Gotta Love Live Music

The Friends of the Library held a fundraiser tonight at Busters, and a friend and co-worker filled in at drums. Good job, Mike!

Here's to live music everywhere! I forgot how much I enjoyed it...

Hidden Among Us

I just spent the last hour talking with and listening to two men in our church who work with the homeless ministry, and I'm trying to digest what I've just heard.

They described streets and whole neighborhoods of homeless shanties in Lexington--where they congregated, who all was helping serve the homeless, and what issues they face. One man was on staff with the church, but the other was an engineer by day who spends his weekends among the homeless, even leading a church under a bridge downtown.

They talked about mental illness, the challenges of getting transient patients medicine, and how even after doing due diligence in how they give money and resources to those in need, these two street-wise men still get taken and see their gifts resold for money. With smiles they described double-checking doors to make sure none of their men didn't unlock one so they could sneak back into a church or meeting place after the all left. One told how hard it is to identify and get help to homeless women; they are often leary of shelters, having been taken advantage of by the largely male homeless subculture. They were both excited to get a few recently-purchased tents into the hands of a few men they knew were seeping in the elements.

I was most amazed that they seemed to know all the same people--that the network of those helping meet needs is so small in a city of a quarter million people. I think I need to know more about a problem that has seemingly hidden in plane sight from me all these years...

It's A Filling!

Born Nov 2 at 12:26 pm. Papa and filling are resting comfortably...

Cape Carteret Vacation, Day 3

Day 3 was very relaxed--I spent the afternoon at the beach, reading The Language of God by Francis Collins.

The one big highlight was Herman getting his bath that morning...


Love that dog...

Cape Carteret Vacation, Day 2

Day 2 was a day of exercise.  I was still sore from the marathon, so I wanted to walk around and see some of the goings on at the beach.  We drove down to the Emerald Isle beach and took a walk out on the peer.



The 'spot' were running.  No being a fisherman, I didn't know exactly what this means, but I found out later that spot are little bluegill-like fish that school in the thousands.  They run the gauntlet between the ICW and the ocean at certain times of year, and the fisherman line up boat after boat to pull them from the water as fast as they can put their lines in.  It was fun to go up to a random person and ask, "Are the spot runnin'?" and have a conversation like I know what I'm talking about, though!


While we were there, we saw someone catch this black drum...at least that's what they said it was.


From the lookout station above the end of the peer...




The water was so clear and still you could see amazingly deep.  I think this is a skate, but we weren't sure.


I've never been a fisherman, but I admire the determination.  It was fun to be around when something was on someone's line; everyone seemed to get excited and root for one another.  I guess I wasn't expecting it, but it was cool to see.

Cape Carteret Vacation, Day 1

We hit the ground running on day 1 with a quick trip to Harker's Island and (hopefully) Cape Lookout lighthouse. My aunt Sharry and I had tried this trip last year, but the water was too rough and the ferries weren't running. It was my one "must do" item on the vacation list.

The weather was amazing, so we stopped in Beaufort to walk around and check out all the big boats.




Next, we grabbed a burger at the Royal James' Cafe downtown.




I sneaked a few pictures of its unique ambiance with my phone ...




When we got to Harker's Island, we bought our tickets to the Calico Jack's Ferry and sat down to enjoy the great weather. This momma dog was kind enough to let me pass the time giving her head a scratch.


The captain of the ferry got us going...


...while Momma Dog kept watch. Notice how her ears are blown back by the wind.


The ferry captain wasn't sure the Shackleford horses would be out since the tide was high, but we saw several. These are wild horses that have lived on the Shackleford banks for generations. Contrary to popular belief, no one *really* knows where they came from. But during hurricanes and violent weather, the older horses form a circle around the younger ones like a wagon train and protect them from the strong winds. Amazing.




And despite efforts to control the population with birth control...well...nothing is 100% effective. This little guy is only a few months old.


