Resolution

Something to read

2013-06-03T22:50:00.000-05:00

Hello faithful followers. It's been a long while since the last post. I was recently asked to contribute to a friends blog called, "Blogging though the Bible". My first contributing post went up today and was on Luke 1-3. Check it out if you'd like. And thanks for hanging out with me in 2012. Those were good times.

http://blogthroughbible.wordpress.com/2013/06/03/i-am-writing-you-to-give-you-an-account/

What Ray Lewis and Jason Whitlock taught me about Justice

2013-01-12T22:18:00.001-06:00

I've got a real problem with justice. I want it and want it how I want it. As a result my desire for justice lends itself toward a tendency to judge, which ultimately isn't up to me.

No where has this been more true for over a decade than with Ray Lewis. I absolutely hated that he "got away with murder" as I frequently lamented whenever the Ravens were on TV. My desire to be right spilled out tonight a I watched the game tonight with my wife and my three boys. The boys were super interested in the story and ready to jump on the judgement bandwagon. I was pleased and then just as quickly startled by what I was passing on to my boys. Instead of preaching Ray's redemption I was passing on my own tainted tendency.

Justice is by no means a bad thing and certainly something I hope my boys will desire too. But I need to be right in how I determine righteousness, primarily that it is not up to me to determine. By all accounts Ray has found righteousness in the only way that matters,in Christ, and that is something I should celebrate - not suppress.

Tonight as my mind was changing I appreciated my wife's level headedness and this article. Go Ravens! Go Ray!

Unresolved Issues

2012-12-31T23:55:00.001-06:00

This post marks the completion of a resolution. I resolved to write every day in 2012 and post that writing on this blog. In many ways I am happy with the accomplishment. Simply sticking with something for a year is always satisfying but I also know there are elements of the year that still feel undone.

There are posts like O Tanenbaum that need to be finished and many topic lists from the year that went unwritten. I wanted to establish some discipline as a writer which happened in some aspects but I also developed new skills in pretty lame productivity.

A big goal for the blog was for the productivity to spill beyond public posts and accumulate in other writing projects. I did have the opportunity to write for another site once or twice which was nice. I didn't finish my book. I'm not going to resolve to do that becuase I'm on a role with completed resolutions and I dontwant to ruin that. That's not to say that I don't want to finish the book, I just know its been in the air for a few years now and after a year of writing I feel like I still don't know how to start writing, again.

In 2013 I won't have daily posts on the Resolution blog. I hope to still be writing on a semiregular daily basis but use that time to generate more substantial pieces and post every 7-10 days. I also really do hope to have some real productivity and progress on the book. Over the year there have been instances and interactions that have confirmed the need for communicating a harmonious existence between science, evolution and Christianity. There is definitely a lot of good work already out there but both my writing partner and I think there is still an underserved audience in young people.

So with 2013 only about five minutes away if I do have a formalized resolution it will have something to do with juicing. My dad pointed me In the direction of a good deal on the Jack lalanne juice at Costco but if anyone has other recommendations, or even better a good juice that you don't use anymore:-) I'd be happy to hear about it.

Cheers to all and thanks for reading in 2012. Happy New Year!

Everybody Wins

2012-12-30T22:39:00.001-06:00

A mediator usually seams like some one or something that tries to bring two parties to an agreement or final outcome that is acceptabe to both. Inflammatory isn't really a quality that is valued in a mediator unless it leads o an outcome that is acceptable to both parties.

Inflammatory Mediators are responsible for the cold symptoms that accompany infection of a cold virus. When the cold virus makes contact with certain receptors in nasal tissues inflammatory mediators are also signalled to get to work. As the virus makes copies itself the virus mediators are busy making mucous around the virus receptor sites on the cells and consequently all over the rest of the cell a well.

The mucous and inflammation manifest themselves as cold symptoms but also prevent access to receptor sites and therefore ultimately bring on the end of the cold. It may seem that cold symptoms are an unfair price doled out by the mediators but considering that viruses kill every cell they infect, the trade off seams pretty reasonable to the host. This perspective may lead you to think that the mediators are unfair to the viruses by depriving them of billions and billions of potential cells to infect but the mediators have something to sweeten the deal. Along with the inflammatory and mucous producing properties the mediators trigger the cough and sneeze reflexes which deliver the viruses to a whole world of potential hosts.

Everyone Wins! Further evidence that mediation works.

Delicious tasteless food

2012-12-29T21:27:00.001-06:00

The fate of a stuffy nosed eater.

Resolution Season

2012-12-28T23:13:00.001-06:00

It's that time of year again. Christmas is over and the new year is looming which means the resolution season is upon us. Two years ago I hadn't thought of what to resolve on for 2011 until about 10:30pm on December 31 2010. Together with my wife and two friends we decided to give up burgers, and fries. The year went really well and I didn't have a burger or fries or fast food until a few months into 2012. For 2012 I decide I wanted a more active resolution so I decided to blog everyday form a year. This blog is in fact the product of that resolution. The genesis of this resolutions can be reviewed in more detail by returning to the very first post. The overall success of this resolution can be judged by reading all the entries. I myself think it has had varying degrees of success but I'm confident that the writing and productivity has definitely suffered since the tragic loss of my laptop and subsequent use of a tablet for writing and posting.

