Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Thank the Lord!
Had a great weekend with mom and Katie coming down for the long weekend and it all went well, at least for the most part.
I stayed late at a friend/client's house and got fed a great meal and talked websites and caught up on all the goings on. The big piece of fun there was moving an entertainment center up two flights of stairs with tight corners! The center was a minimum of 350 pounds, so CK and I more or less dragged it up. Between the two of us we were barely able to lift it, so I feel pretty good that we only broke one lamp and all the wall gouges were more like shallow scrapes! Whoo-hoo! Considering how tight and heavy it was, that small of an amount of damage is a definite victory!
Saturday we went down and picked up Jeremiah, did some visiting, and had a grand old time. I don't think I've ever eaten quite so well as I have this weekend outside of a holiday! Katie and mom made cobblers, brownies, lasagna, and mexican pizzas. Whew! I was stuffed!
Church was good, but the pastor was trying a different format and I didn't like it as much as it broke up the worship time into several shorter times. The worship and word was great though. Jeremiah and I went kite flying after church and he kept his kite up longer than mine!
Mom and Katie headed back Monday morning, and I headed out with C to help with a donation. I had a wonderful day, and I even got treated to dinner! We talked and talked and of course stayed up WAY too late!
Now, if you're still paying attention, you might be wondering why I entitled this as "Thank the Lord!" Well, that is due to some news I got as C and I started driving back home. Mom and Katie were in an accident on the way home, and it was definitely enough that they went to the hospital. As it turns out, mom wasn't actually in any sort of life-threatening state, but they couldn't tell at the site, so they had her flown. Katie got to take an ambulance ride and wound up with a mild concussion, a sore jaw, and bruised hips. She had been asleep when it happened, and got bounced back and forth a bit, but nothing too serious. The other car had pulled across the highway without having seen mom coming. (the drivers were in their 80s and aren't seriously hurt) They drove right into the drivers' side of our car while mom was going about 50 mph! Mom has 15 centimeters of stitches on her forehead, but apparently no concussions. The biggest worry now that she's been looked over by the docs, is her knee. It got smashed up and the doctors haven't checked the x-rays yet to see if it needs surgery. If it does, mom will probably need to be in the hospital for a week.
I probably should have called my broker and told him to buy up phone utility stocks as soon as I found out about the accident. My whole extended family was on the phone non-stop all evening, and from what I understand, everyone down to second cousins on both sides of my family knew what had happened inside a fifteen minutes. I was actually the last person to know since I didn't have my cell phone with me, and picked up the message almost an hour ex post facto. We also had our church notified, and my extended family churches notified, so there was a LOT of prayer going up.
Now, everyone is out of any danger, and my sister needs prayer for strength and recovery, and mom needs prayer for a healed knee, fast doctors, a quick stay at the hospital, and being able to make it back home as quickly as possible. Like I said, thank the Lord because considering the type of collision, it's a miracle that nothing more happened.
I stayed late at a friend/client's house and got fed a great meal and talked websites and caught up on all the goings on. The big piece of fun there was moving an entertainment center up two flights of stairs with tight corners! The center was a minimum of 350 pounds, so CK and I more or less dragged it up. Between the two of us we were barely able to lift it, so I feel pretty good that we only broke one lamp and all the wall gouges were more like shallow scrapes! Whoo-hoo! Considering how tight and heavy it was, that small of an amount of damage is a definite victory!
Saturday we went down and picked up Jeremiah, did some visiting, and had a grand old time. I don't think I've ever eaten quite so well as I have this weekend outside of a holiday! Katie and mom made cobblers, brownies, lasagna, and mexican pizzas. Whew! I was stuffed!
Church was good, but the pastor was trying a different format and I didn't like it as much as it broke up the worship time into several shorter times. The worship and word was great though. Jeremiah and I went kite flying after church and he kept his kite up longer than mine!
Mom and Katie headed back Monday morning, and I headed out with C to help with a donation. I had a wonderful day, and I even got treated to dinner! We talked and talked and of course stayed up WAY too late!
Now, if you're still paying attention, you might be wondering why I entitled this as "Thank the Lord!" Well, that is due to some news I got as C and I started driving back home. Mom and Katie were in an accident on the way home, and it was definitely enough that they went to the hospital. As it turns out, mom wasn't actually in any sort of life-threatening state, but they couldn't tell at the site, so they had her flown. Katie got to take an ambulance ride and wound up with a mild concussion, a sore jaw, and bruised hips. She had been asleep when it happened, and got bounced back and forth a bit, but nothing too serious. The other car had pulled across the highway without having seen mom coming. (the drivers were in their 80s and aren't seriously hurt) They drove right into the drivers' side of our car while mom was going about 50 mph! Mom has 15 centimeters of stitches on her forehead, but apparently no concussions. The biggest worry now that she's been looked over by the docs, is her knee. It got smashed up and the doctors haven't checked the x-rays yet to see if it needs surgery. If it does, mom will probably need to be in the hospital for a week.
I probably should have called my broker and told him to buy up phone utility stocks as soon as I found out about the accident. My whole extended family was on the phone non-stop all evening, and from what I understand, everyone down to second cousins on both sides of my family knew what had happened inside a fifteen minutes. I was actually the last person to know since I didn't have my cell phone with me, and picked up the message almost an hour ex post facto. We also had our church notified, and my extended family churches notified, so there was a LOT of prayer going up.
