our adventure again
Thursday, July 28th, 2005
Lois is nailing down our itinerary fairly well. we are going to have a lot of fun. But we are going to be hiking and walking and climbing and doing stuff almost endlessly for two weeks. It is going to be fun. I will be tired. Maybe the hot springs in Colorado will be worth the time.
I am looking forward to seeing the dinosaur fossils and the natural monuments and native american dwellings in Colorado and Utah. It should be great fun.
I do need to prepare for my classes. I will be teaching the week we get back. Tuesday and Thursday at MSU and Friday at Evangel.
I will be interested to see how this fall goes. But what a way to end the summer. Wow.
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constantine
Thursday, July 28th, 2005
I saw Constantine in the theater when it came out. Then I saw it in the $2 theater (now $2.50.) This is not the emperor Constantine, but the reluctant psychic. Then I bought it at Wal*Mart. I have seen it twice since I bought it. I watched it once with Arwen.
When I was at Barnes and Noble the other day with my friend, we talked about it. He thought it was an interesting film. As we talked, I remembered what it was like to draw pictures of things I saw in the microscope. There is a trick to it. You must look into the eyepiece with one eye and look to the paper with the other. It is purposeful double vision. What happens is that as you draw the figure on the page, your eyes and brain do a check of the drawing. You can tell if it is wrong. The human brain is a marvelous tool of perception. Yes, sometimes it gets things wrong, but still it is remarkable.
What I wanted to say was that Constantine’s vision was remarkably like that sort of thing. With one eye, he sees the world as a “normal” person sees it. With the other, he sees the world of spiritual conflict. Both worlds are real. Both are tangible. Both intrude on his person in their own way. His suicide and cigarettes, friends and sidekick come from the material world, the embodied “halfbreeds” come from the spiritual world.
I thought this an apt parallel with the christian life. With one eye we see the life of Christ. With the other we see our world. Neither is more real than the other. With one eye we see the meaning of our life, with the other we see our body in the world.
If we choose to keep this perspective, we will be able to draw more accurately the lessons of life. Please excuse the facile metaphors.
Posted in Philosophy, Movies | 1 Comment »
preferences
Thursday, July 28th, 2005
When it comes to dinner at our house, we are sort of like the ’50s family. In the media, ’50s families are often depicted as eating dinner around the TV. My parents’ family didn’t do that, but we do. We don’t have a formal (or even informal) dining room. We have a counter and we have couch space. We could eat dinner upstairs where there is a table and chairs, I suppose, but we don’t do that except when we eat with Lois’s mom.
But what we do is pick a movie from our 16 foot long collection and watch it. But to get a movie that everyone wants to watch is not exactly rare, but each of us has favorites and each of us has movies we would prefer not to watch.
Lois doesn’t like movies that have silly or foolish plots or parts. Eden doesn’t like violent action movies, (read gore here). I don’t like movies where the main plot is deeply invested in deception. Arwen likes the same kind of movies I do in general. Eden likes the kinds of movies Lois likes in general. It is tough finding something to watch sometimes. We don’t watch horror, or anime, or science fiction (much) so my choices are out.
We basically watch comedy and romance movies with animated tales of all sorts in between. We watch Shrek at least twice a year, The Sound of Music, You’ve Got Mail, Two Weeks Notice, Galaxy Quest, Apollo 13, Wallace and Grommit, etc. It will take us usually 4 to 5 meals to watch a movie in the winter when we are all in school, but only 2 to 3 days in the summer.
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fridays
Thursday, July 28th, 2005
I told Lois this morning that I was looking forward to Friday because of our date. We have set aside our Friday evenings for a bit of time alone, whether at a movie, dinner or a walk in the park. It is something I always look forward to. She is one of the central realities in my life and before this date habit, we would sometimes go weeks without time to sit together. I don’t know about you, but we weren’t moving ahead much. Hey, we had two daughters, both of us worked full time jobs, and unless we made time to be together alone, it wasn’t going to happen.
As I was driving to work this morning, I thought there are even more reasons to love Fridays. I get together with some guys from (at least at one time) AG Theological Seminary at the Panera on Elm and National. We shoot the breeze and drink tea and coffee. We are comfortable with each other. Most of them were pastors at one time or another and have found themselves in other sorts of jobs that at least for all intents and purposes seem to be the right thing at this time. We can and do tell our griefs and pray for each other. Occasionally we get together to eat a dinner with our wives. It is always a good time.
But I look forward to Fridays because it is full of friends.
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our adventure out west
Wednesday, July 27th, 2005
Well, it seems that since we have hotels booked now, we really have to go. I am excited that it is coming together. Last night Arwen, Lois and I decided what we were going to do once we left the Grand Canyon. Colorado here we come.
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chat with a friend
Wednesday, July 27th, 2005
A friend and I went to Barnes and Noble to have a coffee/tea. He and I are different from each other. Our friendship is rich. There are a few reasons for it, but I’m not sure there is a word to describe the dance we do when we spend time together. He and I have vastly different ambitions in life. He has great ambition and desire to excel in his field. I on the other hand have few ambitions. His connection to the world is visceral, while mine is tenuous at best. He has a career. I have a patchwork of part-time jobs. His intellect and skills are fully engaged with his world. Mine are usually hard put to focus for any length of time on any one particular thing.
