Temporary Interruption

This blog is being temporarily interrupted. I'm currently away on a trip that is being chronicled at www.pumptrek.org. So if you want to check in on what's going on with me, that is where you will find the latest information over the next two weeks.

You will be returned to your regularly scheduled programming on October 26 or so.

Technology Failure

This was a hard weekend for me. On Saturday right around midnight I got the blue screen of death on my laptop, and couldn't get it to restart. I ended up having to rebuild my powerpoint presentation and getting Adam Wolfgang to bring his laptop for worship (thanks dude.)

The error(s) I get seem to indicate that the RAM has failed. I could swap the RAM out myself, but it is still covered under warranty, so I will send it in to have it repaired. The deeper question is, if both sticks of RAM failed (which I think they have) then was it my power supply that fried them; in which case I have a bad power supply which could fry future good RAM as well. You know I like just about anything fried, but RAM...well, not so much.

This also means that I will not have my laptop on the motorcycle adventure. We have another laptop that I can take, but the USB ports don't work on that box but it does have an SD slot...

This morning I woke up and my phone didn't work; I mean it. was. dead. I opened up the back to check the battery, and the inside of the phone was wet. There was no liquid on the outside of the phone, just the inside. I ask you, WHAT IS THAT? My next free T-Mobile phone doesn't come until February, so I ended up picking up the cheapest "pay as you go" model I could find. I inserted my SIM card and sure enough, it started ringing off the hook just like my phone does. My old phone didn't save phone numbers to the SIM card, so I have to reenter all of the numbers I had. I have that information backed up on my computer, so I can just...nevermind.

The truth is I rely on technology a lot, it remembers things for me, and adds a lot of fun to my life. It always dies eventually, sooner for me I think because I don't treat it as nicely as I could, and it's never a convenient time, but when is? And at the end of the day, I have to say, I'll gladly endure the cons for the pros. No question.

Obedience School

For a while now, I've been obsessing about Jesus' "great commission" definition of discipleship - to be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and to learn to obey everything Jesus commanded. I have started a blog having to do with how we learn to obey what Jesus commanded. Each post will begin by quoting a teaching of Jesus, and then include some person's comment on what that teaching means to him/her,  and how s/he is applying it to life.

This is not a blog by me, it is a blog by us. Everyone is invited, so if you would like to contribute just pick a teaching of Jesus, reflect on it, experiment with it, write a post and send it to me, and I will add you as a contributor to the blog. (I am initially retaining editorial privileges, but I don't expect to need to use them.)

Ready. Set. Go.

Free Geek

A couple of weeks ago, the kids starting making a fake computer out of some cardboard boxes we had lying around in our apartment.  They have been interested in having a computer in their room for a while, and I've thought about putting one in their for playing music, watching movies during quiet time, having an extra internet connection in the house, etc.  So forget the cardboard computer we decided to adopt a real computer through the volunteer program at Free Geek.

[From Free Geek's Website]
FREE GEEK is a 501(c)(3) not for profit community organization that recycles used technology to provide computers, education, internet access and job skills training to those in need in exchange for community service.

Free Geek was founded in February 2000 (and incorporated as a 501(c)(3) in April 2000) to recycle computer technology and provide low and no-cost computing to individuals and not-for-profit and social change organizations in the community and throughout the world.

In the eight years since its formation, Free Geek has recycled over 1,500 tons of electronic scrap and refurbished over 15,000 computer systems that are now in use by individuals and organizations in the community.

Free Geek does most of this work with volunteers (at any given time, about 500 are active). The volunteers disassemble the donated equipment and test the components, which are either recycled as electronic scrap or recycled into refurbished systems. These refurbished computers are then loaded with Open Source Software, such as GNU/Linux, Open Office, and other Free Software.

Our first volunteer job was tearing apart floppy disks for recycling. It was a simple job, and we enjoyed doing it for about three hour straight! The kids did great, and we only have about 9 hours of volunteer work left before we can adopt our computer!

An American Idol

This is a show about which I've just never gotten excited. I can understand the "survivor-like" quality added to the musical aspect that gets my friends excited. I think I can understand that the show offers a variety of entertainments throughout the season. I can't explain my hesitation, and I have to admit I've never given it a full episode's opportunity; I guess I'm just not interested. I watch plenty of television already.

One aspect of the show that rubs me wrong is the premise that the critics can actually find an American Idol. When I think of an American musician that deserves the title "idol" (for those that just can't get over the theological implications of this term, I ask you to just keep trying), I think of Elvis. Marvin Gaye. Paul Simon. Stevie Wonder. Yes; I think of Michael Jackson. It's easy to see that David Cook and Jordin Sparks are talented. Will one of them be the next Elvis? Nothing personal, but I'm not holding my breath.

I might like to suggest John Mayer as someone that has great potential to be an American Idol. At age 31, with four Grammy Awards already under his belt, and a wicked sense for how write, sing and play the guitar, Mayer seems to me to be a legitimate candidate for that short list of musicians who have defined American music. I've spent some time listening to his latest live album, Where the Light Is, and I have to tell you, it's as fresh as his early work, if fresh is how you would describe any of it. John Mayer is making music today, but in the best sense of what we admire about musicians of earlier years. My opinion: he's worth your time.

Photobooth Mayhem

2008 Summer Slam

The summer has played host to stuff and stuff and STUFF. This is me describing some of it to you.

The kids are all old enough this year for the first time to all be in PUMP summer Program, and the girls took to it like fish to water. We are all training-wheel free now which is pretty sweet. The family recently invested in a Nintendo Wii, and our opinion is that all of the hype is true. We're mostly into bowling and tennis.

PUMP has hired Heath Cloutier to join the staff as an Executive Director for the PUMP Summer Program. The Cloutiers are just back from teaching English in Japan, and Heath, Pam and their new son Zion were at church this morning for the first time. It was sweet. Heath is a very creative and energetic guy, and I feel lucky to be working with him.

I got a motorcycle a couple of months ago, and I thoroughly enjoy it. It's a Honda CB750, which was the first motorcycle ever called a "superbike." I'm planning to take a long trip on it in October, and if you want to you can read more about here.

I'm way behind on my book reviews. The reading regimen has not been as heavy this summer as the past, the lists on the right are still pretty out of date. I'll see if I can't attend to that sometime soon. FaithQuest is coming up which always gets me thinking about special music. The FQ worship team is ridiculouly talented and always comes ready to attempt the impossible without a safety net.

Hope you all are having a great summer. I obviously have no complaints.