Ice Cream

I love ice cream.  I just never remember to buy any.  I love ice cream sandwiches, ice cream cones, sundaes, malts.....just about any and all ice cream.  But I do not like sherberts or gelato.

Even so, I thoroughly enjoyed this article by Ben Meyers on The Ethics of Ice Cream.

During my (short-lived) days of working and being fired from Baskin Robbins while in high school,  I remember irritating customers who were determined that I would give them a free taste spoon of all 31 flavors, and then decide they did not really want ice cream after all.

So more power to you, Miss Gelato Ice Cream Server---stand up for the "Only one taste test spoon per customer."  Tell them to choose two flavors, sample one, and if they don't like the sample, then they should by the flavor they didn't choose to sample.  Sounds simple to me......

35 Movies in only Two Minutes!

35mm takes it's audience through a fast paced, minimalist animated video that showcases 35 different movies in the simplest of terms.  Thanks to director Felix Meyer for his creativity as well as providing the chance to go insane trying to figure out which movies they are---I know I got Snow White, Jaws and James Bond correct--how many can you get right?


35mm from Felix Meyer on Vimeo.

Starting the Week with Grover

I have decided that I need to start each week with a clip from Sesame Street:  Here's Grover at is most "Classic-ness".  :)

(Warning: This Post is Strictly for Book Nerds)---List of 5 Book Recommendation Sites

Today at LifeHacker, they listed their top 5 websites for getting book recommendations.  All of us book geeks can relate--we finish a book, we have another 20 on our bedside table waiting to be read, and yet we still want to find the perfect book to read next.

Click Here to go to the LifeHacker site and read their review.  I personally use both Shelfari and Good Reads, as two of my 5 places where I track the books I read and the books I want to read.  Told you, only for the nerdiest, geeky book people!

Written Prayers

Thanks to Tim Challies blog post today, I was introduced to Scotty Smith's blog Heavenward, hosted by The Gospel Coalition.  Scotty's entire blog is devoted to written prayers.

Sometimes I just don't know what to say to God.  I know that there are things I must express to Him, and yet I struggle to do so.  I, like Tim Challies, write out my prayers as often as I can.  This helps me to stay focused, to slow down my mind enough so as to concentrate on the words.  It also means I can look back over my prayers on occasion, and reflect on what God may or may not be doing.

I look forward to exploring Scotty's blog further.

Broken Feet and My Mind

I remember distinctly my two stints in a non-weight bearing cast.  The first came during college years, when I managed to break my foot walking up the stairs to my apartment.  8 weeks in a purple cast.  The second experience resulted in plates, pins, screws (that still, to this day, creep me out if something touches them-it's like fingernails dragging across a chalk board) and 10 weeks in a blue cast.  Great fun.

During those weeks on crutches, my arms became strong.  Suddenly, where once there was no discernable muscles, there suddenly were huge muscles!!  But then, how could I not have muscles, since I was having to use my arms to bear my weight day after day after day.

But then the casts were removed----the shock!  The Horror!  The atrophied leg that emerged after 8 and 10 week confinement was Not Pretty.  UGH!  But more than being ugly, my leg was practically useless.  It couldn't bear my weight.  It trembled, it was stiff, it hurt.  Walking was painful, because my muscles had not only deteriorated to the point of being unable to do what they were designed to do, they had also forgotten their job during their weeks of non-use.

How does that relate to my mind and my soul?  I find myself in probably the strangest place I have ever been in my life.  My mind, which once served me so well, appears to have atrophied---it seems to have forgotten it's purpose.  Instead of being strong, it has become weak.  Instead of being rational, it has become irrational.  And my soul, that should believe and trust God is filled with fear and doubt.  My soul that should fight for real prayer and real scripture work, runs from those very things.  And like my initial reaction of disgust and embarrassment at the sight of my leg, I am experiencing some of the same reaction of disgust and embarrassment as I try to ruthlessly self-examine my mind and my soul. 

It was work, real work to condition and train my legs to return to their former shape and responsibilities--hours of physical therapy, hours of stretches and slow, painful tedious walks.  It was not easy.  And at times, it was crazy discouraging and tiring.  But there was no choice, it had to be done.  I am thinking that the same holds true for my current mind and soul.  I must do the things I know to do, real scripture work, real prayer, in order to repair the atrophy.  It is daunting.

Tonight I am reminded of Psalm 40:

I waited patiently for the Lord;

he inclined to me and heard my cry.

