Saturday, December 23, 2006

For the Weird Al/Star Wars lover

I lied, I think this is my favorite Weird Al video.

Friday, December 22, 2006

The image “http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2006/US/12/12/airport.christmas.trees.ap/story.tree.seattle.ap.jpg” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.
My thoughts on the whole Christmas tree bru-haha at Seattle-Tucoma airport in Washington? I think it's ridiculous.

I hate the way that this whole season has become politicized. For the last couple of years I've heard about the movement to "save Christmas". How it's up to us to keep stores from putting up generic "Happy Holiday" signs and selling "holiday trees".

Christmas doesn't need to be saved by us. Christmas will stand on it's own without any help from us. It doesn't matter if people wish me a Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday, or Happy Chanukkah, it doesn't take anything away from my Christmas. It doesn't change who Jesus is, or the fact that He is still firm on His throne. The fact of the matter is, one of the rights of this country is the freedom of religion. If I were a store owner, I would put up Christmas decorations. It would not matter to me what Jewish or Muslim people thought. I don't celebrate their holidays, so it shouldn't be expected that I put up decorations for them. And they, in turn have the right not to shop at my store. I reserve the right to decorate my establishment as I please.

Just as store owners may decorate how they please. If they're Jewish, I don't expect them to Deck the Halls. If they're Muslim, I don't expect to see a Nativity scene in the window. Some stores choose to go with a generic "Happy Holidays" versus specifying any specific holiday. That's their prerogative. Just as it's mine to choose not to shop at those stores.

I don't believe in forcing Christmas down anyone's throat. I won't even get started on the fact that Christmas trees are more than likely a pagan thing and we probably shouldn't have them at all anyway.

If you see someone not celebrating Christmas, the answer isn't to force them to put up a tree or get them to start saying "Merry Christmas". The answer is to share with them the reason we have Christmas -- Jesus. It is certainly NOT threatening to sue, or threatening the life of someone who was unhappy because there were no Chanukkah decorations in the airport.
http://www.sthilary.com/images/The%20Nativity.JPG

8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! (Luke 2:8-11, NLT)

I'm sitting in my sister-in-law's old bedroom at my mother-in-law's house. For the first time ever, I believe, I've managed to get my shopping done before the day before Christmas. I have a few items that need to be wrapped when I get home, but it shouldn't be like years past where I've stayed up till 4am wrapping presents. I did the youth Christmas party on Wednesday, so that's out of the way. For the most part, it seems like things are pretty calm at the moment. We'll do our Christmas with Wife's family tomorrow, enjoy a nice meal out tomorrow night, stay for a bit on Sunday, and drive home sometime that day.


Amidst it all, sadly, I become burdened and stressed with this season. I want to enjoy Christmas. I really do. But so much is going on and there are so many demands that make it difficult to enjoy this time of year. Christmas has become so much different than what it should be.

I wish I could be there 2005 years ago. Luke's gospel shares with us what happened then. The Shepherds, keeping watch over their flocks, and the angel comes to them, and brings to them the Good News -- that the promised Messiah has been born! I can only imagine how their hearts were filled with joy at this incredible proclamation! For so many years the Messiah that would deliver Israel had been promised, and that day had come!

My favorite song at Christmas is "The Little Drummer Boy". To me, it symbolizes what Christmas should be. It has nothing to do with fancy gifts. It has nothing to do with shopping malls. It has nothing to do with family and friends, even. What it has to do with is humbling ourselves before Christ and bringing to him everything we have.

Little Baby, I am a poor boy too.
I have no gift to bring, that's fit to give a King.
Shall I play for Him? On my drum?

That's probably the most beautiful line of the whole song. The little drummer boy recognizes that he has nothing fit to give his King, but gives him everything he has. It's like the widow and her 2 mites. She didn't have much, but she gave all she had to give to God.

This Christmas, I want to really remember what the holiday is about. I want a sense of renewal where I desire nothing more than to just lay my life before Christ, presenting to Him all I have, recognizing that no matter how much I have, none of it is fit to give my King.

Friday, December 15, 2006




The Hope Diamond on display at the Smithsonian museum of Natural History


The end of the adventure. Today, as many of you know, was Friday (OK, technically speaking, today, as I type this, it's Saturday. Either way, it's the end of the week). I honestly can't remember the last time I had so much fun at a conference (granted, I haven't been to that many, but still....). This year was better than last year's (and last year's was great!). I'm sure next year will be even better.


I'll miss the people I've met on the trip. Come Monday, I won't be able to chat all day, discussing GoogleTM pitchforks, OS's and GoogleTM rule #2 (oh, what the heck, there were so many jokes about GoogleTM I lost count), how Canadians are really brain-eating zombies (that was started when one of the speakers, talking about tech in the military, was asked why we hadn't taken over Canada. His answer was, “because we want to fight someone who will fight back”), and what we really think of the people giving the talks. And how can I forget the person who added a caffeine packet to a 20oz bottle of Diet Pepsi? While I am ready to get back and see Wife, I really did have a good time this year, and hope to be able to attend next year. However, there are two things that could stand in my way – 1) Baptist State Convention, if it's scheduled for the same time period as it has been the last two years, will also happen the same week and 2) Co-Worker was supposed to go this year, but he opted not to. By all rights, he should have dibs on next year. I would actually like to see him go, but honestly, I just don't think he's that interested. I guess you get to a point in life where travel and hanging out with a bunch of geeks just doesn't do much for you. At any rate, I have plenty to keep me busy before now and then that there's no point in thinking about it now.


So, today was the last day of the conference. I began my day around the same time I did every other day this week, ~6:45. Took a shower, threw on clothes, and debated between OpenCity and McDonald's for breakfast. Did the McDonald's thing. I had plans for what I wanted to do tonight for dinner, which would pretty much calorically take care of my meals for the day anyway (oh, heck, for the next 3 days!), so I was going to try something pretty light. Went for the egg mcmuffin, sans hashbrown. Sadly, they forgot the “sans hashbrown” part and gave it to me anyway. So, that was my breakfast. Didn't hang out too long in the restaurant, though I did read out of Ezekiel while I was there. Went on back to the hotel to hear one of the talks. The speaker was really good, though, for the life of me, I can't remember what the title of his talk was. I do remember lots of pretty pictures. Which is always a good thing.


After the first talk, went out for some coffee at break and ended up right back in the same conference room for the next talk. The next talk was really good, though the speaker was quite a bit different than the first was. He was very “shiny” and wore a suit. I joked with some others that he looked like he bathed regularly, and wore a suit, so he wasn't a true geek. At any rate, both of the morning sessions were very good.


After the second talk, it was lunch. I went across the hall to the terminal room where I could go and use my laptop and print out what I needed. It took me about an hour to figure out what I wanted to do, where to go, when to go. Took my stuff up to the room, ditched the unnecessary stuff, and left.


I didn't remember it being so cold when I went to McD's for breakfast, but when I went out to catch the Metro, it was COLD! Took the Metro to Metro Center, the big hub of everything metro-y. Went out on the street, and wandered around. Was trying to find “The National Mall”, and eventually did. I had three places I'd intended to go – Holocaust Museum, FBI bulding, and the Printing and Engraving building. The first two I'd done when Wife and I came to DC back in 98 and really wanted to visit them again. The third we couldn't for some reason, so I wanted to go there on this trip. So, where did I start? The Natural History Museum. Which, though I liked it, I'm upset about because I spent more time than I would've liked. After that, went to the Holocaust Museum. As I was walking through it, it occurred to me that we had just had the anniversary of the bombing at Peal Harbor, which brought the US into the war. The Holocaust Museum was very powerful – seeing the pictures taken, watching the videos, and hearing the testimonies of those who survived. There was a picture of a group of 4 survivors who gathered in 1999 and proudly displayed their arms with their id numbers tattooed on their arms. I watched a video on the various experiments the Nazis conducted on their prisoners, which just made me ill. But for some reason, one of the most moving parts was the hall with wall the shoes in it. Seeing the shoes of the victims in those bins just really moved me. Thinking of the women and children who were separated from one another, or killed together broke my heart. What made me mad was, in order to really get to appreciate the museum, it takes about 3 hours. I only had an hour and a half.


One of the most interesting things I learned about in the museum was the Nazi rise to power. I don't know if I never learned this in school, or how I missed it (I will admit I was far from the most astute student in High School). After WW1, Germany was completely devastated and there was no real leadership in the governement. The people were hurt, demoralized, frustrated, and confused. The people were desperate for order. Though several parties tried to fill the gap (Communists, Socialists, Liberal and Conservative, I believe), none of them could really get their acts together enough to convince the people they could make things better. Hitler was able to do what the others couldn't. Although he didn't get elected President, he was made Chancellor, and eventually, through fear and tyranny, became dictator. He went on to kill 6 million Jews, plus many, many more of those he deemed “inferior”.


