Thursday, September 06, 2007

A Great Voice Silenced

I just read that Luciano Pavarotti (1935-2007) died late last night after a battle with pancreatic cancer. What a sad day. He was able to do something for me that I would have previously predicted that no one would be able to do: develop an appreciation in me for opera music. His rendition of Nessum Dorma - his signature song - is one of the greatest musical performances ever:




Luciano, you will be missed...

A couple of trivia items regarding Pavarotti - Did you know:
  • That he would always perform with a bent nail in his pocket that he had found somewhere on the stage?
  • That he holds the world record for the longest standing ovation? Ninety minutes!!! Wow!

Monday, August 27, 2007

I am an Entertainer and a Creator

Or so says my personality profile. Inspired by my blogging buddy, DG, I retook my Myers-Briggs personality profile. I came back as an ESFP (which has changed, since I used to be an ENFP). The letters stand for:
  • Extraverted: a preference to focus on the world outside the self.
  • Sensing: Sensing people focus on the present, they are "here and now" people, who are factual and process information through the five senses.
  • Feeling: They are ruled by their heart instead of their head.
  • Perceiving: Perceiving people are flexible, like to keep their options open and think randomly.
Here is the description of that personality from the MyPersonality.info webpage:

ESFP - The "Entertainer"


ESFPs are cooperative, "here and now" people-persons that enjoy excitement and love new adventures. Because of their highly social nature, they are especially lively when they are the center of attention and hate being alone. ESFPs have a practical side that allows them to finish work efficiently and are often good problem solvers.

What do you think? Does this describe me? Let me know...

BTW, here is the badge created for me, which includes my results from that test and another one I took that dealt with multiple intelligences.

Click to view my Personality Profile page

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Fantasy Football Draft Day

Tonight was Draft Night in the same fantasy football league I have been a part of for the past three years. Once again, I don't expect at all to do well, but I'm in it for the fun of it. I try to do well, but I am in no way self-deceived to think that I have a chance to win. If I do, bonus! Only time will tell. Here is the team I came up with, including their draft order and bye week. Let me know what you think:
  1. Larry Johnson - RB - 8
  2. Ronnie Brown - RB - 9
  3. Donovan McNabb - QB - 5
  4. Lee Evans - WR - 6
  5. Plaxico Burress - WR - 9
  6. Deuce McAllister - RB - 4
  7. Vernon Davis - TE - 6
  8. Mark Clayton - WR - 8
  9. Alex Smith - QB - 6
  10. Shayne Graham - K - 5
  11. Vernand Morency - RB - 7
  12. Bernard Berrian - WR - 9
  13. Baltimore - D/ST - 8
I'm a bit RB- and WR-heavy, but that way I have some players that are expendable when I need to pick up a TE, K, or D/ST during a bye week. We'll see if the plan works...I'm not holding my breath. :-)

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Colin's Tricks

The Boy just keeps amazing and entertaining us. Enjoy!

Monday, August 20, 2007

WWTCD?

I just read a story of 11 people getting injured on a Tom Cruise movie photo shoot when they fell out of a moving truck during shooting. The article says that "One of them was seriously hurt and had to remain in hospital." This caused me to wonder if Tom Cruise, the staunch Scientologist that he is, would have allowed himself to be taken to the hospital if he had been one of the injured. Scientology, as a "church", has "a long history of opposition to drugs and medical attention of any kind but their own." And it's founder, L. Ron Hubbard, a science fiction writer of all things, once wrote that Scientologists that were taking courses were forbidden to seek medical treatment without permission from the "church," except in extreme cases. Now don't get me wrong, I believe that God - not L. Ron Hubbard, and not my own mind - has the ability to heal. But I also believe that He doesn't always do it in a miraculous way, as we would define miraculous. I believe that he works through doctors and medicine to heal His people and that it makes sense to seek treatment when necessary. For Tom Cruise and his fellow Scientologists to recommend otherwise is only harming themselves and their followers. He, as a main spokesperson, is only leading people astray.

Irony

I re-ran across this photo from our youth mission trip to Birmingham, and I still chuckle over it. It was taken in one of the churches we served while there. To me, it screams, "Irony!"

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Procrastination, Procrastination is Making Me Wait...

