Thursday, June 26, 2003

Fred over at Future Margins has a really fascinating article about how he would “recontruct” the church today. Some from more traditional backgrounds may shudder at his ideas, but I think they deserve some thought and consideration. For instance:

A deconstruct would be required before reconstruction would happen. Have a Saturday morning work crew physically remove all the pews and sell them to a church that’s stuck in the modern era’s passive “sit and soak” style of assembling. Plan and redesign your space using small round coffee shop tables and chairs. Be very specific in the way you arrange your tables and chairs. A circle configuration may seem like an open egalitarian idea, but often people clam up when they sit in a circle. Circle arrangements can become very intimidating while sitting in the open with nothing to hide behind. Consider a half circle arrangement of chairs and tables with the facilitator freely roaming the floor in front.

I just created a separate reciprocal blogroll to make my roll a little more manageable. I hated to do it, but with over 100 blogs in the list, it was getting to be a challenge for my reading.

So I moved the “Biggies” (that I rarely read, but want to have linked) to their own mini-list at the top. And then I moved the blogs that I rarely read (I’m sorry about this folks!) that I have linked because they linked me first to their own “Recip-Roll” list below the main blogroll.

Please don’t send me email asking why you were moved - you weren’t deleted altogether - be happy about that.

What’s crazy is that there are still close to 100 blogs in the main list. So I’ll have to pare that down a bit more - and that may involve deletions. *gasp*

Wednesday, June 25, 2003

So I had The Drew Carey Show on, but I wasn’t actively watching. But for some reason I looked up to see Timmy from Road Rules (Season 2?) on, engaging in dialogue with Drew!

Timmy! Our favorite Road Ruler! (At least he’s my all-time favorite.)

*happy sigh*

LW and I went to Wal-Mart today because it was next to the Pizzeria Uno where we were going to pick up lunch. We planned that, smart of us, huh?

She needed to go to WM because she’s defecting leaving for her vacation in San Antonio tomorrow and needed to pick up a few things. Yes, she and her husband are from Texas.

Anyway, I was pushing her cart for her and we were in the pet aisle so she could get dog food, kitty litter, and fish food (along with her two kids, she also has a dog, cat and many fish). While she was pondering the choices of dog food, I was perusing the dog toys. One in particular caught my eye, so I picked it up. That was a bad decision.

LATER: Still squeeking.

Alan K. Henderson has an excellent post called, ”What Defines Christianity.” (Surprisingly, the b*s permalink is working!)

Ralph claims that Christianity should be based only on the words of Christ - that the Old Testament and the writings of Jesus’ apostles have no authority with regard to the philosophy Jesus taught.

This common misunderstanding fails to take into account several points. For those of you who brought your Bibles, turn to Matthew 5:17. During the “Sermon on the Mount,” Jesus states:

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

As I was driving in this morning, I heard this interview about a survey where teens rate adults on various categories. Apparently, we adults aren’t doing too well.

In its fifth year, the National Teen Report Card on Adults asks teenagers across the country to grade adults on everything from “being honest” to “protecting the environment.”

In some areas, the adults just do not seem to be getting the message: Their grade on listening and understanding slipped from a C last year.

“They don’t really listen to us,” said Charles Kuykendoll, a 14-year-old from Chicago who helped present the report card at a news conference Tuesday. “But maybe if they see it on the news, then they might.”

Since 1999, adults have not managed an A yet—the highest grade this year was a solitary B on providing education—and they have only inched up from an overall C to a C plus.

I don’t think so, and I don’t think that’s the problem, although teens may think we’ve forgotten now that we’re old. I think it’s that many adults (parents) don’t act like adults (parents) around teens. We want to be liked by them, so we let them get away with stuff that we wouldn’t have been allowed to get away with.

There’s a generation of parents out there who just won’t parent their kids. They want to be buddies with their kids, unlike the relationship they had with their own parents. And so we have kids who have rarely been disciplined or taught manners or expected to work for what they get.

I think this survey says that that method of parenting isn’t working. But that’s just my two cents.

LATER: Tony has some good points as well.

I didn’t know until this morning that the Atlantic Coast Conference was looking to add to their number - by inviting schools from the Big East to join their ranks.

There are two universities getting the wave from the ACC - Virginia Tech and Miami (FL).

I dont’ know how I feel about this change. In Virginia, it will definitely make the rivalry between The University and Tech a little more interesting. And for those who care (of which I am not one), the Florida State-Miami rivalry (if there is one).

LW is addicted to Dr. Pepper. She just came from the Big Toe™ with a Pepsi in hand.

What are we going to do if she can’t get a Dr. Pepper today?

Looks like we’ll be making a stop at the store when we pick up lunch today.

This time we’re working on the clickable function. Things may not work for a bit.

I know you’re so disappointed that you can’t comment on my pearls of wit and wisdom.

I’ve mentioned the Merge of Madness™ before. It’s Telegraph Road North exit area where folks from the west (in VA) and north (from MD) come together off of I-945 (the Beltway) in Alexandria. From that exit there’s another merge for folks turning onto Pershing Road.

