Norcalmike77's blog

QotD: My Current Top 10

What are your top 10 most-played songs currently?

MuteMath:
Noticed
Typical
Control
Chaos

Future of Forestry:
Thinking of You
Gazing

Anberlin: 
There is mathematics to Love and Loss
Dismantle. Repair.
Coldwar Transmissions
The Undeveloped Story

The Real Rivendell

It's true!  There is a real-world Rivendell!  Check out this site!  It talks about a lecture that the Salos did, regarding the Swiss location and the writings of Tolkien.  This is concluded to be the real-world inspiration for that wonderful fantasy location know as Imladris (Sindarin Elvish for "Rivendell"). 

A man's intimate words with God.

Twilight

Future of Forestry

For any of you who have heard of Future of Forestry, you may know this song.  But as I was listening to this song, I reconnected with that part of my heart that yearns for the intimacy of God.  Intimacy that most of us men don't feel all that comfortable sharing with other people.  Give it a listen and I hope that you're soul is able to feel the tenderness we can feel toward God, and how he feels toward us.

11 Gazing

This is now one of my new favorites.

Here are the lyrics: 

From this blessed morning
My love constant has been pouring
Pouring out like rivers to Your heart
Glory bells are ringing
I can't keep myself from singing
Singing out like rivers to Your heart

Oh, Lord, I have found my place in this home, this home inside of You
And here, my Lord, I can see Your face
In this home, this home inside of You

Like a child I'm gazing
Into wondrous grace
For You have been the love that fell like sun upon my face
Like a child I'm gazing
Into wondrous love
You're taking me to places that my heart is dreaming of

Broken I was crawling
And You saw my tears were falling
Falling down like rivers to Your heart
When my world was folding
God, You saw my prayers were flowing
Flowing out like rivers to Your heart

Hear the sacred songs that touch the earth and the sky
See them rise until they move like stars within Your eyes

New CD: MuteMath

Hey everyone,

Picked up this CD this weekend.  I'm sure some of you have heard of them, but thought you may want to check out a few tracks if you hadn't (or had).  They're not on a Christian Label, but they have Christian Music Industry roots (a few guys used to be in Earthsuit).  Very cool rocky/coffee house kind of feel.  Think Coldplay, but with a bit more guts and not as crooney. 

Anyway, I love this CD.  The music rocks.  You can check out more of their music on this link for purevolume.com. 

Our 6th Anniversary - San Francisco

Anniversary Kiss 2.JPG

Hello All,

In a previous post, I mentioned that my wife and I just celebrated out Anniversary with a short trip to San Francisco.  Since it was such a good time, I thought I'd go ahead and share about it here. 

We were married on Saturday, May 19th, 2001, and so this past May 19th was our 6th Anniversary.  We really weren't sure what we were going to do, right up to the night before our trip.  It was Thursday night, and just before going to bed, we decided to get on Priceline.com and see if we could find a good deal in San Francisco for a hotel room.  Charlotte had been trying different places for around $50 (San Fran, Foothills, Tahoe, anything cool), but wasn't having any luck.  Well, as it turns out, we upped the ante and went to $70 and landed a room at a Boutique Hotel in San Francisco.  It was small, but it was pretty!  We stayed at the Harbor Court Hotel off of the Embarcadero.  Very nice. 

Anyway, I left work early on Friday (the 18th) we packed up and headed out.  Yes, we got babysitters.  Thank God for the Grandparents!!!  Charlotte read "The Silmarillion" outloud in the car as we drove.  We also listened to some new worship music that I bought her as an anniversary gift.  She was quite happy with the selections.  :)  As we started approaching the City, I got my typical "This place is the embodiment of The Scarlet Woman in Revelations" feeling and began musing on that.  But, my wife pointed out that I always do that when we go there, and that she didn't want to have negative feelings while we were on our trip.  I quickly shifted my thoughts and decided this wasn't the time to dwell on the negative aspects of humanity.  For goodness sake, it's our Anniversary.  I could deal with those feelings another time.  So, anyway, we continued on our way.  We passed through the toll booth and then crossed the Bay Bridge (that's always fun for me) and just relished the views coming into the City.  I love the tall buildings.  I think it's a guy thing, I don't know. 

