Who is Craig and Why Does He Like Lists?

Most of you have probably heard of Craigslist. It's a free classifieds website where you can post stuff. What stuff? Any stuff.

I like it because it's local. eBay has the search local feature but you can never find anything. It keeps things manageable and orderly. There's a page for the Lansing area (link above) that I peruse regularly (at least 4 times) every day waiting for that oh-so-special-whatever that's ridiculously under priced. I mean where else could you buy one of these for 50 bucks? I mean you'd probably never use it, but what a great deal!

I could spend myself into oblivion on CL just for the deals. So... Very... Tempting...

I was curious to find out how it works so I did what any rational Internet using fellow would do. I looked it up on Wikipedia (another of the 7 wonders of the Internet, oh Wikipedia the hours I have willingly sacrificed at your semi-accurate knowledge altar!). I was intrigued so I figured I'd pass on the useless knowledge.

Turns out that CL is actually, first and foremost, a Job board. This is how they make their cash. There are about 10 cities where they actually charge a few bucks for each job posting. Everything else in every other city is free. The whole thing is run by 24 guys (disclaimer: there's probably women, 'guys' here is generic) in a house in San Fran. They get 9 billion page views per month and refuse to allow advertising on the site (for now). The founder of the site (Craig) still works in customer service working hard to kill off the spammers (not them literally, just their craft) that sometimes spoil the fun.

Their CEO is described on the CL website as "Possibly the only CEO ever described as anti-establishment, a communist, and a socialistic anarchist..." Sounds like my type of guy!

So next time you need a new blender or a free sofa, hit up the CL site for your particular locale and try not to blow your wad.

P.S. I'd stay clear of the personals, the discussion forums, and several sections under the 'services' category. Not good things. And watch out for scams. CL is local for a reason. Always deal face to face and never send money to have something shipped to you.

Adventures in Commuting and Insights into the Spiritual Life of One Particular Commuter

I am, for the time being, a commuter. I have been for the past year and a half. Not so much because I really really like commuting. Not even so much because I really really like my job because I don't. And certainly not because I like commuting 2 hours every day to the 3rd most crime riddled city in America. I commute because they were the only ones willing to pay me.

So considering I've been doing it for a year I guess I should count myself blessed that I have not experienced a lot in the way of commuting related problems such as...oh, I don't know...black ice.

Oh wait, yeah I just did that yesterday!

Yesterday on my way to work at 8 in the morning I decided to get off the highway half way and get myself a coffee and, well heck, donuts go so great with coffee anyway. So there I am headed onto the exit ramp to my unoffical regular Dunkin Donuts stop.

The roads had not been bad, they were a little wet but I didn't see any cars in the ditch, everyone was going just as fast as they normally do and it wasn't all that cold out. So when I hit my breaks on the exit ramp I didn't expect to start sliding around.

Nor did I expect to slide all the way off the road, up a hill, back down a hill, and find myself stopped facing the forementioned exit ramp. And since my car was still running and I was already poised to resume my trip. I just got right back on and took myself to the forementioned Dunkin Donuts (although I no longer needed to cofee since I was high on adrenaline).

I parked and checked my car out expecting quite a bit more damage than I found. A little dent from hitting one of those refelector stick thingys, A little scrap from who knows what, a lot of grass evenly spread over my car, one edge of the front fender is no longer attached correctly. But I have to say that I believe I was blessed by God to not have anything worse happen.

I called my husband when I got back on the highway to let him know that we should probably get the car checked out and I found that my turn signals are not currently working (we haven't figured that one out just yet). So he came to Flint in the afternoon to take exchange cars with me so he could take a look at it. Considering we have to drive to Illinois tomorrow night and his car is not the favorite to take on long trips, I really hope everything is fine.

Looking back on the event, I'm really dissapointed with my internal monologue. I was always hoping I was the type of person to see disaster and turn to my Lord and Saviour and offer my soul up to His mercy, instead I found mtho have to call a tow truck, I can't afford a new car, and how and I going to tell my husband I just ruined a car!"

I figure this is because I don't always think to pray about little matters, therefore why would I pray about the big ones? However, I am happy to inform you that I neither screamed nor swore. I'm sure I was shocked mute but still...

So, I suppose this kind of thing happens to everyone once in a while, I really hope this is the first and last time for me. After the initial shock wears off, during which I function on auto pilot while my brain shuts down and reboots, I have a tendency to shake and giggle and cry all at the same time. It makes for rather humorous phone conversations with your husband: "Are you alright?"

"Yeah (giggle giggle sob)".

"Are you sure? Do you want to come home?"

"I'm ok (sob shake) I'll be fine in a little bit (giggle sob shake sob)"

The Return of KITT Sans the Hoff

Well here we go on the 'everything old is new again' train. NBC has decided to resurrect the Knight Rider series. I don't know when or how solid it is but here's the reference.

Wow, I mean wow. They're really scraping to get this one. Was that series really that successful? I mean, don't get me wrong, I loved it as a kid. It was the coolest thing around. But I was 10. Could I really judge? I found it totally believable that a car could be built to withstand a missile strike, drive 200+ mph, and be nearly waterproof. I mean look at the features on this baby. In fact I was sure that there was a car out there who really talked and spouted sarcasm and wit from every one of his 1 billion dash board buttons and hypnotizing lights.

