Studied. It’s a way of life, baby!




Recorded “Fine Denial” this morning.

Had a good chat with my buddy, Anthony.

We are still working on getting into Burning Man. Not easy! And neither is being there!

I’ve had this song in my head lately.

If my words remain in you . . . Sounds like memory!

Looks like my Pink Magnolia blossoms survived the cold snap. Thank you, Lord!

I released Verbal Surgery -642- “You Laces.”

See the obvious beauty around you! Just click on the title and GROOVE!

Uploaded to my server.

Link on Facebook.

Went for a 6.85 mile bike ride. Got my 2.5 hours of exercise in this week.

I memorized William Blake’s “The Poison Tree” while I rode. Marvelous piece. Along with “Eldorado” by Poe yesterday, I have a couple of real favorites.

Still reading Moonwalking with Einstein. In it it talks about the more the poem is repeating, rhythmic, rhyming, structured and above all is easy to visualize, the better it is for memorizing.

Admin duties now.

Up a lot last night. That’s ok! Took them back to Chicfila this morning. I like the food and chill atmosphere.The girls really enjoy the playground. It was still too cold to do the park that early.

I saw this a LOT. She prefers me to pick her up. I resist because it’s hard on my knees, but usually give in.

Penelope cracks me up!


Weather was pretty mild, so I went for a 10.46 mile bike ride.

Always something beautiful and interesting to see.

Saw this Red Bellied Woodpecker that had died.

I caught up the blog from yesterday. I was able to post to Facebook on my iPhone.

Admin duties now.

Wednesday the girls spent the night so I didn’t get to work on my blog until today.

It was a cold night!

Enjoyed reading Moonwalking with Einstein!

Espanol!

I was talking with my buddy Anthony about one of my favorite films, Midnight in Paris. If you haven’t seen it, check it out!

Went to visit with my friends Jon and Linda Paul. I parked at the end of his driveway and was shocked to see he had a big lake in his back yard! Beauty!





He’s a poetry guy, too! He quoted a poem by Edgar Allan Poe which I had never heard, but really liked.


Great time with him and his wife Linda.

She’s been doing great!

I had the grand girls after I left the Pauls.

Took them home, bathed them and put them to bed around 10:00pm. They were up a lot during the night. I figure that will happen. Still felt pretty good Thursday morning.

No admin duties until Thursday.

Played some Black Ops 4 last night. Pretty good game.

Cold morning. My Pink Magnolias survived pretty well. My ficus at the church was also left out. Fortunately, she looks like she did ok. Felt really bad about that. I should have let my pal at the church know.

Studied, well you guessed it.

Read Moonwalking with Einstein.

It makes reference to this book by Cicero. Maybe I’ll take a look at that as well.

I just downloaded it onto my iPhone. Kindle edition for .99!
I studied Hebrew letters yesterday. Trying to see how many I can remember. I look at this sign I found in the street when I was in Jerusalem every morning. I always wondered what it meant. Google translate figured it out for me in moments!

Living in the future, baby!

Released a new episode! Verbal Surgery -641- “Champion Raft!”

You become who you compete with! Click on the title and WIN!

Uploaded to server and link on Facebook.

Fun talk with my buddy Anthony in the UK. Extra bonus, nice chat with his daughter, Lila! What a blessing

Recorded a new episode called, “No Ledge.” There is no limit to what we can know! It’ll release in about a month.

I’ve pretty much mastered “The Hollow Men” by TS Eliot. I was looking up another poem and saw this one by one of my favorites, Robert Frost. Nothing Gold Can Stay. So true.

Continuing my New Year’s “Contact Resolution,” I had lunch with my good friend Bennett Ekandem. What a blessing. We go back in ministry twenty years!

Went by FBC Doraville to check on the mail.

Then to the bank to get checks deposited. Thank you, Lord!

To the mission to work with the kids. Love me some Grandgirls!

Listened to radio from Madrid on the way home. They were super bummed out that Real Madrid was out of the competition.

