Well, whether you wondered or not, I'm going to answer the question. I've been moving my ex-wife out of town (against my heart's --and my back's-- fervent wishes) and moving a ton of my kid's stuff into my smallish apartment. I've also been caring for a puking kid, being a single parent (for all of one week now!), and trying this weekend to figure out what "everything in its place" means in this new environment (the kids are with their mom on the weekends for the next couple of months.) And then there's work (which has its own stories, that I won't bore y'all with, but suffice to say it adds to the stress.) Unfortunately any other activities have been Seriously Neglected (thus my absence here... :-(
One thing I did take time to do was go see our campus production of My Fair Lady last night. It was a lot of fun! The cast did a great job and I found myself laughing at the antics of Alfred P. Doolittle, Henry Higgins, and the incomparable Eliza. While out Eliza was neither Audrey Hepburn nor Julie Andrews, I'd say she held her own very well. She brought a presence and passion to the role that made you want to weep for her by the end. This is the first time in a long, long, long time that I've gone to any kind of stage production. I'm glad I did and I think that maybe I may keep my eyes open for other opportunities around here (summer's approaching, and with it the Illinois Shakespeare Festival up in B'town-Abnormal!)
Today I was on the road running Stuff(TM) to various New Places for it. I saw a beautiful hawk at the beginning of the trip and another one (slightly smaller) near the end. I'm all for interpreting this as a Good Omen. Regardless, I'm always glad when a bird catches my attention and I watch it fly. Maybe I'm just a wonder junkie, but it never fails to make me feel a little better about life, etc.
I hope each of you are finding a bit of wonder in the midst of the busyness of your lives!
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Monday, March 12, 2007
Exhibit B: A Lame Post
Too long without anything, so we'll do a little update...
My ex-wife got the job south of here. Her first day is March 26, and she's moving the weekend of the 17th. I'll have the kids through the week starting March 19 and going through their last day of school on June 4. She's planning on having them during the weekends during this time. After that, she's thinking we go back to me getting them every other weekend (and, because of distance, obviously not seeing them during the week. That'll suck!)
Elsewise, life goes good. Medication still keeps me sane, I still have a job, and I'm enjoying the (relative) warmth of spring's pre-dawning. Reading's been kind of crazy: some Bart Ehrman and a re-read of Dragonlance Chronicles (don't roll your eyes, Lisa! I'm still trying to get into the Francis Collins book, but he's not as much fun as Richard Dawkins).
The existential question of the nanosecond is "have I grown up or am I still wondering what I'm going to be when I grow up?" Some of you are young enough that the question is fair for you to ponder, but I'm forty (in a few months) and I probably should be looking at life as "well, this is it" rather than a "gee, what do I want to do now?" I get too curmudgeonly lately, and too resigned. I don't want to be a dwarf! A kender, sure. An elf, that would rock. A black robe mage, without a doubt. But a surly dwarf... just feed me to the dragons already.
Oh well, maybe spring will help with some of this! Anyway, this is, for what it's worth, a post.
My ex-wife got the job south of here. Her first day is March 26, and she's moving the weekend of the 17th. I'll have the kids through the week starting March 19 and going through their last day of school on June 4. She's planning on having them during the weekends during this time. After that, she's thinking we go back to me getting them every other weekend (and, because of distance, obviously not seeing them during the week. That'll suck!)
Elsewise, life goes good. Medication still keeps me sane, I still have a job, and I'm enjoying the (relative) warmth of spring's pre-dawning. Reading's been kind of crazy: some Bart Ehrman and a re-read of Dragonlance Chronicles (don't roll your eyes, Lisa! I'm still trying to get into the Francis Collins book, but he's not as much fun as Richard Dawkins).
The existential question of the nanosecond is "have I grown up or am I still wondering what I'm going to be when I grow up?" Some of you are young enough that the question is fair for you to ponder, but I'm forty (in a few months) and I probably should be looking at life as "well, this is it" rather than a "gee, what do I want to do now?" I get too curmudgeonly lately, and too resigned. I don't want to be a dwarf! A kender, sure. An elf, that would rock. A black robe mage, without a doubt. But a surly dwarf... just feed me to the dragons already.