And how could they choose a Ford? Are you serious? I know my audience is not particularly car savvy here but you've got to do better than a Mustang. If you're so out of material that you have to trot out the Knight again at least be true to your roots. Make it a throw back worthy of the low standards of acting/writing/directing/camera work/plot lines of yesteryear (meaning 1982-1986). Even though the Pontiac Trans-Am line ended in 2002 you could at least stay with the Pointiac line. Maybe a Solstice, or a GTO, or hey I know an Aztek. No wait all those are butt ugly. How about a Vibe, oooh thats....not it either. OK so maybe not a Pontiac, let's look to the GM brand in general. My pick: the Aveo. And if not that then one of these.

Alright so there aren't any GM cars that would do it in this day in age (cars that go 200 mph and get 5 mpg aren't really hot sellers). The Corvette is the last bastion of excess put out by GM. But alas would not do for KITT. But neither will a Mustang. Slim pickings in the 'American' sports car genre.

What they should really go for is the new all electric Tesla. It's lean (very sporty), mean (0-60 in under 4 seconds (which is really fast, your Taurus for instance (Ben) 12+ seconds with your foot through the floor (yes, Dan, I just upped your multi-parenthesis record, muhaha))), but most of all green. Very PC for NBC.

Alright I'm running on empty battery wise and you're running out of interest in this post. So we'll say this:

Good luck Ultra-Cheesy-Hoff-Replacement-Guy (or Girl) and try not to fall asleep at the wheel.......again, and again, and again; KITT can only drive so much before the system crashes. Especially if it's based on Windows.

Full House

At the risk of writing my second straight post without any comments, I'm going to stay with the political theme and suggest a new method for choosing our presidential candidates. The voting process has proven its own inadequacies again and again, and processing electoral math has many Americans more dumbfounded than if you had asked them to balance the federal budget.

To that end, I now propose a new selection process for our Commander in Chief which will no doubt prove more accurate in the choosing of the best possible candidate. Poker.

All of the skills needed to deal with foreign heads of state and a Congress run by the minority party, are honed and proven during a tight game of poker. While seven-card stud and texas hold 'em would be excellent gauges, I think the swings and the multi-dimensional thinking of a game of Omaha Hi-Lo would best suit our needs for finding a new POTUS.

The merchandising and endless TV airings of the machinations of this grand tournament would be worth a fortune. We eliminate the estimated $1 billion (per candidate) cost of running a presidential campaign, and add only the costs of the TV production and of course, don't forget to tip your dealer.

Obama plays poker. Ron Paul has become an advocate for legalizing domestic online poker. The only loser here might be Mike Huckabee.

And think of the precedent this could set for settling future political quagmires. At an impossible disagreement over immigration? Settle it at the table, boys. Or maybe it's high time that President Bush cemented his legacy by resolving the long standoff between Israel and Palestine over a quick round of five-card draw.

Press conferences announcing new policies would be a dream. What exactly was the administration's rationale for this radical new energy reform bill? "Simply put, we missed an outside draw, and Harry Reid took it with a high pair!"

Speaking of press conferences, this has got to be one of the BEST ever:

how do i get on TV?

I’ve been in and out of the Amazing Race this season. This is a show that Erin and I can watch together, bonding through the 60’ of drama and idiotic commercials. We have a little more interest in this season than others, because we actually applied for this one. Made a quick tape, filled out a survey and turned in all the paperwork. And can I just say that the survey is very unnerving. It may have been taken right from some sort of couple therapy book. Questions like “when did your partner most disappoint you?” (look up application)

Anyway, we didn’t even make the next round of interviews. Then I see the season premier and I realize why. We don’t have a hook. Look at current season’s contestants.

A Goth couple, all decked out in pink and black
A lesbian couple, who also happen to be ordained ministers
A couple who had only been dating for a couple of weeks
A couple ready to take their relationship to the next level (ie marriage)
A grandpa and his grandson
Overachieving brother and sister

What did we have to offer? Normalcy. A marriage going on 7 years in good shape, a child, a house. Nothing too fancy. Shouldn’t that have been our hook? Middle America? I suppose we could have talked up the religion angle but without sexual deviancy to go with it, that chance would have lacked punch.

So my new idea is to research a fatal but active disease and use the angle, “Hey I’m dying from this weird disease, I’ve only got a couple of months, and my wife and I are big fans of the show and want to share our final moments together running around the world.” The Make A Wish route. Seriously, who wouldn’t be for that? Every week has the added tension of our elimination, which would mean not only is our race over but that glimmer of hope before my impending death is gone too. Tears, people, tears.

So I’ve got to his webmd and figure something out before next season. I’d say I’d keep you updated but obviously it’s a secret.

At the library last week I picked up “Rolling Stones Rock n Roll Circus.” I had not heard of some of the bands on the agenda, but picked up to watch the Who and the Stones. The show opens with a bizarre entrance of famous musicians and circus performances. Really weird.