He drew me up from the pit of destruction,

out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock

making my steps secure.

Oh, that my God would hear my cry, pull me from this miry bog and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.

TomTom hires Darth Vader for it's navigational voice

Darth Vader GPS recording session @ Yahoo! Video

Eight Easy Ways to Misread the Classics – Justin Taylor

I so very much like reading classics. I have long had this lofty goal, to somehow read through an entire list of classics that I have created---a very nerdy spreadsheet containing not just adult classic literature, but young adult and children's classic literature as well. I enjoy them. I like the challenge they present, the ideas they explore. I like that the push the boundaries of my mind to think beyond what modern literature presents. I find modern literature stifling, I find classics freeing. That said, I am completely intrigued by Justin Taylor's post on Eight Ways to Misread Classics. You can find his thought-provoking list (that features several excellent quotes from my adopted Uncle C.S. Lewis) at the following link:

Eight Easy Ways to Misread the Classics – Justin Taylor

Inception Movie Review

Slight spoiler alert!!

I saw Inception today with my daughter and one of her friends.  I really had no expectations going in to the theatre--sure, I'd seen the trailers and had thoughts such as "Cool Graphics" and "Interesting Concept".  But it is not something that I really thought much more about, other than a perfect diversion for a rainy Saturday afternoon.

After 30 minutes of the expected ads and previews, what proceeded to ensue was one of the most thought-provoking movies that I've seen in quite some time.

The screenwriters take us through this maze of sorts, an alternate reality based upon our dreams, and the (fictional) science for another person to enter a person's dream and thus access the deepest secrets held by that person.  Those involved in doing so for this film's purpose, were seeking to plant an idea into an heirs mind, that would take hold and grow, ultimately creating a breakup of his father's empire.

But that wasn't the fascinating story plot.  It was the subplots that seemed to take a front seat in this action packed film.  As the characters got deeper and deeper into the world of the subconcious, they elected to use powerful sedatives so as to take them essentially into a dream within a dream within a dream--three layers.  The danger, the fear, was that if one does not awaken from that deep of a sleep, from both the powerful sedative as well as the combination of 3 layers of dreams to climb back out of (the means of which consists of creating a "Kick", which was a violent fall, that we are all familiar with in our own dreams--the falling sensation that we awaken from as we hit the bottom of the fall), if one was unable to catch the Kick, than he or she would remain in Limbo, for decades, possibly forever.

The main character, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, suffers from great grief over the loss of his wife.  They had been caught in Limbo, and to bring them out of that state, he convinced his wife to lay over train tracks with him, resulting in their "death" but actually resulting in their return to reality.  However, for his wife, that return to reality did not complete itself.  Because already, the notion--the idea--the seed of a thought had been planted deep in her subconcious, and that seed had taken over her mind and heart. She came to a place where what was real, in her mind, was only a dream, and the only way to wake up from that dream, was through suicide.  She tried to get Dicaprio to join her in her pursuit, and no matter what he did, he could not convince her that where she was living, was truly reality.

And so she jumped.  To her death.  Determined that by doing so, the pain would be over, that she would awaken from the nightmare she was in to the world they had built together while in Limbo, a non-existent dream world that she was convinced was real.

Oh the thoughts this provokes---thoughts about life, about death.  About dreams and nightmares.  About the mind, the ability to think, and the inability to control the dreams and nightmares that plague so many of us.  The couple, in limbo, rebuilt this word full of memories---they rebuilt each of their old homes, they rebuilt projections of their children, their very real and vivid memories became their very real alternate world from which there was no escape, except ultimately through death.

The implications and thoughts, the conversations that such a movie should generate are vast in nature.  I'll not explore them here.  I only know that my own mind is churning and processing, categorizing and sorting my way through the last 2 1/2 hours.  My thoughts are still too new to share in this forum, until I have thoroughly examined them.

"What's the most resilient parasite?  An idea....A single idea from an human mind........"  Dicaprio

Vitality - Yahoo! News

I ran across this video (Click on the Yahoo Link Below) about Jay Shafer, who has chosen to down-size his life to an 89-Square-Foot Home. Amazing, he compromises nothing in the way of style or sense of space and belonging, and yet has obtained a level of living with just the things he needs, the things that are important to him. I was very impressed, of course, with his bookshelves laden with books. I think I would be very content to choose to embrace a similar approach to life and materialism some day.

