Three Days Before Christmas

‘Twas three days before Christmas and all through the land,

the malls were a madhouse, shopping madness was fanned.

People were all over, driving like fools

to get some trinket to make someone drool.

But in our apartment, there was none of that dread

for Deena and I had planned well ahead. 

The gifts were all mailed, and so were the cards,

to places quite near, and to some that are far. 

The performances were done, and all with great care,

and we could finally relax and sit in our chairs. 

The groceries are bought and are ready to feast

out to my in-laws, who live to our east. 

The cats are all sleeping, there’s football to see,

and I had a chance to think of the year that should be.

More than that, though, I had a chance to ponder 

of Joseph and Mary, and how they had wondered

about the birth of Jesus, for that is the reason

we go through the madness of each Christmas season.

His birth was foretold in the days of the past,

and his time here was short-it wasn’t to last. 

He lived, he died, and he rose once again,

to provide us salvation-hallelujah, amen!

So in the insanity that is the holiday season,

take time out to think of the Savior-and reason

to ask forgiveness of sin, your spirit renewed

your life filled with peace-with His Spirit imbued.

----------

After all, Christmas is about the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, The Son of God the Father, the second person of the Living, Triune God. He was born of Mary, that He might be fully God-yet fully man. Do I understand why, after all the years in Bible school, Seminary, and so forth? 

No, I don't. What I do know that He is a holy, righteous, God. He is also a loving God, not wanting anyone to perish. That’s I’m glad He chose to come, live, die for my sins and yours...and come back to life. He died for all people. But before that...he had to be born, and that’s what we celebrate. 

Merry Christmas to all, and a blessed New Year as well. 

On the loss of Shadow, my beloved man-cat

He came to us on a cold, rainy late October-early November evening. He left on a cold November afternoon, full of years but no longer able to function, his own body betraying him, destroying his red blood cells from within. He came as he left: on his own terms.

November 6, my beloved man-cat Shadow (his picture is in the upper corner of this blog) slipped away while I sat in DFW, unable to be there. He went quickly, surrounded by Deena and her mom, his body failing him. They were preparing the shots that would ease his pain when he simply left this life. They injected him anyway, but it was no longer needed. I guess he’d had enough of needles, thank you.

He was the giver of kitty-kisses, the keeper of secrets, a nibbler of treats both forbidden and allowed. He loved carbs, oddly enough, and earned the nickname The Carb King. (He also liked yogurt, and would stick his nose way into a cup of the stuff to get at it.)  He was a man’s cat. He preferred men’s voices singing to women’s, and would come sit and listen when It’s About Time met at the apartment to rehearse. He was a smart cat, letting Cali do the dirty work of waking one of us up to feed them. 

Mostly he was my cat. Oh, he was nice to Deena-especially when she fed him-but I was the one he liked and made little secret of it. He knew when I was ill. When I was recovering from surgery a few years back, he didn’t go far. In winter, he’d curl up at our feet when we slept, knowing the electric blankets would be on.

He came to us a kitten, with bat-wing ears and monster paws, wanting to be with people when I was ministering at the church on Boonville, IN. It was raining, we lived on a busy state highway that ran through town, and his fur at that time was about the color of wet concrete. I told Deena to do something with him, before the senior pastor called Animal Control-or worse, the cute little bugger got hit. Since the garage was porous like a Swiss cheese, she put him in the basement.

We tried to find the owner but to no avail. He became king of his domain shortly thereafter, often watching anime with me after working hours. We left for Christmas that year, and on our return this kitten was suddenly a man-cat. We fixed that in short order. When we moved to Evansville, he cried like a baby, and noshed on my fingertips to the point where I couldn’t carry anything for several hours afterward.

He never was a lap cat, preferring to rub up against my legs while I worked on stuff. He once ate a fairly large amount of processed cheese stuff; we almost lost him then. We managed to get him stabilized, and he made the trip with us to Oregon, and when we moved into the apartment, joined his “sister” Cali. 

He mellowed a little with age, never totally liking when people came stomping up the stairs. Often, when I came in from wherever, he’d been in the cat-tree or on his pillow on the edge of the couch looking at me as if to say “Where you been?”