Here’s my hand drawn map of the area. My artwork doesn’t completely convey how dangerous this area is, so I’m going to attempt to draw it in a little more detail and add it later.

UPDATE: Here’s the close up of the merge area. And I reduced the size of the other picture as well.

So I’m trucking along at the front of a pack of cars cruising at 60-65MPH on the Fairfax County Parkway when all of a sudden this 18-wheeler decides he needs to pull out from the residential area on the right to go left on the other side of the highway.

The Range Rover in front of me (he was in the right lane, I was in the left) managed to swerve to the shoulder while slamming his brakes. I slammed my brakes but had nowhere to swerve, so I laid on the horn while checking to see how close the cars were behind us. I could hear tires squealing behind me too.

Fortunately, we all managed to stop safely - no accidents.

What was he thinking? He had our whole side of the road blocked because there was steady traffic coming from the opposite direction.

Idiot. (Let me say that’s not the word I really want to use, by my mother read this. The word I want to use starts with “dumb” - I think you can figure out the second half.)

I won’t even bother to complain about the two accidents on Braddock Road that had traffic stopped before the Beltway.

On another note, I have drawn the Merge of Madness™ here by the office and I will post about that separately with the artwork.

I have seen this site at a couple blogs today. Since I’m interested in brain stuff, I thought I’d go ahead and take the test.

Your Brain Usage Profile

Auditory : 50%
Visual : 50%
Left : 58%
Right : 41%

Jen, you are somewhat left-hemisphere dominant with a balanced preference for auditory and visual inputs. Because of your “centrist” tendencies, the distinctions between various types of brain usage are somewhat blurred.

Your tendency to be organized and logical and attend to details is reasonably well-established which should afford you success regardless of your chosen field of endeavor, unless it requires total spontaneity and ability to improvise, your weaker traits. However, you are far from rigid or overcontrolled. You possess a degree of individuality, perceptiveness, and trust in your intuition to function at much more sophisticated levels than most.

Having given sufficient attention to detail, you can readily perceive the larger aspects and implications of a situation or of learning. You are functional and practical, but can blend abstraction and theory into your framework readily.

The equivalence of your auditory and visual learning orientation gives you two equally effective sensory input systems, each with distinctive features. You can process both unidimensionally and multidimensionally with equal facility. When needed, you sequence material while at other times you “intake it all” and store it for processing later.

Your natural ability to use your senses is also synthesized in your way of learning. You can be reflective in your approach, absorbing material in a non-aggressive manner, and at other times voracious in seeking out stimulation and experience.

Overall you tend to be somewhat more critical of yourself than is necessary and avoid enjoying life too much because of a sense of duty. You feel somewhat constrained and tend to sometimes restrict your expressiveness. In any given situation, you will opt for the rational, and learning of almost any type should be easy for you. You might need certain ideas explained to you in order to fit them into your scheme of things, but you’re at least open to that!

[via dave and chewie]

Tuesday, June 24, 2003

At least that’s what my favorite new channel is calling the case of the nurse’s aid who hit a pedestrian and drove home with him lodged in her windshield where she proceeded to let him suffer and eventually die of his injuries while she agonized about what to do went on about her life.

There is no excuse for her behavior. I have no idea what her defense is going to be, but there’s no way it’ll get her off the hook for this one.

Both prosecutors and defense attorneys say Mallard smoked pot, took Ecstasy and drank heavily in the hours before she hit Biggs and then parked the car in her garage without calling for help. The defense says Biggs’ death was an accident, not murder.

Prosecutor Christy Jack says Mallard could have sought help for Biggs at a fire or police station or called an ambulance.

Mallard, 27, faces life in prison if convicted of killing Biggs, 37, whose body was found the next day in a park.

[...]

Fort Worth fire Capt. Jim Sawder testified that Biggs’ best chance of survival was within 25 minutes of when he was hit.

“My opinion is that there is not a member of the Fort Worth Fire Department that could not have saved Mr. Biggs’ life with basic life support care,” Sawder said.

It’s a simple enough thing, right? Make a phone call.

I hope she rots in prison.

I (well, really it’s Bill) am working on the smiley issue for my comments. See all those error messages? It means we’re really, really close to getting them working.

Right, Bill?

And I have to say A BIG THANKS to Bill for his technical support today. You’re a good, good man.

UPDATE: Things may or may not look a little weird. Please excuse any weirdness here at the blog. I’m not weird! The blog has issues…

UPDATE (9:25pm): Bill is the greatest! The smilies are working. Because of his hard work his blog gets linked as “tech support 3” in my NAV at the right. Doesn’t seem like much for his efforts. Thanks again.

I can’t find a link, but when I was sort of listening to Neil Cavuto this morning, he was interviewing someone about how miniskirts may indicate a bull market.

The idea is that as women (consumers) are feeling more confident their skirts get shorter and the economy booms. The guy said you could track this from as far back as the 1920s. Apparently, skirts would get short to show of the stockings, which were expensive. As the economy tanked and things got tighter in people’s wallets, the skirts got longer again because women couldn’t afford the luxury of stockings.

Wacky idea, but interesting, no?

UPDATE:  Here’s a link. [Thanks, Tommy]