The Minds of Moria

2006-11-21T09:04:00.000-08:00

A request as you prepare for Thanksgiving

My sister is going in for surgery tomorrow, hopefully to solve a lot of long-standing medical issues. If you could take some time to pray for a successful and clean operation, I would be very grateful. Her surgery is at 8 am Wednesday morning, I think.

2006-11-04T12:51:00.000-08:00

Success...of a sort

Well, this week saw me completeing the eighth of sixteen papers for this semester; in other words, I'm halfway done with the homework at long last. Just to help my ulcer along, I shall now reflect on the fact that I have the same number of papers to complete in 4 fewer weeks in my remaining time here in Oxford. *moment of reflection and terror* In other news, I apologize to all of my readers who might have expected a bit more posting of my adventures here in England. However, with all the writing and note-taking I have to do, the last thing I feel like doing with my free time is composing accounts of field trips taken in happier pre-paper madness days. So, my various notes and recollections about field trips and tours sit in my computer in various stages of completion. Maybe, one day, I'll actually find the time to share them all with you.

Beyond the crushing amount of work, the term here has been very good. I am certainly learning a lot, and the subject material is fascinating. My primary tutorial in the Crusades has been very good; the story of the crusading movement is complex and almost more epic than can be believed. My secondary tutorial has actually been following some of the stuff about British constitutionalism and politics that Wilson has been posting periodically on his blog; again, fascinating stuff and far more complex than the stereotypical picture of the time period. On the whole, though, I'm glad to be coming home in five more weeks; America is just a good place to live, despite whatever flaws we have (not that there aren't a lot of things I like about British culture...see the post below for an example). Anyway, that is about all I have to say for now, so I should get back to work...

P.S. Randy and Wheeler, I don't think you guys would survive over here; it's almost impossible to find Dr Pepper. Friday marked the first time I've found/had it in my time over here. It was a nice taste of home.

2006-11-04T12:48:00.000-08:00

I feel like a real Brit now...

Tonight, I participated in the burning of Guy Fawkes in effigy, thereby saving England and the free world from an evil Catholic plot.

2006-09-17T08:13:00.000-07:00

A Report on Field Trips

It seems that I have fallen behind on my accounts of my adventures here in jolly old England. Thus, in this post, you, my dear reader, will have the opportunity to hear my stories of my first forays into the great, wide world of Britannia. It is my hope that you will enjoy them and leave comments to communicate with the author, who is feeling disconnected from that world in America which he has left behind.

Field Trip 1 - Verulanium/St. Albans: On Thursday, September 7, I set out upon the first of my field trips to a small town in the British countryside north of London now called St. Albans. This city was established before the coming of the Romans and was the principal stronghold of the chief Celtic tribe in the area. When the Romans arrived in the 1st Century, the Celts in this area decided to cooperate with them, and the city became a seat of Rome’s power in the area and was called Verulanium. The native people prospered through their relationship to Rome, which might be why the city was a target of Boudicca’s rebellion in AD 62; Boudicca burned the city to the ground before marching to her eventual defeat at the hands of the Legions. Verulanium was rebuilt and remained an important city, though its importance waned as the importance of London in the south grew. However, in c. AD 250-300, Alban, a Briton in the city, chose to give shelter to a Christian missionary, Amphibalus, which was illegal at this time in history. The Christian converted Alban, and when Alban was caught, he refused to give up the missionary or recant; thus, he became the first British martyr. On the supposed site of his execution, there has been a great cathedral erected to house his shrine, which has the longest nave in all of England and one of the longest in Europe. The rest of the modern city is built around the cathedral, across the river from the site of the ancient Celtic and Roman city. The present cathedral was built by the Normans in the 1100s, and it displays their typical Romanesque architecture. However, the building is testament to the tides of time, for on top of its grand Norman foundations, many additions and repairs have been made over the years, and these additions followed the architectural desires and fancies of their times. Thus, half of the Cathedral is a Gothic structure, after it was rebuilt in the late 1300s when the south part of the nave collapsed. Much of the sculpture and decoration, as well as the great western façade, dates to the 19th Century, when it was “repaired” in a neo-Gothic fashion. Also, the Cathedral is unique in that its shrine is still there today. When Henry VIII ordered the destruction of all shrines as a part of the English Reformation, St. Alban’s shrine was destroyed with the rest. However, the Cathedral survived because the town managed to buy it and use it as a parish church. A wall was built to seal away the remains of the shrine, which were discovered and pieced back together in the renovations of the 19th Century. This is the brief history of St. Albans and its Cathedral (and believe me, I left out a lot).
St. Albans was a great trip. The Cathedral is amazing, well worth driving out to see. The conflicting architectural styles add, rather than subtract, to its sense of grandeur and history. Another highlight of the trip was a trip to see the remains of the Roman theatre on the outskirts of the modern town. Because our leader is a great person, he managed to get us inside the actual ruins (which are normally closed to visitors). We also visited a museum that contains many of the artifacts of the old Roman town, which was fascinating. However, the most lasting impression I have of the trip was made on the walk from the Roman ruins up to the Cathedral and town proper. A great park has been maintained along this walk with a great many soccer fields, and in between two of these fields, the remains of the old Roman walls jutted up suddenly in the otherwise pristine green fields. I am not sure if I can communicate just how oddly this struck me; all I can say is what I said then: “Soccer fields and Roman ruins.”

Field Trip 2 - London: On Saturday, September 9, I went to London for a day of seeing the sites of that great city. Our first stop on the morning walk, after our ride on the Tube, was the American embassy, where we saw some very nice monuments to heroes from World War II, including Ike and FDR. After passing through a maze of side streets, we arrived at the huge Green Park and passed through this into the plaza in front of Buckingham Palace. That was an amazing site, and I was overwhelmed to think that, less than a hundred years ago, half of the world had been ruled from the house in front of me. Unfortunately, the Queen was not at home to invite her American guests in for tea and crumpets, so we journeyed on through St. James’s Park, which is a gorgeous walk full of pelicans. From there, we proceeded to the Parliament buildings at Westminster; standing there, hearing Big Ben toll the hour, I was amazed at the amount of history that had passed in that building, some represented by the imposing statues of Boudicca and Oliver Cromwell standing guard outside the building. From Westminster, we strolled down Whitehall, passing by the Horse Guards (where we saw a changing of the guard), the great banqueting hall where Charles I was executed, the Cabinet War Rooms (where Churchill led Britain during World War II), and Downing Street (where we glimpsed the home of soon-to-be-replaced Tony Blair). At the end of this fine street, we reached Trafalgar Square, where I photographed the monument of one of my heroes, Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson. After this, we had a brief break for lunch and just enough time to enter the National Gallery (which is so worth at least two days on its own) before heading out to see the Fire of London Memorial. Here, I paid my two pounds for twenty minutes of terror; that was the price to climb the 311 steps to the top of the Memorial for some great views of London in a very small, very crowded observatory porch. I just about had a panic attack due to the heights, the enclosed space, and the multitude of people. The people running the Memorial were kind enough to give me a certificate proving I made the climb, and the view from the top were nice. After my knees stopped shaking, I followed the group to the Tower of London, which we did not have time to go in (so sad). However, we did get to see Tower Square, where many famous people have received very short haircuts, courtesy of the British monarchy. The last “tourist” stop of the day was St. Paul’s Cathedral for the evensong service. While the Cathedral was amazing, everything just seems less impressive after St. Peter’s in Rome. However, the service was so amazing, a boys choir providing the beautiful music of the liturgy. I also enjoyed seeing the tomb of the Duke of Wellington, another of my all-time heroes. I was amused that I was enough of a nerd to recognize the stream of names around the base of the memorial as the many battles he had won over his career, centered by the battle of which he was the most proud: Assaye in India. To wrap the day up, we had dinner at a very nice Chinese restaurant, then rode the bus back to Oxford thoroughly exhausted.

Well, now that you, my reader, now have an accounting of my first two field trips, I feel obliged to inform you that on this Friday, September 22, I will be returning to London to go inside Buckingham Palace on the last day it is open this year. After this grand adventure, I will be seeing the Comedy of Errors in the famous Globe Theatre. Oh, yes, it will be grand.

2006-09-10T14:06:00.000-07:00

An Average Day in Oxford

Well, I have been here in Oxford for a full week now; seems like a time both shorter and longer than that. Anyway, I think I have a fair idea now of what exactly an average day here will look like. My house here is called the Vines; it doesn’t have an address, it’s just the Vines on Pullens Lane. It’s a pretty nice house that was built more than a hundred years ago; however, it has the misfortune of being a very long way from the center of Oxford. To get to my classes, I have a 30-minute walk through some small residential streets and, of all things, an open pasture with a small herd of cows that wander about. First impressions of Oxford homes: they’re small. I guess it makes sense in a fairly densely-populated island, but I definitely feel very large walking past these very small houses. Despite this, though, England has many very large and very nice parks. On my way to class, I pass through two parks, one belonging to the University and one belonging to the city of Oxford. It makes for a very pleasant walk, except for the length of it. Due to the walk, however, I have mastered the art of crossing the street in England. It is a simple exercise in looking everywhere at once before you cross (including up - you can’t be too careful with these Brits) and continue to look every which way at once as you cross.

After the walk, I arrive at Wycliffe Hall, where I hold the status of a Visiting Student. Wycliffe Hall is one of the younger private halls and colleges that makes up the University of Oxford - after all, it’s only about 270 years old; practically brand new - and it was originally founded by the Anglican Church to train up promising new ministers of all denominational backgrounds. Since its founding, it has branched out into more areas of study until, in 1996 (I think), the Hall gained its current status as a permanent private hall. The University of Oxford is made up of many of these halls and colleges; it provides library resources and lecturers available to all the individual institutions, which they use in addition to their own dons and resources. This rather confusing system allows people like me to come over as part of a private hall also always me to be a Visiting Student of Oxford with all the rights that go along with that title.

Right now, the University has not actually began its Michalmas (fall) term, so I actually have not begun to take my tutorials or lectures at the University. Instead, my fellow students and I are taking a course titled: “Christianity and Cultures: the Shaping of the British Landscape.” As a part of this course, we are watching Simon Schama’s excellent A History of Britain, a fifteen part documentary produced by the BBC. It is well-made, entertaining, and very good with its facts. This movie provides the framework that is supplemented by lectures from various members of our staff and field trips to important places in British history. As a part of this course, I have to write three 6-8 page paper focused on particular areas in British culture and history. After this course ends in late September, we have a short break and then the real work of the semester begins. During the eight weeks of term, I must turn in 12 papers, as well as preparing sources for two other papers due in the final week of the program. In short, 14 papers in 9 weeks, otherwise known as “I’m going to be living at the Bodleian Library.” I think it is going to be an intense and very rewarding semester, if I survive it.

Well, this post was supposed to contain a link to a bunch of pictures of downtown Oxford, but unfortunately, my internet refuses to post them. I will attempt to find a faster connection elsewhere and post the 127 pictures I have take so far. Until then, you’ll have to use your imagination.

2006-09-04T14:44:00.000-07:00

The Oxford Experience Begins...

Well, I know that I have already been over here for a weekend, but today marked the first official day of more than "get to know you and get over jet lag" time (althogh yesterday I did attend of CoE communion; it was a lot like St. Mike's in its mixture of contemporary music with liturgy). Today, we learned more about the University of Oxford and our part in it this semester. I am officially a student of Wycliffe Hall, one of the 35+ private halls and colleges that come under the canopy of the University. Altogether, it makes for a massively confusing system, especially for its library set-up. The city of Oxford has 119 libraries asscociated with the University, and these libraries contain more than 10 MILLION works, all loosely controlled through a central system. It is truely mind-boggling, the sheer amount of information gathered throughout centuries, now available at my beck and call. *Gloats* Now, on a more mature note, this semester is definitely going to push me harder than anything has before. Frankly, I am very intimidated by the amount of work and how challenging the system over here is. But, I know that I am going to learn a lot (whether or not I die in this process is yet to be determined). SCIO (Scholarship and Christianity in Oxford) prides itself on its rigorous academic program that is tougher than many graduate schools.

So, after spending most of the day hearing about emergency numbers, what to do if situation A arises, and how challenging this semester is going to be, we actually kicked things off by watching the first part of a fifteen-part documentary on the hisory of England. I will get the official title and post it here at a later date because I was very impressed with the quality of the work. This documentary will provide the general information that my first class, Christianity and Cultures: the Shaping of the British Landscape, will build upon with field trips and more specific lectures. This first installment was impressive, and I have high hopes for this class in general, even though it has already assigned two papers due in two weeks.

After orientation and this first class began, several of my colleagues and I walked down and purchased some basic foodstuffs from the grocery store. Among my purchases were Coke, fruit juice, and frozen pizza. There has been way too much tea already; I just had to remind myself where I came from (especially since I don't care for tea; the Brits probably already think "uncivilised Yank"). Well, that about wraps up my trip to this point. I will try to get some pictures posted soon; Oxford really has some amazing scenery, and I begin my field trips this week, as well. So, until next time...

2006-09-02T17:24:00.000-07:00

Safe in England

Well, I arrived safely in England on Friday at about 7 a.m. local time. It had been a rather long and annoying flight. The row behind me contained six children, all under the age of 5 and all quite determined to scream their little heads off. At least I had some decent company and a few movies to distract me. The girl I sat next to was also bound for England for a study abroad, but in Sussex. Really amusing fact: we return to the U.S.A. on the same flight. Coming off the plane, it turned out that Katy's flight had landed just a few gates down from ours only minutes before, and we managed to meet in the customs line. For further proof that this is a small world, Katy met her roommate for this semester in the check-in line in DFW; God was good to both of us. Anyway, we landed in Gatwick and proceeded without mishap through customs, the baggage claim, and a coach station. Two hours after getting on the bus, we were in Oxford. My dorm is pretty nice, with wireless access anywhere in the building. There are 67 students in the program and 44 live in "the Vines." Friday was pretty slow; I took a three-hour nap and still managed to sleep almost eleven hours that night. So, I feel that I have begun to shake the jetlag. Today was pretty good. I travelled into the heart of Oxford twice, about a 30 minute walk from my dorm. Unfortunately, I managed to forget my camera both times; bad me. But I figure I will definitely be there again before I leave. So far, the weather has been beautiful. Today, it misted on and off, but the breeze has been constant, with a gorgeous temp of about 60 throughout most of the day. I am so pleased, especially after a rather warm summer in Texas. Tomorrow also is going to be pretty slow; our junior deans (RDs) have already told us this will be our only weekend without homework. This and the descriptions in the catalog have clued me in to how difficult this semester is going to be. Anyway, this is the first installment of many to come. This coming week, I have orientation and field trips to St. Albans and London. Should be a good week. That is all for now.

