The Blogger Returns

So, the title of this entry is stupid. too bad.

I'm sitting here, staring at my new laptop. I took some pictures:

It's very cool. I'm actually in the middle of installing Windows 64 on it though right now. I know am running three computers with 64 bit AMD processors in them. :-) Two of them are running Linux, and the other one, my laptop, is about to be running Windows 64-bit Professional. I had originally bought this copy of Windows XP 64 Pro for my main computer, but I ended up just putting 64 bit Linux on it instead. I didn't want to completely mess up the old install of 32 bit Windows XP anyways. For those of you that may not understand, the 64 vs. 32 bit thing is pretty cool. It means that the 64 bit processors can crunch much larger numbers at a time than the 32 bit ones, and they can handle much larger memory sizes. (Not that it matters in my case, but a 32 bit processor can only handle up to 4 GBs of RAM) There can be a pretty considerable performance boost because of this. Unfortunatly, there is still not a lot of 64 bit software, so I will be forced to run a lot of 32 bit software on here. That is, if I can get drivers working for this laptop. I've been hearing success stories from others online with this model, so I should be able to make it happen. HP hasn't actually released the 64 bit drivers yet.

This laptop though, is so sweet. It came with a remote control.

It even has a nifty place in the side of it for storing that remote control.

Can you tell I'm a little bit excited about it? lol. As I said before, I'm in the middle of installing Windows 64. The hard disk format just finished, and now it is "copying files..." *sigh* It can take way too long to install Windows on a computer. At least this way though, I will be completely getting rid of all that extraneous HP software/spyware/trialware. That stuff drives me crazy. It would of taken me weeks to weed it all out otherwise. Besides, in order to do any actual web development work on here, I needed to have Windows XP Pro instead of Windows XP Home (It came with Windows XP Home).

My evening has not been all about the laptop though. In fact, that has only been the most recent of events. It all started out with me heading straight to the IMAX from work. That meant going from Mesquite to the Cinemark 17 in the middle of rush hour traffic. It probably took me about 45 minutes, and that was by taking backroad shortcuts! At the IMAX, they were showing (and I ended up watching) the new movie, Superman Returns. It was no Casablanca to be sure, but it was definatly a quality Superman movie. I would still say Superman III was better though. Something about Richard Pryor made that movie hilarious. In the meantime, the new one involved a new actor in the place of Christopher Reeve, some voice overs from Marlon Brando when he originally played Superman's dad in the first movie, an actress playing Lois Lane who looked like a young Judy Garland, and a fabulous performance from Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor. That's a lot of things to digest. To make it even more overwhelming (from the digestion perspective), the IMAX version has about 20 minutes of "3-D". I had never experienced this in a theater before. It was krass! Every once in a while, these green glasses would appear at the bottom of the picture to alert you that things were about to go 3-D. At this point, you would don your lenses, and find the screen literally leaping out at you. The problem with this was that it ended up being flat objectes that would be leaping out at you. They would have almost no depth. It was a little distracting to me. Truthfully, it would be very hard to film anything in true 3-D that is live action. You could do it with computer generated films (i.e Toy Story) though.

All in all, Superman Returns was pretty good. The musical score (apparently John Williams again) was fantastic! It was definatly on par with the old Christopher Reeve Superman movies. I will add that there were some interesting savoir copmarisons. I think those have always been inevitable with the Superman stories, but they're interesting nonetheless. It's worth the watch.

Perry White: What've you got, Olsen?
Jimmy Olsen: Look, in the sky, Chief.
Lois Lane: It's a bird.
Perry White: It's a plane.
Jimmy Olsen: No, look, it's...
Clark Kent: [Knocking and entering] Uh, you wanted to see me?

- Superman Returns

Asshair Waxing? What?

I hope no one finds the above title too offensive! Some friends were ranting about this at the table tonight, and, after I gave them all a funny look (not quite sure why or how it came up), they dared me to make it the title of tonight's blog entry. I emphatically said, "No way!" But, later, I couldn't think of anything better for the title of this blog entry, and, since one of them claimed he'd give me a dollar for using it, I did. I guess, if he gives me said dollar, it might be the first and only time in which I will have literally "sold out" that I can think of. I apologize if anyone is bothered by it! lol.

My birthday was a lot of fun. It was pretty much a good day through and through. I was on the phone for almost 6 hours at its inception with my very special someone. She gave me some cool presents that I really like. There was a really cool card, a book with a translation, a cd of music that she likes, and a really pretty spiral notebook that we can use as a kind of prayer journal together. I need to figure out how to go about making entries in the last of these... (I hope, Musankisha, that you do not mind me bragging about these gifts in front of the world...hehehe)

Anyways, after that and after a few hours of sleep, I got up to face the world. First off, my brother came by. That was interesting and fun. Then, I went to work. Work was mostly boring and ordinary. I did, however, get an email birthday card from one of our clients, and I had the opportunity to listen to a certain cd I had opened in the weeeee hours of the morning. :-) Rob is probably glad he has noise cancelling headphones because it is not his kind of music (his kind of music is normally pretty bad), but I liked it. The most inteesting part of work came near the end of it, when, a few friends of mine established a connection with me via Skype (still at work), and sung Happy Birthday to me over it in both English and German. They may not realize it, but I felt very special having people sing to me like that. (Ich bin total nicht schleimen!)

On the way home, I went to Fry's to buy an ultra cheap webcam. While I was there, I stopped in the laptop section and examined the model lineup of the new laptop I had ordered through Best Buy the day before. I am stunned by realizing how cool this new laptop I ordered (A Hewlett-Packerd Pavilion dv8210) is. They had several of the dv8000 Pavilion series there, and every one of them blew me away!!! I should be getting it tomorrow (today depending on how one looks at it), and I am stoked! It has freakin' 17" widescreen, and the whole thing is so wide that they actually put a numberpad on it!!! That is awesome!!! (I am such a dork, ja?) I managed to make it out of Fry's with only the web camera, and that is pretty cool. Upon getting home, I had a few difficulties trying to install that web camera on my main computer. I want to be able to use it with Skype. Unfortunatly, the stupid install program refuses to work properly. It was having a problem with the "Install Script" Rather than return it though, I tried it on my old laptop (where I am more likely to use Skype anyways), and that worked just fine. :-D

After talking to meine Musankisha (again), some friends picked me up, and we went out to ye ole' Shuck 'n Jive. Wow, that was crazy. Heather was working up there tonight, and she imediately started asking me questions about where I've been the last few months. She also started buying me drinks (I honestly don't remember quite how many, but I'm glad I wasn't driving anywhere!!!). I had some good Jambalaya with my drinks, and some fun company in the form of several of my friends. We were only there for a couple of hours, but I must of had three or four big ole' glasses of Crown on the Rocks along with a couple of shots of Crown as well. I enjoyed every second of it, and it was a task to keep from spilling my guts about all the exciting things God has been doing in my life recently. Not all of it should be talked about now, and, hence, I just focused on trying to keep my mouth shut. The whole night was so much fun though. I wish that I could of had some of my friends from church there, but, alas, there were none. When I got home, I passed out for awhile. (Alcohol has a tendancy to cause that in a person) When I woke up again, my 28th birthday was in the past, and I realized that I am not in midst of my 29th year on this planet. I am so thankful to the Lord, God Almighty, for creating me and putting me hear all of these past 28 years!! I hope there are more to come, and I find myself joyfully thinking about the ways I might be able to spend my birthdays in the future now that I know meine Musankisha. (Das ist krass, ja?)

Ok, so, I'm still a little tipsy and giddy after all the events of today, but it was such a good day. I think this is the first time a birthday has ended with me looking so forward to next year! To all of my friends who celebrated it with me and all of those who were unable to come, but wished me Happy Birthday anyways: Danke!! The story of my life and what God is doing with it is all His, and I am so glad He is allowing me to participate in it. lol.

~ guten Nacht!

Kick Out the Jams

well i've been elected to rock your asses 'till midnight
well this is my term and i've shaved off my perm but it's alright
i solemnly swear to uphold the constitution
got a rock 'n' roll problem well we got the solution
just let me be who i am and let me kick out the jams yeah
let me kick out the jams i done kicked 'em out

well i've been selected to orbit the planet in a rocket (in a rocket)
i'm goin' to mars i got a message for the poodle in your pocket (in your pocket)
well mission control callin' supernova the hotline's rockin'
you can come on over and let us be who we am
and let us kick out the jams yeah
kick out the jams we done kicked'em out

- The Presidents of the United States of America

I would like you to dance...

