub.co.uk. Now that's a club I don't want to join. I think someone should have thought twice about that name! I have since learned that BARF stands for "Bones and Raw Food" which is in reference to a certain type of pet diet.

That got me thinking, "Do they not use the term 'barf' for vomit in the UK?" Naturally that led to a Google search. When I searched "barf" all the listings were for this particular type of pet diet. I then confirmed in an online UK slang dictionary that barf is slang for vomit. Finally, I had my mom do some research to see what came up if she searched from the US and it had similar results to my search in the UK.

So...why would these people ever choose the acronym BARF? Clearly it means vomit so why would you choose to use it for something serious? I suggest you search it on Google. The results are a treasure trove of teenage boy jokes. Here is a sampling of the results:

Barfworld
Barf for Beginners
What is Barf?

This will lead you to many more interesting sites such as:

Barf Tips & Tricks
Genuine Barf Diet
Become a Barf Distributor

Lastly, you may want to add the Barf Blog to your Google Reader blog roll.

trapped

I’ve been without a passport since mid June and I’ll probably be without one until the end of August. I’m feeling trapped by the situation. I wouldn’t have traveled in July, but I had hoped to travel in August. Also, I’m feeling a little homesick right now so combine that with the fact that I couldn’t come home now if I wanted to is making it all worse.

It’s probably all in my head since the chances of my coming home on a whim at this time of the year are low given my work responsibilities anyway. Also, seeing lots of people going on vacation this time of year has me feeling it more. I will just have to hold out for the end of September when I come back to Cincinnati and go hike the Grand Canyon. (I better have my passport back in time for that!)

Climatized

Yesterday it was a high of at least 80 degrees in London. That's what the weather web-site says but I think it must have been hotter. I remember a few weeks ago I was complaining that it was rainy and 60. Now it's finally summer and I've realized I can't take the heat like I used to. I was surprised by the temperature when I walked outside! With no air conditioning or good ventilation to use as an escape I find that once it gets above the lower seventies it's just too hot. I enjoy the heat but I need some air conditioning or a pool to help me cope...I'm just thankful it wasn't this hot last weekend. We were definitely lucky about that.

Another movie recommendation

It's been out for some time now, but if you haven't seen "August Rush" then go rent it today. I remember seeing the previews and thinking it looked good but I was a little worried about how cheesy it might be. However, any cheese that's it in is well worth watching. It's Mr. Holland's Opus-esque, but I think it's better (or maybe it's just because I've gotten tired of Mr. Holland's Opus). It's a touching story and the music is amazing. Anyone who likes music will like this movie. To quote Rich Mullins, "I want to hear some music once again 'cause it's the finest thing that I have ever found." I won't give away the final scene but here is something to catch your interest.

Mamma Mia on the big screen

Last night I saw "Mamma Mia!" the movie version. Not surprisingly, it was great! If you haven't seen the musical or the movie I definitely recommend going to see it. It's silly but fun. Meryl Streep was brilliant. She seemed a little over-dramatic but I suppose that was her character. Pierce Brosnan, on the other hand, should make sure he still has a career as an action hero. Singing is not his forte. In fact, much of the theater started to giggle when he first started singing. It's just a little hard to take him seriously in that context. Richard Gere pulled it off much better in "Chicago." Despite this, it was a great summer movie!

interesting note

One year ago last weekend I ran my first complete 5k (I've done one 5k before but I walked part of it). It's interesting that exactly one year later I walked 100 kilometers. I don't expect to keep up that pace forever.

crazy? I was crazy once...

It's finally over. As many of you know, last weekend I hiked 100 kilometers in 22 hours and 40 minutes. It's strange that you train for something for so long and then it's just over. But trust me, during the last 20 kilometers it felt like it would never be over.