After a few minutes watching the horses, we turned south and continued on to the Cape Lookout lighthouse. The diamond pattern is unique to Cape Lookout (other lighthouses have spirals, stripes, etc.), and since the white diamonds face West-East and the black diamonds face North-South, an approaching captain can easily get his bearing during the day. (At night, the various lighthouses each have their own period for their blinking light, helping identify them from one another.)


We spent the rest of our time there walking on the beach. I got to put my Hobbit feet in the ocean for the first time this trip.




In all it was a great first day!

Thanks, Columbus!

Today I finished the Columbus Marathon in 3:43:13, a personal best in my third (and probably last) marathon.

I was originally going to run Chicago last weekend, but it filled up before I got around to registering. Now I'm glad it did, because I was really impressed with how well Columbus was organized.

There were a bunch of aid/water stations, and the volunteers were amazing--cheering and encouraging everyone. The organizers printed runners' first names on the bib above the number, and it made a big difference; it's always cool to hear perfect strangers cheer you on by name!

At the finish, there was a lot of great food (and FREE MASSAGES...see earlier post), and I had two volunteers come up to me out of the blue to offer to help--one was making sure I was OK and lead me to the massage table and one let me into the finish area (where I took this picture) to cheer and wait for my friends to finish. It was really impressive how they could be so servant-oriented with 15,000 people in need.

Thanks again, Columbus, for enabling me to end my marathon career on a high note.

God Bless 'Em!

These massage therapy students were giving FREE MASSAGES to anyone needing one after the race! What an amazing service!

The Pre-Run Expo Experience

Before every race I've ever done they've organized a pre-race expo where all sorts of vendors, service providers, and race organizers show off their stuff. Often some local youth group also offers a pasta dinner as a fund raiser.

Imagine any product a runner would want and it's at the expo: clothes, shoes, misc accessories (headbands, cold weather gear, gels, drinks, lubricants..), vitamins, massage therapists, chiropractors, and loads of other race representatives giving away free entries and keychains or magnets promoting their upcoming event. (It works, by the way--I've run in more than one race I'd not heard of until some expo somewhere...) I've even seen car manufacterers showing off and giving away a new model.

It's neat to see all experience levels come together, get some free stuff, and get jazzed for the race. It's also where I begin to get nervous a bit and begin visualizing a successful race.

Here we go...

Quarantined

Slight change in plans...

My running buddy and host Brian came down with something pretty nasty this morning, so for safety-sake I'm staying in a hotel for the weekend and taking extreme measures to stay healthy--soaking everything in the room in Lysol and chugging OJ. It's for the best, I guess...he needs to get lots of rest, and I need to not take the flu to my aunt in North Carolina this week.

I know it's all in my head, but my throat is starting to tingle a bit...

Please pray for health and recovery for all involved.

Vacation Begins!

For my first official meal of vacation, I punched "sport bar" into my Google maps app, hoping to find a place in Columbus to catch the baseball playoffs and grab a burger. I think the motorcycles in front of the place should have tipped me off that this was more 'bar' than 'sports'.

I paid $8 for a pizza sub and drink while listening to the guy next to me complaining about having too may kids and a wife that complains that he spends too much time at the bar...go figure. The sandwich wasn't half bad, but I didn't get to see any baseball.

The Power to Unite

The pastor played this video during the service this morning to demonstrate how music unites us in a supernatural way.  (He was preaching from Revelation 4-5, describing Songs of Praise and our role in them.)




I have to admit, I've always thought of music as one of those things that make no sense from an evolutionary point-of-view.  What advantage to survival of the species could it possibly display?

This isn't a leap for me; I've always viewed mathematics as proof of a Divine Engineer, and given the mathematical basis for much of music, it follows easily enough.  Anyway, the world got a bit smaller for me this morning...

Eternal Perspective

I love this image.

Maybe it's simply a practical solution for collecting the offering on the way out when the service is running long, but I like to think there's a message communicated in the choice of receptical.