They say it's my birthday...
So, Happy Birthday to me!
They say it's my birthday...
I'm going to have a good time.
I'm glad it's my birthday...
Happy Birthday to me!

lol

(I've already gotten some really sweet presents, and the coolest of all possible Birthday wishes came about 7 seconds past midnight. :-D )

Birthday

You say it's your birthday
It's my birthday too--yeah
They say it's your birthday
We're gonna have a good time
I'm glad it's your birthday
Happy birthday to you.

Yes we're going to a party party
Yes we're going to a party party
Yes we're going to a party party.

I would like you to dance--Birthday
Take a cha-cha-cha-chance-Birthday
I would like you to dance--Birthday
Dance

You say it's your birthday
Well it's my birthday too--yeah
You say it's your birthday
We're gonna have a good time
I'm glad it's your birthday
Happy birthday to you.

- The Beatles

10,227 days minus 1 (leap years included)

Every day when I post, I kind of ignore the fact that I am always posting about the day previous to the post itself. I won't tonight for one simple reason. It is now the early early morning of the 27th of June. When I post at this time tomorrow night, it will be the early early morning of the 28th, and that will be my 28th birthday! Woohoo!

I wouldn't normally be this crazy about it, but I have a sense of anticipation that is almost overwhelming. Maybe I'm just tired, or maybe I'm just thinking about this birthday package I got which I can not open until it is actually my birthday on both sides of the planet. Hehe... It's not high expectations that cause me to be so fired up about it, but, rather, who it came from. I'm just eager to see it!!! lol.

So, today was a weird and long day. I suddenly find myself very tired and desperately needing sleep. The worst part? There's someone coming to inspect my apartment tomorrow!! doh! Maybe I should clean, yes? They did only notify me today though... I guess I'll wait and see. It really is in God's hands. My cat is hungry, and, so, I must go. The song I quote below is a super cool one from a super cool band, and, yes, I did just say super cool twice. (I guess that's three times now.) Super cool!

~ Guten Nacht! (or Guten Morgen, depending upon how, or when, you read it...)

The Grace of God

I am more than this flesh and bone
By myself I wander the streets alone
But when my dream is over and morning creeps on in
I pull the covers back and I feel your warmth again

There is something inside
That my heart can’t explain
But by the grace of God I
Am made whole again
In the times I have fallen
And when I felt the shame
Yet by the grace of God I
Am made whole again

Sold in my pride I said I know
So I bought the lie and I chained my soul
But mercy runs deep and seeks to fill
An empty hollow shadow that
One day will reveal

That there is something inside
That my heart can’t explain
But by the grace of God i
Am made whole again
In the times I have fallen
And when I felt the shame
Yet by the grace of God i
Am made whole again

There is something inside
my heart can’t explain
But by the grace of God i
Am made whole again
In the times I have fallen
And when I felt the shame
Yet by the grace of God i
Am made whole again

- PFR (Pray For Rain)

A Kneejerk Reaction

Today has been really good. From church this morning all the way through bible study tonight, it has been pretty sensational. The Rangers lost, but that's ok for the moment. They are still doing well. I saw down and played some video games this afternoon and then later tonight. I got to talk to a great person on the phone, and we talked for awhile about prayer and organization. That's been running around in the back of my mind all day since. Bible study was really cool after not having it for so many weeks. (Since Dan had been in Nigeria) God protected a couple close friends of mine in their travels today, too. The seriousness of that should not be underestimated. At any rate, it's been mostly a great day, and I really thank the Lord for that.

Why is it then that I find myself waiting for the other shoe to drop? I can't explain it. It's actually been like this a little bit for awhile. I keep seeing how great God has been running things in and around my life lately, and I find myself waiting for a bombshell. That's some very human thinking. It's very human to worry like that. Even knowing that doesn't necessarily make it easier not to.I keep having to remind myself of verses like the following:

Then Jesus said to his disciples: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

"Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Luke 12:22-34

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Matthew 7:7-11

"Have faith in God," Jesus answered. "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."

Mark 11:22-25

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

1 John 5:13-15

In this world it is a widely prevalent idea that we must earn everything we have. These verses cause me to seriously question that notion. As I read these, I realize that God wants to provide for us in miraculous and undeserved ways. So, as the great things (especially in regards to one in particular) happen around me that I just totally do not deserve, I am waiting to find out the "cost" for them. That cost is the other shoe. That cost is the bombshell. And, the truth is, it is wrong for me to expect it. There is no way I could ever earn the grace God has shown me just in dying on the cross for my sins. There's no way I could earn the grace He's been showing me in other ways lately, too. Maybe I sound like I'm bragging about this good thing or these good things God has caused to be in my life. I don't mean to. I mean to rejoice about them instead. I certainly can't brag. That's probably why I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. It's so evil to take credit for something that God Almighty has done, and, yet, it's so natural for the human being to reject grace out of disbelief and inability to cope with it. I'm so glad that God has caused me to cope this far with His overwhelming grace, and I just keep hoping and praying He will cause me to cope with more and more of it for all the remaining days of my life.

They have worlds out there, people that you wouldn't believe. But they do not have chocolate.

- Crichton - A Human Reaction

Rain... Is that what you call this? I like it.

- Aeryn - A Human Reaction

The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid.What can man do to me?Psalm 118:6

I fell asleep on the couch last night. Didn't write my blog, feed my cat, empty my cat's litter box, or even brush my teeth. I fell asleep watching TV. I woke somewhere in the middle of this, too tired to move much, and turned off the projector. This was all after a long night of gaming with Brian and Daniel. Daniel had brought his stupid Powerbook over instead of a normal PC, and had bought Battlefield 1942 for OSX on the way. This led to a couple of hours of trying to sync up patches so that we could all actually play it. Of course, then, it ran at about 3 frames per second (really slow!!) on his Powerbook, making all of our effort and his money somewhat worthless. Why anyone would buy a Macintosh Powerbook (of the non-Intel variety), and hope to play games on it is beyond me. Even if you had one of the new Intel ones, you would pretty much need to put Windows on it still in order to play games. We ended up having a rousing game of StarCraft afterwards. (That game is like 10 years old, so even his Powerbook could handle it with ease!) There was none of the normal Pluckers happenings. Apparently, Daniel and Brian are wanting to save money. This is probably good for all of us.

I ended up waking up about 15-30 minutes before church this morning. It really starts at 10:45 AM, but I really aim to be there by 11:00 AM because 10:45 is just too early for me. Today, I got there at about 11:15 AM though. Whoops!! There was some young strange guy (possibly a candidate for the pastor job?) preaching when I showed up. He was pretty good. (I thought.) It was interesting to me that he spoke about Nehemiah and rebuilding the walls. He talked a lot about how, when we pray, we are building walls of defense around the body of the church and each other. We also had Communion today. It's been awhile since the last time I had opportunity to take part in Communion. (It seems that that happens a lot on days when I sleep in) I found myself thinking today about how good it is to be reminding ourselves of how we must drink of His blood and eat of His flesh in order that we might have eternal life with Him. Blood is so representative of life, and every (or at least almost every) cleansing sacrifice in the Law required blood. God requires blood, life, as payment, restitution for our sins. He requires death as the penalty, the punishment. Christ made that payment, and, therefore, we must partake of His blood and His flesh that we might know the joy of salvation that comes through Him.

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5

How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

Hebrews 9:14

Things that make me go "Hmmmm...."

I want to share a couple of news articles I've read today. First up is this interesting article about HIV and AIDS medicines. The first sentence of it reads:

Over the past 17 years, successive generations of AIDS drugs have restored a total of three million years of life to HIV-positive Americans and prevented an estimated 2,900 infants from becoming infected, a new study finds.

- from the article entitled HIV Drugs Have Given Americans 3 Million Years of Life by Randy Dotinga

According to this article, there is an estimated 300,000 Americans who are HIV positive, but do not know about it. It makes a person think. I wonder if any of the people I have known and hung out with over the years fall into that category? I wonder if any of my close friends have HIV and don't know...