The life of a procrastinator is not a fun one. It is now getting to the point that I sincerely wish that I had a different personality, one that has everything planned out weeks in advance so that when something big comes up, all I have to do is wrap up a few minor details. But alas, it's hard for a cat to change its stripes (is that how the saying goes?). So now, I find myself in a whirlwind of activity trying to get ready for the fall semester of ministry. We just had a busy weekend that featured a kick-off dinner for our SIMYs (our adult leaders) and our annual youth outreach Mud Olympics. Over 150 students showed up to play in the mud, and it was great fun, but it was scramble time right before, even though we started planning two months ago. Tomorrow, we have a preview night for our new 7th graders, Sunday is our Sunday school kick-off, and next Wednesday is our first Porch youth group meeting. AAAAAUUUUUGGGGGGHHHH!!! Crazy times! It will all get done, and done well, but it is insanity in the meantime. But as I always say, "Why put off until tomorrow what you can put off until day after tomorrow?"...It's sayings like that that get me into trouble...

Wednesday, August 01, 2007


Simpsons and Religion

On the heels of The Simpsons Movie - which was great, by the way - Beliefnet.com came up with a list of the Top Ten (Plus One) Religious Episodes on The Simpsons. It is fun reading! My favorite has to be Missionary: Impossible ("Save me, Jebus!"). Which is yours?

Monday, July 30, 2007

Back to Blogging

I just received a request from our Executive Director to set up a blog for our 40 Days of Community website, which I am more than happy to do. But it also reminded me how lax I have been keeping this one up to date. And now, since I am mentioned in an official way on our church's website, I guess I'd better be more diligent in posting. Heck, there's been plenty to talk about - sports stuff, family vacations, a preaching gig - but I just haven't had the energy or time to post. Must drink more coffee and find more time to post!!!

Monday, June 25, 2007

I'm in Birmingham!

I'm in B'Ham this week with 36 of our students and eight other adults on a YouthWorks mission trip. For updates, check out our youth blog at: http://theporchlacroix.blogspot.com/. You can also see the first batch of pictures at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mcfitzie/. Talk at ya' soon...

Friday, June 22, 2007

Man, I needed that!

After having an interesting week, I was exposed to these two videos from Britain's Got Talent. Boy, did they come at just the right time. Good luck not crying during them, especially during Connie's...





Sunday, May 27, 2007

Wow!



Now if we can just get a win in game three, then I'd be really impressed.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

A Sad Day



I just learned from my weekly e-mail from Youth Specialties that Lee Eshleman, of Ted & Lee fame, died last week. Apparently, he has been suffering for a long time from depression. On May 17th, he succumbed to the pressure and took his own life. He will be missed by many in the field of youth ministry as he was part of a team that created great skits with excellent Biblical points that students enjoyed. We used their Insider's View of Jesus curriculum a couple of summers ago, which looked at the life of Jesus through the eyes of Andrew and Peter. Hilarious, and thought-provoking. I also greatly enjoyed seeing them at the YS National Youth Workers Convention each year. I will miss his contribution to the kingdom of God. Here is a bit from Ted and his partner in skit-crime, Lee.


Sunday, May 13, 2007

Happy Mother's Day

For all of you mom's out there - because I know so many of you read this blog - this classic video is for you. Enjoy:


Wednesday, May 09, 2007

I Am Convinced!