Paul reminds us in Philippians 3:8 that all things are 'rubbish' compared to knowing Jesus, and the truth is I'm not taking anything with me when I finally go to my real home.

I appreciate the reminder that money and financial blessing can 'trash' up my heart and life if I ever put it at greater value than Jesus and His people.

Rock 'n Roll Chicago 1/2 Marathon Results

A new PR! I finished in 1:39:47 (unofficial), almost 2 minutes ahead of goal!

It was a beautiful course through the city, and the "wave" start made it easy to start out well...and naturally that meant I started out too fast. Anyway, all that matters is the final result.

Thanks to everyone for the encouragement and support!

Amazing Statistic

I have Dr. G: Medical Examiner on in the background, and she gave the statistic that 800,000 Americans go missing every year.

Eight hundred thousand...that's thousands a day...

And more than 80% of these are people who go missing on purpose...  Wow.

Training and Faith

As I ran today in preparation for the Chicago Rock'n'Roll Half Marathon this weekend, I began to think about the faith lessons that training for a race teaches.  I'm not talking about the sort of stuff you'll read if you Google "running spiritual lessons"; I appreciate the ideas of "running to obtain a prize", perseverance, and heart, but I'm thinking of more tangible lessons of trust--trusting an author and the plan he has for you.

Race training is about managing the balance between pushing yourself and allowing your body to recover; consequently, most modern marathon/half-marathon training calendars never have you running race distance at pace, and often if you're running close to race distance, it's at a much slower pace.  A body simply needs certain time to recover, and pushing yourself every run and/or running too much can wear you out, cause injury, and leave you exhausted and hurt on race day.

In this environment, you approach the race having never run even close to the race distance at pace--and this fact is in your thinking the entire time you train.  Consequently, you have to make a choice every day to either (a) trust the training schedule and run your allotted miles and pace, or you (b) over-run out of a fear of not being prepared.  As a recovering perfectionist, it's often hard for me to relax when there is an opportunity to "prepare more".  It's often hard to truly enjoy and embrace a day of rest, especially if I've missed a run during the week.  So-called 'easy' runs close to race-day are opportunities to overdo it and practice race pace.

But if I trust that the author of the training schedule knows what he's doing and has my best interest and success in mind, I can take the needed rest day "in faith", knowing that it will be for the best.  If I'm willing to trust, I can enjoy a leisurely short run rather than calling an audible and adding distance or trying to cut time.  My training calendar becomes a budget; I can make advance decisions about how I'll spend my running 'dollars', knowing I'll have the resources I need when the 'bill' comes due.  I surrender the responsibility for my training to the author of the calendar, and I trust his experience and expertise that he's allowed for and balanced my need to challenge myself and my need to recover.

Training also mimics faith in that it is about keeping the end goal in mind while celebrating progress and the little victories along the way.  Every small step--insignificant in itself--is a manageable application, a course-correction from where I am to where I want to be.  In this way, training is less "something to do" but a focus on "who you are".  The runner I am at the beginning of training couldn't--on his best day--run the race at the goal pace.  Unless there is development and growth, the goal remains out of reach; on the other hand, the runner I am at the end of training sees the goal pace as reachable.

Shrewd Little Saleswoman

As I exited Krogers yesterday, I saw a lemonade stand just to my right on the way out.  Since I have a Life Principle that states "Never bypass a lemonade/bake-sale stand without buying something; it encourages the seller and is often quite tasty.", I took a few minutes to check it out.

A group of about 4 girls (forgive me, but I think they were in the 8-10 yr range...I'm not good with approximating kids' ages) were selling lemonade to raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation (JDF).  My dad used to go to great lengths to support the JDF fundraisers at his former workplace, so I always recognize the fundraisers and have a soft spot for them.  The lemonade was only a quarter, so I thought it a small price to encourage the girls, given they've given up their morning to do such an others-centered thing. (BTW, it wasn't until later that I began to think about the whole sickly-sweet lemonade/diabetes irony, so if you're already there, kudos...) 