P.S. No, Randy, I didn't let the terrorists get me. It was touch and go, though.

2006-07-20T11:28:00.000-07:00

Culture Wars

Over dinner a few weeks ago, some friends and I were discussing our culture and society today. Specifically, one person noted that the religious right was always proclaiming that our values and institutions were under attack, despite the fact that the religious right is the most powerful force in our society today; he wanted to know who was attacking us so viciously as the common portrayal found in conservative circles. His comments and the conversation that followed made me begin to think about this issue and others related to it. In the end, I decided that I both agree and disagree with my friend. I believe that we, as Christians, should be under attack; if we are not, then we are not doing our job right. Paul told us that we are in a spiritual war and that we would need protection from "the fiery darts of the evil one" (Eph. 6). Thus, in my opinion, if we do not find ourselves being pressured or attacked, we are not living our lives as God would have us to live.

However, I also believe that the religious right has developed a martyr complex; we tend to see anything that happens as a direct, malicious blow to our collective well-being. To disagree with a commonly-held opinion is to seek to destroy it. We see that the world does not agree with our stances on issues, and instead of saying "well, duh, they're not Christians" and seeking to change lives for Christ, we vilify them and see them as enemies to defeat. This, I believe, is our greatest problem: we have lost sight of the fact that our war is against spirits, not flesh and blood. We have lost sight of the fact that we are to love, without stint or question. We have lost sight of the fact that we are to change people, not some vague concept like "society." I firmly believe that the Church, by trying to wage the "culture war" on a political and sociological basis, has already lost.

This question and debate was brought back to mind two days ago, when Dr. C. had me make a copy of an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education entitled "Jesus is not a Republican." The author, who published the article under a pseudonym, was lamenting the fact that the Church in America has, on the whole, completely married the Republican Party. He begins by showing many areas where this alliance has caused the Church to compromise on issues that should not have been compromised, and then, after showing why he is a Democrat, the author moves into a more general discussion of why the Church getting involved in politics is a bad idea. Historically, when the Church holds sway over secular power, it tends to be corrupted by the use and abuse of power. The Church of Rome in the Middle Ages and Renaissance comes to mind as an example of this, as do the Puritans and their failures in government on our continent. The separation of Church and State not only protects both from the other; it protects the Church from itself.

I believe that now, today, we are seeing yet again why it is not a good idea for the Church to tie itself too closely to any political movement. Politics is the art of compromise, and on many issues, the Church cannot compromise. We need to love, yes, and we need to be positive forces in society, too, but we cannot compromise on the issues essential to our faith. Further, by tying ourselves too closely to a political movement, we begin to see political issues as religious issues. People, the Bible is not a political document, and it does not say that the Republicans or the Democrats are going to hell in a hand basket. However, as the author of the piece in the Chronicle noted, to voice a "liberal" political opinion is to risk censure, ridicule, and hostility. The separation of Church and State does not just protect each from the other; it protects the Church from itself.

In the end, I conclude that we are not perfect people; go figure. I hope that we will be able to recover from the damage we are doing to ourselves and our Church. I pray that we will become what God meant us to be: His warriors in a spiritual battle.

2006-07-01T11:46:00.000-07:00

Small update

Well, this blog has been ignored to the point that I doubt anyone still checks it anymore. But, what with me going to England and all this fall, I figured that I should probably get back into the habit of updating.

As some of you may have heard, I had an "exciting" night last night. After feeling slightly nauxious after lunch, I developed into full-blown pain after attempting to eat dinner. My stomach and intestines were cramped extremely tight, and I felt like just rolling over and dying. However, since that was not an option, I attempted to stick it out by thinking about other things, like WoW and a movie. Then, out of nowhere, I began vomiting for 30 seconds, and by the end of it, I was vomiting up blood. Naturally, this freaked me out, so I called upon my good friend Wheeler, who took me to the Good Shepard ER about 10:30. All I have to say is that a man could die waiting for the wheels of that bureaucracy to actually start turning. After waiting for a long time, I was admitted and they began to look at my symptoms. I got to endure the “fun” of gastrochotomy (spelling unknown to me) where they stick the tube down into your stomach. After this showed I was not bleeding internally, they tried to doing a cat scan to make sure I did not have appendicitis or something like that. When all these tests proved negative, I was sent home with Vicodin for the pain and an anti-nausea drug to help my body fight off the infection. When I arrived home at 5:15 am, I promptly fell into bed until about now. I am feeling much better, aside from being very weak and sore. Now it is time to try to find someone to drive me somewhere to get drugs. Oh, yes…morphine is cool!

2006-03-10T21:13:00.000-08:00

Rest

Have you ever wondered what true rest is? Personally, I think it is something I have been without for far too long. True rest, for me, is very close to the peace and comfort that we find in the arms of our Heavenly Father. Only there can we lay aside the cares and burdens of this world; only there can we find that for which we are seeking so desperately: true contentment. As we approach this spring break, I know that I and many of my friends are struggling to answer questions about life, questions that seem to defy answers. I would covet your prayers that this will be not just a time of physical rest, but a time when all of us come back to the loving arms of God.

2006-03-09T22:11:00.000-08:00

God's amazing love

As we sang the words of the hymn "Blessed Assurance" yesterday in chapel, I was struck by the fact that the amazing love of God that we can know, His overwhelming grace that He showers upon us, are just whispers and echoes of those attributes in the fullness that God possesses them. He defines what love is; pure love is greater than we can imagine. While this is an awesome thought, we need to be careful because it carries a flip-side. Do we define love, and let that determine how we relate to God? Or, do we attempt to know God through His revelation to us and let that define love for us? We must strive for the second; to do otherwise puts God in a box of our making. God's love can be difficult to understand at times, but we know that it is there. And, as Gandalf said, "that is an encouraging thought."

2005-12-27T10:23:00.000-08:00

Back from the Roman ruins

Well, I break the long silence on my blog, fairly certain that no one still reads it but anyway, with a public service announcement that I am back from Italy. It was an amazing trip. I saw Roma, Napoli, Pompeii, Orvietto, Firenze (Florence), San Gimignano, Verona, Venezia (Venice), and more Roma. I took somewhere around 400 pictures and will be glad to share all my stories with everybody when I get back to school. However, one highlight: at midnight, Christmas Eve/Christmas, I was standing in St. Peter's Square observing the Christmas mass being led by the Pope. A memory to treasure. Anyway, Merry Christmas to all my friends! See you again in January!

2005-08-30T19:04:00.000-07:00

A sense of purpose wars with individuality

A few Sundays ago, my pastor gave a sermon that touched briefly on the individualism found in American society as it relates to the church. According to his statistics, the largest religious group in America are Christians who do not have any contacts with a church. This led me to ponder some quirks in the nature of mankind.

We, as humans, have an almost universal desire to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. We seek for something to belong to, to join, that gives a sense of community and, more importantly, that can give us a sense of purpose. We need to know that our lives were not in vain, but that we actually lived for some worthy purpose and cause. This is one of the reasons religion, many religions throughout history, is far more than "an opiate for the masses." Most religions provide community with the other members of the religion, a solid network of supporters and friends. They also provide a purpose: a deity to worship and serve, the ultimate higher calling and purpose that humans can find.

Christianity certianly provides both of these. In fact, real Christianity is the only true source of community and the highest and truest of purposes. However, it comes at a high cost, especially to American society with its emphasis on individuality. We must deny ourselves and surrender our wills and our lives to God. Thus begins the interal war: we, as humans, hate to lose control. We crave to have some illusion of being able to forge our own destinys. We desire to be our own masters, while we might give lip service to a higher cause. However, when we choose Christianity, we are forced to come to a decision: make our religion and our faith real...or sucumb to the temptation of a lip-service faith.

2005-08-29T11:02:00.000-07:00

A long absence

Well, as many of you already know, the reason I have not posted in so long is that my ISP at home refused to allow posting. Why, I do not know, and they could not tell me. Therefore, I was deprived of that best way to inform you all of the doings in my humble life.

Now that I am able to post again, I am going to try to make this blog a bit more serious than I have previously done. I hope to debate issues and ideas, or at least put my thoughts out there. Anyway, more to come very soon.

2005-05-06T19:21:00.000-07:00

Public Service Announcement

If you lent me the book Original Intent by David Barton, please let me know. Usually I am really good at keeping track of where things came from, but this one totally escapes me. Anyway, let me know.

2005-05-01T00:18:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am still alive

This post is mainly for those of you who think lack of blogging is a sin (yes, Scholl, I am referring to you). Anyway, the lack of posting does not mean a lack of thinking on my part. Since the ending of the homework frenzy, I have started work on a couple of lengthy posts...unfortunately, they are not quite done yet. So, I guess this will just whet your desire or something like that. More to come later.

2005-04-12T20:45:00.000-07:00

Propaganda

Well, tonight was an interesting evening. In historiography, we watched Farenheit 9/11 and Farenhype 9/11. Wow. Both movies were just special. First, Michael Moore. What can you say, the guy is a master at crafting cinematography to match any point of view. His movie, flawed in many ways though it is, is very, very effective at getting its message across as the truth. His historigraphy was terrible, admittedly, and I found a lot of fiction in his facts, but that does not totally rule out some of the very important points he raised. Further, people like Michael Moore are necessary in any society; they see what they perceive as a wrong and do what they can to make the public aware of it. Free speech and democracy only thrive when there are people to disagree with the government.

Well, on to the next movie. I found Farenhype to be a mix of both good and bad. When the movie kept to some fairly intelligent and middle-ground people doing a rebuttal of the "history" presented by Michael Moore, it was pretty good. They made good points and exposed misconceptions and flat-out lies in Moore's movie. However, when the movie devolved into agruements ad hominem and started expousing opinions as fact, they fell into the same trap that Moore did. After the first half hour, I would have voted totally for Farenhype being the more accurate and better of the two movies. After the last half hour, they are both just propaganda works. All in all, it was a very entertaining evening, especially trying to contain the explosions coming from my suitemate.

2005-04-06T13:40:00.000-07:00

News

In an attempt to make my reading of the news from a variety of sources more regularly, I have linked a variety of news-reporting sites from this blog. (Author's note: I do not endorse any of the opinions of any of the sites as my own. I reserve the right to hold an opinion different from any source linked from here.) Right now, I have nine linked, but I am looking for more to add. If you have any suggestions for a good news source (perhaps one that leans more left? *ducks from hail of conservative arrows* I would like to have more of their opinions than I generally do), please leave a comment telling me about the source.

One final note: despite his earlier posting, I am not stealing this idea from Sharpton. He stole it from me. That is all.

2005-04-03T11:52:00.000-07:00

Remembering: John Paul II (1920-2005)

I am not a Catholic, and I do not believe all of Catholic theology. However, I would like to honor John Paul II by remembering his life in this post, since he has now passed away. I did not always agree with the stances he took on issues, but I respected his courage and tenacity. Say what you will, I think he was one of the best popes the Catholic Church has ever had. The man stood up to the Soviet Union, survived an assassination attempt, and provided good leadership of the Church as he made efforts to return to tradional values and beliefs. So, let's remember him and pray for the Catholic Church as it makes this transition.

2005-03-30T23:09:00.000-08:00

Unbelievable

I finally read something about (kind of) the Terri Schiavo case in World magazine with which I actually completely and totally agree! "Just think how much simpler all this might have been if it had not become the American habit to try to remedy every inconvenience in life with a trip to the courthouse." (most recent issue, Joel Belz's editorial) It never would have made headlines, it would have kept the government out of the affair (always a desirable goal, in my opinion), and it would have been less agonizing for the family than this political circus we find ourselves in now.

(Unfortunately, it didn't last. The rest of the article was just the same-old, same old.)

2005-03-23T21:21:00.000-08:00

Some political controversy

Is it just me, or is the entire thing with Terri Schiavo being taken way too far by many people, including our government? My personal opinion is that, whatever the political issue or moral quandry, this is a decision for the family, their doctors, and since it has played out the way it has between the husband and the parents, the courts. The Florida state government has no right to issue demands on the subject, and the national government has sure overstepped its bounds in the actions it has taken in the last few days. The new bill is a gross violation of the Constitution, but no one seems to care. As I look at the situation, I can't help but wonder if it is really concern for Terri and people like her that inspired their actions, or political opportunisim. The situation is certainly rife with opportunities for the Republican majority: it shows that they are solidily "pro-life" to appease many of the religious voters, it allows them to establish the precedent of basically legislative review of a court decision, and it gives them a platform to push more of their social agenda through. I am not saying that I am necessarily against their social agenda, but the way they are pursuing it is totally out of line.

I also don't understand why this one person has become the focal point of this now national battle. There have been other people like Terri, and some of them have suffered the same fate. Why this person, why now? This outlines one of my basic problems with our media today: it is sensationalism, looking for whatever will make a good story and just selecting a very few. No one, Terri, her husband, or her parents, deserve the circus that this has become. What should be a very private event, either of grief or recovery, has now been made very public, and I do not think that this is a good thing.

The other thing about this entire debate that is really starting to annoy me is the mixing of terms by both sides. Euthanasia, according to most actual definitions of the word, is a forced practice; someone is either too weak or too sick or too something to survive, so they are put down. This is not the same thing as the "right to die" movement; that is the conscious choice to end one's own life, not something forced or decided by a third party. Now, either this is a case of someone being forced to die (euthanasia), or someone choosing to die (right to die). If her husband is telling the truth, this is a case of right to die. However, since Terri did not leave a living will and cannot confirm this, it can be easily argued that this is a case of euthanasia. Fine then, but let's not call it both. Many conservative magazines are using these two terms interchangably, but this is incorrect and really starting to bug me.

