At the rate I'm going...

This may be me when I'm a 106 year old blue belt, first in my division, because everyone else my age is either a 100th degree black belt, or dead.

A cool photoblog

I like good photographs, and good photoblogs. I found one today called A Walk Through Durham Township, Pennsylvania. Durham Township is in Bucks County, and according to the census of 2000, about 1300 people live there. Check out some of the beautiful pictures. Look at this guy, and tell me you wouldn't wanna be there.

A New Beginning

We finished Malachi for family worship this morning! Back to Genesis chapter 1. (Kind of an accomplishment for us, albeit a small one).

HUGE URL.

Many people have made good use of tinyrurl.com, but have you considered HUGE URL?

Indifferent Indifference

My wife played a little bit of the sermon tape her parents gave us to check out. They told us the sermon was really really good, and that it related to the differences between them (general Bible church type baptistic evangelicalism) and us (Calvinistic Reformed Presbyterians). I immediately thought to myself that the sermon couldn't be all that good... but it was worse than I thought. The pastor, preaching from Romans 14, said that keeping Easter and Christmas (though admittedly pagan holidays) was indifferent, BUT it's indifferent in the kind of way that Christians should keep those holidays [in other words, though both pagan and indifferent, yet Christians ought to keep Christ-Mass and Ishtar). To boot, he goes on to say that the whole predestination vs. freewill debate is an indifferent matter. Could be worse I guess... Rachel's uncle sent us an old picture of him and his buddy, a mere cardinal at the time the photo was taken, Joseph Ratzinger, who of course is the new Pope, pictured below between to effeminately dressed fruity looking guys:

One of these things is not like the others...

Three of the pictures below are of men practicing Sanchin Kata. One is not.







Which one does not belong? 

911

Found this at the Keep and Bear Arms cartoon page! Good fun for the kiddies!

Of Restitution, (or at least an attitude towards it).

"I don't owe him anything." These foolish and hurtful words were spoken by a man in reference to another man that he greatly wronged, and they were spoken in the midst of claiming repentence. Honestly, that man could never pay that which he owes the other man. Never, never in his life. But those words stuck fast in my head.

Today I was reading one of my "Am I ever gonna finish this?" books, The Evil of Evils, by Jeremiah Borroughs. There is much meat in this book, much meat that I have to digest for myself, rather than try to dish out to others. But this section immediately reminded me of those words -- "I don't own him anything."

Judas got thirty pieces of silver. He had a covetous disposition and would have money. He would not be as poor as the other disciples, so he got money in a sinful way; but when his conscience came to be awakened and terrified, he went (and a kind of vengeance went with him) to the Scribes and Pharisees and threw the money down. Those coins were too hot for him, he could not endure the scalding of them in his conscience. They were even, as it were, melted in his soul. He could not keep the thirty pieces of silver, they were so terrible to him.

So, certainly, that's your thirty pieces: any household stuff, anything you have gotten in a sinful way. Oh, it will be terrible to you one day! I beseech you, brethren, take notice of it. Anyone who has gotten, by ways of sin, anything, it is not enough to the salvation of that soul that it has been never so sorrowful. All the sorrow in the world, and repentance you can have for sin, will not save your soul unless you restore. Unless you make restitution to the utmost of your ability, you can never have comfort and assurance that sin is pardoned. It is an old saying of an ancient, "The sin is not remitted until that which was taken away is restored."

There are many men and women who think, if they can get anything by sinful ways, they will repent and pray to God for forgiveness and be sorry, and yet keep that which was gotten in a sinful way. No, that will not serve the turn, all your praying to God with never so much sorrow. There must be restitution of what you have sinfully gotten to the utmost of your ability. Though the party is dead, you must not keep it.

4 things.

1. LOL @ the "We Speak Peace to Arminians" Xanga ring! Not lol-ing because I agree with their mission statement, but at the name of the ring and the agitator that provoked it (or rather, apparently started the ring).

2. No, it wasn't karate that hurt my back, it was replacing parts of the gas grill today. I guess it was worth it, as I was rewarded for my efforts with a delicious grilled cheeseburger.

3. I never promised you a Hoegaarden.

4. Ugh. Found out today that my parents are divorcing. Well, only one of my parents. Both of my parents divorced a long time ago. I mean one of my bio-parents and my step-parent (that I love). Get it?

