January 30, 2004 at 2:37 pm
Inventor of Ctrl-Alt-Delete combo retiring...
I guess that I’d just like to thank David Bradley for creating a key-combination that I’ve used in my website’s tag-line for so long. I mean, how many other three-key combinations are as well-known as this one? (Excluding Command-Control-Power/Eject for us Mac guys, of course.) Sure, there are plenty of other three-key combinations (as well as a number of four-key combos), but Command+Alt+Delete is an icon.
Now, Mr. Bradley is retiring. Does this mean that I must retire my tag-line too? I hope not!
I wonder if anyone ever through to create one key that could have done the job of Control-Alt-Delete; or maybe just put them closer together. Questions that will probably never be answered.
Goodbye, Mr. Bradley.
(Thanks to Wheat for pointing this out.)
January 30, 2004 at 11:02 am
Liquid text box with custom graphic borders...
(A first look at an idea I have for my next Blog redesign.)
(Update: There are still a few bugs in the code for Windows Internet Explorer… I’ll keep trying. TS, 02/01/04)
January 30, 2004 at 10:58 am
Ths saddens me...
U.S. eyes spring offensive in Afghanistan
January 29, 2004 at 11:01 am
Blogger Idol - Week 2: Freedom (My Top 5)
My personal Top 5 picks for Blogger Idol – Week 2: Freedom (not necessarily in order from first to last place):
- Shouting into the Void: Freedom (A Short Science-Fiction Story About Frenklin’s Day)
- Quality Control: Freedom of…
- Richard Hall (The Connexion): Freedom (This is Not An Entry)
- CJ: Freedom Born Through Restriction
- Onionboy: He Describes “Freedom”
January 27, 2004 at 08:27 am
Blogger Idol - Week 2: Freedom ("Living With Freedom")
Living with…
free·dom n.
1. The condition of being free of restraints.
Thankfully, I have never been incarcerated, bound, shackled, or any of the other various terms that infer “restraints.” America is a benign country. We can do or say anything we want without fear of being restrained. There are the sad occasions when unfortunate persons become kidnapped, used as hostages…stuck in wells (see Baby Jessica, 1987). I have had none of these experiences.
Neither have I been seriously injured or incapacitated in ways that one might consider a “restraint.” I have been in casts ( broken bones can hardly be considered a lack of “freedom” ). I have been ill. But none of these for very long. Regretfully, some people are, in fact, terminally restrained by their frailty.
January 23, 2004 at 08:38 am
Konnichi wa!
It has been taking me about one week per lesson to let the Japanese language completely sink in. I’m pretty happy with that kind of progress, as I have felt very comfortable with my comprehension of the language and I haven’t yet gotten too frustrated… Until now. See, I have been practicing the lessons while traveling to and from work every week day. I practice one lesson for most of the week and then begin listening to the next lesson on Thursday just to get a taste (and then I start actual practice of the lesson the next Monday). Anyway, it’s been two weeks now, so I have successfully completed two lessons! Yesterday, as I have described, I began listening to “Jugyõ 3: Norimono No Meishi: (Lesson 3: Transportation Nouns)... My goodness these things are difficult! The phrases are long, the words are difficult to remember, and I don’t know how I am going to do it. But, I will!
Please pray for my family (ten of us) from here in Kansas City, from California, and from Ohio and a bunch of friends from various locations traveling to Atlanta today and tomorrow for my father-in-law’s funeral. It should be an easy trip, but God’s grace is always desired.
Also, I won’t be able to post any pictures at my Photoblog for grid::blog | Project 365 on Saturday and Sunday. I will be taking pictures, though, so look for new ones on Monday evening!
See ya.
January 22, 2004 at 2:52 pm
Hi, I'm Tim, and I'm an Orthodox Quaker...