Now, everyone is out of any danger, and my sister needs prayer for strength and recovery, and mom needs prayer for a healed knee, fast doctors, a quick stay at the hospital, and being able to make it back home as quickly as possible. Like I said, thank the Lord because considering the type of collision, it's a miracle that nothing more happened.
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Thinking
I had a thought (no comments) last night coming back from Bible study. I had been a bit disappointed in the study because there are only a couple minutes of prayer and no worship time. It's a pretty standard Bible study - we go through books (Acts currently) and cover background, connections with other verses, history, meanings of phrases and words, and how the passage might have something to say to us personally. All in all, pretty standard.
What it is, particularly, is inspiring. I had been thinking that I ought to be coming away inspired or having had a really deep meeting with God, and I don't normally come away with those things.
So my thought (an original one, I'm sure :^P ) was that in every other subject I would consider getting the explanations and info that I just got, to be great stuff! I've always been an advocate of knowing history and background.
(That's the ONLY reason that things like ancient Greek mythology should be required - for fuller knowledge and understanding of todays world. Otherwise it's distasteful stuff and should be relegated to the musty shelves of academia.)
So this type of study is good and valuable, and just because it's not as invigorating or exciting as a knock-down, drag-out prayer or worship time doesn't mean that it's not as valuable or necessary for a full Christian walk.
I like the 'highs' of prayer and worship, but a walk with nothing else certainly isn't complete by any stretch of the imagination.
I guess I would do best to keep going, but with a different view! :^)
What it is, particularly, is inspiring. I had been thinking that I ought to be coming away inspired or having had a really deep meeting with God, and I don't normally come away with those things.
So my thought (an original one, I'm sure :^P ) was that in every other subject I would consider getting the explanations and info that I just got, to be great stuff! I've always been an advocate of knowing history and background.
(That's the ONLY reason that things like ancient Greek mythology should be required - for fuller knowledge and understanding of todays world. Otherwise it's distasteful stuff and should be relegated to the musty shelves of academia.)
So this type of study is good and valuable, and just because it's not as invigorating or exciting as a knock-down, drag-out prayer or worship time doesn't mean that it's not as valuable or necessary for a full Christian walk.
I like the 'highs' of prayer and worship, but a walk with nothing else certainly isn't complete by any stretch of the imagination.
I guess I would do best to keep going, but with a different view! :^)
Monday, May 23, 2005
I'm a clogger!!!
Yeah, yeah. You're probably thinking "And you haven't been clogging for the last six months?"
Yes, but now I'm a performer!
Saturday I picked up Jeremiah (not as early as I thought I was supposed to, but still a bit earlier than normal) and picked up some toys on the way back to Pville. Purcellville Heritage Festival was this weekend and our clogging group was performing. Jeremiah and I get there and wander around, doing some of the rides before the show started, and then watched the show.
Half way through the show, M is talking about how anyone can learn to clog. She says that they have a dance that they can even teach to someone on the spot! (I'm puzzled at that point because I've never heard of that one!) So she comes down, talking about how they're headed to Ireland, and how my red hair will be perfect to fit in with the Irish song they're going to do. So I'm pulled up on stage, handed a vest and away we go!
Friday night, C and I went to watch a performance of 7 Brides for 7 Brothers in Leesburg, and then grabbed some pizza afterwards. It was a great evening; the play was done by a new play group and was very ambitious. It wasn't smooth and polished, but they more than made up for it with the energy and enthusiasm they poured into it. They had a LOT of really clever jokes put in. By the time I finally made it into bed, it was horrendously late, but definitely worth it!
Saturday was a LOT of fun. Jeremiah and I did the rides at the festival and then flew kites and then visited the fire station to look at all the trucks. Jeremiah had the guy who was giving us the tour, open up all the compartments on the trucks. By the time it was time for bed, we were both exhausted. I can't tell you how quickly Jeremiah nodded off because I beat him to sleep. I think that staying up late the night before used up my energy reserves, so I was really pooped by the end of the day. (though not as pooped as Jeremiah. pun intended.)
What else? Um, well Sunday went really well. I was even able to participate with the worship group, and afterward C came over and dropped off her DVD of 7 Brides for 7 Brothers, and I repaid in pancakes.
And I think that just about covers the whole weekend. Hopefully that will suffice. (and if not, Mom, give me a call)
Yes, but now I'm a performer!
Saturday I picked up Jeremiah (not as early as I thought I was supposed to, but still a bit earlier than normal) and picked up some toys on the way back to Pville. Purcellville Heritage Festival was this weekend and our clogging group was performing. Jeremiah and I get there and wander around, doing some of the rides before the show started, and then watched the show.
Half way through the show, M is talking about how anyone can learn to clog. She says that they have a dance that they can even teach to someone on the spot! (I'm puzzled at that point because I've never heard of that one!) So she comes down, talking about how they're headed to Ireland, and how my red hair will be perfect to fit in with the Irish song they're going to do. So I'm pulled up on stage, handed a vest and away we go!