Oh well, maybe spring will help with some of this! Anyway, this is, for what it's worth, a post.
Friday, March 02, 2007
The Law of Fives
If you've read the Illuminatus Trilogy, then you're familiar with the Law of Fives. Basically, while many numbers comes up in life, five comes up more often than others.
As an example, take my previous post about the spelling bee. My fifth grade son was sitting in the fifth seat on stage. There were 5 rows of seats between where I was sitting and the stage. My son missed his word on the fifth letter. The date of the bee was the 27th (the difference between the digits of 27 being 5), but originally was scheduled for the 14th (1+4=5). Finally, even the phrase "spelling bee" has a letter differential of 5 (8 letters in "spelling" 3 letters in "bee").
Oh, and I just noticed that today is 3/2!
fnord
As an example, take my previous post about the spelling bee. My fifth grade son was sitting in the fifth seat on stage. There were 5 rows of seats between where I was sitting and the stage. My son missed his word on the fifth letter. The date of the bee was the 27th (the difference between the digits of 27 being 5), but originally was scheduled for the 14th (1+4=5). Finally, even the phrase "spelling bee" has a letter differential of 5 (8 letters in "spelling" 3 letters in "bee").
Oh, and I just noticed that today is 3/2!
fnord
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Spelling Bee
Today was the county spelling bee (postponed from the Valentine's Day blizzard). Nate placed 5th out of thirteen, which is cool. On the practice round, 10 out of the 13 messed up, so if that round had counted, he would have been in the top three! Anyway, it was fun and now we can stop spelling for a while :-)
Thursday, February 22, 2007
The Next Shuttle For Parking Lot A-17 Will Be Departing in 5 Minutes
Tweedledum and Tweedledee agreed to have a battle; for Tweedledum said Tweedledee had spoiled his nice new rattle
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
My Favorite Song for This Week!
Profanity warning: the word "God" and the word "damn" appear adjacent to each other in this song (just once, otherwise the song is very much G rated :-)
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Oh, Joy!
"Laissez les bons temps rouler!" (or so my Googlefied French comes out!) Happy Mardi Gras, gang!!! Ash Wednesday tomorrow and the Lenten season. If you're Christian and liturgical, you find your mind's eye looking towards the cross. Sin, repentance, the death of the old self and the new birth of the new. But tonight... maybe some jambalaya and laughter!
Monday, February 19, 2007
On Dogs and Wasps: An Argument for Naturalism
Most of us in the Christian West are not opposed to using flyswatters to, well, swat flies. In fact, swatting flies, smacking mosquitoes, squashing roaches, and gassing wasps are all common behaviors. However, most of us would be horrified to see a driver swerve her car to intentionally run over a stray dog. Why? Assuming, for a moment, that the dog was not someone’s pet (so that the argument doesn’t invoke property rights), why are we upset over someone who kills a dog that’s hovering around them, but not a bug?
Let me first point out that it is not Biblical Christianity that makes the differentiation. The “Creation Mandate” does not distinguish between insects and mammals, humankind has dominion over both. An annoying wild dog is just as much a nuisance as an annoying wild wasp.
As a clue, let me also point out that when we’re saving aquatic life, it is most often dolphins and whales, not fish that we are keen to save.
Dolphins, whales, and dogs, like us, are mammals. On the continuum of the genetic code, they are more like us than, say, hornets are. One thing about mammals: we like each other. It helped us survive when we were tiny rodents in a world of big reptiles. Our genes want to survive, which means, for many mammals, a herd instinct. This is mostly for our own species, but not surprisingly for members of other similar species.
True, mammals eat each other. That’s part of the circle of life, but we also get along rather well. Cats and dogs and horses and even pigs bond better with us than snakes and fish and spiders. Closer relation in the evolutionary tree, rather than anything in the Genesis account, explains this bond.
