What's Shakin'?

From an actual IM conversation I just had a few minutes ago with a co-worker (who is working from home today):

me: um...earthquake
gabe: yeah
me: holy crap
me: still moving
gabe: this is a long one
me: man!
gabe: whew... it's rare that i actually have time to remember to find cover
me: at least we have no windows here!
me: lol
gabe: lol
gabe: sad but true
gabe: there are ppl working on the street outside and they didn't even notice it
gabe: they're hardcore
me: lol ... it was a 5.8 centered 2mi SW of Chino Hills
gabe: that's a good size
me: yeah!
gabe: this is so LA of us... IMing while the earthquake is happening
gabe: lol
me: LOL!!!

Independence Day

From an essay by Bill Whittle at Eject! Eject! Eject!, called "Freedom:"

The American Revolution surely is unique in the sense that its ringleaders -- Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, Hamilton, etc -- were men of property, wealth and prestige; in other words, men with something to lose. Compare this to any other revolution in history, where the ringleaders were outsiders; plotters staring in through the windows of prosperity, powerless. The Russian Revolution, French Revolution, etc -- these were joined by desperate people fighting mind-numbing poverty and severe political repression.

And yet the Founding Fathers were men who were as well-off as any men on earth at the time, and furthermore, any of them could have been (and were) political leaders under His Majesty's government. The average colonial farmer likewise led a life far more comfortable than those of his cousins in Europe, to say nothing of Asia or Africa.

For all practical intents and purposes, these people had absolutely nothing to gain, and everything in the world to lose, by taking on the greatest military force the world had ever known. Why would they do this? What possible motivation could well-off, comfortable people have? Militarily, they seemed certain to lose, and they knew before they started -- and Patrick Henry made that abundantly clear -- that they would be hanged as common criminals if they failed.

Of course, the answer is, they did it to be free. And they did it to make the rest of their nation -- the poor, the disenfranchised -- free as well. And it is clear as crystal from their collective writings that they took that risk to make Noam Chomsky and Michael Moore and the rest of us in their unseen posterity free, too. They could look down the dim, moonlit riverbanks of the future and see a society worthy of their sacrifice and determination. They knew that God, (or for me, chance perhaps) had put them together in a time and place where bold, courageous action, followed by much suffering, doubt, blood and fear could, perhaps, unleash in mankind an energy source the likes of which they could not imagine.

Read the rest....

If You're Having as Crappy a Day as I Am

This will make you feel better:


via videosift.com

There's Always Room...

...for Jell-O....

Office Haiku

I hear your popcorn
From four cubicles away
CHEW WITH YOUR MOUTH CLOSED

Remember

This history lesson courtesy of the good folks at Tanker Brothers:

"The first Memorial Day - then called Decorations Day - was held in 1866, when a group of women visited a cemetery to decorate the graves of Confederate soldiers who had fallen in battle at Shiloh. Nearby were the graves of Union soldiers, neglected because they were the enemy. Disturbed at the sight of the bare graves, the women placed some of their flowers on those graves, as well."

Many Americans have sacrificed their lives both at home and on foreign soil so that you and I may enjoy our freedom today. As always, I encourage you to spend a little time over at Blackfive whenever you want to find out what's going on in our military community, or to remember those who gave all.

Pause today to be thankful for what you have, say a prayer for the families of the fallen, and have a wonderful Memorial Day.

Eliot and the Glory of God

Hat tip: Thinklings

Vote Laurie for Bard!

My good friend Laurie has made the semi-finals in Amazon.com's "Beedle the Bard Ballad Writing Contest," where the grand prize is a trip for two to London to read J.K. Rowling's handwritten, unpublished book of fairy tales, mentioned in the 7th Harry Potter book.

Laurie is like a sister to me -- and she's a HUGE Harry Potter fan, too. Will you take a moment to vote for "Laura H." (NOT "Laura C.") in the 18-and-over age group here on the Amazon contest page?

Thanks!

Why The Pope Wears Red Shoes

According to NPR, the Pontiff sports these fancy red loafers "as a statement of his desire to demonstrate continuity with the symbols and history of the church," but I think they left out the most important reason:

"There's no place like Rome...there's no place like Rome...!"

Why Was 6 Afraid of 7?

What happens when one of my favorite bands starts doing children's songs:

Some of You Will Laugh. Some of You Will Call.

Songs Everyone Should Know

It's hard to pick some favorites, like a favorite movie or book or song; it seems there are too many categories. But if I had to choose a favorite song, this one would definitely be up there in the top five. Maybe top three.

I was listening to it this evening and wondering if I could find a video...there are a bunch of weird things out there on YouTube, including some live bootleg versions of this that have been entirely ruined by tone deaf audience members singing along as they were recording. Not good.

But this is pretty cool. Just the words, with the studio recording. Simple.