I'd often wondered what it was that could make an entire country buy into “The Final Solution”. These were good people who were looking for hope, peace, and solace from their government. With Hitler's charisma and incredible propaganda machine, he was able to convince the country that he could make things better.


What I think what was even more amazing was the fact that, as the Jews were desperate to leave Europe, no one wanted to help them. Not even the US. What could've been prevented if the US had gotten involved earlier?


The Museum was absolutely amazing.


After the museum, I made my way on the Metro to Clarendon, where I would visit the highlight of my trip – CheeseCake Factory! I hadn't eaten lunch, so I was ready. Ended up eating all the bread they gave me, then my turkey sandwich/house salad/clam chowder combo I ordered. Then, the grand finale – Adam's Peanut Butter Chocolate Reese's all-sorts-of-bad-sugar-and-fat things cheesecake! Sadly, by this point, I was so full, but I was NOT going to leave CCF without eating their cheesecake. So I ate it. And I was incredibly uncomfortable for the rest of the evening.


After that, I took the Metro to Gallery Pl. Wandered around in below freezing temperatures for a little while before finally finding the movie theater. I was hoping that it would be in a shopping mall so I could hang out till the movie started at 10:05, but no such luck. The Capitals were playing down the street, which would've been fun. But yeah....


Got to the movie theater, bought my ticket, and tried to figure out what to do for 3 hours. Hopped on the Metro, went back to Metro Center, because there was a Barnes & Noble near by. Was walking by a table and a cover caught my eye – The Unusual Suspect. It's a play on The Usual Suspects, a movie that starred, among others, Stephen Baldwin.


For those who aren't familiar with him, Stephen is probably the goofiest of the Baldwin brothers. I didn't get to read a whole lot, but several years ago (I believe it was shortly after 09/11/2001), he gave his life to Christ and began an extreme sports ministry to reach out to youth called Livin It . Because of this ministry, he's able to reach youth in a way that others can't (or won't).


What amazes me about the book is, he's not an elegant writer. He doesn't use big, theological, smart-sounding words. It's simple, but he tells his story. And that's what a testimony is, just telling the story of what Christ is doing through you.


My hat's off to you, Stephen!


I'm posting, as this has been a week in the making. Will continue later.

Friday, December 08, 2006

Maybe THIS is what did Mikey in....



OK, so one of the folks from the irc channel was telling me about this. No explanation needed. However, it DOES make me wonder if Coke and Mentos can do what Coke and Pop-Rocks couldn't :)

Reflections


The last night here....the terminal room.

This is where I've come to waste copious amounts of time for the last few days. The picture above doesn't do it justice, it's a big room. Lots and lots of wires and power supplies and wireless access points. And, when it's not 12:41am, a good number or people as well. As you can imagine, there will be significantly more during the day than the night.

Because the terminal room is actually closing tomorrow around noon, this is going to be my last night in the terminal room. I will be in DC till Saturday morning, however.

This week has been a lot of fun. I don't know that I've made it any secret that I love to travel. I really do. I don't like being away from my wife, church, friends, and youth, but it's nice to just get away and not have to worry about (many) things. That being said, there was so much here!

  • I've gotten to hear some really good speakers on really good topics, and have found several applications I'm taking back to try in the work place.
  • Because of the IRC channel, I was able to comfortably meet others I would not have normally met. It's much easier to announce "I'm going to be by the big tree; come meet me for dinner if you want to" than it is to just randomly introduce myself to people. Yes, I have issues.
  • I got to ride a train for the first time -- well, ride a train for any extensive length of time for the first time. That was a great experience, and I believe I would enjoy doing it again sometime.
  • DC -- although I haven't gotten the chance to really go out into the city (I can hear my poor Mom yelling, "NO, NO, PLEASE DON'T!!!!", where I'm staying is really nice. I absolutely love the metro. It's a great way to get around the city.
  • I've gotten to spend more time with my computer than I ever want to. Wife will be happy that, once I get home, I'll have no interest in doing anything at all with the computer for a while. It's a good thing I did bills before the trip.
  • I've gotten to meet people from GoogleTM. I really don't know why I'm so fascinated with them, except maybe the fact that GoogleTM sounds a lot like working here.
  • It was like a vacation. Which is not really good, because I had a lot that I planned on/needed to do while I was here, and didn't do any of it. So, all the things I put off for a week, I now get to go home and work on and stress about.
All in all, it's been a great trip. I really enjoyed San Diego last year, and this one was even better. Next year it's in Dallas, TX. Honestly, the idea of Dallas doesn't excite me, but I love to travel and the conference is so much fun I'll eagerly jump on it if given the opportunity.

Not sure how I'm going to spend today. I'm going to go to a few of the talks this morning, then probably jump on the Metro at lunch and head towards the reall city. If nothing else, I'd like to visit the Holocaust Museum, the FBI building, and the Mint (Wife and I did the first two several years ago, and they are definitely worth going back to. Did not get to go to the Mint, though, which would be interesting). The evening will end with Cheesecake Factory and the new 007 movie. Somehow, b/t now and lunch, I've got to figure how to make all this happen....

Hopefully I'll get lots of good pics this afternoon.

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Star Struck

Star Struck

*** Note: Image used without the permission of Usenix or the people who are represented. Which means I'll probably get sued :)


LISA stands for "Large Installation System Administration" (I think, and am too lazy to confirm). It's a conference for IT professionals. A large conference -- I think they reported 1100+ attendees this year.

This is my second year going. The first year I went to San Diego. And I pretty much hung out with some other folks from University. We didn't do much at the conference nor meet any new people. I enjoyed having them to hang out with.

This year's been a bit different. There are some others from University here, but I've been sort of being a loner. Nothing against them; they're both great people, but I've been trying to take more advantage of the conference. I've met some people through the #lisa06 IRC channel. I've tried to actually talk to people I don't know (I really have a hard time with that). I've spent more time around the hotel and the conference than I did last year.

As I've gone through the conference, it's been amazing to me the people who are here. It's been cool when you have someone point out to you that "that guy helped write RRDTool/MRTG" or "that person co-authored super special book on FreeRadius", or "that guy started GoogleTM in his basement". People that, the population at large, would have no clue about (I actually would be one of them, though, once they've been pointed out I'm sort of star struck).

What amazes me, though, is a lot of these people who are involved in writing Free/Open Source Software. Again, I'll spare you the technical details, but ultimately, they began writing their software because they had something they needed to do and there was nothing available that could do it. So they wrote it, and, believing it might prove useful to other people, they released it and said, "here's the code, do what you like with it, modify, improve it The only thing I ask is, if you do that, and you give the improved software to other people, you must include the source to what you did along with it, because that's what I did". (That's a very simplistic, and probably flawed, explanation of the GNU General Public License , but there are other Free/Open Source licenses to choose from).

Now, I'm NOT one of these people that believes that Free software is the be all and end all panacea to the world's problems. But they have made a significant contribution to the way the world interacts....

The internet would be a very different place. People would communicate in different ways (granted, we might actually talk to one another, but still). Science would probably be farther behind if they didn't have access to inexpensive servers because they can use free Linux versus very expensive OS licenses from Sun, IBM, Microsoft, etc. I could go on, but I know you'd rather I didn't.

Anyway, it's been cool to be able to hear these people speak. Hats off to the people who are more interested in helping people than making money!


This is the picture that greeted me the first time I walked out of the Terminal Room on Monday. There was another conference going on, and they had the US Coast Guard Color Guard (I think that's what it was, but I may be getting confused with something else). I remember standing there for what seemed forever in awe. They stood perfectly still, in perfect formation, until they were finally introduced and walked in.

Throughout the week I've been taking various seemingly random pictures and posting them. That's what this was going to be. But this morning it took on new meaning.

When I finally recovered from the fact that I went to be around 2:20 this morning, and had gotten myself dressed and out the door, I went to the elevator. Waiting for the elevator was a serviceman, in full uniform. Throughout the week I've seen many servicemen around and had wanted to just go up and say thank you to them, but was always too chicken. So, when I've seen them I've said nothing. But, today, since I'd be riding in the elevator with him, I thought I would talk to him.

