Ben Brenner's - Things I've Noticed

Urban Kayaking from Dog River Park

2010-03-06T16:40:00.000-06:00

View Dog River in a larger map

1100 yrd swim 20min

2010-02-26T00:46:00.000-06:00

no map this time.

23min 2.3mi Run

2010-02-24T18:16:00.003-06:00

I wonder if sunspots caused my gps track to go through yards and buildings instead of on Dauphin St. I was supposed to run for 30 minutes but my feet were sore and I was quite winded. Maybe I should do the race on Saturday.
View 2.24 in a larger map

Bicycle 17.1 mi 50min

2010-02-23T18:38:00.004-06:00

at some point I must have driven over some glass or something but on the way up through Brookley, I noticed my front tire was low, and by the time I got up broad it was flat. I really need to cary a small pump and extra inner tube for those occasions.

View Bicycle 2.23 in a larger map

30min 900yrd swim EOM

2010-02-22T14:36:00.001-06:00

edit:
View Swim 2-22 in a larger map

Bicycle 9.7mi 50min

2010-02-18T14:42:00.006-06:00

If you click ont the "end" flag, it will give you all sorts of gps data from my time out. I don't think the altitude is very accurate though. Bicycling to work.

View Bicycling in a larger map

Bicycling Home:

View Track 7 in a larger map

20 min Run (1.75 miles)

2010-02-17T18:48:00.003-06:00

Used my new fivefinger shoes and my calves are sore! Talk about learning how to run again. But it felt really good. My schedule says tomorrow is an off day, but since I didn't train at all yesterday for mardi gras, I'll do the 45 min bike that was scheduled for then and focus on technique.

View Track 5 in a larger map

3 mi Bike 600 yrd swim

2010-02-15T18:03:00.002-06:00

Well, time to start training again. Swimming made my side a little sore, but it wasn't bad enough to stop. I'm off tomorrow because of Mardi Gras, but I'll be doing a 30 minute run on Wednesday.

View Track 4 in a larger map

7.4mi Bike 700 yrds Swim

2010-01-18T15:34:00.003-06:00

View Larger Map

7.4mi Bike in 38min

0.4mi Swim in 12 minuts

Triathlon Training- Running

2010-01-17T13:02:00.002-06:00

View Larger Map 2.5miles 30min easy

Flash AS3 Tip

2009-07-13T16:33:00.002-05:00

http://summitprojectsflashblog.wordpress.com/2008/10/31/as3-class-export-frame-behavior/

Adobe Flash tip of the day if you want to minimize the size of your preloader on frame 1, then see the link above.

Under publish settings, Flash, Action Script Settings, select Export Classes in Frame "2"
Put whatever Action script you need for the first frame in the first frame. The rest (including AS in movie clips will load on frame 2)

New Recording - Grace

2009-04-17T14:42:00.008-05:00

Last night, a friend of mine, Erin McGough, joined me in my "home studio" to record some songs. Of everyone with whom I've sung, her voice is my favorite. She's been student teaching this semester, so finding time to record together has been difficult, but patience pays off. Last night Amanda made a wonderful dinner (as always), Erin joined us, and afterward we recorded the vocals to this song.

It has been several years since I wrote Grace. The chorus spontaneously came to me in a time of worship at a small bible study, I immediately began penning the rest. It has mostly remained the same despite my several attempts to rewrite the verse.

The song is about recognizing our own frailty and great need for God's help. It's tempting to try to use the strength of our wills to be better people, but in my experience this only leads to disappointment and failure. The great beauty of the Gospel is that it frees us from the shackles of always trying to measure up. God loves and accepts us as we are, and through his grace and the strength of his love he takes the "broken vessels" of our lives and makes us into something beautiful.

My prayer for you is that as you listen to this song, that you would, humbly go to God and receive all the good things he has for you.

I may continue to fiddle with the recording, so consider this a "leaked" version. I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments!

Grace (Featuring Erin McGough) - Ben Brenner
(Download - mp3|5.8MB)

Grace by Ben Brenner is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Not Going Yet...

2008-08-16T18:29:00.002-05:00

As Amanda posted on our shared blog (www.benandamanda.com) we got caught in the medical screening and will not be able to go to central Asia in September. So we will be in Mobile for a little longer. We are still planning to visit my sisters and friends accross the country. Once we get medically cleared, then Peace Corps will offer us another invitation to another country and program. We could leave as soon as this winter or more likely sometime in May or June 2009. Please feel free to subscribe to www.benandamanda.com or sign up to our E-mail updates on the site.

Fourth of July - FOI style

2008-07-09T15:15:00.003-05:00

We took a bunch of students to see fireworks down at the Battleship on Friday. We all had a lot of fun, though the ants were biting... Thanks to Jim for the photos (I forgot my camera).

my phone's broken

2008-06-19T12:05:00.002-05:00

I meant to take a picture of it before I came to the coffee house, but I forgot. I've had the phone for 3 1/2 years and it shows. I noticed a week ago that a section from the hinge area of the clamshell had broken off. I thought that was a sure sign that the phone was getting old. Yesturday, as I was talking to an international on the phone at the same time as I was preparing my bicycle for a ride out to my parent's house, I dropped the phone. The impact separated the two sides of the clamshell and tore the data ribbons, making the phone rather difficult to repair. Since I've had the phone for so long, I am eligible for a new phone from Verizon. In fact they would give me $100 over the price of their free phones. The problem is that I plan on canceling my service when I leave for central Asia in September. Fortunately my Mom still had her old Nokia which originally was my Nokia that I got when I first signed up with Verizon four or five years ago. It was not working very well for her when she upgraded, but it does work better than my broken clamshell. Another fortunate aspect to this whole adventure is that the base of my clamshell still works. So when I plugged it into my computer I was able to download all of my contacts! I was afraid I would lose most of them, and not know how to get in touch with people. Anyway. If you have an extra Verizon phone laying around that you're not using and would like to lend to me for the next few months, that would be awesome. Though as can be seen from the above paragraphs I'm not the best at keeping phones looking new. Hopefully I'll post photo soon.

