Low Tolerance

This is pretty clever...don't let the name dissuade you, click here: http://www.pleasurecaptains.com

P.E.

Well that was interesting...the parents seemed to be made up of die-hard home-everythingers, a couple of upper middle-class yuppie types, one dad [was relieved to see another dad there] who's trying the homeschool thing because his kid isn't fit for the GRTF schools, a few I couldn't pigeon-hole...could make for some interesting convos if we ever get to that stage.

The kids had a blast, out there doing some sort of silly activities with balloons--and, of course, the Hokey Pokey*. Frodo, typically, was intent on getting everything just right, just like the teacher told him (and, in a very Adrian Monk moment asked permission to fix a saftey cone that had been knocked down--I could tell it was really bugging him). Samwise, on the other hand, threw himself into it with gusto--as long as he was sorta doing what he was told, that was enough. Frodo did have fun, but he was too busy making sure it was the right kind of fun he didn't enjoy it as much as his lil' bro. Something tells me that's pretty much going to define their lives.


* the question must be asked..."what if the Hokey-Pokey is what it's all about after all?"

This should be interesting...

The local "Rec Center"--which has little to do with recreation, more of a fitness club funded by city funds--has a Homeschool PE program. Today is the first day of class for my boys. Outside of Sunday School, Samwise hasn't been in anything like this. Frodo's experience on the T-ball field will pay off for him. But taking orders from someone who's not a parental unit and dealing with children he's not related to aren't exactly Sam's cup of tea. So a little apprehensive there.

On the other hand, these two get to run around and burn a lot of energy. This could make for a nice afternoon for dear ol' dad...:)

This is why I shouldn't fly

Okay, a couple of years ago I fly down to San Diego for classes (see Jan 2003), on the way home, I’m stuck in Salt Lake City overnight. This week I fly down to Greenville, and on the way home, I get stuck overnight again. I had options for where I could get stuck this time, ‘tho. At 5 pm I could wait (an estimated) 4.5 hrs for my delayed flight to Chicago and wait to fly to Boise in O’Hare until 10 am the next morning. I could wait a couple of hours and then wait in the Houston airport until 9 am. Or I could wait in Greenville until noon.

Of course, I pick the option that allows me to smoke cigars, drink Guinness and talk theology.

So I get home about 20 hours after I was supposed to. This made sermon prep, getting to work, family life, etc. very, very hard. And blogging pretty much impossible. But I'm back...will try to say a thing or two about the trip to Greenville here soon.

The bat closes in for the kill

Quick post to point all bat-fans to this great article from the Telegraph: The bat closes in for the kill

toooooo busy

have much to say and report, no time to do anything (including this)...stay tuned, true believers...

Update on me

Well, the Mrs. and I did make contact (she called me). So, crisis averted there.

I've been in Greenville, SC for about a day now. Nice place. A lot more trees here than I figured. Not sure what I expected, but it wasn't trees.

Fell asleep in church today, but at least I didn't snore. Ugh. Who'd have thought sitting on a plane doing nothing would be tiring? Read a novel between Boise and Chicago. Actually would've had it finished between Boise and Denver, but made myself stop every now and then.

And it was hard to make myself stop. I was reading the latest Spenser novel by Robert B. Parker, Bad Business. It's rare when I can pace myself through a new Spenser, esp. one this good. But facing impending boredom I was able to discipline myself some. Just not enough.

Using an on-loan laptop and I don't have my spam filter on this one. MAN! I get a lot of junk.

Well, that's all for now, will try to have actual news tomorrow.

To My Wife

Hey hon, on the off chance you decide to check this thing while you're at your folks, sorry. I tried to call. Multiple times. But for some reason the #&$(#&)(*^$#!!! phone company says it can't connect me.

MIss you and the kids already. Love you. Hope to be able to talk to you soon.

Theologically Speaking

It's been noted a handful of times (esp. by me) that for a blog maintainted by a seminarian and Presbyterian elder, there's very little talk about theology here. What's up with that?