I said good morning to him and asked him which branch of the military he served in (I felt sort of stupid, because the uniform should've been giveaway....). He told me he was in the National Guard and had been for 13 years. I mentioned that Dad served in the Nat'l Guard till he retired several years ago. We stepped in the elevator and continued talking. I finally got the chance to say thank you to him and the other men and women who serve their country with such pride. I told them that, in spite of the idiots who say otherwise, the job they're doing is important and there are those of us who are proud of our military and want to see them succeed. As we continued walking out the door, he told me that, contrary to what Senator Kerry says, he's currently working on his Master's degree (I didn't quite understand what he said it was in). He mentioned his undergrad was done in IT, and I asked him if he was here for LISA, and then rethought that as he was in uniform. Sure enough, he was here for some military recruiting conference.

We continued walking down the street. I'd decided that I was going to do McDonald's for breakfast and didn't know where the soldier was going. As we got to the door of McD's, he mentioned he was stepping in to get breakfast. So, I went in with him.

He and I sat down and ate. There was nothing particularly spectacular about the conversation, typical small talk.

But I ate as if I was in the presence of some foreign dignitary or someone equally important. You'd think I wouldn't have that reaction having grown up with a father in the Nat'l Guard. I saw soldiers on a regular basis.

But maybe I've done some growing. As I've heard the stories about the casualties in the war, as I've heard about the sacrifices our military men and women have made for this country, as I've heard about the SUCCESS they've had in Afghanistan and Iraq, and as I've heard the callous criticism of our troops that comes from those who have no clue of what it means to give oneself for something greater than their own self-interest, the military has taken on a brand new light.

To Walter and to all our service men and women, both at home and over seas....thank you.

My travels

(CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE)

So, to my left (/me does Vanna pose) is a map of the DC Metro system, painstakingly made by yours truly and modified (I REALLY wanted to do this using maps.google.com, but didn't really have the time or the over whelming motivation to figure out the API and javascript that would be involved. OK, time I technicallly have. That darn motivation, however....). So anyway, I've taken this image and done some modifications. If you can actually see the image (while I type this, it looks VERY small), there are 4 stations that have a yellow dot surrounded by a black circle (like this:



Those are the places that I've been so far (on the Metro at least, although I haven't strayed far from the vein). I probably could've been fancier, but again, didn't really want to put in the time it would take. Sooooo, anyway.....

1) Union Station (most right station, on the 'red line') - This is where I arrived Sunday. It's actually the Metro and Amtrak station.
2) Woodley Park (most northern station, on the 'red line') - This is where my hotel is.
3) Pentagon City (most southern station, on the 'blue' and 'yellow' lines) - This is where I went Monday night. "Pentagon City Fashion Mall" is right on top of it. Also had "Pentagon City Centre".
4) Dupont Circle (one stop south of "Woodley Park", on the 'red' line) - This is where I was last night We actually walked there for sushi, and then rode the Metro back to the hotel.

I'd really like to figure out how to mark things in Google Maps and may yet. But, I thought this would be interesting to the folks back home.

It's 8 min to 2 in the morning. I think I need to get to bed. 'Night!

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

This is my hotel room, in all its cluttered glory!


I didn't get to take any pictures last night, which saddened me. The day was spent in "Over the Edge System Administration", which was a GREAT class. The guy who spoke is a prof at NorthEastern College/University and was just an excellent speaker. He told us about ways to "think outside the box" -- a little cliche, but basically taking tools that are familiar to sysadmins and using them in new ways (he started out by using the lpr program, which is used for printing, and using that to play music!).


Decided to try to meet some folks at the conference for dinner, so I arranged a "real life" meeting with some folks from the LISA '06 irc channel. Mom told me I shouldn't be anti-social, which is slowly what I'm becoming, so I decided to try to meet some folks. So, at 5:30, after the class (and we could go back to our respective rooms), we met in the lobby by the big Christmas tree (pictures of that to come). Four of us decided to go out for sushi.

Now, I'll readily admit, I've eaten and enjoyed sushi. But, the extent of my sushi experience is what I could pick up in the hospital cafeteria/grocery store. I've never gone out for sushi. So, it intrigued me (by the way, to dispel common myth, very little sushi is raw....). And off we went.

We got to what looked like a little hole in the wall and went inside. Inside, however, was far different than what the outside portrayed. It was probably one of the fanciest restaurants I've ever been to! Because we didn't have a reservation, we sat traditional Japanese style, shoe's off and on the floor! I was sooooo embarassed! I covered my legs with my jacket for fear that my feet would not smell pleasant.

The group I was with decided to get a communal plate and share it, so we got a large platter to share. Among them was tuna, seered salmon, shrimp, california rolls, squid, eel, and salmon roe. It was all VERY good, and I was adventurous and tried everything, including the roe!

The trip for sushi ended up taking longer than I'd hoped, which was fine as it was good to actually hang out with people. The beer and ice cream social was b/t 7 and 9, and we just barely missed it. Which is fine by me, because I didn't want the beer, and really didn't need the ice cream. Ended up spending the rest of the evening in the terminal room with one of the people I went to dinner with, and a student from NorthEastern University. Had a good talk.....

And then, as the night went on, I noticed my tummy wasn't feeling very good. The sushi that I had enjoyed earlier apparently didn't agree with me and my stomach was feeling quite upset. The room closed at 2am, and I would've enjoyed staying till then, but about 12:30 I had to go back to the room. Ended up brushing my teeth and going to bed in the hopes the pain would go away. Slept soundly till the alarm went off this morning.

Fortunately, I ended up feeling fine this morning. I'm not a big seafood fan, and I just believe that something I ate just didn't agree with my stomach (though you can't be too careful when dealing with seafood). I talked with one of the folks I went with and he didn't mention feeling ill, so I really just think it was me. As I mentioned, I woke up this morning and felt fine.

Took a walk this morning down to OpenCity for breakfast. I've enjoyed my meals there. I'm bothered that I've had eggs everyday this week so far, and they only recommend 3 eggs a week (I think). But, if I don't get eggs, my only other option is some pastry, which I really want to avoid. So this morning it was two poached eggs, light/easy, with wheat toast and cottage cheese. Very good. Read out of Acts while I was waiting on the food. Ate, and came back to the hotel for the keynote speaker.

I'm going to go ahead and publish this and will add more after lunch.

OK, so it's after lunch now. I've had a good morning. The keynote speaker was OK, nothing too terribly earthshattering. He spoke about how, essentially, the big corporations are slowly eroding our rights as consumers. How they're becoming more and more restrictive with what we can do with things we buy and how it doesn't take much for us to accept those pesky "end user agreements" that big corporations are fond of. I won't bore you with what I think on the matter, but I'm not one of those people who believe we should be able to do whatever we want with music/movies/entertainment we purchase. I don't believe we have the right to take that media and distribute it to whomever we wish. And I do not believe that we have some sort of right to free music/movies just because the media cartel is a bunch of crooks and thugs (and I do believe the latter part, but regardless, that doesn't give me the right to break the law). What I DO have a problem with is that, legally, I cannot take a movie that I bought on DVD and play it on my Linux laptop. That's wrong. If I bought it, I should be able to play it on whatever device I wish. But because of copy protection, your normal dvd players and software shipped with Windows and Macs are able to play because those people have paid a licensing fee so that they can decode the protection on the dvds. Because there is no licensed DVD software for Linux, to play the DVD on my laptop violates the DMCA, and is therefore illegal. Despite the fact that I bought the disc, and I'm just viewing it for myself. I'm not making copies and distributing it to every Tom, Dick, and Harry that comes along. So, that calls into question, "if it's a stupid law, is it justifiable to break it?" I'll leave that as an exercise for the reader (obviously, the answer is 'no'....the law is the law....).

OK, I know I said I wouldn't bore you, and I have. But, it is an important issue that has far-reaching effects....the only thing the MPAA and RIAA are interested in is money, and they will do whatever they can get away with to get it. OK, I'll stop.

After the keynote, it was snack time. They had bagels and coffee. Having already eaten breakfast, I opted out of the bagel, but desperately needed the coffee. Grabbed that and headed to the terminal room. Hung out in here till 12, when the vendor exhibition opened. And, with vendor exhibitions comes free stuff! The thing is, I don't like just walking around like a vulture and gobbling up free stuff. Because if you swoop in for the free stuff, the vendors want to talk to you. And sadly, what the vendors have I don't do much with. But I did get to talk to some folks from GoogleTM which was cool. Google is a great company and, I have to admit, I would love to work there. But I enjoy both of my current jobs and I'm not eager to move anywhere anytime soon. Saw a couple of other products that does pertain to my job and take back to the folks at University. Got a free hat and shirt! Oh, and a Google yo-yo!

