Gryphon-flight

Scrollbars are a Good Thing®

2009-09-26T16:28:00.003-07:00

This is why Firebug is useful. Because if a website is so bad that you can't read it, you can fix it. In this case, you can add a scrollbar for the list of events, instead of relying on the custom controls the web developer put in.

Of course, Firebug is primarily for making your own website, but there's no news in telling you that.

Disclaimer: This is only helpful if you already know HTML and CSS. If you don't, and you can still make good use of it, please tell me what you did!

Teleportation

2009-08-23T20:47:00.002-07:00

Dolphins

2009-07-05T17:28:00.004-07:00

Incredulity

2009-05-07T22:57:00.003-07:00

Last night, I made what may have been a mistake; I admitted to a friend that I thought it credible to suppose that Spring-heeled Jack existed. She responded that she didn't believe everything she read.

Well, neither do I. Just now, when I got home, I found a notice saying that FedEx had attempted to deliver a package. They normally leave packages in the apartment office, but I looked over the notice to make sure that they hadn't just taken it back to try again later. They had a box checked, but it said "Porch". I said, "I think you mean 'apartment office.' The 'porch,' as you call my balcony, is rather inaccessible." However, I have heard enough stories about people misled by their own incredulity that I went over to the balcony, turned on the light, and peered outside. I almost missed it, but there really was a package, sitting there in the rain in a corner. This is the first time this has ever happened to me, and I've lived here nearly three years.

I went outside again to double-check; unless the delivery man was nine feet tall, he had to clamber up and balance on a railing to get my package onto the balcony. Probably a rain-slick railing at that. Or he could have thrown it... but that would be a truly bad delivery man, and it wouldn't have landed where it did.

I am quite amused by this intrepid delivery man.

A Quote

2009-04-21T23:28:00.002-07:00

"The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper." —Eden Phillpots

Fake IDs Sign

2009-02-13T22:54:00.002-08:00

Some of the posts on this blog drag; how could they not, when every post shows the same kind of joke? However, this one still got a good laugh out of me: Fake IDs Here.

Redmond Hat

2009-01-02T16:10:00.004-08:00

I was looking for Mac hats, and I found this. I thought it would be quite funny if I went around wearing it, especially considering how much time I spend in Redmond. I can't really say that I practically live in Redmond, but it is the next town over... It seems much too mischievous to actually buy it, though.

The information overload of the 16th century

2008-12-01T23:28:00.002-08:00

I quite enjoyed this article, much more than I enjoyed the article it is responding to, though I thought both were food for thought: Why Abundance is Good.

It references the challenge of making the Internet into a more perfect medium than it is, of making it ideal for balancing its benefits with its costs. I think that may be the most exciting thing I've heard about the Internet... I'd be tempted to work on that.

Amazon now makes movies

2008-07-07T22:24:00.002-07:00

Well, the employees do. When they run contests. There's a main page, but honestly, the front movie there is kinda bland. Not as bland as what I might have made, but bland nonetheless. I like this one better; it's very cute. There's also one that you might find kinda funny, at least if you have watched a movie like Skycaptain and the World of Tomorrow, but they don't seem to have it posted yet. Maybe they're getting parody rights. *chuckle*

Serenity Quiz Results

2008-04-27T15:56:00.002-07:00

Which Serenity character are you?
created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Simon Tam

The Doctor. You have a gift for healing that goes beyond education. You took an oath to do no harm, even when your patients have tried to kill you. You are out of place where you are, being used to refined society. However, if you [...] you should be fine.

Simon Tam

75%

Capt. Mal Reynolds

69%

Kaylee (Kaywinnet Lee) Frye

63%

Hoban 'Wash' Washburne

63%

The Operative

44%

River Tam

44%

Zoe Alleyne Washburne

38%

Shepherd Derrial Book

25%

Jayne Cobb

13%

Inara Serra

13%

He was one of the ones I identified with the most, so I'll buy this. Rather flattering to have the captain as the second choice. *chuckle* Hopefully that doesn't mean I have an inflated opinion of myself.

Red Panda

2008-03-18T23:16:00.002-07:00

Not too long ago, I found a way to erase the boredom I once experienced while working out: podcasts. Of course, just because they alleviated boredom didn't mean they could avoid being productive! I alternated between BBC podcasts and sermons. I'll keep the podcasts and the sermons, but I've now found something thoroughly non-productive and entertaining: The Red Panda. Not serious in the least!

The Alarm Clock of Doom

2008-01-12T23:29:00.001-08:00

I just bought a nice gadget of an alarm clock from Target. It has numerous features; for instance, I didn't have to set it. I actually only intend to use one; the projection clock, which works in three different colors. This allows me to see what time it is when I'm lying in bed with my glasses off, and I have been looking forward to it for some time.

However, there is a dark side to this clock of mine... the serial number. 70911666PH. That is:

The most recent temple of Jerusalem fell in 70 AD

The United States suffered a devastating attack on home soil on 9/11

We are told in Revelation that 666 is the number of the Beast, who will fight against God and His Church, and also deceive many

PH, probably the most subtle of the signs, I interpret to refer to "Public Houses": pubs, taverns, bars. They clearly foster evil among the masses. :-)

However, I do think it would be an abuse of numerology to toss the alarm clock on this account. (In case anyone thought I was serious.) I think it quite unlikely that this alarm clock will cause my apartment building to be reduced to rubble, deceive me into serving the devil, or entice me into a pub.

Snow!

2007-12-01T13:54:00.000-08:00

It is the first of December, and for the first time here this winter, it is snowing. I tried to take a picture, but my free little digital camera cannot capture snowflakes. They are big, fat flakes, falling down in flocks, in crowds. Some of them must be an inch and a half from one end to the other! The conifers are feathered with flakes, and the other trees, devoid of leaves, stand in stark silhouette against a whitish sky. It is winter indeed. And to me, it seems excellent for winter to start not just sometime in December, and certainly not in November, but exactly when December begins! Perhaps I like numbers too well. I have sometimes wondered how people in the early and middle 1900's could stand living in years that had such boring numbers. It only recently occurred to me how little the year number really has to do with the flavor of a time. Or perhaps what was news was that I did think they were related.

Turns out I'm an Emperor

2007-11-17T12:44:00.001-08:00

Which Historical Lunatic Are You?
From Rum and Monkey.

I hadn't heard of him, but their article about him proves rather entertaining.

Drip

2007-06-10T14:25:00.000-07:00

I have recently been playing with a screensaver called Borkware Drip. This started when I visited my friend Mike a few weeks ago. I showed him the screensaver, and we both had a lot of geeky fun watching how the system of the drip screensaver functioned, and analyzing the statistics of where the drips were going to land. We were also thinking about ways to play around with it.

Then, when I had him over last Monday, we decided to do that, and edit the source code so as to change the colors of the drips based on all sorts of different things, including how far the drip had traveled and how far into the simulation we were. We also massively sped up the simulation so that instead of watching each drop come down individually, you could see them piling up a little more like sand in an hourglass. I don't have any pictures from how things looked Monday night, because we didn't have a good way to take screenshots; last night, I added code for saving off pictures to the screensaver itself, and also played with the drip coloring some to make it "prettier". Today, I added trails behind the drips that gradually fade away, so that even though the simulation is running too quickly to watch individual drips make their way down, you can still see what route the drips are taking.

Here's a picture of the screensaver with the drip trails: (Click to see full-size, which is fairly big but under 175k)

Here's some pictures of completed simulations: (These get saved automatically now)

Logicking Boats and Worlds

2007-04-12T18:45:00.000-07:00

We will start with these two sayings:

"Don't rock the boat"
"That rocked my world!"

Now, expression 1 is a negative expostulation, stating displeasure at the rocking of the boat. We might tentatively state that rocking is unpleasant. However, we know that expression 2 is a positive exclamation, stating pleasure at the rocking of the world.

Therefore, we can conclude that rocking is not always unpleasant. Rocking a boat evokes displeasure, but rocking a world evokes pleasure.

If that is the state of things with boats and worlds, then it must further be clear that stability is a very desirable quality for a boat, but not for a world. Boats should rest firmly in one place and not shift about. Worlds, on the otherhand, should be constructed in such a way that they rock about easily, for the pleasure of their denizens.

So in an ideal world, when you want excitement and thrill, you should stay on the land of your world, but if you begin to get motion sickness, you should spend some time in a boat.

My Cap has a Purpose

2007-04-03T22:08:00.000-07:00

In the interest of blogging more often, I am dashing this off before I eat supper.

I have seen three perdiddles in the past three days. Is spring perdiddle season?

I also saw a fellow wearing a cloak on the sidewalk while I was walking to the bus stop. He didn't look like he was trying to costume himself, either. It would be funny if fashion gradually shifted to the point where people thought it was normal to wear full midieval garb. :-)

The mountains are looking especially beautiful these days. I have observed an interesting thing. The Olympics are closer to work than home, but they look bigger from the park & ride near my apartment than they do from the skyscraper I work in. The heigh of my observation point must make up for being closer.