Friday night, C and I went to watch a performance of 7 Brides for 7 Brothers in Leesburg, and then grabbed some pizza afterwards. It was a great evening; the play was done by a new play group and was very ambitious. It wasn't smooth and polished, but they more than made up for it with the energy and enthusiasm they poured into it. They had a LOT of really clever jokes put in. By the time I finally made it into bed, it was horrendously late, but definitely worth it!
Saturday was a LOT of fun. Jeremiah and I did the rides at the festival and then flew kites and then visited the fire station to look at all the trucks. Jeremiah had the guy who was giving us the tour, open up all the compartments on the trucks. By the time it was time for bed, we were both exhausted. I can't tell you how quickly Jeremiah nodded off because I beat him to sleep. I think that staying up late the night before used up my energy reserves, so I was really pooped by the end of the day. (though not as pooped as Jeremiah. pun intended.)
What else? Um, well Sunday went really well. I was even able to participate with the worship group, and afterward C came over and dropped off her DVD of 7 Brides for 7 Brothers, and I repaid in pancakes.
And I think that just about covers the whole weekend. Hopefully that will suffice. (and if not, Mom, give me a call)
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Tragedy!
It was the best tragedy I have ever seen! The despair! The emotion! The pain!
I went to a performance of a Greek tragedy tonight. I only heard about it last night at clogging, so we didn't have much notice, but I still made it over. I have to admit that I didn't even know what the play was about until 45 minutes before it started.
I don't have much familiarity with epics from before the Greeks, (my only in-depth knowledge of early fiction is the Epic of Gilgamesh) but I can say pretty confidently that there's been nothing like Greek tragedies since the Greeks. This one was Trojan Women and it was the story of the Trojan royal women being carried off into slavery and concubinage (couldn't come up with another word). Hecuba (King Priam's wife. Gets to see her husband's throat cut before her. Mother of Hector who was killed by Achilles who then mutilated the body) was the main person, but it also had Hector's wife (aside from her husband having been killed, the play has her baby taken away, thrown off a cliff, and then returned before she is claimed by a Greek general), Hector's sister (goes mad from grief and is sent to be in the Greek commander's concubine), and other assorted women all wailing. I don't think I have ever seen a play that has been quite an unabashed tragedy.
Certainly not something that I would have gone to normally, but because I knew a couple of the actresses I went. I actually enjoyed it thoroughly! Wouldn't want to watch more than one a year, but it was so different from anything else I've seen performed that I really enjoyed the play. I've read a couple tragedies, and I've listened to lectures and classes that gave in-depth explanation of a tragedy's form and style, but this was the first time I'd seen one performed. Whenever I've read them, I always skimmed through, but now I had to pay attention to the whole thing, and it was fun. Yeah, yeah I know 'fun' probably isn't quite the right word, but it was at the very least enjoyable.
Even the saddest movies or plays that I know of that have been written since have bright spots in them where the characters are happy before their world crumbles. Greek tragedies are probably unique in that they don't have a single high spot - one solid blast of ... of ... well, tragedy.
The play group put on a couple of shorter comedy pieces afterwards to counteract the doom feeling. These were strictly a concession to modern sensibilities. From what I understand, the goal of the Greek tragedies were to leave the audience in the pit of despair. Thankfully the troupe didn't adhere that strictly to the Greek style. Another part of why I enjoyed it so, was that as I watched it I constantly had all sorts of little tags and tidbits of Greek/Trojan history that I remembered from lectures and classes. It was really nice to have that sort of background and depth of comprehension of the play. That's probably the main reason people should be taught all that ancient history - because it still crops up in modern society and it is really helpful to have a solid, working knowledge of the meaning of things like the play or just other literary allusions.
The Hecuba actress was on stage the entire time, and had to be totally and utterly distraught and overwhelmed with grief the WHOLE play! Her mom said that unfortunately her daughter didn't find that much drama to be particularly tiresome and rather enjoyed the part. I would have had to go watch a funny movie or something after each rehearsal!
One of the humorous skits was really amazing though. It was just the excerpt from Shakespeare's Henry V where the French maid is teaching the French princess (Catherine I think) the English terms for hands, fingers, elbows, feet, etc. They did it really well, and entirely in French except where they purposefully slaughtered the English words. The most amazing thing about the skit was what I discovered afterwards. Neither of the girls knew a single word of French! They memorized a six or seven minute skit in a language they didn't know!!! I was flabbergasted!
Kudos to them!
Well, off to bed. Hopefully I won't have any vestiges of the tragedy visit me tonight. Sorry about the long posting everyone. I really hope you didn't read through the whole thing - it wasn't late when I started the blog, but then I nodded off and woke back up and started to ramble. In fact, I'm doing it again. Good bye!
I went to a performance of a Greek tragedy tonight. I only heard about it last night at clogging, so we didn't have much notice, but I still made it over. I have to admit that I didn't even know what the play was about until 45 minutes before it started.
I don't have much familiarity with epics from before the Greeks, (my only in-depth knowledge of early fiction is the Epic of Gilgamesh) but I can say pretty confidently that there's been nothing like Greek tragedies since the Greeks. This one was Trojan Women and it was the story of the Trojan royal women being carried off into slavery and concubinage (couldn't come up with another word). Hecuba (King Priam's wife. Gets to see her husband's throat cut before her. Mother of Hector who was killed by Achilles who then mutilated the body) was the main person, but it also had Hector's wife (aside from her husband having been killed, the play has her baby taken away, thrown off a cliff, and then returned before she is claimed by a Greek general), Hector's sister (goes mad from grief and is sent to be in the Greek commander's concubine), and other assorted women all wailing. I don't think I have ever seen a play that has been quite an unabashed tragedy.
