11.28.05
See it to believe it!
You’ve got to see this!
Family friendly, work-safe, and sure to bring a smile to your face.
Philippa Made Me Do it
Well, not really. But it’s been awhile since my last post and I didn’t have anything better. So here goes.
Have you ever…
Smoked a cigarette or tried it: Yes.
Crashed a friend’s car: Well… I had a mishap involving a refrigerator and my Father-in-law’s truck..
Stolen a car: No.
Been dumped: Yes, by my wife in High School. Obviously we made up as we will be celebrating our 13th anniversary on Dec. 28th.
Shoplifted: No.
Been fired /laid off: Yes.
Been in a fist fight: Do grade school scrapes count? If not then, no I have not.
Snuck out of your parent’s house: Hmm…snuck back in!
Been arrested:No.
Gone on a blind date: No.
Lied to a friend: Yes.
Skipped school: On several occaisions. Once to go to the zoo. As Seniors a group of us skipped school had a party, then went to see Eric Clapton.
Seen someone die: No.
Been to Canada: No.
Been to Mexico: Just barely, Tijuana.
Eaten Sushi: Yes and I loved it. But I refuse to eat it at my local Chinese buffet.
Met someone in person from the internet: Yes. Catherine Kostyn from the Metanoia list came to St. Anne once.
Taken pain-killers: OTC? All the time. I take ibuprofen profusely!
Had a tea party: With my daughter, with cookies and water.
Cheated while playing a game: No that I can remember, but probably sometime in my life.
Fallen asleep at work: Yes, because I am chonically sleep deprived (I am at my best after 11pm.)
Used a fake ID: Never even had a fake ID.
Felt an earthquake: Yes. When living in Long Beach California I woke up one morning and the bunk bed I shared with my brother was shaking. I told him to stop shaking the bed. Then I noticed that things on the shelves were shaking too.
Touched a snake: Yes.
Been robbed: Yes. More than once in the Navy.
Petted a reindeer/goat: Yes, both. The zoo used to have reindeer around Christmas.
Won a contest: I won a Ladies Club poetry contest in High School. Um…nothing else that I can remember
Been suspended from school: No.
Been in a car accident: One big one. I totaled mom’s car by rolling it down a bank into a creek. I had previously been blasé about wearing my seat belt (miraculously I was wearing it then). Since then I have been militant about seatbelts.
Had braces: Nope
Eaten a whole pint of ice cream in one night: Possibly. Bryer’s Coffee or Mint Chocolate Chip.
Witnessed a crime: I don’t think so.
Swam in the ocean: Dipped my feet in at both shores before I was one. We went to the Atlantic (Pawley’s Island, then Garden City) every summer from infancy to about 18 and quite a few times since (Edisto, St. Augustine, Oak Island). Lived in Long Beach California as a child, plenty of cold Pacific swimming there.
Sung karaoke: Not yet.
Paid for a meal with only coins: Quite possibly while a teen. Two friends and I once spent about 3 hours in a taco bell because they had free refills (not many places did then).
Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose: Yes.
Been kissed under mistletoe: Yes!
Crashed a party: No.
Worn pearls: No.
Jumped off a bridge: No. But I have jumped off a cliff into the lake.
Ate dog/cat food: Yes.
Kissed a mirror: No.
Glued your hand to something: Anytime I use superglue.
Done a one-handed cartwheel: Hah hah hah, snort. Ahem. No.
Talked on the phone for more than 6 hours: Yes. I was at NNTC Millington and my wife wasn’t.
Didn’t take a shower for a week: No.
Pick and ate an apple right off the tree: Yes.
Been told by a complete stranger that you’re hot: No.
Like philippa, I wont tag anyone. If you do this one, let me know.
11.22.05
Daily Life, A New Obsession, and The New Look
Daily Life
We were all home Saturday morning and Paul and I were playing. He said he wanted a baby sister.
“Oh,” I said, “is that right.” Real smart, that. I was caught off guard.
“Yeah, I want a baby sister.”
“Do you want a baby sister or a baby brother,” I asked. I wasn’t sure where, if anywhere, he was going with this.
“A baby sister,” he said. “Could we go to the store tomorrow and get one?”
I did not laugh out loud—somehow.