I am not sure where I stand on what is right in this issue. Many medical professionals are of the opinion that Terri is no longer conscious of her surroundings, cannot respond to outside stimulus, and is basically empty of all upper brain function. If this is the case, and really the case, then I am not against the removal of the feeding tube because she is dead already. However, many other medical professionals are of the opinion that this is not nearly a clear enough situation, since we really can't determine her exact condition; she may very well be on the road to recovery. If this is the case, I am against the removal of the feeding tube since she is not dead. On another tack, if her husband is telling the truth, I am not against the removal of the feeding tube. I may disagree with a person's decision to end their own life because it doesn't allow God's sovreignity, but I cannot see how we in a free country can deny a person that right. However, if her parents are telling the truth and she would not want this, I am against the removal of the tube, for obvious reasons. My final position is that I do not know who is telling the truth or who is right, so I have no final position. I just know that the government really has no place in this debate; let's leave it to her family, who love her and know her, and the doctors, who have a better grasp of their own field than the politicians in Washington.

(This post was caused in part by some interesting commentary in the Wednesday USA Today. Two of the four articles were pretty good, one was ok, and the other was just special.)

2005-03-17T15:15:00.000-08:00

Infighting in Egypt

Well, I can avoid it no longer. My reading for the history paper has begun in earnest. Right now, I am reading through The Crossing of the Suez, by the Egyptian chief-of-staff, Lt. Gen. Saad el Shazly, and it is going to be interesting. In the introduction, he writes, "Through 1974 and 1975, as I sat as Ambassador (he was relieved and shuffled off becuase he dared disagree with Sadat over how to pursue the war, addition mine) first in London and then in Lisbon, my dismay at what i read about the war grew. Lies from our enemies I had expected. But lies from our own leadership?" Shazly is irrate about how the story of the war has been told; he is pretty much totally against what Sadat has done since the war and the political decisions forced on him during the war. This book promises to be a very insightful read.

In other news, I am still recovering from the removal of teeth on Monday. I am not in too much pain, but I have discovered that smiling and yawning both stretch the jaw...and right now, they both hurt...a lot! Aside from tightness due to the stitches and a small amount of swelling, I am doing very well. Hopefully, I will be fully recovered (or close enough to eat). That is all for now.

2005-03-13T12:44:00.000-08:00

The pros and cons of being home

Pros:
- Nine days without SAGA (or Sodexo, if you prefer)
- Seven days home alone with the surround sound system
- My double bed!!!
- Spending time with family
- Going to my home church

Cons:
- BAD...INTERNET...CONNECTION!!!
- Missing people
- Doing CAPA with BAD INTERNET CONNECTION!!!
- Sunday School

Well, I have enjoyed my time at home so far. Lots of new things here; it is like my parents went on some sort of campaign to change as much as possible. I have a massive stack of books on the Yom Kippur War awaiting my attention, and, of course, I get to be drugged up. Yay. The worst thing so far has far and away been Sunday School today. We were discussing the events leading up to the Crucifixion, and today we talked about the Pharisees, Herod, and Pilate trying Jesus. I expressed the opinion that the Pharisees were doing, to some degree, what they saw as right and vital for their nation. Also, they weren't all that different from the vast majority of Christians today. Anyway, I got laughed out of town. I also got dismissed when I dared to suggest that Pilate wasn't that much of a coward, simply a man trapped in really nasty political situation. *Sigh* I don't mind disagreement, but let's at least consider and debate, not reject out of hand. The only other thing I grew very annoyed with was after I had related how Dr. Watson was going to Paris after rubbing it in during his classes for a month. I expressed my desire to go to Paris with him, and instantly, somebody said, "Why? They are rude and nasty, and the city is dingy and just not worth seeing. Those dirty, ungrateful French; we should've just left them to Germany." And with that, Paris, historical and cultural center of France (and therefore Europe for many centuries), was dismissed as not worth seeing. I expressed my opinion that most Americans abroad deserved the sort of treatment they got because of the way they act. Bad idea. Anyway, aside from those minor instances, it has been great being home again. See all of you later.

2005-03-10T18:57:00.000-08:00

A pilgrimage

Today, I made a small pilgrimage, at the suggestion of Dr. Watson (and also for extra credit, but who cares?). I went to the daffodil fields found just south of Gladewater off 271. They have 18 acres of land, most of which are currently covered with daffodils. It was a very interesting experience. While there, I read Wordsworth's "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" (another requirement for the extra credit). There was an exhilaration in the wide open spaces, especially after the close confinement of months on LU campus. Anyway, I must report an amusing anecdote from the day. Paige's religious experience from the day: (said in a very childlike voice) "Father, thank you for the daffeedils and the baby cows, who are cute and go 'moo.'"

2005-03-08T15:04:00.000-08:00

The end is in sight

Well, I finished my exegesis on time. It is the first one I have written after my taking my classes in Greek. I discovered that grammatical analysis, previously my shortest section, grew to be one of my longest. I thoroughly enjoyed the work (I know, I am a freak; I have done close to 25 exegeses (sp???), and I have loved every one) and it was great for my Greek work, too. Working with Septuagint was different than the New Testament, and it stretched me a bit, but it was a good challenge. Speaking of Greek, I survived my test monday (though it took more than an hour and a half) and do not have that class for the rest of this week. I just finished my historiography paper on the French Revolution, and after I do some CAPA tonight, there will be no assignments between me and spring break. There is the small matter of a Hummel test Friday, but that is a worry for Thursday.

On another note, I was looking through LUSA last night, working on what my schedule for next semester will be. During that process, I utilized Buzznet to run a degree audit to see how much work is left for me to do. I discovered that to complete my three minors and my major and graduate with the rest of my class, I will have to take...14.25 hours per semester. Wow. That is really pathetic, and being the overachiever that I am, I would probably shoot myself if I did that. What this means is that I have more time to devote to taking classes in other areas and strengthening both my minors and my major. Yay.

2005-03-06T22:54:00.000-08:00

Almost...there...

The exegesis for Hummel is almost done. About time to start studying for the Greek test of doom tomorrow. *Buries head in book*

2005-03-06T11:30:00.000-08:00

Construction woes

On my way to church this morning, I turned onto Fourth Street, only to discover that they had a crane up ahead blocking the road. A sign said that only the right lane was closed, so I proceded forward slowly, waiting to be signaled around the big vehicle. However, as I got closer, I saw a tiny little sign saying "Detour," pointing towards the right. This sign was also place after the last available road in either direction. So, I pull up to the guy with the stop/slow sign, and he tells me that I must go through the hospital's parking lot and out the other side. In fact, that is their official detour route...right through the hospital's emergency room entrance and exit, with lines of ambulances sitting right there. Now, I cannot speak for Texas or Longview regulations, but I am fairly certain that it is illegal to detour people through a parking lot back home. And it strikes me as just plain stupid to detour through a hopital's emergency room exit! That is why better and bigger signs should be put up far enough away to make a difference. Oh, and by the way, they didn't even have a tiny detour sign up for the other direction; it was entirely left up to someone waving his arms and pointing which way to turn.

2005-03-04T15:55:00.000-08:00

Hello, again

Well, it has been quite some time since I posted. That is not to say that nothing happend worthy of a post. It is an indication that I have lacked the time and motivation to actually sit down and flesh out my thoughts. But, here we go, a random selection of reflections from this week. Chapel this week has been...interesting... I know that at least one person enjoyed it until the idea of gentlemen came up, but I was less than impressed by the two times I heard her in regular chapel. I haven't quite figured out what I think about our culture's fascination with self-esteem. On one hand, I do know that it is a serious struggle for some people, but on the other, I think we make far to big a deal over it, and that causes a lot of the problems people have with it. I know that we are ruining the educational system to save students "self-esteem," but is that really self-esteem worth having? I am fairly certain my negative attitude toward the topic influenced my opinion of the speaker (it really didn't help when she said there were Nazi death camps in World War I).

In other news, I am really enjoying all of my classes this semster, though they are managing to keep me fairly busy. I think my favorites are Historical Books (Hummel), Historiography (Hummel and Johnson), and the venerable Watson in Brit Lit II. I was looking at schedules for the rest of my time here, and next semester in particular looks very, very good. I think I am going to be taking Kubricht, Coppinger, R. V. Hood, Woodring, and Olson so far. I like how that looks.

One final note: I am considering (once again) adding a math minor. Frankly, I have found myself missing the aspects of problem solving and strategic thought math provides, and a minor doesn't add too much. It would mean taking three more math classes, Diff. Eq. and two electives, probably Linear Algebra and maybe Statistics. Comments? Opinions? Different classes I should look at taking? Any and all thoughts appreciated.

2005-02-20T23:21:00.000-08:00

Reflections after a long day writing journals

Ok, this time, I mean it. No more waiting until the last night to do journals. That being said, the mid-term ambushed me, and I had to write 20 journals for Watson and Hummel, all due tomorrow. But, I perservered and triumphed. I think the journals I enjoyed writing the most were the ones I did over The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and the journal over Sonnets from the Portuguese. I am a big fan of both of the authors (Coleridge and Barrett-Browning, respectively), and thoroughly enjoyed both of those works. And now, for your reading pleasure, one of the most famous love poems of all time, Sonnet 43 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, whne feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints - I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! - and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

2005-02-14T20:21:00.000-08:00

Hey, I had nothing else to post

Here is a quiz for anyone who cares, courtesy of Martinez.

You Are A Realistic Romantic

You are more romantic than 70% of the population.

It's easy for you to get swept away by romance...
But you've done a pretty good job keeping perspective.
You're still taken in by love poems and sunsets
You just don't fall for every dreamy pick up line!

Are You Romantic or Realistic?

2005-02-08T21:44:00.000-08:00

A Long Overdue Critique

Recently, it feels we have been swamped by a flurry of speakers whose methods and illustrations have been of questionable accuracy. In a long overdue post, I will lay out a brief lesson on what not to do if you want to impress me as a speaker.

Point One: Carefully examine what you are saying
When you are speaking, it is easy to get flustered, I know. But really, you need to try to keep your mind a little ahead of your mouth so you don't wind up saying things you really didn't want to say. Case in point: during MEW (missions emphasis week), our speaker boldly proclaimed that at the end of the program, Tarzan not only got the man, he got the woman, too. Now, I am sure that the speaker did not mean that Tarzan was bisexual (despite the fact he always fought other guys wearing only briefs). But, if you merely heard what the speaker actually said, it really sounds like he thinks Tarzan was not of the normal persuasion. So, think through your punch lines and statements so they don't come off meaning something you don't want them to.

Point Two: When using a literary reference, take the time to get it right
A great way to illustrate a point is to use an example from a work of fiction or mythology. I have no problems with people using illustrations from literature as long as they don't twist the work to mean something the author wouldn't have agreed with and they get the reference right. The quickest way to make me think you are a cheap speaker who doesn't do research is to screw up a very easy, very well-know illustration. Case in point: again, we return to the MEW speaker who used an illustration from Lord of the Rings and an example from Roman mythology. However, apparently there is a new superhero character that has been added since my last time to read the book: Argon, who rides on a big, shiny, white horse. Don't worry, J. R. R., he's a worthy king of Gondor; he's a nobility (well, a noble gas at least). I mean, how hard is it to get the name of one of the main characters in a work that has taken the country by storm in recent times. The name isn't even that hard! Anyway, on to his reference to the Roman gods. Apparently, there have been some administrative shuffles in the Pantheon; Jupiter has stepped down as king of the gods to replace Mars as the god of war. Again, this is a very simple fact and would have been easily confirmed. Little errors like this show that you didn't take the time to check your references when you really should have.

Point Three: Every verse in the OT does not point towards Jesus
This one is a common fallacy for devotionals, sermons, and chapel addresses, at least in my experience. We as Christians have a tendancy to want the OT to be as relevant to our faith as the NT. I have no problem with this; the OT has a lot of important lessons to teach us about our God and about life. However, this does not mean that every verse in the OT points toward the Messiah. In fact, most of them do not. Unfortunately, a lot of people seem to think that they do. Case in point: last Friday in chapel, the speaker was doing a marvelous job. He had captured the attention of the audience, he was engaging us, and he was teaching some valuable lessons. Then came the part where he started to use the Bible. In the story of Abraham in Genesis 15, God makes a covenant with Abraham and uses the sacrifice of animals to do so. The speaker used each and every one of those animals as a precursor for the events of the NT, specifically the Messiah. The OT simply does not do that!

Point Four: Sometimes a detail is just a detail
In a historical narrative, the reader is given many details about the event taking place. We have come to expect it; so why do we use each and every detail in a biblical historical narrative as proof of some deep theological point? Case in point: in church this Sunday, the pastor taught from Nehemiah 3, where Nehemiah lists the builders of the wall and where they worked. I have heard good sermons from this passage before, so I listened as the pastor began to preach. As he read the passage, every single detail provided about the geography of Jerusalem, particularily the gates, had special significance and could be used as a metaphor for our spiritual lives. The Water Gate symbolizes the life found in baptism...and it went on from there. I was horrified by the blatant over-spiritualization of this narrative passage. Sometimes details are just put in to make people like me, i.e. history majors, happy. They provide the little trivia points that make the world/narrative/story real.

Well, as you can see, this has been on my chest for some time. I realize that each of the speakers critiqued by this post did have some good points, and I promise that I heard these points. I am not trying to be overly critical; I just want to hear sermons and messages firmly based in Scripture without these annoying and blatant flaws.

2005-02-02T17:10:00.000-08:00

Down for the count

Well, the plague has caught up with me. I missed classes because of illness for the first time since I was a junior in high school. At least the doctor gave me drugs to help the healing process along. Hopefully, I will be up and running soon (at least functioning by tomorrow, as I have a Hummel test to make up). More updates to come later.

