Update on pictures

There will be pictures posted to our picture site before I go to bed tonight. Right now I'm at school for Back-to-School Night, but I hope to be home around 10:00. Don't hold your breath....

News!

Amanda Corinne (sp?) Lee was born at 12:05 this morning, weighing 6lb 8oz. and 18 1/4 in long. Jen and Amanda are doing very well. Chris is very proud of Jen, and also looking forward to seeing how Jackson reacts later.... Details and pictures to follow sometime today.

Grad school

I just received a call from the Biola University graduate admissions office to inform me that I was accepted into their MA in Science and Religion program! Please pray for favor in financial aid decisions, and for wisdom for Jen and I in making this big decision.

Something newsworthy....

Jackson is a lot of fun as well as rambunctious. At almost 18 months, he's quite the fast runner, good at climbing stairs and learning catechism questions (one-word answers only).

And he's also been pointing to his Mommy's belly and saying "WAAAAAA". And no, Jen does not suffer from terrible and vocal indigestion. Jackson knows there's a baby in mommy's belly! Our child is due on October 1st. At the 11-week visit to Jen's OB/GYN, we heard a normal 150-160 bpm heartbeat!

Christmas to New Year's

Chris is spending the week in Scotland with Alison. He arrived safely Friday morning at 7:16 a.m. in Edinburgh.

Jen is spending the week with her family in Branford.

Jackson is growing and learning quickly. He now can tell you what certain animals do and say, knock and open doors, make car noises, and is quite proficient at mama ma ma ma and dada type words. Danielle even taught him sic 'em Bears.

Posted by anonymous 12/26/2008 10:43 a.m.

A Little Early

I know this is just a few months early, but please do check out www.academicfreedomday.com, and consider entering the contest!

If you don't think its worth your time, go watch Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.

Modern neo-Darwinism -- as represented by the likes of NCSE (up there with "Christian Science" as the worst misnomer of all time), Richard Dawkins, PZ Myers, Michael Ruse, and Ken Miller -- has owned the academy for over a century. It has become the overarching paradigm in Biology, and there are powerful and vocal scientists who sincerely believe it should be the organizing principal of SCIENCE. This wouldn't be so bad, except that it is grossly deceptive as an organizing principal for anything but a few parts of population genetics. If it's such a powerful theory, why don't its proponents let it flex its muscles instead of hiding it in a cage behind bold posters proclaiming its power? Historically, what sort of ideologies have suppressed the right to speak in dissent? (e.g. totalitarian governments, incl. fascism and communism...) Shouldn't the Academy, of all places, be open to challenging ideas? Does denying that there are qualified, intelligent scientists (many of whom are NOT particularly religious!) who question the power of evolution to explain the origin of complex life make them go away?

Techie-nerd-ness

I'm becoming more and more of a nerd. One particular flavor I'm really fond of is tech-nerd. I actually read PC World when I can; I have favorite technology review websites, favorite technology deal websites, and... well I'll make a list :-)

Current Favorites
OS: Ubuntu 8.10 "Intrepid Ibex" (I know, a rather non-nerdy choice....)
Most Coveted Computer: any netbook
Stereo Company: Bose (I know, not really techie; you cannot control anything....)
Office Software Company: Corel
Free Software Companies: Where do we start? In no particular order Google, Mozilla, Piriform....
Free Anti-virus: BitDefender (close second: AVG Free)
Free Firewall: ZoneAlarm
Download website: FileHippo.com
Favorite Free Office Suite: OpenOffice 2.4 (Again, simple choice... I have to live with other peoples' MS Office documents!)
Free browser: still Mozilla Firefox (...though Google Chrome is pretty slick!)
Deal Website: woot.com
Email Program: Mozilla Thunderbird 2.0 (followed closely by a Gmail add-on for Firefox)
Bank: ING (Hey, their accounts are almost exclusively online! They count as techie! Plus, I ran in a race they sponsored!)

Current LEAST Favorites
Software Company: Microsoft, duh!
(OK, so I created the least-favorite category just for them... get over it!)

well hello again!

"Last published Apr 22, 2008" ... hmmm... that was a REALLY LONG TIME AGO!

For anyone who hasn't completely given up on me, or who decided on a whim to check this blog, or who enjoys defeat and checked this like you check Red Sox postseason results... welcome back. This will be a totally random collection of news and thoughts.

Head over to our photo site and check out about three months of pictures I just added.

I don't even know where to start. Jackson turned one last week! He's running, talking, and slamming things against other things (LOUDLY). He tried to fight the coffee table a couple weeks ago and ended up with a nice upper-cheek bruise. I told him that if anyone asked what happened, he should say, "You should see the other guy!" Then we got to church and another kid had an even worse bruise.

The school year got off to a pretty smooth start. I miss having NMB around. I'm juggling my classes, athletics work and a little tech work thrown in for good measure.

The scooter is still serving me very well, good for about $3/day savings on gas. Plus, the weather has been absolutely gorgeous for scootering.

I've had a nasty head cold for over a week now, and it shows no signs of dying. In fact, it brought along a sinus infection to make me feel really yucky. Despite that, I was given enough strength to run the half marathon this past Saturday up in Hartford. In fact, I had one of the best races of my life.

My sister Alison is over in Scotland at the University of St Andrews earning a Masters degree in poetry. She says "cheers". Well, not really. But she would if she had the chance.

Among recent reads, I'm pleased to recommend The Devil's Delusion by David Berlinski

In other news, among my newer favorite websites are woot.com, slickdeals.net, and whatyououghttoknow.com I would recommend Alie's blog, but she killed hers even faster than I killed mine. Oh, and one more shameless plug: If you are an educator (including homeschoolers), check out Classical Legacy Press for top-notch materials, with more on the way soon! (Full disclosure: I make no profit whatsoever by making this shameless plug.)

Well, that's about all for now. Sorry, maybe when the two infections start losing to my immune system my brain will clear up. Until then, cheers!

Small kindnesses

I'm thankful for common grace in my neighbors, especially A.S. across the hall. He's been kind in specific ways several times in the past week. I hope that we'll have a chance to witness to him sometime before we move. Maybe that's why the Lord has so far been answering our prayers to help sell our condo by saying "not yet"....

It's official...

...I have a motorcycle endorsement on my driver's license. Hours of work, $18.98, sweat, driving a trailer and making u-turns on Rt 46 when detours randomly end in the middle of Little Falls, etc. have paid off. Sort of. See, I did all that for "M Motorcycle" in something like size 5 font on the back under "Endorsements". Ah, the beauty of bureaucracies, especially government-run ones. And I still have to renew my license next year, despite having just gotten a new one.

Many thanks to Jeffrey (and his family) for their advice, time and encouragement.