It was fun, up until some wasps decided to use me as a stinger-cushion. The good news is, it doesn't look like I'm allergic. The bad news is, well, it hurts. Oh well.
Sunday, September 09, 2007
The Reno Balloon Races
On my roommate's whim, we went to the Balloon Races this morning. I took a couple hundred more pictures, including a series I turned into this time-lapse sunrise (only in retrospect did I think of a close telephoto. D'oh!
It was fun, up until some wasps decided to use me as a stinger-cushion. The good news is, it doesn't look like I'm allergic. The bad news is, well, it hurts. Oh well.
It was fun, up until some wasps decided to use me as a stinger-cushion. The good news is, it doesn't look like I'm allergic. The bad news is, well, it hurts. Oh well.
Friday, September 07, 2007
The Law of Christ
It's mentioned by Paul as the law he is now under in 1 Corinthians 9. What do y'all think it is, as specifically as you can?
Coram Deo, Linked
Probably because of an upcoming service project, Coram Deo's listed as a partner of "Join Together Northern Nevada." The church of God, serving the world. Here's a shout out to Steve, Jose, and Dawson for the hard work they do in coming up with, putting together, and encouraging the church to support all the things we've done to serve the world.
And here's hoping it's but the beginning.
And here's hoping it's but the beginning.
Would you use it?
If something like this were in place at a store near you, (1) Would you use it? (2) Why or Why not?
I think that it would appeal to a lot of people, and actually increase sales. But if that's true, why don't more people just use the information on the food labels to make the same decision?
The problem is that information is costly. It doesn't take you much time to look at a little guy with 0-3 stars over his head. But it does take time to read a nutritional information label, and try to weigh the goods and the bads in the food you are looking at, as well as the 25 slightly different items right next to it. Multiplied over your whole shopping list, the difference is multiplied.
I will assume that, all other things being equal, people really do want to eat healthier. But their desire to do so is outweighed by the investment of time it takes to know how to do that, so they eat as they otherwise would. By making the information "cheap," the grocery store both promoted healthier eating and did something that could create brand loyalty - cruical to people selling commodities (If I can buy the same can of soup at Albertsons, Safeway, and Wal-Mart and I have no particular loyalty to any of them, I'll buy wherever it's cheapest (considering both price, convinience, and how I feel about Wal-Mart). Brand loyalty gives the store a way to eke out a little more profit.)
Kudos to them. And, incidentally, it's a good example of innovation in the private industry that's both profitable to the company and good for the public. Whouldathunk?
I think that it would appeal to a lot of people, and actually increase sales. But if that's true, why don't more people just use the information on the food labels to make the same decision?
The problem is that information is costly. It doesn't take you much time to look at a little guy with 0-3 stars over his head. But it does take time to read a nutritional information label, and try to weigh the goods and the bads in the food you are looking at, as well as the 25 slightly different items right next to it. Multiplied over your whole shopping list, the difference is multiplied.
I will assume that, all other things being equal, people really do want to eat healthier. But their desire to do so is outweighed by the investment of time it takes to know how to do that, so they eat as they otherwise would. By making the information "cheap," the grocery store both promoted healthier eating and did something that could create brand loyalty - cruical to people selling commodities (If I can buy the same can of soup at Albertsons, Safeway, and Wal-Mart and I have no particular loyalty to any of them, I'll buy wherever it's cheapest (considering both price, convinience, and how I feel about Wal-Mart). Brand loyalty gives the store a way to eke out a little more profit.)
Kudos to them. And, incidentally, it's a good example of innovation in the private industry that's both profitable to the company and good for the public. Whouldathunk?
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Collision Alert
Was the beautiful crater in this picture of the moon (left of center, near the bottom, look for the white area) related to the extinction of the dinosaurs? Some scientists think just that. They believe that a collision of a monster asteroid 165 million years ago scattered many smaller asteroids about, including the one that hit the moon 100 million years ago, and the one that hit the earth 65 million years ago.