Certainly not something that I would have gone to normally, but because I knew a couple of the actresses I went. I actually enjoyed it thoroughly! Wouldn't want to watch more than one a year, but it was so different from anything else I've seen performed that I really enjoyed the play. I've read a couple tragedies, and I've listened to lectures and classes that gave in-depth explanation of a tragedy's form and style, but this was the first time I'd seen one performed. Whenever I've read them, I always skimmed through, but now I had to pay attention to the whole thing, and it was fun. Yeah, yeah I know 'fun' probably isn't quite the right word, but it was at the very least enjoyable.
Even the saddest movies or plays that I know of that have been written since have bright spots in them where the characters are happy before their world crumbles. Greek tragedies are probably unique in that they don't have a single high spot - one solid blast of ... of ... well, tragedy.
The play group put on a couple of shorter comedy pieces afterwards to counteract the doom feeling. These were strictly a concession to modern sensibilities. From what I understand, the goal of the Greek tragedies were to leave the audience in the pit of despair. Thankfully the troupe didn't adhere that strictly to the Greek style. Another part of why I enjoyed it so, was that as I watched it I constantly had all sorts of little tags and tidbits of Greek/Trojan history that I remembered from lectures and classes. It was really nice to have that sort of background and depth of comprehension of the play. That's probably the main reason people should be taught all that ancient history - because it still crops up in modern society and it is really helpful to have a solid, working knowledge of the meaning of things like the play or just other literary allusions.
The Hecuba actress was on stage the entire time, and had to be totally and utterly distraught and overwhelmed with grief the WHOLE play! Her mom said that unfortunately her daughter didn't find that much drama to be particularly tiresome and rather enjoyed the part. I would have had to go watch a funny movie or something after each rehearsal!
One of the humorous skits was really amazing though. It was just the excerpt from Shakespeare's Henry V where the French maid is teaching the French princess (Catherine I think) the English terms for hands, fingers, elbows, feet, etc. They did it really well, and entirely in French except where they purposefully slaughtered the English words. The most amazing thing about the skit was what I discovered afterwards. Neither of the girls knew a single word of French! They memorized a six or seven minute skit in a language they didn't know!!! I was flabbergasted!
Kudos to them!
Well, off to bed. Hopefully I won't have any vestiges of the tragedy visit me tonight. Sorry about the long posting everyone. I really hope you didn't read through the whole thing - it wasn't late when I started the blog, but then I nodded off and woke back up and started to ramble. In fact, I'm doing it again. Good bye!
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Catching up
All right, all right. I'll get my blog up here. It was a busy weekend - I hit the sack early Sunday and worked long and hard on Monday, so blogging has gotten shunted to the side. Technically I'm still swamped at work, but I'll be working on this project for long enough that a few minutes taken out won't change anything.
The biggest thing that went on this weekend was a nice carwash and getting a roll of film developed. I'll toss some pictures below. This particular roll has been sitting around for almost 6 months waiting to be used up. It was a disposable, so the pictures are a bit blurry, but we had some good ones.
Jer is getting better and better at his potty training. Last time, I had to ask him to go potty, and he would, but now he's volunteering. I think I might have been giving him too much water and juice this weekend because he went at least a dozen times, and it wasn't just tinkles either.
Not much else has changed. We did wash the car since it was so nice and he had a blast getting his hands wet and grabbing me, yelling "I throw water you!" We had a lot of fun with that.
So without further ado - pictures!
These I snapped one evening (yes, I know those are pancakes). I got a kick out of it because it looked like someone reading a newspaper over breakfast, only he reads his 'cow' book. (Noah's Ark)
Him and his cars!! He also enjoyed having a dog cage to push me in and out.
Carwash! It really was a perfect day! He was definitely the coolest guy around. He put his trunks on backwards, but who cares!
The first is a picture I got him at a craft show that he REALLY enjoys. He spends 30 minutes per day just looking at the thing. Then I got one of him all worn out. Since he refused to give up his blankets, I made him take off his PJs.
The biggest thing that went on this weekend was a nice carwash and getting a roll of film developed. I'll toss some pictures below. This particular roll has been sitting around for almost 6 months waiting to be used up. It was a disposable, so the pictures are a bit blurry, but we had some good ones.
Jer is getting better and better at his potty training. Last time, I had to ask him to go potty, and he would, but now he's volunteering. I think I might have been giving him too much water and juice this weekend because he went at least a dozen times, and it wasn't just tinkles either.
Not much else has changed. We did wash the car since it was so nice and he had a blast getting his hands wet and grabbing me, yelling "I throw water you!" We had a lot of fun with that.
So without further ado - pictures!
These I snapped one evening (yes, I know those are pancakes). I got a kick out of it because it looked like someone reading a newspaper over breakfast, only he reads his 'cow' book. (Noah's Ark)
Him and his cars!! He also enjoyed having a dog cage to push me in and out.
Carwash! It really was a perfect day! He was definitely the coolest guy around. He put his trunks on backwards, but who cares!
