So, About That Place Called Paris...

If you needed any confirmation on whether or not I am, in fact, the worst blogger in the short but powerful history of blogging, well, this should do it.

Remember that trip Stacie and I took to Europe slightly over a year ago? Yeah. So, apparently I never finished telling that story. I thought I had written about all the days and posted all the pictures until Stacie asked me when I was going to finish blogging about our trip.

I said that I had. She said that I had not.

I had not. Naturally. So, I'm going to try and put a bow on this thing for those of you who have not passed out, or worse, from holding your breath in anticipation.

Where was I? Oh yes, Stacie and I had just had a great evening watching the sun go down behind the Eiffel Tower and rushed back to our hotel room to get out of the chilly night air.

The next morning we once again slept in a bit, but decided that today we were going to see The Louvre. But on our way to the Louvre we got distracted by shopping. It happens.

It's pretty easy to get distracted in this town, so we found ourselves wandering down streets like this:

And then, if you see a crowd gathered and looking at something interesting, well, naturally you have to join in to find out what the fuss is all about.

Then I stumbled on a pretty cool fountain when I went outside to get a Coke while Stacie was in a store trying clothes on, so I checked that out for a while.

PS - I know how to order a Coke in French. I can't do much else in French, but I've got that down.

Next we came across a place where one could eat foods from where we were (Paris), where we're from (Texas) and where we live (Chicago). I mean, c'mon.

Eventually we did, somehow, find ourselves at the Louvre. Where we took a very cultured, mature approach to the beginning of our artistic journey.

We then went inside and proceeded to rush through the place - mainly because I thought the sign said it closed at 5PM. It did say that it closed at 5PM, but not on Wednesdays - which was the day we were there. It actually closes at 9PM on Wednesdays which Stacie thought she read. And she was right. Naturally.

But we still had time to get intimate with the art.

It wasn't all silliness. We did see some great works like Venus de Milo:

The Mona Lisa:


This guy:

Then there was this guy, too:

There were even these crazy Pez dispenser sculptures:


If you've ever been to the Louvre, you know that it's huge. And before too long we were a bit lost, and I had lost a little bit of my mojo.

So, we soon made our way out of there, and proceeded to head back to the hotel where we dropped off our shopping bags and caught up on Le Juste Prix before heading out to another fun dinner in Paris.

We're getting close to the end of our journey at this point. With only two days remaining in Paris we pick up the pace a little bit and really cover some ground. I should have those posts completed by early November easy.

Bin Laden the Dead Terrorist

Not wanting to let such a momentous occasion pass without comment that is more than 140 characters, I've moved away from the limitations of Twitter to the old-timey form of blogging. So, as you've no doubt discovered by now, Osama Bin Laden was taken out by US forces in Pakistan. His body was captured, inspected I'm assuming and then buried at sea when Saudi Arabia refused the body.

Here's a few points I want to make and then I'm done with this guy forever:

• This is excellent news for justice, and I know this helps to give further closure to the people directly impacted by his actions. So, congratulations and celebrations for that are certainly in order.
• As a Christian, it is unsettling to me to celebrate the death of someone, even someone who represents the worst of us all, when most likely he is now separated for eternity from a God that desired a relationship with him. That's what's crazy to think about. We all deserve complete and utter separation from God - whether we are Bin Laden or Mother Theresa, and all it takes to avoid that fate is the acceptance that God loves us and offered His Son to take the punishment for every single unholy act or thought we've ever done or had. A somber celebration is in order for Christians I believe.
• As for the credit, I believe there is plenty to go around. President Bush took the proper strategic steps from the moment our world changed in 2001. I'm not saying that everything he did was perfect, but he set the agenda for getting Bin Laden. We can debate Iraq all day long and whether that distracted us from getting Bin Laden sooner. I don't think it did - I would debate other merits of Iraq. President Obama ultimately took the right steps to finish the job in respect to Bin Laden, so he also deserves credit in this. I'm sure we'll know more about what those steps were in the coming weeks and months. Ultimately, though, the boots on the ground got the job done, and I believe they deserve 99% of the credit. They did their jobs and did them very well. We can split up the other 1% of accolades later.
• My final note, is once again my utmost pride in the USA. Again, America is the shining City on the Hill. What other country, upon killing their most wanted enemy after a 10 year hunt, then turns around to make sure that he is buried within the window dictated by his religious beliefs. Say what you want about America, but there is no doubt in my mind that she is the greatest nation in the history of the world. Have we had our mistakes and our issues and our problems and even our complete failures in some respects? Of course. No person and no country is perfect, but moments like this just go to remind me that America's heart is always in the right place.

God Bless America!