Leaving My Mark

2012-01-17T13:34:00.002-05:00

Um! I’m a little late with this year’s yearly update. Last year, 2011, was a good year, marked by several notable opportunities, but marked even more by hard work. In the Spring semester, I finally got to teach a literature course during the regular school semester – the first time since I started teaching in the fall of 04 – but with a catch. The catch? I had to teach it in addition to my

2011-01-03T10:21:00.003-05:00

It's the annual update on my life. Last year, 2010, was a banner year, for a number of reasons:* I got engaged.* I graduated seminary with my M.Div.* I went oversees (to Morocco) for the first time in my life.* I got married (just short of two years after our first date).* My wife and I moved into our first house, a rental, on campus at the college where I teach.* I became an uncle for the first

2010-01-01T12:53:00.002-05:00

So, yeah, I haven't really been blogging much lately. This is for two reasons:1. Seminary has gotten really time-consuming; I took both Greek and Hebrew this past year, and I don't have much time for blogging. I'm on schedule to graduate in May, though.2. Facebook enables me to do fast status updates, which fills the need (with most of my friends) to keep tabs on my life.Few of my friends

2009-03-30T17:35:00.002-04:00

This past weekend, several friends of mine - students - were the victims of an armed robbery. They were on their way to Macon and stopped to get gas. When they went in to pay, three men armed with guns came in, forced them to the floor, and took their money and keys.A couple of weeks ago, I finally got around to seeing the (mostly excellent) movie Crash. I'll spoil (a small part of) it for you

2009-01-01T22:08:00.002-05:00

It's that time again: the annual New Year's review and preview.To begin with, 2008 was almost a complete flip-flop of 2007. I started 2007 off well, and had a really great first half of the year, then about halfway through it went completely, overwhelmingly rotten. This year, on the other hand, started off completely rotten, and then (at almost the exact same point in August) suddenly became

2008-12-31T13:52:00.002-05:00

This Christmas, I got a Blu-Ray player. Since I don't consider myself any sort of cinematic gourmet, I think DVD has all the resolution I need for a movie - that is, if I'm watching it on regular-sized TV screen. Last month, though, I bought a high-definition projector, and I thought blowing a DVD image up to 6' x 6' might show some graininess that Blu-Ray would ameliorate. We watched Iron Man

2008-11-20T22:55:00.004-05:00

I teach in a pretty old building, one of the oldest buildings on campus. Recently, as the students were leaving class, one of them pointed to an odd metal contraption next to the door and asked me, "What is this thing?"Can YOU identify it?Some days, I can't figure out whether my students are breathtakingly ignorant, or I'm a dinosaur.

2008-11-13T12:42:00.002-05:00

This morning, I noticed that the local Marathon was selling gas for $1.99 a gallon. The nightmare of $4-a-gallon gas is finally over.Or is it?!!Although oil is below $60 a barrel right now, the demand for oil is only going to increase. The International Energy Agency foresees a 1.6% increase in demand per year for the next couple of decades, driving oil prices to $200 a barrel. That's about $8

2008-10-15T17:03:00.006-04:00

When I was 4, my family moved into Anderson Cottage, here on the campus of the college where I now work. We only lived there for a year, but some of my earliest memories were of that house. When I moved back to take this job, Anderson Cottage was still there.Now it's gone. They bulldozed the whole thing recently.To be fair, the house was old when we first moved in (more than 25 years ago), and

2008-10-06T12:34:00.002-04:00

This weekend I read Jonathan Edwards's Freedom of the Will. It's a bit . . . dense. As far as I can tell, his argument goes thusly:1. Every action we take is based on a Motive - what we consider will bring us the greatest good.2. One cannot Will a change in Motive - for what would be the motive for that will?3. At the end, one finally comes down to Motive as Nature or Personality.4.

2008-09-30T09:19:00.002-04:00

Sometimes strange things happen to me as a teacher. For instance, a student recently walked up to me right before class began."Professor, I need to talk to you.""Does it have to do with the class? If so, let's wait for class to begin so everyone else can hear, too.""Noo-o-o, it doesn't have to do with class.""Okay, what is it?""Well, my part time job is to work for a zoo . . . and today I have

2008-09-10T21:59:00.006-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, we had a big rainstorm here.It was more rain than we've had in a long time - and that on top of a dry summer.The Falls was roaring. It looked like some raging brown monster.It was hard to avoid getting wet - especially if you wanted to get close.They evacuated Valley Court trailers, because the creek was flooding and they were afraid it'd wash out the bridge. (It didn't,