The first is a picture I got him at a craft show that he REALLY enjoys. He spends 30 minutes per day just looking at the thing. Then I got one of him all worn out. Since he refused to give up his blankets, I made him take off his PJs.
Thursday, May 12, 2005
The Da Vinci Code
Well, I've gotten through CD 9 of 13 of Da Vinci Code, and while it's still really good, it is starting to wear on me. The author mixes in a LOT of fake 'history' of Christianity. It's all necessary to make the story, but still it's annoying to hear all the blatantly false things said about Christianity. Some of it has been just a recap of old conspiracy theories with stretched ties to various art legends and mysteries.
One of the big parts of the book is based on the 'stealing' of Christianity from it's true "Sacred Feminine" roots. Jesus never claimed to be God. It was only because Constantine wanted to consolidate power that he manufactured the current Christian theology through the Nicean Council. The original Christians were actually following the Sacred Feminine that Jesus taught. Dead Sea scrolls actually contradict many things in the Bible. Ancient Jews actually worshiped two gods - male and female - and had orgies in the Holy of Holies. (at least the book didn't go into descriptions)
There is a lot more stuff, much of which declared Christianity to be a manufactured cover-up perpetrated by the Roman Catholic Church. Of course it's annoying to here things like these said about Christianity and Christ, even though they be false. The thing that bugs me the most about it is that the author declared this book to be 100% factual and based completely upon verifiable research and history. I remember hearing quite a few stories when the book made its big splash about how damaging it was to Christianity, and how people believed it when it posited the theories.
The big rub is that it has enough real facts, especially in the beginning, that unless a person has specific knowledge of some of the true history, he could come away thinking that there really was some sort of sleight of hand that Christianity underwent a couple hundred years after Christ. This makes today's Christianity just another human scheme, and the 'original' Christianity merely a continuation of the pagan thoughts and ideas that had already been around for thousands of years. (The book focuses on the 'Sacred Feminine' as the predominant religious thought over the last six thousand years.
If it were a fiction that no one took seriously, I probably wouldn't be bothered as much, but knowing that there are/were people who believed - at least partially - the claims of the book makes the book less enjoyable. Especially after having thought about demons recently, it makes me a bit more cognizant of the fact that the 'secret society' rituals mentioned aren't just deluded people's nonsense that results from rejecting God, but are far more serious, albeit unknown, interactions with Hell.
It's a well-written thriller and mystery with a lot of really interesting stories, but still it's a dangerous book if it is taken to be accurate, so should probably be approached with caution. Still enjoyable, of course; perfectly safe, not even close.
I'll put the ending up here when I finally reach it, so anyone who might plan on reading the book, but doesn't want to know the ending, should probably read with caution for a couple days with the mouse poised on the X. :^D
One of the big parts of the book is based on the 'stealing' of Christianity from it's true "Sacred Feminine" roots. Jesus never claimed to be God. It was only because Constantine wanted to consolidate power that he manufactured the current Christian theology through the Nicean Council. The original Christians were actually following the Sacred Feminine that Jesus taught. Dead Sea scrolls actually contradict many things in the Bible. Ancient Jews actually worshiped two gods - male and female - and had orgies in the Holy of Holies. (at least the book didn't go into descriptions)
There is a lot more stuff, much of which declared Christianity to be a manufactured cover-up perpetrated by the Roman Catholic Church. Of course it's annoying to here things like these said about Christianity and Christ, even though they be false. The thing that bugs me the most about it is that the author declared this book to be 100% factual and based completely upon verifiable research and history. I remember hearing quite a few stories when the book made its big splash about how damaging it was to Christianity, and how people believed it when it posited the theories.
The big rub is that it has enough real facts, especially in the beginning, that unless a person has specific knowledge of some of the true history, he could come away thinking that there really was some sort of sleight of hand that Christianity underwent a couple hundred years after Christ. This makes today's Christianity just another human scheme, and the 'original' Christianity merely a continuation of the pagan thoughts and ideas that had already been around for thousands of years. (The book focuses on the 'Sacred Feminine' as the predominant religious thought over the last six thousand years.
If it were a fiction that no one took seriously, I probably wouldn't be bothered as much, but knowing that there are/were people who believed - at least partially - the claims of the book makes the book less enjoyable. Especially after having thought about demons recently, it makes me a bit more cognizant of the fact that the 'secret society' rituals mentioned aren't just deluded people's nonsense that results from rejecting God, but are far more serious, albeit unknown, interactions with Hell.
It's a well-written thriller and mystery with a lot of really interesting stories, but still it's a dangerous book if it is taken to be accurate, so should probably be approached with caution. Still enjoyable, of course; perfectly safe, not even close.
I'll put the ending up here when I finally reach it, so anyone who might plan on reading the book, but doesn't want to know the ending, should probably read with caution for a couple days with the mouse poised on the X. :^D
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Prayers, demons and Da Vinci
Got a quick prayer request - it's for the family of a member of my church. The family has been having some spirits at their house, and has never had any experience or teaching to let them know what they are dealing with. One spirit seems to be protective and the other angry/hostile. Sounds like a good cop/bad cop routine. The family had tried putting up some crucifixes, and it 'appeared' to help for a while but then went back to normal, and now their barely-3-year-old daughter who is extremely bright (knows all the states, can recite the books of the old testament, counts to fifty, talks way above her age, etc) is saying she sees monsters. Lots of prayer for the family's protection, and especially that of the little girl.
