Monday, November 24, 2003

1.  Tony, my apologies for dumping out of our conversation last night. My computer locked up and required a reboot. I opted to just turn the thing off altogether since it takes 8 minutes (yes, I’ve timed it) to finalize a boot up.

2.  I turned to the local CBS station to catch the end of the late football game so that I would know when to set my VCR for Cold Case. The game ended at about 7:38pm, so I set the timer to start at 8:35pm and to end at 10pm, just to be safe. I then putzed around for a while waiting for 9pm…

3.  Whereupon I settled down on my sofa to watch Alias, only to discover that the local ABC affiliate was showing the Redskins game that I had decided not to watch. *sigh* So I watched the game, which was wonderful and awful: a) Spurrier does have a nose for talent; b) Hasselbeck played great when he was needed; c) Ramsey is tough, but he’s not Superman - our offensive line needs to protect him (haven’t I said that before?); and d) the Redskins sure do know how to lose in spectacular fashion.

In the “Where Have I Been” category: how long has Dave Wanstadt been with Miami?

During the game a crawl ran to say that Alias would be aired about 2 hours after the game ends. I was dedicated dumb enough to stay up until the end of the game so I would know when to set my VCR.

4.  At the end of the game, I decided to rewind the tape to the very end of Cold Case. When it got to the place where I expected it to be, I pressed “play” to check and saw the Hallmark movie, so I rewound some more and got to the end of 60 Minutes. I fast forwarded through the commercials and then that Hallmark movie started! They didn’t even run Cold Case last night! So I imagine that people who tuned in at 9pm for the Hallmark movie were a little unhappy to see that it had been on for 20 minutes already. Not such a smart move by CBS if you ask me.

5.  In good news, I checked my tape this morning and Alias taped in full, thankfully.

I know, it’s just television, but it doesn’t make it any less aggravating.

Sunday, November 23, 2003

So I’m watching Fox News Sunday - the repeat on Fox News Channel. Tony Snow teased his “Parting Thoughts” by saying something about the death of a great man 40 years ago. After the commercial, he started in about how yes, Kennedy was killed on November 22, 1963, but another - perhaps a greater - man also died on that date. Who?

C. S. Lewis… (for a really good tribute, see Jared’s post at Thinklings.)

Snow then went on about Lewis’ journey from agnosticism to Christianity and how he was a scholar who taught us to search for Truth in his writings. I’ll search for the transcript - it was very well said.

Thank you, Mr. Snow.

You are Fresh Mint.
You are caring and friendly.  You have a nurturing
personality and always help out a friend in
need.  You are fairly outgoing, and always show
a friendly face.  You truly care for other
people, and you show it.  However, you may
neglect your own responsibilites or become over
involved in your friends’ personal affairs.
Most Compatible With: Orange


Which Tic-Tac Flavor Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

You believe in doing the right thing, but aren’t
always sure what that is.


What is Your Shakespearian Tragic Flaw?
brought to you by Quizilla

I agree with the first half, not so much the second half. I’m pretty decisive when I know something is right or wrong.

[via Chewie]

Saturday, November 22, 2003

It’s the weekend. I’m at home alone on a Saturday night. There’s nothing on TV. It’s time for another wacky internet quiz! Fasten your seatbelts…

Yeah, OK. I caution you about making snarky comments before you test yourself...post your results in the comments, if you dare.

From my other favorite tin foil hat wearer:

Today is the 40th anniversary of the assassination and subsequent cover-up of President John F. Kennedy.

Yes, I think our own government did it. No, I have no proof.

The trailer for Timeline is great. What they show is almost exactly what I pictured when I was reading the book. I love that. I’m trying to keep my expectations lower so that I won’t be disappointed when I actually see the movie. Another reason I’m excited about it is Neal McDonough (also from Band of Brothers and Boomtown) - he’s a really good, deep actor. I can’t wait! Woo hoo!

So Master and Commander was excellent. It was a bit long, but when it ended I was ready for more. And that seems like it’s contradictory, but it’s not really. You have to see it. Russell Crowe is such a good actor - he’s the Gregory Peck type of this generation, imho.

This movie will be nominated in many categories - most especially for sound and sound effects. There wasn’t a lot of music, but there was a lot to listen to. There were times when I felt that I was on the ship with those men. The creaking, the splashing, the clunk of cannon, the clip of shoes on the deck. Fantastic.

***TECHNICAL SPOILER AHEAD***

I saw Russell Crowe on David Letterman a week or so ago. Dave asked him how much they shot on the water and how they did the special effects. Crowe asked if Dave was referring to CGI as was used for The Perfect Storm...they used very little, he said. Instead, Peter Weir had camera crews on various parts of the ocean in the area where the action takes place - they shot from ships at sea to get realistic shots of the waters, storms, coastline, etc. Then they added the close shots of the crews on the ship replicas and the long shots of tall ships at sea. Brilliant and so worth it - it was very realistic and well done.

***SPOILER OVER***

I love the movie and I’m ready for the franchise. Start regrowing that magnificent hair, Russell!