2008-08-20T21:42:00.002-04:00

Today I took my Greek 3 final. It was kinda rough. I'm glad it's over. My "finals week" actually wound up extending for three weeks (good for extra studying, bad for stress). It even overlapped the beginning of my fall semester, so now I'm a couple of days into my "Hebrew 1" and "Theology of Jonathan Edwards" classes. Then the classes I teach start back on Monday, and I have to revise my

2008-07-29T16:46:00.002-04:00

I just had a protein shake this morning, and it was amazing. I haven't had one in at least five years, and I had a vague memory of them being kind of nasty. Well, I must have gotten the good brand this time, because it was awesome.Several weeks ago, I started exercising again. I realized I wasn't in my twenties anymore, and I couldn't rely on my body to take care of itself. So, I'm getting up

2008-06-11T15:34:00.001-04:00

An ant bit me.

2008-06-04T16:30:00.002-04:00

So, the college I teach at had a branch campus they recently shut down. They liquidated the branch library at a book sale, and my own library expanded greatly as a result. Most of the good books (commentaries, etc.) they put on the shelf in our library as second copies, but I still managed to nab 22 paperbacks at $.10 each, and 13 hardbacks at $.50 each.Score!

2008-05-05T15:34:00.002-04:00

Matthew "Matty" Johnson28 Feb 1983 - 25 Feb 2008Beloved Friend and Fellow GamerRest in PeaceMatty died unexpectedly in a car accident at the end of February. He had gone to visit his family in Ohio, and was driving back through the night. Early in the morning of Monday, February 25, his car went off a 25-foot embankment in the Smoky Mountains and landed upside-down in a river.Matty was my

2008-02-08T10:55:00.001-05:00

Last night I discovered that it takes a bachelor in Georgia 3.5 years to use up 250 square feet of generic plastic wrap under normal usage conditions.I should have bought the name-brand plastic wrap.

2008-01-31T18:17:00.001-05:00

Today my bookcase collapsed under the weight of my books. For real. I was just sitting there on my bed, and then suddenly, CRUNCHCRUMBLEBLAM!It was one of those cheap Wal-Mart particleboard bookcases, but had held up for over six months, so I thought it was good. I had tried to put most of my big hardbacks on the bottom and the lighter books near the top (it was a 6' bookcase), but I guess that

2008-01-24T18:12:00.000-05:00

Sunday (the 20th! My sister's birthday!) my best friend became a father. I went down to Atlanta on Monday to visit them. Say hello, everybody, to the newest member of Dann's family: AletheiaIsn't she beautiful?

2008-01-17T22:45:00.001-05:00

Last night, we had one of our (very rare) snowfalls here in northeast Georgia.The students responded with enthusiasm and gusto, but the actual amount of accumulation (1" or so) left something to be desired.Nevertheless, we were treated to some beautiful scenes we seldom get to see.In other news, I was at a party earlier this week, and the (5?ish-year-old) son of a friend of mine snuck up behind

2008-01-09T14:39:00.001-05:00

Well, my first week of the new year was spent cleaning up some ugly messes from last year. It was emotionally draining, but I'm feeling a lot better about it all. Now I can move on and focus on my new semester of classes: both the classes I'm teaching and the classes I'm taking.My car battery died. AutoZone, however, allowed me to trade it in for 50% off a new battery, which I thought was a

2008-01-01T18:49:00.000-05:00

Last year was a rotten year. Despite having a really good first half (which included getting a promotion), the last half was so bad it more than made up for any good several times over. I haven't had a year this bad since 2001 (and I generally consider that my worst year ever). I feel beaten and worn out. I'm neither excited nor expectant about 2008. I have nothing on the radar to look

2007-12-15T23:38:00.001-05:00

Last week a student knocks on my door."Professor, I had you for Freshman Comp three years ago. I got a D in the class. I just realized I needed a C- or better or I have to retake the class. I was wondering if you wanted to change my D to a C-?""No.""Okay. Well, just checking."The student leaves.