After making my way through the vendor space, I went to lunch. It was OpenCity again :) . Their caesar salad and vegetable chili was the first meal I had when I got here Sunday, and it was really good. So I repeated that. And it was just as good.

At 2, we had "Tech Sessions". My first one was listening to a GoogleTM employee talk about his first months at GoogleTM. Learned a lot of good stuff about GoogleTM and it was PACKED!

(Did I mention, GoogleTM that I love you and want to come work for you????)

Nothing much to report there, got done, had our snack. I think I took the last cookie. Which really made me sad when I realized that break time was really 3:30 - 4, and it was only 3:10, and the other sessions hadn't let out yet :( But, I didn't know that at the time, and if I didn't take it, the one behind me would. I feel justified! And it was a peanut butter cookie too! :)

And that brings us to where we are now. Virtualization: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly. How about, "The Boring"? The speaker kind of reminds me of Richard Dreyfuss. And I think there are people using virtual servers in far different and complex ways than I do.

Not sure what I'm going to do after this. I want to do some of the conferencey things they have, but by the same token, I want to take advantage of my time in DC and look around. I may hang out at the hotel tonight, probably just doing laptop things. There's a "Carnival" tomorrow night which I want to go to.

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

As Promised....

















These are the pictures I took at the 4 story mall yesterday. The first one is what I took from the 4th story, the second is what I took from the ground as I entered the mall. It was very impressive, but, as you can imagine, there wasn't much for a man at a place called "The Pentagon City Fashion Place". There were a few stores that I do enjoy, such as the Apple store, but given I'll see more of my laptop this week than I really care to, the thought of seeing even MORE computers didn't enthuse me that much. That, and everytime I go in there, my laptop can smell the Mac on my hands and gets insanely jealous :)

As mentioned, there wasn't much for me at the mall. There were a lot of stores, and it was very different than what I'm used to. I made it through each level and then came back down again. I was trying to decide what to do about dinner. After touring the mall, I kept the Ruby Tuesday's that was in it as a potential eatery, then decided to brave the cold and see what might be within walking distance. Across the street was "Pentagon City Centre" which had a Costco, Best Buy, Borders, California Kitchen, some Mexican restaurant, and some other stores. In my 230 lb days I would've jumped all over the CA Pizza Kitchen, but in my 150 lb days, I decided I didn't want pizza at that time. So, I went back across the street and had Ruby Tuesdays. Salad bar and turkey sandwich combo. I probably ate just as much as I would've if I'd gone to CPK. But, oh well.

After dinner, I went back across the street to the Borders. Had planned on just sitting down for a while and relaxing with a book, but didn't see any books that I wanted to read, so I didn't stay long. Went back to the Metro and came on back to the hotel, with a brief stop at the CVS on the corner for 2 2ltr Coke Zeros. I love that stuff :)




This is a picture of my hotel on the way back from the street. I took it this morning as I was coming back from OpenCity. I described it to Wife as looking like the "Tower of Terror" at MGM Studios in FL, but it doesn't quite have that effect in early morning. Trust me, seeing it in the dark gives it a much eerier feel. I may try to catch it, but sadly, the camera on my phone doesn't do night pictures very well. Although, the image that shows up on the phone is vastly different than what gets delivered to the computer, so I may give it a go just to see. Which, I may add, I've been very impressed with the pictures my phone has taken. It's been convenient to use it to get images of my travels. And, I look less like a tourist :)

Today I'm in tutorials all day, beginning at 9. I'm not sure what my plans this evening are. I should mingle with my geek brethren (because, you know, we're such social group!). Mom told me not to be anti-social. Once upon a time, I used to really want to be with people, but as I've grown older, I've lost that interest. There are those I'm close to (if you're reading this, there's a 99.9999% chance you're one of them) that I enjoy spending time with and look forward to talking to, but people, for the most part, tax me. I think Children's_Minister is rubbing off on me :) Oh, continuing with the potential mingling. Tonight they have "Beer and Ice Cream". I have no interest in the beer, and only slightly more interest in the ice cream (hey, if I can't sit down and eat half a tub of ice cream, it's just not worth it!), so I don't know if I'll do that or not. In addition to that, but does anyone else think "Beer and Ice Cream" just sounds....wrong?

I didn't write much about my trip on the Metro last night. When I left the hotel, it was pretty much rush hour, so the Metro had some very crowded times. It was interesting to see the people and hear what they talked about. Much more different than life in Rougemont, NC. As I was sitting on the train, I got to thinking of the major cities I've gotten a chance to visit -- New York, San Diego, Chicago, Nashville, and Frankfurt (Germany). I enjoy visiting them and sometimes wonder if it might be a place I could live. I don't think so, as I love where I live now, and if I moved, it would be closer to the mountains. But there is something about "the big city" that's sort of alluring.

When I got back to the hotel room last night (after playing downstairs for a bit), I decided to put in "Never Say Never Again". It featured Sean Connery as an aging (OK, AGED) James Bond. I didn't get past the first 10 min before falling asleep (not that it was that boring, mind you, but I was just ready to pass out). I woke up this morning without my glasses on, and was scared to death that I'd crushed them in my sleep last night. Fortunately, they were on the floor, no damage to them! Still debating if I want to see the new 007 movie. If I do, it'll be Friday night. I may see if there's a Cheesecake Factory nearby and have that for dinner that night! :)

OK, I'm going to take care of some other stuff before heading to class. Will type more later!

Monday, December 04, 2006

More pics on the way

Tonight I actually ventured on the Metro for dinner. I got some pictures of the mall I ultimately ended up at, but it's been difficult to get them off the phone. I'm going to try to do it tomorrow.



Right now I'm hanging out in the "Terminal Room" for the conference. This is the room that's been set up for computer users to bring their laptops and hang out. No one actually talks to anyone else, unless it's through instant messaging. Geeks are a funny breed.



As I was on the train, I saw something very sad. There was a man of middle eastern ethnicity, and there was an older black man standing by the door. All of a sudden, I hear the older gentleman say, "what are you looking at? You look like a ******* terrorist!". He continued in a similar vein, and the other man didn't say anything. Fortunately, the older man got off at the next stop.



I hate to see that that sort of thing still happens. I hate that, because of the actions of a few extremists, people of certain ethnicity are labeled terrorists. I hate the ignorance that persists among the world and the stereotypes that are applied broadly across those we don't know, and have no interest in knowing.





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Union Station



This is Union Station, the train station I arrived at yesterday. It was absolutely amazing. It's what I imagined all train stations are like (yes, I don't do much traveling :) ).

I'll have to take a picture of the station I departed from in Durham yesterday :)

Getting breakfast

I'm currently sitting in the OpenCity cafe waiting for breakfast. I'm able to browse the web while waiting, enjoying my cup of coffee.



Life is good.



Woke up this morning at 4:30....(that's what happens when you go to bed at 9:30!). Fixed some coffee in the little coffee maker in the room and read my Bible. Ezekiel and Acts. Well, not the whole books :) Enjoyed my coffee (though, I can't believe they only give you 2 things of sweetener, sugar, and cream!). Once I finished getting ready, sat down and had prayer, then left the room. Hung out in the lobby and did some updates to my laptop. Finished that and came here for breakfast.



And now my food's here :)





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Sunday, December 03, 2006

Planes, trains, automobiles and Bond...James Bond

OK, it was really more like trains and James Bond....that's how my day was spent.



Today, I left for Washington, DC. By train. As I've never traveled an extensive amount of time by train, I was very excited about the trip. I figured DC was too close to go by plane, so I thought the train would be an adventure.



VERY NICE! I chose business class because it worked out cheaper than a coach plane ticket. There was a ton of leg room, complimentary soda/water, and electrical outlets for laptops. It was weird because I was used to having a seatbelt on a plane, and having to turn off electrical devices during take off and leaving. On the train, I could keep my cell phone/laptop on the whole time, there was no seat belt, and I was free to move about as much as I wanted. It was a 6 hour trip, and was just very relaxing.



I was excited about the trip because I figured with so much time on my hands, I would be able to get in a bunch of sleep and reading. Well, I discovered that the James Bond movies I taped from Spike would work on my laptop, so I brought them along. I ended up watching "License to Kill" and "Moonraker" the entire time. It was great! Sadly, at 3 hours apiece (stupid commercials! That, and my ability to not know that my dvd program came with a fast forward button), it didn't leave much time for sleep.