I will warn you that I'm pretty sure the phrase "white sea of eyes" should actually read "WIDE sea of eyes," because otherwise that's just creepy. Anyway, enjoy a little Ben Folds:

On Significant Days and New Beginnings

My heart is full today, and my own words fail, so I will speak with His.

Psalm 30: 11-12

You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness,
That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent.
O LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever.

Feliz Año Nuevo

Perhaps your New Year's resolution is to better yourself, to enrich your life and expand your horizons by learning a foreign language, for example. If that's the case, I urge you to try Spanish! It's useful in many parts of the country, and as you can see from this video, even a freshman effort can put you on the path to becoming a Latin lothario:

Merry Christmas

Blackfive, the best milblogging read on the Internet, put out the call for his fellow milbloggers to send their Christmas wishes to the troops via video. This is the result:



It is strange and heartwarming to see the likenesses and hear the voices of faraway people whose sites I've been reading for so long.

Also from Blackfive comes this Christmas Eve report from independent embed C. Blake Powers, known on Blackfive as "Laughing Wolf." It is good news: security, economy, and community are taking hold in Baghdad. The people are standing up for themselves, building infrastructure, creating art.

Laughing Wolf says it best: "Perfect? No. Much improved and continuing to improve? Yes. The people have security and hope, and appear to be making the most of it."

Hope is the best gift you can give or receive. Merry Christmas to Iraq, and to all of you as well.

How to Handle a Telemarketer

HT: Cube

Valour-IT: Give For A Wounded Warrior

This post will remain at the top of my blogs until November 11, 2007. Skip on down to the new stuff if you've already seen this...but please read on if you're new here.

Guide-dog-puppy-in-training Truman and I are big fans of the U.S. military; you might remember our care package posts, and you might also know that I am a Soldiers' Angels volunteer. Both my dad and my grandpa served during wartime, so this is a cause that's dear to me.

Many of our young men are coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan with devastating hand and arm injuries that result in isolation and frustration in addition to the physical pain of the injury itself. Think about it: is your computer your lifeline? Your source of news and entertainment? Your outlet for self-expression? Your means of earning a paycheck? If your hands were burned, bandaged, missing -- such that you could not even scratch an itch or hold a toothbrush, much less send an e-mail from your hospital bed to a faraway loved one -- what impact would this have upon your life?

Project Valour-IT exists for this reason. The project that serves our wounded troops by providing them with voice-activated laptops is having its annual fundraising competition, complete with a little good natured inter-branch rivalry.

I made a generic pitch/bleg last year, but this year I'm aligning with Team USMC, in honor of my adopted Marine (and because Truman also fancies himself a devil dog of sorts).

Will you take a moment to make even a small tax-deductible donation (via PayPal or credit card)? Every dollar counts, and every cent goes to the purchase and shipment of the laptops. This is a perfect opportunity to show your gratitude for the sacrifices made by our military (especially if you live in an area not directly connected to the military community), or to teach your children the value of giving, or to be a vital part of someone's healing process.

Help Team USMC reach our $60,000-by-Veteran's-Day goal! Please give by clicking on the thermometer graph in the sidebar.

Thank you. And now, back to our regularly scheduled random posts.

Cure for the Modern Bland-O-Lantern

You've seen them around the neighborhood: round, smiley, friendly, pointy-nosed. The typical boring jack-o-lantern. Maybe you've even carved your share of uninspired pumpkins.

Not anymore. Not after this.

Oh, the Irony of Saying This in a Blog Post

I've been wrestling with my schedule lately, trying to get a solid hold on how I'm spending my time and energy so I can cut things out or be more disciplined (this is my perpetual battle). Again and again, I come back to how much time I've been spending with my beloved Internet. Technology is beneficial only insofar as it serves us...but many of us have instead become its slaves.

Not that you'd know it by the infrequency of my blog posts for the last several months, but I really am spending too much time "plugged in." I don't have an iPod, and I'm not as much of a texting fiend or cell phone user as many people my age, but I'm almost certain I would be reduced to a quivering blob of jelly in the corner if someone were to take away my Web access for more than a few days at a time. It's where I get my news; how I stay in touch with friends, make social plans, and archive the goings-on of my life and volunteer work; it's how I *do* some of my volunteer work; it's even a significant component of my (ahem, actual PAID) job.

Certainly it's no coincidence that in the last few weeks -- since I've been praying for wisdom and insight into the problem of my technical difficulties, as it were -- I've run across three wise and insightful articles on the subject. Any of you wearing similar cyber-shackles would do well to get some perspective here:

* Joe Thorn on "unplugging"

* Joe Carter on taking an "Info-Techno Sabbath"

* Mark Driscoll on "Cell Sin"

(Too many HT's to list...everyone's talking about this topic!)

Anyone Else Feeling the Stress Already?

Is it Christmas?

www.isitchristmas.com