The first act up is Jethro Tull, and the only thing I knew about them was that the main guy was a really good flute player (thanks to listening to Bob and Tom). Absolutely amazing. They played “A Song for Jeffery”, and I strongly suggest you look it up on youtube. I plan to search for more songs and see if they are something I can get into.

Next up is the Who, and they blow the roof of the place. I mean it is only a big top after all. How Peter Townsend can play guitar like that, I’ll never know. And Keith Moon on drums. The band is out of control. Great performance of “A Quick One. . .”, a song broken into 6 different parts. Bizarre.

They are followed by Taj Mahal. Great blues sound, and I looked them up and the main guitar player is Jesse Ed Davis, a full blooded Native American, who played with all the greats and died prematurely in his early 40’s.

After Taj Mahal is the definition of the supergroup. The Faces had a some big names and let’s not forget Velvet Revolver, but imagine John Lennon, Eric Clapton Keith Richards and Mitch Mitchell together. They were for one glorious moment as Dirty Mac. See wikipedia entry below.

The Dirty Mac were an English supergroup consisting of John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and Mitch Mitchell that Lennon put together for The Rolling Stones' ill-fated TV special entitled The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus. Recorded on 11 December 1968, this was the first time that Lennon, who was still with The Beatles, had performed in public without the other Beatles after the Beatles were created. The Dirty Mac recorded a rendition of the Lennon-penned Beatles track "Yer Blues" and then went on to back up Yoko Ono and violinist Ivry Gitlis on a track called "Whole Lotta Yoko" (which was essentially an extended blues jam).

Finally the Rolling Stones came on, and performed a full range of music, from slow and contemplative to rockin out. I looked up the notes for the show and the Stones came on stage at 5am in the morning after 17 hours of performance and set up. Their set culminated with a truly mezmarizing performance of “Sympathy for the Devil”. I know the Stones are has beens and should hang everything up, but what I would have given to see them in their prime.

eBook 'em Danno

The proverbial 'eBook' has been talked about for some time. Predicted by some to spell the end of paper books and give inexpensive access to millions of book titles for everyone.

Early eBooks were plagued by short battery life (after all who wants to have to plug in your book to a wall outlet) and poor screen quality causing massive headaches and very strong squinting muscles. New players from Amazon and Sony have promised once again to put an end to print and paper. 'eInk' technology is what is supposed to sound this death knell; a screen that has 'as good or better' quality for your words and phrases and cliches than print and it only uses the battery when the screen changes pages so you can sit until your butt is black and blue and still have power to spare. Sounds great.

Maybe not.

First of all there's something strangely satisfying about hefting War and Peace or the Brothers Karamazov (Russian books, why not?) and turning each and every page from front to back. It's the difference between hiking up a mountain and driving up one. Both may be fun to some degree but you really miss that sense of accomplishment when all you have to do is push down the pedal and turn the steering wheel.

Next, do we really want the cost of publishing to go through the floor? My head goes reeling just walking in the door of Barnes and Noble or some other bookzilla store as it is. The sheer number of authors and titles is enough vertigo to make Emily Dickinson toss her tea and crumpets. Just imagine if you had the selection that you have in the blogosphere in the published book world. When I reach for a book about theology do I really want to reach out and get any old crazy who published whatever he wants? "Oh look at that, according to this 'scholar,' Jesus was really Mark Twain abducted by aliens in the tail of a near by comet in 1892. It must be true this is a published work."

This is the reason we have a system in place. Editors, publishers, costly printing processes, etc. The idiots out there need to remain safely in their obscurity having as little influence as possible.

But who knows, maybe we've lost the battle already. Heck, your reading this blog and the button below says 'Publish Post.' That must mean that I have something to say that deserves a hearing! Actually I'm just an idiot with nothing to say at all. At least, not anything that hasn't already been said.

Free Tids and Bits...

Yes! It's everybody's favorite bit. Now it's time for the part of the show were Crystal talks about random stuff in no particular order.

First up, let me just say that the spectacular renovation on my kitchen just recently completed by my wonderful husband and I will be available on my personal blog very shortly with before and after pictures in 3-D! Nope, just regular old two dimensional pics, just be happy they're in color.

I've been on "vacation" for the last 8 days. I say "vacation" because that's how I'm getting paid but I wouldn't say it's been an actual vacation in that renovating a kitchen really doesn't send you back to work with that refreshed feeling that I believe real vacations are supposed to. However, I'm hoping that counting down the 4 days of work I have before my Christmas Holiday will help me get through.

Then, should all go according to my devious plan, Ben will get a job, we'll sell the house, and I can turn in my resignation with a double deuce flourish and not have to go back there ever again.

Anyway, on to other tids (since that was an overlong bit) I took a "vacation" to see 'I am Legend' tonight (not to be confused with "Legend", the only Tom Cruise movie worth seeing) I won't give you any spoilers because typing the entire plot of a movie just doesn't sound like a good time right now. Needless to say, in my own professional opinion, it made me happy, it made me sad, it was good, then it wasn't so good. I went away feeling unfulfilled. There was an awful lot of subplots in the movie that could have been expanded but they chose not to. So many times I would get excited about something only to find it glossed over or completely forgotten later on. It actually felt like a short movie because the real depth was never probed. You spend the whole movie waiting expectantly for the climax only to find the credits.