2005-01-23T23:05:00.000-08:00

So I haven't posted in a long while

Well, at long last, I find myself overcoming my laziness and returning to the world of bloggers. I promise to any of you out there that still check my blog that the next post won't be nearly so long in coming. Anyway, the semester so far has been good. I like all of my classes, even Fatness since my professor realizes the actual coursework is a joke. Without more ado, my schedule:

Monday
9:20-10:15: General Physics I with Dr. Forringer
10:25-11:10: Chapel
11:20-12:15: British Literature II with Dr. Watson
12:15-1:30: Lunch break
1:30-2:25: Historical Books with Dr. Hummel
2:35-3:30: Elementary Greek II with Dr. R. V. Hood
3:30-5:00: Free time/homework
5:00-6:00: Dinner
6:00-7:00: Contemporary Political Issues with Dr. Kubricht
7:00-Bed: Free time/homework

Tuesday
11:00-12:00: PA meeting
12:00-1:30: Lunch and free time
1:30-2:50: Concepts of Lifetime Fitness with Balikian
2:50-5:00: Shower/free time/homework
5:00-6:00: Dinner
6:00-9:00: Historigraphy with Dr. Hummel and Dr. Johnson
9:00-Bed: Free time/homework

Wednesday
9:20-10:15: General Physics I
10:25-11:10: Chapel
11:20-12:15: British Literature II
12:15-1:30: Lunch
1:30-2:25: Historical Books
2:35-3:30: Elemtary Greek II
3:30-5:00: Free time/homework
5:00-6:00: Dinner
6:00-7:00: Free time/homework
7:00-8:00: Working in the Achievement Center
8:00-Bed: Free time/homework

Thursday
12:30-1:30: Lunch
1:30-2:50: Fatness
2:50-5:00: Shower/free time/homework
5:00-6:00: Dinner
6:00-9:30: Free time/homework/advisee visits
9:30-11:00: Play reading
11:00-Bed: Free time/homework

Friday
9:20-10:15: General Phsyics I
10:25-11:10: Chapel
11:20-12:15: British Literature II
12:15-1:30: Lunch
1:30-2:25: Historical Books
2:35-3:30: Elementary Greek II
3:30-5:00: Free time/homework
5:00-6:00: Dinner
6:00-10:30: Free time/homework
10:30-11:30: Bible Study
11:30-Bed: Free time/homework

The weekends will consist of much fun and much work around project time.

2004-12-24T13:59:00.000-08:00

Season's Greetings!

I sit at the computer and smell the excellent Christmas Eve dinner cooking: ham, mashed potatoes, fruit salad, brocolli and cheese, and many other wonderful things. I thank God for giving me the life I have: the family, the friends, and just the circumstances of living in America. And, I thank Him for loving me enough to die for me. Some people say it is easy to loose sight of that because of the hustle and bustle of the season. But shouldn't we be remembering and being thankful for that outside of this season? If we lived a lifestyle of thanksgiving, we would have less trouble remembering "the reason for the season." Well, enough preachy-ness. I would like to wish all my friends throughout the wide world a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. God watch bless you and keep you all, until we meet again (not that I want Him to stop when I do see you again).

2004-12-20T19:06:00.000-08:00

A holiday warning

I would recommend staying away from the new holiday spiced Pepsi. When I heard a certain someone refer to a drink as, "It was like drinking potpourri," I thought that she was just being a bit silly. But, I will never think that particular comment is silly again. That new Pepsi tastes like Pepsi with a pine tree air freshner thrown in. It was...not good...

2004-12-19T18:20:00.000-08:00

A day of returns

Today, I returned to my church for the first time since August. I had missed playing in the band, lots of the people in the congregation, and just the wonderfulness of a worship service with both excellent contemporary music and solid preaching. I arrived at church at 8 (it wasn't my fault we were late!) and rushed into the sanctuary, only to discover the entire thing had been repainted. Was that a shock...I almost didn't recognize it. But, I pushed past the shock and warmed up with Brian, the trumpet player. Twas good to see him again, and then we started playing. After a few true worship songs to kick things off, we moved into seasonal pieces. We played "One Small Child," my second favorite carol ever! And "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" is always a good song. Pastor Dave's sermon was, as always, solid; not really deep, but firmly grounded in Scripture.

After service, I went to Sunday School; well, first, I had to find my classroom. Every time I come home, we are in a different room, and this time, we were in the newly-finished addition to the church. And, to go with the new room, we had a new format. But, unlike the new room, I was less than pleased by the new format. Everyone got to go around and say what the passage of Scripture (in the case, the Prodigal Son) meant to them. Ahhhhhhh! Why me? I had to bite my tongue more than once during the class, but even with that, God still taught me something I needed to know. I am working hard at not being overly-critical, and God decided to test my new-found resolve this morning. Next moral quandry: when someone spouts a heretical view, do I call them on it? Input and advice is encouraged. Until later.

(Oh, and PS: another return for today is that my family is watching ROTK Special Edition tonight. Hoodalolly!)

2004-12-17T23:20:00.000-08:00

I'm home again!

Well, I am back in the northern parts of Missouri. The weather is too warm. *Sigh* Unnatural warmth seems to be following me, but a cold front is supposed to come in tomorrow! Much joy! Sharpton and I had an interesting time on the way home. Aside from the driving for ten hours bit, it would have been a very enjoyable time. I got in at 8:30 and spent the evening enjoying the warm, fuzzy feelings of home. Sleeping on my double bed again was very nice. But, the warm, fuzzy feelings were tempered somewhat when my mother put me to work today. I get home, and what does she do? Makes me sweep and wash the dishes. *Sigh* I had expected a reception a little more motherly than that. So, after I had done those chores and started on the massive piles of laundry (I had been holding out for the lack of paying you get at home), I took the money my wonderful father gave me to go and rent a video game. Quite fun. Also, I am nearly three-fourths of the way through Black Sun Rising. Damien Vryce is the man, and Gerald Tarrant is complicated. Then, tonight, my sister made me watch the movie Paycheck. Don't watch it. The physical explanation for seeing the future expressed in the movie: "If you make a lens focused enough to see around the infinate curve of the universe, eventually you will make it all the way around and see yourself in the future." AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! Aside from Ben Aflack, horrible physics (there were other instances of ignorance for how the world truly is), and gaping plot holes, I guess it wasn't that bad of a movie (what else is left to be bad?). Anyway, tonight my parents had a Christmas party. After putting in my social appearance and getting some food, I retreated to the basement. As everyone was leaving, I climbed back up and loitered around for people to leave (I wanted the 36" flatscreen for gaming purposes). I then heard Kate was coming back from a party with a friend. I promptly insisted that TV was mine and managed to convince my dad to back my claim; after all, they put the free DVD player that I tried to claim in the basement, and Kate could go down there. As expected, Kate and her friend get home and try to take the TV. I pulled the trump card of paternal support, but *insert Scholl's mocking, high-pitched voice here* "We want to watch VHS!" And, of course, there isn't a VCR downstairs. *Sigh* Being the kind and generous brother I am, I bequeathed the TV to them...little did I know they planned on watching Little Mermaid 2. Needless to say, I fled in terror.

Yeah, so, it is all the silly little stuff of being at home again. But it is amazing how much you can miss this when you are away from it for while. Well, anyway, I am going to go try to reclaim the TV...the movie should be over by now.

2004-12-14T14:20:00.000-08:00

Another quiz to amuse you

You Are From Mercury

You are talkative, clever, and knowledgeable - and it shows.
You probably never leave home without your cell phone!
You're witty, expressive, and aware of everything going on around you.
You love learning, playing, and taking in all of what life has to offer.
Be careful not to talk your friends' ears off, and temper your need to know everything.

What Planet Are You From?

2004-12-12T23:23:00.000-08:00

The week of the finals

Ok, if you really wanted to know my final schedule, here it is.

Monday - 9:45 - The Indoctrination into Hating Democrats and Blindly Accepting Republicanism (otherwise known as Fed, State, Local)

Tuesday - 6:00 - World Literature Through Film
6:00 - Christology (Don't worry, folks; luckily, Hermione has loaned me her Time Turner)

Wednesday - 9:45 - British Literature
3:00 - Elementary Greek

So, there it is. Thursday morning, Sharpton and I head back into the northlands, back where it is cold.

2004-12-10T23:38:00.000-08:00

An epic adventure in Dallas

At 3:45, the gang piled into cars, Gallagher, Anna, and myself driving. Eleven souls, giddy with the elation of being done with classes, headed off into the sunset bound for the American Airlines Dome in Dallas for the concert of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. The trip was frought with perils: the hazards of Dallas rush hour traffic, trying to keep up with Anna and Gallagher's lead feet, and being in a car for hours with Scott while he was hopped up on Sobe. Terrifying, I know, but the promise of the concert kept my will set on reaching Dallas alive and well. As we entered Dallas proper, we hit the long backups on I-30 and promptly got seperated. As we proceded to crawl towards our exit, we kept in constant communcation via six cell phones (overkill, in my opinion, as there were only three cars, but oh well, at least we were prepared). Finally, we made it to exit 47B and turned off onto 75. Anna went first, then me, and then Gallagher. All three of us proceded to miss the next exit (which, in fairness to the three drivers, came immediately, was across the highway, and was not clearly defined in our directions). Gallagher recovered the best from this setback. He managed to find his way to the goal from the next exit; his car was the first to arrive at the finish line. Yours truly had his first experience with a turnabout (seriously, they don't have those in Missouri!), only to discover that southbound on 75 didn't have an exit for Elm Street; curses! So, after going through another turnabout, we managed to hit the original exit and got back on track. We arrived second, about ten minutes after the esteemed Gallagher. Anna and her crew managed to find their way into our seats just as the lights went down for the concert to start; too close for my comfort, had I been them. But at last, we were all assembled, and the concert began!

It was sheer awesomeness. The Trans-Siberian Orchestra is the band where the old and the new are combined into a beautiful music experience. I had never heard a duet of a violin and an electric guitar before; it was unbelievable. The lights and effects complimented the music extremely well (in fact, when the fire alarm and security system went off midway through, I thought that it was all a part of the act). The story of the first half of the concert was quite touching, and the more random music of the second half only got better. I greatly enjoyed all of the pieces (except for one with an opera singer whose pitch went beyond my tolerance), but I was pleased and delighted that my favorite Christmas carol of all time, the Carol of the Bells, was both played and had an encore performance. As yours truly said at the time, "Carol of the Bells plus Trans-Siberian Orchestra plus pyrotechnics equals *two thumbs up* woohoo!"

After the most excellent concert, our crew of intriped adventurers made our seperate ways to Rip Griffin's Has-Everything-And-We-Mean-Everything Truck Stop (the must-see experience of Dr. Watson's Fine Arts trip). From there, we returned to Longview. The drive back on I-20 was uneventful...if you can call be in a car with Paige, Scott, and Sharpton uneventful. It was great fun, and I had to concentrate on not going off the road while laughing. At 1:30 this morning, I, as the semi-law-abiding non-lead foot, pulled in to the parking lot, the last of our brave trio of transports to return. The forces of overwork, stress, and classes have lost this round, thanks to a great evening in Dallas with friends!

2004-12-08T14:15:00.000-08:00

Random musings

It has been quite some time since I lasted posted. Lots of stuff has happened since then, and I have been very busy for the most part. Well, where to begin? Thanksgiving was a lot of fun, as I spent the time with friends. Though, in a way, it was also strange. Now, I greatly enjoyed my holiday and wouldn't have changed it for the world, but at the same time, this was the first Thanksgiving that I have not been with my family. This made me realize how thankful I am for the family God blessed me with. I am also very grateful for the many friends God has put in my life; you guys have made college so far an unbelievably fun experience. I thank God daily for all of you and am so grateful you put up with me.
After Thanksgiving came the madness that was my research paper for Christology. I discovered that the Council of Nicea was extremely interesting. Conclusions drawn from my research: being smart in theology doesn't mean you win. Athanasuis was a genius of theology, but he still found himself bested at nearly every turn by Eusebius of Nicomedia, a sneaky little bugger if ever there was one. Although in the very end Athanasius won, I credit his victory to his being younger than Eusebius; Eusebius died first, so he ended up losing. But, after frantic writing and researching, I turned my paper in at 4:51 on Thursday. The Hallelujah Chorus broke out, and the world radiated beauty (Note from the author: the conclusions in my paper were a bit more scholarly).
Now we reach this week, and I find myself free from all homework. I look about myself and see that the first semester of my sophmore year is gone. I can't believe how fast my time at college is going, and I am only a sophmore. I don't want to know what it will feel like my senior year. This semester has gone both incredibly slow and insanely fast. It has been a very trying, very stressful semester in some ways, but I wouldn't have traded it for anything. God has proved to me over and over that His strength is perfect, and He alone gives peace. As I look back on what this semester has been, both in its triumphs and its failures, I am reminded of the words of Paul. "Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." God bless you all through finals week, this holiday season, and this next semester.

2004-11-23T09:59:00.000-08:00

Some random quizes

The first book written, you're perhaps the most well-known of the Chronicles. From Mr. Tumnus to Turkish Delight, statue people to Aslan's resurrection, there's nothing not to like here.

Find out which Chronicles of Narnia book you are.

You are mRNA. You're brilliant, full of important,
interesting information and you're a great
friend to the people you care about. You may
have sides to you that no one understands. But
while you understand more than most people,
you're only half-there most of the time.

Which Biological Molecule Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

2004-11-21T20:24:00.000-08:00

Random reflection upon society

Tonight, I was struck once again by our society's fixation with appearance over substance. If you change the name, make it more visually appealing, it is suddenly better. Nevermind that the actuality of the thing has not changed; it has a flashy new name! It has to be better! You don't like the way your organization's ideas and events sound? You need to write out fancy-sounding, very vague and important-sounding goals and objectives. Has what the group does changed? No. Are their events or ideas new now? No. But, somehow, the group has new identity, new vision, and better things! Despite the hype about fancy names and titles, what really matters and always will really matter is substance. I am fed up with the shallowness of our society, and I think that Christians should not get caught up in this fad. I Samuel says it best: God is not fooled by appearances; He looks at the heart. Let us live lives that are full of things that really matter, full of substance, not style.