His purr-when he chose to do so-was a big, rumbly thing. And when I did the laundry, he'd come up on the bed and help press off something warm by laying on it.   

A little more than a year ago, he became diabetic, and we knew we were now on borrowed time with him. He was a good sport with his insulin shots, and still loved to romp and play like all good kitties do. He was active even right before I left, playing with a cat toy of some sort.

Even so, he’d been sleeping more, even by cat standards. Oh, he’d come in at four PM or so and love on me, and was a little friendlier than usual, even letting me drag him to the vet for his checkup. When I left, he sat next to my suitcase, watching me as I packed. Before I left, I got to pet him, told him goodbye, and to be a good boy-and that I’d be home soon. 

I didn’t know that would be the last time he’d hear those words from me. 

As I wrote most of this, I was still waiting for my flight. Still at DFW, tears in my eyes. Deena called, said he was anemic...badly anemic. I told her to have the emergency vet do what they could.

Not long after, the vet called me and told me he was going fast. I had them put Deena on, told her to take a few last pictures, tell him that Daddy-cat loved him...and then end his misery, put his body on ice, and I’d see the body when I get home. I called her from SFO, and she gave me the news he departed on his own terms. 

But I know that somewhere over the Rainbow Bridge, in a golden field with trees to climb, sits the spirit of my boy, dozing in the sun, chasing fat field mice, doing all the things that good kitties love to do, waiting for a voice...my voice, calling to him, telling him it’s time to come Home. 

Until then...I’m gonna miss my little man.

Rest in peace, buddy. 

On Border's, Photography, and the Digital Revolution

I recently went into my local Border’s and purchased three books on photography. They were 70% off; for a little more than 26 bucks I was able to get $90 work of reading material. Not too shabby, you ask me.

I’m sad to see Border’s closing. They're yet another victim of bad economic times, bad corporate mistakes and the digital revolution. There’s a Barnes and Noble over near Valley River Mall, but it’s not as convenient. Powell’s doesn’t have a local shop, and Smith Family Books and Tsunami books are also not as convenient. (And living here, I really miss Moe’s.) 

But my trip to Border’s books-and subsequent purchase-got me to thinking about another loss to the digital age: good photography-and the stores that supported it. 

It’s my opinion that the web is full of bad pictures. Not evil, not adult-though you can make an argument for that as well, and you’d be right-but just simply bad. For every five good pictures, there's at least a dozen bad ones. Sometimes they're blurry or out of focus, sometimes with no thought given to any sort of composition...and sometimes they look like they were taken by a three year old. Tops of heads missing, cut off at the knees, etc. Add to that the fact the most cellphones are the functional equivalent of an old Instamatic-or my Ektralite 10. They really weren’t designed to take photographic art...they were designed to take pictures of Uncle Art at the family picnic. 

Please understand: I have used my iPhone’s camera on more than one occasion, usually when I don’t want to haul my Minolta DiMage Z6 around. The iPhone’s okay-with 5 megapixels it’s better than many-but still no substitute for a real camera with a viewfinder. It’s hard for me, on a bright day, to shoot without a viewfinder-and I find I can’t compose the shot quite as well. (You can read about some of my cameras here.)

In the old days, there were stores that helped you with getting your gear, and at the very least showing you how to get going with it. When you were tired of that Instamatic and its fixed-focus lens...or of that Starflex with a fixed focus lens...or of that Polaroid that ate film like I eat pizza, you went to these stores and got better equipment. Once you had that, you went back for film, developing, additional lenses, flash equipment, camera bags, tripods, and so forth. There were books that showed you how to take better pictures, and things like gray cards and light meters. Fotomat kiosks dotted the landscape; if you were willing to pay for it you could get your prints back in a day.  

Then larger chains started eating away at those businesses, and when digital cameras really took over, they vanished. Fotomat was the first casualty; some stores started offering your prints in three hours or less...for less. Which was great when I was shooting 110 in high school; I took my film to Safeway because I could afford it on a high-school budget. 