Well, you might say, dogs and cats are smarter (i.e., more advanced nervous systems) than, say, spiders, so we care more about them because they can suffer more. True, but the Bible is pretty clear that humanity is the special kind of creation that is made in God’s image, all the rest of the creatures are made like each other. The Bible would suggest that dogs, spiders, wasps, and ponies are more like each other than any of them are like us. Evolution would suggest we are closer to, and feel more kinship with, other mammals.
I don't necessarily believe this argument, but it is one of two arguments for naturalism that came to me this weekend. Please feel free to, literally, knock the hell out of this argument! ;-)
Let me first point out that it is not Biblical Christianity that makes the differentiation. The “Creation Mandate” does not distinguish between insects and mammals, humankind has dominion over both. An annoying wild dog is just as much a nuisance as an annoying wild wasp.
As a clue, let me also point out that when we’re saving aquatic life, it is most often dolphins and whales, not fish that we are keen to save.
Dolphins, whales, and dogs, like us, are mammals. On the continuum of the genetic code, they are more like us than, say, hornets are. One thing about mammals: we like each other. It helped us survive when we were tiny rodents in a world of big reptiles. Our genes want to survive, which means, for many mammals, a herd instinct. This is mostly for our own species, but not surprisingly for members of other similar species.
True, mammals eat each other. That’s part of the circle of life, but we also get along rather well. Cats and dogs and horses and even pigs bond better with us than snakes and fish and spiders. Closer relation in the evolutionary tree, rather than anything in the Genesis account, explains this bond.
Well, you might say, dogs and cats are smarter (i.e., more advanced nervous systems) than, say, spiders, so we care more about them because they can suffer more. True, but the Bible is pretty clear that humanity is the special kind of creation that is made in God’s image, all the rest of the creatures are made like each other. The Bible would suggest that dogs, spiders, wasps, and ponies are more like each other than any of them are like us. Evolution would suggest we are closer to, and feel more kinship with, other mammals.
I don't necessarily believe this argument, but it is one of two arguments for naturalism that came to me this weekend. Please feel free to, literally, knock the hell out of this argument! ;-)
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Snow and Rain
I'm grateful for the two days of deep snow and bitter winds. Winter... the kind you can trudge through knee-deep (or more!) snow, where temperatures are prefixed with a minus sign. Raw elements sort of put the melodrama of human "angst" in the background. Maslow's pyramid: physical survival trumps moody self-absorption (thank God!) But the winter has passed, and now it's just cold again. I pray the fire of love burns freely and fiercely in your souls, my friends.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
"Calling Dr. Bombay"
Nothing here but a quick check-in (remember back when I blogged daily, and the entries were full of creativity and wit... or maybe nostalgia makes things look sweeter than they really were; let's just pretend that's how it was, ok?)
A former student worker dropped off the first two seasons of House, so I can finally begin watching this show that everybody keeps telling me I'll love...
My son won the school spelling bee today. Next week, on Valentine's Day, I'll be going to watch him at the county spelling bee. I felt so glad for the little geek when the entire school was applauding for him today! The winning word was refugee.
Speaking of Valentine's Day, I'm not. So there! I wish all of you love and all that other crap, but I'll keep working on my first draft of Celibacy for Dummies.
Bookwise, the stack at hand (not to be confused with the books at home with slips of paper marking my spastic progress) consists of Finding Darwin's God: A Scientist's Search for the Common Ground Between God and Evolution (Kenneth Miller), Mythical Trickster Figures: Contours, Contexts, and Criticisms (ed. Wm. Hynes and Wm. Doty), and Ubuntu Linux for Non-Geeks: A Pain-Free, Project-Based, Get-Things-Done Guidebook (Rickford Grant). OK, I actually am a geek, and a committed Slackware user, but the book looked like a fun browse, so I've borrowed it from Governor's State University (interlibrary loan has to rate as one the greatest human inventions of all time!)
In the name of health, I'm attempting to consume some water each day (any amount would be, literally, infintely more than I typically drink). I also worked in a walk last weekend. This was the first time in too long, and it was bloody cold! Still I felt better at the end of that day than I do most days, so there must be something to it.