2004-11-19T13:50:00.000-08:00

So I haven't posted in a while

The holidays are coming! It is the weekend! Thank the Good Lord above! It has been quite a week, and the pace is only going to speed up as the end of the semester draws nigh. But, as I have some time now, I would like to respond in a way to a good friend's post of a few weeks ago. Some members of our group have called this an over-sentimental and a bit foolish, but I tend to agree with Sharptiano more than I disagree with him. We should strive to live a life of honor, loyalty, respect, and love. But I also feel that these ideals can be interpreted different ways. To prove my point in with a humorous anecdote, remember a series of lines from the original Shrek. Fiona to Shrek: "You're supposed to charge in on your horse, banner waving and sword drawn. That's what all the others did!" Shrek to Fiona: "Yeah, right before they burned!" I, being the pragmatic person I am, would rather cut my enemy down when I could see him, but he couldn't see me. It's safer that way. I guess I think that honor is a concept that is internally driven and can't be defined by a strict code. The honor of the warrior is not found in the fight or in the killing; it is found in why he fights. Do you fight for selfish reasons or to keep others safe? Do you fight for light or for dark? The answers to these questions are far more important to the greater question of honor than whether or not you always rose in the presence of every lady you ever met or some other minor point of conduct. Do I believe that respect for women is a good thing? Yes, but only if the motive behind it is a good one, not, as someone put it to me, a chauvinist's way of getting some. When all is said and done, it comes down to motives, and only God truly knows the motives that drive other people. All we can do is hold ourselves accountable to the standard He has given us, which focuses more on keeping ourselves in right thinking with God. Actions follow beliefs, and only through this will we be able to find true honor.

2004-11-08T14:50:00.000-08:00

I return!

At long last, I return to the world of blogging. As most of you know, I was in Stage Right's production of Arsenic and Old Lace. Therefore, I have had no spare time, and consequently, my blog has been sadly neglected. But, just because I haven't had time to actually post doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about posts. This post goes back to some thoughts I had after Dr. Batts spoke in chapel more than a week ago. Apparently, October 31st has been named Reformation Day, so chapel consisted of a sermon about how great Martin Luther was. Now, don't get me wrong; I have a great deal of respect for Luther. I think he was an intelligent man and a good theologian. However, I do not like what the Reformation did to the Church, and neither did Luther. The last thing Luther wanted was a complete break from the Catholic, or Universal, Church. I believe that the Reformation was one of three calamities that struck the Church. First, there was the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church during the Dark Ages that made Christianity into a stylized power play. Then, there was the Reformation, which caused many bitter and terrible religous wars that wracked Europe and all Christendom. Finally, the Age of Enlightenment brought the individualization of belief that has caused the fractured state of the Church today. Consider: the Church had existed for 1500 years with only two real denominations, the Eastern and the Western Churches. There had been various cults and heresies, but none of them were major enough to challenge the Church with disintegration. Then came the Reformation, and suddenly there was an option to the Roman Church. This began a bitter struggle and deep divide between many, many Christians. Then, you get to the Modern Period, and suddenly, we have over 300 denominations in the United States alone. Many of these denominations are bitter foes, some of them over the smallest and most insignificant points of doctrine. Like it or not, the Reformation directly contributed to the fractured state of the Church today. When we remember the brave stand that Luther, Calvin, and others took, we need to remember that the destruction or break with Rome was not their goal. They called their movement the Reformation, not the beginning or something else. What eventually happened went far beyond their goals and ideas. So, when you hear a great tribute to the Reformation, pause and consider if it was really worth it.

2004-10-28T23:19:00.000-07:00

Pray

I can' t say why, and I don't really know all the reasons, but I beg all of you to pray. Please, pray a lot.

2004-10-25T14:25:00.000-07:00

Fall break is good

Well, fall break has been a great time of relaxation and rest so far. Friday night, after a "Dead Like Me" mini-series, there was Bible study, which went far better than I expected. We had to deal with some very tough, very controversial issues, but for the most part, blows and riots were averted, despite Scholl leading the study (Scholl, no offense, but I half-expected you to start a riot). After Bible study, a group of us stuck around and watched A Ideal Husband. Great movie; it always makes me laugh. So, Friday night was a lot of fun for a lot of reasons. On to Saturday: after some gaming goodness, we had the surprise birthday party for Moore. I have never seen so many pumpkin pies together at one time...*sigh of great contentment.* After the party, while the group started watching the Godfather movies, I and several compatriots tried to locate the church where one of my advisees was playing a gig. Well, we did not manage to find the spot, despite Anna's excellent directions. So, after a while looking about Longview, we came back and found Scott and Emily in the lobby. After a bit of talk, we all decide that Hastings is the place to be right then, so off to Hastings we went. I found a great deal on the Importance of Being Earnest, which made me very happy. Paige bought a very intriguing movie, Interview with a Vampire. Very interesting movie to start watching at 11:30 at night. Anyway, on to Sunday. A group of people went to Tyler with me to see the Avalon concert. They were proceeded by Matthew West (who I had heard very little of, but now want to hear more) and Mark Schultz (who I didn't really know, but it turned out I knew a lot of his songs from the radio...go figure). The concert was awesome; Mark Schultz has some great songs, and I love Avalon. So, that was a very happy afternoon. Back to campus we came and had some cheese chili, which was excellent. Then, Sharpton, Scott, and myself waged war over Middle-Earth, via the War of the Ring boardgame. Much fun was had, and the Fellowship (led by yours truly) cast the Ring into Mount Doom (if you would like to hear a far more literary retelling, ask me for the details; if you want to hear a recount with a lot of muttered cursing, ask Sharptiano). Well, that brings me to today, where I have slept and not much else. Tonight, I head to Tyler once again for a musical. Catch you all later.

2004-10-20T19:29:00.000-07:00

I need to learn to say no...

So, today, I am sitting at lunch with the gang down in MSC-1 when this lady walks up and says, "Oh, you'd be perfect! You have a LeTourneau shirt on!" Apparently, my first mistake had been my choice in clothes this morning. Well, anyway, she proceeds to ask me to be in a few pictures for some promotional something-or-other. My second mistake: I said yes. So, as I am dragged off to the Hive area, Wheeler whispers to me, "Don't forget to show off them legs, Barbour!" (If you don't understand the context behind Wheeler's comment, ask him. I am sure he will be delighted to tell you) Well, I go over to the Hive, and there I find a few other people who have been roped into this, including Ashley, so at least I wasn't alone in this. The four of us suckers sit there for about ten minutes, making some beautiful poses; unfortunately, due to the shabby props, I was not able to work my legs into any of the pictures. *Sigh* Well, anyway, after about 150 pictures later and a pose that included some random freshmen girl leaning on my shoulder (why the heck people think that would ever happen at LU, I don't know), I finally managed to escape back to the group, sadder but wiser. Now I know that whenever I suspect photographers to be around, I don't wear LU apparel. Also, I learn to say no, especially when pictures are involved.

2004-10-19T11:55:00.000-07:00

Politics, again

Well, I took the quiz Randy linked from his blog recently. My results didn't surprise me too much. I scored 60% Bush, 35% Kerry (what I really want to know is who got my other five percent). As I was going through the quiz, I could tell as I answered nearly every question where it was going to fall on the scoring later. Bush gained gaga points on the foreign policy and international issues; I tend to go against the Democrats on anything relating to foreign policy. Not that I am Republican on everything, but I do not like Democratic foreign policy at all. When the questions were on domestic stuff, I tend to be a lot more split. That is where Kerry scored all of his points, and I think he got more there than Bush did (I would like to see a question by question break-down of this quiz). The other thing that put Bush ahead was at the end, when it asked us to rank the importance of various issues. I tend to despise domestic politics and look more towards international issues, and Bush is seen as the "internationally-minded" of the two candidates. Well, I must say to conclude that I found this quiz to be highly interesting.

2004-10-17T23:05:00.000-07:00

Because songs are just that cool

Yeah, I know I just posted a song, but I am going to post another one, anyway. So, courtesy of Newsong, "Arise, My Love."

Not a word was heard at the tomb that day,
Just the shuffling of soldiers' feet as they guarded the grave.
One day, two days, three days had passed;
Could it be that Jesus had breathed His last?

Could it be that His Father has forsaken Him?
Turned His back on His sun, despising our sin.
All hell seemed to whisper, "Just forget Him; He's dead,"
When the Father looked down on His Son and said,

Arise, My Love! Arise, My Love!
The grave no longer has a hold on You!
No more death's sting, no more suffering!
Arise...arise...My Love.

The earth trembled, and the tomb began to shake;
And like lightning from heaven, the stone was rolled away.
And those poor men and guards stood there in fright,
As the power of Love displayed its might!

Then suddenly, a melody filled the air,
Riding wings of wind, it was everywhere.
The words all creation had been longing to hear,
The sweet sound of victory, so loud and clear!

Arise, My Love! Arise, My Love!
The grave no longer has a hold on You!
No more death's sting, no more suffering!
Arise...arise...

Sin: Where are you shackles?
Death: Where is thy sting?
Hell: has been defeated,
The grave could not hold the King!

Arise, My Love! Arise, My Love!
The grave no longer has a hold on You!
No more death's sting, no more suffering!
Arise...arise...arise!

2004-10-17T11:22:00.000-07:00

Another hymn

Today's song selection is an old hymn, brought to you from the 8th Century Irish. Long live the spirit of the Cymry and the Celt!

Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best thought by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my True Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me Lord;
Thou my Great Father, and I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my shield and my sword for the fight;
Be Thou my dignity, be Thou my might;
Thou my soul's shelter, Thou my high tower:
Raise Thee me heavenward, oh Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory's won,
May I reach heaven's joy, O bright heaven's Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my vision, O Ruler of All.

2004-10-17T00:35:00.000-07:00

Food for thought

Tonight, one of the movies I watched caused me to think and evaluate quite a bit. Some of you who know the schedule for movie night might be surprised by this, but the last minute addition of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind made the entire evening a bit more intelletual. I must say that I quite enjoyed the movie. It was a head trip at times, and I certainly don't agree with the morality displayed by the main characters, but the movie was excellent. And, like all good movies and books should do, it made me evaluate and ponder. For those of you who haven't seen the movie, you might want to stop reading now, but I will at least attempt to not spoil the plot horribly. The first thing I thought about the movie was the entire idea that we don't truly appreciate the things we have until we loose them. The main character of the movie didn't truly appreciate what he had in his memories and his time with the girl until he began to loose them. Then, he realized that they were to be saved at all costs.

I also liked how the movie showed, especially in the end, how the things that first draw us to a person are usually the things that drive us mad later on. But, at the same time, those traits usually help define the person, help make them the person that we love and care for. And, as Joel expresses at the end, "So what?" If you truly love someone, be it as a friend or in a romantic way, what binds you together should be far stronger than anything that could drive you apart. If just a simple disagreement or an annoying habit is enough to drive you away, you really need to look at that relationship and evaluate whether it was true love or not.

The final thing that the movie made me consider is what I want in a relationship. In the movie, their relationship was almost based completely on the physical, or at least most of what the audience saw was based on the physical. There has to be more to it than that. Myself, I want a soulmate, someone who I can share ideas with and have her share ideas with me back. I want a relationship where I can truly be myself, without any reservations, where I can say what I truly feel without fear of censure or criticism, and have the same in return. Call me a sentimental romantic if you will, but that is what I crave and desire. And, through a lot of wrestling with God, I am finally to the point where I think I can say I am content to wait on His timing. Well, enough mushy rambling; it is time for this poor soul to be in bed.

2004-10-12T13:42:00.000-07:00

God smiles on me!

Amazingly enough, I had a good day in Fed, State, Local yesterday. I came into class, in a bit of a mood already since I had to get up before eight for the first time this semester, and some of the people were already there discussing the debate that happened last Friday. Of course, one of the other students was taking the conservative hardline opinion that Bush had been an utter saint and Kerry a demon straight from hell. My teeth clenched, and a low growl escaped my throat. But, I managed to keep the scathing comment in my head and went back to reading Grail until Dr. Rothra showed up. Soon after he began class proper, we returned to the subject of the debate. Somehow from there, we jumped on to tax policy. Dr. Rothra reminded us that Kerry has said that he won't raise taxes; if he needs to get more money, he will cut programs. At this point, the conservative hardliner said that we all knew what programs would be cut; since Kerry is a Democrat, he was obviously planning on cutting the military. Well, that did it. I leaned forward from my pose of polite indifference and cut loose with all guns. I said, "He's not going to do that. We are in the midst of a shooting war, and there is a distinct possiblity of another one soon. If he cuts the military right now, he kills all chance he has to ever be elected for anything ever again. Kerry may be a Democrat, but he is not stupid. He is a politician, politicians are self-preservationists; they are not going to do anything they deem political suicide. And that includes Bush, which is why he has called Islam a religion of peace repeatedly." Diatribe done, I reassumed my normal posture. Dr. Rothra just looked at me, not quite sure what to say. I think he decided on, "Well, true." What followed was one of the most balanced and least partisan class we have had up to this point, and that conservative hardliner didn't say anything else the entire class. I was so very happy!

On to today; has anyone else noticed the weather? God is smiling on all of East Texas! I awoke this morning and went outside, and I was shocked by the cool temperature. I could taste the crisp, clear air, and for the first time this year, I felt the bite of a good fall breeze. I nearly danced for joy right there on the spot. Later on, the clouds rolled back, and once again, I could see the sun. Although that did bad things for the overall temperature (namely, took it above 70 again...sigh), it was heartening to see that yellow face up there after weeks of cloud-covered drizzle. But, let us all rejoice and be glad! For a few glorious hours, fall truly came to LeTourneau! God smiles on us!

2004-10-10T18:33:00.000-07:00

A bad case of stupid

Well, even though it has been a few days, I just wanted to post my feelings on the recent Presidential debate. Let's just start by saying that I was less than impressed with either candidate at times. Both were making arguments that were no good, and mostly, they were just pointing fingers at each, saying, "He's bad! Vote for me!" That kind of debate really wears on me, but I kept with it until Accoustic Cafe started later on that evening. Some of the more enjoyable screw-ups: Bush trying to say faster and it came out "fassle" (what that means, I have yet to figure out); Kerry trying to make a point from one of Bush's statements, "It is not a question of when; it is a question of...wait, it is not a question of if; it is a question of when"; not five minutes later, the moderator made the exact same slip as Kerry, but he didn't catch himself; Kerry said we need to support "OGBYNs," whatever they do. Like my title says, everybody had a serious case of stupid. But, according to a few who watched it all, I left to soon. After I left, I missed the entire debate on "fuzzy math" and Bush's great quote, "You want some wood?" But, my personal favorite highlight of the evening was Bush talking down the moderator, taking his thirty-second rebuttal by force, since Gibson wasn't going to let him have it. That is our President; in the words of Gallagher, "Go the Bush!"

