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Categories Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday: New Computer

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Do you remember when I first mentioned building myself a new computer?

I’m not sure when I first mentioned it, but I do know when I ordered my parts.

The last weekend in May. Memorial Day.

And now, three and a half months later, I finally have a working computer.

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This week I’m thankful for…

…my extended family for letting me crash the 4th of July with my computer.

…Daniel for lending me an OS disk after mine got ruined, and for regularly checking up on the computer’s progress (or lack thereof)

…Anna for being remarkably long-suffering with my use of her laptop and trashing of the family room (what with all my boxes of components–and the components themselves–all about.)

…Ruth for lending me her computer for a couple weeks in the interim

…Spousanomics for teaching me about loss aversion (and making me willing to cut my losses and just buy a new pre-built)

…Mom for listening to me reason it all out and counseling me that yes it would be wise for me to just buy a new computer

…the Best Buy guy for believing me when I said that, yes, I was familiar with computers and, yes, I did know how to change out components.

…Jon for lending me a program to recover my files from one of the corrupted hard disks

…Erik for lending me a IDE to SATA adapter so I could transfer said files to my new computer

…God for being immutible, unchanging, faithful, reliable–unlike computers.

Categories Book Reviews

Book Review: “Big Girl Small” by Rachel DeWoskin

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Judy Lohden is a sixteen year old girl who’s starting out at a new elite performing arts school and she has all the drama that goes along with that situation–making new friends, finding her niche, liking a boy, wondering if a boy likes her, going to parties, facing peer pressure. All the usual sort of things, except for one thing: Judy is a little person, which amplifies everything.

Instead of just being “the new girl”, she’s the new dwarf.

While most of Judy’s classmates act awkwardly around her, a few people don’t seem to make a big deal out of Judy’s being a little person. It just so happens that one of the ones who doesn’t make a big deal about it is the boy Judy has a crush on.

Score!

Life seems to be going exactly as Judy wishes it when she auditions straight into Senior Voice as a Junior (which means she’ll be in the same class as her crush, Kyle), when Kyle offers to take her home after school, when Kyle wants to sleep with her.

But her “everything’s-going-my-way” life comes to a sudden stop when IT happens.

It’d be bad enough if it had happened to anyone–it’s even worse because Judy’s a dwarf, and therefore pretty recognizable.

Judy takes off to a sketchy motel where she hides away from her family, her friends, and the media.

This is where Big Girl Small opens: with Judy in her motel room, playing over the events of the school year again and again.

I don’t know exactly how to sum up this book, or how to express my feelings regarding it.

I liked how the story was told: in first person, flipping back and forth between the present (in the motel) and the past (during the school year). Judy’s voice portrays what she is: a smart but still definitely teenaged girl.

The storyline was coherent, was engaging in a “morbid curiosity” sort of way.

The content was… overwhelming.

This isn’t a YA novel, but it’s similar to YA in that it’s full of tense topics and shocking actions. There’s sex, underage drinking, marijuana use, lying… and, um, gang-banging.

All of this is treated as completely normative, except for the last bit, which is sort-of discouraged (by way of encouraging boys to homosexual encounters.)

Which is why…

I can’t really say what I think of this book, or whether I would ever recommend it to anyone. It’s definitely a very mature book–but I’m not sure that it has enough redeeming value (even in terms of entertainment value) to overlook the “mature” content.

Rating: ?? 2 Question Marks
Category:YA-like adult novel
Synopsis: Judy Lohden (a little person) is hiding out in a motel after a scandal disrupts her junior year of high school.
Recommendation: I don’t think I’d recommend this, but I’m not sure.

Categories Everyday Life

Punctuation Matters

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The DOT is working on the highway between here and Grand Island–the highway I use for my bi-weekly commute.

Four times a week, I see the signs set up on either side of the worked-on stretch of highway:

No
Passing Zones
Not Marked

Every time I pass the bright orange signs, I wonder whose bright idea it was to not include punctuation.

As it is, I have no clue what the sign is trying to say.

Is it telling me not to pass because the zones are unmarked?

In that case, it should read:

No
Passing. Zones
Not Marked.

Or perhaps it is just an FYI, to let me know that the no passing zones are not marked so I’ll have to use discretion when passing.

