So enjoy and consider yourself tagged if you are so inclined!

1. Started your own blog (duh)
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (jr. high – trumpet)
4. Visited Hawaii (my grandmother lived there)

5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland (drove past, but I've been to Disneyworld, so I'm counting it)
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo (I don't sing)

11. Bungee jumped (never, ever ever…. )
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train

21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon (I've thought about it, but that would require being able to say run))
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice (seen them, didn't ride)
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Hit a home run (does backyard softball count?)
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language (not well)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David

41. Sung karaoke. (not well)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa (I'd like to…)
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater (so i lived right by one for years and never went)
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class.
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies (I've eaten a lot though)
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone.
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book (in process here)

81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life.
90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a mobile phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Wendy sent me this one from The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks. I'd really love to know what that sermon series was about. I'm picturing an anti-emergent tirade about all of us Kingdom theology people…

and then Karen sent this. Who doesn't want the Sarah Palin action figure?

Yes, I am one of those people. I enjoy bumper stickers. If I see a car with bumper stickers, I try to get behind it so I can read them. I could care less about resell value, I'd rather my car have a personality. So, the back of our car is covered. I know some people don't think opinions should ever be expressed, but I'm obviously not one of those people.

But I still though the post was funny.

1.YOUR ROCK STAR NAME (first pet, current car):
Frosty Aztec

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME (fave ice cream flavor, favorite type of shoe):
Pistachio Birkenstock

3. YOUR NATIVE AMERICAN NAME (favorite color, favorite animal):
Green Puppy

4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME (middle name, city where you were born):
Michelle Dallas

5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME (the first three letters of your last name, first two of your first name):
Cla-Ju

6. SUPERHERO NAME (2nd favorite color, favorite drink):
Brown Tea (um, that boring…)

7. NASCAR NAME (the first names of your grandfathers):
Stormy Donald

8. STRIPPER NAME ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy):
Pleasures Divine

9. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME (your fifth grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter):
Simmons Sacramento

10. SPY NAME (your favorite season/holiday, flower):
Summer Hyacinth

11. CARTOON NAME (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now):
Strawberry Jeans

12. HIPPIE NAME (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree):
Granola Magnolia (fitting)

This first one deserves much more commentary than this, but I'll post it anyway. Scot McKnight's Hermeneutics Quiz from Leadership Journal is finally available online. Basically the point of the quiz is to see if one is conservative, moderate, or progressive in how one interprets and applies the Bible. I scored an 85, placing me (surprise, surprise) in the progressive category. There were of course questions on the quiz for which I didn't agree with any of the answers, but quizzes designed to categorize aren't given to nuance. It was a good reminder of what biases we bring to our interpretation of scripture and of the huge affect those a priori assumptions have on what we promote as biblical doctrine and truth. Anyway, take the quiz, it's fun.

And on a much lighter note -

Take the Quiz here!

No big surprise there either. But I do have a confession to make – literature fan/major that I am I have never actually read a Jane Austen book. I've tried, I really have, but I just can't get into them. So my only knowledge of Austen and her characters is from the movies. But I do love Emma Thompson and think the scene of her crying at the end of Sense and Sensibility is one of the best film moments ever.

Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more. No cheating!
Find Page 123.
Find the first 5 sentences.
Post the next 3 sentences.
Tag 5 people.

So the book closest to me is Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser (since it hasn't moved from the spot on the coffee table where I stashed it after you returned it on Sunday Karen…). Anyway, here's what I discovered.

The flavors of childhood foods seem to leave an indelible mark, and adults often return to them, without always knowing why. These "comfort foods" become a source of pleasure and reassurance, a fact that fast food chains work hard to promote. Childhood memories of Happy Meals can translate into frequent adult visits to McDonald's, like those of the chain's "heavy users," the customers who eat there four or five times a week.

Interesting – maybe that explains my lovely pregnancy diet of tater tots and Cinnamon toast crunch…

Anyway, I'll tag – Heather, Shawna, onesmallstep, Sally, and Helen.

"how to convince mormon wife to wear spaghetti strap dress" because there so would be how-to manuals for this

"where can i recycle cans and plastics closest to chicago" and they found my blog?

"why does god allow sexism" good question

"prosthetic pregnant belly" do I even want to know…

"church more interested in getting rid of trouble makers than reaching them" common enough practice to get googled

"bible scholars comments on dead flies in the apothecary's" if anyone can explain this please be my guest

"spanking julie" a bit disturbing and specific of a request

"bathroom denied punishment slave diaper" even more disturbing

"stuff to do with one hand" do you really have to google this?

"can one hand clap" the world wants to know

"famous wheaton college alum" wow, I'm famous

"educated beyond eligibility" eligible for what, is what I would love to know

"gangster disciples learn how to spell in signs" what is this referring to?

"bible say deformed and cripple children don't go to heaven" I've actually seen many different variations of this statement land people on my blog. Is there a theology out there that holds to this? It is seriously disturbing.

And for the winner of "How the Internet has Improved our Lives Award", we can all now satisfy our curiosity and research the -
"history of sippy cups ancient "

Cat Lovers Against the Bomb 2008 Vigilance Calendar. The tag line – "cats and peace what more could you want in a calendar!"

Top Ten Ways to Fail at Being Missional

10. Be very annoyed that some people belong to religions other than your own. Express this annoyance freely.

9. Don’t bother becoming a “regular” at local businesses. Just shop/dine/get- your-clothes-drycleaned at whatever place has the best sales that week. If, by some unfortunate coincidence, you do become a regular at a local business, don’t get to know the owner, employees, or other patrons.

8. Fixate on the quality of your missional targets: Focus on the local Unitarian Universalist minister, Mormon bishop, and Wiccan high priestess (who also owns your town’s only occult bookstore). Don’t give a second thought to that rather ordinary looking lady who you see every morning on the train. She doesn’t have a large enough sphere of influence.

7. If you see a problem in your community, don’t bother to check out what other organizations or individuals are doing about it. Just start your own project: You’ll get a lot more accomplished if you are in charge!

6. Don’t waste your time reading the blogs of other missional folk. So what if they share their own struggles, hurts, joys, and ideas freely? You take all your instruction from God, directly.

5. Never, ever, check out primary source materials produced by representatives of other cultures, subcultures, and religions. Christians have already written all you need to know about those unbelievers, and besides, cult members will have a bias that you want to avoid.

4. Avoid being “unequally yoked” with unbelievers by not engaging them in conversation, learning about their families, having lunch with them, inviting them to your home (or accepting a similar invitation), or working together to address community issues of common interest.

3. Be sure to email (from your work account, while at work) your “unsaved” work colleagues (especially those that you don’t normally interact with) with regular invitations to your church and its activities.

2. Never consider offering financial or material support to other folks engaged in missional work. After all, you need all your spare cash for your own personal ministry. Besides, most of them don’t have their own 501 (c) 3 corporation, and not getting a tax deduction would be poor stewardship on your part.

1. Learn every evangelistic technique, theory, and strategy out there, and work hard to perfect your practice of them, even to the neglect of every other area of your spiritual life. What does the Holy Spirit have to do with drawing people to God, anyway?