2007-11-25T17:34:00.000-05:00

So, Black Friday came and went with nary a buzz. I wound up browsing the book stacks at a quiet antique mall. After shopping, the whole family slept the afternoon away in the living room in front of the fire. The whole Thanksgiving weekend was wonderfully peaceful, as well as productive. (I finished three books!)Tomorrow, we start the last two weeks of classes, then we have a week of finals,

2007-11-01T18:05:00.000-04:00

I set my alarm and got up early this morning. (Well, early for a day I don't teach classes - about 8 o'clock.) Since I'm too old to "trick-or-treat," I have to get my candy fix some other way - so I headed to Wal-Mart to buy some half-price Halloween candy.By the time I got there (8:20 or so), all the Halloween candy in the candy aisle had already been replaced with Christmas candy. I found

2007-10-18T16:48:00.000-04:00

When I was in elementary school, I got a Commodore 64 computer. A few years later, I upgraded to an Amiga 500, which was also made by the Commodore company. I have lots of good memories of those years (including getting in trouble in fifth grade for writing computer programs in class!), and my fondness for computing in general has never abated. I was disappointed, though, that the Amiga never

2007-10-15T21:44:00.001-04:00

When I was a kid, I watched a cartoon series called "Star Blazers." It was about a group of astronauts that flew to a faraway planet to retrieve a device that would save the earth from poisonous radioactivity. They only had one year to retrieve the device and return before earth would be beyond saving. At the end of every episode, the narrator would say, "Hurry! You have only X number of days

2007-10-13T20:50:00.001-04:00

I've had a rough week. I had about 60 5-page papers to grade, and I wound up getting about 14 total hours of sleep over the course of three nights finishing up the grading.On top of that, one student turned in a paper that was 80% plagiarized from various websites. I had to fail the student for the semester.Then I mentioned the situation to another professor and he chewed me out for about 45

2007-09-18T15:43:00.000-04:00

Bad news:My bi-annual car insurance bill came this month. :-(Good news:It was $33 less than I was expecting it to be. :-)

2007-08-31T22:04:00.000-04:00

Our first week of classes is done. I have four sections of Freshman Comp I and one section of Comp II. This is considered an "overload;" teachers are normally only expected to teach four classes total, but one of my colleagues had to go in for emergency surgery, so we divided up her classes to teach for her until she can recover enough to teach again (which will take at least five weeks). The

2007-07-15T21:43:00.000-04:00

I got seven interviews before they called the cops.Officer Friendly stopped me and I had a little "chat" with him in the middle of the street in the hardest downpour a Georgia summer can produce. He had the window of his police cruiser down a half-centimeter; I had a leaky umbrella. He questioned me briefly and let me go. As I started to walking away, drenched to the skin, he tapped the siren

2007-07-09T21:56:00.000-04:00

So, I'm at Wal-mart, trying to get minutes put on my phone card. The cashiers are always new, and they always have to call a manager over to tell them what to punch in. This time, she doesn't call a manager, and tries to do it herself. I ask for 180 minutes to be put on my card ($9). She puts 1620 minutes on my card ($81)!!! And then she spends several minutes trying to undo the error. And

2007-06-16T19:14:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow I leave for two weeks of summer school in South Carolina. I'm taking a course in the history of Christianity from the Reformation until today, and a course in missions. That sounds very exciting, and a lot of fun, but I have way too much to do.I'm preaching at church in the morning, then I have to pack and drive up, then classes start at 8am on Monday and last until 5pm. Moreover, I

2007-05-25T12:09:00.000-04:00

I have discovered something about myself: I have no mercy; I am pitiless, heartless, and cruel. In the six semesters that I have taught here: I have failed three children of my friends. I have failed two particular students four times (each).I have failed a graduating senior, who did not graduate because of my class. This past semester I failed a single mother and a young man whose father

2007-05-20T22:40:00.000-04:00

So, today I hit the big 3-0.How do I feel? Not remarkably different from yesterday. Somewhere in my mid-twenties (about the time someone asked my age and I had to pause because I'd forgotten it) I discovered that it was less about the "yearly increment" and more about the "situation in life." I am a single college professor with a great girlfriend, so 30 is pretty young. A few years ago, I

2007-05-18T23:27:00.001-04:00

Baccalaureate was tonight. Sometimes I skip it, but this time, we had William F. Graham IV speaking (the grandson of the legendary Billy Graham). He was a really good speaker, with a warm, resonate voice.Afterwards, there was the Marine Corps commissioning of a friend of mine, Chad Phillips. I had never seen a commissioning before, and the President intimated that they hadn't had one done on

2007-05-17T21:14:00.000-04:00

So, it's "next week," and I feel anything but free. I had 50 10-page papers and 30 5-page papers to grade, for a total of ~650 pages.Now, I have 10 10-page papers and 30 5-page papers left to grade, leaving me with ~250 pages left to grade.Still plugging away!