Without a doubt, there are such things as demons, principalities, and powers; the only question being what they actually do and are able to do. (at least it is for Christians) I really enjoyed a bunch of Frank Peretti's novels partly because he took the spiritual side of the world relatively seriously. I have my doubts as to his accuracy, but at least he took it seriously without making it seem to be all-powerful with people being merely pawns. After all, at the very least, Christians have authority over Satan's servants in direct conflict. Beyond that, it's debatable as to the exact ways demons can affect Christians and vice-versa. But even the most pessimistic comparisons still have to come back to Luke 10:19 (go look it up!)
Enough of that; my mind may be following darker tracks tonight since I'm listening to The Da Vinci Code on CD. Lots of mystery. He throws in tons of hidden and secret meanings to old artwork, mostly pagan undertones to Da Vinci's works. I find it really fun listening, even though I suspect that most of the meanings were either manufactured or exaggerated.
It's a good evening - the weather now is REALLY nice and warm, I've cooked a pizza, and I'm relaxing with a box of ice cream. I'm feeling downright decadent! I'll have to do lots of crunches, push-ups and curls to make up for this!
Without a doubt, there are such things as demons, principalities, and powers; the only question being what they actually do and are able to do. (at least it is for Christians) I really enjoyed a bunch of Frank Peretti's novels partly because he took the spiritual side of the world relatively seriously. I have my doubts as to his accuracy, but at least he took it seriously without making it seem to be all-powerful with people being merely pawns. After all, at the very least, Christians have authority over Satan's servants in direct conflict. Beyond that, it's debatable as to the exact ways demons can affect Christians and vice-versa. But even the most pessimistic comparisons still have to come back to Luke 10:19 (go look it up!)
Enough of that; my mind may be following darker tracks tonight since I'm listening to The Da Vinci Code on CD. Lots of mystery. He throws in tons of hidden and secret meanings to old artwork, mostly pagan undertones to Da Vinci's works. I find it really fun listening, even though I suspect that most of the meanings were either manufactured or exaggerated.
It's a good evening - the weather now is REALLY nice and warm, I've cooked a pizza, and I'm relaxing with a box of ice cream. I'm feeling downright decadent! I'll have to do lots of crunches, push-ups and curls to make up for this!
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
unproductive vs productive
I've had two forces battling it out for today's progress.
On one hand, I got a ton of stuff done - bills mailed, checkbook balanced (it wasn't off, so it went quickly), bank questions resolved, registrations made, websites updated, pictures taken, car problem handled, mom flabbergasted, and phone tag completed. And that was mostly all done during lunch!!
Then there was work - software crashing, help files being obtuse, software licenses expiring, and websites trying to get me to buy things. Then I actually got around to programming - software crashing, help files being obtuse, software licenses expiring, programming typos causing endless errors.
So, I've had a good day, but not where my job is considered. Horses were in GOOD spirits this morning; I almost had my head taken off by a horse that decided to kick up it's heels as it ran off after I took its halter off. There was probably a good two feet safety, but still, gave me a bit of a start! Got a flat tire, but it was such a nice day that I positively enjoyed changing it - I probably dragged it out for almost 10 minutes swapping the tires. And it is most likely a small puncture and easily (cheaply) fixed. And then this evening was a good time for clogging - I was hitting on all cylinders, plus I got included with the performers for the pictures!!! Very flattering and hopeful for me.
On one hand, I got a ton of stuff done - bills mailed, checkbook balanced (it wasn't off, so it went quickly), bank questions resolved, registrations made, websites updated, pictures taken, car problem handled, mom flabbergasted, and phone tag completed. And that was mostly all done during lunch!!
Then there was work - software crashing, help files being obtuse, software licenses expiring, and websites trying to get me to buy things. Then I actually got around to programming - software crashing, help files being obtuse, software licenses expiring, programming typos causing endless errors.
So, I've had a good day, but not where my job is considered. Horses were in GOOD spirits this morning; I almost had my head taken off by a horse that decided to kick up it's heels as it ran off after I took its halter off. There was probably a good two feet safety, but still, gave me a bit of a start! Got a flat tire, but it was such a nice day that I positively enjoyed changing it - I probably dragged it out for almost 10 minutes swapping the tires. And it is most likely a small puncture and easily (cheaply) fixed. And then this evening was a good time for clogging - I was hitting on all cylinders, plus I got included with the performers for the pictures!!! Very flattering and hopeful for me.
Sunday, May 08, 2005
Happy. Really Happy. So Really Happily Happy . . .
I think I'm happy, but let me check
.
.
.
.
Um, yup! I'm happy!
That may sound like a really DUMB conclusion, but I was reading back through my old blogs and I think that I've had an increase in 'happy' blogs since I moved here. I'm not sure what the difference is, but if the blog content is an accurate guage, I guess I'm doing well!
Whew! Good to know. I was worried there!
Mom was down for the weekend, but it didn't turn out quite as smoothly as I would have liked. I think that it was started by an omission on my part - I neglected to let my landlady know that there were people coming over to her house to pick up some dogs. She was annoyed with the strangers that were coming through, so we changed the location of the last couple pick ups. Very embarrassing, but actually it all turned out well enough in the end.