A lot of people are scared to find out. I don't know if I would blame them for being scared. It's certainly got to be important to know though, right? For some reason, this HIV epidemic reminds me a lot of leprosy. I realize it hasn't been around as long (as far as we know), but it's certaily got a similar stigma attached to it. With lepors though, it would become pretty obvious when fingers and skin started rotting and falling off. (that would suck so much!!) Because it was uncurable and often contagious, they would place these people into their own private communities for care, segregating them from society. Some countries, like China, would sometimes just wipe out groups of lepors if they had them brought together.

Near Tungkun on Easter Sunday morning in 1937 a terrible tagedy took place. A little land in this area had been set aside years ago for "outcast lepers" in memory of an Empress Dowager who also had leprosy, but no provision had ever been made for the support of the unfortunates. Consequently, when they were warned not to beg, starvation looked them in the face. They became so desperate that finally a government subsidy of ten cents a day was promised, provided they would remain inside of the colony compound. This promise was kept for three days. The fourth morning was Easter. Just as the missionaries were leaving their homes to go to the leprosarium to hold services, the news came that all of their congregation had been shot at sunrise, and that the village was in ashes.

- taken from Doctor of the Happy Landings by Eugene and Julia Lake Kellersberger

I quote this here because I find myself thinking about how AIDS creates such a similar stigma. The problem with AIDS though is that it is so undetectable without proper testing that many go for a long time without even suspecting they have it. These people then go out and spread it around with rampant acts of promiscuity. In many of the third world nations, it is spreading like wildfire through rape, which often runs rampant there. Let's not forget the drug usuage that spreads it as users share needles so they can all get their fix. Even if it was culturally acceptable to seperate the victims from mainstream society, it would not be feasible by any means. You would have to test everyone, and then how could anyone ever justify isolating the victims who are non-violent and not spreading? Even so though, there was a fear of catching leprosy because of the lack of a cure and the social stigma it carried with it. There was an added fear of being seperated from your loved ones. With AIDS it is the same way except for the seperation. I hope that not only is a cure found soon, but that there will be a way to spread such a cure to the massive populations of people around the world that need it lest they and their entire culture dies out.

The second article I want to share is this one about a 17 year old Christian? girl who wants to go marry a 20 year old Muslim man she met on MySpace.com. I have no room to mock or argue against anyone for any kind of long distance relationship. But, this story has me baffled. Maybe it's because I don't like MySpace.com. Maybe it's because it just smells like a horrible foundation for a relationship. Of course, I can't really know what they are building on. Maybe I'm baffled because they are talking so casually about her converting from Christianity to Islam for the sake of man she has never met. That's just so wrong!!! If she's willing to do that, has she ever really been a Christian at all? That she would even consider putting Christ aside to be with a boy speaks of her inability to be faithful. I am perhaps judging too harshly. It makes me think though.

It makes me think about my relationship with my Musankisha, and it makes me glad that I know I neither will nor can ever be first in her life because Christ will always be first there. I am also glad because she can know and be glad that Christ will always be first in my life also. It touches home for me because we too are getting to know each other from so far away. I guess we are lucky though because we have a common friend who is close to both of us. (I don't mean Christ there although He is also a commonality) We also talk a lot. And (a really big plus for us) MySpace.com has not been involved in our getting to know each other. lol. This blog doesn't count!!!

The numbers below are staggering:

HIV prevalence across the world (UNAIDS)

- Image taken from Wikipedia and is listed under the GFDL license (GNU Free Documentation License)

Globally, between 33.4 and 46 million people currently live with HIV. In 2005, between 3.4 and 6.2 million people were newly infected and between 2.4 and 3.3 million people with AIDS died, an increase from 2003 and the highest number since 1981.

Sub-Saharan Africa remains by far the worst affected region, with an estimated 21.6 to 27.4 million people currently living with HIV. Two million [1.5–3.0 million] of them are children younger than 15 years of age. More than 64% of all people living with HIV are in sub-Saharan Africa, as are more than three quarters (76%) of all women living with HIV. In 2005, there were 12.0 million [10.6–13.6 million] AIDS orphans living in sub-Saharan Africa 2005. South & South East Asia are second worst affected with 15%. AIDS accounts for the deaths of 500,000 children in this region.
- Taken from the Wikipedia article on AIDS in the section on Epidemiology
and the information in that article was sourced from: UNAIDS (2006). “Overview of the global AIDS epidemic”, 2006 Report on the global AIDS epidemic

Birthdays and Apologetic Conversations

Today was a friend of mine's 24th birthday. So, tonight I went over to her and her boyfriend (a real close friend of mine)'s house and celebrated with them, and some other friends I hadn't seen in a while. It was alot of fun. I drank a good bit of whiskey (which was sehr gut!), and I smoked this tasty cigar. My lungs might decide to yell at me later about that... (I've never been able to quite conquer the "you don't inhale a cigar" approach. I've always inhaled it a bit, but I enjoy it. So there!) I also now have most of a case of Miller Lite in my fridge. I wonder when I'll get around to drinking it... (I've had cases of Miller hang out in there for months before because I don't drink very much at home) All in all though, it was a good night. We celebrated her birthday with drinks and company. Then, we sat around and caught up on stuff a little bit.

It seems that the grapevine has been so fruitful in giving them tiny morsels of the going ons in my life that I needed to set some things straight. Luckily, it was really more just filling them in because most of the rumors have been close. They had only heard enough though to worry. I found myself needing to explain to them that I have been learning to trust in God more in my life, and that He has been doing wonderful things.

Eventually, the night culminated inside (after we heard some gunshots outside) with a conversation between the birthday girl and myself about the legitimacy of scripture. It rapidly grew to include such subjects as The Book of Mary and The Book of Judas. I know of them, and that is good. I know bits and pieces about them, and that is good. What's not good is that I realized that there is probably not enough good knowledge about them and, more importantly, why they are not considered acurate, etc. out there for public consumption. It baffles me how people can claim that an ancient text has been "discovered" for the first time, and that it must therefore be acurate. I try to remember to be defensive, but not aggressive when I argue these matters. Especially because I don't know enough to fight aggressively. I found myself remembering once again why I enjoy learning about these topics though. It helps me prepare for conversations like tonights. While I doubt her opinion was swayed in any way, at least I feel like I did not back down at all. I did not give an inch, and calmly argued each point as best I could. In the end, the subject was changed to a conversation about how much she hates math. She didn't want it to go on.

Other than all of this stuff, it was a fairly normal long day. There's going to be another one tomorrow, and some especially long ones each day this weekend. I need to somehow eat the remainder of the leftover pizza that is still in my fridge from Tues. night... (I took some home from the 63 Mavericks watching party) I wonder if it will still be good tomorrow because I certainly can not eat it tonight.

~ Guten Nacht!


(I'm sure I've posted these lyrics before, but I think they're appropriate after the conversation I had tonight...)

Creed

I believe in God the Father almighty
Maker of Heaven and Maker of Earth
And in Jesus Christ
His only begotten Son, our Lord
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit
Born of the virgin Mary
Suffered under Pontius Pilate
He was crucified and dead and buried

And I believe what I believe
Is what makes me what I am
I did not make it, no it is making me
It is the very truth of God and not
The invention of any man

I believe that He who suffered
Was crucified, buried, and dead
He descended into hell and
On the third day, rose again
He ascended into Heaven where
He sits at God's mighty right hand
I believe that He's returning to
Judge the quick and the dead
Of the sons of men

And I believe what I believe
Is what makes me what I am
I did not make it, no it is making me
It is the very truth of God and not
The invention of any man

I believe it, I believe it
I believe it
I believe it, I believe it

I believe in God the Father almighty
Maker of Heaven and Maker of Earth
And in Jesus Christ His only begotten Son,
Our Lord
I believe in the Holy Spirit
One Holy Church, the communion of Saints
The forgiveness of sin
I believe in the resurrection
I believe in a life that never ends

And I believe what I believe
Is what makes me what I am
I did not make it, no it is making me
It is the very truth of God and not
The invention of any man

I believe it, I believe
I believe it, I believe
I believe it, I believe it

- Rich Mullins

The Demise of Cafe Nostra???