May I suggest:

No-Passing
Zones Not
Marked

Or better yet:

No-Passing
Zones Are
Not Marked

As it is, sans punctuation marks, this sign means nothing.

I do whatever I please.

Categories Book Reviews

Book Review: “Beaten, Seared and Sauced” by Jonathon Dixon

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Martha Stewart, The Cooking Channel, and Food Network have made foodies of us all.

Okay, so we haven’t all become food snobs, but the ranks of food-o-philes have certainly swelled.

For many of us, that means we salivate over cookbooks, avidly watch cooking shows, and indulge our imaginary gluttony via online recipe blogs. Some of us clip those recipes and give them a try in our own kitchens, purchasing flavored vinegars and exotic spices, trying new varieties of vegetables and grains; while others of us only dream of the luxuries of saffron and quinoa and goose.

Jonathan Dixon has been a foodie for years, enjoying cooking in the privacy of his own home while passing through a collection of dead end jobs. He dreams of being a better cook, and even takes some cooking classes; but he’s still pretty discontent with his life.

Then a family friend urges him forward. Why not enroll in chef school? Why not just do it?

And so, on the cusp of his thirty-eighth birthday, Jonathan takes the plunge and enrolls in the prestigious Culinary Institute of America.

Beaten, Seared, and Sauced is Jonathan’s memoirs of his experience of becoming a CIA chef.

This book appealed to my inner foodie and made me itch to go back to school myself-except not.

I loved hearing all about how the student chefs learned to cut a perfect dice and make a perfect bechamel. I loved reading of how they learned to tell by touch whether a roast chicken was done. I loved that they learned how to determine when a piece of produce is perfectly ripe.

I want that knowledge. I want those skills.

But I definitely don’t want to go to culinary school.

Dixon’s memoir makes that perfectly obvious.

Culinary school is a mess of sleeplessness, yelling instructors, and hard-to-get-along-with class/work-mates. It’s intense.

And this girl is reaching the age where she’d fit the “non-trad” bill–and Dixon’s difficulties with his (younger) fellow students and with assimilating rapid-fire data already start to hit home. I’m too old to go back to school–at least, too old to go back to that sort of school.

So I’ll indulge my fantasies vicariously, through Dixon’s memoir–and keep dreaming of someday embarking upon a self-study program to give myself even just a fraction of the skill Dixon describes.

As a food person, an avid learner, and project memoir junkie, I greatly enjoyed this memoir. My guess is that fellow foodies and/or project memoir lovers will enjoy it as well.

Rating: 3 stars
Category:Project Memoir
Synopsis:38 year old Jonathon Dixon chronicles his experience of becoming a chef at the Culinary Institue of America
Recommendation: If you’re a food junkie and/or a project memoir lover, you’ll probably enjoy this title. If neither of those is quite up your alley, this book probably isn’t either.

Categories Book Notes

The Future of Christianity: Notes from “What’s So Great About Christianity?”)

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I’m cheating somewhat and just using my book notes from What’s So Great About Christianity? for this week’s Week in Words.

The following are chapter synopses and short quotes from the first section of Dinesh D’Souza’s What’s So Great About Christianity? This first section was entitled: “The Future of Christianity”

Chapter 1:
D’Souza argues that Christianity is experiencing worldwide growth, while atheism is declining worldwide.

“Nietzsche’s proclamation “God is dead” is now proven false. Nietzsche is dead. The ranks of unbelievers are shrinking as a proportion of the world’s population….God is very much alive , and His future prospects look to be excellent.”

Chapter 2:
D’Souza argues that, while atheists search for an evolutionary reason for religion, it is really atheism that lacks an evolutionary basis. After all, the religious are rapidly reproducing their genes while atheists fail to (biologically) reproduce.

“The important point is not just that atheism is unable to compete with religion in attracting followers, but also that the lifestyle of practical atheism seems to produce listless tribes that cannot even reproduce themselves.”

Chapter 3:
D’Souza describes the rise of militant atheism and its desperately offensive (think Hail Mary) “war on religion”.

Chapter 4:
D’Souza argues that atheists attempt to use schools (both primary schools and universities) to indoctrinate children and young adults to atheist ideology.

