F.Y.I.

Poverty in America (via asianbeauty0001) The numbers in this...

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 10:12:43 -0400

Poverty in America (via asianbeauty0001)

The numbers in this video are three years old. It is much, much worse now.

How to Ease Your Transition to Google Voice

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 11:12:22 -0400

How to Ease Your Transition to Google Voice : I have told several of you guys about my fascination with Google voice. Here is a great article, with links to other articles so you can get the skinny.

"“Despite its protests to the contrary, modern Christianity has become willy-nilly the religion of..."

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:36:13 -0400

“

“Despite its protests to the contrary, modern Christianity has become willy-nilly the religion of the state and the economic status quo. Because it has been so exclusively dedicated to incanting anemic souls into heaven, it has, by a kind of ignorance, been made the tool of much earthly villainy. It has, for the most part, stood silently by, while a predatory economy has ravaged the world, destroyed its natural beauty and health, divided and plundered its human communities and households. It has flown the flag and chanted the slogans of empire. It has assumed with the economists that “economic forces” automatically work for good, and has assumed with the industrialists and militarists that technology determines history. It has assumed with almost everybody that “progress” is good, that it is good to be modern and up with the times. It has admired Caesar and comforted him in his depredations and defaults. But in its de facto alliance with Caesar, Christianity connives directly in the murder of Creation. For, in these days, Caesar is no longer a mere destroyer of armies, cities, and nations. He is a contradictor of the fundamental miracle of life. A part of the normal practice of his power is his willingness to destroy the world. He prays, he says, and churches everywhere compliantly pray with him. But he is praying to a God whose works he is prepared at any moment to destroy. What could be more wicked than that, or more mad?

The religion of the Bible, on the contrary, is a religion of the state and the status quo only in brief moments. In practice, it is a religion for the correction equally of people and of kings. And Christ’s life, from the manger to the cross, was an affront to the established powers of his time, as it is to the established powers of our time. Much is made in churches of the “good news” of the gospels. Less is said of the gospel’s bad news, which is that Jesus would have been horrified by just about every “Christian” government the world has ever seen. He would be horrified by our government and its works, and it would be horrified by him. Surely no sane and thoughtful person can imagine any government of our time sitting comfortably at the feet of Jesus, who is telling them to “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you…” (Matt. 5:44).

”

- Wendell Berry

World's oldest Bible online

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:26:26 -0400

World's oldest Bible online : This is pretty cool.

Funniest Banner Ad Ever

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:03:07 -0400

Funniest Banner Ad Ever:

Click on the banner ad on the page at the above link. Then keep clicking.

(via @zoecarnate)

Renee and Duke

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 09:36:27 -0400

Yesterday (Wednesday the 1st) Renee and I went to Duke Clinic in Durham to meet her new cardiologist, who specializes in her (fairly rare) disease. With her recent troubles, we have decided to be more aggressive in seeking treatment than her previous cardiologist seemed to be.

In short, we had the best experience we could have possibly had at a doctor’s office. The staff were friendly and the doctor took his time, interviewing us himself (instead of delegating it, as often happens at other doctor’s offices). He actually spent about 30 minutes with us, asking questions and answering our questions. He did not sugarcoat or coddle us, but he was polite and knowledgeable. He told us some hard things that we might have to decide down the line and he gave us some news that relieved some of our fears.

They administered two tests to Renee and we scheduled another in 10 days or so. On the 20th we are supposed to go back and he will discuss a treatment plan, based on the results of those tests.

While we really don’t “know” anything new, we feel we are in much better hands. Hell, we are just glad he brought up a treatment plan - the previous doctor seemed more interested in maintaining the status quo than in being aggressive and actually (gasp!) treating her.

As I know more, we will fill you in. Renee and I appreciate all your prayers and well wishes. We feel very blessed, knowing that whatever the future holds, we know that we will not have to face it alone.