  • I am convinced that diaper rash is the worst plague known to man. Colin has a severe case of it right now and is completely miserable. He woke up this morning screaming and crying like I have never heard him before. And changing his diaper when he has The Plague is an adventure, and not a fun one. I guess I'll be heading to the drugstore later to find a better treatment for it.
  • I am convinced that being a dad is the best thing in the world!
  • I am convinced that Roger Clemens is the worst teammate in Major League Baseball. He is no more than a mercenary. When he announced his return to the Yankees, he spoke of how glad he was to be back in NY. Well, sure he was. They threw more money at him than did Boston or Houston. If one of those teams had given him more money, he would have been thrilled to be there, too. But what kind of teammate demands to be able to go home whenever he wants? It's one thing to want to spend time with your family, but for $28 million, I think you could maybe buy them a nice home in NY so you could be with them. And he doesn't just use that privilege to spend time with his family. He also uses it to play golf, according to his former manager Phil Garner. I would rather have a teammate that is committed to the team than one who is no more than a hired gun who can show up late and leave whenever.
  • I am convinced that MLB teams are doing the right thing by banning alcohol from their clubhouses, in light of the death of Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock. I know, he didn't get drunk at the stadium, but why even have alcohol there? What other employer offers beer to their employers at their place of employment after a long day? None! Some - Colin Cowherd and Mike Greenberg on ESPN Radio - say that this is the wrong approach, that we need to stress personal responsibility instead. That's fine, but why put the temptation there for anyone that may be struggling with it? We might as well offer betting slips in the clubhouse but make sure we stress responsibility. Give me a break! I know that alcohol is legal, but also very damaging to many people. Get it out of the clubhouse.
  • Speaking of ESPN, I am convinced that they are coming close to losing me as a fan of their establishment (I know, it would crush them to know this). It ticks me off that more and more of the articles that they posy online are only available to Insiders, which means paying X amount of dollars for the inside scoop. I know they are in the business of making money, but they won't make my money this way. I'll look at a different website instead.
  • I am convinced that the local media in Cape Girardeau is too self-important. A couple of examples to prove my point. One, every time there is any kind of severe weather, the local TV station breaks into regular programming every few minutes for special updates, instead of breaking in once and then having the little map on the screen showing affected areas or the ticker at the bottom of the screen. For some reason, they feel it is vital to show off their triple doppler whatever and let Mom and Pop in Podunkville know that it will be raining in their neighborhood in seven minutes. And two, are there that many people in this area that care about SEMO baseball? While listening to the NFL Draft a couple of weeks ago, they were early in the broadcast of the first round when the local sports station cut away for a SEMO baseball game. OK fine, you have a contract with SEMO, but have the foresight to know when the second biggest day of the football season is so you don't have to cut away. Geez! And finally, when the shooting tragedy happened at Va Tech, and all of the national news programs were having special one-hour broadcasts instead of their normal half-hour programs, the local station cut away from the coverage to do their local news program. I know, local news is important, but I think that event takes precedence.
  • I am convinced that British TV is better than American TV. OK, so maybe just the few programs I have watched have been better - thanks, Oral - but they sure seem better. My current favorite is Life on Mars. Other favorites have been , The Office (British version), Cracker and Dr. Who.
Enough ranting for now. I'm sure Colin will be waking up soon. Must be ready...

Friday, May 04, 2007

A Fun Thought...

Colin is at the stage in his life where he is all over the place. He walks really well now, and is on the verge of flat-out running. But while he is so good at getting around, he still falls down quite a bit. Not falling down and getting hurt, although he is getting good at that, too. I mean the kind of falling where he will be standing there one second, and the next he is on his butt. The other night, he must have fallen down five or six times in a row, which led to much laughter from his parents (we weren't laughing at him, we were laughing near him). Marcy thought that the dog toy he was holding was throwing him off-balance. I don't know that those few ounces made that much of a difference, but that's really not the point. The point is, he falls on his butt quite frequently.

I thought recently, as I observed Colin's sometimes inability to stand up, what if adults were like that? What if, randomly throughout our days, we would simply fall on our butt? And there would be no reaction at all; we would simply stand back up like nothing ever happened. Imagine the scenarios:
  • You are looking at buying a brand-new car, and the salesman simply falls down on his butt.
  • As you walk through the mall, people are dropping left and right, falling on their butts.
  • While everyone is singing in church, people are sporadically falling on their butts throughout the sanctuary.
  • You're getting ready to kiss that girl for the first time, and she falls on her butt.
You get the picture, and if you do, it's a pretty funny picture. I think it has great potential as a skit on SNL or Mad TV. What do you think?

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

What's Wrong with This Picture?

The Cavs just swept a playoff series.
The Indians are in first place.
The Browns just had a great draft.

All signs that the Armageddon is upon us...

Friday, April 27, 2007


With the Third Pick of the NFL Draft, the Cleveland Browns Select...

I don't remember a time when I have been this worked up about the NFL - or any - professional sports draft. Let's face it, the Browns stink and probably will for a very long time. And whoever they draft will either have a career-ending injury or will be a bust (repeat with me: Tim Couch - see above). But for whatever reason, there still is a glimmer of optimism in my spirit. Call it denial, if you like, but there's a hope deep within by being that says, "Maybe this draft will turn things around for my boys." Only time will tell, I guess. Here's my take on the top potential players that the Browns could pick #3 in the draft:
  • Adrian Peterson: He could be the franchise back the Browns need. Or - if he doesn't change his running style - he could be the next Courtney Brown, always sidelined with injuries. I was ready to be OK with the Browns drafting him until I heard that he re-broke his collarbone in the Fiesta Bowl against Boise State and could require surgery. Now I'm a little more hesitant.
  • Brady Quinn: He is a good quarterback, but I will shoot myself (not really, silly) if the Browns select him. He's good as long as it is not a big game; then he folds like a cheap card table. On the other hand, since the Browns are never in a big game, it might be a match made in Heaven.
  • Joe Thomas: I would love to have him! It would give Frye/Anderson time to throw and continue to solidify the OL that Savage has worked hard to rebuild. But, they would still need to find a RB at some point because I don't think that Jamal Lewis is the long-term solution.
  • JaMarcus Russell: If he slips to three and the Browns don't select him, I may have to start rooting for another team. "Go Texans!" Nah, I could never pull that off. But if they do get him, watch him be the next Ryan Leaf or Akili Smith.
  • Calvin Johnson: If he slips to three and the Browns don't trade him to someone that is just drooling over him so that they can get him in front of the Bucs, well, see the above threat. We don't need him as bad as we need more picks. Trade, baby, trade!
Only 26+ hours to wait to see what they will do. I'm not sure if I'll make it. I should go mow the lawn or something...