I'm trying to wrap my brain around something that I can fire off an ill-tempered rant against. Until then, here's a nice British version of the PC versus Mac debate. The comments are worth reading if, like me, you love pointless religious debates. Yeah, Brits are so much more civilized than us colonial rebels.
A former student worker dropped off the first two seasons of House, so I can finally begin watching this show that everybody keeps telling me I'll love...
My son won the school spelling bee today. Next week, on Valentine's Day, I'll be going to watch him at the county spelling bee. I felt so glad for the little geek when the entire school was applauding for him today! The winning word was refugee.
Speaking of Valentine's Day, I'm not. So there! I wish all of you love and all that other crap, but I'll keep working on my first draft of Celibacy for Dummies.
Bookwise, the stack at hand (not to be confused with the books at home with slips of paper marking my spastic progress) consists of Finding Darwin's God: A Scientist's Search for the Common Ground Between God and Evolution (Kenneth Miller), Mythical Trickster Figures: Contours, Contexts, and Criticisms (ed. Wm. Hynes and Wm. Doty), and Ubuntu Linux for Non-Geeks: A Pain-Free, Project-Based, Get-Things-Done Guidebook (Rickford Grant). OK, I actually am a geek, and a committed Slackware user, but the book looked like a fun browse, so I've borrowed it from Governor's State University (interlibrary loan has to rate as one the greatest human inventions of all time!)
In the name of health, I'm attempting to consume some water each day (any amount would be, literally, infintely more than I typically drink). I also worked in a walk last weekend. This was the first time in too long, and it was bloody cold! Still I felt better at the end of that day than I do most days, so there must be something to it.
I'm trying to wrap my brain around something that I can fire off an ill-tempered rant against. Until then, here's a nice British version of the PC versus Mac debate. The comments are worth reading if, like me, you love pointless religious debates. Yeah, Brits are so much more civilized than us colonial rebels.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Waiting for Franz Kafka's Love-Child
Is the country ready for another President Clinton?!? Well, we had another President George Bush, and look how that turned out. Yeah... how about that Obama? He seems like a nice young man. Hello, republicans, do you have anybody to run this time?!?
My cheap notebook, sold off because my employer didn't even think they could get any use out of them, is sitting here reminding me there's only a couple of days to the "official" full moon. Looking out my window, it's full enough for my reckoning. Computers are funny things. Take this notebook I'm writing on. It came with a 30 gig drive, which promptly died. It's cool, ny friend in the IT department set me up with another from a notebook too dead to sell off. Well, that one died. So I scrounged around and came up with a 10 gig drive. 10 gigs, and I'm feeling a little cramped for space. Good grief, when I first started this job my work PC was a 486 with a 210 MEG drive. Now a ten gig drive is too small?!? And it's not like I'm running XP here (let alone Vista... let's not even go down that road!) Nor am I running one of those "everything-and-the-kitchen-sink" linux distros. A simple Slack 11 install with a few "essential" additions (mono, dosbox, Adobe Reader, OpenOffice.org, and a couple other little things). Admittedly, I'm not out of space yet, but I look at my desktop
machine: an 80 gig drive for XP and a 160 gig drive for Slack. That seems like abundance (maybe too much abundance?) Did I really just ramble on about hard drive sizes? Something is terribly wrong here.
A note to my sister who may be checking this blog out for the first (and possibly last!) time: you should have visited one of my earlier blogs, back when the creative juices were flowing like the waters of the mighty Embarrass during storm season. This blog is basically a place where you can tell I'm still breathing, but that's about it :-) Oh, and "hi, Sis!"