Republican Sex Scandals

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:22:12 -0400

Republican Sex Scandals:

The party that emphasizes Family Values© and One Man, One Woman marriage. (Maybe that was supposed to be one man, one woman and one woman on the side…)

Glad to see they take the sanctity of marriage so seriously…

Swamped

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:07:20 -0400

Just a heads up that I am swamped right now. I have so much to do, largely because of taking three days off with Renee being in the hospital, but also just my busy time of year.

Just asking for a little grace if I owe you an email or phone call.

Work on Stuff that Matters: First Principles

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:27:45 -0400

Work on Stuff that Matters: First Principles : via Matt

Home Again

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 09:04:25 -0400

Sunday afternoon the doctors came by the room and told us we were free to go, so we did!

Honestly, there are still a lot of unanswered questions: Why this happens, what to do if it happens again, etc. Luckily, we have an appointment on July 1st with a specialist who only treats the particular disease Renee has.

I am still processing this weekend. It was a whirlwind, with fear, boredom, anger and despair all present at various times. One thing we never felt was alone or unloved.

Thank you all for your love and support.

If You are Reading This on Facebook

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 09:15:03 -0400

If you are reading this on Facebook, I cannot log into Facebook from the hospital. It is blocked as a “dating” site. If you leave a comment or ask a question on Facebook, I will not see it until we get home - probably Monday or Tuesday. You can go to this entry’s original location on my blog and leave a comment there on the relevant post - I can log in there no problem.

I have been updating my mini-blog at Twitter fairly often - it is the best way to see what is going on right now.

Day Three in the Hospital

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 08:57:19 -0400

Or day four, if you count the 30 minutes of Thursday night.

Right now (Sunday am), I don’t know much that I did not relay yesterday. The doctor did not come by, but his Physician’s Assistant did, which is worse, because he would not commit to anything without checking with the doctor.

The long and the short of it is that we have heard rumors from the staff that we may go home today, but we heard those same rumors on Friday too. Luckily there were no incidents last night and even better, we both got mostly uninterrupted sleep. I was so punchy - I had not slept a whole night’s sleep since Wednesday night.

Several friends came by and visited us yesterday, for which we are thankful. Abby lent us some movies to watch, which is awesome and will help pass the time.

Right now, we don’t know what is going to happen - the long-term treatment options for Renee are up in the air right now. We already had an appointment with a clinic in Durham that specializes in her condition scheduled for the 1st of July - now that seems all the more important.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. We are very thankful for all of you.

Renee in the Hospital

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 07:02:00 -0400

Not sure who knows what, but Renee is in the hospital at Wake Med with her heart again.

Thursday night at about 11, Renee’s heart went into A-Fib again, this time with a lot of pain, which has never happend before. She actually wanted to go to the hospital, which scared me, because she never wants to go to the hospital. She was very pale, very short of breath. They admitted her to Wake Med (the local hospital).

While we were in the heart center at the Emergency Room, her internal defibrillator went off, which eased the pain but it was 20 minutes before her heart resumed a normal rhythm. When her heart enters a normal rhythm, she feels fine. Often, she feels better than fine, she feels great from having the surge of oxygen again. Anyway, at 3:00am they put her in Cardiac Care (like Intensive Care, only all the patients are heart patients) for observation and at 4:00am they sent me home, as visitors cannot stay at the CCU.

At 9:00am I was back at the hospital, waiting on doctors. They changed her pacemaker settings and ordered us moved to a regular room, which was good, because that meant I could stay in the room, instead of only an hour at a time, like in CCU.They also said they were going to keep us here Friday night for observation, and we should be going home Saturday.

We spent most of Friday afternoon just sitting, somewhat bored. When her heart is in normal rhythm, she feels perfectly normal, so sitting in a bed, doing nothing is very frustrating. We both dozed a bit and some friends popped by to visit, which was great. I ate way too many calories in the cafeteria and we both read a bit, bored but happy we would be leaving tomorrow.

About 4:45am, Renee woke me up and told me she thought her heart was back in a-fib. Then the techs started showing up - they had noticed her rhythm change on the monitor. They got a rhythm modifying drug in her and her pacemaker began pacing her heart, so within 10 minutes or so she went back into a normal rhythm. Just 20 minutes after it started, everything was back to normal and the room was empty. That was about two hours ago.