Overall it was definitely worth it. I feel a great sense of accomplishment to have finished it. I would even do it again...if I only had to walk the first 80 kilometers. The last 20 kilometers were about the most painful hours of my life. The race was divided into 10 kilometer chunks and those last chunks seemed to drag on forever. By that point I had serious blisters and my ankles ached every time I took a step. Much of the trail was rocky and uneven so my ankles were constantly having to adjust to maintain balance. Interestingly, the uphill parts were easier than the downhill parts because the impact on my feet wasn't as painful.

502 teams of 4 started the race and although 83% of individuals finished, only 287 complete teams finished. According to the provisional results, we finished in 94th place out of the 287 complete teams. However, they robbed of us our time so I hope that the final results have the correct time. Even so, we finished in at least the top 1/3 of complete teams and even higher if you consider how many teams started. The fastest women's only team finished in 20 hours and 46 minutes so if we were ranked among women only teams we would be even higher! I was very excited when I learned our ranking because we were really just trying to finish it and were shooting for around 24 hours. So to come in less than 24 hours and so well in the rankings was exciting!

At the beginning I couldn't get my mind around just how far we had left to go. Once we had 10ks under our belts it was easier to keep going. Those last 20 kilometers were all in the mind. I don't think any amount of training would have prepared me for that. I originally signed up for this thinking it would be easier than a marathon because it was walking, not running. However, I'm thinking maybe a marathon would be easier. I'll think about it. For now, I'm taking a break from walking and then setting my sights on the Grand Canyon.

I've almost fully recovered now. I won't show you the pictures of my feet underneath the tape. Suffice it to say I had a lot of blisters and I've been limping on my feet the last few days. But now I can put full weight on my feet and the swelling in my ankles is going down. Woo hoo!

Right now I have some pictures on Facebook, but I'll update my website soon. At the top of one of many hillsSunset...and sunrise...finally FINISHED!

Check out this note from the Queen of England. The jokes in it are jokes I hear ALL the time.

To the citizens of the United States of America from Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

In light of your failure in recent years to nominate competent candidates for President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocatio n of your independence, effective immediately.

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, and territories (except Kansas, which she does not fancy) .

Your new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, will appoint a Governor for America without the need for further elections.

Congress and the Senate will be disbanded.

A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed.

To aid in the transition to a British Crown dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

(You should look up 'revocation' in the Oxford English Dictionary.)

1. Then look up aluminium, and check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it.

2. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'colour', 'favour', 'labour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters, and the suffix '-ize' will be replaced by the suffix '-ise'. Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels (look up 'vocabulary').

3. Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as 'like' and 'you know' is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. There is no such thing as U.S. English. We will let M*crosoft know on your behalf. The M*crosoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take into account the reinstated letter "u" and the elimination of -ize.

4. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.

5. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not quite ready to be independent. Guns should only be used for shooting grouse. If you can't sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist then you're not ready to shoot grouse.

6. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. Although a permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

7. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left side with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables.

Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.

8. The former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling gasoline) of roughly $10/US gallon. Get used to it.

9. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar.

10. The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager. South African beer is also acceptable as they are, pound for pound, the greatest sporting nation on earth and it can only be due to the beer. They are also part of British Com- monwealth - see what it did for them. American brands will be referred to as Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine, so that all can be sold without risk of further confusion.

11. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters. Watching Andie MacDowell attempt English dialogue in Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.

12. You will cease playing American football. There is only one kind of proper football; you call it soccer. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies). Don't try rugby - the South Africans and Kiwis will thrash you, like they regularly thrash us.

13. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.1% of you are aware there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable. You will learn cricket, and we will let you face the South Africans first to take the sting out of their deliveries.

14. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.

15. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776).

16. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 pm with proper cups, with saucers, and never mugs, with high quality biscuits (cookies) and cakes; plus strawberries (with cream) when in season.

God Save the Queen!

new neighbors?

I think I must have new neighbors. I've never heard so much loud conversation out my back windows. It's not just the conversation though...it's the squealing and crying child. That is definitely new and I am not a fan. I will just have to turn my music up louder.