Surprisingly enough, we found the hotel without TOO many U-Turns and city-block circlings.  We arrived and they kindly parked our car for us for our stay at their hotel.  Of course, as we walked inside, we then saw the sign that mentioned a $38 Valet Parking fee.  It felt more like a parking TICKET than a Valet.  But, we then found out that we were able to leave it overnight, and that we could leave it there all day the next day while we did what we wanted.  Ok, so the car was parked safely and we didn't have to worry about the whole parking thing for the rest of our trip.  We decided to feel that would be acceptable (even though the fee was about 1/2 of the whole ROOM cost!  Sheesh).

Snuggling Time.JPG

We got into our room, got changed into warmer clothes and then hit the pavement.  We walked all the way up The Embarcadero from Pier 1 to Pier 39 and then Fisherman's Wharf.  We got to see a lot of beautiful buildings along the way, lots of well-dressed "city" people going out for the evening, and of course just the fun of San Francisco in general.  We looked in shops and for different places to eat.  We finally landed at Boudin off of Fisherman's Wharf.  I had a clam chowder in a breadbowl with a sandwich, and Charlotte did a similar plate, but with chili (she hates all seafood except canned tuna).

Boudin Bakery Shelves.JPG

 

We then walked around a bit more, and then decided to get dessert at The Hard Rock Cafe on Pier 39.  THAT was yummy.  We had a peanut butter crunch with ice cream sorta thing.  AND Charlotte had her first alcoholic drink in 5 years.  Child-bearing years can put a hold on consumption of any alcoholic beverages.  She ordered a Khalua Colada, and it was yummy.  Yes, I had to taste it!  After that, we walked back to the hotel, taking our time and enjoying the night views.  It was a wonderful evening

Mike views Financial District.JPG

Next morning, Charlotte went swimming at the pool while I got ready.  Then, while she was getting ready, I went and got a few breakfast sandwiches and coffee from a nearby Starbucks.  I used my handy-dandy sling pack for the day, to carry the few things we needed (digital camera, water bottles, extra layers of clothing if needed, etc.).  Charlotte and I had bought a couple of sling packs right after we got married, but we rarely used them after that first year of marriage.  However, I noticed that many S.F.'ers used either sling packs or messenger bags while walking around the city.  With that much of a pedestrian culture, it only made sense.  Therefore, I felt like a local, walking all over town utilizing the handiness of my sling pack.  I felt so Metro. 

*Update 06-06-07*

Financial District Building 3.JPG

Sorry, it's taken so long for me to finish this post!  Anyway, we walked all over, enjoying the city and checking on little bits of history here and there.  We mostly walked around the Financial district, the Union Square area,

Steps of Rome - Charlotte.jpg

through China Town (I don't care for it much), and then North Beach.  We had lunch at "The Steps of Rome", which was yummy.  I had a cup of caramel macchiato.  This was NOT the Starbucks version:  it was a small cup of double-shot espresso with caramel and cream.  Intense and yummy. 

Then we got some incredible pastries in North Beach andfinished our walk over to the Wharf and then Ghirardelli Square.  We got ourselves a couple of Ghirardelli Mochas, had them with our pastries (SHHHHHHUGAAAAAH!), and then mosied down to the beach.  Charlotte had some fun playing on the beach while I just sat up on the concrete 'stadium' overlooking the bay and took photos.  Then we went back to the Embarcadero and had dinner at our favorite:  Il Fornaio.  It was a lovely dinner and we just enjoyed musing over our time in San Francisco.  After dinner, we drove home... and had a little Starbucks on the way (of course).

And now you know... the REST of the story.  :)  Here are a few more photos of our trip...

QotD: This Is Who I Am

In 5 words or less, who are you? 

Mike at San Francisco Beach

Submitted by dejablu503.

I'll

Always

Be

God's

Own

The Steps of Rome, San Francisco

Charlotte and I just finished having lunch at this restaurant , The Steps of Rome, in North Beach, San Francisco. I had some macchiato espresso (nothing like Starbucks), and a pannini. Charlotte had a nice green salad.