So now, we wait and see. We almost certainly will NOT get to go home today (Saturday) like we had hoped due to this latest incident. They will probably want to observe her some more and possibly change her meds around. But we won’t know anything until later in the day when the doctor comes back around.

Thank you to all my friends who have been so supportive - you know who you are. Thanks also to my followers on Twitter, some of who have never met me but have been praying for us since we got here.

If you are reading this on Facebook, I cannot log into Facebook from the hospital. It is blocked as a “dating” site. If you leave a comment or ask a question on Facebook, I will not see it until we get home. You can go to this entry’s original location at hughlh.info and leave a comment there on this post - I can log in there no problem.

I have been updating my mini-blog at Twitter fairly often - it is the best way to see what is going on right now. Several folks have asked about visiting - we would love visitors. Just email me for the room #, etc. Seriously - boredom is a huge problem for us here.

Thanks again for all your love and support. I will keep you updated, and check out Twitter for the latest.

A Real One

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 21:23:44 -0400

Her: Hugh used to be a Christian
Me: Used to be?
Her: Well, you know. A real one.

"so you want to be a writer? if it doesn’t come bursting out of you in spite of..."

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:19:00 -0400

“

so you want to be a writer?

if it doesn’t come bursting out of you
in spite of everything,
don’t do it.
unless it comes unasked out of your
heart and your mind and your mouth
and your gut,
don’t do it.
if you have to sit for hours
staring at your computer screen
or hunched over your
typewriter
searching for words,
don’t do it.
if you’re doing it for money or
fame,
don’t do it.
if you’re doing it because you want
women in your bed,
don’t do it.
if you have to sit there and
rewrite it again and again,
don’t do it.
if it’s hard work just thinking about doing it,
don’t do it.
if you’re trying to write like somebody
else,
forget about it.

if you have to wait for it to roar out of
you,
then wait patiently.
if it never does roar out of you,
do something else.

if you first have to read it to your wife
or your girlfriend or your boyfriend
or your parents or to anybody at all,
you’re not ready.

don’t be like so many writers,
don’t be like so many thousands of
people who call themselves writers,
don’t be dull and boring and
pretentious, don’t be consumed with self-
love.
the libraries of the world have
yawned themselves to
sleep
over your kind.
don’t add to that.
don’t do it.
unless it comes out of
your soul like a rocket,
unless being still would
drive you to madness or
suicide or murder,
don’t do it.
unless the sun inside you is
burning your gut,
don’t do it.

when it is truly time,
and if you have been chosen,
it will do it by
itself and it will keep on doing it
until you die or it dies in you.

there is no other way.

and there never was.

”

- I try to read this every week or so…

Charles Bukowski - Poets.org

via www.nakedpastor.com

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:31:52 -0400

via www.nakedpastor.com

Penelope Trunk on Abortion and Career

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:30:35 -0400

Penelope Trunk on Abortion and Career:

It is an axiom of mine that if we want to understand people, we have to listen to them (Sounds obvious, but it is often ignored). This is a very honest, raw post from someone who had two abortions in order to further her career.

PS: Some of the commentors make me want to scream…

Dr. Tiller, Fred Phelps and Me, By Lance Barger

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 09:09:00 -0400

Dr. Tiller, Fred Phelps and Me, By Lance Barger:

My future brother-in-law goes to college in Kansas and, being the curious sort, went to Dr. George Tiller’s funeral a few weeks ago. He took pictures, talked to people and wrote up his impressions.

I think he did a great job and has the makings of a great writer - what do you think?

"You don’t get to decide how you are going to die. Or when. You only get to decide how you are..."

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:24:00 -0400

““You don’t get to decide how you are going to die. Or when. You only get to decide how you are going to live.”

- Joan Baez

Our Engagement Pictures

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 21:31:24 -0400

Our Engagement Pictures: @chadkmiller took some pictures of Renee and I last week. One of these will go on the invitations. (Yes, I know there are duplicates. It is late and I have cookies to make - I will fix them later.)