When I gave the young cashier my dollar, she asked, "Do you want any change?"

With one question she basically put me in the position to choose between my measily 75 cents and the eventual cure for childhood diabetes!  Of course I said no.

Either (a) she was coached to always ask that by some adult, (b) she had so many people say "keep the change" that she began to ask, or (c) she's naturally got the makings of a successful sales/fundraising career. 

Brilliant.

A Tender Moment

I just witnessed a man negotiate getting food at the street festval with his wife, a woman who seemed to be suffering from some sort of dementia. From the way he patiently negotiated the crowd and kept his arm around her, it was clear she was dependent on him, easily relying on him for direction.

It was clear that she was a bit lost in the commotion of the crowd. I was concerned for her when he stepped away for a moment to ask a question of one of the food vendors. When he returned, the relief and comfort of having him near was clear from the embrace they shared.

I can't remember when I've witnessed such a tender exchange. Maybe I'm making an assumption, but I think I got a glimpse of what their lives together have been in better times.

May we all experience such events in our lives...

In Von's Window this morning

Celebrating Freedom

I can't remember the last time I held a sparkler.

Happy Birthday, USA!

Bluegrass 10K Results

This was my first 10K road race, so I was actually pretty pleased with the results.

I ran it in 45:33 (7:15/mi pace) and finished 35th/213 in my division (male, 30-34).  I finished 284th out of 3304 finishers overall... 

A Slight Miscommunication...

Last January when I came back from Tyler and Arpitha's wedding in India, a friend asked if I would agree to share some photos and stories from the experience to his Methodist Men's group meeting this summer.

He recently smiled and handed me this month's newsletter. Apparently the secretary got a bit confused about the subject of my presentation...

Let the good-natured ribbing commence.

Book Review: "The Know-It-All"

While I was reviewing A. J. Jacobs' most-recent book, I became aware that his previous book had been about a project to read the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica. So when I found a used hardback copy in Von's a few weeks ago, I jumped at the chance to read it. (Take that Amazon: $9 in hardback, even cheaper than the Kindle version)

Jacobs approaches his task of reading the entire encyclopaedia as a way to measure himself against his successful attorney father. Feeling that his pop-culture jobs as writer/editor at Entertainment Weekly and Esquire had diluted his Brown education, he decides to complete a task his father never finished--all forty-four million words. Along the way he shares humorous stories of becoming a Mensa member and attending a conference, competing in a crossword puzzle tournament, and auditioning and appearing on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire". As he journeys through the alphabet, Jacobs makes connections and highlights the commonalities all cultures and times share, as well as pointing out some very shocking (and often humorous) differences. We see the facts from his reading connect in often unusual ways to his daily life and watch Jacobs struggle with reconciling, remembering, and digesting his growing body of knowledge. Sometimes he does so successfully...and sometimes...well...

As with his last book, I really appreciate Jacobs' transparency, and I can identify with his foibles, social awkwardness, and borderline obsessive-compulsive behavior. After reading two of his books, I feel I know him, and I'm inspired by his willingness to immerse himself in his work--to let the process of discovery change him, rather than just writing to make a buck.

I highly recommend the book (the short chapters/sections make it the perfect bathroom book)--it's informative, funny, and touching.

Book Review: "Perfecting Ourselves to Death"

I'd read this book a year or so ago, but when packing up my bookcase I came across it and decided to give it another read. I'm glad I did.

As the title of this blog alludes, I suffer from this particular ailment, although I like to think I'm in recovery. I can relate to author Richard Winter's quote of Paul Tournier when describing a fear of making mistakes--a common symptom of perfectionism.

"Fear of making the wrong decision makes it difficult to give up any options that are available....perfectionists want to do everything, but choose nothing, and so never get started. Living means choosing one thing rather than another, but these people will give up nothing, and so lose everything."

