Video of AJ Jacobs

I loved the book, and this video shows the author sharing his experience while writing it.

Book

Video

Really great benediction

I feel a little bad posting this, as I don't know who I should attribute it to, but I do want to remember it.

May God bless you with discomfort at half-truths, easy answers, and superficial relationships, so that you will live deeply and from the heart.
May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and the exploitation of people, so that you will work for justice, freedom, and peace.
May God bless you with tears to shed for those in pain, so that you will reach out your hand to them and turn their pain into joy.
And may God bless you with just enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this old world, so that you will do those things that others say cannot be done.
The blessing of God, who creates, redeems, and sanctifies, be upon you and all you love, this day and forever more. Amen.

Lots of stuff

I am in Louisville at the Presbyterian Young Adult Volunteer Placement Event. For those volunteers that are interested in serving overseas they all show up and interview with all the coordinators of the various sites. Several of us that are national site coordinators are around to help and provide guidance if folks decide they would like to serve somewhere in the States. It has been a great experience. I helped the coordinator from India conduct his interviews, had some great conversations, and just enjoyed the process.

Some phrases that make me smile....

"I like the mathiness of philosophy, and the philosophy of math."

"Oh, your parents are a Miami merger..."

-------

I am "stuck" at Louisville Seminary for a week. The placement event ended this morning and now I am attending an additional meeting that doesn't start until really tomorrow. While reading the bulletin board (a habit wherever I go) I saw that Kelly Brown Douglas was giving a lecture here. I thought "wow, that is so cool." Then I looked at the date, "Oh crap, I will be here!!!!!" Kelly Brown Douglas is a theologian that we read in college that I have written about, analyzed, and even used her work liberally in my master's thesis. I love her!!!! And I get to meet her tonight. I am so excited, that doesn't even begin to cover how excited I am about this! I know having this reaction to a theologian makes me more than weird...but I have accepted that.

Board Games...

We sure do love our board games, we like old games like monopoly and RISK but we love playing these recent games like Settlers of Cataan and Carcassonne more and heres a cool article about the creators of those games

Clicky

A few things

I picked up Kristas cold so thank god for Sudafed....

We've been talking about how we want to design our new apartment coming soon, and while Krista has plenty of Chicago geek posters I don't have so many, looking to this as a chance to do some geek decorating I proposed we decorate on of the rooms in old movie posters. Amazingly Krista agreed! I went a googling for a poster I've always loved seeing at the woodfield mall movie theatre, it's a print of the original title of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi actually titled Revenge of the Jedi, original prints cost...$1000 looks like I can only find the reprints with the logo Return of the Jedi for $16 and not the one that says "revenge" but I think I'll keep looking theres no way I'd pay $1k for a poster!

Heres a pic of it:

“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: ‘What! You, too? Thought I was the only one.’” (C.S. Lewis)

another quote

Do not be afraid to ask dumb questions. They are easier to handle than dumb mistakes.

- Unknown

Another quote

if life is a banquet, what am I doing at the Shoney’s salad bar?”
Karen Lee

Quote

Who I am really keeps surprising me.

- Nikki Giovanni

Extreme Sheep Herding

debt

Debt.

Isn't that a "fun" word. Now I have my share of debt(just student loans) but most of my life my father and I have had issues because we have almost identical names(he's a Sr and I'm a Jr) and just last night I got a voice message saying that I was being "invited" to court for something this freaks Krista out as we have enough debt as it is(see theres that word again) and I give a call to them and as usual it's my father they are looking for. Of course they didn't look at my birthdate or SS #. I think they just did some kind of search for a phone number with my name on it and massed called all my names in the chicago area looking for him....all is good though and no more debt for me.


(oooh look at that 2 posts in a day for me)

Shoutouts to some blogs/websites

I look forward every morning to these great blogs

Not Always Right - a blog about bad customers in customer service, every day there are at least 3 great stories.

Cake Wrecks - Bad cakes that are usually misspelled or just poorly done, plus there are great cakes shown once a week.

This is why you're fat - Awesomely bad food that sounds delicious!

Lifehacker - a blog for various software, they always find interesting applications I never thought I needed

Thats all for now anyone else have interesting blogs?

heard along Congress Parkway

Jim: doing dishes from the last week You know, when I cook I use a couple of pans and pots all week...lots of cups, dishes, but not hard stuff

Krista: You can start cooking then...

Jim: Ah no, that would be a waste of your talent.

Krista: Thanks

Jim: No, I am serious, your stuff is good, I just make dinner, you seem to invent dinner.

I didn't pay him to say that, and I know that he loves that I cook...just hates the dishes.

Geeky Spouse Link

Jim showed me this story. Wow, glad to know others "suffer" (aka laugh at) this stuff too.

Click here for Annoying Geek Spouse traits

Quote

Barbara Brown Taylor

"Here I am. This is the body-like-no-other that my life has shaped. I live here. This is my soul's address."

Quote of the Day

To swear off mistakes is very easy. All you have to do is swear off having ideas. Leo Burnett

Good will commerial

I am having a hard time with my clothing fast. I am away from home, and often to pass time in the evenings by shopping in the mall, or Borders, or Thrift stores. So I did that today - went to the mall. Boring if I can't shop for clothes. I walked around for awhile and came back to the hotel. This fast is really showing me how I might be able to spend my time in other ways that are more life-giving.

A funny spin on this is: a goodwill commerial came on the TV about a half hour ago.

A man dressed in a uniform explaining how to shop at goodwill. (He did well.) Then the tag line.

Find the very thing you weren't looking for.

Fun!

Does anyone else remember Weekly Reader?

I have been thinking about Weekly Reader a lot lately. My passion, when I was a kid, was maps. I had them all over my room and as an earlier post attests my favorite show on PBS was Where in the World is Carmen SanDiego. I remember Weekly reader in general, but the only article I really remember is the one talking about "maps in cars". I remember being really excited and telling at least mom if not dad about cars would eventually have computers with maps on it. I still remember the article, so it most have been something really striking!

Well, I have been thinking of that article, because now I have a maps in MY car. GPS has become in the last month a cool gadget that I don't just think is something fun for Jim. I can live without it, I can't recommend it for everyone, but a weekly reader future report came about in my lifetime, in my car. A victory for education!