“For the defenders of Darwinism, no less than for its critics, religion is the issue. Just as some people oppose the theory of evolution because they believe it to be anti-religious, many others support it for the very same reason. This is why we have Darwinism but not Keplerism; we encounter Darwinists but no one describes himself as an Einstainian. Darwinism has become an ideology.”

The Week in WordsDon’t forget to take a look at Barbara H’s meme “The Week in Words”, where bloggers collect quotes they’ve read throughout the week.

Categories None

On Arguing

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Once upon a time, I loved to argue. Give me a topic and I would argue it. Polemics were my thing. I enjoyed polarizing issues, getting a rise out of someone. There wasn’t a fight I didn’t like to get into.

But somewhere along the line, my tastes have changed.

I find that some arguments leave a bitter taste in my mouth and a sour pit in my stomach.

Not that I don’t enjoy arguing anymore. In fact, there’s little I love more than a spirited discussion of some issue.

But a certain sort of argument, one I once considered my life’s blood, has lost its allure.

I have become more irenic in my approach–and more likely to shut my mouth if I see that my opponent does not prefer that approach.

So, wanna argue with me? Here are a few tips for getting me to engage:

1. Search for truth
Where I used to enjoy the sparring of two individuals who were firmly established in their opposite positions with no desire or willingness to change their minds, I now find such argument intolerable.

I want to know truth. If you are a fellow truth-seeker, even if your ideas are different than mine, I’d love to debate with you. I’d love to let your iron sharpen mine as we grapple with issues (and our differing viewpoints on them) together.

If all you want to do is refute my viewpoint or prove your own, I’m probably not interested. This sort of debate is usually pointless, a regurgitation of all the (often weak) apologetic points of a certain position without true dialogue or discovery.

2. Be Humble
Absolute truth exists. I believe it.

But, believe it or not, no one person has a monopoly on truth.

Yes, the Bible is true–but that doesn’t always mean that your interpretation of the Bible is true. Yes, science is true–but that doesn’t always mean your extrapolation from science is true.

If you wanna argue with me, please get off your high horse and recognize that you’re a fellow truth-seeker, not the final word in truth.

3. Don’t get personal/Get personal
There are two options for every topic of debate: either the topic at hand is deeply personal or it’s little more than an intellectual exercise. I don’t mind debating either.

What I do mind is when an argument turns into a mud-slinging fest. Don’t make blanket statements about people who hold views other than your own. Don’t accuse your opponent of not loving Jesus or not believing the Bible or of teaching false doctrine (unless you have good evidence that those statements are true–and even then, speak the truth in LOVE.)

On the other hand, recognize that just because a topic isn’t deeply personal to you doesn’t mean that it isn’t personal to another. Pacifism vs. Just War Theory may be an intellectual exercise for you–it might not be for the girl with two brothers in the Armed Forces. Please take into consideration who you’re talking to and how they might feel about the issue at hand before you go off on a rampage.

What about you? Are you an arguer? What are your rules for engagement?

Categories Book Reviews

Book Review: “What I saw and how I lied” by Judy Blundell

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Evie is fifteen, her stepfather has returned from the war, and life is good.

Okay, so they still live with her step-father’s mother, who doesn’t quite get along with Evie’s mother. So Evie’s step-father is drinking more. So Evie’s parents are fighting more often.

But Evie’s main concerns are that her mother won’t let her wear grown-up clothes and that she can’t seem to attract the attention of her crush.

Then her stepfather decides to take them on a vacation to Florida–and Evie meets (and falls in love with) the dashing young Peter (who had served with her stepfather in the War.)

Awash with the headiness of a new environment, new clothing (one of her mothers’ new friends insisted), and new love, Evie thinks of little but how she can next see Peter. Then a hurricane hits and Evie’s world comes crashing down.

I added What I saw and How I lied to my TBR list on the basis of Semicolon’s review (I think), but by the time I’d gotten around to picking it up from the library, I’d forgotten the review and had no idea what to expect. (Even if I’d read Semicolon’s review more recently, I’m not sure I’d have known what to expect. Sherry does a good job of not giving spoilers.)

At any rate, I read with only the book’s title to clue me in on what was happening–and that kept me guessing for a good long time.

I knew something was wrong, that something wasn’t adding up in Evie’s idyllic world–but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was. What’s more, if Evie (the narrator of the book) had seen something, why wasn’t she telling me? What had she seen? And how had she lied?