The thing about Bond...James Bond is, I've never really watched any of them. I've seen a couple of the Brosnan ones, but none of the older ones. I've always wanted to, but I just didn't. So, that's why I recorded them when they came on Spike. And was really happy to find out they would play on my laptop.



What I was upset about was some of the commercials Spike ran during the marathon. Three that stuck out were a "Girls Gone Wild" commercial, a "Trojans condom" commercial, and a "Spike: get more action' commercial that feature a swimsuit clad woman coming out of the water.



Before I knew I could fast forward them, I had to let them play (I swear it's true!). I was so embarassed and ashamed of them, I minimized my window so that the little old ladies on the train wouldn't be shocked. Well, that and I wanted to avert my eyes from the almost-porn.



More on my thoughts later.





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Friday, December 01, 2006

another whine, er, rant, er....random thoughts

As mentioned in the below post, during my lunch break I went to the store in the student center. For the last 5 years, I've bought a poster for my dad and gotten it signed by the basketball team. I would go to the basketball office, drop it off the first Monday of the month, and they would call me when it's ready. I thought that was a pretty neat gift that dad always enjoyed.



So I bought 2 posters -- one for dad, one for myself (in the years I've done this, I've meant to, but never did, get a poster for myself. This was going to be the first year). $20 for the two. Had arranged with a co-worker to drop them off next Monday, as that's the first Monday of the month, and I wouldn't be here. Wrote my name/phone number on the back of them. In pen. Then decided to call the basketball office to make sure he could drop them off next Monday.



Imagine how excited I was to hear that there was a policy change, and that no more drop-offs were allowed, but for $20, they would sign a poster and mail it to me.



So now I'm stuck with posters that, while I love our basketball team, I have nothing I can do with them. I like the posters, but I get them for the signatures, not the poster itself. If I weren't getting the stupid thing signed, I wouldn't put out the $10 for it!



Thank you, UNIVERSITY, for once again demonstrating that you're more interested in the all-mighty dollar than you are in good-will towards your fans. You know, like when you started charging the people who actually want to come watch your crappy football team $5 to park at the football games. Because, you know, you don't want ANYONE to show up to them....

World Aids Day

If you are sexually active, use a new condom or latex dam every time you have oral, vaginal, or anal sex. Condoms, latex dams, and water-based lubricants are available for free at the UNIVERSITY Student Health Center and the East Campus Wellness Clinic.



OK, what is that? That is what I was handed today while I was at the Student Center picking up posters to be signed by the basketball players....which is another rant entirely. Anyway, as I was walking out of the center, I was handed a piece of paper with a little red ribbon attached to it. The above is what was on the ribbon.



Now, let me state for the record that AIDS is a horrible plague. I believe that recognition and education needs to be brought to it. My heart is broken for the children who have never had sex, done drugs, nor anything to actively be infected by this horrible plague, and yet contracted it just because they were born to parents who did.



What I have is a HUGE problem with is the "recognition" and "education" about AIDS that goes around. The answer to the AIDS epidemic is NOT to preach "safe" sex (and I use the term very, very, very loosely), in which we say, "if you're sexually active, take these measures....", and it is certainly not to hand them out for free at Universities, but instead say, "DON'T BE SEXUALLY ACTIVE OUTSIDE OF MARRIAGE!"



It disgusts me that people believe the answer to this problem is to hand out free contraceptives to college students! This idea that people "are going to do it anyway, so we want to make it as safe as possible" is bull! It's like the irresponsible parents/guardians who let their underage children throw a party and buy the alcohol for them. "Well, they're just going to do it anyway, so I'd rather them do it at home...." ARRRRGH!



I don't know why I even bother being outraged by the idiocy of the world. Nothing new is under the sun, and the prophets of the Old Testament were preaching to deaf ears. Sigh.





flogging dead horses (was: Convention Stuff)

A week ago, I was treated to a trip to the North Carolina Baptist State Convention in Greensboro, NC. Some people would probably cringe at the thought of spending 2 days in what essentially boils down to one long business meeting, but I happen to really enjoy it. I've heard of "Robert's Rules of Order", but it's really cool to see them in action! Especially when you have deep threading as a vote on a motion to call the question on debate on a motion to amend an amendment! I actually voted against a motion to call the question on a debate, and the 3 folks with me thought I'd lost my mind. In hindsight, there was no reason not to end the debate/discussion, since my mind was already made up (which, I guess, is ultimately why you would probably not want to end discussion -- because you want to hear more in order to cast an informed vote), but I did enjoy hearing what each side was presenting.

The reason I wanted to post today is because I subscribed to "The Biblical Recorder" feed this morning, which is "The North Carolina Baptists' News Journal". There were some editorials on one of the more controversial topics of the convention -- that of what to do with "homosexual friendly" churches. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY THIS IS A BIG QUESTION!!!!

First of all, let it be known that 1) I have homosexual friends and 2) I have a homosexual family member. So, the issue is somewhat personal for me. I talked to people in my church about my homosexual family member.

I KNOW, WITHOUT A DOUBT, THAT IF THAT FAMILY MEMBER WANTED TO COME TO OUR CHURCH, THOSE WHO KNOW WHO SHE IS WOULD WELCOME THEM WITH OPEN ARMS.

When I came back from the convention, my mother mentioned the big, bold headline that said something like State Baptists pass anti-gay ban. She wanted to know why we want to keep homosexuals out when we should be loving them. The media wants to skew the issue. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH KEEPING THEM OUT OF THE CHURCH! We're all sinners! It's not about picking and hating a group of people. I KNOW that homosexuals are welcome in our church. Heck, they can come sit with me and I wouldn't have a problem with it at all. I know that those in our congregation who UNDERSTAND WHO CHRIST IS AND WHAT HE'S ABOUT would have no problem with homosexuals in the church.

So what is it about? It's about standing on the Word of God. And God's Word says that there must be repentance in a believer's life! It doesn't matter what the sin is, there has to be repentance from it.

The question I have for the people who disagree with the Convention's amendment is, if your pastor got up before your congregation and said, "I've been having an affair for the past year. I don't see a problem with cheating on my wife, I will continue doing it, and I plan to continue being the pastor of this church", what would you do? Would you continue letting him pastor your church knowing this? What if he got before you and said he habitually looked at pornography? Stole? Cheated on his taxes? Killed people? Lied? Gossiped? What if he habitually did any of these things, and had no problem with it?

He doesn't need to lead the church. Period. And I believe that most people in the church would agree with that.

What if it wasn't your pastor, but someone who professed to know Christ and wanted to become a member of your church? And they got before the church and admitted they were involved in a sin and had no intention of turning away from it?

They don't need to become a member of the church, because there is no conversion!!! The Bible doesn't mince words on the issue:

5 This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is
light, and there is no darkness in him at all. 6 So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth
. (1 John 1:5-6, NLT)

We cannot have the fellowship with God that He desires if we do not recognize our sin, whatever it is, and repent of it!

Yet, there are people who don't see the same thing with homosexuality.
When it comes to homosexuals, you're seen as an evil, evil monster if you stand on God's Word on the issue. We should just love one another.

Yes we should. Jesus welcomed every type of sinner. He ate with them, He talked with them, He called them as disciples and apostles.

And He expected them to turn from their sin.

We need to love everyone. We need to love them enough to tell them the Truth.

I could go on and on, but I'm hungry and I have a Christmas tree to purchase.

In closing, people seem to be more eager to do the second great commandment than the first....

Thursday, November 30, 2006

Finally!

After doing a lot of looking, I've finally found a third-party blogging client that supports "Blogger Beta". It's a Firefox extension called "Performancing" and it looks and works wonderfully! My only complaint (or, actually, feature request) is that they allow you to open it in the sidebar. Right now, you can open it in a new tab, new window, or you can split your current window with another webpage. One of the things I liked about "Deepest Sender" was the fact that I can open it in the sidebar and still have most of my current window/tab to view. It's a little more difficult with the split screen. I've added it to their feature requests thread. I doubt I put it in in time to make the next release, however.



But, anyway, enough babbling. It's cool to finally find something that works.

Is This really going to work?

If this works, I will be so excited!





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In a blogging (and ranting) mood....

OK, so a co-worker and I were going to the bank and Wal-Mart today at lunch, and I'm stopped behind a car.  On the bumper was a bumper sticker (insert rant against bumper stickers here) that said:

If you don't trust me with a choice, how can you trust me with a child?

Now, the choice being alluded to here is obviously the one of abortion.