But that came at a cost. Now places like Reed’s Camera in downtown Walnut Creek and Gerlach’s in Eugene, over by the UO-gone. Wentling’s in Concord, where I grew up, which still exists-but mainly does studio work, as near as I can tell. Dot Dotson’s in Eugene has made the transition to the digital age, and is still going but it isn’t quite as large as it was even a few years ago. Some places survive by having a broader appeal: Adolph Gasser’s in San Francisco, Helix Camera in Chicago, Pro Photo Supply in Portland, and B&H in New York are some great examples.  

But what’s sad is that people are taking scads more pictures. They take them, then attempt to photoshop them into something decent. News flash: A bad photo is still a bad photo, even after you’ve cropped it, colored it, added effects to it, and massaged the thing to the point where it no longer resembles the original work. Note: I do not have Photoshop. For the time my shots are on the MacBook, they reside in iPhoto, where I may on occasion crop a shot, lighten a dark shot, or color-correct a shot. I’m not against things like Photoshop...I am against taking something really bad and attempting to make it into something great online. 

In short: I’m the same way with cameras that I am with computers. Learn to use your equipment, please.

Which brings me back, in a roundabout way, to my final trip into Border’s. I went in there originally to see if they had one book on Applescript. They didn’t; the one copy that they did have before the chain tanked was sold at full price. Interestingly enough, many of the books on photography were now right in the computers section...which is why they’re now in my possession.

Seems appropriate enough, somehow: both books and photography are victims of the digital revolution.

Enough for now. 

On Steve Jobs Stepping Down

Well, it finally happened. After months and years of speculation on everything including health issues, it came to pass. 

Steve Jobs stepped down from his CEO slot at Apple. He remains Chairman of the Board. I don’t blame him for wanting to step down-after a liver transplant and pancreatic cancer, and making more money than some small third-world countries I think I’d want to slow down, too. Hey, we all get to that point sometime where we look at life-and what we’ve made of it, and what we’ve done-and say, “Enough already.”

I’m not going to say much-too much has already been said in the last twenty-four hours-but there are a few thoughts. 

His career included work on the Apple II (on which I learned to program AppleSoft), then taking over work on the Macintosh (now better known as the Mac) after the failure of Lisa, its predecessor. The iPad, iPod, iPhone-all have his fingerprints all over it, as does OS X. Add to that what he did with Pixar and music (iTunes)-and his work will live on for quite a long time. Plus he loved what he did. How many of us can say the same thing?

There have been many quotes that he’s given. This one is from a commencement speech he gave at Stanford in 2005: “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.”

Another one was sent as a text message to an app developer who had infringed a bit on the iPod name: “Change your apps name. Not that big of a deal.” (They did, by the way.) What I like about that quote is that it is to the point. No wasted words, no formality per se. 

And from that same speech at Stanford, there is “One Last Thing...” 

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

I’d say in some ways the man has done more with his life than any five of us combined has. I wish him peace and long life.

Enough for now. 

On Social Media

So there was a social media conference in Seattle, and I was in attendance. There were classes and discussions for SMS, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and blogging. There were “intermediate” sessions and “advanced” sessions. 

I discovered that there needed to be a middle ground as the intermediate session was a little too basic, and too many people’s eyes got that deer in the headlights look in the advanced Facebook session. (They started talking about coding a Facebook app, source code, and Google Analytics, and I could hear the eyes glazing over. Seriously.) The same occurred in the YouTube session when there was a discussion of the Insight function for one’s channel. 

But sitting there got me to thinking. Never mind how much social media has changed how we do business, but how much computers and the internet has changed our lives just in the last sixteen years. 

As I sat there, thinking back to 1995...there was no Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, or MySpace. (Some would say there’s no MySpace now.) There wasn’t really laptops as we know them now; it took Apple’s Powerbooks, Windows 95 (really), and Intel’s Pentium level chips to really kick things off. We will not discuss BBS’s or AOL (sometimes privately referred to as America Offline). Most of us had computers that sat on desks; cell phones were still a bit of a novelty-and we all had landlines. 

My, how times have changed. 

They wanted us to turn off our cell phones, but then realized that was counter to tweeting. (So they asked us to set them on vibrate.) It used to be that we weren’t reachable 24 hours a day; now we can be reached at all hours. Even beepers weren’t that bad as they could be turned off if need be. Computers were tools that aided productivity; now people produce reports that nobody reads simply because they can. Social media used to be a night home watching the TV with friends and family, or maybe taking that cute thing you were dating to a movie with friends. We used to call that a “double date.”

