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Wednesday, May 26, 2004
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The Stars at Night are Big and Bright...
 We're headed to Texas! San Antonio to visit Meg's maternal grandparents, and Houston to visit her paternal grandmother and college friends. We plan to take little Em to the S.A. Zoo, eat some good Mexican food [at long last] and have a good time catching up with family and friends. What we don't plan to do, though, is get much rest.
See you next week!
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9:40 AM :: link ::
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Tuesday, May 25, 2004
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Drive-By Advice
On my way to work this morning, I saw a Ford F-150 work truck with a business sign and logo on it. The name of the business:
Something Constructive
The guy must have took his mother's words literally.
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10:33 AM :: link ::
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Wednesday, May 19, 2004
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Pluggin' in the Board
Boardgameplayer.com reports that the PC version of Puerto Rico has screenshots ready. I didn't even know this was in the works. Unfortunately, it looks like it's only in German, but I have hopes that they'd make an English version, considering its popularity in the US. With that and multi-player online capability, this would be sweet. The screenshots are very well done. Check it out.
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11:03 PM :: link ::
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Tuesday, May 18, 2004
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Cicada Craze
As you read here earlier, the Cicada Craze is hitting the eastern United States. It seems that some are trying to cash in on the 17-year Brood X cycle:
 Broodwear
Cincy Cicadas
I tell ya, I am tempted to get me one of those 'Low Carb Alternative' shirts.
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5:24 PM :: link ::
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Sunday, May 16, 2004
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our current soundtrack
 One of Meg's Mom's Day presents from me was the new Sara Groves CD. I think I like it as much as she does. There are at least three songs on the CD that really grab me -- with the words and instrumentation. Here I share with you the song that's stuck in my head:
Jeremiah
Jeremiah tell me about the fire
That burns up in your bones
I want to know; I want to know more now
The burning of ambition and desire
It never could come close
To that fire; To that fire
I was looking to myself
And I forgot the power of God
I was standing with a sparkler in my hand
While I stood so proud and profound
You went and burned the whole place down
Now that’s a fire
I was caught up in this vice
And it’s power to entice
I was dwelling on my hopelessness and doubt
With the slightest invitation
You came with total detonation
Now that’s a fire
I was warming my hands by this little light of mine
but now I know it’s time
time to come in from the cold
Fight fire with fire, come fan the flame
come stir up these coals in my soul, in my soul
till it burns out of control
You can hear samples of the songs on the Sara Groves website. The album is named The Other Side of Something.
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6:00 PM :: link ::
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Thursday, May 13, 2004
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Odd Creatures
 I've been hearing about the 17-year cicadas lately from several sources, and it piqued my interest once again. I remember as a child picking up their crunchy brown shells from trees, amazed that this was the only evidence I observed. The mystique had me mesmerized.
They are quite interesting insects. I read a good deal about them today on the National Geographic website. Yet they still remain a mystery. God is infinitely creative!
Article: Cicada Invasion Begins: Eastern U.S. Beset by Bugs
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10:23 AM :: link ::
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Tuesday, May 11, 2004
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Living in the Moment
a follow-up to Tyranny of the Present
How many of us are like this? We fear for our future. We store up treasures here on earth, in hopes of a more comfortable today, or perhaps to 'ensure' that we'll last just a bit longer. Just like the private on the front line, risking life and limb for a 'priceless' war momento, the treasures we seek do no more good for us.
We can't choose when we will go. Neither could the soldiers. However, there are many choices that we can make. How many hours to spend at work; how much to spend on that new car. Whether to lie to the boss or cheat on our taxes or the Math Final. The soldiers had the decision whether to act in valor or in cowardice.
The question is, will we choose to risk our soul to grab what we can get, in a vain attempt to improve this life? Or will we choose to invest in the eternal, risking comfort or even our lives? The brave acts of our veterans risked their lives, but secured the freedom of many.
Christ did the same, yet His sacrifice is eternal and infinite. He did not succumb to his flesh by avoiding the Cross. He voluntarily took on the full weight of our sin, not to mention the physical pain of the beatings and crucifixion. His choice made it possible for us to have a choice.
The one thing that lasts is our relationship with God, our only true Redeemer.
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2:42 PM :: link ::
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Thursday, May 06, 2004
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The Tyranny of the Present
As you may know, I am reading Ambrose’s ‘Band of Brothers.’ Recently I came across this most poignant description of a soldier’s perspective on mortality:
“Paul Fussell [in his book Wartime] has described the two stages of rationalization a combat soldier goes through -- it can't happen to me, then it can happen to me, unless I'm more careful -- followed by a stage of ‘accurate perception: it is going to happen to me, and only my not being there [on the front lines] is going to prevent it.’ “
He then proceeds to describe that the only true motivation to duty has to be internal, and usually comes in the form of comradeship. “Discipline won't do it, because discipline relies on punishment, and there is no punishment the army can inflict on a front-line soldier worse than putting him into the front line.”
“One reason for this is what Glenn Gray calls ‘the tyranny of the present’ in a foxhole. The past and, more important, the future do not exist. He explains that there is ‘more time for thinking and more loneliness in foxholes at the front than in secure homes, and time is measured in other ways than by clocks and calendars.’ To the soldier under fire who has reached his limit, even the most horrible army jail looks appealing. What matters is living through the next minute.
“Gray speculates that this is why soldiers will go to such extraordinary lengths to get souvenirs.” He then explains how several soldiers braved machine-gun fire and artillery shelling to retrieve lugers [Nazi handguns], German ponchos, and the like.
“Gray explains the phenomenon: ‘Primarily, souvenirs appeared to give the soldier some assurance of his future beyond the destructive environment of the present. They represented a promise that he might survive.’ It is almost impossible to think of anything but survival in a life-threatening situation, which accounts for the opposite phenomenon to souvenir-grabbing -- the soldier's casual attitude toward his own possessions, his indifferent attitude toward money. ‘In campaigns of extreme hazard,’ Gray writes, ‘soldiers learn more often than civilians ever do that everything external is replaceable, while life is not.’ “
Text quoted from Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose.
I might post my reactions to this later, but I would first like to hear from you.
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10:23 AM :: link ::
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Sunday, May 02, 2004
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Keep on Bikin'
Congrats to my 8-year-old cousin Joshua for biking almost 40 miles in the ADA Tour De Cure on Saturday! He raised over $700 for the American Diabetes Association. He's just a super kid!
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8:50 PM :: link ::
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Saturday, May 01, 2004
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Life Imitating Art?
I saw this very thing on an episode of the Simpsons once. Very strange indeed.
You know people pay money just to see this. I would.
Check this out: It's got a website.
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7:47 AM :: link ::
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