2004-10-08T14:13:00.000-07:00

Another song

Well, this one isn't really a worship song, but it really speaks to me. Courtesy of SCC, "I Am Found in You."

The sun sinks low, and here I go wrestling with questions that refuse an answer. This path of faith can be a place so barren of what I understand. I can hear the voice of fear saying, "Let me show you another way." So I cry out, "My Lord Jesus, it's in your love for me I find all that I need!"

So, where else could I turn? And where else could I go? You have given me life, You have made me whole, You have rescued my soul. So, where else could I go, for I am found in You.

I may not see in front of me, but I can see for miles when I look over my shoulder. And Lord, it's clear You've brought me here, so faithful every step of the way. What can I do but follow You, for You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life. And You've promised never to leave me, my Savior, my Friend from beginning to end.

So, where else could I turn? And where else could I go? You have given me life, You have made me whole, You have rescued my soul. So, where else could I go, for I am found in You.

Lord, without You this child would be so lost. But I've been found in You, and now I'm bound to You by the love You have shown; it will not let me go!

So where else could I turn? And where else could I go? You have given me life, You have made me whole, You have rescued me soul. So, where else could I go, for I am found in You!

2004-10-07T23:58:00.000-07:00

I never thought I'd see the day!

The man who made "The List" with his arms around two girls, looking very smug and pleased with himself. An interesting side note for the evening.

2004-10-07T23:21:00.000-07:00

Interesting times at chapel

Well, let's just say that I haven't been too impressed with our guest speaker this week. I think that his presentations have had the possibility to be good, but he hasn't followed up on the potential very well. Now, I have read some of his books, and I know the man is smart and is a good apologist. But, I must say that I was expecting something a bit more supported and reasoned in his talks. And I grow very worried at some of the phrases he is using in his presentations. Telling people they will be able to defeat any lie after he talks for five minutes gives the wrong impression of how hard apologetics can be, even if you say it in jest. That was my main complaint from the first chapel. That night, I was very disappointed by his proofs for the Bible; you can't use something to prove that same something true. That is like saying, "Whatever I say is true," then saying something ridiculous. But, it is true, because whatever I say is true, right? Grrr...logical fallacies, and very few people will see it. So, on to tonight, as I missed today's chapel. The part that really peeved me was how he smashed the Crusades, calling them contrary to the New Testament (which I agree with, by the way), then he turned around and told us to fight fire with fire. To go and fight the dirty Islamic terrorists on their home soil. Does anyone else see the contradiction here? Now, don't get me wrong, I support a lot of what has been done in the war on terror, but where does politics come into a presentation on Christianity and Islam? I am very disappointed; next time, we should just have him send books like somebody tonight suggested.

2004-10-06T11:53:00.003-07:00

Politic-ing

Well, I have heard it all now. Today in class (you can all probably guess which one), someone proposed a theory as to why Bush looked so bad in last week's debate. His theory was: the podium was too tall. Kerry is a taller man than Bush, so he looked better standing behind this podium that made Bush look small and stupid. I started to laugh; surely, this was a joke. But, to my utter dismay, it was not. How do people come up with this stuff? I will say this for Dr. Rothra: he didn't endorse a theory that lunatic.

But, in class today, we did broach an interesting topic: the televised debate. Of course, the classic example of JFK v. Nixon (the first televised Presidential debate) was brought up. Those who listened to the debate on the radio overwhelmingly thought that Nixon won the debate. Those who watched thought that JFK did. Now, we hit upon the crux of the matter. JFK looked better than Nixon; what he said may have been horrible, but as he said it, he was more visually appealing. I have thought for a long time that, of all the media forms out there, visual is the worst for news. On TV, it all becomes polish and fluff; there is no real substance to back it up. "A picture is worth a thousand words," people say. That is true, but without words to help define the picture, a picture can be twisted to mean whatever you want it to mean. Visual media, with the focus on appearance and not on substance, falls prey to that twisting a lot. I think that print media also has a lot of problems, but for the most part, I find that papers and radio news are far more reliable and more content based than there visual counterparts.

2004-10-04T15:24:00.000-07:00

Praise music rocks

Nothing lifts my spirits like praising God. In apprication for music, I am going to start posting the lyrics to a praise song every once in a while. Today, for your enjoyment, "Great Is the Lord," by Michael W. Smith.

"Great is the Lord, He is holy and just. By His power we trust in His love. Great is the Lord, He is faithful and true. By His mercy He proves He is love. Great is the Lord and worthy of glory! Great is the Lord and worthy of praise! Great is the Lord, now lift up your voice, now lift up your voice! Great is the Lord! Great is the Lord!"

2004-10-04T08:46:00.000-07:00

Knowing too much

"When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, "It is well, it is well with my soul!" - from "It Is Well" by Horatio Spafford

That is one of the most inspiring songs I know. It is even more so when you know why Spafford wrote the song. In an extraordinary loss, Spafford lost both his wife and his children, in almost the same instant. Did he turn bitter and curse God for his loss? No, he dealt with his grief and wrote this song in the process. Quite a tribute to faith and the love he had for God. Now, if my knowledge of Spafford stopped there, I would be happy. But, after some time, Spafford suffered a breakdown of sorts and died in the Holy Land, thinking he was the Messiah. Being a history major sucks at time; you can know too much. I've found myself wrestling with the question of "Why?" off and on, especially after hearing this song played someplace. Why did God let a man, who loved Him so completely, fall into such a circumstance? One more thing my feeble human mind cannot understand. But, right now, regardless of what happened to Spafford, I am finding his song to be a great comfort to me, along with a variety of other hymns and Bible passages. Right now, I would like to ask a really big favor of everyone out there: pray for a friend of mine, who is going through a really rough time that I can't elaborate on. A slightly more selfish favor that I need to ask is if you will also pray for me, also for something that I can't really talk about. I covet your prayers and your support.

One last thing: I have been convicted recently that I don't tell the friends and family around me how much they mean to me enough. So, to all of my friends/family/family in Christ, I love you all. I thank God everyday for all of you and how He has made me a part of your fellowship. I literally don't know what I would do without you all. God bless you.

2004-10-01T19:10:00.000-07:00

Oh, how great the love

Something occured to me today. I was in Greek, and we were doing prayer requests. I asked Dr. Hood to pray for the family that lost their daughter earlier this week. As we were praying, I found myself thinking again, for the umpteenth time this week, that no parent should have to bury their child; what greater pain is there for a parent? Then, it hit me: what did God do, willingly, by choice, for us? He gave up His son, watched Him suffer and hurt, watched Him being beaten and tortured, for the sake of people who had spit in His face. That thought echoed in my brain, and the sheer love I saw in God nearly made me cry, right there in front of the entire class. That God would willingly give up His Son is an act of love I will never fully comprehend and one for which I will be eternally grateful. Oh, how great the love the Father has lavished on us.

2004-10-01T08:10:00.000-07:00

Why do I even bother?

What did I do to deserve having this class be this bad? If there was ever a time to take a study on government, it is a presidential election year. Therefore, I was thinking this class would be a lot of fun. But no, it most assuredly is not. This class should not be called "Federal, State, and Local Government." Its real name will live forever in my heart: "Democrat Bashing 101: The Republicans Can Do No Wrong." We "discussed" the debate in class today; by discuss, I mean we decided how Kerry had screwed up, how he is such a retard, and how he was wrong in what he said. Aside from the personally disparging comments, that would have been a worthwhile discussion, if we had then turned and done the same thing to Bush. But, according to most of the class, Bush can do no wrong, even when he does extremely poorly in a debate. All of the discussion was on how the Democrats are twisting what Bush said here or how they disagreed with him there; well, duh! People, they are the opposing party. News flash: the opposing party doesn't much like the incumbent. A second news flash: Bush has screwed up royally more than a few times since he took office. He is not perfect.

Now, I generally consider myself a Bush supporter in this race, and I was insulted by some of the comments Dr. Rothra was making about Kerry and Democrats in general. This morning made me remember what about "politics" today that I hate the most. It is all party line and personal assault. There is no debate, no exchange of ideas, no considering of the issues. It is all rhetoric and inflamatory talk. Pray to God for the return of statesmen before this country destroys itself.

2004-09-30T21:15:00.000-07:00

A very entertaining evening

Dr. Watson took over for Dr. Solganick tonight in World Lit through Film. That was very entertaining. Don't get me wrong, I really like Dr. Solganick, but Dr. Watson also is a lot of fun. Unfortunately, we watched Madame Bovary; not my favorite movie. It seems that this month has set out to reaffirm to myself that I am indeed a romanitc and an idealist. I have no desire to live this life as people like Madame Bovary did.

After WLTF, we read though about the first half of King John. Anna and Paige got into cat fights many times, and Gallagher told the women to shut up as two different characters. I got to play the King of France. I was greatly entertained by the lack of a stand my character took. Whatever the feeling of the moment, that is what King Philip did. Wow. So very French. So, anyway, I am becoming disturbed by an alarmingly sudden pattern towards matrimony on the rise in my advisee group. Just in the last week, I have had three advisees get married! Please, any of my other advisees out there, do not follow the example of your fellows. Wait at least a full semester!

2004-09-29T21:07:00.000-07:00

Life is fleeting

Today, I heard that a girl from my youth group back home, one of my sister's friends, died in a car accident. She was driving home from work, lost control, and now she is gone. Life is so fragile; we live only by the grace of God. Stories like this remind us that we cannot know the day or the hour when God will call us home. My friend wasn't even a legal adult yet. As we go through life, let us remember to live everyday to the fullest, remembering that is the very gift of God, not something we have a right to expect. And, as we live everyday, let us fight the good fight, run the race to gain the prize, and keep the faith. Even when it is easier to give up, even when we are all alone, we must always press onward, to honor God and those who are no longer with us to help us along the way.

2004-09-28T23:02:00.000-07:00

Done with Arius for now

My Arius presentation was tonight. I think it went well, for the most part, though I would have liked to run through it a few more times before I presented, but when you finish less than an hour and a half before class... Wilson (or should I say Athanasius for that class?) behaved himself and didn't call me the antichrist too many times. I am still looking for militia members to help me oust him next class. If you are interested, let me know. My assignment for Dr. Watson isn't going as well, I am sorry to report. No one seems willing to get married, even though it is only for a day. Am I really that bad? Maybe I should just become a monk. Anyway, after class this evening, I spent three hours talking to about 10 of my advisees. It was such great fun; my group is so cool! That just about wraps it up for now.

2004-09-26T23:14:00.000-07:00

More joy!

For the first time since 1998, the Jaguars are 3-0! We are the last minute men! Every victory has been sealed in the final 30 seconds so far this season. An ugly win is still a win! Go Jags!

2004-09-26T20:06:00.000-07:00

God is good

For those of you who don't know it, I have been feeling rather depressed for the last few days. It stemmed from a variety of reasons, but, like a good depression will, it grew and grew, swallowing up more of life. I really didn't know what to do. I had talked to a couple of close friends, but it wasn't really getting any better. But, then, God has a way of using strange means to get our attention and build us back up. Tonight, the group watched Man of La Mancha. For any burned-out idealist, I cannot recommend the movie highly enough. His quest, the dream of a knight-errant, is so much what I believe: to see this world not as it is, but as it should be; to never give up, no matter how much it hurts; and to always fight evil, no matter the odds. Add in a dose of Christianity, and it would be a worthy motto for my life. So, watching that movie was a healing experience of sorts. Still, I want a Sancho to be there for me, regardless of how mad I seem. Then, I started back to my dorm, intending to work on my ever-closer-looming Arius presentation. But, as I passed by Speer Chapel, I heard the familar chords of a worship song, and, almost unconciously, I was on my way in to Prayer and Praise. Have you ever felt a worship selection was specially tailored for you? They couldn't have picked better songs for tonight, even if they had known what I was feeling. I was reaffirmed in God's great love for me, and that He will never leave me. He will be my constant, truest companion, loving me no matter what. I don't know what I would do without God. Now, with God before me and behind me, I feel ready to declare with Don Quixote that for the cause of heaven, I will gladly venture into hell and back, knowing that I will not be alone. Never fear the odds, never give into despair, and never feel alone; God is great, and He is with us.

2004-09-24T23:34:00.000-07:00

Life: one cruel irony

Sometimes, when I am tired and my idealism and optimism fade, I wonder if life is not just some cruel, ironic joke. You could be having the best night of your life, out with friends, having a blast, not a care in the world; then, less than two hours later, you could be told something that just throws everything out the window. I know that tomorrow, this dark, pessimistic outlook that I find myself drowning in right now will have faded, and I will wonder how I ever got to this point. But right now, I have to deal with it, and I hate that.

People who judge others without first establishing all the facts suck. People who whisper about others behind their backs suck. Life's complications suck. Hard decisions suck. And now that I have ranted and raved against life in general, I am going to try and go to sleep. Maybe tomorrow, I will have happier news to share.

2004-09-23T21:43:00.000-07:00

The advisees are coming!

Well, my advisees, in an apparantly random spurt of anti-peer advisor sentiment, decided that ponding me would be a great trick. So, they have it all planned out, but I was saved due to the heroism of one of my advisees. This person bravely risked life and limb to bring word to me of the evil plan being launched against me. Being so forewarned, I wisely skipped town...or, err, the dorm, and headed off towards the play reading for tonight. It turned out to be "Murder in the Cathdreal" by T. S. Elliot. I was much impressed by the play and quite enjoyed it. And, since I cleverly dodged my advisees, I feel that it was a very successful evening.

2004-09-22T23:31:00.001-07:00

What has become of me?