In the end, I’m glad I went to this seminar. I still have to write up the official reports and get them in the hands of those who sent me...but I do think about how all this technology has changed our lives, and how it will continue to change lives well into the future.

Enough for now.

On the iPhone 4 and Travel

I have a new piece of Apple gear. No great shock to just about all of you; you all saw it coming. 

I finally have an iPhone. Specifically an iPhone 4, 16GB model. Verizon made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. 

Now, in truth I wanted to wait for the iPhone 5. But I had a credit that was due to expire the end of July, and the phone I use for work purposes was approaching four or five years of age. The issue wasn’t my personal phone at all...it was the need to upgrade my work phone. I chose to do that by getting an iPhone, and taking my Samsung Alias 2 and making that my work phone, as it’s just over two years old. (And, I might add, in far better shape than the old LG that had been the work phone.) This saves the school money in the long term, as they don’t have to buy a new phone.

The iPhone is fun for me. I can now look up stuff on the fly without needing a wi-fi signal which for me would have been nice when I was in high school or college and was curious about something. The nice man at Verizon said I’d use my trusty MacBook less. 

He lied. I’m actually using it more. Not just for recharging and updates, or adding apps to the phone. (Very few games, no added photos or videos, and no music. That’s why I have an iPod.) I find that looking some things up is easier when I know where not to look. Traveling is going to be a little easier; now I can check for e-mail and stuff like that on the fly.

Speaking of traveling...traveling in the digital age can be a pain. When I was in high school, all I needed for a trip had to fit in a small to medium suitcase, a flight bag, and a sleeping bag and pillow. Tape deck fit in the flight bag, along with a few tapes and a 110 camera and some film. My pills were limited to a few extra days over the trip length. Clothes were t-shirts, jeans, a hat, and clean underwear and socks. Band jacket for band tour. 

Now I can’t get out of the house without several chargers, the iPod, iPhone, Macbook, my Minolta DiMage Z6 and extra batteries, several books and magazines, a card reader for the card in my camera, several flash drives, a GPS and all its needs, and a six-outlet power strip. Clothes? A vest, jacket, polo shirts and t-shirts, several pairs of pants in case one rips or I get sloppy with lunch, clean underwear, socks, a knee pillow, a hat or two depending on where I’m going. If I’m driving instead of flying, my pillow makes the trip as well; it’s tough to cram a memoryfoam pillow in a suitcase. Pills? I have to take a week’s worth or more: vitamins, prilosec, carbamazepine, fish oil, fibre, cal-mag-zinc, Claritin in season (The season is March through roughly the Fourth of July), vitamin D supplements (it rains in Oregon a lot, so seeing the sun is a rare sighting) and a digestive aid. My backpack weighs as much as my suitcase did in high school, and my suitcase needs a small crane. 

And that’s when I’m traveling light. 

You think that’s bad...the missus being the woman she is can, on occasion, be far worse. She packs for every conceivable thing, from getting a last minute invite to a state dinner to the apocalypse. You single guys are laughing because you think I’m joking. You married men are laughing because your wife does the same thing. You ladies aren’t laughing, because you all pack the same way. Do you really need to pack a sweater in the middle of summer? If we are gone more than four days, the suitcase requires a herculean effort to get into the trunk. She kids me about packing for a weekend in a ziploc bag; more than once I’ve been called a sick puppy for packing my entire clothing needs for a weekend in a small duffel bag. That’s because I refuse to take a parka with me in 100 degree heat, especially when we’re staying in a motel. 

In all fairness, sometimes I pack too light. I now have four swimsuits because I kept forgetting to pack one. So it does work both ways, and no, Deena does NOT pack my stuff. 

Married techogeeks, you know the drill. Pack all the gear and stuff, travel to where you’re going, and stop wherever it is you’re going to and set up a mobile command center. I’m no different. NASA didn’t send this much digital stuff to the moon, much less the International Space Station. (At least they had the Canada Arm to help unload it all.) Set up the laptop and make sure you’ve connected to the web. Plug in the phone, so it has a full charge on it. Plug in the GPS, and make sure it’s charging. If you have a portable DVD player for the car, better charge that, too. (We don’t have one of those.) Charge the iPod, if need be. And because the missus and I are a mixed marriage-I’m a Mac, she’s a PC-we often have her laptop or netbook, plus her phone, digital camera, mp3 player, etc. It’s a good thing we don’t have kids; there’s no room for them in the Honda when we go somewhere. And by the time we’re done setting up, we don’t have a hotel room...we have a Borg regeneration chamber.