Until tonight, if anyone had asked me where the best place in Dallas to get pizza is, I would of answered unequivocally Cafe Nostra. That changed tonight when the part of Lower Greeneville on which Cafe Nostra resides caught fire in a massive six alarm inferno. I'm left wondering if I will ever enjoy the greatness that was Cafe Nostra again. (On the positive side, it was expensive...and extremely fattening. I would gain an average of 3-5 lbs. everytime I ordered it. It would take me days of watching what I eat in order to "work" it off again) Even if that part of the building was saved, I have a feeling that Cafe Nostra itself will be shutdown for quite awhile. Maybe I should remove their number from my phone now...

Watched Good Morning Vietnam with my buddy, Daniel, tonight. He had never seen it before. That is a travesty. At least he's seen The Princess Bride though. I don't have to quite hang him yet. At any rate, he thought it was greatness, and now he understands why it was a crime for him not to have seen this excellent Robin Williams movie previously.

A handfull of lesser considered or oft forgotten movies that everyone should see:

• American History X
• Good Morning Vietnam
• The Princess Bride
• The Rocketeer
• Lean On Me
• L.A. Confidential
• Princess Mononoke
• UHF
• The Man Who Would Be King
• Tommy Boy
• Fiddler on the Roof
• Tron
• Slapshot
• Moulin Rouge
• Labyrinth
• *Run Lola Run
• *Blazing Saddles
• *History of the World - Part 1
• *Spaceballs
• *The Producers

Edit: * These added later

This is not a definitive list of great and often ignored movies, mind you, but these movies do generally have a special bit of greatness in my opinion. I'm also pretty sure there are a bunch of movies that deserve to be on this list that are not here at all. Probably a bunch I haven't even seen...

This is my new mop. George, my friend, he gave me this mop. It's not as good as my first mop, I miss my first mop, but it's still a good mop. ... Because life is like a mop. Sometimes it's full of dirt and crud and stuff, but you've got to clean it out. And sometimes, you've got to really scrub, and if that doesn't work, if that doesn't work...you can't give up. You've got to run to a window and yell, "Hey! These floors are dirty as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!"

- Stanley Spadowski - UHF

The Mathematics of WoW

According to Wikipedia's article on WoW (World of Warcraft), they, as of March 2006, have over six million users. For the record, this is for an online fantasy role playing game. These six million users are paying aproximately $50 to start playing the game, and then are paying anywhere between $12-$16 per month to play it. Let's do the math:
$12 (the low figure)
x12 (the number of months in a year)
----
$144 (The amount per yer each player is paying)

$144 x 6,000,000 = $864 million a year (the low figure)

Same math with the higher figure:

$16 (the low figure)
x12 (the number of months in a year)
----
$192 (The amount per yer each player is paying)

$192 x 6,000,000 = $1.152 billion a year

Now, if you look at the starting cost:

$50 x 6,000,000 = $300 million


That's a lot of money for a game about dwarves, elves, etc.

Hey, Blizzard, can I have some free money? Please? I don't really want much... Maybe only a couple mill? (lol)

Interestingly, China has implemented regulations that will, in theory, prohibit minors in their country from playing WoW because it is possible to kill other players in it...

Poor Mavs

We lost.

Miami Heat	95
Dallas Mavericks	92

I still believe we had the better team. I still think we should of won. And, yes, I'm feeling sore and I'm on the losing side, so I guess that makes me a sore loser. Being that I have now admitted that, I just want to say that that was the absolute worst ref'd game of basketball I have ever seen. You can kind of deal with that in the regular season a little bit, but there is no way that team of referees should have been allowed anywhere near the floor for a Finals contest. Furthermore, their calls were so one sided that it makes one wonder if rigging an NBA game really is possible or not. Sure, Mark Cuban says it is not, but I certainly saw dozens of obvious fouls committed by Miami players that were not called. The announcers were even pointing them out!! To add to that, anytime a Heat player went to shoot, he was automatically fouled. (Even if the Maverick's player who "fouled" him clearly did not touch him at all) A couple of times...I can accept that. But, this was for the course of the whole game!!! Not only that, but this had been a trend of the last couple of games. This had even been a trend throughout the playoffs for the Mavs so far. Are the Miami Heat now the NBA champions? Yes. Do they deserve it? No one will ever really know. That's the bottom line. Their championship, in my opinion, is now somewhat illegitimate. It's too bad. Dwayne Wade actually was really good.

Maybe some Dallas fan should start a "NoRefs.com" in the same pattern as the Buffalo Sabres fan's "NoGoal.com" after the Buffalo Sabers vs. Dallas Stars Stanley Cup Finals in '99. The only controversy there was a matter of opinion as to whether or not the series winning goal may or may not have been kicked in. The refs ruled it was deflected, and their fans ruled otherwise. A single bad call compared to dozens of them. How can fans get so uptight about one bad call in the NHL, a league who's sport easily moves five times as fast as basketball, and yet their is zero accountability for the referees involved? (for the record, at the half, Miama had taken 15 free throws. Dallas had taken 2. Those numbers just shouldn't be that lopsided in the NBA Finals)

Ok, I've vented enough. I'm really just pissed off at the Mavs for blowing it when they came into that series as clearly the better team. Sometimes though, skill does not count, and the game is left to luck and the calls of the referees involved. (*Deep breaths, Kelly...deep breaths*)

63 tonight....consisted of going over to Grant's house to watch the game. It was apparently a last minute decision. After it was made, it was realized that a couple of people weren't too happy with it. Poor John kept blaming himself for it. Personally, I think it is very Christian to fellowship in such a manner. So, we didn't sing or learn together tonight. But we did fellowship. I thought it was good.

Most interesting factoid of the night: Marquis Daniels has the entire "verse" (according to Stuart Scott of ESPN) of Psalm 91 tattoed on his chest.

So, to finish off this blog entry:

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust."

Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare
and from the deadly pestilence.

He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,

nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.

A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.

You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.

If you make the Most High your dwelling—
even the LORD, who is my refuge-

then no harm will befall you,
no disaster will come near your tent.

For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;

they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

"Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.

With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation."

- Psalm 91

"Teriffic. I'm about to get killed a million miles from nowhere with a gung-ho iguana who tells me to relax."- Alex Rogan - The Last Starfighter

I've been on a sci-fi watching kick lately. It's been dorky, but fun. Tonight it involved watching the amazingly cheesy (but somehow still almost tasty...lol) movie known to the generation that grew up in the 80's as The Last Starfighter. It's probably not uncommon for people to enjoy horribly bad movies that they remember enjoying as a kid. This was one of mine.

I had forgotten just how bad the special effects were back then. Ironically, according to the Wikipedia article, The Last Starfighter was "...the first major movie to use extensive computer graphics to depict real objects in place of physical models." It was also the last film role of Robert Preston. Robert Preston was the star of one of my favorite childhood musicals also, The Music Man. (Seventy-Six Trombones is still one of my all time favorite songs from a musical.) Speaking of musicals, I also purchased a second copy of one of my recent favorites from that genre, Moulin Rouge, tonight. My old one is scratched in the middle of my favorite scene, the singing and dancing of El Tango De Roxanne. (I hope this is the only Sting song I have ever enjoyed...)

Back to the movie though. It's pretty bad. I mean, the basic storyline is: teenager going nowhere in a trailor park, plays video game, can't get into college, wins video game, gets called abducted by alien who created video game, and ends up saving the universe. I wonder if it speaks to by ability to dream when I say that, as a kid, I enjoyed such plots, but, as an adult, find them a bit weak?

This question of dreaming makes me think of Moulin Rouge. The two main characters, Christian and Satine (played by Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman), dream madly of love in the middle of circumstances bent against them. Things fall tragically apart by the end of the movie, but not, as one might think, because of their dreams of love for one another. Although, it certainly might seem that way as one is watching it.

So, it is wise to dream of improbable or impossible things? Even in love? I hope not! I fear that the materialism and growing atheism in the world are stifling our ability to dream and hope for this. What hope can there be to ever find a real and singular love in this world if we choose to cling desperately to everything we can find, even if it is unworthy, and then, even worse, deny the existance of the one from whom all hope, love, and dreams come from?

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:

"I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate."

Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.

1 Corinthians 1:18-25

The message of the cross is the ultimate message of hope and love.