I was almost upset with her for not sharing–but I kept reading in the hopes that she would at last reveal.

And reveal she did, with a punch that left me gasping for air.

Other reviewers have called this a coming-of-age novel, and that it is. It’s about a loss of innocence, a loss of trust. It’s also a story about stealing, lying, adultery, and murder. As my grandmother would say, it’s a story of sex and violence.

But a well-told story.

This is definitely not a children’s book. But the sex and violence found in this book is not the gratuitous or experimental raciness of a typical YA novel. It’s tasteful (mostly) and integral, contributing to Evie’s awakening to the world of lies and truth, deception and integrity, lust and love.

I very much enjoyed reading this novel and recommend it for discerning, mature readers.

Rating: 4 stars
Category: YA-Coming of Age Novel
Synopsis:Evie grows up rather quickly after a winter in Florida where she encounters lust, lies, deception, and discrimination.
Recommendation: I think thoughtful readers are likely to enjoy this, while those looking for either escapist or sensational fiction will be disappointed. I personally enjoyed it a great deal.

Categories None

Thankful Thursday: When the Computer’s Off

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The truth is, I love the computer. I love blogging. I love reading blogs. I love building computers (even if it’s a bit of work!)

But for all the joy I receive through computers, it can’t compare to the pleasures of when the computer’s off.

Thankful Thursday banner

This week I’m thankful for…

…sewing with the girls
It’s been months since we last met to sew, but it was wonderful to see Grace’s doll dress come together, Taylor’s real-live dress come together, Little Miss Menter’s quilt finally get finished. I’ve missed our busy chatter side-by-side at our sewing machines.

…Highland Park Writer’s Collective concert
I’ve been waiting for it practically forever. Waiting for the day when I could invite my dad to a concert by one of his favorite groups. Waiting for the day when I could go to a concert by some of my favorite people. And the day finally arrived. Highland Park Writers’ Collective finally came to “Live at 38th Street Coffee”. (You can listen to some of their awesome music on their Facebook page)

…yardwork
The lawn mowed, the hedges trimmed, the driveway edged, the flower beds dug up and the bulbs separated. I got blisters and sunburns and achy muscles and allergies–but I also had a wonderful time in the sun and the shade and the dirt.

…conversations around the dinner table
Sunday afternoon dinners at the House of Dreams are becoming somewhat of a regular thing–and I absolutely love it. It’s what I’ve always dreamed of, having a home that’s open and enjoyed. And I love our Sunday afternoon crowd.

…reading books
I don’t read a lot of books straight through anymore–I’ve grown accustomed to reading a chapter each of a dozen books at any given time. But in the last few days, I’ve read a few novels straight through (or almost so)–and I’ve enjoyed it quite a bit!

…preparing for Sunday School
I’ll be teaching this year–and now that my co-teacher has been moved to another class, I’ll be teaching by myself. I’m super pumped to be taking a class of 2nd and 3rd graders through the whole Bible in the next nine months. (We’ll be racing along “Route 66”–for the 66 books of the Bible, get it?) I’m majorly excited.

…friendship, study, accountability
Dinner and conversation with Beth. Digging into Hebrews with the girls. Staying way too late talking. Laying on Ruth’s bed, talking while Ruth sorted her laundry. I love these friendships.

I’m thankful for all the things God does in and through and for me…when the computer’s off.

Categories Health

Real Food & Real Science?

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The “real food” or “whole food” movement has taken off among the health-conscious and environment-conscious.

Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Nina Planck’s Real Food: What to Eat and Why, and of course Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions are bibles for real food disciples.

Real foodies are begging for local producers, farmers’ markets, and Trader Joes’.

And they want to know what I think about the movement.

This is where the opinionated RD falls silent.

I don’t know what I think about the movement. I don’t know what I think about the claims of Real Food prophets and evangelists. I don’t even know how to start to evaluate them.

For starters, the “real foodies” are not too keen on people like me. In the extreme, they use terms like “politically correct nutrition” and “diet dictocrat” to deride my science and my profession as Sally Fallon does on the cover of her Nourishing Traditions. In the less extreme form, many warily eye me as a well-intentioned but brainwashed agent of the machine.