2007-05-10T15:55:00.000-04:00

So, this is final exam week - again. I have lots of work to do, and am feeling slightly overwhelmed. Next week at this time, though, I'm going to feel FREE FREE FREE!Thank you, that is all.

2007-04-02T15:31:00.000-04:00

Holy cow, we're being invaded!A few days ago, this truck was seen on-campus at our ALL-AMERICAN SCHOOL.I can only conclude: RED DAWN has begun.Actually, the true story is: a building was being demolished on campus. This truck was being used to haul away debris. Since it was parked just opposite the guys' dorm, some mischievous students decided to spray-paint the hammer-and-sickle motif on the

2007-03-11T16:14:00.000-04:00

I've been really craving Cajun food for the past several months, and I know of no local place that serves it. Finally, I decided to try to learn and cook it myself.Yesterday, my mom and I started by trying a basic receipe for jambalya. The only major misstep was that in buying the small finger-sized sausages, I accidentally got some "breakfast sausages" that were made with maple syrup. (Not a

2007-03-07T10:32:00.000-05:00

I've been pretty stressed so far this week - I had to grade papers, and over half the students failed. I caught two students plagiarising, and had to have a serious meeting with them and the Academic Dean, which stressed me out even more. On top of that, my spring semester of Greek started Monday, so now I've got to add "studying Greek" to my list of things to do.A few good things are on the

2007-02-26T21:22:00.000-05:00

I'm now the designated Guardian of Orthodoxy at my church. How did I aquire such an august and pretentious title? Well, we're starting a small church library, and we're asking people to donate (non-fiction) books. The pastor recommended me to the project leader as someone who could weed through the donations and throw out all the heresy.This is an amusing situation. As a college English

2007-02-20T17:55:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I acquired a Commodore 64 computer secondhand. The Commodore 64 was an early personal computer, first manufactured in 1982. It was known for its amazing (for the time) sound and graphics, which (naturally) made it the ideal personal computer for video games. I got one in fifth grade, and had massive amounts of fun with it before it burned a resistor (or something) and stopped

2007-02-05T16:46:00.000-05:00

Well, now that this semester is thoroughly underway, I'll give a report on my Christmas. Unfortunately, I didn't get around to reading Wuthering Heights. I did read Dante's Inferno, Purgatorio, and got partway into Paradiso, but my time ran out. I also finished five books that I had begun earlier and never got a chance to finish, and read David McCullough's 1776.I didn't just read, though. I

2007-02-01T18:39:00.000-05:00

January was hectic. I went to my seminary for a week-long winterim intensive class, Biblical Foundations of Leadership. (Book recommendation: Courageous Leadership, by Bill Hybels) I stayed in the guys' dorm, because it was about half the price of the Super 8 in town, but I had forgotten two things: College guys are 1) stinky, and 2) loud at night. Still, I did okay. The class involved me

2007-01-12T16:37:00.000-05:00

So, last night Mike Bickle was speaking down in Atlanta and we wanted to hear him. I had planned to go with a couple from my church, but they called and said they couldn't make it because of sickness in the family.I had some other friends (three girls) that were going, so I called them up and arranged to go with them. Then, on the way down, we get a flat tire. And guess who is the only person

2007-01-07T22:31:00.000-05:00

New Year's Day is past, 2006 is over, and 2007 is underway.Retrospective:This past year was a "refocusing" year. As I began the year, I resolved to either seriously start lifting weights, or quit martial arts. Within two months, I had quit martial arts. I have not regretted it for a moment.On the other hand, this fall I re-enrolled in seminary, to complete my Masters degree. Columbia

2006-12-15T15:00:00.000-05:00

Well, the semester's over (for the time being, at least). Things got a little hairy there towards the end -- taking two classes on the side for graduate credit while teaching a full load didn't leave me much time for reflection and writing.Two interesting tidbits for the last half of the semester:During Spirit Week (the dress-up-for-fun week here on campus), two of my students dressed up as

2006-10-19T18:45:00.000-04:00

I finally learned how to make an MP3 out of a cassette tape. This is good, because it means I'll be able to preserve some old family recordings.It also means I'm able to offer my sermon, "Ever-Increasing Longing," to you free of charge. It's not as polished as my previous sermon, "Mary of Bethany" -- I didn't have as long to prepare (2 weeks vs. 2 years), I was a little hurried as I started,