Anyway, the resolution season is upon us and I'm in the market for something new. So far at the top of the list is juicing but there are still a few days until R-day and I am open to suggestions.

Expression you're not likely hear everyday

2012-12-27T21:31:00.001-06:00

The platform, usually almost deserted at this hour, was like a
London platform on a bank holiday.

So it should probably be clear at this point that I really like reading. I heard a great interview the other day with an author walked about the value of fiction, even or maybe even especially for people with serious jobs command things to think about. The interview was with Abraham Verghese on mpr. I tried to link it here but this device (yes the same one that provides cryptic and comical predictive text insertion) is being quite stubborn.

Maybe ill try to link later (which the predictor thought should have been "like reading")

Out with a whimper. Just in the NyQ of time.

2012-12-26T21:33:00.001-06:00

Tonight I start fully anticipating to fall asleep before I finish. I may finish writing this abbreviated post but put I probably won't finish the movie I'm about to start. The book that inspired the movie is actually the first book I read on an e-reader (of sorts). The reader was a Palm Tungston and the book was Last of the Mohekans. I really liked that PDA. It had my calendar, notes, contacts, and even books. I read Mohekans because it came free and preloaded on the device. I do say that free books are still my preference and the ones I spend my time with.

Like tonights movies likely fate I never finished the book. Not for a lack of desire to finish thought, the book was lost in a crash event that was never resolved. Maybe I'll pick it up again in a paper form factor so as not to lose it to corrupt data and after getting some sleep so as not to lose it to slumber.

Trouble with the cube

2012-12-25T22:39:00.001-06:00

Sure he look like a smart guy on paper. The sabermetrics guys get a little woozy when they imagine what he could do as the lead off for their development team. But put him against a skilled word smith and he's instantly schooled in Scrabble or Words with Friends. And let's not even mention the classic 3D logic toy that has amazed and puzzled millions. To put it kindly we can just say he's got trouble with the cube.

Redemption Best Served

2012-12-24T22:32:00.001-06:00

Earlier this month I wrote a lament about the loss we all suffered as Hostess closed the magical doors on its magical pastry factories. My regret centered around a lost opportunity and with it lost hope. Tonight I learned that redemption is a dish best served in 8 individually wrapped packages, purchased on the internet. I am so happy that my some day to be sister in law heard my cry and took the occasion of Christmas, a perfect foreshadowing of the renewing joy that Easter brings, to make my dessert eating joy complete.

Pince-nez

2012-12-23T22:42:00.001-06:00

As it turns out pince-nez are the type of glasses that have no ear supports but rather "pinch the nose" which is where the name comes from. Pince-nez are also a perfect example of why I love reading on an e-reader and, as a related matter, why I love Wikipedia. I owe much of the successful posts over the last year to both of the previously described dearly beloved resources.
I do still read paper books and enjoy them for their delightful ability to be enhanced by the available light rather than possibly obstructed. I also enjoy paper for the angst that I don't feel when in my hands while traveling via certain corridors on public transportation. I also appreciate that they can be read during any stage of a commercial flight and that they never run low on batteries. I like being able to hold my finger on one page as I continue to march through the rest in order to go back to it. I like fanning through the pages when going back through to find a particular passage. I like that the words are always in the same position of the page (this can be a particular problem when reading on a kindle).
There are many reasons I still love paper but I may love even more holding my finger on a word only to have the entire universe of knowledge connected to that word available for instant perusal. I have always been a well intentioned reader. Bracketing interesting sections for follow up or additional research. Underlining interesting words to look up. But I seldom if ever returned with a dictionary or additional library time. That's one thing that I really love about the e-reader. My good intentions have seamlessly transformed into well employed actions, and my reading is all the better for it.

Lewis on CAD

2012-12-22T17:51:00.001-06:00

“Yet the circle is not less round than the sphere, and the sphere is the home and fatherland of circles. Infinite multitudes of circles lie enclosed in every sphere, and if they spoke they would say, For us were spheres created. Let no mouth open to gain say them. Blessed be He!”

I only wonder what implications this will have on a modified worflow in Creo that favors internal sketches rather than pure and independent parent sketches. I guess Lewis covers this as the relationships work in all ways and in all directions.

We'll really find out when we are in the midst of implementation. Hopefully we won't look for what is right or wrong but rather have our mindset ever fixed on a harmoniously parametric modeling experience that strikes a balance between design intent and user experience.

I love being on vacation!

Hugo

2012-12-21T21:25:00.001-06:00

As it turns out Hugo isn't such a bad movie. I'm not sure what qualified it for all the awards but I'm not always sure how most movies rise to the ranks of the "best".

The only downfall for me in Hugo was that once we actually found out what the movie was about we learned that its biggest role was as an extended PSA for film preservation in specific and the film industry in general. Perhaps I was viewing it from too cynical of a position but Scorsese's involvement in both of those efforts colored my view of the films intentions like a black and white film painstakingly tinted for additional effect. However, where the tinting effect was revolutionary in its time these blatant strokes of the modern film activist stuck out as an unnecessary "improvement" to an otherwise effective film.