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

John 3:14-17

There is a notion adrift everywhere that imagination, especially mystical imagination, is dangerous to man's mental balance. Poets are commonly spoken of as psychologically unreliable; and generally there is a vague association between wreathing laurels in your hair and sticking straws in it. Facts and history utterly contradict this view. Most of the very great poets have been not only sane, but extremely business-like; and if Shakespeare ever really held horses, it was because he was much the safest man to hold them. Imagination does not breed insanity. Exactly what does breed insanity is reason. Poets do not go mad; but chess-players do. Mathematicians go mad, and cashiers; but creative artists very seldom. I am not, as will be seen, in any sense attacking logic: I only say that this danger does lie in logic, not in imagination.

- G.K. Chesterton - Orthodoxy

"Poetry is sane because it floats easily in an infinate sea; reason seeks to cross the infinate sea, and so make it finite."

- G.K. Chesterton - Orthodoxy

"Then I'll write a song and we'll put it in the show and whenever you sing it or hear it. Or whistle or hum it then you'll know. It'll mean that we love one another."

- Christian - The Moulin Rouge

Christian, you may see me only as a drunken, vice-ridden gnome whose friends are just pimps and girls from the brothels. But I know about art and love, if only because I long for it with every fiber of my being.

- Toulouse-Lautrec - The Moulin Rouge

"You ask whether I have ever been in love: fool as I am, I am not such a fool as that. But if one is only to talk from first-hand experience, conversation would be a very poor business. But though I have no personal experience of the things they call love, I have what is better - the experience of Sappho, of Euripides, of Catallus, of Shakespeare, of Spenser, of Austen, of Bronte, of anyone else I have read."

- C.S.Lewis

"Christianity seems at first to be all about morality, all about duties and rules and guilt and virtue, yet it leads you on, out of all that, into something beyond. One has a glimpse of a country where they do not talk of those things, except perhaps as a joke. Every one there is filled full with what we should call goodness as a mirror is filled with light. But they do not call it goodness. They do not call it anything. They are not thinking of it. They are too busy looking at the source from which it comes."

- C. S. Lewis - Mere Christianity (Macmillan Publishing. 1978. pgs. 130,131)

You see? It's like I've always said: "You can get more with a kind word and a two-by-four than you can with just a kind word." - Marcus Cole - B5

The Mavs lost tonight. They lost by one point. It was a close game. The Mavericks should have won. They could have one if not for a really bad call by the refs at the end, and if Josh Howard had not inadvertantly called their last timeout. Doh! Now, the best of 7 series is 3-2 Miami. It's coming back here for game 6 and, if necessary, game 7. I keep praying that we'll still win the series. We trounced them when we played here before, but now they've got a lot of momentum. It's hard to believe that we are here, in the Finals, for the first time in our franchise's history, and that we might be about to loose. I'm bummed.

I'm capping the evening off by watching the last episode of season 1 and the first episode of season 2 of Babylon 5. They changed the main character between these two seasons, and it's interesting how the show changed after that. Everything got a bit darker, and the character of Captain Sheridan was a welcome change to Commander Sinclair. They wired it well into the show in such a way as to add to the drama. As the show was going to be getting darker anyways, it added a nice touch of mystery and confusion to the central storyline.

Today was also an interesting day. On my way home from church to watch the Rangers game, I was intercepted by my phone ringing. A large chunk of my family was meeting for pizza. I went. It was a lot of fun. My great aunt and great uncle, one of their daughters, her husband and one of their daughters, my mom and dad, four of my dad's sisters, one of his sister's daughters, and one of my dad's sister's husband and his brother. Is that a detailed enough list for you? It was a crazy afternoon. We ended up meeting afterwards at my great uncle's apartment. I got to see a bunch of cool Congolese stuff they had brought back from their time in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo. I discovered that they apparently ran a bit of a printing press operation when they were there. I don't know all the details, but I really want to know more. They now know I do, too. That's cool. I am hoping I get the chance to sometime soon. It's a lot of fun finding out about this part of my family's history.

So, I'm off to bed. Good night. I have a couple of quotes from the two Babylon 5 episodes I just watched written below. I hope you enjoy them.

Mr. Morden: "My associates believe you're a person of great potential -- trapped in a position where your skills are unseen and unappreciated. They'd like to change that."

Lando Mollari: "Yes. I've heard this before, and I have stopped listening. There comes a time when you look into the mirror, and you realize that what you see is all that you will ever be. Then, you accept it...or you kill yourself...or you can stop looking into mirrors... No. No. No. Nothing can be changed."

Mr. Morden: "Then nothing's lost by trying."

- Babylon 5: Season 1, Episode 22: Chrysolis

Commander Ivanova: "Then I'll say a prayer for him tonight."

Dr. Franklin: "He's agnostic."

Commander Ivanova: "Then I'll say half a prayer."

- Bablyon 5: Season 2, Episode 1: Points of Departure

Ein Saturday

I woke up late this morning. More like this afternoon. More like late this afternoon.

It's been a long day though. Played some more Stacraft. (It was a Saturday after all...) Suprisingly, there was absolutely no Pluckers this weekend. Apparently Brian and Daniel have decided to forego it out of concern for their pocket books. LOL!!! This is a good thing.

It's really late as I am writing this. I need to go to church in the morning, and I can't think of anything to write about. Any ideas? Any thoughts of things to discuss? Maybe I won't know what to say, but I could always use some inspiration. hehe...

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:17-18

"The claim to equality, outside the strictly political field, is made only by those who feel themselves to be in some way inferior."

- C.S. Lewis - The Screwtape Letters

This thing all things devours:
Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;
Gnaws iron, bites steel;
Grinds hard stones to meal;
Slays king, ruins town,
And beats high mountain down.


- - One of Gollum's riddles for Bilbo in The Hobbit.

The answer is "time"

"Every possession is just another stick to beat yourself with." - Johnny Cash

I decided to around my apartment tonight, and take pictures of the biggest messes in it. This may have been a bad idea. I didn't realize the massive state of disarray my place is truly in!! The worst part is that I was taking the pictures to show to someone whom I would normally want to impress. (we were talking about how messy guys are...) My place right now is terrible, and I want to fix it. I am just not sure how to do so. There's too much stuff. I wish I could get rid of about 80% of it. Let me give you an idea of what I mean:



Pretty bad, right?

I guess the plus side of it all is that there's really no food stuff lying around. I'm terrified of bugs, so I've always worked to me good about that. Even so, the mess is bad. Eventually this place will get cleaned out. I've lived here for about 4 years now. I'm planning on moving out this time when the lease runs out. That'll mean getting rid of all of this. (yea!!!) I'm just not sure how to get rid of it all... I guess I could (and maybe should) just start making periodic trips to the dumpster with some of it. Anyone think that will work?

I'm feeling a bit of a sick stomach right now just thinking about the task of this. It's daunting. I would ask that you wish me luck....but I think it would be more effective if you prayed...

"I do believe the sum extent of the messiness, disarrangement, disorder, and dirtiness of your room is equal to that of your brain."

- Johnny Cash

Red Hot Poetry?

I've got to get to work early in the morning. So, with that being said, here is a quick (and most likely very bad) poem which I just wrote (it doesn't even have a name yet):

Every artery is screaming
as the blood rushes from the fire
and every vein is seeking
with a red hot desire

for my heart is burning
with a single soul in mind
I pray the Lord keeps on churning
out His grand design

That this flame which is burning
might of fuel never tire
but grow into a seething
inferno which won't retire

~ Kelly

And here's some stuff actually worth reading:

As the Ruin Falls

All this is flashy rhetoric about loving you.
I never had a selfless thought since I was born.
I am mercenary and self-seeking through and through:
I want God, you, all friends, merely to serve my turn.

Peace, re-assurance, pleasure, are the goals I seek,
I cannot crawl one inch outside my proper skin:
I talk of love --a scholar's parrot may talk Greek--
But, self-imprisoned, always end where I begin.

Only that now you have taught me (but how late) my lack.
I see the chasm. And everything you are was making
My heart into a bridge by which I might get back
From exile, and grow man. And now the bridge is breaking.

For this I bless you as the ruin falls. The pains
You give me are more precious than all other gains.

- C.S. Lewis

"You must not do, you must not even try to do, the will of the Father unless you are prepared to 'know of the doctrine'."

- Surprised by Joy - C.S. Lewis

"Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person's ultimate good as far as it can be obtained."

- Answers to Questions on Christianity - C.S. Lewis

sleep now...