Golden Nibblets of Knowledge. Advertisers should really consider making a lot of different commercials for the same product instead of flooding the airwaves with the same freakin' commercial over and over again. Is there anything more annoying at Christmas than terrible advertising (hmm, made for tv christmas movies?) I encourage all advertisers to consider taking their boring or annoying commercials to the next level...CLAYMATION!

My favorite, by far, of all the 'mations out there, nothing makes insipid advertising as almost palatable as the age old art of claymation. Many advertisers seem to be using it this holiday season. I say to you, what can be more appealing than Santa's belly that shakes and jiggles like a bowl full of Claymation! Jelly? I think not. And so many other commercial characters out their are somehow less abrasive and more adorable.

A Fishing Metaphor Gone Wrong. We'll since Ben's graduation was Saturday, we've become more and more intent on finding him a job. He's had lots of nibbles on the bait but so far, no takers. Which is almost a little offensive since, in this metaphor, Ben himself is the bait. Employers keep emailing and their first questions in "what's your GPA?" and when he tells them, we never hear from them again. It's like giving the bait a nudge and deciding it's not to your taste. When in fact, Ben is quite good bait, he's a hard worker, he knows what he's doing, he's a team player, he's honest and ethical. They really don't know what they're missing, all they need is one taste of that tasty Ben and they'd be hooked. Right now we are currently waiting (with fingers crossed) to hear back from three (yes, THREE) different companies that have all "nudged the bait" with the age old question. Now, we'll see if any are willing to open up and swallow.

Sorry I went a little buck wild on the labels.

Let's Have A Party

Despite a broad base of support and his own marketing blimp (yes, a blimp), Ron Paul is hearing a lot of conversation these days about how he should run for President in 2008 on an independent ticket. Yes, another modern-day Ross Perot has entered our midst, and although Mr.Paul is thus far resisting such talk, mistakenly believing that he can actually win the Republican nomination, it seems inevitable that we will have a big-name 3rd party candidate yet again. If it's not Paul, rumblings are that it might be Michael Bloomberg.

Either way, the idea that any candidate outside the two-party system could win the White House is a fantasy. Granted, an attractive fantasy - can you imagine the diplomacy that would be forced to take place with a two-party Congress and a third-party President? - but a fantasy nonetheless. Our country hasn't had an "independent" Prez since George Washington, and that was only because the parties hadn't formed yet (He eventually went Federalist, the commie!).

No, my friends, the only way to get some traction here is for us to come up with a new political party that we can use to push out one of the existing political parties. Heretofore, I am accepting suggestions for a name for our new party that will march American history in a bold new direction! It may take us many decades to acquire the prominence we will need to become one of the top two vote-getters, but once we're there, we'll be able to polarize, dicker and deal, and play the traditional give-and-take with the other suriving party, to continue to accomplish the glorious nothingness that already works so handily in Washington.

Who's with me? I know one place I can start - I'll just buy Crystal's vote.

And of course, a post like this about American political parties just wouldn't carry the same weight without the immortal words of the Monty Python troupe:

scifi and studio 60

Recently Erin and I have started watched “The 4400.” Basically 4400 people disappear over 60 years and then all return in a great ball of light, without having aged a day from the day of their disappearance. For instance, an eight year old goes missing in the 1940’s and when she returns, she is still eight. The 4400 are released back into the general public, which does not go smoothly.

The hook is that each of the 4400 has a power that is to prevent the end of the humanity in the future. Future generations captured the 4400 to alter them and then sent them back to alter the course of the human race. For comic nerds, imagine “Rising Stars” except the ball of light doesn’t imbue fetuses with power but rather inserts human at various ages and ethnic backgrounds into the general population.

Right now we have begun season 2 and are interested to see how it plays out.

We have also started another new show. Due to hiatus of house because of the writer’s strike, we have had to go to plan B. Tom brought over Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, which to be fair is a ridiculous name. Studio 60 would have been more than adequate. Look at Sorkin’s previous shows, “SportsNight” and “West Wing”. Short and to the point. But I digress.

We watched the pilot in place of House and let’s just say you have to be paying attention. Things move and they move fast. The show covered a lot of ground quickly and set the groundwork for some interesting plot lines. Of course the show only lasted a season, which is a good sign. Shows that seem to be critically acclaimed, whatever that means, and get cancelled quickly are usually shows I can get into. “K Street” and “Boomtown” come to mind. We shall see if Studio 60 fits that mold.


As for the big screen, I watched “Déjà Vu” last week. It was great for a while, intense, intriguing story line, typical Denzel Washington vehicle. In the end, I could suspend my belief for so long.