I wonder what we’ll have to carry next. 

Enough for now. 


ADDENDUM:

It has been pointed out to me by my charming bride that since her surgery she no longer packs a parka or a sweater for 100 degree days. Instead, she now carries a fleece jacket or a sweatshirt. Nor does she carry her entire wardrobe, unless she’s with her quartet. (Just half of it. I, like most men, am not capable of understanding how any woman can have a closet full of clothes and still say-with a straight face-that you have nothing to wear. It must be A Girl Thing.) 


In my own defense, however, I must point out this whole article is somewhat tongue-in-cheek, except the Borg part. We really do carry that much electronic gear with us. And the Macpack still weighs in impressively.

On What's In My Food

One of the very few vices I have any more is caffeine. Oh, I like bacon, and still find myself eating from time to time like a man half my age, but certain things have had to improve in my life. Caffeine is not one of those, however.

Specifically, Coca-Cola is usually my caffeinated beverage of choice; followed by Earl Grey or Chai teas. And even those are in moderation anymore; not because of the caffeine but because without a gallbladder I have enough issues with stomach acids. (I’ve discovered a wonderful thing called Prilosec. It’s been very helpful with certain issues.)

Anyway...the missus and I went shopping one evening in preparation for a camping trip we were taking. Because she has to be careful of what she eats (and I ought to be), we spent a lot of time looking at labels. She’s done this for a number of years now; and I’m trying to be supportive of this little habit. Tonight, however, I’ve hit on something a number of you probably already know: High Fructose Corn Syrup (aka “Corn Sugar”) is in bloody near everything we eat. 

Why?

It’s in spaghetti sauce. Hot dogs (which I know aren’t terribly healthy to start with). Breads and buns. Pickle relish-which to me is silly, as it’s supposed to be sour. Graham Crackers. Ketchup. And yes, in almost every soft drink-where I would reasonably expect to find it. 

It’s no blessed wonder we’re all getting fat and becoming diabetic!

Try it, next time you go to the store. Look at the labels; I think a number of you will be mighty surprised at what’s in your food. You don’t need to be a cook, you need to be a chemist.

Now...I’ve said before my body is a product of science. Better living through chemistry; as a lifelong epileptic I know what my meds have been slowly doing to me over thirty five years. I’ve become hideously light-sensitive, for starters. We won’t discuss the long term effects of my meds. The alternative-Grand Mal seizures-is a far, far worse thing, however. But back to my main point: The amount of corn sweetener-or any other sweetener-in our food is disgusting. I’m not a big fan of it in my caffeinated beverage of choice, but will keep drinking the stuff anyway.  

I’ll also admit I like presweetened cereal as well. But that is a treat, not a daily occurrence. Most of the time (not all, but most) I try to eat something for breakfast that’s reasonably good for me. (I’m enjoying Northern Gold granola with raspberries and blueberries for breakfast these days, for example.) If I get a box of Sugar Frosted Flakes, I expect sugar. (Duh. That’s why I buy it.)

But breads, sauces, and other things shouldn’t have that kind of sweetness to them. We feed ourselves and our kids this stuff, then they lose recess time and PE, and then we wonder why children are drugged with Ritalin to calm them down. They’re on a perpetual sugar binge!

Now I can’t change things that much. But I am learning to watch what’s in food...and it’s making me want to tell you to do the same. You don’t have to buy organic (I don’t-we can’t afford it!) but you should take a good look at what’s in all the food you buy. It’ll be an eye-opener for you.

It has been for me. 

Enough for now.

On Two Divergent Thoughts

Today I’m struck by two widely divergent thoughts. 

One is a big to-do halfway around the world from where I sit, a modern fairy tale of sorts. Will and Katy got married this morning, in a ceremony that Will’s mother would have loved. A lot of people were there, and as at any wedding, there was a lot of well wishes, smiles, and pictures. I understand the church was full of onlookers and family, as well as some VIP types.