So my question is, regardless of which side of the abortion debate you're on, can you not see the irony that, if you've found yourself in a situation where abortion must be an option, THEN YOU'VE OBVIOUSLY SHOWN YOU HAVE A PENCHANT FOR MAKING BAD CHOICES TO BEGIN WITH?  IF YOU DON'T WANT BABIES, 1) DON'T HAVE SEX AND 2) IF YOU'RE MARRIED AND DON'T WANT CHILDREN, THERE ARE VERY PERMANENT WAYS TO PREVENT THAT FROM OCCURRING!  GO FREAKIN' GET SOMETHING TIED!

OK, huge, bold capital letters are now off.  However, the second irony of this car?  There was a "Jesus fish" on the back as well.

While I refuse to call this person stupid or an idiot or any other defaming name that we have a tendency to throw around so casually at one another, I do have to say that complete lack of logic of this person perplexes me.  But, then again, if logic were a strong point to the pro-abortion crowd, they wouldn't allow the nearly unlimited ability to kill babies while protecting the lives of serial murderers, rapists, and child molesters and furry woodland creatures.

I do like furry woodland creatures....but, ask me to take up the cause for unborn babies verses the spotted owl (yes, I know, NOT a furry woodland creature), the unborn babies take infinite precedence.  When America stops killing its babies with wreckless abandon, then we can talk about owls, dolphins, and chipmunks....

'How much do pro-Israel Christians REALLY love us?'

Interesting perspective on the "Left Behind" series from a Jewish POV....

'How much do pro-Israel Christians REALLY love us?'
http://www.jnewswire.com/a
rticle/1445

I just want to say that I love Israel and am incredibly supportive of them.  I truly believe that they are God's chosen people, and, as the apostle Paul said, "I ask, then, has God rejected his own people, the nation of Israel? Of course not! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham and a member of the tribe of Benjamin." (Romans 11:1, NLT).  God has not given up on them.  BUT, the fact of the matter is, Jesus Christ IS the Messiah, and Israel has rejected Him as such....Paul laments in Romans 9:1-3 that he would give up his own salvation in Christ if it meant that the nation of Israel would believe in Him and come to salvation.

Paul mentioned that the "the longing of [his] heart and [his] prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved." (Romans 10:1, NLT).  He was an Israelite himself, and loved his Jewish brothers and sisters.  How much did Paul love Israel?  Enough that he proclaimed (and sincerely, I might add!) that he would give up his own salvation if it meant Israel would repent and believe.  He didn't water down the truth, he didn't stop preaching the Gospel of Christ.  He pressed on, telling everyone he knew.

How much do true, Bible believing, evangelical, pro-Israel Christians love you, Israel?

Enough to tell you that Jesus is the Messiah you've sought for centuries, the One that the prophets and patriarchs spoke about.  He is the ONLY One that can bring salvation to you.

I guess there's not much more to say on the subject....

Friday, November 10, 2006

[twbowes-devotions] Devotion: Little Concessions / Big Consequences

Little Concessions / Big Consequences

Abimelech said, "What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us." -- Genesis 26:10; English Standard Bible

George O'Leary told a lie. He had been newly hired as the coach of Notre Dame University's football team. The university officials performed a background check. They discovered that Coach O'Leary lied about his experience and credentials. Notre Dame discovered that O'Leary did not have the master's degree he claimed to have and they discovered Mr. O'Leary had not even played college football, though he said he'd played for three years at New Hampshire. Coach O'Leary said*, "Many years ago, as a young married father, I sought to pursue my dream as a football coach. In seeking employment I prepared a resume that contained inaccuracies regarding my completion of course work for a master's degree and also my level of participation in football at my alma mater. These misstatement[s] were never stricken from my resume or biographical sketch in later years."

All this went down FIVE DAYS after he'd been hired. Ironically, O'Leary had coached at another high profile school and in the professional ranks for several years under the same lie. It finally caught up with him. His lie cost him his job, it embarrassed him and it embarrassed the reputation of the University of Notre Dame. Commenting further, Coach O'Leary said*, "Due to a selfish and thoughtless act many years ago, I have personally embarrassed Notre Dame, its alumni and fans."

Of course, this being America, he got another coaching job like nothing had ever happened. It's not as high profile as Notre Dame, but a job coaching football.

Abimelech** was obviously a wise man and a moral one as well. He was outraged and bewildered that Isaac would lie about his relationship with Rebekah. If you will allow me a paraphrase: "Isaac, what in the world did you think you were doing? Don't you realize that your attempt at deception could have caused your wife to be unfaithful with one of our people?"

Little lies; little concessions. Rarely do we foresee how far they could go. The best thing is not to tell little lies or make little concessions.

I don't know if we can foresee what MIGHT become of little concessions. Do you think, when Coach O'Leary first sought a job in the coaching ranks, that he ever thought he would be offered the most prestigious coaching job in the entire country? I doubt it. I think he just wanted to get his foot in the door. Little did he know that he would one day work as defensive coordinator of the 1990 National Championship Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Do you think that he foresaw that as the catalyst for many other opportunities? I doubt it, but that's what happened. He probably thought about his lies often, but had gotten too far in to get out.

That's what happens.

I would imagine the same thing happened to Isaac. He probably didn't think he would be in Gerar that long. He only went there because of a famine where he lived (Genesis 26:1). While he was there Isaac got a word from the Lord to stay there (Genesis 26:3). Men asked Isaac about Rebekah; he said, "She's my sister" (Genesis 26:7).

Here is where Isaac failed and where most of us fail as well; he stopped trusting God and started looking around instead of up. God had plainly told Isaac that He would bless him (Genesis 26:3-4). Instead of holding God to His promise, Isaac feared men and made a concession, told a lie. It was just a little thing. Thank God nothing came of it, but MUCH could have gone wrong.

What is the point to all of this today? Let us endeavor to walk carefully, fearing our God in all things, scorning the opinion of men where it might cause us to gain the reproach of God. Tell no lies. Make no concessions that may cause us to sin.

Little lies, little concession MAY lead to big consequences. People may or may not ever realize our wrong. God always knows. Trust Him, even if being righteous in the moment COSTS us something.

Think about it.





*Quotes taken from Sports Illustrated's web site: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/college/news/2001/12/14/oleary_notredame/

**Abimelech -- a common name of the Philistine kings (Easton's Bible Dictionary)


Grace and peace to you from God the Father and Jesus the Son,
Tim Bowes
Romans 12:1-2
http://twbowes.blogspot.com/


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--
Brian Johnson
"And I will be even more undignified than this, and will be humble in my own sight." (2 Samuel 6:22)

Thursday, November 09, 2006

There's this exciting headline....


Israel haters celebrate Democrat gains


So, I wonder who will hang up the "Open Season on the Jews" sign.....

Oh, Iran feels more encouraged to continue with their nuclear plans....

I can imagine the knives sharpening and the saliva dripping off the teeth of all the enemies of the US and Israel over there in the mid-East....

But that's OK, because soon-to-be speaker Pelosi has assured us that once the US leaves Iraq, so will the terrorists....

From her 60 Minutes interview:

"Do you not think that the war in Iraq now, today, is the war on terror?" Stahl asks.

"No. The war on terror is the war in Afghanistan," Pelosi says.

"But you don't think that the terrorists have moved into Iraq now?" Stahl continues.

"They have," Pelosi agrees. "The jihadists in Iraq. But that doesn't mean we stay there. They'll stay there as long as we're there."

Two mornings after.... (was: The morning after....)

This was supposed to be posted yesterday, but alas, not so much....

So, now, two nights ago, on the way home, I listened to 680AM in order to hear what was happening in the election counts.  It was mostly local races, so I didn't gain much info on the national forcast.

Once I got home, I switched on Fox News.  At the time I turned it on, the Dems needed 3 seats in the Senate to gain control of that house, 11 seats in the House of Reps to get that one.

I took a break from it, ended up falling asleep, and then waking up at about 11:30.  I went into the living room to turn off the tv.  I got there just in time to see the "Balance of Power" meter going from "Democrats need one seat in the House of Reps" to a big banner saying, "Democrats have gained control of the House of Representatives".  They still needed 3 seats in the Senate.

So this morning, it looks like they only need 2 seats in the Senate, with Montana and Virginia too close to call.  I *believe* the Dem candidate in both states have a small lead, and know that there will be a recount in Virginia at least.

UPDATE:  The senate race in VA has been called, and the Dems gained that seat, giving them the majority needed for the Senate as well.

A ban on same-sex marriage in Arizona was shot down, as was the ban on abortion in North Dakota.  

And Wednesday morning, Hamas has called Muslims to declare war on America .