And finally, the subject of this post, which I have been racking my brains for the whole time. My cap has a Michigan block M on it. I bought it at Meijer's at the start of my senior year; I believe it is my first piece of Michigan apparel. Now, I have been thinking more and more about retiring it for a hat that expresses me better... perhaps something geeky, or something about God, or something about fantasy. That's not so much because I mind wearing a Michigan M; I do not. However, I do get tired of the reactions it brings (brought) during football season. "You watching the game?" "What did you think of the game last night?" "So, did Michigan win?" All of which brings from me some variant of "uhhhhh" followed by, "I went to school there, I really don't follow sports." However, today, it brought something more interesting: "Michigan, eh?" It was more interesting because it turned out that the middle-aged man calling it out had also gone to Michigan, and had been living in Ann Arbor working for various tech companies for a good while until he moved out to Seattle to work for Amazon just two years ago. He's working on Amazon's "Plog" feature now; it looks like it could be neat. Turns out they had pointed me to a DST update for my Palm if I'd only bothered to look. lol But cooler is that based on books you buy, they'll offer you blogs from authors you read; it's a pity so many of the greats aren't around anymore, or I'd look forward to getting hooked in to, say, CS Lewis's plog, but a modern author's might still be pretty cool.

Cyclope

2007-04-02T20:31:00.000-07:00

This t-shirt is funny. I don't think I need a funny t-shirt right now, but if I did, I might buy this one.

:-)

Some Humor

2007-03-29T23:48:00.000-07:00

I have discovered a very funny video thanks to my father and his friend Nathan. It involves the introduction of the book.

Socken

2007-03-24T14:17:00.000-07:00

German has some funny words. I need some new Socken, and I am finding the word quite amusing. I went and looked it up, and found that a related word is Strumpf. Even better!

Unfortunately, happiness is the exception today, not the rule.

Stonehenge, Vader, and a Countdown

2007-03-21T01:09:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted for some time, but since I need to go to bed now, I figured I'd post again. In this movie, one man uses primitive wooden structures to erect a slab the weight of two minivans. He thinks that some of the techniques he demonstrates were probably also used in the building of Stonehenge.

Also on YouTube, a my friend Leif has referred me to the amusing adventures of Chad Vader.

In the last three days, I've met two people who have been to one foreign nation: South Africa. On Sunday, I met a woman named Gretchen. That's a good start there; I've liked that name for a long time, perhaps because the other Gretchen I know is so cool. At any rate, Gretchen shared her experiences caring for AIDS orphans in South Africa, and I talked with her briefly afterward. The next day, as often happens, my coworkers were discussing ketchup over lunch. Ross asked if anyone else had been to a country where it was called tomato sauce. Our British representative confirmed that it is catsup (or was it ketchup?) in Britain, not tomato sauce. However, Ross said that when he was in South Africa, his apartment had been burgled, and when he was telling his family about it, he said, "They even stole my tomato sauce!" I still haven't found out what brought him to South Africa, but the point is that I don't meet someone who's been to South Africa every day, and two in just three days is pretty interesting.

Rich Little Village

2007-01-07T21:30:00.000-08:00

The 3rd-richest place in the United States, Baker, Missouri, has only two households and one family. Nevertheless, the Wikipedia page gives complete demographics for the area. Out of the 2 households, for instance, 50.00% are married couples living together. 100.00% of the residents are White. The amount of detail given for this tiny place has quite amused me.

Character

2006-11-18T01:09:00.000-08:00

I think it's kind of cool that this guy made this post. I don't know him, just ran across his blog while Googling for info about something, but the honesty and the humility are inspiring, not to mention his desire to protect her in a way that was still right, even though the pain of the breakup. Even just admitting that it was his fault probably took a lot of strength along with some unpalatable self-examination. Most break-ups aren't nearly this pretty.

Prayer and Blamelessness

2006-11-08T00:53:00.000-08:00

The Psalms have sometimes been explained to me as example prayers for us to pray. Part of that is that they show our human weaknesses and encourage us to carry on. That gives them the freedom to cry out things like "All is lost, there is no hope!" and then say that all is not lost and there is hope. But consider Psalm 26 and Luke 18:9-14. How can Psalm 26 be a good prayer to pray? I suppose it could be useful as a warning sign... "Son, that prayer you prayed sounded an awful lot like Psalm 26. You've got some humbling coming your way!" But somehow, that's not what I thought the Psalms were there for... If I were reading this Psalm out loud, I would read it as an idea of what, perhaps, God might want me to be. Something where I am reading it and thinking "this is far from what I actually am". Also, something where I can think, "Christ covers me, therefore God does see me this way." But Christ didn't tell us to pray this way... Any insights?

Elections

2006-11-06T01:29:00.000-08:00

While I do of course have more serious, relevant observations, I thought I would note down some of the things that were more amusing.

A candidate who is several thousand years old

For one candidate, when I typed "name Washington" into Google, I got back an address and a phone number. It would have amused me to call him, but since it was past midnight already, it seemed a little too rude.

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised when the campaign website of a past Microsoft employee fails to function properly in Safari.

If you weren't planning on voting, then do! You might just be amused...

Limits

2006-10-30T23:07:00.000-08:00

Earlier this month, my parents received a letter, which they have since forwarded to me. It ends something like this:

"The deadline for recept of Ian's Enrollment Application is December 15, 2006 and the number of spaces availableis limited, sowewould appreciateyourforwarding theenclosedenvelopeassoonaspossible.Thankyou."

Dreams

2006-10-28T17:39:00.000-07:00

I've been dreaming more lately than I was earlier this year, I think. Last night, I had a variety of adventures. I and the people I was adventuring with spent a fair amount of time with the queen of Denmark, who was very friendly and was willing to spend talk with us for hours talking through our problems. I got woken up earlier than expected by my pager. I'm not on pager duty. I called the number that paged me, and it turned out to be a hospital, so I told them that they'd paged the wrong person and they ought to try again. Fortunately, I was not paged again.

The night before, I was on a trip to the mountains which involved staying in a cabin wiht a beautiful view. In the common room, there were floor-to-ceiling windows, with a stunning view from the mountain we were on to another nearby... a little comparable to the view from the visitor's center at Hurricane Ridge, though certainly not the same. I was there with a great many friends, including Colin and Abigail. In the morning, Colin and I went to the oath classroom to swear our oaths. When we walked in, he announced that he was #1, and I stated that I was #3. It was a small classroom, with stark white walls and bright flourescent lights. There were already several students there. I was handed the script for part #3, but before I could get a good look at it, (which is notoriously hard in dreams), I heard someone knocking on the door, followed by the distinctive ring of my doorbell. Ikea had finally delivered the other half of my coffee table. (I picked up the first half on my own, not realizing my folly.) The man apologized for waking me, and when I asked, he was even kind enough to take the box into my apartment for me. Then I went back to bed.

Words

2006-10-23T23:49:00.000-07:00

Here's some cool words I've gleaned from Othello today:

Haggard: A wild female falcon. (It's also used to refer to unfaithful women, but I don't feel any need to collect vocabulary for that. I'd much rather collect vocabulary for making women happier.)

Sith: Since. As in, "I'll love no friend, sith love breeds such offense." And indeed, what passes for love among the Sith breeds great offense indeed. (And here I thought I wouldn't be able to stick in a Star Wars joke... I hadn't realized how resourceful Shakespeare could be!)

Hmm... if Shakespeare lived today, would his plays have any Star Wars jokes? Probably not, but it's a funny thought. Actually, that's probably part of the whispered "timelessness" of Shakespeare... that he didn't jape at the works of his compatriots. He still used the language of his day, not only high-sounding language but also the language of the lower class where it made sense, but perhaps he took some care about how much he drew from the day-to-day culture of his world.

Good. I have another excuse to ignore popular culture.

Speaking of which, I thought of a reason why fashion exists today, and even still, I'm not planning to become fashionable. I am thinking of buying some Hawaiian shirts from Amazon, though. Haven't seen prices to beat my first $3 Hawaiian shirt from Walmart, but that was Walmart, and that shirt has finally ripped, silk though it be. Most vendors online seme to think a Hawaiian shirt is worth at least $50, and maybe $70 or even $140 for a nice one. ????? They start at $20 at Amazon.

Butter

2006-10-19T01:47:00.000-07:00

me up.

Your Dominant Intelligence is Linguistic Intelligence

You are excellent with words and language. You explain yourself well.
An elegant speaker, you can converse well with anyone on the fly.
You are also good at remembering information and convicing someone of your point of view.
A master of creative phrasing and unique words, you enjoy expanding your vocabulary.

You would make a fantastic poet, journalist, writer, teacher, lawyer, politician, or translator.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

I think those results may have some truth in them, but they really butter me up well beyond my actual practiced abilities. I may be capable of learning to be all those things, but I'm certainly not yet. I hardly ever persuade people of things at all.

We've also got this:

You Belong in Amsterdam

A little old fashioned, a little modern - you're the best of both worlds. And so is Amsterdam.
Whether you want to be a squatter graffiti artist or a great novelist, Amsterdam has all that you want in Europe (in one small city).

What European City Do You Belong In?

I don't know much about Amsterdam, so I'll just leave it at that.

Spellings

2006-10-11T23:52:00.000-07:00

This may be old news to some, but I just learned that our national Education Secretary is named Margaret Spellings. Spellings. Isn't that the kind of name a playful author would give the Education Secretary? Like in Harry Potter, or in something that's even more literal with playful names? This is real life!

:-)

Here's where I learned it. She has glasses to match, too.

Maidens and Shepherd Boys

2006-10-05T00:27:00.000-07:00

I've found the beginnings of a story in a heap of paper in a box. They are writ in a hand not my own:

Well, the myths are always set in the early times, with the shepherd boys and young maidens.

Poetically, it actually works all right, evoking images of idyllic hills and so on. It does raise a question though: aren't there still young maidens? If not, why not? Did they all get old and become old maids? Are they all pretending to be girls and insisting that they aren't young maidens at all? Or did the dragons do a better job than I thought?
I was actually under the impression that some of my blog readers could reasonably be called "young maidens." Am I then set in the early times, blog and all? You know, that might not be so bad... but I've never encountered a true Celtic hero who spent any time at all updating a blog.