For Mr. Feiler
I thought of you when I read this article. Because of the mountain, not the outhouses.
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Welcome, Recent Converts
I had a couple people tell me at the funeral today (a lovely service with a wonderful turnout - thanks to everyone who came!) that they had found my blog. Both made reference to the fact that it's the Ugly Evangelical. I will usually tell you to your face that it's more of a statement on my Evangelicalness. And that's usually true. But there are times I see myself that way physically, so I do appreciate the reassurance y'all have given me there.
But the title really grew out of a thought I had once (at least, I can imagine myself having it, though the original thought is probably long lost to the sands of time). That was "I'm not a very proper Evangelical in a lot of ways." I'm not a "pretty" Evangelical that happily fits most of the stereotypes for that word.
I wasn't always an Ugly Evangelical. I grew up in an Evangelical church from my childhood. I was a Limbaugh-listening, Bible-thumping, World-spurning, Christian-club-attending, Guitar-playing, Young-Earth-Creationizing (it's a reach, I know) Spiritual-Gift-inventorying, I-Kissed-Dating-Goodby-reading guy. Even through most of college, I had a very crisp conforming world view. I remember a friend of mine giving me the sort of shoulder-rub a boxer gets in the corner when at Carrows one night a "different" Christian was talking about Spiritual Gifts in a way that was foreign to me, and she thought I was about to launch into a vital defense on this point of doctrine.
I read the books that were "in" (This Present Darkness, I Kissed Dating Goodbye, Personality Plus, and others made the rounds. I was surrounded by people like me, and getting social affirmation that doesn't come too naturally for me. (Incidentally, the other ugly crops up in my mind though the root cause is probably the fact that my social graces with the fairer sex are rudimentary at best, and the limitation isn't just women. There's a reason I score 100% as an introvert.)
As I got on in my college life, life started throwing me some curves I had not expected. I met wonderful Christians who were solidly Democrats. I met a man who was as into strict Bible Study as anyone I ever knew tell me that the Earth was most certainly very old - not the 6,000 years I had always believed. The Christian activities I was involved with went through periods of upheaval and turnover, and the security that was there evaporated as those of us that were left tried to take the reins.
I will always remember when we had new leaders come in to Inter Varsity. They were hosting a booth at a "meet the groups on campus" function. I had just purchased a back-breaking collection of Bible Study reference books, and was eager to show them off. Strangely, they weren't that interested. Weren't interested at all, in fact.
Through a variety of such experiences, a few things started happening in my life.
But Evangelical still described my worldview on a number of other, important matters. So I was no longer a Pretty Evangelical. I had become an Ugly Evangelical. I thought it a clever name, even. I was shocked to see that nobody had appropriated it yet. I've thought about changing it, but I like the archive of posts I have.
I've blogged for approaching 3 years I believe. Those 3 years span some significant changes in my life, and I don't look back on everything I've said and thought proudly. But I believe it's been honest, and I want to keep it all because I don't think there's anything to gain by whitewashing the fact that I am far from perfect. I struggle, I fall, and I'm in every way very human and I think the past on my blog reflects that. In those 3 years, I've gone through leaving a church I loved (and still love), through heartbreak, through a dark time of seriously doubting God, and on into getting reattached to a church and becoming one of the leaders.
I'm just a 29-year old single guy trying to feel his way through life. I'm fortunate to have a loving family, an inspiring church, persistent friends, and many more blessings I couldn't begin to enumerate in snappy two-worders.
And sometimes, I ramble.
Welcome Aboard!
But the title really grew out of a thought I had once (at least, I can imagine myself having it, though the original thought is probably long lost to the sands of time). That was "I'm not a very proper Evangelical in a lot of ways." I'm not a "pretty" Evangelical that happily fits most of the stereotypes for that word.
