Just Like New From Factory

I've been so busy I forgot to update last week. Where to start, where to start...

Last week I had my car painted, which was very exciting for me. It looks pretty good--not bad for a cheap paint job. I would have to say I'm fairly pleased except for the fact that they put the Mercedes emblem on upside down. I've got to take it back this week to have it put on the right way. As Dad would say, "It's hard to find good help these days."

My mechanic also did a little tune up and fixed my clanking muffler. In his own words, "I like your car. It's badass." If that doesn't make you look forward to the pictures I don't know what will.

More to come...

-chc

RE Congresss

I just got back from a great weekend at the Religious Education Conference in Anaheim.

Of course, I didn't register until the last minute, and most of the good classes were full when I got there. The good news is that I still managed to sneak into all the talks I wanted to see, so I don't feel too badly about waiting so long to register.

I would list off all the sessions I attended, but that would be boring for me to write and even worse for you to read...

Right now I'm enjoying a day off from work. Maybe I'll even do some organizing/cleaning today. Well, probably not. I'm going to read for a little while. It seems like I haven't had much time to do that lately.

-chc

Too short? No, not too short.

I went to get my hair cut today, and the woman asked me the same thing as last time I went to this place. Different woman--same question. "Do you want it (my hair) too short? "

I had to ponder the question for a moment. When I finally understood what she was asking almost jokingly said, "yes, too short please." But I didn't say that. It might have been dangerous.

Suddenly I had flashbacks to the barber in the basement of Lafortune. He was the "one haircut fits all" guy. It didn't matter what you told him. Look out, here come the clippers, and an ROTC cut is what you would get. I only went to him once before I learned my lesson. At that point I happened to still be in Air Force ROTC so I probably needed it anyway. Wow, that was a while back--seven years ago in fact. How can that be? 4 (college) + 2 (Brownsville) + 1 (LA) = 7 Yes, I guess that's right. Enough digression.

So back here in the present I told the nice woman "thank you, but not too short." She understood and did a decent job.

-chc

Happy Valentine's Day!

Well, it's been a busy weekend here in Burbank, CA. We had a min-retreat all day yesterday with the youth group, followed by the young adult/youth Valentine's Dance. I'm not usually the biggest fan of dances (some of you can attest to this), especially when they center on heart-shaped Hallmark Holidays. But in the end everyone had a great time, and we even managed to bring in a decent number of people. Here are a few pictures from the evening:


Gil and Michelle welcome guests at the door.


What would a Valentine's Dance be without a photo booth?

Where is the dancing, you ask? Those picutres didn't end up turning out that well, so I guess you'll have to wait until next time...

Today was busy too, though I'm not quite sure why. There are always various things going on. I guess that's good--it keeps me on my toes.

-chc

Fix The Roads LA!

You know what I dislike most about LA? The roads. And it isn't just the traffic. It's the fact that they have an unbelievable number of giant potholes. We're talking big ones here--the kind that can do serious damage.

What's their excuse anyway? It's not like we get snow and ice to really mess things up. It makes me want to carry some asphalt in my car and throw it out the window each time I almost drive into one.

-chc

Dimples, Part 2

I wasn't kidding when I said Dimples is one of my favorite places in Burbank. The other day a bunch of us stopped in after a meeting, and we invited Fr. Alexander to join us. He was the first one on stage, as seen here:



What did "The Finbars" decide to sing? Click the following link to find out... Enjoy!

finbar.MOV

-chc

More about last weekend

In the excitement of getting U2 tickets I forgot to tell you about the rest of the weekend. It began with a premiere at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, which was awesome. My director's previous film is coming out in a few months, so everyone is gearing up for that.

We also hosted a very successful Theology on Tap at St. Finbar on Sunday evening. There were about 85 people there--much larger than our usual turnout.

Now I just need to recover from this flu I've picked up. It's been dragging me down for the last couple days. Bring on the Vitamin C.

-chc