Irish Dancing

2006-09-30T23:51:00.000-07:00

There's a group called Léim at my home school of U of M that does Irish Dancing. I have loose ties to them: I kinda know one or two of the dancers, I did sound and lights for them one year, and sometimes they rehearsed underneath my dorm room; the music, though more pleasant than any other music that came from those depths, could still be a little distracting for studying. Now, I've found out there's a You-Tube video about them, so have a look! I don't think it's the best of their repertoire, but it's still cool.

Watching the Irish dancing gives me some sort of connection with a deep mystery that I am still pursuing, that relates to the Celtic and to fantasy.

CS Lewis

2006-09-30T17:48:00.000-07:00

Some of you have probably seen this already, but I found a cool documentary of Lewis's conversion to Christianity. It was linked to from here.

To me, it was a reminder that I still have deep quests about my self, there are things still locked up and confused. It was also a reminder that people do convert to Christianity, and evangelism is an endeavor that carries hope.

I also got a hint that Lewis may have found in the Greek works some of the same mystery that I find in fantasy, and there is a passage in Hippolytus about something worth desiring that moved Lewis and I might want to read myself.

Also, it sounds like GK Chesterton's "The Everlasting Man" might be a cool God-centered view of history.

More about the Pope's Lecture

2006-09-22T23:02:00.000-07:00

My father said in a comment that he was still wondering how we knew that God is a God of reason. I thought I remembered a couple of reasons, so I thought I'd go back and look for them:

1. In the beginning of John, the word we normally translate for "Word" is "Logos", which also means "reason". This is not the first time that I've heard that translating that as Word strips away some of its meaning. When Jesus is a concept which reflects both "reason" and "word", and He is one with God, we know that those things are important to God's nature. Language, with which we structure concepts not only for communication, but also for our own thinking. Reason, thinking in ways that fit together and make sense, perhaps? I find Reason much harder to define than Language. Anyone have any ideas about that? Regardless, Language and Reason are similar: they both bring order and structure to thought. Perhaps that reflects some of the meaning of Logos. In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God.

2. The Pope refers to some other church writers, in particular Lateran. No idea what Lateran says.

3. In general throughout the talk, the Pope refers to this union of reason, represented by the Greek spirit, with faith, as something that came about in the very dawning of the church. He seems to be saying, "You may not be able to find a great deal about this in scripture, but it has been with us from the beginning, and that is not an accident. Christianity belongs with that Greek tradition of reason." Not so much an attempt to prove, I don't think, as an appeal to the roots of the faith. Not the same as an appeal to tradition, as tradition tends to accrete and build up as the centuries go by. Rather, an appeal to foundations, to the original form of the faith. I think that this makes it worthy of serious consideration, but it is nothing like finding it in Scripture. I have always thought that God was rational, but I don't know how I was taught it. I do recall that his foolishness is greater than our wisdom... Rationality is easy to accept, but I'm not sure what value I'd assign to Greek culture and its links to us.

4. The New Testament was written in Greek. This serves as an example of how tightly bound Christianity and Greek were at the time the scriptures were written. Perhaps there is something to be learned about God here, that He brought things to such a pass that the New Testament was not written in Hebrew, not written in Latin, but in Greek. I'm not sure. I think it's more about the tightness with which the roots of Christianity hang to Grecian soil.

I do not thing that the points I have given above are enough to establish the rationality of God on their own, nor enough to establish the importance of the link between Christianity and Greek thought. I'd appreciate more thoughts on this, in either direction.

Birthday

2006-09-19T00:53:00.000-07:00

Does anyone know the normal way to tell people it's your birthday without sounding like your fishing for presents or surprise parties? I don't, but I figured a blog post was vague enough that nobody could feel obliged. :-) My birthday is on the 23rd of this month, a day which will also be graced by the presence of my mother. I had a family birthday party a week ago when I was in Michigan, but I don't have anything else planned at present. If anyone feels like helping me plan a birthday party sometime after the birthday, let me know, b/c I don't feel inspired to do it on my own. :-)

Greek

2006-09-18T20:56:00.000-07:00

As you may know, the Pope made some comments in a lecture last week that may make him quite unpopular with Muslims everywhere. I hear that he is going to Turkey in a few months, and I've prayed for his safety. My parents hunted down the full text of this lecture, and reading it, I found it quite interesting, and not because of the parts about Islam. Here's some of the interesting stuff:

The Pope discusses the bonding of rationality with Christianity, and how this relates to the scientific view of reason. This is always a good thing to read about, since it comes up when talking with nonbelievers.
He also talks about relative morality, which is interesting for some of the same reasons.
The Pope says that Christianity is linked with Greek philosophy, and that the current theology and philosophy that is part of the religion was born there. This may be old news to some of my readers, but it was fresh for me, and it means that next time I have a reason to read Greek philosophy, I will see a bit more relevancy in it.
On a lighter note, the word "rapprochement" appears three times. This is not the original text, it is a translation. Does this mean that the translator needs a smaller vocabulary? I don't think I'd ever encountered this word before, and it requires a French pronunciation to boot.

The Afterlife

2006-09-09T22:10:00.000-07:00

I was thinking about the afterlife today. It's easy not to. And it's easy to think of it mostly as what comes after the important stuff. Here in life is what matters. Even if that means giving to the poor and saving souls, it's natural to think that what we do in this world is the central feature of our existance.

I was thinking about comparing this to a game. When playing a game, it sometimes seems like the game is all that matters. Even though it is not a very large or important thing, we aren't thinking about anything else, and we care about winning the game. However, once the game's over, we see the rest of life again, and we remember broader goals and priorities. Fortunately, games aren't always that enveloping, but it happens enough to serve as an analogy. I am thinking that leaving this life might be like leaving a game. We would be leaving this sphere for a grander sphere, a narrow life for a broader life, a life which is just as rich as ours and then some, a life which is every bit as interesting, but works in different ways. This sphere we live in now might seem a disk compared to the sphere we are entering! Not central at all, just a stepping-block!

The Bible doesn't say a great deal about what exactly goes on in heaven, and as I'm going a little further than it says, I may be missing the mark on some points. Apply salt as desired.

Fitted Feet

2006-09-02T01:16:00.000-07:00

I have been praying some tonight, and I've been looking at the armor of God passage in Ephesians 6. I think I may have just made a little more sense out of 6:15 than I had before. "And with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace." I've normally been puzzled by this, but now I see it not exactly as 'readiness', but as urgency. We have the Gospel, and the world is thirsty parched in need for it. Shall we not rush out to act as agents of mercy and grace? Shall we not hurry forth to serve them? Since the actual passage is about "standing firm", I may be stretching a little beyond the original meaning, but I think what I am saying is still well within the pale. Anyone care to disagree? :-)

Hallelujah to God!

Combat Wombat

2006-08-10T00:38:00.000-07:00

This is cute. It's reminiscent of Super Mario or Sonic the Hedgehog, but instead of being a game, it's a clever movie with a bit of humor.

Blonde Joke

2006-08-01T00:16:00.000-07:00

A blonde walks into a bank in New York City and asks for the
loan officer.

She says she's going to Europe on business for two weeks and
needs to borrow $5,000.

The bank officer says the bank will need some kind of
security for the loan, so the blonde hands over the keys to
a new Mercedes Benz SL 500. The car is parked on the street
in front of the bank. She has the title, and everything
checks out.

The bank agrees to accept the car collateral for the loan.
The bank's president and its officers all enjoy a good laugh
at the blonde for using a $110,000 Benz as collateral
against a $5,000 loan.

An employee of the bank then proceeds to drive the Benz into
the bank's underground garage and parks it there.

Two weeks later, the blonde returns. She repays the $5,000
and the interest, which comes to $15.41.

The loan officer says, "Miss, we are very happy to have had
your business, and this transaction has worked out very
nicely, but we are a little puzzled. While you were away, we
checked you out and found that you are a multimillionaire.
What puzzles us is, why would you bother to borrow $5,000?"

The blonde replies, "Where else in New York City can I park
my car for two weeks for only $15.41 and expect it to be
there when I return?"

Finally, a smart blonde joke.

Received from Linda McDermon.

--
Rate this funny at
http://www.gcfl.net/archive.php?funny=20060714

Brought to you by GCFL.net: The Good, Clean Funnies List
A cheerful heart is good medicine... (Prov 17:22a)
Mail address: GCFL, Box 100, Harvest, AL 35749, USA

Dugongs

2006-07-31T23:45:00.000-07:00

A quirky animation by the makers of Magical Trevor: dugong

Bombs on request

2006-07-29T10:24:00.000-07:00

What is my country doing?

Unlikely visits to Narnia and Hogwarts

2006-07-26T02:26:00.000-07:00

As a demonstration of my continued existance, if not my exact location, I have taken some quizzes.

This one made me burst out laughing. I never really identified with Puddleglum, but my family found many ways to appreciate him, and he is a bit likeable, at that.

Well, I suppose I could have guessed I would be stuck with the stereotype: I should just start telling the quizzes that I am very, very, stupid. With a certain comma kept for demonstrative purposes. Also that I am brave and adventurous, which I may just be when I actually need to. I don't like to play with risk, though.

Intelligent and insightful, you are a gifted individual, who although may sometimes be buried in academic affairs, is friendly and welcoming.

Well, I decided to take it again, incredibly stupid, (I really couldn't have gotten any stupider), but ready to run out the door and play the hero at a moment's notice. The result made me laugh. Sadly, if I hadn't been Viktor, I would have been Dumbledore, according to the listed ranks, and I would hardly call him stupid! Maybe Viktor was the only stupid one they had. What about Crabbe or Goyle?