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January 20, 2004 at 3:41 pm
Blogger Idol - Week 1: The 80s (My Top 5)
My personal Top 5 picks for Blogger Idol – Week 1: The 80s stories (in order from first-read to last-read, but not necessarily first place to last place):
- Look Both Ways: I Woke Up in the 80’s
- Cliff Between the Lines: Angel with a Coffeecup
- Wayne Hurlbert: Looking Back…Waaaaay back…to the 1980s (No Permalink)
- Rravens Piece: Enjoy the Journey
- What a beautiful day!: My 80’s
January 20, 2004 at 11:45 am
Blogger Idol - Week 1: The 80s ("Rock Sliding")
It was a cool, Southern Californian, Fall night in 1988. School had been in for a little while now, but Bill, Brad, Eric, Doug, Thor (yeah, Thor), and I were still coming down from a summer that consisted of lots of beach and little work. Five boys well into our 16th year; we were indestructible. We had heard about something called rock sliding: finding a big pile of rocks and sliding down them on the deck of a skateboard. It was an activity that didn’t sound safe, but didn’t sound boring either (and boring was exactly what we considered the city we lived in). Piled into three cars, we turned up the music (Def Leppard’s “Hysteria” in one car and the Circle Jerks’ “VI” in another — we were a diverse set of friends) and headed over to Eric’s house.
January 15, 2004 at 08:35 am
Community Midrash - Proper Confidence by Lesslie Newbigin
Last night at Jacob’s Well, we had a midrash on Lesslie Newbigin’s book, Proper Confidence: Faith, Doubt, and Certainty in Christian Discipleship. But, I must admit, I went primarily to listen — I have not yet read the book. Nevertheless, the discussion was great. It was controversial, insightful, invigorating, introspective, revealing…bewildering…frustrating. So many ideas were discussed and I feel like I only came away with a few of them. And some ideas were brand new ones — ones that I am going to have to wrestle with for a while.
I was fortunate enough to be in the same room as Jason Clark (of Emergent-UK fame). His breadth of knowledge is staggering and I was blown away by his ability to tell a story. Though I didn’t get to talk to him one-on-one, he seems like a very genuine, nice guy with a loving heart who is truly seeking the Lord.
A couple of Clark’s passions are the Theology of Creation and “being human.” I can’t begin to convey the things that he spoke about last night (and is currently writing about). As someone who comes from a mostly “modernist” Christian upbringing, I can only say that the topic was intersting and mind-opening (even if I don’t necessarily agree with every point he made at this chapter in my story). In any case, I am glad to have met 
Jason Clark. His ability to think “outside of the box” is inspiring.
Not only did I not read the book that was being discussed, but I had to leave early as well. I’m sure the discussion remained lively and enlightening. If you ever have the urging to pick something (book, movie, culture, whatever) to discuss with others in your church, you should. It is worth the time and effort. The community that can be created by intimate dialog — fellow sojourners opening up their hearts and minds with each other — is an amazing blessing.
January 13, 2004 at 9:38 pm
In a nutshell...
Yeah, it’s clich?. This year seems to be starting out so busy that it’s the only analogy I can think of. But, don’t get me wrong. This is a good thing. (Right?)
A little before New Year’s, we started a new membership at the UMKC Recreation Center. (We were going to another gym last year, but kind of let our membership fizzle when summer came around.) This has been awesome, though we’re still getting into the motivational swing of things. I consider our progress pretty good so far.
Last week, we started taking Yoga at church again. Tonight was our second class and, man, was it hard! I will be in pain tomorrow, but I know it is good for us.
I already told you about Project 365, which is going great. You should check it out and join the fun — it’s never too late!
Then, get this, yesterday I started to learn Japanese! Yeah, really. A few days ago, I ordered these Learn Japanese in Your Car CDs and now I (Watashi) can even say a couple words. If I knew how to say “wish me luck” in Japanese, I would.
Ok, then there’s this: a small, but fairly well-known record company has offered me a 500 CD deal for my A Different Kind of Cop project! As long as I can get something finished by this summer. I know this is a modest deal as far as recording deals go, but it is kind of neat. I haven’t formerly accepted the offer yet, but I’m clase. It’s just…who has time for writing music?! I think it’s worth a try, though.
Then, we have the memorial for my father-in-law on the 24th. It’s in Atlanta. The 24th would have been his birthday. It is sad, but I am convinced that it will be a great trip; needed by all of us.
And all of this while working and reading three books and, well… You get the picture.
So, there’s the nutshell. What a year this is going to be.
January 12, 2004 at 10:26 am
Blogger Idol...
Right. Who needs another project this year? But, this sounds like great fun!
Who wants to jump on board my fan club wagon? I mean, I could be the Ruben Studdard of the Blogosphere! (But, I’d settle for being Clay, of course.)
Wish me luck!
January 09, 2004 at 4:47 pm
Off-track...
Sadly, I am finally to the end of my search for a future-proof Trackback paradigm. I have talked to a couple of people about this and it just seems like there is no easy way to accomplish it.
As a slight fix, though, I have created a new MovableType database that is solely dedicated to this Weblog (I sponsor a couple of others that were previously all using the same database). What this will do for me is provide a “clean” database in which each new entry will be created as consecutive Unique IDs — databases that contain multiple Weblogs enter each entry by each Weblog consecutively, meaning that “Weblog 1” might create entries with UIDs “1” & “2,” while “Weblog 2” will create it’s next entry as UID “3” and then “Weblog 1” will create UID “4” and so on (effectively creating non-consecutive UIDs for the singular Weblogs).
Anyway, this information is all way too technical and, well…technically moot. This is where my sadness comes from — the fact that by creating a new database — no, no, no, I mean by moving my original database to a new host in the first place — I have completely destroyed any Trackbacks and/or hyperlinks that you all may have sent my way or made on your site. I am sorry. I know this is annoying (especially to me, because I have used Trackbacking as a way to tie most of my correlating Blog entries together). Of course, one day I may go into each of my entries and try to fix the broken links, but that would be a lot of work!
So, I apologize if your site now contains a broken link because of me.
This should never happen again.
January 09, 2004 at 08:47 am
The lonliest...letter?
When I looked at my Blogroll today, I noticed something… I have every letter in the alphabet filled with at least one Weblog. But not every letter. A few lonely letters remain. They are fine letters too. I don’t have anything against these letters. But they remain nonetheless; letters with abundant pride that choose to stand even though they have no occupants.
They are: F, G, I, O, Q, U, V, X, Y, and Z.
Yes, some of these letters seem fairly common — a few even leave me surprised that they are not filled. But when people are choosing the names for their Blogs, I fear that they are not examining the plethora of grammatical choices that are available to them. (I admit, beginning my own Weblog with a “T” is not very creative, as so many titles begin with the word, “The.” But I am not responsible for my first name!)
So, I beg you, kind visitors, please feed my Blogroll. I know, it would be easy enough for me to simply search out any old Blogs that have titles beginning with the letters I need, but I want something of substance. Something I will check on every day (as I do all of those existing Weblogs in my Blogroll).
Who out there can fill the Qs or the Vs or the Xs…?
It could be you.
January 07, 2004 at 8:37 pm
grid::blog | Project 365 - Week 1 in review...
“Grid::blog | Project 365“ is going great. I have successfully uploaded one new photograph per day since January 1st. If anyone is proud, I am. (The other grid::bloggers — below — have been doing a tremendous job as well!) I wonder if I can keep up the pace for an entire year; that’s roughly 7,300 photographs, at 20 or so shots per day, just to come up with 365 pictures that I think are good ones. Still, I feel like this is a worthy discipline that I will look back on in fondness. Even now, only seven days into the project, I feel like I am discovering an eye that I didn’t even have a week ago. But, in my limited daily environment, the search for new and interesting shots might become difficult — please forgive me if you begin to see similarities between some of the ones that I find to and from work.
I hope you are enjoying my photographs as much as I am taking them (I’d take them anyway).
January 05, 2004 at 07:24 am
Recent commenting problems...
Apologies, folks, for all of the recent problems that have been occurring when commenting on my Weblog. After all of the troubles that I’ve had to work through because of transferring this site to a new web host, there are still a few to go.
If you do make a comment and are delivered to an error page, rest assured that the comment was delivered. Please don’t try again and again. If you want to make sure that your comment was posted, close the comment window and click the comments link on the entry again to check. It should be there.
Thank you for your continuing patience!
January 03, 2004 at 7:46 pm
grid::blog | Project 365 - Catch up...
Well, since Fotolog.net hasn’t sent me a confirmation e-mail yet, I decided to post my “Project 365” photographs on my own Photoblog (I guess I should have done this in the first place).
So, on the third day of January, 2004, I have posted my first three days-worth of photographs. Enjoy.
Joining the Project 365 grid is Richard Hall (Project 365 URL to come). Welcome, Richard!
January 03, 2004 at 09:34 am
Battle of the divorcées!
Last night, my wife and I pulled a double-feature. Ok, ok ok… We didn’t only pay for one movie and then sneak into another. We also took our dinner to eat during the previews of the first movie! I feel so bad about it too… Not.
Beyond our many shenanigans, though, last night was unintentionally ironic. Our first film was Cold Mountain, starring Nicole Kidman, followed shortly after by The Last Samurai, with Tom Cruise. Wait. No! That’s got to be planned! Nope. We didn’t even think about it. I swear. Not only were both of these films dramatic period epics that took place, roughly, a decade or so apart, but they were both about war, they were both around two-and-a-half hours long, and, well…the stars of the two films used to sort of know each other, right?
Cold Mountain co-starred a man who wouldn’t let war kill him before he could return home to his loved one. The Last Samurai starred a man who would not let war kill him until he found his honor. Both men fought in the Civil War. I could go on…
But, despite the various similarities, these two films were, in fact, quite different. And, while I enjoyed both of them immensely, I think my pick for favorite will have to go to Cold Mountain. Cold Mountain contained so much stark emotional content that I felt myself taken back to the time of the Civil War — to the lives of the people involved — almost completely. The Last Samurai, while beatifully shot and masterfully produced, just didn’t totally take me there. I loved a few of the characters in The Last Samurai (namely, most of the Samurai themselves), but I came to love every character in Cold Mountain.
I highly recommend seeing both of these films.
So, while I’m on the subject of movies, I must mention one of my new favorites: Northfork. Julianna and I rented this film Thursday night. I’m not going to say too much about it, because I would like you to go rent it. It is the last in a trilogy of films about life in North America by the Polish Brothers (Michael & Mark). If you’ve ever had to suffer through loss, as we have recently, this movie is amazingly revealing. The writing was flawless. The acting was impeccable. While Northfork wouldn’t ever be considered an epic, I think that it is one; an epic of the soul.
Northfork was independently produced and it deserves your attention.
Three great movies in two days… How cool is that?
January 01, 2004 at 7:11 pm
grid::blog | Project 365
Jordon Cooper has just begun a new project called “Project 365” in which he will post one photograph a day — every day — for the next year. How cool is that?
Anyway, without getting Mr. Cooper’s permission, I am declaring “Project 365” a grid::blog. If you feel like joining in, just let me know!
I’m currently waiting for my Fotolog account to be activated — it seems to be taking a couple of days. Sorry. I do have today’s photograph ready to upload, though, so when my account is ready, I’ll get it all up and running.
Wish us luck!
January 01, 2004 at 10:40 am
Reevaluating "postmodernism" for 2004...
Brian McLaren has just written an article called, “The Three Postmodernisms: A short explanation.” The article is concise and “correct” — I wouldn’t expect any less from McLaren — but it leaves me wondering if we are doing a disservice to ourselves by continuing to use the term, “postmodern.” In my opinion, the term “postmodern” has, in itself, become a tool. Like all words, it contains signs and signifiers that go far beyond the limits of a mere essay.
Note: I believe that Brian McLaren is a true follower of Christ… One whom I respect and trust (though, I don’t know him personally, I believe that his thoughts and writings are valid). This Blog entry is in no way an attack on him, but moreover a meditation on a word. Words, in today’s age of mass-communication and information commerce are cheap — symbols used to profit the disseminator. Myself included.
January 01, 2004 at 09:35 am
And a happy new year...
Look up resolution. I have no resolutions. I do not wish to reduce anything to its simpler form or solve anything or even determine or deliberate anything.
Nor do I have any lists. In fact, I haven’t even formed any in my head.
What about expectations? Do I have any of those? Interestingly enough, a synonym of “resolution” is “courage.” Do I avoid resolutions because I am afraid? Because I expect something of myself? This may be true.
I do have ideas and projects and goals. But it is not the new year that bears these things. I bear these things — no matter what day or what month or what year it is. Some of these are immediately evident and some are not. Some will wait to be revealed and some will…resolve. Of this I am not afraid. Of the outcome…?
2004.