off to Cambridge...

Oxford, is sort of in the bag from my end. That is sad to me because there is so much more that I would have liked to have done and seen and taken in. But my own personal opinion is that Cambridge is a bit more lovely.

I will return, I don't know when, but someday. Hopefully it will be with as good of a partner if not better than the one I am with right now. Don has been a blast, and I look forward to another week with him here in the UK.

But the at the close of one week here at Oxford, I am excited to anticipate how time is bringing me that much closer to coming home.

I spend every pensive and reflective moment, that I can fight for thinking about the delights back home.

This conference is about "making all things new: the good, the true, and the beautiful"

I can just imagine what is being remade while I am away. I know that it is Good, and True, and especially Beautiful.

What do you do when Google gives you two different answers...

You end up on the opposite end of town, and spend about £6 GBP on Bus Fares...

You also get to meet a bunch of really nice British people.

Check it out...



I am staying as a guest at St. Catherine's College, Oxford for this C.S. Lewis Conference, and today was a travel day for the attendees, this means that... I get a day off because there are no events to record on video.

Since I am not going to get another day off for the next week and a half, I decided to seize the moment and get some "evening shirts" and "evening trousers" cleaned at the Dry Cleaners. So I called up the closest cleaners to the city center and they wanted to charge almost £50 GBP ($87 US) to clean my 6 long sleve dress shirts and 3 pairs of slacks.

I knew it would be expensive, but that was absurd!!!

So I got on to google and looked around for another cleaners. I found a few dozen, so I got on my mobile and started to call around asking for price quotes. Most of them seemed to be the same, and then I found this one called Sophia's Laundry and Iron. Cool name, I figured, well, I'm in oxford so geting your cleaning done at the 'wise' place seems to fit. I called them up, and I asked how much it would cost. They told me it would be just over £22 GBP, so since that was more than half the price of the other shops I went for it.

As you can see from the map above, I was under the impression that this shop was only a 12 min walk from where I was staying! Even better, this shop was close and inexpensive! The only thing better would be if they could pick-up and deliver to me in the college.

So I started walking and I got to where the cleaners was supposed to be, and there was not a cleaners in sight.

I called them on my mobile phone, and not soon enough did I discover that there are two Cowley Roads in the Oxfordshire area, along with many other doubles and tripples, like temple street and temple square, and oxford st. in the town of littlemore and littlemore st. in the town of oxford.

Well, I called them and they told me how to get which bus, to get to another bus to then get close to where their shop was located. When I got off the first bus, these two wonderful ladies came in their company van and picked me up and took me back to their shop.

They were very kind to me indeed.

The story get's better, because I went to pay for cleaning and delivery back to the college, and I was £1.50 short, not to mention still needing about £3 for bus fare to get back to the city center for dinner.

I walked down two stores to a Post office/Convienience store and tried to get some cash from an ATM that wouldn't accept my American debit card, and I finally was able to exchange one of my travelers checks at the post office, which enabled me to strike up a conversation with Frank Adam and his wife who run that post office. We ended up exchanging our information and if I am ever in england again, I now have a new friend to call on!

Sweet! What and adventure. A friend of mine, who worked for me once said that even though she could get a better paying job elsewhere, she liked working for me, because as she said, "it was never boring, and always a new adventure."

I'm glad to see that it is still true, no matter where I am.

Count 'em... 9 whole hours of sleep!!!

Today is a good day. It is a day to wash some "pants" as they say over here, and a day to rest.

I will not get another day like this for the next 10 days strait, unless I take one, but I doubt I will do that, unless my hand is forced. I was very encouraged to see my video crew member and friend Don, when he did finally get up this morning. He had a huge, warm, grin on his face. I asked him how he felt, and he just smiled and nodded his head. "...Grrreeaaaat!!!"

That is definitely how I feel right now as well.

There is only one thing that I could imagine that would make this trip more fun, and I think it would only cost about $3,500. I would buy a plane ticket, find a room, and invite someone to join me who would absolutely love being here!!!

...Maybe, maybe not right now, but it sure is a fantastic thought! Don't you think?


12:55pm in the Afternoon, Oxford

Conference Day Two...

Starting off late with about 4.5 hours of sleep, is not a good M.O. So I will be changing that.

The morning started off very rocky, but our second session today was a gem.

The afternoon break-out sessions were ok, Don's worked out better than mine, but we will need to see what happens later in video post production.

The evening session was going to be fantastic, but the actor playing C.S. Lewis did not have an agreement with the script writer to allow us to record the event, so I am pretty bummed out. It was a fantastic show!

I am back at my college earlier than last night, but I will be up late again to work on the finer details.


I also had my first major credit card decide not to work, so I need to go call them and let them know that, "yes, I am in Oxford and I did just try to spend a couple of thousand dollars" hopefully they will believe me, and it won't be a bigger problem.

Tomorrow and Wednesday are looking promising but even busier.

That's all for tonight, signing off at 10:45pm in Oxford.

First Success!!!

It is almost 2:30am here in Oxford.

But I just wanted to say that video shoot #1 was an awesome success!!!

ok, time for my nap.


p.s. I have told many people about this wonderful bird I know back home, and they may not know that I am referring to a phoenix, but in England "a bird" is a popular slang term, very commonly used, to refer to a Beautiful Lady!