As Viktor you are brave, daring and have a thirst for adventure, with a particularly fondness for all things sporting.

Hunting Stardust!

2006-07-26T00:52:00.000-07:00

It's called Stardust@Home, but it's not like Seti@Home, at least not to my mind. Seti@Home let you watch your computer produce data analysis graphs looking for something you half-believed would never be found by anybody. Stardust@Home is not as well-tuned to the busy person, admittedly, but it does let you play a much more meaningful part. You get to use what they call a "focus movie" to examine amazingly small squares of "aerogel", looking for stardust collected by a satellite. They'll have thousands if not millions of squares to search, and they're only expecting around 40 particles. So yeah, your chances are still not too great. But they have a very good interactive tutorial on the site, and its actually kind of fun. It's not checking to see whether or not the square has a dot. It's adjusting the focus so you can see the very messy surface of the gel, and then adjusting down below the surface to look for tracks that might lead to particles. If you find a previously-unknown particle, you get to name it!

Mind you, I won't have time to do more than a dozen of these once they have it up and running, but it does look like fun. Here's some other notes:
- I read about the Stardust project on the BBC
- Stardust@Home seems to create its virtual microscopes entirely with JavaScript. Not really hard, but somehow neat all the same. My favorite Javascript app so far, even if I do find Google Maps more practical for day-to-day use.
- Stardust@Home uses S3, an Amazon service geared at letting developers have large amounts of web-accessible space. Yay for my employer doing cool and useful things! Though I must admit, it's much cooler coupled with Stardust@Home than in isolation.

Ohloh

2006-07-26T00:21:00.000-07:00

Abigail made a post linking to this article and asking how a company could make money on open source. Before I read the article, I thought that the company probably sold a product to evaluate free software, a bit like RedHat selling a distro of free software. However, it looks like Ohloh is a free service, not only in public beta, but even after release. What, then, do they plan to do?

First, you will notice near the end of the article that they plan to make a for-pay service for evaluating proprietary software. The free one, I suppose, will serve as a demo for the one that is not. Also, I notice that the founders of this company are, at least largely, from Microsoft, two men who were pretty high up in Microsoft's decision-making processes, and two "development managers"—for all I know, a development manager is one step above a developer, but I really don't know. Perhaps a someone can enlighten me. At any rate, Microsoft's upper management is not well-known for its tender love of all things open source. I've been told that Microsoft developers are forbidden to touch it. It seems unlikely to me that Ohloh would be a boon to the open source movement, just based on that.

So Ohloh offers a free service for evaluating open source projects, and a for-pay service for evaluating propreitary solutions. Now, if they can move you from the free service to the paid service, they score, I think, two points, and not just one. Not only do they get you to pay them money, but they move you away from open source and towards proprietary solutions, the territory where Microsoft feels the most comfortable.

How would they accomplish that? Somehow, they would need to build confidence in the service itself, while at the same time pushing customers away from any open source offering. A good example strategy involves numbers: a ranking service is quite likely to offer scores of different options, not only in the composite, but in specific figures such as "Reliability" or "Support". They can show a client several different open source projects, the top picks from all the rankings, and point out how one product shines in Reliability, another in Support. However, they can also point out how slight the difference is, and how low the numbers are compared to what might be desirable. "With a reliability ranking like that, they would take at least 3 weeks to help you. Can you imagine having your production servers go down and waiting 3 weeks for some hobby programmer to get around to helping you?" Then, as a sort of free bonus, they show the ratings on one or two proprietary programs. "Look at this one. The reliability score is 3 times higher than the highest one you saw there. And that isn't even the best one. If you'd like, I could go over some of the proprietary options that are available." For a fee, of course. In fact, the proprietary service could be quite profitable, especially if it involved a commission. Now, the client has got a good explanation of where the numbers came from, and the service seems trustworthy enough to him, and it's even predictable enough to try to get him to spend money. Having been honestly offered a choice from among several open source projects, he may feel that he has been narrowly saved from making a dangerous mistake, and gladly pay for the service so that he can take a proprietary option.

That's what Ohloh looks like to me. Drawing people from a free demo to a paid service is a standard business practice. Drawing companies away from open source software to proprietary software is just the kind of thing Microsoft would want to do. Perhaps I should be more trusting of these brave entrepreneurs, but the explanation that I've given makes a lot more sense to me.

In Seattle

2006-06-16T19:42:00.000-07:00

Last Monday, I flew to Seattle. I enjoyed a witty book called The Eyre Affair on the plane, and also meditated and studied a tiny bit of Ruby. At the airport, my luggage showed up very quickly (for luggage), and I got picked up by my friends Abigail, Laura, and Paula. They took me to my temporary apartment, and we hung out there for a short time before getting supper at a Chinese place. It was my first time eating Mu Shu Pork, which tasted amazingly like food. I would eat it again.

For the rest of the week, I have been busy settling into my apartment, but mostly buying things. For instance, I have bought a variety of groceries, a dish drainer, a recycling bin, a sponge stick, and a car. I have pretty nearly settled on an apartment, and hope to pin down the details soon. Also, I have made a step toward escaping Wells Fargo, and opened a credit union account. Let's hear it for credit unions!

On Monday, I start work. I'm hoping to take the bus, but if necessary I will drive until I can develop a cleaner routine. The bus should work fine, though.

I have also responded to comments requesting details about my adventure with the drain plug. See the Abbey post's comments if interested.

Back from the Abbey

2006-05-27T19:14:00.000-07:00

I spent Monday through Friday this last week at St. Gregory's Abbey. The idea was to have a retreat to renew my relationship with God, and maybe work through some of the stuff that's always sitting around needing to be worked through. My father has gone to this abbey for a week of retreat nearly every year for some time, and I thought I would try it myself. It turns out to be quite a nice place out in the country. There are seven monks, many little services every day, and lots of Psalms and chanting. I haven't spent much time reading Psalms— not usually my favorite— and it was neat to be immersed in them for a while. There's also a bit of wooded land, and a small lake with a couple of rowboats. I learned that before using a rowboat, its drain needs to be plugged. I didn't know they had drains that were left unplugged, but I suppose it would be a good measure against rainwater. Anyway, sitting out in the middle of the lake in a boat watching the reflection of trees in rippling water was pretty relaxing.

I took a few pictures, and I could post a couple if anyone is interested.

Two Nerdy Links

2006-05-18T21:36:00.000-07:00

OK, so while I didn't have time to post often, (wait, that doesn't help much, does it?), I made notes in my ToDo list of interesting things to post, so that I wouldn't lose them in the meantime. I have a dozen or two dozen items there now. Here are some links that might appeal to readers who enjoy technical matters:

An internet joke.

A site that has some Palm software which I find very useful and nice: Florent Pillet I thought I would give them a polite recommendation to my tiny horde of readers.

More items will come, and for a more general audience.

The Whirlwind of Limbo

2006-05-17T20:53:00.000-07:00

I am in the midst of a six-week period. It began when I moved back home, having graduated at two separate ceremonies and skipped a third. It will end when I flap my wings really hard and fly all the way over to Seattle, with perhaps just a little help from a commercial airline. In the meantime, I am sort of trying to take a break; I am reading more, and I don't have regimented wake-up times; but at the same time, I am pretty thoroughly swamped. I have a long todo list, with a lot of small tasks and a few that are larger, more daunting, but also more important. I am trying to arrange visits with some people I know before I go; I don't really feel like I have time to, but it's easier now than it will be when I live in Seattle, and I know there is value there. Also helping my sister paint the inside of her duplex, and working with a friend on a novel we're writing together, and also on his move from one apartment to a neighboring one.

On the upside, I will get to see a lot of friends, and I have read several quite enjoyable books; I now have an active interest in continuing the series that begins with The Diamond Throne by David Eddings, and the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan (I've finished the prequel, the first book, and the second book), and the series that begins with His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik. I recommend all of those books to people who enjoy fantasy, and people who like historical fiction might also enjoy HIs Majesty's Dragon, depending on how much deviation they can appreciate. I'm pretty sure there were no dragons involved in the Napoleonic wars, but the book is placed in the historical framework of those wars, and there is more history there than I can appreciate without brushing up my knowledge.

Next week, I'm taking a retreat at a monastery a few hours away. I've never done it before, but I'm hoping to come back with a stronger relationship with God, and with my life generally more sorted out. Also, I am hoping to come back refreshed. :-)

Care for your bugs

2006-05-05T09:16:00.000-07:00

James, age 4, was listening to a Bible story. His dad read,
"The man named Lot was warned to take his wife and flee out
of the city, but his wife looked back and was turned to
salt." Concerned, James asked, "What happened to the flea?"

Excerpt from a GCFL funny.

Smile for the Camera!

2006-04-27T22:02:00.000-07:00

The men look upset, but the sea serpent, or orm, looks more like it's posing to me. It's looking straight at the "camera". It makes me smile. :-)

Got this from a site about sea serpents in Norway.

Math: Immutable?