Yesterday in Cornerstones, one of my advisees was telling their testimony, and they mentioned that they had been a nerd in high school, always carrying around a book. I thought to myself, "hey, that is just like me!" Then, it hit. I don't do that anymore. When I first came to LU, I always had some sort of reading material in my backpack, just like in high school. Now, I don't just have books that I carry around to read for fun. What tragedy and horrors have overtaken me? The amount of books I have read over the past year is a sharp decrease from previous years. In an indirect proportion, the number of movies, especially new movies, I have seen in the past year has skyrocketed! Coincidence? I think not.

2004-09-20T20:45:00.000-07:00

It's been a while

Well, this weekend went really well. The Freshmen Retreat was actually a lot of fun, and with a better theme, an improvement over last year. The speakers, Drs. Hummel and Hetzel, both presented well and made the theme very relevant. My advisee group is great! I think I have said that before, but it deserves reiterating. Working with them and Dr. Coppinger is going to be the highlight of this semester, I think.

Since the retreat came Sunday, the 19th of September. As of 2:30 am on that blessed day, I am a score old. It doesn't really feel that different, somehow. Well, the boys on 41, being the good guys they are, got me right after Prayer and Praise later on that day. As I was dragged off, I looked back at the advisees I was with and managed to scream out a farewell. My advisees, being the kind, compassionate souls they are, jumped on the truck and tagged along to watch their PA get ponded. I didn't struggle at all at first, but that was only a ruse. My diabolical plan almost suceeded...my captors had released their grip, I was completely free and about to make my break; then, Biff jumped on me, thinking (correctly, I should add) that I might try a daring escape. There went that plan. We get to the pond, and all passiveness vanishes. I struggle like a crazed...uhh...crazy person, trying to get away. I actually managed to get mostly free, but they dropped me and dogpiled on top. It was at this moment that disaster struck my bid for freedom. One of my floormates landed hard, and boy did it hurt (all guys out there, I am sure you feel my pain). So, fighting became much harder after that, but still, I managed one last desparate gasp at freedom. Once more, I managed to break free, but this time, I had both feet under me, and only two people holding me. But, alas, my strength had deserted me, and I was recaptured. At long last, we made it to the pond. I swung out over the drink; they dropped me three more times before I at last was too weary to struggle. With a mighty splash, in I went. As quick as I could, I was up and after the ne'er-do-wells. Even in my somewhat crippled state, I reached the truck before they could escape me...the hunters became the hunted, and the predators the prey as I soaked everyone I could with nice, big, wet hugs. All in all, a good time.

Well, that is about all for now. Until next time.

2004-09-16T21:42:00.000-07:00

I love my life

So, today, it felt like stealing candy from a baby when I went on Ebay. My purchases included a new, unopened copy of Miracle, in widescreen, for $4.25. Also, I got a new, unopened copy of Runaway Jury, widescreen, for $2.25. Wow, I feel so sorry for the guy I bought them both from. Oh, well, his fault for not setting a minimun amount.

World Lit through Film was all kinds of amusing tonight. The silent movie Faust was actually excellent fare, especially for such an early movie. I did enjoy mocking several parts of it, especially the sappy love scenes. But all in all, I really recommend that movie.

2004-09-14T21:37:00.000-07:00

More fun from Christology

Well, Christology inspired a second posting. During the course of the lecture, Wilson leaned over to me and whispered something. The following conversation ensued.
Wilson: "Pimp of Babylon!"
Barbour: "Unforgiving desert war-mongerer!"
Wilson: "Disingenuous fleabag theologian of the Lord of Flies!"
Barbour: "Closeminded, dogmatic destroyer of all independent thought!"
Wilson: "Democrat!"
Barbour: "Republican!"

Arius and Athanasius revisited yet again. Our presentations should be quite entertaining with this build-up. By the way, anyone who is willing to join the Arian militia and help oust Wilson after his presentation on the 5th of October, please let me know.

2004-09-14T21:05:00.000-07:00

Food for thought

During Christology tonight, Dr. Carl gave a devotion based on Isaiah 53. While he was reading that passage on the suffering of Christ, I started thinking about something it said in verse 2. At the end of that verse, it says that nothing in Christ's appearance to draw us to Him. I thought about Jesus' life and pretty much agreed with that. But then, as I continued thinking about Jesus' life, I got to the end, and remembered how He said, "Blessed are those who have not seen, yet still believe." Not that I would dare contradict the Son of God, at times, I think we have it easier. The Apostles, by and large, had a very hard time coming to grips with the divinity of Jesus, and I think that this was because they saw Him as a human. He got tired, was frustrated, and died. Even after the resurrection, they still had some problems until they received the Holy Spirit. Today, though, I think we have it the other way around. We see the divinity of Christ and forget the humanity. All of the major christological cults that we have discussed so far, barring Arianism, denied some aspect of the humanity, not the divinity, of Christ. As such, we today have many reasons to run to Christ. We see Him portrayed as Saving Lord, Conquering Hero, Triumphant over Death, and Mighty King of Kings. We humans have an inborn desire to be on the winner's side, so we want to be with Jesus. Now, I do think the Apostles had it better in some ways, but at the same time, we have our own set of advantages, I think. Anyway, food for thought...and comments.

2004-09-14T11:21:00.000-07:00

I couldn't believe my eyes

So, there I am, walking from Student Services to Saga. I begin to cross the road and get to the middle when an SUV turns out and starts down the road. I move back into the right-hand lane to let the SUV pass, but the driver swerves over like he is going to hit me. At this point, I am wondering, "Who is this joker? Do I know him?" Then, the SUV swerves back into its lane, and as it drives by, the driver waves at me. I think my hand went up and waved back, but I can't be sure; my mind wasn't functioning properly, and it was sheer reflex if it did happen. For the man who nearly hit me, who endangered my life, was none other than Dr. Bud Austin, our beloved president!

2004-09-13T23:31:00.000-07:00

A good time

Well, it was a good old time tonight. I was able to enjoy an evening of games and fun, while I watched all my suitemates labor with homework and Data Structure insanity. I was able to lean back, relax, and say, "It's great to be a fuzzy study." I even managed to read about half of Faust for Thursday night. I also managed to see part of the football game, but Green Bay was smashing Carolina, and there was no game to be had watching that. All in all, a great evening.

Random football comment: the Jaguars are 1-0, baby! The Chiefs may have lost, but the season is starting right for my Jags!

2004-09-10T23:11:00.000-07:00

Time for a rant...

Today was a day that just had that effect. All day long, things kept happening to me that made me want to scream in frustration. First of all, I went to Federal, State and Local government. This class is going to be my trial this semester; last spring, it was Psychology, this fall it is government. Dr. Rothra is a decent man and probably a good Christian, but he is very, very, opinionated. Today, we were discussing the right to bear arms. Dr. Rothra basically said that all gun control and weapon control laws are unconstitutional, and that technically, you can possess cannons, nuclear missiles, and other such devices. Umm, check me if I am wrong, but it is the right to bear arms, not possess them; and last time I considered it, I can't bear a cannon or missile or other large weapons. Also, when the founding fathers made this amendment, arms were rifles, muskets, and pistols. Do I have a problem with someon owning any of these or a shotgun of some sort? Not in the slightest, but what need is there for you to own an assault rifle? Such a weapon serves no reasonable purpose that could not be found in a device that cannot be used for wanton destruction or organized crime. Dr. Rothra saying what he says is misleading and doing something that he claims to hate in modernizing the Constitution for his own purpose.

A second thing in Fed, State, Local that peeved me today was just some attitudes of the class at large. Several people expressed that, if a cop asked them to comply with a simple check or something like that, they would not comply with his request. Such a refusal only angers the cop, causes him to make them comply, and shows civic irresponsibility and contempt for the cop. Somehow, I think Washington, Franklin, and Madison would have respected a reasonable from a law enforcement official. As a person looking at a career with law enforcement, being stupid and mean to a man trying to do a good job strikes me as very unpatriotic.

On to chapel. How much can a forty minute session anger me? Apparently, quite a bit. First of all, when the people got up to sing today, I was appalled by the lack of respect we granted them. People were reading, talking loudly, and not singing even during the chorus. Sure, they weren't the best band ever, but they were up there honestly trying to please God in what they do. That kind of devotion demands respect, not talking, laughter, and just plain rudeness. That set me in a bad mood to begin with. Then, the speaker came on, and it only got worse. I don't want to be critical, but the guy really didn't compare his lesson with Scripture. I have never heard any of those applications to Revelations, and while that is a book of figurative stuff, that was a bit farther than I am willing to go. And the other thing that I really didn't like was the entire encouragement to be slow to pray. The entire "pray without ceasing" verse comes to mind. While I agree that prayer should be very real and very serious, it is something that should be done a lot, not something that we should be slow to do.

Well, anyway, there were other things about today, but I don't want to get into them, and anyway, I feel a lot better now. Please, thoughts on these issues are welcome.

2004-09-08T23:31:00.000-07:00

Most everyone else has done this

Well, as i don't have anything else to talk about, I am going to follow the example of several others and post my schedule for the new semester.

- Fed, State, Local (MWF, 9:20): This class is going to be all kinds of fun. With my penchant for playing the DA, I will most likely find myself as the liberal to Dr. Rothra's right-wing theories (the guy's on par with Rush Limbaugh). Fellow soldiers in this class: Liz and Ludwhig (Doodlez is there, too).

- British Literature I (MWF, 11:20): I find myself treasuring my time with Dr. Watson. Reading the early British poetry with him will be quite enjoyable. I even get to study my namesake (Chaucer). Comrades in crime: Amy and David Robbins.

- Elementary Greek I (MWF, 2:35): This will be my most intensive class, in terms of homework. But, this will be great fun learning a difficult and challenging language with Dr. Hood (I am going to end up speaking Greek with a Dutch accent). Friendly faces: Milton and Slope.

- Cornerstones (TR, 1:30): Yes, I get to take it all over again. But this time, I don't have to write the papers! Dr. C is great, and the new freshmen are awesome. Companions for the journey: Everyone in the class!

- Greek Manuscripts (T, 4:35): Indeed, I do get Dr. Hood four days a week (forget the Greek, I may find myself speaking English with a Dutch accent at the end of this semester). This class is looking like a lot of fun, not to mention instructional. Fellows: Gallagher, Wilson, Milton, and Ardith.

- Christology (T, 6:00): Read my last post. This semester is going to be all kinds of fun, and I am really looking forward to the debates that will ensue from some...differing...viewpoints. Allies: Wilson, Amy, and Lewis.

- World Lit through Film (R, 6:00): This class is so stinking awesome! I know almost everybody in it, and they are all cool! Plus, Dr. Solganick has picked the film fare, which we all know will be...interesting. Cymbrogi (Comrades of the Heart, for those of you who don't speak Celt...I ran out of English variations): Everybody in there.

Going to be a great year (if the extra stuff like Stage Right and PA doesn't kill me). Looking forward to seeing all of you there!

2004-09-07T21:32:00.000-07:00

Fun times with Dr. Carl

There were some good times in Christology today. I found myself playing the devil's advocate in favor of Arianism. The rest of the class was kind of against me, but I had fun (and there will be some interesting conflict later on...Wilson presents on Athanasius to my Arius) . From there, the class went in to a discussion of whether or not Christ died a spiritual death on the cross, or just a physical death. Much fun in that brain-bending discussion.

I would really appreciate it if you would keep one of my advisees in your prayers. One of her close family friends has been given a prognosis of less than 48 hours to live. It was unexpected, and this has just been a rough time for her and her family. Please pray for all involved.

2004-09-06T23:26:00.000-07:00

Thank the Good Lord

Praise be to the Lord Almighty. Freshmen orientation is finally over (including the extended stuff), and I have some semblance of a life again! I have advisee visits to make, but those are fun. All in all, the PA thing has been fun so far, but it has also been exhausting with floor duties...oh, yeah, and those moderately annoying things known as classes. Anyway, I do like being a PA. On to the Stage Right meeting tonight. We are doing Arsenic and Old Lace this semester. I love that play, but I am seriously thinking of not taking a part. Honestly, I don't really resemble anyone in the play, and while I can play several characters, I am thinking of being Janette's assistant director. Oh, well, stuff to think about.

I am currently reading through book 4 of Steven Lawhead's The Pendragon Cycle. If you like Celtic story, a good and historical Arthurian legend, and some great literature, I highly recommend this series. I am not usually a fan of Arthur (mainly because of the stupid love triangle, historical retardedness, and sheer bad writing), but this one was awesome. It weaves a very convincing story of how the Celtic people came to Christ and a king lead them to great glory and victory. The story-telling and bardic tales Lawhead weave through the entire piece speak more to a Beowulf style, but in prose. It is altogether a great read.

Also, if anyone out there could keep me in their prayers for discernment and guidance, I would really appreciate it. Just a few things I have to make decisions about. Anyway, if you want a good portrayal of our faithful DM, take a look at Monday's Real Life Comics (via Scott's blog). Quite amusing.

2004-09-03T21:14:00.000-07:00

A couple days of reflection

Well, I haven't posted in a while, but that doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about my blog. First of all, Wednesday, I read about the bombshell the Democratic Senator dropped on his own party at the Republican Convention. He stated that the devisive and back-biting air that pervades American politics is a result of the Democratic party's partisianship. While I may think he has a point, I also don't think it all can be blamed on the Democrats. I do find the fillibusters they have pulled on the judicial nominees abominable and stupidly short-sighted, but the Republicans are just as loudly anti-Demcrats as the Democrats are anti-Republican. I think both sides need to grow up and act like statesmen, not politicians.

On Thursday, I had the great joy of reading about the new Swift Boat Veterans against Kerry ad. It showed Kerry before Senate, with the recording of his testimony before Senate, under oath, speaking of the many war crimes the American troops committed in Vietnam. Then, the ad shows a much older Kerry saying that he never made such accusations. The frame freezes, and the word "Trust?" appears under the image. Quite an interesting question, isn't it? Why do politicians, not just Kerry, but all of them, lie when they are on tape telling something else?

And, then today, I actually made three advisee visits! Yay for Geoff! Anyway, my advisees are pretty dang cool. Other things that happened today was a very long stint at STOMP, a massive game of Capture the Flag, and other craziness. Well, I am looking forward to session tomorrow (pray that the post office doesn't lose the character sheets my parents mailed for me)! Until later.