** Spoiler Alert**
Basically the movie deals with how humans and our puny little minds understand the time/space continuum. But that doesn’t even matter. Forget the Einstein bridge and wormhole, etc. I don’t get it, don’t even want to. If this is reality fine. If, by sending items/humans/whatever, back or forward in time as we understand it, we can affect this present reality, fine. Forget all that. That’s not important to the believability of the film. Denzel gets shot and loses a lot of blood, while driving, mind you. Then he “cleans up” saves the girl, gets on the ferry and saves the crowd. HE GOT SHOT. I’m no doctor and I didn’t stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but he goes back in time and has to have the defibulator used on him; then is shot; drags what’s her name from a shed that explodes; drives back into New Orleans while holding a handkerchief on a gun shot wound; cleans up at woman’s apartment (to further develop the romantic aspect of the story line) and throws a little gauze on wound; and then manages to have the energy to run around and distract the bomber in order to save the girl and the hundreds of passengers. All I’m saying is don’t jerk my chain. Have him do his heroics but have him do it within the bounds of reason. Don’t have him get shot. Don’t have him suffer a concussion because of his proximity to a major explosion. Just think before adding layer upon layer of action and special effects.

A Holodeck for Your Computer

Here's another tech blog for you coming in a bit late (supposed to be on the weekend) but here none-the-less.

Today we're going to go deep into geekdom and talk about a really old technology that's enjoying a revival of late. It's called 'virtualization.' Here's what it is.

Most of the time (like this time I'm using to type up this post) your computer is running along not really being used to it's fullest potential. Similar to the previous post's brain analogy. So, to use that time would make your computer more efficient and you'd get a bunch more done right (just nod your head)?

Virtualization takes advantage of this fact by running more than one computer on your computer.

Here's a brief summary of how it works. If you've seen Star Trek you'll get the following references if not, sorry. In Star Trek the holodeck is a place you can go that will create a world for you to interact with as if you were interacting for real. It is 'virtual' in that sense. They make software that can do the same thing. This software creates another computer, a 'world' if you will, inside your computer that's all virtual. So you can load a lame operating system like Windows XP or a more venerable one like Linux or Mac OS X and then load all of your programs as if you were loading them on the real computer. But then you can create another one and load Windows XP again (for your wife/child/other) and let them use that one. So, just like all the coppertops in the Matrix your operating system is none the wiser that it's really running in a fake world with fake memory and a fake processing unit.

So why oh why would you ever want to do that? There are many scenarios but consider the following. How many computers do you have in your house? The average family has at least one computer per member and some (like me) have more. So with virtualization you could buy one physical computer and monitors and turn that one computer into 4. Wierd. But imagine the electric bill!

Now imagine that you are a big fan of the Macintosh operating system but you really need to use Quicken but all you have is the Windows version of quicken. No sweat. You can fire up your 'virtual' copy of Windows XP with Quicken loaded on it and go to town bouncing those checks.

Well, that's probably not quite what your looking for when visiting the cultural tap, ah well. Feel free to comment where it falls for you on the geek-o-meter.

I'm Still Counting This As Friday

I'm working on a new theory.

Scientifically, it would be a really bad theory because I don't have the correct format for a hypothesis. But maybe my 8th grade science teacher was just too picky. Let's see if I can make this work.

Basically, the gist is: "If it is incorrect to disdain God for certain characteristics we have projected onto Him or misunderstood, is it then also incorrect to worship God under those same misguided pretenses?"

I've heard it said that we despise most in other people what we see in ourselves. So whenever I find myself despising certain things about people I often wonder if I'm doing the same thing or something close to it.

So in college when I saw people who seemed to be worshiping for the express purpose of getting their warm fuzzies, I wondered if it was possible my worship were also not up to par. I decided that I see one extreme from the "warm fuzzy" populace, but I often see another extreme in my own. Sometimes I worship quite literally. Worship is to bring before God an act that implies his worthiness. Sometimes I'm all about the act. I am so focused on giving God a song or a prayer because He is worthy that I simply leave out the heart and soul of it. I set my feelings completely aside.

To a point, it works, I'm focused. I'm not so caught up in a melody that I don't even know what I'm saying. I used to refuse to sing "Lord I Lift Your Name on High" because I can't stand the song, and high school youth group made up hand motions for EVERY SONG and I just couldn't take it anymore. However, at some point I decided that I was going to sing every song in worship because it's not about what I like and dislike. And it is silly to think that we can only reflect on Gods worthiness by doing something we like and that makes us feel good.

But I think it is detrimental to keep your heart and soul from getting involved. I'm not allowing the full experience, one can never give to God without receiving back in return. So I can understand when people get emotionally involved in the song they feel like they are worshiping "more" and going away blessed because of it.

This leads me to wonder, what about God are people worshiping exactly? What characteristic of God makes people want to stand up and sing? I have to think each person, through experiences and learning, chose those characteristics that appeal to them, that they feel God is worthy of praise for. I feel like each persons experience with God which leads them to worship can be so completely different from the next persons that it must be near impossible for our vision of God to be anything alike.

And more so, how are we all worshiping in unity if we are all worshiping a separate characteristic of God? Can we really be unified if someone is worshiping God's mercy while another is worshiping Gods wrath and justice, even while singing the same song?