Bicycle

2008-05-31T17:05:00.002-05:00

I'm finally posting this picture of my new/used bicycle. A friend had it sitting in his garage, and gave it to me. It's a 10 speed Schwinn that's a few years old. I took it to the local bike shop and had it tuned and have new tires put on it. I love riding it to the University or to the FOI house for work. On days I ride the bicycle and Amanda drives the scooter to work we use next to no gas. (Though Amanda does spend her work days driving a big Nissan Titan.)

Pizza Night

2008-05-26T14:04:00.002-05:00

On Thursday night Amanda and I had 4 Japanese students over to the house for pizza and ice cream. These students came last year and are sticking around for the first summer term before heading home for a few weeks of vacation. Classes for the summer term do not begin until tomorrow (Tuesday), so they have had a a couple weeks of just staying in the dorms. It was a great opportunity to get them while they had extra time. We had a fun time making the pizzas and ice cream together. Then we played a game while we waited for the ice cream to freeze. I think everyone had a good time, and I was happy to get them out of the dorm for a few hours.

Beach Trip Cancelled

2008-05-16T10:29:00.004-05:00

Well, due to pouring down rain, the beach trip was canceled. Habitat had to cancel construction today, so Amanda is off too. So have a rainy day together! We'll probably get stuff to make scones for Mary's Dad who's in the hospital.

Summer has Begun

2008-05-15T03:02:00.002-05:00

Last week a couple thousand students graduated at the University of South Alabama Commencement. I had not thought I knew so many people graduating until I started greeting everyone. For some students, it may be the last time I see them. Some students will stick around Mobile for a little while. With the summer also comes a bit of exodus for other students. Many of the Japanese go home or travel, Some Nepalis leave for other schools or go someplace to work, and it's easy to lose track of everyone. This coming Monday a new group of Japanese students arrive, but there will only be 4 of them (as apposed to over 20 last year). Instead of Bible study, the FOI crowd will go and meet them at the airport, and help them with their bags, and offer snacks when they get back to the dorms. This Friday, for those students who are just waiting around for the summer semester to begin (after Memorial Day), we are taking a trip to the Beach. Hopefully we'll have good weather.

Wow what a weekend

2008-03-23T01:04:00.003-05:00

Friday night FOI hosted a Korean cultural night and dinner. We have a few of the Koreans come to Bible study and other events, but it was really good to see about 20 come for the dinner. The Koreans who organized it cooked for 6 hours to prepare an amazingly large amount of very delicious food from sushi to kimchi, to the pancake things (I forget their names). All the food was so good, and the students did a great job describing their country. I really would like to visit sometime. Hopefully I will post pictures soon. Saturday Night, the Nepali Student Organization organized an International Music Festival. They asked FOI to be a big part of the show, and since I have some experience with sound engineering, I was put in charge of setting up the sound and running the mixing board. Several times during the night we overdrew power (throwing breakers), but overall it was a great success. I sang one song that I wrote Epic with my Japanese friend Chisato, who did a great job on background vocals, and my friend Cale, who plaid drums. Cale was so into the song that half way through he lost one of his sticks, but he recovered nicely. We also heard from some Indians, Vietnamese, a Brazilian girl, a guy from West Africa, Pakistanis, a band from Mobile, and of course several songs by the Nepalis. It was all great fun.

Johnson Beach Trip

2008-03-12T21:17:00.005-05:00

I helped take a bunch of students to the beach today. For many of them, it was their first time to see the ocean. Everyone enjoyed the time very much. The water was cold, but the weather was beautiful. We flew the stunt kite, did relays, and played keep away with a soccer ball. Some of my Nepali friends who arrived in January said that without this trip they would have done nothing exciting all spring break.

Habitat Work Day

2008-03-05T11:16:00.004-06:00

Saturday, Amanda and I organized a FOI trip to help build houses for Habitat for Humanity. We had a great time mostly working on pre-build stuff like hammering 2x4 studs into corners and Ts. FOI Habitat Work Day

March Newsletter

2008-03-05T10:32:00.001-06:00

March - Nepali Night, Providing for Student's Needs... SINCE before my first trip to their country, I have had great heart for the people of Nepal. They are generally very kind, hospitable, and quite fun to be around, so I was very excited when twenty-seven new Nepali students arrived this January to begin studies. (PDF - 230KB)

Welcome Dinner

2008-01-11T15:17:00.001-06:00

Please pray

February Newsletter

2008-01-11T15:00:00.000-06:00

February - Wedding, New Semester, Prayers
On December 8th, Ben and Amanda exchanged vows in a gazebo on a small private lake west of Mobile. Over a hundred guests enjoyed unseasonably warm weather for the short and beautiful wedding. Joining the guests were a couple dozen international students who I know and work with.
(PDF - 233KB)