ok. i had forgotten about this blog until tonight. i haven't posted because i haven't thought about it and i (evidently) haven't had much to say.
life is pretty good. work is very busy. the whole "rapid transformation" process has been fairly stressful but not too much so. our group has gone from 8 to 6, then to 5 and hopefully back to 6 very soon. we've got at least 2 big projects coming up in the next month and lots of work to do. i think we'll get it all done. i just hope we're all in good spirits while doing it.
other than work, things are good. SS and i are still dating and having fun. i've been lazy around the house so no big project have begun lately. i did buy a new (to me) truck, though. its been good so far. i'm going to find out this weekend or next how hard it is to change the oil.
we went to the movies twice this past weekend. on friday night we saw The Prestige. i highly recommend it. i like movies that you have to think about and this one definetly fit the bill. it is a little hard to follow at first, but once you get into it, it gets really good. don't worry, though, they explain everything at the end.
on saturday afternoon we went to see Facing the Giants. it is quite obviously an independent film with an overtly Christian message. it was a cute little movie that left you feeling good. i think the main actor did a good job but the script was very weak and many of the supporting characters were not very good. it lacked a little polish but overall wasn't bad. i kind of disagree with the message it gave, however. basically it said that if you trust/praise God in everything, it all will turn out like you want it to. i'd have actually liked the movie a lot better if they didn't win the state championship and the coach and his wife weren't able to have children. at least then it would have been a little more realistic in that what we want isn't always what God has planned and what ultimately ends up happening. overall, i'd give the movie 2.5 out of 5 stars.
i also saw a preview for Jesus Camp. that movie looks scary on several levels. i'll have to see it.
What's your musical horoscope? (Put your music player on shuffle and write down the first 10 songs that come up.) Inspired by Stephanie.
1. I Love You, Porgy - Miles Davis
2. I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow - Soggy Bottom Boys
3. Landslide - Fleetwood Mac
4. The Best Day - George Strait
5. Fields of Gold - Sting
6. Don Quixote - Cherry Poppin' Daddies
7. These Thousand Hills - Third Day
8. What Have We Become - dc Talk
9. Heartland - George Strait
10. I Need Words, God of Wrath - David Crowder Band
i'm not exactly sure how this is a horoscope, but its kind of interesting. of course i don't recognize 5 of these and--according to itunes--have listened to 6 of them twice or less. is it possible to have too many mp3's?
i wouldn't have even answered this one but for SS.
What are your personal memories of September 11th?
september, 2001 was the fall of my last senior year in college. i had a VLSI class at 8am but i arrived only to find that it was cancelled for the day. when i got back in my car to head home for a nap, i heard on the radio that a plane had flown into the world trade center. this would have been right at 8am CST so it was actually in between the 2 planes hitting the towers. i drove home and turned on the TV just in time to see the second plane hit live. at that point, no one knew exactly what was going on other than this was a plane hijacking and that both WTC towers had been hit. i remember my friend lorrie calling and asking me what i thought was going on. i think i told her that i didn't know but that i thought we would be safe in starkville, ms.
about an hour later the towers collapsed. the only video there was at that point was the long shot from far away so all you could really see was the tower going down and a huge cloud of smoke coming over the whole site. by then i didn't know what to do and the news didn't have any new info, so i went to my 11:00 class. i remember sitting there listening to the professor's lecture thinking that neither she nor anyone else there knew what had happened. it was a pretty empty class that day and i presume that anyone who had seen or heard the news reports had just skipped the class. it was a strange feeling sitting in a class like i had done hundreds of times but knowing that it didn't matter and that probably no one else there knew what was going on in NYC.
that afternoon, i had to do some work in a computer lab on campus but was trying to stay up-to-date with the latest. the campus internet connection--which is usually very fast because they have a FAT pipe--was completely bogged down. i don't know if it was from on-campus usage or the slowness of the internet at large that day because of everyone in the US checking CNN.com every 5 seconds. this, of course, led to speculation that the terrorist attack was also targeted at communications networks and that they were bringing down the internet. this was ultimately proven false, but it seemed plausible at the time.
i really only have specific memories of the hour or so when i found out about the attacks and watching the towers collapse. the rest of that day doesn't really stand out much. i think i was in shock like everyone else and just went through the motions of the day.
How many places have you lived in your life?
well, i can't say that i've really lived very many places in my life. pensacola, starkville, brookhaven, hattiesburg. that's about it. 4 cities, 2 states.
What was the last game you played?
over the weekend i went on a sunday school class retreat to grayton beach, fl. while there, i got into a game of Take Two with a few other folks. it was close to midnight and i didn't do very well.
What books are on your nightstand?
Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller
The Bible Jesus Read by Phillip Yancy
The Cuckoo's Egg by Cliford Stoll
on the floor beside my nightstand (finished recently)
Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell
Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
What was (or is) your favorite subject in school?
I've always been a math & science kind of guy. However, I enjoyed being in music classes in high school and have fond memories of being a part of the band. In college, I didn't spend much time on the arts and focused mainly on the engineering sciences (surprise, surprise). I enjoy physics although I had two horrible professors in college. I also enjoyed history in college. If I were to become a career student, history would probably be one of my degrees.
What albums are in heavy rotation for you right now?
well, i listen to music mostly on my ipod so i'm not really listening to whole albums any more, but here are some of my current favorites:
Stevie Ray Vaughan & Albert King - In Session
David Crowder Band - A Collision
Casting Crowns - Lifesong
Nine Days - The Madding Crowd
Kutless - Strong Tower
B.B. King - King of the Blues
i'm excited about football season coming up. i've got my season tickets for MSU and my vacation lined up to go to as many games as i can. it should be fun. my fantasy football league is also shaping up which should be a lot of fun.
9 days, 3 hours, 58 min, 41 seconds until my fantasy draft.
15 days, 4 hours, 13 min, 21 seconds until college football begins.