Is it really fair to God that we pick and choose what about Him we want to worship? I know how futile it is to even mention "fairness" in God's relationship with humankind. Up until this point, nothing has been fair. We pick only our favorite characteristics to worship Him for but He told Job that He is worthy no matter what happens or what He does or does not do. My brain is about to have a seizure trying to comprehend that, I can't imagine trying to embrace it with my heart!

I have trouble giving God any decent worship when I feel my prayers are going unanswered, that's all, just a little unanswered (as of yet) prayer and I can't hardly focus on God's worthiness. Can I imagine trying to do the same after losing my family, my wealth, my friends, all of my belongings, and my health? My brain is too small to even begin to understand the depth of Gods worth even when He has gone against us.

We want God to play by our rules, we want our Jesus in a little white box so we can take him out and (kiss kiss kiss) and share him with a friend. When, in reality, God's worthiness is so far beyond our understanding that there are times I sing and say in my mind, "God, You are so worthy that I have no idea why or how much or what for" and I can't imagine that my act of response to that worthiness is even a drop in the bucket.

Again, I've heard it said that people only use 10% of their brains power. I often wonder if God is saving the rest for Christs return, because it will take the whole of our mental capacities to comprehend the worthiness of God.

"Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."

Short and Sweet

I've had a couple of busy days and was not able to post on my "assigned" day of Wednesday. I've often wondered, and may have even posted this on a former blog I kept, but have you ever wondered why insane people only do bad things? I can recall hundreds of reports on TV about people who do horrendous acts claiming insanity, and sometimes found not guilty.

Why don’t we see a headline that reads, "Man goes insane and in a fit of calmness bakes thirteen dozen cookies for the local food bank." Or, "Woman insane, just snaps, and puts all clothes away instead of leaving them on the bed!"

It is only the bad that ignites the insanity defense.

music, SEC football and the Matrix

Thanks to Pandora, my two new favorite groups are Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and the Doves.

BMRC is raw garage rock that kicks some serious ass. I have even considered buying their new album, an errand I haven’t done since I can’t remember. As for the Doves, they have more of a pop sound, but that’s ok. I checked out one of their albums at the library and I’ve since found more songs through Pandora. Good stuff.

Last week there was a cover of Nirvana’s Lithium on Sit or Spin. Absolutely horrible, and thankfully the panel all agreed with that assessment. Essentially it was the song interrupted by really old techno. You have to hear it to believe it.

Moving on . . .

I’m just going to say that the SEC football season of 2007 has been one of the greatest sporting events in my life. Maybe second only to Man U’s treble in ‘99. Almost every week, there was dramatic game with huge plays and high stakes on the line. LSU beat Florida by going for it on fourth down 5 times and making it every time. UK beat then #1 LSU in overtime. Georgia scores their first touchdown against Florida and the entire team celebrates in the end zone. How great is that? Then Thanksgiving week, Arkansas beat LSU in triple overtime to ruin LSU’s season and that was followed by UK coming back against Tennessee from 31-14 in the fourth quarter to force overtime, of which there were FOUR. UK had a chance to win the game in one of the overtime periods with a field goal, which was blocked and almost returned by UT to win the game. Amazing. So if there’s a bowl game with a SEC team in it, watch. Based on this season you won’t be disappointed.

Went back in my video collection and watched the Matrix again. What a great movie. There is no such thing as perfection so the flaw in this jewel has to be Keanu Reeves. The rest of the cast is so good and it is such an interesting, mind blowing story that his poor performance is made that much worse. Even watching time after time, you can't get away from his deer in thead light surfer dude projection. Anyway, I still don’t get everything, and that’s fine, but after watching it again, it really made me wonder why they had to make the second and third ones. Sure the Merovingian is interesting and the conversation with the Maker leads to all kinds of existential discussions, but why couldn’t have the story just ended with Neo flying up into the sky and that be that? The answer is money of course and that sucks.

Mr. Harris' Wild Ride -- Part THREE

In which The Harris Family arrives in DC, Dan skips any reference to the events of his vacation in Olney, Maryland, and the story picks up on the return trip to Toledo as if no time had passed whatsoever:

If you recall from the previous entry of this story, Jeff, Nazy, and Katie all deboarded in Pennsylvania, never to be seen again, and the train continued on towards our final destination in Washington, DC. Specifically the Baltimore Train Station (more on this later).

All my new friends were gone, and a tired aching settled in, so I headed back to find my parents sleeping. I stretched out on the two seats available to me and tried to get some sleep. This went OK, but in my sleep my feet kept poking out into the aisle, and my mother, who was across the aisle, seemed to wake up every time this happened and woke me up to get me to move my legs in so that people could pass more easily (they weren't really out very far, as I was curled into a fetal position (this being the only way to even partially fit across the seats in a semi-horizontal position)). Surprisingly, these interruptions occurred frequently enough that I was not really getting a whole lot of sleep. I wondered why she felt this responsibility to keep me out of the aisle, but didn't feel the need to get the other 30% of the passengers to move any part of themselves out of the aisle (obviously I knew the answer to this question, but you who know me know how irritable I can be when my sleep gets interrupted constantly (I was, for a change, controlled enough not to blurt something angry in an attempt to be left alone, and I assume this could only be because I didn't want to spoil any one's enjoyment of the trip)).