The eye of the storm

Storms are magnificant, in all of their power, magnitude, glory.

No one deny's that in the middle of one we all beg for mercy and long for peace. Storms re-awaken the land, they bring much needed water, and quench the thirst of telos.

I was just in the eye. The calmist, most serene place in the middle of the storm. All things can be changing around me, but when given a glimpse, even if only for a moment I knew that storms are not the way things ought to be.

So... I am off to the airport, I don't think that I have ever prayed so hard for a specific seat on a plane.
(aisle seat, exit row, please!)

But either way, I do look forward to getting some long over due shut eye.


You are all in my Thoughts and Prayers (phil 1:3) and I will catch you on the flip side.

I wonder why I am so tired...

Well, I am about to call the Airport to talk to the British Airways folks to see if it is possible to get the Exit Row Aisle seat on the plane. For those of you who are unfamiliar with my Physical Stature, I am, well to say the least... Impressive.

6ft. 7in Tall, size 15 EEEE shoe (and for those who can picture it I wear a 52 XL Sport's Coat.
315 lbs. of rippling muscle and remnants of the memories of meals I have enjoyed a little too much.
I have a clean cut, conservative style of hair do, and a neatly prepared goatee like King Theoden of Rohan in the recent LOTR's movies.
I have the infamous Griffith nose, and with it came my Grandpa's natural inclination at growing hair.

I am a sight to be remembered, or at least so I am told.

Needless to say, Coach seats on 747's were just not designed with me in mind. Well if you think about it, pray that God will give me rest, deep rest, on the plane, or that the flight attendant bringing around the red wine will remember to top off my glass each and every time she passes by.

SO... to change the Mood a little bit, I can't stop thinking about how amazingly fun the last month or so has been, especially these last 4 day's! I just want to thank a beautiful bird, for allowing me to participate in shared time with her and to partner in making memories. May there always be music playing, and dancers who dare to dabble in madness.

Haven, Refuge, and RockHarbor...

I have found myself in a very amazing place today. I have seen what I believe to be the chiasm or bookends of an amazing three year period within my life. It started with many things, but the road marker was definitely "a fun little trip to England three years ago," to attend this little conference on Time and Eternity. Someone, rather many people invested in me then as well.

It has been there all along but no one wants to acknowledge when they are going down, and rarely do people believe and trust that they are going up. [it pains me to say that I speak of myself here]

There are so many layers and levels, that go far beyond merely the place I attend on a Sunday morning. In fact, I am primarily thinking of the Church, the Bride of Christ. She has done me well, and I love her very much. There are profound relationships that have helped to shape and guide this transitional period. I treasure them all, and I anticipate their continued roles in my life.

Praise God that it will continue without end, but sometimes I am humbled to be given access to His graces that remind me of the grander story along the way.

I woke up this morning with a strong desire for a cup of tea...

I was looking for some Vanilla Black Tea, but instead I found some English Breakfast.


On this side of things, I look forward to getting up early and going out to Breakfast. As I enjoy some of the finest Tea's in the world over the next few weeks, I know that many wonderful memories will be present to me as I think fondly of home and the tea party's I have shared with the people closest to me.

It is funny how American's really like their coffee, some of them go all out, having rituals and what not. I love Coffee, don't get me wrong, I guess that just haven't taken the opportunity to enjoy it as much as Tea. Partly because my body is not always agreeable with it all the time, but I sure hope that I will be able to learn to love it. I could definitely see myself enjoying coffee as a daily part of my life.

Eh.. Hem...!!! so, back to my trip

So, while I am in Europe I will be playing with the balance between work and pleasure. I enjoy this because sometimes hard work really pays off, and pleasure, when complimenting work, can be ever so much sweeter. This is not rest, per se, but rather a type of refreshment as I see it.

I am getting my ducks in a row right now, which includes, but is not limited to, coordinating details for the relocation of my office, scheduling events for this fall, not to mention the tower of home stuff like bills, laundry, chores, etc.
Who will water my rose garden while I am away?
Who will give Garrett a hard time in my place?
Who will stuff my mail in my already full mailbox?
And who will leave me messages to find when I have those momentary reminders of missing the ones I love?


A dear friend of mine has said many times to me that those who fail to plan, plan to fail. I anticipate and look forward to many wonders to come this summer, may it be that they have been planned for me all along.

My Itinerary, in short

So, first I'll go to England, then to Michigan, then back home.

While in England, and am going to attend the CS Lewis foundation's Oxbridge '05 conference (one week in Oxford and one week in Cambridge, and I will have the opprotunity to visit and be visited by some friends at that time.

And then when I am in Michigan, I will visit my Grandparents (O'ma & O'pa) in St. Clair Shores, which is a suburb of Detroit, and then I will go to Grand Rapids and stay with a very dear friend and his family that has meant so much to me.


It is the people, that keep me comming back each and every time...

I just bought the tickets...

so, a slow internet connection, and hundreds of dollars later... I have the tickets.


as one of my favorite childhood rides said just before you left the gate:

"hold on to them hats and glasses, cause this here is the wildest ride in the west"



extra points for the first person to make a correct reference...