It was a long and ordinary day. I woke up very late, and was very late to work as a result. Now, I need to go to sleep so I don't repeat this, but I'm already worried I might be late. Luckily, I have an extra cool incentive to wake up on time this morning. And, because I love calling her anyways, I am extra hopeful that it will work...

If this seems too short a blog entry, then enjoy reading the quotes below which are from a very good book by a very good author. :)

"I have been so young till this moment that all my life now seems to have been a kind of sleep. I have thought that I was being carried, and behold, I was walking."

- excerpt from C.S. Lewis's Perelandra

"'I don't know much about what people call the religious view of life,' said Ransom, wrinkling his brow. 'You see, I'm a Christian. And, what we mean by the Holy Ghost is not a blind, inarticulate purposiveness.'"

- excerpt from C.S. Lewis's Perelandra

Testify!!!

As I believe I wrote on here the other night, a couple of my friends returned recently from Gabon, Africa. They were there working in the Bongolo Evangelical Hospital. Tonight, they shared some of their trip with us at 63.

They showed a rather large slide show and gave a bunch of narrative along with it. (I saw most of it the other night) Thankfully, they either "CENSORED" or didn't show some of the pictures I had seen. lol. It might have been funny filming people's reactions if they had. Paul had a lot of those, too! (just not tonight...whew)

They both had a lot to tell about and describe. I had heard some of Paul's stories the other night about working in the hospital there, and some of the illnesses patients had. I heard about the layout of the place, and its proximity to a town called "LEBAMBA". He described the kitchen buildings where the patient's guardians cooked for the patients. (there is no "hospital food") He talked about the training people were recieving and the experience different residents had. And, of course, I saw pictures from some of the surgeries. (not shown tonight)

It was interesting though to hear Becca's stories tonight, too. I didn't hear those the other day when Paul was showing me the pictures. It kept leading me back to something I read recently in Doctor of the Happy Landings:

In case you think these things were impossible in so short a time, remember that the two of us had four eyes with which to see, four ears with which to hear, four feet with which to travel, two minds with which to comprehend, and two hearts with which to understand. The things we saw together, we saw from two different points of view, and the things we saw separately, we shared with each other. We knew the purpose for which we came and we had four eyes single to that purpose.

- Doctor of the Happy Landings by: Julia Lake and Eugene Kellersberger (p. 185)

I am reminded of this quote because I think it describes well the different character their stories had tonight. Becca (I hope I'm spelling her name right...) gave some classes on nutrition and went out and saw firsthand some of the ways food was prepared, etc. locally. She seemed to interact a lot with children, and there were tons of pictures of her hanging out with them. They also had the opportunity to see firsthand what church planting looks like in these places. I thought it was interesting how the mission will provide a wall and a roof for the church building. They will also provide a temporary pastor until the new church can find one for itself. However, the rest is up to that church and its congregation. These people share together in so much as a community, and they share together also as a church in providing the building in which to meet. Becca quoted a passage of scripture that she was reminded of by this. I think I remember which one, but I'm not 100% sure. So, I hope I'm not wrong (I'm pretty sure I'm right though):

All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Acts 2:44-47

They had another passage that they both shared, too. However, I can't remember which one it is. (doh!)

Paul had a final thought, and it made a lot of sense to me. (Even though I've heard it before from him, I'll share it now as if I hadn't...hehe) He said that, when we think of going out on a mission field or being "out there" doing something for the Lord, we often fall into thinking that, under those circumstances and under that duress, we will start regularly having a time of prayer with the Lord and start obeying Him more closely. That's not the case. A habbit is a habbit, and, if you don't do these things now, there's no reason to expect that to change then. If you spend time in the morning in prayer now, you will most likely also do so then. If you do not, you most likely will not then. You can't just wait until you're out there to start doing it. Prepare! Prepare! Prepare!

I liked that message. So, all in all, their night of presentation not only was informative of the work they had been doing, but it also contained a very useful piece of advice. Don't wait to start doing something until it's too late! Don't wait to come to Christ until it's too late! Don't forget that others are still needing to hear The Gospel before it's too late. How can they hear it if we don't tell them? How can they know it works unless we live by it? How can they know it's real unless we allow God to work everyday actively in our lives by totally surrendering to Him? He answers prayer, too. How can they know that unless we testify to it?

"Then Jesus told him, 'Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.'"

- John 20:29

My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. "Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."

- John 17:20-26

"Mongo only pawn in game of life." - Mongo - Blazing Saddles

We finally got our offices back up and running at work today. Our new location kind of sucks. The A/C doesn't work all that great, the suite behind us is constantly blasting classic rock at levels that allow you to identify the song from the other side of the wall, and there's an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting place two doors down that consumes all of our parking spots!!! When we were carrying the computers in from my car this afternoon, there were kids playing outside with water balloons. I kept thinking, "What if they threw one of those over here and soaked our equipment?" Thankfully, I did not find out the answer to that question.

After parking about 30 yards from the front door (because of the AA meeting), I then spent about 30-45 minutes just cleaning up my desk and setting up my computer. There seems to be, at first glance, a wall outlet on each wall. They don't all work though. So, we now have a problem with plugs. Rather, a lack of plugs to plug things into. We've got a nice piggy-back setup running now. I hate that because it means that our surge protection is nullified!! If we get hit by a surge, both my computer and our server will be at risk. I guess we'll tackle that one when the time comes.

Rob and I are talking about getting some floor lamps, some oscillating fans, and cobbling together some old computer parts into a Myth TV box in order to "pimp out" our new digs. I'm most excited about the Myth TV box, personally. I can deal with sitting in the semi-darkness of our room. In fact, I like it. The glare from flourescent lights sucks.

When everything was finally set up, the lights turned off, and the music from somebody else's office blaring in, I was finally able to get to work. I was feeling a bit grouchy though. I think we all were. This move has to rate about a -7 on the 1-10 scale of moves (with 10 being good and 1 being sucky). If it wasn't the fire department, it was the electric company or the phone company screwing us over by not getting their act together so we could have service. Ironically, the U.S. Postal service adapted very quickly. They're the only ones who got it right.

It's days like this that patience is something I find to be a challenge. I had only just finished booting up my computer (and not finished everything else yet) when a client was calling to talk shop. Of course, she had about a dozen more demands for the software. It's always so much more of a pain to add these kinds of things to web software. We endeavor to make the experience for the end user as close to Windows like as possible. (because we write software that gets used by insurance agents, and insurance agents are, generally speaking, about as smart as a bag of bricks when it comes to writing insurance)

Finally, I got to get away from it all and go home. That means there's just one unfortunate fact remaining: Tomorrow, I have to go back.

Bart: I better go check out this Mongo character.
[Bart reaches for his gun]
Jim: Oh no, don't do that.
Bart: Why not?
Jim: If you shoot him, you'll just make him mad.

- Blazing Saddles

Game 2

I woke up too late for church this morning. I always hate it when that happens. Now, I'm going to bed late again. I hope and pray that I am not too late for work, too!!!

The Mavs played Game 2 of the NBA Finals tonight, and it was a blowout. We pretty much whooped up on them and expressed our dominance. I have the feeling like we can't loose, and that feeling always scares me!!! Shaq was a total non-factor. I think they benched him for almost if not all of the second half.

I think my biggest complaint though was them not interviewing Jason Terry after the game. In the second straight Jason Terry post-game interview that I saw the other night, he started it off by ignoring their first question and just saying, "All the glory goes to God!" I honestly don't know if he's a Christian or not, but I know Muslims would usually say Allah instead of God. So, I'm enjoying these interviews. I guess ABC/ESPN are not.

The U.S. plays its first game of the World Cup today at 10:55 AM CDT. I mean this upcoming day (6/12/2006), of course. Soccer is not very high on my list of sports, by the desire to route on my country in this global sporting event is very much alive. I may disagree with a lot of the way the U.S. does things and acts from time to time, but I was born here.

Here's some random Battlestar Galactica quotes for ya:

Colonel Saul Tigh: Don't you play "holier than thou" with me. I haven't done anything that most people on this ship haven't done. Including you.
Captain Lee "Apollo" Adama: Doesn't make us right, Colonel, just a whole lot of people wrong.

- Battlestar Galactica (Episode 2x14, "Black Market")

Lieutenant Felix Gaeta: Sir, I'm running every diagnostic we've got. Checking each line of code could take days.
Colonel Saul Tigh: I am not interested in excuses. Fix it!
Lieutenant Felix Gaeta: (shouting) It's not an excuse, sir. It's a frakking fact!