“No. They don’t have babies at stores. God sends mommies and daddies babies.”
That was enough to satisfy his curiosity.
A New Obsession
My faithful four ™ know that I am a gamer (even if their still not sure what that means). Now I wanna be more. I have just discovered that there is a new discipline among independent game designers called RPG Theory. The essays these folks have produced are as good as anything I read in college. Right now there are a few competing theories. Interestingly enough, this is a descriptive theory. That is, RPG Theory is developing a language and framework for describing how people play. I am quickly getting up to speed and loving it.
Here is some sample titles, see if these don’t sound like something right out of a book of scholarly essays:
- Ritual Discourse in RPGs
- Narrativism: Story Now
- Gamism: Step On Up
- Simulationism: The Right to Dream
- GNS and Other Matters of Role-playing Theory
- Story and Narrative Paradigms in Role-Playing Games
- Applied Theory
The New Look
As part of my job I have been learning to use cascading style sheets (css). I finally have control over my blog’s appearance! Beware!
11.16.05
Current Detritus
Random stuff
- As I write this I’m listening to the Album “Immortal Memory” by Lisa Gerrard and Patrick Cassidy. The reviewers at Amazon get it right, IMO. It’s good background music. It actually sounds quite a bit like a film score. “Dark and subdued” is how I would describe it.
- I’m reading a few things right now:
- Vladimir The Russian Viking by Vladimir Volkoff is a lot of fun. It is conversational and reads more like a novel than a bio/history. I highly recommend this book. I found it at a used bookstore and happily marked it off my amazon wishlist.
- The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. Technically I am having Michael York read it to me just like Dad did when I was little. I haven’t read it since, but it had been on my radar for rereading. With the movie coming out soon (and boy does it look cool) I decided listening during my commute would be a great way to “read” it.
- The latest issue of Divine Ascent from the Monastery of St. John The Wonderworker has arrived and it looks like some good reading. I’ll pass along anything particularly edifying.
- Treason’s Harbor is the ninth book of the Aubrey/Maturin series. I’m reading them as quickly as the librarian can get them from inter-library loan. If you’ve never read these books, they are highly regarded in literary circles, not just by naval enthusiasts.
- “O’Brian has rightfully been compared to Jane Austen, but one wonders if even she would have done justice to ‘those extraordinary hallow dwellings, sometimes as beautiful as they were comfortless.’ To use one of Stephen’s favorite expressions, ‘What a Joy!’” -Publishers Weekly
- “The best historical novels ever written.”—Richard Snow, The New York Times
- “O’Brian has chosen to set his novels in the early 19th century, and to use the genre of the historical novel to say something important and interesting not only about the times, but about a set of passionate human beings. Those who dismiss the historical novel as a piece of pish-tushery should recollect that Tolstoy’s War and Peace was also a historical novel.”—Helen Lucy Burke, Irish Press, on The Ionian Mission
Well, that should serve…
- Recently a friend asked me to pray for them. Friend quoted the Apostle James, the Brother of the Lord, saying, “The prayer of a righteous man avaith much.” (James 5:16) The implication, I believe, being that I am a righteous man. I’m not sure how I feel about being called righteous when I know so many ways in which I am not. Yet there is grace at work here that amazes me. Even if I know I am NOT particularly righteous, God allows other to believe me so in order to affect their salvation. I am probably saying this in a muddy, stupid way. I am not talking about being two-faced or deceitful. And, this just occured to me, by God allowing that person to see me as a righteous man, I now have a dose of “Godly guilt” to meet my friend’s expectations.
To my friend: thanks for the underserved compliment and a healthy dose of guilt that I am not the person God calls me to be. - Job is going well; can’t wait to be paid. With no unemployment benefit and no paycheck until the 23rd, money’s very tight.
- If you haven’t read Stephen Paul’s “Pithless Thoughts” blog recently you really should. Start with “I Went to Prison Today” , you can skip “I Had a Dinner Date”, and read “Bad Company” (especially good) and “Harsh or Real?”
- Alright, that should answer for now. Have a blessed Nativity Fast.
P. S. I read every comment and honestly enjoy getting them. I am sorry I don’t respond to them as much as others. Be assured I appreciate your pats on the back.
11.08.05
Tagged!