Full moon. That bodes well (for something, don't know what... yet!) OK gang, it's late and I'm thirsty and tired. Later (and if, by some miracle, I resist posting before the weekend, may y'all enjoy the Bears whooping up on the Colts ;-)
My cheap notebook, sold off because my employer didn't even think they could get any use out of them, is sitting here reminding me there's only a couple of days to the "official" full moon. Looking out my window, it's full enough for my reckoning. Computers are funny things. Take this notebook I'm writing on. It came with a 30 gig drive, which promptly died. It's cool, ny friend in the IT department set me up with another from a notebook too dead to sell off. Well, that one died. So I scrounged around and came up with a 10 gig drive. 10 gigs, and I'm feeling a little cramped for space. Good grief, when I first started this job my work PC was a 486 with a 210 MEG drive. Now a ten gig drive is too small?!? And it's not like I'm running XP here (let alone Vista... let's not even go down that road!) Nor am I running one of those "everything-and-the-kitchen-sink" linux distros. A simple Slack 11 install with a few "essential" additions (mono, dosbox, Adobe Reader, OpenOffice.org, and a couple other little things). Admittedly, I'm not out of space yet, but I look at my desktop
machine: an 80 gig drive for XP and a 160 gig drive for Slack. That seems like abundance (maybe too much abundance?) Did I really just ramble on about hard drive sizes? Something is terribly wrong here.
A note to my sister who may be checking this blog out for the first (and possibly last!) time: you should have visited one of my earlier blogs, back when the creative juices were flowing like the waters of the mighty Embarrass during storm season. This blog is basically a place where you can tell I'm still breathing, but that's about it :-) Oh, and "hi, Sis!"
Full moon. That bodes well (for something, don't know what... yet!) OK gang, it's late and I'm thirsty and tired. Later (and if, by some miracle, I resist posting before the weekend, may y'all enjoy the Bears whooping up on the Colts ;-)
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Boondoggle
Ex-wife went down for an interview about 3 hours south of here. If she gets it, I won't be seeing the kids through the week like I do, which is depressing me a bit (and if she doesn't get this one, she'll keep trying. The new job puts her significantly closer to her boyfriend's home. gag!) The kids don't know the details of the where of her interview. I really don't want to leave this job, but I don't want to miss out on my kids' lives, either. Damn.
Elsewise, I now have a small glass bottle with a bit of sulfur in it sitting on my desk. It's a combination of an object lesson from our dean and a bit of perversity on my part. Incidentally, does anyone know if inhaling sulfur is bad for you?
I've been reading, but I can't remember what at the moment (sulfur? nah, just stress.)
I hope y'all are doing well out there in the RealWorld!
Elsewise, I now have a small glass bottle with a bit of sulfur in it sitting on my desk. It's a combination of an object lesson from our dean and a bit of perversity on my part. Incidentally, does anyone know if inhaling sulfur is bad for you?
I've been reading, but I can't remember what at the moment (sulfur? nah, just stress.)
I hope y'all are doing well out there in the RealWorld!
Friday, January 26, 2007
expectations
forty plus hours of meetings and desk work,
and I'm expected to know all the latest in
theology,
philosophy,
technology,
cataloging,
current events,
current literature,
and
anything else
anyone might want me to know
no time for hands-on with the technology, but I'm expected to
troubleshoot,
configure,
recommend,
step-in,
and explain why things are the way they are--
don't spend time with it,
but be responsible for it;
let IT handle it,
except when they can't act as quickly
(or as psychically)
as we'd like;
remind me
(without words)
that I'm a failure for not being able to fly with it
my house is a mess
(and my apartment's none too tidy, either)
my health report has my real age about six years
older
than my birth certificate
six years
closer to dying, closer to crying
my house is haunted
but the ghosts are all gone;
the spirits,
the faeries,
the gremlins,
the dryads,
the elves
...all gone
what do you call a haunted house
that's no longer haunted?
where again is that living water
where is that bread
that wine
that view of the world where
everything
just fits?
and I'm expected to know all the latest in
theology,
philosophy,
technology,
cataloging,
current events,
current literature,
and
anything else
anyone might want me to know
no time for hands-on with the technology, but I'm expected to
troubleshoot,
configure,
recommend,
step-in,
and explain why things are the way they are--
don't spend time with it,
but be responsible for it;
let IT handle it,
except when they can't act as quickly
(or as psychically)
as we'd like;
remind me
(without words)
that I'm a failure for not being able to fly with it
my house is a mess
(and my apartment's none too tidy, either)
my health report has my real age about six years
older
than my birth certificate
six years
closer to dying, closer to crying
my house is haunted
but the ghosts are all gone;
the spirits,
the faeries,
the gremlins,
the dryads,
the elves
...all gone
what do you call a haunted house
that's no longer haunted?
where again is that living water
where is that bread
that wine
that view of the world where
everything
just fits?