I enjoyed Rush Limbaugh's comments on the whole election:

Even though the Republican Party let us down, to me they represent a far better future for my beliefs and therefore the country's than the Democrat Party and liberalism does.

That's how I feel....I am first and foremost a Bible-believing, conservative, evangelical, and heck, let's throw Calvinist in there as well, Christian.  I have my party affiliation because I believe involvement in government is important, and the party I've alligned myself with is by no means perfect, and I don't agree with everything they do (especially as they've moved from their conservative roots....), they're as corrupt and hypocritical as their opponents....

But, we have a system.   And I have to work in it the best I can.  Realizing that, in light of eternity, it doesn't matter.  God is still on His throne, and nothing's going to change that, no matter who's controlling the two Houses.

That being said....

Here's hoping for a better 2008....




--
Brian Johnson
"And I will be even more undignified than this, and will be humble in my own sight." (2 Samuel 6:22)

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

The morning after....

Last night, on the way home, I listened to 680AM in order to hear what was happening in the election counts.  It was mostly local races, so I didn't gain much info on the national forcast.

Once I got home, I switched on Fox News.  At the time I turned it on, the Dems needed 3 seats in the Senate to gain control of that house, 11 seats in the House of Reps to get that one.

I took a break from it, ended up falling asleep, and then waking up at about 11:30.  I went into the living room to turn off the tv.  I got there just in time to see the "Balance of Power" meter going from "Democrats need one seat in the House of Reps" to a big banner saying, "Democrats have gained control of the House of Representatives".  They still needed 3 seats in the Senate.

So this morning, it looks like they only need 2 seats in the Senate, with Montana and Virginia too close to call.  I *believe* the Dem candidate in both states have a small lead, and know that there will be a recount in Virginia at least.

A ban on same-sex marriage in Arizona was shot down, as was the ban on abortion in North Dakota. 

Oh, and as of this morning, Hamas has called Muslims to declare war on America .

Here's hoping for a better 2008....

--
Brian Johnson
"And I will be even more undignified than this, and will be humble in my own sight." (2 Samuel 6:22)

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Election Day Special....

(Or that which, in the end, still gives me Hope.....)

1
Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. (Romans 13:1, NLT)

Today is Election Day....if you're in America, then the last few months have been a bombardment of ads, accusations, pleas, and basically anything to get Joe-Average-Voter out to vote for the "right" candidate.

Right now there's a lot up in the air, uncertainty in both parties about what's going to happen. The Democrats are sure they'll control either the House and/or the Senate when it's all said and done, while the Republicans hope their efforts to reenergize their party was enough to keep the control they have, or at the very least, minimize the hits their party has taken.

I'm not politically savvy enough to even begin to try to make a prediction. I try to stay pretty informed on the issues, but to keep up with everything going on around the country is more than I have time for.

But, I did get out and cast my vote this morning. The last time I voted, in 2004, I voted at my county courthouse. So, that's where I went this morning. Except that's not my normal polling place, that was only it for the Early Voting I did in '04. D'oh!

I was reminded that I needed to go to my normal polling place, 15 min back in the direction of my house. Then, I was in a pickle -- go ahead back to vote, or go to work, and then travel 30 minutes to vote at lunch (going after work wouldn't happen because I spend Tues nights in town). I ultimately decided to vote then instead of lunch, because if I waited, I'm sure there would've been a reason not to at lunch. Then I would've missed my chance.

So, I voted. Quick and painless. The people were friendly. No electronic voting for my neck of the woods (thank goodness, from what I've heard). Got my little paper ballot, fed it into the machine, left. Took maybe 10 min total.

So it was a good experience.

However, whether my guys win or lose, I'm reassured by the apostle Paul. He reminded the Romans that, no matter who's in charge, we're to submit to them because they're ALL established by God. He establishes the people in charge.

Even the ones I don't like. Which gives me hope, because it just reminds me that yeah, they're in control, but God put them there. And He's above all of them.

So, no matter who wins today, no matter what the headlines read, no matter who's making the talk show circuit tomorrow....

It doesn't matter. God's the one who holds all the power and authority.

It'd be wonderful to know that our elected leaders recognized that as well and would submit to that power and authority and let Him guide them.

Pray for our leaders. Pray for our country. Pray for those who will one day be leaders.

Monday, November 06, 2006

What happens in a post-Christian society....

"UK experts call for debate on euthanasia for seriously disabled newborns"


http://www.news-medical.net/?id=20876

When Pastor and I went to the Youth Leader conference a few weeks ago, they talked about the fact that only 4% of teenagers in America are Bible-believing teenagers, and how we have 5 years to turn the trend around. Otherwise, evangelical Christianity will die out in the US.

The speaker talked about how there won't be a spiritual void for long ("nature abhors a vacuum"). England is past its "Christian" hayday. Now there are mosques all over the place and Islam is taking over. It's a place where tolerance and relative morality are preached.

Now they're calling for a debate on killing newborns that are disabled.

Is this the fate of America? Millions of babies have already been slaughtered in the name of "choice" because of Roe vs. Wade. Will America move to a point where it's not good enough to justify those killings, but justifying the killing of newborns who are born with handicaps or disabilities?

/me shakes head
8"You shall also say to this people, 'Thus says the LORD, "Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.

9"He who dwells in this city will die by the sword and by famine and by pestilence; but he who goes out and falls away to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live, and he will have his own life as booty. (Jeremiah 21:8-9, NLT)


I shared this one with my Youth last night during Youth group. It's obviously from Jeremiah, one of God's prophets, telling Israel about the coming destruction for their rebellion.

God has Jeremiah tell them that they have a choice -- either life, or death. He then goes on to tell what brings about each of them. He starts out with the way to death. Ironically, He tells Jeremiah that it's the ones who stay and fight who will experience death. But, those who "fall away to the Chaldeans" will continue to live.

This is why the Bible is so amazing to me! Because, looking at both the Old and New Testaments, you see God's consistency! What He tells Jeremiah in the Old Testament is the same thing He tells us today....in order to live, we must surrender.

It's counter-intuitive. Think about being an Israelite. The Babylonians are coming, invading Jerusalem. The natural instinct is to stay and fight. If you've got a bunch of ugly, foreign invaders coming to you, you don't think, "hmmm, let me drop my weapons, becoming unarmed, and I'll surrender to them." To do that would seem like certain death. To fight, on the other hand, would seem to mean at least something of a chance. Sure, you may end up dying, but you could end up being victorious as well.

But that's not what God told His people. In order to live, they had to surrender to Babylon. To stay and fight would mean certain death.

That's how it is today. God gives us a choice of life and death. To gain life, we must surrender to God and His will. Like the Israelites being led to captivity, it may not be pleasant, and it may be an inconvenience. But God has a plan, and He knows what's best. If we trust in Him and surrender to Him, He will take care of us! It will bring us greater life than anything else we may have for ourselves.

He also gives us the choice to fight. We can try to fight God, trying to do things our way. We can say, "no thanks, God, I'm comfortable here, I'm not budging." We can choose to be proud and not surrender to God. But in the end, that's what leads to death. As Proverbs 14:12 says, "There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death."

What will we choose today?


Tuesday, October 31, 2006

You asked for more....(finally)

Because we all love Weird Al....

Here he is, in probably one of my favorite videos of his.

What really makes this video for me is Florence Henderson. I mean, hello, Mrs. Brady!

OK, enough of that silliness.

Friday, October 27, 2006

a look inside the world of "soft-porn"

Here's an article about Joe Francis, the founder of the "Girls Gone Wild" porn empire.  It's a painful and disgusting look at the effects pornography has.

I need to throw up.

Monday, October 23, 2006

I just want to make a note that on October 23, 2006, it was 2 years ago....

I remembered it then, but didn't get a chance to post on the "anniversary".

Honestly, it is getting easier. I find that a look back on 10/23/2004 - 01/06/2005 with fond remembrance. I had a lot of fun during those months. I don't regret a thing. Well, maybe one thing. If I could do it all over again, I would. Heck, if God gave me the opportunity to do it right now, I would (he'd have to give me an awfully large sign, though).

There's healing, though. God is good!

Monday, October 16, 2006

Keeping things in perspective....

Courtesy of my Mother:

A young man was at the end of his rope, seeing no way out, he
dropped to his knees in prayer

"Lord, I can't go on," he said. "I have too heavy a cross to bear."

The Lord replied, "My son, if you can't bear its weight, just place
your cross inside this room.

Then, open that other door and pick out any cross you wish."