Well, for one thing, pretty much everything I have to say about the Bible/theology/doctrine/etc. is for my sermons. I simply don't have energy to think about anything else at the moment. Hopefully, my upcoming seminary studies will help me there.

Secondly, it's just really hard to find the time to finish those theological posts I start. I'm very careful about what I publish in that regard. For example, raving about the upcoming Batman Begins is easy--if it turns out to be a flop, I can live with myself. Saying something baseless or groundless about the new Finger Eleven album..eh, whatever. But I can't say that about say questioning (or not questioning enough) the orthodoxy of writer X, or idea Y that I might want to talk about.

'nuff said...

Sermon Prep

Somehow I doubt Alistair Begg does it this way . . .

If you look closely you can see the drool dripping down my arm. :)


(photo, btw, taken by Frodo)

A Warning to Stephen King fans everywhere

Okay, I don't know for sure that Scott Peterson killed his wife and son, all this could be whatever cockamanie story his defense is using. I only know 2 things for sure: 1. it was nice of him to give Dean Cain a chance to act again; 2. the testimony from Amber Frey shows that if he's not a murderer, he's a first-rate cad.

What I don't get is all the noise being made over the fact that his favorite movie is The Shining. "Wha--? The Shining? Well, doesn't the husband in that movie chase after his wife with an axe? Clearly there's something wrong with this man..." Welll, yeah, but the movie also featured a haunted ski resort (or something along those lines)...so what?

Hint for anyone thinking of killing your wife (Mr. Hacking, it may be in time for you, probably not 'tho)...when asked what your favorite movie is? Pick a romantic comedy, something based on a Jane Austen novel...Whatever you do, no Stephen King!

Preach It, Brother!

I know nothing about Nick Gillespie, but what he says in American Slender: When did freedom become just another word for 10 pounds left to lose? is truly wonderful.

Which is why of course, we're doomed.

We all knew it was coming....

1. Utah suit challenges laws on polygamy
[link fixed in case you were having troubles earlier]

2. Is Speaking Truth a Hate Crime?

ummmm

Just don't know where to begin objecting to this one...

Vicar will launch naked calendar

Best line from the article belongs to the Vicar: "Undoubtedly some people will complain but it is important to see it before making any criticisms."

LOL

sweeeet

Casting for The Goblet of Fire has been announced: Miranda Richardson as Rita Skeeter--excellent. Richardson never hits a bad note... Brendan Gleeson as Mad-Eye Moody--not bad. Ralph Fiennes as You-Know-Who--very, very cool. And of course, the long-in-the-tooth Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson.

The Mrs. will be geeking out tonight...

Catching up

Well, last week we moved. Which is a pretty amazing thing...seems our last landlord was gave us "an extremely negative reference" that caused the property manager at this new place some second, third and fourth thoughts about us. Thankfully, I had warned her about it, and reason saw the day (if we'd been so horrible, why'd she kept us around for 5 years? why did she invite us to move into a much nicer place last year? etc.) Anyway, living out of boxes this week, which is oodles of fun.

So then last Monday, I come home from work and there's my official letter of acceptance from Greenville--finally. Here's the fun part: part of that letter was news that I am "required" to attend new student orientation on-campus on Aug 23-24. 'Scuse me? I have to travel cross-country in less than a month and this is the first I hear of it?? By a remarkable series of providences in the last couple of days--including some help from very generous friends (both here and in Greenville), I will be able to attend. Should be fun.