2006-10-02T23:15:00.000-04:00

This last weekend was busy. I wound up watching The Maltese Falcon and Bringing Up Baby with a half-dozen students on Friday night, which was awesome. I spent all day Saturday working on Greek and preparing my sermon. Sunday morning I preached my sermon (entitled "Ever-Increasing Longing"), which went well, but they recorded it on tape, so it'll be a while before I'm able to put it up

2006-09-22T10:05:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I talked about how the weather had suddenly turned cooler.Last night, a bunch of guys showed up at my office singing Christmas carols.Some people! *shakes head*

2006-09-21T14:27:00.000-04:00

Fall is here. I woke up early this morning and my blanket wasn't enough, so I got my big heavy quilt, snuggled under it, and went back to sleep.The temp is 65 degrees, so even though I wore a long-sleeve shirt, I still feel the bite.I turned the heater on in my office for the first time.I love the heat of Georgia, but it's also good to welcome the cooler weather.

2006-09-19T18:19:00.000-04:00

I love Amazon.com. I get lots of great deals there.But sometimes, you can get ripped off.

2006-09-12T21:42:00.000-04:00

I've been really sick this past weekend. I also pretty much lost my voice. I'm hoping it'll be back by tomorrow morning, 'cause that's when I have to start teaching classes again.In the meantime, I've seen two incredible movies:Brick: This is an old-school film-noir "hardboiled gumshoe" movie -- set in a modern SoCal high school. Nobody dresses like the 40s, but they all use 40s slang. Some

2006-09-05T18:20:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks into the semester, and I'm in my usual position: snowed under with work. I have all sorts of administrative tasks this early in the semester, not to mention that I'm now in seminary and spent all last weekend at a class, and the weekend before at a conference in Atlanta, and every spare moment is spent studying Greek, and I'm covering a class for my dad next Monday that I have

2006-08-14T19:46:00.000-04:00

Saturday night our church held an all-night prayer vigil of worship and intercession. It was great -- about 30 adults (out of about 80 total we have in the church) showed up with their kids at 9 pm Saturday night to begin the 12-hour vigil. Most of the kids came in pajamas and went to sleep in sleeping bags in the back of the sanctuary or in a Sunday school room after the first hour or two.For

2006-08-12T20:28:00.000-04:00

Today all the freshmen started showing up here at school. I printed out my class rosters and went to the dorms to find and welcome them, like I did last year. It was so touching -- all the excited little freshmen, all the stoic-faced parents blinking back tears -- it reminded me of when I first went off to college.Next week there's faculty preplanning; next weekend the upperclassmen return, and

2006-07-30T23:01:00.000-04:00

Churches in the South have strange names sometimes. Here are a few actual church names I noticed coming back from camp meeting last week:Faith by Hearing ChurchLiving Stones ChurchOld Path Holiness Church of the Apostles.That last one was a mouthful! My sister informs me that she knew a church in Texas called the "Celtic Tabernacle of the South." Me, I prefer to stick with churches that have

2006-07-24T17:20:00.000-04:00

I just got back from spending a week at Brasher Springs Camp Meeting, an old-time "holiness" camp meeting in Alabama that my family has gone to (on and off) all while I was growing up. It was a real "old-timey" camp -- some of the cabins had running water, and there was one telephone for the entire camp. So I haven't had access to email or internet anything.My dad and another guy were the

2006-06-29T22:21:00.000-04:00

I just got back from rock climbing at Cheaha Mountain in Alabama!My cousin David and my sister Marisa have been rock climbing for some time now. Here they are doing their things:David's really good at climbing. He works as a tree surgeon, climbing trees to remove limbs, so he does a lot of climbing anyway. Here he is hanging upside-down, trying to figure out where his next handhold will

2006-06-23T22:16:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my summer! It's very boring. I went to Stone Mountain with a group from my church a few weeks ago. It was fun, but not in an "interesting-anecdotes-to-tell" kind of way. We took the skylift to the top of the mountain, then walked down. The fun was in the fellowship.I'm taking care of my friend Shawn's kitten while he's away for the weekend. The kitten is energetic and fun, a nice

2006-06-02T17:35:00.000-04:00

I was recently voted onto the board of directors of a local ministry -- Reins of Life. They use horses to provide physical and psychological therapy to those who need it (as well as a sort of "summer camp" of riding lessons for kids). Tuesday was the first board meeting. They showed me around their facilities, and I was impressed -- they have nearly 20 horses, a couple of classrooms, etc.