More than a feeling.

"The nature of Garciaparra's injury was not immediately clear."

I don't know, the nature of his injury looks clear as day to me!



I feel like that on the inside sometimes. In fact, the last time I was on the ground like that, it had nothing to do with bodily injury. Come on now, dust yourself off and get back in the ball game.

Watch my language.

Went to work early, came home late. Very tired. But there's always time to take a quiz!

Your Linguistic Profile:

65% General American English

20% Yankee

15% Dixie

0% Midwestern

0% Upper Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Stress and release.

Let me tell you, work has been SO stressful lately. I'm at risk of burning out. I went to Karate class this morning, and it was FUN. We did some work with tonfa, also called tuifa.

Besides being just plain fun, coupled with a high coolness factor, learning to fight with a short stick can come in handy someday (ever notice that the cops carry something like a tonfa?), and working with them strengthens the grip, and therefore the empty-handed fist. Then I spent some time re-learning Chinto, I kata that I haven't done in it's entirety in probably 15 years. Chinto is one of the fancier looking kata's in Isshinryu -- everything's on an angle, X-blocks, moves involving some spinning, and even a jumping double-fake kick (not nearly as goofy as the Karate Kid's "Crane Kick", but the same concept of faking with one and simultaneously kicking with the other). Anyway, a very stress-less time that I'm thankful for. I go to work later today, and will no doubt enter into that serenity vs. insanity battle yet again. Maybe I'll bring my tonfa to work with me.

All hail!

Princess Elisabeth! 

Subdivisions

"Conform or be cast out."

My Christian Traditions Selector results

Rank/ Item/ Percent
1: Presbyterian/Reformed (100%)
2: Congregational/United Church of Christ (82%)
3: Lutheran (73%)
4: Baptist (Reformed/Particular/Calvinistic) (71%)
5: Anglican/Episcopal/Church of England (67%)
6: Eastern Orthodox (65%)
7: Roman Catholic (59%)
8: Church of Christ/Campbellite (51%)
9: Methodist/Wesleyan/Nazarene (45%)
10: Seventh-Day Adventist (30%)
11: Baptist (non-Calvinistic)/Plymouth Brethren/Fundamentalist (21%)
12: Pentecostal/Charismatic/Assemblies of God (12%)
13: Anabaptist (Mennonite/Quaker etc.) (10%)

Speaking of 71% Baptist...

94 proof Baptist, rather... I've been enjoying some Elijah Craig Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey lately. Very tasty. Elijah Craig is an interesting story. A Baptist minister that is (according to legend) credited with accidently inventing Bourbon, when he stored his Moonshine in some burned oak barrels in Bourbon County. Funny, when I went to the Landmark-ish Baptist Church they never mentioned that little tidbit of Baptist history!

Sometimes sore is good, and so are donuts.

I woke up sore this morning... sore in my back, shoulders, chest, hamstrings... but it's a good sore. Yesterday I did over 100 pushups, before noon, in sets of 20, 15, and 10. For those of you who may not have been following my pushup drama, I'm not claiming I did something amazing yesterday. I'm admitting I'm a wimp, trying to do more and more pushups gradually. Just a few weeks ago, it would have taken me until 9pm to do that many pushups in one day. Yesterday, 100+ before noon... and then I went to Karate class last night. There's a big tournament today, and last night was another class prepping the people that are competing. I'm not competing, but I'm thinking eventually I might consider competing in a future event. To prepare people for competing, we've been having mini-tournament type things in class, and I've consistantly been "winning" in kata. I love doing kata. Anywho, I noticed Mike Reeves, a Guinness Book World Record holder, hanging around the dojo. Man his arms were huge. That's the kind of guy who attacking him would be like attacking yourself. If I threw a punch at him, you know what would hurt? My arm (from his bone-breaking block), my chest and face (from his counter-punching), and whatever else he decided I didn't need to use anymore. So, I decided not to punch him.

Speaking of punching people, I read a very good article discussing the difference between fighting and self-defence, something even many "martial artists" don't seem to understand. There is some spicy language in the article, so if that ain't your bag, leave it be:

The Difference Between Fighting and Self-Defense.