I wasn't always an Ugly Evangelical. I grew up in an Evangelical church from my childhood. I was a Limbaugh-listening, Bible-thumping, World-spurning, Christian-club-attending, Guitar-playing, Young-Earth-Creationizing (it's a reach, I know) Spiritual-Gift-inventorying, I-Kissed-Dating-Goodby-reading guy. Even through most of college, I had a very crisp conforming world view. I remember a friend of mine giving me the sort of shoulder-rub a boxer gets in the corner when at Carrows one night a "different" Christian was talking about Spiritual Gifts in a way that was foreign to me, and she thought I was about to launch into a vital defense on this point of doctrine.
I read the books that were "in" (This Present Darkness, I Kissed Dating Goodbye, Personality Plus, and others made the rounds. I was surrounded by people like me, and getting social affirmation that doesn't come too naturally for me. (Incidentally, the other ugly crops up in my mind though the root cause is probably the fact that my social graces with the fairer sex are rudimentary at best, and the limitation isn't just women. There's a reason I score 100% as an introvert.)
As I got on in my college life, life started throwing me some curves I had not expected. I met wonderful Christians who were solidly Democrats. I met a man who was as into strict Bible Study as anyone I ever knew tell me that the Earth was most certainly very old - not the 6,000 years I had always believed. The Christian activities I was involved with went through periods of upheaval and turnover, and the security that was there evaporated as those of us that were left tried to take the reins.
I will always remember when we had new leaders come in to Inter Varsity. They were hosting a booth at a "meet the groups on campus" function. I had just purchased a back-breaking collection of Bible Study reference books, and was eager to show them off. Strangely, they weren't that interested. Weren't interested at all, in fact.
Through a variety of such experiences, a few things started happening in my life.
- I became more comfortable in the world than sitting in an endless stream of church activities.
- I moved more and more away from my faith in the Republican Party as the bastion of all that was politically good and noble.
- I got tired of church as I had always known it - dominated by a Christianity-for-Christians mentality.
- I lost interest in debating hair-splitting of doctrines, realizing that good and faithful men asking for the guiding of the Spirit interpreting the Scriptures believed utterly different things.
But Evangelical still described my worldview on a number of other, important matters. So I was no longer a Pretty Evangelical. I had become an Ugly Evangelical. I thought it a clever name, even. I was shocked to see that nobody had appropriated it yet. I've thought about changing it, but I like the archive of posts I have.
I've blogged for approaching 3 years I believe. Those 3 years span some significant changes in my life, and I don't look back on everything I've said and thought proudly. But I believe it's been honest, and I want to keep it all because I don't think there's anything to gain by whitewashing the fact that I am far from perfect. I struggle, I fall, and I'm in every way very human and I think the past on my blog reflects that. In those 3 years, I've gone through leaving a church I loved (and still love), through heartbreak, through a dark time of seriously doubting God, and on into getting reattached to a church and becoming one of the leaders.
I'm just a 29-year old single guy trying to feel his way through life. I'm fortunate to have a loving family, an inspiring church, persistent friends, and many more blessings I couldn't begin to enumerate in snappy two-worders.
And sometimes, I ramble.
Welcome Aboard!
Monday, September 03, 2007
What Have I Learned?
Looking back on a Labor Day Weekend that was in no way what I thought it would be, there have been ample hours for contemplation (getting at best 3 hours of sleep from 6am Friday to 1am Sunday will do that). Not all are borne directly out of the tragedy, but others are. No answers to The Question in trying times, but a few random thoughts to share.
---
1) Hospital staff have an amazingly tough job. They are often the thankless bearers of bad news, yet are expected to be loving, compassionate, strong people. In the time I was waiting with friends in the ICU, the staff was courteous and kind around very fragile people.
2) Life is precious. As in, of unimaginable, indescribable value. We all say this in times when we see it gone, but then the lesson sinks in as the days once more blur into a watercolor of everyday activities. Tomorrow, I go back to work and the routine that can sap years from people who never look up to experience the life that is slowly ticking away.
3) Smiles do not a happy person make. Sometimes a smiling person is hiding deeper, darker pains than you'd ever guess. Sometimes, that smiling guy is going through a private hell you'd never guess.