Driving!

Got my tax returns back. Looks like I’ll be getting back about $1,000 less than in previous years. What tax cut?!

Cleaned my fish tank.

Still getting over my sickness. I feel pretty good, just get tired.
Admin duties now.

Even though today is March Fourth, I did very little marching. Spent most of last night with chills and fever. Miserable. Went to sleep around 9pm and slept over 13 hours. Wow!

Woke up to read that the major storm that passed through the ATL yesterday killed at least 23 people in Alabama near a town that worked with us the last two years: Opelika! I pray that the Lord protected them.

Studied Espanol.

Also reviewed some Hebrew. Haven’t done that in a long time and the rust showed.
Also enjoying Moonwalking with Einstein book on memory.

I talked about this on a recent podcast.

Spent about an hour working on my Twitter feed. Usually it takes much less time than that but I realized that for some reason many of the tweets that I had scheduled for release had been marked with a 2020 date! Ay caramba! Had to edit those plus add the new material. Now I have tweets until nearly the end of April.

Supposed to be a cold night! Saddens me for my Pink Magnolias which are just really starting to bloom. Hope they’ll be ok!

Felt well enough to do the grocery shopping. Pretty wiped out afterwards.

Admin duties now and rest.

Started reading Moonwalking with Einstein last night. Very interesting book on memory work, which is something I’m very interested in. Thanks to Jesse for turning me on to it! Here are some screen grabs that I liked.

Woke up feeling really nauseated and achey. Head hurts. Still studied.

I’ve been to Stone Mill church the last two Sundays, so went on to Westside this morning even though I wasn’t feeling well.


Sometimes I just feel the need to bang on a djembe and praise the Lord.

The youth had Disciple Now weekend. I miss the day when they would actually do service in the communities as opposed to a big rally with other Christians.

They did a really good job with their music.

Pastor Ben spoke from Joshua about the importance of taking the first step. It’s interesting now because I can visualize the Jordan River, since I’ve been there.

Big weather came through the ATL this afternoon. Didn’t affect us too much.


Watered my plants.

Many of the orchids are starting to bloom. Amen!

Paid bills.
Played Black Ops 4.
Watched the Umbrella Academy.
Basically, just stayed in bed the rest of the day. Still not feeling well.

Admin duties now.

Studied another language besides English!

Recorded a new episode of Verbal Surgery called “Who am I?” at my favorite spot.

Had a super fun day with Jesse! We ate at Mirch Masala. It was our first time. It was excellent! I couldn’t believe it was actually cheaper on the weekend. What?!

The whole shopping complex was Indian. In fact it was called Patel Center.

They had a great selection of vegetarian options. That’s not always the case to my chagrin.

This place was nearby. It made me chuckle.

Then we went on Safari to Fernbank to see the exhibit on Pterosaurs. We thought it was
very good. The life size models were incredible.

I love fossils!

Can you imagine this?

I pretty much always get a toy when I go to Fernbank! Although I normally would have bought a pterosaur to remind of of the exhibition, they had a model of Arcocanthosaurus which is the T. Rex kin that made tracks in the San Gabriel river near where I grew up in Georgetown, Texas! How could I resist that?

This bumper sticker seemed appropriate after seeing the Pterosaurs!

After I got home, I went on a 6.79 mile bike ride. Beautiful weather. Cut short because it was starting to get dark.

Admin duties now.

Studied. Si, señor!

Finished re-reading Tom Wolfe’s The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. Such an interesting time period.

Made me think of an Indian medicine man I found fascinating, Rolling Thunder. I actually had a chat with him once during my shooting news days.

As well as another intriguing character, Richard Feynman. I tried to call him as well, but he had died a few months earlier.

I enjoy reaching out to people that I find interesting or that I admire.
Recorded a new episode of Verbal Surgery called, “Line in the AND.” Always makes me feel better.
I had such a fun time with the grandgirls today. What a blessing! Great lunch at Taco Veloz!