For me, a black/white mindset makes it tough to see life's middle ground. Life is growth, and growth is often messy--lived out in the tension between black and white. It's not that I think I'm able to be perfect; I'm not sure any perfectionist would think they could be. It's just that a "wrong" choice risks missing out on the "best" option, and so even a "good" option seems like loss. Life becomes avoiding future wrongs and regretting the past mistakes...

Winters also does a great job at reaching the heart of perfectionism's utility: control. The idea is "if I can be perfect, and make the situation perfect, then there is no risk that I'll get hurt". The natural result of working through perfectionism is facing that you're finite, not in control, and learning to live in the tension of the unknown. It's a process of openness, vulnerability, and facing disappointments as inevitable but not fatal.

Winters writes that the antidote is contentment...a functional trust that Jesus is good and in control, and that we don't have to be. Contentment is hard for perfectionists, as they are always dissatisfied and pursuing more. Giving Jesus control is a scary proposition.

Toward the end of the book, Winters quotes The Velveteen Rabbit when describing the process of becoming spiritually and emotionally mature:

"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender...
"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."
"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.
"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."
"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"
"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. " You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

The choice is pretty simple, really. We can choose to remain in the toy box in our packaging--protected from being broken and scratched and bruised and scarred by interactions with the world. Or we can let Jesus and others love us and in the process mature and be come Real.

Another Forgotten Treasure

I remember when David Hasselhoff was cool.

I always dreaded the end of a weekend--even in primary school--but the one thing that made it worth it was Knight Rider on Sunday nights. Who can forget that amazing theme song...

But I remember one tragic Sunday in October when K.I.T.T. went head-to-head (grill-to-grill?) with Goliath and was almost destroyed. Part of the suspense leading up to this season 2 premier was the opportunity for fans to send in a postcard and request a "KITT Kit" schematic of the modifications to K.I.T.T. that would be coming...and would you believe I found mine in a box of old keepsakes during my last move!?





My memories of the document was that it was much more technical than it really is. Also, I don't know if it was just me or the nature of these mail-in things, but I remember being so jazzed when it came in the mail; this was back in the day when I *NEVER* got mail, much less anything so cool as to be KR related, and enough time had passed between sending in my postcard that I'd forgotten it was coming.

Anyway, I hope kids today have such things to look forward to, but I'm guessing the web and instant downloads have eliminated them...

In the candy isle at Sam's

I guess if you want to skip the middle man...

Now *THAT's* Intelligent Ad-ware

Best in Show

Barrett has been taking voice lessons for the last few months, and I have given him no end of grief over it. :)

The truth is I admire him being willing to step out of his comfort zone and perform in front of others. He's gotten pretty used to someone asking him to sing songs when we have friends over, but getting up in front of strangers is a whole new level of bravery. In my opinion, his was the best performance of the afternoon.

Fortunately we remembered to take a camera for those of you who weren't able to make it...



Great Job, Barrett!

Book Review: "The Year of Living Biblically"

A friend recommended I read A.J. Jacobs' The Year of Living Biblically, and I have to say I enjoyed it more than I expected I would. As the author himself acknowledges, the book idea began as his effort as a secular person of Jewish heritage to expose what he considers the ridiculously-slippery slope of literal Biblical interpretation. As someone who takes the Scripture personally and literally, I was prepared to be insulted throughout most of the 341 pages.

On the contrary, I felt the author truly attempted to connect with the God of Scripture, or at least to understand the perspective of those who do. I think Jacobs does a good job of trying to understand the various and sometime radical sects of Judaism and Christianity, find meaning--and humor--in their views of life and scripture, and expose the really tough questions that any Biblical scholar has to face. What do we do with the passages of scripture that make us uncomfortable? How do we handle the seemingly contradictory images of a vengeful God in the Hebrew Bible with the grace-giving and life-affirming message of Jesus in the New Testament? To what degree to we allow culture--both of the times the Scripture was written and our current culture--affect how we hear the message of Scripture?