Okay...the church was Westminster Abbey, there were heads of state in attendance, and William and Catherine are in line for the British Throne. Okay, so when your grandmother’s the Queen of England, and your mother is the late Princess Diana, you tend to do things like weddings big. It’s sort of expected; after all...you are royalty. Of course, I add my well wishes to the happy couple; and hope that this fairy tale wedding has a fairy tale ending: that they live happily ever after.

Then I look out my window. It’s raining today as I write this. It’s as if God Himself were crying over the metro Eugene-Springfield area today. There are police all over town. A route is being prepared to get blocked off. Flags are at half staff; half the town is wearing blue ribbons. My RCMP pin has a black band over it. That band will remain in place until Monday. I’ve read that the RCMP-and possibly some of BC’s finest-will be visiting today as well.

As will police from California, Washington State, and all over Oregon. This is because today there’s a funeral for one of Eugene’s finest. 

Chris Kilcullen was a twelve year officer with the Eugene Police Department. He was a motorcycle officer who was fatally shot last week while stopping a vehicle, in what was described as a routine traffic stop. The person who killed him had been tailgating him, according to written reports. He was a 13-year veteran of the police department, and was the first Eugene officer killed in the line of duty since 1934. His death made a widow of his wife, and left two children fatherless. 

And it was one of those shots that was a freakish, million to one shot. While he was wearing a Kevlar vest-which is pretty much standard issue-I understand the bullet went in just inside the armhole at close range. 

Now, I’ve never been a cop. I have worked in security and crowd control in four states; I have shields for two of those (California and Illinois). And one certainly doesn’t like to see an officer shot. These people are here to serve and protect; even when they hand us a traffic ticket they are doing their jobs. And those jobs can be thankless at times.

I’m not going to cast aspersions at the shooter; there may be some mental issues that are not being released to the public. We don’t know the whole story, we may never know the whole story, and what’s really sad is the more they’re finding, the less they really learn about what’s happened.

Yes, today in my neck of the woods, there’s a big-to. So big it’s in the new Matthew Knight arena, for a man who died serving his community. 

Like I said...two widely divergent thoughts. One happy, one sad. While most of the world celebrates a wedding, we’re having a funeral for a man many of you never heard of. 

Now you have. He sounds like he was a heck of a nice guy, from all accounts.

RIP, Officer Kilcullen. You left behind more than family; you’ve left behind friends who knew you well...better than I did. You’ve stopped more than traffic today.

Your death has brought our community to a standstill.  

Enough for now.

On the Japanese Earthquake

I’ve been watching the devastation over in Japan for the last two days, absolutely horrified. The earthquake damage-the quake itself now being listed as a 9.0-was bad enough; but the tsunami damage is worse. The USS Ronald Reagan is there to give aid, and while I’ve been watching the news off and on all weekend, I have not heard the extent of foreign aid they will receive to this point.

I grew up in earthquake country. I’m used to seeing earthquake damage. I live in an area with a little something called the Cascadia Subduction Zone. When it lets loose, as I’ve heard repeatedly, we can expect the same kinds of widespread damage.


I’ve also spent a good chunk of my life exploring the Japanese culture, both pop and formal. I’ve been to Japan, and while that trip is many years in my past, the impact it made has lasted this long. Yes, the Japanese are probably better prepared for the kind of damage than we are.


No, it doesn’t make it any easier. In a lot of places, if the earthquake and aftershocks didn’t destroy things, the resulting surge did.


So...I’m asking those of you read this to respond. Consider it a form of paying things forward, if you would. Contact your local Red Cross for details, or go here: http://www.redcross.org. I’d consider it a personal favor if you did.


Thanks!


Enough for now.

Thoughts on Listening to God

I recently came across something-I think it was on my Facebook page-that said, in effect, that we are good at praying...but not so good in meditating. In this case, meditating is sitting still and listening to God speak to us in that still, small voice.

I know that word was meant for me that day.

I admit I’m examining a number of different things in my life right now; what those things are I am not quite willing to make public knowledge as yet. Suffice it to say that I am seeking God’s will in these issues, and so have asked certain people to join me in prayer for direction in these matters. 