We're celebrating our 6th Anniversary today (May 19). We arrived last night and stayed at the Harbor Court Hotel (a boutique hotel), walked all along the Embarcadero, had dinner and just spent time being together. In the business of life, it's nice to just get to spend some time hanging out with my Lover & Best Friend! :) Anyway, we're about to head out to go do whatever's next! Ciao!

The Steps of Rome, San Francisco

Vox Hunt: Airport Reads

Show us what you read while you're waiting at the airport. 
Submitted by danatmedog. 

VOX
Facebook
Email

I usually have my PDA phone with me wherever I go, and it's got WIFI and wireless internet.  I use it all the time.

Gym-in'

Last night, my wife and went to the gym after putting the kids to bed.  It was cool.  We got to talk for about 20 minutes on the way there, and 20 minutes on the way back. She was able to do her pool laps and then sit in the hottub and then take a shower.   I was able to spend 30 minutes on the treadmilll, pounding out about 2.5 miles (or so) and over 400 calories.  Then I moved to the freeweights and did some abs. 

I even ran into the Club Sales Rep that originally signed Charlotte and I up two years ago.  His name happens to be Mike, too.  Mike Stocich, actually, and he's about to open up another, newer, bigger 24-Hour Fitness Sport club in another area of Sacramento.  If you've ever thought of joining a gym in the Sacto area, or even get a multi-club membership, the beginning of June will be the time to do it.  Let me know if you're interested!  I will put you in touch with Mike, and he'll take care of you.

Anyway, I have come to really love my time at the gym.  It feels great knowing that you're steadily increasing your overall fitness.  I can feel the fat going away, and the muscle increasing.  My posture is beginning to improve, and my cardiovascular stamina has certainly increased.  It's a wonderful feeling.  God made us wonderfully and fearfully, and you really begin to feel that when you train and discipline your body.  The rewards are certainly there to be had!

Still working on finding those abs.  But the 'fat curtain' is slowly being raised. I think most of the internal fat (behind the ab muscles) is gone.  Now, it's just getting rid of the surface fat.  Pray for me.  :-)

Fellowship of the Ring: "Elvish Lament"

Also known as "Hymn to Elbereth".

The Passing of the Elves "Hymn to Elbereth"

Here are the lyrics in Sindarin Elvish, and then the EnglishTransaltion.  This is directly from the published materialthat came with the Complete Recordings edition of the soundtrack to the movie.  Being that it sounds similar to old European Christian worship music, I instantly fell in love with it the first time I ever heard it.  I've even thought of rearranging the words a little bit to be an ACTUAL hymn to God. 

For those who may get the inclination that I'm promoting pagan worship (;-p) I just want to say that in the story, the entity they're venerating, Varda, is a high-angelic being who is a servant of Eru Illuvatar.  Eru is quite similar to our "God the Father" in Christianity.  Plus, Tolkien was Catholic, and venerating is different than worship according to Catholics. 

Sindarin Lyrics:

Fanuilos heryn aglar
Rîn athar annún-aearath,
Calad ammen i reniar
Mi ‘aladhremmin ennorath!

A Elbereth Gilthoniel
I chîn a thûl lin míriel
Fanuilos le linnathon
Ne ndor haer thar i aearon.

A elin na gaim eglerib
Ned în ben-anor trerennin
Si silivrin ne pherth ‘waewib
Cenim lyth thílyn thuiennin.

A Elbereth Gilthoniel
Men echenim sí derthiel
Ne chaered hen nu ‘aladhath
Ngilith or annún-aearath.

English Translation:

Snow-white! Snow-white! O Lady clear!
O Queen beyond the Western Seas!
O Light to us that wander there
Amid the world of woven trees!

Gilthoniel! O Elbereth!
Clear are thy eyes and bright is breath,
Snow-white! Snow-white! We sing to thee
In a far land beyond the Sea!

O Stars that in the Sunless Year
With shining hand by thee were sown,
In windy fields now bright and clear
We see your silver blossom blown!

O Elbereth Gilthoniel!
We still remember, we who dwell
In this far land beneath the trees,
Thy starlight on the Western Seas.