March 7, 2008
A Puddle Frozen in an Interesting Way
Today as I stepped out of my car I looked down to see water frozen in a very unique pattern. It was a puddle with leaves in it that had frozen and thawed several times, leaving layers of ice with pockets of water. It captured my imagination for a very brief moment as I recalled the days when things like that used to mean something.
When I was younger a puddle frozen in an interesting way like that was fascinating enough to warrant my full attention for several minutes. I’d squat down and examine the leaves mixed into the ice and water. I’d step on the ice and listen to the satisfying crunch below my shoes. In fact, I’d meticulously step on every part of that frozen puddle until I had crunched any ice that was crunchable because it was indeed such a satisfying crunch. Various other winter images would go dancing through my head: ice skates, snow caves, and of course Christmas.
Now I just walk over it as I unload my gear out of my car. Many more things crowd my mind and I have no time to ponder a puddle frozen in an interesting way. That’s life, it seems. Moving from one thing to the next, overlooking that which was once note-worthy, forgetting that which was once so captivating. As much as I’d like to stop and admire that puddle, it’s too cold outside to be bothered with such things. I have stuff to do.
The same is now true of Set It Off.
Rise! Let your spirit fly!
Rise! Stand up for yourself!
Rise! Hold your head up high!
Our time has come,
Set it off!
December 21, 2007
Rethinking The Oscar Yet?
The school system of England has declared Al Gore’s film “An Inconvenient Truth” to be propaganda and is shown in school with a warning message in front of it making viewers aware of this fact. Still, the self-serving and hypocritical Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decided that the film warranted its highest honor, which actually (prior to this past year) used to mean something. On top of that, the self-serving and hypocritical Norwegian Nobel Institute decided to award Gore its highest honor for the same reasons and with the same effect.
I stick to my belief that think what you will about man-made global warming, you can’t prove that it’s a fact. People trumpeting the “consensus of the scientific community” are full of crap, and now we have (more) proof of this fact. I refer you to a stunning new report by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, which shatters the myth that there is any kind of agreement within the scientific community about this issue. Good read.
December 5, 2007
Still Moving Forward
It was my last night as a member of the University Club. I extended my customary ten minute soak in the hot tub by another ten minutes, using the extra time to think over the last seven months. My plan to get washboard abs just by having the UC membership card in my pocket had failed, but the greater goal had not: I was in shape for the Academy. An era in my life was ending, the same way that many before had done. Not a moment too soon; I had just been finally enrolled in my Academy classes and had been dinged with a tuition bill far higher than expected. Time to tighten the belt. No more lavish health clubs in downtown Grand Rapids for me.
As I packed my things into the gym bag I tallied up the pros on the cons. The club afforded me a good platform for regular and effective workouts, but I also needed to start saving money like nobody’s business. It was very sad to say goodbye to the hot tub. On the other hand, I no longer had to deal with the incredibly awkward teenage locker-room employee that always seemed to be staring at my junk. I would miss running for an hour on the elliptical machine while watching Cops, but, well, on the other hand I wouldn’t have to see that teenage kid anymore. He really, really bugged me. I dropped off my keycards and walked out. When I hit the street I took a mental tally of my things and realized that I had left my bathing suit hanging in the shower room. First time in seven months that I left it hanging there before walking out the door. It was time for a new bathing suit, anyway.
November 15, 2007
Journal Excerpts: 9/11/2001
I recently downloaded all my undergraduate material from my personal drive at GVSU. It’s great fun looking through it, and I can’t imagine I actually did all that stuff. There are lots of journals for various classes (many of them in German which I can’t figure out anymore), and my personal favorite is the journal for Psychology 101, which I took my freshman semester. Here’s the entry for September 11.
9/11
The World Trade Center and the Pentagon were attacked today. It’s strange how quickly things can change in this world. In class we talked about our reactions to the whole business, and it was good opportunity to talk about some very sobering things, like death and control. I personally am not troubled by the thought of not being in control of my own life, because I know that my life is in the capable control of my lord Jesus. But the attack was just a reminder to me of how weak man really is. For me, the question of “why?” is already answered: I don’t need to know why. I know that it is God’s will. We also talked about standards, and how we all have standards by which we order our lives. Why was it “wrong” for the terrorists to do what they did? It can only be because they transgressed God’s Law, which is the only true universal moral standard. So those were my initial thoughts in the wake of the attack.
November 13, 2007
Quick Hits for November
- FreeRice.com is something you should look at. Save the world from starvation and improve your vocabulary at the same time!
- If you’re interested in public service, and who isn’t, you should read this article about redefining public service. I agree with some of the points he makes about government; there are many people in government who claim to be serving the public who are simply serving themselves. Bad people.
- Big news coming on the 16th, so stay tuned.
- I recently was presented with an electric blanket, and I have to say that E. Blanks are amazing. If you don’t have one, you’re completely missing out. It’s like having a hot tub, but in your bed! I’ll stop short of saying that the thing has changed my life, but let me tell you that the quality of sleep that one enjoys when one deploys the electric blanket is superior.