But have I been listening? Really, truly listening for a response? That’s a good question.

Now, before going on (and before a few of you think I’ve blown my last transistor), I do not believe that the Almighty is going to whisper audibly in my good ear. (He might, but that’s not necessarily how He works these days.) We have His written word, a good chunk of my adult life and education I’ve spent studying; therefore actual English coming to me from nowhere is not what I foresee as an answer. (It would certainly simplify things if it did.)

There is not only the written word, but godly advice from people I trust. There are certain circumstances, certain events that I can look at and see that maybe there is something here for me-or not.

One of the people I have asked to pray with me sent me this gem of a line: “But there are things that can tell us when…like Obi-Wan said, “In my experience, there’s no such thing as luck.” If too many things line themselves up in a row to make something happen for you, it’s more likely they were put there.”

Of course, that also means if certain things seem to fall apart, there is a good reason for that as well. But I’m a bit off track...so back to the listening thing.

I have taken some time to not have music playing in the background while I work. There is silence-just me and my thoughts-or an environmental background, courtesy of my iPod (and a nifty app from Naturespace). Yes, I am still working...but my mind is sorting through things as I do so. I am contemplating, without being contemplative. I am allowing the quietude in my life to give me the opportunity to really listen, to see if what I am thinking/feeling/sensing is really of the Lord.

I’m also walking away from things (like the TV), and just sitting and thinking. I have turned off the radio and/or iPod in the car as I drive as well. I have much to consider, and blessedly little time to consider them. Driving takes me away from my MacBook, even if it’s only for a few minutes.

So I guess, when it comes down to it, if you are praying, take some time to listen. Even talking with the Almighty is a two-way street; we should not do all the talking and allow Him to speak to us.

Which reminds me...if you think of Deena and I, pray for us. There will be more to come later and as appropriate.

Enough for now.

Thoughts on MacWorld 2011

I recently attended the MacWorld 2011 Expo and Conference in San Francisco, and found it quite interesting. There were exhibits, classes, and all kinds of interesting things to see. There were all kinds of things for your iPhones, iPads, iPods...and yes, there were even a few vendors there for Macs.

No, Apple was not here officially. There were some Apple people wandering around; one spotted my hat on day 2 as I spotted his credentials after seeing his hat first. (His was a black ballcap with Apple’s logo; mine is a gray Mao-military style cap with Apple’s logo.) Apple pulled out of MacWorld a year or so back. So did a number of vendors. But that didn’t stop the people from coming, myself included.

Walking into the Expo, my initial reaction was “These are my people.” Most of the attendees were courteous, and while there was a boatload of us crammed into Moscone West, it didn’t feel crowded. (A good thing, as I have alluded to in the past I am not really into being in large crowds for long.) I could tell some funny stories but I’ll keep most of them to myself. One I will share was from a couple walking past me, and provided me with my favorite line of the week: “That’s not true. I’m twice the geek your first husband was.”

As usual, all the sales people were doing whatever it took to get your attention. One booth had a woman in a some strange clothing. I thought at first she was supposed to be an space alien; turns out she was a Lady GaGa impersonator. (Which shows you how much attention I pay to today’s music.) 

I didn’t go to this solely for my own amusement. While I am a user of Apple products, and am learning about how things work inside my MacBook, I really went to this to see what kinds of software would be available for some of my students. We have roughly 300-500 students using Macs at Master’s, as near as I can estimate. In that respect, I admit to being a bit disappointed as really there wasn’t much there for them. (Maybe they should have called it iPadWorld.) I got to talk with some other distance educators doing the same thing I was, and having the same issue. (I rather enjoyed the networking aspect of this.) 

That notwithstanding, I was thinking of bagging it early, until I sat in on a session called “The Mac in Education” and came to the realization that while the Mac is in no danger of being phased out anytime soon in favor of iPads (or your favorite brand of PC in favor of a tablet), I can see a time coming--sooner than later, I suspect--when the how of education and some businesses will change.

With that realization, I went back through the Expo with new, fresh eyes. There’s a lot to be excited about, if you will allow yourself to look past the immediate, to look past the ways we have done things for many years and see some possibilities. 