Not only was mom down, but I went to a party put on by an old friend, found out that another friend is coming back to the states from Iraq for a couple weeks (actually Qatar right now), and last but not least I went to a movie!
Whew! What a weekend!
I will throw in a little movie review here. The movie was Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and I got a real kick out of the book. The book is pure nonsensical, silly, and ridiculous sci-fi, and while normally I don't go for that style of literature, the book has a lot of jokes underneath the silliness, and these tie it together into a very fun read. The movie left out all the 'second level' humor and went with pure gags and silliness. You can still see the original storyline, but most all the clever humor got dumbed down to a moronic level. All the fun lines were said as obvious punchlines, blatantly designed so everyone could get it, even 4 and 5-year-olds. I started to suspect that this was the case when one of the previews was for a movie called 'The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl'!
All that said, I still enjoyed the evening a great deal, which just goes to show that the right company can make all the difference.
--- QUOTEABLE QUOTES ---
Humans think they are smarter than dolphins because we build cars and buildings and start wars etc...and all that dolphins do is swim in the water, eat fish and play around. Dolphins believe that they are smarter for exactly the same reasons.
The Guide says there is an art to flying," said Ford, "or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.
The ships hung in the air, the exact same way that bricks don't.
There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. --- There is another that states that this has already happened.
These creatures you call mice, you see, they are not quite as they appear. They are merely the protrusion into our dimension of vastly highly intelligent beings. The whole business with the cheese and the squeaking is just a front.
The story so far:
In the beginning the Universe was created.
This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.
.
.
.
.
Um, yup! I'm happy!
That may sound like a really DUMB conclusion, but I was reading back through my old blogs and I think that I've had an increase in 'happy' blogs since I moved here. I'm not sure what the difference is, but if the blog content is an accurate guage, I guess I'm doing well!
Whew! Good to know. I was worried there!
Mom was down for the weekend, but it didn't turn out quite as smoothly as I would have liked. I think that it was started by an omission on my part - I neglected to let my landlady know that there were people coming over to her house to pick up some dogs. She was annoyed with the strangers that were coming through, so we changed the location of the last couple pick ups. Very embarrassing, but actually it all turned out well enough in the end.
Not only was mom down, but I went to a party put on by an old friend, found out that another friend is coming back to the states from Iraq for a couple weeks (actually Qatar right now), and last but not least I went to a movie!
Whew! What a weekend!
I will throw in a little movie review here. The movie was Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and I got a real kick out of the book. The book is pure nonsensical, silly, and ridiculous sci-fi, and while normally I don't go for that style of literature, the book has a lot of jokes underneath the silliness, and these tie it together into a very fun read. The movie left out all the 'second level' humor and went with pure gags and silliness. You can still see the original storyline, but most all the clever humor got dumbed down to a moronic level. All the fun lines were said as obvious punchlines, blatantly designed so everyone could get it, even 4 and 5-year-olds. I started to suspect that this was the case when one of the previews was for a movie called 'The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl'!
All that said, I still enjoyed the evening a great deal, which just goes to show that the right company can make all the difference.
--- QUOTEABLE QUOTES ---
Humans think they are smarter than dolphins because we build cars and buildings and start wars etc...and all that dolphins do is swim in the water, eat fish and play around. Dolphins believe that they are smarter for exactly the same reasons.
The Guide says there is an art to flying," said Ford, "or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.
The ships hung in the air, the exact same way that bricks don't.
There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. --- There is another that states that this has already happened.
These creatures you call mice, you see, they are not quite as they appear. They are merely the protrusion into our dimension of vastly highly intelligent beings. The whole business with the cheese and the squeaking is just a front.
The story so far:
In the beginning the Universe was created.
This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.
Friday, May 06, 2005
A Weekend of relaxation
At least for the most part. No Jeremiah, but no work either, so it's still a good weekend.
This is just about work, so tune out unless you want the gory parts of Torque 3D splattered all over you.
The biggest headache is that the documentation on Torque is atrocious! There is no list of attributes or methods for objects. There is no list of what is called on the construction of objects. No list of default. And on top of that, the parameters passed to functions or methods don't pass like in every other language.
Take all that and mix thoroughly with a programming system's style that is spread across dozens of folders and that prefers for everything to be in separate files! The resulting concoction makes for a steep learning curve.
I think I've got a handle on it. Models do not include the skin in the same file, but rather reference an outside JPG file that has to be generated with an outside program. The model animations are stored in the DTS file, but the collision meshes are generated in the Torque engine. Classes as normally provided in other languages are not able to be made in Torque, rather the GUI programming part of the system puts in the object classes, and then the hand coded portion of the programming calls them. Datablocks provide the information about objects that have been inserted into the game, but there are dozens of different types of datablocks and again, no list of what those are. Many datablocks can be used interchangeably, for the most part, and it's that 'most part' that makes you get most of the way through the description and then discover that you have the wrong one, or that even worse, you need to have two or more datablocks describing/defining the same object. There is no true documentation of the whole system; rather the documentation is all in the form of tutorials and examples (good for copy-n-paste stuff, but lousy for truly understand the architecture). And all together I'm using 8 separate pieces of software to design this game.