Whatever.....


Anyway, we finally made it to the Baltimore Train Station which was, to say the least, gorgeous. Neo-Classic Roman architecture that was breathtaking, with a ceiling almost too high to seem realistic, and along the top of all the walls, gigantic statues of ancient figures loomed, looking down on us weary travellers, that we may arrive and depart safely under their protection. That's the most poetic way I could think of to say, "Hmmm... Nice statues."


My Uncle Jimmy picked us up and we headed to Olney, MD.


A week later, Uncle Jimmy dropped us off at the Rockville Train Station. We had discovered that there was this much closer train station located a mere 20 minutes from my Aunt & Uncle's house. Way more convenient than the hour and half + trip to/from Baltimore. This was a much more understated crossroads, with nothing special to report about it whatsoever. Train Station. Neato.


We hopped on and headed back towards Toledo. I slept (or tried to sleep) through a great deal of this part of the trip. A few beers from the club car (observation room in upper level) helped to add to my drowsiness, but I still found it nearly impossible to get comfortable.


Tired from my Maryland exploits, I felt less adventurous when it came to locating fellow passengers to kill time with, so settled in to some MP3's and hoped for a speedy arrival in OH.

About a quarter of the way through the trip, after the conductor (a female this time, and no less dick-y than her male counterpart) informed us there would be no stops long enough to catch a smoke for 2-3 hours, I started to consider breaking Amtrak rules again and locating an unobserved bathroom. However, about 10 minutes later, an announcement came over the PA. This was perhaps the most unusual public announcement I've ever heard in my life. The guy giving it sounded like Bill Lumbergh and seemed to have no idea what he was about to tell us. Several umm's and uhh's later, he actually started to get to some kind of point.


"Uhhh... Just so you all know... ummm... There is no, uh, smoking allowed on any Amtrak railways.... so... if you could just.... you know.... not do that.... uh, on the train.... that'd be great.... uh... yeah, so we caught someone... ummm, smoking in the bathroom.... and, yeah... that's actually, um, against the, uh, Amtrak regulations.... If, ehhh.. If, if we were to catch anyone doing this, you can, uh... you can expect to be banned from riding with us in the, uh, in the future.... "


The above was not exaggerated. In fact, it went on quite a bit longer than that. Of course, my mom is looking at me the whole time, mouthing the words, "Was that YOU!!!" Naturally, I informed her that, of course, it was not me... I'd been sitting in my seat for quite some time anyway. (Of course, I was in no mood to suggest that it might have been me. (Although, later at a smoke stop, I met the guy who I'm pretty confident was the loser that got busted, and he was pretty stupid. I'm confident I wouldn't have been caught anyway))


This was possibly the most exciting action on this part of the trip.... sooooo... moving on.....

I slept off and on as people boarded and deboarded. As the trip went on, there were fewer passengers deboarding than those boarding, so eventually I actually had to share my seat. This really sucked, because it was already uncomfortable enough without having to sleep upright. And as it turned out, the nearly impossible time I was having getting some sleep became almost completely nearly impossible. I must have slept some, because songs I was listening to kept turning into different ones mid-beat, but it was all exactly that kind of sleep where you blink and it's later.... so... crappy sleep.


We arrived in Toledo, and as we were getting off the train, who did we see but none other than ANDY the DRUNK! Turns out he and Marge, his mother, had not left us forever after all. We discussed our respective trips while waiting to get on the bus from Toledo to East Lansing. I was way too bored with travelling to get very excited about this, though. I was tired and didn't feel like getting too close to Andy, who was sick the entire time he was gone (apparently, he caught some bug after my fated drinking of some of his beer, because I still had had no ill effects). It was nice to see them again, as it felt like some kind of neat bookend to this whole train experience that I was at first enjoying immensely, but had since discovered that I was merely enduring.


While sitting in the lobby (this went on longer than planned because the other train that was carrying passengers who were supposed to take the same bus as us, was running REALLY late), Pop had found another friend to talk to. He was a Larry, a large black salesman of some kind. He had apparently been put upon in some way due to his being black, and they were discussing this. What had happened was, he was chatting with a passenger seated next to him on the train and the man in front of him got pissed off and basically yelled at him, telling him keep it down! Larry the Salesmen felt that this was racially motivated because the white man who told him to shut up seemed to have no problem with the white women in a nearby seat who were also having a discussion. This seemed plausible in light of a dialogue I had been subjected to during a smoke break on the train somewhere along our path. Two unseemly individuals were talking about the "dark" area that we were in and, basically, how they felt about that. My reply was a drawn out "Okaaaaay....." and a furrowed brow followed by finishing my smoke alone.


