There are so many things to love about Europe. The cheese, the chocolate, the high speed rail… and their deep commitment to walk like Jesus. Or at least to walk on water like Jesus:
So is this a clever new sport, or a great viral campaign? Only one way to find out: buy those shoes and try it out for myself.
The “men’s group” just finished reading Celebration of Discipline, by Richard Foster. So after this rigorous exercise in soul searching and life changing, we have decided that future Bible studies will consist primarily of prayer, and “show and tell” (which we are told is now called “show and share”). This may seem like a cop out, but in fact, we will each be very rigorous in exploring the deep facets of our lives to find the revelations of God in each passing moment… OK, not really. Mine will be like this guy:
John Mulaney stands up! from Jake Lodwick on Vimeo.
The Gray One: While we are on the subject of things witnessed at school, I laughed involuntarily when I overheard one of my students give this explanation to another student of why she was late to class:
“I ain’t taking the elevator, ’cause if you take the elevator, people think you’re fat.”
After some recent cheesy posts, its time to restore the cool to this blog. And what is cooler than tilt shift photography (and cool music):
I’m sure this is what Disney World will look like when I visit this weekend. Tilt-shift basically makes real objects look like they are miniature models. This is accomplished by photographing from high above and changing the position of the lens. Some terms from Wikipedia:
Tilt: When the lens plane is tilted relative to the image plane, the plane of focus (PoF) is at an angle to the image plane, and objects at different distances from the camera can all be sharply focused if they lie on a straight line.
Shift: is a movement of the lens parallel to the image plane that allows the line of sight to be changed while keeping the image plane (and thus focus) parallel to the subject; it can be used to photograph a tall building while keeping the sides of the building parallel.
And if you understood all that, shoot me a note. In the mean time, check out some more cool examples.
(via YBNBY)
Well that is one activity I will be forgoing
Since I will be heading down to Florida this weekend for a conference, I think it is important to get up to speed with their laws. So far, I have learned that a bicycle is legally defined as a vehicle. But does this mean I can get speeding tickets? I have also learned that gay people are not allowed to adopt children (though a judge recently ruled this law unconstitutional). So out of solidarity to my gay friends, I will not be adopting any children while I am in Florida. My research has turned up some more laws:
If an elephant is left tied to a parking meter, the parking fee has to be paid just as it would for a vehicle.
You are not allowed to break more than three dishes per day, or chip the edges of more than four cups and/or saucers.
You may not fart in a public place after 6 P.
With all these laws, I may just lock myself in doors, and focus on the conference at hand. I should spend my time networking with other enthusiastic students, sitting at the feet of learned luminaries, and rigorously debating current affairs in Computer Science.
Nah, I’m going to Disney World.
(inspired by bthomas85a @ flickr)
So you live in a New Monastic community. You have relocated yourself to the abandoned places of empire… down the road. You share economic resources with fellow house members and the needy… or you smooch mooch. You love to compost your food wastes (and also the unmentionables)… in your kitchen. You act as a peacemaker to end violent conflicts… or squirrel gang wars. You dive through dumpsters looking for your next meal. Sustenance. From a dumpster.
Well this hard life is admirable, but sometimes you have to indulge yourself with “appropriate” luxuries.
Like this limousine:
Limousine for New Monastics (click for larger image)
It does not pollute the environment; in fact its made from recycled parts. And you will certainly be the talk of the New Monastic ball, when you show up in this. If Jesus had this, he would not have bothered that weary donkey. Its not the most convenient mode of transportation, but then what limousine is? Its about luxury, not convenience! Show people you have class, style, and taste.
Unless, of course, you are going to visit your girlfriend’s parents. Then you’ll want to borrow one of these:
"He drives a what?"
(inspired by Inspire me, now!)
(photo: 360forged @ flickr)
I recently saw the following lines on a medical school bathroom stall:
Please flush the toilet. Do it twice.
I want to be an M.D.
M.D. = Missed diagnosis.
M.D. = Mentally disturbed
My eyes hurt
No matter how good she looks someone is tired of accepting her crap.
And witnessed this scene in a hospital:
Patient: “Thank you so much for taking care of me. You don’t know how much it means to me. When I get better I’m going to go to Africa. I’ve always wanted to go there. When I get there I’m going to kill a wild animal. I’ll kill it and I’ll take it back here, to you. I’ll find you, and I’ll kill the wild animal. I’ll split it in half with a knife. Right down the middle. And I’ll give half to you.”
We are learning about forgiveness at the New Leaf School for Christian living:
So often, vengeance is the route used in our society. But forgiveness is clearly the better way. How can we be more forgiving? Be a part of a conversation where we can live into the Lord’s prayer, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
I’m glad we are studying forgiveness, because it means the organizers will readily forgive me for skipping out on the last session.
(inspired by ReverendFun and Matthew 18:21-35)
Source: dazhuko @ deviantart.com
I believe there was once a time when 90% of our church was vegetarian. (OK maybe that is an exaggeration.) The good thing is that vegetarians are passionate people, so we had a passionate church. The bad thing is that we were getting infested by all these live animals that were begging to be eaten. You know, like all those trees in California that are begging to be cut down. Really.
Its like the circle of life is broken and now looks like Pacman. Rimshot!
Oh well. God bless vegetarians. If it wasn’t for them, the price of steak would go up, we wouldn’t have those wonderful PETA ads, and the only use for kale would be to make handbags. Speaking of which, I just discovered that you can roast kale:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Wash and trim the kale: Peel off the tough stems by folding the kale leaves in half like a book and stripping the stems off. Toss with extra virgin olive oil. Roast for five minutes. Turn kale over. Roast another 7 to 10 minutes until kale turns brown and becomes paper thin and brittle. Remove from oven and sprinkle with sea salt. Serve immediately.
Well that looks delicious, but then anything that is roasted to a crisp is delicious. Especially bacon.
(inspired by deviantArt)