The man was filled with relief and said, "Thank you Lord," and he
did as he was told.

Upon entering the other room, he saw many crosses; some so large the
tops were not visible. Then, he spotted a tiny cross leaning
against a far wall.

"I'd like that one, Lord," he whispered. The Lord replied, "My son,
that is the cross you just brought in."

Friday, October 13, 2006

More Weird Al

During my travels through Google Video, I came across yet another gem:



It brought back happy memories. How?

Back in 1989, I believe, I received the PXL-2000 camcorder. It recorded both video and audio on a standard video cassette. One of my favorite things to do with it was get together with my friend and her brother and make "videos" of Weird Al songs. I believe "Ricky" was the first one we did. I really enjoyed watching someone else who had the same idea.....

I would love to be able to put the video we did up (though Friend would probably kill me if I did -- she threatened back then NEVER to let anyone see that video....).

Watching all this Google Video and YouTube has given me a desire to order a cheapie video camera (can be gotten for < $100 now!) and start doing some of the same stuff....probably not in the same way that I once would've when I was in 9th grade, but I think it's something the youth would enjoy doing....it's got potential, I think.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Oh my word!

Google Video has got to be one of the greatest productivity stoppers ever. I haven't been lured to it because the sound coming from flash wasn't working, so I couldn't watch it on my Linux box. All that has changed! For today, I can view (and hear!) videos from Google and YouTube (which was recently bought out by Google!).

And so a new era begins.

What got me curious is, last night on the way home, my youth were talking about Weird Al Yankovic's latest album and one of the songs from it "White and Nerdy" (parodying "Riding Dirty", which happens to be one of Wife's favorite songs!). So last night I was playing and, just out of curiousity, wondered if you could find music videos on video.google.com. Sure enough, a search for "Weird Al" yielded several of his videos. And so, instead of doing something productive, I give you:

"White and Nerdy"


And the "How White and Nerdy Are You?" Quiz:

You are 36% white and nerdy.
How White and Nerdy Are You?

The David Zucker ad heard round the world

This campaign ad rocks....it's a stark reminder of what will continue to happen if the enemies of the United States (both outside and within the US borders!) are permitted to continue in the direction they seem to be going.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

It's 2:53am....

I'm generally not one to suffer from insomnia.  It's been a long while since I last had any problems going to sleep.  This morning is different.  I was awakened by the sound of messages going to my phone.  I started leaving it on loud because I'd been missing important work related pages that I really needed to know I'd gotten.  That said, it's also susceptible to spam being sent to it.  At 2am.  So I got some, woke up, and couldn't go back to sleep.

I came out here to the study.  I ordered flowers for Wife.  When I was in college, I would send her "just Tuesday" presents.  The first one I got her was a Muppet calendar.  I brought it to her dorm room.  When she asked what the occasion was, I told her "because it's Tuesday".  From that point on, any present that was bought for no reason was called a "just Tuesday" present.

25 For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church.   (Ephesians 5:25, NLT)

My prayer for my marriage is that I will love Wife in the same way that Christ loves the church.  And yet, I know I fail so badly.  I know that I've caused a lot of hurt for her, unintentionally, but still there.

YFCRED reminded me that "delayed obedience is immediate disobedience".  It was in reference to my calling into the ministry.  I felt the calling as a Junior in High School.  I originally went to school with the intent of going into the ministry.  But I got distracted and lost that focus.  I didn't answer the calling until a few years ago (for anyone doing the math, it was 11+ years later).  He mentioned that because of my disobedience, there was a lot that had to be undone.

I think my marriage is like that.  When I first got married, my focus was not on loving Wife like Christ loves the church.  My focus was on me, and what I thought I was missing out on, in impressing people, wanting to do what I wanted.  During that time I had a wife that wasn't perfect, but who loved me very much and did so much to try to please me.  She got nothing in return.

There's a lot that has to be undone.  If it's not, then none of the options are pretty....

In one of the many conversations Wife and I have had during the last few days, I've been reminded that ultimately, nobody really knows me.  I don't think it's intentional.  I don't think I set out trying to hold back my true feelings and emotions.  I just....do.   Though now, I have to admit, the less contact I have with people, the better.

This past weekend, I went to go visit a friend in the hospital.  This person is an incredible person, whom I love very much.  They've been an indespensible part of several Youth trips we've taken recently.  When I went to see them, on one hand I was sad to see them there.  On the other hand, I was jealous.  To just be able to take some time away would be nice.

It's 3:33am now.  I'm supposed to get up in an hour and get ready for the gym.  I haven't been in a week and a half.  I hate that.  I hope I still remember what to do.

I just put in some time with my Ultima Online account.  I enjoy playing UO.  I once explained to Wife that I enjoy Ultima because I can kill things and not feel bad.  My character is good, so I only kill the bad guys :)

I think I'm going back to sleep now.  Hopefully.

--
Brian Johnson
http://khelek.blogspot.com
"And I will be even more undignified than this, and will be humble in my own sight." (2 Samuel 6:22)

Monday, October 09, 2006

Everybody Run....North Korea has a nuke...

With apologies to Julie Brown.

The big news today is the nuclear testing that N. Korea did over the weekend.  They've been over there screaming for some time that they had the ability for nukes, and we've more or less dismissed them.  Now, they've tested it, trying to see what sort of reaction they'll get.  They're like children -- children like to see how far they can push their boundaries.

If I were a betting man, I'd say that this will do nothing more than bring about another round of talks, negotiations, sanctions, and "tsk, tsk, bad communist dictator!" hand slapping.

I'm convinced that the only way  some people in this country are going to wake up to the real threat our enemies pose is when something is finally fired our way that takes out part, if not all, of the United States.

Then it'll be too late.  And when we all wake up the next morning as glowing, radioactive clams, the liberal clams will be pointing whatever passes as fingers on clams at President Bush, saying, "he didn't do enough to protect us".

If this is not taken seriously, I'm afraid it's going to be open season on the United States by everyone that hates us.  Which is pretty much the entire world.  Except Israel.  And possibly England.

Am I being overly paranoid?  I don't think so....

--
Brian Johnson
"And I will be even more undignified than this, and will be humble in my own sight." (2 Samuel 6:22)

Reconciliation

7 Now go and tell his disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee. (Mark 16:7a, NLT, emphasis mine)

I don't know about anyone else, but I've managed to upset a good number of people. Some weeks, it seems to be on a regular basis. And I'm pretty sensitive to it too; it upsets me when I believe I've made someone angry. And so I try to make things better as quickly as possible. It stinks when you want to make something right, but you don't have the oppurtunity, or worse yet, the offended person isn't ready to talk yet.

As I was reading Mark 16 today, this particular verse jumped out at me. It's part of the exchange between the angel at Jesus' empty tomb and the women who had gone to annoint His body. Here we see the angel give the women a message to pass on -- that Jesus was alive and would meet them in Galilee. The beautiful part is, it was a message to His disciples, "including Peter".

Why is that significant? Because the last time Peter had seen Jesus was the night He was dragged away by the religious leaders and the other Jews. Peter had followed and watched when they took Jesus away. Prior to that, Jesus had predicted that Peter would deny Him, and Peter vehemently denied the prediction. Yet, while waiting in the courtyard outside, when asked if he knew Jesus, Peter did just as Jesus had predicted. In Mark's account, "Suddenly, Jesus’ words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny three times that you even know me.” And he broke down and wept." (Mark 14:72b, NLT)

Not a good way to end -- after that, Jesus was "tried" and sentenced to death on the cross. The only disciple to be there at the crucifiction was John. Peter never had the chance to apologize to Jesus. I imagine those last moments were pretty hard on him.

But in that angel's words to the women, there was hope. Why mention Peter specifically outside of the other disciples? If Peter reacted the way I would've, I imagine he withdrew from everyone else in his shame. I imagine he felt humiliated, after making such bold claims. Although Mark's account doesn't mention another disciple there, in John 18, there was another disciple in addition to Peter (probably John himself, as Peter and John are often seen together, and John doesn't refer to himself by name in his Gospel). If John was there, perhaps Peter felt too ashamed to feel a part of that group anymore.

By mentioning Peter specifically, it was Jesus saying, "tell Peter it's OK". Amazing! Peter didn't have to apologize, it was Christ making the move of reconciliation! What we see is a small glimpse of the overall picture of the cross! Peter didn't have to go to Jesus, Jesus gave Peter an invitation to Him! We never went to God and said, "I want a relationship with You, please make a way." God wanted us to have a relationship with Him, and He made the Way, He gave us the invitation to Him!