Monday, January 22, 2007
Hair Thair Be Dragons
On a whim I got my haircut over lunch today. The young lady asked "how short do you want it?" I thought for a second and said "Well, not buzzed. Something like an insurance agent or a Republican." So now my shadow no longer has cool hair that whips in the wind. Oh well (it grows back. right?!?)
Talking to the hair cutter, I discover she's a sci-fi/fantasy person working on a screenplay for a fantasy tale about dragons. Here, in Lincoln. Go figure.
OK, Winter, I think this post is MORE boring than yours was! ;-)
Talking to the hair cutter, I discover she's a sci-fi/fantasy person working on a screenplay for a fantasy tale about dragons. Here, in Lincoln. Go figure.
OK, Winter, I think this post is MORE boring than yours was! ;-)
Just Another Manic Monday
On the road to Bloomington this weekend I saw a red-tailed hawk perched on a speed limit sign on my side of the road. Hours later on the return trip I saw what appeared to be the same hawk again on my side of the road (roughly the same stretch of interstate). I guess I'm pre-scientific enough to take that as a good omen. At the very least it made me smile.
You Suck. No, not you personally. You Suck: A Love Story is the title of Chris Moore's latest novel, a sequel to Blood Sucking Fiends: A Love Story. No, I haven't read the new one yet, but Real Soon Now.
On the reading front, I'm waiting for my son to deliver book two of A Series of Unfortunate Events into my hand. I finished Moore's Coyote Blue (which just leaves Fluke and You Suck to read and I'll have read all of his novels!) I'm skimming a book on C# published by Microsoft Press (the first MS Press book I've ever read, I think), and I'm about two-thirds through the Blamires book.
I made another trip to the local used bookstore that's closing and picked up a few more items (yes, Dodo, a couple of them made it into your box!) One crazy thing I picked up was a book on assembly language for the Commodore 64. Good times, 8-bit computing. I'll probably never actually use the book, but the collector gene kicked in.
A friend tossed me the discs for the first two seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Not a show I'd recommend to everyone, but it has its laugh outloud moments. Enough folks have talked to me about House that I'm feeling compelled to start renting the first season of it (and I suppose I should take the plunge and start watching Numb3rs).
Words are cool. We've talked in this blog circle about words before. I wonder why certain words appeal to certain people. For instance, I like the word "brimstone." I couldn't tell you why, and I doubt that it's a universally appealing word, but I like it.
Well, obviously I'm just rambling, so I'll let you get back to your lives. Thanks for stopping by!
You Suck. No, not you personally. You Suck: A Love Story is the title of Chris Moore's latest novel, a sequel to Blood Sucking Fiends: A Love Story. No, I haven't read the new one yet, but Real Soon Now.
On the reading front, I'm waiting for my son to deliver book two of A Series of Unfortunate Events into my hand. I finished Moore's Coyote Blue (which just leaves Fluke and You Suck to read and I'll have read all of his novels!) I'm skimming a book on C# published by Microsoft Press (the first MS Press book I've ever read, I think), and I'm about two-thirds through the Blamires book.
I made another trip to the local used bookstore that's closing and picked up a few more items (yes, Dodo, a couple of them made it into your box!) One crazy thing I picked up was a book on assembly language for the Commodore 64. Good times, 8-bit computing. I'll probably never actually use the book, but the collector gene kicked in.
A friend tossed me the discs for the first two seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Not a show I'd recommend to everyone, but it has its laugh outloud moments. Enough folks have talked to me about House that I'm feeling compelled to start renting the first season of it (and I suppose I should take the plunge and start watching Numb3rs).
