Water Adventures

For those of you not on myspace...here's a blog I'm just now posting for you. Sorry!

There's one thing you have to understand about the Chapmans - you haven't truly had an adventure unless someone has some kind of "accident." They can be accidents to your physical person (rare) or to your vehicle (more common). Some are near death, while others are only bruisers (or require minor vehicle repair).

My first accident of the off-road season came Saturday afternoon. It was a multiple bruiser. And it wasn't so much off-road as it was on the water. My brother owns a SeaDoo and over the last year, it's become one of my favorite Michigan outdoor activities.

The Chapman thought-process goes something like this: safety as an afterthought, you will ultimately have more fun the faster and more out-of-control you do things. And since in my mind the accident-versus-injury ratio of the jet ski is lower than the same ratio behind the wheel of a 4-wheel-drive Jeep speeding over a mountain of sand, I feel a little safer getting a bit crazier on the jet ski. Now, if you could multiply that thought-process by 10, you would get my brother's take on jet skiing.

I'm a bit more cautious when I have a rider with me on a jet ski. My brother Jason is only that way when it's NOT a Chapman sitting behind him. Well, since I am a Chapman, he held nothing back on our last ride out (after our individual rides) Saturday afternoon.

When you ride with the waves, you can really get some speed and open it up. Easy enough to hang on. When you run against the waves, you get some height. Also, easy enough to hang on - just pay more attention so you know when to brace yourself and plant your feet. There were a few moments that Jason forgot I was shorter than him, so when he caught big air, I caught even more.

After a time of racing around, Jason decided it was time to try a stunt. The particular stunt he was going to try involves doing a quick 180-degree turn, letting off the gas so the waves you were running pull you in the direction you were going before jamming on the gas to continue plowing forward. Forgetting to warn me, he pulled the stunt successfully but I wasn't hanging on for dear life. When he jammed on the gas to go forward, I was still going backward. (Keep in mind that it's the end of May and the water of Lake Michigan doesn't warm up until July or August; they said the water was only up to about 45-50 degrees this past weekend.)

My parents were sitting on the beach watching and said that my flip off the jet ski was like nothing they'd ever seen before. And the ice water of Lake Michigan in which I found myself was like nothing I ever felt before. The shock of that cold water sent my body and brain into almost immediate shock. I could barely catch my breath or move the water was so cold. Justice came in the fact that my ejection from the jet ski caused my brother to turn and he flipped off as well. All I could think about was getting out of that water and fast! Thank God for life jackets because I couldn't move for the cold but I had to swim. I got to the jet ski and climbed on probably quicker than I ever have before, and Jason wasn't far behind me. We got to shore and my parents threw towels at me and a sweatshirt at my brother (he had a wet suit on). I get cold pretty easily but not like this...it was ridiculous.

I'm still finding bruises that I think are related to that flip or other rides on the SeaDoo. Fortunately, we had better luck on Sunday afternoon. Jason warned me before the stunts, so I held on tight. No flips.

Not to scare anyone off, but you really should come have an adventure with the Chapmans.

Some updating...

Just fyi...I updated the links on the left that lead to my fellow bloggers, stories I've written and bios I've done. Most recent story posted is about Shawn McDonald on Christian Music Today, Christianity Today's music connection.

Shawn McDonald story

The neighbor's van

So, for the past year (or longer?), my neighbors behind me had parked their big Ford van alongside my backyard. Not a big deal, I don't use that space. But they never drove it, started it, moved it. In fact, it wasn't even pulled correctly up to the curb. Well, about a week ago, I came home and noticed that an orange sticker stuck to the windshield. I wonder if someone (not me) complained about it. (I just hope they don't think it was me.) Then I came home Tuesday and the van had been moved to their side of the block, next to their house. Sticker's still stuck to the window....

My neighborhood's web site

Old Hickory Village has a web site...yes, indeed. It's www.oldhickory.org. And I think it is what one would expect.

We have Jann-isms and we have Shelby-isms

Shelby-isms are very similar to Jann-isms; they just come from the mouth of my friend Shelby and not Les' mom, Jann. A couple Shelby-isms from our time in LA....

Reading graffiti from a billboard which made a statement about something being made available 24/7, Shelby reads it outloud as being available 2417...which as soon as she said it, she realized it didn't make sense. I had to interject, "Do you mean 24/7?"

A different day we were driving around town, saw the Playboy Mansion in her "Not for Tourists" book of maps and decided to find it. Shelby wondered aloud, "I wonder if there will be any pink Playboy Rabbits out front?" It wasn't so much her question that made me laugh but her use of rabbits instead of bunnies. I said, "I think they make the bunnies retire when they get old and become rabbits."

For the past two months Shelby has lived in the Silver Lake area, a couple cities away from Hollywood, and from the hill on which her apartment sat, you could see the Hollywood sign. That's one of the first things I noticed on Thursday morning, our first morning out. It wasn't until a couple mornings later on Saturday that we left and Shelby said, "Hey, you can see the Hollywood sign from here." We're still trying to figure out how she lived there for two months, left for work each morning and never noticed it.

And one more.... Shelby's friend Leigha and her husband Dan live in the LA area, so Shelby spent lots of time with them. One night they had friends over and asked Shelby to pick up some ice on the way over. Shelby arrives with the ice but they're not sure what to do with it. It's a large block of ice rather than a bag of ice cubes. Shelby said she'd never seen ice blocks sold in Nashville so thought it was just something different they did in LA.

Angels in the City of Angels

Just got back from Los Angeles...spent time in Pasadena, Hollywood, Venice Beach, Burbank, etc. It's interesting to see the names of all the cities, streets and such that you always hear about in the entertainment news. Here's some pictures....


Shelley, me and Shelby in front of the Hollywood sign


And here we are at The Getty Center (a great art museum with a great view). That's the greater L.A. area behind us (downtown L.A. is way in the background on the horizon).

Here's the greater L.A. area without us:


Shelley and me in Venice Beach


Shelby worked with Rob and John on the production staff of the Oscars. Here's a behind-the-scenes look...up close and personal with Oscar:

Fake Eggs According to Jann

Back when Mark and Leslie still lived at home in Michigan, the family kept an ongoing grocery list on the fridge. One summer day Jann took the list and went to the store. Gone for some time, she finally came home and left a bag of plastic Easter eggs on the landing of the stairs.

Leslie came home, saw the eggs on the way to her room, didn't think anything of it and kept going. Months passed and the eggs were still there, 'til one day Jann said to Leslie, "When are you going to take those eggs?" Leslie was entirely confused, saying they weren't hers. Jann answered, "You put 'fake eggs' on the grocery list." Leslie denied asking for them.

In the next room Dann started laughing. He said, "I put 'fake eggs' on the list. I meant Egg Beaters." Jann had spent who knows how long in the middle of summer searching the store for plastic Easter eggs when she really only needed to hit the dairy section.