Pictures from my random life

These are pictures that I took with my cell phone over the last month. Enjoy!

A couple weeks ago I got a call from my boss telling me that I would need to stay later at work the next day because they were using my coffee shop to shoot part of a new Nicholas Cage movie. No, I didn't meet him, but I did get to see him work. I had a lot of fun meeting the crew of the movie, though, and seeing the behind the scenes part of making movie magic. In this picture, they were using the outside of the shop so they set up their equipment inside.

Here's another angle of them set up in the shop. It took them the better part of two hours to set up and shoot what will turn out to be about five to ten seconds of the finished product.

I went shopping in Nashville with my family the day after Christmas. I saw this and had to take to this blurry picture. It's one of those new touch-screen coke machines with the blue screen of death.

Now you don't even have to speak to another human to get your bought-coffee fix for the day. At the Opryland Hotel they have automated Starbucks coffeemakers. You can get a small cup of coffee for the bargain price of $3.50.

It's a campus ministry, outdoor music festival, bar, and now a jewelry brand. The Purple Door sure does get around. Oh, and those are my new earrings.

This is the book I'm reading right now. I'll let you know how it is when I finish.

The Haps

So, I'm finally emerging from the hole that all grad students go into around finals time. I have one final left, but it's an online test so there's not a lot of major pressure left. During my my month-long absence from blogging, my life has been adventurous...well, adventurous for me.

I took my first Amtrak train ride for Thanksgiving break. I rode on the City of New Orleans train all the way from here to my home in Tennessee. Honestly, I've had three hour plane trips that felt longer than the twelve hour ride I had on the train. Really, if you ever get the chance to take the train somewhere, do it. If for nothing else, do it for the experience.

I wrote my first exegetical sermon on Matthew 22:34-46. I didn't have to actually deliver it, so I don't know if it completely counts. I'm still proud of myself though.

On Saturday, I had my first serious encounter with New Orleans weather. It rained hard all day and by the time I got off of work, a lot of roads were already flooded because the pumps that keep New Orleans above water were overwhelmed. My friend called me and told me my normal way back home was flooded over and I needed to find another way. The only other way I knew was flooded too. I stopped on the side of the road when I started to hear water hit the bottom of my car. When I looked around, I saw abandoned cars down side streets that were in worse positions than mine. When I called my friend with a Bronco to come get me, he told me that the police wouldn't let him through to get to me. Finally, after much prayer (more like begging God not to let my engine flood), I started my car again and eventually made it out.

The entire time I was sitting in my car debating if I should chance driving through "Lake New Orleans" or not, I kept picturing myself as one of those people on the news. I would say something incredibly stupid like "I didn't know that the water was that deep. I just wanted to go home." My fifteen minutes of fame would have come because I have a little car that sits too low to the ground.