It’s difficult to get past the sometimes offensive language of Real Foods’ chief prophetess enough to actually explore her claims. It’s harder yet to avoid being on the defensive.

But the hardest part of all is simply figuring out how to handle the sheer volume of the “Real Food” claims. Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions is 600 pages long. Nina Planck’s Real Food contains at least 84 distinct health claims in the first chapter.

I’ve been reading through Planck’s book, underlining health claims as I come upon them, trying to evaluate them as I go. But frankly? It’s not easy.

I know the truth about some of Nina’s claims right off the top of my head. It doesn’t take me much to see the problem with her statement that “a BMI of almost 25” is “squarely in the ‘overweight category’.” (A “normal” BMI is from 18.5 to 24.9. Almost 25 is still within the normal range. Furthermore, a BMI at the top end of “normal” is likely healthier anyway.) I don’t have to look anything up to confirm that humans are omnivores and are not by nature vegans. (Vitamin B12 is an essential nutrient that has NO vegetarian sources. It is only because of the marvels of modern science that we now have bacteria who can manufacture B12 for vegans to take as a supplement.)

For other claims, I need to grab a reference material just to make sure I don’t make a silly mistake. I’ll look it up quickly and see that yes, brain is high in polyunsaturated fats; no, broth is not “rich” in calcium and minerals (it contains some, but less than 2% of the daily value of calcium per cup). Nina’s not quite right in claiming that Vitamin B6 is only found in small amounts in plant sources–in truth, there are some rather good plant sources of B6; and nearly everything has a little bit of it (which means that anyone with a varied diet, especially one rich in vegetables and whole grains, is likely to get enough.)

And then there’s the stuff I need to really research because I honestly don’t know whether the “Real Food” claim is correct or not. Is oxidized cholesterol a better marker of atherosclerosis than LDL and HDL? Does conjugated linoleic acid actually fight cancer? Does diabetes significantly decrease one’s ability to convert beta-carotene to Vitamin A?

I’m working on it. Trying to evaluate it. Trying to give an informed and objective opinion. But I’m not yet convinced that the “real food” movement is “real science.”

Categories Following Christ

Fight to be alone

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It was almost a month ago now that my pastor preached a sermon entitled “A Theology of Time from the Life of Christ”.

I listened, I was convicted, I couldn’t figure out what I needed to do. I was busy. How was I going to put this into practice?

At that time, I was reading James in my personal devotions and the part in chapter 1 about the man who looks at his face in the mirror and then forgets what he looks like was stamped on my brain.

I mentioned something from the sermon to Lisa, she invited me to share more from the sermon with her. I was eager for the additional motivation to take another hard look at my face in the mirror–and this time to remember what my face looked like.

So I’ve been slowly revisiting Justin’s six points.

Point 2: Fight to be alone with God

Jesus did. He regularly got up early in the morning to find a secluded place to pray. Even when the demands on His time were great, His need to be away with His Father was greater. (Mark 1:35-36; Luke 5:15-16)

Justin used the illustration of flying on an airplane with a child. If the air pressure inside the plane drops and the oxygen masks are needed, parents need to put their masks on first. Why? Because they can’t help if they’re dead.

In the same way, we need to be in communion with God. If not, the rest of our busy lives will be unfruitful–because we’re living them out dead.

Fight. That’s the word Justin used. Fight to be alone with God.

Struggle. Work at. Push towards.

Fight to be alone with God.

I fight for things I love, for things I consider important.

I fight for time to blog, coming home for lunch if I know I won’t have time to prepare a post some other time.

I fight for time to read, taking a book with me to the bathroom, into bed, with me as I fold laundry.

I fight for my evening baths, giving up sleep to make sure I get them.

But do I fight to be alone with God?

I’m choosing to. I’m choosing to make time alone with God a priority. I’m choosing to make the time to be alone.

I want to be like Martin Luther, who said he prayed an hour each day, except on particularly busy days. On those days he prayed two hours.

Even more than that, I want to be like Christ.

And if He fought to be alone with His Father, than I want to fight to be alone with the Father as well.

If you’d like to listen to Pastor Justin’s excellent sermon “A Theology of Time from the Life of Christ”, you can find the mp3 at Highland Park’s Worship Service Archive. It’s “A Theology of Time” dated 7/31/11.