Anyway, skipping ahead a tad, we finally got on the bus, and Larry sat in front of me papa, constantly turned around a bit in order to discuss further topics with him. I fell asleep to the sounds of Larry discussing vitamins, exercise, products, etc. with my father. I slept through the whole bus trip and next thing I knew we were back in good ol' East Lansing. Pop later informed me that Larry the Salesmen did not shut his mouth the entire trip. Even when Pop would pretend to go to sleep so that he may actually get some sleep, Larry would tap him on the shoulder to open up a new topic. Turns out, Larry is pretty much just really annoying, and we questioned whether or not his claims of being racially abused were actually in any way related to the color of his skin. Perhaps Whitey on the train just wanted to get some sleep (as it was like 3-4 in the morning when the incident took place). Alas, we will never know for sure.... The Shut Up guy was at least rude to not ask nicely first. Ah, race relations. I could go on all day....

So.... that's it... we got off the train, and my brother Ash drove us to my parents house. I grabbed my car and headed back to Okemos.


Anti-climactic, ain't it?


Sorry about that... couldn't be helped. The trip back was just kind of boring. And since you all got to enjoy the more interesting parts, I don't feel too bad about you having to put up with this section, admittedly not well written, due largely to the fact that it was almost as boring reliving it as it was living it.


The good news is, I will not be writing anymore too-long stories for a while. Ah, who am I kidding, I don't know any other way to write.... but I'll probably keep em all in one part from now on.... you lucky devils....


Love,
Dan

Technology on Tap - TV Shows On Demand

Alright, so 'streaming' has been around for a long time. Internet radio has been the bane of businesses for 10 years. 100 people listening to 100 different radio stations tends to saturate the very expensive Internet connection that said business is ponying up for.

Since I work in technology, it's my job to make sure that you (the rogue Internet radio listener) are blocked at every twist and turn in the dark back alleys of the Internet where you find unsanctioned radio streams that do everything in their power to get around guys like me.

Thus I was reluctant to try out 'TV on demand' as it is a similar technology. That and I'm generally slow on the uptake for new tech because, even though I'm a tech guy, it is not something that I breathe in and out. It's a job and like anything else that you do for 8 hours a day for 5 days a week, it gets old. Don't worry I still like to talk about it so don't think that you can't ask me to fix your scrap heap of a computer (Tom) when it decides that it's had enough and finally chokes on the dust you've been feeding it for 5 years under the desk.

With that rambling tangent out of the way (you do ramble on Blogs right? I'm new at this). I've been watching the show 'Chuck' on NBC's website. It's nice. Full screen doesn't work so hot, neither does 'large' so I leave it alone as is. They have four episodes back which is a bit annoying since their is no way in Sheol that I'm buying a box set. I like that you can watch anytime, don't like that you have to watch THE SAME commercial about 6 times throughout the show. It's 30 seconds but come on. How many times can I watch some guy (who by the looks of things does not need the product their hocking) run UNDER water through a pond bursting fourth on the opposite side because, since he took Excedrin, 'nothing can stop him?' Does Excedrin have both lead (to weight you down) and oxygen (to keep you breathing) so you can run with fish? Perhaps swimming is not tough enough looking.

Now that I've successfully completed my second tangent, I'll comment on the show 'Chuck.' It's supposed to be a geek show that geeks can identify with. Being a geek myself I'll give it a C+ to B- for geek accuracy. For the record the vast majority of geeks do not know Klingon or speak regularly about the work of J.R.R Tolkien. Perhaps I am not as hard-core geek as I ought to be -- I'll work on that. After all art imitates life, right?

The show's plot is catchy, and the 'Buy More' is great. Overall the show doesn't try to take itself too seriously and pulls the geekiness off pretty well. I laugh multiple times during the show which is usually a good sign. It helps having the guy who played Jane on Firefly along for the ride.

So despite my reservations I've really enjoyed the on-demand internet TV shows and might even try some other ones. Suggestions?

People I Can Look Up To...

According to this article on Themorningcall.com. "Travel company operator Hal Taussig buys his clothes from thrift shops, resoles his shoes and reads magazines for free at the public library.The 83-year-old founder of Untours also gives away all of his company's profits to help the poor -- more than $5 million since 1999. He is content to live on Social Security."

Apparently, he only takes a $6,000 salary from the company he founded. If he has any money left at the end of the month it goes to charity. He only takes a salary in the first place because the government thought he was trying to get out of paying taxes (ironic huh?). Most of his money goes to helping people with very low interest loans.

"While big corporations give away more money than Taussig, Cohen said, the donation could be ''one-half of 1 percent of profits while Hal gave away $5 million and that's 100 percent of his profits.''

In his own words he tries to make capitolists. ''They should be self-sustaining. You give them money and they run out and you have to give more. But if you give them a way to make a living, it's like teaching them how to fish rather than giving them fish.''

This is a guy I can get behind, this is the kind of giving I would like to see more of. But it's hard. I certainly wouldn't do it. At least not at my age. I don't have my house paid off, so there's that I have to consider. And I don't get Social Security (and personally if I had enough money at that age I wouldn't take it) so it looks like for the time being I have to consider saving money and paying for big expesive things like housing and retirement and all that fun stuff.

Although I'm sure at times Ben can see the relief in getting rid of money. While Ben is so busy with his final week of school, paying bills and balancing the check book are always hanging over his head. Sometimes, especially when things are busy, it would be nice to not have to worry about money.