Bevin's Grandfather

This past weekend, we found out early on Saturday morning that Bevin's grandfather had died on Friday night. The funeral was on Monday morning at 11. It seems that he died peacefully while sitting on the edge of his bed getting ready to go to sleep, and just fell back - Bevin's grandmother discovered him there early on Saturday morning. He was 80 years old, and was still playing golf and hunting until just this past year.

We will all miss Papa very much. Our thoughts are especially with Granny, his wife of 58 years.

Torture

If we were to judge the United States by its penal policies, we would perceive a strange beast: a Christian society that believes in neither forgiveness nor redemption. — Monbiot

This stuff doesn't seem to bother most Americans, which I find really strange. In the last election, I voted the anti-Guantonamo vote. But I didn't really even hear it mentioned as an issue before the elections.

Lasik

I knew it! Nobody is getting their laser near my eyeballs!

What Do You Eat in a Week?

What do you eat in a week?

Weekend Update, Y'all!

Okay, I'm cribbing Trent's Weekend Update format. So what?

Thursday

Crazy Thanksgiving at the Sims household. Four generations in attendance. Bonus appearances by Chris McDaniel, and Joanna.

Friday

Sat on the couch, reading Anne (of Green Gables) books, and watching To End All Wars. It was decently made, not spectacular, but the story somehow drew us in and made a deep impression. Went to see Stranger than Fiction with Jeff and Cassie, and Steve and Brynn, a couple from my ADT class. It was a fun movie, and a really fun evening.

Saturday

Sat around reading Anne. Went to a Ian's one year birthday party at the Sims household. Four generations in attendance again, with bonus appearances by Charles and Dawn, and Charles' parents. Ian was horribly cute, smearing an entire cake over his face, opening wrapping paper, hugging stuffed bears, and racing around in his new Radio Flyer wagon.

Sunday

Went to church, went to lunch, got a haircut, stayed at home (reading Anne, playing music, tidying) while Bevin went to lifegroup with Nathaniel and Shauna and Ian.

Oh, and the whole while, Bevin was working on schoolwork, since she has a million papers and tests this week. :-(

Home Sick

Hi all. I'm home from work, sick. If I told you everything that we've been doing in the last few weeks, just reading it would make you tired, and possibly sick too!

I don't have a lot of blog-writing mojo right now, but I will leave you with an amazing video: Hans Rosling at TED

Filesharing!

I know I should be posting more personal stuff here, like how disappointed I am that A.J. got kicked from America's Next Top Model, but I need to warn you about the dangers of filesharing.

Dove Self Esteem Fund Video

Here's another. Beauty through makeup and photoshop!

Mood: Office Zombie

Office Zombies

The mindless tedium of employment at GigantaMegaCorp has crushed their spirit and turned these once bright, flowering young go-getters into hopeless Corporate Zombies. They spend their days staring blankly at computer monitors and shuffling through the cube maze, occasionally grunting something about brains. Each set comes with four 2-3/4" tall posable plastic figures with eerie green skin that glows-in-the-dark and seven different plastic office accessories.

Daily Pope Link

Three Stages in the Program of De-Hellenization   (a reaction)

Morning Quiet

Sometimes in the morning, when it's still, I like to just sit and contemplate the world.

Like this:

My Korean Friends

My Korean Friends (aka Reeve's Band) will be playing at Midtown Church this Friday (28th). Let me know if you want more details. I'll post when I get them.

Update 1: Apparently (see comments) they are “freakin' good.”

Update 2: Apparently, it's 8pm. I found this event listing on the My Korean Friends myspace.

Update 3: Apparently, it's not 8pm. That's just the default time on myspace. I'll post another update when I have more information.

Finally!

Hallelujah!

Books Can't Do This

Check out this blog post about an online version of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Principles of Orchestration - you can watch and hear the score simultaneously! Crazy!

Zombo.com

This is my new favourite internet site: zombo.com (make sure your sound is on)

Memorial Day Weekend

This weekend, Bevin and I went camping at Crooked River State Park. The main reason was to visit Cumberland Island, which was well worth it. Dungeness was a ruined mansion surrounded by green lawns, with wild horses galloping past dried-up fountains or straying beneath live oaks. There was a deep quiet, a mixture of the bright sunny emptiness of departed humanity found at battlefield cemeteries and the thick, shady reverence of a sleepy forest. Across the dunes, flat beaches stretched for miles. We saw a tiny deer, a huge crab, a living sand dollar, wild turkeys, wild horses, old-fashioned cars rusted to pieces. We will be back, camping there.

Alien Rain

A strange red rain that fell on India may be an alien life form. I may be really excited about that! It might be exactly like something out of the scifi books I read endlessly as a kid . If it's true, shouldn't we declare a holiday or something? A moment of silence? Our first encounter with alien life!

I wonder if they'll turn it into a health supplement - I mean, who needs echinacea and vitamin C? Give me 50mg of alien life form comet dust! Wave goodbye to allergies, colds and flu, and wondering whether we're alone in the universe.

Bogus Competition III

This time with comments from the artist, Brian Dilg.

My small part in fighting the false images bombarding us from magazine covers.

Da Vinci Update

This review explains what I thought of the movie better than I could.