- Battlestar Galactica (Episode 2x09, "Flight of the Pheonix")

Commander William Adama: You can run if you want. This ship is going to stay and fight.
President Laura Roslin: You don't get it, do you? The human race is about to be wiped out. We have fifty thousand people left and that's it. Now, if we want to even survive as a species, then we need to get the hell out of here and start having babies!

- Battlestar Galactica (The mini-series)

Commander William Adama: (sees Billy flirting with Dualla) They'd better start having babies.
Colonel Tigh: Is that an order?

- Battlestar Galactica (The mini-series)

"My side! Your side! My side! Your side! My side! Your side!" - Stark - Farscape

I just found myself watching the second half of Farscape - The Peacekeeper Wars. It's the mini-series that wrapped up the story from the main series, and it was a very powerful conclusion. The creators of the show always said it was a love story. I found myself thinking, as I watched it tonight, about how true that really is, and about the way I have always found myself wanting to be part of a love story every time I've watched one.

There was supposed to be Pluckers tonight. I never heard back from the people I was supposed to meet about that. Last I heard, they were going to watch a movie, and then they vanished. I think I saved $5-$10 by not going though, and I ended up watching Farscape. A win-win situation if you ask me! lol. I mean, after all, who would want to go hang out with friends like that anyways?

Ok, so I'm being a little hard on them. But, it's my blog. Where better to rant about it than here, right?

I'm glad I ended up watching Farscape though. Until I watched that episode a couple of days ago, it had been a really long time between viewings. It's sometimes hard to watch the final episode of a show like that. You realize how attached you are to the characters inolved. You realize how much you will miss them. At least I can still see the actors who played Crichton and Aeryn playing primary roles now in Stargate SG-1. Ben Browder ist sehr gut und Claudia Black ist sehr hübsche. hehe.

I'm going to start heading to bed now though. It's a bit late. I've got to make sure I get up in time for church in the mornin'...

You saw a creature? What kind of creature? The kind we eat? Or the kind that eats us?

- Chiana - Farscape - Through the Looking Glass

That's your plan? Wile E. Coyote would come up with a better plan than that!

- Crichton - Farscape - Throne for a Loss

Aeryn, you are the one thing which has kept me from doing a kamikaze in the transport.

- Crichton - Farscape - The Locket

Nobody knows you here. It's only people who know you that want to kill you.

- Aeryn - Farscape - Thank God it's Friday, Again

Friday Night

My cat is staring at me, wanting food. I am tired, and wanting sleep. Maybe I should do both, yes? We went to Pluckers (again! lol) tonight. This was, of course, after a bit of Starcraft. I had my TV on, and got distracted while we were playing the game. I ended up pretty much building stuff while Daniel and Brian did all the work. lol.

At Pluckers, we ran into a friend of mine's ex-wife. We walked in, and I heard this female voice yell across the room, "Kelly!?" We just kind of stood there, yelling each other's name across the room for a second before actually walking over and saying hello. She used to hate me so much!!! This was because I would take her husband out, and hang out with him when she would of rather he stayed at hime. This actually didn't happen as much as it might seem, but she was always mad at me about it. Especially after we were late one day coming back from his grandparent's lakehouse. After awhile though, she stopped being mad at me, and started being mad at him all the time. Her and I seem to get along now. This would be funnier if things had actually worked out between them.

Now though, I am tired and a little depressed because I find myself wanting to tip and fall into the arms of someone so very far away from me. I guess this is a sign that it is time for me to go to sleep! lol. Besides, my poor cat is waiting for me...

Do not meddle in the affairs of cats, for they are subtle and will pee on your computer.

- Bruce Graham

No matter how much cats fight, there always seem to be plenty of kittens.

- Abraham Lincoln

Cats seem to go on the principle that it never does any harm to ask for what you want.

- Joseph Wood Krutch

Have we sent the 'don't shoot us we're pathetic' transmission yet?- Crichton - Farscape - Out of Their Minds

It's amazing how far science fiction TV has come over the years. I just watched, back to back, and episode of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (on the air between 1979 and 1981) and Farscape (1999 - 2003). The difference of 20 years has done the genre good. lol. I watched what was probably the best written episode of Buck Rogers I remember seeing, and then I watched a fairly normal Farscape episode. Farscape is far superior.

Buck Rogers was dancing around as the ego stable alpha male on an alien ship while guys in funky looking helmets (obviously influenced in design by the Mongols) chased after him to clone his "neuro memory" into robot pilots. It had an interesting plot though involving a woman desiring a man who didn't want her, and then she had to deal with her grief. Ironically, the Farscape episode had a similar subplot. In one case, the woman (a "princess") was only decieving herself. In reality, she knew it because he had told her many times. She tried to "clone" him into robots and hoped that three robot clones would make up for one "perfect" man who didn't return her love. I think the most significant moment in the episode was when she finds herself staring in the mirror after deactivating each one for failing to satisfy her, and a tear runs down her face as she places a crown on her head and states proudly to the visage of herself staring back at her, "I am Princess Ardala!" She's a villian on the show, and imediately, in her angst, orders the destruction of Earth.

In the meantime, in Farscape, the girl, Gilina Reneaz, is sweet and innocent. She adores the main character (Crichton) and ultimately dies because she is lead to believe (by someone else) that he feels the same for her. She ends up dying to save him, and it is quite sad.

I was very suprised, as I was watching two randomly picked episodes, to see such a similar plot in both of them. I can relate, in my past, to both of them. Sci-fi's come a long way from the horrible acting, bad dialogue, and disco themed sets of the late '70s and early '80s. However, the pain of unremitted love is not lost as an elemental theme. Nor is it really restricted to sci-fi. Good sci-fi, like any other form of a story, relies on drama we can relate to. That's actually one of the biggest problems the genre has: It's harder to relate to it because it's generally set in such fictional enviroments. Gene Roddenberry recognized this with Star Trek and instigated what he called the "believability factor". A lot of people credit that to the real success of Star Trek. Buck Rogers mostly ignored that. Farscape did not, but, instead, created a largely alien enviroment with two strong characters for us to relate to. Sci-fi itself, at its core, is supposed to be about exploring the reaches of the imagination. What is concievably possible? How might things be in the future? That's why I enjoy it so much.

In recent years, I have been very much impressed with the way that writers and producers of sci-fi TV have been finding ways to help us relate to their world while still pushing the boundaries. I've written before that Babylon 5 is probably the greatest sci-fi series ever. It's closest competition is probably the new Battlestar Galactica. After that are probably Firefly and Farscape. I think Stargate SG-1 comes somewhere after that, too. All of these shows, however, carry elements that draw us in and help us relate. Even the old and really bad, as it seems to be now, Buch Rogers did that. With a heavy dose of disco like lighting, fashion, and sound effects. Let's not ignore the bad acting and writing either! (the episode I watched tonight had a scene with the best acting of any Buck Rogers episode I'd seen yet....and it was still bad!)

I can relate to these plots tonight. I've known the pain of unremitted love (really, who hasn't?). I can remember the hopes, the subsequent deceptions, and the agony of realization. It hurt. I really felt for Princess Ardala (even though she was the villainess?) when she stared defiantly into the mirror and reminded herselft of who she was. It's tough when you know you are somebody, and yet you don't know that kind of love. It doesn't make sense. I always reminded myself that God loves me. But, after awhile, I realized that, even so, I was wanting a singularly exclusive love from another human being. God loves all of us, and I don't think He intends to be the fulfillment of that need. I don't think any of us could expect Him to love us in an exclusive fashion. However, I do believe He provides for that fulfillment.

"My name is John Crichton (I'm lost), an astronaut, (shot through a wormhole) in some distant part of the universe (I'm trying to stay alive) aboard this ship (this living ship) of escaped prisoners (my friends). If you can hear me, (beware). If I make it back, (will they follow?) If I open a door, (are you ready)? Earth is unprepared (helpless) for the nightmares I've seen. Or should I stay, protect my home, not show them you exist? But then you'll never know … the wonders I've seen."

- Crichton speaking the voiceover for the intro to season 3 of Farscape

I got great eyes, they're better than 20/20, and they're blue!"

