Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Ooowee, I'm lazy

I've had the "eh, I'll do it later today" mindset for the past week about. Here's to getting back on track. In other news, I got my film roll back, and since I know at least one of you insisted I post them, I'll do that tomorrow (probably).

I got some flack on Facebook for not being detailed/in depth enough, but whatever, I like brevity, and there's nothing wrong with it. So, as promised, here are some brief thoughts on "having faith shaken."

-It happens. If yours hasn't been throttled or threatened yet, don't worry, it will be.
-It's not necessarily a bad thing. Why not? You can't strengthen or reform an argument without good counter-argument to point out holes in your logic and reasoning; likewise, I think it's healthy to have flaws and weak points exposed so you can fix and strengthen them.

So there you have it.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

San Jose staircase

I'm happy that this photo turned out at all, since I was hurtling along in a van. I love the colors and form.



I'll be away from a computer for tomorrow and perhaps most of Thursday, so sometime on Thursday evening I will make it up by writing what (if Facebook is any indication) should be a discussion-inducing post on "having one's faith shaken" and why I don't think that's a bad thing. Stay tuned!

Monday, March 21, 2011

Costa Rica-- Leaf Cutter Ants

When I was in Costa Rica, I finally got to see real Leaf Cutter Ants. We were in a rush, so naturally I stopped to take a short video of the ants scurrying around with their leaves.


Sunday, March 20, 2011

"You psychotic... NERD!": brief _Paul_ review and some thoughts

My favorite acting duo are Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and their most recent movie Paul is pretty danged funny. Not quite as funny as Shaun of the Dead, but still pretty good. As the post's title promises, here is a brief review.

Synopsis: After visiting San Diego's Comic Con, hilariously shy sci-fi nerds Clive and Graeme (Frost and Pegg, respectively) decide to make a tour of popular alien "sites", such as Area 51. During their trip they meet Paul,  a laid-back, smoking, clever and somewhat vulgar alien. After not-quite kidnapping a woman, the party makes their way to where Paul is supposed to meet his fellow aliens, where a fistfight with Sigourney Weaver ensues and fireworks are set off, and everyone lives happily ever after.

If you're already familiar with Pegg/Frost movies, you know to keep an eye out for constant references and clever revisitings to other Pegg/Frost/pop culture movies, and this movie is brimming with such things. General sci-fi nerddom references (and characters from other Pegg/Frost movies!) appear, and according to this interview, the references just happened (as one who is surrounded by near-constant nerddom, references do just happen). Now, since I rather like references to things and appearances of cool people, I was very fond of the movie. References aside, the movie is a general haphazard journey of nerds and an alien being chased by Jason Bateman through the Southwest, and is tremendous fun (<-- very!!).

Paul also mercilessly pokes fun at Christians for being ignorant, hokey and slightly crazy, which brings to me to my thoughts:

First, No, I'm not offended by this, and I think that this reputation is worth addressing. So here we go.

The not-entirely-kidnapped Ruth (Kristen Wiig) in Paul is the movie's shining example of Wacky Christian Lady, calling unfamiliar things "of the Devil" and resorting to singing "Amazing Grace." She insists quite fervently that the Earth is only 4,000 years old, and is the only world because God made it (this logic doesn't follow, but whatever, I'll leave it). Eventually, she "learns better," and learns how to employ painfully awkward swearing.

Sure, you can say the directors were "being mean," but really, can you tease a kid about being fat if he isn't? Likewise, can you mock Christians for being hokey and ignorant and crazy if there aren't Christians who are like that? You can't really tease a reputation that doesn't exist. We certainly do seem to get people angry and upset with us, and I don't think it's necessarily got anything to do with what Jesus said about the world hating us because of him. Certainly, that happens, but I think more often the case is, quite simply, that we come off as ignorant asshats.

Again, as I've said before, I don't think the age of the Earth (or evolution) matters beans in regards to God's character, so I'll ignore that point right now. The point at hand is our character, fellows, and how we react to the world and the people in it: do we react with the love we were commanded to conduct ourselves with, or do we cover our ears and whine apoplectic insanities? Can't we just hush ourselves and listen to what other people might have to say? I dare say we still have plenty to learn. 

If you recall, you're still imperfect, too. I know I'm still figuring this "love others" stuff out.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Newspaper box

Use any coin combination-- just no pennies. So maybe not *any* coin combination.



Thursday, March 17, 2011

Lights

Photos of light(s), go!







Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Orchids

I got a lot of photos the other day during a fantastic adventure. Conveniently, I left that camera at home, and unless someone zips and e-mails all of those photos to me, it will be at least a week before I get them again. Fortunately, I take an obscene amount of photos, so I have extras from earlier in the year. Hurray!

Also fortunately I was gifted a Contax 2 this past weekend, so I DO still have a camera... it just happens to have real film that needs developing. Best. gift. ever. I just need to learn what the hell I'm doing with it!

But here, for now, have some orchids:







Monday, March 14, 2011

Hymnal and piano

Found this the other day, and thought it looked neat enough to take a photo of.



Friday, March 11, 2011

Water drop geranium

Another small thing.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Walk to work

Some things of relative unimportance can be really neat to look at I think. Like the following:







Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Shadow buddy

Hey, more shadows! Shadows really are cool, though.









Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Hole-punch musician

I snapped this photo of one of my friends playing his guitar a few weeks back, and thought it was pretty cool.




Monday, March 7, 2011

Grass feet

It's getting warm again! Not super warm, not yet, but it's getting there...


Sunday, March 6, 2011

Frisbee toe

I don't ever get hurt rescuing a little old lady from a rabid dog or anything cool like that, it's always retarded stuff like catching a frisbee with your toe. Don't catch frisbees with your toe, folks.



P.S. it looks more fantastic than it was.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Bathroom counter

What an interesting assortment of stuff I have on my bathroom counter.

One of these things is not like the other one...



Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Bug orgy

I don't know offhand what these little beetles are called, but I sure like them. They don't seem adversely affected by icy and snow or baking sun, so I see them year round. They also like to bundle into buggy orgies, right in public.



Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Light and shadow

Well, I do, if they're interesting and cast nice shadows.

Mess can be interesting too, yeah?