2006-04-02T19:35:00.000-07:00

Could God create a world with fundamentally different mathematics? Where our calculus and probability theory gave completely innacurate results? Where 2 + 2 = 5? I'm thinking about this because I'm looking at probability in my Artificial Intelligence class. Probability theory is stranger than things like arithmetic and calculus because it is trying to give precise estimates, which seems like it's almost an oxy moron. But even with probability theory, I think that mathemeticians believe it speaks of absolute truths, truths which could not be anything other than what they are. That, I gather, is something that mathemeticians find very alluring about math. It is Truth. It has a purity and unassailability that other disciplines lack. However, for some reason, when I have studied math recently, I've been pestered by the idea that it's a set of rules put together by people because they thought they were interesting or gave good results, and that they were just ideas without substance behind them. In our world, that isn't so, at least for most math. Most math represents the real workings of things. But to really appreciate this, I'd like to explore the question: Could math be different? I cannot understand how it could be different, but I do appreciate that my understanding is very limited. I may not be able to imagine math being different, but I also can't imagine a four-dimensional object particularly well. Just because I don't understand it doesn't mean it couldn't be.

So please, post comments, give me your deep philosophical thoughts! Or brief and pointed jabs. Whatever you think most effective.

P.S. You may notice I've posted on my blog twice this evening. That is because, while I need to work on my AI homework, I am exhausted from strike for the play. I went up and down stairs a lot, and carried heavy things. Apparently, being exhausted leads to more blog posts. Interesting.

The Show is Past

2006-04-02T18:27:00.000-07:00

I am sad to be done with the Idiots Karamazov. It feels completely unnatural for the thing which we put so much work into to go away in a puff of performances at the end of tech week. And I find myself twice as fond of the play now as I did in rehearsal. I was grinning about it a lot opening night, watching from the wings, and now I'm remembering funny moments from the play as if they were the traits of a lost loved one. And there have been friendships formed, people I know now and suddenly have no excuse to see every day. It is like a bubble growing larger and larger, only to pop at the end. But I come out richer than I went in.

Christianity and the World

2006-04-01T10:19:00.000-08:00

My friend Nate recently pointed out this article to me. It seems to make some good points. Do you readers have any comments?

Click here to see my initial thoughts once you've read the article.

Deck out the Flies

2006-03-31T00:04:00.000-08:00

This from my friend Marianna: a newly adorned fly.

The Entertainment

2006-03-30T23:52:00.000-08:00

So, it's been a month or two, and I've barely posted. What have I been up to? Many things, I'm afraid, but for this post, I will tell you about only one of them:

**********************************************************
HAVOC - CHAOS - HAVOC - CHAOS - HAVOC - CHAOS

This weekend, the RUDE MECHANICALS present:

THE IDIOTS KARAMAZOV

by

CHRISTOPHER DURANG and ALBERT INNAURATO
(No, it's not by Dostoyevsky, but the characters don't know that!)
Produced by Lauren Michniacki, with Al Duncan
Directed by Kate Hutchens

LYDIA MENDELSSOHN THEATRE
Friday, March 31 at 8pm
Saturday, April 1 at 8pm
Sunday, April 2 at 2pm
Tickets: $3 students, $5 everybody else; available at the door and MUTO

songs - chaos - poetry - guns - dead birds - resurrections - epilepsy - transfiguration - wheelchairs - flailing artists - altar boys - drug addictions - love - family - patricide - good ole' wholesome irreverence

FEATURING: Sarah Tristano, Greg Kovas, Julia Garlotte, Matt Lisiecki, Alison Velasco, Dina Vovsi, Virginia Corrigan, Maggie Shapiro, Arielle Ornstein, Ian Krieg, Drew Martin, Nishant Kumar, Russell Matthews, Lauren Michniacki, and Christine Ovaitt

Written early in Durang's and Innaurato's careers, this team effort from the two Yale graduate playwrights is a sort of retaliation against the heaping spoonfuls of literature anddrama they were made to read - more or less willingly - in their college years. Constance Garnett, the translatrix that brought the Russian classics to the Anglophone world, narrates her slightly revamped version of what she intends to be The Brothers Karamazov, but she gets a few things wrong... Enter the rest of the Western Lit. canon: Chekov, Turgenev, Hemingway, Barnes, Nin, Dickens, and plenty more. Flirting with the absurd and including some incisively comic musical numbers, this play examines some questions about real life while twisting it with the world of fiction.

**********************************************************

It is a full-length play that I have been rehearsing for since the beginning of February. I admit that if I were to write a play, it would never have been this one. However, it can get quite funny, and if you enjoy the random and irrational, you may enjoy this play just for that alone.

Goofiness

2006-03-25T12:50:00.000-08:00

A couple months back, I started experimenting with different ways of walking. I think part of the reason originally was the thought that it might exercise different muscles, but I don't really think about that anymore. It's just more fun walking around my dorm if I can do it backwards and sideways. But today, I realized that despite all my time walking backwards and sideways, I hadn't had much practice opening doors when I wasn't facing them. So just now, I decide to take on a new challenge: I would approach my dorm room door backward, place the keycard into the slot behind me, enter my entry code with my back still to the keypad, and then push the handle down and back cheerfully into the room. I didn't really expect it to work the first time; reflecting my keycode so I could enter it backward was almost certain not to work right away, or so I thought. But to my surprise, the door opened when I pushed down the handle, and I backed into the room on the first try.

Running backward is also fun, though it really is necessary to look over your shoulder if you're going to do that. :-)

My Nerdiness Rating

2006-03-22T15:19:00.000-08:00

Tri-Lamb Material
73 % Nerd, 21% Geek, 52% Dork

For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.
A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.
A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.
You scored better than half in Nerd and Dork, earning you the coveted title of: Tri-Lamb Material.

The classic, "80's" nerd, you are what most people think of when they think "nerd," largely due to 80's movies like Revenge of the Nerds and TV shows like Head of the Class. You're exceptionally bright and smart, and partly because of that have never quite fit in with your peers or social groups. Perhaps you've realized, or will someday, that it is possible to retain all of the things that you like about being brilliant and still make peace with the social cliques around you. Or maybe you won't--it's really not necessary. As the brothers of Lambda Lambda Lambda discovered, you're fine just the way you are and can take pride in that. I mean, who wants to be like Ogre, right!?

Congratulations!
THE NERD? GEEK? OR DORK? TEST

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 86% on nerdiness
You scored higher than 21% on geekosity
You scored higher than 87% on dork points

Link: The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test written by donathos on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

I'd say the most annoying thing about tests like this is trying to discretize continuous values onto a low-res set of options. Even just slightly higher resolution would be good. There were several where I fell directly in the middle.

As to the results... I've considered myself a nerd for some time, so I'm glad to be able to put a numerical value on it. ;-) I'm a little disappointed that my geekiness is quite so low though, and I wish my dorkiness had fell just the other side of 50%. Anyone want to post comments with revisionist quiz results? ;-D

Quote of the Day

2006-03-17T23:23:00.000-08:00

"I don't remember when my body parts started cracking."

What does it mean?

Housing Survey

2006-01-23T13:29:00.000-08:00

I am filling out a housing survey. They have asked me how I like my room. Is the dorm kept clean? Does it seem safe to me? Should they add wireless internet? Is the cell phone reception good? Should they start selling fruit cups at the snack bar?

And then:
Please indicate the importance to you personally of each of the following.
a. Becoming accomplished in one of the performing arts (acting, dancing)
b. Becoming an authority in my field
c. Obtaining recognition from my colleagues for contributions to my special field
d. Influencing the political structure
e. Influencing social values
f. Raiding a family
g. Having administrative responsibility for the work of others
h. Being very well off financially
i. Helping others who are in difficulty
j. Making a theoretical contribution to science
k. Writing original works (poems, novels, short stories)
l. Creating artistic work (painting, sculpture, decorating)
m. Becoming successful in a business of my own
n. Becoming involved in programs to clean up the environment
o. Developing a meaningful philosophy of life
p. Participating in a community action program
q. Helping to promote racial understanding
r. Keeping up to date with political affairs
s. Becoming a community leader
t. Integrating spirituality into my life
u. Improving my understanding of other countries and cultures
v. Working to find a cure to a health problem

I'm just a little bemused. My dorm wants to get to know me. Does it want to become my new best friend? Go out for coffee? (As if I drank coffee...) It seems kind of silly. But on the other hand, these would be very good questions if they actually did want to get to know someone. It seems like they get to the dreams of a person very well. For instance, even though I enjoy theater, (a) isn't that important to me. (b) is something I think I'd like sometimes, but it's not the cream of existance. (d) and (e) seem like valuable contributions to make to the world. (i) is clearly a Good Thing(tm). (j) would be cool, but I don't really expect to do it. I am quite into (k) though. (t) is good if it means that I want to serve God more fully. But as to (v)...no, I'm afraid curing cancer isn't on my ToDo list.

So we have this set of questions that seems like it could work on LiveJournal on a fill-in-the-bubble survey from my dorm administrators. Huh?

Stardust and Leader-Ladies

2006-01-15T23:24:00.000-08:00

A probe named Stardust has landed on Earth after a seven-year journey through the solar system. It carries our first sample of comet dust. They haven't gotten to the point of studying the dust yet, but it sounds like a pretty cool thing.

I was also amused to see two female presidents in the news today. I don't hear about many new presidents in the news, and I don't think I've ever noticed a headline about a female one since I set up my headline screensaver. Having two announced on the same day seems like quite a fun coincidence! ...though I suppose being at the start of a new year might have something to do with it. Both have historic trivia attached to them: Chile is getting its first lady president, and Liberia is putting in place the first elected lady president not only in that country, but in all of Africa. Overall, pretty cool.

Eventful Half-Weekend

2006-01-14T23:24:00.000-08:00

Well, it's Saturday night, I ought to be in bed, and I must say, I've had a very eventful weekend. First, I went to a retreat put on by my church. This involved rushing around all over the place on Friday; taking a superfast shower, followed by a superfast supper, followed by a moderatly fast entering-my-room-while-the-key-is-locked-in-thanks-to-the-shower-and-the-rush. Then, I was able to meet the rest of my group, and pick a ride to the retreat. The ride was a convertible, excellent for traveling through swarms of raindrops, and nothing short of perfect for snow. I entertained myself by navigating, while the driver entertained himself by trying to see through a windshield obscured with ever-changing raindrop patterns. We got to the camp safe and sound, and gave up the pleasant games of driving mazes through torrents of rain for the gray and trying drudgery of having a good time with God and our friends.

