Still hunting the wild chalupa...

The Friday Five

1. What was/is your favorite subject in school? Why?
My favorite subject in school (now at Talbot School of Theology) is exegesis/hermeneutics. I have found that I like and am good at Bible study. I also have found that I know a lot less and am way less skilled than I first thought. The more I learn about this stuff, the more I know I don’t know.

2. Who was your favorite teacher? Why?
Favorite teacher of all time is Dr. Bill Lawrence—now in heaven at the feet of Jesus. He was my pastor for over ten years. He taught me to love the Word, to stand up for truth no matter the cost, and to strive to be real.

Current favorite is Walt Russell. I had him last year for Exegesis in Acts and the Epistles. Best thing about Dr. Russell—it’s a toss-up between his hilarious wit and his absolute passion for God and God’s Word. You can check out some of what he has to say in an interview on the Biola University website. Also, if you want to know more about studying the bible, check out his book, an Playing with Fire.

I’m not sure if I have a favorite teacher from childhood. Probably, my fifth grade teacher—whose name I can’t remember. I liked him because instead of playing the Autoharp (a cool instrument when played well, but played poorly by many elementary teachers in the late 60s and early 70s when I was under their tutelage), he played the ukulele—it could be that he influenced my choice to play the guitar later… who knows?

3. What is your favorite memory of school?
Can’t really choose. Here are a few: Listening to Jesus Christ Superstar in Miss Smith’s sixth grade class. Performing for the first time in String Orchestra at Carnegie Junior High School. Dissecting stuff in all those biology classes. Hearing live spoken poetry in Literature and Composition at Los Angeles Harbor College. Best so far: walking across the stage at Biola to receive my BS in Spring 1998 (only downside to the day was the incredibly short commencement speech, but I really have to let go of my bitterness, so I won’t mention it here).

4. What was your favorite recess game?
My favorite recess game was hanging out—something frowned upon by the teachers…

5. What did you hate most about school?
Hands down—being forced to play dodge ball and kickball then being made fun of when I did not do well.

No chalupas yet...

Today in Hebrew class, we talked about chesed--God's relentless refusal to turn his back on his wayward people. The OT says things like God's chesed is everywhere in creation, his chesed prevails over us, and his chesed is new every morning. I wonder how my perspective of the world would change if I started looking for God's chesed everywhere, if I lived my life as if God's chesed had prevailed over me, and as if God's chesed were new every morning. Would I complain as much? Would I get mad at long Cafe lines? (Which, by the way, are absolutely out of hand at Biola right now--here's to hoping that some people will get tired of the Cafe... or that we'll finally get more space in there.) Would I get annoyed when some driver is more concerned with talking on their cell phone than they are with the fact that I am in the crosswalk? I'm sure some responses would change; others may just exist in a new interpretation of the world where I finally realize that I am not the center of my life.

OK, so here's a question that came to mind during a campus BBS discussion on the true nature of a chalupa (which, by the way, is nothing like the pita sandwich they sell at Taco Bell): Is it ok for companies like Taco Bell to shortchange a culture? I mean they do it to chalupas and Weinerschnitzel does it to weinerschnitzels. Somewhere out there someone has got to stand up for real food!

For myself, I am going on a search for real chalupas... anyone know where to get one in SoCal?

Here's the definition courtesy of Food Network:
Definition: [chah-LOO-pah] Spanish for "boat" or "launch," a chalupa is a corn tortilla dough formed into a small boat shape and fried until crisp. It's then usually filled with shredded beef, pork or chicken, vegetables, cheese or a combination of these, and served as an appetizer.

So begins the hunt...

Alright, so this is inconsiderate-worker-syndrome at it's best, eh? Roadworkers in England painted OVER a badger while striping the side of the road.
Check out the article in The Sun. Or see the foto on my pix page.

"Power corrupts, but absolute power is really cool."
- Ex-Secretary of the Navy John Lehman

Came across this quote the other day and decided it was a keeper. Says a lot about the human condition.