October, 2011

Life — No Comments
27
Oct 11

The Promise and Privation of the Kindle (Or, Why I Still Buy Physical Books)

I’ve had the Amazon Kindle for about a year now and have put it through its paces. I have to say that I still like it and am glad that I got it. The ability to store thousands of books in a small device is as welcome as ever, especially on the go.

However, a year later and I find that I am still buying physical books. I have been somewhat surprised, in that I was expecting that digital books might begin to overtake my library.

After all, the digital revolution has transformed my music library. I can’t remember the last time I purchased a physical album, and now every piece of music that I purchase is digital only.

So why isn’t it the same for books? What do physical books have over digital books that their musical analogue does not? Continue reading →

Family / Life / Photography — No Comments
25
Oct 11

Megan’s Photos

A couple weekends ago Megan and I headed out to Ironwoods Park to take some pictures. She loves photography about as much as I do, and she got some really compelling shots, so I thought I would share.

Enjoy! Continue reading →

Music — No Comments
21
Oct 11

Deas Vail Review

I have always been a fan of Deas Vail’s music since I first heard Shoreline. My wife and I even went to a concert where Deas Vail was the opening act, and stayed only for them, giving Copeland the snub. (Normally we wouldn’t have done that, but the venue was terrible in that the musical nuances that both Copeland and Deas Vail are known for were overwhelmed by the audio engineer’s decision to crank the low end beyond any form of rationality.) Continue reading →

Life / Photography — 6 Comments
13
Oct 11

A Brief Reprieve

This past weekend I had the first two days in over a month when I actually felt like getting out of bed. Chemo can take its toll, and it has been hitting me really hard for the last couple of weeks, but fortunately I was granted a brief respite from the nausea and fatigue to enjoy the beautiful autumn that we are having.

My friend Alex lent me his Canon 5D Mark II, and so Megan and I headed out into nature to capture both its beauty as well the beauty of my lovely wife. :-) Continue reading →

Classics / Life — No Comments
7
Oct 11

A Small Spark

In the epistle of James we find a rather interesting description of the tongue:

Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.1

James would have us understand that something as seemingly insignificant as the tongue can have devastating consequences, as much as the smallest spark can burn down a great forest.

But James goes even further, describing the tongue as corrupting the entire body and setting the entire course of one’s life on fire. In other words, the things we say can bring about the most destructive effects.

One might be tempted to chalk this sort of talk up to hyperbole. After all, we all have experienced the consequences of our words and those of others, but surely James is going a little over the top?

Perhaps not. At least if your name is Hannibal. Continue reading →

  1. James 3:5-6 NIV ↩
Life — 1 Comment
6
Oct 11

Spam Fun

Every so often I like to wade through the comments that WordPress automatically sends straight to the spam folder for the sheer amusement of it. Below are some of most amusing with comments.

Enjoy!

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