The retreat itself had three talks and a lot of time for worship through music. The first talk served to remind us that we are in a battle, that Satan is after us and wants bring us down if he can. The speaker used several examples. With appropriate anonymity, he shared about several pastors he had worked with who had fallen in sexual sin. In one case, he found out and was able to play a useful role in stopping what was going on before it went too far. In the other case, an entire church was devastated by the affair that their founding pastor had; the pastor went to a center fighting addictions. That pastor was a good friend of the speaker, who was shocked when he found out. He did not tell us these stories to discredit the church, of course, but to show us that even though we are Christians and try to do what is right, we are still under attack. It can be easy to get comfortable and trust that all is well, but complacency is dangerous.

The second talk was about how to fight back. One thing to be aware of is the importance of our emotions. In our speaker's opinion, many Evangelical Christians come to believe that they need to always act happy, and keep from expressing their real feelings. It may seem obvious when it's written out like that, but that is a really unhealthy thing to do, at least if you never deal with the emotions. He described separate occasions when he and an experienced friend fell under great emotional overload and had no idea how to deal with it. The Psalms provide many examples of our volitile human emotions being expressed openly to God. I think it's freeing to see David writing Psalms that say things that we know theologically aren't true: "Have you abandoned me God?" "Do you even care about me?" When we cry out to God, some caution may be necessary, but we don't need to filter what we're expressing based on what we've been taught is true. It's OK to cry out something emotionally even when you know in your head that it really can't be true; it helps you get it out and deal with it in the open.

However, a larger part of resisting the devil's schemes is remembering that we must depend on God to help us fight sin, that we cannot do it without help, and we cannot do it by sheer willpower. Also, by confessing our sins, and by being honest about our own weaknesses, we gain some protection from the devil's schemes. If we pose, putting up a false and polished self, then we will be in great danger indeed. I really hope I'm not doing that, and if I am, somebody'd better tell me. :-) But I did realize there were plenty of problems I could stand to share with someone. After that talk, I confided a nice long list of sins and stuggles to one of my close friends; we were at it for twenty minutes during an "appropriate" time, and then continued during the entirety of the next worship session. Quite refreshing.

The third talk was entitled "Where are the workers?" The first two talks were given by a guest speaker, but this one was given by New Life's own Jon Shah. He speculated most convincingly that many people do not work the fields of evangelism because they are dangerous. As Jesus says in Luke 10, we are sent out as sheep among wolves. We should approach it as something that will take perseverence and much trust in God; we should not be surprised when the going gets rough. And why bother? Well first, because Jesus tells us to. But it may be more inspiring to consider what happens later in Luke 10, when the 72 that Jesus sent return. Great things have taken place, and Jesus tells them that many kings and prophets have longed to see these events, but they never got to. By taking up the mission that Christ lays out for us, we can be part of events of epic proportions, serving Good in noble and valuable ways.

And after that, we all went home, picking up Arby's on the way. I wasn't navigator this time around, so I slept some of the time. However, I also found my chest hurting near the end of the trip. When I got back to my dorm room, the pain was still there. While I suspected it might just be my torso's musculoskeletal system showing yet again that it wasn't in shape after my back surgery, I couldn't tell for sure. There's this annoying thing about chest pains; if you can't tell what they are, there's some fairly good reasons to play it cautious and get them checked out, because they're also the main indicator of heart attacks, and heart attack symptoms are fairly subtle, from what I've learned. If you ignore heart attack systems, you can do some really bad damage before anything obvious happens. I would have checked it out with my doctor, but that doesn't work so well on Saturday nights. Instead, I called 911 and told them what was happening. I didn't want to cause a lot of trouble over nothing, but the 911 lady assured me that she could give me no medical advice about whether I should look into the thing further. Instead, a little while later, I found myself riding an ambulance to the ER. All of the medical staff seem perfectly comfortable with this reaction to chest pains, and they brushed aside my attempts at apology. It was kind of strange getting the invalid treatment though. They rolled me from my room to the ambulance on a stretcher, then put me in a wheelchair in the ER. Part of me wanted to protest that I could still walk fine, but it seemed like they would just keep rolling me around anyway, so I didn't bother. Why not just trust the experts?

At any rate, once the doctors had the reassurance of a variety of tests, they decided that the musculoskeletal idea was a pretty good one, and let me go. Overall, I think I spent about 6 hours in the ER, mostly waiting for tests to be performed. Fortunately, my father demonstrated his love for me by coming to keep me company and drive me home, and I also had had the sense to pack water, snacks, and a good book. I was tempted to ask the paramedics if I could bring my laptop, but I laughed so hard when I thought of it that I could see there was no sense in doing it.

Christmas Lights

2006-01-14T23:22:00.000-08:00

It will be so much fun when I finally have my own house... ;-) Requires a Windows Media Player plugin (sigh), and I had to watch it in Firefox.

[edit] BTW, got this from Abigail's blog.

Nemesis Quiz

2006-01-12T15:32:00.000-08:00

Your arch-nemesis is:	Joan of Arc

Why?	Because they tried to steal your identity
The winner will be...	You will join forces to conquer evil
Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

Now, this quiz didn't even ask me any questions. I don't think that really counts. It was kinda funny though... after I gave it the same name a few times and got a different nemesis each time.

Personality Quiz

2006-01-12T15:25:00.000-08:00

Yet again, I have been proclaimed "Normal". What is this world coming to?

Your Social Dysfunction:
Normal

Being average in terms of how social you are, as well as the amount of self-esteem you have, you're pretty much normal. Good on you.

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

Please note that we aren't, nor do we claim to be, psychologists. This quiz is for fun and entertainment only. Try not to freak out about your results.

A Blog Game

2006-01-12T15:18:00.000-08:00

"We human beings can be identified in many ways."
Computer Networking, Kurose & Ross

1. Grab the nearest book.

2. Open the book to page 123.

3. Find the fifth sentence.

4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions. If you do not have a journal, post a comment here.

5. Don't search around and look for the coolest book you can find. Do what's actually next to you.

All that said, I actually chose the fifth sentence including the one that started on the previous page. I thought it was a bit more fun in isolation than the fifth complete sentence:

"For example, we can be identified by the names that appear on our birth certificates."
Computer Networking, Kurose & Ross

2005-12-30T23:19:00.000-08:00

This is my contribution to the family newsletter:

I have had a busy but happy year. When it began, I was in the second semester of my junior year. Some of the classes I took were interesting, but all were challenging, with some beyond my ability to really keep afloat. At the start of the semester, I wrote a comedy skit about aliens, and directed it as part of a show called Evening of Scenes. It was a lot of work, but well worth it. Later in the semester, I accepted the position of Lighting Designer for a student rendition of T.S. Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral going up in the Lydia Mendelssohn. For a week, I had no time to do my homework, but despite the stress, it was also well worth it. I took great pleasure in what I did.

For the summer, I took an internship with Amazon.com. They flew me out to Seattle, set me up in a downtown apartment, and paid me handsomely. Amazon.com is a nice place to work, and I also fell in with a very pleasant circle of friends, made forays in indoor rock climbing, and visited several sites of natural beauty. Amazon made me an offer of full-time employment in October, which I have accepted. I will be moving out to Seattle again in June, this time with no set plans for moving away. I am looking forward to it; even seeing my map of Seattle makes me happy.

Meanwhile in my penultimate semester at the University, I took a game development class. Thanks to it, I spent many long hours in the lab, but the results were worthwhile. I made a game called Potionworks which combined the best elements, (or perhaps the worst), of Tetris and Pipedream, for those who have heard of those games. After that, I made a fully textual adventure game, built around the story of a young farmer trying to marry a princess of the Faery. For a final project, my group made a strategy game we called Earthdust, which the Professor was very impressed with. If you want to take a look, it and all the other final projects by my class are available online.

You can also read the whole newsletter, if you're curious about the rest of my family.

Airplane Funny

2005-12-30T01:40:00.000-08:00

Just encountered a very funny rendition of an airplane's safety instructions. I actually laughed; even amusing emails only occasionally do that to me. Enjoy!

Get Games!

2005-12-28T21:45:00.000-08:00

All right, so if you have a PC (unlike me), and its fairly modern or well-equipped, you may just be able to play the snazzy games I made in my games class. However, you will almost certainly need to download some DLLs first.

Download Earthdust, which I made with two other people, (see the credits in the game). It is a strategy game in an asteroid belt. Play against another player and command your fleet to victory. There is a practice arena that you can muck around in on your own, but actual play requires two networked computers.

Download PotionWorks, my first project in the games class. It is most simply described as a cross between Tetris and Pipedream. Some tips:
1. Put pipe ends against each other to make them stick. You don't need to build up from the bottom.
2. In general, potion flows like water under only a little pressure, and it is affected by gravity; if it can go straight down, it won't bother to go left or right, and if it can go left or right, it won't bother to go up.

Merry Christmas!

2005-12-24T21:09:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas! [Imagine me saying something deep here.] Enjoy the celebration, and may it bring you closer to God and your loved ones.

The BBC has posted an interesting article reminding the world of Christ's forgiving power. Though I doubt this matches the intention of the editorial board, still, I pray that some people might come closer to Christ and Christianity through this article. May old wounds receive some healing, may at least some misconceptions be righted, and may the image of a forgiving God shine hope into the hearts of those weighed down with guilt.