Philippa has tagged my with this meme:
“MY TOP TEN (OR SO) GREATEST INFLUENCES, OUTSIDE OF GOD AND MY FAMILY MEMBERS.”
In no particular order, then:
- As my Spiritual Father, how can I not have Fr. Stephen Freeman on this list?
- Michael Poole, my life-long friend and co-creator of MZSFR. Mike and I have known each other since middle school. We were Band Captain and Co-Captain (we both play trombone) in High School. Oddly enough it wasn’t until after High School, when I returned from my brief stint in the Navy, that we really became good friends. Now I see him at least once a week. He is both my business partner and my creative conscience–that is, he is spurs me on to write.
- My Berea Profs
- Duane Smith, PhD. Duane was my first Religion Professor. It was the first year at Berea for both of us. We shared a taste in literature, music and movies. And he ignited a passion for Old Testament studies in me. I was Duane’s TA for two years.
- John Wallhauser, PhD. If Duane was my friend, then Dr. Wallhauser was my mentor. He was my advisor and taught the Senior Seminar in Religion. He is a man of great faith and intellect.
- Robert Suder, PhD. I never had a class with Bob, but as his summer research assistant, the skills and experience I gained working on the NSIA, have led directly to my current job. Also, he and his lovely wife put me up in their basement for a month.
- Can I use my father-in-law? Well, I’m gonna. I’ll limit “family” to immediate, so there. Dennis Day’s example of Christian faith and living is largely responsible for my return to Christ. His example is still a shining beacon for me.
- A few writers:
- Flannery O’Conner. When I write something, she is my goal.
- Stephen King. Before I defend reflexively, let me point to two great non-fiction books he’s writen: Danse Macabre (a exhaustive look at the Horror genre in print and film for the last half of the 20 century) and On Writing (part memior, part how-to). Now about the fiction…there’s a reason he’s one of the best selling authors ever. He writes some of the best, most believable characters I’ve read. Doubting? Read Wizard and Glass (Dark Tower IV). It may be the only time I’ve felt like crying at a character’s death.
- H. P. Lovecraft and R. E. Howard defined and created the genre’s I love. If you’ve never actually read Conan, go now and buy this book. As for Lovecraft, I deeply admire his imagination and his work has influenced every horror writer in the last 60 years.
- Three Teachers (if I ever get published, I’m going to thank these ladies):
- Mrs. Knowles was my 8th grade English teacher. She was the first one to encourage me to write. When the switch went off in my head and I though, “Hey, I can write too!” Mrs. Knowles was the one flipping it.
- Mrs. ? was my sophomore English teacher. It was she who taught me it was good to be passionate about literature…and grammar! She was the first teacher that connected with me on grammar
- Mr. Brown was my band director from 5th grade til graduation. He is a model of hard work and high expectations. He was absolutely passionate (but only because he wanted the best for us) about forming us crazed high schoolers into a near perfect marching band. On our local July Forth celebration, I was honored to “roast” him before he recieved the award for that year. He is a man I truly admire for his devotion to his students (countless unpaid hours), his faith, his family, and his kindness.
I’m going to contemplate and reserve the right to add anyone else later., In the meantime, I tag Mimi, dang Meg already did. Okay, Ian and Mimi! You’re it.
11.05.05
Long Silence
I am sorry for the extended silence here. I have been pretty busy.
The new job is going great. My title is “Publishing Support Specialist” which means jack. There is an online application called SCMS (SCience Management System) that is a standards-based management system. Its kind hard to describe. The simplest way to understand it is to see SCMS as an online storehouse of all documents that are needed to manage DOE Office of Science. Mostly we will be supporting procedure documents. Anyway, we have a technical editor and a programmer. I am the glue that binds the two together. I do a little web design, a little online publishing, a little help desk, and my duties are still evolving. In three words, “It’s going great.”
Mostly my spare time has been devoted to finalizing the premier issue of Mount Zion Speculative Fiction Review. Last week my partner and I had a pleasant shock when we googled “Mount Zion Press” and “Mount Zion Speculative Fiction Review”. In both searches our website came up first followed by hits at several market lists (only three of which we had given info to) as well as authors spreading our name around the message boards. WooT!
Anyway, I’ll have something substantive to write next week.
Thanks to my four loyal readers for hanging in there.