I sent my wife for donuts this morning and she's still not back. I'm hungry. Last night we got a bottle of Riesling and polished that off... yummy. Friskiness ensued, but I'm not getting into that here.

What did we get in the mail this week? A flimsy, too small, Gi that I (shouldn't have) bought on Ebay, and Christopher Love's Treatise on Effectual Calling (which we're looking forward to starting tomorrow).

Kindness or Foolishness?

"I can't pretend a stranger is a long awaited friend." -- Neal Peart (Rush). 

So I walk into my kitchen as I'm yelling at my kids, only to find a stranger standing right inside my front door. She's a tall skinny, almost sickly looking woman, unkempt, looking frightened and defeated. My wife says, "This is Candy." She was in the alley behind our garage... my wife was taking out the garbage (like a good wife should) when Candy asked her for help. Candy says her husband is beating her, and that she and her children have no food (or money). Well, forget the money, sister. But if you need food, we got food. So we load her up with eggs and bagels and milk and, what not? (Notice the proper use of the too often and poorly used "what not"). I offered to help carry it over to her apartment. So, after concealing my .357 Magnum loaded with 7, (hey, I don't know if there's a creep looking for her, or if she's a junky leading a chump into the alley so her junky friends can jump me), I walked her a good way until she again, asked me for money (just an extra dollar or two). Never one to carry cash, I declined. Then, she declined my walking with her, saying she lived just a short way off into the darkness... and I watched her walk maybe another block or two before I decided I'm going home. Before we parted I commented that someone is always home at my place -- this served two purposes: 1. If she needs help again, we're home. 2. If she was scoping the place out for a hit, too bad, we're always home. We made mention of her to God in our family prayers that evening.

Erica (not Rosa) Parks

Ah yes! The babysitter is here! 

This deadly wound will be healed.

"... and all the world wondered after the beast."

Do you have what it takes to be the next Pope?

Which is Which?

Ok, so like this one is for my Canadian readers. So if you're from like Medicine Hat or Flin Flon, give it a whirl, eh? Put on your thinking toques.

One of these pictures is Philadelphia Flyers great Bobby Clarke, and one of them is my son Conner. Well, which is which?

Picture A:




Picture B:

Which is Clarkie, and which is Conner? 

Can't believe all the Pope worship going on. DrudgeReport has been one big tribute to the Pope since his death. Other news stations and channels and sites have been non-stop Popeness. But is anyone going to ask the REAL QUESTIONS, like... "Why is the dead 'Vicar' wearing a Santa Claus outfit?" I mean, think about it. Have YOU ever been in the same room with the Pope AND Santa at the same time? 

How big a sissy I am.

Do you see that? That's a screen capture I did from some footage of Bruce Lee. Yes, he was an actor. But he viewed his acting as a means to promote his martial arts -- he really was of incredible strength, speed, and ability. Do you see what he's doing in this picture? Just to mock wimps like me, he's doing pushups on TWO FINGERS, two fingers that just happen to be attached TO THE SAME ARM! I've found that I'm not alone in my quest for more pushups. This guy wants to do one million of them before he croaks. And here's another guy who was aiming to work up to 1000 pushups at a shot. I wonder how many he's up to by now.

"Now water can flow, or it can crash. Be water, my friend." -- Bruce Lee.

No First Strike

"There is no first strike in karate." -- Gichin Funakoshi

"Do not initiate first strike. But strike first." -- Sensei Michael E. Odell

I've taken deadly poison!

I've had this sinus kinda cold thingy the past few days. Up until the past few days, I've just been ignoring it, and going on with work and training no problem. Yesterday, while blowing my nose, I blew out my left ear... OUCH! So I took some Pseudo-phed and did 150 pushups throughout the day (an act of vengeance on myself for being such a girly sissy girl). Today, it feels like my right ear is going to blow. Again, OUCH! So, I took some Belladonna. The poison, not the Stevie Nicks Album. One of our kids, I think maybe Daniel, had an ear infection as an infant, and Belladonna cleared it up pronto. So, perhaps this is the last post you'll see from me -- I just may have poisoned myself. But I figure the ear thing will be taken care of either way, huh?

(before you call the police or an ambulance... it was a very tiny dose).