everybody say: Mr. Rain Man can we have a rainy day?

We're currently out in Michigan visiting with Miriam's family and getting ready for Miriam's ordination service this coming Sunday. It's been a great week filled with plenty of good food and good beer. I have really grown to appreciate Grand Rapids and would not be opposed to ending up here some day.

That said we move to Canajoharie, NY in t-minus one week. I haven't even begun to let myself think about how close we will be to the Adirondacks and how amazing that will be. We're less than one hour from the park and a little over an hour from camp. It will be nice to (hopefully) be able to get my canoe out more as well.

As of right now I am still jobless but hopeful.

Miriam and I are also super jazzed about being chaplains at camp August 2-8. Miriam got to be a chaplain last year while I took summer Greek but this year I get to join her. A number of our good friends will be up volunteering as well which just makes it all the more exciting. It will be very cool to see the construction progress as well.

stuck in the mud somewhere in the swamps of Jersey...

Now I know I rag on New Jersey all the time, let's be honest who doesn't love poking fun of the Dirty Jerz? But as I reflect on our last few nights in NJ I've been thinking about the things I will miss about Jersey and here they are in no particular order (except for the first one which is the single greatest thing I will miss about NJ)
1. Listening to Bruce Springsteen while driving on Jersey highways. You understand his music on a whole different level when you do this.
- Bent Spoon ice cream
- the Pine Barrens
- downtown Princeton
- the Presbyterian Church of Westfield
- the Jersey section of the Appalachian Trail
- Bearfort Ridge
- Sourland Mountain Preserve
- getting away with driving like a jerk
- the Trenton Farmer's Market
- the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen
- getting to live next to Ben and Emily
- Seminary friends

I am sure I left something off but there it is. So for all you people who like NJ there you go I gave you some things I will miss, are you happy now?

mellow yellow

So the greatest sporting event of the year, the Tour de France, started on Saturday. I find myself in a very weird place this year as I follow the race. When Lance Armstrong was winning like crazy I was rooting for him big time. I would go out and buy up all magazines with his face on the cover, I read his books cover to cover, I even have a Lance Armstrong training book for cycling. Needless to say, I was drinking the Armstrong kool-aid.
Yet this year I find myself rooting against Lance. I do not support post-retirement comebacks with the exception of Jordan’s first comeback (I mean let’s be honest, he was too young to retire). Post-retirement comebacks inevitably cloud the memory of one’s great athletic achievements (see Jordan’s second comeback). Lance’s comeback just seems like a big ego-trip to me wrapped in the neat packaging of his Livestrong, cancer research fundraising. Now don’t get me wrong I am by no means angry that he is trying to raise money and awareness for cancer research, that is awesome. What I don’t like is his ego in this comeback. Lance always had an ego, it’s what made him an exceptional cyclist but this comeback seems to take it a bit too far.
I also don’t approve of the comeback given that I began rooting for one of Lance’s teammates while Lance was retired. Alberto Contador is the future and the present of cycling. He has already won all three Grand Tours and is barely out of the Young Rider’s classification. The man is a beast. He got shafted from defending his ‘07 Tour title for joining the Astana team which was banned from the ‘08 Tour because of the team’s previous doping history (which was turned around after the ‘07 season). It’s his turn to make a triumphant comeback this year, not Lance’s. Come on Lance you won 7 Tours already, really, do you need to prove anything more? Let the young guys have a chance.
It makes me sad to say it but it’s true, as the Tour progresses I will continue to hope that Contador beats Lance and not just beats Lance, trounces him.