- Crichton - Farscape - Crackers Don't Matter

The sound is doing something to my eye. Feels like it's melting my brain. It couldn't actually be doing something to my brain, could it?

- Crichton - Farscape - I, E.T.

Good Kitty!

Praise be to the Lord!!! Rajah, my cat, is feeling better! :-D

He ate some this morning, and then a little more as the day grew on. I was really worried about him. I was afraid he might have gotten some bad tuna or something. (I had fed him some tuna the night before all of this started because I was out of his normal soft food) Thankfully, he is now moving about and griping at me like normal. I wouldn't say he's quite 100% yet, but he's probably at about 85% and getting better. Und, das ist sehr gut!!!

I'm tired and I want to go to bed though. So, I can't really write as much as I might like. I had a cool chat with my friend, Paul, tonight. I got to see lots of pictures of his trip to Gabon. I was a little suprised at how many pictures of surgical procedures he took. Everything from cancer of the feet to a C-section. I know he might bring some of his pictures to 63 when he comes on Tues. I'm going to laugh out loud if he brings those because I doubt a lot of the people there will have seen anything like that since health class in high school!! lol. When I saw the pictures of the person with the cancer of the foot (both feet), my heart ached for him (I think Paul said it was a him). That would suck a lot. It looked like his feet was boiling.

I was shocked a bit by how modern some aspects of life there were. Apparently, cell phones are very popular. The clothing is also, while not "trendy" or "fashionable" in our sense, it was obvious it was made with fairly modern fabric and sewing. The buildings would look like what you would expect on the outside, but, inside, there would be fairly modern looking doctors offices. It was cool to see, and I'm glad he shared them. (Even if I was grossed out by the surgical imagery...hehehe...I was not created to be a doctor. lol)

Meeting up with my buddy was also cool because I got the chance to share some cool stuff with him. I think it's important in some things to seek the counsel of our Christian brethren. It helps a lot because we sometimes get so caught up in our perspectives. I was quite suprised when he didn't say anything to that affect in the things I was talking to him about. He was, instead, quite encouraging. I find myself being so shocked by some things that I feel like I need to pinch myself to wake up. Surely, I must be dreaming. Only, everytime I try to pinch myself, it seems that I am already awake...

"How do you feel?" he [Ford Prefect] asked.
"Like a military academy," said Arthur, "bits of me keep on passing out."

- Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,

"Do you want me to sit in a corner and rust or just fall apart where I'm standing?"

- Marvin (the Paranoid Android) in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Overwhelmed

I want to write about everything Brian said tonight at 63. There are just two problems:

1. I'm not entirely sure I understood it....I think I have a decent grasp though.
2. I don't have the time for a full analysis....I'll try to write a quick synopsis of the basics though. (If you read this, I apologize for the scant attention, Brian! lol)

I've been working since I got home from 63, and I've also been dealing today with my cat being ill. :-( I feel so bad for him. He puked a lot last night, and now he won't eat anything. If he's like this still in the morning, he'll be taking a trip to the vet. (which ought to fit nicely with the fact that I now have some of the computers from work running in my apartment, and, since we will probably have our office up and running soon, I will have to get them back so that other people can work. doh!)

I've been twice comforted today by the lovely voice of meine Musankisha. It may be 4 AM here, but where she lives it is morning. I got to talk to her before she went to sleep and also after she woke up. I know I have told her how much I have enjoyed it, but I don't know if she realizes how much of a blessing it has been to me to talk to her and pray with her. Especially today with Rajah being ill. It's so hard to see my cat ill, and not know exactly what to do about it. The last time he was ill, it was also like this. The vet told me it was just a bug, gave him an iv, and he was fine a day later. I'm just worried right now because he isn't eating. It'll cost $$$ that I don't have in order to go to the vet...

Real quick, I think Brian was talking about the need to present the gospel acurately when he spoke tonight. He talked about Psalm 110 and Acts 2:14-41. He talked about how the Jews in Acts 2:14-41 understood the sermon Peter was preaching and understood their desperate need for salvation. Especially so in consideration of the fact that they killed the Messiah. They killed the one who Psalm 110 speaks of (which, btw, they would of been familiar with Psalm 110), and, to make matters worse, he's now risen from the grave. That is especially serious when they consider verse 6.

1 The LORD says to my Lord:
"Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet."

2 The LORD will extend your mighty scepter from Zion;
you will rule in the midst of your enemies.

3 Your troops will be willing
on your day of battle.
Arrayed in holy majesty,
from the womb of the dawn
you will receive the dew of your youth.

4 The LORD has sworn
and will not change his mind:
"You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek."

5 The Lord is at your right hand;
he will crush kings on the day of his wrath.

6 He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead
and crushing the rulers of the whole earth.

7 He will drink from a brook beside the way;
therefore he will lift up his head.

Psalm 110

Brian was driving home the importance of not "softening" up the gospel. We in America have a tendancy to preach love and forgiveness when we share the gospel, but we often forget to preach that God will destroy those who do not accept His son as their savior and King. It's an offensive message to some people's sensativities. It's a true message though, and if we leave it out, we are just not preaching the full gospel. What is the importance of salvation if there is nothing to be saved from...

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

" 'In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
I will show wonders in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.'

"Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. David said about him:

" 'I saw the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will live in hope,
because you will not abandon me to the grave,
nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.'

"Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,

" 'The Lord said to my Lord:
"Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet." '

"Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"

Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call."

With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

Acts 2:14-41

Stress, stress, stress!!!

Today was a pretty stressful day. The process of moving our offices never quite finished. Not only did we have no internet at the office today, we had no telephones, no telephone jacks, no A/C, no electricity at all!!!. I wasn't up there very long.

It seems that the city of Mesquite Fire Department and the electric company can't seem to communicate on the matter of turning the power on. Their fax machines apparently eat important communiques AND they have different address on file for our new digs. So, since the Highway outside our window is listed as Highway 67 by one of these and as Highway I-30 by the other one (keep in mind that the highway is both!), they couldn't give us any juice.

Without power, the telephone company refuses to turn on any lines. Of course, that would require we actually have lines. There are no telephone jacks in the office. None. Nada. Zip. They won't put those in until we have power. Duh. It's absurd. My boss was so pissed off about it that I was even afraid to bug him about my paycheck, which I very much needed. I ended up getting it finally, albeit it kind of late, and I may now have enough money in the bank to cover the rent check I turned in today. doh!

I've been trying to learn to practice self-restraint in spending. I've actually gotten a lot better than I used to be. Unfortunatly, there's no way to restrain the consumption of gas my truck uses. It's about 10+ miles each way to work. (that's about 16 km) I drive a suburban that gets about 10 miles to the gallon. That translates into something just shy of $6 just to go to work. That's about $30 a week just to get to the office. And, unfortunatly, that figure really ends up being way off. I usually spend quite a bit more on gas, I believe. I eat out a lot, too. That is probably even worse. Pluckers sure ain't helping me save money.

It's kind of funny that, in the last few weeks, I've probably spent a good bit more on telephone calls. Those are so absolutely worth every penny though! Plus, they'll get cheaper here real soon. lol.
Certain individuals will be having land lines instead of cell phones, and cell phones are apparently very expensive to call in Germany!!

It's frustrating how I keep trying to spend less and less, and I end up getting to work later and dealing with higher gas prices. It all ends up with me making the same amount of profit. Why do we have to worry about money? lol.

It's too bad work is too far away for me to rollerblade. I don't even own a bike anymore. (although, I do own a moped....but it's pretty un-streetworthy and I would need a class M license...) *sigh* I definately wouldn't want to walk. Am I sounding lazy here? lol. It's not quite like running a marathon...

Perchik: In this world it is the wealthy who are criminals. Someday their wealth will be ours.
Tevye: That would be nice. If they would agree, I would agree.

- Fiddler on the Roof

Sometimes I wonder, when it gets too quiet up there, if You are thinking, "What kind of mischief can I play on My friend Tevye?"

- Tevye Fidder on the Roof (spoken to God)

Lazar Wolf: Have a drink?
Tevye: I won't insult you by saying no.

- Fiddler on the Roof

"He loves her. Love, it's a new starting. On the other hand, our old ways were once new, weren't they? On the other hand, they decided without parents, without the matchmaker. On the other hand, did Adam and Eve have a matchmaker? Oh, yes they did. And it seems these two have the same Matchmaker."

- Tevye Fidder on the Roof