September 8, 2007
Kept and Borne
What you’re looking at is a Glock 19 safe-action pistol, and I am now a proud owner of one of them. You’ll recall a post on SIO a while ago in which I bemoaned the fact that morons out there blamed the Virginia Tech massacre on American gun culture and lax firearms legislation, after which I came to the conclusion that the only reasonable thing to do in the face of the tragedy at VT was to arm myself. The Glock 19 was, in fact, one of the weapons that the gunman used in the attack.
Glock is the most famous and popular maker of polymer-frame sidearms, legendary for creating quality weapons that are absolutely, utterly reliable. The Model 19 is chambered for 9mm rounds and is a compact version of the Glock 17, weighing about 5.5 pounds. I chose the Glock 19 primarily for concealed carry purposes, and it’s a great performer in that category for a number of reasons: 1) you can depend on a Glock without fail to fire when you pull the trigger (no external safeties, hardware failures, or jams to worry about); 2) it’s lightweight polymer and has service pistol dimensions on a compact frame that’s very streamlined; and 3) it has a magazine capacity of 15 rounds.
Michigan is a great state for firearms enthusiasts. Without a criminal record, you can go to the Police Department and get a license to purchase (no charge) then head straight to a dealer and walk out with your handgun the same day. The Concealed Carry permit process takes a bit longer and is much more expensive, but if you meet the very reasonable requirements you’ll get it. This all makes me very happy.
August 30, 2007
Something for August
Times have been slow on SIO, and if I don’t make a post some time in the next 36 hours I’m in danger of not having anything in the archives for August 2007. That would probably be some sign of decay in other webrogs, but not SIO. As many of you know by now, SIO rides the waves of the webrogging life cycle like the Ark once road the waves of divinely-decreed global devastation.
Today I’m going to make a quick point about the Pope for the benefit of some new readers. Not Herr Ratzinger himself, but rather his job. Roman Catholics use many devices by which to support their idea of a pope, one of which is Matthew 16, where Jesus passes church authority to Peter. Without even going into the whole direct-descendant-from-Peter quagmire, the problem with this is that the authority of the church (the “keys of the kingdom”) was not passed exclusively to Peter, it was passed to all the apostles. Read Matthew 18, especially verse 18, where it’s clear that not just Peter but all the apostles have the same authority.
“Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
It is interesting how little but very important scriptural details like plural pronouns get overlooked many times. That’s what’s great about the King James Version of the Bible with its Elizabethan English. In the KJV, the second-person singular pronoun is “thee”, and the second-person plural pronoun is “you”. In modern English this distinction is reflected in the south as “you” and “y’all”, but since only rubes put “y’all” into serious print, the distinction would be lost entirely but for the sake of context.
This is just one reason why I don’t accept the idea of the Pope. The early church was established under the Jesus Christ-appointed authority of all the apostles, not just Peter. The errors associated with the Roman Catholic teachings about the pope go beyond this particular point, but it’s one that I’ve been reflecting on lately.
July 29, 2007
English Language Nazis Can Take a Seat
With the addition of “ginormous” to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, what once was a pseudo-word used only by youngsters and Will Ferrell fans has finally gotten clean. I saw the word on a billboard on the way home from church recently, and to be honest it doesn’t look good. It’s an ugly-looking word, for a number of reasons. At this point such speculation is spilled milk of course, and language nazis should just start hoping that “gimungous” or “hunormous” don’t make it into the dictionary as well.
July 17, 2007
Sorting It Out
As I had hoped, going to Covfamikoi did a good job of getting me out of the spiritual rut I so often find myself in. Most areas of life go in hills and valleys; good times and bad. I can only assume the rest of life will be this way. It seems to me the key to navigating such asymmetrical metaphysical topography is to recognize when you’re in a valley so that you can take steps to get out of it. When you find yourself on a hill, the key is to find a way to climb higher. As cheesy as that sounds, in my experience it’s true.
One thing I have perennially struggled with spiritually is maintaining an active and consistent prayer life. Covfamikoi brought this out into the glaring light of day, and a conversation this weekend with CovmaNate revealed part of the problem. He remarked on the fact that many people complain about various things, but how much time do they spend praying about those things? It was a valid question, one that made me realize that my prayer life has for some time been rather unorganized. I have in the past done a prayer journal, which was really helpful. It was basically just a list of items written down, which I would later review and mark old ones that had been answered. A prayer would then essentially amount to a one-person popcorn prayer. The idea of spending large chunks of prayer on one major theme is a new one to me, which I’m almost embarrassed to admit, and it’s an idea I hope to explore in the near future.
July 6, 2007
Two-Way Streets
I was recently thinking about how when a single woman gets pregnant, we say she “got pregnant”. Like I just did, no less than one sentence ago. The phrase is errant, in my opinion, because it only tells half the story. Someone not well-educated in how stuff works might think that the poor woman was walking down the street one day and suddenly found that she was in possession of a baby in her womb. That’s not how it works, as most of you should know by now. The “getting pregnant” aspect should not be separated from the man responsible in the given scenario, and it bugs me when such a separation occurs. Just a thought.
In other completely unrelated news, I’m headed to Covmadoodah tomorrow with the Eshelsons. What is Covmakrakrakrazy, you ask? Beats me.