2006-05-30T20:54:00.000-04:00

So, we had a really big rain last week. I was glad, because that meant it would wash all the bird droppings off my car. Well, the next morning I went out, and what did I find? Dirty little kitty prints starting on my trunk lid, going up my rear windshield, across the roof, down the front windshield, and down the hood. Since they were on the passenger's side, and since kittens are cute, and

2006-05-25T17:31:00.000-04:00

I had a birthday this past week -- my 29th, in fact. We celebrated it Tuesday by going out to Ruen Thai, an excellent Thai restaurant about 20 minutes away. (Roast duck stir fry, mmmm! We also had shrimp spring rolls and purple rice ice cream. I love Thai food.) My church small group made a cake for me and gave me some Napoleon Dynamite magnets.My birthday wasn't on Tuesday, but on my actual

2006-05-14T20:47:00.000-04:00

Whew! I'm finally finished! I actually finished grading all the papers on Friday, but now I'm done tallying up final grades and entering them into the computer. Now, I get to wait with bated breath for the whiney emails from "D" and "F" students over their grades!The last couple of nights, I've been having nightmares from the stress. I hope now I can sleep peacefully without any stress.Now

2006-05-11T20:48:00.000-04:00

A couple of days ago, a student/friend of mine was hospitalized with a 4 mm kidney stone. (Ouch!) She picked a really bad day for it, this being final exam week and all, but (fortunately), she only had one final left. I went in to the hospital and prayed with her before her surgery, since her family lives way up North and wasn't there to be with her.I'm glad my schedule is flexible during

2006-05-08T23:27:00.000-04:00

"Me fail English? That's unpossible!" -- Ralph Wiggam, The SimpsonsI'm about halfway through grading this semester's papers. Some of them are just atrocious.I was grading papers yesterday when I suddenly realized I was missing something. Something that really ought to be there. Something I always used to have, this time of year, and that went along with final exam week. Something that

2006-05-05T13:34:00.000-04:00

I just finished my last class of the semester. I feel tremendous relief; I'm almost ready to party! Not quite, though; I still have 85 papers to grade. Nearly a dozen students failed (through excessive absences) or withdrew during the course of the semester; over half of those during this past week.On top of that, I'm kind of between books right now, so there's really nothing to distract me

2006-04-30T14:41:00.000-04:00

Just in! You can now download the sermon I preached in chapel last month (on Mary and Martha) as an MP3 file here. Just right-click the link and select "save as." It's a 17 MB file, so it'll take a while if you're still using dial-up. Thanks to Dann (the best friend EVER) for hosting it for me.

2006-04-28T17:46:00.000-04:00

Oh, yeah, I forgot. You may remember that I broke my glasses over Christmas Break. Well, I replaced them a couple of months ago.When I looked in the mirror, I was shocked and surprised at how good they looked.But then I got used to them.

2006-04-23T23:08:00.000-04:00

In the fall of 2004, I was asked to speak to some students here about why I read. I saved my notes and intended to put them up on my blog -- oh, a year and a half ago, I guess. The notes have been sitting on my desk, as well as taking up an entry on my To-Do list, so, in a mad fit of productivity, I worked the notes into an entry:Why I Read When I was a child, I used to cry because I just

2006-04-22T18:58:00.000-04:00

I've had a chance to watch a number of movies lately.Worth Multiple Viewings: Grizzly Man: Tim Treadwell was an ecological activist who lived among the grizzly bears in Alaska for something like 15 seasons. During the last few seasons, he took along a video camera for a documentary he was making. Unfortunately, he was killed and eaten by the bears he tried to protect before he could finish

2006-04-14T15:30:00.000-04:00

I seem to be in the company of the famous.The first season of SpikeTV's The Ultimate Fighter reality show starred my martial arts instructor, Forrest Griffin. He eventually won the grand prize (six-figure fighting contract) and became the poster-child of Mixed Martial Arts.This is the third season of The Ultimate Fighter, and I just discovered that my other instructor Rory Singer (Forrest's

2006-04-12T14:46:00.000-04:00

I finally finished my taxes. I hate doing taxes. Normally, I just do the 1040EZ form, which is pretty simple, but this time, I couldn't. You see, I had been paid $50 to proctor a test on Saturday for one of those standardized testing companies. Since I wasn't an employee, they just gave me a $50 check. When tax time rolled around, I received a form 1099-MISC. Now, if you receive a form 1099

2006-04-10T21:20:00.000-04:00

This Monday through Wednesday, the students at our college are doing a concentrated outreach into the community. By engaging in servant evangelism, they hope to spread God's love in a way that breaks down barriers and meets people's needs. This was the students' idea; they thought it up last fall and have been organizing it ever since.They have an intercession team that's been praying every

2006-03-31T17:17:00.000-05:00

My sermon Wednesday went well. I was pretty nervous the night before, but when I woke up the next morning, all I felt was excitement. I was ready to go. There were fewer students than I anticipated -- it was a pretty day outside, and I think a lot of them decided to use their chapel skips. I guess 600-700 were there, maybe more. (I've never been able to estimate the number of large groups of

2006-03-27T14:37:00.000-05:00

The first day of spring was a beautiful 38 degrees (F). Here's hoping it gets hot and sweltering really soon now.A few weeks ago I was at my parents' house in the evening. Looking out the window, we saw seven deer walking through our backyard. It was really amazing.Recently, I noticed that a local pizza place had added an Italian buffet. I tried it out one Wednesday, and it was okay. Not

2006-03-17T22:16:00.000-05:00

This week was Spring Break, so I decided to go on a Photo Safari!You see, whenever you enter my college, you crest a little hill, and behind the campus (nestled in a little hollow) you can see a mountainish thing. I decided to climb said mountainish thing and take pictures as I went.First, we went past the pond and up the paved drive that went a little ways up the mountainish thing.A little ways

2006-03-10T14:30:00.000-05:00

This week the poetry I taught my class was centered around the theme of “Death.” It’s listed in the syllabus as such, and this is the part of the semester I’ve always taught that subject.This time, though, it was different.This time, I had a student whose father had recently died.Do not go gentle into that good night,Old age should burn and rave at close of day;Rage, rage against the dying of

2006-03-09T17:43:00.000-05:00

All the money was stolen out of the change tray of my car – just under $2.No, wait – the thief left a penny.What I’m wondering is: why leave a penny? I mean, if $1.62 (or so) is so important to you that you have to steal it, why leave a penny? Some last vestige of conscience? Some gesture of Robin Hood nobility? Seed money?Anyway, it’s spring time, and next week is Spring Break. The flowers

2006-03-05T21:52:00.000-05:00

Last week our church got new carpet. We saw it today for the first time. Oooh, it was shiny. Er, metaphorically speaking. It was actually a dull brown. It was really cool, though, because before that we just had concrete floors. The carpet really helps insulate the building, as well as absorbing the sound and taking the the “edge” off the electric guitar and drums.Last week I went to the

2006-02-28T21:36:00.000-05:00

So, they decide to work on the water pipes outside my apartment. They shut off the water to do so.Without warning me.While I am in the shower.Lathered up.With an appointment to meet someone.Some days are just mmm-mmm fun.

2006-02-04T16:25:00.000-05:00

I got to read a lot over Christmas break. Christmas break is the one time every year that I can devote to some serious reading. For a number of years, I read Lord of the Rings every Christmas. (It’s too long and complicated to read it during the regular year; other things keep intruding and intrusions make me lose the plotline.) Later, I decided that, as much as I like Lord of the Rings,

2006-02-03T13:56:00.000-05:00

I just had an incredibly surreal experience. I had a voice message from my previous boss on my voice mail. He wanted me to call him back, so I did. “Yeah, we need your new address to send you your W-2 forms,” he said.“Now, why am I getting W-2 forms? I didn’t work for you in 2005!”“You didn’t?”“No!”“When did you quit?”“August, 2004!”“Really? Huh, let me check.”>few minutes waiting<“Oops.

2006-01-26T22:34:00.000-05:00

So, apparently I’m a popular professor. My classes are full, or nearly so. At the end of drop/add, I have 94 students total in four classes, where the maximum enrollment is 97. A couple of days ago, they were all full and I had to turn several people away who wanted special permission to get into the full classes. (Two students dropped the eight o’clock class; maybe they decided they just

2006-01-24T16:38:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I quit my martial arts classes.This was hard for me to do. I’ve been doing martial arts for half my life, and it’s tough to give them up. But the fact is, I was no longer enjoying them. Back when I was in high school, I thought about martial arts all the time. I’d read about them, think about them, and practice them every chance I got. For the last six months or so, I haven’t

2006-01-20T16:46:00.000-05:00

Today is my big sister’s birthday!In honor of her, I’m doing a photoblog today.This is my sister. Her name is Marisa. (The “i” is pronounced as a long “e.”) She’s really cool.Sometimes she’s pensive.Sometimes she wrangles llamas!Sometimes she’s lazyBut she *always* looks great.Happy birthday, Big Sis!

2006-01-18T13:10:00.000-05:00

So, in the past week, two [EDIT: three] sets of friends have announced their engagements. Cue the "ring by spring" jokes. Cue the "getting your MRS degree" jokes. Cue all the little condescending jokes made by people who are already married. Students here feel a lot of pressure to get married -- and Valentine's day is coming up in less than a month.What's with Valentine's Day, anyway? As A.

2006-01-13T21:27:00.000-05:00

This is Slaine, the Christmas Dragon.Slaine was given to me shortly before Christmas as a present from some students/friends of mine. I keep him on the computer in my office to keep me company.When Christmas rolled around, Slaine wanted to join the festivities so much, I couldn't dissuade him. So, I made him a little Santa cap. Now, he calls himself "Santa Claws," and claims the hat was "dyed

2006-01-10T23:11:00.000-05:00

I had a scary dream last night.I dreamed I liked dogs.There was this large dog lying there. This girl says, “Ugh! I hate dogs.” I say, “No, they’re very friendly! You just have to get past the smell!”Then I dreamed I raced the Iditarod, sleeping with a pack of sled dogs to keep warm in the Alaskan snow.I dreamed my sister laughed at me for hating dogs all my life and then changing my mind.I

2006-01-07T18:55:00.000-05:00

Everything seems to be breaking lately.1. My glasses (see previous post).2. My shoelace. I guess it’s time to get a new pair of shoes.3. My mom’s new DVD-R. (I hope to get it working soon.)4. My car. The carburetor’s shot. (“Shot” is a technical term meaning, “it stalls when I press the accelerator too hard from an idle.” “Carburetor” is a technical term meaning, “I have no clue when it

2006-01-03T20:44:00.000-05:00

My glasses broke over Christmas break.Yeah, you see it. I had to fix it with superglue. That’s just about the most nerdy thing that could happen to me. At least I didn’t fix them with tape. The repair isn’t pretty, but that’s not really my fault. The superglue had sealed the nozzle of the tube shut, and I had to use a pin to poke a hole near the bottom to squeeze the glue out. To top it off

2006-01-01T20:27:00.000-05:00

Last night Dann and I had our annual New Year’s Party, which has been a tradition since we were in high school. As always, we rented some cheesy films, ate junk food, stayed up late, played some games, and in general had a blast. Pan (Dann’s wife) is an excellent cook, and made sure we had a great meal of steak and shrimp before we started downing our junk food.Visions & Revisions: The

2005-12-19T12:50:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, I went to my tenth anniversary high school reunion. Up until last year, I was really concerned about it. You see, I graduated with a bunch of overachievers, and still managed to get the highest SAT score and be voted "most intellectual." Yet as recently as 2003, I was working as a security guard. Being a security guard is an honest job, understand; it's just that . . . it's a

2005-12-18T20:58:00.000-05:00

Christmas vacation is here! I'm sitting on a couch, in front of the fire, sipping hot cider, and reading The Complete Sherlock Holmes. Mom's working on the Christmas Jigsaw Puzzle, and dad's reading the paper. As I mentioned in the last post, I posted my students' grades, and have already received some angry emails from some of those who didn't pass. I'll worry about them once the new

2005-12-12T11:35:00.000-05:00

I just finished entering all my students' grades. It was a little dicey; I had a couple of students apparently plagirize. Fortunately, on closer inspection, one of them turned out not to have done so; I discussed the situation about the other one with the Dean. Now, I can enjoy my vacation!

2005-12-08T23:08:00.000-05:00

I'm in the middle of grading final papers. They're due Monday at 10 a.m. I'm not sure I'm going to make it. Lots of fun stuff has happened, stuff worth blogging about, but I just don't have the time. :-(Fun times are just around the corner, though . . .

2005-11-17T17:29:00.000-05:00

The other night I took my mom out to see Legend of Zorro. This is because I am a Good Son. And because we both liked the previous movie, Mask of Zorro.And because my mom has not been to a movie theater in fifteen years.I said, "Mom, forget that old three-screen theater we went to when I was a kid! Now they have a new six-screen theater with surround sound!" She said, "What's surround sound?"

2005-11-12T21:29:00.000-05:00

All right. So: The reality is that I have no idea how to eat crab legs.On impulse, I decide to eat at the local Chinese buffet last night. I don't normally eat there on Fridays, because they have crab legs on the all-you-can-eat buffet and charge $3 more for them. I'm already paying a good chunk for the buffet, and there's so much great stuff on there already, I just don't see how I can eat