2004-08-31T14:08:00.000-07:00

I am reconnected!

Thank God, I have a paper again! For the first time in a long time, I got up this morning (I use the term loosely, as morning is a relative thing) and enjoyed reading through national and world happenings. Now, I almost feel like I am caught up on what has been going on recently in the world outside LU. One article I found to be of particular interest (or should I say, amusement?) was the report on the proceedings of the Bryant trial. They have more than 400 potential jurists filling out a preliminary questionnaire. With a little luck, they will be able to find some poor sods who live under rocks and haven't made up their minds about the case. One other thing they are doing that makes a lot of sense is banning the media from the trial. Might we actually have a real trial with real justice for a celebrity? I am not holding my breathe, but that hope remains.

On another paper note, I thought that today's issue of the Yellowjacket shows definite promise and potential. Some of the articles were well written and insightful. I think that this year, we may actually have a decent school paper (plus, one of my advisees is a staff writer!)

2004-08-28T14:53:00.000-07:00

What has the world come to?

See, it's like this. There I am, running the information booth, mainly directing confused parents and new freshmen to various locations, and generally being very warm under the far too bright Texas sun. Then, along comes Scholl, and he comes up to Ryan Zummo and I and asks why we aren't playing music. We tell him that the sound system isn't hooked up, and we didn't feel like doing it. He took one look at me, and said, "You slackers." What has become of my role model in slacker-ness, the king of slacker-dom? So what if we had been sitting there for an hour and a half and still hadn't found the necessary motivation to plug the stupid thing in? Why did we need music for the last few minutes out there? Ok, so maybe I was being a bit of a slacker, but, who really cares in the long run?

2004-08-27T15:04:00.000-07:00

The Freshmen are here!

Well, this is no news for you, unless you are off campus or just have no observational skills whatsoever, but the new class is here. Thus, my life has become a lot more busy, as I follow the newbies around and about. I have a great group of freshmen, and I think this will be a great year (at least, I'll have a lot of fun). So, anyway, as my life settles down into a regular routine, I have some time to look forward to the classes, the fellowship, the Bible studies, and the fun of another semester. Let's be about it!

2004-08-23T17:30:00.000-07:00

Training

Well, I have to admit that after the retreat, my feelings about being a part of Impact were none too positive. But, after a day of stuff about being a PA, I am back to thinking that this is a good thing. I may not be a fan of a lot of the stuff Impact as a whole does, but at least I like the part of it I do. Well, aside from Impact, not much is going on around here. I feel cut off from the outside world; I don't have my paper yet, and I haven't found any good news sources online (if you have any suggestions, I would welcome them).

Conan is now online, so if you want to talk to him, you don't have to go through me anymore. Aside from that small change, we have decided the room can wait until Scott and Zerg show up in five or six days. That is all for now folks. Until the next time.

2004-08-19T08:58:00.000-07:00

The Return

Well, I am back on LU grounds. I arrived last night about 7, and as I was unpacking my faithful steed (otherwise known as my automobile), who should drive by but some suspicious looking characters in a white SUV. The guy in the passenger seat was wearing a hat, the girl and guy in the back were sitting entirely too close together, and something in my mind told me the big guy driving should be wearing a cloak. Then, I remember who these people were...and promptly got in the car to go with them to Taco Bell. Well, anyway, my room is a mess, so I had better get to unpacking, then I must go to Cornerstones training at 1. At least it didn't start at nine, like it was supposed to, and I go to sleep after my time on the road yesterday. On a final note, it is good to be back again.

2004-08-17T15:14:00.000-07:00

The Beginning...

Well, the summer lies behind us. Tomorrow, I tell the folks goodbye, and point my exhaust at St. Joe. Call me crazy, but I am really looking forward to the start of school. Time to meet and greet friends, time to be messy without my mom nagging at me, and, yes, I am even looking forward to some of my classes (what a typical honor student...oh, well). And, I am so looking forward, with unrestrained longing, to a non-dial up internet connection! A connection that gets more than 2 KB in a download! Oh, the sweet joy of leaving this horrible connection behind!

With that return, faithful readers (if my prolonged absences have left me any), I promise to post with far more regularity, and to post over a greater variety of topics. Now, I must run...company coming very soon. See you guys and girls in a very short amount of time now!

2004-07-26T19:19:00.000-07:00

The power of the spoken word

Ever notice how much power the words we say have? Once again, we find that, yes, Jesus really knew what He was talking about. The simplest little words can devestate whoever we are talking to. No matter what the intent behind them is, words are devestating weapons.

Consider, if you will, this humorous anecdote that does a good job of proving my point. Last week, I was making some phone calls at work. I had to call one company in big city to verify the employment of one of our interns. I got this horrible lady to answer the phone. She was disrespectful, rude, and very short. I politely asked to speak to my contact, and she snapped off "Hold." After a few minutes, I get the secretary back on the phone. "Who's calling?" she asks in a very sharp tone. I calmly reply, "My name is Geoff Barbour, and I am calling for the United States Attorney's Office." There was a moment of dead silence, then, in a much more respectful tone, "One moment, please, sir." Hehehe, served her right.

Well, on to a different topic. I saw the Bourne Supremacy. Very, very good movie. I thought it was better than the first, because we got to skip on the sexual encounters and just get down to the plot and how it developed. So, if movies are in your future entertainment plans, go for the sequel to Jason Bourne.

2004-07-22T18:14:00.000-07:00

Technological "advances"

I have rediscovered and deepend my loathing of all automated answering devices. Recently, I have had to call people all across the country to check out future employees of the office. I despise getting an automated system. They are so ridiculous! And they call it progress. Sometimes, I think technology is killing our society more than it is helping it.

2004-07-20T18:46:00.000-07:00

The Prodigal returns

Well, after a very long absence, I have returned to post again. The count for my history major adivsees is up to two now. And, another one has bitten the dust: Ludwhig, off my floor, has seen the light and converted to a History/Political Science degree. Long may the fuzzy studies continue to steal students from the evil non-fuzzies.

I cannot believe the summer is going so fast. Only four weeks left until the IMPACT retreat, but at least that means I get to meet and greet friends. Not to mention this entire working for a living thing bites. I am just glad that my schedule still allows me some time have fun; I only work Monday through Thursday, so I still have time for fun over the weekends.

Speaking of fun, I saw Spiderman 2 and enjoyed it immensely. I think it is a shade better than the original. Has anyone seen King Arthur? I saw that the critics lampooned it, but as I and they seldom see eye to eye, that doesn't really faze me.

Inspiration has been hitting me a lot lately, and my novel is growing at a pace to match. In the last week, I have written nearly 25 pages (quite a bit, when you consider I only have time to write maybe an hour a day). So, I am going to leave this writing now and sally forth into another field. Until next time...

2004-07-03T17:19:00.000-07:00

Oh, my stars above

Some things were just meant to be. I got a nice email from one of my advisees during this last week, and wow, did I ever get the right person for my group. To start with, she is double major in english and history. Second, she plays the saxophone. Third, when listing favorite movies, the first two were Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, followed by historical/action films. Fourth, she reads all the time, but loves fantasy and historical fiction. Fifth, she likes soundtracks and classical music. Sixth, she is writing a fantasy novel. I just sat in stunned silence as I finished her email (those of you who know me will know why).

Well, on to other matters. As to why I did not post last week, I have been out on a mission trip to Mobile, AL. My opinion of that area is "God-forsaken swamp" (my apologies, Sarah Ruth, I hope you didn't live near there). While the trip itself was great and lots of work was accomplished for the Kingdom, I cannot bring myself to say that I enjoyed the setting for the trip. Well, in the past 36 hours, I have been on a bus for 20 of them, so I am going to bed post haste. Until the next post.

2004-06-19T18:34:00.000-07:00

I had fun this week

Well, this was quite a week, but the highlight happened on Monday. I got to tour the FBI regional headquarters in KC. Part of the tour was a visit to the computer simulation room to go through the FATS program: Firearms training system. Basically, it was a virtual reality program that walked you through a couple of scenarios where you had to react to the complete snafu going on all around you. You had to decide, in split seconds how much force to apply, and if you had legal justification to shoot them. It was really cool. The rest of the week flew by as the office planned, then executed a huge conference; all but two US Attorneys were in attendance, plus all sorts of other people. I got to meet the Deputy Attorney General; it was supposed to be Ashcroft himself, but some situation came up, and the DAG filled in. Then, to cap off the week, I think i am going to get a new car. My parents decided that the Achieva doesn't have too many more Texas runs left in her, something I wholeheartedly agree with. Financing, however, is pending. Well, that was about all in this whirlwind week.

2004-06-13T17:59:00.000-07:00

This world can be a hard place

Well, I had a good week at work until Thursday. Thursday, at about five o'clock, I decided that other people can be quite dreadful. That was the time I came back to car and discovered that someone had smashed the rear window, ripped my CD player out, and busted up the dashboard doing it. I must say, the thief was pretty dumb. I mean, the player was one of the nice, pull out/push in models...and he ripped the dashboard up taking it out. Also, I was parked to a car with a 6-disc changer. And then, life got even better. On the way back from the courthouse, where I called in the crime, a fine gentleman on the street accused me of being racist, because I wouldn't give him money. Minor facts like the one about me not having any money at all didn't matter...the obvious conclusion is that I was racist. Don't you just love people?

Well, on a more positive note, Shapton and I attended the Scottish Highland games in KC yesterday. There was much tossing of telephone polls, lots of haggis (I didn't touch it), a variety of shops, and an excellent resident bard. Shapton and I both bought beautiful, long, sharp, pointy things...aka, swords. He purchased a replica of Glamdring, and I decided on Aragorn's ranger sword, which actually didn't exist in the book, but I wanted a longsword. They actually had a replica of Gimli's axe, but it was quite sad, so I didn't buy it. Well, that is about all the news for now...hopefully, my next post won't be so long in coming.

2004-06-03T18:14:00.000-07:00

At work for the government...

Well, I started work this Tuesday, and I already know I hate Kansas City traffic. Why do people live in big cities? Aside from the annoying commute, I like my new job. I like the people I work with, and I am becoming accustomed to the lingo of the law business (sure to be useful if I do go into the FBI). I can't really say what I do, 'cause that would violate my security clearance. Suffice to say that I am enjoying my new job, except for the hour in, hour out each day.

2004-05-26T18:55:00.000-07:00

Drug test in the big city

Well, it looks like blogging will be a weekly thing until I get more to write about. Anyway, today I went to have my drug test in Kansas City, and I did not get lost in downtown! I hate big cities and their downtown areas, but Map Quest is a beautiful thing. I got to sit in the waiting room for nearly a hour and a half, but at least I had a Tom Clancy with me. So, I have sat there from 9:35 to 10:55, and then I get called back for a 5 minute test. Talk about anticlimactic. Then, I ended my sabatical from the Lord of the Rings movies and watched my brand new copy of the Return of the King, along with all the extras and special features. So it has been a very good day. I got a call from the Attorney's office, and barring any unpleasantness with the drug test, I start work next Tuesday. Well, that is about all that is new around here. See you all later.

2004-05-19T19:20:00.000-07:00

Here I am again

Well, it feels like a long time since I last posted, probably because it has been a long time. I just heard back from the US Attorney's today, for those of you who no about that. I passed my security/background check, and now merely need to pass my drug test (I am completely laying off anything that might influence the results of my test). So, much excitement there. Life is still lazy though, as I am still not working; not sure whether to cheer or cry about that. I have also discovered that home-cooked food is a good thing. Not much else to say at this juncture. Until next time...

2004-05-14T19:03:00.000-07:00

Games, games, and more games

Last night, I was at a very good friend's new apartment, so you'll have to forgive the lack of a post yesterday. It was great fun to see Josh again, and we played games and talked well into the wee hours of the morning...then, we got up and played some more. Oh, the bliss of summer laziness. Not much to say tonight, except that Hastings has great video game rentals; two games for five days, and I payed three bucks. Anywhere else in town and it would have been at least 8. Well, that is all that is new today.

2004-05-12T18:52:00.000-07:00

Getting back into the groove

I went to church tonight to play with the praise band for Sunday morning worship. Despite the fact that I have not played my saxophone for more than two months, it was a lot of fun and I played well. It was a very happy thing to be back playing with them; my band does things differently than the worship I have heard in Texas, and it was good to hear some of the songs played in the way I learned them again. And, since I still have not heard back from jobs, the sloth and general laziness continued today, though I did do some picking up. I also went to our newly-renovated library and got some books to read; so very happy. Well, that just about does it for today. Maybe tomorrow will be more exciting...maybe not.

2004-05-11T18:17:00.000-07:00

Enjoying free time

Well, I have not done much since I have been home; it has been so wonderful. But, I have done one thing which I would consider constructive: I finished the redrawing of the map for my book. It now has color and everything. Right now, I feel a burst of inspiration for it and am feverishly writing several scenes (when it rains, it pours). But drawing the map has made me think of several additions to several other scenes and more geographical features to make the story and the world more believable. Well, right now, I am at a friend's house, typing on his computer, and playing video games. I love summer vacation. Hope this post is finding all of my readers in the best of health and enjoying your time off.

2004-05-10T19:02:00.000-07:00

Remember the Alamo

Tonight, I went and saw the Alamo, and I was quite pleasantly surprised. It was almost totally historically accurate, much to my amazement, and it was fairly unbiased. The events were laid out without too much editing or dramatizing. It portrayed the heroes as both flawed men and the heroes they became. As far as Hollywood history goes (see my earlier post relating to that), it was a triumph of accuracy to historical fact.

For me, the part of the movie that impacted me to most was a scene where Davy Crockett pulled out his violin and played with the Mexican band playing the "Slit Throat." For me, it summed up part of the American spirit; Crockett took that song, played by the Mexicans to torment the Texans, and made it his own piece of music. I found myself thinking that that was a key part of the American spirit. The first Americans were Europeans, and they took their traditions and changed them to fit this new land. That wasn't the prime reason the director put the scene in; it may not have been a reason at all, but nonetheless, it was a cool scene.