I’m feeling good. My immune system is finally back in gear so I can eat normal (microwaved food) again. Although I managed to add Cup O’ Noodle to my diet in the interim period.

Ran into snow today. The fortunate thing about typically getting to work 50 minutes early means that on days with bad weather I usually still make it on time. I’ve only been late to this job once by ten minutes and that was easy enough to make up on lunch break.

I’m keeping busy with lots of potential web projects. I’ve got MyTwitter that I’ve been working on and I’m also helping out with two other projects — one with my church and another one w/ some guys from Saturdays. It’s good times. Once I get a laptop I’ll be able to do even a little bit more hopefully, but this is still a hope and not quite reality.

Managed to sit in on a conversation regarding theology today. I know the term “Federal Vision” though I don’t have any grasp of the underlying theological concepts at this point. I intend to look at it more at some point, but that day is not today. Plus, due to either intellectual laziness or a more keen interest in other topics (punk rock, coding, etc.) I really am not all that interested. I’ll look into it a bit at some point though.

If I ever do read up on Federal Vision, these are the first resources I will check: Wikipedia: Federal Vision and Federal Vision and Theopedia: Federal Vision.

Categories: Life, Religious
Tags: code, food, projects, theology

In a humorous bit of sacrelige, some crazy people are translating the Bible into LOLCat. Behold, the LOLCat Bible.

I can already hear you asking: yes, this is for real. No, I don’t think they’re trying for accuracy.

e.g. God = Ceiling Cat

John 3:16 –

“So liek teh Ceiling Cat lieks teh ppl lots and he sez ‘Oh hai I givez u me only kitteh and ifs u beleevs in him u wont evr diez no moar, k?”

Excerpt from the Lord’s Prayer (Teh Ceiling Cat Prayer) –

Giv us dis day our dalee cheezburger.
And furgiv us for makin yu a cookie, but eateding it.

Categories: Good Times, Religious
Tags: Bible, lolcats

Life comes and life goes. Birth proceeds unto death. I appreciate the privilege of being around people at all ages and points in the process.

Today, I held a baby in my arms. I was humming a classic musical tune — a march I am unable to name — and hopping around. The baby giggled and smiled.

I’ve met some of the older men in my church recently. The opportunity to hear even a few stories from somebody who has lived through everything from World War II through the Information Age is amazing.

Then there’s the darker angles. The villager from a poor region in Latin America (I don’t remember which country) — a man named Napoleon — who says, “A farmer without land is nothing.” Napoleon is a farmer and he owns no land.

Do you curse God and point out the inequities in the world? Do you scream and shout and beg someone to change the world, do you fight for peace, do you make demands upon people you can’t keep yourself?

I intend to do what I can. I won’t expect anything more from other people, and I expect less from most. Doing anything is better than doing nothing, and a single action is better than all the words in the world save the word that generates new action in hearts and lives.

John 1:1-5 —

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Categories: Religious
Tags: death, farmer, Life

It’s been 260 days.

Motion City Soundtrack – L.G. FUAD:

…
I wanna know what it’s like to be awkward and innocent, not belligerent
I wanna know how it feels to be useful and pertinent and have common sense.. yeah
Let me in, let me in to the club, cuz I wanna belong
And I need to get strong, and if memory serves
I’m addicted to words and they’re useless
…

Sometimes I still want to go out and get slammed. Stephen King describes his alcoholism well in his book “On Writing.”

I had forgotten the trick of being straight–and out of shame.

Hemingway and Fitzgerald didn’t drink because they were creative, alienated, or morally weak. They drank because it’s what alkies are wired up to do. Creative people probably do run a greater risk of alcoholism and addiction than those in some other jobs, but so what? We all look pretty much the same when we’re puking in the gutter.

He writes of a friend:

“How much do you drink?” the counselor asked.
My friend looked at the counselor with disbelief. “All of it,” he said, as if that should have been self evident.

I can relate. As so kindly pointed out by generations of alcoholics and their kin, alcoholism doesn’t end when you put the bottle down. Now I’ve got to learn to put down the pizza, the television, the HIMYM and Scrubs, the music, the movies, the books, the news.

Heck, while I’m at it maybe I ought to deny myself, take up my cross, and follow him.

Categories: Life, Lyrics, Religious, Writing
Tags: addiction, alcohol, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Motion City Soundtrack, Stephen King

In the Agora is a blog that often writes on social, political, and religious (Christian) topics. It’s got several authors who, though I don’t always agree with them, write well and put some thought and effort into defending their position. They’re from Indiana for the most part so sometimes they write about topics of a local nature, but for the most part the writings are applicable to anyone.

One of their most recent articles discusses the idea of “discipline of place” being a response to our highly transient, constantly evolving society and the sense of isolation it breeds.

David Darlington writes in “More on Isolation” the following:

By “discipline of place” I am referring to being bound to one’s local community by devotion and discipline regardless of what comes around. I am optimistic that if more people decided to value their local community and look to it for guidance and assistance in times of trouble, over big corporate or governmental bureaucracies, social capital would rebound. Though perhaps it might take serious local trauma plus a critical mass of people doing it for such a rediscovery to take place.

It’s an interesting idea, really. I realize I myself have a tendency to move from place to place and to seek new jobs when I tire of the one I have or the place I’m living.

Growing up, I lived all over the United States due to my father’s job in the military. Once he got out of the military, we bounced around to different cities in the same state looking for better jobs. During college, I stayed at the same school, but I spent each summer in different locations. Now that I’ve been out of college for two years in the same state, I’m looking to move on again.

Could I benefit from discipline of place? It would make it easier to maintain relationships. Not with the opposite-sex, though that would be a benefit, too — friendships would also qualify for this benefit. Deep friendships can be developed quickly when you bond over significant events or big discussions, but there must also be some long-term element to be acquired with time that can’t be developed any other way.

I think a large part of the reason I am constantly wanting to move on is fear. I’m afraid I’ll be stuck in the same place with the same sources of unhappiness in my life. I become convinced moving to a new place will help with this, but my problems will follow me. Sin migrates with the sinner if the sinner doesn’t let God’s grace do its thing.

Categories: Religious