Words are cool. We've talked in this blog circle about words before. I wonder why certain words appeal to certain people. For instance, I like the word "brimstone." I couldn't tell you why, and I doubt that it's a universally appealing word, but I like it.
Well, obviously I'm just rambling, so I'll let you get back to your lives. Thanks for stopping by!
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Interesting Thought
I was reading while eating my biscuits and gravy this morning and came across a sentence that made me stop and think:
"Your beliefs, as a Christian, are not yours in the sense that you have rights over them, either to tamper with them or throw them away." --Harry Blamires, The Christian Mind
I don't get to define what being a Christian means ("well, this is what being a Christian means to me..." NOT!) Christianity (Christ) defines me, or else I'm just another heretic. Of course there is an element of subjectivity and interpretation, but there is also a reality outside of me (or, more to the point, a Reality). I wonder how much of who I am is me baptizing what I want to be rather than truly wrestling with what a real God wants me to be.
"Your beliefs, as a Christian, are not yours in the sense that you have rights over them, either to tamper with them or throw them away." --Harry Blamires, The Christian Mind
I don't get to define what being a Christian means ("well, this is what being a Christian means to me..." NOT!) Christianity (Christ) defines me, or else I'm just another heretic. Of course there is an element of subjectivity and interpretation, but there is also a reality outside of me (or, more to the point, a Reality). I wonder how much of who I am is me baptizing what I want to be rather than truly wrestling with what a real God wants me to be.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
The Fruit of My Aging
The older I get the more I come to believe that:
- I don't know hardly anything
- grace is the most valuable "thing" there is
- I am no better than the worst criminal
- no one will ever know how old the universe is
- loneliness sucks
- life is difficult, and there aren't always ways to "fix" the difficulties
- there is a real universe out there, even if we only know it through the interface of our individual thoughts, feelings, and sensations
- there's too much to read (even if no one ever wrote another word again)
- there's too much noise (in the world and in my soul)
- pencil and paper bring a type of happiness that I can't get with a computer
- much of what I believe may well be wrong
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Not with a Bang, But a Wimper
Well, maybe this isn't the end of this blog, but it sure has seemed slooooooooow (for the record, I hate repeating vowels to make some kind of emphasis. The word should be 'slow' ...I'm a moron). 2007, the year I tried to blog but everything came out stupid.
This may be partly attributable to the constant sharp pain stretching from my elbow to my knuckles on my right hand. I'm guessing an RSI of some sort. It hurts all the time, no matter what I do. Any suggestions? (Beside the obvious: go see my doctor).
This may be partly attributable to the constant sharp pain stretching from my elbow to my knuckles on my right hand. I'm guessing an RSI of some sort. It hurts all the time, no matter what I do. Any suggestions? (Beside the obvious: go see my doctor).
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
What, It's the New Year Already?!?
Those who are the self-appointed gatekeepers of the blogverse point out that "no one cares what you had for dinner" by which, of course, they mean that you shouldn't post about the crappy little mundanities that make up the bulk of your life. To which I say, "foo!" Not every post can be a deep commentary on some wayward aspect of our existence in this vast cosmos. And besides, I *like* hearing what's going on in my friends' lives. Yea, verily, even what they're eating these days :-) So, while I won't describe my own current culinary adventures, I *will* provide a brief recap of my Christmas break.
Working in academia has some advantages (great salary not being one of them), such as Christmas break. From December 22 through January 1 I was off work! The best part wad that during that entire time I had my kids (except for two nights and one day when they were at their mom's). That's really enough to say: it was a good break :-)
I finished reading The Looking Glass Wars, Frank Beddor's reworking of the Alice in Wonderland material. The writing is not literary quality, and I've read a couple of negative reviews, but, overall, I liked it. Give me a good Alice story any day. Admittedly, there were things I didn't like about it (like dissing on Lewis Carroll) and some things were corny (like the AD52, automatic dealer, shooting 52 razor sharp cards a second!) Hatter Madigan, the queen's bodyguard and "original" of the Mad Hatter, was my favorite character (and, I'm guessing, most everyone else's as well... thus the spin-off comic book series Hatter M, eh?) If you like fantasy, the book is worth a quick read, but maybe not worth you're $18 (unless you're kind of a freak collector of Lewis Carroll related stuff... not that I know anybody like that!)