We have an unusual habit. We envy each other’s gifts. It is funny, absurd but we ignore it. We seem to have no problem admiring each other’s abilities. We say to each other, “I appreciate what you are.” We are so different, but interested in the same field of endeavor. I would have to say that we complement each other to a degree I couldn’t have imagined before in any two people.
I will always be glad to spend time with him. I have other friends that I spend time with. But our relationship is unique and fruitful.
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there and back again
Monday, July 25th, 2005
I got in my car with my daughter Eden at 4 am Saturday morning and drove to her friend’s house in Alabama. (Between 1995 and 2003 we lived in Alabama and spent time in 3 different churches.) The drive was uneventful as far as traffic, but I had fun with Eden. We listened to a few CDs and talked some. We heard Godspell, Mary Mary, Vangelis, and some others. We troubled the directions for the last few legs of the journey but otherwise had a pleasant time.
I drove to my friend Buzz Veal’s house, called him when I parked and told him I’d be there soon. He asked me where I was, and I told him “In front of your house.” He laughed. It was good to see him. We chatted, took naps and Dell, his wife, ran out for Johnny Ray’s barbecue arriving at 6 pm. Don and Lucy Newell and Bill, friends of Buzz came over to eat. We had all gone to Don’s church while we lived in Alabama so I knew them pretty well.
They asked me about my trip to Israel. We discussed the differences between the way Jews and Christians see their world. All in all a profitable time. And, Johnny Ray’s bbq was great!
The next morning I left. It was hotter on the road than on the way down. My AC could barely manage it. I was sweaty when I finally got out of the car in Missouri.
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oil change
Friday, July 22nd, 2005
When I got to the Honda dealer, they told me that Honda doesn’t recommend changing oil before 7500 miles. In my concern for good engine health, I was going to get it changed at 3750. Honda thinks differently. Well, I was glad to get an early morning ride before going to the Panera to see the wiseguyz. Tomorrow I will go with Eden to Alabama.
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reading
Friday, July 22nd, 2005
I am reading a book called Intercessory Prayer by Philip Clements-Jewery. I have a book review to do before the end of August. No big deal time wise, it is a fairly short book. But it is a revised dissertation which gives me a bit of dread with the often pedantic tone taken by dissertation writers, however he has made some interesting points so far that look interesting to pursue. As a churchman I am an intercessor and find myself in that posture in preference to other church activities. Even when I am in a service, I am often interceding for others. I am interested to see what Philip has to say. I was disappointed at the beginning when he described the problem. It seemed that the problem is not worldwide but only in the critical west that we would fail in the way he describes. I wonder how the Koreans would react to his criticism.
Posted in SPS | 1 Comment »
early morning friday
Friday, July 22nd, 2005
I am taking my car to the shop for an oil change. It will only cost me a little over $10 because the dealership wanted it that way. The oil and filter alone cost more than that, but the dealer wants my business. I wonder if it is worth it because of the long wait in line, the time it actually takes to do the change (1 hour) and the need for transportation back to the shop to pick it up. But that $10 is a pretty good incentive. I save more than an hour’s worth of time me working which makes back the loss I take waiting. I guess it is a wash.
Off to the dealership.
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Music
Thursday, July 21st, 2005
I listen to a lot of music at work. At the moment I am listening to the latest Assemblies of God Missions Musical CD. It is regular church musical genre stuff. But the first mix we got had skips on it. This burn seems fine. I have listened to it 3 times and also one song that my supervisor, Larry Hall, said skipped. It must have been a computer glitch.
Anyway, I wanted to talk about the music I am listening to at the moment.
Bob Marley “Legend Remastered.” I always liked Marley, but did not have any music by him. My daughter Arwen bought it at the iTunes music store and burned me a CD. I am enjoying it. It is a great CD to listen to while I am driving with the top down. The world seems innocent and safe, free from the cares of life when I do that.
I am listening to “Sweet Tea” by Buddy Guy that my friend Mike Lowell said was one of the bigger influences on Jimi Hendrix that we both have a great affection for. I ordered it off iTMS. I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard a lot of Hendrix coming through quite clearly. Mike said this was his darkest release. That’s OK, I like dark stuff, like Project 86’s “Drawing Black Lines,” one of my favorites, though of a different genre.
I purchased Dave Matthews’ latest release “Stand Up” from iTMS. My wife and I have been enjoying that a great deal. Lots of love song type stuff. What he does with his voice on the Cd is just amazing. A really good feel for world music. I could play it over and over.
“The Blues” by Eric Clapton with studio and live music on the 2 CD set has been great. I admit, I read an iTunes email and clicked on the music video of a studio session. I had so much fun listening and watching, that I started to hunt for the music. It was $25 from iTMS, so I went to Amazon and bought used for $5 and shipping. It had a cracked case but not a scratch on the CDs.
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Hey, I found a good blog software
Thursday, July 21st, 2005
Wordpress was simple to set up and use. I was depressed when my copy of Moveable Type died when I upgraded my server. I have put off trying to fix the problem. If you know me you’d understand. So I searched for blog software and found a chart here.
Someone who has done all this work thought that WordPress was the best of class for what he wanted. So I installed it. It is free. Here is my new blog. Note my previous posts from my Moveable Type blog under the Pages heading.
Posted in Whatever | No Comments »