Then comes Thursday, and the friend who was helping me with the first batch of moving had some mechanical trouble, so he's running late. But, I have a phone appointment with my academic advisor in just a few minutes...what do I do? Well, I imagine this is going to be 30 or so minutes, just like my advising sessions in college, so I'm a bit worried. I throw caution to the wind and grab the cell, load up a desk heavier than the truck we're using, the file cabinet and a few other things, run them out to the new house and call... I just know he's going to be annoyed by the noisy engine in the background of a static-filled call. Thankfully, doesn't even seem to notice it in our brief conversation (0:05:39). 1st words out of his mouth, "I'm exempting you form Rhetoric." Well, okay! 3 credits down! When I go back I will take the OT Survey test to see if I need that. Will try the Greek I test in the Spring. He wants me to start out slow, given it's my first semester and all my other responsibilities. Intro to Reformed Theology and History of Philosophy if I pass the OT test. Otherwise it'll be Intro to Reformed and OT Survey. Am very nervous about the test. If it was Greek or even intro to Ref. Theology or Ante-Nicene Fathers I wouldn't mind so much...just not looking forward to failing that test. "Boy, you obviously haven't read your Bible enough..."

Work is..wow. Counted the hours this week, and I'm getting a lot more than I said I wanted. Which is nice money-wise, but man! I'd occasionally like to see my wife, or hang with my kids and my wife at the same time. Getting better at the work itself, on the whole, but still not as fast as these punk (and very foul-mouthed) kids.

Speaking of the kids, everyone's doing fine. Taking a brief break from school while we unpack our lives a bit. The Kidney Kid's cutting a tooth--and he doesn't handle pain meds very well, but he does respond really well to being held on your lap. Which is nice...unless you're trying to pack/unpack/write.

Lastly, going to the doctor today. While getting treatment for my sprained wrist over the last few weeks, have noticed something troubling about my blood pressure. It's high. Don't remember the actual numbers, but if the Dow Jones was as high as my blood pressure then both Bush and Kerry would be able to nap 'til November when Bush would be reelected in a landslide. (that metaphor worked much more smoothly in my brain than on paper...) Mostly tho' I'm going for my feet. They're in pain. Not just aching from being on them so much, but sharp, lasting pain. After working 7-8 hours I can barely walk, and then the pain's still there when I crawl out of bed--pain killers don't touch it. Probably going to be told to get a desk job or something, but gotta give it a shot.

You're now up to date on my life. I pity you. :)

Homeschooling for Liberty

As we approach the start of the school year, Tom Smedley's new piece on LewRockwell.com is worth a read or two.

First quote-worthy section:

To the rational thinker, handing off children to paid agents of government makes as much sense as hiring the hangman as your babysitter. Yet today otherwise sane people consider it normal to frog-march a terrified five-year-old child to the bus stop, and send him off into a penal system peopled with monsters and manipulators. "After all," the gulled parent says, "public school did me no harm!" Other than damaging your critical faculties to the point where you are unable to perceive the harm done to yourself ...

Second quote:

Home-schooling is the place where the love of liberty intersects the love of our children. This is normal, principled, child-rearing, where we take our offspring by the hand to lead them on a guided tour of the real world, the wondrous universe. It is also, in retrospect, one of the few important things I have done with my life. If you are like me, you have met too many parents in tears over how their children were alienated from them, and came to hold in contempt the defining values of their family. In stark contrast, over the course of the last two decades, I've met zero home-schooling parents who regretted that decision. Even parents who eventually handed their kids over to the government regarded their home-schooling years as times of unusual closeness, happiness, and adventure.

Is home-schooling hard work? Let me rephrase that: is it an ordeal to spend large blocks of time with the people you love most on earth? With personable youngsters who are alive with questions, alive with the love of learning? Who regard you as their primary expert on everything? Who are eager to try out the things you teach them? Avid readers, well able to engage in intelligent conversation at an early age? So where's the hardship?

Hard work, yes. Hardship, no.

sure thing

Just saw a story where NBC will be running a 5-week reality series in the Spring, the search for the next Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue Cover Girl. Good grief! Can you imagine the ratings on this thing???

(and no, I won't be watching)

dropping in

Been quite a while since I blogged...very busy, moved last week; many, many things up in the air with seminary; really, really tired overall...hope to have something here soon.