Updating an Item From Yesterday...

The platen glass is no longer dirty. I'm not sure what the cosmological significance of this is. I'm guessing somebody found some Windex. However, the copier is now requesting that I, "check the TCP/IP connection." Now that you mention it, I suppose my TCP/IP connection has been a little out of whack recently...



If I were as many miles from here
I'd be sailing on an open boat on the sea
Instead I'm on this window ledge
With the whole world below...

We can help you, we can help you!!
We're all your freinds
If you come on down and talk to us, Harry
Take a run and jump!!
- Genesis

Phrase of the Day and Riddle of the Week

“The platen glass is dirty”

Why do I feel like there is a deeper philosophical meaning behind this statement? Every time I go to make copies in the office, I am greeted by this phrase. It begs the question, why has no one cleaned the platen glass? Maybe it alludes to the reality of things which were once meant to be good, functional, and clean which have now become dirty and useless due to neglect or abuse. Is it an analogy for this sin stained world, which was once good and perfect, but which now can never be made clean apart from Divine intervention? Perhaps it is simply a testament to the tendency we have to coddle those imperfections in our personalities which hold us back from being all that we could be. Maybe the phrase is simply put their to mock us, and let us know that no matter how hard we try to clean something, it will inevitably become dirty again. But most telling, is the fact that no matter how many times I see that phrase flashing on the screen, I will never bother to clean the platen glass. Partly because I don’t feel it is my responsibility; mostly because I am too lazy. And then there is the cynical side of me that says even if I try cleaning the glass, the phrase probably still won’t go away. And so it will continue, until I become totally desensitized to the warning…

It’s time for my afternoon coffee.

Meanwhile, lurking by a stone in the mud
Two eyes looked to see
What I was, and then something spoke
And this is what it said to me…

Clothes of brass and hair of brown
Seldom need to breathe
Don't need no wings to fly
With a heart of stone
And a fear of fire and water
Who am I?
- Genesis

One Last Great Summer Blockbuster
Little to tell you this fine late summer morning. I will say that getting 8.5 hours of sleep in a night is infinitely better than getting 5.5.

The other night Nathan and I watched the longer than I remembered it as a kid but still pretty funny No Time for Sergeants starring Andy Griffith. A couple observations:

1. Griffith's character, Will Stockdale, possesses super human strength and is no mere mortal, ripping gas pumps apart with his bare hands, throwing other GIs around the room like bowling balls, and guzzling whiskey, scotch, and kerosene like it was grape juice.

2. Private Ben Whitledge is Taylor Wilson, for all of you Twin Lakers. "Airman!!"

3. If this movie has any basis in reality, then our military is filthy with corruption at every level. There is a Sergeant who breaks regulations by creating the position of "Permanent Latrine Orderly" and then bribes said PLO in order to avoid reprimand. There are the Generals who transfer soldiers out of their division under cover of darkness to cover up the truth. There are soldiers sleeping on the job, and deserters who abandon their post at the first sign of danger. This explains why we lost in Vietnam.

"End of the story he gets the pony anyhow."

And be on the lookout for the new film Lost in Criticism, possibly coming in September to a theater near you...

~ Taken from The Newsletter of Joy ~

...Lost in Criticism, the new film starring Daniel Shaw and John Aaron Johnson who also wrote, directed, and produced the film in the space of six days. When two famous 19th century literary figures get caught in the afterlife, things begin heating up as Oscar Wilde (Johnson) becomes lost in a maze of modern literary criticism. This is the story of two unlikely partners who become fast friends in the midst of hidden perils and pernicious critics. Can Melville (Shaw) find Wilde in time? Will they escape before they and their texts are lost for good? Can Wilde win the hand of the woman he loves? Careful--You might never find your way out!

Hear what the movie critics are saying about this new suspense-filled action adventure romantic thriller comedy drama:

"Post-postmodern. A luminescent, incendiary piece of cinema and artistry." - Andrew Hilleke

"A sexy new thriller. Captivating, breathtaking. A scintillating toure-de-force of film-making." - Lydia Goeglein

"Due to this movie, my winter is no longer discontent." - Michael Phillips

"A triumph of the human spirit." - Dr. Edwin McAllister

"I loved this movie." - John Aaron's mom

(Used without permission from Daniel W. Shaw - i.e. free publicity)

And Then the Rains Came

After spending the last week swimming in humidity, something had to give. Last night it did. Blessed rain!! The temperature dropped about 30 degrees and is now at a reasonable 73. Massive downpours and lightning are pretty sweet when you think about it (provided you have adequate shelter, I was walking/running home when it hit). But the best part was that I managed to catch an incredible sunset after the storm. One half of the sky was all layers of red clouds, and the other half, still dominated by the storm, was black with the occasional streak of lightning. Pretty cool stuff.


You can do a lot in a lifetime
If you don't burn out too fast
You can make the most of the distance
First you need endurance -
First you've got to last...

From first to last
The peak is never passed
Something always fires the light
That gets in your eyes
One moment's high
And glory rolls on by
Like a streak of lightening
That flashes and fades
In the summer sky
- Neil Peart (from Marathon)