Speaking of Neighbours (notice the spelling)...I bet you were dying to know it's the name of a very popular soap opera here. Not that I am into soap operas at all but I've heard of it. Kylie Minogue used to be on the show before she began her music career. Just FYI.

Clarification

Just to clarify, there is a trail we will be walking on. It's called the South Downs Way. England is unique (vs. the US anyway) in that there are lots of public walking trails all over the place. You can see a map of the trail here. The full trail is 100 miles and we'll be walking 60 of it- from Petersfield to Brighton. Although there is a trail, it's definitely off road and although it's supposedly well marked we still need to make sure we follow it correctly. But, we're hoping the compass is not actually needed or we'll be in trouble...

3 days to go...

I'll be getting up at 4:30 am Saturday to start walking 100 kilometers at 8:30am. When we finish is the million dollar question but we're hoping to finish within 24 to 28 hours. We've got all of our equipment including a survival bag (which hopefully we don't need!) and a compass (which I don't know how to use). We'll be trying to rely on the detailed maps and a GPS instead of the compass. I'll try to post status updates and pictures on Facebook from my cell phone...and I might call you if we need help reading a compass :)

The link on the left doesn't reflect it but we've nearly reached our fund-raising goal. Thanks to those of you who supported us. You can also support me by calling or texting during the hike (especially in the middle of the night) to remind me there is something out there besides the 100 kilometers of trail that stretch ahead of me.

So far the weather on Saturday looks good but please pray that it doesn't rain and that it's not too hot...and pray that we can finish!!

What I'll love about heaven

There's a lot I don't understand about heaven (there is a big understatement!). I know heaven will be amazing for lots of reasons - most importantly that we will be fully restored to our relationship with God and find our fulfillment. But the purpose of this post is not to list all the reasons why heaven will be fabulous.

The main reason on my mind currently is that we will no longer be separated from those we love. I don't know exactly how it will be but when we are all in heaven together I expect we won't have that sense of separation or longing. It's long been one of the things I hate most about life (even more than rain) that people come and go in our lives. I get particularly attached to people so if someone is a close friend for a period of time, then moves away, it is very hard to handle. We still remain friends but it's just not the same. I wish I could be with everyone I love all the time, as impractical as that may be!

This can happen when you're living in the same country but for me the feelings are heightened since moving to London and trying to merge two seemingly different lives. I'm sad by what I'm missing at home but now that I've made friends here it's also hard to think about leaving.

My one comfort is that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ and we will all be together in heaven.

rain rain

It's July 7th, it's raining and the high temperature today in London is 63. Add that to the list of reasons to move back to America.

Hard Rock Calling

Last Sunday I went to see The Police headline Hard Rock Calling in Hyde Park. It was an amazing show! It was their last show in the UK (I'm sure they've said that before) so they were giving it everything they had. Sting's voice is still great and they sounded awesome. KT Tunstall, Starsailor and The Bangles also played. KT Tunstall is great live. I hadn't heard Starsailor before but they were pretty good. And of course, I enjoyed seeing The Bangles play "Walk like an Egyptian" live.The Police!!KT Tunstall

The Bangles

Isn't it ironic

Happy Fourth of July! Yes, I am a little late with my Independence Day post but I hope everyone in America is having a nice long weekend. Please have a barbecue and watch fireworks for me. Last night I went to the British Museum for an American Independence Day celebration. Hm...strike anyone as a little ironic? A fourth of July party at the British Museum. They were having swing dancing and jazz. They also had some basketball and football players outside. Interesting combination. No fireworks, but it was fun.

Wimbledon update

Exciting news for the British at Wimbledon. Andy Murray is now in the quarter finals of Wimbledon. He won an incredible match, fighting back from 2 sets down. Now he faces Rafael Nadal...

Another surprising moment for British tennis was when Chris Eaton qualified for the tournament and had a big win in the first round...he lost but he's cute. Maybe there is some potential for the future.Finally, Venus and Serena Williams are both in the quarter final...maybe it will be an all Williams final?