Restless

My friend Lara graciously told me I needed to update my blog again, and since I never do what she tells me to do, here is an update. I began my packing for school this afternoon, because I'll be gone most of the day tomorrow playing in a fund raising golf tournament. As the result, I'm now living out of my suitcase here at "home". I'm again in that transition period between two "homes", and I'm a bit restless awaiting my departure. On the one hand, I'm excited to head back to school, on the other hand there are definitely things I miss here in the NW when I'm at school (namely, friends and family). I haven't moved as much as some people in my life, but in the last few years, I haven't spent more than a few months in one spot. Sara Evans' song "Restless" came to mind as I was thinking about this. Here are a few of the lyrics -

"Oh, to hold somebody close that cares
Oh, to finally find some roots somewhere
I know someday I'll find it; it's out there
But until then, I'll just keep movin' and ramblin'

What do you do, where do you go
When nowhere feels like home 
I'm restless
Just ramblin'
Oh, I'm restless"

I do have some roots... but in recent years, those have been uprooted quite a bit. I'm a bit mixed up as to where I belong and what location is home. On the one hand these lyrics make me think of someday settling down into a "normal" life, raising a family, etc. But on the other hand, the whole situation makes me a bit restless for heaven. I could be more settled than I currently am here on earth, but in reality, I'll never be home here. "Oh, I'm restless."

Theology and Marriage

This post is alot more serious in thought than some of my recent ones have been, and I'm not really sure why this topic came to mind. Historically it seems the majority of Christian marriages are made up of two people from the same fellowship/denomination. I've rarely known, for example, some one from the CofC to marry a baptist. Somehow this came to mind and got me thinking, how close would my theology have to match a potential bride's in order for the relationship to be lasting and built on the right principles? Strange thought to ponder, considering I'm not in a relationship (and seem to be a long way from being in one). Obviously there are certain beliefs that I could in no way compromise, they are foundational to my faith. There are, however, some more "border" areas where my thoughts are really based more on tradition within my fellowship than on actual biblical theology. At the same time though, the husband is supposed to be the leader of the family in all matters, especially in spiritual matters. If there is too much disagreement, I don't see how that could work out very well. Of course marriage seems to be all about compromise anyway, so it might work out in some situations. It got me thinking too... I really don't get into deep theological discussions with very many people. Thinking of all the girls I know, even the ones I consider close friends, I can only think of one that I've had that kind of discussion with. Maybe it just is not the most natural topic to bring up in a conversation. Prehaps that is something I need to work on though, because in the long run, nothing matters more.

Fail... or not?

I've now missed two days in a row on my every day blogging challenge, and so I guess I failed my very own challenge. It gets difficult to find time to post when you leave for the beach before 9 in the morning, and then don't get back till 11:30 at night. I do believe that friends and a beautiful beach come before blogging in my priorities though, so I feel good about my "failure". Besides, I accomplished what I really wanted to accomplish with my challenge. I now think about blogging just about everyday, even if I don't have something to post in a particular day. That was my real goal, not necessarily a post every day. Hopefully I'll keep this up, avoid boring any of my three readers, and have a nice little record of what is on my mind throughout this school year.

Air Conditioned Seats

I now present to you the most useless gadget I've seen in a while (or at least it is one I'm not shelling out any money for). From Kuchofuku, it is the air-conditioned cushion for your office chair -

Wonder who is getting paid big bucks for this one? From their web-site: "The built-in fan pushes over 170 liters of air per minute through the cushion, dissipating the heat and moisture around your buttocks that causes discomfort and sweating." Who wouldn't want one with that kind of marketing pitch?

08.08.08

As this historic day comes to a close, I realize I did not do all I should have done to optimize my luck for the next 1000 years. I should have sung 8 eighth notes 8 times on the eights of every hour. I should have driven 8 miles at 88 mph. I should have eaten 8 fried Oreos at the fair, costing me exactly 8 dollars. I should have brushed my teeth 8 times in 8 second spurts. I should have yelled "Eight that!" to the cars I passed on the highway. I should have renewed my driver's license today so that 08.08.08 would always be in my pocket. I should have eaten 8 meals in my day, all starting on the eights of course. I should have spent 8 seconds every 8 minutes to contemplate why 8 is such a lucky number. I should have thought of 8 of my favorite things (in pairs of 8), ensuring I will have them near me till I die. I should have concentrated very hard on the equation 8x8x8... then I would have lived that long (that's 512 years for the mathematically challenged). I should have listened to 8 of my favorite songs for 8 minutes each while doing an 8-step dance. I should have parked in the 8th row of the fair parking lot. I should have woken up and gone to bed at 8:08. I should have gone to the skating rink and done 8 figure 8s on the ice. And lastly, I really should have only come up with 8 of these things that I should have done. I'm afraid my luck meter is really running on low right now. Good thing I'm not superstitious. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to do my nightly ritual to rid my bedroom of any bad karma. 

(This blog post was brought to you by the number... 8, and the letter... "I".)

Fair Food

You know, first time at the fair in a given year, all the good looks great. It all makes you hungry and you want to try everything. Then, if you have to hang around the fair alot, the food slowly becomes less appetizing. I realize now that the block of grease (other wise known as a brick of curly fries) I had for lunch might not have been the best choice of the day. Still, it tasted good at the time. :-) I still want to try a deep fried Oreo though, maybe tomorrow night.

iPhone App Store

Heard the latest news about the iPhone app store? Apparently this application called "I Am Rich" made it through Apple's great filtering system. The app costs $999 and is just a picture of a ruby on the screen. This while many legitimate applications and developers sit waiting for Apple to approve their works so they can distribute their apps. I was not a fan of the app store idea to begin with, and Apple is not doing anything so far to prove me wrong. The system is basically allowing Apple to limit what a developer can or can't release for the platform. Now, if it was being implemented well, I might not care as much. The implementation right now though is absolutely terrible. Applications have been caught in limbo, some apps have gone up and down out of the store while developers sit with no explanation, and then a stupid application like this gets added. Apparently "I Am Rich" is now removed from the US store, but the principle still holds true. In my opinion the iPhone is an extremely powerful platform that developers should be able to leverage in whatever way they can or want (it is basically a Mac computer, just smaller!). If we had the app store as simply a marketing option, that is one thing. As it is though, I'm not a fan. Come on Apple, get with the program, call me if you want suggestions. :-)