Along the way, Jacobs shares sometimes hilarious and sometimes heartbreaking stories from his personal life and how his newly-created Biblical persona "Jacob" handles them. I related to his tendency toward obsessive-compulsive behavior and his struggles to follow through on his intentions to do good to his neighbors. I was humbled by his commitment to the project--how whole-heartedly he pursued consistency and integrity in following all manner of Levitical laws and tradition, even when he didn't understand the 'why' behind them. And it was encouraging to hear him come away with an appreciation and understanding of religious groups and people that he had judged in the past.

In the end, however, I think Jacobs exposes the problem with focusing on the Scripture outside of a personal relationship with God; the Bible itself becomes an idol and stumbling block on our spiritual journey rather than a love-letter urging us into a committed relationship with the Author.

Advertising

It just occurred to me how strange it is to advertise a new television on....television.



I'm watching the new Samsung TV Commercial with the little light-speckled hummingbird and flowers, and I guess the point is to show off how great of a picture they can produce. But there are only two possible outcomes:

1. The picture looks like garbage on my 13" TV/VCR combo, so I'm not impressed with any of their fancy images, and I don't want their TV.
2. The picture looks great...in which case I don't need a new TV at all.

Either way it's a waste of money.

A New Personal Record!

This weekend I ran the University of Illiniois mini-Marathon, finishing with a personal-best time of 1:45:04, just over an 8:02 pace.  I was originally shooting for a pace of 8:15, but since I was feeling so good at the last I decided to step it up a bit.  I was actually a bit disappointed that I couldn't shave another 30 seconds or so off my time to break the 8 minute barrier...

Here's me and Bryan at the starting line.


As you can tell, Bryan was anxious to get started!


The finish line/post-race food situation was pretty cool--they had the finish at the Memorial Stadium 50-yard line, so you actually got to receive your finisher medal and have post-race pictures made on the field.


And finally, the obligatory "happy finishers" picture...

In all, I think UIUC did a great job with their first event. Thanks to Bryan and Johnny for hosting me, and a special thanks to Bryan for giving up his morning to spend it waiting for me to finish.

Cute Viral Ad Campaign

I heard an ad on the radio where the supposed owner of a web site was complaining that his site was being confused with the site 'comparethemarket.com'. Wondering if the ad agency was smart enough to carry this all the way out I decided to check...

At The Corner of Memory and Forgotten Lanes...

A few months ago I mentioned a roll of film that I'd found while moving into the new house. I had it developed at Wal-Mart a few months ago, but since my scanner has been busted, I was just today able to scan a few.

First of all, I guess real film development is something Wal-Mart isn't used to dealing with anymore; they wanted to charge me 50% more than the posted price for my roll of 24 exposures. I had to walk a manager over to the sign to show the discrepancy before he discounted my tab to the appropriate rate.

As best as I can tell, the first pictures are from a ski trip to Colorado I took in December 1998.

Here's a picture of Brian that--honestly--is one of the few things that confirm to me that I did, in fact, make this trip. I don't remember much else of what took place.


I have no idea who these people are, nor why I could take their photos:


The final pics are from an IEEE International Test Conference in Spring of 1999. I'm traveling with two other graduate students and my two faculty advisers--Dr. Marty Emmert and Dr. Charles Stroud--who did all the work.
Part of the trip was a meeting with our research counterparts from Bell Labs. The second gentleman on the back row is Dr. Miron Abramovici, author if what is lovingly referred to as the Testing Bible. I have an autographed copy (no joke).
The conference was in Atlantic City, and if you've never been to Atlantic City...don't bother; it's a pretty depressing place with opulent casinos surrounded by "gentleman's clubs", pawn shops, and lots of homelessness...
I do remember that I learned how to play Paigow poker especially for the trip...

It's somewhat depressing that I don't remember the context of all the photos so few short years after they were taken, but it was fun to relive the parts I do remember. I really did enjoy college and my graduate years, and I don't often take the time to be thankful and appreciate what a really great time it was.