I have another busy Saturday planned:

1. Small group - eggnog French toast for breakfast, a Bible study about worship, good hang out time with some very cool, very sweet teenaged girls.

2. Movietime with Mom and Dad - we are going to see Master & Commander this afternoon.

3. Tea Assistant to Mom -

< commercial >

My mother has a tea business called Tea For All Reasons. She gives workshops on how to give a proper tea and she and her partner (of sorts) have teas and tea accessories for sale. If you’re interested in one of her workshops, she starts back up in the spring. Check out her website for info.

< /commercial >

Anyway, the point of that free plug was to explain a little that I’ll be helping my mother put together her tea packets for a local tea room that ordered something like 2 pounds worth of tea. My mother blends her own varieties in addition to carrying pre-blended teas. She was going to start working on it last night, so depending on how much she got done, I’ll help her to finish.

4. I don’t know what’ll happen next, although I need to watch the shows I taped this week, which includes CSI (the 2 hour special from last Sunday) and ER (which I already know sort of what happens because someone didn’t put a spoiler warning before he blurted it out).

5. And maybe I’ll work a little on the December template. I’ve decided to go with the Christmas theme for after Thanksgiving into Christmas and then with the winter template after the New Year. I have a background and now I need to find matching colors, change the masthead and tagline to match, and modify the CSS and .php files.

And now I’m off to get ready for small group. Check ya later!

Friday, November 21, 2003

James at Outside the Beltway has started a new meme - the Beltway Traffic Jam - links for the evening rush hour. He was kind enough to link me (and possibly scare off readers) - he linked the post warning commenters to play nice.

For your driving pleasure, a few faves you can pay visit to:

Bryan
Cootiepie
Tony
Jared
The Thinklings

I’m headed for that rush hour traffic now. More later…

I’m slipping, although I still hold a slight lead:

jenspeaks—493.22
Jaynee—486.50
DenisS—447.20
amancini123—398.00
AceRocks—356.99

Magic Wok:

LW and I will be sharing Steamed Dumplings and General Tso’s Chicken with fried rice.

YUM!

I was impressed that folks were able to have a rational conversation about spiritual things in the comment thread for my post responding to Dean Esmay’s renouncing of Christianity. Until someone decided it was OK to resort to name calling - I deleted the epithet in the comment.

Watch the language and do not call anyone who comments here by a derogatory name - EVER.

We can disagree on any topic. We can debate it. I welcome dissenting points of view in the comments because I think it’s important for us to understand where we’re coming from. But I will not tolerate profanity, berating insults, etc. If you go down that road, your comments will be deleted and your IP banned. Got it?

Let’s be civil with one another.

Thursday, November 20, 2003

I read A Single Southern Guy’s newish link round-up called The Kissing Booth. This week’s edition includes my older posts about my general contentment with my single status and a rebuttal post based on disbelieving questions/comments from Mr. Cootiehog. Since they are older posts, I thought I’d link them here:

Feng Shui for Your Love Life

AND

My rebuttal to Mr. Cootiehog’s questions

Feel free to add your 2 cents.

LATER: I just noticed that he took my question for his “Ask Adam” bonus section of the Kissing Booth. I haven’t read it yet, but be sure to check that out too! Thanks, Adam.

Generous George’s Positive Pizza & Pasta Place:

LW, KR, and I are sharing the Rosemary Chicken Florentine and the Old Naples.

Rosemary Chicken Florentine - bowtie pasta with grilled chicken, mushrooms, red peppers, crumbled bacon, spinach in a white garlic sauce.

Old Naples - sweet Italian sausage in red sauce with a hint of ricotta on bowtie pasta and melted mozzarella.

Here’s what’s great about GG - the pasta is “plated” on a big fluffy pizza crust. One pasta-pie can be split into 3-4 hearty meals. And it’s cheap - we have coupons - so each pasta pie costs maybe $5.

LATER: I’m searching for a link to the restaurant - they used to have a webpage, but it’s not working for some reason. So I’m looking at the search results in Google, and I see the following link:

USDC Eastern District of Virginia - weird.

And I just found the link and added it above. There’s no “s”...tricky!

I’ve been really busy at work - being out for a week backed up my work load, which I never thought was that much. I guess I was wrong. So it’s why I haven’t responded to comments as often or email. I’m managing to post a little bit, but I’m behind on a lot of blog-reading too.

I’m a little concerned about my trip to Disney in January - I’ll be out of work for 6 days, and I was planning to take the day after my return flight off as well, but that’s payroll day and I have to be here. So it’ll be a brutal return from the Happiest Place on Earth™. *sigh*

The good news is that my flight is booked, my leave slips have been signed by my boss, and I’m registered for the conference. My parents will dog-sit Annie (THANK YOU!). I can’t believe it’s just a couple of months away! I’m looking forward to some time away and I’m most looking forward to seeing and hanging out with my dear friends from the New York and New England whom I worked with at Young Life for a week.