Da Vinci

Yesterday afternoon, Bevin and I went to see the Da Vinci Code. I found the main hypothesis of the movie unpleasant, but I was expecting that. I wasn't expecting it to be a really bad movie in every other respect too. Well, except for some pretty shots of Paris, the Louvre, some cathedrals, etc. If you want to know what all the fuss is about (which was part of the reason we went to see it), I recommend you read about it.

Money

For the record, if you pay me $23,064.00, I will probably sell you zellyn.com

Unfair Competition

Another one for the ladies: unfair competition

UK and the US

Dang. Check this out. Americans are sicker than people in the UK. Weird, huh?

Zombie Chorus + Code Monkey

Damn. Sorry, but I couldn't help the content-free link-post. Cue the Zombie chorus on Re Your Brains. And then, a lament for the Code Monkey.

Baby Got Back

Man, it's been a while. Bevin just got done with finals for this semester. Spenser ate half a razor blade and had to have it surgically removed at great expense - pretty much swallowed the trip to Italy or France we'd been hoping for from our tax return. I have been reading My Name is Asher Lev and The Gift of Asher Lev by Chaim Potok. I am very tired.

Oh, the post title. Check out this cover of Baby Got Back

Robots II

I tell you, the robots are coming!

I Want - Part V

To see an aurora. (aurora info)

Grups?

“Grups”

The other day at Whole Foods (hah, no comments!), I saw a guy in worn corduroys, with those striped almost-bike-shoes, a tight logo'd t-shirt, and shaved head, and it all suddenly started looking like a uniform. I wear my Genuine South African Scruffiness™ with pride!

Cool Carpet

Okay, so I promise to post something about me sometime soon (hi, Mom!), but for now, I really love this carpet. I want one!

Accidental Heroism

For some reason, I think Seth Worley will appreciate this story about accidental heroism.

Poetry

O Canadian Fedex Lady

Uncanny Valley

This seemed creepy to me. Cool, but creepy. Maybe it's the Uncanny Valley effect. Maybe it's just the fact that there's no face behind that visor. I suppose robots will be running after people with guns eventually.

Your carefully defended certainty crumbles inwards

Liar, Lunatic, Lord, or Legend? A sad story? I think disbelieving your lame-duck idea of God is progress. Hopefully he won't stop there.

If God is real, we all need His idea of Him, not ours.

One Year

One year ago today, Bevin and I were married.

It has been the best year of my life so far.

We're no longer newlyweds, technically :-)

Your Ideal Self is Fake

Ladies, you are competing with something that is not real (click Portfolio then before/after).

Poodle Destruction

This is what happens when your puppy has a few hours of fun with your glasses. And I thought they were almost indestructible.

I Want - Part IV

I (too) want to live somewhere beautiful.

Cheesy and Sad

Ha. Bevin and I are definitely the perfect pair. For Valentine's Day, she gave me a double CD of Phil Collins Love Songs, and I gave her Back to Bedlam, containing the songs that made us both cry, twice, while watching SNL one night.

The Invisible Art

I have created another blog, called The Invisible Art. It's about programming. Don't worry, it's cool. I'll keep posting here.

“We are more than the inhabitants of our cubicles”

This I believe

How Computers Should Work (closer)

The parts of this video that deal with photos and maps are amazing. I thought the stuff on Minority Report was mostly nonsense -- I guess not!

I Want - Part III

I want to stop trying so hard to keep people around me happy all the time. It's not my responsibility, and it doesn't work, anyway. All it does is cause me to exhaust myself and then withdraw. I feel held hostage even by our puppy when I come home - I must see to him and make sure he gets the attention he needs before I can relax.

I'm not sure where along the line I picked up this way of interacting with my world, but after 30 years or so, I'm worn out. I know how to care deeply, and I know how not to care at all. What I don't know very well is how to care deeply without feeling responsible. A lot of my life has been spent snapping back and forth between intense involvement and disconnection.

These sort of realizations and struggles are one of the reasons I'm attending an eleven month course at the counseling office where Bevin works. There are 14 students in the class, and it is a great group. I'm excited about getting to know them better, and figuring out a bunch of our questions together.

Fake Trailers Rule

Yeah. Here's the latest. Brokeback to the Future

I Want - Part II

To go to China.

Random Theological Post

Here's an interesting article on the Catholic view of a literal six day creation, “Reading Genesis with Cardinal Ratzinger.” I love Cardinal Ratzinger's frank questions: “Is the distinction between the image and what is intended to be expressed only an evasion, because we can no longer rely on the text even though we still want to make something of it, or are there criteria from the Bible itself that attest to this distinction?”

Sometimes I think that if I did not feel catholic enough to claim unity with all of Christendom, I would follow Chesterton down the path of Orthodoxy and become Catholic.

I Want - Part I

I want to work in a room with real walls, and windows that open when the weather is good, with a view to red brick and green plants through white wooden window frames. Preferably old and slightly peeling. I want the light in the room to change when the clouds and sun move. I want to be able to take a walk during the middle of the day without feeling that I should stay that many minutes extra at the end. I want to be able to leave early on Friday if I have worked well, not if I have worked 40.0 hours.