4) There isn't time in life to hold petty grudges. Using the aforementioned precious life to hold something against someone else is foolish. You never know when the option to make up with someone will be gone, and if they go the thing that seemed so important to you suddenly is nothing, but a huge nothing you'll wish you had resolved.
5) Words fail. Don't put too much faith in them.
6) Be real. There will come times when you are revealed for who you are, and no facade will withstand reality. So don't talk about loving others. Do it, and you'll be ready when your talk is put to the test.
7) There is suffering in the world you probably can't imagine. You'd probably be ashamed to mention your difficulties in the presence of those who are living through hells your nightmares scarcely touch. But no one can tell you to get over yourself. It's something you have to realize and choose, and no admonitions otherwise will ever penetrate it.
8) That doesn't mean that your own struggles aren't real. But perspective helps.
9) I serve a God who brings tremendous blessing through unimaginable tragedy. From the death of the Son of God, God brought salvation to mankind. There is NO tragedy so deep that God is unable to bring about overflowing good. The bad is not good, but God can use the bad to bring about the good.
10) At the end of the day, I don't think I was weeping for the pain and the sadness anymore, but for the joy of knowing that even in the pain and sadness, God overcomes.
---
1) Hospital staff have an amazingly tough job. They are often the thankless bearers of bad news, yet are expected to be loving, compassionate, strong people. In the time I was waiting with friends in the ICU, the staff was courteous and kind around very fragile people.
2) Life is precious. As in, of unimaginable, indescribable value. We all say this in times when we see it gone, but then the lesson sinks in as the days once more blur into a watercolor of everyday activities. Tomorrow, I go back to work and the routine that can sap years from people who never look up to experience the life that is slowly ticking away.
3) Smiles do not a happy person make. Sometimes a smiling person is hiding deeper, darker pains than you'd ever guess. Sometimes, that smiling guy is going through a private hell you'd never guess.
4) There isn't time in life to hold petty grudges. Using the aforementioned precious life to hold something against someone else is foolish. You never know when the option to make up with someone will be gone, and if they go the thing that seemed so important to you suddenly is nothing, but a huge nothing you'll wish you had resolved.
5) Words fail. Don't put too much faith in them.
6) Be real. There will come times when you are revealed for who you are, and no facade will withstand reality. So don't talk about loving others. Do it, and you'll be ready when your talk is put to the test.
7) There is suffering in the world you probably can't imagine. You'd probably be ashamed to mention your difficulties in the presence of those who are living through hells your nightmares scarcely touch. But no one can tell you to get over yourself. It's something you have to realize and choose, and no admonitions otherwise will ever penetrate it.
8) That doesn't mean that your own struggles aren't real. But perspective helps.
9) I serve a God who brings tremendous blessing through unimaginable tragedy. From the death of the Son of God, God brought salvation to mankind. There is NO tragedy so deep that God is unable to bring about overflowing good. The bad is not good, but God can use the bad to bring about the good.
10) At the end of the day, I don't think I was weeping for the pain and the sadness anymore, but for the joy of knowing that even in the pain and sadness, God overcomes.
Sunday, September 02, 2007
Tragedy
Before Friday, I thought I had at least a handle on what grief was. But there are things far worse than being rejected by a cute girl. Things so bad that having to watch a friend go through it makes what I had tabbed as my worst days ever pale by comparison. The story is not mine to tell here, but pray for a family that has been devastated this weekend. Pray for the friends that are providing support to the family. And pray for the pastors and leaders at Coram Deo, that we might know and do everything we can to help them. And pray that God would have mercy on us all through this.
Lunar Eclipse Video #1
A set of cropped photos pieced together to make a video of part of the eclipse. I plan to do more, to get a better movie, but this is every picture taken at 1/1000th of a second, to maintain a constant brightness (without me having to edit anything to get that brightness). When the rotation of the moon appears to jump, it's a gap where I didn't take any pictures at that exposure. It's rough, but the making of this video was mostly an after-thought. Next time, I'll plan better :)
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