P.S. I have already apologized to Colin for the fact that he will be raised a Cleveland sports fan. He doesn't have a choice in the matter - I will not let him pick the team he wants to root for - and it is a life of heartbreak. But, as Calvin's dad always used to say, "It will build character."

Friday, April 06, 2007

A Busy Couple of Weeks

Before I get into what has been going on in the wonderful world of Mike Fitzpatrick, allow me to apologize for the faulty music video that I posted earlier. I didn't know that it would only show the first 35 seconds of the video. Drag! But you can check it out here. Heck with hearitfirst.com...

We had a great birthday and baptism celebration for Colin. We wanted to get him baptized, so we planned to have it done as close to his birthday as possible so if family came to The Cape, we could kill two birds with one frying pan, if you know what I mean. What a great weekend! We had Marcy's sister and bro-in-law and her mom and stepdad stay with us, while my mom and aunt stayed at a hotel. It was a little crazy having all of those people here, especially since we had had company two of the previous three weekends. We were wiped out by the end, but it was worth it. It was such a fun weekend! We celebrated the Boy's birthday on Saturday, complete with his own cake and #1 candles (he wasn't so good at blowing them out). As you can tell from this picture, he enjoyed the cake quite a bit!



I forgot to mention that he also got his first haircut that weekend by Auntie Ruthie. He had developed quite the mullet, so thank God for scissors and that my mom snuck them through airport security. :-) He got quite the motherload for a kid that's not even going to remember this day. I'm not sure what he liked more, the Radio Flyer All-Terrain Wagon or the envelopes that all of the cards came in. It's a toss-up.

On Sunday, we had Colin baptized. What a blessing! I told Marcy just before we went up for the ceremony that I was more nervous for this than I am when I preach. I'm not sure why, but it was the case. Colin couldn't have been more precious or well-behaved, as you can tell from this picture.

He just soaked it all up, and when he was held up for the congregation to see him at the end, and everyone clapped, he shook his arms and legs with joy. He really is the best boy ever!

Fast-forward a few days to that next Thursday (which was March 29th). The fam had all gone home. That night was our big Silent Auction & Dinner fundraiser for our student mission trip. This summer, we are taking around 35 students to serve in Birmingham in the name of Jesus, so we had to raise a lot of money. The theme was The 70's, and we had great funk music provided by Groove Conspiracy. The turnout was good and although the bidding wasn't as fierce as last year, we were still able to clear $6,500.00! It was a great night! I had to look the part, so:

Yes, that is a fun manchu on my face. That was the first time that Marcy had ever seen my chin. Colin wasn't really sure what to make of me that night. He just kept looking at my hair with a very concerned look on his face.

Then this past Saturday, I went with a group of our SIMYs to St. Louis for a training done by Youth Specialties on Helping Hurting Kids. What a tough day! It's just so hard to hear all of the crap that today's teens are dealing with. But it feels good to be used by God with these people. And I am SO thankful that I work alongside such great people that love the students as much as I do, if not more so.

That pretty much catches you up on my life. Except for the fact that I hate the state of Florida. And the fact that next weekend is our 30 Hour Famine with the youth. The senior high guys have challenged me that if they raise $5,000.00, I have to shave my head. To be continued...Before I go, can I ask you to do me a favor? Could you leave me a comment to let me know that you are reading this, even if you simply say, "I read this."? That would help me know if I am wasting my time keeping this blog up. Thanks...

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Crowder vs. The Squirrels

So much has been going on that I haven't had much time to write. Sorry. Still no time today, but this new Crowder video is worth posting: