Wednesday, April 30, 2003 AD Watch the Birdie! Eagle Cam. Falcon Cam (intro to Falcon Cam). Falcon Cam 2. (Links from Heidi and Barb, but not from their blogs.) Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 4/30/2003 06:53:00 PM
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Links to This Post Well That Was No Fun! Earlier today I made a change to all of my template files for my work website, then republished all the html files on the site. Then I discovered that all of my template files had some corrupted code. Not from the work I'd done earlier, but from something unknown -- every single file path was wonky, and they weren't all wonky in the same way. Man, if this was a test of patience, I sure failed with flying colors (as I do with most tests of patience). Total panic. A harrowing 90 minutes or so. But I think I've got everything back in working order now. My eyelid's already been twitching from stress for a couple days. This has not served to rectify that problem!
Now for a reality check: God is sovereign over everything. This includes html coding. This includes corrupt html coding. This includes my corrupt html coding. So there really wasn't any reason for going ballistic over it, now was there? Right. Also, God is sovereign over the process of my sanctification. He will complete the good work He's begun in me, but it's obviously not done yet. So there's really no reason to despair over the sins of the day, now is there? Right.
OK, now I return me to my regularly scheduled work. Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 4/30/2003 06:05:00 PM
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Links to This Post More News You Can Use In case anybody missed it in the comments on my B&J post, Baskin Robbins has Free Scoop Night 6-10 p.m. today! Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 4/30/2003 11:47:00 AM
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Links to This Post He's Baaaaaaack! Blog Barukatash is in business again. Welcome back, Brian! Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 4/30/2003 11:44:00 AM
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Tuesday, April 29, 2003 AD News You Can Use! Today is Free Cone Day at Ben and Jerry's. Whatever you think of B&J's politics, free ice cream is free ice cream, my friends! Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 4/29/2003 03:58:00 PM
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Monday, April 28, 2003 AD The Lion's Mane Has Been Shorn I forgot to report the most shocking news from Friday night. Daniel got a haircut. It's amazing how different someone can look when he drastically alters his most striking feature. Good thing it was Stacey picking him up at the bus station -- if it'd been me (which would have made more logistical sense, since I was coming from downtown), I don't know as I'd have recognized him. Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 4/28/2003 11:22:00 AM
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Saturday, April 26, 2003 AD A Gnu Blog Longtime 'Net friend John H., a.k.a. The Gnu, has a new blog, The Wildebeest's Wardrobe. No comment system yet, but we're working on him! Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 4/26/2003 12:38:00 PM
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Links to This Post Meeting Dead Chicken Berry Paulo and I are holding a race to see who can report first on last night's goings-on.
Brian and Stacey hosted a little get-together for some bloggers (Paulo O, Daniel S, me) former bloggers (Wayne W), and sundry other friends (Gordon and Other Brian from B&S's church; Carly, a longtime friend of Stacey; Dave, a member of Christ Presbyterian Church, whom Brian met at a conference; Amy, a friend of Paulo's from MICA). (Paulo, Other Brian and Carly are all, incidentally, also MICA students.) Harrison put in an early appearance before bedtime, and Wayne was the party pooper -- leaving a little after 9, just when things were starting to get fun. (Or maybe that's why things started to get fun? Kidding!!!)
The highlight of the evening was meeting Dead Chicken Berry in the flesh...er...rubber. DCB was much smaller than most of us expected. Paulo was blessed with a sneak preview of a broader range of DCB's exploits while the rest of us waited, more or less patiently, for him and Brian to come back downstairs so we could finish the game of Cranium we were playing. Team Awesome (Dave, Gordon, Other Brian and yours truly) finally won. If you ever get a chance to play this game, just remember that Stonehenge is the answer to every Scuplturade, that it is impossible to successfully charade the word hormones, and that hippopotamus has two Os, not two As.
Good food, good conversation (theological and otherwise), and a good time were had by all. Thanks, Davises, for your hospitality! OK, Paulo's finished his entry, so I'll post mine and go check out his. Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 4/26/2003 11:29:00 AM
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Friday, April 25, 2003 AD Thanks, Mr. Neocalvinist! Gideon sent me a selection from my wish list for "broadening his blog's horizons." Giftwrapped, even...pretty schnazzy!
And how's this for a nice little business practice from Amazon? I got an extra jewel case with a note saying, "This CD's jewel case was damaged in transit from the distributor to our fulfillment center. Rather than delay your order by waiting for a replacement copy, we've enclosed a new jewel case for your use, free of charge."
OK, now go away, everybody...I want to listen to my new CD! Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 4/25/2003 01:05:00 PM
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Wednesday, April 23, 2003 AD "Whose Young Woman Is This?" In a study of Ruth a few years ago, a friend took umbrage with the verse containing my title question. It amused me because I know her loving daddy walked her down the aisle and handed her off to her loving husband. She's always been somebody's young woman and hasn't a clue of how blessed she is to have always been somebody's young woman.
I've spent the years since that night mulling over that exchange and nursing two feelings: 1) self-righteousness, because I, of course, do realize what a blessing it would be to be someone's young woman and 2) self-pity, because I never have been someone's young woman.
I need to repent of four things: 1) my self-righteousness, 2) self-pity and 3 & 4) self-delusion and ingratitude if I think that my Heavenly Father has somehow given me a second-rate life if He has, in His perfect providence, chosen to bless me in ways that do not involve having a daddy or husband to love, lead, provide for and protect me. God is good all the time. All the time, God is good. Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 4/23/2003 04:29:00 PM
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Tuesday, April 22, 2003 AD Testing a Theory I have long held that nothing makes the comments count soar like a post about food. And since I've had a couple of food-related thoughts lately, I thought they'd serve as material for a test post to continue research on my theory.
A) Yogurt: Do you prefer pre-stirred or fruit on the bottom? Why? What are your favorite flavors and/or favorite brand?
2) Cookies: I prefer ginger snaps to chocolate chip cookies. Is this an excommunicable offense*? Discuss.
Have at it!
*I mean in the UCC (United Chocoholics Church), of course. Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 4/22/2003 04:41:00 PM
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Links to This Post Following Up I wanted to highlight a couple strands from the comments on my post on outreach to men:
1. Outreach to children and women is of course still good and important. I'd like to add a pointer to James 1:27 where caring for the fatherless and widows is held up as a Very Big Deal, and evangelistic outreach is surely an important component thereof.
2. Gregory Baus brought up the issue of "Conversianity." I couldn't agree more strongly that seeking to obey the Great Commission with a merely decisionalistic focus is not obeying the Great Commission. The Church should be in the business of making disciples, not just converts. That means once someone is converted, the Church is responsible for providing appropriate discipleship for the rest of his life. One of my strongest objections to seeker sensitivism as it often plays out is that those who already believe are never challenged to grow out of spiritual infancy. There are a whole lot of clueless believers out there who have gotten their foot in the door of the faith and have then been abandoned to their own devices. Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 4/22/2003 04:05:00 PM
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Monday, April 21, 2003 AD Easter Dresses [WARNING: Totally girly post ahead!]
Blogging about spiritual issues at Eastertide? Oh, that's been done to death. Let's talk about clothes, now. ;-)
When I was a little girl, I would get a new dress every year for Easter, usually made by my mom. My two favorites were a pink gingham number with multicolored butterflies (this was like camoflague for my bedroom, which was also done in pink gingham), circa 1976, and a lavender gingham/calico patchworky sort of thing, circa 1979. I used to be able to list every dress, but some have now been lost to my patchworky sort of memory.
This year we revived the tradition. I had picked up some floral print fabric (technically calico, I guess, but much bigger and bolder than the typical small floral print) two summers ago and mom delivered a skirt when she arrived for a visit Thursday evening. Mom also threw together two blouses -- one pink and one lavender (do we see a recurring theme, here?) -- to coordinate. She had embroidered around the neckline of both blouses, and around the cuffs of the pink one, which has long sleeves.
She asked me if I wanted them further embellished, and I took over from there. The lavender blouse was the first target, since I wanted to wear it Easter day. Mom had done a row of feather stitching in a dark blue and some pink knotted rosebuds. I added some white buds and green leaves. The pink blouse had darker pink feather stitching to which I added a second row in white. Unfortunately, we'd had to cut the sleeves shorter, so we lost Mom's pink row on the cuffs. But that gave me a chance to learn to learn to feather stitch from scratch, rather than just following over her stitching. First I learned the wrong way on the right sleeve (because I was figuring it out for myself), then I did much better on the left sleeve after a tip from Mom.
Of course the most important thing is that it's been wonderful to sit with her the last few days and just be domestic -- her knitting or sewing, me embroidering; chatting, watching a movie or listening to music. We went to the fabric store on Friday and played. She sometimes cringes at my taste in fabrics -- I like much bigger, brighter, bolder prints than she does -- but when I was trying to decide between two options for a dress, she urged me to go with the bolder pattern, because she knew it would suit me better and I would enjoy it more.
Sigh...I wish I could have had all week to just sew and play with her, but alas I am back in cubicleworld for the rest of the week.
And since I suppose I should say something about the real meaning of Easter...
Vain the stone, the watch, the seal, Alleluia!
Christ hath burst the gates of hell, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids Him rise, Alleluia!
Christ hath opened paradise,
ALLELUIA!
Saturday, April 19, 2003 AD Music We had our final rehearsal this morning for the Handel piece we're doing tomorrow -- Messiah #33, "Lift Up Your Heads, O Ye Gates." Ah...what a pleasure to be able to sing challenging classical music for a change. And the Gospel choir is doing three selections from Robert Ray's Gospel Mass (alas, I cannot seem to track down a commercially available recording), which I'm also enjoying, except for some of the librettist's liberties. Since I'd not been to choir for a few months, I held my tongue for about three rehearsals before I piped up and pointed out a careless paraphrase in the Credo. The music director told me later that at the moment she thought, "Yay! Valerie's back!" Not that anybody's going to change anything now that Valerie's back and putting her two cents in, but at least it's nice to know that my doing so does not engender universal loathing and annoyance toward me.
Last night's Good Friday service was a joint event involving all six PCA churches in Baltimore City. With one exception (yeah, I always have to find something wrong!), the music was marvelous -- thoughtful lyrics, non-inane music, skillful playing and singing. Subjectively speaking, the best worship experience I've had in months. And oddly enough, it was an older hymn, not a contemporary song, that irked me. "And now I am happy all the day" has got to be one of the dippiest lines ever penned in hymnody. And "Alas and Did My Savior Bleed" is so good otherwise. I wish we would stick with Watts's verses and ditch Hudson's chorus. PDI/Sovereign grace has a very nice version of the hymn, by the way, on this CD (audio available, too). They did go with PDI selections for some of the other songs last night. (By the way, Wayne L, if you happen to read this, since I never did get around to responding to your inquiry about contemporary music that's not devoid of all merit, I would recommend starting by poking around in PDI's Come and Worship series. Not uniformly excellent, but light years better than your average Vineyard/Integrity's Hosanna/Maranatha offering.) Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 4/19/2003 02:40:00 PM
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Links to This Post I Hate It When That Happens I read something the other day that said that if a father converts, there's a 93 percent chance others in his family will convert; if a mother converts, there's a 30-something percent chance; and if a kid converts, there's a 6 percent chance. I'm sure I'm fudging the numbers and the details, but it was something along those lines. Trouble is, I can't for the life of me remember where I read it. Does it sound familiar to anyone?
On the one hand, the report would seem to have profound implications for outreach strategies -- that we should be going almost exclusively after adult men in order to reach women and children. But there was some data missing. The article didn't mention whether outreach efforts specifically targeted to man/women/kids produce equal results. If an outreach program reaches three men, and their wives and kids all convert, you may have reached 15 folks (we'll give 'em three kids a piece -- a generous allotment for hitherto pagans in North American culture, methinks). But if the same amount of effort would reach 20 kids, then overall it would seem to be more successful. Of course the whole programmatic, nose-counting, what can we do to get 'em in approach is problematic in and of itself as far as it focuses on human effort above the work of the Holy Spirit, but even churches that think rightly about outreach and evangelism will want to be strategic in how they plan and expend resources in these areas.
And then there's the example of Jesus and the Apostles. While our Lord instructed His disciples to "suffer the little children to come unto me," the little children were not the primary focus of His teaching ministry. In Acts 2 Peter calls the men of Israel to listen and in Acts 17 Paul addresses to the men of Athens.
North American Evangelicalism seems to have bought and perpetuated the idea that men aren't going to be interested in church, anyway, so we shouldn't bother trying to win them to Christ. It's great that we have compassion for kids -- the little ones/the least of these -- but if we can reach their fathers we can more effectively and efficiently reach them. And if we reach the fathers we can more effectively and efficiently rescue the children from whatever familial dysfunction they are suffering, because the entire family environment will be transformed by the influence of the Gospel. Of course there are many places, like the neighborhood where my church worships and focuses its ministry, where families with fathers are in the minority, so it's not just fathers, but men in general who need to be the focus of outreach. Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 4/19/2003 02:03:00 PM
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Wednesday, April 16, 2003 AD Wiggles Last year I was briefly addicted to Wiggling. One of my entries won an honorable mention for that month, but their voting system was seriously messed up, so that probably doesn't mean anything. Scarecrow and Bunso got in on the Wiggling action, too. Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 4/16/2003 10:42:00 AM
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Monday, April 14, 2003 AD The POWs Are Free! I'm probably the last to know, eh? I love this article (link via Rudy C) in which Shana Johnson is worried about her hair, of all things. See...she's a girl, not a soldier, after all! Thumbs down to women in the military, ambivalence about the war, and elation over the safe return of the prisoners.
One more thing. Among the seven were individuals of at least four different racial backgrounds and born in at least three different countries. I'm not a flag-waving patriot by any stretch of the imagination, nor am I by any means enamored with much of contemporary American culture, but in our diversity, we are more like what the church should be -- a people from every nation, tribe and tongue -- than most other countries. And that, as Martha would say, is a good thing. Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 4/14/2003 07:13:00 PM
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Links to This Post Sabbath-Keeping In a comment regarding my deleted post, which was somewhat, but not entirely, about Sabbath-keeping, Denise asked about my Sabbath observance. I will endeavor to indulge her curiosity.
First of all, my example as a whole is not one that should be followed -- I'm a very shabby Shabbatarian. I do not spend the day as restfully as I ought, nor are my thoughts as devoted to spiritiual things as they should be.
As for my practice of not eating out, shopping, etc. on Sundays, I see it as a justice issue. I would be saying to the people serving me in the store or restaurant, "I would rather you were here today serving me than spending your day in worship and rest." I'm also saying to to the culture that has made shopping, etc., on Sunday commonplace, that it's OK with me. Furthermore, that encourages an atmosphere in which Christians who wants a job in retail service may either be passed over for a position if they refuse to work on Sundays, or be pressured into working on Sundays. Having been in that position, I am perhaps more sensitive to it. (As an aside, I have a friend -- a single mom of three -- who would very much like to switch from night-shift to day-shift at her post office job, but would have to work Sundays if she did. I honor her for that sacrificial choice!)
Am I perfectly consistent? Of course not. I turn on lights -- someone has to be at work at the power company. I use the phone -- somebody has to be at work at the phone company. I stop for food or gas when traveling on Sundays -- someone has to be at work at the service station. And sometimes I even let certain people drag me out to lunch after church. So I'm not any kind of holier-than-thou on this issue, I'm just trying to follow my conscience. Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 4/14/2003 06:41:00 PM
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Links to This Post From the "I'm My Own Grandpa" Department The dedication in Knowing Scripture is "To my father, Robert C. Sproul Jr." It struck me as funny, since of course the son of the author in question goes by R.C. Jr.
(The better-known Jr., for those who are still confused, is actually the fourth Robert C. in the line, but is technically neither a Jr. nor an IV, since the middle name has changed throughout the lineage. To those who are still confused, sorry!) Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 4/14/2003 03:10:00 PM
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Sunday, April 13, 2003 AD I'm Going Garver Laurel Garver, that is. I'm going to keep plugging away at my blog just as she does. Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 4/13/2003 03:48:00 PM
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Links to This Post Alexa Toolbar I've added the Alexa toolbar to my browser, in addition to the Google toolbar, which I already had installed. If you're on the nervous side about privacy, you won't want these -- they record too much of what you do on the 'Net. I'm rather fond of them, however, as they make my browsing more efficient. Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 4/13/2003 01:52:00 PM
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Links to This Post Last Post Deleted Thanks, Paul and Heidi, for your comments. They are taken to heart. Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 4/13/2003 01:45:00 PM
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Saturday, April 12, 2003 AD Windows Messenger Russ asked if I had WM as well as AIM. So I decided to look into the mysteries thereof to see if I could figure out how it worked. Turns out it's not so difficult, after all. So if you prefer WM to AIM, as far as I can tell my user name is my hotmail address -- valerieab [at] hotmail [dot] com (of course it should be formatted correctly). Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 4/12/2003 04:24:00 PM
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Links to This Post Full Circle John B2 sent me a copy of Knowing Scripture, which was on my Amazon wish list, for some tweakage I did on his blog, OKCalvin. John also sent Glorious Intruder, which was not on my list, but which looks like very good medicine. Very perceptive choice, John. Thanks. And here's the circle: Glorious Intruder was written by Joni Eareckson Tada, who is a long-time friend of my pastor, Craig Garriott, whose brothers, Chuck and Chris, are another couple of OK Calvinists -- pastors at Heritage PCA in OK City -- whom I am sure John knows. Pretty cool, huh? Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 4/12/2003 02:40:00 PM
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Friday, April 11, 2003 AD Pørn Culture "Hefner's Playmates -- and, in the culture he has done so much to shape, all women -- are primarily visual objects, metaphysically truncated to their improbable physical attributes. Among the consequences: all female rock stars are now obliged to be beautiful, contributing to a dearth of quality female vocalists -- not because women can't sing, but because pørnøgraphic culture won't allow any but the most beautiful women to get on the stage. The same is true for female newscasters and waitresses, but the irony is doubly poignant in the music industry, where the melodious sound of someone's voice may never get to your ears because they lack the visual appeal required by mass marketing. If the future sounds like Britney Spears, then please, give us back Janis Joplin, Mamma Cass, and Barbara Streisand." (From a re:generation article on pørnøgraphy; link via Rick C.)
(And don't for a second think that the so-called Christian music industry is immune from this.)
The whole article is good. Reminds me of something Greg Krehbiel wrote a while back: "When the public expression of sexuality is limited, even a homely woman has something valuable to offer her husband. But when sexuality is paraded all over the place, even attractive women are at a disadvantage." Far from being deceitful and vain, charm and beauty -- and a perverted, plasticized parody thereof, at that -- are now the be-all and end-all of a woman's value in American culture. Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 4/11/2003 03:55:00 PM
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Thursday, April 10, 2003 AD Check This Out! Paulo has created Miserere, a "nonlinear interpretation of Psalm 51 in Latin and English, based on the verses of Gregorio Allegri's Miserere Mei, presented as a typographic study juxtaposed alongside the David/Bathsheba story." Paulo give's instructions: "Rolling over the Latin verse should play a digitally altered segment of the original Miserere choral setting (sped up to 400% for artsy compression effects). I've tried to be as careful as possible in my juxtapository expositions of the verses, and the audio lyrics should match the corresponding rollover text -- except for a few pages where I botched up syncing with the Latin, because of time constraints."
Beautiful work, Pau! Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 4/10/2003 05:43:00 PM
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Links to This Post An Act of Faith Monday night, on my way home from work in the cold, dreary rain, I stopped to buy cream cheese. And my faith was rewarded! When I arrived at my doorstep there was a box of homemade bagels waiting for me...and for the aforementioned cream cheese. Three onion, one poppy seed, one cinnamon, and (my favorite--how did she know?) one cinnamon onion. Now I don't want to say who sent me these bagels, because I don't want throngs of jealous netizens whining Why didn't I get any? or mercilessly teasing the creator of the world's first (and last) known cinnamon onion bagel, but I will say that bagels might be considered a type of buns and that they came wrapped in alumiunum foil. ;-)
Oh, and they were quite yummy! Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 4/10/2003 05:29:00 PM
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Wednesday, April 09, 2003 AD Blogs d'aluminium! My last entry is particularly amusing en Francais, courtesy of someone's Googling adventures.
Une nouvelle entrée délicieuse au monde blogging est Mme Heidi C., a.k.a. Brioches de l'aluminium, a.k.a. Princesse Noogins LaToo. Heidi est une connaissance en ligne à long terme des puissances imaginatives extraordinaires et je recommande son blog d'histoire aux jeunes, au jeune-à-coeur, et au vieux-à-coeur-qui-avoir besoin-un-petit-rajeunissement.
Dans ma défense, je voudrais juste à la parole que mon prétendu bras-vrillage se soit composé d'une phrase simple: "je lirais un blog d'histoire de Heidi!" Maintenant je vous demande que, mesdames et messieurs du jury, y a il toutes les raisons aux accusations vile de Bunso? Je pense pas. Je vous invite pour la punir totalement de la loi en visitant son blog et en exigeant qu'elle nous écrivent encore plus de rapidité de poteau d'histoires. Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 4/09/2003 02:27:00 PM
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Monday, April 07, 2003 AD Blogs of Aluminum! A delightful new entry to the blogging world is Mrs. Heidi C., a.k.a. Buns of Aluminum, a.k.a. Princess Noogins LaToo. Heidi is a long-time online acquaintance of extraordinary imaginative powers and I recommend her story blog to the young, the young-at-heart, and the old-at-heart-who-need-a-little-rejuvenation.
In my defense, I'd just like to say that my so-called arm-twisting consisted of a single sentence: "I'd read a Heidi story blog!" Now I ask you, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, are there any grounds to Bunso's vile accusations? I think not. I call upon you to punish her to the full extent of the law by visiting her blog and demanding that she write us some more stories post haste. Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 4/07/2003 08:52:00 PM
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Links to This Post A Pretty Much Wasted Day Three hours on the phone with tech support, the culmination of which was reinstalling office -- something I've been telling them for ages I've suspected needed doing. Three hours in an hour-and-a-half meeting (you know how that goes?) of a committee I didn't even want to be on. A few piddly website corrections and one Word-to-PDF conversion and lunch rounded out the hours. But I journaled a bit during the tech support calls and I made good progress on a drawing during the meeting, so if they're happy to pay me to do those things, that's fine with me! Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 4/07/2003 08:01:00 PM
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Sunday, April 06, 2003 AD A Poem from June 2000 (I Think)
I tried to explain about the night-blooming cereus,
But to eyes indisposed to beauty
This rarity warrants no more than a polite nod
To an eccentric spinster neighbor.
A draught from a cigarette is preferred
Over sweet sips from this fragile cup;
The dish on a jealous girlfriend,
Over nourishment from this exquisite vessel.
The common you will have with you always
But this flower will be gone tomorrow.
Do not harden you hearts. Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 4/06/2003 08:21:00 PM
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Links to This Post Worship Music If there's one issue in my life that I just wish would disappear, it's the debate -- both my internal debate and the one that continues in the church at large -- about worship music styles and substance. It seems as if everything I read (like these and this and this and this and this...not to mention a host of private correspondence and conversations) pulls me in a different direction, makes me distrust myself even more, makes me more frustrated with the body of Christ that we can't agree on this enough so I don't feel pulled in different directions.
But there are bright spots. I see God refining me through this. If nothing else, it's made me constantly ask, Am I just being prideful in my preferences? Am I being culturally idolatrous? Am I graciously listening to what others have to say? Am I respecting those to whom respect is due? Am I really seeking God's truth, or am I just seeking Valerie's truth? And sometimes He lets me catch a glimpse of of how the Body of Christ is actually supposed to function in the midst of disagreement. Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 4/06/2003 08:15:00 PM
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Friday, April 04, 2003 AD My First War Post Anybody else find anything disturbing about this photo? Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 4/04/2003 06:35:00 PM
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Links to This Post Sorry, Davey, You'll Have to Recategorize Me According to Davey's blog roll, I'm a Numenorean. According to this test, I am...
Of course the last such test I took pegged me as a Hobbit, so there could be a problem with the testing instrument. Or maybe I'm just confused. What do y'all think I am? Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 4/04/2003 02:06:00 PM
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Links to This Post Forsythia! There are few things in the world that bring more joy to my eyes than the sight of forsythia in bloom. It vexes me, however, when forsythia bushes are too carefully trimmed and sculpted. The whole point of the things, in my humble but correct opinion, is the exuberant wheeeeeeee! of untamed arms outflung in glory-giving yellow gesture. Forsythia should look like it's dancing in wild abandon, not like it's being forced to sit, starched-collar-constrained and tea-sipping-civilized, in a stuffy Victorian parlor. Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 4/04/2003 01:33:00 PM
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Thursday, April 03, 2003 AD This Makes Me a Little Nervous "Is Corel Breaking Up?" I've used Corel graphics products -- Draw and PhotoPaint -- for over seven years now. If i had it to do over again, I'd like to have gone the Illustrator/Photoshop/Quark/Mac route. But I learned on the job and created my graphics niche as I went along, so I used what was available -- Windows-based Corel. And now I'm comfortable with it, and find it usually does what I want it to do, and get a little nervous at the thought of losing it. We shall see. Maybe this will be the kick in the pants I need to make the switch to what "real" graphics folks use. Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 4/03/2003 03:58:00 PM
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Links to This Post New Scripture Fragment Found! Archaeologists have discovered a fragment of an ancient scroll believed to be a missing letter from Paul to the saints at a little-known town called Effusus. Here is the text, as translated in the VVV*:
Effusions 6:10-18
10Finally, be strong in yourself and in your own pitiful weakness. 11Put on the full armor of man so that you can play your part in the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against sin and evil, but against anybody who gets in our way, against anybody who grates on our nerves, against our brothers and sisters in Christ, and especially against those He has set in authority over us in His Church. 13Therefore put on the full armor of man, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to give in, and after you have done nothing, to give up. 14Sit tight, then, with the spare tire of self-indulgence around your waist, with the pew pad of comfort in place under your posterior, 15and with your feet covered with the callouses that come from kicking around your brothers and sisters in Christ. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of pride, with which to deflect the conviction of the Holy Spirit. 17Take the helment of stubbornness and the sword of the flesh, which is your own dearly held opinion. 18And pray in the flesh on occasional occasions (not too often -- God might try to get a word in edgewise) with only those kinds of prayers and requests that demand your own way. With this in mind, be alert and always keep tearing down all the saints.
Researchers are still debating the authenticity of the fragment.
*Valerie's Vernacular Version Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 4/03/2003 02:08:00 PM
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Wednesday, April 02, 2003 AD A Marvelous Typo In a prayer "For Relief from Frustration," My Prayer Book misprints a verse from Psalm 51 as "Cart me not away from Thy presence." I think it's a great place for such a great typo. Especially when you're pretty much fit to be carted away! Laughter is a marvelous reliever of frustration. Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 4/02/2003 12:00:00 PM
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