Perhaps the wider audience accepts Scorsese's imagery of the preservation of the film allowing for the preservation of the man. I just found it to be a little heavy handed especially considering the careful attention to detail and steady hand required for a skilled clock maker, magician or storyteller.

Dressed in the dark

2012-12-20T22:00:00.001-06:00

When my chosen wardrobe lacks coordination I often blame the fact that I got dressed in the dark. Often timesthis is true as I get dressed and leave the house before anyone else is up. On those days I leave as many lights off as possible in order not to disturb anyone still asleep. of course I also have a very high tolerance for looking horrible so my remarks are partially in gest as well.

It is hard to imagine really performing tasks, challenging physical tasks, in complete darkness. Tonight I've been reading a fictional acount of an ascent through a cave completely isolated from light. The character was described as well, if seen by an outside observer, as taking incredible risks at times and at others being extremely curious. All of these apparent decisions made in ignorance were made without the visual data that would have normally been available to the character.

It could be Perry cool to do a climb like this in the dark but for now I'll just keep putting my pants on one leg at a time like anyone else. In the dark.

Small Save by Position

2012-12-19T22:00:00.001-06:00

See relative to the age of the earth (for example).

The ultimate shark jump

2012-12-18T21:26:00.001-06:00

Private practice has always been a horrible show. Horrible themes, morality, acting, writing. As I'm being forced to watch tonight's episode in its final season all of my previous assessments are being confirmed and redoubled in their correctness.

It' good to be right but it's even better knowing that it's almost over. Forever!

3 1/2

2012-12-17T22:36:00.001-06:00

Days until Christmas vacation

Inches of snow forecasted for Wednesday Months until baseball starts Ounces of lotion is more than you can carrion an airplane

A Night on the Couch

2012-12-16T21:31:00.000-06:00

My audible chuckle enlisted an inquisition into its cause.

“It’s this introduction, it’s good… funny.” I replied.

“To JP and Ashley’s wedding?” She retorted.

“No, A five part article about C.S Lewis and his sometimes odd place in the hearts of American Evangelicals.”

How sweet it is (to be loved by you)!

O Tannenbaum

2012-12-16T01:10:00.001-06:00

Its end began long before we came to meet. It could be said it was born to die, perfectly sacrificial in its purpose. A decade of wild living prepared it for its end though while it grew and spread its branches into the world a careful master kept a close watch. In seasons of its life it recalled grieving its masters correction. It didn't feel like love at the time.

It had grown beyond its cone too quickly at points along its frame. Sources of pride, sticking out, moving into the world. The pride called for pruning from the master, for he had plans that called for orderliness. Organic organs shaped for a purpose beyond the form that contained them.

Its final morning in the field initiated the beginning of its end. Cut down at the base as swiftly as its life had been long it glimpsed a reflection of its fate in the site of fellow fallen brothers and the boots of the master. Why oh Why? I'm Sorry! Please correct me, prune me, but not this! Its soundless cries pierced to the meristems of those that lay beside it. Shivering, lying in the snow, exiled from the land that had been its foundation, its teacher, its home.

The wound that marked its destruction oozed as it lay and with it dread poured in just as quickly as life was sapped out.

As life flowed from its mortal wound it though about its brothers. How it pained it to know that they suffered the same fate. It would have doubled its pain if it meant its brothers could stand again. As pain subsided into the final slumber of death it dreamed the fulfillment of the hope it had for its brothers. In its dream they rose from the ground, standing again, side by side, their height reaching toward the heavens.

And all was dark…

The nerve

2012-12-14T22:57:00.001-06:00

Squeezes like a vice without a lever.
Trickles water where there is none.
Stabs without a knife and pricks without a pin.

All reminding what it is to be alive.

Another one joins the ranks

2012-12-13T22:15:00.001-06:00

While I will never relinquish the fact that I am the luckiest man on earth I do recognize that another has joined the ranks today. Congrats to all and to all a good night!

15104

2012-12-12T22:08:00.001-06:00

Just a quick estimate reveals that my basement is made of about 600 cinder blocks. There are about 20 joists that meet at a beam in the center. These pieces hold untie rest if the house which contains more materials and more structural elements that hold those materials up. We are able to maintain temperature fro the insidentonout of dozens and dozens of degrees with the mechanical systems and insulating materials included in the structure.

Best day ever

2012-12-11T21:46:00.001-06:00

At this time 13 years ago I was sitting in a chair under twinkling lights. That was the first night of the last 13 years of best nights ever. I love going to weddings because they remind me of how much I love being married.

I love being married.

I'd like to know

2012-12-10T21:12:00.001-06:00

How can the NHL possibly justify canceling all of these games? Their business model must be incredibly broken if they are willing to lose so much in revenue in order to change the way they do business. I suppose the same goes for the players too.

Jumbo Shrimp

2012-12-09T21:54:00.003-06:00

I was thinking about shrimp earlier today, well not shrimp but oxymorons.

It’s easy to think of these statements as contradictory but they are really perfectly concise nuance descriptors.