Spiderman 2

2005-12-24T01:27:00.000-08:00

I was at my friend Leif's house this evening, and we watched Spiderman 2 together. I'd never seen it before. In one part, Peter decides to give up on being Spiderman, because it is making his life very difficult. In the following scenes, we see him in his new role. In the most memorable of these, he walks by an alley and hears a man calling for help. Two men are beating him, asking him to hand over money. Peter knows that he could save the man, and to his credit he does hesitate, but in the end he just walks away.

All of this made me think of a few things. As a Christian, God has called me to do certain things, to help people in a variety of ways. I am often lazy about this, or do not pay enough attention to see what I'm supposed to do. It reminds me of a song by According to John which includes this: "people are dying and it doesn't bother me... Oh it really bothers me that it doesn't bother me anymore." The song has a more international focus; it is about seeing news reports of horrors in other parts of the world. I think it applies here, too, though. I see people who are having trouble making their lives work. I see people who are doomed to Hell. And I go on hunting up fun projects, working on my schoolwork with dedication, and occasionally trying to help people.

One of the lessons in the film, (though not the only one), is that with great power comes great responsibility. Some might think it rather unlikely that I have any great power, but it really doesn't matter how special or amazing my abilities are. God has enabled me to help people in some ways, and I have a mission to help the people He wants me to help using the gifts he has given me.

Back Home for Break

2005-12-21T23:13:00.000-08:00

I moved back to my parent's house today. My father was extremely helpful; he took all of my stuff to the car while I went through the checklist for closing up my dorm room. Now, I've set up my computer in my room, unpacked all my stuff, and watched some web-comics. It'll be nice not having unpacking as an ongoing task; I brought less home, and I've made an effort to unpack it all before going to bed.

Now that I'm back, I get a daily choice. Whether to work on some amazing or entertaining project, or whether to act as though I had nothing better to do than to read for hours on end. Such a hard choice. :-)

Oh, and I need to start Christmas shopping. Christmas is in three days.

Soon, I plan to make Potionworks and Earthdust available from my blog. Then you can see what happens when you take a game development class. :-)

Automotive Tip

2005-12-19T14:14:00.000-08:00

From a GCFL funny about automotive gifts:

"17. Microsoft Windows Eliminator. If your car or truck
begins to run poorly, (long time to start, frequent crashes,
etc.), it's computer, (ecm, ecu, black box, etc.), may have
become infected with this nasty computer virus. This product
will safely remove the virus. $199"

The price is higher than most of the other offerings in the funny.

Computer Game Showcase

2005-12-08T21:13:00.000-08:00

I have been spending a lot of time working on a game called Earthdust with a couple of other people for my comptuer game class. It is an RTS that takes place in an asteroid belt. The asteroids don't pose any threat to your space ships; instead, you can build on them, then see your buildings float off to other parts of the map. Earthdust will be playable by two people over a network. I'm hoping that all of my Michigan friends will be able to come. :-) For you folks in Seattle and other places, just use those handy teleportation devices; it'll be a lot of fun. ;-)

COMPUTER GAME SHOWCASE

EECS 494

Saturday December 17, 2005
7:30 - 9:00 pm
1401 Duderstadt Center
North Campus
University of Michigan

Come see the future of computer games.

EECS 494 is a class on game design and development taken by computer science
seniors at the University of Michigan. At the Showcase we will have the best
final projects for you to play.

Electronic Arts, Microsoft, and Activision have donated over 20 real
computer games. These games will be given to the developers of the best
games (as voted on by the attendees), and many of them will be given away to
attendees as door prizes based on random drawings.

Directions to the Duderstadt Center:
Directions
Parking is available in a lot northwest of the Duderstadt Center off of
Murfin Ave.

Directions to the 1401 Duderstadt (UM3D LAB-Modeling Lab):
Map of the Duderstadt Center

For more information about this course, please visit our web page:
Class Web Page

Memories

2005-11-21T18:26:00.000-08:00

If you read this, if your eyes are passing over this right now, even if we don't speak often, please post a comment with a memory of you and me. It can be anything you want, either good or bad. I promise not to come after you with a spatula, either way. Having a last name that means "war" doesn't make me violent. :-)

When you're finished, post this little paragraph on your blog and be surprised (or mortified) about what people remember about you. (I got this from Jesse's blog)

Bringing out the Einstein within me

2005-11-19T11:06:00.000-08:00

I saw this test on a friend's blog, and it looked like fun. Apparently we're the same person, though. LOL

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

States I've Been In

2005-11-08T20:48:00.000-08:00

I tried to include a lot of the states I've driven through, and there's a few cases where I'm really not sure what route we took, but I think I have everything I've actually hung around in for a day or two marked. Perhaps my father will enlighten me about the rest, since he planned most of these trips.

create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

Thanks to my father's amazing memory, I have added North Dakota, New Jersey, Nebraska, and finally Missouri, which he just remembered as I thanked him for his comment. My family saw the Laura Ingalls Wilder house in Missouri.

West Coast, Here I Come

2005-11-08T20:16:00.000-08:00

In one week, I will be on a plane flying to California for an interview with a company called FactSet. A day later, I'll be on a plane flying back. It looks like I basically take off as soon as they're done interviewing, so the interruption to the amazing world of academia should be as minimal as possible. It's pretty startling, though; I only found out last Thursday. Also, the exam I have the day after will be telling as to just how low-impact the interview really is.

Let's hear it for the schools!

2005-10-31T18:10:00.000-08:00

This article, pointed out by my sister, says that public school administrators have exceptionally low GRE scores. It complains about the school system for letting this happen, and for letting in 100% of their applicants.

I'm unhappy to hear that the GRE scores are so bad, but the author still doesn't have any plan of action in place. He complains, but he offers no alternative. I don't know if there is a good alternative, unfortunately, but if there were, it would involve having more applicants. What the schools need most is not more selectivity; that would just mean they had fewer administrators. What they need is a wider pool. They need thousands of graduates eagerly vying to adminstrate high schools, including a large number of smart ones. Once that happens, I'm sure they'll have no trouble being selective and choosing good administrators. Although if the people doing the selection are truly lacking in intelligence, I might be wrong about that.

Anyway, the big call is to increase the pool of applicants. How do you make graduates want to work as school administrators?

That's the question, and I hope the reading crowd will have some ideas!
Some of mine:
- Higher pay. The impoverished school districts should dip into their deep purses and pay higher salaries to their employees.
- Better publicity. Show up at job fairs. Make billboards. Come up with catchy phrases. Maybe even TV ads. ("And then Eugene became an administrator, and he made sure no one beat up the school nerds ever again.")
- Better rap. Change the image of the school administrator. No longer will they be dumpy, unimaginative men in tweed suits wearing thick-rimmed glasses. Instead, school administrators will be cool. How to do that I leave as an exercise for the reader. :-D

Honestly, higher pay is hard to provide without state's giving out more money, and I don't know where it would come from. Publicity suffers the same problem, and won't help very much if there's still low pay and a bad rap. Making school administrators seem cool is a tall order indeed. Any better ideas?

Firefly Quiz

2005-10-21T23:41:00.000-07:00

I encountered this on the blog of a friend's friend, and decided that since I was planning to head to bed, it was time to take my first Blog-type quiz; after solving the Petals Around the Rose puzzle, that is.

So, they've cast me as the villain. I hope that doesn't ring true with any of my readers? :-P Maybe it's a subtle way of telling me I ought to go see the movie.

You scored as The Operative. You are dedicated to your job and very good at what you do. You've done some very bad things, but they had to be done. You don't expect to go to heaven, but that is a sacrifice you've made for a better future for all.

The Operative

81%

River Tam

75%

Kaylee Frye

69%

Simon Tam

69%

Hoban 'Wash' Washburne

63%

Capt. Mal Reynolds

56%

Shepherd Derrial Book

44%

Zoe Alleyne Washburne

44%

Inara Serra

25%

Jayne Cobb

19%

Which Serenity character are you?
created with QuizFarm.com

Ian gets Civilized

2005-10-13T23:13:00.000-07:00

For all those who have only seen me with long hair, I have important news: I've gotten a haircut! This charming new touch of civilization on my otherwise crude form should help my looks at least a little. More importantly, it will keep my hair out of my eyes, my mouth, my food, my beard, and even my touted "sanity."

I had hoped that having long hair would make me look like a Medieval adventurer or someone out of a tale. Mayhap it did, yet it troubled my eyes and mouth so much that in the end I grew it out in the single hope that I could get it long enough to put in a pony tail and keep out of the way. When it grew that long, I tried the pony-tail thing for the entire summer, but I realized that it wasn't all that fun. My hair didn't really look cool to me that way, and every now and then, it would sneak out of its tail to tease me. Now that it's cut, I like how I look, and my hair takes no work at all.

Potionworks

2005-10-10T20:58:00.000-07:00

As a preview for the intensely curious, I am posting the titlescreen for PotionWorks. Because it is at full size, I'm linking to it. Note that Blogger has converted it from a PNG to a JPG. This probably saves some disk space on a server somewhere, but the picture doesn't look nearly as good as it does in the game.

Decided to Post

2005-10-06T01:21:00.000-07:00

It's pretty late, but I want to wind down before I actually get ready for bed, and I haven't posted in a while. I have been very busy. I've been working on an arcade game for my Game Design course; turned it in at the end of Tuesday. Some things were done, but some things weren't. I think it's complete, but it wasn't as complete as I wanted it to be. It's called PotionWorks, and maybe I'll post more about it if people are interested.