BRING IT ON!!!
I'm beginning to see why game designers are a hot commodity and why more people don't jump in. This will be awesome on my resume!
This is just about work, so tune out unless you want the gory parts of Torque 3D splattered all over you.
The biggest headache is that the documentation on Torque is atrocious! There is no list of attributes or methods for objects. There is no list of what is called on the construction of objects. No list of default. And on top of that, the parameters passed to functions or methods don't pass like in every other language.
Take all that and mix thoroughly with a programming system's style that is spread across dozens of folders and that prefers for everything to be in separate files! The resulting concoction makes for a steep learning curve.
I think I've got a handle on it. Models do not include the skin in the same file, but rather reference an outside JPG file that has to be generated with an outside program. The model animations are stored in the DTS file, but the collision meshes are generated in the Torque engine. Classes as normally provided in other languages are not able to be made in Torque, rather the GUI programming part of the system puts in the object classes, and then the hand coded portion of the programming calls them. Datablocks provide the information about objects that have been inserted into the game, but there are dozens of different types of datablocks and again, no list of what those are. Many datablocks can be used interchangeably, for the most part, and it's that 'most part' that makes you get most of the way through the description and then discover that you have the wrong one, or that even worse, you need to have two or more datablocks describing/defining the same object. There is no true documentation of the whole system; rather the documentation is all in the form of tutorials and examples (good for copy-n-paste stuff, but lousy for truly understand the architecture). And all together I'm using 8 separate pieces of software to design this game.
BRING IT ON!!!
I'm beginning to see why game designers are a hot commodity and why more people don't jump in. This will be awesome on my resume!
But I don't want to wake up
My face is typing for me while I'm contemplating the mysteries of my eyelids.
What a week. Monday the folks went home; I left my car lights on; I yelled for help via IM and got a jump; I even got dinner out of the deal! Tuesday was a standard day working on the game - i.e. frustrating. Wednesday, M and I finally cracked importing 3rd party, 3D model animations and skins to Torque, and how to automatically run the game from an external command file. (the 'how to' book we have is 90% useless, so that was a BIG deal) And so Thursday was a day to start trying to use all that progress to catch up to where we had hoped to be. After two really intense days, I am really looking forward to the weekend.
Websites are being worked on too. That's why I'm here late. Chatting with bro and getting pictures. Time for bed. I've been getting up a touch earlier than normal to work on the horses before heading off to work.
What a week. Monday the folks went home; I left my car lights on; I yelled for help via IM and got a jump; I even got dinner out of the deal! Tuesday was a standard day working on the game - i.e. frustrating. Wednesday, M and I finally cracked importing 3rd party, 3D model animations and skins to Torque, and how to automatically run the game from an external command file. (the 'how to' book we have is 90% useless, so that was a BIG deal) And so Thursday was a day to start trying to use all that progress to catch up to where we had hoped to be. After two really intense days, I am really looking forward to the weekend.
Websites are being worked on too. That's why I'm here late. Chatting with bro and getting pictures. Time for bed. I've been getting up a touch earlier than normal to work on the horses before heading off to work.
Monday, May 02, 2005
Yeah, God's good
It's a beautiful day,
To be walkin' with the Lo--rd.
Just'a singin' all His praises
In His presence ever more!
Miracles happen!
How exciting it is!
By faith we're walking
In victory.
It's a beautiful day,
To be walkin' with the Lo--rd.
Just'a singin' all His praises
In His presence ever more!
That's a song from WAY back at church in Ohio. I start singing or humming it on good days, and I've been humming it all day.
To be walkin' with the Lo--rd.
Just'a singin' all His praises
In His presence ever more!
Miracles happen!
How exciting it is!
By faith we're walking
In victory.
It's a beautiful day,
To be walkin' with the Lo--rd.
Just'a singin' all His praises
In His presence ever more!
That's a song from WAY back at church in Ohio. I start singing or humming it on good days, and I've been humming it all day.
Sunday, May 01, 2005
The work week is coming.
My feet were run to the bone today, and that's a good thing! For the most part. It means I was running back and forth from the truck for more inventory. I probably could have saved myself a dozen trips by bringing a whole bunch of stuff at once, but we didn't want to risk having a ton of stuff to pack up. And it worked, we didn't!
I think I even got a touch of sunburn, though it's just on my forehead, and even then, it's hardly more than a blush. But it does show how sunny it was today. It was also windy and a touch on the cool side. But, it made it VERY nice weather for the show.
It was a lot of fun. Oh, and for church, I got to meet a missionary who is heading to Japan. I talked with him a bit about Japanese culture and related a bit to him about karate and some of the stuff I know about their karate and budo.
Quick correction: Katie got third place speaker.
Back to work tomorrow. It's been a good weekend.
I think I even got a touch of sunburn, though it's just on my forehead, and even then, it's hardly more than a blush. But it does show how sunny it was today. It was also windy and a touch on the cool side. But, it made it VERY nice weather for the show.
It was a lot of fun. Oh, and for church, I got to meet a missionary who is heading to Japan. I talked with him a bit about Japanese culture and related a bit to him about karate and some of the stuff I know about their karate and budo.
Quick correction: Katie got third place speaker.
Back to work tomorrow. It's been a good weekend.
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