Santa delivered the kids' goods to my place this year. Everyone was happy and got way too much Stuff. My six-year-old daughter and I played soccer one afternoon. Neither of us have a clue how to play, but we had great fun anyway. Her mom had gotten her a soccer ball for Christmas, and then sent it to my place to stay. Same for the chem set she got for my son. It's cool, though: I colored my hands blue with a splash of a "minor skin irritant." I miss the glass test tubes and alcohol lamps of my childhood chemistry set. These new things are too safe for mad science. For the record, my daughter beat me 10-4 and is anxiously awaiting a rematch to trounce me again.
My son finished the Lemony Snickett books and is insistent I read them, so... it looks like I know my next fiction reads. I've also picked up Rucker's latest collection which I'm eager to get started.
Moviewise, I've re-watched movies the kids wanted to see: The Tenth Kingdom and The Little Vampire among the better titles. We also watched Superman Returns (I know, it was about time!) and last night I watched a Jason Lee movie I'd never heard of called Drop Dead Sexy, which was weird and funny and twisted and borderline necrophiliac (all of which could be said of The Corpse Bride, even though the movies have nothing in common). I've had a few people tell me to get to a theater and see The Nativity. Anyone out there seen it?
Well, it's good to be back online. Here's to 2007, may you find more wonder and delight and joy than you ever dreamed possible!
Working in academia has some advantages (great salary not being one of them), such as Christmas break. From December 22 through January 1 I was off work! The best part wad that during that entire time I had my kids (except for two nights and one day when they were at their mom's). That's really enough to say: it was a good break :-)
I finished reading The Looking Glass Wars, Frank Beddor's reworking of the Alice in Wonderland material. The writing is not literary quality, and I've read a couple of negative reviews, but, overall, I liked it. Give me a good Alice story any day. Admittedly, there were things I didn't like about it (like dissing on Lewis Carroll) and some things were corny (like the AD52, automatic dealer, shooting 52 razor sharp cards a second!) Hatter Madigan, the queen's bodyguard and "original" of the Mad Hatter, was my favorite character (and, I'm guessing, most everyone else's as well... thus the spin-off comic book series Hatter M, eh?) If you like fantasy, the book is worth a quick read, but maybe not worth you're $18 (unless you're kind of a freak collector of Lewis Carroll related stuff... not that I know anybody like that!)
Santa delivered the kids' goods to my place this year. Everyone was happy and got way too much Stuff. My six-year-old daughter and I played soccer one afternoon. Neither of us have a clue how to play, but we had great fun anyway. Her mom had gotten her a soccer ball for Christmas, and then sent it to my place to stay. Same for the chem set she got for my son. It's cool, though: I colored my hands blue with a splash of a "minor skin irritant." I miss the glass test tubes and alcohol lamps of my childhood chemistry set. These new things are too safe for mad science. For the record, my daughter beat me 10-4 and is anxiously awaiting a rematch to trounce me again.
My son finished the Lemony Snickett books and is insistent I read them, so... it looks like I know my next fiction reads. I've also picked up Rucker's latest collection which I'm eager to get started.
Moviewise, I've re-watched movies the kids wanted to see: The Tenth Kingdom and The Little Vampire among the better titles. We also watched Superman Returns (I know, it was about time!) and last night I watched a Jason Lee movie I'd never heard of called Drop Dead Sexy, which was weird and funny and twisted and borderline necrophiliac (all of which could be said of The Corpse Bride, even though the movies have nothing in common). I've had a few people tell me to get to a theater and see The Nativity. Anyone out there seen it?
Well, it's good to be back online. Here's to 2007, may you find more wonder and delight and joy than you ever dreamed possible!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