I also came across this amazing quote:

"When I get a little money, I buy books. And if there is any left over, I buy food."

Desiderius Erasmus

Vitality - Yahoo! News

Road Trip

We have returned from our cross country Road Trip, having made it all the way to St. Louis, taking a trip to the top of the Arch, before having to turn around and head back East.

Things I learned:

1.  Teenagers think that it is fun to drive for the first hour.  And they they want you to drive the rest of the way.

2.  Driving through WV has got to be a lot like driving for NASCAR.  Most fun I've had driving in years-----Danica Patrick has absolutely nothing on me.

3.  My grandmother must be the sharpest 90 year old that I've ever met.  She didn't miss a thing, looks healthier than I am and was hysterical.  I've not seen her in at least 12 years, maybe longer.  She was dressed head to toe in Purple.  If I make 90, maybe I will wear Purple.

4.  I still want a horse.  I don't think I will ever, ever outgrow that.

5.  Denny's serves great Pancakes for cheap cheap cheap.

6.  My girl is listening to a lot of the same music that I grew up with in the 80's.  Something is just not right about that........especially when she doesn't realize that these are NOT NEW SONGS!!!!

7.  St. Louis is a long ways away.

8.  The big, scary mall at Fairview Heights, IL is still there.  With the funny roof.  And I imagine the scary escalator is still there as well........YIKES

9.  The sky is absolutely beautiful in WV and in KY.  Not so much in IL or IN.

10.  A lot of time to think does not necessarily translate into a plan.

Our Trek Across America

We have returned home.  Too tired to write much, but lots of funny things to catch up on when I get a chance....


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On our Trek across the BlueGrass State, I could not pass up the opportunity to let Keli see the horses.  We spent all day Wednesday at the International Horse Park in Lexington, KY.  Our very first activity of the morning---a horse back ride.  Nose to tail ride for beginners, across the farm, in between the corrals that housed all the different breeds at the park.  Perfect weather, perfect day for a ride.

Keli and I, while awaiting to be assigned to our horses, were joking around about which horse would be mine and which was hers.  She wanted the tallest horse in the paddock.  No Fair, I wanted the tallest horses in the paddock.  His name was Blueny---gorgous, elegant, absolutely perfect.

But then, much to my chargrin, the trail lead explained the purpose behind choosing horses for the riders--they do so based on ability, age and weight.  Huh.  Ok, that makes sense.

So they call my girl down, and lo and behold, they put her on Blueny....She's grinning from ear to ear, and I'm jealous.  That's ok, I'll take the text tallest one please, named Sancho.

Nope, no Sancho for me.  A couple of other beautiful horses found their riders, while I continued to be passed over.  I was beginning to feel a bit like I was back on the playground getting picked last for kickball---not an uncommon event.

At last, they called my name.  I eagerly descended the paddock toward what I thought was my horse---medium beautiful, beautiful chestnut in color.  But I was wrong.  I was led right past that horse, to Butch.  Butch was standing in the corner.  He took one look at me and I knew he did not want to do this.  At all. Can anyone truly blame him though??

He was the shortest, the fattest horse, in the entire stable.  No Joke.

I get settled on Butch, who, with a snort, falls in line and plods along, I try to act like I know what I'm doing. I look at the leader, a nice girl from Lawrenceburg, which meant we knew quiet a few people in common, thus she and I chatted quite a bit on the ride.  That gave me an opportunity to watch what she did and try to copy that with my horse.  No real results.  Oh well.  Plod, plod, plod, plod.

Back in the Paddock, everyone has dismounted except myself.  Ok, time to get off of this horse.  But best laid plans.......the next thing I know, I hear a snap in my brain from my leg and down I fall hard, boom. 

I think fast and evaluate the situation.  Keli is looking at me like she just can't believe I've done this.  The guy two horses behind me happened to be a paramedic.  I get up and try to figure out what the sound was in my leg/brain.  I can put wait on it, so it's not broken.  That's a good thing.

Keli asks me how in the world I managed to do this--only one to fall, and I fell of the shortest and fattest hourse, the one closest to the ground.  I don't know.  Not Pretty.  God gives grace but obviously has not granted me the physical attribute of grace.  

Did not let it deter us from seeing the rest of the horses, as well as driving to Lawrenceburg last night for dinner with a friend, and then walking all over seminary today "touring"  Resting it tonight, hoping for improvement tomorrow morning!