We went on Safari to the Goodwill by Perimeter Mall. It’s pretty much the best.

My best friend Anthony Jacquin is in Portugal today with his Dad. I saw a bag from there!

That Goodwill always has the coolest toys, including this groovy sax!

You go, Spidergirl!

Just like her mama. Ash was teaching a lesson today at the horse farm.

I got her some leather boots. They seemed to fit. For $7 I’m sure someone we know will enjoy them!

My main goal at that Goodwill was to find instruments for our Golden Box of Jams that people play with at The Show for the teams. I’ve found some terrific stuff there! These maracas are excellent!

We pretty much shop till have we have no room in the carts. Today, I actually went to TWO carts since I bought a cool bike for $14!

Got doughnuts on the way home. A real crowd pleaser!


Including Mama and Dada!

Kids loved the new bike.


It’s kind of hard to tell, but it’s actually a chopper!
Penelope loves getting pushed in this little car at maximum velocity!

The girls are SO loved!

It’s a win/win with me watching the girls while Ash gets to ride. We all need a break, especially moms!

Traffic was actually pretty light today. Astonishing for Friday.

Reviewed my poetry and studied radio from Madrid.

Gassed up my car.

Released Verbal Surgery -640- “Master Switch.”

Learn how to run your brain more efficiently! Click on the title and GROOVE!
Uploaded to server.

Link on Facebook.

Admin duties now.

Studied. You know the drill.

Rainy day! Recorded a podcast called, “What is the future?”
Went to the Post Office to mail the newsletters.

Had a great talk with Jesse at El Torerros.
Then went to see Alita. I thought it was really good.

It really is amazing how CG continues to improve.
Came home to rest and play some games.
No mission because of the weather. Moms don’t let their kids out when it’s bad weather. Makes sense.
Admin duties now.

Studied Spanish.

Cleaned and refilled all four of my hummingbird feeders. I’m trying to be optimistic about them coming back soon.

Then the day just took a nose dive into terribleness.
Two days ago I heard that one of my close friends from Kenya had died in a plane crash. That really shook me up. I was in a pretty bad mood which always affects my relationship with Kathy. I’m still trying to recover from that.
Then got a voice mail saying that the host church of our team of 60 people from Colorado had cancelled. That’s a loss of about $6,000 to our ministry.
And the next voice mail was from Perimeter church saying they wanted to have a meeting about “changes coming.” That only means one thing to me, cutting funding. I responded basically saying, “Are you cutting our funding?” She responded, “Yes.” That’s another $6,000/year.
Talk about double whammy.
Psalms 31:14-16 kicked in, “I trust in you, O Lord. I say you are my God. My times are in your hands. Deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me. Let your face shine upon your servant and save me in your unfailing love.”
Long time of prayer with the Father.
Fortunately, I was headed to Azalea to watch the grand girls after all this.


They loved the ice cream!

Helped the kids at the mission.

Fun with all the kids.

Beautiful sunset.

Came home to fold and stuff the newsletters. This is our “Sheep and Goat” edition. Out of the 151 people on the list, 65 didn’t give.

This month they have to send in a response form or they drop off the list. Most have had at least seven months of receiving the newsletter. The form says they want to stay on the list. They don’t have to send money, but they HAVE to respond.
I add about another 50 or so every year from the adults that come to work with us during the Spring or Summer months. Every one of them has seen what we do up close and personal. I guess about 1/20 starts to support us.
That’s why the loss of a team or financial support from a church is a big deal.
But honestly, I think the time of getting support from churches is pretty much over. The decline of the church over the last twenty years I’ve been in ministry has been dramatic. And support of missions is always the first to be cut. I’ve seen it over and over again.
So we focus on individual supporters which tends to stay strong unless they have a financial crisis as well.

Pray for us. It was an exceptionally difficult day. Thank you, Lord for the grand girls and for Ashley. Amen.

Admin duties now.