My Visit to LA, Part 1

So I'm back in California for the launch of my book on George Ladd (see right), and it's good to be back in Southern California. My mom and aunt Rose came to the airport to pick me up yesterday--they visited us in London last year and have a good time traveling together.

Jet lag is still having its way with me--I woke up at 4am and by 8:30 I wanted to crawl back into bed--but I'm enjoying being in Burbank again. It's warm here--yesterday it was 96F, breaking the temperature record set in 1921 for that date (aren't you glad you tuned in today?). It's cooling off a bit, which is good, since the 70F we hit in London last week was on the edge of being uncomfortably warm.

I'll be connecting with some family and old friends while I'm here. It's strange to be doing that without Julie and Ian... The launch event is Thursday evening at Fuller, and I'm starting to feel some butterflies about that. I've been asked to give a 45 minute lecture, and my paper is titled: "George Eldon Ladd, Fuller Seminary and the Renaissance of American Evangelicalism." We'll see how it goes.

For those of you who are longtime readers, you'll want to know that I watched four movies back-to-back on the flight over here. Michael Clayton, No Country for Old Men, The Departed, and Juno. They were all pretty good, but Juno was the best of the lot. Good characters, sparkly writing and a sweet, wise story. Worth seeing again...

The other three combined to form a lesson in moral ambiguity and emptiness. Now I just might be odd enough to think that we need reminders of what that looks like from time to time. All three were sad in a way that I can't put my finger on just yet, and they left me feeling glad that there's a gospel to remind us of what life is supposed to be like.

That may be why Juno stood out. In the same way that Little Miss Sunshine showed how flawed people could do the right thing in a pinch, Juno introduced us to a blended family that loved each other without lying about who they really were. The scene where the young girl tells her father and step-mother that she's pregnant was touching and memorable and funny all at once.

Anyway, enough rambling. I'm off to do some errands and try to shake the fog. More news later.