I've also started reading aloud to my roommate. I set a timer and limit it to 7 minutes a night, because I figure 7 minutes won't have that big an impact, and the reading helps me keep sane.

I'm also in a short scene in Evening of Scenes, put on by the theater group in my dorm, the RC Players. I think it would be safe to say that I'm not type-cast.

Have a good day, friendly reader!

Like Lightning

2005-09-20T11:59:00.000-07:00

This article is... original. But they say it's real, too. Amazing how creative real life can be on occasion.

[edit] Looks like the link above is broken. Here's another one: "Aussie's jacket provides a jolt"

Gryphons

2005-09-13T21:54:00.000-07:00

My first introduction to gryphons was in a game called Warlords. However, I didn't take an interest in them until I read "The Black Gryphon" by Mercedes Lackey. Her descriptions of gryphons and their habits have probably played an unbalanced role in forming my current idea of what a gryphon is. However, I just stumbled upon a site which seems to have a much broader discussion of what gryphons are, where they come from, and what they're like: http://www.gryphonpages.com/legend/legend.htm Take a look at it!

Folksongs

2005-09-11T14:04:00.000-07:00

For my general midieval acculturation, I think I need to read more folksongs. Once I do, the link below will be even more amusing!

http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/006448.html#006448

Dress Your Children Properly

2005-09-09T21:32:00.000-07:00

I don't know if this is true, but I think it's quite funny:

"Britain's George V, for example, thought the only suitable children's attire were sailor suits and kilts."

http://histclo.hispeed.com/royal/royalindex.html

Advocacy

2005-09-07T21:35:00.000-07:00

Here is something I found while I was trying to find something else, and should perhaps have been doing homework instead. I found it very amusing. It might even be fun to play! But whether or not it's a fun game, the description is hilarious.

http://www.plover.com/~mjd/advocacy/manifesto.html

Classes have begun

2005-09-06T19:03:00.000-07:00

Since I last posted, I've moved into the dorm and settled in. Classes started today. Turns out my technical communications teacher has a good, if cynical sense of humor, and has a clear sense of mission and purpose in teaching the class. My Signals and Systems prof also seemed to be doing a good job. Unfortunately, I hung out talking with my technical communications teacher after class, trying to learn more about why some curriculum requirements are as messed up as they are, and then got to my math discussion just barely on time. I didn't really think there would even be any discussion, since it's the first day of class, but... I was wrong, and the guy was already talking when I got in.

Life has been pretty busy, but I'm getting more involved in my church's ministry, which rocks, and I'm having good conversations with me roommate too. I haven't been able to do everything I'd like to, but God willing, I'll fit it in somewhere. :-)

Creative Away Message

2005-08-26T12:51:00.000-07:00

I thought this was a pretty creative away message:

"Forest Fires Run Rampant As Lazy Local Ian Neglects Countless Warnings That Only Ian Is Capable of Stopping Forest Fires"

(Edited to have real name instead of AIM screenname.) Credit goes to my friend Joe for posting the away message!

Friends, Novels, and Nephews

2005-08-25T21:28:00.000-07:00

It has been a week since I launched this blog of mine, and you've hardly heard a thing about my life. I've spent some time unpacking, though I didn't do it fast, and I've also spent some time with friends and kin.

Last Friday, I saw Jesse, a good friend from high school, along with his new girlfriend Amber. We hung out and talked, then went to our town's annual Heritage Festival, where I saw a great many people from my high school robotics team. (The team runs a large tent at the festival. Apparently, you can celebrate Heritage by celebrating competitions of robotic brawn and ingenuity.) Fortunately, despite leaving the team, I am still welcome among them.

I have also been spending bits of time with a variety of other friends, trying to catch up before I go off to college. College is a fairly short drive along city streets, but strangely enough, the college world and the home-town world stay fairly separate, especially socially. I actually showed Jesse where my dorm was in person on Friday, so maybe he'll visit me this time around. :-)

I've spent a fair amount of time continuing work with my friend Leif on a novel we are co-writing about a land called Ondar. Novel-writing is challenging, and co-writing also presents its own unique challenges, but we are making some progress. That progress involves rewriting the beginning of the book, not inventing the brave adventures of the heroes in their travels, but it is amazingly valuable nonetheless.

In more mundane news, I have found that unlike on-campus construction, my home is not an injury-free zone. I managed to jam my toe fairly badly on my way out the bedroom door. I was just about to put my shoes on. A
mysterious "7" showed up on the toe afterwards, perhaps in memory of my daring and courage. (After all, how many people would dare to walk out of their bedroom without wearing shoes?) I'd be curious if anyone has any better dramatic meanings to assign to the number "7" as applied to my toe. :-)

I had to limp about the rest of the day, but ironically, I was quite restless. After stubbing my toe, I took a walk around several blocks of my neighborhood and also visited Walmart to get floss heads. I limped the whole time, but I felt like I wouldn't have a clear mind if I didn't do it. After I had lunch, though, I did the more sensible thing; I sat down at my laptop with ice on my toe and started researching the making of blogs. You are familiar with the result.

Today, perhaps in honor of the one-week anniversary of my toe, I climbed a little way up the tree in my backyard, and made a cut in my wrist. This cut was not from the bark itself, but from my Medic Alert bracelet. The cut itself wasn't bad, but it seems to have gotten infected, so it still hurts, as does the toe.

Yesterday, I got to go to the eye doctor. My vision is improving slightly, but not so much I really need to replace my 5-year-old glasses. :-) A little later, I went to visit my nephew, who was being babysat by my mother. He was shy at first, but we made friends, and played with his blocks together. He finds it very entertaining if I lift a box full of blocks while making growly construction equipment noises, move it over to the side, and dump all the blocks out. At first, I think he quite enjoyed the noises, but seeing things fall to the ground proved a somewhat more enduring source of pleasure. I would hold an empty Kleenex box and prompt him to put blocks in it. Putting blocks in things is still hard for him, but he gave a valiant and largely successful effort when it came to playing construction equipment.

Mangos etc

2005-08-22T21:39:00.000-07:00

I'll get around to telling all y'all what I'm up to a little later, but I just found something that I wrote last year that made me laugh. I think I'd run out of ideas for what I was actually writing, so I just wrote something random instead:

"Dance like a mango, live like a banana, sleep like a kiwi."

I like the irony: kiwis, since they are birds as well as fruit, can actually move, but I chose them as models for sleeping of all things.

Societies

2005-08-20T00:10:00.000-07:00

We are sometimes tempted, or even encouraged, to use the views of different societies as a litmus for what is really good and evil. Generally, it's used as an argument for relaxing rules: "That society thinks it's OK if people do this, so maybe we're just being a little silly when we think it's a horrible thing."

The Bible teaches that societies can fall into immorality. The view a society has on what is right and wrong could be horribly twisted. This seems to me quite easy to believe—it's not easy to believe that everybody would become totally bad with no thought for good, not at all. But it is easy to think that people's views could gradually shift farther and farther towards evil, to the point where the people who think of themselves as normal, and just as good as anyone else, would be horrible in another society, or even in their own society a few decades earlier. Moreover, I find it fairly easy to believe that those people would be bad by an absolute standard of right and wrong.

This shifting is believable to me because morality works so much by trend: people think it might be wrong to do the things that shock and offend others, but they think it's OK to do the things that others aren't concerned about, even if the law or the moral codes contradict them. People may take some interest in those codes at first, but most of them seem to think that the final answer lies not in the written rules, but in the general sentiment of people around them. If people can approach morality that way, then it is a malleable thing of society, and it can drift with the personality of the society. Once the code itself drifts, people will happily perform their favorite once-sins, those which are now perfectly moral in their eyes. Thus, not only the abstract beliefs, but the actual actions of the society will degrade.

Now, if morality can drift in that way, and a society can fall into moral decay, as I think it can, is there any reason to be concerned about the validity of our own moral beliefs simply because some other society is less strict? I expect a few will land in my comments, but at least from the tack I'm taking, the answer seems to be a clear "No" to me.

OTOH, this raises a new line of thought. How indeed can we rate our moral code, if not by other societies? Clearly, if a moral code can drift so easily as I imply earlier, we have some reason to keep an eye on it. And what shall we compare it to? Perhaps, to our knowledge of God, and even more, to what it says in His Word. Perhaps, to what stings our conscience; but will our conscience not be silenced if we brush it off enough? More often than not it will. I think the Bible is the only real way to approach the matter, with God being our source of instruction about the meaning of His Word, but I'm looking forward to some interesting comments about this.

Safe Construction

2005-08-19T20:53:00.000-07:00

I noticed this a while ago, but only now do I have a blog where I can share it with everyone. It is on the gate to a construction zone. My school is building a new engineering building there.

I like this summary of the signs: "Danger: You are now entering an injury-free environment."

After all, if you can't get injured there, it must be very dangerous indeed!

Let flight begin!

2005-08-18T22:52:00.000-07:00

Let us leap into the air and soar among the clouds, rising on eagle's wings and bearing a lion's grandeur. May the wind, in its wildness, carry us away on a journey through things as old as Time.

I just finished my internship with Amazon.com, and am now in a relaxing interim placed between work and college. I suppose that I am more likely to post now than at any other time, though relaxing hardly seems like a good way to inspire posts. I'm thinking of making posts about adventures of the kind worth sharing, and about any thoughts that I think other people might like to see. My greatest hope for this blog is that it will help me in that challenging endeavor of keeping in touch with my many friends, who are scattered to the four winds. With that in mind, I am hoping that people will leave comments or email me about my posts.