One of the things that really, really hit me is the outdated concept of the computer lab. When I was learning AppleSoft in my “Intro to the PC” class at LMC, there was a computer lab with a number of Bell+Howell Apple II+ desktops in it. Even moving those up to today, you have to maintain 24-36 computers, power them,  upgrade them every so often, replace parts that break, etc. That gets to be expensive when nobody's using them. At the Energy Lab on Hawai’i, when students come in, they are issued (loaned) iPads. They can then work in any of the classrooms, and not just the computer lab. (In point of fact, the Energy Lab does not have a computer lab.) If the batteries run down, they can either be charged or plugged in. 

I can see that classrooms and schools will have wifi or whatever number G available, and the parents outfit the kids (remember, schools get educator discounts) with an appropriate iPad or tablet. They then get the books downloaded, they’ll have the programs and apps they’ll need to compete assignments, they’ll have access to teacher’s notes (with hotlinks to further reading), pictures, and...

...the new teaching paradigm will be much more interactive. It won’t just be facts and figures (save for math, I suspect), but interacting with those facts. For the example used, it’s not enough to know that Columbus landed in America in 1492. What were the ramifications of the “discovery” of the New World? How did that impact the Native Americans? The Europeans? Columbus himself? This will become the new way of teaching: facts, mixed with a certain amount of logic and analysis/synthesis. In short: Young people will actually learn to think, and not just regurgitate.

As one working in Christian Education, this is exciting stuff. There’s also that part of me that wishes we had this kind of tech when I was at CVHS and LMC; I would have gotten more out of this kind of interaction with the material. (Not to mention my back would have been grateful to not lug large amounts of weight on the bike ride home--or back to the parking lot at days’s end--when school let out. An iPad weighs far less than 5-6 400 page books, several pens and pencils, and other required school paraphernalia.)

As a whole, we--as adults--have to embrace the tech. (We don’t necessarily have to understand it...but we cannot be afraid of it.) And really, that’s the message I want to share. I went in looking for software...and came out with a changed perspective.

I’m looking forward to coming back next year, and taking in a few more sessions.

By the way...if you are interested, my pictures of MacWorld are here. (No, I didn't have one taken with the Lady GaGa impersonator.)

Enough for now.

On Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his legacy

Today as I write this, it’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. It is the 25th observance of this particular holiday. This is a semi-official holiday, in that the banks, schools, and the government have shut down for the day.

For the rest of us, it’s business as usual. If you’re blessed to have a job outside the above listed...you’re working. I’m working today, and so is my wife. (She’s still only working part-time--she’s not totally healed from surgery--but she’s working today.) 

Somehow, I think the late Dr. King would not be pleased with this. Today of all days, we should take a look at where we are and how far we’ve come.

Except we won’t. But not for the reasons some might give. I see things a bit differently.

There’s still perception problems, I’ll grant you. There is still inequality. But some of that has come back--boomeranged, if you will--to the white male.

Women’s rights have advanced tremendously over the last 25 years, since the first marking of this holiday. African-Americans (or people of color, according to the NAACP person on the radio this morning) have also come quite a ways in the last 30 years.

Meantime, white men are shown on TV and movies to be drunkards, womanizers, and total clods more interested in beer, sports, and certain portions of the female anatomy than anything else. They are shown to be pathetic in their attempts to be hip and/or cool. They can’t parent well, leaving that task to the incredibly super-competent women in their lives. Many of them don’t seem to work hard, if at all. 

I could speak of some stereotyping among the white community as well, looking at people of color. I won’t, however, because that is not what I read when I read Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech.

Let’s take a good look at part of this: 

“Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

What Dr. King envisioned was a place and a time where all people-regardless of their race, color, or gender-could sit down together as the intelligent people God created us to be at the table of fellowship. Not one stereotyping the other, not one trying to be superior to another, but as equal, intelligent children of God, each doing what God called them to do, each fulfilling their unique, God-created role for their individual lives.

In short--to live as equal brothers and sisters, if not in total harmony, at least with charity and understanding. That is his legacy we should stop and consider this day. Not necessarily the man himself...but what his dream was, what he died trying to see the fruit of. Yes, we have come a long way. 

But...there is still so much to do, all the way around. 

Enough for now.